TV Land Is Heaven For Fans Of Classic TV
One of the best cable networks for fans of classic television is the TV LAND network. In addition to rerunning episodes of past favorite series such as GUNSMOKE and ALL IN THE FAMILY they also rerun episodes of television series which didn¹t last very long.
Just because a series didn¹t last very long doesn't mean it wasn't worth watching. Unfortunately, most TV stations don't rerun episodes of old series unless they have at least three years of episodes built up. Before TV LAND most of those series would never see the light of day again.
TV LAND just began rerunning episodes of three of my favorite TV series from the '70s - ELLERY QUEEN, ALIAS SMITH AND JONES and THE BARBARY COAST.
ELLERY QUEEN ran from 1975 to 1976 on NBC. The late Jim Hutton played the famous mystery writer and amateur sleuth. John Hillerman (prior to his days on MAGNUM PI) played his nemesis Inspector Simon Bremmer.
The series was set in the '40s and was produced by the same creative team that would go on to do COLUMBO and MURDER, SHE WROTE, among others. The series is being broadcast between 1 and 2 p.m. on weekends. If you are a mystery fan I highly recommend this short-lived series.
ALIAS SMITH AND JONES was produced by Glen A. Larson, the same man responsible for QUINCY, MCCLOUD and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. The series was broadcast from 1971 to 1973 on ABC.
It starred Peter Deuel and Ben Murphy as Hannibal Heyes (aka Joshua Smith) and Ben Murphy as Jed "The Kid" Curry (Thaddeus Jones). Sally Field co-starred as Clementine Hale. In 1972 Roger Davis took over the role of Hannibal Heyes after Peter Deuel tragically committed suicide.
The premise is a simple one. Smith and Jones were outlaws trying their best to go straight. The governor had promised them a full pardon if they stayed out of trouble for a year. Unfortunately, their past, and some interesting and unsavory friends, would always end up getting in the way.
Unlike most westerns, this series also had a lot of humor - sort of a low-budget BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. ALIAS SMITH AND JONES is currently running on TV LAND from 11 a.m. to noon on weekends.
THE BARBARY COAST starred a post STAR TREK William Shatner and tv western veteran Doug McClure. It was set in San Francisco in the 1870s. Shatner and McClure played agents working for the governor. They resided in the criminal section of town known as the Barbary Coast. The series ran on ABC from 1975 to 1976 and is currently being broadcast on weekends between 8 and 9 a.m. on TV LAND.
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