Retro Ramblings
A Kid’s Love Letter to American Gladiators
There was a stretch of time when American Gladiators felt like the most intense thing on television. Not just exciting. Not just loud. It felt dangerous in the best possible …
Television
Retro Ramblings
When USA Network Pulled Me Into a Galaxy Far, Far Away
I always knew what Star Wars was, long before I ever actually saw it. That was just part of being a kid in the eighties and early nineties. The characters …
Retro Ramblings
Mom and Me Would Yell at Strangers About Turkeys
Mom and I watched Supermarket Sweep every evening, shouting grocery advice at contestants like seasoned pros who absolutely knew the fastest route to the world’s most valuable ham. …
Retro Ramblings
I Never Liked Coy and Vance
Bo and Luke vanished from my screen, and I felt the loss instantly. A kid knows when something is wrong, and a kid knows when it comes back home. …
Retro Ramblings
Staying Up All Night With Rhonda Shear
When I think back to being a quiet tween in the early nineties, trying to figure out where I fit in the world, a handful of things shaped me more …
Retro Ramblings
When Mulkey Mania Was Better Than March Madness
Mulkey Mania felt like watching the ultimate underdogs shock the world, a pair of pale brothers scoring a win so unlikely it made every kid who loved the losers believe that sometimes the impossible really could happen. …
Retro Ramblings
Ringing in the New Year With MTV ’92: A New Year’s Special
In those years before I had a driver’s license, before I could pile into a friend’s car, blast the radio, and roam around town on New Year’s Eve like we …
Retro Ramblings
The He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special
I was seven years old, and nothing in the world mattered more to me than Masters of the Universe. My bedroom floor was a battlefield of plastic heroes and villains. …
Front Porch Philosophy
The Andy Griffith Christmas Episode
When I think about Christmas on television, there are plenty of specials and sitcom episodes that come to mind. But none of them hold the same place in my heart …
Retro Ramblings
TNN Still Echoes In My Memories
There are certain things from childhood that settle into your bones, and for me, The Nashville Network is one of them. TNN was not just a TV channel. It was …