Announcing the 4th Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon

Today I am announcing A Shroud of Thoughts' fourth annual "Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon". The first three years were fairly successful, so I am looking forward to another year's worth of good blog posts. For those unfamiliar with the Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon, it is a blogathon in which bloggers write entries about their favourite episodes of their favourite classic television shows. This year it will take place March 23, 24, and 25.

Here are the ground rules:

1. Posts in the blogathon must be about an episode from a scripted drama. Episodes of reality shows, talk shows, game shows, and variety shows are ineligible. That having been said, posts can be on episodes from any genre of scripted dramas: animated shows, anthology shows, detective shows, police procedurals, science fiction shows, situation comedies, and so on. I also have to say that episodes can be from scripted dramas that aired any time of day. They don't have to be from prime time alone. If one wanted to write about his or her favourite episode from his or her favourite Saturday morning cartoon or daytime soap opera, one could.

2. Because this blogathon is dedicated to classic television and I think a classic is something that must have stood the test of time, episodes must be from shows that will turn 25 years old this year. That means one cannot write posts on episodes from shows that debuted after 1993 (nothing from Friends, let alone The Big Bang Theory). Now here I want to point out that the episode itself does not have to be 25 years old, only the show on which it aired. Murphy Brown debuted in 1988 and ran until 1998, so that its final season aired after 1993. Because Murphy Brown is over 25 years old, however, one could still write about an episode that aired in the 1997-1998 season.

3. Given my love of British television, it should come as no surprise that posts do not have to be about episodes from American shows alone. Posts can be about episodes from any show from any country as long as the show is a scripted drama and debuted over 25 years ago. If you want to write about your favourite episode of The Saint, The Little Hobo, Jaianto Robo, or Escrava Isaura, you can.

4.  I am asking that there please be no duplicates. That having been said, if someone has already chosen to cover "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" from The Twilight Zone, someone else could still write about another Twilight Zone episode.

5. In keeping with ground rule no. 4, I am asking that if you participated in the past years' blogathons that you write about a different episode from what you did the past years. That having been said, you could write about an episode from the same show.  If you wrote about the Star Trek episode "Amok Time" last year, then you could write about the Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" this year.

6. I am not going to schedule days for individual posts. All I ask is that the posts be made on or between March 23, March 24, or March 25 2018.

7. On March 23 I will set up the page for the blogathon. I ask that you link your posts to that page. If you want you can use one of the graphics below or make your own!

If you want to participate in the Favourite Television Show Episode Blogathon, you can simply comment below or you can get a hold of me either on Twitter at mercurie80 or at my email:  mercurie80 at gmail.com.

Below is a roster of participants and the topics they are covering. Come March 23 I will make a post that will include all of the posts in the blogathon.

Crítica Retrô: Combat!

Caftan Woman: Ellery Queen, "The Adventure of Miss Aggie's Farewell Performance"

Portraits by Jenni: Route 66, "There's a Birdcage on my Foot"

Hamlette's Soliloquy: Combat!, "The Long Way Home"

Realweegiemidget Reviews: Star Trek, "The City on the Edge of Forever"

The Midnite Drive-In: Planet of the Apes, "The Liberator"

The Horn Section: F Troop, "The Day The Indians Won"

Moon in Gemini: Upstairs, Downstairs, "Guest of Honour"

CineMaven's Essays From the Couch: Alfred Hitchcock Presents "Apex"

In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood: The Addams Family

Whimsically Classic: The Brady Bunch, "Adios, Johnny Bravo" 

Love Letters to Old Hollywood:  Moonlighting, "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice."

Barry Bradford: The Dick Van Dyke Show, "A Show of Hands"

Coffee, Classics, & Craziness: The Rat Patrol, "The Do Re Mi Raid"

The Wonderful World of Cinema: Alfred Hitchcock Presents,  "Breakdown"

Silver Scenes: A Blog for Classic Film Lovers: To be announced

Below are some graphics you can use for the blogathon (or you can always make your own)!