Hey,
everybody! I do apologize for this
edition of the FOODIE FRIDAY blog being so short. This has just been one of those weeks in
which everything has gone topsy-turvy for whatever reason.
But,
I promised you all a recipe, and a recipe is what you will get! And in the spirit of it being summer, and
not a lot of people liking to cook in superheated kitchens due to the heat and
humidity outside, I thought I'd make this post salad themed.
Specifically salad dressing themed. In
one of my mother's retro themed cookbooks (I photocopied some of the pages), I
have some recipes for homemade salad dressings that are sure to add a little
bit of kick to your salads.
Enjoy!
FAVOURITE CHEESE DRESSING
4 tbsps. salad oil
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tbsps. vinegar
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup grated Canadian (or American) cheese
Mix ingredients in the order given; shake thoroughly. Serve with green salads.
BACON DRESSING
Dice about 2 ounces of bacon and fry to a golden brown. While fat is hot add 1/3 as much vinegar as
there is fat in the pan. Season with
black pepper, salt, and a little sugar.
Pour on green salads or potato salad while the dressing is warm.
And, for those of you who like fruit salads,
here's an orange dressing that is just perfect for you.
ORANGE DRESSING FOR FRUIT SALADS
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. butter
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sugar to taste
Juice of 1 orange
Whipped cream
Cook together egg, butter, a dash of sugar and fruit juices. Stir until it thickens. When cool, taste, and if necessary, add more
sugar. Fold in 1/2 whipped cream, but
do not take away the tart flavour.
(Recipes
courtesy of "Guide to Good Cooking with Five Roses Flour,
1962")
For
this edition of Tube Talk Thursday, I thought it would be fun
to keep up with the soap opera theme, given that yesterday I rambled on about
the train wreck that was the 41st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. At least with this entry you can be assured
that I've done my homework, checked the facts, and made sure that the
information holds up.
And
in this edition, we're going to be looking at a prime time soap opera that
aired for seven seasons that was almost pulled off the air after a few
episodes. But when FOX took a gamble,
and hired someone who had previous experience on nighttime soap operas to play
a key role in the program, it breathed new life into the show. By the time the show's second season
debuted, the show became one of the biggest pop culture obsessions of the
1990s. Many people attribute this jump
in popularity to this starlet joining the show midway through the first
season. Some might even say that she
saved the show from the axe.
The
question that we're going to ask ourselves is...did she really have that much
impact on the show, or were there other factors behind it?
Regardless, as someone who admittedly used to watch this show in his teenage
years (consider it my embarrassing guilty pleasure, if you will), I'm going to
have some fun with this one.
First of all, let's discuss the show.
Have any of you heard of the program called "Melrose Place"? I'm not talking about the 2009 remake of the
show (we'll talk a little about that show at the end of this blog). I mean the show that debuted during the
summer of 1992 with this kick-ass theme song.
Seriously, it's probably one of the most memorable theme songs of the
1990s. Have a listen to it. We'll talk later.
Anyway, the original cast of the 1992 version of "Melrose Place"
consisted of eight young urban residents of Los Angeles, each seeking their own
dreams and goals. They all lived
together at 4616 Melrose Place, a classic Spanish style apartment complex with
a pool in the courtyard and eight apartments conveniently located around said
pool.
The
original cast members were (clockwise starting at top left) - Josie Bissett
(Jane), Thomas Calabro (Michael), Andrew Shue (Billy), Courtney Thorne-Smith
(Alison), Amy Locane (Sandy), Grant Show (Jake), Doug Savant (Matt), and
Vanessa A. Williams (Rhonda).
The
creator of the show was Darren Star, and when "Melrose Place" first
debuted, it was meant to be a spin-off of another show that Star created,
"Beverly Hills 90210". Jake
made an appearance in the final two episodes of the show's second season where
he began an affair with Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth), and Jake and Kelly's
relationship carried over into "Melrose Place", where Jake and Kelly
found that they just weren't that into each other, paving the way for Kelly to
go back to her own show to map out her plan to steal Dylan away from Brenda.
But once Kelly went back to Beverly Hills, "Melrose Place" sort of
hit a brick wall at first. The shows
were more episodic than anything, and almost always had a nice little
conclusion with a nice pretty bow on top.
It would have been great had "Melrose Place" been a sitcom,
but as a prime time drama, it was tanking.
Producers did attempt to shake up the cast a little bit by hiring Daphne
Zuniga (Jo) to join the cast after Amy Locane left the series, but the show
still struggled to find an audience.
Still, Darren Star was not willing to give up on his show without a
fight. He just needed to find the right
character. Someone who could shake
things up in the seemingly perfect apartment complex. Someone who could cause a lot of drama between people. Someone who wasn't afraid to get whatever
she wanted no matter who she tossed to the wolves in the process.
That's when Heather Locklear joined the cast of "Melrose Place".
Heather
certainly was no stranger to prime time television. She did after all star in two television drama series at the same
time.
(Those
two shows were "T.J. Hooker" and "Dynasty", just in case
you were wondering.)
So, Heather Locklear certainly had experience.
But could she step into the miniskirts and high heeled shoes that her
character had to wear in almost every single scene?
You bet she could!
Heather took on the role of the sultry, sexy, and powerful Amanda
Woodward. Amanda was an up and coming
advertising executive for D&D Advertising, and when she was first
introduced on "Melrose Place", she became Alison's boss, and the two
formed a near instantaneous friendship.
However, one thing you need to know about Amanda Woodward is that she
almost always puts business first, and friendship towards the bottom of her
priorities list. So if you were hoping
for a kumbaya moment between Alison and Amanda, you'd be mistaken.
Truth
be told, the friendship between Amanda and Alison was almost doomed from the
start after Amanda set her sights on Alison's roommate Billy - whom Alison had
developed personal feelings towards.But after Billy decided to make a go of a relationship with Amanda,
Alison moved on with a man she had previously had an affair with.Needless to say, Amanda's self-centered
attitude drove Billy away, and Alison was having second thoughts about staying
in her relationship, and the two decided to try and start up a relationship
themselves.It made sense.After all, they did live together as
platonic roommates for almost a whole year.But with Billy's decision to stay with Alison, it caused Amanda's
malicious side to come out in a huge way.
She
purposely goaded Alison by insulting her work, forcing her to stay after hours
to complete her assignments, and purposely berated her at every chance she
got. Amanda even ended up getting
pregnant by Billy while they were together, but lost the baby after suffering a
miscarriage.
But just when Alison and Billy believed that they were free from interference
from Amanda, Amanda proved that she had the last laugh when she announced that
she had a big surprise. With help from
her father, Amanda purchased 4616 Melrose Place, and that she would become the
new landlady of the property effective immediately.
Amanda
Woodward was there to stay.And
beginning with season two, Heather Locklear was added to the opening credits
with a "Special Guest Star" billing - a billing that would last until
the end of the series in May 1999.
So, what sorts of mischief did Amanda get herself into over the next six
years? Well, rather than write out
entire paragraphs, here's a bullet point list, complete with some video clips
and links whenever necessary.
-
She helped Jane find a powerful divorce attorney to take Michael to the cleaners.
-
Accidentally burned down Jake's motorcycle shop.
-
Successfully stole Jake away from Jo.
-
Turns on Jake after Jake records a conversation that Jake had with Amanda's
father where he admitted to embezzlement.
-
Sleeps with Billy after Billy temporarily calls off his relationship with
Alison, and when Billy tells Amanda that he wants to stay with Alison, Amanda
removes Alison from a huge advertising account.
-
Supported Jo in her trial when Jo killed her boyfriend in self-defense (hey,
Amanda did have her nice moments!)
-
Has a deep seeded hatred for her mother, Hilary Michaels (Linda Gray), and
takes her frustrations out on the models who work for Hilary's modelling
agency.
(NOTE: The Hilary/Amanda storyline kicks off the
short-lived series "Models Inc.", which ran from 1994-1995 on FOX.)
- Makes Alison's life a living hell at D&D.
- Has to deal with the fact that her father's crimes would later get him killed.
-
Launches a coup d'etat of D&D by using Dr. Peter Burns (Jack Wagner) and a
team of doctors to purchase the entire building. Amanda fires the president of D&D Advertising, and the next
day, he hangs himself in Amanda's office.
- Is diagnosed with cancer midway through season three.
- Is double-crossed by Peter when he slips Amanda medication laced with
marijuana, causing her to be let go from D&D.
- Is nearly blown to smithereens when Kimberly Shaw (Marcia Cross) blows up the
entire building in an effort to destroy her enemies.
-
Brooke discovers that Amanda faked her death in Miami, Florida and uses this
information to blackmail her.
- Amanda's ex-husband Jack (Antonio Sabato Jr.) comes to Los Angeles and tries
to kill Amanda, but Amanda overtakes him and pulls the plug on his ventilator.
- Amanda then gets involved with Jack's brother, Bobby (John Enos III), but the
relationship doesn't last.
- Amanda begins using Billy to further her career, which causes Alison to quit
D&D once and for all.
-
After Peter is arrested for murder, Amanda marries him to keep from testifying
against him, only for Amanda to learn that Peter has changed his name because
he was accused of killing his first wife.
-
When Craig Field (David Charvet) is successful in getting Amanda ousted from
D&D Advertising, Amanda starts up her own agency, which essentially puts
Craig out of business.
-
Amanda is kidnapped and put through a harrowing ordeal where she almost died.
-
Amanda has been hiding a secret herself - she was responsible for the death of
the ex-boyfriend of her best friend, Eve Cleary (Rena Sofer) by pushing him off
the bleachers of their high school to his death. Eve took the blame and served twenty years in prison while Amanda
got to live her life.
-
When Peter dumped Eve for Amanda, Eve went crazy and tried to kill both Amanda
and Peter on a couple of occasions.
Wow...what
a life, huh? No wonder the show was considered
a soap opera! Some of the plotlines
were so unbelievable, but yet "Melrose Place" seemed to make them
work despite the occasional inaccuracy or inconsistency.
Of
course, those people who watched the show during the entire seven season run
know what happened at the end. An
explosion took place, and everybody assumed that Amanda and Peter were killed
in the blast. What really happened was
that with help from Michael (whom Peter and Amanda paid a million dollars to
keep their identity a secret), Peter and Amanda faked their deaths and they
lived on a secluded island together happily ever after...
...well,
that is until ten years later when The CW's reboot of "Melrose Place"
started airing, and Amanda Woodward returned to 4616 Melrose Place - without
Peter. I never watched the reboot, so I
don't know what the reason behind the break-up was. But I do know that like the previous season of "Melrose
Place", Heather Locklear was brought onto the show to once again save it
from cancellation. Unfortunately,
despite good reviews for Heather's performance, and despite the fact that fans
responded positively to her addition, the second series of "Melrose
Place" was cancelled in May 2010.
So,
I suppose this leads to the final question of the day. Did Heather Locklear save "Melrose
Place" from cancellation the first time?
My argument is that she was one key element in keeping the show on the
air. She certainly did create a
character that was unlike any other character on television at that time, and
she is considered to be one of the more popular characters on the show.
But I would argue that she is just one part.
Other things that I think saved the show were...
-
The introduction of Sydney (Laura Leighton).
Without going into too much detail, Sydney was probably even more
complex than Amanda. At times you hated
her, but at other times, you rooted for her.
- Kimberly's descent into madness.
Let's face it. When Kimberly was
the other woman in Jane and Michael's marriage disaster, she was kind of boring. After the car crash which caused her to have
brain surgery, she became a lot more evil (and fun as a result of it).
-
The move from Wednesday nights to Monday nights. Monday was considered to be a slow night in prime time
television, and FOX's decision to move the show to Monday nights was a great
move. Mind you, the show sometimes
competed with Monday Night Football, but the show purposely aired boring shows
during this period so that they could show the most explosive storylines during
February and May Sweeps. Smart move.
- The decision to have storylines lasting several episodes instead of just
one. This was probably what kept people
watching. I would argue that the only
other show that had more brilliant cliffhangers was "Dallas".
So, my final thoughts are...yes, Heather
Locklear did breathe new life into a stale show...but she was just one part of
that recipe.
Today's
"WHO AM I WEDNESDAY" feature will focus on
a subject that I truly do feel strongly about.
It's also the glue that will be holding this particular blog entry
together.
That
subject is professionalism.
I'm
certainly one who absolutely believes in the idea of putting your best self
forward, and I would hope that a lot of people the same way that I do about
presenting themselves in the best way possible. None of us are perfect, and I'm sure we've all had moments of
embarrassment that we all want to wipe clean from our memories (I myself have
at least six dozen that I would love to forget), but for the most part, I do
believe in maintaining professionalism in just about everything that I do.
Take this blog for example. I made it a
personal choice to make this blog one that resembles a tabloid piece. I never use any swear words in this blog,
unless they're part of a quotation (and even so, I'll blur the words out with
symbols). I also don't use this blog as
a way to personally slander or humiliate anybody, or single them out. If there is an instance in which I do, I
never reveal their names, or I change them.
That way, nobody knows who the subject it (and it probably saves me from
becoming the subject of a lawsuit in the process). This blog is my "baby", and the absolute best
reflection of me and my thoughts. Why
would I sully this blog by acting out on it in an unprofessional manner?
That's why I do my best to make sure that the spelling and grammar of the blog
is at perfection or near-perfection every entry. That's why I do extensive fact checking to make sure that my
information is one hundred per cent accurate.
That's why if I'm writing something that I'm not sure of the validity, I
make sure that I point out that what I am writing may not be the absolute
truth. I want to represent myself in a
positive light. Even though this
blogging venture is just a hobby right now, I still want it to be as
professional looking as possible. After
all, you never know if I could use this blog as a reference point for something
bigger. It's always a possibility, I
suppose.
I
also try to maintain a professional attitude at my workplace as well (which
admittedly can be a little bit more challenging). After all, when you work at a workplace, you're being a
representative of a company. And no
matter how big or how small a company is, I'm sure that the company would want
their employees demonstrate a courteous and professional experience at all
times. After all, there are television
shows such as "Undercover Boss" that send out owners and chief
executive officers of corporations undercover to make sure that the employees
are putting the best of themselves into the business. It's just proof positive that you really have to make sure that
you're presenting yourself well because you never know who might be seeing you
in action.
I
guess the major point that I want to illustrate in this blog is that
professionalism is a very good thing.
When you go to a job interview, do your research on the company you're applying
for so that you can be well prepared.
When you go out on a first date, take a little bit of extra effort in
dressing to impress and keeping your ego at the door. After all, the main reason for a first date is seeing if you have
the chemistry for another, right? Even
the way you introduce yourself to a person can have a more of an impact in the
impression that you give them than you might think.
So,
I suppose that you're all wondering where I am going with this train of thought
about professionalism. I'm getting to
that. In fact, I've prepared a little
bit of "video commentary" that explains that train of thought about a
particular train wreck of an event that took place three nights ago.
I've
had a few discussions in this blog about television award shows. I've discussed the Primetime Emmy Awards,
the Grammy Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, and even the Golden Raspberry
Awards. But I don't think I've ever covered
the Daytime Emmy Awards. Today I'll be
doing exactly that.
First, a brief history of the awards show.
The very first one was held on May 21, 1974 in New York City with
Barbara Walters and Peter Marshall as hosts.
The awards broadcast was created after John Beradino (who portrayed the
role of Steve Hardy on "General Hospital" from 1963 until his death
in 1996) lobbied to have actors and actresses in daytime soap operas recognized
for the hard work that they put into each episode of the soaps that they
filmed. After all, with over two hundred
original episodes being made a year, soap opera actors and actresses are
probably some of the hardest working people in the entertainment industry. It was long overdue that they get a chance
to earn accolades for their talents.
And certainly over the forty-one year history of the awards show, many actors,
actresses, talk show hosts, game show hosts, and children's entertainers have
been rewarded for their talents, and some have been honoured more than
others. Susan Lucci (All My Children)
won her first (and only) Daytime Emmy Award after nineteen tries, while Erika
Slezak (One Life To Live) seemingly won one award every three years! But in the height of the daytime era, the
awards show would air on different networks (my understanding is that the three
main networks of ABC, NBC, and CBS alternated every three years, but I'm not
sure), and the show was just as glamourous and elegant as the Primetime show.
Well, times have definitely changed.
And some are wondering if that's a good thing.
These
days, the daytime industry is a lot different.
Fifteen years ago, there were ten different soap operas on the air. Today there are only four. Chat shows, cooking shows, and game shows
seem to be the hottest thing on daytime television, and some networks have even
taken to broadcasting informercials or syndicated programming to fill in the
empty blocks vacated by cancelled soap operas.
So, over the last few years, network television has decided not to host
or finance the awards show, leaving organizers of the event to try something
new. Over the last couple of years, the
ceremony had been hosted on the CW Network, or HLN. But for the 2014 awards, the lack of finding a network to host
the event meant that the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
(NATAS) had to get creative when it came to broadcasting the show.
Eventually, the decision was made to have the awards show air online only. The entire ceremony would air live
commercial free with no restrictions on acceptance speeches, and with ample
time to show whole clips from the reels that nominated actors and actresses
would submit as part of their reel submissions. The ceremony would be hosted by "Suddenly Susan" and
"My Life on the D-List" star Kathy Griffin, and the red carpet
coverage would be handled by four social media personalities. On paper, it sounded like a brilliant idea.
The execution was a complete embarrassment to not only viewers, but the entire
daytime industry as a whole.
Before I voice my opinion in video, have a look at these clips from the show
itself.
And now my thoughts. And I must warn
you...although I do try to be as professional as possible in this video, there
are some instances in which I can't really help myself. You have been warned. But what can I say? It's the professional thing to do.
WINNERS OF THE 2014 DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS
Outstanding Drama Series: THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Outstanding New Approaches
Drama Series: VENICE THE
SERIES Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: EILEEN DAVIDSON (Days of our Lives) Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: BILLY MILLER (The Young and the Restless)
Outstanding Supporting
Actress in a Drama Series:
AMELIA HEINLE (The Young and the Restless) Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: ERIC MARTSOLF (Days of our Lives) Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series: HUNTER HALEY KING (The Young and the
Restless)
Outstanding Younger Actor in
a Drama Series: CHANDLER
MASSEY (Days of our Lives)
Outstanding Game Show: JEOPARDY! Outstanding Game Show Host: STEVE HARVEY (Family Feud)
Outstanding Talk Show
(Entertainment): THE ELLEN
DEGENERES SHOW
Outstanding Talk Show
(Informative): STEVE HARVEY
Outstanding Talk Show Hosts: DR. MEHMET OZ/KATIE COURIC (tie)
Outstanding Morning Program: GOOD MORNING AMERICA
Outstanding Courtroom/Legal Program: THE PEOPLE'S
COURT
Today's
edition of the Tuesday Timeline will feature a spotlight on an actor who many
remember from one show and one show only...but as you will see in this blog
entry, he did so much more than that!
In the meantime, take a look at some of the other events that happened on June
24 throughout history.
637 - The largest battle in the history of Ireland - The
Battle of Moira - is fought between the High King of Ireland and the Kings of
Ulster and Dalraida
1374 - A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance (dancing
mania) causes people in the community of Aachen, Germany to experience
hallucinations and dance and twitch uncontrollably to the point of collapsing
on the streets from exhaustion
1497 - Explorer John Cabot lands in North America at
Newfoundland leading the first European exploration of the region since the
Vikings
1509 - Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon are crowned
King and Queen of England
1604 - Explorer Samuel de Champlain discovers the mouth
of the Saint John River - the present location of St. John, New Brunswick,
Canada
1812 - Napoleon's army crosses the Neman River, which
begins France's invasion of Russia
1846 - Adolphe Sax patents the saxophone in Paris,
France
1880 - The first public performance of the Canadian
national anthem, "O Canada" is held at the Congres national des
Canadiens-Francais
1916 - Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star
to sign a million dollar contract
1918 - Canada begins air mail service between Toronto
and Montreal
1932 - The absolute power of King Prajadhipok of Siam
(now Thailand) is ended following a bloodless Revolution instigated by the
People's Party
1939 - Siam is officially renamed Thailand
1947 - A man by the name of Kenneth Arnold makes the
first widely reported UFO sighting in the area of Rainier, Washington
1949 - The first western to air on network television
"Hopalong Cassidy" makes its debut on NBC
1966 - Actress and director Adrienne Shelly (d. 1996) is
born in Queens, New York
1981 - The Humber Bridge opens to traffic and becomes
the world's longest single-span suspension bridge, holding that record until
1998
1982 - British Airways Flight 9 flies through a cloud of
volcanic ash from the erupting Mount Galunggung which subsequently shuts down
all four engines - all passengers survive
2005 - American actor and ventriloquist Paul Winchell
dies at the age of 82
2007 - Canadian wrestler Chris Benoit is found dead in
his hotel room, just two days after killing his wife and son
2010 - John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas
Mahut of France at Wimbledon in what is the longest match in professional
tennis history
And
while we're here, let's wish Al Molinaro, Billy
Casper, Sam
Jones, Terry
Reilly, Michele
Lee, Jeff
Beck, Kathryn
Lasky, Mick
Fleetwood, Peter
Weller, Nancy
Allen, Mercedes
Lackey, Betsy
Randle, Joe
Penny, Terence
"Astro" Wilson, Tom Lister Jr., Siedah Garrett, Curt
Smith, Sherry
Stringfield, Glenn
Medeiros, Christopher
Showerman, Mindy
Kaling, Petra
Nemcova, Minka
Kelly, Kyle
Searles, Solange
Knowles, and Raven
Goodwin a very
happy birthday!
So,
after all that, which year will we be going back to this week?
Well, we're going back in time 27 years to June 24, 1987.
So,
what was happening in the world in June 1987?
Well, I graduated kindergarten, the movie "Spaceballs" debuted
in theatres, and the #1 song of the day was "Head to Toe" by Lisa
Lisa and the Cult Jam. Remember that
one?
On a sad note, June 24, 1987 was the date in which a famous comedian and actor
drew his last breath. The cause of
death was directly linked to cancer, and in the case of today's Tuesday
Timeline subject, he was dealt a double whammy. Ultimately, it was colon cancer that killed him, but he was also
diagnosed with liver cancer and suffered from dangerous thrombosed hemorrhoids
as a result. Prior to his cancer
diagnosis in 1986, this man also underwent emergency heart surgery in the late
1970s after undergoing severe chest pains on more than one occasion - likely
brought about by the fact that he was addicted to cigarettes - smoking as much as
four packs a day at the peak of his addiction.
He
died peacefully in his Lauderhill, Florida home at the age of 71, and his body
was entombed in a sarcophagus in a private mausoleum in Miami. The engraving on the sarcophagus? "And Away We Go".
Have you guessed our mystery celebrity yet?
We've already talked about how Jackie Gleason died. Now let's talk about how he lived.
Born in Brooklyn, New York on February 26, 1916, John Herbert Gleason was one
of two children born to Maisie and Herb Gleason. His brother Clemence passed away at the age of 14 from spinal
meningitis, and his father abandoned the family when Jackie was still a
child. Gleason's love of acting was born
after he appeared in a school play, and although Gleason never finished his secondary
school education, he did land his first job when he was a teenager, working as
a master of ceremonies at a nearby theater for four dollars a night. He also took turns as a carnival barker and
a stunt driver during this time.
By the time Gleason was nineteen, his mother had died, and he was left on his
own with just forty cents in his pocket.
Despite this, Gleason was determined to make a success of himself. Getting his first big break in Reading,
Pennsylvania where he made $19 a day was the beginning of what would become a
long standing career in stand-up comedy.
He
eventually worked his way up to a job in New York's "Club 18", in
which he used his ability to heckle and insult the people who came to see him
perform to his advantage. His style of
comedy certainly got him noticed by Jack Warner of Warner Brothers, who signed
him to a movie contract for $250 a week.
Some of the films he appeared in during this time were "Navy
Blues", "All Through The Night", "Tramp, Tramp,
Tramp", and "Springtime in the Rockies".
Though
his career in Hollywood didn't get a whole lot of attention at first, he
supplemented his income by performing a nightclub act where he performed comedy
and music. Interestingly enough,
Gleason also gained a reputation for being an all-night partier. Hotel suites would actually take the effort
to soundproof his suite so that he wouldn't disturb the other guests on the
floor! I don't know why I felt the need
to mention that little detail. I
suppose I just found it interesting.
Now,
you might think that a show that he did in the 1950s was his big break (and
we'll get to that in a moment), but in actuality his first break came in the
year 1949 when the radio program "The Life of Riley" was going to
transition into television.The problem
was that William Bendix, who played the role of aircraft worker Chester A.
Riley on the radio show was unable to commit to the role due to prior
commitments, so Jackie Gleason was given the role instead.And for what it was worth, Jackie Gleason's
performance did earn positive reviews, and the show was a modest success.Sadly, that show was cancelled after one
season, and when Bendix became available for filming again, the show was
rebooted and ran for five more seasons.
But
don't feel too bad for Gleason. The
best was still yet to come.
On
October 1, 1955, Gleason, along with Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, and Joyce
Randolph made up the cast of the CBS sitcom "The Honeymooners". The program was actually based off of a
sketch comedy piece that aired on DuMont's "Cavalcade of Stars"
(which later became the variety show "The Jackie Gleason Show"). The success of the sketch prompted CBS to
order a full season of thirty-nine episodes (yes, there was a time in which
seasons were that long), and when it first debuted on television it was the #2
program in the nation.
And, why wouldn't it be? The show was
groundbreaking in the sense that it depicted two working-class married couples
living in a Brooklyn apartment building that had seen better days. Gleason played the role of bus driver Ralph
Kramden, a man who is frustrated with being stuck in a job with no rewards and
accolades, and who always dreamed of ways to get ahead...even if his plans
didn't work. He was so frustrated that
he often took his frustrations out on his homemaker wife Alice (Meadows).
Yeah, I don't know if any modern sitcoms these days would have men threatening
to give them a punch in the kisser these days.
But we all know that Ralph would never abuse his wife in that manner. Ralph and Alice were good for each
other. Besides, Audrey could hold her
own with her sharp tongue and acerbic wit.
Have a look at this classic scene below.
Throw in Art Carney and Joyce Randolph as Ed and Trixie Norton and you had a
cast that was worth watching. I don't
know of any other cast that had so much chemistry with each other (except for
maybe "The Facts of Life", "Friends", or "Melrose
Place").
TRIVIA: Gleason and
Carney were the only actors to play their characters on both "The
Honeymooners" sketches and television shows. The original Audrey and Trixie were played by Pert Kelton and
Elaine Stritch respectively.
Here's
the surprising part about "The Honeymooners". It started off strong, and people enjoyed
it. The problem is that it aired
opposite the ratings winner "The Perry Como Show" on NBC, and it
slipped from #2 all the way down to #19 (which normally wouldn't be that bad
except for the fact that there weren't nearly as many television programs on
the air in 1955 as there are now). The
show was cancelled after nearly one year - its last episode airing on September
22, 1956. But the good news is that the
show helped Jackie Gleason's career big time.
And you can purchase the entire series of "The Honeymooners"
on both Blu-Ray and DVD.
After
"The Honeymooners" wrapped up, Jackie Gleason continued to balance
comedy with music. Over the course of
his life, he released several mood albums despite the fact that he didn't know
how to read or write music at all. In
fact, Gleason's debut album, "Music for Lovers Only" still holds the
record for the longest time spent on the Billboard Top Ten charts - 153 weeks
(that's nearly three years!), and his first ten albums all sold at least one
million copies each! That's not bad for
someone who claimed to be completely illiterate in music!
And of course his television career didn't stop after "The
Honeymooners" ended in 1956. In
fact, he was credited with saving a train wreck of a game show by dedicating
the second episode to making an apology on the air over how horrible the show
was! I won't go into too much detail
here, but if you Google the words "You're In The Picture 1961 Game
Show", you can read the humourous story behind it!
He also resurrected both "The
Honeymooners" and his variety show in the 1960s (Trixie and Alice were
recast as by that time the shows were filmed in Miami Beach, Florida), and for
audiences it was the first time that they would see Jackie Gleason in color
television. He also had a contract with
CBS until the early 1970s when Gleason's contract expired.
And, here's one final piece of trivia to wrap up this blog entry on Jackie
Gleason. Did you know that Gleason had
a photographic memory? He absolutely
hated doing rehearsals for any of his television projects, so what he would do
was read the script once, watch his stand-in interact with the other co-stars
in the scene, and shot the show later that day. If he made mistakes during taping, he just blamed the cue cards. Still, you have to admire true talent like
that.
Talent which will forever be immortalized.
Sometimes it doesn't even seem like it's been twenty-seven years since
Jackie Gleason died, as he has been the source of inspiration for many up and
coming actors and comedians, and will likely continue to be an inspiration for
decades to come.
I
know that today is the day designated as MOTIVATIONMONDAY, and that this is the time
of the week in which my friends JOSHUA, JONATHON, and CARINE post a brand new episode of
MOTIVE4CHANGE...but this week, I have an announcement to
make.
And, it's an announcement that I
feel is best made in person through a video that I made.Please take the time to watch it.It explains what is going on with the
show.But it also talks about how I
plan to keep the motivation going every Monday.
And, to tell you the truth, I could use some ideas here.
Okay, so now that you've watched the video, you know that MOTIVE4CHANGE is off the air (at least
for now). That being said, I'm going to
use Mondays as an opportunity to film more video blogs and coming up with
motivational topics to fill the void.
In all likelihood, that will mean that I bare my soul (but not my skin)
more often than not, and hopefully inspiring other people to do the same. I guess it sort of reminds me of the
Thursday Confessions that I used to make, only instead of Thursdays, it'll be
Mondays...and it'll be on video.
But here's where you come in. Do you
want me to keep the topics the same as we did on MOTIVE4CHANGE, or do you want pop culture
topics, or do you just want me to do my own experimentation until I get
something that sticks? I'm really
interested in your input.
This
edition of the Sunday Jukebox is one that will bring back memories of a
time gone by - well, at least for me anyway.
And, for the rest of you, it will be just like any other Sunday Jukebox
entry that you've seen in the year so far.
This
week, we're going back nineteen years ago in the past to June 1995. Let's see...what was I doing exactly
nineteen years ago this weekend? Let me
think.
Oh,
yeah. That's right. Nineteen years ago this weekend, I was
getting ready to graduate from elementary school into high school! And thinking about high school now kind of
made me wish that I could have taken ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades
at my old elementary school! Of course,
that would be an impossibility now, as all the elementary schools in the area
have now been changed to K-6 schools, and the seventh and eighth graders now
have a junior high school inside of a high school campus.
How very Degrassi of the school system.
Anyway,
back in the good old days in which seventh and eighth grade was still a part of
the elementary school curriculum, I graduated with 68 other people (some of
which I'm still friends with today, while others I hope to never see again as
long as I live) on June 21, 1995. And,
because I'm not above embarrassing myself, I'll post a couple of pictures from
the event below.
(Sigh...if only I had that much hair on my head today...only not styled in a
bowl cut. The Archie Comics necktie
that I wore was a nice touch though.)
Yeah,
for some reason, I always look back on my elementary school graduation with a
sense of pride and fond memories. It
was the event in which I received my diploma.
It was where I earned a faculty award for having the highest average in
the subject of English. It was where I
earned my badge for being in the senior concert band.
And, perhaps most importantly of all, it was the event where I had my very
first date! All I will tell you about
her is that her name was Heather, and we had a great time together. Unfortunately, she moved away, and I never
saw her again after that. It's a shame
too, because I really liked her. Oh
well...I suppose that sometimes things like that happen.
And,
because it's been nineteen years since that day, I wanted to take a trip back
to the month of June 1995, just to see what the #1 song was on the day that I
graduated elementary school. As it
turns out, it was a song that could very well have been the perfect soundtrack
to a slow dance with a date...or at the very least one of those Snowball slow
dances where it starts off with a couple, then they separate and grab someone
in the circle surrounding them making two sets of two, and so on and so forth.
Here's that song from 1995...and as a special treat, the coloured font will be
written in my school colours from elementary school.
ARTIST:Bryan
Adams SONG: Have You Ever Really Loved a
Woman?
ALBUM: 18 til I Die
DATE
RELEASED: April 14, 1995
PEAK
POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 5
weeks
(Yes...it's
true. Our school colours were royal
blue and Sunkist
orange...two of
the most non-complementary colours in the whole spectrum. I suppose it could be worse...they could
have been something like pink and red.)
But enough about school colours. We're
here to talk about Bryan Adams in this Sunday Jukebox spotlight.
Now,
I'm sure that most of you have heard at least one Bryan Adams song in your
lifetime. After all, his first album
ever was released in 1980! That's
thirty-four years ago!
Granted, Bryan Adams was more well known in his native Canada and had more impact
on the Canadian charts than the Billboard charts, but when he broke through
into the American market with 1984's "Reckless" album, he showed
everyone that he had the star power and talent to become one of the biggest
Canadian exports of rock music. With
singles like "Heaven", "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You",
and the collaboration he did with Rod Stewart and Sting entitled "All for
Love", Bryan Adams was one of those artists who managed to strike while
the iron was hot three times...as all three of those singles hit the #1 spot on
the Billboard Charts.
"Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" was Adams' fourth #1 hit on
Billboard...and unfortunately, his last #1 in America (though he did have
several more chart toppers in Canada).
These days, music has taken a bit of a backseat to his humanitarian
efforts, photography career, and fatherhood (Adams became a first time father
at the age of fifty-one), but he's still known to record an album or perform a
concert every now and again.
Anyway,
back to the story of "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman". It was one of the tracks on Bryan Adams'
1996 album "18 til I Die", but prior to that album's release, it
could also be found on the soundtrack for the 1995 film "Don Juan
DeMarco", a film which starred Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp, and Faye
Dunaway. The film was classified as a
sleeper hit of 1995, raking in a total of $68 million on a budget of $25
million, and currently holds a rating of 74% on Rotten Tomatoes. And, I could go on about what "Don Juan
DeMarco" was about, but then I remembered that this was the Sunday Jukebox
entry and not the Saturday Night at the Movies entry, and I thought that if I
really were to do a feature on "Don Juan DeMarco", I would be better
off doing it then.
(Which loosely means that I've never seen the movie, so I have no idea what the
movie is all about. I do know that it
was one of the last film projects that Tejano singer Selena did before her
March 1995 murder, so it might be worth checking out.)
The
song was written by Adams, and his long time collaborators Robert
"Mutt" Lange and Michael Kamen, and it was performed throughout the
movie "Don Juan DeMarco" a total of three times during the
movie. The first two times were
performed by other artists after the song had been translated into Spanish, and
the third time was during the closing credits, which was performed by Adams
himself.
The
music video is also a production in itself.
It was shot on location in Spain by director Anton Corbjin, and features
actresses Amira Casar and Cecelie Thomsen.
It also features Bryan Adams during his shaggy long hair phase circa
1994 as well as him wearing what appears to be a Zorro mask. The mask features quite prominently in the
movie "Don Juan DeMarco", but again, since this isn't a movie post, I
won't go into much more detail than that.
The
one thing that I can say was that this song was a success, lasting a total of
five weeks on the top of the charts.
Not nearly as long as the Mariah Carey/Boyz II Men collaboration that
spent four months at the top of the charts, but it was still a great
success. I can still picture some of my
classmates dancing the night away to that song...even though we were fourteen,
and in all likelihood none of us guys really knew what it was like to really
really ever love a woman...or for that matter, a fourteen year old girl. In some cases, we're probably still trying
to figure that out. I'm not ashamed to
admit that I'm likely on that boat right now.
I
can also picture this song being a very popular choice to be played at
weddings. I imagine that anyone who got
married in 1995, 1996, 1997, or even 1998 likely heard this song playing at
least once at any wedding ceremony.
It's certainly the right song to play if you want to...ahem...get into
the mood. And, hey, with lyrics like
"when you can see your unborn children in her eyes, you know you really
love a woman"...yeah, that's deep.
And
did you know that this song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best
Original Song in 1996? Unfortunately, it
lost to "Colors of the Wind" from "Pocahontas". Still, that is quite an achievement.
This song also holds a place in my heart.
It was the song that closed off the chapter of elementary school, and
paved the way towards high school. Such
as it was.
And, if that class reunion gets rescheduled, I hope that this song is one of
the ones that is played. That would be
perfect.