So, last night I was watching Nick At Nite- my ultimate tv late night nostalgia stop. I've watched it since I was little. I remember they used to show black and white shows. I've probably seen every episode of "Mr. Ed", (Who knows that theme song?) "The Patty Duke Show", (How about that theme song?) "The Donna Reed Show"... then the shows started to be in color and started to be shows I thought I remembered being in first run, although it's likely they were already in re-runs and I just thought they were first run. Shows like, "The Brady Bunch", "Bewitched", and "I Dream of Jeannie" after that they start getting hazy because they were definitely shows I watched in real time, like "Wings", "Full House" and the point of me writing this "The Cosby Show"... I watched every episode of this show, every Thursday night as it was airing...
Anyway, I was a sophomore in high school. My brother's son had just been born and my he had just left for Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield (which would turn into Operation Desert Storm in less than 2 months). I was in student council and one of my best friends was a girl named Diana. We were in Student Council together and we were co-chairpersons of Operation:Cards Because We Care... We organized students to write cards and letters to soldiers during Christmas. We got our pictures in the school paper for it and a mention in the alumni news letter, it was a very big deal... Anyway, that was me. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. I thought it was journalism, although I had just joined the theatre program in school and was really enjoying the thought that I could be Rudy rather than watching her on tv...
Anyway, The Cosby Show, the name of the episode was "It's A Boy!" Here is the blurb about it: "Having broken up with Slide, Pam sets her sights on Aaron, a new student whose brains, compassion and integrity are all top of the class. Meanwhile, Alfred, a nervous expectant father turns to Cliff for tips on how to play basketball with his future son. Alfred also gets some insights from Theo on how boys view their fathers when it comes to sports. And both Alfred and Cliff get an enlightening lesson from their wives. Finally, Olivia announces her intention of becoming a doctor as well as a professional football player." Alfred has pretty sizeable role. More than just the single shot in Cliff's office with his wife, he hangs around during the entire episode trying to learn to play basketball so he can teach his son (when he's born)... Anyway, just another guest star played by a NY actor that got to be on the show, his name is Ray DeMattis. At first I thought it was Joe Pesci but this guy was funnier and more familiar and I when I realized why.. I'll get to that in a minute. Go to IMDB- he's done a bunch... most recently I saw him in West Virginia I was his stage manager and he was playing Horace Vandergelder in Hello Dolly. Not really a huge deal, I work with actors all the time and most of them have been on Law and Order and many of them have been doing this a long time. I've been the intern to 3 stars of MASH and a 70s disco singer, but it was the fact that I watched him when I was younger and had no idea what life had in store for me. I don't know, I guess the whole point is just that it's good. I feel like a commercial. Life is cool and it just feels like a story you tell you kids and since I don't have any of those... I blogged! Whatever don't be mad at me, you are the one reading blogs!
