Dark Victory to Evening with John Denver
For those who scratch their heads whenever Emmy nominations come out for performers on shows past their prime, you must realize it is not an isolated event. Consider December Bride. It bombed in 1958-59 being moved out of its cushy slot following The Danny Thomas Show, yet three of its regulars were up for an award. I have no answers on this, just pointing it out.
Dark Victory
NBC p.m., Feb. 5, 1976
N: Music Composition (Billy Goldenberg)
Elizabeth Montgomery and Anthony Hopkins, both of whom should have known better, assume the roles Bette Davis and George Brent assayed in the 1939 Oscar-nominated Best Picture weepie. This has color, a longer running time (about two and a half hours sans commercials), and an updated setting where Liz is a producer for a news show on the NBS network, which has a colorful peacock-like logo (hmmm…), who has a brain tumor that is making her blind while she falls in love with Anthony, her doctor. It’s also all for naught, one of several 1930s and 1940s theatrical classics remade as TV-movies in the 1970s and 1980s and quickly forgotten after they aired because they paled in comparison in every department (for another, see The Letter). Goldenberg won the statuette a year earlier for his composition for Benjamin Franklin.
Goldenberg: Plenty
David Copperfield
NBC p.m., March 11, 1970
N: Dramatic Program (Frederick Brogger, P); Actor, Lead, Single Performance (Sir Laurence Olivier); Actress, Lead, Single Performance (Dame Edith Evans)
The dramatic program competition in 1970 must have been pretty weak for this rather ennervated adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel to have been one of four contenders. The story slogs along for two hours at a pace apparently meant to give star turns to the notable British performers involved in supporting roles - Wendy Hiller and Ralph Richardson as Mr. and Mrs. Micawber among the biggest of them - while lead Robin Phillips was pallid, and soon disappeared from acting on screen after this. However, it may have helped Susan Hampshire’s win this year for The Forsyte Saga by offering another juicy main turn as David’s pretty romantic interest. Olivier’s nomination was a joke - his role as the mean headmaster Mr. Creakle was in no way a lead, and lasted only a couple of scenes in the first quarter of the film. Evans, thrice nominated for acting Oscars in the 1960s among a slew of other honors, earned her only Emmy nod with her role as Betsy Trotwood.
Brogger: Bell System Family Theatre, Heidi. Olivier: Brideshead Revisited, King Lear, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Lost Empires, Love Among the Ruins, The Merchant of Venice, The Moon and Sixpence.
Death Valley Days
Syndicated Weekly 30 Minutes, 1952-1970
N: Western or Adventure Series, 1954
A very well-written and produced western anthology, Death Valley Days judiciously avoided the clichés of its genre to portray little-known yet fascinating people events connected to the title location when it was being settled in the 1800s. Writer Ruth Woodman started writing the program when it started on radio in 1930 and guided it successfully onto TV 22 years later, with her scripts having flavorful dialogue and settings that made appeal to adults more than the mostly children-oriented other westerns on the air in 1952 such as Hopalong Cassidy and The Lone Ranger. Its 18-year run made it not just one of the longest-running syndicated TV series but also among the top five longest-running nighttime drama series of all time. The original host was Stanley Andrews, calling himself “The Old Ranger,” until 1965, when it went to color and he retired at age 74 (he died in 1969). Ronald Reagan took over, but his successful campaign for governor of California in 1966 led to him being replaced by Robert Taylor, followed by Dale Robertson for its last two years. This show should have won the Emmy in its category over its lesser clone, the now mostly forgotten Stories of the Century.
December Bride
CBS Mondays 9:30-10 p.m.*, Oct. 4, 1954-Sept. 24, 1959
N: Actress, Leading Performance (Spring Byington), 1957; Actress, Supporting Performance (Verna Felton), 1957; Actress, Comedy Series (Byington), 1959; Supporting Actress, Comedy (Felton), 1959; Supporting Actor, Comedy (Harry Morgan), 1959
Along with her nutty pal Hilda Crocker (Felton), Lily Ruskin (Byington) loved life and enthusiastically dived into any activity she thought was fun. Her daughter Ruth (Frances Rafferty) and son-in-law Matt Henshaw (Dean Miller), who lived with Lily, often took a back seat to what the mature women did, as well as the wisecracks of next-door neighbor Pete Porter (Morgan) about his never-seen wife Gladys, whose honor Hilda defended. Rarely aired since the 1960s, and virtually ignored in CBS’s retrospective specials, this sitcom (which began on radio in 1952) notched four seasons in the top 10 from 1954-58 thanks mainly to following I Love Lucy, as well as some rare guest stars such as Alan Ladd. But the antics of Lily et al. often was worth at least a few chuckles each episode, and there are worse sitcoms you can watch. Byington, a 1938 Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee for You Can’t Take It With You, remained an occasional TV guest through The Flying Nun in 1968 before dying in 1971 at age 84. Felton was the voice of Wilma’s mother on The Flintstones before she died in 1966 at age 76. Morgan would have the longest TV success of the nominees – this was the first of his 10 Emmy nominations. See also Pete & Gladys.
Morgan: M*A*S*H.
Diamond Jubilee of Light – See Light’s Diamond Jubilee.
The Dick Powell Show
NBC Tuesdays 9-10 p.m.*, Sept. 26, 1961-Sept. 17, 1963
W: Actor, Single Performance, Drama (Peter Falk, “Price of Tomatoes”), 1962
N: Drama, 1963; Actor, Single Performance, Drama (Milton Berle, “Doyle Against the House”), 1962 and (Mickey Rooney, “Somebody’s Waiting”), 1962; Actress, Single Performance, Drama (Inger Stevens, “Price of Tomatoes”), 1962; Writing, Drama (Richard Alan Simmons, “Price of Tomatoes”), 1962; Original Music (Leith Stevens, “Price of Tomatoes”), 1962 and (Joseph Mullendore), 1963
Opening with a montage of stills from that night’s production, this series then cut to a soundstage where a screen drew apart and out popped the host/executive producer, a personable Hollywood mainstay since 1932. Powell provided a professional introduction to the night’s drama before it unfolded, and a couple of times he acted on them as well, much like how he had done on Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater from 1956-61. This polished anthology, retitled The Dick Powell Theatre in its second season, earned four nominations for one show, “Price of Tomatoes” (no “The” in front, though the Academy listed it that way), with Falk winning his first Emmy despite competing against two actors on the same series who were better known at the time (incidentally, Berle had a credible dramatic performance in his nominated role). He played a truck driver forced to assist a pregnant immigrant (Stevens) in a poignant though not quite completely effective tale. Its nominated writer (and show producer) later teamed with Falk again, serving as executive producer on the latter’s series Columbo. Powell’s death from cancer on Jan. 2, 1963, hastened the show’s end, but even if it had not happened, it is unlikely the series would have continued, as its CBS competition (Jack Benny and Garry Moore) pounded it in the ratings. Though composers Stevens (who wrote the dynamic theme) and Mullendore had no further Emmy nods, Stevens did get three Oscar nominations for his music for Julie (1956), The Five Pennies (1959) and A New Kind of Love (1963).
Falk: Columbo Berle: Rooney: Stevens: The Farmer’s Daughter. Simmons: Columbo.
Ding Dong School
NBC Weekdays 10-10:30 a.m., Nov. 24, 1952-Dec. 31, 1956
N: Children’s Program, 1953, 1954, 1955; New Program, 1953
Chicago school supervisor Dr. Frances Horwich rang a bell to begin each day’s session of Ding Dong School, arguably the first true network educational show for children. Calling herself “Miss Frances,” Horwich talked directly into the camera to home viewers asking them what they were doing, provided a few lessons in living, performed activities such as blowing bubbles and even pitched products for sponsors she selected. Designed explicitly for the pre-kindergarten set, it is rather stiff to watch today, not only because of the simple talk to toddlers done by Dr. Horwich but also due to the static staging by producer-director Reinald Werrenrath Jr. (most of the time stagehands carted items on and off in front of Dr. Horwich while she sat on a hassock, and there were very few cuts to other cameras during the show). Beaten in the ratings by The Garry Moore Show, NBC replaced it after four years by relocating Home to its time slot.
Dirty Sally
CBS Fridays 8-8:30 p.m., Jan. 11, 1974-July 19, 1974
N: Lead Actress, Drama Series (Jeanette Nolan)
Nicknamed “Dirty” because she was a scavenger of items lost by migrants, 67-year-old Sally Fergus (Nolan) first met Cyrus Pike (Dack Rambo), a handsome drifter half her age, when she saved him from outlaws attacking him on a two-part episode of Gunsmoke in 1973. They paired up to go out west and look for gold for the series when he finished serving his jail sentence for stealing money the other criminals wanted, with Sally’s mule Worthless serving as her main transport. Poor Dack Rambo – five years after he played second fiddle to oldtimer Walter Brennan on The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967-69), he was doing the same thing on another oater, only this time opposite with an actress with grizzled outfits and makeup and a voice that sounded like Lily Tomlin’s Edith Ann character. Nolan did much better work than this odd portrayal, which probably got a nod due to a thin lack of many dramas with regular lead actress roles on TV in 1974. It marked her third of four Emmy nominations without a win. More puzzling is why CBS thought a spinoff from the dying western genre would work, particularly pitting this crotchety woman junk dealer opposite crotchety male junk dealer Fred Sanford on NBC’s Sanford and Son. Despite poor ratings, it lasted six months, apparently because CBS simply could not come up with anything stronger to beat Sanford and Son at the time.
Nolan: The Awakening Land, I Spy, The Richard Boone Show.
Discovery ’62-’71
ABC Sundays 11:30 a.m.-Noon*, Oct. 1, 1962-Sept. 5, 1971
N: Children’s Program, 1963, 1964, 1966 (Jules Power, EP), 1967 (Power, EP)
Initially a daily show hosted by Virginia Gibson and Frank Buxton (replaced in 1966 by Bill Owen, when it also went to color and started filming on location), Discovery devoted each show examining in depth one subject designed to educate and enrich younger viewers. This informational series had an impeccable pedigree – produced in consultation with the National Educational Association, recommended books on the topic covered by that show selected by the American Library Association, produced in association with ABC News. It was also, it must be said, somewhat dry and tedious to watch and enjoy. Advertisers agreed – it was never fully sponsored despite a nine-year run. ABC replaced with a “hipper” kids show, Make A Wish, which was similarly praised and low-rated.
Dr. Kildare
NBC Thursdays 8:30-9:30 p.m.*, Sept. 28, 1960-Aug. 30, 1966
N: Actress, Single Performance (Suzanne Pleshette, “Shining Image”), 1962; Director, Drama (Buzz Kulik, “Shining Image”), 1962
Clean-cut, dedicated Dr. Kildare (Richard Chamberlain), under the mentorship of Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Raymond Massey), involved himself personally with many of his patients and their medical plights. Coming on (and going off) roughly the same time as the similar Ben Casey, this series suffers somewhat in comparison as a drama – too many shows settled on having the lead become romantically involved with a beautiful woman in tragic circumstances, for one. But the overall production was respectable, and as for Chamberlain, what he lacked in his acting chops at the time was more than compensated by his handsome, smiling mug. Even the last season, when NBC unwisely divided it into two half hours with continuing storylines a la Peyton Place, it was sturdy if not great entertainment. This series marked the first Emmy nominations for Pleshette and Kulik.
Pleshette: Kulik:
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
With CBS impressed by the success of the TV-movie Sarah, Plain and Tall, this show’s creator/executive producer Beth Sullivan learned the network would be amenable to another period piece starring a female. She came up with a woman physician in the year 1867
Dr. Seuss Presents Halloween is Grinch Night
ABC Saturday 8-8:30 p.m., Oct. 29, 1977
W: Children’s Special (David DePatie, Friz Freleng, EP; Ted Geisel, P)
Having first terrorized Whoville in 1966 with the first showing of the special How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the pear-shaped grouchy Grinch reappeared 11 years later to scare the residents for a different holiday. However, his intended victim, young Ukariah, learns not to be unnerved by the barrage of bizarre images the Grinch conjures up, which adults probably think will scare their children when they more likely amused them, such as a creature consisting of just four legs twirling on an axis like bicycle spokes without a rim. Indeed, the theme here is how children should face their irrational fears and not be scared, a worthy one indeed, although not as great a source for comedy as the first Grinch special. Beside the next entry, other Dr. Seuss specials nominated for Emmys are The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat and The Hoober-Bloob Highway.
Dr. Seuss’s Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?
ABC Friday 8:30-9 p.m., May 2, 1980
N: Animated Program (David DePatie, Friz Freleng, EP; Ted Geisel, P)
Pickle packer Pontoffel Pock, fired from his job, is redeemed by a fairy that grants him a magic piano transporting him to faraway lands any time he tickled the ivories. Trouble was, he kept flubbing every place he went, even losing his beloved veiled Neepha Pheepha, and he left so quickly that soon everybody including the fairy repeated the title query to try to find him. Everything finally ended with Pontoffel back with Neepha at his home and getting a second chance at his old job. Typically demented Dr. Seuss offering, although Pontoffel is not as lovable a loser as, say, Charlie Brown, so his bumbling actions engender only mild sympathy and laughter. Note to grammarians: the title of this show is taken from what appeared on screen, even though the possessive use is wrong.
The Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff Special
CBS p.m., March 14, 1971
N: Writing, Comedy, Variety or Music Special (Saul Ilson, Ernest Chambers, Gary Belkin, Alex Barris)
Using her birth name in the title (actually, there was a “von” before Kappelhoff, but whatever!), Doris Day’s first TV special featured her singing, dancing and joking, with Perry Como joining her briefly. With Doris singing her old hits like “It’s Magic” and “Sentimental Journey” beautifully while doing a fine job with contemporary tunes like “Both Sides Now,” plus showing fine terpsichorean moves with other dancers, this was a most enjoyable program, even with the dubbed applause. Ilson and Chambers also produced the show, with Terry Melcher (son of Doris) serving as co-executive producer. Director Bill Foster and conductor Jimmie Haskell should have been nominated too.
Ilson: The Danny Kaye Show, Francis Albert Sinatra Does His Thing, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Chambers: The Bob Newhart Show (1962), The Danny Kaye Show, Francis Albert Sinatra Does His Thing, Love Sidney, The Second Barry Manilow Special, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Belkin: Annie, the Women in the Life of a Man, Caesar’s Hour, The Carol Burnett Show, The Danny Kaye Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Down You Go
DuMont Fridays 10:30-11 p.m.* (also CBS, ABC and NBC), May 30, 1951-Sept. 8, 1956
N: Audience Participation, Quiz or Panel Show, 1952
A quartet of four celebrities played Hangman, alternating guessing one letter at a time for a hidden short phrase for which the emcee first gave a clue, often a pun (for example, “Penitentiary walls should not be” for the phrase “BUILT TO SCALE”) and each panelist was allowed one question about the clue prior to giving a letter. Ask for a wrong letter and, as the title said, down you go, knocked out of guessing any more for that round. A snappy little parlor game, weighed down by the fact that Dr. Bergen Evans (who hosted all but the last two months of the series) and the longest-running panelist, editor Francis Coughlin, were nowhere nearly engaging personalities compared to their equivalents on What’s My Line?, John Daly and Bennett Cerf. (In fact, What’s My Line? beat the show in its category in 1952.) Down You Go was the only entertainment program on DuMont ever nominated for an Emmy, by the way.
Duel
ABC Saturday 8:30-10 p.m., Nov. 13, 1971
W: Film Sound Editing (Jerry Christian, James Troutman, Ronald LaVine, Sidney Lubow, Richard Raderman, Dale Johnston, Sam Caylor, John Stacy, Jack Kirschner)
N: Cinematography (Jack A. Marta)
David Mann (Dennis Weaver) steered his Plymouth Valiant on a two-lane road in the desert to a business appointment when an unseen tanker driver tried to run him down. He veered off the road, sped up to 100 mph and took other drastic maneuvers to elude the trucker until a final, furious showdown. Seen by few initially running against Funny Face and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, this became a cult classic in reruns thanks to a tour de force performance by Weaver (probably his best TV acting), a taut script by Richard Matheson and, best of all, punchy direction by Steven Spielberg that belied the conventions of TV-movies at the time and led to him getting feature film assignments that would make him a legend. All three should have been Emmy nominated over at least the now-forgotten “The Snow Goose” from Hallmark Hall of Fame in those categories. The nominations it did get are small consolation for those oversights, and its absence in the film sound mixing category is inexplicable.
Marta: Name of the Game.
Duke Ellington … We Love You Madly
CBS p.m., Feb. 11, 1973
N: Directing, Comedy or Variety (Stan Harris); Live or Tape Sound Mixing (Phil Ramone)
This musical special was a tribute to one of the greatest composers and conductors of the 20th century. Perhaps because they were worried this might be the last chance to work with the 73-year-old musician – and indeed, Ellington died a year after this aired – many top names came to jam on this show, creating some electrifying moments despite challenges in mounting it. Producer Marian Rees later recounted in Women Television Producers: Transformation of the Male Medium (Robert S. Alley and Irby B. Brown, 2001) that “Everything that could go wrong went wrong,” with the taping running from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m., by which time Duke was running a high fever. From the clips I’ve scene, you would be hard pressed to notice any bugs, meaning that the nomination for Harris was definitely deserved. One highlight was a smooth seven-minute medley with the astounding quartet of Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Peggy Lee and Sarah Vaughn. Ramone is better known as a record music producer, but he has supervised music for many TV programs since the 1970s.
Harris: The George Burns One-Man Show, That’s Life.
Dummy
CBS p.m., May 27, 1979
N: Outstanding Drama or Comedy Special (Frank Konigsberg, EP; Sam Manners, Ernest Tidyman, P)
A disturbingly affecting TV-movie based on real people, Dummy starred Paul Sorvino as Lowell Myers, a deaf public defender for Donald Lang (LeVar Burton), a deaf, mute and socially handicapped young man charged with killing a hooker. Sorvino and Burton, both fine actors, were at their best here playing a crusader and a doomed youth, which makes it incredibly disappointing that they were not nominated, and worse yet, superior to the lead and supporting actors in a special who won in 1979 (Ned Beatty in Friendly Fire and Marlon Brando in Roots: The Next Generation respectively). Director Frank Perry and writer Ernest Tidyman also deserved recognition. This was only the second drama or comedy special nominee to have no other nominations in 10 years, the first being A Death in Canaan. Konigsberg earned one Emmy nomination previously in 1978 for the informational special Bing Crosby: His Life and Legend.
Konigsberg: Guyana Tragedy.
The DuPont Show of the Month/Week
CBS Monthly 90 minutes Sept. 29, 1957-March 21, 1961, NBC Sundays 10-11 p.m. Sept. 17, 1961-Sept. 6, 1964
N: Special Dramatic Program – One Hour or Longer (“The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” “Hamlet,” “The Hasty Heart”), 1959; Program Achievement, Drama (“Ethan Frome”), 1960; Single Performance, Actress (Judith Anderson, “The Bridge of San Luis Rey”), 1959; Live Camera Work (“The Bridge of San Luis Rey”), 1959; Art Direction, Live Television Program (Robert Wade, “The Count of Monte Cristo”) and (Bob Markell, “Hamlet”), 1959; Musical Contribution (Eddy Manson, composing and conductiong for “Harvey”), 1959; Single Performance, Actress, Lead or Support (Julie Harris, “Ethan Frome”), 1960; Writing, Drama (Dale Wasserman, “The Lincoln Murder Case”), 1962 and (Sidney Carroll, “Big Deal in Laredo”), 1963; Direction, Drama (Fielder Cook, “Big Deal in Laredo”), 1963; Art Direction and Scenic Design (Jan Scott), 1963
In addition to the listings above, The DuPont Show of the Week earned a few Emmy nominations in the documentary field.
The Ed Wynn Show
CBS Thursdays 9-9:30 p.m.*, Oct. 6, 1949-July 4, 1950
W: Live Show; Outstanding Live Personality (Ed Wynn)
A star comic of vaudeville in the 1920s and radio in the 1930s, Ed Wynn brought his “Perfect Fool” act to early TV as CBS’s answer to Milton Berle. This sported solid writing led by Hal Kanter and directing by Ralph Levy, both future Emmy nominees. Unfortunately, Ed’s buffoon routine wore out quickly, technical limitations had the Hollywood-based show air in the East and Midwest only on kinescopes (a film of the live show taken from the monitor camera), and CBS hurt it even more by putting it in three different time slots during its nine-month network run. But if you think the Emmys were off base in picking this among the best shows of 1949, be warned that it also was the first entertainment series to win the prestigious Peabody Award too. Wynn returned the following season as an alternating host on All Star Revue for two years, followed by considerable guest work until his death in 1966 that resulted in three Emmy nominations, including one for playing himself on Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse in 1960 in recounting his worries about making his TV dramatic debut on Playhouse 90 – a role which previously earned him an Emmy nomination!
Wynn: Desilu Playhouse, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Playhouse 90.
The Edge of Night
CBS Weekdays 3:30-4 p.m.* (also ABC), April 2, 1956-Dec. 28, 1984
W: Program Achievement, Daytime Drama (Erwin Nicholson), 1973; Writing, Daytime Drama (Henry Slesar), 1974; Achievement in Technical Excellence, Daytime Drama, 1979
N: Makeup, Daytime Programming (Andrew Eger), 1974; Technical Direction and Electronic Camerawork, Daytime Programming (Harold Schutzman, technical director, Hal Weldon, William Unkel, Robert Toerper, cameramen), 1974; Writing, Drama (Slesar), 1976, (Slesar, Steve Lehrman), 1980 and (Slesar, Lois Kibbee), 1982; Daytime Drama (Nicholson), 1977; Director, Daytime Drama (John Sedwick), 1977, (Sedwick, Richard Pepperman), 1979, 1980, 1982; Actor, Daytime Drama (Joel Crothers), 1979; Supporting Actor, Daytime Drama (Mandel Kramer), 1979 and (Vasili Bogazianos), 1980; Supporting Actress, Daytime Drama (Lois Kibbee), 1979, 1980, 1981; Actress, Daytime Drama (Kim Hunter), 1980, (Ann Flood), 1982 and (Sharon Gabet), 1982; Achievement in Technical Excellence, Daytime Drama (William Edwards, technical director; William Hughes, Thomas Stallone, Arie Hefter, electronic camera; Edward Atchison, audio engineer; Robert Saxon, sound effects; John Valentino, video engineer; Joanne Goodhart, associate director; Stephen Scott, Lenny Davidowitz, videotape editors; Elliot Lawrence, composer; Barbara Miller, music coordinator), 1980
Fictional Monticello was one crime-ridden town, based on what one saw on The Edge of Night. Assistant district attorney and later D.A. Mike Karr (John Larkin 1956-61, Laurence Hugo 1962-71, Forrest Compton 1971-84) prosecuted innumerable ne’er-do-wells supported by his wives Sara Lane (Teal Ames 1956-61), who died after a bus hit her, and Nancy Pollack (Ann Flood 1962-84). Karr handled mostly mysteries, as did the rest of the cast. Even Judy Marceau (Joan Harvey 1961-63), daughter of police Chief Bill Marceau (Mandel Kramer 1959-79), faced trial for killing her lover – a clip of that appeared in the 1989 Oscar-winning Best Picture Driving Miss Daisy. Long a top-rated series, The Edge of Night fell when its sponsor and production company, Proctor and Gamble, demanded it move to 2:30-3 p.m. in 1972 to form a continuous block of soaps the firm produced for CBS. The Doctors slaughtered it and CBS canned it in 1975, but ABC gave it a reprieve and aired it from 4-4:30 p.m. daily. It became ABC’s lowest-rated soap as many affiliates did not carry it, and ratings sank more despite new sexy young characters such as Dr. Miles Cavanaugh (Crothers) and Raven Alexander (Juanin Clay 1976-77, Gabet 1977-84). Among nominees, Bogazianos’ part was so small he should have been in the guest/cameo appearance category, Kibbee wrote for the series in the 1980s while playing rich matriarch Geraldine Whitney (1971-84), and Slesar’s clever plots and impressive run as head writer from 1968-83 came after writing for other series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents. A final note: Kim Hunter, who overcame blacklisting in the 1950s after winning a supporting actress Oscar for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), got her only Emmy nomination as split personality/murderess Nola Madison/Martha Cory from 1979-80. See also Perry Mason.
The Edsel Show
NBC Sunday 8-9 p.m., Oct. 13, 1957
N: Program of the Year
Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Louie Armstrong, Rosemary Clooney, Lindsay Crosby (Bing’s son) and the Four Preps sing between plugs for Ford’s awful new Edsel car. The stars fared better, particularly an enjoyable duet medley between Crosby and Sinatra (with a nice cameo by Bob Hope at the end) and Armstrong in fine form with his band. Still, I wonder if this received its nomination more due to the TV industry feeling it had to support Ford for its heavy TV advertising of the Edsel, an expensive flop that ended production in 1959. At least Sinatra came off better here than he did on his own series that season, The Frank Sinatra Show.
Eleanor and Franklin: White House Years
Not quite as good as the original, which has a few spare clips included from it – it is not as affecting a story told, and even basic knowledge about the times and the presidency will make you question what was emphasized and omitted, particularly given the length of time the movie received to tell its story. However, the recreation of the White House in the 1930s, both inside and outside, is beautiful and quite credible, and there is an excellent mesh in editing real newsreel film of the Roosevelts into parts of the dial.
Elizabeth R
PBS Sundays 9-10 p.m., 1971
W: Drama Series (Christopher Sarson, EP; Roderick Graham, P); New Series (Sarson, EP; Graham, P); Lead Actress, Continuing Performance (Glenda Jackson); Lead Actress, Single Performance (Jackson, “Shadow in the Sun”); Costume Design (Elizabeth Waller)
N: Single Program (“The Lion’s Cub,” Sarson, EP; Graham, P); Lead Actress, Single Performance (Jackson, “The Lion’s Cub”)
A six-part miniseries airing on Masterpiece Theatre detailing the life of “the Virgin Queen,” Elizabeth R was an excellent showcase for Glenda Jackson in the title role. Forceful yet perpetually perturbed in discovering plots to usurp her rule, she created an indelible portrait of a leader remaining strong in the face of external and internal conflicts. The production surpasses the 1998 Oscar-nominated Best Picture Elizabeth in delineating deeper motivations for Elizabeth and other characters involved in intrigue in the royal court. Waller’s costumes are stunning too. But why no nominations for directing or makeup? Jackson concentrated on movies after this effort, save for a 1982 TV-movie which earned her another Emmy nomination.
Sarson: The First Churchills, Zoom. Jackson: The Patricia Neal Story.
The Eve Arden Show
CBS Tuesdays 8:30-9 p.m., Sept. 17, 1957-March 25, 1958
N: Actress, Lead, Comedy or Drama (Eve Arden)
After being widowed for six years, author Liza Hammond (Arden) agreed to become more of a social butterfly as a client of George Howell (Allyn Joslyn), head of a speakers bureau who installed her on a lecture tour in the wake of her successful book Summer’s End. However, most of the action occurred at Liza’s apartment in Manhattan which she shared with her mother, Nora Martin (Frances Bavier), and her 13-year-old fraternal twins Jenny (Gail Stone) and Mary (Karen Greene). Pleasant enough comedy filmed before a studio audience with decent scripts and an appealing cast, including Bavier jauntier than in her Emmy-winning turn as Aunt Bea on The Andy Griffith Show, and Arden was engaging as ever, delivering her lines with aplomb. I would have awarded her the statuette over the more sedate winner, Jane Wyatt for Father Knows Best. It flopped because it could not overcome being slated against the ABC hit The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp and compared to Arden’s previous and better series Our Miss Brooks. Arden’s husband Brooks West was associate producer.
Arden: ABC Afternoon Playbreak, Our Miss Brooks.
An Evening With Fred Astaire
NBC Fri
W:
An Evening With John Denver
ABC p.m., March 10, 1975
W: Special, Comedy-Variety or Music (John Denver, star; Jerry Weintraub, EP; Rich Eustis, Al Rogers, P); Directing, Comedy-Variety or Music Special (Bill Davis)
N: Art Direction or Scenic Direction (Dwight Jackson, Ken Johnson, art directors)
Starting with scenes of Denver leaving Denver to take his private plane to go to Hollywood (somewhat sad in retrospect, knowing that he perished piloting a flight decades later), this third special starring the hottest American singer of the time presented him doing many of his hits before a spirited audience on three sides of the stage while accompanied by a full orchestra on the fourth. He is in fine form and clearly enjoys joking, singing and even dancing with special guest Danny Kaye (doing wacky duets with Denver of the latter’s songs) and scuba diving with Jacques Cousteau on the Calypso in the Caribbean (whose crew sang “Take Me Home Country Roads” with Denver very nicely). A pleasant diversion, superbly done on all levels. All the talent teamed up again later in the year for John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas (q.v.) except Dwight Jackson, who did not take part in it. This was the only Emmy win for Denver, Weintraub, Eustis and Rogers.
Denver: Doris Day Today, The John Denver Show, John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas. Weintraub: The John Denver Show, John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas, Neil Diamond: I’m Glad You’re Here With Me Tonight, The Neil Diamond Special. Eustis: The Dean Martin Show, The John Denver Show, John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas. Rogers: The Dean Martin Show, The John Denver Show, John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas. Davis: John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas, The Julie Andrews Hour, Marlo Thomas in Free to Be … You and Me. Jackson: American Playhouse, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, Diana, Emeril, IBM Presents Baryshnikov on Broadway, Three Sisters. Johnson: John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas, Once Upon a Brothers Grimm, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.