The great Badge 714 website has reproduced this short entry from Scholastic Book’s TV 70, a look at the upcoming television season sold in classrooms across the fruited plain! It’s great to see Dragnet 1970 get some good press! Enjoy!

Jack Webb’s Dragnet Tells It Like It Is
by Peggy Hudson

(from “TV 70″, published in 1970 by Scholastic Book Services)

It must be doing something right.
What other TV show has been put back on the beat?

This is the city: Los Angeles.
Population: 2,479,015—some good, some evil.
One of its natives carries a badge. His name: Joe Friday. We visited him on a Tuesday.
The time: 11:06 A.M.My partner and I had been assigned the interview detail. The Chief had briefed us. He said Dragnet had started as a radio show in 1949. Switching to television in 1952, it had become one of the medium’s all-time popular shows.

Then, eight years later, it had abruptly dropped from sight. Now, under a number of aliases—from Dragnet 1967 to Dragnet 1970—it had reappeared and resumed full-time operations. Our assignment: To learn at firsthand the program’s “MO.”

At 11:07 A.M.. we drove into the sprawling grounds of Universal City. We knew that this was Friday’s headquarters. Friday, in real life, operates under the name of Jack Webb.

As soon as we’d stepped into Webb’s reception room, we knew we were in the right place. Hanging in a big frame on one wall was a large collection of police stars, shields, and other badges from such cities as East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Troy, New York. Some have Jack Webb’s name inscribed upon them.

In a large museum case were other police memorabilia, including an ancient lock and handcuffs. Beside it, in another frame, was a fan letter simply addressed: “Dum-de-dum-dum”—and decorated with appropriate musical notes. The postman, undoubtedly a Dragnet fan himself, delivered the letter—possibly even humming the program’s theme music as he did so.

Led into Webb’s office, we found ourselves in a different world. This was no precinct station. It looked like a living room. Wall-to-wall carpeting. Easy chairs. Tall lamps. One wall was decorated with etchings of U. S. presidents. On a small table stood an American flag.

A man was in the room. Dressed in shirt sleeves and slacks, he was seated at the big desk, talking on the telephone. He wore big black horn-rimmed glasses.

Even behind the glasses, though, it was evident that this was our man. Realizing that the disguise was useless, he hung up the phone, whipped off the glasses, and stood up to shake hands.

Webb is a slight man with narrow shoulders but a powerful build. His natural expression is serious, but he smiles quickly. He graciously waved us to a seat.

We weren’t about to be put off. “We have a few questions we’d like to ask you,” we said. Webb nodded. The interrogation began.

The story you are about to read is real.

---

Dragnet has an air of authenticity seldom matched by rival cops-and-criminals TV shows. Other police dramas have been gunned down by the ratings, but Dragnet has survived. “Why?” we wondered aloud.Webb looked thoughtful. “We’ve tried to tell it like it is for many years,” he said in his dry, Sgt. Friday’s voice. “We work very closely with the Los Angeles Police Department. We have meetings three or four times a year with division commanders and at least one meeting a year with police officials of even higher rank.

“We try to find out what the latest police problems are, what they’d like said. It’s really their program as much as ours. “We aren’t allowed—and don’t want—to read actual case histories. We deal with stories that are accurate, but the dialogue is recreated.

“All of our hardware is authentic. There’s a policeman assigned to each show as technical adviser. Each of our scripts passes through 12 to 15 officers’ hands, from the rank of captain down to sergeant. This is done to catch us in any technical slip-ups. To my knowledge, Dragnet and our other show, Adam-12, are the only police programs done as semidocumentaries.”

Webb created Dragnet 20 years ago. A former radio announcer turned radio serial actor, he got a big break in 1948, shortly after his discharge from I the Army Air Corps. He was cast in a supporting role in the movie, He Walked By Night.

It was a bigger break than even Webb realized. During the filming of the movie, he struck up a friendship with the film’s technical adviser, an officer of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“He sparked my interest in police work, and I found myself spending nights in police prowl cars and researching the crime lab files by day when time permitted,” Webb recalled. “Through this Dragnet was born.”

The show was one of the few programs to survive the transition from radio to television. After its long TV run, Webb voluntarily took Dragnet off the air in 1959.

“I think the public grew a little weary after eight years,” Webb admitted. “We’d done 275 half-hour TV shows and over 500 radio shows.”

But in January, 1967, Dragnet did the unprecedented. It became the first TV program to come from “retirement” and make a successful comeback.

“Had Sgt. Friday gotten restless to get back on the beat?” we asked Webb.

He smiled. “There was no driving urgency on my part,” he said. “It was more or less NBC’s idea, though I thought we could make some kind of statement on law and order.”

In making that statement, Dragnet dramas present all the variety to be found in real-life police work—from homicide to housebreaking. Shows frequently deal with the problems of young people.

When dealing with teenagers on the program, Sgt. Friday and Officer Bill Gannon—played by Harry Morgan—seem tuned in to the younger generation. “Do you think such cops really exist?” we asked Webb.

“Positively, yes, “he replied. “We have only 23 1/2 minutes to tell a story which actual police officers may have spent months on. The officers in real life might have shown even more understanding than Harry and I are able to in such a short time.”

Webb is concerned about the lack of public support for police departments in some areas of the country. “It’s no secret that being called a ‘pig’ affects a man’s morale,” he said. “If we don’t do something quickly, the spirit of accomplishment will be taken away from men on the job. When that happens, low morale can spread through a department. Eventually you risk having no department at all.

“Today, being a policeman is a distasteful, almost tragic, way to make a living. The abuse he takes is ridiculous.

“If the public doesn’t begin to loudly support their policemen, I’m afraid we’re heading for a bleak period in urban history.

“We hope in some way we make the policeman’s job easier for him.”

Back in the late 1950s, Rod Serling sold a script to CBS called The Time Element. He had hoped to craft a weekly anthology series using many of the devices used in this script – a normal person put into an unusual situation, an ironic twist ending, etc.. Interestingly, this teleplay had the distinction of being Serling’s first science fiction type writing.

The script languished in the offices of CBS for a while until it was finally produced as an episode of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, and was broadcast on November 24, 1958.

The Time Element is a time travel story, using many time travel devices that have since become hackneyed. The episode featured William Bendix and Martin Balsam in the central roles, and the cast also includes Joe DeRita, who years later he would join Moe Howard and Larry Fine in the final incarnation of The Three Stooges.

The broadcast was critical and popular success, and over six thousand positive letters flooded CBS’s offices, convincing CBS to green light Serling’s proposed Twilight Zone series. The rest is TV history.

So sit back and enjoy Rod Serling’s The Time Element.

Well, most people who know me even casually know that two of my many passions are Dragnet and The Three Stooges! I know what you’re thinking – those two things are among everyone’s many passions! And you’re probably right!

So when those Knuckleheads decided to parody Dragnet, it simply can’t fail! So please join Moe, Larry, & Shemp in their 1955 short, Blunder Boys.

Fridays for Friday returns with a vengeance! Today’s clip is from the classic episode, The Big Prophet. It’s a minimalist episode done almost entirely on one set between Joe Friday, Bill Gannon, and Brother William Bentley (Liam Sullivan), a Timothy Leary-type counterculture guru who advocates experimentation of all sorts of mind altering drugs.

Needless to say, Mr. Webb sets him straight! All I have to say is, “Thank God, It’s Friday!”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Twre6ItGEI

In the mid 1960s, serious cultural changes were in the works. Those with their finger on the pulse of America saw the changes coming. People were becoming more cavalier, and less responsible, with sexuality. And drug use was on the rise -- and more problematic, encouraged and glorified by certain segments of the culture.

Mr. Jack Webb noticed, and he didn’t like it one bit.

When the network decided to give him a chance to re-imagine his classic radio drama/1950s tv hit Dragnet, Mr. Webb was enthusiastic. One reason was that he saw the cultural trends that encouraged drug use, and wanted to address those trends.

The tv movie, Dragnet 1966, pleased the network executives so much that they ordered a weekly tv series. And Mr. Webb delivered -- 17 episodes of Dragnet 1967, kicking off a successful 4-year run of 98 episodes. Interestingly, the 1966 tv movie didn’t air until 1969!

In any event, the drug issue was important to Mr. Webb and it is prominent in the tv series pilot, The LSD Story, which aired on January 12, 1967. It’s a memorable episode because of the subject matter and the way it is handled. The junkie in the episode, Blue Boy enjoys a well deserved footnote in television history!

A YouTube user edited together the best parts of the episode, and thanks to him I can present selections from The LSD Story as part of our series, Fridays for Friday.

Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0zgIzqgxFU

Probably my two favorite tv comedies of all time are The Odd Couple and Get Smart. The OC, of course, started on stage and made its way to the big screen, and ultimately the tv screen. Get Smart started on the tv screen and had a very successful run, and back around 1980 made it to the big screen in a forgettable film called The Nude Bomb.

The Nude Bomb brought Don Adams back to the role that he made famous, and indeed the role that made him famous, Control Agent 86, Maxwell Smart. Unfortunately, he was the only major cast member to return, and the loss of Barbara Feldon/Agent 99 and Edward Platt/The Chief really hurt the film.

In the late 1980s, however, a much better reunion film was made for television, Get Smart, Again!, reuniting as much of the original cast as possible. It’s released on DVD and usually in the $1 bin at Walmarts across the fruited plain – well worth the investment!

I love the original so much that I winced when a couple of years ago I heard that Hollywood was doing what it does worst, and making a big-screen, big budget Get Smart film. They almost always screw these things up, so why would Get Smart be any different?

Then I heard that Steve Carell was cast as Agent 86. While I am not a big fan, he seemed like a great choice given the current climate and talent pool. Alan Arkin as The Chief – seems like a good fit, and I can definitely see Max testing his patience! Anne Hathaway is easy on the eyes but seems a bit young for the top-shelf Agent 99. Duane ‘The Rock’ Johnson also seems perfect as Agent 23, a character created for the film: Control’s most capable and suave agent, and Max’s idol.

A glimpse at IMDB’s page reveals many old favorites in the cast of characters. Terrance Stamp as Seigfried – great choice! And Bill Murray as Agent 13, the Control spy who would always get assigned tight covert spaces. The pieces seem to add up, and I resolved to be of open mind and look forward to the film’s opening on June 20, 2008.

Though they haven’t begun marketing the movie in the states, I found both the teaser trailer and extended trailer for some international markets available on YouTube! So I checked them out.

Gotta say, I feel even better about the project after watching these two clips. Maybe it’s just a combination of hopefulness and gullibility on my part, though. I did hear that a rough cut of the movie was screened back in the Fall and tested horribly, enough to force the filmmakers to go back and redo some scenes. Usually not a good sign, but I am still hopeful.

Based on the clips. it seems faithful to the kind of humor that made the original tv series one of my favorites. In particular, that ‘element of surprise’ joke made me laugh quite a bit.

I suppose the question is, “Do audiences in 2008 want that?” I hope they do.

Wait and see…

PS – Anyone care to opine – the narrator of the shorter teaser sounds a lot like Leonard Nimoy, which would be a nice tie-in with another one of my favorite spy tv series, Mission Impossible. Anyone else think it sounds like ol’ Spock?

Now and then some really unusual stuff from around the globe crosses my desk here at the world headquarters of The Silver State Chronicles. Well, this time, a tv commercial from halfway around the world has caught my attention. It’s for a product McDonalds markets as ‘The Tomato McGrand.’

I can’t decide if the ad is sexy or creepy. Or maybe it’s sexy-creepy. Or maybe it’s creepy-sexy?

While whoever posted it on YouTube felt that this was a video of Ronald McDonald’s daughter, I tend to think she is a cheap floozie who comes by the McDonalds’ home when Mrs McD goes away for the weekend to visit her mother. Good for Ronald, I suppose! Always gotta keep an eye on those sly old dogs in clown makeup!

I also have to say I nearly fell out of my chair at the 15-16 second mark. Holy Baloney! Is McDonald’s gearing up to market the ‘McCamel Toe Royale?’

In any event, a creepy-sexy, or sexy-creepy, redhead and a catchy tune tend to be the start of something big! At least, that’s the way it’s always worked out in my life…

Those who know me know that I am a big fan of Bullwinkle and his pal Rocky, as well as Boris, Natasha, and the rest of their family of characters! Well, mix the antics of Bullwinkle with the antics of Dragnet, and you have a sure formula for success!

Sit back and enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9l1AQKunXQ

Courtesy of AintItCool.com, word is that Hollywood boy wonder JJ Abrams is giving fans a sneak peek at his big-budget, big-screen re-imagining of the original Star Trek series. A teaser trailer evidently will run with his giant monster attacks New York movie Cloverfield, which opens this weekend.

Looks like the teaser starts with some real-life inspirational quotes about space exploration, and then gives fans a view of the construction of the original Enterprise.

Gotta admit, it looks pretty sharp!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG8XbloIMMI

As each new year comes to a close, I like to look back and get a little nostalgic.

The word ‘nostalgia’ comes from the ancient Greek language, a combination of two words: “nostos,” meaning ‘a return home, travel, journey’ and the word “algos,” meaning ‘pain, grief.’

This would roughly translate back in ancient times as ‘the pain from an old wound,’ but the colloquial modern use still captures at least some of that essence – “a bittersweet yearning for the things of the past.” The pain from looking back – a warm memory, but one you know you can’t ever really return to.

So all you have left is a memory that simultaneously feels good and hurts a bit.

Even in todays fast paced world, ware fads come and go in a matter of weeks, and movie, television, & recording stars just sail briefly through the public consciousness, people still respond to nostalgia. I know that I certainly do.

As to the power of modern nostalgia, I think it’s mostly because the things that trigger the memories are now more real than they have ever been in the past.

While past generations had to rely on old stories passed down as cornerstones of memory, the modern era has recorded video and audio – methods that appeal to two powerful senses, sight and sound.

So I believe our modern sense of nostalgia is therefore much more real, since we can literally go back to the sights and sounds of the past and experience ‘bittersweet yearning’ in ways prior generations simply could not.

And why is the feeling so potent? We can go back to that video or audio and suddenly a link to the past is formed. And in most cases, there is a strong perception that the time past was just better and more fulfilling.

Was it really all that much better? It doesn’t matter. The memory and perception is what’s important. Memory can be a funny thing, of course. We tend to exaggerate things, especially the extremes. The good seems a bit better, and the bad can seem worse if you’re not careful.

Indeed, the passing of time combined with wisdom does tend to minimize the bad, and that’s a good thing.

How’s this for a segue?

Which brings me to one of my all time favorite television commercials. The advertising whizzes who thought this one up sure caught lightning in a bottle – Coca Cola somehow associated with an infectious, folksy, feel good, hippy-dippy song, featuring smiling faces from around the world all getting along.

“I’d like to teach the world to sing” is indeed a classic commercial (and there are so few of those around). An unforgettable image and an unforgettably simple melody & lyrics.

Coca Cola seemed to run this commercial for most of the 1970s, and why not? It pushes all the right buttons and even a relatively young curmudgeon like me can’t resist its basic appeal.

Twenty years later, a different set of ad executives once again had a flash of genuine inspiration and tried to capture lightning in a bottle once again. The plan was uncomplicated – reunite the smiling faces from the 1970s commercial, and this time add their children – a new generation of Coca Cola drinkers, and recreate the song and imagery for a new era.

It’s just the type of thing that gets botched 98 times out of 100. But I think they really succeeded. If memory serves, they carted out the 20th Anniversary commercial at The Super Bowl that year, assuring that it would get maximum exposure and word of mouth the next day in homes, schools, and offices.

Note that while audio and video appeal to the senses in bringing forth powerful nostalgic feelings, this ad very cleverly incorporates the sense of taste to the experience. Just a few years earlier, Coke had introduced their infamous ‘New Coke,’ tinkering with a successful formula. That experiment was a failure.

Coke quickly re-introduced ‘Coca Cola Classic’ – a clever use of nostalgia in itself. So the 20th Anniversary commercial connects with people using another potent source of memory – taste!

Just a fantastic piece of work. They patterned the 20th Anniversary ad fairly closely to the original, which is clear when you watch them both. It’s very well crafted, and whoever worked on it really knew what they were doing.

I particularly like the 23 second mark as the original generation turns slightly to face their children as they skip into the frame, singing the updated ‘Coca Cola Classic’ jingle, woven masterfully into the original song. I confess I get some goosebumps and a bit choked up as the 20th Anniversary commercial ends with the text scrolling, much as the original commercial concluded.

Those few who know me well know I am a sucker for nostalgia and sentimentality (though I like to think I do a good job of camouflaging it). A pleasant melody from the past, warm friendly faces, happy young children singing. Love and family. It doesn’t get any better.

And while the imagery ostensibly speaks to a global theme, the truth is that this ad is quintessentially American. People from all over the world can gather on an hillside in Italy, but the message is unmistakable (if unintentional). It speaks to Americans, who have come from every corner of the globe to be part of the greatest nation on earth.

And truly, Coca Cola is about as American as Mom, Baseball, & Apple Pie.

Ultimately, with a slight tear in my eye, it’s nice to remember that though things may change, it’s our job to make things change for the better. But it’s a warn, wonderful feeling to know that the memories of the past are there to bring us a joyful feeling.

And in the end you just can’t beat the feeling. You can’t beat the real thing.

Happy New Year!

One of the most memorable Woody Woodpecker animated shorts is ‘Under the Counter Spy,’ a neat spoof on Dragnet. I have to admit, this is one of the darker Woody Woodpecker cartoons and downright creepy at times! Still, it’s a classic and very enjoyable!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFz4BYh9O2E

It’s no secret to those that know me personally that I have been a lifelong fan of the classic British tv series, The Avengers. Indeed, I confess that I carried around an umbrella every day during the 4th & 5th grades in an effort to emulate one of my great role models, Mr. John Steed (Patrick Macnee).

Of course, I have a different sort of affection & admiration for his greatest crime-fighting partner, Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg). But I am only human, after all! What a woman!

Truth is, while modern television does show brief lucid flashes of genuine quality, wit, & creativity suitable for all ages, nothing comes close to the sheer escapst fun of this classic series!

And it’s that very essence that this fan-made video captures! So sit back and enjoy the snazzy presentation of the classic Avengers theme and the marvelous video that accompanies, courtesy of PeterPeel at YouTube!

Thought I would share a Dragnet classic this week – an entire episode! This episode is ‘The Big Cast’ and featured a young Lee Marvin before he would go on to greater success.

The episode was first broadcast on February 14, 1952, and is brought to you today courtesy of the magic of YouTube!

Jack Webb has never led me in a wrong direction! Enjoy the Webb-wisdom of this public service announcement regarding the importance of seat belts!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_-OsCqaDUY

Mr Jack Webb took some time from his busy schedule to film this brief Public Service Announcement, informing tv viewers about their Medicare benefits.

I was so moved by this PSA that I ran down to my local Social Security office immediately to sign up for my benefits, and told them Mr Webb had sent me, advising that I should go down before my 65th birthday to do all the paperwork.

The woman kindly informed me that there is no need to sign up 25 years before my 65th birthday, and to come back in 24 years, 10 months or so. I vowed to do just that! Then the nice security folks escorted me out of the building!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Cu-q4OL2I

Looks like the guardians of what’s right and wrong about our culture are at it again!

UPI reports…

Volumes 1 and 2 of “Sesame Street: Old School” come with a warning stating the first episodes of the beloved U.S. series may not be appropriate for children.

“These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child,” the statement said.

The long-running series began in 1969.

Asked by The New York Times why the warning was necessary, Carol-Lynn Parente, the show’s executive producer, mentioned one installment that depicted Cookie Monster chewing on, then eating a pipe during the parody “Monsterpiece Theater.”

“That modeled the wrong behavior, so we reshot those scenes without the pipe and then we dropped the parody altogether,” Parente told the Times.

She noted that Oscar the Grouch’s extreme grouchiness in early episodes doesn’t set a great example, either.

“We might not be able to create a character like Oscar now,” Parente said.

Mentalcases.

If there’s one thing you don’t do, it’s push Sgt. Joe Friday! And this hapless criminal lowlife does just that, and pays the price!

Justice has a name -- it’s Jack Webb!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrpiby-piB4

Back in the days when TV was a lot more entertaining, long promos for the series were sent out as part of the syndication packages so that the local tv station could drum up interest for the series. This one for the 1960s incarnation of Dragnet is a classic, and includes part of the famous “What is a cop” speech from season one!

Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdyvqFN6bCU

Television’s house of ideas, Glen A Larson, has created so many great, enduring television shows that it’s difficult to keep track of them all. But one show stands tall even among that tough field. BJ & The Bear

You could count on Mr. Larson to consistently rip off the flavor of the month. For example, when Star Wars became a monster hit in theaters, he followed with Battlestar Galactica on tv. So when audiences responded favorably to the 1977 big screen action/comedy Smokey & The Bandit, Larson took some elements from the film and quickly created his own show.

So in the tv version, we have a rascally truck driver (BJ, rather than ‘Bandit’) and his pet chimp named ‘Bear’ (instead of a pet orangutan as in Smokey) relentlessly pursued by Sheriff Lobo (rather than Sheriff Justice). The basic dynamic from Smokey & The Bandit was intact, though the tv version would have none of the star power of the film -- no Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason, nor Sally Field.

A pilot movie was broadcast by NBC in 1978, and it proved popular enough for the network to green light a series. BJ & The Bear lasted three seasons on NBC, for an impressive 48 episodes. It even launched a spinoff based around Claude Akins’s character, Sheriff Lobo.

Each episode usually involved BJ and Bear discovering some criminal or immoral activity, and usually a pretty woman in some sort of distress. BJ would then bend the rules a bit to solve the problem, usually with some action and comedy to please fans of all ages.

In a later season, BJ started his own trucking company out of Los Angeles, and he hired 7 beautiful lady truckers -- Samantha, Cindy, Angie, Callie, twins Geri & Teri, and my personal favorite Stacks, as portrayed by the lovely Judy Landers. They would find adventures together. Sometimes Andre the Giant would show up and hang out with them, too.

In other words, this is clearly one of the greatest tv shows of all time.

So sit back and enjoy the opening credits & theme song to one of the great television concepts of all time, BJ & The Bear.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AsqKQptTdQ

While some folks may be so cynical as to decry the credibility of the basic concept of the show, I have always maintained that the most incredible thing in the show opening is not that an adult male trucker’s best friend is a chimpanzee, but rather that somewhere out on the highways of America there is at least one young, foxy lady truck driver.

The next season introduced seven more young, foxy lady truckers, propelling the show into science fiction.

Way back in the mid 1980s, Writer-Director-Producer Michael Mann was riding high with his slick & polished tv series, Miami Vice. I admit I was never really a fan of the show, but it had a strong run for a while and a dedicated fan base.

Mann could pretty much write his own ticket in those days, so when it came time for him to pitch a new series, he dared to try something a bit different. NBC gave him the go-ahead for a pilot movie and series for his new project, Crime Story.

Crime Story was a police drama set in the early 1960s, one of my favorite periods. The main tension was built around Chicago cop Lt. Mike Torelli (Dennis Farina) and ambitious hood Ray Luca (Anthony John Denison). The series followed law enforcement’s attention to Luca and crew’s criminal antics in Chicago and later, in my hometown of Las Vegas.

The show only lasted two years, and in that time some pretty good actors hit the scene for some appearances, most notably Kevin Spacey and Julia Roberts. The show was as inspired and stylish as anything on tv at the time, and probably much more so.

Most people remember the series for it’s opening theme, a re-recording of Del Shannon’s hit ‘Runaway.’ Well, they managed to coax Del out of semi-retirement to record an updated, brassier version of his classic song! NBC even put together a music video featuring Del singing and scenes of the tv series in order to help drum up interest in the series.

So sit back and enjoy the complete version (not the 1 minute opening credits version) of Runaway 1986!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8APl40BE3tc

Way back in the mid-1980s, Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation was making its big national expansion, riding high on the popularity of Hulk Hogan and to a lesser extent, ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper. But the WWF universe was filled with many stars: Greg Valentine, The British Bulldogs, The Wild Samoans, and especially Don Muraco and his manager, Mr. Fuji.

At one point, the Muraco & Fuji duo took off for Hollywood, to take over the film & television industries. They prepared three pilots, offered here in their entirety!

Fuji General – A soap opera featuring the passions at a major metropolitan hospital.

Fuji Bandito – A wild western with action and mayhem!

Fuji Vice – When murder and drugs are involved, leave it to these stylish vice cops!

Seinfeld was one of the most popular tv series of the 1990s, and still has quite a fan following today. The creative forces behind the series parodied a wide range of subjects in their time, and one of the most memorable is the NY Library investigator Mr Bookman.

Well, I confess I was never a big Seinfeld fan, but when I saw this episode in syndication, it was pretty clear to me after about two lines that ‘Mr Bookman’ is a parody/homage of Jack Webb’s classic tv police officer, Joe Friday.

Or maybe it’s just my imagination: take a look and see…

Leave it to screen legend Orson Welles to make a few extra bucks here and there by shilling for all sorts of stuff. In this case, he was taking a check from Paul Masson Champagne for just a few words endorsing their product.

Needless to say, the people at Paul Masson got more than they bargained for!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3qg4i22x9M

Last week’s doubleheader was so well received that I decided to deliver a double-dose of Jack Webb action again! This time, it’s from the 1967 Dragnet TV movie, and Joe Friday has had just about enough from a filthy child molester he has busted!

All I have to say is, “Thank God it’s Friday!”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz_OZVk_Es0

Way back in 1968, Mr. Jack Webb had brought Dragnet back to prime time television, in my personal favorite incarnation of the series. Though his character, Joe Friday, was a no-nonsense police sergeant, Mr. Webb was open to poking fun at himself, and he did just that in this celebrated skit from The Tonight Show.

I don’t know if this was done in one take or not, but it’s masterful and a fan favorite, and it consistently made it on Tonight Show prime time specials and home video compilations.

I really miss Johnny, and the special touch he brought to The Tonight Show. In any event, enjoy this classic TV comedy moment!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4RIBhQIkII

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsRHsgg8Dp8

Our friends at 60 Minutes did a great extended interview with Justice Clarence Thomas this past Sunday. I missed it as my Tivo was recording PBS’s ‘The War,’ but luckily the video is available at the link above.

He is the court’s only African American, and it’s most conservative member. He is arguably the most influential black man in the country, yet he is reviled by many in his own race for his opposition to government programs intended to help minorities.

Most people know very little about him, their opinions shaped by his bitter confirmation battle in which he was accused of sexually harassing a former employee named Anita Hill. Now, 16 years later, he has written a memoir called “My Grandfather’s Son,” which lays bare a remarkable life and the events that shaped it.

Watch the interview – you’ll be glad you did!

Thomas is an impressive gentleman, and the 60 Minutes interview makes that very clear. He is often belittled in legal circles because he is notorious for not asking any questions during oral argument, which some legal eagles see as evidence of a lesser intellect. Of course, that’s a dubious conclusion, but when the liberal elite gets an idea in their fertile minds, they tend to not have the adaptive skills to modify it.

Funny how liberal types tend to consider themselves very caring about the poor and underprivileged, but when a poor and underprivileged guy like Thomas becomes a success, they just can’t stand him.

Of course, they have no sincere affection for people in power who dare to disagree with them, or who have a different world view. It has nothing to do with being poor – if you sign on to their agenda, you’re ok. If you don’t, they belittle you at best and try to destroy you at worst.

I don’t really mind that so much. but I’d rather they were just honest about it. Reminds me of people you encounter in life who insist that they are independent and don’t care what anyone else thinks, but when they run into a genuine independent person who really doesn’t care what people think, they tend to hate him or her.

Fakes, phonies, & frauds, as Mr. Bob Grant would say!

By the way, radio host Laura Ingraham interviewed Clarence Thomas on her radio show this week. Check it out here in its entirety!

Here in Las Vegas, one of my local tv stations runs the great police drama, Hawaii 5-0. GREAT SHOW! If tv were more like this, I would watch more!

So I was checking out the rapidly fading YouTube for some cool 5-0 stuff, and came upon this great clip. In it, McGarrett gives a strong verbal reprimand to a handful of obnoxious, naive hippies!

Thanks, McGarrett – I couldn’t have said it better myself!

I found this great clip of Sgt Joe Friday from an episode of the 1960s-70s Dragnet and had to share it! In Webb we trust!!

This also gives me a great excuse to use this image of Mr Webb’s album below – I really dig the concept of ‘Romantic Reflections by Jack Webb!’

Enjoy!

Star Trek
Turkish Style

www.youtube.com/watch?v=utqnLoDfG3Y

Word just broke that the increasingly controversial OJ Simpson book “If I Did It,” where the football legend and movie star speculates exactly how he would have killed his wife and Ron Goldman “if he did it,” has been canceled by the publisher. The 2-part TV interview scheduled for a week from today has been canceled, also.

I guess they ran this one up the flagpole and nobody saluted, as we say in the corporate world!

I had no plans on watching it nor buying the book, but at the same time i figured the tv interview was going to be a huge hit. Folks eat this stuff up. I guess some serious heat came down.

Fans at the West Hollywood ‘Laugh Factory’ were treated to an unexpected part of Michael Richard’s stand-up act.

After being badgered by several patrons who were heckling him, he exploded in a bigoted tirade that has to be seen to be believed. Yahoo News reports.

The tirade apparently began after two black audience members started shouting at him that he wasn’t funny.

Richards retorted: “Shut up! Fifty years ago we’d have you upside down with a f—— fork up your a–.”

He then paced across the stage taunting the men for interrupting his show, peppering his speech with racial slurs and profanities.

“You can talk, you can talk, you’re brave now mother——. Throw his a– out. He’s a n—–!” Richards shouts before repeating the racial epithet over and over again.

Paramount got around to releasing some promotional material for the new enhanced Star Trek. Based on those clips, it looks like it could have been a lot worse. While I am still against this in principle, the enhancements don’t seem too intrusive to me. I’ll have to watch a few episodes to be sure. In the meanwhile, here are some video previews.

The first video is a 3 minute promotional film that explores the digital cleanup of the film and the transfer to HD. Some of the split screen comparisons looked exaggerated to me but it does look nice. The new FX look pretty good but the fact is that it’s just not the same, but I was fearing worse. One particularly annoying thing is the announcer, who seems to think the series is named ‘Star TRACK.’ Oh well, you can’t win them all!

Next is a short video on the re-recording of the music. It does seem fairly authentic, but I have to admit it kind-of creeps me out to see the female vocalist there. I always new the original theme had a female vocalist but it was better left to the imagination.

Last is a short piece on the digital cleanup of the original films.

It’s worth the 6 minutes to take a peek at these videos. I was very curious about the ‘enhancements’. This sneak preview hit the spot!

On September 11, 2001 the world stood still as Islamic terrorists used four planes as lethal weapons against innocent Americans. The 9/11 Commission was formed to determine how such an attack could happen, and its report documented the trail from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing to the tragedy of that September morning.

ABC is commemorating the 5th Anniversary of the attacks with a two part tv movie, ‘The Path To 911.’ It draws from the 911 Commission Report, published accounts, and interviews to create a dramatization of the events surrounding the incident, tracing the roots back over 8 years to the first WTC bombing in 1973. The primary character is FBI agent John O’Neill, who had a ringside seat at how ineptly the Federal government handled the growing Islamic terrorist threat in the 1990s.

The first part was long but good. It covers a lot of ground but it’s never particularly dull. Hindsight being 20/20, the errors in judgment on the part of the Feds is remarkable. It’s clear from the dramatization that the Clinton administration was just incapable of taking a strong posture as terrorist attacks grew more bold.

President Clinton, Madeline Albright, and Sandy Berger in particular have objected to the representations in the film. Putting aside the unintentional comedy of Bill Clinton stressing the value of telling the truth (remember he manipulated his wife and members of his cabinet to go around on tv shows and interviews and repeat his lies regarding his perjury & obstruction of justice charges), let’s just say that ‘Clinton’ and ‘Credibility’ aren’t exactly synonymous. Sandy Berger, the guy who stuffed documents from the national archives in his socks and panties, similarly isn’t Mr Credibility when it comes to matters like this. The Democrat leadership have gone so far as to lean on ABC to not air the film, which really demonstrates how far they have fallen in the modern era.

Dramatizations do put words in peoples mouths that they may never have said. Dramatizations also puts people in situations that may not exactly reflect the real-life incidents. Too bad for the Clinton crew that it doesn’t matter – that’s the nature of dramatizations and everybody knows it. While the words and situations do not literally portray what happen, they do dramatize a basic truth – the administration didn’t have the wits to recognize the growing threat, nor the will to handle the growing threat.

I’m reluctant, and always have been reluctant, to be a ‘blamer.’ The people to blame for the 911 attacks are the attackers themselves and the organization that made their mission possible. That being said, the 911 Commission’s mandate was not to lay blame but rather to find out what went wrong and to make suggestions to make things right for the future. Whether it succeeded or not is not yet clear, but there is plenty to learn from the failures of the Clinton & Bush administrations.

We can’t fix a problem if we can’t first isolate the problem. Political figures taking a posture of ‘don’t look at me’ is embarrassing. Indeed, it smacks of ego – people who really think the lessons of the ‘Path to 911′ tv movie as primarily about them have a lot of ‘problems.’

I’m sorry to say that it appears that we have quite a few people along the political landscape with a lot of ‘problems.’

Looks like the original Star Trek series is getting a special effects makeover to appeal to a whole new generation of young video game zombies!

The press release with all sorts of details is reprinted at the end of this entry. I can’t say I am happy with this: I like the originals just the way they are. Paramount has figured out that they can keep tweaking and repackaging the same old stuff and people will keep buying it. Just greed at work here.

Also, something that hasn’t been broached yet is what will be edited out of the original series. Late 1960s tv programs were formatted for fewer commercials than the 21st century television world. While I am sure the packaged DVD version will have no substantive edits, the televised version will almost certainly have scenes cut to fit into the 44 minutes of modern 1-hour programs.

Wait and see.

Here is the press release with some details. Be sure and tune in on Saturday September 16th!

“STAR TREK” ENTERING A NEW FRONTIER

The Original Series Returns To Broadcast Syndication For The First Time In 16 Years With Brand-New Digitally Remastered Episodes To Celebrate Its 40th Anniversary

Hollywood, Calif. — STAR TREK is getting a 21st century makeover. CBS Paramount Domestic Television is releasing digitally remastered episodes of the iconic 1960s sci-fi series, with all new special effects and music, to celebrate the groundbreaking series’ 40th anniversary, it was announced today by John Nogawski, president of CBS Paramount Domestic Television.

The new episodes also mark the first time in 16 years that the original STAR TREK series can be seen in broadcast syndication. The episodes will begin airing on the more than 200 stations that own the rights to the weekend broadcast syndication window starting Sept. 16 (check local listings for station and dates). All 79 episodes of the original STAR TREK series will eventually be remastered, with the first batch of episodes chosen from a list of STAR TREK fans’ favorite shows.

“STAR TREK redefined science-fiction and constantly pushed the envelope with concepts that were ahead of their time,” Nogawski said. “By giving the series a digital upgrade using the best technology available today, it will continue to be a leader in cutting-edge television programming as we introduce the series to a new generation of viewers.”

The most noticeable change will be redoing many of the special effects, created with 1960s technology, with 21st century computer-generated imagery (CGI). That includes:

• Space ship exteriors — The space ship Enterprise, as well as other Starships, will be replaced with state of the art CGI-created ships. The new computer-generated Enterprise is based on the exact measurements of the original model, which now rests in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

• Show opening — The Enterprise and planets seen in the main title sequence will be redone, giving them depth and dimension for the first time.

• Galaxy shots — All the graphics of the galaxy, so frequently seen through the window on the Enterprise’s bridge, will be redone.

• Exteriors — The battle scenes, planets and ships from other cultures (notably the Romulan Bird of Prey and Klingon Battle Cruisers) will be updated.

• Background scenes — Some of the iconic, yet flat, matte paintings used as backdrops for the strange, new worlds explored by the Enterprise crew will get a CGI face-lift, adding atmosphere and lighting.
The refurbished episodes also feature higher quality sound for the famous opening theme. The original score by Emmy Award-winning composer Alexander Courage has been re-recorded in state-of-the-art digital stereo audio with an orchestra and a female singer belting out the famous vocals. A digitally remastered version of William Shatner’s classic original recording of the 38-word “Space, the final frontier…” monologue continues to open each episode.