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TV was our internet. It was our view of the world as we grew up. Everything from Saturday morning cartoons, prime time soaps, laugh out loud sitcoms and Minnesota mellodrama helped us find our heroes, our villains and our escapes. Join us as we talk about some of the shows that we grew up with like the Brady Bunch, Little House on the Prairie and The Facts of life.
When your done, check out https://www.speakpipe.com/GenX4LifePodcast to ask your questions, suggest a topic or share your Gen X stories.
And of course, have a Yabba Zonkers Zoinks Saturday!
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Transcript
Trivia Question: Nelvana's Elephant Star
00:00:02
Speaker
Okay, so welcome back to Yep, Zunker Zoinks. We're going to get kicked off right here, right now with a trivia question from Trivia Pursuit Totally 80s. So I'm going to ask Tyler, what Nelvana kids show featured a well-dressed elephant who built the happy kingdom of Celestville?
00:00:22
Speaker
ah That would be Babar. That's correct. You know, I loved Babar when I was a kid. Of course. Now I want a sound effect for that because I actually got it right. Wait, hang it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You hear it soon.
00:00:36
Speaker
thank you, everyone. thank And thank you, Novano.
Introduction to Yabba Zunker Zoinks
00:00:40
Speaker
Hey, don't turn that channel. You've reached Yabba Sunker Zoinks, the Saturday morning podcast where your host, Josh Downing, and that's me, will take you on a trip through a Gen X Saturday morning of cereal, toys, cartoons, and so much more.
00:00:56
Speaker
So grab your honeycombs and your favorite Micronaut and sit back and enjoy.
00:01:03
Speaker
Well, you better enjoy because we are back. ah Welcome back to Yabba Zunker's Wings. so My name is Josh. I'm your host and completely unprepared. And with me today is my buddy, Tyler.
00:01:15
Speaker
I am also completely unaware. Well, I'm going to say unaware. Isn't that funny? I am completely unaware and unprepared.
00:01:23
Speaker
Yeah, that would they would be both for sure. That's awesome. ah So welcome back. we're We're excited to be here. We're really here to talk about, you know, those cool Gen X things that we grew up with.
00:01:35
Speaker
And we've got some cool stuff. As you notice, we probably started off by talking a little bit about TV because we're going to talk about some awesome TV shows today because there was so many of them.
Favorite Childhood Non-Cartoon Shows
00:01:48
Speaker
So let's, uh, let's start off by saying like, what, what was your favorite, like non cartoon, non Saturday morning TV show when you were growing up? Oh, wow. I used to, ah used to watch, well, we bought a color TV the family bought a color TV from the Bay at Fairview malls so that we could watch the Sonny and Cher show in color.
00:02:12
Speaker
oh And I remember everything about that night. I was probably three and it was, it was a huge deal, you know? And, you know, I sat on my mom's lap and, you know, we watched Sonny and Cher and other shows at that time.
00:02:28
Speaker
um it was animated, but wait till your father gets home. Love American style. Yes. Uh, then there's like the reruns of like green acres and, um,
00:02:39
Speaker
um i used to love the animated but the winnie the pooh series sorry specials that would come on every now and then and i i i have memories of us watching happy days but i but like the first season but i can't i don't know if i'm really right about that or if it's actually love american style you know what mean yeah pretty young i'm pretty young it's probably a bit of both Yeah, yeah. So i that's my earliest, earliest. I think Bewitched, too.
00:03:10
Speaker
um But they're reruns, right? Compared to like Sonny and Cher. Yeah, you know yeah. Because Bewitched was like 64 to 72. And a long time. yeah Yeah. and That's actually, you know, I'm not really a fan, but that's all that's also an interesting story.
Variety Shows as Family Bonding
00:03:27
Speaker
story of how like she was so done with that series and they're like keep go keep going keep making money yeah exactly what about you You know, there's so much that I, I mean, I was a TV kid.
00:03:43
Speaker
Like you, you could barely drag me away from the TV. And, uh, I loved those variety shows, you know, it was a ah like Flip Wilson and Cara Burnett and, uh, you know, like the singing, the Osmond show and a sunny and share.
00:04:00
Speaker
i just, I loved those, you know, big extravaganza, shows that would come on and some of them were specials and some of them were on you know all the time but my my parents loved those too so there was a lot of that in our house so that's family bonding yeah watching it right yeah it and it was great no there was no smoking in my house so we were pretty oh yeah oh i didn't know that yeah no no smoking yeah my parents quit when uh when we were born actually oh nice so that's cool actually sort of shortly after my sister was born so okay
00:04:33
Speaker
Yeah.
Early Memories of Adult Comedies
00:04:34
Speaker
so it wasn't, it wasn't in our house. Cool. And then as a family, we all started smoking when, you know, we were all ah but but much older, but i'm sure that's a whole other story. But you know, I also, I loved those adult comedies, like all in the family and Bob Newhart.
00:04:51
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I loved those. I didn't always get it, but I loved them. Yeah. We're watching that stuff pretty young, But they were decent quality shows. They weren't silly shows.
00:05:02
Speaker
No, I loved MASH. I have such nostalgia about MASH. Like I can still watch, I've watched the series recently a couple of times all the way through and I just, I can't get enough of that show.
00:05:15
Speaker
I think like Barney Miller and so were the first ones I watched with my family, like my, my parents. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I watched those too and I love them. Yeah. Cause my parents liked those kinds of shows.
00:05:28
Speaker
There was also a lot of cop shows. Um, I was just thinking the Rockford files. I love Rockford files. Why? I was a kid because it was like, it's, it's like, oh Oh, I'm really sleepy, but I kind of want to watch this, but I'm really sleepy. Yeah.
00:05:44
Speaker
Yeah. I loved Quincy. Oh, yes. Remember that one? Yeah. Loved Quincy. i also loved, um I watched Chips. I wasn't a big fan of Chips. No, me neither. But I watched it.
00:05:56
Speaker
Yeah. Puffin Stuff. do you remember that? Puffin Stuff was on Chips. Yes. That's so weird. What a weird crossover. You know what we're forgetting? Mary Tyler Moore. oh yeah of course yeah loved mary tyler moore remember watching the wrap-up of that with my with my parents a big deal right those were tv moments yeah because that show was on for a long time right yeah and then and then in i moved over to watching rhoda loved it and even though there was only like 12 stations back then there was a ton of programs
00:06:31
Speaker
Yeah. ah one of the One of the favorites in our neighborhood was Charlie's Angels. And I'll tell you a funny Charlie's Angels story. Then I'll tell you mine.
00:06:41
Speaker
Okay. Oh, you have one. That's awesome. Yeah. It won't be as funny, but you go ahead. Charlie's Angels. And I've probably mentioned this before, um but I grew up in a neighborhood where i was the only boy.
00:06:54
Speaker
So for the first few years, there was only girls to play with in my neighborhood. And so playing games with a bunch of girls i was just normal for me. i just I didn't know any different.
00:07:06
Speaker
but um we played a lot of, you know, make believe shows. We would actually recreate shows on TV. um We would act out our favorite scenes from, you know, different TV shows and stuff like that. It was a lot of fun.
00:07:20
Speaker
And, uh, Once I got a little bit older, we started doing theater shows for the neighborhood and we would charge like 10 cents and we'd sell Kool-Aid and stuff like that.
00:07:31
Speaker
But we put on these little variety shows and there'd be some music and some dancing. And then we would, you know, we would do a play we'd act out a scene from a, from a TV show.
00:07:42
Speaker
So one of the ones that we did more money Yes, for money, of course. So it was there was two girls that lived down the end of our street and they were pretty much most of our our playtime was with them.
00:07:56
Speaker
um Their names were Shelley and Carolyn. And they don't know, not yet. They were actually they were Charlie's Angels. Oh, OK. They were Chinese angels. They were.
00:08:07
Speaker
Yes, they were Farrah Fawcett and Kate Smith. And so and then my sisters were also like had feathered hair and their hair was dark. So they they were the other angels.
00:08:19
Speaker
um And then I always got to be Bosley and all of the bad guys. So we did we did one of our shows, and in the show we did ah Anthony and Cleopatra, and we did some musical numbers, probably some Sonny and Cher.
00:08:36
Speaker
And i had I had this denim vest. So I wore these great big high-heeled boots and this denim vest, and I was a bad guy and had a mustache.
00:08:47
Speaker
So you knew he was a bad guy. I had to chloroform the angels because everyone got chloroformed in every TV show ever. So i had to chloroform her and then I was supposed to like throw her over my shoulders.
00:09:03
Speaker
And I'm like this tall, gangly kid without a muscle on him. And it was so funny because I went to like you know pick her up and put over my shoulder, and I just couldn't do it. but I just kept like falling over. And so, of course, everybody's laughing their heads off. This is not a comedy.
00:09:19
Speaker
ah Totally. But it was so much fun. like We had such a great time. And i just I finally just kind of walked her off the stage. It's my bad guy. refunds. No refunds.
00:09:32
Speaker
Oh my God. But yeah, we, uh, we loved doing that. We loved playing Charlie's angels. So what was your story? I never watched that show. Um, but because of the toys, I thought they drove around in that pink van with their logo on the side. Wait, they didn't.
00:09:48
Speaker
Do you know what I'm talking about? I had that van. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like, well, that's cool. The van's cool. Right. So maybe the show's not so bad. Right. But like, I was pretty young and I remember a babysitter coming over And I was channel flicking.
00:10:02
Speaker
And right before she walked in the room, it clicked over to Charlie's Angels. And she started teasing me. She's like, oh, you watch Charlie's Angels. You're in love with Charlie's Angels. I caught you. And I was so upset. I'm like, no, no, I don't. I don't love them. i don't watch the show.
00:10:19
Speaker
I was so embarrassed. Yeah. Oh my God. That's awesome. and You know, I can't be teased, right? Like can't, I can't stand it. Trust me. He cannot be teased. So it started at a very young age. oh I can ditch it out, but I can't take it. That is so funny.
00:10:35
Speaker
And friends, friends, I can't believe i just said that. These kids I used to babysit. They had the Mego toys and everything. Oh, that's pretty nice. You know what i mean? Cause they had, they had the van and they had the dolls and you know, I'm like, Oh, that's pretty cool. You know what i mean?
00:10:51
Speaker
At that point I'm a little older, but anyway, it was certainly ah phenomenon. Like I, I guess that was, Well, I don't know. like I'm trying to think, like why wasn't The Six Million Dollar Man as popular?
00:11:06
Speaker
you know Why wasn't Bionic Woman as popular? Because those were the shows I was watching. But for some reason, Charlie's Angels, you know that and Wonder Woman, seemed to blow away the bionics.
00:11:17
Speaker
Yeah, isn't that weird? Because I i was absolutely like nuts over Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. Yeah, it was great, right? Yeah. And I used to play with the action figures at Kmart.
00:11:30
Speaker
Oh, that's so funny. Put them back. I forgot to have them, but I got to play with them. It came. i I was fortunate. I did have them and I had mascotron. You were mascotron. No. Oh yes. Yes. He was like the male fem bot. I guess you could say.
00:11:44
Speaker
Yes. And face came off. Oscar Goldman with his exploding briefcase. Yes. used to make that briefcase explode all the time. Cause I was just like, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. Well, that and chloroform, right? Yeah. Oh my gosh.
00:11:56
Speaker
Like parents are probably thinking hilarious that little kids are always playing chloroform. They're probably like, where are you getting this from? From every show ever. Every single show. It was either quicksand and quicksand or chloroform. Yeah, quicksand. Oh, no. I was terrified of quicksand.
00:12:13
Speaker
That's so funny. When we'd go camping, we would play quicksand all the time. Well, remember that that movie? was called Blood Beach. so what it was called? Yes. I saw that a young age at the cottage of all places on the beach.
00:12:25
Speaker
And so I was like, oh my God, there's quicksand everywhere, everywhere. Alligators everywhere. Sharks everywhere. Oh my God. That's so funny. Yeah.
00:12:36
Speaker
I also was
Nostalgia for Brady Bunch and Partridge Family
00:12:37
Speaker
a big fan of the Brady Bunch. Still am. I think it's, it was a great show. It's so nostalgic for me. It's funny. Like I'm more of a Partridge family person, but you know, how can you not love the Brady Bunch? Like everything about that family was perfect.
00:12:53
Speaker
Yeah. You know? Well, except that they didn't have a band until they became animated. Yeah. Well, no, hold on. There was the Silver Potters. Oh, yeah, that's true. Yeah, yeah. The Do Re Mi episode.
00:13:07
Speaker
But, yeah, like, if you didn't watch the show, you would probably think it was one of goody-goody shows. I'm like, no, it really wasn't. It was pretty real life. Kids were always getting in trouble and, you know. They were doing decent fun things after hours.
00:13:20
Speaker
like Yeah. no Not wearing their glasses. Yeah. So funny. Oh my gosh. And going to see ah Davy Jones record live in the studio.
00:13:33
Speaker
Yes. That was so risque back then. Don Drysdale coming to visit. ah loved that show. and i have to say to you.
00:13:44
Speaker
i'm I'm sorry. Remember B.B. Fellini? Was that her name? Oh, yes. yes think She wanted the big the the big compact building. power power Powder puff?
00:13:55
Speaker
Powder puff building. Or the lipstick.
00:14:00
Speaker
She had to have it. right He can do anything. Mikey Darling. That's so awesome. There's such great memories of that show. Just don't lose those drafts of mine in the tube at the amusement park. Don't get them messed up with my Winnie the Pooh poster.
00:14:20
Speaker
Oh my God. And i have I have to say too, I absolutely loved... the movies that came after the the the parody movies from the 90s okay first of all sorry i have to say thank you for saying going out without your glasses because that's the funniest thing you've ever said and i had just met josh right before those movies came out ah so i don't think two people could have enjoyed a movie more together and i think we just talked about this not that long ago but
00:14:53
Speaker
going to see the sequel with you on yeah queen street and the opening scene with the dig okay so if you know it it's a very jurassic park and it's you know it's shot from above and they're frantically digging up something in the earth and josh just casually turns to me and says it's the horse and i start laughing like crazy and then it is the horse i can't remember the last time i laughed so hard in a theater and it's just one of those magic friends moments you know oh my god like the first one the first movie is incredible and then the second one but but my favorite memory is that
00:15:37
Speaker
moment when you said it's the horse i'm like it's the horse oh my god i can still laugh at that and yeah it's it's and the was it the first one had the opening scene with the partridge bus going by oh that when they're at the school later yes and the partridge bus goes by yeah get crammed with everything oh my god when Marsha finally comes downstairs for her date and she's got like her hair like as an itch you know I'm ready for my date laughing Like, so funny.
00:16:08
Speaker
You know the guy who plays the real dad, quote-unquote, in the sequel? Yeah, yeah. What's his face? He played Johnny Quest. He was the voice of Johnny Quest. Oh, no way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, Tim Matheson.
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, that's that's him playing the dad the second one. and So highly recommended. Did you ever see the third one? the one that was like... Brady for president. Yeah.
00:16:30
Speaker
It's okay. I have seen it. Yes. Oh, you have? Okay. It's okay. It's okay. The thing that I think that was saddest for me was that they replaced all the kids because they're obviously they're all in their 40s now. Yes. And it was just going to be a little bit too surreal.
00:16:47
Speaker
It have been funny if they only replaced James.
00:16:52
Speaker
Or Cindy, because she got replaced in the real show. Yeah. Or later in the brit the bride Brady Brides. It's like, oh, Marsha, you're so pretty. Oh, and Jan. Isn't Marsha pretty? Yeah.
00:17:06
Speaker
Like, that's so funny. that's Sherwood laughing at his stuff, right? Good for him. So if you haven't seen the Brady Bunch movies from the then come over and we're going to watch them right now. Exactly. Five stars from both of us. So that's 10 stars right there. I think we both had them on Laserdisc.
00:17:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. no Yeah. And, and I got, when we went to see the first one, I got the ah promo lunchbox. account t-shirt shirt Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And a poster.
00:17:33
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Cause we got to go to the, the, the sneak preview of that. Yeah. Yes. Good times. perks of the good old days. Yeah, that that was fun.
00:17:43
Speaker
That was funny. And if you knew the show, then it was that first movie was a gift. Yeah. And the second one will always be the horse on Queen Street. And worse i will just never stop laughing at that because that is the funniest thing that's ever happened to me in a movie theater.
00:17:59
Speaker
But I also love that they found the tiki. oh of course. Hawaiian Oliver and the Cranjola. God. Yeah. So amazing. So funny. I guess it's easy to to write it when you do that, right? yeah Or when, sorry, everybody, or when when they're going by in their Hawaiian boats, you know?
00:18:20
Speaker
this is Brady
00:18:26
Speaker
like go like it's so funny it's just so funny I can't believe it so brilliant and we've both actually re-watched the movies recently yeah yeah they're that good trust my gosh they really are i and I'd like to think that they're funny even if you don't know the show You know what I mean? And, and they snuck in before the seventies was cool again. Yes. So you could laugh at those Brady movies for being so seventies.
00:18:52
Speaker
Yes. then pretty shortly afterwards, it was all back again. so so crazy. So awesome though. All right. So back to memory lane. Did you watch different strokes?
00:19:03
Speaker
I did. i wasn't crazy about it, but I, I'm sure I never missed an episode. I watched all those shows. Oh, yeah sorry. Can I tell the story? Is it okay? Absolutely. That's what we're here for So in 1980, March break, 1980, me and my parents went to l LA for vacation.
Live Taping Experience: Facts of Life
00:19:21
Speaker
And when we left Universal Studios, they were giving out tickets and you could go see different strokes, facts of life. Hello, Larry or real people.
00:19:33
Speaker
And I was all excited. I'm like, can we go to a taping? And my parents were like, sure. and So i picked I picked Facts of Life, which was only maybe like seven episodes in at that time, but I'd i'd been watching it, you know, here at home.
00:19:46
Speaker
And so we went to a taping of the Facts of Life. So cool. Yeah, it was the one where a flood hits Eastland and they have the stables in Blair's horse.
00:19:59
Speaker
And when we were outside waiting to go in, the horse was there, like almost in line with us. Right. And it's like, OK, horse, whatever. Right. But the horse was used in that episode. Chestnut, that was his name.
00:20:10
Speaker
So cool. Yeah. So there was a little Molly Ringwald, you know. I love Molly and all the other kids. So that was, that was a really cool thing for me at that age to see something like that. And I remember my parents saying, why didn't you choose real people? don't they said that. Maybe they said, why didn't you choose different strokes? different stroke but If I'd chosen anything, it would have been hello, Larry. Yeah. I did like that show, but yeah, those comedies were okay.
00:20:37
Speaker
you know Yeah, yeah. i I loved Facts of Life. i thought that was really cool. Never knowing they would go on for like 10 years or however long they did. uh looks they had nine years nine solid years yeah i watched one day at a time i liked that um yeah i like trapper john md yeah yeah that was good too because it was once again it was because so good writing it was good storytelling did you ever see the one with the vampires did you see that episode oh i'm sure i did but i don't remember
00:21:08
Speaker
It's kind of interesting because like as a kid, I was terrified to watch that episode. Right. But it was, was an, it was a deficiency that some guy had he was going after people and he wanted blood.
00:21:21
Speaker
And I'm like, this is happening on Trapper John. So it must be real. It must be real. And I was like, so in my head, I was like, Oh, is that why vampires want blood? Because it's some kind of weird deficiency. You know what i mean?
00:21:32
Speaker
It was a really weird episode, but stuck in my head for sure. That is so weird. Yeah. Yeah. You're listening to Opposite Presoites, the Gen X4 Live podcast.
00:21:46
Speaker
It's okay. i just sneaked those in. so No, it's good. I was going to say, like and the series like Good Times, Cheekw and the Man, yes yeah so like they were all important shows.
00:21:59
Speaker
But they were huge. you Loved them. Good times. I loved good times. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I never missed episode. Penny was getting ironed by her mom. Oh, my God. That freaked me out. I was so freaked out. Yeah. Because I loved Penny. Like, I wanted Penny to be my friend. Like, I really, she was so cool.
00:22:16
Speaker
Who would do that to a child, right? That was really scary. Yeah, it was so scary. I just remember her standing in the doorway, you know. Yeah. Yeah, don't know. That was. ah Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:27
Speaker
Yeah. And then um the Jeffersons loved the Jeffersons. I did love the Jeffersons too. yeah ah That was a great show. Were you sorry? Go ahead.
00:22:39
Speaker
i always thought it was fascinating that they had a bar in their building. Yes. you Like that really is a deluxe apartment. Like, Oh, it was very deluxe. All this stuff downstairs, you know, and you had a maid. Yeah. Three bedroom, ah three bedroom apartment. Seriously. Like, come on.
00:22:55
Speaker
With the Mother's Kitchen ever. Did the mother live there? Yes, she moved in. yeah yeah yeah Everybody lived there. yeah yeah it's That's when everything was a spinoff, right? Everything. Did you watch Tabitha? Did you ever watch that?
00:23:11
Speaker
i I think I did for a little bit, but I was not interested. Or Spider-Man. Did you watch Spider-Man? Yes, I watched s Spider-Man. And the Love Bug TV show. Did you watch that? that. Yes, I watched that too.
00:23:23
Speaker
Yep. Now, here's a question. Josh, did you ever watch Greatest American Hero? Did i um I did. do you have something you wish to share about the Greatest American Hero? No.
00:23:40
Speaker
So here's the thing. I've never been able to match up the timeline with the greatest American hero and the episode that I was in.
00:23:52
Speaker
So I'm thinking it was, so after the series ended, they went back and they did a movie. to I think they were because they wanted to reboot the series or they wanted to he wanted to have a like ah like a female Greatest American Hero.
00:24:11
Speaker
And I think that's what I was in. So I was working at a restaurant in downtown Vancouver. ah was a restaurant called Fog and Suds. was right down by ah English Bay Beach.
00:24:22
Speaker
Awesome restaurant. I was the bar manager. um we we had some like 250 different kinds of beer. Amazing. So much fun. It was like a couple of years of just amazing fun at work.
00:24:34
Speaker
And one time they came to the, to the restaurant, these people came to the restaurant and said, we're filming a TV show and we'd like to ah film at your, your patio.
00:24:46
Speaker
And if some of your staff want to be like, you know, wait staff extras, we can do that as well. And I'm like, ah yeah, cause I was still an aspiring, you know, actor at the time. And I thought, this is really cool. This my big break.
00:24:59
Speaker
So I had no idea what was going on. It just seemed really fast. And so I was basically my, my thing was that I had to take this tray of food and walk past a scene and deliver the food to a couple sitting on the patio.
00:25:17
Speaker
And then I would kind of smile at them and then I would turn around and go back again. And it was, I was kind of walking through these two guys who were seriously talking. And one of them was William Katz, the guy from greatest American hero. And And I'm just like, oh, my God, that's the star. He's the star of the show. Hopefully he's looking at me going, that's an amazing actor serving those cold hot dogs to those people.
00:25:40
Speaker
So that's what I was serving them. It was just hot dogs on a styrofoam plate. So funny. They were just they were in plain bun.
00:25:51
Speaker
I'm just like, are you serious? We're in like a real restaurant. Like, you want me to go get some real food that we can use? No, no, they were good. They just had a couple of cold hot dogs and some plain buns and a couple of cups of soda. And I'm like, it's a pretty fancy patio.
00:26:06
Speaker
So I don't know if these people would actually going in there and having soda in a styrofoam cup. But anyways, I wasn't there to direct the show. and was just there to be in it. And i I could have sworn it was greatest American hero.
00:26:19
Speaker
i was sure that's what it was. I didn't read my contract. I got my $35 for being an extra and I was thrilled. And then I never heard about it again.
00:26:30
Speaker
So maybe it was a pilot. Well, I think because the research that I found that that lines up with that was the the movie that they made. Like a made-for-TV movie. Yeah, it was a made-for-TV movie. It was kind of supposed to relaunch a new c new series, and then it just didn't happen.
00:26:49
Speaker
But i was I was so convinced that I was in Greatest American Hero, so I told everybody. But then it was just not there. There was no Greatest American Hero. When you were saying, you know this is my big break, you know what I was thinking of?
00:27:03
Speaker
Paging Mr. Herman. Exactly. Mr. Herman. that That would have been my big break right there. but Raging Mr. Downing. Raging Mr. Downing.
00:27:17
Speaker
Ah, Pee Wee. Gave us some great laughs. So yeah, that was my that was my claim to fame. I think that's awesome. TV series that never happened. But it was it was definitely William Catt.
00:27:30
Speaker
Yeah. oh Two of them were in suits. They were having a very serious conversation. And almost felt like I was walking between them. like it was so Like I was interrupted, but I wasn't. I actually walked on the inside. So I was definitely in the shot.
00:27:44
Speaker
It was the only scene that he agreed to be in. and then he was back on a plane that afternoon. Yes, right back down to L.A. With a warm hot dog. Yeah, exactly.
00:27:55
Speaker
at least with some ketchup on it yeah or something. Yeah, it was just it was weird. That was my first sort of TV experience. And I didn't really like it that much.
00:28:07
Speaker
I know that later on, i i ended up on couple of movie sets, helping out and doing some movie set stuff because Vancouver was the big scene back then. sure And I was like, oh, this is really boring. You stand around doing nothing and then everybody gets called out of the rain for like a 30 second shot and then you got to set it all up again. And four hours later, we do it again.
00:28:29
Speaker
I was like, wow, this is not exciting and glamorous. I've always thought that's got to be a drag. You know, yeah the director says, great. Now we're going to do that seven more times. Yes. You know, and it's actually exhausting for everybody. it is. It was draining.
00:28:46
Speaker
Yeah. One movie set that I was on, i was working with the the makeup artist and we were there all freaking night and it was a pouring rain, cold Vancouver night. Yeah.
00:28:58
Speaker
And we were sitting in this little sort of a little hallway of a weird building, just waiting until we were needed. And it was like, yeah, we'd go out and she'd powder somebody's nose for two seconds.
00:29:10
Speaker
And then we would just go sit in this little corner for then you know another four hours. It was so dreadful. And no cell phones and no internet. No. Oh, yeah. No, those things weren't even invented yet. Oh, my goodness. And I didn't even get an Oscar award for my makeup.
00:29:25
Speaker
Yeah. So it was disappointing. oh So, yeah, but that's a whole other story. But i I really had wanted to be in one of these amazing TV shows that I loved so much.
00:29:38
Speaker
Were you a Happy Days fan?
Challenges of Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley
00:29:40
Speaker
Not really. i don't mind the first season, um but after that, no. And then it was like, is this the 80s or the 50s? I can't tell.
00:29:52
Speaker
So we were watching an episode of Laverne and Shirley the other day. same thing. And I'm like, you know, it's kind of like a weird drinking game because when an episode shows up, you got to you had to guess really quickly. Is it the seventy s ah fifty s the 50s, the 60s or the 80s? Yeah.
00:30:07
Speaker
Yeah. wish I wish those shows had been more true to their era. You know what I mean? Yeah. Instead, they felt like they were trying to make them modern all the time. It's like, no, no, don't forget. this is a period show.
00:30:19
Speaker
Yeah. And that's exactly what happened was they stopped being period shows. Like Laverne and Shirley was this awesome fifties show that very quickly just turned into a late seventies show.
00:30:30
Speaker
Right. Yeah. Especially when they went to California. Yeah. Yeah. That was it. Like, yeah, it was, yeah it was like 10 years, 20 years had passed. I'm sure they figure, well, we have a ah successful show here.
00:30:41
Speaker
How can we sort of downplay the era and just you have a successful show, you know? Well, yeah. And and how do you open up your audience, right? Yeah. Probably trying to to get young people who are like, I don't know what this weird show is. But now that it's current, oh, look, it's a cool current show.
00:30:57
Speaker
Right? Yeah. Yeah, that was weird. Did they have spinoffs? Oh, sorry. Oh, spinoff from Laverne Shirley. I think there was a short-lived spinoff with... Like Leonard and Squiggy?
00:31:12
Speaker
No, I think it was her Shirley's boyfriend from the pizza parlor. Oh, the big ragu. Carmine? Yeah. I think he had a short-lived spinoff. the Oh, Happy Day said Joanie Loves Chachi, right? Yes, which I did not watch.
00:31:26
Speaker
No, no, because again, no, and we're too old that point for that garbage. Right. And I didn't understand why Ralph's looked like medieval times.
00:31:38
Speaker
Like, is that something we did in the late fifties, early sixties? Maybe we did. don't know, but I'm like, what did you say love boat? Yes, Love Boat. Yes, I did watch Love Boat faithfully.
00:31:50
Speaker
And then I would watch Fantasy Island after that and it would always scare me. Yes, I loved Fantasy Island. That's another the game we used to play. You really? i said Yeah. like yeah we We would love playing Fantasy Island.
00:32:03
Speaker
And i of course, was you know Mr. Rourke. I love that joke about, you know, tattoo my fantasy is to see you drive over the cliff in a 1981 Chrysler Cordova. Yeah. oh my god that's brilliant that's so awesome it's the way he would look so concerned you know everybody's had their fantasy revealed and then he would just stand back and go andnna i know made their money make it come true was he in control of their fate it's too scary the way he was like he was so judgy i'm like but everybody's innocent and because i would be sleepy at that point know it would be it would be more scary because i'm tired
00:32:49
Speaker
Yes. But I don't remember really anything about it. I remember like the reveals at the beginning of every episode, but no episode actually stuck in my head.
00:33:00
Speaker
No, it it wasn't, it wasn't long. It was like Love Boat. It was really just about the celebrity. Like what, who's, who's going to be on the show? Like that's what was cool. Yeah. Yeah. And then Love Boat started getting those movies. do you remember that? Yes. Those specials. Remember the one where there was a ah storm and they got stuck on an island? Do you remember that?
00:33:18
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. But then they had the sad one where they got rid of Julie. I don't remember that. They shipped Julie off to like Australia or New Zealand or something.
00:33:30
Speaker
Replaced her with Vicky. Yeah. vicki do yeah exactly no no no did you watch mod with my parents yeah mod is another one that i didn't get it but i just i loved the people i just i guess it was the drama that i found so interesting My friend Scott has always been jokes about Walter. They'll just say to me, Walter. Walter.
00:33:55
Speaker
Walter. awesome. And then what's your face? Who was the daughter? What was her, what's the actress's name? did you andbarbo Thank you. She went on to do voices on, um, Batman, the animated series. Yes. I'm like, she's so good at this. Yeah. I wish she had done more.
00:34:14
Speaker
Yeah. She was good. Um, did you watch Mork and Mindy? Yeah, i didn't I didn't like it. That's a Happy Days spinoff. There you go That's so funny. oh yeah You're totally right. Yeah, it was kind of like, i got that Robin Williams was funny, but I didn't care for the show.
00:34:32
Speaker
um yeah had the photo novel of the first oh cool the first show. Isn't that funny? remember everything about getting it that day. But yeah, and I wasn't really a fan. but No. But he was he was funny. like i have to admit he was funny. Yeah.
00:34:46
Speaker
Yeah, i was I was not as enamored with him as I think a lot of people were. i i didn't really think I found him funny. you were Forgive me, you were older than that. Yes, absolutely. I'm still young enough where I'm like, you know.
00:35:01
Speaker
Everything's funny. And buying the photo novel. Yeah, totally. Because that's what you did back then, right? You always bought the photo novel of everything. i have I have the photo novel of Big Top Pee Wee.
00:35:12
Speaker
What? Yeah. There was a photo novel of Big Top Pee Wee? Yeah. No but You know that movie's not so bad? It's not bad. It's really It's really not. Yeah. it's It's not as good as the first movie, but it's because it's not as, it's not as wacky. Right.
00:35:29
Speaker
It's more of a, well, let's just put him in a realistic situation. The egg salad sandwich in her hair is one of the best gags ever. When he whips that sandwich away, like that is so funny and when it's falling on its face like my god like that's just two minutes i just i lost it in the theater in that scene i just lost oh funny so yeah okay wait a minute why were we talking about peewee just because it was just a peewee moment i don't know i can't remember something we were talking about
00:36:04
Speaker
because we were talking and we're talking about mark and mindy yeah right how did and about um how he wasn't funny yeah something led to something i can't remember now everybody who's listening is like you just said this i'm like did we yeah oh dear well anyway when you get to be gen x age this is what happens exactly and lucky that we remember enough to talk about
00:36:30
Speaker
um the odd couple that was another one of my favorites oh taxi that's what we used to watch sorry oh taxi yes was in my head sorry no no uh odd couple no i didn't watch that no um i thought it was weird because when i was little i was like why are they living together if they don't get along You know what i mean? It kind of bothered me, you know?
00:36:51
Speaker
Yeah. um But that was just too young. Right. And yeah, see, love taxi. Taxi. Yeah. Taxi. Loved cheers. ah Yeah. that's getting later years.
00:37:03
Speaker
but that's um that's getting later years What's so funny for me is um ah ah years later, not not before I saw the TV show of The Odd Couple, I watched the movie.
00:37:17
Speaker
And i was like, it's so different. Like they really, really kind of went to a bit of a different way for the TV show. And I guess it's because you have to sustain it. But eat the the play is so much darker.
00:37:31
Speaker
Yeah. Well, it but movies. It deals with a very... Yeah. Oh, totally. Movies seventies were darker anyways, but the, the play and the movie based on the play was, was a much darker theme because it deals with, with suicide and, you know, an aging and relationships.
00:37:54
Speaker
And it was, it was very odd. And then they, you know, and yes, it's funny, but it's Neil Simon funny. And, uh, When, when I was watching the show, i just, I just loved, but once again, it was two amazing characters.
00:38:09
Speaker
And as somebody who was always watching everything, like, you know, I want to be that when I grew up, I want to be able to do that. I was always looking for, you know, the kind of actors and the kind of shows that I think that I could be in.
00:38:20
Speaker
And I thought that was that was a good show. I liked that one. And sorry to interject. We were talking about photo novels. Oh, that's what it was. Photo novels. And I said I have the peewee. Yes, yes. Here we go. All right.
00:38:34
Speaker
Redemption, redemption. ah Somebody took the memory pills. I didn't really like, oh my God, Tony Radley? Am I saying the name right? No, Tony Randall. Tony Randall, thank you. We're talking about Odd Couple, right? Yeah, yeah. Because like I love Roddy McDowell, but I didn't like Tony Randall.
00:38:54
Speaker
And two are kind of the same. Yeah. But Roddy McDowell was everything for me. But Tony Randall, I don't know. I guess I just took the character maybe too seriously and just thought he's just a miserable person.
00:39:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:08
Speaker
Yeah. and And I liked Jack Klugman and then I liked him when I watched Quincy. Right. He just seemed like a a normal kind of guy. And I liked that. We obviously both watched the Partridge family.
00:39:22
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Yes. Like, yeah. Like that show for me is pretty important, you know, because they did exactly what I would have loved to have done at that age, you know,
00:39:35
Speaker
Have a family that was a band. Yes. Right. Every family should be a band. Well, exactly. That was awesome. And the funny thing is I love that SNL parody.
00:39:48
Speaker
Oh my God. the Partridges and the Bradys. The best. If you love the music of both shows, then it's like that skit is so... funny like it's just like i that was one night where i watched like four times in a row because i just it's just so wonderful story it's so great you know every time it comes up i send it to everybody i'm like oh my god watch this again you couldn't watch that like i mean sorry i was gonna say whoever wrote that is obviously a fan because that's not a very throwaway skit like it's very specifically written right
00:40:23
Speaker
But it's just so funny. And I love how, what's her name? ah I want to say Susan Day. I got the wrong name. Yeah, yeah, Susan Day. that the right name? Oh, okay. It's actually in it. Yes. you know, so wonderful.
00:40:34
Speaker
Yes. Well, that's why they wrote that skit, right? Because they always try to write something that you've done if you're one of the guest stars. and She can't get away from it. No. But I'm like, where did they get those outfits?
00:40:45
Speaker
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. So amazing. Anyway. If you know't you haven't seen the skit, yeah you got to go find it. It's SNL. It's the Brady's versus Partridge family.
00:40:57
Speaker
Probably my favorite SNL moment of all time. It's just so good. it's the best. Hey gang.
00:41:08
Speaker
So awesome. All right. Let's talk about your favorite, your favorite sitcom three's company. Oh, God. hate that show. Oh, my God. See, and I loved that show.
00:41:20
Speaker
ah right. So hold on. So I have to confess when there was a time when when Josh and I were living together and Josh Ritter died.
00:41:32
Speaker
And I went to Josh's bedroom and i knocked on the door and I woke him up to tell him that is something I felt so bad about my life. So bad. you were not You weren't cranky or anything, but you were I'm trying to sleep here. Exactly. Well, I just thought you should know Josh. And then later I was like, why did I do that?
00:41:53
Speaker
That's so funny. Oh God. Trust me. i'm so upset about that. I'll be upset about that. my Let it go. Let it go. It's all good. but yeah i know I couldn't stand that show. I didn't like anybody in it. um I couldn't stand how every episode was about a misunderstanding.
00:42:09
Speaker
but that's the whole idea. Of course, i don't I didn't mind Suzanne Somers, but she was only in, what, three episodes? Yeah. so And that whole thing was so dumb.
00:42:19
Speaker
Oh, yeah. yeah Yeah, that should never have gone that way. Be the actors, right? Yeah, exactly. like You have a hit. Don't screw it up. find a way to compromise everybody, you know, and keep going.
00:42:32
Speaker
Right. But no, no, I was not a fan of that show. No, I, think I loved funds was kind of annoying too. and I love Don Knotts. See, I love Don Knotts, but not in that role. Yeah, i I think what what ended up being funnier was when they brought in what's his name to play Mr. Roper and when he would just give those kind of smug looks at the camera. Yeah, yeah. Like, I get it. Like, like it's funny.
00:43:01
Speaker
So they got their own show. Yes, the the Ropers had their own show. i watched it for a while, mostly because of her, because she was so brilliantly funny.
00:43:13
Speaker
I guess that show didn't last long, right? No, it I think it only had the one season. And then they never went back? Nope. That's a shame when things like that happen. Yeah, it it just didn't have any ratings. I think it just didn't have enough pull.
00:43:26
Speaker
Yeah. um Here's my John Ritter story. Okay. Oh, is that Josh Ritter? Sorry. No, yeah, you're saying Josh. It's John Ritter. Sorry, John Ritter. um So when I was in Vancouver, I was working at a clothing store downtown um on Robson Street, which is the fashion district in Vancouver, and where all of the movie and TV stars would hang out and go for dinner.
Encounter with John Ritter
00:43:49
Speaker
um you know, nice area. And I was working in a clothing store. And I saw a lot of, I met a lot of TV and movie stars in that particular clothing store because it was very popular and uh one night um all sudden john ritter just came bursting through the door and uh he kind of stops and looks at me he just looked so flustered and he was like can i just go sit in your back room for a bit Oh my gosh. And I'm like, absolutely. Are you okay?
00:44:19
Speaker
And, uh, he said, yeah, yeah, I'm okay. i'm just a little flustered. Some people were harassing me on the street and I just want to until they go away. And I'm like, oh my God, absolutely. Take all the time you need. So he went and he sat down in her office and I'm like, oh my God, John Ritter's in my office. It's just a misunderstanding.
00:44:37
Speaker
Totally. But, ah you know, I went back and said, you know, do you need a bottle of water or anything? And he's like, no, I'm good. I just want to sit and catch my breath for a few minutes. He was really flustered. Like, I don't know what was going on. but I'm like, you know, do you want me to call anybody? He's like, no, no, I'm totally good. I really appreciate you. Just let me sit back here for a few minutes.
00:44:58
Speaker
And so I just let him sit back carefully. He came out and he's like, yep, i'm I'm good. Thank you so much for your kindness. I really appreciate it. I'm like, yeah, that's awesome. You know, all the best for you. And that was it. That was my my John Ritter story.
00:45:12
Speaker
i wonder if if there was some bad timing, like if there was a specific crowd out on the street, you know, like maybe something had just gotten out or something and for him to come along at that time.
00:45:23
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know. It was weird because he was by himself. I mean, a lot of times, you know, when, when these actors and that are working, they usually have people with them. Yeah. and He was just by himself. I guess he just wanted to go do some shopping or have some dinner or something. And some people were just shouting at him. So, well, guess somebody followed him in.
00:45:42
Speaker
No, they didn't come in, which is good. Which is good. I would be sorry. don't think you ever told me that. oh yeah that's weird that's one of my that's one of my classic stories wow next time i'll tell you about how i met yes and next i'll tell you next time i'll tell you all about how i met almost all the cast of 30 something oh that's because almost all of them came into that same store that's hilarious yeah so i sold huge i know i sold uh um well i sold some stuff to melanie mayron and uh i sold some shoes to patricia weddig for her husband and uh yeah yeah it was really cool that's wild and what size does he take i don't know 30 something huge what's the biggest shoe you have like yeah we got those
00:46:30
Speaker
and Awesome. Any other TV shows that you were, Oh yeah, you know what? I have to, sorry. I got to go back and just quickly talk about the Waltons because I loved the Waltons. I never saw it.
00:46:42
Speaker
So bizarre. yeah like I was aware of it of course, but no, I never saw that. I never watched the little house. Oh yeah. Little House on the Prairie loved that show. no It's, uh, it's live on Roku. So every, every time I get a chance, I'll try to watch one of the episodes. of little hatenburgry I watched Little House years later, like in high school, because people were always joking about how that series ended.
00:47:04
Speaker
so i was trying to catch the the season end or the series ending because i just couldn't believe it and and we were laughing because everybody laughing at my at my seeing it for the first time you know what i mean not knowing what was going to happen and they're all rolling around laughing at me freaking out i'm like oh my god anyway spoilers i won't say what happens in the last episode but if you know you know wow what a way to be introduced what But like what an ending.
00:47:29
Speaker
i know, right? It was a weird ending. It was very bizarre. I think it's kind of cool, but kind of like it's unfortunate ending, but it's just like, my gosh. Wow.
00:47:41
Speaker
Yeah. The show got weird in its later years because everybody was growing up. So all the kids were now growing up and the kids were sort of the heart of that show. Yeah. So as they were growing up, it's like, well, what do we do with them now?
00:47:53
Speaker
So they were replacing the kids with new kids. So now, you know, Laura has kids and now, you know, the neighbors adopted some more kids and they were always adopting.
00:48:06
Speaker
There's a lot of kids to adopt, you know, in, in the Minnesota. it must have been on for quite a while. Is that where it takes place? Minnesota? It's yeah. It's somewhere in the Midwest. I think it was Minnesota.
00:48:17
Speaker
Yeah. And, and hills and fields. Yeah. That look like California. Yeah, exactly. But, uh, yeah, so they just, everybody just kept adopting more children and then they would just do the same storylines.
00:48:31
Speaker
with the new adopted children. I'm like, well, that's getting kind of dull. Wow. That's really interesting. I didn't know that. And we didn't talk about Hulk and we didn't talk about Battlestar Galactica. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. We didn't talk about Battlestar. Yeah.
00:48:43
Speaker
Loved Battlestar. the But what we can save that for this when we talk about sci-fi. Okay. Did you watch that 70s, not that 70s show. I watched that. Yeah.
00:48:54
Speaker
Did you watch that superheroes live action special that was on in the seventy s yes where it was like the whole justice league and yeah all the villains i was so excited i was little to watch that i just could not wait for that thing to hit tv i i don't remember it that well but i do remember that there was something and i watched it for sure i think it's called legends of the superheroes yeah i have the dvd it's like a variety special right and they said it was yeah and that's awesome Okay.
00:49:25
Speaker
So we're, we're going to wrap. We don't even have time for any more games. Like that's it We've talked so much about so many awesome TV shows. um'm also hook Yes, know. And here we'll do the buzzer for you. Just, just for.
00:49:39
Speaker
Man. should have been a. Oh, you want that one? I feel I deserve that one more. Well, you did a great job ah you believe on There you go. leave on a good note. Thank you, student audience.
00:49:56
Speaker
Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for subscribing and hanging on. ah We're going to have some new episodes soon. So you know keep checking back Saturday morning.
00:50:08
Speaker
And if you've got stuff you want to talk about, stuff you want to ask, please reach out to our um ah social media. I've got speak pipes. If you want to leave me a like a minute and a half, a little message about something cool that you grew up with in Gen X, then please do that.
00:50:24
Speaker
So other than that, um have an amazing Saturday and have a Yabba Zonker Zoinks weekend and we'll talk to you soon. You've been listening to Yabba Zonker Zoinks, a Gen X for Life podcast.
00:50:38
Speaker
Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any exciting episodes. You can reach out on Instagram at Gen X for Life podcast. That's Gen X number four life underscore podcast or send an email at Gen X for Life podcast, all one word, at gmail.com.
00:50:54
Speaker
I'd love to hear about your favorite Gen X Saturday morning memory, maybe a favorite toy or the cereal you just couldn't wait to tear in into. Until then, have a yabba zonker zoinks day, and I'll be back bright and early next Saturday morning.