For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on the Astound TV Network with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

In an earlier blog entry we examined the lead characters in the popular, long-running 1950s and early 60s television family sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet program.

But the Nelson children had an interesting history as well!

Ozzie Nelson was an orchestra leader who sometimes teamed with Harriet (born Peggy Lou Snyder) for events before both were asked to appear at the same time on a national radio show called “The Baker’s Broadcast” in the early 1930s.  One of the initial hosts of the show was Robert Ripley (remember “Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not?“)

Ozzie and Harriet married in 1935 and decided, as opposed to continuing to work independently, they would see more of each other by working the same gigs.  After appearing on some of the top radio programs in the 1940s, included “The Red Skelton Show,” “The Fred Allen Show” and “Suspense,” which led to their own radio vehicle.

When Skelton was drafted in 1944, Ozzy was left to create his own family situation comedy on Red’s program, giving him valuable experience he would need a couple years later to develop his own television show.  It was there that Nelson “created” a pair of boys for his radio family.

Contrary to popular belief, Ozzie and Harriet did NOT use their real sons at the start of the program.  Instead they auditioned many established child actors for the part, hoping to keep their real children out of show business–at least initially.

Using the names of his real-life children, Ozzie hired Henry Blair to play the role of “Ricky.”  The role of “David” was shared by Joel Davis and then later Tommy Bernard for the first five seasons of their radio program.

Itching to get into show business, the “real” Ricky and David persuaded their parents to let them take over “their” roles during the fifth season of the radio program in 1949.

When the show made the jump to television in October 1952, the entire family was on board.

By 1957, Ricky had become one of the most sought after heartthrobs on television–it is widely believed that the first use of the term “teen idol” was used for him.  During the show’s run, they frequently featured Ricky’s singing talents and he launched a very successful singing career, placing 53 songs on Billboards “Top 100” charts during his career.

David, meanwhile, preferred to hone his acting skills and accepted more dramatic roles in films, starting with the 1959’s thriller, The Big Circus.  He also showed an interest in directing, manning several later episodes of “Ozzie and Harriet” and eventually directed motion pictures.

Many of the “kids” real-life stories were used as the basis of “The Adventures…”  episodes’ plots.  As both Ricky and David got older and married (Kristin Harmon and June Blair, respectively), their wives then joined the cast as well.

In all, the series would go on for a record-setting 14-year sojourn on television alone and all four family members would become household names–which didn’t exactly sit well with Rick (who tried to shed his childhood persona by dropping the “y” from his first name).

As time wore on, Rick looked to move past his wholesome image of the “Ozzie and Harriet” days and be taken seriously as a  rock-and-roll performer of later 1960s and 1970s style music, but many fans of the television show wanted to hear his hits made famous during the 1950s program.

One one occasion at Madison Square Garden, when Rick insisted on playing more modern music, “oldies” fans booed him off the stage.  The humiliating experience inspired Rick to write the song “Garden Party,” which ended up being his final hit song, placing 6th on the pop charts.

Rick died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1985.  He was just 45.

David continued to act and direct films until making his last appearance in the 1990 film, Cry Baby.  He was honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture industry in 1996.  In 2011, David died at the age of 74 from colon cancer.

You can revisit the Nelson children in their early years in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which airs weekly on Sunday afternoons at 1 p.m and Wednesday mornings at 9am on ATVN.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on the Astound TV Network, check out the weekly listings here.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For most of the last dozen or so summers, I run into Nazareth Football Head Coach Tom Falzone and ask him how good his team is going to be the following autumn. Every other summer he downplays his team’s expectations and says his team isn’t going to be that good this season…and most of the time, his team exceeds expectations and finishes near the top of the pack.

This spring he admitted to me, “We’re going to be very good.”

And two weeks into the season, his Blue Eagles have taken over the top spot in our Eastern Pennsylvania Conference poll standings.

As you saw on ATVN last weekend, we had two outstanding high school games, all involving the top teams in our EPC Poll. Nazareth posted a strong win over Parkland and Emmaus scored a five-point victory over Central Catholic.

Nazareth still has a number of tough games coming up, but they cleared their first big hurdle of the season.

Emmaus, meanwhile, has five more very winnable games coming up and should be in good shape for quite a while.

Not to be outdone in the Colonial League, there was a great Thursday night football contest in which Northern Lehigh upset Northwestern. On Friday, Southern Lehigh edged Notre Dame-Green Pond in a one-point win. The close victories will force a complete “flip” of our Colonial poll–below–involving the same four teams but in different positions.

But first, here are the details on our weekly polls.

We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material. Our “media voters” usually reveal themselves when we have the pleasure of having them on our weekly SportsTalk program, seen on Thursday nights on the Astound TV Network and available to watch at any time for free through ATVN on Demand.

This year, we are breaking the two polls down into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the Astound broadcast area. With the Colonial teams cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League and the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playing different “crossover” teams, our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not have the same opponents on their schedule.

Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the ATVN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC TOP 5

1. Nazareth
2. Emmaus
3. Parkland
4. Freedom
5. Bethlehem Catholic

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):
Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Northern Lehigh
2. Southern Lehigh
3. Northwestern
4. Notre Dame-GP

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):
Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

Be sure to check back to our website for our weekly polls and check our upcoming broadcast information frequently for any changes for our ongoing sports schedule throughout the fall season.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

The radio and television editions of The Jack Benny Program ran almost without interruption from 1932 to 1965.  There are a number of classic episodes that received high ratings and a lot of individual “Benny” shows that are regarded as some of the top programs in the early history of television.

But only a few are as memorable and poignant as the television episode, “Jack Dreams He’s Married to Mary” (which will be shown on ATVN this Sunday at 12 noon).

First, a little history about this famous real-life married couple.

Jack was first introduced to a teenage Sadie Marks (his wife’s original real-life name) before Benny even thought about a career in radio, much less TV which wasn’t even invented yet.

There were not exactly fireworks during their first meeting at Marks’ family dinner.  While touring in vaudeville, Jack was invited to dinner by a fellow Jewish man who had two daughters (at that time, not all eating venues were “Jewish friendly” during special holidays).  Benny admitted in his biography, Sunday Nights at 7, that at that time, he was interested in Sadie’s older sister, Babe (someone who would become the butt of Jack’s jokes throughout his series and would guest star frequently to “return the favor”).

A few years later, Jack’s and Sadie’s paths would cross again although Benny initially didn’t even recognize the “adult Sadie,” and quickly asked his then-future wife on a date.  Jack would visit Sadie at her job for the May Company (another source for jokes throughout Benny’s show) and Sadie would later accompany Jack to watch him perform his own radio show live.

Shortly after the program started, Jack’s regular female sidekick “ghosted” him by not showing up for his live show and so Sadie filled in, using the on-air name, Mary Livingstone.  Even when the regular actress returned, Benny and his writing staff agreed that Sadie was the better “Mary” and preferred the on-air chemistry between the two.

Even though the couple was now married in real life, it was deemed more “entertaining” that the two stay single on the program, which allowed for more comedic situations regarding the troubles of dating, a unique rotation of girlfriends and Benny’s quirky life as an eligible bachelor.  They also thought it would be more original to stay away from the typical married couple routine that was already employed by other show business real-life couples at that time (most notably, their best friends, George Burns and Gracie Allen).  Plus, the contact back-and-forth, boss/employee, verbal shots Jack and Mary took towards each other seemed to work better on-air. 

That faux “bitter” relationship between the two continued for nearly all of the 33-year history of the program.

Except for this one episode.

In this particular show, which initially aired in 1954 (by this time Sadie had officially had her legal name changed to “Mary Livingstone”), Jack “imagines” what life would be like if he was, indeed, married to his longtime assistant, Mary.  Without revealing many of the spoilers for your viewing pleasure, this episode does include a number of tongue-in-check references to his “alternate” life, in addition to real-life references throughout the program, which even included a guest appearance by their real-life adopted daughter, Joan.

Once the dream sequence was over, Jack and Mary returned to their more “normal” relationship, with Jack poorly paying Mary, and his “assistant” returning the favor with some sharp-tongue digs at Benny’s shortcomings.

The real relationship between Jack and Mary was quite different.

There is a YouTube clip from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, which paints a much different picture of their marriage.  Mary tells the story of a single red rose that she received shortly after her husband’s death in 1972.  For a while there was no note and she didn’t know who was sending it to her.

When she tracked down the delivery man she eventually discovered that in Benny’s will, he set up a trust that Mary would receive a red rose every day for the rest of her life, as a reminder of the undying love Jack had for her.

Mary survived Jack’s death until June 30, 1983 when she was 83…and a rose came to her doorstep every day for those 11 years.

Tune in and set your DVRs for this classic episode of The Jack Benny Program this Sunday at 12 noon on the Astound TV Network.  You can also see the Benny program weekly on ATVN on Wednesdays at 12 noon.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly television listings here. 

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or
position of Astound or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Those of us in the media often say that we are not surprised when a certain team beats another team.

But, quite frequently, we can be surprised by the WAY one team defeats another team.

That was the case with many of our week-one contests.

Previously second-ranked Parkland, a team that normally dominates teams with their rushing attack, took to the air to deliver some long (and amazingly athletic) catches, to defeat Easton–last week’s number-five team.

And other teams like Bethlehem Catholic, Northwestern and Northern Lehigh, to name a few, not only won their games, but won by surprisingly huge margins.

Last but not least (as you saw on ATVN last Friday), the rematch of last year’s district championship game lived up to the hype.  But it was Emmaus–the team that lost in last fall’s title contest–that surprised Freedom, a squad that most people thought would be the best team in the area.

What does it all mean?  

It should be a very interesting fall.

And now, for this week’s polls…

We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material.  Our “media voters” usually reveal themselves when we have the pleasure of having them on our weekly SportsTalk program, seen on Thursday nights on the Astound TV Network and available to watch at any time for free through ATVN on Demand.

This year, we are going to break the two polls down into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the Astound broadcast area.  With the Colonial teams cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League and the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playing different “crossover” teams, our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not have the same opponents on their schedule.

Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the ATVN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC TOP 5

1. Parkland
2. Nazareth
3. Emmaus
4. Freedom
5. Central Catholic

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

Parkland, Nazareth and Emmaus all scored wins and moved up in the poll, while Freedom’s loss to Emmaus brought them down from number-one to number-four.  Central Catholic, who was tied for the fifth spot with Easton in our pre-season poll, takes over that spot by itself with its exciting come-from-behind win over Liberty on Saturday night.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Northwestern
2. Notre Dame-GP
3. Northern Lehigh
4. Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

No changes in the Colonial League poll as Northwestern, Notre Dame-Green Pond and Northern Lehigh all posted solid wins, while Southern Lehigh lost a close out-of-the-league contest last Friday, but holds on to its “fourth” spot in the rankings.

Be sure to check back to our website and check it frequently for any changes for our ongoing broadcast schedule information throughout the season.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.
Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

It’s funny how time–and television–can change people’s lasting impressions!

For many generations, Fred MacMurray is known simply as the calm, wise dad who solved most of his constantly growing family’s problems for 12 years on the long-running TV sitcom, My Three Sons.

But MacMurray actually had a very long and successful career as a businessman, a talented musician and singer, in addition to both playing leading men and supporting characters in motion pictures, inhabiting a variety of different personas through his various films…and next week would have been his 114th birthday!

Born Frederick Martin MacMurray on August 30, 1908 in Kankakee, Illinois, Fred came from a family whose father taught music and his aunt was a vaudeville performer. He attended Carroll College in Wisconsin but did not graduate. Instead, he played saxophone in numerous bands in the late 1920s.

MacMurray actually started in show business as a singer, recording several singles in 1930 and 1931.

He also appeared on Broadway with a role in Three’s A Crowd in the early 1930s before signing a movie contract with Paramount Pictures in 1934.

Fred was quickly paired with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, normally playing “nice guys” in musicals, melodramas and light-hearted comedies. Some of his earliest co-stars included Joan Crawford, Carole Lombard, Katherine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert and Barbara Stanwyck. His fellow male acting co-stars included Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda, Bob Hope, Van Johnson and Jose Ferrer.

By the turn of the 1940s decade, MacMurray had become one of the highest paid actors in the entertainment industry. In fact, his 1943 annual salary of $430,000 not only made him the HIGHEST paid actor in Hollywood, but he was the fourth highest paid person in the United States.

The fewer roles he got in which he portrayed a “not so nice a guy” brought him even bigger fame and better critical reviews.

After starring in darker films like The Apartment, Borderline, The Caine Mutiny and the film noir classic, Double Indemnity, MacMurray was one of the most sought after actors in Hollywood.

But instead of continuing to star in major motion pictures, he took a different course of action.

He became a businessman.

MacMurray bought large areas of land and invested in cattle ranches and agricultural communities…all sustaining his claim as one of the top four richest men in America for many years.

He remained a popular figure with occasional guest-starring appearances on a few 1950s television shows, including I Love Lucy and Cimarron City.

Those successful appearances paved the way for his own TV show in 1960, but it did not come without MacMurray’s star power ensuring some major benefits for himself.

In order for Fred to concentrate on his business enterprises (and his golf game), his contract insisted that all his scenes for the entire season be shot first and must be completed within a two-month timespan.

While “….Sons” became a perennial favorite for audiences throughout the decade and into the early 1970s, MacMurray did shoot a few more films resonating favorably with audiences, like The Shaggy Dog, The Happiest Millionaire, The Absent Minded Professor and, its sequel, The Son of Flubber.

Fred was diagnosed with throat cancer in the 1970s, which he thought he recovered from, only to have it return in 1987. He also suffered a stroke and battled leukemia for over a decade before he succumbed to pneumonia on November 5, 1991.

Upon his passing, his large agricultural estate was sold to winemaker Gallo, who issued wines marked with the “MacMurray Ranch” label that people can still buy to this day.

Be on the lookout to watch MacMurray’s various television and movie work like the 1950’s flick, Borderline, seen frequently on the Astound TV Network. To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly television listings here.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

The kickoff of the high school football season is here!

This Friday, the season begins with a pair of great matchups that we will be featuring on the Astound TV Network, featuring four teams that qualified for the district tournament a year ago.  The EPC South Champion Parkland will take on Easton, while the two teams that played for last year’s district title–Emmaus and Freedom–will rematch against each other this Friday.

Not surprisingly, all four of these teams will begin the season ranked high in the ATVN pre-season polls.

Several of the other teams ranked in both our polls will be seen on ATVN later in the season (we’ll have Nazareth and Allentown Central Catholic on our channel next week).

Not familiar with our annual scholastic football polling?

I’m glad you asked.

I’m proud to say (and no, I don’t vote myself) our football polls have proven to be among the most accurate, year after year, among all media organizations that attempt to rank teams in our coverage area each fall.  (Check out our archived polls from previous years if you’d like proof).

We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material.  Our “media voters” usually reveal themselves when we have the pleasure of having them on our weekly SportsTalk program, seen on Thursday nights on the Astound TV Network and available to watch at any time for free through ATVN on Demand.

This year, we are going to break the two polls down into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the Astound broadcast area.  With the Colonial teams will be cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League and the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playing different “cross-over” teams, our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not have the same opponents on their schedule.

Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the ATVN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC TOP 5

1. Freedom
2. Parkland
3. Nazareth
4. Emmaus
5. (tie)  Easton/Central Catholic

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Northwestern 
2. Notre Dame-GP
3. Northern Lehigh
4. Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

Be sure to check back to  the “upcoming events” section here on our website and check it frequently for any changes and for our ongoing playoff broadcast schedule information throughout the postseason.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

Hopefully you have been watching episodes of the legendary show Bonanza on ATVN, along with reading some of our earlier blog entries focusing on the show’s legacy and a few unique stories on two of its larger than life actors – Michael Landon (“Little Joe”) and Dan Blocker (“Hoss” Cartwright).

However, many people don’t know that many of the first-season episodes of this program are rarely seen…but YOU can see these unique shows this month on the Astound TV Network!

Bonanza, despite what turned out to be a very long run of successes, did not have the easiest time getting–and then staying–on the air.  This seems hard to believe, in retrospect, as it eventually became one of the most successful television programs in the 1960s and arguably the most beloved western show of all time.

First of all, the executive producers (Dan Dartort and Mark Roberts) of Bonanza faced a crowded field of shows with similar themes to pitch to network television studios.  Remember, in 1959, there were only three options.  CBS (first in the ratings the previous year with a very strong returning programming lineup), NBC and ABC all had plenty of options for new western shows.  Among the new shows with western backgrounds looking for a television home at this time included: Rawhide, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Man and the Challenge, Bandwagon, and Tales of the Riverbank … all were produced pilots that spring.

There was also pressure for networks to add other new shows like The Untouchables (produced by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, who CBS wanted to keep happy to have them continue churning out I Love Lucy hour-long “specials”) along with soon to be favorites Dennis The Menace, Hawaiian Eye and Rod Sterling’s The Twilight Zone.

Once signed by NBC for the first season, Bonanza quickly saw resistance from network executives for its writing style.  It was different from other like-westerns for its storylines that focused more on the characters and how they related to each other and relied less on the typical “life on the range” stories and other usual dramatic themes of the old west.  Another concern was that–at the time of the show’s debut–none of the four central stars were well-established actors in Hollywood, and the network worried people wouldn’t “feel” for the characters.

Furthermore, Bonanza was atypical from other shows in that the early episodes dealt with issues like racism, bigotry and anti-semitism.

Other knocks against the new show included financial concerns.

It was one of the few shows broadcast in color (which more than tripled its expense compared to its black-and-white counterparts).  Plus, adding in the cost of renting horses for the show and the initial decision to choose the shooting locations in the expensive Riverside Country, California helped to make it one of the most expensive westerns of the time period.

NBC didn’t help matters with its scheduling.  Initially, Bonanza aired on Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. opposite popular Dick Clark’s Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show on ABC, and, on CBS, a perennial Top-10 Favorite, Perry Mason.  While first year ratings for Bonanza were not poor, it still finished far behind CBS’s Saturday night lineup and NBC seriously considered canceling the show after just that first season.

Rumor has it that NBC kept the show because its corporate parent, Radio Corporation of America (RCA), used the show to spur sales of RCA-manufactured color television sets (RCA was also the primary sponsor of the series during its first two seasons).

After the first season, the shooting location was moved to the more fiscally responsible state of Nevada, which still allowed for grand, lavish landscapes that wowed the early 1960s TV-watchers who had the luxury of colorized viewing.

A year later, NBC moved Bonanza to a much more popular time slot  (replacing The Dinah Shore Chevy Show on Sundays at 9:00 pm). The new time slot saw Bonanza soar in the ratings and eventually reached number one by 1964.

The show held on to the honor of being television’s top-rated regular program until 1967 when it was seriously challenged by the socially provocative and, for its time, controversial variety show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, on CBS.   But by then, the show was already an established ratings “bonanza” (pardon the pun) and would still have success for several more years…and the rest of the show’s success is history.  It ultimately became one of the top 50 television shows of all time (according to a 2002 “TV Guide” special edition).

Be sure to tune in or set your DVRs to catch the rarely shown, first season episodes in the Bonanza show history – part of this summer’s sizzling ATVN programming lineup.  Bonanza airs every Sunday morning at 9pm.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly listings here.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

We are closing in on the start of another school year and a busy 10-month stretch of high school sports productions coming up on the Astound TV Network.

We are also wrapping up a successful summer broadcast campaign.

First up…a look ahead.

Our first high school broadcast of the new season will be on Friday, August 26, with a doubleheader featuring four teams that competed in last year’s District XI playoffs–Freedom, Emmaus, Easton and Parkland.

We also will post our scholastic football schedule here on our website very soon.  I firmly believe ATVN customers will be pleasantly satisfied with a number of key elements for our slate this fall.

Some of our highlights include:

• A significant increase in the number of Colonial League games
• More Northampton regular season football games this regular season
• A bigger variety of teams on our schedule than any other year
• While the pre-season “teams to beat” appears to be Emmaus, Parkland, Nazareth and Freedom (our full “polls” will be released next week here on this blog and on our Thursday “SportsTalk” show), we still have 11 other teams in our coverage area on our schedule at least twice
• All of the “large school” EPC-South teams are scheduled to be on at least three times (most will be on at least four times)
• More live games than any other season in our network’s history

As always, there are still a variety of factors that may affect our schedule.  A good number of those reasons could be completely out of our control, which is why it will be important to bookmark our programming schedule pages and keep checking back to our website throughout the season to stay up-to-date with our sports programming on the Astound TV Network.

We’ll have more on the upcoming high school football season, along with continuing our month-long interviews with local non-football sports as teams prepare for the upcoming fall season, this Thursday at 7pm on ATVN.

******

As we turn the page to the fall, we take our final look back at a very fun and busy summer season on our network.

Here are our final highlight melts from our sports productions over the last several weeks:

1. Astound Sports: Liberty vs. Emmaus (5/22)

2. Astound Sports: Blue Mountain vs. Saucon Valley (5/22)

3. Astound Sports: Northampton Giants vs. Easton Falcons (6/22)

4. Astound Sports: Avengers vs Hellertown Royals (6/22)

5. Astound Sports: Northern Yankees vs. Hellertown Royals (6/22)

6. Astound Sports: 2022 McDonald’s All-Star Football Classic (6/22)

All of these productions are still currently available to watch for free and “on-demand” at any time for ATVN customers.

You can also purchase DVDs and Blu-Rays of these and all Astound TV Network productions by calling (610) 443-2909.

Next week, we unveil our pre-season high school football polls along with more insights, predictions and details on the new season, as we approach the kickoff of our 2022 sports coverage in our Lehigh Valley area!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ATVN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

One of the great things about revisiting classic television programs is rediscovering people now primarily known for “other” roles.

Take, for example, Dick Jones–co-star of The Range Rider–one of the nostalgic shows which debuted on the Astound TV Network as part of our new summer programming schedule.  You may not remember the name, but we can pretty much guarantee that you have seen or heard his work.

Born Richard Percy Jones on February 27, 1927 in a small Texas town, “Dickie” (as he was called through his early years) literally grew up performing in rodeos and western shows, which helped prepare him for some of his biggest career performances as an actor.  His mother also encouraged him to take speech lessons and utilize his unique voice.

His family moved to Hollywood to allow him an opportunity to get a career in films.

Fans of 1930s and early 1940 films will remember him for his roles as Jimmy Stewart’s page in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, as “Killer” Parkins in the late 1930s Nancy Drew films, and as a frequent guest star on the popular Our Gang (The Little Rascals) shorts.  He was also a regular performer as Artimer “Artie” Peters in the popular B-western films starring Hopalong Cassidy.

Jones scored his most famous and well-known role at the age of 11 as the voice of the titular character in the original version of Walt Disney’s Pinocchio.  At the time of its release, it was initially considered a box-office bomb.  Filmed on a budget of $2.6 million, it has since gone on to become a classic–earning well over $160 million – and has since become one of the most beloved cartoon films of all-time.

“Dickie” then put his career on hold to fight for the Allies in World War II.

Upon his return to the states, he shortened his first name to “Dick” and once again became a familiar face to 1950’s audiences in a variety of western-themed programs, including classics like The Gene Autry Show, Annie Oakley, The Lone Ranger, The Blue Angels, Buffalo Bill Jr., Wagon Train, The Gray Ghost, The Night Rider and Pony Express.  He also starred in the full-length film, Requiem Of A Gunfighter.

But his longest and most visible on-camera starring role was on The Range Rider, in which he co-starred with Jock Mahoney.  Although both actors were roughly the same age, Mahoney’s 6-foot-5 frame made it look like Jones’ character, Dick West, was that of a much younger, smaller sidekick. (Jones’ height was estimated to be about 5’4″ at this time).

The show attempted to feature leading characters who had a reputation for honesty and emphasizing fairness for ALL peoples, including Native Americans–which wasn’t often the case for westerns filmed in early 1950s’ television.

In a crowded field of similar genre-driven shows, “Rider” was a standout performer in the ratings and earned a full three-year first release run before going into syndication.       

The quality of the episodes never waned.  Even today, the episodes during the program’s final season are among the highest rated shows by viewers on the IMDB website.  In fact, its third-last show ever produced, titled, “Two-Fisted Justice”, is rated one of the program’s all-time best episodes.

The Range Rider show itself also provided a number of early television appearances for stars who went on to have success in the entertainment field, including Bob Woodward, Denver Pyle, William Fawcett and others.

Be sure to watch and set your DVRs for The Range Rider, airing for the first time ever on ATVN this summer, every Friday morning at 9:30am.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on the Astound TV Network, check out the weekly listings here.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Listen, I know sports fans love to complain. 

It’s what we do. 

It’s part of the passion that drives a fan base. Sometimes the griping is warranted. Other times it’s not.

Without taking a scientific poll, it seems like there has been quite a bit more complaining about pro sports of late. When special athletes are paid millions of dollars and don’t quite live up to the expectations, it is natural for people to call them out from time to time.

But I would like to take a moment to single out something that is getting a little ridiculous.

For over a century of sports action, it is not unusual for an athlete to temporarily take a tiny bit of time off to reflect, recover or just to refocus themselves during a tough stretch.

Baseball catchers usually get the afternoon day game off following a preceding night game. Centers might sit out the second game of a back-to-back NBA contest when the team had a long travel flight earlier that day. Hockey goalies might take the third game off if all three contests are played within six days.

But more and more, athletes are getting rather large stretches of time off for rather minor and, in some cases, inane, reasons.

There was a time when athletes would play through minor pain issues and felt an obligation to their fan base to give a quality effort each and every night. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gave several interviews after his career was over of what he would go through to participate in a big ball game during a tough stretch in his schedule, (which was much, much more gruesome than today’s NBA athletes have). Pete Rose would take offense if he didn’t play in at least 96% of his 162 games scheduled each year.  And I won’t even bring up the ironman accomplishments of Cal Ripken, Jr. and Lou Gehrig.

Over the last few months alone I’ve heard the following…

One of the Philadelphia Flyers’ top players requested six games (or two weeks) off because he needed time to “sort out his life.”  The Sixers’ Joel Embiid, who has never come close to playing a full regular season schedule, said he needed to take three or four WEEKS off just because of the “grind” of what was a normal basketball schedule this year.

Not to pick on Embiid, who throughout his entire career has never played more than 77% of his games, but when he returned, he did not play well. He blamed it on “having a hard time getting going,” according to 76ers’ beat writer Tom Moore.

Speaking of Philadelphia’s pro basketball team, they played one game in the middle of their season without four of their starters.  No significant injuries to any of them — they just needed a little break. It wasn’t even during a tough stretch of games nor was the team so far ahead in the standings that they could just miss four of their top five players and afford to pick up a loss while still battling for playoff positioning.

Sixers Head Coach Doc Rivers said his players needed a little time off just to “sort some things out.”

But consider…

Imagine a family who works hard, saving enough money to take their family to see their favorite team, only to find out that practically 80% of the squad didn’t feel like showing up for work that day.

To look at this from an NBA perspective, Michael Jordan in his final year, at 39 years of age, played in all 82 games and averaged over 37 minutes played per night.

I could go on, but if you follow any of the major pro sports other than football, you probably have heard more than your fair share of similar excuses lately.

All the while, athletes garnish more and more money while playing less and less. And it’s hard to blame them!

If their bosses are going to let them be less productive and get far less out of their abilities, who am I to cheat them out of getting what amounts to a free ride?

It is the coaches, general managers and owners who are at fault for letting athletes’ minimum requirements per season spiral out of control to increasingly lower levels of efficiency. All the while they milk fans for their hard-earned dollars one way or another. Whether it’s charging insane amounts for tickets, let alone the absorbent prices for seating fees (for football and basketball), food, parking and even the smallest souvenir for a young fan.

If you can no longer afford to attend a sporting event in person, they’re making sports fans pay through the nose with excessive sports broadcast fees that have multiplied at ridiculous rates the last few years — all to help defray the cost of the record high amounts of money they are paying athletes…to play LESS than ever before!

There’s no easy solution to resolve this and lots of luck convincing the players’ unions in any professional sport nowadays of getting athletes to take a pay cut.

So I have an alternate plan.

If athletes truly need to take more than one game off due to the “mental fatigue” of playing a game or claim they need to take over 20% of their work schedule off in order to play their best, how about those players make a donation to a local charity equal to the corresponding amount of that portion of their salary?

To make it fair, each sport establishes a consistent level of expectations for all teams but each organization can set up how these donations can be distributed.

Negotiations can also take place to which charities receive this gift. 

A majority of athletes do donate either their time or money anyway but this rule would make it mandatory for all athletes to give something back to their communities if they have to miss significant time for anything less than a reasonably excusable absence.

And who knows…it might just make an athlete think twice if they really need that 17th consecutive day off just because of all the hard work that goes into playing a game that thousands of others would love to participate in?

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.