Dr. Hartley’s World of Crazies
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Ken Lerner has one of those faces that might look maddeningly familiar, but one that you can’t place exactly where you have seen it. His 30-year career as a character actor began in the late 1970’s and continues to the current day. He can be spotted in such sitcoms as Laverne & Shirley, Happy Days, Newhart, Sledge Hammer!, Family Ties, Friends, Scrubs, and Two and a Half Man – just to scratch the surface. 
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. 
The Simpsons have been as American as apple butter for the last two decades, garnering numerous awards and critical recognition. In 2005, I had the chance to meet Dan Castellaneta, who voices the patriarch of the Simpsons family, Homer Simpson. So I was excited when the opportunity presented itself to get to meet our local Kettering sensation Nancy Cartwright, who has provided the voice of the irrepressible Bart Simpson for some twenty years. 
I absolutely adore Peanuts. Not the salty snack food – although I am fond of those too – but the Charles Schultz series of comic strips and animated cartoons. So I was naturally excited to find out that Pamelyn Ferdin, who was the voice of Lucy Van Pelt in three of the Peanuts shows (two TV specials: It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown and Play It Again Charlie Brown – and one of my favorite movies A Boy Named Charlie Brown) was going to be appearing at the Chiller Theatre Show on April 18, 2009.