WHKK The Series Part 5 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY VIOLET!

TVN: Was it hard getting in touch with the rest of the cast?

RP: Not with Marlin, Chuck and Mike. The four of us kept in touch over the years. I did keep in contact for awhile with Colson and Jeff but lost touch after awhile. I lost touch completely with Steve, Nancy, and Elizabeth after the show was cancelled. I tried to get in touch with them to do the movie but couldn’t find them. Actually I did see Nancy and Elizabeth once. I bumped into Nancy at Burger King and she had just had a baby. That was about 2 or 3 years after the show was cancelled. Around that time I bumped into Elizabeth at McDonald’s. She was just out to eat with some friends. I had just gotten there and she was just leaving.

TVN: Burger King and McDonalds?

RP: I know it isn’t healthy but I like fast food. Chuck once said if the restaurant didn’t have neon lights and chrome Rick won’t eat there.

TVN: Did any comical events happen with the rest of the cast?

RP: Well lets see Chuck was to be a groomsman but got nervous and at the last minute was changed to an usher and suddenly one of the ushers became a groomsman. There was some funny stuff with Mike that resulted in him missing the bachelor party. But everything worked out and we got married.

TVN: Wasn’t that one of the earlier TV Guides that started using more the one cover?

RP: Yes that is one of the collector cover ones. That really started by accident. They first put out one with my wife and I on the cover. But the printer made a couple of errors. One was when he didn’t name the show. It was the WHKK Wedding Reunion Special and he called it the Wedding Special. The other was on the date. The printer put the year on the date and at that time TV Guide didn’t put the year on the cover. They pulled it real fast and put one out with me and the guys on the cover. Actually that was also the first and only time that we made the cover of your magazine.

TVN: Yes and I remember that Mr. Reed had the cover all to himself. You said earlier that you really got married on the reunion movie.

RP: Yes not only was the date of the wedding March 17th in the movie but it was filmed on March 17th. So St. Patrick’s Day really is our anniversary. So on this day I have to say…HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SWEETHEART! I LOVE YOU! 

Let Your Imagination Soar

Remember these types of advertisments. I use to see them all the time back in the late 60's. I However the ones that I saw advertised a submarine that seated 2. I really thought if I ordered one I would get a real sub. I use to live in the couintry at that time across the street from a fishing lake. I dreamed that one of my cousins and I would use that sub and explore the bottom of that lake. Maybe even use to to go over seas to europe. Hey I was only about 6 years old at the time. When I got older and realized they were just cardboard boxes shaped to look like a sub or in the ad above a space ship I was glad I never ordered one of them. Can you imagine expecting a real ship and getting a cardboard box? Talk about a wake up call! At least I saved my parents about $5 by not asking them for the money to get it. 

Jerry Lewis Comic Book

Here is an example of what the Jerry Lewis comic book was like. I you want to get this book you can by going to this site. 

Happy Birthday Jerry Lewis

Today is Jerry Lewis 80th birthday. So Happy Birthday to you. When I was between the ages of 5 and 9 to me the biggest names in movie stars were Dean Jones, Kurt Russell, Elvis and Jerry Lewis. I didn't see any of the movies that he did with Dean Martin till I was older when they reran them on TV. I loved anything that had to do with Jerry Lewis. I saw all his movies mostly when Mom and Dad took me to the drive-in. I was such a big fan of his that one of my memories of my families first trips to Florida was when we first got there and got a room at a hotel. We ate our dinner and watched Rock-A-Bye Baby. On his own Mr. Lewis starred in movies that were either cinema genius or to be kind not that good. Love him or hate him you have to admit that he is a very talanted man who can make people laugh. My favorites were the Patsy, Cinderfella and of course The Nutty Professor. While with Dean Martin DC Comics starred them in their own comic book. When they broke up DC kept Jerry in his own book. Later in the early 70's he got his own cartoon series. I hope they put that out on a DVD boxed set soon. Every labor day he did a wonderful thing by getting entertainers together to raise money to combat MD. For the longest time I watched every year and pledged because an old elementry school friend of mine, Wayne VonGrease and his brother found out that they both had it. It was so bad that Wayne had to leave school because he could no longer climb the stairs. Later I saw in the newspapers that he graduated high school without ever setting foot in the school. This was in the days before home schooling became more normal. When they took the play "Damn Yankees" was on the road my friend Jeff Reeves and I got tickets. He said he knew someone who could get us in to meet Mr. Lewis. If Jeff said he could get us in to meet someone it usually happened. However, this time his show business powers met their match and we didn't get in. We gave then some photos to see if they could get him to sign them but they came back unsigned. Now I don't hold any of that against Jeff or Mr. Lewis. Jerry may not even know that it happened. Since the 70's Mr. Lewis became better known for his temper, his feud with Mr. Martin and medical problems. From what I have heard Mr. Martin and Mr. Lewis made up before Mr. Martin passed away. I am happy that so far it seems that his medical problems are a thing of the past or at least are on their way to his past. Now while I may not agree with how he expresses his anger I am sure in some ways his anger is justified. So here is to you Jerry. Happy Birthday. Thanks for the good times. Thanks for surviving life and have a piece of birthday cake for me.
The above movie poster I got from this auction site.

WHKK The Series Part 4 fiction

TVN: What did you do after the show left the air?

RP: Well we went off in spring of 1985. By the fall of 1985 I had another syndicated show on that I produced and it starred my three cousins and I. It was called Bachelor Party. It only lasted 2 years. By the fall of 1987 I produced 2 other shows. One was a kids show starring my cousin Randy Blankenship called Randy and Friends. The other was starring my cousin Steve Thompson called Me, Myself and I. Randy and Friends ran for 2 years. Me, Myself and I ran for 1 year.

TVN: What happened after that?

RP: Well I kept looking for other shows to produce but couldn’t find any I could sink my teeth into. So I did guest spots on other shows. Then I was asked to produce the WHKK Reunion movie.

TVN: I already know the answer to this but for the sake of our readers who don’t who asked you?

RP: It was PAX TV. The were in the middle of getting the rights to air the reruns and thought that a reunion movie would be nice to have also.

TVN: What gave you the idea to have the movie about a wedding?

RP: Well a lot of the stories on the show dealt with our adventures in dating. I thought our audience should finally see one of the characters getting married. After all what brings old friends together more then a wedding? Well funerals do but I didn’t want anyone of us dying.

TVN: You and your wife wrote the script. What gave you the idea for the plot?

RP: It was pretty much what happened when we got married. Having to find a Church, setting a date etc. The typical wedding stuff.

TVN: What kind of stuff?

RP: Well like we had a hard time setting the date. We finally settled on May. Then when we went to check the date with the church May was all booked up. We went through their calendar and found that March 17th was open. We didn’t know why but we took that date. Then we were reminded that was St. Patrick’s Day. Neither of us celebrated it but when I told her the groomsmen should be in green tux’s she said she didn’t think that was a good idea. Then there was a big storm and the church suffered so much damage that it was unsafe to hold services at the church. It was too late to get another church. The one part of the church that didn’t suffer any damage was the church Gym. So the wedding was held in the Gym.

TVN: The part of the bride was played by your real wife wasn’t it?

RP: Yes! Now most of the movie was scripted but we put a little bit of reality in it as we were actually married on that day.

Continued and concluded in part 5 

WHKK The Series Part 3 fiction

TVN: I notice that a year later TV Guide had your show on the cover again but you were cut out of the picture. Do you know why?

RP: Not really unless they were mad at me for saying Mike should have been on the cover instead of me the last time. I do remember that one as it was the only episode we filmed that was mostly in black and white. Jeff Eldred had a dream that we were all back in the old west. Only the parts with Jeff falling asleep and him waking up were filmed in color. At least Chuck and Mike got on the cover that week. I think that was the last year we were on too.

TVN: Now what was the reason to bring on a new cast member? Was it because you saw that Colson was leaving the show?

RP: No Colson’s departure came as a surprise to everyone. We all thought he was happy with the show. However, his contract was up a few months after Mike joined and he didn’t sign up. Mike was put into the show to make it funnier and give it more energy. Most of the characters on the show had been Christians for quite sometime. What is funnier than watching someone doing the right thing? Watching someone who thinks he is doing the right thing but is not. So we bought Mike on as a recently born again Christian who worked at the #1 album rock station in town. He wants to work in Christian radio so he can use his talents for the Lord, but he still has a few things to learn.
One of my favorite episodes is when he wanted to help with the sales department and sold commercial time to a palm reader. Marlin and Chuck had to go tell her that since it is a Christian station it wouldn’t be right for them to have ads for palm reading. She said she could put a sign up saying it was the church of palm reading. Marlin said “Miss. I could put a sign outside the radio station saying we were a television station. That doesn’t mean that we are one.”
She agreed and took her money back.

TVN: Are there any other favorites that you liked during the run of the show?

RP: Sure there was the one that had Steve Perkins going out on a date with Elizabeth and Nancy at the same time. A favorite scene of mine was when I had to go outside to talk to the guy installing the new satellite dish. A bug flies up my pants leg and the installer doesn’t see it but I can feel it as it flies around and is biting my leg. I practically do a dance around him. He must have been wondering what was this guy eating before. Then I excuse myself to go inside so I can get rid of that bug.

TVN: Did you have any special guest on the show?

RP: Oh yes! Contemporary Christian music was just getting started. Well actually it started in the late 60’s early 70’s era but by the early 80’s it was starting to catch on and become it’s own type of music. Some of our guest were the Imperials, Amy Grant, Twila Paris, Michael W. Smith, Phil Keaggy, Brown Banister. In the last season hardly a week went by with out at least a cameo by someone in the contemporary Christian music field. Word must have leaked out that this may be our last season and they wanted on the show.

TVN: What was you favorite episode with a guest?

RP: That would have to be the Christmas episode from our last season. Since the radio station was a 24 hour business it couldn’t close for the holidays and I had to work on Christmas day. The characters that Twila Paris and Phil Keaggy were playing on that episode came by from my church to cheer me up. I got to sing a duet with Twila Paris while it Phil Keaggy played the guitar.

TVN: What song did you sing?

RP: O Little Town Of Bethleham!
Continued in part 4

WHKK The Series Part 2

TVN: There was a feud that started between you and TV Guide in 1982. Wasn’t there?

RP: I have read that TV Guide called it a feud but it wasn’t. It was really a misunderstanding.

TVN: Wasn’t it over an interview that you did with them?

RP: No that is part of the misunderstanding. I didn’t give them an interview they didn’t even ask me for one. They interviewed Mike Reed who was added to the cast that year. I guess I should clear this up now once and for all. They had interviewed Mike but for some reason I was on the cover of the magazine. You see the title of the interview was the new DJ who puts the Rock in Christian Rock. That was refering to Mike’s new character on the show. However, they wanted a person on the cover that the public already knew. I flat out told them know they should have Mike on it since the article was about him. I saw someone on the set taking pictures and thought it was a friend or the producers so I let him take pictures of me. Next thing I know one of them is on the cover of TV Guide. Mike and I were both upset because we both thought he was going to be on the cover. We called them up and asked them why he was not on the cover. They said they had to have the star of the show on the cover. I told them they should have taken a cast photo then because I am not the star. It is an ensemble cast. Or they could have had Mike and I on the cover together.

TVN: On that cover you look like you are handing something to somebody. Who is it?

RP: Yeah! My cousin Randy was on the set that day. He is a ventriloquist and that week we filmed our homage to Edgar Bergen. Randy was hired as a DJ who did his ventriloquist act on the radio.

TVN: A ventriloquist on the radio?

RP: Well it did work for Edger Bergen.

Continued in Part 3 tomorrow 

WHKK the Series Part 1 fiction

WHKK
Starring Chuck Baker a DJ/Sales Mgr, Rick Phillips who played a DJ/news reporter, Marlin Tester as GM/Program Director, Jeff Eldred as News Director, Colson Leach as a DJ named Spinner, Steve Perkins as an intern, Nancy Turner as a DJ and Elizabeth Tucker as the receptionist.

In 1981 the producers of WKRP wanted to do a spin off. I was supposed to do a few episodes of WKRP. Then I would be spun off onto the new show. The show was a hit and ran for about 4 years. Here is a recent Interview that I did with a magazine called TV Now.

TV NOW: What was the idea to start the show?

Rick Phillips: Well I wasn’t there in the idea phase so I don’t know. I was working in radio at the time and heard they were doing a casting call for a new show so I showed up.

TVN: The show was to be a spin off but you never were on WKRP. What happened?

RP: Well when the network executives saw that the show was going to be about a Christian radio station they backed away from the show.

TVN: Why didn’t they just ask the producers make a change in format?

RP: They did ask them but the producers for some reason were fixed on it being a Christian radio station. Now as a Christian myself I liked the idea but I would have still done the show no matter what format they wanted as long as it didn’t go against my Christian principals.

TVN: I heard they had problems deciding on what to call the show.

RP: Yeah they did. They wanted to call it WGOD to begin with but they thought it might get confusing with 2 shows going by station call letters. Also, they didn’t want to offend any religions.

TVN: What other names did they want to call it?

RP: I remember hearing them mention calling it God On The Air. Someone said that sounded more offensive then WGOD. Finally I told them that there use to be a station in my hometown that was called WHKK. They had to call the station something so they checked it out. Since the station was no longer in business there was nothing wrong with calling our fictional station WHKK.

TVN: Getting back to my original question. What happened with the show when the networks decided they didn’t want to do the spin off?

RP: Well they went into first run syndication. We had just barely enough markets signed up to air the first season of 13 episodes.

TVN: Did they ever address that the show was a spin off?

RP: Yes! One episode Gordon Jump who played Mr. Carlson and Richard Saunders who played Les Nesman came on the show. However, there was some legal problem with the networks since we were not one of their shows. We couldn’t call them Mr. Carlson or Les or Big Guy as that was the property of the network. So we just called them representatives of the station owner. The show did end with a joke about WKRP. Mr. Carlson was there to give some money to Marlin the GM. Marlin said maybe he could now buy that new soundboard for the DJ booth. Mr. Carlson looked at him and said he didn’t think Mama would like that.

TVN: Why did they have you all use your real names?

RP: I don’t know. I know with the Monkees the producers hoped to make them a real recording group. Did they hope we would become a real station?

TVN: Didn’t some of them go by their nicknames too?

RP: Yes we even worked in some of them. Marlin was the oldest of our group and he had a loving caring way with people so we called him Pa. It was explained in the series that even though he was only a few years older then us he took us all under his wing and thought of all of us as his kids. That is why he was called Pa on the show. Colson, like a lot of us, had a background in radio before the series began. At the radio station he was called Spinner. Sometimes to tease him we would call him Spitter. He would get alittle upset and say “It’s Spinner! Not Spitter!” The writers saw this and to his dismay worked it as a running gag into the show. One day we kept calling him Spitter all day long. He didn’t say anything about it but his anger must have been building. When it came time to tape that day we came to a scene where I said “Hey Spitter!” He turned around and was suppose to say his typical response. However, it came out as “It’s Spitter! Not Spinner!” I was stunned. The live audience gave us one of the shows biggest laughs. Colson was so flustered he didn’t know what to say. Finally he said “You know what I mean.” The scene went on and the director kept it in the show.

TVN: Where there any blooper reels of things that were cut out of the show?

RP: As long as we stayed in character everything was kept in the show. If you watch the show you are watching our blooper reel.

Continued in part 2 tomorrow.

A Prayer To Ask Jesus Christ Into Your Heart

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever, believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.
John 3:16 and 17
king james version
If you know in your heart that you need Jesus Christ in your life. Then pray this simple prayer.
Dear God,
I know that I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I invite Christ into my heart and life as my personal Saviour.
If you have done this then you now need to find a Bible believing and preaching church. The links section at the right or below depending on your browser has links to some local churches in my area. You can e-mail them if they are not in your area. They may be able to help you find one in your area.

Today's Bible Verse

The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship.
Psalm 19:1 NLT

...God created the world out of nothing. Creation was something like the magician pulling a rabbit out of hat. Except God didn't have a rabbit and He didn't have a hat.
R C SPROUL 

Happy Anniversary to Glenn A. Baker and Monkeemania

For those of you who can do math I must apologize. I recently posted that this year was the 26th anniversary of the publication The Monkees Tale. I have corrected that post as last year was the 20th anniversary making this it's 21st anniversary. However, I am on time to wish Glenn A. Baker happy 2oth anniversary on the publication of his book Monkeemania. This was one of the first publications on the Monkees from a major publishing house. It was published by St. Martin's Press in 1986. Other previous publications were by teen magazines or by fans who interviewed the pre-fab four. Mr. Baker works in the music industry. At the time, according to the back of the book, he was Billboard magazine's Australian editor and was responsible for the Monkees Greatest Hits album. Now remember the Monkees were considered a passing fad after the show left the air in 1968. Perhaps the reason it was published on cheap paper and has no color photos was to keep cost down in case the Monkees were just a fad again. They could have done better on the publishing. A fad doesn't keep coming back stronger then ever each time and with more fans then before. The book seems more complete to me then any other as it tells you about the fans overseas in Japan and Australia. It also has a complete discography telling about their records release in the USA and other countries as well as the repressing. Also included are recordings they did before and after the Monkees along with the art for many of the overseas picture sleeves of the 45's.
Other books on the Monkees followed. Some autobiographies by Davy and Micky. A biography of Mike Nesmith called Total Control is a more recent release. Mr. Nesmith himself is a published author with his non-Monkees fiction book titled "The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora." The only one so far not to have a book out is Peter Tork. Hey Pete you should put out an autobiography or something. If you want me to ghost write it drop me an e-mail or get the two men who helped Mr. Baker with this book.

The White Tiger Returns

Back in the 70's Marvel ventured in to the relm of magazine sized black and white comic books. Most of them dealt with Dracula, the Punisher, the Hulk or the White Tiger. I remember seeing them at the local drug store and flipping through them but I only bought one of them. The reason was that I didn't care for my comics being in black and white. I have come to appreciate them over time but I still prefer my comic books in color. As my appreciation of those early black and white comic books has grown I wish I had bought them. What little I recall is that the art was pretty good and so were the stories. Perhaps someday some of those will be reprinted. While everyone had heard of Dracula and the Hulk. At that time most people were still being introduced to the Punisher and the White Tiger. Frank "The Punisher" Castle is now fairly well known to the public thanks to a long running series of books and two movies. However, the White Tiger is known only to the comic buying public & so of the kung fu crowd who grew up in the 70's. My first really good reading of a story that involved him was in Spectacular Spider-Man #9 from 1977. His real name was Hector Ayala. He got his power of the White Tiger from the Jade Tiger amulets. (Shouldn't he have been called the Jade Tiger then?) He fougth crime cartels, street crime and from time to time would team up with the likes of Daredevil or Spider-Man. But fighting crime is a dangerous, tiring and thankless job so Hector retired. After a while the call to don the amulets and a good storyline proved too much so Hector was back as the White Tiger. However, this time he was framed for mureder. With Matt Murdock as his lawyer he couldn't loose could he? Wrong this was one of the few cases that Murdock lost and Hector went to jail. He also died in jail. His niece, Angela Del Toro, inherited the amulets but has not put them on yet. According to this article, that may soon change. 

Untold Tales Of The New Universe Nightmask #1

I just picked up this one shot of Nightmask and wanted to tell you about it. You see I am old enough to remember the attempt that Marvel made at the New Universe. Saddly the stories ranged from poor to average in ever book. For my taste the best of the bunch was Justice and DP7. When it started I thought Nightmask would be the breakout hit. I always thought that Nightmask was a good idea for a character. I have always liked stories that involved the hero only solving the problem the person has by going into their dreams. The first story of Dr. Strange is one of my favorites of this type. Thankfully Dr. Strange had other adventures that he could go on by help the Avengers or fighting demons in other dimensions. Going into someones dreams every month can get tiresome. To me Nightmask, back in the 80's, had that problem. I read the first 2 issues and didn't think it would last. So I stopped buying the book. Apperently it was a good thing I did. According to the beginning of this book the storyline they were following back in the 1980's had a cliffhanger ending in issue 4. When issue 5 came out the storyline was not resolved and a new one started. This one shot is the attpemt to end the first story. I am glad that the readers of the story finally get to see how it ends but I for one would not like waiting over 20 years to see the ending. Like the first series. (Let's face it I am almost certain Marvel will try to get new series out of the New Universe characters again.) This story and the artwork is just ok. What makes the art look better then it is? The paper that it is printed on. If this were on newspaper like Kirby, Ditko and others had to deal with in the earlier days I doubt it would get a second look. The ending where the gnome is banished into the public's collective unconscious was funny and may explain some of the fads in the real world. Hopefully Nightmask will be able to grow like Dr. Strange but only time will tell. If you have not read the book I urge you to buy it and see for yourself. The opinions above are just my own. You may disagree with me. 

A Child Explains God

THIS ONE IS FABULOUS!!!
It was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista, CA. He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to "explain God." I wonder if any of us could have done as well?EXPLANATION OF GOD:"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers."
"God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and such, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off."
"God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have."
"Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church."
"Jesus is God's Son He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K."
"His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important."
"You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time."
"You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God!
Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway."
"If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids."
"But..you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases.
And..that's why I believe in God." 

Happy Belated 20th Anniversary Eric Lefcowitz and The Monkees Tale

Well I must really start looking at the publishing dates of the books in my collection. This book, “The Monkees Tale”, was first published in 1985. So last year was its 20th anniversary. That means that I am on time for the 21st anniversary of the book. Now why is this anniversary important, at least to me, in the Monkees history? Sure there were other books put out by the Monkees but most of them were from the teen magazines in the 60’s and 70’s. To the best of my memory this was the first time a fan wrote a book that was published about them. I only heard about it through word of mouth by a friend who worked in the local music industry. At the time copies of the book were hard to come by as it was not published by a large publishing company. The company that published it was Last Gasp of San Francisco. The book had to be researched and written before being published in 1985. With it coming out in 1985 and the Monkees reunion tour starting then the timing was perfect. Maybe it was on purpose or maybe it wasn’t. But request for the book grew and its publishing was probably a shot in the arm for Last Gasp. It was a well written account of the group up to that time. From that point on it was profitable for awhile to publish books about the Monkees. Some were pretty good but, as I stated in an earlier posting, some were done just to make a quick buck. Not this one. The reader can tell this one was done out of love and admiration.
How did the publisher want it marketed in book stores? Was it about music or television? If you said television then you are wrong. If you said it was about music then you would be only half right. They marketed it as music/sociology. Music is one of the main factors, especially in the earlier decades, that defines our society. What type of music you listen to cane tell a lot about the person. Most people who listen to Opera don’t listen to country music. If you listen to Rock you may not listen to Rap. In church some prefer contemporary Christian music over traditional Hymns. Of course the more well rounded listener likes all of them. We call most of them music teachers. The creation of the Monkees was an extension of the times. Mr. Rafelson had the idea when he was on the road with a folk group. The British invasion and the hippie movement changed things and when he had the chance he made the show about a four man rock band. So from the very beginning the Monkees were a reflection of the society during the 60’s. I could go further into this but I don’t have the time right now. For the rest you should really read the book. Perhaps at another date I will dig deeper into the subject. But Happy belated 25th Anniversary to Eric Lefcowitz and his book The Monkees Tale. Which reminds me that next week is my wedding anniversary and I am planning a special story for this site. It is a fun fiction story/interview to me and I hope to you too.

Aunt Harriet

I have always wondered where Aunt Harriet came from on Batman the TV show. I have always heard that she was in the comic book and not just added for the show. However, I have never read one of the books that she was in. I have read that she came to help Bruce Wayne raise Dick Grayson when it looked like Alfred had died. I was not old enough to read yet when those stories came out and have never seen them anywhere. I am sure that they are in some archive edition if not they soon will be. I know those editions are more affordable then the orignials but I still can't afford nearly $50 for one book. But that is another story. Now all that I have said I an sure happened. There is too much of it written about. What I want to know is where she went. Did she die? Did she move? When she went did she get a big send off? If she did it must not have been a memorable one. I have searched the internet for information on her and just found the samethings that I mentioned above. I did find some sites dedicated to Madge Blake the actress who played Aunt Harriet on the Batman TV show. I knew the show ended in 1968 but didn't know that Miss Blake died of a heart attack in Feb. 1969. 

Happy Birthday Micky Dolenz

Before I go to bed I want to post this birthday greeting to Micky Dolenz. Tomorrow March 8th is his birthday he will be 61. So Happy Birthday to the funniest of the Monkees and to the man who has one of the best voices in Pop music history. You can vist his web site by clicking on the title above or click here. Hope you and the others get together to release a 40th anniversary CD of new material this year or even a tour. 

Ron Moody on Jack Wild

Over at BBC News Ron Moody, who played Fagin in Oliver, shares his memories about his friend Jack Wild. 

Archie #564

I just finished reading Archie #564. As always it was a quick and entertaining read. The first story is called "The Parent Trap." Mr. Andrews goes to school with Archie on get to know your teen day. Of course he winds up paying for all of Archie's mistakes and suggest the get away from your teen day.
The next story is "The Big Thaw." Veronica gives Archie the cold shoulder after he forgets to pick her up for a date. After that it is a battle between Betty and Veronica as to who can thaw him out the best. In "The Simple Life" Archie finds that showing Betty how much he appreciates her is not that simple.
Finally, in "It Takes One To Know One!" we finally, at least I finally do, get to meet one of Archie's Grandfather's. I'm not certain which Grandfather it is but since Mrs. Andrews called on him I believe it to be her Dad. I the story he tries to help Archie stop being so messy.
This was a good issue. The only problem I have with this issue and others that have updated Archie is that the Ford Model A jalopy is replace by a Ford Mustang convertable. I know that is a small concern but it would be like replacing the Batmobile with a Lincoln Town Car. However, if you are an Archie fan this book will not disappoint you. 

Happy Birthday Willard Scott!

Well it's about time somebody wished him a happy birthday. He is 72 years old today. We all know that he was the NBC weatherman on the Today Show and the first Ronald McDonald back in 1963. He is also the writer of many fiction and non-fiction books. In my research on the internet I found out that Mr. Scott only wore his toupee on certain days because of a clause in his contract with NBC. This explains why some days he has it on and other days he doesn't. The above photo I got from this site.