Hotel
Return of Television Legends
July 03, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
In the 1986 song Modern Woman, Billy Joel sings, And after 1986, what else could be new?
Nothing if you consider the return of two television legends to the small screen
Their television personas were extraordinarily familiar to us.
Andy Griffith appeared as Atlanta-based attorney Ben Matlock in Matlock. The show aired on NBC from 1986 to 1992 and then switched to ABC where it aired from 1992 to 1995.
Matlock was a Harvard-educated but folksy defense attorney who had strong friendships with his staff and opposing counsel.
In the spring of 1986, Griffith reprised his hallmark role of Sheriff Andy Taylor in the NBC tv-movie Return To Mayberry. Its tremendous success, nostalgic appeal, and safe familiarity undoubtedly influenced NBC and Griffith to find a new but familiar television vehicle for him.
Simply, Matlock is Perry Mason by way of Sheriff Andy Taylor.
Former Andy Griffith Show co-stars Aneta Corsaut and Don Knotts made guest appearances on Matlock.
Unfortunately, Lucille Ball did not fare so well in the Fall of 1986.
She returned to television with the sitcom Life with Lucy on ABC. Co-starring with Ball was her familiar foil, Gale Gordon. He played her in-law. On the show, the daughter of Ball’s character was married to the son of Gordon’s character.
Life With Lucy only lasted a couple of months.
Aaron Spelling produced Life with Lucy with Douglas Cramer and E. Duke Vincent. The sitcom starring an aging but appealing legend contrasted with Spelling’s shows based in adventure, glitz, and glamour. Vega$. Charlie’s Angels. Hotel. The Love Boat. Hart to Hart.
During the mid-1980’s, nostalgia abounded. In the 1985 box office blockbuster Back to the Future, the story recaptured a slice of life in 1955, complete with fashion, music, and popular culture indicators.
Return to Mayberry recalled a simpler time when a transistor radio was the groundbreaking technology achievement for teenagers compared to the 1980’s Sony Walkman or today’s iPod.
Life with Lucy brought back the biggest comedienne of the 20th century in a pre-TGIF family sitcom.
Lucy was a grandmother in the show, not the young or middle-aged housewife or mother we remembered fondly from decades past. Was the show a mistake? Were the physical antics of a 75 year-old woman frightening rather than entertaining for the audience?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But there’s nothing wrong with bringing back a legend to recapture previous glory. The failure of Life With Lucy doesn’t make Ms. Ball’s work on the program any less significant compared to her other work on more popular shows.
She was, indeed, the same Lucy. She gave 1000 percent for her fellow castmates and the audience.
As Peter Allen once sang, Quiet please. There’s a lady on the stage. She may not be the latest rage. But she’s singing. And she means it.
david@davidkrell.com
In the 1986 song Modern Woman, Billy Joel sings, And after 1986, what else could be new?
Nothing if you consider the return of two television legends to the small screen
Their television personas were extraordinarily familiar to us.
Andy Griffith appeared as Atlanta-based attorney Ben Matlock in Matlock. The show aired on NBC from 1986 to 1992 and then switched to ABC where it aired from 1992 to 1995.
Matlock was a Harvard-educated but folksy defense attorney who had strong friendships with his staff and opposing counsel.
In the spring of 1986, Griffith reprised his hallmark role of Sheriff Andy Taylor in the NBC tv-movie Return To Mayberry. Its tremendous success, nostalgic appeal, and safe familiarity undoubtedly influenced NBC and Griffith to find a new but familiar television vehicle for him.
Simply, Matlock is Perry Mason by way of Sheriff Andy Taylor.
Former Andy Griffith Show co-stars Aneta Corsaut and Don Knotts made guest appearances on Matlock.
Unfortunately, Lucille Ball did not fare so well in the Fall of 1986.
She returned to television with the sitcom Life with Lucy on ABC. Co-starring with Ball was her familiar foil, Gale Gordon. He played her in-law. On the show, the daughter of Ball’s character was married to the son of Gordon’s character.
Life With Lucy only lasted a couple of months.
Aaron Spelling produced Life with Lucy with Douglas Cramer and E. Duke Vincent. The sitcom starring an aging but appealing legend contrasted with Spelling’s shows based in adventure, glitz, and glamour. Vega$. Charlie’s Angels. Hotel. The Love Boat. Hart to Hart.
During the mid-1980’s, nostalgia abounded. In the 1985 box office blockbuster Back to the Future, the story recaptured a slice of life in 1955, complete with fashion, music, and popular culture indicators.
Return to Mayberry recalled a simpler time when a transistor radio was the groundbreaking technology achievement for teenagers compared to the 1980’s Sony Walkman or today’s iPod.
Life with Lucy brought back the biggest comedienne of the 20th century in a pre-TGIF family sitcom.
Lucy was a grandmother in the show, not the young or middle-aged housewife or mother we remembered fondly from decades past. Was the show a mistake? Were the physical antics of a 75 year-old woman frightening rather than entertaining for the audience?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But there’s nothing wrong with bringing back a legend to recapture previous glory. The failure of Life With Lucy doesn’t make Ms. Ball’s work on the program any less significant compared to her other work on more popular shows.
She was, indeed, the same Lucy. She gave 1000 percent for her fellow castmates and the audience.
As Peter Allen once sang, Quiet please. There’s a lady on the stage. She may not be the latest rage. But she’s singing. And she means it.
Hotel
January 03, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
The Hotel television series was more a land-locked The Love Boat with revolving guest stars and less a hard-hitting drama.
Starring James Brolin as Peter McDermott, Hotel aired for five seasons, from 1983 to 1988.
Before Hotel was a 1980’s television series produced by Aaron Spelling, it was a 1967 movie starring Rod Taylor, Merle Oberon, Karl Malden, Kevin McCarthy, and Melvyn Douglas.
Before Hotel was a movie, it was a 1965 novel by Arthur Hailey.
While the television series was set at the fictional Saint Gregory Hotel in San Francisco, the movie and novel were both set at the fictional Saint Gregory Hotel in New Orleans.
Arthur Hailey’s origin story of Hotel takes place during one week in the life of the Saint Gregory, its employees, and its guests. The main character is Peter McDermott, the hotel’s General Manager with a past.
McDermott has to run the hotel while navigating a possible takeover, handling the aftermath of an attempted rape of a young woman by sons of prominent local businessmen, and tending to a mysterious guest who falls ill.
In addition, a Duke and Duchess are guests trying to avoid capture for a hit-and-run.
A local thief named Keycase Milne furthers his craft at the Saint Gregory.
An elevator with serious mechanical problems has potentially disastrous consequences.
And racial policies indicative of the deep south in the 1960’s manifest to the massive dismay of the president of a dentist convention at the Saint Gregory.
Hotel by Arthur Hailey.
Check it out.
Or should I say, “check in?”
david@davidkrell.com
The Hotel television series was more a land-locked The Love Boat with revolving guest stars and less a hard-hitting drama.
Starring James Brolin as Peter McDermott, Hotel aired for five seasons, from 1983 to 1988.
Before Hotel was a 1980’s television series produced by Aaron Spelling, it was a 1967 movie starring Rod Taylor, Merle Oberon, Karl Malden, Kevin McCarthy, and Melvyn Douglas.
Before Hotel was a movie, it was a 1965 novel by Arthur Hailey.
While the television series was set at the fictional Saint Gregory Hotel in San Francisco, the movie and novel were both set at the fictional Saint Gregory Hotel in New Orleans.
Arthur Hailey’s origin story of Hotel takes place during one week in the life of the Saint Gregory, its employees, and its guests. The main character is Peter McDermott, the hotel’s General Manager with a past.
McDermott has to run the hotel while navigating a possible takeover, handling the aftermath of an attempted rape of a young woman by sons of prominent local businessmen, and tending to a mysterious guest who falls ill.
In addition, a Duke and Duchess are guests trying to avoid capture for a hit-and-run.
A local thief named Keycase Milne furthers his craft at the Saint Gregory.
An elevator with serious mechanical problems has potentially disastrous consequences.
And racial policies indicative of the deep south in the 1960’s manifest to the massive dismay of the president of a dentist convention at the Saint Gregory.
Hotel by Arthur Hailey.
Check it out.
Or should I say, “check in?”