Fried Green Matches

Kicked off the morning with breakfast and The First Easter Rabbit. Stuffy the Bunny is little Glinda's favorite toy, but her mother reluctantly dumps him on the bonfire pile when she gets scarlet fever. A fairy takes pity on him and turns him into the Easter Bunny, symbol of spring for all children. Stuffy has to figure out how to bring Easter goodies to his beloved Glinda and avoid Zero, who wants to bring snow to April Valley and doesn't care that he's ruining everyone's spring fun.

Headed out to get the laundry done after the cartoon ended. I got lucky. The laundromat was totally empty when I arrived, and I saw only one other man the entire time. I didn't have a huge load, anyway. It was mainly my work clothes. Worked on story notes and ignored talk shows and The View blaring gloom and doom on ABC.

When I got home, I put everything away, then went into writing. Richard and Charles are surprised when they see Fannie using breezes to gently blow the tea pots and saucers into their laps. She's an air magician who can command air currents at her whim. Her late mother was an air magician, but she didn't know much else about her. Gene has his suspicions - he knows who she is.

To my annoyance, I discovered that one of the bathroom doors came off its top hinges when I took a break. It's too low and scrapes against the carpet Charlie laid last year. I did find the screw and will try to fix it sometime early next week.

Ran the next Match Game marathon for the rest of the afternoon. Years before she became known for the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe and the screenplay of its film version, Fannie Flagg was a stage and TV comedienne from Alabama. She brought her dry wit, whimsical sense of humor, and collection of tight and unusual t-shirts to Match Game starting in late '73. She frequently flirted with contestants, most memorably handsome high school teacher Ron Valenti on three episodes in 1975, made a hilarious Greta Garbo, and looked fetching in a long wig and Brooklyn accent. Musical fans may recognize her from her brief cameo in the beginning of the film version of Grease as the school nurse who complains about her castor oil being missing; she got to wear the costume again to pose as Brett and Charles' "nurse" in '77.

She also took part in one of the funniest episodes of the 1979-1982 syndicated run. The question on the Audience Match in late '79 was "___ Balsam." Fannie did come up with Martin, but Charles' Oil of Balsam and Scoey Mitchlll's Cheerio Balsam were met with boos from the audience. One guy in glasses loudly suggested "Wella Balsam," the shampoo, and the contestant went with that. Turns out that yes, Wella Balsam was the top answer, leading the entire panel to walk out in protest!

Here's the entire marathon, for your enjoyment. And look out at 1 PM tomorrow on YouTube for the next one, revolving around everyone's favorite Golden Girl and queen of game shows Betty White!

The Best of Fannie Flagg on Match Game Marathon 1973 - 1982

Tried making icing during the marathon to glue together the two halves of my gingerbread loaf, but it was a disaster. I put in too much milk, and it came out soupy and made a mess when I ran the mixer. Couldn't get the loaf out of the pan I left it in, either. I don't think it did anything besides squirting out the sides. It certainly didn't glue bits and pieces together.

Mrs. Stahl called while the marathon was on. I think you can guess that she canceled our appointment for Monday. I'm not up to riding all the way over to Haddonfield or really talking to her after last month's appointment didn't go that well, even if things were better. We arranged for an appointment during the last week of April and will hope for the best.