New releases announced today, April 18:The Color Honeymooners - Collection 4 will be coming out August 26 Visit TVShowsOnDVD.com for the complete stories on these and other news items.
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Question: I was looking through the TV Guide Online feature on old TV listings and saw that in the early 1950s there was a fourth network, the DuMont network. I had never heard of it before, and I was wondering if you could give me a little background on it. What happened to it? And what happened to the shows that aired on it when the network went off the air? Thanks.
Answer: Well, Jane, it's actually a fairly convoluted story, but I'll see if I can give you the simple version. DuMont, the original fourth network, was the creation of electronics whiz Allen B. DuMont, who first made his name manufacturing cathode-ray tubes before moving into radio and then TV sets. His company experimented with TV broadcasting for years before getting its first commercial broadcast license in 1944 for what is now New York's WNYW. Two years later, as NBC started its three-station "East Coast Network," DuMont opened a Washington D.C. station and a rac
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Question: Last Monday you had a letter in which the writer decried the quality of today's comedies. He noted that the networks are at a disadvantage compared to HBO because of censorship. Here's my problem. The writer noted great comedies from the past 20 years, like Seinfeld, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, The Cosby Show. I can add other great comedies: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, M*A*S*H, Taxi, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy and many more. None of these great comedies needed a lack of censorship in order to be funny. Why do so many people think there has to be foul language and sex in order for a show to be good? All that's needed is quality writing, truly funny situations that people can relate to and some good acting, and you know what? You have a classic sitcom. What do you think?
Answer: I think you're right, of course. But try convincing today's generation of tone-deaf program executives to go with class over crass. You'd think
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