Sal
12-28-2007, 01:06 AM
My favourite classic TV website just keeps getting better! This week, TV4U.com, a site devoted to the early days of television, filled with many popular and rare shows from the 1950s and 1960s, has added its 2000th series, with plans to double that amount by the end of 2008, as mentioned here in yesterday's news blog:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/2007/12/blog-post.html
For those of you who haven't yet discovered this great site yet, here's a few basic things you need to know. It has 42 different channels that cover different genres from comedy to drama and various others like news, commercials, and sports. Many shows will appear on more than one channel. You may recognize some of the episodes from the many public domain DVDs that have turned up in the past year. The difference here is that they are all for free. You can watch them anytime you want from anywhere in the world. (Are you listening, AOL?) If you do prefer to watch your favourites on DVD, that's fine with me. I've got a bunch of them myself and I enjoy them a lot. This just happens to be an alternative to regular TV and DVDs, and a fairly good one at that. (Did I mention it was free?) Also, once a show appears, it stays there and doesn't get removed later, although the Christmas episodes might be a rare exception. One other thing. As far as I know, the company is not on strike. You don't have to wait 53 days (and counting...) for something new to watch. In fact, new stuff is added almost every day. To keep up with it all can be exhausting but still a lot of fun. To give you an idea of what to expect, here's a list of what is available on some of the channels:
The $64,000 Question
Admiral Broadway Revue (with Sid Caesar)
Alfred Hitchcock
The Andy Griffith Show
Annie Oakley
Bat Masterson
Beat The Clock
Betty Boop
Beulah
Blondie
Bonanza
Boston Blackie
Break The Bank
Captain Video
Casper The Friendly Ghost
Cavalcade Of Stars (with Jackie Gleason)
Christmas specials
The Cisco Kid
The Colgate Comedy Hour (separate episodes with Abbott and Costello and Martin and Lewis)
Commercials (various products)
Concentration
Dick Tracy
Do You Trust Your Wife? (hosted by Edgar Bergen)
Dragnet (the original version)
DuMont Network series (1948-56)
Dusty's Trail (starring Bob Denver)
Ellery Queen
Flash Gordon
Four Star Playhouse
The Frank Sinatra Show
Fury
G E Theatre (hosted by Ronald Reagan)
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
Gomer Pyle USMC
Green Acres
Gumby
Highway Patrol
Howdy Doody
I Married Joan
I've Got A Secret
The Jimmy Durante Show
The Johnny Carson Show (early 1950s)
Judge Roy Bean
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp
Lassie
Lawrence Welk
Liberace
Life With Elizabeth
Little Rascals
Lost In Space
Love That Bob/The Bob Cummings Show
Make Room For Daddy
Mannix
Medic
Meet Corliss Archer
The Mothers in Law
Mr Ed
Mr Peepers
Mr and Mrs North
One Step Beyond
Our Miss Brooks (Just added last week!)
Paul Winchell
People Are Funny
Petticoat Junction
Play Your Hunch
Popeye
Porky Pig
Private Secretary
Queen For A Day
Racket Squad
Ramar Of The Jungle
Rango (starring Tim Conway)
Red Skelton
Richard Diamond
Robin Hood
Rocky Jones Space Ranger
Roy Rogers
Search For Tomorrow
See It Now
Sergeant Preston Of The Yukon
Sherlock Holmes
Sir Lancelot
Sky King
Stoney Burke
Studio One
Sugarfoot
Texaco Star Theatre (Milton Berle)
The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet
The Alan Young Show (before Mr. Ed)
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Jack Benny Program
The Life Of Riley
The Lone Ranger
The Loretta Young Show
The Lucy Show
The Morey Amsterdam Show
The Munsters
The Price Is Right (the original version with Bill Cullen)
The Rifleman
The Shari Lewis Show
The Three Stooges
Topper
Trouble With Father
Truth Or Consequences (hosted by Bob Barker)
Twenty-One (Stempel vs Van Doren)
Wagon Train
Who Do You Trust? (hosted by Johnny Carson)
Wild Kingdom
Wyatt Earp
You Asked For It
You Bet Your Life
Your Hit Parade
Zorro
You can find ALL these shows and more right here:
http://www.tv4u.com/index.asp
That is very, very impressive! I told you it was exhausting, and that's just from writing down all the titles. I also said that this list is expected to double in the next year so you know that it's been a success so far. Anyway, I'll be letting you know from time to time if anything new happens. You'll be sure to see it first right here!
Personally, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for "Dobie Gillis".....
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/2007/12/blog-post.html
For those of you who haven't yet discovered this great site yet, here's a few basic things you need to know. It has 42 different channels that cover different genres from comedy to drama and various others like news, commercials, and sports. Many shows will appear on more than one channel. You may recognize some of the episodes from the many public domain DVDs that have turned up in the past year. The difference here is that they are all for free. You can watch them anytime you want from anywhere in the world. (Are you listening, AOL?) If you do prefer to watch your favourites on DVD, that's fine with me. I've got a bunch of them myself and I enjoy them a lot. This just happens to be an alternative to regular TV and DVDs, and a fairly good one at that. (Did I mention it was free?) Also, once a show appears, it stays there and doesn't get removed later, although the Christmas episodes might be a rare exception. One other thing. As far as I know, the company is not on strike. You don't have to wait 53 days (and counting...) for something new to watch. In fact, new stuff is added almost every day. To keep up with it all can be exhausting but still a lot of fun. To give you an idea of what to expect, here's a list of what is available on some of the channels:
The $64,000 Question
Admiral Broadway Revue (with Sid Caesar)
Alfred Hitchcock
The Andy Griffith Show
Annie Oakley
Bat Masterson
Beat The Clock
Betty Boop
Beulah
Blondie
Bonanza
Boston Blackie
Break The Bank
Captain Video
Casper The Friendly Ghost
Cavalcade Of Stars (with Jackie Gleason)
Christmas specials
The Cisco Kid
The Colgate Comedy Hour (separate episodes with Abbott and Costello and Martin and Lewis)
Commercials (various products)
Concentration
Dick Tracy
Do You Trust Your Wife? (hosted by Edgar Bergen)
Dragnet (the original version)
DuMont Network series (1948-56)
Dusty's Trail (starring Bob Denver)
Ellery Queen
Flash Gordon
Four Star Playhouse
The Frank Sinatra Show
Fury
G E Theatre (hosted by Ronald Reagan)
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
Gomer Pyle USMC
Green Acres
Gumby
Highway Patrol
Howdy Doody
I Married Joan
I've Got A Secret
The Jimmy Durante Show
The Johnny Carson Show (early 1950s)
Judge Roy Bean
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp
Lassie
Lawrence Welk
Liberace
Life With Elizabeth
Little Rascals
Lost In Space
Love That Bob/The Bob Cummings Show
Make Room For Daddy
Mannix
Medic
Meet Corliss Archer
The Mothers in Law
Mr Ed
Mr Peepers
Mr and Mrs North
One Step Beyond
Our Miss Brooks (Just added last week!)
Paul Winchell
People Are Funny
Petticoat Junction
Play Your Hunch
Popeye
Porky Pig
Private Secretary
Queen For A Day
Racket Squad
Ramar Of The Jungle
Rango (starring Tim Conway)
Red Skelton
Richard Diamond
Robin Hood
Rocky Jones Space Ranger
Roy Rogers
Search For Tomorrow
See It Now
Sergeant Preston Of The Yukon
Sherlock Holmes
Sir Lancelot
Sky King
Stoney Burke
Studio One
Sugarfoot
Texaco Star Theatre (Milton Berle)
The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet
The Alan Young Show (before Mr. Ed)
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Jack Benny Program
The Life Of Riley
The Lone Ranger
The Loretta Young Show
The Lucy Show
The Morey Amsterdam Show
The Munsters
The Price Is Right (the original version with Bill Cullen)
The Rifleman
The Shari Lewis Show
The Three Stooges
Topper
Trouble With Father
Truth Or Consequences (hosted by Bob Barker)
Twenty-One (Stempel vs Van Doren)
Wagon Train
Who Do You Trust? (hosted by Johnny Carson)
Wild Kingdom
Wyatt Earp
You Asked For It
You Bet Your Life
Your Hit Parade
Zorro
You can find ALL these shows and more right here:
http://www.tv4u.com/index.asp
That is very, very impressive! I told you it was exhausting, and that's just from writing down all the titles. I also said that this list is expected to double in the next year so you know that it's been a success so far. Anyway, I'll be letting you know from time to time if anything new happens. You'll be sure to see it first right here!
Personally, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for "Dobie Gillis".....