This one's for Dave!
Four new DVDs are out this week, featuring the best(?) of some great 70s-80s TV. The "oldest" and possibly one of the better choices comes from the comic genius mind of Gabe Kaplan. "Welcome Back Kotter," 1975-1976 season has arrived on DVD. The birth of John Travolta's career and the show that made slacking in school an art form is one of my favorites. How many times did I copy of one Epstein's notes to try and get out of something?
The highlight for many of us is the release of a show that, while we watched when it was on the first time, we know it better from its days in syndication on TBS. You know it, you love it. You hear the theme in your head . . . DA DA DAH DUNT NA! Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox protect the freeways of Los Angeles in "CHiPS," Season one, 1977-1978. Oh, yeah!
"The Fall Guy" (1981-1982) is also out, one of Lee Major's better efforts but pales in comparison to his work on the Six Million Dollar Man. And, finally, one that would have been better left behind - it has not gotten better with age - the first season of What's Happening Now!, the "spin-off" to "What's Happening." Please, make it stop.
2 comments:
Have you tried watching any of these things lately? I find them awful and unwatchable. I had the Welcome Back Kotter towel (really!), I loved that show, and I can watch about 5 minutes of WBK these days.
My niece loves watching Laverne and Shirley (as I did) and I can't even believe it was on tv now. It's so unsophisticated, so dumb.
Yes, I am a proud owner of Chips Season One on DVD. In watching the first four episodes, I was surprised at how good I thought the show stood up after all of these years. It really made me think carefully about some of the TV shows that are currently popular, and how dark and serious, heavy, real, so many of the shows seem to be. Chips revisited after all this time was a real breath of fresh air.
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