sdiner82

Having worked on "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" 50 years ago as the Unit Publicist (that's the person who is in charge of a movie's publicity while it is being filmed), this was only my third job in this field, and remains my absolute favorite. During the 3-month shoot, I actually became friends with several members of the cast and crew, the nicest, most harmonious group of people I had ever worked with. I had always been a fan of Joanne Woodward, who went out of her way to be kind to me and we kept in touch for several years after the movie wrapped. She was completely down-to-earth, warm-hearted, had a terrific sense of humor, and was far more beautiful in person than she was ever allowed to be in most of her movies. Stewart Stern was a lovely man, a brilliant writer, and we also remained friends. The director, Gil Cates, gave everyone a beautiful sterling-silver Tiffanys key chain at the wrap party and when he screened the movie for us after he had finished editing it, I honestly thought it would be acclaimed as one of 1973's finest, award-winning films. The running time of Cates' cut was 112 minutes which, to me, seemed perfect. Unfortunately, as was a custom in those bygone days, the studio had a "sneak preview" of the movie at a theater in New Jersey that was showing a raucous slapstick comedy so the audience was in no mood to watch a serious, emotional drama like SWWD and the cards they filled out were mostly unfavorable. But Columbia took this nonsense seriously and ordered the movie's creative team to cut the movie down to a more "palatable" 90 minutes. Reluctantly, the director and writer (Cates & Stern) went back to the editing room and when I saw the 92-minute release print, I was horrified. Far too many crucial scenes had either been deleted or shortened, and Sylvia Sidney's scenes were so drastically shortened that her screen time now amounted to little more than 5 minutes! Of course I was thrilled to receive my first screen credit, but somehow the fact that my name was misspelled seemed appropriate! Despite the studio's butchery, "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" still pleased most critics and won a few awards, but I still can't help think how much more enthusiastic its reception would have been had the far more nuanced 112-minute version been released. Scott MacDonough 1/28/2023

January 29, 2023 at 3:29 AM.

One of my favorite episodes thanks to memorable performances by Rue and Ken Howard. Dorothy's hot affair with an actor who impersonates George in a performance of Beatlemania gets expected laughs. But it's Blanch's thwarted attempts to seduce a blind date (beautifully portrayed by Ken Howard) that leads this episode into unexpected areas of genuine tenderness and romance. The writers outdid themselves with this exceptional episode: the final two words, uttered by Blanch, just might break your heart.

Frankly, I am sick and tired of the two IMDB critics who regularly gripe about JR and Betty "hogging" the last few seasons of BARNABY JONES while Buddy Ebsen is reduced to a supporting player in his own show. Had these two whiners bothered to read the show's coverage in IMDB, they would learn that after the first four seasons, it was Ebsen himself who liked the work done by his co-stars Mark Shera and the glorious Lee Meredith that he told ABC to change the show's format whereby he, Lee and Mark would each play the lead in one-third of the season's shows, thereby giving his younger co-stars a chance to shine while he himself (who was no spring chicken) had more time off to relax and enjoy his advancing years. What actually happened, however, was that Betty and/or JR took on the lead roles in most of the episodes while in many cases, Ebsen literally phoned in his limited scenes in many of the episodes, which also allowed the show's formidable guest stars more time to develop their characters. And while it took me (and apparently the other two Pauline Kael wannabees) longer than seemed necessary to warm up to the character of JR (which I blame entirely on the writers, not on poor Mark Shera who was stuck with delivering the often obnoxious lines of dialogue he was forced to deliver), I had a serious crush on the lovely, warm-hearted, deliciously humorous Lee Meriwether since the very first episode and, after the first 4 seasons where she was given little to do, I was overjoyed to see her promoted to a full-fledged private eye, a role she played with such class and conviction that I enjoyed her shows even more than the ones with Buddy Ebsen!

All of which brings me to express my opinion of "Design for Madness", a gripping, first-rate episode played to the hilt by Mr. Ebsen which should be a cause for celebration by his legions of fans. In this outing, JR and Betty are reduced to bit parts as Barnaby tries to figure out exactly why his favorite niece (who he hasn't seen in years and has just been released after a year's stay in a mental sanitarium) seems to be verging on insanity and subject to blackouts during one of which she's looking guilty of murdering one of her alleged relatives involved in looking after her multi-million-dollar estate. Since I always avoid mentioning spoilers, I'll say no more so the viewer can enjoy every twist and turn of its insidiously suspenseful plot. I must, however, hurl a brickbat at MeTV for the shoddy treatment iwith which it is currently presenting the entire "Barnaby Jones" series. By finally showing the Perry Mason edpisodes in their entirety earlier in the evening, MeTV has added 5 minutes to the PM hours. But in order to telecast Perry Mason from 11:30 PM-12:35 AM, MeTV has seen fit to cram Barnaby Jones into a 55-minute time slot. Subtract another 10 minutes for an avalanche of non-stop commercials and station breaks, and each BJ episode which originally ran for 52 minutes in the 1970s has been butchered to approximately 40 minutes! For shame, MeTV, for shame!