Walt Disney Studios, "Ben and Me"

 

Happy 4th of July! Well, it's only July 2nd, but who's counting? Plus, if I wait until the 4th, it's highly doubtful anyone will see this.

Ben and Me is a Walt-Disney-produced short, animated film telling how a fictional mouse--and not the one you'd expect--assisted Benjamin Franklin in several of his many high-profile endeavors. I first saw this in a movie theater on an elementary school field trip and enjoyed it. I found it on YouTube last year and saved it for 4th of July this year.

Please enjoy embedded below or directly on YouTube here.

Have a great holiday weekend!

My Yard Sales Finds from June 2023!

Hey everybody, I made a video! It's like I'm in the 21st century or something!

It's all about the stuff I bought at a neighborhood yard sale. Enjoy!

The Popeye Valentine Special: Sweethearts at Sea

 

Ahoy maties! Valentine's Day is just days away, and I've discovered a nautical way to celebrate the day. With the 1979 animated TV special The Popeye Valentine Special: Sweethearts at Sea!

In this special, Popeye forgets to get Olive Oyl a gift for Valentine's Day, so she goes on a cruise to find a new man. When Popeye finds out, he goes to sea to win back his longtime love. However, the villianous Sea Hag and Bluto have their own Valentine's Day plans for our heroes.

The special aired on CBS on Valentine's Day 1979. I had no idea this existed until recently, and I'm happy to share it here.

Enjoy! And stay tuned for more Valentine's Day fun the next few days, and maybe even after the big day! I'm getting a late start, but I have more for you to love this year, and I'd like to get it all in.

One more thing--

GO EAGLES!

OK, now I'll show the special. 😊

Dancin' On Air Christmas Episode from 1981

This is it! The final week until Christmas. It's down to the wire. Let's party! And today, we party like it's 1981!

Today I feature an early episode of the local Philadephia series Dancin' On Air. It was a successor of sorts to Bandstand, in which local teens dance on camera to the hits of the day. This is a Christmas-themed episode from its inaugural year, 1981.

Admittedly, there's not much Christmasy about this episode with the exception of the studio decorations, but I'll use any excuse to showcase Philly 80sness.

Enjoy! You can also see the episode on YouTube here.

 

Al Alberts Showcase Christmas (1988)

Welcome to Week 3--3!--of the Countdown to Christmas. Today I share a local treat from my hometown of Philadelphia.

This is a Christmas episode of Al Alberts Showcase, a local Philly variety show hosted by Al Alberts, who had been a member of the vocal group The Four Aces decades before. He hosted this series in Philly for decades, featuring children and teen performers singing, dancing, and telling jokes. As corny as the show was, it was beloved here in Philadelphia. I previously shared an hour-long Christmas special from Alberts from 1979; here is a half-hour special from 1988. If you love kitchy local TV like I do, you'll love this.

Enjoy!

Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day Parade

 

Thanksgiving is almost here--the start of the holiday season! Most of you will likely tune in to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, but I prefer to watch the parade in my hometown of Philadelphia. Philly's parade is in fact the first and oldest Thanksgiving parade, starting in 1920 and sponsored by Gimbel's department store. The store closed in the '80s, but the parade lives on today.

Here is a stretch of the parade from 1934. It looks quite different from parades today!

These next clips are from the late 70s and early 80s, the golden age of my childhood, so this is the parade as I remember it! The parade was carried on the local ABC affiliate WPVI-TV Channel 6, here hosted by Dave Roberts and the late great Jim O' Brien.

Here is more from '84, carried nationally by CBS with hosts Tim Reid and Catherine Bach.

You can enjoy this year's parade Thanksgiving morning, November 25th at 9am Eastern time at the following link: https://dig.abclocal.go.com/wpvi/html/2021tdp/index.html

However you spend the holiday, I wish you and yours a joyous, relaxing, and peaceful one.

Happy Thanksgiving!

But wait, what's this?

Oh bourbon indeed! The holiday season is just about here, and next week, I start the...

Countdown to Christmas!

Get ready for a steady stream of ho ho ho! See you then!

Dancin' On Air Thanksgiving Episode, November 25, 1982

Thanksgiving is a time for thoughtful reflection, to think solemnly about what we have to be grateful for in our lives.

It's also a time to party!

And party we will, 1980s style! I present an episode of the Philadelphia TV dance series Dancin' On Air, which aired on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1982 here in Philadelphia on WPHL-TV Channel 17. This show, a successor of sorts to that other Philly dance show, later aired nationwide later in the decade on the USA cable network as Dance Party USA. Dancin' On Air was a local cultural phenomenon here in the city and is remembered fondly today. There was a brief revival earlier this decade.

Enjoy! Get your groove on! And Happy Thanksgiving!






But wait, what's this?




YES! IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME! THANK GOD!

Oh yes I need a lot of Christmas, right this very minute! And if you do too, my blog is the place to be. I'll be providing Christmas goodies all season long. Stay tuned, and Happy Holidays!

Tuesday's Overlooked TV: Al Alberts Christmas Special (1979)

I love this week's Tuesday's Overlooked TV. It's the locally produced Al Alberts Christmas Special!

Al Alberts Showcase was a weekly variety series produced and aired locally in Philadelphia from the 1970s straight through the 1990s. It was hosted by singer Al Alberts, who had been a member of the vocal group The Four Aces (their biggest hit was a version of "Three Coins in the Fountain"). The content consisted of occasional performances by Alberts, but mostly by performances of young children singing, dancing, and telling corny jokes.

It was amazingly kitschy, but it was a big hit in Philly. Here is an hour-long Christmas special that aired in 1979. This special hits all my soft spots: local TV, produced in Philly, with retro Christmas flair. I can't not love this!

Enjoy!

Genesis Live on the Mike Douglas Show, Philadelphia, 1977

Following up on my Genesis article from a couple weeks ago, here is a neat treat--the band performing two songs from their Wind and Wuthering album on The Mike Douglas Show, which originated in my hometown of Philadelphia. This aired sometime in 1977 (the footage doesn't provide an exact date, unfortunately).

A favorite band of mine performing on a Philadelphia-based broadcast institution? How can I resist?

Plus, Phil Collins has an amazing beard here.

Enjoy!

List O' Links: Christmas Prep 2014 Edition

I know what you're thinking: "Oh no, you haven't succumbed to Christmas Creep too, have you?" Nope! I'm very much in a November state of mind. However, it is a good idea to at least plan ahead for the holidays now. Planning and celebrating are two different things! The more planning you do now, the more time you'll have for celebrating later. Isn't that how you'd rather spend the season?

These links we'll help you get your holiday house in order, from buying gifts to preparing meals, and even for finding out what the coolest new holiday music is. Surf away!

If you plan on visiting the Philadelphia area this Christmas, we in the City of Brotherly Love have amazing holiday events. Check out this link for 15 of the best!

A great one-stop shop for preparing for the holidays is Organized Christmas. They have several plans you can use to budget for gifts, clean your home, entertain guests, and prepare food for the season. There are great ideas here!

A great Christmas site that I've been following for years is Xmas Fun. They have recipes, crafts, video channels, music, clip art, and fun games and programs to download (including an awesome Christmas Lights program for your desktop that I've been using for over a decade now). One of my all-time favorite Christmas sites!

If you're a subscriber to SiriusXM satellite radio, as I am, you may be happy to know that they start airing two of their holiday channels, Holly and Holiday Traditions, next Tuesday, November 11th! More holiday stations will be added next month. Click here for the details!

For all things Christmas, but especially news and streaming of the latest holiday music releases, you must follow Santa's Working Overtime. If it's holiday-related, and it's new, this blog will mention it. It also has cool links to other great sites--sometimes, it even mentions my blog!

For the passionate Christmas music lover, look no further than the awesomely named Mistletunes. This site does a great job of highlighting the latest and greatest releases, especially some obscure ones. I never celebrate Christmas without it!

OK, you can look further, because I also must mention Stubby's House of Christmas. Everything I said above applies here too. Stubby doesn't miss a thing when it comes to great new Christmas music. I can't praise it enough!

Lastly, I suggest you bookmark Amazon's Holiday Digital Music Store. It always has good deals on Christmas music, and they change frequently, so check back often so you don't miss anything. I especially enjoy their 25 Days of Christmas event, in which they offer one Christmas song a day for free from December 1st to the 25th. It's a great way to freshen up your holiday music playlist!

Of course, I'll have other great Christmas links when the season is in session, but until then, I thought it a good idea to bring these sites to your attention now so that, when the time is right, you can hit the ground running. Happy Holi--I mean, have a great weekend!

Halloween Pranks

One way many people celebrate Halloween is with practical jokes and pranks. Of course you don't want such acts to get out of hand, but it doesn't stop people from going to great effort to pull them off. Here are a few examples.

First, the cast of my favorite morning radio show, The Preston and Steve Show on 93.3 WMMR-FM here in Philadelphia, sent actors from a local dark attraction to wake up unsuspecting friends and family of listeners from sound sleep in their "Zombie Wake-Up Call."

Next, another prank set in Philadelphia, as a "vampire" aggressively asks for blood from downtown patrons. He's lucky he didn't wind up in a coffin for real!




Finally, this prank from Brazil features a terrifying little girl and an old elevator. This really is scary!



Stay safe!

List O Links for Friday, September 12th, 2014

Hello everyone! Sorry for the radio silence this week, but being Back to School time as you know, I've been busy with both my kids starting their first full week (they started last Wednesday), plus my wife, a teacher, starting her first full week as well. And on top of all that, my kids returned to dance school this week as well. And Tuesday was my wife's birthday. I was busy, folks.

But enough about me, let's get to some links I've discovered lately!

Darwyne Cook is an awesome comic book artist. If you're not familiar with his work, check out these variant covers he's created for some upcoming DC Comics issues. Beautiful!

This week being the 13th anniversary of 9/11, here is a fine article on AOL on the subject.

This August and September marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles first US tour. Here is some footage and audio of the boys from the tour's stop in my hometown, Philadelphia.

Astronomically, it's still summer for another 10 days or so, but in the minds of most people, it's already autumn. For many, it's their favorite time of year, and it's hard to argue against that. For you autumn lovers out there, I highly recommend the Tumblr site Cold Hands, Warm Hearts, featuring beautiful autumn photos of foliage, food, holidays, and other seasonal delights. Check it out!

Finally, is Raiders of the Lost Ark the most perfect film ever made? The Retroist reports, you decide!

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Philadelphia City Archival Films

This week for Tuesday's Overlooked, I present a small selection of films recently posted to YouTube by the city of Philadelphia's Department of Records. These films were produced by various city agencies and feature footage and promotion for the city dating back to the 1950s and up.

As a proud Philadelphian (even though I now live across the Delaware River in New Jersey), I'm thrilled to see these films unearthed. They are a window to the past of a city that's always been underappreciated. I once featured a tourism film before, and today's post is in that tradition. It always to amazing to me to see how much the city has changed since the times of these films.

Even if you're not from the area, I think one can appreciate seeing big city America the way it used to be compared to now. The films below, which vary in quality (the third has no audio), are just a sampling of what's available. To see the full current selection, you can visit the YouTube channel here.

Enjoy!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial Part 11

Happy Friday everyone! We're just a week away from the July 4th holiday, so start getting in the patriotic mood by checking out chapter 11 of the Captain America movie serial. Enjoy!

P.S. Here in Philadelphia, we kick off our Welcome America celebration. It officially starts tomorrow and runs through next weekend. If you'll be in the area, give it a try. You can check out the events here.

P.P.S. How sweet is that Captain America painting by Alex Ross? Beautiful!

List O' Links for Friday, March 7th, 2014

Hello one and all! With more seasonable temperatures than we've been getting lately expected this weekend, hopefully we'll be able to thaw out a bit from this cruel winter. Get warm and cozy with these fun links!

Here are 31 reasons why my hometown of Philadelphia is the most underrated city in America. Woo hoo!

There is a new theory surrounding the identity of the character of Andy's mom in the Toy Story movies, and it's an intriguing one. What do you think?

The recent controversy surrounding a possible feud between 12 Years A Slave director Steve McQueen and screenwriter John Ridley reminds me of a slightly similar situation a few years back. Learn about TV writer Jeffrey Lieber, the unsung creator of the series Lost.

This blog was McDonald's Talk Central for awhile, so here's a throwback to that era. Here are Pop Rewind's 7 Missed McDonald's Items. At least some of it is better left in the past.

If you're a fan of classic Top 40 radio like I am, you may enjoy, or may have already heard, this hilarious audio, the famous (among radio fans) NINE tape. This recording, never intended for public listening, is a spoof of the tightening of Top 40 formatics that was happening in earnest at the time the tape was made, the early 1970s. Enjoy!

Finally, the University of Pennsylvania discovered an unusual item in their archives--centuries-old plans to launch warfare by strapping small animals with rocket packs at their enemies. History, folks.

Have a great weekend!

"Find Philadelphia," 1977 Tourism Film

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy the nice (hopefully long) weekend. Being a citizen of the City of Brotherly Love (in spirit if not in exact locale--southern New Jersey counts), I offer you this intriguing "find" I just stumbled across yesterday.

"Find Philadelphia" is a 10-minute plus tourism film created by the city to--well, promote tourism. Filmed in 1976 and released in 1977, it offers a fine look at the city as it was at the time of this film's creation, when Philly was inviting the nation to enjoy America's bicentennial. It's a fun, nostalgic look back that perhaps can only be appreciated by Philadelphians, but at least it's a cool look at big city America in the 70s, which let's admit, was a very interesting time. Enjoy!

P.S. According to YouTube commentators, the young gentlemen juggling and eating an apple at the 8:44 minute mark is none other than Penn Jillette!

Saturday Night Dead starring Stella, KYW-TV Channel 3, Philadelphia

I've talked about local TV horror movie hosts several times before, but that won't stop me from talking about them again. Today I mention a fun show that aired through most of the 1980s here in my beloved Philadelphia, Saturday Night Dead.

Saturday Night Dead aired at 1am Saturdays on KYW-TV Channel 3, then an NBC affiliate, now a CBS O&O, immediately after Saturday Night Live (get it?). The program aired the standard cheesy, low budget horror flicks you'd expect to see on such a show. The hostess of the program was Karen Scioli better known as Stella, the "Maneater from Manayunk" (a posh section of the city).

Stella, along with her butler Hives and several other silly/creepy cast members, would make fun of both the movie and themselves until 3am every week, and as a preteen boy, I ate it all up, even though I was afraid of horror films, even the bad ones. I would stay awake as long as I could just to see the antics of Stella and Co. Such programs are very rare anymore, and I'm glad I kept my eyes open to catch all the laughs.

Here are some segments from various broadcasts over the years. Enjoy!

Also, and completely by coincidence, Karen Scioli gave an interview with the New Jersey publication The Aquarian just this morning. I didn't know until I did research for this blog post! Here you can find out what she's up to these days. Click here!

Bite Size Halloween Treats for the Eyes

The Countdown to Halloween is now well over the halfway point, which means we're rolling downhill to the end and picking up speed! You may be getting hungry, so I've brought along some bite size treats to tide you over to the big day. That is, I have some short segments for you to enjoy.

First up: a Halloween innovation courtesy of Muppet Labs. The Carve-O-Matic!



Next, a little witch girl gives payback to some joking bunnies--which comes back to get her in the nose, so to speak.



Next--Halloween can be real dangerous business!



Finally, here is the opening and closing to "Creature Double Feature," the Saturday afternoon horror movies airing on WKBS-TV Channel 48 in Philadelphia from the early 1980s. It's really creepy and well done. I love it!



Thanks!

Dancin' On Air Retrospective This Saturday July 23rd!

Hey there!  Sorry for the extreme lack of regular blogging, but I'm afraid the blog tends to be a casualty of the summer season every year.  This, however, is well worth blogging about, at least for my fellow Philly residents.

WPHL-TV Channel 17 will be showing a brand new retrospective on the 80s local dance show Dancin' On Air this Saturday, July 23rd in two parts, from 8 to 10pm and 11pm to 1am later that night.  I've discussed Dancin' On Air before in what became one of my most popular posts ever, so if you haven't heard of the series before, please check that article out.  Get out your hair mousse and get ready to dance, my Philly peeps!

Check out some great video of the show at the station's Web site here.  Thanks!

WPHL-TV Channel 17 Philadelphia, "The Great Entertainer"

Not being one to resist giving old broadcasting a plug, I continue my nostalgic trip through Philly TV past, this time with a look at WPHL-TV Channel 17, known in the late 70s and early 80s as "The Great Entertainer."  I didn't watch too much stuff on 17 back in my very early youth, as Channel 48 had the majority of what I was interested in.  Still, there were definitely highlights, some of which I'll spotlight here.



Welcome Back Kotter!



Barney Miller!



Its spinoff Fish!



The original Battlestar (I'll stop with the exclamation points).



Star Trek.



As far as kids programming goes, I watched the 60s Filmation Superman and King Kong cartoons during the summer in the mornings, and Ultraman, Spectreman, and Speed Racer in the afternoon, but the most important contribution to my childhood that Channel 17 made was airing the 60s Spider-Man cartoon, one of my favorites TV shows ever.  Not just cartoon series, but any kind of series.  When Channel 48 died, much of their equipment and library went to Channel 17.  When that happened, Spidey left 17 and was off the air in Philly until Channel 57 brought it back in the mid-80s.

Today the station is mostly still independent, save for its affiliation with My Network TV, of which I'm not a fan, to put it mildly.  The station, however, does recognize its past with a section of its Web site called "Vintage 17," where you can see the clips I posted here as well as some others.

I apologize to those not interested in my Philly-centric tone of late.  I'll get back to more broad topics soon.  Until then, here is Channel 17, and me, signing off!