Fun Friday: "Let It Go," 80s-TV Style

Sometimes I wonder who has time on their hands to find clips and edit them into such things, but then I remember the kinds of things I did when I was 14-15. Granted, the internet was much younger then, but I spent hours upon hours building fan pages for Gummi Bears, Labyrinth, and other popular culture topics I can't even remember anymore. Of course, this was all on one of those AOL Hometown pages that bit the dust back in 2008, but, alongside SimTower, it was what I did for fun, backed up on 3.5" disks.

Digression aside, Jim Cliff has posted a video on YouTube with 60+ clips of 80s television shows spliced together to make out the lyrics to Frozen's "Let it Go." (a song which will, apparently, never actually go away.) It's done pretty well, and I laughed at multiple points, so thought you might get a kick out of it, too.
I'm not going to list all of the series I noticed, but keep an eye out for some greatness like Three's Company, Saved by the Bell, Cheers, ALF, Perfect Strangers, the original Beauty and the Beast, Knight Rider, Who's the Boss, The Cosby Show, The Wonder Years, DuckTales, M*A*S*H, Roseanne, and Dallas. Do you have favorite parts in this mash-up?

The Goldbergs: Relationships

The past two episodes (and the entire series, really) have really focused on the relationships within the Goldberg family. When the comedy is named for them, it makes sense, though it certainly takes some of the intrigue out of the show. It is becoming clear how the characters interact with one another, who favors whom, and where the bonds are. I was hoping that the City of Brotherly Love setting would help out the series in my eyes, butI think I'm still looking for more than is there. My biggest issue with the series is how random Barry is! If he was into something different every season or half-season, I'd buy it. Being obsessed with 1 or 2 new things every episode... notsomuch. Driving, rapping, roller skating, and now basketball and ALF? Maybe it would help if we saw other characters besides the family... Kevin had friends on The Wonder Years, for starters!

The Goldbergs "Mini Murray" (S01E03): October 5th. [is Adam Goldberg choosing these dates based on the timestamps on his videos?] Barry, like other Philadelphia kids in the 80s, idolized the Sixers, and wants a $175 pair of sneakers so he can be a basketball superstar, which is his dream. [haha.] Murray suggests that Barry work for the shoes, and soon shows him around the store, Ottoman Empire, a furniture store. [didn't the dad on The Wonder Years also work in a furniture store?] Murray sells while Barry sweeps, and when he only makes $33.27 after taxes, he wants to be a salesman instead, for the commission. Murray turns him down, but Barry soon proves himself to work an angle, making a sale on a salmon loveseat that has sat in the showroom for five years! [wouldn't it be faded?] However, he soon starts taking after his father in other ways, so Murray fires him in front of customers. [that was quite the scene!] Murray admits to Beverly that he just wants more for his son than peddling furniture, so he buys him the Pumps to follow his basketball dream. [seriously?? and Pops not getting that the video was heavily edited was amusing.]

ABC/Michael Ansell

Adam wants to see Poltergeist, which is in re-release, but his mother believes it is too scary and would prefer that he see The Great Mouse Detective (released in July 1986, by the way...). Adam tricks Pops into seeing Poltergiest with him, and both are terrified. That night, Adam is so scared that he fakes illness so he can sleep in his parents' bed. [ha!] In the morning, Beverly finds the ticket stub in her son's jacket and decides to use it to her advantage, as she wants more snuggles. [how conniving!] He fakes another stomachache, and back in her bed he goes! Soon enough, Adam asks his grandfather to come over, and he passes on a watch to help Adam be brave. [really?] Pops figures out that Beverly is behind it all, and the mother-son duo bargain their hugs. [completely unbelievable, even if we've seen it on television a dozen times before.]

The Goldbergs "Why're You Hitting Yourself?" (S01E04): It's October 12th, and Erica and Adam watch General Hospital after school. Adam really only watches to avoid Barry's teasing, but the brothers begin to get along when they accidentally stumble upon a scrambled "naughty channel" when fighting over the cable box. After a few days, they're not fully enjoying it, so Barry convinces Adam to climb onto the roof and try jamming some tweezers into the cable receiver so they can actually get the channels. [I wonder if that was a thing...?] Adam falls off the roof, the guys confess to Erica, and when Barry blames Adam, he slugs the older brother. Barry intends to hit him back, but can't bring himself to do it. [so random!]

The adults aren't around for this because Beverly, a master matchmaker, has been working hard at setting up Pops, who generally prefers to see multiple women each week rather than be in a solid relationship. [Pops' wife has been dead ten years.] He has a lot of requirements in his ideal woman, but Beverly finds someone within a week, and arranges a double-date. However, Pops stand them up and heads to a jazz club. [how does he get around without driving?] Beverly goes to the club to find him, but he just doesn't want to meet Sophia. He later admits that his deceased wife was one-of-a-kind, but he does wind up being interested in the woman Beverly chose for him. [I actually found that quite annoying.] The episode ends with Barry telling his mom what he wants in a woman... and describing someone just like her. [that was pretty funny.]

NEW SHOW: The Goldbergs: Life Lessons and Driving

The opening made me smile as I reminisced about some great 80s references. The rest of the episode, however, had me spending more time grimacing than giggling. The characters seem real enough, if a little over-the-top 80s, but they just were not very interesting. However, one installment of a series is not enough to truly judge characters, so hopefully their interests will become more intriguing in the near future. The clips at the end comparing the characters to the true Goldbergs was amusing, though. Unfortunately, this was over-balanced by the annoying captions that explained what Murray really meant as he yelled at his family... I could certainly do without that!

The Goldbergs "Circle of Driving" (S01E01): It's September 3rd, and it's obvious right away that the Goldbergs are a family that argues a lot. [I guess school is just about to start for the year?] The economic status of the family is immediately questioned when Adam has to wear his sister's old jeans, and it's Grandpa who presents Barry with an old Cadillac for his birthday. [a locket?? seriously?!?] Beverly claims that Barry is not ready to drive yet, but Grandpa is convinced that he can sway Beverly... right up until he has a major accident and has to admit that he may not be able to handle driving anymore. [ugh. we had this episode on The Wonder Years, but the youngest got the car, rather than the older sister.]

Even if Grandpa can't take Adam to the diner anymore to impart wisdom (under the guise of water aerobics), he still wants to teach his grandson about life, and that just means they trade flirting with Zoe at the diner for a new girl at Hooters. [Beverly mortified ME when she showed up at the diner and ruined Adam's Alan's chances with Zoe! that was unreal!]

There's still hope that Murray will give Barry the right to drive, but when they're out on a lesson, they get into a fight so big that neither refuses to budge and the car has to be towed! [okay, now this really HAS to be fake, right??]

ABC/Eric McCandless

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!

Top 10 Television Democrats

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

With the 2012 Presidential Election upon us, I thought that it would be cool to take a look at some openly political television characters. Today we'll look at Democrats and tomorrow we'll look at Republicans. No special reason that we're doing one before the other.

all images pulled from wikis, except Family Ties from IMDB

10. Joe Quimby, The Simpsons. Mayor Quimby is largely portrayed as an animated collage of political Kennedys, with an accent, a passion for womanizing, and uses money to solve as much as possible.

9. Grace Adler, Will & Grace. She wastes no time in declaring her political affiliation - in the fifth episode, "Boo! Humbug," she says, "I'm a Democrat" when she has to take Harlin's children trick-or-treating and one is dressed as Richard Nixon!

8. Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan, Friends. Though the show never gets very political, it would be difficult to peg Phoebe as conservative! She's a vegetarian, respects the environment, loves all animals (even smelly cats and rat babies!), donates to the homeless, and is really a free spirit in many ways. She's a lover of peace, not a big fan of Western medicine, doesn't like mass-manufactured products, and generally doesn't worry about how others see her. One very liberal thing she does is after she gets married she legally changes her name to Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock for an episode! 

7. Hawkeye Pierce, M*A*S*H. Hawkeye was drafted and opposes the war, often disagreeing with everything the army stands for and disregarding their policies. In "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde," he sends a telegram to President Truman, asking "Who's Responsible?" for the insanity taking place. Many seasons later, in "Give 'Em Hell, Hawkeye," he writes a letter to Truman, begging for him to stop the Korean war. He explains how dire the situation is and that the peace talks need to take place.

6. Christine Campbell, The New Adventures of Old Christine. For someone who is hardly motivated about anything, Christine founded her college's Democrats group. She doesn't talk about her political beliefs specifically all that much, though in the early season 4 episode "White Like Me," she does point out to Richard that she's a Democrat (and also says that's why she won't take alimony). She also drives a Prius, liberally drinks wine, and marries a woman for a short period of time, if you want to further stereotype a character who thoroughly stereotypes throughout the series.

5. Winnie Cooper, The Wonder Years. Winnie genuinely cares about stopping the war, as it took away her brother far too early. So, she works for the McGovern campaign in 1972 ("Politics as Usual" in season six), and is genuinely sad that there are folks who won't take a leaflet about a guy who wants to end war, poverty, and pollution. She is swept up in wanting to see change in the world, and even meets the Senator, who loses by a landslide. The local head honcho, Mike, depresses Winnie further when he says that McGovern never stood a chance, and Kevin says their political views were forever changed that night. 

4. Dorothy Zbornak, The Golden Girls. Though she never comes out and says it, Dorothy is implied to be a Democrat - she supported both Mondale and Dukakis and planned to "tell off" George H. W. Bush about the educational system's flaws. Dorothy also believes in female independence and allowing immigrants to stay in the country as long as they're productive members of society.

3. Rory & Lorelai Gilmore, Gilmore Girls. In "Dear Emily and Richard," Lorelai thinks back to being pregnant with Rory, when she planned to register as a Democrat because it's so far from her parents' ideals. Multiple times throughout the series, Rory and Lorelai talk about their liberal thinking, solidified toward the end of the series as Rory goes to work as a reporter on Obama's campaign. 

2. Brian Griffin, Family Guy. A supporter of Dennis Kucinich, this dog is anti-religion, hates George W. Bush, served in the Peace Corps, believes that marijuana should be legalized, and supports gay marriage. He considers himself an intellectual (attended Brown University and all) who thinks global warming is man-made, yet he drives a Prius. Surprisingly, he did vote for John McCain.

1. Steven & Elyse Keaton on Family Ties. This show depended on the liberalism of the Keaton parents being contrasted with the conservatism of their children (except maybe Jennifer). They married young, joined the Peace Corps, had their first child, THEN went to college at Berkeley, when they had their second child. They often speak of protesting, Elyse is a hardcore, independent feminist, and Steven works in public television. Imagine his cries as Mitt Romney tries to assassinate Big Bird!


Honorable Mentions include Brian and Joe Hackett from Wings, Mary Richards from Mary Tyler Moore, Lindsey Weir from Freaks and Geeks, Eric Camden from 7th Heaven, and Shirley Feeney from Laverne & Shirley. Am I missing anyone?

December 21st Holiday Recommendations

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

If you don't want to sift through our entire holiday schedule,we're still doing daily recommendations through Christmas! Below are some ideas for Wednesday, December 21st. 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.



5pm: The Polar Express (ABCFamily)
- Confession: I've never seen this movie. I own it. I bought it probably six years ago. My husband loved the story when he was a kid, and the previews looked great. For the past four or five years, we've sat down and said "we've got to watch this movie this Christmas!" and it hasn't happened. This year we even set aside time to do it, but we didn't think about interfering factors and ended up not having time once again. But, I hear it's great. Like, really, really wonderful. So, just because I can't get it in, doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a whirl!

6pm (PT): The Wonder Years "Let Nothing You Dismay" (HUB)
- Winnie unexpectedly gets Kevin a gift, and he assumes that it's expensive. So, he struggled to come up with something just as nice, though he doesn't really have the money. Puppy love aside, Jack has struggles of his own when his business partner wants out, hoping to return to the company that made Jack so miserable for all those years.
7pm: Prep & Landing (ABCFamily)
- Don't be jealous. That's the moral of this story. But it is told in such a cute way that you wouldn't know it unless you thought about it. Just because you've been doing the same job for 200+ years and you're looked over for a promotion doesn't mean you should slack off. Train the new guy and help make the entire operation better! That's what Wayne learns here.

7:30pm: Prep & Landing: Naughty or Nice (ABCFamily)
- This is this year's newest installment to the Prep & Landing shorts, so if you haven't caught it yet (it's run a couple of times, including the original broadcast on December 5th), here's your chance! If the superb animation wasn't a tip-off, this short definitely defines itself from the early Christmas classics because it features a hacker. Cooperation is key in this special, and the end result is that it can win you big things!

8pm: The Santa Clause (ABCFamily)
- If you haven't watched this movie yet this holiday season, make the time to do so. Maybe it's because I was in middle school when this movie was popular, but it became one of my favorites quickly, and it's a must-see each year for me. Tim Allen as Santa Claus, with a wonderful story, brilliant art direction, and some memorable moments.

December 15th Holiday Recommendations

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Welcome to our third set of recommendations for our 12 Days of Christmas programming! Again, for a full listing, check out our Holiday Programming Schedule, but here are the highlights for Thursday, December 15th! 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.

5am & 4pm (PT): A Flintstones Christmas Carol (Boomerang)
- Fred Flintstone has portrayed many personalities through the years, and his role as Scrooge is one of the better ones. (he's both playing Scrooge in a community theatre show AND being a Scrooge.) It's a bit different from the earlier Flintstones Christmas specials (this one was made in the 90s), but it really is heart-wrenching when you see Wilma get upset at Fred and he realizes that it's more than just acting. (she "fills in" for ill actresses.)

6:30am & 5:30pm (PT): Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper (Boomerang)
- This one I've got set to record because it sounds good, though I've never seen it. However, the other Yogi Christmas Special is one of my all-time favorites, so I've got my hopes up on this one. The idea is that Yogi and BooBoo escape Jellystone and wind up in the city. Yogi dresses as Santa to blend in, and he ends up showing a little girl the true spirit of Christmas.

6pm (PT): The Wonder Years "Christmas" (HUB)
- This is an early episode in The Wonder Years, and, as you might imagine, partially centers around Kevin searching for the perfect gift for Winnie. Well, it starts with her unexpectedly getting him a present, and it just starts snowballing from there. The other big part to the episode is Wayne and Kevin hinting at and pestering their father for a color television. Well, Kevin manages to screw things up a bit with Winnie, and the family doesn't upgrade their entertainment center, but it's a good, nostalgic program.

8pm: Charlie Brown Christmas (ABC)
- It's a shame that the majority of airings for this special are heavily edited. However, it's still a wonderful special that really puts me in the holiday spirit. I'm not sure if it's Linus' speech or Charlie Brown's open-minded and childlike innocence, but it's just beautiful. The scheduling actually looks like this will be the one airing of this special this year that is full-length, so if you want to give it a try, now's the time!

10 Favorite Best Friendships

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Last Wednesday I was in Florida, having spent just about a week with various friends. The night before I left I had dinner with my two best friends and then we played Phase 10, our mutually favorite game. So, in honor of friendships, today we look at ten great pairs of best friends.

Now, before you look at this list, you kinda have to know that a) I specifically left out trios & ensembles, like Danny-Jesse-Joey on Full House, the six on Friends, the four on Seinfeld, the six/five on Saved by the Bell, the five on How I Met Your Mother, etc. b) there are some famous duos I've never seen, so I can't comment. This includes groups like Laverne & Shirley. c) I also left out shows that only focus on two individuals, like Square Pegs. And d) I didn't consider people who are work-friends only, since we rarely see them in a social setting.

I also struggled to find female-female best friends... and I'm not sure why. I came up with four or five female ensembles, but no one-on-one best friendships of note. Anyone think of any? I'm sure I'm just drawing a blank here, right??

10. Larry Appleton & Balki Bartokomous (Perfect Strangers) These two guys are thrown together by chance, really. Larry isn't thrilled with what's about to transpire, but he powers through and the two end up having a lot of fun over the run of the show. Balki's positive thinking and natural ability to find mischief keeps this pair on their toes. Sometimes you have to wonder what's keeping them together, but they are sure one hilarious pair to watch interact with each other and others!


9. Kevin Arnold & Paul Pfeiffer (The Wonder Years) Being a teenager is tough, and it's important to have a good best friend, especially one with whom you can learn about sex, deal with the woes of studying, rely on when times are tough, and turn to when all hope is lost. Kevin & Paul really go through the whole "coming of age" thing together, and although it's clear early on that their lives are destined for different paths, their friendship is always there. And, while we all know that girls tend to come between buddies as they get older, these two manage to get past the few such occurrences that happen in their lives.

8. Philip J. Fry & Bender (Futurama) Time, space, and species no longer matter in this one-of-a-kind friendship. Fry has a difficult time fitting in when he's fast-forwarded 1,000 years, and so his fellowship with robot Bender seems to come natural. Not to mention the fact that they met in a suicide booth, LoL. Neither of them are particularly bright, and both enjoy a good time causing mischief, so their pairing off fits the show well, and allows for a great number of storylines where their close-knit relationship is apparent but not overwhelming.

7. Hawkeye Pierce & BJ Honeycutt (M*A*S*H) If ever there was a pair who had more fun together trying to make the best of a bad situation, let me know! These two goons are absolutely hilarious together, and are always there for one another around camp. The tricks that they come up with to play on their fellow doctors and nurses are clever, and their banter in any given situation is comical. They may very well be the funniest duo on this list! Thank goodness for their sense of humor, because otherwise the war would have been much less exciting for the 4077th!

6. Michael Westen & Sam Axe (Burn Notice) Sam used to snitch on Michael... and not like you tell the teacher on a copycat. Sam was an informant for the FBI, haha. But, that was a long time ago and Michael is now a free agent, so he and Sam are free to be the best of buds. This is handy, since they can't seem to pull off their antics by themselves, really. The fact that they think fast on their feet is probably the biggest asset to their friendship, as one generally needs to bail out the other at a moment's notice... sometimes even less.

5. Gregory House & James Wilson (House, MD) For most of the series, it's not really known how many other friends these two have besides one another. The friendship is kinda one-sided, in that House mooches off of Wilson in every way one can think of, but Wilson takes it and is generous towards House. Wilson does do nice things for him, even if they're kinda out there... like drugging and kidnapping House to bring him to his father's funeral, LoL. All in a day's work for these doctors.


4. Will Truman & Grace Adler (Will & Grace) These two are just so good together, and have been from the get-go. They need each other to stay sane at times, but have proved that they can also function independently. They are probably the most similar in personality on this list, since they have a lot of common dislikes and hobbies, and are on the perfect wavelength to be one another's partner in games like Tribond (which is good, given hoe competitive Grace can be!). They do things for one another, large and small, time and time again, and it just warms my heart with how much consideration and compassion they have for each other. The fact that they seem to fall out of touch in the look-into-the-future at the end of the series just broke my heart.

3. Kimmy Gibbler & DJ Tanner (Full House) I learned a lot about friendship by watching Kimmy and DJ. There's always a prettier friend, there's always a smarter friend, and there's always a sluttier friend. While it's more often DJ putting her neck on the line for Kimmy than vice versa, their friendship stands out for the realism of it all. Kimmy changes a grade for DJ here, DJ helps Kimmy study for a Spanish test there, etc. Although, DJ does things with Kimmy for at least three of her birthdays on the show, whereas DJ really only has one major birthday on the show, and I always found that to be a bit weird. But, running off to Reno at a moment's notice to stop your best friend from marrying the wrong guy is probably one of the crowning friendship moments for this pair.

2. Tommy Pickles & Chuckie Finster (Rugrats) The adventures that these tiny tots get into are often remarkable, especially considering how fortunate they are that no adult is ever paying attention to them when the chaos is about to start or already in progress. Tommy and Chuckie would never turn their backs on one another, despite Chuckie often being portrayed as the coward of the group. They share everything, there's no adventure too treacherous, and we know that they remain best friends when they are pre-teens (All Growed Up).

1. Cory Matthews & Shawn Hunter (Boy Meets World) These two are the epitome of best friends. From middle school through high school to college, from one relationship to another to one's wedding and the other's constant family issues, no two friends can be closer than Cory and Shawn. I laughed with them, I cried with them, my heart was touched as they stumbled through some of life's biggest moments together. Shawn's continuous search for love and acceptance (through friends, girlfriends, parental figures, the cult...) is always aided by Cory's everlasting dependability, and Cory's always wanting to live more wildly and unpredictably is covered by Shawn's creative and devious nature.

Who's left out? I left out Tucker & Becca on (the old) Flash Forward, since you could argue that they don't do a lot for one another on a regular basis, and both had other "best friends," too.