Charles Van Doren Loses

On March 11, 1957 Charles Van Doren ends his amazing win streak and loses to Vivienne Nearing on the super popular game show Twenty One, hosted by Jack Berry. In the early days of TV, people were shocked and mortified that TV games shows were not entirely fair. In fact some were even rigged. The big shoe ready to drop? Twenty One. It was learned that the show producers gave Van Doren the correct answers in an effort to beat the unstoppable Herb Stempel. While Stempel was a great player, he was bad for demographics or something. Who knows?

Fifty-one years ago today, Van Doren's winning ways came to an end and one of TV's first cheaters lost to Vivienne Nearing.

Do we really need any more videos of New York political corruption? Well, today we suggest Corrupt NY Governor, v. 1.0. As we heard the sad news about Eliot Spitzer, we were reminded of a movie that features a corrupt NY Governor named Angel on My Shoulder. No, it doesn't involve a prostitution ring, though the title sounds like it might. But it does involve the criminal underworld. Claude Rains in terrific in the role of Satan, and Paul Muni stars as Eddy Kagel, the hardened criminal who is tempted by Satan to sell his soul. The film also stars Anne Baxter the fetching nice girl that Eddy learns to love.

D.O.A. Edmond O'Brien Rocks

D.O.A. provides a terrific sense of urgency. Frank went out to jazz joint to get a drink while on a business trip. But somebody poisoned him, and he only has 24 to live. He must find out what happened and get the people responsible for his impending death. Because like it or not, Frank, played by Edmond O'Brien is going to be D.O.A. when he gets to the hospital. Great movie, very interesting and intense.

If you enjoyed Edmond O'Brien's performance, you can see him again in The Bigamist, co-starring Edmund Gwenn. Yes, that's right - he's the guy who plays Santa from Miracle on 34th Street.

Oscar Night Feb. 24 2008

Time again for Oscar Night, and all the beautiful people will be there. But part of what makes the Academy Award night so interesting, is all the previous years that went before.

LikeTelevision™ has a bunch of terrific former Oscar winners and nominees. For Best actor - check out Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird or Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac. Plus great Oscar moments in time - 1956 when Ernest Borgnine in Marty beats our Frank Sinatra, Spencer Tracy, and James Dean. You can watch Sinatra in Man with the Golden Arm - great movie.

And who could ever forget Sacheen Littlefeather accepting for Marlon Brando. And Frank Capra, William Wyler and Orson Welles. Frankly - there's too many to mention. You might try searching for Oscar in the media library, or try this - a quick quiz... okay who's the lady in the first picture? She's an incredible costume designer. Here's a hint, Archie wife. Need more help? Here's the answer.

Jack Black, Comics and Plastic Surgery

If you are a fan of comic books, you'll love this episode of The Simpsons, with special guests including Art Spiegelman, Maurice LaMarche, Alan Moore, and Daniel Clowey. Need more, how about Jack Black as Milo, the Mr. cool comic book store owner. Meanwhile, Marge starts a gym business just for ladies and it becomes a killer success, making her wealthy and making Homer worry. Check out Husbands and Knives.

We also added a few more downloads including some One Step Beyond episodes. Among others, you'll find Prisoner and Midnight. Need some more downloads? Well check out The James Dean Story. All for now, gotta scoot.

The Simpsons TV Show

Wow - what a treat. Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa & friends. Check out a few choice episodes of The Simpsons. For pure irony -I'd suggest That 90's Show, where Homer starts the whole grunge music scene by performing sad and very angry songs. All because Marge was off at college and forgeting how terrific Homer was, and falling for a cool professor type. Another Simpsons episode - E Pluribus Wiggum. A delightful political comedy, where all the presidential candidates come to Springfield looking for votes and delegates in the caucus. Very silly and entertaining. Finally, check out this Simpsons episode, I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, starring Steve Buscemi as the bank robber who gives himself up, on the promise that Marge will visit him in prison. Lots of action in this episode, and Buscemi is a riot.

Sharona or Natalie?

Monk starring Tony Shalhoub is one of my favorite shows on cable. I have always been a fan of the theme music from Jeff Beal during the show opening credits so i got pulled into it from the beginning. And what's not to love about a neurotic San Francisco detective with obsessive compulsive disorder? Answer nothing and this is a great show. For now we posted 3 new episodes of Monk. Mr Monk Goes to the Carnival, Mr. Monk Goes to the Asylum, and Mr. Monk Joins a Cult with special guest Howie Mandel.

But today's burning question is, which female actress was your favorite Monk co-star? Was it Bitty Schram or Traylor Howard? Or Sharona Fleming or Natalie Teeger if you prefer.

TV Guest Star Bonanza

In 1960s, Bonanza was a cool show - because it was broadcast in color, a huge deal at one time when I was just a kid. Yes, it's true. Like many kids, each week we'd wait and look forward to watching Bonanza because it was in color. And we had a color tv which was wow cool man - like today if you had an iPhone and a 46" 1080p LCD flat panel tv. Back in the 1960s, if you had a color tv - That was cool!!! Each week on Bonanza you’d get some cool guest stars, stars from other tv shows, movies and broadway. Anyway - here’s some of my favorite Guest Stars on Bonanza episodes. Watch these free tv shows

1) The Ape w/ Leonard Nimoy.

2) San Francisco w/ Richard Deacon and David White

3) The Avenger w/ Vic Morrow

4) Silent Thunder w/ Stella Stevens and Albert Salmi

5) Day of Reckoning w/ Ricardo Montalban as an Indian?