Bowling, Tim Matheson, and “Dreamer”

“You just dream about something, that’s all it’s ever gonna be.  Just a dream.” So says Harold Nuttingham in the 1979 film Dreamer, a post-Watergate, feel-good movie with a down-to-earth vibe. Nuttingham dreams of being a bowling...

The Hall of Fame Case for Gene Autry

Gene Autry wore many hats, proverbially speaking, besides the cowboy dome piece in his movies: Owner of Los Angeles television station KTLA from 1963 to 1982 Original singer of the Christmas standard Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Army Air Corps officer and Air...

A Stalag 13 Christmas

Christmas television specials dominate prime time during between Thanksgiving and December 25th.  The Hollywood Palace was no exception in 1965. With the holiday season as a backdrop for one particular episode in December, host Bing Crosby mentions that this time of...

Everybody Loves Dean Martin Sometime

Dino Crocetti emerged from the hardscrabble existence in Steubenville, Ohio to become one of the biggest stars in the second half of the 20th century.  With a new moniker of Dean Martin, a legendary partnership with Jerry Lewis, and a fixture status in the famed Rat...

The Unsung Hero of CBS

On the day before Christmas in 2006, Frank Stanton passed away at the age of 98.  A broadcasting pioneer, Stanton served as CBS chief William Paley’s lieutenant for decades, helping mold the television industry into a media force.  Unquestionably, CBS earned its...