Retro TV

[stevezodiac]

Does anybody else remember My World and Welcome To It? A late 60s US sitcom starring William Windom as James Thurber the humorist and cartoonist. His character wasn't called James Thurber but the stories and cartoons were his. He would sit at his drawing board and talk to us the viewers and then start drawing a cartoon which would set off the story for that episode. His house would be the cartoon version and some portions of the episodes were his cartoons in animated form. I never missed it and I have some on VHS from 70s repeats. I'd love it to be released on dvd.

[philcom55]

Yes, I loved that too.

Funnily enough I came across a copy of Thurber's book The Last Flower this week and it occurred to me that it must have been one of the very first 'graphic novels'.

- Phil Rushton

[DavidKW]

At a car boot sale in Bolton I got DVDs of 1980 Granada series The Ladykillers & the first 1967 series of Mr Rose - I didn't know that ever got a DVD release. It had a very cathcy Roy Budd theme tune.

[DavidKW]

Just got some DVDs from a car boot (very reputable dealer). These included the kids histrorical TV adventure seires Wreckers At Dead Eye, which I'd never heard of before, plus the 1959 racial tensions film Sapphire which I'd not heard of (oh and the 1st series of sitcom Spring & Autumn).

Managed to get Wrckers when I had a Johnny Fartpants moment and moved a potential buyer off.

Last week I got the entire surviving ABC episodes of Public Eye - the vendor said it got a very limited pressing and was annoyed Network pressed too many editions of Heartbeat (on ITV3 all the time as well), yet here's a buyer who was not born when these shows went out.

Something like Public Eye would be great for TV - I wrote down a few ideas based on the show's concept - a PI who works in different towns & cities many more known for their tourism but always cover their darker sides (starting with Oxford - Morse is just propaganda for its tourism - the real side of the place is far seedier).

Got all these network DVDs far more cheaper than the internet.

It's these retro shows and reading comics that are far more entertaining than the dross on TV today.

[stevezodiac]

I've just finished watching the whole Department S series and the first season of Mission: Impossible. I watched the first Tom Cruise film but when they made Jim Phelps a traitor it totally ruined it for me and I have not watched any of the sequels. I have just started watching The Invaders - first episode only so far.

[Phoenix]

Last week I got the entire surviving ABC episodes of Public Eye

I used to enjoy those episodes, with Alfred Burke as down-at-heel private detective Frank Marker.

[NP]

I've just finished watching the whole Department S series.

Woah, welcome back to the real world after THAT marathon!

Last week I got the entire surviving ABC episodes of Public Eye

Me too. Sad there's so little of these early ones extant.

I used to enjoy those episodes, with Alfred Burke as down-at-heel private detective Frank Marker.

Yep, good series. Great acting too.

[NP]

I got 'Squirrels'.
http://networkonair.com/shop/1703-squirrels-the.html
Another excellent release from Network Video.

[Lew Stringer]

I've just finished watching the whole Department S series.

Woah, welcome back to the real world after THAT marathon!

Excellent theme tune and title sequence on that series.

[Raven]

Got all these network DVDs far more cheaper than the internet.

Bear in mind, though, that Network do great work, taking big chances on obscure, far-from-obvious series that nobody else would touch - really niche stuff, and if people buy them secondhand from car boot sales, rather than supporting them, they shouldn't be surprised if they have to stop doing them! Spring & Autumn Series One is only £5.99 online.

Not TV, but among the most fascinating Network releases at the moment are the Ealing Rarities series, four films per set, less than £2.50 per film if you buy direct from Network, with some really obscure British titles. That's a teenage Hughie Green in 1935's Midshipman Easy:

http://networkonair.com/shop/1699-ealin ... 86443.html

I really enjoyed the 1930s musicals Cheer Up! and Penny Paradise on Volume 1.

Also not - strictly - TV, but some retro TV memories for those who recall two of the Seventies films in the newly released 'Weird Adventure'-themed BFI's Children's Film Foundation: Volume Three collection, from Children's BBC's old Friday Film Special slot: the very weird The Boy Who Turned Yellow is the last Powell/Pressburger collaboration, and A Hitch in Time stars Patrick Troughton as an eccentric time traveller. Where did they get that idea?

http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_26494.html

NP: like many people, I have quite fond memories of watching The Squirrels as a boy, but how well do they actually stand up? I'm expecting it's not a top notch sitcom, but I recall it having a good cast and being quite energetic. Of course, you might not have watched them yet. I think they include the script PDFs for the missing Eric Chappell-scripted episodes, don't they (which is a nice touch)?

[stevezodiac]

What always amuses me about those 60s spy and drama shows and even comedies like The Lucy Show or Bewitched is whenever young people are dancing to pop music its always an in-house recorded hammond organ or saxophone instrumental - never a real pop song.

[NP]

NP: like many people, I have quite fond memories of watching The Squirrels as a boy, but how well do they actually stand up? I'm expecting it's not a top notch sitcom, but I recall it having a good cast and being quite energetic. Of course, you might not have watched them yet. I think they include the script PDFs for the missing Eric Chappell-scripted episodes, don't they (which is a nice touch)?

It's not in the 'Rising Damp' class, that's true, but the three episodes I've already watched are typical 'good late 70s comedy'. Nice comic acting from Ken Jones and the others, and worth a look. Not been on TV since 1980 due to copyright problems. Yes there are PDFs of scripts, but it looks like some episodes don't exist even as scripts.

[Peter Gray]

Also not - strictly - TV, but some retro TV memories for those who recall two of the Seventies films in the newly released 'Weird Adventure'-themed BFI's Children's Film Foundation: Volume Three collection, from Children's BBC's old Friday Film Special slot: the very weird The Boy Who Turned Yellow is the last Powell/Pressburger collaboration, and A Hitch in Time stars Patrick Troughton as an eccentric time traveller. Where did they get that idea?


I remember watching these in the 80's Philip Schofield Broom cupboard set the scene as we watched the Friday film...
I remember the one where there were lots of balls from space..

[Raven]

I remember watching these in the 80's Philip Schofield Broom cupboard set the scene as we watched the Friday film...
I remember the one where there were lots of balls from space..

The Glitterball!

It's a great series of releases. The films have all been remastered by the BFI and look fantastic. Volume 4 will be Bumps in the Night, and hopefully there'll be a science fiction-themed collection soon, featuring that cake eating intergalactic ball bearing.

Volume 2 featured Sammy's Super T-Shirt, an especially fondly remembered one from the Friday Film Special.

[NP]

What always amuses me about those 60s spy and drama shows and even comedies like The Lucy Show or Bewitched is whenever young people are dancing to pop music its always an in-house recorded hammond organ or saxophone instrumental - never a real pop song.

Ah, no! you do the late Gerry Anderson a disservice. I seem to recall the cast of UFO dancing to the actual 45 of 'Get Back' (Beatles) at a party scene. Or, are you discounting sci-fi made in 1969?