Thoroughly Modern Mollie

Sorry about not getting the opportunity to post anything of substance today—as if this blog actually has substance—but TVShowsOnDVD.com has an announcement I thought I would pass along to the Britcom fans of TDOY’s readership (both of whom could fit in a phone booth and have room left over for Mo’nique). VEI of Toronto is bringing the Mollie Sugden sitcom That’s My Boy (1981-87) to…

“The loud, crude, boisterous, brawling days…when the West was a shameless hussy and men fought to win her!”

Joan Walsh—editor-columnist at Salon.com—posted a blurb the other day about a donnybrook raging on at The New York Times’ Op-Ed pages between liberals Paul Krugman and Bob Herbert and conservative David Brooks and Ronald Reagan biographer Lou Cannon regarding the interpretation of the infamous 1980 campaign stop near Philadelphia, Mississippi by then-Republican Party presidential nominee Reagan. Reagan, in what…

Putting the charm in Charmin

The passing of character actor Dick Wilson at the age of 91—ninety-one!—will no doubt bring back fond memories of the man he’s best remembered for playing; namely, “Mr. Whipple,” the grocery-store manager who was the pitchman for Charmin bathroom tissue from 1964-1985. The tag line for each commercial, “Don’t squeeze the Charmin,” has been indelibly tattooed…

“Mom…Dad…I’m home…”

I’m going to have to give Harry Heuser at Broadcastellan another shout-out for passing on the news that Ronnie Burns, the adopted son of George Burns and Gracie Allen, died this November 14th at the age of 72. I have said this often—perhaps too often—in the past, but I still vociferously argue that George and Gracie’s television show, despite…

“When they grip their guns…you’ll grip your seat!”

A recent sales flier from VCI Entertainment resulted in my purchasing some cherce DVDs on sale…though several of the discs were backordered and so the whole DVD enchilada didn’t arrive at the House of Yesteryear until earlier this week. To be honest, I did not purchase these directly from VCI; I took advantage of the sale and found them…

Holding hands and pitching Wu

Michael F. Blake is not only an Emmy award-winning makeup artist, he’s the author of three must-read books on actor Lon Chaney—the “Man of a Thousand Faces”—which can all be found at arm-and-a-leg prices at Amazon.com (since they’re all out-of-print). In addition, he was the go-to guy on TCM’s documentary Lon Chaney: Man of a Thousand…

One fine Day

Laughing Gravy mentioned this in a discussion thread over In the Balcony, but it was Harry Heuser at Broadcastellan who provided me with the news that actress Laraine Day has left us at the age of 87. (Check out this version of the obit from a New Zealand paper, which seems to suggest that Day let herself go in later years to the…

A kiss before dying

When I heard the news of country singer Hank Thompson’s passing, I mentioned it to my father who, I was pretty certain, would be familiar as to who Thompson was (in the past, when I’ve informed him of a celebrity obit, it’s not uncommon for him to say: “Huh?”). He shook his head sadly and…

Murder, he watched

“In exactly 55 minutes, I will be dead,” high-powered defense lawyer Craig Carlson (Raymond Burr) intones into a reel-to-reel machine…and he’s not messin’ around, boy—he’s purchased the gun and ammo at a pawnshop before the opening credits of Please Murder Me (1956). Carlson then tells the story of how he had to have “the talk” with best…

“I’ve been lookin’ for a girl every Saturday night of my life…”

Frequent TDOY commenter and long-time online chum Pam has sent me an e-mail that informs me of Oscar-winning director Delbert Mann’s passing. He was 87. He’s perhaps best known for his 1955 Academy Award-winning film Marty (which also won awards for actor Ernest Borgnine and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky), a production that he first introduced as a television play in…