Until now, most of the cast reunions I've shared on "Harvest Gold Memories" have come from U.S. television networks, notably NBC and ABC (for some reason, CBS has not done many that I'm aware of). But let's face it, the world is a big place that has really been shrinking since the advent of the internet, global media conglomerates, etc. That's why some of today's post comes from Australia's Seven Network (which appears on Channel 7). Evidently, for a while, a morning show there (much like NBC's Today Show or ABC's Good Morning America here in the U.S.) had a feature they called "Where Are They Now" which ran in 2007.
For a period in the mid-to-late 1970s, ABC television scored a major ratings winner with a television show that began as a Movie of the Week based on a science fiction novel called "Cyborg" by Martin Caidin. The novel itself wasn't quite a bestseller until television came knocking, at which point, the book flew off the shelves. However, the movie and TV show were based loosely on the book, so the similarities are fairly limited.
6MDM: The Six Million Dollar Man
People cover 7/4/1977
I certainly didn't think of it back in 1977, but some American television shows were exported to Canada, Australia and elsewhere and became as popular there as they were here. One of those was the sci-fi show "The Six Million Dollar Man" which was a ratings winner for the ABC network here in the U.S. The lead actor who played Col. Steve Austin, was Lee Majors, someone best known for his prior work on the Western TV show "Gunsmoke". Lee Majors was seen by kids of that era as THE coolest man on earth not only because he starred in this show, but also because in real-life, he was married to the hottest woman at that time, none other than Farrah Fawcett (whose bathing suit poster lined countless boys' rooms back in the day). Alas, their marriage didn't last, and neither did the ratings of "The Six Million Dollar Man". But Lee Majors' went on to star on another hit show known as "The Fall Guy" a few years later.
The 6MDM (Six Million Dollar Man) also spawned it's own spinoff, "The Bionic Woman" which was almost as popular, in part, because Gen Xer girls, like their mothers who were asserting their newfound independence with divorce in mass numbers (only to discover that being single-parent households was much tougher than they'd anticipated) liked that show.
The most popular school lunchbox in 1977
While "The Six Million Dollar Man" lacks a fansite as extensive as "The Bionic Woman" does (be sure to check out The Bionic Woman Files (www.bionicwomanfiles.com/) to see what an awesome job someone did for that show), and the most poplular school lunchbox among boys in 1977 is now a collectors item, all is not relegated to vague memories.
After spending a decade near the top of TVShowsonDVD.com's "Most Wanted" Unreleased DVD list, in late 2010, after years of bickering between the shows' producers and Universal Studios over content rights, both bionic shows were finally digitized and are now available on DVD. "The Six Million Dollar Man" had more seasons on the air, so it's release was much a bigger deal, and the entire series was released last year with some fanfare, while the 3 seasons for "The Bionic Woman" were released very quickly to retail stores with considerably less fanfare. However, after the initial full-season release, each season of "The Six Million Dollar Man" will eventually come to your local Best Buy, Target, or to Amazon.com. Season 1 of 6MDM is already out, and Season 2 is due out in time for the 2012 holidays on November 6, 2012.
Needless to say, this show was a big hit, especially among grade school kids. Sure, the show was campy with sound effects that one could hear kids trying to imitate all over school playgrounds, and equally campy slo-mo special effects, but that didn't stop kids from tuning in week after week. Anyway, I can't really call this post a "cast reunion" since it consists mainly of one man.
Still, as I noted at the beginning of this post, we can thank Australian TV for this "Where Are They Now?" video, which can be seen below, or at http://youtu.be/yxh5HEPbenQ:
Now that your memory has been refreshed, check out my very first posting on this blog, and be sure to view the commercial for the Mazda CX-5 there. I'll just close with some of the awesomely cheesy sound-effects used in 6MDM. Check them out!
Some TV shows seem to age very well, while others don't. One need look no further than "I Love Lucy" which had it's heyday in the 1950s to see one program that seems to have endured the test of time (in Black & White, no less. In fact, the CEO of CBS Les Moonves recently disclosed that "I Love Lucy" still makes CBS $20 million a year - impressive!). Indeed, "I Love Lucy" has never left the airwaves since it first premiered in 1951 and while the prevalence of reruns isn't what it was a few years ago, it still continues to entertain audiences as much as it did in the fifties. On August 6, 2011, Google dedicated one of it's popular interactive "Google Doodles" to honor what would have been the 100th birthday for actress Lucille Ball, whose namesake appears in the title of this classic TV show (see HERE for that, or visit the short link at http://goo.gl/srVSQ).
On the other hand, other programs don't seem to age nearly as well. In my assessment, a variety of factors play into a show's becoming "dated". Sure, hairstyles and fashion will always reflect current trends of the times (for example, "Maude" which was a '70s show featuring actresses Bea Arthur and Adrienne Barbeau features not only fashions of the era, but the set's kitchen where Maude had countless interactions with her various housekeepers featured Coppertone-Brown colored appliances which look positively dated today). While well-written, the content was very much attuned to trends in that era, hence it hasn't been regularly on the rerun circuit until AntennaTV picked it up a few years ago after a long hiatus. However, aside from fashions, I think a show's basic premise which is at the heart of it's script may also help it stay current, or accelerate a show's decline in relevance. Maude was very much about women's lib and divorce (both were very current in the seventies) and to some extent, tremendous progress has been made in that area.
Back in the 1980's, for a time, the NBC TV show "Family Ties" was the second-highest watched TV show in America (after "The Cosby Show"), but it's important to note that although cable TV was widespread at that time (indeed, cable subscriptions more than tripled from 15 million in 1980 to 47 million in 1989), the traditional broadcast networks still dominated viewership. NBC was tops at the time, with what it branded as "Must See TV" (catch my post HERE or by visiting http://goo.gl/Vzbcn for that post) with such shows as "The Cosby Show", "Family Ties", "Night Court" and a host of others that put the Peacock network on top in terms of ratings.
Yet at it's core, "Family Ties" was about the meshing of two different generations, with flower-children/hippie parents raising kids more drawn to then-current Reagan-era conservatism. But if one looks past some of the very dated references in the show, the core of the show seems to age reasonably well in spite of character Mallory Keaton's (played by Justine Bateman, who is Jason Bateman's - another child actor's - real-life sister) positively dated hairstyles and fashions or Alex P. Keaton's (played by actor Michael J. Fox) repeated references to long-since-retired treasury secretaries and politicians, or even his carrying of a briefcase everywhere, which has long since fallen out of fashion even on Wall Street.
Beyond that, the cast has aged in various ways.
Michael J. Fox, more than any other cast member, achieved superstar status with success not only on TV, but also on the big screen, too. On the other hand, Justine Bateman who played Mallory Keaton has since worked only periodically (for example, she guest starred in a recurring role on a 1990s sitcom known as "Still Standing" as a lesbian neighbor to Bill and Judy Miller, and Justine Bateman's character had a son who dated the Miller's daughter Lauren). Just how extensive the references to "current" events and fashions may also play a role. Towards the end of "Family Ties", there were many then-current references weaved into the scripts, which in my honest opinion is the reason that the earlier seasons of this particular show are more enjoyable than later seasons were. But beyond the older two children, the other kids are no longer in the entertainment business. Tina Yothers, who played Jennifer Keaton has largely stayed out of the TV business (though she did "work" in a rock band), although she returned to entertainment after a nine-year absence in show business by working on stage in lead role for "Lovelace the Musical", which was a 2004 stage show based on the life of former pornographic movie star Linda Lovelace.
Meanwhile, in March 2010, Brian Bonsall, who played youngest sibling Andy Keaton on "Family Ties" was arrested in Colorado and charged with hitting his best friend with a bar stool (see HERE or short link http://huff.to/7pp7Fq). But aside from one former child star (one who was on the show for less time than all the others) descending into typical child-star-turned-bad behavior, most are finding things to keep themselves busy and not spiraling out of control. And, in 2009, actress Merideth Baxter, who played the mother Elise Keaton on "Family Ties" revealed (see http://youtu.be/iRfu_rotO_c for the TV interview) that she was, in fact, a lesbian. Her coming out story typified what many gays and lesbians did until the 1990s, which was to try and live their lives as heterosexuals, but offers a fascinating example of just how far gay rights have come since the 1960s.
Very recently, it was announced last week that actor Michael J. Fox had signed a plum deal with NBC television for a brand new TV series that will begin in the fall of 2013. It is being described as a new family television series which he will star in. The industry trade press also reported that NBC went to pretty great lengths to seal the deal, including committing to the show before anybody had even shot the pilot episode. Also, the show will reportedly feature Mr. Fox as a father and will incorporate his Parkinson's Disease into the script (see HERE or http://n.pr/O2er1N for details).
Of course, the highlight of today's post is the 2007 cast of "Family Ties" (excluding Brian Bonsall) who reunited on NBC's Today Show after 20 years! A few years ago, the cast of "Family Ties" (excluding Brian Bonsall) were reunited on NBC's Today Show. The original link was at http://on.today.com/vAfAyU although NBC has since removed it, but another reunion of the cast was saved by Entertainment Weekly around the same time which can be watched on YouTube at https://youtu.be/6eTf-Pja6g8.
Much of the cast also appeared at the TV Land Awards in 2012, see http://bit.ly/2c7qkGm for the clip. Of course, the entire series of "Family Ties" can be seen on DVD, and has made appearances on various broadcast and/or cable networks (check your listings for Antenna TV, Retro Television (RTV), or Me-TV).
This was one cast reunion that seemed to be very genuine insofar as the cast members seemed pleased to be reunited. Unlike some other cast reunions where cast members rivaled one another for another chance in the television spotlight again, the cast of "Family Ties" (minus Andy Keaton) appears happy to be reunited.
The United States of America, being a constitutional republic rather than a constitutional monarchy, lacks a royal family by design. The founding fathers rebelled against royal entitlement! Yet, as a culture, Americans seem enamored with the idea of royalty and many Americans follow the events of British royal family more closely than many legitimate members of the British Commonwealth actually do. For the record: the State of Hawaii actually does boast a genuine royal residence known as Iolani Palace where the former Queen Liliuokalani of that island monarchy-turned-U.S.-state once lived, and today it's a museum you can tour and visit. Nevertheless, because of our preoccupation with royalty, the popular press also has something of a habit of claiming various individuals and families to be "America's Royalty". Yet, many believe the traditional press is dominated by oldsters, and today's youth may not see them as particularly up-to-date on today's reality. In fact, today's youth may not even see the printing press as necessary, and bloggers are now a collective force to be reckoned for chronicling their memories.
For a number of years, the Kennedy Family of Massachusetts was dubbed by the media with the title of America's Royal Family, and indeed, seemed to bask in it. But that particular family, whose wealth was allegedy derived (at least in part) from bootlegging liquor during Prohibition, and also from some stock market maneuvers that were technically not illegal at the time they occurred, but were subsequently outlawed (the term insider trading comes to mind today) by Congress perhaps as a result of excessive stock market abuses prior to The Great Depression. Regardless, the so-called Kennedy Curse seems to have extinguished a fair number of this family, and normal deaths due to aging combined with low fertility rates means their family legacy with a media-proclaimed title as America's Royal Family seems to be be over.
Ironically, an entire new generation of Americans have absolutely no recollection of the Kennedy Family other than through their study of U.S. Presidents and Congressmen in American history. Some of us think this is a welcome change.
For example, Beloit College in Wisconsin has been publishing what it calls it's "Mindset" just before the newest crop of freshmen report for class each August. Mindset is a list of some of the cultural touchstones that help shape the lives of students entering college this fall which basically summarizes what freshmen do and don't know about life, notably pop culture, science, technology and politics. The newest "Mindset" list for the class of 2016 was published just a few days ago (see http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2016/ for the current mindset list) and consists of approximately 75 factoids about today's college freshman (there are also archives going back to the class of 2002).
Notable was #4 on the list, which states "Michael Jackson's family, not the Kennedys, constitutes 'American Royalty.'" However, the Jackson family's rein in that position could be short-lived, as the original Jackson Five has lost youngest member (Michael), and again, low birthrates among the Jackson children mean there may not be many more young Jacksons to safeguard their "monarchy". But more to the point is that many younger people have no recollections of many so-called "key events" that defined earlier generations of Americans' via pop culture, which suggests the relevance of retaining some of those elements (one that comes to mind is the so-called "Summer of Love" that defined the Baby Boom in 1969) is anything but certain.
Their blog lists the following teaser into the most recent list:
The class of 2016 was born in 1994.
What world famous figures have always been dead?
What famed class members might be in first-year orientation?
When they miss the news on The Daily Show, where do they watch it instead?
What celebrated actor is unknown to them in the roles that made him famous?
What do they mean by the "twilight zone"?
For their grandparents the leading paradox was, "we had to destroy the village in order to save it." What's the leading paradox for this new generation?
I can share a few interesting excerpts from the Mindset list for class of 2016:
They have never seen an airplane "ticket".
Women have always piloted planes and space shuttles.
Bill Clinton is a senior statesman of whose presidency they have little knowledge
History has always had its own channel.
Exposed bra straps have always been a fashion statement, not a wardrobe malfunction to be corrected quietly by well-meaning friends.
Before they purchase an assigned textbook, they will investigate whether it is available for rent or purchase as an e-book.
They have lived in an era of instant stardom and self-proclaimed celebrities, famous for being famous.
White House security has never felt it necessary to wear rubber gloves when gay groups have visited.
Genomes of living things have always been sequenced.
Point-and-shoot cameras are sooo last millennium.
A significant percentage of them will enter college displaying some hearing loss.
They can't picture people actually carrying luggage through an airport rather than rolling it.
Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set of bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf.
As for the direction of the foreseeable future, I think while the current unemployment rate could indeed motivate this group to elect a person that today's Millennials see as likely to restore growth to the U.S. job market, any presumption that this group will necessarily adhere to a particular political philosophy or ideology seems a tad like wishful thinking among those trying to preserve the status quo. For example, few in this generation seem to have interest in preserving any form of social conservatism, indeed, many say they find that concept repugnant and anti-American, hence candidates that espouse that may not appeal to today's youth and might push them in the opposite direction.
As to whether that could mean more moderate political discourse into the future, that remains to be seen.
Presently, the U.S. political landscape is marred by dysfunction caused by unwillingness to moderate their partisan positions, and both major political parties seem to be working overtime to eliminate any form of compromise despite what the parties may say.
Gen X Redux: Class of 2016 Agrees That "Reality Bites"
No, I'm not referring to the 1994 movie starring Ethan Hawke, Rinona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo known as "Reality Bites" that was considered a hallmark of the Gen X ethos at the time. However, the Beloit Mindset provides some interesting insight into what has shaped the perspective of today's college freshmen.
For reference, check out their Guide to the 2016 Mindset List at http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/assets/GuideTo2016MindsetList.pdf for a very interesting narrative of the current Mindset of today's college freshmen, and be sure to check out the Mindset List webcast at http://tinyurl.com/mindset-webcast-2016. What I find most interesting is the fact that in the webcast video, the speakers at Beloit posit that today's freshman may share a similar mindset to Generation X, describing the Gen Xer outlook as "The Baby Boom Got The Party, and Gen X Got Stuck With The Hangover", and today's freshmen may have a very similar perspective based on the world they've matured into. But unlike the Baby Buster/Gen Xers, this is part of a massive cohort known as the Millennials, but unlike massive Baby Boom, that group may not be as cohesive given their lack of shared cultural experiences and vastly diverse upbringings, educations, etc.
Whether this group proves as adept as Gen Xers have been at navigating between two larger generations (Gen Xers are like chameleons, and may mirror the older Baby Boomers or younger Millennials depending on the situation), or how much they'll differ from their older Millennial counterparts is also unclear. For example, Gen X doesn't often get credit for it, but it was Generation X who built most of technologies to help "bridge" legacy-system technologies (such as mainframe computer systems) with web-based Internet technology, which provides a virtually seamless connection to users between older and newer technologies. There will always be a need for people to bridge technologies (and perspectives!), and perhaps the class of 2016 will be the people to help do that. And, of course, everyone will be watching just how the class of 2016 behaves at the ballot boxes this year and into the next decade. Stay tuned!
Well, this was one TV show from the 1970s I truly never expected to make it to DVD: Grizzly Adams (officially "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams") which starred Dan Haggerty in that lead role.
My recollections of this show were of an older man with greyish hair and a bushy beard who fled life in the city of Denver to live in the mountains of Colorado without any electricity, phone, packaged food or any other modern conveniences. Now, I was an eight-year-old kid at the time, but I recall this strange man befriending a huge Grizzly Bear he named Ben (after Benjamin Frankin), hence his character name was referred to as John "Grizzly" Adams. I also recall the guy who would later star as Uncle Jessie on "The Dukes of Hazzard" (portrayed by actor Denver Pyle) playing a role as another woodsman in (on?) this show, which aired for two seasons on NBC television starting in 1977.
However, I should note that my recollections are actually a bit vague because this show was never really re-run ad nauseum the way many other programs of the same era have been (which solidifies the shows in our memories), but the lead character was, in fact, a convicted criminal, although he proclaimed he was convicted of a crime he did not commit. Still, the fact that anyone could truly exist and live off the land in the Rocky Mountains meant this show had a loyal following among environmentalists.
While the show was supposedly set in the Colorado Rockies, a very exhaustive and comprehensive website called GrizzlyAdams.net indicates that most of the scenery was, in fact, filmed in the Rocky Mountains of Utah, although much of the filming actually took place in a Los Angeles area TV studio.
Regardless, there's news (see HERE) from TV Guide's TVShowsonDVD.com that the folks at Shout! Factory will release Season 1 (there were only 2 seasons) of "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams" on DVD, hence the first season of this peculiar show will be digitized and available to future audiences at the push of a button. The scheduled release date is November 6, 2012.
The aforementioned website (GrizzlyAdams.net) has almost anything one could possibly want to know about this particular retro TV show, including a comprehensive episode guide, so if you want to have a look at what exactly will be included on the Season 1 DVD release this is a good place to do it. Along with the DVD release, presumably, Amazon.com will also enable live streaming as they do for many other digitized TV shows, so you may be able to watch it on your iPad, Roku player or even with the luxury of a 2-inch screen on your mobile phone!
I'm interested mainly for the nostalgia-value this release may provide, but as with any DVD release, sales of Season 1 is likely to determine whether the second season will ever be released or even digitized. Amazon.com shows pre-order pricing which is actually better than the "official" release price at just $20.95, so it's priced low enough to make an attractive holiday gift for any aging hippies or environmentalists with a penchant for retro television!
This week (on Tuesday, August 14, 2012), there was news that (see HERE) another cast member of the 1970s television show "Welcome Back Kotter" died at age 63 ... in this case, it was Ron Palillo, who was known for his role playing Arnold Horshack. The cause of death was a heart attack. The reason I say "another" is because another cast member, Robert Hegyes who played the Puerto Rican-Jewish character best known as "Epstein" (although his full character name was Juan Luis Pedro Philippo DeHuevos Epstein, hence the use of his last name only) passed away at age 60 on January 28, 2012 also of cardiac arrest. According to his brother (see HERE), his health wasn't very good, as he had suffered a heart attack previously and was still trying to recover from that.
It seems stange that nearly half of the "Sweathogs" have now died, and at relatively young ages no less. Sure, John Travolta (who played the character Vincent "Vinny" Barbarino is still around, as is Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (who played Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington). Of course, the teacher played by Gabe Kaplan (who played Gabe Kotter) is also around (as well as the woman who played his wife).
Fortunately, the 9th Annual TV Land Awards reunited pretty much the entire cast last year (in 2011), and most of the original cast (including the one of the two who died in 2012, Ron Palillo wasn't able to attend, and the only other missing cast member was John Sylvester White who played the curmudgeonly vice principal and later principal who died back in 1988) were also interviewed by ABC's Good Morning America that same week. TV Land and Good Morning America may not have realized how fortunate their timing was, as this year, two of those cast members died. I am sharing those two reunions below as my way of honoring the passing of those two characters. First is the TV Land reunion, followed by the Good Morning America program. It somehow seems a bit inappropriate to call this a reunion post, although I am posting those two reunion videos here. The original "Welcome Back Kotter" show ran for just 4 seasons, from 1975 to 1979. The show's first season can now be purchased on DVD or viewed via Netflix and other streaming video services. The theme song "Welcome Back" by John Sebastian was a memorable one. In any event, those reunions can be seen below.
On my recent vacation, I drove to my family's summer cottage, and along the way, I was scanning through the radio stations and was startled to hear Casey Kasem's voice doing the American Top 40 syndicated radio program from the same week, only it was the broadcast from 30 years earlier! That's right, they were rebroadcasting old recordings of the original countdowns from the 1970s. I was a bit freaked out at first, but if I could avoid listening to yet another broadcast of of Rihanna's über-repetitive (and vapid) lyrics, I was content.
I discovered that a number (reportedly 200+) of radio stations across the U.S. are now regularly rebroadcasting old Casey Kasem countdowns of "America's Top 40" (AT40) from both the 1970s and the 1980s, so I decided to investigate further. I knew that on the week of July 4, 2009, after 39 years on air, Casey Kasem ended his run on the radio (a guy's gotta retire someday!). He was the voice of that radio program from July 4, 1970 to 1988, and again from March 1998 until January 10, 2004, when Ryan Seacrest officially succeeded him in that role. Urgh ... I'm still unforgiving of the fact that Ryan Seacrest tried to push the untalented, un-entertaining Kardashian clan upon us (I've watched the show only once out of curiosity, which was more than enough!). I learned, however, that the American Top 40 show's producer, Premiere Radio Networks, informed its affiliates that they would stop producing any new American Top 10 and American Top 20 countdown shows as of the July 4th [2012] weekend, so it looks like Ryan's lost one paying gig, although he's been busy reporting for NBC on the 2012 Summer Olympics, so I don't think he's hurting very much. Still, I was intrigued by the idea of retro radio for such a well-known radio personality (Casey Kasem), so I investigated further.
Casey Kasem was a staple on the airwaves for many years, and he was known for being a longtime Los Angeles-area DJ who also happened to be a big music historian, which was one reason his show endured with such high ratings for such a long time. Ryan Seacrast was no music historian and farmed all that work out to others, hence he wasn't able to keep that going for nearly as long as Mr. Kasem did (Mr. Seacrest did it for less than 8 years).
Anyway, in my venture for more info. on rebroadcasts of old AT40 broadcasts, I discovered that in August 2006, XM Satellite Radio (now merged with Sirius Satellite Radio) began airing newly-restored versions of the original "American Top 40" radio show from the 1970s and 1980s. From there, Premiere Radio Networks also started airing reruns of the restored AT40 (dating from 1970 to 1978 and 1980–1988) recordings in January 2007 on local stations nationwide. Those are full 3-hour or 4-hour length classic AT40 shows from 1970-1979, all in their original broadcast form, although officially, Premiere Radio Networks only permits them to be broadcast between 6:00 am - 12:00 am Local Time on weekends so as not to conflict with what the Satellite networks might be doing.
Some further investigation on my part (via Facebook) revealed that there are some questionable sites selling archived the restored MP3s for the old AT40 broadcasts. For anything other than Mr. Kasem himself or Premier Radio Networks or their affiliated TuneIn.com sites, I would not recommend using them.
However, thanks to the Internet and TuneIn.com, you can listen to old AT40 broadcasts online ... legitimately. What's more, the Internet can also help you find any local broadcasts for the shows that may exist near you. They broadcast old AT40 shows from both the 1970s and 1980s, so I'm listing both decades below to make it easy to find.
I've already noted that Ryan Seacrest's version of AT40 has been terminated, but while I'd like to blame Mr. Seacrest, I suspect the real reason may be due to technology. Today, thanks to the Internet, people really don't have to wait until the end of the week to learn what the top hits are. Just search iTunes, Spotify or Google, and voilà, you have it instantly. Mr. Seacrest may not be able to fix that. We live in a society with very short attention spans, so it may be best that AT40 is now sailing into the sunset. As for listening to re-broadcasts of the old show, aside from the originals, those are history (at least for the time being) right now. But some companies have been working to make sure the old broadcasts don't become footnotes of history.
"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."
Casey Kasem's weekly signoff as host of American Top 40
Author P.S., Jun 15, 2014: During the past several weeks, there was news that Casey Kasem's children had won the legal right to see their biological father. They were estranged from their father and his spouse, but the children had legal concerns over the care their father was receiving during his final days. The man was known for his love pop music and its history had turned a seemingly ordinary job of DJ into an $80 million empire in the 1970s and 1980s, which was a tidy sum for a seemingly ordinary job. On Sunday, June 15, 2014, Casey Kasem passed away.
Two years ago was the 30th anniversary of a book that became something of an accidental bestseller known as "The Official Preppy Handbook" (it was published in 1980) by Lisa Birnbach. The book was written pretty much as a tongue-in-cheek look at the WASP establishment, but the author wasn't really part of that establishment, as a Jewish Girl who happened to attend an elite prep school and later, the Ivy League Brown University. She probably had access to the elite WASP establishment, but she was also something of an outsider looking in which made the book so entertaining (I think I can say that having grown up in Connecticut with family surnames of Wilkinson, Bradford and Stone and a family affiliation with a prep school known as The Gunnery). Her educational background probably helped her as a then-aspiring author to gain access to the publishing industry, and the publisher was pleasantly surprised with the great sales numbers for the original "Official Preppy Handbook". Still, the original book was a very entertaining look which combined some facts with some fiction.
It was a runaway success in 1980, but the book's actual buyers weren't exactly whom the publisher (or the author) anticipated they would be. Mostly, the buyers were kids in flyover country that envisioned themselves as part of that elite world.
In any event, the reboot, whose preparation was chronicled by such "establishments" as The New York Times (see http://nyti.ms/OXAlU9 for the news on the reboot, and http://nyti.ms/QNDO88 for the subsequent book review) and even included a co-author with a preppy-sounding name (Chip Kidd), but was not necessarily the runaway success of the original. Apparently, its initial first-print run was reduced from from 150,000 copies to a more modest number of 60,000. That's not to say the publisher lost money on it (it did get published after all) but the publishing industry really isn't what it was back in 1980, and success may be defined differently today based on sales numbers. The reboot really wasn't as funny as the original, and that may be why it didn't work as well.
Some blog critics were less than kind (see HERE for an example) to the reboot, and I hate to admit it, but I have to agree, as I think they were mostly correct. For example, Robert Lanham wrote:
"... the book's smugly discreet tone is precisely what is most exasperating about True Prep. Let's face it, most Americans are too busy trying to make ends meet to discuss with "loving irreverence" those dandily-dressed hedge-funders. And should the topic be broached, the last thing they're looking for is a little old fashioned discretion."
Having read both versions of the book (although my original copy of the now out-of-print "Official Preppy Handbook" was lost or tossed long ago), I can say the new book "True Prep" was probably done with very good intentions (although Lisa Birnbach probably did little more than give her name to the venture as a ghostwriter to Chip Kidd, who was probably responsible for most of the content for the reboot, though she was a great person to promote the book as some of the videos that follow seem to indicate, and I can say the book definitely looks familiar to the original in format, design and tone) but "True Prep" just didn't amuse me the way the original "Official Preppy Handbook" did in 1980.
As an FYI, Lisa Birnbach has an "official" blog which can be visited at http://lisabirnbach.tumblr.com/. It seems to be primarily a vehicle for promoting the reboot book "True Prep".
Sometimes, things weren't meant to be rebooted (such as the 2007 reboot of the seventies TV show "The Bionic Woman" which I really hated) and in this case, I can say that probably applies to the "True Prep" reboot of the 1980 original "Official Preppy Handbook". The original was cute, but the reboot is probably lacking in some of the bite that the original had, hence the reboot really didn't work as well as the original did. Indeed, the reboot paints a picture of 2010 as a much more-inclusive world of prepdom, but the fact remains that while the world may have changed since 1980, that doesn't mean the sequel can approach the fun of the original in this case.
If you want to evaluate the reboot for yourself, the good news is that it can be found in many places, including on iTunes, Google Play/Android Marketplace and, of course, traditional booksellers including Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. As an added benefit, the book is sold in both print and electronic versions.
Or, better yet, see if it's available at your public library!
As an entertainment or sport, it is seemingly as American as Baseball and Apple Pie (or Apple Computer). However, bowling really peaked in popularity following the invention of the automatic pinsetter which led to a rapid growth in the number of bowling alleys and lanes in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The heyday was the mid-1960s, when there were approximately 12,000 bowling facilities in the U.S. At that time, the business was predominately driven by bowling leagues. But with the widespread decline of blue collar employment in the U.S. which arguably drove the advent of bowling leagues, the sport (if bowling can really be called a sport) began a steady decline starting in the 1970s which has continued for the past 30+ years.
There is data to support this assertion.
According data from the United States Bowling Congress, there has been a steady reduction in the number of U.S. bowling centers since the 1970s, driven by both the decline of league bowling and the sale of many bowling centers so the land could be used for more profitable ventures. As of December 2007, there were 5,498 certified 10-pin bowling centers with 113,897 lanes, and just 137 duckpin and candlepin centers with 2,560 lanes. That's less than half the number that were certified back in the mid-1960s. Have a look at the following, classic video entitled "Let's Go Bowling" from the year 1955 below, or by visiting https://youtu.be/_nu7eZ5DI04:
That paints a picture of bowling as a wholesome, family-oriented activity. Indeed, the patrons at that time were the very picture of middle-class America. But by many accounts, bowling today can be classified as a dying piece or Americana, perhaps in the same "league" (pun intended) as drive-in movie theaters.
Again, there are statistics to back this up. Specifically, over the past decade, the number of "frequent" bowlers who bowl 25+ days a year has fallen, while the number of "occasional" bowlers has actually increased during the same period. Back in the 1950s-1960s, my grandfather was actually in a bowling league, but my father never followed in his bowling league footsteps, and neither did millions of others.
But if you own and operate a bowling center, leagues (and their decline) constituted about 70% of your business, while occasional bowlers were just 30%, again according to data from the United States Bowling Congress, so the financials no longer worked. It's therefore not very hard to see why all those bowling alleys across America were converted to other things.
When I was growing up in the 1970s, I cannot even begin to recall the number of birthday parties I went to that were held at my town's local bowling alley (which, incidentally, was leveled and a multiplex cinema was built in its place about a decade ago). But I also remember what those bowling alleys were like. By then, my recollection is that the alley was starting to decline, as the place was kind of dark inside, and had a funky smell of sweaty bowling shoes and spilled beer, and the food options there were pretty much limited to greasy burgers, fries and pizza, and of couse, beer, but no other libations. The place was clean enough and they maintained it reasonably well, but it was hardly a place one could envision taking a date to.
Bowlmor Reboots Bowling For A New Generation of Players
Bowlmor Lanes' Iconic Logo (click the image to visit its website)
While no one expects a widespread return to "Laverne and Shirley" styled bowling leagues anytime soon, there has been a bit of revolution in thinking about bowling as an entertainment option in recent years. Perhaps driven by the notion of saving a piece of Americana that can actually resonate with people today, one guy's vision has IMHO done more to "save" bowling than anyone else I can think of.
That man is a guy named Tom Shannon, an MBA who had a vision for a dying New York City bowling alley. Indeed, Richard Nixon was filmed bowling at Bowlmor Lanes in New York's Union Square back in 1958. In 1997, Mr. Shannon bought Bowlmor Lanes, the rapidly-dilapidating Greenwich Village bowling alley, and reinvented the place as what has been described as a marriage between hospitality and bowling. Under his leadership, the Bowlmor brand came to represent high design, excellent service, and high-priced cocktails. The combination worked and he took it from failing business to one earning more than $50 million in revenue per year. By 1999, Bowlmor Lanes became the highest-grossing bowling alley in the U.S. He has since expanded the concept outside of New York, and now operates bowling facilities in California (Tustin in Orange County/Southern California, and Cupertino in Silicon Valley/Northern California), Bethesda, MD in suburban Washington, DC, and in Miami, FL. Bowlmor also as a very tongue-in-cheek ad campaign now running about how much fun it can be to hang out in a New York City alley with guys who have their names engraved on their balls!
STRIKE Long Island Represents a Strike in Mr. Shannon's Otherwise Untarnished Reputation
Bloomberg Enterprise television interviewed Mr. Shannon in the following interview about what he thinks were keys to his success with the original venue. Have a look below, or by visiting http://youtu.be/4ekEgTqQkMQ :
To be sure, "celebrities" including Kourtney Kardashian and Paris Hilton are among those who have gone to Bowlmor Lanes in Manhattan, but there's only so much opportunity in that location or even in this particular city, and those vacuous reality TV stars wouldn't necessarily trek to a Bowlmor location in Bethesda, Maryland. Although most of his bowling alley ventures have done very well, his track record is not completely unblemished. His STRIKE location in suburban Long Island is now closed, and he's since rebranded his other STRIKE locations with the iconic Bowlmor brand name.
Imitators or Copycats? Lucky Strike Lanes Now Has More Locations Than Bowlmor Does
Mr. Shannon's formula has also been successfully copied by others, notably by a rival known as Lucky Strike Lanes which operates a number of locations in Hollywood, San Francisco, near Seattle, in Phoenix, Kansas City, Boston, even New York City and elsewhere. That company was started shortly after the Hollywood bowling alley where "The Big Lebowski" was filmed got leveled. Lucky Strike Lanes now has more locations than Bowlmor. Since the concept can be pretty easily replicated, there's also been the emergence of local competition such as 10 Pin Bowling Lounge in Chicago and The Mission Bowling Club in San Francisco to name just two examples.
It seems there are a few keys to success: one, the bowling alley needs to draw sufficient numbers of patrons in a location on a consistent basis (the number of patrons, not necessarily the SAME patrons), and the combination of updated design combined with gourmet dining and a genuine, full bar (not just beer) also seem to be keys to success. Obviously, big city locales have populations that can drive such a business model, but many suburban bowling facilities may still not survive. And what is considered one of the most successful and profitable Indian casinos in the United States, the MGM Foxwoods Resort and Casino operates a bowling facility known as High Rollers Luxury Lanes and Lounge so the high-end bowling concept clearly works, as it already does for several Las Vegas casinos.
But the number of dying bowling alleys just isn't what it used to be (indeed, there are half as many still standing today), so picking up new locations up for a cheap price will be a challenge. Nor will every location be golden (in particular, suburban locations lacking sufficient populations may not hold onto bowling as an entertainment option). But the era of a bowling reboot in an upscale fashion has indeed arrived, and perhaps just in time to save a piece of Americana that seemed doomed to the history books just a decade ago!
Author P.S., July 11, 2014: This week, there was news that the iconic Bowlmor location that Mr. Tom Shannon, whose vision was behind the Bowlmor reboot described above, had lost its lease on the Union Square NYC location, which means that location will be closed to build condos. He has several other NYC locations, so while this one will be history, there are others to enjoy. But as Bloomberg Businessweek reported (see http://buswk.co/1s4b3rA): "Don’t cry for Shannon. Last summer, he merged his company with the world’s largest bowling operator, AMF Bowling Worldwide, which had fallen on hard times. The combined company, which Shannon heads, runs hundreds of bowling centers. Its latest concept ”takes all the best elements of Bowlmor—upscale, nice, fun—and makes it hipper,” Shannon told Bloomberg Television. “It’s sort of the next version of bowling.” And one that may take bowling even farther from its working-class roots."
For my readers who weren't aware of it, just because a website is no longer around any more doesn't necessarily mean the content from that site is gone forever (although some companies have worked very hard to prevent archiving of their sites' content with robot.txt documents, typically these are companies that have content they wish to hide). A July 27, 2005 Wall Street Journal (see https://on.wsj.com/2HVBH4D for the article) chronicled just how the web has started to leave some more "permanent" records, much to the delight of lawyers (although the archived Web content is available to everyone and I've already featured some archived content on various posts). The following quote was featured:
"The Web, seemingly one of the most ephemeral of media, is instead starting to leave permanent records. Through the Wayback Machine, and similar services offered by companies such as Google Inc., it's now easy to retrieve all kinds of online material, from defunct Web pages to old versions of sites. While these databases have caught on among historians and scholars, they are proving particularly enticing for lawyers."
Beyond cached copies of millions of websites, the Internet Archive also has a multimedia section, although the extent of the content there is fairly limited, thanks in large part, to media conglomerates' desire to control where their content resides. However, they do have a collection of what it calls "Moving Images" (basically, Flash videos) and "Audio" which is mostly MP3s covering a wide array of content.
One of my earliest discoveries on the Internet Archive's "media" collection (they have both audio and video, FYI) is a now-defunct radio show with the groovy '70s name "Have You Never Been Mellow". The DJ's Chuck Tomlinson and Joel Stitzel hosted this retro-radio program on Club 14 KLBB (1400 and 1470 AM) in Minneapolis. The program aired over a decade ago already, from April 1998 to May 1999. The show ran initially on Saturdays from 9-11 PM, then later on Sundays from 8-10 PM.
Still, the content on this program is something one might envision Marcia Brady, Laurie Partridge, or maybe one of the Bradford kids from "Eight Is Enough" listening to! The name of the program, perhaps aptly, is taken from Olivia Newton-John's 1975 hit "Have You Never Been Mellow". That followed another mellow tune: "Please, Mister, Please". Remember, this is long before Australia-mania of the 1980's (ushering in Australian artists like Rick Springfield and Men At Work) took off, and even before the movie "Grease" permanently engrained Olivia Newton-John as an American pop culture icon of the era.
As for the music on this show, well, it's mellow, but like taking a step back in time.
That seemed to be a trend during the 1970s. Even soft-drink giant Coca Cola introduced a soda they called Mello Yello (note the spelling) which they launched in 1979. Apparently, it's still offered, but you'd probably only find it in a retailer or convenience store that has a wide variety of sugary soft drinks. As I understand it, it was yet another citrus-flavored soft drink, not quite Sprite and far sweeter, it was supposed to be a rival to Pepsi's highly-caffeinated Mountain Dew, and yes, Mello Yello has a higher-than-normal amount of caffeine.
"The smooth citrus taste of Mello Yello has refreshed people's thirst for over two decades. Its unique taste and confident, in-control style sets it apart from other soft drinks. Mello Yello highlights the smooth choices in life – because when you drink Mello Yello, everything goes down easy."
Gee, that sounds really groovy, maybe even mellow. Not having tasted it, I cannot say whether it tastes anything like a sweet version of Fresca, but the website indicates they now offer a zero calorie version of the product called Mello Yello Zero (I guess now that the core market for the product is pretty old, these things matter), although it's limited in terms of availability, mostly to the Great Lakes states. Anyway, I can say the brand was part of an entire attitude during the seventies: mellow (which was often induced by marijuana, as head shops where people could buy rolling papers, bongs and various pipes used for recreational drug use popped up in small towns across America). Nowadays, that's no longer a teen subculture, but has gone kind of mainstream with "Medical Marijuana" distributors emerging in many states.
Anyway, the "Have You Never Been Mellow" radio show is certainly worth listening to if you care to relive the mellow days of the seventies. For me, it kind of reminds me of going to the dentist's office. My dentist growing up was a pedriatric dentist, but his secret was nitrous oxide. In other words, he'd gas the kids up and get them higher than a kite, then do his work. He always played a mellow, adult rock station that played the kind of music featured in Chuck Tomlinson's and Joel Stitzel's "Have You Never Been Mellow". I can just hear Dionne Warwick singing "Deja Vu" now (which, incidentally, is on the playlist below) ... if only I had some nitrous oxide to go along with it! No, I've never really been into drugs, but the line seems to go with the direction the U.S. was taking back in the '70s and '80s – before Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign paved the way for modern-day First Ladies to spearhead such public service initiatives.
Have a listen below for one of the "Have You Never Been Mellow" broadcasts below, or by visiting http://archive.org/details/hynbm-playlists. There, you'll find a bunch of shows that have been recorded as playlists. By the way, the broadcast included below is from July 11, 1998 (see http://archive.org/details/hynbm-1998-07-11 to access that archived broadcast directly).
The late Sherwood Schwartz was, back in the day, a pretty successful television producer. He's best known for "Gilligan's Island" which aired on CBS in the late '60s and "The Brady Bunch" which aired on ABC in the '70s. These shows didn't exactly please the TV critics, but were successful enough for the networks. "Gilligan's Island" ran for 3 seasons, while "The Brady Bunch" ran for 5 seasons. He also happened to write the memorable theme-song for "The Brady Bunch" himself, and he produced a show that ran for a single season in the early 1980s based on a hit Country Western Song by Jeannie C. Riley: "Harper Valley PTA" which starred Barbara Eden (of "I Dream of Jeannie" fame). His early work in Hollywood was writing for a 1950's comedy show, "The Red Skelton Show" for which Mr. Schwartz earned an Emmy.
The Brady Brides, circa 1981
But Mr. Schwartz was perhaps a better businessman than he was a TV producer, selling his shows in numerous syndication cycles, making those (and the casts) household names to a generation of viewers who didn't necessarily tune in when the shows aired the first time around. "Gilligan's Island" ran for just 3 seasons, yet has never left the airwaves. Beyond re-runs in syndication, "The Brady Bunch" launched many specials and spinoffs including "The Brady Girls Get Married", "The Brady Brides", "A Very Brady Christmas", "The Bradys", as well as a variety show called "The Brady Bunch [Variety] Hour", an animated cartoon known as "The Brady Kids" as well as spawning 2 comedy-parody movies in the early 1990s. The cast, of course, never really enjoyed the financial benefits of that syndication blitz, creating a case for actors to negotiate financial benefit from airings in syndication, home video/DVD and digital sales, etc. by saying "Look what happened to the cast of 'The Brady Bunch'"!
In any event, this week news surfaced that CBS has placed a script order for a reboot of "The Brady Bunch," which is being executive-produced by 'The Watch' star Vince Vaughn", an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap. Apparently, it will be a "multi-camera comedy project, which will be produced by CBS TV Studios."
My readers may recall I covered the mixed track record for TV show reboots (see my post on the TNT reboot of "Dallas" HERE). Indeed, Hollywood has tried to reboot "The Bionic Woman", "Knight Rider" and "Charlie's Angels", all of which have failed. On the other hand, a few have done reasonably well including "Hawaii Five-0" and, so far, "Dallas". I said it then, and I'll say it now: the producers that have bombed have not acknowledged the history of the shows, which is key to luring viewers who actually knew the originals. Those that have succeeded acknowledge the show's heritage while modernizing it with new cast members. Obviously, that works better for some shows than it does for others, with "Hawaii Five-0" as perhaps the best example.
Deadline reports the reboot will be set in the current era, but will have a decidedly more modern, evolved take on blended families. That sounds good.
Mike Lookinland, the original Bobby Brady then and in 1988
Apparently, the reboot "Brady Bunch" will center on Bobby Brady, a divorced dad who marries a woman with children of her own. No word as to whether Mike Lookinland who played the original Bobby (and appeared in several of the reunion shows/movie) is being considered. The last "episode" I recall Bobby was a racecar driver in "A Very Brady Christmas" which aired in 1988 (I have a copy on VHS!), and in "The Brady's" sequel series, Bobby was paralyzed from the waist down in an accident as a driver in the Indy 500 race! It would seem really disconnected if they fail to acknowledge that history in some way. After all, this is not intended to be a parody like the "Brady Bunch Movie" and "A Very Brady Sequel" were back in the 1990s, so having some continuity with story lines seems appropriate in this case.
The media reports that the updated Brady couple also shares a child, but ex-spouses will still be part of their lives. The Associated Press reports that Mike Mariano ("Raising Hope") will write and executive produce the new project. Lloyd Schwartz, son of the original "Brady Bunch" creator Sherwood Schwartz, will also serve as an executive producer, alongside Vaughn, Victoria Vaughn (the actor's sister) and Peter Billingsley (yes, that IS the kid from "A Christmas Story"! See HERE for a before-and-after update for him). Those are positive signs, as most seem to have motive to produce a decent product.
I think it's premature to reach any conclusions at this point, but I sincerely hope Mr. Vaughn considers my thoughts. Remember, the former President of NBC, Warren Littlefield said (see my post HERE) "... in a network world, that [meaning bigger-budget productions for a series] still may not survive. Network [TV] is still looking for a larger tent, still looking to find something like a 'Modern Family' that appeals to adults and kids, audiences of all ages. That's still, at nearly 20 million people a week, that's a pretty broad-based hit that really far exceeds what's being watched on cable." But I noted in my commentary that unlike, say HBO, which is subscription-based, networks can't really do big-budget productions without massive audiences. Indeed, I did an entire post entitled "What Happens to TV As We Know It When The Business Model No Longer Works?", and drawing an audience is getting harder and harder with 200+ TV channels in most homes, along with on-demand, Hulu, and DVDs competing for viewership, so drawing viewers in is critical.
But, I'm likely to tune in, at least initially. I did with "The Bionic Woman" but hated it. Still, I have zero interest in watching Snooki and JWoww on MTV (see my post on MTV HERE), so I'd welcome something that's reasonably coherent and entertaining. Below is the (in)famous Brady Bunch theme song, or you can get it at Amazon.com. I would just add that an interesting fan page dedicated to the series called "BradyBunchShrine.com" has the themes as well as all the various other sound effects, so check it out.
Original Still in Syndication; Also Now Digitized for Streaming to Mobile Devices
For those who prefer the classic, rest assured those are still alive and well on television even today. As of August 2012, the show runs on Me-TV, and the socially-conservative TV network INSP, so you can set your DVRs accordingly. Beyond that, it can be streamed via Amazon.com Instant Video (for a fee), Netflix streaming (subscription required), or a few episodes can be watched online (free, at least presently) on the CBS-operated TV.com website or mobile application on either the iTunes or Android/Google Play marketplaces, or you can get it on DVD (and some still have it on VHS, too, check for it on eBay if you prefer the analog format). Of note is that each season can be purchased individually, or you can buy the entire series complete with a shag carpeting themed package. Groovy!!
Finally, over time, I will be covering different aspects of The Brady Bunch again, so stay tuned for more.
2012 marks the thirtieth (30th) anniversary of Diet Coke, in what was (at the time) the first-ever brand extension of the iconic Coca Cola brand name (they have since introduced flavored versions as well as Coke Zero, but Diet Coke was the first). According to AdWeek, the company will release special, limited-edition cans commemorating the anniversary cans (see HERE ) which are slated to hit stores in early September. Note that Diet Coke is marketed in certain other markets as "Coke Light" (for example, in much of Europe). Coke Light communicates something in languages that don't use the term "diet" as we do in the English Language.
I should note that to the best of my knowledge, the Coca Cola (or Coke) brands had never been officially extended prior to Diet Coke, as flavored varieties of Coca Cola like Cherry Coke were largely local soda fountain inventions that weren't adopted [at least officially] by the company until many years later. Indeed, although the 30 year-old diet cola brand is pretty much known as Diet Coke, the earlier cans and bottles also featured the name "Diet Coca Cola" in the company's iconic font (albeit in a tiny version of the font) on the side of the labels and most still do.
Coca Cola has always been fiercely protective of it's iconic cola brand, and the formula for the beverage. According to company legend, the recipe is locked in a bank safe deposit vault at a SunTrust location Atlanta and only two individuals at the company even have access to it (or half of it). Needless to say, it's a fiercely guarded secret, although detailed facts coming from the company are done in such a way to preserve the legend of the Coke brand.
The 1985 "New Coke" Debacle
The so-called "New Coke" debacle from 1985 (hence we can celebrate it's 27th anniversary this year) is alleged by some as a big cover for the mass switch from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup ("HFCS") which is significantly cheaper. However, Snopes reports (see HERE) that in 1980, which was 5 years before the introduction of "New Coke", Coca-Cola had already begun to allow bottlers to replace half the cane sugar in Coca-Cola with HFCS. Six months prior to New Coke's intro, American Coca-Cola bottlers were already permitted to use 100% HFCS. Whether consumers knew it or not, many were already drinking Coke that was 100% sweetened by HFCS. Anyway, cheap HFCS was definitely NOT in the original recipe, that's for certain, as HFCS only became available after researchers in Japan during the late 1970s developed a highly caustic and corrosive acid that's used to process genetically-modified corn (which itself did not exist until recombinant DNA technology emerged in the early 1980s) used in all HFCS. Hence, HFCS has only been in existence for around 35 years itself. The decision was based on little more than economics, hence the company had no problem altering the secret formula for that.
Diet Coke: A Radical Departure from a Brand That's Fiercely Protected
Diet Coke was a radical departure for the company from a branding perspective. Prior to 1982, Coca Cola offered a diet cola known as "Tab" cola, a completely distinct diet cola brand that continues to have loyal fans who can buy it from some local bottling companies even today.
Without getting too far off-topic, today's post is not about diet Coke's 30th anniversary, or even about the New Coke debacle in 1985 (although it certainly could be), but about a fascinating clip I from the weekly radio program "This American Life" produced by Chicago Public Media and distributed by Public Radio International which aired on February 15, 2011. I happened to listen to it while I was on vacation recently. Anyway, in that fascinating program, the reporter, Ira Glass reveals what he believes could very well be the secret formula for Coca Cola, but he also talks with historians on the subject, and even provides some interesting background on why Coca Cola has so much sugar (the formula for a small batch of the syrup alone calls for 30 lbs., that's right, POUNDS of sugar) which is because in 1885, Atlanta voted for prohibition, and Pemberton realized that he was going to have to get rid of the wine he used in his drink. So he kept the two other ingredients, the cocaine and the caffeine. People loved those! (Any guess as to why?).
Early Coca Cola's Secret Formula: Cocaine and Caffeine
Yes, the original formula for Coca Cola contained cocaine (at least it did until 1903). This is big reason Coca Cola has so damn much sugar (or HFCS) in it: apparently, when you mix cocaine and caffeine together, they're extremely bitter. So John Pemberton, Coke's inventor, poured in a ton of sugar to cut the bitterness and voilà, it became Coca Cola. Pemberton called it his "temperance drink" (it may have lacked wine, but the cocaine made up for it).
The interview also explains a bit more about the formula, which, incidentally, "This American Life" says can be seen HERE. The story created a bit of an uproar last February [2011], and they explain why they believe their discovery might be legit, talking to historians, and even soda experts such as Eric Chastain and Mike Spear, who are the VP of operations and the marketing director (respectively) at Jones Soda in Seattle. Jones makes primarily "natural" soda flavors like cream soda and green apple. But, apparently, they're also known for being willing to try almost anything, and the company has even made turkey and gravy soda, as well Brussels sprout soda (needless to say, those flavors weren't among their big hits).
On the cocaine front, the company has special permission from the U.S. Government (largely because it is grandfathered, having sold a product containing the ingredient prior to laws prohibiting it) to attain the raw cocoa leaves, which are considered a Schedule II controlled substance, and they use a little-known operation in Maywood, New Jersey that's part of the Illinois-based Stepan Chemical Company which removes the cocaine from the cocoa leaves so Coke can still have it's distinctive flavor. No details were provided in the podcast on what, exactly, the company does with the wasted byproduct ... cocaine, although Wikipedia claims it is sold for medicinal purposes to a St. Louis, Missouri-based chemical company known as Mallinckrodt (which was acquired by Tyco in 2001, and in 2007, Tyco spun those healthcare business units off under the name Covidien) which also deals with cannibis and opium. I guess it's an interesting company to work for!
I have no perspective on whether the "secret" formula revealed in the program might be legitimate or not, but I can say the discussion was positively fascinating. Have a listen to the podcast (I believe it's about 30 minutes in length, although I have the complete podcast below, and the relevant content is basically the first half, although you're more than welcome to listen to all of it) by visiting HERE (short link http://bit.ly/MjG5Zq). Unfortunately, I initially had some trouble embedding the podcast here (it seems to be working now), but it's definitely worth listening to!
You can also download the podcast via iTunes or Amazon.com. As I write this, the cost was less than a can of Coca Cola is sold for (at least where I live) at just $0.99. This particular story was a good one in my honest opinion, and the press release for this podcast (see the press release at http://prn.to/MjPy2V) actually received a wave of international press coverage because they boldly proclaimed they had found the "secret formula" for Coca Cola.
Is it real?
You can try and make it for yourself if you're so inclined.
You be the judge. I will say that it was a fascinating look into an icon of American pop culture, and for me, the 30th anniversary of diet Coke is a big deal, but for those who like the sugary stuff, or even just details of a closely-guarded corporate secret, this podcast is worth tuning into!
55, writer, speaker, brother, son, friend, spouse, advocate for people with autoimmune (type 1) diabetes, thinker, dreamer. Reading and writing is becoming a lost art, but we can learn a lot from reading the medical and scientific literature before drawing conclusions. The press publishes abbreviated facts to fit into limited space, I don't mince words or omit facts.
