Lizard Lick Towing’s Ron and Amy Shirley Worth Combined $5 Million

Ron and Amy Shirley who star in Lizard Lick Towing reality show on TruTV.

Ron and Amy Shirley know that each renewal of Lizard Lick Towing means they can deposit huge amounts of money in their bank account.

They are both worth a total of $5 million, with Celebrity Net Worth showing they both have net worths of $2.5 million each.

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/business-executives/ron-shirley-net-worth/

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/business-executives/amy-shirley-net-worth/

One of the articles says that the Shirleys recreate some of the their encounters, when repossessing cars, so that tells me they are using actors in the wild scenes seen on the show. I don’t mind that the show is fake, as long as the producers don’t try to fool the fans, into thinking that the action scenes are real.

Bobby Brantley in his cool shades.

Bobby Brantley once stated that some of the scenes were staged. The last I knew Bobby Brantley was married to his fourth wife Anita, so it surprised me that the show had a storyline, that showed Bobby dating a local girl on the show, which infuriated Amy, since Amy had a long and bad history with the girl. Anyone that knows if Bobby is still married is welcome to comment.

It doesn’t really matter to me that it is fake, since it is an entertaining show. I have seen scenes where Ron and Bobby have been shot at during a repossession. A person being shot at in real life would have called the police, but even with all the fights at repossession sites and in the office police are seldom called.

They are inviting trouble in the office leaving stuff that can be thrown around. That office lobby should not have anything that is not nailed down, since if it is not then it will be destroyed.

Ron and Amy Shirley may not be earning Kardashian type money, for their reality show but most of us wouldn’t mind having $5 million in our bank accounts

It is another reason that Ron and Amy are probably on pins and needles, till they get their renewal notices for the next season.

Wikipedia says that Ron and Amy were going to be in Wife Swap. Just thinking about them being on the show makes me laugh. However it didn’t pan out, but it may have turned out for the best as Lizard Lick Towing was first seen on All Worked Up, before TruTV offered a deal to Ron and Amy, to have their own show and they hopped on the money train that would make them both millionaires.

I assume there will be new shows, if it is renewed next summer or fall.

The main thing is that Lizard Lick Towing is a fun show to watch, whether it is fake or not.

 

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Undercover Boss of O’Neil Clothing Offered Weed, Checkers Boss Closes Store On the Spot

Jesus, an employee at O’Neill makes a bad impression on Undercover Boss Toby Bost of O’Neill Clothing by telling him he knows where to get some good weed and asks the boss if he ever thought about opening a pot dispensary.

Toby Bost the CEO of O’Neills Clothing was shocked when he encountered an employee named Jesus in one of his stores. Jesus didn’t win any points by saying the clothes were clothes a five-year old would wear. He won even fewer points by telling his boss, who was disguised as Frederick that he knew where to score some weed. Jesus even went so far as to ask Frederick if he ever thought about opening a pot dispensary. He also revealed he took drugs before going to work to make it through the workday. Bost said in a film snippet that he was worried that Jesus might offer other employees or customers some weed. Surprisingly he didn’t fire him on the spot, but I wouldn’t have blamed him if he had.

Toby Bost left, is shown by employee Jorge how to make a T-shirt at the print shop.

 

Bost then meets the polar opposite of Jesus at the print shop. Jorge loves his job and is patient with Frederick as he shows him to make T-shirts. However, Jorge has a sad back story as he talks to Frederick on a break. He asks Frederick if his children are healthy, then tells about his child having a rare disease and telling about how the child is being fed by a tube.

Won’t go into details about the other employees he encounters, since these were the two most interesting employees to me.

Jesus, Jorge and the other employees featured on the program are sent to meet with someone about how Frederick did on the job. They are really there to meet Toby Bost the CEO of O’Neill Clothing, who reveals his true identity to them. It was not a fun meeting for Jesus, as Bost tells him how disappointed he was in his behavior at the store and mentioned that about the weed and pot dispensary. Jesus asks if he is fired, but Bost says he is not fired but will have to undergo a training program to learn how to treat customers and fellow workers with respect. Jesus thanks Bost for the second chance and at the end of the show it is mentioned that he may even stop smoking.

The meeting with Jorge went much better as Bost thanked him for his company loyalty and then offered a large sum of money to help with the medical expenses of Jorge’s sick child. This is when the show really connects with the audience, when you see someone who did their job the right way be rewarded.

 

 

Rick Silva CEO of Checkers and Rallys fast food restaurants appeared as Alex Garcia, who had a pharmacy go out of business in Philadlelphia. trying to find work in the fast food business.

Rick Silva the CEO of Checkers and Rallys  fast food restaurants went undercover as Alex Garcia in an episode of Undercover Boss. He learned that almost none of the staff had been trained for their jobs. He took particular interest in a worker named Todd who worked hard, but was constantly being hounded by the general manager. Todd needed the job to help support his mom and was trying to go to culinary school to be a chef.

The behavior of the general manager upset Alex enough to talk to him in the parking lot, about how he treated his employees. The general manager named Stevens said he had to yell at them, for them to pay any attention to him. Alex finds out during the conversation that Stevens was thrust into the general manager’s position after completing only three weeks of the six weeks training course. He reveals to Stevens that he is the CEO of Checkers, so he lost his secret identity as Alex to correct the situation.

Alex then apologized to Stevens for not providing more training before he was promoted to the general manager position. Alex tells Stevens that he is closing down the store immediately. He then reassures the employees that they still have their jobs and apologizes to them for not making sure they had been trained properly. He then tells the employees that he is going to have several general managers in the store next day, to train the employees and to get the restaurant back on track.

When Todd goes to meet the boss after Alex has returned to being Rick Silva again he is not shocked since he already knew Alex was really Rick the CEO. Silva tells Todd how much he appreciated him as a worker then tells him he is giving him $15,000 to go to culinary school and to help his mother.

 

These two episodes of Undercover Boss made me realize how good this show is. It shows how CEO’s don’t have a clue, as to what is happening at their stores and how inept they are at doing the work of the employees. It also shows how CEO’s can be compassionate, when they learn about their employees struggling to pay their bills.

This show is reality television at its best. There is more real emotion in the last 15 or 20 minutes of this show, when the CEO’s reveal themselves and help their workers financially, than most reality shows have in an hour.

This article tells more about the Checkers episode and has photos of the show:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2104085/Rallys-Checkers-CEO-Rick-Silva-shuts-restaurant-Undercover-Boss-episode.html

 

 

Jodi Arias: What A Tangled Web We Weave…….

A smiling Jodi Arias is pictured in her mug shot.

Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive! Sir Walter Scott, Marmion, Canto vi. Stanza 17. Scottish author & novelist  (1771 – 1832)  

Jodi Arias apparently never heard of Sir Walter Scott’s famous quotation above, because she has woven such a web of lies and deceit, that not even she can remember them all. Few criminals are smug enough to be shown smiling in their mug shots, but it is par for the course for Arias, who left a trail of lies behind after murdering Travis Alexander.

The salacious audio recordings of her and her ex-boyfriend talking about sex are a prime example of how the media has changed and how cable news networks are getting away, with foisting this stuff on the American public. The major networks would have been heavily fined for presenting the lurid details of their sexual encounters in such graphic terms.

The defense and prosecutor even played some of the same recordings, in their prosecution of and defense of Arias.

Arias Claiming Self Defense

It is ludicrous that Arias is trying to save herself from going to death row, by using the self-defense claim. It seems preposterous that she would claim self-defense, when Alexander was shot and stabbed 27 times. If it was self-defense then why would she stab him 27 times? Rage had a lot more to do with his death, than self-defense since stabbing him that many times shows that Arias  was not content with him being almost positively dead. She could have fled the house sooner if it was really self-defense, since Alexander was not in any shape to endanger her life.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez battled  with Arias for many days, while she was on the stand. She showed time and time again, that she was not capable of answering a simple yes or no question. She often pointed out any mistakes Martinez made. Martinez would ask a question and Arias would go off on a tangent that had nothing to do with his question. So he had to repeatedly ask the same questions over and over again. I doubt Martinez has ever encountered a more reluctant witness than Arias.

Martinez went into details of how Arias had lied to the detectives and showed the 48 Hours interview, which clearly showed her making up lies as she went along.

The defense allowing  Arias to testify was a formula for disaster and Thursday we saw just how a big mistake it was for her to testify. Once Martinez started questioning Arias about the day of the murder we saw her smirk disappear, because she was now being cornered into admitting more, than she wanted to admit on the stand.

Were Tears Fake?

We will never know if her tears yesterday were real or only more of her act. I think she sent herself to death row yesterday by her testimony. Martinez pointed out how well she was remembering other events on the day of the murder, but her mind was in a complete fog, when it came to remembering murdering Alexander.

Martinez mentioned earlier while questioning Aria that she had attempted to commit suicide, but couldn’t stand he pain of cutting her wrist, so Martinez asked her “If you thought that nick was painful, then imagine what pain Alexander had felt when she plunged a knife into his heart. That question rid the smirk off the face of Arias.

The key point about her mind being in a fog to me is that how can anyone stab someone 27 times and not even remember it? Her mind was not in a fog and she knew exactly what she was doing.

It was a mistake on the part of the defense to let Arias testify and she may have signed her own death warrant yesterday, with her testimony of being in a fog that day, while Martinez pointed out many discrepancies in her testimony, that showed that she was not even close to being in a fog.

My concern is that she may have been on the stand so long, that a juror may have begun to feel sorry for her and that is the only hope for Arias now to have a hung jury. I would be in complete shock if a not guilty verdict is rendered, but not so surprised to have a hung jury. Let us hope that doesn’t happen, because I don’t know if the nation would want to go through this trial for a second time.

Tried to Cover Her Tracks

Arias tried to cover her tracks by leaving voice mails, texts and email, addressed to Alexander while knowing good and well she had already killed him.

The communications pictured her as a concerned friend, who wanted to see how he had been doing and acting as if she knew nothing about his death.

There reportedly will be no trial today and court will re-convene on Monday.

We can only hope for a rapid end to this trial. Arias has to know that she should have taken the advice of Sir Walter Scott, instead of weaving a web of lies and deceit that could lead to her execution. The following poll asks the question, that if you were a juror, with your knowledge of the trial as of today, which verdict you would render…Guilty or not guilty.

Joe Schmo: Full Bounty Hunter Fake Reality Show Is Really Fake

Only one person in this photo knows this is a fake reality show. That person is Chase Rogan, who is standing to the right of the man in jacket at forefront.

It is becoming more and more evident that all reality shows are fake, to create the maximum drama from any situation. The Joe Schmo Show has a cast of characters, who know the show is fake, but Chase Rogan, who is the  Joe Schmo this season doesn’t have a clue, that he is being duped by the entire cast.

There was a close call when a girl who was supposed to be deaf answered, when Chase asked her question, which could have brought the show crashing down to earth. Then another time another girl on the show said she graduated from college at 14 and graduated from med school at 18, which sent up red flags to Chase.

The premise of the show is that the winner at the end of the season will  become a bounty hunter and win $100,000. Chase is the perfect foil for the show, as he  seems to fall for the prank hook line and sinker.

Chase has to wonder why he keeps winning immunity challenges and wears the immunity jacket to the eviction ceremonies. Of course, he is in no danger of actually being voted off the show, since they have no show without him in it. The worst case scenario would be for Chase to overhear something that tells him he is being set up.

The show creates awkward situations for Chase, like when one of the characters reveals to him that he is gay. Then two girls come up to Chase telling him that they are both crazy about the gay guy. Chase then tries to hint that the gay guy is not really interested in girls, without telling them that he knows the secret, since he promised to keep it secret.

One challenge is when Chase is asked to drive the van to a house with bounty jumpers inside. Jake Montrose who is pretending to own the bounty hunter company gives Chase a walkie-talkie, then enters the house alone. Ralph then calls Chase and Chase jumps out of the truck and over the porch and runs into the house. Jake hands him a gun to hold on the lady inside the house, while Jake runs to capture the other bounty jumper.

We have watched the first four episodes with six episodes remaining. We can only assume that the show will last all ten weeks, since it was filmed in July, but anything can happen.

Hope Chase doesn’t do like one of the past winners of the show and be very angry at being duped.

The best thing about this show is that you know that this show is 100 percent fake and doesn’t try to hide it. I know I may be in the minority, but I actually like this show.

The show can be seen on Tuesdays at 10 PM Eastern Time, which is 9PM Central Time on the Spike Network.

To read more about the show and see the funny video clips:

http://www.spike.com/shows/the-joe-schmo-show

Michael J. Pollard: Face You Never Forget

Michael J. Pollard may not be a household name, but anyone that ever saw him in a film or television show instantly will recognize his face.

He always reminded me of a kid that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and his face said that he knew no excuse to extricate himself from the situation.

Pollard was born Michael John Pollack Jr. in Passaic New Jersey on May 30, 1939.  He has been acting since 1959 and is still active 53 years later in 2012.

He was married to Beth Howland, who television fans will remember her playing Vera on the Alice situation comedy. They were married from 1961-1969.

Since Pollard was only 5′ 6″ he had to play youthful roles into his 20′s.

One of the most hilarious shows I have seen him in is the April 30,1962 episode of Andy Griffith, when he played Barney Fife’s cousin Virgil who could do nothing right. He was 22 when this episode was filmed.

For more information on that episode:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0512464/

Fate intervened when he was cast as Jerome Krebs the weird cousin of Maynard G. Krebs on the Dobie Gillis Show, portrayed by Bob Denver, when Denver was going to be drafted in the Army. However, Denver soon returned when he was classified 4-F, which resulted in the dismissal of Pollard from the series.

Once again fate handed Pollard more bad news, when after starring as Hugo Peabody in the Broadway version of Bye Bye Birdie the role was given to Bobby Rydell, when the role was changed to require a singer.

Pollard played a 14-year-old despite being 27 in a Star Trek episode, when he played Jahn in the “Miri” episode.

He played C.J. Moss in the Bonnie and Clyde film in 1967 and would receive an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category.

Three years later he starred in Little Fauss and Big Halsey with Robert Redford. Another memorable role was when he played the homeless man who thought Bill Murray was Richard Burton in the 1988 film Scrooged.

This more recent photo of Pollard shows he is the same Michael J. Pollard, just a little older. He is still very busy at 73 having released Sunburnt Angels in 2011, completed The Woods this year and is filming The Next Cassavetes presently.

Even though Pollard is not that well-known, actor Michael J. Fox inserted the J in the middle of his name out of respect to Michael J. Pollard.

He made his first television appearance in 1959 appearing in the DuPont Show of the Month in the “Human Comedy” episode. He made his film debut the same year in It Happened To Jane but was uncredited.

This list compiled by the Internet Movie Database shows that Pollard has been a prolific actor for many years and his resume will bring back memories of the television shows we grew up with and a few of the movies we remember seeing him in.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0689488/

Pollard will probably always be known as the man, who has a familiar face but very few will be able to remember his name.

Big Brother 14: Latest News Inside The House

DON’T READ IF YOU WANT TO WAIT FOR SHOWS TO AIR ON CBS!! THIS ARTICLE MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT WILL BE SEEN ON UPCOMING SHOWS!!

Kara Monaco

Kara Monaco a former Playboy playmate has found out that game strategy trumps fame in the Big Brother house, as she and Frank Eudy, son of wrestler Sid Vicious find themselves on the block. The one who put them on the block is HOH Willie Hantz, the brother of former Survivor contestant Russell Hantz.

It looked like on the Sunday show that Willie and Frank had formed an alliance and agreed to not put each other up, but when the nomination ceremony was held Willie went back on his word and nominated Frank.

Even the HOH is subject this season to second guessing from the other players and the coach of their team. Willie apparently wanting to keep on the good side of his coach and fellow alliance members chose to put Frank up for eviction, even though he was going against his own inclination to not nominate Frank.

This could mean problems for Willie down the road, especially if Frank wins an HOH competition. The problem this year is that the coaches are constantly suggesting to HOH’s, that they need to make certain moves.

Mike Boogie and Dan Gheesling were shown on Sunday’s show making an alliance and Janelle Pierzina and Britney Haynes were also seen teaming up against the Mike and Boogie. However since then Britney has made some disparaging remarks about Janelle, saying that Janelle has never cried in the Big Brother house and she has a kid. There will be some fireworks if Janelle learns of this development and will make it more difficult to work together as the game goes on. When one coach trashes the other, that is supposedly in an alliance with the other coach, then we can expect confrontations between the two of them.

http://dogdave.com/bb.html is the best source for Big Brother news between the CBS shows. There are several links to pages that give details, of what is going on between shows and on the shows. The top of the page for today at least shows photos, of all the team members of the four teams.

One of my favorites is http://www.mortystv.com/big_brother.shtml which gives detailed descriptions of what is done and said during the day at the Big Brother House.  Near the top of the page is a box giving basic information, like who has been nominated and who has won the Power of Veto and if the Power of Veto was used. For instance Shane Meaney, the house flipper won the veto and chose not to use it.

There are people who watch the live feeds and report what house guest are saying and doing. For instance Janelle said she didn’t want to be a house guest again, because of having to leave her baby, but agreed to be on the show, knowing she had a 25 percent chance of winning the $100,000 prize for coach of the winning house guest. Britney checked contract with Big Brother and they have the right to change the show at any time, which means the coaches could be forced back into game, willingly or not.

Mike Boogie is being his usual obnoxious self, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him take the $100,000 prize.  It will be interesting to see how much influence the coaches will have over the house guests as the season goes on.

Ian Terry of New Orleans, Louisiana is making a bad name for engineering students, with his bizarre behavior in the house and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him be one of the first to leave the show. He seems to be from a different planet, than the other house guests. It surprised me that Mike would grant him safety, but will assume Mike knows what he is doing.

One of my favorites is http://www.mortystv.com/big_brother.shtml which gives detailed descriptions of what is done and said during the day at the Big Brother House.  Near the top of the page is a box giving basic information, like who has been nominated and who has won the Power of Veto and if the Power of Veto was used. For instance Shane Meaney, the house flipper won the veto and chose not to use it.

Janelle may not be smiling if she learns that her alliance teammate Britney is trashing her to other house guests.

Mike Boogie turned 42 in the Big Brother house yesterday and it reminded me of the number of older house guests this year. Nine of the 12 house guests, not counting coaches are 26 or older with Ian 21, Danielle 23 and Wil 24 being the only house guests under the age of 26.

Joe Arvin the cook is 41, the oldest of the non-coach house guests. He plans to use his cooking skills to stay in the house longer. He is not just any cook since he founded  SmashMouth Burgers and Pizza in Schererville, Indiana.

It will be interesting to see as the season unfolds, just how much influence the coaches will exert over the house guests. This game is hard enough to play, without a coach constantly giving the house guests advice.

There have been reports that the coaches will enter the game, but some of the coaches may not be happy with that development, since so far all they have had to do is dress up like a horse and nominate a have-not from their team and for Dan to choose who to send home on the premiere show. If the coaches enter the game everything changes and reduces chance of other house guests of winning the money. Assume if the coaches enter the game they will get the $100,000 promised them plus the $500,000 grand prize if they win the game.

I don’t think the coach that wins should not have had to nominate a have-not from their team. What is the point of winning, when you know one of your team members will be nominated as a have-not?

Janelle is saying she is not happy with Willie to Wil and Ashley saying “I am seeing a lot of red flags with Willie”.

If Kara is evicted on Thursday night, then Dan will only have Danielle left on his team.

James Dean: Still Remembered 57 Years After His Death

James Dean
1931- 1955

James Byron Dean was born on February 8, 1931 in Marion Indiana. His father moved the family to California, but he sent James to live with an aunt and uncle in Indiana, when his mother died.

Dean appeared in five movies from 1951-1952, but they were all uncredited appearances. Meanwhile, he was appearing in many television series and in live theater television productions.

He also appeared in live drama productions on television, including I’m A Fool which was shown on GE Theater. The production also starred Natalie Wood, when it was shown on November 14, 1954.

ImAFoolgeTheater

East of Eden

Dean’s next movie East of Eden would be released in April of 1955.  Dean who appearing in his first starring role as Cal Trask would be nominated, for Best Actor Award for his role. He was nominated posthumously, becoming the first actor ever nominated after his death.

James Dean and Julie Harris in a scene from East of Eden:

James Dean refused to attend the premiere of East of Eden, which almost caused him, to lose his lead role in Rebel Without a Cause. Dean beat out Paul Newman for the role of Cal Trask, when they both were in the same scene, during the screen test.

East of Eden was the only one of Dean’s best known movies to be released before his death.

Rebel Without a Cause

Later in 1955, Dean and Wood would be paired again in the movie Rebel Without a Cause. This movie made a huge impression on me, when I saw it on television. I can still remember the planetarium scene in the movie.

This first clip from Rebel Without a Cause shows James Dean and Natalie Wood:

Romantic scene with James and Natalie:

Natalie Wood is the starter for a chicken race between James Dean and the villain:

James Dean is remembered for his role in Rebel Without a Cause, but Natalie Wood would be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Judy, while Sal Mineo would be nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his role as Plato.

Some interesting trivia about the movie: Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel) had submitted a script considered for the movie, but was rejected. Jayne Mansfield and Debbie Reynolds were both considered for the Natalie Wood role of Judy.

The three stars of the movie all met tragic deaths, with James Dean dying in a car accident, Natalie Wood dying in a drowning accident, which is still being investigated by the Los Angeles police and Sal Mineo who was stabbed to death. The policeman (Edward Platt) who knocks down Dean in the police station scene, would take his own life in later years. Platt is best remembered for his role as Control Chief on Get Smart television series.

Giant

James Dean would be nominated for Best Leading Actor Oscar posthumously, for his role as Jett Rink in Giant, while Rock Hudson also was nominated for Best Leading Actor. The film was nominated for ten Oscars, but only director George Stevens won an Oscar for Best Director.

James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor seen in a scene from Giant.

James telling Rock Hudson’s character and the others that he just struck oil:

Nick Adams provided the voice for Dean in some lines, due to Dean dying before production ended. Hudson had been given a choice, between Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor and chose Taylor.

Giant was the highest grossing movie for Warner Bros.  until Superman was released. Sal Mineo who had appeared in Rebel Without a Cause was also cast in Giant.

Death

Dean was forbidden to race during the filming of Giant. He had been a successful car racer at the Palm Springs Road Races and had won some races and had placed in the top two in some other races.

He was eager to impress actor Alex Guinness with his new car, a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder and showed the famous actor his car. Guinness was not impressed and made this prophetic statement and told Dean  ”If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week.” Dean was dead seven days later after having been hit in a head-on collision.

This is all that remained of James Dean’s Porsche after the September 30, 1955 accident that ended his life at the age of 24.

September 30, 1955 started off as a normal day for Dean, as he planned to put his Porsche on a trailer on way to racetrack, but his mechanic Walter Wutherich thought it would be better for Dean to drive it to Salinas, California, so he could get used to being in the driver’s seat. Dean was stopped at 3:30 PM PDT for speeding, since he had been driving 65 MPH in a 55 MPH zone.

It was at approximately 5:45 PDT that Dean noticed a 1950 Ford Custom coupe coming toward him at a high rate of speed. He tried to maneuver his Porsche to avoid a direct hit, when the driver Donald Turnupseed crossed the middle line, causing him to hit Dean’s car head-on.

Dean was pronounced dead on arrival at Pablo Robles Memorial Hospital, which was 28 miles from the crash scene. Surprisingly Turnupseed only suffered facial bruises and a bloodied nose from the accident. He was well enough to walk and hitch-hike on his way to Tulare, California.

Legacy

James Dean’s death at the age of 24 raised a lot of questions. Would he have went on to become one of the greatest actors in Hollywood history? We will never know the answer to that question.

What we do know is that is that from 1951-1955 he left behind memories of him being on Broadway, on television and in the movies. His most memorable movies were released in 1955 and 1956, when Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden and Giant were released.

Many actors never are nominated for an Academy Award in their entire career, yet Dean was nominated twice for two of the three movies he appeared in over a two-year span.

Rebel Without a Cause best exemplified for me the James Dean I remember, as a troubled youth in that movie, that couldn’t find happiness in a troubled world.

What Old Time Radio Means To Me

I was born in 1944 and lived the first 18 years of my life, during the old time radio era, which ended on September 30,1962, when the last two dramatic shows, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar and Suspense were broadcast for the last time.

There are no recollections in my mind, of our family gathering around the radio, like the family pictured above, but I still can recall hearing some of the programs. I can remember hearing Dragnet, Bob Hope, Arthur Godfrey and the Breakfast Club with Don McNeill. I can also recall my mother listening to the soap operas of that era, as she listened to Just Plain Bill, Stella Dallas, Lorenzo Jones, Pepper Young’s Family and One Man’s Family.

1960 would see the last five soap operas leave the radio airwaves, including Ma Perkins and Young Doctor Malone.

Arthur Godfrey was the most popular talk show host during the old time radio era.

Arthur Godfrey Time and Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club were the two best-known early morning shows and  were often heard in our house in the mornings, though they must have been on at the same time at some point.  The last Breakfast Club was broadcast in 1968, while the last Arthur Godfrey Time was broadcast in 1972.

There was something about Arthur Godfrey, that made him seem like a family friend and he could sell anything, since he came across as being someone you could trust.

Interest in Old Time Radio Rekindled In 90′s

My interest in old time radio became rekindled in the 90′s, when my mother let me listen to a set of old time radio shows. I bought a few tapes of my own, but didn’t really start collecting old time radio shows, till I found that I could buy MP3 CD’s of old time radio shows on eBay for nominal prices.

That is when I became serious about collecting old time radio shows. Previously cassettes and regular compact discs could hold very few shows, but the MP3 compact discs made it possible to record fifty half-hour shows onto one MP3 CD. I also bought the shows at MP3 CD sellers online, who were selling the shows for bargain prices. For instance, I was able to buy over 800 Jack Benny shows for only $12. To buy that many shows on a cassette or regular compact disc would have cost hundreds of dollars, before the advent of MP3 CD’s.

One key to buying old time radio shows is to always go to lowest price plus shipping, when searching for shows on eBay. For instance 441 shows of  Boston Blackie and The Shadow on a DVD can be bid on for only 99 cents and this price includes shipping. The price could still go up, but probably not that much, since there are only three days left in the bidding, on this particular DVD.  DVD’s hold even more shows and enable a collector, to build a large collection even faster.

I also bought a lot of shows from otrcat.com, which offers a complete sample show to listen to, of almost every show available at the website. The site also has excellent descriptions of each show, so you will know the history of that show before buying it.

The front page of the website has a New Additions feature, that sells shows that have added previously unheard episodes or obscure shows, not usually sold online by any dealer.

http://www.otrcat.com/index.php

Record Keeping, Playing MP3 CD’s

I have a filing system with my collection, with about 175 MP3 CD’s inside one large folder, which holds over 17,000 shows. I keep a notebook folder with loose leaf paper, with a sheet of paper for each show. I write the name of the show, the name of the episode and when it was listened to. That prevents me from listening to the same show more than once, unless I like the show enough to listen to it more often.

At first I listened to the episodes on a portable MP3 CD player, but later switched to a MP3 player, which plays the shows after the digital  files for the shows have been uploaded into the MP3 player. Once they are in the MP3 player, the names of each episode is shown in a list on the MP3 player. After listening to the show, the show can be deleted from the MP3 player, to avoid having to go through so many shows to find one particular episode.

When I select a MP3 CD to listen to I insert the CD into the CD drive on the computer. It then shows up in the Windows Explorer files and I send the shows I want to my MP3 player, which has been connected to the tower. I can manually highlight the shows I want transfered to MP3 player and after writing the information for each episode of that show into the notebook, then manually drag the episodes of that show, into the MP3 player. In my case I use the Sony Content Transfer folder as the ultimate destination on the desktop, which is really the MP3 player.

I have a list of all my shows and how many episodes and how many CD’s and hours there are of each episode.

For example, there are 869 Jack Benny Shows in my collection on 9 MP3 CD’s which total 433 hours of Jack Benny shows.

My Favorite Old Time Radio Shows

My favorite old time radio show is This Is Your FBI, which tells true stories of FBI cases of that era and especially features stories of soldiers, who have returned from war who have been swindled out of their money, by con men who conspire to take their money.

The shows feature both the criminals making their plans and squabbling among themselves and the FBI agents working to capture the criminals. The shows are easy to listen to and keep your attention, since the shows are so well-written.

 

Boston Blackie is one of my favorites, because I enjoy the interplay between Blackie and Inspector Faraday. The inspector immediately suspects that Blackie committed whatever crime is being committed, because of Blackie’s criminal history as a safe cracker. However, the inspector is always proven wrong by the end of the story.

 Night Watch was a precursor to COPS, with the main difference, that it is an old time radio show from the 1950′s that uses a reporter in the police car to record every word spoken during a night on patrol.

The show will touch the listeners emotionally, as it touched me. One of the episodes is about a lady who leaves her kids in the car, while she goes into a bar. The older child is trying to watch out for the younger child.

Another emotional part of the shows is when parents are told, that their child is in trouble for breaking a law. This show is one of the more riveting shows of old time radio but it wasn’t on the air long, so all we can do is enjoy the shows, as the policemen question the victims and criminals to get to the truth of whatever situation is being heard. This is true reality radio at its best.

  The Great Gildersleeve is my favorite comedy of old time radio days. Harold Peary’s portrayal of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve is right on the money. His character was first heard on Fibber McGee and Molly, but he later had his own show with him, as the water commissioner of Summerfield, less than two years after his first appearance on Fibber McGee and Molly.

  Gildersleeve’s home consisted of his nephew Leroy and his niece Marjorie and the cook named Birdie. Gildersleeve comes off as a bombastic oaf, who likes to be in charge of whatever is going on at the time. He also has an eye for the girls and is intent at Christmas time to maneuver the girls, to where they will be standing under the mistletoe.

  I never tire of hearing the same Christmas shows, since they represent so well, what Christmas was like in the 1940′s and 1950′s. It is funny hearing Gildersleeve worrying about how much someone is spending on his Christmas present. He is determined to spend not one penny more than what someone spends on him

Richard LeGrand who portrays the local druggist Richard Peavey is one of my favorite characters on the show. The mild-mannered Peavey is an excellent contrast, with the more in-your-face Gildersleeve. His drugstore is an oasis away from the turbulent Gildersleeve home, which always seems to be in chaos.

Judge Hooker played by Earle Ross and Gildersleeve have a tempestuous relationship, that keeps them from being on good terms most of the time. He is also the opposite of Mr. Peavey and I can’t recall the two of them interacting much on the show.

The show to me seemed to lose its spark, when Harold Peary left the show. I have nothing against Willard Waterman, who was in a lose-lose situation trying to replace Peary, but nobody could really replace Peary.

I have only listened to 38 of the over 500 shows in the series.

CBS Radio Workshop was one of the most innovative shows during the old time radio era. I liked Program #6 The Voice of the City in which life on New York streets was recorded. I also enjoyed Evening on Broadway and it probably better depicted the sounds, of people talking to each other on a busy sidewalk.

The Enormous Radio program in the series of shows on the CBS Radio Workshop was about a radio that picked up the conversations of neighbors, instead of regular radio programs.

Ex-Urbanites was a dramatic presentation of how city-dwellers moving to the suburbs, found out that the suburbs were not as great, as they expected and the travel especially became a burden.

There are too many excellent programs to mention them all, but this first link will take you to where you can read about the CBS Radio Workshop and the second to a website, where you can actually listen to the shows.

http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-CBS-Radio-Workshop.html

http://archive.org/details/CBSRadioWorkshop

Those who want to only listen to the shows and are not interested in buying them for themselves, there are many websites, that make it possible to hear hundreds and in some cases thousands of shows for free.

Archive.org is one of the best sites online to listen to free old time radio shows.

http://archive.org/search.php?query=old%20time%20radio

OTR.net has over 12,000 free old time radio shows to listen to, including 442 Fibber McGee and Molly shows, 610 Jack Benny shows, 468 Great Gildersleeve shows and 406 Gunsmoke shows.

http://otr.net/

Radiolovers.com does not come close to the content of the above two websites and you will notice many of your favorite shows, that are missing from the list of shows. However there are some lesser-known shows that are on the list, that may not be found elsewhere on the internet.

http://radiolovers.com/

Oldradioworld.com has a lot of the same shows found on the other websites, but still a good resource.

http://www.oldradioworld.com/

Oldtimeradiofans.com has some soap operas that aren’t mentioned in some of the other websites.

 http://www.oldtimeradiofans.com/

The following website is the best resource for old time radio information, since it lists most of the shows, that were ever broadcast on old time radio. The site may not be all-inclusive, but it is the closet thing out there. There are lists of  old time radio programs and who was heard in each show and a list of actors that tells how many shows and lists the shows they were heard in.

http://radiogoldindex.com/

This website has a wealth of information about old time radio.

http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2home.html

This link within the above site takes you to a list of program logs that can be found. This list doesn’t include some of the better-known shows.

http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2-jukebox-main.html

This is what the Mel Blanc Show page looks like:

http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Mel-Blanc-Show.html

To my knowledge there is no other website that has this many old time radio photos and ads. Someone could literally spend hours at this website.

The home page for the above sites has even more links to more old time radio information, plus has a lot of information about other nostalgic topics.

http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/

What old time radio means to me can be found in the old time radio shows, that remind me of a simpler time, when families ate dinner together at home and not at a crowded restaurant, except on special occasions.

What old time radio means to me…..

 Listening to Gildersleeve arguing with Judge Hooker or Fibber McGee over the price of a Christmas present.

 Listening to Kingfish trying to pull a fast one on the gullible Andrew H. Brown on Amos and Andy.

Listening to Joe Friday questioning a witness or criminal on Dragnet.

Listening to Mrs. Brooks the teacher talk in the car, as her student Walter Denton drives her to school. How many students drive their teachers to school today?

Listening to the criminals on This Is Your Life plan their next crime.

Listening to the sounds of Broadway on CBS Radio Workshop.

Listening to a live big band radio remote, when big band era was thriving.

Listening to the incessant doorbell ringing on Fibber McGee and Molly.

Listening to the contents of the closet crashing to the floor on Fibber McGee and Molly.

Listening to Boston Blackie and Inspector Faraday make sarcastic remarks toward each other.

Listening to Richard Diamond serenade his girlfriend Helen, after solving the crime for that show.

Listening to the Bickersons bickering with each other endlessly on The Bickersons.

Listening to Chester A. Riley act like a nincompoop in front of family and friends on Life of Riley.

Listening to the great organ music on Nick Carter.

Listening to Groucho Marx ask the same question over and over to a You Bet Your Life contestant.

Listening to Johnny Dollar itemizing his expenses out loud on Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.

Listening to the great sound on Gunsmoke…probably the best sounding old time radio show.

Ernest Borgnine Dies at 95

Ernest Borgnine 1917-2012

Ernest Borgnine has died in Los Angeles at the age of 95 due to renal failure. He was born as Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut. His wife of 39 years Tovah survived him. Borgnine served in the U.S. Navy from 1935-1945. His mom talked him into pursuing an acting career and he appeared as a male nurse in Harvey on Broadway in 1951.

Ernest Borgnine as seen in a scene in From Here To Eternity.

Two years later Borgnine appeared in the movie From Here To Eternity in 1953 as Sgt. Fatso Judson. Borgnine had appeared in three movies in 1951, including China Corsair, The Whistle At Eaton Falls and The Mob.

He also made his television debut in 1951 in Captain Video and His Video Rangers. He appeared in many television programs including two episodes of Waterfront  in 1954.

Burt Lancaster introduces this trailer for the movie Marty that won Ernest Borgnine an
Academy Award.

Borgnine’s twelfth movie Marty would win him a Best Actor Oscar defeating much better known actors in James Cagney, James Dean, Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy.  Marty was only one of six movies that Borgnine would make in 1955.

1956-1961 would be busy years for Borgnine as the free-lanced in television, while making movies on the side. Then he won the starring role in the television series McHale’s Navy. The show would run from 1962-1966 and the show’s popularity caused his marriage to Broadway star Ethel Merman to last only 32 days, since she couldn’t handle seeing him receive the adulation of the fans. She devoted a chapter of her life story, to her marriage to Borgnine which consisted of one blank page.

After McHale’s Navy ended he appeared in an episode of three different television shows, then acted in 12 consecutive movies before appearing in a TV movie The Trackers.

Ernest Borgnine describes his experiences filming Poseidon Adventure.

Borgnine appeared in the blockbuster Poseidon Adventure in 1972. Airwolf would be his next television series that lasted more than a few episodes, with Borgnine appearing in 55 episodes from 1984-1986.

He mostly acted in movies till he appeared in Single Guy which ran from 1995-1997.

One constant of Borgnine’s career was that he made a lot of movies from his first one in 1951 to his last one The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez, which was completed this year and is in post-production. His movie career spanned 61 years from his first movie to his last one.

This list of his movie and television appearances shows just how a prolific an actor, that Ernest Borgnine was:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000308/

One thing about Ernest Borgnine that most fans don’t know is that he was the first center square in the history of the  Hollywood Squares television program.

Other interesting facts about Ernest Borgnine:

He is only actor to appear in all four Dirty Dozen movies.

Lives in same home that he bought in 1965, living there till his death 47 years later.

Earned only $5,000 for his role in Marty, which won him the Academy Award.

His wife Tovah who survived him was 25 years younger than Borgnine.

Just a few quotes from Ernest Borgnine at imdb.com

[on his marriage to Ethel Merman]: Biggest mistake of my life. I thought I was marrying Rosemary Clooney.

[on why he wanted to star in "McHale's Navy" (1962)]: Theater business was disappearing and so were night clubs, which I don’t like to play anyway because they keep me up too late. There were TV guest shots, but how many times can you play Ed Sullivan? My biggest pay was from industrial shows, but they don’t come along too often.

Where can we find the great actors we had yesteryear, guys like Spencer Tracy and Gary Cooper and Edward G. Robinson? You know, I was talking to Lee Marvin the other day and we agreed that we were the last of a breed. We’re the last who had the opportunity of working with these fine actors. I feel very humble. It makes me feel that I’ve got to try that bit harder.

Ernest Borgnine may have only won one Academy Award, but that doesn’t mean none of his other movies haven’t entertained theater goers, who saw his movies for the last 61 years and enjoyed watching McHale’s Navy on television.

His New York Times obituary tells more about the life of Ernest Borgnine:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/movies/ernest-borgnine-tough-but-tender-actor-is-dead-at-95.html

Andy Griffith Before and After Andy Griffith Show

The late Andy Griffith in a scene from No Time For Sergeants.

 

The first time I heard of Andy Griffith was when he appeared in the movie No Time For Sergeants. He played Will Stockdale a mountain boy, who is drafted into the U.S. Army. He had already played the part in the Broadway play by the same name three years, before the 1958 movie was released.

The funniest scene of the movie to me was when he was named PLO (Permanent Latrine Orderly). He rigged the toilet seats to stand up all at once, which shocked the inspecting officer to say the least. However, this scene of him being tested by a corporal for manual dexterity may be even funnier. Don Knotts plays the corporal, who is utterly frustrated by the way Andy’s character Will Stockdale puts the two links together. Don Knotts appears at about the 1:15 mark.

I hadn’t even known Andy Griffith had appeared in A Face in the Crowd in 1957, in a dramatic role unlike the Andy Griffith I had known in No Time For Sergeants and on the Andy Griffith show.

Andy received top billing in the movie portraying an Arkansas hobo Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes who becomes rich overnight. This is a scene from A Face In The Crowd:

Made Television Debut On U.S. Steel Hour

Andy had made his television debut on the U.S. Steel Hour when he played Will Stockdale on television. He played the role on Broadway, on television and in the movies, which probably has not been done very often, by any actor in the same role.

He also made the movie Onionhead in 1958, so it was a very busy year for him.

Danny Thomas Show Role As Sheriff

Andy got a big break when he appeared on a Danny Thomas episode in 1960, where Danny is given a ticket, by a small-town sheriff.  Andy is perplexed when he finds out that Andy is not only the sheriff, but also the justice of the peace.

The Danny Thomas episode led to the formation of the Andy Griffith show which was shown that same year, on the CBS television network.  249 episodes later the Andy Griffith show would complete its run.

He appeared on Mayberry RFD for two years, then had two series fail in short order, when Headmaster lasted 13 episodes in 1970, followed by the New Andy Griffith show which lasted only 10 episodes. He didn’t return to another series until 1979 when Salvage One only last 19 episodes. He had appeared in three series since leaving Mayberry RFD, but only 42 shows were made of those three series combined.

Seven years later Andy tried again for a hit series and he struck gold with Matlock which ran from 1986-1995. He appeared in various television series and movies till he made his last acting appearance in Play the Game in 2009 at the age of 83.

Andy non only was an actor, but recorded gospel songs. This is Andy singing How Great Thou Art:

I looked at Andy Griffith and saw a role model, for the right way to live life.

My wife and daughter surprised me in 2006, when we went to Mt. Airy, N.C. to see Andy’s boyhood home. I didn’t know we were going to stay there that night and it was the surprise of my life, when I found out we were actually spending the night there. Hampton Inn rents out the home to tourists and it was something I will never forget. I even played baseball with my grandson in Andy’s backyard.

The late Andy Griffith’s boyhood home in Mt. Airy, NC.

Andy had also made some comedy records early in his career. I had the record that has him giving his impression of seeing his first football game. He said in his monologue that 5 or 6 convicts were running up and down the field blowing whistles.  The game was played in a cow pasture and Andy concludes saying that the object of the game must be to keep from being knocked down or stepping in something.

The only remaining actors still alive from Andy Griffith are Jim “Gomer Pyle” Nabors and Betty “Thelma Lou” Lynn.

I was 15 when the first Andy Griffith show was televised in 1960 and was 23 when the last show aired, so have been watching Andy Griffith during the first eight original years and in 44 years of re-runs.

Andy, Thanks for the memories and RIP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy Griffith Dies At 86 On Roanoke Island, North Carolina

Andy Griffith 1926-2012

Andy Griffith died this morning at his home on Roanoke Island, North Carolina at the age of 86.

Death has taken another star of the Andy Griffith Show. George Lindsey who portrayed Goober on the show had passed away on May 6.

Andy Griffith’s character Andy Taylor was one of the most beloved characters on television. The show revolved around him and he saw early in the show’s run, that it would be better to play the straight man for off the wall characters like Barney Fife played by Don Knotts, Gomer Pyle who was portrayed by Jim Nabors, Otis Campbell being portrayed by Hal Smith and the aforementioned George Lindsey as Goober.

Life Lessons Taught

Andy taught his son Opie Taylor well, trying to bring him up without a mother in the home. Many shows dwelt on Andy telling Opie, how to deal with life’s problems the right way.

Whatever problem Opie may have been experiencing Andy always had the right solution , to any problem that might arise. This video from the show in which Opie killed a bird with a slingshot is an excellent example of  how Andy taught his son to do the right thing.

 

The interplay between Andy and Barney Fife was a huge part, of the success of the show. Don Knotts suggested that the show needed a deputy and that move guaranteed the success of the show. Andy asks Barney about the Emancipation Proclamation, which shows how Andy could rile up Barney.

 

When Don Knotts left the show after five years, Andy proved he could still draw the fans. as the show’s ratings stayed strong, after the departure of Knotts.

 

I can remember watching Andy Griffith and Don Knotts in No Time For Sergeants movie, many years ago and we watched the movie three times in a row, since that was allowed in the 50′s.

We have lost an American icon in Andy Griffith, one day before the July 4th holiday. Andy Griffith represented everything, that is great about America. He leaves a rich legacy behind of television shows and movies, in which he appeared.

Andy Griffith will be missed.

 

The New York Times obituary for Andy Griffith:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/arts/television/andy-griffith-actor-dies-at-86.html?pagewanted=all

 

Jackie Gleason: From Pool Hustler To Smokey and the Bandit

Jackie Gleason was best known for portraying Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners but also appeared on the big screen from 1941-1986.

Jackie Gleason grew up in Brooklyn, New York and didn’t have much of a childhood, with his father abandoning the family, when Gleason was eight years old. His mother died when he was 16. His brother Clemence had died when he was three, so Jackie was an only child during most of his childhood.

Jackie Gleason as he appeared in Larceny Inc. movie in 1942 at the age of 26.

Gleason’s first foray into the movies lasted only two years, but he appeared in nine movies in those two years, including Orchestra Wives and Larceny, Inc. Then he performed in nightclubs and appeared in some Broadway plays till he received his first television starring role in Life of Riley, portraying the title character. He was not really suited well for the role and it was cancelled, but revived when William Bendix, the voice of Riley on radio became the star of the show.

Jackie Gleason Orchestra Formed

Jackie Gleason saw there was a place for romantic music and formed the Jackie Gleason Orchestra. I have read that there was never an actual traveling Jackie Gleason Orchestra but this article proves that assumption is incorrect, since this review of a performance with Gleason proves they did travel to different venues. Music showed there was a serious side to Jackie Gleason. I was surprised to read that Gleason actually was conducting the orchestra. Bobby Hackett is the one playing the trumpet solos on most, if not all of his albums.

http://www.bigbandsandbignames.com/gleason.html

Music For Lovers, the debut album for the orchestra was a tremendous hit and showed their was a market for romantic music:

Gleason’s first album, Music for Lovers Only, still holds the record for the album staying the longest in the Billboard Top Ten Charts (153 weeks), and his first ten albums all sold over one million copies.^[19]

I have his Best of Jackie Gleason and His Orchestra album and it includes these songs:

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1015597/a/Best+of+Jackie+Gleason.htm

The now defunct Dumont Television network hired Gleason as summer host of Cavalcade of Stars. He handled the hosting duties so well, that he was named permanent host. He introduced his Ralph Kramden character during the series and the sketches would evolve into The Honeymooners in 1955.

Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows in a scene from The Honeymooners television series 1955-1956.

There is no doubt that The Honeymooners television series is what made Jackie Gleason a household word. The show centered around his character Ralph Kramden and the show was clearly focused on whatever hare-brained scheme, that he was planning at the time.

The Jackie Gleason Show was telecast from 1952-1957 and then revived again to run from 1966-1970. In between he also hosted the Jackie Gleason: American Scene Magazine from 1962-1966.

You’re In The Picture Bombs

Jackie Gleason did have one colossal failure, when he was the host of a new game show named You’re In The Picture in 1961. This article details the failure of the show the first week and how Gleason came back the second week with a new format:

http://www.tvparty.com/picture.html

1961 would see Gleason also have one of his biggest triumphs on the big screen in The Hustler. He played Minnesota Fats the pool hustler and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor but did not win. It was an awesome achievement, considering that he hadn’t appeared in a movie, since appearing in Desert Hawk in 1950.

He is seen with Paul Newman in this pool room scene from The Hustler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TC3kqFUmqQ

The next year Gleason would return in Gigot, in which he played a mute and would be nominated for a Golden Globes Award as best actor. Gleason wrote the screenplay, starred and wrote the music for Gigot. Gleason was the only recognizable name in the entire cast of this movie.  He is seen in this clip from Gigot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la5tyq9gblk

Gleason also appeared in Requiem For A Heavyweight in 1962. He acted well in the movie, but failed to garner any nominations or awards, for his performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54kM1mY86Mc

He appeared in Papa’s Delicate Condition and Soldier in the Rain in 1963 and wouldn’t appear in another movie, till he appeared in Skidoo in 1968. It is strange that he appeared in so many successful movies, than stopped his movie career for the next five years. He could be that filming his American Scene Magazine television show and appearing in movies was too much for him.

Next he appeared in How To Commit Marriage and Don’t Drink The Water in 1969, then took an eight year hiatus from making movies till 1977.  He appeared in Mr. Billion and Smokey and the Bandit in 1977.  I was going to include some clips of Gleason portraying Sheriff Buford T. Justice, but the dialogue was filled with so much bad language, that I decided not to use it, in case some kids were to watch it. He would go on to appear in Part II and Part III of the Smokey and the Bandit movies in 1980 and 1983.

Gleason also appeared in The Toy in 1982 and The Sting II in 1983, before appearing Nothing In Common in 1986, which would be his last movie. His movie career spanned 45 years from 1941-1986.

It is ironic that Gleason only won a Tony Award in his long career for Take Me Along, while never winning a Emmy, Grammy or Academy Award.

Jackie Gleason died of cancer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on June 24, 1987 at the age of 71. Gleason left his mark on Broadway, in the movies, on television and music. He truly was an entertainer of the first magnitude.

His obituary from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/25/obituaries/jackie-gleason-dies-of-cancer-comedian-and-actor-was-71.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

A road sign with his famous catch phrase:

The burial place of Jackie Gleason in Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami, Florida.

Jackie Gleason kept his sense of humor in death with his famous catchphrase.

The First 48: Realistic Portrait of Homicide Investigations

The First 48 is one of the most realistic reality shows on television. The homicide detectives on the show race against the clock, to solve cases in the first 48 hours, after the crime has been committed.

It makes sense to act swiftly, before the suspect or suspects can find a hiding place from the homicide detectives or leave town. Another reason is that the perpetrators of the crime if there are more than one suspect are likely, to concoct a story so that if questioned by the detectives their stories will be the same.

Complaints About Predominantly Black Suspects

There has been some criticism of the show, for showing cases with mostly black criminals as the suspects. They probably could do a better job on that score, since the show has many more cases with black suspects.

Once the filming begins the show is not going to stop filming, because they find out a suspect is black.

One Suspect Fan of Show

One suspect in a show I watched yesterday looked into the camera and said he was a fan of the show and then said “Hello America”.

You would think a criminal that watches the show would ask for a lawyer from the start of the interrogation, since the detectives are able to obtain confessions if given the chance.

Suspects Forget About Miranda Rights

It is almost like the suspects have forgotten their Miranda rights which say:

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.

However, suspect after suspect will forget about the Miranda rights and forget the part about anything they say could be used against them. Instead they freely give information about a crime

The detectives are smart to not even mention attorneys during the interrogation. You can tell on the show that when a suspect asks for an attorney, that the detectives hate to see a suspect ask for an attorney.

If they are not allowed to ask any more questions, then the suspect is more or less useless to them, because the suspect’s attorney will  tell them to not talk to anyone about the case. They then have to try to find other evidence or witnesses, if the case is not strong enough to take to court.

One suspect on a recent show tired of being yelled at by the detectives and told them he is through and that they can yell at his lawyer.

Pit One Suspect Against Another

Sometimes the homicide detectives on the  will pit one suspect against another, by telling the suspect they are interviewing, that the other suspect or suspects have already told them the truth and that the suspect will find it is to their benefit to tell the truth.

On one show a suspect was being interviewed and says he only knocked on the door of the crime scene house. Later on it was revealed he was the shooter, while he portrayed himself  as an innocent bystander, when first interviewed.

More Than One Crime Scene

Most of the shows have more than one crime being investigated, but some shows do only have one crime investigated. Some of the same detectives will be seen on many shows.

The shows are centered on metropolitan areas like Cincinnati, Memphis, Miami, Houston and other large cities.

Summary 

The First 48 to me is a realistic look at how a homicide investigation is conducted. It shows how leads and tips that are called in, are followed up.

A witness in a homicide case told the detectives where the marijuana was thrown out off an interstate. Traffic was stopped on that side of the interstate, till they could search for the marijuana, but eventually the detectives called off the search.

Then when that witness is questioned again, he reveals that the marijuana was thrown in a garbage can in the neighborhood, where the crime was committed, so the interstate was closed down for nothing and the witness wound up being a suspect and was charged with murder.

Some people may think the show reveals too much about how homicide detectives solve cases and question suspects. A criminal watching the show may learn what not to do, by watching the detectives question suspects. The detectives tell the suspects to tell the truth, but if they do tell the truth they are only incriminating themselves and helping the detectives solve the case.

Anyone watching this show should be forewarned, that it can be very habit-forming, because these are real cases, that are shown from the crime scene till they are charged with murder in most shows.

Jack Webb: From Dragnet to Adam 12 to Emergency

Jack Webb 1920-1982

Jack Webb was born on April 2, 1920 in Santa Monica, California. He died at the age of 62 on December 23, 1982 in West Hollywood California.

His father left home before Webb was born and he never knew his dad. He joined the Army Air Force but asked for a hardship discharge after not making the grade in flight training.

Acted in Old Time Radio

Webb starred in an ABC radio comedy the Jack Webb Show in 1946. He then starred in several detective themed old-time radio shows. Pat Novak For Hire, Johnny Modero, Pier 23 and Jeff Regan, Investigator which were his best known radio programs prior to Dragnet.

His big break came when Dragnet was first broadcast on radio in 1949, then would run till 1954. Webb portrayed Sgt. Joe Friday as a no-nonsense detective, who didn’t mince words.  The television version of Dragnet began televising in 1952 with Ben Alexander cast as Detective Frank Smith, concurrently with the radio version till 1954, when the radio series ended. The televised version would remain on the air till 1959. There was a radio or television version of Dragnet  being heard or seen for ten continuous years.

Webb loved jazz and starred in Pete Kelly’s Blues which on radio for less than two months, but would be the predecessor to the film version, of Pete Kelly’s Blues released in 1955. Then Pete Kelly’s Blues was also shown on television in 1959, but only 13 episodes were aired, before it was cancelled.

Dragnet also had a presence in radio, television and movies and it was successful in all three forms of media. A new television version of the original Dragnet named Dragnet 1967 ran till 1970 with Harry Morgan portraying Officer Bill Gannon.

Jack Webb grew up with severe asthma yet was a heavy smoker as can be seen by this advertisement mentioning that he smoked two packs a day. Smoking two packs a day today would cost roughly $180 a month.

Webb became so involved in production, that he wasn’t seen on the television screen often. He created Adam 12 which ran from 1968-1975 and  Ohara, U.S. Treasury which was shown from 1971-1972.

Julie London former wife of Jack Webb and her husband Bobby Troup on Emergency television program that aired on NBC.

Jack Webb showed he had no animosity toward his former wife Julie London, by hiring her and her husband to appear in his Emergency television program.  They appeared in but two of the 133 episodes that were aired.

Webb was married to Julie London from 1947-1953. He then married Dorothy Towne from 1955-1957, Jackie Loughery from 1958-1964. He widowed his last wife who he was married to from 1980-1982.

Jack Webb was working on a third television version of Dragnet with Kent McCord from Adam 12 lined up to be his partner, but died of a heart attack at 62.

Chief Daryl Gates of the Los Angeles Police Department retired Badge 714 after his death and Mayor Tom Bradley ordered all flags to flown at half-mast in his honor. He would be buried with a replica Badge 714.

Jack Webb’s tombstone is typical of Webb. There is no huge ornamental tombstone, but a plain tombstone, with his name and his life span.

This article written by Ben Alexander, gives us a better idea of  what the real Jack Webb was like. This paragraph tells me all I need to know about Jack Webb. I am inserting it here for those who may not have time to read the article:

Look at Victor Rodman. He had been disabled in an accident, and one of Jack’s joys about creating “Noah’s Ark” was the chance it gave him to employ Victor in a role that didn’t require walking around. Jack was thrilled with “Noah’s Ark” because it gave Victor a chance to prove what a fine actor he is. And a big reason Jack is eager to revive the show is that Victor will be working again.

http://www.badge714.com/

The Internet Movie Database biography includes some interesting trivia about Jack Webb:

Was buried with full honors befitting a LAPD detective, including a 17-gun salute.

Had just over 6,000 jazz albums in his private collection.

At the height of “Dragnet’s” popularity, people would actually call the LAPD wanting to speak to Webb’s character, Sgt. Joe Friday. The Department eventually came up with a stock answer to the large volume of calls: “Sorry, it’s Joe’s day off.”

Was a huge baseball fan, and chose badge number 714 for Sgt. Friday because it was the number of home runs Babe Ruth hit.

 

Jack Webb has created a lot of shows since Dragnet, but will always remember him, telling us what department he was working out of in the police department.

The color version of Dragnet was good, but there was something special, about the black and white version of  the 50′s. Those shows seemed to be more simple.  Who can ever forget the show, about the boy who got a rifle for Christmas and accidentally shoots his friend? This is the three-part The Big .22 Rifle For Christmas episode. Part 3 is very emotional as the father talks to his dead son, telling him what he would have received for Christmas. Then to make it even more emotional, the father of the boy killed,then gives the presents for his son,  to the boy who shot his son.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMbWZZVHYZQ

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl_-TNDVb7I&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–94KuSo5oM&feature=related

 

 

 

Big Brother 13: Rachel Reilly Wins Big Brother 13, Did CBS Manipulate the Game?

Rachel Reilly shown celebrating with her boyfriend Brendon Villegas after being told she had won the Big Brother 13 reality show on the CBS network.

Rachel Reilly won Big Brother 13 in a year of surprises on the CBS reality show.

Her boyfriend Brendon Villegas, Jeff Schroeder, Jordan Lloyd and Shelly Moore cast their votes for her making Rachel a 4-3 winner with Adam Poch, Danielle Donato and Kalia Booker voting for the losing Porsche Briggs.

Rachel had won the final HOH by answering questions about the house guests in the juror house and won the questions competition over Porsche.

The turning point in the game to me was when Porsche opened Pandora’s Box and won $5,000 for herself and $5,000 for Kalia. However, by her accepting the money she unleashed the duo twist in the veto competition that week.

With Rachel and Jordan on the block, Rachel won the veto and removed herself and Jordan off the block and set in motion, for Rachel to win $500,000 last night.

Did CBS Manipulate the Game in Favor of Rachel?

Viewers of the show will wonder if the CBS producers, manipulated the game so Rachel and Jordan remain in the game longer. If Rachel had left the house that week, the ratings for the show probably would have plummeted. Rachel provided most of the drama this year, so without drama the ratings would have almost certainly dropped. Instead Big Brother 13 had some of the highest ratings in the history of the show.

Then when Rachel found Pandora’s Box during her last reign of being HOH, the prizes were good and bad, but nothing to affect the game. Rachel was stuck with the egotistical maniac Jessie Godderz, the professional wrestler while she watched Adam and the other house guests spending time with Tori Spelling. Later she watched as they went shopping for clothes outside the Big Brother house.

My question is why didn’t Rachel have an equally bad punishment, as Porsche for opening Pandora’s Box. Sure having to spend time with Jessie was punishment in itself, but nothing like the punishment Porsche received when both of her nominated house guests were allowed to be removed from the block by the duo twist, when Rachel won the veto.

Game Winnings

This may or may not be the correct total of winnings on Big Brother 13 but since it is $600,000 exactly it may correct:

Rachel Reilly –     $500,000

Porsche Briggs –    $55,000

Jeff Schroeder –     $40,000

Kalia Booker –            $5,000

Total                          $600,000

Key to Rachel Winning Big Brother 13

The key to Rachel winning was that after Brendon left the last time, that Rachel played more of a social game. She abandoned her earlier strategy, of infuriating the other house guests with her catty remarks.

Rachel fought overwhelming odds by winning HOH”s and Veto competitions, when she needed them to stay alive in the game. It may be that when Brendon left the house, that it forced her to play a different kind of game.

Porsche Briggs Wins $50,000 in Finale

Porsche Briggs won $50,000 on Big Brother 13 finale.

Porsche Briggs won second prize money of $50,000 last night to go with the $5,000 she received from Pandora’s Box for a total of $55,000 in winnings during Big Brother 13.

For most of the season Porsche was the anonymous house guest, but then later in the game, came into her own and was a fierce competitor. She finished second in many competitions, then started winning competitions near the end of the game.

Big Brother 13 Summary: Big Brother 13 started out with eight new house guests, then the duo twist was introduced and Jeff Schroeder, Jordan Lloyd, Evel Dick Donato, Danielle Donato, Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly entered the house.  Evel Dick let the house after only six days for some mysterious reason which was never revealed. It may have been just as well, since he had gall bladder surgery in the last few days, so may not have been able to finish the season anyway.

Rachel and Brendon started the game with a chip on their shoulders, playing the game way too personally. I particularly recall Cassi and Kalia trying to have a civil conversation with Brendon and he turned the whole conversation around, acting very hostile toward both of them. The worst thing is that Kalia was wanting to know if she was still included in their alliance, but by the time the conversation was over, Brendon was calling her a liar. So he lost an alliance member, by his failure to communicate with Kalia on a normal level.

Shelly and Adam seemed to be with the veterans, but then when it suited them they would switch to the other side. Danielle’s alliance with Dominic was one of the bigger mistakes of the game. All she succeeded in was causing Dominic to go home.

Kalia, instead of going along with Danielle during Kalia’s first HOH, decided to show she was her own woman and nominated Lawon, who was not a threat to anyone. Lawon was the worst player this year and a terrible competitor, but Shelly was an even worse competitor. She played further into the game, but still never won the first competition.

When Jeff left, Rachel and Jordan were left to fend for themselves, since Brendon had been nominated and evicted for the second time. Shelly was caught in a lie by Jordan and Rachel and that spelled the end for Shelly, even though she wasn’t evicted for another couple of weeks.

As stated earlier, Porsche put her alliance in jeopardy by taking the $5,000 in Pandora’s box. That is the point at which Rachel and Jordan got an extra week in the house, when it looked like either Rachel or Jordan was going home that week.

Adam talked a good game, but didn’t win anything on his own, till very late in the game. Even at the end he was talking about having to win a competition, then he would lose the competition. Men did not do well in the endurance competitions, as Danielle and Rachel won the endurance competitions.

Rachel deserved to win, even though CBS gave her some assistance with the Pandora’s Box coming into play. That wasn’t her fault since she played the cards she was dealt with and turned it into $500,000. Rachel and Brendon should now have the money for their big wedding and the money should help with Brendon’s studies as he tries for his Ph.D.

The house guests for the most part will disappear back into society, like they usually do after their season is over, with most of them never heard from again.

Two months from now, it will be difficult to even find anything about what they are doing by doing a Google search.

ONLY 9 MONTHS AND 20 DAYS TILL BIG BROTHER 14 STARTS NEXT JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big Brother 13: HOH Part 2 Winner Revealed: Spoilers Alert!!!!!!!!!!!

SPOILERS ALERT!!!!

SPOILERS ALERT!!!!

SPOILERS ALERT!!!!

SPOILERS ALERT!!!!

HOH PART 2 WINNER REVEALED

DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW 

THE RESULTS TILL THE WEDNESDAY FINALE

Big Brother 13 started July 7 and the season will end Wednesday night after a season in which veterans of past Big Brother seasons competed against eight newbies.

Porsche Briggs of the newbies side will battle veteran Rachel Reilly to see which one will win the final HOH of the season. Rachel had won Part 1 of the HOH, while Porsche defeated Adam Poch in Part 2, setting up Wednesday’s battle.

Rachel and Porsche apparently plan to take each other to the final two, as of today at least, but that could change.

It seems to me that a smarter game move for Rachel or Porsche would be to take Adam to the final two. It would almost insure them of winning the $500,000 since Adam has not done much, in the way of winning competitions till lately.

On the other hand Porsche and Rachel, have been better overall competitors, with Rachel winning three HOH’s and Porsche trying to win most of her competitions, since she finished second so often.

This is all still conjecture, since it depends on who wins Part 3 and what their decision will be on Wednesday night. If Porsche or Rachel think it through, they may realize taking Adam to final two, would be the smart thing to do financially.

There is only 2 days and 12 hours from this minute on Monday morning, till the last show will be televised.

If there was any doubt that the producers manipulated the show this season, it was removed when Porsche couldn’t resist taking the $5,000 for herself from Pandora’s Box. CBS knew it would be too tempting for Porsche to pass up the chance to win the money. They also knew by unleashing the duo twist again, that it would keep two of their biggest drawing cards on the show, in Rachel and Jordan. Rachel true to form won the veto and saved her or Jordan from going home that week.

Then when Rachel opens Pandora’ s Box, Tori Spelling and Jessie Godderz were unleashed on the house, which didn’t affect the game at all. Will never forget Rachel watching the other house guests talking to Tori and shopping for free clothes, while Jessie is trying to distract her by posing and giving her products with his name on them.

This has to be one of the most successful shows ever, in the ratings and we undoubtedly will see CBS producers manipulate the show even more in the future to keep the high ratings.

Big Brother 13: Spoiler Updates Since Wednesday’s Show

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHO WAS NOMINATED FOR EVICTION BY ADAM

OR WHO WON THE POV LAST NIGHT AFTER THE SHOW

Porsche Briggs and Rachel Reilly are the strongest competitors remaining in the Big Brother 13 house and may face each other and another contestant in the HOH endurance tonight.

And then there were four….With Kalia being evicted out of the Big Brother 13 house, that left Adam, Rachel, Porsche and Jordan as the final four.

Adam won HOH before the show ended last night. Adam nominated Porsche and Jordan for eviction. It is not clear when the POV ceremony will be, but Porsche is expected to take herself off the block and Adam would be forced to replace her with Rachel going on the block.

Porsche shown ironing what may be her eviction dress for tonight's show she is expecting to be evicted tonight.

Porsche will be the only voter and she is leaning toward evicting Jordan, since she won two years ago. I can understand her reasoning, but is it smart to keep a strong competitor like Rachel in the game, who is likely going to be her toughest competitor in the endurance portion of HOH tonight.

She may make a $50,000 or $500,000 mistake by keeping Rachel in the game. She might beat Rachel if they are in the final two, but she has no guarantee of reaching the final two, so evicting Jordan who is not much of a competitor could keep her out of the money. So what if Jordan has won before….that is not a good reason to make a stupid game move of her own.

I doubt Jordan and Adam would offer much competition for Porsche in the endurance HOH, but with Rachel who is the most athletic, of any of the  three remaining contestants,  if Jordan is convicted Porsche may regret sending Jordan home, if she does.

Jury House Confrontation

Last night we saw that Jeff has not forgiven or forgotten Shelly’s part in his eviction. It used to be that the jury house was sort of oasis, in which the contestants could forget the game, but looks like that has changed this season.

You would think that with no chance of winning the game, that those in the jury house would just cool it and enjoy the swimming pool and other amenities available at the jury house.

Pandora’s Box Just A Producer’s Tool

It was never more evident that Pandora’s box is nothing more than a producer’s tool to manipulate the game when punishment inflicted on the house resulted in Rachel and Jordan staying in the game. They knew Porsche would take the money, so they switched back to the couples format for one week, to give Rachel and Jordan a chance to stay in the game.

Next thing you knew Rachel won the POV and stayed in the game. The producers didn’t want Rachel leaving the show that soon, so they took matters into their own hands. If Rachel had left then, the house would likely be a house with no drama. Fans don’t tune into the show to see no drama, because that means lower ratings, so CBS stepped in and solved that problem.

However, when Rachel opened Pandora’s Box the house didn’t receive a punishment, but instead got to talk to Tori Spelling and go on a shopping spree for clothes. Rachel got the punishment having to put up with the repugnant Jessie Godderz, who has appeared in Big Brother four times.

He has appeared twice as a contestant and twice as a Pandora’s Box booby prize. It would only be fair to unleash something detrimental to Rachel’s game, like they did to Porsche and her alliance.

I can’t recall another Big Brother season, in which CBS manipulated the show, to the extent they have this season. They have found out if they manipulate the show, that higher ratings result.

Six Days Remain Till Finale

Only six days remain till the jury decides which of the remaining two contestants wins the $500,000. If Jordan is evicted tonight, Rachel, Porsche and Adam will battle for the final two spot. Two of them will be in the money this season while the other only takes memories out of the Big Brother house, but no cash.

Jeff and Jordan should be reunited tomorrow at the jury house if she is the one evicted.

We will find out tonight what the HOH endurance contest will be this season. It could be a long night in the endurance contest or it could be over in a hurry like they have recently.

Tune in CBS at 8:00 PM for tonight’s show. President Obama’s speech should not affect the starting time of Big Brother.

 

 

 

 

 

Big Brother 13: Keith Evicted, Jordan Wins HOH

Jordan Lloyd is the new HOH after Keith Henderson was the first house guest to be evicted during the Big Brother 13 season.

Keith Henderson may have made one of the biggest blunders in Big Brother history by throwing the Veto competition while he was on the block. His partner Porsche Briggs also threw the competition, almost certainly making it the first time both members up for conviction threw a competition, that if they had won would have extended their stay on the show. Julie Chen called out Keith on why he would try to throw the competition and he replied that he thought he had the votes. He should have known that you never assume anything on Big Brother.

 

Surprisingly two of the rookie players voted to evict Keith, even though he was a newbie. Kalia Booker and Shelly Moore were the two that voted to evict Keith.

 

 

Two Rookies Flipped Votes

 

The veteran players had to be ecstatic to know that two of the rookies voted against their own player. The rookies now hold a 7-5 edge in the competition, but will have two of their players on the block, meaning only five of them will be able to vote. Only four veterans can vote, with Jordan not being allowed to vote as HOH.

 

After next week’s eviction the rookies will only have a 6-5 edge. The loss of Evil Dick Donato really hurt the veterans. If he had stayed both the rookies and veterans would have six players remaining in the game after next week’s eviction.

 

Julie Chen surprised Daniele Donato by asking why she didn’t say “I love you” to her dad when she had the chance. However, while  voting in the diary room Daniele said she did love her father, but she probably wouldn’t have said it,  if not for Julie bringing up the subject.

 

 

Brendon Tells Rachel to Tone Down Behavior

 

Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly battled again last night after Rachel told Cassi Colvin that she liked Porsche. Brendon told Rachel she is making them a target by her behavior. Rachel seems to have a penchant for stirring up trouble, instead of concentrating on game play. Brendon will have his hands full, trying to rein in Rachel’s aggressive behavior, or she may be the first veteran player to be evicted.

 

Jordan more than likely will put up Dominic Briones and Adam Poch for nomination. Both of them may be told by the veterans that they will be safe, then one or the other will be evicted, depending on the outcome of the Veto competition. Latest plans by the veterans if Dominic and Adam win the Veto competition is to put up Shelly and Cassi in their place.

 

However, with Big Brother things can change in a hurry and the next eviction is six days away. The rookies know that two of their own voted to keep Porsche instead of Keith and have been trying to figure out who those voters were.

 

Cassi and Dominic think they have figured out that Kalia and Adam were the ones that flipped their votes. Cassi would be shocked if she knew her partner Shelly was one of the two that flipped their votes.

 

 

Loss of Evil Dick Could Affect CBS Ratings

 

Big Brother 13 may see a ratings dip with the departure of Evil Dick Donato. Rachel is now the only real villain this season, so far at least. If she goes home early in the season, the show will be left with a house full of people who get along well. That scenario is the worst nightmare for CBS. Adam seems to be the only loose cannon on the rookies side, but may not last long in this season.

 

Jeff and Jordan should draw a lot of fans as long as they remain in the game, but the rookies so far, have no villain to speak of. Instead the rookies are positioning themselves to be able to join forces with the veterans or remain with the rookies. The rookies alliance crumbled last night with the two flipped votes.

 

The game could turn into a rout for the veterans, which would not help ratings in the least. Drama is what attracts viewers and there could be very little drama if Rachel, Jeff and Jordan were to leave early in the game.

 

Jeff More Involved in Gameplay This Season

 

Jeff Schroeder is more involved in the game than he was in Big Brother 11, when he and Jordan were almost like bystanders, for a good part of that season. Jordan is a lot smarter than she is putting on and like Jeff has learned from being on Big Brother 11.

 

It  impressed me when Brendon almost lost it and wanted to hit someone when Evil Dick left the show, then Jeff showing himself to be the veteran he is said to not give up hope and to keep winning HOH week after week. The flipping of two votes and Jordan winning the HOH, should tell Brendon that the veterans are in this to win it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evil Dick Leaves Big Brother 13 House

CBS made a shocking announcement on Friday, that Evil Dick Donato has left the Big Brother house due to a personal matter. The other house guests had to be happy, to know he was gone.

His departure came only one day after the premiere of Big Brother 13 last night. The combination of having two of the most volatile house guests returning to the show in Evil Dick and Rachel Reilly would have probably sparked the ratings. With Evil Dick gone, Rachel may not be able to draw viewers like Evil Dick.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/07/08/big-brother-dick-donato/

Big Brother 13 Starts Season Tonight

Big Brother 13 returns tonight, after what was a fairly boring Big Brother 12 season. The cast for Big Brother 12 got along well for the most part, which was a nightmare for the producers. When the drama queen of  Big Brother 12 Rachel Reilly was voted off the show, the producers brought her back into the house to stir up the house and it worked.

 This year’s show will be different in that only eight of the house guests have been identified prior to the airing of the first show. There are reports that some house guests from the past will be returning to fill out the cast, which should cause tonight’s show to be one of the highest rated shows ever.

Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd the winner of Big Brother 11 have been rumored to be returning for this season. However we won’t know for sure until tonight’s show, when the other house guests should be revealed.

TV Guide has an excellent preview of the show and profiles of the house guests and includes photos of each houseguest. Those from Louisiana will be interested to know that Shelly Moore, 41 who lives in Prairieville, Louisiana will be one of the new eight house guests.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Meet-Big-Brother-Houseguests-1034971.aspx

Not much else to say, except we will be waiting to see who the returning house guests are.

 

Gene Simmons – Shannon Tweed Relationship On The Rocks?

The Gene Simmons family with Nick Simmons, Sophie Simmons, Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed.

The first episode of Season Six of the Family Jewels reality show about Gene Simmons and his family showed Shannon Tweed walking out on Gene.

 

It is questionable if this really happened but was only a ploy to draw more viewers to the series.

 

 

Shannon Reaches Breaking Point

 

Everyone has their breaking point and apparently Shannon had hers in the first episode that aired on June 14.

 

Gene repeatedly told anyone who would listen including Shannon and his therapist, that he does not like being told what to do.

 

Shannon saw a photo of Gene posing with some girls he had brought along to a business meeting, while she and their children Nick and Sophie were waiting for Gene to show up for a family dinner.

 

 

Shannon Waiting For Sophie To Leave For College

 

It seems like that Shannon was waiting for Sophie to leave for college, to finally voice her opinions of Gene’s behavior. He says he is going to a therapist, but instead Shannon finds out he went to a movie.

 

Then he does go to the therapist to pacify Shannon, but he shows little remorse for his behavior while being questioned by the therapist. The therapist suggest that Gene bring Shannon to the next therapy session.

 

 

Shannon Walks Out of Therapy Session

 

Shannon agrees to go with Gene, but once inside the therapist’s office, Gene doesn’t seem to be serious about working out a resolution to their relationship problems and Shannon leaves in the middle of the session.

 

Gene returns home and finds Shannon has left. It will be interesting to see if Gene finally does something to heal the relationship or if he continues to look out of for No.1, with no regard for the other members of the family.

 

 

Real or Just More Hype?

 

At the end of the show, viewers can’t help but wonder if their relationship problems are real or only a way to hype the new series of Family Jewels.

 

My opinion is that it is real, because Shannon has the same tight-lipped expression she had on the show, when she has appeared on network TV shows hyping the new season.

 

Season 5 had 26 episodes. Wikipedia lists eight shows so far this season which brings the total episodes count to 123, but apparently there will be more added to the list as they are completed.

 

August 7 will be the fifth anniversary of the show.

 

 

 

Nostalgic Memories From the Past

These are just some of my memories of the good old days:

When the  ice man brought ice to place in your icebox.

When milkmen brought your milk to the house with cream at the top of the bottles.

When attic fans were the only way of getting any air in a house.

When we would walk on the Murray Street Bridge and see the Red River below, when there were missing slats.

When we were hot and didn’t think about it being hot because it was all we knew since nobody had air conditioners then.

When television shows didn’t come on  till 3:30 PM.  Howdy Doody and Pinky Lee started the telecast day on KALB-TV in Alexandria, Louisiana in the 50′s.

When we listened to old time radio shows like Dragnet and Breakfast Club on the radio, while my mom listened to her soap operas like Just Plain Bill, Stella Dallas, Lorenzo Jones and Guiding Light.

When people would go to local appliance store at night and watch television through the display window at Jimmie Walker’s Appliances on Main Street in Pineville.

When we would come home from school and watch our cowboy heroes in action.

When nativity scenes could be seen in public places before ACLU raised such a fuss, that you can’t find one in a mall today.

When stores like Penneys, Sears and Montgomery Ward were located in free standing stores, before the advent of the shopping centers and malls.

When kids would trick or treat until 10PM at night, filling grocery bags full of candy, with no special Halloween bags.

When families went to drive-in movies together, while teenagers would sneak a extra kid in the trunk, to avoid paying for them.

When theatergoers would throw tomatoes at the movie screen if they were upset with a bad movie.

When Larry McHale of KALB – TV was advertising cigarettes and started coughing, but regrouped and said “Just thinking of those other brands makes me cough.”

When eating TV dinners were more popular than fast food.

When McDonald’s had 15 cent hamburgers.

When you could get a haircut for less than a dollar.

When it cost a dime to see a movie.

When it cost a dime for a school lunch in 1950 at Pineville Elementary in Pineville, Louisiana.

When kids collected baseball cards and put them in bicycle spokes.

When families would go on picnics at the city park, letting the kids play on the playground equipment.

When going to stores we would see white and colored water fountains. One black man tried both kinds and said they tasted the same.

When we watched No Time For Sergeants three times in a row at the movie theater. (One of the funniest movies ever, with Don Knotts being a dexterity expert, that became discombobulated by Andy Griffith’s character.)

When we used to drink Hawaiian Punch and Delaware Punch.

When we used to pay a nickel for a 6 ounce coke out of a machine. Now they charge over a $1.50 for a 20 ounce coke, when in the old days a 24 ounce coke would cost 20 cents.

When we walked a mile to school everyday for the entire 12 years of elementary and high school.

When there was no middle school back in the 50′s.

When Gov. Earl K. Long of Louisiana gave free chickens to voters during a gubneratorial election.

When going fishing meant taking a cane pole and not a expensive rod and reel.

When I bought a $6.50 Nokona baseball glove for $6.00 when the hardware store owner found out I didn’t have enough money to pay the full price.

When we celebrated Christmas by running around with sparklers.

When we would see the miniature church on the city square in Alexandria every Christmas.

When Christmas music was played downtown during the Christmas season.

When we used to play marbles in school.

When playing with a yo-yo was cool.

When hula hoops were the hot fad.

When high school kids rode bikes to school instead of driving cars.

When familes went to church together.

When families actually ate dinner together at a table, instead of in front of the television.

When kids made money by delivering newspapers on bicycle.

When we drank grapefruit juice at breakfast even though we didn’t like it.

When we ate Wheat Chex at breakfast even though we didn’t like it.

When we used to get excited about another school year starting.

When we went to special Christmas Eve services on a cold night in December and watching Christmas movies on television when we got home.

When we had a train set over our bed as a kid.

When we took a trip in 1957 and saw the Howard Johnson restaurants with the orange roofs.

When we got together as a family to hear mother read from the Bible.

When we used to listen to records on the record player.

When homemade ice cream was better than any ice cream bought in a store.

When pizza was delivered to the house the first time.

When mom and pop stores went out of business because of Wal-Mart.

When there used to be neighborhood groceries scattered around in residential neighborhoods.

Yes, those truly were the good old days.

Old Time Radio Poll

The last old time radio show aired on September 30,1962. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar being the last old time radio shows to be broadcast.

The poll today breaks down by age groups of people who have heard old time radio shows either live from 1920′s till September 30, 1962 or media such as MP3 CD’s and downloads:

America Got it Wrong On American Idol Vote

Casey Abrams received the lowest number of votes, this week on American Idol but was saved by judges Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson.

Casey Abrams had the fewest total votes, when American Idol voters cast their votes, but was saved by the judges, who decided to save him and allow him to continue on the show.

It was a major shock when Ryan Seacrest announced, that Abrams had received fewer votes than  Stefano Langone and Thia Megia.

Then Seacrest went into his building up the drama act, twice reminded Abrams that he was singing for his life (as if he didn’t know). Seacrest likes to build up drama with the dimming of the lights, the earlier appearance that Paul or James may not be safe, while they were there only to be told by Hulk Hogan that they were safe.

Personally, I think America got the vote wrong. Stefano Langone, Thia Megia and Naimi could have been sent home and I wouldn’t have been surprised.

Abrams may not have been at the top of his game every time out, but I thought he did fine on performance night singing I Heard it Through the Grapevine.

Last night’s vote was a wakeup call, for voters to not take for granted that the better singers will always get the most votes. Now that Abrams is in danger of being eliminated, he will have to sing even better next week, or he may be one of the two eliminated next Thursday night.

We are only a couple of weeks from seeing some very good singers eliminated, so the competition will be even tougher when there are only five contestants remaining in about a month.

One surprising note is that Ashton Jones is the only wild card pick sent home after three weeks.

James Durbin continues to “blow it out of the box” every time out similar to the way Adam Lambert consistently gave strong performances, week after week two years ago. I will be surprised if he isn’t in the final two but one bad performance could derail his train to becoming the American Idol.

For more details on the elimination show last night:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20476206,00.html

Elizabeth Taylor Dead at 79

Elizabeth Taylor has died at the age of 79 in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure.

She first appeared in a motion picture in 1942 when she acted in There’s One Born Every Minute. Her next movie was Lassie Come Home (1943)  which was nominated for an Oscar.

National Velvet (1944) would be her next movie, which co-starred Mickey Rooney. It would be one of the best known movies, she would appear in during her career.

She appeared in both Father of the Bride and the sequel Father’s Little Dividend in 1950 and 1951 respectively.

Other noteworthy movies she appeared in were Giant (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Butterfield 8 (1960), Cleopatra (1963) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf  (1966).

It was ironic that she would portray Pearl Slaghoople, in The Flintstones theatrical release in 1994. She had not appeared in a movie for 17 years before her death.

This lengthy N.Y. Times obituary tells in detail about her career and her life away from the big screen:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/movies/elizabeth-taylor-obituary.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Paul Newman narrated this tribute to Elizabeth Taylor a few years ago.

Jane Russell Dies at 89

Jane Russell has died at the age of 89 at home in Santa Maria, California of respiratory failure.

Jane Russell has died at the age of 89 with her family beside her in Santa Maria, California. The actress who was discovered by Howard Hughes when she was 19 and working in a doctor’s office. Hughes would cast her in The Outlaw in her first movie appearance.  She appeared in nineteen movies between 1943 and 1957. She would only appear in four more movies, with her last movie appearance coming in 1970 in Darker Than Amber. She was 49 the year her last movie was filmed.

Russell was born in Bemidji, Minnesota on June 21, 1921. Her family moved back to United States from Canada so she would be born a U.S. citizen.

She co-starred with Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953. Then in 1955 she received top billing in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes.

Television appearances were few and far between for Russell as she appeared in only seven television appearances with her last appearance being in a 1986. She hadn’t acted in movies or television in the last 25 years of her life.

Russell  would pursue a singing career that started in 1947 but she was more famous for her movie career. She did have a very listenable voice which was very soft. She was part of this singing group that included big band singer Connie Haines and actress Rhonda Fleming:

Jane Russell singing One For My Baby.

Allmusic.com has short  clips of many of her songs:

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jane-russell-p443225/songs

While going to church she became involved in singing with a group that included big band singer Connie Haines and would later include Rhonda Fleming another famous Hollywood actress.

Her first husband Bob Waterfield was a football player who won the Heisman Trophy and would later play quarterback in the NFL for the Cleveland Rams and Los Angeles Rams. He would be inducted later into the NFL Football Hall of Fame. Their marriage lasted twenty four years.

Roger Barrett an actor was her next husband but died only three months after their wedding. She next married John Peoples in 1974 and they would be married till his death in 1999.

Russell battled a drinking problem that got worse after his death but eventually conquered alcoholism and she had this to say about her reliance on God in the last paragraph of her New York Times obituary:

A higher power was always there, she wrote, “telling me that if I could just hold tough a little longer, I’d find myself around one more dark corner, see one more spot of light and have one more drop of pure joy in this journey called life.”

Archive.org: Great Multimedia Website

Archive.org will keep a reader entertained for hours.

Archive.org is probably the best source for audio and video online this side of YouTube.  The home page for the website as I write this article has a link to an audio version of a Grateful Dead concert at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum at New Haven, Connecticut on May 11, 1981.

The concert is only one of 803,305 audio recordings at the website.  There are 2,214 old time radio related links to old time radio shows and magazines that were printed during the height of the popularity of old time radio.

One Roy Rogers episode has been downloaded 74,882 times showing that the website is available for downloading many of the old time radio shows we grew up with.

Old time radio fans will love looking at list after list of old time radio shows available for downloading including some of the more obscure shows which have very few episodes in existence.

The live music archive features 88,813 archives while the moving image archives total 451,934.

Avid readers will enjoy knowing that there are 2.694,639 texts including books and ebooks. The new Bookreader at the site includes Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin and is the example shown of how the Bookreader works.

http://blog.archive.org/2010/12/10/2685/

There is an audio version of some books but the one I listened to was not of the best quality and seemed to be a computer generated voice which probably would be tiring to listen to for an entire book.

Most readers may not enjoy the voice and instead opt to read the books without sound. For those that like the audio they should enjoy the feature that highlights the portion of the book being read by the voice.

The Mega Reader iPhone app provides access to the 1.8 million free books at archive.org so they each iPhone user can have their own personal reader.

Each volume of the Warren Report investigation of the assassination of  President John F. Kennedy is available to read.

The site is an excellent source of reading material for educators and students who are looking for books that are no longer copyrighted.

One word of caution: it could take hours just to look at what is available at archive.org. This website may have the most content of any website online and is worth going to the website to see for yourself what is available.

http://www.archive.org/

MP3 Players: Then and Now

Creative Nomad Zen Xtra Jukebox

It has been seven years since I purchased my Creative Nomad Zen Xtra Jukebox MP3 player and it is still working great in 2011.

The 40 GB player may not be as slim as the MP3 players being sold today but it has 4,092 songs in it that I recorded from CD’s I had in my collection which has used only 14 GB of the space in the player.

I have found that Windows Media Player is best for ripping the songs from a CD into the computer and then after that process is completed going to My Computer will find the music in the My Music folder.

Right clicking on the music folder for the album and sending it to the player is all that is needed for it to copy the music into the player.

The sound quality to me is excellent and the music can be listened to in many ways. FM transmitters can be used to play the music in a stereo system, from non MP3 radios and other music sources.

However I have encountered problems getting the exact frequency on the transmitter to listen to the music so seldom even try to use them.

When my wife bought me a record player a couple of years ago it had an MP3 connection in the back enabling me to just plug one end into the MP3 player and the other into the MP3 connection on back of the record player.

There are many speakers today that are easily connected to a MP3 player. At one time Dollar Tree had one for a dollar that while it wasn’t the best sound but it did work.

Last year I found a I-Pod radio selling at a garage sale for only $3 which also has a MP3 connection in the back and it is great to listen to music and old time radio shows.

The old time radio shows on MP3 CD’s go directly into the My Music folder in Windows after the CD has been inserted into the CD drive. So with the MP3 player connected to the computer and the folder for the old time radio shows on that CD open right clicking will send the shows to the MP3 player.

Most MP3 CD’s will hold 100 old time half hour radio shows which is 50 hours of listening pleasure. For instance I have over 800 Jack Benny episodes on 8 or 9 discs.

One MP3 CD in my collection has an entire baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees in 1934 with legendary Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson as an announcer. 77 years later it is still possible to listen to a game in which Lou Gehrig is playing but Babe Ruth was out with an injury that day.

There are also MP3 CD’s that are packed with radio shows that announce the bombing of Pearl Harbor and another about the Normandy invasion and you can hear the news broadcast those days over 60 years later.

Another MP3 CD includes a typical broadcast day from 1939 which includes every show that day that was broadcast from sign on till sign off and gives an idea of what it was like 71 years ago.

With my collection of over 17,000 old time radio episodes of many different shows it is easy to transfer several episodes of a particular show to the MP3 player and then after listening to them delete them from the player since they are on a MP3 CD so I can tell immediately if I have heard a show since I have heard it the episode would have been deleted.

If someone wants to buy old time radio shows it is much cheaper to buy them in MP3 form than on a regular audio CD since an audio CD may hold only four half hour shows and a cassette tape will only have a half hour show on front and back of the tape depending on how much the tape will hold.

2GB MobiBlu Cube MP3 player.

Move the calendar ahead to 2011 and MobiBlu has on the market a very small 2GB MP3 player that  only weighs .063 ounces and it is a .94 of an inch square.

The MobiBlu player shown in the photo is currently being sold at Amazon for $111.22 which seems a bit too pricey for such a small player.

The player includes an FM radio and a clock. It also includes a built in microphone and a voice recorder.

The radio also can save music or talk shows into the player for later listening.

The price still is a little steep for a player that holds only 32 hours of MP3 music and 64 hours of WMA music.

To me it is more of a novelty than a practical MP3 player.

 

My clunky looking Creative Nomad Zen Xtra Jukebox may not be as small as the MobiBlu player but it has provided a lot of listening pleasure the last seven years.

Someday my Creative player will be obsolete since it is not compatible with Windows 7 the last I knew and I am already getting not compatible with Windows Media Player messages already but it does still work with it.

The only problem is that I have misplaced the installation CD for the player and since our computer was repaired after the virus the software is no longer in the computer so I can’t download music and old time radio shows till I find the missing software.

However I can still listen to the music and old time radio shows in the player for many years to come. Buying electronic products can produce a myriad of problems but I can truthfully say the Creative Nomad Zen Xtra Jukebox is working as well today as when I received it in the mail back in 2004.

1941 Philco console radio.

I can still listen to old time radio shows that go as far back as 1928 which is 83 years ago. The MP3 CD’s have been a amazing development that enable listeners in 2011 to go back in time to the good old days of old time radio which lasted from the 20′s till September 30,1962 the day old time radio died.

I can still recall visiting my grandparents at their Allendale, Missouri farm in 1959 and listening to radio shows and Kansas City Athletics baseball games as they were broadcast on a radio similar to this 1941 Philco console radio.

However the MP3 player enables me to relive those days 53 years later as I listen to the same great old time radio shows that were being broadcast back then.

It is exciting to listen to the old comedy shows like Fibber McGee and Molly, Great Gildersleeve, Amos and Andy and the Jack Benny show.

Detective shows of that era come alive again as Boston Blackie, Dragnet, This is Your FBI and dramas likk the Family Theater and Lux Radio Theater can be heard today bringing back memories of the good old days when life wasn’t so fast paced.

Listening to the Christmas shows from those days are a special treat like A Christmas Carol, Amos and Andy Christmas show in which Amos recites the Lord’s Prayer to his daughter on Christmas Eve. Another favorite was the Lum N’ Abner show where neighbors walk through the snow to help a destitute family.

The Family Theater Christmas episode of A Daddy For Christmas will bring tears to your eyes as a mother and her son try to make it after her husband is killed in World War II and the son’s mom winds up marrying a department store Santa Claus.

MP3 technology has made it possible for us to hear those shows on MP3 CD’s that are nominally priced with Ebay showing  621 items under the old time radio CD’s listing.

Some of the sellers are selling huge numbers of shows on MP3 CD’s and DVD’s. One seller is selling 852 episodes of Jack Benny shows for $4.89 using Buy It Now with only a $1.69 shipping charge. The only caveat is that these episodes are all on one DVD while it would take about nine MP3 CD’s for these same episodes which would drive the price higher.

These shows will play on a computer but it will take more technical knowledge than I have to play these shows on other devices but most audiophiles should have no problem.

Anyone who misses the good old days of radio can listen to the old shows at several websites if they can’t afford or don’t want to purchase an MP3 player.

OTR.NET is one of the best to listen to old time radio programs for free with over 12,000 free shows to listen to including 610 Jack Benny shows.

OTRCAT.com is one of the best places to sample shows where almost every show sold on the site has a free sample of that show.

Happy old time radio listening!!

 

84th Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade

The 1924 Macy's Christmas Day Parade was later called the Thanksgiving Day Parade and this year's parade will the 84th annual parade despite the parade starting in 1924.

The 84th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade will be shown on NBC starting at 9AM EST and will conclude at 12PM EST and will be shown from 8AM CST till 11AM CST in the Central time zone.

The parade was suspended from 1942-1944 because the rubber and helium used for the balloons were needed for the war effort.

The 2010 parade will feature Jessica Simpson and Kanye West and many lesser known names. The official website gives history and the parade lineup tomorrow morning:

http://social.macys.com/parade2010/#/home
My dad was 10 years old when the first parade was held and will be 96 on Friday so he has been alive for the entire run of the parade.

Happy Thanksgiving to all readers of  Nostalgia and Now.

The parade is featured in Miracle On 34th Street and was the first major film in which Natalie Wood appeared. She was nine years old when the movie was released.

Frances Bavier: Better Known as Aunt Bee

Frances Bavier shown on lower right in photo with Ron Howard on her left and Don Knotts and Andy Griffith in the back row had a big part in the success of the Andy Griffith Show which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year.

Frances Bavier was born in New York City on December 14, 1902. She appeared in vaudeville, in old time radio in an episode of The Lone Ranger on March 24, 1955, on Broadway, in the movies and on television.

She made her first Broadway appearance in 1925 in The Poor Nut and her last appearance was in 1951 in Point of No Return with Henry Fonda.

Her first movie appearance was in Girls About Town which was released in 1931. She also appeared in The Day the Earth Stood Still twenty years later in 1951. Aliens invaded earth in the movie and earthlings were told to live peaceably or be destroyed.

One of Bavier’s co-stars in the movie was Billy Gray best known for his portrayal of Bud on Father Knows Best.

Her first television appearance was in Racket Squad in 1952. The first show I remember her from was It’s A Great Life which co-starred James Dunn, William Bishop and Michael O’Shea.

Frances Bavier is shown at the 1:49 mark in this video from Eve Arden Show which left the air in 1958.

Two years later she would appear in her most well known role as Aunt Bee Taylor in 175 episodes of the Andy Griffith Show. Bavier was in the show the entire length of its eight year run on the CBS television network that started on October 3, 1960 till April 1, 1968.

She made her last television appearance in 1970 when she appeared in 24 episodes of Mayberry R.F. D. Her last movie appearance was in 1974 when she played the lady with the cat in Benji.

When she retired in 1972 she chose to live in Siler City, North Carolina because it reminded her of Mayberry. Siler City had been mentioned in some episodes of the show.

Siler City is also known as the place where Colonel Sanders first introduced the taste of Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1939.

She was known to be difficult during the run of the show but did apologize to Andy Griffith for being so hard to work with shortly before her death.

When she first moved to Siler City she worked with charitable causes but when fans wouldn’t let her have her privacy she withdrew and became a recluse.

The following article tells about her living with 14 cats and her estate being valued at $700,000.

http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/b/Frances%20Bavier/frances_bavier.htm

She died on December 6, 1989 in her home at the age of 86 after battling cancer and heart disease.

The inscription on Frances Bavier's tombstone is very touching thought and she does still live in our hearts.

Perry Mason: The Case of the Borrowed Brunette

Perry Mason was telecast on the CBS television network from 1957-1966.

Raymond Burr will always best known for his portrayal of Perry Mason in the CBS television series Perry Mason from 1957-1966.

As far as I know Perry Mason cannot be seen on any television network today according to

This episode from the series titled The Case of the Borrowed Brunette was originally shown on December 31, 1959 according to cbs.com but it is listed as being shown first on January 10, 1959 by other internet sources and was the 52nd episode of the 271 episode series.

http://www.cbs.com/classics/perry_mason/video/