Since it wasn't raining, I decided to head out and run a quick errand. Indeed, it was sunny and warm at 10 AM...but also thickly humid. So humid, I could have cut the air with a knife. It was a relief to duck into Dollar General to buy a bag for the daughter of a friend's birthday present and new hair bands. Fortunately, they weren't busy, and I was able to get in and out.
Switched to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while taking down the 4th of July decorations. The others are hoping to get Minnie a present, so they give her chores to do. After feeling overwhelmed by the extra work, she falls asleep and dreams she's "Minnie-rella." Fairy god-cow Clarabelle helps her get to Prince Mickey's ball, while Goofy drives her tomato carriage and Pete guards the gate.
Decided that since the weather continued to be decent, I'd go out for an early lunch. Hiked down West Clinton to Common Grounds Coffee Shop to make up for not having the money for them on the 4th of July. Grabbed a strawberry-basil lemonade-iced tea, a huge lemon bar, and a slice of garden medley quiche. They were busy, but I managed to grab the last table by the window. Oooh, it was all sooo good. The lemon bar was more like custard than curd, but it tasted just as good. The strawberry basil tea-lemonade was just sweet enough. The quiche was slightly spicy, but still very filling.
Made a quick stop at the tiny convenience store across the street after lunch. I was going to get a soda, but didn't like what they had. I ended up with a Propel Strawberry Kiwi instead.
Took the laundry downstairs when I got home, then put on the first four episodes of Remember WENN. We're "On the Air" with recently-graduated college student Betty Roberts (Amanda Naughton), who arrives at small time radio station WENN in Pittsburgh during the fall of 1939 in response to a contest. Erudite station manager Victor Comstock (John Bedford Lloyd) assures her that her internship is non-paying and her work requires polish...but after the drunk writer passes out and she uses her winning script to finish a show, he begins to wonder if it's not polish, but experience that she needs.
"Klondike 9366" introduces ingenue Ceila Mellon (Dina Spybey), who turns up for an audition and ends up flirting with Jeff Singer (Hugh O'Gorman). That doesn't make his wife, leading lady Hilary Booth (Melinda Mullins), very happy. Meanwhile, Victor has a new brainstorm - a late-night talk radio show. It goes badly, with everyone yelling at once and wires literally crossed, until a young boy calls for help.
Victor and Betty are caught between "A Rock and a Hard Place" when Mr. Acton (Barton Heyman) of Acton Anthrcite Coal requests a slam-bang detective show in place of Pittsburgh Library Theater. The sponsor of the library, Mrs. Mellon (Irene Worth), decries the violence on Acton's shows and says she'll pull her sponsorship if they continue to broadcast such filth. Betty and Victor turn to their own cross-genre adaption in order to make both happy. Celia spends most of the episode avoiding the woman everyone assumes is her mother.
Patti LuPone becomes the first of three Broadway divas to appear on the show in "There But For Grace." Hilary thinks her former rival Grace Cavendish (LuPone) has stopped there during a tour to steal her thunder. She's really interested in Victor, whom she had a relationship with in New York. (Look for LuPone's aching performance of the title song here, the first of two times the lyrics are heard.)
Moved to YouTube next for the 1976 Hallmark Hall of Fame version of Beauty and the Beast. This surprisingly sweet retelling actually sticks to the original French story pretty well. Beauty (Trish Van Dervere) has two sisters, a brother, and one of her sisters has a husband who despises his snooty wife. The Beast (George C. Scott) is kind, intelligent, and well-spoken despite his fearsome appearance. Beauty enjoys sparring with him, and is genuinely devastated when she loses the ring that would get her back to him. And no wonder this Beauty and Beast truly sparkle. Scott ended up marrying Van Dervere shortly after production wrapped...and they would remain married for the rest of his life. It's too bad the copies currently on YouTube have a lot of audio sync problems. This exquisite and charming fairy tale deserves to be better-known.
Switched to The Last Unicorn after the episodes ended to get that dreamy 80's Gothic romance feeling. I went further into this dark animated childhood favorite at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in 2022.
Worked on writing for the rest of the afternoon. Maple and Betty finally catch up with Hilary when she's lost in the woods. They remind her that the mystery isn't solved. Betty called Scott's Aunt Agatha, who hasn't seen him and is worried. There's also Troll having asked her to marry him after knowing her for less than 24 hours, the animal servants, Bear's fractured speech and lost memories, Eagle's papers and silence. There's too much going on to run out now.
Hilary is about to argue when they're attacked by criminals who are on their way to rob the mansion. The ladies try to fight them off, but the criminals try to get a little too fresh...just as Troll roars in. Bear follows, his big paw slamming into the one attacking Betty. Eagle grabs one and tosses him into a tree. He also brought rope to tie them up and leave them for the police. The three women help Troll and Bear home after they're both shot (though Bear's is a flesh wound).
Mrs. Fox (Gertie) ends up removing the bullet from Troll's thigh. Hilary plays nurse, tending to his wound. They argue over the dinner and her running out. She still says she's not interested, though she does finally get Troll to let her sisters remain. He grudging admits that Bear and Eagle are smitten with them and wouldn't let them go now. He continues to grouchily insist that Bear is nothing more than a servant, though Hilary can see how fond he is of his slow-witted ursine friend under the gruffness.
Watched Match Game '74 during dinner. Adrienne Barbeau did her first week in late '74, by which time Gary Burghoff had temporarily replaced Charles while the latter was directing a Broadway show. Gary didn't always get along that well with Brett, prompting a question about what he'd do about sitting next to her.
Finished the night on YouTube with game shows that flopped in the 2000's. As the new millennium dawned, the overnight success of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire revived the game show format in prime-time. Alas, the enthusiasm would prove to be short-lived as an endless parade of Millionaire copy-cats flooded the airwaves in early 2000. Twenty One was a not-bad revival of the controversial late 50's quiz show, with Maury Povich doing surprisingly well as host. It's Your Chance of a Lifetime had people competing to pay off credit card bills and win a million with the help of two "Second Chances." Fox was so unimpressed with Lifetime that it never made it to a full series. Twenty One lasted five months on NBC.
GSN's original game shows mostly tended to be short-lived. Cram was a unique format that had college students staying awake to talk about articles they read, guess questions, and play stunts. In the end, if they could remember facts told to them while sleeping, they'd win $10,000. Too bad this one only lasted 7 months in 2003. From what I've seen, it's a lot of fun, and certainly one of the more original game shows out there.
Whammy! The All New Press Your Luck did a bit better, running over a year. This pretty much played the same as the original, with a CGI Whammy and an additional "double whammy" who would unleash a physical mess, like shredded paper, over the contestant. The episode I have here is a special show that brought in the brother of the original show's most notorious constant Michael Larson, along with original host Peter Tomarken to read a question.
Temptation didn't do much better in syndication during 2007 and 2008. This revival of Sale of the Century came directly from Australia, where that show has always been very popular. Unfortunately, the mini-games were a lot more complicated, host Rossi Morreale was annoying, and the prize packages screamed "cheap." This one lasted 8 months before being pulled and has been the last time to date Sale of the Century was revived in America.
We explore the game shows of the new millennium and find out what worked and what didn't in these rare and unique episodes!
No comments:
Post a Comment