A different sort of Try Again has suggested itself to me of late, and it’s not one I set out to do. Thanks to TEH INTERWEBS (sorry, I won’t do that again), reruns of old TV shows and a general enthusiasm for nostalgia, I often wander down pop culture memory lane. Someone posts an angry link about Strawberry Shortcake’s new look, or an actor on an old sitcom dies, and suddenly I’m on Wikipedia reading about continuity goofs on the second series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For four hours.
Anyway. All this means that grown-up-lady Amy has another look at stuff that mini-Amy was very familiar with indeed. Thing is, it’s been a decade since the throes of puberty, and now I see things with…more maturity. In short: hello, boys. I never realised you were so…heh. Yeah. Hey. Hi.
1. Larry Hagman (circa I Dream Of Jeannie)
I Dream Of Jeannie was in syndication before I was born, but like some sort of killer flu scare, it makes its way back every few years. Repeats of it always seemed to be on if I was at my grandmother’s house after school – probably because I’d turned it on. I jumped at the chance to watch commercial television, it was rarely allowed at my house. As a result, I would watch any old crap the second I got a chance.
In the here and now, Channel 9 has declared Go (possibly the most stupidly named television channel in the world) a living vault for all of its Sitcoms of Yore. It’s the circle of life: I Dream Of Jeannie is now on all the freaking time.
What I’m trying to say is this:
Sigh.
Oh, also this:
Hi Larry.
How did I not notice this? Actually, don’t explain. I’ve had the talk.
2. Paul Kelly circa 1988
I often get tiny bits of songs stuck in my head that don’t go away until I listen to the song in question repeatedly. This tends to make me want to listen to more stuff from the same artist or genre, and I fall into a loop of sorts. I was in a slightly daggy 80’s Australiana loop recently, and was listening to some Paul Kelly.
I would hit that.
It’s hard to find decent pictures of young Paul Kelly for some reason, so I’ll back my theory up with the source material.
Oh, you rock out in your white Chesty Bonds, Paul Kelly. I want to give you lamingtons under a Hills Hoist.
3. Most of the Disney Princes
Oh, shut up.
4. John Stamos (aka Full House’s Uncle Jesse)
I didn’t get to see too much Full House back in the day (I’m not going to mention how my mother was adverse to commercial television because I seem to be surprisingly bitter about it, going on the number of times I’ve mentioned it), but I thought it was SUPER COOL and VERY GOOD when I did. I remember taping one particular episode I’d seen written up in the TV guide – taping to watch on a weekend was okay if we wibbled through the ads. (Did anyone else use the word ‘wibble’ for fast forwarding/rewinding on VHS? On reflection it seems like the kind of word my father may have made up.) Anyway, this episode involved one of the girls campaigning to be allowed to get her ears pierced. I was in grade five and EXTREMELY interested in getting my own ears pierced, and considered the episode valuable research material. My favourite reading material at the time was a Babysitters Club book wherein Mallory…campaigned to be allowed to get her ears pierced. One track mind.
ANYWAY! I must have watched that episode over and over and over. After a while, it started to occur to me: that Uncle Jesse is a really cool guy. Like, a really, really cool guy. I wasn’t sure exactly why – I mean, I could see that he was handsome, but it had always just seemed a fact, a physical feature – like someone having eyes of a certain colour.
At this point I was going to find a picture of Uncle Jesse for you all. I was hoping for a picture of his powerful mullet. Google images provided me with possibly the most confusing picture on the internet, and I’m compelled to share it. It’s quite creepy.
GO AWAY OLSEN CREATURE YOU ARE MAKING SHIT WEIRD
Disturbed? Don’t worry, I have a palette cleanser for you. John Stamos is holding up rather well in the extreme old age of his 40s. Also, he might be a Disney prince!
- Me? Oh, not much, man, just hanging out. Yeah, at Disneyland. With Tina Fey. And some princesses. What have you been up to?
I can even almost forgive the hat. Almost.
1 Comment so far
Leave a comment
Amy Tries Again 
Man, Full House was awesome. Uncle Jesse was totally the spunk, especially when he sang on the show. ‘Cause, you know, he was a rock ‘n’ roller and sang with the Beach Boys and stuff. Even his early season mullet was cool.
I used to love I Dream of Jeannie too, and Bewitched – until I got a bit older and realised how terribly sexist they were. Women with magical powers either forced to serve their male “masters”, or forced to stop using their powers because it would subvert the dominant paradigm, etc etc.
Still, Jeannie’s nod was awesome, and much easier to replicate than Samantha’s nose wobble.
And I remember being really attracted to the prince character in Mulan. Mind you, I was about 19 or so when that came out, so that could be a little weird.
Comment by Girl Clumsy November 4, 2010 @ 5:26 PM