pop cultured

Back in 1974, Ronny Cox starred in a family comedy-drama series called “Apple’s Way”. The series was created by “The Walton’s” creator Earl Hamner Jr., and it was about a Los Angeles family who moves to a small town in Iowa.

 Cox played George Apple, the patriarch of the Apple Family. Lee McCain played George’s wife, Barbara Apple and their children were played by popular child stars of the time, Vincent Van Patten, Patti Cohoon, Eric Olson and Kristy McNichol.

Even though “Apples Way” featured an appealing cast, the show never got high ratings. Critics compared the show to a modern- day Waltons, and the corniness factor just didn’t go over well with audiences.  CBS cancelled “Apple’s Way” after 2 seasons.

 Paul Newman, the legendary actor and philanthropist, passed away over the weekend at the age of 83. Newman had been battling cancer for many years.

Paul Newman was best known for movies like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke and The Sting. In recent years, Newman did voice work, including the voice of Doc Hudson in the Disney-Pixar movie, “Cars”.

He married actress Joanne Woodward in 1958 and the couple sustained one of the longest marriages in Hollywood.

Newman’s love for car racing was legendary, but it was his homemade salad dressing that gained him even more accolades. In the 1980’s, Newman launched his “Newman’s Own” brand of salad dressing, salsas and pasta sauces. All of the profits from Newman’s Own are given to charity.

The death of Paul Newman marks the end of an era. He was truly a Hollywood legend.

If you were a child of the 70’s, you no doubt remember those commercials for K-Tel Records. These record albums were compilations of popular songs from the time, touting 22 original hits by 22 original stars. With album titles like “Fantastic” and “Out of Sight” the K-Tel albums were a sign of the times.

 I remember writing my mom a note when I was about 9 years old, just begging for the K-Tel album “Sound Explosion”. I didn’t ask for much back then, and I think my promises to be a “complete angel” were enough to get her to fork out the few bucks for the album. I played that album endlessly- it featured songs like “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” by Brownsville Station and Jim Stafford’s “Spiders and Snakes”. There were also tunes by the Chi-Lites, DeFranco Family and Sonny and Cher. My K-Tel album collection was an important part of my childhood in the 70’s.

Talk about a pop culture blast from the past!

 The phrase “jump the shark” is said to have originated from a Happy Days episode, where Fonzie jumped over a shark while on water skis. This precise moment, with such an over-the-top and unbelievable storyline, signaled the decline of the show. The phrase is now used to describe the moment a TV show begins to decline.

So, has this happened to Grey’s Anatomy? I watched the 5^th season premier last night. All in all, it was typical Grey’s Anatomy, with all its corniness, goriness and great Indie music. And yes, the patients talk in great detail about their personal lives to the Seattle Grace docs, but that has always been a staple of Grey’s.

But I’m sorry, Meredith’s dream about Derrick dying was so predictable! And if Denny makes one more appearance from the dead (okay, it was a dream sequence as well, but still!), I will have to stop watching.

Seriously.

Photo Credit: ABC

Ah! After a long and restful summer, my DVR will be getting a workout again this week. New episodes of “Oprah” started taping about 2 weeks ago. That in itself was enough to at least get me back on my treadmill in the mornings, because now I have something to watch (although I will only watch the light and fluffy episodes).

But now, as I look at my DVR’s Scheduled Recordings, I am full of glee. Grey’s Anatomy, Survivor, Desperate Housewives, Brother’s and Sisters, Private Practice. My DVR is set to record only new episodes and yay! — there are all new episodes coming on!

Forget about Labor Day. For me, the new television season means that summer is officially over.  And while I admit I’m sad about the end of summer, you’ll have to excuse me while I go dust off my DVR.

So today is my birthday and although that may not be big news for you, it is big news for several high profile celebrities. I have long been aware that I share my birthday with an unusually large number of famous people. A group of them are friends, like Barbara Walters and Michael Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, who all share this birthday and celebrate it together every year. Before his death, actor Christopher Reeve also celebrated his September 25^th birthday with them. 

Other September 25^th birthdays include Will Smith, Heather Locklear, Mark Hamill, Cheryl Tiegs and Anson Williams. 

 So Happy Birthday to them– and me!

It’s pretty much impossible to write a pop culture blog without at least mentioning, once in a while, The Hills stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag. Like them or not, this couple is everywhere. But what is with these two?

Besides soaking up every minute of their 15 minutes of fame- and then some- this duo manages to make it into the celeb tabloid magazines every week.  And that in itself is fine, I mean like it or not they are bona fide celebrities of the reality TV genre (I use the term “reality” loosely, though).

What gets me about Speidi is the fact that all of their photos seem to be incredibly staged. It must be hard to be them and not just be able to go out and live their lives. Everything seems to be a big show with them, even Heidi’s recent 22^nd birthday, where Spence surprised her with a pair of boots while they picnicked at an L.A. park.

Photo Credit: Pedro Andrade

Now here’s a real blast from the past! In the early 1960’s, Shirley Booth starred in the show Hazel, a sitcom about a meddling live-in housekeeper with a heart of gold. Hazel worked for the Baxter family– George (played by Don DeFore), Dorothy  (Whitney Blake)and  their little boy, Harold (Bobby Buntrock).

Never a huge hit with the critics, Hazel still earned a soft spot with viewers and lasted for 5 seasons.

For the show’s final season, the original cast changed and Hazel began working for George Baxter’s brother’s family. The show also changed networks- it went from NBC to CBS.

Hazel was one of those feel-good family comedies that may have had predictable storylines, but always a happy ending. Truly a pop culture classic!

In 1980 I fell in love. Or so I thought. The movie “Little Darlings” came out and I was 15 years old and I thought Matt Dillon was the hottest thing on earth.

For the past 3 decades, Matt Dillon has proven that he is a lot more than just a pretty face. While it’s true that his good looks got him spotted by a casting agent at his New York high school, he eased into his acting roles and quickly proved that he would become more than just a teen idol.

With a resume that boasts hit movies like The Outsiders, Singles, A Kiss before Dying , There’s Something About Mary and Crash, Matt Dillon has played everything from the troubled teen to the nerdy private detective.

Now in his mid-40’s, Dillon’s career is still going strong. He’s one of those rare teen idols who transitioned into adult acting roles without missing a beat.

Okay, so reality TV is a legitimate television genre. And you know I like to watch it, even though some of it is really bad. But come on, why on earth were 5 reality TV hosts the hosts for the 60^th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards?

Last night, reality hosts Ryan Seacrest, Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Jeff Probst and Howie Mandel were the, um…, hosts for the Emmy’s. This is a show that is supposed to pay homage to and reward the best actors and writers in the TV biz. So why would 5 hosts for unscripted television be the hosts of this show?

And why did Josh Groban sing an endless musical montage? Talk about bloating of an already over-long show!