This morning’s paper brought news of the death of Pernell Roberts, a/k/a, Adam Cartwright of Bonanza fame. Roberts’ first name is so unusual that I can’t think of anyone else who has it. As I recall, his cowboy character wore black, similar to another of my childhood heroes, Richard Boone’s Paladin.
Bonanza was on the air from 1959 to 1973 and along with pizza, was a Sunday night staple in my home. It was one of the first shows to be filmed in color and had a famous opening scene and theme music as the four main characters rode horses behind a flaming map of their ranch, the Ponderosa.
The show was very popular, perhaps because of the limited number of choices available in those days. I don’t know anyone who was around then who would not recognize the theme music today. I remember a high school classmate depicting the 13 original states on the east coast of an outline of a map of the United States he drew on a blackboard. He then moved his chalk to the center of the map and said, “and this is the Ponderosa,” as he filled in the blank space with white chalk while humming the theme music. It is still funny as I think back on it today.
I was pretty much beyond my cowboy years by the time Bonanza aired. But the western drama still holds a significant spot in my memory of the early days of television.
Dan Blocker, who played Hoss Cartwright, was the first cast member to die in 1972. It seemed quite a shock at the time because he was younger than all but one of the others. One of the funniest things I ever read was an interview of him in National Lampoon’s parody of a Playboy interview in a periodical they called “Playdead” magazine. The interview consisted of a series of questions being asked of Dan Blocker, each followed by a blank space (since he was dead at the time of the interview). I am still laughing as I think of it now.
Interestingly, each of the four main characters on the show died in a different decade: Dan Blocker in 1972; Lorne Greene in 1987; Michael Landon in 1991 and Pernell Roberts in 2010.
They are all riding on that great Ponderosa in the sky now.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Homeless?
Recently while driving in Brooklyn, I observed a man driving a corvette in the next lane. As he passed by, I could see his New York license plate, which read: HOMELESS
At first I thought maybe the driver was divorced and his wife got the house. Then I thought it was a cruel statement about the plight of many people in today's economy. Finally, I thought back to a TV show which aired from 1960 to 1964. It was called Route 66 and was about the adventures of two young men who drove across the country, stopping in a different small town each week to interact with the local population.
The young men, Tod Stiles and Buz Murdock, played by Martin Milner and George Maharis, respectively, seemed to be free spirits with no cares or roots. This was several years before the dawning of the age of aquarius. There were a total of 116 episodes filmed in black and white and I probably saw most of them, although I can honestly say I don't remember a single one - just the general concept.
Vanity plates were not available when this show aired, but if they were, I doubt they would have had a license plate that read HOMELESS. Yet this is what they seemed to be.
Route 66 may have had a special meaning to me because my family had driven cross county to visit the newly opened Disneyland in the summer of 1957. The interstate highway system was in its infancy then and we probably traveled on route 66 at some point.
Somehow the adventures we had were never quite as exciting as those of Tod and Buz. Until I got to roam around Tom Sawyer's Island, while wearing my holster and six gun.
Can you imagine a kid being allowed to enter a theme park today with handguns strapped to his thighs? Well, that's exactly what I did in 1957. There were so many cowboy shows on television that it was not unusual for kids to want to be cowboys.
Today, if a kid had a gun, they'd think he was trying out for the NBA.
At first I thought maybe the driver was divorced and his wife got the house. Then I thought it was a cruel statement about the plight of many people in today's economy. Finally, I thought back to a TV show which aired from 1960 to 1964. It was called Route 66 and was about the adventures of two young men who drove across the country, stopping in a different small town each week to interact with the local population.
The young men, Tod Stiles and Buz Murdock, played by Martin Milner and George Maharis, respectively, seemed to be free spirits with no cares or roots. This was several years before the dawning of the age of aquarius. There were a total of 116 episodes filmed in black and white and I probably saw most of them, although I can honestly say I don't remember a single one - just the general concept.
Vanity plates were not available when this show aired, but if they were, I doubt they would have had a license plate that read HOMELESS. Yet this is what they seemed to be.
Route 66 may have had a special meaning to me because my family had driven cross county to visit the newly opened Disneyland in the summer of 1957. The interstate highway system was in its infancy then and we probably traveled on route 66 at some point.
Somehow the adventures we had were never quite as exciting as those of Tod and Buz. Until I got to roam around Tom Sawyer's Island, while wearing my holster and six gun.
Can you imagine a kid being allowed to enter a theme park today with handguns strapped to his thighs? Well, that's exactly what I did in 1957. There were so many cowboy shows on television that it was not unusual for kids to want to be cowboys.
Today, if a kid had a gun, they'd think he was trying out for the NBA.
Nobody listens anymore
Whenever I order breakfast at a diner or restaurant, I always order "Coffee, black."
Invariably, the waiter or waitress will bring the coffee with those small containers of cream.
It may be force of habit for them, but to me, it just proves that nobody listens anymore.
Invariably, the waiter or waitress will bring the coffee with those small containers of cream.
It may be force of habit for them, but to me, it just proves that nobody listens anymore.
A Neat Trick
I read something interesting in a mystery novel recently.
A character was searching someone's apartment and he picked up the phone and pressed "redial" to see who was the last person the apartment's occupant had called. The character then commented that if you wanted to prevent someone from doing this to you, simply dial "O" and hang up as soon as it rings. Then, if anyone checks the redial feature, it would show that you dialed the operator.
Maybe Tiger should have read the same novel.
A character was searching someone's apartment and he picked up the phone and pressed "redial" to see who was the last person the apartment's occupant had called. The character then commented that if you wanted to prevent someone from doing this to you, simply dial "O" and hang up as soon as it rings. Then, if anyone checks the redial feature, it would show that you dialed the operator.
Maybe Tiger should have read the same novel.
Good Advice for the New Year
I purchased a three bar pack of Ivory soap recently.
When I took the outer wrapping off, the three inside 3.1 once bars separated. Each was individually wrapped. As I looked at each bar, I noticed faint printing on each wrapper. The bars were imported from Toronto, Canada by Procter & Gamble, Inc. and each contained a different statement in both English and French.
The three statements were:
True, natural beauty is in the simple things.
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
and
The road to a friend's house is never long and the directions are simple.
Seems like good advice for the new year.
When I took the outer wrapping off, the three inside 3.1 once bars separated. Each was individually wrapped. As I looked at each bar, I noticed faint printing on each wrapper. The bars were imported from Toronto, Canada by Procter & Gamble, Inc. and each contained a different statement in both English and French.
The three statements were:
True, natural beauty is in the simple things.
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
and
The road to a friend's house is never long and the directions are simple.
Seems like good advice for the new year.
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