Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve '86

 

Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed the Rockin' Eve production I featured earlier this week that welcomed 1982. Today, I feature the show that welcomed 1986. Enjoy below or on YouTube here.

I'll be back after the holiday. Happy New Year!

Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve '82

 

Hello all! I hope you had a very Merry Christmas--I certainly did! I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family, great gifts, and great food. That's all you can ask for Christmas! Now it's time to look ahead to New Year's Day, and we do that with the full presentation of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve welcoming in 1982!

Every network has it's own New Year's Eve program these days, but back in the day, Dick Clark was the only game in town. Here he welcomes 1982 with performances by Alabama, Rick Springfield, Barry Manilow, and others. Hosted by Charlene Tilton and Tom Wopat (man, this really IS 1982!)

Enjoy the show below or directly on YouTube here. I hope to have another Dick Clark program this week. Thanks!

The Gathering, Christmas TV-Movie starring Ed Asner (1977)

 

Here we are, my last Christmas post before the big day! And today I have a sobering but untimately life-affirming film for you.

The Gathering is a TV-movie produced by Hanna-Barbera (!) and stars Ed Asner as an embittered husband, father, and businessman who re-enters his family's lives after walking out on them many years ago, seeking reconciliation for his actions before he dies of a terminal illness. Maureen Stapleton plays Asner's estranged wife, who urges the rest of the family to forgive Asner for his bitter ways. Originally airing on ABC TV on December 4th, 1977, the film also stars Gregory Harrison, Bruce Davison, Veronica Hamel, James Karen (the Pathmark guy!), and John Randolph (Clark Griswold's father from Christmas Vacation!), among others.

Unfortunately, the YouTube channel administrator doesn't allow embedding for their videos, so please watch the movie directly on YouTube here.

Enjoy! I'll have more holiday-themed stuff for you next week.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Classic Christmas TV Commercials 2023 Edition

 

Today's post will be lean and mean, as my free time is increasingly less free the closer we get to Christmas Day.

Here, I offer some Christmas commercials of the past, with less commentary than I usually give. Enjoy these holiday-themed shills for Woolworth's, Ponderosa, Seafood Shanty seafood restaurants, and more!

Thanks!

TV Commercials for Children's Christmas Music Albums

 

One of the joys of being a child in the '80s was being the target of many commercials for various products. It made us feel special to know that things were being made just for us. This was especially true around Christmas, and one of the things marketed heavily to us were christmas music albums.

They usually aired in the fall to allow plenty of time for delivery before the season, but it excited us to see them as a sign that Christmas was soon approaching. Here are a few examples.

Here are two commercials for Christmas albums created by Disney. I loved seeing these ads appear every year! Unfortunately, I never had either of these albums myself.

One I'm not sure I remember, but I find amusing nonetheless, is this commercial for a Christmas album recorded by...the Smurfs! This recording has nothing to do with the US TV cartoon, so don't expect the voices to sound like the cartoon, but if the Smurfs are your thing, this might be for you!

I'm sure the audio for these albums can be found on YouTube, so if you have the urge, I suggest you search there. I just might do the same myself.

Thanks!

WKRP In Cincinnati, "Jennifer's Home for Christmas"

 

Welcome to the end of Week 3 of the Countdown to Christmas!

WKRP In Cincinnati will forever be associated with the holidays thanks to the hilarious Thanksgiving episode "Turkeys Away." But that doesn't mean the series doesn't have other fine holiday offerings. Case in point: this Christmas episode.

In "Jennifer's Home for Christmas," Jennifer (Loni Anderson) is unhappy about the forthcoming holiday, so the rest of the staff decide to attend her home to lighten her Christmas. The usual WKRP hijinks ensue.

Basically, the whole series is great. Try to see more of it however you can.

Enjoy below or on YouTube here. Have a great weekend!

The Real Ghostbusters, "Xmas Marks the Spot"

 

Welcome to Week 3 of the Countdown to Christmas! We're exactly two weeks from Christmas Day. Be prepared!

Today I present a fun, early episode of The Real Ghostbusters. The boys accidentally capture the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, so it's up to Venkman and the gang to convert Ebeneezer Scrooge from his wicked ways.

Ghostbusters--they're not just for Halloween!

Enjoy below or on YouTube here. Thanks!

'Twas The Night Before Christmas TV adaptation starring Paul Lynde (1977)

 

To cap off this week, I present the 1977 TV special 'Twas The Night Before Christmas.

Airing December 7, 1977, the special stars Paul Lynde as a grumpy husband and father (!) who learns the true meaning of Christmas. The special costars Anne Meara, Alice Ghostly, Foster Brooks, and Anson Williams. Apparently, the special was so poorly received critically and commercially that it was never rerun, nor was it ever made available on home video.

Is it really that bad, or is it just a typical 1970s TV special? I'll let you be the judge. Please enjoy the special embedded below or directly on YouTube.

Thanks! Have a great holiday season weekend! Happy Chanukah!

Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special Movie Adaptation (2002)

 

Today's entry in the Countdown to Christmas is a wacky one, but that's exactly why I'm including it!

The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special was a movie made by filmmaker Scott Leberecht and others with an educational grant from the American Film Institute and not intended for commercial release. It is, however, based on an actual comic book one-shot published by DC Comics in 1991 (see the cover to that comic above).

In the comic and movie, Lobo, an alien intergalactic hitman, is hired by the Easter Bunny to "whack" Santa Claus, so that the Easter Bunny gets more love and attention. If the money is right, Lobo is up for the job! The actor playing Lobo is Andrew Bryniarski, know for playing Leatherface in several Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot films in the 2000s.

Enjoy! Watch it embedded below or directly on YouTube here.

The Price is Right Christmas Episode, December 25, 1979

 

Welcome to Week 2 of the Countdown to Christmas! Today we have something special for those old school kids to got to watch this show when they were home sick from school.

Today I offer an episode of The Price is Right that aired on Christmas Day 1979. The studio, which usually looks very festive on a normal day, is decorated for the holiday and increases the excitement factor even higher than usual. Consider this also a tribute to Bob Barker, who we lost earlier this year.

Enjoy! Watch embedded below or directly on YouTube here.

Cher Variety Show Christmas Episode, December 21, 1975

 

Welcome to December 2023! Now we really get into the Christmas season full swing! I hope today's post gets you in the Christmas spirit.

Legendary artist Cher has released her first-ever Christmas album this year. However, this doesn't mean she hasn't performed Christmas numbers before. Back in the '70s, she had her own short-lived variety TV series after her divorce from Sonny Bono. Below is the series' Christmas episode, which aired on CBS December 21, 1975. She performs Christmas songs, appears in comedy sketches, and features guest stars The Lennon Sisters, The Hudson Brothers, and Redd Foxx--very '70s! See the embedded video below or watch directly on YouTube here.

Enjoy! Have a great December weekend! Roll out the holly, hang up those stockings, get some shopping done, be Christmasy!

The Muppets Perform "The Reindeer" On The Ed Sullivan Show, December 22, 1968

Today on the Countdown to Christmas, I present an appearance of the Muppets on The Ed Sullivan Show from December 22nd, 1968.

Here, lead reindeer Dasher is concerned that he and the other reindeer won't be able to deliver Christmas presents around the world because there's no snow in the North Pole just three days before Christmas. The other reindeer, however, don't take the threat seriously and instead make jokes and sing Christmas carols. In the end, the reindeer decide to dance a "snow dance" to make it snow. The usual Muppet humor permeates the entire sketch.

The Muppets had performed this same sketch back in 1965 on The Kraft Music Hall hosted by Perry Como in black and white, but I prefer this later color performance better. The Sullivan version is embedded below; you can check out the Como version here and make your own decision.

Enjoy!

 

Welcome to the 2023 Countdown to Christmas!

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Welcome to the 2023 Countdown to Christmas!

Despite my participation in, and love for, the Countdown to Halloween, Christmas is in fact my favorite holiday. It's my favorite anything! And I love to share holiday joy with all of you via this blog. This year, I have a lot of great stuff to show you. Please stay tuned all December long, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, for delightful holiday joy.

But that's not all. On some of my social media pages, I'm presenting Brian's Musical Advent Calendar, in which I'll post a holiday song every day starting today and through at least Christmas Day, perhaps even after. The Calendar will be available on my Facebook, X/Twitter, Tumblr, Threads, and Bluesky accounts. Please check it out!

Once again, Happy Holidays, and stay tuned!

The Beatles Performing Live on Blackpool Night Out, August 1st, 1965

 

Today is a big day for Beatles fans. Today sees the reissue of two popular compilations, The Beatles: 1962-1966, known commonly as The Red Album, and The Beatles: 1967-1970, known as The Blue Album. These were collections of Beatles hits first released in 1973. They are being re-released today with new mixes of many of the songs as well as songs that were not made available on the original 1973 releases. The most notable addition is the "brand new" song "Now And Then," made with a cassette demo from John Lennon's pesonal collection. As well as being released as a single, "Now and Then" is being made available on the 1967-1970 collection.

In celebration of these releases, I present a short television concert the Beatles performed on the British program Blackpool Night Out on August 1st, 1965. The band performs six songs, including "Help!" The Beatles were on the program to promote the release of the film of the same name. The footage here is in color, but I assume this was done in later years by computer rather than from the original broadcast.

Enjoy! Have a great weekend!

Saturday Night Live, "The Contestant," starring Martin Short (1984)

 

As promised this past Monday, I have a fun clip of Martin Short from his one and only season as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. In fact, I believe this was his first starring skit on the show!

In "The Contestant," his original character Ed Grimley is present to audition as a contestant on the legendary game show Wheel of Fortune in front of a dispondent (to say the least!) producer, played dryly by the great Christopher Guest. I love Short, I love Ed Grimley, and I love this season of SNL--one of my favorite seasons of the series.

Enjoy!

On Location Starring Steve Martin Live at the Troubador, October 31, 1976

 

Hello all, and welcome back! I hope everyone had a great Halloween season--I certainly did! But now it's time to cleanse the palate and move on. Today we do so with hilarious style!

On Friday night, October 27th, I had the honor of seeing Steve Martin and Martin Short live at their Philadelphia stop on their current comedy tour, and it didn't disappoint! My wife bought the tickets for me nearly a year ago as a Christmas gift, but unfortunately she fell ill the week of the event and couldn't make it. Better luck next time, hon, and thank you!

Still, I had an amazing time watching two of my entertainment heroes, so in honor of that, I present an old HBO comedy special starring Steve Martin in all of his "wild and crazy" 1970s glory. This was an installment of HBO's On Location series of comedy specials in the service's infancy, and Martin's star was very much on the rise. This was recorded October 31st, 1976 (hey, a Halloween event of sorts!) at the Troubador nightclub in Los Angeles, and it aired on HBO November 19, 1976.

This special is available on a multiple DVD set called Steve Martin: The Television Stuff, and it is available here.

Enjoy below, or see the special directly on YouTube here! I hope to feature a Martin Short post soon.

Happy Halloween 2023!

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for spending your Halloween season with me! It means so much to me you don't even know. I hope you've had as much fun with this blog as I've had. And be sure to check out the other great blogs of the Countdown to Halloween. Many thanks once again to Dex and Naila Moon for keeping this great tradition alive, especially to Naila (Michelle), who is stepping down as the prime showrunner after this year. Thanks again, Michelle!

Tonight is of course the finale, which is trick or treating. Please make sure you give out great candy or have great costumes, because no one wants to experience the "Trick or Treat Blues!"

Be safe, be healthy, and once again, Happy Halloween!

Coming soon!

The Last Halloween with Richard Moll and clip from Friends Halloween Episode with Matthew Perry

 

Hello one and all! It's almost over! We have but two days left of the Halloween season (although I think November 1st and 2nd are Halloweenish enough to celebrate). 

Today's post is a bit of a sad one. We lost two TV comedy greats this weekend, Richard Moll of Night Court and Matthew Perry of Friends. I have two offerings in their honor.

The Last Halloween is a 1991 TV special about adorable aliens who befriend two young Earth children as the aliens search for candy. Richard Moll plays a henchman to a villainess (Rhea Perlman) out to destroy the local candy factory. It's intended for young children, but it's wholesome fun.

Next is a fun clip from a famous Halloween episode of Friends. Here, Chandler, already humiliated by having to wear a pink bunny costume given to him by Monica, is doubly humiliated by seeing Joey's costume--as Chandler! 😂

These two great actors will be sorely missed, but at least we have their outstanding work to enjoy forever.

See you tomorrow for the grand finale of the Countdown to Halloween! Thanks!

The Curse of Dracula TV Series (1979)

 

Here we are at the end of Week 4 of the Countdown to Halloween! This is the last weekend before the big night, so let's soak in as much candy-fueled joy as we can these last few days!

This weekend I present to you a long program, but I hope you will find it entertaining. This is the 1979 short-lived TV series The Curse of Dracula. This was in fact a series within a series.

In February of 1979, NBC debuted an anthology called Cliffhangers. The series consisted of three different series under the Cliffhangers umbrella title, similarly to what they did with the NBC Wheel of Mystery (Columbo, McMillan & Wife, McCloud). Each week the Cliffhangers series would present an episode of one of the three adventure series: this Dracula series, Stop Susan Williams, and The Secret Empire. The Curse of Dracula was the highest rated of the three series.

But not highly rated enough. All three Cliffhangers series were canceled later than season, but a follow up movie, The World of Dracula, aired in 1986. Maybe I'll save that one for next year. :)

Here, edited into one giant block, is the entire Curse of Dracula. I've embedded it below, but you will probably prefer watching it directly on YouTube here.

Enjoy! Have a great last weekend of the season!

Garfield's Halloween Adventure and It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, October 30th, 1985

 

Today I offer an especially awesome treat! Brace yourselves!

Today I offer a solid hour of 1980s Halloween TV greatness. Today I present the 8pm to 9pm programming block from CBS on October 30, 1985. What makes this hour so special? Because it contains two Halloween heavyweights.

The 8 to 8:30pm program is the debut of Garfield's Halloween Adventure! Yes, this is the very first time the special aired. It's becomes highly revered by GenXers and millenials in recent years, so this is a big deal!

But that's not all.

In the 8:30 to 9pm slot--It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

I KNOW, RIGHT???

And if that wasn't enough--the hour includes commercials.

HOLY HALLOWEEN!

Sit down in a comfortable chair, take a deep breath, relax and---enjoy!

You can watch this awesomeness embedded below and directly on Dailymotion here.

The Real Ghostbusters, "The Halloween Door"

 

And we are at Week 4 of the Countdown to Halloween 2023! This is the last full week of the season, so it's crunch time. If you've been holding off on certain activities because the time didn't feel "Halloweeny" enough, stop procrastinating NOW!

Today I present a Halloween episode of The Real Ghostbusters, "The Halloween Door." Of course, every episode of The Real Ghostbusters is Halloweeny, but this time it's right there in the title. According to the description on the Official Ghostbusters YouTube page, "Crowley is the chairman of Citizens United Againt Halloween. When the Ghostbusters refuse to join forces with him, Crowley by mistake opens the Halloween Door and breaks the underworld's ancient contract of imprisonment."

In short, a ton of ghosts are released to the world by some stick in the mud. You know, basically the plot of every Ghostbusters story that's ever existed. But as a diehard Ghostbusters fan, I ain't complainin'!

Enjoy!

Ghostwatch (1992)

 

Today we put Week 3 of the Countdown to Halloween to rest with the 1992 BBC production Ghostwatch.

This is an original production that aired on Halloween night 1992 in the UK, and although it was presented as a "live" presentation, it was produced and recorded weeks earlier. The program is a scripted feature structured as a live documentary into the supposedly haunted house in a fictional town in England inhabited by a woman and her two daughters. Several people are included in the "investigation," including parapsychologists, journalists, etc. Scary stuff ensues.

The program proved to be quite controversial in the UK, spawning many irate calls to the BBC. It was shown in the UK only that one time, but it has aired in other countries since.

Submitted for your approval is the program. 

Enjoy! Have a great spooky weekend!

Love, American Style, "Love and the Haunted House"

 

Today I have what might be an unusual pick for the Countdown to Halloween on the surface, but I think it works just fine. For this blog, anyway.

Love, American Style was a TV comedy anthology series (I don't know of many comedy anthologies!) that aired in the early 70s on ABC. Each half-hour episode featured one or two stories of people falling in, out, or around (?) love. The series was light as a feather, and even spun off one of its episodes into a very successful series of its own---Happy Days!

In this episode, an engaged couple, played by Frank Sutton (Gomer Pyle, USMC) and Ruth Buzzi (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In), run out of gas along a highway during a thunderstorm and reluctantly spend the night in a seemingly abandoned cabin. The couple sleep in separate rooms at Buzzi's insistence, as the couple are not yet married, much to Sutton's chagrin. However, the cabin seems to have a mind of its own, disturbing the couple's sleep. Creepy for them, laughter for us!

The episode is only 15 minutes long, so you can watch it in no time, and at the end, a very special someone (something?) appears, a someone I try to fit into the Countdown every single year if possible. The best part, I didn't even know this about the episode when I selected it!

Enjoy! Watch it with someone you love!

Tom and Jerry, "The Flying Sorceress"

 

Welcome to Week 3 of the Countdown to Halloween. We're only two weeks away from the big night, so there's no wasting any time. Do your spooky stuff now!

Today I feature a witchy cartoon from the classic duo of Tom and Jerry. After upsetting his current owner with the mess he made in another chase with Jerry, Tom tries living with a woman who turns out to be a witch. Will Tom make the adjustment OK, or will he be a scaredy cat?

Find out now! Enjoy!

The Fall Guy, "October the 32nd"

It's Friday, we made it! And because you worked so hard this week, you deserve a treat instead of a trick. And my treat for you this weekend is a second Halloween episode of the 1980s action series The Fall Guy!

I featured the first Halloween episode of this series during last year's Countdown, and was surprised to learn earlier this month that there was a second one. Not only that, like the first episode, this episode also features everyone's favorite Mistress of the Dark, Elvira!

The episode title is "October the 32nd," a play on the previous season's Halloween episode title "October the 31st," and the plot is...well, who cares what the plot is. It's Elvira on The Fall Guy, that's the plot!

Enjoy, and have a great weekend! Be spooky!

The Haunted House Starring Buster Keaton (1921)

 

It's Hump Day this week at the Countdown to Halloween, and you're probably already looking forward to the weekend. But we still have a few days ahead of us until then, and you may need a pick-me-up. I hope this feature will do the trick!

Today I present the short silent film The Haunted House, starring old school comedy great Buster Keaton. In it, Keaton plays a bank teller who is framed for robbery by thieves who are working with an unscrupulous bank manager. When the police are in pursuit of Keaton, he seeks shelter in an abandoned house which just so happens to be the real thieves hideout. The thieves have rigged the house to appear haunted to passersby to prevent from being found out. When Keaton arrives, he is treated to the gang's spooky sinisterness.

Silent films may not be for everyone, but please give this one a try. I laughed out loud several times at Keaton's inventiveness. This movie is a lot of fun!

Enjoy!

SCTV, Monster Chiller Horror Theatre, "Dr. Tongue's House of Cats"

 

Welcome to Week 2 of the Countdown to Halloween! Please be sure to check out all of the great sites participating in the event by clicking on the main site here.

I'm starting off the week with this fun clip from the Canadian comedy sketch series SCTV. It stars Joe Flaherty as Count Floyd hosting the horror movie series Monster Chiller Horror Theatre. His feature this particular segment is "Dr. Tongue's House of Cats," starring John Candy as the titular Dr. and Catherine O'Hara as his unwitting "victim." Eugene Levy is the Dr.'s gortesque servant Bruno.

This appears to be the first appearance of the Dr. Tongue character, who would appear numerous times throughout SCTV's run. He's a spoof of the cheesy horror movie villains of the 50s and 60s with ridiculous premises and even cheesier 3-D. It's a lot of fun!

Enjoy!

Midnight Offerings TV-Movie (1981)

 

I'm back to round out the first week of the Countdown to Halloween 2023. And as I try to do on Fridays during the Countdown, I'm featuring a long-form program for you to enjoy over the weekend. This week, it's the 1981 TV-movie Midnight Offerings!

According to IMDb, "Vivian has magic powers. She doesn't hesitate to save her boyfriend David from failing in school by murdering teachers. However, David has gotten tired of her and is putting his charm on a new girl in school, Robin. Robin discovers that she also has magic powers, and it comes to a mental showdown between the two women over David."

It kind of sounds like Mean Girls but with witchcraft.

Oh, and supporting cast members include Marion Ross (Happy Days), Gordon Jump (WKRP In Cincinatti), and a very young Vanna White!

To be honest, I haven't seen this yet myself, but I'm fascinated by made-for-TV horror films, particularly since broadcast standards in the hayday of TV-movies were pretty stringent compared to today, and horror can be a challenging genre to make work with strict content guidelines. I'm always curious to see how the creators tell their horror stories under those conditions. Let's find out how the creators of this movie tell theirs!

I want to thank Joe Mello, one of my oldest social media buddys and the author of fellow Countdown blog Hellowe'en Horror, for bringing this movie to my attention!

I've embedded the movie into the blog below, but if you prefer to watch the movie directly on YouTube. the link is here.

Enjoy! Have a great first full weekend of October! Do spooky stuff! Drink pumpkin beer! Hang up decorations! Read old Halloween articles of my blog!

Halloween TV Commercials 2023 Edition!

 

Hello again! Today's post is a Countdown perennial: it's time for this year's batch of Halloween TV Commercials! I post at least one round of spooky-themed commercials each and every year. Commercials are one of the earliest signs that a holiday or season is around the corner, so I think posting several Halloween-like commercials early in the Countdown sets the mood for the whole month. Let's get to it!

First up, this rad commercial for Hallmark's Halloween fare from 1987. I love the old school GCI graphics on this one. Very 80s!

Next up, Casper The Friendly Ghost helps Target welcome shoppers to their stores in 1991!

Who is Mr. Fright? I have no idea, but he had a local 976 number here in the Philly area in the 80s, as can be deduced from this commercial. No other details are available, and I have no memory of this guy whatsoever. But he seems cool!

Goodwill is always a popular and inexpensive way to create a great homemade costume. Visit your local store today! This commercial aired in central Texas in 2014.

Pharmacies have long been Halloween necessity destinations, and Walgreens is no exception. Check out their offerings in this commercial from 1992!

I believe I've featured this next commercial before, but this is a much better copy. Enjoy this delightful commercial from the 70s for the Weebles Haunted House!

I'm sure every kid who had this was considered the coolest kid on their block. From 1984, it's Play-Doh's Count Creepyhead!

Finally, I can't believe I haven't featured this commercial until now, as this ran pretty extensively during the 80s. Here is a commercial for the king of all Halloween candies, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, featuring a generous but misunderstood Frankenstein!

I hope you enjoyed those. Stay tuned this Friday for a movie presentation. Thanks!

Amazing Stories, "Mummy, Daddy" (1985)

 

Hello again! Welcome to the first "real" post for this year's Countdown to Halloween. To start off the event properly, I present an episode of the 1980s fantasy anthology series Amazing Stories.

Amazing Stories, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, was a series on NBC that presented a different story of the fantastic every week: some scary, some sweet, all featuring a story of the supernatural, otherworldly, or scientific.

In this episode, "Mummy, Daddy," a horror movie actor, in full costume as a mummy for his latest movie, is trying to find his way to the birth of his new baby. However, a real mummy coincidentally makes his moves on the town the same night as the actor is on the way to his baby's birth. Confusion and hilarity ensue.

I was a fan of this series during its run, and this episode, which first aired October 27, 1985, is one of my favorites. Thanks to Twitter/X user Retro Art Blog for reminding me of this.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 2023 Countdown to Halloween!

 

Welcome one and all to the 2023 Countdown to Halloween!

Yes, boils and ghouls, it's time to rise from our musty coffins after 11 months of very deep sleep, and celebrate the feast of All Hallows E'en. How do we do that? With commercials, cartoons, movies, music, and anything else that fits the Halloween spirit. They'll be hardcore stuff, cutesy stuff, grown-up stuff, kid stuff, and many other kinds of stuffs.

As always, a grave, er, great thank you to Dex, Naila Moon, and everyone behind the main Countdown to Halloween site. Please please PLEASE check that site out for dozens of other great Halloween sites full of tricks and treats.

I hope to entertain you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between now and the big night with maniacal marvels sure to tickle your fancy.

Without further ado, let the 2023 Countdown to Halloween begin!

[WARNING: GORY VIDEO BELOW!]

My First Halloween Shopping Trip of the Season

 

Hello everyone! I hope you are getting back into the post-summer groove easily and smoothly.

October is less than two weeks away, and I'm sure you are already prepping for Halloween. I'm a late bloomer compared to most out there, as I don't start celebrating Halloween hardcore until October 1st. I'm a slacker, I know! But I did make a couple of shopping excursions for the big night, only one of which bore any fruit, but I'm happy with what I bought.

First up, a family-size box of Carmella Creeper (Walmart, $3). I still have plenty of Monster Cereal I didn't eat from last year, but I couldn't pass up the first new Monster Cereal character since Fruity Yummy Mummy in the 80s. I've heard mixed reviews on the cereal, but I enjoy caramel apple flavor, so I'm looking forward to trying this next month. Until then, I need to eat last year's cereal!

Next up, a 3-DVD collection of Beetlejuice, Gremlins, and Gremlins 2: The New Batch in a new glow-in-the-dark slipcase (Walmart, $9.96). Even though I already have Gremlins on a VHS tape my wife bought me 20 years ago, and I have Beetlejuice on a not-so-great dubbed VHS tape from the late 80s, I thought the DVD upgrade was worth it, especially since I don't have Gremlins 2 in any format. Plus, the entire collection was less than $10. The new slipcase was just a fun bonus!

Next, a pair of skeleton gloves (Dollar General, $2). My wife bought a skeleton costume from Target on clearance last year, and I thought these gloves would complement it. They're a bit snug, but they'll do.

Finally, the pièce de résistance: a very cheap, off-model Michael Myers mask (Dollar General, $8). It's made of vinyl, it's only a half mask, and the hair is also vinyl, but considering how many bad Michael Myers masks there are out there, if I'm going to buy one, I'd rather pay $8 than $20 or more for one.

In a separate outing, and without even looking for it, I found a bottle of Fanta's foray into the "mystery soda flavor" gimmick, What The Fanta? (Wawa, 2 20 oz bottles for $4). I got the zero sugar version, and the artificial sweetener seemed to throw off what the intended taste should be, so I have no guesses, just something fruity. I want to try the sugar version for a better taste test.

So, what do you think? Is this a decent Halloween haul for my first trip of the season? It's still early, so I plan on doing more scary shopping in the coming weeks. If I find more good stuff, I'll share it with you.

And remember, the Countdown to Halloween starts here at the blog on Sunday, October 1st!

Thanks!

Happy September 1st!

Happy September 1st! Welcome to the best four months of the year! And I must start them off as I do every year. I must maintain the natural order of things. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

Let's make it a great rest of the year!

Alice Cooper and The Group Image on WKBS-TV Channel 48

 

Hello, and welcome back!

Today is the 40th anniversary of the sign-off of Philadelphia's beloved UHF TV station WKBS Channel 48. One of my most popular articles is a love letter to this station, so I won't repeat myself here. Suffice it to say, it was the TV home of my childhood.

In looking up some footage related to the station today, I came across two musical performances that were recorded at the station during the late '60s to be featured on a local dance show hosted by late radio host Hy Lit. They are nothing I would have expected to see on Channel 48 in general or Lit's show in particular, but here they are in their psychedelic glory.

The first performance is by a band called The Group Image. I hadn't heard of them until today, and considering they only released one album in 1968, it's doubtful many others have heard of them either. But they seem to be having a great time in this fun performance, shown here in raw footage meant to be edited into the final cut of the show at a later time. Here are The Group Image performing their song "Hiya."

Also from 1968 is a particularly interesting performance, as it has to be one of the earliest TV appearances of Alice Cooper. Here they are performing "Reflected," a song off their first album that they would later rework into the song "Elected," which appeared on their legendary album Billion Dollar Babies.

If the song is unable to stream via embedding, you can watch the performance directly on YouTube here.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend! I hope you had a great summer, and here's hoping we all have a fantastic fall ahead!

Bye Bye, Desktop Computer!

 

After many years of lying dormant, I finally put our 20-year-old tower-style desktop computer out to pasture. It hasn’t worked correctly for years (I don’t even know how many), and even if it did work, it’s far too obsolete to be valuable today.

I took it to a local computer repair guy because my wife and I wanted to save any personal files we had on there (family photos, old teacher files of my wife's, music files, etc.), if they could be saved at all (the computer didn’t even start up correctly, so I was skeptical to say the least).

Fortunately, he was in fact able to get the files off of the hard drive. He saved them to a separate drive as well as giving us the old hard drive. I looked through the files saved and couldn’t believe what was on there. There was stuff I didn’t remember we had. Some of it personal, some of it inconsequential, all of it no more recent than 2014. It was like time travel!

So anyway, above is the shell of the desktop, keyboard, speakers, and monitor. We bought this in the early 2000s; definitely before 2006. It ran on Windows XP operating system, and it only had 256K of RAM when we bought it! Soon it will be picked up by an e-recycler or just put in the trash. I can’t imagine any use this equipment would have today.

I can’t say I feel nostalgic about this computer—it really wasn’t very good—but just the fact that it sat in our basement for so, so long—over 15 years at our current home, and at our previous house for a few years before that—and now it won’t, feels weird.

End of old computer rant.