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- TV EPISODE GUIDES - VOLUME I
-
- D E D I C A T I O N
-
- By Don Hinkle, Jr.
-
- (c) Copyright VanDon Software Publishing, Co., 1992
-
-
- I'd like to dedicate this electronic-book, as well as this
- first volume, of my entire life, to everyone who has ever sat
- in front of a television set, and has been carried off to
- far-away lands and been mystified by travels impossible to
- man. To you, to me, to miracles!
-
- And to my daughter, Vanessa R. Davis-Hinkle. For always
- being there, through good and bad, thick and thin, high and
- low, in and out. For never giving up on me, and for always
- knowing that I was with you, even 600 miles away! And for
- having a smile, and answers when everything else seemed
- gloomy. Mere words can never say everything that I feel for
- you. You have made my life worth living, and I'll never
- stop loving you!
-
- I N T R O D U C T I O N
-
- The earliest memories I have are of the standard fixture in
- any civilized living room, the box, large or small, black or
- white, new or old, good or bad, working or just barely, the
- thing we call "the TV set." The magical light at the far
- end of the room, that brought a generation alive, and gave
- birth to the "boob tube" generation. A small box in
- reality, but infinite in theory. It was invented in the
- late 40s, and was made popular in the 50s. Today there is
- only one home out of a thousand that doesn't have one. Not
- bad for a "box" that was once thought of as a "passing
- fancy!"
-
- In my youth I traveled to far-away lands, distant planets,
- fought wars, made love, jumped out of planes, flew with
- Superman, made a fortune, lost a fortune, brought the car of
- my dreams, ventured underwater, made friends with a dolphin,
- tamed a grisly bear, cured diseases, fought racism,
- spelunked caves--and dreamed, as no other dreamer had before
- me. All 3 feet from the glowing wonder and without ever
- leaving my comfortable seat!
-
- I remember my favorite TV series was the Three Stooges, and
- quite to my suprize, it wasn't really a series, just old
- "shorts" edited into individual episodes. Much the same way
- the Little Rascals and Laurel and Hardy were. Whatever the
- cause, when I was a kid the Stooges "boomed" into the scene.
- Everyone I knew was watching. At school, everyone wanted
- to be Curly. Me? I wanted to be Shemp. I loved Curly, but
- figured Shemp was the odd man out, the one no one
- understood--just like me. As I got older I realized there
- were just three "Stooge stages." 1) You love them (usually
- as a kid). 2) You hate them (as you grow and become
- intellectual, they fall behind and become redundant). 3)
- You love them (you are now an adult. And "you are now in
- sing-sing!") You and I both came full-circle. In contrast,
- a bit of irony, women hate the Stooges. I never understood
- why they hate those loveable "morons."
-
- Other series I watched faithfully were Bosom Buddies,
- Superman, Spencer, Star Trek, Hogan's Heroes, the
- Honeymooners, the Great Gildersleeve, Sea Hunt, Robin Hood,
- the Patty Duke Show, My Two Dads, the A-Team, Doctor Who,
- MacGyver, Remington Steele, Riptide, Star Trek, and the all
- time classic, M*A*S*H. I loved them then, and I still love
- them now.
-
- I always dreamed of being Mike Nelson (Sea Hunt) and writing
- a book about my exploits. Later I dreamed of becoming a
- park/forest ranger. Unfortunately my life had a different
- calling and I ended up in other places, far from my dream.
- But I still carried the passion to write a book. One day I
- told my daughter that I was again thinking about all the
- things I had yet to accomplish in my life. She told me "if
- you feel like a book, I know it will be great." This is
- that book. However, I soon discovered it would be more than
- "just a book." It is the culmination of 50+ years of
- television history. So much history infact, that it had to
- be broken into several volumes. It was either that, or a
- hard drive dedicated to this television history!
-
- Instead of writing a hard cover book, limiting me to a
- select market, I wanted to share my passions with the people
- who share with me. Hence, the "electronic book." According
- to modern statistics, the same people who faithfully watch
- TV, are they same people who own a computer. MY PEOPLE!, MY
- FRIENDS!, MY FELLOW TRAVELLERS!!!
-
- G E T T I N G D O W N T O I T
-
- Have you ever watched a favorite show on late-night TV and
- wondered when the show was filmed or taped? Have you
- watched a show where the characters were old one day, a teen
- the next, and 30 the day after that? Have you seen a show
- in black & white in one episode, and color the next? Have
- you wondered where "so-n-so" entered the series? Have you
- wondered what shows Mel Blanc guested in? Have you heard
- that both Alan Alda and Mike Farrell wrote and directed
- episodes of M*A*S*H, and you wish you knew which they were?
- Or who produced what episode, directed, or even wrote a
- certain show? Or perhaps, which show an actor or actress
- started in?
-
- Do you even know the title to your favorite episode? Hummm.
- I'll bet you didn't even know that each episode of a show
- carries a "production title." This is what they go by when
- filming it! It is also referred to as a "working title,"
- "show title" or "episode title." For example, the first
- episode of Superman (1951) was called "Superman On Earth."
- Or the episode of Lost In Space featuring John Carradine as
- the guest was titled "the Galaxy Gift." And a classic, the
- Honeymooners episode where everyone in the building is
- learning to dance, except Ralph. Oh yes! He does the
- Hucklebuck! The episode was titled "Mama Loves Mambo."
-
- Every show has them, but very few shows "present" them. You
- will never see a "production title" on M*A*S*H, the Jack
- Benny Show, Growing Pains, Three's Company, Bewitched, Happy
- Days, Father Knows Best and most others. You will see titles
- on Superman (the early episodes only, later they stopped
- presenting them), Batman, F Troop, the A-Team and a select
- few. (Generally, the rule is that all mystery, crime and
- drama, and most detective shows present them (Charlie's
- Angels, the Equalizer, Murder She Wrote, etc.), where comedy
- and campy-shows don't). I took a few years, to present them
- all, just for you! Now with these "Episode Guides" you can
- have every show, every title, every plot (story), every
- director, writer, producer on your desktop for instant
- reference.
-
- Since it was impossible to put every show ever known to man
- on a single volume, I have broken the volumes into nice
- little "packages." Each package has shows from the 50s,
- 60s, 70, and some include the 80s (due to the fact that
- shows from the 80s are still in negotiations for
- syndication). Those that were too long (Like Doctor Who for
- instance) were given volumes of their very own. Each
- episode of Doctor Who is actually a movie length show,
- edited into one large show, from 6-8 (more or less)
- "serials" which were shown each week). In each volume you
- are sure to find a show that you love!
-
- Currently available are 25 volumes, and that number is
- growing every day! If you don't find your favorite show in
- any of the volumes, I assure you, it will be here soon!
- This is what I do, and what I love. If however, you cannot
- find your favorite show on a volume, drop me a line and I'll
- try to accommodate you in every way possible.
-
- H E R E W E G O...!
-
- Every show has a plot that the progression follows. This is
- the script that they work by. Without the script, there
- would be no show. Our lives would be pretty boring, to say
- the least. However, even though there are millions of shows
- on reruns (professionally known as "syndication") there are
- still only a handful of plots of which most shows have lived
- by, and some have died by. Historians have commonly
- believed that there was never anything new under the sun,
- just rehashed ideas, made into new things. If this is true,
- than it is certainly true for the TV generations.
-
- A brief summation of all the standard plots that well known
- shows have used (or will follow). You can find these plots
- (aka "stories") hard at work in Family matters, Mr.
- Belvedere, Growing Pains, Who's the Boss?, and just about
- any TV show, past or present, even future, on prime time.
-
- STANDARD PLOTS
-
- * Someone wins a shopping spree.
- * Someone is challenged to an event (usually sports related)
- that they cannot possibly match.
- * Someone initiates an endless string of practical jokes,
- that soon gets out of control.
- * A group (friends, coworkers, etc.) go on a "primal"
- camping trip, to get in touch with their "primal self."
- * A back to nature episode.
- * Someone is chosen to do a commercial.
- * Someone is obsessed with someone or something.
- * An episode where everyone is old (usually through a dream
- sequence), except one person in the cast.
- * Someone gets "flashed" or robbed. (The perpetrator is
- usually caught).
- * Someone wants to get a tatoo, to show their affection for
- a loved one.
- * Someone buys a dump of a house, or a beat up old wreck of
- a car.
- * Someone (usually a family member) goes on a disastrous
- camping trip.
- * A horrible new neighbor moves in.
- * Someone inept fixes something around the house, (usually
- turns into a disaster.)
- * Someone elopes
- * Someone buys a stolen car or motorcycle.
- * A high school reunion episode.
- * An old friend returns, who is now a celebrity, or rock
- star.
- * An old friend returns, who hasn't changed a bit, but
- everyone else has.
- * Someone (usually friends) go on a trip of some kind, gets
- stranded, and nearly starve to death.
- * Someone doesn't make the basketball, (football, baseball,
- etc.) team.
- * Someone walks out on an unfair job.
- * Two old friends fall in love.
- * Someone gets a sexually transmitted disease.
- * Someone gets a promotion, and turns into a tyrant.
- * Someone gets married to avoid being deported.
- * Someone steals a friend's girlfriend.
- * The family goes to court (usually over something petty).
- * Someone moves in with the family.
- * Someone dies (and is usually replaced).
- * Someone moves out.
- * Someone cheats on a school test.
- * The house is robbed.
- * A fire.
- * A natural disaster.
- * Someone mistakenly thinks they've gained a promotion.
- * Someone thinks they are dying.
- * Someone buys a business (usually turns out to be a
- "lemon.")
- * A sunburn at the beach, or tanning booth.
- * Someone contracts a cold, (flu, measles, chicken pocks,
- etc.) just in time to ruin a vacation or outing.
- * A visit to the hospital.
- * A "It's a Wonderful Life" takeoff, where the principal
- player (lead) dreams how his/her life could have been.
-
- STANDARD ISSUES
-
- * Medicare
- * The homeless
- * AIDS
- * Death
- * Taxes
- * Pregnancy (usually teens involved)
- * Marriage
- * Infertility
- * Divorce
- * Relationships
- * Loss of virginity
- * Rape (or date rape)
- * Prostitution
- * Drug abuse
- * V.D.
- * Drug addiction
- * Child molestation
- * Legal proceedings (a series all in its own!)
- * Religion
- * Homosexuality
- * Lesbianism
- * Activist groups
- * Earth Day
- * Deadly toxins
- * Poison
- * Television (really!)
- * Murder (many a series have been founded on this one!)
- * Gang violence
- * Repression of some sort
- * Depression
- * Suicide
- * Various "fad" illnesses
- * Animal cruelty
- * Harm to wildlife (dolphin trapping, seal clubbing, etc.)
-
- This is just a SAMPLE of the standard plots (stories) that
- so many shows use. They are commonly used on comedy, drama,
- adventure, detective and mystery shows. They have (or will
- be) used on every show ever known to modern man. These
- plots can be tooled to any show by the professional script
- writer, with little effort. They are indeed masters at
- their craft!
-
- AND NOW FOR THE GUIDES!
-
- --END OF CHAPTER--
-
- --NEXT CHAPTER, PLEASE--
-