Tuesday's Overlooked TV: The DuPont Show with June Allyson, "A Silent Panic"

For this week's Tuesday's Overlooked, I'm going way back to December 22, 1960 and an episode of the anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson.

This episode is titled "A Silent Panic," and features a rare dramatic turn by comedy legend Harpo Marx. He stars as a deaf-mute performer in a department store's Christmas window display who witnesses a murder. He is unable to communicate what he saw to the police, yet is still a target by the killers. 

I know this is heavy subject matter for a Christmas post, but the story is intriguing, and classic anthology series such as this fascinate me from a broadcasting perspective. They were so commonplace back in the day, but seem so alien to modern audiences.

Enjoy!

Classic Christmas Commercials 2017 Edition

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All The Way...

Hello everyone to another great Christmas season at Me and You! I really need this Christmas season, and it couldn't have come at a better time. My body is ready!

First up, my annual collection of Christmas commercials. We start with a fun Christmas commercial from blog stalwart McDonald's. Their gift certificates are great for the Hamburglar in your family!

Not to be outdone, here comes Burger King!



After all that fast food, you may need some Alka-Seltzer to calm things down. Here are two great commercials, one featuring the late Sammy Davis Jr!





Up next, a quick network promo for two of the best animated Christmas specials of all time, A Charlie Brown Christmas and 'Twas The Night Before Christmas!



Speaking of Charlie Brown, here is a commercial from 1991 for Shell Oil which had a promotion with Peanuts that year, selling VHS copies of A Charlie Brown Christmas.



Finally, here is a great local commercial for Ben Franklin's 5 and 10 store promoting their Christmas decorations and novelties. Local commercials such as these may not have the best production values, but they make up for it in charm and warmth. I love it!



I'll feature more commercials in the season if I can. If not, check out my archives from Christmases Past for other great ones.

Thanks, and stay tuned. There's plenty of Christmas cheer on the way!

Happy Days, "The First Thanksgiving"

Hello everyone! I'm sure you're busy wrapping things up before the holiday weekend, so I'll get right to it!

Today's offering is a well-remembered Thanksgiving episode of Happy Days, as the cast recreates the first Thanksgiving in full pilgrim regalia. This episode is a lot of fun, despite how silly it is--and probably because of it! I haven't seen this since I was a kid, so I'm thankful to share it with you now.



Happy Thanksgiving!

But wait--what's this?



REJOICE! The holiday season is officially upon us! My favorite time of the year by far! Please stay tuned the rest of the year, as we're gonna have more holiday fun than you can shake a candy cane at.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Tuesday's Overlooked TV: Classic Tootsie Pops Commerical Extended Version

It may come as much of a surprise to you as it has to me, but there is an extended version of the classic Tootsie Pops commercial from the 70s and 80s! 

Even the current generation is familiar with the little boy looking to various talking animals (??) for the answer to "how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop." In most versions, he seeks the answer from Mr. Turtle first, then to Mr. Owl, who provides his answer (3). However, in the extended version, there are two other animals from whom the boy seeks the wisdom of the Tootsie Pop!

See below to experience the boy's journey to the truth with Mr. Cow and Mr. Fox. The voice of Mr. Fox is provided by none other than V/O legend Paul Frees!

Not only are there two additional characters, but the dialog between the boy and Messrs. Turtle and Owl are different from the traditional shorter version. I won't type it all out here, so here's the traditional commercial that most of us know and love for comparison.



Perhaps I'm the only person to be blown away by the differences between two versions of a nearly 50-year-old commercial--but I suspect I'm not!

Holiday List O' Links 2017 Edition

Thanksgiving is exactly two weeks away as I write this, and while many don't like to celebrate the holidays before their time, it's still smart to at least begin holiday preparations now. And that's what these links are all about!

Below are some holidays happenings you may want to work into your seasonal calendar. Take a look!

Reba McIntyre hosts this year's CMA Country Christmas celebration on ABC Monday, November 27th.

Pepsi is releasing a Christmas cake-flavored soda for the holidays. But only in Japan. And it tastes like strawberry shortcake. Because that's what Christmas cake is in Japan. The more you know!

Your favorite TV network and mine, MeTV, is airing blocks of Christmas episodes of their series every Sunday afternoon between now and Christmas. Set your DVRs!

Horror fans sorry to see their favorite season over can take solace in a new Christmas horror movie this year, The Elf. You better watch out!

Elvis Presley fans like myself can rejoice! There is a new album of Elvis Christmas classics remixed with performances by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The regular edition has been available since October 6th, and a deluxe edition will be released Friday, November 24th.

My other favorite music act also has a history of classic Christmas recordings, although of a different kind.

Finally, SiruxXM satellite radio announces their holiday music lineup for 2017.

I hope to have more holiday links for you throughout the season. Thanks! Have a great weekend!

Tuesday's Overlooked TV: No Man's Valley (1981) UPDATED!

Coming in under the wire (9pm) for Tuesday, this week's Overlooked TV is a revisit of an animated special I discussed two years ago.

No Man's Valley is a special produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, the creators of the Peanuts specials, about a condor who tries to find a sanctuary for his animal friends when their habitat is threatened by human developers. It aired on November 23rd, 1981, right after A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. In my original article, I mentioned the rarity of the special, having only aired once on network TV and only being available on VHS very briefly in the mid 80s. Except for one televised promo, no footage of the special was available anywhere.

Until now.

Posted online just six months ago, I am happy to present the show in its entirely as it aired on WBBM Channel 2 in Chicago that November night in 1981. Thanks to the Museum for Classic Chicago Television, please enjoy No Man's Valley!

Thanks!

Tooth Brushing and It's Dental Flossophy, Charlie Brown

I've had both my semiannual dental cleaning and oral surgery within the past couple of weeks, and I go back to my dentist this weekend for more work. Needless to say, my teeth have been on my mind a lot lately. Your teeth will be on your mind too after you see today's findings.

Here are two educational short films for children's dental health produced by the same people that created the Peanuts TV specials. In the first, Charlie Brown learns how to properly brush his teeth, and then he learns to floss in the second. Snoopy provides hilarity along the way, as he usually does.

As a huge Peanuts fan, I love finding Peanuts-related material I didn't know about, and these films certainly fit the bill.

Enjoy!

How Was Your Halloween?

To quote Charlie Brown, "another Halloween has come and gone." I hope yours was a safe, happy, and healthy one. Mine--not so much.

A very strong stomach virus infected our house this weekend, putting most of us down for the count this week at one point or another. My poor 11-year-old son even missed trick or treat because of it. Suffice it to say, the 2017 Halloween season ended on a very down note. Which is not to say there weren't things I enjoyed this season--my kids had a fun time at their school's Trunk or Treat the Friday before Halloween, so there's that. Plus, I caught some good horror movies, did some spooky reading, and enjoyed having not one but TWO Halloween mood tables. If you don't know what a mood table is, check out the origin here.

But enough about my busted Halloween--how was yours? Please let me know in the comments. I hope you had a great one!

It's time to put the 2017 Halloween season into its coffin, where it will sleep a sound repose until it rises from the grave to become Halloween 2018 next October. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the 2017 Countdown to Halloween!

You notice that? The smell of fire and brimstone has turned into--*sniff sniff*--turkey and gravy!

Have a great weekend!