Switched to "Hair Raising Hare" while cleaning up from breakfast. Bugs follows what he thinks is a lovely girl rabbit to a spooky castle. It's really a robot, created by a Peter Lorre-like mad scientist who wants him as dinner for his monster Gossamer. Bugs keeps trying to evade the massive hairy thing...but it's the least-likely people who eventually frighten Gossamer away.
Spent the next hour replacing the black ink in my printer. I scanned and copied the Acme's W-2, and since I can't find the one from Healthy Kids, I printed that out from TurboTax. I'll do the paperwork for the investment fund tomorrow after work or Thursday morning.
Listened to the soundtrack from It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown while I worked. Vince Guaraldi provided a suitably eerie score for Snoopy's attempt to figure out who stole Woodstock's nest. A slightly re-written "Joe Cool" is heard again here after first appearing in You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, while an instrumental "Little Birdie" reappears from the previous special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. We also have "Cops and Robbers" and the moody "Sally's Blues." Side B has bonus material, including Guaraldi's non-special versions of "Autumn Leaves" and "Billie's Bounce."
Hurried out right after the record ended. I wanted to get lunch before today's half-day at Thomas Sharp started. I originally planned on eating a sandwich somewhere, but I ran out of time. I just grabbed a slice of mushroom, a slice of cheese, and a can of Diet Coke at Crust N' Cravings. Ate them while listening to Channel 6 talk about how gorgeous the weather has been and will continue to be for the rest of the week.
I'm glad I got there right on time. The kids were in the library when I hurried in. We needed all the help we could get. There were only two teachers to deal with 15 rowdy kids. On one hand, they loved it when I read "The Three Little Pigs" from the Fantasyland Disney anthology book and "I Am a Bunny" and "Good Night, Little Bear" from Richard Scarry.
On the other hand, they simply would not listen to me or the other teacher. They were used to obeying the head teacher, and she was out sick. It was even worse when we went outside to enjoy that beautiful weather they mentioned on Action News. The little boys kept beating up on each other and wrestling each other. They got so crazy, we eventually banned tag. They turned it into a contact sport. One of the girls threw an absolute fit when she had to get off the swing so another child could ride (after having been on at least once before). She flounced off behind the tree to sulk. When I did let her on, she kept twisting, which the kids aren't allowed to do. School rules, not just Healthy Kids. I eventually sent her to a time-out with the other teacher. She was the last girl to leave. There were three older boys and two younger ones left by 3:30, few enough that the other teacher said I could go.
After a brief stop at CVS to use the bathroom, I made my way through the twisty streets of Audubon to their library. It's a tiny two-room building, slightly smaller than Bellmawr, but I did find some interesting books. A Halloween craft book gave me the idea to shred crepe paper and twist them together for my party table on Friday. I also discovered a fascinating coffee table book on 125 years of Broadway musical history, written in 1991. (Miss Saigon and Les Miserables were the most recent hits they had listed.) I especially enjoyed the photos of vintage artifacts, including costumes from musicals going back to the late 1800's.
Ran a few errands after I left. Family Dollar didn't have crepe paper or a black plastic tablecloth, but they did have a tinsel black cat in a jack o'lantern decoration that would work. Dollar General had the black plastic round tablecloth. They didn't have orange or black crepe paper, but I did get a bag that had red and yellow in it that might work. Neither store had the mini-Moon Pies, and I won't get to Dollar Tree before Halloween. I bought boxes of mini-Rice Krispies Treats instead.
Watched Match Game '77 when I got home. They skipped ahead again, this time to the week with Orson Bean and Fannie Flagg that also introduced Connie Stevens. Orson discusses his voice work for the 1977 version of The Hobbit in the episode before Thanksgiving Day.
Finished the night with far spookier game shows. Match Game only got into the holiday once, in 1990, but it was far and away the best episode of that series. They heavily decorated the sets, and the contestants and all of the panelists were in costume. Charles Nelson Reilly was Superman. His favorite drinking buddy Brett Somers was a little girl. Vicki Lawrence was Little Red Riding Hood in a super-short dress. Host Ross Schafer made a rather attractive Dracula. It was ventriloquist Ronn Lucas and his dragon puppet Scorch, though, who came up with the scariest costume of all.
Match Game wasn't the only show in 1990 where everyone dressed the part. Host Ray Combs was a bee in the 1990 Family Feud Halloween special. One family featured a lady in an old-fashioned bathing suit, another in a Chinese costume, a little sister Alice In Wonderland, and a dad wizard. The other had a mom queen, a cowboy with a very tall hat, a gangster dad, and a Lady Liberty aunt.
The late 90's-early 2000's Hollywood Squares always did a Halloween week with all of the panelists in costume (though not the contestants or host Tom Bergenon). Vicki Lawrence is back, this time dressed as her "Mama" character from Mama's Family. There's also Martin Mull as a priest and Tammy Faye Baker as one of the least-likely angels in TV history. Elvira joins in to add a touch of darkness.
Press Your Luck settled for trick-or-treating Whammys stealing a trick-or-treat bucket-load of cash from one of the ladies in 1984. It came down to the lady and an older man. The lady ended up getting so lucky, it was scary. Host Peter Tomarken celebrated her win by dancing in front of the contestants' desks in a Frankenstein mask (and collapsing in the end).
A syndicated To Tell the Truth episode from 1976 started off with real-life scares, as Gene Rayburn joined Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass, and Kitty Carlisle in figuring out which of three ladies survived a harrowing experience when her small plane was stranded in a Colorado snowstorm. The second contestant had scares of a more enjoyable variety. Three men dressed as horror icons and famous villains claimed to be a young horror fanatic who owned a small museum of film horror figures. Gene Rayburn couldn't resist trading "anti-pasto" accent jokes with the guy in the vampire costume.
The Price Is Right started doing Halloween episodes around 2001. Bob Barker had a hard enough time just getting winners on that show. Four out of six contestants lost their games, and one woman only won $1,000 on Plinko. On the other hand, an older lady did pick up $10,000 on the first Showcase Showdown wheel spin. The generic Showcase was living room furniture and a spa. The "story" Showcase had a witchy model showing off things that are "scary," including taking a beautiful sports car in LA traffic. Both contestants honestly got really close, but the guy who bid on the furniture got closer.
Show these episodes at your Halloween gathering and see what ghouls gather to play along!
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