Riding the Retro Metro: Wednesday August 11, 1976

Redartz:  Hello fellow riders, welcome aboard for another trip back. Back, in this case, to that U.S.Bicentennial year 1976! The Viking lander is on the surface of Mars, the Olympics are in Montreal, and Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter are in competition for the White House (speaking of the Presidential campaign- I ordered my "Howard the Duck for President" button, even though I'm too young to vote).

Winning the (somewhat less momentous than those above) competition for Number 1 on the US Billboard Pop Chart this week: Elton John and Kiki Dee, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" 

Rounding out the top five:
2.  Bee Gees, "You Should Be Dancing"
3.  Wings, "Let em In"
4.  Lou Rawls, "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine"
5.  Beach Boys, "Rock and Roll Music" 

I can take or leave Elton and Kiki (although many would differ- they top the British chart this week too). I'm more impressed by a cool new song from Cliff Richard, "Devil Woman" debuting  on the top 40. 

 I also like War- "Summer"; a perfect hit for summer (obviously). Oh, and it seems almost like the 60's are back; the Beatles just dropped out of the top 10 with "Got to Get You Into My Life" (reissued by Capitol Records), and the Beach Boys are in the top 5!

Tops in the UK:  Elton John and Kiki Dee, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".

Turning our attention to tonight's tv offerings, I must admit to having seen few. This summer I'm working for the first time: yes, flipping burgers at McDonald's. So tv viewing is less an option.

US Television Schedule:

Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman

ABC:  Wonder Woman, Baretta. Starsky and Hutch

The Jacksons

CBS:   The Blue Knight, The Jacksons, The Kelly Monteith Show, Kate McShane











 
 NBC:  Little House on the Prairie, Best of Sanford and Son, Chico and the Man, Hawk


 BBC1:  Nationwide, Man and Boy, It's A Knockout, Are You Being Served?, Explorers, Band Beat, The War Lords

BBC2:  Gardener's World, The Sandpipers, Look Stranger, Festival 40: The Wednesday Play- Cathy Come Home, Beauty is in the Eye

I would watch Wonder Woman, but our tv is usually tuned to "Little House". No Lynda Carter for me,alas. Baretta is good, and has a great theme song. And a bird! Oh, and the variety show continues to attract audiences- Kelly Monteith and the Jacksons are hosting shows on Wednesday nights...







Although my tv viewing is down this summer, my comic reading is up! Just look at some of the great stuff on the stands right now:

I've a lot to pick up this month. That Amazing Spider-Man with Nightcrawler and Punisher- what a free-for-all, and a Romita cover too! And Conan guest starring in Red Sonja; it just doesn't get better than this. Wait, yes it does! Marvel is showering us with their King Size Annuals this summer, and there's some excellent reading to be had! I'm grabbing all of them I can find, including all three of these pictured here. So who needs tv?
Oh, and check out the cover to the Warren Spirit magazine. That book is fantastic, Eisner's art and stories are incredible. I even like the black/white reproduction (of course they feature one story in color each issue). 



Looking at all those terrific comics has me ready to go grab a stack. And so, we pile back on the bus and return to wherever it is we are, Annuals clutched in our sweaty little hands. Who knows what finds await us on the next Retro Metro? Time will tell...

Rank And File: The Detective Shows of the Bronze Age

Martinex1:  You would be hard pressed to convince me that the golden age of television detective shows was not in the 1970s  through the early 1980s.  In my mind, the best shows of this ilk ran right along the same timeline as the comic book bronze age.   Maybe there was something in the air.

Whether police detectives or private investigators, I couldn't get enough of the crime procedural when I had control of the TV set.  In a previous post, I shared my admiration for Columbo, so that is a no-brainer to be on my top five list, but how would I rank my favorite detective shows and which did I consider the worst?   And how would you order your list?

Today we play Rank And File with crime shows of all kinds... and don't feel you have to leave out comedies or cartoons!

So here are my top five:

1) Columbo -  see my post from December 5th, 2016 if you have any questions about my perception of the durability of the rumpled lieutenant.
2) The Rockford Files - James Garner played a very nuanced and complex somewhat down-on-his-luck investigator.  He wasn't always politically correct.  He often found himself on the wrong side of the law.   He had bills to pay.  He got annoyed by inconvenience.  And he had a heart of gold.   The opening theme clinches it for me; every time I hear that music I have to tune in.
3) Quincy, M.E. - He was a Medical Examiner and not a police officer, but he investigated like one digging into clues and searching for scientific evidence long before CSI.   Jack Klugman was pivotal in the role; I could not grasp that he and Oscar Madison were the same guy.    I actually learned some interesting facts from that show and remember talking about Legionnaire's Disease in the fourth grade because there was an episode about it. 
4) Police Squad - On the heels of the movie Airplane!, the creators rolled out this comedy full of slapstick, puns, and site gags.   It was very short-lived and existed before the Naked Gun movies.  I thought it was hilarious as a kid.  And Leslie Nielson was great.
5) Inch High Private Eye - This Hanna-Barbera offering came out just as I was starting to get into my detective fascination as a wee youngster.   So it is a nostalgic favorite that most don't even remember.

And here is my "dishonorable" mention:

Mrs. Columbo - what were they thinking?  This was a train wreck.  It was like something out of Bizarro's world.  In 1979, following the end of the detective's series, the network cast Kate Mulgrew as the never before seen wife.   And that was mistake number one as she was way too young and not at all the character hinted at in the original great series.  She was suddenly depicted as a columnist with an eye for crime.   Between doing laundry, taking care of the children,  and working at the paper, she solved mysteries.  Huh?  Detective Columbo's car and rumpled clothing could be seen in the opening credits, but other than that there was no real connection.  If fact, in the subsequent season there were inferences to divorce and the title character's name was changed to Mrs. Callahan.  It was horrible in so many ways.

Redartz:  In all the cop shows and movies, the hero's partner always backs him up. No difference here; I'm backing up my buddy Marti! Backing him up with my picks, that is...

1)  Barnaby Jones - My dad always watched the detectives, and he got me hooked on this one. How can you resist Buddy Ebsen's homey drawl? An excellent theme song too.
2)  Columbo - can't add anything to what Marti already said about the show. Brilliant.
3)  Scooby-Doo - Hey, the gang were detectives, weren't they? After all, "if it weren't for those blasted kids... "
4)  Charlie's Angels - Never missed the show, at least for the first two seasons. Perfect representative of  70's pop culture. And I had such a crush on Kate Jackson.
5)   Police Squad - I'd almost forgotten about the show. A crime, as it was hilarious! 

So now it is your turn.  How would you rank these types of shows?   See the below photos for some ideas - but there are plenty beyond even this lengthy list to choose from.   Share your thoughts and let's have some fun!