This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of "Thursday Movie Picks", the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. This is the last Thursday of the month, so we get another TV edition, with the theme for this month being families. I grew up during the 1970s and 1980s, so it's not surprising that I've picked shows from that era:
Eight Is Enough (1977-1981). Dick Van Dyke spent his days like bright and shiny new dimes as the patriarch of the Bradford family, a family with eight children (nine in the last season as they adopted an older child, presumably in an attempt to boost saggind ratings). This one is actually based on a real family. The actress playing the original mother died a few months into shooting, so they gave Tom Bradford a second wife (Betty Buckley) and stepmother to the children.
Family Feud (various incarnations, although the Richard Dawson version is the best). Two teams of families compete to answer survey questions. Nowadays with Steve Harvey as host, all the questions seem to be written to get somebody to answer "penis". But the real reason I picked the show was to include this clip that shows you can get comedy just by having somebody have a brain cramp:
For this week's last entry:
Mama's Family (1982-1984 and 1986-2000). Vicki Lawrence took one of her characters from Carol Burnett's variety show and it was turned into a series in the early 80s. The first incarnation didn't do so well, but a few years later a syndicator needed programming, and Lawrence was willing to make new shows, although only a couple of the original cast members could return. Betty White and Rue McClanahan were in the original run, but by the time of the second run, The Golden Girls had become a hit.
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4 comments:
All great picks. I used to watch Eight is Enough as a kid. It wasn't my fave, but I liked it. I was a huge fan of Mama's Family, though. And Family Fued is the most inspired pick of the week. I still love that show. The Richard Dawson version will always be the best, but I do like the Steve Harvey incarnation. The only one I didn't was the Louie Anderson version. I will say that SNL parodied his version best, for whatever that's worth.
I used to watch Eight Is Enough all the time and hated that small kid with the bowl haircut...Adam Rich. So many from that show had major issues. The o e who played the first wife, as you probably know, was involved with John Travolta and he was devastated when she died. I loved Family Feud with Richard Dawson but, as a girl, I was always a bit creeped out with him kissing the women constantly. Mama's Family was good but I didn't get as involved with it as when it was on the Carol Burnett show when it was a skit.
Richard Dawson actually married one of the conestants. And he didn't sexually harass them the way Bob Barker did the Price is Right models.
Yes, you are right about Mr. Dawson and I know I give him a disservice and I forgot he married one of the contestants. Oh I liked him on Match Game also. Yup, Bob is very creepy.
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