peignot: the best font ever?

What is it about the font Peignot? When used in color on a black background - it just brings me back to the 1970s - possibly the best era ever for pop culture. So much of what we enjoy today can be traced back to the 70s. To me, Peignot will always be the MARY TYLER MOORE font, but also it was used in the incredible opening titles for THE ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK. Two great pop touchstones that cannot be matched anywhere. This is why I've chosen to base the new look of this blog on the amalgamated look of both these iconic openings.

DOUGSPLOITATION will now look at ALL my pop culture obsessions, not just MOVIES THAT MAKE YOU SAY "HUH". I'll still do movie reviews from time to time, but there's plenty more stuff out there that I feel the sudden need to comment on. This includes websites, dvds, other blogs, live theatre, music, comic books and of course TV!

Well - since we're talking about Peignot and TV let's just say that (THE) MARY TYLER MOORE (SHOW) is the all-time best sitcom ever. No argument there. Despite the recent awkward OPRAH reunion (which, I must admit, skillfully recreated sets from the show) and the horrendous MARY & RHODA TV-movie (which skillfully created a constant feeling of nausea), nothing can ever erase the warm memories of Mary's office life at WJM, and her cozy apartment in the snow-covered Lindstrom house at 119 N. Weatherly in Minneapolis.


Luckily we have the first four seasons on DVD to remind us how great television can be. Hopefully the suits at Fox will one day realize that the rest of the series needs to be made available.
What could possibly be stopping them from releasing more season sets? When crap like PUNKY BREWSTER sells - don't tell me MARY doesn't!

For a great guide to the MTM show , seek out LOVE IS ALL AROUND: THE MAKING OF THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (1989) by Robert S. Alley & Irby B. Brown. This book has been in my collection since it was published, and I cherish it almost as much as the show itself.

Also, another great resource for Mary info is MTM: QUALITY TELEVISION published in 1984 by the British Film Institute, which looks at the entire MTM Studio production history, including other great classic shows like THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, RHODA, PHYLLIS, LOU GRANT, WKRP IN CINNCINNATI, NEWHART, THE WHITE SHADOW, HILL STREET BLUES, ST. ELSEWHERE and REMINGTON STEELE. Plus forgotten gems like THE BETTY WHITE SHOW (remember UNDERCOVER WOMAN? the show-within-a-show starring Betty as a 'Pepper Anderson' knock-off), THE TONY RANDALL SHOW and THE DUCK FACTORY. The book also covers pilots and TV-movies made by the company as well, as flops like Mary's two variety shows. A fun, book about the MTM spin-off RHODA is the aptly titled ALL ABOUT RHODA by Peggy Herz, which Scholastic published in 1975. This was written for kids! Imagine a kid's book about THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE being published today? I don't think so.

THE ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK COMPANION by Michael Karol is a fun, loving tribute to the 90-minute TV-movie series that ran from 1968-1975 and introduced us to such classics as Steven Spielberg's DUEL, GO ASK ALICE, BRIAN'S SONG, THE POINT (featuring Harry Nilsson's "Me and My Arrow"), THAT CERTAIN SUMMER and of course THE TRILOGY OF TERROR!!!
Plus the pilots for THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, WONDER WOMAN (the Cathy Lee Crosby version), THE NIGHT STALKER, KUNG FU and STARSKY & HUTCH all aired originally as ABC MOWs. Cloris Leachman is the common element that ties these two topics together, with her starring in almost as many MOWs as episodes of MTM! The book is cheap ($11.95) and a hoot to read, plus it has Peignot and a Zuni fetish doll on the cover! You can also visit the author online at www.sitcomboy.com