voranis

> {quote:title=markbeckuaf wrote:}{quote} >Later a gangster spoof I've never seen before with my main man Broderick Crawford, and one of my favorite dames, Claire Trevor, in STOP YOU'RE KILLING ME (1952)!! Sounds like fun! This is followed in the wee hours by a Raft flick I've never seen before, a crime/noir, RED LIGHT (1949), with another of my favorite sexy dames, Virginia Mayo!!! And Raft, man I love everything that dude is in! He rocks! Really looking forward to this one! Broderick Crawford was a hoot in Stop, You're Killing Me. He dominates the screen no matter what he's in. Also in Red Light was another of our main men, Perry Mason himself! (Raymond Burr), and a favorite of mine, Barton MacLane (General Peterson from I Dream of Jeannie ). Robbie

Mark, Did you happen to catch Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen from TV's The Adventures of Superman ) in Three Sailors and a Girl tonight on TCM? He played one of the sailors. That was a real treat. I don't see him in too many films on TCM. Robbie

Tonight TCM is showing a film I enjoyed a lot when it first premiered in theaters: Awakenings, starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, with the always-great supporting actress Julie Kavner, and another favorite of mine, Penelope Ann Miller, plus Max von Sydow, and directed by Penny Marshall. Robin Williams gives one of his few more restrained performances, which is a refreshing change. This movie may not be a classic in the traditional TCM sense, but I enjoyed it a lot. If you like drama, check it out. Robbie

> {quote:title=VP19 wrote:}{quote} > I did an entry on "Manton" today: > > http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/411434.html I enjoyed reading it. Regarding the "fur fetish," I usually don't care much for fur coats (and I certainly prefer that faux fur be used today), but for some reason I love Stanwyck in a fur coat, like in this movie, and when I recently saw her in The Gay Sisters. But I like her best with a haircut that has bangs, and wearing a fur coat, as she did in The Gay Sisters or Christmas in Connecticut. I agree, Hattie McDaniel may give the best performance in the film. I will watch a film just to see her in it, like Zenobia or the Janie movies. I have never failed to enjoy a performance by her in any film. She has a lot of screen presence that can say something comedic and serious both at the same time. The first time I saw this film, I remember thinking that it had a Carole Lombard "feel" to it. So it was interesting to read the comparison to Lombard's work. Great entry! Robbie

> {quote:title=LoveFilmNoir wrote:}{quote} > Robert Mitchum was made for film noir! > > I can watch "His Kind of Woman" 5 times in a year and never get bored. > > Lucky Vincent Price he also got to star in two noirs with Jane Russell, the other being "The Las Vegas Story" which TCM will be airing on her bday tribute next month. > > Price is such a hoot in this movie too. > > I live for these movies!! Jane Russell is really scintillating in The Las Vegas Story. It was hard for me to take my eyes off her; she steals every scene! She's just electric on the screen, sizzling with every beat. I definitely think of film noir when I think of Mitchum. Undercurrent, Out of the Past, Crossfire, The Racket, Macao, Angel Face, Night of the Hunter, Cape Fear ... Cape Fear is one of my favorites. I saw the remake first, which I thought was pretty good, then I saw the original with Mitchum, which was much better... Robbie

> {quote:title=markbeckuaf wrote:}{quote} > Don't miss the films coming up tomorrow...wow, what a lineup!!! First there are those B westerns, BAD LANDS and SON OF THE BORDER, then a B WWII flick, ESCAPE IN THE DESERT, and then wow! The heavy hitters: THE PETRIFIED FOREST, THE KILLERS, WHERE DANGER LIVES, HIS KIND OF WOMAN, THE BIG SLEEP, CRIME IN THE STREETS, and SIDE STREET!!! What a day!!! Totally rocks!!! If only I can get my DVR hard drive cleared off in time! :-)

I caught all the Maureen O'Sullivan films yesterday. It was a very good day on TCM. Thursday looks good too. My favorite from Monday was The Mad Miss Manton, because of Missy, of course! I have a recording of Slim already so I didn't watch it again, although it is an interesting film. My DVR hard drive filled up and I didn't get most of I Died a Thousand Times, but I caught the last 30 minutes or so. The cinematography was beautiful and I loved the color of it. I didn't see enough of it to know if the story was good or not. But I really like Jack Palance--he's played some great bad guys. Robbie

> {quote:title=hamradio wrote:}{quote} > Others has mention "Freaks", how can that movie be disturbing in this day of age, ever seen some really shocking or strange stuff on the Discovery Health Channel? Imagine the shock some cop will get for pulling these girl(s) over for a broken taillight! > > Chicken woman at the end of "Freaks" I think is the funniest thing I've ever seen in a horror movie. At least the sideshow won't run out of any eggs for breakfest. Probually where that Broadway expression came from (it laid an egg ) > Yeah, I didn't find Freaks disturbing at all compared to what's shown today.

> {quote:title=slaytonf wrote:}{quote} > "Freaks," yes that is a disturbing movie. "The Exorcist," aside from the grossness was also disturbing for me. I felt "The Silence of the Lambs" excessive, silly, and ultimately unbelievable. Although, I have to admit I was fooled by the switcheroo Hannibal Lechter pulls to make his escape. I usually catch those things. Interestingly, I wasn't fooled by the switcheroo. I knew something was wrong because I didn't think Lechter would actually leave any of his victims alive. I agree the movie was excessive. I don't know that it was unbelievable. Wasn't it based on a real story? How much did the film vary from what actually happened? The key for me to understanding Lechter's success was his unusual strength. Apparently he understood this too as he was shown exercising in his cell to maintain that strength. I found The Exorcist far more silly and unbelievable than The Silence of the Lambs.

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote} > This film took up too much time with the fights between Mr. and Mrs. Sturges. It took up more than half of the film before we saw any ice at all, then we saw the berg for less than about 2 minutes, in just two or three shots. > > This director was a good one, but someone made a mistake by not allowing the film to take up more time with the actual collision, the assessment of the damage, and evacuating the ship. I'll bet that's why the British film, "A Night to Remember" (1958), was made 5 years later, and it is a much better film. That's the one TCM airs. Yeah, A Night to Remember is generally considered the better film. I do remember now thinking the last time I saw Titanic that it was taking up too much time with the romance (or lack thereof) between Stanwyck and Webb. I did think TCM had aired Titanic before, even if it usually airs A Night to Remember. TCM has never aired Titanic? Of course, James Cameron's Titanic spends most of the time on Jack and Rose. I remember even with the Cameron film, I was more interested in the captain, issues with the structure of the ship, and the collision than I was in the relationship between Jack and Rose, and I was disappointed there was not more focus on that. I was rooting for L.A. Confidential to win the Oscar that year over Titanic, but it was not to be. > > Ok, now back to TCM for Joan Bennett. > > Yikes! She's blonde at the beginning of the film! It has been interesting seeing Bennett as a blonde this evening.

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote} > I thought "Hard to starboard" meant the bow was to turn right?? But in this case, and the real case, the bow turned left (port). > > Do you know about this? > > Maybe the term means move the rear of the ship hard to the right. "Starboard" is the right side of the ship, so I thought "hard to starboard" mean to turn the bow of the ship right. At least, that's what I always thought it meant when Captain Kirk said it. :-) But it looks like your guess is correct; I found this on Wikipedia about the Titanic: "First Officer Murdoch gave the order "hard-a-starboard", using the traditional tiller order for an abrupt turn to port (left)..."

> {quote:title=sfpcc1 wrote:}{quote} > THIS shows a lot of beach movies. I know they've aired Dr Goldfoot And The Bikini Machine, and How To Stuff A Wild Bikini. They play a lot of American International Films. THIS has also aired Muscle Beach Party and Beach Blanket Bingo and It's a Bikini World. Yes, I'd rather watch them uncut on TCM, but it's nice to watch them on THIS since TCM has not played them in a while. TCM did air the some of the beach films in 2008, including Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, and Beach Blanket Bingo .

> {quote:title=misswonderly wrote:}{quote} > As far as I can tell, *The Rocking Horse Winner* was an entirely British production. You say the film has a "...weird horror vibe- a nightmarish, disorienting sort of quality." > Yes, you nailed it - that's a great way to put it. > > Personally, I like a lot of British films; I suspect what you mean by the "simpering" quality some have is that "Oh, do be a brick and stay for tea. I say, Mummy, let's have some more scones.." type of dialogue . "I'm most awfully glad the garden is in bloom" etc. I can get over that, though. > I tend to like the British films of that era. The Rocking Horse Winner was great, as was The Eye of the Devil, as was its predecessor, The Curse of the Demon. The uneasiness in some of these British films is often so subtle it seems to operate on a subconscious level. One of the British Hammer films, Quatermass and the Pit (titled Five Million Miles to Earth here in the U.S.), which has been shown on TCM, had some of the subtle uneasiness operating in the beginning that seemed to operate on the subconscious level. The characters all seemed to be feeling something but didn't realize it. I didn't like the ending of the movie so much, but the slow build in the earlier part of the film was great. Another British film made I like a lot that doesn't get much attention is The Family Way with Hayley and John Mills. It's not suspenseful like the aforementioned films, but I liked the understated nature of the film.

One of the most disturbing films I ever saw was Silence of the Lambs. I saw it in a theater when it first came out, and I think seeing a movie in a theater, as it is meant to be seen, has a greater impact on the viewer than when being watched on the small screen. As someone once said (I think it was screenwriting professor Richard Walter, but I am not 100% certain), romantic comedies seem to play equally well on the small screen as on the big screen, but epics, thrillers, action movies, etc. seem to have greater impact on the big screen. He cited Citizen Kane in which he said Orson Welles used as series of shock cuts that were designed for maximum impact on the big screen. Also sound--theaters have big sound, and that can have a greater impact, and that was also important in Citizen Kane. He noted that generations of younger viewers who saw Citizen Kane for the first time on TV often did not understand why it was considered such a great film, until they eventually had an opportunity to see it on the big screen, which seemed to make a difference. I say all this because I may have seen movies on TV that might have disturbed me more had I seen them in a theater, so it is hard for me to make a fair evaluation of all the movies I have seen. All I know is that Silence of the Lambs was not only physically violent, shocking, and suspenseful, but it was also had a lot of head games going on, so it was operating on multiple levels. I was haunted by that movie for weeks afterward. I realize it is a great film--any movie that leaves a big impact is usually a great film--but I doubt I will be up to watching it again. :-) Another one that disturbed me a lot was What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Not very gruesome the way Silence of the Lambs was, but again, the head games that Bette Davis used on Joan Crawford really got to me. And when the maid, who looked liked she was strong enough to beat the living daylights out of Bette Davis (and I was hoping she would), is about to be killed, and Joan Crawford is trying to warn her but can't...the whole thing was really edge-of-the-seat stuff for me. Robbie

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote} > Tonight a rare showing of > > Barbara Stanwyck in > > "Titanic" > > On THISTV, 8 PM EASTERN TIME And it has a second showing on THIS at midnight, EDT--at least, in my area it does. I know the THIS schedules can vary depending on the affiliate, but Titanic has two showings on THIS in my area tonight: 8 p.m. and midnight. Very cool!

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote} > TONIGHT > > THISTV, Broadcast TV > > RARE SHOWING > > "TITANIC" with Barbara Stanwyck, 1953 > > Barbara Stanwyck > Richard Basehart > Clifton Web > Thelma Ritter > Brian Aherne > Robert Wagner > > 8 PM EASTERN Looking forward to it! I logged in to post about it and saw Fred had beat me to it! There is also a second airing on THIS at midnight tonight (EDT), at least in my area there is. I know THIS schedules can vary depending on your affiliate. This aired on TCM a long time ago, didn't it? I haven't seen it on the air in a long time... Robbie

> {quote:title=markbeckuaf wrote:}{quote} > TVLand hasn't been very good for a number of years now. They've been in steady decline. I had them after they had added commercials (I think they were commercial free for a while?), but they were still fairly decent for a while, but then yep, all the pop-ups and annoying compression of the end credits, even the opening credits, I think sometimes? They are worthless to me now and I don't even check their listings anymore, not with TCM, THIS-TV and Retro-TV! I have to admit I also try to catch The Beverly Hillbillies and I Dream of Jeannie on WGN occasionally. I see ME-TV has The Beverly Hillbillies and I trust that it will be done well there! These sub-channels are great, actually! Mark, TV Land used to be commercial-free in the beginning, except they would run promo spots for their shows and "Retromercials," which were old classic commercials like "Where's the beef?" and Alka Seltzer's "Plop plop, fizz fizz." MeTV now runs special promos reminiscent of some things TV Land used to do. They even have a montage with current stars Ed Asner, Carl Reiner, Betty White, Anson Williams, Kathy Garver, John Ratzenberger, George Wendt, and Marion Ross all saying "Watch me, on MeTV!" Near the end, it comes back to Betty White, who shrugs her shoulders and says, "And, of course, me!" and she acts very vain in keeping with all the publicity she's gotten recently, and then it cuts at last to Marion Ross, who says, "Sit on it." It makes it look like Marion Ross is telling Betty White to sit on it. It's all in good fun and this is the kind of stuff TV Land used to do. There are other separate individual commercials with Betty White, Ed Asner, Carl Reiner, etc. There's even a nice little spot with a picture of Mary Tyler Moore's picture inside a TV set in her apartment, and you hear Mary Tyler Moore say, "Aww, Mr. Grant, wouldn't it be fun! Lots of fun!" with the theme music playing in the background. MeTV has some very nice commercials for their shows. First TV Land began shrinking the credits. Now for some shows the closing credits are just plain text which runs in a translucent banner at the bottom of the screen while the episode is ending. So if you want to catch an actor's name in the credits--assuming you can read them, as small as they are, and as fast as they fly by, you have to miss the ending of the episode while you study the credits. Of course, the music is totally gone in such cases. I watched Bewitched, Jeannie, and The Beverly Hillbillies on WGN from time to time. At least even with the credits at split screen, you can still hear the closing music. I have been watching The Beverly Hillbillies on MeTV since we got it. > > I was wondering if the My Three Sons would be the early 5 years with Bub or later with Uncle Charley. I discovered the first 5 years when Nick At Nite (which used to be awesome in the late 80's and early 90's!) aired them. Awesome stuff with Bub (William Frawley)!! I sort of figured it would be the color episodes, but we'll see if they'll air those others too eventually. Also TV Land ran the original My Three Sons with William Frawley in a big promotional block in 2000. It was unusual in that the episodes were shown uncut, and to do it, TV Land had to air them across the half-hour slot. An episode would run in about a 40-minute slot. Both Williams were good (Frawley and Demarest) and I love seeing them in old movies on TCM--they seem to show up in boxing or gangster films a lot! Sometimes they're playing agents or policemen or hoods! I think I like Bub O'Casey better, but I grew up only being able to watch the Uncle Charley episodes in syndication. It wasn't until Nick at Nite that I found out about the original eldest son Mike played by Tim Considine, and grandfather Bub O'Casey. Some of the shows that used to be Nick at Nite staples, like Patty Duke and Mister Ed, run on THIS, while other Nick at Nite staples like Dobie Gillis and Car 54, Where Are You? are running on MeTV. Now, TV Land sometimes runs shows across the hour or half-hour mark, not to show them uncut, but because they have to add more commercials. And their schedule is so unpredictable. Monday nights they often pre-empt their TV programs with a movie (come on, it's TV Land, not Movie Land!), unless they decide to do the movie on Friday night. They sometimes do a movie on Monday mornings, pre-empting all shows before noon. The rest of the week they may show The Jeffersons at 9 a.m. and Good Times at 9:30 a.m. Or, they may show The Jeffersons from about 9:15 a.m. to 9:47 a.m. and then go right into I Dream of Jeannie, not showing Good Times at all. They also show huge blocks of the Normal Lear sitcoms, Roseanne (at one time they were airing six hours of Roseanne on Thursdays and critics were called it "The Roseanne Network") and Bonanza (three hours of it in the afternoon!), presumably because it's cheaper to purchase fewer shows and air them more, than it is to run a bigger variety of shows like MeTV does. It's no wonder TV Land is losing viewers with such erratic scheduling. One of the first things I noticed about MeTV is that their weekday schedule is consistent. The same show airs every day, Monday through Friday, at the same time. This makes it easier for viewers to stay with a show without having to check a schedule every day (because we're too busy checking the TCM schedule every day! :-) ). However, if you want to catch Marshal Dillon in order, you have to watch it from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. and also at 1:30 a.m., so that's a little hard to keep up with because it airs at two different times during the day. It also airs on the weekends at a different time, so again, trying to watch the episodes in order is hard unless you DVR them. > I'm kind of looking forward to ME-TV now! I also broke down a little while ago and purchased the complete Leave It To Beaver set, so I'm good there. I purchased the complete Leave It to Beaver set after Shout! Factory finally released it (we had to wait many years after seasons 1 & 2 were released to get more seasons or a complete set--thank goodness it was turned over to Shout! Factory which seems to understand how to do TV on DVD), but I still enjoyed watching it live on RTV. I will miss that. Robbie

> {quote:title=markbeckuaf wrote:}{quote} > Hi Robbie, > yes, I'm a bit bummed that I'm losing RTV, but I perused the Me-TV site and wow, they have a great lineup! Of course the jewels are Perry Mason and The Untouchables, as we've discussed, but there are some great sitcoms and other series I'm looking forward to! I'm digging that I will get to see the 1/2 hour early Gunsmoke episodes, and many of the sitcoms look great! I'm also happy to see they have Hawaii Five-O (the original and only one that I like!)! > > I should be grooving to it! And thankfully, I still have THIS-TV and Highway Patrol! > > I will miss Leave It To Beaver, Bachelor Father, The Munsters, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Hour and a few other shows from RTV, but I'll enjoy them while I have them! Mark, Yeah, MeTV has a great schedule site--you can even go back and look at previous month's schedules! I was able to go all the way back into December of last year (trying to see if they air the B&W "Bub O'Casey" episodes of My Three Sons or not--right now they are in the color "Uncle Charley" episodes). And, if I may be a little snarky right now, MeTV's schedule page is a simple page with the summaries all listed and no buttons to click--like TCM's old schedule pages! :-) I am missing Leave It to Beaver from RTV too. It's the only place left to watch it--TV Land dropped it a few years ago. I believe the only classic TV show TV Land still airs that has B&W episodes is The Andy Griffith Show. Besides it was better watching Leave It to Beaver on RTV so I could enjoy the closing theme music... I have been enjoying the half-hour B&W Gunsmoke episodes too (titled Marshal Dillon for syndication) and MeTV also shows the color hour-long episodes too, but without popups and credit smashers at the end like TV Land shows them. Frankly, the picture quality of them on MeTV seems better than on TV Land anyway. It's already terrible that channels like TV Land and Hallmark clobber the closing credits and music--but do they have to have annoying popups in the middle of the episodes too (like "TV Land Awards this coming Sunday" or "Hallmark Little House Marathon this Saturday). I am easily distracted and the popups are annoying. Between the half-hour B&W Gunsmoke episodes and the color hour-long episodes on MeTV, and the B&W hour-long Gunsmoke episodes on Encore Westerns, I can now enjoy every season (I think) of Gunsmoke on one channel or another! Because it is going to take forever for them to release all 20 years of Gunsmoke on DVD. I also love the original Hawaii Five-O and having been watching that on MeTV too. I have the first six seasons on DVD but have been watching the later seasons on MeTV. Between MeTV, THIS, and TCM, I have my hands full. I tried watching the new Hawaii Five-O on CBS but the two main actors seemed dull and wooden, and I don't like the "jerky camera" technique they use on that and some other modern shows--it makes me dizzy... Book 'em, Danno! I was told when I was younger that I looked exactly like Danno from the original Hawaii Five-O. One of the employees at a restaurant I used to have dinner at after work said every time they saw me coming, the cook would say, "Here comes Danno!" I had never watched Hawaii Five-O at that time so I didn't know whether that was good or bad, and to this day I'm still not sure. And yes, we still have Dan Mathews on Highway Patrol, thank goodness! Robbie

> {quote:title=lzcutter wrote:}{quote} > Newspapers bank obituaries of beloved stars so they can be prepared when the news breaks. > > MrCutter used to be an editor for a major nightly news broadcast and says that news organizations also bank visual obituaries of beloved stars which they update periodically so that when the beloved star does pass away, they have it all but ready to put on the air. > > It would make sense that TCM's On-Air department would follow a similar course. Lynn, How does TCM decide which stars they are going to "bank" and which they don't? Do you think they had one "banked" for Elizabeth Taylor? Robbie

> {quote:title=kingrat wrote:}{quote} > Mark and the gang, > > Did any of you get to see Gladys George in *Madame X*? I'd never seen her in a lead role before, and I enjoyed her performance quite a bit. She shows the phases of Madame X's life very well, with an excellent variety of vocal delivery, and she communicates the emotions effectively. I saw it. I've always liked Gladys George, but like you said, I'd never seen here in a leading role before. This was a real treat! Robbie

> {quote:title=sewannie wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=voranis wrote:}{quote}> > > Joan Bennett, IMO, was a great actress who may not have gotten as much recognition as she deserved during her career. I really loved her in There's Always Tomorrow with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck (my absolutely favorite actress). > > > > Robbie > > That's a movie that I think I'd like...love Joan Bennett and Barbara Stanwyck. I can't say she is my absolute fav but ranks in my top 5. sewannie, It's available on DVD now. I had an old VHS recording of it from AMC (back when AMC was much better than it is now), but I have waited years for it to come out on DVD. It's part of The Barbara Stanwyck Collection: http://shop.tcm.com/product.asp?sku=D81394&directHit=1 Robbie

> {quote:title=redriver wrote:}{quote} > I should be banned from talking about INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN anymore. I've said too may times that I simply adore this wonderful fantasy. It may be the most under appreciated movie of all. Did ME TV originate in Chicago? I used to watch it there. Enjoyed movies, PERRY MASON and MAVERICK. Yes, MeTV used to be only in Chicago and nearby areas. Earlier this year, they began to go nationwide. It is being distributed by MGM, which is also the distributor for the THIS network. I believe this is why our local station replaced RetroTV with MeTV--our local station's sister station runs THIS, and both THIS and MeTV are distributed by MGM, so that probably had something to do with their decision to switch to MeTV. I hope MeTV's sister channel MeToo will go nationwide as well at some point... Robbie

> {quote:title=sewannie wrote:}{quote} > *Mark*, as usual, I'm very glad to see your upcoming groovy flix post. I don't like to plan my TCM viewing/recording without it. Oh, and I'm the same way, I read Mark's post to help plan my viewing for the week. Sometimes I'm a little afraid to read it because there may be so much groovy stuff for the week that I may not be able to watch or record it all. :-) But I read it anyway, because it has so much helpful info, and I'm certainly "addicted" to TCM. Thanks, Mark! Robbie

> {quote:title=sewannie wrote:}{quote} > The Joan Bennett films will probably be my favorites this week. I've been a fan since I first saw her on the gothic soap DARK SHADOWS. sewannie, That's when I first became of fan of Joan Bennett, watching Dark Shadows. Then thanks to TCM and PBS I discovered all her great work in film. With some exceptions, like you and me, I think a lot of fans of Dark Shadows have a bad impression of her because of the flubs that they didn't have time to reshoot. Jonathan Frid, Joan Bennett, and Grayson Hall sometimes flubbed their lines and the show didn't have the budget to do a retake, and I think some viewers allowed that to influence their impressions of the actors' acting ability. The truth is that most actors do that occasionally, and we never see it because most shows and films have the budget to do a retake. Joan Bennett, IMO, was a great actress who may not have gotten as much recognition as she deserved during her career. I really loved her in There's Always Tomorrow with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck (my absolutely favorite actress). Robbie

> {quote:title=markbeckuaf wrote:}{quote} > Hi Robbie! > > Prompted by what you mentioned about ME-TV replacing RTV in your area, I did some google snooping and discovered they plan to do the same thing here as well. Starting June 13th. I wish they could just keep both!!! Darn! Oh well, I will look forward to seeing some of the shows on ME-TV as I haven't seen Perry Mason or The Untouchables for years! I did purchase a couple of the Perry Mason sets, but haven't had time to watch them yet, and I just did get the first half of the first season of The Untouchables, but haven't received it yet. > > Thank you for the description of The Untouchables! I haven't seen it since I was a kid, so I'm sure I will probably enjoy it more than I did then, I have a feeling, based upon your description! It sounds a bit more like Peter Gunn--another show I enjoy from RTV. I also dig on HIGHWAY PATROL, but that's largely carried by Broderick Crawford's intense presence, as well as the focus on crime with each episode. I agree, it's not really noir, but more of a police procedural, which often have similar tone with noir, in some cases, and of course have crime and criminals usually in play. > > So I guess I'm a little sad we'll be losing RTV, but happy to see what ME-TV will bring! I think I'll visit their website to get a preview, but thank you for letting me know about The Untouchables and Perry Mason being on there! Mark, Sorry to hear you are losing RetroTV as well. I keep hoping another local station in my area will pick it up on one of their digital subchannels, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe it will happen in your area! MeTV has a lot more sitcoms and westerns than RetroTV, and I don't know if you like those genres as well, whereas I like a lot of the classic sitcoms, so I fear it may be more of a net loss for you than it was for me, but at least it has Perry Mason and The Untouchables. I'll be interested to hear what your thoughts are on The Untouchables after you watch it--if you have time to! :-) I know what it's like, I've got quite a few DVDs I purchased that I haven't gotten to watch yet. I'm still trying to get to the TV Detectives DVD I bought after I read your great review of it. In fact, I think I'm going to try to watch an episode of that today! BTW, you said you hoped I liked it despite the video or sound quality of some episodes not being very good--the fact is I don't care as much about video or sound quality as I do about a good story, so I'm sure I'm going to like it! I hope you like The Untouchables. I will feel pretty bad if you have bought the DVD because of what I said and then it turns out you don't like it. I will probably have to send you a refund... I agree, Highway Patrol is more of a police procedural with some noir elements. Broderick Crawford is what really makes the show. He is no-nonsense, but with some style that you don't see in many modern police procedurals, like when the bad guy says, "You'll have to come in and get me," and Crawford laughs says, "You better believe I'm gonna come get you." I don't know that Stack's Eliot Ness has that kind of style. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on a comparison of the shows. Peter Gunn and Mike Hammer were great on RetroTV--I am missing them. Robbie