Rate The Last TV Show Episode You Watched

[Eric Paddon]

BUZZR breaks out a game show unseen in 42 years with the 1973-78 daily syndicated version of "Concentration" hosted by Jack Narz. Unlike the later "Classic Concentration" hosted by Alex Trebek (1987-91) the 70s "Concentration" is closer in style and format to the original NBC daytime version that ran from 1958-73 hosted by Hugh Downs for a decade (Bob Clayton the final four years). The puzzle board is the old style electric box version that makes the tell-tale noise as the pieces turn around and then back. 30 piece board compared the 80s 25 piece one. The contestants still dress more conservatively and formally (even with the 1970s styles) It is definitely much more "old school" and has as host, and old school veteran in Narz, who had started doing game shows in the 1950s (including "Dotto", which was the first game show exposed in the rigging scandals, though Jack was not aware of what was going on). Narz's younger brother Jim also became a game show host, but in order to avoid confusion with his brother, changed his professional name to Tom Kennedy, and went on to even greater success as a host.

Of all the shows produced by Goodson-Todman in the 1970s, there have been only five that have never been rerun, and four of them due to erased tapes, the ABC version of "Password" (1971-75), "Showoffs" (ABC, 1975, an early charades style forerunner to the 80s show "Body Language"), "The Better Sex" (ABC, 1977-78) and "Mindreaders" (NBC-1979, hosted by Dick Martin). "Concentration" has always been intact but because the format was leased from NBC, NBC had to give permission for reruns of this and the Trebek version and they refused to do so in the heyday of GSN in the late 90s. I honestly *never* thought this version would see the light of day again but for the handful of episodes on the trade circuit but give credit to BUZZR for taking advantage of the new deal that lets them air the Trebek version to also at long last go back to this vintage gem from the very distant 1970s. I'll be recording this every night to add to my collection of nearly 10,000 vintage game show episodes!

[AndyDursin]

What time is that airing? I have no Buzzr affiliates available here but I can tune in on Pluto TV to see their live feed.

Speaking of that Shout is supposed to be starting up a Johnny Carson streaming channel next month on that end of the free internet TV spectrum.

[Eric Paddon]

7:30 PM Eastern every night. There are weekend repeats of the Monday/Tuesday shows. Like all syndicated shows, each one is self-contained (two games per show) so there's no "straddle" play from one day to next (and no returning contestants).

[mkaroly]

Finished watching season 1 of Rocky and Bullwinkle and am in the midst of season 2. This show brings back that nostalgic feeling in me; the animation is wildly inconsistent, but that is a HUGE part of the show's charm. As such, it has a unique visual style that I really enjoy. I also love the layout of the show (R&B stoey opens and closes the show with "friends" adventures in between - it packed a lot of punch in its running time.

Of course, the stars of the show (Rocky and Bullwinkle in their adventures against Boris and Natasha and Fearless Leader and Mr. Big) are the main attraction. I love the serialized adventures they engaged in. The show's writing is really good as is the humor - a little dry at times and very "punny." The characters also broke the fourth wall (?) by speaking directly to the viewer which I also enjoy. There is so much charm and fun in these stories.

My favorite "friends" adventures are the Dudley Do-Right stories. The music, the title cards, the old fashioned language, the voice-over narration, the voices...home run for me! Peabody's Improbable History would come next on the list, followed by Fractured Fairy Tales and then Aesop and Son (my least favorite). As segues to the next friend adventure, Bullwinkle's Corner and Mr. Know It All are pretty funny to me. All in all it is a solid ensemble show and, for me, hold up really well.

[mkaroly]

Columbo Season 4 is in the books. Overall I thought this was a good season, especially where the criminals were concerned. There are some very malicious villains in this season, starting out with Milo Janus in the season's opening episode An Exercise in Fatality and ending with George Hamilton's viciously evil psychiatrist in the season finale A Deadly State of Mind (an episode in which Columbo loses his patience with Hamilton's co-worker...a highlight of the season for me).

The episodes in between are pretty good - Dick Van Dyke's moment of self-incrimination in Negative Reaction was very satisfying. By Dawn's Early Light is a fun episode; I liked how Patrick McGoohan's Colonel kind of childishly tried to manipulate/earn Columbo's friendship in the episode in the hopes of getting him off the scent. Oskar Verner's turn as an immature, childish villain in Playback deserves mention - his character is extremely unlikeable and it's easy to see how Columbo could so quickly suspect him of murder. Werner's quivering lips and loss of control in the moment when Columbo busts him is powerful IMO.

My guilty favorite episode this season is Troubled Waters with Robert Vaughn playing the no-good-nik. I love how Columbo solves the crime by tricking Vaughn's character into putting on a pair of surgical gloves. Though I do have one problem with it - it is very hard to take off surgical gloves without turning them inside out...unless they are too large for your hands. So when Columbo gets them and turns them inside out, wouldn't he be exposing the outside of the gloves again (where the gunpowder residue would be)? Despite the question, I LOVE how he busts Vaughn's character in the triumphant moment.

Nothing much really bothered me about Columbo's character this season that I can remember. Looking forward to starting Season 5 soon!

[Eric Paddon]

"Exercise In Fatality" is a great episode if you're a fan of Gretchen Corbett. Conrad is great as a Jack LaLanne type, though the device of faking a conversation with a dead man is admittedly recycled from the second pilot movie with Lee Grant. (and someone once noticed that Columbo's shoe-tying demonstration at the end fails to take into account that the victim is clearly shown to be lefthanded!)

McGoohan would go on to appear again in the classic series once more (and direct another episode) while appearing twice more in the 90s (he and Shatner are the only two to play killers in the classic and 90s period; Robert Culp did return in one 90s episode but not as a killer).

"Troubled Waters" is great fun too but that rendition of "Volare" goes on so long (six minutes!) you want to kill the singer just for that!

Enjoy Season 5. The opening episode "Forgotten Lady" with Janet Leigh is one of my favorites (so much I even wrote a fanfic sequel to it).

[mkaroly]

"Troubled Waters" is great fun too but that rendition of "Volare" goes on so long (six minutes!) you want to kill the singer just for that!

Ha ha ha...agreed!!!

[Eric Paddon]

A week ago I rewatched the earliest surviving episodes of "What's My Line?" which included the very first broadcast, February 2, 1950. The first Mystery Guest that night was Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto.

The very first contestant on WML, was a 23 year old woman named Pat Finch, who was the hat check girl at the Stork Club and an aspiring musical theater performer. She appeared again on the show in 1955 on its fifth anniversary and again on the last show in 1967.

And she just passed away at age 93 in Florida. The last living link to the first show from seventy years ago, and the first great success in the Goodson-Todman game show empire.

https://andersonmcqueen.com/tribute/det ... Q9JjA4CTPw

[mkaroly]

Just starting Season Five of Columbo. I must say, Forgotten Lady is one heck of a moving episode. Holy cow...Janet Leigh should have won an Emmy for that. What a way to start the season!

[Eric Paddon]

The thing about the episode is that once you go through it for the first time, you need to give it a second look because then suddenly you can see Leigh's performance and character entirely in a different light. There are even some subtle directorial touches that aren't evident at first glance that make you then go back and realize the episode was, much like "The Sixth Sense" dropping hints as to the payoff.

That was John Payne's last ever performance (even though he lived another fourteen years).

[AndyDursin]

I still have my Japanese COLUMBO box...one of my fave imports! Need to get Season 3 going.

[mkaroly]

Finished Columbo Season 5...which was a short season! Forgotten Lady is hands down, for me, the best episode of the season for the reasons I spoke about above in a separate post. My guilty favorite episode is Now You See Him..., where Columbo villain regular Jack Cassidy plays an ex-SS Officer and war criminal who will do what is necessary to protect his identity. It is a fun episode, though I do feel like it would have been impossible to get all the things done Santini got done in 9 minutes and 12 seconds. Be that as it may, the good parts outweigh my complaint (I love when Columbo gets Santini to pick himself out of the cuffs that he quietly says, "I knew ypu could do it" with a smile on his face).

The most interesting episode to me was A Matter of Honor with guest star Ricardo Montalban. His motive for murdering Hector is still a "what the heck?" moment for me...always fun to see Montalban acting. Identity Crisis also has its moments - the dialogue between Brenner and Columbo in Brenner's home toward the end of the episode is fantastic as Columbo aggressively questions Brenner who can only sit there and realize that Columbo has his number.

I had never seen A Case of Immunity before...it is easily the weakest episode of the season for me. The episode is...awkward. The couple of times Columbo steps on the clothing of Salah which results in the clothing ripping, obviously done for laughs (though implying Columbo is clumsy), was not very funny to me. The episode also just seems clumsy...and I can understand why the episode is not shown on TV normally. My big complaint with the final episode of the season, Last Salute to the Commodore, is that Columbo is too quirky and weird. It has a "whodunnit" feel to it (especially with the gathering of all the suspects in a room at the end), and a couple of big twists that make the episode compelling...but Columbo is just too weird in that episode.

All in all it was a good season...on to seasons six and seven...and Shatner's first appearance as a Columbo villain!

[Eric Paddon]

Even those who groan at CAIR protests have to admit Elizondo is a little too caricatured as the "traditional Arab". Did you spot a young Jeff Goldblum as one of the protesters?

"Identity Crisis" has a great cast (McGoohan, Leslie Nielsen who oddly never played a killer and the luscious Barbara Rhoades) and is so much fun that after awhile you realize the motive for the killing is never that clear!

"Last Salute To The Commodore" was indeed meant to be a deliberate departure from the formula because at the time there was a possibilty the Mystery Movie was going to be cancelled and this would be the last Columbo. The Mystery Movie did get one more year as it turned out (that was the year Susan Saint James wouldn't take a pay cut so they killed off her character and the show just became "McMillan" which true fans of that show never like to acknowledge). Columbo fans are split about "Last Commodore" in general because it's different.

[mkaroly]

I did not catch Goldblum in that episode...lol...will have to go back and look at it again.

Season six of Columbo is only three episodes long, and it opens up with William Shatner's debut as a villain in Fade In to Murder. He is good at playing arrogant, self-absorbed characters (which Wade Fowler is), so it is fun to watch Shatner do his thing. And nice cameo by Walter Koenig in the episode as well!

My favorite episode this season is Old-Fashioned Murder. Joyce Van Patton's portrayal as spinster Ruth Litton is chilling; the underlying story of family dysfunctionality and relationships made for a disturbing but moving story to me. The episode has a big twist or two in it which made it mpre compelling for me. I ultimately felt sympathy for Ruth, and I also found the climax to be very moving as Columbo "agrees" to spare Ruth's niece the truth by saying he lied to her about Ruth's involvement in her father's death.

The final episode of the season, The Bye-Bye Sky-High I.Q. Murder Case (helluva title, that one) has its moments but is ultimately too rushed (it runs about 70 minutes). The one moment I really liked is the moment toward the end where Columbo and Oliver both share their struggles (Columbo having to work harder than the rest to get ahead, and Oliver having to work hard to hide his superior intellect in order to fit in) - those "humanizing" moments between Columbo and the criminal really make the series for me. It is a shame this episode was so short - felt incomplete. Jamie Lee Curtis appears as an impatient waitress to great effect in this episode as well.

[Eric Paddon]

Falk was getting harder and harder to commit to new episodes, hence the reason why there were only three that season. The device of Shatner as an arrogant TV detective star being a killer, according to some, was loaded with inside jokes aimed at Falk regarding his behavior over the years!

That VCR alibi Shatner tries was something that could only work back then!