We’re very excited to announce that TV Time Machine is now being syndicated to terrestrial radio by RadioLinx Syndication. If your radio station is interested in carrying TV Time Machine, click on this link for more information: http://www.radio-linx.com/catalog.htm
Jim Benson, Host
TV Time Machine
With North Korea’s recent missile launch, some might argue that Kim Jong Il is pulling the world’s strings.
But in 2004, the North Korean dictator was having his strings pulled, courtesy of two filmmakers who were inspired by a trio of classic TV Shows.
In the early 1960’s, British TV producer Gerry Anderson perfected the art of animating puppets for a series of children’s action shows titled Stingray, Thunderbirds, and Fireball XL5. Forty years later, Trey Parker and Matt Stone drew upon their fond memories of these classic kids shows, and the satirical skills developed on their animated show South Park, creating a group of puppet terrorist-busters, blowing away the likes of Kim Jong Il, in their motion picture epic entitled… Team America: World Police.
Jim Benson
Host, TV Time Machine
When Syracuse University TV History Professor Robert J. Thompson joined me on my radio show TV Time Machine, we discussed several moments in TV history that changed the medium forever.
Not the least of which was the history of toilets on the tube. Because as far as TV was concerned, human beings never felt the necessity to visit the bathroom. That is, until 1971. That was the year that the ground-breaking situation comedy All in the Family debuted. In that year, the character of Archie Bunker proceeded to go upstairs (literally), treating millions of television viewers to the sound of the “Flush Heard ‘Round the World.”
When All in the Family took that plunge, TV characters finally came out of the water closet–parting the waters for future TV generations!
Click here to hear more:
http://www.tvtimemachine.com/radio_story.htm
Jim Benson
Host, TV Time Machine
Just in time for Christmas, Lee Mendelson (producer of the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas) came on TV Time Machine to talk about the beloved Peanuts special.
As with many successful people, Mr. Mendelson attributed his break in being able to produce A Charlie Brown Christmas, to luck and serendipity. In reality, it was the fact that he worked for many years toiling at TV station KPIX in San Francisco and his decision to start his own production company that created the very luck that led to Lee Mendelson meeting Charles Schultz.
In 1963, Lee Mendelson’s production company had produced a TV documentary about Willie Mays. Charles Schultz had seen the special and was impressed by it, so when Mr. Mendelson approached Schultz with the idea of creating a holiday special featuring the Peanuts gang, Charles Schultz was all for it. Aired in 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas was an instant success.
And the rest they say… is history!
Jim Benson, Host of TV Time Machine
Probably the best Mad Men fan site (blog) on the web is Basket of Kisses (named after the classic line uttered by Peggy the secretary in the Mad Men episode Babylon) run (appropriately) by the Lipp sisters, Deborah and Roberta. If you’re a fan of Mad Men, check out this great blogsite, you’ll be glad you did!
Jim Benson
Host, TV Time Machine Internet Radio Show
Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner was an absolutely terrific guest when he came on TV Time Machine–funny, perceptive and introspective. With my co-host Lisa Rothstein (who served as copywriter and creative director at Young & Rubicam and Ogilvy & Mather), he talked about how he admired the work of Rod Serling, the sexism depicted on the show, and all those wild and crazy ad execs toking endlessly on their high-tar cigarettes.
What really surprised me was what he said about some younger people and what they have said about the issue; some insisting that people NEVER smoked indoors. That’s why Matthew Weiner said the following on TV Time Machine:
“I’ve been shocked by the reaction to the smoking in the series,” says Weiner. “People are in cultural denial to its existence, when it really didn’t disappear in the workplace until the 1990’s. There’s a real moral superiority about it now, but back then it was really as common as eating. I wanted the smoking in the show because it was such a great irony. To see a society in this mass denial, where adults are unaware of what they’re doing. The image of who we are and what’s being sold to us and what the reality of it is—it’s such an integral part of that irony.”
“Pall Mall Famous Cigarettes–outstanding…and they are mild!”
Jim Benson
Host, TV Time Machine Internet Radio Show
By Chris Korman, TV Time Machine Guest Blogger
It would be nice to see more variety shows on the air today like The Carol Burnett Show. Because the variety of shows we have now are awful and a have no suspense. And the ‘variety’ shows that are on the air exhibit very little variety. It would be nice to get a break from endless CSI’s and mindless sitcoms.
I know I’m asking a lot because The Carol Burnett Show was truly special. It had four fun loving, versatile performers in Carol, Harvey, Lyle, Vicki, and then eventually, Tim. Carol did classic spoofs like Went with the Wind and Mildred Pierce (not to mention Torchy Song with Carol playing Jennie Driver and my father Harvey Korman playing Ty Crackaby the blink piano player—which in and of itself is pretty funny!).
And unlike a lot of current day TV, Carol wasn’t mean-spirited on her show. There should be more shows like Carol Burnett but unfortunately, there aren’t too many writers like Barry Levinson, Jay Tarses, Tom Patchett and Buz Kohan working in television today.
I would love to hear from other TV lovers about what their favorite shows were—or are!
One more thing… I wish TV Land would air the Burnett show again! 
Exciting news! Chris Korman, son of the late, great comedian Harvey Korman (The Carol Burnett Show, Blazing Saddles), will be a guest blogger on TV Time Machine starting this week.
In addition to my regular TV Time Machine posts, Chris will also be frequently sharing his unique, one-of-a-kind perspectives on television’s past and present, as well as his insider’s view on TV comedy and the many celebrities whom Chris has known and admired over the past thirty years.
So look out for Chris Korman’s fascinating thoughts, anecdotes, and 
perspectives about television–both vintage and modern-day–on the TV Time Machine blog!
Jim Benson
Host, TV Time Machine Internet Radio Show
There was a fair amount of trepidation a few years back when it was announced that Daniel Craig was to replace Pierce Brosnan as the new James Bond in an updated version of Casino Royale. The concern was misplaced, as Craig and the film were a hit. Now, fans and general audiences are eagerly anticipating the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.
But it’s interesting to note that Daniel Craig’s taciturn take on the Bond character in Casino Royale was not the first. Most remember the more comic version of the movie starring David Niven in 1967, however it was a 1954 live TV version of Ian Fleming’s best-selling novel that introduced the story and James Bond to mass audiences. Aired on the anthology series Climax!, Barry Nelson was the first to play Bond on screen, co-starring Peter Lorre and Linda Christian (the very first Bond girl!). Take a look at this video; Nelson’s interpretation is also taciturn, matter-of-fact, but unlike Daniel Craig, very un-British!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LExo2VgTZuA
Jim Benson
Host, TV Time Machine Internet Radio Show
Until his involvement in Universal Home Entertainment’s release of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery Season Two on DVD, it wasn’t widely known that the classic 1970’s horror series was director Guillermo Del Toro’s primary creative inspiration.
As the Academy Award-nominated director said on my Internet radio show TV Time Machine www.tvtimemachine.com , “Night Gallery is a seminal work in my life. If you look at the movies I do, there’s always a little something of Gallery. I first started noticing filmic style watching the show. It has informed Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone, Hellboy 2 and basically everything else.”
It’s fortunate that someone of the stature of Guillermo Del Toro is standing up for this remarkable series. Considering its pedigree, one must marvel at how this TV series has been neglected over the years. Rod Serling wrote some of his finest scripts for the show, including the Emmy-nominated, “They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar.” Steven Spielberg made his directorial debut on NG, as did Leonard Nimoy. Director John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, War Games) also cut his teeth on the series.
Diane Keaton made her acting debut on the show. Vincent Price, Joan Crawford, Lindsay Wagner, David McCallum, Pat Boone (and the list goes on), all contributed heavily to NG. However, over the years, the series has either been reviled or ignored, thrust in the background, lost in the shadows cast by the considerably more popular and critically lauded The Twilight Zone.
Fortunately, through his contributions to the Season Two DVD set and doing extensive interviews about his passion for the show, Guillermo Del Toro is helping cast Night Gallery in a different light, while introducing a new generation of fans to this remarkable TV series.
Thank goodness for GDT!
Jim Benson TV Time Machine Blog 
