Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. Do any of you remember the name Roseanne Barr? She appeared on TV for the first time in 1985 performing her stand-up routine on The Johnny Carson Show. A few years later, her hit TV show Roseanne hit the airways. It ran from Oct. 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Do you remember that show? It was one of most popular shows of its time, and they just recently brought the it back with a record figure of more than 18 million viewers. It is said that if they count DVR recordings, the figure probably exceeded 27 million. I am not sure how they figure all of that out, but with today’s lack of privacy, I have no doubt they can probably tell you how many put the cable on pause while they went to the bathroom. That used to be a joke, but not any longer. I liked the show back then, and I like the show today. The only thing I do not like is the attempt to make it into some kind of political statement. Seems that is all anyone does these days. Everything has to be seen in the prism of Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal and everything between. It is just a television show folks, give it a rest! Sit back, laugh and forget the world for 30 minutes. Speaking of bringing back old shows, I was wondering what other shows would be nice to bring back, updated, of course. These are a few of my ideas with the caveat that I only get basic cable, so I am not aware of all of the shows that are currently available. Anyway, here goes. One show would be Laugh-In; it was funny, made good clean fun about everything, had famous guests and generated a number of phrases…like “Sock it to me!” or “Here comes the judge.” They just seemed to have good time putting on the show. Of course in the same vein would be Hee-Haw. Remember Roy Clark and Buck Owens? “I am a picking, and I am a grinning’, and the bevy of beautiful country girls. Oh my! Then there were the comedy shows about changing lifestyles…Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres…from backwoods to riches…and back to the simple life of the farm. Of course, there were many comedies to choose from, but I would like to see some variety shows come back, like The Carol Burnett Show. She could do it all…sing, dance, comedy and had a wide range of famous guests…and who could ever forget her wonderful supporting cast, especially Tim Conway. I still chuckle when I see him doing his old man routine where he shuffles his feet and gets into all kinds of precarious positions. I was also a big fan of The Twilight Zone and the short stories from Alfred Hitchcock. I can’t leave out any science fiction shows, but there are several out there, and I see where they are bringing back Lost in Space. Remember the robot Robby? ”Danger! Danger! Will Robinson!” with his arms flailing around. Those were the days. So what would you bring back?
CAN YOU PUT THESE FAMOUS QUOTES WITH THE TV SHOW?
“The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”
“This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.”
“Baby…you’re the greatest!”
“Live long and prosper.”
“Dy-no-mite!”
“Good night, John-Boy.”
“Nanu nanu.”
“Did I do that?”
ANSWERS
Wide World of Sports, Mission Impossible, The Honeymooners, Star Trek, Good Times, The Waltons, Mork and Mindy, Family Matters
That is all I have today for your trip down memory lane. As always, be good, do good, plays safe, and remember, there was some good in them “good old days.”
– JR
