Author: Rick Brooks

  • TV Time: A Classic TV Primer or, My Love Affair with WPIX

    We're here at ClassicFlix because we love vintage television programs and movies, but what started that fondness? I'm especially interested in people who did not grow up on the TV shows from the 1950s and 1960s, yet still watch them today. I believe my own preference for old-school entertainment is a combination of nature and nurture--nature in the sense that my parents watched and loved it, nurture in the sense that--well, my parents watched and loved it. Reruns were scattered all...

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  • TV Time: The Scary Side of Growing Up with Classic TV

    I had a great relationship with television when I was growing up. It amused me, thrilled me, and at times maybe even baby-sat me. But there were times when the images and sounds on that little set flat-out scared me. This month I 'fess up to some of the classic television elements that spooked me when I was younger. Count Von Count: I don't want to offend any Countsylvanians out there, but I must admit the Count's accent and appearance startled me when I first saw Sesame Street. I...

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  • TV Time: Baseball Players on Primetime

    One national pastime arrives around springtime each year, while another one never goes away. Yes, baseball’s return is a cherished annual ritual, but one might argue the real national pastime is watching television. Baseball and television together is a powerful combination. Here, then, is my All-Star team, by position, of major league players based on their appearances in classic television. We’ll focus on the days before everything was changed by rampant commercialization and ri...

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  • TV Time: Beat the Clock

    Who do you think had the best job during the Golden Age of Television? Reginald Rose, who got to pour his heart and soul into acclaimed socially relevant teleplays? Betty Furness, who got to dress up and show a national television audience the wonders of Westinghouse products? Or maybe Ozzie Nelson, who...who... Well, nobody's really sure what Ozzie did, of course, but it must have been fulfilling because the guy just looked so darn amiable all the time. I believe the best job may...

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