Vermont and New Hampshire
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
I had stayed up later than Bob the night before watching the TV pilot episode of Newhart on my laptop after Bob had already fallen asleep. The reason why is that I was sleeping inside the Waybury Inn, in East Middlebury, Vermont – which was used as the establishing shot of the Stratford Inn on one of my all-time favorite sitcoms Newhart. Mind you they never actually filmed anything here other than shots of the inn. Bob Newhart had never even been at the inn. But in watching the show, you see it two or three times per episode, so it had become ingrained in my mind, so since the beginning of this trip’s inception, staying here was a must. Read the rest of this entry »
The first rule of Mayfield is that you never utter the words: “been there, done that.” No sir. When you get a chance to bask in the presence of actors from Leave It to Beaver, you jump on it and you relish it. So even though I had met both Ken Osmond, who played the world’s greatest slimeball friend Eddie Haskell, and Tony Dow, who was the All-American perfect older brother Wally Cleaver, in the past, there was no way on earth that I was going to let an opportunity to meet them again slip by. So when these two television treasures made an appearance at the Hollywood Show on January 12, 2013, I made sure that I was there to greet them. 
If the Hardy Boys series from the 1970’s didn’t exude that timeless 1970’s feel, I would find it pretty difficult to sit through. Most of my memories of the show are relegated to seeing the cast routinely featured in the teen magazies of the era, the one’s I was purchasing because they featured KISS. Truth be told, I actually prefer the Hardy Boys serials from the Mickey Mouse Club that starred 
I should have known that Valerie Harper wouldn’t be that easy to work with. Anyone who managed to get kicked off her own series, get killed off, and then sue the producers (and win) was going to be a worthy adversary. I probably don’t need to tell you that I am referring to the series Valerie, which was eventually changed to The Hogan Family following the great Valerie Harper contract dispute. But even more famously than that, she played the iconic character Rhoda Morgenstern in The Mary Tyler Moore Show for its first four seasons, and then in the spin-off series Rhoda for five more. 
I’m sure that Adam West can be a nice guy. He seems to be a fan favorite when he gives interviews or speaks in panels. I’ve even heard that he sends out free autographs in the mail. But from all personal accounts of meeting Adam West, who starred as Batman in the cult classic TV series from 1966-1968k, he is – oh what’s the word? – a prick. I had already met and gotten an autograph and picture from