Top Ten #325: Special "They ran out of Halloween stuff at the store 3 weeks ago" Edition!

1) Bloopers: Do you love a good blooper? Great! Do you love seeing 10 of them in a row in 4 or 5 segments over an hour period? Well, do we have a show for you on the podcast this week!

2) Practical Jokes: Personally, I prefer the blooper over the practical joke, but reasonable people have disagreed throughout history. Perhaps the genius of TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes is that it presents both timeless expressions of comedy in one forum without forcing a laugh-hungry audience to choose.

Here's a joke from the series starring Laura Branigan of Automan!

3) Ed McMahon: Ed makes his fourth featured appearance on the podcast this week in his role as the irascible cut-up on TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes. It must have been gratifying for McMahon to see Dick Clark laugh for him the way he laughed for Johnny--in enthusiasm if not in style. The booming Ed laugh and the raspy Dick wheeze are both effective in their own ways.

Hey, speaking of Ed, isn't it getting close to that time?

Hear more about Ed in our episodes on Alf, Legends of the Superheroes, and CHiPs.

4) Dick Clark: For years, he was known as America's Oldest Teenager, which doesn't really sound like a compliment at all. Are we sure that wasn't a long-running practical joke on Dick?

5) The McKeon Family Dynasty: On this week's episode, we got a solid glimpse of the storied acting family, which between them appeared in hundreds of episodes of sitcom entertainment. There's Nancy. There's Philip. 

Hmm, but not Doug, who isn't related. That takes a little of the shine off the McKeon Family Dynasty, now that I know that.

6) Dr. Joyce Brothers: Did you know she went on an early quiz show as a boxing expert? You would if you grew up in a certain era because it was talked about more than any academic/medical credentials. I wish Ed and Dick had interviewed her about what America's fascination with bloopers said about itself.

7) The World Series: With this Yankees/Dodgers match-up, we can party like it's 1981 again! Let's just forget the bummer of the midseason strike, missed games, and bizarre playoff format.

8) NBA: The pro basketball league returns this week, and you can watch most of the stars play many of the games! I miss the good old days before load management, when sitting out games was more likely because of drug-related suspensions.

9) Halloween Week: The big day is this Thursday, so there's still time to get your Halloween viewing in before passing out candy.

10) R.I.P. Ron Ely: Our game show episode featured some of the late actor's work hosting Face the Music.