I don't know if it's exactly subtle, but there's a a very effective scene where Wayne and O'Hara sit silently as their marriage seems to be dying because of their refusal to compromise their principles.

His two-word reaction is great, too: "Impetuous! Homeric!"

Ford shot battle documentaries and other films for the Navy during World War II, rising to the rank of Commander. He was even at Omaha Beach. He never let Wayne forget that while he was in the middle of dangerous combat, Wayne was nursing his exemption and taking advantage of the absence of leading men to advance…

I think Lorne put his finger on it when he said something like "Every five years or so, some foul-up occurs that seems disastrous, but drives home the point that we are live." A guy who's had a show on 40 years can afford to take the long view, but Sinead, Fear, Louise Lasser, the Rocket/MacDonald F-bombs and Ashlee…

They tried to keep it going after Cosell left ABC, and revived the concept several years back with reality-TV stars, but Howard was absolutely essential to the show's success. Even though you knew it was absurd, his persona, bluster, and sense of seriousness made it feel like it was an authentic competition along the…

The Babe Didrikson of BOTNS.

Right, and he didn't treat his show concepts as engraved in bronze if the audience preferred another direction. The Love Boat mostly stayed on course, but Dynasty is mentioned here and BH90210 also drastically shifted from its origins.

My dream passenger list was an episode that had Joe Namath, Vicki Lawrence, Brett Somers, Cleavon Little, Phil Harris (Baloo!) and Ja'net DuBois (Willona from "Good Times.") A Super Bowl MVP and a first-line "Match Game" player, plus tales of Jack Benny, Carol Burnett, "Blazing Saddles" and J.J. Walker!

I saw that one. Total flop. Weak leading man and an interminable opening sequence. It did include some notable early work from Rob Lowe.

Absolutely. Even as a non-Flyer fan, I always get drawn into that one. Just wish I could have been a fly on the wall when fusty NHL Commissioner Clarence Campbell basically told the team "You hate me and I hate you even more, but they've been embarrassing our league, so you have to beat them."

Cold War on Ice is a terrific documentary on the '72 USSR-Canada Summit Series that doesn't get as much attention because it ran on NBC Sports Network rather than as a 30 for 30.

Another flashback I liked was in the episode where Monk goes to L.A. to solve a scam at the game show produced by Trudy's father. As he's eating with his in-laws, their shared pain is palpable. Monk flashes back to the his first meet-the-folks dinner with Trudy.

In the final-season episode where Sharona visits, they end the episode with a hint that she and Disher have started something. Then, Disher becomes chief of the Summit, NJ police department in the finale to be with her.

You can watch the American TV-Movie version with Candice Bergen as the widow (Piper Laurie was the one in the Mel version).

She was also on The New Gidget.

Sons of Moonachie

Orange is the New Hackensack

That's a tremendous episode and companion to Season Five's "Private Butthead" where Wayne and that friend ditch the SATs and sign up for the army. The scene with Wayne and his father after the physical is heartbreaking.

One summer, I worked in a movie multiplex that had a fairly steady stream of celebrity traffic. Weird Al wasn't only the nicest one, but he was the only who waited in line and paid for a ticket. Sometimes unknown people would try to walk past me just by saying "We're friends of [celebrity]," but Al didn't put on any…

Maybe more than any kid-driven show before it, The Wonder Years portrayed the parents in a beautifully realistic way. They weren't dupes or joke machines or wisdom dispensers for the last scene of an episode. Like actual parents, they could be all those things.