Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #retrotelevision, aggregated by home.social.
Book showcases Australia’s retro television from Skippy to Hey Hey It’s Saturday
Ian Collis was a young boy in the late 1950s when his neighbours bought a television. Collis, the…
#NewsBeep #News #Entertainment #AU #Australia #goodnews #IanCollis #RetroTelevision #RetroTelevisionIanCollis #RetroTelevisionWhatweWatchedbackintheDay
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/845308/
1990s Zack (Cartoon/Channel branding): Vintage Airwaves Hit
Remember when Saturday-morning energy came in with a punch of neon and bigger-than-life characters? This Zack-branded spot leans hard into that ’90s TV magic—blue sets, bold logo glow, and a playful, toy-commercial vibe that makes you feel like you’re about to hear the theme song. If you grew up with those commercials, you’ve probably got the memory queued up already.
Nearly five decades after its premiere, Welcome Back, Kotter is still one of TV’s most beloved sitcoms.
The Sweathogs, John Travolta’s breakout as Vinnie Barbarino, Gabe Kaplan’s sharp wit, and John Sebastian’s chart-topping theme song all helped cement its place in pop culture history.
#WelcomeBackKotter #JohnTravolta #ClassicTV #1970sTV #RetroTelevision #SitcomHistory #TVAnniversary #PopCultureHistory #VintageTV #TelevisionNostalgia #ClassicSitcoms
Retro TV tip: “The Famous Five” (1978)
A few years ago I wrote about my decades-long love for Enid Blyton’s children’s book series The Famous Five. In that post I made a passing comment on the television adaptations, recommending them to English language learners as an additional learning resource they can use together with the books.
In this post I’m going to expand on that by presenting my favourite TV series based on Blyton’s adventure stories, namely the 1978-1979 version of The Famous Five, produced by Southern Television. If you’re unfamiliar with the title, let me first sum up The Famous Five for you:
The series follows the adventures of three siblings—Julian, Dick, and Anne—their cousin George, and her dog, Timmy. Each episode finds the fearless gang solving mysteries, often involving hidden treasure, smugglers, robbers and such. The adventures typically take place in picturesque coastal locations, showcasing the beauty of the British countryside. The series emphasizes teamwork, problem-solving, and the importance of loyalty and friendship.
There’s a number of reasons why I’m partial to this particular adaptation. Having been born in 1979, I love the late ‘70s aesthetics of the series, just as much as I love the even more retro setting of the original novels. From the music to the fashion… It all awakes a wonderful sense of nostalgia. So, for me there’s that added element of having a personal connection with the time period. It’s just very satisfying.
A common criticism when it comes to television adaptations is that they often deviate too much from the books they are based on. One could make that criticism in the case of The Famous Five: the episodes don’t follow the books in their chronological order; some episodes merge elements from different novels in the series; storylines tend to be simplified and many of the details present in the books are skipped over…
All that may be true, but if you haven’t read any of the books, you wouldn’t even know about it. Interestingly, the production ended after two successful seasons only after the Blyton estate expressly prohibited the writing of any new content outside what was already in the canonical 21 novels. Taking creative liberties was tolerated, but it was still imperative for the series to be an actual adaptation of the existing novels, rather than a whole new creation loosely based on them. And the way it was done was very clever and skillful, with the obvious intention to retain the spirit of Blyton’s writings. Another plus in my book!
However, the single biggest strength of the series are the cast: Marcus Harris as Julian, Gary Russell as Dick, Jennifer Thanisch as Anne, and Michele Gallagher playing George. (And Toddy in the role of Timmy the Dog, of course). I’ve found them all superb—and they are just as I would picture the book characters in my mind before I ever had the chance to see the series.
The Famous Five has been issued and reissued on DVDs multiple times during the 2000s, and depending on where you live, you might even be able to find the series on some of the streaming platforms (just don’t confuse it with the more recent adaptation released in the 1990s). If you don’t mind a somewhat subpar, VHS-like image quality, you can easily find all the episodes on YouTube. To save you some time, here are the links to all 26 episodes:
If you’ve never encountered The Famous Five books or this TV series, I hope you’ll feel encouraged to explore the wonderfully exciting world of Julian, Dick, Anne, George, and Timmy. I return to it from time to time, partly to relive my own childhood, but also to simply enjoy these timeless escapist stories, in all their retro glory.
ADDITIONAL LINKS
The Famous Five – theme and incidental music playlist
The Famous Five special cast reunion video
Eighty years of “The Famous Five”
NOTES
I’m a freelance language tutor (English, Latin, Classical Greek), researcher, and a literary scholar currently based in Belgrade, Serbia.
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#1970s #Britain #childhood #childrenSBooks #classicTelevision #England #EnidBlyton #nostalgia #retroTelevision #retrophile #television #TheFamousFive
Nostalgic Memories: The Miracle Of The Television Set Before Video
Cee Tee Jackson recently published an interesting post about Children’s television. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and left a comment about some of my memories of Children’s TV. You’ll have to read his post to find out the details.
The post inspired me to write about my memories of not just watching television but also of television sets. I’d love to hear about your memories of television, too.
How it all started!
My first memory of a television set was a black-and-white one with a 24-inch screen that my parents rented from the local electrical shop.
It was square-shaped with four legs that stuck out after being screwed on. On the set were a button for changing channels and two dials: one for sound and one for brightness.
It reminded me of a spaceship. I’d often ask my parents if I could ‘watch the spaceship’ rather than asking if I could watch television.
In those days, you had to ensure you were in front of the television when your favourite show was about to start. There were no video recorders, catch-up TV or streaming services. If you missed the show, you had to wait for it to be repeated (if you were lucky) or ask somebody who had watched it to explain what happened.
Back then, television sets had to ‘warm up’ after being switched on, and it could feel like an eternity for the picture and sound to come on, sometimes resulting in you missing the start of the show. Heaven forbid if the picture rolled and the aerial had to be adjusted.
I remember my grandparents having an even older television set than the one we had. Whereas my mother would call into the shop to pay the weekly rent, my grandparents had to put coins into a slot on the back of the television to get it working. Someone would come from the shop every week to empty the coin box. I always thought it was the biggest ‘money box’ I’d seen.
Our First Coloured Television Set
Many years later, I remember the excitement in our house when my father announced that we were getting a ‘coloured television.’ Most shows would be transmitted in colour, and a box was installed on the wall next to the TV to switch channels. It wasn’t quite a ‘remote control’ but was the first step towards not having to press anything on the set to change channels.
The change to a ‘coloured’ television set also meant I could watch shows like ‘Pot Black’ in colour. Pot Black was a weekly snooker show, first shown every Monday evening on BBC2. Now, my father and I could see all the different coloured snooker balls without guessing which one was about to be potted! It made all the difference.
https://youtu.be/4ri3utpSoRA?si=cnaDNxcFyBHvEXbx
Does anyone else remember that theme tune to the show?
Two of my favourite detective shows, which I remember watching with my father and which seemed much better in colour, were Charlie’s Angels and Cagney and Lacey.
Charlie’s Angels – Watched For Different Reasons!
I loved watching Charlie’s Angels, as did my father, although for different reasons. Whereas I was amazed by how three young women solved violent crimes without a hair going out of place, my father was more interested in Farrah Fawcett-Majors.
Before watching the following video, can you name the other two actresses who played alongside Farrah Fawcett-Majors?
https://youtu.be/Eri_0OgkaZM?si=6qS6Cy96YFr9RXsK
By this time, my parents had separated, so I didn’t mind that my father fancied Farrah. Little did he know that I was more interested in her husband, Lee Majors, who played Steve Austin in the TV show The Six Million Dollar Man, which was well ahead of its time in terms of artificial intelligence.
https://youtu.be/9pUaeLtXM_A?si=Y0wrG7kjUNL6cpzU
Cagney And Lacey – Why My Father Didn’t Understand!
My father was more concerned about my liking of Mary Beth Lacey, but for the wrong reasons. It wasn’t that I was into women who were old enough to be my mother (or so he thought); it was that I missed my mother a lot when my parents separated, and I saw Mary Beth Lacey more as a mother figure, somebody whom I wished was my mother.
https://youtu.be/OuwaA0BLKr4?si=iT0PRe13dEj01Ypn
As my love of television and television sets grew, it was no surprise that my second-ever full-time job was working as a salesperson in a television shop, selling and renting out televisions.
But change was on the way. I was there when the launch of the videotape recorder changed how we would gradually watch television shows.
Apologies if any of the videos did not play for you.
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#BlackAndWhite #DetectiveShows #LGBT #Memories #OldTelevisionShows #RetroTelevision #TelevisionSets #TelevisionShows #TV #WatchingTelevision
Received a spam voicemail from Scarlet Brady. This got me thinking about expanding the Brady Bunch universe a bit.
What would Scarlet's character be like?
(This is ethical because the voice was obviously computer generated)
#AI #bradybunch #retrotv #retrotelevision #70s #genx #spam #fandom
Five Red Herrings (1975), last and best of the superb BBC TV adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries starring Ian Carmichael (the definitive screen Lord Peter). Fine writing, great performances by the whole cast. Terrific.
My review: https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2016/01/lord-peter-wimsey-five-red-herrings-1975.html
#70stv #1970stv #DorothyLSayers #Lord Peter Wimsey #1970stelevision #70stelevision #IanCarmichael #retrotv #retrotelevision #culttv #culttelevision #vintagetv #vintagetelevision
Three 1964 episodes of my favourite US anthology series, The Outer Limits. The Invisible Enemy has sand sharks on Mars. It's OK. Wolf 359 is excellent -scientists create a miniature world. I, Robot is quite good - a robot is tried for murder.
My reviews: https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-outer-limits-three-season-2-episodes.html
#retrotv #retrotelevision #culttv #culttelevision #60stv #1960stv #classictv #classictelevision #vintagetv #vintagetelevision #scifi #scifitv #1960stelevision #60stelevision #OuterLimits
Rod Serling's The After Hours, still my all-time favourite episode of The Twilight Zone. Has that wonderful subtle sense of slowly increasing unease. Great performance by Anne Francis. I've seen it many times and I like it more each time.
My review: https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-twilight-zone-after-hours.html
#retrotv #retrotelevision #culttv #culttelevision #60stv #1960stv #classictv #classictelevision #vintagetv #vintagetelevision #scifi #scifitv #1960stelevision #80stelevision #RodSerling #TwilightZone #AnneFrancis
Voyagers! (1982) is a kids' sci-fi time travel series that plays fast and loose with history and is nothing more than a light-hearted adventure series. But it's lively and highly enjoyable.
My review: https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2020/08/voyagers-1982.html
#retrotv #retrotelevision #culttv #culttelevision #80stv #1980stv #classictv #classictelevision #vintagetv #vintagetelevision #scifi #scifitv #1980stelevision #80stelevision #timetravel
Stay Tuned is a Tara King episode of The Avengers, and it's a corker. Steed has a Groundhog Day experience (24 years before that film came out). Clever twisted story, with a fine fight scene between Linda Thorson and Kate O’Mara. TV bliss.
My review: https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-avengers-stay-tuned.html
#retrotv #retrotelevision #culttv #culttelevision #60stv #1960stv #classictv #classic television #theavengers #LindaThorson #TaraKing #vintagetv #vintagetelevision
M Squad was a 1957-60 NBC US TV cop series starring Lee Marvin. Action-packed, hard-edged, with a film noir vibe. It dives right into the seamy side of life. Marvin oozes charisma. He's like a pressure cooker about to blow. Superb TV.
My review: https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2020/02/m-squad-season-one-1957.html
#retrotv #retrotelevision #culttv #culttelevision #50stv #1950stv #classictv #classic television #LeeMarvin #copshow #copshows
The Green Hornet (1966-67) is a TV series which I personally much prefer to its contemporary Batman. Closer in feel to the original 40s serials. Hardboiled crime stories with some gadgets to add spice and just a touch of outrageous adventure.
My review: https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-green-hornet-1966-67.html
#retrotv #retrotelevision #vintageTV #vintagetelevision #culttv #culttelevision #60stv #60stelevision #1960stv #1960stelevision #greenhornet
Melissa is a 6-episode 1964 BBC mini-series, part of the Francis Durbridge Presents series. Typical Durbridge which means it's fun. A struggling novelist suspected of murder has to question everything he thought he knew about his life.
My review: https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2017/11/francis-durbridge-presents-melissa-1964.html
#culttv #culttelevision #retrotv #retrotelevision #vintagetv #vintagetelevision #60stv #1960stv #FrancisDurbridge
Uncle Silas, based on Sheridan le Fanu's novel, a 1968 episode of the UK Mystery and Imagination anthology TV series. Total gothic overload plus extraordinary delirious excessiveness. One of the most outrageous pieces of TV you will ever see.
My review: https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2015/09/mystery-and-imagination-uncle-silas-1968.html
#culttv #culttelevision #retrotv #vintagetv #retrotelevision #vintagetelevision #SheridanleFanu #JosephSheridanleFanu #gothichorror #gothic
#FAB Facts: #ThunderbirdTwo is Airworthy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzeS__6UDBc&ab_channel=GerryAnderson
#GerryAnderson #AndersonEntertainment #Thunderbirds #TB2 #Thunderbird2 #Television #BritishTV #BritishTelevision #SciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFiTV #Retro #RetroTV #RetroTelevision #GerryAndersonPodcast
The Making and Unmaking of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's #UFO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7x2dk37Ghg&ab_channel=Century21Films
#GerryAnderson #SylviaAnderson #SHADO #TV #Television #BritishTV #BritishTelevision #SciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFiTV #Retro #RetroTV #RetroTelevision #Aliens #AlienInvasion #Moonbase #Space1999 #MoonbaseAlpha
#UFO: #EdBishop's Opinion on the Series and the Mistakes it Made
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNN3rrkF-qc&ab_channel=GerryAnderson
#GerryAnderson #SHADO #TV #Television #BritishTV #BritishTelevision #SciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFiTV #Retro #RetroTV #RetroTelevision #GabrielleDrake #Aliens #AlienInvasion #Moonbase
#introduction #ttrpg
I'm interested in all aspects of new technology and science, even if it's something I don't quite grok yet and I'm an avid #Android user, constantly trying to find APKs to make life more accessible and enjoyable, but always as a way to make PDFs and online roleplaying more available for everyone. My other hobbies and areas of focus include #desktoppublishing #publicationlayout #fonts #typography #westerns #retrotelevision #scifi #fantasy #pulp #timeteam #mythbusters
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