Wild Is the Wind

Began the morning with breakfast and Anne of Green Gables: The Musical. I'm currently re-reading the book, so I thought I'd give this another listen. Apparently, this is Canada's longest-running musical, beginning as a TV musical and continuing in some form or another from 1965 until last year. It proved to be too old-fashioned for the US and barely made off-Broadway in 1971, but did better on the West End in 1969. It's the West End production that this recording is based on. 

Some of the songs are only middling, but there's a few gems here. I like "Humble Pie" as Matthew tries to teach Anne how to apologize to Mrs. Lynde, Anne and Diana's charming "Kindred Spirits" as they rhapsodize about their friendship, and Miss Stacy encouraging her students to "Open the Window" and let learning in. The ensemble numbers are where this falters. They're far too generic, especially the opening with nosy townspeople wonder where Matthew is off to and "Ice Cream," after Anne attends her first ice cream social. 

I'm a bit surprised I found this LP for practically nothing at the (now defunct) FYE in Philly. I don't think it's that common on this side of the Atlantic. Not the greatest musical, but enjoyable enough for fans of Anne Shirley and her world.

Headed off to work even before the album ended. Work was incredibly busy all day. Between the crowds and the wild wind, I had a hard time keeping up with the carts on my own. Thankfully, there were at least two other baggers there all day. (There was supposed to be a third after noon, but she never appeared.) One or the other came out to help me when things got too overwhelming. I was very glad when the clock hit 4 and one of the baggers and I were able to go home.

As soon as I got in, I fell into bed and took a nap. I've been so worn out lately. Jodie had guests in the den - I think the next-door neighbors - and I still slept for an hour and a half. 

Read some Anne of Green Gables after that, then listened to the soundtrack from Dreamgirls in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day tomorrow while eating leftovers for dinner. Of the additional material written for the film, my favorite number is the upbeat ballad "Love You I Do," which Jennifer Hudson performs at Rainbow Records after they just got started in Detroit. Other songs I love on this album include "Steppin to the Bad Side," Hudson's roof-blowing "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going," and the Dreams' energetic disco version of "One Night Only."

Finished the night online with vintage game shows on YouTube. Most people assume game shows skewer older, but there have been many kids' versions made of favorite adult shows. Since I couldn't find footage of Video Village Saturday morning spin-off Video Village Jr., I went with the similar Shenanigans from 1964. It plays like a kid-oriented version of Family Game Night from 40 years later. Kids play mini-games based around Milton Bradley board games, some of which (like Operation) are still being made today. 

Boy, do I wish NBC hadn't erased most of Storybook Squares. This 1969 Saturday morning show had Hollywood Squares celebrities dressed as characters from fairy tales (Abby Dalton was Miss Muffet), history (Wally Cox as Paul Revere), favorite stories (Paul Winchell and one of his dummies as Romeo and Juliet!), or characters from shows the celebrity appeared in (Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams). Other than that and slightly smaller prizes for the kiddies, it plays pretty much the same as the regular show. It proved too expensive to sustain, but everyone loved doing it so much, they'd do occasional "Storybook Squares" weeks in the mid 70's. (And I don't blame them. The episode I saw was too adorable.)

Joker's Wild and The 25,000 Pyramid also did kids' versions. Joker! Joker! Joker! seemed to do a little better, running for two years. Junior Pyramid only went for a few months and a prime-time special. Adult version hosts Jack Barry and Dick Clark were in charge of these as well. They too were similar to their originals, only with easier categories and, in the case of Pyramid, encyclopedias and scholarships as top prizes. 

I remember being a huge fan of Teen Win Lose or Draw as a kid in the late 80's-early 90's. It's kind of like Pictionary or Body Language with drawing instead of acting out. In the first round, two kids and a popular young celebrity of the time try to draw words that form a puzzle. The kids guess the puzzle from the words the celebrity draws. For the second round, one of the kids draws their interpretation of a tongue twister, and the kid and celebrity have to guess that. The last round involves guessing what the final contestant is drawing as fast as you can. Wil Wheaton of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Josie Davis of Charles In Charge were the celebrities trying to guess what the artwork means here. 

King's World debuted two kid versions of it's wildly popular syndicated games Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune on CBS around the same time in the late 90's-early 2000's. With their bright colors, wild and bold set designs, and then-cutting-edge computer graphics, Jep! and Wheel 2000 look and sound utterly and totally of their time. 

I found Jep!, despite the odd set design, to be slightly more fun. The big change here is, if the kids get two wrong, they get something dumped on them - in this case, the kid got balls dropped on his head. Watching the kids think of the answers was actually pretty cute.

Wheel 2000 doesn't come off quite as well. The wheel itself looks cheap, the mini-games add nothing to the show, and the set design has dated even less well. Lucy is supposed to be the animated, ultra-hip version of Vanna White, but the CGI used on her looks awful nowadays, and she's far more annoying than she is cool or funny. 

See if you and your kids can play along with these vintage finds! 

Shenanigans (1964)

Storybook Squares (1969)

Joker! Joker! Joker! (1979)

Junior Pyramid (1979)

Teen Win Lose or Draw (1989)

Wheel 2000 (1997)

Jep! (1998)