My favorite new show of the summer is the Netflix series GLOW (a.k.a the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling), a fictional comedy/drama about the crazy, off-the-wall syndicated show of the same name that ran on Saturday mornings from 1986 to 1990. If you haven't seen GLOW, you must! It's really good nostalgia.
Shows that look back several decades, to a specific time/place/scene, appears to be a new trend. Hence, the new HBO show The Deuce that'll premiere in September, about the 1970s NYC porn scene. I blogged about this show recently and can't wait to see it.
I don't remember the 1970s, and I sure don't remember the porn scene, but (Mom - if you're reading this, STOP NOW), I do remember Channel 35, the nasty after midnight cable channel that showed, well ... not porn exactly but the next best thing.
Namely, Al Goldstein's Midnight Blue, the only "porn" news show that's ever existed, and The Robin Byrd Show, where the host would interview various strippers and porn stars and they'd dance.
Both shows were very bizarre and lots of fun. If you were a teenager in NYC in the last 20th century, it was paradise.
Of course, today, in the age of the Internet, they shows are long gone. Al Goldstein is dead and Robin Byrd is doing live shows (I've blogged about both Al and Robin in the past, go to a Search for more). But the ways in which NYC has changed isn't just in the buildings that've been built and torn downs or the stores and restaurants that have closed, it's also what's on TV or on the radio or in the newspapers (see Liz Smith). They exist today only in our memories.
P.S. Robin Byrd is on Facebook and I sent her a message, asking for an interview, but she still hasn't responded. Robin, if you're reading, or if you're someone who knows her, please tell her to respond. I REALLY want to interview her!
I don't remember the 1970s, and I sure don't remember the porn scene, but (Mom - if you're reading this, STOP NOW), I do remember Channel 35, the nasty after midnight cable channel that showed, well ... not porn exactly but the next best thing.
Namely, Al Goldstein's Midnight Blue, the only "porn" news show that's ever existed, and The Robin Byrd Show, where the host would interview various strippers and porn stars and they'd dance.
Both shows were very bizarre and lots of fun. If you were a teenager in NYC in the last 20th century, it was paradise.
Of course, today, in the age of the Internet, they shows are long gone. Al Goldstein is dead and Robin Byrd is doing live shows (I've blogged about both Al and Robin in the past, go to a Search for more). But the ways in which NYC has changed isn't just in the buildings that've been built and torn downs or the stores and restaurants that have closed, it's also what's on TV or on the radio or in the newspapers (see Liz Smith). They exist today only in our memories.
P.S. Robin Byrd is on Facebook and I sent her a message, asking for an interview, but she still hasn't responded. Robin, if you're reading, or if you're someone who knows her, please tell her to respond. I REALLY want to interview her!
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