TV Cops Before They Were Sexy

It seems most TV dramas these days are either legal or medical dramas. Regardless of whether it's a gritty, hard hitting drama or a cerebral enigma that unravels itself over an hour, one thing is consistent. Sexy people.

Now I'm not saying that there weren't beautiful people on TV back in the day - after all it was called the boob tube for a reason however it seems that casting directors didn't have to worry about eye appeal when choosing actors for their TV dramas. Here's a few examples:

Barnaby Jones (1973) - First of all, who the heck names their kid Barnaby? Your just begging for a school yard beating with a label like that. Uncle Jed Clampett, a.k.a Buddy Epsen (who the heck names their kid buddy either !?!?) was the title character in this show about a retired detective and his daughter-in-law solving crimes while searching for his son's murderer. Just look at those bedroom eyes. Damn son...... turn it down a notch, it's gettin' hot in here.

Columbo (1971) - Peter Falk played the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Columbo, a homicide detective with the LAPD. The role had Frank stumbling around seemingly out of his element and getting under the skin of his peers who always dismissed him yet he was the only guy solving the crimes. You'd think after the fourth or fifth solved crime they'd cut him some slack and let him do his thing. Just once I'd like to hear one of the arrogant cop co-workers of his say, "Hey ! Let's get Columbo here. He'll solve this by the time we come back with donuts!" (Sorry - shameful and unnecessary cop stereotype inserted there)

Baretta (1975) - Do I really need to say anything? With characters that included Rooster, Little Mo and Fats, you kind of already know what the series was like. It's like what you see is what you get. An unorthodox cop solving crime his way. Breaking the rules to get er' done and making no apologies. Oh, he also owns a parrot named Fred. It's not his partner or anything - just a pet. Though that would be cool.

Starsky & Hutch (1975) - Okay I admit these guys were kind of cool and I was a fan growing up but the odd thing about these two was how they'd swing from cool and sexy to dopey and buggy looking from episode to episode. There was no consistency but they did have an informant named Huggy Bear and used a cool ass red Torino with a white stripe as a cop car. Very realistic.

McCloud (1970) - Dennis Weaver played the "cowboy in the city" that also happened to be a cop in this series. The popularity of spaghetti westerns helped give this series some legs and it lasted seven series. Back then, episodes were two hours long and billed as the "Mystery Movie of the Week" but eventually was scaled back to ninety minutes and then to an hour. After all, how much urban cowboy on a horse can you take?

Having said all this, it wasn't all that bad. We did have Policewoman (1974)

Angie Dickinson playing the role of Sgt. "Pepper" Anderson as an undercover cop working what the good Lord gave her to keep the streets safe and rid of all the scums of the earth. Bless her heart.

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R.I.P. Sir Roger Moore (1927-2017)

It's a sad day for Bond fans with the news of the passing of Sir Roger Moore at age 89 after a short battle with cancer. The charismatic actor wore the 007 mantle for seven films playing the super suave British secret agent, James Bond from 1973 to 1985, replacing Sean Connery and went on to be the longest serving Bond to date. Roger had early success on television portraying Simon Templar in the "The Saint" and that role groomed him well for taking over the 007 franchise. He did have quite the television resume before taking on films including roles in "Ivanhoe", "The Alaskans" and "Maverick" and with Tony Curtis in "The Persuaders". His big break came in 1973's "Live and Left Die" that launched Moore's Bond. Roger brought a smoother more gentlemanly vibe to the role compared to Sean's rough and tumble Bond. The mix worked well and it brought a new standard to how Bond would be played in future films.

Earth, Wind and Ozzy !!

There is no doubt that the advent of technology has produced many amazing things that most of us never saw coming or would ever think was possible. Furthest from anyone's mind would be the mashing of two polar opposite musical styles of heavy metal and funk. Not possible you say? Check out the fine work by DJ Cummerbund as he seamlessly combines the heavy metal madness of Ozzy Osbourne with the super slick, funky rhythms of Earth, Wind and Fire to produce a mashup of Crazy Train and September. Ain't technology grand??

Retro Arcade Game of the Day - Raiden

One of the things that was cool about video games back in the early years of gaming was the ability to just enter a game and start playing. No muss, no fuss. No long intro story lines, no boring tasks to complete before it got interesting, just sit and start blasting. Great to relieve some stress in the middle of the day. Raiden was one of those games. The arcade version was released in 1990 and is a classic scrolling shoot em' up game. Easy to control with only two options, shoot or bomb. Nice and simple yet loads of fun. Enjoy ! Controls Arrow Keys – Movement Space key – Select Enter key – Start “Z” key – a “X” key – b “A” key – x “S” key – y “D” key – l “C” key – r To save your game: hover over the emulator screen and use the icons to save your progress. Down arrow icon (save), Up arrow icon (load).

Candies You Grew Up With That May Gross You Out Now (Part 1)

Being a kid in the 70s and 80s allowed you to experience certain candies that may no longer be produced but some of the stuff you grew up with is still around and there are even some specialty stores and websites that cater to making available the treats of your youth. However, just because you can still get them, doesn't mean you should. Your adult palette is vastly different than your youthful taste of what was gross and what was really cool. While eating some of the stuff on this list today may remind you of your youth, it may also provide startling and sobering realizations that you may not have been firing on all cylinders when making choices while spending your hard earned allowance at the candy counter as a kid. Bazooka - Not only was this gum cheap, 2 for a penny back in the day although I may be seriously dating myself, but it also came with a small comic featuring Bazooka Joe, who wore an eye patch and a bunch of his freaky friends including Mort who wore his turtleneck

Before They Were Famous Part 2

Here's the second installment of a glimpse into famous celebrities early start in show business thanks to the retro miracle of VCRs. When you're first starting out, any role you land to try and pay the bills is a good one. In our first installment we featured the McDLT commercial with Jason Alexander. Here he is again in another commercial with Bruce Willis for Levis's Jeans. Before suffering Growing Pains or sinking on the Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio was just a cute kid who liked to chew gum and listen to really big boom boxes. The late Farrah Fawcett was one of the most beautiful women on television. Before her big break on Charlie's Angels, Farrah took really good care of her most second famous attribute besides her hair, her teeth.

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