Category: Television

“I Thought Turkeys Could Fly”

WKRP in Cincinnati featured one of the great Thanksgiving specials of all time, “Turkeys Away,” which was the seventh episode of the series. The episode begins as a typical Thanksgiving episode with the radio station planning a Thanksgiving promotion of distributing free turkeys.

At the end, though, everything goes so terribly wrong. It features hilarious reporting by Les Nessman (Richard Sanders) and leads up the classic line by radio station manager Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump), “With God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”

For more on the story behind the episode, check out The Classic TV History Blog. Happy Thanksgiving.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Stephen Colbert Announces Final Date for “The Colbert Report”

    Colbert American Again

    This week on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert announced that his final episode of The Colbert Report will be December 18, 2014. During the episode, he snuck in the information while promoting the new paperback version of his book, America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t.

    Of course, fans will still get to see Stephen Colbert when he takes over for David Letterman. But there will be no more “Colbert” the character, at least not on a regular basis.

    Regarding Colbert’s new gig, David Letterman has yet to announce his final day on Late Show With David Letterman. So, we will have to wait for the announcement of when we will get to see Colbert nightly again.

    Will you miss The Colbert Report? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    “The Simpsons” Parody of Stanley Kubrick’s Films

    This week, The Simpsons ran its 25th “Treehouse of Horror” episode. One of the three segments in the show was “A Clockwork Yellow,” which spoofed films by director Stanley Kubrick. This clip includes references to A Clockwork Orange (1971), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Full Metal Jacket (1987), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and Barry Lyndon (1975). [2019 Update: Unfortunately the clip from “Treehouse of Horror XXV” is no longer available for embedding.]

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Gene Autry on “What’s My Line?”

    Gene Autry Show
    On September 29 in 1907, Orvon Grover Autry was born in north Texas, although he eventually would become better-known as the singing cowboy Gene Autry. Autry’s career spanned radio, television, movies, and records — including the 1934-1953 TV series The Gene Autry Show.

    Autry had a number of hit songs, including his biggest hit, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” But it was “Back in the Saddle Again” that became his signature song. Below, he sings the song in the 1941 movie Back in the Saddle.

    Those too young to remember Autry’s TV show may remember him as the founder and owner of the Angels baseball team from 1961-1997, which started out as the Los Angeles Angels and then became the California Angels, and now we call the team the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

    Back when his run on his TV show was ending, though, on October 4, 1953 he appeared on the TV show What’s My Line? where a blindfolded celebrity panel asked questions and tried to guess the name of the person in their presence. Using a heavily disguised voice, he manages to fool the panel . . . for awhile.

    Gene Autry rode off into the sunset for the final time on October 2, 1998.

    Photo of the Gene Autry Show via public domain. Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    And Then There Was One (Magician on AGT)

    AGT Magicians

    This week on America’s Got Talent, three magicians performed in the top twelve, but after America voted, only one magic man was left standing. The comedy-magic team of David and Leeman left everyone amazed with their giant lottery ticket trick, while Mike Super put Nick Cannon in a money machine and revealed a secret message he had given Howard Stern earlier in the week. But it was Mat Franco, featured in a previous Chimesfreedom post, who wowed America with his card tricks to advance to the finals.

    This season of America’s Got Talent found some excellent magicians, so it was sad to see it narrowed down to one. On the other hand, it is likely that having so many magicians split the vote for magic fans, making it harder for any of them to win with the other ones around. Franco should benefit from the elimination of the other two magic acts when he goes to the finals.

    Did America get it right? David and Leeman amazed everyone by using random numbers selected by the judges. (UPDATE:  Unfortunately, the videos are no longer available.)

    Mike Super gave a prominent role to Nick Cannon and some one-dollar bills to match a prediction made with cards and a special message he revealed with a (malfunctioning) small butane torch.

    Finally, Matt Franco incorporated several card tricks into his act, even involving the audience at home. The next night, he would learn that this performance was sending him to the finals while the other two magicians went home.

    Was Franco the best of the magicians? All three acts did a great job this week, although none of them probably had their best performance of the season. Franco’s act seemed a little small and scattered compared to the cell phone trick he did last time he appeared, so I suspect his prior work played a role in the vote. Looking just at the night, I liked David and Leeman’s act the best, but on overall strength through the season, the audience probably got it right in picking Franco if only one act could proceed to the finals.

    In the finals, Franco will have some tough competition, even though one of our favorite acts, Blue Journey, was sent home. The six remaining acts also include excellent singers like Emily West, Sons of Serendip, and the amazing 12-year-old Quintavious Johnson. So we will have to wait and see whether Franco can pull a million-dollar win out of his hat. (September 17, 2014 Update: He did. Mat Franco won this season’s America’s Got Talent competition.)

    Which magic act did you like best on this season’s America’s Got Talent? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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