TV and Movies

[Oznell]

We've started collecting a few, select DVD's of quality vintage TV series' and it occurred to me that that could make a super Christmas present for the right person.  Catch this "groovy" intro:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Qr6GshI8M

"Mannix" was the coolest of late 60's/70's TV private eyes, a kind of TV James Bond, but more likeable, and straight arrow.  Tough, smooth, but with heart.  Love the way he dressed (Mike Connors, who was "Mannix", had an enviable selection of sportcoats and the rugged physique of the high school basketball player that he once was in real life.) Love the succession of cars that he drove.  Love his Spanish Colonial office/apartment.

And starting in the second season, love his secretary, "Peggy Fair", played by the radiant Emmy and Golden Globe winner Gail Fisher.  She was one of the first African American actresses to have a major TV role, and she and Mannix were a fab team.  I used to wait to see what super little career outfit she would wear every week.  Darling 60's and 70's fashion on display.

You can order by the season, so you can sample just one year without spending a lot of money.  We started doing this b/c we wanted our teenage son to get a taste of what TV was like before it descended into the unfortunate "situation" it is in today...

[Annabellethecat66]

One Christmas my girls (and I) gave my husband tapes of old radio shows.  He loved it.  I liked it too until I bought him some CD's that were jokes like Jerry Lewis way back, Red Skelton, etc.  

Well, I put them in the CD player which was in the back of our Mercedes SUV (this was probably 2003 or 4).  It was difficult to get back there to change them.  I thought I was going to loose my mind listening to the same jokes (old jokes) over and over and (you get the idea)....Ha!

[Oznell]

Ha, I just have to say-- watching the exuberant little intro theme of Mannix that I just linked to put me in a great mood!  It doesn't take much, I guess...

Do you have any theme music from fave TV shows that makes you happy?  Oh, the "Mission Impossible" theme does that too.  And of course, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" theme as well...

[Oznell]

That's funny, Annabellethecat, proving you sometimes CAN have too much of a good thing...

[Annabellethecat66]

@Oznell You remember that laugh Jerry Lewis does?  It's a kind of kackle and then Red Skelton...he has a weird giggle too.....I'd be riding down the road and would actually be listening to my youngest daughter's bla blaing about some guy....trying to drown out those CD's.

[StylishLady]

I love all those old detective shows. Right now though, I'm in love with the Murdoch Mysteries. It is a Canadian production. My younger son has given me more DVDs of that show for Christmas.

[AuntG]

I'm getting the entire Magnum PI series for Christmas .  I peaked.

[cherry]

I love the British detectives the best. A touch of Frost and Morse come to mind  right off. These shows went on for years so buying them might be a bit pricey

[LeaLeander]

My "big gift" last year was the entire series of "Barnaby Jones."

I realize it sounds laughable but once you hear that familiar theme -- it all comes back. I was a child back then and remember lounging on a blanket in my grandmother's living-room floor, eating popcorn and watching Barnaby, McCloud, McMillan and Wife and those other mysteries while she smoked  her cigs and drank a few Stroh's.  good times.   

What is interesting to me, watching them now, is how middle-aged many of the characters are in each episode.  Nowadays when 30 is over the hill on TV it is sort of refreshing to see characters in their 40s, 50s be central to the plot.  Not just in Barnaby which of coure had to sync with his age (though he wasn't really that ancient) but in the other programs too, including McMillan. 

For those who enjoy the British mysteries, the Inspector Lynley series with handsome Nathanial Parker is excellent (based on a series of novels, he's a British lord and detective paired with a tough working-class female sergeant) -- and for period pieces the Mrs.Bradley series, all too short-lived, with Diana Rigg, is quite entertaining - and a bit racy. 

[Oznell]

Not laughable at all, LeaLeander.. Banaby Jones a fun, quirky series with Buddy Ebsen.  It's neat that, after years as a Hollywood stalwart and talented hoofer-- remember the young, gangly Buddy Ebsen dancing up a storm with Shirley Temple-- he had another good run late in his career.  The premise was interesting too-- it was a nice twist that his assistant was also his widowed daughter-in-law....

I like many of the Bristish detectives too, especially iconoclastic Morse.  And the one that Helen Mirren played, what was it "Jane Something"?