Iconic TV Mom and Dad passed away

It wasn't a very good week for pop culture as two iconic TV characters died this week.

First Barbara Billingsley (aka June Cleaver) passed away on Saturday the 16th at the age of 94(!). While the show she's most known for (Leave It To Beaver) is very popular it wasn't one of my favorite shows. I watched episodes of this '50s show when I was younger and admit I was entertained by Beaver and Wally's hi-jinks. And I can see the show's appeal when it was on, but I don't think this show has stood the test of time. That's probably why you can no longer catch reruns of this show.

Then Tom Bosley (aka Howard Cunningham) died on Tuesday the 19th at age 83. His show Happy Days still remains a TV staple particularly because of the wildly popular character The Fonz. While Mr. Cunningham had great presence in the show and had many funny lines and banter with "Mrs C.", it was The Fonz who defined this show.

In fact a term "jump the shark" came from an episode of Happy Days and is used by many people today. This refers to an episode where The Fonz jumps over a shark on his water skis. The meaning of the term comes from a belief that a popular show gets to a point where it has peaked and it then goes on a downhill slide before it is cancelled or ends its run. There was a website jumptheshark.com which chronicled all of the elements involved when a show "jumped the shark". These elements include things like births, a new kid, singing, live audience and my favorite--Ted McGinley(!). I had not visited the site in awhile and now it looks like it has been sold to tvguide.com. But it still has some of the interesting tidbits and facts about many popular shows.

Anyway, back to Happy Days. My fondest memory of this show ironically is something that never happened during its run. Weezer's video for "Buddy Holly" featured some of the characters from the show particularly The Fonz and the dance he does. What a great homage to the show.

And my fondest memory of Barbara Billingsley wasn't from Leave It To Beaver, it was her classic scene from the movie Airplane. Enjoy the clip below. If you haven't seen it, it is one of the best parts although there are so many crazy scenes throughout the movie.

For the record my top three favorite TV moms are (in no particular order): Clair Huxtable (The Cosby Show), Louise "Weezie" Jefferson (The Jeffersons) and Edna Garrett (The Facts of Life) who technically wasn't a mother but was a housemother to the Eastland girls.

My favorite TV dads would be: Cliff Huxtable, Steven Keaton (Family Ties) and Red Forman (That 70s Show).

Goodbye Mrs. Cleaver and Mr. C.

Barbara Billingsley: "Stewardess, I Speak Jive"

Goodbye to MM...way too soon

On September 13 a tragic event happened that affected many people's lives. A friend of mine was killed in an awful accident that is still incredibly surreal. Witnesses claim a driver was texting and lost control of his vehicle while the driver claims he blacked out and struck her. I know the justice system will sort out what exactly happened but none of that matters as she is now sadly in another place.

She was a friend of one of my Mizzou buddies and I got to know her as well within the last few years. I have since found out many things I didn't know about her sadly after the fact. Everything I did get to know about her was great. She was always very nice to me and to others and always seemed to have a smile on her face. 

While at her celebration of life services I kept thinking about one of the last times I saw her. It made me smile because it made me think about how much she helped my daughter on a night that we both attended a children's show at The Fox Theatre.

She was sitting with her two daughters a few rows in front and to the left of my family. We spotted each other during the show and talked during the intermission. At a later point in the show balloons were dropped from the ceiling. Since our seats were under the balcony we missed out on all of the balloons.

Needles to say my daughter was very upset and I felt there wasn't anything I could do to help the situation. What happened next was truly awesome as she had nabbed multiple balloons enough for her daughters and one for mine. This of course helped me out as my daughter was now once again happy after being extremely upset just a little bit before this. I was very appreciative of this gesture at the time, but now that she has passed it made me realize how unselfish a person she was.

During her celebration ceremony all of the speakers more than confirmed her willingness to help out others. Her childhood best friend (S.D.) and her husband were particularly inspiring with their words. Personally I feel extremely lucky that I witnessed her helpfulness firsthand and am forever grateful to have known a wonderful person like she was.

Rest in peace M.M.

Hola Amigos! Como Esta?

Finally!

Here is the first entry into my long overdue contribution to the blogosphere. This is something I have been meaning to do for quite some time. I've wanted to get back into writing again as it has been awhile since my high school and college newspaper staff days. I just needed to find the time and then motivate myself to do it.

Originally I had planned my first blog entry to be something humorous in my life but I'm going to set that aside for future writings. Now that I have finally jumped right in, here's what is on my mind.

Enjoy!