Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Special Delivery & Nick Rocks My B-Day

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while know that every year on my birthday I pick out my favorite special deliveries and post them for my birthday. This year is no different. Hope you all enjoy some of my personal favorites. Also, just a quick note. That is NOT my birthday cake, I googled “'80's birthday cakes” and thought this looked awesome. It didn’t have a name or age so I thought it was perfect. The cake creators are Cake Central.





Starship – We Built This City



Cyndi Lauper – All Through The Night



Toto – Africa 



Billy Joel – For The Longest Time



Dan Hartman (movie group The Sorels ) – I Can Dream About You



Bruce Springsteen – Glory Days



The Goodies – Funky Gibbon



Menudo – Claridad (2009)



Billy Joel – Tell Her About It



The Bangles – Manic Monday



Cirque Du Soleil – Alegria



Galileo: Dr. Who video



Selena Vive - Fotos y Recuerdos (Paulina Rubio)



The Bugaloos – "Lady, You Don't Look Eighty"



Unicorn Tales 2

Big Apple Birthday [0:21]
Alex and the Wonderful Doo-Wah Lamp [23:50]
The Magic Hat [47:17]
The Magnificent Major [1:10:51] 




Fame TV Series - Season 6 Episode 22 – Of Cabbages and Kings




Saturday, June 24, 2017

Classic Nick Rocks






Patty Smyth – The Warrior



Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes



Bangles – Walk Like An Egyptian 



Chayanne – Provcame



El DeBarge – Who's Johnny




In Search of Saturday

Welcome to “In Search of Saturdays" an advertising space I’ve designed to help our members find those long-lost movies, cartoons, TV shows, toys, games and anything else that we’ve all been looking for, for a very long time.

The instructions are simple. Post your personal “looking for” list in the comments and we’ll all see if we can help you find what you’re looking for. - This will be a group effort please.

If you can’t remember the name of a show or toy that’s alright, post what you can remember and maybe someone here will be able to tell you what it is. Also, please remember that if you are listing television shows or movies please let us know if you are looking to purchase these shows or if you just want to watch them online. Then we, the members of the group, will help try to help each other and go “in search of” those items for our fellow members.

A good place to start our searches is iOffer which, in my opinion, is better than eBay b/c you can find lots of shows there that you can’t find anywhere else.


MY WANT LIST
This is a list of the Classic Nickelodeon programs that I’m looking for to purchase. Please note that I am a private collector who does not copy and resell my collection. The videos and DVDs that I collect are for my own private viewing here in my home or my Mother’s house where I originally watched them. If you have any of these and would like to sell me copies – for my private viewing – please contact me at peggysueclay@hotmail.com Also, IF YOU CONTACT ME VIA EMAIL PLEASE PUT THE NAME OF THE SHOW IN THE SUBJECT LINE. Thank you.


*** NON-VIDEO ITEMS ***
Muppets Magazine 1982
People Magazine – no date available – Marc Summers’ car accident article
Any '80’s women’s or children’s magazines
Early to Mid-1980’s TV Guides


*** REGULAR PROGRAMS ***
Dusty's Treehouse
Hocus Focus
Kids’ Writes (other than the 6 episodes on youtube)
Livewire
Nick Rocks Video to Go
Spread Your Wings
Standby...Lights! Camera! Action!
Studio See


*** PINWHEEL CARTOONS ***
The Adventures of the Mole
Bunny in the Suitcase
Emily (my favorite)
Hattytown Tales
Magic Coco
The Magic Roundabout


*** SPECIAL DELIVERY ***
Beware, Beware My Beauty Fair
Clarence & The Ottaway (staring Billy Hufsey)
Kids’ Writes (have 6 episodes but would like more)
Mariposa
Silver City (The Righteous Apples special)




Thursday, June 15, 2017

You Know You’re Addicted to Classic Nickelodeon When / If...


- (For those with on-screen search) You still search for “Pinwheel”, “The Tomorrow People”, “YCDTOTV”, “Today’s Special” and various other Classic Nick shows.

- You ever wished you could jaunt, or had any other TP special power.

- You’ve ever wanted to go to London to search for the Lab or the Tomorrow People.

- You always talk in rhyme because Muffy does.

- You know the real meaning behind “hocus pocus alamagocus”.

- You can name all, or most, of the original cast of the TP. (I can yay!)

- You know that TP is the short form for “The Tomorrow People”.

- You didn’t like the 90’s remake of the TP.

- You were disappointed when the CW version of the TP didn’t include any of the original cast, and when they did they were under different names.

- You’ve started naming your pets, or children, after Classic Nickelodeon characters.

- To this day you are still afraid to say, “I don’t know”, or “water”, and when you do you look up and duck because you think slime or water is going to fall from the sky / ceiling.

- You spend your free time searching eBay and iOffer for Classic Nick stuff. (videos, games, books, etc.)

- You did, or still, have a crush on Jeff from “Today’s Special”.

- You actually know which one is Plus and which one is Minus.

- You ever tried any of the experiments on “Mr. Wizard’s World”.

- You remember watching music videos in between each show, this was BEFORE Nick Rocks.

- (For ‘80’s fans) You remember when Nick use to show more than just those crappy cartoons all through out the 90’s.

- (For ‘90’s fans) You remember what Nickelodeon was like before it became the “SpongeBob Square Pants” network!

- You remember the “nickelodeon song” that they use to play in between shows.

- You sit around thinking of ways to update “Pinwheel”, “Today’s Special” and “YCDTOTV”.

- You’ve ever done the “Hobo Bug Giggle Dance”.

- After watching the “Pinwheel Songbook” and hearing Ebenezer sing about his “lovely weeds” you’re out and about with your Mom, or your friend, and they are looking at different plants and mention something about weed control and you break out into song…

“Weeds how I love my lovely weeds
I attend to all their needs
They’ve my buddies they’re my weeds.
Weeds when you’re troubled my heart bleeds
All my care and whoa received
When I’m caring for my weeds”

- While you’re singing this they just look at you and laugh b/c they actually know the song and know that this is nothing unusual for you. (Guess that would make them a fan too huh?)

- You have a sound box collection. (Like Jake did on “Pinwheel”.)

- You campaign to have national “Les Lye” and “Don Herbert (Mr. Wizard)” days.

- You knew that Don Herbert was Mr. Wizard’s real name.

- You still have a crush on Christine (Moose) or Kevin/Alistair from “YCDTOTV”.

- You still have, or found on eBay, a “Double Dare” NES game. – And still have the system to be able to play it on! (I did find it and I have played it!)

- When you saw Marc Summers on “Unwrapped” you wondered why he wasn’t behind a podium reading off questions and why no one was covered in goop.

- You’ve ever built, or still want to build, your own “Double Dare” obstacle course.

- You’ve ever walking into a café and ordered a Barth Burger.

- You’ve ever made green slime.

- Not only did you make the slime you used it on your friends, or had them use it on you.

- You campaign to have a “show and tell day” at work so that you can take in different parts of your Classic Nickelodeon collection to show them off.

- You knew when, “it was just the introduction to the opposites.”

- You’ve ever said, “Duhhh I heard that.”

- You remember, “Who got you last.”

- You remember when “Pinwheel” was lunchtime entertainment.

- You know the significance of “Dare”, “Double Dare” and the “Physical Challenge”.

- You wanted to live on your own tiny planet with a talking rose like “The Little Prince”.

- By the end of the 80’s you could name the two shows Dave Coulier was on.

- You remember when “Uncle Joey” from “Full House” hosted “Out of Control”.

- You remember when you saw Dave Coulier on “Full House” and said, “Hey that’s the guy from “Out of Control!”” (I actually did that and I know others who have done that as well.)

- Your toughest lessons as a preschooler came from “Today’s Special”.

- When you meet someone named Jeff, Jodie, Sam or even Muffy you immediately start to sing the "Today's Special" theme song in your head so that you can remember their name. (This happened to me recently and it did help!)

- You go on Facebook and search for all your favorite CN shows then join every page and fan group you can find for it.

- When you can’t find a page or group for your particular show you start your own.

- You spend hours on eBay and iOffer hunting down your favorite CN shows. (I do this.)

- When you can’t find what you want you start hunting down private collectors and buy your shows through them. (I have done this several times and it was worth it!)

- You create a list like this to celebrate in your obsession!

- You start a CN Yahoo group, website and Facebook page / group.

- You still write fan letters to your favorite CN stars.

- While watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade you start to wonder what a CN parade would look like then start designing the floats and giant balloons. (Guilty)

- Every year on Halloween you dress up like your favorite CN character / cartoon.

- To celebrate Half-O-Ween in May (like Christmas in July) you dress up like your favorite CN character / cartoon.

- You hang out at, or ride, every roller coaster named in “Wild Rides” hoping that you’ll run into Matt Dillon.

- You program your cell phone to play a different CN theme song for every person on your contact list.

-Your default ringtone on your cell phone is the theme from “Pinwheel.” (Mine actually is.)

- You wonder if Smitty is still looking for the Admiral Byrd.

- You’re still hoping that Ebeneezer will full fill his life long goal to be on the front page of the "The Daily Noodle".

- You wonder if Silas the Snail is still trying to get to the other side of the garden, or if he’s ever going to make it to the snail convention.

- When you see the (then new) Energizer battery commercial it reminds you of the “Livewire” opening credits.

-You are friends with several CN stars.

-Someone asks if they can interview you for a new Nickelodeon documentary which will look back on the history of Nickelodeon. (I blogged about this not long ago.) 

-Your playlist is filed with music from Pinwheel, Today’s Special, Black Beauty’s theme, and so forth.



**NEW** You Know Your Mom is Addicted to 
Classic Nickelodeon When / If She...

-When you tell her it’s “John & Stephen’s” birthdays and she knows who you’re talking about.

-She asks you to with them happy birthday for her because she knows your friends with them on Facebook.

-She knows that a Barth burger is.

-She knows how to make REAL slime. (Not the versions they have out these days.)

-When you tell her that “Jake from Pinwheel” called you back she knows who you’re talking about and wants to hear all about it.

-She knows who Sam and Muffy are.

-On the day you’re supposed to go hang out with her she calls you and asks you to bring over Black Beauty and The Tomorrow People.


-She helps you put ideas together for your upcoming CN convention. (We’re working on it.) 


Sunday, June 11, 2017

Happy Birthday





Sending out very special Happy Birthday wishes to Peter Vaughan-Clarke (Stephen) and Nicholas Young (John) from The Tomorrow People.






Friday, June 9, 2017

Jake From Pinwheel Called Me Back!

Alright, I can’t really get into the details of this but. Sometimes last week I emailed Mr. James and, as always, when he answered me he added his phone number to his signature. So yesterday, Thursday, June 8, 2017 I picked up the phone and called him. I got is answering service and left my message. Then today, Friday, June 9, 2017, at 4:36 pm Mr. James phoned me back!!!

Honestly y’all, I had to catch my breath for a moment I was, and still am, very excited about it. We spoke about forty-five minutes and I must say, he is an absolute joy to speak to. His warmth and grace shone through the telephone receiver as none other. I am so honored that I had a chance to visit with one of my oldest friends whom I am just meeting for the first time. I am, at this moment, crying tears of joy as I write this. Happy tears 😊. My goodness…just…wow.


Please keep me in your prayers, it’s something good but I still need God’s favor and thank you for listening to my very, very happy story. 






Here’s What 'Double Dare' Host Marc Summers Is Up To Today

By Chris Snyder, June 9, 2017



Marc Summers hosted Nickelodeon's "Double Dare" for about a decade. The popular kid's trivia show included bizarre — and often messy — physical challenges as well as an elaborate obstacle course. Summers recently performed a one-man stage show about his life that has been turned into a documentary called "On Your Marc," which will premiere this fall at Alamo Drafthouses around the country. We spoke with him about his OCD, what it was like working on "Double Dare," and what people can expect in the new film. 

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On your mark.
Get Set.
Go!

Hi there. My name is Marc Summers. You may know me from "Double Dare." You may know me from "What Would You Do." Perhaps you watch the Food Network and watched me do "Unwrapped."

But I've been around for a while.

"Welcome to 'Double Dare.' This is the show where we run through a crazy obstacle course, and in the process win 8 fabulous prizes!"

"Double Dare" started on October 6, 1986, in Philadelphia, of all places. They had auditioned 1,000 people in New York, didn't like anybody, moved to LA. I was the first person to audition, and I got the job.

It was fun. We started off doing 4 shows a day, then 5 shows a day, and we got up to 6 shows in one day. Times 5 days, that was 30 shows a week.

The contestants were chosen by a contestant coordinator — such a great name — who worked in Philadelphia. And the thing that made us distinctive, over anything that was on the Disney Channel, was we used real kids. We didn't have the blonde-haired, blue-eyed a perfect child. Our kids had acne, and their hair was messed up. And I think the kids at home related more to the people that we had on our show than anything that was currently running on Disney at that time.

"Answer that question or take the physical challenge."

The big keyword was "physical challenge." You wanted to take a physical challenge, and the kids at home wanted you to take the physical challenge. And then after that, it was going to the obstacle course. You win 8 obstacles in 60 seconds or less, you go to Space Camp.

"On your mark. Get set. Go!"

Favorite physical challenge of all time on "Double Dare" was "Pies in your Pants." There was a catapult over here. You'd put a pie down, you'd shoot it up in the air, somebody had clown pants, and they had to catch 3 pies in their pants in 30 seconds or less.

The one thing that I had trouble with physical challenges, was pet food. You see, if you open up a can of dog food, I pretty much lose it. And so they kept trying to get me to do this physical challenge, and as soon as I walked over to the set, and there was all this dog food, I almost lost it. I puked, almost. And I had to go outside, and they had to change the physical challenge.

So here's the thing I didn't know when I started "Double Dare," is I had this little thing called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Now mine was about neatness and orderliness, but it was a little bit about staying clean and not getting messy. So here I am, age 34, finally got my first show on television. I didn't know that it involved all this mess.

So people say to me all the time, "Well you must have hated it." I didn't. You know, think about it. I've been around in LA for about 13 years, it was my first real job on television. So I was happy as hell to have it. And so the slime didn't bother me in any way, shape, or form. Now, after the show, did I want to get showered and get that stuff off me? Absolutely.

I think you're always a little OCD if you've had it. So I always say I'm 80 percent cured and 20 percent every now and then it sneaks back into my life. But very rarely.

James Taylor has a line in the song, "Fortune and fame, such a curious game. Perfect strangers call you by name." And that's it. You walk down the street and say "Hey 'Double Dare' guy. Hey Marc Summers! Hey Food Network guy!" So, you never get used to it. I can only tell you, it’s never comfortable.

We were in a restaurant not too long ago, and there was a guy who said, "Well, you remember me?" And I went, "Umm… no." And he goes, "Come on!" And I said, "No." And he goes, "The Bodacious Tatas?" I went, "What's that?" "That was our team name." I said, "Oh, you were on 'Double Dare'?" "Yah." He says,"You don't remember me?" I said, "How old were you?" "11." "How old are you now?" "30." "OK, let me figure that out." "11 to 30, uh yeah, there's a reason I don't remember who the heck…" And he got all bent out of shape. He got all angry with me that I didn't recognize him and the days he was on.

"I'll be asking you a question. If you don’t know the answer and think the other team doesn't have a clue, you can dare them to answer it for double the dollars. But be careful, because you can always double dare them back."

I always wanted to host shows, but I didn't get my first opportunity until I was 34. Prior to that, I was doing theater. I always wanted to be on Broadway, in a show. And one thing leads to another, and I was a stand-up comic, and I was a magician, and I was a game show host, and I was the food guy, and then I got hit with a couple of odd things. One was cancer, and the other one was a car accident, where I broke every bone in my face. So I cheated death twice, and I figured, well, if I'm going to do theater, now is the time.

So I did summer stock about 6 years ago. I played Vince Fontaine in "Grease." And I met a couple of guys who were young up-and-comers on Broadway. And I talked to them about doing a one-man show. And they wrote it for me, and we performed it last year at a place called Bloomington Playwrights Project in Bloomington Indiana. And then we did the Adirondack Theatre Festival. And we're now in conversations to take it around the country and also do it Off- Broadway.

So it involves many aspects of my life, prior to "Double Dare," after "Double Dare," the Food Network, and everything in between.

And currently there is a documentary coming out. It's called "On Your Marc," A little play on words of "Double Dare."

We just made an arrangement with something called Alamo Drafthouse. These guys have the best movie theaters all around the country. And starting in October/November, we're going to launch this documentary that was shot behind the scenes of doing a one-man show and everything in between. So should be very interesting.

Here's a question I get all the time. If they brought "Double Dare" back, would I do it. And the answer is: absolutely. Why not?

We did a 30th Anniversary show that aired last Thanksgiving. It got huge numbers. We did a live Facebook thing. I still do appearances around the country. There's no reason not to.

I did it from '86 to about '96. And then it ran in reruns til about 2000. Somebody else tried it for a short time. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for them.

For whatever reason, I'm always thought of as the guy who hosted that program. There are constant conversations going on about bringing the show back. Will it happen? I don't know.

"When you hear this sound… it means the game is over."

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Special Delivery – Tuck Everlasting


Even on the blog I’ve got to give a little shout out to the commercials and clips that made Nickelodeon so special in those early years. Here is a clip from Bill Cosby’s Picture Pages and a commercial from one of my favorite Special Deliveries that I remember when I was growing up Nickelodeon.


Picture Pages




Mariposa – Special Presentation – Commercial




X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X

Most people are familiar with the Disney version of Tuck Everlasting but I venture to say that none of them have ever seen the original 1981 version which, in my opinion, is much better than the remake.

The film is based on Natalie Babbitt's 1975 children's book of the same title and tells the story ten-year-old Winnie Foster (Margaret Chamberlain) who comes from a well-bred, strait-laced family. One day she gets lost in the woods, an attempt to escape her smothered lifestyle, where she encounters Jesse Tuck (Paul Flessa).

While visiting Winnie becomes thirsty but when she tried to drink from the spring Jessie stops her. He makes up a story about the water being bitter. Soon his mother and brother happen along [Mae Tuck (Sonia Raimi) & Miles Tuck (Bruce D'Auria)], they were to meet at the spring in the woods.

Much other surprise Winnie finds herself in an adventure when she’s whisked away by this strage, but kind, family. After a few days she longs for home but unbeknowns to any of them is the trouble they are about to encounter from the Man in the Yellow Suit (James McGuire).

How does it all turn out? Find out in this charming version of Tuck Everlasting.

Rest of the Cast
Fred A. Keller – Angus Tuck
Marvin Macnow – Mr. Foster


Tuck Everlasting



Sunday, June 4, 2017

Nickelodeon Documentary – I’M BEING INTERVIEWED!!!


A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the guys from The Orange Years, they are making a documentary about Nickelodeon and they asked me if I would be available for an interview! After a few back and forths I (finally) received a call from Scott Barber for my pre-interview. That’s right, yours truly has been asked to participate in an upcoming Nickelodeon documentary! Needless to say, I’m very excited. So, who are these guys? Here is their story from their Facebook page:

THEIR STORY
For millions of children and adults, the Nickelodeon Network is synonymous with growing up. In just a few years, the channel grew from a small local channel to an international phenomenon that helped shape a generation, led by Geraldine Laybourne, the visionary who turned the company into an $8 billion juggernaut. But what was the whole story?

The Orange Years journeys behind the scenes of the “kids first” phenomenonal programming to chronicle the unprecedented success of Nickelodeon, straight from the mouths of those who brought the classic shows to us as children. Filled with interviews from the actors, writers, and creators from all your favorite golden age Nick shows, the film offers a new perspective on Nickelodeon, from the humble origins of the channel deep into the SNICK years.

More than just a history lesson or a “where are they now?” special, the documentary explores the network’s revolutionary approach to storytelling, the impact it had on a generation of youth, and aims to find out of why these shows have stayed in the hearts of so many people.

Orange Years Website

Orange Years Twitter

Orange Years Facebook


The Orange Years: Nickelodeon Documentary Crowdfunding Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLUuRi0Hmh4