Sunday, August 09, 2026

Laughing Matches

Began the morning with breakfast and the 2011 revival cast album of How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. John Larroquette won a Tony playing Biggley, the stuffy president of the World Wide Wickets Company to Daniel Radcliffe's ambitious window-washer J. Pierpont Finch. They're both having a lot of fun here, especially on "Grand Old Ivy" and the big finale number "Brotherhood of Man." Larroquette also does well by the spoof ballad "Love From a Heart of Gold" with Tammy Blanchard. As good as the original cast is, this certainly has its virtues as well, especially if you're a fan of either star.

Called Uber after I finished breakfast and got dressed. No trouble here. The driver going to work came in 9 minutes. The one going home came in 5. No traffic either way, and I got to work in plenty of time.

No trouble at work, either. On one hand, it's still hot and thickly humid, but it was also sunny all day, without a cloud in the sky. I had more help this time, too, and for longer. The Sunday morning bagger is usually pretty reliable. Once he left, I had help from one of the college boys for the last 45 minutes. I spent the entire afternoon pushing carts...but I made sure to pace myself and go inside and get a drink of water from the bottle in my locker or empty trash cans or fill the toilet paper in the women's bathroom every half-hour or so. 

Listened to The Hit List after taking a much-needed shower. This K-Tel 2-disc set features some of the biggest hits from 1982. The first disc has most of the better-known songs today, including "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone, "Keep On Loving You" by REO Speedwagon, "Caught Up In You" by 38 Special, "You Better You Bet" by the Who, and the first hit from Huey Lewis and the News, "Do You Believe In Love?" Most of the songs on the second disc are less familiar today, other than "The One That You Love" by Air Supply, "Slow Hand" by the Pointer Sisters, and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police.

Finished the night at YouTube watching the Sunday Match Game marathon while eating dinner. Brett Somers started off on the third week of the show and quickly became the show's second regular. Though she originally sat next to Richard Dawson in the ingenue seat, she was eventually moved upstairs to the second seat and would remain there for the rest of the original run. By the end of 1973, she'd been joined by Charles Nelson Reilly on her right. They became the best of drinking buddies and played hilariously off of her, whether he was making fun of her jewelry or she made fun of his toupee and his never wearing socks.

Brett had a comic feud with the person who handled the buzzer that ran through most of late 1973 and 1974. It got so ubiquitous, there were even questions about what she'd do the buzzer holder if she could get her hands on them, or how she'd stop them from buzzing her. Her complaints would often end up with a joke "buzzer" being used, like a raspberry noise or a cow bell. If Brett wasn't trading quips with Charles, she was doing it with Betty White. The two of them loved teasing each other about their ages and about the hold Betty had on her husband host Allen Ludden.

There were times when Brett could get a little too salty for her own good, like the 1977 episode where her answer about what movie Lassie didn't like making was censored. There was also the time in 1976 when she used her rear end as an answer to a question, or when she flipped off the audience. On the other hand, for all the jokes about her bad answers, she was sometimes the only one to get a question right, like during the syndicated run in 1980 where she was the one who finally got an answer after three tiebreakers and received a deserved standing ovation. 

Brett's then-husband Jack Klugman was the one who recommended her to the show in the first place. They appeared three times together in 1973 and spent all three weeks fighting. They got so bad, comedian Stu Gilliam asked why they put him on the "military level." By the time Jack reappeared on the show in late 1978, they'd been divorced or separated for at least three years. That didn't stop Jack from practically climbing on Brett during a question, or the others holding a mock wedding for them in the finale.

No one had more fun on the show than Brett! Belly laugh your way through the hot summer with these hilarious episodes!

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