I came across a classic television channel on Roku. I clicked on it and an episode of Death Valley Days appeared. It was hosted by Ronald Reagan.
This was just before he ran for California governor in 1966 and, eventually, won against incumbent Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Sr.
I took a photo of the television screen of Reagan.
I don't remember watching Death Valley Days during Reagan's hosting stint. I do remember watching when the show was hosted by "The Old Ranger" Stanley Andrews.
Although several actors who appears on Buffy the Vampire Slayer have passed away, three principal stars of the show have passed during the past 16 months.
Anthony Head, who played Watcher Rupert Giles, passed away from pneumonia on June 1. He was 72. He was a little bit younger than me as he was born on February 20, 1954.
The other two who have passed are:
Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris) - Died at age 54 in his sleep from natural causes.
Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn Summers) - Died at age 39 due to complications from diabetes mellitus.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was my favorite television show during its run.
Above, Route 66 in Williams, Arizona. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
This year is the centennial of Historic Route 66.
Fox 8 of Cleveland has posted an article on Route 66 and Hollywood focusing on movies and TV shows that captured the mystique of the road.
It begins with:
(NEXSTAR) — It’s one of the U.S.’ most well-known roads — if not the most known — and one of few highways to capture America’s imagination across the little and big screens.
In honor of its 100th anniversary, here are some of the films and TV shows that have taken inspiration from Route 66, or even been filmed on parts of it.
Here are some 1970s commercials. My favorite was one done by Schlitz Malt Liquor with Teddy Roosevelt finding things rather "Bully!" It starts at about 2:47 minutes into the video. I remember laughing when I first saw the commerical.
For some odd reason, we seem to get an uptick in celebrity deaths during the month of December. This year is no exception.
There are two notable passings that should be mentioned.
Above, Gil Gerard.
First is Buck Rogers himself, Gil Gerard, who starred in the 1979-81 television series, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. He passed away from cancer on December 16 at 82.
Above, Bob Burns.
Bob Burns, actor, but is better known as a big collector of movie props, consultant, producer, archivist and movie historian, costumes, and other paraphernalia from science fiction, fantasy, and horror motion pictures. He passed away at age 90 on December 16.
Last evening, I was watching Buying Alaska. When the last episode ended, it switched to another show by the same producers, Buying The Rockies.
It is the same format as Buying Alaska, but the focus was on the Rocky Mountains that stretch from Montana down to New Mexico. The episodes I saw were in Colorado.
According to IMDb;
Follow unconventional house-hunters as they set out to buy their piece of the American in dream in log cabins amidst the Rocky Mountains.
Here's a snippet of an episode I watched last evening:
As previously mentioned, I stumbled upon Buying Alaska on the Roku Channel. I had never heard of this show before.
In each episode, people are taken potential homes or cabins by realtors in various places in Alaska. The places shown run the gamut from rundown shacks to million dollar mansions.
I find the shows to be entertaining and informative.
Above, Skagway, Alaska in 2001. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
A couple of days ago, I found a channel that caught my attention through the Roku channel.
It is called Buying Alaska. In each episode, couples and families leave the lower 48 states and go to Alaska to buy a home. Also, some episodes have Alaskan residents looking to buy a cabin for getaways for recreation (hunting and fishing).
Besides the natural beauty of the state, they show three properties shown by a realtor and leave it to the viewer to guess which one was the final selection before it is revealed.
It is interesting to see homes with unique decor with some described as "definitely Alaskan" or similar descriptions.
I have been to Alaska through a cruise with my mom and daughter in 2001. The natural beauty of the state is really something to behold.
If your television is Roku-equipped, be sure to check out Buying Alaska.
A few months ago, I was watching an episode of Cheaters when something in the background of a scene caught my attention.
The scene was of a "suspect" re-capping what had transpired in the episode she was in. In the background on a shelf was a photo from the Adventures of Superman episode, "The Unlucky Number" (1956) of George Reeves and Henry Blair.
The episode of Cheaters was re-played yesterday and I took a quick photo of the scene.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is sobbing over the budget cut of Public Broadcasting by the Trump Administration.
According to her X post, she says that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is closing. It appears that they were not viable enough to continue without money from the public tit. The government had no business of paying for television and radio stations in the first place.
Why should the taxpayers subsidize stations who broadcast leftist propaganda?
Check out the comments to her post.
She posted:
Today marks a sad day for America and for New Mexico families who depend on public broadcasting for critical information and emergency services. The closure of Corporation for Public Broadcasting, resulting from harebrained federal budget cuts by Republicans in Washington, will… pic.twitter.com/E69F80cR7G
— Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) August 1, 2025
Above, our appearance on Hot Bench nine years ago.
While perusing the directory of stations on Roku television, I saw that the courtroom show, Hot Bench, has its own channel.
There are many channels on Roku including Universal Monsters (1931's Dracula with Bela Lugosi was just on), westerns, news, crime, Cheaters and others.
Denise Santos and I were on Hot Bench nine years ago (season 3, episode 55). Although the verdict by the three judges was mixed, overall, it was a win for me. It is hard to believe that nine years has been reached. Yeesh!
Since I already have a copy of the Hot Bench episode we were in, I needn't bother watching for it.
It was in late 1972 that Elvis Presley released "Burning Love" as a single.
A few months later, he performed it during his Aloha From Hawaii television special. It is interesting to note that during the rehearsal concert the night before the Aloha special, he forgot some of the lyrics. But he performed it during the actual television special the next night perfectly.
Still, he severely disliked it.
Collider posted an article on Presley's disdain for the song.
They begin it with:
Elvis Presley is undoubtedly the King of rock 'n' roll. His music, a mash-up of country, gospel, and rhythm and blues, not only revolutionized the 1950s and beyond, but his distinct voice, electric dance moves, and magnetic persona did too. Beyond his influence on music, his talent graced the big and small screen, and he defined what it meant to be a triple threat. Today, his legacy is synonymous with the word' icon.' During his lifetime, few could outmatch his talent. Unsurprisingly, the music legend also possessed an innate ability and passion for music and wasn't shy about voicing his opinions on various songs, including his own. One of his biggest hit singles, "Burning Love", was also the track he hated the most.
The first (1951) season of the Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves was definitely not a "kiddie show".
Here is episode 5, "The Monkey Mystery", which had Cold War and anti-atomic bomb themes. Along with that, violence against Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates) and the daughter of an Eastern European scientist (with blood) on a train and the murder of an organ grinder are featured.
These days, I don't watch too much television. There's simply nothing on network television that interests me in the slightest.
I did discover a fairly old (2000-2021) show on Facebook, Cheaters. Edited videos of the show are presented on Facebook. Some shows are real and some are staged. Until recently, I hadn't heard of the show, probably due to my then-work schedule.
The premise of the show is (according to Wikipedia):
Cheaters is an American weekly syndicated reality television series featuring couples with one partner who is committing adultery, or cheating, on the other partner. Investigations are headed by the "Cheaters Detective Agency". The series premiered on October 2, 2000, and ended on May 17, 2021. It has been hosted by Tommy Habeeb, Joey Greco, Clark James Gable and Peter Gunz.
Yes, one of the hosts was Clark James Gable, the grandson of Clark Gable. He was a host until his accidental death from a drug overdose.
The show caught my interest as my ex-spouse committed infidelity, which broke up our marriage, so I can relate to the (real) victims, male or female. (Been there, done that.) Still, this is entertaining in a weird way.
Sharp-eyed viewers (particularly Adventures of Superman fans) could easily find familiar footage from this trailer for Lost Continent (1951) by Lippert Pictures..
Some scenes were lifted from the movie and used for the destruction of Krypton scenes in the 1951 Adventures of Superman episode, "Superman On Earth".
If one views the complete movie, the rocket footage at the beginning was also used in "Superman On Earth" for Kal-El's rocket.
For your viewing pleasure, here's the complete movie:
It is interesting that Lost Continent and "Superman On Earth" were produced in the same year (1951).
Above, the John Wayne Statue with the Great Western Savings headquarters in the background. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
One of the Facebook John Wayne fan groups posted photos of the statue of the Duke at what was once the headquarters of Great Western Savings. Wayne made television commercials for Great Western that brought in a lot of clients.
Great Western Savings is gone, but the statue remains.
Above, the east side of the statue. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
This building was the headquarters of Great Western Savings and Loan, one of the largest savings and loans in the nation. John Wayne did television commercials for Great Western from 1977 until his death in 1979. As a tribute to their celebrity spokesman, Great Western commissioned in 1984 a full-sized bronze statue of the actor by noted American western-motif sculptor Harry Jackson to stand in front of their headquarters. The building was later sold in 1992. Magazine publisher Larry Flynt obtained the building and statue in 1994, and sold the building in 2013.
Above, a view of the statue from its base. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Back in 1985, I was in the Wilshire and La Cienega area of Los Angeles and stopped and took a few pictures of the statue. It is actually in Beverly Hills at 8484 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA. This was about eight years before I worked at an insurance company a few blocks east on Wilshire Blvd.
The photos that accompany this blog post were taken during that visit.
Here is a 1977 commercial featuring two of his children:
Above, Osaka Castle in 2015. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Back in the 1980s, there was a mini-series based on James Clavell's book, Shōgun. It was basically a soap opera set in feudal Japan.
It was an enjoyable mini-series and, in 1977, I met James Clavell in Sacramento at a birthday party at the Capitol.
Above, James Clavell is at right in the background. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Shōgun is now back in the form of a new FX mini-series. It is seeing rave reviews.
One place that the new mini-series is set at is Osaka Castle. I visited Osaka Castle twice. The first was in 2004 with G-TOUR and then in 2015.
Screen Rant has posted an article on the significance of Osaka Castle in Shōgun.
They begin it with:
The new FX hit series Shōgun features Osaka Castle as a setting, and there's prominent real-world history and information that's fascinating to know about the location. Based on the 1975 novel of the same name, written by James Clavell, the 2024 TV series has been met with astounding acclaim, with critics even drawing comparisons to Game of Thrones in the show's scale and production value excellence. Set in the year 1600, Shōgun may be based on a novel, but its narrative is rooted in fascinating history.
While viewing some of the Star Trek movies starring the original series cast, I found that some sets Paramount Pictures used looked cheap and obviously sets. Some sets of the Genesis Planet in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock looked very cheap. I still enjoyed the movies anyway.
But those cannot compare to the cheapness of the Star Trek original series sets. Last night, I watched the 3rd season episode, "Plato's Stepchildren". It reminded me that I didn't watch the original series as, even as a kid, I felt the show looked cheap.
In case nobody remembers this particular episode, here's a synopsis:
The telekinetically powerful Platonians hold Capt Kirk and Mr Spock prisoner when Dr McCoy refuses to remain behind as Parmen's personal physician.
Even the acting in this episode left much to be desired. It was interesting seeing a young Barbara Babcock (Dallas, Space Cowboys). And, the famous first television interracial kiss between Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhura. I didn't think it was such a big deal.
One blogger wrote of the episode:
While much of this episode is horrible, the series managed to slip by the censors some great moments that make it worth viewing.
Well, I'll give it that.
At least the sets in Star Trek: The Next Generation looked better to me.
Back in the early 1960s, the Adventures of Superman was briefly replaced on the local Los Angeles station (I am guessing KTTV-Channel 11) by Ramar of the Jungle.
At that point, I had never heard of Ramar of the Jungle, but I watched the show anyway. One thing I did notice on some episodes, music cues used in the 1951 episodes of Adventures of Superman were sometimes used in Ramar of the Jungle. I found the show entertaining.
Ramar of the Jungle starred Jon Hall and it lasted for 52 episodes between 1952 and 1954. Like the Superman series, it was a syndicated show.
Ramar of the Jungle is an American television series that starred Jon Hall as Dr. Tom Reynolds (the titular "ramar" being the natives' title for a white medicine man). Episodes were set in Africa and India. The series aired in syndication, premiering on October 7, 1952, and airing through 1954. Reruns continued "until the end of the 1960s."
In addition to Jon Hall as Dr. Tom Reynolds (Ramar), the series also starred Ray Montgomery as Reynolds' associate, Professor Howard Ogden. Victor Millan played the role of Zahir and Nick Stewart played Willy-Willy. Other cast members included M'liss McClure as Trudy Van Dyne, James Fairfax as Charlie, Joel Fluellen as Chaba, Ludwig Stossel as Peter Van Dyne, Milicent Patrick as the White Goddess, Harry Lauter as Bellows, and Emmitt Smith (not the football player) as Chief Bolla.
Hall created the series, and starred in it, obviously trying to emulate the then-popular Jungle Jim films.
Here is an episode that aired in 1953:
Interestingly, both Jon Hall and George Reeves co-starred in The Mutineers (1949), below:
Both Reeves and Hall died by self-inflicted gunshot wounds. To end the weakness and suffering due to cancer of the bladder, Hall shot himself in the head at the age of 64 in 1979.
