Throwback Thursday For August 7, 2014

In the 1950′s, the popular TV game show What’s My Line? cemented America’s relationship with celebrity culture.  It ran for 17 years on the same network with no repeat broadcasts.  The premise of the show was simple.  In each episode, a contestant would appear in front of a panel of blindfolded culture pundits—a regular lineup of columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, actress Arlene Francis, Random House founder Bennett Cerf, and a fourth guest panelist—who would try to determine their line of work or, in the case of famous “mystery guests,” the person’s identity, by asking exactly ten questions. A contestant won if he or she presented the panel with 10 “no” answers.

Over the 17-year run of the show, nearly every iconic cultural luminary of the era, from presidents to pop stars, appeared as a mystery guest. 

Throwback Thursday For July 31, 2014

“House Party” ran five days a week on radio from 1945 to 1967 and on television from 1952 to 1969.  The highlight of the show was a segment in which five children between the ages of 5 and 10 sat down to be interviewed by Art Linkletter.

One boy told Linkletter that his father was a policeman who arrested lots of burglars.  Linkletter asked if his mother ever worried about the risks. “Naw, she thinks it’s great.  He brings home rings and bracelets and jewelry almost every week.”

Linkletter once asked a child, “Did you see Santa this year?”  The child answered, “See him?  I fixed him a bourbon and water.”

Linkletter’s obit in The New York Times noted that his interviews with the children who would “say the darndest things” made their parents wish television had never been invented.

Throwback Thursday For July 24, 2014

Blogger friend Woodsterman gave me the idea for today’s Throwback Thursday.  His blog post entitled “When Comedy Was Funny” brought back some happy memories.

The best version of the show, I think, ran from 1966 through 1981 when Peter Marshall was the show’s host.  NBC, which earned the rights to the show after its pilot in 1965 also aired a nighttime version that could be seen on Friday nights at 9:30 PM.

Some of the best comedians of the time were regulars like Cliff Arquette (Charley Weaver), Rich Little, Rose Marie, Nanette Fabray, Wally Cox, Morey Amsterdam, Buddy Hackett, Marty Allen, George Gobel, Jonathan Winters and Paul Lynde.

Lynde appeared on 707 episodes and became famous for his outrageous jokes.

The video below contains some of Lynde’s best jokes.  Have a laugh or two.  We need it these days.

Throwback Thursday

Everybody seems obsessed with #TBT, the weekly reminiscent photo movement.  I’ve decided to take the plunge with my own blast from the past.  This is a picture of moi, circa 1956, before I became a curmudgeonly old poop.

I loved ponies.  My Dad used to regale me with stories of when I was a toddler and every Sunday he and Mom would take me to a place not far from our home that had pony rides.  He’d buy a ton of tickets so I could ride for hours and when it was time to go home I’d wail at the top of my lungs to stay and ride some more.  I don’t remember that at all, but I don’t doubt that it happened. 

As a young girl, my room had dozens of horse figurines on shelves decorating the walls because I was always fascinated with their beauty and the freedom one feels astride the magnificent creature.  To feel the wind in your hair as the countryside passes you by is to experience something wonderful.  In riding a horse, we borrow freedom.

I always wanted a horse.

I think I will celebrate my first day of retirement by finding a stable and going for a ride to truly feel free.

“The horse, with beauty unsurpassed, strength immeasurable and grace unlike any other, still remains humble enough to carry a man upon his back.”—Amber Senti