Good point. And who doesn't love to watch Anne Francis? 
The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread
- Thread starter The Old Mixer
- Start date
Well, well, well...something's coming soon to one of our retro TV networks that's of such general interest to the board community that I created a thread for it in GTD:
http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/all-5-trek-series-coming-to-one-network.281558/
http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/all-5-trek-series-coming-to-one-network.281558/
That's pretty cool. I wonder how they'll schedule it-- five hours of Trek per day or a different show every night? Or just all Trek 24/7? There's probably enough episodes to do that. 
Kind of funny how they have Kirk in the old-school shirt.
Kind of funny how they have Kirk in the old-school shirt.
July 9-10:
Turns out they'll be airing episodes on Monday, June 27, but interspersed with other programs.
Turns out they'll be airing episodes on Monday, June 27, but interspersed with other programs.
thats good. mixed in with reruns of Dick Cavett no doubt.
@The Old Mixer
Based on your thread in the General trek forum about Heroes & Icons, I wanted to see if I had the channel, and I'm happy to say yes I do. I was watching a little Xena: Warrior Princess last weekend (I've never actually see the series, even though I do like Lucy Lawless) and what was it with 90s sci fi shows explaining the plot in the theme song. There's a certain nostalgia to it, but the more I see 90s TV, the more I noticed it as a trend and I wonder why that was.
Based on your thread in the General trek forum about Heroes & Icons, I wanted to see if I had the channel, and I'm happy to say yes I do. I was watching a little Xena: Warrior Princess last weekend (I've never actually see the series, even though I do like Lucy Lawless) and what was it with 90s sci fi shows explaining the plot in the theme song. There's a certain nostalgia to it, but the more I see 90s TV, the more I noticed it as a trend and I wonder why that was.
Lots of shows still have that (e.g. all the Berlanti superhero shows), just without the credits shown over it. Heck, given how arc-driven modern shows are, it's more needed than ever. And of course it's a practice that's older than television, since narration was pretty necessary in radio -- and early TV followed radio conventions closely, so there were plenty of narrated openings in the '50s, '60s, etc. There's nothing specifically '90s about it.
I will admit, though, the Xena opening narration always seemed a little redundant to me. Aside from establishing that it's "in a time of ancient gods, warlords, and kings" and that Xena was "forged in the heat of battle," it's all just kind of generic platitudes. The Hercules intro did more to explain the specifics of the premise, but the Xena narration just seemed like something they felt obliged to have because Hercules had it.
Talky TV series intros weren't invented in the '90s....
I guess being someone who mostly grew up in the 90s, I thought it was mostly a 90s thing. I know shows like Star Trek and Twilight Zone had it but I'm not that familiar with the others. It does seem like the talky themes are only on a minimal amount of shows now. I wonder if that had to do with shows just shortening their themes to have more time for the story.
And of course the Superman narration originated on radio, though it evolved a lot over the years. For instance, the "American way" bit was only used during WWII, and wasn't restored until the show came to TV in the '50s. Otherwise it was usually just truth and justice Superman was fighting for, although the postwar narration stressed Superman's battle against prejudice and intolerance (which became the prevailing thread in the stories in '46-'47 or so).
The classic Lone Ranger opening narration, and the use of the William Tell Overture as his theme, originated on radio as well.
Ahhh. Burke's Law was an interesting series. The Amos Burke character was one of the first TV crime fighters that was very unconventional to the point of being almost too comfortable in his ways (big part of the charm), which would lead to variations of that kind of the type in The Rockford Files' Jim Rockford and Leverage's Nate Ford.
Gary Conway co-starred as Burke's detective assistant/muscle Tim Tilson, but would go on to this most famous role as Captain Steve Burton on Irwin Allen's Land of the Giants.
Unfortunately, the series' original format was dumped (and the cast except Barry) in order to cash-in on the then-hot spy craze, in the form of Amos Burke, Secret Agent. Yeah, that did not work.
I'm not familiar with Peter Gunn, either, but it looks like it's worth checking out.
I don't know if anybody else is on the MeTV mailing list, but I took their "How Old Are You?" quiz and it turns out I'm 62.
I don't know if anybody else is on the MeTV mailing list, but I took their "How Old Are You?" quiz and it turns out I'm 62.
My primary exposure to Peter Gunn:
And here's an oft-quoted classic that I totally should have included with the talky opening sequences:
And here's an oft-quoted classic that I totally should have included with the talky opening sequences:
Trek guests gone wrong...Michael Dunn on the last episode of Tarzan, in Fu Manchu-style yellowface. 
I don't know anything about your networks but here in Aussie those dramas you mentioned were great shows to sit down and watch as a family. We used to get a lot of dramas and my Mother fondly remembers F-Troop, Gilligan and a show called, Adventures of the Seaspray a story about young teens I think island hopping in their boat. I'd love to see it just once. We have lots of Australian actors and years ago a lot of the drama made up the required percentage of Australian TV content. Now it seems drama production has given way to reality television and lifestyle shows and it must be harder to make a living as an actor. I guess it's gone that way because it's much cheaper to make lifestyle and reality content rather than drama, although the sets of shows such as Big Brother must be expensive, so do many drama sets. I find it a pity that this has happened. What's it like in other countries I wonder?
Lots of "reality" and lifestyle crap here, too. Although in the last couple of years there has been a resurgence in good programming. This past season I often found it hard to find the time to watch all the shows that I wanted to see. It's kind of a relief right now that there's not much on at the moment-- it gives me time to catch up on my reading and writing.
Whew! I saw the robot episode for the first time in about fifty years and I didn't run from the room this time. There were some harrowing moments when Superman collapsed and appeared to be dead, but I held on. Of course, this time I was prepared and I knew that Supes would be okay and Mister Mactavish would eventually be rendered harmless.
Charlie's Angels, BSG, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The A-Team...
Remington Steele had a voice-over premise explanation its first season, too.
On the other side of the intro spectrum...the July 16-17 Decades Binge:
Looks like they're picking up in the middle of Season 4 (late 1970).
Looks like they're picking up in the middle of Season 4 (late 1970).
That certainly tells the story.
I'll have to put this one on. I know I used to watch Ironside, at least occasionally, but I can't remember a thing about it.
I'll have to put this one on. I know I used to watch Ironside, at least occasionally, but I can't remember a thing about it.