Jim Steranko 1970s Marvel Covers

After years away from the comic book industry Jim Steranko returned to Marvel in 1972-73 illustrating a series of seemingly random covers - westerns, horror, and superheroes.

While these covers lacked the intricate trippiness of his 1960s work they were all dynamic layouts superbly drawn. The weird thing, for the most part he drew covers for two consecutive issues and that was it.



SHANNA THE SHE DEVIL #1 & #2 (1972) - Two gorgeous illustrations kicked off this series.

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CREATURES ON THE LOOSE #21 & #22 (1973) - These 1973 Steranko covers were far removed from the normal Marvel comics of the era when gape mouthed heroes and villains slugged it out to the death, all drawn in the John Buscema style.



FANTASTIC FOUR #130 & #131 - (1973) - Notice all of these Marvel covers were released during the end of 1972 and the beginning of 1973. (Steranko drawing FF in the 70s - let me luxuriate in that fantasy for a while.)  These two were inked by FF inker Joe Sinnott who did some knockout work with Steranko a few years earlier on Shield.



It was a pleasant surprise to see so many Steranko covers on Marvel comics during this short period - then no more!



NICK FURY AND HIS AGENTS OF SHIELD #2 (1973) - Steranko returned to his signature character for 2 new covers over reprints from the sixties. A short but sweet return to Marvel for Jim Steranko!



See more 1970s Steranko Covers here!

Judy Garland Christmas Special That Almost Wasn't

The Judy Garland Show's holiday episode in 1963, guest-starring daughters Lorna Luft, Liza Minnelli, son Joey Luft, Mel Torme, and Jack Jones, might be the quintessential Christmas special - but producers were minutes away from calling off the show because no one could find the star of the show.

Behind the scenes production turmoil and mediocre ratings made Judy Garland's Television City studio a tense place, or so it seems from what's been written - the MGM musicals vet still delivered more bang than any three stars could, even if she was a little edgy on the series' Christmas episode.

To further complicate matters, the night before the Christmas show taping, Garland (aka little "Dorothy" from 'The Wizard of Oz') had been on a major bender and couldn't be found when shooting was set to begin.



Mel Torme's guest spot had been a point of contention, he had a contract with Garland's production company guaranteeing him a certain number of guest appearances during the season. Judy wasn't committing to those dates and "The Velvet Fog" was very upset about it. Her introduction for Mel Torme on the program was noticeably awkward, she even calls him 'Mort' as in Mort Lindsey her musical director.

"As Judy went through her paces that afternoon, I could only look at her and marvel," Torme wrote in 1969. "How she had managed to return home, change clothes, do whatever she had to do to drag herself out of the sleepless abyss she must have been in and show up at Television City all within the course of an hour and a half was completely beyond me. Yet here she was, alert, alive, energetic, looking frighteningly normal. I thought of Johnny Bradford's description of her, 'The Concrete Canary,' and once again I realized how it fit her."



Whatever their backstage problems, together Judy and Mel sing (beautifully) Torme's classic composition The Christmas Song. It's almost like watching a blood sport as these two sit down to sing this majestic tune. First, Judy mistakenly calls Mel Torme 'Mort,' then flubs a line in the song. When Torme good-naturedly pointed it out, Judy purposely exchanged the word "reindeer" with "rainbow" - alluding to her signature tune. Great Stuff.



This was the ultimate sixties Christmas special - the art direction was superb and you've got Mort Lindsey conducting his first rate, brassy orchestra. The tension on the set seemed to bring out the best in everyone as they maneuvered around the spacious multilevel living room set - singing and dancing like their lives depended on it.

Read more about
The Judy Garland Christmas Show
and more Christmas Specials!

Romper Room Around the USA

Romper Room was an educational preschooler that was broadcast from 1954 until well into the 1980s in almost every TV market in the United States.

The program was sold to stations in two ways. A standard syndication version they could air 'as is' - or as a franchise with everything done locally, the most popular option. The series was developed by Bert and Nancy Claster who trained many of the local hostesses / teachers.

Below you'll find links to our exhaustive look at one of the country's most beloved children's shows including dozens of rare pictures and video you won't find anywhere else along with comments from some of the original Romper Room teachers!

Romper Room History Romper Room Memories Romper Room Around the USA New York City's Romper Room Romper Room in Spokane, WA Romper Room in LA Romper Room in Pittsburgh Romper Room in Virginia Romper Room in Phoenix Romper Room in Jacksonville, FL Romper Room in Chicago Romper Room in Arkansas Romper Room in Birmingham Romper Room in Rockford, Il Romper Room in Memphis

Romper Room in Portland, Maine Romper Room in New York Romper Room in Boston Romper Room in Chesterfield, MO Romper Room in Charlotte, NC Romper Room in Baltimore Romper Room in Evansville IN Romper Room in Witchita Romper Room in Hawaii Romper Room in Cleveland Romper Room in Harrisburg Romper Room in Lancing Romper Room in Iowa Romper Room in Orlando Romper Room in the UK

Remember the Magic Mirror? Of course you do!

First Episode of The Price is Right from Fall 1972

"A fortune in valuable prizes may go these people today if they know when... The Price Is Right!"
- Announcer Johnny Olsen



From 1956 until 1965 The Price is Right was seen both in daytime and primetime, a top 10 hit hosted by the late great Bill Cullen on NBC, later ABC. Seven years after the show was cancelled The New Price is Right (as it was originally named) starring Bob Barker became an immediate smash when it was revived and updated on CBS daytime in 1972.

Bob Barker had a marvelous way of bringing out the best in contestants, a skill he developed as the host of Truth or Consequences (airing in syndication in the sixties & seventies). This made Barker unavailable for the syndicated nighttime version of TPIR so game show veteran Dennis James got the job; that version only lasted 5 seasons.

Here's the very first episode of The Price is Right - boy, those 1970s prices are righteous!



That episode is a little stiff, being the first and all, so let's get a look at Bob Barker at his peak in 1975.  This was the very first hour long episode, once CBS realized more people were tuning in for the second half than the first they made it permanent in November 1975. In 1975 TPIR was 45+ minutes, now it's around 38 minutes.



 Here's a 1976 syndicated episode, see why I thought Dennis James was the wrong person for the job, too harsh. Where would this show be without the exciting music beds by Score Productions? I want to go around in life with that music playing behind me!




Lots more game show fun here!

Super Retro 1980s Christmas Commercials

Some merry old soul posted this 15 minute commercials mix from the 1982 holiday season including promos for cartoons like The Smurfs, phenomenally popular on Saturday mornings at the time. Look for The Gary Coleman Show, cartoon buffoonery with the diminutive troubled actor cast as an angel. (Well, he is one now, isn't he?)

On the top of every young person's Christmas list in '82 was the Atari play system, a leap ahead for home entertainment, the beginning of our video game culture. My how quaint 30+ years ago looks from here...



Every year Miller's Outpost would bombard Californians with their warm & fuzzy Christmas commercials - and they were well received. 'Homer and J.R.' starred in dozens of spots throughout the '70s & '80s. Here's one from 1984. This major jeans and leisure wear chain in the '80s, like The Gap saw sales drop precipitously when denim fell out of favor late in the decade. The company changed their name to Anchor Blue in the 90s and went out of business in 2011. The Gap, of course, got bigger than ever.



Acclaimed dancer Geoffrey Holder was the face and voice for the Un-Cola in 1984, a campaign that began in the 1970s.



Watching TV you could not escape Kmart commercials during Christmas. The spots had a deliberately cheap look but the slogan "Kmart is your saving place" was in use for a very long time.

 

Swatch was one of the hottest product lines in 1987, a selection of plastic watches that came in groovy colors and new wave designs. Eighties kids had to have their Swatch on. The Fat Boys starred in this holiday jam. There were so many clothing fads in the 80s - Guess, Ton Sur Ton, Member's Only... and those MC Hammer pajama pants just to mention a few.



This 1988 commercial is unintentionally hilarious. General Hospital heartthrob (really?) Tony Geary demonstrates perfectly why I thought those Member's Only jackets were an abomination. I would avoid at all costs anyone wearing one or even being in a place where someone was wearing one, no kidding.

 

If you watched Rudolph and A Charlie Brown Christmas in front of the TV with your family in 1986 you watched these commercial breaks. Did they ever retire that Extra gum jingle? It lasted an extra, extra, extra long time!



A grouping of December 16, 1985 commercials including one of the most memorable of the decade - remember Mikey for Life cereal? He'll eat anything.



You'll find a WORLD OF CHRISTMAS PAST
(all the way back to the 1950s) at TVparty!

History of the Thanksgiving Day Parades on TV

From TV historian Kevin Butler comes this bit of TV history dating back to the nifty fifties: 

Thursday, November 28, 2013 will be the 54th anniversary of the CBS All-American Thanksgiving Day Parade Jubilees. Featured on that first broadcast: The Gimbel's Thanksgiving Day Parade from Philadelphia; The J. L. Hudson Parade from Detroit; The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from NYC; and The Eaton's Santa Claus Parade from Toronto, Canada. (Eaton's Parade was always pre-taped in advance for later broadcast).



The main MCs for the parade's early telecasts were Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan), Mr. Green Jeans (Hugh Lumpy Brannum) Gus (Cosmo) Allegretti's puppets Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit. The group viewed the parades via a giant TV monitor which The Captain called "The Magic Picture Window Screen."

On his last parade broadcast in November of 1965 Captain Kangaroo's co-host was ventriloquist and entertainer Shari Lewis.


 
(The Detroit-based commentators were Dallas Townsend and Bob Murphy in 1962.) 

Other hosts for late-1960s / '70s / '80s parade telecasts were Peter Graves (when he was just beginning his stint as Jim Phelps on "Mission Impossible"); Bob Barker; Kukla, Fran (Allison) and Ollie with The Kuklapolitan Player Puppets; The Bil Baird Puppets; William Conrad, and Larry Hagman. With the exception of Kuklapolitans, Mr. Barker and The Bil Baird Puppets, the other hosts worked against a living room to give the viewers the feeling that they were sharing their holidays with friends.

Many well-known performers and personalities served as the on the street commentators for the parade broadcasts: CBS newsmen Jack Whitaker and Gene Crane, Valerie Bertinelli ("One Day At A Time"), Danielle Brisebois ("All In The Family" and "Archie Bunker's Place"), Sorrell Booke ("The Dukes Of Hazard"), The Hudson Brothers, Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley, and Kevin Frasier ("Kojak") all commented over The Gimbel's Thanksgiving Day Parades from Philly.

Esther Rolle & John Amos ("Good Times"), Linda Lavin ("Alice"), Ned Beatty, and Captain Kangaroo (Mr. Keeshan) and Kathy Garver ("Family Affair") were commentators for the J. L. Hudson Parades; Bob Barker and Rob Reiner commented on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades" from NYC and Michael Lerned , Art & Jack Linkletter and Bob Denver, Herschel Bernardi, Jim Backus ("Gilligan's Island") introduced the Eaton's Santa Claus Parades from Toronto.

When the Eaton's Santa Claus Parades were dropped from the broadcasts, CBS TV acquired the rights to telecast "The Hawaiian Floral Parades" from the city of Honolulu. Loretta Swit ("M*A*S*H") and Gregory Harrison ("Trapper John, MD") hosted one parade telecast with the intros pre-filmed by actor Jack Lord (who was still playing Police Lt. Steve McGarrett on "Hawaii Five O").

Video from the early parades is hard to come by. We only have home movie footage of a fifties era Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - after all the broadcast was live and there were no VCRs.



Here's The Santa Claus Lane Parade from November, 1960 with appearances by Los Angeles local TV stars Skipper Frank Herman, Chucko The Clown, Sheriff John Rovick, Don Defore, Patty McCormick, "Bozo" (Vance Colvig), Francis X. Bushman and Soupy Sales.

In 1972 ABC aired it's Saturday morning shows on Thanksgiving and the Friday after to the welcome delight of kids home from school and flustered moms that wanted them out of her hair.

 READ MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF 
THE THANKSGIVING DAY PARADES ON TV
AND WATCH MORE RARE VIDEO! 

Andy Kaufman is Alive? Says His Brother, Not Me.

According to The Gothamist comedian Andy Kaufman is still alive, living in obscurity raising a family. This news comes from Andy's brother and his alleged daughter.

As someone who followed Andy Kaufman's career from the start I'll tell you why this is highly unlikely. For one, a person like that can't go from being the most rabid publicity seeker on the planet - remember his wrestling bits? - and quit that cold turkey. Not for 3 decades. Ten years living out the hoax that he's dead? For a guy like Andy Kaufman, I could see that... almost.

For another, residual checks from the shows he did, where did/are they going? To his estate, his heirs? What responsible family man walks away from income like that? What could he possibly be doing for a living, working in an office somewhere? Certainly not performing and he was a consummate performer. It was in his DNA.

No one recognized him the first few years? Why would his brother 'out' him as opposed to a more splashy return by Andy himself? Too many questions. No doubt Andy would have loved the spate of publicity this latest 'Andy Is Alive Sighting' will inevitably bring -  like Bigfoot when he sees his face on the Enquirer every year.

Read the story for yourself and decide.

More Classic TV fun at TVparty!

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