I Dream of Jeannie’s Autograph
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
As a huge fan and collector of all episodes of I Dream of Jeannie, I am thrilled to have autographed photos all three of the principals of the show. In fact I met Larry Hagman and his co-star Bill Daily both in 2009. Unfortunately, I have not been so lucky with Barbara Eden. She was, however, kind enough to sign a nice cheesecake photo of herself back in the latter part of 1997. It is unfortunate that I didn’t get her to sign the photo from the show first- and then add Hagman’s signature later. As it is, I’ll have to be satisfied with the lone autographed photo from Barbara Eden seen below. At least her belly button is visible. Read the rest of this entry »
Although she tried out for the role of Princess Leia, Cindy Williams’ fate was cast to not be known for Star Wars, but rather as Shirley Feeney in the popular sitcom Laverne & Shirley. This show was of course a spin-off from the classic Happy Days, in which she played the same role alongside Penny Marshall’s Laverne. I’d have to say that my interest in Cindy Williams however was her role in one of my favorite films American Graffiti. Even if she is annoying when she eats french fries in it. 
Amidst the much-touted reunions of the Happy Days and Brady Bunch cast, one other mini-reunion that particularly excited me occurred at the July 18, 2009, Hollywood Show. There quietly nestled in the back of the show, three cast members of The Bob Newhart Show assembled to meet the fans. Bob Newhart himself has always been a personal favorite and I absolutely adore his first classic sitcom that chronicled the deadpan Dr. Robert Hartley and the world of crazies that surrounded him. The show ran for six seasons from 1972-1978 and has become legendary as one of the all-time great sitcoms. 
I wouldn’t say it was my favorite show, but Too Close For Comfort was one of those very comforting classic sitcoms that I enjoyed watching with my family back in the first half of the 1980’s decade. Starring Ted Knight as the ever-exasperated Henry Rush, he was flanked by his wife and two daughters played by Deborah Van Valkenburgh (Jackie Rush) and Lydia Cornell (Sara Rush). Lydia was by far the hotter one. But when I actually got the chance to meet them, it was Deborah who saved the day. 
It was about 8:30am on the morning of Tuesday, July 14, 2009, when Bob and I checked out of room 2467 of the Paris Las Vegas hotel. We had had a great two days there, but it was time to work our way back to Los Angeles to continue with my California adventure. We crossed over the border and had made it halfway toward our L.A. destination when we stopped for brunch in Barstow at an eatery known as Quigley’s. Bob had the monte cristo and I went for the breakfast border burrito. We sat near a ‘biddy brigade’ that Bob ended up knowing.