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WEIRD & WILD: Spock/Kirk & Elvis & CES -- oh, my!
January 6, 2009 12:48 PM
Let Bianculli cover the network biggies. I prefer sifting through the more obscure sands of cable/satellite to find peculiar jewels among the junk.
Like a new Shatner's Raw Nerve where the BIO host pokes away at old Trek second Leonard Nimoy's. Or PBS' fresh Make: recycling how-to, where old VCRs get turned into kitty feeding machines. Or G4's live CES coverage of the hottest electronics. Or, from TV Land, the inevitable Elvis.
Who needs the networks, eh?
Here's just a taste of what's coming up, in this first full week of the year:
Shatner's Raw Nerve (Tuesday at 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET, BIO) -- How shocked were we when the infamously self-interested William Shatner turned out to be a sensitive, probing and good-listener chat host? Shut up! This week, the Shat sits face-to-face with '60s Star Trek costar Leonard Nimoy, whom we'd pegged as the sensitive, probing listener, as evidenced by his film directing, many writings and acclaimed photography. Go figure. And go figure these two together in this intimate, let-it-all-hang-out setting. Not "logical," as Spock would say. But "fascinating." (Miss it? Nimoy's appearance repeats on BIO next Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 10:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. ET.)
MAKE: television (check this week's local PBS listings) -- This spinoff of the helpful webmag inspires us to spot treasure in our trash. Now you can learn "how to make a fully functional pneumatic T-shirt cannon/Burrito Blaster in the privacy of your own living room"! Better yet, use that old VCR motor to create an automated feline feeder, as explained in this week's premiere, along with bicycles built from dumpster dives. Then try them yourself by following illustrated step-by-step instructions online and/or viewing or downloading videos posted free all over the web, at makezine.tv, YouTube, iTunes, LegalTorrents.com, etc. (Local premieres include New York's WLIW Wednesday at 11:30 p.m. ET, San Francisco's KQED Saturday at 8 a.m. PT, and Washington's WETA Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. Check local listings in other cities.)
CES 2009 (Thursday-Friday 6-9 p.m. ET/PT, G4) -- Ogle all the cutting-edge goodies from this week's Consumer Electronics Show, with news announcements, product demos, press conferences, interviews and more, from 2,700 exhibitors in 30 product categories. Attack of the Show hosts Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn lead the coverage from "the #1 podcasted cable network in America," as G4 boasts. That means you can also ogle online (G4tv.com, iTunes, Zune, etc.), via mobile (Verizon VCAST, iPhone), through gaming portals (Wii, PS3), et al.
The King's Birthday Bash (Thursday 9 p.m.-midnight ET, TV Land) -- Imagine a 74-year-old Elvis Presley. That's what we'd be seeing this week, had The Pelvis not perished in 1977. This "prime"-centric cabler thinks its target audience of young boomers cares. (Really?) So they're encoring their own Myths and Legends: Elvis (9 and 11:30 p.m.) and the personal tribute Elvis by the Presleys (9:30 p.m.). Not enough Elvis for you? Try other Thursday airings by Turner Classic Movies (seven straight Presley pictures from 7:30 a.m. ET), BIO (Priscilla Presley bio at 9 a.m. ET), and yes, even QVC (5-6 p.m. ET). Comcast On Demand offers the additional thrill of anytime karaoke to Elvis' Suspicious Minds and Heartbreak Hotel. Start singing!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TV: Countdowns and marathons
December 30, 2008 9:58 PM
Celebrate Wednesday night's arrival of 2009 the new/old-fashioned way with the broadcast networks' countdowns. Or check out cable's alternatives, most of which have nothing to do with New Year's Eve.
And then there's the let-it-all-hang-out festivity of Univision's time-zone-hopping Feliz 2009! Can't go wrong with Don Francisco, buxom babes and flowing alcohol. Even if you don't habla Espanol.
Here's the rundown:
COUNTDOWNS --
- Ryan Seacrest now holds forth on the venerable Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (Wednesday 10-11 p.m. ET and 11:30 p.m.-2 a.m. ET on ABC), with music in Times Square from will.i.am, Taylor Swift, The Jonas Brothers and Lionel Richie.
- New Year's Eve With Carson Daly (Wednesday 10-11 p.m. ET and 11:35-12:35 a.m. ET on NBC) has the late-night talker hosting Elton John, Ludacris, T.I. and The Ting Tings.
- Spike Feresten does the honors on New Year's Eve Live (Wednesday 11 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, Fox), with David Cook, Daughtry, Scott Weiland and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
- Feliz 2009! (Wednesday 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, Univision) hops from Miami to San Antonio and beyond, with in-studio craziness and on-location celebration. You don't need to speak Spanish to party hearty.
- Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin headline CNN's Times Square coverage of New Year's Eve (Wednesday at 11 p.m. ET, CNN).
COMEDY MARATHONS --
- It's always New Year's Eve with those inebriated Brit twits of Absolutely Fabulous (Wednesday 11 p.m.-3 a.m. ET, BBC America).
- Hug it out with the showbiz boys of Entourage (Wednesday 10 p.m.-4 a.m. ET, HBO).
- Kathy Griffin rips celebs new ones on her standup specials Everybody Can Suck it, Straight to Hell, Strong Black Woman and My Life on the D-List (Wednesday 11 p.m.-3 a.m. ET, Bravo).
DRAMA MARATHONS --
- Sci Fi's annual marathon of The Twilight Zone (Wednesday 5 a.m.-Friday 5 a.m. ET, Sci Fi) features favorite episodes like To Serve Man (Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET) and the aptly scheduled The Midnight Sun (Wednesday at 11:30 p.m. ET). Further goodies include Night of the Meek (Art Carney as Santa at 3 p.m.) and A Stop at Willoughby (James Daly goes bucolic at 11 p.m., all times ET).
- Big Clint Walker wanders the wild west in the '50s western hit Cheyenne (Wednesday night at midnight-Thursday night at midnight ET, Encore Westerns).
- Jackie Gleason goes bang-zoom in classic episodes of The Honeymooners (Wednesday night at midnight-5 a.m. ET, continues Thursday 9 a.m.-8 p.m. ET, WPIX).
MOVIES --
- Golden-age Hollywood musical numbers fill the three clip films of That's Entertainment! plus That's Dancing! (Wednesday 8 p.m.-5 a.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies).
- James Bond gets high-def marathon treatment with GoldenEye (Wednesday at noon and 3 a.m. ET), The World Is Not Enough (Wednesday at 3 p.m. and midnight ET) and Tomorrow Never Dies (Wednesday at 6 and 9 p.m. ET, all on Universal HD.)
- Go ape with all five series flicks starting with Charlton Heston's Planet of the Apes (Wednesday 7:30 p.m.-Thursday 8:30 p.m. ET, Encore Action).
- It's no marathon, just one of our favorite films -- Brian DePalma's 1974 Phantom of the Paradise (Wednesday at midnight ET, Fox Movie Channel), a constantly quirky pop culture amalgam of Faust, The Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray and myriad movie homages. Listen close to the nuances of Paul Williams' clever song score, parodying pop music eras from death doo-wop through surf songs into glam rock.
And of course:
Happy new year 2009!
YULE TUBE: Liza Minnelli and Tammy Faye!
December 22, 2008 11:17 PM
Yes, Christmas kiddies -- we've hit the jackpot. Our friends at TV4U.com have posted full-length streaming video of 1965's original TV musical The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood -- starring 19-year-old Liza Minnelli, Cyril Ritchard, Vic Damone, and rockers Eric Burdon and The Animals -- plus two '80s Christmas hours of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's PTL show You Can Make It! (Aren't they cute in that sleigh?)
Thank you, Santa!
Talk about cool time trips. How '60s is Dangerous Christmas? (Which has nothing to do with Christmas, by the way, but what the heck.) It's definitely a relic of the era of original TV studio musicals like Peter Pan and Cinderella. At the time of this hour's November 1965 premiere, composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill were hot off their Broadway hit Funny Girl, which gets a nice shout-out in a People riff by the veddy-proper British actor Ritchard as The Wolf.
This is his story, a revisionist telling, in which the uber-arch/gay Ritchard chews the scenery, as well as Miss Hood, whose name he informs us is actually Lillian. The proceedings are stagy as can be -- the studio set looks about the size of your garage -- but how groooovy! Dig Burdon's boys in those Spock ears and wolf tails. Dig Ritchard getting even campier in a dress disguised as Granny. ("Sing me something that was popular when you were a girl!" pleads Liza, and we think he probably could.) Dangerous Christmas is so veddy bad, it's good. Almost horribly great. Certainly unmissable.
Be warned, however, that TV4U has not the spiffiest interface or the clearest stream. And Dangerous Christmas comes in black-and-white. No matter. It's there. You wouldn't believe it existed without proof.
Flash forward two decades for two hours of Jim and Tammy Faye, earnest Christian appreciation for Christmas, and big-time shoulder pads, and raccoon makeup, and untold layers of irony and hypocrisy. This was in the couple's high-flying days of the Heritage USA theme park, PTL religious cable channel, and ritzy mansion living. The spirit is there -- really it is -- but the flesh is just too-too. And the singing and syrupy presentation are even too-er. Just be thankful you're not one of those on-set onlookers standing and nodding (and standing, and nodding) around Jim and Tammy's sleigh all hour.
If Dangerous Christmas is a hoot to watch, the Bakkers become a hurt. There's only so much a body can stand. Did I mention the puppets? And the pitches to send money? They weren't televangelists for nothin'. The second hour is actually Tammy testifying about the horrors of her prescription drug habit before what seems to be a prison population. There's some reality here, but there's also oodles of star-of-the-show narcissism. What a long, strange trip it is.
One thing's for sure -- both these shows are one-of-a-kind.
At least we hope they are.
YULE TUBE: 'Honeymooners,' 'Bewitched' added
December 22, 2008 10:11 PM
More late additions to our Christmas listings include holiday episodes of The Honeymooners, Bewitched and more on WGN America, plus a Yule Log update.
Click on the three links in our home page CHRISTMAS SHOWS ON TV box to see times/channels for hundreds of holiday episodes/specials/movies.
YULE TUBE: Watch Christmas TV shows online
December 18, 2008 11:39 PM
So you've searched our hundreds of holiday TV listings, and you haven't found the Christmas episode/special you're looking for. Maybe you missed it when it aired. Or you'd rather watch it on your iPod.
Try online TV. You can watch streaming shows on your computer, or download 'em to show-and-tell -- anything from South Park to It's a Wonderful Life, plus obscure old holidays from Amos 'n' Andy, Liberace and Ozzie & Harriet. Even Chrismukkah on The O.C.
Dig (digitally) and ye shall find. Below you'll find a variety of handy links to peruse. We mention a few of the shows they've got available, but trust us, there are many more to explore.
TV4U
This free streaming site may not be the prettiest, but it's got a great personality -- tons of 1950s early TV shows, even older theatrical cartoons, and more "recent" uber-bizarreness. The last category would include 1984's Scrooge's Rock 'n' Roll Christmas, with character acting legend Jack Elam giving the humbug to 
Paul Revere & the Raiders, Three Dog Night, The Association and other has-beens, in a sort of latter-day Where the Action Is (the afternoon on-location lip-synch show the Raiders starred on 20 years earlier). After a preroll ad -- love that Bun & Thigh Roller! -- you get vintage treasures galore. Try Jack Benny, Burns & Allen, Liberace, Howdy Doody, Annie Oakley, Betty White in Date With the Angels, and five Red Skelton holiday outings. Promised to post soon are such must-sees as a Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker televangelist holiday special (oh, Lord!), not to mention 1965's The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood, musically retelling the fairy tale with a teenage Liza Minnelli and The Animals (Eric Burdon heading the wolf pack!).
In2TV
AOL's free ad-supported streaming site is a realm of the familiar -- shows like Alice and Welcome Back, Kotter, plus TV movies like The Gathering. But it's also got some holiday oddities -- Efrem Zimbalist Jr. on the straightfaced '60s drama The FBI -- and seasonal cartoons, too.
Hulu
Now we're up to the minute. Watch this year's new noels (plus ads) from 30 Rock, The Office, ER, Psych, The Bill Engvall Show and others. Plus repeat treats from Barney Miller (a Christmas classic!), ALF, Married With Children, Silver Spoons, Lou Grant, Chicago Hope, The White Shadow, and many more. There are even links to other sites' seasonal fun, like CBS' streams of Family Ties, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills 90210 and Art Carney's memorable Santa sack on The Twilight Zone.
iTunes Store
You'll pay for almost everything here ($1.99 for episodes, $5-10 for specials/movies), but the ad-free downloads can be stored and watched whenever, on your iPod or computer. Goodies include Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas (the immortal '80s hour with
Cher, Charo, Little Richard, k.d. lang and a cast of gazillions), A Charlie Brown Christmas, various holiday episodes (The West Wing, Grey's Anatomy, The O.C., American Chopper), even discounted theme collections ('70s shows including Eight Is Enough, '80s sitcoms including Full House, Nickelodeon toons including Rugrats).
Amazon Unbox
More downloads, for either rental or purchase. Movies include A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Holiday Inn and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Animated specials like A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas are also available. Among the many TV episodes: current faves like House and The Closer; animation from The Flintstones to The Smurfs to South Park; dramas like The Waltons and Sliders; sitcoms from Father Knows Best to Night Court.
ABC Family 25 Days of Christmas
Sure, it's promotional. But along with the "sneak peek" trailers hyping current offerings, you can find full-length films (like Tom Cavanagh in Snow, Mario Lopez' Holiday in Handcuffs) and episodes (Smallville, Grounded for Life), plus animation (The Happy Elf, An All Dogs Christmas Carol). Ads pay the freight.
Internet Archive
Stream or download such golden-age TV pioneer efforts as the 1951 special Joe Santa Claus, the Studio One drama "The Nativity," Vincent Price narrating A Christmas Carol, and holiday episodes from Ozzie & Harriet, Jack Benny, The Beverly Hillbillies and, yes, the kid-with-a-gun Dragnet. Search "Santa Claus" to find Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. All free, and transferrable to iPod or other device.
TVparty
This fab site's Xmas TV page offers reminiscences and clips from rareties like Amos 'n' Andy,
even Menotti's groundbreaking 1951 TV opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. Scroll down the page to find links to tributes to Christmas specials, holiday commercials, TV versions of A Christmas Carol, the yule log, and many more holiday memories. Plus a taste of local celebrations on shows like New York's legendary kidfest Wonderama.
YULE TUBE: Alastair Sim's 'A Christmas Carol,' found!
December 18, 2008 11:10 PM
Not on TV, unfortunately. Like It's a Wonderful Life -- another classic that used to run constantly -- Sim's 1951 British-produced A Christmas Carol has become a rare find on the tube.
But on DVD, this seasonal selection has finally gotten the treatment it deserves. VCI's 2-disc release includes both a gorgeous restoration of the original black-and-white (with wonderful extras about its making), and a colorized version to placate the kids. The latter version certainly hurts my eyes, having been done awhile back in the days when the computer process could only be called crude.
(Colorizing has vastly improved now. The recently re-toned It's a Wonderful Life on DVD shows it can be done, intricately, tastefully and with respect to the bygone era in which the original was produced.)
VCI's A Christmas Carol set also includes a 16x9 widescreen adaptation that's been trimmed down from the 4x3 full-screen original -- and pretty well, actually, in another nod to viewers' changing tastes.
You can still get these DVDs from Amazon in time for Christmas if you check the right shipping option. (Click the links above.) And then you'll have them for years to come, so you won't be dependent on the whims of TV schedulers.
But you might search your local listings, anyway, for that 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. Scattered public TV stations seem to be showing Sim's Dickens of a Scrooge every now and then.
(I found a Philadelphia listing for Sim's 1951 Carol on WHYY/12 this Saturday, Dec. 20 at 9:30 p.m. It follows an 8 p.m. airing of Seymour Hicks' 1935 Scrooge.)
It's a Wonderful Life gets its last seasonal airing, by the way, on Christmas Eve 8-11 p.m. ET on NBC.
YULE TUBE: Nick at Nite's 'Roseanne,' 'Family Matters'
December 18, 2008 10:02 PM
The latest additions to our Christmas TV listings are a bunch of Nick at Nite shows, which also include Home Improvement, George Lopez and Fresh Prince.
(Sorry we missed 'em till now!)
Be sure to check back frequently by clicking the links for Christmas episodes/movies/specials, inside our home page CHRISTMAS SHOWS ON TV box.
YULE TUBE: 'Homicide,' 'Dragnet,' 'Dawson's Creek' now added!
December 17, 2008 8:03 PM
Our voluminous Christmas TV listings have been updated to include holiday episodes of Millennium, Profiler, Girlfriends, Magnum, P.I. and DeGrassi: The Next Generation.
Plus more Christmas airings of That '70s Show, 3rd Rock From the Sun and other faves.
Some of the TV Land "Merrython" episodes have shifted times, too, so it's best to recheck before setting that DVR/VCR.
We'll keep updating our hundreds of listings for Christmas episodes/movies/specials -- so click frequently on the three links in the CHRISTMAS SHOWS ON TV box on our TV Worth Watching home page.
TV WORTH BUYING: 'Arrested Development' on sale!
December 16, 2008 3:04 AM
Tuesday's Amazon deal of the day is all three seasons of Arrested Development for less than $30!
That's 74 percent off list price, so fans might want to act fast.
Click here to buy the offbeat comedy in its entirety.
YULE TUBE: Rachael Ray and a holiday armadillo
December 11, 2008 10:13 PM
The food maven and a classic Friends episode are among the latest adds to our voluminous Christmas listings.
Also a slew of movie screenings, from Bing Crosby's Holiday Inn to Angela Lansbury's Mrs. Santa Claus to The Perfect Holiday from last year.
And more. To see 'em all, and hundreds more holiday listings, click on the three links in the CHRISTMAS SHOWS ON TV box -- on the home page, just to the right of FOR BETTER OR WERTS.
