Donna Lethal's Blog

From August 19, 1977, it's the last broadcast of Jessica Savitch at KYW-TV Channel 3 in Philadelphia (complete with commercials). She was leaving the then-NBC affiliate to go work for NBC News, initially to alternate between reporting from Washington DC and anchoring the Sunday news in New York.

Her final day happened to be a busy one, news-wise; among the lead stories on the 5:30 pm broadcast included an unpassed state budget, Hubert Humphrey being diagnosed with terminal cancer (of the bladder), and an earthquake and tidal wave striking Indonesia. Even so, the anchors managed to get through all the news, weather, and sports to have still enough time to wrap the show up with giving Jessica a proper send-off complete with goodbyes from colleagues and some old footage of her in action, even bloopers.

In her short farewell speech, Jessica observed she was "in the unique position of leaving and staying at the same time," essentially meaning her Philly fans could continue watching her as she ascended through the ranks at NBC News. As it turned out, given her limitations as a journalist, the big break would soon become broken. 

She, too, liked to hit her son with a skipper's hat. (YouTube)  Here's a recent upload to YT consisting of four videos taken from the NBC special All-Star Salute to Mother's Day, which originally aired on Sunday, May 10, 1981. Though a lot of the celebrities are left out of this chopped-up version*, the overall flavor of the show remains intact: a mixture of variety and schmaltz perfect for celebrating the day special for a countless many.

The hosts are Ed McMahon and Jayne Kennedy. Among the stars not edited out are Debbie Reynolds, Shecky Greene, and Cindy Williams. As for mothers of celebrities, there are the moms of John Cassavetes, David Janssen, and Don Rickles, among others. (Debbie's interaction with her mother, Maxine, is particularly fun.)

Happy Mother's Day.

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

* - Go here for a full list of the stars who appeared.

Can you guess which of the three ladies is John D. Loudermilk's wife on this segment of  To Tell the Truth from 1968 (near the end of its network run on daytime)? Good luck! 

("Re-Pix" by the author.) Lovers of old movies will recognize the trio as the stars of Hold Back the Dawn (1941), an underrated classic overshadowed by How Green Was My Valley when Oscar season came around. To date, it's only available on DVD in France (!) and occasionally shown on Turner Classic Movies. (Check it out when you can; it's really good.)

As a bonus, give a listen to the radio adaptation for Lux Radio Theatre (also 1941, here) starring Boyer, Goddard, and Susan Hayward (in de Havilland's role).

From the creative mind of Cordell Barker comes this quartet of animated shorts made for the National Film Board of Canada: The Cat Came Back* (1988, above), Strange Invaders* (2001), Runaway (2009), and If I Was God (2015).

Enjoy.

* - Nominated for an Oscar. 

You know who's who. (YouTube; collage by the author.) Months after posting about Our Gang/Little Rascals imposter Freckles, I'm following up on the fake with the real deal: George "Spanky" McFarland, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Darla Hood, and Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas get interviewed by Tom Snyder on the 11/12/1974 broadcast of Tomorrow (here).

Though fun* and informative it's also sad to watch, especially when one knows Stymie, Darla and Buckwheat will all be dead within seven years after the show's taping. (Spanky made it to 1993.)


* - Best bit: NBC censors Stymie's "Jesus Christ!" around the 11:46 mark.

One of the more palpably square shorts to be riffed by Mystery Science Theater 3000, it's a revelation to discover somebody found leftover footage from A Date with Your Family, and it's in color (albeit silent). In summary, aside from scenes where Daughter blows some takes nothing major happens but considering many color educational films made during the 1940s-1960s now exist only in black and white, the fact these outtakes escaped destruction makes their availability for viewing all the more sweeter for fans of this movie genre.

P.S. - For those who have never seen the finished film or have forgotten what it's about, we give you the options of viewing the original (here) and/or the MST3K version (here). Enjoy.

One of the more notably square shorts to be riffed by Mystery Science Theater 3000, it's a revelation to discover somebody found leftover footage from A Date with Your Family, and it's in color (albeit silent). In summary, aside from scenes where Daughter blows some takes nothing major happens but considering many color educational films made during the 1940s-1960s only exist now in black and white, the fact these outtakes escaped destruction makes their availability for viewing all the more sweeter for fans of this particular movie genre.

P.S. - For those who have never seen the finished film or have forgotten about it, we give you the options of viewing the original (here) and/or the MST3K version (here). Enjoy.

Along with Easter Is, this Nelvana cartoon is another rare Easter special I remember liking from my younger years. Featuring the voice talents of Garrett Morris, Catherine O'Hara, and Maurice LaMarche with songs by John Sebastian, the story centers around a celebrity roast of the Easter Bunny (Morris) on the occasion of his imminent retirement and an aardvark (LaMarche) who tries to stop him from going through with it.

Happy Easter.

"Re-Pix" art by the author.