TresSugar

Buzz In: What is Your Favorite Old-School TV Show?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:30:23 PDT

TV Land, home to classics like The Brady Bunch, Three's Company, and Bonanza, is branching out into original comedies. The network just announced that they're developing two scripted shows, titled Hot in Cleveland and Retired at 35. But will people actually flip to the channel to check out this new programming?

Personally, the older shows are the only reason I'd tune into TV Land. I used to be obsessed with I Love Lucy as a kid - I even had a Lucy calendar hanging up in my room. Thanks to Nick at Nite, I could watch it on a regular basis, along with Bewitched, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Mary Tyler Moore. (I live for Rhoda!) Now, Nick at Nite plays mainly 90s favorites like Home Improvement and Family Matters, so TV Land has become my vintage channel of choice. Hopefully they won't go the way of MTV with music videos and make the older shows completely obsolete - that would just be sad.

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a dork when it comes to classic TV, but tell me, what is your favorite old-school show?

Buzz Interview: Marion Ross on Being One of TV's Funniest

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:30:43 PDT

In some ways, Marion Ross is everyone's mother - and grandmother. The actress made an indelible mark on popular culture playing Marion Cunningham - "Mrs. C" - on Happy Days for a dozen years starting in 1974. Since then, she's played mom to Nora Walker on Brothers & Sisters and Drew Carey on The Drew Carey Show and grandmother to many more - everyone from Lorelai Gilmore to SpongeBob SquarePants.

Ross will appear tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on the ABC special TV's All-Time Funniest, in which TV fans nationwide reveal their picks for the funniest characters in a variety of categories. Ross is up for the title of All-Time Funniest Mom - battling against Lucy Ricardo for the title.

Recently, I had a chance to speak with the delightful Ross about her long career, being called "Mrs. C" on the street, and discovering the joys of playing a crochety old woman. Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

What's it like for you to be named one of TV's all-time funniest?
I'm so thrilled. I was sure that one of my relatives must have done this - I want to say thank you to my children, thank you to somebody. Isn't that an honor? I'll tell you - me and Lucy!

You have had such a long and really amazing career in television. Have you seen TV change at all over the years?
Well, there's just too much, isn't there? And too much going on. I can't keep track, and I'll think, "Who is that?" I don't know these people yet! It seems like - I must be getting old or something, but everybody looks alike, all these girls with the long blond hair - they all look alike. It's a new generation, and I surrender, because you kids are running it your way. . . . I think there's more creativity going on now than ever before, and it's better, the actors are better.

What do you think are some of the all-time funniest shows?
Well, [I Love] Lucy, of course. Seinfeld. Even Laverne and Shirley - I loved all their physical comedy. . . I loved Doris Roberts in Everybody Loves Raymond.

More from Ross about the overwhelming amount of TV these days, her favorite characters, and being nastier with age if you

What do you watch these days?
That's about it. I'm not a computer person either. But I think that's typical of my generation, I really do - I bet we're all kind of getting like this. I get overwhelmed with so much going on all the time.

Yeah, my cable gets, what, 300 channels or something like that?
Yep. In fact, I can remember sitting on the set of Happy Days and we were saying among ourselves, "You know what? This may never happen again." We had total control of Tuesday night at 8 o'clock, and everybody watched it, and then when they went to school they talked about it the next morning. Now I think Dancing With the Stars or American Idol are in that kind of position, everybody's watching those.

Have you gotten together with any of the Happy Days cast?
We all went to New York recently and did The Today Show. It makes us so happy when we get to see each other because we were a family. And I talk to The Fonz a lot on the phone, because I think he should be on Dancing With the Stars.

Of all of the characters that you've played, are there any that are particularly close to your heart?
I did a series called Brooklyn Bridge, which hardly anybody saw . . . We only made 35 of those shows and they were absolutely brilliant. We won all kinds of awards. So I'm most proud of that, because it was such a different character. I played a Jewish, bullish grandmother - wonderful. I loved her.

Since you've had so many roles and so many mother roles, I'm wondering what people say to you on the street - Do they call you Mrs C?
They call me Mrs. C. I loved That '70s Show [playing Red's mother] - She was a terrible one. She smoked cigarettes, and had irritable bowel disease - she was just awful. I loved her! After I'd been nice so much, I really enjoyed being rude.

It seems like our celebrities are so different now.
Aren't our celebrities different? . . . Now, the rattier you are, the worse of a person you are, then you can be an instant celebrity and a star! And I thought, well, my mother brought me up all wrong. I'm never gonna get anywhere!

You should have gotten into that meaner side a little earlier.
I know! I try to be a good example, and what is it? It's a waste! A waste of time.

Photos courtesy of ABC and Source

Flashback: 30 Years Ago Today, The Fonz Jumped A Shark

GiggleSugar — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:43:04 PDT

What the hell am I talking about, you ask? Well, serendipity would have it that I was talking to someone about the expression "jumping the shark" today. This term comes from the infamous moment on September 20, 1977, when "The Fonz" from "Happy Days" donned his famous leather jacket, went water skiing, and jumped a shark on his skis. TV critics and anyone with taste or brains realized this was the moment the show had finally killed itself; the moment the original premise of the show was so betrayed, its vision having veered so off course, that there was no point going on. And it's used now to describe the moment that anything betrays its original purpose. And what do you know, it was thirty years ago to the day. Freaky, man.

Tomboy Needed Shin Guards...

GiggleSugar — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 00:00:00 PDT

Mom got these.

Source

Don't Listen To The Fonz

GiggleSugar — Fri, 18 May 2007 06:49:06 PDT

Fonzie, the rough and tough "bad boy" on Happy Days, appears in this PSA to teach kids a little known self-defense tool called "the honk." I've never heard of it, I've never used it, and even if a situation called for it, I'd rather keep my mouth shut and cling to my ego instead.

Celebrate Moonrise Kingdom With Gorgeous Glamping Gear

Lizzie Fuhr — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:21:04 PDT

We have been counting the days until Wes Anderson's film Moonrise Kingdom hits theaters, and we are so happy we don't have to wait any longer. The dreamy 1960s aesthetic caught our eye from the first glimpses of the trailer, and all of their sweet camping gear got us thinking. In honor of the film's release, we've pulled some beautiful products that can make your next camping trip a little more glam. Click through to check out all of our inspired picks.

Photo courtesy of Focus Features

Robert Pattinson Looks Dashing For His Cosmopolis Premiere

Katie Henry — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:26:30 PDT

All eyes were on Robert Pattinson as he stepped out onto the red carpet at tonight's Cannes Film Festival premiere of his David Cronenberg-directed thriller, Cosmopolis. Rob kicked off his day at a casual photocall for the film, but for tonight's formal affair he suited up in a tuxedo. He was joined on the carpet by costars Sarah Gadon and Juliette Binoche, however, he was just a few feet away from his number one lady, Kristen Stewart, who posed for photos with Tom Sturridge. Rob showed his support for Kristen and Tom's feature, On the Road, at a screening earlier in the week and Kristen and Tom seemed happy to do the same for Rob. Early reviews of Cosmopolis have been tough on the storyline, however, Rob's fans will be able to make their own judgements when the film hits theaters later this year.

Little Known Facts About Your Favorite Geeks

GeekSugar — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:19:41 PDT

A Happy Geek Pride Day to you! One of the many ways we're celebrating today, is a look at our favorite geek celebrities. How well do you know your favorite geeks? From online and off-line interviews, we found some interesting tidbits about these hot-and-nerdy celebrities. Get to know them a little better in the slideshow!

Hysteria Director Tanya Wexler Talks Vibrators, Faking It, and Duck Sex

Tara Block — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:15 PDT

Don't be shy . . . It's time to talk sex toys! And Hysteria director Tanya Wexler is writing us a prescription for pleasure. Tanya's film - what she calls "the vibrator movie you can bring your mom to" - is in limited release and stars Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rupert Everett. When working on a romantic comedy that centers around the invention of the vibrator, you end up with some entertaining and embarrassing situations along the way, and lucky for us, Tanya spilled all the hilariously dirty details. From teaming up with the film's partner Jimmyjane for a drive-by vibrator drop-off to a certain female Oscar-winner to trying unsuccessfully to get ducks to shag on command, Tanya was bursting with great stories from working on this very unconventional film. And while Tanya isn't ashamed to discuss the sexy subject matter of her latest film with us, the mother of four and her partner of 21 years did have a tricky challenge telling her preteen kids what her movie was about. (She eventually gave them the script and let them figure it out themselves!) Check out our interview with the fun-loving director now, and we dare you not to have a girl crush on her by the end!

TrèsSugar: What were some of the challenges to getting a movie made about vibrators?
Tanya Wexler: Getting the script right was tricky because if you just make a movie about the invention of the vibrator, it's actually a really short movie: you go "bzz" and it's done. And we had a kind of light romantic comedy. I say I made the vibrator movie you can bring your mom to. But some people wanted it to be raunchy or some people wanted it to be more serious and about feminism. People project a lot onto this movie of what they want, because there isn't a lot out there about vibrators and women's pleasure, and we still don't really deal with that topic very well, or we're overly antsy around it. And as a result, people have a lot of ideas of what the movie could and should be, and you can't please everyone. [laughs]

TS: Ha, good one.
TW: It's nonstop!

TS: Do you find sex toys inherently funny or something to be seriously celebrated?
TW: Yes!

TS: Both?
TW: Yes! Yes. I think they make me laugh, and I think that the inner kind of Beavis and Butt-head in all of us goes "[laugh]." You know, that inner 13-year-old, like, "Hahaha vibrator . . . " and yet they're awesome and fun.

TS: What shocked you the most when researching the movie?
TW: That ducks are the rapists of the bird world, and you'll see when you see the movie, because there's a little bit of questionable duck behavior - or awesome duck behavior - in the movie. It's totally a sidebar, but you cannot make ducks shag on command. I'm just saying.

TS: What about the whole history of hysteria being a medical condition?
TW: When I first heard the idea, I was like, "What do you mean it was invented in Victorian times?" I knew about hysteria, but the idea that the treatment was manual [British accent] massage deparaxism - which is what they called it - and, of course, the denial. The most shocking thing is the denial, that they didn't think it was sexual.

TS: Do you think they were really in denial?
TW: No, I don't think that some people were. My college roommate was with her high school boyfriend for two years and she had never had an orgasm. I think there's all kinds of denial, especially with women's sexuality. So the fact that there are young women today who haven't had an orgasm, whether self-induced - which is insane - or with a partner, then why wouldn't we think back then that women wouldn't know what orgasms were?

They would get a massage, and the doctor's saying, "Without a penis, this isn't sex, because sex is about procreation," so what is this? The best physical therapy you've ever had. So once you don't think of it as something other than what the doctor's supposed to do to cure your uncontrollable crying or uncontrollable laughter or whatever, then it's just an awesome muscle spasm. If you don't think women have their own inherent sexuality, then you're not thinking about it like that.

Keep reading for Tanya's thoughts on Fifty Shades and more!

5 Steps to Your Best Blowout Ever

Allure — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:05:00 PDT

We're happy to present this story from our friends at Allure:

It's not every day you get a lesson in blowouts from Alli Webb, founder of the Drybar blowout bars. Rule number one: If you've gotten your blowouts down to 10 minutes, you're doing something wrong. (Sorry!) Webb gave me the rundown on the other most common styling mistakes - and how to get the ultimate results. Get her advice when you read more.