The real reason for the holiday is also the theme of "The Mayflower Voyagers," an episode of the mini-series This Is America, Charlie Brown. The Peanuts, Snoopy, and Woodstock are Pilgrim children and animals on their way to the New World. The kids and animals did survive the voyage and the first rough winter at Plymouth, but their parents weren't so fortunate. Many of the settlers died before Squanto and the local natives taught them planting techniques and how to live off the land in their new home. They were so grateful for their bountiful harvest, they shared what they had with their new friends in a feast of Thanksgiving.
Made the bed while the second cartoon ran. I sleep under many blankets, but they keep slipping off. Hopefully, it'll be a lot easier to keep off the floor now. I layered each blanket over the bed instead of folding them. It'll be faster when I actually got to bed.
Headed out shortly after "Mayflower Voyagers" ended. Worked in the floral department today. I watered the plants, trimmed long-stemmed roses to put out in containers, then made arrangements with fall flowers and more roses. I made one bouquet of pretty coral roses too short, and nicked my finger on the slicer after I did it. I put a Band Aid on my finger while the floral manager added pine branches to make the roses look taller and less bunched. Other than that, there were no problems. I actually enjoyed the work. I like knowing I made something people will display in their homes, for someone's birthday or a recital or a Thanksgiving centerpiece.
Soon as I got home, I changed, then put the laundry in the washer. Did some job hunting for a while. I don't know. I like the floral department gig, but if I'm going to buy some kind of home, I need to make more money. Saw a few jobs, but I'm just not sure how we'll I'll do. I wish I could do research on what companies I want to join, but I'm not even sure what job I want.
Switched to working on writing after I put the laundry in the dryer. Cora calls Stephen on his treatment of the hunchback. He may be dirty and ugly, but he treats her better than her fiance. Stephen uses his magic to try to force Cora to forget again, but she's not going to that easily...
Broke after I put the laundry away for dinner and Match Game '79 at 7 PM. Bill Daily got kind of crazy in these episodes. In the first one, after he answered "Shelly ___" on the Head-to-Head, he got so excited, he threw his sweater over the contestant's head for a hug! In the second, he watched Patti Deustch answer the question about what the only thing worse than a cold front was.
(Oh, and by the way, first of all, it looks like the Black Friday Frenzy marathon will be returning the 24th. Supermarket Sweep will be joined by Sale of the Century this year. Second, Buzzr is still going to do a huge tribute to Bob Barker on what would have been his 100th birthday in early December. It'll include some of the earliest episodes of Price Is Right on The Barker Era, along with his appearances on other shows like Match Game.)
Finished the night on YouTube honoring game show host Jack Narz, whose birthday would have been today. Louisville native Jack started out as an announcer on radio and TV. He announced the kids' sci-fi show Space Patrol and was one of the narrators of The Adventures of Superman. Betty White had him as her on-camera announcer for her first show Life With Elizabeth.
It wasn't until 1958 Jack finally got his first major game show hosting gig. Dotto had two contestants trying to answer questions that would reveal dots on a portrait. Whomever could guess the subject of the portraits won the game. It was a fun show that was an instant hit in a day and nighttime version...until someone blew the whistle that it was fixed by sponsors Colgate-Palmolive.
Jack was quickly absolved of any involvement in the Quiz Show Scandals, and they fortunately didn't do his career any harm. He briefly took over for Bill Cullen on The Price Is Right and hosted Video Village. Two contestants roll the dice to make their way around a giant town-themed board game, stopping on the second "street" to pick up prizes. This game is so much fun to watch, I'm surprised none of the kids' channels have tried anything like it.
After Narz left the Village, he went straight into another board game-based show. Seven Keys started out on Los Angeles station KTLA before going national on ABC in 1961. This Chutes-and-Ladders-inspired game has people spinning a dial to travel a board, trying to make it to the end. When they did make it, they'd choose a key that could open glass doors that housed photos of seven different prize packages. It's not as easy as it sounds. They might land on a "penalty" that would send them back, or a "Question" that would let them stay where they were or back up again. Really fun show, and another I wish someone would take a crack at again.
Jack had his own variation on Tattletales in 1965 with I'll Bet. Two celebrity spouses make bets on whether or not the other could answer a question correctly. It's too bad the episode I have here with Richard Long, Beverly Garland, and their spouses is one of only two known to exist today. This was funny as heck, and Jack's certainly enjoying it.
He was the first host of the revival of Beat the Clock in Canada from 1969 until he got tired of communing in 1972 and turned the hosting duties over to announcer Gene Wood. Beat the Clock remained pretty much the same as it had in the 50's, only with the addition of a celebrity who helps couples out with some of the stunts. Here, the celebrity in question is none other than Jack's brother Tom Kennedy, who was a much-loved host in his own right by this point.
By far Jack's longest run as host was on the syndicated Concentration. While the front game with the clicking board and prizes hiding parts of a rebus puzzle remained the same as always, the bonus game was new. By the time of this 1977 episode I have here, contestants would play a smaller board to decide what prizes they did before moving on to the Double Play. They'd have ten seconds to guess two more rebus puzzles. The first netted them $100; the second got them the prizes from the other board. I really wish Buzzr would put this back on the schedule, maybe paired with Classic Concentration. It's just as much fun as the later version with Alex Trebek.
He had less luck with the hidden word game Now You See It on CBS in 1974. Two sets of contestants try to find words on a board. The team with the most points then goes on to play each other. Whomever wins that plays the champ in the final round. Buzzr showed this one for a while, but I find it to be too complicated and hard-to-follow.
Jack largely retired from hosting after the end of Concentration, but he did have one more chance at helming a national game show. He did a week of Password Plus in 1982 with soap opera star Steven Ford. By that point, his brother Tom had taken over hosting. Protesting about how hard it was to give clues after he lost the Alphabetics bonus round, Jack pointed out that his brother had it easy. He was just hosting. He took over so Tom could play and see how hard it was to get someone to guess a word.
Password Plus wasn't the first time Jack appeared on other people's shows. He did a memorable week of Match Game in 1974 to promote Now You See It. It culminated in Brett Somers and Fannie Flagg turning up in fancy hats and jewelry, claiming they just came from Betty White and Allen Ludden's wedding. (Those two got hitched in 1963.) Good thing Charles came down and said it was time for their baths!
Jack and his third wife Dolores turned up on a week of Tattletales in 1976 with his fellow hosts Richard Dawson and Bob Barker. Each man took over hosting in turn so Bert Convy could play with his wife Ann. They won this episode, too, by a wide margin. It surprisingly featured a more open-ended question that encouraged the ladies to tell a story about car trouble they had. The whole thing felt more like the early Tattletales quickies questions, but they were just as funny, and Jack clearly enjoyed hearing their stories.
You'll want to concentrate on the life and career of one of TV's most beloved hosts and announcers!
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