I don’t know if you have seen the commercials for the new television show Huge. It is a show about seven teens and the staff at a weight-loss camp. I don’t know if the show is going to promote how to lose weight, but the star, Nikky Blonsky from Hair Spray fan, looks like she has gained a ton of weight for the show. I just find it interesting that the show would want to have their stars gain weight, which is so unhealthy, just to make a show about a weight-loss camp. Not sure what kind of message this is sending.
If you haven’t caught this show yet on Cartoon Network, it is interesting. I love the concept of the kids working together to try and build something constructive. Of course, they get the fun of destroying it too. I hope the waiver they must sign for the show, it includes an insurance quote. The concept is simple. Two teams destroy an object and then must rebuilt it to a new vehicle. Then they get to destroy it again. Here is an ad for the show:
Sometimes considered the first “reality” television show, Candid Camera was produced by Allen Funt. It was first introduced in 1947 as Candid Microphone and then graduated to television on August 10, 1948. Funt was the host (or co-host) of the show until 1993 when he suffered a stroke. His son, Peter Funt, began co-hosting the show in 1987 and is the current producer and host.
The format of the show involved secretly filming them at everyday situations, restaurants, jobs, on the street, etc. There was always a prank involved. When the prank was revealed, the phrase “Smile, Your on Candid Camera” was used.
The show has not run continuously, but as has runs of various lengths. The longest run was from 1950-1967 on CBS.
Here is a clip from an early version involving Woody Allen who was a writer for the show.
Recently, Andrew Koenig, an American actor has been reported as missing. Andrew’s father, Walter Koenig who played Chekov in the originally Star Trek series, is hoping for his safe return.
Andrew Koenig was born August 17, 1968. Koenig is best know for his portrayal of Richard “Boner” Stabone in the television series Growing Pains. I remember that the character was into building muscle before there ever was the mention of natural muscle builders or bsn cell mass. Here is a sample of dialogue from the program:
Eddie: Uhh umm uh, what’s your dad’s name bone ?
Richard ‘Boner’ Stabone: Sylvester.
Mike: Wait a minute… Your dad’s name is Sylvester Stabone?
Richard ‘Boner’ Stabone: Who knew!
Celebrity Fit Club on VH1 is now in its seventh season. This season, celebrities include Bobby Brown, Shar Jackson, Jay McCarroll, Nicole Eggert, Sebastian Bach, KayCee Stroh, Kevin Federline, and Tanisha Thomas. It doesn’t look like any of these celebrities have invested in a natural fat burner lately, but the boot camp style of this season is sure putting them through the workout! You can watch Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp on Mondays at 9:00pm on VH1.
Before the wii was ever invented, we used to spend our afternoons watching soap operas. My favorite was All My Children. And who can forget the sometimes evil Palmer Cortlandt played by James Mitchell.
James Mitchell was born February 19, 1920 in Sacramento, California. Mitchell’s mother left the family in 1923 and Mitchell’s father, unable to run a farm and raise a son at the same time, “loaned” him out to a vaudeville act, George and Katherine King. Mitchell’s father eventually remarried and went back to live with his father. At the age of seventeen he left for Los Angeles.
Mitchell study acting at Los Angeles City College and became involved in modern dance. He danced with Leslie Horton’s dance company for four years. He auditioned for Oklahoma! as a dancer and danced and also assisted Agnes de Mille with choreography. He would work with de Mille on a number of projects for Broadway and film. He worked on stage in musicals and dramas until the late 1970s.
Mitchell had limited success in film and appeared in a few movies. In the 1950s and 60s he appeared in numerous television series and movies. In 1964, he took a role in The Edge of Night, his first soap opera role.
Mitchell’s performing career almost ended in 1974 and he went to college to get a BA and MFA so that he could teach at the college level. He taught at Juilliard, Yale University, and Drake University. In 1979, he was asked to play Palmer Cortlandt on the soap opera All My Children. He was hired for only one year, but the role was extended and he ended up playing Palmer for 30 years.
James Mitchell died on January 22, 2010 a few weeks before what would have been his 90th birthday.
Do you remember Rainbow Brite? Well she is back (if you want a chance to win a demo CD, enter on my other blog). The animated television series was created by Woody Kling and introduced by Hallmark Cards in 1984. Rainbow Brite was popular throughout the 1980s.
The story is about an orphan girl who is taken to the Colorless World. She rescues the seven Color Kids (one for each color in the rainbow) and finds a Color Belt which she uses to bring color to the Colorless World. The Color Kids are:
The UK has come up with another reality show – Supersize vs. Super Skinny. The show pairs together an overweight person and an underweight person and they have to eat each others daily meals. While one is obsessed with food, the other may be more obsessed with diet pill reviews. There is a clip from the show that shows how they compare what each person eats a day. Click here to view it.
It seems that there are many people who have a fear of clowns. Walmart just came out with a commercial that plays on that scary clown theme. This clown certainly doesn’t need any hair loss vitamins, because the blue hair and makeup is a riot. I certainly feel the dad’s pain when he steps on the toy. I don’t know how many times I have stepped on a small toy and bruised up my foot!
Have you watched the continuous reruns of A Christmas Story? I bet you are wondering whatever happened to the kid who played Ralphie?
Peter Billingsley was born April 16, 1971 in New York as Peter Michaelsen. He decided to use his mother’s maiden name for his stage name. Peter is one of five children and all five had acting careers when they were younger. Peter’s first acting role was when he was two in a Geritol commercial. He would eventually star in more than 120 television ads int he 70s and 80s.
He appeared in a few films before A Christmas Story and in television movies as well. In 1983, he starred as Ralphie, whose one dream for Christmas was to get a Red Ryder BB gun. After this movie, Billinglsey had a number of small roles in television and movies. He has done some writing and directing as well. He continues to act in small roles in movies.
I don’t know if you have seen the commercials for the new television show Huge. It is a show about seven teens and the staff at a weight-loss camp. I don’t know if the show is going to promote how to lose weight, but the star, Nikky Blonsky from Hair Spray fan, looks like she has gained a ton of weight for the show. I just find it interesting that the show would want to have their stars gain weight, which is so unhealthy, just to make a show about a weight-loss camp. Not sure what kind of message this is sending.
Before the 
Have you watched the continuous reruns of A Christmas Story? I bet you are wondering whatever happened to the kid who played Ralphie?
