Watched a DVD with the kids last night that contained the first 3 episodes from the TV series Bewitched, which I used to LOVE. They were…ASTOUNDED by the special effects. I thought Elizabeth Montgomery was great, and I must have heard back in 1995 that she had died of cancer, but I didn’t remember it so I was a little sad when I googled her last night and found out she’d passed away at 62.
Do you remember when Dick York was just quietly replaced with Dick Sargent and nobody seemed to notice? I was too young to pay attention, but did you know what happened to him? He suffered a debilitating back injury while filming a movie and eventually was unable to act. He was only 63 when he died.
If you remember that, which Dick did you like better?
He didn’t fare much better; Mr. Sargent. He died when he was only 64.
I think I’d have to watch more episodes…I remember liking their daughter Tabitha and thinking that was a cool name, though my very favorite name for years and years, for a girl, was Jaime. I had a friend at some point named Jaime, for a short time. She was a bit older and I idolized her for however long it was we lived in the same place and she taught me all the words to Running Bear. I can still sing much more of it than I would like to admit. Poor Little White Dove! Too bad neither one of them reached their sixties.
You know, one thing that I kept thinking about when I heard that Steve Jobs passed away this month was that he was only 56 and that my dad was also only 56 when HE died.
Despite all the advances we’ve made medically, technologically, culturally, socially…people still just die too young sometimes.
Well! This took an unexpected turn toward the morbid. Here I was going to amuse you with pop culture references to things I loved as a child and teenager which would have some of you, no doubt scratching your heads and saying, “Wut? Huh?”
Like H.R. Pufnstuf! I loved that show! Did you know it only aired for 17 episodes? That’s crazy! Also, I don’t know about you, but if H.R. Pufnstuf was supposed to be a dragon, they sure did a crap job of creating his look. And hey! Guess how old the kid that played Jimmy in that show was when he died? 53.
You know what other show I loved? Ultraman. MAN, I loved ULTRAMAN. And Land of the Lost. Sleestaks were The Awesome. They just don’t make bad guys like Sleestaks anymore. And Lost in Space. I wanted to BE Penny.
This seems to be skewing about 5th-6th grade-ish, so other things I loved:
- GRAPE FANTA! I totally made my mom buy me some in Massachusetts last month and you know what? As good as ever!
- The Carpenters: On Top of the World
- Laura Ingalls Wilder (duh)
- The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews
- My red, white and blue record player
- There was more. Much more. But now it’s your turn!
Cracking Me Up: Speaking of Sleestaks
How Much Do I Love This? Let me flowchart the ways