Dreaming Under the Sun

Began the morning with a very small breakfast and PAW Patrol. "Pups Save an Ace" when Skye's heroine has to emergency land her plane in Adventure Bay. Skye is thrilled to rescue her, while Chase and Rocky rescue her plane from the bay and repair it. Farmer Yumi and Farmer Al are getting married in her barn, at least until a terrible storm blows the side and roof off. "Pups Save the Wedding" and repair the barn in time for the festivities.

Since I was already at Paramount Plus, I switched to The Backyardigans while getting ready to run errands. Sherlock Pablo is wondering "Whodunnit?" when he's called to Mystery Manor. Lady Tasha's jewels have been stolen, and everyone is a suspect, including Butler Tyrone, Miss Uniqua Underhood, and her neighbor Austin Frothingslosh. Who is the mysterious figure the kids keep seeing everywhere? Why did Uniqua suddenly turn up when she did? Pablo and Uniqua are on the case, but the thief winds up being far from what they expect.

Headed out after that for this week's grocery shopping session. Started with brunch at the Westmont Bagel Shop. I hadn't eaten there in a while. That's why I didn't go in for a big breakfast. Surprisingly for a summer Friday during the lunch hour, they weren't that busy. There were just two other ladies behind me chatting with the owner. I had my usual spinach and feta omelette, fried potatoes, and toasted bagel (cinnamon raisin this time). Picked up a few bagels for the week while I was there.

Went to Sprouts next. I mainly needed coconut milk and cookies here; found chocolate chip caramel with a manager's coupon. Picked up soda on sale and dried cranberries. Cherries and peaches were on good sales, too. 

Rode up the hill past the Haddon Township Library and Haddon Township High School to the Westmont Acme next. Mainly needed to restock yogurt and soda here. Made Good granola bars are still on sale with an online coupon; got two boxes. Treated myself to a slice of chocolate fudge cake. 

Watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I got organized when I got home. "Donald the Frog Prince" drank Professor Ludvig Von Drake's frog potion and now needs Princess Daisy to kiss him and change him back. Mickey, Pluto, and Donald have to find their way to the tallest tower and past Guard Pete to rescue her.

Finished out the first season of Remember WENN next. Scott's "Popping the Question" when he attempts to fix their new game show "Brainstorm" in favor of the sponsor's obnoxious son. Betty, Hilary, Jeff, and Mr. Eldridge teach him a lesson in honesty when they're the ones judging and answering the questions. Meanwhile, Doug Thompson, the station's sweet-natured lawyer, waits (and waits) for Betty to remember their date.

"World of Tomorrow" picks up with Scott and Betty's big Wizard of Oz-inspired show for the end of the New York World's Fair in 1940. Jeff's not taking part in it. Victor called him to broadcast in London. Hilary's missing Jeff something terrible, even more when Mackie has to take over so many of his roles. Despite his seeming disinterest, it's Scott who finally finds a way for Jeff's first broadcast during the London Blitz to be a part of their show. The episode ends with everyone gathered around their broadcast...just as it dissolves into static...

Though there are some episodes I like from before Victor leaves, notably "A Rock and a Soft Place" and "Armchair Detectives," I think the show really picks up with Scott's introduction in "A Capitol Idea." Scott's brashness gives the show a real shot in the arm, and he plays much better off Betty and the cast than the eternally detached Victor did. To tell the truth, this is one of those shows that I highly recommend you start at the beginning to understand the characters and their stories...but rest assured, it does pick up quite a bit after this...

Spent the next few hours working on Hilary and the Beasts. Hilary runs across Mrs. Fox (Gertie) in the hall, delivering food to Troll. She bluntly questions the older vixen about the curse and what's going on. Mrs. Fox mostly avoids the questions or says she can't answer them...but she does lay into Hilary when she complains about Bear (Scott) throwing himself at Betty. Mrs. Fox angrily tells her that Bear was unconscious for three days after someone attacked him, with only her and Eagle (Victor) looking after him. When he awoke, he realized how badly his circuits had been scrambled and cried into Mr. Fox's shoulder - Eagle didn't know what to do for him. Mrs. Fox bluntly tells Hilary that Bear is throwing himself at Betty because she's the only one showing him any kindness before storming off.

Hilary finally ends up in the library, where Betty is overseeing Puppy (Enid) writing stories. Teaching Bear to read proves to be more difficult. The mental blocks make his head pound badly when he tries to decipher words and letters. 

Being blunt with Bear about the curse goes even worse with him than it did with Mrs. Fox. He complains about his head hurting before finally stumbling out of the library. When the ladies catch up with him, he admits that he blames himself for making "her" angry, as he didn't like her pursuing his Troll master or what she was doing with "bad groups" in Europe, and causing their current state. Puppy angrily adds that "she" worked for certain groups in Europe that could get her deported if the truth were known. Puppy and Hilary finally leave Betty embracing the upset Bear in the hall.

Watched Evil Under the Sun while I worked. Since Hilary and the Beasts is giving me serious Agatha Christie vibes right now, I thought I'd do an adaptation of her work I hadn't seen yet. The second of six times Peter Ustinov played Hericule Poirot has the dapper Belgian detective following actress Arlena Marshall (Diana Rigg) to a hotel at a remote island in the Adriatic Sea in pursuit of a diamond a millionaire bought for her. 

Also at the hotel are Arlena's husband Kenneth (Denis Quilley), his young daughter Linda (Emily Hone), publisher Rex Brewster (Roddy McDowell) who wants to put out Arlena's tell-all biography but needs her permission, and producers Myra (Sylvia Miles) and Odell (James Mason) Gardener. Daphne Castle (Maggie Smith) is the brash owner of the hotel. Handsome young Patrick Redfern (Nicholas Clay) spends the first few days with Arlena, to the consternation of his mousy wife Christine (Jane Birkin). When Arlena turns up dead at the beach near a cave on the third day, everyone seems to have an alibi...until Poirot begins to wonder just how meek and mild put-upon Christine is, and whether what she told Linda about her alibi was true...

I was impressed. I really enjoyed this. Stunning scenery in the Adriatic and gorgeous costumes highlighted a twisty mystery with a delightfully adorable Ustiov as the Belgian private eye who believes in the power of his "little gray cells." Smith and Rigg are hilarious sparring with each other, and Rigg sparkles as the obnoxious actress. Very recommended for fans of Christie or historical all-star mysteries.

Oh, and I got my schedule for next week around this point. Pretty much the same as this week with later work on Saturday. That does mean I'll be able to get to the farm market next week. Otherwise, my plans are pretty much seeing Superman in the theater, making a few errand runs in the area, and continuing Hilary and the Beasts. 

Moved to Match Game '75 while eating dinner. I don't know what got into everyone that week, but the entire panel kept kissing and grabbing each other and the contestants every time anyone won the Head to Head. Bert Convy (who gave Brett huge kisses several times) and Gary Burghoff were repeat offenders here. Betty White and Mary Ann Mobley joined into observe the madness.

Finished the night at Shout!TV with Werewolf. One of the more recent movies Mystery Science Theater 3000 made fun of was this 1997 direct-to-home-video cheese fest. Scientists discover what looks like a werewolf skeleton in the Arizona desert. It only takes one of the workers being scratched by the skeleton for him to turn into a werewolf. One of the scientists (Jorge Rivero) attempts to find someone else to make into a werewolf. They first attack a security guard (film's director and author Tony Zarrindast), then scratch writer Paul Niles (Federico Cavelli) with the skeleton. He starts turning into one too, much to the consternation (or something) of his would-be girlfriend Natalie (Adriana Statsny). 

Oh boy, is this bad. Bad acting (especially from Statsny), bad makeup, horrible dialogue, ridiculous and condescending use of Native American mythology. Even Mike and the robots thought it was pretty ridiculous. Some not-bad makeup effects are mitigated by how cheesy everything else is, including the dull filming in Arizona. I wouldn't go anywhere near here without robot wisecracks unless you're a truly devoted fan of B-horror cheese. 

Hey There Good Times

Began the morning with breakfast and Garfield and Friends. Garfield kicks things off by telling a story that's "Fit for a King." Jon the Wide was beloved by his subjects for his ability to eat his weight in gold, until a scheming advisor gives him a certain fat cat who eats all his food. While the other animals at U.S Acres are at the State Fair parade, Orson is guarding their vegetables. His brothers give him a copy of Ben-Hur to distract him, so they can steal their crop...but they didn't count on their imaginative brother becoming "Ben Hog" and chase after them in a cart! After Jon gets a flat tire in the desert, Garfield and Odie keep seeing "Dessert In the Desert" and wild mirages everywhere.

Called Uber after that. Today is the start of the Cherry Hill Library Book Sale. I've done well the last few times I hit them. They arrived within 7 minutes, but there were a few problems getting there. I have no idea what the traffic was on the White Horse Pike in Collingswood. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad once we got past Collings Avenue and was fine by the time he dropped me off at Cherry Hill.

The Cherry Hill Library is the largest library in Camden County, and their book sale is likely the largest in the area, too. It takes up most of the basement meeting rooms. I went straight to the boxes and boxes of records, DVDs, and CDs when I got downstairs. The room with the kids' books was even busier, but I did manage to find something. Had such a hard time getting around the main room with the adult books, I had to wait in the back until I could find a path through all those people.

For all that, I did ultimately make some good finds. The CDs were: 

The 1990 studio cast recording of the Rodgers and Hart show Babes In Arms

Dave Brubeck - The Quartet

The Manhattan Transfer - Anthology (2-Disc set)

The Official Album of Disneyland and Walt Disney World, featuring songs from many long-gone rides (especially in Epcot) 

The DVDs were:

Barbie (I was kind of shocked to run across a new and popular movie. The DVD holder was broken, but the DVD itself is fine.)

The Mario Lanza vehicle Seven Hills of Rome

I'm really hot with finding Walt Disney Treasures sets. Came up with Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studios, minus it's tin. This one features The Reluctant Dragon, one of Disney's more underrated films.

No records this time, but I did come up with some great books: 

Hugh Fordin - The Movies' Greatest Musicals Produced In Hollywood by the Freed Unit

Agatha Christie - The Man In the Brown Suit

Elizabeth Peters - The Love Talker

Helen Pierce Jacob - The Secret of the Strawbridge Place

Mary MacLeod - King Arthur 

But my best find today was the very version of Grimm's Fairy Tales my mother had when I was a child, the one that was so old and worn, the cover came off and half the book was stuck together. Though the covers on this one are a bit loose, they're far from off, and the pages are fine. It had the same wonderful color and black and white artwork and obscure stories, like "The Pink," "Iron Hans," "The Raven," and my favorite, "The Lady and the Lion." 

Headed out for lunch around 1:30. It was still thickly humid, but cloudy and much cooler, probably in the lower 80's. I could get away with a stroll down King's Highway. Stopped at Raymond's Pizza for lunch. They were a pretty typical hole-in-the-wall in a brown 70's shopping center, but their plain cheese and mushroom slices were pretty good, and the prices were great.

Continued down King's Highway after lunch another block to The Big Event. I wasn't going bowling alone, but I could get away with the arcade. They were a little busy with bored kids and their parents, but nothing like when Lauren and I were there early last month. I hit the 1000-point jackpot on the Big Reel fishing-themed wheel and got a lot of points elsewhere, including on Nerf Arcade. Got a sweet cherry-red Lamborghini on Crusin' Blast and came in second on the Madagascar course. Between the jackpot and all of my playing, I ended up with over 4.200 points. Was able to get the board game Aggression and a small stuffed animal that'll go to a friend's daughter for her birthday.

I was originally going to go home at that point...but the prices for Uber were way beyond what I was willing to pay for a 20-minute trip. Strolled another block down to the Ellisburg Shopping Center instead. There's a Rita's Water Ice a few doors down from the Whole Foods there. The chocolate vanilla swirl and root beer water ice gelati I had was delicious...and more to the point, by the time I finished it, the prices were far cheaper. The lady arrived in 4 minutes and got me home on the back roads of Haddonfield and Westmont in a little over 20.

Put on Remember WENN when I got home. "Hilary Booth, Registered Nurse" is supposed to go on the air for a big prime-time broadcast of one of her signature soap operas, Valiant Journey...but after Mr. Foley accidentally hits her with the microphone boom, she thinks she's the kindly nurse she portrays on a World War I show. Betty once again has to deal with all this without the help of Victor Comstock, who leaves to broadcast in London after this episode.

Hilary's semi-husband Jeff is in the spotlight when "Valentino Speaks!" He's excited when a movie director chooses him to dub, and then play, Valentino in a rediscovered silent movie. Jeff quickly learns how difficult movie acting is, and how he'd much rather play all the roles he does at the station than be typecast like Valentino was.

"A Capitol Idea" introduces Scott Sherwood, the brash new station manager who claims Victor sent him as his replacement. He's full of wild new ideas for the station, starting with him asking Betty to weave the commercials into the programming to get more ads in. This does inadvertently invent informercials, but it also makes the shows sound alike. Betty threatens to resign and Mr. Eldridge won't come in at all. The others make a mockery out of the shows to get them back. 

(And it's rather appropriate that "A Capitol Idea" was the third and last WENN episode I saw while babysitting during the summer of 1996. I loved how Scott and Betty interacted with each other and the cast. I went to bed that night on the lumpy couch in the living room dreaming of a blossoming relationship between them...and they're still my favorite characters on the show to this day.)

Switched to Tubi for the truly bizarre Earth Girls are Easy. I go further into this 1988 sci-fi comedy about three aliens who crash-land in a manicurist's pool and have to adjust to Earth ways at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - Earth Girls are Easy

Worked on Hilary and the Beasts for the rest of the afternoon. Hilary is still playing phone tag with Doug Thompson and City Hall over a week later, but she has help from an unexpected source. She finds a talking newspaper (Gus Kahana) with the ability to repeat any number of celebrity voices. She manages to get out of those voices that Troll had been married, but "the wrong woman" got him into a contract he couldn't get out of and was the one who came to the mansion. 

She also joins Maple downstairs in the more intimate music room. Maple's grown fond of Miss Organ (Eugenia), who seems to know all of Hilary and Jeff's favorite songs. Her gossip confirms that Troll had been forced to give up his first wife by a nasty "she" to save a friend. Mr. Rabbit (Mr. Foley) turns up too, shyly bringing Miss Organ a lavender rose.

Switched to Match Game '75 during dinner. They'd moved on to the next week by the time I got on. Craig Morris and Fannie Flagg joined in, while Joyce Bulifant was happy to actually get some well-received answers for a change. 

Finished the night with more of my recent record finds. I Love My Wife was Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart's 1977 response to the Sexual Revolution as two couples switched partners and lives. It's too bad the story is as dated as the wide-legged pantsuits and high leather boots on the back cover, because some of the songs aren't bad. The ladies get the country spoof "Someone Wonderful I Missed," while the guys go vaudevillian with "Hey There Good Times." 

The Fabulous Mae West performs not only her own songs, but familiar numbers from other media that certainly fit her double entendre-laden personality. "A Guy What Takes His Time" and "They Call Me Sister Honky Tonk" are probably the ones here that are most associated with her. I also liked "Love Is the Greatest Thing" and "I Want You - I Need You." 

Fairy Tale Angels

Began the morning with breakfast and Alice's Wonderland Bakery. The kids want to "Party Like Kiki!", their bubble-blowing caterpillar friend, but she's to tall to explore Fergie's garden or to play many games with them. Alice and her friends show her how special her height is when Dinah gets stuck on a tall mushroom and she's the only one who can get her down. Hearts Palace becomes "The Puff Pastry Palace" when Rosa's attempt to make guava puff pastry for Mother's Day gets literally out of control after she puts too much puff powder on it.

Headed out after the cartoon ended. For once, I got to work right on time. Good thing, too. We weren't busy at all, but that didn't mean there wasn't plenty to do. I had to return a lot of cold items today and put toilet paper in the bathrooms. Good thing the carts weren't really all that bad. It's the middle of the week and the middle of a month that's not traditionally busy once you get past the 4th of July. Not to mention, while it was sunny and a bit cooler, it was still killer humid. Most people were likely at work in their air conditioning or on vacation. 

Needed a few things on the way home. Since I had to refill my blood pressure medication, I grabbed the Acme's generic granola. (Went with cinnamon bun this time.) 20 oz Coke were two for four; I got cherry and regular zero. Stopped at the pretzel shop for a pepperoni-stuffed pretzel and two regular ones.

Had lunch while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "A Goofy Fairy Tale" is the two-part series finale. Goofy is upset when he accidentally makes all the fairy tale stories in the Clubhouse vanish. Professor Ludvig Von Drake manages to make a portal open to a storybook world where the Golden Storybook holding their stories can be found. Only Goofy is able to make it through, so he is the one who must search for the book with the help of Donald the Pied Piper, Hansel Mickey and Gretel Minnie, Princess Daisy, Chip and Dale the knights, and grouchy Beast Pete.

Watched Summer School on Pluto TV next. Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon) is a charming Los Angeles phys Ed teacher who should be on his way to Hawaii. Instead, he's stuck teaching remedial English to a group of fairly typical slackers, including two boys (Dean Cameron and Gary Riley) who are the world's biggest fans of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. To tell the truth, he really has no idea what to do with them. He takes them on trips to the amusement park and petting zoo at first. After nerdy Alan (Richard Horvitz) complains about an allergy, he switches to promising them whatever they want if they study. He's the lamaze coach for the pregnant Rhonda (Shawnee Smith), teaches Denise (Kelly Jo Minter) how to drive, and lets Pam (Courtney Thorne-Smith) stay with him.

He finally snaps when they make a few too many demands and he reminds them that they need to study, especially after they trash his house during a party. Robin (Kirstie Alley), the history teacher he's been chasing all summer, sees how he's finally getting through to the kids and encourages him to stay. So do the kids, who finally see that he really cares. Vice Principal Gills (Robin Thomas) would be glad to fire Shoop, but the kids are determined to show him that, despite their antics, they've learned a lot more about English...and life...than he thinks.

Pretty typical 80's summer comedy. Harmon is likable enough as laid-back Shoop and Thomas is fine as the obnoxious Gillis, but the kids, other than Riley and Cameron's slacker horror fanatics, are pretty one-note, and Alliey's little more than a love interest. Not the worst way to pass an hour and a half during your own summer break if you or your teens are fans of wacky 80's comedies.

Moved to Remember WENN next. Victor Comstock takes the cast to a convention to sell his latest idea - shows recorded onto glass discs that can be played in place of regular programming. Betty's wondering "Who's Minding the Asylum" when Mr. Foley accidentally shatters the recordings of most of their afternoon programming...right before their fussy sponsor Mr. Medwick (Bob Dorian, who also introduced the episodes during their original run) arrives. Since his show was among those lost, Betty and the remaining staff first get him involved in an amateur show, then have to make him think they're the cast. 

(Look for the awesome version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" near the end of this episode. And a personal note - "The Emperor Smith" and "Asylum" were the first episodes I saw. Caught them while babysitting during the summer of 1996.) 

My favorite episode from before Victor left is "Armchair Detectives." Jeff is Sherlock Holmes and Mackie Watson on WENN's mystery program, where they recreate and solve local crimes. They're all shocked when a butler escapes prison and holds them all prisoner, insisting that he's innocent and they need to reopen his case. It seems open and shut...until Jeff catches details that only those in radio would know.

Moved to Smuggers' Cove at Tubi after WENN ended. Terrance "Slip" Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) is thrilled when he thinks he gets a letter indicating that he inherits a fine mansion in Long Island. He takes the rest of the Bowery Boys, including his cowardly buddy Sach (Huntz Hall), out to see the mansion. Turns out, not only is it being used as the headquarters for European smugglers seeking a precious diamond, but it's not his. The real Terrance Mahoney (Paul Harvey) and his daughter Teresa (Amelita Ward) have also come out to the mansion for rest and relaxation. The Boys' private eye friend Gabe (Gabe Dell) follows them, smelling a case and hoping to get the goods on the smugglers and the mysterious mansion. 

Worked on Hilary and the Beasts for most of the afternoon. Even Hilary is ready to concede the need to stay and solve the mysteries of the house and its occupant after the second strange dream in a row. Betty thinks it revolves around Bear...or more specifically, whatever information is locked away in his brain. Someone doesn't want him remembering something. Hilary and Maple suspect it may have to do with Eagle's work on the growing situation in Europe and all the papers and radio transcriptions in his offices. Hilary also points out the need to talk to the rest of the household, including Mrs. Fox and the female organ Troll mentioned the night before. Betty says she'll call Doug and C.J and see what they've found out about Pavla and who owns the house, too.

Oh, and I now have my next long WENN fairy tale after Hilary and the Beasts. Maplepunzel begins with Victor walking feverish Maple home after the chaos of "And If I Die Before I Sleep." Maple is totally smitten with this handsome, sweet, well-spoken Prince Charming who actually listens to her and treats her like a lady...but she is upset that he can't remember their first meeting, when she saw him in that police uniform during "Some Time, Some Station." In fact, Victor has almost no memory of that night at all, nor any of his time in London. 

After she gets into bed, Maple listens to Betty's one-woman version of "Rapunzel" on "A Book at Bedtime" and admits that she wouldn't mind a guy like Victor getting her out of a tower. She dreams that she's Rapunzel, Pavla is the witch who trapped her in the tower, Victor is the valiant prince searching for his lost brother Jeff, Scott is her friend the woodsman guide who leads Victor to her, Hilary was Jeff's original intended, a queen bound by Pavla's wicked magic, with Betty as her enchanted ward and Mackie as the father forced to give Maple up after he stole parsley for her mother. 

I'm loving what I'm coming up with for this one, and it will absolutely be the next novella-length fairy tale after Gertie and Mr. Eldridge's comic short The Man Who Minded the House. 

Broke for dinner and Match Game '75 at 6:30. For some reason, they jumped to much earlier in the year. Robert Vaughn made his second and last appearance this week, while Mitzi McCall made her first. Mitzi wasn't the best player, but she was hilarious in the sixth seat, and I really do wish she'd turned up more often.

Finished the night with Charlie's Angels. It's the Angels' "Hours of Desperation" in the second season when two diamond thieves who were double-crossed by their boss take Sabrina and Bosley hostage at the offices. Kris and Kelly have to track down the thief and find the diamonds, before the bombs strapped to Sabrina go off.  

Night of the Storms and Beasts

Began the morning with breakfast and What's New, Scooby Doo? Velma wants to explore the House of the Future at the Omaha World's Fair, but they discover it closed after a tourist disappeared. The gang check it out anyway...and end up caught in a "Hi-Tech House of Horrors" with a Fear Factor-esque filmmaker and his cameraman and two boys trying to give each other crazier dares.

Spent the next few hours working on my story. Hilary and Troll emerge to find Betty dressing Bear's wound. Maple's sipping hot cocoa alone. Eagle went to lead the police to the robbers without them actually seeing him. Troll finally agrees that all the ladies can stay, telling Maple about the female organ in the music room and Betty that she can use the library for her work. Bear explains to Betty that he can neither read, nor write, but he's willing to try and help her anyway. Mr. Cat once again takes the ladies upstairs to their room...and once again will only say that they'll have to learn about the curse themselves.

Broke for lunch and The Backyardigans around 2 PM. Queen CleoTasha orders her three servants around, but even she can't order the Nile to refill during a drought. She has to learn a lesson in manners when Tyrone, Pablo, and Austin help her find the things she needs to give to Sphinx Uniqua and unlock "The Key to the Nile," but her demanding rudeness makes the boys more annoyed than pleased to serve her.

Went for a short walk after lunch. It was sunny and breezy, but also hot and once again killer, cut-the-air-with-a-knife humid. I just ended up walking to WaWa and picking up a Caramel Coconut Smoothie (not bad - tasted like caramel and coconut, anyway), a soft pretzel, and money for the Cherry Hill Library Book Sale on Thursday. 

Went straight home after that and into Remember WENN. "Sight Unseen" is the first of two episodes in a row to deal with slightly darker themes, in this case disabled rights. Angela Colton (Molly Ringwauld) is a blind girl who wants nothing more than to meet "The Vagabond," the suave voice she listens to on the radio every day. "The Vagabond" is actually slightly chubby, balding character actor Mackie Bloom (Christopher Murney). He's terrified that she'll see him as less than handsome, but she doesn't care what she looks like. She only knows how he sounds, a voice of beauty and mystery.

"The Emperor Smith" digs into race relations when waiter George Smith (Howard Rollins) takes over for Mackie in a big romantic role after he loses his voice. Trouble is, he's a black man among a white cast in early 1940. Betty has to figure out how to hide his real identity from the press without the help of Victor Comstock, who is called away by the government. (Pay attention to Victor's government work and his disappearance here. It's going to be a lot more important starting later in the first season.) 

Switched to Rock & Rule on YouTube after the shows ended. I go further into this truly bizarre adult animated sci-fi musical from 1983 at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration for Adults - Rock & Rule

Spent the rest of the afternoon resuming Hilary and the Beasts. Hilary, Betty, and Maple once again find themselves in much warmer version of the mansion's garden. This time, they're joined by a sweet, plump lady in lavender (Eugenia) playing the organ with a small, twitchy man in a tux (Mr. Foley). Jeff turns up to explain more of the curse. They were all enchanted for threatening to expose the truth about Pavla. His friends in the shadows had always spoke for him, which is why he now speaks for them. It ends the same, but this time, it's troll-like monsters who tear the men away from the women. Hilary ends up on a stone bench, the shadows swallowing her and the others. 

Watched The Wild Wild West as I worked. "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" brings Artemis and Jim on the water as they investigate a series of ships wrecked and looted by blind river pirate Ansel Coffin (Jeff Corey). Coffin wants revenge for being thrown off after he was blinded, and he's willing to attack anyone - Jim included - to make sure people pay for his loss of sight. 

Put on Match Game '75 during dinner. Alex Karras wasn't that great of a player and didn't seem to be all that interested in the game, but he managed to appear in two memorable episodes anyway. In the first, everyone but Brett switched seats. Charles was just happy this allowed him the chance to play director. The second introduced Lola Kiss, the lady wrestler from Transylvania, who proceeded to trounce Alex at wrestling. Not only do I think Alex was in love, but Richard got to play referee.

Finished the night with Billy Joel: 2000 Years - The Millennium Concert. Yeah, this was the huge concert Joel did at Madison Square Garden on New Year's Eve 1999. I remember hearing about what a big deal this was at the time, and even Joel jokes about some of the ticket prices. Although not all of the songs from the concert made it on this two-disc set (and some were recorded elsewhere), there's enough that's good here to make this worth checking out. "Movin' Out," "Only the Good Die Young," "Big Man On Mulberry Street," and "This Night" are especially lovely. He also does a really rockin' cover of "Honky Tonk Woman" near the end. 

Oh, and the clouds started to build around 5, while I was still writing. It broke at 6 PM, and would continue going pretty hard, complete with thunder and pyrotechnics, for the next hour or so. 

Remembering Games

Kicked off the morning with breakfast and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Adora is determined that "No Princess Left Behind" when she recruits Entraptra, Mermista, Perfuma, and Sea Hawk to help her rescue Glimmer and Bow from the Horde. Things go wrong from the very start, and although they do manage to get Glimmer and Bow back (and Catra gives Adora her sword), they lose one of the princesses in the process...and Adora blames herself for what happened.

Since it wasn't raining, I decided to head out and run a quick errand. Indeed, it was sunny and warm at 10 AM...but also thickly humid. So humid, I could have cut the air with a knife. It was a relief to duck into Dollar General to buy a bag for the daughter of a friend's birthday present and new hair bands. Fortunately, they weren't busy, and I was able to get in and out.

Switched to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while taking down the 4th of July decorations. The others are hoping to get Minnie a present, so they give her chores to do. After feeling overwhelmed by the extra work, she falls asleep and dreams she's "Minnie-rella." Fairy god-cow Clarabelle helps her get to Prince Mickey's ball, while Goofy drives her tomato carriage and Pete guards the gate.

Decided that since the weather continued to be decent, I'd go out for an early lunch. Hiked down West Clinton to Common Grounds Coffee Shop to make up for not having the money for them on the 4th of July. Grabbed a strawberry-basil lemonade-iced tea, a huge lemon bar, and a slice of garden medley quiche. They were busy, but I managed to grab the last table by the window. Oooh, it was all sooo good. The lemon bar was more like custard than curd, but it tasted just as good. The strawberry basil tea-lemonade was just sweet enough. The quiche was slightly spicy, but still very filling.

Made a quick stop at the tiny convenience store across the street after lunch. I was going to get a soda, but didn't like what they had. I ended up with a Propel Strawberry Kiwi instead.

Took the laundry downstairs when I got home, then put on the first four episodes of Remember WENN. We're "On the Air" with recently-graduated college student Betty Roberts (Amanda Naughton), who arrives at small time radio station WENN in Pittsburgh during the fall of 1939 in response to a contest. Erudite station manager Victor Comstock (John Bedford Lloyd) assures her that her internship is non-paying and her work requires polish...but after the drunk writer passes out and she uses her winning script to finish a show, he begins to wonder if it's not polish, but experience that she needs.

"Klondike 9366" introduces ingenue Ceila Mellon (Dina Spybey), who turns up for an audition and ends up flirting with Jeff Singer (Hugh O'Gorman). That doesn't make his wife, leading lady Hilary Booth (Melinda Mullins), very happy. Meanwhile, Victor has a new brainstorm - a late-night talk radio show. It goes badly, with everyone yelling at once and wires literally crossed, until a young boy calls for help.

Victor and Betty are caught between "A Rock and a Hard Place" when Mr. Acton (Barton Heyman) of Acton Anthrcite Coal requests a slam-bang detective show in place of Pittsburgh Library Theater. The sponsor of the library, Mrs. Mellon (Irene Worth), decries the violence on Acton's shows and says she'll pull her sponsorship if they continue to broadcast such filth. Betty and Victor turn to their own cross-genre adaption in order to make both happy. Celia spends most of the episode avoiding the woman everyone assumes is her mother.

Patti LuPone becomes the first of three Broadway divas to appear on the show in "There But For Grace." Hilary thinks her former rival Grace Cavendish (LuPone) has stopped there during a tour to steal her thunder. She's really interested in Victor, whom she had a relationship with in New York. (Look for LuPone's aching performance of the title song here, the first of two times the lyrics are heard.)

Moved to YouTube next for the 1976 Hallmark Hall of Fame version of Beauty and the Beast. This surprisingly sweet retelling actually sticks to the original French story pretty well. Beauty (Trish Van Dervere) has two sisters, a brother, and one of her sisters has a husband who despises his snooty wife. The Beast (George C. Scott) is kind, intelligent, and well-spoken despite his fearsome appearance. Beauty enjoys sparring with him, and is genuinely devastated when she loses the ring that would get her back to him. And no wonder this Beauty and Beast truly sparkle. Scott ended up marrying Van Dervere shortly after production wrapped...and they would remain married for the rest of his life. It's too bad the copies currently on YouTube have a lot of audio sync problems. This exquisite and charming fairy tale deserves to be better-known.

Switched to The Last Unicorn after the episodes ended to get that dreamy 80's Gothic romance feeling. I went further into this dark animated childhood favorite at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in 2022.

The Last Unicorn

Worked on writing for the rest of the afternoon. Maple and Betty finally catch up with Hilary when she's lost in the woods. They remind her that the mystery isn't solved. Betty called Scott's Aunt Agatha, who hasn't seen him and is worried. There's also Troll having asked her to marry him after knowing her for less than 24 hours, the animal servants, Bear's fractured speech and lost memories, Eagle's papers and silence. There's too much going on to run out now.

Hilary is about to argue when they're attacked by criminals who are on their way to rob the mansion. The ladies try to fight them off, but the criminals try to get a little too fresh...just as Troll roars in. Bear follows, his big paw slamming into the one attacking Betty. Eagle grabs one and tosses him into a tree. He also brought rope to tie them up and leave them for the police. The three women help Troll and Bear home after they're both shot (though Bear's is a flesh wound). 

Mrs. Fox (Gertie) ends up removing the bullet from Troll's thigh. Hilary plays nurse, tending to his wound. They argue over the dinner and her running out. She still says she's not interested, though she does finally get Troll to let her sisters remain. He grudging admits that Bear and Eagle are smitten with them and wouldn't let them go now. He continues to grouchily insist that Bear is nothing more than a servant, though Hilary can see how fond he is of his slow-witted ursine friend under the gruffness.

Watched Match Game '74 during dinner. Adrienne Barbeau did her first week in late '74, by which time Gary Burghoff had temporarily replaced Charles while the latter was directing a Broadway show. Gary didn't always get along that well with Brett, prompting a question about what he'd do about sitting next to her.

Finished the night on YouTube with game shows that flopped in the 2000's. As the new millennium dawned, the overnight success of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire revived the game show format in prime-time. Alas, the enthusiasm would prove to be short-lived as an endless parade of Millionaire copy-cats flooded the airwaves in early 2000. Twenty One was a not-bad revival of the controversial late 50's quiz show, with Maury Povich doing surprisingly well as host. It's Your Chance of a Lifetime had people competing to pay off credit card bills and win a million with the help of two "Second Chances." Fox was so unimpressed with Lifetime that it never made it to a full series. Twenty One lasted five months on NBC.

GSN's original game shows mostly tended to be short-lived. Cram was a unique format that had college students staying awake to talk about articles they read, guess questions, and play stunts. In the end, if they could remember facts told to them while sleeping, they'd win $10,000. Too bad this one only lasted 7 months in 2003. From what I've seen, it's a lot of fun, and certainly one of the more original game shows out there.

Whammy! The All New Press Your Luck did a bit better, running over a year. This pretty much played the same as the original, with a CGI Whammy and an additional "double whammy" who would unleash a physical mess, like shredded paper, over the contestant. The episode I have here is a special show that brought in the brother of the original show's most notorious constant Michael Larson, along with original host Peter Tomarken to read a question.

Temptation didn't do much better in syndication during 2007 and 2008. This revival of Sale of the Century came directly from Australia, where that show has always been very popular. Unfortunately, the mini-games were a lot more complicated, host Rossi Morreale was annoying, and the prize packages screamed "cheap." This one lasted 8 months before being pulled and has been the last time to date Sale of the Century was revived in America.

We explore the game shows of the new millennium and find out what worked and what didn't in these rare and unique episodes!

Twenty-One (2000)

It's Your Chance of a Lifetime (2000)

Cram (2002)

Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck (2004)
Temptation (2007) 

Everyday Comes Something Beautiful

Began the morning with breakfast and the cast album for I Remember Mama. It's too bad Richard Rodgers' last show apparently had problems from the start (including a lot of replaced songs), because what they came up with is very sweet. As a writer who does often do her best work after dark, I appreciated oldest daughter Katrin's insistence that "A Writer Writes at Night." There's also the charming chorus number "Everyday Comes Something Beautiful" and Mama (Sally Ann Howes) and Papa's (George Hearn) lovely "You Couldn't Please Me More." I'm glad someone recorded this in 1985 after the original 1979 Broadway version was a flop. This isn't the greatest thing in the world, but it's worth hearing if you love Howes or Rodgers' other work or like your musicals on the sweeter, gentler side.

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon working on Hilary and the Beasts. Hilary storms upstairs, packing and demanding that her sisters be brought to her, because they're going home. Maple and Betty do not want to go home. Maple wants to see if Eagle comes out again. (He wasn't at dinner.) Betty wants to get to the bottom of this mystery. Bear (Scott), deeply upset that they're abandoning them, doesn't want them to go, either. There's also the fact that it's late, it's starting to snow, and cabs are hard to find in this part of Pittsburgh. Hilary is determined to walk to the nearest bus station. She storms out, with Maple and Betty on her heels to attempt to talk sense into her. None of them see a certain Eagle (Victor) watching from his perch on a tree...or Bear duck inside to get help...

Switched to rock albums while I worked and had lunch. "With a Little Luck" was the major hit on Wings' 1978 London Town. Most of the other songs don't get close to that, although "I've Had Enough" and the title track aren't bad. The 1988 Huey Lewis and the News album Small World also spun off a decent-sized hit single, "Perfect World." "Walkin' With the Kid" and the two parts of the title song are also fun. 

Headed to work after Small World ended. Other than we were busy for most of the afternoon and I had a hard time keeping up with the carts, there were no problems whatsoever. I'm surprised I didn't have more help. There's usually at least two people working in the afternoons. It wasn't until the last hour that I was finally able to gather all of the carts. I never did get to the trash or the bathrooms. Everyone must be restocking after the 4th of July weekend, or they were just out enjoying the sunny, breezy, hot but not too humid weather.

Went straight home and into dinner and tonight's Match Game marathon. Gene Rayburn loved his long, thin microphone that could telescope up and down, but it caused him no end of problems. In one episode, the entire panel spent at least five minutes in the opening looking for his spare. Stagehands put a paper lightning bolt on it in another episode to keep it from crackling. It fell apart all together at the end of a PM episode. There was also the time he lost the ball on top, and a stagehand had to give him one. (Gene found it later by the Star Wheel.) 

That wasn't the only type of microphone Gene used. Sometimes, they'd give him an older one as a gag, like the time when he tried to haul around a heavy older model from the early 30's. (This was also the infamous episode where Fannie flirted with handsome high school teacher Ron Valenti.) Another time, someone handed Gene a slightly more recent but still older model, the kind they would have used around when Remember WENN is set. One of the audience members gave him a champagne pink microphone covered in sequins, which the panel dubbed his "Cher" microphone. He had to use a short and sturdy microphone in a later episode...but as short and sturdy Arte Johnson reminded him, some people have to deal with more than a microphone being small! 

Check out the ongoing saga of Gene and his favorite piece of equipment onstage in this hilarious marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Testing One Two: Microphone Fun & Trouble On Set

Ponies and Matches

Started off the morning with breakfast and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Poor Fluttershy is "Dragonshy" when the ponies see an ominous cloud of smoke blanketing Ponyville. Dragons are the one type of animal Fluttershy is terrified by. She has to practically be dragged to its lair in the hope of waking it up and asking it to sleep elsewhere. Twilight tries to reason with it, Rarity to flatter it. It's not until Rainbow Dash kicks it and gets knocked back that Fluttershy finally overcomes her fear and tells the creature off for her friends.

It was so late by the time I finished, I called Uber. That might not have been a bad idea. While not as overwhelmingly hot as it has been, it was still pretty warm. Plus, the driver arrived in less than 3 minutes and got me to work right on time. Even the one going home only took 7 minutes to arrive, not bad for the start of rush hour.

Work went just fine. It was surprisingly not that busy for much of the afternoon. It did pick up later, but it probably could have been worse. If people weren't continuing to celebrate the 4th of July weekend, they were on outings with their families or down at the Shore. And no wonder. The weather was sunny and warm, a little humid but not horrible. I swept and did carts early in the day, switching to all-carts after a second bagger arrived. No real trouble here whatsoever.

When I got in, I went straight into My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Rainbow Rocks. I go further into the second film in the direct-to-home-video series about the Ponies as teenagers at Canterlot High at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Rainbow Rocks

Worked on writing next. Actually, I went back and added a flashback sequence to right before Hilary's dinner with the Troll. Hilary recalls the last time she saw Jeff before Pavla claimed he was her husband. He had taken her to a gala at the Frick Mansion, talking about the extensive gardens and claiming he had a big anniversary surprise for her. They run across Scott flirting with Betty; to Hilary's delight, and despite her obvious interest, Betty turns Scott down for a date. Betty knows he's a con-man of the first order. As Hilary sends her to Doug Thompson, she almost literally runs into Victor Comstock, holding papers on the situation in Europe that he wants Jeff and Scott to read. Maple is trying to get Victor to notice her, but he's oblivious to her advances or anything that isn't the growing threat in Europe. 

Also revised Hilary and the Troll's explosive dinner. Now, it's talk about the curse that sets them off. He doesn't want to discuss it, partially because he can't. Pavla's magic stills his tongue (and Scott's) every time he tries. Troll brusquely asks her to marry him, but she still turns him down. She's still in love with someone else - Jeff. He ends up roaring, she ends up name-calling, and the entire dinner still ends with her stomping off in a huff to go home and him breaking dishes.

Finished the night after a shower with dinner and tonight's Match Game marathon. Brett had a tendency to rip up answers that she didn't like, or ones from questions she didn't like, or ones Charles gave that she complained were stolen from her. There were also all the times a question had to be thrown out, usually when either a panelist or Gene blurted out an answer or accidentally showed theirs. Producer Ira Skutch would make a rare appearance to bring out a new question.

Of course, papers aren't the only things that can be torn off. In a 1979 PM episode, one of the contestants was a balding but cheerful young man who joked about renting his head as a geodesic dome. The panel were so charmed by his jokes, Charles eventually gave him his toupee (and it did make him look at least 10 years younger). 

There's also the PM episodes where two contestants totally struck out at the Audience Matches. The first time it happened, Richard did comic reading in his Newkirk accent on a bricklayer's troubles with his wares. They were more prepared the second time. They let the lady match each member of the panel on a question for $100 each. She went home with $600 and a smile on her face.

Watch the Match Game panel rip it up and let it roll with this rippingly good marathon!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Toss It Out, Throw It Out, and Rip It Up Marathon

4th of July Revolutions

Kicked off my 4th of July with material from Colliers Junior Classics: Harvest of Holidays. The long piece here is a segment from Little Town On the Prairie in which Pa, Laura, and Carrie enjoy the town's small but festive celebration. The girls are delighted to drink lemonade from a dipper, watch people pass by in Pa's shop, and cheer on their friend Alonzo in the buggy race. We also have The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, the first part of the Constitution, and several shorter poems on fireworks and independence.

Threw on two classic holiday shorts while having a quick breakfast. "Patriotic Popeye" wishes his nephews would forget the fireworks and find other ways to have fun on the 4th. He teaches them a lesson when their largest rocket carries them off, and he has to rescue them. Bugs defends Boston as a "Bunker Hill Bunny" fighting against Hessian (Yosemite) Sam.

Hurried out the door at 9:55. The Oaklyn 4th of July Parade was supposed to start at 10. One of the things you can always count on is it's NEVER on time...and considering I saw people lining up on Johnson, too, I suspected it would be even less so today. I could have stayed there, but all the fun stuff is on West Clinton. I arrived just in time to see the Mr. Softee truck pull up in the municipal parking lot. 

My brother-in-law Craig, 8-year-old niece Finley, and 15-year-old nephew Khai were already sitting in lawn chairs, waiting for the show to begin. I got to hand Finley, whose birthday was yesterday, her stuffed Squishmallows unicorn. She absolutely loved it! She loves animals of all varieties, including mythological. After she opened her present, we got free ice cream from Mr. Softee. I went simple with a cup of soft-serve vanilla and chocolate sprinkles. She got a chocolate/vanilla twist with strawberry crunch sprinkles. 

The Parade was over a half-hour late, but when it did arrive, it came by biker group. To my niece and nephews' amusement, the bikers came first, looking like fierce teddy bears on giant motorcycles. The Oaklyn Food Pantry had by far the best float. Their hot dog theme had everyone dressed as condiments, including mustard and ketchup bottle cone hats. Most of the others were local baseball and softball teams throwing candy, which is all Finley cared about (along with waving to her friends on the softball floats). I even managed to snitch lollipops and pieces of hard candy for myself. (Oh, and I love the names of the local softball teams - the Bubblegum Bombers and the Flamingos.)

Craig took Finley and Khai home for lunch after that, but I stuck around for the National Anthem (the lady who sang it was really excellent), and the winners of the float contest. I think you can guess that the Oaklyn Pantry deservedly won that one. Though there were also free hot dogs and bags of chips, it was way too early for lunch. I grabbed free red, blue, and silver beads and USA headband bobbles instead. I was going to stop at Common Grounds Coffee House, but I realized I forgot my money. Oh well. Just walked home instead.

Relaxed for an hour while watching two patriotic specials on mice making unusual contributions to American history. Chester the Cricket is a Yankee Doodle Cricket when he supposedly writes "Yankee Doodle" for all of the animals in the Colonies. Tucker the Mouse claims his ancestor the Declaration of Independence to prove cats and mice can get along, while Harry says his got a drunk Paul Revere moving on that famous midnight ride.

The Disney special Ben & Me takes us to Philadelphia to meet Amos, a poor church mouse. He moves in with Benjamin Franklin and helps him create memorable inventions like the Franklin stove and bifocals. Amos is also instrumental in starting the Pennsylvania Gazette and putting out hard-hitting news stories for that. He and Ben finally part ways after Amos is used as a test-mouse in the famous kite-flying experiment, but Ben calls him back to help write the Declaration of Independence. 

Headed back out after that, this time on my bike. Craig invited me to barbecue between 4 and 5, but it was only 12:30. I had plenty of time for a nice picnic in the park. Rode down to Haddon Culinary, which, thankfully, was opened. Bought a turkey club hoagie with their house-made chips and a Coke Zero. Enjoyed it under the trees at one of the old wooden picnic benches in Knight Park, near the pavilion. I was surprised at how quiet they were. I figured everyone would be picnicking on such a gorgeous day. It was sunny and breezy, slightly humid but not annoyingly so, probably in the mid-80's. I shared my table with a drowsy ladybug enjoying the one shaft of sunlight coming through the trees.

After I rode home, I put on Johnny Tremain. Johnny (Hal Stalmaster) is a silversmith's apprentice who agrees to remake a sugar basin for wealthy Johnathan Lyte (Sebastian Cabot). Unfortunately, he burns his hand while making it so badly, he can never be a silversmith again. He ends up as a messenger boy for the Sons of Liberty. He tries to sell a silver cup with the Lytes' crest, only for Lyte to claim he stole it. Fortunately, his former master's daughter Priscilla Lapham (Luana Patten) speaks for him in court. He's now able to throw himself into getting involved in the American Revolution, including tossing that tea overboard in Boston and joining the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Though this loses a lot of incidents and characters from the book, it does have excellent performances from Cabot and Ralph Clinton as Lyte and General Gage, and Richard Beymer looks a lot more engaged here than he would four years later in West Side Story. Still recommended if you're a fan of American history, the original book, or the Disney action films of the 50's and 60's.

Mom called me around this point. I haven't heard from her in a while. She did appreciate my finding another job that I like, but still insists that I should remain at the Acme for the pension and because I'll probably be retiring in a few years. She's also concerned about my brother Keefe. I'm thrilled that his wife Julia is pregnant, and they'll be having a boy in the fall, but she's worried about them needing a bigger home and how their daughter Aurora will react. 

Switched to my original cast CD for By the Beautiful Sea after the movie ended. Shirley Booth headlined this 1952 Broadway show as Lottie Gibson, a vaudeville performer in early 1900's Coney Island who falls for a Shakespearean actor (Wilbur Evans). His daughter "Baby" Betsy disapproves. Betsy's mother tries to keep her as a child to get better roles, but she's in love with a young waiter at the boardwalk. Lottie eventually gives her a dress and teaches her how to behave older, no matter what age her mother wants her to be.

I've had this CD since I found it at a long-defunct music store in North Cape May around 1996. To be honest, it's not that great of a show. They never did figure out what to do with the Baby Betsy subplot. She doesn't even get a song. Apparently, the book on this one was constantly re-written right up until opening, and it shows. The songs are something of a hodge-podge, with most of the chorus numbers not being anything but filler. I do like the comic lament "I'd Rather Wake Up By Myself" for Booth and the lovely ballad "Alone Too Long" for Evans, but most of the score is as much of a mash-up as the show in general. Only for major enthusiasts of Booth or 50's musicals.

Worked on Hilary and the Beasts for the next few hours. Hilary spends her evening making phone calls. Jeff hasn't been seen at his radio jobs that he was broadcasting with his secretary Victor on the situation overseas, nor at the stage roles manager Scott worked so hard for him to get. After she finishes, Puppy dresses her for dinner in a lavish black velvet and fur gown. She eventually takes her down to her dinner with the Beast in a beautifully-appointed dining room. He tries to ask her to marry him, but she tells him she's in love with someone else. That sets them fighting again, and she ends up running out the door, angry and wiling to leave.

I got so into working on the story, I didn't get to Rose's until after 5. I got there at the same time as Craig's mom and dad, who were just getting out of their car when I was walking up the driveway. Rose had a huge spread set out - bowls of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, plates of grapes and cherries, another plate of Doritos. Finley was just excited about her birthday yesterday. She went to a local spa for little girls, then went to Dave & Buster's and out to eat. We had grilled hot dogs, burgers, vegetables, and the sweet potatoes Craig's parents brought along for dinner.

Finley insisted on going swimming after dinner, even though she'd already changed. She changed back into a bathing suit. I totally forgot Rose and Craig had that big inflatable pool in the backyard. I would have brought my own suit if I remembered. I sat in the back and kept an eye on her while she splashed, swam, and showed off her swimming moves. She was so interested when I told her about the story I was writing, I gave her the revised version. I didn't think 8-year-olds knew much about the early Great Depression, so I put the story in a more generic fairy-tale-world. Jeff was a prince, Scott a knight, Victor a wizard, they were still turned into a troll, bear, and eagle by a wicked fairy, and the other ladies still had to rescue them. 

Finley especially liked hearing about how much Maple loved the adventure, how she stroked all the animals and will ride Victor later. "That's so me!" she squealed with delight. She put in a request to be in the story, or at least use her name. Maybe not this one, but I might get some local kids into the Maple Rapunzel story I have planned for after this one.

We finally dragged Finley inside around 8 to have cake. She apparently had cupcakes yesterday, but Rose had a small white cake for her to share with the family. It was a simple white and blue cake Rose bought from Wegman's, but it was nice and moist, and the icing was amazing. We all sang "Happy Birthday" for Finley, and I enjoyed my slice quickly before heading out.

Made a quick stop at Dollar General for Gatorade Zero before following everyone else making their way down to Newton Lake Park. Though the fireworks are set off at Collingswood High School, most people watch them at the park, where the entrance is free. I ducked around people on blankets and lawn chairs, making my way down to the hill overlooking the brand-new neon orange and bright lime green playground equipment. I was hoping to avoid the damp ground, but I just ended up plopping on the hill. 

Looked at my cell phone until the first lights were seen in the sky. Collingswood always puts on an amazing show, and tonight was no exception. I oohed and ahhed over purple circles, giant multi-colored sparkles, golden glitter, and rings within rings. Hurried off just as the big finale boomed and glittered against the ebony sky and the bare black outlines of trees.

Hurried home just in time for another type of fireworks. Tonight was the chat "premiere" for the School Riot. It's delicious irony that the head of Match Game Productions debuted this tonight. Richard Dawson and Debralee Scott hold their own revolution when producer and judge Ira Skutch won't match "school" with "finishing school." Here's the episode, so you can see how it all went down:

Match Game '77 1005 - School Riot Episode

Finished the night with a patriotic dose of Disney history. The 1989 Walt Disney World 4th of July Parade is where the balance started to switch to bands and advertising. New Kids on the Block were THE huge boy band in this era. We hear them performing two of their biggest hits in the now-defunct Pleasure Island, including "Hangin' Tough." The Temptations perform at the entrance to what's now Disney Hollywood Studios. Splash Mountain (now Tiana's Bayou Adventure) is featured. The actual parade doesn't really last that long. The last half-hour is given over to a too-long medley of old musical numbers, with an incredibly annoying Carol Channing and grown women dressed as Shirley Temple. It's ridiculous. They should have done ten minutes of this, tops, not 30. The members of the Mickey Mouse Club running around Typhoon Lagoon would have been of vastly more interest to me at age 10.

At any rate, here's how all this went down for yourself. And I hope you had a great 4th of July with your own families!

1989 Walt Disney World 4th of July Spectacular 

Star Spangled Lady

Began the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel and Margaret Visit the Farm," where Daniel rides a horse for the first time. He's nervous about being up so high, until his father holds his hand. Likewise, Margaret is too scared to feed the ducks, until her big brother holds her hand and shows her how it's done. Daniel is excited about "Fireworks and Fireflies," but Margaret is scared of the fireflies, and they're both not fans of the noisy fireworks! They hold each other's hands while they get used to these new sights and noises.

Switched to Supermarket Sweep on Buzzr while making my grocery list. This was one of those episodes when it was pretty obvious one team would dominate the proceedings. Team One got by far the most time, along with more extra money from getting David's bread list right and winning one of the "find the item" games. They didn't do quite as well with the bonus round...but considering no one got two out of three of the movies in the Snack Attack Movie Game, maybe it should have been obvious that they wouldn't have gotten the third question, either.

Hurried out to run errands after the show ended. I would normally have waited to do the grocery shopping until tomorrow, but the last place I want to be on the 4th of July is a grocery store. Grabbed an iced matcha latte at a busy Starbucks in Target before heading to Sprouts. Found granola bars and cherry shortbread cookies on sale. Restocked the soda and coconut milk. Got dried mango slices out of the bulk bins.

It was hot, sunny, and humid (though not quite as hot as last week) when I headed up the hill and past the library and Haddon Township High School to the Westmont Acme. Mainly needed to restock yogurt and soda here. Picked up granola bars with an online coupon, strawberries, and a bag of Kellogg's Extra granola on a really good sale. Neither Sprouts nor the Acme were busy. Everyone must be waiting for tomorrow or intended to go out after work.

Took the long way home across Newton Lake Park. It's deep into summer now. The barest breeze ruffled the large, deep green leaves as the waters on the lake sparkled. I took the shortcut over the hill, enjoying the shade, the stillness, and the damp, earthy scent.

Had lunch and put everything away when I got home while watching two episodes of Jem on Tubi. Jerrica runs into "The Presidential Dilemma" when none other than the head of the country invites them to play at the Kennedy Center. The Holograms are thrilled, until they realize they can't get Synergy, the computer who provides the Jem hologram, through the Secret Service. Jerrica is really in a bind when a dashing thief steals all of America's greatest treasures...including the president...and she has to rescue him without Synergy's aid.

I'm not the only one who is fascinated by "Beauty and the Beast" stories. "Beauty and the Rock Promoter" has Jem and the Holograms playing Beauty and the mean sisters in a rock take on the original French "Beast" story. Jem is curious about the actor playing the Beast, too much for her boyfriend Rio's liking. The promoter who came up with the show is working Jem to exhaustion, so much that she collapses and has to rest. The Misfits are eager to take over, and while they might make great bad sisters, Pizzazz isn't much of a Beauty. There's only one Beauty for this show...and she learns where her real Beast is when they have to stop gangsters from harming their Beast.

Switched to YouTube for the 1959 TV version of Meet Me In St. Louis. I go further into this surprisingly charming remake of the beloved 1944 MGM movie for the 4th of July at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Happy 4th of July! - Meet Me In St. Louis (1959)

Moved back to Tubi for one of the later My Little Pony: Equestria Girls specials. It's a Rollercoaster of Friendship when Internet diva Vignette Valencia hires Rarity as the costume designer for a major amusement park. Rarity is thrilled, until Vignette tries to butt in on her friendships, and she realizes how difficult the job is. Applejack is jealous at first, but then she realizes there's something going on with Vignette's cell phone when their friends disappear one by one because Vignette doesn't think they're perfect enough. 

Worked on writing for a while during and after the film. Hilary spends most of afternoon playing phone tag with Pittsburgh City Hall and talking to Doug Thompson. He says he'll pull strings and find out who owns the mansion, because it probably isn't a troll. He also wants to talk to Betty, but is cut off before he can do so.

Hilary goes off in search of her sisters and finds Maple munching on peanuts in front of Eagle's door. She's trying to get him to play in the snow or have lunch with her, but his annoyed squawk basically says he's having none of it...until Maple asks to see his work. That's when he finally lets her and Hilary in. Turns out his "work" is mostly on the situation in Europe and Asia in 1930, which many Americans were deeply concerned about. Maple flirts with him and asks him to explain more about this "political junk" in the best way he can.

Her older sister moves on to the library. She's not too happy to find Betty reading "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" to Bear. He relates deeply to the enchanted white bear in the story and asks Betty if he's a prince. Betty doesn't think he's that, but she does think he is kind and gentle, which is just as important as being smart. She wishes he wouldn't let Troll bully him, but he says that the troll is his friend, he's not usually like that, and he's smarter than he is. 

Hilary doesn't approve of this romance at all. She wants Betty to continue her writing career and marry someone more successful like Doug, not a walking throw rug. She reminds Betty that she has a play to work on and that Bear has chores. Bear's so frightened of her, he overturns furniture in his attempt to hurry out.  Betty scolds Hilary for her high-handed treatment of her new friend, then says she'll make her own decisions and conduct her own investigation.

Listened to records while I worked. The political satire Of Thee I Sing was revived in 1952. Alas, it would prove to be short-lived, but it did last long enough to throw out this album. Jack Carson has a lot of fun as Wintterbottom, but Paul Hartman's Throttlebottom isn't nearly as interesting. We also get some songs that didn't make it into the TV version, like "Here's a Kiss for Cinderella" and Hello, Good Morning." (Interestingly, "Mine" is interpolated into this version, too.)

My copy of Yankee Doodle Mickey is the original from the early 80's that includes the Disneyland Glee Club's rousing version of "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 Services medley, with Mickey singing for the Marines and the Air Force, Goofy for the Army, and of course, Donald for the Navy.

Charles Ives' Holiday Symphony is actually a series of four classical pieces related to major American holidays. I listened to the ones on side 2. I have no idea what Forefather's Day is, but the piece for Thanksgiving is appropriately choir-like. The other one for the 4th of July is more sizzling, as benefitting a summer holiday.

Switched to Match Game '73 during dinner. They're now on the week with game show host Robert Q. Lewis that also introduced Joyce Bulifant. Morey Amsterdam takes Charles' fussy guy seat here...and he's so funny, I wish he came back after early 1974.

Finished the night after dinner with more patriotic programming and music. I went further into Uncle Sam Magoo, the second and last Mr. Magoo special, at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog two years ago. 

Animation Celebration Saturday - Uncle Sam Magoo

America the Beautiful is a Reader's Digest collection of patriotic music, apparently released in honor of the Statue of Liberty's big restoration in 1986. I prefer the first disc for the sheer variety. You get everything from Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" to the Guadalcanal March from Victory at Sea to excerpts from "On the Trail" to a medley of George M. Cohen songs. 

(Oh, and it finally rained hard but briefly sometime around 9 PM. I don't think it's done anything since then.)

Writing Harts

Got a quick start today with breakfast and Bluey. Bluey and Bingo love creating their own dance moves while doing "Housework." Their parents think they're so funny, they decide to try it to make their own housework more fun, too. "Pass the Parcel" is apparently a game involving kids in a circle passing around a gift wrapped in layers. In the current version of the game the kids play, there's a gift in every layer. One of the parents protest that they're learning that you win all the time and insists on one large gift, instead of layering smaller ones. Bingo is upset at first when she keeps missing the big gift, but eventually learns that waiting isn't so bad.

It was warm and killer humid when I got outside (though not so hot as it has been). I didn't trust Mother Nature and ended up taking Uber to work. The one going there was late. I literally got to work at the last second. The one going home arrived in a little over 5 minutes and took no time to get me home. No real trouble either way.

No problems at work, either. We just weren't that busy. Most people are likely waiting for the holiday weekend to do their shopping. I did fall behind on sweeping and carts when I had to help an older lady take 35 bottle packs of water to her car. Otherwise, no trouble. It remained off-and-on sunny and humid, though it never rained.

After I got home, I had lunch while watching The Scooby Doo Show. Mystery Inc ducks into the Smithsonian to avoid a rain storm, but discover "The Spirits of '76" - namely, the ghosts of traitors Benedict Arnold, John Andre, and William Demont are running loose while a locomotive won't stop running. After they get locked in, the kids follow wet footprints and the constantly-running engine to figure out just what these patriotic specters really want.

Spent the rest of the afternoon working on Hilary and the Beasts. The ladies are greeted at the cheery kitchen by Mrs. Fox (Gertie), the cook and housekeeper, who has prepared their breakfast. Bear (Scott) is also there. Betty finds his clumsiness and attempts to help her to be endearing. Hilary is less amused by this oversized ebony Winnie the Pooh flirting with her sister. She demands to know what's going on, and oh yes, Mrs. Fox, you didn't cook my eggs right. Maple drowns her waffles in syrup while asking about Eagle. Mrs. Fox says, as a bird of prey, he catches his own fish and eats in his office. 

Troll's (Jeff) roar turns up before the rest of him does. Mrs. Fox scolds him for breaking half the glass in the household by announcing himself like that, and Hilary scolds him for acting like a child. He still wants the other women to leave and Hilary to stay and have dinner with him. Hilary agrees to the dinner if her sisters can stay. Betty certainly won't leave now. Mr. Cat (Mr. Eldridge) mentioned there's a library. Bear offers to take her there, which she turns into a date. Maple claims she wants to explore the house, but she really wants to find Eagle's offices. Troll orders her to leave him alone, as he's doing important work about what's going on in Europe, but she just wants to see him again.

As Hilary leaves to call Pittsburgh City Hall on the phone, she overhears a conversation in the kitchen. Mrs. Fox brusquely reminds Troll that he's never going to break the curse if he keeps treating his wife like that. Ex-wife, Troll grumbles. It's Bear, banished to washing dishes, who finally manages to get out that Hilary is his wife, and she does love him. 

Listened to music at first while I worked. I thought records featuring mellow Canadian and Australian songstresses would be right for a romantic fairy tale story. Anne Murray's Greatest Hits collects her best-known songs through 1974. Her lovely "Daydream Believer" is probably my favorite, but we also have "Could I Have This Dance?", "You Needed Me," "Snowbird," and "Shadows In the Moonlight."

Olivia Newton-John's Have You Never Been Mellow? came out a year later and was a very similar mix of heartfelt ballads like the title song and jaunty up-tempo numbers. The former included "I Never Did Sing You a Love Song" and "Please Mr. Please" along with the title ballad. The latter includes " Water Under the Bridge" and "It's So Easy."

Switched to movies after the music ended. Summer Rental is a John Candy vehicle from 1985. He's Jack Chester, an overworked air traffic controller taking his first vacation in 13 years. He and his family end up in Citrus Cove, Florida, but they have problems from the start. On their first night, Jack insults local bigwig Al Pellett (Richard Crenna) at a fancy seafood restaurant. He gets horrible sunburn, then discovers that his family ended up in the wrong house. Theirs is a dilapidated shack on a noisy party beach. Jack's attempt to take his son sailing ends with him injuring his knee and getting stuck at home. He finally turns to Scully (Rip Torn), the crusty owner of a floating seafood restaurant, how to sail. 

This proves to be crucial when Pellett buys their rental property and is ready to evict them. Jack tells him if they win the local regatta, they can stay. He recruits Scully and his crew of pirate-like misfits to help refit the Barnacle restaurant for racing. His family eventually joins in, too, turning the regatta into a group affair and proving that the family that works together, kicks snob rear together.

Pretty generic Candy 80's vehicle. His antics and some jokes with Torn and his crew are really all there is to recommend about this one. The regatta finale is even almost identical to the one in One Crazy Summer two years later. Crenna has a few good scenes as the snobbish local, but John Larroquete is underused as the nice father who helps them out. Enjoyable enough time-waster on a summer afternoon if you're a fan of Candy or Torn.

Meatballs Part II from 1984 gets a heck of a lot weirder. Interestingly, Larroquette has a small part in this one, too. He's the assistant to Colonel Jack "Batjack" Hershy (Hamilton Camp), who wants to buy the lake that his military camp currently shares with Camp Sasquatch. Camp Sasquatch owner Coach Giddy (Richard Mulligan) refuses to sell, so he sets out to sabotage the camp. Meanwhile, pretty, innocent Cheryl (Kim Richards) is being pursued by tough-guy CIT Flash Carducci (John Mengnatti) and the campers discover an alien in the woods they dub "Meathead" (voice of Archie Hahn). Meathead proves to be instrumental in saving the camp when he helps Flash with his boxing match against the hulking brute from the military camp.

The original Meatballs wasn't exactly a masterpiece, but this...this is some of the weirdest camp from an era that reveled in sheer weirdness for weirdness' sake. Name a trend from 1982 through 1984 in films, and you'll probably find some reference here, including the big boxing match, the friendly alien, and the snobs-vs-snobs gags. The movie is pretty obviously cheap, the script seems to have been cobbled together from every movie made in 1984, and Camp and Mulligan are the only ones who have any idea of what they're doing. And yet, there's some decent gags, and Camp and Mulligan play surprisingly well off each other. Once again, not a bad way to waste a summer afternoon if you enjoy other equally strange comedies from the mid-80's.

After all that, Match Game '73 during dinner was actually a little less strange. They're on the hilarious week with McLean Stevenson, Robert Vaughn, and Nancy Dussalt. Dussalt's dry wit is so adorable here, I wish she came back before the Too Close for Comfort week on Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. McLean is even more hilarious, making cracks about Brett not listening and running out and kissing Richard and Gene whenever someone wins.

Finished the night with Hart to Hart after I ate. Jennifer happily says "My Hart Belongs to Daddy" when her father (Ray Milland) invites her and Johnathan to her childhood home in Maryland outside of Washington DC. Their joy at visiting proves to be short-lived when they discover that her father was a spy during World War II and is now the target of a German man whose father was killed by him and his group.

Dolls On a Stormy Day

Began the morning with breakfast and Alice's Wonderland Bakery. "Hattie Wishes Upon a Star" during their Japanese tea festival, and is upset when the stars are covered with clouds and the wishes blow away. Alice, Rosa, and Fergie chase the slips of paper that hold their wishes, and get help from a very unlikely source! It's "Season's Eatings" when the Queen of Hearts insists that Alice's "pumpkin pizzels" should be a year-round treat. Everyone keeps buying them and buying them, until they're not popular anymore, and Alice and her friends have to think of another way to entice eaters to the store.

I gathered clothes to donate at the bin in the back of Dollar General while watching the 2003 Strawberry Shortcake. They did two fairy tales late in the series that weren't plays or dream sequences. "Sleeping Beauty" was the first. Strawberry is the Sleeping Beauty, cursed by Brambleberry Fairy because she thought they forgot to invite her to the christening. She's jealous of how all of the other fairies work together to try to lift the curse, until Prince Huckleberry reminds her that her thorns - both around her house and her heart - are keeping her from seeing the truth or accepting apologies. 

Went for a walk after the cartoon ended. I dumped the clothes bag in the bin, and then went in Dollar General for a drink...only to dash back out when I heard a loud argument between a customer who wanted her coupon back and two cashiers who couldn't give it to her. I bought 2 for $5 Gatorade at CVS instead before heading into Newton Lake Park. At least they've finally finished the playground, a green and orange melange of spiral slides and twisty monkey bars. The swing set is now yellow, and the baby swing is basically a baby seat with a restraining bolt on metal links.

I originally planned on going for a longer walk, but it was hot and killer humid, and there were dark clouds rumbling on the horizon. I dodged Canadian geese hogging the road and finally got off at the stone staircase leading up to Clinton Avenue. Rushed home as quickly as I possibly could.

(Thankfully, the clouds didn't finally burst until over an hour after I got in. We had a pretty good thunderstorm going too, with loud pyrotechnics and buckets of water. Even after the thunder finally passed, it would continue showering off and on for the rest of the afternoon.)

Had lunch after I got in while watching Care Bears Family. Cheer is excited about the "Care Bear Town Parade," even buying a fancy new outfit for it...and neglecting to help Bright Heart, Treat Heart, and Champ with their float. She spends her money on a barrette instead of giving the others her share for a new car. When a certain strange car seller (Beastly) turns up with a snazzy pink and purple limo for all the money they have, she thinks she's found the perfect vehicle for them...until it turns out it's a trap by Beastly to destroy the parade and Care Bear Town. 

Spent the next few hours dressing the dolls for the 4th of July. Whitney's ready to show her new dance moves in the 4th of July Parade in the AG Dance Dress and tap shoes borrowed from Molly. (The red shoes that go with the dress are coming apart.) Samantha is ship-shape in her Middy Dress and black and white boots. Jessa sports a more laid-back red t-shirt from the original Blue Jean Basics and the shortalls from the Earth Day Outfit. Molly's ready for camp in her Camp Gowanigan uniform and saddle shoes. 

Josefina's in her Indigo Skirt and Camisa, while Ariel gets a patriotic peasant shirt Lauren sent a while ago and red satin shorts from Julie's original Skating Outfit. Felicity is light and airy in her white cotton Summer Gown with the wide blue and white sash. Barbara Jean is the only one old enough to pull of a brief pink and blue Terry cloth romper with her own white shoes.

Listened to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella while I worked. Known as Bad Cinderella when it played Broadway, Cinderella is "bad" because she's a realistically unattractive and spunky young woman in a kingdom that is completely obsessed with appearances. Her friend Sebastian is the prince whose mother insists on him having a ball to find a bride after his brother dies. Cinderella insists on changing herself to attend, but learns a lesson in being yourself when it's her...the dirty, spunky her...that Sebastian really wants. 

This is...ok. It plays its parodies of cultures obsessed with conformity and superficial beauty as broadly as possible...which, to be honest, gets kind of annoying. Cinderella is less "bad" than she is "generic misunderstood." Though her "I Know I Have a Heart" isn't bad, Sebastian gets the lion's share of the the decent material, including "Man's Man" and "I Know You." Ok if you love Webber's other work or Cinderella stories like me, but nothing you need to go out of your way for.

Switched to writing after I finished the dolls. The ladies all wake up the next morning to discover massive headaches...and that they all had the same dream. Hilary is more worried about Jeff and what Pavla did to him than she'll admit. Betty wonders about the protective larger man, why she recognized him, and why they were attacked first. Maple's mind is mostly still tied up in ribbons, roses, and cute intellectuals with lovely whiskey eyes, but even she'll admit she was afraid when she couldn't rescue the guy or Betty.

Betty is only slightly surprised to see a kindly old cat-man (Mr. Eldridge) turn up at their door to fetch them for breakfast. They try to question him, but he either dodges them, or doesn't seem to understand. He'll only tell them that they have to figure it out for themselves.

Watched Our Town as I worked. I go further into this poignant musical version of the play where Frank Sinatra introduced the standard "Love and Marriage" at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Musicals On TV - Our Town (1955)

Watched Match Game '73 as I ate dinner. Yes, they jumped back to the beginning again, but this time, they're at some of the most delightful episodes of the first year. Jim Backus made his only appearance and Patti Desuch her first in the first week. "Mama" Cass Elliott became one of only two rock stars to appear on the 70's-80's Match Game in the second. 

Finished the night with game shows for the whole family. Families go way back in game shows. The Parents Game from 1972 was a Chuck Barris attempt to recapture that Newywed Game magic. Here, couples who either have children or are expecting them answer questions about how to raise them. Yeah, pretty generic. It wasn't enough to keep it around for more than a year.

The undisputed family game show champ was and remains Family Feud. The episode I have here is from early in Richard Dawon's run, right after he gave up on Match Game. Watching the two groups of families work together to get the answer and some of their funner mishaps can be a lot of fun.

Nowadays, families are more likely to be competing in stunt shows. Family Game Night and The Game of Life are two early game shows on the Hub before it became Discovery Kids. I can see why Family Game Night was the bigger hit of the two. Watching two families playing games based on beloved Habro board games is delightful. The Game of Life asks its questions on a CGI playing field that hasn't dated well. The stunts played at the end are a little to perfunctory, too.

Family Double Dare did far better with stunts in 1990. It's the same Double Dare, with daring and Physical Challenges, but here, we have families playing, rather than just kids. The big prize at the end of the Obstacle Course isn't a trip, but a car. This would be just as popular as it's other spin-offs, and remains just as much fun to watch.

Celebrate the 4th of July with your family in these hilarious showcases of family dynamics and parenting!

The Parents Game (1972)

Family Feud (1979)

Family Double Dare (1990)

Family Game Night (2010)

The Game of Life (2012)