Spring Into Summer

Began the morning with Angelina Ballerina on The Roku Channel. "Angelina at the Fair" has her looking forward to the delights of her local carnival. She's frustrated when her mother insists her little cousin Henry tags along, and even less so when he runs off after they take him through the spooky Haunted House and gets lost. Angelina is so desperate to buy "The Ballet Tickets" to a sold-out show, she'll do anything for them, even sell her velvet cape to the spoiled Pinkpaw twins. Good thing her dad is a newspaper mouse and has a surprise for her in the end.

Went straight to work after the cartoon ended. Work was no trouble at all. It got mildly busy during the 11:30-noon rush hour. Otherwise, we were dead the entire afternoon. I spent most of it outside, pushing carts and enjoying the hot, breezy, and golden upper-80-degree day, or gathering trash and recycling inside and out.

After I got home, I went right into writing. Brett walks down what appears to be an endless hall in CBS Television City. She wants to get into the tiny metal gate with the garden and castle where she suspects her sons may have gone, but first she can't get in, then she drinks a fruity liquid that makes her too big to get in the door. Bawling and banging on the ceiling only scares off Bill (Daily) the White Rabbit and creates a pool of tears that threatens to soak her legs.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers quickly while watching Match Game '76. Gene was more than happy to kiss "new kid on the block" Pat Delaney, but he has more problems getting the question holder to behave. Later in the show, Betty White rolls up his pants legs again when he goes to talk to the upper desks. 

Made Blueberry Brunch Cake as Match Game PM began. With several PM '77 episodes missing due to rights clearance problems, we skip ahead to the show featuring Suzanne Sommers of Three's Company, along with Nipsey Russell and Patti Deustch. While Brett admires a handsome contestant who looks and sounds something like Nat King Cole, Suzanne doesn't appreciate some of the answers to "__ Bunnies" in the Audience Match!

Slid the cake into the oven during Sale of the Century. The champ was ahead the entire show...until the one guy leaped ahead of her in the Speed Round and won on a tiebreaker question. He also had trouble with the Bonus Round, though...

Finished the night online with several truly unique versions of Alice In Wonderland. Alice Through the Looking Glass was a made-for-cable Australian animated movie from 1987. Alice (Janet Waldo) makes her way through the mirror, where she befriends the White Queen's (Phyllis Diller) joker Tom (Townsend Coleman) who encourage her to become queen. She meets many unusual characters along the way, from dinosaur egg Humpty Dumpty (George Gobel) to the kindly White Knight (Alan Young) and vicious Jabberwock (Mr. T). Very cheap and very 80's, with tinny synthesizer songs and the too sweet-goofy jester character not making a lot of sense. Interesting if you're into 80's cartoons or remember seeing it as a kid.

Moved to YouTube for another very 80's look at Alice. Funky Fables from the late 80's-early 90's did a stylized version of Alice with a modern little girl making her way through a familiar world of pig babies and Mad Tea Parties. Alice's running commentary and (then) topical references throughout the episode make this especially funny. 

That Alice isn't the only one to make modern comments on Victorian Wonderland. A Kraft Television Theatre broadcast from 1954 featured Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy following Alice through Wonderland, ending with Charlie trying to play lawyer for Alice at her trial. This may be even weirder than the Australian animated movie, with Charlie's wisecracks and his and Bergan interacting with the Wonderland characters. Fans of old-time radio and early TV and Alice adaptations may find this worth checking out once if they can get past the degraded and fuzzy kinetoscope on YouTube.