Sunday, October 15, 2023

Autumn Winds

Started out a late morning with breakfast and Grimm's Fairy Tales Told By Danny Kaye. I'd listened to part of this before, but I don't think I ever got to the full album before now. Most of the stories are short comic tales - "Sweet Porridge" is barely two minutes. My favorites are the longer stories "Snow White and Rose Red," which I have loved since childhood, and "The Musicians of Bremen." Kaye has a lot of fun with all the animal voices in the latter!

Rushed off to work soon as Danny Kaye ended. Work was on-and-off steady for most of the afternoon. It could have been a lot worse on an Eagles game day. I spent almost the entire afternoon outside gathering carts, letting the regular weekend bagger do the sweeping and inside trash. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. It was windy and cool, in the lower 60's. Clouds gathered on the horizon, but they never amounted to much besides a very pretty pink and gold sunset. 

Went straight in the shower soon as I got home. Had dinner, then spent the rest of the night on YouTube. The Match Game Sunday Classics marathon had long begun by the time I got online. Today's marathon revolved around the many celebrity couples who appeared on the show. Goofy Dick Gautier and his mouthy then-wife Barbara Stuart were the first couple to play together during a week. Jack Klugman and Brett Somers played together twice, in 1973 when they were still married, and in 1978, more than a year after they divorced (or separated, or something). Mama "Cass" Elliot became the only rock star to appear on the show during  the 1973 week. The 1978 week began with Jack and Brett arguing over "__ Hall of Fame" in the Audience Match and ended with them getting "married."

Dancers Bobby Van and Elaine Joyce played together several times in 1973 and 1974 and always seemed to have a wonderful time doing so. (Including the one week where Elaine sat in Brett's seat next to Bobby and they gave an answer so sexually charged, the episode is now banned from the air.) Patti Deustch played together for one week with her equally weird comedy writer husband Donald Ross in 1974. 

Betty White and her Password-hosting hubby Allen Ludden played together twice. Their first week in 1975 is probably the most memorable of the year, including Gene's crack about "having Betty" and Betty and Brett's ideas of belly dancing. Their second week in syndication is currently lost, but the PM episode survives. Richard Dawson pointed out Gene's beloved wife Helen in the audience during several episodes in 1978 and joked she was his fiancee. His own then-girlfriend Jody Donovan appeared with him during New Year's week 1976.

Dick and Dolly Martin played together frequently during 1979 and the syndicated era. They got to witness the episode where that excited lady grabbed Gene and flung him around the stage, and then Nipsey Russell ran out and gave her a hug. Steve Allen only appeared once on Match Game 70's, but he and his wife Jayne Meadows did figure into a memorable later week of Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. 

Make a love match with some of the most loving couples to ever appear on game shows!

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