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Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Lookback : Game Shows in Daytime that are not with us anymore

The Flashback  Game Shows  Daytime

   This was a lost thought , that we've considered not looking back at game shows , but  then after much consideration and searching, we thought why not. (Yeah Why not?)  So , let's take a look at a few game shows , most of these not by magic didn't last long . (We picked these for good reason).

1.  Child's Play
     Child's play was a game show that ran on  CBS from 1982 to 1983 ,but since it was a daily game show it racked up  258 episodes. (pretty good)
   Judging by the name you  might think it involves Children. (Well, you were right) yep children gave definitions  of words  for our contestants to figure out.

 Exhibit A

                     
                       They put the word on the screen ,  Can't play at home ...sigh
     To the point , that was the game show , you had 2 rounds and a bonus round (so three rounds in math terms) ,  It was hosted by Bob Cullen  , a famous radio and TV guy he also almost hosted the 1972 revival of "The Price is Right" (the one on TV now , as of 2015, unless it was canceled and nobody told us ).
    As we said , the game show didn't last long  only 1 season  it couldn't compete at the 10:30/9:30c slot   and CBS axed it. One thing about game shows is they  sometimes get made for other countries ,that happened to this one.
   The Brits , did it as well.  London Weekend Television made  a version of it that broadcast from  1984-1988 hosted by Michael Aspel.   It also had Australian version, Russian , Greece, Spain ,Netherlands , Germany , and Indonesia.
 
2.   Dreamhouse
   Now we go to ABC and here's an idea for a game show , you know some give away dates  (with figures ) , cars, trips (to Toledo)  , money (to buy stuff in Toledo)  but how about a Brand New House!  ( yeah!!!!!, does it come fully loaded?)    Dream House was that game show.
   In 1968 on ABC (America's Network that is  not CBS) it was a daily game show , while it also had  a prime time weekly version for a while.
    It was hosted by Mike Darow.  It had two couples  play against each other (to the death?)  in recall games to see who gets the right amount of points.
    The winning couple in the final game, wins a room full of swanky early 70's furniture  (  I think)

                                         
                                      Joshuaonline when we sold furniture

Now , what about this house business ?   well the contestants who won got a new house , worth $40,000 (this is in 1968's money)  plus $7,000 for land , or they could have $20,000 in cash.  Anyway it lasted from 1968 to 1970 .  It was reported that some of the houses won , were not finished (oops) ,and sometimes the former contestants found out they needed more than the $7,000 given in the contest, hence the show added the $20,000 prize option. The game was hurt by this already  so it was axed and replaced by ... "All My Children" ( see here at JOL it was always ends up back to soap operas).
      Then  in 1983 it came back , now to NBC, (America's Network, that is also not CBS) with now host Bob Eubanks .   Now the couples (yes still couples)  competed for a house worth  $100,000 (in 1983 money).  Also contestants had to get a combination correct (they had to work hard for the house) if they got it right they would win the house, they didn't get it right they would the classic - Come back the next day and try again ,against another couple  if they won that day , they could try the combination again and see if they won the house. (rinse then repeat)
                            
                          I think they won !    

  It ended after about a year  because it wasn't the best in ratings (could have been worse, ask ABC) it was replaced by Scrabble.

3. Scrabble
   Ok, this is not a new idea but why not take a board game ( though not Operation) and make it in to a game show .(The last word of board game is game)  This is our longest running of the soaps in this article began on NBC in 1984 and ended in 1990. It was hosted by Chuck Woolery.
 

                           
                             Youtube... will also comeback to haunt you
 4.  GO
    Again with NBC ( We better not have to say to NBC again this article) , GO was a game show that didn't go to long ( ha ha ha , worked hard on that didn't you?)  It was created by Bob Stewart (also the creator of Chain Reaction)  and ran from October  1983 to  February 1984. It was hosted by Kevin O Connell (who people in Buffalo might know as  a weather man ).  The contestants were two teams including one of the players being a celebrity.  The goal was to play the game to get to 1,500 points , which ever team go those points made it to the jackpot round where they  had change to win up to $20,000 ( if they made it to double jackpot).
   (Just for fun , there also was a soap stars week in  November of  83)
It was canceled after a few months due to it's 12PMET /11ct slot , many NBC stations would preempt  for newcasts ( it could have waited til 5 , you know NBC affiliate , seesh) so it was hard for it attract an audience if people in some markets didn't even know it existed.

5. Time Machine
   And finally (thank goodness) , our last game show "Time Machine" which ran on NBC ( of course it did) , from January 1985 to April 1985 (Time machine huh?) .
   It was a game show bulit with mini games  that fit into it's focus on history and pop culture. After the first month they changed the format  , for instance instead of the champion playing the mini games , the new challengers faced each other off to meet the champion later.  They played 3 mini games and there was no prize bank anymore.  Then the winner meets the champion in the champion round.
                          
                             Time Machine!!!

 That's our look back at short lived game shows (well except for that one)  you win a brand new un finished house but you did get swanky 60's furniture  and a time machine.  Comeback next time at Noon (except in the 230 markets that are airing newscasts).  Thanks for reading,

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

"Fuller House" coming says John Stamos

TV News    Lookback TV   Netflix 

      Apparently Today is a lookback TV day , and it was announced last night  that a spinoff of the 90's sitcom "Full House" is coming to Netflix (guess we gotta make that a category now, our first post about something on Netflix  )  with a 13 episode run.


 Actor John Stamos, was on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" last night and announced the news  of the reboot -spinoff thing.   Saying the show will focus on Candace Cameron (playing D.J Tanner) and her 3 sons.

Deadline has more about the show here 

And video of the announcement after the jump

What's Old is replayed again : So Little Time coming to Nickelodeon

TV News   Lookback TV 'Nickelodeon 



                                    tar8
   In an interesting  move , Nickelodeon will be airing  the sitcom "So Little Time" , starring the Olsen Twins starting next week (April 27th)  at 7:30pmET/PT.  The Series ran on Fox Family in 2001 until 2002, when it was canceled by ABC Family  (after Disney bought the channel).   This is also first time the series has been seen on US TV in years.  So if you were a fan of this show , record it or watch it , never know how long it will last , and you might want to save those 26 episodes the show had.  And always  they could change their minds.



source:  Nickelodeon promo

Thursday, April 16, 2015

The LookBack : DIC entertainment Children's programs

The Flashback 

               This time , we take look back at some children's programs (back to this again, huh?)  by a company we've talked about before , DIC.
                         
                           That's our name , wear it out!  
       DIC entertainment was (because things we cover are gone, except for Disney, they are never gone) , launched by a french guy named  Jean Chalopin  in 1971 (the party year) , the original name of the company was   Diffusion, Information et Communication. (uhhhh)   They , as decided to come on over to America  in the 1980's  (the party decade) with the help of a man named  Andy Heyward,   they also  had an animation office in Japan so they could export the animation jobs to themselves.   Remember when we talked about a couple DIC series being on Disney's One Saturday Morning?  There was a reason for that  (I'd hope so)  Capital Cities/ABC  ,which was ABC's company name  from their purchase by Captial Cities (all 50 of them?)  they bought up DIC in 1993. When Disney bought CapCities /ABC they also got guess what? ( ESPN?)  DIC was now owned by Disney. (DICsney).  In 2000  Bain Captial (the famous one)  bought DIC  in 2000  and  they eventually got it sold to Andy Heyward.  Where they became the last bastion of syndicated children's programming.   Eventually , in 2008 (when everything was going just fine , no not really) , it got sold to  Cookie Jar Entertainment (who also is now a dead company, eh circle of life or death).
     
     So , let's get to the shows now.  (Finally,  I was just about to go to CNN.com)
     1.  Dennis The Menace (the animated one from the 80's)
 
         
        Video is kind of loud  ... like the 80's ... so it's not loud in the 80's  
   
    Dennis the Menace is one of those "Cartoons on TV based off Comic strips" things  , about our overall-ed  hero  and his gaggle of friends  and his very big dog.  Even though Dennis is a Menace it's all because he is trying hard to  help. (Like most people )   It ran on Syndication first  in 1986 with 65 episodes (the average of  shows  like this) ,  then CBS saw a star in their eye ( ha! get it? , no ? me neither)  and picked up the series for a season 2 of  a big 13 episodes.  Each episode was  3 shorts inside (again more like average series of the time).  It ran a long time on syndication repeats and on popular cable channels  , like USA for their Cartoon express.

2.  Inspector Gadget   (also a surprise at the end or mistake )
     This was the first , animated series by DIC , came on in 1983 on our favorite channel , syndication  (well ,it's not really a channel , but what do you want from me?).  it was also the first  animated produced in  stereo. (Yeah 80's!)  It was created by  Andy HeywardJean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi.( We mention Andy alot ) 
                               
                                 Go Gadget go !  /  copyright  DHX media (guess who owns DIC now?)
   The series is about  a detective who is half machine  who has tons of gadgets (which ever is convenient for that episode)  he was a bumbling detective who solved crimes and stopped EVIL.  He also had a niece named Penny and a very smart dog named  Brian. (Who then moved to Quahog , wait oh --- never mind) and they solved the crimes or stopped the evil together. The main villains are working for a group called M.A.D  and their leader Dr. Claw. (they just give  medical degrees to everyone don't they?)    
       Gadget works for Chef Quimby , he's the chef of police in Metro City ( hmm   they have  bad crime rate)
   Each episode , since it was the 80's   ended with a PSA .

Wait... we have more (have your credit cards ready)
     Inspector Gadget's field trip  , this show was  a  kind of spin-off with our cartoon hero , created by Dic in 1996 it aired on the History Channel . (Before it became the scary channel with lack of history)  it had 26 episodes , Don Adams returned as the voice . This series was an educational travel show for kids (or people who really like inspector gadget or traveling). It  only featured Gadget , none of the other original animated series characters were there. It ran on  DIC's syndication block in the 2000's.
 


  As you can see it's E/I

more after the jump

Monday, April 13, 2015

New Digital Network : Laff Launches April 15

Broadcast Networks    TV 
     


       A new digital sub-channel network that was announced back in January ; Laff TV launches Apirl 15   on ABC  owned stations , Scripps Media stations, some Cox media stations, and some Meredith stations.  It is a comedy based network, hence the name.
   They will be airing comedy  Movies  from the  Disney, Miramax, and Sony , it will be airing off-network sitcoms of The Drew Carey Show , Ellen , Empty Nest, Grace Under Fire , and Spin City.

  We have their first day schedule  (note :this can change)
   
8AMET  My Mom's  New Boyfriend
10AMET   Empty Nest
10:30AMET   Empty  Nest
11AMET  Ellen (Sitcom)
11:30AMET  Ellen (Sitcom)
12PMET  Vice Versa
2PMET  My Father, The  Hero
4PMET    Spin City
4:30PMET  Spin City
5PMET  Ellen  (sitcom)
5:30PM  Ellen   (sitcom)
6PMET   Grace Under Fire
6:30PMET  Grace Under Fire
7PMET   The Drew Carey Show
7:30PMET The Drew Carey  Show
8PMET   Spin City
8:30PMET  Spin City
9PMET The Drew Carey Show
9:30PMET  The Drew Carey Show
10pmet  So  I Married and Axe Murderer
`12AMET   The Drew Carey Show
12:30AMET  The Drew Carey Show
1AMET   Grace Under Fire
1:30AMET  Grace Under Fire
2AMET  Empty Nest
2:30AMET  Empty Nest
3AMET   The Apple Dumpling Gang
5AMET   Empty  Nest
5:30AMET Empty Nest
6AMET  Indian Summer


From looking ahead it looks as  though Movies will air from  Weekdays  6AMET-10AMET;  12-4PMET; 10pmet-12AMET  3-5AMET  (though some movies can go longer).  While Empty Nest will be on weekdays at 5AM ET (Back to Back) ; 10AMET (back to back) ; and 2AMET (back to back).  Ellen weekdays at 11AMET (back to Back) , and 5PMET (Back to Back).    Spin City Weekdays 4PMET (back to back)  and 8pmet   (back to back) . Drew Carey Show weekdays  at 7pmet (back to back ) ; 9PMET (Back to back) ; 12AMET (back to back).  Grace Under Fire  weekdays at  6PMET (back to back) ;  and 1AMET (back to back).

Weekends seem to include the same mixture of movies and sitcoms , and on Saturdays the mandated 3 hours of E/I programming.

To find out more about Laff visit their website   here.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

New Face The Nation Anchor announced

CBS  Sunday Talk shows  CBS NEWS 

   On Wednesday, CBS' Bob Schieffer  announced that he is retiring and leaving "Face The Nation", Sunday  the replacement for him on "Face The Nation" has been announced, as John Dickerson  who will take over in the Summer.



More from CBS News here 

Thursday, April 09, 2015

The Lookback: Children's TV from Hasbro

The Flashback Children's TV

      In the era before the 1990's ,  there were 3 networks ,(or 4 after 1986) , but in many markets there were more than 3 Channels.    These other  channels were most likely unaffiliated  (or independent) of a network.  They may have been known for airing  movies in primetime and  you favorite classics.  (This is before everything got ruined) One thing they would air is Children's tv programs and the syndication market allowed programs that may have not been able to make to the NBC , CBS, or ABC line ups  but before there were Children's channel or before anyone cared about them.
  Our  look is at 3 programs from Hasbro (yes, the toy company) from the 1980's.
   Something about , Hasbro  wanted to make TV shows based off their  toys (you know to sell toys?)  so they hired  animation studio Sunbow  Entertainment   to make them cartoon like.  Hasbro would also distribute their own shows through their company, Claster  , who also created the 1950's series "Romper Room" (way before Hasbro Brought them) .

   The first series of our 3 series from Hasbro is "Jem" or "Jem and the Holagrams"   Jem was a production of Hasbro ,Marvel ,and  Sunbow.    Created by Christy Marx ,the program premiered in 1985 .  The show was   based on  a line of dolls , Hasbro made . Jem was  a mixture of hip music videos (cough MTV cough) , soap opera (love triangle , random drama),  action and adventure (including bad guys) ;  and Science Fiction.
   
   Even Sunday TV was fun ... now it's just infomercials
   
 One of things about this show was probably an influence of the MTV popularity at the time, so each episode had animated music videos  that related to stories by the time the show ended there was almost 200 music videos  and over 100 unique songs.
     There were about 3 produced songs per episodes  , all this was unique for a TV series especially an animated one.



   We are going to get  a song stuck in your head rather you want it to be or not

  The TV series itself was about  a woman named Jerrica Benton who inherits her Father's music company , though there was an evil man named  Eric Raymond (not everybody loves Raymond) who wanted to run the company (you know , he likes money).  Jerrica finds out that her Father also had bulit a system called synergy  that produces holograms ,and Jerria creates a persona called  Jem. She and her friends start  a music group that  competes against another called the Misfits ran by a rich girl  named Pizazz and later a group called the stingers.  Jerrica  a boy friend named Rio , who also may have a crush on  Jem ( checks , to make sure we aren't writing about soaps again)
   It was the most watched Children's program in Syndication in 1985  it ran the standard 65 episodes and ended in 1988.


Now stay tuned for G.I Joe : A real American Hero.
   Everyone knows, G.I Joe was a toy and a comic book (you know to read with your toy)  it was technically mini-series glomped together (why is that not word ,selfie is and that's an awful word) : "G.I Joe : A Real American Hero" ; "G.I Joe : The Revenge of the Cobra (that sounds like a Syfy original movie) , "G.I Joe: The Pyramid of Darkness ", and "G.I Joe Arise , Sepentor, Arise!" (sounds like the 3rd movie of a Cobra series of Syfy original movies).  The series started in  1983 in syndication and ran until 1986.



  yep that's it

Please stay tuned  after the jump

Wednesday, April 08, 2015

CBS' Bob Schieffer is retiring

CBS News  TV News 

It was announced tonight that Long time CBS News Anchor and host of their Sunday Show "Face The Nation", Bob Schieffer, is retiring.

More from CBS News
Bob Schieffer, the anchor of CBS News' "Face the Nation," announced Wednesday that he will retire this summer after more than 50 years of working in journalism.
Schieffer, who is 78, has been with CBS News for 46 years. 2015 marked his 24th year anchoring "Face the Nation," which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.
"Because this is where my professional career began, this is where I wanted all of you to be the first to know, this summer I am going to retire," he said at a symposium at Texas Christian University.
He has interviewed every president since Richard Nixon as well as most of those who sought the office. Schieffer most recently interviewed President Obama last November.
Schieffer also moderated three debates for the Presidential Commission on Debates in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
Prior to joining CBS in 1969, Schieffer was a reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram where he was the first reporter from a Texas newspaper to report from Vietnam.
Schieffer has won virtually every award in broadcast journalism, including eight Emmys, the overseas Press Club Award, the Paul White Award presented by the TV News Directors Association, the Edward R. Murrow Award given by Murrow's alma mater Washington State University and in 2008 he was named a living legend by the Library of Congress. In 2013, he was inducted into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame along with CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, actor Ron Howard, sportscaster Al Michaels and writer/producer Dick Wolf.
In 2014, "Face the Nation" was the highest rated Sunday talk show for the third consecutive year and the broadcast won an Emmy for its show covering the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination in 2013. Schieffer also received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence from the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Writing from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) in the Network Radio and Television category for a CBS Radio News commentary about "the ghost of Congress future."
In 2005, his alma mater Texas Christian University named its journalism school in his honor and in 2013 named the College, in which the journalism school is located, the Bob Schieffer College of Communication. Schieffer is one of the few reporters in Washington to have covered all four of the major beats: the Pentagon, the White House, Congress and the State Department. He became the network's chief Washington correspondent in 1982 and was named the anchor and moderator of "Face the Nation", CBS News' Sunday public affairs broadcast, in 1991.
Schieffer anchored the Saturday edition of the "CBS Evening News" for 23 years. In March 2005, with the departure of Dan Rather, Schieffer served as interim anchor of "The CBS Evening News," until August 2006 - a period that saw a substantial increase in ratings.
Schieffer has written four books: The New York Times bestsellers "This Just in" and "Bob Schieffer's America" as well as "Face The Nation: My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award-winning News Broadcast" and "The Acting President."
He was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in Fort Worth where he graduated from North Side High School and Texas Christian University. He served three years in the U.S. Air Force.
 
Also : From TV Newser a Memo from the President of CBS News , David Rhodes here 

Thursday, April 02, 2015

The Lookback : The Charlie Brown Lookback : Snoopy's Getting Married ,Charlie Brown

The Flashback 




          This is our third installment of   our look back at Charlie Brown Specials  that are not holiday based specials. (A really long title)    As it is the 65th anniversary year of the first peanuts strip coming out.  We take a look back  this time at    Hey, there's a fly in my soup Charlie Brown,  No, it's  Snoopy's getting Married Charlie Brown. (Whaaaa?) .
 Note: as always  98% of spoilers. (So I still have a chance?)
        As with the other specials , it aired on CBS,  on March 20, 1985.
 
     Snoopy was working as a guard for Peppermint patty , when he sees a poodle  ( always a poodle)  named ,Genevieve.   He falls in love and  next, comes marriage,  (They called it puppy love)  This surprises everyone.  Snoopy ,gets asks his brother , Spike , to be his best man.
                                                           
                                                       "Hey waiter, this is white wine , I wanted Red"/copy right peanuts

      For Spike to get from Needles,  California  (Did you know they didn't make up a place?) he needs some money. He gets a job as  race dog  , but is fired for not being  a greyhound. (Maybe the Simpsons's dog can call in a tip ,either that or bet on a grey hound race?) Anyway ,  what does every wedding need? ( A Bride?)  Yes,  tuxedos.  Spike meanwhile has tough time trying to get to the wedding  (why couldn't Snoopy send some money?) , so he takes  train and finally makes his way to his brother.
      Now ,it's  bachelor party day and Snoopy is not feeling happy.
                                                         
    
                                                 Ummmmm..... / copyright Peanuts

       He even breaks down  into tears on his wedding day (who hasn't? , all of them)  that Charlie Brown has to drag him there. (humanely of course).  At the wedding we have Linus as the minister (he got ordained in dog marriages after he found out how much money there was in the job) ,  Sally as the singer, guess who plays Piano?  (ummm  Marice?) A  nervous Snoopy waits for the bride to come  , but then the news is given the she has left of with a golden retriever. (sigh, that always happens)  Everyone was then shocked about what about their own thing ,except for Charlie Brown , who was worried about poor Snoopy.
                                                         
                                                          When in pain ...  salad to reduce the cake's affects  /copyright Peanuts 

          And it ends with Snoopy happy eating cake and salad , and his brother going back home to his rather nice cactus house.
     Well that's the special.
 
     It is an interesting special  that should be watched if you have  chance , that is a charm that is all it's own.  Snoopy  is our key character here , but it's real nice to see Spike and the funny things he does to get to snoopy, plus his real snazzy house.
 
sources: watched it on an old VHS tape,  also  Wikipedia for the dates of the special , and some names.