It was too hot to ride the bike to work. Took Uber there and back. Unfortunately, I left too late, and the Uber going to work took 9 minutes to arrive. I was two minutes late. Far fewer problems going home. It only took me 3 minutes to get a ride. No trouble on the road whatsoever.
No trouble at work, either. Yes, I did push carts, but I was also encouraged to come in, get a drink, cool off, and do other things. I gathered trash, swept the store, did returns, and cleaned up the bathrooms. Between the heat, it being the end of the month, and the major summer holiday being next week, I think you can guess we were dead as a doornail. Most people were probably in a pool, hiding in the air conditioning, or at the Shore.
Put on Remember WENN while eating lunch, and then as I began my story. I reluctantly got the ball rolling on the fourth season with "Some Time, Some Station." The only one who ends up getting hurt from that gunshot is Pruitt...but Victor's scrambled mind is still in and out, leading him to think it's the start of WENN's broadcast day. Meanwhile, Mackie thinks Pruitt got what he deserves, Maple happily flirts with Victor, Betty and Scott try to process his declaration of love, and Jeff admits what happened with the whole Pavla mess.
Mr. Eldridge is saying "Thanks a Lottery!" when he wins big on the Swiss Lottery. Pruitt, arrested and out of the picture though he may be, isn't done causing trouble indirectly. He's shunted WENN into another company and made a ton of new rules, including a mandatory age for retirement that Mr. Eldridge is long past. As the others contemplate how to spend the money, Jeff is still pursuing Hilary and trying to get her to read the letters he sent her. Mr. Eldridge thinks he lost the tickets...but what he actually ends up doing with them not only saves the station and his job, it gets them permanently out of the hair of people like Pruitt for good.
"You've Met Your Match" is a bitter chocolate bon-bon wrapped in Hilary's frustrations. Hilary commandeers the WENN version of The Dating Game so she can date Victor and make Jeff jealous. Needless to say, absolutely nothing works like she planned. She ends up with an equally frustrated Scott (who just admitted his many deceptions to Victor), and Jeff ends up with Betty. Let's say Jeff and Betty's attempts to make Hilary jealous probably weren't the best ideas either ever had. Not all the dates are so mismatched. Maple is more than happy to finally have Victor's attention, Mr. Eldridge and Gertie comment on everyone else, and Eugenia and Mr. Foley are so delighted, they're late coming back!
And that is the inspiration for my newest WENN fanfic. Honestly, that episode always bothered the heck out of me. Hilary in particular is obnoxious, and while I do like seeing Victor and Scott get along (even after Scott admits his own duplicity) and Maple finally get a chance with Victor (and Eugenia and Mr. Foley are too cute for words), the rest of it is more sour than fun.
The women of WENN think so, too. Hilary and Betty storm into the Writer's Room after Hilary punches Jeff, mad as heck at their personal "beasts" and each other. Hilary wishes Jeff wasn't so quick to jump into things and would dial down his troll-like temper. Betty wishes she could trust her brawny bear of a Scott and that maybe he wasn't quite so quick with that silver tongue. Maple storms in too, her date with Victor having been cut short by him taking off for Washington again. She really likes him and thinks he's cute...but oh, why can't this eagle clip his wings and just run his station, instead of flying to the nearest cause?
The talk of their "beasts" leads Hilary to their "Book at Bedtime." Hilary wants to re-write "Beauty and the Beast." Not only does she want to be Beauty, of course, but frankly, the haughty sisters and brothers from the original French tale smack a little too much of "Cinderella." Why can't the siblings get along and all save the Beast, like in "Snow White and Rose Red"? Why can't the evil fairy have a better motivation for turning the Prince into a Beast besides his parents didn't like fairy tales? What if the Prince was involved in a marriage contract he couldn't get out of and had to save his two best friends?
So yeah, that will take us into a Gothic tale of broken Beauties, loyal siblings, Stock Market crashes, and three men not only transformed physically into Beasts, but into mental shells of their former selves. Oh boy, do I have ideas for this one. I have ideas going half-way across Camden County, maybe across South Jersey. I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can do with this.
Listened to Showstoppers: Historic Victor Recordings while I worked. I thought it went well with the ladies and WENN's 40's setting. These songs go back to the early 20th century, as George M. Cohan redefined the American musical with intimate numbers like "Life's a Funny Proposition After All." Fannie Brice aches with "Secondhand Rose," and Blanche Ring brays "I've Got Rings On My Fingers." Later vintage tunes include "Night and Day" by Fred Astaire, "You're the Top by Cole Porter, and "My Ship" by Gertrude Lawrence. We even get the spoken word comedy number "Tips On the Stock Market" (just as it was crashing) from Eddie Cantor.
Switched to The Love Boat after a shower and during dinner. "The Lady from Laramie" (Nancy Dussault) hires a handsome Italian (Ceasare Danova) to teach her Italian, not knowing he's a gigolo traveling with the lady who hired him (Marti Stevens). "Vicki Swings" when she tries to be older than her 14 years to impress an 18-year-old youth (Patrick Labryorteux) who is pursuing another girl (Irlene Mandrell). A honeymooning couple (Juliet Mills and Buddy Hackett) check into the honeymoon suite to find out about the ghost of the "Phantom Bride." The man gets Gopher involved, but the woman wishes he'd pay attention to her, not ghosts.
Did a couple of game show episodes honoring Pride Month at YouTube next. Charles Nelson Reilly, for instance, was told a gay man would never work on television. Nowadays, he's best-known for his TV appearances, including on Match Game. He's one of the best things about it, happily trading barbs with his drinking buddy Brett Somers, as he does here.
Paul Lynde held court on an entirely different panel show. He spent most of the 70's as the witty center of Hollywood Squares. He wasn't much for improv, but could toss out scripted zingers better than almost anyone on television, as he does here.
What's My Line had Mystery Guests of all stripes, from every corner of show business. Liberace was at the height of his original champagne piano success when he appeared on this 1956 episode. (It also gives us a rare glimpse of modernist architect Frank Lloyd Wright.) Arlene Francis does guess him rather easily.
Body Language was a "show for the uninhibited," a hilarious cross between charades and Password Plus. Sweet Tom Villard gave his all in this 1985 episode, but he wasn't able to get past smart and elegant soap star Constance McCashilin.
Celebrate Pride Month with some of the funniest people around!
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