Rant #2,307: Big Man In Town

How was your weekend?

Mine was busier than I expected it to be. One thing after another got in my way as I tried to just take a break and relax, but it was what it was.

On Sunday afternoon, after helping my parents with one of their cars, my mother's car, which needed a new battery, I finally sat down to relax, although that would be a short-lived exercise, too.

I was turning the channels, and I came upon Turner Classic Movies, which was showing "Bye Bye Birdie," so without anything else to watch, I thought I would take in this film, which I have seen countless times before, including in the movie theater way back when in a double feature with "West Side Story," believe it or not.

Anyway, whenever I see this film, I kind of flash back to my youth, and one of the signature "coming of age" moments that I--and probably a lot boys my age--had when we were kids.

I never saw the movie during its first theatrical run--I was a bit too young--but when it was paired with the other movie, I was probably seven or eight years old.

At the time, I really couldn't get into musicals like this, and I don't know if I really got the film, but I certainly got the last two or three minutes of the movie, that's for sure.

Ann-Margret, who among other stars in the film is really the film's star--as it was a showcase for not only her acting ability, but her absolutely perfect womanhood, if you get my drift--comes on at the end of the film, sings the title song to the film, and then it is over.

But the filmmakers presented it in such a way that even for this seven or eight year old, it brought to light something in me which I certainly couldn't understand back then, but now, I look at it as a "coming of age" moment, when I discovered that yes, there was a difference between boys and girls.

And yes, I kind of liked that difference, even though I did not really understand what it meant.

It was as if the rest of the movie did not exist, and that few minutes of celluloid was the only thing I watched for the past two hours or so.

As it stands, it is probably one of the great closing segments in screen history, solidified Ann-Margret as a true star and the movie as a true showcase for her talents, and well, even when I see it to this day, it sends shivers up my spine.

Everybody--males and females--have "coming of age" moments, and I am sure that the ladies out there had them too. Mine kind of revolved around TV and the movies, and here is another one that I remember.

I am sure there were others, but these kind of stand out.

I was and always will be a big fan of the long-running TV sitcom "My Three Sons," and I watched the show regularly when it went from ABC to CBS and color in 1965 or so, so although it had a good life before that move--in black and white on ABC--the seven seasons it was on CBS are pretty much my benchmark for the show.

I kind of grew up with the show, grew up in parallel with Barry Livingston, who played Ernie on the show, and yes, I guess I was pretty jealous of him when finally, in about 1967 or so, a new cast member was added to the show, the first female regular role in the entire history of the series.

Tina Cole, who played Katie Douglas, the eventual wife of son Robbie, was an absolute revelation to this nine or 10 year old kid when she came onto the show as a regular member of the cast.

In the past, there was a certain type of actress that was part of the TV sitcom landscape, and they ranged from the slapstick of Lucille Ball on her various "Lucy" shows to the typical TV mothers that populated shows that I liked such as "Leave It To Beaver," "Dennis the Menace" and the like.

The women were basically tall and angular, had that real motherly look, and I guess they fit into the "mom" stereotype that we had back then.

And then there was Tina Cole ...

Blonde, voluptuous and with one the best smiles in TV history, this actress broke the pattern of even younger actresses who populated the TV sitcom landscape back then--think Sally Field or even earlier, Elinor Donohue--and her inclusion on "My Three Sons" gave that show new life, and it is acknowledged today that her inclusion on the show--and later, with the addition of Beverly Garland to the cast--probably extended its life for about five seasons.

I liked the show to begin with, but Cole's inclusion on the show made me like the show even more, although I probably did not know exactly why at the time.

And a couple of years later, when I had entered my teen years, the inclusion of another actress on a popular sitcom certainly perked up my eyes even more, and at this point, I am almost certain that I knew why.

I had been a casual viewer of "All In the Family," watching it when I did but certainly not watching it each and every week.

There were a number of spinoffs of that show, one of which was "Maude," where Bea Arthur played the polar opposite of the Archie Bunker character.

But like Archie, Maude had one child, a daughter, and that is what made that show, and this actress, into a "coming of age" moment for me.

Three actresses played daughter Carol on the show, and the only one who busted out ... err, stood out of the trio was Adrienne Barbeau. And yes, like Tina Cole, she was something different when she came on the scene, and the running joke for the past 40 years is that for 15 year old boys like me, the only two reasons we watched "Maude" was Barbeau, who played a strong willed liberal go getter wrapped in a outer package that was as close to a Playboy model as TV would allow at the time.

With her fantastic figure--which she often showcased in halter tops--and just simply overall sexuality in a time when TV was becoming more permissive--she was the perfect TV actress for boys my age.

Sure. some may have gravitated to "Charlie's Angels" and principally Farrah Fawcett, but Fawcett was all about the hair. Barbeau was all about the ...

Yes, teen boys can get carried away with their own emerging sexuality, but let's be honest about it, as Maude was campaigning for the latest liberal agenda she had, we watched the show for our own "liberal agenda," and that was Adrienne Barbeau.

Of course, there were other "coming of age" moments for all of us that are much more personal and private than the emergence of Ann-Margret, Tina Cole and Adrienne Barbeau, but just as personal touchstones, yes, these three ladies were definitely on my list of such moments.

I probably didn't get why, or at least fully why, way back when--even with Barbeau, although I do think by that time I "got it,"--but yes, looking back, those three ladies were the "it' girls for me, and millions of other guys my age.

I am sure that the ladies out there have their own "coming of age" moments, and you guys could probably add to my list, but it is fun to look back and reminisce about such funny things in our lives, isn't it?

By the way, I have to take a day off tomorrow from this blog due to some personal business, but I will be back on Wednesday full throttle. Speak to you then.