Corner of the Sky

Began the morning with breakfast and the 2018 version of Muppet Babies. "The Spoon In the Stone" is really a spoon Nanny stuck in a dry block of clay. The kids imagine it as the mystical spoon that can only be pulled by the greatest knight. Piggy, Gonzo, and Animal all try their luck, but in the end, Summer proves that the greatest knight is the one who helps others. "Gonzonochio" lost his library book, but keeps telling fibs to cover the truth. The kids keep confronting all the shady characters he claims has it, until he has to use his growing nose to fight Bunsen and Beaker's ping-pong playing robot that got out of control.

Called Uber after the cartoon ended. Though I can walk on my knee, it's still really sore. It shouldn't still be sore after a month and a half. I figured it would be better once the weather changed. I had to get it checked out. The driver arrived in 7 minutes, and got me to Audubon in three.

I really should have called first. The waiting room at Cooper Health Urgent Care in Audubon was full to capacity when I arrived. The lady at the desk said it would be an hour and a half wait! I didn't have the time for that. I just bought a peppermint mocha hot chocolate from the WaWa next-door and walked home, despite the dreary cold, cloudy day. I already would be paying for the ride to Thomas Sharp School later.

When I got home, I dusted the apartment while watching Pippin. This is a 1981 recording of the Bob Fosse-choreographed 1971 musical with music by Steven Schwartz. William Katt is the title character, the elder son of Charlemagne who spends the show searching for his purpose. The Leading Player (Ben Vereen) and the cast frame it as a musical revue, much like Fosse would do later with Chicago's vaudeville. Chita Rivera is Pippin's scheming mother, Martha Raye is his grandmother who teaches him to enjoy the time he has left on this earth, and Leslie Dennison is the sweet woman who climbs out of the narrative by falling for him. Though this is apparently a shortened version (Pippin's lover is missing her big ballad "I Guess I'll Miss the Man"), it still hits enough beats to show why this was a hit in 1971 and in a popular 2013 revival. The sets and costumes are relatively minimal, but the score is one of Schwartz's best, and Katt and Vereen are terrific as the confused young man who wants to be "Extraordinary" and the player pushing and prodding him into that "Glory."

Pippin finished in time for me to call Uber. I had even less trouble this time. Though it did take 12 minutes for the driver to come going there, it only took 7 going home, surprising during rush hour. No traffic anywhere today.

The kids were crazy when I got in, and we had a lot of them. We had 24 to start, including 10 at my table. Thankfully, the bathrooms weren't that bad. It was later, in the cafeteria and library, where we had trouble. For one thing, we couldn't go to the library until later. The school band was meeting there. I had such a hard time reminding two boys to share all the Duplos, I almost made them clean it up well before their time in the cafeteria was done. I spent what little time we had in the library drawing with several kids while the others danced to the themes from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Bluey, "Ghostbusters," and kids' dance numbers like "The Wiggle Dance."

Put on Match Game Syndicated after I got in, took the laundry downstairs and the recycling outside, and finished Pippin. Most of these episodes covered the week with Diana Sorvino, a friend of Charles Nelson Reilly's and the only opera star to appear on any version of Match Game. Too bad she never came back, as she was a decent player and dodged opera diva jokes like a champ. Former beauty queen Marjorie Wallace was in the 4th ingenue seat the next week. She was joined on the lower tier by Marcia Wallace and Gary Crosby.

Finished the night watching To the Ends of Time on Tub after I finally remembered to bring the laundry upstairsi. This 1996 TV fantasy film has a really interesting premise. Desperate to end war in his kingdom in the clouds, a king (Joss Ackland) has his magician (Michael Silverback) create a machine that can control time itself. The king decides it's too powerful and orders it destroyed, but it ends up in the hands of a furious sorceress (Sarah Douglas) who puts a terrible curse over the kingdom. Every living thing ages a year every day, including the King's daughter (Christine Taylor) and the servant boy who has a crush on her (Tom Schultz). When his brother is killed trying to find the time machine, the young man vows that he'll destroy the machine, before they're all too old to do anything about it.

The movie makes the most of its limited TV budget with fairly impressive miniatures and costumes...but it becomes obvious when we see the flying boats move with strings or against early CGI backgrounds or the really bad aging makeup and gray wigs on almost everyone. Some of the dialogue is a little stiff, too, especially in the second half when the guy is making his quest. And there's plot holes galore, including the kids never going back to their original ages (or getting their childhoods back) in the end. It's still worth watching for fans of fantasy who can deal with some low-budget cheese in their fairy tales.