Went back to sleep after that. When I got up for good, I had a nice, warm breakfast while watching winter-related animated specials. Frosty's Winter Wonderland brings Frosty the Snowman (Jackie Vernon) back, to the delight of all his kid friends. Frosty's lonely when they're inside at night, so they create a "snow wife" (Shelly Winters) they dub Crystal to keep him company. Trouble is, they can't figure out how to make her "all livin'" at first. Meanwhile, Jack Frost (Paul Frees) is jealous of Frosty's popularity and would love to blow those snow people right off the map.
Frosty Returns from 1992 was one of the last cartoons made by Bill Melendez, and as such, comes off as more of a cross between Rankin-Bass and a Peanuts holiday special. This time, Frosty (John Goodman) appears to two kids in a town whose winter carnival is threatened by an industrialist (Brian Doyle Murphy) who created a spray that quickly removes snow. The kids know that the kind of magic winter needs can be found in good friends and cozy days, not quick ideas.
I went further into another Rankin-Bass winter special, Jack Frost, at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in 2020.
After that ended, I switched to YouTube for Dot and Keeto. I also go further into the fourth movie in the long-running Dot series from Australia at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Spent most of the afternoon looking over my Once Upon a Time In the Land of WENN story. With The WENN Nutcracker Suite having stalled and it being past Christmas anyway, I thought I'd double back and take a look at this Game of Thrones-esque fantasy I've been working on for a decade. I started it in August 2015, worked on it off and on through early 2016, then dropped it after I got into Star Wars. Started it again last May, but ultimately switched to Hilary and the Beasts instead.
It's the early 4th season, between "And If I Die Before I Sleep" and "Hilary's Agent." Betty is writing a new series for a sponsor who was inspired by her When In Rome script and asked for a deeper fantasy story than usual for a radio show. As usual for Betty, her problems, including the three men in her life, intrude...and explode into the story of Elizabeth Roberts (Betty) who discovers her destiny as the Light Guardian even as she deals with the two men in her life, noble King Victor (Comstock) who is currently a spy, and former Prince Scott (Sherwood), who now steals from the rich in the woods and leads the rebel faction.
After Dot and Keeto ended, I decided to try something downstairs. I still had buttermilk and coconut leftover from Christmas baking. I made Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread from The Taste of Home Baking Book, adding coconut to the batter and sprinkling it along with the cinnamon sugar between the layers. Oh yuuuummm! It came out perfectly, sweet and spicy and moist, and smelled amazing in the oven. I haven't made anything this good in ages. And it only took me about 10-15 minutes to put together, too.
Finished my night with a late lunch-early dinner and tonight's Match Game marathon. I'm not the only one who loves good food. Despite Gene Rayburn's frequent admonishment that they weren't supposed to be eating on the air, food was often consumed in front of the cameras by panelists anyway. Charles brought a burger with him during a syndicated episode. In a 1974 show, Richard stole an apple given to Brett by an audience member. Also in syndication, opera singer and avowed pasta lover Diana Sorvino handed plates of spaghetti and meatballs to the panelists. Gene once let everyone try out caviar. There was the contestant who brought kiwi from his farm for everyone to test, too. There were also all of the jokes about the "Russian" club soda Brett and Charles imbibed, and the time Bill Daily spilled water and ended up out of his chair to wipe it up.
Food also turned up in Audience Matches and Head-to-Heads. Betty helped a Naval officer in a nighttime episode whose answer to her Head-to-Head was a brand of beer. Another one in 1975 had "Pie __." "Mama" Cass Elliot got teased quite a bit about her weight and what she ate during her one week in 1973. There was also the obvious answer to "Club __," given how much of it the panelists (supposedly) consumed.
Enjoy dinner and a show with the Match Game panelists in this tasty and rib-tickling marathon!
Oh, and at press time...it still hasn't snowed, iced, or done anything but look ugly and be cold. It hasn't all day. I don't think it's supposed to arrive until later in the morning.
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