Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed for August 29, 2020

PBS vs HBO? Well in the early days of cable HBO was the premium channel, around 30 or 31 on my cable decoder while we had two PBS stations (the public and the local university) that were available with rabbit ears or for anyone with a basic cable package from Cape Coral to Ocala…… The PBS show obviously had the best content but you know which channel would be the preference of any typical slacker high schoolers or college kids in ‘84 (unless they really got into some extreme mood altering agents and then PBS or Koppel’s Nightline might seem of interest….).

Before Dish Network and DIRECTV, some of us had really big satellite dishes (compared to today’s) – about 4’-5’ across – where we could pick up (for free) network transmissions to their affiliates, including HBO, Showtime, ESPN, etc., as well as CBS, NBC, ABC, etc. Plus we got East coast and West coast feeds so we had our choice of times for most shows. It was nice while it lasted.

I use to work for a place that installed those big dishes. When the movie channels started scrambling the signal they assured people that the stations that had commercials would never scramble. Because the rate they charge for commercials is based on the number of people watching the program, they would never kick off a few million viewers. Needless to say they scrambled and the company went bankrupt.

To those under fifty, that “Munch! Munch!” is an allusion to a Fritos ad of the time:

“Munch! Munch! Munch a bunch of Fritos … Corn Chips.”

I prefer “The Incredible Mr. Limpet”.

Ah, the days when “HBO” meant “Hey, Beastmaster’s On!”

Now they can watch Deadwood anytime they like, and hear Al Sweringen talk about cockroaches as much as they like. (What’s that? He wasn’t talking about cockROACHES? Never mind.)

Svengoolie has shown “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” a few times, and though I in general am not a fan of screwball comedy I have sort of enjoyed it. Score 1 for the roaches.

Mostly, though, I kill cockroaches. Ya listening, li’l buddies?

Reminds me of a Monty Python sketch(Partial):

Zorba: Anyway the majority of the molluscs are included in three large groups, the gastropods, the lamellibranchs and the cephalopods…

Mrs Jalin: We knew that (she gets up and goes to the set)

Zorba: However, what is more interesting, er … is the molluscs’s er … sex life.

Mrs Jalin: (stopping dead) Oh!

Zorba: Yes, the mollusc is a randy little fellow whose primitive brain scarcely strays from the subject of the you know what.

Mrs Jalin: (going back to sofa) Disgusting!

Mr Jalin: Ought not to be allowed.

Zorba: The randiest of the gastropods is the limpet. This hot-blooded little beast with its tent-like shell is always on the job. Its extra-marital activities are something startling. Frankly I don’t know how the female limpet finds the time to adhere to the rock-face. How am I doing?

Mrs Jalin: Disgusting.

Mr Jalin: But more interesting.

Mrs Jalin: Oh yes, tch, tch, tch.

Zorba: Another loose-living gastropod is the periwinkle. This shameless little libertine with its characteristic ventral locomotion … is not the marrying kind: ‘Anywhere anytime’ is its motto. Up with the shell and they’re at it.

I saw The Ghost and Mr. Chicken as a kid, and some parts were actually kind of scary.

I LIKED The Ghost and Mr. Chicken…