Category Archives: ’80s

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Designing Women on ‘Designing Women’ — A Mini-Reunion

Designing Women on ‘Designing Women’ — A Mini-Reunion
Throw Back TV hosted a wonderful script reading of the Designing Women pilot, and then followed it up with a 23-minute, moderated chat featuring series stars Jean Smart and Annie Potts and creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. The NEW South! (GIF via GIPHY) The table read was to raise money for Color of Change and World Central…
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Flame-Haired Leading Lady Rhonda Fleming Dies @ 97

Flame-Haired Leading Lady Rhonda Fleming Dies @ 97
Golden Age of Hollywood leading lady Rhonda Fleming died Wednesday in Santa Monica, California, ExtraTV reports. She was 97. Fleming's death was confirmed by her secretary, but no cause was specified. Born Marilyn Louis on August 10, 1923, in Los Angeles, her mother and grandfather were actors, but she was taken aback when she was…
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Coke Canning Tab, Bassey’s Bad-Ass Comeback, Lansbury’s 95th & More!

Coke Canning Tab, Bassey’s Bad-Ass Comeback, Lansbury’s 95th & More!
Links to the past, with relevance today: Tab's ads were calorie harpers. (Image via Coca-Cola) WSJ: Coca-Cola is pulling the Tab — the '70s-tastic, one-calorie diet soda will no longer exist by 2021. Tiara I breathe ... (Image via Chris Jackson/Canadian Government) PEOPLE: The Queen of England, 94, has posed for her first official portrait…
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Conchata Ferrell of ‘Two and a Half Men’ Dead @ 77

Conchata Ferrell of ‘Two and a Half Men’ Dead @ 77
Actress Conchata Ferrell, who had been ailing for months following a July heart attack, succumbed to the effects Monday, October 12, at Sherman Oaks Hospital in Sherman Oaks, California. She was 77. Deadline reports the veteran actress died while surrounded by family and friends. Though Ferrell is best remembered as salty housekeeper Berta on more…
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The Movie That Inspired ‘Airplane!’

Yeah, yeah, the airplane-themed disaster flicks of the '70s certainly influenced 1980's hilarious parody Airplane! — but as many similarities as one can find between Airport '75 (1975) and Airplane! pales in comparison to the scenes in another movie that match the knock-off! (Image via Paramount) Zero Hour! was a histrionic suspenser from 1957 starring…
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Country Crooner, Elvis Writer Mac Davis Dies @ 78

Country Crooner, Elvis Writer Mac Davis Dies @ 78
On the same day that fellow crooner Helen Reddy died, beloved country singer Mac Davis also died, also at 78. He died a day after news that he had undergone unsuccessful heart surgery. With Nick Nolte in North Dallas Forty (Image via Paramount) Davis's manager of 40+ years, Jim Morey, announced the singer's death on…
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‘I Am Woman’ Icon Helen Reddy Dies @ 78

‘I Am Woman’ Icon Helen Reddy Dies @ 78
Singer Helen Reddy, the vocalist whose anthemic pop classic “I Am Woman” became synonymous with the feminist movement, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. She was 78. Her music energized a movement. (Images via Capitol) In a statement, her children Traci Donat and Jordan Summers said: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing…
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JFK’s Flag Found, Moreno Honored, Quaid for Trump & More!

JFK’s Flag Found, Moreno Honored, Quaid for Trump & More!
Links to the past with relevance today: Is it the real deal? (Image via Antiques Roadshow) ANTIQUES ROADSHOW: In 2017, Antiques Roadshow declined to air an appraisal of a flag said to be from PT-109 because it was too difficult to determine provenance. If it's really from Kennedy's PT-109 — and the story is elaborate,…
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Sophia Loren Staten Island Style

Sophia Loren Staten Island Style
In honor of Sophia Loren's 86th birthday today, September 20, I am re-sharing my September 2016 post from when I paid to see her during a rare U.S. Q&A on Staten Island in NYC. It was a hot mess, but sooo worth it! Ciao! (All images & video by Matthew Rettenmund) September 2016: Last night,…
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