TELEVISION,
You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: I love Roma Downey, Della Reese and John Dye on Touched by an Angel. Could you please tell me how they are doing today?
A: Two of those three stars from 1994-2003 CBS drama have passed away: John Dye in 2011 and Della Reese in 2017. Roma Downey is still acting. But in recent years, and often in collaboration with husband Mark Burnett, she has made a bigger mark making Christian media, such as the miniseries The Bible and Son of God, and the website Lightworkers Media (lightworkers.com ).
Q: Can you tell me what was the TV show many years ago about a man who had perfect blood allowing him to never be sick and some rich guy who was sick kept trying to hunt him down? We could use that man today.
A: The current conditions had several readers remembering the series. It was called The Immortal and aired on ABC as a TV-movie in 1969 and a series in 1970-71. (Another series called The Immortal aired in syndication in 2000-01 but had no relation to the earlier series.) The ABC drama starred Christopher George as Ben Richards, the man pursued by people wanting his great blood. It was based on a book, The Immortals, by James E. Gunn.
Q: What happened to The Amazing Race, which was supposed to begin a new season on May 20?
A: CBS changed its plans, probably because of the network’s wanting fresh programming later in the year. CBS now has The
Amazing Race set for a run on Wednesday nights in the fall.
Q: There was a TV movie that aired on one of the networks in the late 1970s that dramatized the early days of The Beatles when they were starting to gain fame and playing at various clubs in Hamburg, Germany, and Liverpool, England. I recently watched a movie called Backbeat and that wasn’t it. There was also a sort of “what-if” TV special from the 1980s or 1990s portraying what may have happened if John and Paul had gotten back together after the band’s breakup. Unless I am dreaming, I remember that Paul showed up at John’s New York apartment for a visit. Would you have any information on these shows or know if they are available on DVD or some other format?
A: The first movie you mentioned was Birth of the Beatles, from 1979. It managed to include some Beatles songs (performed by a cover band) but, from what I can find, the rights were limited and the only DVD copies I know of are bootlegs, which as a rule I do not recommend. You can see the movie on YouTube. The second production was Two of Us,a speculative drama about Paul McCartney and John Lennon getting together in 1976. It is on DVD and on YouTube.
Q: What happened to $100,000 Pyramid? Most of ABC’s other summer game shows are back, but not it.
A: ABC renewed the vintage game show hosted by Michael Strahan for this summer, but production was reportedly delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the shows now on the air were taped before the pandemic forced shutdowns and delays.