Review of RTV

I have been watching a bit more TV lately. I don’t usually watch much, but I like to watch it when I crochet, and I am working hard on getting ready for the Scarves for Special Olympics campaign. So, my TV watching is up.

I started watching the classic mystery station RTV. I receive this station through Comcast Cable, and my local affiliate is RDE - Rehobeth Delaware. I am not certain of how widely available RTV is, but if you are a mystery fan, you might want to check with your cable provider.

I have really been enjoying it. I have been watching shows that I remember watching as a kid (The Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Mysteries and The Rockford Files) and realizing how well they still hold up. This is in sharp contrast to some of my other favorite series of the time like The Dukes of Hazzard (not airing on RTV) which should really only be watched for nostalgia’s sake.

I’ve also been enjoying the ability to see famous classic shows that I have never had the opportunity to watch. I Spy and Peter Gunn are two that I really like.  They were originally aired before I was born. Ellery Queen was on when I was a toddler, so it was really outside of my comprehension level at the time.

It was really cool to see the actor Craig Stevens (who played Peter Gunn) as a guest star on Ellery Queen. I’ve been recording episodes on my DVR, and I have decided that it must be a really hinky time machine.  I watched an episode of Peter Gunn right before the Craig Stevens episode of Ellery Queen.  That meant I saw an actor who was on a series from the 1950s which was set in the 1950s. A half an hour later, he’s on a show that is filmed in the 1970s but set in the 1940s. So, a half an hour passes in my world, and this poor guy went back in time ten years, but looked twenty years older. What a time warp.

I also had the chance to view Emergency and Adam-12. I have to confess that I didn’t really like either show all that much. I realize that in their day, the half-hour drama was popular. I just feel as though a half-hour is not enough time for a drama. By the time that you start getting into it, it’s over. It just didn’t work for me.

If you haven’t checked out RTV, you might want to. If for no other reason than to hear the Peter Gunn theme song (often touted as the most famous and recognizable TV theme song of all time). Better yet, watch it to see the great Bill Cosby in the ground breaking role that took him from the comedy circuit to the star that he is today (I Spy). While working on this series, he broke some major milestones.

One milestone was that his role in this series made him the first African-American to co-star in a dramatic television series (thereby making it the first television drama with an African-American in a lead role). This made NBC the first network to air a drama with an African-American lead.

Dr. Cosby also won three Emmys for his role in the series (and it only aired for three years), making him the second African-American to win an Emmy, and the first African-American actor to win an Emmy a series role (Harry Belafonte had was the first African-American to win an Emmy.  In 1960, Belafonte won an  Emmy for Best Performance in a Variety Show, based on his musical performance).  

These three wins made Dr. Cosby the first African-American to win consecutive Emmys.  It also made him the first actor to win consecutive Emmys for a dramatic role (Dick Van Dyke had previously won consecutive Emmys for his comedic role on The Dick Van Dyke Show).  And all of that during a time in our history when racial tensions were at their highest.

In addition, I Spy also broke ground by allowing Robert Culp to write several episodes, including the first episode. While this may seem like nothing today, actors as writers were rare in television at the time.

Check out I Spy, as well as these and other shows on RTV. If this station is not available in your area, many of these shows are available on DVD at the links listed in this article.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

Christy Parker is the author of three blogs:  Ruminations from and Unkempt Mind,  Learn to Crochet - In Minutes a Day,  and You Be the Editor.

For comments, questions, notes or suggestions; Mrs. Parker can be reached in the blog specific forums on the product information pages listed above or via email at unkemptruminations@comcast.net.