Hop on the MAGIC CARPET...

Today's nostalgic ride is apparently to the land of black and white tv days, all three channels, no remote. 1-The Andy Griffeth Show: poor Barney Fife who was only allowed to have one bullet, and he had to keep that in his pocket; the town drunk, Otis, who checked himself in and out of jail; Sweet Aunt Bea who dreamed of a pretty pink sweater for her birthday and dropped a few hints about it only to have Andy proudly give her a box of Mason jars instead; the Darlings who came "down from the mountain" to try to line up Andy with their daughter. (What was her name?) 2-Lassie, who was responsible for saving more people than Billy Graham himself. 3-The Lone Ranger, his horse "Hi-Ho" Silver, his silver bullets, and his ever-present helper, Tonto. 4-I Love Lucy; imbedded in our minds even without tv reruns are the episodes of her trying to hawk Vegevetavitamins, stomping the grapes in that big vat and the hilarious chocolate conveyor packaging episode. 5-Rod Serling (du du du du) in the Twilight Zone 6-Red Skeleton's Klem Kadiddlehopper and so many other personalities he played that I've forgotten now 6-Rawhide; little did we know that the young poncho-wearing Rowdy Yates would grow up to be the famous Clint Eastwood! 7-Jack Benny, who wherever he is, is still probably 29; 8-This is Your Life with Ralph Edwards 9-Eugene Gelesnik's Talent Show 10-Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzaaaan scream as he swung on the ropes to save yet someone else (Where is Carol Burnett when you need her?) 11-Queen For A Day, where a woman's wildest dream was a new washing machine 12-WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE (was Jack Palance or Steve Mcqueen in this show?) 13-The Invisible Man...I can still see those mummy bandages unwrapping...14-Gunsmoke, faithful Mr. Dillon, faithful Chester, faithful Miss Kitty, faithful Doc...seems like there's a common thread there 15-Fury, and Sky King, both probably before your time 16-Dragnet, dum da dum dum dummmm; Hello, my name is Friday, Joe Friday. 17-the scarey Mr. Hitchcock, master of suspense, who spoke almost speech-impaired like and faded out to a large silhouette after each episode. What sentence did he close his show with each time? I was too scared to watch a whole episode. 18-Perry Mason (Mr. Eyebrows), Miss Della Street (who would still be beautiful even by today's standards), the snazzy-dressed Paul Drake, the surly Mr. Hamilton Burger, Lt. Tragg who surprisingly never lost his job even though his cases always fell through, and the only one you could be sure was not the killer, Mr. Mason's client. 19-Good old Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Tom & Jerry, Tweety & Sylvester, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam and the poor Roadrunner whose eyes always reflected the knowledge he was about to face yet another imminent death. 20-My personal favorite show, The Millionaire, where a rich benefactor would hand over a cashier's check each week for his assistant to deliver to some deserving recipient whose life would be forever changed. The catch was that the person could never know who the benefactor was. We never found out either, but oh what a warm-fuzzy show! 21-Disney movies: Lady & the Tramp (Swing Low, Sweet Chariot); Cinderelly Cinderelly; Sleeping Beauty; Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs, all of whom nobody can cite at the same time; Robin Hood; Bambi; The Shaggy Dog & That Darn Cat; Parent Trap; and the Disney Sunday movie, (7:00 p.m.) when Every American was glued to their tv sets. Oh, and let's not forget The Beverly Hillbillies: Granny, with her cures and spells, her fancy eatin' table and big cement pond out back; the shy-but-wise Miss Hathaway; the selfish-but-somehow-still-likeable Mr. Drysdale and his neurotic wife; the beautiful animal-loving Miss Elly Mae; and poor Jethro who is probably still in sixth grade and looking for "them pretty bells" he can never find because every time he goes to check them out, somebody comes to the door!...(Cue the banjos): "Come and listen to my story 'bout a man named Jed, poor mountaineer, barely kep' his family fed and then one day he was shootin' at some food, and up through the ground came a bubbling crude, OIL that is, Black Gold, Texas Tea..."