E is for: Electra Woman and Dyna-Girl!

As I'm going down t.v. memory lane, the one aspect of television I used to love most was Saturday mornings. I used to get up at 7:00am just so I wouldn't miss Superfriends. Sitting there in my pjs, eating some Frosted Flakes cereal, I'd watch cartoons up until noon, before I had to go out and play.

One of my favorites was a live action, Batman knockoff by Sid and Marty Krofft called Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. 

Starring Deidre Hall (as Electra Woman) and Julie Strangis (as Dyna Girl), the duo posed as magazine writers when they weren't down in their "Electra Base" and working with Professor Frank Heflin (portrayed by character actor Norman Alden. Of course, this was way before Hall landed her gig on Days of Our Lives as Dr. Marlena Evans. Strangis, I found out, was the sister of producer Sam Strangis who, funny enough, used to work on the old Batman series. Norman Alden also had some ties to the "super hero" world, having voiced Aquaman in some of the original Superfriends (you remember, the show I would get up at 7:00 am to watch)

Anyway, the "camp" factor was high with this one and it was an all too obvious "homage" to the original Batman series in quite a few ways.

• Experienced crime-fighter with young sidekick who used advanced gadgets to thwart evil.
• All their crime fighting gear was prefixed by "Electra" (instead of Bat), such as the "Electra Car", "Electra Base", "Electra Coms", etc.
• Dyna-Girl's exclamations were "Electra insert situation here!", instead of "Holy insert situation here!" (a la Robin). She even smacked her fist into her palm, like Robin.

Even though the show only lasted for sixteen episodes, it's still a cult classic to this day. I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't tried to make a movie out of the idea.

Honorable Mentions:  The Electric Company, Emergency, Eight is Enough

Tune in tomorrow when I take you to a most fantastic place.

D is for : Due South!

The 90s, were an odd time in television history. It was right before the "reality show" craze, but during a time when "political correctness" began inching its way into our daily lives. Back then, the networks were still trying new and original stuff and, for my money, a little show called Due South was one of the best.

Starring Canadian actor Paul Gross and David Marciano, Due South told the tale of RCMP Constable Benton Frasier and how he came down from the Great White North in search of his father's killer. This show fell into the "dramedy" category due to it being, mainly, a cop drama but it also had little bits of comedy sprinkled in the mix.

As evidenced by someone asking Constable Frasier (just "Frasier" to his friends) how he came to be paired with street-wise detective, Ray Vecchio (Marciano) he answers in a "breaking of the fourth wall" sort of way...


"Well, you see, I used to live in the Yukon but I uncovered a plot that involved drowning caribou and then some men who were dressed in white came after me with homicidal intentions. It's a rather long story and it takes exactly two hours to tell, but the upshot of it is I was sent here. I think I embarrassed some people in the government." 

Gross and Marciano had great chemistry as two, total, polar opposites who became best of friends as they solved crimes together. Not only were the leads great, they had an awesome supporting cast, as well, including Diefenbaker....Frasier's pet wolf.

Who was deaf.

Yes, he was a deaf wolf.

Who read lips.

That's just the sort of show this was.

While Vecchio was a no nonsense, street detective with the attitude of "Do unto others before they do unto you", Frasier always put others first and embodied the stereotypes of the polite Canadian and the resourceful Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer. It's been said that, at first, the RCMP wouldn't endorse the show as they didn't want someone playing the corp as a buffoon but, after seeing the pilot, they did a 180 and became consultants to the show.

The first two season featured Gross and Marciano. The third season, Marciano left and Callum Keith Rennie took the role of "Ray Vecchio". Not as a replacement, but the story was the the "real" Ray Vecchio had to go deep undercover with the mob, so the "fake" Ray Vecchio (the character's real name being Stanley Kowalski) was there to make sure Ray wasn't missed. To be honest, in my opinion, when Marciano left the show it lost a vital party of the dynamic that made it the funny, quirky, well written show it had become in the first two season.

It might be pretty apparent by now, but I could go on and on (and on) about this show. I'll spare you my ramblings, though, and just end this post by saying that, in all my years of watching t.v., I've never quite seen the likes of Due South, before or after it.

It was an amazing show.

Honorable Mentions: The Dukes of Hazard, Darkwing Duck, Dark Shadows.

Tune in tomorrow for a blast from the Saturday morning past. It'll be Dyna-riffic!

C is for : Charlie's Angels!

I'm sure it's no surprise, especially after yesterday's hint, that "C" is for Charlie's Angels. The show that made Farrah Fawcett-Majors a household word as well as launching the career of Jacklyn Smith, Charlie's Angels was a p.i. drama revolving around three gorgeous, recent, graduates of the police academy who were given less than exciting assignments.

They're lifted from the drudgery of police work by Charles Townsend who hires them for his private investigation firm. Townsend is not only rich and well connected, but also the "mysterious" type. The only contact his Angels have with him is via a telephone (back before the days of Skype, of course) speaker box and his liaison, Bosley.

The original Angels were Farrah Fawcett-Majors (then wife to a certain Six Million Dollar Man actor) the 'sporty' of the three, Jill Monroe. Kate Jackson played Sabrina Duncan, the defacto leader of the trio while Jacklyn Smith was Kelly Garret, the tough, but caring, backbone of the group. Later seasons brought new Angels Cheryl Ladd (Kris, sister of Jill, Monroe), Shelley Hack (Tiffany Wells), and Tanya Roberts (Julie Rogers).

I've always loved p.i. shows and Charlie's Angels was no exception. Of course it didn't hurt that these gumshoes were extremely easy on the eyes. While it stuck to the formulaic police drama style of writing, it also had quite a few comedic undertones that kept thing on an upbeat note, regardless of the crime that week.

With this letter, I'm going to start doing "honorable mentions". Because, well, some letters of the alphabet just had so many cool shows attached to them and I couldn't showcase them all.  :)

Honorable Mentions:  Car 54 Where Are You, China Beach, and CHiPS

Tune in tomorrow and find out what happens when a Canadian Mountie and his pet wolf come down to Chicago.....

A Quick IWSG Post: April, 2014

Wow, totally forgot about it being the first Wednesday of the month.....time for more ginkgo biloba!

Anyway, many of us in the blogosphere know what that day means. It means it's time for another post to tell our fellow writers, as well as anyone else who'll listen, about our insecurities when it comes to writing.

The Insecure Writer's Support Group! (cue fanfare)

This one came to me a couple of weeks ago, as I was gearing up for trying to get back into the blogging swing of things. I started thinking about why I never really bothered posting blog links to my Facebook page and then it came to me. I have one of the most basic insecurities there is and I never realized it before. I'm not all that comfortable with friends and family reading what I've written.

I'm not even really sure why that is. I mean, they've always been supportive of my writing and have never given me any negative feedback regarding anything I've ever written.

Maybe I'm just uncomfortable with the idea that someone I know, one day, will say the equivalent of "Ugh...this sucks"?

I don't know.

I don't mind criticism at all, but I guess it might sting more coming from someone I know? Anyway, this is just one of those "things I'll have to work through" and we'll see how it goes.

Many thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for coming up with the whole IWSG thing, in the first place, and to his co-hosts this month Hart Johnson, Chemist Ken, Candilynn Fite, Terri Rochenski, Clare Dugmore, and Lilica Blake.....show 'em some love for their efforts! :) 

We now return you to your regularly scheduled A to Z month.

B is for: Bionic Woman

For those of your thinking today's "B" was for Brady Bunch, it's totally understandable and a very good guess. Of course, I had to throw a curve in there and, well,  I've always considered Lindsay Wagner a very "lovely lady" :)

Among the many of my childhood, television, "crushes", few ranked higher than Lindsay Wagner's, Jaime Sommers. I was always a huge Six Million Dollar Man fan (still am), so when Jaime Sommer's debuted, it was like icing on the cake.

Originally only meant to be a small role in a Six Million Dollar Man two-part episode, the response to Wagner and her portrayal of Sommers was so huge that the studio decided they had to bring her back. The only problem was that they had killed her off during her guest spots on SMDM. If Hollywood is anything, it's resourceful...especially when there are millions of potential viewers lined up. Sponsors love viewers and networks love sponsors, so Jaime Sommers, love interest of Col. Steve Austin and tennis pro becomes another bionic agent of the O.S.I (Office of Scientific Intelligence), posing as a school teacher on an Army base.

Later on in the series, they brought in a bionic (jaw and legs) German Shepard, Max, as a companion for Jaime.

Our family wasn't big on pets but, once, we got a German Shepard and I promptly named him (you guessed it).....Max.

Tune in tomorrow for more lovely ladies...three of them, to be exact.

A is for: Automan!

Welcome to my second foray into one of the most grueling (relatively speaking, of course) of all blog hops. The A to Z Blogging Challenge! As I mentioned in my last post (before I accidentally deleted it, that is), my theme this year is going to be "Old Television Shows". The focus on ones I used to love when I was younger. 

Along with some facts from each show, I'll try to give some insight, thoughts, and musings on just why these shows stick out in my mind....even after all these years. 

So, let's get to it shall we?

A is for...Automan!

Heavily, and I mean extremely heavily, influenced by the film Tron (at least special effects-wise), Automan told the tale of police computer expert Walter (Desi Arnaz Jr.) Nebicher who wanted nothing more than to get out of his cold, cramped, computer room. Coming up with a way to bring almost living holograms to the 'real world', Walter creates Automan (Chuck Wagner)....or Otto Mann, as he was sometimes introduced.

Automan and his pal Cursor (a little ball of light that helped Auto create such things as cars, helicopters, and motorcycles) helped Walter solve cases that your standard, non holographic, officer just couldn't solve.

As with most of the shows I'll be highlighting during this month, Automan was pretty cheesy by today's standards. The dialogue and formulaic approach were standard 80s fare, but I've always loved it. Even though it was done during a more "tame" time in television, I remember Automan still being a bit "risque'" in some of it's humor....especially when Cursor, who seemed to have a pretty good libido for a ball of computer light, showed up. I also remember Automan being pretty arrogant, telling Walter that on a scale of one to ten, he should consider him an eleven.

My favorite bit on the show was when Automan would drive Walter around in his holo-car (a Lamborghini, if I remember correctly) and turn a corner. Since it was made of, basically, hard light particles and, I guess, didn't have to follow every law of physics, it could take corners on a dime. Every time he did this, it would always throw Walter up against the window. I guess the Auto-mobile didn't have seatbelts.

If you remember Automan, you were truly a child of the 80s and this is just a taste of the type of series I'll be showcasing during this challenge. I hope you all enjoy :)

Tune in tomorrow for "B"....a story of a lovely lady, who... (it's not what you're thinking...I promise).