Top Ten Posts of 2016

It's a tradition at the Classic Film & TV Cafe to close out the year with a countdown of our ten most viewed posts. We published a total of 105 in 2016. Naturally, the countdown is a little skewed, since those posts that out at the start of the year will have more views. But that won't stop us...we love year-end lists!

We included only posts that were originally published during 2016. If we had not, The Five Best "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" Episodes would have crushed the competition (as always). To build a little suspense, we'll begin at No. 10 and work our way to No. 1.

But before we get started, we want to thank each of you who visited this blog this year and send some extra love to those who took the time to leave comments.

Jane Randolph in The Cat People.

10. Last August, we listed Five Swimming Pools in Classic Movies--no doubt inspired by all that swimming in the Olympics. Our picks included many obvious ones (e.g., The Cat People, The Swimmer), but also some lesser known pools that deserve more recogition (e.g., the creepy pool in Hammer's Taste of Fear).

9. The highest charting regular film review was something of a surprise: The Creature From the Black Lagoon. It just proves that the Gill Man still has his fans--as does the enchanting Julie Adams.

8. Following an enthusiastic response to a post about foreign films, we hosted a panel discussion on acclaimed filmmaker and critic Francois Truffaut. If you're unfamiliar with Truffaut, the panel members recommended checking out his films The 400 Blows and The Story of Adele H. as an introduction.

Billy Mumy as Will Robinson.

7. Last July, a friend gave me his boxed set of the Lost in Space TV series when he upgraded to Blu ray. That led to a review of Lost in Space: The First Episode, which chronicled how the show evolved from its original premise.

6. In one of our regular Cafe features, we reminiscence about forgotten TV series. Last July's Seven (More) Obscure TV Series That I Curiously Remember included oldies such as Harold Robbins' The Survivors, The Silent Force, and The Pruitts of Southampton.

5. Last June, we pondered why foreign-language films aren't more popular among American classic film fans. It was a question that sparked a lot of discussion on the Cafe's social media platforms and led to the panel discussion listed at #8.

Jacqueline Scott & David Janssen.

4. Back in March 2016, I attended the Williamsburg Film Festival and was fortunate enough to interview actress Jacqueline Scott. She told some marvelous stories about acting alongside stars like Walter Mathhau and about her guest appearances in TV series such as The Fugitive (she played Richard Kimble's sister) and Perry Mason.

3. I also got to interview actress Audrey Dalton in Williamsburg, Virginia. She discussed her amazing career, which ranged from starring in My Cousin Rachel with Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton to appearing in William Castle's cult classic Mr. Sardonicus.

2. For National Classic Movie Day 2015, we hosted the Five Movies on an Island Blogathon. It asked participants to list what five movies they would watch over and over if stranded on a deserted island. It proved to be a popular topic that trended nationally on Twitter for a couple of hours.

1. However, our most popular blogathon was also our most popular post of the year: The TV Sidekick Blogathon. Twenty bloggers, many of them from the Classic TV Blog Association, wrote about their favorite sidekicks. The line-up included the obvious (Kato in The Green Hornet), the obscure (Dyna Girl in Electra Woman and Dyna Girl), and the downright odd (the Corvette on Route 66).