Betting, Blindness, and Baseball

Baseball is a game of sounds. The crack of the bat.  The roar of the crowd.  The shouts of the vendors. Radio announcers, of course, provide sonic backdrops from optimism lacing spring training to tension surrounding the World Series.  Ernie Harwell, Vin Scully, Red...

The Man Who Made the Mud Hens Famous

As Corporal—later Sergeant—Maxwell Q. Klinger on M*A*S*H, Jamie Farr brought laughter to millions and fame to the Toledo Mud Hens as he incorporated his hometown of Toledo, Ohio into the Klinger character. On his web site www.jamiefarr.com, Farr explains the nexus...

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...

Visitors at the 4077th

M*A*S*H was a powerhouse show for CBS from 1972 to 1983, depicting the adventures of the fictional Mobile Army Surgical Hospital 4077 staff during the Korean War.  Guest stars populated M*A*S*H, later becoming fixtures of other CBS shows. Joan Van Ark and Knots...

My Favorite Things

Greg Brady getting selected to be the next “Johnny Bravo” because he “fit the suit” on The Brady Bunch. Jimmy McNulty on The Wire. Any Seinfeld episode involving Frank Constanza or David Puddy. Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football. The theme...