15 Favorite New Year’s Eve Sitcom Episodes

I’ve talked about my favorite sitcom episodes based around Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. There is one holiday I have sadly overlooked. Well, two. But we have a few more weeks to dive into Valentine’s Day. No what I want to discuss is the popular New Year’s Eve episode.

       

New Year’s may not be the most popular holiday to devote a sitcom episode on, but there are still plenty of them out there. They usually always revolve around making resolutions or finding a date for the night. Or both. What I love is that these are all almost all honorary Christmas episodes, since most of these shows decorate the sets with Christmas decorations seeing how the episode is set days later. And the theme of the holiday season is still very much present.

Here are some of them. And since it seems like every list I see forgets that TV shows happened in the 70’s, 80’s or early 90’s, these are mostly from that era.




Laverne & Shirley, “New Years Eve 1959”

Penny Marshall was the best. I failed to find a clip of the Christmas episode last time, but this episode I did find. And there isn’t much to it. It’s just the gang finding dates for New Year’s. Which doesn’t end well for poor Laverne. But give Garry Marshall credit that final scene of them all singing Auld Lang Syne is pretty cool, he really knew how to hit the sentimental button.

A Look at TV Theme Opening Evolution

I talked earlier this year about how a TV show opening will be kind of lousy in a show’s early years. So lousy it gets chucked and replaced. Some shows never change their opening, it’s the same year after year. And then there’s that third category of TV show opening, when the opening music and even some of the visuals remains the same, but evolves as the show progresses. Maybe the music is jazzed up a bit or the graphics improved, but it’s not a replacement as much as an improvement to what had been. For example, The Brady Bunch was basically the same opening every year but the music was re-recorded as the kids grew and they updated the visuals to reflect the fact the kids were growing.

You can see this in Friends, Saved By The Bell, and countless other shows where it was the same opening they just replaced some of the clips.

Some shows do a little more than simply replace the visuals however. Here are a few examples of what I mean, TV openings that weren’t changed because they sucked as much as they took an opening theme that was just fine and improved on it to evolve with the show.



A Different World

This is one of my favorite examples. This was of course The Cosby spin-off starring Lisa Bonet (at first). Here is the Season 1 version:

Pretty..awful. It really looks like “The Denise Huxtable Show”, which I guess is what it was at first. Thankfully when Debbie Allen came in she retooled everything, even the theme. So we got the same theme, re-sung, with this interesting concept:

This was sooo much better. The same song but it gave the feeling it was more of an ensemble show than the other opening did. It got a couple minor tweaks until the final season when it was revamped with a jazzier theme (sang by Boyz II Men) and was a lot faster. No disrespect to Aretha Franklin of course who turned that boring theme from Season 1 into something memorable.

Oh and yes, that is Jada Pinkett, Cree Summer and Ajai Sanders in the credits.

Merry Christmas From the Variety Specials

There a lot of things that were huge on TV at one time that have vanished over the years. Believe it or not there was a time when Westerns were huge. When was the last time you saw on of those on TV? Another example are the old variety Christmas specials. And to be honest, these are so passe that even I barely got to see any of them. Except for Bob Hope I never watched Bing or Perry Como or any of those others.




It’s hard to really discuss these without video clips but these specials were so awesome. They had celebrity guests, sketches, and lots of singing. Can you imagine a time when people performed rehearsed numbers? Good times. Were they corny? Oh my yes. But there was also something so great about them. It’s really hard to explain. Since it’s Christmas very shortly I thought it would be fun to dig through YouTube and share some clips from these specials.





Judy Garland
Man does this one go back a aways! I mean, black and white? I think this was her only special but thought it would be fun to mention it. It’s also funny to see Mel Torme so young. Here is a classic clip of him singing his biggest Christmas song along with Judy Garland

Five Favorite Disney Christmas Shorts

I’m really quite shocked I never covered this one. I guess it feels like I did because I’ve commented on great blogs done by others.

Thirty-five years ago Mickey’s Christmas Carol premiered in theaters. But since I’ve talked about that many times before, I decided to do something different. Disney has been doing Christmas shorts for ages. Even more if you include Silly Symphonies. But which one’s are my favorite that I still watch every year, despite my advanced age?






Here are my five favorite Disney Christmas cartoons. And to be clear, I mean shorts featuring Mickey and the gang not full length episodes and/or movies. Oh, and you may know my gripe about how Disney somehow seems to think snow and ice automatically equal Christmas. No, these have to be CHRISTMAS cartoons. And no Christmas Carol does count it’s a short not a movie. When it premiered in theaters it was accompanied by other Disney cartoons to make it long enough for a theatrical release.



Santa’s Workship

While I have issues with the follow up to this, ‘The Night Before Christmas”, this one is more tolerable. Yeah the Santa is still kinda xcreepy but at least teh scenario makes more sense. It’s Santa getting ready for the big sleigh ride. The animation and music are really nice.

Five Awful 4th Wall Breakers

4th wall breaks in Movies and TV are always fun. Sometimes it’s a wink to the audience or a gag, and other times the character is also serving as a narrator. Oh sure sometimes it works, it’s clear that Winnie the Pooh and friends know they are storybook characters for instance. And do I even need to mention Deadpool or Ferris Bueller? But there have been a few times when the wall breaking comes out of nowhere, or makes no sense. And I had to ask, why was this 4th wall break here?

Here are five 4th wall breaks which are either bizarrely random, or just plain stupid.






Mary Poppins

Someone please explain to me why Bert introduces us to the Banks at the start of the film? It would be fine if HE EVER DID IT AGAIN but he doesn’t. He’s no narrator, he’s just in the movie after that point. And he doesn’t tell us anything that couldn’t have been handed off to another character with a line or two. Yeah he tells us who Admiral Boom is but why couldn’t have the housekeepers told us that? And why did we need to know the address anyway, are we having a test at the end of the movie?

Five AWFUL TV Replacement Characters

A few months ago I talked about replacements for superheroes and theme songs, and how they can be hit or miss. This of course happens on TV shows too. But it’s often more miss than hit. Replacing a popular character is very hard to do. For example, I mentioned Chloris Leachman the other day who did a decent job replacing Mrs. Garrett on The Facts of Life. Others may disagree with that, but I liked it. Other examples where it worked include Don Knotts on Three’s Company, Col Potter on MASH, and Rebecca Howe on Cheers. But for the few that worked you have examples like Budd Bronski on Wings. Remember him? Course not. Do I even need to mention Cory and Vance? Ughhhhh

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Sadly, it usually doesn’t work. Here are five sitcom replacements which were just failures. And of course, just opinion.




Ted McGinley on Happy Days

Poor Ted McGinely! I mean that, I mean talk about walking into a no win scenario! There was no way that they could duplicate the chemistry Ron Howard and Henry Winkler had. He portrayed Roger Phillips for the last few years, and for the most part is just a forgotten memory as far as that show is concerned.

“It’s a Wonderful” Sitcom Episode

 

This is one I have been putting off for awhile. We all know the classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” where George Bailey gets to see what the world would have been like without him. It’s a great premise, so great pretty much everyone has done a take on it inducing Tiny Toons, SNL, and The Muppets. And of course, sitcoms are no exception.



While not quite as common as the “Christmas Carol” episode, there are still a few out there. And they don;t all follow the exact same structure either, the only criteria is some sort of angel (for most) and seeing what everyone would be like if something did or didn’t happen. One reason I have not discussed this yet is because it doesn’t need to be a Christmas episode for the premise to work. Though very often it is. I’ll be honest I am a major sucker for this particular plot device. Possibilities are always fun to see, especially with characters you have gotten to really know. Seeing what they could have been like if things were different, and while some shows play it more seriously than others these episodes are always fun to watch.




Here we go, buckle in folks!




Benson, “Home for Christmas”

One of my favorite episodes of anything ever. For the longest time it was just a memory, I had only seen it once, and killed to see it again. Thank you TV Land for finally re-airing it so I could record it! Benson is injured and in heaven, his mother shows him what life would be like for his friends if he left them then. And the picture above is not from the episode, all I could find.

Five Things I liked in "Scrooged"

Yep, another classic Christmas movie has an anniversary this year. There are lots of variations on A Christmas Carol set in modern day, but very few that clicked. This is one that definitely did. In 1988 we saw this movie in theaters, and loved it. This is the movie that made people realize Bill Murray was more than just SNL or Ghostbusters, and this would my favorite holiday movie I’ve ever seen in a theater. Until The Santa Clause came along anyway.  Now normally when I do these kind of articles I nitpick flaws in good movies. But since it’s the 30th anniversary, here are five reasons I love “Scrooged”.

Direct by Richard Donner and released November 23, 1988 this movie is a real surprise. I should hate it, but I don’t. Why? Let’s see….

Music

The soundtrack is pretty haunting Who did that? It sounds like a Danny Elfman score. Oh, yeah, it is! Before “Batman” but after “Beetlejuice”. The score is especially effective in the beginning before any ghosts arrive. It’s amazing how well that music works, there’s almost no need for dialogue! But the big song to come from this was “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”. This is one of those sons that sounds like a Christmas song even tough it isn’t. It’s not even original, but hey hearing it played a million times throughout the movie makes it work. And of course the cover by Annie Lennox and Al Green.

10 Movies Set at Christmas But AREN’T Christmas Movies

This year marks the 30th anniversary of THE greatest Christmas movie ever made. Of course I am talking about…

 

 

 

Wait, what? Die Hard?? Yeah I know this is kind of an accepted thing now but I still don’t get it. What makes this a Christmas classic? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic action movie. I loved it in 1988 from the awesome action to the effective comedy to the amazing Alan Rickman as the villain. But aside from the fact it’s set at Christmas, how is it a Christmas classic? Ok they play Let it Snow at the end, but…really? A few years I decided to finally check it out myself, and watched the movie after several years. And to be fair, it does kinda start out Christamassy. You’d never guess what the movie would turn into. But then it becomes an action flick, and…Christmas? (FYI yes it still mostly holds up)

But there are tons of people who watch it every Christmas and who am I to argue with them? But the thing is, this isn’t the only movie to have nothing to do with the holiday but be set on it anyway. A couple years ago I discussed movies which will have a random Christmas scene, but otherwise have nothing about the holiday in it. But what about movies which are specifically set during the Christmas season..even though the plot has no connection to the holiday? Oh sure elements of the holiday may pop in, but the story is unrelated and in some cases even dark or disturbing! Yeah I know you’re all thinking of a few, but for fun let’s run some of them down.

Die Hard may have started the trend, but it sure wasn’t the last! Here are a few more:





Lethal Weapon

I honestly forgot about this one. But yeah it definitely takes place at Christmas. I guess I can see why people who don’t particularly care for the holidays may enjoy a movie where the lights and decorations are either being blown away or used to hurt people.

Top 5 Greatest Sitcom Casts EVER

So here is something I have always wanted to do. For a sitcom to be successful it helps if you have a strong cast. Of course most successful shows do (and I’ve talked about the shows that didn’t but fixed it later). What do I mean by a strong cast? Actors that not only elevated the material of the show they were in, . But even more than that,  a cast where EVERYONE elevated the material. Some shows will have a main character or two and the rest of the characters are just there, to be there. They contribute nothing except getting in some jokes. A good example is Murphy Brown, there were plenty of episode where the other characters either had one line and then vanished or didn't appear at all! The best casts get contributions from every member, every episode. Not just when the plot needs it. And it also helps if the actors went on to be successful long after the show ended

Just for fun, and in my opinion, which five shows had the best cast of them all? A little criteria here. It had to have been a hit show, that’s kind of a no brainer, lasing at least four seasons. Also adding to the cast is fine but it has to be a cast where few if any left (a character leaving for a spin off DOES NOT count). If the show ended with an entirely different cast than it started that’s not the same. So no Happy Days even though the cast they had for the bulk of their run was fantastic. And more than four leads, because if I add the shows with smaller casts we’ll be here all day!


#5.WKRP in Cincinnati

This barely counts being only four seasons but I’m counting it. This was not the greatest show ever, by far, but one thing I always admired was the cast for this show. Gary Sandy, Gordon Jump, Frank Bonner, Richard Sanders, Tim Reid. These were all supporting actors who came together and melded in this show. Howard Hesseman of course and Jan Smithers. Oh did I mention Loni Anderson? Wow. This show wasn’t much, it was the cast that made it work.

My 10 Favorite Christmas Movie Moments

A long while back I talked about Christmas movie moments that were a tad..out there. But one thing I never discussed were my favorite Christmas movie moments of all time. Not the whole movie, just a scene. It’s a scene I have to see when watching the film always brings a smile to my face no matter how much I watch it

Here are my favorite Christmas movie moments. No specific order and in this case, theatrical films only.

The Santa Clause
I’ve gushed about this movie before, but here I give you my favorite scene in the film. It’s beautifully staged, as we see the wonders of this Santa’s Workshop while Scott and Charlie make their descent. The best part is that choir singing. This movie doesn’t have the strongest soundtrack but damn I love that Christmas Bell Carol. Sadly, this is the best clip I could find.

And while the second movie was hardly awful there aren’t to many memorable scenes. Here is one sweet one.

Five Villains Made Up for the Batman TV Series

So before we turn to the holidays I wanted to continue my discussion of characters made up for franchises by TV or other media. In this case, it’s the colorful characters for the Batman TV series.

 

 Of course the 60’s campy Batman series had the familiar cast of villains Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, Penguin, Mr. Freeze (with three versions no less! FYI Otto Preminger was the best). But there were some which made for and by the TV series. And most of them were… pretty lame to be honest. Louie The Lilac? Really? Don’t get me started on Shame. I can still hear that kid calling his name in my head!!!



Here are five of these who, in my opinion, become a little more memorable than the others.





King Tut

The thing I like about this one is that this one of the few villains, new or otherwise, to actually have a background given to him. Something which makes him a more defined character. Which may be one reason he’s stuck around a little more than others. He was a well-respected professor until during a protest a rock hit his head. He then believed from then on that he was the reincarnation of King Tutankhamen, and his goal was to claim his city as his own. Course to make it even better the amazing and fun Victor Buono played him and hammed it up every second. I mean, reaalllyy hammed it up. He was just plan fun to watch.

Five Thanksgiving Episodes I DO NOT Like

Well, they can’t all be gems. Yeah I’ve talked about great Thanksgiving episodes, but of course there are plenty of stupid one’s. I already mentioned a couple when I discussed Roseanne, Frasier, and Home Improvement but are there any more? Sure.

Here are five Thanksgiving episodes which I just found lame. And of course this is all opinion, if you like these episodes than that’s cool.







Family Ties, “No Nukes Is Good Nukes”

I know people will disagree with me on this one so let’s get it out of the way. Oh season one Family Ties, why did you have to be so lame? This is a sensitive one but it rubs me the wrong way. It’s Family Ties at the Keaton’s so what are Steven and Elyse planning to do? They’re planning to protest at an anti-nuclear weapons rally. In 1982. Ok ok the Cold War was alive and well and the two are doing what they have every right to do, but why on Thanksgiving? Course they get arrested, just Will and Uncle Phil on “Fresh Prince”. Thought at least this was for a cause, a lot the “A Different World” episode with a similar setup but there the cause was topical and the arrests a pure accident. Of course the family shows up at the prison with Thanksgiving dinner, like on that Christmas episode of Step by Step. Hmmm. Maybe that’s my real issue with this episode, not the politics but the fact the plot is so damn cliched!

Top 10 Friends Thanksgiving Episodes

Normally for Thanksgiving I like to go over sitcom Thanksgiving episodes. Except for the two years I did nothing that is. In the past I've either reviewed one episode for a series, or an overview of an entire series worth of episodes. But so far I haven't talked about one sitcom that was almost synonymous with Thanksgiving. Which show?

Yep, Friends did a memorable and clever Thanksgiving episode ever year. Well, nearly every year. And I decided it was finally time to decide which was the best, and the worst. From the looks of it I am not the first to do this. By any means. Oh well, every list is different so there's that. Here's my list anyway. Here are my top 10 Friends Thanksgiving episodes, from worst to best.

#10."The One With the List" (Season 2)

When I said they did great Thanksgiving episodes every year, meet the exception. Season two gave us no real Thanksgiving episode unless you count the B story here which I really don't. But I needed 10 episodes, so....

My Tribute-Five Stan Lee Cameo’s Outside the MCU

As you all probably know I am a DC Comics guy. But in spite of that, I still knew who Stan Lee was and respected him for what he accomplished in creating The Marvel Universe. Almost every character that fans love today Lee either created or at least had a hand in. From Spider-Man to The Fantastic Four! He was a legend and will be missed, having passed away today at the age of 95.

 

For me, I grew to know up by watching Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. He narrated episodes of that and I always knew what a “True believer” was. Though someone please explain to me where Excelsior comes from? I wanted to do a small tribute to him because he truly deserves one. I’d wager there aren’t many who never read a comic book who still don’t have at least some idea who Stan Lee was.That’s why his cameo’s in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are always so loved. He’s made so many that it’s amazing, and they are all memorable and fun. But others have covered those cameos, and frankly did a great job doing so. A lot better than I anyway. Especially considering how many I never saw. So instead, I thought it might be fun to look at his TV appearances outside the MCU, where he appeared to tell a joke or wink at the audience. Yes I know he played characters too once in awhile.




Muppet Babies
Yeah you read that right. If you’re familiar with the 80’s cartoin you know they were doing dozens of homages and spoofs. Spider-Man was no exception. And when they did Spider-Man, guess who gets the last word?

Five Characters Made Up for Non-Canon Star Trek

I talked about how Superfriends decided to add a little diversity to its roster by inventing a few Superheroes who were not original DC characters. This really isn’t unusual, all of the DC and Marvel TV shows or movies have invented all new characters. Some caught on and became regular characters in the main comic.

(Harley Quinn anyone?).

Star Trek is no exception to this, as far as their non-canon material goes. Of course non-canon means that as far as the TV and movies are concerned, the events never took place. So why not throw some new characters in there? Especially since the books and comics had specific rules regrading what they could and could not do with the main characters. Here are five Star Trek characters totally created for non-canon material.


Bearclaw

For a period of time when DC published Star Trek, it must have occurred to them that there were only so many stories they could tell with the original crew. So they invented some new characters to work alongside the established nine. This way they could explore these characters without harming the canon behind the main crew. Despite that stupid name, Ensign Bearclaw was one of the. He was the kind of character you’d never see on a Gene Roddenberry helmed series. He was brash, rude, and arrogant. He wanted to be a good officer but his bigotry would often get in the way. As a result he would scuffle with the other officers and but head’s with Kirk most of the time.

Five Superheroes Created Just For “Superfriends”

I’ve talked before about Superfriends. And how I loved it as a kid. And think it’s kind of silly today. But one of the ore interesting things that this show did was with the characters. Despite having a wide array of DC characters to pick from, the show introduced their own new creations to fight alongside the recognizable heroes. They weren’t given any origins or anything, they were just there. And for the most part only appeared in the cartoon!

 

These characters were probably meant to replace more familiar faces, and no doubt also to add a bit if diversity to the group since they are all of different ethnic background. Problem is this was before political correctness, so these characters could almost be considered stereotypical today. So for those who have never heard if them, here are five characters totally created by, and for, Superfriends.



Apache Chief

This one was the coolest, even if he was also a bit of a stereotype of Native Americans. But he probably got the most screen time and was possibly the most memorable. He had the powers to grow to unlimited sizes. Plus he had a “sixth sense” which gave him a sort of enhanced perception. He even got an origin in one episode which is pretty impressive. He was also the only one who had a nemesis, Giganta who was a female who could also grow to ridiculous sizes.

A Look at Mickey Mouse Merchandise and Commercials

So this weekend is Mickey’s 90th birthday. Well technically ABC is celebrating it this weekend.  And I can’t believe it! I remember when he turned sixty. He has been around a long time and I love him.  I was trying to come with a tribute, but had trouble. In the years of doing this I’ve obviously talked about Mickey. In fact five years ago I did a run down of his changing appearances in TV and movies in one of my personal favorite articles. But then I remembered an area I covered back in June for Garfield (and even earlier for Star Trek) which Mickey sure as hell has more impact. Merchandise!

 

And as I said, Mickey is all over this! I mean all you have to do is go to Disney World. Or Disneyland. Or The Disney Store in dozens of malls. Or mail order. Or Disney.com. Or really any store anywhere. He is a merchandise machine and there are people out there who have dozens of collectibles and memorabilia. So for his 90th birthday let’s take a look back at the character through some of the things his face has been put on. No, not all, you want to be here all day? Just a sample.


Let’s start with the obvious…


Yes there are stuffed animals. In my day I owned more than one Mickey Mouse. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, in fact they fit pretty much every theme you can think of. I shared this pic because it comes to looking the Mickey I had as a small child.






By the way, has Mickey been a Macy’s balloon? Are you kidding?????

In fact Mickey was around when the parade was just getting started (with a hideous balloon which matched the hideous costumes used back then).

Ten TV Theme's with Secret Lyrics

So last time I talked about theme songs I mentioned how some theme's are extended into full length songs. But an even cooler thing some may not know is that a lot of iconic instrumental theme's do in fact have lyrics. Some were created for the show but never used, others added after the fact for whatever reason.


Here are ten theme's with the lyrics which you may have never heard before:





I Love Lucy

This one isn't really a surprise the instrumental version practically screams the words. Truth is though, as is the case with most of these, it's a lot better without the words.

Five Actors I Can’t Believe Played Klingons

Halloween is a great time to get dressed up and wear cool costumes and make-up. If done right a person can be completely disguised, And on Star Trek, the aliens created by brilliant artist Michael Westmore give actors the ultimate chance to dive into a character that they could never play in real life, and be totally unrecognizable doing it!

 

When it comes to Klingons on Star Trek, it’s easy to lose the actor in the make-up and characterization. I mean Klingon’s are animalistic and savage. Well, except for TOS Klingons but that’s a different subject.  For instance did yoy know that wqas Mark Lenard aka Sarek as the Klingon at the start of Star Trek-The Motion picture? He is totally unrecognizable! Sometimes an actor will shine through but still do a good job. For instance we all know it’s Christopher Lloyd as Kruge in Star Trek III or James Avery on Star Trek Enterprise, but they did good jobs. Other times the actor will suck, like the awful Klingon Tim Russ played on DS9. So awful I don’t feel like looking up the character’s name.










But some actors do such a cool job that I still can’t believe its as them under all that make-up. Here are five :





John Larroquette

I said we can tell Lloyd is playing Kruge in Star Trek III, but did you know John Larroqiette is the Klingon Maltz? Yeah you probably did, but honestly I am still impressed by that. As many times as I’ve seen the movie I still can’t really see Dan Fielding in there at all. True he doesn’t have much to do, but he manages one of the movies funniest lines near the end.

Five Unusual “Frankenstein Monsters”

I’ve long neglected the classic Hollywood monsters that have such long histories. So since it’s Halloween, let’s talk about them. I discussed ghosts last time but ghosts have no specific identity or backstory. Some monsters do, and there backstories are so well known that they are part of pop culture.

A lot of people are amazed Frankenstein was written by a woman. Mary Shelley of course. But the amazing thing for me is that the original novel was written in 1818! That pre-date’s Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol! What is it about the novel that captivates us so? The tale is full of so much metaphor and symbolism it’s still relatable. And then there is Frankenstein’s Monster who is a true victim, and it’s the tragedy of that character that brings us back. He doesn’t mean to harm anyone, and in almost every version it’s always him who shows he does have a heart. Even parodies remember this. This book was amazing and I never read it.

 

It is was Boris Karloff who gave us the quintessential version that most movies and TV try to imitate. Even it differed from the book. Why did he have a blazer? The Universal Monsters made such an impact that we still remember them today. And that goes for all of them not just Frankenstein. But Frankenstein may top them all. Though I think Dracula technically has more adaptations. Who doesn’t know what his bride looks like? Or recognize that iconic laboratory set up? And yes, the monster never had a name!!! Can we stop arguing about that?

So while I could list the millions of versions of Frankenstein out there, some more faithful than others to the source material, here instead are five example of taking the basic premise of Frankenstein but doing something a little more, weird with it.






Frankenberry

I know when I think Frankenstein the first to things that come to mind is pink and strawberry. Sure. Clearly inspired by Boris Karloff, we got this character to sell cereal alongside the popular vampire Count Choccula. And yes of course I know about Boo Berry I forgot to mention him last time. While I wouldn’t eat the cereal, ever, I do admire the work out into these commercials and the legacy these characters still have forty years later. While some have disappeared, like Fruit Brute, these two continue to endure.

Top 5 Favorite Movie Ghosts

Well here we are now less than two weeks from Halloween, time for a Halloween article or two. Before zombies and vampires, ghosts were the huge thing. Ghosts are always fascinating because they don’t have to be evil or mean.  Heck, they can be normal people who just can’t leave the Earth. On the other hand they can be nasty creatures who seek to torment you. Here are five of my favorite ghosts from movies.

#5.Jacob Marley

Yeah I feel funny about this one, to me this is a Christmas story. But you can’t deny the supernatural element. I mean, they are called the ghosts of Christmas! So I guess it counts. Jacob Marley is singled out because, no matter what version it is, he is always the quintessential ghost. He is a ghastly site with his chains and does what any good ghost should–scare the crap out of Scrooge!







#4.Casper

Ok he was a cartoon first but he’s been in a few movies so he counts. Casper is the friendly ghost..and I was never really been a big fan. The problem with him being so nice and kind is he’s not much of a character. He needs other ghosts around him to be interesting, because bu himself he’s kinda dull. I saw his first movie and it wasn’t bad.

Five Actors Whose Characters Were Killed Off Their Own Shows

So “The Connor’s” premiered last night. I think we all know the backstory. After some rather alarming remarks from Roseanne on Twitter she was fired and her show is continuing on without her. It really is sad what a mess the Roseanne reboot has turned into, what was originally just a fun idea between Sara Gilbert and John Goodman.

I am not going to argue whether or not Roseanne deserved to be fired, instead I want to talk about the way her character was written out. I don’t think it’s a big spoiler to say Roseanne Connor was killed off. The funny thing is, this isn’t the first time a TV show has killed off a main character after firing a star. Usually when a show does this the character just disappears. Like Delta Burke on Designing Women, Suzanne Somers on Three’s Company, Lisa Bonet on Cosby or Dana Plato on Diff’rent Strokes. But every so often the producers go the extra step and actually kill the character off. One recent example is like Erinn Hayes from last year’s awful “Kevin Can Wait”. The thing there was she had done nothing wrong, the creators were just trying to save a lousy series. In most cases, there is a little more to it than that.


Here are five show which killed off a character due to backstage tensions, even if they were the star of the show!





Charlie Sheen

Yeah this wasn’t that long ago and I’m pretty sure we all remember this story. Two and a Half Men was a pretty solid hit. Then Sheen had a well publicized breakdown following several rehab stints. Not to mention reports of domestic violence and rude comments. The character was killed off, oddly, and replaced with Aston Kutcher who must have worked since the shoe went on just fine. I wouldn’t know I didn’t watch.

Five Killed Comic Characters That Should Have Stayed Dead

So as I said last time, let’s talk about characters who shouldn’t have returned. Generally speaking when a character dies, who figures a resurrection is down the road. Usually when a character is killed the question “what happens next?”. But sometimes a character death has such ramifications that it’s kind of insulting to bring them back. It not only tarnishes whatever effect that death had, but it’s just insulting to the story where the person died.

Here are five examples of what I mean. I didn’t specify it in my last list so let me do it here, all of these examples are BEFORE the reboot in 2012.



Maxwell Lord

It wasn’t enough that they ruined the character by making him evil. I was on board it this chatacyer until day one, and I promise he was not evil in the 80’s. Of course that changed and he became evil, and killed Ted Kord. Then Wonder Woman killed him (long story). So what next? Why not bring him back at the end of the Blackest Night event..for no real reason.

Five Killed Comic Characters That Stayed Dead

It’s common for comic book characters, whether hero or villain or just supporting cast, to be killed and then resurrected a few months later. But once in awhile, a character will be killed and actually stay dead. At least until the universe gets rebooted. For example Gwen Stacy over at Spider-Man never really returned from her shocking death, though she had clones and alternate versions aplenty.

But that’s Marvel and as you know I’m a DC guy.


Here are five examples, and the one rule is that the character has to have never been brought back to life. If they made appearances in the after life or as a ghost or zombie (or in expanded media) it’s not the same.



Dove

I talked about Hawk and Dove before, but it’s still fascinating that this character was never resurrected. Dove was reinvented with others playing the role, but Don Hall himself was at peace and stayed that way.

15 TV Theme’s That Are Also Full Length Songs

You may have noticed something odd in my last theme song article. The Fresh Prince theme was a tad, longer than you may have remembered. That’s because it was written as a full song. However, the full version was used all of once and after that we got the truncated (but still awesome) version.

And this isn’t the only example of this happening. A lot of theme’s have extended, full length versions that were released as singles and even played on the radio. Some actually started that way, before becoming a theme song. Others were created after the show (and subsequently the theme) became so popular that demand for a full version prompted one.



There are a ton of these but to keep this from going on forever, let’s just talk about a few of them today. No specific order and only songs, we’ll get to instrumentals another time.




“Thank You For Being a Friend” by Andrew Gold
Let’s start with this little gem. We all know “Thank You for Being a Friend” from The Golden Girls. Did you know this was first a full length song written by Andrew Gold? It was re-recorded by Cynthia Free when it was adopted by the show.

Top 10 TV Theme’s Sung By the Show’s Stars

Last month I talked about awful Season 1 theme songs I mentioned how Charlotte Rea sang the Facts of Life theme that first year, badly. Thankfully that one was re-recorded but a lot of other theme songs are sung by the stars and the song does work and even becomes iconic.

Here are my ten favorite theme songs sung by the stars of the show themselves.


#10.Frasier
I’ve complained how annoying the lyrics are to this but outing that aside it’s always fun to hear Kelsey Grammar’s bouncy rendition of this theme.

#9.My Two Dads
Most don’t remember this show, and I don’t blame them for that, but it wasn’t that bad really. Greg Evigan starred and of course sang the theme song. And it’s sung pretty darn well, for a silly so like this anyway.

Five Things I Liked in “Hocus Pocus”

Some guilty pleasures are so lame, we can’t stop loving them! I’ve mentioned this movie here and there but never did a real discussion of it. So, since it’s the 25th anniversary this year, this is a good time.

 

I saw this movie in theaters when it came out July 1993. Why did a clearly Halloween movie come out in July? Got me. Maybe Disney was so excited about it they couldn’t wait. They certainly hyped it enough, with horrible ads that didn’t explain the plot at all. Just made it sound like the three sisters were here for wacky hi jinks. And some of the stuff in this movie is definitely silly. Like the stock bullies, big plot holes, and that idiotic zombie nonsense. But what works, really works in my opinion. And in fact it’s grown such a cult following that Freeform shows over and over in October.

 

So we all agree that it’s a guilty pleasure, at best, then what is it that brings us back every year? Well, here are five reasons for me anyway :





The Music

Of course Bette Midler is in the movie so we had to have a song. And “I’ve Got a Spell on You” is pretty good. It’s got a nice beat but isn’t ridiculous. But what is often overlooked is the rest of the soundtrack, which is also damn good. The music is great and really enhances the mood. I discussed composers earlier this year one name I overlooked was John Debney who does good work. The other overlooked theme is the song Sarah sings to lure the children which is, well, mesmerizing.

Five Movies with Way too Predictable Endings

 So this weekend I got to see the movie Small Foot with my little niece. It’s a nice movie, I was surprised with the story as I had not heard about it beforehand. What I was not surprised with was the “twist” in the end. I can’t explain without giving it away, and since it just came I wont do that, but let’s just say it was obvious.

To be fair most movies are a little predictable. I mean do you think we'll ever a movie where Superman doesn't save the day? But sometimes movies will have an ending so predictable it's practically told to you earlier in the movie. Or even worst, all you have to do is see the trailer to guess the outcome. There are plenty of these but I picked five which drove me nuts for their obviousness.







Autumn in New York

Some probably never heard of this one. It’s a romantic movie about a couple played by Richard Gere and Winona Ryder. They fall in love even though he’s a tad older. And that’s basically the hook. Oh, and she has a terminal disease. They reveal this in the trailer for the movie, brilliant choice. Any wild guesses how this one ends? If that’s not enough to keep you away, Gere and Ryder have zero chemistry.

Random Thoughts-Is It Ok To Still Like “The Cosby Show”?

Yeah I wont lie, I was one of those who did not want to believe the truth about Bill Cosby. Not because I think sexual assault or the like should be ignored or not taken seriously. But because I have been a fan of his for years, since before The Cosby Show (anyone remember Picture Pages?) so it was hard to accept. Not to mention the large number of accusers which is just, amazing. But a conviction is a conviction and while that number of accusers still seems large, you can’t deny the facts.

 

 

20 Sitcom Homes That Really Exist

So I spent two days talking about the famous interiors of famous sitcom homes. What about the exteriors? Oh yeah, you knew we’d get here eventually! Those establishing shots which give the home or apartment for our favorite sitcoms are very famous. There are even tours that will take you to them (and sadly I have never done one of them!).

Here are some of them. I decided to focus on the real life structures and not the shows which used homes on their studio backlots. So no Bewitched or Growing Pains, for example. And I tried to pick pictures from the actual series but as we’ll see not all are. Also like the other articles no in depth analysis on the architecture or stuff like floor plans, I’m just a fan.





Happy Days

I never really got why the Happy Days was so iconic since the establishing shots go by so fast we barely see the house. They’re also tight close ups probably to hide the fact the house isn’t in Milwaukee but Beverly Hills. Then I dug a bit and realized that in the early days especially we did see more of the house, and I’ve come to the conclusion I really need to watch these episodes again someday.

20 Notable Sitcom Kitchen’s

So yesterday I did living rooms, it was only fair to discuss popular sitcom kitchens next. And as you may imagine, pictures were even harder to find!

 

Kitchens in sitcoms can be an important room. On TV, these rooms are more than just places for the characters to eat. These rooms are often where the characters share what is going in with their lives, and in some shows we spend more time in the kitchen’s than any other room! Here are fifteen sitcom kitchens which despite their differences in size and decor, are integral parts of their respective shows.

 

Cosby Show

The Huxtable kitchen was always a great place, Cliff loves to cook and it kind of shows in the decor. But why was it pink? It would finally get changed in the final season. And yes I know the cast is in the pic best I could do. We'll have a few more too.