Mork and Mindy

It was one of my favorite sitcoms from back in the 70's and 80's.  Although it was on the air for only four seasons, didn't it seem like it was on forever, like an old friend?  

Mork and Mindy was one of those memorable and unique sitcoms that ran along the edge of bizarre.  The world was introduced to the mad comedic genius of Robin Williams, who drove the writers crazy with his improvisational whims that he just threw in as it was being filmed.  They ultimately had to leave gaps in the scripts, giving Robin the artistic freedom to put in his unique touch.  Fans of the show responded favorably, making it one of the most successful sitcoms in it's first season.

The sitcom started as a spoof of the 60's sitcom, My Favorite Martian, in the form of a dream Richie Cunningham of Happy Days had.  Robin Williams' character Mork was so popular with the viewers that the powers that be had to spin it off into a sitcom all to itself.

Mork arrives on earth in an egg-shaped space-craft with the intent of the Orkans to study human behavior.  However, the real intent was to get Mork off the planet of Ork, where humor was not allowed.  Imagine that . . . Mork must have drove them mad!

The sitcom centered around Mork trying to understand American culture while Mindy (Pam Dawber) attempts to assist him with adjusting to life on Earth.  A feature of each episode came at the end of the show in the form of a summary, when Mork reports back to Orson, his superior from Ork, on what he has learned about Earth.  This feature gave Robin the chance to throw in his outrageously comical commentary on social norms of the times.

While the first season was wildly popular, the ratings began to slip in the second season when attempts were made to change what didn't need fixing. Between the changes and constant changes to the time slot, the series never regained the popularity of the first season.  The biggest mistake of the second season was the attempt to link Mork and Mindy romantically.

By the fourth season, despite the decline of the sitcom, the network wanted to give it another chance, hoping to capture the magic once again since Robin Williams remained hilarious as Mork.

The changes that came with the fourth season were personally an insult to my intelligence.  The addition of Jonathan Winters, along with Robin Williams, could have been a genius move if not for the unbelievably lame storyline.

Mork and Mindy got married.  Mork laid an egg that grew larger and larger, hatching a full grown adult, Jonathan Winters, as their son.  The explanation was that Orkans aged in reverse from humans.  Although I always loved Jonathan Winters, I was not amused with him talking like a baby.

As a huge fan of the show, I wanted it to succeed and continue on since I loved the characters, but it died a dismal death of awful ratings that ended at #60. Seems like I was not the only one whose intelligence was insulted.  Too bad they couldn't have come up with a better storyline.

Mork and Mindy was cancelled after four seasons and 95 episodes.  

I still hear the greeting Mork often used, na-nu na-nu . . . the saying is a piece of pop culture history in itself.

Robin Williams went on to super stardom . . .

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Annette Funicello . . . a role model for a generation

Annette was one of the role models of my generation, representing the innocent times of the 1950's and ushered us into the changing times of the 1960's as the queen of the beach party movies, accompanied by Frankie Avalon who was the king.

I'm so very sad for the children of the following generations who have barely had wholesome role models to look up to. The one thing I am grateful for growing up in the times I did was the fact that we could actually be children . . . most of us were innocent to awful realities of life that are now prominently depicted on television.

She began her professional career at the age of twelve, rising to prominence as one of the most popular "Mouseketeers" on the original Mickey Mouse Club.

On April 8, 2013, Annette Funicello died at the age of 70, from complications due to multiple sclerosis.

Since her death, I have wanted to write this post, but at the time I did not have the words to convey my sadness at her passing. What really made me sad is that at the end of 2013, when you hear of those famous people who passed on during that year, Annette was barely mentioned. Perhaps my generation is being forgotten as new generations arise and so will our role models, as it appears Annette has.

Commenting on her death, Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said,

"Annette was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word Mouseketeer, and a true Disney Legend. She will forever hold a place in our hearts as one of Walt Disney's brightest stars, delighting an entire generation of baby boomers with her jubilant personality and endless talent. Annette was well known for being as beautiful inside as she was on the outside, and she faced her physical challenges with dignity, bravery and grace. All of us at Disney join with family, friends, and fans around the world in celebrating her extraordinary life."

"Annette took dancing and music lessons as a child in order to overcome shyness. In 1955, the 12-year-old was discovered by Walt Disney when she performed as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake at a dance recital at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank, California. Disney cast her as one of the original "Mouseketeers". She was the last to be selected, and one of the few cast-members to be personally selected by Walt Disney himself. She proved to be very popular and by the end of the first season of The Mickey Mouse Club, she was receiving 6,000 letters a month, according to her Disney Legends biography." Source: Wikipedia

Take a walk down memory lane with these awesome videos and celebrate Annette's life along with me.

"That Girl" . . . starring Marlo Thomas

"That Girl" is an American sitcom, one of the first to focus on a single woman who was not a domestic or living with her parents, ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971 (a total of 136 episodes) starring Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring actress who moves from her hometown to try to make it big in New York City. 

Ann Marie has to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine.

The sitcom was just the beginning of the "single woman" shows, followed by The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda and so many others that have come along since then.

I don't remember a lot of details about the show and after checking out the cast and characters, realize that many actors and actresses got their early start on the show.  

It was in the day when my main focus on everything television related was fashion, music or soap operas.  My mom was a seamstress and she made the clothes that I would sketch out based on the fashions I studied on television and fashion magazines.  Marlo Thomas was one of those fashion icons for me.

"That Girl" was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show (with which Thomas's father, Danny Thomas, was closely associated) earlier in the 1960s.

Marlo Thomas grew tired of the series and wanted to move on after five years, although "That Girl" did moderately well in the ratings. 

Cast and characters

• Ann Marie (Marlo Thomas), a beautiful and would-be actress who moves to New York City in order to seek stardom. 

• Donald Hollinger (Ted Bessell), writer for NewsView magazine, becomes Ann Marie's boyfriend after meeting her during the filming of a TV commercial.

• Lew Marie (Harold Gould; pilot only; Lew Parker), Ann's father and the owner of the La Parisienne restaurant in Brewster, New York.

• Helen Marie (Penny Santon pilot only; Rosemary De Camp), Ann Marie's mother

• Dr. Leon Bessemer (Dabney Coleman), a neighbor of Ann Marie's and gynecologist who is frequently on call to help women give birth

• Judy Bessemer (Bonnie Scott), Leon's wife and Ann Marie's neighbor.

• Jerry Bauman (Bernie Kopell), a fellow employee at NewsView magazine.

• Ruth Bauman (Carol Ann Daniels), Jerry's wife since the episode "Rain, Snow and Rice."

• Margie "Pete" Peterson (Ruth Buzzi), a friend of Ann Marie's.

• Harvey Peck (Ronnie Schell), one of Ann Marie's agents at the Gilliam and Norris Theatrical Agency

• George Lester (George Carlin), another one of Ann's agents

• Mildred Hollinger (Mabel Albertson), Donald's mother

• Bert Hollinger (George Cisar, later Frank Faylen), Donald's father

• Jules Benedict (Billy De Wolfe), head of the Benedict Workshop of the Dramatic Arts

Source:  Excerpts and information from Wikipedia

The King Biscuit Flower Hour

King Biscuit Flower Hour

The 70’s

By

CaptBlackEagle

The things we do for music.  In the 1970’s the radio was controlled by my parents and needless to say “modern music” was not on the menu.  That is where the nerd in me kicked in.  Armed with an electronics set I built my own radio.  

I was inspired to do this because of one radio show I had heard over at a friends house, The King Biscuit Flower Hour. The King Biscuit Flower Hour was a syndicated radio show and the nearest station that carried it was 70 miles away.  Now for the nerds out there, FM radio of the 70’s were not the super wattage mega-stations you have today, and 70 miles was at the outer end of reception.  On a cold night you could get what is best described as marginal quality.  

To kick it up a notch I needed to grab as many “waves” as possible.  I ran a stripped speaker wire out of my window down one side of the property for about 100’, then down the other side for another 100’.  In summer, it was questionable, but on a cloudy cold night the atmosphere was just right.

The sound quality is nothing like you expect today, but for the 70’s it was clarity defined, and days of work were paid off in huge dividends. KBFH took a great deal of time to record live music as it happened then re-engineered to bring you on the stage.

One of the first songs I heard on my rig was “Forbidden Fruit” by The Band.

The holidays and thoughts of nostalgia

The holidays have once again crept up on us.  For me, it is a time of looking back at times of my life that have come and gone . . . never to return again. Happy and sad at the same time!  Sad because they are just memories and happy because the wonderful memories were lived and experienced.

It seems like the older I get, the more nostalgic I become about the holidays . . . I imagine it is a natural occurrence for everyone as our "normal" becomes nostalgia as time moves on.

Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived yet and we are bombarded with Christmas commercials.  Actually, if I remember correctly, the push from retailers started before Halloween this year.  In some stores, as the Halloween displays went up, so did the shelves get stocked with Christmas stuff.

There is one rush to Christmas that I have enjoyed this year . . . the Hallmark Channel on cable television has a Christmas movie marathon going on that started last week.  After being consumed with the harsh reality of politics, bad economics and bad news in general, I am thoroughly enjoying the festive movies.  Seems like for a time I can get lost in festive pleasantry.  I'm looking forward to the rest of the channels kicking in their holiday seasons.

One of the movie themes was Christmas ornaments and brought back so many memories of past Christmas seasons and the new ornaments that were a tradition until JR died.  I'll have to do a post about Christmas ornaments past and present . . . they are a special part of Christmas.

Doesn't it also seem like as time goes by, the older we get, time itself seems to move faster?  It feels like last year's holiday season just ended and it is upon us again.  

I've been so involved in my new life with a new husband (well, it has been over 2 years since we got married), Kiki the dog, Mimi Luna the cat and what's going on now that I have neglected this blog in a bad way!  

The approaching holidays have changed that.

I hope to be inspired to write more nostalgic posts and encourage The Captain to do the same.  Between us, there is a wealth of nostalgia waiting to ponder upon.

George Carlin wisdom

Where did he come up with this stuff?

Miss his humor so much!

Remembering Dick Clark on New Years Eve

In recent years, as I watched the ball drop on New Years Eve with Dick Clark, I wondered if it would be the last.  The pop culture icon, who will always be remembered as "America's oldest teenager," seemed to never age until recent years.

It was evident after his stroke in 2004 and made me so sad to watch the changing times through Dick Clark's deteriorating health and his struggle to simply speak.  Since then, I had so much more respect for Dick Clark as a person for putting himself out there instead of going into hiding, although it was very difficult to watch.  He so loved his place in our lives!

As a lover of pop culture in general, it is my opinion that Dick Clark was the pop culture king of our times . . . an entertainment innovator extraordinnaire and super media mogul!

In the beginning, he landed a gig as a DJ at WFIL in Philadelphia in 1952 with a show he called "Dick Clark's Caravan of Music." Little did he know that he was about to change pop music as we knew it back in the day . . . or did he?  Dick Clark broke into the big time, hosting Bandstand, an afternoon dance show for teenagers.

American Bandstand was born in 1957 as ABC took over the show with the whole country watching.  The show gave many new music artists their first exposure to national audiences . . . anyone who was or was going to be anyone in the music industry showed up on the show, launching the careers of too many megastars to mention.  He was a starmaker who brought the music AND the performers to the masses and we loved him for it!  American Bandstand ran from 1957 to 1987.

How many of us learned all the latest dance trends watching the show?  I know I did!!

Dick Clark Productions formed in 1963 and cranked out one hit show after another with the "$25,000 "Pyramid" to "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes" to the "American Music Awards." 

In 1972, Dick Clark became synonymous with one of the biggest nights of the year and we have celebrated New Years Eve with him since.

Ryan Seacrest, who has taken the lead in recent years, will be ushering the new year for the first time without his mentor.

"Ryan Seacrest tells TMZ ... the countdown to 2013 will be a special one, because he'll be honoring his late friend and mentor ... the great Dick Clark."  Read more here. 

This year, ABC is set to air “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve: The 40th Anniversary Party,” a two-hour celebration of the show, which will lead into “Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” . . . but it will never be the same again.

For now, Dick Clark. So long!

Holiday Classics

Would you believe I saw The Miracle on 34th Street

for the first time the other night?  

The holiday classics hold special nostalgic feelings for me . . . 

they capture a place in time that was so magical.  

The movie took me back to the days when we would go with my Nana to visit her sisters and brothers on Thanksgiving morning.  I remember the smells of Thanksgiving dinners being prepared and tables of pastries laid out on tables in the dining rooms.  The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade was always playing in the background.  I felt so special joining the adults in a cup of cafe con leche to go with the pastries.  Great memories I will never forget!

It also made me think of how the world would react if Santa came to us as a real person as he did in the movie.  Would we be skeptical or believing?  Since I was devastated to find out he didn't really exist, it always made me think of how awesome it would be if he were real and imagine what he would be like as a person.  The movie pleasantly helped to fill in some of those gaps.

It made me sad to see Natalie Wood as a sweet little girl, knowing her life was cut short by a horrible accident.  She was so beautiful, even as a child!

Although I love the old movies, the animated holiday cartoons of my time really bring back the warm and fuzzy Christmas magic.  Rudolf and the Grinch That Stole Christmas were my favorites, although I still love them all.  The Grinch always reminded me of my dad . . .

Happy Holidays!

The Death of the Clothesline

My mom and I were having a good laugh about the dogs in our past and the crazy little pranks they pulled to drive us crazy.  She was telling me about one of the many dogs of her youth that loved pulling the laundry off the clothesline and scattering them all over the yard.  Hilarious now, but I'm sure not so funny back in the day for my grandmother, who had to gather them up and start all over again.

My thoughts were taken back to the days of my youth, where one of my jobs was hanging the laundry out on the clothesline.  While many homes enjoyed the convenience of having a clothes dryer, we didn't.  My dad did not embrace new technology and he held on to the conventional ways of doing things.  Poor mama didn't have a microwave oven until after daddy died.

Anyway, the job of hanging out the laundry to dry and bring them back in was mine . . . one that I was not fond of.  It was a particularly frustrating job here in Florida during the summertime, when we get the afternoon storms like clockwork.  Procrastination meant more work when the storm hit before the clothes came in.

It is amazing how something that was so much a part of every housewife's  life has just disappeared from life as we knew it.  The clothesline just died in our society . . . or I am assuming that it has. 

Now that I think of it, I have a new found gratefulness and appreciation for my trusty clothes dryer.

The poles that housed the clothesline at my house now hold up plant trellises.  As a working young adult, I had no time or desire to hang the clothes out to dry.  Taking the clothesline apart was one of the first things I wanted to do when we bought this house.

I'm also grateful that I was born after the death of the washboard . . . what a workout that must have been!

Romantic Movies . . . The Bodyguard

One of my favorite romantic movies!  It is one of those movies that I have seen many times and will watch many more times.

It was Whitney Houston's acting debut as a stalked music superstar tormented by death threats who hires an ex-Secret Service Agent to protect her, played by Kevin Costner.  

The romantic-thriller was the second highest-grossing film of 1992 and was nominated for four Grammy Awards, winning three, including Album of the Year for its soundtrack album.  CNN reported that Whitney Houston's film album for "The Bodyguard" was "one of the top 10 best-selling albums of all time" according to Billboard.

The movie was written by Lawrence Kasdan back in the 1970's, originally intending the leading roles for Steve McQueen and Diana Ross.

Warner Bros. announced in 2011 that a remake of the film is in the works in order to update the movie to reflect the Internet world.  The rumor is Brittany Spears is up for the lead role.


RIP Whitney Houston . . .

Romantic Movies . . . The Notebook

The Notebook is my favorite

 romantic film of all time!

Social differences in the early 1940's separate a poor, passionate young man and a rich young woman who fall in love.  Their story is narrated from the present day by an elderly man telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident.

The Notebook is a 2004 romance film starring James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. 

This movie is a must-see for hopeless romantics!

Check out the trailer for the movie :)

Valentine Series . . . Favorite Romantic Movies

In celebration of Valentine's Day, I'll be featuring some of my favorite romantic movies from the past . . .

What are some of your favorite romantic movies?

Music From Another Room is one of those romantic comedies that I love best . . . a story of love, romance, fate and destiny. 

This entertaining movie released in 1998 follows the adventures of Danny (Jude Law), a young man who grew up believing he was destined to marry Anna, the baby girl he helped deliver as a five year old boy when his neighbor went into emergency labor. Twenty-five years later, Danny returns to his hometown and finds the irresistible Anna Swan (Gretchen Mol) and falls madly in love with her, but she barely notices him since she is already engaged to Eric (Jon Tenney). 

In pursuit of Anna, Danny finds himself involved with each member of the Swan family including blind, sheltered Nina (Jennifer Tilly), cynical sister Karen (Martha Plimpton), big brother Bill (Jeremy Piven) and dramatic mother Grace (Brenda Blethyn). 

The movie follows his fight to prove that fate should never be messed with and passion should never be practical. 

Click here for a video trailer of the movie . . . it is an awesome movie . . . check it out sometime if you love romantic comedy movies.

Christmas past and that silver Christmas tree

This is an older Christmas post!

As the Captain and I have the Christmas boxes in from the storage shed, going through my collection of Christmas stuff and anticipating decorating for Christmas, it got me to thinking back on Christmas past when I was a child.

Although I have always had a fascination of everything sparkly and flashy, I was never too keen on the silver tree with the revolving light, making the tree seem to turn colors.

In fact, I hated that tree.

How did that fad catch on anyway?

Yuck!  It was an awful looking tree!

There is something about a green tree with tinsel, flashing lights, homemade popcorn garland, and the toy ornaments that did  something for me.  That silver tree felt cold and sterile.

Something that bugged me about that silver tree is that it just didn't go with the nativity scene and the little houses that were lit up at the bottom of the tree.  And the sweet little plastic glittery deer I loved to  play with were not welcome at the foot of that silver tree.  It was a different "Christmas look."

The "normal" green Christmas tree was a tremendous fascination for me, I loved all those festive little things that were banished from the silver tree . . . I could sit on the floor by the tree  and be entertained for hours . . . but not the silver one.

We had a Christmas tradition that involved the neighbors . . . stringing popcorn garlands for everyone's Christmas trees. This was done every year . . . a total of three families got together with lots of bowls overflowing with popcorn to eat and string. It was loads of fun sitting around stringing popcorn after dinner, drinking hot chocolate and singing along with the Christmas music playing. The party was always hosted by our next door neighbors who never had one of those awful silver trees.

Funny thing about this annual party . . . we also helped decorate their tree . . . it was part of the festivities.   The next door neighbors had no children, so they kind of adopted us neighbor kids and loved to spoil us throughout the year. The funny thing . . . and looking back in the real world as an adult, not really funny, but sad . . . anyway, Tom (the next door neighbor) was a serious drinker who insisted on putting the topper on the tree AFTER it was decorated later in the evening when he was a bit lit up himself from way too much booze. The problem was that he would always fall into the tree and come out laughing . . . then everyone helped to tidy it back up.

It was also traditional for him to fall into the shrubs putting the outside lights up.  The neighborhood men always made sure to be around to help him back up when he would holler for help.  He never failed to end up there!

LOL He was quite a character!

Those Christmas memories of my childhood are rather sad since almost everyone involved have passed away or moved away, a time in place that has truly moved on.  However, I fondly think of them every Christmas and smile at the thought of Tom's big butt hanging out of the tree.

Happy Holidays!

Cat In the Hat ages . . . can you relate?

We are all getting older every day . . . but we don't

usually consider getting older from the perspective of

a timeless creature we all know and love . . .

The Cat In The Hat.

You know you are reaching the "Golden Years" if

you can relate to the poor cat's woes.

Dr. Seuss is turning in his grave . . .

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Remember the Shake 'n Bake television commercials?

 This is one of those commercials that we had so much fun with by being silly and mocking it endlessly. Actually, I had forgotten about this commercial until The Captain made the statement along with the accent . . . "and I helped" . . . and we took off with it being silly for the longest time as I remember doing back in the day. 
 I love these type of commercials that you can goof on endlessly!
In my opinion, Shake 'n Bake was the worse thing to happen to chicken . . . it was awful stuff even though the concept was a good one.

Shake 'n Bake is particularly noted for its television commercials in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The most popular in the series featured the children helping make Shake 'n Bake with their mothers, enthusiastically exclaiming "And I helped!"

In 1998, a new commercial was tried with a different catchphrase . . . "I made Shake 'n Bake, and Mama helped". This was on aired a few times and is the least recognized commercial.

Source:  Wikipedia

Gidget . . . The Taco Bell Dog

When I think about some of my favorite television commercials of all time, The Taco Bell Dog is in my top 5 . . . could possibly even be my favorite.

Since Gidget died and Taco Bell changed their television marketing, their commercials just aren't special anymore.

This is my tribute to Gidget . . . The Taco Bell Dog.  Miss you!