Extras Available Only At FaceTheFactsPod.com!
The Many (Handsome) Faces of Ken Reid
Sorry, David, er— I mean, folks, Ken is straight and married. To a woman. *sigh*
Did you see this tweet when it went viral? That’s Ken!
My Hometown Baseball Shirt That I Got Because Of Ken
The 1980s Headband Was The Best Thing Ever In The History Of Things
Fan Letter To Ken!
Here is one Of The fan emails I wrote to Ken (yes, my obsessions extend far beyond “The Facts Of Life…” In fact, the podcast came very close to being about “Laverne & Shirley.” (And, I will add, once I complete “The Facts Of Life,” that is not out of the running for the future.)
“Hi Ken!
David from Brockton here. We’ve corresponded before, FWIW. I have a Brockton Shoemakers baseball shirt thanks to you. :-) Thought I’d write you more fan mail.
Two things:
(1) Listening to you & John Hodgman talk extensively about ShaNaNa brought back so many memories! I loved that show when I was a kid. Interesting fact you may not know: Lennie Baker, sax player and vocalist for the group during its TV-show years, was from Whitman. I had heard when I was a kid that he was from Stoughton, but he may just have lived there in the 1970s/1980s. Or I’m associating it with my father meeting him and getting his autograph at the Cedar Lodge in Stoughton on 27 just north of the Westgate Mall area — where Nocera’s is now. Lennie is easily identified as “the fat one” (bald with a goatee like most Greasers in the 1950s - LOL). I was very happy to hear John crediting the group as great singers and musicians, because they were; Lennie beautifully sings the vocals for “Blue Moon” on the Grease movie soundtrack album. According to Wikipedia, he passed away early last year. :-( Otherwise I’d say you should get him on the show.
(2) COMPLETE CHANGE OF SUBJECT: I love every time you point out that “Happy Days” and “Laverne & Shirley” were period shows that forgot they were period shows. I thought of you watching a later episode of L&S on Hulu recently: Season 8, Episode 19, the one where David L. Lander (Squiggy) plays his own sister Squendolyn in drag. (This is a post-Cindy-Williams episode, obviously.) At the top of the episode, when he approaches Carmine about taking his sister on a date, Squiggy offers him $200. Um, excuse me? Ken, would you offer a friend $200 TODAY in 2017 to do you a favor? That’s a lot of money! Then factor in that this episode aired in 1983, at which time $200 was more than an average week’s salary - about $500 in 2017 dollars. THEN take into account that L&S’s final season takes place in 1967 (oops, forgot it was period!) when $200 was more than TWO week’s average salary! Nearly $1500 in 2017 dollars! WHAT THE FUCK!?! Just more proof that in the later seasons, the writers just didn’t give a shit.
OK, I’m running out of exclamation points. Thanks for letting me geek out a little bit. Love the show. Keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll keep listening!
David Almeida”
Fruzen Gladje Ice Cream
Ken reminded me of these commercial gems, tucked in the recesses of my memory.
The Hollywood Squares!
Here is the run-down of who hosted “The Hollywood Squares” … which incidentally WAS on NBC’s daytime lineup. When this episode of FOL was made, the Peter Marshall version was just winding up.
Peter Marshall (1966–1981)
Jon Bauman (1983–1984)
John Davidson (1986–1989)
Tom Bergeron (1998–2004)
In the Extras, Ken and I talk about the oft-forgotten Jon Bauman version which was an hour-long mashup called “The Match Game / Hollywood Squares Hour.” As a kid I was fascinated with the set-change, which you can see here around 16:00.
“Rita Hayworth: Love Goddess” starring Lynda Carter
Also discussed in the Extras, here is a forgotten gem (?) of a TV movie… Thanks to my Unofficial Historian/Researcher Bob for finding this and posting it to YouTube. This includes all of the extras on the home video release.
I said it so much during our Skype call and on the show, but I CANNOT THANK KEN ENOUGH for so readily agreeing to be on my show.