Tag / CBS

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Book 3 (of 52) – The Life (And Wife) Of Allen Ludden

The Life (and Wife) of Allen Ludden – Adam Nedeff

100 years ago today, in the town of Oak Park, Illinois, the only child of Horace and Tess White, named Betty, was born.  The next year, the family moved to California, where young Betty would grow up and find her way into show business, first on radio and then, in 1949, moving to television, first as a co-host with Al Jarvis on his daily show and, eventually, on her own once he left, before moving on to the syndicated sitcom Life with Elizabeth in 1953.

A little further north, in Wisconsin, a youngster named Allen Ludden moved from town to town with his family.  The Ludden’s eventually landed in Texas, where Allen majored in English and drama at the University of Texas.  During WWII, Allen served as an officer in charge of entertainment, moving east after the war.  He continued to entertain, hosting a radio show and writing advice columns for teen magazines.  He moved to television in 1959, when the G.E. College Bowl debuted on CBS.

In 1961, their path’s crossed for the first time, thanks to the game show Password.  Ludden, named the host of the new show, didn’t remember meeting White the first time she guested, as his concentration was torn from the show by his dying wife.  When White returned a second time after the death of Ludden’s wife, the impression stuck, and Ludden knew who would be the next Mrs. Allen Ludden.  Convincing Betty, however, took a while, but they eventually married in 1963.  They continued to work and live together, feeling the ups and downs of Hollywood life, until Ludden’s 1981 death at the age of 63.  Betty White never married again, though she ultimately became an even bigger star thanks to her 7-year run on The Golden Girls.

I don’t even know if I had heard of Allen Ludden before discovering the Buzzr channel a few years back.  Since then, I’ve watched my fair share of the original Password and the late 70s revival Password Plus, which Ludden was hosting until he fell ill.  It seemed like the world was prepping to celebrate Betty White’s 100th birthday today until her surprising death, or as surprising as a death can be when someone is 99 years old, on New Year’s Eve, less than three weeks before the big bash.  It was in honor of them both that I found this biography from Adam Nedeff, who seems to have made a cottage industry looking back at old time game show hosts.  I might just have to take a look at one of them down the line.

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CBS Upfront

Everything old is new this season at CBS, which brings 3 new entries from its collection of established procedural franchises along with 1 new comedy to the air this fall.  The week starts a comedy block of The Neighborhood and Bob Hearts Abishola, followed by 2 entries in the NCIS franchise: the OG, moving from its Tuesday timeslot for the first time in 18 years, and NCIS: Hawaii, where Vanessa Lachey stars as the first female Special Agent in Charge of NCIS Pearl Harbor.  Tuesday, CBS follows NBC’s playbook by turning the entire night over to Dick Wolf for his FBI franchise, with the OG leading off the night, followed by FBI: International, the new iteration that follows the elite operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s International Fly Team, and FBI: Most Wanted.

Wednesday night leads off with Survivor, followed by Tough As Nails and the new CSI: Vegas, the “sequel” to the original which brings back William Petersen, Jorja Fox, and Wallace Langham.  Thursday has another comedy block, starting with with Young Sheldon and United States of Al, followed by Ghosts, starring Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar as a duo who decide to convert a huge rundown country estate into a bed & breakfast, only to find it’s inhabited by the many spirits of deceased residents who now call it home, and B Positive. Bull finishes off the night.  Friday starts with S.W.A.T. for a month, before giving way to TBD unscripted programming, followed by Magnum P.I. and Blue Bloods.  Sunday kicks off with 60 Minutes, followed by The Equalizer, NCIS: Los Angeles, and, for a month, SEAL Team before giving way to S.W.A.T.

On tap for midseason is Good Sam, starring Sophia Bush and Jason Isaacs as doctors fighting for the same position, and Smallwood, based on the life of professional bowler Tom Smallwood.

Gone and never to be seen again are All Rise, MacGuyver, NCIS: New Orleans, Mom, and The Unicorn.  Evil and SEAL Team will be moving to Paramount+.

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2020 New Fall Season – Thursdays

old-tv-set1Thursday night is traditionally the busiest night of the week for my television viewing habits, but, like everything else since the corona virus shut down the world in March, not this year. Here’s what’s on the slate for this season.

7:30

Connecting – The first pandemic-based comedy arrives on NBC.

8:00

Grey’s Anatomy – The medical drama enters its 17th season, picking up where the abbreviated 16th season left off.

9:00

Star Trek: Discovery – The first season of the CBS All Access show moves to CBS proper.

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2020 New Fall Season – Mondays

Today, we continue our look at the pandemic-affected new fall season with the offerings that I may find myself interested in for Mondays.

7:00

L.A.’s Finest – With a dearth of programming, FOX turns to a repurposed show originally produced for the cable provider Spectrum.  Starring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba, this Bad Boys offshoot may be worth giving a shot, especially since nothing else will be on.

8:00

One Day At A Time – The fourth season of the online series will air on CBS.  If I get really bored, I may decide to try it.

by jim

Post Mortem – Criminal Minds

Premiering on CBS on September 22, 2005, Criminal Minds ran for 324 episodes over 15 seasons, wrapping up its run in February with a 2 hour finale.  16 different agents served with the BAU over that time, with Matthew Gray Gubler’s Spencer Reid being the only constant for all 15 seasons.  The show somehow also managed to outlast both of its spinoffs.

The show had obviously run its course, but I’m still kind of sad to see it go.  15 years is a long time and I’m not sure there will be much coming to replace it on my schedule.

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Post Mortem – Hawaii Five-0

After 10 seasons and 240 episodes, CBS announced that Hawaii Five-0 would wrap up its run in April.   The last remaining original stars, Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan, both had expiring contracts at the end of the season and O’Loughlin, who suffered a serious back injury during the early seasons of the show, has been dealing with the after-effects ever since and felt he could not continue with the action scenes required of him.

While never a favorite, the show has been a nice popcorn show to wrap up the week for the past 7 years.  It took on a bit of a special place in my heart following my trip to Hawaii last February, as I started to recognize locations around Waikiki Beach.

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Post Mortem – God Friended Me

With virtually all TV and pilot production shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, broadcast networks find themselves in a position of either picking up new shows without seeing a pilot or renewing most of their existing lineup.  Despite that, CBS decided to move forward without God Friended Me, cancelling the show just as it was wrapping up its second season.

While the show slipped a bit in the second season, falling victim to the supposed need to keep the two leads apart romantically, it was still entertaining enough.  I certainly look forward to whatever Brandon Micheal Hall and Violett Beane do next.  And, within the next two years, there will be another show in this genre, the skeptical non-believer does good while following the moves of a mysterious, unknown force, on the air, as there has been for the last 30 years or so.

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Midseason Review – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We have reached the half way point of our look back at my thoughts on the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s what Wednesdays had on tap for the fall.

7:00

Riverdale – The show will address the death of star Luke Perry last spring, and his former 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty will make an appearance to pay tribute to Perry.  Of, course, this is assuming I ever catch up on the last season and a half of the show.

I haven’t caught up, and I don’t know if I ever will.

8:00

Modern Family – Season 11 will be its last, which seems about right.

Yeah, this seems to have run it’s course.

SEAL Team – David Boreanaz returns for a third season of the military procedural.

This is another one of those shows that I will watch as long as it’s on, but I won’t necessarily miss when it goes.

Nancy Drew – Building on the success of Riverdale, the CW takes another beloved property from the early-to-mid 20th century and ramps up the sex appeal for a 21st century audience.

I watched the first episode and never made it back for the second.  Not saying it was bad, but it didn’t necessarily pull me in.

8:30

Single Parents – After a surprisingly entertaining first season, the group of single parents returns for another go around.

Still surprisingly decent.  I think the fact that the kids seem to be talented actors helps a bunch.

9:00

Stumptown – Cobie Smulders returns to the small screen in this adaptation of the graphic novels of the same name from Oni Press.

An enjoyable way to spend an hour.

And now the new entry coming later this spring:

Criminal Minds – The CBS stalwart returns for it’s abbreviated final season.

by jim

Post Mortem – Murphy Brown

While it certainly seems like everything old is new again when it comes to network television, sometimes those returns to the past just don’t work out.  Such is the case with Murphy Brown, which returned to CBS last fall and failed to capture much of an audience.  For whatever reason, the revival just didn’t work.  The show felt out of place and the jokes seemed hackneyed.  Sadly, this probably won’t interfere with the next old show brought back to life.