Patrick Shawn Bennett of the Pop Ninja and Filmsquatch podcasts has always been a fan of Bigfoot. He's also been a host and organizer of fun pop culture events from his locale in Louisiana. Now he's got a new event planned for August, and it's simply squatch-arific. It's the Monster Mingle, and it promises to be a celebration of all things Bigfoot and in particular the "Boggy Creek" movies. It happens at the birthplace of the first "Legend of Boggy Creek" film, Fouke, Arkansas ...
Awwwww, it's too cute not to share. It's our friend Jason, who is often a roving reporter for BRBTV as he's out and about in his truck driving job. This photo goes back quite a ways, though, to the late 1970s / early '80s. Jason's got his "Dukes of Hazzard" jammies on. He found this pic while looking through some items that had been kept for years in storage, quite the trip down memory lane. In the words of Rosco, "I-love-it-I-love-it" ...
Maybe I saved the best for last. I don't know. I seem to have saved the most valuable doll I own for last, I know that! Because as it turns out, the final doll from my childhood that I'll be profiling on the Terrific non-TV Toys series turns out to be worth the most. Go to eBay and run a search for vintage Blythe dolls by Kenner. They go for some pretty good cash. There were a number of variations in hair color for this beloved 1972 icon who has more than a cult following. Mine is the blonde (obviously there was not a redhead available that day my mom went to the store!). So see her up-close and personal in the latest episode of the series:
Because they're awesome, Bruce and Brian at the Just Beneath the Surface podcast, who discuss classic "Twilight Zone" episodes from a modern perspective, took this author's request to review the wonderful episode "Little Girl Lost," my favorite TZ episode of all time. It also happens to be the very first TZ episode I ever saw. I remember it well; I was at the home of friends of the family, as a teen in the '80s, while my parents were hanging out playing cards in the next room, I believe. The TV was on, and this episode came on one of the independent TV stations in our area. What the frig is this show? I thought (well, maybe "what the frig" wasn't a thing back then). I had heard of this show but never watched it before. I was absolutely riveted. And chilled. It was so creepy. Can a little girl actually disappear through a portal in her bedroom? Could this happen to me or someone I know???? Well, OK, maybe I wasn't actually afraid of something like that happening, since I wasn't like 5 years old or anything, but the point was, the episode presented an unusual premise that was very interesting and chilling and did make you think.
Bruce and Brian offer their own take on the events of this story. Thanks, guys! Really enjoyed the discussion, and didn't realize the actress who portrayed the little girl was in that other (well-known) "Talky Tina" episode with Telly Savalas.
One second you see him, the next, you don't. That's the wonder of the transporter. "Beam me up, Scotty," and all of that. While so much other tech from the original "Star Trek" TV series has come to reality in our culture in the decades since the show originally aired, we're still waiting for the transporter. But hey, like Dr. McCoy, we might not even fancy our molecules being scattered! Who knows. But maybe we'd try it once! So who's working on that invention? Hurry up!
But we do digress! The latest episode of the T3 series features a toy from the Playmates company, released in 2009 for the "Star Trek" movie, J.J. Abrams' reimagining of our beloved original TV series. With a little magic (and determination) you can make the action figure disappear in a special transporter chamber ...
See what else is on the Terrific TV Toys playlist.
Happy Friday! TGIF and all that! How about a guest post from writer Brian of the Six Feet Under Hollywood Blog?
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In 2015, The Dukes of Hazzard was removed from broadcast television after 30 years of commercial syndication. The move was not an unexpected one, as the series, which originally aired on CBS from 1979-1985, was under increasing scrutiny for its use of Confederate flag imagery and symbolism. Once the most heavily merchandised series in television history, Dukes merchandise was now being pulled from shelves across the country, following a racially motivated mass shooting event in South Carolina.
Since then, the series has only been available via Amazon Prime, but that’s not to say that the fine folks of Hazzard County have been permanently banned from American airwaves. One hidden gem still airs to this day – an often-overlooked episode of Alice.
The year was 1983, and the hit sitcom, which also aired on CBS, was kicking off its eighth season. The episode, which was entitled “Mel is Hogg-Tied,” premiered on Sunday, October 2. It brought two of Hazzard County’s finest citizens more than 1,800 miles to Phoenix, Arizona, for reasons I’ll speculate on later. For now, we are told that Dukes mainstay Boss J.D. Hogg is a distant cousin of Alice regular Jolene Honeycutt. It’s a rather flimsy excuse to bring these two series together. Regardless, it works beautifully.
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Boss Hogg meets his long-lost cousin, Jolene Honeycutt (left). Enos is instantly smitten with Mel's other waitress, Vera, who similarly seems charmed by Hazzard County’s oldest living virgin.
Once in Phoenix, Boss Hogg, joined by honest Hazzard lawman Enos Strate, takes a liking to Mel’s Diner, the setting for this series about waitresses who dream of bigger things. Boss offers to lease the diner from owner Mel Sharples, hoping to turn his Hazzard restaurant, the Boar’s Nest, into a national franchise. At first, Mel declines, but Boss offers him a tidy sum to sweeten the offer. Mel happily signs Boss’s contract, having neglected to read the fine print.
Fast forward one week, and the diner has been re-themed as the “Boars Nest West.” Where it was once famous for Mel’s chili, it now features traditional Hazzard fare, including hog jowls and pig’s feet. The new menu seems to be a hit with the customers, as the diner is busier than we’ve seen in other episodes. Most noticeably, Mel is now sporting an all-white suit just like Boss.
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Mel discovers that he has accidentally sold the diner to Boss for $1 (left). The re-theming includes a stuffed Boar’s head (right).
Enos stops by the diner after a week of site-seeing to spend time with Vera. He tells her that Boss has been busy buying up real estate on the block, with plans to build a new shopping mall. At first the gang is overjoyed at the business this will mean for the diner, until Boss arrives and admits that the diner will be demolished long before then. Unbeknownst to Mel, the contract contains a provision allowing Boss to buy the diner for just $1 – and he’s here to collect.
Alice, who has always been the brains of this outfit (it is her show after all), soon devises a plan to get the diner back from Boss. In a move never before seen in this series, Vera breaks the fourth wall and outlines the plan for us.
Taking a page from Boss’s own playbook, Alice enlists diner regular Artie, who works as a construction contractor, to pay a visit to the diner, with his cement mixer in tow. The gang threaten to fill Boss’s prized Cadillac with wet cement unless he tears up the contract and gives the diner back. Boss reluctantly agrees, but Enos accidentally turns the machine on anyway, filling the Caddie with cement and trapping Boss in the process. The two decide to head back to Hazzard, bringing this episode of Alice to a close.
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Vera outlines Alice’s plan for the viewers (left). Boss decides to leave Phoenix after giving up the diner and nearly drowning in cement (right).
They're adorable and roughly the size the beloved Dawn doll of this author's childhood. They're Little Miss Dollikins, and they were designed as a competitor to Dawn, actually, back in the early 1970s, measuring in at 6.5 inches to Dawn's 6. Dollikins had already been produced in larger sizes for years at that point, competing with the unstoppable Barbie at just over 11.5 inches high, and before that produced in larger sizes of about 19-20 inches.
In the latest episode of the T series, you'll see the three Little Miss Dollikins I had as a little girl. These were three of my earliest dolls as a child. I don't even remember what the boxes looked like, but thankfully here comes the Internet to to the rescue! Below are some photos from a simply smashing post on the Who's That Doll Facebook page. (One of mine, the blonde, I believe was branded Triki Miki as shown below.)
The image of Little Miss Dollikin fashions above may just solve one of the mysteries around my own dolls. I remembered what clothing the blonde and redhead were wearing when I got them, because I never really changed their clothes, but I wasn't as clear on the brunette. I was pretty sure she was wearing the denim button-up shirt and bell-bottom jeans that you see on her in the video. And lo and behold, it's one of the outfits above, lower left part of the image. So yes, that's a Dollikin outfit and not a Dawn one. But I could not find any Dollikin online that came dressed in that outfit as I believed mine was. Maybe the brain trust out there can clear that up!
Images from the Who's That Doll Facebook page.
Have you ever experienced the joy of a grab bag??? Call this experience grab bag "lite," because this bag you can actually see through, so you can get an idea what's in it! And though it may not be quite as daring as a grab bag you can't see through, it is thoroughly thrilling, nonetheless!
The reason I grabbed up this one at a toy show in Metro Detroit last fall was the little gal in the red and green plaid dress. Yes, that's Mary Ellen Walton -- and that's even Mary Ellen Walton times two! An heir and a spare, so to speak. It was my buddy Jim Wilson in Canada that I was thinking about. He loves "The Waltons," and before now he has never owned any of the wonderful Mego figures released for the series back in the 1970s. Well, now he does -- the better one of the two! The other goes on the BRBTV shelves. So what else is in that wonderful bag! Just behold ...
See what else is on the Terrific TV Toys playlist.
His signature hit was "Moon River," but did you know that his ashes were scattered on Moon River, in a manner of speaking? The Six Feet Under Hollywood blog walks through the interesting grave of famed crooner Andy Williams in this latest installment …
Six Feet Under Hollywood: The Lost Grave of Andy Williams: "I still don't think I'm as good as anyone else." Every now and then in my research, I come across a grave so unique tha...
This week on "Terrific non-TV Toys," a crazy thing this author dug out of storage, an item that was pretty beloved when I was a kid. Do you remember these? Ever have one? The history of this item actually goes back further than you think.
Welcome back ... your dreams were your ticket out. Welcome back ... to that same old place that you laughed about ...
From the first "Oooo! Oooo! Oooo!" of Horshack to the last "Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-barino" of Vinnie, the mid-'70s sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter" was a smashing success. And it was rather smashing to rewatch the series on Tubi a few months ago. In fact, this author was so smashed by it that I had to do an episode of Terrific TV Toys dedicated to it, so I went to eBay and bought something "Kotter"! It's a patch that you can sew onto a piece of clothing -- remember when those were popular? It's evidently vintage, and I chose my favorite Sweathog of the four to grace it. You'll find out which Sweathog that was, and you'll see some great reading materials, in the latest T3 episode. As a kid I also had some "Welcome Back, Kotter" comics, and I bought one of the novelizations of the show in later years.
We're off to a rousing start for the 12th big season of the series! See everything on the T3 playlist.
A spinning top, a jigsaw puzzle and a few other tricks -- none needing batteries, thankfully! In the first episode of the eighth season of Terrific non-TV Toys, you get a quick look at a couple toys from each of two sets released by Wendy's in 2000 for their popular Kids' Meals. One is branded for the 50th anniversary of Peanuts, which of course first hit our pop culture back in 1950. The other set is simply called "Snoopy 2000." What kind of gizmos do these fast-food toys include? Tune in and see this author whip them across the room (kinda) ...
See the other episodes in the Terrific non-TV Toys series.
183. "Dallas" truck by Greenlight Hollywood, 2013
184. Batgirl walkie-talkie prop replica by NECA, 2023
185. Batgirl figure from "The New Adventures of Batman," McFarlane, 2024
186. Catwoman statue from "B:TAS," DC Direct, 2022
187. "Dukes of Hazzard" Cooter's tow truck 1:18, Greenlight, 2021
188. "Star Trek" fleece throw kit, hat, bag, 2016-2021
189. "Dallas" trading cards, Donruss, 1981
190. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" board game, 2018
65. Catwoman, Vinyl Vixens by Funko, 2015
66. Batmobile Hot Wheels by Mattel, 2021
67. Barbie carrying case and fashions, Mattel, 1968-1970s
68. Wonder Woman salt and pepper shakers, Enesco, 2019
69. "Flash Gordon" Pop! Album with Freddie Mercury, Funko, 2022
70. Tuesday Taylor, Super Model walking version, Ideal, 1978
71. "DCeased" Batgirl figure, DC Direct, 2022-2023
72. "The Peanuts Movie" Happy Meal Toys, McDonald's, 2015
The true meaning of Christmas is something that is front-and-center in the 1960s "Charlie Brown Christmas" TV special, the first in a long line of successful animated small-screen features for Snoopy and the gang. The true meaning of Christmas is also an important element of a sweet, simple board game celebrating that Christmas special, produced decades later. BRBTV shows you the game, up-close and personal, in the latest episode of the Terrific TV Toys series, bringing to a close the 11th season of the collectibles series.
See what else is on the Terrific TV Toys playlist.
Merry Christmas from BRBTV! And here's to many blessings in the new year.
Didya catch the big-screen "Peanuts Movie" a few years back? Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Sally and all the gang, along with our beloved beagle? Well, McDonald's was in on the fun, rolling out a line of Happy Meal Toys celebrating the movie's release. BRBTV did not collect all of them, but we got quite a few, and in this season finale episode of Terrific non-TV Toys for 2024, we show not only those but also throw in a bonus item -- one toy from the Snoopy NASA set.
If you've ever seen this author's Pinterest account, you know I'm a big fan of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. Since my very first pair in junior high school in the early 1980s, I've owned many, many over the years, along with shirts, shoes, purses, cologne, dishware and anything else Gloria I can get my hands on. Ms. Vanderbilt, who passed away in her 90s in 2019, remains one of my personal heroes. So, as I've been making my way through rewatchings -- or first-time watchings -- of great classic TV shoes on Tubi and other likeminded streaming apps, I've been very delighted to see GVs pop up on many of the characters of that late '70s, early '80s timeframe. I blogged before about Janet and Chrissy wearing them on "Three's Company." I blogged about the gals of "Facts of Life," particularly in the first season, wearing them in all colors. And now, for the past few weeks I've been watching the '70s comedy "Soap" for the first time, and guess what I see on Corinne in the second season:
I'm tickled pink! Or gray or whatever color they are, with white stitching! (Truth be told, they look like they could be the lavender fine cords I got in junior high school, with white stitching. Those came from the mail-order Alden's catalog -- remember Alden's?) Anyway, the above shot is from S2E8 of the series. Then, in episode 19 of the same season, Corinne sported another pair of colored GVs, this time a forest green with white stitching (the image below captured them as a very similar color as the pair above, but they were more green):
She wore that pair again in the following episode. This was in 1979, as GVs were riding high in our pop culture, helping lead the charge for the popularity of designer jeans.
I'll keep watching for more!
Wow, we had almost forgotten that he illustrated Wesley Eure's children's book, and we didn't really know the details of his death (and even the rest of his life). But BRBTV certainly enjoyed his performance as Arnold Horshack on "Welcome Back, Kotter." This author just did a rewatch of the whole series on Tubi -- the first time I've really watched the series since its original airing. So this time on Brian's Six Feet Under Hollywood blog, it's Ron Paolillo's turn in the spotlight (and note the variance in the last name, which you can see on his grave) ...
Six Feet Under Hollywood: Arnold Horshack!: Ronald Gabriel Paolillo was born in New Haven, Connecticut on April 2, 1949. He was the son of Gabriel and Carmel, the former of whom ...
The undead are out in full force as a few of our survivors take refuge in a remote cabin for episode 8 of the "Reanimated" web series. And things aren't looking too good for this author's character, Blanche Lancaster. She was injured in a helicopter crash in an earlier episode, and that wound to her abdomen continues to get worse. And now? We'll you'll just have to watch and see.
Trading cards were really a thing back in the 1970s and '80s, and TV shows were popular subjects for them. The latest episode of the T3 series shows you a couple packs of trading cards celebrating the classic primetime soap "Dallas." There's ole J.R. Ewing, even daddy Jock Ewing and mom Miss Ellie, Sue Ellen, Bobby, Pam, Lucy -- all the regular characters we know and love. They're featured in full-color still shots from episodes of the show. We'll open one pack on camera and keep the other sealed. (But don't worry -- the thoroughly petrified piece of bubble gum is long gone!)
Special shout-out to Alex, our fellow "Dallas" fan!
See what else is on the Terrific TV Toys playlist.
Happy Halloween from BRBTV! Stay safe!
A grave all set up and ready to go -- before death? Yeah, sometimes it happens, and it's part of the story of the very-much-still-living actress Stephanie Zimbalist, known for her work on the classic TV show "Remington Steele." Read more in the latest installment of the Six Feet Under Hollywood blog ...
Six Feet Under Hollywood: Stephanie Zimbalist: "I have a personal connection with my Savior...I feel very beholden to Him...I feel He's there for me in my darkest moments." ...Since Halloween is right around the corner, why don't we take a look at something nice and creepy for the latest episode of the Terrific non-TV Toys series? This is a Batgirl figure from DC Direct and DC Essentials' "DCeased" line, based on the 2019 comic book series of the same name. Babsie is a bloody sight to behold, for sure, looking like she stepped off the pages of the Walking Dead comic series rather than the DC Universe.
