Mask schmask! I've been pouring increasingly larger amounts of Lysol in my morning coffee to build up my tolerance. I've been told it works best from the inside out.
As it happens, I have somehow never watched Columbo, and just started on it, viewing it on your former bosses' new streaming service. And I cannot agree more about how much fun it is. I can't even complain too much that it's "copaganda" since Columbo doesn't carry a gun and clearly doesn't work for the Man. And Peter Falk is just a wonder to watch.
I need to watch more Rockford Files. That one suffers more from the pacing issues of any 70s TV show and sometimes feels like it's done on the cheap. But James Garner was a national treasure and I can watch in in nearly anything.
And to connect this with baseball, James Garner's brother Jack was a minor leaguer in the Pirates system before also becoming an actor.
Glad to see you haven't lost your touch - "Delahanty rededicated himself to his profession in the offseason, working out every day and reporting to camp in 1892 in the best shape of his life." :-)
God, I love "ATH: Classic" so much. I'm still slightly disappointed that we didn't get one of these every day during the cancelled part of the season. I guess now that we're paying you directly, though, during the next global pandemic that kills hundreds of thousands of people due to gross mismanagement on the part of an incompetently hyperpartisan executive branch of the US government we can demand such things.
One nitpick: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Robison">Frank <i>Robison</i></a>. I know because every time I read something on 19th century baseball where his name comes up* I have to do a double-take. Like, "man, he really did do everything a ballplayer could, huh?"
<i>*His name comes up more often now than you might think. Robison was also the owner of the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, and his decision to transfer all of the talented players to St. Louis was the beginning point of the legendary 20-134 season. Yes, for those who don't know, in the 1890s it was perfectly within the rules to own multiple teams in the same league. Baseball at that time was wild, ya'll.</i>
I'm curious to get your take on the occasional Twitter push to get a <i>Columbo</i> remake made with Natasha Lyonne in the title role. Not only does her acting style seem to fit the role (which, of the little I've seen of the original show seems to jive with, like, her acting in <i>Russian Doll</i>) but she seems to <a href="https://screencrush.com/natasha-lyonne-columbo-mark-ruffalo/">really want the part</a>. It would (probably) be a gritty reboot, but it seems like that would make it more interesting than other generic gritty reboots.
Ok, so apparently Substack comments won't allow ANY kind of formatting, even direct HTML code, which sets them behind even NBCSports' commenting system in usefulness. At least things thread usefully here, AFAIK.
The ATH Classics take LONG time to write, haha. That's why they appear sparingly. I'm sure I'll do them in the future, though. Typically they were during the All-Star break.
I'm generally meh on reboots. I also think that technology would make the classic Columbo setup -- arrogant rich person thinks they've committed the perfect murder and is tripped up only by their hubris -- super difficult to pull off. Cameras, logins, cell phones, GPS, etc. would solve almost all of these crimes in ten seconds and to write around that would take the blood out of the central drama because it would have to be SO contrived.
You're so right about formulaic tv being comforting. For my wife and me, it's "House Hunters." Last week we calculated that we've watched an embarrassing number of episodes over the years (over 10k!).
And thanks also for mentioning "Columbo." It was my mom's favorite show, so just remembering sitting down with her to watch an episode at her request was sweet nostalgia for my morning.
House Hunters International is my junk tv addiction. Because watching Americans unable to cope with having fewer bathrooms than they have bedrooms is always hilarious.
If you like film noir and the classic tv series like it I'd recommend the new Perry Mason on HBO. It can be sort of graphic at times but its a pretty solid show.
Also have a love for formulaic TV. There are a lot of times I want to just sit down and be entertained without have to think of where I am in an arc, or having seen every episode ever to understand motivation. I can watch Rockford (Or, say, MASH) and never need to know a thing. 30-60 minutes of entertainment, and then I can move on.
Great stuff with the throwback ATH, but there's an (gasp!) error. According to your Delahanty link, he was actually found "naked ...(except for tie, shoes and socks)".
Now I can sort of get his shoes staying on, but his tie? How would Columbo explain this one?
For me it's old episodes of Star Trek, which take me back to long hot summers at my grandparents watching them in re-runs on Kansas City's independent channel in the 70s. (Also getting waffle butt from my uncles scorching hot VW Bug seats).
"...which take me back to long hot summers at my grandparents..."
My love of baseball is directly related to watching games with my granddad on those same hot summer nights. He would drink a Genesee Cream Ale (which sounded delicious when I was 8 years old -- only later would I discover what a truly terrible beer it is) and I would sit there with a root beer, or maybe a birch beer if I was feeling especially fancy. We'd watch The Birds live from Memorial Stadium, and we were kings.
Happy Friday everyone! Cool to see what throwback TV folks are into these days. I've found that my patience for shows I would normally watch is nearly non-existent right now. Shows that I love, like "Billions" on Showtime -- I just can't watch them right now. I need something lighter, and I'm sure I'll come back to these favs at a later time.
Coincidentally, I was scrolling through the Amazon app recently, and saw "Rockford Files" was there. I nearly started with epidsode 1, but decided on something else. This has convinced me to go back and click into it.
Ed Delahanty was last seen dead wearing a tie, shoes, and socks. No judgment. Who hasn't woken up naked and drunk wearing only a tie, shoes, and socks? I have never seen Colombo. My pandemic TV watching has consisted of mostly comedy. What We Do In the Shadows taught me about Emotional Vampires. Workin' Moms taught me that Canadian moms are as bad as American moms. Community taught me that Donald Glover is incredibly talented and Troy & Abed in the morning is the kind of relationship everyone should have. Portlandia is teaching me that the dream of the 90s is still alive in Portland. Never Have I Ever taught me that Indian moms can be as evil as my mom. Hasan Minhaj keeps me aware of issues and makes me laugh. That's pandemic TV. Make me laugh because the news makes me cry.
In January, I decided to record the entire run of Magnum, P.I., around 150 episodes. It's been kind of nice to watch those as this thing has progressed. I still have over 100 left, but it is nice to watch a show where the good are good, the bad are bad, and everything wraps up in an hour.
Nice to see you again Cur, it's been a few years.
Mask schmask! I've been pouring increasingly larger amounts of Lysol in my morning coffee to build up my tolerance. I've been told it works best from the inside out.
Washington: first in war, first in peace, and last in And That Happened Classic. ( the Pinkerton thing was a nice touch.)
As it happens, I have somehow never watched Columbo, and just started on it, viewing it on your former bosses' new streaming service. And I cannot agree more about how much fun it is. I can't even complain too much that it's "copaganda" since Columbo doesn't carry a gun and clearly doesn't work for the Man. And Peter Falk is just a wonder to watch.
I need to watch more Rockford Files. That one suffers more from the pacing issues of any 70s TV show and sometimes feels like it's done on the cheap. But James Garner was a national treasure and I can watch in in nearly anything.
And to connect this with baseball, James Garner's brother Jack was a minor leaguer in the Pirates system before also becoming an actor.
Glad to see you haven't lost your touch - "Delahanty rededicated himself to his profession in the offseason, working out every day and reporting to camp in 1892 in the best shape of his life." :-)
God, I love "ATH: Classic" so much. I'm still slightly disappointed that we didn't get one of these every day during the cancelled part of the season. I guess now that we're paying you directly, though, during the next global pandemic that kills hundreds of thousands of people due to gross mismanagement on the part of an incompetently hyperpartisan executive branch of the US government we can demand such things.
One nitpick: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Robison">Frank <i>Robison</i></a>. I know because every time I read something on 19th century baseball where his name comes up* I have to do a double-take. Like, "man, he really did do everything a ballplayer could, huh?"
<i>*His name comes up more often now than you might think. Robison was also the owner of the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, and his decision to transfer all of the talented players to St. Louis was the beginning point of the legendary 20-134 season. Yes, for those who don't know, in the 1890s it was perfectly within the rules to own multiple teams in the same league. Baseball at that time was wild, ya'll.</i>
I'm curious to get your take on the occasional Twitter push to get a <i>Columbo</i> remake made with Natasha Lyonne in the title role. Not only does her acting style seem to fit the role (which, of the little I've seen of the original show seems to jive with, like, her acting in <i>Russian Doll</i>) but she seems to <a href="https://screencrush.com/natasha-lyonne-columbo-mark-ruffalo/">really want the part</a>. It would (probably) be a gritty reboot, but it seems like that would make it more interesting than other generic gritty reboots.
Ok, so apparently Substack comments won't allow ANY kind of formatting, even direct HTML code, which sets them behind even NBCSports' commenting system in usefulness. At least things thread usefully here, AFAIK.
LOL! And still...no edit function. All these years later, no edit.
LOL
The ATH Classics take LONG time to write, haha. That's why they appear sparingly. I'm sure I'll do them in the future, though. Typically they were during the All-Star break.
I'm generally meh on reboots. I also think that technology would make the classic Columbo setup -- arrogant rich person thinks they've committed the perfect murder and is tripped up only by their hubris -- super difficult to pull off. Cameras, logins, cell phones, GPS, etc. would solve almost all of these crimes in ten seconds and to write around that would take the blood out of the central drama because it would have to be SO contrived.
BRB spending the day wishing I'd named my kid Klondike.
Man it's good to be reading your stuff again.
Thanks! It's good to be writing it. Starting Monday morning it's gonna actually be relevant stuff too! :-)
You're so right about formulaic tv being comforting. For my wife and me, it's "House Hunters." Last week we calculated that we've watched an embarrassing number of episodes over the years (over 10k!).
And thanks also for mentioning "Columbo." It was my mom's favorite show, so just remembering sitting down with her to watch an episode at her request was sweet nostalgia for my morning.
Have a good day, Craig!
House Hunters International is my junk tv addiction. Because watching Americans unable to cope with having fewer bathrooms than they have bedrooms is always hilarious.
If you like film noir and the classic tv series like it I'd recommend the new Perry Mason on HBO. It can be sort of graphic at times but its a pretty solid show.
Also have a love for formulaic TV. There are a lot of times I want to just sit down and be entertained without have to think of where I am in an arc, or having seen every episode ever to understand motivation. I can watch Rockford (Or, say, MASH) and never need to know a thing. 30-60 minutes of entertainment, and then I can move on.
Oooh! MASH. Love that show. Any episode with Colonel Flagg makes me LOL.
Great stuff with the throwback ATH, but there's an (gasp!) error. According to your Delahanty link, he was actually found "naked ...(except for tie, shoes and socks)".
Now I can sort of get his shoes staying on, but his tie? How would Columbo explain this one?
For me it's old episodes of Star Trek, which take me back to long hot summers at my grandparents watching them in re-runs on Kansas City's independent channel in the 70s. (Also getting waffle butt from my uncles scorching hot VW Bug seats).
There's JUST...something...nostalgic...ABOUT that...diaLOG...delivery.
"...which take me back to long hot summers at my grandparents..."
My love of baseball is directly related to watching games with my granddad on those same hot summer nights. He would drink a Genesee Cream Ale (which sounded delicious when I was 8 years old -- only later would I discover what a truly terrible beer it is) and I would sit there with a root beer, or maybe a birch beer if I was feeling especially fancy. We'd watch The Birds live from Memorial Stadium, and we were kings.
Happy Friday everyone! Cool to see what throwback TV folks are into these days. I've found that my patience for shows I would normally watch is nearly non-existent right now. Shows that I love, like "Billions" on Showtime -- I just can't watch them right now. I need something lighter, and I'm sure I'll come back to these favs at a later time.
Coincidentally, I was scrolling through the Amazon app recently, and saw "Rockford Files" was there. I nearly started with epidsode 1, but decided on something else. This has convinced me to go back and click into it.
Ed Delahanty was last seen dead wearing a tie, shoes, and socks. No judgment. Who hasn't woken up naked and drunk wearing only a tie, shoes, and socks? I have never seen Colombo. My pandemic TV watching has consisted of mostly comedy. What We Do In the Shadows taught me about Emotional Vampires. Workin' Moms taught me that Canadian moms are as bad as American moms. Community taught me that Donald Glover is incredibly talented and Troy & Abed in the morning is the kind of relationship everyone should have. Portlandia is teaching me that the dream of the 90s is still alive in Portland. Never Have I Ever taught me that Indian moms can be as evil as my mom. Hasan Minhaj keeps me aware of issues and makes me laugh. That's pandemic TV. Make me laugh because the news makes me cry.
In January, I decided to record the entire run of Magnum, P.I., around 150 episodes. It's been kind of nice to watch those as this thing has progressed. I still have over 100 left, but it is nice to watch a show where the good are good, the bad are bad, and everything wraps up in an hour.