by David Krell | May 2, 2015 | David Krell
Get Smart parodied the popular spy genre in the 1960s, countering serious offerings, including The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, Get Smart gave American television audiences a humorous view of espionage during the Cold War. Don Adams...
by David Krell | Apr 25, 2015 | David Krell
Robert DeNiro, a mafia movie icon thanks to roles in Casino, Goodfellas, and The Godfather, Part II, played against type in the early 1980s dark comedy film King of Comedy. He turns 180 degrees in his portrayal of Rupert Pupkin, a nebbishy, aspiring, and ineffective...
by David Krell | Apr 22, 2015 | David Krell
Today is Earth Day, so designated on April 22nd to honor a pioneer in the environmental movement. April 22nd is Eddie Albert’s birthday. The first Earth Day occurred in 1970. Albert is perhaps best known for playing Oliver Wendell Douglas, a successful New...
by David Krell | Apr 17, 2015 | David Krell
A lesson about being thankful for individuality is embodied in BMOC, an episode of The White Shadow. The episode’s title is, of course, an acronym for the phrase Big Man on Campus. It accurately describes Warren Coolidge, the star center for the Carver High...
by David Krell | Apr 16, 2015 | David Krell
Some television spinoffs do very well. Frasier. Laverne & Shirley. The Jeffersons. Others, not so much. Joey. Models Inc. Richie Brockelman, Private Eye. A spinoff of NBC’s The Rockford Files starring James Garner, Richie Brockelman, Private Eye starred...
by David Krell | Apr 14, 2015 | David Krell
In the 1989 movie Batman, Jack Nicholson brought his trademark sarcasm to the role of the Joker, perhaps Batman’s greatest foe. Nearly 20 years later, Heath Ledger inhabited the role, giving a performance of a diabolical, insane, delusional villain....
by David Krell | Apr 11, 2015 | David Krell
During the run of The Odd Couple on ABC from 1970 to 1975, celebrities played themselves as they graced the adventures of Oscar Madison, famous sports writer for The New York Herald and Felix Unger, photographer boasting portraits a specialty. Allen Ludden, the host...
by David Krell | Apr 10, 2015 | David Krell
The 1997 movie Private Parts, based on Howard Stern’s autobiography of the same name, has fairly rich television connections. Stern, a shock jock, portrayed himself in the story recounting his rise from a $96 a week disc jockey to the King of All Media. His...
by David Krell | Apr 8, 2015 | David Krell
On May 14, 1998, Seinfeld ended its dominant run in prime time. We said goodbye to puffy shirts, Kramerica Industries, and Newman. We said goodbye to Uncle Leo, Festivus, and doing the opposite. We said goodbye to Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer. The final episode...
by David Krell | Apr 5, 2015 | David Krell
In the 1990s, NBC dominated with a powerful lineup of programs, including Seinfeld, Friends, and ER. Homicide: Life on the Street, while overflowing with quality scripts, story lines, and actors, did not bathe in the glitz factor of NBC’s other shows. Still,...
