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karlanglin651
Reviews
CBS Schoolbreak Special: The Drug Knot (1986)
David Toma Drug Lectoure
I had the privilege of seeing David Toma in person on January 3, 1988 at Granada Hills High School in Granada Hills, California. I will never forget it. Toma's story is compelling and hard-hitting. After reading his book. Toma Tells It Straight With Love,seeing him in person was even more unforgettable to me. Next year this legendary giant of a man will be 75 years old. I want to wish him an early Happy Birthday to this true man among men. Alcohol and drugs will ruin a person's life.
Drugs and alcohol are very, very bad for you They will ruin your life Get them out of your life Before it becomes too late. Drunk and drugged up people do many foolish things God Bless David Toma Parents give up alcohol and drugs for the sake of your kids Kids give up alcohol and drugs for yourself, for your parents and for your futures.
Route 66 (1960)
Route 66 and the novel On the Road
Having watched Route 66 on Nick At Nite in 1985, I feel that the series was loosely based on Jack Kerouac's novel, On The Road which was written in 1957. The concept of the Beat Generation was certainly applied to this thought-provoking TV drama. While the two characters in the series were some what upgraded for television audiences, the basic concepts of the freedom to travel about, experiencing the lives of other people, and not settling into predictability produced a strong resonance that reverberates inside of many individuals. In some ways Route 66 could be considered a 20th century version of Mark Twain's classic novel Huckleberry Finn. In many ways. the series is very much a reflection of the human condition and of society looked at from the inside out. Striling Stilliphant was a true master at the craft of writing. May his work stand forever as an example of what solid truthful writing should be.
Dragnet 1967 (1967)
OJ Simpson and Dragnet
One of the sadder ironies of Dragnet is that OJ Simpson made one of his first TV appearances on Dragnet playing a rookie cop! Another sad irony is that Jack Webb died from a combination of alcohol and tobacco cigarette use, drugs that are completely legal in our society. While one of the 1950's episodes dealt with the tragedy of driving under the influence, the 1960's series did not. Also, I believe that one of the sponsors of the 1950's Dragnet series was Chesterfield cigarettes. Jack Webb was a true TV production pioneer. May Dragnet live forever. A true TV CLASSIC I found out that Jack Webb graduated from Belmont High School in Los Angeles as class president. He was half Jewish and half Catholic. He once submitted drawings to Walt Disney but some how did not include a return address but later got to know Walt Disney. Every letter that Mark VII Productions received about the program concerning suggestions was taken into account.
Hud (1963)
Parallels between Lyndon Johnson and Paul Newman's Hud
There seems to me very interesting parallels between President Lyndon Johnson and Paul Newman's title character, Hud. If you read Robert Caro's multi-volume biography of LBJ, you see this clearly in the Texas backgrounds, the amoral duplicity, the selfish ambitions, the callous abuse and disregard for the people around them. The movie Hud is really a character study showing the nature of President Lyndon B. Johnson in so many ways.Another excellent reference is the book, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Referring to Caro's work, he vividly describes the issue of Ballot Box 13 in the 1948 US Senate race in Texas and the controversy around Ballot Box 13 that enabled LBJ to win the election through very controversial measures. The movie Hud is an outstanding work that reflects the character of Lyndon Johnson like no other movie can. Both Hud and LBJ exude a virility, a wily rough charm that can strike out at others when things don't go their way. A cinema tour-de-force.