Tooth and Harts

Began the morning with breakfast and a couple of quick shorts from Minnie's Bow-Toons: Party Palace Pals on Disney Plus. It's "Moving Day" for the ladies as they try to get a huge sofa up to their new high-rise apartment. "Bessie Delivers Again"...Daisy hopes, anyway, when she pulls her Gram Quacker's old ice cream truck out of storage. After she misses a delivery, Cuckoo Loca and Minnie realize that Bessie just needs a coat of paint and some repairing to make her the perfect delivery van. Minnie's nieces Millie and Melody judge "The Great Cookie Bake-Off" between Minnie and Daisy to decide whether Daisy's crispy or Minnie's soft chocolate chip cookies are the batch they'll be using.

Hurried out after that to the Westmont Plaza for my dental appointment. I was a minute or two late, nothing really terrible. The lady came out after five minutes. The cleaning itself went fine. I did have to wait ten minutes for a check-up...only to learn I wasn't due for one yet. Then I had to wait another ten minutes to check out and find out I didn't owe them co-pay. It took me almost an hour to get out of there.

When I did get home, I had lunch while watching Queen of the Stardust Ballroom. I go further into this sweet, charming, and rather sad TV movie from 1975 about a widow who rediscovers life dancing at the title ballroom at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Musicals On TV - Queen of the Stardust Ballroom

Hurried off to the Thomas Sharp School before work even ended. Thank heavens it warmed up enough today to take the kids outside! We started in the library and had the kids there for a while after they came inside, but we did get them out to the playground for about 40 minutes. It was cloudy and cool but not freezing, probably in the mid-40's, and not windy, either. Although some of the kids did argue over the swings (and one of the boys tossed his Pikachu hat in a tree), most of them had a ball running around in the playground for the first time since the middle of last month. We settled down to color and read to them after we got in, then moved them with the big kids in the cafeteria when there were only four little ones left.

Soon as I got out, I rushed home, did chores, and took out the trash before Jessa arrived. We ended up at the IHOP behind the Cherry Hill Mall to have breakfast for dinner. We both had their breakfast combo. She had her eggs over easy and buttermilk pancakes. I had mine scrambled and Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity Strawberry Pancakes. Yum! IHOP really does do good pancakes, nice and moist even before you mess around with their syrup varieties. My bacon was nice and crispy, too. 

Finished Queen of the Stardust Ballroom when I got home, then ended the night with Hart to Hart. "Chamber of Lost Harts" gets into Indiana Jones turf when the head of an archaeological dig sponsored by Hart Industries is killed. Jennifer and Johnathan dig out their hiking booths and head to the Amazon with their guide and Johnathan's friend Nick to figure out who wants the dig shut down and why.

Library Dance Party

Began the morning with breakfast and Little Bear. He makes "Birthday Soup" and invites his friends to join in when he thinks Mother Bear forgot his big day. After he attempts to help Hen paint her hen house and gets white paint all over him, he pretends to be a "Polar Bear" until his mother washes him. "Gone Fishing" has him and Owl searching for "the big one," but he ends up sleeping and dreaming about a big catch.

I'm still tired, it was still chilly and cloudy, and though it's better than it was yesterday, I still have a cold. My nose is stuffy, but not running. Not to mention, I had work at the school later, too. I took Uber. For once, that went just fine. It took less than 3 minutes to show up and 5 to get to work. I arrived right on time.

Work was more of a pain. While I spent most the morning sweeping and gathering carts, one of the managers took me aside in the last five minutes and told me to get the trash in the women's bathroom. Like this couldn't have been done earlier? I was almost late getting out because of that. 

Thankfully, I still had time to change and head down the block for lunch at Applebee's. They were surprisingly quiet for 1 PM, with only a few families and older couples enjoying sandwiches and drinks in booths. I had a quick grilled chicken bacon ranch sandwich with fries and an iced tea. The sandwich was moist, the fries nicely seasoned. 

Even after I ate, I still had extra time. I went back to the Acme and flipped through magazines until it was time to call Uber again. This time, it took 2 minutes to arrive and dropped me off at the Thomas Sharp School in 6 minutes. I was so early, I went for a walk around a couple of blocks, then got some time on the swings in the playground before I finally headed inside.

You can probably guess that the kids were rowdy on their first day back since before Christmas Eve. Honestly, it could have been worse. Since it was still too cold to take the younger ones outside, we all ended up in the library. They taped paper on the tables for them to stencil animals on. There was music for them to dance to. When one of the girls got frustrated with her block tower not standing, I taught her about the importance of a good foundation. Had to scold one of the other girls for using markers that belonged to the art teacher, not the Healthy Kids program. (And the younger kids aren't supposed to use markers anyway. They make too much of a mess.) Danced with one of the smaller girls who kept pushing herself against the speaker, feeling the vibrations of the music. 

When we took the kids back to the cafeteria, they played with plastic animals and cars or colored with the older kids. One of the little girls was so enamored with my artwork of Annie the Rag Doll and Betty and Prince Scott from The WENN Nutcracker Suite, I let her have it. One of the boys gave me his artwork. I was playing monster cars with another boy when my shift ended. No trouble getting Uber here, either. They only took 4 minutes to arrive. 

Took the recycling out and the laundry downstairs when I got home, then went upstairs and watched Match Game Syndicated. By the time of these 1979 episodes, Bart Braverman had joined in, sitting next to Debralee Scott here. David Doyle was a friend of Brett's and always sat in the first male heartthrob seat. Brett and Charles spent most of the week trying to figure out his imitations (which were always Sydney Greenstreet).

Finished the night with even more comic game shows. Match Game had hit its groove in 1976 and 1977, when it was the most popular show on daytime TV period. Unfortunately, an ill-advised change to mornings late in 1977 damaged ratings. Moving it back to the afternoons was too little, too late. At this point, at least, things were still chugging along. In fact, some of the funniest episodes of the entire run came from early 1978, as with this one where Richard Dawson gives a rare strange answer to what a practical joker has in his garden.

By 1978, Richard was more interested in hosting Family Feud, where things could get just as strange. Richard spent most of an episode in 1980 ogling the very young anchor of a mostly-female team. He was infamous for kissing all of the ladies, even those younger than him, as he does here.

Funny game shows go way back. Art Linkletter's People are Funny was a cross between Candid Camera and a stunt show. He'd get people to do something outrageous, then would bring in those who saw them to see their reactions. Groucho Marx had even more fun with his secret words and dangling duck on You Bet Your Life. Here, his reactions to an Ohio beauty queen, a woman from Tennessee who was one of Elvis' biggest fans, and a Mayor from Wyoming who didn't approve of rock were hilarious.

People could be funny on cable, too. Win Ben Stein's Money was an early hit for Comedy Central, and still their biggest game show hit to date. The premise seems simple - stump deadpan comedian Stein and get his loot. It was a lot more difficult than it sounds. The questions found in subjects with punny titles could be hard, and Stein was no fool. Jimmy Kimmel got some of his earliest exposure as Stein's right-hand man in this episode from 1998.

Laugh your way through the winter with this hilarious look at comedy games past!

People are Funny (1955)

You Bet Your Life (1957)

Match Game (1978)

Family Feud (1980)

Win Ben Stein's Money (1998)

Music and Matches

Began the morning with breakfast and the soundtrack from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. To be honest, most of the songs from the original film didn't make it into the remake. Of the ones that didn't, my favorite is Snow White's sweet "With a Smile and a Song," which she sings to the animals after she wakes up in the forest. The CD I found at a yard sale a while back also includes two cut comic numbers for the Dwarfs, "Music In Your Soup" and one intended for the party spot that was taken by "The Silly Song," "You're Never Too Old to Be Young."

It's still pretty cold...and I still have a nasty cold myself. I've been coughing and blowing my nose like crazy since New Year's Eve. Decided I'd take Uber to avoid the weather. That might not have been the smartest thing on a cold Sunday morning. It took 16 minutes for the driver to arrive, and I ended up being late. Ironically, the driver coming home came in 2 minutes. No trouble getting to or from there.

Work wasn't a problem, either. I was outside the whole time. There was a boy there to do the sweeping and the inside trash. I did gather the trash in the employee room, but I was mainly pushing carts and enjoying the day. It was sunny, breezy, and still fairly cold, in the mid-30's. 

Had to grab a few things I forgot yesterday after work. Needed cough drops and pads rather badly. Grabbed Propel to hydrate my poor dry throat. 

After I got home, I put everything away, then vacuumed and Swiftered the rooms. Made the bed, too. I have six blankets on my bed, and they eventually start to fall off if left for too long. Plus I just put the bears from under the tree back.

Listened to two of my recent record acquisitions as I worked. The Vamp of the Roaring 20's is a follow-up to the soundtrack to the TV show The Roaring 20's. It's the same deal - Dorothy Provine, backed by eight chorus girls, singers, and two small combos, performs hits of the Era of Wonderful Nonsense. There's a couple here that even I haven't heard of - "Freddy the Freshman," "Doin' the Sigma Chi," "Bashful Baby," "He Looks at Her and Then He Goes Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha," "I Know that You Know," "Mama Goes Where Papa Goes," "You've Got That Thing." Fun stuff if you love the songs from this time period.

I never even heard of Ellie Greenwich until I heard of this show, but apparently she wrote Leader of the Pack and many huge hits of the early 60's with her then-husband Jeff Barry. Other popular songs she wrote in part or in full, here performed by her friends Annie Golden and Darlene Love, include "Be My Baby," "Today I Met the Boy I'm Gonna Marry," "Do Wah Diddy," "And Then He Kissed Me," "Hanky Panky," "Chapel of Love," "Christmas - Baby Please Come Home," "I Can Hear Music," "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Maybe I Know," and "River Deep, Mountain High." 

While this seems like an early form of the jukebox biography that would begat shows about Greewich's fellow Brill Building writers Carole King and Neil Diamond in the last ten years or so, it was heavily re-written between off-Broadway and Broadway to be more like a revue. Considering it only ran for two months and got bad reviews, that doesn't seem to have worked. It's apparently done better in regional theaters. Here, it comes off as a vanity project, with Greenwich playing her older self and her friends dominating the proceedings. It doesn't help that Greenwich isn't nearly as well-known as Diamond or King today. Unless you're a huge fan of these songs or Greenwich, you're probably better off looking for the original recordings.

Switched to the Eagles game next. That did not go well. They started off well enough against the Commanders in the first half, but faltered by the time of the second. They ended their season on a low note, with the Commanders taking them down 24-17.

Finished the night back at YouTube with dinner and the second half of that Match Game body marathon. The most famous "body part" incident is Gene Rayburn accidentally telling a lady she has a pretty something besides dimples in one of the most infamous bloopers in TV history. There's also Richard answering "Hand" to "Trench __" in the Audience Match and continuing the joke for the rest of the episode (and for several years thereafter), and the time during the Syndicated series when a physical therapist helped Patty Duke with her knee...and a besotted Jack Jones ran out for her to do the same for him. 

Marcia Wallace got censored for referring to a certain male body part in one 1977 nighttime episode. Another nighttime episode had Brett, Charles, and Richard Paul singing about "The Eyes of Texas," while the contestant ended up in Jamie Lee Curtis' lap. Eva Gabor showed off her bare shoulders in a ruffled top in 1976, while Abby Dalton, Fannie Flagg, and Brett Somers walked off when a contestant talked about women's chests in 1974.

The body really is a wonderland in this hilarious look at the crazy things our bodies can do!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Your Body Is a Blank (Part 2) Marathon

Button Up Your Overcoat

Began the morning with breakfast and Pac Man. The Ghosts want to use an earthquake-making machine to create "The Great Pac-Quake" and force Pac Man to tell them where the Power Pellet Forest is. Pac Man finds a way to turn the tables. It's "Hocus Pocus Pac Man" when he tries to do magic to amuse Pac Baby, only to accidentally make him disappear when he puts him in the hat instead of a rabbit.

By the time I got moving, it was late. Not to mention, it's still supposed to be pretty cold today, and I had a lot of grocery shopping I needed to do later. I called Uber. They got me to work literally with no time to spare. I got confused going home when a woman picked me up instead of the man who was originally supposed to come, but he canceled, and she took the ride. At least she got me home in 5 minutes. 

That was the worst thing that happened all day. I only swept the store for the first half the day. A new bagger came in and swept during the second half. I spent the rest of the day pushing carts. It wasn't a bad day for it. Though it remains cold and cloudy, the wind has at least died down. There were no major problems, and I was in and out.

Consolidated my grocery shopping to just the Acme this week. Restocked yogurt, coconut milk, apple butter, oranges, soda, granola, granola bars, and bagels. Found a slice of pumpkin cake for $1.99 and brioche hot dog rolls for $2.99, and coconut eggnog half-price. 

Changed when I got home and watched A Little Princess while putting everything away. I go further into this sweet animated version from the 90's of the popular Frances Hodgson Burnett novel at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Animation Celebration Saturday - A Little Princess (1996)

Spent the rest of the afternoon taking down the remainder of my Christmas decorations. These are the items that go out first, like the nativity, the copper bell with the candy-cane cut outs, the crocheted coasters, the cross-stitched poinsettia magnet I got from a church bazaar a few years ago, the big fabric bows I hang on windows, and the feather-style tree from Dollar Tree and its decorations. The poinsettia place mats need to be washed and will be put away later. Other than that and changing the dolls into their regular January clothes, that pretty much ends my Christmas season. 

Put up the remaining general winter items that I didn't have room for in December. This consists mainly of four snow-people - one stuffed, one with wooden spool arms and legs, one a folk art style angel carrying a wreath, one a snow-bear - that I put on the entertainment center. Also hung up two snowmen in bright-colored hats and a bell shaped like a wren. 

Listened to the soundtrack from the Disney live-action Snow White while I worked. Critics were harsh on this last spring, but I suspect it had more to do with its leads bad-mouthing it before the premiere and some controversy with the dwarfs and the special effects than anything. It certainly wasn't the fault of the soundtrack. Some of the new songs are really fun, especially the charming opening and closing chorus number "Good Things Grow." "Heigh Ho" sounds great here, too. 

Finished the night on YouTube after a shower with dinner and tonight's Match Game marathon. Given how salacious things could get, there was an awful lot of talk about - and showing off - the human anatomy. Betty White would frequently roll up Gene's pant legs to expose his knees. She once showed off her hips to illustrate an answer, and she was prone to doing stripping routines. Debralee Scott stuck out a stocking-clad leg to illustrate her answer in a nighttime episode. Bill Daily hung his coat on it to block the view! There was also Fannie Flagg's hand-print sweater with the hands in strategic places. Most of the talk was really limited to "Human __" or some such on the Audience Match, or wild questions about what cannibals eat or about Ugly Edna's limbs.

Let's get physical and learn more about the human body Match Game-style in these hilarious episodes!

Match Game Saturday Classics - The Human Body (Part I) Marathon

Home Front Angels

Began the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel Does It Himself" when he has to wait in bed before he goes outside and plays in the snow. He makes a snowman all on his own when he does finally get out. Wish some of my kids had the gumption he shows when "Daniel Learns to Swing." He doesn't want Jodi's Nana to push him, but he's having trouble with the momentum, so Nana points out what Jodi's doing. When they get inside, Jodi's mom teaches them to make the twins' new beds.

Switched to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as I got organized. "Mickey's Choo Choo Express" will Professor Ludvig Von Drake's never-melting snow from Mistletoe Mountain, but first, Mickey and his pals have to find the parts of the train and put them together. They then need to find the track and the way up the mountain to the Professor.

Checked my schedule at this point. I'm not happy at all. Though I only work four hours, I work Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. With school starting Monday, that means two days where I'll be rushing. On the other hand, I have the rest of the week off after Wednesday, including a rare and surprising Saturday.

It was too late by the time I got moving for grocery shopping. I'll do that tomorrow. I did still need to hit the ATM machine, so I went for a walk down to WaWa. I picked up a grilled chicken sandwich and soft pretzel for lunch with those gift cards from the kids, along with a sweet but very cinnamon-y Snickerdoodle Smoothie. It remains chilly here, cloudy and windy, but not to the degree of yesterday.

When I got in, I had lunch while watching Remember WENN. In "World of Tomorrow," station manager Scott Sherwood is excited for the small-time station's big Wizard of Oz-inspired show at the end of the 1939 New York World's Fair. Writer Betty Roberts, who has to come up with this epic and actually get their star-struck cast to perform it, isn't as sure. Diva actress Hilary Booth is more upset that her husband Jeff Singer was called to broadcast in war-torn London by their former manager Victor Comstock. For all his seeming disinterest, it's Scott who finally puts Jeff and his touching speech in London on the air to finish the show...before the broadcast dissolves into static...

After lunch, I spent the rest of the afternoon taking down most of the Christmas decorations. I got all the stuffed animals and everything in the bedroom but the big fabric ribbons. The bears I keep out year-round went back on the bed. The Christmas bears and stuffed animals and their clothes went in the felt Santa Bag. Took down the tree, it's ornaments, the tinsel garland and lights. The front door wreath and vintage cut-out cardboard Santa go in the box with the tree because they don't fit anywhere else. The things for the bedroom went in the Christmas popcorn tin I got from a friend a few years ago. The only things left are the miscellaneous items that go out first - the fabric ribbons, the crocheted coasters, the poinsettia place mats, the nativity, the magnets. 

The staff of WENN aren't the only ones dealing with the realities of World War II. Molly: An American Girl On the Home Front (Maya Ritter) is living in a normal Chicago suburb in 1944 with her parents Helen (Molly Ringwauld) and Dr. James (David Aaron Baker) McIntire and her older siblings Jill (Genevieve Farrell) and Ricky (Andrew Chalmers). Molly loves tap dancing (even if she isn't the best) and speculating with her best friends Linda (Samantha Somer Wilson) and Susan (Hannah Fleming) about what their pretty, glamorous teacher Miss Campbell's (Sarah Mannien) wedding will be like. 

The bottom drops out of Molly's world when Dr. McIntire enlists to take care of troops in war-torn London. Her mother gets a job at an aircraft manufacturing plant, which brings in fussy Mrs. Gilford (Sarah Orenstein) and her rules and turnips from her garden. Her favorite Aunt Eleanor (Amy Stewart) joined the WASPs as a pilot. Then sweet, shy Emily Bennett (Tory Green), an English refugee, comes to stay with Molly's family. Molly assumes she's wealthy, titled, and stuck-up, but she's really scared and lonely. Molly learns a lot from London native Emily about how the war really effects people, When Mrs. Gilford and Miss Campbell lose people who are close to them and Dr. McIntire goes missing, Molly begins to realize just how hard wartime is, and why we all have to make sacrifices to achieve our goals. 

A lot of American Girl fans like this movie better than most of Molly's core books, claiming Molly is more sympathetic, Emily is more than a one-note character who was there to argue with Molly, and it expands more on the characters. On one hand, I miss a lot of charming incidents from the books that made them so funny, like Molly's Halloween war with Ricky, Molly and her friends making a quilt for the soldiers, and their entire trip to summer camp. And I really wish they'd done a lot more with the Aunt Eleanor subplot. She's brought up for one scene and vanishes after that. 

On the other hand...yeah, I can see their point. For one thing, Ritter's Molly is heartbreaking and hilarious, especially when she's trying so hard to learn those dance steps. The scene where Emily has a nightmare and Molly talks to her and comforts her is more touching and effective than anything in the birthday book, as is the scene during the air raid where Dr. McIntire finally gets the courage to tell everyone he's going overseas. Getting to know her dad before he leaves is a major plus. In the books, he only really appears in the last few paragraphs of Changes for Molly, one of her mysteries, and her Route 66 book. Here, we can see their close relationship and understand why she misses him like she does.

If you have a daughter with a Molly doll or is a fan of mid-20th century history or a tap-dance queen, you'll definitely want to share Molly's wartime journey with her. 

Switched to The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club as I worked on taking down the tree, and later as I vacuumed the fake needles on the floor. Lord Peter Wimsey (Ian Carmichael) is asked to investigate the death of 90-year-old General Fentiman (Ralph Truman), who passed on at the Bellona Club, a club for veterans. Thing is, no one seems to be sure of the time he died even Dr. Pemberty (Donald Pickering), who checked his body. He was just found with his heart stopped. His sister Lady Dormer died earlier in the day. Their estate is to be divided among her companion Ann Dorland (Anna Cropper) and his grandsons Robert (Terrance Alexander) and George (John Quentin) Fentiman. George has been having trouble with hallucinations and keeping a job ever since he came home from World War I shell shocked, and his wife Sheila (Vivien Heilbron) is worried. Ann refuses to talk to anyone, especially after it's discovered she knows a lot about poisons. Wimsey does manage to work out the time, via everyone stopping for 2 minutes of silence on Armstice Day, but he has a harder time with this motley crew with their vast array of motives.

Carmichael is a wonderful, inquisitive Wimsey in this charming BBC adaptation from the 70's. There's some great costumes for the BBC in this time period that really capture the flavor of the early 20's. I might have to look for the rest of these if they're as much fun as this.

Switched to a more modern sleuthing group as I finally sat down for dinner. Charlie's Angels are shocked when three women who look just like them rob a sports arena. The real Charlie lets them stay at another gentleman's club while they try to figure out who is impersonating him and them and what these "Counterfeit Angels" are really after. 

Finished the night earlier in the 70's with my Super Hits of the 70's: Have a Nice Day Vol 4 CD that I found the other day. This one goes way far back, right to the beginning of the 70's, when hard rock, soul, R&B, and bubblegum pop ruled the airwaves. Hits from that era that are still fairly well-known nowadays include "Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson, "Mr. Bojangles" by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, "Put Your Hand In the Hand" by Ocean, and "Stay Awhile" by the Bells. 

Of Mummers and Muppets

Began the first day of 2026 with stories from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays. My favorite is the charming tale of a group of kids in a small town who ring the church bell for an elderly neighbor to celebrate the New Year. "A Disastrous New Year" from Hitty: Her First Hundred Years depicts how wooden doll Hitty was stolen on New Year's Day by a group of New York street toughs who attacked her child owner. "Dobry's New Year" focuses on Bulgarian New Year's customs, including reading the buds on a dram bush to see how your year will go. There's also several poems on New Year's festivities and changes in the New Year.

I thought I was running late when I ate a quick breakfast and waited for Jessa outside just after 10 AM. She didn't turn up until past 10:30 with her boyfriend Mike. He's a cheerful fellow, a bit on the chatty side. To my surprise, it snowed a little bit last night, enough that the ground was frosted white like a New Year's cake. Unfortunately, while the roads in Oaklyn had been cleared, the ones in Collingswood had not. Jessa skidded a few times before she finally pulled into the PATCO parking lot. 

We took a barely-full PATCO into Philly and made it to Broad Street by 11:30. It was a beautiful, if fridgid, day for a parade. The sky was a full-bodied, brilliant blue that almost hurt to look at, without a cloud in it. The wind, however, remained icy and so strong, some of the fancier string bands had to leave behind their props. It didn't dampen anyone's spirits. The Mummers strutted just as wildly as ever, and the crowds were even more enthusiastic, cheering, dancing along, and calling out the Eagles victory cheer.

The first group I saw as we made our way through the crowds were one of the Wench Brigades, this one wearing candy-print outfits and pulling a small "gingerbread house." The next group in red and blue were pirates, complete with a huge wooden "ship." Another had black and white outfits with an eye test print of large and small letters. Freddy Kruger wenches had red and green striped dress outfits, wore green tinsel garlands and Freddy's hat, and had clawed gloves. There were at least two Revolutionary War wench brigades in honor of America's 250th anniversary this year. A local used car dealership tossed its bear mascot in with characters representing Philly sports mascots and the Liberty Bell. Magician wenches wore red, black, and white and sported cards and long scarves. A yellow and black wench group were bees pulling cardboard hives.

I loved the comic Toy Story group, with a dad and mom Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, a male Little Bo Peep, Buzz Lightyear, teen aliens, and the most adorable kid Trixie and Rex. A group of animals included eagles "soaring" on roller blades who got quite a reaction from the crowd! The first fancy brigade had a garden theme, with massive pink and green flowers and enormous Venus fly traps fluttering in the wind. The next was an amusement park. There were kids dressed as a roller coaster, a ticket booth, and even a giant ice cream swirl cone. Guys and girls twirled in fluffy cotton candy dresses. 

During a gap in the program, I got cold and bored standing there and headed down Broad Street to see what else was there. The wind and cold had scared off many people. There weren't quite as many people watching the parade live as there usually is. It was still fun to watch all of the drunk college kids screaming and (trying to) dance and the kids handing their parents beads while their parents taught them the Mummers Strut.

There's a Dunkin' Donuts further up Broad Street near the Sprouts Market and the Philadelphia High School for the Performing and Creative Arts. Though it was busy inside, the line surprisingly wasn't long. I made use of those gift cards from the kids to get a medium hot chocolate and a blueberry donut. There wasn't as much going on down by the school, so after I finished my donut, I followed the crowds back to Locust Street.

We finally decided by quarter of 12 that we'd seen enough and were too cold to stick around for the rest of the fancy groups. We took a largely empty PATCO (except for one really loud and drunk guy in a pink bunny outfit who thankfully got off at Broadway in Camden) back to Collingswood, getting in by just after 1. 

I usually have my first meal out of the year at the Westmont Diner. With the Westmont Diner still under renovations, I suggested the Haddon Diner on the border of Westmont and Haddonfield instead. Jessa had a hard time parking in the tiny, full lot, but they weren't that busy when we got in. The Haddon Diner is a lovely little spot with hand-stenciled wooden booths and reasonable prices. Mike had a huge chicken wrap. Jessa's turkey club sandwich was so big, she could only finish half of it. She and Mike both had chicken soup. Mike ordered mozzarella sticks and chicken quesadillas with curly fries. I had apple-raisin pancakes that were smaller, more moist, and more manageable than the ones at the Silver Diner on Tuesday, along with bacon and hot tea. Everything was so tasty, and the other two seemed to really enjoy theirs.

After they dropped me off at home, I went straight into Holiday Inn. I went further into this classic 1942 musical that introduced "White Christmas," "Happy Holiday," and "Let's Start the New Year Right" at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back on New Year's Day 2019.

Happy New Year! - Holiday Inn

Moved on to Sesame Street Stays Up Late after the movie ended. I also go further into this charming special on how different cultures celebrate the New Year at my musical review blog.

Happy New Year! - Sesame Street Stays Up Late 

Switched to the Match Game New Year's Day Celebration Party marathon after dinner and a shower. The first episode of 1974 began with the arrival of Dorothy Zinni, an overly enthusiastic contestant who was so excited, she accidentally hit the laid-back guy next to her and scared the panelists to death. Even Richard was too terrified of her to kiss her! Richard's girlfriend Jodie proved to be far more palatable for him in 1976. Dick Martin kicked off 1976 by getting an answer right for the first time. Fannie Flagg enjoyed sitting in Brett's seat while she was out doing a play on the first day of 1978. Gene stumbled into the first day of 1979 draped with streamers from the previous episode and looking more than a little bleary-eyed. Jon "Bowser" Bauman played with rubber chains on the first episode of 1980, while McLean Stevenson had permanently taken over Richard's spot by 1981.

Dick Martin carried over to The Match Game-Hollywood Square Hour's first episode of 1984. Alison Arngrin showed off her stylish black dress and hat, Vic Dunlop dodged fat jokes, Arsenio Hall tossed out quips, and we have a young David Ruprecht when he was hosting Real People. Brad Garrett continued to imitate the on-vacation Charles Nelson Reilly on the first Match Game episode of 1991. Bruce Baum showed he could do more than create goofy and slightly disturbing "inventions" by actually doing pretty darn well at Match Up. 

Party on in the new year with Match Game in these hilarious episodes!

Match Game New Year's Celebration Party

Wait, there's more! We also have bonus episodes of Family Feud, Password Plus, Super Password, and a repeat of the Match Game '77 New Year's Eve episode. It's more bang for your game show buck in the New Year!

Family Feud (1980)

Family Feud (1980)

Match Game (1977)

Password Plus (1981)

Super Password (1987)

Finished the night working on the Sesame Street review while listening to My Favorite Things. John Coltrane digs into songs by three masters of American standards, starting with the Rodgers and Hammerstein title song. There's two gorgeous renditions of Gershwin brothers numbers, "But Not for Me" and "Summertime," and a darker Cole Porter "Every Time We Say Goodbye."