Heard Lance passed away a while back but did not know all the details. Very sad. I was about 14 when James at 15 was airing and I wanted to be just like him.
My TV love was Veronica Cartwright the star (in my eyes at the time) of Hitchcock’s The Birds. She was both caring and wickedly funny. My favorite line is when telling Melanie Daniels what her brother Mitch does for a living as a defense lawyer she says -
He has a client now who shot his wife in the head, six times. Six times! Can you imagine it? I mean, even twice would be overdoing it.
As I got older my puppy love morphed into an attraction for fellow cast mate Suzanne Pleshette that remains to this day.
Love this post. I felt the same way about Wil Wheaton, my first boy my own age celebrity crush (as opposed to Indiana Jones or whoever). I always associate Lance Kerwin with Salem's Lot, maybe the first really good portrayal of a nerdy, lonely kid who gets to be the hero, even if it's terrifying.
The dedication needed to find the TV shows you cared about then reminds me of what record collecting was like in the pre-Internet era. Now I can find a song or album in less than a minute online, but back then it sometimes took years to find what I wanted. Four years each for the Lovin' Spoonful's Daydream album and the Raspberries' Side Three album, for example, and something close to 20 years to find the Blue Ridge Rangers' "Back in the Hills." I can't say I don't enjoy the ease of finding music now, but I do miss the adventure of searching used record stores, the basements of Goodwill stores, and garage sales.
An interesting tidbit about Side Show: it was the last directing credit of William Conrad, uber-film noir heavy and star of TV's Cannon.
I felt the same way about book collecting that you do about music collecting. There were these obscure books I read/loved as a kid and over the years I'd keep my eyes peeled for them - in second-hand bookstores, flea markets, etc. - sometimes I'd get lucky! and the feeling of triumph when I would actually track down a hard to find out of print book - it can't be beat!! I'm with you - I appreicate the ease of being able to find stuff now, but there's nothing like scrounging around for years looking for something and then finding it!!
I gotta watch Side Show again - I remember it vividly.
I recently watched him in A Killer in the Family, a TV movie from 1983. Robert Mitchum cons his three sons into breaking him out of prison. The three sons were played by James Spader, Eric Stolz, and Lance Kerwin.
I'm a little younger than you, but I remember how persistent and organized you had to be to not miss whatever or whoever it was you didn't want to miss. You had to really love them! It's a beautiful tribute, and even if I had no idea who he was, I have some idea of who he was to you.
You really had to work it like a job! It was a pain in the ass - in retrospect - but it was also so fun. You're like a little child planning your own activities - "okay so I've got the afterschool special re-run Tuesday at 4 ... and then Meet Me in St Louis in re-run on Wednesday" - you had to keep track of it all. I am very impressed with myself! and yeah - you really had to be on the ball or you'd miss stuff and have to start the waiting process all over again!
I remember having a whole system with VHS tapes to give to the kids who had the ONE paying channel that was showing so many movies - that of course we didn't have. For the ones I wanted very badly, I had to have a backup, because if there was a scheduling issue with one of the kid, maybe the other one could catch the movie. And there was the matter of would it be the dubbed version or the original version with subtitles, etc. It was a whole business! People who think DVDs are retro have no idea.
this is beautiful Sheila! you have such a way of conveying the big things simply. "You don’t forget the people who meant a lot to you before you thought critically about things. Someone moved you and therefore you loved them." this is so resonant and poetic.
I had been hoping you would give us a way to subscribe to and support your work -- I don't have venmo so this works out well for me thank you haha
Jessie!! Hello! So good to hear from you - and THANK YOU for the support. I finally got my act together and launched this Substack thing - and so far the response has been great. Makes me wish I had done it long ago! I hope you are doing well!
Heard Lance passed away a while back but did not know all the details. Very sad. I was about 14 when James at 15 was airing and I wanted to be just like him.
My TV love was Veronica Cartwright the star (in my eyes at the time) of Hitchcock’s The Birds. She was both caring and wickedly funny. My favorite line is when telling Melanie Daniels what her brother Mitch does for a living as a defense lawyer she says -
He has a client now who shot his wife in the head, six times. Six times! Can you imagine it? I mean, even twice would be overdoing it.
As I got older my puppy love morphed into an attraction for fellow cast mate Suzanne Pleshette that remains to this day.
Love this post. I felt the same way about Wil Wheaton, my first boy my own age celebrity crush (as opposed to Indiana Jones or whoever). I always associate Lance Kerwin with Salem's Lot, maybe the first really good portrayal of a nerdy, lonely kid who gets to be the hero, even if it's terrifying.
Wil was very crush-able! was this from the stand by me era? I just re-watched that recently - those kids are all so GOOD.
The dedication needed to find the TV shows you cared about then reminds me of what record collecting was like in the pre-Internet era. Now I can find a song or album in less than a minute online, but back then it sometimes took years to find what I wanted. Four years each for the Lovin' Spoonful's Daydream album and the Raspberries' Side Three album, for example, and something close to 20 years to find the Blue Ridge Rangers' "Back in the Hills." I can't say I don't enjoy the ease of finding music now, but I do miss the adventure of searching used record stores, the basements of Goodwill stores, and garage sales.
An interesting tidbit about Side Show: it was the last directing credit of William Conrad, uber-film noir heavy and star of TV's Cannon.
I felt the same way about book collecting that you do about music collecting. There were these obscure books I read/loved as a kid and over the years I'd keep my eyes peeled for them - in second-hand bookstores, flea markets, etc. - sometimes I'd get lucky! and the feeling of triumph when I would actually track down a hard to find out of print book - it can't be beat!! I'm with you - I appreicate the ease of being able to find stuff now, but there's nothing like scrounging around for years looking for something and then finding it!!
I gotta watch Side Show again - I remember it vividly.
I recently watched him in A Killer in the Family, a TV movie from 1983. Robert Mitchum cons his three sons into breaking him out of prison. The three sons were played by James Spader, Eric Stolz, and Lance Kerwin.
Holy shit I need to see this
This is amazing. We really had to get creative. This is next level!
I'm a little younger than you, but I remember how persistent and organized you had to be to not miss whatever or whoever it was you didn't want to miss. You had to really love them! It's a beautiful tribute, and even if I had no idea who he was, I have some idea of who he was to you.
You really had to work it like a job! It was a pain in the ass - in retrospect - but it was also so fun. You're like a little child planning your own activities - "okay so I've got the afterschool special re-run Tuesday at 4 ... and then Meet Me in St Louis in re-run on Wednesday" - you had to keep track of it all. I am very impressed with myself! and yeah - you really had to be on the ball or you'd miss stuff and have to start the waiting process all over again!
I remember having a whole system with VHS tapes to give to the kids who had the ONE paying channel that was showing so many movies - that of course we didn't have. For the ones I wanted very badly, I had to have a backup, because if there was a scheduling issue with one of the kid, maybe the other one could catch the movie. And there was the matter of would it be the dubbed version or the original version with subtitles, etc. It was a whole business! People who think DVDs are retro have no idea.
this is beautiful Sheila! you have such a way of conveying the big things simply. "You don’t forget the people who meant a lot to you before you thought critically about things. Someone moved you and therefore you loved them." this is so resonant and poetic.
I had been hoping you would give us a way to subscribe to and support your work -- I don't have venmo so this works out well for me thank you haha
Jessie!! Hello! So good to hear from you - and THANK YOU for the support. I finally got my act together and launched this Substack thing - and so far the response has been great. Makes me wish I had done it long ago! I hope you are doing well!
hey!! yes life is just absolute chaos but onwards and upwards eh! I hope you are going well too!
Annoying c**ts 2.0!
lol
aww thank you. He holds a special place in my heart for sure!