Casualties of Modern Technology (5 of 12)_View-Masters

Today, we are continue to feature two items which are still on the market, at least here in the United States, but it is a safe assumption that both View-Masters, which we are featuring here, and board games, such as Monopoly, are used less often than they were 30-35 years ago.

When I was a child in the 1970s, View-Masters were extremely popular, and there were 3-D slides for many popular tv shows and movies, such as "The Lone Ranger."

My mom, who is an antiques dealer, has also sold earlier versions of the View-Master that were sold at tourist destinations, including Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon. This form of the View-Master was introduced at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, according to Wikipedia.

In 1966, the products were merchandised with popular tv shows, including "Star Trek" and "Rowan and Martin's Laugh In."

Though they are found less often in the open market, Fisher Price still produces View-Masters, and there are slides with images from popular children's films, such as "Toy Story 3."

The used View-Masters we grew up with are available through sites like e-bay, and from what I noticed, they typically seem to sell for about $10 each.

The Rabbit Ears Quiz- Mork and Mindy (Entry 2 of 12)

Today, we continue our series on tv shows which infiltrated my developing years with a quiz question regarding "Mork and Mindy" (1978-82), which in my lasted much longer than the four seasons it was actually on the air.

Many young folks may not realize that 'Mork' was actually a spin-off of the very popular '70s sitcom "Happy Days." Mork, played by Robin Williams, visited the Cunnigham family in suburban Wisconsin during the fifth season of "Happy Days" in a strange episode entitled "My Favorite Orkan."

In spite of being a ratings bonanza during its first season, 'Mork' began to take a nose-dive in popularity during the show's third season. And, in the final season, Mork and Mindy were dubiously married.

Mork was from the planet Ork, and he was given instructions by a supreme deity named Orson. Minday was played by Pam Dawber.

Many people who haven't seen the show in years (it ran on Nick at Nite from 1991-95), may have forgotten that it was the rare sitcom to take place in a college town. So, we are asking for the name of that college town, where one also find a clock which is supposedly always accurate.

Your choices are:

A) Provo, Utah
B) Iowa City, Iowa
C) Boulder, Colorado
D) Lawrence, Kansas

Good luck, and sorry we have no prizes to give you, not even a cat toy!

SIDEBAR: I wanted to wish an Eid Mubarak to all of our Muslim friends, especially those living in Provo, Utah! Amazingly enough, I read that a surprising number of Muslims attend college at Brigham Young University.

And, though one may not associate UFOs with the Muslim world, there is indeed a UFO Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, which I have actually been to.

The Rabbit Ears Quiz (1 of 12)_ Wonder Woman

Today, we start our very first installment of "The Rabbit Ears Quiz" in which I will ask you the blog-viewer in the remote mountaintops of Bhutan various questions pertaining to television shows which I watched either during my childhood or early adolescence. In some cases, such as "Star Trek" or "Underdog," these shows may have actually before I was born.

But, that is not the case with "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman," which starred Lynda Carter, now age 60, who resides in suburban Maryland with her husband and family.

The show, which my sister and I watched a lot in reruns on those boring weekday afternoons when we were home from school in the late 1970s/early 1980s, originally aired on Nov. 7th of which of the following years?:

A) 1974
B) 1975
C) 1976
D) 1977
E) 1978

The answer actually surprised me a bit.

Carter is originally from Phoenix, and she is part-Mexican! According to Wikipedia, she told "US" magazine that she was disappointed that the show turned her into a sexual object.

The show that us kids just called "Wonder Woman" was based on the DC Comics Character of the same name (well, I think you knew that!). It aired for four years on two networks. The show was also very expensive to produce for its time and it lasted for 59 episodes, some of which you can apparently now watch for free on the Internet.

NBC apparently wanted to make a new Wonder Woman series, but they decided not to go through with production in May of this year. Ironically, NBC was the only one of the big three networks (at the time) which did not air the original series.

SIDEBAR: In an answer to our Road Trips Quiz, we believe (I alas misplaced the answer) that it takes B) 7 hours and 40 minutes to get from Lincoln, Nebr., to Madison, Wisc.

There is a great article entitled "The Shandy" by Akash Kapur in the current edition of "The New Yorker" which made me realize that a cow in India may not really be any luckier than a cow in Nebraska!

UPDATE: Oh good! It appears the image of Wonder Woman is back up; we have had technical difficulties with this entry!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Chico and the Man

Before I post today's musings, I must profess that my good friend Moviezzz, and we do really know each other, is MUCH better at tv commentary than I am, and one can see that on his blog talkingmoviezzz.blogspot.com

I don't know much about what's going on with tv, except when I overhear people talking about how disappointed they are that "Lost" is over with or who sang what on "American Idol."

But, as a kid, I watched tv day and night, and one of my favorite shows was the sitcom "Chico and the Man" (1974-1978), which appeared on my Christmas gag list (referring to dvds of the show). Like many sitcoms of the era, such as "Sanford and Son," the show had an urban setting and dealt with inter-racial issues.

"Chico and the Man" took place in a rundown garage in east LA, and featured the late Freddie Prinze, who would be Sarah Michelle Gellar's father-in-law if he were alive today, and the late Jack Albertson.

Alas, Prinze comitted suicide at age 22 after a bout of drug addiction and depression in 1977. Amazingly enough, the show continued for one more season without him.

The theme song was composed by Jose Feliciano, who is on the radio a lot this time of year for his yuletide song "Felix Navidad." Another singer Tony Orlando once appeared in an episode as Chico's look alike.

Scatman Crothers and Della Reese were also members of the regular cast.

Six episodes of the show, which has seldom been shown in reruns, are available on a compliation dvd through Netflix.

Silly Picture to Fill Space- Brady Bunch Lunchbox

Up until Christmas Day, we will be posting images from the items that were on my Christmas Wish List (satirical edition) that we posted last week.

We start with a Brady Bunch lunchbox. The sitcom series was popular circa 1974, and it has been in rerun heaven ever since.

For those of you who still prefer to buy gifts online (like your's truly), you might be able to find this or other novelty lunch boxes at Antiques and Beyond in Atlanta. If not, you can always buy your mom a quality lamp shade to make her happy!