Bjørn continues to amaze us with his "Dynasty" wardrobe and memorabilia collection

Readers of this blog know Bjørn of Norway and his incredible collection of "Dynasty" merchandise, as well as his scale model of the Carrington mansion (see October 25, 2014, May 24, 2014 and September 20, 2013 for instance). Bjørn has just shared some more photos with BRBTV, and wow, can anything be more amazing for a "Dynasty" fan??? There are lots of original costumes below, as well as one Nolan Miller Collection replica costume (yes, it's that very famous gunmetal lame' gown worn by Alexis in so many publicity shots).

Among the jewels pictured below are quite a few pieces of the costume jewelry worn by the ladies on the series. Baubles of every variety, to match every color of gown! My, my!

Bjørn was also the subject of this online media story on his collection (sorry, there doesn't appear to be an English translation, but you get the picture -- a lot more pictures, actually!). And here is a video featuring him and his collection.

Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Con: Ponch and Jon, Gilligan and more

Lots of great stars of classic television came out once again for the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Con, just ending its three-day spin in Hunt Valley, Maryland, yesterday. Where else can you meet the two stars of "CHiPS," Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox, as well as Bobby Ewing of "Dallas," Patrick Duffy, Shirley of "Laverne and Shirley," Cindy Williams, Mary Ann of "Gilligan's Island," Ms. Dawn Wells, plus even a Gilligan cosplayer! That's quite a cross-section!

You may know Larry Storch from "F-Troop," but I know him from a little live-action Saturday-morning show called "The Ghost Busters," created years before the more-famous 1980s movie and having absolutely nothing to do with it. I faithfully watched that little show every week, and I had to ask Mr. Storch about it. Seems he does have other folks who remember it -- and had a couple photos from it to sign on his table! The series has never been released on DVD, but you can find a few episodes on YouTube.

Brian Lombard, my buddy from Virginia, showed up in this Gilligan outfit, which really thrilled Dawn Wells, whose line he was waiting in here! Brian is the author of the "Bradypalooza" book on "The Brady Bunch" and has contributed photos to BRBTV projects over the years. We were thinking he might be the first cosplayer at this event, which tends to skew to a slightly older crowd than the standard con, but then we came across this "Blues Brothers" bro among the vendors upstairs -- whom I also encountered last year, who did have his regular hat on but then channeled a bit of the Skipper ...

All in all, a great show once again. For three years in a row, I've been showing up on the last day of the show, Saturday, and it's still been hoppin,' and you always see great TV-related merchandise among the shopping, too, which is super-cool.

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand

Terrific TV Toys: "Batman: The Animated Series" talking alarm clock

We're big on anniversaries, here at BRBTV, particular on the Terrific TV Toys series. We've been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Barbara Gordon Batgirl all year long this year, and last year we marked the 50th anniversary of the debut of both "Star Trek" and "The Green Hornet," and really, the "Batman" series, as well, with a look at the Figures Toy Co. action figures from that series.

Well, it occurred to this author earlier this month, while shooting the Batgirl anniversary episode for September, that it's actually been 25 years since "Batman: The Animated Series" debuted on television! Wow, has that much time really passed? I remember watching that very first episode in September 1992. It was airing in primetime on the weekend, a special sneak peek before it settled into its regular weekday afternoon spot that coming week. And it was the Manbat episode, "On Leather Wings." I was out of town on vacation, but I remember huddling around the TV with a couple friends that Sunday night to catch this new vision of the Caped Crusader. And what a long-lasting (and still continuing!) vision it was.

This week on T3, let's take a look at a unique item from that series, produced while it was still originally airing ...

Christopher Hensel, aka Jeb Stuart Duke, tells us what he's been up to

Christopher Hensel is an actor who has done some varied roles over the years, but he has the fortunate distinction of being a Duke boy, of being part of that family tree of Uncle Jesse Duke on "The Dukes of Hazzard." He played Jeb Stuart Duke -- that long-lost Duke on a motorbike -- in the second season of the show. As such, he's been out and about recently, meetin' and greetin' "Dukes" fans in various places. He is the signature hardly anybody has yet on their General, after all, and it's clear he's enjoying the natural hospitality that is our beloved "Dukes."

Hensel appeared last weekend at the Morrow County Fair in Ohio with the Northeast Ohio Dukes stunt group, and he's got another appearance coming up with NEOD, too. Hear more about it in this interview with Billie Rae Bates of BRBTV and (Cousin) Don Covell Jr. ...

The Northeast Ohio Dukes dazzle 'em with "Double Dukes" stunt show

It was a great time and well-worth the drive this past Sunday, to Mt. Gilead, Ohio, for a stunt show straight outta Hazzard County. The Northeast Ohio Dukes, the same group that made history jumpin' a General Lee car in downtown Detroit earlier this year, put on the thrills and chills with a full "Dukes of Hazzard"-themed show at the Morrow County Fair.

The stands were beyond packed for this show, held Sunday evening, which paid tribute to the fourth-season episode of the show, "Double Dukes," with not one but two General Lees, one driven by our boys Bo and Luke (Raymond Kohn and Rob Roushey), and the other driven by a couple baddies. (You know you've always gotta have the baddies thrown in!) And of course, ole Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (Rodney Kohn and Tony Florie) were wheelin' and dealin' with those baddies to bring down our fair Dukes, and lovely Daisy (Tina Kohn) and the upright Uncle Jesse (Dean Jaech) were there to help the boys out.

And there were jumps -- boy, were there some great jumps! The Chickasaw County sheriff's car, Uncle Jesse's truck, Enos' little Ford Focus sheriff's car (didya know he had one of those???) and more ... culminating in a very long General Lee jump helmed by Raymond Kohn himself -- his 21st jump -- that brought the show to a conclusion with a nice, loud "Dukes"-style bang! Here's the first of the two BRBTV videos from the event, capturing each one of those jumps!



This was a big production, with pyrotechnics and lots of moving parts and fast-movin' cars. Very good family fun!

Look for another video on Friday -- an interview with Christopher Hensel, who played Jeb Stuart Duke in the show's second season, and who was a special guest of the Northeast Ohio Dukes at the event!

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand

Terrific TV Toys: Batgirl figure from "B:TAS" by DC Collectibles

We had the whole year marked out, for our once-a-month 50th anniversary for the Barbara Gordon Batgirl on the Terrific TV Toys series. But then the nicest friend in the world, Mike, had to muck it up in the nicest way ... He snagged a brand-new Batgirl figure, hot off the presses, as you'll hear in this video, then he snagged another brand-new Batgirl figure that you'll see next month. It pushes a couple other things off the schedule, but oh, well! There's always next year! What a wonderful problem to have ...



Happy Labor Day!

Stay tuned, 'cuz this week we have video coverage of yesterday's Northeast Ohio Dukes stunt show at the Morrow County Fair in Ohio ...

TGIF! And here's that list of TV shows and movies from Monday's video!

Congratulations to Maddie of South Carolina, who was the first one to correctly list out for us all of the TV shows and movies represented by the star cars at the Cruisin' Hines event this past weekend, as documented in our walk-through:



Here they are, if you're wondering:

1. "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!"
2. "Dumb and Dumber"
3. "The A-Team"
4. "Batman" (1966)
5. "The Blues Brothers"
6. "Talladega Nights"
7. "Christine"
8. "Knight Rider"
9. "The Monkees"
10. "The Dukes of Hazzard"
11. "The Munsters"
12. "Smokey and the Bandit"
13. "Panic in the Year Zero"
14. "Speed Racer"
15. "Wayne's World"
16. "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"
17. "Bullit"
18. "Starsky and Hutch"

It's a Yooper Batmobile!

If you're not from Michigan, then you may not know that folks who live in the state's Upper Peninsula are called Yoopers. Have you ever seen a Yooper Batmobile? Well, our roving reporter Jason has, and he snapped a photo to share with us. This was along M-38 in a place called Baraga. So fun!

Photo by Jason G.; please don't copy without permission.

Let's play guess the star car! Or, more accurately, the TV show or movie each star car represents!!!

Ooooohhhh, we had so much fun with the "Three's Company" contest a couple months back that we've got to do it again. We'll make it slightly harder this time. Yesterday was Metro Detroit's Cruisin' Hines car show event, and the classic cars showed up in style. Hines Park in Livonia was just full of 'em. But there was a very special display of star cars, most of them replicas, representing various TV shows and movies over the years. This is a diverse bunch, for sure. Can you guess each and every one of the TV shows and movies represented with these cars? There are 18 of them altogether. Keep in mind that not absolutely every car shown in this video represents a TV show or movie (that's a big clue -- there's an imposter or two in here!).



If you are the first person to send the full list of TV shows or movies, in order of the cars' appearance in this video shot yesterday at the event, to brb@brbtv.com, you'll win a prize!!! The name of the car itself is not necessary -- we're looking for the TV show or movie it was from. Once a winner is determined, we'll publish the full list on this blog.

Since we've been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Barbara Gordon Batgirl character all year long here at BRBTV, your prize is going to be this Batgirl figure from 1993, celebrating the character in "Batman: The Animated Series" and included in McDonald's Happy Meals during a special campaign at the time. (Yea, yea, it's not a million bucks, but hey -- the notoriety you'll win is much more valuable!!!) You'll see this figure (or a duplicate just like it, actually) in this Terrific TV Toys episode from two years ago.

Terrific TV Toys: More goodies from "The Lion King"

On a previous episode of Terrific TV Toys, Andrea Melchiori of Michigan showed you her collection of memorabilia from "The Lion King." (Because ya know, even though it was a very popular movie once upon a time, it also has been animated TV series over the years.) This week, Andrea adds on a few more items to that collection. Enjoy!

Terrific TV Toys: "Dukes of Hazzard" cup by Deka

You remember those fun little plastic dish sets with your favorite characters on them? Cup, bowl, matching plate? Great for cereal on a Saturday morning, or soup or what-have-you???? (Well, actually, they still make them to this day!) That sort of plastic dishware was part of the vast and varied volume of merchandise for "The Dukes of Hazzard" when it originally aired in the '80s. Lots of stuff like this hit the store shelves 'round about 1981 when the "Dukes" were in their heyday.

You've even seen this very dishware on past episodes of BRBTV, like the Terrific TV Toys episode highlighting the "Dukes" collection of T.J. in Michigan a few weeks ago, and even the walk through the "Dukes" museum at Cooter's Place from the week before last. This week's episode of T3 gets you up-close and personal with one of these "Dukes" dish items ...

Terrific TV Toys: Wind Blitz Batgirl and Sonic Stun Batgirl action figures

They are quite a pair -- they have the same body mold, after all. They are the Wind Blitz Batgirl figure, released in 1997 by Kenner, and the Sonic Stun Batgirl figure, hitting shelves in 2001 from Hasbro (which by then had purchased Kenner). BRBTV gets you up-close and personal with these two action figures, celebrating the Batgirl of the 1990s "Batman: The Animated Series" / "The New Batman Adventures." It's all part of the yearlong 50th anniversary celebration of the Barbara Gordon Batgirl that you've been seeing on the Terrific TV Toys series ...

BTW, if you like these so much that you wanna snag one for yourself, we spotted the Wind Blitz on Amazon for about $13 on the card, and the Sonic Stun for $6 loose on eBay.

Cooter's Last Stand: A walk through the replica of Cooter's Garage!

Have you ever been to Cooter's Garage? Well, you'll feel like you have, once you view the third of BRBTV's videos from last weekend's great Cooter's Last Stand event in lovely Luray, Virginia! A professional set designer helped construct this full-scale replica of where ole Cooter Davenport once made the magic happen, and it's quite a marvel -- quite heavy on the details!

Along with that, we have a clip of a couple cool cars we saw on the grounds last weekend. For one, you have what we're convinced is either the General Lee's evil twin, or what Abraham Lincoln Hogg would drive, if he drove a General! Check it out -- it's super-cool ...

Cooter's Last Stand: A walk through the "Dukes of Hazzard" museum

If you didn't get a chance to take in the Cooter's Last Stand event this past weekend in lovely Luray, Virginia, and if you didn't get a chance to attend the grand opening of the new Cooter's Place location there earlier this year, well, here's your opportunity to walk through the cool "Dukes of Hazzard" museum that's stationed there.

You'll see all sorts of vintage "Dukes" toys and other goodies -- all that stuff you might recall being on the store shelves at the time the show was originally airing in the '80s, or all those great things you missed because you never saw them on store shelves!!! Behold "Dukes" puzzles, board games, dishware (and you'll see one of those dishes up-close-and-personal later this month in a Terrific TV Toys episode right here on this same BRBTV channel), clothing, signed photos, sleeping bags, and much, much more.

It's a "Dukes" mecca, so if  you can't make the pilgrimage there yourself, here's your walk-through! And we'll dedicate this one to our buddy Jason, who wasn't able to walk through it himself during the event ...

Cooter's Last Stand: A chat with Raymond Kohn of Northeast Ohio Dukes

When this author spoke with Mr. Raymond Kohn of the Northeast Ohio Dukes stunt group earlier this year about his landmark General Lee jump in downtown Detroit (see the April 8 post!), I asked if I could get him on camera at the Cooter's Last Stand event, which happened in Luray, Virginia, this past weekend. He was kind enough to oblige, chatting about that Detroit jump as well as what's coming up for the group. Not only are they hosting a full stunt show in Mount Gilead, Ohio, on Labor Day weekend, but they're traveling to Houston around Thanksgiving time, too.

It's the first of three videos from Cooter's Last Stand -- look for a walk-through of the super-cool "Dukes of Hazzard" museum at Cooter's Place tomorrow! And many thanks, once again, Raymond, for taking the time!

Cooter makes his "Last Stand," and it's a pretty big blowout!

Thank the Lord, this author is back safe from another fun-filled "Dukes of Hazzard" event. It was Cooter's Last Stand -- billed as the last big "Dukes" event with the cast members, presented by Ben ("Cooter Davenport") Jones and his wife Miss Alma.

The setting was lovely Luray, Virginia, where there's always scenic mountain vistas, and where Jones opened up another location of his popular Cooter's Place earlier this year. This new location is the deluxe version, however -- it even has a full scale replica of the Cooter's Garage set from the series, professionally put together by a set designer. You'll be walking inside that garage replica when you see the new BRBTV video posting later this week. For now, though, here's a sprinkling of photos from the weekend to set the scene ...

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand

Terrific TV Toys: "Alf" magazine, key chain, poster

Last season on Terrific TV Toys, Andrea Melchiori of Michigan showed you some cool goodies that she had collected from her love of the 1980s TV show "Alf." (It was episode 67, in case you're wondering!) She follows up that episode now with a few more things -- a fan club magazine, a key chain, and a very large poster of the lovable furry guy! Tune in and check it out ...

Patrick Duffy will meet-and-greet at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Con in September

It's a great autograph show that BRBTV has taken in for the past couple years -- you'll see all kinds of stars of classic TV shows and movies there, in a nice hotel setting that's not a complete mob scene like the bigger cons. But this year, here's a name we are seeing for the first time at a show like this ... Mr. Patrick Duffy of "Dallas." He's even joined by "Dallas" castmates Morgan Fairchild and Barbara Carrera. So cool. Then there's Cindy Williams, Shirley Jones and a bunch of other great stars.

Do you remember that live-action, Saturday-morning, half-hour TV show called "The Ghost Busters," in the 1970s before the movie "Ghostbusters" ever came out? Larry Storch, one of the stars of that kids' show, will be there, too! That alone makes it worth the trip.

The show is in September in Hunt Valley, Maryland. See more at the Facebook page or website.

Terrific TV Toys: Daphne of "Scooby-Doo" figure by Figures Toy Co.

Figures Toy Co. is heading into Mystery Inc. territory now with a new line of figures in their wonderful Mego-repro-style. There's the gang -- Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and even the Clown Ghost in the first series. And this week on Terrific TV Toys, we take a look at the Daphne figure.



(So do you think the second series will include Scooby????)

Meet Jeb Stuart Duke in Ohio this September

It's a great day in the "Dukes of Hazzard" world when you can meet yet another Duke boy. And we've got one surfacing, after all these years, into the "Dukes" fan community to meet and greet. This is Chris Hensel, known to us as Jeb Stuart Duke in the episode "Along Came a Duke," originally airing on February 13, 1981. He's a cousin to Bo, Luke and Daisy, making only that one appearance, all fun-and-fast on his motorbike as he rides into town to help his cousins solve a case and right a wrong.



Now Hensel is making the rounds of fan events, and we're excited to meet him at an event coming up in September, hosted by that amazing stunt team the Northeast Ohio Dukes. As you recall, the NEOD came to Detroit and did a thoroughly wow-ing jump of a General Lee downtown to kick off the Autorama event, so we know these guys put on a great show!

It happens on September 3 at the Morrow County Fairgrounds in Mount Gilead, Ohio. See the map on the NEOD site. And see Hensel's own site, JebStuartDuke.com, or his Facebook page.

So there's another signature on your trunk lid, or on your dashboard, ya know? We'll be there!

Terrific TV Toys: Batgirl Barbie by Mattel

Let's check back in, shall we, with our yearlong 50th anniversary celebration for the Barbara Gordon Batgirl character. Last month on the Terrific TV Toys series, we showed you a neat Barbie-seeming doll by Hasbro in the likeness of the Batgirl character of the 1990s animated series, "The New Batman Adventures." This time, we take a look at another doll celebrating that same TV series, but an actual Barbie! She's lovely and she's got all the trademark Barbie touches, and a cool black leotard and yellow accoutrements to boot (so to speak).

Catch the latest episode of "Fantastic Forum" and join the debate: Broadcast vs. pay TV?

Another episode of the Washington, D.C.-based "Fantastic Forum" TV show has just hit the bricks and is available for viewing online, if ya didn't get to catch its original airing on the East Coast:



This time around, host Patrick Michael Strange and panelists Billie Rae Bates, Maurice James and Zachary Wineland debate the merits of regular broadcast television versus paid services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. The way that we are watching TV has definitely been changing in the past decade, as BRB points out in this episode -- which method of TV viewing do you prefer? This episode, like other recent ones, was recorded at Awesome Con!

As always, if you're on the East Coast you've got many ways to catch this great geeky TV show:

• Manhattan Neighborhood Network, New York, NY; Time Warner Cable MNN Lifestyle channel 2
• PhillyCam,  Philadelphia, PA; Comcast channel 66/966; Verizon FiOS channel 29/30.
• MCM  Montgomery County, MD; Comcast channel 21; RCN channel 21; Verizon FiOS channel 21.
• Arlington Independent Media (AIM), Arlington County, VA; Comcast channel 69; Verizon FiOS channel 38.
• FPA-TV,  Fairfax County, VA; Cox channel 10.
• DCTV, Washington, DC; Comcast channel 95; RCN channel 10; Verizon FiOS channel 10.
• Prince George’s Community Television (CTV), Prince George’s County, MD; COMCAST channel 76; Verizon FiOS channel 42.
• Community Media of Baltimore City (CMBC), Baltimore, MD; Comcast channel 75.
• Herndon Community Television, Cox channel 23, Verizon FIOS channel 28.

Terrific TV Toys: "Price is Right" games and memorabilia

Well, we certainly branch out in this week's episode of the Terrific TV Toys series, venturing into game-show territory. It's "The Price is Right," that beloved old game show that's been on the air so many decades. Andrea Melchiori has always loved the show, and she got the opportunity to actually be in the audience for a taping a few years back.

She reminisces about that trip, shows us her actual nametag and ticket and other goodies from that experience, and also shows us some very cool "Price is Right" games she has snagged at garage sales and secondhand stores over the years. We have played at least the oldest one of the three games you'll see, when we could talk our friend Cousin Don into playing it!!!! He's not fond of this "Price is Right" game, more tending toward Scattergories or UNO or the other games we play. So it's a running joke with us, and that's why we dedicate this episode to him ...

Ever wonder what happened to the Colbys? One viewer offers this resolution ....

Yea, yea, that whole UFO thing went down in soap opera history, for sure, but besides all that, did you ever wonder what really happened to the characters of "Dynasty" spinoff "The Colbys" after its bow-out at just a season and a half?

Christopher Stiles of the U.K., who says he just finished watching both "Dynasty" and "The Colbys" on DVD, ties up loose ends -- and those typical soap cliffhanger endings -- with this narrative. Enjoy!

"One fact that did leave me slightly unsatisfied was that the stories of a number of characters, mostly 'The Colbys' characters, were not given a proper resolution," Christopher says. "Therefore, I've put together a short Colbys 'Epilogue,' which is designed to stay close to what we see on screen but also to fill in the gaps and complete the canon."

....................

Epilogue (after season 2 of The Colbys)

The story of Jeff and Fallon is continued in the eighth season of Dynasty. For the other characters, read on…

* Francesca survived the accident but needed several months to recover from her injuries. Jason took her to Europe to recover as far away as possible from the Colby mansion and its unhappy memories.

* Sable, following Jason’s desertion, became even closer to her twin children, Miles and Monica. Miles was devastated by Channing’s abortion, and Monica made the painful decision to send Scott back to the family that had raised him. The three of them coped with their losses by throwing their energies into their roles on the board of Colby Enterprises. The business therefore thrived despite Jason’s absence.

* Whilst her cousin Alexis was busy campaigning for the governorship of Colorado, Sable had an eye on a possible takeover target: Alexis’s ColbyCo business in Denver, which had been founded by Alexis’ late husband and Jason’s brother, Cecil Colby.

* Alexis discovered and put a stop to this manoeuvre. She had never liked her cousin and decided to exact her revenge by visiting Jason (with whom she’d once had a brief fling) and telling him a secret Sable had confided in her many years before: he might not be the father of Sable’s twins.

* Jason refused to believe it but Alexis was prepared for that and showed him letters (actually forgeries commissioned by Alexis herself) “proving” that Sable had had an affair with one of Jason’s business associates in the early years of their marriage. Jason felt all his previous bitterness towards Sable return, and he refused to have anything more to do with her or with the twins, focusing instead on his new life with Frankie.

* What Alexis didn’t know, and didn’t tell Jason, was that Sable had not had a consensual relationship but had been raped. Sable, shocked at Jason’s behaviour and treatment of the twins, kept this secret to herself.

* Bliss and Kolya lived happily ever after in New York and had four children, all of whom turned out to be good dancers.

* Zach Powers died in suspicious circumstances. It transpired that his former wife’s fortune derived from her involvement with an organised crime syndicate. Zach had persuaded her to double-cross the syndicate, which had led to her death. Zach had saved himself by keeping quiet after Caress Morell was set up by the syndicate as the scapegoat for the murder, but as he now was planning to reveal the truth, there was a price on his head.

* Philip Colby was never seen or heard of again. His fate remains a mystery.

(Continuity note: the story of Sable and Monica continues in the final season of "Dynasty." The following events occur between the end of that season and the "Dynasty Reunion.")

* Having learned the truth from her mother, Monica told Jason that Sable had not been unfaithful to him. A DNA test established that he was the twins’ father after all. Jason begged his family to forgive him.

* They did, but the family was never as close as it had once been Miles and Monica returned to Los Angeles to run Colby Enterprises, and Jason and Frankie remained in Europe.

* Sable, having given birth to Dex Dexter’s child but lost Dex himself to a tragic accident at the Carlton Hotel in Denver, decided to start a new life with her baby back in England. She therefore returned to her birthplace. Her English relatives viewed her return with mixed feelings... as in LA and Denver, Sable would never escape family drama...