The fourth episode of the 1954 TV series Sherlock Holmes had the surprising name of The Case of the Texas Cowgirl. The reason for the surprise is simply that it’s a show taking place in London and yet is about a cowgirl. Specificially, the focus is in …

Tonight was the grand finale of the first season of Top Shot. Unfortunately, my favorite, Kelly, was already gone so I wasn’t as invested in the event as I had been in the prior episodes. There were four remaining when the show began.
They had the first elimination …

I would dub this Power of Veto episode of Big Brother the Rachel Meltdown and Brendon Bad Boy Hour. The show aired on August 11, 2010, and it was just pitiful to watch. If it weren’t for the fact that I was writing reviews, I wouldn’t be …

Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files: Predator/Red Sky at Night was the fourth show in this new series that airs on Syfy. Now this show is a little like the History Channel’s “Chasing Mummies” in that it’s questionable just how accurate of a show it is.
When I watched the …

The great Johnny Carson’s legacy lives on in a DVD collection called Stand-Up Comedians. Actually, Carson pretty much just does the introductions here. The emphasis is very much on the group of comedians who performed monologues. Other DVD collections highlight Carson’s mastery, and those are the …

The latest episode of Orchestra United to come out was pretty interesting. This is the reality series that is following conductor James Lowe as he brings together students to participate in an orchestra with the ultimate goal of having them perform at the Bridgwater Theater. The series …

The 8th outing of The Virginian’s sixth season on the air was one of transition, although that fact wasn’t really communicated as part of the 90 minute episode. Entitled Bitter Autumn, the story did deal with loss, but that loss had nothing to do with the real life …

Split Robbery was the 13th show to air during Highway Patrol’s fourth and final year on television. The basic plot was that a couple of thieves robbed stores, taking wives of the store managers as hostages to assure they made a smooth getaway. It’s a little odd …

A bunch of folks on a message board I’ve been occasionally have all said that the Star Crossed episode of The Virginian was a really good show and may, in fact, be the best one that featured Clu Gulager as Emmett Ryker. That’s why when it came available …

This was the big show for season seven’s So You Think You Can Dance. After a two hour performance show last night, this was the two hour results show. I’m not really sure why they feel like they have to do a two hour show, except that …

The Sunken episode of this supposed documentary called Chasing Mummies continues some of the action from the week before with Zahi Hawass investigating a possible burial site of Cleopatra while Leslie and the producer are having a hard time getting where they need to go.
The main goal of the …

Elliott Gould and Mimi Kuzyk star in an intriguing half hour episode of The Ray Bradbury Theater called The Happiness Machine. From July 1992, these two actors portray the Affmanns. As Leo, Gould wakes up one day and suddenly sees joy out in the world. He …

The Ray Bradbury Theater: The Dead Man aired originally on cable television on September 26, 1992. These stories all come from the mind of science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury. This particular tale is a very quiet one and is appropriately odd as so many of Bradbury’s stories …

Hideout, a January 1958 episode of Highway Patrol, which was the 14th episode of the third season, was an average tale of criminal activity resolved by the California Highway Patrol as headed up by Chief Dan Mathews. Played by Broderick Crawford, Mathews spends the half hour searching …

It was a father and son outing on this 14th episode of Sea Hunt’s third season on the air. The show was titled Pirate Gold and aired originally back in April 1960. The star of this underwater adventure series is Lloyd Bridges, who played the role of …

As a young child, I adored watching TV westerns. I definitely had my favorites and still do. No western for me is as great as Laramie, for example. That said, many westerns held my interest and curiosity, including Have Gun - Will Travel, a show that …

Top Chef: Restaurant Wars was the latest episode for the Washington D.C. season of this reality cooking show. The 2010 cast has spent the season in the nation’s capitol as they vie for the honor of being named the latest Top Chef.
This cast is one of the more …

Sea Hunt’s 15th episode of its third season on the air was called The Living Fossil. Airing back in April 1960, this episode was a little unique in that it focused on deep sea diver Mike Nelson (aptly portrayed by Lloyd Nelson) working with others on a special …

The Ray Bradbury Theater: Fee Fie Foe Fum aired in October 1992 and featured All in the Family’s lovable Jean Stapleton as Grandma. Co-starring in the half hour episode was Lucy Lawless as Liddy Barton and Robert Morelli as Tom. There’s also a pretty white dog. …

The Ray Bradbury Theater: The Anthem Sprinters begins with the finding of a first edition of a James Joyce book by an American writer named Raymond Douglas. He’s played by Len Cariou, who I know as Bruno’s dad in the TV series, Fame. Here, he no sooner …

A lot of people love the rain, but would they love it if it rained every day, and not just a drizzle, but a real downpour? That’s a question to ponder as you watch the cable TV show, The Ray Bradbury Theater, and it’s sixth season episode, The …

The Ray Bradbury Theater: The Lonely One is a story about a serial killer in a small, rural town. Known as the Lonely One, the killer strikes once a month, including the morning of when this science fiction story begins. The show, a cable program, aired in …

The Ray Bradbury Theater: Here There Be Tygers is a tale of exploration as astronauts land on a new world. We actually learn the meaning of the title very early on, and it is perhaps a hint of what the story that follows will be like.
The series aired …

The Ray Bradbury Theater: Downwind from Gettysburg starts out reminding me of the living Mr. Lincoln exhibit from Disneyland. I’ve seen that marvelous show numerous times over the years, and it’s marvelous the way Disney created a Lincoln who could stand and talk to the visitors.
In Downwind from …

From September 1992, the cable television series The Ray Bradbury Theater presented a show called By the Numbers which starred Ray Sharkey. The action begins with a lot of military like shouting, but then transports us to a train. It’s weird right off the bat as one …

I had a really hard time getting through this episode of The Ray Bradbury Theater. The episode title is The Tombstone, which aired originally in October 1992. The half hour tale starred Shelley Duvall as Leota Bean. I’ve never been much of a fan, though …

From October 1992, The Ray Bradbury Theater: The Handler was a bit on the weird side, though not so odd that it turned me off. Even as I state this remark, though, I know that it’s not the kind of show that normally appeals to me. I’m …

The Ray Bradbury Theater: Sun and Shadow from October 1992 was a show that I had some problems with, not in terms of the production but in the main character and what his supposedly heroic deeds were. Heroic may not be the right word. Perhaps it’s more …

The Virginian: The Masquerade, a sixth season episode, was one I found to be quite delightful. It was pretty lighthearted versus the serious tone of so many of these 90 minute episodes, and it featured David Hartman, who I often enjoy in his portrayals.
Hartman guest stars as well …

From 1992, The Ray Bradbury Theater: Some Live Like Lazarus opened in a very intriguing way. We, the viewers, walk up to a house where a woman is seated on her porch. She greets us and says she’s been expecting us. Naturaly, we want to know …

John Glover guest starred as Walter Grip. Man left on Mars, which was colonized but then evacuated because of some Earth crisis. Unfortunately, Grip didn’t get the word and is shocked to find himself alone; that is, until he starts phoning numbers randomly and finds Genevieve (Monica …

The Ray Bradbury Theater: Tomorrow’s Child, which was one of the last episodes of this science fiction series to air back in August 1992, started out with a neat shot of a vessel speeding across the water. As we closed in, we saw that it was being driven …

I was very surprised that I enjoyed The Ray Bradbury Theater: Great Wide World Over There as much as I did. This is a really quiet, unassuming half hour from October 1992. The cable show starred Tyne Daly as Cora Gibbs, Bill Johnson as her husband, Tom …

Joanna Moore guest stars in The Andy Griffith Show: Andy’s Rich Girlfriend as Peggy McMillan. She is another strong candidate for the affections of Sheriff Andy Taylor (Griffith). She’s another nurse, new to Mayberry, but that’s not the problem that arises to block the budding romance. …

Ice Road Truckers: Blood on the Dalton was a very dramatic outing for this History Channel reality series. The title was very appropriate as the hour long program focused on some unpleasant events that occurred at this part of the ice trucking season.
There were several points of interest. …

Earlier this year, I was gifted with The Ray Bradbury Theater DVD set, which contains all 65 episodes of the science fiction series on 5 DVDs. I’ve just finished reviewing the episodes, so now it’s time to take a look at the DVD set itself.
There are plenty of highs …

In this edition of the United Kingdom’s version of Undercover Boss, it was Paul Fisher, the main man in charge of The Jockey Club, who went undercover. This show was about the business associates of the racing world’s The Jockey Club, from taking tickets at the racetrack to …

The Andy Griffith Show: Andy and Opie - Bachelors, which aired back in October 1962, was the second episode to include Joanna Moore as Andy’s girlfriend, Peggy McMillian. Like Mary Simpson, the last gal to have Andy’s affections, Peggy was a nurse. In her first appearance, we …

I have ambivalent feelings about Top Shot: Shortest Fuse, but that’s only because my personal favorite didn’t make it through the entire hour.
This show has been very interesting to watch. It’s a competition that pitted a bunch of men and one woman in direct competition with a variety …

From October 1962, The Andy Griffith Show: Andy and the New Mayor was a riot. It’s a very good show that is definitely worth watching.
The main guest star is Parley Baer. He joined the show as a recurring player, portraying Mayor Roy Stoner. Baer replaced Mayor …

From year three in October 1962, The Andy Griffith Show: The Cow Thief has Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) and his deputy, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), trying to solve, of all things, the theft of cows. Things are complicated, however, when Mayor Stoner (Parley Baer) calls in the …

My hunch is that the Cupcake Wars: Hot and Spicy ALMA Awards was an early show and perhaps even the pilot for this new TV series because there were a lot of things different from the way the show was run. In fact, even the standard bits spoken …

What on earth possessed me to watch the opening episode of The Bachelor Pad? I can’t believe I did it. It was an enormous waste of time. The thing is, I don’t even watch The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. I have seen maybe 3 full …

From November 1962, the third season of this wonderful comedy series, The Andy Griffith Show: Lawman Barney has Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) attempting to get his deputy’s confidence back on track after Barney Fife (Don Knotts) is intimated by a couple of mobile street vendors.
It all begins simply …

The 16th episode from January 1958 of Highway Patrol was called Slain Cabby and was pretty good overall.
In this third season outing, I think this was the first time I really saw a CHP meeting, a prolonged scene where they discuss their plans for capturing the robbers. It …

Nurse Peggy McMillan is back again in The Andy Griffith Show: Barney Mends a Broken Heart, a third season episode from November 1962, where she and her beau, Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) have a little tiff, which prompts Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts) to try to set his …

Jack Frost was another vintage cartoon that I saw recently. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite as enamored with it as I thought I might have been. I love all kinds of holiday films, and it wasn’t that the story wasn’t good as that it wasn’t as complete as …

From Max Fleischer, Christmas Comes But Once a Year starts out so delightfully. As the name indicates, this old cartoon is one of a holiday nature. In fact, it begins at an orphanage, with a dog licking away a little girl. Then all of the young …

Hector’s Hectic Life is a cartoon that is brand new to me. I’ve never seen or heard of it before, but it was a holiday offering from the golden age by UM&M TV Corporation.
So as it turns out, Hector is a dog who always gets into trouble. …

The Christmas Visitor, which was a cartoon production from the golden age by Halas and Batchelor, was a variation on the telling of the classic A Night Before Christmas. The color offering actually begins very classically in this regard, with the narration right from the very familiar story.
It’s …