Spent the next hour or so after that finally making health appointments. I put off my eye exam, partially because I'll probably need new glasses. They tend to be expensive, thanks to the thick lenses. I'll be doing that next Tuesday. My mammogram will be Friday, since I'll need to go grocery shopping that day anyway. I can just stop in Westmont on my way back from Haddonfield.
Went for a walk after I finished online. I just ended up at WaWa. It was sunny, but still hot, windless, and thickly humid - too hot to go further than that. Besides, I wanted money for the movies tomorrow. (I'm going to go see Superman.) I also picked up a Coke Orange Cream Zero and a Dr. Pepper Zero, the latter for the movies, and tried a chocolate coconut smoothie. (Yum! Very sweet, but also very chocolate and coconut-y.)
Took the laundry downstairs, then had lunch while kicking off the second season of Remember WENN. "Radio Silence" picks up with Mackie announcing that Victor died in the bombing, but Jeff survived. Hilary doesn't know how to feel - she's glad Jeff's coming back to her, but upset over Victor's death. Betty takes Victor's death very badly. She's sequestered herself away in the writing room, churning out scripts where she controls the narrative, boy gets girl, and nothing bad happens. It's Scott - and later, Jeff when he gets home - who reminds Betty that you can't honor anyone with silence...or by wallowing in grief.
Hilary and Jeff are thrilled to be back together in "I Now Pronounce You Man and Wife Again," but their baby talk on the air is annoying everybody, including Betty, Scott, and the sponsors. Meanwhile, Scott recruits Eugenia for their new late-night show the Agitato Alert, but it's starting to effect her sleep and her playing the organ for the daytime programming. Hilary and Jeff finally return to Mexico for a quickie marriage...then regret it when they remember why they got divorced in the first place.
Switched to Appointment With Death after the episodes ended and I finally remembered to put the laundry in the dryer. I enjoyed Evil Under the Sun so much, I decided to try another Peter Ustinov Agatha Christie mystery that's currently on Tubi. In this case, nasty stepmother Emily Boynton (Piper Laurie) has blackmailed the family lawyer (David Soul) into leaving her late husband's entire fortune to her, instead of splitting it evenly among her children. The lawyer Cope is interested in her daughter Nadine (Carrie Fisher), while younger son Raymond pursues pretty doctor Sarah King (Jenny Seagrove.) There's also Lady Westholme (Lauren Bacall) and the archaeologist Miss Quinton (Hayley Mills) joining the Boytons at a archaeological dig in Isreal. Sarah is the one who is accused when Emily is found dead, but Poiroit discovers that the least-likely person may have the greatest motive.
Not bad, but not at the level of even Evil Under the Sun. Laurie and Bacall have a lot of fun playing nasty grand dames, and the costumes remain nice, but this was made by B-movie specialists The Cannon Group. Basically, it looks as cheap as it is. Too bad. Not a bad cast, and the story is certainly interesting. Not the first Christie movie I'd check out, but worth seeing once if you love Ustinov, Christie, or the cast.
Worked on writing during the afternoon. Hilary comes outside to discover Bear (Scott), Betty, Maple, Mr. Rabbit (Mr. Foley), and Puppy (Enid) shoveling snow...or they're supposed to be. What they're really doing is having snowball fights. Betty and Bear in particular are having a grand time. Betty ends up on top of Bear, and they nearly kiss...until Hilary shows up and joins the snow-throwing antics. Maple notices Eagle turning up in his lair and suggests she and Hilary talk to him about his European work. Betty assures Bear that they will read together later, after she's worked on her scripts. The ladies hurry inside, leaving Mr. Rabbit and Bear to the shoveling.
Oh, and I came up with my last WENN Fairy Tale. I've been wanting a story for Mr. Foley and Eugenia for a while. My original thought was a purely comic story, like "The Man Who Minded the House" for Gertie and Mr. Eldridge...but these two are too sweet for a farce!
Eugenia and Mr. Foley's story will be "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," or four, in this case. Mr. Foley is a soldier separated from his regiment after they're captured by an evil sorcerer. He ends up in the nearest kingdom, trying to figure out why the four princesses wear their shoes out every night. Eugenia is the kind oldest sister who can't bring herself to drug him. She ends up working with him to rescue her sisters and the knights from his regiment from the enchantment wrought by Pruitt, the sorcerer posing as an advisor to the king and queen (Gertie and Mr. Eldridge).
Switched to Match Game '75 during dinner. I haven't really seen much of the week with Dwayne Hickman of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and Broadway star Carol Lawrence, partially because it was one of the weeks where Gary Burgoff sits in for Charles. Neither would ever appear on the show again, which is a shame. Lawrence in particular seemed to have a grand time, even with a question joking about her then-marriage to Robert Goulet. Gary jumped on Gene during his entrance in the last episode!
(Oh, and it did finally start raining at this point. I did hear some thunder, but it was neither as noisy, nor as heavy as earlier in the week.)
Finished the night with more fantasy or action-themed game shows for grown-ups. The enormous success of American Gladiators suddenly made action-themed stunt shows, with muscle-bound contestants battling outlandish characters carrying enormous props, hugely popular in syndication during the mid-90's. Knights and Warriors takes the idea to a fantasy setting, with a tournament-style contest presided over by a group of villains dressed like leftovers from an 80's hair metal band. Battle Dome makes it a wrestling match, with professional wrestling-style villains and stunts straight out of WWE.
Some of the knock-offs got a little more creative. Wild West Showdown had real cowboys and cowgirls competing for cash at an actual western dude ranch. Honestly, this might be my favorite of the imitations. Horse-back riding competitions, gun show-downs, and rescuing stagecoaches are far more interesting than just watching muscular guys hit each other with vinyl and foam, and the dusty neutral tones give it an almost elegant feel. It's too bad this didn't last more than a year.
Beach Clash crossed the Gladiators format with another show that was popular in syndication during the mid-90's, Baywatch. The stunts get closer to Gladiator, but are all beach-themed, like tug-of-war in the water or swimming races. Larger groups playing here, too, four-on-four instead of two or one. Philadelphia plays Chicago in the episode I have here. Fun idea, but probably not far enough away from Gladiators to be all that memorable.
Go on an adventure at the beach, the Battle Dome, or in the wild west in these exciting action games!
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