News

Weeks after his passing on Sept. 29, Ron Ely’s cause of death has been revealed.

Per a death certificate obtained by TMZ, Ely, the actor best known for playing the title role in the Tarzan TV series, died from “end-stage heart disease.” He was 86.

More from TVLineTeri Garr, Star of Young Frankenstein, Tootsie and Mr. Mom, Dead at 79David Harris, The Warriors and NYPD Blue Actor, Dead at 75Jack Jones, Singer Behind The Love Boat Theme, Dead at 86

Ely was the storied man of the jungle in NBC’s Tarzan, which aired from for two seasons in the mid-1960s.

Chicago – At 12:30pm Central Time on November 22nd, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was killed by an assassin’s bullet. The shots that echoed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, has resonated now for 61 years, but beyond the actual event there was a treasure trove of TV and radio coverage that was recorded, and David Von Pein has collected it on YouTube.

Von Pein’s collection be found on his comprehensive YouTube channel. Click JFK Channel to start browsing. Since our 2021 interview, Von Pein has continued his dogged research into this fascinating recorded history, as it has been said that news coverage and the media changed forever that weekend between the assassination on November 22nd and Kennedy’s burial on November 25th.

Walter Cronkite Delivers the ‘News’ on November 22nd, 1963

Photo credit: CBS-tv

Not only has Von Pein found high quality as-it-happened video from the three major networks at the time – CBS-tv,...

Steffy made a mistake by firing Hope on The Bold and the Beautiful. She didn’t give Hope time to explain herself. But Steffy was convinced that Hope was hitting on her man. She willingly gave her the pink slip and axed Hope for the future. Jacqueline MacInnes Wood spoke out about the controversial firing. She revealed whether Steffy is having any second thoughts and teased what she feels about her father’s unexpected support.

Post-Firing Regret?

In her interview with Soaps.com, MacInnes Wood weighed in on the matter. She believes that Steffy thinks the situation “totally justifies the means.” Her character won’t have any regrets, even when she eventually learns that Hope (Annika Noelle) wasn’t waiting for Finn (Tanner Novlan) in sexy lingerie.

There will be a time when Steffy learns about Hope’s relationship with Carter (Lawrence-Saint Victor). She’ll finally put the pieces together...

The Young and the Restless spoilers for Tuesday, October 29 suggest the walls are closing in on Daniel, as Chance seems increasingly convinced that Daniel killed Heather, and Sharon remains determined to keep mum.

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

Sharon (Sharon Case) and Ghost Cameron (Linden Ashby) did such a good job framing Daniel for Heather’s (Vail Bloom) murder that Chance (Conner Floyd) thinks he knows whodunit. At the same time, Daniel admitted to Danny (Michael Damian) that he expects a knock on his door at any moment.

Daniel’s attempts to get Sharon to admit she knows more than she’s letting on have fallen on deaf ears. It seems that instead of a knock on the door, Daniel was intercepted at the Gcac just after Lucy (Lily Brooks O’Briant) departed.

More: See what happens this week on Y&r.

Familiar Faces

Nate (Sean Dominic) wasn’t sure...

Ron Ely, the hunky and handsome Texas native who portrayed the Lord of the Jungle on the first Tarzan series for television, has died, his daughter Kirsten told Fox News Digital. He was 86.

He died Sept. 29 at the home of one of his daughters near Santa Barbara, The New York Times reported.

Ely also hosted the Miss America pageant in 1980 and 1981, stepping in for longtime emcee Bert Parks, and presided over a syndicated game show called Face the Music around that time.

The 6-foot-4, blue-eyed Ely had appeared opposite Clint Walker in The Night of the Grizzly and with Ursula Andress in Once Before I Die in films released in 1966 when he was hired to don the loincloth in a new NBC series executive produced by Sy Weintraub.

Ely was offered the Tarzan gig after former NFL linebacker Mike Henry, who had played the Edgar Rice Burroughs creation in three ’60s films,...

Kathryn Crosby, who starred in such films as Operation Mad Ball, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Anatomy of a Murder before she curtailed her acting career as the wife of Hollywood legend Bing Crosby, has died. She was 90.

Crosby died peacefully at her home in Hillsborough, California, surrounded by her family, according to a family spokesperson.

Billed under her stage name, Kathryn Grant, the Houston native made five features for famed film noir director Phil Karlson, including Tight Spot (1955), The Phenix City Story (1955) and The Brothers Rico (1957).

She also played the younger sister of Martha Hyer’s character in another film noir, the Blake Edwards-directed Mister Cory (1957), starring Tony Curtis, and portrayed a budding trapeze artist in The Big Circus (1959), starring Victor Mature.

Soon after wrapping production in Spain with her turn as the damsel in distress Princess Parisa in the Ray Harryhausen fantasy The 7th Voyage of Sinbad...

August 9

Q: On this day exactly 50 years ago, August 9 1974, Richard Nixon became the first and only President to resign his office. Nixon also significantly brought Best Actor nominations to two actors who played him on screen. Who are they?

A: Anthony Hopkins was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for 1995’s Nixon. Frank Langella was nominated in the same category for 2008’s Frost/Nixon. Langella had previously won a Tony Award for the play on which that movie was based. Only one actor has ever won a Best Actor Oscar for playing a real life U.S. President. Daniel Day Lewis took his third Lead Actor Academy Award in 2012’s Lincoln. Raymond Massey was also previously nominated as Lincoln for Best Actor in 1940’s Abe Lincoln In Illinois. Nixon and Lincoln are the only real life U.S. Presidents to be responsible for multiple Oscar nominations for those who played them.

They can be goofy. They can be cool. They can be stern. They can be wise. In the 60 years since programs like “Father Knows Best” and “Leave It to Beaver” dominated the airwaves, television dads have changed some, but continue to bring us some of television’s funniest and most poignant moments.

Over the years, dads like Ward Cleaver (“Leave it to Beaver”), Mike Brady (“The Brady Bunch”) and Howard Cunningham (“Happy Days”) have dispensed sound advice and doled out stern but gentle discipline when needed. New dads such as Ricky Ricardo (“I Love Lucy”) and Jack Pearson (“This Is Us”) have shown the joy and wonderment of being a new parent, and the various dilemmas all parents face when raising young children. Andy Taylor (“The Andy Griffith Show”), Steve Douglas (“My Three Sons”) and Danny Tanner (“Full House’) are widowers trying to be both mother and father to their broods,...

Six decades or so ago, television was dominated by "wholesome" American family sitcoms, with shows like "Leave It to Beaver," "The Andy Griffith Show," and "Father Knows Best" serving as not only entertainment but as a model guide for viewers to emulate their own "perfect family." Assimilation was the key to an idyllic existence, but that doesn't make for an exciting TV lineup. Each network had its standard American family show, but in an attempt to motivate viewers not to touch that dial, they started diversifying what a family looked like.

No, that diversity did not come in the form of families of non-white races ("Good Times" wouldn't launch until 1974), but it did come with magical beings like "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Bewitched," or monstrously weird like "The Addams Family" and "The Munsters." Both "The Addams Family" and "The Munsters" are so beloved that the shows have been reimagined...

In the "Star Trek" episode "Metamorphosis", guest character Commissioner Nancy Hedford (Elinor Donahue) is taking a break from a vital diplomatic mission to be treated for a rare and potentially fatal condition on board the Enterprise. Her shuttle is attacked, however, by a mysterious energy blob, causing it to crash on a nearby — and presumably uninhabited — planet. Inexplicably, Hedford, Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) are greeted by a man named Zefram Cochrane (Glenn Corbett), the inventor of warp engines who had disappeared a century earlier. By "Star Trek" lore, Zefram Cochrane flew out into space as a very old man and never returned.

This Cochran, however, is young and vibrant here. It seems that the blob of energy — a blob Cochrane calls the Companion — is alive and lives on this world. The being is powerful enough to keep Cochrane young, and has kind...

"What state is Springfield in?" is a question almost every "The Simpsons" fan has asked, desperate to bring the characters a bit closer to reality. It's also a question with no answer (unlike the recently-answered question of how Homer Simpson keeps his job).

The book "The Springfield Confidential" -- an inside look at "The Simpsons" by former showrunner Mike Reiss (with help from Mathew Klickstein) -- explains the origin of Springfield's name. Creator Matt Groening chose it because it was such a common and generic name for American towns. Springfield was also the name of the town in the 1950s sitcom "Father Knows Best," which likewise treated its setting as "Anytown, USA." 

"I was thrilled because I imagined that [Springfield in 'Father Knows Best'] was the town next to Portland, [Oregon], my hometown. When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name," Groening recounted. 

Aside from Oregon, here are some other notable Springfields in the United States.

Anne Whitfield, who appeared in the beloved holiday classic White Christmas and on dozens of TV shows, from Father Knows Best, 77 Sunset Strip and Perry Mason to That Girl, Ironside and Emergency!, has died. She was 85.

Whitfield died Feb. 7 at a hospital in Yakima, Washington, after suffering an “unexpected accident” while on a walk in her neighborhood, family members announced.

“She was a powerhouse in life, and we hope her immense positive energy flows out to those who had the pleasure of knowing her,” they wrote.

Whitfield was 15 and had done lots of acting on the radio when she was cast as Susan Waverly, the granddaughter of Dean Jagger’s Major Gen. Thomas F. Waverly — “The Old Man” — in the Michael Curtiz-directed Paramount musical White Christmas (1954). The film starred Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

She got to watch White Christmas with her family on the...

Before he started filling up the nation's drug store book racks with tawdry tales of romance and suspense, Sidney Sheldon was one of Hollywood and Broadway's most prolific writers. He could write comedies, musicals, musical-comedies, mysteries, dramas, thrillers ... just about everything short of slasher flicks (though he probably would've knocked out one of those had they been a thing during his 1940s - '60s heyday). Clearly, he had an ear for what worked, and he wasn't just knocking out quickie programmers. He won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for the Cary Grant-Myrna Loy-Shirley Temple screwball hit "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer," and earned a Best Musical Tony for the Gwen Verdon-led Broadway smash "Redhead."

And when television came calling, rather than turn up his nose as many of his established film and theater colleagues did during the medium's early days, he enthusiastically picked up the phone.

Sheldon...

In “Pushing Hands”, the first entry into his what would later be known as “Father Knows Best”-Trilogy, director Ang Lee had already explored the clash of Western and Eastern ideals. In this case, the main character, played by Lung Sihung (who plays the part of a father in every entry of the trilogy) has been living for quite some time in the US, without making any effort in trying to fit in, while at the same time attempting to preserve his Confucian views on life, character and the world in general. Since he had already finished the script for “The Wedding Banquet”, the second feature within the trilogy, this would be Lee's next project and the first one to be also released theatrically in the United States. This time, however, he would show a main character convinced he had evaded the traditions of his parents, until he can no longer hide from them.

After two short features, Taiwanese-born director Ang Lee made “Pushing Hands”, which not only marked the beginning of what would later be known as the “Father Knows Best”-trilogy, but also the foundation of what would define him as a filmmaker. It is also the first collaboration with esteemed actor Sihung Lung, who would revisit the role of the family father in “The Wedding Banquet” and “Eat Drink Man Woman”, as well as work with Lee on his “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. “Pushing Hands” refers to a tai chi-routine Lung's character goes through every morning and teaches to his students, which is supposed to be a defense against brute force, which you can see in some scenes in the movie. At the same time, we are introduced to what would be Lee's career-defining themes, most importantly the conflict of tradition and modernity as well as the differences between cultures, in...

Chicago – At 12:30pm Central Time on November 22nd, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was killed by an assassin’s bullet. The shots that echoed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, has resonated now for 60 years, but beyond the actual event there was a treasure trove of TV and radio coverage that was recorded.

David Von Pein (Dvp) has collected this coverage and it can be found on his comprehensive YouTube channel. Click JFK Channel to start browsing. November 2023 Update: Since our 2021 interview, Dvp has uncovered some 11/23 & 11/24/63 radio coverage from (click link) Fort Wayne, Indiana and 11/22/63 TV coverage from ITV United Kingdom.

Walter Cronkite Delivers the ‘News’ on November 22nd, 1963

Photo credit: CBS-tv

Not only has David Von Pein found high quality as-it-happened video from the three major networks at the time – CBS-tv, NBC-tv and ABC-tv – but the channel also contains the local Dallas coverage (TV and radio) and a collection...

Although it took five seasons for it to garner any Emmys attention at all, Pop TV’s “Schitt’s Creek” ended up earning enough TV academy support in its sixth and final year to merit wins in all seven of their major comedy series categories at once. Prior to its accomplishment of this feat in 2020, eight other sitcoms had endeavored to concurrently win the series, directing, writing, actor, actress, supporting actor, and supporting actress awards but were each hindered by at least one loss. Scroll through our photo gallery to learn more about all 17 attempted sweeps of the major comedy Emmy categories.

The first series of any kind to simultaneously receive nominations for all seven main Primetime Emmys was “Father Knows Best” in 1959. One year earlier, it had an unprecedented chance to sweep just the top five comedy categories (minus the supporting acting ones) but only finished with a pair of lead performance wins.

Although it took five seasons for it to garner any Emmys attention at all, Pop TV’s “Schitt’s Creek” ended up earning enough TV academy support in its sixth and final year to merit wins in all seven of the major comedy series categories at once. Prior to its accomplishment of this feat in 2020, eight other sitcoms had endeavored to concurrently win the series, directing, writing, actor, actress, supporting actor, and supporting actress awards but were each hindered by at least one loss. Scroll through our photo gallery to learn more about all 17 attempted sweeps of the major comedy Emmy categories.

The first series of any kind to simultaneously receive nominations for all seven main Primetime Emmys was “Father Knows Best” in 1959. One year earlier, it had an unprecedented chance to sweep just the top five comedy categories (minus the supporting acting ones) but only finished with a pair of lead performance wins.

It’s no secret that Christina Applegate is suffering these days. Her multiple sclerosis symptoms make everything difficult. As she told Vanity Fair in May, “With the disease of Ms, it’s never a good day. You just have little shitty days. People are like, ‘Well, why don’t you take more showers?’ Well, because getting in the shower is frightening. You can fall, you can slip, your legs can buckle. Especially because I have a glass shower. It’s frightening to me to get in there. There are just certain things that people take for granted in their lives that I took for granted. Going down the stairs, carrying things—you can’t do that anymore. It f-ing sucks. I can still drive my car short distances. I can bring up food to my kid. Up, never down.”

She continued, “Yeah, and gravity can just pull you down and take everything down with you.

History repeated itself last week when actors went on strike at the same time as writers, who have been picketing for more than two months. This is only the second time in the history of the industry that both guilds have halted work simultaneously, with advancements in technology at the root of their cause, and it’s been 63 year since that event shook Hollywood. Today, writers and performers are fighting for their fair share of residuals in a world that has now largely turned to streaming services, and to protect their work from being taken over by AI, whereas in 1960, they were fighting for residuals from reruns and theatrical films being shown on a relatively new medium — television. Let’s turn back time and flashback to life during that history-making time of the 1960 strikes.

The WGA began their strike on January 16, 1960, followed by the actors strike on March 7. Future United...

In 1960, the crumbling infrastructure of the Hollywood studio system was shaken by a one-two strike launched by two essential branches of its workforce — the writers and the actors. Since neither job was yet considered on the cusp of obsolescence, management was forced to negotiate with labor and reach an accommodation. Both sides had incentives to make a deal that shared the wealth and kept the shop floor running. In the end — and this might be the sad difference between 1960 and 2023 — they saw each other as collaborators rather than mortal enemies.

The reason for the “double strike” by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild was, of course, television, the technological menace that had transformed the business but not the fine print in the employment contracts. Both sets of artists wanted a bigger cut of the post-1948 feature films that had been sold to TV and a solid...

The fifth and final season of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” is upon us. The hit comedy series follows Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam “Midge” Maisel in 1950s/60s New York who, after her husband leaves her, embarks on a career in stand-up comedy. Along the way, she meets an array of supporting players including Alex Borstein‘s Susie Myerson, who runs The Gaslight Café, where Midge first starts her stand-up career. She also contends with her ex-husband (Michael Zegen), who has dreams of his own, and her parents, played by Marin Hinkle and Tony Shalhoub.

Brosnahan has earned rave reviews for her bravura performance in the final episodes of the series. Such critical acclaim, combined with affection for the show, could boost her chances with the TV academy. Among those critics singing her praises:

Peter Travers (“Good Morning America”): “In the closing episode, entitled ‘Four Minutes’ in reference to the brief,...

The wrecking ball is set to fall on several historic TV homes, including the one used in both ’60s sitcom “Bewitched” and ’70s musical series “The Partridge Family,” and the retro location for Marvel’s “WandaVision,” TheWrap has confirmed.

According to a Warner Bros. Ranch source who spoke with TheWrap, the demolition is slated for an unspecified point this summer.

Warner Bros. took over the property from Columbia Pictures in 1990. Among the many movies shows that have filmed on the street are “American Beauty,” “Lethal Weapon,” “Christmas “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Pleasantville,” while TV shows include”Father Knows Best,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” “Eight is Enough,” “The Middle,” “Young Sheldon” and “Animal Kingdom,” according to IMDb.

The homes on the tree-lined, time-capsule street, along with the neighboring park, swimming pool and brownstone facades, will be leveled and paved to make way for 16 new soundstages, offices and parking. Warner Bros. sold the...

For many decades, the “Big Three” networks dominated American television, bringing laughter, drama, breaking news and real-life events into our homes. NBC, CBS and ABC have broadcast thousands of fictional programs, sporting events, talk shows and news programs for nearly a century, with roots in radio. Television programming began in the 1940s, with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) leading the way, establishing several firsts for the medium, and becoming home to some of the longest-running programs in the history of the small screen.

But which 30 primetime and late night scripted series are the absolute best? We rank our favorites in the photo gallery above based on quality, quantity (number of seasons/episodes), impact on society and other shows, plus Emmy Awards nominations/wins. Each show on our list has some combo of at least a few of those traits (some have all four!).

In 1948, Milton Berle began hosting “Texaco Star Theatre,...

For many decades, the “Big Three” networks dominated American television, bringing laughter, drama, breaking news and real-life events into our homes. NBC, CBS and ABC have broadcast thousands of fictional programs, sporting events, talk shows and news programs for nearly a century, with roots in radio. Television programming began in the 1940s, with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) leading the way, establishing several firsts for the medium, and becoming home to some of the longest-running programs in the history of the small screen.

But which 30 primetime and late night scripted series are the absolute best? We rank our favorites based on quality, quantity (number of seasons/episodes), impact on society and other shows, plus Emmy Awards nominations/wins. Each show on our list has some combo of at least a few of those traits (some have all four!).

In 1948, Milton Berle began hosting “Texaco Star Theatre,” and ruled Tuesday night television for several years,...

Welcome To Our Weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big new singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. This week Miley Cyrus returns with her highly anticipated eighth album, Becky G joins forces with Omega, Lil Keed’s posthumous release, and Tame Impala soundtrack an upcoming Dungeons and Dragons adaptation.

Miley Cyrus, “Jaded” (YouTube)

McKinley Dixon, “Run, Run, Run” (YouTube)

Myke Towers, “Aguardiente” (YouTube)

Twice, “Set Me Free” (YouTube)

Roísín Murphy & DJ Koze, “CooCool” (YouTube)

Lil Keed, “Self Employed” (YouTube)

Lola Brooke, “So Disrespectful” (YouTube)

Spencer Sutherland,...

Ted Donaldson, who starred as Bud Anderson on the original radio version of Father Knows Best and as Neely Nolan in the beloved family drama A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the first feature directed by Elia Kazan, has died. He was 89.

Donaldson died Wednesday of complications from a fall in his Echo Park apartment in January, his friend Thomas Bruno told The Hollywood Reporter.

In his big-screen debut, Donaldson portrayed a boy who gets his pet caterpillar Curly to dance when he plays “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby” on the harmonica in the comedy fantasy Once Upon a Time (1944), starring Cary Grant and Janet Blair.

He also starred as Danny Mitchell in eight B-movies from Columbia Pictures that revolved around a German shepherd named Rusty. The first one, Adventures of Rusty (1945), featured Ace the Wonder Dog.

An only child, Donaldson was born in Brooklyn on Aug. 20, 1933. His father was...

Image Source: Courtesy of Maarten de Boer and Peacock

In our Q&a series Last Call, we get down to the bottom of every last thing with some of our favorite celebs - from the last time they were starstruck to the last song they listened to. This week, "Bel-Air" star Akira Akbar takes our call.

Like the rest of her "Bel-Air" costars, Akira Akbar is basking in the astronomical success of her hit Peacock series. The 16-year-old stars as the new age Ashley Banks in the nostalgic, dramatized reimagining of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," which kicked off its highly anticipated second season on Feb. 23. Being a part of "Bel-Air" has been a whirlwind experience for Akbar, and though she notes it hasn't completely changed her life, she tells Popsugar it has "opened up a lot more opportunities for me."

Prior to "Bel-Air," Akbar had small roles in a...

Since “NBC News Daily” launched three months ago, it has earned the title of the highest-rated new show in weekday daytime in terms of total viewers across broadcast, cable, and syndicated – a success co-hosts Morgan Radford and Vicky Nguyen attribute to telling stories that become dinnertime conversations.

“As a working journalist, odds are the people who are watching this also have similar questions, and we can help them,” Nguyen told TheWrap. “We can help them manage their money, we can help them with parenting techniques, we can help them talk about mental health issues in their family. I love the fact that our show brings complex topics to the table, and helps people break them down and make sense of their world.”

Launched in September, “NBC News Daily” balances consumer stories, politics coverage and breaking news as it appears on NBC broadcast stations as well as streams on NBC News Now,...

With her Best Comedy Actress Emmy nomination for “Insecure” this year, Issa Rae has become only the third Black woman to be recognized in the category three times. This precedent was established by Isabel Sanford (“The Jeffersons”) in 1981 and then matched by Tracee Ellis Ross (“Black-ish”) in 2018. Ross’s third outing aligned with Rae’s first, making them the third pair of Black women to appear in the same comedy lead lineup after Sanford and Nell Carter and Sanford and Phylicia Rashad. Since “Insecure” wrapped its last season in December, Rae now has one more chance to nab an Emmy for playing Issa Dee.

Rae’s episode submission is “Reunited, Okay?!,” the fifth and final season premiere. Set against the backdrop of Issa’s 10-year college reunion, it follows her as she prepares for and participates in an alumni panel discussion while also struggling to navigate her strained relationship with her best friend,...

Two decades into his prolific film acting career, Robert Young took on the role of insurance salesman and married father of three Jim Anderson on the NBC radio program “Father Knows Best.” The show transitioned to television five years later and, despite two cancellations along the way, lasted for half a dozen seasons and won as many Primetime Emmy awards. One-third of the victories were Young’s and gave him the distinction of being the first man to win multiple lead acting trophies.

Nine years after the end of his run as a sitcom patriarch, Young began his seven-season tenure as the titular family practitioner on “Marcus Welby, M.D.” His dramatic performance brought him a third Emmy win in 1970 and two subsequent nominations, the last of which made the 65-year-old the oldest competitor for the Best Drama Actor prize up to that point. Half a century later, he has...

Two decades into his prolific film acting career, Robert Young took on the role of insurance salesman and married father of three Jim Anderson on the NBC radio program “Father Knows Best.” The show transitioned to television five years later and, despite two cancellations along the way, lasted for half a dozen seasons and won as many Primetime Emmy awards. One-third of the victories were Young’s and gave him the distinction of being the first man to win multiple lead acting trophies.

Nine years after the end of his run as a sitcom patriarch, Young began his seven-season tenure as the titular family practitioner on “Marcus Welby, M.D.” His dramatic performance brought him a third Emmy win in 1970 and two subsequent nominations, the last of which made the 65-year-old the oldest competitor for the Best Drama Actor prize up to that point. Half a century later, he has...

Here are a few bits of trivia about the beloved family sitcom “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” It ran 14 seasons from 1952-66, a record until Fxx’s “It Always Sunny in Philadelphia” kicked off its 15th season last year. But “Philadelphia” has only aired 162 episodes compared to a whopping 435 for “Ozzie and Harriet.”

Despite the fact it aired 14 years, the series only cracked the top 30 in its 11th season where it came in 29th place. The exterior shots were actually of the Nelsons’ real home at 1822 Camino Palmero Street in L.A. (it recently sold for 5.9 million) and the interiors were recreations of their own home. Though the TV Ozzie didn’t seem to have a job, the real-life Ozzie starred, produced, co-wrote and directed “Ozzie and Harriet.”

Topics were far from controversial. There was a whole episode revolving around the fact that a local store delivered new chairs that they hadn’t ordered.

They can be goofy. They can be cool. They can be stern. They can be wise. In the 60 years since programs like “Father Knows Best” and “Leave It to Beaver” dominated the airwaves, television dads have changed some, but continue to bring us some of television’s funniest and most poignant moments.

See‘The Brady Bunch’: 25 greatest episodes ranked worst to best

Over the years, dads like Ward Cleaver (“Leave it to Beaver”), Mike Brady (“The Brady Bunch”) and Howard Cunningham (“Happy Days”) have dispensed sound advice and doled out stern but gentle discipline when needed. New dads such as Ricky Ricardo (“I Love Lucy”) and Jack Pearson (“This Is Us”) have shown the joy and wonderment of being a new parent, and the various dilemmas all parents face when raising young children. Andy Taylor (“The Andy Griffith Show”), Steve Douglas (“My Three Sons”) and Danny Tanner (“Full House...

Sitcom families have been a staple of television since the dawn of that medium, and many shared generational memories come from these series.

From the idyllic 1950s families like the Andersons (“Father Knows Best”) and the Cleavers (“Leave It to Beaver”), to the groovy 1970s families like the Bradys (“The Brady Bunch”) and the Evanses (“Good Times”), to the slightly more realistic families of the 1980s like the Seavers (“Growing Pains”) and the Keatons (“Family Ties”), these clans have the power to take us back to our own childhoods, gathering around the set as a family after dinner, tuning in to see the latest antics of the Beaver, J.J. Evans or Alex P. Keaton.

SEE25 best TV drama families ever, ranked

There have also been some edgier families, with the Bunkers from “All in the Family” ushering in the 1970s with a loudmouthed but oddly lovable bigot as the patriarch,...

Sitcom families have been a staple of television since the dawn of that medium, and many shared generational memories come from these series.

From the idyllic 1950s families like the Andersons (“Father Knows Best”) and the Cleavers (“Leave It to Beaver”), to the groovy 1970s families like the Bradys (“The Brady Bunch”) and the Evanses (“Good Times”), to the slightly more realistic families of the 1980s like the Seavers (“Growing Pains”) and the Keatons (“Family Ties”), these clans have the power to take us back to our own childhoods, gathering around the set as a family after dinner, tuning in to see the latest antics of the Beaver, J.J. Evans or Alex P. Keaton.

There have also been some edgier families, with the Bunkers from “All in the Family” ushering in the 1970s with a loudmouthed but oddly lovable bigot as the patriarch, the Bundys from “Married . . . with Children” breaking...

All week long, “American Idol” fans have been voting in our poll that asked whether Noah Thompson deserved to win Season 20. Their answer is overwhelmingly “yes,” with 50.41 saying the soft-spoken 22-year-old country singer from Kentucky deserved his spot on the show’s winners list. As for the other finalists, 31.05 of viewers thought HunterGirl should have prevailed, while 18.54 of fans believed Leah Marlene was the rightful champion. Do you agree or disagree with those poll results? Sound off down in the comments section.

Noah Thompson is now the 13th male to win “American Idol” after Season 2’s Ruben Studdard, Season 5’s Taylor Hicks, Season 7’s David Cook, Season 8’s Kris Allen, Season 9’s Lee DeWyze, Season 10’s Scotty McCreery, Season 11’s Phillip Phillips, Season 13’s Caleb Johnson, Season 14’s Nick Fradiani, Season 15’s Trent Harmon, Season 17’s Laine Hardy and Season 19’s Chayce Beckham.

The seven females to claim victory are Season 1’s Kelly Clarkson,...

The star and Danish director previously worked together on Oscar-nominated ’A Royal Affair’.

A Royal Affair director Nikolaj Arcel is to reunite with star Mads Mikkelsen on period drama King’s Land, on which TrustNordisk has boarded international sales.

The project marks Arcel’s first Danish film for nearly a decade and will be produced by Zentropa, which also made A Royal Affair that sold to 80 countries, won two prizes at the Berlinale in 2012 and went on to be Oscar nominated.

The project was announced today in Cannes and has already pre-sold to Germany (Koch Films), France (The Jokers Films...

The star and Danish director previously worked together on Oscar-nominated ’A Royal Affair’.

A Royal Affair director Nikolaj Arcel is to reunite with star Mads Mikkelsen on period drama King’s Land, on which TrustNordisk has boarded international sales.

The project marks Arcel’s first Danish film for nearly a decade and will be produced by Zentropa, which also made A Royal Affair that sold to 80 countries, won two prizes at the Berlinale in 2012 and went on to be Oscar nominated.

The project was announced today in Cannes and has already pre-sold to Germany (Koch Films), France (The Jokers Films...

Italian filmmaker’s second film has an ensemble cast that includes Alba Rohrwacher and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.

Leading German sales agent The Match Factory has acquired international rights to Ginevra Elkann’s upcoming Italian drama I Told You So.

It marks the second feature to be directed by the London-born Italian filmmaker after If Only (Magari), which opened Locarno Film Festival in 2019.

I Told You So, which has the Italian title Te l’avevo detto, is described as “a turbulent mosaic of intertwined stories amidst the inescapable Italian heat”, with an ensemble cast that includes Marisa Borini, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi,...

Spoiler Alert: The following reveals the winner of Season 20 of American Idol.

It’s been a long and difficult journey for the American Idol Season 20 competitors but only one can take home top honors. But first, the ABC series took the season out on a high note with a variety of performances from top talent in collaboration with contestants.

They included:

Flo Rida + Top 10 Contestants – “Good Feeling”

Earth, Wind & Fire + Jay Copeland – “Shining Star,” “Let’s Groove,” “September” Medley

Deana Carter + Mike Parker – “Strawberry Wine”

Ben Platt + Lady K – “Take Me To The Pilot”

Gabby Barrett + Emyrson Flora – “Pick Me Up,” “The Good Ones” Medley

Tai Verdes + Mike Parker, Emyrson Flora, Jay Copeland, Lady K, Christian – “A-o-K”

Sara Bareilles + Nicolina Bozzo – “She Used To Be Mine”

Katy Perry + Thomas Rhett – “Where We Started”

James Arthur + Fritz Hager – “Can I Be Him”

Michael Bublé + Christian Guardino – “Smile”

Melissa Etheridge + Noah Thompson...

American Idol’s top-three contestants — Tennessee’s HunterGirl (Hunter Wolkonowski), Kentucky’s Noah Thompson and Leah Marlene of Illinois — will journey to “Idol” glory including a rest stop on the New Jersey turnpike. The top three will take on the music of Bruce Springsteen for the three-hour finale on Sunday at 8 p.m. Et/5 p.m. Pt on ABC.

For the finale, the top three will also join judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie for duets following the ceremonial airing of the “Hometown” episode.

In a video released Thursday, Perry surprised Marlene by revealing she and Marlene will join together for a song she only reserves for “inaugural occasions”: “Firework.” Kerry was touched by an old video of the then-9-year old “Idol” contestant performing the song and will be joining her for the special finale duet.

HunterGirl will pair with Bryan for “I Told You So,...

In the 1950s and early 1960s, American family sitcoms were all the rage. Shows like "Leave it to Beaver," "Father Knows Best," "Life with Blondie," and "The Andy Griffith Show" were wholesome looks at the idyllic, assimilated, white ways of American living, and dominated small screens across the country. Knowing that the cable stations couldn't survive off one type of family sitcom, writers started getting a little more creative. "Bewitched" took the typical formula of a married couple and incorporated the magic of witchcraft, as did the popular "I Dream of Jeannie." When it came time to revamp the family sitcom, creatives started tackling different worlds than that...

The post Why The Munsters Are So Beloved appeared first on /Film.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSSian Heder's Coda took home the Best Picture award at the 94th Academy Awards, Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car took Best International Feature, and Jane Campion won Best Director for The Power of the Dog. Find more of this year's Oscars winners here. We're saddened by the loss of Japanese filmmaker Shinji Aoyama, who recently died at the age of 57. Most revered for his 2000 film Eureka, about a trio who embark on a road trip after surviving a bus hijacking, Aoyama continued his humanist exploration of violence, family, and generation gaps in films like Desert Moon (2001) and Sad Vacation (2007), the loose sequel to Eureka. He was also a prolific novelist and critic, with his novelization of Eureka awarded the Yukio Mishima prize in 2001. Il Cinema Ritrovato has announced the programs of this year's festivities,...

Long before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, and his era of big-budget Hollywood spectacles, Ang Lee made his debut feature with the 1991 drama Pushing Hands. Co-written by James Schamus, whom Lee would go on to work with throughout his career, the film was a selection at the 1992 Berlin International Film Festival and won three Golden Horse Awards. It’s now undergone a 2K restoration and will be getting a theatrical release starting on April 1 courtesy of Film Movement. Ahead of the run, we’re pleased to debut the exclusive trailer.

Marking Lee’s first chapter of his “Father Knows Best” trilogy––followed by his subsequent dramas The Wedding Banquet (1993), and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)––the film follows an elderly tai chi master Mr. Chu (Sihung Lung) from Beijing who struggles to adjust to life in New York, living with his Americanized son Alex (Ye-tong Wang). Chu immediately butts heads with his put-upon white daughter-in-law,...

Chicago – At 12:30pm Central Time on November 22nd, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was killed by an assassin’s bullet. The three shots that echoed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, has resonated for years, but beyond the actual event there was a treasure trove of TV and radio coverage that was recorded.

David Von Pein has collected this coverage and it can be found on his comprehensive YouTube channel. Click JFK Channel to start browsing.

Not only has David Von Pein found high quality as-it-happened video from the three major networks at the time – CBS-tv, NBC-tv and ABC-tv – but the channel also contains the local Dallas coverage (TV and radio) and a collection of radio coverage from different markets, special programming and post assassination coverage … including the killing of JFK alleged assassin (Lee Harvey Oswald), and JFK’s funeral. The depth, breadth and dive into this media is a revealing time machine,...

This is an excerpt from Melissa Anderson’s Inland Empire, available to order from Fireflies Press.Like the Avenging Angel – the Nikki/Susan avatar who delivers a long soliloquy teeming with tales of imperilment – I often don’t know what was before or after in Inland Empire no matter how many times I’ve watched it. Recursive episodes proliferate in the film. At least three times Nikki/Susan dissociates, looking at another version of herself from another vantage point. At one point the Avenging Angel enters an empty movie palace, here a de facto hall of mirrors: she sees herself onscreen saying, ‘Watchin’ it, like in a dark theatre.’ That nearly vacant cinema instantly recalls Mulholland Drive’s Club Silencio, the mystical cabaret that Betty and Rita, desire-drunk after having sex, cab to in the middle of the night – and where their love story, if not their very identities, begins to unravel.

Sonia Manzano played Maria on “Sesame Street” for over 40 years, becoming a household name in the U.S. and a trailblazing Latina in the burgeoning public television landscape. Now, Manzano is trading Muppets for the mofongo-loving Alma Rivera, a six-year-old animated Puerto Rican girl of her own invention (and heavily based on her own experience), who lives in the Bronx with her parents, brother and a host of colorful neighbors.

“Alma’s Way” engages directly with viewers as its optimistic and confident protagonist works through challenges and spends time with her diverse friend group, showcasing various aspects of Latin culture, food and music along each episode’s 11-minute trajectory. Co-executive produced by Manzano and Ellen Doherty, chief creative officer of Fred Rogers Productions, and animated by Pipeline Studios, the series hopes to teach children social awareness through the characters’ modeling of empathetic decision-making processes and “Think-Through” moments.

Ahead of the series debut of “Almas Way,...

History was made in a monumental way with the announcement of the 2021 Primetime Emmy nominations as Mj Rodriguez (“Pose”) became the first trans lead acting nominee. This year also marks the first instance of three Black women being included in the same Best Drama Actress lineup, as Rodriguez is up against Uzo Aduba (“In Treatment”) and Jurnee Smollett (“Lovecraft Country”). Any of them would be only the third Black winner of this award, and a victory by Rodriguez or Smollett would be even more distinctive in that either of them would be the first actress in a quarter century to snag this award for a final season.

“Pose” wrapped its three-season run in June with a proper two-part finale, while “Lovecraft Country” was unexpectedly cancelled in July after having aired its inaugural season’s last episode nine months earlier. While female stars of drama series have been nominated for final...

Three years after taking home the Best Drama Actor Emmy for “The Americans,” Matthew Rhys is back in the game with “Perry Mason.” The star wouldn’t be the first person to win an Emmy for playing Perry Mason — Raymond Burr snagged two statuettes for the Og series — but a victory for the HBO reboot would give Rhys some unique distinction in Emmy history: He would be the first person to win the category multiple times for playing different characters on different dramas.

Both of those qualifiers are important because there are some special cases here. James Spader is a three-time champ for two different dramas, but he played the same character, Alan Shore, on both “The Practice” and its spin-off “Boston Legal.” He won for “The Practice” in 2004 and immediately defended his crown the following year with “Boston Legal,” so it was obvious voters couldn’t get enough of...