by David Krell | Apr 30, 2013 | David Krell
Carl Reiner created The Dick Van Dyke Show as a parallel to his own life as a television comedy writer. Indeed, Reiner initially played the main character, Robert Petrie, in a failed television pilot. CBS rejected the pilot, Head of the Family, but aired it as part...
by David Krell | Apr 29, 2013 | David Krell
A logical nexus can be drawn between the 1973 film American Graffiti and the television show Happy Days, ABC’s prime time juggernaut that debuted in 1974. Drive-In hamburger stand. Rock and Roll. Teenagers. Ron Howard. Actually, the conception of Happy Days...
by David Krell | Apr 26, 2013 | David Krell
Julie Newmar’s sex appeal as Catwoman on the 1960s television show Batman stemmed not only from a statuesque figure, a skin-tight outfit, and a beautiful visage. Newmar’s self-assuredness was a powerful force, too. In The Twilight Zone episode Of Late I...
by David Krell | Apr 25, 2013 | David Krell
Ginger or Mary Ann? It’s a question that’s puzzled baby boomers and Generation Xers that watched Gilligan’s Island, a show that lasted three years on CBS (1964-67) and enjoyed a thriving life in reruns in the 1970s and 1980s. Ginger Grant was a...
by David Krell | Apr 24, 2013 | David Krell
The success of the James Bond franchise during the Cold War inspired several imitators. Like any trend, the spy genre invited parody. In the 1960s, especially. Get Smart partnered Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, with a woman possessing the combination of brains and beauty....
by David Krell | Apr 23, 2013 | David Krell
Honey West only lasted the 1965-66 season on ABC, but it proved that a sexy, sassy, smart woman can be just as good a private detective as the guys from 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside Six, or Bourbon Street Beat. A spinoff, Honey West began with Anne Francis playing the...
by David Krell | Apr 22, 2013 | David Krell
Who would you rather have as your other half in romance, marriage, and domesticity? A witch or a genie? Elizabeth Montgomery played Samantha Stephens, a sorceress of sorts in Bewitched. It aired on ABC from 1964 to 1972. A housewife, Samantha had powers exceeding...
by David Krell | Apr 20, 2013 | David Krell
Warner Brothers churned out animation during World War II like an assembly line. Its animated short films injected optimism into the American spirit. In Super Rabbit (1943), Bugs Bunny takes on the persona of the title character, a parody of Superman. He battles the...
by David Krell | Apr 9, 2013 | David Krell
42: The Jackie Robinson Story opens in theatres on Friday, April 12th. The date is appropriate — nearly 66 years to the day when Jackie Robinson made his official debut in Major League Baseball on April 15, 1947. He played, of course, for the Brooklyn...
by David Krell | Apr 7, 2013 | David Krell
Tarzan takeoffs conquered comic books. Naturally. When something is worth parodying or paralleling, it’s worth parodying or paralleling as much as possible. The comic book arena provided another platform for creators to capitalize on Tarzan’s...
