Headed out after the cartoon ended. I had errands to run in Collingswood, starting a quick walk to PNC Bank after I locked my bike at the rack behind the senior center. I did have to wait a minute to use the indoor machine, but once it was free, I went in, got my money, and went out.
Stopped at Sabrina's Cafe for lunch next. They were busy, but I did manage to get a table near the bathrooms. My original thought was eggs, but their Key Lime Pie Pancakes sounded too good to miss...and they were. The thick lime custard topping and graham cracker crumble were absolutely amazing, even if the pancakes themselves were a bit dry. I washed it down with sweet Matcha Lemonade.
Collingswood Music is one of the few stores in town open on Mondays, so I went there next. Two pre-teen boys were discussing guitar lessons with the owner when I arrived. I didn't do nearly as well there as I have in the past, only coming up with:
Olivia Newton-John - Have You Never Been Mellow?
Swing Concert: Carnegie Hall Concerts 1938/39 (Apparently a collection of the Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Kansas City Six concerts recorded at the famous venue around this time.)
Went back up Haddon Avenue, first for a quick stop at Haddon Culinary. It looked like they were selling fruit from the Farm Market. $8.99 was a bit steep for cherries and strawberries, but I did get blueberries along with a Coke Zero. Peeked around at the Collingswood Library, but saw nothing of interest and just ended up using the bathroom.
It had been hot, sunny, and killer humid again when I left for Collingswood. Heavier clouds began to gather as I rode through Newton Lake Park and up the White Horse Pike to Dollar General. I didn't like the look of the weather and limited my stop there to grabbing a card and a bag for Finley's birthday. It was thundering even as I jumped on my bike. The rain finally started about 20 minutes after I got in, and it would rain off and on, sometimes complete with thunder, for the rest of the day.
After I got in, I took the laundry downstairs, then put on Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while vacuuming, Swiftering, and dusting. Slim (Abbott) and Tubby (Costello) learn a lot more about English detective methods than they could have imagined when the two cops are in London during a series of horrific murders. Kicked off the force after they were unable to stop a women's suffragette rally from descending into chaos, they become determined to capture this fiend.
Turns out it's the brilliant Dr. Jekyll (Boris Karloff) whose formula has turned him into the monstrous Mr. Hyde (Eddie Parker) who is committing the murders. He's in love with dancer Vicky Edwards (Helen Westcott), but when she falls for journalist Bruce Adams (Craig Stevens), Mr. Hyde goes after him. Tubby discovers the truth, but he keeps turning into animals and monsters after taking one of Jekyll's potions. He and Slim have to race against time to save their friends and prove that this monster is the one causing all of the mayhem.
Yeah, not the most accurate retelling of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but definitely one of the most fun. Despite it being set in London, almost no one has an accent. This is meant to be pure goofiness. There's some surprisingly decent special effects on this one for the time, especially when Lou turns into a mouse or a monster. Definitely recommended for fans of Abbott and Costello or comic mysteries.
Put the laundry in the dryer, then switched to Mystery at the Wax Museum while finishing the dusting and wiping down the window. Sculptor Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill) may love his highly detailed work in wax for his London museum, but his partner Joe Worth (Edwin Maxwell) just wants to burn the place down for the insurance. Igor goes up with it, turning up twelve years later in New York at another wax museum. Now he's hired sculptors to recreate his masterpieces. Reporter Florence Dempsey (Glenda Farrell) smells a story, especially after a girl turns up dead and her boyfriend is questioned. With her editor Jim (Frank McHugh) demanding a sensational story, she and sculptor Ralph Burton (Allen Vincent) set out to find the truth about Ivan's incredible works...and what's under the wax.
Who knew the frothy pastels of Two-Strip Technicolor could get this scary? This would be one of the last movies done in this format, and it somehow makes Igor's creations even more sinister. I believe I have the re-release from 2020, and the print is honestly pretty good, without too much wear or tear. Farrell tears into her role as the mouthy reporter, and Atwill makes a suitably chilling mad sculptor. Highly recommended for 30's horror fans, or those who don't think Technicolor can be spooky.
Reluctantly finished off Remember WENN while finishing the cleaning and settling down to write. "At Cross Purposes" kicks off when Jeff turns up at the station in a dress for his role in Charley's Aunt. He's not the only one who ends up in a dress when a process server appears at WENN with marriage papers from Pavla Nemcova...but Scott and Maple are convinced he's after them and end up cross-dressing, too. (Incidentally, the dress works fine on lanky Hugh O'Gorman. On big, bear-like Kevin O'Rourke...not so much.) The episode ends with newsgirl Betty announcing that it's December 7th...and America is now at war.
"All Noisy On the Pittsburgh Front" brings Victor back, happily declaring that he's now running a station for military personnel in addition to WENN. All of the male staff members attempt to join the military...but the only one who actually can is Scott. He and Victor finally put Betty on the spot regarding which one she loves more. Meanwhile, the others deal with a loony (J.K Simmons) who thinks he's Captain Amazon, Eugenia proposes to Mr. Foley, and Hilary claims she's married to someone else.
And that's...it. I'm still salty to this day about AMC's poor treatment of this show. While I am glad that they're now at least acknowledging its existence and putting it on their website and elsewhere, they shouldn't have interfered with the 4th season or cut it off like they did to begin with. This is one of the best sitcoms made in the late 90s. It feels more like something HBO made over a decade later. It deserves far better than it ever got, and thank heavens it can now be seen by the much wider audience it deserves.
In fact, I'm not ready to let this show go yet. Not this time. I'll let it go for the rest of the week, but I might start over with "On the Air" next Monday after we get past the 4th of July weekend. Besides, I'm writing fanfiction again. I missed this show too much to stop now.
Switched to Match Game Syndicated after dinner and bringing the laundry upstairs. For some reason, Buzzr jumped way into the syndicated shows here. The first one featured a handsome young contestant who gave Marcia Wallace a kiss and danced with her for helping him with the Audience Match, to her surprise and delight! The second featured a funny older British lady who wrote dirty limericks, but couldn't really figure out the game very well.
Worked on writing while Match Game was on and afterwards. Hilary, Maple, and Betty dream themselves into the rose garden surrounding the mansion at night..but it's summer rather than winter, and they're all dressed in early 30's splendor, complete with a yellow rose-print dress for Hilary. Jeff turns up first, in his tux from "From the Pen of Gertrude Reece" and "Pratfall"...but he's not waiting tables now. He warns Hilary to look beyond appearances, and tells her he's still in her heart.
He's flanked by two shadowy figures, one larger and wearing a white tux (Scott always did look gorgeous in his white tuxedo from "Pen of Gertrude Reece" and "Pratfall"), the other taller and wearing a simpler black tux (I don't think Victor ever got the chance to dress up, even in "Pen of Gertrude Reece"). The ladies duck into the shadows, only to find that the men can neither speak, nor leave the darkness. Maple still tells the taller guy she likes him, while Betty ends up in the strong arms of the other.
Pavla turns up as the wind blows, leaving withered roses in her wake. She's flanked by shadowy creatures resembling the Troll who immediately grab Betty back. Her shadowed suitor angrily attacks the creatures, only to be punched in the stomach and held down. Maple tries to defend the taller one, but he's captured too when she runs over to help Betty. Hilary does manage to scratch Pavla before the creatures knock her out. Jeff's screaming to look past appearances and the roaring wind are the last things she hears before she passes out.
Finished the night with the Fairie Tale Theatre "Beauty and the Beast." Klaus Kinski is an unlikely Beast, but Susan Sarandon is a glowing Beauty in this retelling of the 1946 French film. The sequences at Beauty's home are shot on film, the only ones in the show to be so. Look for Anjelica Huston as one of Beauty's spoiled sisters.
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