Sea of Good Cheer

1979 was a heck of a year.  From the introduction of the Happy Meal to the premier of the Dukes of Hazzard, the year was chock full of cultural touchstones.  Two fo the biggest at the time were The Love Boat and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders...so it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened:

Yes, not only did the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders guest star on the Love Boat, but they were featured in a two part episode right int he middle of sweeps!

The two-parter also featured Hollywood icons Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Ginger Rogers as well as television icons John Hillerman ("Higgins" from Magnum P.I. and a native Texan), Larry Linville (from M*A*S*H), Natalie Schafer (Mrs. Howell from Gilligan's Island) and Bill Daily (The Bob Newhart Show, I Dream of Jeannie)...not to mention a young Jackie Earle Haley!  Whew!  Now that's a sweeps lineup!

The gals are aboard the Pacific Princess to perform at a charity show to benefit orphans or something.  And while they are there they a few of them get caught up in some romantic hijinks.  It is the Love Boat, after all...

One of the stories involves Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Wendy who's mother is getting married and is meeting her new stepfather for the first time.  The plot of this one involves the mother, Helen, thinking her fiancee and daughter share a mutual attraction and that they plan to run away together.  This is resolved by the two of them telling her it's not true...so I guess that's kind of a story, right?

Wendy is played by Gaye Carter, a real life Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader.  This seems to be her only acting credit and she now works in real estate.  So if you've always wanted to buy a house from a former member of the world's most famous cheer squad, then that seems to be an option now.

Another of the stories has another cheerleader, Stacy, being stalked by a guy whose only interest seems to be stalking her.  He bought a ticket to the cruise to be near her which seems like it would make this a dramatic subplot for the show but, no, it's played for laughs and those crazy kids end up together in the end.

Stacy is played by Tami Barber, another real life squad member.  She also played the recurring role of "Bev" on Dallas (the TV show, not the city) but, other than a few small roles here and there, that seems to be about it for her acting career.  I'm not sure if she made it to the real estate game or not.

Both gals did a great job and I was genuinely surprised to find out they weren't professional actors.  Other stories in the episode involved a jewel heist, a guy hiring actors to pretend to be his family and a sparring couple who realize they were meant for each other.  It was a busy cruise.  But enough of that, let's see the show!

Thanks for the memories, gals!  We'll see ya on the sidelines!

Flag Wavers

Everybody loves a trip to Six Flags Over Texas.  Locals and out-of-towners flock to the park for high speed thrills and kid friendly fun.  The amusement mecca has attracted its fair share of camera crews too since the locale looks great on screen.  So today we have a couple of examples of when Hollywood came to Six Flags!

The Banana Splits Adventure Hour consisted of live action costumed characters (an ape, an elephant, a dog and a lion) having madcap adventures, playing music and introducing Hanna Barbera cartoons that couldn't merit having their own show.

To set up the fun tone of the show they shot their opening credits at amusement parks including Coney Island and, you guessed it, Six Flags!  One of the first recognizable rides you can see in the credits is the Run-A-Way Mine Train:

Another easy to recognize attraction is "El Sombrero":

 

 If trippy weirdo characters on trippy rides are up your alley then you'll love what comes next.  Sid and Marty Kroft designed the Banana Splits' costumes and, of course, produced their own shows like H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost and Lidsville.  When it was time to shoot the opening of Lidsville (a show about a land of magic hats) the Kroft brothers knew where to go:

The sequence involves young Butch Patrick (Eddie from The Munsters) running afoul of Merlo the Magician at a magic show at Six Flags.  You can see from the sign above that the producers felt no need to hide the identity of the park or try to disguise it as a fictional park.

With Six Flags definitely being the setting, you can spot quintessential Six Flags accoutrements like Texas Flags and El Aserradero (the Log Ride):

And since we're talking about the Log Ride (and for no other real reason), I have an excuse for posting this old school token that's been lying around for awhile.  I'm not sure what year it's from:

Our last stop at the park involves a much more recent production.  Texas native Robert Rodriguez is known for his gritty, violent action movies but he's also been known to make fun kids movies too.  So when it was time to shoot an amusement park sequence for Spy Kids 2, you can guess where he went.

The Oil Derrick Tower is one of the most recognizable elements in the park.  It's 300 feet tall and was perfect when Rodriguez needed to create his own special effects thrill ride:

Of course, that's the late, great native Texan Bill Paxton as "Dinky Winks."  And that's our last ride of the day.  Time to head back to the parking lot for the long drive home.    Hope you had fun today and that the lines weren't too long.

Check Your Local Listings

Years ago, when people actually watched television shows on their television, it was necessary to know what was coming on when.  And the primary way to do that was to check your local listings.  That meant actual newspapers.

It was the 80's and without DVRs, the internet or program guides, the shows on the handful of available channels were difficult to keep up with.  So on an evening in a year like 1982, here's what your viewing options might look like in the DFW metroplex:

This was back when networks would show actual movies.  It used to be a thing.  You could have also seen actual TV shows like Square Pegs, M*A*S*H and Cagney & Lacey.  This was also the heyday of independent local channels.  In the 80's they were your go-to channel for for programming like Abbott and Costello movies, Godzilla films and a ton of arbitrary older content that you just don't find that much any more.

The programming of stations like these also consisted of a ton of classic TV reruns.  You'll notice that KXTX was airing the original Star Trek at 10:30.  In addition to shows like Hogan's Heroes and Little House on the Prairie (which were both also airing that night), Star Trek was a mainstay on Channel 39 for years and I spent a lot of my childhood staring at the space opera on that very channel.

That childhood was also spent watching quite a bit of Saturday morning cartoons.  So here's a look at what a Dallas area youngster had to choose from in 1982:

Again, this is the kind of thing that just isn't done anymore.  While we have entire networks devoted to showing cartoons 24/7 today, it wasn't always like that.  There was a time when cartoons were relegated to weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings.

In addition to a mega-block of the Smurfs, you also had old friends like Popeye, Spider-Man and Bugs Bunny.  If you want to see Bugs today you have to go to Six Flags.  That guy has practically disappeared.  At the time there was also a trend for live action shows to have animated counterparts.  That's why you had cartoon versions of The Dukes of Hazzard, Lavern & Shirley and Gilligan's Island in the form of Gilligan's Planet.

Saturday mornings were the best but cartoons were around the rest of the week too.  Let's turn over to Channel 21:

It's easy to forget how popular the Jetsons used to be.  It looks like the show was on 7 days a week.  KTXA also showed old favorites like The Little Rascals, a.k.a."Our Gang," He-Man and Inspector Gadget.  That's more than enough to prevent healthy, able bodied kids from going outside and playing.

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that there was TV before the 80's so as a bonus here's an ad for American's most trusted newsman, Walter Cronkite, in the 1960's on Channel 4 back when it was known as KRLD (it's now KDFW):

And that's the way it was...

Mad About Dallas

Previously:

Dallas Trading Cards - -  Family Tradition

We've covered the TV phenomenon Dallas several times before and will continue to do so.  With a world wide reach, a long network run, multiple series, TV movies and tons of merchandise, there's no limit to the amount of acclaim and celebration generated by the franchise.

But in the 70's and 80's there was one honor that stood out above the rest.  Dallas became a genuine legend when it was not only parodied, but made the cover of MAD Magazine:

 
At the time, very few movies, TV shows and celebrities would find themselves safe from being skewered by the popular lampoon magazine.  The Dallas parody was written by Lou Silverstone with art by Mort Drucker, both of them Mad Magazine legends.  As usual, it begins with the main cast introducing themselves:

The "plot," such as it is, involves J.R. (or "J.D." rather) trying to pull off a land swindle while being stymied by his wife and mother.  All the while, he's being chastised by hie family, pondering the paternity of his son, "interviewing" new secretaries and firing his six shooter in the air as display of his dominance.

During the course of plotting his scheme "J.D." is constantly being told what a slimy schemer he is by just about everyone he sees.   After getting "Sullen" (Sue Ellen) committed, he then proceeds to send "Jerk" (Jock) and "Miss Nelly" (Miss Ellie) on a fake vacation ("Fakation"?)  so that he'll be free to develop that land that's he's trying to buy (or whatever).

A few gags later, "J.D." ends up on top, as usual.  With his schemes successful and his enemies thwarted, there's nothing left to do but aim higher.  Looks like some politicians of the day want to court him for a presidential run:

As a post script to this story, I'll add that the idea of J.R. Ewing running for president was considered a few other times.  It was a great promotional stunt for the show if you're lucky, maybe you'll run across a campaign button or one of these old matchbook covers:

Let's Open Five Packs of Dallas Trading Cards

Now is as good a time as any to crack open these packs of Dallas Trading Cards (or Bubble Gum Cards, as it says on the packages).  I've picked these beauties up over the years at flea markets and eBay it's time to get 'em unwrapped, catalogued and filed away...because  that's what I do apparently.

These are from Donruss, a major sports and non-sports trading card company from awhile back, and were released in 1981 when the show was a juggernaut.   As was common at the time, it looks like original artwork was commissioned for the wrapper.  I don't know who the artist was (but I would love to) but here is his or her interpretation of the cast:

I don't recall Jock's bright red cowboy hat but other than that the likenesses are pretty good.  It may be hard to understand the potential customer for collectible cards for what is essentially an adult oriented soap opera but you have to remember what a phenomena this show was.  This was after "Who Shot J.R.?" and everyone and everything was all about the Ewing clan.

One of the first realizations you have when you are opening up 36 year old cards is that a stick of gum isn't meant to hang around that long.  And if you want to keep your cards in good shape then you don't want them next to whatever that gum is made of because what you'll get is a fusion of the two:

Yeah, that's gum and yeah, those aren't coming off.  Luckily, it only affected the first cards in each pack.  The rest are in somewhat decent shape and they fall into a few categories (that I just made up) and they are:

"Portraits"

"J.R., We Need to Talk About What You Did/Are About to Do"

"Looking Off Camera at Something"

And, of course, "J.R. Getting Shot"

Those are just s sample of the cards I got in this haul.  Sure, there were some doubles but, overall, I'm happy with the outcome.  I was hoping that there would be some text/stats on the back of each card but they went with the "puzzle" option. 

The back of each card has part of a picture and when you put them all together you can see the image.  I didn't have enough cards to get a good picture of the image otherwise I would have posted it.  So I guess my only option is to get more cards....to be continued?!?

Dallas Multitasking Building

A lot has happened at the Dallas Municipal Building.  The historic downtown building has been home to City Hall, the Dallas Police Department and the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby.  The exterior also attracts location scouts for television and movies.

You might have recognized it from the movie Robocop:

Or from a Season 2 episode of Prison Break:

During one of their many breakouts, a little of downtown Dallas can be seen as the Prison Break boys run to freedom:

You can also see the building in a 1962 episode of Route 66:

Which also shows off a little of downtown:

More info can be found on the building's own historical marker (including referring to Lee Harvey Oswald as JFK's "alleged" assassin.