LOSW Fan Dinky writes from the Big Apple

SUMMER WINE COLUMN #17
APRIL 18, 2004

Hi everybody!  All is well on this side of the ocean with Summer Wine on PBS.  We hit a few bumps through the pledge weeks, but we’re back on track now and here is the run-down since my last column.

Saturday, April 3rd…..euwww, what a disappointment….Summer Wine was ousted by a Lawrence Welk special on Channel 50, WNJN.  EastEnders was on Channel 21, WLIW from 10-11PM and My Hero, Coupling and Chef were shown on Channel 50 from 10:30-Midnight.

Sunday, April 4th – Summer Wine returns from 7:30-8:00PM on Channel 50 with “All of A Florrie”….again! (For those that missed it two times in the last few weeks!!)  It really is a fine episode with the little blue-haired lady!

Later that evening we saw Daniel Deronda on Masterpiece Theatre from 9-10:30PM.  It was a two-part series about a good-looking, wealthy young man who goes around doing good deeds for those less fortunate than he.

After that Crown and Country was shown from 10:30-11:00PM.  This is the series produced by Prince Edward.  I’ve seen a few of them and they are very well done.  This one was “A History of Kensington Palace”.

Monday, April 5th…….oh no, another blow…no Monarch of The Glen.  What is this????  We missed cutie-pies Archie and Lexi!

Wednesday, April 7th – Channel 21 showed a 1945 movie with Basil Rathbone from 10:15-Midnight.  It was “Sherlock Holmes and The Women In Green”.

Thursday, April 8th – Channel 21 showed the regular line-up of Waiting For God and Two’s Company.  Channel 50 showed the Scottish drama, Two Thousand Acres of Sky.

Friday, April 9th – Channel 21 had the same line-up as usual except they replace Chef with Home To Roost from 11:30-Midnight.  Now, mind you, I am already asleep by about 10:30PM, so I really don’t see anything that’s on after that, but I do love Home To Roost and have bought the entire series on DVD.  I think John Thaw and Reese Dinsdale interact so perfectly on that show!

Saturday, April 10th – No Britcoms AGAIN!!!!  Channel 50 was pledging with some old Rosemary Clooney shows from the 1950’s.  EastEnders was on from 10-11:00PM on Channel 21 with their big 1999 Christmas Show.  In these two episodes, Natalie and Barry make-up after calling off their wedding.  Terry kicks Troy the lodger out after he finds out young Troy has been messing around with Irene.  And the De Marcos invite Peggy & Frank over for what turns out to be a hostile Christmas meal!! 

Sunday, April 11th – Channel 13 showed part two of Daniel Deronda from 9-11PM.  Daniel seems attracted to a beautiful married woman, but when her husband dies in a boating accident he marries another!  It was quite a surprise ending!

Monday, April 12th – The cutie-pies are back in Monarch of The Glen on Channel 21 from 10-11PM.  Mother McDonald gambles at poker to pay off an old debt.  She loses, but when it is found out that her adversary was cheating with tinted eyeglasses, he forfeits the game and she wins back her necklace.  Archie has woman trouble with Katrina.

Friday, April 16th -  Most of the shows got kicked off Channel 21 from 8-11:00PM, except Keeping Up and Time Goes By.  They showed a special called “Brian Kennedy Live from Belfast” from 9-11PM.  After that the BBC News and Home To Roost came on.

Saturday, April 17th – Summer Wine is back in full swing with a 2001 episode with Mrs. Avery in it!  We haven’t seen her for quite awhile and it was strange to see her doing “Dueling Rug Cleaning” with Mrs. Batty in the opening scenes of “A Hair of the Blonde That Bit You”.  Pearl finds a blonde hair with black roots on Howard’s jacket.  She tries to keep him at home, but he escapes and finds the boys who trump up an alibi for him.  When the local waitress brings Howard home in a wheelbarrow, Pearl doesn’t buy it and she dumps out of the barrow and over a wall!!

Sunday, April 18th  - Channel 50 showed another great re-run from 2002 called “A Brief Excursion in the Fast Lane”, where Barry has a mid-life crisis, Tom gets thrown out by Mrs. Avery, Smiler is looking for love and everyone ends up riding razor scooters except Glenda, who rides a huge motorcycle!!

That’s it for now.  Happy Spring everybody!!!

Summer Wine & the City Column #16 Mar 31, 2004

Hi all!!  After a very quiet autumn and many pledge weeks during the winter we finally have our Britcoms back in NYC!!  In August and September there was an endless round of repeats. For example, Channel 50 (WNJN) showed “Under The Rug” three times in a few weeks.  Now, it’s a very funny episode and we are thankful to even see Summer Wine here, but we do like variety in the programs.  So, it went on like that until November when the famous “Four Weeks of Christmas Pledges” came on. We did not see many Britcoms during December.  But we did see lots and lots of Andre Rieu!!!

In January, we were so lucky because “The Forsyte Sage” was on Masterpiece Theatre, Sunday nights, 9-10PM (Channel 13-WNET).  They showed all seven episodes of Series 1 and then in February they showed the three episodes of Series 2.  It was a fine, fine drama.  You couldn’t pull me, my husband or my girlfriend away from the TV during those ten Sunday nights.  When they got to the last episode, I called my friend and said, “What am I gonna do now on Sunday nights???  I got so used to “The Forsyte Saga”!!  I’m going to have withdrawal symptoms.”  We all loved it…ooh that Soames…my kinda guy!!!

Anyway, then the Britcoms came back.  Yay for Summer Wine and all the others.  Oh, by the way, I finally found out who won the WLIW (Channel 21) Battle of The Britcoms from last August.  It was “To The Manor Born”!!!  Wow, that show beat out “Kiss Me Kate”!!!  But “Kiss Me Kate” came in second and after a little while Channel 50 (WNJN) began showing both programs on Saturday nights!  Unfortunately, they show it opposite “EastEnders”, which is on Channel 13 from 10-11PM every Saturday and so I don’t get to see ‘Kiss Me Kate” or “My Hero” because my husband is hooked on “EastEnders”.  It’s OK, I’ll see the re-runs in the summer!!

Now, for some SW news.  It is back on Sunday night from 7:30-8:00PM on Channel 50 (WNJN) and it is also on in its old time slot of 9:30PM Saturday nights on the same channel.  Lately, they have been showing the same episode both nights, so in case you miss Saturday because you’re out drinking with your buddies, you can see it on Sunday!  Last night they showed “All of a Florrie”, which we saw about a month ago, but it was so good that we watched it again.  In this episode, a blue-haired lady comes to town and chases down Truly with the hopes of marriage because she found out he divorced his wife.  She seems to have been an old flame of Truly’s, but he wants nothing to do with her and skips away behind some sheets hanging on a line.

Monday nights are a cause for celebration because we have been treated to “Monarch of The Glen” since February.  Channel 50 (WNJN) shows it from 9-10PM and it is a gem.  It’s written in the same vein as “Ballykissangel”.  It’s a drama with comic undertones and quirky little things happening all the time.  Well-done, well written, well acted; I have nothing but good things to say about this show from BBC Scotland!!

On Tuesday nights we were able to see “Campion” for a few weeks.  Again, a fine show starring a fellow whom I have seen in “All Creatures Great and Small” years ago.  Campion is a good program, but for now they have taken it off the air.  We hope it comes back soon.

On Thursday Channel 21, WLIW, shows “Waiting For God” and “Two’s Company” from 8:00-9:00PM.  I believe they were moved there because the station ran out of space to put these in their usual Friday line-up.  It’s nice because it gives us something to look forward on Thursday nights now, instead of just TGIF, (Thank God It’s Friday!!)  Then on Channel 50 (WNJN) they recently began showing “Two Thousand Acres of Sky”, another BBC Scotland offering with an intriguing title.  I’ve only seen it once.

Friday night is a good one, the weekend is here and so are the Britcoms!!! On Channel 21, WLIW, we get them from 8:00pm-Midnight staring with “Keeping Up, Good Neighbors, Time Goes By, Manor Born, My Hero, Coupling, BBC News and ending with “Goodnight Sweetheart”!!  Whew, what a list.

But Saturday night is loaded with British TV on all three PBS stations!!  Channel 13 has “Keeping Up and Time Goes By” from 8:00-9:00PM.  Channel 21, WLIW, shows “EastEnders” from 10:00-11:00PM. We are now watching episodes from 1999, so we are way behind with that show.  Wonder what has happened in the past five years???  And Channel 50, WNJN, shows six comedies from 9:00PM-Midnight starting with “Time Goes By”, SUMMER WINE!!!, Kiss Me Kate, My Hero, Coupling and ending with Chef”.  So you can see that we are back in business now and very happy.

Well, time to go because my puppy, Tinker, has been sitting on the bed in the guest room, watching me typing on the computer and crying the whole time because she wants to play, so bye for now.

Summer Wine Column #15 Mar 22, 2004

All is well with SW in the NYC area.  After three pledge weeks, WNJN, Channel 50 resumed the Britcoms with a Summer Wine episode entitled "A Second Husband and Two Showgirls", in which Truly meets his ex-wife's second husband who comes to the village to have him sign some insurance papers and Tom and Smiler try to hook up with two showgirls who turn out to be a little overweight and raucous. 
 
PBS also recently showed "Funny Ladies of British Comedy", which highlighted Hyacinth Bouquet, The Vicar of Dibley and Judi Dench, among others.  In it there were interviews with Frank Thornton dressed in his SW garb sitting in a village that looked very much like Holmfirth....maybe it was Holmfirth????  Anyway, although no SW ladies appeared in it we did have the pleasure of watching Alastair from "As Time Goes By" IN PERSON at the pledge drive and he still thin, good-looking and suave.  They also had his TV wife, Judy there in the studio and they made appeals to the viewers to send in their money. 
 
Judy mentioned that in England there is no such thing as PBS and everyone chips in to pay the BBC....it's mandatory.  So, our TV systems are quite different.
 
We also saw the 30th Anniversary show of SW and that was great.  It was so nice to hear the actors, writer and director speak from behind the scenes. It gave you a new awareness of what it takes to make a quality show like Summer Wine and it was just a fabulous learning experience.
 
And the musicians!!!  What a pleasure to watch them actually playing the theme song and other bits of music from the show.  It was a kick!!!
Summer Wine Column #14 July 22, 2003

EAST COAST SW REUNION! 

Hi guys!  We did it!  We had our SW Fan Lunch in Ephrata, Pa!  Oh, what a blast!  Here’s how it went on Saturday, July 19th:

10:45AM – Left motel, stopped for coffee and a muffin at a food mart.

11:15AM – Arrived at Ephrata Cloister and checked out the parking lot.  Yes, it was there, Liz Nichol’s brand new silver PT Cruiser!!  There was also a blonde lady sitting on a bench.  Was it her??  As we walked towards the lady, I said, “Liz”??  “I’m Dinky.”  She said, “Oh, I never would have known it was you.”  And that’s how we met!  There we were with the famous Liz Nichols!!  She is a lovely, gracious Southern woman, soft-spoken and charming.

We began chatting about SW and as the cars pulled into the lot, we tried to guess who was there to meet our group.  After about 15 minutes a man and lady came towards us, we shouted out, “Summer Wine”??  They said, “Yes”!  It was Jim and Dee from Marshall’s Creek, Pa.  It’s in the Pocono Mountains about two hours northeast of Ephrata.

Jim was a jokester from the start – we were all laughing in minutes!! He was a school teacher from NJ who relocated to Pa. after retiring.  His wife, Dee, (Doris) was a lovely lady who is very knowledgeable about all British TV.  She worked for Bell Telephone in NJ.  They have four children!!

Next came Vivian from Maryland.  She had already met Liz and both of them have been to Holmfirth!  What stories they had to tell!! They greeted each other like old friends.  Vivian’s husband, Barry, did not stay for lunch.  He dropped her off and came back later to get her later.  They have six children!!

Last came Pam, also from Maryland, but way down south, near the Virginia border.  She was camping with her hubby and kids about 40 minutes away from Ephrata and she drove down by herself in the pick-up truck to be with us!  What a gal!  She brought two little metal SW collector’s cars with her.  One was Edie’s red convertible and one was Wesley’s truck.  Each car came with a tiny statue of its owner!!  Cool Beans!!!

Pam is a lovely girl who has two children.  She and I want to go to Holmfirth next year together.  Both of our hubbys don’t want to come, so we can team up!  And we both have pen-pals who live near Holmfirth, so we want to go visit them!!  Wow, what a trip that will be!!

Well, we waited until 12:45PM before leaving for the restaurant, in case anyone showed up late.  We chatted about all things summer wine, the characters, the actors, the shows, the plots, the composer, the writer, the producer, the on-line website and editor, Patrick, the gala, and on and on.

We also discussed other British comedies, dramas, mysteries and soaps, like EastEnders, As Time Goes By, Keeping Up Appearances, Open All Hours and on and on.  It was interesting to note the various times and programs that are shown throughout the four states that we represented.

So, as it comes down the pike, it looks like Liz, Pam and Vivian all live pretty close to each other, while Alex, Jim, Dee and I live only about one hour apart, so future meetings are possible!!  Jim and Dee have a daughter who lives in NJ, so when they go to visit her we may be able to get together with them for lunch!!  It will be great fun.

I have to say that we all got along great, we had a dynamite lunch in “The Olde Lincoln House” in Ephrata, we exchanged addresses and e-mails, and we parted feeling better because we had this meeting.  It was so-o-o-oh worth it!!  I urge any fans who live close enough to do this.  You don’t know what you’re missing.  The fans are so enthusiastic!!

Vivian left at 2:00PM to go golfing.  Alex and I left at 2:15PM to go get Tinker, our puppy, out of her cage at the motel.  Liz, Jim, Dee and Pam went back to tour the Cloister.

It was a sunny, gorgeous day with no humidity and we had a perfect time.  We met as strangers, we parted as friends (with big hugs and kisses!), we are Summer Wine fans to the end!!  

Summer Wine Column #13 July 2, 2003


Hi guys!  June was a very slow SW month in NYC due to pledge weeks and the NJ Senate Budget Deadline, which I will tell you about later.  Even our usually lively SW Yahoo Group Forum was quiet.  I guess everyone slacks off a bit in the summer.

On Saturday, June 21st, SW returned as promised.  Channel 50, WNJN showed “The Missing Bus of Mrs. Avery” where the ladies rent Mrs. Avery’s bus to go on a picnic.  It rolls down a hill and disappears when Mrs. Avery leaves the bus for a moment.  The boys find Mrs. Avery and get her drunk to forget her troubles.  As the ladies are driving the bus back home Howard must throw Marina over a wall so Pearl doesn’t see them together.  It was great!!!

On Sunday, June 22nd, they showed “Waggoner’s Roll” where Tom wants to make Babs into a rock star.  She runs away and Tom recruits Barry, Cleggy and Truly to find her.  After she is found Tom gets her a gig in a pub where Howard and Marina are enjoying a quiet lunch.  When Babs starts singing, everyone runs out of the pub in a hurry!!

On Saturday, June 28th, they showed only about the last fifteen minutes of SW, much to our dismay.  I had my tape rolling and had to shut it down due to the indecision and stonewalling of the NJ State Senate.  You see, WNJN is a NJ PBS station and the senate budget deadline was July 1st.  The budget wasn’t balanced, so the senators worked all weekend to come up with a balanced budget.  WNJN deemed it necessary to give us, the viewers, a minute-by-minute update on their shenanigans and so they only showed the last fifteen minutes of each of the Britcoms.  What a bummer!!!  I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed.  My friends also commented on what happened.  I mean, we coulda waited for the Sunday papers to find out about the senate vote, for heaven’s sake, *&%# *&!!

Anyway, worse than that, on Sunday, June 29th they had the gall to preempt the entire 7:30-8:00PM SW show.  MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!!!  Needless to say, we switched the channel at that point.

Well, the upshot is that by July 1st the budget was balanced, WA-HOOO!!! Now we can get back to British comedy, YAY!!! 

Happier News Department – Our SW Fan Lunch is on for Saturday, July 19th in Ephrata, Pa.  Only two more weeks, guys!! What fun awaits us!  I have positive responses from Pam and Helen for sure.  I hope Liz and Cathy can make it too.  However many come, we will have a wonderful time learning about each other and conversing about SW!  I will have photos and a story following the event.

Even Happier News - This is on a more personal level.  I have received a Bichon Frise puppy for my birthday from my hubby!!  She is 3 months old, her name is Tinker and we got her on June 25th. She is one of the reasons my column is so late.  Sorry about that.  She will also be attending the SW luncheon trip, but cannot come out to eat with us.  Our motel accepts pets and anyone who wants to come visit her after lunch is invited!! P.S. – She is also a SW Fan!!

Summer Wine Column #12 June 15, 2003

Hi guys! Only one more week to go till SW goes back on NYC PBS. It will be shown at 9:30PM this coming Saturday, June 21st on WNJN, Channel 50!! They will show "Hey, Big Vendor". It will also be on at 7:30PM Sunday on the same channel. They will show "The Coming of the Beast".

Here's a new addition to the Sunday night British TV line-up: at 8:00PM they will show "Lovejoy", so we can all keep our sets tuned to Channel 50 all night!! On Sunday, June 22nd only, they will show a program about Prince William at 9:30PM after Lovejoy!! Wow, a triple play!!! What an enjoyable "end" to the weekend! It gives you something to look forward to, instead of just the Monday morning blahs and back to work.

Our "El-Cheapo" Luncheon is on once again. This time it's for Saturday, July 19th. Same time, 12 Noon, same place, Ephrata, Pa. at the Cloister gift shop. I have found a wonderful family-style smorgasbord restaurant to eat at, it's reasonably priced and it's right on Main St., Ephrata, close to the Cloister, so none of us will get lost getting there. 

We have 6 fans coming, Pam, Cathy and her hubby, Helen, and me and my hubby. Liz may come if she can shift some plans around. Remember, all fans are invited. We drive our own cars there, we pay for our own lunches, and then we can either drive home or stay over at a local motel to make it a mini-vacation. It's up to you. If you live within a 2-3 hour drive of Ephrata, please join us!! We'd love to meet you! We're all bringing our SW books, tapes, CD's and photos, so we can have a SW info exchange and see what we all have!

This week's SW connection: On Saturday, June 7th, PBS aired the "Mollie Sugden Special" again. It was so wonderful. Mollie was in the PBS studio again and she talked about her co-stars on "Served", and she specifically mentioned that Frank Thornton, AKA Captain Peacock, was working on SW now.

Later on in the program, who should appear on tape, but Frank Thornton himself, along with "Mr. Lucas" from "Served" and they were pleading with the viewers to make a pledge so PBS can keep running fine British programs here.

That's all the chat for now. Happy summer and happy summer-wine!!



Summer Wine Column #11 June 5, 2003

Hi people.  Do you remember that movie called “Sleepless in Seattle”? Well, we’re “Summer Wineless in New York”.  It’s terrible.  Between that and the monsoon rainstorms and cold weather we’ve been having, I was inspired to write a little poem about our favorite show.  It goes like this: 

                        Boo Hoo, We’re Blue,

                        There’s nothing we can do,

                        No Sun, No Fun

                        Til June Twenty-One!!

Of course, you all know that June 21st is the day SW comes back on the air after four pledge weeks. So, only two more weekends to go.

Friday, May 30th, WLIW, Channel 21 had their annual “Battle of the Britcoms”.  And there is a SW link to one of them.  Do you know which one?  I picked it out right away.  OK, this is how it goes, they show five Britcoms that are not presently in their Friday night line-up and the viewers get to vote (and pledge) for their favorite one.  The winner gets a spot in the Fall line-up and they remove one of the other Britcoms.

They showed “Dad”, “High Stakes”, “To The Manor Born”, “Kiss Me Kate” and “The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin”.  When they finished the contest at about 11:30PM, “To The Manor Born” was in first place.  But the phones were open after that and I’m sure you could also vote and pledge through the internet, so they will not announce the winner until Friday, June 13th at 9PM.  I will let you know who won.

My personal favorite was “Kiss Me Kate”.  It is a show from 2001 about a psychiatrist and her patients and staff and all the kooky situations they get themselves into.  It was hilarious!  I also liked “To The Manor Born”, where they take a comical approach to death by using dark humor.  The woman’s rich husband dies and leaves her a big manor house, but also leaves her in debt, so she has to sell it to pay the bills. But, wait; there is another way... a handsome stranger would like to buy the place, hummmm, and he’s single!

I can’t rate “Dad” because we were out for pizza and I didn’t get a chance to play my tape yet. Sorry. “High Stakes” had good actors in it, but it didn’t hold my interest. Sorry. It’s only my opinion; I’m sure there were many people who liked them all.

Now, in “The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin”, which was from 1976, I noticed a certain kind of comforting, flurrying, flutey, swirly kind of music in the background.  It sounded awfully familiar.  I said to my husband, “It sounds like SW music”.  When we watched the credits at the end, there it was; Music – Ronnie Hazlehurst!!!  See, I found a SW connection!! Hooray!!

So that’s it from the Big Apple today.  Bye for now.

Summer Wine Column # 10!!!! May 30, 2003

Here we go again, SW fans! Guess what time it is??  Pledge time #@*&!!  I’m sad to report that SW will not be shown in NYC from May 26 to June 20, 2003.  It will resume on Saturday, June 21st, according to the WNJN website, with “Hey, Big Vendor” at 9:30PM. What are we to do without it??  Roll out the homemade videos!!

Now for some happy news.  WLIW, Channel 21, will host its Third Annual Battle of the Britcoms tonight, Friday, May 30, 2003 from 8:00 to 11:00PM.  This is when they show five new British comedies that have never been aired here and the viewers get to call in and vote for their favorite one.  The winning program gets a spot in the Fall line-up.  It’s very exciting to see new shows, but in order to vote you have to..you know what..PLEDGE MONEY!!!  I believe the minimum pledge is $40.00, but a friend of mine says they’ll even take $25.00.  That pledge covers you for one year.

Last year the winner was “Home To Roost” with John Thaw.  They still show it on Friday nights and it’s a pip.  “My Hero” came in a close second, so later on in the year, WLIW began showing it too.  We love that zany show, but I still think “Father Ted” beats it for off-the- wall plots!!

Anyway, this year’s entries are “Dad”, “The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin”, “High Stakes”, “Kiss Me Kate”, and “To The Manor Born”. I have never seen or heard of the first four, but “To The Manor Born” has been shown here before, but maybe not on WLIW.  Anyway, tonight will certainly be lots of fun.  Last year I truly wanted to vote for “My Hero”, but I couldn’t get myself to dial the phone and pledge.  Maybe this year. . .??  And also, if you want to go out tonight, just pop a tape in the VCR and you’ll have all those shows to look at whenever you want!!  I taped them all last year; it was fun!

WLIW, Channel 21 showed some fine TV on Saturday, May 24th from 4:00-5:00PM, which is the usual “Ballykissangel” slot.  They showed a wonderful documentary called “On The Trail of Ballykissangel”.  Many of the cast members went back to Avoca, Ireland, where the show was shot, to tell about their experiences during the six years that the show was in production.  The scenery was beautiful, just like the SW scenery and the interviews were very well done and informative.  

On Saturday, May 24th, WNJN, Channel 50, showed “The Hair of the Blonde That Bit You”, where Auntie gives Smiler a huge load of junk to cart around town in a wagon. He gets tired, so they hook the wagon on the back of Wesley’s truck and Smiler ends up rolling down a hill when the wagon comes unhitched!

On Sunday, May 25th, they showed “I Didn’t Know Barry Could Play”, where Howard buys elevator shoes to be taller, Babs tries to lose weight to become an actress and Barry ends up in a formal white suit sitting with an organ on a trailer on the back of Wesley’s truck.  Again, the trailer hitch comes loose and Barry lands in the mud!!

That’s all the NY News on the SW scene for now.  Happy June!!

SUMMER WINE COLUMN #9 MAY 23, 2003


Hi SW fans!!  It’s here, it’s here!! The SW Music CD has arrived and it is wonderful!  If you look in my Column #6, you will find all the details about ordering it.  I mailed my check to the SW Appreciation Society on April 25 and it only took 25 days to get here, so I’m very excited!

First of all, the cover photo is absolutely gorgeous.  It shows Compo, Clegg and Foggy (The SW dream team) near the bank of a little stream, near a stone bridge.  Clegg and Foggy are seated on the rocks and Compo is standing up leaning against the rocks.  All three are happily smiling while gazing at the stream.  There’s a tuft of tall grass, I guess it’s marsh grass in front of them and a little road behind them on the right with a field behind them on the left.  They are dressed in their usual program garb and just looking at it makes your blood pressure go down!

Inside the CD case is a 10-page booklet with an introduction from Alan Bell, a short explanation of the history of each of the 21 tunes, a brief letter from Roy Clarke, the names of the 18 people in the orchestra and what instrument they play AND three sets of lyrics to the Main SW Theme, one by Roy Clarke, one by Norman Newell and the last one by GUESS WHO??  Bill Owen!!

The tunes are fabulous and it’s a lot of fun and quite a challenge to try to match the tune to the episode you heard it in!  They all have colorful titles, such as “Dozing Dewhirst”, “Freedom on Wheels” and “Seymour Utterwaite, R.I.P.”  My favorites are the Main Theme, of course, “Oh My – Eli” and “Nora, My Nora”.  You will absolutely recognize some of these from the program.  So, to sum it up, it’s a kick and all fans just gotta get it!

On Saturday, May 17, 2003 Channel 50, WNJN, showed “The Art of the Shorts Story” again.  It was recently shown on Saturday, April 26, so I don’t know what’s up with them.  Originally, per their website, they were to show “Squeak of Blue”. 

On Sunday, May 18, 2003 they showed “Some Vans Can Make You Deaf”, where Tom’s van needs a new exhaust system and Wesley goes to the junkyard to get the parts.  He fixes it, but the whole thing falls apart and sets Auntie Wainwright’s fireworks off as she and Smiler are walking along the road.

That’s it for now.  Happy Memorial Day (Monday, May 28th) to all the American fans.  Enjoy your day off!!

SUMMER WINE COLUMN #8 MAY 16, 2003

Hi all!  I’m bouncing back from bronchitis and feel much better now.  Last week I made a terrible error.  SW comes on Channel 50, WNJN, not Channel 21, WLIW.  I’m sorry; it must have been the antibiotics!!

Clive from the SW Appreciation Society has been in touch and told me that American fans can join the society for $24.00, which includes all the postage too.  Anyone who wants to join can mail their check to Summer Wine Appreciation Society, 114 Dalefield Road, Normanton, West Yorkshire WF6 1PS, England.  I understand you get a cool newsletter and an opportunity to purchase items specially made for the society, so hurry, hurry!!

Guess who showed up on Monday night’s Lovejoy episode??  None other than “Mrs. Avery”, Tom Owen’s love interest on SW!!  She was playing a banker who was foreclosing on Lovejoy’s house for non-payment of the mortgage.  This episode was called “The Napoleonic Commode” and it was done in 1993, so Mrs. Avery was quite young then.  She was very convincing in the part!!

On Sunday, May 11th, WNJN resumed showing SW with the episode entitled “From Here To Paternity”, which is the first episode that Tom Owen and Mrs. Avery are in.  Tom appears as Compo’s long lost son.  The citizens are quite shocked because none of them knew Compo had a son!

Originally scheduled per the WNJN website was, “The Hair of The Blonde That Bit You”, but oft times, they change the schedule.  I’m used to it by now; that’s why I always say, “things are subject to change”.

SW was not showed on Saturday, May 10th because they ran the special called “As Time Goes By-You Must Remember This”.  It was on from 9:00 to 10:30PM, so I believe they did some pledge-drive work because I thought that show was only one hour long??  After that, they showed “My Hero”. Tom Bosley, our pick for the American Clegg, was interviewed on the radio (WPLJ-Scott and Todd In The Morning) during the week.  He is appearing on Broadway in “Cabaret”.  I think he is doing pretty well for himself, being as he was born in 1927!!!  He is a darling man, just like Clegg! That’s all the news for now.  Bye!

Summer Wine Column # Lucky 7 May 10, 2003

Hi all!!  I’m battling a bout with bronchitis, so bear with me.  It started on May 1 with cold-like symptoms and developed into near-pneumonia by May 5.  Anyway, I’m on antibiotics and doing much better now.

After I wrote my last column, Cablevision, our cable TV company came up with another new way to watch TV.  They have something now called “iO” digital TV.  The channels start at #101 and go up to #845!!!  As of now, 70 of these channels actually show programs, so the other 775 are in reserve for new channels!! God knows how much this will cost??

They have Euro News on Channel 103, Oxygen (what’s that???) on Channel 180, 10 HBO channels, 10 Showtime channels, and 45 Music-Choice channels.  My goodness, how do you pick from all that??   Well, a friend of mine had digital TV and he said he could not record TV shows (like SW) on his VCR, so we don’t want it in this house!

Sad News Department - due to my bronchitis and inclement weather, we have had to cancel our “El-Cheapo” Luncheon.  Not only is it raining, but severe thunderstorms have been around all week AND Liz Nichols reports AN EARTHQUAKE in Virginia.  Do you think it’s God’s way of telling us “NO” for May 10th???

But, we will not lose heart.  We are already trying to set a new date in June, so stay tuned for further details!

The American SW Actors Department - We who belong to the SW Yahoo Group bounce ideas off each other’s heads all the time, so when Patrick said there was almost a SW to be done in Bakersfield, CA., USA and Mickey Rooney wanted to play Compo, we all jumped in and said, “But who will play the other parts?”  (I think I started it.)  Anyway, we all came up with great ideas.  It was hard because we had to match the age, personality and looks of the original cast.  Here are some suggestions that I liked:  Compo-Peter Falk (Columbo)- dirty raincoat and disheveled like Compo; Clegg-Tom Bosley (Happy Days Dad)- same cheeks and demeanor; Foggy or Truly-Leslie Nielsen (Naked Gun)- tall, distinguished, white hair; Marina-Dolly Parton!!!/Howard-Hal Holbrook, Barry-John Ritter (Three’s Company), Glenda-Susan Sarandon, Eli-Dom DeLuise, Nora-Robin Williams, Ivy-Ginger Rodgers, Edie-Celeste Holm, Pearl-Katharine Hepburn, Auntie-Lily Tomlin, Wesley-Walter Brennan and Smiler-Milton Berle!!  It was just a lot of fun, we call it “Fan Fiction”.

Tomorrow, May 11th, Summer Wine resumes at 7:30pm on Channel 50, WLIW, and all fans in the NYC area are looking forward to it after the two-week hiatus.  I think WLIW had two mini-pledge weekends, because Lovejoy and EastEnders were on during the week.  They only changed the weekend schedules, which affected SW.  But not anymore now until May 31st.  I will keep you informed.  Take care and bye for now. 

Summer Wine Column #6 May 2, 2003

Hi SW Fans!!  There is good news and there is bad news from NYC today.  First, the bad – Summer Wine will not be shown here for two weeks.  On Saturday, May 3rd, we got thrown over for the “Mollie Sugden Special”, which will air from 9:30-11:30PM.  On Sunday, May 4th, Channel 50 will show “The Bobby Vinton Special” from 6:30-8:00PM, so, no SW in the usual 7:30PM time slot.  On Saturday, May 10th, they are showing the “As Time Goes By Special” from 9:00-10:00PM, so again, no 9:30PM SW.

But don’t lose heart!  On Sunday, May 11th at 7:30PM, SW is due back with an episode called “The Hair of The Blond That Bit You”. And then the schedule resumes until May 25th.  I looked all this up on the WNJN website, so things are subject to change.  Stay tuned!!

On Saturday, April 26, 2003, Channel 50 showed “The Art of the Shorts Story”, where Howard loses his underpants and Billy Hardcastle lends him a pair that are WAY TOO BIG.  It results in laughter from the entire cast!

On Sunday, April 27th, they showed “Just A Small Funeral” again.  That episode was first aired here (to my knowledge) on November 16, 2002.  I will never forget my reaction when watching it the first time.  I thought to myself, why would they want to kill off Compo’s character??   Shortly after that episode, I joined the Yahoo SW Group to find out what happened.  I know all the USA fans were shocked to learn that Bill Owen had really died.  And when we found out he died in 1999, it made matters worse.  Here we all were, enjoying this show for such a long time and all of a sudden the #1 clown was gone. . .three years ago!  What a sad day for us.

Well, let’s go to happier news.  Hey guys and gals, you can now order a CD with all the SW Music on it from The SW Appreciation Society on this website.  I e-mailed Clive and he told me that we Americans can get this CD if we send a check or international money order in the amount of $17.99 to SW Appreciation Society, c/o SW Music Offer, 114 Dalefield Road, Normanton, West Yorkshire WF6 1PS, England.  Whew!!  I mailed in my own personal check last week, so I expect the CD in about 3 more weeks.  Can’t wait!!!!

Now, Cable TV is the next topic.  It’s a bit of a bug-a-boo here because it is so darn expensive!!  I think they are robbing us, but that’s only my opinion.  Cable TV goes through the telephone lines.  Each town can sign up with only one carrier, so it is a monopoly, like the phone company.  The one in our town is called “Cablevision”.  We get 70 channels, which includes all the normal ones as stated in my Column #1, plus many others.  We now pay $46.31 for this service and we have no “Premium Channels” (Special Ones), like HBO, Encore, Starz, Disney, Independent Films, Showtime, Cinemax, The Movie Channels (1,2,&3), The Playboy Channel (Uh-oh, sorry for that) or the “Pay-Per View channels, where you pay $4.00 to see a movie.

This is what we do get for $46.31 per month, which is $555.72 per year. . .AAHHHHH!!  We get eight news channels, three music video channels, three home shopping channels, seven movie channels, five learning channels, three kid’s channels, five sports channels and a mish-mosh of other stuff, like Sci-Fi, Comedy, Black TV, Court TV, Metro TV, Travel Channel, Health Network and Religious Programming.

So, we actually do get a lot of stuff, but do you believe that sometimes THERE’S NOTHING ON that we want to watch????  Well, anyway, the PBS are the best and we don’t need cable for them, but the husband needs all those sports channels, so we have cable.

There is also something called “Direct TV”, which is a satellite dish on your house, but when the wind blows it around and you can’t see ANY TV, who has to go on the roof to fix it???  MEEEE!!! So, no satellite TV here.  At least I can call the Cable Company and hollar at them if the TV goes out!!

Lastly, Liz Nichols, Helen and I (from the Yahoo SW Group) are looking forward to our luncheon on May 10th.  If anyone would like to do a virtual tour of Ephrata, Pa., just go to www.ephrata-area.org and click on “Tourism Information”.  I think you can visit the Cloister and everything! Toodles

Summer Wine Column #5 April 25, 2003

Hi Guys!!  Today you will finally learn about Channel 21, WLIW, The Jewel in our Britcom Crown!  They broadcast from 303 Sunnyside Boulevard, Plainview, NY 11803-0021.  Here is a typical NYC week of their British programming:

Monday-Friday-6:00-6:30AM; 7:00-7:30PM; 11:00-1l:30PM-“BBC World News”.  Saturday-Sunday-6:00-6:30AM; 6:00-6:30PM-“BBC World News”.

Tuesday-Friday-11:30-12:00 Midnight-“Are You Being Served”. Wednesday-9:00-10:00PM-“Miss Marple”; 10:00-11:00PM-“EastEnders”.

Friday-8:00PM-“Keeping Up”; 8:30PM-“Home To Roost”; 9:00PM-“As Time Goes By”; 9:30PM-“Goodnight Sweetheart” (It just replaced “Yes, Prime Minister” two weeks ago) 10:00PM-“My Hero”; 10:30PM-“Coupling”; 11:00PM-“BBC World News”; 11:30PM-“Served” (As mentioned above).

Whew, what a list!!  Now you know why this is the most comprehensive PBS station for British TV.  They really do a great job and if you’d like to visit their website, it’s www.wliw.org.

On Saturday, April 19, 2003, Channel 50 showed “Getting Barry’s Goat”, where Tom puts a nanny goat in Barry’s garage and Glenda makes him return it.  It ends up in Wesley’s garage with Howard & Marina!!  What a trio!  Eli was in this episode a lot more than usual and I thought about what a wonderful asset he was to the show.  He will be missed...

Long Live Eli!!!

On Sunday, April 20, 2003, Channel 50 showed “Surprise At Throstlenest”, where Compo, prior to his passing, wrote a note to Clegg saying his ferrets should go his friend, Reggie. She turns out to be a woman AND his steady Thursday date! The whole town then plans Compo’s funeral.  It was very sad, but Roy Clarke still found a way to keep it light and funny.

Ancient History Department:  On October 27, 2002, PBS showed “The Phantom #14 Bus”, which was about a stranger who came to town and told everyone that the bus mysteriously disappeared that very day, 50 years ago.  He wanted to see if it would show up again, so he went to a hill with the boys to wait for it.  At the exact time it was due, they heard a vehicle coming, but. . . . it was only Wesley!  This is one of my favorites!

We only have two weeks to go till our “El-Cheapo” SW Lunch and the famous Liz Nichols just posted to the Yahoo Group that she can’t wait!!  Neither can I!  We are praying for a dry and sunny day.  I will report on the happenings of our get together!  Take care, all!

Summer Wine Column #4 April 19, 2003

Hi fans!!  Here is the latest “NY TV 101” installment.  We will look at PBS Channel 13 (WNET) today.  This channel has been in existence since I was a child, so it is OLD!  They broadcast from 450 West 33rd St., NY, NY 10001-2605.  There’s not too much British comedy here, but it is still a fantastic station. Here is their schedule:

Monday to Friday from 6:30-7:00PM they show “BBC World News”. On Saturday they show “Keeping Up” from 8:00-8:30PM and “As Time Goes By” from 8:30-9:00PM.  That’s it.  But. . . on Sunday from 9:00-11:00PM they show “Masterpiece Theatre”, which features many excellent dramas, both British and others, such as “The Way We Live Now”, “Darling Buds of May” and “Jane Eyre”. Watching a wonderful show like that on Sunday night just caps off the weekend beautifully!

You can visit their website at www.thirteen.org.

And now a message to my fellow Americans. . . curious about the old 1970’s SW shows?  Well, the new BBC America video catalog just arrived and now we can buy The SW 4-Box Set (VHS or DVD) for $59.98.  It features episodes from the early 70’s, which I believe have never been shown in the NY area and also has the movie, “Getting Sam Home” from 1983 with Foggy in it. 

They also offer the book, “The Finest Vintage” for $24.98.  I bought both items a few months ago and they are treasures.  Every fan must have these. That book is my “bible”; I look up more stuff in it than I do in the dictionary!  You can visit www.BBCAmericaShop.com to check out their wares!

On Saturday, April 12th, Channel 50 showed “The Coming of The Beast”, where Truly tells a motorist, as a joke, that there is a tiger on the loose.  Well, you can imagine what mayhem ensued after that!

On Sunday, April 13th, they showed “Elegy For Fallen Wellies”, where Compo passes on.  It was so poignant and witty; it made you laugh and cry; hats off to Roy Clarke and all the actors for getting through a very tough episode. . . still can’t believe he’s gone.

Let’s move on to happier news.  We fans in the Northeast USA are having an “El Cheapo” SW Luncheon, not to be confused with the glorious SW Gala in Little Rock, Arkansas on October 25th.

On Saturday, May 10th, four of us SW fans from three different states are converging on the beautiful hamlet of Ephrata, Pa. for lunch, merriment and SW data exchange.  We will meet at 12:00 High Noon in the parking lot of the historical Ephrata Cloister.  We are all in the Yahoo Summer Wine Group and we constantly post messages about the show… so, I decided that some of us who live up North and may not make it to Arkansas should get together up here.

We all drive our own cars there, we meet, greet and eat.  We talk, brag, have a “Show and Tell” about our SW videos, books and anything else we have.  Then at 5 PM, we all drive home.  Cost??  A tank of gas and lunch--about $25.00.  Memories?? Unforgettable.  Satisfaction Level??  Immeasurable.  Photos??  You bet!

So, any and all SW fans who live within a three-hour drive of Ephrata are welcome.  Just let us know through the Summer Wine Yahoo Group.  P.S.  If it’s a nasty, rainy day, we will postpone it. Bye for now!  

Summer Wine Column #3 April 11, 2003

Hi Summer Wine Fans!!  Today, let’s discuss one of the three wonderful NYC PBS channels in depth.  WNJN, Channel 50, broadcasts from high upon a hill on the beautiful campus of Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ. (Right next to Clifton.) It is the only channel currently showing SW.

Here is their Saturday schedule: 9:00-9:30PM “As Time Goes By”, 9:30-10:00 “SW”, 10:00-10:30 “Waiting For God”, 10:30-11:00 “My Hero”, 11:00-11:30 “Coupling”, and 11:30-12:00 Midnight-“Father Ted”. From the mellow to the risqué and everything in between, there is a show for every taste. From feisty Diana Trent to goofy George Sunday to three very interesting “senior citizens” to a bunch of swearing priests, WNJN has it covered!

On Sunday, they show “BBC World News” from 7:00-7:30PM and “SW” from 7:30-8:00pm, as previously mentioned in Column #2.  We are so blessed to see two “SW” episodes a week. It is quite a treat and we look forward to the weekends to relax with “SW”.

They also show “BBC World News” from 7:00-7:30PM and again from 11:30-12:00 Midnight every Monday through Friday.  We always watch it because they show us things from around the whole world, not just headlines and local news.

Anyone who is brave enough can venture onto the WNJN Website at www.njn.net.  It may be a bit overwhelming, but you’ll have fun!

On Saturday, April 5th, they showed “Why Is Barry At An Angle”, where Barry has to collect money from some clients and the boys take him to the pub to loosen him up first.  He gets sloshed and can’t walk straight; that’s why he’s “at an angle”!

On Sunday, April 6th, they showed “Magic and The Morris Minor”, one of Compo’s last episodes, where a mystical woman appears with a magic hubcap and thinks Barry is the master of her ancient tribe. She chases him down the road because she wants to marry him.

We had a Brit Night Party at my friend’s house last week with pizza, ice cream, cookies and soda.  She loves “As Time Goes By” and she’s from Hungary!!  Wow, Brit TV sure does get around the world!!

There are seven basic channels that can be viewed in the NYC area, channel 2,4,5,7,9,11 and 13. These are the biggies. They can be seen with a regular house antenna (No cable or satellite dish). Only Channel 13 (WNET) is PBS.

There are 10 smaller stations that can also be seen in the Tri-State area (NY-NJ-Connecticut) without cable TV, depending on where you live. They are channel 21, 25, 31,41,47,50,54,62,63 and 68. Three of these broadcast exclusively in Spanish, two are PBS and the others are local stations that broadcast a wide array of shows.

Now that we got the boring stuff out of the way, let's concentrate on the three PBS channels. These are the guys who show SW and many other fine British programs. Channel 13 shows "Keeping Up Appearances" and "As Time Goes By" every Saturday night from 8:00PM to 9:00PM.

Channel 50 (WNJN) shows SW every Sunday from 7:30-8:00PM, "Lovejoy" every Monday from 10:00-11:00PM and six Britcoms every Saturday from 9:00PM to Midnight.

Channel 21 (WLIW) gets a gold star for showing the most British TV. On Wednesday they show "Miss Marple" and two "EastEnders" from 9:00-11:00PM. On Friday, they show seven Britcoms and one BBC World News from 8:00PM to Midnight. On Saturday, they show "Ballykissangel", (Love that Father Clifford!!) from 4:00-5:00PM.

So, now you know about our basic TV system and also that we get loads of British TV here. My friend in Albany (The Capital of NY, about 160 North of NYC) just said they get very little British TV up there. She said she loves "Are You Being Served", but she needs a change!! She will be visiting our SW Website often!

Meantime, back to SW news. On Saturday, March 29th, Channel 50 showed "A White Sweater and a Solicitor's Letter". Tom Owen inherits a big screen TV from Compo's deceased bookie and he gives it to Eli. Eli sees a naughty program on it. . .he thought it was wrestling!!

On Sunday, March 30th, Channel 50 showed "Under The Rug", where Howard gets a wig to impress Marina. There was something about that wig that looked familiar...when I got up to go brush my teeth, I looked in the mirror and saw that the wig looked like. . . . MY HAIR!!! AAAAAAH!

March 28, 2003
Hello-o-o-o-oh England!  And a great big N.Y. Hi to Summer Wine fans the world over!  This column will introduce you to what's happening on Big Apple TV screens regarding British Comedies and Dramas, especially Summer Wine.

You will learn about our NY television system, basic channels, cable TV channels and rates, among other things.

First off, Summer Wine is back after being off the air since February 22, 2003 due to PBS (Public Broadcasting Stations) pledge weeks, when the stations try to raise money by appealing to the viewers.  We were advised that "This series will not be shown again for three weeks."

So, on Saturday, March 22, 2003,at 9:30PM,  PBS station WNJN, Trenton, NJ showed "Gnome and Away".  YAY!!!   Saturday nights were so boring and lonely without the Britcoms. It was a very funny episode, especially since I have four plastic gnomes sitting on my front lawn!  I love them!

AND....the same station also resumed showing SW on Sunday nights at 7:30PM. The Sunday airings are a relatively new addition to the PBS line-up.  They started showing "Keeping Up Appearances" in that time slot last fall, but sometime during the winter they switched to SW.  They showed "Lipstick and Other Problems" on March 23, 2003.  It was hysterical!!

So, on Sunday evenings, wherever all you New York fans are, make it a point to be home by 7:30PM to watch SW!  Or you can tape it because the videos and DVD's are very hard to find in the U.S.  Ciao for now. 

Watch out for further updates on the SW-NY scene

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