Over the Fourth of July holiday, my family gathered to share a traditional summer food fest and to compete in our version of "Patriot Games". We pitted the men against the women in four rounds of heated competition which focused on television and movie trivia like "Who shot J. R.?". The answers were on the tip of our tongues and sometimes stayed there, allowing the men to best the women in a hard fought, down to the wire contest. Unbelievably, the men won and the women hung their heads in shame, but laughing all the way to the picnic table.
One of the positive by products of the grueling games were blasts from the past revisiting often forgotten old favorites television series and movies. Travel with me to "those thrilling days of yesteryear" and recall a number of my personal favorites.
I Love Lucy
One of my mother's favorite shows featured zany Lucy, handsome Ricky and Fred and Ethel Mertzes, their loyal side kicks. Who can forget the hilarious episodes i.e., Lucy in the candy factory, stomping grapes or cavorting with Harpo Marx. Lucille Ball showed the generations which followed how it's done in 179 episodes of television history.
All in the Family
Archie and Edith Bunker brought television comedy into the real world by touching on clashing cultural values, issues of race, and growing feminism. The subject matter hit home, but the comedy was first rate under the guiding hand of Norman Lear and Carrol O'Connor. And then came Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times and more: a wealth of meaningful humor.
The Honeymooners
Who can forget Ralph's get-rich-quick schemes, his long-suffering, acid tongued wife, Alice and his best friend Ed Norton? Jackie Gleason was more than a Brooklyn bus driver. He was a slice of life for the common man, seeking a way from his humdrum life and hoping for success and a move up the ladder. As Ralph always said, "one of these days".
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Rob Petrie, his family ( wife Laura and son Richie) and his co-workers might just be Primetime's first workplace-as- family sitcom.
Did you notice that in all these family-centered shows, the husband was head of the household and wife was the classic stay at home sheltered, domestic help-mate? Somewhere down the road, things changed allowing different genres, family structures, and a variety in sitcom focus to hit the air waves.
The Cosby Show
The warmth and wisdom of Cliff and Claire Huxtable made this show America's new first family. A doctor and lawyer raised five children while meeting the demands of their professions. No stay at home mom here. No dominating head of the household. Rather, a partnership of two adults meeting life's challenges together.
Taxi
Life at the Sunshine Cab Company took us on a divinely loopy ride. Who will ever forget Alex, Louie, Elaine, Bobby, Latka and Reverend Jim. Friends
Humor and emotion fill the screen as six friends struggle growing up in New York.The irresistible ensemble cast worked it's way into the audience's heart. Ross, Rachael, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe and Joey: each one faces life's complex problems while helping one another.
Cheers
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, so we were always glad to go to Boston's cheeriest bar. After years of weathering Sam and Diane's stormy romance and coping with Diane's exit and Coach's death, the crew grew stronger with Woody and Rebecca. The show even spun off a classic farce, Frasier.
The Carol Burnett Show
Who could stop cracking up at the wacky antics of Carol, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence and Company? The little old man and Mrs. Wiggins were some of my favorite characters.
Sex and the City
The cosmopolitian sexploits of New York sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw and her friends Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda exemplified the single life for an urban generation. Four beautiful New Yorkers gossiped about their sex lives (or lack thereof) and found new ways to deal with being a woman in the 90's. The women vow to stop worrying about finding the perfect mate and start to have sex like men. (Let's not forget "Mr. Big").
Last, but not least, is my all time favorite Star Trek.
Five-year mission? Are you out of your Vulcan mind? It's fifty years later and Gene Roddenberry's creation continues to boldly go where no science-fiction franchise has gone before, launching five more TV series and a dozen movies. Whether its Captain Pike, Kirk, Picard, Sisko or Janeway at the helm, Star Trek has been a cult phenomenon for ages. Star Trek games, figurines, novels, toys and comics keep the series alive. Just ask the fans, better known as Trekkies or Trekkers. They'll tell you "it's simply the best, better than all the rest". In the words of Mr. Spock, "live long and prosper".
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