Just One of Those Things

Began the morning with breakfast and an episode of the 2003 Strawberry Shortcake. Strawberry and Peppermint Fizz go "Around the Berry Big World" when brash Ginger Snap makes a bet with The Purple Pie Man that they can't make it in 80 days like Phineas Fogg. The Pie Man and his sister Sour Grapes throw as many obstacles as they can in the girls' path. Good thing Strawberry gets help from the international friends she made during the "Friendship Club" episodes in Season 2, including Crepe Suzette, Tangerina Torta, and Tea Blossom.

Worked on writing for a while after the show ended. Nipsey frees the frog from the bag Malade has him in, even as everyone else's powers begin to fade. Richard, Bobby, and the ladies are now wearing rags, and Patti's legs turn back into a tail. While Donald and Richard get her onto chairs, Della gets the necklace with her voice back before the chime on the clock stops and she loses her strength.

Broke for lunch at 11:30. Switched to Muppet Babies on Disney Now while having a blueberry-banana smoothie and peach-blueberry crisp for lunch. Gonzo is worried that Nanny won't let his friend Potato (who is an actual spud) play with them anymore when he's found near her broken flower pot. Inspired by Nanny's Sherlock Holmes stories, he plays "Sherlock Nose," with Kermit as Watson, to solve the case. Piggy just wants Mr. Nanny to play Butterfly Tag with her, but the other kids distract him with their needs. She's ready to do anything, including becoming "Blockbusters," to get his attention.

Dashed out to work around noon. Work was even worse today than yesterday. We had long lines around the store and not nearly enough people to handle them. Not only is it the beginning of the month, but we're coming up on Labor Day weekend, too. One older woman yelled at me for bagging more than two items per bag (and she had nothing heavier than cans) because she has a bad arm...until I showed her my broken elbow, which calmed her down in a hurry. It was such a mess. I couldn't have been happier when it slowed down enough by the end of the day for me to leave without a relief.

Of course, the reason it slowed down was the weather changed. The sun was out when I went to work, and while it was still humid, it wasn't as hot as yesterday. Heavy black clouds moved in as early as 5 PM. By the time I rode home, the clouds finally let loose with a shower. Thankfully, I made it home before I could get more than a little damp. It thundered a bit during dinner, but otherwise never got really heavy or noisy.

Caught the end of Match Game '74 as I changed clothes. Turned it on just as Gene swung the contestant around to celebrate her win on the Head-to-Head, while the panelists all kissed each other. The young man champion on Sale of the Century once again dominated the game, buying two out of three Instant Bargains and blowing everyone away at the Speed Round. He won a nice piece of artwork on the match the prize bonus game.

Moved online to watch Lullaby of Broadway on the TCM app. I go further into this backstage vehicle for Doris Day at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Lullaby of Broadway

Finished the night on YouTube. I enjoyed the original Split Second so much last night, I thought I'd look around for other rare vintage game shows. Bill Cullen hosted 23 game shows in 30 years, a feat that has yet to be matched. Alas, many of his shows are almost entirely lost, including the early 70's hit Three On a Match.

This complicated game is sort of like a cross between Sale of the Century and Split Second. Bill asks three contestants to choose between three categories. Whomever rings in first with the amount of questions they can answer chooses the categories. They can spend the money they win on the "Prize Board," which allows them to match the names of prizes. Get three matches, you get that prize. It's not as easy as it sounds! Like Split Second, this requires people to be super-fast on the draw. I think the only person who won anything on the game I watched was the lady who got a mink coat.

Wikipedia indicates that there's only about 12 episodes remaining from this show. Thankfully, the one I watched from 1973 was missing the credits and commercials, but was otherwise in far better shape than the existing Split Second shows. If you also enjoyed Bill Cullen on the trivia-oriented Blockbusters, this is worth checking out:

Three On a Match #403 (1973)