Nostalgic 70s sitcom overload

Who besides me experienced  nostalgic overload tonight?

I was totally transported back to 1978, trying to get comfortable on the  shag-rug living room floor, trying to prop  a pillow under my head  while complaining about all the cigarette smoke, complaining even more that the humor found in the scripts of 'Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life" seem so.. contrived.

I was so full of myself--and the  Jiffy Pop my Dad always popped to perfection--that I tried to pen my own script for "Diff'rent Strokes" and had zero idea of how racist I sounded until my boss at the TV station where I worked pointed it out.

I cringe now, but didn't then  when I was all of twenty-two--I had been watching "All in the Family" for years by that point, thinking that if you were a bigot like Archie Bunker, it was okay, because you were a lovable bigot, and OF COURSE I know now that there is no such animal.

I even remember a joke I wrote, asking if Arnold's goldfish Abraham was Jewish. (I don't recall the punchline.)

Hats off to Norman Lear for showing up and dropping an "F" bomb within a few minutes.  Ann Dowd was uncanny as Mrs. Garrett--voice, mannerisms, costumes...I believed  every authentic chuckle. 

Jim couldn't believe how much Mrs. G. sounded like Susan Collins.

 

We  both expected her to defend Brett Kavanaugh in an upcoming scene. 

For my money, the best impersonation came from Kathryn Hahn as tomboy Jo.  I've loved her acting since she played Rabbi Raquel in "TransParent"..she has an Oscar in her future--her very near future.

(Where was Nancy McKeon in the reunion?  Still getting threats from the crazy lady who stalked Michael J Fox when they were a couple?)

Kudos for all the inside jokes, like when Blair Warner promised the nerdy Paul that she was going to "be there for him" and..great..now I have THREE classic sitcoms theme songs stuck in my head, instead of just the two that were featured tonight.

The visual of John Lithgow carrying Kevin Hart across the stage, or propping him up on his lap, made it very clear that producers knew exactly what they were doing when they decided to cast adults in these iconic childrens' roles.

As good as my memory is, I don't remember the "Diff'rent Strokes" episode that ended with the Jackson brothers reconciling, but I can almost guarantee that Arnold didn't ask Willis why his friend smelled "like weed."

And how about those commercials?  Weren't they..what's a good adjective to describe the 80's?  Not groovy, that would have been earlier, but weren't they..?? Hmm..I'm blanking..

Blurry, with poor audio, and over-the-top jokes.  They were probably written just for this special, as were the teasers of upcoming ABC programs.  They were like Super Bowl" commercials--aired once, but they'll be talked about around the water cooler the next day, almost as much as the main event.

I just mentioned a water cooler--I might as well start using words like "malarkey"

I laughed when I need to laugh, I cringed when I needed to cringe, I marveled at the exact replication of the historic sets when I needed to marvel, and I cried a little.

I cried when Todd Bridges introduced the show, knowing he is the only survivor of the original cast. There was a time in his troubled youth where one could have predicted he'd be the first to go.

I cried when I realized I will never get to meet Jimmy Kimmel or Norman Lear in person, they're both idols.

But I cried most of all for my youth..That house I'll never live in again, the scratchy shag rug I'll never try to find a spot to stretch out on again,  and parents I'll never get to chastise again about smoking.

I'm probably older than Charlotte Rae  was when she starred in both series--a sad little  fact of life.