Starring Sid and Marty Krofft
Sleestaks!
(obviously)
I do not know what those two were ingesting, but if they weren’t on questionable chemicals, their imaginations could beat Roald Dahl’s to bits.
I’m told the mayor is a dragon, but I will use that word loosely.
But they weren’t the only ones seeking fungal enlightenment.
I waited with bated breath for her to call my name, but while my name is relatively common and timeless, it’s also got 9 letters and I never found keychains with my name on them, either.
I’m also told she scared kids shitless, but I found the whole thing pretty damned magical, especially when the trolley problem came up. The thing about this show is all the disparate crap strewn neatly about, on the walls, having some kind of chaotic order, like a wonderful department store front window display from the 1940s. My office is like that.
Education is important. My history teacher was completely confused when we got to the Constitution and we already knew the Preamble. However, we couldn’t recite it. We had to sing it. Every one of us.
As has been noted, I am a complete heroine junky because the bodice rippers I cut my teeth on as a tween all had heroines who went on grand adventures (almost never voluntarily), made the best of their situations, and engaged in wonderful feats of derring do. I would have killed for that little outfit when I was in single digits.
And finally, we get to my eternal love for the lace gazebo.
I really admire people who can create content for children. I have no idea how to interact with tax deductions, and I had two of my own! I mean, I was going to teach high school for a reason (which reason had no bearing on why my cooperating teacher advised me to run while I could).
Meantime, I’m trying my hand at children’s literature:
He’s terrified.
He’s running ragged through the hell labyrinth designed especially for him. He’s got fire-breathing pitbulls on his heels, a death metal version of In the Hall of the Mountain King ringing in his head, clogging his reason and confusing his flight mechanism. His fight is long gone and freeze is not an option.
He’ll get a bank sucker—you know the type, with the little loop stem—at the end of his ordeal, but not for a job well done, no. It’ll lie on his pillow when he wakes up, hopefully a better person, to remind him of his future should he not take the lessons of the hellscape to heart, and continue on his path that is only troublemaking right now, but will evolve to pure evil if left unchecked.
His parents, the ones with three other well-behaved children, are powerless. The law is no help. “It’s a civil/family/private matter.”
I can taste the terror oozing from his pores, his fatigue souring the adrenaline, and his salty tears, as I direct him through one hellish scenario after another—his future, should he choose it.
This kid’s parents and siblings are sleeping no less soundly, for they fear his nighttime activities. Doors and windows don’t hold him. Every inside door in this house is locked with a key so he won’t steal or destroy his family’s possessions—or damage their bodies.
Possessions aren’t important until they’re yours.
The terrorized tears of kids with potential to be better are like nectar on my tongue.
He’ll be fine, this one.
He’s sobbing into his pillow, deep in the nightmare, unable to escape it.
I leave the sucker. It tastes like rotting adrenaline.
“Merry Christmas, you little bastard,” I say as I whip the goats attached to my sleigh and head on to the next budding sociopath.
I’m Krampus, and I love my job.
That can’t be any more terrifying than Sleestaks.
No Mr. Wizard?
There were a few episodes where he got a bit impatient and shitty with a kid and it was awesome.
Never heard of it.
Imagine if there was a science show that was good, didn’t talk down to kids, and explained things in a way that made sense to kids (well, me at least). I have several memories tied to his show, such as his demonstration of random numbers, the gas can/ice water demonstration, and lighting steel wool on fire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsGnYuQwsOI
I think I’ve mentioned my dislike of present tense before. I’ll just reiterate that and move on.
So… all your life you’ve looked to the future?
Reactionary Curmudgeon Hates the Present:
News at 11
Sorry but you teed that one up.
😎
“Now is the
wintermoment of our discontentMade glorious
summerpresent by this sun ofYorkyourn”Hmmm. I don’t think the Bard would approve.
The Bard is just grumpy about all the dentist visits… him and that Hollow Crown….
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Kevin wasn’t said very often either. I feel like every kid had the same story. Maybe the “magic” part of the mirror was that it made us all disappointed.
I loved Mr. Rogers too, but my favorite was the little “how it’s made” films he’d show sometimes.
Land of the Lost scared me too, but mostly because of Chaka.
And let’s not forget Gigglesnort Hotel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVbsWaAxi28
Deidre Hall also did a S&M K series.
Wasn’t that a GlibFlick a while back?
“I really admire people who can create content for children.”
At one point I had a somewhat serious but mostly not serious idea for a kid’s show starring me, as the wheelchair-using host, called The HandiChap.
I’ll take the high road and not make any references to hand jobs.
See our focus group didn’t catch that.
Too big of a reach around to tug at their attention?
Every show has a happy ending?
I’ll see myself out before I get a throbbing purple glans from Swiss.
SWISS SUB-CONTRACT THAT SERVICE OUT. STEVE HAPPY TO HELP… AND BY HELP, MEAN….
*stands at attention*
I don’t have content for kids. Well, not small ones.
I suppose most teenagers can read my books without problem (assuming they are not public school victims who are functionally illiterate)
So many things of which I am blissfully unaware.
I watched a movie last night which might be a candidate for glibflix:
The Yesterday Machine
Spoiler alert: Nazi mad scientist time machine.
Lemme guess. He goes back and kills Hitler avoiding the war on 2 fronts and Germany fares better in the war?
Take it easy on the kid, SilverFox316; everybody kills Hitler on their first trip.
slumbrew: It had to be linked, thanks for beating me to it.
I didn’t realize tor.com was gone. I had to search around a bit.
Is that like the 1950s version of Rickrolling?
Damn. Romper Room was my favorite show about 54 years ago. Haven’t thought about it since then.
In the Chicago area we also had Ray Raynor, and Bozo.
No love for the Magic Garden?
Jesus, more hippies.
All of these people are hippies. All my teachers were hippies. My mom was pre-war so not a hippie, thank God.
for you, rhywun
lol I had a little thing for “Courage” I guess was his name.
Yeah, my parents were war babies, so none of that crap for me.
Just communism.
Adam Carolla interviews Sid Krofft for an hour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Cb-2hz0d8
That’s a good one because Adam was not at all shy about his disdain for Sid & Marty’s output and what total shit it was; Sid ends up coming on the show despite Adam shitting on him for years and it turns out he’s a great guy – he and Adam became friendly after this (have lunch together, etc).
Yes. Sid giving his showbiz background was great, too.
If I show my kids stuff I watched in my youth, it breaks their brains. I might as well say I pushed around a hoop with a stick.
Probably 15 or so years back, I introduced my niece to the original Twilight Zone. It may have been the first black and white show she had ever seen. I remember as a kid that there were plenty of black and white old shows still being broadcast in those afternoon blocks (and eventually Nickelodeon for their night times).
Little Rascals, 3 Stooges, I Love Lucy, Honeymooners… lots of black and white especially in the mid day when I was home sick.
My kids used to call those “gray” shows and they refused to watch any of them.
I hope you told the ingrates, “We didn’t have any choice.”
Old series, game shows, and then *shiver* daytime soaps. Fortunately there were channels that played movies.
Channels? Plural?, What are these plural channels you people speak of?
We had one, and we liked it!
LA was blessed with many channels.
(I was joking, as I grew up four hours north of LA.)
I might as well say I pushed around a hoop with a stick.
Uphill, in the snow, both ways.
While eating black licorice.
That sounds like one of the odder Harlequin novels… “His lusty body scaled her lace gazebo like ivy in the full bloom of spring!”
This tryst needs to begin with a note slipped to him inviting him to a tryst under the moonlight at the bodice in the garden.
I think I know your target audience for the Krampus writings….
Let’s not forget Zoom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoom_(1972_TV_series)
God that show was a mess.
Yeah, Zoom was my bag out of all these. That and Electric Company.
Wonderama….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderama
Yup. NY market only if recall.
I also got Philly stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Noah_and_His_Magical_Ark
♫ … now you’re in a Wonderama … ♫
My wife, growing up in far northern California, loved Zoom.
I had never heard of it.
a 70’s local offering
Why am I getting the urge to link Pumaman clips now?
I can’t find an episode of it right now, but my kids sometimes watched Jack’s Big Music Show. There was a violinist/fiddler whose work I just loved and I also thought she was pretty. Anne Harris. I was going to add that as a call to the not-so-distant past, but forgot.
My wife must be perusing my Youtube history. I hear her listening to Hat and the Hair in the other room.
You use private mode for, err private, content?
Is she also typing angry comments about how the author can’t meme?
I’ll let you know if she says anything. I didn’t hear laughter, but she let it play all the way through.
I have had a lovely start to the afternoon.
Fell off the back stairs and landed on the sidewalk. Skinned both knees. Bleeding has stopped, and it’s objectively minor, but it’s unfun.
Hey that brings to mind another thing we were scared of. Merthiolate
We used Isopropyl growing up. So that’s what I used today.
😣
Still stings a bit.
H2O2. My mother didn’t believe me when I said it stings.
Oh, hell yes! Luckily, mine rarely rated anything more potent than zinc oxide ointment.
Obligatory — burning, stinging iodine
Oh, she believed you when you said it stings. She just thought it built character.
Mercurochrome, aka Monkey Blood.
I Do not put alcohol on broken skin. It can be used to disinfect unbroken skin but I dont use it on wounds. It destroys proteins and forms an air resistant film over the wound increasing the chances of infection.
For mild to moderate lacerations I –
First use Betadine. Rinse with sterile saline (get the big bottle for eyewash)
Second use Hibiclens soap. Rinse with sterile saline.
Third put triple antibiotic salve generously. Cover with non-stick pad and tape down. Dress fresh in the morning and again mid-afternoon. Do the whole routine each time.
If I need professional medical attention I stop at the drug store on the way home and purchase the items I described. As soon as. I get home I get rid of the hospital dressing and follow my instructions above. I am convinced that hospital staff are completely unaware of or dont believe in germ theory.
I Keep an eye out frequently for any redness, swelling or itching or burning. If I experience any of that it means infection so…new wash and dress.
Benzalkonium chloride (sting-less).
I’ve got a big bottle of Puracyn that Amazon accidentally sent me.
Supposedly sting free. Haven’t used it yet.
It’s a little early to be falling-down-the-stairs drunk…
Captain Kangaroo was the GOAT.
Also, Jack Wild was my first celebrity crush.
Mr. Green Jeans! I almost put that, but it wasn’t shroomy enough.
Lithwick is pissed. Good sign. TW Slate.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/05/supreme-court-analysis-birthright-citizenship-trump-power.html
even when they’re blatantly unconstitutional
Trump isn’t even constitutionally eligible to be president.
It’s shocking that not a single one of the 600+ district judges issued a nationwide ban on Obamacare when it was enacted.
The whole point of the case is that any one of those 600+ judges currently has more power than the President or any of the Supreme Court justices. That’s totally constitutional.
Oh, not that.
There seems be a fundamental misunderstanding of this case among people on both sides.
This actually will not determine the merits of birthright citizenship as the author above thinks.
It’s about national injunctions.
This Trump DOJ gambit is interesting because birthright citizenship tough “underlying” case.
If they win though, they actually win a lot.
Yes. I posted WSJ editorial in the AM links and this was the discussion.
As much as we complain about kids and their tablets, we did have a ton of TV shows aimed at us. I was admittedly a TV junkie who had to be forced out of the house occasionally. It was a different experience watching just what was on, vs. being able to watch exactly what you want on demand 24/7, even in the car and outside.
Sunday’s only offered Gumby and Popeye.
I watched Gumby in high school. Probably because of the Eddie Murphy character, but the real show was pretty good.
I had no idea how religious the show was until much older.
forgot Lutheran TV
I still prefer the old way.
TV has always been background noise for me and I don’t see that changing.
Saturday morning cartoons, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Hanna-Barbera, etc., until Soul Train came on, then head out to play with my friends.
I found out recently, my wife watched Soul Train. I was disappointed for some reason.
The only reason I escaped being a TV junkie was due to my brother folding newspapers during the only time there was cool shows on (Thundar the Barbarian, for instance) and forcing me to watch Three’s Company.
I quickly retreated into my room and read.
Dodge can’t sell the new Chargers so it’s stopped selling the software nerfed versions. That may help, but it’s still a crazy big two door car that is too heavy and expensive. Bonus for the half baked software.
https://moparinsiders.com/2026-dodge-charger-daytona-scat-pack-brings-big-changes/
Just now ducking in.
What about this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFV3EuWRa3w
lambchop
no time to look for a video
https://youtu.be/0Cuw8lnYgj0
Reddit brain: AITA for telling my wife I do not support her working unless she earns at least $55K, or expect me not to finance a car for her?
If she stays home, our family has $100K left after taxes. But if she works, we have to pay for daycare, which costs $55K a year for both kids.
She’s been talking about going back to work and found a job that pays $30K annually. I told her that this makes zero sense because, financially, we’d be worse off. If she takes this job, our new income equation would leave us with 75K (100+30-55)
So instead of living off $100K, we’d be left with $75K. That’s a $25K loss just so she can say she has a job. How is that logical?
I told her that unless she finds a job paying at least $55K, she should just stay home. But she’s mad, saying I’m “controlling” and that she wants her “own income.” I don’t get this at all—her “own income” actively drains our household income. I even broke it down with numbers, but she refuses to see the problem.
He’s the asshole for expecting good advice from Reddit.
Yes.
Realistically, she needs future career upside for any kind of future benefit.
I’m assuming he knew she was mathematically illiterate when they got married and chose children.
Isn’t the standard marriage advice on Reddit “get a divorce”?
Plenty of that in the replies. Somehow a divorce will make them both better off financially.
That…was not my experience. I only recently got my savings back up to “6 months of living expenses” after 3 years of being divorced.
Well – it will make her better off financially.
It’s either “get a divorce” or “the woman is right”.
I used to occasionally browse “Am I The Asshole” when my brain was too fried to do anything productive… I noticed that if the conflict was between a man and a woman, they were almost always partial to the woman (it had to be a very clear-cut, egregious situation for them to side with the man). Other people noticed this and would produce archived posts about such conflicts: The original post had been about 80/20 in favor of the woman, but then somebody would re-post it verbatim except with the sexes reversed. Surprise surprise, most of the replies were still siding with the woman, even though it was the same exact situation.
Stuff like that put me off of Reddit forever. I’d also see woodworking posts where somebody made a checkered block cutting board, and a bunch of comments would say “It’s not that impressive to just glue a bunch of offcuts together.” Yea, that’s kind of what woodworking is: Cutting wood into smaller pieces and making them into stuff. Are they supposed to cut down an entire tree for every single piece?
My buddy’s wife worked as a guidance counselor and it was a net loss for them, due to the daycare expenses.
“But it kept her from going insane”, which was a substantial non-monetary benefit.
Thank you for the links and I’m eager to read your children’s lit take. I certainly will later, but I’ve got an elementary music performance (or several) I’m headin’ off to see at the momo.
The oldest nephew is 11. Whole family was at a ten pin bowling alley for my bday a couple of weeks ago. There were scores of pinball machines. I ‘caught’ the eldest staring at a machine decorated with the voluptuous Elvira. (It got my attention, too. Seeing part of his eyes ‘awaken’ is mighty fascinating.) He’s incredibly mathematically focused. I honestly do not know what books or similar they read through school, and I *highly* doubt they’re reading much, if anything, on their own.
Certainly something for me to discover. Thanks, again, Mo. Always a treat!
Since we’ve been ragging on cyclists the past couple days, I’ll throw this one out here: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/missing-sierra-camper-found-after-3-weeks-20329152.php
I’m glad she’s ok, and I admire her sense of adventure, but jeez lady, do a little homework, or at least check a weather forecast.
Ugh. If you are lost just go downhill until you find water. follow the water until you find people.
The only place that doesnt work is the Atchafalaya basin. There there is no downhilll and you run across a creek every 50 yards, none of which are flowing the same direction.
I’ve gone backpacking out of the place where she was found. It’s pretty rugged country. I don’t think there is a trail by the river, and if there is, much of it is probably still covered in snow. She probably did the right thing by staying put. Actually, the right thing would have been to not go back there until places start opening up, or at least don’t go back there alone if there is snow in the forecast. And have a paper map.
You mean you don’t just light a signal fire on the water you find?
Well Jaime, now that you say that I still think I am superman. I’m not. I am old. The same thing probably would have happened to me.
30-40 years ago you could have put me anywhere on the planet and I would hike out like I was going to check the mail box. Those days are behind me, In fact it is now 6 of the clock pm and I am about to take an ambien and go to bed because doodling around the house has made me achy and tired.
Shit, I used to do a ton of back packing in that section, it gets pretty remote pretty quick, and the wrong downhill will not get you out, it will just get too steep to traverse.
Skinned both knees.
Rub some dirt on ’em.
or rub liberally with New Skin™. The sting builds character.
she’s mad, saying I’m “controlling” and that she wants her “own income.” I don’t get this at all—her “own income” actively drains our household income.
It’s “her own income” so it doesn’t go into the pot. 100k – 55k = 45k. Good luck.
🤣😂
If she isn’t already having an affair she is going to.
Also, she is going to want half of his money when she goes.
H.R. Puffenstuff!!! That’s how I started my Saturday mornings.
Google letting you know that nothing it offers is “free”.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/14/youtube-gemini-ai-feature-will-target-ads-when-viewers-most-engaged.html
What about Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp? Was that a standalone show, or was he part of something else?
Part of The Banana Splits?
It was stand alone, although often shown with. Who could even explain that to a modern kid…
Here is the first episode. The opening has been messed with. Rest looks original.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ctZI9_oyo
“But it kept her from going insane”, which was a substantial non-monetary benefit.
I’ve had/heard that conversation on multiple occasions. She doesn’t care that she’s working for free (since it all goes to the babysitter). It gives her an excuse to get out of the house.
So hire a babysitter two or three days per week.
I know I’m an oddball among human beings, but I never understood the notion that someone would seek employment for any reason other than “I need a paycheck to live” or, in rare cases, the job is so meaningful and fulfilling that the person has no desire to quit (let’s be honest, that’s a fucking unicorn).
The second I can pay my bills and afford a few extras here and there without working, the W-4 can kiss my ass gooooood-bye. I’m pretty good at getting into other routines that prevent me from turning into a couch potato: Walk the dogs, ride bikes, build things in the garage, and lately, becoming an idiot-savant about the history of this town (I’ve weirded out a couple people by telling them who used to live in their house in the 1840s).
Saturday mornings? I’m sure I was walking five miles to school uphill in a foot of snow. Oh,wait, that’s just what I tell the grandkids I don’t think we had a TV until I was about 9 so I can’t recall watching any kiddy shows.
All I remember is Looney Tunes. All the modern (eighties) stuff around it was complete crap, except maybe Superfriends. After that it was cheeseball movies (Journey to the Center of the Earth and stuff like that) and/or Space 1999.
There was also the Great Space Coaster:
https://youtu.be/Dddm5bQeKvg?si=n4wMN2hrJDI3RPns