It's the Easter Beagle (again) Charlie Brown

Premiering on CBS in April 1974 - this popular Peanuts holiday special, like all in the series, features several subplots: Peppermint Patty tries to teach Marcie how to decorate eggs; Snoopy dances with the popular and adorable Bunny-Wunnies,Yes, the Bunny-Wunnies; Woodstock gets a new birdhouse; Lucy decides to throw her own egg hunt; and Linus, not defeated by the disappointment of the Great Pumpkin - tells Sally she doesn't need to color eggs because the Easter Beagle will bring them.

IT'S THE EASTER BEAGLE, CHARLIE BROWN moved to ABC in 2000,

where it has aired more or less every year. I believe it's padded with newer, inferior material to fill an hour timeslot. Not sure if ABC is even airing it this year, but you could always buy it on DVD.

A Basket Full of Easter Cartoons

Here's a quick look at some network animated Easter specials from the 70s and 80s - from when the networks actually aired Easter specials.
A FAMILY CIRCUS EASTER (1982) Based on the beloved comic strip, this NBC special tells the unusual tale of young Billy, Dolly and Jeffy - as they actually trap the Easter Bunny to find out why he delivers eggs for Easter! Sounds a bit scary to me.

BERENSTAIN BEAR'S EASTER SURPRISE (1981) Based on the line of popular childrens books this NBC entry told the story of Papa Bear's adventure with Boss Bunny. Get your mind out of the gutter!

BUGS BUNNY EASTER SPECIAL (1977) 5 classic Warner Bros. cartoons (including "Knighty Knight Bugs" and "Robin Hood Daffy")surrounded by some new animation about Bugs and Granny auditioning replacements for the Easter Bunny. This ran on CBS through the 1980s.

DAFFY DUCK EASTER SHOW (1980) Daffy came to NBC with three new shorts, including "Daffy Flies North". The success of this special led to a Saturday morning series on the Peacock network. The special moved to CBS in the mid-80s.

FAT ALBERT EASTER SHOW(1982) Bill Cosby's Saturday-morning kids came to primetime in this CBS outting as the chubby dude and pals spread good cheer throughout their neighborhood.More to come tomorrow...

RHODA Returns!

In stores tomorrow: our good friends over at Shout! Factory bring us Season Two of RHODA, the popular MARY TYLER MOORE spin-off created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns. At the request of fans, this season's collection is completely remastered and features all 24 full length episodes!

Guest stars in this season include both John Ritter and Norman Fell , Vivian Vance, Joan Van Ark , Ruth Gordon, Eileen Heckart, Melanie Mayron and Tim Matheson.

It's really good to see our old friend Rho again. And if you are the first reader to correctly answer the trivia question at the bottom of this post, you can WIN your very own copy of RHODA Season Two! UPDATE: We already have a winner!The character of Rhoda Morgenstern first appeared in 1970 as Mary Richards' frumpy and sharp-tongued upstairs neighbor. Since saying to Mary, "Hello, get outta my apartment", Valerie Harper's portrayal has always been one of our favorite TV neighbors. RHODA begins with our heroine returning home to New York after living several years in Minneapolis (where it's cold and she figured she'd keep better).  By the time Rho moved back home, she had lost weight and now dressed in designer duds. The brilliant Nancy Walker and Harold Gould recreated their MARY TYLER MOORE guest roles of Ida and Martin Morgenstern, joining newcomer Julie Kavner as Rhoda's younger, frumpier sister Brenda, a bank teller. (Ignoring Rhoda's other sister - who got married in Episode 75 of MARY TYLER MOORE - which also featured Bret Somers as Rhoda's Aunt Rose).

Ida and Martin were typical Jewish parents. Ida was outrageous, overbearing and manipulative – and she covered her furniture in plastic! And Martin was Rhoda's sweet, dutiful father.

In the very first episode of RHODA, we meet Joe Gerard (the sexy, swaggering David Groh), who seven episodes later would be her husband! The classic hour-long episode "Rhoda's Wedding" aired on October 28, 1974 and featured guest turns by the gang from Minneapolis.

In addition to Mary, Lou Grant (Edward Asner), Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), Georgette Franklin (Georgia Engel), and Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman) all attended the wedding - winning huge ratings in the process.
After the wedding, Rhoda returned to her career as a freelance window dresser by starting her own business called "Windows by Rhoda" with her old high school friend Myrna Morgenstein (the underrated Barbara Sharma).

Like many 1970s marriages, Joe's and Rhoda's did not last, nor did her career as a window dresser. By season 4, Rhoda was divorced and working at a costume company. Perhaps in an attempt to make RHODA different than MARY TYLER MOORE, they may have married her off too soon - and then when they ran out of story ideas for newlyweds - they split them up!

Viewers were unhappy and abandoned the show in droves. What started out a promising run ended mid-way though the show's 5th season when CBS pulled the plug on the show.
Valerie Harper and Mary Tyler Moore were eventually reunited as Rhoda and Mary in an excruciatingly painful two-hour TV-movie for ABC on February 7, 2000. The less said about it, the better.

Valerie received 4 Emmys playing Rhoda, 3 for the MARY TYLER MOORE show and 1 for RHODA in 1975. Julie Kavner also received an Emmy for her supporting role in 1978. RHODA also received two Golden Globe Awards (one for Valerie and the other for the show itself) in 1975.

TRIVIA QUESTION: What was the name of Rhoda's other sister? UPDATE: The answer is "Debbie".

"Baby June" Havoc 1913-2010

Dick Giordano 1932-2010

My Letter From The Easter Bunny

From last year: It's finally Easter season, and time for the holiday that tries so damned hard to be another Christmas - but I personally just can't get past all the ugly pastel decorations. While going through a box of old cards and letters recently I came across this curious artifact from my sordid  past...an actual letter from the Easter Bunny - addressed to me from a P.O. Box in Wilkes-Barre, PA.Apparently, this rabbit (aka my good friend) lives in Bunny Land and can take time out from his duties–preparing for this long trip–to write to ME. He knows I've been good? He also dispenses free medical advice as you can see for yourself below.

Well, I never did get baskets of candy after I figured out it was all a lie - but somehow this letter has magically stayed with me throughout the years as a reminder of that childhood innocence and gullibility that we all lose somewhere along the way to adulthood. Happy Easter season, kids – enjoy the Peeps and the hollow rabbits. It's gonna be over before you know it.

Robert Culp 1930-2010

PRETTY Season Finale

PRETTY, the web series that I produced through my company, Velvet Candy Entertainment reaches it's season one climax...and you can watch all the drama right here or at prettytheseries.com

87% of Criswell's Predictions Have Come True!

The Amazing Criswell (1907-1982) was a psychic who was famous for his bizarre and inaccurate predictions...even though the back of his book claims that 87% have come true! Criswell also became famous for appearing in a few films by Ed Wood including the classic PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959), and the unwatchable  ORGY OF THE DEAD (1965). Criswell as also immortalized on screen by actor Jeffrey Jones in the brilliant Tim Burton biopic, ED WOOD (1994).
So, he may have predicted that Reagan would be governor of California and that JFK wouldn't finish his first four years in office–but he also claimed that Denver would be destroyed by aliens, Fidel Castro would be assassinated and there would be HOMOSEXUAL CITIES!!! Yee-haa! (He also prophecized that the world would end on his 92nd birthday - August 18, 1999 - but, sadly, he died when he was only 75).

That's right, HOMOSEXUAL CITIES near Des Moines and Columbus! "Perversion will parade shamelessly" - did that ever happen? Oh yeah, they cities "will be complete with stores, churches, bars and restaurants which will ...(have)...organized orgies"! Wow, Criswell - maybe bars - but ORGIES in stores, churches, and restaurants?! It sounds like a uber-gay version of Walt Disney's original plans for EPCOT. Oh, Criswell if only you were 99% accurate...

PS- The Onion A.V. Club ran a great piece on Criswell back in 1999. Check it out.

Spring is in Vogue

Let's welcome in the season with this VOGUE magazine cover from March 1960 -  FIFTY YEARS AGO!!!

Fess Parker 1924-2010

My "Secret Origin" retold

A while back, someone asked fanboys (of which I guess I am) on the DC Messages Boards to recount their "first time" -meaning their first encounter with comic books. Here at last -because YOU demanded it- I've decided to recount my "secret origin".
I was about 6 or 7 years old - 1970 or 71 and my family was visiting our cousins who lived on Long Island. I was bored with sitting around eating Italian pastries and listening to the adults gossip, so wandered into the basement to find something fun to play with (like my cousin Teresa's awesome Barbie collection). Only this time I found a small cardboard box full of DC Comics. These were the first comics I ever saw. Ever. I remembered they were from the 60s cause of the black & white checkerboard across the covers. As I dug through the pile - my eyes grew wider and my heart raced. Of course I knew who Batman, Superman and Aquaman were from TV, but this was my very first exposure to Green Lantern, Plastic Man, Flash and what was this - THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA??? What the...??? Who are all these other guys who are friends with Batman AND Superman - Hawkman, Atom, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter??? It was like I discovered pizza and Christmas all at once. Unfortunately, my aunt or uncle (don't exactly remember which) quickly took the box from me, claiming that they belonged to my cousin who was away in Viet Nam at the time. Everytime I went back to that house, I asked to see that box of comics and they either denied it's existence OR told me that my cousin took them when he came back from the war. What's up with that?

Years later, as an adult I asked my cousin about the comics. He told me they were probably still in that basement and his parents just didn't want me to see them. To this day it baffles me, and makes me wonder why adults would want to deprive a child of something that I was obviously very interested in. I never forgave my aunt & uncle for that, and probably never will. All I ever wanted to do was escape for a little while and enjoy the treasure that I had discovered.

My aunt and uncle are both long gone, but when I do think of them I remember those comics. But at least now I knew who the JLA were - and there was no turning back. Within a year or two I was buying my own comics, not only JLA - but lots of others (including Marvel!)...and I still am. I'm proud to say that I've never hidden my comics from my nephews, but then again the younger generation seems to have no interest in comic books, which saddens me somewhat - but also makes Uncle Doug's "hobby" all the more special.

Moonlight in Mayo?

Was this float sponsored by Hellman's? Was it made of mayonnaise? Was it representitive of the Mayo Clinic? Who can say?

COACH

This warm Summer-like evening has brought me back to a time when you could find deliciously bad movies on network TV. COACH is one of those movies. Not to confused with the dreadful ABC sitcom of the 90s, COACH (1978, directed by Bud Townsend) is a dreadful PG-rated sexploitation film from my childhood. I remember watching (a surely edited-for-TV version of) it on the CBS Wednesday Night Movie and then talking with my Catholic school friends the next day about how great it was. THAT'S INCREDIBLE's perky Scientologist icon Cathy Lee Crosby stars as Olympic track & field champion Randy Rawlings, who leaves her job as an instructor in a 1970s equivalent to "Curves" to coach a boys basketball team at a private high school.


The movie opens with a soundless montage of Cathy running track, until she bursts through the finish line and steps up to receive her Gold Medal as The Star-Spangled Banner plays. (It's public domain, so no royalty fees like that pesky Olympic music). Meanwhile, in the sleepy town of Granger, Keenan Wynn (or was it Denver Pyle? - I always get those crazy old coots mixed up!) is perplexed by his grandson's high school basketball team and their perpetual losing streak. So Keenan gets the schlep-y, non-athletic looking coach fired and selects his replacement through some amazing futuristic "computer" program. The computer determines that the Olympic track star Randy Rawlings has just the right qualifications. When Randy arrives, Western Union telegram in hand, everyone discovers that this star athlete is a woman!!! Not only that but, a sexy, liberated, blonde woman who doesn't own a bra! Prevented from firing her due to certain newly-passed anti-discrimination laws, Randy is given a chance to turn the teen-age losers into winners. But her job hinges on delivering a perfect season. If the team loses even one game, shes out on her sexy tight ass! Keenan later instructs his grandson to give her nothing but trouble.

Well, the boys (well, I'll call them "boys" despite that the actors look to be about mostly in 25-35 years old range) at Moose Knuckle High (according to our friend John W., a "Moose Knuckle" is the male equivalent of "Camel Toe"), don't take to kindly to having a woman coach, and they berate her with sexist remarks and gestures. She's the CTLF ("Coach They'd Like to Fuck"), but they don't want her telling them what to do. Always a pro, our Randy ignores their shenanigans and tells them she's there to kick some ass. She's even wearing an outfit that looks like her WONDER WOMAN costume from the aborted 1974 TV-movie pilot.

The team is a bunch of freak and geeks who don't have a clue how to win. There's the bookish nerd with glasses, the lanky scarecrow, the black guy, the albino with a receding hairline, the mildly-retarded rich kid and of course the school stud, Jack (future TERMINATOR star Michael Biehn), her star player and future sex partner. She earns the boys' respect by walking in on them while they are all naked in the shower and turning off the hot water, and forcing them stay under ice cold water for a minute. She learned this from her former coach, Alberto Gonzalez.

Then she proceeds  to "coach" them by bringing in her superstar NBA buddy (or drug dealer) to teach the guys some professional moves. Before you know it, the team is playing better and Jack is playing WITH Randy's boobs! Never mind that's he's supposed to be like 17 and she's at least 35...and the fact that she's abusing her role as an adult in charge of  "kids" by having sex with one of them. This issue never even comes up, as she and Jack fall in love through a series of montage images set to cheesy 70s music. Soon the rest of the boys grow to like Randy. Why they even let her join them in the "Hey Lahdy Lahdy" sing-along on the team bus.

Meanwhile, there's an embarrassing and tedious subplot involving hypnosis, and how the boys are able to help get their gawky teammate to get better grades and play better ball whenever he hears the word "Jabberwocky". When Randy finds out about it, she tells the boys that if he can play like a pro under hypnosis, he can do it without it! But later when the team is losing a big game, she leads the entire gymnasium in chanting "Jabberwocky" so they can win. So basically, she sends the message that's it's okay to cheat. Great coach, what's next, steroids?

For a PG-rated film, we see plenty of flesh, including at least 4 pairs of females nipples (when co-eds flash the boys at a dull house party), a bunch of naked male butts (during the shower torture-scene) and lots of moose knuckles in satin shorts and tight jeans. I give this one 6 outta 10 just for it's spunkiness. It's basically an ABC Afterschool Special about statutory rape, without the drama, moral judgement and legal repercussions. In other words, it's just good, clean fun for an cougar to bed one of her students!