Where were you? | Group Tour Magazine Blog
Where were you? | Group Tour Magazine Blog
Where were you?
This blog by Senior Staff Writer Amanda Black ponders how TV nostalgia is good for group tours
The problem with having hundreds of cable channels is there is no time to watch them. Last night, in a bout of laziness, I decided to venture into the high register of channels and stumbled on Antenna TV. It’s one of those old timey TV channels like TV Land was before it starting showing George Lopez and Friends reruns.
Anyway, I was drawn to an episode of Too Close For Comfortfrom 1984. It was awful — the humor was as outdated as the jeans.
In case you want a little trip back to 1984, here's the Too Close For Comfort intro. Enjoy the Ted Knight pratfall.
One part made me chuckle, however. The blonde bombshell daughter was trying out for a news reader job. The joke was she couldn’t pronounce the name of Muammar Gaddafi, and then she quipped “How long could he really last?”
If only she knew…
But none of us knows, because that’s the way life works. I was already thinking all nostalgic when this commercial popped up for Antenna TV itself. It was quite moving. As it featured clips of old shows, it said something like: “We’ve laughed with these old friends, cried with them,” etc. And then, they said this: “It’s like a letter to yourself of a different time.”
Wow. So I got to thinking about where I was when the Too Close for Comfort aired. I was living in Chicago’s Northwest suburbs, the home of Woodfield Mall. We loved the mall then, and that was long before it became the go-to shopping destination east of the Mall of America. I also was in school then, learning about the evils of the Soviet Union along with reading comprehension, basic arithmetic and other important skills I still use today.
Where were you in 1984? Were you in school too? Were you a gleam in your parents’ eyes? Were you already planning tours?
The problem with having hundreds of cable channels is there is no time to watch them. Last night, in a bout of laziness, I decided to venture into the high register of channels and stumbled on Antenna TV. It’s one of those old timey TV channels like TV Land was before it starting showing George Lopez and Friends reruns.
Anyway, I was drawn to an episode of Too Close For Comfortfrom 1984. It was awful — the humor was as outdated as the jeans.
In case you want a little trip back to 1984, here's the Too Close For Comfort intro. Enjoy the Ted Knight pratfall.
One part made me chuckle, however. The blonde bombshell daughter was trying out for a news reader job. The joke was she couldn’t pronounce the name of Muammar Gaddafi, and then she quipped “How long could he really last?”
If only she knew…
But none of us knows, because that’s the way life works. I was already thinking all nostalgic when this commercial popped up for Antenna TV itself. It was quite moving. As it featured clips of old shows, it said something like: “We’ve laughed with these old friends, cried with them,” etc. And then, they said this: “It’s like a letter to yourself of a different time.”
Wow. So I got to thinking about where I was when the Too Close for Comfort aired. I was living in Chicago’s Northwest suburbs, the home of Woodfield Mall. We loved the mall then, and that was long before it became the go-to shopping destination east of the Mall of America. I also was in school then, learning about the evils of the Soviet Union along with reading comprehension, basic arithmetic and other important skills I still use today.
Where were you in 1984? Were you in school too? Were you a gleam in your parents’ eyes? Were you already planning tours?
| Photo: Tomislav Medak TV nostaglia is a trait shared by many group travelers. | ||
TV nostalgia also sets the stage for a host of interesting exhibits. The Paley Center for Media in Hollywood is hosting an exhibit of Warner Bros. TV memorabilia, representing shows like ER (I watched all 15 seasons), Kung Fu, The Big Bang Theory, Smallville and many other favorites.
“Television Outside the Box” just opened last month, and it is scheduled through 2015. The Paley Center also offers tours of its operations in Hollywood and New York, and it hosts a number of TV-themed events throughout the year.
In Las Vegas, the CSI Experience at the MGM Grand puts visitors right in the heart of the forensic TV show. The traveling exhibit of the same name is being refurbished and will start appearing at museums again soon.
Switching gears without leaving the medium of TV, there’s the Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, N.C., the real town that stood in for the fictional Mayberry. Griffith’s friend Emmett Forrest collected a large number of items related to the show, its actors and ol’ Andy himself.
Don’t forget about location tours, sitting in the studio audience, studio tours, media-themed theme parks and a host of other ways to connect with the wonderful world of TV.
What’s your favorite TV show? How can you weave it into a group tour?
Let’s keep the conversation going on Twitter (I'm @AmandaGroupTour) and Facebook.
“Television Outside the Box” just opened last month, and it is scheduled through 2015. The Paley Center also offers tours of its operations in Hollywood and New York, and it hosts a number of TV-themed events throughout the year.
In Las Vegas, the CSI Experience at the MGM Grand puts visitors right in the heart of the forensic TV show. The traveling exhibit of the same name is being refurbished and will start appearing at museums again soon.
Switching gears without leaving the medium of TV, there’s the Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, N.C., the real town that stood in for the fictional Mayberry. Griffith’s friend Emmett Forrest collected a large number of items related to the show, its actors and ol’ Andy himself.
Don’t forget about location tours, sitting in the studio audience, studio tours, media-themed theme parks and a host of other ways to connect with the wonderful world of TV.
What’s your favorite TV show? How can you weave it into a group tour?
Let’s keep the conversation going on Twitter (I'm @AmandaGroupTour) and Facebook.
Amanda Black has spent the last 10 years with Group Tour Magazine uncovering the best attractions and tours for groups. She lives in Holland, Mich., with a lovely view of a meadow and duck pond. Amanda is big fan of fresh food and TV dramas as well as all things cute.
Comments
Post a Comment