Department S: Binging a Vintage British Import

There's a company in Australia called Imprint that has been putting out some impressive blu-ray releases of classic television shows. I’ve already picked up the first two seasons of Bewitched (the series has never looked better) and I'll soon be ordering the Gidget series with Sally Field.

One of their recent promotional emails announced the release of a British show called Department S, which aired 28 episodes between 1969 and 1970. I had never heard of it but it sounded promising, and thankfully it’s been uploaded in remarkably high resolution on YouTube. I became a fan after watching just two episodes and have since enjoyed several more.

This is a difficult series to describe, which is one of the reasons I enjoy it. We are told that Department S is an elite investigative division based in England. When an international case is too baffling for the experts at Interpol – and presumably when Steed and Mrs. Peel are otherwise engaged – it is turned over to the three specialists that comprise Department S.

Jason King (Peter Wyngarde) is a novelist in the Ian Fleming mode. He’s the visionary – like Sherlock Holmes he can examine a crime scene. spot the clues that others have missed and envision a sequence of events of what may have happened. He envisions himself like Mark Cain, the super-spy hero in his books, and routinely adapts Department S cases into Cain’s adventures. But when fists start flying King is usually on the losing end – he is frequently found unconscious by his partners.

Annabelle Hurst (Rosemary Nicols) is the analyst. While she also works undercover in the field, her specialty is using computers to compile data. Stewart Sullivan (Joel Fabiani) is a former FBI agent and the lone American on the team. Sir Curtis Seretse (Dennis Alaba Peters) is the veteran diplomat who runs the department.

Each episode opens with a strange occurrence – sometimes it’s not even clear if a crime has been committed, but the circumstances are so bizarre that answers are elusive. In “One of Our Aircraft is Empty” a plane lands with no passengers or crew aboard. In “The Man in the Elegant Room,” an enclosure that resembles a luxurious residence is built inside an abandoned warehouse, a lavish prison for a crazed young man and a murdered woman. In “The Pied Piper of Hambledown,” the residents of an entire village disappear overnight, leaving one confused girl behind.

The set-ups reminded me of Banacek. While they weren’t locked-room mysteries, they presented a sequence of events so intriguing that you had to stay tuned to figure out what happened, and why.

Clever stories, exotic settings, appealing characters – what’s not to like?

Peter Wyngarde I knew from his dashing portrayal of the head of the Hellfire Club in the classic Avengers episode “A Touch of Brimstone.” He still has that suave, sophisticated quality here, even in later episodes when his sideburns and mustache threaten to engulf his visage. After Department S, he continued playing the same character in the Jason King spinoff, which lasted 26 episodes.

Joel Fabiani had a busy career after this series, appearing in both daytime dramas and in guest roles on prime time shows. Sadly, he never found another signature role that fit him as well as the tuxedos he wore in his Bond-like adventures here. As for Rosemary Nicols, based on the nature of some of her clothing-optional appearances you might think she was just on the team to spike viewership among the lads and the dads. But Annabelle’s contributions to solving cases are the equal of her partners, whom she rescues from dangerous situations on more than one occasion.

That said, it must be acknowledged that Department S was unabashedly salacious, at least in the casting department. Every guest female role was played by a stunningly beautiful actress. British TV fans will certainly recognize names like Fiona Lewis, Sue Lloyd, and Kate O’Mara. One episode was partially set in a hospital and all the nurses looked like they just stepped out of British Vogue. And the series rarely missed an opportunity to show off Nicols’ (admittedly splendid) legs.

I love British TV from this era. It sometimes takes me twice as long to get through an episode as I can’t help hitting the pause button to take a closer look at the cityscapes and the sleek lines on those vintage Rolls Royces and Bentleys, the interiors of the country estates, the red telephone boxes and the Carnaby Street fashions (so many ascots!). For a moment it makes me want to go back to London, until I remember that in today’s UK you can go to jail for a social media post. There will always be an England, but hopefully they’ll get back to being a better one soon.

If any of this has piqued your interest enough to check out Department S, I recommend a visit to YouTube and starting with these three episodes.

“Who Plays the Dummy?”
A motorcycle cop pursues a speeding car on a rural road in Spain. The high-speed chase ends when the car veers off the road and crashes. When the officer approaches the vehicle, he is shocked to find a well-dressed mannequin behind the wheel. Jason puts the team on the right track to a solution by identifying the maker of the necktie on the dummy.

“Six Days”
A plane lands at Heathrow six days after its scheduled arrival, with its crew and passengers none the wiser. How could everyone on board be unaware of the delay – and where has the plane been all this time? The series’ first episode serves as an ideal introduction to our trio of investigators.

“A Small War of Nerves”
From what I’ve read about the series, many fans consider this to be its finest hour. Anthony Hopkins plays a chemical weapons developer who doses himself with a potentially lethal substance, then goes missing with enough poison to kill one million people.

My Journey Through 1970s TV: Thursday Nights, 1976

As we arrive at Thursdays on our journey through 1976 we’ll see that little has changed from previous nights: ABC keeps introducing new hits, CBS proves to be a worthy rival with its own successful shows, and NBC just keeps trying…and failing. It will get better for the Peacock network – eventually – but for now let’s take another look at the series you watched, and the ones you missed.

ABC
Welcome Back Kotter
Barney Miller
The Tony Randall Show
The Nancy Walker Show
The Streets of San Francisco

ABC opened its Thursday prime time lineup with the highest-rated show of the evening, one that launched the career of John Travolta, as well as an array of catchphrases that haven’t aged well. I’m not sure Welcome Back Kotter has aged well either, and I’m usually a sucker for any show about teachers. But the theme song by John Sebastian, which became a last-minute substitute for one they had already selected - still sounds great.

Barney Miller finished at #17 in its second season. Then, proving even the mighty ABC was not perfect, it introduced two sitcoms that did not connect with most viewers. The Tony Randall Show, with Randall playing a retired judge, finished one season, then moved to CBS for a second season before being canceled.

The Nancy Walker Show was produced and co-created by Norman Lear, but his brand of topical comedy had begun to fall out of favor by 1976. It was pulled after just ten episodes, after which Walker was recruited by Garry Marshall to star in another sitcom, Blansky’s Beauties. That one didn’t last either.

In its final season, The Streets of San Francisco also began losing viewers, as Michael Douglas left the series and was replaced by Richard Hatch.

CBS
The Waltons
Hawaii Five-O
Barnaby Jones

CBS wisely countered ABC’s sitcom heavy lineup with three solid and more serious performers: The Waltons ranked #15 for the season, followed by Hawaii Five-O at #18. Barnaby Jones ranked #49 but would rebound back into the top 25 for its final two seasons. Perhaps the addition Mark Shera as the son of Barnaby’s cousin brought in some younger viewers.

NBC
Gemini Man
NBC’s Best Sellers
Van Dyke and Company

I wrote about Gemini Man in my “Terrible Shows I Like” recurring feature. Ben Murphy played Sam Casey, maverick special agent for a government think tank. On an underwater mission to retrieve an atomic-powered laser weapon, Sam is caught in an explosion. He miraculously survives, but his DNA is altered, and he becomes invisible. They find a way to restore his visibility by “building up a counter-field against the invisibility,” which can be controlled by that most futuristic of technology in 1976 – a digital watch.

Of course, there’s a catch – Sam can turn visible and invisible by pressing a button on the watch, but if he stays invisible longer than 15 minutes in one day, he’ll fade away, never to return.

It’s a good gimmick, and as I wrote in the original piece it’s not really a terrible show, just one that never caught on and was dropped after 11 episodes. Like Jerry Lewis, however, it was huge in France.

NBC’s Best Sellers was an anthology comprised of miniseries instead of single episodes. The one you may remember now is Captains and the Kings, which told over nine hours the story of the Irish Armagh family as they sought power and fortune in America.

I’m sure a lot of people at the time were rooting for Van Dyke and Company. Who doesn’t love Dick Van Dyke – whether it’s 1966 or 1976 or 2025? Why wouldn’t he make an ideal variety series host? Why wouldn’t it be great to see him reunited with guest stars like Mary Tyler Moore and Carl Reiner, and sharing a stage with John Denver, Lucille Ball, Chevy Chase, and even Ike & Tina Turner?

If you’re sure you would have loved it, check out any of the full episodes on YouTube, and you’ll likely change your mind. The whole thing just kind of lays there, despite everyone’s best efforts to make it work. Give Dick Van Dyke good material and he’ll make it great. Give him sketches that wouldn’t be salvageable with any performers, and they’ll get the better of him as well. He’d have to wait nearly 20 years for a more successful second act on TV, but Diagnosis Murder would run eight years and more than 170 episodes. And at age 100, I still wouldn’t count him out for one more comeback.


Shows Missed:

The Don Knotts Show (1970)
San Francisco International Airport (1970)
Nancy (1970)
The Headmaster (1970)
The Man and the City (1971)
Search (1972)
Assignment: Vienna (1972)
The Delphi Bureau (1972)
Jigsaw (1972)
The Little People (1972)
The Sixth Sense (1972)
Tenafly (1973)
Faraday & Company (1973)
Kodiak (1974)
The New Land (1974)
McCoy (1975)
Joe and Sons (1975)
Beacon Hill (1975)
Mobile One (1975)
Big Eddie (1975)
Executive Suite (1976)
Ball Four (1976)

10 Reasons To Love “Bupkis”

When fans discuss classic episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, you’re likely to hear titles like “The Curious Thing About Women,” “It May Look Like a Walnut” or “Coast to Coast Big Mouth.” A show called “Bupkis” probably won’t be mentioned, but it’s always been one of my favorites.

Written by Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, the duo behind many of the series’ best episodes, this fourth-season entry opens with Rob listening to the radio before going to work and hearing a song called “Bupkis,” a song he cowrote with Buzzy Potter during his army days. Weeks earlier he unwittingly gave up the rights to all those songs after getting a hard-luck story from his collaborator, and now he’s concerned he made a costly mistake.

It's a good story, but it’s the stuff that happens around the plot that, to me, makes this episode so memorable. Let me count the ways:

Waiting for the Weather
Early in the episode Rob waits to hear a weather forecast. A “Time for the Weather” jingle plays…and plays and plays. It’s an incidental moment but a very funny one, that will resonate with anyone trying to get a weather report or a baseball score from radio or TV before heading off to work.

WIFE
After the weather report, we hear Carl Reiner as the radio announcer for WIFE, “the station most people are married to.”

Blooper
It’s rare for a blooper to make the final cut in any series episode, but that was the case here. When Rob hears “Bupkis” on the radio, he picks up the phone and starts dialing the radio station – and then Dick Van Dyke remembers he was supposed to look up the number first in the phone book. He then makes a half-hearted effort to do so, pretends to find it and says “Right,” but is unable to hide a smile over knowing how he just screwed up.

“Yuk-a-Puk”
At the office Buddy and Sally arrive while Rob is looking at the music trade papers. Buddy says, “I haven’t looked at those since ‘Yuk-a-Puk’ slipped out of the top 50.” Sally responds, “’Yuk-a-Puk’ didn’t slip, it was pushed.” Hopefully viewers back then got the inside joke that Morey Amsterdam wrote “Yuk-a-Puk” and performed it on his 1963 album “The Next One Will Kill You.” It’s a reference that would almost certainly be lost on anyone now, but if you’re curious check out the song here

Middle America Gets a Yiddish Lesson
“I learned a lot of good words when I was in the army from Saul Pomerantz,” Rob tells Buddy, and if “Bupkis” wasn’t enough the episode now continues with more Yiddish vocabulary for America, sharing three more words in rapid succession. “Schlemiel,” “farblondjet,” and “tzimmes.”

References to Previous Episodes
Sitcoms in the 1960s weren’t big on continuity and this one was no exception. But as Rob explains how he might have done something stupid, Buddy and Sally remind him of all the other times that happened, referencing episodes in which he broke a tooth on a turkey sandwich, was hypnotized into acting drunk when he hears a bell ring, and when he left a script at Grand Central Station. It’s a nice trip down memory lane for long-time fans of the show.

The Stationary Box
Laura suggests that Rob write Buzzy a letter congratulating him on the success of “Bupkis,” figuring he'll respond if he has a conscience and offer to split the royalties. This is way before email, which is why Laura then produces a well-organized box of letter-writing stationary, complete with envelopes and a pen. Those scenes always stand out to me, showing how we used to live in a more genteel and less wired world. 

Attila the Hun
In the scene where Rob and Buzzy reminisce about the songs they wrote, they sing one called “Attila the Hun” (“Though he’ll pillage a village and kill everyone, I still love Attila the Hun.”) Like “Bupkis” it was also written by Persky and Denoff. The duo later created the series That Girl and had Ted Bessell sing “Attila the Hun” in the episode “Author, Author.”

Greg Morris
Greg Morris was something of a good luck charm for this series. Not only did he make a strong impression in this episode, but he was also center stage for what most sources identified as the longest studio audience laugh the show ever earned, in the episode “That’s My Boy?”

The Dum-Dums
“Bupkis” aired in March of 1965, a year when Beatlemania was in full swing, Motown was releasing classics from groups like The Supremes and The Temptations, and songs like “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” by the Righteous Brothers and The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” topped the charts. But to many in the older generation, rock music was still empty-headed junk, as evidenced from the snippets we hear of “Bupkis,” released by a band called The Dum-Dums.

Spoiler alert: Rob does get credit for his songwriting, and in the final scene proudly shows off a 45 rpm record with his name on the label, along with his first royalty check – for less than ten bucks. 

 

Then, as now, writers just don’t get paid like they should. Yes, I’m still bitter.

The Carefree Era of Commercials

As I've mentioned before, I spend an inordinate amount of time watching commercials from the past. I enjoy them in a way I never did when they were first broadcast and interrupting whatever show I was watching.

A new batch of early 1980s commercials was recently uploaded to YouTube, and of course I had to click on that link to see which ones would greet me like old friends. The video runs about 20 minutes, and the spots are not themed to any one occasion or type of product. Yet there was a common denominator that went through just about all of them – one that seems sadly lacking not only in contemporary commercials but in contemporary television as well – optimism.

If you don’t share my enthusiasm for old commercials at least watch the first one in the video, for Kellogg’s cereal. The ebullient music proclaims, “When that sun breaks out, lift up your head and shout, it’s going to be a great day!” over scenes of people smiling over breakfast and on their way to work, and smiling kids on their way to school.

When was the last time you saw anything on television brimming with that much unbridled optimism? Do we no longer feel the joy of greeting a new day? Are we embarrassed now to be gladdened by something so simple? Are we too cynical now to appreciate such an artless response?

Next up – a commercial for Coppertone, with people happily soaking up rays on a beach, not worried at all about sun exposure. I can’t remember the last time I even saw a commercial for suntan lotion, though you can still buy it everywhere. I wonder if they no longer advertise lest they be accused of encouraging a dangerous activity.

The video continues with many more spots featuring folks of all ages having good times with their family and friends while enjoying whatever product is being advertised – Tab, Juicy Fruit gum, Coors Light, 7-Up, Pop Tarts, Nestea.

Along the way there are also commercials for Sears, which always tug at my heart now that this once celebrated retailer no longer exists. 

Practical as always, these ads promised nice clothes at a fair price. And there’s Barbara Eden, extolling the virtues of control-top panty hose with the slogan “Nothing beats a great pair of L’eggs” – which is probably offensive now, but what isn’t?

And oh, the jingles. The Manhattan Transfer harmonizing for Diet Coke; KFC, back when they weren’t embarrassed to be known as Kentucky Fried Chicken: “It’s so nice, nice to feel, so good about a meal…”; Purina Cat Chow (“Chow chow chow!”), “Fall into the Gap,” and a young couple not afraid to “get a little closer, with the baby fresh scent of Arrid Extra Dry.”

What passes for music in commercials now? “I have Type 2 Diabetes, but I manage it well…” Time to hit that mute button.

Much as I can deceive myself into thinking times were always better during the Comfort TV era, I know that is not really the case. Every decade had its own anxieties. In the 1960s it was the Cold War – would the Soviet Union really fire the first shot? Why did they want to put those missiles in Cuba?

In the 1970s we had the first wave of environmental panic, and one dire prediction after another about the uncertain future of the planet. I’m not sure whether we were supposed to be roasting or freezing or underwater by now.

The thing about TV from the 1960s and ‘70s is that it largely separated itself from current events – which is why we can still watch so many shows from that time without their seeming dated. And the commercials? They were somehow more authentic and less annoying. They were unapologetic in what they promoted, and most of the time their message was simple: “You’ll be happier if you buy this.”

McDonald’s is one of the few brands that may be waking up to this. In 2025 they brought back McDonaldland in spots that are bright, colorful and musical. Now if only they’d do the same with their buildings. The McDonald’s commercial in the ‘80s video features a kid at the beach building a sandcastle modeled after what they looked like back then, with the red roof and big golden arches sign. All the locations now look like they’re trying to avoid attention, with their minimalist architecture and bland earth tone interiors that resemble a hipster coffee house that has seen better days.

Why can’t buildings be beautiful anymore? Or in the case of McDonald’s, distinctive? And why can’t commercials be fun instead of rattling off lists of possibly fatal side effects of prescription medication?

I guess that’s what keeps bringing me back to compilations like this. They remind me that there were nice things in the world, and nice people. I know that’s still the case – but for some reason television doesn’t have much interest in them.

My Journey Through 1970s TV: Wednesday Nights, 1976

How do you follow up a night when your network features the season’s two highest-rated shows? If you’re ABC, you do it with three more hits to dominate yet another evening. Give credit to CBS for at least hanging in there with a mostly successful mix of new shows and returning favorites. As for NBC…well, better luck on Thursday.

ABC
The Bionic Woman
Baretta
Charlie’s Angels

After being introduced on two popular episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, Jaime Sommers was spun off into her own series and was an immediate hit, finishing the season at #14. 

If I’m in the mood for some bionic action these days I will almost always opt for this series over its predecessor, thanks to consistently better and more grounded stories (at least until season 3) and the captivating presence of Lindsay Wagner.

Baretta (#8) was still a top ten hit in its third season, but it was quickly surpassed in popularity by a new show featuring three little girls who went to the police academy. Charlie’s Angels (#5) was the breakout hit of the season, destroying its competition and landing its three stars on the cover of Time magazine. 

Sadly, its first season would be the only one with the original lineup of Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith. Farrah’s quick departure, largely engineered by husband Lee Majors, would put the series’ future in jeopardy, but the network need not have worried, as we’ll see when we get to 1977.

CBS
Good Times
Ball Four
All in the Family
Alice
The Blue Knight

In its fourth season Good Times finished at #26, as audiences (not to mention his fellow cast members) began to tire about every episode being about J.J. (Jimmie Walker). The season opened with a shocking two-part episode in which family patriarch James Evans is killed in a car accident.

Jim Bouton’s Ball Four is still considered one of the best books every written about life in the Major League. It figured to be a challenging book to adapt for television, with its frank depictions of what goes on in baseball locker rooms, but from what I’ve read about it they tried their best. I’ve never seen it (maybe because it disappeared after just five episodes) so on the list of “missed shows” it goes.

All In the Family was CBS’s highest-rated show of the night, finishing at #12 – not bad for a series in its seventh season. Next up, a new show based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Alice (#30) became a popular long-running show, but it never did anything for me. My grits remain un-kissed.

In 1973 CBS aired The Blue Knight, based on a book by Joseph Wambaugh about a police officer nearing retirement. William Holden starred, but wasn’t interested in reprising the role in a series, so George Kennedy stepped in. 

It drew enough viewers in its first season to return in the fall of 1976 but was then canceled after ten episodes. George Kennedy was always cool, but he was no match for Farrah Fawcett.


NBC
The Practice
NBC Movie of the Week
The Quest

Pity the poor programming wizards at the Peacock network in 1976. If it weren’t for bad luck, they would have no luck at all.

The Practice (not the one with Willam Shatner as Denny Crane), was as close as they got to a show anyone cared about, coasting through two undistinguished seasons on viewer affection for stars Danny Thomas and Shelley Fabares. Thomas played a lovable but grumpy old doctor, Shelley played his daughter, and his nurse was played by Dena (“It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature") Dietrich.

The Quest tried unsuccessfully to bring westerns back to prime time. Kurt Russell and Tim Matheson played brothers who hit the trail searching for their sister Patricia, who like Russell’s character was abducted by Indians. Each week they’d ride into a new town, get involved in some local trouble and then be on their way. The show was canceled before they could find Patricia - hopefully she's adjusted to her new life by now.

None of this was working so the network took bold action in December; it canceled the Movie of the Week and introduced three new sitcoms: CPO Sharkey, The McLean Stevenson Show and Sirota's Court.

Sometimes you just can’t win.


Shows Missed:
The Don Knotts Show (1970)
San Francisco International Airport (1970)
Nancy (1970)
The Headmaster (1970)
The Man and the City (1971)
Search (1972)
Assignment: Vienna (1972)
The Delphi Bureau (1972)
Jigsaw (1972)
The Little People (1972)
The Sixth Sense (1972)
Tenafly (1973)
Faraday & Company (1973)
Kodiak (1974)
The New Land (1974)
McCoy (1975)
Joe and Sons (1975)
Beacon Hill (1975)
Mobile One (1975)
Big Eddie (1975)
Executive Suite (1976)
Ball Four (1976)

The Things We Can Learn from Classic TV

If anyone ever asked me what minerals can be found in granite, I could tell them the answer: quartz, mica, and feldspar. Sadly, however, no one has ever asked me that question. I’ve even tried to steer the occasional conversation around to the topic, hoping to show off my expertise – “Hey, does that look like granite to you?” Still, no luck.

The reason I know this is not because of a geology course I took in college, or because I have more interest in rocks than the average American. I know it because the minerals in granite were casually mentioned in an episode of The Secrets of Isis called “Rockhound’s Roost.”

This was also the series that taught me the Latin name for crow (Corvus), and how to distinguish a crow from a raven. 

These diverse (and arguably useless) nuggets of knowledge illustrate how watching even the most unsophisticated television shows can make us smarter, whether we realize it or not.

What I learned from Isis did not graft itself in my memory after my first viewing of the show in the 1970s. I’d guess for most people those types of dialogue exchanges just sail by as we focus on the story and characters. But after repeated exposure to these episodes, our wealth of knowledge on a variety of topics is almost certain to expand.

Repetition is the secret sauce that also made the Schoolhouse Rock shorts so effective. Clever concepts and catchy songs helped, but the generation that grew up with Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970s watched these segments dozens, maybe even hundreds of times over the years. And now, decades later, many of us can still recite the entire Preamble of the Constitution from memory.

Science was always my most challenging school subject, but here again help arrived from unlikely places. On The Brady Bunch when Peter was falling behind in his science class, Greg and Marcia gave him some rhymes to help with recall (“A vertebrate has a back that’s straight!”).

And how many kids learned more about the human cardiovascular system from Potsie, courtesy of “Pump Your Blood” on Happy Days?

My guess is that other classic TV fans are better at this than I am. Those with greater retention may be able to pick up on an informative line of dialogue after just one or two viewings. I need more than that. Everyone’s memory works differently, and mine sometimes doesn’t work at all.

But if you ever need to know more about granite, you know who to call.

Your turn – what has classic TV taught you?

The General Lee Flies Again

As a fan of the classic TV era, I’m always excited by those times when life imitates art.

One of them happened a few weeks ago in Somerset, Kentucky, population about 12,000, when 40,000 people showed up to watch the General Lee jump over a fountain in the town square.

The event was organized by a local car club and a stunt group called the Northeast Ohio Dukes of Hazzard County. The man behind the wheel was Raymond Kohn, who had performed similar jumps before. Each one requires months of preparation and planning.

“You get one shot at it. This is a very scary situation,” he said. “You’re putting yourself in a life-and-death situation on purpose.”

So why do it? Why drive a car at top speed up a ramp, soaring more than 150 feet in the air, before hitting the ground – hard – risking life and limb in the process? And Kohn wasn’t the only one in danger. When the General landed parts of the car were sprayed out along the road, and one cameraman barely got out of the way as the car skidded toward a row of barricades before stopping.

I think moments like this say something about the magic of television, of the relationships forged between characters and the viewers who idolized them. Over the course of seasons and years they became as familiar to us as our own families, and we wanted to visit them and share in their stories. Since that isn’t possible, we look for ways to bring some of their fictional world into ours.

That’s what happened when the General flew that day in Kentucky. It couldn’t hit the ground and keep moving the way it did when Bo Duke was driving, but that was the other magic of television. 

In reality every car jumped on The Dukes of Hazzard was immediately totaled. Over the course of the series more than 300 Dodge Chargers flew over rivers and barns and trains and then were ignominiously towed to their final resting places.

But that was okay. In the moment, as fans, we believed. And in that moment in Somerset, thousands saw something they only ever thought they could see on TV.

There have been other such crossovers – the Brady Bunch house, for instance. HGTV bought the home shown on every episode of the series and completely transformed the interior, so it now matches the layout and frozen-in-time décor of the rooms that once existed only on Paramount soundstages. I’m planning my visit later this year.

Southfork Ranch, as seen in Dallas for 13 years and more than 350 episodes, is also open for tours. According to the website, you can see Lucy’s wedding dress, the Dallas Family Tree and Jock’s Lincoln Continental.

Here in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Hilton was once home to Star Trek – The Experience, a combination dining/shopping/museum/attraction which might have been the only place on earth where one could purchase a six-pack of Romulan Ale.

The first time you enter what you think is going to be a motion simulator attraction, the lights suddenly go out, and when they come back on you find yourself standing on the transporter pad of the USS Enterprise. It was a remarkably believable effect, and while you were still getting your bearings after the swerve you are escorted by uniformed crewmembers through the ship’s corridors and into a perfect recreation of the bridge.

Sadly, the attraction closed in 2008 – but there’s a recreation of the original series’ Enterprise in Ticonderoga, New York.

With the cultural impact of television having declined significantly since the year 2000 or so, I think it’s unlikely that any series will ever achieve a level of popularity that would manifest itself in a similar way. Just look at the recently announced Emmy nominations and consider whether a series with eight episodes on Apple TV+ could ever penetrate the public consciousness the way network shows once did. People don’t seem to take their favorite shows to heart the way they used to – you’ll get a phenomenon every so often like Yellowstone or Stranger Things, but will they still be on people’s minds 30, 40, 50 years from now? I wouldn’t bet on it.

Footage of the General Lee’s jump is up on YouTube, and one of the comments was “This is the America I want to live in.” Me, too – even if it’s the America that so many detest now, that would celebrate a car named after a Confederate general with a Rebel flag on the roof. We knew the difference between legacy and hate, and between fantasy and reality. And when a slice of the classic TV fantasy enters into reality, it’s always something to remember.