DVR-TiVo-Or whatever recording device strikes your fancy-alert!

Before I get on my knees and grovel for forgiveness for having neglected the blog for so long, I thought I’d post this little heads-up concerning some comedy one- and two-reelers which you might want to jot down for viewing and/or taping. (I realize it’s cutting it close, but I didn’t stumble onto this info until…

The most trusted man in America…

…apparently passed away while I was watching a mini-marathon of Ma & Pa Kettle films last night. That is to say, I didn’t learn of Walter Cronkite’s passing at the age of 92 until I got back online around 2am…there’s something awfully significant about that, but I’m not sure what. Maybe it’s because—and if I come off as sounding a bit…

“Has he been?”

I don’t know whether this will turn up on many weblogs, but since Thrilling Days of Yesteryear has always been interested in comedy and sitcoms from the other side of the pond, it is with deep sadness that I must report the passing of British comedy writer Vince Powell, who’s left us at the age of 80. Powell—like…

Kibbles and (tid)bits

There’s not much new TV-on-DVD news to report, but TVShowsOnDVD.com does have a heads-up that the Route 66: The Complete Season 3 is currently available at a Best Buy nearest you as part of an exclusive early release. (I’m going out on a Publix run tomorrow, so maybe I’ll swing by and see if one’s available.) But the big news is that…

R.I.P. Dallas McKennon

I just learned from Mark Evanier’s daily must-read (news from me) that actor-voice specialist Dallas “Dal” McKennon has passed on at the age of 89—just shy of his 90th natal anniversary, which would have been this Sunday. Here’s an obit, but for some first-hand revelations about the man, you’ll want to read Mark’s piece and Jerry Beck’s tribute at Cartoon Brew.…

Region 2 Cinema: The Undercover Man (1949)

Back in August of last year, I got the devastatingly brilliant idea—okay, I stole it from someone else’s blog…happy now?—to institute a weekly feature here at TDOY whereupon I would write reviews of classic films that are not, unfortunately, available here for purchase on Region 1 in the U.S. or Canada. It started out great guns, with posts…

Movies that I’ve stared at recently on TCM #32 (Janet Leigh edition)

Well, sister Debbie and company came and went, and except for a few moments of family ugliness (you know the old adage—familiarity breeds contempt) a good time was had by all. Most of TCM’s output the past few days hasn’t been looked at, more like taped: I’m anxious to get a gander at both Sylvia Scarlett (1935) and Mockery (1927) when…

“I don’t like the way Teddy Roosevelt is looking at me…”

Environmentalists unfurl banner on Mount Rushmore SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Environmentalists who hung a banner on Mount Rushmore National Memorial calling for a stop to global warming have been arrested. A federal prosecutor says 11 people pleaded not guilty to trespassing and the misdemeanor crime of climbing on Mount Rushmore. The environmental group Greenpeace…

R.I.P., Harve Presnell and Karl Malden (and updated, Mollie Sugden)

I remember a few months ago when a spate of celebrities seemed to be shuffling off this mortal coil in rapid succession, and my friend Scott Clevenger ended up pleading: “Death…take a holiday, already!” That sentiment crossed my mind a few minutes ago when I read a quick blurb from Tom Sutpen that actor-singer Harve Presnell has gone on to…