Sunday, June 13, 2021

Just In Time

Began a pleasant morning with Strawberry Almond Pancakes and the original cast album of Bells are Ringing. Holliday appears on this one, too...and she does sound a bit better here, given she wasn't sick then. The biggest loss in the film version was the hit ballad "Long Before I Knew You," which was replaced by the not-bad duet "Better Than a Dream." Sue and the gangster also had a duet, "Salzburg," that didn't make it into the film, either. 

Worked on writing for a while after I ate. Sir Richard the White Knight explains as they gallop through the forest how the Red Knight used to be one of the White King's most trusted men...until the Red King captured and tortured him. Now he helps the Red King capture others who haven't followed his rules and won't play the game his way. Brett relates the Cheshire Catwoman's concerns that something may have happened to the Mad Hatter, that he may not be as mad as usual...

Broke at 11 to get ready for work. Listened to Prime Time Musicals in honor of Through the Looking Glass yesterday. This Verasae Sarabande CD features songs from vintage TV musicals like On the Flip Side and No Man Can Tame Me that are extremely rare today. (The exception is the Barry Manilow movie version of Copacabana and the Gene Kelly Jack and the Beanstalk, which are on DVD.) Other good ones include "A Ride On a Rainbow" from Ruggles of Red Gap, "One Day at a Time" from High Tor, and the lovely "Listen to Your Heart" from a version of Pinocchio featuring Mickey Rooney. 

Hurried out even before the CD ended. For once, I did get into work on time. It wasn't so bad in the early afternoon, when people were still at barbecues. By evening, they were all picking up groceries for the week, and we didn't have nearly enough help to deal with them. Two teenage boys called out; a young woman didn't show. (The latter is apparently pregnant, so she at least has an excuse.) 

And I'm not sure what happened, but sometime in the early evening, someone started screaming at the top of their lungs at one of the managers in charge of customer service. We even had to call the police in. It unnerved the customer who pulled into my register so badly, she swore she'd never shop with us again.

I think you can guess that I took off the second I finished. Even with a cloudy, windy, relatively cool day, I still figured I'd be safer on the road. At least it wasn't busy anywhere but Oaklyn's main drag on West Clinton. It was so busy, the brand-new Puddin' Palace was closed for the weekend because they'd sold out.

Thankfully, Hogan's Heroes: The Complete Series finally waited for me on the porch when I got home. I originally ordered it from Amazon...and then re-ordered it when it took a lot longer than it should have arriving. Considering how anti-war my parents were, they did enjoy their war sitcoms. Mom and Dad were big MASH fans, and Dad loved Hogan's Heroes (and McHale's Navy, too). 

Grabbed the first disc my hand could reach when I opened the case, which turned out to be the first disc of the fourth season. Colonel Hogan (Bob Crane) learns to "Never Play Cards With Strangers" when he spends several very boring dinner parties entertaining a high-ranking German official while the other guys try to blow up a factory turning out important war equipment.

Finished off the night after a shower on YouTube with Match Game episodes in honor of Pride Month. Two of my favorite panelists are homosexual actor, director, and acting teacher Charles Nelson Reilly and lesbian writer and comedienne Fannie Flagg, so I did episodes that featured them. They both made their first appearances early in the series in 1973. Charles showed off the shorts he wore with his suit jacket, while Fannie was the first lady Gene made feel welcome with a kiss (though on the neck rather than the lips). 

Fannie turned up in a Girl Scout uniform in a memorable 1974 episode that also featured a question joking about who gives the worst answers on the show...and the panelist almost everyone picked on. Charles name came up in an Audience Match the next week, though "Riley" wasn't spelled the same. 

One of, if not my favorite Charles episode is his return to the show in 1975 after a six-month hiatus to direct a Broadway play. Only Charles would "drop in" via flying harness and a stuffed bird! Later that year, Fannie has a major flirtation with a handsome contestant that leads to her fainting after he kisses her during the Audience Match and Richard shows off his own version of Fannie's infamous printed t-shirts and sweaters that says "Fannie Flagg Wears Falsies." 

Here's the earliest appearances of two of the show's most popular and hilarious panelists! Look for more from the later years of the show next Sunday.

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