Headed out after that. I enjoyed my trip to the Cherry Hill Library so much on Thursday, I decided to not only repeat it, but explore the area around it. Called Uber at quarter after 11. The charming driver picked me up in 3 minutes. We had a nice chat about my plans and how I want a home of my own all the way down King's Highway to the library.
The Cherry Hill Library is by far the largest of the suburban Camden County libraries. It's also one of the most recent, having replaced a very 60's building in 2004. The third floor was an extensive children's library that included a play area and a study room for teens. I peered at American Girl books in with the young readers and their picture book biographies. The ground floor where the sale was held last week had no books, only meeting rooms and art and local history galleries.
The adult books and audio and visual media were all on the main floor, and the rows of them seemed to go on forever. They had shelves and shelves of DVDs, video games, and CDs. They even had vinyl for rent. I haven't seen records for rent in a library since I was about 10. The book stacks were beyond the reading room and computer area, and they went on for even longer. I admired the rows and rows of mysteries, the smaller sci-fi section (at least they had newer Mercedes Lackey!), and the many entertainment-themed reference books.
Finally headed out around 1 for lunch. There was a tiny Mexican restaurant in a house right next door to the Library. Even with one waitress who had to watch an energetic little boy, their service was still faster than Jalapeno's. They boasted authentic Mexican dishes, and I'd certainly never heard of pumpkin flower quesadillas before! The quesadilla was folded over and not cut. It was more like a folded-over pancake or an omelet. The flowers did turn out to be tasty, but either the thick, stringy cheese they used or the sauce was reeeallly spicy! Good thing I decided to try horchata, a super-sweet rice drink with nutmeg on top that tastes like liquid rice pudding.
The Big Event was a short two-block walk down King's Highway. This is basically a local version of Round 1 with the formula in reverse. The bowling alley was huge, while the arcade was tiny. It also had many of the same games as Round 1, including the hit-the-clown throw game, Crusin' Blast, the pirate spinning wheel, the monster-pull wheel, the Nerf Arcade shooting game, and the Lane Master bowling game. Most of the games besides the cranes used far fewer credits than their Round 1 counterparts for less money. I spent 30 dollars, got 86 credits, and managed to amass over 2,770 points in 40 minutes. They even had prizes that were just as good as the ones at Round 1. I chose an adorable Squishmallow lobster named Simone for myself and a round fluffy penguin to give to a friend's daughter for a late birthday gift.
I originally planned on repeating my trip to the Bookyard book store at the Ellisburg Shopping Center, since it was only a block from The Big Event. Google claimed it was "temporarily closed," but the empty store and lack of signage didn't say "temporary" to me. Unless they're moving into the former Dollar Tree, they're probably done. I ended up buying water at Five Below and moving on.
Despite it being a very hot day, into the lower 90's, and really hazy, it otherwise was rather nice. There was a decent breeze and no humidity. I figured it would be easier for me to walk down Route 70, rather than take a bus or call Uber again. That was probably a mistake. Not only was it rush hour on one of the busiest highways in Camden County, but a lot of that highway was in the midst of being repaired. There was also a stretch going past a cemetery with no sidewalk. Needless to say, I was tired and a bit foot-sore when I finally stumbled across the road to the Towne Center.
Relaxed for a while and went to the bathroom at Barnes & Noble. They were fairly busy with kids and their parents looking for a place to cool off and pick up their summer reading. I finally just ended up with installments in two paperback mystery series, Dough or Die by Winnie Archer and Deadly Director's Cut by Vicki Delaney.
Couldn't pass through without stopping at Trader Joe's. Wanted their tasty PB&J and almond butter-chocolate cereal bars. This one had those yummy dried oranges slices I love. Grabbed their soft molasses cookies, too.
Since the bus stopped right in front of Trader Joe's, I took the bus home. It was perfectly on time, which I appreciated during the height of rush hour. Other than someone blasting music on their phone the entire ride, there were no problems. I got off at Johnson Avenue in Haddon Heights and walked the rest of the way.
Relaxed for a while and took the laundry downstairs, then watched Match Game '79 during dinner. Gene and Fannie discuss the Love Boat episode they both starred in during the first episode. David Doyle does his best with "Now and __" in the Head-to-Head. Scoey Mitchilll got a rare case of the giggles towards the end over an answer. In the second episode, Charles teases Brett about looking like Annie Hall, but is less amused when he gets "Pinch of __" in the Head-to-Head.
Finished the night online after a shower (and finally remembering to get my laundry out of the dryer). Gene eventually did three Love Boat episodes, of which the first was his turn with Fannie. "Love Me, Love My Dog" has him as a gentleman who falls for a lady (Fannie) who snuck her beloved dog Cricket onboard. Cricket doesn't seem to think much of him, until he saves the dog when it goes overboard. Meanwhile, a lovely lady (Debbie Allen) has to make "The Decision" whether to stay with her fiancee or go with Issac. A "Poor Little Rich Girl" former waitress who inherited money (Maren Jenson) thinks an old flame (Dennis Cole) wants her fortune. Captain Stubing and Julie help the guy prove otherwise.
Moved to YouTube to check out the history of Tattletales in honor of host Bert Convy's birthday next weekend. Tattletales actually began in 1966 as an unsold pilot, It Had to Be You. Four young couples have to guess which of their spouses told a story related to their life. Ed McManon was the unlikely host here.
Goodson-Todman retooled it three years later as the syndicated show He Said, She Said. At first, one celebrity couple joined the regular players. By 1970, it was all married celebrity couples telling ribald stories. Joe Gargiola was the amiable host.
He Said lasted a little over a year, but Goodson-Todman still had faith in the material. They reworked it again, this time into Tattletales for CBS in 1974. By this point, any idea of using regular contestants had been dropped in favor of celebrities and their spicier stories. The original format from Had to Be You and He Said were joined for the first few months by "Tattletales Quickies." Host Bert Convy would ask the three couples a question. One half of the couple would guess what the other would say. If they said what their partner said, they won cash. The couple with the most cash at the end won the game and the cash for the red, blue, or yellow (banana) section.
Needless to say, couples who were already comedians really shined in this format. Some of my favorites include battling duo Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall, warm and lovable Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller, wacky egotistical Dick Gautier and his sarcastic wife Barbara Stuart, diminutive frizzy-haired Marty Allen and his smart wife Frenchie, Dick and Dolly Martin, Betty White and Allen Ludden, and Scoey and his pretty and sensible wife Claire. Meara and Stiller and Gautier and Stuart were joined by dancing twosome Bobby Van and Elaine Joyce on the very first episode.
The series did well as the second half of a celebrity-themed game show block with Match Game, but CBS kept moving it around. It moved three times in 1975, but still managed to keep viewers. One last move to mornings in 1977 finally did it in. The original show ended in 1978. A concurrent syndicated nighttime version barely lasted a year from 1977 to 1978.
CBS requested a revival in 1981, and the show came back in 1982. Though many of the couples had by this time passed away or divorced, others were still around, including Dick and Dolly, Anne and Jerry, and Charlie and Mitzi. Even in its original time slot at 4 PM, it never regained its former viewers and was replaced by Body Language.
(A third revival, About Last Night, debuted on HBO Plus last year. Alas, it barely lasted 8 episodes before HBO Max started to pull the plug on original shows left and right.)
Listen in on celebrity secrets in these hilarious looks at relationships in the mid-late 20th Century.
1 comment:
I was absent the whole last quarter of my senior year (except for the final two weeks) because I had surgery for ovarian cysts. I remember the week that I was in the hospital I tried to watch He Said, She Said and couldn't because the stories were always so funny and it hurt too much to laugh with the stitches still in. My favorite line that came out of that series was when Brett Somers and Jack Klugman were on. Brett commented, "Our son said to me this morning, 'Mommy, when you're on that show they should call it She Said, She Said.'"
My favorite couple was always Mitzi McCall and Charlie Brill. I remember the time before they stopped telling the stories--I never much liked the questions as much as the stories--that I think the prompt was "A time she surprised you." Charlie rang in immediately, and he said he'd been away and he was at the door after coming home, and Mitzi answered the door wearing... Charlie stopped for a moment, then he said "You know Italian? Niente!" I nearly died laughing.
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