Your Shop Local Saturday "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY": Mr. Hoopers Egg Cream

Here is your Shop Local Saturday 

"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.

Telly and Gordon want a "Mr. Hooper Egg Cream."

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Black Friday HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: The Mary Tyler Moore Show - Not a Christmas Story

Here is your BLACK FRIDAY 

"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show S05E09 Not a Christmas Story Everyone is getting on each others nerves when they are trapped in the newsroom by a snowstorm.

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

Your Holiday Sor-Bay: Thanksgiving 2019

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!

Arthur Carlson

Here is a Thanksgiving "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" tradition.

This is a little brain candy to snack on while dinner is cooking.

May we all be thankful for what we are about to view... 

Station manager Arthur Carlson comes up with a big idea for a unique holiday promotion involving live turkeys and a helicopter. First aired on 40 years ago on October 30th 1978 (Season 1, Episode 7) 
In 1997 TV Guide ranked this episode number 40 on its '100 Greatest Episodes of All Time' list. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: November 2019 PART IV

November 26, 1989

The television series MTV Unplugged, featuring stripped-down acoustical performances by a wide range of artists not usually known for such performances, makes its broadcast premiere on this day in 1989.

The premiere episode of MTV Unplugged was only lightly promoted by the network, in part because it featured a lineup whose biggest name was the English pop group Squeeze—a band whose greatest popular success was already several years behind it. The episode also featured performances by the relatively unknown singer-songwriter Syd Straw, Cars guitarist Elliot Easton and singer-songwriter Jules Shear, who went on to act as host in the first season of MTV Unplugged. Following this less-than-star-studded debut, subsequent episodes featured a smattering of moderately popular acts like 10,000 Maniacs and Michael Penn along with performers with little or no name recognition among the MTV generation, like Graham Parker and Dr. John.

Late in its first season, however MTV Unplugged began to gain popular momentum with noteworthy appearances by Sinead O'Connor and Aerosmith. It was a second-season appearance by Paul McCartney, however, that probably turned the show into the success it became when McCartney released a recording of his performance as Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)—an album that enjoyed tremendous popular success. Soon enough, MTV Unplugged became a popular stop not only for some of the biggest contemporary acts of the early 1990s, such as R.E.M. and Nirvana, but also for older artists looking to relaunch their brands with a younger audience, such as Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart and Tony Bennett. Unplugged albums released by the latter three artists each went on to sell upwards of a million copies, making the MTV Unplugged brand a saleable commodity.

The program has not been without its critics. Steve Albini, for instance, who produced Nirvana's final studio album, In Utero, told Time magazine in 1995, "From an artistic standpoint, it's a total joke.... You take bands that are fundamentally electric-rock bands and put acoustic guitars in their hands and make them do a pantomime of a front-porch performance." Nevertheless, MTV Unplugged is among the most successful original programs ever produced by MTV.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. 

The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit (with both parades being four years younger than the 6 abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia). The three-hour Macy's event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1952.

The parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 as a result of World War II, owing to the need for rubber and helium in the war effort. The parade resumed in 1945 using the route that it followed until 2008. The parade became known nationwide after being prominently featured in the 1947 film, Miracle on 34th Street, which included footage of the 1946 festivities. The event was first broadcast on network television in 1948 (see below). By this point the event, and Macy's sponsorship of it, were sufficiently well-known to give rise to the colloquialism "Macy's Day Parade". Since 1984, the balloons have been made by Raven Aerostar (a division of Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Raven Industries).

November 30, 1929

Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark is born. 

He was an American radio and television personality, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting American television's longest-running variety show, American Bandstand, from 1957 to 1987. He also hosted the game show Pyramid and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which transmitted Times Square's New Year's Eve celebrations worldwide. Clark was also well known for his trademark sign-off, "For now, Dick Clark. So long!", accompanied with a military salute.

The Hollywood Christmas Parade 

(formerly the Hollywood Santa Parade or Santa Claus Lane Parade) is an annual parade that takes place on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in the Hollywood community in Los Angeles, California, United States. The parade follows a 3.5-mile route along Hollywood Boulevard, then back along Sunset Boulevard and features various celebrities among its participants.

The Parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 due to World War II, but reopened in 1945 with record attendance.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Sliders The Movie

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" 

A little spark of madness

that we could use to momentarily forget about those

things that leave a bad taste in our mouths

Sliders The Movie

By KickstartOrDie and Jerry O'Connell

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: November 2019 PART III

November 19, 1919

Alan Young is born Angus Young. 

The British-born Canadian actor and voice actor best known for his role as Wilbur Post in the television series Mister Ed and as the voice of Scrooge McDuck in Disney films, TV series and video games. During the 1940s and 1950s, he starred in his own shows on radio and television.

November 19, 1959

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show Premieres Jet Fuel Formula.

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show is the collective name for two separate animated series: Rocky and His Friends (1959 – 1961) and The Bullwinkle Show (1961 – 1964). Rocky & Bullwinkle enjoyed great popularity during the 1960s. Much of this success was a result of it being targeted towards both children and adults. The zany characters and absurd plots would draw in children, while the clever usage of puns and topical references appealed to the adult demographic. Furthermore, the strengths of the series helped it overcome the fact that it had choppy, limited animation; in fact, some critics described the series as a well-written radio program with pictures.

The show was broadcast for the first time in the fall of 1959 on the ABC television network under the title Rocky and His Friends twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, at 5:30pm(et). In 1961, the series was moved to NBC where it was renamed The Bullwinkle Show, and first appeared on Sundays at 7pm(et), just before Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color; eventually, it was rescheduled on late Sunday afternoons, and early Saturday afternoons in its final season. Subsequently, in 1964, the show returned to ABC, where it was canceled within a year. However, reruns of episodes were still continually aired on ABC's Sunday morning schedule [11am(et)] until 1973, at which time the series went into syndication. In addition, an abbreviated fifteen minute version of the series ran in syndication in the 1960s under the title The Rocky Show. This version was sometimes shown in conjunction with The King and Odie, a fifteen minute version of Total Television's King Leonardo and His Short Subjects. The King and Odie was similar to Rocky and Bullwinkle in that it was sponsored by General Mills and animated by Gamma Productions.

November 20, 1939

Richard Remick "Dick" Smothers is born. 

He is best known for being half of the musical comedy team the Smothers Brothers, with his older brotherTom.

November 21

World Television Day

World Television Day celebrates the daily value of television as a symbol of communication and globalization. Television is one of the single greatest technological advances of the 20th century, serving to educate, inform, entertain and influence our decisions and opinions.  It is estimated that approximately 90% of homes around the world have televisions, however, with the introduction of internet broadcasting, the number is declining in favor of computers.

World Television Day was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1996. It is celebrated annually on November 21.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Back to the Future Part II Behind the Scenes Special Presentation (1989)

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" 

A little spark of madness

that we could use to momentarily forget about those

things that leave a bad taste in our mouths

Leslie Nielsen hosts a night dedicated to Back To The Future including an airing of the first movie and a sneek peak of Back To The Future Part II. This show features director Robert Zemeckis saying that hoverboards were real.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: November 2019 PART II

November 13, 1949

Caryn Johnson, later known as Whoopi Goldberg, is born in New York City.

Goldberg began acting at age eight in children's theater productions. She dropped out of high school during her freshman year, later citing a learning disability that teachers mistook for retardation. She began using drugs but later cleaned up and resumed her interest in acting. She married her substance abuse counselor and had a daughter. She started winning small roles in Broadway shows including Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair. Her marriage ended, and she moved with her daughter to California, where she began performing with improv groups in San Diego and San Francisco while earning money as a bank teller, makeup artist, and other odd jobs.

Goldberg launched a comedy act with comedian Don Victor but was soon performing a hit solo act called "Spook Show." She toured the country with her comedy, eventually ending up on Broadway.

In 1985, three days after her 36th birthday, she made her movie debut in The Color Purple, also starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. She earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She later appeared in numerous comedies, including Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), and won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as a psychic in Ghost (1990). In 1992, Goldberg starred in the comedy Sister Act, earning a third Golden Globe nomination, her first for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. She reprised the role in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), making her the highest-paid actress at the time. Her other film roles include Made in America (1993), Corrina, Corrina (1994), The Lion King (1994), The Little Rascals (1994), Boys on the Side (1995), Theodore Rex (1995), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Girl, Interrupted (1999), For Colored Girls (2010), Toy Story 3 (2010), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Nobody's Fool (2018) and Furlough (2018). In television, Goldberg is known for her role as Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation. She has been the moderator of the talk show The View since 2007. She has been married several times and has several grandchildren.

November 15, 1929

Edward Asner is born.

Film, television, stage, and voice actor and a former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series Lou Grant, making him one of the few television actors to portray the same leading character in both a comedy and a drama.

November 15, 1919

Joseph Albert Wapner is born. 

The retired American judge and former television "judge." He is the first star of the ongoing reality courtroom series The People's Court. The court show's first run in syndication, with Wapner presiding as "judge", lasted from 1981 to 1993. This run lasted 12 seasons and 2,484 episodes. Unlike the show's second run which has been presided over by multiple judges, Wapner was the sole judge to preside during the court show's first run.

Wapner's tenure on the program made him the first star of arbitration-based reality court shows, what is now a most popular trend in the judicial genre. Until the summer of 2013, Wapner also held the title of longest reigning arbiter over The People's Court. However, by completion of the court show's 2012-2013 season, Marilyn Milian captured this title from him and became the longest-reigning judge over the series. Five years after presiding over the The People's Court, Wapner returned to television as a judge on the nontraditional courtroom series, Judge Wapner's Animal Court, lasting for 2 seasons (1998-1999 and 1999-2000).

November 17, 1944

Actor and director Danny DeVito is born in Neptune, New Jersey.

A former hairdresser, DeVito made his stage debut in 1969. He began appearing in small movie roles, including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). He spent five years playing cab dispatcher Louie De Palma on the TV sitcom Taxi. By the mid 1980s, with comedy credits like Romancing the Stone (1984) and Ruthless People (1986), he was in high demand as a comic actor. He began directing in 1987, with Throw Mama from the Train, followed by the hit The War of the Roses (1989). Recent credits include L.A. Confidential (1997) and The Rainmaker (1997). In 1994, he began producing films with great success. His hits as producer have included, including Pulp Fiction (1994), Get Shorty (1995) and Erin Brockovich (2000). Married to actress Rhea Perlman, DeVito owns his own film company, Jersey Films. DeVito currently plays Frank Reynolds on FX's critically acclaimed comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa