It may be hard to believe, but “I Love Lucy” is still funny—as millions who have seen it on TVLand (I still call it Nick at Nite) can tell you. Back in the 50s, it was the first television show to feature a woman it its main role. (Hey, it was even eponymous.) My folks never missed an episode of “Lucy”–or the Ed Sullivan show. In the days before cable, almost everybody watched these shows. They used more slapstick than most contemporary shows, but it was good slapstick.

I didn’t know that producer Desi Arnaz (Lucy’s husband at the time the show first aired and who played her Cuban bandleader hubby, Ricky Ricardo) invented the re-run. He did it during Lucy’s (Lucille Ball) pregnancy. In those days, you couldn’t say “pregnant,” you had to say “expecting.”

Watch the old episodes closely and you’ll catch references to Phillip Morris cigarettes, the show’s sponsor. In one of the funniest episodes from this memorable early TV comedy, “Lucy Does a TV Commercial,” Ms. Ball dresses up as Johnny the Bellhop, the Phillip Morris icon.

At least on the Internet and TV re-runs. Before there were movie marathons, there were Saturday mornings at local movie house that kicked off with ten free cartoons, an episode from a movie serial like “Superman,” followed by a double feature. Among the cartoons thee were sure to be several “Loony Tunes and Merry Melodies.” What a shelf life these classic animated shorts have had.

Good old Bugs Bunny was the best of all the Loonies. He was one of the first anti-heroes (later we had “Bugsy,” whose name must have somehow derived from “Bugs”), a walking contradiction, half con man, half lovable innocent. The same crazy rabbit who kept asking, “What’s up, doc?” also said: “Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out alive.”

And what cartoon character ever had a funnier nemesis than the stuttering, clueless Elmer Fudd. I laughed at Looney Tunes all through childhood. So did my kids. Their kids will too.

Here’s a taste of the great Bugs in action on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrPDzH0AlpE&feature=related

Pop Candy reports that Seth Green (Oz in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) will have a guest stint on the third season of “Heroes”!

I actually love Seth Green* (even tho “Robot Chicken” is very hit or miss!), especially his guest appearances on television shows. He was hilarious on “Entourage” as the wannabe it guy who tries to out-cool Vince. He even was a breath of fresh air on “Grey’s Anatomy” this past season, even tho they totally killed his character off! Guess that’s the chance you take when you take a guest role on a hospital drama. Hopefully, Seth Green’s addition will be lengthy, which can only help liven things up on the newly subtitled season, “Heroes: Villains”.

Not caught up? Check out G4 TV for re-runs or buy the extras filled “Heroes” season two dvd on August 26th.

*Airborne and Can’t Hardly Wait gave him a pass from me for life!

“Home Movies” is a hilarious cartoon about three eight year old kids (Brendan, Melissa, and Jason) who love to remake popular movies with their home video camera. The low-fi spoofs, especially the ones that feature original music by Scab*, are beyond ridiculous with the homemade costumes and props. Brendan is always the director and takes harshly to criticism, despite his young years. Still, my favorite moments in the series are the scenes where I find myself cracking up at Coach McGuirk, the kids’ soccer coach who is one the most immature adults ever put to screen.

Coach McGuirk in his “element”:

Actually, most of the adults on the show are generally acting crazy. Brendan and his friends simply sit back in awe. Brendan’s mom, Paula, is always saying inappropriate things in front the kids about how she really needs to get laid or is fat. Brendan assumes the role of friend or parent and always consoles her. Same thing goes for Melissa’s Dad who is an eccentric single parent. As for Jason’s family, they’re so weird he’s ashamed of them and avoids them at all costs.

Watch random episodes of “Home Movies” on AdultSwim, which airs on Cartoon Network. Or own the gang’s cinematic masterpieces on dvd. Beware, sadly, only the first season was done in squigglevision.

*corrected

I spent a good portion of my weekend delving into NBC’s 2008 Olympic coverage. I missed the opening ceremony, but luckily my friend tivo-ed all 4 hours of it for me!

Even when I left the house, everywhere I went people were talking about or watching the Olympics. I attended a birthday party yesterday and most of the guests (including the birthday girl) were huddled around the Samsung lcd television. We were mesmerized by the events, even the ones I didn’t care for like kayaking and water polo. Typically, I only make a point to watch the gymnastics, swimming, and diving events. But force me to watch Olympic sports on an HDTV, and I’m glued to the screen for the rest of the day!

Related Links:
BWE’s Top 8 Photos from the Opening Ceremony
Large high resolution photos of the Opening Ceremony (Boston.com)
Official Beijing Olympics coverage at NBC

When Lindsay Wagner hit the (then) little screen back in the 1970s with “The Bionic Woman”, she gave a whole new meaning to the term “bi.” The series was an instant hit and its title became a brand name. So it was somewhat inevitable we would one day have a sequel. And like so many recycled TV series, this one is no big deal. But then I’d have to think a long and hard—or have a bionic brain–before I could come up with any re-make that is better or even as good as the original.

Michelle Ryan is okay as Jamie Sommers in the new version, but she plays a supporting role. The special effects take the lead. If you’re 16, you won’t be bored. Otherwise, the overdose of gratuitous action sequences may not be enough to keep you from dozing ff in your vintage Lazy Boy. You have to care about the characters to give a damn if they survive their near death experiences. Iron Man does a better job at characterization.

[Read more →]

What ever happened to Dennis Franz? His portrayal of Detective Norman Butz in “Hill Street Blues” is etched so deeply into my cerebral cortex that I was stunned to learn that his character appeared in only 16 episodes. (Earlier in the series, he played dirty cop Sal Bendetto in a few episodes but I barely recall Frantz in that role.)

Veronica Hamel as Joyce Davenport and Daniel Travanti as Capt. Frank Furillo were certainly memorable, but they starred in 98 and 99 of the 146 episodes to lodge themselves into my memory. Franz takes up more space in my brain, and he did it with many fewer minutes onscreen.

In a largely unanticipated move for television,  Steve Bochco was given creative freedom that allowed him to push the envelope. With the series’ debut in 1981 (it ran through 1987) they let him experiment with each episode, the series almost resembled a portfolio:

• A story arc that covered anything from several episodes to several seasons
• A grittier more realistic feel than previous cop dramas
• The use of hand-held cameras that gave the show a documentary feel
• The language used was more “real” and seemed less “scripted” than what he had been used to before
• Episode takes place over a single day, anticipating “24” and other later shows

The dialogue was so crisp, I wasn’t surprised to learn that one of America’s premier playwrights, David Mamet, wrote some episodes. I want to go back and watch the show again after writing this. It was a true “disruptive” bit of programming. There would have been no “NYPD Blue” (also a Bochco project), “Homicide,” or even “ER” without the earlier popularity of HSB. I t may be just about the right time to get to where it all began.

Before Jessica Alba was in big budget movies like The Love Guru, she starred in James Cameron’s “Dark Angel”, a sci-fi action television series on Fox.

During the two seasons of the show, Max Guevera (Alba) was a bike messenger by day and rogue special agent by night. The tv show was set in a near future post-apocalyptic America where Alba’s character was engineered by the government to be a super soldier that had cat dna enhancements. One minute her character would be delivering a package, and the next she’d be fighting off agents with her super strength and flexibility. All the while never losing track of any of her bike gear and important packages.

She had an on and off again relationship with Logan (Michael Wetherly), a sometimes wheelchair ridden political activist. Together, they would fight to take down the militaristic post-apocalyptic government that loves to experiment on humans and then throw them to the wind. Jensen Ackles (CW’s “Supernatural) played Alec, a selfish rogue agent who helped out Max only when it was profitable. I enjoyed his character way more than Logan’s or Max’s, especially in the second season, when he brought some much needed comic relief to this heavy sci-fi melodrama.

Ultimately, the show ended with a giant cliffhanger where Max was supposedly the messiah that would rescue the world from its post-apocalyptic condition. Unfortunately, James Cameron never got to flesh out that character development, since Fox decided not to renew the show in 2002 for a third season.

Alan Ball, the creator of “Six Feet Under”, has a new HBO show about vampires living openly in the present day called “True Blood”.

From Alan Ball’s interview on HBO.com:
“It’s based on a series of books written by Charlaine Harris, and it takes place in a world where vampires have made their presence known to humans. They’ve come out of the coffin, so to speak, because of the development by a Japanese biotech firm of synthetic blood for medical purposes, which the vampires claim fulfills all of their nutritional needs. So they’ve organized, and they’re struggling for assimilation and for equal rights.”

The series focuses though on Anna Paquin’s character, Sookie Stackhouse. She’s a telepathic waitress who befriends one of these newly outed vamps in a small Louisiana town. Hmm, I guess that could prove interesting. However, those faux TruBlood beverage ads confused the heck outta me until I realized it was plugging HBO’s new show. Will viewers be able to tell when Ball is being serious or funny? Will he be able to balance the horror elements with the satire of society?

All I know for sure is vampires are no stranger to the television series format, see “Angel”, “Forever Knight”, or CBS’s now cancelled “Moonlight”. Thus, I’m sure a few fans of the genre will be tuning in on September 7th when the series premieres to weigh in on Ball’s take on the vampire mythology.

As you may have noticed, my mission to write about every television show of note has become quite a task. There’s just so many eras and hidden gems I keep digging up every day. Lucky for me, Martin Grossman has joined the television revival cause!

If you read his reviews of “The Riches” and “Mad Men”, you’ll see that he’s right at home here on Television Revival. He is in the know about current tv shows and will contribute a few insightful tv revival posts on the weekends.

Say what’s up to Martin in the comments below.

(image source: PopSci)