Mark81961 Reviews

Let's Make a Deal (1963–2003)

Fortunate To Watch Again and Heard A Great Parody

[23 June 2006]

Like all you others out there that were thankful when GSN brought the show back on the air for a brief run, I made it a point to make sure and get the VCR rolling to get episodes preserved, for who knows when it may ever come out on season DVD. And indeed, the show's moments were classic from the new cars to the dreaded zonks. It's a pity they weren't able to go a bit further back in time to the early to mid 60's when the show was really in full popularity...wondering if ABC preserved those tapes??? They didn't have very many game shows on at that time, and I've heard that one of the networks scrapped a lot of classic game shows from the vault before anyone could watch them again in reruns. If you're a Christian, you may remember the Christian comedy group Isaac Air Freight that started their album "Fun In The Son" with a brilliant parody of the show called "Let's Trade Your Salvation" where the gifts were the enticement against the Bible and Monty Hall became Monty Lucifer who was booed by the audience. It is hilarious but does give a great message.

Password (1961–1975)

Making Sure They Got VCR'd

[10/10 · 17 June 2006]

When I first discovered that "Password" reruns were airing on GSN a few years ago, I made it a point to get as many episodes on VHS as I could since there's no telling when the entire series will go into DVD. It's a pity that a lot of the game shows run on GSN don't have the class and continuity that "Password" did. Allen Ludden was always a great host - perfect for a game show like this. And like a lot of the game shows in the sixties and seventies, they made you think. I can also thank whoever made the decision at CBS to hang on to some of these great programs of that era such as "Password" for people to enjoy over again. I don't think the contestants were ever overawed by their celebrity partners and naturally we all found out how human they can be trying to think of a word to say in a few seconds from one-word clues. AND DON'T EVER SAY THE PASSWORD AS A CLUE...OOPS!!!!

Dragnet 1967 (1967–1970)

General Feelings about Classic Shows Like Dragnet

[10/10 · 17 June 2006]

Somehow reading a lot of these comments about other classic shows like "Dragnet 1967 - 1970" can make me appreciate growing up during that time frame when shows made so much sense and taught a lesson such as on so many occasions that this version of Dragnet did. I guess I would have to rate a favorite episode as the only one where Joe himself had to be tried for shooting a would-be criminal in self-defense at I think it was a laundromat. It showed that NO ONE can be above the law, not even the cops themselves. It's a pity that the first season was not a big seller on DVD - I have checked with tvondvd.com and apparently there are no plans to release the remaining two seasons for that very reason...since now the show is only shown on one relatively obscure cable network that not all systems have, let's increase the sales of season 1 - I own a copy and enjoyed watching it....

Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964–1969)

Transition Appreciation

[10/10 · 9 June 2006]

It is true that everyone has the opportunity to voice an opinion on a show, especially a true classic like Gomer Pyle USMC. This is mostly in reference to the switch from black and white to color. Somehow this is the decision of the expenses at the time, not the writers, which I heard was a debate over "I Dream Of Jeannie" in the similar situation when they did the same thing. I can appreciate the older times of black and white and whether or not they're funnier than color is always to one's own evaluation. In my case, the color ones were more enjoyable to watch, to see technology advance at that time so everything was more distinct. And just in passing, two things..I happened to have VCR'd the episode where Gomer accompanies a girl to a party, and she isn't junior high but a 16-year old who has a crush on him - typical teenage crush on an older man in this case, and it wasn't necessarily just for looks. True, in this day and age that would indeed be a big problem, but by the show's standards, it was handled tastefully. And secondly, if I'm not mistaken, the ratings of both shows steadily increased as time went on, and "Andy Griffith" reached #1 in 1967 - a color season, so obviously the feelings of the show "going downhill when it went to color" are a small amount. When I had the chance, I got as many of "Andy Griffith" color episodes videotaped as I could since they were shown so rarely a few years ago. TV Land didn't keep Gomer Pyle on long enough for me to get those, so I'm very ready for the DVD's to be released - have been checking for months.

What's My Line? (1968–1975)

I too, grew up watching this version

[10/10 · 6 June 2006]

AGREED!!!! I too, grew up watching this version of What's My Line? I was too young to stay up and watch the network version, but this version came on during regular prime time and I enjoyed it a lot more. I wish that GSN could expand and add "Classic GSN" or a "GSN-2" with nothing but the game shows from that era of the sixties and seventies when you could enjoy a game show. I cannot understand how poker or blackjack actually qualify as a game show....sure they're games people play, but a game show is unique in how it comes about....BRING THESE SHOWS BACK!!! RELEASE THEM ON DVD SOON!!!! Decent television deserves to be shown to a new audience that can appreciate these types of shows the way we did when we were either kids or young adults. And since it's been a number of years since many of them aired, it would be great to have the saying "EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN" apply with a show like this one.