Switched to Paw Patrol during breakfast in honor of those first-responders who have to work this Labor Day. "Pups Save a Giant Plant" when Mayor Goodway brings a Venus Fly Trap to the swamp and plants it in what she thinks is a nice spot. She's less thrilled when it grows to six times its original size and tries to eat her beloved pet chicken Chickaletta. The Pups have to figure out where it really belongs in the swamp. The "Pups Get Stuck" when Marshall seems to magnetically pick up metal items all over Adventure Bay. The others put the items back and try to figure out what's going on here.
It was so late by the time the episode ended, I just called Uber. Think I did the right thing. The one going to work arrived in 7 minutes and got me there on time with literally no time to spare. The one going home came in 8 minutes. No trouble either way.
Work was a lot busier. I suspect people who would normally shopped when they got their beginning-of-the-month money last week saved it for the holiday weekend instead. Not only did I have a hard time keeping up with the carts, but this time, I was totally alone. Almost every other bagger had the holiday off, including the head bagger. At least the weather remains gorgeous for all the running around. It's still sunny, warm, breezy, and not humid at all. Pushing carts was a pleasure before it got really crazy later in the morning.
Soon as I got home, I went right down for a nap. I was up way too late for the last two evenings. Passed out at 2:30 and didn't get up until almost 4:30.
I read Sonnet of the Sphinx in bed for a little while, then went out to Dollar General. I had those two boxes of Chocolate Fudge pudding I picked up at the Acme for 70 cents a while back and had been wanting to do something with them. I couldn't remember the last time I made a pudding pie. Bought milk and a graham cracker crust, along with the Nature's Valley wafer bars (they're much cheaper at Dollar General)...but of course, I forgot the Cool Whip. The other reason I went out was, of course, to enjoy the stunning day. It was still beautiful at 5 PM, probably in the lower 80's, not a cloud in the perfect bright blue sky.
Didn't have as much luck with the pie. I added cocoa and topped it with chocolate fudge sauce, but...I didn't have enough milk. It ended up being kind of gloppy. At least it was edible and set up pretty well.
Watched Remember WENN after I got back upstairs. Considering the holiday, it's rather appropriate that I began with one of my favorite fourth season episodes, "Work Shift." Smarmy self-help guru Arden Sage (Greg Germann) arrives at the station and dares the staff to walk in each other's shoes for a day. That works about as well as can be expected. Hilary can't handle the switchboard, Maple can't type, Betty can't play the organ, and Mr. Eldridge and Gertie aren't actors. They finally all learn that the station works best when everyone does what they do best...like take down obnoxious self-help gurus. (If nothing else, this episode finally ends the running gag with what Mr. Eldridge does at the station. He's the janitor and go-fer who makes the coffee and does all the little chores no one else has the time or inclination to do.)
Betty tells Maple and Scott about her first day at WENN in "Past Tense, Future Imperfect" as she tries to explain her relationship with Victor. Victor did explain to her the rules of radio writing, but his tendency to sound like he swallowed a dictionary made Betty think he was in love with her. The others all think she's after every other man at the station.
Moved to Buzzr for Match Game '76 next. Richard Dawson and Ed Asner were not happy to meet Lyle, a go-getting contestant from Las Vegas with a smarmy attitude and the worst toupee this side of Howard Cossell. Thankfully, Lyle didn't continue too far into the next week with Dick Gautier, Della Reece, and Fannie Flagg.
Finished the night at YouTube with vintage dance shows and talent competitions. Most people think of long, drawn-out reality show competitions like Dance With the Stars when they think of talent shows nowadays, but that wasn't always the case. Judge for Yourself from 1953 was a much simpler affair. Fred Allen (who frankly seems a bit out of place) is the host as three expert judges (one is songwriter Jules Styne) decide which of three acts is worthy of the big prize. First of all, although the dancers here were great, my favorites were the duo who actually made the harmonica sound elegant and beautiful. Second, this early effort would be one of the templates for pretty much every show I mention here with celebrity judges. (Look for the introduction by Orson Bean.)
The Gong Show made fun of such amateur contests in the 70's and early 80's. I actually went with one of the less-outrageous episodes from 1977. The country singers won here, but I thought the guy doing an amazing routine to "Ease On Down the Road" from The Wiz was even better. I can understand why the guy doing the flamenco cape dance got gonged (he was pretty stiff), but not the Elvis impersonators (they were a lot of fun).
Your All-American College Show from 1968 and Dance 360 from 2004 are two variations on the same theme - young people strutting their stuff and winning money for it. College Show has college students showing off their singing and dancing talents for money. With Dance 360, the focus is on hip-hop dancing. College Show lasted two years, slightly longer than the one-year-wonder Dance 360, but both would produce stars that are still relatively well-known today. Karen Carpenter and her brother Richard got some of their earliest TV exposure as the winners of College Show (I forgot how amazing Karen was on the drums), while dancer Caity Lutz, who would later appear in the Bring It On films, won Dance 360 .
My sisters and I loved Dance Fever when we were kids. This long-running dance show started out as a disco dance competition, which is evident in this 1981 episode. By the time we were watching around 1985, it had branched into other forms of dance. It's pretty much a prototype Dance With the Stars, only here, the stars are just judges, rather than dancers. Eddie Mecca (himself a dancer in real-life), Scatman Crothers, and Jane Sawyer are the judges, with Danny Terrio as the first host.
Dance and talent competitions aren't limited to long-form shows. Dance Battle America was a one-off special that appeared after the season 21 premier of Dance With the Stars in 2015. Judges Alfonso Ribiera and Jordyn Sparks each picked four groups who danced against each other in goofy choreographed numbers. Personally, I liked the older ladies and admired their moxie for just making it and the hilarious trio who called themselves "Dancing Feet" and included a big guy myself. In fact, the dancers had so much fun, and Riberia and Sparks so clearly enjoyed showing them off, I wish this had made it to a series. Everyone really had a great time here, and the numbers are infectiously adorable.
Dance your way into the fall with these delightful episodes that showcase the best and worst of five decades of amateur performance on TV!
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