A Beautiful Day In Winter

Began my morning with breakfast and the soundtrack from the 1957 movie Funny Face, which I picked up from Innergroove during my Christmas vacation last month. Fred Astaire is a photographer who discovers book shop worker Audrey Hepburn and decides she'd be a perfect, fresh-faced model. The duo and his boss (Kaye Thompson) travel to Paris for the shoot, but she's more interested in meeting intellectuals than being photographed. This was all performed to the tune of Gershwin hits like the title song, "S'Wonderful," "He Loves and She Loves," "How Long Has This Been Going On?" and "Clap 'Yo Hands." Astaire and Thompson perform the last as a spoof revival meeting at one of Hepburn's smoky haunts. Hepburn sings "Going On" in a sweet, if slight, voice that does make you understand why they wanted to dub her in My Fair Lady. 

Headed out after the record ended. Not only did I make sure to leave on time, but I had no trouble getting a ride. The roads are perfectly clear by now. Took me 4 minutes to get a ride there and 7 going home, with no trouble whatsoever.

No trouble at work, either. I spent almost the entire day outside. It was a lovely day for it. Windy, yes, and still chilly, but not to the degree that it has been. It was sunny and bright, with a sky so brilliantly blue, it hurt to look at it. The parking lot is melting and slushy, but no longer icy. I did have to dig a cart out of the snow on the side of the road near the liquor store and Octopharma Plasma, clean up broken eggs, and put cold items away. Otherwise, I was in and out without incident. I even got to see a very pretty pink and purple sunset.

Once I got home, I grabbed dinner and went straight upstairs to finish the rest of the night with the Match Game Sunday Classics marathon on YouTube. Brett Somers returns to the spotlight tonight in 25 of her most memorable episodes. I came in during the later 1974 shows, when she had an ongoing feud with the person handling the buzzer. At least twice when she started fussing, they played a cow horn sound instead of a buzzer, making her fall over laughing. 

The panel met her lovely grown daughter Leslie when she came to a taping in 1975. Also in 1975, during the week with Bill Macy, there was a cute question about who would play the Beast to Betty White's Beauty. A few months later, in the first full week of 1976, Charles Nelson Reilly and Marvin Hamlisch wrote a song for her, "The Brett Brett Song," which they all happily sang along to. She loved imitating Ethel Merman, including when the real Merman was on the panel. She did it so often, Merman actually told her to shut up. A nighttime episode gave us her and Gene's dueling push-ups. On another nighttime episode, a little old gentleman with a twinkle in his eye really enjoyed kissing her after the Head-to-Head!

That wasn't the only time Brett had an admirer. A handsome Air Force officer also gave her a smooch during a syndicated episode. She and Jack were divorced by 1978, but that didn't stop the others from holding a mock "wedding" for them at the end of the Friday episode. Many people joke about Brett's bad answers and her tendency to hog the camera, but there was one time she deserved the extra attention. She was the only person to match the contestant after four games in another syndicated episode, leading to a long round of applause and a standing ovation!

Bring a drink or two for everyone's favorite tipsy character actress in this delightful marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Brett Somers Top 25 Episodes