by David Krell | Jul 18, 2013 | David Krell
Like most television shows, The Brady Bunch is a fantasy. How many families have superstar athletes and iconic entertainers visiting their homes? Unlike most television shows, The Brady Bunch is a tremendous instructor of life lessons. Premiering on ABC in 1969 and...
by David Krell | Jul 17, 2013 | David Krell
If music be the food of 1960s television sitcoms, play on. In the 1960s, the Beatles captained a British invasion across the Atlantic Ocean. John, Paul, George, and Ringo inspired sitcom versions of themselves after their first American television appearance on The...
by David Krell | Jul 16, 2013 | David Krell
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then James Bond should be very flattered indeed. Bond’s popular culture icon status inspired spoofs, parodies, and parallels aplenty. Roger Moore portrayed Bond in the 1970s and 1980s. He also portrayed a Bondish...
by David Krell | Jul 14, 2013 | David Krell
James Bond has gadgets that would make Thomas Edison green with envy for not inventing them. Q, of course, monitors Bond’s gadgets from conception to execution. The exchanges between Q and Bond reveal how and why the gadgets can be used. Later in the film,...
by David Krell | Jul 13, 2013 | David Krell
When President John F. Kennedy declared Ian Fleming to be a favorite author, he unknowingly triggered a popular culture trend. Kennedy’s statement established Fleming’s creation of fictional spy James Bond as the standard against which spy genre...
by David Krell | Jul 8, 2013 | David Krell
Popular culture loves its icons. Archie Andrews is one of them. He doesn’t have superpowers like Superman or Spiderman. He’s not a vigilante like Batman or the Lone Ranger. He can’t save the universe like Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. He’s just...
by David Krell | Jul 7, 2013 | David Krell
On this date in 1954, the Memphis airwaves debuted a singer. And rock and roll was never the same. The singer was Elvis Presley. WHBQ played his rendition of That’s All Right on July 7, 1954. Recorded two days prior in Sam Phillips’ Sun Records studio,...
by David Krell | Jul 6, 2013 | David Krell
Clayton Moore is synonymous with the Lone Ranger. He played the character in The Lone Ranger television series that aired on ABC from 1949 to 1957. But he wasn’t the only actor to do so. Moore departed the series after the second season, only to be rehired a...
by David Krell | Jul 5, 2013 | David Krell
The Lone Ranger’s origin is a story of vengeance. Captain Dan Reid of the Texas Rangers leads a squad to pursue legendary outlaw Butch Cavendish. A double-crossing guide leads the Rangers into a trap at Bryant’s Gap. Cavendish’s gang then ambushes...
by David Krell | Jul 4, 2013 | David Krell
The Lone Ranger represents the American ideals of justice, strength, and courage. His ruggedness, a staple of the hero prototype in American westerns, parallels John Wayne’s film characters, James Arness’ Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke, and the Cartwright boys...
