Did you remember that there was a Punky Brewster cartoon as well? I’d forgotten about that. It appears that Frye was the voice for Punky there, too.
That intro makes me pine for the good old days of TV dinners in the aluminum tin. What can I say? I’m weird, I liked those. Plastic from the microwave just isn’t the same. :)
I usually don’t catch Medium, for some reason I always forget when it’s on. It’s a pretty good show, but my main motivation for watching it is so that I know what the heck’s going on when I head over to read Sheila’s b5 blog, Medium Dreams, which is about the show. She cracks me up, and it’s a good reason to check her out over there. And I did happen to catch it tonight. :)
What the heck does this have to do with The 80’s Club, you ask? Well, this episode featured one of my favorite 80’s moody/confused/frustrated/angst-filled teens, Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Alan Ruck was perfect in the role of Cameron, I thought, and cracked me up in Spin City. The promo for next week’s Medium showed a clip with Eric Stoltz. He did star in one of my favorite 80s movies of all time. I take it he’s been a visitor to Patricia Arquette before?
If they keep throwing all my favorite 80’s movies stars in the show I may just become a regular!
I don’t often watch The Today Show anymore, my mornings these days are filled with cartoons on PBS or homeschooling. The other morning, though, I was able to catch a few minutes of the show and caught John Mellencamp performing songs from his recent album, Freedom’s Road. You can watch the YouTube video below to see and hear Mellencamp chatting with Today Show host, Matt Lauer.
I think the bit that stole the hour, though, was the cameraman’s capture of Richard Simmons working out while watching Mellencamp perform. You’ve gotta watch it just to check out the glittery tank and the striped shorts, so very 80’s. I can’t say too much, though, the man does have better legs than me. Simmons was there to promote his upcoming hearing to try to get more mandatory Phys.Ed. in the schools as an attachment to the No Child Left Behind Act. The fact that he adjusted himself while they were taping kinda stole the show, but I think it’s no more scandalous than what you’d experience sitting around with guys watching the big game, ya know?
You can check out that video below…
If you just can’t get enough of John Mellencamp, click on over to his site and you can listen to AM (all Mellencamp) streaming radio. Enjoy.
Several of us in my family are down with a nasty virus right now, and Jell-o would be a welcome item on the menu! Can you think of Jell-o and not think of Bill Cosby? I know, I know, I think he was more about Jell-o Pudding than the gelatin, but that’s the best connection I can make for you today.
This commercial makes me think of my dad. He was a big fan of both Jell-o Pudding and Bill Cosby. And it was always a special treat if you caught him grabbing a Jell-o Pudding Pop, because then you got one, too!
Why Roseanne this week, you ask? No other reason than that the Chicago Bears are in the Super Bowl, and that Roseanne was set near Chicago in Illinois. (I thought Lanford was supposed to be near Chicago, but over at Wikipedia, you find that the actualy location of Lanford varied depending on which episode you were watching. Wikipedia also goes into the whole Becky switch thing that went on. That bugged me.) That’s it. Nothing more. :)
Roseanne entered the sitcom arena with a bang, at least in our house. We watched this show together and laughed every week. By the end of it’s run, though, it just seemed to have overstayed it’s welcome. However, in reruns it can still get a good chuckle out of me. That’s never a bad thing, right?
Without further ado, the theme to Roseanne. I do actually really like their theme song. And please, please, please, if you ever catch me sporting the ‘do on Jackie (Laurie Metcalf, who was born in Illinois and attended ISU with Joan Allen, Gary Sinise, and John Malokovich. Weird.) here, tie me down and shave my head.
“Wait a minute…what are you all doing here? And why do you have clippers? AAAAAHHHHH…………….”
I was a bit young when Family started, but do remember McNichol on the show, and just thinking that she was the coolest girl ever! She had that shiny, straight hair that I so desperately wanted, and really I don’t remember a ton more about her. I am curious as to why she’s the only one smiling in this photo. Was there something I don’t remember from the plot of the show that she was the only one allowed to show cheer?
I was so excited when she started on Empty Nest (also starring Richard Mulligan and Dinah Manoff). As it turns out, her character (Barbara Weston) seemed a little less cool, and was constantly fighting with her sister. I did like the show, but sisters fighting was an experience I could get on my own everyday.
Anyway, varioussites report that McNichol is now intentionally living her life out of the spotlight, in part to keep herself healthy. I can’t imagine it’s all that easy, having once been a superstar and idol for so many, but I do wish her the best, and say “Thanks for sharing that part of your life with us!”
It’s been fun to see him back on TV recently in episodes of The New Adventures of Old Christine as the object of a huge crush of Christine’s (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the oldermore mature older Christine. And then, in the same week (maybe it was the same night?) that he was very worthily playing the object of said crush, he shows up on an epidsode of Law and Order: SVU in what ended up being a very creepy and disturbing ending for his character.
Okay, so I’m gonna go ahead and make a Thursday Theme out of this whole theme song thing. Hmmmm…that was a lot of “th’s” in that sentence. Odd.
Anyway, we both know that you could look these up yourself, but we also both know that you won’t. I will, because it’s my job. (heehee, this is my job. That still floors me.) And besides, if you were to look these up, you’d actually have to remember all of these often ridiculous shows. Unlike me, I’m sure you’ve relieved your poor little brain cells from requiring to retain all of this inane information, and allowed them to move on to bigger and better things, like quantum physics and, um, other smart stuff.
But no, not me. I’ve made my brain cells suffer with the preservation of loads and loads of useless facts and memories. (Surely you believe me. Were I not speaking truth here, I could’ve come up with a much better phrase than, “loads and loads.” Must be all the pottytraining that has that stuck in my head.)
Okay, so, I’ll get on with it. Small Wonder. Was that the oddest show ever? What was the premise of having the robot girl in the house anyway? I’m sure Wikipedia knows. Let’s go find out:
Small Wonder (1985–1989) was a low-budget half-hour American sitcom, created by Howard Leeds. The storylines revolved around V.I.C.I. (pronounced Vicky), an android in the form of a 10-year-old girl, built by Ted Lawson, an engineer/inventor for United Robotronics, in an effort to assist handicapped children. The robot is taken home by Lawson so that it can mature within a family environment. V.I.C.I.’s features include superhuman strength and speed, an AC outlet under her right arm, a parallel port under her left arm, and an access panel in her back. Despite this, the Lawson family tries to pass the robot off as their adopted daughter.
I told you they’d know. Here’s the theme for your viewing pleasure. Please don’t try to make too much sense if it, it’ll just hurt your brain.
Because she was just so darn cute, right? And absolutely the epitome of 80’s fashion. 
