Everyone remembers the “Newlywed Game” which was hosted by Bob Eubanks. Their first show aired way back in 1966. Who could forget Eubanks with his corny personality and dorky questions? For instance… where was the strangest place you ever made whoopee? (I always hated that word). Even dorkier by far, were the newlywed couples that were on the show.

I used to marvel at the couple’s answers. It was the kind of show you loved to watch, but the dorkiness also made you cringe.

Well the “Newlywed Game” was revamped a year ago, with a brand new host. Carnie Wilson, the new host, known for her participation in the defunk 1990’s group Wilson Phillips is getting ready for season 2. (fact :Wilson Phillip’s song  Hold On was used in “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle” )

They are jazzing things up a little this year and having a celebrity edition, which will have the likes of newlyweds Christopher Knight and Adrianne Curry, former Monkee, Davy Jones (wow!) with his better half and others.

And for the first time in Newlywed history, a gay married couple will be contestants on the show when George Takei aka Sulu of the famed Star Trek will be joined by husband Brad Altman.

Young George As Sulu On Star Trek Set

George finally came out to the world when he was 71.  He married Brad last September and the couple has just shared their first one year anniversary.(Happy Anniversary guys!) But these two have been together much longer than one year…try 22 years! So they must be doing something right.

George met Brad through Front Runners, an LA based gay running club. George’s family and friends had to make some adjustments to his coming out and most were very supportive. One of his siblings wasn’t too accepting of George’s life style and he had some difficulties with his mom at first, but she eventually grew to really like Brad. 

George’s Mom suffered from Alzheimer’s and he had his mother move in with them, where she spent her last four years before her death. Living with someone with Alzheimers is an extremely difficult journey and Brad was George’s rock of Gibraltar, standing right by George’s side the entire time. George referred to Brad as a saint for his role in helping him to care for his Mom. True love over comes all obstacles. Click here to read about it.

George and Brad married on Sept 14th of last year and the guest list included fellow Star Trekers, Leonard Nimoy, aka Spock, Walter Koenig, aka Anton Yelchin Chekov, who was George’s best man with Nichelle Nichols aka Uhura as the maid of honor.

Wedding Party Trekers Uhura, and Chekov with George and Brad

Fellow Trekers, the late James Montgomery Doohan aka “Scotty” and the late DeForrest Kelly aka “Bones” who passed away some time back were hopefully there in spirit.

There was another Treker who was not present at the wedding. William Shatner aka Captain Kirk, who was not invited to George’s wedding and it caused quite the riff between the two to say the least. 
Apparently George was not a big fan of working with Shatner during the Star Trek years, and according to Takei, Shatner supposedly did not accept Takei’s coming out as well as the other cast members.

So I guess George snubbing Shatner sent him a big message. I was never a fan of  Shatner. I always found him creepy and pompous, perhaps George felt the same way.

George even spoke at Shatner’s roast in 2005, but I think George’s insults were more on the serious side compared to the other roaster guests.

On George’s website, you can watch a fabulous video and hear George and Brad talk about their wedding, their rings, their fight against Prop 8 and they also included some actual footage from their wedding.

So back to the Newlywed Game…..

The airing of this show is such a wonderful step towards the acknowledgment of equality for gay marriages. Kudos and a big round of applause for GNS for airing this show.

The new format of the show has not strayed too far from the original format. I would imagine that some questions had to be updated due to the changing times and there are only three couples on the new show instead of four like the original. So Bob Eubanks will be very happy that the show stayed pretty true to the original.

A snippette from EOnline :

GSN is boldly going where no Newlywed Game has gone before.

Star Trek’s George Takei, he of the mean Jon Gosselin impression, and partner Brad Altman will be the first same-sex couple ever to participate in the game show when the cable net airs a celebrity edition later this season.

So anyone interested in knowing the weirdest place they’ve “made whoopee,” be sure to set your TiVos.

The couple recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of their marriage but have been together for 22 years.

Joining them in the celebrity editions of the show this year will be Dancing with the Stars pros Edyta Sliwinska and Alec Mazo; Christopher Knight and Adrianne Curry; Survivor’s Jonny Fairplay and his America’s Next Top Model wife, Michelle Deighton; and the Real Housewives of Orange County’s Lauri Waring and George Peterson.

The Takei show, which has yet to be taped with new host Carnie Wilson, is expected to air sometime in October.

Not sure why did ”E” put such emphasis on tuning in to find out where was the strangest place George and Brad made whoopee? Why? Do they think George and Brad’s answers will be any stranger than the other couples answers? Frankly, I am more interested in Davey Jone’s answer. So shame on “E” for being so square and semi-insulting to George and Brad.

I really didn’t know anything about George. I really only knew him as Sulu, and I was not a Star Trek follower. So I was curious and I dug a little.

George, had a tough life  when he was young and he grew up with a lot of discrimination. In his earlier years, it was due to his Japanese nationality. He was brought up in two American internment camps also called the War Relocation Camps. Now I am not going to get into all the different names of these camps, their locations and history. If you are not aware of what these camps were all about, click here and educate yourself.

Surprisingly, George’s memories of the camp were fond memories. Something you would not expect to hear. But due to his very young age, and because he knew of nothing else, thankfully he was spared from what was really going on around him and the real reason why he was placed there. No child should ever have to endure that sort life style and live in a compound with guards and be surrounded by fences with barbed wire and be held prisoner. The mere notion of people and children in those horrid internment camps is despicable and cruel.

Now when I was reading about the internment camps, I was reminded of the modern day horror which is still sadly going on today in the US and other countries. Where is this going on in the US you may ask? There is an actual compound in California. There is slave labor being carried out in Clearwater Florida also. By whom? SCIENTOLOGY.

Scientology’s Sea Organization members live at a very similar compound in Gilman Hot Springs, California called Golden Era Productions aka Gold Base or Int Base. The Sea Orgers live within a compound with guards, razor fencing that points inwards, and are not allowed to leave.Want to see actual footage of this compound?
Have a look at this beyond creepy place on this Youtube video where you can hear the organ tone that the cult started to play on the arrival of the TWO people filming it.

Tom Cruise has been there SEVERAL times. The leader of the cult, David Miscavige, even had an apartment built there for Cruise by Sea Orgers.

The difference with Gold Base and the internment camps? Gold Base is much worse. Sea Orgers are subject to the RPF. (Rehabilitation Project Force) which is bestowed on any members who disobey in ANY way and this punishment lasts for YEARS. Someone can be put on RPF for as little as looking at someone the wrong way.

Many Sea Org members have also been disconnected from their families. Members as well as young teens are assigned to hard labor, sleep deprivation, mind control, humiliation, human trafficking, sexual abuse, beatings, forced abortions, improper medical care and the list of abuse goes on and one. Now the Florida location is not set up like a compound in the middle of the desert like Gold is, but it’s abuses are the same. And ALL members must sign a billion year contract with Scientology. No joke.

Sorry to get side tracked, but the internment camps reminded me of Scientology’s Gold Base so much, and if people are outraged by the cruelness of those internment camps, then the Sea Org should horrify you even more.

The internment camps only lasted a few years, and then the government put an end to them because it abused people’s civil rights. Then, why are they allowing Scientology to continue on with this abuse? The only reasons can be hush money and Scientology’s “religious” cloak.

The internment camps ended in 1945. And it wasn’t till 1988 when the US government finally apologized for the internment camps and offered some reparation to it’s victims. Scientology’s Sea Org members world wide have been suffering since L. Ron Hubbard created it in 1967. First Sea Org members suffered on Hubbard’s ships, and then they were brought on to land.

Gold Base was built over thirty years ago. 
When will the government apologize for turning a blind eye to the suffering of Scientology’s Sea Org members and finally put an end to the entire Sea Org and all it’s abuses? So do your homework people! Speak up for those who can’t!

Ok, I got that off my chest.
Now back to George.
George is known to be a very quiet man, but he agreed to be the Grand Marshall at the 37th Annual Pride Parade in Chicago in 2006, less than a year after he came out publicly.

Congrats to George for his courage in publicly supporting gay rights. I hope to see the day where people finally realize that all people should have the same rights as any other couple. People should have the right to openly celebrate their love for one another and get married without any laws telling them who they can or can not marry. I certainly don’t want any laws telling me or my family members who they can marry. How horrible would that be? Now think of the pain and anguish for same sex couples who are told that marrying someone they love is wrong, just because they happen to be the same sex as them. The laws are idiotic and obsolete. Besides, love has nothing to do with law. Marriage is about love and commitment, plain and simple. This is 2009 people, not the dark ages.

So again, thank you “Newlywed Game” for boldly going where other networks fear to tread.

Now I know this is only a very small step in helping to see the dream of gay equality becoming a reality, but every little bit helps to break down the ignorance that so pollutes our society.

So to everyone … open your minds and your hearts. Embrace individuality. 
To couples everywhere… in the words of Star Trek…
Live Long and Prosper!

Well, well looks like Bobby Brown has packed on the pounds. Bobby
and his double chin will be sweating it out on “Celebrity Fit Club” scheduled to air in 2010.

According to TMZ, he will be joined by cast members from “High School Musical”, “Baywatch” and “The Practice,” which will include Shar Jackson, Nicole Eggert, Tanisha Thomas, Casey Stroh, and Michael Badalucco. Is this the best Celebrity Fit Club can come up with?

I wonder if Bobby, who has always been tough to handle (to say the least) will succumb to the grueling boot camp and all the rules of “Celebrity Fit Club.” Many “stars” *cough* before him, like for instance Dustin (a-hole) Diamond aka “Screech” of “Saved By The Bell” fame, did not fair too well and had too much of an attitude to be on the show and ended up leaving.

Bobby’s track record of being an abusive crack smoking husband 
married to Whitney Houston (although she is not innocent by any means) certainly has crushed his popularity over the years.

Bobby better decide if he still wants to use his “My Prerogative” attitude or man up and stay on the show.

I happen to catch Bobby on D.L. Hughley’s show one night, and he sang My Prerogative, (it WAS a kick ass dance song) or I should say, he attempted to sing it. It was SO bad, it was painful to hear. His years of drug abuse, alcoholism and cigarettes really reeked havoc on his voice. It was totally shot. Don’t get me wrong, I do not have one smidgen of sympathy for this man.

His years or partying, abuse and just being an all around IDIOT have really caught up to him.

A Young Bobby Brown Back In  The Day

It's anyone's bet whether or not Brown will show up on "Celebrity Fit Club." The man can not seem to stay out of trouble. After all... he has been juggling living at two different homes over the years. *snicker*

But then again, ”reality” tv shows have to film their shows way in advance, so maybe this show has already wrapped?  Who knows. I just may have to tune into Celebrity Fit Club this time around, just to see Bobby sweating his butt off and being told what to do.

Will Whitney be at home watching with a big tub of popcorn? I only hope she will be tickled silly over getting to see a little pay back 
served up to Brown, rather than her cheering him on, because I never want to see Whitney, or anyone for that matter, looking like this again.

Crack is Definitely Whack!

To be fair, Bobby wasn’t all to blame for their insane relationship. It takes two to tango don’t forget. (geez! I sound like my Dad)
They were total partners in crime. And she should have left long ago. And of course Brown has always said that he never did cocaine before Whitney came along. HIS WORDS. Yeah ok.

I just know that I saw Whitney go from a vibrant and beautiful singer to an abused and skinny drug abuser after the two of them hooked up.

Their reality show they did together, “Being Bobby Brown” was short lived and a disaster, and Whitney ended up paying a huge price for standing by her man.

Now I was never a Whitney Houston fan, “I Will Always Love You,” has always pierced my brain, but she does have a beautiful voice. Even though her music is not my style, I do hope her recovery continues and that “The Voice” is able to get more of it back.

Her recent appearance singing on “Good Morning America” in Central Park and her talk with Oprah had her fans out in droves. Houston’s interview with Oprah was a far cry from her raspy voiced  interview with Diane Sawyer on Prime Time  (part 1) back in 2002, which is where her infamous “crack Is whack” quote came from. It was beyond obvious that she was in much denial, and very defensive. And Here is Part 2 of the interview, where she talks about her past missed appearances, drugs and actual footage of their marriage to Brown along with their 800 guests in her $40,000 wedding gown. 

In that interview, Whitney and Bobby were already married for 10 years and at that time she said she didn’t want to let go of Brown. I am just glad, as well as her fans, she finally did let go of him.
Bobby ends up joining the interview later on and denied he ever hit her and he said he was diagnosed as being bi-polar and denied all other drug use except smoking pot. *snicker* (Here are parts 3, 4, and 5 of that  2002 interview  if you are interested.)

Whitney’s recent interview with Oprah was like night and day in comparison to the interview with Diane Sawyer back in 2002. She looked like Whitney again. Finally Whitney came clean about the drug abuse, Bobby’s physical abuse and his infidelity and how her mother saved her life with an intervention and valiantly had Whitney removed from her house and forced her into rehab. Thank you Mom!

Her recent performance on GMA in Central Park definitely showed how much her voice has suffered from years of ”partying” and it was quite obvious that she wasn’t able to sing all the parts of the song and she seemed quite winded.

Rumors have it that ABC “digitally sweetened” her songs as reported by Gawker. But  it didn’t matter to her fans one iota, who seemed very elated to see her and were there to support her. Whitney is very fortunate that so many of her fans have never left her side.

Now back to Bobby…

Bobby’s fans? He has never had anywhere near as many as Whitney to begin with, and the ones he had, I think have totally given up on him for the most part. Partly because he has dropped out of the music scene long ago and because people blamed Bobby for ruining Whitney’s life. 

The man has always been his own demise. So your guess is as good as mine as to what the future will hold for him. My gut feeling is that he isn’t done abusing himself or others and he may stay clean for a while, but I don’t know how long that will last.

He is destined for a meeting with karma somewhere down the line, and he’s the only one who can change that.

Here we go again.
It has been announced that the remake of the Beatles classic Yellow Submarine is in the works.Why or why do they insist on taking classics and and trashing them? Didn’t they learn their lesson with Willy Wonka, The Whiz, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and Charlotte’s Web? (just to name a few classics).

Yellow Submarine was magic on the screen back in 1968. Imagine how it looked to a generation that was used to seeing black and white television and experiencing the whole “make love not war” movement. It was also the year that Martin Luther King was assassinated. The movie came out at a time of great civil unrest, and it was a hit I mean a ray of yellow sunshine. *snicker*

In the movie, the playful rhymes of  the charachter Jeremy Hillary Boob PhD. (he was my favorite) pretty much summed up the premise behind Yellow Submarine, “Peace! Peace! Supplant the doom and the gloom! Turn off what is sour! Turn into a flower and BLOOM! BLOOM! BLOOM”

To me, Yellow Submarine was more than just a trippy animated flick. It was part of an entire movement of peace and love. Beatles classic songs like Nowhere Man and All You Need Is Love melded together with trippy animation into a sensory overload of psychedelic yumminess which was loved by many young and old.

But Yellow Submarine was not loved by all and many considered it just a drugged out cartoon. Take for instance this scathing review  (<<<click on the link) of  Yellow Submarine when it was re-released in 1999. The review was entitled “ Take a psychedelic journey to Nowhere land with the Beatles & the Nowhere Man where you’ll find nothing too pleasing without the help from your friends.” Needless to say of course I disagreed with that interview.

The original Yellow Submarine took two years to make, by 40 animators and 140 technical artists and had 14 different scripts. Now I know by today’s standards, those methods are now obsolete, and technology has improved by leaps and bounds, but I am not too privy of someone taking this classic and making it into a modern day mess either.

Sadly, Disney is doing the remake. Now don’t even get me started on Disney, with it’s mass marketing of clothing and toys made in their GLOBAL sweat shops, and other things I don’t care to get into. I just ask you to please do your homework before you support them!
Disney is also pairing up with Rob Zemeckis for this remake.

Now granted Zemeckis has some big  and successful films under his belt, he also did two movies that I just totally despise which were Forest Gump and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Two of the most annoying movies I ever had the displeasure of watching. Save me all the Forest Gump love  fest comments which I am sure I will get. I HATED the movie with a passion and had trouble getting through the whole thing and almost walked out. And if I hear “life is just like a box of chocolates” in that HORRIBLE fake accent that Hanks did one more time, I swear I am going to get the screaming Blue Meanies out.

In Yellow Submarine, the Captain of the Blue Meanies says to ”glove”, “A thing of beauty; destroy it forever!”

Is Disney going to be Yellow Submarine’s ”glove”?

Of course I know the original can never be destroyed. But sometimes another thing occurs when movies are remade. The younger audience thinks that the remake is the first one that was ever made and tend to think the real original is crap. This also happens with music today and it drives me totally NUTS! Grrrrrr! And no, Limp Bizkit was not the originator of the song ”Behind Blue Eyes“. Geez!

A lot of younger people also think if the movie is not in their face with special effects, then it just plain stinks. Perhaps that’s why Disney is going with 3-D animation to inhance it a much as posisble.

But…Disney has yet to acquire the rights to the Beatles songs thus far and one has to wonder if Michael Jackson’s recent death has anything to do with acquiring these songs.Why? Jackson’s estate happens to include the 4,000 song catalogue of  Beatle’s music which he purchased for 47.5 million back in 1985. But keep in mind, he owns the publishing rights for the songs. There is a difference in owning the publsihing rights and the performance rights. For a full explanation go here.  

A bit of history with Jackson and Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney. Jackson worked with McCartney on the song  Say Say Say and they did a video together for the song in 1984. Jackson also did The Girl Is Mine with McCartney in 1982. ( I won’t comment on the title or lyrics of that song, it’s just too easy).

Jackson was ironically advised by Paul McCartney. Sir Paul told Jackson more or less that buying music was a sound and lucrative investment. This advice was prior to the 1985 auction of the Beatles catalogue of songs. Jackson took Sir Paul’s advice and outbid both Paul McCartney AND John Lennon’s widow,Yoko Ono! 
Hey all you Jackson fans out there, how can you justify this dastardly move by Jackson? Huh?

Sir Paul and Yoko must have been a tad hot under the collar to say the least. If Jackson had any scruples, ESPECIALLY for the fact that he was also in the music industry, he would of let McCartney keep the publishing rights to his own songs that HE wrote with Lennon and not outbid him in the first place. But then again who knows what McCartney would of done with the songs either. Or even Yoko for that  matter. Maybe it was a good thing that Sir Paul didn’t get the songs? Sir Paul’s ex-wife, the money grubbing Heather Mills, never signed a pre-nup and the songs  may have ended up as being partly hers. GASP!
That money grubbing biotch got WAY too much from Sir Paul as far as I am concerned. At least she is out of the picture now. But when will you ever learn Sir Paul?

So what has happened with some of these songs over the years? Let’s jump back to the 1987 Nike commercial using the Beatles Revolution song. Capital Records owed the performance rights and was paid $250,000. Michael Jackson owned the publishing rights, (meaning use of the words and music) and he was paid for use of the song. Which was later followed by others like All You You Need is Love, which was used for a Luv’s Diaper commercial, and a version of the Beatles song Help, which was used in a car commercial in 1985 . Son Julian Lennon, son of John, lent his voice to When I’m 64 for an Allstate commercial and  let’s not forget Target’s use of Hello- Goodbye for their TV commercials. Egad!

The Beatles song collection saga continued on….. and in 1995, Sony paid Jackson 95 million and merged with ATV, to form Sony/ATV Publishing which was a 50/50 joint venture. So it is probably safe to say that Jackson’s estate includes HALF of the publishing rights to the Beatles songs. 

But there may be a silver lining in this dark cloud, well sort of.
Supposedly Jackson left the 4,000 Beatles songs to McCartney in his will. Rumor has it that Jackson felt remorse about his failed relationship with Sir Paul, and thought this was a way to make amends. Too bad Jackson didn’t do this YEARS ago, so he could of actually made amends in person with Sir Paul, rather than from the grave. So Sir Paul may end up with the publsihing rights to half of his own songs in the end. Just plain sad. *shakes head* But I guess it is better than nothing.
Sadly, Sony/ATV doesn’t need permission from surviving Beatles or heirs to license the songs. Damn you Jackson! And Damn you Sony!
So it’s still up in the air as to whether this remake of Yellow Submarine will eventually get the rights to use these songs.

So getting back to this movie remake.
The NY Times called the original a 2-D CARTOON and they also mentioned two of the movies I despise by Zemeckis.
From the NY Times :

More than 40 years after Old Fred fired up the titular vehicle of “Yellow Submarine” and used it to round up four Liverpool lads who would defend Pepperland from the Blue Meanies, Disney is preparing a remake of the Beatles’ 1968 animated movie, Variety reported.

The original film was a traditional (if thoroughly trippy) 2-D cartoon directed by George Dunning and designed by Heinz Edelmann, in which the Beatles appeared only in a live-action segment tacked on at the end. The planned remake, to be directed by Robert Zemeckis (“Forrest Gump,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”), will be a 3-D animated feature that would use the performance-capture technology seen in Mr. Zemeckis’s “Beowulf” and his coming remake of “A Christmas Carol.”

The Variety report said that Disney was still seeking to obtain rights to the Beatles songs used in the original “Yellow Submarine” film, including the title song and tracks like “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The remake is being planned for a 2012 release.

No casting was announced for the motion-capture remake, though the project does call to mind Paul McCartney’s recent remarks to Daniel Radosh in The New York Times Magazine: “In 10 years’ time you’ll be standing there, and you will be Paul McCartney. You know that, don’t you?”

Fact: Many people didn’t realize that the voices used in the original Yellow Submarine where not those of the actual Beatles. I never knew that myself. The Beatles only appeared at the very end of the movie as themselves.

Yellow Submarine had it’s fair share of merchandising back in the day to say the least, and it continues today. The Beatles had more merchandise than any other band in history. There were Yellow Submarine pop up books, calenders, Blue Meanie Halloween costumes, Goebel figurines and even Huffy Bikes jumped on the YS band wagon in 1968 and came out with a girls YS yellow bicycle complete with movie graphics right on the seat which I found on a Beatles memorabilia website.

Of course all this stuff had a huge resurgence in 1999 when they re-released the movie for the 30thyear Anniversary. Today you can still buy Yellow Submarine merchandise in all shapes and forms from neck ties to purses, to t-shirts to wallies to stick on your walls. They also came out with new YS Beatles figurines in the 90’s and again in 2000. Even the Cirque du Soleil has a show called LOVE dedicated to the music of the Beatles. I am sure Disney will jump on the merchandising band wagon and will have their little workers slaving away making sure that there is enough Yellow Submarine Onesies and Jeremy Hillary Boob lunch boxes. And don’t forget Yellow Submarine Happy Meals complete with plastic figures which will end up in landfills and stay there for all eternity. Oh wait that s right, Disney dumped McDonald’s back in 2006. Maybe Burger King then? *snicker*

OK, I know I am being cynical, and maybe I am too sentimental about movies being remade and the “old days”. So I decided to check myself, and I went through the list of movie remakes on Wikipedia, but I still found myself rooting for the original versions. Even really early movies like Mighty Joe Young which came out in 1949. I still found myself favoring the original over the remake. (ironically Disney did a remake and they also did  an animated version of course, they make me sick).

Films like Little Shop Of Horrors? DEFINITELY the original. Who can deny the greatness of the cameo by a very young and loony Jack Nicholson in the original? You can’t.
Even though some of these original movies were sheer cornball and the filming techniques were primitive, but that was part of what made the originals so great. They had a lot less to work with back then, but yet the movies were still phenomenal.

That is why I wish they would just leave the classics alone. You can’t reproduce living in the era when these original movies came out or the way people felt when they first saw the original Yellow Submarine. Many people may be annoyed by the remaking of Yellow Submarine. And I can’t speak for the hard core Beatles buffs. Maybe some will be unhappy and some will embrace the new movie with the hopes of a whole new generation of yougins’ buying Beatles music once again and helping to continue the Beatles legacy. I myself do not support Disney, so I will not be catching this particular flick.

But at the very least, let’s just hope that this new release does the original Yellow Submarine some justice and more importantly let’s hope it sends the same message as the original.
Which of course was:

Listen up all you Saved By The Bell closet geeks. Looks like some of the cast members from one of the biggest guilty pleasure shows of all time may get together and appear on the Late Nite With Jimmy Fallon show. Former SNL star, Jimmy Fallon, had Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack) as a  guest on his show to promote Gosselaar’s current TV show Raising the Bar. Gosselaar came out  dressed as Zack, in his 90’s garb and stayed in Zack’s character through out the whole interview, complete with looks and winks at the camera and even did a couple of ”Time Outs” where everyone around him freezes. Zack called former castmate Elizabeth Berkley on his 90’s brick phone and asked her if she would be willing to reunite on Fallon’s show. She said she was in. Fallon actually started an online petition to get fans to vote and pledge their support for the cast to reunite on the show. So who knows, maybe a made for TV movie may be in the works or a special reunion show.

At the end of “Zack’s” interview, Fallon wheeled out a huge SBTB display of the cast members and filled in the faces that said they would reunite on the show. Followed by ”Zack” doing a rendition of the “Friends Forever” song with the band which he of course called “Zack Attack”. And since then, Mr. Belding played by Dennis Haskins, was on Falllon’s show and has also agreed to participate.

A question mark must still remains over the face of Screech on Fallon’s SBTB display. Apparently Dustin Diamond will not be participating in the the reunion. And thank goodness for that. Many Fans liked Dustin Diamond as Screech (I never could stand him), but today he is not so popular to say the least. His antics over the years have left a real sour taste in people’s mouths. From his reality show hissy fits to his “Save Screech’s House Fund Raiser” escapade, to his leaked porno flick named “Screeched”. He was also filmed at porno conventions. He has become a real seedy guy, and his personality is that of a complete and utter douche. It is doubtful that fans will care less if  he participates in the reunion or not. In fact it is believed that many fans would prefer that he stay away. Everyone knows that Diamond showing up at this reunion will mean a  potential disaster, and the reunion will end up being all about him. I am not a prude in any sense of the matter, but anybody who has been nick named Dustin “Dirty Sanchez” Diamond should stay far, far away. And if you don’t know what a Dirty Sanchez  is, bring it up around the water cooler at work. Just make sure your boss is out of ear shot.

Now I was never a real  fan of Saved By The Bell and I have never seen an entire show, but it did had a huge fan base. It ran between 1989-1993. “Bayside High School” was set in Malibu, it originally was set in Indinapolis. It was the scene of numerous break ups and love problems. The many problems that high school kids have and of course all of Zack’s silly schemes. A lot of people don’t realize that the show started out as “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” and originally starred Hayley Mills. Characters Screech, Zack and Lisa Marie were there from the very beginning. You can go here,to listen to the original song of the earlier show. You will understand why the show really needed a LOT of tweaking and a new song. The show then got  revamped and featured a new song. It was going to be called “When The Bell Rings”, but in the end, Saved By The Bell was the title of choice. If you want a blast form the past… you can go here and hear the original SBTB theme song and the “Friends Forever” song  and some assorted cast pictures.

Lots of people may not remember that many other stars joined the cast of SBTB in the past. Denise Richards once got rescued by Slater. Soleil Moon Frye as well as Tori Spelling played Screech’s girlfriends. And believe it or not even Scientologist Leah Remini played one of many of Zack’s love interests. (so glad Zack didn’t join the cult! Take Screech! *snicker*)

The show didn’t end all together with Saved By The Bell. It had one season of Saved By The Bell -The College Years, and then there was  Saved By The Bell- The New Class, which was a tad more successful. That show lasted from 1993 to 2000. But hey, don’t fret there are still DVDs and cassettes of the all the episodes you can buy. There is even a 1995 soundtrack of the show available for all you extra big nerdies.

People Magazine did a whole story on some of the cast members for the 20th Anniversary of SBTB which was on their front cover . 
You may notice they took Screech out of the vintage group shot at the bottom of the cover.
Mario Lopez told people:

“Everybody is fired up. People keep coming up to me saying: ‘When are you guys going to do a show?’

Of course Screech was missing from the interview and the photo shoot for the People issue. Perhaps he was too busy doing another porno. Man you couldn’t  pay me enough. I also read a blurb that Dustin Diamond said the next project he was working on was a tell-all called, “Behind The Bell?” Haven’t heard anything else thus far.
I didn’t talk too much about the gals on the show, and where they are today. Everyone knows that Tiffani Thiessen went on to be a part of 90210. She did do a spoof video on Funny Or Die where she says she has a sh*t ton of stuff to do and says she is just too busy doing cat films and knitting  to participate in the reunion. So according to Fallon’s online petition, everyone is in except Screech, I would call that a rap and get on with the reunion.

But I would totally be remiss if I didn’t talk about the hunkiest cast member of Saved by the Bell…  and I don’t mean Mr. Belding.  I am of course talking about  the ever so yummy Mario Lopez. I never gave him a second look when he played Slater, and most gals liked Zack. I am not partial to blond guys to begin with, but talking about “time being kind”. Mario has aged into one smoldering HOT piece of eye candy.
IS there a man out there better looking than Mario Lopez ? Those dimples! That six pack! Cold shower time.
Over the years Mario has been very busy hosting his butt off from animal shows, to Miss America to  Dancing With The Stars.(he can dance too) He is also involved in the Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board. Hunky, wealthy, charitable and he can dance. Wow, he’s a total package. He was named People magazine’s “Hottest Bachelor” last year. Finally I agree with them. So is there a lucky gal in Mario’s life now? Mario was briefly married, but it didn’t last. Can’t say it is at all fair that only one gal should get this man!

Rest assured if Saved By The Bell were to come back as a show again… I would definitely watch it this time around.Wink wink!

Rock On Sir!

Plant Back In The Day

E! Online reported:

Are you ready for sex & drugs & rock ‘n’ roll & pomp & circumstance? Well, you better be, because Led Zeppelin screamer Robert Plant has something new to shriek about: He’s been made a Commander of the British Empire by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace, according to reports.

The “Whole Lotta Love” singer follows in the well-worn rock star path of Paul McCartney,Mikc Jagger and Elton John that leads from trashing hotel rooms to playing nice at the Palace for an honorary knighthood for “services to popular music.”

Kudos to Sir Bob. Still, while we hesitate to suggest that he’s buying a “Stairway to Heaven,” it should be noted that the taxes paid on Led Zeppelin’s 200 million albums sold probably helped grease the wheels. 

Curiously, as a CBE, Plant now outranks his Led Zep bandmate Jimmy Page, who earned his one-notch-down OBE four years ago.

We wonder whether Plant will lord it over Page if Zeppelin reunites as rumored to fill some London dates on what would have been the Michael Jackson tour. Could be a riff-tastic rivalry. Plus, a couple of Rock ‘n’ Roll Knights filling in for the King of Pop? It works for us.

Page and Plant Rocking Out

Plant now outranks fellow Zepplin member Jimmy Page.
Well Plant actually kidded about the whole thing and being a step above Jimmy Page:

“If we can remember each other’s phone number at this time in life it’s a miracle,” he joked. “We’re still good friends, we both enjoy a rather dark sense of humor that comes, I think, from being from rather the wrong side of the tracks for all those wild years.”

I had to find out what the honor of CBE was all about. After I read the first paragraph, yawning ensued and I started thinking of what to cook for dinner. But in case you are interested, click here and read all about it at Wikipedia.  But in short, it is a British honor of chivalry and presented to someone for national order of merit. I guess Plant’s days of throwing TV’s out of hotel windows are now OFFICALLY over. *snicker* 

John Lennon had an interesting view about the MBE award, (different from Plant’s CBE):

 ”Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war – for killing people”. He continued: “We received ours for entertaining other people. I’d say we deserve ours more“

As always, John was never afraid to speak his mind.

Led Zeppelin was a big part of my music collection back in the day and still is. My sister had Robert Plant’s name spray painted on her bedroom ceiling, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. Sadly, I never got the chance to see Led Zeppelin. They are still doing shows today, but Plant did not participate in the reunion tour last year. Rumor has it that he was working with American Bluegrass singer Alison Krauss instead. Bluegrass and Robert Plant? Well he did do Sea of Love with the Honey Drippers way back when,which was a 50’s classic and far from the norm of rocking songs we were used to hearing from Plant.
To me, I will take Robert Plant belting out Dazed and Confused any day. Although I think the Lemon Song might be a bit of a stretch for Plant these days. (sorry Robert!) 
Plant is Commander of the British Empire now and still one of the best rockers in the universe. As always and forever, I still Got A Whole Lotta Love for Sir Robert Plant.

Dawn should be happy about this, since she luvs herself some Adam Ant.  News out of the UK is that the rocker (real name:  Stuart Goddard), who had to take some time off to address some problems, is set to make a comeback and has a new album in the works:

The Eighties pop star is now back on form after some mental problems and has penned a new album.

The as-yet untitled collection has sparked a furious bidding war among major labels.

I’m told: “Adam is back on track again. He’s had a difficult few years, but has finally found his focus.

His new material is really strong and he’s going to come back stronger than ever in the new year.”

He’s had some problems to deal with in the past several years:

In January 2002, he threw a car alternator through a pub window and threatened drinkers with an imitation firearm.

Then in June 2003, he tried to smash his neighbour’s patio door with a shovel and was later sectioned and spent six months in psychiatric care.

It turns out that he was suffering with bipolar disorder, first diagnosed when he was 21, and which had grown increasingly worse over the years until things finally boiled over:

Ant’s problems began in December 2001 when, during a Christmas party at London’s Regency Rooms, he had to be dragged from the stage after he refused to leave following a set of strange renditions of his 1980s hits.

It got worse. One Saturday afternoon in January 2002, he walked into the Prince of Wales pub in Kentish Town wearing a combat jacket and a white cowboy hat. Some locals made fun of his outfit and tauntingly whistled the theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Taking the credo “ridicule is nothing to be scared of” (from Prince Charming) too far, he later returned to the scene and threw a car alternator through the pub window, hitting a man on the head. He then pulled out a replica Second World War revolver and threatened to shoot approaching staff.

He was arrested, charged with intent to cause fear of violence and criminal damage, and released. But by the Monday night, a psychiatric team had come to his flat, and he was sectioned. “I’ve been abducted,” he told a reporter. “The whole thing’s a conspiracy.” After appearing at the Old Bailey in October 2002, he received a £500 fine and a 12-month community rehabilitation order.

But he wasn’t out of the woods yet. In June 2003, after several months in and out of hospital being treated for depression, Ant found himself once more in a secure ward. According to witnesses, after he hurled stones at windows near his Primrose Hill home, Ant headed off to the nearby Curly Dog café where he “ranted about children” before pulling down his trousers and curling up in a foetal position in the basement and saying he wanted to sleep. When the police arrived, he refused to come out.

“I just had a bad day, really,” Ant says in flat cockney tones, when I ask about the incident. “I’d been in hospital, I’d come out and I was just very unwell.”

In July 2003, Channel 4 aired The Madness of Prince Charming. With his assistance, it detailed Ant’s history of mental illness (at 21, he was diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder), anorexia and suicidal tendencies. It was one of the station’s most-watched programmes that year. “It was quite a heavy thing to do,” he says of the documentary. “But it got the best reaction of anything I’ve ever done. Everyone I meet says I’m really glad you said that, because someone in my family has got a mental illness.”

Hopefully he is back on track now and ready for a comeback.  I’m not gonna lie, I had Goody Two Shoes on a 45 back in the day.  Tell the truth, how many of you painted stripes on your face and tried to get the whole clothing vibe thing going with your cheap knockoffs from the mall?  (non-interesting aside:  I had a pair of pleather pants like the one model in the makeup chair is wearing)