Back in 1973 as my brother and I, and later my sisters watched Saturday morning cartoons on ABC, some of the advertising breaks were taken up by the Emmy Award winning educational cartoons that later became known as Schoolhouse Rock.
It ran on ABC from 1973-1985, and then was revived for a second run from 1993-1999.
Those musical education cartoons that dropped knowledge on math, science, grammar and history have become so beloved that I and a lot of peeps own them on DVD.
Of course, as you probably guessed, the political junkie in me loves 'I'm Just A Bill' which explains the legislative process an has been parodied by Saturday Night Live to lampoon 45..
But I was also in love with the 'Verb; That's What's Happening' one as well because it was one of the few in the original series of School House Rock videos in which the main protagonist looked like me.
So happy 45th Anniversary School House Rock!. Those videos helped a lot of kids get to math, science, grammar and history tests.
I watched the Norman Lear produced CBS show One Day At A Time back during my teen years which aired from 1975-1984. When I heard the show was coming back on Netflix with an interesting rebooted twist and Lear down with it, I was intrigued
I was even more ecstatic about it when I heard that Rita Moreno was one of the cast members and the revamped theme song 'This Is It' was being sung by Gloria Estefan to reflect the fact the family in this version is Cuban-American.
The Netflix version of this classic Norman Lear show debuted January 6 and features Justina Machado playing Penelope Alvarez, a nurse, Afghan War vet and single mom separated from her husband who left the Army, but is doing private security there. Penelope is raising two teenage kids with the help and sometimes hindrance of her mother Lydia, played by Moreno..
It is set in Los Angeles now instead of Indianapolis like the original show, and the separated Penelope is raising a tween son and a feminist teenage daughter in another change from the original show instead of two teen girls .
And yes, Dwayne Schneider, the building superintendent is in this version as well, played in hipster style by Todd Grinnell Mackenzie Phillips from the original show makes a cameo appearance in one episode.
In addition to showcasing the dynamic of three generations living under one roof, the rebooted One Day At A Time also tackles issues in this first season such as immigration and deportation, religion, PTSD, the issues unique to female vets like Penelope, dealing with the VA bureaucracy, dating,.sex and a coming out story all with an unmistakable Latinx flavor.
The writing in this show is also up to the performances of this wonderful cast.
So if you're looking for something on Netflix to binge watch, check out the 13 episode first season of One Day At A Time. You'll be happy you did.. . .
The clock is ticking toward the wedding of Precious Davis and Myles Brady this summer at the Rockefeller Chapel on the University of Chicago campus. The couple has been engaged since last February and their much anticipated wedding has a intimate guest list of 200 people.
She'll be selecting her wedding dress in front of millions of television viewers.
The clock is also ticking toward the historic broadcast of Say Yes To The Dress: Atlanta, Precious will become the first trans bride ever featured on the show, and has an unlimited budget to select a wedding dress for her and Myles' upcoming wedding.
I'm anxious to see it along with everyone else in Trans World since we haven't had many opportunities for Black trans people to get positive media coverage like this, and reality TV shows have been hit or miss when they cover our lives and issues.
If you wish to watch or DVR this episode of Say Yes To The Dress: Atlanta featuring the #TransObamas, it will be broadcast on TLC at 8 PM CST Friday.
One of the things we'll be looking forward to in 2016 is the wedding of one of our fave couples in Precious Davis and Myles Brady. I've known this was going to happen for a while, but now we have confirmation of the air date for this show.
Precious will appear on the TLC show Say Yes To The Dress, which chronicles her effort to find the perfect wedding dress for her upcoming nuptials with Myles.
The show will be broadcast on January 15 at 8:00 PM CST on TLC, a few days before the Creating Change she's one of the co-chairs for kicks off in Chicago on January 20.
Looking forward to seeing the show and seeing what fab dress if any she picks for her upcoming wedding.
Hey, can we get a screening of that Say Yes To The Dress episode during #CC16 as well?
I have much love for Jazz Jennings and her family, and was pleased to hear that Jazz for the second straight year was named by TIME magazine as one of its 30 Most Influential Teens.
In other news about our fave trans feminine teen, TLC has finally decided to renew the I Am Jazz reality TV series for another season.
The show will get eight more episodes, and features now 15 year old Jazz trying to balance school, her family, athletics and her activist life and also features members of her amazing family.
Earlier this week, after the SPLC certified hate group the Liberty Counsel bullied a Wisconsin school district into cancelling a reading of her children's book entitled I Am Jazz, the town of Mount Horeb, WI responded with two well attended readings in support of the trans feminine child and her family.
‘My book can help, I think, but I know from my own experience that it is adults like my parents and (Principal Rachael Johnson) who can make sure that transgender children are treated fairly at school and given the same opportunities to succeed in life.‘I have been sharing my story for almost a decade because I don’t want anyone else to feel alone or scared.’
Congrats again, Jazz, and continued success for you! Looking forward to the next time I get to spend a little quality time with you and your family.
I know some of you would rather gouge your eyes out than watch anything Tyler Perry produces, but I'm going to probably check out tonight's TBS 8 PM CST debut of the show For Better Or Worse.
It's based on the movie Why Did I Get Married and stars Tasha Smith and Michael Jai White reprising their roles from the movie as outspoken salon owner Angela and sports anchor Marcus.Williams.
It not only follows Marcus and Angela's lives but the lives of their friends who are in various stages of their relationships and the ups and downs in those relationships.
On of the couples For Better Or Worse follows is Richard Ellington, who is involved with Marcus' ex and mother of his kids Keisha. I'm also interested in the show because it also has as part of the cast former Miss USA 2008 and my Houston homegirl Crystle Stewart.
I also love me some Tasha Smith.
So yeah, I'll flip the channel and take a look at the show and see what's up with it.
Yesterday was the debut broadcast of Rev Al Sharpton's new show on MSNBC at 6 PM ET called PoliticsNation.
Yep, 'the Rev' is now a permanent host in the MSNBC 5-11 PM lineup.
And it's about time. Ever since he took over for Cenk Uguyr back in July the show has increased its ratings to the point that it trails only FOX Noise in that timeslot.
I also like the fact that since he begun appearing on that show, other African Americans have begun to guest host or speak more frequently on these prime time cable news shows such as Melissa Harris-Perry and Michael Eric Dyson. I also hope we'll continue to see more diversity on these prime time shows as well.
Most of the time I'm clicking my remote away from reality TV shows as fast I can possibly do so, but every now and then I'll get one that captures my attention and actually holds it for longer than 60 seconds.
TLC has a Police Women reality show that I started watching when it visited Memphis in its third season. I fell in love with Officer Joy Johnson, one of the persons they followed in that season, My respect level for Officer Johnson went off the charts after the 'Rock Your Fuschia Hair' episode.
Well, season four of Police Women has moved to Dallas and its piqued my interest.again. I'm interested not only because it's in the home state, I spent a lot of time growing up visiting Little D because many of my relatives on my mom's side of the family live there. My mom and uncle also grew up in Dallas as well before my late grandfather's job transferred him to Houston.
Hey, what did you expect? I had to hate on Dallas as a proud Houstonian at some point in this post.
As I'm watching the Police Women of Dallas it's fun for me to not only follow the action, but see and recognize the various neighborhoods and areas of the city and know exactly where the action is taking place .
I like all the officers they are following this season, but my fave of the bunch is Sgt. Tracy Jones.
So if you're trying to call me on Thursday nights and I'm slower to pick up the phone than I usually am, now you know a possible reason why.
