Variety shows- gone but not forgotten
“Nothing like our show, and I might add other variety shows at the time, could ever see the light of day today because the networks just...
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Dan Connors
- Aug 7
- 5 min
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour- Laughs, Music, and Rebellion
"Freedom of expression and freedom of speech aren’t really important, unless they’re heard. The freedom of hearing is as important as...
332 views1 comment
Dan Connors
- Jul 6
- 6 min
Family Ties- the show where family and comedy were more important than politics
Imagine if the popular sitcom All in the Family were reversed- with two liberal parents raising a conservative child. The comedic...
767 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- May 31
- 5 min
The Andy Griffith Show- my return to Mayberry
How did a pair of Jewish and Arabic comedians create a sitcom that captured the heart of America and the top spot on television for...
501 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Mar 26
- 4 min
Police Squad! The cult classic that was too funny for television
Normally when a television show only lasts for four episodes before being cancelled, it's never heard from again. Police Squad! was an...
2,222 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Mar 19
- 5 min
The Funny Family Sitcom That Redefined Masculinity For A More Feminist Era
While situation comedies are something of a dying breed today, they were a television staple from its earliest days right up to the turn...
2,175 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Dec 19, 2022
- 6 min
More Christmas Songs to feed your soul at the holidays and all year long
Recently, I did a deep dive into Christmas music videos. During the holidays Christmas music is everywhere, so much so that it goes in...
11,415 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Dec 7, 2022
- 5 min
Is Disney Too Woke? And What Does Woke Even Mean?
Does the Walt Disney Company have a woke problem? Unlike in any other period of their history, Disney is aggressively embracing...
4,744 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Dec 4, 2022
- 6 min
The Marx Brothers- Lightning in a Bottle
“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” “I, not events, have the power to make me...
6,664 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Nov 16, 2022
- 5 min
Newhart- the crazy world inside of a gentle mind
"All comedians are, in a way, anarchists. Our job is to make fun of the existing world." Bob Newhart Bob Newhart is one of the sneakiest...
8,952 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Oct 17, 2022
- 5 min
Hadestown Etc- Musical Theater Notes From 2022
"See, Orpheus was a poor boy But he had a gift to give: He could make you see how the world could be, In spite of the way that it is." ...
18,398 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Sep 13, 2022
- 5 min
Steven Colbert behind the scenes
I recently crossed another item off my bucket list by attending a live taping of a national network television show, and it did not...
31,438 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Sep 10, 2022
- 6 min
Harry Potter cancelled? The play that survived its creator's banishment
I recently went to New York City and saw the new play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, along with the large Harry Potter shop on 23rd...
35,872 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Sep 4, 2022
- 4 min
SCTV- Laughs from up north, eh?
Sketch comedy has a long and storied history in American television, from the days of Your Show of Shows to Jackie Gleason to Carol...
8,149 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Aug 21, 2022
- 6 min
Scrubs- can hospitals be funny?
At the turn of the century, reality shows were the next big thing, and the biggest reality show of all was Survivor- a million dollar...
19,049 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Jun 25, 2022
- 3 min
Get Smart- Would you believe a show could last five seasons with just a few stupid recurring jokes?
The 1950s and 1960s were the height of the cold war, and spy thrillers were extremely popular during that period. James Bond movies were...
5,797 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- May 21, 2022
- 4 min
Saturday Night Live- The last water-cooler television show
When television first went nationwide in the 1940's, there were only three networks and the shows that were broadcast became a part of...
4,812 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Apr 22, 2022
- 8 min
We are all Archie Bunker- how one tv character exposed America in all its contradictions.
The 1960's were one of the most turbulent and consequential decades in American history, but you'd never know it from the pop culture of...
2,888 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Mar 5, 2022
- 5 min
WKRP in Cincinnati- That Other 70's Show
Comedies of the 1960's for the most part were silly, innocent, and safe. The world of Leave it to Beaver, Gilligan's Island, and The...
2,461 views0 comments
Dan Connors
- Feb 2, 2022
- 6 min
The Eternal Winter of Hogan's Heroes
Sometimes shows get on television that just don't make any sense. Hundreds get proposed every year, dozens of pilot episodes get made,...
1,211 views0 comments
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