Fun Friday: Camp Cucamonga

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Oh, camp movies! They seemed to be everywhere twenty years ago, from Heavyweights to Poison Ivy, and one of my personal favorites, Camp Nowhere. It might be the middle of winter, but NBC announced last week that it will debut a summer camp drama, Camp, later this year. Set at Little Hawk Family Camp, "parents decompress with gin while teenagers make gleeful mischief and fall in and out of love." Well, thanks to Netflix and their suggestions, I checked out Camp Cucamonga recently, and thought it was cute. Not great, but had I seen it when it originally aired on NBC in 1990, I might be singing a different tune now! I bring it up today because, not only was it a TV movie, but it cast mainly television stars as the characters. Read on:

John Ratzenberger, most known as Cliff on Cheers, played the kind-hearted owner of a camp that, while beloved, may only be a few violations away from shutting down. Jennifer Aniston, now known most for playing Rachel on Friends, was one of the two main camp counselors in this film, and the daughter of Ratzenberger's character. And, Sherman Hemsley, renown for his role of George on The Jeffersons, acted as the handyman, though he was mistaken for the inspector throughout most of the movie!

Quite a few of the kids were favorites from my childhood, including Candace Cameron (DJ on Full House), Jaleel White (Steve Urkel on Family Matters), and Josh Saviano and Danica McKellar (Paul and Winnie, respectively, on The Wonder Years). Sure, there were folks from shows I never watched, like Chad Allen (Zach on My Two Dads) and Brian Robbins (Eric on Head of the Class), but I'm sure some of you recognized those faces! There were also a couple of non-television people, like the never-did-much-else-besides-ten-episodes-of-South Central Tasha Scott and the silver screen wonder Breckin Meyer, too.

I'd love to give this proper credit, but I could only find it here:
http://landofcandycanes.blogspot.com/2012/07/ten-on-tuesday-burned-brotchen-corgis.html

What's the movie about? Well, there's plenty of young love, some cliques, a little bit of wilderness survival, and plenty of antics. There's a resident dork, an attitude chick, a skater, and a bad boy. The show drips with late-80s fashion and jargon, and once you see it you'll never forget the "cu-ca-mon-ga" chorus from the music video the kids create to try to save the camp. Much of the plot is predictable, but there are a couple of twists which will keep you laughing!

Have you seen Camp Cucamonga? Will you be adding it to your Netflix queue? Are you interested in NBC's upcoming Camp? Weigh in below!

December 25th Holiday Recommendations

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but consider DVRing things on Christmas Day instead of watching them live. You're missing time with loved ones. Not to say you don't need a break, so maybe you could just time your escape accordingly. ;) This is the final installment of holiday recommendations from us, though you can follow our entire holiday schedule through January 2nd. Below is our highly-recommended list for Sunday, December 25th below. As always, times are Eastern and Pacific to the best of our knowledge (except when noted otherwise), but it's always good to double-check with your own provider.

5:21am: Home Improvement "'Twas the Flight Before Christmas" (TVLand)
- I really enjoy the Home Improvement holiday episodes, but this one is one of my favorites. Tim and Al are out of town on business and are trying to return home on Christmas Eve. This leaves the boys to decorate the house on their own, in an attempt to win the neighborhood decorating contest. Between Tim and Al having a terrible time traveling and the fact that the house's brightness can be seen from the plane, there are some wonderful jokes in this episode!

7:34am, 3:34pm: Three's Company "Three's Christmas" (TVLand)
- Well, it's honestly a pretty typical plot for this show. The trio plans for a great Christmas party, but it doesn't work out, so they're happy going to the Ropers' place. But, then they get a last-minute invitation to a "better" party, and they have their continual problem of whether to honor their initial obligation or go to something that seems to be better. I think you know what happens. Especially in a Christmas episode...

9am: Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade (ABC)
- This isn't live like some parades are, but it's still pretty magical. Various music groups, marching bands, and Disney characters take part. This year, the Muppets and Jennifer Hudson will be in the parade (which was taped a few weeks ago), along with talent from Switched at Birth and Phineas and Ferb, among others.

12:44pm: The Jeffersons "Father Christmas" (TVLand)
- Tom and George don't want to go caroling with their wives, Florence, and the neighbors, so they stay home and decorate the tree together. Although they normally don't share much personal stuff with one another, the guys end up talking about their childhood Christmases.

9pm: Everybody Loves Raymond "The Christmas Picture" (TVLand)
- What do you do when you want to take a family picture but one grandmother doesn't want the other one in the photograph? Well, as you might imagine, that's what happens here. And, as you probably hypothesized, it's Marie who doesn't feel that Debra's parents are "family." It's not that original, and not even the funniest episode, but it's a little different.

December 16th Holiday Recommendations

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Day 4 already! Below are some of our recommendations for holiday programming to watch or DVR. This was a particularly difficult day to pick stuff for, as there is just a barrage of great choices! For a full listing, check out our Holiday Programming Schedule, but here are the highlights for Friday, December 16th! As always, times are Eastern and Pacific to the best of our knowledge (except when noted otherwise), but it's always good to double-check with your own provider.

6:30am (PT): Cabbage Patch Kids' First Christmas (Boomerang)
- This is a bit dated, since it clearly takes place when the Cabbage Patch Kids were popular. It's a cute story about six or seven of the kids going to "the city" (I assume Atlanta. I know that the "patch" is supposed to be in Georgia...) to find "the Christmas spirit." Well, they end up being chased by some pickpockets. Along the way they try to help a disabled orphan girl find a family. I won't give away the ending... but it's a children's special, so do the math.

12:30pm: The Jeffersons "The Christmas Wedding" (TVLand)
- This is one of my very favorite Jeffersons episodes. George and Tom are having a really rough time agreeing on things for Lionel & Jenny's wedding. So, Louise and Helen arrange for a surprise wedding, on Christmas Eve. It's incredibly romantic and very touching. Tune in.

6pm: Mickey's Christmas Special (ABCFamily)
- I can't even tell you how many times I've seen this. well over twenty, that's for sure! This trio of Christmas cartoons was near the top of the list for my brother and I growing up. You get a great Chip & Dale cartoon, then a funny Donald & Huey, Dewey, and Louie comedy fest, and finally a Donald, Chip, and Dale combined piece. They're all great, and Pluto in particular is hilarious.

8pm & 10pm: Christmas with the Kranks (FX)
- I'm not one of those people who falls in love with a "new" Christmas movie every year. In fact, I probably only have three or four "favorites" that have come out in the past ten years. This doesn't top the list, but it's there. Yes, regular readers know that I'm a big fan of Tim Allen, but set that aside if you need to. I like the story. I like the last-minute-changes-in-plans. I like the honey ham gag. And there's a touching moment where we see the true spirit of giving come alive. I get goosebumps just thinking about it, and it's a comedy!

8:30pm: Frasier "A Lilith Thanksgiving" (WE)
- Yes, I realize this is a Thanksgiving special. It doesn't matter. It's amazing. Positively hilarious. Even if you're not a Frasier person, you'll get a nice laugh out of this one. (fair warning: there are several "intellectual jokes" in there anyway.) This is one of those episodes that I keep on my DVR all the time, since it just brings me joy to watch. I even featured it in my first set of Thanksgiving recommendations a couple of years back.

FOX

9:30pm: The Simpsons "Holidays of Future Passed" (FOX)
- This is an encore presentation of this year's Christmas Simpsons episode. I really enjoyed it, and it's worth watching if you're a fan of the Simpson family. Even if you're not, it's got some good, old-fashioned family moments, and is a pretty neat look at the way things "could be" in thirty years.

Throwback: Sitcom Scandals

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I was flipping through the channels one day a couple months ago, and came across Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals on the Biography Channel. It was about Gilligan's Island and Diff'rent Strokes and I was intrigued. Of course, I knew a lot about some of the background stories about Dana Plato and Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges, but there were tons of interesting bits that were new to me.

I ended up setting my DVR to record the series. As I was watching the sixth episode (having deleted the fifth after just a few minutes, realizing that the entire hour would be about Lost In Space, a show that I don't care about), I decided to look up the series and figure out how many other episodes I could look forward to, and what other shows it might feature. Well, imagine my disappointment when I discovered that there were only six made... I was watching the final installment right then and there. So, I heard fascinating things about The Facts of Life, Welcome Back Kotter, Roseanne, Laverne & Shirley, Cheers, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Happy Days, and M*A*S*H, in addition to Diff'rent Strokes and Gilligan's Island. It was fun to hear the different actors talking about the ways that things went down and the issues that they dealt with earlier in their careers.

I would have enjoyed seeing more old shows covered. And it's not like there weren't any other shows that had issues. I'm not sure what happened to The Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals, but maybe another show can try something similar... after all, in the days of reality television being king, there is certainly a lot more shady stuff going on!

My List of the Top 10 Spin-Offs

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

First, an apology to those who got this post early. I upgraded some things last night and wasn't used to some new shortcuts when I began this post this morning. 

This is an area where I have a lot of interest. I'm not really sure where it started, but I've always been curious about spin-offs. The idea that certain characters from a main show become popular enough that they get their own storylines without a crutch is just cool. And, over the years, there have been tons and tons of spin-offs. And, as per my usual, I'm pretty sure that some of my selections will shock readers. I tend to like things that are a bit off, and tend to loathe things that others adore (you will notice that Animaniacs did not make my list, for instance).

10. A Different World, from The Cosby Show. I actually like this show quite a bit, and it did great. But it was created to be a vehicle for Denise Huxtable, who only lasted a single season on the show, which is why I gave it the #10 spot. In case you've never seen it, it's about college kids at (mostly black) fictional school Hillman, and the troubles they deal with.

9. The Simpsons, from The Tracy Ullman Show. This one fell low on the list because a lot of people don't know that The Simpsons is a spin-off. And, I must add that I've never seen The Tracy Ullman Show, aside from the clips of the original Simpsons family that have come up over the past twenty years. Still, the show about an overweight guy and his somewhat average family is certainly a household name! 

8. Quack Pack, from DuckTales. As a child who was in her early elementary years during the height of The Disney Afternoon, I loved DuckTales as much as anyone. And, while I was partial to Webby storylines, Huey, Dewey, and Louie were great characters. So, when I found Quack Pack in middle school, I was delighted to see the threesome appear as teenagers. Only 39 episodes exist, but I think that the essence of the characters continued from childhood into adolescence, making for a very believable show.    

7. Melrose Place, from Beverly Hills, 90210. I didn't know that Melrose Place was a spin-off when I began watching in 1996. It was one of the only shows that my mom ever watched in original run, so that was my draw to it. In fact, I didn't know it was a spin-off until I was in graduate school and working my way through 90210 for the first time. The connection took place in the second season, as Kelly was interested in a guy named Jake, who lived in the eponymous apartment complex. On the whole, Melrose Place was way too mature for a young teenager, but I watched the final few seasons anyway... though it didn't entice me enough to ever go back and catch up on the entire series!    

6. Joey, from Friends. Yes, it failed miserably. People couldn't stand it, and nobody understood why Joey didn't talk about his friends... plus, no guest appearances in 46 episodes! Now, if you're a long-time reader, you may remember that I had a love-hate relationship with Friends until I was almost done with college. I ended up seeing the entire series and enjoying it, and worked my way through Joey in less than a week. I found the show to be amusing, though it was full of issues as the writers struggled to find an audience.

5. All Grown Up, from Rugrats. Rugrats was such a captivating show, as I believe that I have mentioned a few times. It's one show that I can say both of my siblings and I enjoyed together (which was a problem when we got the Playstation game - it was only 1 player!). All Grown Up ran for 55 episodes, and featured the kids aged ten years from the original show. This is another case where I think that the characters were very believable - the traits and personalities really matched what you might think the kids would grow up into. The show didn't really end with any closure, but was a good addition to the Rugrats franchise.

4. The Jeffersons, from All in the Family. A true classic spun from another well-loved show. The Jeffersons is downright hilarious, and my brother and I have many great memories of watching it together on Nick at Nite. Although George wasn't on All in the Family until it had been on a while (Sherman Hemsley was on Broadway at the time), his family was an interesting dynamic on the show, which took place in working-class Queens. The family later moved to a luxury high-rise in Manhattan, during one of the greatest lead-ins in television history - one week you move from the characters on one show, the next you move into a new place on a new show!

3. Daria, from Beavis & Butthead. I LOVED Daria. I thought that it was such a good, funny, clever show. Daria was a recurring character on Beavis & Butthead, a show which I am proud to say I've never seen. But, for a recurring character to go on to have a five-season success and two tv-movies says something. Daria's witty and pessimistic outlook on life amused me to no end, and I just thought that Quinn was the cutest thing ever. I've been waiting for the complete series to go on sale again, because I really must have it!

2. Family Matters, from Perfect Strangers. I loved Perfect Strangers when it ran originally.  I wasn't allowed to watch a lot of night-time television, but I vaguely remember catching it my grandparents' house or something a few times. I can't say that I remembered Harriet Winslow from that show, and therefore wasn't aware that Family Matters was a spin-off when it began (which I did watch by the third season or so). One might argue that Family Matters was far more popular (and much longer-running) than Perfect Strangers, though they were both very different shows. Harriet's character was clearly the same as it was in Perfect Strangers, and Family Matters became a memorable sitcom across the country.

1. Frasier, from Cheers. One of my favorite shows since I began watching it, Frasier is a very long-running show spun from a long-running show. I've seen several dozen episodes of Cheers, and the overall feel of the show is vastly different from that of Frasier. And, although some people gripe about how different Frasier's character is between the two shows, I think that it was addressed throughout Frasier, and the Cheers characters still got along with Frasier for the most part. The storylines in Frasier were also very different (and many ran much longer) from those in Cheers, but both shows' successes certainly define the greatness that Kelsey Grammer embodied.

To end this post, I though I might point out to one of the craziest chains of spin-offs that I've ever come across... Sabrina's Secret Life was a spin-off of Sabrina, the Animated Series, which was a spin-off of the 1996 version of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch which was a spin-off of Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies which was a spin-off of The Archie Comedy Hour which was a sequel to The Archie Show. ...yeah.

Favorite Christmas Episodes, Part II

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Seinfeld: ''The Strike.'' (1993) It might as well be titled "Festivus" as that's what everyone remembers this one as. Elaine is busy trying to get a frequent-buyer sub card back from a guy she gave a fake number to. George is trying to hide the fact that his family celebrates a unique winter holiday, and Kramer takes an avid interest in bringing back Festivus. Kramer's bagel union stops striking after twelve years so Kramer goes back to work. PLUS, George gets out of spending money on office Christmas gifts by making donations to a fake charity... which works out until the boss wants to donate, too! oh, and Jerry's dating a girl who has a beautiful side and an ugly side. The included clip shows the Festivus celebration among other things.


Family Guy: ''A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas.'' (2001) This episode looks a lot earlier on than it was. Lois is completely in the Christmas spirit, but Peter isn't, really. She eventually gets him to do some of the Christmas chores, but he goes overboard and messes things up. Meanwhile, there's a funny sidestory about KISS saving Santa. Stewie tries to figure out how Santa can watch all of the children in the whole world at once. To make things worse, Brian burns down the living room and kitchen. Lois eventually goes crazy and the family is left at a loss... which leaves Peter to fix everything and he actually manages to. I believe the whole episode is embedded below. [originally I embedded the scene where Peter is trying to park the car, but the video has since been removed.]

Boy Meets World: "Family Trees." It's hard to tell this is a Christmas episode, but there is a Santa and wreaths and things at one point. Shawn finds out Verna wasn't his mom, and that sets him off in a world of lost. He tries hard to find other family members online. It's Alan's birthday and the family is trying to plan a surprise party. In the end, Alan offers to adopt Shawn formally.


Step by Step: "Christmas Story." (1993) Cody decorates his van and the yard, using Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, and Alex Trebek as the wisemen, haha. Don Knotts plays a policeman when Frank and Carol are out at the toy store in the wee hours of Christmas morning. While the second half has some funny lines, the first half is more all-encompassing.


The Jeffersons: "The Christmas Wedding." (1976) Lionel and Jenny are having all kinds of problems planning their wedding... no thanks to their feuding fathers. So, Louise and Helen stage a wedding rehearsal in the living room... only it's the real thing!

Moving On Up...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

The Jeffersons. I'm too young to have watched it in original run (since I wasn't even a toddler when it went off the air), but I doubt my mom would have let me anyway. But, it ran on Nick at Nite for years (it still runs on daytime television), and my brother and I got quite attached to the show. We even made up a dance of sorts for the opening theme (which I had the urge to do every time they showed Shark Tale at summer camp).

I had always thought the show only ran like six years or so, until I was in undergrad and started buying my brother seasons of the show as gifts. I think we're up to Season 6 now (feel free to correct me if you're reading, J). Turns out there were eleven seasons of the show, which had just a few characters and sets. And, considering it was a spin-off from All in the Family. It's also the longest-running comedy in history focused on an African-American family. As with Archie Bunker, this show also has a great deal of racial jokes, with George frequently poking fun at the Willis family, calling their children 'zebras.'

George Jefferson, Louise (affectionately called Weezy by George), their son Lionel, their maid Florence, and George's mother are half of the cast. It's rounded out by neighbors Mr. Bentley (a Brit) Tom and Helen Willis (interracial couple), and their children Allan and Jenny (who married Lionel. Mother Jefferson was only on the first two seasons (then died of a heart attack) and Mr. Bentley was written off the show after season seven, only to return in season ten.

Florence did try for her own spin-off (Checking In) after the seventh season, but it lasted only four episodes before she returned to The Jeffersons. In an interesting twist, the main characters appear in the series finale of Fresh Prince and buy the Banks' mansion in Bel Air.

There seemed to have been a great deal of controversy on the later years, and the show was canceled abruptly, without a finale or letting the cast know in advance ("George" found out from the paper, and "Louise" found out from a relative who called after reading a magazine!). Sherman Hemsley was hand-picked to play George, and did not appear in the first two years of the Jefferson Family's episodes in All in the Family as he was in the Broadway show Purlie during that time. Also interesting, the characters of Tom, Helen, and Jenny were recast between All in the Family and The Jeffersons. George often calls Tom "honky" in the early years, but at Hemsley's request, the writers eventually stopped using the word. Tom and Helen's kiss (he's white and she's black) was lobbied to be edited out, but an executive producer fought to keep it in, and won. There were also layout problems when you consider the Jefferson and Bentley apartments. Jenny and Allan have a number of moments, mostly because Allan can pass as white, while Jenny will always be seen as biracial. Lionel and Jenny were married for nine years before a divorce, partly because of differences of opinion in raising their daughter Jessica (who has a show-stopping episode when she runs away to the George and Louise's apartment and then tears up a drawing). Final troubling thing... in eleven years, The Jeffersons had fifteen different time slots, and were all over the ratings boards, up and down quite often.

Throughout the show there are flashbacks telling of George's humble beginnings and an alarming number of hostage-type situations or burglaries. George was a navy man who runs a bunch of dry cleaning stores, Lionel is an electrical engineer, Jenny is a fashion designer, and Mr. Bentley was a Russian translator at the UN. Tom and George often hang out at Charlie's Bar, and buy it together in the final season.

The actress who played Louise was actually 21 years older than the actor who played George, and she passed away in 2004, which is probably why the couple hasn't done a Denny's commercial since 2001, LoL. There are actually only a few surviving actors at this point, but you can catch Sherman Hemsley on all the time (even his voice in shows like Family Guy and the 90s Dinosaurs show).

As with many shows these days, good clips are getting harder and harder to find, since youtube is getting scavenged by the powers that be. Luckily, the theme song will always be there (and you can tell it's very early, since Mother Jefferson is credited).