TV

A Brief History of the Jerry Lewis Telethon

The National Muscular Dystrophy Association announced that in 2011, for the first time since 1966, Jerry Lewis would not be headlining the annual MDA Telethon for "Jerry's Kids." After earning more than $2 billion, the show was going on without him. Here'

Betty White's Sweet Two-and-a-Half Hour Interview

The Archive of American Television is a goldmine. Last week I came across their four-and-a-half-hour interview with Mister Rogers; this week let's take a look at their similarly ultra-in-depth interview with Betty White. This is a five-part sit-down wit

Mister Rogers' Epic 9-Part, 4.5-Hour Interview

In 1999, Karen Herman interviewed Fred Rogers for the Archive of American Television. The resulting nine-part (roughly four-and-a-half hour) interview spans the career of the man we've come to know as Mister Rogers. Throughout, Rogers conveys the same g

The Late Movies: The First 7 Videos on MTV

MTV turns 31 today. It launched one minute past midnight on August 1, 1981, with footage of Space Shuttle Columbia and Apollo 11 launches, then the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," spoken by John Lack, one of the creators of MTV. An extended

6 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets from Cheers

Though it wasn't an immediate hit, the network's tenacity paid off.

Who Ensures That "No Animals Were Harmed in the Making of This Film"?

Rest easy, Air Bud fans. The AHA outlines their standards of animal care in their “Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Filmed Media.”

Pigs in Space!

Remember Pigs in Space? It was a series of sketches on The Muppet Show parodying Star Trek (and other 60s/70s space-themed TV shows), featuring the adventures of a crew of pigs aboard the Swinetrek. Pigs in Space became so popular that it was used to wa

"Rainbow Connection," 33 Years Later

33 years ago yesterday, The Muppet Movie made its silver screen debut. Over the opening credits, Kermit played his banjo in the swamp, singing the now-iconic theme song, "Rainbow Connection." The song was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Glob

11 Great Television Shows That Are Lost Forever

Much early television was broadcast live and never recorded. This included news and variety shows, of course, but also early dramas and comedy series. Even recorded shows have not been safe. Film recordings were disposed of, to clear storage space or make

"Man of Constant Sorrow," the Blind Fiddler's Tune Everybody Knows

Bob Dylan's first national TV appearance came in March of 1963 on a program called "Folk Songs, and More Folk Songs!" He performed three songs, including "Man of Constant Sorrow," a folk tune from circa 1913, originally recorded by the partially blind fi

Why Is the Mob Often Tied to the Garbage Industry?

I know I’m only about a decade late, but I recently, finally, watched the entire run of The Sopranos. Tony and his crew get their hands into plenty of different moneymaking schemes, but throughout the series one character or another (Tony, Richie Aprile,

11 Cakes Based on Kids' Books, Movies and TV Shows

We've looked at cakes inspired by movies and video games. Next up: kids' books and characters! 1 & 2. Alice In

Doctor Who: Mangling History

Doctor Who has a long and noble history of attempting to convey history to its young viewers. It has not always been completely successful, however. Here are a few stories where they dipped into history -- but didn't get the history quite right. The Gunf

The Visual Poetry of Corrupt Video

In this five-minute video, we see portions of a Mad Men episode (episode 408, "The Summer Man") as it appears when incompletely downloaded via BitTorrent. The video is extraordinarily corrupt, showing strange artifacts like missing blocks of the picture,

The Beatles Cartoons

In September of 1965, the Beatles were the hottest act in the history of show business. In addition to their millions of record and album sales and their sold out concerts all over the world, the Fab Four garnered record-high ratings on their TV appearan

The Other Doctors of Doctor Who

There are eleven Doctors on Doctor Who, right? Well, yes, but not exactly. Those are the "canonical eleven" — the official Doctors. But are you familiar with some of the others? 1. The Dalek Movie Doctor In the mid-60s, Dalek Fever was sweeping England.

11 Geeky Craft Creations, Including Rainbow Brite vs. Strawberry Shortcake

There's a lot of variety in geek crafting. Whether you geek out over Star Wars, Pokemon or marine biology, there are plenty of subjects for you to enjoy, whether you prefer them rendered via crocheting, sewing or felting. Cross

The Scully Box

Gillian Anderson is much shorter than David Duchovny -- estimates of their actual heights vary, but there's roughly a 10" height difference there. So when the pair costarred on The X-Files, filming conversations posed a problem; getting both of their hea

6 Influential (and Awesome) Giant Japanese Robots

Any kid that grew up in the 1980s is familiar with giant Japanese robots like Voltron and Transformers. But those are just a small taste of the dozens of mechanical men that make up the "Super Robot" genre that has been popular in Japanese manga (comic bo

Being Fred Mertz: The Life of William Frawley

The man who achieved television immortality as Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy was born in Burlington, Iowa, on February 26, 1887.

Interview with Trace Beaulieu of MST3K and Cinematic Titanic

The conclusion to our two-part exclusive interview with Trace Beaulieu, formerly of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and now with Cinematic Titanic Read yesterday's part one

10 British Sitcoms Inspired by American Shows

It's not unusual for television producers to adapt successful British sitcoms for an American audience. For example, Three's Company, Sanford & Son, and, of course, The Office all started as British shows. It is unusual, though, for British television to

8 of Adlai Stevenson's Awful 1952 TV Campaign Ads

Are you sick of attack ads, Super PAC ads, and even ads in color? Then let's turn to a cornier, gentler time -- the election of 1952, when the original "Egghead" Adlai Stevenson ran against Eisenhower, running a series of remarkably unremarkable TV ads.

Holy Info, Batman! Behind-the-Scenes Facts About TV's Batman

Batman, the TV series, made its debut as one of TV's first mid-season replacements on January 12, 1966. Featuring Adam West in the lead role and Burt Ward as Robin, his co-crime fighter, the show became a breakout hit. Batman was everywhere, and the show

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