Dave Berry On Hurricanes

Just got this from my friend Chuck who lives in Florida. Thought you might like to read it if you have not yet. I don't have a picture of Dave Berry but I did have one of Harry Anderson who played Dave Berry on Dave's World. The series was based on one of his books that, like most of what he writes, was based on his life.


Dave Barry on Hurricane Season
To: Ex-Floridians, present Floridians, and future Floridians or those who know a Floridian. We're about to enter the peak of the hurricane season. Any day now, you're going to turn on the TV and see a weather person pointing to some radar blob out in the Gulf of Mexico and making two basic meteorological points. (1) There is no need to panic (2) We could all be killed Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you're new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one.'' Based on our experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan: STEP 1. Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days. STEP 2. Put these supplies into your car. STEP 3. Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in Florida. We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items: HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE: If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements: (1) It is reasonably well-built, and (2) It is located in Nebraska. Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss. Since Hurricane Andrew, I have had an estimated 27 different home-insurance companies. This week, I'm covered by the "Bob and Big Stan Insurance Company", under a policy which states that, in addition to my premium, Bob and Big Stan are entitled, on demand, to my kidneys. SHUTTERS: Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows, all the doors, and -- if it's a major hurricane -- all the toilets. There are several types of shutters, with advantages and disadvantages: PLYWOOD SHUTTERS: The advantage is that, because you make them yourself, they're cheap. The disadvantage is that, because you make them yourself, they will fall off. SHEET-METAL SHUTTERS: The advantage is that these work well, once you get them all up. The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your hands will be useless bleeding stumps, and it will be December. ROLL-DOWN SHUTTERS: The advantages are that they're very easy to use, and will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will have to sell your house to pay for them. HURRICANE-PROOF'' WINDOWS: These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane protection. They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand hurricane winds! You can be sure of this, because the salesman says so. He lives in Nebraska. HURRICANE PROOFING YOUR PROPERTY: As the hurricane approaches, check your yard for movable objects like barbecue grills, planters, patio furniture, visiting relatives, etc.; you should, as a precaution, throw these items into your swimming pool (if you don't have a swimming pool, you should have one built immediately). Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn these objects into deadly missiles. EVACUATION ROUTE: If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver's license; if it says "Florida" you live in a low-lying area.) The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely. HURRICANE SUPPLIES: If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now! Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last can of SPAM. In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies: 23 flashlights and at least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when the power goes out, to be the wrong size for the flashlights.
Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY knows what the bleach is for. But it's traditional, so GET some!)
A 55-gallon drum of underarm deodorant.
A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.)
A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through Andrew; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.)
$35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.
Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the ocean. Good luck and remember: it's great living in paradise! Those of you who aren't here yet, you should come. Really! 

A prayer to ask Jesus into your heart

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever, believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.John 3:16 and 17king james version
If you know in your heart that you need Jesus Christ in your life. Then pray this simple prayer.

Dear God,
I know that I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I invite Christ into my heart and life as my personal Saviour. Amen!
If you have done this then you now need to find a Bible believing and preaching church. The links section at the right or below depending on your browser has links to some local churches in my area. You can e-mail them if they are not in your area. They may be able to help you find one in your area. 

The Television Family

The posting yesterday on reunion movies along with TV Land airing the Brady Bunch this week end got me to thinking. They say that the only time the cast of a TV show became what they played on the show only happened with the Monkees. They were only suppose to play a rock band but eventually became a rock band. Well when the Brady Bunch went on the air in September of 1969 it was about to happen again. Over time the core cast, without realizing it, became a family. Robert Reed was famous for hating the quality of the scripts. In the last episode he was cut out of the script. He was told to leave the set but refused. Sherwood Schwartz could have had security drag him away but Mr. Reed and the kids were so close and viewed him as a father figure that he didn’t have the heart to have the kids see Dad taken away by security. If the show had been renewed for another season there were plans to write Mr. Reed out of the show. He was to have died in a car accident over the summer. It is a good thing he was kept alive. When the show spun off the Brady Brides Mr. Reed was asked to appear in the first episode since it was the wedding episode. The producers asked out of kindness and were ready to recast the part since he was busy on a Broadway play and really hated the show. They were surprised when he said he would make the time to do it because “No one else marries off my daughters!” He took time off from the play and flew to LA to shoot the pilot.
Now Peter, Christopher Knight, is getting married. Greg, Barry Williams, sang at the wedding and Bobby, Mike Lookinland, and Cindy, Susan Olsen, attended. Mike Lookinland said it wasn’t like a former cast member got married. He said “My brother’s getting married.”
I have known all my life that TV was powerful. I never realized that it actually created a family. 

TV Reunion Movies

Keeping in this television mood that I have gotten into lately, I was wondering, of all the reunion movies that are really pilots for hopefully a new TV series from the old series, how many of them are really made into new series?
In 1977 Father Knows Best did at least two reunion movies. I say at least because in what I have read in Unsold Pilots said that the first one had two sequels but only mentioned one. The first one was the whole family getting together for Mom and Dad’s 35th anniversary. The second one had a bit more drama as it looked like Jim and Margaret Anderson would be spending Christmas alone and would have to sell their house. I didn’t see either one but I doubt that they were alone on Christmas and didn’t have to sell their home.
In 1978 the king of all reunion movies was aired. Rescue From Gilligan’s Island. The title says it all but it wasn’t really a full reunion. Tina Louise was finally getting her own acting career underway since the show went off, mostly in hair and skin commercials. She wanted too much money so they recast her part. It was a monster in the ratings. It was mostly because the public had waited at least 10 years to see them get off that island. The ending set up the series as on an anniversary of their voyage they set out to sea again and get stranded on the same island again. They did two more movies with people coming to the island like some spies and the Harlem Globetrotters. That is what the series was to be about. The stories would revolve around the problems the guest had who were staying at the resort that the castaways had built. The new series thankfully never got off the ground. I think it would have been a big flop. I remember seeing the first reunion movie and I was very happy to see they finally got off that island. I also remember thinking “Not again!” when they got stranded again. The only reason to watch the first movie was as a reward for being a loyal viewer all those years. I didn’t want a new series. If I want to see Gilligan’s Island I can watch the repeats.
Some of the reunion movie I never heard of till I read Unsold Pilots by Lee Goldberg. I have already told you in a previous posting about the one for Cannon called the Return of Frank Cannon. I never saw the ad for it or I know I would have watched it. There is Murder in Peyton Place. The characters that were played by Ryan O’Neal and Mia Farrow are killed and everyone wants to know why. I never heard of this movie either. My Mom must not have either or she would have watched it. I am too young to remember the show it was based on. I think it came on after my bedtime. Also, I never heard of The Return of Marcus Welby or The Return of the Mod Squad so I didn’t watch them either and I guess most of the country didn’t since no new series came out of either one.
I did see The Return of Sam McCloud in 1989. McCloud was now a Senator and visiting overseas in England. He gets his old friends from the New York police department to come to England and help him solve a murder. The movie kept the fish out of water story in the movie. You know having a cowboy in England. Considering the Joe Broadhurst and Chief Clifford were also in England that was multiplied by 3. However, you can’t keep them in England and this movie proved that the old McCloud charm didn’t work as well anymore so I think it was wise that a new series never came to be. Still with Dennis Weaver now gone I was glad that I got to see good old Sam one more time before he went to ride his horse into the sunset.
There was the Return of the Beverly Hillbillies. The less said the better.
There was also The Return of the Greatest American Hero, The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman and finally Return to Green Acres. The only ones out of those mentioned above that still looked like you could get a series out of them were the Greatest American Hero and the Six Million Dollar Man. Mostly because the leads would be new actors. The Greatest American Hero would now be a Heroine with Mary Ellen Stuart in the role. The new 6 Million Dollar Man would have been the son of Steve Austin played by Tom Schanley. Neither one came to series.
In 1987, only a year after the series was canceled, we had Still Crazy Like A Fox. At least they weren’t returning since they were still here in recent memory at that time. Harry Fox and his family were vacationing where almost every hopeful crime drama series revival wants to start…London, England. While there Harry Fox is accused of murdering a Duke and has to clear his name. It was offered to the networks and to syndications as a series but they both turned it down.
In 1979 and 1980 there were two Wild, Wild West reunion movies. Robert Conrad and Ross Martin both times came back to their signature roles of West and Gordon. In the first film they fought the son of their arch enemy Dr. Loveless. The new Dr. Loveless was played by Paul Williams. The next mad scientist they went up against was played by Jonathan Winters. Now THAT would be one I would like to see on DVD or on some cable station sometime. With Mr. Winters in it the blooper reel might be more entertaining then the movie.
As far as becoming a series it is Still The Beaver who hit the home run in 1983. All the kids from the series are grown up, married and have kids of their own. Only Beaver is the one who left town but now returns as a single Dad to raise his two sons in Mayfield. It became a successful series on the Disney Channel and then moved to WTBS before it entered syndication.
The Brady Bunch at least got on base when A Very Brady Christmas from 1988 became a series in 1990. Instead of a new sit-com it became an hour long lighthearted family drama. It aired as a midseason replacement in Feburary 1990. It aired Friday night at 8pm. This is what killed them as the audience for the Brady Bunch had grown up and were not home at that time. Airing it at 9 or 10pm would have been better. The show was canceled in one month.
So in looking back the ratings for a reunion movie might be good but chances are slim to none that an old series will see new life pumped into it again. You could get a series of movies. Look what happened to Perry Mason and Columbo. But don’t try for a new weekly series unless your lead character is Beaver Cleaver.

Smallville

On October 16, 2001 the WB network began airing Smallville. As its fans know it is still on today and will be part of the new CW network this fall. It takes a different look at the Superboy history. Yes Clark Kent, played by Tom Welling, still lives in Smallville and goes to school with Lana Lang and Pete Ross, played by Kristin Kreuk and Sam Jones III. He is raised by his foster parents Martha and Jonathan Kent, played by Annette O’Toole and John Schneider. A new character is introduced by the name of Chloe Sullivan, played by Allison Mack, who happens to be a cousin to Lois Lane, played later in the series by Erica Durance. Also, Lex Luthor, played by Michael Rosenbaum, is a friend of Clark’s in the early part of the series. They aren’t buddies from school. Lex is a little bit older then the others and is in Smallville running that branch of the family business. Unlike the other series or comic books we finally get to meet Lex’s Dad Lionel during the run of the series. This way we begin to understand why Luthor becomes the villain that he is in later years. He wants the love and support that Clark gets from his parents. However, Lionel wants to raise Lex to be a ruthless businessman. Many things about this series set it apart from the other Superman shows. First is that he is just discovering his powers. In the other shows he has already learned how to use his powers. Second he is not wearing glasses to disguise himself. It would be interesting to see what would happen when he does start to wear them. When he takes them off to become Superman won’t Lex recognize his old friend from his Smallville days? Also, Mr. Welling has not once put on the suit. He wears a blue T-shirt, blue jeans and a red windbreaker so you are reminded of the suit but the producers say that once the suit is on the series is over. I would imagine that would be one of the last scenes of the last episode when the series ends. I would say that you could have a new series called Metropolis but that would probably just turn out to be a remake of Lois and Clark. The first season was mostly how kryptonite would turn normal people in to supervillains. That was fun at first but got old. The second season started digging more into the characters and that has fueled the show since. It is also what has kept the comic book series going so long. Just as in the comic book Pete Ross knew Clark’s secret but he left the series saying the secret was too much for him to bear. Since then Chloe has found out and has stuck around. I guess she was a little bit stronger then Pete. This past season Clark’s Dad died of a heart attack. He had just one his first political office and since he died Mrs. Kent was asked to fill his place. Clark and Lana’s on again off again romance is off again as Lana is dating…LEX LUTHOR! Lois Lane is living with the Kents and is helping Mrs. Kent with her new career. To paraphrase the selling point from the producers of Lois and Clark, it’s Dawson’s Creek only Dawson has super powers. Along the way we have met other DC characters like Perry White, Bart Allen (Impulse but here he is called Flash), Cyborg, Aquaman who was to get a spin off series but that fell through and now TV Guide says the actor hired to play Aquaman is going to be Oliver Queen. Mr. Queen in the comic books is Green Arrow from the Justice League of America. Also, Jimmy Olsen is to start dating Chloe. That to me is a mistake. Jimmy is supposed to be at least 10 years younger then Clark and his friends. I guess you just have to let some things go for dramatic license. Even Christopher Reeve and Margo Kidder got occassional roles for a couple of years.
I have noticed that the less time the actor playing the lead in the Superman series spends in the red and blue tights the less chance he will get type cast. George Reeves was type cast the most but if he lived longer his fortunes may have changed. Chris Reeve from the movies did some good movies after his Superman run but even he had to do Superman 4 to jump start his career and pay the bills. Dean Cain seems the least type cast as Superman. He has done some TV movies and gotten the previously mentioned TV series Clubhouse. If this holds true Mr. Welling has no need to worry about his acting career. As I said before he hasn't put on the suit yet. He has already co-starred in the Cheaper By the Dozen remakes and the remake of The Fog. 

Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

On September 12, 1993 ABC premiered the first live action Superman TV series on network television. It was Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The series was seen as science fiction since Superman was one of the stars but it was really a romantic comedy. It was more like My Girl Friday or Moonlighting since its main focus was on the relationship between Lois Lane and Clark Kent. As a matter of fact that was one way it was sold to the network. They told them it was like Moonlighting only one of them has superpowers. Moonlighting was a hit show in the 1980’s and made a star of Bruce Willis. Can you imagine Bruce as Superman? The part of Lois Lane was played by Terri Hatcher and Clark (Superman) Kent was Dean Cain. Unlike in The Adventures of Superman in the 1950’s where his Dad had died and his Mom was a widow who was not heard from since the pilot episode, this series kept his foster parents alive. They were there to offer advice and support to Lois and Clark. The parts of Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent were played by Eddie Jones and K Callan. Lex Luthor was played by John Shea. In this series he and Lex didn’t meet in high school or college. Luthor never heard of Clark or Superman till he showed up for work at the Daily Planet. In the first year Lois is engaged to Luthor. By the end of the first season Luthor has nearly destroyed the Daily Planet and Lois leaves him at the alter. Luthor is seemingly killed but turns up later in the series bald; John Shea kept his hair early in the series, and ready to get revenge on Superman. DC decided that it was time for Lois to be told that Clark and Superman were the same and to get them married. The TV series thought that was a good idea too and plans were made for the wedding to occur in the comic books and on the show at the same time. Around year three the scripts took a down turn. Lois was replaced by a clone and no one could tell the difference. Even though the clone survived by eating frogs. Ratings dropped and they started to rush to get the scripts up to par. However, the producers must have thought those bad scripts weren’t too bad as they kept making references back to that period. While scripts did improve and the series ended with Clark and Lois finding a baby on their doorstep at the end of the fourth year there would be no season five as the show was canceled. The last show was aired on June 14, 1997.
Terri Hatcher as we all know went on to another hit show with Desperate Housewives. The same year Desperate Housewives appeared Dean Cain appeared in a new baseball drama called Clubhouse. Both shows were good and deserved to be hits but only Miss. Hatcher hit a home run. Ratings wise Clubhouse grounded out.
The above photo of Dean Cain came from this site. 

Swamp Thing

Well here is a show that I almost forgot. I remembered it just in time for today’s posting. Swamp Thing is a DC owned character that starred in two movies, Swamp Thing and The Return of Swamp Thing. Dick Durock was the star of the movies as Dr. Alec Holland who becomes Swamp Thing. The female lead in the first movie was Adrienne Barbeau formerly of the TV show Maude and the original movie of The Fog. The first movie had a campy element but for the most part took itself serious. The sequel played it more for laughs. Heather Locklear of T.J. Hooker, Dynasty and Spin City was the damsel in distress this time. If you see the movie poster she is suppose to be screaming at Swamp Thing but she appears to be laughing. That was the first sign that the movie was slanted more towards comedy. Wes Craven directed the first film. The cable TV series aired on USA cable and ran from 1990 to 1993. Dick Durock provided the voice over of what Swamp Thing was thinking and each episode was introduced by him warning evildoers not to bring their evil to his swamp. Dr. Holland was an environmental scientist who became Swamp Thing (half man half plant) in an accident caused by the greedy Dr. Arcane. He lived in the swamp near Houma, Louisiana. Also living near the swamp was a teenage boy named Jim and his step-mother. Swamp Thing was always rescuing them from Dr. Arcane and sometimes they unknowingly helped Swamp Thing. Early on in the series there were some cast changes Jim was killed and a young man named Will, played by Scott Garrison, was introduced. Added to the cast was the mysterious Abigail, played by Keri Wuhrer who would go on to co-star in Sliders in a few years. Will and Abigail had an on again off again romance.
The series took its tone more from the first movie then from the second. It was more serious. While it could be fun to watch it was a bit weird for my taste. I tried to but just could not get into the series. Others must have liked it for it to last 72 episodes.
You can get the DVD of the movies at Amazon. If you click on the link on the left it will take you to Amazon and this site will get a small commission. 

Superboy

In 1988 DC Comics entered into the syndicated television world again with the adventures of Superman when he was known as Superboy. The same people who produced the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve produced this TV series so it looked pretty good. In the series Clark (Superboy) Kent, played by John Haymes Newton, was a journalism major at Shuster University. Also, attending was his high school girlfriend Lana Lang who was played by Stacy Haiduk. Also, hanging around on his way to being a criminal genius was Lex Luthor played by Scott Wells.
In 1989 at the beginning of the second season there were some cast changes. During the hiatus John Haymes Newton was stopped by police and found him under the influence of either drugs or alcohol (I forget which one right now.) I heard that he tried to play the star treatment by repeatedly asking the police “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?” Wanting to nip any future problems in the bud the producers quickly recast the Superboy part with Gerard Christopher who stayed with the series till the end. Officially I have read that John Haymes Newton quit in a contract dispute. Scott Wells had played Luthor as a 19 year old genius in the first year. The second season the part was recast with an older actor, Sherman Howard. It was explained that Luthor had undergone surgery that made him look older so he could be hidden from his arch-enemy Superboy. Where in the Adventures of Superman he only fought bank robbers, in Superboy the villains kept more in line with the comic book. On Superboy he fought aliens, vampires and even Mr. Mxyzptlk who was in the comic books. In 1990, I suppose in honor of the George Reeves series, the show changed its name to The Adventures of Superboy. Lana and Clark had now graduated and in a departure from the comic book instead of working for the Daily Planet they worked as Government Agents. This enabled them to come into contact with even more strange villains.
The series ended its run in 1991. A few years later when they were casting for Lois and Clark the New Adventures of Superman, Gerard Christopher tried out for the part of Clark. He almost got it till the producers found out that he had already played the part in The Adventures of Superboy. I guess they didn’t want anyone thinking that Lois and Clark was a spin-off of the show. I would say that Mr. Christopher was lucky as it may have typed cast him. However, when was the last time that you saw Gerard Christopher on TV or in the movies? I don’t mean that to be cruel. I met Mr. Christopher when he was in town for a convention. He was very nice man and if he is reading this I hope he isn’t offended.
For fans of the series or if you are curious what the series was like you can click on the Amazon link on the left to order the DVD set of season one. The photo of the comic book above is from this site. 

Forgotten hits new series is starting!

We are about to kick off a brand new TRIPLE Series here in FORGOTTEN HITS ... and, mark my words, you will clearly sense my displeasure and disappointment during the first phase of this new series. That's because in order to qualify songs for our up-coming FAVORITE FORGOTTEN B-SIDES SERIES we first had to determine which songs could NOT be on that list ... and, in order to do THAT, we had to first determine THE BIGGEST TWO-SIDED HITS OF ALL TIME ... and, as you'll see throughout this series, I've done nothing to hide my disappointment with some of these results. That's because some of the songs that made the list are SO undeserving of this honor when weighed against songs that did NOT make the list ... many of which constitute a virtual "Who's Who" list of great music that we all know and love. Unfortunately, because of their original chart positions, some GREAT music was left off the list while some songs that barely even qualify as FORGOTTEN HITS ... more like "Complete Unknowns" ... are prominently ranked in THE TOP 200. No matter how many times I tried to rework the list, the results came out the same ... fact is, (and these results pretty much prove it), some of us older folks (and / or many of our parents) were simply buying some REALLY crappy records back in the late '50's and early '60's!!! Now part of that just may be the fact that the selection of really GOOD music simply wasn't available at the time ... FAR more TWO-SIDED HITS occurred during the years 1955-1963 than any period thereafter ... when radio regularly played both sides of a record by a "name" artist. This frustration just grew and grew ... I rewrote the first four chapters of this series four or five times each ... before I finally just resigned myself to the fact that I would NEVER get this series off the ground if I didn't just give in to the statistical facts. After all, the point of the FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES SERIES was to introduce the list to some songs they may have never heard before ... might as well do that with THE TOP 200 TWO-SIDED HITS OF ALL TIME, too ... and, as long as I was able to offer "honorable mention" to some of the great music that was left off the list, I decided to proceed with an accurate countdown. (My only other choice was to call the list MY PERSONAL FAVORITE TWO-SIDED HITS ... and that simply wouldn't be a fair or accurate representation of music history ... no matter HOW distorted REALITY may seem once you see the final list!!! Or once again poll our audience ... and make it a list of "Fan Favorites" ... but we'd already announced that tactic for our FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES Series.) No, the ONLY way to do this right was to present a historically accurate list, ranked by the records' original chart performances themselves. So ... without further adieu ... and with a whole lot of disgruntled mumbling, kicking and screaming ... we FIRST present THE TOP 200 TWO-SIDED HITS OF ALL TIME. This series will be followed (FINALLY!!!) by our exclusive interview with PETER NOONE of HERMAN'S HERMITS. (I talked to PETER several times over a two month period right at the end of last year and into early January ... actually, it ties in perfectly as the "bridge" between our two new "bookmark" series as HERMAN'S HERMITS recorded some of the GREATEST B-SIDES I've ever heard ... yet only one (NO MILK TODAY) ever made the pop charts. This will be your chance to hear some of these FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES that I grew up enjoying ... and also get to know the REAL PETER NOONE. (And, in keeping with the overall "difficult" tone of putting this whole series together, let me tell you that this was the TOUGHEST interview I've ever done ... some questions were asked five or six times and STILL ignored ... many other times, despite whatever the subject matter may have been at hand, NOONE used this public forum as an opportunity to do some ALLEN KLEIN bashing ... questions and answers were often lost back and forth in transit ... and, on more than one occasion, obvious boredom had set in: PETER NOONE: "I didn't know you were going to be writing a book." (LOL) In any event, our interview with PETER NOONE will take us into our ALL-TIME FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES SERIES, with literally HUNDREDS of songs nominated by our FORGOTTEN HITS list members. So, sit back, relax and enjoy some GREAT new music ... some vaguely familiar, some mostly forgotten, and some never before heard ... this one's gonna take a while!!! (And it all kicks off tomorrow in FORGOTTEN HITS!)
***
P.S. If you know someone who would enjoy reading any of these new series that we have planned, have them contact me right away so that I can get them on-board before we get too far into it!!!P.P.S. One final plea ... if you're STILL not enjoying FORGOTTEN HITS WITH the music, this really would be the time to switch over. We will be featuring SO many songs over the next several months ... many of which I'm quite confident that you've never heard before ... that you'll truly be missing out on a lot without the capability to listen along as we go. (Besides, how ya gonna vote if you don't know what the songs sound like?!?!?) So, if there is ANOTHER email address that might be better-suited to this format, please let me know THAT right away as well. The success of our B-SIDES Series is directly dependent on your audience participation ... so let's make this a good one!!! (C'mon Guys ... I've been working on this for over six months now ... and want to see some of your responses!!!) Lemme know!!!

If you don't subscribe to their e-mail you can write them at The60sshop@aol.com Tell then that you got if from On My Mind's website. 

Riptide

Here is news for all fans of the show Riptide and Joe Penny, Perry King and Thom Bray. It is coming soon to DVD in September. Go to this website to learn more on the exact date. If you want to pre-order it you can click on the Amazon link on the left and pre-order it from Amazon. If you do that then this site gets a bit of the commission. Thanks in advance. 

The Flash

This is the show that should have been a huge hit for DC Comics. The Flash starring John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen ran from September 20, 1990 to July 19, 1991 on CBS. The special effects were top notch. As well as the acting, writing and directing. So what happened? My guess is that it was too expensive for them to produce given the special effects that it took to make it seem that the Flash was running at super speed. The 2 hour pilot looked good enough that it could have been release to movie theaters. It was one of the most expensive pilots ever made for television. In the pilot just as in the comic book mild mannered police scientist Barry Allen is working late in his Central City Police Dept. crime lab when a bolt of lightning smashes through and causes him to be soaked in chemicals. The chemicals cause his metabolism to speed up and he is able to run faster then the speed of light. He is so fast he is invisible to the naked eye. In the series Barry is single and not dating anyone. In the comic book he was dating Iris West who he later married. At first he tried to return to normal with the help of fellow scientist Tina McGee played by Amanda Pays. Later he decides if he can’t become normal again then he will use his powers to fight crime. Tina helps him and is the only one who knows that Barry is the Flash.
At first in the series the other characters in the show treat the Flash as an urban myth. As the show went on he started helping the police in a more public manner. Some officials didn’t like the help of a super powered vigilante but they usually were shown to be corrupt individuals. The writers of the series were either comic book fans or they really did their homework. There were many inside jokes like a character telling they were going to the Infantino Building on Fox Street. Infantino and Fox were two names of comic book creators who had worked on the comic book for awhile. As the series went on you could see the cost cutting moves that were made in the special effects. Near the end of the series Flash was rarely see running. He was usually only shown starting to run of slowing down to a stop. In one way it brought back the feeling that Batman had when it was on. It used the same villains from the comic book and got famous guest villains like David Cassidy as Mirror Master and Mark Hamill as the Trickster. In many ways this is the closest that any TV series has come to producing a show that looked like book that it was based on. In the end the show lasted 10 months and that was most likely to get out of it the money that was put into it. I don’t believe it was a ratings disaster. I think that it was canceled because of economics. John Wesley Shipp seemed doomed to be typecast thanks to that red suit. Thankfully he was cast as Dawson’s Dad in the hit show Dawson’s Creek. The Flash series also marked the last screen appearance of Robert Shayne who had played Inspector Henderson in the Adventures of Superman in the 1950’s. He was a blind newspaper sales men on the street corner who knew Barry Allen and would give him information that he could use as The Flash. Since Superman and Batman made successful transitions from TV to the movies and Wonder Woman looks like she will too, I hope they will do the same for The Flash.
The above TV Guide cover was used as that is the only one that the Flash was on. 

A Prayer To Ask Christ Into Your Heart

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever, believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.John 3:16 and 17king james version
If you know in your heart that you need Jesus Christ in your life. Then pray this simple prayer.
Dear God,
I know that I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I invite Christ into my heart and life as my personal Saviour. Amen!
If you have done this then you now need to find a Bible believing and preaching church. The links section at the right or below depending on your browser has links to some local churches in my area. You can e-mail them if they are not in your area. They may be able to help you find one in your area. 

Jerry Lewis Talk show

I was just searching the net and on my recent favorite site TV Guide.com I read that in 1983 Jerry did 5 pilot episodes for a nightly talk show in 1983. They didn't say if the episodes were aired. To the best of my knowledge they were not. The guest were Frank Sinatra, Carol Burnett and William Shatner. The shows had to be entertaining on some level so I wonder why it didn't work out. This was not his first attempt at a TV series. In fact I think it was his fourth attempt at a live series. He did meet with some success in 1970 when his likeness was used on a Saturday morning series that I hope one day they will release on DVD.
His first attempt was most of his attempts have been of the talk show format. In 1963 ABC aired the 2 hour long Jerry Lewis Show from Sept. 21, 1963 to December 21, 1963. His guest were people like Jack Jones, Harry James, Kay Stevens and Sammy Davis Jr. ABC gave $8,000,000 to produce the show. A huge sum even by today's cost. The show got bad reviews and low ratings. ABC president flew from New York to the West Coast and met with Mr. Lewis and his writers to talk about ways to improve the show. The next few did improve but the ratings did not. The show was canceled. Most of the shows time slot went to The Hollywood Palace and that show ran for 6 years.
He did another talk show that ran on NBC from September 1967 to May 1969. The guest was for geared more to a youthful audience by booking young singers of the day and he preformed his many character like the Poor Soul and the Nutty Professor. The first season the segments were taped seperately and edited together. The second season the show was filmed entirely in front of live audience. After this he never ventured to do TV again until his 1983 attempt. Mr. Lewis fared better with his movies, plays and Telethons. Mr. Lewis and his friends personalities are just too big to be contained on the TV screen. 

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is the TV series that officially made DC Comics into a TV mogul. It took it’s time in coming to series. In 1974 it was a made for TV movie with Cathy Lee Crosby in the title role. Now she was pretty and very good in the part but it she didn’t look like the book character. Also, it was set in modern times and she hardly ever wore the superhero costume and when she did it didn’t look like the one in the comic book. It looked more like something that an Olympic athlete would wear. It must not have done well in the ratings as it was not rushed into being a series. Of course it didn’t stop them. They did a series of specials by taking it back to the original model. In an interview I read back then, perhaps in the TV Guide issue shown above, network executives said that they wanted to cast someone in the series that could be tough and still feminine. One executive was heard to have said “Great we’re going to cross Godzilla with a dandelion.” Who they cast was Lynda Carter. She looked closer to the comic book version, so close you would have thought that Charles Moulton had her in mind when he created Wonder Woman. They also set the series back in the days of World War II when the comic book series had begun. Also, cast in the part of Steve Trevor was former Carol Burnett show straight man Lyle Waggoner. Like Batman this series had a campy attitude to it but took itself a little bit more serious. Like the Adventures of Superman there was rarely a time when she fought any super powered villains. Usually she fought Nazi spies but on some occasions she did fight super powered aliens.
It didn’t start out as a series. It was first a series of movie specials. On December 18, 1976 it aired on ABC on Saturday at 8pm as a TV series. The ratings for the show were pretty good. Among my circle of friends and relatives who were young teenage history buffs it was a must see since it combined the beautiful Lynda Carter and the WWII atmosphere. Ratings must not have been as good as ABC hoped because the show was not on the air in February and March. It returned in May and ran till July of 1977 on ABC and was canceled. In September of 1977 it returned to the air but on CBS on Friday nights at 8pm. With the new network changes were made. It was set in modern times. Wonder Woman worked for the Government when it was on ABC and she still did when I was on CBS. Lyle Waggoner still played Steve Trevor but he was now Steve Trevor Jr. the son of the Steve Trevor that Wonder Woman knew in the 1940’s. As an Amazon she aged a lot slower then we mere mortals so she looked as young as she did back then. Now ratings must have improved with the changes as it lasted longer on the air. However, the stories seemed even more campy then they were a few months ago. Two things made this complete. First was she had a talking computer named I.R.A. A talking computer was science fiction way back then. Second was that when on ABC Wonder Woman, when dressed as Yeoman Diana Prince, had the thin disguise of wearing glasses. Here on CBS, the tiffany network, she didn’t wear them as Diana Prince. Yet still no one knew she was Wonder Woman. The woman wasn’t even trying to hide it now. Just how smart were these government agents anyway. As you can tell by now I quit watching when it was on CBS. I don’t know many people who did continue to watch but a lot more must have. On ABC the run of the show is measured in months. On CBS it is measured in years. It was on CBS from September 1977 till September 11, 1979. The show made a star out of Lynda Carter. While she never had another hit series she made a good living in the made for TV movies for years. She still appears from time to time as I recently saw her in a movie on the SCI-FI network. After the series Lyle Waggoner eventually found his way to making a living selling mobile homes to studios as dressing rooms for the stars of TV shows and movies.
The above TV Guide is one that I remember delivering to local customers back in the 1970's. It was near the end of my "career" with that company. I kept a copy for years but eventually lost it. It brought back some nice memories when I saw this cover again. 

Batman

After 9 years of absence from prime time television, DC comics returned on January 12, 1966 on ABC with Batman. I was only about 4 years old but I remember seeing the first episode. It has been rumored that the producer of the show was to meet with network executives who wanted to turn Batman into a series. The producer had never read a comic book until he was on a plane to attend a meeting with the executives. Unfortunately he didn’t get any of those with the new more serious look for Batman. The ones he did get made him laugh and that became the basis of what he thought the series should be like. Oddly enough the campy sit-com has remained timeless. Stanly Ralph Ross, one of the writers on the show, said that the reason the show seems to remain up to date is that they tried not to make jokes about people that were in the news at that time. On occasion they would but usually not. Also, Gotham City was not a real place. Most shows that remain timeless take place in some type of fantasy land. The show was hot it’s first season and so many famous people wanted to be on the show that they couldn’t create enough villains for the series. So they started the cameo scenes. You know they were usually the ones where Batman and Robin where climbing up the wall and Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Lewis, Col. Klink etc. would open a window and talk to them. The networks also used this as a way to promote their other shows. As I just mentioned Col. Klink from Hogan’s Heroes showed up looking for Col. Hogan. Why was he looking for WWII P.O.W. in the 1960’s? Also, where is the time machine that Col. Klink had used to get there? Before the Green Hornet crossed over with Batman they met as allies when Green Hornet and Kato popped out of a window to promote their new show. Neil Hamilton was once a big movie star. By the time the 1960’s came around his star was not shining as brightly. I read an interview back in the 70’s where he said that Batman saved his life. You see he was about to kill himself because he could not get cast in any parts. What is it with actors who want to kill themselves because they can’t get parts? If your career is not going well there is no shame in finding another way to make a living. I am trained to be a broadcaster but I am making my living as a bill collector.
This was not Adam West first TV show. He had already done a Three Stooges film and co-starred in the TV series The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor. He did some ill fated pilots but this is the one that took off and made him a star. Unfortunately it typecast him and the only parts he has gotten in most films and TV shows have had something to do with Batman. At one time he did the voice of Batman in one of his many Saturday morning cartoons. Burt Ward was not on anything till this show. His name was really Burt Gervis but the producers thought he should change his name. Since he was to play Dick Grayson the ward of Bruce Wayne he changed his last name to Ward. A lot of stunts were done during the series and stuntmen are paid more if the stunt is dangerous. Since Mr. Ward was a rookie actor it cost the producers less to have him do his own stunts. The more dangerous the stunts became the more they used Mr. Ward. If it was just a drive down the street they used the stunt man. If it was where they had to tie him up to a bomb with real dynamite then they used Mr. Ward. The show slowed down in the ratings and in order to save it half way through the second year they cast Yvonne Craig as Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl. How good a cop could Commissioner Gordon be to not figure out that his own daughter is Batgirl? The show aired on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Between the two Thursday was the biggest in the ratings because it was the ending to the two part adventure. With ratings low there was no way they were going to have a low rated show anchor two nights. Batman was dropped from Wednesday and continued as a regular half hour sit-com on Thursday. The changes didn’t save the show and ABC canceled the series. The producers tried to get another network interested but none of them were. They destroyed most of the sets. Ironically NBC called to say they might be interested if all the sets were still intact. Since they weren’t that was the end of the series. It lived on in reruns on local stations in the 1970’s and still appears on cable networks from time to time. During its brief time on network television it made stars out of the entire cast and the guest villains who ranged from Julie Newmar and Frank Gorshin to Victor Buono and Eli Walich got an added boost to their careers. There have been other TV series based on Superman since the 1950’s. Fox once aired some episodes of their Batman animated series in prime time. Perhaps one day there will be another live TV series in prime time based on Batman. You can click here to go to Adam West website. 

Rest In Peace Red Buttons

I just heard that comdian/actor Red Buttons passed away. This is sad news to all lovers of old comedians of TV and Films. In the 1950's Mr. Buttons starred in his own variety series. The show was a big hit in the first year. His theme song called the "Ho Ho Song" was popular among the childern of the day. It started out on CBS in 1952 but during it's second year it started to fad and CBS canceled the series. NBC picked it up but ratings didn't improve so they took the unusual steps and changed it from a variety series into a sit-com. In this format Red was a TV star who was always getting into trouble. There were changes in the cast and the writing staff but nothing seemed to help and the show was canceled by May of 1955. He went on to a good career in movies. He was in one of my favorites The Posiden Adventure. This is the second person from the cast of that movie to die this year. He also came back to be in episodes of other TV shows from time to time. He was in an episode of the Cosby show and is famous for his "Never Had A Dinner" speech from the Dean Martin Roast in the 1970's.
I love old TV Guide covers and chose this one to show you. It shows Mr. Buttons as the character that he played so well. The nice, innocent, lonley guy who was looking for love. Hats off to you Mr. Buttons and I hope when you get to Heaven they will have a dinner for you. 

The Adventures of Superman

Recently on this site I have been talking about TV moguls. Since I started this site to talk about my stories (which I hope and plan to get back to soon), my hobbies on comics, music and the Monkees and an occasional Bible verse, I wondered how I could include that into the mix. Then it hit me. Now moguls seem to usually have at least 3 hit shows in prime time. With companies usually licensing their characters for TV shows and movies some comic book companies might actually qualify. In prime time Marvel has, to date, only had one hit show with the Incredible Hulk. However, DC comics is looking like the Aaron Spelling or Quinn Martin of the comic book field.
Now Superman started out his licensing to other mediums as a radio show. Then he went on to movie serials with Kirk Alyn and Superman and the Mole Men with George Reeves. That film was the basis for the TV show the Adventures of Superman. It was syndicated instead of being tied to a network. Production started in 1951 but it didn’t get aired until 1952. Most of the cast of Superman and the Mole Men returned to their roles. It aired until November of 1957 having produced 104 episodes. The show was produced mostly for children but in trying to capture the adults the first year the episodes came close to being film noir. Superman was rarely seen and most of the work of solving the crime was left to Superman in his Clark Kent identity with Lois, Jimmy and Inspector Henderson and sometimes Perry White. The first year was in black and white but eventually the series was filmed in color even though no one had color TV back then. It was a smart move as that has helped syndication for the series to continue even to this day. Jack Larson said that his manager told him that the producers wanted him to play the part of Jimmy in the TV show pilot. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to do it. His manager said he had seen the script. He said it wasn’t that good and they wanted to pay him $500 for the pilot. Mr. Larson was told the script wasn’t that good and would probably not air. If I were you I would take the money and run. Mr. Larson said that he did and the show ran for 5 years. The show was fun to watch and was so popular that George Reeves made a guest appearance on a network show, I Love Lucy, playing Superman. Not George Reeves. I think this is the only time that a character on a hit syndicated series played the same character on a hit network show.
The show was shot on a low budget. There was barely enough money for the special effects to make Superman fly. So I can understand why they didn’t have him fight supervillains with superpowers. He usually fought bank robbers and spies. Why didn’t he ever fight Lex Luthor? He didn’t have super powers. It couldn’t have been the inventions. They had inventions from Professor Pepperwinkle on the show that crooks were always trying to steal. They could have had Lex as the boss of the crooks trying to steal his inventions.
Phyllis Coates left the part of Lois Lane early on in the series and I have no idea what her reason was for that decision. I suspect that since the first episodes were filmed in 1951 and the 2nd season didn't air until 1953 she may have had another job and not been available for the role. Noel Neill took over the part in 1953. Perhaps I should say that she came back to the role. She played it in the serials with Kirk Alyn.
The series became shrouded in mystery near the end of the series run with the death of its star George Reeves. It is said that he committed suicide after a party in his home. However, over time other items have come out that make it look like it might have been murder. First is that his fiancé and some friends from the party were still in his house while he was upstairs getting ready for bed when he decided to kill himself. He decided to kill himself while there were friends in his home? That doesn’t sound right to me. He also was about to get married. He was signed to star for another year of the Adventures of Superman and direct some episodes. He was also under contract to direct a feature film. So his personal and professional lives were looking up. It doesn’t sound as if he was the perfect picture of someone who was suicidal. However, he was known to have just broken off a relationship with another woman since he was about to get married. She was the wife of a Hollywood executive who had mob connections. Maybe she or her husband knows what happened. We may never know the truth. I have heard that they are about to make a movie out of George Reeves life and mostly his death will be the focus of the film.
Here is a fan site for George Reeves and for the man who played Inspector Henderson on the series, Robert Shayne.

Phyllis Coates other shows

With everyone still thinking of Superman Returns I thought I would talk about one of the first Lois Lanes. I am talking about Phyllis Coates from the Adventures of Superman. She has always been a mystery to me after she left the series that made her famous. I never saw her in anything again. As it turns out she did do other series and movies they just didn’t become hits and most of the TV series were on and off the air before I was born. Actually the Adventures of Superman was too but it was a big enough that it reran for years and I saw it in reruns. Most of what she starred in on TV were sit-coms. I guess she wanted a break from the drama and superheroics.
From July 2 1954 to September 3, 1954 she co-starred in “The Duke” with Paul Gilbert as “Duke” London a boxer who also wanted to become a famous painter. He met a Harvard graduate named Rudy who helped him try to accomplish this goal. Duke’s trainer Johnny (Allen Jenkins) and his promoter Sam (Sheldon Leonard) kept trying to get him to concentrate more on his fighting. Miss. Coates played his new society girlfriend Gloria in the series.
From January 8, 1955 to July 2, 1955 Miss. Coates was seen on TV in Professional Father. Steve Dunne was Thomas Wilson MD a child psychologist. At work he gave wise advice to parents on how to handle the problems they were having. At home with his wife Helen, played by Barbara Billingsley before Leave It to Beaver, and their children he seemed to forget everything that he told his patients. What part did Miss. Coates play? She was cast as Nurse Madge Allen. It doesn’t sound like it was a very big part to me.
In 1958 she was on This Is Alice. I couldn’t find much information on this program but it was about the adventures of a 9 year old little girl named Alice. Miss. Coates played her mother. It sounds like it was a female version of Dennis the Menace.
She kept busy making movies in between series but these are the other TV shows that Phyllis Coates starred in. I just wanted to let any of her fans who, like me, were only familiar with her work on Superman. 

Dean Martin and Coca Cola

Over at Booksteve's he sometimes tells of the songs that are stuck in his head. Well not too long ago I got to hear this CD of Dean Martin songs. Many of them were pretty catchy and got stuck in my head. When I was younger I knew singers like Mr. Martin, Bing Crosby , Nat King Cole were good singers but I never really got into them as they were from my parents generation. Mine was The Beatles, The Monkees, Bee Gees, Boston etc. As I have gotten older my appreication for the crooners has increased and now I am proud to say I am a fan of their music. One of the songs that stuck in my head from this CD is called "Houston." It was a top 40 hit for Mr. Martin in the 60's. There was a story about that song in the liner notes of the CD. Mr. Martin was headlineing in Las Vegas & his daugther was singing in the lounge. He let her sing his newest hit Houston and let her use his arrangement. Later at dinner with her Dad she told him that there was a sound at the beginning of his record that even with his arrangement they were not able to duplicate. She asked him what it was. He said "Was it this?" Then he started tapping an empty Coke Bottle. She said that was the sound and that is how her Dad tapped an empty Coke bottle into a hit song.

Quinn Martin Misses

Quinn Martin was a world class dramatist in the early days of television. He divided his programs into four acts, used a narrator to set the stage and wrote wonderful scripts and cast great actors. However, not every formula is fool proof. Some shows didn’t become hits and others were just unsold pilots.
His first series after the Untouchables and leaving Desilu was The New Breed. It was a police drama that starred Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Price Adams. It was called The New Breed because they were a new breed of policeman. They were trained on the more sophisticated electronic equipment. It helped track down criminals that more traditional polices methods failed at capturing. The show aired on Tuesday nights on ABC from October 3, 1961 to September 25, 1962. It was not renewed for a 2nd season.
Most new independent producers would have stopped there. Thankfully Mr. Martin didn’t. His next show, The Fugitive, was one of the biggest hits in the history of television.
Another show that went to series but didn’t make it was in 1974. It was called Manhunter. It was a cross between his detective dramas and the Waltons. It took place in the 1930’s and Ken Howard starred as Dave Barrett. He was fresh out of the Marines and just wanted to go back to being a farmer. Then his best friend was killed by bank robbers. He quit farming to become a private investigator and he traveled the country tracking down the gangster types that killed his friend. He occasional went back home to visit his sister and his parents. The series aired on CBS on Wednesday nights from 10-11pm from September 11, 1974 to April 9, 1975.
This was actually a very good series. I watched it with my parents. We all thought it was a shame when it was cancelled. Kent Howard is a very good actor and I was happy a few years later when he had a hit with the White Shadow.
The pilots that went unsold should be called everything old is new again. In the 1970’s he did a pilot called Escapade. It was to be the American version of The Avengers. The pilot was written by Brian Clemens who created The Avengers. It starred Granville Van Dusan as Joshua Rand and Morgan Fairchild as Susie.
In 1980 Mr. Martin tried to revive the Invaders. The pilot went through some name changes. It was called The New Invaders, The Aliens and finally (can you believe this title?) Aliens Are Coming. Tom Mason starred as Dr. Scott Dryden instead of the David Vincent character. He was trying to stop the aliens from completing their evil plan. This time he was not alone. He works with the Nero Institute with Leonard Nero ( Eric Braedon) and Gwen O’Brien (Melinda Fee). This pilot also co-starred Max Gail from Barney Miller, Caroline McWilliams, Matthew Laborteaux from Little House on the Prairie, and Gerald McRaney.
Now in an earlier posting I mentioned that Cannon would not syndicate well. Mr. Martin must have not have agreed with that thought. He seemed to believe in 1980 that the world was ready again for THE RETURN OF FRANK CANNON. In the pilot for the series that aired on CBS Cannon now owns a restaurant. Instead of catching crooks he spent his time catching fish for his cook to prepare. An ex-CIA buddy if his commits suicide. Frank doesn’t believe that it was suicide. He thinks it was murder and becomes a detective again to solve his friend’s murder. If the pilot became a series Cannon would double as a restaurant owner and private investigator. Critics weren’t kind to the pilot and ratings must not have been very good as the series was not picked up.
The above photo of a VHS copy of some episodes of the Manhunter series is from this e-bay auction. 

60's FLASHBACK: The Story of VALLERI

Recently the e-mail letter that I subscribe to from Kent Kotal / The60sShop@aol.com told the true story on the creation of the Monkees song Valleri. If any parties are interested in signing up for their FORGOTTEN HITS Mailing List, then drop them a line. They've got some GREAT features coming up like THE TOP 200 BIGGEST TWO-SIDED HITS OF ALL TIME, an exclusive interview with PETER NOONE of HERMAN'S HERMITS and a special series spotlighting their readers' choices for their FAVORITE, FORGOTTEN B-SIDES.

Kent says that "For the record, the story behind THE MONKEES' song VALLERI ran as part of our 3-week series spotlighting THE SONGS OF TOMMY BOYCE AND BOBBY HART, which first ran back in late 2004. Since then, it has been sent out FOUR MORE TIMES by way of special mailing lists ... so if any of your readers would like to sign up for a special rerun series, let me know that as well. I have no specific rerun dates yet but figure that audience demand will dictate just how soon this will happen."
If any of you want to subscribe write to them at The60sshop@aol.com
Now for your reading pleasure with consent from the good folks at Forgotten Hits, the real story on the creation of that Monkees hit song Valleri.

In his book HOW TO WRITE A HIT SONG...AND SELL IT, TOMMY BOYCE tells a funny, interesting story revolving around one of THE MONKEES' last big hits.
THE MONKEES were always being supplied new musical material from a virtual who's who of songwriters: NEIL DIAMOND, GERRY GOFFIN and CAROLE KING, NILSSON, NEIL SEDAKA and DAVID GATES (later of BREAD) all had their songs recorded by the band in the first couple of years. In addition, MICKY DOLENZ, DAVY JONES, PETER TORK and, most frequently, MIKE NESMITH were submitting their OWN compositions for consideration. Therefore, as time wore on, when BOYCE AND HART were called upon to supply a song, they pretty much needed to have one "at the ready."
THE FABLE:
According to BOYCE's account (as published in his book), back in the day when DON KIRSHNER oversaw those musical selections, he called BOYCE AND HART one morning and told TOMMY (who just happened to answer the phone ... BOBBY was still sound asleep) that he had a dream last night that the title of THE MONKEES' next #1 Record should be a girl's name. Spontaneously, TOMMY BOYCE replied, "Donnie, you won't believe this!!! But, last night while you were having that dream, BOBBY and I wrote an unbelievably great song for THE MONKEES ... and, are you ready for this? ... it has a girl's name in the title!" KIRSHNER was flabbergasted! "Tell me the title, quick! I want to hear it! What's her name?"
Of course, TOMMY couldn't comply ... the song hadn't been written yet! "Donnie, her name is so beautiful and so exciting that I couldn't possibly tell it to you over the phone. But I'll tell you what ... you're going to love it when you hear it tomorrow." Despite KIRSHNER's insistence that TOMMY come over now and play him the song ... or, better yet, that KIRSHNER drop by THEIR place to hear the tune (that hadn't yet been written!), TOMMY finally stalled him with the excuse that BOBBY was still sleeping. (Of course, HART didn't know ANY of this as he really WAS still asleep ... and had no idea what TOMMY had just committed them to!) KIRSHNER was adamant ... "How about noon TODAY at my place?!?!" BOYCE says it was more of a command than a question. "Okay," he said, giving in, "but do me a favor. Please have everyone there who's connected with the television show." KIRSHNER agreed to assemble producers BERT SCHNEIDER and BOB RAPHELSON, vice president LESTER SILL, and chairman-of-the-board JACKIE COOPER. (Nothing like putting a little more pressure on the situation!!!)
At 10:00 BOYCE decided to wake BOBBY and tell him the news ... after all, having just committed to writing the next #1 song in America was a pretty big deal!!! Realizing the pressure they were under, both songwriters quickly began making a list of girls' names but none particularly struck their fancy. TOMMY had the beginnings of a melody but they just weren't able to put it together with any of the names on the list. They decided to take a drive, hoping for inspiration (or divine intervention). At 11:00, while driving along Mulholland Drive, TOMMY finally asked BOBBY to "reach deep into your past for a recollection of one girl in your life, or even in your dreams, that you had never told anybody about." HART gave it some thought and then replied that there WAS a girl in High School that he liked a lot but she never returned the favor. He would think about her every once in a while over the years and once had even written a song about her. "I was never too hot on the song," he said, "but what I liked about it was the name, which was hers."
"Come on, BOBBY," TOMMY exclaimed, "tell me her name and my melody will flow right out to meet her." And, of course, BOBBY then replied, "And her name was VALLERI" ... which INSTANTLY fit the melody that TOMMY had been working on! Now fifteen minutes away from their meeting at KIRSHNER's house, that left them all of twelve minutes to complete the song!!! They got as far as "There's a girl I know who makes me feel so good" which, along with the chorus, "and her name is Valleri ... I love you, Valleri" was all they had when they pulled into the driveway.
BOYCE was banking on the fact that KIRSHNER had wanted a song with a girl's name in the title SO badly ... and the fact that he had already told him about the GREAT song they had written "the night before" ... that the conditions were, in effect, pre-programmed for them to present THE MONKEES' next big smash hit single. (With all those executives sitting in the room waiting for the debut, the anticipation was exceptionally high ... TOMMY believed that ANY song they would have played based around a girl's name would have qualified as "exactly what they were looking for.") They sang the chorus line in two-part harmony and then the first two lines of the verse ... which was all they had. They then explained that the song still needed a little work but there was nothing to worry about ... they'd have it completed by tomorrow. They then "did a reprise on the part we had written, singing it with the all gusto one reserves for GOD BLESS AMERICA." For the grand-finale, BOYCE hit a big final chord, tossed his guitar over his shoulder and went down on one knee in his "best ELVIS fashion." The room fell silent as they waited for KIRSHNER's reaction. Finally, KIRSHNER jumped to his feet and shouted "It's a smash ... Number One!!!" All the other execs in the room agreed. They had pulled it off! According to TOMMY, they completed the first verse later that day and then booked studio time for the following afternoon. Then they went to a movie!!! THE MONKEES were told to report to the studio the following day at five o'clock and between two and five, the basic musical backing tracks were recorded. In twenty minutes, BOYCE AND HART wrote a second verse and between five and six o'clock THE MONKEES' vocals were added. The whole process took all of FOUR HOURS!!! It was quickly mixed and put into the television show the following week!!!
BOYCE then goes on to say that "Just as soon as the television show was aired, two disc-jockeys, one from Florida and the other from Chicago, decided on their own to make a tape of VALLERI and pipe it out from their radio stations. On each of those two stations, before it had even sold a single record, the song became Number One on the request list. RCA called Donnie Kirshner and told him that if he released it as a single, they would pre-ship two million records and guarantee that it would be the Number One Record. Good to their word, they released VALLERI the following week and within three weeks it was Number One in both Cash Box and Billboard. Two weeks later, it was Number One in almost every country in the world with sales of close to three million records."
THE FACTS:
Now that's a pretty amazing and fascinating little story ... but a little bit of research indicates that TOMMY may have "stretched the truth" just a little bit here and there.
What first tipped me off was the end bit regarding VALLERI's astounding chart life. Now PART of this story is true. After VALLERI aired on an episode of the television series, WCFL, right here in Chicago, started playing the heck out of it from a tape they had made from the broadcast. Every night it came in at #1 on the Top Five Most Requested Songs Of The Day ... and this went on for weeks and weeks and weeks. (From what I understand, some folks believe that WCFL then sent out copies of their "bootleg" version of VALLERI to other stations around the country to air ... however, I am more inclined to believe that they kept it to themselves as a "SUPER 'CFL Exclusive." However, a radio station in Florida DID get the same results when THEY played a taped copy on the air ... the request lines lit up like a Christmas tree and Florida fans couldn't get enough of the song.) Growing up here at the time, I clearly remember ALL of these events as I, too, thought VALLERI was a great song and listened to WCFL's Top Requests Countdown every night! I remember my frustration at not being able to BUY the song because it was only available on tape at the radio station.
However, THIS is where BOYCE's story falls apart. VALLERI first aired on the CAPTAIN CROCODILE episode of the television series on February 20, 1967, five months after the series premiered on NBC. It was not released as a single until March of 1968 ... a full THIRTEEN MONTHS later!!! (An RCA / COLGEMS recording log that I found shows that THE MONKEES first laid down this track on August 6, 1966 ... HARDLY the week before it aired! In fact, this was before a single episode of the TV series had ever been shown ... so, if ANY of that conversation between KIRSHNER and BOYCE AND HART ever really happened, they wouldn't have referred to VALLERI as THE MONKEES' "NEXT Number One Hit ... it would have been their very FIRST Number One Hit!!! They had not yet released a single recording!!!)
When VALLERI WAS finally released as a single a year later, it was a completely re-recorded version, which DID go to #1 in Cash Box but stopped at #3 in Billboard. THE MONKEES recorded a completely new version of this song in December of 1967 (sessions were held on the 26th and the 28th), which ultimately became the hit single release. (Being a HUGE MONKEES fan at the time, I remember personally being VERY surprised to see this single finally being released after all that time.) Songwriting partner BOBBY HART explains that after wrestling control away from KIRSHNER regarding the selection of the material THE MONKEES would record ... and then winning the rights to play their own instruments on those records ... by the end of 1967 they also had it written into their contracts that ALL future recordings would show "Produced by THE MONKEES" on the label. (By this time, each member of the band was generally recording their new tracks individually anyway, so when a new album was completed, they simply went with the group production credit.)
As such, the 1966 track (which was produced by BOYCE AND HART) had to be scrapped because the Musicians Union contracts had already been filed with BOYCE AND HART's names on them as producers. This meant that when THE MONKEES decided to release VALLERI as a single, a whole new track needed to be created. BOYCE AND HART (who, by this time, had been dismissed as producers) were approached about coming back and, according to HART, "making it sound as close to the original as possible." Contrary to TOMMY's account, BOBBY says "VALLERI was specifically written for them. Over a year after we cut the song, LESTER SILL came back to us and said, 'They want you to recut VALLERI. You can't have producers credit, but we want you to go back in and do it again, making it sound as close to the original as possible.' So that's what we did."
During the re-recording process, yet ANOTHER mix was created ... and this is the one that seems to have found its way to oldies radio ... in fact, the "cold ending" version is now more likely to be heard than the original hit single version! Today, we give you all THREE versions in FORGOTTEN HITS ... the very rare TV-version mix (VALLERI-1), the hit single version (VALLERI-2, which is the re-recording from 1968 that fades out at the end) and the other now-more-popular "cold ending" version (VALLERI-3). Hopefully, along the way we've also shared a fascinating look at the song's origins! (Unfortunately, this seems to be yet another case of 30-year hindsight propaganda making for a better story than the truth ... with so many erroneous "facts" stated in BOYCE's account of the song's success, one cannot help but wonder what other "mistruths" might exist in his account of the events of the day ... writing the song in an hour and a half, selling it to a room full of executives with two lines of verse and two lines of chorus and then recording the whole thing with THE MONKEES in one hour ... now knowing that at LEAST three complete takes exist!) However, the "embellished" account sure does make for a fascinating story!!! 

Barnaby Jones

In 1973 Quinn Martin produced what I believe was his last hit series. That series was Barnaby Jones a detective drama that starred Buddy Ebsen. Ebsen had starred for almost a decade as Jed Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies. Perhaps the transition from a sit com to a drama was easy because he was the straight man to his crazy family and friends on the show. The Beverly Hillbillies was canceled because the networks didn’t want shows that only appealed to the rural sections of the country. There wasn’t as much money there to attract advertisers. Beverly Hillbillies ended in 1971 so Mr. Ebsen only had a short rest before Barnaby Jones. Mr. Ebsen said that he had a friend who couldn’t tell when something was going to be a hit. Every time he asked his friend if he should do something his friend would say it would be a flop. He said his friend said that about the Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones so he knew they would be hit shows. At age 65 when most people are thinking of retirement Buddy Ebsen was embarking on another career move. Mr. Ebsen might be the first actor who went from making people laugh to solving crimes. Others who do so in later years were Dick Van Dyke with Diagnosis Murder and Bill Cosby with the Cosby Mysteries. The closest that I can think of before Mr. Ebsen is Dick Powell who went from movie musicals to playing movie detectives.
Barnaby Jones aired on January 28, 1973 to September 4th 1980. During that time its production company, QM Productions, was sold to Taft Broadcasting. I remember watching the show with my parents and my Grandma. We use to tease my Grandma telling her that her boyfriend’s show was coming on.
Barnaby Jones was a retired private investigator who left the business to his son Hal. When Hal was murdered while working on a case, he was shot to death while calling his Dad, Barnaby came out of retirement and along with Hal’s widow, played by Lee Meriwether, solved Hal’s last case and caught his murder. They worked well together and they decided to keep the Jones detective agency open. Like Columbo many crooks mistook his home-style country ways and his age as making him seem abit slow. They really masked a keen detective mind. Their mistake gave Barnaby the upper hand in solving the crime. Later Mark Shera, formerly on the show S.W.A.T., as his young cousin Jedeiah Romano (J.R.) Jones. He did Barnaby’s leg work on investigations while also study for the bar to become a lawyer. He was a welcome addition to the cast but it always seemed funny that J.R. would chase the crook through half the city. The only way he caught the crook was when Barnaby would show up gun in hand at the end of the trail. He usually said “Hold it right there!” With Barnaby in front of him with a gun and J.R. coming up from behind the villain knew he was cornered and gave up. When the show Cannon was on the air the two shows would often cross over.
When the show ended in 1980 Mr. Ebsen went into semi retirement. He came out on occasion to do TV movies mostly reunion movies for the Beverly Hillbillies. He did do some episodes of other shows and I heard that his last TV work was a voice over on King of the Hill. His last film before he died was the film version of the Beverly Hillbillies. He played Barnaby Jones who was hired to find Granny when she was kidnapped. Mr. Ebsen died in July of 2003. Mr. Ebsen had started writing a Barnaby Jones novel before he died. It has been completed and will soon be released. You can go to his website to learn more.
I loved that I found this TV Guide cover. You see my first part-time job when I was a kid was delivering TV Guide to their local customers. This cover I remembered as being one of those that I delivered. 

More Monkees News Rhino Reissues 1st Two Albums Extended Version

Rhino has set an Aug. 15 release date for expanded editions of the first two albums from TV stars turned pop idols the Monkees. Both will be issued as two-disc packages including stereo and mono mixes plus rare and previously unreleased bonus tracks.1966's "The Monkees," which spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, sports previously unreleased alternate mixes of "Papa Gene's Blues" and "The Kind of Girl I Could Love," a version of "I Don't Think You Know Me" with Micky Dolenz on vocals, a jingle for Kellogg's and a demo for "Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care)."The following year's "More of the Monkees" was even more successful than its predecessor, spending 18 weeks at No. 1. Among the bonus tracks are "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)" with narration by Peter Tork, the first recorded version of "Valleri," an alternate take of "Tear Drop City" and a different mix of "I'm a Believer."Owing to a history of inter-band acrimony, the Monkees last toured with all four original members in 1997. Minus Nesmith, Dolenz, Tork and Davy Jones subsequently hit the road on several occasions but have no plans to work together in the future."I would not work with those guys again if my life depended on it," Jones recently told Scripps Howard News Service. "I can't be responsible for their attitudes and the way they treat people.
"http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002801851

Andrew has been busy today! Over at Steve Hoffman forum,he hasposted some "hints" as what is on the 1st 2 releases:The great thing about the new reissues is you get to hear all ofthis music together - in one place. The bonus material is filledwith surprises (different vocals, mixes and studio chat). As for "SoGoes Love" it will appear for the first time at the originalrecorded speed (it is sped up on Missing Links) and with apreviously unheard double tracked vocal.Virtually every bonus track has some extra element to it - studiochat, different mix - something unheard. We've been working up tothe last minute to have these be filled with good sound and greatsongs.And someone asked about what all the designations on the MOTMreissue meant:the designations don't mean anything - all will be revealed soon....We are getting close to getting the whole picture!Stay tuned!

Here we go! Someone over at the Steve Hoffman TV website found thetracklistings for the 1st 2 reissues. The links for the listings:http://www1.cd-wow.com/detail_results.php?product_code=375684The Monkeeshttp://www1.cd-wow.com/detail_results.php?product_code=375685More Of The MonkeesAnd here they are...MONKEES - The Monkees (2CD Remastered Deluxe Edition)CD
1:(Theme From) The Monkees (Original Stereo Version)
Saturday's Child (Original Stereo Version)
I Wanna Be Free (Original Stereo Version)
Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day (Original Stereo Version)
Papa Gene's Blues (Original Stereo Version)
Take A Giant Step (Original Stereo Version)
Last Train To Clarksville (Original Stereo Version)
This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day (Original Stereo Version)
Let's Dance On (Original Stereo Version)
I'll Be True To You (Original Stereo Version)
Sweet Young Thing (Original Stereo Version)
Gonna Buy Me A Dog (Original Stereo Version)
The Kind Of Girl I Could Love (Alternate Mix)
I Don't Think You Know Me (Micky's Vocal)
Theme From) The Monkees (Second Recorded Version)
So Goes Love (LP Version)
Papa Gene's Blues (Alternate Mix)
I Can't Get Her Off My Mind (LP Previously Unissue Early Version)
Of You (Previously Unissued Mix)
(I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love
(Alternate Mix)Gonna Buy Me A Dog (Backing Track)

CD 2:(Theme From) The Monkees (Original Mono Version)
Saturday's Child (Original Mono Version)
I Wanna Be Free (Original Mono Version)
Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day (Original Mono Version)
Papa Gene's Blues (Original Mono Version)
Take A Giant Step (Original Mono Version)
Last Train To Clarksville (Original Mono Version)
This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day (Original Mono Version)
Let's Dance On (Original Mono Version)
I'll Be True To You (Original Mono Version)
Sweet Young Thing (Original Mono Version)
Gonna Buy Me A Dog (Original Mono Version)
(Theme From) The Monkees (Third Recorded Version)
Kellogg's Jingle
All The King's Horses (Originally Unissued, Album Version)
You Just May Be The One (T.V. Version)
I Wanna Be Free (Fast Version)
I Don't Think You Know Me (Mike's Vocal)
Propinquity (I've Just Begun to Care) (Demo Version)
I Won't Be The Same Without Her (Original Mono Mix)[/font]

More Of The Monkees (2CD Remastered Deluxe Edition)CD
1:She (2006 Remastered Original Stereo Version)
When Love Comes Knockin' (At Your Door) (2006 Remastered OriginalStereo Version)
Mary, Mary (2006 Remastered Original Stereo Version)
Hold On Girl (2006 Remastered Original Stereo Version)
Your Auntie Grizelda (2006 Remastered Original Stereo Version)
(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (2006 Remastered Original StereoVersion)
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) (2006 Remastered Original StereoVersion)
The Kind Of Girl I Could Love (2006 Remastered Original StereoVersion)
The Day We Fall In Love (2006 Remastered Original Stereo Version)
Sometime In The Morning (2006 Remastered Original Stereo Version)
Laugh (2006 Remastered Original Stereo Version)
I'm A Believer (2006 Remastered Original Stereo Version)
Apples, Peaches, Bananas and Pears (2006 Remastered LP Version)
Ladies Aid Society (2006 Remastered Original Mono Mix)
I'll Spend My Life With You (2006 Remastered First Recorded Version)
I Don't Think You Know Me (2006 Remastered Second Recorded Version)
Through The Looking Glass (2006 Remastered First Recorded Version)
Don't Listen To Linda (First Recorded Version)
Kicking Stones (2006 Remastered Version)
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) (2006 Remastered Version With Peter'sNarration)
I'm A Believer (2006 Remastered Alternate Mix)
Mr. Webster (2006 Remastered First Recorded Version)
CD 2:
She (2006 Remastered Original Mono Version)
When Love Comes Knockin' (At Your Door) (2006 Remastered OriginalMono Version)
Mary, Mary (2006 Remastered Original Mono Version)
Hold On Girl (2006 Remastered Original Mono Version)
Your Auntie Grizelda (2006 Remasteed Original Mono Version)
(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (2006 Remastered Original Mono Version)
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) (2006 Remastered Original MonoVersion)
The Kind Of Girl I Could Love (2006 Remastered Original Mono Version)
The Day We Fall In Love (2006 Remastered Original Mono Version)
Sometime In The Morning (2006 Remastered Original Mono Version)
Laugh (2006 Remastered Original Mono Version)
I'm A Believer (2006 Remastered Original Mono Version)
Valleri (2006 Remastered First Recorded Version)
Words (2006 Remastered First Recorded Version)
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) (2006 Remastered TV Version)
I'll Be Back Up On My Feet (2006 Remastered First Recorded Version)
Tear Drop City (2006 Remastered Alternate Mix)
Of You (2006 Remastered Mono Mix)
Hold On Girl (2006 Remastered First Recorded Version)
(I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love (2006 Remastered Version)
So- With a release date sometime in August ( I have heard anywherefrom August 7th through August 21st), we now know what is coming!I wonder why the MOTM list has 2006 remastered original versions,while the 1st album just says Original versions?I guess we'll just have to wait and see...Bob T
My trade list site:http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-bobttradelist 

The Monkees On Pax

This is just in from Brad Waddell at monkees-alert-owner@yahoogroups.com his Monkees Yahoo Group.

"I" To Become Classic TV & Movie Network
The former Pax TV network, now called "i" (that's it, just "i"), ismetamorphosing into a network devoted entirely to old movies & TVshows. After signing an agreement last week with Warner Bros. TV forrights to air a number of "classic" TV shows, "i", whose parent companyis now called Ion Media Networks (formerly Paxson Communications), hasstruck a deal with Sony to air such TV shows as The Monkees, Charlie'sAngels, & Silver Spoons, & such movies as Short Circuit, A River RunsThrough It, & the Academy Award-winning musical Oliver. The networkclaims it has a potential audience of 92 million, including those whocan receive it on its owned broadcast stations & on cable.