Headed out after the cartoon ended. For once, I got to work right on time. Good thing, too. We weren't busy at all, but that didn't mean there wasn't plenty to do. I had to return a lot of cold items today and put toilet paper in the bathrooms. Good thing the carts weren't really all that bad. It's the middle of the week and the middle of a month that's not traditionally busy once you get past the 4th of July. Not to mention, while it was sunny and a bit cooler, it was still killer humid. Most people were likely at work in their air conditioning or on vacation.
Needed a few things on the way home. Since I had to refill my blood pressure medication, I grabbed the Acme's generic granola. (Went with cinnamon bun this time.) 20 oz Coke were two for four; I got cherry and regular zero. Stopped at the pretzel shop for a pepperoni-stuffed pretzel and two regular ones.
Had lunch while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "A Goofy Fairy Tale" is the two-part series finale. Goofy is upset when he accidentally makes all the fairy tale stories in the Clubhouse vanish. Professor Ludvig Von Drake manages to make a portal open to a storybook world where the Golden Storybook holding their stories can be found. Only Goofy is able to make it through, so he is the one who must search for the book with the help of Donald the Pied Piper, Hansel Mickey and Gretel Minnie, Princess Daisy, Chip and Dale the knights, and grouchy Beast Pete.
Watched Summer School on Pluto TV next. Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon) is a charming Los Angeles phys Ed teacher who should be on his way to Hawaii. Instead, he's stuck teaching remedial English to a group of fairly typical slackers, including two boys (Dean Cameron and Gary Riley) who are the world's biggest fans of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. To tell the truth, he really has no idea what to do with them. He takes them on trips to the amusement park and petting zoo at first. After nerdy Alan (Richard Horvitz) complains about an allergy, he switches to promising them whatever they want if they study. He's the lamaze coach for the pregnant Rhonda (Shawnee Smith), teaches Denise (Kelly Jo Minter) how to drive, and lets Pam (Courtney Thorne-Smith) stay with him.
He finally snaps when they make a few too many demands and he reminds them that they need to study, especially after they trash his house during a party. Robin (Kirstie Alley), the history teacher he's been chasing all summer, sees how he's finally getting through to the kids and encourages him to stay. So do the kids, who finally see that he really cares. Vice Principal Gills (Robin Thomas) would be glad to fire Shoop, but the kids are determined to show him that, despite their antics, they've learned a lot more about English...and life...than he thinks.
Pretty typical 80's summer comedy. Harmon is likable enough as laid-back Shoop and Thomas is fine as the obnoxious Gillis, but the kids, other than Riley and Cameron's slacker horror fanatics, are pretty one-note, and Alliey's little more than a love interest. Not the worst way to pass an hour and a half during your own summer break if you or your teens are fans of wacky 80's comedies.
Moved to Remember WENN next. Victor Comstock takes the cast to a convention to sell his latest idea - shows recorded onto glass discs that can be played in place of regular programming. Betty's wondering "Who's Minding the Asylum" when Mr. Foley accidentally shatters the recordings of most of their afternoon programming...right before their fussy sponsor Mr. Medwick (Bob Dorian, who also introduced the episodes during their original run) arrives. Since his show was among those lost, Betty and the remaining staff first get him involved in an amateur show, then have to make him think they're the cast.
(Look for the awesome version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" near the end of this episode. And a personal note - "The Emperor Smith" and "Asylum" were the first episodes I saw. Caught them while babysitting during the summer of 1996.)
My favorite episode from before Victor left is "Armchair Detectives." Jeff is Sherlock Holmes and Mackie Watson on WENN's mystery program, where they recreate and solve local crimes. They're all shocked when a butler escapes prison and holds them all prisoner, insisting that he's innocent and they need to reopen his case. It seems open and shut...until Jeff catches details that only those in radio would know.
Moved to Smuggers' Cove at Tubi after WENN ended. Terrance "Slip" Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) is thrilled when he thinks he gets a letter indicating that he inherits a fine mansion in Long Island. He takes the rest of the Bowery Boys, including his cowardly buddy Sach (Huntz Hall), out to see the mansion. Turns out, not only is it being used as the headquarters for European smugglers seeking a precious diamond, but it's not his. The real Terrance Mahoney (Paul Harvey) and his daughter Teresa (Amelita Ward) have also come out to the mansion for rest and relaxation. The Boys' private eye friend Gabe (Gabe Dell) follows them, smelling a case and hoping to get the goods on the smugglers and the mysterious mansion.
Worked on Hilary and the Beasts for most of the afternoon. Even Hilary is ready to concede the need to stay and solve the mysteries of the house and its occupant after the second strange dream in a row. Betty thinks it revolves around Bear...or more specifically, whatever information is locked away in his brain. Someone doesn't want him remembering something. Hilary and Maple suspect it may have to do with Eagle's work on the growing situation in Europe and all the papers and radio transcriptions in his offices. Hilary also points out the need to talk to the rest of the household, including Mrs. Fox and the female organ Troll mentioned the night before. Betty says she'll call Doug and C.J and see what they've found out about Pavla and who owns the house, too.
Oh, and I now have my next long WENN fairy tale after Hilary and the Beasts. Maplepunzel begins with Victor walking feverish Maple home after the chaos of "And If I Die Before I Sleep." Maple is totally smitten with this handsome, sweet, well-spoken Prince Charming who actually listens to her and treats her like a lady...but she is upset that he can't remember their first meeting, when she saw him in that police uniform during "Some Time, Some Station." In fact, Victor has almost no memory of that night at all, nor any of his time in London.
After she gets into bed, Maple listens to Betty's one-woman version of "Rapunzel" on "A Book at Bedtime" and admits that she wouldn't mind a guy like Victor getting her out of a tower. She dreams that she's Rapunzel, Pavla is the witch who trapped her in the tower, Victor is the valiant prince searching for his lost brother Jeff, Scott is her friend the woodsman guide who leads Victor to her, Hilary was Jeff's original intended, a queen bound by Pavla's wicked magic, with Betty as her enchanted ward and Mackie as the father forced to give Maple up after he stole parsley for her mother.
I'm loving what I'm coming up with for this one, and it will absolutely be the next novella-length fairy tale after Gertie and Mr. Eldridge's comic short The Man Who Minded the House.
Broke for dinner and Match Game '75 at 6:30. For some reason, they jumped to much earlier in the year. Robert Vaughn made his second and last appearance this week, while Mitzi McCall made her first. Mitzi wasn't the best player, but she was hilarious in the sixth seat, and I really do wish she'd turned up more often.
Finished the night with Charlie's Angels. It's the Angels' "Hours of Desperation" in the second season when two diamond thieves who were double-crossed by their boss take Sabrina and Bosley hostage at the offices. Kris and Kelly have to track down the thief and find the diamonds, before the bombs strapped to Sabrina go off.
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