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Showing results for tags 'Television'.
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I'm sure many of you know about the website imdb.com - it's a well-organized database of movies, television shows, (even old radio shows), and actors [Is it okay to say "actors" instead of "actors and actresses?"] Pick any movie you can think of, any television series you can think of - even any *episode* of any television series you can think of, and up comes an incredibly rigorous and thorough list of people associated with it. Then, if you click one of the people, you'll get every single thing they've ever done in their career. I have been using imdb for as long as I've been power-watching television series and films (films, for the first time in about twenty years), and to date, I believe that I have found *one* omission that I'm aware of. They must have reference to some sort of "official," central database of these facts, and whichever company runs this website must have dozens, if not hundreds, of employees. While it isn't like Wikipedia, in that there aren't long narratives, the two perform complementary functions: imdb is for hard facts, and Wikipedia is for the story behind many of the facts. This is the only post I can ever remember putting into two forums: Films and Television, because imdb covers both so thoroughly that it would simply be wrong to exclude either one. Remember this website - it generally comes up on Page One of Google searches. I cannot recommend it highly enough. -
I'm sure many of you know about the website imdb.com - it's a well-organized database of movies, television shows, (even old radio shows), and actors [Is it okay to say "actors" instead of "actors and actresses?"] Pick any movie you can think of, any television series you can think of - even any *episode* of any television series you can think of, and up comes an incredibly rigorous and thorough list of people associated with it. Then, if you click one of the people, you'll get every single thing they've ever done in their career. I have been using imdb for as long as I've been power-watching television series and films (films, for the first time in about twenty years), and to date, I believe that I have found *one* omission that I'm aware of. They must have reference to some sort of "official," central database of these facts, and whichever company runs this website must have dozens, if not hundreds, of employees. While it isn't like Wikipedia, in that there aren't long narratives, the two perform complementary functions: imdb is for hard facts, and Wikipedia is for the story behind many of the facts. This is the only post I can ever remember putting into two forums: Films and Television, because imdb covers both so thoroughly that it would simply be wrong to exclude either one. Remember this website - it generally comes up on Page One of Google searches. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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In case anyone hasn't noticed, I've been compensating for a lifetime of not having watched television, and a decade of not having watched films - and I've been compensating in a big way. Completely organically, I've discovered a gentleman named Robert Butler - a man whom I'd certainly never heard of before, and a man whom I suspect is a household name only within the industry. However, here's why every single person with the slightest bit of interest in television (and film) should be instantly familiar with the name Robert Butler. Let's take *just* the pilot episodes he directed, and nothing else. I reiterate: These are the pilot episodes only - look what we have here: Nov 27, 1988: Star Trek - "The Cage" (Butler completed this work in Feb, 1965, but it didn't air for over 23 years; it was shown in a different form as "The Menagerie," of which he directed Part Two.) Sep 17, 1965: Hogan's Heroes - "The Informer" (This is the only one out of 168 episodes to be filmed in black-and-white.) Jan 12, 1966: Batman - "Hi Diddle Riddle" (The first appearance of Frank Gorshin as The Riddler.) May 9, 1975: The Blue Knight - "The Blue Knight" was a TV movie which served as the pilot for this crime series starring George Kennedy. Jan 15, 1981: Hill Street Blues - "Hill Street Station" - Do you see how formidable this list is becoming? Oct 1, 1982: Remington Steele - "Tempered Steele" - A relatively minor series, but still made it to 94 episodes. Mar 3, 1985: Moonlighting - "Moonlighting" - Bruce Willis, anyone? May 11, 1991: Sisters - "Moving In, Moving Out, Moving On" - This seemingly "small" series had 127 episodes. Sep 12, 1993: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - "Pilot" - Teri Hatcher Butler also directed many episodes of "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and essentially began Kurt Russell's career - he also did a *lot* more than I've listed here (I've listed only the pilots that he directed). I think that *just* directing the pilot of "Star Trek" is enough to make Butler famous, but considering everything he did on top of that? This man is an absolute legend - and I'd never even heard of him. Sometimes it takes a non-expert to shed light on a subject, and I hope I've done that here - Mr. Butler deserves it.
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News from ARLNOW Well at least it's not political...... "Is Clarendon's Oz Restaurant in Trouble" on arlnow.com -
Warren Stevens was a very recognizable character actor on many television series from the late 40s to the late aughts, and has a very recognizable face, as he's been in some of our (well, "my") favorites: Oct 9, 1955 - Perry Stanger in "Premonition" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" - Mar 15, 1956 - Lt. "Doc" Ostrow in "Forbidden Planet" - Nov 4, 1960 - Richard Crown in "The Strengthening Angels" on "Route 66" - Jan 19, 1962 - Nate Bledsoe in "Dead Man's Shoes" on "The Twilight Zone" - Feb 23, 1968 - Rojan in "By Any Other Name" on "Star Trek" - Dec 15, 1971 - Officer Art McCall in "The Dinosaur" on "Adam 12" -
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I find it incredibly rewarding to see an actor I know from Hollywood on a television program - sometimes an obscure actor that today's generation doesn't know about. I look at it as an opportunity to share my knowledge so that life plays out its complex role as a continuum, just as it should do. Joe Mantell (originally born without that second "l" in Brooklyn, due to his immigrant-Austrian parents), is one such actor. Mantell received an Academy Award nomination for the 1955 Best Picture, "Marty," for his portrayal of Angie, Marty's best friend. He's also responsible for the famous last line, "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown," and had a role in "The Birds." But Mantell lived to be 95 years old, and had a long and prolific career (although he was sort of typecast into one kind of character). The best article, by far, I've seen on Mantell is here: http://deadeyedelirium.blogspot.com/2010/10/joe-mantel-1915-2010.html (which I will fix as soon as I get a real computer) I've since seen Mantell in *five* episodes of shows that I've power-watched: All In The Family: "Archie The Babysitter" Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Guilty Witness" Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "The Indestructible Mr. Weems" The Twilight Zone: "Nervous Man in a Four-Dollar Room" The Twilight Zone: "Steel" Who was to know that Mantell would live *fifty* more years after his terrific performance in "Nervous Man in a Four-Dollar Room?" As the terrific blog post above says, Mantell was great in Marty, but he's also been great in everything else I've seen him in, and I've only seen probably 5% of his output.
