One Afternoon in 1973.

“Be glad I don't have a Blog”, I wrote to my e-mailing list on June 02, 2008, “... I'd fill it with stuff like this...”

Well, horror-of-horrors, I now HAVE a Blog… and, in view of the previous post concerning afternoon viewings of LOST IN SPACE (HERE), I am indeed filling it with “stuff like this”!

Don’t worry, I’ll stop the Seventies Syndication Afternoon Retrospectives right here… for now! (…But, know that they can always come back! Bwah-Ha-Ha!)

Here’s that old e-mail “Blog-ified” for your reading pleasure!

Be glad I don't have a blog... I'd fill it with stuff like this...

We should all do occasional oddball things because they can be fun, create or recreate good feelings, etc. This is “one of those things”…

I was off from work today, and just sitting around about 4 PM. And, for no reason in particular, I thought back to 1973.

It was a nice sunny day reminiscent of many of those late high school afternoons where I'd have an hour and a half of TV before working at the mall in the evening. I would spend that time watching BUGS BUNNY and LOST IN SPACE on Channel 5. (Now, FOX 5 New York.)

("It's mine, mine, mine! Down, down, down! Go, go, go!")

So, from my DVD rack I pulled that which would have been representative of such a day. "Ali Baba Bunny" (The best Bugs and Daffy cartoon that didn't involve different Hunting Seasons) and "Oily Hare" with the Rich Texan -- who, thanks to DVD clarity and Pause, I now know was named "Orvill Rich" (...an evil relative of Richie Rich, perhaps?)

These were two prime specimens from the package that Channel 5 would run over and over again for years on end. In this incarnation two Bugs Bunny cartoons were separated by a Non-Warner Bros. cartoon (usually a Famous Studios/Paramount/Harvey cartoon to form the half hour show. It was during this middle cartoon that I would change into my shirt and tie for work that evening. (Sorry, Famous / Paramount / Harvey Fans, but I had to maximize the time somehow! …And when the choice was between one of those and BUGS BUNNY, it’s just not much of a choice!)

For the same unexplained reason, LOST IN SPACE's Second Season episode "The Deadly Games of Gamma Six" (the intergalactic boxing matches) just seemed to be the one that would have been aired on a day like this -- so I pulled it, enjoyed it (without the bad and clumsily executed CUTS that were then a part of the "syndicated show experience", and relished my brief revisit to all those afternoons in 1973.

I just had that little window every day. 4:00 BUGS BUNNY. 4:30 LOST IN SPACE. Couldn't tell you what was on before or after. It went on that way for years before and since. It would change every summer to different shows. But, every September, it would be back exactly that way.

...And, with DVD, I can bring it back anytime I want to! Just gotta be home at 4PM for the full effect! :-)