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The real first couple of TV

For those of you who read the comments when they appear, you may have read what my friend Keith said about the posting below no who was the first couple to share a bed on TV. He said it was the 15 minute show Mary Kay and Johnny that starred Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns as themselves. According to the site Keith pointed me to as well as the site imdb. The program was the first in many areas. They were the first real life married couple on TV. They were on the air before "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" and before "I Love Lucy." They had one of the first ads on the air with Anacin that had the outline of a man taking their product to get relief.

Back then there was no way for advertisters to know if anyone was watching. Anacin decided to offer 200 mirrors to the first 200 people who wrote in to tell what they thought of that weeks episode. This would tell them if anyone was seeing their ads. To be safe they ordered 400 mirrors so no one would be disappointed. They got 8,960 letters.

While "I Love Lucy" was the most popular show to have a child born on the same day as the fictional character gave birth it was not the first time it was done. Mary Kay and Johnny did it first. Since their show was aired live the story centered around Johnny pacing in the waiting room.

I know Keith said he didn't like to correct me on my site but to Keith and anyone else I have to say that it is all right to do so. This way we all learn something.

The above photo is a publicity shot of Mary Kay and Johnny.

Who really had TV's first Full/king sized bed for couples on TV?

You know for years TV fans like I have heard that the first show to have a full or king size bed in a married couple’s bedroom was Mike and Carol Brady on the Brady Bunch which premiered on Sept. 26, 1969. However, a few years ago it was revealed that it was really Herman and Lilly Munster of the Munsters which premiered on Sept.24, 1964. Then I watched the DVD of the first season of Bewitched which premiered on Sept. 17, 1964 and what did I see in the first episode? A king size bed in the bedroom. Sure they were on their honeymoon but by the third episode they were at home and it had one in that episode too. So to me the title goes to Darren and Samantha Stephens of Bewitched. At least they are nice cross over between the Bradys and the Munsters.

Earth Invades!

After seeing this article in USA Today about the new movie Terra I was reminded of this short story that I posted some time ago. For those who have not read it I am posting it here again.

A WAR ON A WORLD

By Ricky Louis Phillips

For centuries the people of this planet thought that they were the only people in the universe. They lived. They loved. They laughed. They played. However, their quiet existence was about to be interrupted.
On a quiet summer’s evening a young scientist, Dr. Jordan Ellis, is taking home his pretty lab assistant Laura Thompson.“It’s nice of you to drive me home Dr. Ellis.”“It’s the least I could do. I made you work late and you missed your ride. Oh! Please don’t call me Dr. Ellis. I prefer Jordan.”“About the project that you’ve just started. What is the importance of it?”“The government has me exploring other methods of fuel for transportation. I sent a satellite into space to capture solar radiation. What we’re working with now is the material that the probe captured. I hope to use the power from the sun to power cars, rockets and other methods of transportation.”“What have you found about the radiation?”“ So far the radiation that it came back with doesn’t seem to be harmful to plants or humans. That’s on the positive side. On the negative side it doesn’t act as propulsion for cars either.”“Well everything exist for a reason. There must be a reason why that radiation exist.”Suddenly a loud explosion rips through the air. The two are so startled by it that Jordan runs into a ditch on the side of the road. He stops the car and they get out. Jordan inspects the car while Laura looks around for the source of the noise.“Well the car doesn’t look too bad.”“But where did that noise come from?”“That sounded like a sonic boom. Either something entered or escaped the atmosphere traveling faster then sound.”Jordan looks around the horizon then suddenly points to the east.“Look over there.”“What is that? A shooting star?”“I don’t know. Let’s follow it and find out.”They get back into the car. Jordan maneuvers the car back onto the road. They head east, in the direction of the star. Their anticipation is high and they cover many miles in what seems like only seconds. They come upon a deserted field. They get out of the car and climb to the top of an embankment. When they look out on the field they see a huge round silver metal object. It sits there still and silent. It is clearly out of place and yet in a strange way it seems like it should be there.Laura leans toward Jordan.“What is it?”“I don’t know.”“Maybe it’s some sort of shuttle.”“There’s an Army base not far from here. Maybe they’ll know.”Just then they hear a rumbling behind them. They turn and see a cloud of dust coming down the road. They climb down the embankment. As they reach the road the dust settles and reveals a group of Army jeeps and tanks that have stopped not far from their car.An officer gets out of the lead jeep. He has three stars on his helmet. He is obviously the man in charge as he starts shouting orders.“Sgt. James! Move those tanks into position.”Jordan approaches the man.“Excuse me sir…”“Just a minute. Lieutenant Overstreet! Get those men up on that ridge.”“Excuse me Mister…”“Sharp! GENERAL Sharp. What do you want sir? Do you live nearby?”“No I work nearby. This is Miss Laura Thompson my assistant she lives near here. I’m Dr. Jordan Ellis. I was giving Miss Thompson a ride home when we saw the craft come down.”“ You both saw it?”“Yes!”“Well this could be a dangerous area. You better leave.”“General I’m working with the government and I have a security clearance.”The General gets a look of disgust, as he now seems to have a government official on site that may out rank him. He calls for the Sgt. and points to a deserted old log cabin.“Sgt. James! Take Dr. Ellis and Miss Thompson to that cabin. I’ll phone headquarters to check on his security clearance and talk to them later.”The minutes pass like hours. Jordan, Laura & Sgt. James exchanged small talk. Jordan hoped the Sgt. would reveal something about the ship. However, he was a good solider and revealed little about himself and nothing about the ship.Finally the General arrived. He marched right up to the Sgt.. The Sgt. stood at attention and saluted the General. General Sharp returned the salute.“At ease Sgt.! You can return to your unit. I want to talk to Dr. Ellis alone.”As the Sgt. leaves the General pulls Dr. Ellis aside but motions for Laura to stay where she is.“Well Dr. you do have security clearance.”The General smiles as he says “But I can’t tell you anything unless I want to tell you. You have the lowest level of clearance.”“Well General tell me whatever you can so I can help.”The General smiled.“I can’t tell you anything.”“Nothing!”“No! But I don’t mind if you help.”“Can’t you tell me what that ship is of where it is from?”“No!”“How can I help if you won’t tell me anything.”“Not won’t Dr. I can’t cause your level won’t allow it.”“General you need to tell me something. At least to let me get started.”“I am going to give you some information. However, you can’t tell anyone. Not even Miss Thompson.”“OK!”“That ship is not from our planet. We aren’t even certain it’s from this solar system. It just showed up on radar and headed straight here. By the time we could gather any information together it landed.”Dr. Ellis looked concerned as his mind processed this information.“If they aren’t from this solar system, then they have either been traveling for years or…”“Or what?”“Or they may have been traveling faster then the speed of sound.”“That’s crazy. Nothing could travel that fast.”Suddenly the General’s radio come to life.“General Sharp! You need to get back here ASAP!”“What is it Lieutenant?”“There’s some activity coming from the craft.”The General gets in his jeep and starts the engine. Dr. Ellis and Laura get in the back and they drive back to the embankment.As they move across the bumpy terrain Laura moves closer to Jordan. She puts her hand on his shoulder and whispers to him.“So what did he tell you?”“I can’t tell you now cause I promised I wouldn’t. But I did get a lesson on who’s in charge here.”They come to a stop in front of the Lieutenant. The General gets out and they exchange salutes.“What’s going on here Lieutenant?”“Like I said sir. There’s something going on with that ship.”All eyes turn toward the spaceship and the see a tall cylinder is now extending from the top.“What is that General?”“It looks like a long range weapon.”“Maybe it’s a communication device.”The General gives Dr. Ellis a stern look. Then he notices the Lieutenant looking at the Dr. and wondering who this civilian is.“Lieutenant Overstreet this is Dr. Ellis and that pretty young lady is his assistant Miss. Thompson. The Dr. was in the area and is helping us on an advisory level.”Suddenly there is a humming noise and they all turn toward the ship. The cylinder is humming and starting to glow red. The louder the noise gets the brighter the cylinder gets.General Sharp throws off his helmet and grabs his head. Laura looks at him and sees pain on his face. The others don’t immediately notice, as they are too busy looking at the glowing cylinder.“What’s wrong General?”“I suddenly have a splitting migraine.”Just then the humming grows louder and the color of the cylinder has changed to a glowing white.The General is now screaming in pain. He is joined by the Lieutenant. Both men fall to the ground. They lay there screaming. Holding their hands to their ears as if trying to stop hearing the hum. The louder the hum gets the louder they scream. Jordan then notices that wails and screams are coming from all around but not everyone is affected.Then suddenly all the screams stop. The hum from the cylinder continues for a moment but then it stops. Jordan quickly checks the General while Laura checks the Lieutenant. The two officers stare blankly at them. Jordan and Laura are sad to admit that both men are dead.Jordan hears the sound of a jeep. He looks up to see headlights on the horizon. Coming down the road is Sgt. James. The jeep comes to a halt behind the General’s and the Sgt. jumps out. He sees the two men lying still on the ground. He looks at Jordan.“Are they?”“I’m afraid so.”The Sarge kneels over his fallen friends. His face is battle hardened and shows no sign of emotion. However, Jordan notices a tear run down the right side of the Sarge’s face. This gives him an uneasy feeling. The Sarge stands.“They were good soldiers as well as good people. Sharp came off hard and tough but he had to in order to get results. As hard as Sharp was so was Overstreet. But he had more compassion. They were the best commanding officers I ever had.”“So what do we do now?”The Sgt. looked Jordan straight in the eye.“They killed everyone above the rank of Sgt.. We must attack.”“You see this as an act of war?”Sgt. James can’t believe the question he was just asked. He has a look of surprise as he responds.“YES! I also take it personal that they killed two of my best friends.”“But…”“No buts. You’re just here as a civilian advisor. I am now the ranking officer here and in command.”As the Sgt. goes over to radio orders to the troops Laura talks to Jordan.“Well that went well.”“I know. I prefer the way the General told me who was in charge.”The Sarge gets on the radio.“This is Sgt. James of A company calling B company. Over!”“This is B company Sgt.. Over!”“To who am I speaking?”“Corporeal Dent sir!”“Well Corporeal get me your commanding officer.”“As of a few minutes ago, I am the commanding officer.”“Well I’m the C.O. here so on my signal both companies will fire at the ship. Now…FIRE!”With the command given the Army lets loose a barrage of firepower on the ship. The occupants of the interplanetary craft opened up their gunports and fired lasers in defense. It was a long battle with neither side gaining any ground.While all this was going on Dr. Ellis found pieces of metal that broke off the ship. He took them back to study in his lab. In his lab he makes a great discovery. He goes back and approaches Sgt. James with his discovery.“What is it Dr. Ellis? I’m busy trying to save the planet.”“I think you may be able to do that with these.”He takes out of his pocket a small black rock and a piece of metal.“How are those going to save us?”“This rock was exposed to what I call radiation X. The only reaction that the rock, which is from our planet, had was that it turned black.”“So how is that going to help?”“By itself it won’t. I exposed this piece of metal from the ship to the rock that was full of radiation X. After that this metal, that before I could easily bend with just two fingers, suddenly became super strong. I couldn’t bend it at all.”The Sarge picks up the metal and tries to bend it but can’t.“Is this change permanent?”“No it only last for ten minutes after each exposure.”“So why would we want to make that ship or the people inside it stronger?”“”It’s only for ten minutes and it may give them so much power so fast that they can’t handle it and they defeat themselves.”“That’s a long shot Doc.”“Have you got a better idea? Besides the battle is a stalemate. If we try this and it works you’ll get promoted and go down in history as the man who saved the world.”“You mean you’ll go down in history.”“You’re the one making the decisions. I’ll just be along for the ride.”The Sgt. paces as he thinks this over. Finally he stops and looks at Jordan.“Well nothing gets done by playing it safe. Have you got a plan?”“I think so. Have any of them come out of the ship?”“Yeah! Sometimes to fight or make quick repairs. We still don’t know what they look like. They wear a silver protective suit that covers them from head to toe.”“OK! Here is my plan. I’ll make bullets out of this rock. You give them to your best sharpshooters. Tell them just to shoot them in the arms or legs. That way if one lives we can examine him.”As fast as he can, Jordan heads back to the lab. There he makes the bullet shaped rocks and drives back. He gives them to the Sgt. and he distributes them to his sharpshooters.“All right men when I give the signal everyone fire on the ship. Except those with the special bullets. Only they can shoot when the men inside come out. However, only shoot them in the arms or legs.”There is a tense moment as they wait for the signal to fire.“Ready…Aim…FIRE!”Almost every solider with a rifle, machine gun, tank or any type of weapon fires upon the ship. However, a select few sit in place and wait. They don’t have to wait for long.The door to the craft opens. Out steps a group of men in skintight silver suits. They raise their weapons and start firing. They hardly get off a shot when one of them drops his weapon and screams in pain. Some of the men in silver stop for a moment. They seem surprised as the man falls down in pain. You can tell this doesn’t happen often.The man screams again. He has been holding his arm the whole time but lets go of his wounded arm and uses his one good arm to take off his helmet. For the first time Jordan and the others see what they look like. Jordan stares as if in a trance and whispers to himself.“They look just like us.”The man in silver starts rubbing his eyes as if they are burning. He stops and looks to a comrade for help. However, his friend in the spacesuit starts to glow red hot. The man inside starts to scream but is cut short as the heat from the other mans stare turns him to ashes.The other men in silver back away, firing their weapons as they go. But it grows more intense as the chilling scene is repeated over and over. Men grabbing their arm or leg after being shot and setting anything they look at on fire.Suddenly the shooting stops and the fires are dying out. None of the silver clad invaders are left alive. Sgt. James orders the men to move in on the ship. They begin their approach when the ship starts to hum. The door closes. The landing gear retracts. The ship rises and hovers in mid-air for a moment. It then flies straight up for about a mile. Then starts’ picking up speed till it is gone from sight.Jordan, Laura and Sgt. James stand next to each other looking to the sky.“Well Doc your idea did it. We won.”“I told you God made that radiation X to exist for a reason.”“Yes. He knew it would help us defeat them. But I wonder where they are from?”In space we see the ship. It has left the atmosphere of the planet and is on its way out of the solar system. This is the last time the occupants of the ship will see this solar system with the blue sun. Yes it is a bright, blazing, blue colored sun.Inside the ship is Captain Jackson Beck. He is communicating his report home on the latest mission.“Captain Beck reporting star date 11 15 25. The mission is a failure. Science Officer Ross Peters and I are the sole survivors of the mission. We landed and waited for the planet officials to show. The Army arrived first. We singled out any high-ranking officers to communicate our message of friendship hoping it would be a story they would believe. That way we could make this a peaceful take over of the planet. We raised our communication pole to talk to them with telepathy. However, the telepathic waves were too strong for their brains and accidentally killed them. We wanted a peaceful take over but from there it was war. The enemy was holding it’s own in the battle till they brought out a secret weapon. They planted devices on us that made us become…well the best description is living lasers and we started destroying ourselves. After the landing party was destroyed the enemy started advancing on to destroy the ship. I didn’t want the ship in the hands of the enemy so we took off. Beck out!”“It will take the message about a day to reach home Captain.”“Good Mr. Peters. It will reach Earth before we do. Let’s head home.”With the command given the ship picks up speed and in the blink of an eye it is gone.

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Davy Jones on the Rock and Roll Hall of fame ban

Here is a video of Davy talking to Bill O'Reilly on the hall of fame ban.

Cincinnati and Summer of Love Reunion Concert

For those of you ready to remember the Summer of Love from 1967 then you may want to take a trip to Cincinnati this August. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that local band Haymarket Riot is reuniting and being joined with other local bands for Summer of Love reunion concert. One of those local groups is the Lemon Pipers who had a national hit with "Green Tambourine." Over the years I have heard this song but never new that the group came from just across the river from my home. The concert is on August 18th at 8pm and cost only $15. You can go to http://www.summeroflovereunion.com/ for more info and click on the article below to read more about it.

Changes at Rhino

I got this e-mail from Kent of Forgotten Hits and The60sshop@aol.com this weekend. I am reprinting it here with Kent's permission. I would have posted it earlier but I was busy this weekend and didn't get around to it till today.

Just got this from one of my readers ... it won't go out in FORGOTTEN HITS until this weekend's COMMENTS PAGE ... but feel free to post if you like as a follow-up to my earlier RHINO comment. (This came from CLARK BESCH who has written the liner notes to a NUMBER of notable reissues ... really makes you wonder where RHINO's head is at on the corporate level. Of course we don't know ALL of the details ... but SOMEBODY should snatch THIS guy up STAT!!!!!)

Kent

I guess I missed this in past 2 weeks, but in mid May, Bill Inglot and 20 others were fired in a downsizing measure at Rhino. It's just another sad commentary on getting a company to the top, then being turned on. Certainly, Rhino's had less new product of late (still some great stuff, tho), but still a BIG leader in the industry and I have nothing but compliments for doing so many rare discs up right. Unfortunately, to add to this, Bill's father passed away this past week.

All of us stereophyles have had MANY issues dealing with Bill's mono ethics, but the positives are about 99 to 1 IMO as to the great product Bill produced during his time there, including new stereo product. In all actuality, aside from Bill Buster's product at Eric, most of the big time oldie reissue labels have reverted to mono somewhat if originally that way on vinyl, so Bill wasn't the only one. Unlike some, I actually prefer mono to stereo sometimes myself, so i can see both points of view. many mono originals don't have same stereo mix or tape used when stereo is used on Cds. Whatever, when you saw the name Bill Inglot on a Cd, you knew it was a quality sounding disc, something that cannot be guaranteed still today. in the 80's, it was especially a blessing to see his name, when so many Cds were scratchy vinyl issues.

Bill was the innovator in CD reissues. It's a sad thing and I hope Bill lands with a company that uses his amazing sound skills to good use. We can only hope that Cary at Varese is safe! A note to Bill Buster at Eric and Bob Irwin at Sundazed:
Don't sell the farm!
(submitted by CLARK BESCH / WLSClark)

My Two Cents: Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer

Well I got to see the new Fantastic Four movie this past weekend. I have since read some reviews of the film. Most of them negative and if I had read them about the first film I might have agreed. The first film was just ok for my taste. I didn't think that the first film did well enough for a sequel but I am glad that it did as this movie was a rarity. It was one of the few sequels that is better then the first film. Now much has been made in the tabloids of Jessica Alba loosing too much weight. I have to agree with that as when I first saw her in the movie I didn't know who she was. The effects are not of the Saturday morning variety as some reviews have suggested. They really made me fell as if I was with the Silver Surfer. The only problem I had was when Galactius showed up. He was not shown as an alien who is as big as a solar system. He was shown as a lot of wind like he was just a big storm. I couldn't wait for him to show and was disappointed when he did.
I loved how this was about two comic book stories combined into one. The first was when Mr. Fantastic and the Invisable Woman get married. I loved Stan Lee being turned away at the door because his name was not on the guest list. That happened to him and Jack Kirby in the comic book as well.
The other was when Dr. Doom tries to steal the power of the Silver Surfer. He is of course successful. However, when they learn that the surfer is not the biggest threat to the planet and he is willing to help them stop Galactius they have to stop doom and get the Silver Surfer his power back. They get into the Fantasticar to follow he nearly defeats them but realize that they can't while attacking one at a time so the combine their four powers into Johnny and he defeats Dr. Doom. Then the Surfer flies to battle his former boss. Once he is successful our four friends know that all is well. Reed and Sue finally get married but in Japan instead of New York.
The photo of the Fantastic Four Annual is the one where they got married in 1965. If you wish to buy it you can click here to go to the auction site where the auction ends today.

A letter from my Dad again

Below is a letter from my Dad that I posted before back in November of 2005. On this Father's Day I would like to share it with you again for those who have been reading since day one and for those that have started reading since that time.
When my Dad was sick and knew he may not make it he wrote me this letter.
To My Son,
Ricky you were the finest son a man could ever want or hope for. You were honest, thoughtful, trusting, generous, never a problem and more things that showed me you loved your fellow man as God would want. Rick always believe and trust in God. Never let anyone tell you any different or try to come between you and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Study your Bible and draw even closer to God through prayer and service to Him. Remember your teaching's of the Bible and always try to live up to them. The Lord will be with you always. Remember and take care of your Mother. She loves you deeply. I love you son. See you in Heaven. Dad

I love you and will see you in Heaven one day too Dad.