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.
Yesterday, I happened to catch the beginning of one of my favorite war movies – The Dirty Dozen. One of the prisoners, Posey, stands out because of his soft spoken nature and the fact that he is six foot six inches tall and very muscular. The character Posey, was played by Clint Walker.
Norman Eugene “Clint” Walker was born on May 30, 1927 in Hartford, Illinois and has a twin sister. He is one-quarter Cherokee Indian. He had many jobs at a young age including working in a factory and on a river boat. At 17 he joined the Merchant Marines during World War II. After the war, he worked odd jobs in Texas, Las Vegas and California. In California, several actors encouraged him to get into the movie business because of his good looks and stature. He was hired by Cecil B. DeMille to play a guard in The Ten Commandments. Warner Brothers then hired him as the lead in the television series Cheyenne. The series lasted for eight seasons.
After the series, Walker appeared in a number of movies, including The Dirty Dozen. In the 1970s he appeared in a number of western television shows and in 1998 he was the voice of Nick Nitro in the film Small Soldiers.
In 1974, Walker had a freak skiing accident and was pierced in the heart by a ski pole. He eventually recovered.
He has been married three time. First to Verna Garver in 1948, they divorced in 1968 and had one daughter. Then to Giselle Hennessy who is married in 1974. She passed away in 1994. He is currently married to Susan Cavallari.
It was way back in 1969 that Sesame Street was first introduced on PBS. It is now the longest running children’s program on television. With funding from the Carnegie Institute, The Ford Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the federal government, a team was put together to come up with an educational program for children. Jim Henson, Mupper creator, was also involved early on.
The original format did not feature actors and muppets together, but this was changed after viewings by children found the actor only scenes not as appealing. The show was built around an inner-city street and was meant to attract inner-city viewers. The cast was very diverse with a mix of actors. Obviously, the format paid off! Sesame Street is here to stay.
Recently, I read about the death of John Hart, who appeared for two seasons on the television show The Long Ranger. Hart, replaced Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger when Moore demanded a higher salary. The producers, thinking that the audience would easily take to a replacement since the character was masked, turned out to be wrong. After two years, Moore was re-hired as the Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger ran from 1949-1957.
Ever wondered whatever happened to the voice of that famous television commercial line “Ho, Ho, Ho, Green Giant”? Elmer “Len” Dresslar, Jr. was the voice of the Green Giant. He was born March 25, 1925 and was an American voice actor. After a stint in the US Navy, Dresslar moved to Chicago to study voice. He became a member of the jazz group Singers Unlimited which recorded 15 albums.
Besides being the voice for the Jolly Green Giant, Dresslar recorded many other jingles and spots for brands such as Amoco, Dinty Moore, Marlboro, and Rice Krispies cereal.
Dresslar retired from acting and moved to Palm Springs, California. He died of cancer on October 16, 2005.
Bill Cosby often uses characters in his comedy routines that are based on actual people from his old neighborhood. The first animated special based on the characters – “Hey, Hey, Hey – It’s Fat Albert” – looked very different from the series it would become. Cosby was not happy with the way the characters were drawn (they were too rough looking) and started taking an active role in the process. Cosby even showed the animators they way the characters should walk.
Cosby recruited Herbie Hancock to right the music and gathered a group of kids for the voices. Cosby played the key parts of Fat Albert and Bill.
The show was first aired on September 9, 1972 and ran for 12 years before entering the syndication market.
This was one of my favorite Sesame Street songs, taken from a Huey Lewis and The News Song (Hip to be Square). This one is Hip to be A Square and teaches kids about shapes.
Have you watched the continuous reruns of A Christmas Story? I bet you are wondering whatever happened to the kid who played Ralphie?
Yesterday, I happened to catch the beginning of one of my favorite war movies – The Dirty Dozen. One of the prisoners, Posey, stands out because of his soft spoken nature and the fact that he is six foot six inches tall and very muscular. The character Posey, was played by Clint Walker.
Ever wondered whatever happened to the voice of that famous television commercial line “Ho, Ho, Ho, Green Giant”? Elmer “Len” Dresslar, Jr. was the voice of the Green Giant. He was born March 25, 1925 and was an American voice actor. After a stint in the US Navy, Dresslar moved to Chicago to study voice. He became a member of the jazz group Singers Unlimited which recorded 15 albums. 
