Rant #3,386: That Was Then, This Is Now

My family and I had a pretty quiet weekend.

We were invited to a barbecue on Saturday, and we had a good time there.

As for me, I ate so much there, and it reminded me how much I miss the entire experience of barbecuing.

We can't really do it now, but when we lived in a house, it was part of every summer we lived there ...

But that was then, this is now--

And now, I can report that my ability to put on my socks was not a fluke, as I have done it a couple of days in a row with little problem.

I have to do it a bit differently now, and also a bit slower.

But I can do it, which means that I am one step closer to normalcy.

Or, at least, my own version of my personal "new normal."

It is certainly not what I projected a few years ago for myself, but I can live with it--

And what a difference to where I was!

I hardly use my cane anymore, and I pretty much just carry it in my car for walking support where needed.

I couldn't imagine having to walk with a cane even a year ago, but again, that was then, this is now.

One thing that hasn't changed through this entire ordeal is that my sense of humor has pretty much remained intact, and I still.laugh at the same things that I did 20, 30, 40, 50 ... even 60 years ago.

I know that to be true because in the evening, when there is little to watch during the summer, I have gone back to one of my all-time favorite TV shows to watch, and even though I have seen each episode probably 100 or more times, I still laugh at this show the same way I did when I was seven years old.

"The Abbott and Costello Show" has stood the test of time during the past 70 years, and it is one of the funniest sitcoms ever.

You must completely suspend belief during this show, and go with the storyline no matter how preposterous it may be--and preposterous it is.

The show follows the antics of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, who, in real life, were among the most popular and successful comedy teams of all time, but here, under their own names, play two constantly out of work actors living in a rooming house whose landlord is Sidney Fields.

The boys' neighbors include gorgeous Hillary Brooke, who Costello is smitten with; Mike the Cop, played by Gordon Jones, who is the most inept policeman this side of Toody and Muldoon of "Car 54, Where Are You"; Mr. Baccigalupe, the very ethnic grocer, baker, and whatever job fits the situation, played by Costello's real life brother in law at the time, Joe Kirk; and Stinky, the man child in the Little Lord Fauntleroy suit, portrayed by Joe Besser.

Fields plays a gaggle of different characters on the show, often within the very same episode.

The show is really about the trials and tribulations of Bud and Lou within their own alternate reality world of Los Angeles, who are constantly out of work, and all the messes the two get in and out of on each show.

Each episode incorporates various routines that Bud and Lou made famous--including "Who's On First"--and the show was a major influence on Jerry Seinfeld and his own show.

Carol Burnett also cites it as a major influence on her mode of comedy.

And if you are a Baby Boomer who lived in the New York Metropolitan Area in the 1960s, you invariably watched the show at all hours of the day and night on WPIX Channel 11, a station that "The Abbott and Costello Show" called home for probably 30 years or so.

Last week, I was watching the episode where "Bingo the Chimp" was introduced, and I was laughing so hard that I was crying--just like I did 60 years ago while watching the same exact show.

In real life, Bingo was supposed to be a regular member of the cast, but he bit Costello, so the Chimp only appeared on a few episodes, but they are all hilarious.

Back to the show in general ...

The great thing is that the show is available on numerous streaming channels, everywhere from YouTube to Tubi.

But I warn you, the openings and closings of the show are often cut on these channels, but you can find episodes with these parts of the show left in at the Internet Archive, which also allows you to download each episode on your devices.

You can find the show there at https://archive.org/details/abbott_costello_the_vacation

Just so much fun on hot summer nights.

So while some things truly are "that was then, this is now," some things are "that was then, and things stay the same now."

Truly, comfort food for the mind, and for your funny bone.