Men On the Street

Steve Allen was a multi-talented man, one of whose talents was that he could spot talent in OTHER people! On his fifties shows, he did a feature whereby he allegedly did unrehearsed "man on the street" interviews. The interviewees at various times included such funny folks as Pat Harrington, Dayton Allen and Gabriel Dell but most memorably were the men seen here, some of the funniest of them all.

Louis Nye: Pronounced "Looie," his famous catch-phrase was a fey, "Hi-ho, Steverino!" He specialized in over-privileged mama's boys with delusions of grandeur but he could also do a good serious role. In fact he made a good, long career as a character actor in films and on TV including a running role on CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM in his 90s!  

Don Knotts: He started in radio and while he didn't really seem to have the looks for TV, his uber-nervous character on the Allen Show more than made up for that. Andy Griffith recognized his talent and put him on his own show a few years later, effectively reducing himself to straight man and in the process creating TV history. In the sixties, he became an unlikely major movie star and, a decade later, returned to TV as a popular regular on THREE'S COMPANY!

Tom Poston: Perhaps the funniest of them all, Poston is best remembered today as a smart panelist with a dry wit on the TV quiz show TO TELL THE TRUTH but his career encompassed a number of stage triumphs as well. He was an amiable leading man in a couple of sixties features but ended up a most welcome character player in films (such as PRINCESS DIARIES 2) and on television in such shows as NEWHART. He even married Suzanne Pleshette, Newahrt's wife from his previous TV series where Poston also appeared in a few episodes!

All in all, three very, very funny guys!

Cincinnati's Nostalgia Expo Reminder

Bob and Dorothy Jo

It's hard to deny Bob Barker his place as THE best game show host of all time but reports of his sexual harassment of models during his long and successful run on THE PRICE IS RIGHT are too prevalent to ignore. Seen here is Bob's wife of 36 years, Dorothy Jo. Often seen on Bob's TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES series (and later, I believe, on TATTLETALES), Dorothy Jo came across as a tough broad who adored Bob but wouldn't put up with any shenanigans! Had she not passed in 1981, I'm betting Bob would not have had the issues he later had...or if he had, he would not have survived them!

TV Mothers

Banacek

NBC's MYSTERY MOVIE rotating anthology series produced several of my very favorite seventies television series including McCLOUD, HEC RAMSEY and COLUMBO. Another on that list would have to be BANACEK. I was never a big George Peppard fan. I find his acting both before and after this series to be either dismally dull or annoyingly smug. Yes, that includes A-TEAM.

But here, as a Polish-American millionaire insurance investigator in Boston, he is the very personification of the word cool, helped along by some wonderful writing and often amazingly clever mystery plots.

And also a great supporting cast. Although he owns and sometimes drives a gorgeous 1941 Packard, Banacek is most often chauffeured in a limo by Jay (played by Ralph Manza), a very traditional comic sidekick as one might find in movies of The Falcon, The Saint or the Lone Wolf. 

Murray Matheson is the brains of the operation as Felix, intellectual owner of an antiquarian bookstore and our hero's go-to guy for any and all obscure info or even the word on the street.

 Thomas Banacek's heritage is played up often. At the time, Polish jokes were big and Polish organizations weren't happy about that. Smart, sexy Banacek with his own "old Polish proverbs" became a popular role model for such groups.

Christine Belford appeared on the show semi-regularly as a rival insurance investigator and sometimes "love"interest. Around this same time, she and Peppard starred opposite each other in a clever but now forgotten feature film mystery entitled THE GROUNDSTAR CONSPIRACY. Originally, I found her character grating for some reason, but in later viewings I've quite enjoyed their cat and mouse games.

The show ran, as did its fellow Mystery Movies, in a more or less monthly 90 minute or 2 hour slot. There were only two seasons with critical success but middling ratings. Supposedly Peppard, then going through a rocky divorce, exited after that so his soon-to-be ex wouldn't get half of his earnings under California law. 

The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention 2013

Julie Newmar

As you may have noticed, this blog is now officially sponsored by Martin Grams' Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, one of THE best places to catch some of your classic TV favorites year after year. We'll be spotlighting a number of shows connected to the con, past and present, as we near the actual September event. Here are a few of this year's guests. Click the banner at the bottom of the page to go to the Con's page for much more info!

Edward Asner

John Crawford

Elizabeth Shepherd

Robert Loggia

Also appearing! Legendary movie stars Mamie Van Doren and Margaret O'Brien!

Hanna-Barbera-The Rocky Road to Success-1961