'Match Game', the best t.v. game show ever!

I know one thing for darn sure... There's absolutely no way I could ever deny the fact that I was a child of the seventies. I just love too many iconic things within 1970s pop culture, and I figure it's gotta be a direct result of growing up during that era.

One of the decade's more popular and iconic game shows (and easily my all-time favorite) was the star-studded, fun and risque, 'Match Game'. With show regulars Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly on every episode's celebrity panel, you knew you could always count on those two for laughter inducing entertainment. And if the other 4 stars also wound up being funny, well... that was just icing on the cake! The show still runs on Game Show Network, and I discovered only recently that you can buy a 4-disc 'Best of Match Game' DVD w/30 episodes on it. The DVD has been available since 2006, so I'm currently conducting an investigation into why I wasn't properly notified of the original release date. You probably think I'm kidding, don't you? My husband could tell you a thing or two about how nutty I am for stuff like this. It absolutely drives Tommy up a wall whenever I start "talking shop" about Charles Nelson Reilly, Paul Lynde, JoAnne Worley (Aunt JoAnne!), etc. with friends who share a mutual appreciation for such groovy '70s pop culture. But that's his loss! So much of that stuff just cracks me up, from the funky fashions to the eccentric and hilarious celebrities... And the t.v. shows, natch!








Having a gay old time!

I have no idea if Brett was a real-life friend
to Charles outside of the show, but those two
got along so well that she seemed like the
proverbial hag to his imperiously prissy fag.
And I truly mean that in a good way!

They broke the mold when Charles Nelson
Reilly came into this world. Just think about
the nerve it must have taken, and the high
level of self-confidence he must've had in
order to be so freely "himself" as a television
celebrity of the day. I mean, we're talking
about 40 years ago! Granted, I'm fairly sure
he never officially came OUT of the closet,
but he certainly didn't hide in there, either!
He just was who he was. He didn't try to act a
certain way that would be considered more
socially acceptable.

He was true to himself, and you
either liked him, or you didn't. I admire
Mr. Reilly for that, neck scarf and all!

Oh, and I also happen to think he was
pretty darn hilarious!







"Write down your best answer to THIS!"

The goofily charming and witty host of
Match Game, Gene Rayburn, is obviously
caught here in one of his more playful
moods. I have no clue what he was actually
talking about. Although, we can clearly see
what it looks like...

(Psst! Get a load of that bow tie on Gene! And is
that lady wearing a dark blue denim jacket?)







"Party don't stop till the panties drop!"

Another one of my favorite celebrity panelists,
Fannie Flagg, was always upbeat and amusing.
Hearing that Southern lilt in her voice was also
quite comforting, and somehow added to her
comedic flavor.







"Hey, big boy..."

Here, feeling comfortable in its natural
environment, we see the reilly creature
caught in an act of seduction ritual
which is rarely ever witnessed by others.







"I drew a blank! Get it??"

Joyce Bulifant was one of the semi-regular celebs
that would come on and be a real hoot every
time she was on! She was a bit ditzy, she did have
that goofy voice, and she almost always gave odd
(wtf?) answers, but there was something quite
endearing about her at the same time...










He was suave and debonair,
with a nose for fashion...

I never enjoyed Richard Dawson when he
hosted The Family Feud, but I did think that
he seemed like a pretty cool cat, back on this
show! Check out those funky fab styles, too!
What must each of those have been called,
Purple Plaid Passion and Sailor Boy Chic?!





Unfortunately, it was a much bigger challenge than I had anticipated to find decent enough images online for use here in my post. And that's a bummer because I really wanted to include a few other favorite regular/semi-regular celebs in the gallery such as Betty White, Avery Schreiber, Patti Deutsch, etc. Oh, well. There certainly isn't anything stopping me from doing an update, or a revision, sometime down the road. I bet Tommy would just love that, huh? I know... if/when I do some sort of follow-up post, I'll have to dedicate it to him! Just because I can be a brat that way, once in a while [Insert Muttley's trademark wheezing snicker, here].

Now, I leave you with a little treat. It's quite a funny clip, and a fine example of the sort of uproarious antics they would get into on the show, from time to time. Have fun with it, and prepare to do some snickering of your own...








~All photos and screen captures via Google Images.~

I Love Lucy!

I'm well aware that my love for the classic 'I Love Lucy' television show is not at all unique. I mean, isn't it like the absolute most popular t.v. sitcom of all time?! As far as I know, it's still always playing somewhere on some t.v. channel, in some country around the world. I'm not sure of the actual statistics, but I think that 'Lucy' has been loved by millions, if not billions of people since the show's debut back in the 1950s! Wait, am I overestimating a bit with the billions part? I've never been good at numbers. I just know that a whole LOT of folks have been big 'Lucy' fans over the years!

Of course, I've purchased all 6 seasons and all 13 Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours on DVD. I can watch them repeatedly, and never tire of them! In fact, it's one of my favorite things to do with Tommy. We just laugh, and laugh... And it doesn't seem to matter how many times we've seen an episode. I think that's quite a testament to the show's quality. The writing, the acting, the comedy, EVERYTHING was well-done!

It goes without saying that Lucille Ball was a comedic genius, and she was largely responsible for the show's success, but she also had a stellar ensemble cast to both back her up and play off of. I don't think they got enough of the credit they deserved, either. A lot of the show's funny bits happened between Lucy and Ethel, especially whenever they were being catty with each other, or even in a feud and not speaking. Plus, there was always some crazy scheme of Lucy's that Ethel would get reluctantly drug into. Vivian Vance was a great actress with excellent comedic timing and delivery. Sad thing was, privately she struggled with depression. And it certainly did not help matters any that Miss Ball insisted her female co-star be heavier, and look less attractive than her. Poor plump, not-as-appealing Viv... I've always thought you were pretty. Pretty darn funny, too!






"Zorch!" "Grebbitch!"
"Itza moo-moo."

Picking only ONE favorite 'Lucy' episode would be very hard
for me, but if my life depended on it, this might be the one
to receive that honor! It's Episode #89, titled 'Lucy is Envious'.
The above still is from its classic sequence where Lucy and
Ethel are doing their best lady-martian impersonations atop
the Empire State Building. Their hilarious attempt to "scare"
N.Y.C. tourists with this publicity stunt for an upcoming sci-fi
movie ('Women from Mars') is just SO bizarrely funny and
strange, that I couldn't even imagine another comedy team
doing it. Period.






"Lucy... You got some splainin' to do!"

Most anybody who's seen at least one episode is likely familiar
with this recurring confrontation. I like how you can obviously
see here that Lucy's brain is working overtime to come up
with something, ANYTHING, to tell Ricky that'll get her out of
the pickle she's gotten herself into.




Who could forget Ethel's stodgy old husband, Fred? I don't remember if they ever said what the age difference was supposed to be between those two, but it always seemed to me that Fred could almost be Ethel's father. He was such a grumpy character, too. The more I think about it, I realize Fred Mertz is probably the one character in the entire cast that I like the very least. Mostly, I think, because he was hardly ever nice to Ethel! In fact, Fred was always putting Ethel down, making fun of her weight and just humiliating her at every turn. I always wondered what would make a self-respecting woman stay married to an awful man like that? At least, Ethel did shoot back some real "zinger" lines of her own, once in a while! I do know that it was all just pretend, and that Fred was written to be that way, but it's also known that the actor, William Frawley, didn't talk to anyone (including his co-stars) if they weren't actually filming scenes for the show. He would just arrive shortly before an episode's filming, keep to himself, perform his scenes and then leave. Needless to say, Mr. Frawley was not one to suffer small talk gladly. Or much talk at all, for that matter. Just knowing this behind-the-scenes factoid tells me he must've been a real old, grumpy man! Wouldn't you agree?






I had no idea there were 'I Love Lucy' comic books!
I wonder if Little Ricky collected them?




I always liked the concept of Ricky Ricardo's character: A suave, handsome, charming and confident Cuban who also happens to be a talented bandleader that can both sing and beat a mean conga drum. Now, notice how I said I liked the concept. Actually, I do think that Desi Arnaz represented most of those qualities pretty well, but I never have thought his voice was very good. And I can't stand it when he sings in Spanish. Terrible of me, I know...

But I DID like the way Ricky dressed and styled his hair!





"I love Lucy
and
she loves me..."

I can see why the ladies were attracted
to Desi Arnaz. But it was awful and very
sad for Lucille Ball that he was such a
womanizing Casanova-type in real life,
and couldn't ever resist temptation.






"Babalu, Babalu,
Babaluuuu Aye..."

I like watching Ricky go totally nuts on his conga
(bongo?) drum. He gets so into it that he's usually
out of breath by the number's end, and his perfectly
coiffed hair becomes a total mess. That's what I
call passion!






"Yes, can I speak to a Mr. Jass?
I believe his first name is, Hugh."

Often times, Lucy used the good old telephone as a tool
for her plotting & scheming. Could you imagine the sort
of trouble she'd get into today, with a computer and
the internet?!




Here's a couple of funny Lucy-related toys that I found around the interwebs and thought would be fun to share... But don't fight over them, children.






My Little Lucy, My Little Lucy
What will today's adventure be?

I just had to include this one for the crazed adult
MLP collector in my life! You're welcome, Tommy.






Close your windows!
Lock your doors!
They're coming...
The Dolls from Mars!

These Kelly dolls totally cracked me up! What a
great idea. I'm thinking that I might actually need
to have these.




My second favorite episode would probably have to be Episode #147, titled 'Lucy Gets a Paris Gown'. That's the one where they're all in Paris as part of their European vacation, and Lucy decides to go on a hunger strike until Ricky agrees to buy her a Jacque Marcel dress. Ricky ends up feeling sorry for sad, starving Lucy and gives in. Then he comes to find out that Ethel had been smuggling food in to Lucy the whole time! Well, of course, he had to get even. So Ricky and Fred get a local tailor to make a couple of wacky outfits from burlap potato sacks, and a few hats out of a horse's feedbag and a restaurant ice bucket. Then they just sewed in the Jacque Marcel labels. The funniest part was watching Lucy and Ethel strut down the Paris street like they were a couple of haute couture models, or something! Classic.






"Do you like our
Jacque Marcel originals?
They are the latest
high-fashion in all of Paris."

It's too bad Lucy and Ethel decided to burn these.
But then, how could they have known that the
REAL Jacque Marcel would steal their husbands'
crazy designs and pass them off as his own?




For the longest time I felt quite strongly about wanting to meet Lucille Ball just so I could give her a BIG hug and thank her personally for all of the laughs and happiness she brought into my life. It never did happen, but I think Miss Ball knew how much she and Lucy Ricardo meant to the fans of 'I Love Lucy'. I just hope that, before her death, she fully understood how profound her impact was on both show business and pop culture.


~All photos via Google Images~

JoAnne Worley, The Nutty Aunt I Wish I'd Always Had!

There is just something about the inimitable JoAnne Worley that I find very endearing. Of course, I have no idea what her demeanor is like in real-life, but if she's anything like her public persona I would love to know her! Heck, I'd have her to all my family functions. "That kooky Aunt JoAnne...", we'd say. "She's such a hoot!"

Worley was born in Lowell, Indiana on September 6th, 1937 as the third of five children. Even back in high school, she was developing a reputation for being funny as she was named the 'School Comedienne' by her peers. After studying drama in college, she went on to do many professional theater productions, including musicals. It wasn't until 1968, when JoAnne landed a regular spot on 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In', that she really broke into the main stream and became a star. After about 2 years on 'Laugh-In', Ms. Worley moved on to making movies and continued to spread her distinctive personality around the T.V. landscape.

Isn't she... pretty in pink?

Growing up in the 70s, I can remember seeing JoAnne (and hearing her trademark laugh) on many a television show. Why, she was on everything from 'Love, American Style' to even 'Love Boat' in the 80s. Then there were also several game shows of which Ms. Worley was a regular on, such as 'Hollywood Squares', 'Match Game', 'Password', and even 'The $10,000 Pyramid'. I would've "bet my sweet bippy" that she had also appeared on 'The Liar's Club', but I couldn't find any record of it. I must have dreamed about that the same night I dreamed an evil Billy Barty was injecting a couple of helpless young ladies with a syringe full of terror...

As a child, I didn't always understand what everyone was laughing about, but just hearing her laugh or suddenly break into operatic song was enough to make me giggle. And the clothes she would usually wear, with all the feathers and/or boas were certainly attention-grabbing! Not to mention, she was obviously a fan of the bouffant. Quite fashionable, really!



I think Big Bird had something to do with this!

Looks like JoAnne's sharing an operatic

moment with Goldie on 'Laugh-In'.

In somewhat recent years, she's done voice work for animated productions such as Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' (she was the Wardrobe/Armoir character) and even the Sony Playstation 'Kingdom Hearts' video game. She's also played both, the role of the Wicked Witch of the West in a stage musical of 'The Wizard of Oz', and Madame Morrible in the huge hit 'Wicked'. And most recently, she even played a bit part on Disney's T.V. show 'Wizards of Waverly Place'. I think JoAnne must have a thing for Oz and wizards!

Perhaps the best thing Ms. Worley has been doing, is her work as the President of Actors and Others for Animals. It's an organization that is dedicated to the promotion of humane treatment of animals. They say their main mission is to try and curb the pet overpopulation problem by subsidizing spay/neuter surgeries, but they do so much more. Please, use the link to see all that they do!

As a kid, I dug everything about JoAnne Worley. Today, especially since I know of her efforts toward helping animals, I really admire her! Now, if we could just have her over for our next family dinner night...

An Evening with Kathy Griffin

Just this last Saturday night, my husband and I went to see one of our favorite stand-up comediennes, Kathy Griffin. Her show was at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the place was packed! SOLD OUT, in fact! Sort of surprising for the largely conservative O.C. when you consider the type of comedy Kathy is known for. But she's got a BIG following, obviously, and she deserves it!

Kathy also has a HUGE gay fan-base, and they certainly "came out" for the show, same as we did. I mean, they were everywhere! It was so nice to be with a crowd of our own peers for a change. Believe me, it's not a common occurrence around these parts!

Anyway, back to Kathy... She opened the show with a video montage of all sorts of different media appearances she's made, everything from bit parts on 'Seinfeld' and 'X-Files' (I know, 'X-Files'? I didn't remember that, either!) to commercials she's done, her stint as the 'Celebrity Mole', and even a role she played in a horror movie! Oh, and of course, her break-through role on 'Suddenly Susan' which I think lasted about 4 seasons. The montage concluded with clips from her T.V. reality show on Bravo, 'Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List', that was most responsible for making her a household name. I'm not entirely sure that the show's name is even accurate anymore. Is she STILL really only on the D-List? I think her popularity has bumped her up the list a bit, by now! Of course, Kathy's an "A" in my book...

The material Kathy covered was all over the map. She talked about having seen Britney lip-syncing in concert, and that led into a story about how Kathy was just "hanging out" with rapper T.I. at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffle House and how she got him to call Justin Timberlake on his cell phone. Let's see, she also talked about Oprah, and then Kirstie Alley's latest guest-appearance on Oprah's show where Kirstie talked about her weight gain since the whole Jenny Craig thing. Of course, she talked a bit about 'The Real Housewives of Orange County'. I think that she probably felt she had to since that was where she was! Tommy and I kinda "checked out" during that part because we've never watched the show. But then she went on to talk quite a lot about her 88-year-old mom, Maggie. That's ALWAYS entertaining because Kathy can't talk about her mom without impersonating her, and she's a real crack-up as her mom!

She also talked about Donald Trump and his 'Celebrity Apprentice' show. And she couldn't talk about that without mentioning Joan Rivers. Kathy really admires Joan, which makes total sense. I know I've forgotten stuff, but you get the picture! She keeps her act fresh and always has new material on the latest pop culture for each show she does. In fact, I don't know that she EVER does the same set twice. That's one of the great things about her!

If you are at all offended by curse words, you should NOT see Kathy live! She doesn't hold back ANYTHING! When she doesn't have to worry about things like the FCC, she just drops the F-bombs like it's Pearl Harbor all over again! And dirty, dirty, dirty... She's got a real potty mouth! And we just loved it!

I hope that we get out and do things like this more often because we had a great time and laughed a lot! You know what they say about laughter...

Laughter IS the Best Medicine!

I love to laugh and I think that most other people do, too. I say most because I've certainly encountered my fair share of humorless, old fuddy-duddies! That man above would clearly NOT be considered one... Why some people don't embrace every opportunity to laugh wholeheartedly, I'll never understand!

It just makes you feel so good, and research has found that laughter does actually increase the body's endorphin levels which then results in natural pain relief. The release of those endorphins also causes the adrenal glands to manufacture cortisol, which is a natural anti-inflammatory that can help arthitis sufferers.

But WAIT, there's more!

It's not unusual for people who've suffered long-term depression to recover through laughter. But depressed people aren't usually laughing, right? Well, I just recently found out about something called Laughter Yoga that is being used as therapy for these people. And it's working!

Laughter Yoga was first introduced by an Indian physician by the name of Dr. Madan Kataria with the help of his yoga instructor wife Madhuri, back in 1995. It's not only an exercise routine, but a complete "wellbeing workout"! It combines laughter with yogic breathing. Supposedly, anyone can laugh for no reason without relying on jokes or comedy if it is simulated as a body exercise. When done in a yoga group with eye-contact and childlike silliness, it inevitably turns into real contagious laughter.

The concept of Laughter Yoga is based on a scientific fact that the human body can't differentiate between fake and real laughter, so one gets the same physiological and psychological benefits! How cool is that?!

Another great thing about laughter is that it's totally universal, with NO language or cultural barriers. Largely because of that, thousands of Laughter Yoga clubs have been popping up in as many as 60 countries around the world!

I'm so excited about this that I really want to join the movement! As it turns out, just this last Sunday (like every first Sunday in May since 1998) was celebrated as 'World Laughter Day'. Grrrr, why didn't I hear about this sooner? There's always next year, I guess... I'd better go mark the calendar!

In the meantime, I plan to find out about the nearest Laughter Yoga club and join it. Maybe, I can even get a certain female friend of mine to come along? Just for laughs, of course!

Special thanks to Laughter Yoga International, the Official Website of Dr. Kataria, for the information about this wonderful topic. If you would like more info and/or want to know how you can "join the club", here's that site's link: http://www.laughteryoga.org/

Sorry, about the clown...
This IS Pop Circus, you know!