The Smothers Are Back
One of the offbeat highlights of the late-1960s was “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” an hourly variety show that debuted in February 1967 on CBS. Showcasing the talents of irreverent folk-singer/comedians the Smothers Brothers (who had a bevy of folk-tinged musical/comedy album hits in the 60s), the show quickly morphed from a “hip” version of […]
All You Need Is Love
In the mid-1970s, at the suggestion of John Lennon, celebrated journalist and film director Palmer decided to document “The Story of Popular Music” and set about interviewing and filming all the major players in the industry. Even in the mid-70s, this was seen as a monumental task, but despite the scale of the undertaking, Palmer […]
Get Your Kicks
Forty-seven years ago two young men jumped into a brand new Corvette and took off in search of America and themselves. That was the idea behind CBS’ “Route 66,” which debuted October 7, 1960. During the course of four seasons, the two men found themselves at the center of all sorts of dramas, meeting all […]
Gumby turns 50
Remember Gumby? That odd-looking animated clay figure that resembled a pencil eraser (and became the template for thousands of erasers and key-chains fobs). Animator and producer Art Clokey created Gumby in the mid-1950s and soon after the clayboy received his very own Saturday morning TV series. “The Gumby Show†debuted on March 16, 1957 on […]
The Fugitive Kind
In the fall of 1963 I was in the middle of a teenage existential angst. Fresh out of high school, facing the uncertainties of college and on the verge of a world gone mad (Vietnam, Civil Rights fights, the continuing threat of nuclear war), not sure of who I was or where my future lay, […]
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