Let Yourself Go

Began the late morning with breakfast and Little Bear at Paramount Plus. I used to love this show in college, when I'd watch it in the mornings before classes, and I'm glad to see it again. We start off with "What Will Little Bear Wear?" Little Bear claims he's cold, so Mother Bear makes him clothes for the snow. When he remembers he has fur to keep him warm, he finds a better use for his new clothes instead. Sweetly silly Duck can't quite get the hang of "Hide and Seek," so Little Bear helps her. "Little Bear Goes to the Moon," at least in his imagination, when he jumps off a hill and pretends he's landed in space. His mother is more than happy to play along.

I was going to go into Collingswood today, but...though the streets were clear when I finally got rolling today, some of the sidewalks were still icy, and it was very cold. It was cloudy and windy, and though the sun kept trying to come out, I didn't want to take chances. I never went beyond the porch. 

Instead, I settled down with The Twits on Netflix. I go further into this odd animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl children's book at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Twits

Worked on The WENN Nutcracker Suite for a while, then worked on the review for The Twits while listening to some of my more recently-acquired albums. Starring Fred Astaire is a two-disc set of mainly his songs from his RKO movies with Ginger Rodgers, including songs he sang with her or that she performed solo like "The Piccolino" from Top Hat and "Let Yourself Go" from Swing Time. We also get songs from the now-in-the-public-domain Second Chorus, including "Love of My Life," "Poor Mr. Chisholm," "I Ain't Hep to the Step But I'll Dig It," and "Me and the Ghost Upstairs." 

The Now Explosion is a more typical rock collection from 1974. There's some really good numbers here and a few surprisingly deep cuts like "Brother Louie" by Stories, "All Day Music" by War, and "Uneasy Rider" by Charlie Daniels. Better-known numbers here include "It Never Rains In Southern California" by Albert Hammond, "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips, "The Morning After" by Maureen McGovern, "Do It Again" by Steely Dan, "Stoned In Love With You" by the Stylistics, and "Rock and Roll Part II" by Gary Glitter.

Finished the night at YouTube with tonight's Match Game marathon. The writers on the show never missed a chance to poke fun at their own medium. From 1974 on, a question would frequently begin like a TV Guide listing, throwing out a comic description of a show ending with a "blank." Though they did have questions about All In the Family and I Love Lucy, most of the gags revolved around the detective shows that were ubiquitous in the 70's and early 80's. Kojak and his bald head, Cannon and his weight, and Ironside in his wheelchair were the most frequent targets, but other lesser-known shows referred to included Harry-O, The Streets of San Francisco, and Banaceck. 

The jokes continued straight through to the end of the CBS run, and even turned up in syndication. Nighttime episodes were featuring cracks at Quincy and The Rockford Files as late as 1981. Charlie's Angels came in for a lot of ribbing after David "Bosley" Doyle became a semi-regular late in the CBS run. 

Scan your local listings for laughs in this hilarious take on the cop shows and sitcoms that defined the 70's!

Match Game Saturday Classics - TV Guide Listings Marathon (Part I)