Once upon a time watching television was easy. You didn’t need to subscribe to channels, download apps, scan QR codes, binge, DVR, Roku, Apple, or Tubi your way through the media universe. Thirteen channels, one remote control and a couch was the whole deal. And the seasons were simple and wonderfully traditional. The prime time hits were on from September through May. Then everyone got a three month break and the ‘summer replacement’ show took over. I loved seeing summer replacement shows–they were like a mini-carnival coming to town to temporarily entertain you, though you were aware that the life span was going to be a short one. Above is a complete episode of “Away We Go”, the show that replaced the The Jackie Gleason Show during the summer of 1967. It’s a mixed bag but there are some terrific things in it. (And some very strange ones.) Buddy Rich’s band kills. Buddy Greco’s singing is meh. A very different George Carlin is given a good deal of stand-up time. Most interestingly of all (to me) is a duo brother act who sing that Irving Berlin song from ‘Call Me Madam’ that I can never figure out the name of. The one on the right looked awfully familiar to me. Then the name of the act–‘Hines and Hines’–suddfenly made sense. It’s Gregory Hines and his brother Maurice. They’re in their early twenties and clearly on their way to bigger things, courtesy of a CBS summer replacement show that needed to hire cheap, unknown talent and had the good taste to launch the Hines brothers. Does anyone remember Alpine cigarettes? Perhaps they were a summer replacement smoke for Marlborough’s…