Can You Guess This TV Theme? #44 - Answer

Congratulations to Lisa Marie from The Domestication Of A Party Girl for correctly guessing that this week's TV theme was from 'The Bad News Bears'!

With the same premise as the 1976 film 'The Bad News Bears' starring Walter Matthau, Jackie Earle Haley and Tatum O'Neal, the television show revolved around the team's coach, Morris Buttermaker, played by Jack Warden.

As a former minor league baseball player, currently working as a pool cleaner, Coach Buttermaker gets upset after a client refuses to pay his bill and responds by driving the client's car into the sparkling clean pool. Buttermaker is given a choice of either "volunteering" to coach the Hoover Junior High baseball team or going to jail.

Coach Buttermaker chooses baseball over jail time and spends the entire series trying to teach a group of hapless kids how to play together as a team....

While coaching the team, the coach is under constant supervision from Principal Emily Rappant, played by Catherine Hicks. You may not recognize the name Catherine Hicks, but she played the mother on the WILDLY successful show '7th Heaven'.

The casting director for this show was able to pick up a fresh faced Corey Feldman (a favorite of Ally at Fourth Grade Nothing.... He sent her a letter!) for his first major acting role.... But other than that choice, I think think the casting director decided to cast the kids with the funniest names.... Gregg Forrest, Tricia Cast, J. Brennan Smith, Sparky Marcus, Rad Daly, Meeno Peluce, Shane Butterworth, and Kristoff St. John (who looked like a young Barack Obama) rounded off the team....

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #41 - Answer

Congratulations to Jerry from My Thoughts Brought To The Light for being the first person to correctly guess this week's TV theme!

'The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin' was an animated series that followed Teddy Ruxpin, that cute little toy bear whose mouth moved and eyes blinked as he read you stories as a child, as he leaves his home on the island of Rillonia with his best friend Grubby, the orange octopede. Together, with the help of Gimmick (a harebrained scientist they befriend during their adventure), they follow an ancient map which leads them to find a collection of crystals and Teddy's missing father....

Apparently, each episode included a short segment titled 'Protect Yourself' which ran after a teaser for the next episode and prior to the credits. It featured an animated Teddy Ruxpin on a live-action set, who would introduce contemporary child stars who would give young viewers advice on topics such as avoiding strangers and what to do in an emergency. These guest stars included the likes of Jason Bateman and Corey Feldman.... I don't remember the 'Protect Yourself' segments, but I'm planning on getting the DVD's this weekend to see if they're added as an extra!

Did you have a Teddy Ruxpin toy? I seem to remember that my Teddy Ruxpin felt like it weighed around 40 pounds.... But I was a bit smaller, so the toy probably seemed a lot bigger than it actually was....

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #36 - Answer

Wow! It looks like I stumped everybody this week.... I apologize for choosing such a difficult theme for this week's 'Can You Guess This TV Theme?', but I was trying to make a lame attempt at a tribute to the late great Corey Haim....

In 'Roomies', Corey Haim played 14 year old fish-loving genius Matthew Wiggins, enrolled as a freshman at Saginaw University. What Matthew didn't expect was that his dormitory roommate would be fellow freshman, 4o year old retired drill sergeant Nick Chase, played by Burt Young. The 'odd couple' teach each other lessons about life as they try to survive dorm life.

The show was used as a Saturday morning filler and only 8 episodes were filmed.... If you blinked you missed it.... I can't say it was an especially good show, as the humor was a bit choppy and the laugh track was repetitive and lackluster. However, if you can get your hands on some clips (good luck - I've been searching for hours), it's great to see a young and vibrant Corey Haim throwing his hat in the sitcom ring....

I was going to write a little something about Corey Haim, but my tribute wouldn't hold a candle to my blogging buddy Ally's tribute at Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing. You can see her tribute here, and her commentary on Cory Feldman speaking about his friend and media coverage of celebrities here.