My contracted 18-months as a Page for NBC-TV in Burbank, California during the “Big ’80s” wasn’t all fun and game shows. There were also many poignant moments on the job.
Case in point: One special night I had talked with the famed Floyd — the terrific man who for years shined shoes for all the celebrity guests that appeared with Johnny Carson on his historic edition of The Tonight Show (1962–1992).
Actually, this is the future everybody has feared, whether we’re talking showbiz or not. Time now to escape our personal life-or-death situations and turn our attention to the film biz. Who knows? It might even lighten our load.
The movie industry was already on a precipice. Did the pandemic just give it a push?
With theaters shuttered all over the world and hundreds of millions of people ordered to stay at home, it’s unclear when the movie industry can resume business as normal, or even whether that “normal” will look anything like Hollywood wants it to. Pivotal pieces of the film calendar — including the summer-blockbuster season and the year-end awards gantlet — have been thrown into disarray, and in their absence the gulf between streaming media and the theatrical experience may only widen further.
LB’s NOTE: Herbie is back at TVWriter™ to discuss a subject very dear to his heart – his 10 best TV series. I may not agree with all your choices, old friend, but I salute your bravery in this article. I mean, you don’t see me writing a post like this, do you?
Due to opinion, taste, age, and mindset, it’s pretty much impossible to come up with the ideal mainstream list of what may be considered the best of anything, much less an optimum lineup of favorite television shows. But here’s my personal take on the Top Ten TV series from the primetime schedules of all time, most of which hail from (although not limited to) the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, including dramas, comedies, and sci-fi/fantasy — presented in alphabetical order.
I will never forget the first time I saw The Bionic Woman television series.
Lindsay Wagner portrayed Jaime Sommers in a new spin-off from The Six Million Dollar Man, which featured Lee Majors.
As a Page for NBC in the “Big ‘80s,” I worked a great many game shows that were taped at the Burbank studios during that era. SuperPassword, The New Let’s Make A Deal, Scrabble, and Wheel of Fortune. Next to Jeopardy and The Price is Right (on CBS), Wheel Of Fortune remains one of the most popular, long-lasting game shows to air on any network, broadcast, cable, syndicated or otherwise. Like Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune was created by talk show icon, and media mogul Merv Griffin.
Just a little history of the Wheel: