TVSquad

Since we're in a Halloween mood tonight, let's talk about Night Gallery, one of the scariest shows I remember from my childhood. Conceived and hosted by The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling, the series ran from 1970 to 1973 and featured some well known actors, including William Windom, Burgess Meredith, John Astin and James Farentino.

While The Twilight Zone always seemed more sci-fi based, Night Gallery had more of a horror feel to it and featured more ghostly, psychological stories. In short, it scared the crap out of me. One of the scariest episodes focused on two stories about some spooky real estate: "The House / Certain Shadows on the Wall."

If you're really into watching classic TV on the web, like AOL's fare at In2TV, you're going to be thrilled to hear that NBC today unfurled a line-up of oldies-but-goodies to stream on their entertainment sites -- NBC.com, SCIFI.com, ChillerTV.com and SleuthChannel.com. NBC is providing full episodes, people, streaming and waiting to be viewed, beginning this month. It's quite a variety of shows too (including some crossovers from one site to the other). "These are the kinds of titles we get requests for all the time at the network, and now we're able to give our viewers a new way to watch their favorite classic shows and share them with their friends," said Craig Engler, Senior Vice President, SCIFI.com.

"The day I grab my crotch, it'll mean it's falling off."

That's one of the many gems (about Madonna) you'll get from veteran comedienne Phyllis Diller in this interview over at MSNBC. The 89 year-old, who I have always found to be very funny, "offically" retired four years ago, but she has a recurring role on Family Guy and still pops up in TV (Robot Chicken, The Bold and the Beautiful) and movies, like her appearance in The Aristocrats. But she's not doing any standup touring anymore (neither would you if you were pushing 90), and spends a lot of time painting.

In the interview, Diller also gives her opinion on a variety of topics, including O.J. Simpson ("what an ass"), Michael Richards ("he should have just crawled into a hole and shut up"), and the plastic surgery she's had in the past.

There's a documentary out of her final performance in 2002, and it's available on DVD.

[via Pop Candy]

Daryl Duke was probably best known for directing the miniseries The Thorn Birds, which starred Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. But he had a long career as a director and writer, going all the way back to the early 50s.

Besides that classic 80s miniseries, Duke also directed episodes of Night Gallery, Harry O, Banacek, Ghost Story, and The Bold Ones, as well as two of the later Columbo TV movies in the 90s, Murder Can Be Hazardous To Your Health and Columbo Cries Wolf. He also directed a TV movie with a great title, The President's Plane Is Missing, in the early 70s, and actually acted in a few TV shows, including Ben Casey in the early 60s.

Duke died last week in Vancouver of pulmonary fibrosis.