Oh my gosh! Will I ever have time to blog again... is the name of this blog post

Here I am, again, writing a post about why I can't write a post. It's a little annoying on this end. But only a little. I have a lot of really great stuff happening, and just wanted to update anyone who doesn't travel along my social medias, in case you are so inclined.

As many of you know, I have edited and contributed to a book coming out May 1st through Headpress titled Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium: 1964-1999. This has given me a little bit of street cred and I find I've been very busy on the promotion trail. Here's what's up:

I will be discussing TV horror movies at the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies in London on April 20th at the Horse Hospital. My talk is titled Tele-terrors: The Real and Imagined Horrors Inside the Made for Television Movie, and it's inexpensive and should be fun! I'll be speaking with Kier-La Janisse and Jennifer Wallis, who are two amazing people. So do it for them, if not for me.

To promote this talk, I recently did a couple of podcast interviews and appearances:

You can listen to me on the Last Horror Podcast
website | iTunes

The Kolchak Tapes Episode 2 (interview with me about TV movies)
website | iTunes

The Kolchak Tapes Episode 3 (I discuss The Norliss Tapes)
website | iTunes

Supporting Characters (an interview with me about my writing career and my life in general!)
website | iTunes

Compañeros (discussion of 1990s horror film The Borrower)
website | iTunes

Just One More Thing (talking about the later entry Columbo episode No Time To Die)
website | iTunes


I'm very honored to be featured on all of these shows, as I adore each of them endlessly. Everyone has been so great about supporting my TV movie love! I want to hug the world! Big shout out to Bill Ackerman from Supporting Characters who informed me that I was quoted on Shout Factory's DVD double feature TV movie release of Are You in the House Alone and The Initiation of Sarah! I've owned this double disc since it was released... How did I not know this?

I also had a short academic piece featured on Georgia State University's In Media Res page. I spoke a bit about female agency in The Initiation of Sarah's 2006 remake.

I will also be in the upcoming book from Spectacular Optical titled Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and Television (check out Dread Central's article about it here). There's a lot of amazing people featured in the book and I'm beside myself with excitement! Check out Spectacular Optical's dedicated page on their website for more info!

And my good friend Lee Gambin recently announced that he's putting together a new film journal. TV movies will be included and I'll be in the first issue. Will give more deets as this project moves forward. He's also working on a book that I'm contributing too. Again, more info as I get it.

So, it's been quite busy. I suspect when I return from London it will quiet down a bit and I can get back to podcasting/blogging and the like. I've been watching tons of fun telefilms to prep for my talk, so I'm ready! But until then, come find me on facebook or twitter, or check out the blog's companion podcast if you haven't. Our latest double feature is a Tori Spelling Twofer featuring Death of Cheerleader (1994) and Co-ed Call Girl. It's currently on the website and iTunes! Hooray! 

About the podcast...

Just a quick update to let you know that we're gearing up to record our next episode this Thursday (September 15th), and we'll be discussing our favorite made for TV movie actresses. You have time to let us know who your faves are, by commenting here, on our facebook page, or our twitter feed, or by emailing us at TVMayhemPodcast@gmail.com!

Our last episode was a bit of a test run for what types of TVM games we can play. The whole thing turned out to be a grand success and we've even gotten some of the most amazing artwork inspired by some of the answers. You can check out our show here to listen to what the following images correlate to, but really, just enjoy these mockup ads brought to the Made for TV Mayhem Show via our listener and great friend Shannon, who did an incredible job of translating our off the cuff made up telefilm synopses! And we'll be playing again soon (we might do a truncated version on the next episode).

Also, I've got a book review and a couple of blog posts coming shortly. I thought I'd get a break when I graduated, but life just seems to keep rolling along. So lame. Thank you all for sticking it out with me!

And yeah, I'll say it again... Stay Tuned!

What I've been up to...

Celebrate good times... c'mon!

aka Just another update post making excuses for why I'm not blogging as much as I'd like... 

I just finished my Masters program! Getting an advanced degree ended up being a longer road than I had anticipated, but here I am, ready to archive your old documents or create a fancy bibliographic record. I am also currently ending an internship that lasted almost a year longer than originally scheduled (I love it there and am sad to see it end), and gearing up for a new job starting on the 1st of September. Please keep your fingers crossed!

The geek I want to be!

In the middle of all this, I also attended my first professional conference and have been spreading myself thin working on a couple of volunteer projects. Blogging just kind of fell by the wayside. So did podcasting. So did sleeping. So did inner peace. But when that light at the end of the tunnel appeared, all I could think about was writing and talking about films and watching things.

Keeping the dream alive!

Somehow, during these last few stressful months, I did actually do some non-TVM writing, so I thought I'd post the links:

If you love Dallas, and you know you do, check out the surreal, oddball and beautiful documentary Hotel Dallas, which is about Romania's love affair with J.R. Ewing. I wrote a review of this film for Spectacular Optical.

I also wrote a review of the great late entry slasher Hack-o-lantern for the awesome Hysteria Continues.  

Finally, there are a few projects I've been working on that are very close to coming to fruition. I will keep you in the know as things are finished and (finally) tangible!

 
And one more finally: There's a new Made for TV Mayhem Show online right now. We're also on iTunes! Check it out. It's a TV movie game show themed minisode that will take an hour of your life, and hopefully return the gesture with a few laughs.

And, for whatever reason, I haven't really promoted another podcast I do called Podcastmania. It's a horror roundtable type event, with lots of people talking passionately (sometimes over each other, so be patient... we're just excited), and also features my MFTVMS partner Dan Budnik! And  yeah, we're on iTunes!

Everything!

And, I've been guesting on Dan's other podcast, Eventually Supertrain, which is dedicated to the world of the short lived TV series. I partner up with Dan to swoon over the romantic love tale of Joanie Loves Chachi. Oh yeah, he's on iTunes.

Looking at all of this, it seems like I have been doing a lot, but it took me months to get some of these things done. Now the focus is finally back on blogging and telling the world how awesome Valerie Harper is. Although we all knew that already, didn't we?

Anyway, in short... please keep tuning in.

Podcast Info... Again

Hope everyone is having a wonderful 2016, even though it's been a bit of a sad and weird start to the new year. If you are a fan of music, you know what I mean. But, we try to keep it upbeat here, and celebrate nostalgia and overlooked small screen treasures of the past. As you probably know, I have a new-ish podcast dedicated to made for TV movies, and I've taken this semi-nerve wracking but oh-so-awesome adventure with Dan Budnik and Nathan Johnson. You can find all of our episodes on the podcast's companion website, or via iTunes (I figured out how to upload things to iTunes! Mini technological victories are sah-weet!). Please visit, and feel free to leave feedback about either the TVMs we are discussing that episode, or anything else small screen related you'd like to discuss!

Basically, this is the look of shock and awe we've had from all the positive feedback! Thank you!

Our next episode is dedicated to two iconic monsters of the 1970s small screen: Gargoyles (1972) and The World Beyond (aka The Mud Monster, 1976). Here is our contact info.

And, if you enjoy the show (fingers crossed!), we'd love it if you left some feedback on our iTunes page. If you hate us, well, maybe just drop us a line through our email. ;) Seriously, feel free to suggest topics for discussions, changes or additions as you see fit. We might not end up doing it, but we are definitely open to anything. Thank you!

It's lonely out there! Drop us a line!

A Christmas Present for Everyone: Robert Urich in Winter Wear in Vega$!

I was hoping to get in my annual holiday post, and thought that there was no better way to celebrate the season than with a gorgeous Robert Urich wearing a bunch of incredible sweaters!

I know, I know. Christmas cheer for everyone!

Don't worry, Dan Tana. We also love you for your mind.

The Vega$ episode Christmas Story originally aired on December 17th, 1980, and places Dan Tana in the middle of small town seasonal mystery and intrigue when he takes his girlfriend Rocket (the lovely Lindsay Bloom) to what looks like a cozy ski resort just outside of Reno, only to be greeted by a young girl claiming to be his daughter! Is he the father? Where is her mother? Who will survive and what will be left of them?

Does it matter, because Urich looks oh-so-heavenly in his array of colorful sweaters, scarves and ski wear. Luckily, this episode of Vega$ is really quite sweet, so if you can get past the drooling over Urich stage, you are in for a treat!

Check out my image gallery, and happy holidays!

Looking for more small screen Christmas offerings? Check out the following:

My Very Merry MeTV Blogathon posts:

Kojak: How Cruel the Frost, How Bright the Stars
Father Dowling Mysteries: A Christmas Mystery

And my reviews of:

A Mouse, a Mystery and Me
An American Christmas Carol
A Very Brady Christmas
Bernard and the Genie
Ebbie
Petticoat Junction: A Cannonball Christmas
Terror on the 40th Floor

A guest review post from Joanna Wilson of Christmas TV History:

The Gathering

I also did a guest review I did for Christmas TV History:

Nestor, The Long Eared Christmas Donkey

Finally, The Made for TV Mayhem Show recorded two holiday podcasts. You can check them out on the website, or via iTunes.

Hey, what's up? I mean, what is up? An Update!

Just the kind of personal assistant I had in mind!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween and is celebrating their sugar coma with lots of good television. I can't believe it's November and we're already staring down 2016! Again, I haven't had as much time to spend on my blog, but there's lots of good things cooking, so here is a list of what's happening right here, right now!

I have a new slasher film review up at Hysteria Lives! I gave The Unnamable a rewatch and loved it just as much as when I was obsessed with it back in the 90s! Check it out if maniac monsters are your thing!

The Made for TV Mayhem Show is rolling along, and we recently covered The Midnight Hour, to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Next up is Bad Ronald and an early 80s sexy tele-thriller called Through Naked Eyes! Here is the podcast's contact information if you'd like to leave feedback! And dude, we're on iTunes!

A couple of weeks ago I was a classic television panelist on a YouTube series called Cosmoetica, which is hosted by Dan Schneider. I was accompanied by one of my podcast co-hosts, Dan Budnik, and Mitchell Hadley from the great It's About TV. Fun! You can watch below:


I've also been working on a few other projects, which has me stretched a bit thin, but in all the right ways (that totally sounded dirty, but it's not). Of course, I visit the blog's facebook page daily, so always feel free to stop by and talk TV. I'd love to hear from you!

Scream, Pretty Peggy: The Art

I was hoping to have time for a proper review of Scream, Pretty Peggy, which originally aired on November 24th, 1973 as an ABC Movie of the Week. I recently re-watched it and loved it just as much as when I first saw it as a kid. I wrote a woefully negative review of it for another site and have come to regret every word (I was going through that weird sarcastic phase that strikes many who think they have to make fun of what they love... but I grew up and grew out of that crap!). I still want to give this film its proper due, and will, but for now let's celebrate Halloween with a classic of the genre.

Jeffrey Elliot's (Ted Bessell) gruesome and haunting sculptures were created by Don Chandler, and set the tone for this small but undeniably eerie telefilm. But it's not just his look inside a madman's mind that makes Peggy such a visual treat. Most of the whackadoodle artwork that fills Jeffery's house is crazy in the most wonderful of ways. I tried to get the best stills for your Halloween pleasure! Enjoy and have a great day filled with candy and small screen scares!

My Vacation in Hell

Hello everyone!

Things here have been crazy busy in that insane way that makes you laugh and cry at the same time. I've had to neglect my favorite spot on the web (i.e. here) so I could actually participate in the real world, which honestly, is never my first choice.

First of all, I'm preparing for grad school, which starts next month (fingers crossed) and secondly, I just moved to another state (again) and am still knee deep in boxes labelled VHS. It's just that kind of summer. It makes me so sad that I haven't had a chance to write about all the great TV movies I've been watching, but things have settled a bit, so I am hoping to get in a post or two in the next few days. Fingers crossed.

A look at one of the movies I'll be reviewing soon

In the meantime, I have had a couple of other things show up on other must-stop-web-spots:

Check out my Christmas in July post that I did for Christmas TV History. In fact, check out all the posts. It was great fun to be a part of the whole thing (and now that I live in Texas, I'm already missing the upcoming snowy winter I would have had in Pittsburgh).

Also, the wonderful guys at Kindertrauma posted an article I wrote on my favorite Shark Attack movies. Stop by and take a bite! Ha! I got a million of 'em (well, really, just that one. It just seemed like the thing to say).

Yay!

And, you can always stop by MFTVM's facebook page, which I update often with lots of neat TV Guide images and trivia. Or, you can hang out on my twitter, which I don't update often, but do use to have a chat or two about soaps (and host a live tweet every now and again), if you are up for it! Thank you all for sticking with me, and I promise, lots of fun TV stuff is coming your way soon!