Universal Studios Hollywood in 1987!
Oof, tonight’s video tickles me. It’s a 1987 promo vid for Universal Studios Hollywood:
(Video suggested by Paul. Thanks, Paul!)
We vacationed in California right around that time, and Universal Studios Hollywood was our one major to-do. I was still young enough to not fully comprehend what the place was, and honestly believed these two things:
1) Virtually every movie ever was filmed there.
2) Virtually every celebrity (well, celebrity actor, anyway) lived within spitting distance.
So more than any one ride or attraction, what I remember most is the exhilaration that came with feeling like I might turn around and run into, I don’t know, Bea Arthur.
One night we went to a restaurant in the most touristy part of Hollywood, and it was more of the same. I carried around an autograph book and was 100% convinced that stars were lurking around every corner. None were, but it was still a blast to imagine Hollywood being that much like the version from sitcoms and cartoons.
Real Ghostbusters Commercials!
Here’s 30 minutes’ worth of Real Ghostbusters commercials, because we all deserve grainy fun times:
Lots of rare ads in the mix, too. Enjoy!
The Making of The Mist!
Here’s When Darkness Came: The Making of The Mist.
(Pretty sure you can figure out what it’s about from the title.)
I still adore this movie, and I can still remember the first time I saw it: In a hotel room, late at night, all alone when I was on a business trip.
I ordered The Mist on PPV, even though I sooo needed to be in bed by that point. I just wanted something spooky to fall asleep to. Instead, I stayed up for the whole thing and then spent an additional hour reading Mist trivia online. The next morning was rough.
PS: Am I the only person watching the new series on Spike TV? Sure feels like it. The show (which only shares generalities with the book or movie) is imperfect, but I do think it’s succeeded in at least never being dull.
If you’d rather try out a new series than watch some BTS footage about an old movie, the first several eps of The Mist are streaming for free on Spike.
Family Dog!
This one’s gonna be tough, as I’ll be describing something I haven’t seen or even really thought about in literally three decades:
I’ve run episodes of Amazing Stories on Dino Drac After Dark before, but this one was a massive departure from the show’s usual lean on semi-macabre stuff.
Premiering in 1987, Family Dog was about… well, a family dog. What I remember most about the episode is how hard my whole family laughed at it. Like serious fist-pounding laughter, from a roomful of hard sells.
By 1987 standards, seeing a cartoon dog piss on a cartoon carpet was unheard of. Family Dog seemed downright edgy in its time, and we couldn’t help but draw comparisons between the titular pooch and our own dog.
Family Dog would get its own series in 1993, but I don’t believe I ever caught it. No idea how firm the connection was to this older Amazing Stories episode, but the lineage is definitely there.
