Lassie was a TV series that
followed the adventures of a female rough collie named Lassie and her companions, human and
animal.
The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised
on Sundays from September 12, 1954 to March 24, 1973. One of the longest running dramatic series on television, the show chalked up
17 seasons on CBS before entering first-run syndication for its final
2 seasons. Initially filmed in black and white, the show transitioned to color during the 1960s.
The show's first 10 seasons follow Lassie's adventures in a small farming community. Fictional
11-year-old Jeff Miller, his mother, and his grandfather are Lassie's first human companions until
7-year-old Timmy Martin and his adoptive parents take over in the
4th season. When Lassie's exploits on the farm end in the eleventh season, she finds new adventures in the wilderness with a succession of
US Forestry Service workers. After traveling without human leads for a year, Lassie finally settles at a children's home for her final two syndicated seasons.
Lassie received critical favor at its début and won two Emmy awards in its first years. Stars Jan Clayton and June Lockhart were nominated for Emmys. Merchandise produced during the show's run included books, a Halloween costume, clothing, toys, and other items. Campbell's Soup, the show's life-long sponsor, offered two premiums (a ring and a wallet), and distributed thousands to fans. A multi-part episode was edited into the feature film, Lassie's Great Adventure and released in August 1963. In 1989, the television series The New Lassie brought Lassie star Jon Provost back to television as Steve McCullough. Selected episodes have been released to DVD.
All collies to play Lassie in the television series were male because male collies retain a thicker summer coat than females, which "looks better on
television." Also, the male is larger and a child actor can play opposite the dog for longer before outgrowing him.
The first canine actor to play Lassie was Pal, who appeared in seven MGM films between 1943 and 1951, and the two pilots filmed for the 1954 television series before he was retired. Pal was handled by Frank and Rudd
Weatherwax, and Frank Inn.
Eight generations of Pal and his descendants portrayed the beloved collie in more than ten movies and two television series, until the late 1990s. Lassie Junior, Spook, Baby, Mire, and Hey Hey played the role of Lassie in the long running television series. his son Robert became the handler of Lassie.
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FACT!!! The
Bad Boys home is definitely REAL. Below, find the original pictures when
Mom called the Bad Boys Home at 555-1212 and had all the boys (including
Dad) thrown in. Kelly was released early for good behavior (and tattling
on DJ who seems really mad now.)
A LABOR DAY SAGA: MY FIRST JOB - THE GREAT LABOR PAY DISPUTE
By Mike McCarty
Growing up, my first bona-fide job was with the Detroit Shopping News. I was a paperboy. I got the route from Sussex Avenue neighbor Mike Devine, who was going into Shopping News “retirement.” When he agreed to throw in an old red wagon, I took over the route, delivering the free shopper to every house in a sprawling, eight-street-by-three-block area. About 350 houses worth. At least this publication was not a daily. I delivered twice a week: Wednesday after school and Saturday morning. And two, sometimes three, of my brothers helped me. That’s where I ran into my first labor-management dispute.
Here’s the deal. I wanted to get done quickly to play baseball with my grade-school pals, so I convinced Dennis and Rick to help me. Each of us would deliver one-third of the route and we would divvy up the total pay – $2 per week. I would take $1 and they would split the other buck. Please, try to see it from my perspective. I was the owner of the route. Who took all the risk? Me. Who fielded the complaints? Me. Who supervised my mom, Dennis and Rick when they folded the papers the night before and put ’em in the wagon? Me. (Don’t roll your eyes, Ma, I helped fold, too.) Who had to pay another brother, Dan, two dimes to fill in on deliveries? Me. Sigh, I had to deal with all those subcontractors at my tender age. Therefore, I should receive the most pay. Case closed.
Well, it would have been closed, if one of my brothers hadn’t ratted me out to the MLRB (McCarty Labor Relations Board, which consisted of our parents.) The committee was quite unfair and declined to hear my testimony. And the very next Saturday, the route owner and his two regular employees each received 33 and 1/3 percent.
At least I didn’t have to fork over back wages.
BLAST FROM THE PAST - ADS
COMMENTS MADE
IN THE YEAR 1945!
(That's only 65 years ago!)
'I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $10.00. 'Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $1, 000.00 will only buy a used one. 'If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. 20 cents a pack is ridiculous. 'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 7 cents just to mail a letter. 'If they raise the minimum wage to $1..00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store. 'When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage. 'I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it. 'I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it in Texas.
'Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $50,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President. 'I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.. 'It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet. 'It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work. 'I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business. 'Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to government. 'The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on. 'There is no sense going on short trips anymore for a weekend, it costs nearly $10.00 a night to stay in a hotel. 'No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $15.00 a day in the hospital, it's too rich for my blood.' 'If they think I'll pay 30 cents for a haircut, forget it.'
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A METRO
PHOTO BLAST
Dan McCarty with Godparents Emma Schmelzer and Dan
Dohring
August, 1955
BILLBOARD
TOP 100 HIT SONGS
GUESS THE
YEAR THESE SONGS WERE HOT
.
.
My Prerogative - Bobby Brown
Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison
Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
Girl You Know Its True - Milli Vanilli
I'll Be Loving You - New Kids On The Block
Eternal Flame - The Bangles
Wild Thing - Tone Loc
Last Month's
Character
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NANCY
.
Congratulations
to: John,
Mike G, Mac and Jerry
Nancy is an American daily and Sunday comic strip, originally written and drawn by Ernie
Bushmiller. The character of Nancy, a slightly chubby and precocious eight-year-old, first appeared in the strip Fritzi Ritz about the airheaded flapper title character. Larry Whittington began Fritzi Ritz in 1922, and it was taken over by Bushmiller three years later. On January 2, 1933, Bushmiller introduced Fritzi's niece,
Nancy. Soon she dominated the strip, retitled Nancy in 1938. Fritzi Ritz continued as a Sunday feature until 1968. At its peak in the 1970s, Nancy ran in more than 880 newspapers.
Bushmiller refined and simplified his drawing style over the years to create a uniquely stylized comic world. The American Heritage Dictionary illustrates its entry on comic strip with a Nancy cartoon. Despite the small size of the reproduction, both the art and the gag are clear, and an eye-tracking survey once determined that Nancy was so conspicuous that it was the first strip most people looked at on a newspaper comics
page. Al Plastino worked on Sunday episodes of Nancy in 1982-83 after Ernie Bushmiller died.
The strip has continued to the present day, done by different writers and artists. These have included Mark Lasky (1983), Jerry Scott
(84-94), Guy Gilchrist (1995- ) and Brad Gilchrist (1995-
).
'I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $10.00.
