Notes from around town

 Downtown Troy is starting to experience a rebirth.

In recent weeks, we've seen the Denim Library open in the former First Class Laundromat space. Troy Rewind gives the city its first video arcade since the 80's. Another cannabis dispensary has opened on Hoosick Street, next to the St. Mary's Massry Center. Really cheeky move there.

But, at the same time, citizens are increasingly angry over the Flock cameras installed in the city, with allegations that the information gathered is being shared with the federal government, which seems to be the point of the exercise in the first place.

However, overnight, someone decided that a little graffiti was in order at the Hedley building, current home of City Hall.

Photo courtesy Albany Times-Union.

Now, a number of other businesses, and some vacant storefronts, have been tagged in recent months, but when the graffiti reaches City Hall, well, it's only then that the police, at the request of Mayor Carmella Mantello, are looking into the tagging, because part of it, as you can see, can be interpreted as a personal attack on the Mayor.

Some will argue that the graffiti undermines citizen groups looking for peaceful solutions. The frustration is setting in, it's clear. We know the Mantello administration is emulating the idiot squad in Washington, and it's not a good idea. The Mayor is fishing for brownie points from the White House. Not only that, but recent photos suggest that the Mayor is growing old before her time, as she seems to have aged 10 years in the last 16+ months.

Schools throughout the 518 will be closed for the Memorial Day holiday starting tomorrow, with classes resuming Wednesday instead of Tuesday. It's a recent trend, similar to starting Easter break on Good Friday, for example. Things my generation didn't have back in the day.

After exhausting their supply of last year's baseball cards, Hatchet Ace Hardware on 3rd Street is trumpeting the fact they're carrying Pokemon cards, which can be found behind the counter to dissuade shoplifters. If they do get any of this year's baseball cards, they'll also go behind the counter, mostly to keep the greedy scalpers away.

And that would be a welcome idea.

On The Air: Pop Culture Jeopardy! (2024)

 This was inevitable.

As Sony continues to expand the Jeopardy! franchise, the newest spinoff is available for online streaming.

Pop Culture Jeopardy! launched at the end of 2024 on Amazon Prime, but shifted to Netflix for season 2, which ends June 6. Colin Jost (Saturday Night Live) is the series host. Unlike the regular Jeopardy! and other spinoffs, the Pop Culture iteration has three two-person teams instead of three single contestants. The more, the merrier.

Let's take a look at a sample category. Full episodes, of course, are unavailable, other than on Netflix & Hulu.

Jost's profile has been raised in recent years, what with an endorsement deal with Blue Moon beer and his marriage to actress Scarlett Johanssen. If the core Jeopardy! needs a fill-in should something happen to current moderator Ken Jennings, Jost would be a good bet to cover.

Rating: A.

Videos of Summer: The River of Dreams (1993)

 "The River of Dreams" is the title track from Billy Joel's 1993 CD.

Look quick, and you'll see Billy's then-wife, Christie Brinkley, doing some painting. Brinkley did the cover for the CD.

Now, comes word that a bio pic, "Billy & Me", is being prepped for a release, but without any cooperation from the "Piano Man", whose former bandmate, Jon Small, & former manager, Irwin Mazur, are behind the bio, which covers Joel's early career, before he signed with Columbia. Joel is blocking the release of the film, claiming Mazur & Small don't have the rights to use his music.

Stay tuned.

An era soon to end: CBS Radio News (1927-2026)

 CBS owners Paramount-Skydance claim that they needed to terminate the radio news department because of how today's society receives their news via live streams and social media.

When CBS Radio News signs off on Friday, an era will end, and not entirely for the reasons that they claim. One commenter online suggested that some of the current radio staff, including veteran journalists Steve Kathan, Vicki Barker, Debra Rodriguez, Wendy Gillette, and others, could move to streaming. CBS gave former WCW announcer Christopher Cruise a new lease on life, and he likely could move into retirement.

Locally, WROW, a CBS affiliate forever, will simply go directly to local news updates from WRGB between 5-8 am, starting May 26. Currently, the station will run a short news brief from CBS for about a minute or so before going to local news. That they get the local news from WRGB reminds that WROW no longer has a news department of their own, and hasn't in years.

On Mother's Day, CBS Sunday Morning ran a feature piece on their radio cousins. Intro by Jane Pauley. Mo Rocca is the reporter.

You know who to blame, really. Even though CBS Radio News is non-partisan in its coverage, the decision is not entirely on Bari Weiss, or new owner Larry Ellison. It comes because president Trump, who doesn't comprehend the distinction between constructive & destructive criticism, doesn't want to hear any dissenting voices on the air.

WROW dropped CBS' World News Roundup a couple of years ago in order to streamline their morning news. What will happen when there's a breaking story after May 22, and CBS can't cover it on radio? I guess we'll have to wait & find out.

But, trust me on this. After Trump leaves office, Ellison may be forced to reconsider this ill-advised decision, and he should.

Forgotten TV: Bobby Vinton's Rock 'n' Rollers (1978)

 The Bobby Vinton Show had ended its 3 year run. "The Polish Prince", whose half hour variety show had been packaged by Chuck Barris & Chris Bearde, and produced in Canada, returned to the US for a hour long primetime special for CBS right before Thanksgiving of 1978.

"Bobby Vinton's Rock 'n' Rollers", though, was packaged by Sid & Marty Krofft, their first sale to CBS since Far Out Space Nuts three years earlier. Having ceded control of ABC's Donny & Marie to the Osmond family, which moved the series to Utah, the Kroffts decided to create a similar show, but with Vinton at the front, with guests Fabian, Penny Marshall (Laverne & Shirley), Erik Estrada (CHiPs), and a reunion of Our Miss Brooks stars Eve Arden & Gale Gordon. The Kroffts were bent on making Estrada into a song & dance man, as he covered Dion's "The Wanderer", two months after he went ham on the premiere of the Krofft Superstar Hour.

Unfortunately, all we have is a network promo, queued by Valerie Bertinelli (One Day at a Time), and narrated by Dick Tufeld (ex-Lost in Space, Hollywood Palace).

If Barris, fresh from The Gong Show, had packaged this, he'd have been tempted to bring along Gene Gene The Dancing Machine.

No rating, of course.

Classic TV: Alcoa Premiere, aka Fred Astaire's Premiere Theatre (1961)

 Alcoa Premiere was an anthology series in the truest sense of the word.

The series gave birth to a trio of series, McHale's Navy, Channing, & Wild Country, the latter of which ended up on NBC. Host Fred Astaire, like Boris Karloff on NBC's Thriller, also acted in some episodes, and we'll look at those down the line. Comedian George Gobel even guest hosted one episode, and one more was moved over from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, complete with Hitchcock getting an executive producer's credit for his Shamley Productions.

We've already seen the McHale pilot, "Seven Against The Sea". This time, we're in season 2, with "Million Dollar Hospital", with an all-star cast of then-current & future stars, including Charles Bickford, William Shatner, Ken Berry, John Banner, Arte Johnson, Reta Shaw, and Burt Mustin.

Rating: A.

When life makes art a reality. Yes, Virginia, there really is a WKRP

 Eight years after his passing, Hugh Wilson's vision, if you will, of a rock station in Cincinnati has come to life.

Wilson created WKRP in Cincinnati, which spent a total of 6 seasons on the air (CBS 1978-82, syndicated 1991-3), in which the station's format had shifted from staid muzak to classic rock.

Recently, a Cincinnati radio station, a part of the iHeart network, acquired the famous call letters from a North Carolina non-profit for a classic oldies channel that covers Ohio, Kentucky, & Indiana in its broadcast district. The playlist now consists of oldies from the 60's, 70's, & 80's, just like iHeart affiliate WTRY here in the 518.

Of course, it got some play on the local news in Cincy....

Of the TV WKRP's cast, only Gary Sandy, Richard Sanders, Tim Reid, & Jan Smithers are still with us, and I shan't be surprised if they've been contacted about doing guest appearances for the new, real-life WKRP. As of now, WKRP, nicknamed, "The Oasis", has just 3 on-air personalities. I wonder if a certain 518 doll's syndicated show will show up there soon........