First, let me establish that I am a Bradyphile. After a few child-specific shows (Sesame Street, The Electric Company, The Magic Garden), The Brady Bunch was my first great TV love. And it proved to be an enduring love.

If you weren’t around for TV in the '70s and early '80s, I don’t believe you can appreciate how frequently The Brady Bunch aired in syndication. One could watch it daily. And I did.

Over time, I developed an encyclopedic knowledge of the show. When my family moved to California in the '80s, I had a moment of truly pathetic excitement when I was watching one of the “Grand Canyon” episodes and realized that it was a different edit than my old station had aired — I was seeing a scene I had never seen before! I’ve watched the show in every incarnation and have seen stage versions, and every time I’ve gone to Hawaii, I’ve sent my brother a postcard of Diamond Head with the message, “That’s Diamond Head, dumbhead.”

So, when my brother sent me an article about an upcoming Brady Bunch musical, I read it warily. And then I quickly concluded it sounded like a very bad idea. Here’s the ill-advised plot:

"Through a misunderstanding, the Brady kids overhear a loud argument between their usually perfectly-in-love parents. The kids think their parents might be heading for a divorce and dig in to raise money to obtain marriage counseling for their woe-stricken parents. Greg operates a car service; Marcia dates for money; Peter and Jan put on magic shows; and Bobby and Cindy look for money in couches. Did you ever imagine what the Bradys might look like in a holding cell at the local police station? Somehow even Alice gets in some legal trouble for fraud. All the while Mike and Carol are desperately trying to have sex, something they have never done since they’ve always had six kids in the house and have never had any alone time."

The plot sounds pretty stupid to me, but that’s not really the problem. (I’ve waxed rhapsodic about Grease 2 a few too many times to make a compelling case that I’m above stupid plots.) The problem is that not only is it just tired to rehash and revisit The Brady Bunch, but there’s also just something inherently disrespectful and cheap — base, really — in this particular idea. And I’m a little surprised by how much it bugs me. … continue reading

Do you ever wonder where the women of Gilligan's Island are these days?

OK, I don't really, either. I mean, there were only three of them, and Mrs. Howell (Natalie Schafer) is dead. But Gilligan's Island was once important to me, so I took notice when a friend sent me an email with the subject line, “Mary Ann is a Stoner!”

See, I'm not making it up. She was really arrested and is on probation, although they dropped the possession charge. And she gave a really pathetic excuse to the police — her car smelled like pot because she picked up three hitchhikers, but she made them get out when they lit up. Oh, and her friend left some pot in her car. Uh huh.

Regardless, you can see why I've been thinking about the Gilligan ladies and what they're up to these days. So here's what I've learned about their whereabouts since leaving the island.

Tina Louise (Ginger, “the movie star”) left the island behind her a long time ago (although she did appear in with other cast members in an episode of Roseanne in 1995). … continue reading

Television theme songs can be something to revel in, and they can also drive you mad. They can rely on a lyrical message or an instrumental interlude. They can be made to order, or ripped from the pop charts. Love them or hate them, the best theme songs suck you in no matter when you hear them. Images of the show they represent saunter through your mind at the first word or the first chord. The X-Files theme is like that for me.

(Well, most of the images that come to mind when I hear it have more to do with my buddy Mo than with the show itself.) Here's that eerie theme: … continue reading

From quite a young age (thanks mostly to the influence of my older sister), I had a lot of posters on my bedroom walls. There were a few boys, mostly pretty ones like Scott Baio, Leif Garrett and Shaun Cassidy. Oh, the feathered hair. But there were more girls, of course. I'm pretty sure the first girl on my wall was Kristy McNichol, starting with her days on Family. Wasn't she a cute kid?

And talk about awesome feathered hair: … continue reading

In 1980, we learned who shot J.R. In 2005, we learned the identity of “Deep Throat.” And this week, we learned the secret behind another of the great mysteries of the ages: It seems that Neil Diamond's song “Sweet Caroline” was inspired by young Caroline Kennedy.

Neil Diamond has been carrying this secret around for almost 40 years. However, last week he had the opportunity to tell Caroline Kennedy that a photograph of her had been his muse. And this week, he told the world.

"It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony ... It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there." … continue reading

Given the Broadway stagehands strike, I thought I wouldn't be doing much theater blogging this week. But, of course, theater is not all about Broadway. And Siege amply reminded of that when she made my day by passing along an exciting bit of musical theater news: The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis will be producing the world premiere of Little House on the Prairie, a musical based on the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. The show is scheduled to open during the summer of 2008.

… continue reading

I'm cautiously optimistic about this project. For one thing, the creative team seems pretty amazing.

I really like my Entertainment Weekly subscription. It was a total suckered-in kind of thing. I got the “free trial” that I was going to cancel before the not-free period began. Right. But I enjoy the magazine, and I particularly appreciate the subscription when I learn of fun things — such as the Entertainment Weeky/TV Land special The 50 Greatest TV Icons, scheduled to air this Friday night.

I'll be out of town on Friday night, but my DVR is already set. I love me some TV and I want to know who is crowned the Greatest TV Icon of all time. I know who I'd pick: Kermit the Frog.

Unfortunately, I suspect that Kermit will not be number one because he's pictured in the listing in the magazine. Where would the suspense be then?

But let's watch a video of TV icon Kermit singing his iconic song, “The Rainbow Connection,” with punk icon Debbie Harry — just because it's fun. … continue reading

Sometimes a show is so bad that it just won't go away. The Jerry Springer Show, for example, has been on for 17 seasons — truly a source of pride for American television. But some shows are subject to mercy killing much more quickly, like Viva Laughlin, canceled after two episodes. Many TV watchers, including AfterEllen.com's own Sarah Warn, called Viva Laughlin the worst show in the history of television. Was it? Chicago Tribune responded with its list of the "Top 25 Worst TV Shows Ever." But, of course, I beg to differ. Take Petticoat Junction, for example.

Granted, the only thing I actually remember from the show is the cutest little dog ever (the original Benji) running beside the Cannonball Express as it rolled down the tracks to the junction. But I can sing the theme song by heart, so it's definitely part of my psyche. And, face it, how can a show centered on a single mom and her three gorgeous daughters possibly be one of TV's worst shows?

The Tribune also lists Mama's Family. Now, first of all, this show was based on characters developed on The Carol Burnett Show. Anything with the slightest relationship to Carol Burnett is automatically disqualified from "worst" anything. Take a look at this outtake clip from a sketch with Mama and Eunice. … continue reading

Who was your first celebrity crush? I had four early crushes — I'm not entirely sure which came first. They were Maria from Sesame Street (Sonia Manzano), Julie Andrews, Sandy Duncan and the incredible Carol Burnett.

That last one was pretty strong. My mom likes to tell this story: She took me shopping for shoes when I was four years old. There were several pairs of shoes with cartoon and TV characters on them, and she suggested I get some Bert & Ernie shoes. I considered this, then asked, "Where are the Carol Burnett shoes?"

This week, PBS gives me a chance to renew my crush: Burnett will be profiled on American Masters. The show's website has a fascinating timeline of Burnett's long career, which started with summer stock in 1951; continued on with the award-winning The Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family and numerous Broadway shows; and is still going strong (she guest starred on Desperate Housewives last year). … continue reading

I was flipping TV channels the other evening in the U.K. when I came across an old film I had never seen before. Set in the 1930s, it starred Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave as two young American women: Vanessa Redgrave as “Julia,” the idealistic, left-wing daughter of a wealthy New York family, and Jane Fonda as “Lillian,” her best friend who also narrates in voice-over. I was instantly drawn in — not only because it’s so rare to find a film that centers on two female characters, but also because almost from the beginning, there seemed to be a strong, haunting, homoerotic quality to the friendship between the two women that I was sure I wasn’t just imagining.

But what was this film, and why hadn’t I heard of it before? Doing some quick Googling in a commercial break, I discovered that it was titled Julia, that it had been made in 1977, and that it was a rather prestigious production — it had been nominated for 11 Oscars and won three, including one for Vanessa Redgrave as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Most interestingly, I discovered that it was based on a short story by Lillian Hellman, from her memoir Pentimento, written in 1973. That’s as in the playwright Lillian Hellman, author of the lesbian-themed play (and later movie) The Children’s Hour.

Returning to the movie, I quickly realized that, alas, any lesbian attraction between the two lead characters was going to remain subtextual. Jane Fonda’s Lillian becomes involved with the male writer Dashiell Hammett (as the real Lillian Hellman did in life), while Vanessa Redgrave’s Julia goes off to Europe to study under Freud, and becomes increasingly involved with anti-Nazi causes as World War II approaches. The movie is, in fact, a compelling and tragic drama about Julia’s participation in the anti-fascist resistance, and how her best friend Lillian is drawn into helping her in highly dangerous circumstances. … continue reading

As the linster blogged about a month ago, rumors about the casting of Wonder Woman in George Miller's upcoming Justice League movie are all over the blogosphere. Lucy Lawless, Victoria Hill and Jessica Biel have all been bandied about (and discarded) as possible heirs to the Lasso of Truth. Well, the latest name out there is Teresa Palmer, star of ... well, nothing, really, thus far.

OK, that wasn't really fair. It depends on where you live. Palmer is relatively unknown in the United States, although she did appear in The Grudge 2 with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Beals: … continue reading

Much as I love watching Katee Sackhoff chew up scenery as Sarah Corvus, I miss the campy nature of the original Bionic Woman. I'm a big fan of shows that don't take themselves too seriously. That's one of the multitudes of reasons why I loved Xena and Buffy. The folks involved in both of those shows could do the serious-make-you-think kinds of episodes, but they weren't afraid to poke a little fun at themselves either. I think that's also one of the reasons I lost interest in The X-Files after a time; they started taking themselves too seriously far too often.

Why am I bringing this up? Because I have started to wonder what happened to my favorite superheroes of days gone by, the ones that clearly were as capable of laughing at themselves as they were of saving the world. I remember watching Wonder Woman in her invisible jet, hearing the telltale bionic sound effect when Jamie Sommers broke into a run, and very briefly catching a glimpse of Electra Woman and her faithful sidekick Dynagirl. So, where did the ladies who portrayed these super femmes disappear to, anyway? Or did they really disappear at all?

Since Bionic Woman sent me off on this tangent, it's only fair that I start with the original Jamie Sommers, Lindsay Wagner.

These days, Wagner can be seen hawking sleep number beds (and looking less than enthusiastic about it, if you ask me) and tearfully accepting awards from the folks at TV Land. … continue reading

Last spring, Karman reported that the internet was abuzz with rumors that Robert Rodriguez would direct Kirsten Dunst, Jack Black and Will Ferrell in a feature film version of Land of the Lost.

Well, it's now official. A 100-million-dollar feature-length Land of the Lost has been green-lighted for release in March. But it seems that the early rumor mill was not particularly accurate. Brad Silberling, not Robert Rodriguez, will direct. (I guess the failure of Grindhouse has its consequences.) There's also no mention of Kirsten Dunst or Jack Black's involvement. Will Ferrell, however, is definitely set to star in the movie. But not in the role originally reported. So we're pretty much starting from scratch here.

Let's revisit the original for a moment, shall we, to better explore how it's changing.

The 1970s kids show featured Spencer Milligan, Wesley (he went by just the one name) and Kathleen Coleman as “Marshall, Will and Holly,” who lost their way during a “routine expedition” and found themselves in the Land of the Lost. You may have seen it before, but here's the original opening. … continue reading

Actually, from what I read in The New York Times and Variety, it seems that Happy Days, the musical based on the 1970s television show, is not quite perfect, -amundo or otherwise. According to Variety, it is a “limp Grease retread.” But still, if you grew up with Happy Days, it's hard to not be at least a little charmed by the prospect of Fonzie and the rest of the Happy Days gang dancing and singing at New Jersey's Papermill Playhouse.

Penned by Happy Days creator, Garry Marshall (brother of Penny Marshall), the musical has the gang throwing a fund-raising dance contest and wrestling match (I don't know whether this is one event or two) to save their hangout, Arnold's, from demolition. Most of the major characters appear: all of the Cunninghams (sans Chuck), Potsie, Ralph, Lori Beth and, of course, Fonzie. And then there are some characters who played minor but memorable roles on the show, including the Malachi brothers and, most important, Pinky Tuscadero. … continue reading

First, an apology. If you're younger than 35, this post may be meaningless to you (unless you're a big GSN aficionado.) But perhaps you'll find it interesting anyway.

During the '70s, there was a cohort of actresses who were, at the time, best known as game show panelists. There was Kitty Carlisle Hart on To Tell the Truth, Jaye P. Morgan on The Gong Show, Patty Deutsch on Tattletales and my favorite, Brett Somers on The Match Game.

Unfortunately, Brett Somers died from stomach and colon cancer last weekend, and she will be missed by game show fans everywhere.

If you used to watch the show, you probably remember that The Match Game, unlike The Price Is Right or Wheel of Fortune, was all about the celebrity guests. The format of the show was that contestants would be presented with statements with a missing word, e.g., "Dumb Dora is so dumb, she tried to ______ her birthday suit." (Dumb Dora showed up a lot in the questions.) The contestant would offer an answer such as "dry clean" and hope that her answer matched the answers provided by the six panelists. The main point of the show, however, was the banter between the panelists — particularly between Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly, who also died earlier this year.

(The timing of their respective deaths kind of has the feel of a widow who dies soon after her recently departed spouse. Of course, he was gay and she was married to Jack Klugman, but still.) … continue reading