Question:I have several questions about "Captain Kangaroo." First, what was the name of the blobby guy who lived inside the Magic Drawing Board or whatever that screen was? Second, I remember the cartoons with Tom Terrific, but there was another Western cartoon with a character whose name I can't remember. Third, wasn't the guy who played the Captain also on some kind of Saturday morning show for a while?
Answer: Fred was the blobby guy who could only be seen on Channel One, which apparently could only be tuned in by the Captain at the Treasure House. He began appearing on "Captain Kangaroo" in 1965. The Western cartoon character was Lariat Sam, whose horse was named Tippy Toes. He first appeared on the show in 1962.
And Bob Keeshan, who played Captain Kangaroo, was also the star of "Mister Mayor," which ran Saturday mornings on CBS in 1964-65. Keeshan also did pantomime bits on that show in a regular sketch called "The Town Clown."
Question:I was born in 1981, and my mom named me Micki after a character on a TV show. It was a soap-type drama about a college town. Can you tell me the title and when it ran?
Answer: Methinks it was "Secrets of Midland Heights," which ran on CBS in 1980-81. The cast included Lorenzo Lamas, Linda Hamilton and Melora Hardin as Micki Carroll.
Question:I am a huge fan of "All in the Family." Was there an episode where Edith actually died or was she simply written off the show? I bought the DVD collections and haven't seen this episode at all!
Answer: There was no episode that specifically featured the death of Edith (Jean Stapleton). Her passing away was disclosed in the opening episode of the second season of "Archie Bunker's Place" in the fall of 1980, when it was explained that Edith had died of a stroke.
Question:There is a new show on A&E called "Intervention." The song they use to advertise it includes the words "When I was young, they looked at me and said, She's a good girl, she's a smart girl, she's a pretty girl." Also, there is a song in a commercial, possibly for a PC that includes the words "picture book, pictures of your mama, taken by your papa, a long time ago." Please tell me the artists.
Answer: The "Intervention" song is "What a Good Boy" by Barenaked Ladies, from the CD "Gordon." The song from the Hewlett-Packard printer commercial is the Kinks' "Picture Book," from the CD "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society."
Question: I am driving myself crazy with a memory of an old movie wherein a little girl meets a man who is nice to her and she tells him that she will hurry and grow up so she can marry him. The last scene I remember is a bad hurricane-type storm with the man and now age-appropriate woman struggling for survival in this storm. Can you identify this movie?
Answer: That's the 1948 film "Portrait of Jennie," with Joseph Cotton, Jennifer Jones and David Wayne. It's on video.
Question: On a rerun of "Becker" recently, I saw the heavyset guy from the show "Lost." I knew I had seen him somewhere! Can you tell me what else he has played on? I really like him on "Lost" and hope his character is developed soon!
Answer: The fellow is Jorge Garcia, who played Hector Lopez during the last season of "Becker." His other credits include a couple of low-budget movies and episodes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Rock Me Baby," "Columbo" and "Spin City."