Today’s Game: The Muppet Show (Parker Brothers Board Game of the Stars, AKA Le Jeu des Vedettes, par Parker Brothers)
Copyright Date: 1979
Game Box: A colorful cartoon rendering of every Muppet imaginable. That’s why I bought this game for my daughter. She loves Janice, the Electric Mayhem’s female member, and it’s rare to find merchandise that includes Janice’s picture. Not only does this box feature Janice, but the game board does as well!
Most Interesting Feature: What I didn’t realize when I bought this game is that it was made in Canada and has a bilingual board–one side in French, one side in English. I actually felt a little peeved when I opened the box and found a French board. I only speak un peu de French and didn’t know how I would manage to play this with my daughter. When I flipped the board over and found the English side, I no longer felt peeved—just stupid for not noticing the French writing on the box.
French game instructions.
Game Pieces: Rather lame. You know how some game pieces have a plastic base, into which you slide a cardboard picture? Well, that’s what this game has, but the cardboard pieces don’t display characters—just colors. There’s a yellow one, a red one, a green one, and a blue one. Why not just use regular colored-plastic markers?
Janice, yay!
Recommended Ages: 7 to 14.
Game Play: The game designers came up with a concept relates well to The Muppet Show and its characters. Players move around the board and try to collect cards representing three judges—Miss Piggy, Sweetums, and Fozzie. Once you have all three, you can “perform” for the judges. That involves picking one of six Sam the Eagle cards and hoping that it doesn’t match the number your opponent rolls on the die. If you don’t match Sam, you receive a star; seven stars win the game. The rules have a few wrinkles—such as allowing players to “upstage” each other—that keep it from getting too repetitive. Sam is one of my favorite Muppets, so I enjoy his role as censor here.
My Thoughts: I owned a different Muppet Show game when I was little, one that dated from 1977. I don’t remember much about that game, but I can endorse this one as fun for young Muppet fans.
This is part of my weekly series about the classic CBS sitcom Family Affair
Season 1, Episode 3, A Gift Horse, 9/26/66.
Written by: John McGreevey. Directed by: William D. Russell.
Synopsis
Uncle Bill returns from East Africa with gifts for the kids, and Cissy gives him a hand-knit tie. With $1.07 between them, Buffy and Jody decide to find the perfect gift for Uncle Bill. Baffled by French’s suggestion of a gift certificate, they search in vain for something Bill needs. Soon they learn that their friend Mr. McGovern, who operates a hansom cab with a broken-down horse named Rosie, is giving up his cab and parting with Rosie. Of course, they decide a horse is the one thing Uncle Bill needs.
Rosie. She really does look broken down.
When French learns that McGovern sold the children the horse, he bawls the man out for taking advantage of children. Realizing what the gift means to the twins, however, Uncle Bill accepts it and makes arrangements to send “the Rose of Killarney” to live with friends near Danbury, Connecticut.
Mr. French sees the horse. I love Sebastian Cabot’s reactions!
Random Thoughts: Kids, horses–Uncle Bill’s apartment is becoming a real dumping ground. A cute episode. At first, I did think Mr. McGovern was unethical for allowing the kids to “buy” the horse, but he obviously wanted to make sure his friend had a good home.
One big happy family
Not a “Helicopter Butler,” Apparently: When French leaves to confront Mr. McGovern about the horse, no one is at home to supervise 6-year-old Buffy and Jody.
Gratuitous twin cuteness
Guest Cast: Emmet Parnell McGovern: Paul Hartman. Scotty: Karl Lukas. Hartman’s film career included Inherit the Wind and The Thrill of it All. He had a regular role as Bert Smedley, the barber, on Petticoat Junction, and as Emmet Clark in the 1967-68 season of The Andy Griffith Show and on its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D. Lukas would return as Scotty in quite a few Family Affair episodes.
A thaw in Anglo-Irish relations
Fun Facts: Scotty, the doorman, makes his first appearance.
Scotty. Gee, do you think that big sign will figure into the upcoming scene?
Notable Quotes: “It’s just what I wanted, if I knew there was stuff like this.” Jody, receiving an ant farm
Gratuitous Uncle Bill smile
“Mr. Davis is not running a home for superannuated horses.”—French
In the episode’s tag, the twins give Mr. French a gift–kittens!
Of course, he takes this turn of events in stride.
Another kitten shot because…well, I love kittens. And it’s my blog.
Today’s Bonus Feature
TV Guide, December 16, 1967, with a first-person Sebastian Cabot feature. Some things we learn:
* He thinks Michael Redgrave is a better actor than Laurence Olivier.
* Walt Disney doesn’t pay well.
* Brian Keith loves kids but doesn’t suffer foolish reporters gladly.
In my grandmother’s aluminum-sided ranch outside Pittsburgh, the iced tea was fresh-brewed, heavily sweetened, and served in 1940s gold-trimmed highball glasses. I would sip it and wait impatiently for my grandmother’s “stories” to end so I could watch Brady Bunch reruns, or Match Game, or anything else.
As the minutes passed, certain images seared themselves onto my young brain. Alan Spaulding and Hope Bauer floating on the wing of a downed plane. Barbara and Holly and Chrissie together—three redheads who caused my grandmother (a rather naïve television viewer) to wonder if the actresses were related in real life. Phillip’s adoptive and biological parents forming various marital configurations. Roger terrorizing Rita in a funhouse hall of mirrors. (By dressing up as a clown to lure Chrissie, Roger also terrorized my younger brother, who never forgot that unnerving scene.)
Later, in junior high, my best friend and I drank instant iced tea from amber crinkle glasses as we watched Guiding Light in her family room after school. While our peers who watched soaps followed General Hospital, we watched as Nola and Quint floated away toward marital bliss, Carrie broke down on the witness stand at her murder trial, and Phillip finally learned the truth about his parentage.
I started sneaking to the local convenience store to buy Soap Opera Digest with my own money because my dad considered soap magazines trash. I littered my diary with references like “GL was boring today” or “Can’t wait for GL tomorrow.” In ninth grade, when a change in schools and a long bus ride made me miss most of the show, my absentee rate soared. I ordered a GL t-shirt by mail (and received, with it, the mid-1980s promotional brochure displayed in the gallery above). I kept watching, through Reva’s slut of Springfield speech, Bert’s death, Beth and Lujack’s romance. Once, I even convinced my dad to drive me and my best friend to a mall 20 miles away to see Vincent Irizarry in person.
I stopped watching briefly around 1986 when the show seemed adrift. Thankfully, I returned to see Michelle Forbes’ harrowing performance as Sonni/Solita and the brilliant period that followed. From about 1989 to 1994, the writing, the direction, and performances by actors like Michael Zaslow, Maureen Garrett, Beverlee McKinsey, Sherry Stringfield, Grant Aleksander, Beth Ehlers, Peter Simon, and the rest came together to create something perfect. At the end of each episode, when the announcer said, “This has been Guiding Light,” I felt sad that another hour had elapsed.
Three years ago this week, when the final GL episode aired, I cried throughout it, even though only the opening logo montage and Josh and Reva’s happy ending really resonated with me. The truth is, I was part of GL’s problem. I stopped watching in 1994 for what I thought would be a temporary break and never really found my way back. The times I tried to watch, it just didn’t capture my attention. I seemed to lose my taste for the genre’s conventions. (Bad writing didn’t help—in 2003, actors like Tom Pelphry and Gina Tognoni sucked me back in; the continuity-shredding Mary Ann Carruthers story sent me screaming for the exits.)
Hypocritcally, though, I wanted GL to last forever. I wanted to turn it on every Fourth of July to see the Bauer barbecue, to turn in on in December and watch Springfield residents preparing for Christmas while I was wrapping last-minute presents, to know that the show my grandmother had listened to on the radio was still airing every day, even if I couldn’t be bothered to watch it.
According to TV Tropes, Guiding Light “may be the longest recorded narrative in the entire history of mankind.”
Sometimes I wish entertainments could be declared historic landmarks, the way buildings are.
But, of course, entertainment is a business, and business doesn’t work that way. When tastes change, whole forms of entertainment die out. Soap opera audiences began declining sharply in the 1990s*, and now only four daytime soaps remain on the air.
When GL ended, the saddest part for me was knowing I might never be able to re-experience my favorite moments. Soap opera episodes were produced to be aired a single time and then forgotten. I’m thrilled with the Guiding Light DVDs Soap Classics has been releasing, and I will continue to gobble them up. I even ordered Guiding LightDVDs from Germany.
Watching these old episodes has helped me fall in love with the show all over again.
I only wish my grandmother was here to watch them with me, over a glass of iced tea.
*You can find an interesting discussion about the reasons for this decline here.
Copyright Date: 1964 (I got that date from the book Spin Again by Rick Polizzi and Fred Schaefer. The box is undated.)
Game Board: Visually striking, with the marching Marines cutting a green swath across the mustard-yellow background, and red Sergeant Carter squares popping up regularly. The guy peeling potatoes seems to be smoking—that’s something you wouldn’t see on kids’ game today.
Game Board
Game Pieces: Brightly colored plastic pieces and cartoon cutouts of Pyle.
Recommended Ages: 8 to Adult.
Game Play: No clue. See the well that holds the plastic pieces? See the words that say “Game instructions in well”? Well…not in my well. That’s one of the dangers of buying of vintage games—they’re often incomplete. Dice are included, so obviously Pyle has to move around the board. I’m going to assume that landing on Sergeant Carter’s head is a bad thing.
Game Designer: The box artwork is signed “Hal Greer.” I haven’t been able to find out anything about this artist. I’m guessing he’s not the same person as this Hal Greer.
A close up from the box lid–pretty nice artwork
About Transogram: Game manufacturer Transogram offered many games based on TV shows. As the Polizzi and Schaefer book says: “Transogram personified the close relationship that had developed between television and the toy industry, doing so with imaginative designs that were some of the best of the period.”
My Thoughts: I bought this game a few years ago for my husband, who was a big Gomer Pyle fan as a kid. It was never a
A close up from the game board. Is that Marine smoking?
favorite show of mine, but I would watch it occasionally when nothing else was on. In fourth grade, our teachers would let us watch TV in the cold lunch room, and Gomer Pyle was our usual lunchtime fare. For that reason, I associate the show with salami and snack cakes.
This is part of my weekly series about the classic CBS sitcom Family Affair
Episode 2, Jody and Cissy, 9/19/66.
Written by: Edmund Hartmann and Henry Garson. Directed by: William D. Russell.
Synopsis
When Uncle Bill calls home from Peru, he is surprised to learn that Cissy has joined the household. Upon his return, he make plans to send her back to Indiana. Overhearing him, Cissy pretends she wants to go. When she says she thinks it’s foolish, at her age, to “believe in the magic of people loving and caring,” Uncle Bill feels guilty and decides she should stay.
Real subtle, Cissy.
Fashion Note: Cissy wears a cute suit in this scene.
This almost leads to another departure–that of French, who believes the three children require a housekeeper/nanny (“a middle-aged, well upholstered, kindly and experience” housekeeper/nanny). When Buffy slips her beloved Mrs. Beasley in French’s suitcase to keep him company, French is touched and returns to the Davis household.
Real subtle, Buffy.
Seriously, these girls have man-management skills that would make Enid Haupt proud. Well, I guess an orphan’s gotta do what an orphan’s gotta do.
Random Thoughts
Buffy and Jody are adorable again–I especially like Buffy’s description of slippers as “hairy shoes.”
So much awww…..
I also like that the kids’ emotional troubles haven’t instantly disappeared. Jody has a nightmare and cries out for his mother, while Buffy mentions crying at night while Uncle Bill was gone. I’m glad that Uncle Bill relents and lets Jody sleep with him after the nightmare.
This green paint shows up everywhere on Family Affair. It goes especially well with the orange couch in Uncle Bill’s office. Speaking of color, what’s up with his hair.
Continuity Nod: Buffy mentions that Mrs. Beasley now has glasses. Actually, the doll’s whole face has changed since the pilot–thank goodness.
Real-Life Shout Out: Mr. French reads Winnie the Pooh to Buffy and Jody. Sebastian Cabot narrated several animated Winnie the Pooh stories, starting the same year this episode was made, 1966.
The perfect person to read Winnie the Pooh.
Guest Cast:
Hardcastle: Noel Drayton.
Miss Lee: Betty Lynn. She played Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show. She would return three times as Uncle Bill’s secretary.
Radio Operator: James Victor.
Fun Facts: Uncle Bill has done some big game hunting. Jody doesn’t care for baths, at least those given by women. Uncle Bill smokes. Jody has a turtle. Cissy is 15. Uncle Bill’s secretary, Miss Lee, makes her first appearance.
Vintage Sitcom Cliche: The bouncy instrumental “teenage music” Cissy plays.
This Week’s Bonus Feature: A photo story about Johnny Whitaker and Anissa Jones on the Family Affair set, from TV Guide, June 24, 1967.
This is the first in a weekly series reviewing episodes of the classic CBS sitcom Family Affair
Episode 1, Buffy (Pilot), 9/12/66
Written by: Edmund Hartmann. Directed by: James Sheldon.
Synopsis
Successful construction engineer Bill Davis resides in what his gentleman’s gentleman French refers to as “the quiet, monastic atmosphere of the bachelor apartment.” (“Monastic” is a bit ironic–Bill’s calendar shows him dating four women in less than a week.) As we meet him, he is returning from work in India that was successful enough to land him on the cover of World magazine.
Slowest. News week. Ever.
Without warning, Fran Higer arrives from Terre Haute, Ind., with Bill’s young niece, Buffy. Buffy’s parents were killed in an “accident,” presumably a car accident, about a year before. Bill was in Turkey at the time, and Buffy and her siblings were separated and placed with various relatives in Terre Haute. Fran wants Buffy to live with Bill because the child–defiant and unemotional–can’t get along with Mr. Higer. Believing that his bachelor status and frequent travels make him unsuitable as a father figure, Bill resists.
Buffy arrives.
Meanwhile, French is appalled at having to perform such duties as serving milk and cookies and escorting Buffy to the bathroom. He calls her “a little clot,” and she responds by biting his leg.
French, bitten. Well, he sort of had it coming.
Bill gently reprimands Buffy and tries to make her see that living with him would not be ideal for her. “Why don’t you want me to live with you?” she asks flatly. During this conversation, Fran slips out and leaves Buffy behind. The next morning, Buffy overhears Bill telling French that he is sending her back to Terre Haute. Buffy spends the day with French in the park, where French faces teasing from a group of nannies who believe he has joined their ranks.
French: “I am no one’s nanny.”
At the suggestion of his partner, Ted Gaynor, Bill decides to send Buffy to school in Switzerland rather than back to Terre Haute. When he tells Buffy, she is characteristically unresponsive, but in her room she cries and writes a farewell note.
Awww.
Years of nanny experience help French’s friend Miss Faversham lead French to Buffy’s hiding place in the basement. When Uncle Bill realizes how upset she is, he tells her she can stay. “Grown-ups always tell you things like that at night to make you go to sleep. It’s all different in the morning,” she replies. Uncle Bill assures her that he’s telling the truth and tells her that he loves her. For the first time, Buffy smiles and stops her curt “Yes, sir,” “No, sir,” answers.
Awww times 10.
Soon Uncle Bill must leave for Peru. Just as he’s leaving, Buffy’s twin Jody arrives with another relative, who thought the twins should be together. After Bill departs, the twins’ teenage sister Cissy shows up, leaving an exasperated French to remark, “Good heavens, I am a nanny.”
Awww to the infinite power.
Random Thoughts
This is a good pilot that sets up the show’s situation with equal parts comedy and pathos. Tiny Anissa Jones and Johnnie Whitaker are at their most adorable. Jones’ portrayal is mostly deadpan, but that’s appropriate for Buffy’s mental state.
Buffy’s apparently suffered some harsh treatment in her prior home, considering her remark about being stuck in a closet as punishment and her cynicism about adults’ sincerity. Fran’s behavior here–dumping Buffy at the apartment and sneaking out–is pretty disgusting. I guess a charitable interpretation is that she knew Buffy and Uncle Bill would be better off together, and that Bill would come around in time. Mr. Higer sounds like a real jerk–what kind of person can’t be patient with a recently orphaned child?
The oh-so-sensitive Aunt Fran. By the way, the books in Uncle Bill’s den seem to be of the Reader’s Digest condensed variety. I know he’s a busy man, but really.
The pilot version of Mrs. Beasley lacks glasses and has a creepier face than the one used throughout the series.
Mrs. Beasley 1.0
Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot are both wonderful in this episode. Keith exudes warmth in his emotional scene with Buffy, and Cabot conveys wonderful disgust with the whole idea of child care.
Notable Quotes
French: “May I ask, madam, what is a Buffy?”
Buffy: “Mrs. Beasley is not a doll. Mrs. Beasley is my friend.”
French, shortly after Buffy arrives, regarding Uncle Bill’s date: “Miss Larrabee fled, sir.”
French: “Back home, in civilization, we have infancy and manhood–nothing in between.”
An exchange between Buffy and Jody about Mr. French:
Jody: Who’s he?
Buffy: He’s the maid.
Jody: Does he like kids?
Buffy: I don’t think so.
Jody: Could he run fast?
Buffy: No.
Jody: (After a thoughtful pause) Okay, I’ll stay.
Guest Cast
Ted Gaynor: Philip Ober. Among Ober’s many guest appearances were two on I Love Lucy–not surprising since he was once married to Vivian Vance. He appeared twice on Sebastian Cabot’s early 1960s series Checkmate (which is available on DVD–wow). He also appeared in many movies, including North by Northwest and From Here to Eternity.
Fran Higer: Louise Latham, who would return twice as Aunt Fran. Latham’s career spanned from Perry Mason and Gunsmoke in the ’50s to CHiPs and The Waltons in the ’70s, Designing Women and Hunter in the ’80s; E.R. in the ’90s; and The X-Files in 2000. Her first movie role was as the title character’s mother in Hitchcock’s Marnie.
Miss Faversham: Heather Angel. She appeared in many movies, including That Hamilton Woman and Suspicion. She also did voices in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. Her Family Affair role would be a recurring one.
Miss Larrabee: Lisa Seagram.
Miss Hodges: Sandra Wirth.
Bess Melville: Barbara Perry.
Miss Ponsonby: Nora Marlowe.
Mrs. Grayson: Shirley O’Hara.
Critical Reaction
Critics didn’t exactly embrace Family Affair. Though I like the show, I find this snarky Cleveland Amory review from the December 24, 1966 TV Guide pretty amusing.
Final Fun Facts
Uncle Bill is not fond of ballet. Bill’s business partner is Ted Gaynor.
Where to Watch
The whole pilot episode is available on Youtube. Here is part one:
Another week, another cardboard-and-plastic journey to the past.
Today’s Game: H.R. Pufnstuf Game
Copyright Date: 1971
Object: Be first to collect cards completing picture of PufnStuf characters.
Game Board: Colorful and cartoony, though the cartoon likenesses leave a lot to be desired.
Game Pieces: None. Cards and a spinner are all you need to play this game.
Recommended Ages: 6-12. The game box, with its full-color photos, might have attracted kids throughout that age range, but the graphics inside scream little kid.
Game Play: The board is really superfluous in this game; players don’t move around it. They just spin and collect cards and try to complete a puzzle. (It’s nice that Freddy the Flute gets his own puzzle; on the show, he just squeaked “Jimmy” and got stolen a lot.
Personal Notes: I never had this game as a child—I would’ve been too young to play it in 1971. I did watch H.R. Pufnstuf, though, and still have the disturbing, hallucinatory memories to prove it.
About the Show: H.R. Pufnstuf premiered on September 6, 1969, as part of NBC’s Saturday morning lineup. Popular with kids, it aired for two years on NBC, one year on ABC, and two and a half years in widespread syndication—an amazing feat considering that Sid and Marty Krofft only produced 17 episodes.
Final Fun Fact: Jack Wild, who starred as Jimmy, got to keep one of the original Freddy the Flutes as a souvenir after the show wrapped, according to the book Pufnstuf and Other Stuff.
Because tomorrow is Jim Henson’s birthday, my weekly series on vintage board games has a Muppety flavor this week.
Embarrassing Treasures 