Well, baseball done did it.
The sides put the season on hold while they bicker about billions of dollars.
Not a smart move for both sides, who in their final statements until they meet again—whenever that is—both finally included the word “fans” in their words that they used to tell reporters where they were in this mess.
Somehow, both sides think that the fans will benefit from their bickering, but I must be awful stupid, because I don’t see where the fans are anywhere in their thoughts at all, because if the fans were in their thoughts, this thing would have either been settled or at least negotiations would take place until it was settled.
And then to see the supposed baseball commissioner, Rob Manfred, biding his time perfecting his golf swing as if he hadn’t a care in the world …
No, the fans are not in his thoughts, they are not in the players’ thoughts, they are only in their own thoughts at this point.
So, since the fans are not part of this, I will do my own part in this mess, and that is, I will refuse to write anything more about Major League Baseball from here on in, until there is a settlement or some type of armistice on this nonsense.
The end for me. I have better things to write about.
Let’s start right now …
During this past weekend, when I had time to watch some television, I chanced on the always interesting Decades channel, a retro channel that my service provider recently brought back to our channel selections.
They had an interesting weekend set of programs, all revolving around Sally Field, the Oscar-winning actress who pretty much grew up before us on network television and then went onto greater heights as one of our favorite movie stars.
Yes, they showed the usual fare you would get with a Sally Field “binge” including “Gidget,” the jumping off point of her career, and her next move, the always fun “The Flying Nun.”
Those two shows were to be expected to be included in the binge, but surprise! surprise! her third sitcom before she made the major movie to the movies was also shown, and honestly, I hadn’t seen these shows since they were originally on NBC in 1973 … like most people, I kind of forgot they ever existed.
“The Girl With Something Extra” ran for about one season in 1973, and it didn’t do well,, even though besides Field, it had a really good cast with really good hair including John Davidson and Teri Garr—right before she went onto her own movie stardom.
But Field was the centerpiece of the show, as a 20-something woman who had extra-sensory perception—yes ESP—and could literally read the minds of close people around her, including her husband.
Included in the short binge—just a few hours of shows—was the pilot episode which set up what was thought to be the entire idea for the sitcom—and another episode which I will get to in a moment.
In the pilot episode—which was probably the best entry in the show’s about 20-episode run—Sally and John—yes, they used their real first names—met, had a short courtship, and got married, but John only found out while on their wedding night that his wife had ESP and could read every thought he had in his mind … including sexual ones.
Yes, this was not “Gidget,” and this was certainly not “The Flying Nun.”
You could see how Field was attracted to this show.
On “Gidget,” she played a high schooler who was just discovering the opposite sex, and they discovering her, and it was all done in above-board 1960s sitcom parlance where nothing went beyond a kiss and a hug.
But even though “The Flying Nun” was a huge success, Field belt strangled by the role, because it was not only a gimmick show, but she was a 20-something who was dressed in nun’s garb, and while there were suggestions of sort of a “third-person romance” between her and Carlos Ramirez, the Puerto Rican playboy played by Alejandro Rey, they couldn’t really act on that, not with Field as a nun.
Fast forward to 1973 after Field played on “Alias Smith and Jones” as one of the cast of that Western, but not the star, and you could see where the new “openness" of American TV, spurred on by “All in the Family,” certainly intrigued her when she read the script for this new show.
Anyway, moving from teen to nun to non-star of a show back to the star of a show where she played the All-American wife—even with a little bit of a gimmick—probably greatly interested her as a natural progression in heir TV career, but it didn’t interest many others.
The show was given the prime time slot after “Sanford and Son” on Friday nights, but it was cancelled because the ratings dip from one show to this show was incredible.
It was not a good pairing starting off the night with the wild comedy of Redd Foxx to this show, which was sort of “That Girl”-ish if that show had moved on to another season where Don and Ann actually got married.
In fact, in trying to save the show, the producers dropped the ESP angle in later episodes, and went for a strict “young-marrieds-with-great hair” motif as the show progressed into cancellation.
The later episodes of the show were pretty lame, and just think … if this show had been successful, Field might not have ever taken the giant step into the movies, so this program, even though it is pretty much forgotten, is a major footnote on her career.
And back to the shows … when they abruptly dropped the ESP angle, the shows really weren’t very good, but there was one episode which stands out as sort of a footnote of a footnote of a footnote.
In one of the later episodes, Don Knotts guest starred as a bumbling fellow, a guy who had absolutely no confidence in himself, but even with that type of problem, he saves Sally from falling into a ditch that she didn’t see while walking on the street.
They strike up a friendship, and one thing leads to another, and Sally and John invite Knotts’ character to a picnic to try to boost his ego with a girl who was, well, let’s say she had a questionable background portrayed on a G-rated show, and the actress portraying that character just happened to be Teri Garr.
Anyway, one thing leads to another, and Sally and John find out that Knotts’ character actually has a fiancée that he chickens out on marrying, a pretty blond who is actually very much like the Knotts character with her total lack of confidence.
That character is played by Arlene Golonka, who you might remember was a regular on the final years of “The Andy Griffith Show” when Knotts wasn’t there anymore and later was one of the stars of the show spinoff “Mayberry R.F.D.” where Knotts actually made one guest appearance as his old character Barney Fife.
Anyway, the two characters finally marry, and so this quasi-“The Andy Griffith Show”/”Mayberry R.F.D.” reunion takes flight on the show that drove Fields into the movie star we all know and love today.
I also later found out that many of the episodes of “The Girl With Something Extra” are on YouTube, and they are worth checking out, if for nothing else than to see Field, who is as cute as ever on this show, try to fight herself out of the paper bag of a bad show.
She is that good, the show wasn’t, but it was an important rung up the ladder for the actress …
And it certainly is better watching this than baseball, which has become a “Waiting For Godot” thing that I would think that most people are not in the mood for right now.
The sides put the season on hold while they bicker about billions of dollars.
Not a smart move for both sides, who in their final statements until they meet again—whenever that is—both finally included the word “fans” in their words that they used to tell reporters where they were in this mess.
Somehow, both sides think that the fans will benefit from their bickering, but I must be awful stupid, because I don’t see where the fans are anywhere in their thoughts at all, because if the fans were in their thoughts, this thing would have either been settled or at least negotiations would take place until it was settled.
And then to see the supposed baseball commissioner, Rob Manfred, biding his time perfecting his golf swing as if he hadn’t a care in the world …
No, the fans are not in his thoughts, they are not in the players’ thoughts, they are only in their own thoughts at this point.
So, since the fans are not part of this, I will do my own part in this mess, and that is, I will refuse to write anything more about Major League Baseball from here on in, until there is a settlement or some type of armistice on this nonsense.
The end for me. I have better things to write about.
Let’s start right now …
During this past weekend, when I had time to watch some television, I chanced on the always interesting Decades channel, a retro channel that my service provider recently brought back to our channel selections.
They had an interesting weekend set of programs, all revolving around Sally Field, the Oscar-winning actress who pretty much grew up before us on network television and then went onto greater heights as one of our favorite movie stars.
Yes, they showed the usual fare you would get with a Sally Field “binge” including “Gidget,” the jumping off point of her career, and her next move, the always fun “The Flying Nun.”
Those two shows were to be expected to be included in the binge, but surprise! surprise! her third sitcom before she made the major movie to the movies was also shown, and honestly, I hadn’t seen these shows since they were originally on NBC in 1973 … like most people, I kind of forgot they ever existed.
“The Girl With Something Extra” ran for about one season in 1973, and it didn’t do well,, even though besides Field, it had a really good cast with really good hair including John Davidson and Teri Garr—right before she went onto her own movie stardom.
But Field was the centerpiece of the show, as a 20-something woman who had extra-sensory perception—yes ESP—and could literally read the minds of close people around her, including her husband.
Included in the short binge—just a few hours of shows—was the pilot episode which set up what was thought to be the entire idea for the sitcom—and another episode which I will get to in a moment.
In the pilot episode—which was probably the best entry in the show’s about 20-episode run—Sally and John—yes, they used their real first names—met, had a short courtship, and got married, but John only found out while on their wedding night that his wife had ESP and could read every thought he had in his mind … including sexual ones.
Yes, this was not “Gidget,” and this was certainly not “The Flying Nun.”
You could see how Field was attracted to this show.
On “Gidget,” she played a high schooler who was just discovering the opposite sex, and they discovering her, and it was all done in above-board 1960s sitcom parlance where nothing went beyond a kiss and a hug.
But even though “The Flying Nun” was a huge success, Field belt strangled by the role, because it was not only a gimmick show, but she was a 20-something who was dressed in nun’s garb, and while there were suggestions of sort of a “third-person romance” between her and Carlos Ramirez, the Puerto Rican playboy played by Alejandro Rey, they couldn’t really act on that, not with Field as a nun.
Fast forward to 1973 after Field played on “Alias Smith and Jones” as one of the cast of that Western, but not the star, and you could see where the new “openness" of American TV, spurred on by “All in the Family,” certainly intrigued her when she read the script for this new show.
Anyway, moving from teen to nun to non-star of a show back to the star of a show where she played the All-American wife—even with a little bit of a gimmick—probably greatly interested her as a natural progression in heir TV career, but it didn’t interest many others.
The show was given the prime time slot after “Sanford and Son” on Friday nights, but it was cancelled because the ratings dip from one show to this show was incredible.
It was not a good pairing starting off the night with the wild comedy of Redd Foxx to this show, which was sort of “That Girl”-ish if that show had moved on to another season where Don and Ann actually got married.
In fact, in trying to save the show, the producers dropped the ESP angle in later episodes, and went for a strict “young-marrieds-with-great hair” motif as the show progressed into cancellation.
The later episodes of the show were pretty lame, and just think … if this show had been successful, Field might not have ever taken the giant step into the movies, so this program, even though it is pretty much forgotten, is a major footnote on her career.
And back to the shows … when they abruptly dropped the ESP angle, the shows really weren’t very good, but there was one episode which stands out as sort of a footnote of a footnote of a footnote.
In one of the later episodes, Don Knotts guest starred as a bumbling fellow, a guy who had absolutely no confidence in himself, but even with that type of problem, he saves Sally from falling into a ditch that she didn’t see while walking on the street.
They strike up a friendship, and one thing leads to another, and Sally and John invite Knotts’ character to a picnic to try to boost his ego with a girl who was, well, let’s say she had a questionable background portrayed on a G-rated show, and the actress portraying that character just happened to be Teri Garr.
Anyway, one thing leads to another, and Sally and John find out that Knotts’ character actually has a fiancée that he chickens out on marrying, a pretty blond who is actually very much like the Knotts character with her total lack of confidence.
That character is played by Arlene Golonka, who you might remember was a regular on the final years of “The Andy Griffith Show” when Knotts wasn’t there anymore and later was one of the stars of the show spinoff “Mayberry R.F.D.” where Knotts actually made one guest appearance as his old character Barney Fife.
Anyway, the two characters finally marry, and so this quasi-“The Andy Griffith Show”/”Mayberry R.F.D.” reunion takes flight on the show that drove Fields into the movie star we all know and love today.
I also later found out that many of the episodes of “The Girl With Something Extra” are on YouTube, and they are worth checking out, if for nothing else than to see Field, who is as cute as ever on this show, try to fight herself out of the paper bag of a bad show.
She is that good, the show wasn’t, but it was an important rung up the ladder for the actress …
And it certainly is better watching this than baseball, which has become a “Waiting For Godot” thing that I would think that most people are not in the mood for right now.
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