Welcome
to TVparty.com, the internet's premier classic TV
Web site
featuring your favorite television
shows from the golden age of entertainment!
New
in the TVparty TV Blog!
I
was thinking yesterday about the great, pioneering black comic Timmie
Rogers. He came up through vaudeville, was a guest on a number of variety
shows in the 1960s & 1970s and was a regular on The Melba Moore
Clifton Davis Show, the summer replacement for Carol Burnett's show
in 1972. Here's one
of Roger's routines that he did variations on for years - 'Everything's
Going Up' - this is timeless comedy, it works perfectly
for today. Read
and watch more...
New Adventures of Mighty Mouse In 1987 CBS had a huge hit on Saturday mornings, Pee Wee's Playhouse. It was followed by The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and the network noticed that, while ratings were so-so, more people were recording these shows and watching them later. That was due to hipster adults who wanted to enjoy these programs without getting up early on Saturdays, a new phenomenon because VCRs were just then becoming affordable to the general public. Read
more...
Dynasty: Season Four Vol. 2 Much of the action in the second half of the fourth season revolves around the romantic entanglements of Blake’s and Alexis’ adult children. The evil Adam is repenting over his rape of the now ailing Kirby, who is in the process of divorcing daughter Fallon’s ex-husband Jeff. Dating a scoundrel and then dealing with the consequences of that decision keeps Fallon busy. Younger brother Stephen is occupied dealing with a plot of an unknown person to drive his wife Claudia, who has a history of emotional problems, crazy for an undefined purpose. The appearance of a former lover of Stephen’s complicates things. Read
more...
Worst.
Commercial. Ever. I'm
not even going to set this one up except to say - can you imagine
a worse TV ad? At least now we know where George Lucas got the idea
for Jabba the Hut. From the summer of '75 - Read
and watch more...
Dick
Kallman as Hank "Dick
was stabbed to death in 1980 during
a 'drug induced' robbery - while most of the articles mention he was
murdered in his apartment, it is my belief that he was abducted by
someone on drugs looking for money and forced him back to the apartment...
clearly it was a robbery and a very violent one. I never sat foot
in our apartment again. I left everything I owned in it to be sold.
I could not bare to see it ripped and stained with Dick's blood." Read
and watch more...
Lucy: Reconsidered An
episode-by-episode review of all 180 plots of the classic series (a
content analysis as the highfalutin' academics might call it), in
the end presents a very different image of this beloved series and
a surprising reassessment of a central character we all thought we
knew so well. Read
and watch more...
Della
Reese' Tough TV Career When
ABC decided to continue with 8 Simple Rules after star John
Ritter's sudden death in 2003, they did so knowing it was a risky
strategy. But there was one star, Della Reese, who had been through
that very situation - twice! Read
and watch more...
Lancelot
Link, Secret Chimp 'I
Created Lance Link' takes you behind the minds behind the show, it's
a fascinating look into the makings of a classic show and an intimate
glimpse into the lives of two of TV's greatest comedy writers. The
film was shot at the home of Stan Burns, where he and Mike Marmer
relate one funny anecdote after another about the chimp series. Read
and watch more...
Judy
Garland's Rollercoaster Ride She
was bred to be an entertainer; like Tarzan raised by the Great Apes,
hers was an almost impossibly insular existence. Frances Gumm, rechristened
Judy Garland, was a wholly manufactured product of a stage mother
that pushed her relentlessly and a movie studio that programmed her,
sheltered her from reality, then coldly spat her out into a world
she knew little about. Read
and watch more...
BONUS
VIDEO! Twenty-One In
1958 the producers of this wildly popular primetime game show admitted
they had been providing answers to contestants that they wanted to see
win. The quiz show scandals erupted after Herb Stemple came forward
with the story that he was forced to throw the game and allow Charles
Van Doren to win. Watch
it now - in Real Player format...
The
Arnold Stang Show How
many times have you heard, "You won't believe this?" Well,
this time there's
absolutely no doubt about it - this 1950s pilot for a possible series
just went too damn far! Read
and watch more...
America's
First Lady of Comedy Carol
Burnett won the hearts of TV viewers playing the nervous klutz in
dozens of hilarious skits on The Garry Moore Show. She was
an instant hit with the home audience, one of the emerging medium's
first bright stars.
Each week, hapless Carol would find herself in the most outrageous
predicaments. No matter how sketchy the script, the comedienne turned
each performance into a farcical romp with her spasmodic interpretations.
She quickly became the de-facto star of the program. Read and watch more...
"Plunk
Your Magic Twanger, Froggy!" "I
am looking for a newspaper editorial - it could've been in a magazine
- written about the kid's show 'Andy's Gang' in which the writer
blames Froggy for causing the protest movement of the '60s. He said
Froggy's disrespectful behavior towards adults, which he demonstrated
every show, influenced the kids who were watching him and those
kids grew up to become the protesting college students of the sixties
who likewise showed disrespect towards their elders." Read
and watch more...
Poker On Television
Poker television grew huge around 2004 when the hole card cameras were introduced to make the game more enjoyable to watch. Both major tournament circuits, the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker, are covered pretty much in detail and then there are a number of smaller poker shows with or without celebrities. Check out ESPN2, ESPNC, Fox Sports or NBC for more poker TV. You may also watch poker on the internet. Sites like Youtube and PokerListings.com have a pretty good range of poker TV in their video archives.
Babylon's
Baddest Boy? Nine years ago, Robert
Blake was living in relative obscurity, his life as a weekly
TV star far behind him. Tragically, on the evening of May 4, 2001, Robert
Blake made headlines when his new bride was brutally murdered in an alleyway. Soon he was on trial for his life. We have the whole sordid story of Robert Blake's
dramatic rise and fall. Read
and watch more...
Richard
Pryor Show
Was
Richard Pryor bitter about his television experience? No, not at all.
He had this to say: "One week of truth on TV could just straighten
out everything. One hundred and twenty-seven million people watch
television every night; that's why they use it to sell stuff. They've
misused it a long time so now it's just a business, that's all. They're
not going to write shows about how to revolutionize America. The top-rated
shows are for retarded people." Read
and hear more...
Remembering
Captain Kangaroo Captain
Kangaroo was
the longest-running network children's show of all time - from 1955
until 1984, the good Captain could be seen mornings on CBS. Hugh "Lumpy"
Brannum played sidekick Mr. Green Jeans, joining Cosmo Allegretti's
hand-puppets Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit in the Captain's Treasure
House. Read
and watch more...
Enola
Gay's In The Military FROM
1950: The next time you're watching Jackass or Fear
Factor or some sports stunt show, and you see a guy jump a car, set
himself on fire, eat a bucket of worms or whatever, think about Col. Paul
Tibbetts - who took off in a 1940's era airplane, flew it over the ocean
with the biggest bomb ever made shoved up his ***, dropped that mega-bomb
on target and - here's the best part - made it back alive! And by doing
so, he ended a World War. Read and watch
more...
The
Redd Foxx Comedy Hour
"I
remember it well because it was my first national television debut
and I truly loved Redd. We had some real good talks and I met some
really super artists. This was a huge springboard for me. I got a
holding contract from ABC and a costarring role in a pilot at Paramount
Studios. I was 27 years old then and I am a happy 52 now." Read
and watch more...
The
Bette Davis Show?
Television's
early years are one long blur of dizzy dames. The very idea of women
in the workplace was usually met with belly-laughs or outright contempt
on TV shows. Bette
Davis would have none of this! On her program, the women wouldn't
be played for laughs - they would be the players. Read
and watch more...
Dick
Kallman as Hank "Dick
was stabbed to death in 1980 during
a 'drug induced' robbery - while most of the articles mention he was
murdered in his apartment, it is my belief that he was abducted by
someone on drugs looking for money and forced him back to the apartment...
clearly it was a robbery and a very violent one. I never sat foot
in our apartment again. I left everything I owned in it to be sold.
I could not bare to see it ripped and stained with Dick's blood." Read
and watch more...
Playboy
After Dark
There were two remarkable attempts by Hefner to create a television spin-off
of his famous magazine. While neither caught on in a big way, both were
critical and audience hits with unique formats that presented timeless
performances by some of the greatest comedians, jazz, soul, folk and be-bop
artists of all time. Read
and watch more...
Lucy's
Tragic Last Series
"All of us 'little people' who worked on the
show knew it was a complete train wreck, but the executive producers and
writers insisted from the very beginning that Life With Lucy would
zoom to the top of the ratings and be on the air for years. Sadly, this
didn't prove to be the case. I can tell you the best shows were the ones
that aired; the others were reaaalllly bad." Read and watch more...
Sky
King "Sky
King was kind of a cowboy type that would fly around in a twin engine
plane. I watched that show religiously. Every time the opening sequence
was shown I had to be sitting directly in front of the TV set. The
final shot while the opening credits were rolling was of the plane
coming straight at you, very low to the ground, and zooming right
over your head. I would always time it so that I rolled onto my back,
as though the plane had come out of the set and just barely missed
the top of my head." PLUS: one TVparty-er
discovers the original Sky King hacienda! Read
and see more...
New
York City Local Kid Shows The
most comprehensive look at local children's programs ever attempted.
More than 75 pages with hundreds of photos. If you grew up in NYC
you'll find all your favorites - The Merry Mailman, Sandy
Becker, Bob McAllister, Wonderama, and
dozens more along with rare video, audio and outtakes. Read
and watch more...
Sea
Hunt "I
have been looking for re-runs of a fabulous show that I'd like to
request. Sea Hunt - the Lloyd Bridges (pre-comedy) underwater
classic. My afternoon staple diet in the early to mid-sixties and
it shaped my life since then. If you have anything about Sea
Hunt, I'd be one happy '60's TV junkie!" Read
and watch more...
Classic
TV on DVD - Archived Reviews! NEW:Tom
Jones, Twin Peaks, Stargate Atlantis, Voyage to the Bottom of the
Sea, Dallas, Men Behaving Badly, Captain N, Hootenanny, ER, Wanda
Sykes, Adventures of Superman, Battlestar Galactica, F Troop, and
so many more hot DVD releases.And they're all deep discounted
- for you! Read
more...
Classic
TV Shows on DVD?
An
extensive catalogue of every classic program available on DVD! See what's
available today - with big discounts
for you!
1980's
TV Wrestling - Greats and Near Greats! NOW WITH ADDED RARE VIDEO!
John
Hitchcock's look back at the heart of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling - with
grapplers known and unknown. Wahoo McDaniel! Ric Flair! Dusty Rhodes!
Jim Cornette! Magnum TA! Buddy "Killer" Austin! Johnny Weaver!
Johnny Valentine! Harley Race! Dick Murdock! Jimmy Garvin! Nikita Koloff!
Have you ever heard of these guys?!? Read
and watch more...
1980's
PUNK ROCK
In the early-eighties, young people in Los Angeles were flocking to
makeshift clubs in droves to see new, up and coming bands. Live new
music, not DJs, was what they craved. These writings provide a sketchy
look at the underground club scene in Los Angeles during the time
that groups like X, Missing Persons, The Go-Go's, The Minutemen and
Wall of Voodoo entered the public consciousness. Read
and see more...
Protect your Plasma TV with ADT home security systems. ADT is the most trusted name in home security. Sign up today and get a free security system, and $100 rebate.
"A
twisted walk
down memory lane!"
- Sharon Edry, TV Guide
"Top
Five Sites! Interviews and articles... are must reads."
- London Sunday Times
"It's
too good to be true. Put together by Billy Ingram, TVparty.com has gossip,
scandal, sex, singing, dancing, action, drama and celebrities with their
'original parts.''
- LA Times
"An ingenious tribute that elevates the TV past to artlike proportions.
Site guru Billy Ingram has compiled features both over-the-top and museum
worthy, blissful nostalgia for those born in the '40s or the '80s."
A+
- Entertainment Weekly
"Get
the inside scoop on all your favorite classic TV shows at TVParty."
- USA Today
Dynasty: Season Four Vol. 2
BONUS
VIDEO!
Remembering
Captain Kangaroo
Classic
TV on DVD - Archived Reviews!
1980's
TV Wrestling - Greats and Near Greats!
Sea
Hunt
