Question: I remember the show Burke's Law from the '90s or so, but wasn't there an earlier version of it on TV some years before? Thanks.
Answer: That there was, Drew. The original Burke's Law, which starred Gene Barry as L.A. chief of detectives Amos Burke when it launched — he became secret agent Amos Burke in the show's last season, when it was titled Amos Burke — Secret Agent — ran on ABC for two and a half years beginning in September 1963.
If Barry'd stuck to the way he'd been thinking about TV a couple of years earlier, however, he'd never have stepped into the role, which was first played by Dick Powell a couple of seasons before on Dick Powell Theatre. Barry didn't really like TV, and after leaving his previous show, Bat Masterson,
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Question: TVGuide.com's Entertainment News reported that "Nia Vardalos is penning Talk of the Town, a big fat star vehicle for Tom Hanks." Is this a remake of the Cary Grant/Jean Arthur movie The Talk of the Town, or is it a different story with the same title?Answer: I'm thinking totally different story with the same title. All I've heard about the plot of the new Talk of the Town, which My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) writer and star Nia Vardalos is writing from an idea by Tom Hanks, is that it involves a man (presumably Hanks) who's suddenly forced to make an unexpected career change. This doesn't sound at all to me like the vintage dark comedy
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Question: I recently watched a marathon of Andy Griffith shows, and on one Goober does an imitation of Cary Grant where he says "Judy, Judy, Judy!" Can you tell me what movie that line is from?
Answer: Cary Grant never said the line "Judy, Judy, Judy" in any movie, although in Only Angels Have Wings (1939) his sultry ex-wife's name is Judy (played by Rita Hayworth), and he does say "Susan, Susan, Susan" (to Katharine Hepburn, whose speech patterns were equally distinctive) in Bringing Up Baby (1938). And yet it's the st
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Question: When did directors start getting credits like “Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho," where their names are given as "owners" of their films?
Answer: That’s called a possessory credit, and popular belief is that it’s a product of the '50s, when directors began thinking of themselves as solo auteurs rather than parts of a collaborative team. This struck many other behind-the-scenes personnel, especially screenwriters, as a world-class case of too-big-for-their-britches syndrome. Otto Preminger lobbied hard for and got the especially lofty “A film by Otto Preminger” credit, which prompted a legendary exchange between director Billy Wilder and screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond. “That’s Otto Preminger’s house,” Wilder is supposed to have observed as they were driving, to which Diamond replied, “No, that’s ‘A House by Ot
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Question: I desperately need to find out the name of Clarence the Angel's book in It's a Wonderful Life — it's driving me crazy and no one can tell me.
I've heard that James Stewart wasn't the first choice to play George Bailey — is this true? I can't imagine anyone else in the role.Is it true that the Sesame Street Muppets Bert and Ernie are named after the policeman and cabdriver from It's a Wonderful Life?Answer: The It's a Wonderful Life (1946) questions always come thick and heavy at this time of year, and why not? It's a wonderful movie, and it's not nearly as sappy as you might think if you've only seen the snippets used ad nauseum in TV spots. Clarence's book is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain. Director
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