LikeTelevision Blog

Friday, September 25, 2009

Sharon Tate as Janet Trego



Back when I was a kid growing up in Milwaukee, I loved to watch the Beverly Hillbillies. As a Wisconsin yokel, one could easily relate to the Tennessee hillbillies who were all too often taken as rubes by the hoitey toity of Beverly Hills, California. In truth, all too often, Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen) was as wise as old King Solomon. The show was a huge hit, in spite of the supercilious critics who loved to hate the show.

Well, as a young boy (age 6-8 years old) - I loved the episodes with Miss Jane's assistant Janet Trego, played by Sharon Tate. She was really pretty and had a wonderful innocence about her that I found especially appealing. I was way too young to understand all the sexual innuendo jokes and I was a big fan of her white rain helmet hair, a style worn by many of the young women and mothers of the day. And though I did not really know what it meant, I always thought she was really cool. I had no idea who Roman Polanski was or anything, I was just a kid.

And I will never forget the news one day (August 9, 1969) - when I learned that a lady named Sharon Tate, the actress who played Janet Trego on the show, was murdered. And worse - she was very pregnant when it happened, so her soon to be born baby was also killed in the murder. It is hard to describe how awful such things are in the mind of a young boy, but I remember it to this day. And I was a huge fan of The Beatles too, but for a long time, The White album, filled with songs like Helter Skelter and Little Piggies gave me the creeps for several years. Till I was a teenager - and had grown as creepy as the society I lived in. (for a sample of the times, check out Angels as Hard as They Come, Maybe I'll Come home in the Spring, or Born to Win) - Lots of people thought the "new age" of the 1960s with free love (see Harrad Experiment) and all the new way of thinking was really cool, but as a young kid, I am awful glad my parents were squares.

Anyway - Susan Atkins, the woman who killed Sharon Tate died today of cancer. She was 61. That is all the ink she is going to get from me today. Personally, I would rather remember Sharon Tate, and how I thought she was really pretty when I just a seven year old kid. Nothing nasty like so much of today's world. I just thought she was really pretty, and as one often does at that age, I imagined she was also quite a nice person. Of course I never knew her, but I am happy to remember her today.

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Monday, July 20, 2009

Man on the Moon Videos



I remember July 20, 1969 quite well. I was nine years old at the time, and was woken up in the middle of the night by my dad to watch something historic. I had no idea what historic meant, but I was old enough to understand that some men landing on the moon was pretty amazing. The TV picture was really grainy, even for the TVs of the day which were quite prehistoric compared to today's models. Heck, we often used tin foil on the rabbit ears (the antennae) to try and get better reception. We watched it on a big RCA color tv and it was the only tv in the house that worked well. HA - times sure have changed huh? Check out the newsreel video of the moon landing and imagine for a minute what that day was like for kids all over the world.



To mark this historic day - we thought you might enjoy a few classic movies and tv shows related to the moon, space travel, and aliens. First up - check out the classic serial, Radar Men From the Moon starring Clayton Moore, best known for his role as the Lone Ranger. In this serial, he plays a thug for the evil radar men from the moon. It is really funny, but in the day, it was actually supposed to be scary. Another classic on space travel is The First Spaceship to Venus. Again, this is funny, though it was not supposed to be. Speaking of Venus, check out this music video from the great Unknown Hinson called Venus Bound. Want more - no problem. Check out Planet Outlaws, starring Buster Crabb and Killer from Space is awesome! It stars Peter Graves and a bunch of aliens with ping pong ball eyes. If you are looking for something a little more modern, we would suggest Brother from Another Planet and a Peter Jackson alien classic called Bad Taste.

And from the classic tv channel - please check out the Burns and Allen episode titled Space Patrol Girls. FUNNY STUFF! There's also a few Flash Gordon tv shows to review, our top pick is Akim the Terrible. If you enjoy all things weird as much as we do - check out this old cheerios V-8 tv commercial offering a free spaceship game with your box of cherios. And oh yeah, have a V-8 with that too. and speaking of tv commercials - yep, there was an astronaut doll for young boys named Major Matt Mason. And let's not forget Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

There is so much space related video at LikeTelevision, honestly there's not enough time to write about all of it - just search for space and you will busy for hours. Or search for moon. And when that gets old, try a search for aliens for even more movies and tv shows from the great beyond.

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