[This week marks the 60th anniversary of the
debut of the Batman TV show & the 50th of The
Bionic Woman. So I’ve AmericanStudied those shows & three others from
the 60s & 70s, all of which happen to start with the letter ‘B’! Leading up
to this crowd-sourced post featuring the responses and recommendations of
fellow TVStudiers!]
Gotta start the first crowd-sourced post on the new website with
thoughts from my second-most
longstanding and thoughtful reader, my FSU colleague Irene
Martyniuk. She writes, “MeTV is perhaps the greatest thing ever if only for
science fiction Saturday Night. From 1:00 am until 5:00 am, in order—Lost In
Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land of the Giants, The
Time Tunnel, and then The Invaders. They are all Irwin Allen shows and
so tacky and brilliant and hokey and wonderful. I love them all. They walked so
that every version of Battlestar Galactica could fly. And I haven’t
even gotten to The Love Boat and Fantasy Island yet. Good times.”
Responding on Bluesky to Monday’s post, John Edwin
Mason argues that West’s show is “still the best Batman by far.”
While Marty Olliff adds, “You
might have seen me mention this before, but I once served Adam West in a buffet
line. Here’s one I’ve never reported: my wife and kids (before I was in the
picture) lived in the foothills of Mt. Hood, Oregon, near Lindsay
Wagner’s local home. They saw her occasionally.”
Responding to Tuesday’s post, Darlene
Cypser notes that “Bonanza actually addressed a number of
controversial issues.”
Finally, Joshua R.
Greenberg requests another B-centered show from the era, BJ and the Bear (Guest
Post time, says I!).
Next series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. What do you think? Other 60s and/or 70s TV you’d highlight?
