William Hartnell - Doctor Who & The Smugglers

Doctor Who & The Smugglers was William Hartnell's penultimate adventure as the time travelling Time Lord. Joining William as the good Doctor were, Michael Craze as Merchant Seaman Ben Jackson & Anneke Wills as Polly the trendy secretary.

The letter above was written to the Radio Times back in 1965 letting the BBC know just how much the series was being enjoyed.

It's a Knockout - Remembering Stuart Hall

There can be no-one in the history of It's A Knockout who so personified and represented everything that the fun and games were about as Stuart Hall. A gifted wordsmith with an infectious sense of humour and a laugh that millions will never forget, Hall has excelled in a diverse cross-section of broadcasting since the 50s.

Stuart Hall was born on Christmas Day, but the year in question has been subject to speculation. In 1993, he told The Observer that he would be 64 and that can be verified elsewhere. However for some time Who's Who in Manchester used to include an entry for James Stuart Hall, born in 1934. Childhood was spent in the Cheshire town of Hyde and his early life with his father James Stuart, mother Mary and younger brother Keith, encompassed the family business of baking. He was educated at Glossop Grammar School, where he achieved high academic accolades, captained the football team and became head boy. He attended UMIST - the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology - and following his National Service, joined the family business as the Director of Catering.

Sporting endeavours were and are an integral part of his make up and as a young man he played professional football for Crystal Palace FC, playing in the position of wing half. His love of motor sport has remained constant; racing cars around circuits such as Silverstone and Oulton Park. So it was in 1957 at the Cheshire motor sport circuit of Oulton Park that the prowess for a career at the microphone began to blossom. In an interview for Loaded magazine he said he took to commentaries like fresh-water salmon to a river. He joined the BBC in 1959 and contributed to Sports Report, Radio Newsreel, A Question of Sport and Grandstand where in his role as a roving (or should that be raving?) reporter took him to a first assignment at a motorcycle scramble. QuizBall and Pot The Question were other national networked shows in which he took the chairman's seat.

The saga moves on to 1965 and the start of the BBC's production of regional news magazines across Britain. Look North was to be the vehicle from Manchester for all points from Windermere in the North to Crewe in the South. In a quarter of a century under various guises - Look North,Look North West and North West Tonight, Stuart became the face and voice of the region's output. He was to viewers in Blackpool and Rochdale what Alan Towers was in the Midlands, Ian Masters in East Anglia, Mike Neville in the North East and Bruce Parker in the South. He thrived in an environment where the hard, serious news of the day would be read and then anything could happen and usually did. It was the opportunity for Stuart to display his versatility. If you ever meet Stuart, ask him about the 1972 Christmas Pudding disaster and I'm sure you'll get the details at full throttle. As a viewer, what was really special on nights when Jeux Sans Frontières was due to be aired was that he would hand back to Nationwide in London by saying, "and don't forget to join me when Oldham represent Great Britain in Évry at 8.15pm tonight". Fantastic!!!

The BBC changed its local news output in the late 1980s. This was the era of John Birt's regime at the Corporation and Birt had a preference for hard news and little individualism. Other factors came into play too, but the love affair between the BBC and Stuart Hall had ended. It is regrettable that Stuart never got the opportunity to wish BBC viewers a final fond farewell in 1990.

Stuart characteristically bounced back and was soon found appearing rather than presenting on the local ITV news programme Granada Tonight, sparring with former rival Bob Greaves. He has participated in a plethora of programmes for Granada. Travellers Check, Stuart Hall's Christmas in Bosnia, Stuart's Hall of Fame, Quiz Night, God's Gift and The Way We Were are amongst an extensive list.

On radio, Sports Report has remained a constant motif for Stuart. His reports from Anfield (The Coliseum), Goodison Park (The School of Science), Maine Road (The Theatre of Base Comedy), Wembley Stadium (The Slope) etc, etc have now reached legendary status. He tells the listeners the story of the game, but it is wrapped in a language that some cannot comprehend, but others lap up to their heart's content. His descriptions of particular players are mind-blowing but often perceptive: Mick Jones of Leeds United was described as a sweating, plunging Lincolnshire dray, Wolves' Steve Kindon was likened to a runaway wardrobe, while Liverpool's Tommy Smith was compared to a dyspeptic water buffalo. His idiosyncratic reportage is an acquired taste. But when the BBC produced a cassette to celebrate Sports Report's 40th anniversary in 1988, there amongst all the famous events chronicled by some of the greatest exponents of the broadcasting art was Stuart's report on the 1987 Manchester derby match which remains priceless.

In 1998, when the BBC produced a book to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Sports Report, a chapter was devoted to Stuart's escapade at the 1977 European Cup Final in Rome. Having used up most of the local BBC funds to get a local view on events in the Eternal City, he was refused permission to enter the Olympic Stadium. The players and management of Liverpool FC thought differently and on the eve of the club's greatest achievement, film and sound equipment was smuggled into the dressing room via kit bags and Stuart was also kitted out with a tracksuit and a shirt with a number 14 on the back. He watched the Final from the substitutes bench alongside legendary striker John Toshack, collected souvenirs such as the shirt of Berti Vogts who had played for the losers of Borussia Monchengladbach, plus the dressing door key and most of all got the film of one of British football's greatest moments.

Also on the wireless, he hosted a regular Friday night programme on BBC Radio 2 from Manchester and for number of years in the 1980's, Stuart Hall's Sunday Sport on Radio 2's medium wave frequency. To give a flavour of the latter here are his opening remarks from a show in September 1987: "Welcome to Stuart Hall's Sunday entombed in the bowels of Broadcasting House in sun-kissed Londinium. The sun blazes down - or does it - and kisses are certainly not prevalent at our three main venues. It's deadly serious and climax time for Europe in the Ryder Cup Singles at Muirfield Village, Ohio - Ian Woosnam leads the charge at 2.30. In Spain, Nigel Mansell with paranoia, ruffled feathers and a $3000 dollar fine must win the Spanish Grand Prix to stay alive and in Brazil - My Boy - Wayne Gardner needs to win to take his first World Championship on two wheels".

So eventually to It's A Knockout and Jeux Sans Frontières. As you will know from viewing the website, Stuart's connection with the series began long before his arrival as main presenter in 1972. But in the decade from then,Knockout and Stuart Hall fitted in place together like a hand in glove. He has admitted that when he joined Knockout he thought the show was very downmarket and the balance between games of physical strength and slapstick needed to be addressed. It happened gradually and with each passing year the dream team of Stuart, Eddie and Arthur pulled in greater viewing audiences and the programme became a staple part of the BBC's summer and autumn schedules. I have yet to hear anyone else on television introduce a programme like Stuart did with Knockout. I have yet to hear any other broadcaster combine the duel tasks of projecting the atmosphere to viewers while maintaining the excitement at the venue so well. He was able to mix high levity and north country wit that gave the show an edge.

There is no doubt that through Knockout, Stuart had become ingrained on the conscience of the British viewing public. It has to be said that it was the famed laugh that brought notoriety and acclaim in equal measure to Stuart. He has described laughter as the safety valve in our often hard and serious lives. Some have suggested that his laugh could be turned on and off like a water tap, but laughter is a natural emotion for everyone and being a man of emotion and passion, for Stuart his hilarity was part of his make up and it became his trademark. The comic writer Barry Cryer once said the famous maxim, "he who laughs last, laughs longest" should be amended to "he who laughs last...is Stuart Hall". Knockout fans I'm certain would testify that the famous Penguins of Aix-Les-Bains in 1974 or the Budgies on show at Sherborne in 1981 would not have been as amusing if it wasn't for Stuart's raucous laughter while at the microphone. There are hundreds of similar examples that could be chosen, but a fitting tribute to the laugh would be from Willi Steinberg the Jeux Sans Frontières games designer for German television who once said to Stuart, "if you laugh, we know the game is good and funny".

In 1999, an early day motion was presented to the House of Commons in celebration of Stuart's forty years in broadcasting. The motion was endorsed by no less than eighty-two members of the club with the famous green benches. It congratulated Stuart Hall on his unique style that has endeared him to millions, his use of the English language in his football reporting that has made him an icon to the youth of today and a mellifluous voice redolent of Sinden and Gielgud intertwining Shakespeare, Keats and Wordsworth. I can only agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments of our elected representatives.

Stuart Hall - a Christmas child, a baker's boy and a television treasure, whose gift was to enrich life for the millions he connected and engaged with, in an illustrious life and career. Though I could never be him, it's never diluted my admiration of him.

Remembering Betty Turpin: 1969 - 2011

With the sad passing recently of Coronation Street legend Betty Driver I thought I'd pay my own tribute to the Rovers Return's greatest & longest serving Bar Maid, Betty Turpin.

Betty Williams (nee Preston, previously Turpin) arrived in Coronation Street to help her sister Maggie Clegg run the corner shop, and has since had a number of storylines which have seen her become twice widowed, and mother to an illegitimate son. Working as a barmaid in the soap's Rovers Return Inn, Betty created a signature dish, known as Betty's hotpot. In 1995, a real-life range of hotpots and pies based on the dish were launched by Hollands Pies, and in 2007, the world's largest Lancashire hotpot was created, based on Betty's recipe. Sadly, Betty Driver died in October 2011. Coronation Street producer Phil Collinson stated on 17 October 2011 that he was working with scriptwriters on Betty's send off.

Betty was born on 4 February 1920 to Harold and Margaret Preston. During World War 2, she had an affair with serviceman Ted Farrell (Gerald Sim), resulting in a son, Gordon (Bill Kenwright; Geoffrey Leesley). Ted left her to return to his family and Gordon was adopted by Betty's sister Maggie (Irene Sutcliffe) and her husband Les Clegg (John Sharp) Betty celebrated the end of the war with her sweetheart Billy Williams (Frank Mills), to whom she had lost her virginity. The two lost touch, and in 1949, Betty married policeman Cyril Turpin (William Moore).

Betty and her husband Cyril move to Coronation Street in June 1969, helping her sister Maggie to run the local corner shop following the breakup of Maggie's marriage to Les Clegg. Maggie, however, resents Betty's interference and persuades landlord Jack Walker (Arthur Leslie) to give Betty a job as a barmaid at The Rovers Return Public House. Betty clashes with the landlady Annie Walker (Doris Speed), who fears that Jack may find her attractive, and fires Betty as a result. Betty takes a job in a rival pub, and returns only when Annie apologises. Betty becomes close friends with fellow barmaid Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear), who on occasion lodges with her, uses Betty as a chaperone on dates, and frequently seeks her advice in running her life.

Cyril's employment as a policeman causes Betty problems when Lucas, a man he has previously arrested, begins stalking her. She initially refrains from telling Cyril, fearing that he will get into trouble. When Cyril finds out, he attacks Lucas with a piece of lead piping and has to leave the police force. Betty has a breakdown when Cyril dies of a heart attack in 1974, leaving her only £859. The same year the truth about her illegitimate son is revealed, and when the community discovers this, Betty finds it difficult to face them. She busies herself by taking in lodgers, and acquiring a ginger cat named Marmaduke for extra companionship. Betty builds a relationship with Gordon, though he upsets her occasionally, particularly when he neglects to invite her to his wedding.

Betty is mugged in 1982 by Ryan Attwood from Ken Barlow's' youth club; she ends up in hospital with a broken arm. This leads to a reunion with Ted, the man who fathered Gordon, though he is unaware of his son's existence. Ted visits Betty in hospital after reading about her mugging in a newspaper. Betty agonises over whether to tell Ted about Gordon, but decides against it, preferring not to stir up the past.

On the fiftieth anniversary of VE Day in 1995, Betty is reunited with her wartime sweetheart Billy. The two marry several months later, and Gordon gives his mother away. They live happily together until Billy also dies of a heart attack in 1997. Betty becomes famous in Weatherfield for her hotpots, which come under scrutiny in the early 1990s when it is believed that they are contaminated. She is cleared of all wrongdoing when it is discovered that beer, not food, is responsible for a spate of stomach upsets. Betty acts as lady mayoress alongside mayor Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley) when his wife Audrey (Sue Nichols) has no interest in fulfilling her civic duties. This includes accompanying him to receive his OBE from the Queen, much to Audrey's chagrin.

In 1999, Betty celebrates 30 years of working at the Rovers Return with a party attended by all the regulars. She considers retiring in 2002 and briefly moves to Wimbledon to be with Gordon and his wife Caroline. Feeling that Caroline does not want her there, Betty considers moving into a retirement home, however is convinced to stay in Weatherfield by her close friend Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire). Around the time of Betty's fortieth anniversary at the Rovers Return, she is sacked by new manager Poppy Morales (Sophiya Haque) after clashing with her on several occasions. Landlord Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) eventually tires of Poppy's poor treatment of the staff and fires her. Betty is re-instated, and plays the Fairy Godmother in the 2009 Rovers Return Christmas pantomime performance of Cinderella. In early February 2010, Betty has a party in the Rovers celebrating both her 90th birthday and the fact that she is the oldest barmaid in Weatherfield; however it backfires when 91 year old Enid Crump (June Broughton) crashes the party and claims she is the oldest barmaid not Betty. Later Enid becomes sick after Steve serves her a 3-month old hotpot. Betty and Steve are left terrified when they realise that the hotpot could kill her, but she later recovers.

In his 1998 book The Women of Coronation Street, Daran Little describes Betty as an archetypal mother figure. He compares her to one of Coronation Street's original characters Minnie Caldwell (Margot Bryant), as she is "warm and comforting [...] loves cats and has had her share of lodgers"; however, Little notes that "while Minnie wandered through life in a haze, Betty is sharp-witted, blessed with insight and wisdom". Discussing her evolving characterisation, Little writes: "She hasn't always been the incarnation of lovable joviality: when she arrived in the Street in 1969, she was loud, brash and a vicious-tongued gossip."

Betty's two passions in life are darts and food. Playing darts brings out her competitive side, and she enjoys beating her male customers. Cyril frequently protests when Betty attempts to diet, as he prefers her "homely and comfortable" figure. Ultimately, Betty stops trying to lose weight, stating: "I had to chose between losing a few pounds or losing my marital partner. If my Cyril had wanted to marry a skinny rabbit he'd have married one." Betty breaks down when Cyril dies from a heart attack, with Little noting that: "Cyril had been the stabilizing force in Betty's life, and without him she relied heavily on her job and friends at the Rovers – she couldn't face life alone at home". Little has observed that Betty "has a finely tuned sense of right and wrong and has never been afraid to stand up for her beliefs", citing Betty's shock at being mugged in 1982, and calling the NSPCC to report a female neighbour whose children were left outside until nightfall while their mother entertained her boyfriend.

In 2010, Betty Driver discussed her character, saying, "Coronation Street characters tend to fit into one of two camps. Those who have drama after drama and those who muddle through life, often in the background, as sturdy and dependable as the famous cobbles. Betty falls into the latter group. There have been moments of drama, intrigue and even romance – but it has been her presence behind the bar, cutting up pieces of lamb and chunks of potato, that has endeared her to the viewers." When asked about Betty's "sharp tongue", Betty Driver suggested, "Not really sharp. [Betty's] just straightforward. [She's] not nasty to anybody but [she doesn't] suffer fools gladly."

Betty was the longest-serving barmaid of the Rovers Return. She first served behind the bar in 1969 and has been shown to work there for 42 years, as of 2011. There have been brief breaks however, as storylines have led to the character being fired or quitting her post. She was fired by Annie Walker (Doris Speed), who accused her of theft, and she quit her post in 1995 when Jack (Bill Tarmey) and Vera Duckworth (Liz Dawn) took over as landlords. In the summer of 2009, Betty was sacked again temporarily by manager Poppy Morales. A Coronation Street insider reassured The Sun that Betty was not being written out of the show, however, stating: "She’ll be here for a long time to come – she’ll just be on the other side of the bar for a change". In a storyline that aired in February 2010, Betty – at 90 years old – was named Manchester's Oldest Barmaid. In a plot twist, a 91 year old rival came forward, resulting in Betty fearing she killed her, when the rival consumes a two month old hotpot.

During her time on Coronation Street, the character has become synonymous with her signature dish at the Rovers Return, Betty's Hotpot. ITV have described the dish as "the stuff of legends" and in 1995, pie manufacturer Hollands Pies launched a real-life range of hotpots and pies based on the dish, called "Betty's Kitchen". The idea for the range originated with the firm's marketing director, Dilys Day, who explained: "I was brought up on hotpot and Coronation Street. So when I joined Holland's a year ago, it seemed right to put the two together with Betty's hotpot." Day added that: "We are all very excited about Betty's Kitchen products. Holland's is a strong northern brand, with mass market appeal and wholesome, honest values - the same can be said for The Street."

In his book Marketing Communication, Richard J. Varey used the product range as an example of a company capitalising on a form of product placement or "stealth advertising", writing that "Viewers don't realize that they are, in effect, watching an advertisement". Betty Driver said of the range's launch: "Betty Turpin's hotpots have become something of an institution at the Rover's and she's very proud of her reputation for good, wholesome food. I think it is a lovely idea that people will be able to buy them in supermarkets now." Betty discussed her astonishment at the general level of interest in her character's hotpots, disclosing: "I was on a cruise on the QE2 a few weeks ago, and everyone was asking me about it. Then one day, they served hot pot on the menu and everyone thought it was mine!"

Farewell Betty. We'll all miss you!....

Radio Times - Christmas 1969

With the Festive season just around the corner I thought I'd pay homage to that great British of traditions, the Christmas Radio Times! The cover above is from the Christmas 1969 edition and was the first double issue.

Britain's greatest comedy double act The Two Ronnies featured on the cover of this festive edition from 1971.

Luvly jubbly! Del Boy, Rodney & Uncle Albert feature on the cover of this edition from 1985.

Star Trek Listings in the Radio Times

These listings for the classic Sci-fi series Star Trek are taken from the Radio Times.

The listing above comes from an edition of Radio Times dated, 1st October 1970.

This listing dates back to an edition also going back to 1970

Brucie on the TV Times - 1961

Recently Knighted Sir Bruce Forsyth appeared on the front cover of this edition of the TV-Times back in 1961. Good game!

Who Loves Ya Baby! Remembering Kojak

Aficionados of vintage crime TV know that Kojak was special, but newcomers to the series will be surprised at how well it holds up today, with complex, dense mysteries, a remarkably forceful, sensitive (and often hilarious) lead performance, and a gritty production design that screams "quality" with a capital "K,"

New York City, 1974. NYPD's 13th Precinct, Manhattan South Patrol Borough. Avuncular detective Captain Frank McNeil (Dan Frazer) has a big, loud, bald problem on his hands: Lieutenant Theodopolous "Theo" Kojak (Telly Savalas). In a frenetic borough in the busiest city in the world, where violent, persistent crime can range from rape to sniper fire to mad bombers to diamond heists, McNeil is lucky to have as resolute a crime fighter as Kojak on his team...but look out when Theo blows his cool, baby, because you might just find yourself on the end of a withering put-down and accompanying sarcastic sneer. Sartorially resplendent Kojak may not observe all the niceties of protocol when it comes to his $240-a-week-after-taxes job, but he gets the job done, you dig? He's cynical, and contemptuous, and generally pissed off at everything...but he's also surprisingly understanding and even sympathetic to the junkies, whores, stoolies, and other damaged people he encounters in his pressure-cooker occupation. The most frequent targets of his affectionate put-downs are the members of his squad: tough, James Caan-like hothead Detective Bobby Crocker (Kevin Dobson); fuzzy, slightly befuddled Detective Stavros (George "Demosthenes" Savalas), and anonymous filler detectives Saperstein and Rizzo (Mark Russell and Vince Conti).

Jeeee-sus, what a great fuckin' show. I haven't seen Kojak in decades...although I did see Telly's reboot in '89 (just wasn't the same, sadly), and the Ving Rhames "reimagining" in '05 (pathetic). A show we never missed at my house way back then, I suppose what I remembered most about the show were the two elements that garnered the most publicity―the Tootsie Pop® shtick and Savalas' baldness―the show's two elements that had the very least to do with making the show great. If you didn't grow up during the early '70s, then it's hard to imagine the stir chrome-domed Savalas caused when he headlined Kojak (there just weren't any completely bald guys on TV...unless you counted Yul Brynner's failed series bid for Anna and the King in '72). And the whole lollipop thing became a remembered gimmick that quickly morphed into a shorthand joke for others referencing the show. Of course today, bald is everywhere on TV, and a character sucking a lollipop, within the context of today's network television, is about the most benign character hook I can think of next to Buffy carrying around Mrs. Beasley. But those two completely inconsequential elements somehow grabbed the most publicity, and right or wrong, they gave a visual hook for the series that helped push it into iconic status.

What should be remembered about Kojak is an embarrassment of riches on display here, including beautifully-detailed scripts with intriguing, complex characters, brilliant casting for the one-off supporting roles, tight, no-nonsense direction, a production design that consistently scored for gritty realism, and most importantly, one of the best lead performances in a drama from that entire decade. During the 1974-1975 TV season, Kojak had a lot of competition in the cops/private dicks/mystery genres field, including such classics as Mannix (there...are you happy? Don't email me), Columbo, McMillian and Wife, McCloud, The Rookies, Hawaii Five-O,Barnaby Jones, Adam-12, Police Story, Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, Harry-O,Ironside, The Rockford Files, and Police Woman (can you see why I miss old-timey TV? That's all in one season). And while Columbo had its brilliant Rubik's Cube® mysteries, and Police Story went for almost documentary realism in its depiction of daily police work, Kojak had elements of both, anchored by a charismatic lead performance that is still the benchmark for similar cop characters that have proliferated ad nauseam since Telly Savalas brought Theo Kojak to life.

Hitting the same notes as The French Connection, The Godfather, Shaft, and The Seven-Ups,Kojak tapped into that grimy urban actioner landscape that accurately had the dirt and smell and feel of those big-screen efforts. Sure, Kojak took more than a few trips to Universal's backlot, and some of its sets look exactly like all those other Universal sets from countless other TV shows and movies. But extensive location work in New York City (that's really Telly powering his Buick around in a lot of scenes), along with real buildings and offices used throughout the episodes (some in L.A., of course), give Kojak a verisimilitude that's palpable (Kojak's office may be a set on a Universal sound stage, but it's grungy and dingy as hell, unlike the sparkling, blown-out, antiseptic offices of SoCal's Dragnet and Adam-12). And unlike the clipped, surreal talk of Jack Webb's brilliant cop shows, Kojak's New Yawk-ese lingo is loud and loose, and full of jabs and jibes. It looks and sounds genuine, because the production design is going for realism, and Savalas―no crew-cut military type like Kent McCord, or feathered-haired glamour boy like Streets' Michael Douglas―seems like the kind of hard-assed, smart-assed, street-wise New York detective you might meet if you somehow got mixed up in a gangland slaying. The producers were smart, too, in making sure that the supporting players each week didn't come from the "celebrity" wing of Central Casting ("Tonight, on Kojak, George Hamilton and Joey Heatherton guest star!"), instead going with actors (many New York theatre-trained) who may look familiar, but who focus more on delivering the goods with their carefully-drawn characters. Even Kojak's powerful but non-descript car (a brown four-door Buick Century) fits right in with the show's realistic aesthetic. We don't get a lot of extraneous b.s. about Kojak's personal life, or after-hours glimpses of him hanging out with his co-workers (which doesn't look like it happens, anyway). It's just the complicated, hairy cases Kojak works, in the craziest city on Earth.

I'm sure that even if Kojak didn't sport some of the best scripting in a cop show from that period, it would be remembered for Savalas' creation. How much of that was Savalas and how much of that was the producers and writers, it's always difficult to say. Even without Savalas' overpowering interpretation, the Kojak character would be memorable: a tough, ballsy, uber-confident detective who sneers at and cajoles his co-workers, while showing an alternately sensitive, even tender side to his nature whenever he meets up with the fallible results of criminal activity. A cop who pronounces the "w" in "sword," yelling "shaddup!" with gusto, this cop also knows who Guy Fawkes is, and has read Edgar Allen Poe. He grew up in a "sewer" he now wants to clean up, but he's obviously educated and sensitized outside his circle of influences. He can bounce around a junkie because he's pissed off...and then smooth the boy's hair down and pat his cheek when he sees how hard the kid is trying to kick the habit. When was there a cop like that on TV, before Kojak?

Kojak is an intriguing, fascinating character, perhaps made even more so now by our own slavish adherence to P.C. dogma (at least as perpetrated in our entertainment/media culture), where the gloriously Greek Kojak confidently doesn't think twice about laying it out there when it comes to referencing racial tensions. In Wall Street Gunfighter, Kojak talks to a reluctant witness―a Jewish broker who's engaged in a fencing duel with a millionaire Arab investor: "Let me get this straight: you got this Arab out there with a sword [the "w" pronounced] on the dance floor waving it in front of your Jewish face and you don't blink. So what you're telling me is a guy with a gun, he closed both your steely eyes? Hey, Ali...why don't you do a knife job on him?" There was a time in '70s network television where it looked like characters and shows were going to finally let it all hang out in terms of race and stereotypes and ethnicity from all sides, with all the accompanying messy observations, truths, and lies laid out for viewers to chew over and discuss. Those days are long gone; it's all a little too one-sided now, and shows like Kojak bring that unfortunate fact out in sharp relief.

As for Telly Savalas...what the hell can you say about him that doesn't start with "magnificent"? His entrance in the 90-minute season opener (the excellent The Chinatown Murders, written by series producer Jack Laird and directed by Jeannot Szwarc) sums up Savalas' appeal perfectly. Juggling a cup of hot coffee and a cruller in one hand while whipping around his Buick with the other, siren blaring, Kojak arrives at the crime scene with a subordinate asking him what gives with the siren, to which Kojak balefully returns, "If I can get up at 6:00am, so can the rest of Manhattan!" And there's your character. And that's a star. It's probably easy to forget, now that Savalas is so thoroughly identified with the Kojak character, that it was probably a step down, careerwise, for him to take on the one-shot The Marcus-Nelson Murders telemovie that led to the series. After all, Savalas started in radio and then television, working his way up to supporting roles in big feature films, even garnering an Academy Award nomination (Birdman of Alcatraz) before scoring in big international box office hits like The Dirty Dozen and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (the Bond series' best Blofeld, bar none: cultured, suave, menacing). However, by the time Kojak came along, he was petering out in misfires like A Town Called Bastard, Pancho Villa, Redneck, Horror Express, and Lisa and the Devil―not exactly Hollywood A-level leading man material.

But I suspect this new-found lead stardom (it's all his show; he's not sharing the spotlight withanyone) is exactly what fed his loose, often hilarious take on the character. After years and years of playing second fiddle to bigger stars, a powerful reserve of energy and sparks must have been building up in the overly-talented performer, waiting for a venue, and Savalas has it finally, here, in a weekly network showcase. And he runs with it, baby. I know some new viewers and reviewers might focus on all the then-trendy "baby" slang thrown around, and the "coochie coos," labeling the performance and by extension the show, those horrid terms of "campy" and "cheesy." However, his turn here isn't "hammy" so much as it's brilliantly commanding...and wickedly funny. This is one of the best examples of "joy of performance" I've seen with an actor and his character. Savalas owns the screen, and he's clearly enjoying every second, alternating between barking commands, oozing insincerity when insulting a co-worker, smiling facetiously when trying to charm a reluctant witness, or going dead quiet and thoughtful when something reaches him emotionally. A lot of people eventually goofed on Savalas when he really started to play up the whole disco-era machoness of his Kojak persona in other projects (see above picture), but here in this second season, it's a priceless combination of masculinity and smarts, with no prisoners taken and no apologies offered to victims of his sarcasm and wit. In a word, he's hilarious here (when he's not believably dramatic), whether he's openly breaking character when his real-life brother George inexplicably starts talking like James Mason in one scene (Hush Now, Don't You Die), or when he adlibs with Dobson, looking him up and down like a chick before he nonsensically exits a scene with a breathy, "I don't like anyone being rude to my men on the phone." (Night of the Piraeus). People may have laughed at the sight of disco Telly Savalas in the classically bad one-off variety special, Telly (oh god please someone find that and release it...), but they're laughing with him here, in his greatest role―one of the best performances in any television show, in any decade.

It's unfortunate, then, that CBS took a Nielsen Top Ten phenomenon, and turned it into a Top 15 and falling series. Kojak roared out of the gate its premiere season, scoring a remarkable 7th-most popular show on television for the 1973-1974 season at its 10:00pm Wednesday timeslot―a perfect day and time for this kind of series. Unfortunately, CBS took their big new hit and used it as a counter programming hammer against NBC's successful Sunday night line up of lead-in The Wonderful World of Disney and The NBC Sunday Mystery movie,featuring Columbo, McCloud, McMillan and Wife, and new stiff, Amy Prentiss. The gambit worked, dropping The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie down from 14th in 1973-1974, to 24th against Kojak in 1974-1975. However, Kojak's ratings suffered, too, from the timeslot change. Sunday just wasn't a good match for this edgy, hard-hitting show (The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie was more about wit and glamour, rather than pimps and whores getting busted), and it didn't help that Kojak's new lead-in, instead of solid Cannon the year before on Wednesday, was the anemic "family values" drama, Apple's Way―a mismatch if there ever was one (jesus, one of my friend's mom bought him an Apple's Way lunchbox, can you imagine? Poor bastard). Plugging in Cher's stand-alone variety show, Cher, for Apple's Way midseason, helped Kojak a little...but not nearly enough. The only one who benefited from Kojak's new move was lead-out Mannix, which saw its adult audience (the ones not watching Kojak with their kids) put the veteran series back into the Nielsen Top Twenty, after being out of the Top Thirty for two whole years. CBS would stubbornly keep Kojak as its Sunday night anchor for the next three fall seasons, slowing killing off its once-mighty audience.