What Do Luke Skywalker and Buddy Holly Have In Common?

 

Hello, one and all, it’s Mrs. Crankipants, and unless you’re in a coma or think V.O. is part of a complete breakfast, you know it’s that time of year again!. It’s the Fall! If you’re a parent, you’re probably dancing a merry little jig. If you are a kid, you are probably depressed; possibly cutting yourself in secret places in the bathroom, and/or planning your wardrobe appropriately.

Don’t sweat it, kid! You’re not all alone. I was miserable when school started, too. The Magna Carta, equilateral triangles, volley ball in the girl’s gymnasium. Sheesh! I was catatonic! The only things that got me through were my Bonnie Belle Lip Smackers and the NEW FALL LINEUP ON ABC!


Having watched that, I’m not sure how I made it through 1974 to 1975. From the looks of it, ABC scarcely made it through themselves. Notice that the people in the beginning of this promo are doing everything and any thing other than watching TV. With a lineup like this, there were ample reasons. If all I had to look forward to was a Cher-less Sonny in The Sonny Comedy Revue, I would have taken up basket weaving or macrame or possibly studied harder. Fortunately there were two other competing networks at the time.

What’s weird about ABC’s lineup back in the Fall of 1974 is that practically every show they rolled out was a failure and was soon canceled. People fondly remember The Night Stalker and my personal favorite, Get Christie Love, but both got the axe. That’s My Mama did get picked up for one more season, but the rest of new lineup was packed with failure.

It’s funny how nostalgia always wears rose colored glasses and we all remember the hits. Everybody remembers Happy Days which was continuing at that time, but nobody gets those warm and fuzzy feelings over the Billy Jack knock-off Nakia or the tragically unfunny Where’s the Fire? Not every program was classic in the good old days. There was an incredible abundance of crap.

On the bright side, ABC made some wonderful made-for-television movies. If I had my way, I would have a cable channel that showed noting but Made-for-TV movies!

Okay, so what did Buddy Holly and Luke Skywalker have in common?

They were the Texas Wheelers!

At the time, Gary Busey and Mark Hamill were probably overjoyed to score a regular TV gig. There’s nothing like a regular paycheck to starving actors. Then they got that phone call from somebody on the production staff telling them that they needn’t bother showing up tomorrow. Of course they both went on to better things.

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5 Responses to What Do Luke Skywalker and Buddy Holly Have In Common?

  1. JT says:

    The Sonny Comedy Revue was a REAL show ?

    Man, I’m GLAD I was in the navy.

    Kolchak is a fave of mine.

    Is that Clint Walker in the Kodiak frame ?

    He was Cheyenne Bodie in better days.

    He played the title role in the movie “Yellowstone Kelly”, with Edd “Kookie” Byrnes as the greenhorn sidekick, John Russell (a solid actor) as the Indian Chief, and Ray Danton(a cocky, sneery character actor) as the hotheaded chief wannabe.

    And what did THEY all have in common ?

    They all had the hots for Wallyia.

    An Indian maiden from a different tribe than John and Ray, and also Clint and Edd if ya wanna get technical.

    And if ya REALLY wanna dissect it, if ya notice how “Edd Byrnes” spelled his name, it COULD be said that he was in a tribe of his own.

  2. Joe Williams says:

    Kookie, Kookie, lend me your comb!

  3. proof says:

    Big Bopper killed in light saber accident??

  4. Joe Williams says:

    I wonder if Mark Hamill and Gary Busey ever see one another at one of those celebrity autograph conventions. Do they trade anecdotes about Jack Elam?

  5. Tina says:

    JT – I watched “The Sonny Comedy Revue”. Skiing into a tree wasn’t an accident.

    Proof – Yes, and Jabba the Hutt ate Ritchie Valens.

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