Nov 26, 2012 4 min read

Q. A friend and I are having a debate. Was Burt Reynolds ever on the classic Western “Gunsmoke”? – Jim Collins, Fayetteville, N.C.A. From 1962 to 1965, Reynolds was on the CBS show as Dodge City blacksmith Quint Asper. After he left the program, he starred in two ABC detective series, “Hawk” and “Dan August,” then after some movie work came his notorious magazine centerfold that sent his popularity soaring. That coincided with his critically praised performance in “Deliverance,” and his career kept rising from there.Q. I’ve seen the James Bond movie “Casino Royale” on television a number of times, and having seen it in the theater when it first came out, it seems to me that some of it is always missing. Am I right? – Jeff Price, Glen Burnie, Md.A. Presuming you’re talking about the 2006 Daniel Craig version and not the 1967 spoof, you are right. The NBC Universal group of cable channels – USA, Syfy, Bravo, etc. – evidently share the same print of the movie, which deletes what we consider one of the best scenes in the film, evidently for the sake of fitting in more commercials.The sequence occurs during the card game that is central to the plot, as the girlfriend (Ivana Milicevic) of villain Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) slips poison into a martini about to be delivered to Bond (Craig) at the playing table. He gets it and sips it, then quickly realizes what’s happened and stumbles away shaking … and heads for his car, which happens to have a defibrillator in the glove compartment.We won’t give away what happens in the rest of the scene, but it’s absolutely worth renting the movie on home video to see it, since Craig is absolutely masterful in portraying Bond’s desperation at the moment.Q. Where did the phrase “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” begin on “The Brady Bunch?” – Sue Bennett, Fort Pierce, Fla.A. In “Her Sister’s Shadow,” a third-season episode of the ABC sitcom, Jan’s (Eve Plumb) frustration at always being compared to her older sister (Maureen McCormick) spills over into a classic television moment of preteen angst. She finally tires completely of mentions of how accomplished Marcia is, so in one of the home screen’s prime meltdown moments, she exclaims, “All I hear all day long at school is how great Marcia is at ‘this,’ or how wonderful Marcia did ‘that.’ Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”Not only did we feel her excruciating pain, so did the makers of the 1995 “Brady Bunch Movie.” Since their mission was to spoof the original show humorously and affectionately, it was no shock when that film’s Jan (Jennifer Elise Cox) came forth with her own wail about the picture’s “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” (played by Christine Taylor, now also known as Mrs. Ben Stiller).Q.One of my favorite shows last year was “Unforgettable” with Poppy Montgomery. It ran for only one season. Why? And will they make any more episodes? – LaRue Mitchell, Twin Falls, IdahoA.You aren’t the only one who’s asked “Why?” since the CBS mystery was one of the new shows of the 2011-12 season that scored pretty solid ratings. Especially these days, that usually isn’t grounds for a freshman show’s cancellation. Our hunch is that the network wanted a prime place for the new “Vegas,” and there were only so many prime-time drama slots to go around, so “Unforgettable” fell victim to that. However, the good news is that the story doesn’t end there.The show was then shopped around to other networks, including some cable outlets (Lifetime and TNT were names that came up prominently), and CBS ultimately reconsidered. The plan is to restore it to that network’s schedule for a fresh run of 13 new episodes next summer. Some of the cast won’t return, but Montgomery, Dylan Walsh and Jane Curtin (who joined the show midway through Season 1) will be back.Send questions of general interest via email to tvpipeline@tribune.com. Writers must include their hometown.