Night of the Mario Galaxy

I overslept and had just enough time this morning before my dental appointment to eat a quick breakfast, dress, and take a call from Alyssa at Camden County. I wasn't able to get the First Time Buyers loan. You need two lines of credit, and though my credit is about as good as you can get, I only have one credit card. I've also only had the second Healthy Kids job for almost a year. Even though I've been at the Acme for 27 years, they don't count Healthy Kids. She said she'll apply me to a less-stringent loan and see if I can get that. 

By the time I finally called Uber, it was too late. They arrived in 10 minutes, which made me slightly late to my dental appointment. I did better later in the day. It took 9 minutes for the driver going to the Cinemark to arrive, and 8 for the one going home.

My dental appointment did not go well. My back lower left tooth, the one behind where the other one was pulled, has been sore and a little wobbly for weeks. My gums have been a little sore, too. I thought I took care of that problem five years ago! I haven't had so much as a cavity since that last tooth was pulled in June 2023. It was fine the last time I went for a dental appointment in early January. At least they won't be pulling it for another two weeks, and I was able to get the usual cleaning, but it's still scary and frustrating.

I tried to cheer myself up with a spinach and feta omelet and multi grain bagel at the Westmont Bagel Shop. I spent most of the time listening to a group of older women behind me chattering. Bought water and "puffcorn" (popcorn with no hulls) for the movies at Dollar Tree and tried to get money at Target.

After I gave up on the money and decided to just take Uber, I headed to the Cinemark in Somerdale to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. I missed the showing I originally planned on seeing...but there was another one just 20 minutes after that. I got into that one with five minutes to spare.

For once, almost every commercial before the movie was for something I really wanted to see, or at least thought looked interesting. I'm so glad they're finally putting out the Michael Jackson biography after pushing back the release date at least three times. I will absolutely be catching that at the end of the month to review it for my Musical Dreams blog. Supergirl is a definite yes after I loved Superman last summer. (And it'll give me something to look forward to between the end of the school year and Lauren visiting.) Masters of the Universe looks like they're at least trying to get closer to the original cartoon than the first time MGM attempted to go live-action with that franchise in 1987. We'll see about the unique animated buddy action fantasy Forbidden Island in late September. I may wait for that and the Paw Patrol dinosaur movie to debut online. The only one I likely won't bother with is Minions & Monsters. The commercial was cute, but I never really got into the Minions/Despicable Me franchise. 

I won't go heavily into The Super Mario Galaxy Movie because of spoilers, but...I loved it. I don't have a clue as to what the critics are complaining about. They whined about the last one, too. Maybe they don't like movies being based on video games. Chris Pratt was much better as Mario, Donald Glover was a surprisingly perfect Yoshi, and Benny Safdie was hilarious and even touching as Bowser's devoted son Junior. In fact, I love how they handled the relationship between Bowser and Junior. Bowser may be a lousy emperor, but he is a great single dad. If anything, Princess Peach (Anya Joy-Taylor) was even more awesome here than in the first movie, reminding me of why she's been my first-choice character whenever she was playable for 40 years. 

It's still no masterpiece. Some sequences, like the short bit with the Bee Queen and the one with Yoshi and the babies on the dinosaur planet, don't really move the plot along and seem shoehorned in to add more references to other Nintendo games. They crowd out characters like Fox McCloud of Star Fox and Rosalina whom you wish got more screen time. Some of the action set pieces go on for way too long, and a lot of the references may only land if you've been a hard-core Nintendo nut for the past 40 years. 

All in all, I say completely disregard whatever you've heard about this and go check it out, especially if you or your kids are Mario fans. It may not be a perfect galaxy, but it's still a lot of fun to explore.

Headed up the hill to Wal Mart after the movie ended, if only to enjoy the gorgeous day. It was windy, but sunny and relatively warm when you could get out of that cold wind, probably in the mid-upper 50's. I was hoping to find The Super Mario Galaxy Movie soundtrack there, but though they have restocked their record collection since last year, the soundtrack won't be out on physical media until later this year. I just picked up a few bits and pieces I needed instead, including a new dry erase board, granola bars, the Shirley Temple flavor of Olipop that I've seen nowhere else, and their soft and tasty breakfast cookies. 

I got home with just enough time to take out the trash and check something online before Jessa arrived. We ended up back at a surprisingly busy Ponzio's. Their back dining area was closed. I wonder if they were having a party later that evening? Some seats at the counter were closed, too. At any rate, we still had a wonderful dinner. Jessa's Double Decker Turkey Club was so huge, it was more like an 18-Decker. My chicken wrap was delicious, with lettuce, roasted bell peppers, fresh mozzarella, and lots of pesto mayonnaise. She took a slice of chocolate fudge cake home to Mike, but I did eat the vanilla buttercream cake slice right there. Oh yummy. Perfectly sweet, moist, and buttery. The waitress said they were out of a lot of desserts. I'm guessing the cheesecakes and pies and tarts were the first to go, because they seemed to have plenty of cakes and cookies.

Took a shower, then finished the night with The Wild Wild West. James West and Artemis Gordon investigate "The Night of the Beast" (aka "The Night of the Simian Terror") when they hear about a giant ape wrecking havoc on Senator Seth Buckley's (Dabbs Greer) plantation. His terrified ward Naomi (Grace Gaynor) and son Benjamin (Felice Orlandi) are more concerned about being the last of the Buckleys...and that someone has been picking off the Buckleys one by one. The ape had once been controlled by a scientist, but someone else, someone connected to Buckley, seems to be in charge of "the beast" now...and is using him to extract his revenge on the entire Buckley clan. 

Oh, and American Girl just re-released the first 8 historical dolls - Molly, Samantha, Kirsten, Felicity, Addy, Josefina, and Kit - in limited edition versions, with their original meet outfits, accessories, and books. The only one of those dolls I don't have who interests me is Addy, and I could probably adopt one cheaper on eBay, but they're still available if you want them and don't have any of them. (Now if only they'd re-release more of their outfits...or even make new ones...) 

Here Comes the Sun

Began the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Watched the episodes that introduced Daniel's autistic friend Max in honor of Autism Awareness Month. "Daniel Meets a New Friend" and learns there's things he can do to understand him better, like waiting for him to join in or not yelling around him. It's too loud for Max, but Daniel wants him to see his father's new clock. They find a way for "A New Friend at the Clock Factory" to join in. 

Switched to Pac Man while getting organized. Pac-Man becomes "Public Pac-Enemy No. 1" when he's mistaken for the gangster Pretty Boy Pac and sent to prison. Pretty Boy thinks he can take Pac Man's place, until Chomp Chomp and Sour Puss attack him. "The Old Pac-Man and the Sea" ends up sinking with the captain of the barge when the Ghosts attack their garbage barge carrying Power Pellets. They end up fighting the Ghosts in Paclantis for the amusement of the Pac-Queen.

Spent the next few hours getting ready for spring. I took my laundry downstairs, then took down the Easter decorations. Stripped the bed, put on the spring/fall sheets, and brought the winter sheets and blankets downstairs to be washed. When I finally brought my laundry upstairs, I pulled out my warm-weather clothes and put the cold weather ones away. It's supposed to be chilly tomorrow and Wednesday, but it'll get warm again after that. I don't think I'll need the turtlenecks, heavy jeans, or flannel nightgowns until fall returns. I also traded my fall-colored Pikachu and Eevee backpack with the spring-colored white and sage green one. 

Listened to The George Benson Collection while I worked. Pretty much every hit Benson ever had is here, from 80's radio staples "Turn Your Love Around" and "Give Me the Night" to the instrumental smash "Breezin'" to covers of "Here Comes the Sun," "White Rabbit," and "The Greatest Love of All." I remember hearing these on the radio and thinking how wonderfully sophisticated and sexy this sounded, how, well, breezy it was. 

After I finished with the clothes, I called Uber. It was late, past 2:15, but there were a few things I wanted to do in Cherry Hill. Good thing I wasn't in a hurry. It took 15 minutes for the driver to arrive going to Cherry Hill. Thankfully, it only took 7 for the one going home to find me. 

Started at Honeygrow. After a lot of carb-heavy lunches and brunches this weekend, I thought I'd try their salad bowl. I did a make-your-own with baby spinach, spring mix, broccoli, spring peas, feta cheese, toasted chickpeas, shrimp, grape tomatoes, and crunchy onions. Washed it down with their dark cherry punch. Oh yum. A nice mix of flavors, and I really liked those tasty chickpeas! 

The other reason I ate at Honeygrow is it's a block from Lucky Strike, formerly The Big Event. I'll save bowling for when Lauren visits in July, but I did spend 40 minutes running around the arcade area, spinning the pirate wheel and the monster wheels, throwing rubber axes at a target, dropping balls, making basketball shots, dropping ping pong balls in cups, and playing a lot of Nerf Arcade. I made over 1,500. Ended up getting a really cute stuffed animal that's a unicorn on one side and a pink dragon when you reverse it. I gave her the German name Eldelgard, which means "noble guard" in German, Eldie for short.

Another Uber driver took me to Red, White, and Blue Thrift in Cherry Hill, behind the mall and next-door to At Home. It's basically the same thing as Second Avenue Thrift, with all-cash payment instead of cash and card. I didn't get a lot here, as I don't really need a ton of clothes here, but I did find a nice copper cake/casserole pan, along with a book, a CD, and a record: 

The Commitments, Vol. 2 (the CD)

The record is The MGM Treasury of Bedtime Stories, a children's retelling of four fairy-tales

The Train to Impossible Places by P.G Bell (the book)

Made my way across the street to Second Avenue Thrift next. They're still working on the exterior of that shopping center. I had to walk into the store under a plywood entrance. It was normal inside, though. My best finds here were two gorgeous heavy cookie sheets, one in red, one in purple. No interesting records or CDs, but I did also find two books: 

Beauty by Robin McKinley

Paws and Effect by Sofia Kelly

Took out the recycling when I got home, then got dinner and went straight into Match Game '90. I came just in time for Chuck Roast's first episode. The punk puppet was supposed to be Ronn Lucas' temporary replacement for Scorch, who supposedly was trying out for a movie. (He didn't get the part.) Despite Chuck getting on everyone's nerves (including Deborah next to him, who stuffed his arm into his mouth), he would be back several times in 1990. Scorch thankfully was back by the next episode and got to flirt with Brett Somers, doing her first of three weeks on the show next to her old drinking buddy Charlies Nelson Reilly.

Finished the night at YouTube with game shows revolving around drawing and art. Art-themed shows go back further than you might think. Picture This was a CBS summer replacement series in 1963. A celebrity - William Bendix and Alan Young in the one existing episode - chooses an object, and the other celebrity tells the contestant how to draw it. If the contestant can identify the object, they get the point. If not, the other team gets the point. In the bonus round, the celebrity drew up to six objects for the contestant to guess. Interesting idea, and while it wasn't all that exciting, the basic idea would be refined for drawing games to come.

Fast Draw from 1968 was the same idea, but now the contestant would draw a person, place, or object, and the celebrity would have to guess what it is. Basically, it's Picture Password, with drawing instead of descriptions. Anita Gillette wiped the floor with stage star Robert Alda here.

Win, Lose, or Draw and Pictionary were hit board games before they were hit game shows. Win was the creation of Bert Convy, who hosted the syndicated version until 1989, and Burt Reynolds. Reynolds appears in the episode I have here, with Betty White, Annie Potts, and his good friend Dom DeLouise. Basically, one team draws a subject and tries to guess it, then the other team does it. The bonus round had the winning team drawing as many words and phrases as they could in 90 seconds. My siblings and I loved the teen version on The Disney Channel, and I really wish I'd seen more of the adult show, too. What's on YouTube is a lot of fun.

There were four attempts to turn Pictionary into a game show. The first one was a kid's show from 1989 that had heavy Double Dare influences and only lasted a few months. The most famous version was hosted by Alan Thicke in 1997. It's the same idea as Win, Lose, or Draw, only they're just drawing phrases, and each celebrity has to draw the same word. If the contestant playing with them gets the word, they get the money. This is just as fast-paced and fun, and it's a shame that it only lasted a few months. GSN tried reviving it in 2000, but it never got past the pilot stage. It did much better on Fox in 2021 and in syndication from 2022 to 2025. 

Not all art-themed game shows involved contestants making art. What In the World was a Philadelphia panel show filmed at the University of Pennsylvania that had a panel of experts (including Vincent Price in this 1955 episode) guessing and appraising art works from around the world, mainly African statues and masks here. Kind of dry if you're not an art fan yourself, but this ran from 1951 to 1955 and would continue on Philly public television stations until 1965.

Explore the world of art and make some artworks yourself with these hilarious and informative shows!

What In the World (1955)

Picture This (1963)

Fast Draw (1967)

Win, Lose, or Draw (1987)

Pictionary (1997)

Wet Easter Matches

Actually, I'd only just gotten up when Mom called to wish me a happy Easter. She'd just gotten Play Doh "food" from my brother Keefe's daughter Aurora, who is now three and a half. Apparently, Aurora got a Donut Factory Play Doh set from the Easter Bunny. Mom says Aurora loves donuts! Her father's not doing nearly as well. In addition to his arthritis problems, he's having major trouble with his eyes. He had to have eye surgery that was so new, he was actually a documented case (with his enthusiastic permission) by doctors. He seems to be doing better, even if he can't drive at night anymore. At any rate, he was going to make Easter dinner.

Read Easter selections from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology after I got off with Mom. My favorite material here is "Nino's Easter," about the Easter day of a typical Italian peasant boy and his family and community. Just reading about all the food they eat at the feast after church makes me hungry! No wonder the one boy gorged himself.  "The Country Bunny and the Gold Shoes" trains her little ones so well, they can take care of each other. The senior Easter Bunny is so impressed, he makes her an Easter bunny, too. She's worried she won't be able to bring eggs to a sick boy on an icy mountain, but the Easter Bunny gives her gold shoes to create her own holiday magic. I also read an utterly hilarious short for April Fool's Day that has two boys being run up a tree by a giraffe. They're hoping to give it back to the zoo and get a reward, but the giraffe doesn't make that easy!

Went online briefly after that before Jessa came. Mike was with her. It was still just cloudy and warm when we drove into Collingswood, parking on Haddon Avenue. We got incredibly lucky. We hadn't been at Paloma Restaurant for more than 10 minutes before it started showering heavily. I had the Churro French Toast, two huge raft-sized French toast slices with cinnamon cream, blackberries, strawberries, and bananas. Mike had a chicken quesadilla. He even gave me the last wedge. Jessa had Eggs Benedict. Oh, yum! My French toast was just crispy enough, with huge berries and banana pieces. Mike's Chicken Quesadilla was nice and cheesy and crispy.

We walked up and down Haddon Avenue for an hour, dodging showers and checking out what was open. None of us bought anything at Clutter. I found a lovely folk art-style felt heart ornament at Occasionette, sewn with a flower basket and beads. It was $16, but it reminded me so much of the similar felt Christmas decorations Mom made us in the 90's, I had to buy it. Innergroove was open again after being closed on Easter last year. I don't think Mike and Jess got anything, but I found:

John Denver - Windsong

George Benson - The George Benson Collection

The soundtrack from Sing 2

(I also found Nat King Cole's Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer, but I already have that one. I'll donate it to Goodwill.)

On our way down Haddon, we stopped to admire the shadow boxes in the window of the local newspaper the Retrospect. Each box represented a Collingswood business or landmark. In addition to obvious places like the police and fire station, there were boxes representing the Scottish Rite Auditorium, the Retrospect itself, Kismet Bagels, Flair Dance Studio, and even the water tower. To my surprise, Jessa pointed out that the pre-school children of Thomas Sharp made the shadow boxes this year! I thought some of the photographs of the children in the window looked familiar. I'll have to ask the kids about that when school starts again on the 13th.

Jessa drove me home after we left Innergroove. That rain wasn't stopping, and indeed, it would be off and on for the next few hours. Soon as we got home, I changed and relaxed while watching Easter Parade. I went further into this classic MGM musical with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in 2019. 

Happy Easter! - Easter Parade

Switched to Easter records after the movie ended. The soundtrack for It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, like the special itself, is highly underrated. There's some nice, bouncy tracks here, from "Woodstock's Dream" to Marcie inadvertently making "Easter Egg Soup." The bonus David Benoit track "Woodstock's Medley" is well-done, too. (And hey, if we're doing Peanuts special soundtracks, could we get David Benoit's work for the Peanuts in the 90's, too?)

Peter Cottontail - The First Easter Record for Children is just that, Easter and rabbit-themed songs for kids from presumably the mid-late 50's. Gene Autry kicks things off with the title song. He also sings "Sonny the Bunny," "The Funny Little Bunny (With the Powder Puff Tail)," and "Bunny Round-Up Time." Rosemary Clooney handles the ballads and bouncy songs, including "Bunny On the Rainbow" and a lovely version of "Easter Parade." Art Carney gets the comic stories "Flop, Mop, Cotton, and Pete" (Peter Rabbit, that is) and "A Thump, a Twinkle, and a Twitch, or How to Make a Rabbit." 

I started the Walt Disney 1987 Easter parade on YouTube, but moved to the Match Game marathon when that began at 6 during a big ham dinner. There were even more references to rabbits, eggs, or Easter on the show than what turned up yesterday. The first episode to have a rabbit question was the second week with Bob Barker, Della Reece, and the only cast members of The Waltons to appear on any version of the show, Michael Lerned and Richard Thomas. There was one on the 1978 episode where Richard Dawson argued that "Toasted Buns" matched "Warm Buns" (it did not), and the 1973 episode that introduced a hilarious Morey Amsterdam to the panel. By far the most notable episode with a rabbit reference was Charles Nelson Reilly's infamous return to the show in 1975 after being gone for nearly a year. Only Charles would make a grand entrance via wire and a stuffed bird! 

Join the Easter parade of weirdos and enjoy a whole lot of ham with these hilarious episodes!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Easter Sunday Marathon (Easter Part II)

Finished the night with the Walt Disney Easter Parades on YouTube. Ben Vereen joined Joan Lunden in 1987, appearing in the opening "Trolley Song" number himself. One of the things I like about the Easter specials is that they're just lavish enough. They don't get nearly as over the top as the Disney Christmas and Fourth of July parades do. The 50th anniversary of Snow White was the big push that year, along with Disney's Cruise Lines. Alan Thicke chased Mr. Smee and Captain Hook around the cruise ship and to a beach party in the Bahamas, where they danced to a Beach Boys cover group. Regis Phillbin worked the crowd here.

By 1995, the Disney Renaissance was in full swing. There were floats devoted to Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. Philbin joined Lunden in the host's chair this time. Comedians Dave Chappelle and Dave Bruer were the goofballs interviewing viewers on Main Street. The main focus here was on Pocahontas, which would debut that June. Max and Goofy promote A Goofy Movie while grown-ups battle kids at the newly-opened Blizzard Beach, and we get to see bits of the ultra-colorful, ultra-blocky, ultra-90's "Mickey Mania" parade and the new vintage space-themed revamp of Tomorrowland.

Celebrate Easter at Walt Disney World and relive some fond memories of your own with these delightful trips into Disney's past!

1987 Walt Disney World Easter Parade

1995 Walt Disney World Easter Parade

Warm Spring Matches

Began the morning with breakfast and Daffy Duck's Easter Special. Daffy is the host and lead character for these three all-original shorts with springtime themes. He dodges an animator's paint brush with a strange sense of humor in the "Duck Amuck"-esque wrap around segments. The first short has him and Sylvester chasing a gold egg. The second pits Daffy against Speedy Gonzalez as Daffy tries to stop Speedy from taking Chocolate Easter bunnies from a factory for the children of his village. Daffy's solo in the third short as he tries to find ways to go north for the spring other than flying.

It was so late when I finally finished eating and dressing, I called Uber. Plus I had a few things I needed to get later in the day. This may not have been the best day for Uber. The one in the morning took 9 minutes to arrive, and I ended up being late for work. The one going home took 15 minutes.

Between it being the beginning of the month and the day before Easter, we were mobbed all day. We're also short-staffed this week. Seven Acme employees, including the head manager and the head bagger, went on vacation this weekend and next week. There were long lines for most of the afternoon. I did have to clean up a broken Mexican soda bottle that put me behind gathering carts, which is probably why they pulled a couple of college boys from cashiering and the self-checkout lane to help me later. Other than the clean-up (which no one told me about - I found it while sweeping), there were no problems whatsoever.

At least the weather was nice for all of this. It was in the 80's, hot, breezy, and sunny for most of the day. It clouded up a little later in the evening before the sun returned, but it was mostly gorgeous. 

I needed a few things after work that I didn't get yesterday. I didn't think I'd have room for the small bottles of Persil laundry detergent that are on a really good sale. (That brand is expensive, but I've heard such good things about it, I want to try it.) Grabbed tulips as an Easter gift for a friend who isn't a fan of sweets. Got Rose her birthday card and Dunkin Donuts gift card...and was able to give them to her right away when she spotted me waiting for the Uber while she was trying to get Pokemon cards for Finley from the Pokemon vending machine. There was a crowd of young men around it at that point, and they weren't leaving. She said she'd try later. 

(Oh, and Rose said she's going to send Finley and Khai to their grandmother's house in Westmont for Easter and will just spend the day resting and cleaning. I'm going out to brunch with Jessa tomorrow instead.)

Listened to my new It's Arbor Day/Charlie Brown's All Stars album when I got home. It's Arbor Day was Vince Guaraldi's last Peanuts special. In fact, he literally died just hours after completing it. It didn't affect the quality of his work. There's some really nice music here with hilarious titles - "Ships Sail Into Arbor," "Young Man's Fancy," "Seeds for Thought," "Sprinkle Your Bird," "Happy Arbor Day, Charlie Brown." Alas, Charlie Brown's All Stars seems to be the only special whose master audio tapes Craft Recordings hasn't turned up at press time. The music here was taken directly from the special itself, which is why "Charlie Brown's All-Stars!", "Oh Good Grief!", "Surfin' Snoopy," and "Pebble Beach" sound slightly lower in quality than the other Peanuts soundtrack albums. 

Oh, and at this point, I got Easter goodies from a friend and her teen daughter. They gave me chocolate truffle eggs, two Reeces Eggs, and a pretty card with a butterfly on a flower on it. That was so sweet of them!

Watched The Easter Promise next. Addie Mills (Lisa Lucas) is looking forward to coloring Easter eggs with her best friend Cora Sue (Franny Michel) and to the big school dress design show. Addie and her friends are thrilled when Constance Payne (Jean Simmons), a genuine Broadway actress who grew up in Clear River, returns to town. She goes to her home to ask for her autograph, then invites her to judge the style show and have dinner with her family. Neither works out especially well. Constance drinks too much wine when Addie's father James (Jason Robards) constantly criticizes her life choices and turns up at the style show drunk. Addie still manages to talk her into giving acting lessons to her and her friends. That seems to go well, until Constance gets drunk again before the second lesson. Addie's ready to give up, but Grandma (Mildred Natwick) reminds her that you never know what kind of lives people have lived, and everyone deserves a second chance, especially at Easter.

This lovely tale is my favorite of the four Addie Mills movies that ran on CBS between 1972 and 1976. It brings back so many memories of my own childhood Easters, from Addie and her friends reminding me of my sisters and me coloring eggs and giggling together in our bedrooms to the hilarious style show. (I like Cora Sue's peach "Hollywood" dress the best, but Addie's blue and magenta rickrack trimmed dress is cute too...and very Addie!) Jean Simmons is an especially warm and lovely eccentric actress...which makes those drunken binges all the more heartbreaking. My only complaint is I wish they'd filmed on location in Canada like they did for the Christmas and Thanksgiving films; this one looks a tad less authentic. At any rate, this is charming springtime viewing, especially for families with girls Addie's age.

Switched to It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown after the movie ended. Addie and her friends aren't the only ones excited for the holiday tomorrow. The Peanuts are also preparing for Easter in their own ways. Lucy colors and hides her own eggs and pesters Schroeder for gifts. Chuck takes Sally shoe shopping, while Snoopy buys Woodstock a bird house to get him out of the rain. Peppermint Patty and Marcie attempt to color eggs, but Marcie does everything but hard-boil them! Don't bother with all the fuss, says Linus. The Easter Beagle does all that. Sally is quick to remind him of the Great Pumpkin incident at Halloween, but Easter morning brings more than one surprise for the kids!

Moved to YouTube for The Smurfs' Springtime. The Smurfs are also looking forward to Easter. Smurfette is more interested in the cute duckling who thinks she's its mother. Gargamel wants to turn six Smurfs into gold after he steals a magic book from his godfather Balthazar. He puts Mother Nature to sleep, then kidnaps the Smurfs in order to boil them for gold. Papa Smurf knows that if Mother Nature doesn't herald the start of spring soon, it won't start at all...and then Balthazar figures out what's going on and wants in on it. 

Went straight into tonight's Match Game marathon. The show only did one full-on Easter episode in 1975. Fannie and Brett turned up wearing ugly Easter bonnets that somehow migrated onto the heads of Tom Bosley and Gene Rayburn. Other episodes had questions with eggs or rabbits, or were filmed around Easter weekend. Match Game '91 had "Easter __" on the Audience Match in the episode that introduced Ronn Lucas' obnoxious punk puppet Chuck Roast. (Deborah sitting next to him got so fed up with that puppet, she shoved his felt arm into his mouth!)

Other Easter moments were more welcome, like the episodes in 1975 and 1976 where Fannie wore her fried eggs t-shirt. Chuck wasn't the only puppet to turn up around Easter on the show. Kukla and Ollie of Kukla, Fran, and Ollie fame appeared with Eva Gabor and Arte Johnson during a memorable week in 1979. In 1975, Betty White once again managed to roll up Gene's pants legs and socks without him knowing. (You'd think he would have caught on that ages before.) There was also the time in 1978 when we met Earl, the little guy behind the Audience Match board, when he was late with one of the answers.

Celebrate Easter and spring the Match Game way with this adorable marathon!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Easter Marathon 2026 (Part 1)

And here's even more classic Easter specials to watch while the bunny hides the eggs tomorrow!

Buttons and Rusty and the Easter Bunny (A Chucklewood Easter)

A Family Circus Easter

A Claymation Easter

The Fat Albert Easter Special 

Easter Egg Mornin'

Veggie Tales: An Easter Carol

The Pink Panther: The Easter Panther

Thumpkin and the Easter Bunny

The Jack Rabbit Story: Easter Fever

Follow That Bunny!

The Easter Egg

Very Good Friday

Began the morning with breakfast and Peter and the Magic Egg on YouTube. I went further into this charming and unique 1983 special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in 2024.

Spring Short Subject Special - Peter and the Magic Egg

Did a few things online, then headed out to run errands in Westmont. My first stop was the Great Clips at the Westmont Plaza...but the wait there was over 75 minutes! I wasn't hanging around there. I left my name with the young lady and headed back out.

By default, I ended up getting brunch at the Westmont first instead. This time, I had a waffle, a small cup of cantaloupe and fresh pineapple chunks, Pepsi Zero, and bacon. Oh, yum! The waffle was a huge brick, the approximate size of a life raft, crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. It was topped with spicy honey butter and real syrup. The bacon was melt in your mouth crispy. It was even tastier than last time, even if that enormous waffle was too big to finish.

I got the 15-minute warning text for Great Clips just as I was heading back up the hill to the Westmont Plaza. This time, it only took 10 minutes to get a stylist. I just needed it cut a bit shorter. My hair gets so frizzy when it's too long! Considering the young woman who helped me had her own considerable curls, she knew how to handle them. I now have blunt-cut, very cute chin-length curls framing my face. They're still a little frizzy and dry, but nothing to the degree that they were.

The other reason I was in Westmont was to go grocery shopping. I didn't really need a ton of food at any rate. I got coconut milk, white chocolate-macadamia nut cookies, dried raspberry lemon mango slices from the bulk bins, and two cans of sparkling water at Sprouts. The cookies and Hint sparkling water were on clearance. The coconut milk is just cheaper at Sprouts. 

Rode past the Haddon Township Library, the Burger King and McDonald's, and the high school to the Westmont Acme next. They were surprisingly not that busy. Sprouts was actually a bit busier. Everyone must have come earlier - the carts were empty. I restocked blood oranges, apples, soda, yogurt, granola, and granola bars. Picked up lemon cake mix and white chocolate chips to make cookies later.

Took the long way home across Newton Lake Park. It was cloudy at this point, but not too chilly, probably in the mid-60's. It certainly looks like spring in the park now. Buds and new bright green leaves swell on the trees. Thick green grass and sunny buttercups carpet the shore of the lake. I pushed my bike on the path that goes over the hill to the Haddon Township Environmental Center, and it was thickly padded with green undergrowth and dusky pink and white flowers on the trees.

Made the Lemon White Chocolate Yum Yums when I got home. This is based on that Chocolate Yum Yums recipe from Christmas Is Coming 1987, with lemon cake mix replacing the devil's food mix, white chocolate chips replacing the nuts, and no sprinkles or chocolate bar topping. Yum! I tried one that fell apart, and they came out perfectly, light, sweet, and zesty. I'm going to give them to Jessa, Rose and her kids, and friends for Easter.

Checked my schedule when I got upstairs. In good news, I have Easter off, along with Monday and Tuesday. I took Tuesday off for a dental appointment. I work straight through the rest of the week from Wednesday onwards, including an 8 1/2 hour day on Saturday. I have no idea why the 8 1/2 hour day. I know the head bagger probably went on vacation this week, but couldn't they have gotten one of the college students or high schoolers who are on vacation this week to take at least part of the time? 

Watched Match Game '90 after I finished the cookies. Most of the episodes finished the run with Fred Travelena and Brett Somers. It's always good to see Brett again. She was technically retired by this point, but Charles had talked her into being on the show, and his instincts were solid. They were just as funny as they were in the 70's. Edie McClurg makes her debut on the show in the next week, joined by game show host Jonathan Prince, Ronn Lucas and Scorch, and Khrystyne Haje from Head of the Class. 

Finished the night with The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town. I went further into my favorite Rankin-Bass Easter special at the first Easter review for my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in 2019. 

The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town

Dolls and Harts of My Dreams

Actually, I began today with a phone call. The lady from the Camden County First Home Buyers loans was calling me back to do an online application. Awesome! She sounded really pleasant and interested, too. I gave her my information and explained why I'm doing this. I want to get out of this attic, and soon, preferably between mid-October after I get back from my vacation in Pittsfield and mid-January. 

After I finished with her, I had breakfast while watching Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies. The Easter Bunny is sick and can't make his usual rounds this year. Granny wants Bugs to do it, but he's busy making his shorts, so she searches for a replacement among the Toons. With a story that flimsy, this is less of an Easter special and more "Oscar-winning shorts from Termite Terrace." Among the shorts seen are bits and pieces of "Knighty Knight Bugs," "Hillbilly Hare," "Birds Anonymous," "Robin Hood Daffy," "Sahara Hare," and "For Scent-imental Reasons." 

Switched to Tale of the Bunny Picnic after I ate. I go further into this charming Muppet spring cable special from 1986 that introduced Bean Bunny at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Happy Easter! - Tale of the Bunny Picnic

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon dressing the dolls for the spring holidays. Samantha looks so pretty and grown-up in her pink and magenta Flower-Picking Dress with the asymmetrical lace collar. I'm glad I bought that outfit when I did. It's hard to find now. Josefina is in her Feast Day Finery ruffled camisa and turquoise skirt. Felicity is pleasantly salmon pink in her Birthday Dress and flowered Pinner Apron. Kit may not appreciate the ruffles, but she does look cute in her Candy-Making Dress. The soft fall colors on Julie's original Birthday Outfit look even better on redheaded Ariel. Jessa gets the original late 90's Girl of Today Birthday Outfit with the fruit-print purple jumper and t-shirt. 

Whitney, Molly, and Barbara Jean wear home-made outfits, Whitney and Barbara Jean's from eBay. Barbara Jean's minidress has a fashionable 60's pink, yellow, and brown geometric design. It's sleeveless, so she wears a white ruffled sweater over it. Whitney's white dress has pastel polka-dots, a wide skirt, and purple ribbon trim. I bought Molly's pink and red striped dress with the flowers and the smocking from a booth at a church book sale last spring. 

Listened to records as I finished the dolls, and later as I ate lunch. Dreamy Serenades with Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra are exactly what it says on the cover - dreamy ballads or songs about dreams, done in a soft, breathy style, almost Hawaiian. These lovely ballads make gentle background music for a soft spring day, including "I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All?," "I Had the Craziest Dream," "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming," "My Isle of Golden Dreams," and "Girl of My Dreams."

The Tale Spinners Aladdin is a pretty straightforward retelling of the original Arabian Knights story. It's even set in China, rather than the Middle East as in the Disney version, and Aladdin lives with his mother. This does cut the Genie of the Ring, probably for time, but otherwise, it's action-packed and actually rather charming.

Swashbuckler is a rousing original pirate yarn from 1976. John Addison wrote an appropriately lush score that works with the old-fashioned adventure and derring-do. In fact, the title of the second-to-last number is "Derring Do!" Other notable pieces here include the Main Theme, "The Coach Robbery," "The Pickpocket Monkey," and "The Incredible Chase."

Soon as I finished eating, I jumped on my bike and headed off to the Thomas Sharp School. We had far fewer children today, 22 younger ones all together, 6 at my table. They messed around a little in the bathroom, but otherwise, they were just fine. They're still getting too wild in the cafeteria after snack time, though. Pinching, biting, name-calling and then tattling about it, running around. Several kids pulled plastic eggs out of their class Easter bags when they were told not to. Two actually got them open, revealing Play Dough. One girl was really good about putting hers away. Her friend just got upset and had to be talked into it. I couldn't get the eggs back together, so I wrapped them up with plastic and paper towels and put them in their backpacks. 8 kids had to be held back by the head teacher while we got the ones remaining outside.

It wasn't as nice of a day to be on the playground. For one thing, it was windy and considerably chillier, barely in the 50's. For another, it was also cloudy and kept spitting lightly on and off the entire time we were outside. We also had to ban the kids from using the bouncy balls they got for Easter when they bounced them over the fence around the playground twice and the teachers had to retrieve them. The kids still had fun, though. They chased each other, played hide and seek, and gathered flowers that had fallen from the tree over their heads and made tiny bouquets. Others danced to "Try Everything" from Zootopia, "Zoo" from Zootopia 2, "I Like to Move It," and songs from Moana, Moana 2, and Trolls. 

The sprinkles had picked up slightly before the kids started to complain about the cold. We finally got the remaining four inside around 5 PM. I spent the 15 minutes I had left sharpening colored pencils. I also discovered there was a reason the kids took their Easter bags home today. I thought their Spring Break started Monday, but it begins tomorrow. That means I get a full day off I hadn't planned on, as I'm also off of the Acme tomorrow. Sweet. I'll move my grocery shopping to tomorrow instead of Saturday and see if I can get some things done in Westmont that I originally planned on doing next week.

There was a package from Amazon waiting for me when I got home. My first birthday present to myself are the most recently-released Peanuts specials soundtracks. Apparently, Craft Recordings couldn't find the original audio masters for Charlie Brown's All-Stars, so they paired what they could get off the actual special with It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown. I'll listen to it tomorrow or this weekend.

Watched Match Game '90 during dinner. Jo Anne Worley finished the previous week with a record on the Match Up mini-game, getting 7 matches in a row. Brett Somers turned up for the first of three weeks on the next show, sitting between Fred Travelena and his one-man White House and her old drinking buddy Charles Nelson Reilly. She got to flirt with a handsome young contestant who had no trouble choosing her for that Match Up game.

Finished the night with Hart to Hart. "A Couple of Harts" are on a picnic outside of Acapulco when the junker car Max loaned them break down. They walk to a nearby mansion to ask for directions to a repair shop, only to fall right smack in the middle of a conspiracy when the wealthy woman owner assumes they're the new butler and maid. Turns out the woman is the head of a group of revolutionaries who just assassinated a senator and intend to do even worse at a dinner that night...and a close friend of the Harts may be involved as well. 

Spring Foolin'

Began the morning with breakfast and The Pirates of Dark Water. "Andorus" is the first episode of the series proper, picking up where the original four-episode miniseries left off. The group's attempt to gather supplies is interrupted by Bloth, who chases them to the titular land. It's here that Tula discovers she's an ecromancer - she can heal and control nature. She and Teron use their magic to help Ren get to the treasure here before Bloth and his men do.

Called Uber after the cartoon ended. It's just easier to take three Uber rides on my double-shift day than it is to try riding my bike. No trouble with any of the drivers here. The one going to work came in 6 minutes. I had a harder time getting one to Thomas Sharp, but they finally came in 9 minutes. The one going home took 11 minutes, not bad at the height of rush hour.

The Acme wasn't busy when I arrived. It picked up slightly later, but it was never overwhelming. I did have to put away a cart filled with cold items someone didn't want. Otherwise, I was mostly outside, and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. It was hot, sunny, and breezy, in the lower 80's by noon. Most people are probably waiting for Easter weekend to do their shopping. 

After I changed, I grabbed two more Easter cards and a container of coconut macaroons on the Clearance rack before heading to the post office. I wanted to get the cards out quick as possible, so I set them up there and sent them out. I figured the post office would be busy during the lunch hour, but it was just me and the ladies behind the counter.

Had lunch at Tu Se Bella's next. I wasn't that hungry, so I just had a simple slice of cheese, slice of mushroom, and a Diet Pepsi. They surprisingly weren't busy either. I ate my lunch while listening to a show about excellent food trucks going in the background.

Since I had some time, I strolled across the street to explore the other stores. I dug through the Squishmallow bin at Five Below, but didn't get anything there this time. I did dig out a CD and four records at Goodwill:

The soundtrack from the 1976 pirate movie Swashbuckler

Tale Spinners for Children: Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (The United Artists version of this British children's album series)

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle (Disney children's retelling of the segment from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, plus another Washington Irving story.)

Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra - Dreamy Serenades 

Bette Midler - Bette of Roses was the one CD.

After Uber got me to the school, I went straight inside. Good thing I got there only slightly late. We had 24 kids, 10 of them at my table. It was the same deal as the day before. The ones at my table were just fine. We went to the bathroom second, so they had a little more time to play with magnetic tiles. A few of them were a little rowdy at the bathroom, but it could have been worse, especially after I explained that they couldn't block the hallway. The custodians have their offices in that hall, and the boiler room is there. They needed to get through.

Once again, the trouble was in the cafeteria after snack time. They were all running around, screaming, yelling, hitting each other, calling each other names and then tattling about it. The head teacher kept ten of them inside to talk to them. Once everyone was out, things generally went much smoother. We still had to argue a couple of them back into their shoes and put the kibosh on another "no shoes" party, but they mostly had a wonderful time chasing each other and dancing to "Try Everything" from Zootopia, the themes from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Bluey, and PJ Masks, and songs from The Little Mermaid, Moana, and KPop Demon Hunters. 

By 5 PM, we were down to 4 kids, most of whom were complaining about being hot. It was still sunny and 80 degrees, breezy but also a tad humid. They were just taking the kids inside when I decided it was too hot to walk and I was too tired and called Uber.

When I got home, I went straight into Match Game '90. Most of tonight was devoted to the week with Jimmie Walker, Jo Anne Worley, and hilarious comedian Bob Sarlatte. Jimmie happily flirted with a female contestant, while Bob tossed out some darn funny quips.

Finished the night at YouTube with a lot of childhood memories. From the early 80's through the mid-90's, toy companies would debut half-hour specials devoted either to a new toy line or around additions to an existing line in the spring or summer. They generally turned up in syndication or as specials on Saturday morning, though a few rated prime-time slots. Most of these are all but forgotten today, like the Victorian-themed Rose Petal Place or the nature mythology of The Magic of Herself the Elf. Fairies is a unique rarity - it's based on a book rather than a toyline and looks more like the Lord of the Rings animated films. 

One has a special place in my heart despite being unknown today. Dad bought our first VCR in the winter of 1985. The first moves we took out (from a long-gone store in Rio Grande) were The Charmkins and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. We'd tape Willy Wonka off The Disney Channel in the late 80's, but I wouldn't see Charmkins again after that video store closed until it turned up on YouTube.

By the early 90's, tighter regulations regarding advertising and children's programming and a change in viewing habits had largely brought an end to the whimsical toy-based specials. One of the last was Peppermint Rose from 1993. I vaguely remember the dolls these were based on, but I never heard of the special until I was an adult. Too bad, because this is one of the better ones. I like how sassy Rose is, and that she genuinely changes throughout the special and learns to be independent and care about others. (Like most of these specials, it's also extremely of its time - check out the random rap battle mid-way through.) 

If you also can't remember a spring without caring bears, nature-guarding elves, singing flowers, and sassy Peppermint Roses, you'll want check out these specials for a blast of warm-weather nostalgia, too.

Fairies (1981)

Care Bears In the Land Without Feelings (1983)

The Magic of Herself the Elf (1983) 

The Charmkins (1983)

Strawberry Shortcake's Housewarming Surprise (1984)

Rose Petal Place: Real Friends (1985)

Peppermint Rose (1993)

It's Really Truly Spring, Charlie Brown

Began the morning with breakfast and The Bernstein Bears' Easter Surprise. I went further into this 1981 special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog for Easter 2023.

Easter Short Subject Special - The Bernstein Bears' Easter Surprise

Headed out to run errands after the Bears ended. For one thing, it was too gorgeous of a day not to. It was sunny, breezy, and warm as could be, in the upper 70's by noon. I strolled down Johnson and up to the big WaWa on the White Horse Pike to get money for the rent. Tried a Raspberry Chip Smoothie, too. It was delightfully tart and cooling, with real raspberry and chocolate chips mixed in. Stopped at Family Dollar on the way home to get Easter cards (and forgot two - I'll pick them up after work tomorrow). 

Put on Yogi the Easter Bear while I got the cards ready. Ranger Smith is incredibly nervous about this year's Easter Jamboree. The super-tough park commissioner is bringing his grandchildren, and he expects them to have the time of their lives. He's really furious with Yogi when he doesn't act "smarter than the average bear" and eats all the Easter candy. Yogi and Boo Boo go off to find the Easter Bunny so he can replace the lost eggs and candy and end up having to save him from a pair of truly bizarre plastic-obsessed villains who want to replace the Bunny's real eggs with their fake ones.

Watched It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown during lunch and as I got ready for school. Each of the Peanuts crew prepare for spring in their own way, from Peppermint Patty and Marcie's hilarious attempts to color eggs to Sally going shoe shopping and Snoopy getting Woodstock a new birdhouse. Don't bother with all the fuss, says Linus. The Easter Beagle does that. Sally's more than a little skeptical after the Great Pumpkin incident at Halloween, but Easter Sunday brings more than one surprise for the kids!

Despite the nice day, I called Uber for a ride to Thomas Sharp. Jessa was picking me up later. Considering how late I called, I surprisingly got a ride in 6 minutes. I even had a little time to rest in a little garden before I went inside.

Good thing, because it was crazy today. We had 24 kids, 10 at my table. My kids behaved just fine. They all cleaned up this time, and they weren't that bad in the bathrooms. It was after snack time when the trouble started. They were absolutely wild in the cafeteria, running around, screaming, calling each other names and then tattling on each other. Even worse, one of the teachers called out so late, they didn't have time to replace her. It was just the head teacher and me today. The head teacher had to gather a rather large group of them to tell them that name calling isn't nice, tattling is for emergencies, running around and climbing under things is for outside, and they need to remember that we're all in a small space without a lot of room for all of that.

Things went much better once we got outside and the kids were able to enjoy that hot weather. To be honest, it was too hot. It was almost in the 80's by 4 PM on the last day of March. I had to take several kids inside to use the bathroom, and then to fill their water bottles, but they behaved much better when there was only a few of them. When they were on the playground, they happily ran around, looked for tiny pinecones on the ground, and danced to "Try Everything" from Zootopia, "Zoo" from Zootopia 2, the theme from Bluey, "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" from Lilo and Stitch, "Ghostbusters," and songs from The Little Mermaid, Moana, Tangled, Encanto, and KPop Demon Hunters. 

By 5 PM, we moved the remaining 6 kids to the blacktop to play with the 9 remaining older kids. I stayed slightly longer to help with them, since Jessa didn't arrive until 5:30. They were down to 3 older kids and 2 younger ones when Jessa arrived with a newly cleaned-out car.

We had no idea where we wanted to eat, so we drove around a little. Jessa originally suggested Freddy's, a burger-and-hot-dog fast food chain in Cinnaminson, but we spied something far better behind it. Hibachi Grill and Buffet's enormous size belies its location in a generic shopping center. It was huge and gorgeous in there. The bright center area with the food counters are between rows of warm dining areas hung with Japanese paper umbrellas and separated by graceful wooden trellises. I had sushi, a spring roll, salad, two pan-fried pot stickers (I gave one to Jessa), a meat skewer, coconut shrimp, two steamed mussels, a spring roll, fried rice, a little bit of baked white fish, chicken and broccoli, and for dessert, a slice of white cake with tasty vanilla ice cream.

After we got home, I watched the last episode of Match Game '90, then finished the night with Spring for Strawberry Shortcake. Strawberry is worried that winter is taking much too long to recede. If spring doesn't come soon, she won't be able to plant her berries, Orange Blossom's trees won't bloom, and Ginger Snap won't have grain and eggs to make her delicious cookies. Huckleberry Pie and Custard the Cat are more interested in goofing off than helping. Strawberry, Orange, and Ginger go in search of spring...and learn a lesson about putting duty before pleasure, the importance of spring's place in the calendar year, and that working together not only gets the job done faster, but is a lot more fun. 

Winds and Games

Started off the morning with breakfast and Pac Man. Pac-Man and his Power Pellet Pickers are up against the Packensack Packers in "The Super Pac-Bowl." The game hits a snag when the Ghosts chomp the Packers and take over for them. Super Pac wants to help, but he's more of a pain than anything else...until he helps make the winning touchdown! Pac Man and PJ go on a "Journey to the Pac Past" when PJ fixes his washing machine and somehow turns it into a time machine. They end up in ancient Pac-Egypt, on board ship with Christopher Columbus, and teaching the Pac-Wright Brothers how to fly a jet.

After breakfast, I took my laundry downstairs, then worked up enough courage to call the Camden County First Time Home Buyers program and ask for help and where their application was on their website. It was scary. I don't have anyone walking me through this. I'm doing all this alone. I finally left the woman a message and sent her an e-mail.

Cheered myself up with the Naked Gun remake on Paramount Plus during lunch and after I brought the laundry upstairs. Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) is as oblivious, clumsy, and gung-ho as his dad was. He's investigating the suspicious death of a software engineer who created a machine that can rile people up to the point where they revert to their primordial instincts. The engineer's sister Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), a crime novelist, thinks there's a lot more to this than a car crash. Turns out she's right. Richard Cane (Danny Huston), her brother's former boss, wanted the machine so he can revert the population to their animal instincts, leaving he and his billionaire buddies to take over. Frank has to find the machine and keep it from going off, all while navigating his growing feelings for the equally goofy Beth.

Oh boy, was this fun. I wasn't expecting much out of this, but it turned out to be hilarious. I've seen Pamela Anderson do comedy (sometimes even intentionally), but who knew Neeson had this level of straight-faced insanity in him? Huston's even funnier as the villain with the evil with a capital E plan. If you're looking for a wacky laugh or two and just need to turn off your brain after a stressful morning, you can do far worse than join the all-new Police Squad with Drebin and his co-horts.

Went straight to the Thomas Sharp School after Naked Gun ended. I rode my bike despite the gale-force wind. It's been a week. My knee is a tiny bit sore, but not stiff anymore. Besides, I'm tired of taking Uber all of the time. I'll take it tomorrow because Jessa is picking me up later and on Wednesday because of my double-shift (and we're supposed to have rain that day), but otherwise, I should be fine to ride.

Good thing I got there just in time. We had 28 kids today, 10 of them at my table. I need to talk to them tomorrow about not helping to clean up the Duplos. Two of the boys and I had to do all the work while the others waited in line. I also talked to them in the halls outside the bathroom about using their words when one of the girls reported several kids calling each other names. They were all pretty crazy in the cafeteria too as two of the girls ran around and tried to hide behind the dry erase board and two of the boys threw magnetic tiles everywhere.

Thank heavens we were able to get them all outside today with no trouble. It was just starting to cloud over as the kids ran around and chased bubbles. One of the mothers used to be a teacher and knows how to play with kids. She pretended to be a monster and chased the kids and her son around. They even put her in "jail" - the big old tree on one side of the playground. When we were down to six kids, we let them on the swings. I got to push them, but also had to argue them off when their friends wanted to ride. This was also when the clouds and cold, strong wind finally took over. By the time I left, the other teachers were just taking the remaining 4 kids inside. 

Stopped at CVS on the way home for cough drops. I'm almost out. They had huge bags on sale buy one, get one 50 percent off. I bought family-sized bags of their own honey-lemon and eucalyptus. It wasn't terribly busy. I was in and out with no trouble.

Took a shower when I got in, then grabbed dinner and watched Match Game '90. It's nice to see celebrities like Bill Kirkenbauer, Tom Villard, and Rebecca Arthur of Perfect Strangers whom I remember so well from my own childhood. I wish I remembered Ronn Lucas and Scorch - those two are some of the best things about Match Game '90. Slightly ditzy soap star Jacklyn Zeman can be a riot, too. 

Finished the night with games featuring children, parents, or whole families playing in honor of Easter next Sunday. Games featuring kids or parents go a long way back. The Parents Game was Chuck Barris' attempt to expand his Newlywed Game empire in 1972. Here, it's parents or newlyweds who want kids answering parenting questions. Basically, The Newlywed Game with parents. It is interesting to see how parenting has changed over the years...and how it hasn't...

The kids get to shine in the short-lived Child's Play from 1982. Adults try to guess words from descriptions given by kids. I have an earlier episode here with the original bonus round that had the champ trying to figure out six written descriptions of words from the kids. While the game play isn't easy, the kids themselves are often hilarious, and host Bill Cullen had real affection for them.

Family Feud is the defacto family game show champ. It started in 1976, and while the original run ended in 1985, the 2012 revival is still going strong in syndication today. I have two original daytime episodes here from 1978 and 1980.

Families had a lot more fun playing against each other in wacky stunts. Family Double Dare is the same as the all-kid game, but with parents and their children competing in stunts and daring each other over questions. Family Challenge from 1995 is more-or-less the same idea, but it's now an hour, and is all messy stunts, no questions. Family Game Night replaces the wild stunts with goofy mini-games based on popular Hasbro board games like Monopoly, Yahtzee, and Connect 4. I have an episode from the last season with the later format that called up many families to let them play various games, then see if they could keep going on the Monopoly number board to win a car.

Families took part in quieter shows, too. The original US version of Blockbusters had two family members or friends playing against a solo player. Bill Cullen would read questions from a letter on a hexagonal board. Whomever won would go on to the Gold Run, where they had to pick two or three letters on a hexagon and answer questions in a row. I wish this had lasted longer in the US! Maybe it would have done better as a trivia show for teens, like the far longer-running British version. (Look for host Tom Kennedy making a cameo to plug Password Plus in the episode I have here.) 

Have fun with your family watching these wacky parents, kids, and families get dunked, take on the Obstacle Course, and play the Feud!

The Parents Game (1972)

Family Feud (1978)

Family Feud (1980)

Blockbusters (1981)

Child's Play (1982)

Family Double Dare (1992)

Family Challenge (1995)

Family Game Night (2013) 

Take Me Out to the Matches

Began the day with breakfast and the vinyl soundtrack from Moana. I've listened to this so much with the kids, I figured it made sense to hear the whole thing. Moana's "I Want" song "How Far I'll Go" was the hit, but the kids' favorite is Maui's hilarious introduction "You're Welcome." We also have the giant crab's song "Shiny" and the opening number for Moana's tribe "Where You Are."

Moana had just finished when I called the Uber driver. Considering how late it was, I was lucky to get one who came in 8 minutes. I got to work just in time. The one going home took 9 minutes. No trouble or traffic either way.

No trouble at work, either. I had help from the Sunday morning bagger for the first two hours. Once he left, I was on my own. It was only really busy for the last hour. Otherwise, there were no problems whatsoever. Most people are probably waiting for next weekend, when we get to Easter and the beginning of the month, to do their shopping. Not to mention, it was too nice outside to be doing any kind of running around indoors. Though it remained windy, it wasn't nearly as cold as yesterday, getting up into the lower 60's. 

I went home, changed, made dinner, and finished the night with the YouTube Match Game marathon. America's national past time turned up quite a bit as questions, usually making jokes about what a ball player says in his sleep with his wife or what they do in the dugout. There were baseball questions in the episode where Brett's answer about what the ball players were covering was censored, in the episode where Charles first mentioned he'd be taking that hiatus to direct The Belle of Amhurst on Broadway, and another with that charming contestant who loved being a coal miner.

Though ball players made frequent appearances on the 1960's Match Game, only two turned up on the 70's-80's run. Don Sutton was a star pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers when he first appeared on the show in 1976. He became the only semi-regular athlete, turning up occasionally until 1980. His laid-back charm that would later make him popular in the announcer's booth for the Atlanta Braves also made him a lot of fun on Match Game. Joe Gargiola was long retired when he made his only appearance on the show in early 1978. He was on the hilarious nighttime episode with the mouthy guy from the Bronx and the sweet lady who wanted a kiss from Richard (and got one, whether she won or not). 

Take me out to the ball game for laughs the Match Game way! You won't care if you ever get back from this hilarious marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Take Me Out to the Ballgame Marathon

Cold Spring Matches

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and the 2018 Disney Muppet Babies. "Kermit and Fozzie's Egg-cellent Adventure" sends them around the back yard to find more eggs before the other kids. Fozzie keeps rushing ahead before Kermit can make a plan. When Fozzie loses two eggs, Kermit quits. Talking to Miss Nanny makes Fozzie realize just how important it is to take things slow and plan first. Animal puts off using the bathroom, then regrets it when they travel to the city of Ratlantis. Animal discovers how important it is to go when you need to when "Animal and the Little Accident" doesn't make it back in time. The others assure him that it's happened to all of them.

Switched to PAW Patrol while getting ready for work. "Pups Save the Easter Egg Hunt" when they color and hide eggs for Mayor Goodway after she breaks her arm. Alex contributes a huge colored egg, but an eagle steals the egg, the basket, and Rusty and Chickaletta in it. Turns out the egg was the eagle's baby, and she wants it back. The others have to rescue them and the basket without harming anyone, including the eagles.

Called Uber after the pups ended. No trouble here at all. The driver going to work arrived in 8 minutes. I got to the Acme just in time. The one going home surprisingly only took 4 minutes, despite it being the height of rush hour. 

It wasn't busy when I got to the Acme or when I left, but it got really crazy in between. There were long lines for a lot of the afternoon. The head bagger took over a register during the second hour and would remain there for the rest of the evening. I had a hard time keeping up with the carts until things finally died down in the last hour. It didn't help that, though it was sunny, it was also cold and windy, barely in the upper 40's. 

There was a package waiting for me when I got home. That was a surprise. I hadn't ordered anything. It was my Easter gift from Mom. She sent me scones and a big jar of blueberry preserves from Wolferman's Bakery online. There were twelve varieties of scone, two each. I tried Apple Cranberry. Yum! Nicely crumbly and not too sweet. And I was worried about what I'd take for lunch at work tomorrow. 

Took a shower and grabbed leftovers for dinner, then finished the night with today's Match Game marathon. When 1978 began, Match Game was just starting to slide in the ratings, thanks to ill-advised schedule changes and more conservative tastes. Richard Dawson had noticed, too. He wanted a bigger salary and either equal billing with Gene Rayburn or to be let go. He was by far the most popular of the regular panelists on the show, and he was hosting the huge hit Family Feud. Goodson-Todman said yes to the salary, but no to the build-up or letting him go. 

That and his burnout from working on two shows with frantic schedules didn't improve Richard's mood. He spent most of mid-1978 acting like a grouch. Gene Rayburn did not appreciate his behavior at all. At one point, he even tried to push at Richard's face to make him smile. He did laugh, but the whole incident was disturbing. 

The arrival of the Star Wheel was the last straw. Richard had always been the go-to panelist for the Head to Head bonus round. The Star Wheel was supposed to assure that all of the panelists would get a turn on the Head to Head. Richard saw it as encroaching on his territory and was furious. Ironically, it landed on him the first time they used it, prompting everyone but Scoey Mitchelll (including Richard himself) to walk out. Richard lasted a few weeks after the set was revamped, but the writing was on the wall. By late June, he was barely reacting or doing much of anything. His wearing glasses during his last two weeks to cover an infection (he wore them on Feud during those weeks too) didn't help matters. After June 25th, he left and never looked back. 

(Oh, and though Richard apparently tried over the years, Gene was so offended by how Richard acted in those last weeks, he never spoke to him again.)

At any rate, see how all this went down for yourself in these hilarious and heartbreaking episodes!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Richard's Downfall On Match Game & Exit Marathon