Kilroy finished, as well as Isn't It Shocking? and My Mother Was Never a Kid. Shocking is a quirky little TV that originally appeared on the ABC Movie of the Week...anyone remember that little jewel? Original films made for television, most of them forgettable, like Seven in Darkness and But I Don't Want to Get Married with Herschel Bernardi. However, the most famous entry was Steven Spielberg's Duel.

Isn't It Shocking? stars early M*A*S*H era Alan Alda as Daniel Barnes, the sheriff of the small New England town of Mount Angel (pop. 1325), where elderly citizens start dying at an alarming rate. Barnes' offbeat secretary is played by Louise Lasser complete with her Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman hairdo, and the inimitable Ruth Gordon plays Marge Savage, the crazy lady who lives out in the woods in a crumbling house full of cats. This was filmed in a real small town called Mount Angel, except it was in Oregon.

My Mother Was Never a Kid could be subtitled at my end "the only ABC Afterschool Special I ever enjoyed." Fourteen year old Victoria drives her mom crazy and can't believe, from the way her mom talks, that she was ever anything but a perfect adult. Then she gets clonked on the head on the subway and wakes up in World War II--and coincidentally the girl she asks for help turns out to be Cici, her mom as a fourteen year old. Funny story, and the WWII setting a plus. Cici is played by Rachel Longaker, who at that time was appearing as Aimee Godsey on The Waltons.

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 9:46:00 PM

Comments: Post a Comment