Labor Day Games

Started off the morning with the Labor Day material in my Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. The longest piece is a biography of Samuel Gumpters, the long-time head of the labor union movement in the US. We also had poems on working and jobs, including "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman and "The Village Smithy" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

Switched to Paw Patrol during breakfast in honor of those first-responders who have to work this Labor Day. "Pups Save a Giant Plant" when Mayor Goodway brings a Venus Fly Trap to the swamp and plants it in what she thinks is a nice spot. She's less thrilled when it grows to six times its original size and tries to eat her beloved pet chicken Chickaletta. The Pups have to figure out where it really belongs in the swamp. The "Pups Get Stuck" when Marshall seems to magnetically pick up metal items all over Adventure Bay. The others put the items back and try to figure out what's going on here.

It was so late by the time the episode ended, I just called Uber. Think I did the right thing. The one going to work arrived in 7 minutes and got me there on time with literally no time to spare. The one going home came in 8 minutes. No trouble either way.

Work was a lot busier. I suspect people who would normally shopped when they got their beginning-of-the-month money last week saved it for the holiday weekend instead. Not only did I have a hard time keeping up with the carts, but this time, I was totally alone. Almost every other bagger had the holiday off, including the head bagger. At least the weather remains gorgeous for all the running around. It's still sunny, warm, breezy, and not humid at all. Pushing carts was a pleasure before it got really crazy later in the morning.

Soon as I got home, I went right down for a nap. I was up way too late for the last two evenings. Passed out at 2:30 and didn't get up until almost 4:30. 

I read Sonnet of the Sphinx in bed for a little while, then went out to Dollar General. I had those two boxes of Chocolate Fudge pudding I picked up at the Acme for 70 cents a while back and had been wanting to do something with them. I couldn't remember the last time I made a pudding pie. Bought milk and a graham cracker crust, along with the Nature's Valley wafer bars (they're much cheaper at Dollar General)...but of course, I forgot the Cool Whip. The other reason I went out was, of course, to enjoy the stunning day. It was still beautiful at 5 PM, probably in the lower 80's, not a cloud in the perfect bright blue sky.

Didn't have as much luck with the pie. I added cocoa and topped it with chocolate fudge sauce, but...I didn't have enough milk. It ended up being kind of gloppy. At least it was edible and set up pretty well. 

Watched Remember WENN after I got back upstairs. Considering the holiday, it's rather appropriate that I began with one of my favorite fourth season episodes, "Work Shift." Smarmy self-help guru Arden Sage (Greg Germann) arrives at the station and dares the staff to walk in each other's shoes for a day. That works about as well as can be expected. Hilary can't handle the switchboard, Maple can't type, Betty can't play the organ, and Mr. Eldridge and Gertie aren't actors. They finally all learn that the station works best when everyone does what they do best...like take down obnoxious self-help gurus. (If nothing else, this episode finally ends the running gag with what Mr. Eldridge does at the station. He's the janitor and go-fer who makes the coffee and does all the little chores no one else has the time or inclination to do.)

Betty tells Maple and Scott about her first day at WENN in "Past Tense, Future Imperfect" as she tries to explain her relationship with Victor. Victor did explain to her the rules of radio writing, but his tendency to sound like he swallowed a dictionary made Betty think he was in love with her. The others all think she's after every other man at the station.

Moved to Buzzr for Match Game '76 next. Richard Dawson and Ed Asner were not happy to meet Lyle, a go-getting contestant from Las Vegas with a smarmy attitude and the worst toupee this side of Howard Cossell. Thankfully, Lyle didn't continue too far into the next week with Dick Gautier, Della Reece, and Fannie Flagg.

Finished the night at YouTube with vintage dance shows and talent competitions. Most people think of long, drawn-out reality show competitions like Dance With the Stars when they think of talent shows nowadays, but that wasn't always the case. Judge for Yourself from 1953 was a much simpler affair. Fred Allen (who frankly seems a bit out of place) is the host as three expert judges (one is songwriter Jules Styne) decide which of three acts is worthy of the big prize. First of all, although the dancers here were great, my favorites were the duo who actually made the harmonica sound elegant and beautiful. Second, this early effort would be one of the templates for pretty much every show I mention here with celebrity judges. (Look for the introduction by Orson Bean.)

The Gong Show made fun of such amateur contests in the 70's and early 80's. I actually went with one of the less-outrageous episodes from 1977. The country singers won here, but I thought the guy doing an amazing routine to "Ease On Down the Road" from The Wiz was even better. I can understand why the guy doing the flamenco cape dance got gonged (he was pretty stiff), but not the Elvis impersonators (they were a lot of fun). 

Your All-American College Show from 1968 and Dance 360 from 2004 are two variations on the same theme - young people strutting their stuff and winning money for it. College Show has college students showing off their singing and dancing talents for money. With Dance 360, the focus is on hip-hop dancing. College Show lasted two years, slightly longer than the one-year-wonder Dance 360, but both would produce stars that are still relatively well-known today. Karen Carpenter and her brother Richard got some of their earliest TV exposure as the winners of College Show (I forgot how amazing Karen was on the drums), while dancer Caity Lutz, who would later appear in the Bring It On films, won Dance 360 . 

My sisters and I loved Dance Fever when we were kids. This long-running dance show started out as a disco dance competition, which is evident in this 1981 episode. By the time we were watching around 1985, it had branched into other forms of dance. It's pretty much a prototype Dance With the Stars, only here, the stars are just judges, rather than dancers. Eddie Mecca (himself a dancer in real-life), Scatman Crothers, and Jane Sawyer are the judges, with Danny Terrio as the first host.

Dance and talent competitions aren't limited to long-form shows. Dance Battle America was a one-off special that appeared after the season 21 premier of Dance With the Stars in 2015. Judges Alfonso Ribiera and Jordyn Sparks each picked four groups who danced against each other in goofy choreographed numbers. Personally, I liked the older ladies and admired their moxie for just making it and the hilarious trio who called themselves "Dancing Feet" and included a big guy myself. In fact, the dancers had so much fun, and Riberia and Sparks so clearly enjoyed showing them off, I wish this had made it to a series. Everyone really had a great time here, and the numbers are infectiously adorable. 

Dance your way into the fall with these delightful episodes that showcase the best and worst of five decades of amateur performance on TV!

Judge For Yourself (1953)

Your All-American College Show (1968)

The Gong Show (1977)

Dance Fever (1981)

Dance 360 (2004)

Dance Battle America (2015)

Sleepytime Gal

Began the morning with breakfast and Care Bears Family. Funshine and Playful Heart keep yelling "help!" during "The Camp Out" and making the others run out to rescue them. They think it's hilarious, until they and Hugs and Tugs are trapped in a pit with what they think is a swamp monster looming over them. "I, Robot Heart" is a cute little robot Grumpy and Bright Heart fix up to help their friends. This sweet little fellow wants nothing more than a heart of his own. He's disappointed when Grumpy and Bright Heart can't make him one, but learns about having real courage when he rescues them from Beastly. 

Rushed to work even before the cartoon ended. I spent almost the entire day cleaning the sink area in the back, near the employee room. This is where the sink for ringing mops out is and the area where the spray bottles for the registers are filled. It's dirty and moldy along those walls, even after they were rebuilt a few years ago. I finally used scrub sponges and a sponge mop that has a part with a scrub brush. I didn't get it all off, and I couldn't get past the big machine that polishes our floor to clean the side wall, but it looks a little better. The sponge and sponge mop came in handy for scrubbing the baler, too. I had to wait on cleaning that because everyone was using it in the morning.

Finally got outside around 12:30. The head bagger had been sweeping and doing carts. The head manager told me to pick up trash at the cart corrals. He thought it would take me 20 minutes. Um, it took me five. I did fill a small plastic bag with bottles, but there are only four cart corrals, and they fixed the covers for the bottoms on two out of four of them ages ago. I was in and out with no trouble whatsoever, other than it got hot during the morning and I nearly sweated to death going home.

When I got in, I changed, then cut up some plums and added them and cinnamon to that buckwheat pancake mix to make Plum Cobbler Pancakes. Ate them while watching Remember WENN. "Scott Sherwood of the FBI" has told his Aunt Agatha (Jan Miner) that the station is a branch of the crime unit. Scott and Betty do their best to make her think they're all G-men and women. It isn't until a real FBI agent turns up (Tom Tammi) that Aunt Agatha reveals she not only knew the truth from the start, but was way ahead of them.

Went down for a nap after the episode ended and I cleaned up from lunch. I was so tired, I lay down at 2:30 and didn't roll out of bed until quarter of 5! I finished Penny from Heaven after I got up, then watched more WENN. Turns out Scott has a far more damaging lie going than claiming WENN is part of the FBI. He's been skimming off two of the sponsors, including Flowergrams, the sponsors of their Bridal Bouquet program, to create a memorial for Victor. He's made the sponsor think they marry real couples on the show! When the sponsor (Julie Haggarty), a former sweetheart of Mackie Bloom, actually turns up at the station, Betty has to pretend to be "The First Mrs. Bloom" to keep up the illusion.

Switched to Match Game '76 during dinner. Tonight moved on to the week with a grumpy Tom Poston and slightly ditzy Barbara Shawma. Gene received a lovely champagne-pink microphone trimmed with sequins from an audience member in one episode that he dubbed his "Cher" microphone.

Finished the night with Mystery Science Theater 3000. Doctor Mordrid is one of the more recent episodes from 2022. This 1992 low-budget fantasy-superhero flick is likely part of the run of stylish superhero movies that came out in the 90's after the Batman films were sensations. Doctor Mordrid (Jeffery Combs) is an ageless wizard who must track down evil wizard Kabal (Brian Thompson) who wants to find the Philosopher's Stone and end reality as we know it. He's aided by Samantha Hunt (Yvette Nipar), a police researcher who lives in his building and keeps trying to figure out what's going on with his strange room at the end of the hall. She has to help him out when he's arrested for a series of murders actually caused by Kabal. 

Uh, yeah. Apparently, this was originally intended to be a Doctor Strange adaptation, but the rights fell through and they had to create their own character. Nipar is having a little more fun than the dull Combs and weird Thompson and his huge forehead, and the scene at the end with the stop-motion dinosaur skeletons coming to life is genuinely nifty, but most of it is as cheap as it looks. I wouldn't come here without the robot wisecracks unless you're a really huge fan of those 90's superhero movies or cheap sci-fi. 

Night of the Mall Hospital

Began the morning with breakfast and Doc McStuffins. "The Doctor Will See You Now" takes Doc to her mother's office for her own checkup. She and her toys discover that kids aren't playing with the toys in the waiting room because they're covered in a strange, sticky, colorful substance. She has to explain to a Play Doh head that keeps shaking his clay hair about how easy it is to spread germs and messes around. Stuffed owl Professor Hootenburgh challenges Donny's learning toy Lil' Egghead to see who is the smarter toy, but "Lil' Egghead Fees the Heat" and starts giving wrong answers. Doc gets him out of the sun and reminds him that humans and electronics need to stay cool. 

Called Uber after the cartoon ended. Alas, the first driver going there canceled. By the time the second one got me to Moorestown, I was 10 minutes late. Getting home from Stacks On 38 was a lot easier. The driver arrived in less than a minute! Thank heavens, no traffic either way, not even on Route 38 in Pennsauken.

Oversleeping and being 10 minutes late was the worst thing that happened all day. They called for me about 5 minutes after I checked in, and the doctor came 5 minutes after the nurse checked my blood pressure. Dr. Gouda originally wanted me to wear a boot for three weeks. I can't do that. I called out of work enough in the winter when my knee was so stiff. We finally compromised on wearing a boot to bed and doing physical therapy. 

And if there's one good thing about all of these new hospitals and health care offices that have been opening everywhere, it's getting state-of-the-art health care. Everything in the hospital was new and modern, from the smooth gray wood floor to the comfortable tan, gray, and red furniture in the huge, spacious lobby. Even the chair in the doctor's room was comfortable and had padding instead of just papers laid on the vinyl.

Cooper University Health Care opens up into the Moorestown Mall. The only store open when I finished my appointment around 10 was Boscov's. I did need something there that I hadn't bought on vacation. My underwire bras were all bent out of shape and uncomfortable and needed to be replaced. The problem is, I don't like the padded ones that are more common now. I come with plenty of my own padding, thank you! I chose two from Vanity Fair that looked comfortable and one from Warners, all for 30 percent off.

After I bought them, I made my way around the Mall and across Route 38 to Stacks On 38 (just barely missing the huge lawn mower cutting the grass on the meridian). Stacks On 38 is a breakfast place situated on the edge of the Homegoods/Marshalls shopping center. They were busy when I arrived, not surprising since it was barely past 11, but I did get a table by the windows. Had three delicious crepes filled with apple compote and topped with whipped cream and powdered sugar. The turkey bacon was limp, but edible. Listened to four Cooper Health doctors and nurses doing work on their laptops at the table in front of me.

When I got home, I colored a picture of Strawberry leaving for Big Apple City in my vintage Strawberry Shortcake coloring book and watched Remember WENN. We open the second season with "Radio Silence." Jeff Singer survived the London bombings and is being sent home. Victor Comstock wasn't that lucky. Devastated that she never got to tell him how she felt about him, Betty goes into seclusion, writing scripts where nothing bad happens and insisting on a minute of silence for Victor every hour. Scott tries to tell the distraught young woman that you can't live your life drowning in grief, but it's Jeff who finally gets through to her when he returns.

Hilary's absolutely delighted that Jeff came home to her...maybe a little too much. They've gone from constantly bickering to reciting baby talk on their morning shows and making everyone at the station and in their audience nauseous. They finally say "I Now Pronounce You Man and Wife Again" when they get remarried in Mexico...and instantly regret it. Meanwhile, Scott convinces organist Eugenia Bremer to take over their new late night show. (Which will take her out of the remaining second season.)

Switched to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood while I finished coloring. "Daniel Asks Before Touching Someone Else" is one of two brand-new episodes currently on the PBS Kids website. Daniel loves going to the playground with his little sister Margaret, but is baffled when she doesn't want a hug. Mrs. Tiger tells him he has to ask when touching someone, as they might be sensitive about it. Prince Wednesday asks Daniel when he wants a push on the swings. "Jodi Asks Before Touching Someone Else" when she wants to touch Miss Elania's new braids, and she doesn't appreciate that. Likewise, O the Owl isn't big on someone touching his back and asks to be the caboose in their kid train.

Went down for a nap after Daniel ended. I was up way too late last night and had that early appointment this morning. The boot was not the most comfortable thing to sleep in! I know my heel needs to be stretched, but it didn't feel great. Somehow or other, I managed to doze off until 4 PM.

Watched Summer School on Pluto TV after I finished reading a few chapters of Donna Parker: Mystery At Arawak. Physical education teacher Freddie Shoop (Mark Harmon) is not looking forward to teaching remedial English to a disparate group of high school kids, including a whiny geek who is the only underachiever in his family (Richard Horviz), a pregnant girl (Shawnee Smith), a surf-crazy girl who is living with her aunt and uncle (Courtney Thorne-Smith), and two best buddies who are the world's biggest fans of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Gary Riley and Dean Cameron). 

Shoop has no idea what to do with them. He first takes them on field trips, then promises to do things for them if they study. That ends when one of the horror fans ruins his car, their wild party destroys his couch, and the besotted surfer girl tries to move in. He has the obnoxious vice principal (Robin Thomas) breathing down his neck, even as he pursues the attractive history teacher (Kirstie Alley) who is in the room next to his. When the kids try to get more favors, he understandably blows a gasket. The kids bring him back and convince him that he's the only one who can help them show just how much they've learned.

On one hand, a lot of this is very typical of its era and movies of this type. Most of the kids are relatively bland, and a lot of the shenanigans seen here aren't all that different from other teen movies of this era like One Crazy Summer. There's also a few aspects that haven't dated well, notably Shoop's constant pursuit of Robin when she keeps saying "no" and the surfer girl living with Shoop briefly (even Robin calls him on that one). On the other hand, there's some surprisingly realistic touches. The pregnant girl's story is handled in a fairly realistic and sensitive manner. There's also the results of that final test. None of the kids suddenly turn into geniuses, but they do improve. Honestly, if you're a fan of Harmon or of the slobs vs snobs comedies of the 80's, this has enough pluses to be worth checking out on a hot summer day.

I decided to do something different for dinner after my heavy brunch. I dragged my food processor up from the basement, brought down a can of chickpeas and my peanut butter, added olive oil, salt, and pepper, and made hummus. Sliced celery, added a few Cherry tomatoes and PopCorners, and loaded them onto a plate. Not bad, considering I haven't made this in a long time. It was a quick, healthy dinner, anyway.

Ate dinner while watching Match Game '76. Most of the night finished out the week with Scoey Mitchelll and Susan Howard. By the time Gene was helping a woman who ran an egg-based restaurant with the Audience Match, they'd switched to Orson Bean, Betty White, and character actress Pat Delaney.

Finished the night back at Pluto TV with The Wild Wild West. It's "The Night of the Two-Legged Buffalo" when Jim and Artemis are supposed to protect a spoiled prince (Nick Adams) from a remote tropical island whose father wants to make a treaty with the US. The prince only cares about living the good life at fancy spas and lavish hunting lodges. The prince, however, is walking right into a den of assassins who definitely don't want that treaty to go through. Jim has Artie act as a decoy, at least until they realize who's really behind the assassination attempts. 

Outdoor Games

Began the morning with breakfast and Monchichis. Wizzer sends the Monchichis to the underground to visit his friend, the king of a valley city, and use his golden disc to power his potion. To their shock, they land in a swamp that covers the city. Neither the current king nor his subjects claim to remember the disc, but one little rebel helps them reveal the "Swamp Secret" and rescue their king from the Grumplins.

Made a quick errand run after the cartoon ended. I thought it would be easier on my heel to do it on the bike. Not to mention, the weather wasn't really appropriate for lingering. It was cooler than yesterday, but a bit cloudy and still humid. I wanted to get cheap moisture eliminators with charcoal, but I couldn't find them at Dollar General or Family Dollar. I did get pads at Family Dollar, but other than that, I picked up nothing else.

Put on Remember WENN after I got home. "Popping the Question" has Scott Sherwood recruiting Betty to help him set up his new game show...which he wants to fix in favor of the sponsor's son. Betty and the others show him the importance of keeping their shows honest. Meanwhile, the other male staff members grill sweet-natured lawyer Doug Thompson (Matthew Bennett), who is waiting (and waiting) to take Betty out.

The first season finale "World of Tomorrow" has Scott and Betty creating a big Wizard of Oz-inspired show for the end of the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair. The cast is so excited about being heard in New York, they refuse to cooperate or speak their roles as written. Meanwhile, Victor called Jeff away to broadcast with him in war-torn London. Scott does manage to find a way for Jeff to be a part of their show...shortly before the signal from London is cut off by static...

While there are episodes I like from before Victor left, notably "Armchair Detectives" and "A Rock and a Soft Place," I think the show really picks up with Scott's introduction. Scott and his cons are frankly a lot more interesting than the well-meaning but often distracted and standoffish Victor, and he really gives those last three episodes a major shot in the arm. That heartbreaking cliffhanger ending on "World of Tomorrow," however, is a taste of what's to come as the pace picks up in the second season...

Made pancakes for lunch downstairs after WENN ended. I still have plenty of buckwheat mix left. At least I found the eggs this time! I accidentally put more dried cranberries in than originally planned when I meant to sprinkle them in, and ended up dumping almost the whole container. At least they still tasted nice spread with peanut butter and honey.

Went upstairs after I cleaned up from lunch to watch White Heat. Psychotic gangster Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) would do anything to be "on top of the world," including leaving his own man for dead after he's scorched by steam during a railroad robbery. His Ma (Margaret Wycherley) is the only one who can calm his headaches and his hare-trigger temper. His wife Verna (Virginia Mayo) certainly can't. He barely listens to her. After he gets himself into prison for a smaller crime, he's rescued from an attempt on his life by Vic Pardo (Edmund O'Brian). He trusts him so much, he lets him tag along when he breaks out after he learns his mother was killed. He wants to pull one last heist, but Vic isn't what he seems. Cody, however, has no desire to go down anywhere but on "Top of the world, Ma"

Cagney gives one of his best performances in this dark and intense gangster film. He's genuinely terrifying, especially when he suddenly screams and has a breakdown after he learns about his mother's death and in the action-packed finale. Virginia Mayo proves she's more than a cute blonde from Goldwyn musicals as his conniving wife, while Wycherley is appropriately witchy as his adoring mother. This isn't for kids, but if your teens on up are fans of Cagney or crime movies, this is one of the best in the genre.

Needed something lighter after that, so I switched to One Crazy Summer. Hoops McCann (John Cusack) joins his best friend George (Joel Murphy) at Nantucket Island in Massachusetts for some fun in the sun and  inspiration for Hoops' romantic comic. Hoops falls for musician Cassandra Eldridge (Demi Moore) on the way to the island. She's trying to make enough money to buy her grandfather's boarding house before obnoxious seafood restaurant owner Aguilla Beckerstead (Mark Metcalf) tears it down to build luxury condos. Hoops first ends up on a date with Cookie (Kimberly Foster), the girlfriend of Beckerstead's spoiled, lazy son Teddy (Matt Mulhern), but things really pick up when he and his friends promote Cassandra's big show. After Beckerstead buys the boarding house anyway, they enter the local regatta to win the trophy and prove that the misfits who work together, kick jerk rear together.

This old childhood favorite is a bizarre variation on the "slobs vs snobs" comedies of the 1980's and early 90's. Some of it occasionally borders on black comedy at times, including where George constantly ends up while the others pursue women on the beach, Hoops' decidedly unromantic comics, and George's Uncle Frank (Bruce Wagner) who has literally been driven crazy trying to win one million dollars on a radio call-in show. If you have older kids and teens around, they might be the best audience for the wacky hijinks on this weird take on love, boating, and wild summer vacations.

Moved to Match Game '76 during dinner. Susan Howard, now best-known for her appearances on Dallas, made her first appearance here. Scoey Mitchelll has a rougher time in the first seat, even as he admires the lady contestants. Fannie Flagg and Brett Somers have more fun teasing each other.

(Oh, and it also rained at this point. I even heard a rumble of thunder. I don't think it rained too heavily, though, just enough to make it a little wet.) 

Finished the night on YouTube with game shows that were filmed or set outdoors. Usually, when one thinks of game shows, they think of massive indoor sets and bright lights and neon. Occasionally, a show, usually a stunt show, would take the games outdoors to the fresh air. Wild and Crazy Kids on Nickelodeon, for instance, had kids (and sometimes parents) competing in stunts around two different locations. Though they are in a mall in this episode, they're also outside, trying to get their remote control cars to avoid being smashed and being hit in the face with cream pies.

The Diamond Head Game from 1975 may have been one of the first game shows to film outdoors. Bob Eubanks asks contestants (three in this early episode from before the format changed) quiz questions. The winner earns the right to climb Diamond Head while remembering items Bob mentions on a list. The winner steps into the "Money Volcano," where they grab at dollar bills blown up at them. They might grab money or even prizes. Bob lets them keep the money or keep going for more.

Um, yeah. No wonder this only lasted 7 months in syndication and went through two different formats. The attractive outdoor filming is pretty much all this one has going for it. Even Bob Eubanks later admitted on Card Sharks in 1988 that he hated doing it.

Kids did better outside. Destroy Build Destroy is one of two live-action shows to survive the bloodbath that was the short-lived CN Real on Cartoon Network. Two teams of kids design and build a vehicle, using scrap from a car they blew up earlier. Winner gets money and to blow up the losers' vehicle. No wonder they kept this one. Not only is it every kid's fantasy to blow up a vehicle, but watching the kids design, build, and drive their own vehicles is fascinating and hilarious. 

The Canadians took a quieter approach to outdoor game shows. Race Against the Tide pitted ten teams of artists against one another to build the most beautiful and creative sand sculptures at the New River Beach Provincial Park in New Brunswick. As someone who grew up watching artists make equally elaborate sand sculptures on the beaches in Cape May and Wildwood, it was really cool to watch these people at work and see what they came up with. 

Wild West Showdown is my favorite of the many mid-90's American Gladiators imitators. This syndicated action show pits three cowboys and cowgirls against each other to see who can do the best cleaning up a fictional western town. Honestly, watching would-be sheriffs stop runaway stagecoaches, compete in paint-ball shootouts, and try to dodge outlaws while jumping on logs is a heck of a lot more interesting than watching two muscle-bound jocks try to knock each other off a platform.

Star Games from 1985 was very similar to the Battle of the Network Stars specials from the 1970's. Teams of celebrities from various games of the time compete in outdoor events like swimming, tennis, cycling, and track and field. Not only is it fun to watch these folks compete outside of their usual setting, but you get to hear about shows like the short-lived Miami Vice-esque newspaper drama Impulses that don't often get mentioned nowadays. The guys from that show are joined by two Miss Universes; they play teams from Different Strokes and Growing Pains. 

Take a summer vacation to a dude ranch, the beach, the mall, or Hawaii without leaving home in these hilarious and unique shows!

The Diamond Head Game (1975)

Star Games (1985)

Wild and Crazy Kids (1991)

Wild West Showdown (1995)

Destroy Build Destroy (2010)

Race Against the Tide (2023)

We're Having a Heat Wave

I overslept and had just enough time to write in my journal, have breakfast, and call Uber...and of course, it took forever to get a ride this morning. It was too hot to ride my bike, even at quarter of 9. The one going to work took 13 minutes, and yes, I was late. The one going home took 9 minutes. No trouble on the road, no traffic anywhere.

The Acme was surprisingly busy this morning. I figured the heat would scare everyone off, but it's the beginning of the month and four days before the biggest holiday of the summer. I spent most of the time sweeping and rounding up carts, but I did have to gather a full outside trash can at one point. And yes, I did carts in the heat. They had to be done. They kept disappearing. I know to go inside and get water when necessary, and I have to go inside every hour on the hour to sweep anyway.

And yes, it was that hot. It was sunny and windless all morning, with a sharp, cloudless pale blue sky and nary a breeze in sight. It was killer hot and humid even by the time I finished at 1 PM. 

When I got home, I changed, then had lunch. To make up for my hasty breakfast, I made buckwheat pancakes. Had them topped with peanut butter and honey, along with cherries for fruit. Oh yum! They came out so perfectly and were great with oat milk and cinnamon.

Watched The Scooby Doo Show on Tubi while I ate. Mystery Inc find themselves stranded in the Smithsonian after hours when they're in Washington DC for the big Bicentennial celebrations. They end up dodging "The Spirits of '76," the ghosts of three notorious traitors who supposedly haunt the museum. Scooby ends up using one of the most famous vehicle exhibits at the Smithsonian to catch those patriotic crooks.

After that, I went down for a much-needed nap. I was up too late last night and was extraordinarily tired this morning. I slept from 2:30 until after 5 PM, and I was still tired when I rolled out of bed. I read the first chapter of Johnny Tremain before I finally got up. 

Watched Match Game '75 during dinner. The first episode finished out the week with Bert Convy and Jo Ann Pflug. Kate Jackson made her first of two appearances on the show when she was still a nurse in the cop show The Rookies the next week. She was joined by wacky Avery Schriberer of the thick mustache and wild curls and Fannie Flagg in a sweater with sequined hands in strategic places. 

Finished the night watching Uncle Sam Magoo on YouTube. I went further into this stirring special featuring Mr. Magoo exploring 200 years of American history at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in July 2023.

Animation Celebration - Uncle Sam Magoo

Walking In History

Began the day with breakfast and The Pirates of Dark Water. Bloth becomes "The Soul Stealer" when a soothsayer claims Ren is the only one who is destined to find the treasures. Morpho creates a potion that'll trade Bloth's soul and that of his first mate for Ren and Niddler's. Bloth thinks he's pulled it off...until the man Ioz stole the Wraith from decides he wants it back, and Niddler wants to fly again...

Got to work right on time, and that was probably the most exciting thing that happened all morning. It got a little busy around 10:30-11 PM, but was otherwise dead quiet. I didn't even have that many carts to gather. For one thing, it was too nice to be shopping. I pushed carts in strong, cool wind, bright blue skies, and warm sunshine. It was probably in the lower 80's, hot, but not overly so for mid-June. I was in and out with no trouble whatsoever.

Soon as I got home, I changed and went downstairs to make lunch. This time, the buckwheat pancake mix just made plain pancakes. I topped them with peanut butter, orange marmalade, and honey. Oh yum! They came out perfectly, and the marmalade and peanut butter complimented them well. 

Watched Paw Patrol while I ate lunch. Mayor Humdinger is beside himself - many times over - when "Mighty Pups, Charged Up: Pups Stop a Humdinger Horde." Humdinger wants his Kitty Catastrophe Crew to have a professional bath, but Katie's animal salon is full. After he accidentally walks into Harold's cloning machine, the Humdingers steal Katie and her animal salon! For once, Harold is more than happy to help the pups stop his wayward uncle...er, uncles...from wrecking more havoc. Harold is still determined to be mayor of somewhere. After he finds another piece of meteor, he insists on being mayor of the moon, and turns the lighthouse into a rocket ship to get him there. He doesn't realize Cap'n Turbot is inside, or that the Patrol is on his tail in "Mighty Pups, Charged Up: Pups Stop a Mighty Lighthouse." 

Called Uber after the cartoon ended and I cleaned up lunch. Not only will I not have the time to explore Cherry Hill on Saturday this week, but the weather is supposed to be lousy that day. I decided to check out the Cherry Parke Condos and Waterford Apartments today and take advantage of that gorgeous weather. The driver going to Cherry Parke and home were both there in 10 minutes. There was a little traffic in Haddonfield, but otherwise no trouble.

Cherry Parke and Waterford, despite one being condos and one being apartments, look pretty much the same. They're two-story brick Colonial-style buildings from the early 50's, with yellow shutters and quaint details like the curving trim and red doors. Both complexes surround green areas connected by sidewalks with common trash areas. Honestly, the place was showing its age. Shutters were missing from some buildings, and the paint was faded on others. There was a lot of old furniture piled up in the back parking lot area, including a vintage organ. I saw dog excrescence on the green, even though people weren't supposed to walk their dogs there. Tons of kids' bikes locked on racks indicated a lot of families living here. I suspect most of the residents are families and health care workers priced out of expensive Haddonfield and east Cherry Hill who needed inexpensive homes to buy or rent. 

On the other hand, the buildings are quite charming, certainly more than the very 60's Playa Del Sol and Sussex House or the high rise across from the Dollar Tree on the Marlton Pike, and they're surrounded by wide green lawns. There's also the lovely Wallworth Park across the street. As I headed down King's Highway, I walked down steep stone steps and stepped into a smooth emerald field. I followed the sound of gurgling and rushing to the stream, where I saw a man fishing next to a small spillway. Apparently, this powered mills, hundreds of years ago. 

I continued down King's Highway to see how long it would take me to make it into Haddonfield. It took about 10 minutes. I passed by many historic buildings, from a gorgeous, sprawling yellow Victorian (which apparently is in danger of being demolished - they'd better not, that building was beautiful), to a red brick Colonial that was in the midst of exterior remodeling. I stopped and read about an older building that's now used as offices but had been a prison house during the American Revolution. 

By the time I made it to the corner of Haddon Avenue and King's Highway, I was hot as heck. I stopped at Starbucks for a treat. The strawberry matcha loaf was amazing, deliciously moist with swirls of green tea and strawberry. I would have liked the Butterfly Drink better if it didn't have those weird gel bubbles at the bottom. They were fruity and very sweet, but I prefer nothing in my drink but my drink and a little ice. 

Continued down Haddon Avenue to Haddonfield's Acme. Haddonfield has the most unique Acme building in the entire chain. Unlike the Acme at Cape May, which was built in the 70's and remodeled to fit in with the rest of the town in the 2000's, the Haddonfield Acme is genuinely old. It was built as a Quaker meetinghouse in the 1851, and rather than knock down history, Acme just built around it. The Haddonfield Acme is tiny, as you can guess from being in a small meetinghouse. I think it was pretty recently remodeled, but that doesn't make it any bigger. I did manage to get pocked-sized suntan lotion (I couldn't find the tube I keep in my backpack purse), a drink, and more Persil before that sale ends. I thought it would be easier to pick up Uber here than on busy King's Highway, too.

Put on The Price Is Right when I got home. I arrived in time for the Showcases. One was a pretty normal no-frills display that ended with a trip to Austria. The other was a lot goofier, and ended with a cherry-red sports car. Though both of the ladies got relatively close, the one who bid on the sports car was, to her delight, closer. 

Watched Match Game '75 while eating dinner. The first hour finished out the week with Bert Convy, Joyce Bulifant, and Betty White. I don't know what got into everyone in those last two episodes. Everyone was jumping on everyone else, from Gene grabbing Mary Ann for kisses to Bert chasing the contestant to the winning contestant ending up in Richard Dawson's lap. The next week, with Dwayne Hickman of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and Broadway star Carol Lawrence, was more subdued by comparison. 

Took a much-needed shower, then finished the night with the rest of Spy Smasher. I like that this serial took chances. At least one hero doesn't make it out alive, which is rare for serials. Other than Spy Smasher picking up a twin brother, it also seems to be relatively accurate to the comic books as well, especially for this era. There were some incredible action set pieces, especially the flaming harbor in the final episode. You might call this the less-florid Batman to Republic's earlier Captain Marvel serial, a hero who relies on his wits and human strength rather than any magical powers. If you're a Batman fan, love the original Spy Smasher comics, or are a serial enthusiast, this is roundly considered to be one of the best. 

Holiday Symphony

Began a late morning with a pancake breakfast. Added peanut butter, dried cranberries, and strawberry preserves to the gluten-free pancake mix. The peanut butter worked. The dried cranberries kept falling out. I tried swirling the preserves on top of the first - I just ended up making a mess cooking it. The second one came out a bit better. At any rate, they still tasted good while listening to patriotic records.

I found Charles Ives' Holiday Symphony a few years ago. The four moments revolve around the patriotic holidays Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day (then known as Decoration Day), the 4th of July, and Thanksgiving and Forefather's Day. Decoration Day is loud and crashing, a band in a morning parade, and is more fun than you might think.

I've been listening to America the Beautiful on patriotic holidays for almost 20 years. This 2-disc LP set was released in 1986 in honor of the Statue of Liberty's remodel, and you probably won't find a more all-American collection of music anywhere else. The first disc features most of the vocal music, including "This Land Is Your Land" and Kate Smith's famous rendition of "God Bless America." I also love the bouncy "Grand Canyon Suite," stirring "American Patrol," and the medley of George M. Cohen songs performed by the Boston Pops where you can hear people singing along in the background. The second disc has the more traditional numbers, like "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean," and "The Stars and Stripes Forever." "Pride On Parade" has the themes for the Armed Forces - "Anchors Aweigh," "The Caissons Go Rolling Along," "The Marines' Hymn."

It rained earlier in the morning, but it was just cloudy and cold by quarter of 2. Even so, I wasn't taking chances. I called Uber. For once, that might have been the best choice. The one going to work arrived in five minutes and got me there in plenty of time. The one going home came in 8 minutes. 

Work was busy when I came in, but not overwhelming. You'd never know it from the state the carts were in. It must have been busier this morning and in the early afternoon, when people were coming out of church and getting ready for picnics they were suddenly able to hold. At least it was cloudy and a little cool, in the lower 60's, but not rainy or even windy. It hasn't rained since last night. I still had a hard time keeping up with the carts. They remained in bad shape, even as my shift ended.

Bought a container of seafood salad and crackers to have with a bag of baby carrots for dinner, then went home, changed, finished America the Beautiful, and spent the rest of the night listening to today's Match Game marathon. Several now well-known celebrities turned up as contestants on the 70's and early 80's version of the show. Soap star Lynn Deerfield talked about how she won money on the 60's Match Game with Burt Reynolds and Don Meredith as her team captains in a nighttime episode from 1976. (Alas, like most of the 60's run, those episodes are now lost.) 

Also in 1976, struggling actress Brianne Leary won several games that would later allow her to focus on her acting career. She became the only contestant to become a panelist on the 1970's run when she reappeared for two weeks in 1979 after appearing in the first season of CHIps. Later talk show hostess Aphrodite Jones made a brief appearance as a contestant in 1978, though unlike Brianne, she didn't win any money. 

The two most famous celebrities to be contestants on Match Game turned up in memorable syndicated episodes. Kirstie Alley's first episode was hilarious even before she appeared. The woman who played before her spent so long trying to answer a question about sheep, Gene ended up laying on the floor. To tell the truth, Kirstie seemed a little above it all in her first round. She seemed to get more into the spirit of things in the second episode.

Future talk show hostess Jenny Jones had a lot more fun. She really seemed to enjoy herself, and not only played well, but won both her games. Barbara Rhodes had the honor of helping her fund her acting and hosting career. 

Check out several celebrities before they became famous - and one at the height of her fame - in this star-studded marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Contestants as Celebrities and Famous People

Applesauce for the Teachers

Began the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Plus. They finally debuted more of this show online last month. It's "Mickey's Movie Night," and most of the gang is going to help Picture Pete get his new drive-in theater set up. Chip and Dale help give out magnetic tickets, Daisy and Clarabelle set up the hit-the-pyramid game, and Minnie and Mickey find a way to distract the audience while Pete winds the film. Chip and Dale would like to see the movie, if only Donald would push that big green button in his car...

Hurried out after the cartoon ended. I got out later than I thought and was ten minutes late to PNC for my appointment with them. Everything went fine after that. I talked to the head banker, and he was really nice. He agreed that I can't live in an attic anymore. At this point, I don't care what the housing market is like. I'm not waiting another year and half for it to go down, if it ever does. I need a real home. 

It was such a gorgeous day, it was too nice to eat inside. I bought a "Haddon Sunrise" egg, cheese, and tomato sandwich on whole wheat bread, potato chips, iced chai latte, and dried mango slices and apple rings at Haddon Culinary. Ate my lunch on one of the wooden benches against the side of the building. Yum! The sandwich was delicious, the chai the best I ever tasted. The weather couldn't have been more perfect too, windy, sunny, bright blue, and just warm enough, in the lower 70's.

When I got home, I dug out my food processor and finally decided to make applesauce. I have a pile of apples from the Acme and the farm market that I really can't eat right now. My gums are still a little sensitive from having that tooth pulled last week. There was also the one that was half-going bad. I sliced the good half of that one, cubed the rest, boiled them until they were soft, loaded them into the food processor, added honey, and let the processor go until it was smooth. Ohhhh yummy! It was perfect. I added slightly more honey, but otherwise, it was nice and smooth and just sweet enough.

Watched Shirt Tales after I finished cleaning up the kitchen. It's a "Vacation for Dinkel" when he claims he has "animalitis" and goes on vacation to Hawaii to get away from his charges. The Shirt Tales follow him to help him have a restful vacation...but the cure winds up being worse than the sickness when he wears them out! "Wingman" is a super villain in a crow mask who uses crows to steal from banks. The Shirt Tales track him down and expose his plot.

Headed out to the Thomas Sharp School after the cartoon ended. As I rode along the sidewalk alongside the school, I saw colorful, beautifully-drawn chalk artwork declaring that teachers are the best and thanking the teachers in the school for all they do. There were huge papers on the doors to the library, the custodian's office, and the cafeteria too where kids could write down their appreciation for those teachers and workers who help them with their books, keep their school clean, and make sure they get proper lunches. Apparently, tomorrow is Teacher Appreciation Day. I thought it was so sweet, especially when some of the older kids stopped to write their thanks on the cafeteria paper.

There were 23 kids today, 10 at my table, and they were pretty wild. I had a hard enough time with the ones at my table. It was even worse in the cafeteria after snack. Two of the girls got into a fight. I yanked one away much harder than I should have, and she got upset. I apologized to her and held the girls back to talk to them. As it turns out, they'd been best friends pretty much since birth and talked things out on their own after the one girl calmed down.

Considering the gorgeous day (and the fact that it's supposed to rain later in the week), I am so glad we got the kids out to the playground today! They were utterly hilarious, chasing each other around and dancing to "Sharks In the Water," "The Pink Tiger Hunt," "Try Everything" from Zootopia, "Zoo" from Zootopia 2, the themes from Bluey, PJ Masks, and Paw Patrol, and songs from Moana, Moana 2, and Trolls. 

They finally got on the swings by 4:30, and they all wanted to be pushed, even the ones who are capable of swinging themselves. One little boy got mad, and I'm pretty sure he kicked one of the girls in the stomach on purpose when he was swinging. Thankfully, she was fine once she got her turn. Other than that and some squabbling, we had a great time out there. There were only 2 girls left by 5 PM, so the head teacher let me go 15 minutes early.

I stopped at CVS on the way home. In addition to needing to use the bathroom, I wanted to pick up a gift card for Mother's Day. I also got corn remover pads. I hope those work better than the bigger callus removers. They didn't get rid of the whole callus - it must have been that bad. It's still sore.

Put on Match Game '91 and had dinner when I got home, after I took the laundry downstairs. Most of tonight was devoted to the week when Fred Travelena, Dolly Martin, Khrystyne Haje of Head of the Class, and comedian Jason Stuart joined Charles. Dolly was as sweet and funny as she was on the 70's-80's Match Game with her husband Dick, while Fred was frankly much funnier than he was in the syndicated Match Game or Match Game-Hollywood Squares.  

Speaking of Match Game, I finished the night at YouTube with episodes that featured either real-life mothers, or women who played mothers on TV after the laundry finished. The second week of the show featured Richard Thomas and his Waltons mama Michael Lerned, the only actors from that show to appear on any version of Match Game. Lerned seemed to enjoy herself that week, but poor Thomas looked like a deer caught in the headlights. (Incidentally, the episode I have here was only available in an incomplete copy for years due to audio issues on the original tape. Buzzr cleaned up the audio as well as they could last year.)

Isobel Sandford was a lot more game in early 1976, just as The Jeffersons was getting started. In fact, she was hilarious, and I wish she'd shown up for more than two weeks. She helps a very sweet and funny young lady with the Head-to-Head in the episode I have here and gets to hear Marvin Hamlisch and Charles Nelson Reilly serenade her. One Day at a Time single mother Bonnie Franklin turned up later in the year and did several weeks through 1979, including the one I have here where Gene questions her sitting position.

Real-life mothers appeared on the show as well. Patti Deusch and Jo Ann Pflug were on the panel while pregnant in 1975. Patty Duke, the mother of five children (including MacKenzie and Sean Astin), gets to admire the blue utilitarian suit Gene Rayburn bought on his trip to China in the 1978 episode I have here. Elaine Joyce anticipated "Take Your Child to Work Day" by bringing along her daughter Taylor Van to an episode in 1981. 

Mothers appeared on other versions of Match Game, too. Barbara Billingsly was among the Leave It to Beaver cast members who appeared during New Year's week on The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. (I kept expecting her to speak jive, or at least be trailed by 10 Muppet Babies.) Vicki Lawrence, Mama herself on Mama's Family, was one of the best things about the 90's Match Games. The episode I have here from 1991 features her wild feud with host Ross Schafer when she criticizes his rather ugly tie. 

Match with your mother and some of the best mothers on TV in these delightful shows!

Match Game (1973 - Micheal Lerned)

Match Game (1975 - Patti Deusch) 

Match Game (1975 - Jo Ann Pflug)

Match Game (1976 - Isobel Sanford) 

Match Game (1976 - Bonnie Franklin)

Match Game (1978 - Patty Duke) 

Match Game Syndicated (1981 - Elaine Joyce)

Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour (1983 - Barbara Billignsly)

Match Game (1991 - Vicki Lawrence)

It's a Marshmallow World In the Winter

Didn't have the time this morning to start with anything but breakfast! I overslept. It was 20 after 8 when I woke up, and I had work at 9. Thank heavens I was able to get an Uber driver in 4 minutes and arrived at work right on time. It was snowing hard, but the snow was only sticking to the grass. The roads and sidewalks were clear. The driver going home only took 7 minutes to come. There were no problems or traffic either way, and I got where I was going in the usual 5 minutes.

Maybe that's why it was so busy today. The morning Uber driver said it would probably be dead, due to the weather and the holiday weekend, but he couldn't have been more wrong. We were off and on crazy for a lot of the day. Everyone must have come out once they saw that the snow wasn't sticking to the streets. I was alone during the morning, but by the time I went on break around 11:30, one of the college-age boys had taken over sweeping and helped me with carts. 

Unlike yesterday, however, the snow only stopped briefly once before it started up again. It never stuck to the street or sidewalks while I was at work, or even the parking lot. Like I told one of the managers who also waited for an Uber driver later, it amounted to not much more than very pretty rain. I did help figure out what to do about a ceiling leak in the women's bathroom. I remembered the purple bins used when the back storage area had a leak in the ceiling and grabbed one of those. 

After I got home, I changed and did a few quick chores, then decided it was the perfect day for cooking and baking. I still had that Scone Goddess scone mix Amanda gave me in late November that I hadn't used and a bag of fresh cranberries waiting to be made into sauce. I bought the heavy cream for the scones, but didn't have the chance to make them until today. Oh yum! I added a little too much cream to the chocolate chocolate chip scones and made them into drop scones instead of rolling them out, but they still came out tasty. The cranberry sauce was edible, if too soupy. 

And...for some reason, there were a couple of guys playing football outside as I worked on the scones. This despite East Clinton being a block from the White Horse Pike and the snow continuing to come down. It finally started to stick to the road later in the afternoon, too. Thankfully, they'd finally fled by the time the cranberry sauce was as done as it was going to get.

Listened to recently-acquired records while I worked on yesterday's blog entry. The live-action Disney Little Mermaid has its good points (Melissa McCarthy was a hilarious Ursula, Eric had a lot more spirit, Ariel was somewhat more proactive), but its songs are a mixed bag, to say the least. I actually like the slower tempo on "Under the Sea." I can finally catch all the words to that one! "Kiss the Girl" is just as much fun here as it is in the original, and McCarthy has a blast with "Poor Unfortunate Souls." Of the new songs, my favorite is Eric's "Wild Uncharted Waters," which perfectly outlines his adventurous personality and desire to find that elusive voice that rescued him. "The Scuttlebutt," a rather ridiculous rap for comedienne Awkwafina as Scuttle, works far less well. Ariel's "For the First Time," as she describes the wonders of the land in her head, is a bit better. 

Ehh, the original animated Little Mermaid was never my favorite Disney movie either, and this one isn't going to change my mind. Fine if your kids loved the movie. Everyone else is better off looking for "Wild Uncharted Waters" as a single somewhere. 

The Spinners were at the top of their careers when their self-titled album debuted in 1973. As the album cover mentions, "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" and "I'll Be Around" were the million-selling hits here. We also have one of my favorites of their songs, the charming "One of Kind Love Affair," along with "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You" and "We Belong Together." 

Finished the night with more classic Betty White episodes. Betty appeared on pretty much the entire run of Match Game, on every version from 1961 through 1991 except Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. She joined Charles Nelson Reilly in the character actress seat in 1990 and got to hear Vicki Lawrence answer a question in her "Mama" voice and Joe Alasky do Porky Pig in front of Ross's "That's All, Folks!" entrance. She strutted her stuff in 1981, wearing a gorgeous red dress a friend of Sharon Farrell's made, then watched Sharon land on Richard Paul during a question about mud wrestling. Betty loved strutting her stuff. She stripped earlier in 1980 (or at least, took off her jacket) and in 1978, too. 

She could be even funnier on nighttime episodes. She appeared on one of my personal favorite PM episodes of all time when she saw Richard Dawson bet Gene Rayburn that "Color TV" wouldn't be on the "Admiral ___" Audience Match. Gene should know better than to ever bet against Richard, who always knew. Betty spent the episode tossing out quips with an on-fire Brett. Her last appearance on the show with Allen Ludden was a few months before his death in 1981. Though the full week with them sitting next to each other in the bottom row is currently unavailable, the PM is in circulation. Jimmie Walker and Jonnelle Allen look on as Betty appreciates that her beloved hubby is still thinking about sexual matters and teaches him a lesson in comedy sounds. 

Betty's love of animals also turned up on syndication. Gene brought along his daughter's dog Trotter for an episode and a PM in 1980. Betty adored the dear old mutt and took good care of her. Charles kept calling her a vicious dog, but she was really a sweetheart who was probably prettier, smarter, and better-behaved than most of the panelists that week. There was also the time in 1977 when she "borrowed" Charles' glasses and pipe and imitated him in his seat next to Brett. (And regretted it later, complaining about how awful Charles' pipe tobacco tasted.) 

There's lots more Betty in this hilarious and heartfelt tribute to the Queen of Game Shows!

Match Game Sunday Classics - A Celebration of Life: Betty White "Best Episodes on Match Game" (Part 2)

Cranberries and Turkey Feathers

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and Garfield's Thanksgiving. Garfield is not a happy camper when Liz not only puts him on a diet the day before Thanksgiving, but Jon invites her for dinner. Jon can't cook something the size of a turkey to save his life. Good thing Grandma from the Christmas special knows what to do.

Spent the rest of the morning working on something I've been wanting to do for almost two weeks. I bought two containers of fresh cranberries from the farm market, but haven't had the time to make them into cranberry sauce. Finally did that this morning. I think I either didn't mash them enough, didn't boil them enough, or overdid the water, because they did not thicken. I just let the sauce cool in the hope it would thicken before running off to the Thomas Sharp School.

It had rained off and on all morning. Though it wasn't raining by the time I rode there and looked like it hadn't rained in a few hours, the playground was still pretty wet. There was no thought of taking the little kids out today. After I ate lunch with them, we took them to the library to hear What Was I Scared Of?, Room On the Broom, and the Piggie and Elephant story The Thank You Book. They were rowdy, spending more time messing around with the chairs than listening...but to be fair, they were all squished up front in that small library and didn't have a lot of room to sit down.

After that, we traded rooms. The younger kids moved to the cafeteria to watch The Land Before Time on a teacher's cell phone, while the older kids watched the feature-length animated The Grinch from 2018 in the library. One of the teachers brought popcorn and pretzels, which meant everyone got a free snack. Some of the kids continued coloring turkeys and fall scenes in the cafeteria. After they got tired of that, they used play clay and made turkeys from pipe cleaners, Popsicle sticks, feathers, and glue...but that made just as much of a mess as the turkey hand project from last week. 

The head teacher said I could go early, but I did stick around for an extra half-hour to help clean up the feather mess and wipe down and organize toys and games before everyone comes back on Monday. The kids in the cafeteria were tossing around a Nerf ball and the ones in the library were finishing The Grinch when I headed out around 4. 

(Oh, and the rain returned around 6:15 and continued, sometimes heavily, off and on for the rest of the evening.)

Put on Planes, Trains, and Automobiles when I got home. All ad executive Neil Page (Steve Martin) wants is to get home to Chicago in time for his Thanksgiving dinner, but he has the worst case of bad travel luck ever. The plane is cancelled, the train breaks down, the crammed-full bus only goes to St. Louis, and there's no rental cars on the lot. He also keeps encountering Del Griffith (John Candy), a shower curtain ring salesman who is the nicest guy you'll ever meet, but is also a chatty mass of bad habits. As the two men travel in any and every way they can across the frozen Midwestern landscape, Neil discovers why Del is on the road during a holiday...and why he has a real reason to be thankful for his home and family.

What's likely director John Hughes' best movie features a hilarious script and career-best performances from Martin and Candy as the two very different men who navigate every possible obstacle on the road to Chicago. Their chemistry carries the movie, even when it takes a forced left turn into sentimentality near the end.

Switched to The Plymouth Adventure after a shower. This one goes further into the history behind the holiday. Spencer Tracy is Captain Christopher Jones, the grizzled head of the Mayflower charged with taking a group of 102 colonists to the New World on the tiny Mayflower. Among those traveling are Puritans, a strict religious sect who are going to America to avoid persecution in their native England. Jones doesn't trust them, especially after he falls for Dorothy Bradford (Gene Tierney), the wife of the group elder William Bradford (Leo Genn). Carpenter John Alden (Van Johnson) has his own sights set on pretty Priscilla Mullins (Dawn Addams), but she seems to favor Captain Miles Standish (Noel Drayton). 

Tierney and Tracy are by far the most interesting thing about this spectacular action drama. The other winner here are the special effects. They won an Oscar in 1952, and they still look darn good today, especially the huge storm near the middle of the film. 

Had dinner while watching three very different Thanksgiving sitcom episodes. Barney Miller's "Thanksgiving Story" has Miller and his men frustrated over not being able to go home for the holiday. Their Thanksgiving takes a strange turn when they have to deal with a group of mental health hospital escapees who invaded an automat and a man who stabbed his mooching brother-in-law in the hand with a fork during Thanksgiving dinner.

Things aren't much better in Korea on MASH. Hawkeye and Hunnicut hit "The Yalu Brick Road" to get an antidote for the salmonella from Klinger's cheap turkeys that left almost the entire base sick. They not only manage to get the medicine, but pick up a Korean soldier who keeps surrendering to them on the way. Meanwhile, Father Mulcahey has to keep Hot Lips and Winchester from killing each other, and Rizzo (G.W Baiely) wants to get his hands on Klinger and squeeze the life out of him when he's up to moving.

The swashbuckler spoof Jack of All Trades wins the award for most creative holiday episode. In "One, Two, Three, Give Me Lady Liberty," Jack and Emilia discover that Napoleon is building an enormous woman statue he intends to send to the US. Emilia is flattered when the diminutive emperor insists on using her face for the statue, but she's not as thrilled when she finds out why he's really sending it. Jack finally gets Napoleon to admit his plot at their Thanksgiving dinner, then insists on another Thanksgiving tradition to distract him - football! 

Here's even more specials to tide you over before your own turkey dinner tomorrow!

Looney Tunes - Tom Turk and Daffy

The Berenstain Bears Meet Big Paw

Alan King's Thanksgiving Special: What Have We Got to Be Thankful For? 

Buttons and Rusty In The Turkey Caper (A Chucklewood Thanksgiving)

Intergalactic Thanksgiving (Please Don't Eat the Planets)

Tennessee Tuxedo - The Romance of Plymouth Rock

Calvin & the Colonel - Thanksgiving Dinner

Tex Avery at MGM - Jerky Turkey

Nickelodeon's Thanksgiving Fest 1989

BC - The First Thanksgiving

Terry Toons - The Landing of the Pilgrims

Casper the Friendly Ghost - Do or Diet

Gram Bear's Thanksgiving Surprise

Wheels In the Snow

Began the morning with a big, warming breakfast of eggnog pancakes with butter and real maple syrup, clementines, and hot chocolate while watching Frosty's Winter Wonderland. Frosty's happy to come back and visit his kid friends after the first snowfall of the season, but he's lonely when they go inside. They create a snow-woman for him that he names Crystal, but it takes a little something special to make her "all livin'." Meanwhile, Jack Frost is jealous of Frosty's popularity and will do anything to get his hands on that magic hat!

Yes, we did get snow overnight. It was still coming down at a pretty good clip when I got up at 9:30, but by 11:30, it had begun to slow down. The snow was the fine, powdery stuff that blows around and is easy to clean. It stuck to the sidewalks and the grass, but the roads could have been a lot worse. 

Good thing I already had off and had planned on spending the day at home. I took the laundry downstairs after I cleaned up from breakfast, then spent the next hour-and-a-half or so taking down the Christmas tree. Put the ornaments away, took the lights and garland off, changed the bears who stay out year-round into their regular jackets and neck-bows, put the Christmas stuffed animals and their clothes into the Santa bag, put the Christmas ornament bin and the Santa bag in the closet where I keep the holiday decorations. Put the laundry in the dryer before I did the bears. 

Listened to the soundtrack from Wonka while taking the ornaments down. Though probably not quite as iconic as the 1971 film's music, there are some nice tracks here. The opening "A Hatful of Dreams" as Wonka (Timothee Chalamet) arrives at the European town where he hopes to open his own chocolate shop is lovely and wistful, and there's the sweet ballad for him and the orphan Noodle when he takes her to the zoo, "For a Moment." "A World of Your Own" is Wonka's number as people explore his chocolate shop, reminding everyone why they love fantasy to begin with. We even get Hugh Grant's two very funny versions of "The Oompa Loompa Song" as Lofty, a snooty Oompa Loompa who is trying to regain face after Wonka stole their magic while he was on the job.

Returned to Frosty cartoons during lunch. Frosty Returns is an oddity from 1992 that is pretty much Bill Melendez's attempt to cross the animation style and sarcastic kids of the Peanuts specials with the whimsical, weird plots and characters of Rankin-Bass. Jonathan Winters narrates the story of how budding magician Holly and her science-obsessed best friend Charles helped Frosty (John Goodman) stop a greedy businessman (Brian Doyle-Murphy) and his snow removal spray from destroying Frosty and the town's winter carnival.

Put the tree itself away after lunch, then did the rest of the Christmas decorations. Anything that goes up first - the wreath for the front door, the garlands and bows, the feather-style tree and its ornaments, the nativity and stockings and the red and green coasters I crocheted a while back - went in the last bin. The poinsettia place mats I'd just washed went in here, too. 

Listened to more soundtracks while I worked. Diamonds are Forever from 1971 was the last Sean Connery Bond film for over a decade. It's strange as heck but a guilty pleasure of mine just the same, and one of the reasons is the awesome, cynical title song performed by Shirley Bassey. I like it even better than her better-known theme from Goldfinger. 

I wanted the Deadpool & Wolverine soundtrack partially because I really enjoyed that movie back in July...and partially for the sheer variety of music used. You're not going to see "Angel of the Morning," the Platters version of "Only You," "Bye Bye Bye" by NSYNC, and "Glamorous" by Fergie in the same place anywhere else...and that's just side one, disc one! You have everything from Green Day's "(Good Riddance) The Time of Your Life" to Jimmy Durante's version of "I'll Be Seeing You" on the second disc. You might not be as interested in this if you're an 80's and 90's rock fan who already has a lot of these songs, but it's still worth getting for the truly eclectic selections.

By 3:30, the snow had long stopped. When I stepped outside, it was cloudy and still really windy, but otherwise not doing anything besides blowing snow around. I shoveled snow for a friend who was working most of the day. Thankfully, I believe we got the advertised 3 to 4 inches. The streets and many sidewalks were totally clear. I had a harder time, since neither the driveway, nor the sidewalk had been salted. At least it was really light snow like I mentioned, and not hard to scrape or lift.

Went back inside for Match Game '73. The first episodes I saw today featured one of my favorite panelists who only did one week...and one of my least-favorites. Comedienne Pat Carroll had a blast on the show and was funny as heck. I really wish she came back. Character actor Bill Culp didn't play well and didn't seem to really get the humor. Brett Somers spent that week arguing with her then-husband Jack Klugman in one of two weeks he sat next to her. The next week had a much better panel, with Charles Nelson Reilly returning and Nipsey Russell, Betty White, and Loretta Swit joining in. 

Finished the night after dinner and a shower with episodes of Wheel of Fortune in honor of its 50th anniversary today. Originally titled Shopper's Bazaar and using an upright wheel, by the time of the pilot seen here with Ed Byrnes from 77 Sunset Strip, it looked and played more-or-less like the show most people are familiar with today. Creator Merv Griffith wasn't happy with how Byrnes was drunk throughout the pilot filming and ended up using Shopper's Bazaar host Chuck Woolery instead. 

Fortune debuted on NBC January 6th, 1975, with Woolery hosting and Susan Stafford turning letters. Alas, between NBC and Griffith reusing tapes into the 1980's, very little of his version exists today. This episode from 1976 is one of the earliest in existence and gives us a good idea of how the show worked in the mid-late 70's. It's played pretty much the same as today, with people spinning a wheel and earning money after calling out letters that appear on a board. If they have enough money, they can buy a vowel. The contestant who figures out the phrase or name and wins the round can shop for prizes with their money between rounds.

Wheel was never a massive hit in daytime, but it had enough fans to narrowly avoid Fred Silverman eliminating most of NBC's games in 1980 to focus on The David Letterman Show. Former weather man Pat Sajak replacing Woolery in 1981 bumped up ratings enough for Griffith to try it in nighttime. That finally put it over. The nightly syndicated show with Sajak and Vanna White began in 1984 and was such a sensation, it continues in syndication to this day. 

Sajak would be replaced in daytime briefly by Rolf Benirschke around 1989, which is also when NBC finally dropped the show. CBS picked it up, but it only lasted there about a year and a half before moving back to NBC for the final eight months of its run. Bob Goen hosted the last season at NBC.

My family loved Wheel of Fortune. We would watch Wheel and Jeopardy together after dinner in the 80's and early 90's, one of the few things we did as a family. In college, I would switch back and forth between Jeopardy and Hollywood Squares, then stay with Wheel after they ended. The regular 90's nighttime episode I have here is one that I might have watched in college while doing schoolwork or having a quick bite to eat.

Wheel was so popular, at one time, there was a children' version. Wheel 2000 debuted on CBS in 1997. It was Wheel crossed with Double Dare. Here, the dreaded bankrupt became "The Creature," with a lot of sound and special effects representing a monster that gobbled up the kids' points. "Lose a Turn" was "Loser." They could land on a wedge that would allow them to play a stunt or answer a question before they asked for a letter. "Lucy," a computer animated hostess, cheered them on. Considering how much my sisters and I loved Wheel as kids, this wasn't a bad idea, but the additional stunts and questions slowed down gameplay, the set looked cheap and has dated badly, and Lucy was more annoying than funny. No wonder it only lasted six months. (Supposedly, there's another kids' version in development. Hopefully, this one sticks closer to the adult version.) 

There's been several changes to Wheel's gameplay over the years. The shopping segments were dropped in syndication around 1987 (though they apparently continued in the daytime until 1989). Griffin replaced them with prizes that now could be won if you hit them on the Wheel and didn't land on Bankrupt before the end of the round. One of the prizes that could be won was a $10,000 space, later replaced by a million-dollar space early in the 2010's. 

There wasn't an actual bonus round until late 1981. Originally, the contestants could choose the five letters and one vowel and chose the prize they wanted before they began. By 1988, they'd started providing the five most common letters and vowel and letting the contestant choose four more. From 1989 to 2001, the prize was chosen from one of five envelopes marked WHEEL. After 2001,  contestants choose their prize from a wheel. 

Sajak and White were the two constants on the nighttime show. They were so associated with the show, they hosted the hour-long prime-time celebrity version that began in 2021. Sajak finally retired last June, to be replaced in the fall by Ryan Seacrest. I have Sajak's last episode here, complete with his heartfelt farewell to the show whose wheel he kept turning for over 40 years. 

Celebrate 50 years of Wheels and prizes with these classic episodes!

Wheel of Fortune Pilot #1 (1974)

Wheel of Fortune (1976)

Wheel of Fortune (1981)

Wheel of Fortune Syndicated Premiere (1983)

Wheel of Fortune CBS Series Finale (1991)

Wheel 2000 (1997)

Wheel of Fortune Syndicated (1999)

Wheel of Fortune Syndicated (2024)

Christmas Is Waiting

Began the morning with breakfast and The Bears Who Saved Christmas on Tubi. Teddy bears Christopher and Holly head out into the snow-covered wilderness after their family is stranded in a mountain cabin. Holly is determined to bring back a tree for the children who own them, but the woods hold many dangers. With the help of a flashlight who is scared of the dark, a compass with a bad sense of direction, a beaver and his mother, and a grouchy bear, the teddies discover that giving is its own reward, and the real magic of Christmas is in helping others.

Bluey is excited to be a "Verandah Santa" when she and her cousins take turns being Santa and pretending to give gifts while waiting for the real one. She's upset when her littlest cousin Socks bites her and gives her no presents. Bluey thinks she's justified, until her father Bandit points out how badly she's hurt Socks' feelings. 

Though it was a little bit warmer than yesterday, it was still pretty cold. I took Uber again. The driver was on time, but he had to make a detour that took him through Audubon and around the shopping center. Thankfully, I called early enough to be right on time.

That may have been the last time things went right the entire four hours at work. It was a mess there today. One of the cashiers called out, and the head bagger took her place. I could have used her help. The carts kept vanishing. It wasn't as bad when I arrived and when I left, but it got insane in between. They'd call me to put away cold items or clean up a mess, too, and that would put me behind on carts. I just couldn't keep up with them. Needless to say, I was very happy when I finally finished. 

Maybe the weather brought everyone out. It was sunny and breezy, not warm, but not quite freezing like yesterday. Still too cold for this time of year, but much easier to tolerate without the wind.

Didn't have as much luck with Uber going home. Everyone is busy transporting people to their families or parties for the holidays. I couldn't get a driver for 15 minutes. At least this time, he turned up when he said he would, and there was no trouble with traffic once we got started.

Took out the trash and recycling when I got home, then changed and brought my laundry downstairs. After I got them in the wash, I decided to try something I'd been wanting to do for three weeks now. Amanda gave me a gourmet mix for apple cinnamon scones as part of my Christmas gifts, but not only did I not have the time to try them until now, I didn't have the heavy cream, either. All it called for was heavy cream. That's why I bought the big bottle last week. I wanted enough for the scones. I even added an apple I had with a top that had a big brown spot. I still had a bag of cranberries, too, so I decided to give cranberry sauce another chance.

And this time, they both turned out very well. I had a hard time patting the scone dough into a disc, so I made drop scones. Other than I browned the bottoms slightly, they tasted like a rustic apple orchard and smelled amazing in the oven. The cranberry sauce came out perfectly too, just sweet-tart enough and the right jelly-like consistency. 

Went upstairs after putting the laundry in the dryer for National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. All Clark Grizwauld (Chevy Chase) wants is a good old-fashioned family Christmas like the ones he remembers from his childhood. As usual, what Clark imagines and what he gets are two entirely different matters. None of the grandparents he invites over get along. He wraps his house with so many lights, he shorts out the neighborhood power grid. His misery boss (Brian Doyle Murphy) barely seems to notice him, much less give out the bonus he badly needs. Even after he finally gets the lights going, his cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his family show up in their rattletrap RV and cause even more chaos. In the end, as the SWAT team is coming through the windows and his tree is burning to a crisp, Clark finally realizes that we can't make Christmas perfect...but we can make it memorable.

By far my favorite of the five Vacation comedies, even over the original. The sentimentality that John Hughes' work is prone to actually blends pretty well with slapstick antics that border on black comedy at times. Mae Questal and William Hickey steal the show in the last 20 minutes as senile Aunt Bethany and her sarcastic husband Lewis, along with Quaid as the backwoods cousin we all dread showing up at our holiday gatherings, 

Scatological and sexual humor makes this perfect for teens who are now on their own Christmas breaks and adults who have probably gone through just about everything Clark does here at one time or another. 

After Clark, I brought the laundry upstairs, then switched to another famous family celebrating the holidays. Joanie Cunningham spends her "Christmas Time" in the sixth season of Happy Days complaining about her father bringing home one of the tinsel trees that were popular in the 50's and 60's instead of a real one. Her brother Richie, his buddies, and his girlfriend Lori Beth are having more trouble trying to decide how much they should spend on gifts for one another and how to stick to that budget. Fonzie is so upset that the father he's never known wouldn't show his face to him, he won't even open his present, until the Cunninghams remind him that this is the season for forgiveness. 

Worked on the Seasonal inventory next. Added the Happy Holidays series Volume 26 through 30. I've been hitting eBay over the past few years and buying some of the older titles from before I started collecting. My cassette for Volume 29 is the original one from 1994. I picked up Volume 30 on CD at a yard sale a few years ago.

Watched Match Game Syndicated while I worked. Fred Travelena did not have an easy time of it in these episodes. He nearly started a riot twice over answers that were too specific for Ira. Elaine Joyce spent most of these episodes arguing with Brett and Charles.

(Oh, and the next Buzzr marathon after Betty White Christmas will be Match Game '90 starting January 13th. It sounds like they're about to add it to the schedule. Awesome! I like this version of Match Game. While the Match Up round does slow things down a bit, this is otherwise a lot of fun, especially given I was 11 when it debuted and remember many of the celebrities on the panel very well.)

Went to Plex for the wonderful Remember WENN Christmas episode as I ate dinner. It's "Christmas On the Airwaves" as the cast of radio station WENN in Pittsburgh prepare for the holidays in 1940. Writer Betty Roberts is happy to be going home to Indiana for the holidays, but she's also worried that the station won't be there when she gets back. Mr. Pruitt, a miserly financier, tells them to take down their decorations and stop mentioning Christmas on their shows. Seems the station's owner, former singer Gloria Redmond, doesn't want to be reminded of Christmas after she lost her husband during the holidays the year before. It'll take an effort from everyone at the station to remind Gloria that our loved ones are never far from us, and Christmas is a wonderful time for a heart to start healing. 

Finished the night at YouTube with more Christmas game show episodes. Match Game Productions is really spoiling us this year. He's going to be running Christmas game show episodes all week from 8 through 12 PM, starting with the 1978 Card Sharks. One lady really had a lucky Christmas, barely managing to get to the Money Cards before picking up $3,600 on them. The next round was tougher, as she and the other woman would get to the end of their cards, only to miss the last card and have to go back.

Richard Dawson had more luck with Family Feud in the mid-70's. The show did Christmas episodes from the start in 1976 and would do them again in '77. Some of the answers to these questions seem a little racier than they would in later years, including the woman who answered "Naked body" to "name something you'd find in the bathtub." Two families did great and hit the Big Money, one barely one question into the second round. The other did not.

Richard returned to Television City to celebrate Christmas week 1976 with Gene Rayburn and Match Game. Mary Wickes and Orson Bean were also along for the ride, the latter for the first time in over a year. Mary Wickes couldn't help commenting that she was a little jealous of the champ's very slender and pretty waist.

Speaking of Match Game '90, they really got into their Christmas week, with huge trees and tons of decorations everywhere. Rip Taylor and his toupee and confetti were more than happy to replace a vacationing Charles Nelson Reilly for the week. Meanwhile, Marcia Wallace relates the story of how her cut finger somehow ended up on a splint.

Christmas 1980 at Password Plus didn't bring out decorations, but it did debut new host Tom Kennedy after Allen Ludden proved to be too sick with stomach cancer to continue. It replaced trees with star power in the form of Gina Hecht, Debralee Scott, David Doyle, and Dick Gautier. The ladies made it to the Alphabetics round first, but Debralee got nervous, and they didn't do very well.

Super Password was far more festive, with two big trees on either side of Bert Convy's entrance door and lots of decorations. Married couple Mary Ann Mobley and Gary Collins kept it a family holiday this week as they played each other. Gary and his contestant got to the Super Password bonus round first...but Gary muffed a clue and he only got 900 instead of $20,000

Celebrate the holidays game show style with these thrilling and festive treats!

Card Sharks (1978)

Family Feud (1976)

Match Game (1976)

Family Feud (1977)

Password Plus (1980)

Super Password (1986)

Match Game (1990)

And here's even more vintage holiday programming to tide you over until Santa comes tomorrow!

The Wish That Changed Christmas

The Smurfs' Christmas

A Cranberry Christmas

A Christmas Carol (1971)

Mole's Christmas

'Twas the Day Before Christmas (A Chucklewood Christmas)

The Teddy Bears' Christmas

Famous Studios: Santa's Surprise

The Spirit of Christmas - Philadelphia special with the Mabel Beaton Marionettes

Annabelle's Wish

Woody Woodpecker - The Twelve Lies of Christmas

The Night Before Christmas (1968)

The Nutcracker (Russia - 1974)

When the Rains Finally Came

I slept in so late, it was afternoon before I finished my morning reading. Since I don't often have Sundays off, I decided to celebrate with banana pancakes for breakfast. Had them with black grapes and coconut milk mixed with coconut milk eggnog. Best breakfast I've had in ages. I ate them on the front porch, enjoying the strong wind and relative warmth.

Listened to patriotic records while I had breakfast for Veteran's Day tomorrow. Yankee Doodle Mickey is a Disney collection of either patriotic songs like "God Bless America" or songs from their own movies with American themes, like "The Liberty Tree" from Johnny Tremain. A very young Molly Ringwauld can be heard on "This Is My Country" and "God Bless America." My favorite number is the Armed Forces Theme Medley, with Mickey singing for the Air Force and Marines, Goofy for the Army, and Donald, of course, for the Navy.

America the Beautiful is a collection of patriotic songs compiled by Reader's Digest in 1987 in honor of the Statue of Liberty's 100th anniversary. "This Land Is Your Land" and "God Bless America" turn up here as well (the latter performed by Kate Smith), but it's mostly instrumental pieces. I like the full "Grand Canyon Suite" and "American Patrol." There's also the Boston Pops George M. Cohen medley that you can clearly hear people singing along with in the background.

Went for a walk after I cleaned up the dishes and got dressed. I'd never been so happy to see it cloudy in my life. In fact, it was cloudy, blustery, and much cooler, just barely in the 60's. Finally felt more like fall. I celebrated by stopping at WaWa for a treat. They must have just put out their Christmas season flavors. I tried the Peppermint Bark Smoothie. Too sweet, but very minty and very Pepto-Bismol pink. It really did taste like liquid peppermint bark.

Headed down the road to the Environmental Center next. There's steps that lead down to Newton Lake Park alongside the path, but they're really steep and scary. I think I'll stick to the path going up the hill from now on. The park was much nicer. There were a lot of people out enjoying the weather before it gets colder tomorrow. The park's really pretty too. The leaves are turning brilliant shades of gold and scarlet now that gleam against the sparkling waters.

After I got home, I stripped the sheets and blankets off my bed and took them downstairs with my laundry. Listened to George Shearing while I worked. I Hear Music is one of his rare albums to feature vocals, in this case on "It's Easy to Remember" and "When Lights are Low." I also liked "I Wished On the Moon," "Love Is Just Around the Corner," and "My Silent Love."

The Eagles played inter-conference rival the Dallas Cowboys today. I didn't see the game because it was on Fox, but apparently, they absolutely steamrolled them at their own home stadium, helped by their star quarterback Dak Prescott being out with a major injury. Checked the score throughout the evening and was thrilled to see them flatten the wayward Cowboys 34 - 6. 

Spent the rest of the day finishing the laundry, making the bed again, having dinner, and watching today's Match Game marathon. The channel 's owner honored Veteran's Day by focusing on MASH cast members who appeared on the show. Gary Burghoff, who played Radar, was probably the most frequent. He sat in for his teacher and mentor Charles Nelson Reilly from late 1974 through mid-1975 while he was out directing a Broadway play and appeared off-and-on through 1981, well after he'd left the show. Loretta "Hot Lips" Swit made her earliest appearances in one of the first weeks of 1973. She appeared fairly frequently through 1975, after which she disappeared until 1977. She would turn up sporadically through 1980.

McLean Stevenson probably got the most out of his time on the show. He started a bit later in 1973, and though he only turned up off and on, became one of the wildest semi-regulars. You never know what he'd do, whether it was chase Gene around the studio or grab Richard for a smooch or lean over to help a lady Betty White held up to kiss him. He took Richard's place in the fifth smart guy seat from 1980 through 1982 and proved to be almost as hilarious there. 

Gary and McLean made their last appearances on Match Game in The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. Gary only did one week, but McLean was something of a semi-regular here as well. Also putting in one week were three cast members who weren't seen in the 70's Match Game, Larry Linville, William Christopher, and Jamie Farr. Farr turned up on the Game Show Host week with Chuck Woolery and Arlene Francis, where he traded nose jokes with Jon Bauman. 

Play along with the members of the 4077th, whether they're in Korea or Burbank, and honor our real-life men and women who fought and died for our country in this long and very funny marathon!

Match Game Sunday Night Classics - MASH Cast Members On Match Game

Oh, and around 10:30, I went to the window...and saw wet streets. It was FINALLY raining. It's rained off and on ever since, though it seems to be off right now.