Television | The Ben Franklin Follies

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The Cybernauts

January 19, 2012

Someone is knocking off the competition. Someone who can walk through walls, break down doors, fend off bullets, and break necks with a single “swoooosh.” Someone who, perhaps, is an expert in Karate. The futuristic sci-fi episode The Cybernauts is featured in the third week of our 52 weeks of The Avengers series. This one […]

The Gravediggers

January 11, 2012

The Gravediggers is the second episode of The Avengers that aired in the U.S. Although it features a number of quirky characters, a typical plot, and a classic scene that plays off the “damsel in distress” silent film classics, it’s not one of my favorite episodes. Whenever I’m perusing titles and trying to decide what […]

The Town of No Return

January 4, 2012

The Town of No Return is the first episode of The Avengers to air in the U.S. The episode opens with a closeup shot of fisherman on a beach, fiddling with his basket and nets, then cuts to a long shot of a blob emerging from the sea. The camera pulls in closer and we […]

52 Weeks of The Avengers

January 4, 2012

I'm not sure what, specifically, about The Avengers captured my attention as a child, maybe it was the the accents or the wardrobes. Or maybe I subconsciously picked up on the intelligence and tongue-in-cheek humor.

I’ve Always Loved Lucille Ball

August 7, 2011

Today is the 100th birthday of Lucille Ball, the iconic comedy legend. I’ve loved Lucy for as long as I can remember, although I’m pretty sure my introduction began with the earliest incarnation of The Lucy Show, rather than I Love Lucy. I was a kid in the days before multichannel cable TV, so I […]

Julie Klausner Name-Drops Benjamin Franklin (and gets more than a RT)

July 3, 2011

Anyone in my Twitter stream who name-drops Benjamin Franklin to get a retweet deserves more than a RT. Julie Klausner gets a blog post. Think of it as a birthday present. Happy Birthday, Julie. If you aren’t listening to Julie Klausner’s How Was Your Week podcasts, you’re definitely missing out. She delivers up cutting-edge humor […]

Martha Washington, Emma Peel and ideas

August 17, 2010

In 1998, I published an essay titled “Martha Washington, Emma Peel and ideas.” At the time, Martha Washington was a popular subject for biographers and historians and my childhood TV hero, Mrs. Emma Peel, ever-popular among cult-TV types, was back in the spotlight. Given the theme of my most recent post (“Celebrate the Power of […]