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Tom Shales Quotes

I always thought I’d buy my mother a house if I ever became successful - a big, beautiful house on the nicest street in town. It didn’t exactly work out that way. I was still borrowing money from her in my 40s Picture Quote #1

Leave It to Beaver,’ which ran from 1957 until 1963, was one of the strangest, sweetest, most distinctive domestic sitcoms of television’s celebrated Golden Age Picture Quote #1

So it is that one side effect of the HD revolution has been the gratifying and edifying return of the nature documentary - films about the hugely varied forms of life that eat, sleep, stalk, mate, fight, thrive, suffer and struggle on our dear and embattled old Earth Picture Quote #1

Your humble critic confesses that he has been wrestling with ‘weight issues’ since leaving college lo these, uh, several years ago, so it’s hard to be receptive to the moralistic scolding and patronizing encouragement offered endlessly by the allegedly well-meaning Picture Quote #1

Robert Osborne either has the best job in the world, or comes very close. As millions of viewers know, Osborne is the resident host of the great Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel, the most reliable source of pure enchantment in the cable universe Picture Quote #1

It might be hard to remember this far back, but once upon a time, some of us hoped that public TV would develop into a smart, sophisticated, civilized alternative to commercial TV - not a cheap imitation of it Picture Quote #1

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Maybe Larry Kings cannot thrive or even survive in a world where the norms for discourse are rage, vehemence and character assassination. King wanted to be liked, not feared; admired, not loathed Picture Quote #1

Minute to Win It’ is a variation on a game show from the 1950s called ‘Beat the Clock,’ in which contestants won washing machines and fox stoles by doing such pointless stunts as catching a tennis ball in a paper cup or knocking a hat off one’s wife’s head with a whipped-cream spritzer Picture Quote #1

Making music on TV used to be as common as commercials. In the 60s and 70s, prime time was stuffed with variety shows headlined by such major and treasured talents as Carol Burnett, Red Skelton, the Smothers Brothers and Richard Pryor, who had a very brief comedy-variety hour on NBC that was censored literally to death Picture Quote #1

American Idol’ is sometimes lumped with reality shows and it has that element - folks-next-door battling it out in a contest. But instead of fighting leeches, bugs, parasites and each other, as on CBS’s ‘Survivor’ and other shows that imitate it, the ‘American Idol’ contestants, of course, sing Picture Quote #1

Why, on my mother’s birthday, am I thinking about ‘Father Knows Best?’ At our house, mother knew best at least as often as father did, but then the title of the old sitcom, a homogenized portrait of American family life, was meant to be slightly sardonic Picture Quote #1

Perhaps Western civilization is in a post-decline phase, or maybe the decline is just taking a really long time, like the Roman Empire’s did. The Romans had gladiators and Christian-hungry lions and that sort of thing. We have MTV Picture Quote #1

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Late-night television is like the cereal aisle in the supermarket: too many choices. Also, too many ‘different’ brands that really aren’t different at all Picture Quote #1

Technically, ‘Kukla, Fran and Ollie’ was a kids’ show, but adults watched almost religiously - and we’re talking adult adults, celebrated adults - including James Thurber, Orson Welles, John Steinbeck, Adlai E. Stevenson and lyricist Stephen Sondheim Picture Quote #1

No matter how much programming improves, however, media savants tend to see the medium living out numbered days. It’s feared that the Internet will do to TV what TV did to the movies in the 1950s. But instead of panicking, the networks are finding ways to co-opt the Web Picture Quote #1

The once inviolate frame within which programs or commercials were displayed on television - always separately - has been violated to a pulp. Program content is seen increasingly as a mere backdrop on which ads are posted like billboards on a fence Picture Quote #1

Crime dramas will never go away as long as people turn to television for, among other things, reassurance and comfort Picture Quote #1

Maybe it’s the hair. Maybe it’s the teeth. Maybe it’s the intellect. No, it’s the hair Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

I always thought I’d buy my mother a house if I ever became successful - a big, beautiful house on the nicest street in town. It didn’t exactly work out that way. I was still borrowing money from her in my 40s. (Tom Shales Quotes) Leave It to Beaver,’ which ran from 1957 until 1963, was one of the strangest, sweetest, most distinctive domestic sitcoms of television’s celebrated Golden Age. (Tom Shales Quotes) So it is that one side effect of the HD revolution has been the gratifying and edifying return of the nature documentary - films about the hugely varied forms of life that eat, sleep, stalk, mate, fight, thrive, suffer and struggle on our dear and embattled old Earth. (Tom Shales Quotes) Your humble critic confesses that he has been wrestling with ‘weight issues’ since leaving college lo these, uh, several years ago, so it’s hard to be receptive to the moralistic scolding and patronizing encouragement offered endlessly by the allegedly well-meaning. (Tom Shales Quotes) Robert Osborne either has the best job in the world, or comes very close. As millions of viewers know, Osborne is the resident host of the great Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel, the most reliable source of pure enchantment in the cable universe. (Tom Shales Quotes) It might be hard to remember this far back, but once upon a time, some of us hoped that public TV would develop into a smart, sophisticated, civilized alternative to commercial TV - not a cheap imitation of it. (Tom Shales Quotes) Maybe Larry Kings cannot thrive or even survive in a world where the norms for discourse are rage, vehemence and character assassination. King wanted to be liked, not feared; admired, not loathed. (Tom Shales Quotes) Minute to Win It’ is a variation on a game show from the 1950s called ‘Beat the Clock,’ in which contestants won washing machines and fox stoles by doing such pointless stunts as catching a tennis ball in a paper cup or knocking a hat off one’s wife’s head with a whipped-cream spritzer. (Tom Shales Quotes) Making music on TV used to be as common as commercials. In the 60s and 70s, prime time was stuffed with variety shows headlined by such major and treasured talents as Carol Burnett, Red Skelton, the Smothers Brothers and Richard Pryor, who had a very brief comedy-variety hour on NBC that was censored literally to death. (Tom Shales Quotes) American Idol’ is sometimes lumped with reality shows and it has that element - folks-next-door battling it out in a contest. But instead of fighting leeches, bugs, parasites and each other, as on CBS’s ‘Survivor’ and other shows that imitate it, the ‘American Idol’ contestants, of course, sing. (Tom Shales Quotes) Why, on my mother’s birthday, am I thinking about ‘Father Knows Best?’ At our house, mother knew best at least as often as father did, but then the title of the old sitcom, a homogenized portrait of American family life, was meant to be slightly sardonic. (Tom Shales Quotes) Perhaps Western civilization is in a post-decline phase, or maybe the decline is just taking a really long time, like the Roman Empire’s did. The Romans had gladiators and Christian-hungry lions and that sort of thing. We have MTV (Tom Shales Quotes) Late-night television is like the cereal aisle in the supermarket: too many choices. Also, too many ‘different’ brands that really aren’t different at all (Tom Shales Quotes) Technically, ‘Kukla, Fran and Ollie’ was a kids’ show, but adults watched almost religiously - and we’re talking adult adults, celebrated adults - including James Thurber, Orson Welles, John Steinbeck, Adlai E. Stevenson and lyricist Stephen Sondheim (Tom Shales Quotes) No matter how much programming improves, however, media savants tend to see the medium living out numbered days. It’s feared that the Internet will do to TV what TV did to the movies in the 1950s. But instead of panicking, the networks are finding ways to co-opt the Web (Tom Shales Quotes) The once inviolate frame within which programs or commercials were displayed on television - always separately - has been violated to a pulp. Program content is seen increasingly as a mere backdrop on which ads are posted like billboards on a fence (Tom Shales Quotes) Crime dramas will never go away as long as people turn to television for, among other things, reassurance and comfort (Tom Shales Quotes) Maybe it’s the hair. Maybe it’s the teeth. Maybe it’s the intellect. No, it’s the hair (Tom Shales Quotes)