Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon working on Hilary and the Beasts. It's the day before Christmas Eve. Troll (Jeff) shows Hilary the massive ballroom, where they will put on their two-person performance of A Christmas Carol. Hilary's so impressed, she suggests a party for Christmas Eve, with everyone dressing up and Miss Organ playing music for them to dance to. She's also trying to press him for more information about the curse. He admits that one of his friends had a girlfriend who was an actress, but chose his work over her, while the other thought Pavla's abilities were a load of hogwash...until they attacked them. Hilary's having a hard time concentrating on their performance as it is. He's just so familiar, so close to someone she knew...and love dearly...
Put on Golden Treasures while I finished up writing and during lunch. This is another 3-disc classic rock collection, featuring a more eclectic selection ranging from "Tom Dooley" by the Kingston Trio to "Harper Valley PTA" by Jeanne C. Riley. I got the first two records in before I had to go to work, including "Venus In Blue Jeans" by Jimmy Clanton, "Raindrops" by Dee Clark, "The Twist" by Chubby Checker, "Rockin' Robin" by Bobby Day, "Sh-Boom" by the Crew Cuts, and "Down In the Boondocks" by Billy Joe Royal.
Headed to work after that second disc ended. Work was busy all afternoon. The carts were almost totally empty when I arrived, and I frequently had a hard time keeping up with them. I'd no sooner fill one side than the pharmacy entrance on the other side would empty. It didn't help that it was sunny, very hot, and murderously cut-the-air-with-a-knife humid. I was sweating buckets when I got home, and for at least an hour afterwards.
Spent the rest of the night eating a simple dinner, cooling off while watching tonight's Match Game marathon. Some of the most famous contestants on the entire series turned up during 1975, the height of the show's original success. There was the single woman who said she "fooled around," to the delight of Gary Burghoff and Richard Dawson! Richard gave her a note asking her to call him and wondered if she had any jobs open in her new art shop.
After Charles came back, we had Francine, the lady who won for most of the famous week with Allen Ludden and Betty White on the panel. She claimed she'd belly dance if she won $5,000. Charles came down to pretend to play for her, but the music department played "The Star Spangled Banner" instead of anything Indian. That didn't stop Betty and Brett from doing their own versions of belly dancing! There was also Gene saying "I've had Betty" during the Audience Match, and Allen jokingly coming down to have a little chat with him.
The biggest winner would be Carol Bartos, who eventually went home with over $20,000. She was the biggest winner they'd had at that point, and would remain as such for over a year. She had a lot of encouragement from another big winner. Her good friend and neighbor was Janet Finn, who had been the biggest winner before that. She even brought a corner of Janet's winning card with her for good luck...and it sure worked!
Probably the most memorable contestant to appear that year was by far Ron Valenti. The handsome blonde gym teacher turned a lot of heads, but none more than Fannie Flagg's. Fannie spent the entire three days he was on with her flirting with him. At one point, she even danced with him. When the week flipped over and Betty White was in her chair, she did her own flirting...and I don't blame them. Ron was genuinely cute and a nice guy who seemed to handle their attention well. He went home one of the bigger champs from that year, and every cent he got was well-earned.
Get to know the most famous contestants and biggest winners of 1975 in this romantic and hilarious marathon!
(Oh, and it had clouded over by the time I rode home from work. The thunderstorm didn't arrive until around 9:30-10, by which time I was long at home and online. Sounds like it'll clear out the heat and humidity - it's barely supposed to get into the 70's tomorrow.)
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