A Foggy New Year

Began the last day of 2022 with breakfast and episodes of Arthur on PBS Kids. "Arthur's Sleepover" with his friends Buster and the Brain is already shaping up to be exciting. It's their first time sleeping outside, and there's talk of UFO sightings in the area. Arthur's little sister DW wants to photograph an alien, but Arthur just wants to keep her out. He initially claims he doesn't want to stay up for "Arthur's New Year's Eve," until his friends tell him all the cool things that happen at midnight. Grandma Thora reminds him that what's really important is reflecting on the year before and hoping for a better one ahead.

Grabbed my raincoat around 1 PM and headed out to run errands. I awoke this morning to fog so heavy, I could have reached out and cut it with a knife. While not quite that thick by then, it was still very heavy and damp as I made my way to Dollar General. I wanted snacks for New Year's Eve. Picked up original Sun Chips. I haven't had those in years. They had a few bottles of that Mountain Dew Fruit Quake left, too, so I thought I'd try that. To my surprise, it wasn't bad. It didn't taste like fruitcake. It tasted (and looked) like grape-raspberry soda. 

I originally intended to get a soft pretzel or two from the store two blocks from Dollar General on the White Horse Pike. I had no idea they were closing early for New Year's Eve. I walked in just as they were shutting down. To make up for it, they gave me the rest of their inventory. I kept three soft pretzels and gave two to the daughter of a friend and her best friend for their sleepover.

On my way home, I saw a house with furniture sitting in front of it. Among the items were a slightly spindly white mesh and metal shelf with slide drawers. It would be perfect to hold snack food in my room. My snacks were previously in two soft coolers that looked clunky and took up way too much room. 

Wiped down the shelves when I got home, then loaded the food into them. That went so well, I opened the box of bathroom supplies I got from the storage unit and reorganized the narrow closet that held odds and ends. Some of the things that didn't stay in the closet went into plastic bins. Others went downstairs. 

Watched Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! while I worked. Chuck's stuck spending his New Year's reading War and Peace for a book report. Peppermint Patty invites him to her New Year's party, but he'd rather invite the Little Red Haired Girl. Lucy wishes Schroeder would invite her, and Sally's waiting (and waiting) for Linus to ask her.

Switched to Rudolph's Shiny New Year as I finished up and had lunch. I went further into Rankin-Bass's only New Year's special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog entry for New Year's Eve 2019. 

Happy New Year's Eve! - Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Went online to do some writing and watch A Very Merry Pooh Year on Disney Plus. I go further into this hybrid of an original New Year's short featuring the Hundred Acre Woods gang and the 1991 Christmas special at Musical Dreams Reviews. 

Happy New Year's Eve! - A Very Merry Pooh Year

Broke at 7 for dinner. Watched Laverne & Shirley while I ate. "New Year's Eve - 1960" is shaping up to be a great one for the girls. Shirley's going to her big party with Carmine, and Laverne's going with the guy of her dreams. To her disappointment, he ends up back with his girlfriend right before midnight. Shirley, who's coming down with a cold, manages to comfort her best friend in time to watch Lenny drop Squiggy instead of the ball.

Did a few cartoons as I cleaned up and got organized. Bluto and Olive say "Let's Celebrake" when they go out for New Year's Eve, but Popeye insists on bringing Olive's grandma, too. A little spinach gives Granny enough pep to take part in the big New Year's dance contest with Popeye. A jealous Bluto disrupts Popeye and Olive's act in "Morning, Noon, and Nightclub." Popeye finds a way to turn the tables on him. 

(And boy, am I glad I wasn't in New York. It started to pour around 5 or 6 PM and has been raining, sometimes hard, off and on ever since.)

Finished the night on YouTube with Match Game Production's Match Game New Year's Eve marathon. Every year during the 70's run of the show, Match Game did an episode celebrating New Year's and the arrival of a new number in the logo. In 1975, Charles popped a huge 1975 balloon, revealing a smaller one for 1976. A very ugly paper mache bird swooped down and dropped a '77 egg into Charles waiting arms in 1976 before boss Mark Goodson came down to praise the job they were doing. The streamers and balloons came down first in '77. Charles, Brett, and Gene celebrated their new, easier-to-change sign in 1978 by breaking bottles over it before Gene passed out from the excitement.

1979 was the last year for the original show on CBS; there would be no New Year's shows in syndication. They didn't celebrate New Year's Eve again until Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour in 1983. Even then, this was limited to comedian Gallagher playing with balloons during the Leave It To Beaver theme week. As they did with other holidays, Match Game '90 got more into it. Not only did they have balloons and streamers, but everyone dressed in gowns and tuxes. Brad Garrett did a dead-on imitation of Charles Nelson Reilly, who was on vacation at that point.

No game show does New Year's like Match Game! Celebrate the start of the year with these hilarious episodes!

Match Game New Year's Eve Party Marathon 2022

The marathon ended literally as I heard booms going off behind me and a Mummers group practicing down the street. Snuck in one last Match Game episode before the night ended. Charles Nelson Reilly introduced the series finale of the 1979-1982 syndicated run during a New Year's marathon in 1999. The episode in and of itself is funny as heck - check out Charles and his "chick," the dummy used to test color levels, in the beginning, or the contestant who wants to kiss McLean Stevenson...and really plants one on him when she does so! As Brett points out, McLean's blushing when she's done. It prompts Skip Stevenson to run over and kiss the other contestant, too!

Game Show Network 1999 - Match Game Synd Finale

And I hope all of you have a safe and happy 2023, with all the people you love to match with! 

New Year's Matches

Began the morning with a phone call from Rose as I read Christmas and New Year's stories by L.M Montgomery. She invited me over to her house for lunch and to do my laundry, instead of hiking to the laundromat on a cold, cloudy day. I happily accepted her offer. I hadn't met their new puppy Cider yet, and I'm tired of braving the weather.

After I finally finished, I had breakfast and Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! Charlie Brown's stuck reading War and Peace over Christmas break for a school project. He's easily distracted by Peppermint Patty's big New Year's Eve party, especially once he realizes he can invite the Little Red Haired Girl to be his date.

Began whole-wheat rolls while watching Rudolph's Shiny New Year. I go further into this Rankin-Bass tale at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews New Year's blog entry from last year. 

Happy New Year's Eve! - Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Did this year's New Year's Eve review while finishing the rolls. Once I signed into TCM on my TV (which took a few minutes), I was able to watch the Debbie Reynolds-Eddie Fisher romantic musical comedy Bundle of Joy. I also go further into this at Musical Dreams Movie Reviews.

Happy New Year's Eve! - Bundle of Joy

Rose knocked on my door as the movie was winding down. She drove me to her house; got to say hi to Craig just as he left for his job as a chef at a high-end Italian restaurant in Haddon Heights. Finley was watching her favorite show Bubble Guppies and playing with Cider, their new puppy. She's a frisky miss who is white with pale brown spots. She's teething, so she tends to want to chew on everything...especially the little legs of her older sister Kelsey the Miniature Pincher. 

After Rose showed me where her washer and dryer were in the basement, we went upstairs and had lunch. She treated all of us to hoagies from WaWa. I had a roast beef and provolone "shorti" on a whole-wheat roll. As I ate, Rose opened the blow-outs she bought for tonight and let Finley and me play with them.

I spent the next few hours watching cartoons with Finley, and then with Khai and the dogs after he was dragged from video games and she took a nap. While Cider and Kelsey chased each other, Lynx the big striped cat decided he wanted to leap from Cider's enclosure up onto the scratching post he shares with his little sister Toothless and watch all from above. 

Rose switched to Netflix, first with We Bare Bears. Finley loves it when the three goofy Cartoon Network bears are baby bears, as in "Christmas Movies." The Baby Bears are working in a video store and watching Christmas videos all night when they hear a voice. A burglar wants to steal their holiday cheer...but the bears make use of what they've seen in the movies to convince him it's better to give than receive. 

The bears make their own metal fourth "Imaginary Bears" member, but he ends up causing more trouble than he's worth. Grizz Bear works at "The Mall" as a cop, while Panda tries to see a famous singer and Ice Bear joins a figure skating competition. The bears discover "Tunnels" under Panda's bed, dug by moles who worship his adventure comics. The have to convince the moles to help them keep their home from sinking. The baby bears return to help a young woman in Japan perfect her "Ramen" and impress her father, a former ramen chef who still owns her shop.

After Finley passed out, we switched to Khai's favorite, The Garfield Show. This is more-or-less an updated CGI version of Garfield and Friends, with more characters from the comics and no "Friends." I have to admit, I like the CGI here -it's made to look like rubbery stop motion animation. 

"Little Angel" appears to be a kitten, but he's no angel. He's really a nasty older cat who makes a mess and gets Garfield thrown out. Garfield has to alert an animal catcher to his location to get rid of him. Garfield becomes a "Fraidy Cat" when a mad scientist who uses his gizmo to eliminate Jon's fear of mice uses it to make Garfield afraid of cats...including himself. 

After Rose dropped me off, I put everything away, then worked on writing. They're able to find Goodson's cabin, but it's locked. Gene ties the sheets together to swing into the cabin through the window...but Betty may have another way...

Switched to Holiday Inn while making ham and Swiss sliders with roasted Brussels sprouts and sweet potato fries for my New Year's Eve dinner. I go further into the Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire musical that introduced the beloved song "White Christmas" at a previous Musical Dreams Movie Review from New Year's 2019. 

Happy New Year! - Holiday Inn

Finished the night making an Orange Cake with Whipped Cocoa Frosting while watching Buzzr's Match Game "Blanking In the New Year" marathon. The New Year's episodes on the 70's Match Game were legendary, with streamers and balloons falling at the end (or in 1977, the beginning) of the episode and Gene announcing the changing of the show's logo to reflect the upcoming year. In 1976, a huge paper mache bird dropped an egg with a 1977 label into Charles Nelson Reilly's waiting arms. Charles popped a huge 1974 balloon, revealing a smaller 1975 one, and he and Brett launched the new sign in 1978 by breaking champagne bottles over it.

Here's the New Year's marathon on the Match Game Productions YouTube channel from last year, so you can ring in 2021 with all of the panelist's wild, matching antics! 

Match Game New Year's Eve Marathon

As I switched to The Price Is Right and made my usual Whipped Syllabub, I heard popping out my kitchen window. Fireworks exploded over the river, blooming with sparkles of white and gold. Here's hoping that all of you had a glowing evening and enjoy a safe, healthy, and far happier 2021!