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[WARNING! DIN readers under the age of 22 (Born after 1980) might not get any of the references in this week's episode and readers between the ages of 22 and 32 (born 1970-1980) will only get the occasional reference. OH Boy when did being a Late 30-Something become Old?]
OK Campers!
What Time is it?
No, No not Howdy Doody time, Sherman you set the wayback machine back a scosh too much.
OK Dudes crank up the tunes on your brand new quad system, grab your foxy mamas and turn on those lava lamps. Yes ladies, gentlemen and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri, this week's Episode of Kirk's Knook is going to go back a few years, back to the time of those sickening cute "Have a Nice Day" Smilie faces, The Fonz (complete with his "Thumbs-Up" action), The Six Million Dollar Man, Charlies Angels, 8-Track Tapes and super tight designer jeans you had to lie down in to zip-up (at least the ladies did, guys generally didn't wear them as tight). If I'm not carefull this episode could end up being a "To Be Continued" two parter or maybe the Shark Jumping episode. (See "jumping the Shark" reference from Happy Days or surf to www.jumptheshark.com for more details) [Insert editor's comments here]
I admit one of my recent guilty pleasures is watching re-runs of That 70's Show on my local UPN station WDCA-20 weeknights at 7:00 & 7:30 PM (It's on Saturdays too but I miss those episodes), and catching an occasional new episode on Fox.
Watching that show gives me occasional flashbacks to my childhood, and adolescence, some would say I'm still stuck in the 70's. Well they may be right, I may be crazy, whoops can't quote too much or I'll owe Billy Joel a couple hundred in royalties. That show has been fairly accurate in some ways but not so in others, anachronisms abound. Look for the "Yatzee" game in the dark blue/purple box - cica 1980's? I just caught what looked like a poster for "Conan The Barbarian" which if my DVD is correct came out 1981! So maybe it was just a Frank Frazzetta Poster. Also there was one episode where they put on a record that was suposedly just bought by one of the kids and what do you know the jacket is well worn and NO shrink wrap oooppps. The show takes place in suburban Whisconsin in the mid 70's, starting in 1976 with the kids at age "17". The only thing that show seems to be really missing, unless Wisconsin wasn't integrated in the 70's, are Black characters with some stylin' huge 'fros. Maybe I've just missed those episodes, if not the NCAAP, and the some other extreme rights groups will get angry if they haven't already.
"Hangin' out,
Down the Street,
The same old thing,
we did last week,
Not a thing to do,
but talk to you.
We're all all right (repeat)"
Enough of this recent retro product.
Sometimes all it takes is one little thought to restore tons and tons of memories (ACK! who let Andrew LW's Cats out?). That is what got me started on this 70's kick this week, just a little thought. A little Background (Note I had to do a tiny bit of research): In 1973 there was an ABC Afterschool Special entitled "The Incredible, Indelible, Magical, Physical Mystery Trip". The basic plot was this mysterious cartoon character (named "Timer", although I think the name came later when he? was used in special nutritional TV commercial spots. "It's Time for Timer") who takes a couple of kids, a brother and sister into their Uncle's over-weight, smoke infested, just waiting for cancer, or a heart attack to strike body, to explain how the body works and to warn about dangers of unhealthy habits. It was a mix of cartoon/live action and at the time very impressive. Today it probabaly looks like those old wabbly 16mm films from the 50's that Mr. Boring "Looks-And-Sounds-Like-Ben-Stien" the chemistry/physics teacher would show and test you on. I think the modern equivalent would be a BetaMax VCR with major tracking issues, or a cheaply made CD-ROM presentation. But I digress.
ACK! It looks like I've spent way too much time with the exposition, and didn't get a chance to discuss those Good Ole' Boy's Bo and Luke Duke "The Dukes of Hazzard" saving their cousin Daisy (Who was played by Catherine Bach who also played a girlfriend of Bo's in the pilot episode I forget the character's name, then they made her a cousin hmmm makes you think) and jumpin' cricks with tha "General Lee" or that annoying but amusing laugh of Arnold Horshack in Welcome Back Kotter, which originally was just called "Kotter" it was changed after theme song writer John Sebastian had problems coming up with rhyming lyrics to the title. For more detailed info go to imdb.com Trivia for Welcome Back Kotter. Well that about wraps up this episode maybe we can peek inside Horshack's lunch box later, hmmm what was on that lunch box anyway? I think it was a superhero like Superman or maybe "The Super Friends" but I'm not sure...Oh Well that's just more trivia to research for later.
Thank You and See Ya! Next Week,
Kirk
"Commander Troi, you've got the Bridge, Geordie You're with me!"
~Data (Seconds after being left in command by the Captain) - Star Trek: Nemesis
Comments on, suggestions about and raspberries of dissapointment to Kirk's Knook should be emailed directly to me here at AOL and not to Editor TJ. Please be sure to mention the DIN or "Kirk's Knook" in your subject line. If you'd like to know a little more about me and see some other writtings of mine check out my site Nesredna's Knook over at Yahoo/Geocities.
Copyright © 2002 by Nesredna Notes a division of KAndersen Entertainment. All rights Reserved.
UPDATED NOTES: 10 February 2006: This Episode of Kirk's Knook appears mostly in it's original form. It appeared in TJ Maher's blog/newsletter/email Your Daily Irish News (Now called Daily Irish News The DIN for short). The original version had all the font faces in bold and in Purple. There also was no Knook Logo yet. The published version had the Timer cartoon character image, the original raw version didn't.
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