Friday, January 12, 2007

Since I Didnt Do Step, Let's Talk About TV

Forgot to bring my gym bag for lunchtime step yesterday, despite packing it in the morning.

So, let's continue with the vintage TV programes, since there were so many comments yesterday. Rather than replying one by one.

For me, some of the most memorable moments in childhood TV (Lionheart, you mentioned you loved bugs bunny cartoons? tweety bird ah?) are :

1. Mary Ingalls going blind....(Little House on Prairie. And yes, isn't Nellie Olsen just the most wonderful villain, but her mother!!!! Wasn't there an episode when she was wheelchair bound and got pushed into a lake?) I recall everyone talking about it, and the amount of tears gathered could have flooded Johor.

2. Jamie Sommers accident....that appearance in $6m Man, subsequently made her into the bionic woman. I used to LOVE watching episodes when both she and Steve Austin appeared together.

3. Ultraman "Dies"....like the man of steel, our friend also needs the sun one. Cant exactly remember the details, but I remember being very sad.

4. Combat - One episode when this French woman is desperately looking for her baby. English and German troops lay down their arms for a temporary truce to help her find MON BABY...
turns out she was delusional, and the baby had died years ago. I also remember watching the twilight zone show where Vic Morrow was killed.... (they didnt show THAT lah).

5. Dallas - Of course, who shot JR!! Also when Jock Ewing dies (coz he karked in real life). And then they replaced Barbara Bel Geddes with that awful Donna Reed for a year. Lost interest in the series after Bobby's death was a dream sequence. That season when Bobby was dead was very interesting....with Barbara Carreras as the villain.

6. Dynasty - Crystal hosts a reception, and Alexis picks up a watercress sandwich....and says, "Crystal, watercress are for giraffes". And who can forget the massacre in Moldavia. That gorgeous Catherine Oxenberg and her pretentious accent. Couldnt stand the new Fallon Carrington. Pamela Sue Martin, of Nancy Drew fame, was the original.

7. Mini Series, the THORN BIRDS... (1983), I remember being glued to the TV despite it being my HSC exams. (in Australia). That old hag, Barbara Stanwyck tries to molest Richard Chamberlain...."Ralph Debricassart, you are the most beautiful man I've ever seen". He oso another one, stripping in front of an old woman. What do you expect.

8. Centennial, mini series. Clay Basket, Pasquinel, Levi Zendt....(Trapper John MD). Clay Basket gets bitten by a cobra and dies.

9. MASH, last episode, where Hotlips and whatsisname, have their mouths locked in a passionate kiss for a whole minute, just before parting ways.

10. The Colbys, when Sabel finds out her husband, Charlton Heston, (Jason Colby?) was sleeping with her sister, Francesca. She then goes on to have an affair with Ricardo Montalban. (Fantasy Island). That daughter, Monica, was absolutely gorgeous, or at least used to be.

My favourite all time TV villains: JR Ewing, Alexis Colby, Sabel Colby, Adam Carrington
My favourite TV alcoholic : Sue Ellen Ewing
The goodie two shoes I detest: Pamela Ewing, Bobby Ewing, Krystal Carrington
Childhood crushes : Jaclyn Smith...(Charlie's Angels), Monica Colby (whattt was her real name!).
Childhood heroes: Steve Austin, MacGyver

Other programs not mentioned in comments: WKRP In Cincinnati, Family (another tear jerker la, this one....the only person who became famous I think was Nancy, who became the mother in Family Ties), the english series, Lily (Langtry...starring Francesca Annis), Anna Karenina, the Duchess of Duke Street, I Dream of Jeannie, Scarecrow and Mrs King.....

Sigh sigh sigh, nostalgia nostalgia.

15 Comments:

At 12:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes thats her name Nellie Olsen, the girl with the 'yau char koay' looking hair. I hated her! and i remember the wheel chair being pushed to the lake, i was so happy!

I loved the Thornbirds. It's abt the priest who is sworn to celibacy and had an affair with a woman, right? I read the book. And during my impressionistic early puberty years, it was like...Wow! Touched my heart ...for a long long time..sigh

I oso did my HSC in OZ b4 moving to UK. Victorian HSC. My fav programme then was Neighbours, what else? Coz it had the nasty Mrs Mangle and Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan!

 
At 1:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

U just reminded me of WKRP in Cincinnati. The moment that is forever engraved in my mind..Loni Anderson's rendition of Happy Birthday, with her boobs all protuding, and her mouth quivering and pouty. That was hilarious.

Oh ya Nellie Olsen is soooo baaaad. Hated her to bits.

FBB..waaah, you oso like British series ah? I thot a lot will find them boring..particularly those in the 70s and 80s. To me, they are excellent. Remember the great Michael Crawford in "Some Mothers Do Have Them"? Of course, "Mind Your Language", "Upstairs Downstairs". Ooh..John Cleese in "Fawlty Towers" was just soooo good. I think the cheesy latter day Fallon Carrington is Emma Sams...ya dat woman cannot act at all. I remember "marvelling" at how she managed to look so "kayu" during emotional sequences. And her catch phrase "Oohh Adam".. supposedly to be angry with disbelief), but delivered in typical wooden stature. Hmmm...Bugs Bunny....definitely Tweety Bird is in the package, but too bad lah. I have always favoured the baddy, Puddy Tat...hahahaha.

Thornbirds was really really good. Again, as in Moonlighting, I was just waiting for the moment Father (and later Cardinal) Ralph finally bonk Rachel Ward...hahahaha. Still remember the sequence...Rachel running away from him on the beach. He ran after her, caught her and then locked themselves in a passionate kiss...and THE NEXT SCENE (ala RTM censorship style)...already lying in bed..all finito oridi...WHAT A BUMMER. Anyway saw the full version in OZ.

Charlie's Angels..hmmm, Jaclyn Smith is definitely the gorgeous one. However, lots of people like Farah Fawcett, being the ditzy blonde one.

Oh yes, I used to chase "Family" also. The eldest daughter in the family was Meredith Baxter Birney, who ended up as the mother of Michael J Fox in Family Ties. I think the other character that achieved relative fame was Kirsty MacNicol, the one playing Buddy... but only for a short period. I remember an article in Galaxy, interviewing her "So how is your experience in sex?" and her reply "Grand Slam"...You go girl..

 
At 1:07 PM, Blogger fatboybakes said...

HAHAHAAHAHAH!!!

sunshine, by the time neighbours was starting, i was like graduating oridi. in any case, i was quite anti anything oz, (tv & movie wise), so never watched it.

lion ah, you know, i bought the entire fawlty towers, black adder, sum mothers do ave em series, but alas, all the videos are now moldy. i LOVE british comedies. absolutely fabulous, even now, kumars at 42, etc. bbce on channel 26, astro, got a few good ones.

was just talking to yhsmom, if kirsty mcnicol is related to peter mcnicol, of ally mcbeal. she told me that the father in family is matthew broderick's dad.

hey, was loni anderson a guest star or regular on WKRP? who can forget those boobs. i distinctly remember one episode with the doorbell having a tune of FLY ME TO THE MOON. dunno why.

i honestly cant think of a wholesome, enjoyable family series like FAMILY these days on tv. maybe it'll be on disney channel ah?

 
At 2:19 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Loni Anderson was a regular at WKRP. The other ditzy airhead blonde I always remember is Suzanne Sommers in Three's Company, with the late John Ritter. That was hilarious as well. Remember "Eight is Enough"? That was good as well.

My current fav British comedy is none other than "Little Britain". Soooo hilarious and what a sacastic take on England. Love it to death. I watch BBCE 26..great stuff.

They definitely dont make family series like "Family" any more. I guess any series akin to that mould will be available either on Disney or Hallmark...

Sue Ellen Ewing was such a darling alcoholic, right? And who can forget her affair with Digger Barnes? We all sympathize with her, rather than with the goody 2 shoes Pam Ewing.

 
At 2:35 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In those days those boobsy girls like pam ewing and loni anderson had a little more class, nowadays the likes of pamela anderson...ewwww!

There are family programmes, yes on disney channel, Hollywood Musical is really hot and rather entertaining too

How about The Incredible Hulk? No one mentioned it.

Nowadays i like Nip/ Tuck,the uncensored version, so dark and absolutely delicious. I like Grey's Anatomy and Boston Legal and CSI too. And i am an avid follower of America's next top model, Amazing Race asia(i like the bumbling indon twins) and Project Runway

 
At 2:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Amazing Race Asia is really enhtertaining. To me, the most entertaining duo has been eliminated..d pair from Sri Lanka..particularly the diva, who goes bezerk when asked to scale heights. Had a good laugh when I saw his lips trembling and quiverring like jello...hahahahah

 
At 3:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yaya, i remember him scaling down the shopping centre, so hilarious, i laughed the whole house down.

And the pair who couldn't count the betel nuts recently,and they looked so serious and stressed, aiyoyo i thought they would be stuck in the market forever!

Actually some of their antics are so funny, it is like comedy series

 
At 3:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sunshine...not only him being scared of heights...what about his partner's encouragement, telling him to treat it as if he is climbing the coconut trees at home. Dat was classic.

Also the kiasu mat salleh couple, who swapped/hide instructions at the airport. And of coz, they got fined and penalized for speeding..serve them right.

 
At 4:18 PM, Blogger fatboybakes said...

i LOVE little britain as well. i so duhh, it took me awhile to realise "little" britain was opposite of "great" britain. i have the dvd for season 2, but i wonder if it was censored here. surely they cant allow that naked fat ugly woman who doesnt pay her spa bills on msian tv!!!

somehow, not into reality shows like amazing race, fear factor, survivor, dunno why lah. love CSI though. its so graphic these days, i always have to make sure kids arent around. like sneaking around to watch PORN i tell you!!!

eh, sue ellen's affair was with Cliff Barnes laaaa, i think digger barns was the father.

 
At 4:23 PM, Blogger shades said...

Ok, since you touched on Ultraman, I must add something also.

Ultraman didn't die lah in the last episode fighting Zoltan. He merely had to go back home to M78 for some "servicing". The thing is, at the end of the show it was mentioned that Ultraman would return.

However, instead of him returning, they introduced other ultramen, starting with Ultra 7.

After Ultra 7, they came up with the new show "The Return of Ultraman"... but instead of the original Ultraman, it was another Ultraman who looked a lot like the original...

Hmm, maybe I should blog about this...

 
At 4:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lion, this is soso absolutely funny...really ah, i didn't hear the coconut tree comment...HAHAHAHA

(my office collegues are staring at me. "why so happy ah?" they are asking.)

I missed the hide instructions episode. But the slap the cow dung and imagine it to be the couple who yielded them was bitchily funny too!

Try Amazing Race Asia, FB, it can be hilarious!

 
At 4:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

FBB...what a goof up. No wonder..when I wrote Digger Barnes, I had some doubts..ya, definitely Cliff Barnes. Would hv loved it if the writers had thrown in an affair with Digger too...hahahaha. I dont think they air Little Britain on any of the TV Stations here. Deemed too crude and rude, I suppose. But I hv the DVD for Season 2. My SIL has the DVDs for Season 1..yet to get it from them. My favourite characters in Little Britain are Mrs. DeBeers (the Naked Fat Woman), Sebastian (the gay assistant to the PM in No 10 Downing St), the disillusioned young bloke who thinks he is the only gay boy in the village, David Wailliam's role as the officer/clerk who always says "The Computer says NO"...dat always gets me rolling with laughter...and ohhhh, also the grown up man who stills wants to be breast fed...dat was sooo gross out and yet sooo hilarious...(now my secretaries are looking at me wondering why I am laughing)

Sunshine..what a pity you missed that segment or episode. The phrase by his partner was "Just imagine you are climbing coconut trees in your grandfather's backyard." Guffaw..

 
At 5:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

U all have very good memory, I vaguely remember, especially Little house on the prairie.. was quite young that time.
E K

 
At 5:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

FBB...forgot to write just now. They showed Little Britain on Starworld Astro Channel 70, but minus all the lewd segments lah....

 
At 10:51 PM, Blogger YOU! said...

wah! all those TV programmes bring back memory la! Always get confused coz not allowed to watch...:p overprotective parents la!

 

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