At 7 Central, Channel 3 keeps us jazzed for more football with Legend in Granite, a made-for-ABC Vince Lombardi bio starring Ernest Borgnine. IMDB.com user " wtl471629" offers a glowing review:
I think this is lovely. I'm not the biggest Waltons fan in the world, but I do believe that Earl Hamner Jr. was a total pro and that Will Geer was one of the all-time-great voices.
I really love putting these commercial-block videos in the background, and this one from YouTube user "Obsolete Video" is one of my absolute favorites. It starts with some good NBC house stuff promo-ing its "Love in the Afternoon" soap operas and John Chancellor's news broadcasts (catchy jingle!), and then we get some compelling commercials for products including "The Matchboxes" personal calculators from Novus (I can totally imagine the Zoom calls that precipitated that badging exercise). There's a bumper for the Saturday-night Monday Night Football Vikings-Cowboys game on ABC, from the preceding late Friday night's Wide World Special about Elton John at the absolute zenith of his popularity. Connie Stevens sashays in with a breathy and seductive Christmas promotion for Ace Hardware tools, and then Muhammad Ali has a poem about Brut after shave. I'm looking forward to catching (while I can) ABC's new AM America program scheduled to start on Epiphany 1975. Just terrific, happy stuff that makes me feel wonderful--thank you, Obsolete Video!
ReplyDeleteYou'll want to cut off your viewing at about 21 minutes when sock-footed Merlin Olsen greets us from his couch, because, by that point, we've shifted time and space to Saturday, Dec. 21, on CBS. We don't want to get too far out ahead of Week 14 of NFL74.
Early this Saturday afternoon, on Channel 6, Pittsburgh blasted Cincinnati, 27-3. And then, on Channel 12, Minnesota won, 35-15, in a rematch of Super Bowl IV in Kansas City.
ReplyDeleteAt 7 Central, Channel 3 keeps us jazzed for more football with Legend in Granite, a made-for-ABC Vince Lombardi bio starring Ernest Borgnine. IMDB.com user " wtl471629" offers a glowing review:
I wish it would be televised more. It was a short one hour television movie based on Vince Lombardi's life and is mainly set in his first two years as head coach of the Green Bay Packers and it is good. Ernest Borgnine did an awesome job as Coach Lombardi. I remember several articles about the movie that pointed out interesting facts. In fact it has been pointed out that before Vince became a head coach people would tell him that he looked like the actor Ernest Borgnine. What was also ironic is that during Vince's glory years as head coach of the Packers Ernest was not a big football fan because he was busy making movies several of them overseas. Several actual Packer players were consultants and it was said they were in awe of Borgnine and his resemblance to Coach Lombardi. This is one great movie and it does have actual films of some games and well worth seeing. I haven't seen it in a while but it is shown on TV once in a while but you have to be alert. I will post the time if I ever find out. Don't miss this one. One thing Mr. Borgnine said before the movie was aired about Coach Lombardi "I hope I have done the man justice." He did and did a great job.
I am very thankful that Legend in Granite is available on YouTube.
Hey, cool ... the writer of this thing, Jerry McNeely, was from Cape Girardeau! What a total pro this dude was! He's going to write Something for Joey in a few years, and that thing was huge among even my non-football friends at Concord Elementary.
ReplyDeleteNFL59 Update!
ReplyDeleteI really like the Packers' all-yellow Color Rush practice uniforms.
ReplyDeleteColleen Dewhurst, who played Mrs. Lombardi, was the daughter of former Ottawa Rough Rider.
ReplyDeleteNFL60 Update!
ReplyDeleteWell, good ... Ernest Borgnine and Colleen Dewhurst decided to stay in Green Bay and not run off to New York. I really enjoyed that movie. I'm glad Charlie Jones played one of the reporters, and I'm glad to see that Paul Horning was one of the technical advisors.
ReplyDeleteRest in peace, Robert Newhouse (1950-2014), who was obviously beloved (check out the comments!).
ReplyDeleteOK, I've never been much of a "Lady Marmalade" guy, but then I had never seen this Patti LaBelle performance on Soul Train.
ReplyDeleteDon Cornelius: "Oh ... Patti, Patti, Patti ... why are you beating my kids up like that?"
Patti LaBelle: "Because I love them. That's a love whooping."
I think this is lovely. I'm not the biggest Waltons fan in the world, but I do believe that Earl Hamner Jr. was a total pro and that Will Geer was one of the all-time-great voices.
ReplyDeleteFor my money, this is peak Sammy Davis Jr.
ReplyDeletePreviews of coming attractions.
ReplyDelete