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Buddy cop shows have long been one of TV’s most beloved genres, delivering action, humor, and heart through iconic partnerships.

From the classic bromance of Starsky & Hutch to the gritty realism of Line of Duty, these shows prove that two heads are always better than one.

As explored in The Buddy Cop Genre Isn’t Dead — It’s Just Moved Overseas, the genre has shifted its focus overseas for various reasons, where innovative storytelling has breathed new life into it.

(CBS/Norman Shapiro)

With recent hits like Hawaii Five-0 and Line of Duty carrying the torch into the 2020s, the enduring appeal of these shows lies in their ability to capture teamwork, trust, and the occasional clash of personalities.

This list celebrates the traditional law enforcement duos that defined the genre while showing why these partnerships remain timeless, even as the genre evolves.

Cagney & Lacey (1982-1988) (CBS/Screenshot)

Breaking barriers and redefining the genre,...

1966: The final episode of Never Too Young aired on ABC.

1983: Guiding Light's Nola & Quint were married.

1987: As the World Turns' Iva blurted out the truth about Lily.

1999: A gorilla plotted to interrupt Cass & Lila's wedding on Another World."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1946: Procter & Gamble radio soap opera Life Can Be Beautiful moved to the 3 p.m. Et timeslot on the NBC Radio network. The show had always run in the mornings previously. It would remain in this new timeslot until...

1966: Final episode of ABC's Never Too Young. 1983: Guiding

Light's Nola & Quint were married. 1987: As the World Turns'

Iva blurted out the truth about Lily. 1999: A gorilla plotted

to interrupt Cass & Lila's wedding on Another World."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1946: Procter & Gamble radio soap opera Life Can Be Beautiful moved to the 3 p.m. Et timeslot on the NBC Radio network.

Blame The Bad Seed (1956) for every murderous moppet that has skipped across the screen in subsequent years. Village of the Damned, The Omen, The Good Son, The Children, and many more have explored the taboo of killer kiddies. One of the oddest of the bunch is Ed Hunt’s Bloody Birthday (1981), a ridiculously fun turn with not just one, but three mini-Mansons on hand to clean up the schoolyard.

Well, that’s a bit of a misnomer, as our rascally trio tends to focus on grown ups, what with their stupid rules against homicide and premature burial. (Don’t worry – one of the protagonists is a classmate who is put in mortal danger. All’s fair.) Bloody Birthday was rolled out twice; first in limited release in April of ’81, and then in ’86 (also limited release). The film made its money back but didn’t earn any good grace from critics...

This week’s Blu-ray and DVD releases are an eclectic bunch, to say the least. Not only is Steve Miner’s criminally overlooked horror/comedy creature feature Lake Placid swimming its way onto Blu-ray, but Severin Films is also releasing a trio of controversial cult classics- Bloody Moon, The Baby and Bloody Birthday-all in high definition for the first time ever.

The Time Machine is also getting a Blu-ray release this week, along with Gareth Evans’ stunning action masterpiece The Raid 2 and a handful of indie horror films, including the wickedly entertaining horror musical Stage Fright starring Minnie Driver and Meat Loaf. Overall, it’s a good week to be a genre fan with oddball tastes because there’s a whole lot of wonderfully weird stuff arriving this Tuesday.

Spotlight Titles:

The Baby (Severin Films, Blu-ray)

An A-list director. A jaw-dropping storyline. And depraved depictions of suburban violence,...

Birthday shoutouts go to Joe Penny (above), who is 58, Mick Fleetwood is 67, Michele Lee is 72, Solange Knowles is 28, and Mindy Kaling is 35.

In ratings news, True Blood was actually up in its final season opener. Why?

Meanwhile, Teen Wolf returned on par with last season.

I probably should have included Tomas Berdych and his incredible Wimblebum in my hottest men of tennis post (Nsfw!)

Gay Men and the Presidents Who Loved Them

Jimmy Kimmel gives us what we want.

Here’s the new trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Needs more Vanilla Ice

Here’s the trailer for The Last of Robin Hood, with Kevin Kline as Errol Flynn, Dakota Fanning as the underage actress he becomes involved with, and Susan Sarandon as her mother. The trailer also features a glimpse of Bryan Batt.

When Chris Colfer met Hillary Clinton

And here’s The Weekly ShoutOUT™. Each week we’re...

Stars: Lori Lethin, Melinda Cordell, Julie Brown, Joe Penny, Bert Kramer, K.C. Martel, Elizabeth Hoy, Billy Jayne, Andrew Freeman, Susan Strasberg, José Ferrer, Ben Marley, Ellen Geer, Erica Hope | Written by Ed Hunt, Barry Pearson | Directed by Ed Hunt

A birthday (or random holiday), killer kids and a total eclipse…all of this sounds like the perfect combination for a horror film. Bloody Birthday is a slasher movie that appeared in the eighties, this should be more than a hint what you’ll see. Horror fans know the tropes well that appear in the film, and although this is somewhat of an obscure homage to Halloween, 88 Films have done what they do best and brought a cult classic (of sorts) onto Blu-ray for the fans to enjoy.

In 1970 three children are born during a solar eclipse in which the Sun and Moon blocked Saturn. Ten years later these three kids...

For the week of June 24th, there are a handful of cult classic releases that are finally getting their due on DVD and Blu-ray, including the long-lost Monsters from Beyond the Sun by Francis Ford Coppola. Other releases this week include Wolf Creek 2, The Jungle from writer/director Andrew Traucki (The Reef, The ABC’s of Death) and season 4 of Lost Girl. We’re also seeing the home release of Enemy, the latest collaboration between Dennis Villeneuve and Jake Gyllenhaal, several indie horror thrillers and the UK is bringing Bloody Birthday to hi-def this week as well.

Spotlight Titles:

Bloody Birthday- UK Release (Import, Blu-ray)

Get ready for the rarely seen slasher classic from the 80s that may also be the most disturbing killer kids movies in grindhouse history: Three babies are simultaneously born in the same hospital at the peak of a full solar eclipse. Ten years later,...

Conscious-free kids who kill, a man living like a baby, and a killer stalking Spanish schoolgirls: Severin Films is plucking these three stories from the old-school horror shelf and bringing them to Blu-ray this summer, and we have the release details for you now.

Set for a July 8th home media release, the Blu-ray releases of 1981′s Bloody Birthday, 1973′s The Baby, and 1981′s Bloody Moon should excite fans of these grindhouse films and bring new viewers in, as well. Here are the release details from Severin Films:

Bloody Birthday Blu-ray:

“Get ready for the rarely seen slasher classic from the ’80s that may also be the most disturbing ‘killer kids’ movies in grindhouse history: Three babies are simultaneously born in the same hospital at the peak of a full solar eclipse. Ten years later, these adorable youngsters suddenly begin a kiddie killing spree of stranglings, shootings, stabbings, beatings and beyond.

It's always an exciting thing when horror flicks hit Blu-ray for the very first time, and Severin Films has three such debuts in store for us on July 8, inviting us to a Bloody Birthday, allowing us to hold The Baby, and encouraging us to howl at the Bloody Moon.

Read on for complete release details for all three!

Bloody Birthday Synopsis

Get ready for the rarely seen slasher classic from the 80s that may also be the most disturbing "killer kids" movies in grindhouse history: Three babies are simultaneously born in the same hospital at the peak of a full solar eclipse. Ten years later, these adorable youngsters suddenly begin a kiddie killing spree of stranglings, shootings, stabbings, beatings, and beyond. Can the town's grown-ups stop these pint-sized serial killers before their blood-soaked birthday bash? K.C. Martel (E.T., "Growing Pains"), Joe Penny ("Jake and The Fat Man"), Michael Dudikoff (American Ninja...

Reviewed by Chris Wright, MoreHorror.com

“Bloody Birthday” (1981)

Directed By: Ed Hunt

Written By: Ed Hunt & Barry Pearson

Starring: Lori Lethin (Joyce Russel), Melinda Cordell (Mrs. Brody), Julie Brown (Beverly Brody), Joe Penny (Mr. Harding), Bert Kramer (Sheriff Brody), K.C. Martel (Timmy Russel), Elizabeth Hoy (Debbie Brody), Billy Jayne (Curtis Taylor), Andrew Freeman (Steven Seton), Susan Strasberg (Viola Davis), Jose Ferrer (Doctor), Ben Marley (Duke), Erica Hope (Annie), Ellen Geer (Madge)

“Bloody Birthday” certainly offers a fun early 80s movie for slasher enthusiasts. The twist this time around is there is no Jason Voorhees or Michael Michaels but 10 year old kids! It was certainly up my ally as I like slasher movies that try something different aside from the typical formula used in these movies.

The plot is three-ten-year old kids begin a mass killing spree due to in part to the fact that they were born during an eclipse,...

Chicago – With roles as diverse as Screech, Little Orphan Annie, Jake (from “Jake and the Fatman”) and Angie in the film “Kick-Ass,” the era from the 1980s and beyond are nicely personified by Dustin Diamond (“Saved by the Bell”), Aileen Quinn (“Annie”) Joe Penny (Jake) and Yancy Butler (“Kick-Ass”).

They appeared last March at ‘The Hollywood Show,’ a twice-a-year event in which fans can mingle, take photographs and get autographs from the participants – like this nostalgic group of actors – who appear there. There is also a great opportunity to purchase memorabilia from a host of showbiz vendors, all in one room. The fall session of The Hollywood Show will take place at the Hilton Rosemont Hotel on River Road in Rosemont, Ill, on September 7th, 8th and 9th, 2012. For complete details click here.

HollywoodChicago.com was there to interview all the actors from TV and film. Photographer Joe Arce took...

Chicago – “The Hollywood Show” comes back to Chicagoland next weekend, September 7th, 8th and 9th, and with it the usual fun line-up of celebrity TV and movie favorites. The autumn show appearances include Pam Grier, Loni Anderson, Robert Loggia, Connie Stevens, Lainie Kazan and June Lockhart.

“The Hollywood Show” is a twice-a-year event in which fans can mingle, take photographs and get autographs from the celebrities that appear there. There is also a great opportunity to purchase memorabilia from a host of showbiz vendors, all in one room. The Hollywood Show will take place at the Hilton Rosemont Hotel on River Road in Rosemont, Ill. For complete details click here.

HollywoodChicago attended the spring 2012 show, and captured Exclusive Portraits by photographer Joe Arce. Click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through the slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All images © Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.

On this date in...

1946: Procter & Gamble radio soap opera Life Can Be Beautiful moved to its 3pm timeslot on the NBC radio network. The show had always run in the mornings previously. It would remain in this new timeslot until it went off the air in 1954.

1966: On The Guiding Light, Johnny Fletcher (played by now 30 Rock director Don Scardino) wanted to move.

1966: ABC daytime soap Never Too Young aired its final episode.

2003: Carly was all tied up on General Hospital.

Celebrating a birthday today are:

Michele Lee (ex-Karen, Knots Landing) - 69

Nancy Allen (ex-Paula, Another Life) - 61

Joe Penny (ex-Martino, Days Of Our Lives) - 55

Sherry Stringfield (ex-Blake, Guiding Light) - 44

Olivia White (ex-Claire, Days Of Our Lives) - 6

Ava White (ex-Claire, Days Of Our Lives) - 6...

DVD Playhouse June 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Kiss Me Deadly (Criterion) Robert Aldrich’s 1955 reinvention of the film noir detective story is one of cinema’s great genre mash-ups: part hardboiled noir; part cold war paranoid thriller; and part science- fiction. Ralph Meeker plays Mickey Spillane’s fascist detective Mike Hammer as a narcissistic simian thug, a sadist who would rather smash a suspect’s fingers than make love to the bevvy of beautiful dames that cross his path. In fact, the only time you see a smile cross Meeker’s sneering mug is when he’s doling out pain, with a vengeance. When a terrified young woman (Cloris Leachman, film debut) literally crossed Hammer’s path one night, and later turns up dead, he vows to get to the bottom of her brutal demise. One of the most influential films ever made, and perhaps the most-cited film by the architects...

Mixing Comedy & Soap: A History of the Serialized Situation Comedy

By Doug Prinzivalli

As one of the producers of the hit web series Pretty - a parody hybrid of reality TV and soaps - I thought it would be a fun idea to take a brief look at the long history of the serialized situation comedy. The idea of mixing comedy with soap elements is not a new one - in fact it started over 60 years ago.

The First Hundred Years (CBS 1950-52) was a mildly humorous daily soap about newlyweds who are gifted with a bat-infested Victorian mansion. Sounds pretty wacky to me. After less than two years, it was replaced by something called The Guiding Light.

The Egg & I (CBS 1951-52) Based on a book by Betty MacDonald and the 1947 film (starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray) that followed, this show followed the misadventures of city folk...

Writer: Various Director: Various Cast: Alan Campbell, William Conrad, Joe Penny Rating: Not Rated Studio: Paramount Release Date: July 8, 2008 Back in December, I was your guy for reviewing Diagnosis Murder, so I suppose it was only natural that when Jake and the Fatman came out that I should review that, as well. If you’re wondering why that might be [...]Sharethis.addEntry({ title: "DVD Review: Jake and the Fatman: Season One, Vol. 1", url: "http://www.literaryillusions.com/LIreviews/2008/07/05/dvd-review-jake-and-the-fatman-s1v/" });...

Lea Thompson is on the case for Jane Doe. Hallmark Channel has tapped the actress to star in Jane Doe, one of three Mystery Movie franchises set to premiere on the cable network in January. In Jane Doe, Thompson will portray Cathy Davis, a soccer mom with an extraordinary ability to solve puzzles who has a secret life as an independent contractor working for the government. Hallmark also has cast Joe Penny (CBS' Jake and the Fatman) as Cathy's former partner in a top-secret government operation.