Rushed off to work after that. Work was fairly quiet for the week before a major holiday. People are either waiting for the weekend or next week, or they came in later. I did have to sweep the store, and I gathered trash inside at one point, but once again, I mainly spent the day pushing carts and enjoying a sunny, windy day in the lower 50's.
A paper at the sign-in clock says the Acme will be having a hot-dog eating contest the day before Easter. I have no desire to join the contest or make bets on how much the winner will eat, but I'm willing to bring a side dish. I bought strawberry confetti cake mix to make a loaf cake, along with a few other things for Easter.
Went straight home after that. Let's Make a Deal had already begun when I got in. A woman dressed as a sack of money and her handsome husband opted to take a trip to Hawaii instead of trying to guess prices and win a car. Turns out they made the right decision, as their final guess was way off. Three people in a row handed off money to a lady gardener when they opted for good prizes on the stage instead. The lady kept the money, which proved to be equally wise. The couple and a sock hopper who reminded me of an adult Maryellen went for the Big Deal of the Day. The couple traded down, getting appliances instead of a trip...but Maryellen not only traded way up, she got the big deal, game board carpeting and a cookie jar stuffed full of money.
Let it run into Super Password while I took the laundry downstairs and got organized. I think saw this episode with Nicholle Nichols and Tom Kennedy before on Buzzr during one of their African-American Greats marathons. Nichols started off very nervous, but got much better as the games went along.
Switched to the fourth disc of F-Troop after the show ended and I put the laundry in the dryer. "The Loco Brothers" literally sweep Parameter off his feet. The renegade Native pair really just want someone to be friends with them. Parameter's men and Wrangler Jane wish they'd be a lot less friendly and go after him.
Eastern and western culture collide in "From Karate With Love" when a Japanese girl flees to Fort Courage. She's trying to evade an arranged marriage she doesn't want. Parameter is willing to let her stay there and learn about America, until a samurai who is equally out of place comes looking for her.
O'Rourke's not thrilled that fort's newest recruit is a 10-year-old boy (Peter Robbins) who is obsessed with military life. He and the boy's mother tries to discourage him. "The Sergeant and the Kid" end up defending the boy's home from two different troops of Natives, one of whom looks an awful lot like the troopers from Fort Courage...
Parameter's wondering "What are You Doing After the Massacre?" when a flaming arrow with a note attached is shot into Fort Courage. Turns out 147-year-old Native Flaming Arrow (Phil Harris) still holds a grudge against the American Army going back to the Revolution and wants revenge. He tries to lead an attack on Fort Courage, but neither the Natives nor the troopers are interested in anything besides selling souvenirs.
It's "A Horse of Another Color" when O'Rourke and Agorn try to capture a handsome stallion to sell at market. Parameter is interested in the animal too, but as a birthday present for Wrangler Jane. They all learn a lesson in why wild animals should stay in the wild when not only does the stallion evade capture, but a sweet mare falls for him.
The Japanese aren't the only foreigners invading Fort Courage. A Transylvanian count (Vincent Price) and his ghoulish looks have everyone on edge. Agorn says it's "V for Vampire," but the others don't believe him until Wrangler Jane goes missing. They follow him to a spooky mansion in order to rescue her.
Did some job hunting, brought my laundry upstairs, then worked on writing. Kathleen is very worried about the shop and the weather. It's been cold and windy, not very spring-like. They need more flowers to make orders for the upcoming feast to welcome spring. Even Mrs. Rowland is beginning to wonder if something isn't out of order...
Broke for dinner and Match Game Syndicated at 7 PM. The final episode of the week with Eva Gabor, Bart Braverman, and Betty White begins with Eva admiring Gene's suit, and Gene remembering what Eva's current husband looks like. Eva reminds everyone where Count Dracula came from, while Charles ends up handling "Drawing __" on the Audience Match.
Things really get weird the next week when character actor Richard Kiel, the tallest panelist the show ever had, sits in the first seat next to Brett. Gene takes one look at him standing up and tells him he can write whatever he wants! There's also the irony of diminutive Paul Williams sitting in the fifth seat that week...
Finished the night at YouTube. The only game show episode I could find for Easter was a 1975 Match Game show. Brett Somers and Fannie Flagg showed off their Easter bonnets, which somehow migrated onto the heads of Tom Bosley and Gene Rayburn.
Since Easter is mostly a family holiday, I went with game shows that had the whole family playing instead. Family Double Dare from 1990, for instance, had parents join their kids in answering trivia questions and taking part in messy stunts. It plays pretty much the same as the usual format, with expanded stunts that everyone can take part in, and a car as the final big prize on the obstacle course instead of a trip to Space Camp or Disney World.
Family game shows go way back on the networks. Baby Game from 1968 was basically an early form of the 80's series Child's Play, only instead of seeing kids explain a word, they have to guess how they'll react in certain situations. There's a baby race near the middle of the episode that gets rather silly. Otherwise, this is kind of cute, even if you can pretty much guess how the kids will react before the adults do.
The champ among family games is Family Feud, which is still going strong today in syndication. I went with episodes from the first two runs. Richard Dawson celebrated his birthday in 1977 with the help of his own family, his sons Gary and Mark. Ray Combs hosted a 1989 daytime episode I might have watched as a 10-year-old.
The Hub Network (now Discovery Family) pushed game shows in a big way after it was purchased by Hasbro in 2011. The Game of Life and Scrabble Showdown were based after two of their most popular games. Life had a parent or relative and two kids drive through a wacky CGI landscape, answering questions about a certain "career path." The ones with the most points after two drives would move on to doing stunts. Scrabble Showdown had a parent and child either rearranging letters on a board, trying to figure out how a word fit together, or making words from boxes with letters on them left on the table.
Honestly, neither of them are masterpieces, but they'd probably amuse the target audience. I like the simpler Scrabble for it's slightly more challenging game play. Game of Life has very strange gameplay and hideously dated special effects when they're "driving."
By far the best and most popular of the Hub shows from its debut is Family Game Night. Two families play each other at a series of events based on favorite Hasbro games. This ran for four years on the strength of the sheer variety of games it offered, from a "Bop-It" tournament that could get pretty intense to their own "Scrabble Flash" that had contestants jump on letters on a board to make a word. Addictive and a lot of fun to watch, no wonder this ran for four years.
Celebrate Easter with your family as they cheer on the families in these hilarious and heartfelt shows!
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