You have questions. I have some answers, including some trips to the showbiz vault.
Q: Why don’t we see Kat on “Law & Order: SVU” anymore? I thought she was a good addition to the show.
A: You may have missed the episode back in 2021 where Katriona Tamin, played by Jamie Gray Hyder, announced she was leaving the NYPD after being shot. As for why that happened, the “Law & Order” programs are well known for actors coming and going. I have not seen an explanation for Hyder’s going, beyond her saying on Twitter that “the decision was made above my pay grade and wouldn't have been my choice. But hey — that's showbiz for ya.”
Q: I absolutely love “Ghosts” on CBS. Where can I watch previous episodes for free?
A: As of this writing the VOD lineup from my program provider shows 13 episodes from Season 2, and some recent episodes are on CBS.com. A full set of episodes from the show's two seasons is on Paramount+, which has a subscription fee.
Q: Will “Vicious” be returning anytime soon? It is one of the few programs my wife and I have enjoyed together.
A: The comedy starring Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi has not made a new episode since 2016. I have not seen any indication of new telecasts.
Q: I saw the movie “All Fall Down” with Eva Marie Saint and Warren Beatty on TCM. Was that Beatty’s first movie? Who was Madame Spivy, who played a tough-talking bartender in the movie? Was she in “The Harder They Fall” with Humphrey Bogart?
A: After some TV work Beatty’s big-screen debut was in “Splendor in the Grass” in 1961, followed by “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone” that same year, before “All Fall Down” in ’62.
Madame Spivy, also known just as Spivy, was not in “The Harder They Fall” but in another boxing movie, “Requiem for a Heavyweight.” Other film appearances include “The Manchurian Candidate” and “The Fugitive Kind.” She also made records, acted on TV and operated several nightclubs before her death in 1971 at age 64.
Q: In Alfred Hitchock’s classic “The Birds,” schoolchildren sing a very haunting song. Was it written by Hitchcock just for the movie or were its origins from a different time and place?
A: It's called “Risseldy Rosseldy” (the spelling varies), derived from an old song called “Wee Cooper O’Fife.” The version in “The Birds” has lyrics by Evan Hunter, who also wrote the film's screenplay (adapted from a Daphne du Maurier story). You can find a detailed discussion of the song, its versions and its use in the movie on the Culturedarm website (culturedarm.com).
Q: Back around the mid-1980s I saw a short-lived series called “Wildside.” I believe it starred William Smith and lasted only six episodes. I'd love to see it again somehow and wonder what happened to it.
A: There was indeed a Western by that name in 1985 on ABC, with William Smith part of a cast that also included Howard E. Rollins Jr. and Meg Ryan. It involved, the New York Times said then, “an elite law-enforcement unit dedicated to preserving peace in the territory and available to the governor for special assignments.” The Times’ reviewer called the show “ambitious, recalling the grandiosity of Italy's Sergio Leone,” known for Western epics such as “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” But it aired opposite NBC’s “The Cosby Show,” leading to such low ratings that it was indeed canceled in a matter of weeks. But the episodes can be found on YouTube if you search “Wildside Western.”
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