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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

November 20, 1983


Well, here we go with another edition of the Tuesday Timeline! This time around, we're going back to a year that we already visited not that long ago. I normally try to add a little bit of variety to the mix when it comes to featuring specific years, but in this case, the topic that I ended up selecting was just too good to pass up. I'm sure you'll understand as you read on.

This is the twentieth day of November, and as it so happens, a lot happened on this date. Take a look at the celebrity birthdays for today which include the following famous faces; Nadine Gordimer, Kaye Ballard, Estelle Parsons, Don DeLillo, Dick Smothers, Bob “Super Dave Osborne” Einstein, Joe Biden, Norman Greenbaum, Meredith Monk, Veronica Hamel, Louie Dampier, Rick Monday, Nanette Workman, Greg Cook, Joe Walsh, Richard Masur, Rodger Bumpass, Steve Dahl, Bo Derek, Mark Gastineau, Sean Young, Tim Harvey, Mike Diamond (Beastie Boys), Jimmy Vasser, Callie Thorne, Delia Gonzalez, Geoffrey Keezer, Sabrina Lloyd, Joe Zaso, Phife Dawg (A Tribe Called Quest), Joel McHale, Angelica Bridges, Dierks Bentley, Davey Havok (AFI), Joshua Gomez, Josh Turner, Kimberley Walsh (Girls Aloud), Margo Stilley, Carly Rae Jepsen, Rhys Wakefield, and Cody Linley.

I'm exhausted just typing all that out!

As it turns out, a lot of events took place on November 20 throughout history. Here's just a sampling.

1739 – The beginning of the Battle of Porto Bello between Britain and Spain during the War of Jenkins' Ear

1789 – The state of New Jersey becomes the first state to ratify the U.S. Bill of Rights

1820 – An 80-ton sperm whale attacks The Essex off the coast of South America...this event later serves as the inspiration behind the classic story “Moby Dick”

1861 – Secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate Government during the American Civil War

1917 – Ukraine is declared a republic

1923 – Rentenmark replaces the Papiermark as the official currency of Germany

1936 – The founder of the Falange, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, is killed by a republican execution squad

1940 – Hungary officially joins the Axis Powers during World War II, becoming a signatory of the Tripartite Pact

1945 – Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals begin at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg

1947 – Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Phillip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey in London

1962 – President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of Cuba in response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove all missiles from Cuba, effectively putting an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis

1969The Plain Dealer publishes photographs of slain villagers taken from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam

1974 – The U.S. Department of Justice files final anti-trust suit against AT&T, which leads to the breakup of AT&T and its Bell System

1977 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to visit Israel

1980 – Lake Peigneur drains into an underlying salt deposit due to a misplaced Texaco oil probe being drilled into the Crystal Salt Mine

1985 – Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released

1992 – A fire causes millions in damages at Windsor Castle in England

1998 – The first module of International Space Station, Zarya, is launched

2001 – George W. Bush dedicates the U.S. Department of Justice headquarters building as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice building, on what would have been his 76th birthday

2006 – American film director Robert Altman passes away at the age of 81 due to complications from leukemia

2008 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average dips to its lowest level since 1997, kicking off the 2008 recession

So, what date are we flashing back to this week?



November 20, 1983.

And, what was so special about this date? Well, it was the day that a television movie aired on ABC. The movie itself did quite well in the ratings, with over one hundred MILLION people tuning in to watch it, making it one of the most successful made for television movies ever made.

Even if the movie did cause some tension, panic, and controversy.



You know, I have such fond memories of the 1980s. It was the decade that I was born in, and it was the decade that I associate with some of my fondest childhood memories. This is clearly subjective, but I think the 1980s had some of the best cartoons, the best music videos, the best movies, and the best toys. Being a kid in the 1980s was something very special and magical, and although I was only eight years old when the 1980s ended, I still have a lot of fond memories of that time.



I was so caught up in having as much fun as I could during the 1980s as a young boy that I didn't quite comprehend just how dire the world was during that time. Yes, the 1980s were a fun decade to experience, but it was also a very scary decade if you were an adult. You witnessed the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981, you witnessed a huge stock market crash in 1987, and in 1986, the world watched in horror as a nuclear accident in Chernobyl devastated the city of Pripyat.

That last event was one that weighed heavily on the minds of a lot of people, particularly since the threat of nuclear disaster was a huge possibility. Ever since the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in 1945, the threat of nuclear weapons became a huge possibility. And seeing the images of the devastation coming from the aftereffects of the bombing likely made millions all over the world wonder “what if it happened here”?

Now, the Cold War officially ended in the early 1990s, but I imagine that many people are still worried about the threat of nuclear war possibly occurring during our lifetimes. What would happen if conflict arose between two nations and one nation decided to counterattack with nuclear weapons? How would it affect life in the affected areas? Would there be any chance of survival? Would there be any hope?

On November 20, 1983, one movie attempted to paint a rather dire and frightening picture of what life would be like if a nuclear bomb went off in a heavily populated area. And being only two years old at the time of this movie, I'm actually kind of glad that I was too young to remember watching it. I watched the whole movie in preparation for writing this entry, and I admit that I was a little bit frightened myself.



This blog is all about the movie “The Day After”.

This movie featured the acting talents of John Lithgow, JoBeth Williams, Jason Robards, Steve Guttenberg, John Cullum, and Amy Madigan, and was directed by Nicholas Meyer.

The idea for the movie came right around the time that the film “The China Syndrome” was released. ABC Motion Picture Division president Brandon Stoddard was so impressed by the film that he decided to come up with the idea to do a movie that explored the effects of a nuclear attack on American soil. He came up with the title “The Day After” because he never meant for the attack to be the main focus...his main goal was to show the aftermath of the attack, as well as the quest for survival.



The original setting for the film was the city of Kansas City, Missouri, but was changed to Lawrence, Kansas instead (though the film did make references to Kansas City). The reason for the change was due to the fact that Lawrence had some decent shooting locations, such as a hospital, university campus, sporting event stadiums, as well as farms and beautiful countryside. In fact, many of the extras in the film were college students from the university campus. The support for the film was definitely evident in Lawrence, Kansas.



In Hollywood, on the other hand, the project was extremely controversial, and many people were opposed to the idea of making the movie in the first place. Initially, Robert Butler was hired on to direct the film, but had to leave due to contractual obligations for another project. And when Nicholas Meyer was offered the project, he was quite apprehensive about the project, believing that there was no way that network censors would allow a project to be greenlit without massive cuts. Once he read the script, he immediately jumped on board with the idea to make the film less about a Hollywood disaster, and more about illustrating the facts about the effects on nuclear war. He also wanted to cast the movie with relative unknows, but knew that he needed at least one Hollywood star to get people to tune in to the movie, and to attract the European audience. As luck would have it, Meyer was seated next to Jason Robards on a flight to New York, and Robards was talked into joining the cast.

The film opens up with a series of news reports depicting a fictional war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The conflict kicks off with the Soviet Union commencing a military buildup in East Germany in hopes of getting the United States to withdraw from West Berlin. When the United States refuses to back down, the conflict escalates. Tensions soon mount on both sides, and the United States issues an ultimatum to the Soviet Union. Stand down from the blockade they have set up by six o'clock the following morning, or it will be interpreted as an act of war.

Soon after, the city of Moscow issues a mandatory evacuation, and various American cities followed suit, as unconfirmed reports of nuclear weapons being detonated are broadcast over radio and television.

In the community of Lawrence, Kansas, pandemonium and hysteria seems to be the general mood. People crowd supermarkets and food stores trying to prepare for the worst, and thousands of people try desperately to get out of town before something terrible happens.

Unfortunately, for those people who are still in Lawrence, Kansas, it's a futile effort, as word gets out that the Soviet Union launched a massive attack against thirty-two different targets with ten projected impact points, while reporting that they had suffered catastrophic loss themselves. In fact, the film purposely makes it unknown as to which side launched the nuclear missiles first.

Whatever the case, here's the end result.



Now, I realize that the special effects are somewhat dated for 2012 standards. The film was made almost thirty years ago, after all. Back in 1983, I can only imagine just how frightening the scenes were. To add to the general mood, after the attack scene, the rest of the movie was broadcast without commercial breaks on its original airing.

And, not to spoil the plot too much, but here's some of the stories that people witnessed after the attack on Lawrence, Kansas.



  • Dr. Russell Oakes (Robards) is on his way to do a lecture at the University of Kansas as the attacks take place, and he ends up treating several patients at the university hospital with Dr. Sam Hachiya (Calvin Jung) and Nurse Bauer (Williams)
  • Science professor Joe Huxley (Lithgow) and his students construct a Geiger counter to monitor the levels of nuclear fallout outside while trying to use a radio to locate survivors outside of the impact area
  • Billy McCoy (William Allen Young), an Airman First Class in the U.S. Air Force, is the first to witness the initial missile launches, and tries to head back home in order to be with his family. When he ends up stranded, he has to fight to stay alive
  • The Dahlberg family, headed by Jim (Cullum) are located in Harrisonville, Missouri (just outside of Kansas City) where they are preparing for the wedding of eldest daughter, Denise. When the blast occurs, the Dahlberg's young son, Danny is blinded, and much of the family begins suffering from radiation poisoning
  • University student Stephen Klein (Guttenberg) is hitchhiking to Joplin, Missouri, but when the attacks occur, he is taken in by the Dahlberg family.

The whole movie definitely did what it set out to do...painted a realistic portrait of the despair and devastation that could come from a nuclear attack...but let's make one thing clear. There were no happy endings. Almost all the characters in the film ended up suffering from the aftermath of the movie.

The night the movie aired, several 1-800 hotlines were opened up with counselors standing by to help people deal with what they had just seen. Ted Koppel hosted a live debate immediately after the conclusion of the movie, which had several experts (both pro and con) arguing about the arms race and the use of nuclear weapons in conflict.

Peace vigils were held all over the United States in the days after the movie aired, and Lawrence, Kansas reported a record number of tourists visiting the city the year after the film aired, with many people wanting to visit the locations of those that were destroyed in the movie.

Even Fred Rogers devoted four episodes of the popular series “Mister Rogers Neighbourhood” to comfort and talk to young children who may have watched the movie on television. The film was even shown in the Soviet Union in 1987.

The Day After” was a realistic, yet fictionalized account of what might happen if the United States became the target of a nuclear war.

And it aired for the first time on November 20, 1983.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Airplane!



Here is a question for all of you today.

Have you ever heard of a 1957 film entitled “Zero Hour”?  It’s okay if you haven’t.  I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t seen the movie before in my life.

This is the movie poster below.



The film’s screenplay was penned by Arthur Hailey, and its stars included Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Sterling Hayden. 

I’m going to describe the plot to all of you.  Perhaps it might sound familiar if you hear me talking about it.

The story begins during World War II when half a dozen members of pilot Ted Stryker’s squadron are killed in the line of duty, largely in part due to the orders he gave.  Flash forward a number of years, and Stryker is trying to adjust to civilian life in Canada, where he is having marital problems and has difficulty finding (and keeping) jobs.

One day, Stryker happens to find a note at home written by his wife, Ellen, which explains that she is taking their young son, Joey away to live somewhere else, and that the marriage is over.  Stryker immediately rushes to the airport to try and stop them from leaving.  He buys a ticket on the same commercial flight that Ellen and Joey are on, and pleads with them to reconsider leaving.  Ellen’s mind seems to be made up though, and nothing will change her mind.  It seems as though Stryker has spent money on a wasted trip.

But then fate steps in - in the form of the in-flight meal.

Apparently those people who opted to choose the fish meal instead of the meat dish really began to regret it, as almost immediately after eating it, they begin feeling sick.  Apparently, the shipment of fish that was boarded onto the flight was tainted, and everyone who ate it began suffering from food poisoning.  Approximately half the passengers (including young Joey Stryker) were affected by the tainted fish.

Oh, did I mention that the pilots happened to have a craving for fish, and are now out of commission?

So here’s the situation.  You have a plane that is basically out of control due to the crew being sick, and the only person onboard the plane that can help prevent disaster from happening is the very man who has not flown a plane in a decade because of what happened during the war.  To add to the panic of the situation, even if Stryker didn’t have the events of ten years ago weighing down his conscience, he wasn’t familiar with flying a plane as huge as a commercial jet. 


Now, keep in mind that “Zero Hour” was a movie that was meant to be taken seriously, and the whole movie was one that kept filmgoers on the edge of your seat.  If you want to watch it, it’s been available on DVD since 2007.

However, “Zero Hour” is not the intended film that I want to talk about...even though the plot for this movie was basically the exact same one as “Zero Hour”...only with a few minor adjustments.  I mean, the two movies even reused the name of the main character (although in the movie we’ll be discussing, the last name is spelled ‘Striker’).

I’m sure some of you may have figured out what movie we’re going to be talking about here already, but for those of you that haven’t, think of what the movie “Zero Hour” would have been like if it were put on by a sketch comedy troupe.  Why, you’d likely end up with scenes like this one...


...or this one...


...or even this one...


...and it’s scenes like that one that made the David Zucker/Jim Abrahams/Jerry Zucker directed film “Airplane!” one of the biggest movies of 1980!

MINI-CONFESSION:  This movie probably ranks well within my all-time favourite movies that I have ever seen.  At least Top 5 anyway!


“Airplane!” was released on July 2, 1980, and had some fairly huge names attached to its roster.  The main stars were Robert Hays as Ted Striker, and Julie Hagerty in her film debut as Elaine Dickinson.

Others who starred in the feature were Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Ethel Merman.

The movie itself ended up making a total of $83.5 million at the box office (in 1980 dollars), and was named as the 10th funniest comedy by the American Film Institute, and in 2010, the movie was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

The idea for “Airplane!” came at a time when the Zucker brothers and Abrahams were performing with a theatre group they formed in 1971 called the Kentucky Fried Theatre.  And the idea came to them almost by accident.  They were recording commercials from television in the hopes of writing a spoof about them when they realized that they had taped an airing of “Zero Hour” in the process.  This mistake ended up being a blessing, as the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker borrowed a lot of ideas from the movie to draft their script.  The trio ended up drafting a script based on “Zero Hour”, as well as adding in the commercial spoofs that they had come up with.  The project was initially titled “The Late Show”.  But when people advised them to shorten the commercial parodies, they removed them altogether and ended up with a script that no movie company would even touch.

That is until they had a meeting with famed director John Landis, who encouraged the three of them to write a film that was based on their theatre sketches, and that film would later become the script for what became “Airplane!”

“Airplane!” ended up being a first for the ZAZ trio.  Not only was it their first attempt at a motion picture, but it was their first time setting foot on a movie soundstage.  As David Zucker explained in an interview, they learned so much about the film industry from shooting “Airplane!”.


Now, casting for the film was a tricky business.  Finding the lead roles for the film was fairly simple.  The unknown Julie Hagerty was cast, and Robert Hays was doing double-duty at the time, as he was also working on the short-lived television sitcom “Angie” during the filming of “Airplane!”.


It was getting big named stars like Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, and Peter Graves to agree to taking on a role in the film.  I know it seems hard to believe, especially in the case of Leslie Nielsen, but would you believe that prior to “Airplane!”, none of these actors actually appeared in a comedic film?  I know!

Getting Leslie Nielsen to agree to the role of Dr. Rumack was the easiest sell.  Nielsen even admitted that he was getting too old to play the serious roles he was used to acting in, so this film was a nice change for him.  The others had to be convinced.

Lloyd Bridges (Steve McCroskey) only agreed to take on the role because his children suggested that it was a good idea, while Robert Stack was persuaded by the team of ZAZ to take on the role of Captain Kramer (a role that the team believed was one of the most important roles to cast perfectly).

Peter Graves was probably the hardest sell to the script, particularly since his agent had believed that the script was complete garbage, a belief that Graves held as well.  But when he was interviewed by the Today Show in 2008, he later said that friends and colleagues convinced him to loosen up a bit and take the role of Captain Clarence Oliver.

While we’re talking about the behind the scenes moments of “Airplane!”, let’s talk about some other morsels of trivia that you may or may not know about this film.


1 – Robert Hays wasn’t the only person associated with “Angie” involved with the film.  The part of the singing nun was played by Maureen McGovern, who sang the theme song for the television show.


2 – “Leave It To Beaver” star Barbara Billingsley had a cameo role in the movie as the “jive talker”.

3 – Jim Abrahams makes a cameo in the film as one of the religious zealots on the plane.

4 – Would you believe that David Letterman actually screen-tested for the role of Striker?

5 – This was the final movie that Ethel Merman took part in before her death in 1984.

6 – The Boeing 747 that was used in the film was actually a TWA airliner painted a different colour.

7 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s role was initially meant for baseball player Pete Rose to play instead, but Rose had to turn it down as the filming took place in the middle of baseball season. 


8 – Barry Manilow was also considered for the role of Striker.

9 – The first draft for the film was completed six years before the film was released.

10 – The film was shot in just thirty-four days.

11 – The jive talk scene was completely improvised.

12 – Ethel Merman not only brought her own hairdresser to the set of the movie, but apparently her hair took so long to style that she was rarely on the set before noon!

13 – Robert Hays actually owned the Mustang that was used in the film, and was paid $35 a day for its use.  He ended up making an additional $70 on his final take home pay as a result.

14 – Initially when the film was being filmed, there’s a portion of dialogue that had McCroskey asking for someone who wouldn’t crack under pressure to Johnny.  The original response was supposed to be Mamie Eisenhower, but when she died in November 1979, the line was dubbed over and replaced with a Mister Rogers line instead, out of respect to the former American First Lady.

15 – Paramount only greenlit the film after ZAZ pitched the film as “Animal House on a plane”.  It was not exactly the truth, but it worked!

16 – The title of the film was known as “The Incredible Trip in a Crazy Airplane” in Germany, “The Craziest Plane in the World” in Italy, “Help, We’re Flying” in Norway,  “Land As You Can” in Spain, and “And Where Is The Pilot?” in Argentina!

17 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar revealed in a 2008 interview that he was asked to sit in the cockpit of a plane that was taking off in Europe, just so the pilots could brag about flying with Roger Murdoch (the character played by Adbul-Jabbar).

18 – Stephen Stucker (who played Johnny) ad-libbed his entire speaking part in the movie.


19 – Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty rehearsed their ‘Stayin’ Alive’ dance sequence for an entire month.

20 – The producers had to get permission from the Bee Gees to use a sped-up version of ‘Stayin’ Alive’ for inclusion in the film.

21 – The scene in which the plane crashes through the window of the airport terminal featured the Zucker brothers in a cameo.

That just about wraps up our look back on “Airplane!”  So, let’s watch a few more clips to celebrate!


Sunday, November 18, 2012

Makin' It


This is a blog post all about making it. And to begin this post, I thought that I would share a story about someone I know who has done exactly that.

Since I started this blog back in May 2011, I have managed to get in contact with several people whom I probably would not have met otherwise. And as someone who wants to actively make a career goal out of writing, I've had the pleasure of befriending others who either have made it big as a writer, or who are following their dreams just as I'm doing. Having the chance to communicate with these people gives me some sense of belonging. Although I'm basically just starting out in this career, I've had an interest in writing for several years now, so it's good for me to have these friendships with people who know what it is like.

Granted, I realize that in rare cases, some authors and writers willingly throw their peers under the bus in order to get more attention. I suppose that's the case with almost any profession. That's why I consider myself lucky that I have had nothing but positive experiences with my writer friends. We're not only very respectful of each other, but we're always willing to give constructive criticism when needed and kudos to each other when it is deserved. And whenever one of us has a success story, we're all extremely happy to recognize their achievements.

That's what I'm going to do here. Don't worry...this intro is related to the song that I have chosen to spotlight today in this week's edition of the Sunday Jukebox.



I'd like to promote the work of my writer friend, River Jordan, whose literary work Riftglade will be published and available to the public very soon. I've read the story myself, and I am proud to give it the very first Pop Culture Addict's Guide To Life Stamp of Approval!



(Okay...so it's just the logo redone in silver...it's still good!)

In all seriousness, River has been a huge support system for me – not just for my dreams of being respected as a writer one day, but she's also been a great friend. I would be more than honoured to help her out by promoting her work. So, please, go out and support my friend River by buying and reading her work. It may not be suitable for young kids, but it's certainly a piece that stands out! Remember, the name of the story is Riftglade.

You know, I always loved hearing about stories of people making it in the field that they have always wanted to be in. For my friend River, she's one step closer to achieving that dream. I think that for those of us who really want to make strides in our careers, no matter what they might be, we all have the dream of making it.

Oh, look...here's the perfect song to illustrate this point...and this week, we're going disco!



ARTIST: David Naughton
SONG: Makin' It
ALBUM: N/A (was strictly a single release)
DATE RELEASED: March 31, 1979
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #5



Nineteen-seventy-nine was both a good year and a bad year for disco. On one hand, 1979 was the year in which almost every song that topped the charts during the first half of the year were disco songs. On the other hand, 1979 was the year in which a huge backlash against disco music was kicked off, and one summer day in '79, a demonstration was held in which thousands of people destroyed thousands of disco records. By the end of 1979, the disco music was being phased out in favour of classic rock and roll.



You couldn't blame David Naughton for wanting to jump on the disco train. It's just that when he jumped aboard, the train was already plunging over a mountain. Still, the song ended up peaking within the Top 5 during the summer of 1979.



And David Naughton's singing voice was already fairly recognizable to people who grew up during the late 1970s. After all, for four years, he was the official voice of the soft drink, Dr. Pepper. Wanna watch a couple of his Dr. Pepper commercials? Well, luckily I found a couple of them, but I warn you...the Dr. Pepper jingle is quite catchy, and you run the risk of having it playing inside your head over and over again. Consider yourself warned.



MINI-CONFESSION: I was tempted to do a blog entry on this song after someone posted the Dr. Pepper commercial on my News Feed on Facebook!

We've already established that David Naughton had a singing voice that helped him release his one and only hit on the charts. But did you know that the very song ended up being the official theme song for a short lived 1979 television series that also starred Naughton?



The show was appropriately enough called Makin' It, and Naughton played the role of Billy Manucci, who was essentially trying to inject a little Saturday Night Fever into his day-to-day life. By day, he worked at the Tasty Treats ice cream parlour...by night, he was disco dancing all evening long at the Inferno discotheque.

The show, in addition to Naughton, also featured Greg Antonacci, Ellen Travolta, Denise Miller, Rebecca Balding, Ralph Seymour, Gary Prendergast, and Lou Antonio.



On paper, the show should have worked. It was jointly produced by Happy Days creator Garry Marshall and Saturday Night Fever producer Robert Stigwood, so it definitely had some skilled professionals behind the scenes. Unfortunately, it had two things that sealed its fate...bad scripts, and bad timing.

The show probably would have lasted longer had it debuted three years earlier...but it debuted on February 1, 1979, just months before the fated Disco Demolition Night. Only nine episodes aired before the show was put out of its misery on March 23, 1979. Weirdly enough, the theme song was released as a single a week after the show was canceled.

The single also made an appearance on the soundtrack of the 1979 movie Meatballs, and was prominently featured in the 1999 movie Detroit Rock City (which was a bit of a blooper, as the film was supposed to be set in 1978, yet the single wasn't released until 1979).

As for David Naughton...did he end up “makin' it”? Well...yes and no.



Shortly after Makin' It was canceled, he starred in the 1980 movie Midnight Madness, and a year later, he played the title role in the 1981 Academy Award-winning film An American Werewolf in London. Now, I won't talk too much about this movie until I feature it as a Monday Matinee at some point, but I will say that the transformation scene is still one of the most talked-about horror movie scenes over the last four decades. He remained busy throughout the 1980s, having a role in the 1984 film Hot Dog...The Movie, and enjoying a two season run on the sitcom My Sister Sam.

But after the 1980s were over, the work began to dry up...though he still managed to land guest roles on Melrose Place, JAG, Seinfeld, and MacGyver.

It's up to interpretation as to whether you think Naughton made it...but in my eyes, anyone who graduated from doing soda commercials to having lead roles in television and movies has to have done well for himself. Even if he has slowed down his television and film appearances in recent years, I still consider him a success.

And, that's my blog on making it. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Saved By The Bell - The New Class


Television show spin-offs are a tricky business. In a lot of cases, they don't seem to do very well, but in other cases, they do extremely well.

But did you know that there are a select few television series that have had their spin-offs last longer than the original show?

One example that I can come up with spur of the moment is “The Facts of Life”. It ran for one season longer than the show it spun-off from, “Diff'rent Strokes”.

And today's television show is also a special case in which the spin-off lasted longer than the original show.

And it aired on Saturday mornings to boot!



Most people in my generation probably have seen at least one episode of “Saved By The Bell”, the NBC Saturday morning series that aired between 1989 and 1993. The show itself was a reworking of the 1988 series “Good Morning, Miss Bliss”, which starred Hayley Mills. As many of you know, the original series starred Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, and Dennis Haskins as Mr. Belding.

The show became a huge success, and everything from comic books to dolls were manufactured of popular characters Zack Morris, A.C. Slater, and Kelly Kapowski. I certainly remember watching the show when I was growing up. They made high school seem like the coolest place in the world, and I actually looked forward to having a high school experience just like they did. Of course, that was a fictionalized depiction of high school life, and unfortunately mine was not nearly as idyllic. There weren't nearly as many extracurricular activities, we didn't have a Max, and our school principal simply wasn't the Belding type.

Ah well, I still liked the show.



The show was quite unique in that it spawned not one, but two spin-offs, both of which debuted in 1993, after the show wrapped up. One was “Saved By The Bell: The College Years”, which aired its pilot in May 1993 and showed four of the six main characters of the series attending college. It ended up getting some decent reviews, but unfortunately, it went head to head against the wildly popular “Full House”, and it was canceled in early 1994.

The second spin-off lasted a lot longer than that. In fact, it lasted a grand total of seven seasons...three years longer than the original series! Many people hated this second spin-off, and it was critically panned for being too much like the original series (in all fairness, this claim did seem true, as many later season episodes recycled old SBTB plots). But the show was also a starting point for many future stars, and I'll admit that the show did have some fans...especially those who were too young to remember the original series.



This week, we're taking a look at the TNBC series, “Saved By The Bell: The New Class”, which debuted on September 11, 1993. The series ended on January 8, 2000. That's seven seasons!

The first season was only thirteen episodes, and the sixth and seventh seasons were actually filmed during the same year, but most of the other seasons had an order of 26 episodes each...so all nineteen actors credited in the main cast worked quite a bit.

That's right. Unlike the cast of Saved By The Bell, which remained mostly intact until the show's final season, the show changed its cast members every year. During each season of the show, at least one, but no more than three characters were replaced. Some chose to leave, while others were let go from the series. And some actors were not exactly all that convincing as high school students, so I can understand why they were let go...but I won't turn this into an actor bashing blog post, as it's not my style.



There were some constants during the show's seven year run, though. Dennis Haskins reprised his role as Mr. Belding, and he was the only cast member to appear in all 140+ episodes of the series. Dustin Diamond ended up joining the cast of the show in season two, right after the College Years wrapped up, and also stayed the remainder of the series. And Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Lark Voorhies, and Mario Lopez ended up making guest appearances on the spin-off as well. Watch a clip below.



Some other things that stayed the same were the sets. The show still took place at Bayside High School (it was slightly tweaked though), the gang still hung out at the Max (though it burned down and had to be rebuilt mid-way through the series), and the teachers at the school were still as dumb as a box of rocks..

Unfortunately, much of the show's early criticism was brought on by the fact that the first season cast was almost a complete rip-off of the original cast. The character of Scott Erickson (Robert Sutherland Telfer) was almost like a Zack Morris clone, Jonathan Angel's Tommy DeLuca was a dumbed-down version of Slater, and Bianca Lawson's Megan Jones was a combination of Lisa Turtle and Jessie Spano. This could explain the reason why there was a revolving door of cast members early on in the series.

By the end of the show, the cast of 1999 was completely different from the cast of 1993. But, I am one of those people who preferred the later casts than the earlier ones.

But as I said before, a lot of actors ended up getting their early beginnings on Saved By The Bell: The New Class. Some became bigger stars, and in the case of one cast member, they ended up taking on a whole new career path altogether.

So, let's take a look at some of the cast members of this spin-off show, what characters they played, and how they've done since leaving Saved By The Bell.



NATALIA CIGLIUTI
Lindsay Warner (1993-1996)

There's not that much to say about Lindsay Warner. On the show, she was almost exactly like Kelly Kapowski, right down to the extreme perkiness and desire to join every extracurricular activity possible. You could tell that the job was Natalia's first, especially during the show's first season, but over time, she got better (I think so anyway). During her three years on the show, she romanced Tommy DeLuca and Ryan Parker, and some of her storylines involved overcoming an eating disorder and joining various clubs and activities.

As for Natalia Cigliuti, she ended up finding lots of television work. She had recurring roles on “Beverly Hills 90210” and “The Glades”, held a contract role on “All My Children”, and starred in “Raising the Bar” with fellow SBTB alumni Mark-Paul Gosselaar.



BIANCA LAWSON
Megan Jones (1993-1995)

As I explained earlier, Megan Jones was sort of a hybrid of Jessie and Lisa. She was like Jessie in the fact that she was on the honour roll in school, and she was like Lisa in that she had to fend off the unwanted advances of Weasel Wyzell and Bobby Wilson. Most of her storylines involved having to deal with keeping her grades up, though she did have her loyalties questioned when she started dating a Valley High football player.

Bianca Lawson's star is one that continues to rise. After leaving the show in the second season, she starred in “Sister, Sister” and “Dawson's Creek”. Recently, she can be seen in MTV's “Teen Wolf”, “Pretty Little Liars”, and “The Vampire Diaries”. She's also made some film appearances in movies such as “Primary Colors” and “Save The Last Dance”.



ISAAC LIDSKY
Barton “Weasel” Wyzell (1993-1994)

Before Screech returned to Bayside in the show's second season, we had Weasel Wyzell, a literal Screech lookalike. He was the token geek of the group who pursued Megan Jones, very much like Screech pursued Lisa. He also hung around Scott Erickson much like Screech hung around Zack.



In real life, Isaac Lidsky's career path after Saved By The Bell ended up taking an interesting turn. Shortly after leaving the series in 1994, he began to lose his vision. By the time he was eighteen, he was completely blind, due to a degenerative eye disease. Lidsky failed to let his blindness stop him from becoming a success. He graduated from Harvard University in 1999, and made history in 2009 when he became the first blind clerk for the United States Supreme Court. Not a bad gig, eh? Weasel Wyzell would be proud.



SARAH LANCASTER
Rachel Meyers (1993-1997)

The character of Rachel Meyers actually started off in a guest appearance on the first season of the series. I guess the producers liked her so much, they brought her on as a regular for the second season after Bonnie Russavage was let go. On the surface, Rachel seemed to be a shopping addicted blonde who cared more about matching scarves than mathematics...but she was also one of the better developed characters in the whole series, often featuring in some of the more emotional episodes, such as the one where she is attacked while on a date, or when she helps a football player deal with a learning disability. I'll admit that Rachel was probably my favourite female character on the show, and I was sad to see her go after season four. On the show, she dated Ryan Parker, and Brian Keller (the latter must have been hard for Sarah Lancaster to pull off, since at the time, she was fourteen and Christian Oliver who played Brian was twenty-two).

Sarah Lancaster has done well for herself since leaving the show. She had recurring roles on “Boston Public” and “Everwood”, had starring roles on “What About Brian” and “Dr. Vegas”, and recently wrapped up her biggest role yet as Ellie Bartowski on the NBC series “Chuck”.



RICHARD LEE JACKSON
Ryan Parker (1995-1998)

Ryan Parker is a Zack Morris wannabe. He's brought onto the show as a Valley High transfer student in the third season along with Maria Lopez and R.J. Collins, and immediately comes up with the same zany schemes that Zack did to get out of tests or homework. Most times, his plans were foiled. But Ryan's also got Zack Morris' mojo as well. He's dated Lindsay Warner, Rachel Meyers, and Liz Miller. He left the show at the end of season five, but not before gaining a new step-brother in Nicky Farina, and being indirectly responsible for burning down The Max.

If Richard Lee Jackson looks a bit familiar, it's because he's the older brother of “General Hospital” actor, Jonathan Jackson. After leaving the show, he had a recurring role as the love interest of Ally McBeal, and guest starred in several television shows. He is also the drummer in the rock band, “Enation”.



LINDSEY MCKEON
Katie Peterson (1996-2000)

Bubbly and beautiful Katie Peterson was given some of the more unique storylines of the series. She was featured in storylines in which she had to stand up to a boss who was sexually harassing her, had to deal with sexist hazing when she enrolled in an all-male program, and was featured in a couple of storylines that involved alcohol consumption. She ended up having just one relationship in the whole series...the on-again, off-again romance between herself and Nicky Farina.

Lindsey McKeon ended up guest starring in an episode of “Cold Case”, and starred on the soap opera “Guiding Light” for three years in the early 2000s. She most recently appeared in several Miller Lite commercials, and wrapped up a stint on “90210”.



ANTHONY HARRELL
Cornelius “Eric” Little (1996-2000)

Eric Little was one of those characters that felt the need to sing on every episode he was featured on. It was fine at the beginning because he did have a decent voice...but after a while, the gimmick ended up being a little bit worn out. It didn't matter though because Eric had some decent storylines, including falling in love with a girl while on a school trip to Paris, having to deal with an agent trying to change his music style, and learning all about the dangers of sleep deprivation.



Anthony Harrell ended up putting his musical chops to good use, forming the R&B group “Brutha” with his four brothers. The group released their debut album in 2008, but Anthony left the group three years later to pursue other opportunities.



ASHLEY LYN CAFAGNA
Liz Miller (1997-2000)

Liz Miller was brought on in the show's fifth season to replace Rachel Meyers, and she found it hard to fit in at first. The captain of the girl's swim team, it took her some time to befriend Maria and Katie, but by the end of the series, they were firm friends. She also ended up dating Ryan Parker, and developed some interest in Eric Little towards the end of the series.

Now going by the name Ashley Tesoro, she got married, and now records contemporary Christian music. Prior to that, she was featured on the television soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful”.

And, that's our look back on “Saved By The Bell: The New Class”.