# Your TV "holy grails" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099 "2012-03-18T01:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/21 "2012-03-18T03:52:15Z")
What I did see in the 1960s, and would like to see again, were the precursor shows to _Monty Python_: _The Complete and Utter History of Britain_ (Palin and Jones), _Please Do Not Adjust Your Set_ (Eric Idle, with _The Bonzo Dog Dooh-Dah Band_), and _At Last the 1948 Show_ (Cleese and Chapman with Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor). The last, especially, has a lot of the sensibility that went into _Python_. There are a few bits and pieces on YouTube, probably recorded of people’s home sets, but I believe all the original broadcast tapes of these shows have long since been wiped. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/22 "2012-03-18T03:54:01Z")
I remembered another. In 1974, KING TV in Seattle did a show called **Pompeii on Elliott Beii** ; it was set in the far future when archaeologists were unearthing the ruins of Seattle (Queen Anne Mound had erupted and buried the city) and interpreting what they found. A golf course represented man’s struggle against the elements and the amusement rides at Seattle Center were for torturing misbehaving children. Very obscure. A web search turns up a previous thread from here as the first result. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/23 "2012-03-18T04:13:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Straight to the gutter for mine, but I remember as a lad watching a local TV show that used Charades as the hook. This was the late 60s, so the women guests were in miniskirts, and [Deanna Lund](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deanna_Lund) (of _Land of the Giants_ “fame”) did some action that had her flopping on the floor and showing exactly what color and style her panties were. Made quite the impression on pubescent little me, it did. I believe the name of the show was STUMP THE STARS ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/24 "2012-03-18T04:15:45Z")
> [@audit1](#): > > I believe the name of the show was STUMP THE STARS Deanna was a regular one season, and I remember she did a week wearing her LAND OF THE GIANTS costumes. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/25 "2012-03-18T05:07:49Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > What I did see in the 1960s, and would like to see again, were the precursor shows to _Monty Python_: _The Complete and Utter History of Britain_ (Palin and Jones), _Please Do Not Adjust Your Set_ (Eric Idle, with _The Bonzo Dog Dooh-Dah Band_), and _At Last the 1948 Show_ (Cleese and Chapman with Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor). The last, especially, has a lot of the sensibility that went into _Python_. There are a few bits and pieces on YouTube, probably recorded of people’s home sets, but I believe all the original broadcast tapes of these shows have long since been wiped. There are DVD sets of _At Last the 1948 Show_ and _Do Not Adjust Your Set_ containing what apparently are all the surviving episodes (five and nine shows, respectively). ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/26 "2012-03-18T06:03:05Z")
In 1984 I was entranced by everything Nickelodeon had to offer which tended to be repurposed UK shows. My favorite was The Third Eye, which I later found VHS bootlegs if on eBay. But I was fond of some of their other animated shows too. Then there’s Water Babies. There were other things I was happy to find again, though in some cases merely identifying them was enough. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/27 "2012-03-18T06:12:56Z")
Martin Short meeting Bette Davis on Carson. Years ago I saw Martin Short on Letterman telling the story of meeting Bette Davis on Carson ‘live’. After the internet and YouTube were common I looked for _years_ for this clip. It seems that every clip of Letterman and/or Short was there… just not [this clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK6vskPbu5I). Then finally someone uploaded it. Now if I could just find the actual Tonight Show clip he referenced. BETTY! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/28 "2012-03-18T06:26:20Z")
Incredibly, I’d just logged on to request help tracking down a song, and this thread topped the page. Ca. 1965, the American _That Was the Week That Was_, a number sung by series regular Nancy Ames (if memory serves). Tense, scary orchestration. Three verses, identical except for the names (two lines went approximately: “They’ve got your wife, -----------. / Run for your life, -----------.”), about people escaping from secret police or somesuch similar. The first two verses dealt with foreign names, the third a very American name, I think “Jack Johnson.” It ended with the screamed word “Hide!” Left quite a scar on a 10-year old’s mind nearly fifty years ago, and I’d sure like to hear it again. YouTube and Grooveshark have been no help, but then, they’re not the Straight Dope Message Board! ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/29 "2012-03-18T08:00:33Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > At some point in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s it dawned on someone at the BBC that the whole thing was horrifically racist, and the show was hastily pulled from the air, but it had a good run. It ran on TV until 1978, and continued to tour as late as 1987. ---
**Author:** ![pope\_hentai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@pope\_hentai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pope_hentai)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/30 "2012-03-18T09:48:13Z")
“the secret diary of Desmond Pfeiffer” and “Homeboys in outer space”. I found both of these to be hilariously bad when they aired (especially Desmond, as my fathers one of those civil war reenacting morons), and can only find 2 episodes of the former on youtube, and none of the latter ANYWHERE. Of course if anyone knows anyone… ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/31 "2012-03-18T10:05:10Z")
There was a movie on TV in the 70s [guessing] can’t remember the name of it, might have been _Soul Survivor_, but it was about a squadron of US fighter pilots who’s planes had gone down in the desert and they were waiting to be rescued Turns out they were all dead Never been shown on TV since, and doesn’t appear to be available on VHS, DVD or anything else. It often gets asked about online. Another one was _Abigail’s Party_ which was on the BBC in the 70s, “everyone” over 30 had seen it and it was remembered with great reverence, it was re-shown a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/32 "2012-03-18T12:11:27Z")
back…WAY back in the early 60’s my Dad was on the original “Price is Right” with Bill Cullen. He won, in early 60’s dollars over 30 thousand dollars worth of stuff including a Leopard Jacket (illegal now) a full length white beaver cape trimmed in mink and a HOUSE in Florida. What I would give to see him on the show! (I was 2 at the time) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/33 "2012-03-18T12:48:21Z")
Mine is a movie (I think) that I saw at the drive-in. But I may have mixed up some of my memories about it. I was very young so it would have to have been in the early to mid sixties. One of the actors was a young Indian boy and he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I fell deeply in love, as only a six to ten year old little girl can. He took my breath away and I cried myself to sleep for weeks over him. Now I have no clue who this was. It may have been a Johnny Quest movie or something. I’ve googled a bit, but can’t find anything that matches my vague memories. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/34 "2012-03-18T13:00:16Z")
David Letterman, when he was on NBC, having as a guest a guy who bred exotic poultry. I saw it exactly once, and there’s a moment in the segment that quite literally had me on the floor for ten minutes and makes me smile even now, some 20+ years later. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/35 "2012-03-18T15:13:57Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Browsing around a little, it looks like that was the BBC version. > > One line I do remember from my CD (of the American version): “We’re sure Governor Wallace has nothing against the American negro. No doubt he thinks everybody should own one.” That I can easily believe. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/36 "2012-03-18T15:18:07Z")
> [@Corcaigh](#): > > There was a movie on TV in the 70s [guessing] can’t remember the name of it, might have been _Soul Survivor_, but it was about a squadron of US fighter pilots who’s planes had gone down in the desert and they were waiting to be rescued > > Turns out they were all dead > > Never been shown on TV since, and doesn’t appear to be available on VHS, DVD or anything else. It often gets asked about online. > > Another one was _Abigail’s Party_ which was on the BBC in the 70s, “everyone” over 30 had seen it and it was remembered with great reverence, it was re-shown a few years ago. I remember the 'bomber in the desert" one! I’ve seen it repeated once - Bill Shatner was in it. [IMDB link](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065007/) No quotes on the IMDB page, but as I recall The crew left their desert survival gear on the plane, and bailed out with their ocean gear. Because the desert “looks like the sea at night.” Also, Shatner 's character bailed early and survived, coming back to the site years later. The ghosts of the rest of the crew appeared to him just long enough to get hm to confess, and have a breakdown. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/37 "2012-03-18T15:21:42Z")
> [@Corcaigh](#): > > There was a movie on TV in the 70s [guessing] can’t remember the name of it, might have been _Soul Survivor_, but it was about a squadron of US fighter pilots who’s planes had gone down in the desert and they were waiting to be rescued I think I remember this. Might it have been a Twilight Zone episode? ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/38 "2012-03-18T15:32:51Z")
I’d like to see the Gene London (local Philadelphia celebrity and kids’ show host) episode on which my first guitar teacher appeared. I’ve also poked around youtube hoping like mad that there was any footage of (again, Philaldelphia) WPVI’s weatherman Jim O’Brien – there’s the tribute stuff from when he was killed, but I’d love to see one of his funny weather predictions again. I was just a kid, but I thought he was the funniest thing ever. I was quite happy when someone put up John Lennon’s version of local Philly weather – I was also little when this happened, and for years I couldn’t get people to believe me that John Lennon (who was a friend of Larry Kane, another WPVI newsman) did a guest appearance as the weatherman (JL was down in Philly to do the Mike Douglas show). It’s not the entire clip, but at least I could prove to a skeptical friend that I wasn’t crazy! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oBZHs9JZvdI/hqdefault.jpg "John Lennon - Weather report (1975）") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBZHs9JZvdI) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/39 "2012-03-18T15:35:52Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Mine is a movie (I think) that I saw at the drive-in. But I may have mixed up some of my memories about it. > > I was very young so it would have to have been in the early to mid sixties. One of the actors was a young Indian boy and he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I fell deeply in love, as only a six to ten year old little girl can. He took my breath away and I cried myself to sleep for weeks over him. Now I have no clue who this was. It may have been a Johnny Quest movie or something. I’ve googled a bit, but can’t find anything that matches my vague memories. _Maya_ (1966) with teen idol Sajid Khan (befriending a post-Dennis the Menace Jay North)? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099/40 "2012-03-18T15:38:49Z")
The Great Lost TV Sitcom is _Remember WENN_. It ran for several seasons on AMC long before Mad Men. Everybody loved the series, which was entirely written by Rupert Holmes who is brilliant despite being stuck with that idiot Pina Colada Song tag as the one thing people know about him. You can find bunches of fan websites for the show and pleading invocations for it to be issued on any format. DVD. Videotape. Laser disk. 8" floppies. It never has. And there has never been any explanation why or why not. It can’t even be a problem with the song rights - the thing that plagued _WKRP in Cincinnati_ - because Holmes wrote all the music - perfect pastiches of 40s hits. You can’t even find it in syndication because the first three seasons were shot as full 30 minutes episodes, meaning that either they’re cut to pieces for a 30-minute with commercials timeslot or given the hated 45-minute one. If there were any explanation it wouldn’t be as frustrating. As it is it’s just bizarre. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-tv-holy-grails/616099.md?page=3)