Pittsburgh has a language all it’s own. Can a visitor figure out what the locals are saying? Jersey Joe and Joel play the game of Know Your Pittsburghese ‘n at!
THE 411
Name: Pittsburghese
What: local dialect spoken in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania
JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS:
It’s a very unique accent that I’ve only really found in that area. If you cross to Eastern PA and Philadelphia, they have a completely different accent and dialect.
It’s fascinating how various parts of our country have accents all of their own. Maybe I should try this game in a southern state or two!!!
For the past two weeks, we’ve counted down the bottom 20 of my 100 top TV themes of all time. This week, we’re in the 70’s!
Anyhow, let’s take a look at the next group of ten.
#80 THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES
Airdates: 1962-1971 (CBS)
http://youtu.be/QtvTE3m5jpM
A poor, backwoods family finds oil and moves to Beverly Hills? It happened in this sitcom that was on for so long; it started off in black and white and ended in full blown color.
I guess for the original opening, they weren’t able to take the cast for a real drive down Rodeo Drive, so they used some really bad rear projection. You can see how the scene bumps up and down as the camera car hits a pot hole, but the cast shot stays steady.
However, when the show transitioned to color, they got it right and reshot part of the opening credits, including a real live shot driving down Rodeo Drive! When the show becomes a hit – the budget increases!
Just about everybody who was born up until the early 1980’s knew this theme song by heart. I think it was even played on the radio at one point.
The show was remade as a movie in the early 90’s with Jim Varney that was surprisingly pretty good. Most TV shows remade into movies these days just don’t work.
#79 227
Airdates: 1985-1990 (NBC)
It was the apartment building where everybody knew your name and loved to hang out. The show made Jackee Harry a TV icon with her Sandra character. However, by the time season 4 started, tension between her and star Marla Gibbs grew to such a point on the set, that executives gave Harry her own spin-off. Sadly, after the pilot aired the show was not picked up and Harry was off the air.
The show continued on, but Harry’s loss was a blow the series never recovered from. For season 5, they brought in a whole new slew of characters, but they couldn’t save the falling ratings. Producers brought Harry back for the last 7 episodes of the season, but it was too late and NBC canceled the show.
#78 AMEN
Airdates: 1986-1991 (NBC)
Another staple on NBC’s powerful Saturday night sit-com lineup, this usually aired at 8pm right before 227. Remember when Saturday night actually had half descent original programming?
Set in a Philadelphia church, this sit-com dealt with the antics of the less than holy Deacon Frye. The opening credits were recently parodied by Cleveland on Family Guy this season. This show was absolutely hilarious and I love the old Pennsylvania license plate on his giant car!
And check out the bonus end credits that were attached to the video. Did you happen to catch Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a guest star? That had to be early in his career.
For the show’s entire run, these credits never changed, outside of the addition of new cast members names on screen.
#77 DOOGIE HOWSER, MD
Airdates: 1989-1993 (ABC)
A simple keyboard theme is all you needed for this one.
A super genius kid becomes a practicing doctor, before he’s even a teen! That can really happen, right? Not if the insurance companies have anything to say about it! But, of course it can – thanks to the magic of television.
At the end of every episode, Doogie would turn on his computer, which at the time was really only a word processor (his life would have been so different had the internet existed then), and type about what he had learned that day. It always had some witty line and always had a cut away of Doogie as he pondered what he had learned. I wonder how many kids ended up doing journals thanks to this show?
This was another series where the credits changed very little over the years, just new shots of Neil Patrick Harris as he grew up.
#76 MR. BELVEDERE
Airdates: 1985-1990 (ABC)
I love the creative use of photographs, not only of Mr. Belvedere’s adventures, but also the multi shots of the cast.
Just by listening to the song, you know you’ve got a legendary butler that moves in with a family from Pittsburgh. What more do you need?
Here’s a look at the opening credits from the first two seasons. The slide show like opening from the pilot makes me sick. Glad they only used it once!
#75 THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON
Airdates: 1962-1992 (NBC)
While the current incarnation of the show is hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Carson has long been considered the king of late night. Only David Letterman has recently passed this show on number of episodes and number of seasons.
Carson was not the first host of The Tonight Show. That was actually Steve Allen and it went on the air way back in 1954.
When Carson first took over as host, the show aired from 11:15pm – 1:00am. That’s 105 minutes! As more local stations began broadcasting 11pm news, Carson’s opening monologue was going unseen by the vast majority of the US. NBC then decided to move the show to 11:30 and trimming it to 90 minutes. In the 70’s, Carson grew tired of the 90 minute format and again trimmed the show to an hour. It was finally moved to the current 11:35 time slot in 1991, to allow affiliates more commercial time in their late news.
The opening credits have undergone massive changes over the years. Sadly, almost all of the pre-1971 shows have been lost. Videotape was expensive then and NBC would simply tape over the air checks with another show. There are years of great interviews and skits that will never again see the light of day.
#74 PICTURE PAGES
Airdates: in various forms 1974-1990 (CBS, Syndicated, and Nickelodeon)
I was so mad that I couldn’t have a pen that played music as you write. I’d still like to have one now to drive my co-workers nuts!
Bill Cosby would teach kids reading, writing, and arithmetic using a series of puzzles that you can send away for and play along.
The show actually started in Pittsburgh in 1974 when a local grocery store gave away the books. The segments went national in 1978 as part of the Captain Kangaroo program on CBS. Later, kids cable network Nickelodeon picked up the rights and aired it as a half hour show. Here’s a look at the seriously lame song on the Nick version:
#73 DUCKTALES
Airdates: 1987-1990 (Syndicated)
Scrooge McDuck and his three nephews were always going on an adventure to score more money. As a kid, I always thought it would be awesome to jump into Scrooge’s money pit vault. Now that I’m older, I realize that jumping face first into a deep vault of a zillion coins probably would really hurt. Also, money is quite filthy… who wants to swim in filth?
I actually won tickets to the spin-off movie DuckTales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp from a local TV station. The same station I ended up working at a decade later!
Thanks to the success of this show, Disney launched a whole afternoon of other cartoons including Tale Spin, The Gummi Bears, Chip ‘n Dale’s Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, and a few more that I forget. DuckTales was always the first and the best, though.
This show only lasted 100 episodes, but it seemed to go on forever! DuckTales Woo-ooh!
#72 BONANZA
Airdates: 1959-1973 (NBC)
http://youtu.be/NP8qKiTltj0
A fictional ranch in Nevada back in the wild west days was the setting for this long lasting series. Another show that started out in black and white and made the switch to color.
It is the second longest television western in history behind Gunsmoke. It will probably stay that way, because people don’t seem to want TV westerns anymore.
I’ve seen a handful of episodes, but the cool part of the credits is how they set the map on fire and luma key to the first shot of video underneath. Pretty great idea that was ahead of it’s time.
And holy moley Jeanne Cooper does not look comfortable posing for her guest star credit show!
#71 SIMON & SIMON
Airdates: 1981-1989 (CBS)
http://youtu.be/osYdKFhzzlc
They were two complete opposites, but they ran a successful private detective agency together. It was basically, The Odd Couple of private eyes! It was one of the many action drama/comedy shows of the 80’s.
I remember watching the show from time to time and reruns still turn up occasionally, but it was the awesome guitar sax combo of the theme song they used starting with season three that made this one memorable. The shot of Gerald McRaney getting cold cocked through an open door is pretty priceless as well! (He went on to star in the Army sit-com Major Dad, right after this!)
Take a look at how the opening credits were for the first couple of seasons and you’ll agree that the classic guitar sax combo was a hit!
THE 411
What: TV Theme Songs
Use: themes used to open a TV series or cartoon
Purpose: introduce main cast and introduce audience to the theme of the series
Numbers reviewed: 71 – 80
JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS:
I hope you enjoyed the look at the next group of themes. A few kids ones made it into the group this time. I still want a singing pen, Bill Cosby!
Check back next week when we take a look at numbers 61-70. We’ve got Zordon, a fat delivery guy that loves the Mets, and a talking horse!
I don’t own any of the rights to these, nor did I upload them to YouTube. This blog is presented for educational and informational purposes.
Heinz, Hunts, or generic? We all use ketchup, but in a blind taste test can you tell the difference? I assembled a panel of 9 friends and co-workers and put them to the test.
Ketchup or catsup is a delicious red sauce made primarily of tomatoes, vinegar, and sugar. Generally used as a condiment for hot foods such as French fries and hamburgers, it can also be used as an ingredient to add additional flavor when cooking.
The first form of ketchup (I’m not calling it catsup) was originally made in 17th century China, where it was a brine for pickled fish. The sauce was discovered by English explorers a century later and then made it to the new colonies in the United States. The Chinese pronounced it kay-chap, but when the English got a hold of the sauce, it was changed to our common word, ketchup.
While there are many variations on the recipe, the American tomato version was first created and published by Sandy Addison in 1801. The English version used at that time contained anchovies!
As the 19th century went on, the popularity of ketchup skyrocketed. Being made and sold by local farmers, Americans could eat the sauce without having to worry about the shelf life of tomatoes.
In 1876, the Heinz foods corporation was the first to launch a mass produced ketchup to stores and advertised it as “Blessed relief for mother and other women in the household.” Years later, after concerns over sodium benzoate, Heinz changed the recipe to remove the controversial preservative. Ketchup now has an additive, usually xanthan gum, which gives it a thinning property. The harder you slap or shake the bottle, the more liquidity it will become, allowing it to be removed easily. Once it is no longer in motion, the ketchup will return to a more solid, thicker state.
Heinz ketchup main rival in the United States in Hunts. Hunts started out as the Hunts Bros. Fruit Packing Company of Sebastopol, California in 1888. It wasn’t until the 1930’s after a company takeover they decided to focus on canned tomato products and prepared tomato sauce.
As with most common household products, most stores have their own private label generic brand products. For this taste test, I went with Shop-Rite brand generic ketchup, but the store name was not disclosed until after I finished the test.
I placed a small serving of each in secretly labeled clear plastic cups and then gave one cup each to my panelists. 7 of them tried the ketchup with standard French fries, 1 with sweet potato fries, and 1 ate some off a knife because we ran out of fries.
I asked three simple questions:
Pick your favorite
Tell me which is Heinz, Hunts, and the generic brand
What brand do you usually buy?
They each first picked their favorite. The brand was not disclosed at this point, but here’s what they chose:
FAVORITE KETCHUP
Heinz 3
Hunts 3
Generic 3
It was split right down the middle. Not even the lottery has these kinds of odds!
“I was really stuck between Hunts and generic,” said Mike from Jersey City, New Jersey.
But, when I asked them what brand they usually buy:
BRAND USUALLY BUY
Heinz 5 2 incorrect
Hunts 0 2 incorrect
Generic 3 1 incorrect
Doesn’t buy ketchup 1
Three of the panelists missed identifying their favorite brand in the blind test. One Heinz buyer picked generic and one picked Hunts. One generic buyer picked Heinz as their favorite. One Hunts buyer picked generic, while the other picked Heinz. The third Hunts panelist said he usually doesn’t buy ketchup.
That means that 33% of those taking the taste test could not identify their favorite brand.
“Heinz is the gold standard in ketchup,” said Max from Cranford, New Jersey.
When asked to name which brand was which, based on flavor, here’s how many out of the 9 panelists got the brand correct:
CORRECTLY IDENTIFIED
Heinz 5
Hunts 4
Generic 5
More than half of the panelists correctly picked both Heinz and the generic brands. 3 panelists got zero correct, while 4 guessed all three correctly.
Many of the comments they made stated that Heinz has a distinct flavor and texture.
The ketchup taste test underway.
“You can tell one is sweeter and one is saltier,” said Jeremy from Bayonne, New Jersey.
“The generic is watered down,” said Michael from Los Angeles, California.
Our test can conclude that the generic brand is pretty darn close to as good as Heinz, the most indefinable product. When I did the test, I felt that the generic had a very strong flavor and I was surprised when I mixed it up with Hunts in my blind taste test. I always buy Heinz and was able to easily identify that. But, the generic really did have a strong flavor and I did like the taste of all three brands.
But, when you look at the ketchup aisle in the store it can be a bit overwhelming. While there may be only a few select brands to choose from, there are dozens of different varieties.
On some bottles ketchup is labeled as “fancy,” meaning it contains a higher amount of tomatoes and solid concentration, beating FDA standards.
In the Philippines, ketchup is actually made from bananas and has been since World War II, when there was a shortage of tomatoes. To compete with tomato ketchup, it is dyed red.
The number 57 on a Heinz bottle means nothing. Founder Henry Heinz simply thought the number was lucky. There are more than 60 Heinz products on store shelves.
Should you refrigerate ketchup? An open bottle will last one month in the cupboard, but an open bottle in the refrigerator will last up to six months.
Most ketchup sold in stores contains a large amount of sugar. Something may people forget when they are on a sugar restrictive diet.
For quick comparison, according to the bottle, 1 tablespoon of ketchup from each the three tested brands contains:
Calories:
Heinz 20
Hunts 25
Shop Rite generic 15
Fat:
Heinz 0g
Hunts 0g
Shop Rite generic 0g
Sugar:
Heinz 4g
Hunts 4g
Shop Rite generic 4g
THE 411
Name: ketchup or catsup
What: tomato based condiment popular in the United States
First recipe in US: 1801
First sold commercially in US: 1876
JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS
It’s Heinz all the way for me and I was easily able to identify it during my blind taste test. (Yes, I admit I got the other two confused…)
However, you may want to try this test yourself and see if you are purchasing what you and your family really like. You could even collect some sample packets that are given away at restaurants and see which you like best.
Loading...
