speedracer5
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Posts posted by speedracer5
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There's always the episode of The Simpsons when Bart and Lisa, tired of the declining quality of "The Itchy and Scratchy Show" decide to write their own episode. The episode, which takes place in a barbershop depicts Itchy (the mouse) cutting Scratchy's (the cat) hair. Itchy ends up pouring a box of flesh-eating ants on Scratchy's head, reducing it to a skull. Itchy raises the barber chair up and up, sending Scratchy's head through the ceiling and through Elvis's (who apparently lives above Itchy's barbershop) TV. Elvis says "Eh, this show a'int no good" and shoots Scratchy's skull through his TV screen.
This gag was produced in the 90s during all the "Elvis is still alive" rumors that were floating around.
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I really liked Darkblue's idea over at the "Most Memorable Classic Performance" thread, so I thought I'd take it and create a new thread.
There are many characters who have been portrayed by multiple actors throughout the years: Robin Hood, James Bond, Phillip Marlowe, just to name a few.
Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, George Lazenby, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig. All James Bonds. Whose "James Bond" is the definitive one? Most, I imagine will say that Sean Connery "owns" that role.
Or, another way to look at this question:
Whose interpretations of a particular role are so iconic and so memorable, that it is unlikely that another actor will ever be able to replicate it and surpass it?
There were many actors and actresses considered for the coveted roles of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind. Can anyone really envision anyone else but Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in those roles?
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For me, Errol Flynn is Robin Hood. While many throughout the years (Douglas Fairbanks, Daffy Duck, Disney's Robin Hood, Cary Elwes, Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe) have all been Robin Hood in their respective films, nobody personifies the legendary Robin Hood as well as Errol Flynn. He brings forth a charismatic, attractive, athletic, strong, cocky, intelligent interpretation that nobody else has been able to since (or in Douglas' case, prior). In Costner's interpretation, it seems unlikely that anyone in Sherwood Forest would listen to him. He lacks the screen presence to make it believable that anyone would follow him in his fight against The Sheriff of Nottingham (although, I love Alan Rickman's "Rock n' Roll" interpretation of this role).
Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine in Casablanca is so iconic, I cannot imagine anyone else in that role. Who else would be able to make "Here's looking at you, kid" such a romantic line? Bogart's Rick Blaine is the ultimate romantic hero. Though a cynic, Blaine also has a soft side, but won't compromise what's right in order to satiate his romantic side. Though he loves Ilsa, he knows that she's better off with her husband. While he would love to send Victor off by himself and keep Ilsa, he knows that she's not safe in Casablanca and that she needs to be with her husband. That iconic scene in the airport between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, probably one of the most romantic scenes in all of Hollywood, yet the two characters don't end up together.
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I agree that this question is difficult to answer. I liked Darkblue's idea of stars whose renditions of a particular role are considered "the definitive version."
I don't know if I want to interpret this question in terms of skill, or in terms of iconic, or what. I don't think I could narrow down my selections to only two Oscars. There are so many great performances out there that are great in different ways. I would award an Oscar to many people and performances.
I'll try to come up with a couple selections:
Lead Roles:
ROSALIND RUSSELL- Auntie Mame
MONTGOMERY CLIFT- From Here to Eternity
Supporting Roles:
GEORGE SANDERS- All About Eve (I know he won the Oscar, but it was well deserved)
THELMA RITTER- All About Eve
*I think almost everyone deserved an Oscar for All About Eve
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Oh, man, chipping his tooth on Cracker Jack. He WAS having a bad day!
I remember the time (and this is true, no joke) when I broke off a part of a tooth while eating some Smarties. (I think the tooth was cracked previously from some bristle while eating a steak). In any event, out popped half of my tooth while eating that candy treat. I don't recall if I said "Oh. My. God." at the time.
Now that I think of it, I can't remember if he cracked his tooth on the popcorn itself, or whether he accidentally ate the prize and cracked his tooth on that. Nonetheless, he was eating Cracker Jack that was originally found half eaten, on a park bench, which was then wrestled away from a dog.
I once cracked a tooth in half on the crust of a slice of pizza. Fortunately, it was a tooth that ended up having to be pulled anyway when I had braces. I probably said something to the effect of "Oh My God." It's a very versatile phrase that could be applicable to a variety of situations.
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I also have DVD sets of TV series that I like.
I currently have all seasons of BEWITCHED, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, DEGRASSI JUNIOR HIGH, DEGRASSI HIGH and THE LUCY SHOW (which I like better than I LOVE LUCY in some ways although there are individual episodes of I LOVE LUCY that I love and can watch over and over).
I also have all seasons of more recent shows like SMALLVILLE, 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN (finally the original unedited broadcast versions of the first and second seasons were released), THE COMEBACK (great HBO show that lasted only one season but I heard that it is, uh, coming back) and FREAKS AND GEEKS (another great show from the late 1990s that lasted only half a season and was finally released on DVD with no music cuts --- which explains why it cost a bit more for a short season but it was worth it).
I was going to buy RHODA on DVD until I learned that the edited syndidated episodes were being released.
For some series it seems that music is an issue because the music rights can be expensive.
I was going to buy ROSWELL on DVD until I learned that other songs had been sustituted in some instances for the songs that were used when the episodes originally aired.
On THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW DVD release I think there was only one music substitution. This was during a Christmas episode from the first season where a character originally was whistling "White Christmas" but some other non-specific whistling was dubbed in for the DVD release. I was not happy about this but I was willing to live with it since it was the only such substitution I am aware of for THE MTM SHOW. I am so glad they were able to afford the rights to "Ten Cents Dance" on the THE MTM SHOW episode "Rhoda the Beautiful." Phyllis's rendition of the song is one of my favorite moments from the entire series. I love Cloris Leachman!
One great bonus of the DVD releases is having the complete unedited episodes. On my BEWITCHED and THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW DVDs, for example, there are parts that were edited from the syndicated versions that aired on Nick-at-Nite (to make room for more commercials) that are included on the DVD episodes. It's especially fun to discover moments from BEWITCHED that I never saw on the syndicated Nick-at-Nite airings.
I forgot, I also have all of FREAKS and GEEKS. I love that show. It was definitely one of those "canceled before its time" type shows. I also have all of SAVED BY THE BELL (even the "Tori" episodes, lol) and MR. BEAN. I have the first season of DEGRASSI JR. HIGH. I love that show. I didn't realize that RHODA was edited. I haven't seen it enough (nor did I see it in its original run, came out before I was born) to know what scenes are missing.
Prior to I LOVE LUCY being released on DVD, I used to watch the show on Nick-at-Nite, TVLand and occasionally on other channels. I didn't realize that things were cut out, because those were the versions I was used to seeing. I actually had the entire series recorded on VHS. What a pain to have to fast forward through commercials. When I got the DVDs, I remember being amazed at all these extra scenes and jokes that I hadn't heard before. I learned that the DVD versions was the way the episodes were meant to be seen. Now, if I see I LOVE LUCY on TV, I can barely watch them because of all the missing scenes.
Re: Phyllis singing "10 Cents a Dance" in THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW. I love that scene. That whole episode is hilarious. But I love Phyllis' song. It is so random and has nothing to do with what Mary and Rhoda are doing: looking for something for Rhoda to wear in the pageant. I know that Cloris Leachman has her detractors, but I love her on TMTMS. She is hilarious.
My favorite episode of TMTMS is the one where everything goes wrong for Mary: A cowlick in her hair has gone awry and permanently is sticking up, she sprains her ankle after falling on freshly waxed floors while trying to walk to the bathroom to fix her hair, she gets a cold from soaking her foot, the dry cleaner stains the dress she was planning on wearing to "The Teddy Awards," her date bails on her and she gets tricked into going with Ted, she borrows this horrendous dress from Rhoda to wear, she drops her phone in her foot water, her hair dryer breaks while she's trying to get ready for the awards banquet, she gets a run in her stocking, she has to wear one slipper and one shoe to the awards because of her sprained ankle, it starts raining outside and she has to wear a yellow rain slicker because Ted won't share his umbrella and she steps in a puddle. Of course, she wins the award, and has to give a speech. She opens her speech with: "I normally look so much better than this" and ends with "I'm sorry." Then she gets her award, and her name is misspelled. Of course it is.
What I love about TMTMS is the cast and the writing. The cast they assembled for this show is perfect. In the fifth season, Rhoda is gone and Phyllis departs a little later. Normally, losing two major characters would leave a hole in a show. However, they were able to fill the void by making Betty White's Sue Ann Nivens a regular character and increasing Georgia Engel's Georgette role. The focus shifted from Mary's home life to Mary's work life. Mary was moved from the studio apartment to a 1 bedroom closer to work. All the characters have fleshed out back stories and experience growth throughout the series. Even Ted Knight's Ted Baxter, who started off as a character intended to be the butt of everyone's jokes is able to have some of his own storylines and gave his character some depth.
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It's been a few years since I saw The Out of Towners but, yes, I remember quite enjoying it.
Jack Lemmon, among other things, gets a whistling thing going with his teeth, doesn't he? But I remember thinking that the crown jewel of the film was Sandy Dennis' sweet yet wonderfully beleagured performance, which includes her frequent proclamations of "Oh. My. God."
In fact, doesn't the film end with Dennis saying those words a final time?
Yeah. Jack Lemmon chips one of his teeth on stale Cracker Jack that he and Sandy Dennis ate after spending an evening in Central Park. Dennis finds a half-eaten box of Cracker Jack on a bench. They are then attacked by a dog, who steals the Cracker Jack. Lemmon manages to wrestle the box away from the dog, who by this time, has eaten most of it. He laments how his smile has been ruined and how he'll have to go to his interview with whistling teeth.
The "Oh My God" was funny. Because really, if you end up in one absurd situation after another, there comes a point when "Oh My God" is the only thing you can say or do. I do believe that Dennis says "oh my god" when the plane is hijacked.
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speedracer said: I remember when I was in middle school, I discovered Nick at Nite one night and watched I Love Lucy, Bewitched, The Munsters, I Dream of Jeannie, and so on.
It warms the cockles of my heart to know these shows reached beyond their time to a new generation. It amazes me that any kid could get "hooked" into these old TV shows, I thought they were a product of their time and only held a nostalgia factor for us olde folk.
That alone deems them "classic" If other cultures enjoy them too, they truly ARE classic.
Eventually, the Nick-at-Nite shows started moving to TVLand (which was fine) but then TVLand went to the darkside with all of their "original programming." The focus on classic television went away--which is why I am excited about getting Me-Tv back soon.
I do not understand why this happens. ALL stations seem to do this....the History Channel creating Ice Road Truckers? It must be sponsors/money. But why wouldn't you want a commercial spot during Andy Griffith-a popular show with great values? I really really hope ME TV stays in it's format.
I hear ya about Nick At Night....I still have my "block party" magnet you could send away for- I loved "Sgt Joe Fridays". I really hope someone gets ALL IN THE FAMILY for repeats, it was a brilliantly written show with memorable lead charactors, often featuring great charactor actors.
I prefer watching "episodes" to DVD box sets anytime.
Re: shows that retain popularity across multiple generations.
I completely agree with this. Look at I LOVE LUCY. Easily one of the most popular television shows of all time. It debuted over 60 years ago and is still popular. CBS' annual I LOVE LUCY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (which started last year) must be doing well if they did a second special this year. ME-TV must be getting a decent sized audience if they're able to continue on as a channel and have be making enough of a profit to keep picking up new shows for their channel. I think there is an interest in older shows, not just the shows now. I would love to see more classic television shows (or even not as classic, but still great) fill the airwaves and maybe purge these idiotic reality shows that are on.
Re: Channels changing formats and creating reality or competition shows:
I have to think that the History Channel creating Ice Road Truckers is purely money driven. While I would much rather learn, apparently other people want to watch trucks attempt to drive over frozen lakes. The Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel used to have great shows on that were actually interesting. Occasionally, The Discovery Channel will show something good, like when they aired BBC's Planet Earth a few years ago. History Channel had an excellent mini-series, The Men Who Built America, detailing the men who were the United States' early entrepreneurs and businessmen who made the United States what it is today. A&E used to show one of my favorite shows--Biography, and now it shows things like Mob Wives and Gene Simmons' Family Jewels.
(I was that kid who used to set up episodes of Biography to record on the VCR. I also remember recording a mini-series about the 1950s on tapes as well).
Thankfully, PBS still remains in the hands of the public and is non-profit, so we still have that channel. I'm looking forward to getting The Smithsonian Channel back, because they have a lot of great shows. It's a shame that so many once great channels have succumbed to creating these ridiculous, insipid reality shows and spinoffs of reality shows. MTV has completely fallen by the wayside. Are they still calling themselves "Music Television" ? I think to get music on VH1, you have to watch VH1 Classic. I love watching shows where you can learn, or at least be entertained. Reality shows do not entertain me--neither do most of the competition shows. I just can't stand listening to the ridiculous, petty, contrived drama.
Thank goodness for channels like TCM, ME-TV and PBS.
RE: Block Party Summer.
I loved Block Party Summer. As a middle schooler-early high schooler... I wasn't really going out nights during the summer, so I was always excited to find out the schedule. I remember one year were "Kotter Fridays" and I had to find something else to do, because I hated that show. Sometimes, I'd luck out and every day would be something awesome, but usually, there was at least one dud. I remember Saturdays, because Nickelodeon's "All That" and other programming ran later into the evening, so Nick-at-Nite didn't start until 10:00pm. I used to do other things until then, and then 10 rolled around and it was time for two episodes of I Love Lucy and then an episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. Saturdays were the only day you could see TLDCH. I remember hearing that Princess Diana had died while I was in the middle of my Lucy Saturday viewing.
Re: All in the Family.
I remember when I think TVLand first acquired this show, I didn't think much of it. I didn't like Archie and I thought Gloria was annoying. I liked Edith, but felt bad for her. I think at the time, I might have been too young and it may have gone over my head. I know that the show was timely for the 1970s, so I'm sure it'll seem a little dated, but I should probably give it a chance. I've found that a lot of the 1970s programming with the exception of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda didn't appeal to me. Now that I'm older, I may have a different opinion.
I wish someone would pick up Night Court. I loved that show. I'd also like to see Rhoda and The Dick Van Dyke Show again.
Thankfully, I have Netflix and they have a bunch of shows that you can stream instantly.
Re: episodes vs. DVDs
While I've discovered a lot of shows purely by watching just episodes on TV and there are some shows that I just watch on TV when they're on. I'll have to admit, that if it's a show that I really like and can see myself watching over and over, I will buy the DVDs just so that I don't have to wait for them to air. I do own I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Brady Bunch and Gidget in their entirety. When I'm doing something like cleaning or cooking and just want some background noise, I tend to put my TV Show DVDs in, so that I have something to listen to and can follow for the most part without watching. I also have seasons of The Lucy Show, The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched and The Golden Girls. I almost picked up The Munsters yesterday, but ended up putting it back in favor of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, rationalizing it by remembering that The Munsters is on Netflix right now.
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Me, too, speedracer.
I think my favorite Nick-at-Nite shows were BEWITCHED and THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (which was a well-wriiten show but had episodes written by several writers over the years so there were continuity errors such as Ted Baxter's changing famiily history and Rhoda's siblings---she had brothers [2 maybe?] and a sister named Debbie on THE MTM SHOW but on RHODA she seemed to have only one sister named Brenda. I think seeing these shows daily exposes these errors more than it did when they were seen once a week over a period of years in first run.).
A local Chicago station used to show THAT GIRL reruns on Sunday mornings and I watched those as well as SAVED BY THE BELL ("I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so . . . scared . . ." is my catch phrase). TBS used to show SAVED BY THE BELL and MAMA'S FAMILY reruns on weekday mornings and I watched those.
Of course I also loved my first-run prime time shows from the 1990s like ROSEANNE and 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN as well as my WB/CW shows in the late 1990s and 2000s such as ROSWELL (the first season was the best), SMALLVILLE and SUPERNATURAL.
My current favorite shows are BATES MOTEL (love it!) and GIRLS (which had a reference to THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW on the first episode). I would say that the Rhoda-esque character is the main character of GIRLS with the Mary-like character as her best friend. Well, the best friend is actually kind of a cross between Mary and Phyllis while the lead character is a cross between Rhoda and Phyllis. The MTM SHOW spinoff series PHYLLIS, with an unsympathetic character as the lead character of the show, was very much ahead of its time. It predates CHEERS (which was created by the head writers of PHYLLIS) and SEINFELD, which both had unsympathetic characters as the leads of the shows.
My favorite Nick-at-Nite shows were probably: I LOVE LUCY, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, and I DREAM OF JEANNIE. However, I loved most everything they showed except for WELCOME BACK KOTTER, TAXI, and THE MONKEES. I loved RHODA, I remember watching that on TVLand. I think Nick-at-Nite also showed THE LUCY SHOW at some point (or maybe that was TVLand?) that I got hooked on watching. I also loved watching THAT GIRL and THE ODD COUPLE.
I remember a channel (maybe local, I don't remember) used to show reruns of HERE'S LUCY and MAMA'S FAMILY. I loved MAMA'S FAMILY. It was hilarious. I wish some station would start playing it again. I also liked watching CHEERS, THE GOLDEN GIRLS and NIGHT COURT.
When I was in middle/high school, I loved watching the nighttime soaps like MELROSE PLACE and BEVERLY HILLS, 90210. I also kept up on FRASIER and SEINFELD. I loved 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN. What a ridiculous show.
My favorite new shows to watch right now are BIG BANG THEORY and PORTLANDIA.
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Are you sure it was her voice that gave you this impression, Speedy, OR maybe those TEETH of hers you brought up here that subconsciously gave you this impression about her somehow being or acting British???
(...'cause one of the old ongoing jokes about those folks over there on that little island off the coast of mainland Europe where they use that superfluous letter 'u' HAS always been somethin' about their TEETH, ya know, and even though word LATELY is that they've made GREAT strides in the field of Orthodontics over there these last few decades!!!) LOL
Lol. Perhaps her teeth played a role in it. Except, I don't think her teeth are bad persay, they're just really long? If that makes sense.
I just could have sworn that she sounded one way at the beginning of the film and by the end, when she's yelling at Jack Lemmon after he gets mad at her for giving his watch to the bum, she suddenly sounded like she had a British accent, or at least one of those Mid-Atlantic accents like Grace Kelly has.
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I kind of enjoy this conversation.....what TV shows past/present are important to us. Can you imagine a time traveler from 200 years ago listening to us? People hotly discussing delight and disappointment over TV shows as if a matter of life or death.
Maybe television is an art form....it certainly evokes emotional responses in us like literature and paintings did throughout history.
I agree television is an art form (at least with entertaining shows. Which of course, "entertainment" is subjective). Unlike in films, where you have a longer time frame to set up a story, plot devices, character introduction, etc. with situational comedies, for example, you have about 20 minutes to create an entertaining story with an exposition, climax and resolution. Of course, there is always "...to be continued..." but even those cases, the show has to have some sort of cliffhanger to get people to care enough to come back next week to see what happened. Then with situation comedy, with consistent characters, settings, etc. the writers have to make sure to maintain some continuity and remember plot points, character information, etc. that was brought up in another episode. Even one of the best shows of all time, I Love Lucy, has quite a few continuity errors. Ethel has three different middle names. Carolyn Appleby is Lillian Appleby in an earlier episode, then is Carolyn for most future episodes, except in one of the Hollywood episodes, she is referred to has "Lillian" again.
I remember when I was in middle school, I discovered Nick at Nite one night and watched I Love Lucy, Bewitched, The Munsters, I Dream of Jeannie, and so on. From then on, I always made sure to have my homework done by 8pm so that I could watch "my shows." I had to catch 'Lucy' every night, because it was my favorite. However, I loved watching these shows, they were so much fun and didn't try too hard to be anything more than entertaining. I remember during summers, Nick-at-Nite used to do "Block Party Summer" in which they'd do mini marathons of a different show each weeknight. There were "Munster Mondays," "Lucy Tuesdays," "Jeannie Wednesdays," "Mary Thursdays," etc. I used to look forward to each summer when Nick-at-Nite would announce the schedule. I remember one year, Monday was going to be "Monkee Mondays" (which I thought that show was dumb) and halfway through the summer, it was replaced with The Munsters. TV Shows would come and go on the channel and I discovered other shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, The Beverly Hillbillies, Rhoda, and so many more. I also loved Nick-at-Nite because they used to create these "vintage-inspired" jingles and graphics that would play between shows.
I absolutely loved Nick-at-Nite and was sad when it started to go by the wayside and started adding newer shows. TVLand used to be good as well. They would show old commercials for existing products, episodes of Laugh-In, Love American Style, and all kinds of interesting programming. Eventually, the Nick-at-Nite shows started moving to TVLand (which was fine) but then TVLand went to the darkside with all of their "original programming." The focus on classic television went away--which is why I am excited about getting Me-Tv back soon. I'm to old television shows as I am to TCM. I've discovered so many "new" television shows and movies through these two stations, I'm so glad they exist.
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I really liked this movie. I'm a big fan of Jack Lemmon and I hadn't seen this film before it aired last night as part of the Friday Night Spotlight. I like Neil Simon's films. His comedic situations don't seem contrived. While some of the situations in The Out of Towners were definitely absurd, they came about in a realistic fashion. It is believable that a couple, from an environment much different than NYC, could find themselves victims of crime, unware of city politics (like the transit and garbage strike) due to naivety and plain annoyance that seemingly simple things (like checking into a hotel, that you had reservations for) are so difficult. Of course, Lemmon's stubborness exacerbated many of their problems. If it were me, and the plane was fogged in at Boston, I would have taken the room and tried to catch the 7am flight. If I was crazy enough to try and get to NYC at night on the crowded train, then I would have waited in the hotel lobby until 7am when I would have been given a room. On the flipside though, we wouldn't have had a very long film if Lemmon had taken the most realistic option.
For whatever reason, I was upset that he turned his dream job down. I feel that after all that they went through to get to that interview and all the perks that his job offered, I personally would have taken it if I were Lemmon's character. However, I can understand why they chose their Ohio life over the hectic NYC life. The mugging, kidnapping and being chased through Central Park by a mounted police officer would be traumatizing.
The end of the film was interesting. It almost seems like it could have set up a sequel. They end up in Havana and have to figure out how to get home.
While I'm a big fan of Lemmon, I am on the fence about Sandy Dennis. I was only introduced to her last month in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? On one hand, I found Dennis kind of annoying in 'Virginia Woolf' but kind of funny at the same time. I had the same impression of her in this film. Her teeth bother me, I don't know why. It's a rather shallow thing to be irritated by. I also found it interesting that her accent seemed to change throughout the film. I know she's American, but at times in The Out of Towners, she sounded British!
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I really liked her Elly May character on The Beverly Hillbillies. She seemed so sweet and genuine. She wasn't nuts like Granny, or an idiot like Jethro, she was just a nice girl who loved her critters. I also liked Elly May because even though she was pretty and seems harmless, Elly was a badass.
I'm sorry to hear that she passed away from something as horrible as pancreatic cancer.
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I wonder if someone from TCM did the new ME TV schedule?
ME TV dropped ADAM 12 from their lineup, that was one ME TV show I watched regularly (unless something really good was on another channel) . Fortunately THIS TV is still showing HIGHWAY PATROL regularly (I record those for later viewing). You can see I am a big fan of old cop shows. 
I know back in the day on the TVLand website, they used to report when specific shows were going to be removed from the station. The news blurbs would basically state that their contract with Viacom (or whomever owned the show in question) was expiring and they were unable to reach a deal to keep the show on the air. I believe that like TCM, these channels lease the television shows for a specific length of time. If they aren't able to renew and the contract lapses, then the show will disappear.
Perhaps this is what happened with Adam-12?
P.S. If you have Netflix, Adam-12 is a show you can watch on instant streaming.
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I'll have to agree that ME-TV does not cut into TCM's viewership. They're completely different types of channels. If there isn't anything that I want to watch on TCM and there's something I want to watch on Cartoon Network (for example. Yes, I like to watch cartoons) then I'll watch that. I would never say that Cartoon Network is a direct rival of TCM. I'll agree with the consensus that if anything, ME-TV would be more of a rival for TVLand who is a pitiful shadow of its former self. ME-TV shows the shows I used to watch back in the day on Nick-at-Nite and TVLand (when it was a new channel and actually showed old television shows).
I used to have ME-TV when I had Comcast (or Xfinity, or whatever they call themselves these days) and I really liked the channel. I would watch it when they were showing something that I wanted to see, or when I was home sick from work. One day, while home sick, I watched an entire afternoon of pet-themed shows-- some shows like Lassie, Big Valley and The Donna Reed Show that I had never seen before. Antenna-TV is a similar channel, except I think ME-TV is slightly better. I liked Antenna-TV though, because it used to show Gidget with Sally Field that I enjoyed.
Looking at ME-TV's list of shows they now air, I'm looking forward to when I get to move into my new house and set up my cable again. I've always wanted to see The Carol Burnett Show and now I see it's on there. I also really liked Big Valley with MISS Barbara Stanwyck and I want to see more. I also like That Girl, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Odd Couple and am excited they have those as well.
The only problem with ME-TV and many of the other channels that have syndication packages for specific shows is that they do air edited shows, such as with I Love Lucy. I've seen every episode a gazillion times and I've noticed the ME-TV episodes had parts cut out. However, I Love Lucy was produced before commercials were really a thing (granted, Lucy and Desi did commercials in between acts of their show) and the episodes are a few minutes longer than the standard 22 min (or maybe it's 24?) that most shows run. Perhaps later shows do not have running time issues as they were produced with commercial breaks in mind.
With ME-TV, TCM and Cartoon Network on the air, then my TV viewing options will be satisfactory. I don't need anything else.
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Like Arturo stated, the fashions 50s ushered in "femininity" with low cut tops showing off feminine assets like bosoms and clothes were constructed to show off and/or create the illusion of a small waist and curvaceous hips. The likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe all rose to prominence (Granted, Elizabeth Taylor was already a star, but the 50s were when she was an adult and had adult film roles. Many of her films, like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, show off her assets to their highest potential).
(I think I'd feel more at home with the 40s fashions, as there isn't a powerful enough Wonderbra in the world to make my b ust look like Jane Russell's or Marilyn Monroe's. Lol.)
It seems with trends, whether it's Marilyn Monroe's tight curve showcasing dresses, Lucille Ball's casual polka dot house dresses with belted waists and flowy skirts, Audrey Hepburn's little black dress, it seems to be the stars (or their stylist) that either start or popularize the trend. I realize that fashion basically goes in waves and old styles will be resurrected decades later in a new way that seems modern (like right now grunge from the 90s is back). In the early 00s, it seemed that 80s fashions were coming back. The 70s had the 50s nostalgia and so on. While the consumer may help keep trends going, they had to be introduced at some point.
(This makes me think of a scene in Mean Girls, where Lindsay Lohan tries to sabotage the queen bee and embarrass her by cutting two holes in her shirt, so that her bra shows through the front of her shirt. It backfires though, when the queen bee sees the holes, shrugs her shoulders and wears the shirt anyway. The wannabees at the school see this, and soon, everyone is wearing their shirts with holes cut out of the front.)
I imagine a lot of the time, the trend started on a runaway or because a photo of a popular star went viral and people wanted to copy the look. Coco Chanel, in the 1920s, was photographed at the beach in a pair of trousers and from then on, women began wearing trousers. Chanel admitted that at the time she wasn't trying to be fashionable, she was trying to be modest. In lieu of being seen in a swimsuit (or swimming costume as they were called back then), she was wearing pants. Back in the day, stars had to dress the part and were always dressed nicely. Studios would have never permitted their stars to go out dressed in stained sweatpants with a "Flashdance" style shirt. Going out dressed like a slob would destroy the illusion of glamour that studios had built up. Even people who weren't anyone still dressed like they were someone famous. I doubt a talent scout back then would have wasted their time "discovering" someone dressed in pajama pants and slippers.
Nowadays, stars are seen photographed in pajamas, stained/holey clothes, yoga pants, leggings with no underwear, etc. The public is emulating these "styles." I'm not sure if the stars started this trend or they're just wearing what seems socially acceptable. It's the chicken vs. egg scenario here I guess. Also, back in the day, stars typically wore their own clothes to events. Stars with bad taste were deemed "worst dressed star in town." Wearing bad clothes was bad publicity. Nowadays, wannabe starlets (or desperate has-beens) will purposely wear something outrageous (see-through, skimpy, made of only strings, etc.) just to get publicity. No such thing as bad publicity I suppose. I have to think these people probably keep getting invited because they bring publicity to the event.
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Here's a link that some of you may enjoy--it's a fashion blog. This particular section is about the insane outfits some celebrities wear in public...It's kind of fun.
I love this blog! I read it everyday. Lol.
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I love the swan frock. At least it wasn't another blah gown. And fashion should be fun! I remember Lee Grant wearing a vintage wedding gown to the Oscars one year (I think she won) and read that one year Joanne Woodward made her gown. It's more fun to see what they concoct themselves than seeing stylists putting it together for them from head to toe.
Agreed. That's most of the reason why I watch the award shows, to see what people are wearing. Seeing nice dresses are not nearly as much fun as seeing the bad ones.
I really hope the stars go for color this year. Beige, black and white gowns are so blah. Unless they're ugly beige, black and white gowns!
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Come to think of it, dark socks don't look good with sandals either. Then add
those smooth, hairless, pale legs and it's time to look away. I don't like to wear
socks, so I try to hold off as long as I can before I absolutely have to wear them
for winter.
Black Socks and Sandals is somehow worse than white socks with sandals. Black socks, white tennis shoes and shorts is an abomination in my opinion. I don't like wearing socks or shoes either, I try to wear them as long as possible. Once our weather starts to hit 70... maybe high 60s if it's also sunny, I start wearing sandals with my jeans.
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There are some people that has no shame.
In the cases of award show fashion, often times the stars have stylists that pick gowns out for them, or at least work with the star to choose something. Designers also will send clothes to a star to wear, hence the famous question asked on the red carpet: "Who are you wearing?" The award shows are as much about advertising a designer's clothing line as it is about movies. Stars like Charlize Theron who have been hired to represent a specific designer (in Theron's case, Christian Dior) will typically only wear that designer's clothing. Some of these designer/star collaborations work well: Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy for example... and others are not so successful. Sometimes a star will also work with someone and design their own gown, with mixed results. I believe Kim Basinger at one Oscars ceremony wore some bizarre white gown with one sleeve and the bodice was part jacket w/ collar and part typical ballgown neckline. Demi Moore I think also designed her own outfit: it was a mullet-dress, bustier top, and to complete the ensemble, she wore bicycle shorts underneath.
Prior to the 1990s, stars for the most part wore their own evening attire (though I believe Cher worked with Bob Mackie on her creations). Thus, their outfits were usually less elaborate and didn't end up on the worst dressed list as often.
I really hope Bjork designed that swan dress herself. As awful as it is, it is kind of amazing as well.
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Dargo, on 28 Dec 2014 - 2:10 PM, said:
speedracer, any idea what Tina Louise has to do with the Mile High Club?
I wouldn't be surprised if she were a member!
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Thanks, speedracer.
Under the heading of 'how exactly did kids from the 1950s make it to adulthood?', I used to eat Cocoa Krispies with Reddi-Whip.
Lol. That sounds awful, but strangely delicious.
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Have you ever heard the Sugar Crisp bear?
Do they still make Sugar Crisps?
As a connoisseur of junk cereal, I can confirm that Sugar Crisp is still around. I cannot remember what the bear sounded like however. I remember there being Sugar Crisp commercials when I was little, but it seems like crappy (but delicious) kids cereal commercials aren't as prolific as they once were.
I think this cereal is now known as Golden Crisp.
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And no again! THAT is the lousy actress who I once boarded on an airliner around the mid-90s, and who gave me the impression that she thought her know-who-what didn't stink because she was some kind'a big star or somethin'!!!
LOL
Tina Louise always seemed like she'd give off that impression. In my opinion, Mary Ann wins the whole "Ginger or Mary Ann" debate.
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I caught this when it aired earlier this month. I found it really interesting. Although, I really like most of the American Masters programs, so I was expecting it to be good. I don't really care what Bing may have done (or didn't do) to his children. I try to just judge people based on the type of work they do on the screen. While I can't say that I go out of my way to see Crosby, I've always enjoyed his performances. I like his "lingo" that he uses in White Christmas and Holiday Inn. Like when he tells Rosemary Clooney in 'Christmas' to "bring the cow" (i.e. milk) over to the table.
While I knew that he had been arrested for crashing his car after an evening of drinking very early in his career (the late 20s), I also didn't realize that he was a drummer prior to being a crooner. I also didn't realize he had such a prolific singing career before getting into movies. It's a shame that his first wife had so many problems and died so young.
I also found his friendship with Bob Hope interesting. I knew that they were friends and figured that they socialized outside of their films. I was surprised to find out that they only got together when shooting a movie or appearing together in something that was business related.
I haven't heard much of Bing's music outside of his Christmas songs and handfuls of some other of his songs that I've heard, but like Sepiatone, I do find his music relaxing. Much of the "crooner" music (Crosby, Sinatra, Martin, etc.) is very calming and I enjoy most of it. Some of the songs don't "grab" me, but I love their voices.
ME TV dropped ADAM 12 from their lineup, that was one ME TV show I watched regularly (unless something really good was on another channel) . Fortunately THIS TV is still showing HIGHWAY PATROL regularly (I record those for later viewing). You can see I am a big fan of old cop shows. 
Stars Who "Own" Their Role
in General Discussions
Posted
I'd have to agree. While I'm not as familiar with the 30s monster films, I'd have to say that Karloff and Lugosi are the most definitive interpretations. Lugosi definitely brings the spooky quality required in Dracula. Lugosi's accent definitely aided in his portrayal. What did you think of Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker's Dracula?
Though, I love Peter Boyle's Frankenstein monster in Young Frankenstein, or Fred Gwynne's in The Munsters (ok, I know it's TV), but recognize that those are a different type of interpretation.