TV Espresso: Star Trek, M*A*S*H, Dick Van Dyke Show, Cosby Show, and Doctor Who

Some long lost installments of Doctor Who have been found, there’s art in The Cosby Show, a reunion of Rob and Laura from The Dick Van Dyke Show, trouble at a M*A*S*H landmark, and the first lady of Star Trek inspires technology.

Star Trek
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, played several roles in the Trek TV series. She was Number One in the original pilot, Nurse Chapel in the original series, and Counsellor Troi’s wacky mom on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Prior to her death, she was also the voice of Starfleet computers in every version of Trek, including JJ Abrams’ 2009 movie. Now, it’s being reported that Google’s “secret project,” which will take on Apple’s Siri voice assistant, is named “Majel” — in honor of the first lady of Trek. The voice assistant will be available in the future on Android phones and tablets.

M*A*S*H
The grandson of the founder of an Ohio hot dog diner has been charged with stealing more than $100,000 from the family business. The charges stem from a yearlong family battle over control of Tony Packo’s, a restaurant chain whose hot dog sauce and pickles are sold in stores nationwide. Tony Packo III and company controller Cathleen Dooley face up to three years in prison if convicted. Tony Packo’s was made famous by M*A*S*H and actor Jamie Farr, a Toledo native. As Corporal Klinger, Farr often longed for his hometown and the taste of Tony Packo’s, the “greatest Hungarian hot dogs.” The original Packo’s location is a tourist attraction and is decorated with M*A*S*H memorabilia.

The Dick Van Dyke Show
At next month’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, actress Mary Tyler Moore, 74, will be given the Life Achievement Award. The presenter will be her longtime friend and former TV husband, Dick Van Dyke (86). In 2001, Ed Asner, Moore’s costar from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, received the honor and, in 2009, Betty White was the honoree. The Screen Actors Guild Awards will be presented on January 29 and will be televised on TNT and TBS.

The Cosby Show
When you think of the 1980s NBC sitcom, you can’t help but recall the Huxtable clan’s very colorful clothing. Well, The Cosby Sweater Project is celebrating those crazy threads and recreating the patterns in paint, one sweater and episode at a time. The project’s been going since March and nearly 60 pieces have been created so far. That brings us up to the eight season of season three which means there are still lots more pieces to come.

Doctor Who
Two lost episodes of of the original BBC series have been found — episode three of the William Hartnell adventure called “Galaxy 4” and episode two of Patrick Troughton’s “The Underwater Menace.” They were purchased by film collector Terry Burnett in the early 1980s and he had no idea that the film canisters contained missing episodes. It was believed that they had been lost forever because most copies of the early shows ended up being destroyed, erased, or stored improperly. These two episodes were recently shown at the British Film Institute’s annual “Missing Believed Wiped” event at the National Film Theatre in London. There’s no word on when or if they’ll be made available to Who fans worldwide.

ON THIS DAY…

2010: Larry King Live went off the air.

2007: Sargent Doakes and Lila died on Showtime’s Dexter.

1975: One Day at a Time debuted on CBS.

1970: Night Gallery first aired on NBC.

1956: The first episode of the Gerald McBoing Boing Show ran on CBS.

What do you think? Will you be watching the SAG Awards? What other shows could be the inspiration for art? Would you like to see the old Doctor Who episodes?