TV Boneyard
I get jazzed whenever I find out about forgotten clips from not-so-classic old TV shows, as two of my favorite pop culture bloggers have recently done. Jaime Weinman of Something Old, Nothing New wrote about the opening credits of a short-lived 1979 sitcom called Out of the Blue. The sequence is very ABC sitcommy with its outdoor vignettes of the family playing around, the names typeset in Bauhaus, and Charles Fox’s ingratiating theme song (cute, but not up to the standards of his excellent Angie theme). I don’t remember this show at all; strange considering that I spent every waking moment of 1979 sitting in front of the tube — the way most ten-year-olds do, right?
Moving on to something that I do remember (somewhat), Mark Evanier of News from Me recently posted about a longish but impressive dance sequence from the 1985 special Night of 100 Stars. As Evanier points out, much of these specials consisted merely of the stars walking across the stage while the audience applauded (hey, we had lower entertainment standards back in the ’80s). That’s probably why now nobody seems to remember them. Back then, however, it was a huge deal, especially the original 100 Stars telecast from 1982. I recall that the highlight on that one was a gorgeous, monochromatic fashion show scored to that “Hooked On Classics” song. If anything cries out for a fancy schmancy DVD reissue, it’s that!
Comments
Yikes! "Out Of The Blue" is my new favorite song!!
Posted by: Derrick Bostrom | June 12, 2006 09:13 PM
"Life is a riddle. You're in the middle, and the puzzle is how you'll survive." Great, huh? I can't get it out of my head!
Posted by: Matt | June 13, 2006 01:21 PM
I remember this show--watching it, even. I didn't remember Dixie Carter as having been in it (though obviously she was), but I do remember Clark Brandon (probably fresh from the Wonder Woman episodes, "The Boy Who Knew Her Secret, Parts 1 and 2"!) and especially Olivia Barash. She was quite a busy little child actress in the 70s, with her sweet face, raspy voice, and endearing lisp. Sort like a granola-crunchy-munchy Cindy Brady for the later 70s!
Didn't remember Random being so unattractive and I have no recollection of the housekeeper. For some reason, I thought Random became their housekeeper...?
Thanks, as always, for digging up this fun stuff to share, Matt!
Posted by: Dan | June 14, 2006 08:53 AM
Neat. The only cast member (besides Dixie Carter) that I recognized was Tammy Lauren. She was another one of those kid actors who was everywhere for a certain period of time — although I can't remember anything specific that she was in.
Posted by: Matt | June 14, 2006 12:25 PM