Terrific TV Toys: "Charlie's Angels" dolls and fashions by Hasbro

For all you doll collectors out there, we're getting uber-geeky once again, in this latest episode of the Terrific TV Toys series. You thought you saw a little girl playing with her dolls in the Cher episode, wait 'til you see this. And in the same way you saw every one of those luscious fashions in the Cher ep, as well as in the Jaime Sommers episode, you're going to see it all in living color in this episode on the Hasbro dolls that celebrated the classic "Charlie's Angels" TV show. The satin gauchos. The filmy pink pegnoir set. The scuba-diving set. The truly amazing skateboard. These Angels were quite stylin' as they were out solving cases for the Townsend Agency.

It's all there -- every accessory Billie Rae Bates of BRBTV had as a little girl growing up in the '70s (minus one pink shoe -- rats). These dolls allowed little girls everywhere to dream of being a Charlie's Angel. Please enjoy this latest installment in the series ...

Terrific TV Toys: Batgirl Cycle by Eaglemoss

Vroom-vroom goes the Batcycle -- the lovely lavender Batgirl Cycle, that is, as ridden by Yvonne Craig on the classic live-action "Batman" TV series! When fans think of this purple-clad version of Batgirl, they definitely remember that bike. It was iconic for the third season of the 1960s series, and it debuted just as Craig herself debuted on the show -- in the very first episode of that third season. She had to watch out for the wily Penguin in the storyline, and didn't we just love the strains of her special theme song as she rode that Batgirl Cycle. "Batgirrrrrrl ... Batgirl!!!"

We're in episode 11 of this second season of the Terrific TV Toys series, and this time around, Billie Rae Bates of BRBTV takes you for a spin on her own copy of Eaglemoss' 1:43 scale Batgirl Cycle. This is what we call an "out-of-the-box experience" on the T3 series. If you have the item and you're keeping it pristine in the package, you can still have that experience of opening it and touching it -- virtually!

Sad day in Hazzard: Rest in peace, Mr. James Best

We just woke to the sad news that Mr. James Best, our own Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane of "The Dukes of Hazzard," has passed away. The actor was 88. We fondly remember talking to him several times over the years at "Dukes" events. He was full of great stories of old Hollywood, a Hollywood we very much respected, and a Hollywood where this fine actor made his way with skill decades before his spin on "The Dukes." We especially loved his episodes of "The Twilight Zone," where he was such a handsome young'un, and we just saw him on an episode of the 1966 series "The Green Hornet," where he was just as young and so suave as the bad guy. He had range, for sure.

"He will be greatly missed, but his work will last for generations to come," Ben ("Cooter Davenport") Jones posted on his Facebook page. "He was one of a kind, and it was one of the blessings of my life to have worked with him for all these years."

"It's too bad," our friend Mike said at the news. "Nobody could wreck a car like that man." Indeed, Sheriff Rosco's many crashes in the Hazzard pond were a continuing frustration for the actor, who nevertheless took it with aplomb. He somehow knew he was destined to make his mark as Rosco, and that's how we know him, after all these years.

Our prayers for his wife, Dorothy, and his whole family. We are comforted knowing Mr. Best was a saved individual, writing openly about his faith in his autobiography, "Best in Hollywood."

The Charlotte, N.C., Observer has more on our beloved Hazzard County sheriff, and also see the obituary at the actor's official website.

 James Best with John Schneider and Catherine Bach, his "Dukes" castmates, during an interview with the "Today" show at an event in Georgia in spring 2013.

 Best signs a General Lee trunk lid for a fan at Hazzard Homecoming in Virginia in summer 2012.

Best with his "Dukes" castmates at Hazzard Homecoming in summer 2012.

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Copying with credit is OK; a credit would be grand

Terrific TV Toys: Cher doll and dressing room by Mego

Look out, because you're about to see a little geeky girl play with her dolls!

Billie Rae Bates of BRBTV steps back in time to those gentle days of the 1970s, when her mom snagged a Cher dressing room toy set, doll, and loads of fabulous fashions at the Toys 'R' Us store in Saginaw, Michigan, the very same place she got all that glorious "Bionic Woman" stuff you saw in episode 5 of the Terrific TV Toys series.

The year was 1976, the American Bicentennial was afoot, and Cher and her husband back then, Sonny Bono, were firmly ensconced in that phenomenon called the television variety show. Every week, they brought music and laughs into your living room. And just what would they wear next? What would Cher wear next? She did branch out into an extremely accomplished solo act, after all. That icon of fashion and pop culture never ceased to wow us then, and well into the '80s, with her often-outlandish fashions by fave designer Bob Mackie.

The Mego Corp., already so well established in the '70s with their 8-inch superhero figures, branched off into celeb dolls with the 12-inch Cher doll, as well as others around that same time: Farrah Fawcett (see episode 11 of T3), Jaclyn Smith, Toni Tenille. Add to that a bunch of cool fashions, so reminiscent of what Cher actually wore back in the day, and a dressing room toy set to put them all in. It was sheer nirvana for any little girl. And it definitely was for BRB.