A very local death - a lady called Gena Davies, who has taken photos at every Brecon Jazz Festival from 1984 to last year. There's a spread of her photos over the years in the Brecon and Radnor Express this week.
I knew her through one of the local groups I was secretary for in the 1990s.
Jim Lovell, commander of Apollo 13, has died aged 97. I very much enjoyed the film which has served me well as an end-of-term Physics video for many years! (I discovered that if you start it just when the oxygen tanks explode, successful re-entry will occur right at the end of a double 40-minute lesson).
Jim Lovell, commander of Apollo 13, has died aged 97. I very much enjoyed the film which has served me well as an end-of-term Physics video for many years! (I discovered that if you start it just when the oxygen tanks explode, successful re-entry will occur right at the end of a double 40-minute lesson).
I remember the incident. Spent a number of sleepless nights watching it unfold via television reports.
In other news. William Webster died at 101. Jimmy Carter appointed him as the director of the FBI replacing Herbert Hoover. After he completed his nine year term, Ronald Reagan appointed him as director of the CIA in response to the Contra Scandal.
Biddy Baxter
A name that is probably familiar to all from the UK who were, had, or worked with children from the mid-sixties to the late eighties. She was the editor of the longest-running children's TV show in the world (Wikipedia) for all of those years - Blue Peter, of course.
Carter appointed him as the director of the FBI replacing Herbert Hoover.
J. Edgar. (But that's okay, "Herbert" didn't register as wrong in my mind until I googled the list.)
And J. Edgar Hoover's term ended when he died in 1972, under Nixon. He was followed by a succession of three "acting directors", with the next "full" director being Clarence M. Kelley, appointed by Ford in 1973.
Yeah, I think that was my first conscious memory of her as well. Don't remember much about the show, beyond that it played on Saturday mornings and dealt with a flying saucer. Apparently, it was later re-run as part of The Krofft Supershow(*), but even though I watched that show, I don't remember TLS as part of it.
I was in a rather odd position, pop-culturally speaking, of having been too young to see the original Laugh-In, but old enough to see many of the performers in other stuff in the 1970s and early 1980s, and hear people repeat catch-phrase like "Very interesting". I remember someone describing Ruth Buzzi as an actress who "plays an old lady who hits people with her purse".
When local Spokane TV started re-running Laugh-In the 1980s, it kinda filled in some blanks for me.
(*) As far as wealthy TV producers go, I feel kinda sorry for the Kroffts. Despite their habit of slapping their name on a buncha their properties, they never attained the same sorta household recognition as, say, Disney or Hanna-Barbera. Apparently, they had a theme park in Atlanta that went belly-up in short order.
Yeah, I think that was my first conscious memory of her as well. Don't remember much about the show, beyond that it played on Saturday mornings and dealt with a flying saucer. Apparently, it was later re-run as part of The Krofft Supershow(*), but even though I watched that show, I don't remember TLS as part of it.
I was in a rather odd position, pop-culturally speaking, of having been too young to see the original Laugh-In, but old enough to see many of the performers in other stuff in the 1970s and early 1980s, and hear people repeat catch-phrase like "Very interesting". I remember someone describing Ruth Buzzi as an actress who "plays an old lady who hits people with her purse".
When local Spokane TV started re-running Laugh-In the 1980s, it kinda filled in some blanks for me.
(*) As far as wealthy TV producers go, I feel kinda sorry for the Kroffts. Despite their habit of slapping their name on a buncha their properties, they never attained the same sorta household recognition as, say, Disney or Hanna-Barbera. Apparently, they had a theme park in Atlanta that went belly-up in short order.
Several of their shows can be seen for free on Tubi! ❤️
Yeah, I think that was my first conscious memory of her as well. Don't remember much about the show, beyond that it played on Saturday mornings and dealt with a flying saucer. Apparently, it was later re-run as part of The Krofft Supershow(*), but even though I watched that show, I don't remember TLS as part of it.
I was in a rather odd position, pop-culturally speaking, of having been too young to see the original Laugh-In, but old enough to see many of the performers in other stuff in the 1970s and early 1980s, and hear people repeat catch-phrase like "Very interesting". I remember someone describing Ruth Buzzi as an actress who "plays an old lady who hits people with her purse".
When local Spokane TV started re-running Laugh-In the 1980s, it kinda filled in some blanks for me.
(*) As far as wealthy TV producers go, I feel kinda sorry for the Kroffts. Despite their habit of slapping their name on a buncha their properties, they never attained the same sorta household recognition as, say, Disney or Hanna-Barbera. Apparently, they had a theme park in Atlanta that went belly-up in short order.
Several of their shows can be seen for free on Tubi! ❤️
I only really do YouTube, but I'm guessing you can see at least samples of all their stuff there.
I watched an interview with the Kroffts a few years back. They seemed to have pretty different dispositions, and the one guy seemed rather impatient with his brother.
One thing they mentioned was that they had once launched a lawsuit against McDonalds, claiming that Mayor McCheese was a rip-off of Pufnstuf. They lost, and I'm sorry to have to say I side with McDonalds. Mayor McCheese looks the way he does because he's an anthropomorphized hamburger, not because he's a copy of the Kroffts idea of a dragon.
Here in Oz many of us have been saddened by the passing of David Stratton. He was probably best known for his appearances in two TV programs reviewing movies every week; appearing first on SBS and later on the ABC. He and his co-host Margaret Pomerantz had lively discussions about all sorts of films and whether they were worth viewing (or not).
My husband and I used to watch them religiously and their conversations broadened our knowledge and interest in cinema. Vale David.
Yeah, I think that was my first conscious memory of her as well. Don't remember much about the show, beyond that it played on Saturday mornings and dealt with a flying saucer. Apparently, it was later re-run as part of The Krofft Supershow(*), but even though I watched that show, I don't remember TLS as part of it.
I was in a rather odd position, pop-culturally speaking, of having been too young to see the original Laugh-In, but old enough to see many of the performers in other stuff in the 1970s and early 1980s, and hear people repeat catch-phrase like "Very interesting". I remember someone describing Ruth Buzzi as an actress who "plays an old lady who hits people with her purse".
When local Spokane TV started re-running Laugh-In the 1980s, it kinda filled in some blanks for me.
(*) As far as wealthy TV producers go, I feel kinda sorry for the Kroffts. Despite their habit of slapping their name on a buncha their properties, they never attained the same sorta household recognition as, say, Disney or Hanna-Barbera. Apparently, they had a theme park in Atlanta that went belly-up in short order.
Several of their shows can be seen for free on Tubi! ❤️
I only really do YouTube, but I'm guessing you can see at least samples of all their stuff there.
I watched an interview with the Kroffts a few years back. They seemed to have pretty different dispositions, and the one guy seemed rather impatient with his brother.
One thing they mentioned was that they had once launched a lawsuit against McDonalds, claiming that Mayor McCheese was a rip-off of Pufnstuf. They lost, and I'm sorry to have to say I side with McDonalds. Mayor McCheese looks the way he does because he's an anthropomorphized hamburger, not because he's a copy of the Kroffts idea of a dragon.
The Kroffts won, actually. And the similarities went much more beyond the two mayors…
Early in 1970, the advertising agency Needham, Harper and Steers contacted Marty Krofft asking if the Kroffts would be willing to work with Needham on an advertising campaign for the McDonald's hamburger chain based on the H.R. Pufnstuf characters. Various telephone conversations followed to discuss the concept, and on August 31, 1970, Needham sent a letter indicating that the plan was going ahead. Shortly after, however, the agency telephoned to say the campaign had been cancelled.
Needham had in fact, won the contract for the campaign, hired former employees of the Kroffts to work on the sets and costumes, and hired the person who supplied the H.R. Pufnstuf voices to make the voices for several of the McDonaldland commercials, the first of which was broadcast in January 1971.[2]
I watched an interview with the Kroffts a few years back. They seemed to have pretty different dispositions, and the one guy seemed rather impatient with his brother.
One thing they mentioned was that they had once launched a lawsuit against McDonalds, claiming that Mayor McCheese was a rip-off of Pufnstuf. They lost, and I'm sorry to have to say I side with McDonalds. Mayor McCheese looks the way he does because he's an anthropomorphized hamburger, not because he's a copy of the Kroffts idea of a dragon.
The Kroffts won, actually. And the similarities went much more beyond the two mayors…
Early in 1970, the advertising agency Needham, Harper and Steers contacted Marty Krofft asking if the Kroffts would be willing to work with Needham on an advertising campaign for the McDonald's hamburger chain based on the H.R. Pufnstuf characters. Various telephone conversations followed to discuss the concept, and on August 31, 1970, Needham sent a letter indicating that the plan was going ahead. Shortly after, however, the agency telephoned to say the campaign had been cancelled.
Needham had in fact, won the contract for the campaign, hired former employees of the Kroffts to work on the sets and costumes, and hired the person who supplied the H.R. Pufnstuf voices to make the voices for several of the McDonaldland commercials, the first of which was broadcast in January 1971.[2]
For the record, $1,044,000 (the amount awarded to the Kroffts) in 1977 is equal to about $5,475,000 today.
Comments
I was correct that bonuses were the issue.
I knew her through one of the local groups I was secretary for in the 1990s.
I remember the incident. Spent a number of sleepless nights watching it unfold via television reports.
In other news. William Webster died at 101. Jimmy Carter appointed him as the director of the FBI replacing Herbert Hoover. After he completed his nine year term, Ronald Reagan appointed him as director of the CIA in response to the Contra Scandal.
A name that is probably familiar to all from the UK who were, had, or worked with children from the mid-sixties to the late eighties. She was the editor of the longest-running children's TV show in the world (Wikipedia) for all of those years - Blue Peter, of course.
link fixed - Piglet, AS host
Definitely on my "You mean she hadn't been dead for years?" list!
J. Edgar. (But that's okay, "Herbert" didn't register as wrong in my mind until I googled the list.)
And J. Edgar Hoover's term ended when he died in 1972, under Nixon. He was followed by a succession of three "acting directors", with the next "full" director being Clarence M. Kelley, appointed by Ford in 1973.
Yeah, I think that was my first conscious memory of her as well. Don't remember much about the show, beyond that it played on Saturday mornings and dealt with a flying saucer. Apparently, it was later re-run as part of The Krofft Supershow(*), but even though I watched that show, I don't remember TLS as part of it.
I was in a rather odd position, pop-culturally speaking, of having been too young to see the original Laugh-In, but old enough to see many of the performers in other stuff in the 1970s and early 1980s, and hear people repeat catch-phrase like "Very interesting". I remember someone describing Ruth Buzzi as an actress who "plays an old lady who hits people with her purse".
When local Spokane TV started re-running Laugh-In the 1980s, it kinda filled in some blanks for me.
(*) As far as wealthy TV producers go, I feel kinda sorry for the Kroffts. Despite their habit of slapping their name on a buncha their properties, they never attained the same sorta household recognition as, say, Disney or Hanna-Barbera. Apparently, they had a theme park in Atlanta that went belly-up in short order.
Several of their shows can be seen for free on Tubi! ❤️
I only really do YouTube, but I'm guessing you can see at least samples of all their stuff there.
I watched an interview with the Kroffts a few years back. They seemed to have pretty different dispositions, and the one guy seemed rather impatient with his brother.
One thing they mentioned was that they had once launched a lawsuit against McDonalds, claiming that Mayor McCheese was a rip-off of Pufnstuf. They lost, and I'm sorry to have to say I side with McDonalds. Mayor McCheese looks the way he does because he's an anthropomorphized hamburger, not because he's a copy of the Kroffts idea of a dragon.
My husband and I used to watch them religiously and their conversations broadened our knowledge and interest in cinema. Vale David.
The Kroffts won, actually. And the similarities went much more beyond the two mayors…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_&_Marty_Krofft_Television_Productions_Inc._v._McDonald's_Corp.
Plus this:
For the record, $1,044,000 (the amount awarded to the Kroffts) in 1977 is equal to about $5,475,000 today.