You have to love YouTube. Okay, you don't have to love the 10 zillion fan video montages, bad lip-syncers, teenagers doing stupid things, or silly pet tricks, but you have to admit there's something incredibly cool about having a video trove of random sharing.
At YouTube, it's possible to stumble onto video clips that you never expected to see again, like classic TV show intros. These are just a few of the shows that I loved to watch when I was little. Take a look and you can probably see the Nick-at-Nite influence.
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
Dobie Gillis was a particular fave and I haven't met a person yet (other than my dad) who even remembers the show. The show followed Dobie and friends through high school, into the Army, and on through college. I adored Dobie's beatnik friend, Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver before he was Gilligan) and always thought Dobie went for the wrong girls. He was rather stupid for not falling for Zelda.
The Patty Duke Show
A show about identical cousins! Yes, identical cousins! Exactly alike, except for the accent and entire basic personality. What a wacky, fun idea. At least I thought so when I was a kid. Maybe it's because I knew I didn't have a twin sister, but the idea of an identical cousin magically appearing from some distant relatives in another country seemed like something that could actually happen someday, and then, oh, what wacky hijinx would ensue! (kids are kind of dumb) ;-)
The Addams Family
Morticia Addams. For awhile there, I wanted to grow up to be just like her. (See, kids are kind of dumb.) She was just so much cooler than the other TV moms. Okay, yes, a bit demented and negligent (she let her kids play with explosives and what not), but I loved her unflappable cool in the midst of Gomez and the rest. Plus, she could fence and snipped the blossoms off her roses to better admire the thorny stems. That was so cool.
Mr. Ed
The cheesiest show ever. Well, wait, maybe not. There were a lot of cheesy shows during that era. I did love Mr. Ed. He was the smartest horse I ever saw, much smarter than poor Wilbur who could never get Mr. Ed to talk in front of anyone else. And certainly much smarter than all the other people on the show who thought Wilbur said the things they heard Mr. Ed say when their voices were nothing alike.
Bewitched
I'm probably not the only little girl who grew up trying to wiggle her nose like Samantha. But if I did get it down and tap into my hidden witchiness, would I try to be "normal" like Samantha? Pfffhhh -- who wants to be normal!?! Besides Darren(s), of course. I could understand his wanting to earn promotions and the like on his own, but, Dude, your wife's a witch! Teleport to Paris, freeze time so you can sleep in, or at least stop doing the dishes by hand!
I Dream of Jeannie
The Bewitched/I Dream of Jeannie hour - the best magical hour on TV. Except that one was enslaved to a man and the other wore a skimpy genie costume and lived to serve her master. Hmmm, looking back it wasn't the most feminist of magical TV time. It may have been more of a 'hide your talents to seem inferior or you will lose the man you love' hour. Fortunately, I only remember seeing it as a 'wow, women are cool and have magical powers' hour.
The downside to YouTube is that you have a video trove at your fingertips. It leads to late nights surfing through old TV show intros and blogging when you should be sleeping. After all, being excited about shows that originally aired 40-some years ago is a clear sign of not being as young as you used to be.
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