The Doctors Are In

When City Hospital premiered in 1952, it set off the medical genre for prime time television.  Naturally, shows about medical implications offer drama that, in the right hands, captivate audiences. St. Elsewhere followed the model of Hill Street Blues by using story...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Pelham

Hollywood’s 2009 remake of the 1970s classic movie The Taking of Pelham 123 starred three actors who got their big breaks on the small screen. Denzel Washington played Walter Garber, a New York City civil servant suddenly elevated to be the liaison to hostage...

Baseball Announcers

Sounds associated with baseball form a vital part of the spectator experience.  Vendors hawking beer, fans booing and cheering, and a bat meeting a ball create an aural experience at the ballpark. For fans not watching the game in person, baseball announcers convey...

Magnum Goes Home

Thomas Magnum, Hawaii’s private investigator extraordinaire, reconnected family ties in the Magnum, p.i. episode “Going Home,” a story with the rarity of taking place outside the 50th state. Returning to his childhood home of Tidewater, Virginia to...

Television, Philadelphia Style

Philadelphia is a rich setting for prime time television shows. Angie aired on ABC in the late 1970s.  Donna Pescow starred in the title role, a working class waitress who falls in love with a doctor, played by Robert Hays of Airplane fame.  Doris Roberts, perhaps...