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Brotherly Love: Art Attack (1997)
Matt can sing
Everyone knows that Joey & Andy Lawrence are accomplished musicians besides acting. It's very rare to find Matthew Lawrence singing, here's a gem.
Matt plays the guitar & sings a goofy tune called Pigeon On Your Car. (Hey Leo, look Leo, there's a pgeon on your car; Hey Leo, look Leo, there's a pigeon on your car. Now you can't go wrong with a bird in your car, everybody knows that's true. Hey Leo, look Leo, what cha think your gonna do.)
You can also find Matt singing on two Gimme A Break episodes, Roman Holiday on BL & As Time Goes By (Boy Meets World).
Step by Step: Don't Ask (1995)
His last shining moment
This episode marked the last shining moment for Brendan Lambert. When baby sister Lilly was born, he was decreased so bad that he only appeared for @ least thirty seconds with one or two lines.
And when the show moved to CBS, he was completely forgotten & was discontinued. I felt so sorry for Josh Byrne, that I quit watching after the CBS move.
If he had played guitar in a band, played football or even had a girlfriend, it would've saved his character from being a misfit. Alas, he joins Chuck Cunningham, Judy Winslow & Henry Finnerty in "The Island of Misfit Sitcom Characters!"
The Middle: Average Rules (2010)
A Dose of His Own Medicine
Betty White had played some bitter characters, one comes to mind was on Complete Savages. She plays Mrs. Nethercott, the school librarian who's nice to every other student, except Brick. She gets after the kid for ruining library books & not returning them. She even threatens him by having him repeat the 2nd grade if he doesn't find those books. So she gives him till Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday to get them back.
What made this funny? Betty White giving Brick a dose of his own medicine when she did the secret word whisper gag (*2nd grade*) which shocked Brick!That episode was totally funny because of those two & O approve of this episode.
Rising Stars (2010)
Cool Reality Movie
This movie caught me by surprise when I saw it on Encore Family. Three film makers along with three musical acts, team up to make a music video. However, the producer tries to sabotage the finalists by destroying their prized possessions (notebook, computer & guitar). The young stars figure out what happened & they all decided to forfeit the contest & make a musici video of their own, they can be proud of.
This movie features Nickelodeon star Leon Thomas III (Vistorious), who showcasd his lead singing talents. He got his start guesting on three different Nick series (Just Jordan, ICarly & Naked Brothers Band).
But Kyle Riabko stands out playing the lead singer/guitarist, Chance McGraw. He has a good voice & rocks on the guitar. With a name like Chqnce, he deserves to have the Community Chest LOL; Monopoly joke).
Hubworld (2010)
J2LUK; Danny Tieger Rocks
Hubworld is more like Entertainment Tonight Jr., except for the silliness. Justin Willman makes a funny host, but it's Danny Tieger thatt rocks the show.
Almost every week, Danny has his own segment called J2LUK (Just to Let You Know), where he plays the guitar (acoustic or electric) & sings improv tunes he writes. He writes songs for holidays and occasions, sings about the news, had sone songs about Transformers & the HUB game shows.
On Christmas, he teamed up with George Gabriel (Pictureka) to do Toyland, which was boring, so they did a song called Hubworld (sung to the tun e of Toyland).
Keep writing those improv songs Danny.
Claws in the Lease (1963)
Cat Food Commercial
This happens to the the best Sylvester/Sylvester Jr. cartoon short of them all! Myy favorite part was when Sylvester sneaked into the house & hid behind the television. Then he broke into song, singing this silly jingle.
"{{issykins Cat Food tastes real good. Satisfies cats like a cat food should. Hardens their muscles, soften their fur, Pussykins Cat Food makes them purr!" The woman threw Sylvester out in the window!
My other favorite part was when Sylvester loads up the house with mice to earn his keep. Then he wears a superhero outfit as Super Puss to get rid of the mice.. But the mice gets rid of him, his son & the fat woman!
Forest Fantasy (1952)
A musical treat.
Part of the "Follow The Bouncing Ball" series, the story starts as the sun sets. The owl wakes up, sets his sheet music on the stand as the forest animals perform "Nola" (in the champagne style of Lawrence WElk).
First, a spider who looks has Harpo Marx's face plays the harp, next the caterpillar plays five violins, then the singing frogs (the smallest frog sounding like Popeye, voiced by Jack Mercer), then a skunk playing a xylophone, field mice playing a clarinet, a mother pelican playing bells with her kid on drums, then a giraffe playing turtle shells. Then some bees form a cello, followed by an elephant playing his ivory tusks (piano), then the scarecrow dances with a hay lady. It concludes with a buzzard playing an oboe, with an worm on trombone, followed by a mother kangaroo on flute, with her son playing a sousaphone.
When that number's finished, the owl invites everyone in the audience to sing "By The Light of the Silvery Moon", The cartoon ends with the sun rising & a hen pecked hen getting her rooster to crow! He uses a record player to crow as he goes back to sleep.
The Dreamer of Oz (1990)
What a movie!
After hearing about Rue McClannigan's death, I remember her role playing the mother in law (whose based on The Wiched Witch of the West). She disliked Frank for being an actor, but then after reading his books, she admits that he's got talent for imagination.
So I dug up the vcr tape & saw that movie. The 2nd time NBC aired it, they deleted some scenes. One is when Frank, his wife & mother in law, discussed ideas for titling the story (since it's superstitious to have a name of a jewel in a book title).
NBC should've aired this movie the week CBS had The Wizard of Oz, which would be tradition (until cable took it away from CBS).
Young People's Specials: The Great American Music Video (1985)
Three in one ideas
I remember seeing this on KTXH-20 when they aired Young People's Specials. The Great American Music VIdeo's a favorite.
A garage band named Passages, had a friend who was their manager. He comes up with an idea to have a music video for MTV, shot at their high school. But each of the band members have their own ideas.
The girl does a video with the football team & marching band, performing "All-American Girl". The punk rock drummer does his own song, complete with a motorcycle gang while the black guitarist performs a reggae tropical number (Reggar Boy). Chaos happens as each band member wrestles for their cameraman's attention.
But they did do a compromise video that made it to MTV.
Encyclopedia Brown (1989)
HBO strikes gold with quality family series
HBO strikes gold with this quality family series. The first was a 60 minute special, followed by 10 30 minute episodes that aired monthly.
Case of the Missing Time Capsule was the 60 minute special. The town of Idaville celebrates its centennial & the time capsule is stolen. It's up to Encyclopedia Brown & Sally Kimbell to solve this mystery.
You had brothers Buddy Clagett (Rich Overton) & Casey Sparkz (Alan Merrill), whom Buddy was jealous over because he only cares about being a superstar & making a zillion dollars.
Alan Merrill also wrote "Who Done It?", a song he performed during the closing credits.
Vegetable Vaudeville (1951)
A Produce of a Show!
The cartoon opens with a parade of fruits & vegetables marching along, they are headed to see the Vegetable Vaudevile Revue.
ACT 1: The Crooning Carrot (in reference to a young Frank Sinatra) sings "Let's Get Lost." And to the delight of two Georgia peaches in the balcony box seats, they sigh, "Oh brother!" ACT 2: A corn who's a fire eater, attempts to swallow fire. Then he suddenly pops his kernels off, making his "naked". The audience booes along with a bunch of raspberries, sticking their tongues out at him.
ACT 3: A high diving act that has an green olive dive into a martini glass. He gets up & hiccups. A horseradish, turns into a horse & nays at the act.
ACT 4: The Apple Chorus does a kick dance (ala Rockettes) where they introduce Carmen Banana. She then encourages the audience to sing "Yes, We Have No Bananas." The cartoon ends with the fruits & vegetables doing the conga, with the olive hiccuping at the end.
Snooze Reel (1952)
A Classic Follow The Bouncing Ball Short
This is the first Paramount cartoon to use a new opening for its "Follow The Bouncing Ball" series (Sing A Song of Six Pence).
The cartoon parodies the old news reels that were seen in movie theatres before television became popular. You'll find shorts about sports, the economy & news.
In the location of Trs-La, La; it features a singing cowboy singing a Paramount classic "Jimgle Jangle Jingle". Then he encourages the viewers (audience) to sing along.
It's also the only sing along where it's done in a round. The girls sing first & the guys follow (they both meet at "Though I may have done some foolin, this is why I never tell."), then it becomes a round again.
The cartoon closes with a camera focusing on the viewers and a statement that reads, "The eyes, ears, nose and throat of the world." Too bad all the follow the bouncing ball numbers have been deleted forever on the Harveytoon DVD set. But that's copyright for you.
Free Style (2008)
Corbin Rocked on a Motorcycle
I couldn't believe this movie came out on Christmas Eve in Mexico & finally arrived here in the US around Columbis Day.
Corbin looked cool on a motorcycle, whether it was that scooter he drove to deliver pizzas, the dirt bike he raced on or that street motorcycle he drove on the streets (too bad it wasn't a ninja).
One of the cute parts was when the kids celebrated their mother's birthday & she got 37 lottery tickets as a birthday gift.
This movie proves you don't have to be a champion in your own sport, but being a good sport like Corbin's character was.
Just like his movie, Jump In, Corbin's dad appears in this movie as well as Corbin singing a song for the soundtrack.
If you like motorcycles & High School Musical, see this movie.
Parenthood (1989)
Birthday Party
One of the best scenes in the movie was Kevin's 9th birthday party. Dad hired Cowboy Dan to entertain for his son's birthday party. But instead, a stripper reports to the house. It turns out that she & the cowboy were sent to the wrong places. The cowboy ended up at the lodge and got sent to the hospital after a beating.
Does this sound very familiar? It was from an episode off The Flintstones where Fred hired the only caterer to hire a clown for Pebble's birthday party & dancing girls for the Water Buffalo Lodge and they both went to the wrong places! Guess that inspired Ron Howard, yabba dabba doo!
Schoolhouse Rock! (1973)
A Classic
While CBS had In The News & NBC never attempted anything until 1978 with The Metric Marvels, ABC had a classic with all those Schoolhouse Rock cartoons. But only on Sundays, the full credits were shown after "Make A Wish" or "Amimals, Animals, Animals". And the songs heard on the full credits; The Good Eleven, Lolly Lolly Lolly, The Preamble or Not so Dry Bones.
My favorite of the bunch will always be "Sufferin 'Till Sufferage", women's rights to vote.
Jack Sheldon's the best performer of the series ad Bill, Conjunction Junction, Rufux Xavier Sasparilla, Energy Globe.
Alice Upside Down (2007)
A star for every generation
This movie would appeal to most ages, not just teens & pre-teens.
First for the 70's & 80's, Penny Marshall portraying a tough teacher. She turned out to be a little caring later on, had a little Laverne DeFazio in her.
Then for the 90's, Luke Perry of classic 90210. He owned a music store & showed his hidden talent that he could play the guitar & sing. Guess Dylan McKay didn't want to pose a threat to either David Silver or Ray Pruit.
And for this decade, Lucas Gabriel. The High School Musical star who boldly did what no HSM star would dare do, play an instrument! He was cool playing the guitar, but did he have to have a shirtless rock band? Disney would disapprove that, but not Chippendale's (LOL).
Vice Versa (1988)
Mr. Freaky Friday
If I have to compare the acting of Jodie Foster & Barbara Harris (the 1977 Freaky Friday) to Fred Savage & Judge Reinhold, the guys would win hands down.
It was cool to see that jam session at Vigar & Avery Dept. store where Charlie (in Marshall's body) played the drums with that rich boy guitarist. Luckily he got out of that when the boss found out it was his favorite customer's son. Also, when Charlie took on those bullies in the bathroom, pretending to be an undercover cop.
Another favorite part was when Fred Savage got to drive that police motorcycle to catch the bad people.
Little did I know that his ex-wife & Charlie's mother would later become a loudmouth, driving 4 boys crazy in the process (Jane Kaczamrek-Malcolm In The Middle).
Overall, one of the best family movies of 1988.
Hello Down There (1969)
This Movie Has Everything
A piece of adventure, a hip rock band and future stars, make up this recipe for Hello Down There.
I was surprised that Richard Dreyfuss played a band member. He would go on to do many movies (including my personal favorite, Let It Ride). Charlotte Rae as Myrtle Ruth, fits her cup of tea, went on to Facts of Life. Let's not forget talk show host (and the man behind Jeopardy! when this movie aired), Merv Griffin. It's also one of the few movies that feature Jim and Henny Backus.
I highly recommend this classic, but campy movie to anyone reading this comment.
Richie Rich's Christmas Wish (1998)
Jake Richardson stole the movie with his really bad moods!
It's not often that a villain steals the performance. Besides Margaret Hamilton (Elmira Gulch/Wicked Witch of the West), Jake Richardson falls into that category.
He plays the bratty Reggie Van Dough who threatens to be in a REALLY BAD MOOD! if he doesn't get his way. Maybe he should have dated Veruca Salt (Willy Wonka).
All in all, this holiday movie is awesome & David Gallagher did a better job than MacCauly Culkin in the title role.
Glad that Jake & David also did a 7th Heaven episode where Jake played a bad boy who had a gun. Maybe he should've told Simon to break up with his girl or he'd get into a REALLY BAD MOOD!
Gimme a Break!: The Window: Part 1 (1987)
A hidden gem for me
This is one of the best Gimme A Break episodes of the final season. It was very cute that Matthew Lawrence got to play his baby electric guitar & sing with a house band. I thought that kid would have a musical future, but I was wrong (there were some consolation on Brotherly Love & Boy Meets World).
Back when this first aired in 1987, I had no clue whatsoever about this episode. Then 12 years later, looked it up in newspaper microfilm @ the Houston Public Library that when it first aired, KPRC (NBC in Houston) passed on carrying that episode due to a local community special. So a friend of mine mailed me a tape of that episode & it finally took me 12 years to finally see it!
Boy Meets World: As Time Goes By (2000)
Matt's Romantic Moment
This is the last fun episode, before the last two serious episodes (incliding the series finale).
Most BMW fans think this episode was a waste, but I disagree.
After having a quarrel with Cory, Topanga decides to clean out the closet, where she discovers a time continuum vortex. She gets pulled in and lands in a 1940's café (Rory's Shangri-La) in which it now goes to black and white.
There, Topanga meets the patrons of the café (played by the cast) and tries to remember who she really is.
But Matthew Lawrence (Wee Hawkin Willie, piano player) takes the cake in this episode, when he started singing "This Dame". A friend of mine thought he had a romantic singing voice (which I agree). Bravo, Matt!
The Comebacks (2007)
No comeback for Matthew Lawrence
Back in 2002 when Matthew Lawrence did The Hot Chick, I also saw Drumline that day. Drumline wins by default! If The Comebcaks had been released in March (as planned) the same time TMNT was released, TMNT would've won by default!
Granted, Matthew Lawrence did a fine job portraying a quarterback. He didn't have to resort to uttering dirty words which is a plus. But when he started playing with his private parts as well as another football players and touching a girl's boob, those were the minuses.
But the biggest minus that ticked me off is that every football player got to participate in the mock music video, except Matthew Lawrence (insert The Price Is Right's losing horns)! Another blown musical opportunity for him, just because he's shy about doing music.
In the past, Matt has disappointed me many times (Super Human Samurai Syber Squad) where he came so close to having a musical moment, but ended up failing.
Sure, Joey had a singing career with two albums to his belt and Andrew's starting a music career of his own. But it's very rare to find a Matt musical moment. The two that stand out would be on Brotherly Love where he played the guitar and sang "Pigeon On Your Car" (Art Atrack), which he wrote by the way, and that romantic Boy Meets World moment when he sang "This Dame" (As Time Goes By).
Matt, you've played jocks too long. Why not make a musical comeback. You have a good voice and I miss your musical side.
NBC Special Treat: New York City Too Far from Tampa Blues (1979)
Very interesting storyline
I first saw this special when Showtime aired it back in 1986. Why did I miss this when it was featured on NBC? Tom and his family moved from Tampa to New York City so that Pancho (Dad) could work. Unfortunately, he's a proud man that didn't like his brother Jack, give his son a guitar.
Tom meets up with a fellow shoe shiner named Patrick. When he saw Patrick's basement full of band instruments, Tom made up his mind that he wanted music for a career. They finally get an act together when they went to Delaney's Irish Restaurant, touching the heart of the owner and customers, performing "Danny Boy" (aka Londonderry Aire).
Drake & Josh: I Love Sushi (2006)
Speed It Up A Little!
Dan Schneider pays homage to "I Love Lucy" on this episode.
After the house gets robbed, Josh tells Drake that they had to get jobs in order to get new furniture. They go to an employment agency where they are offered jobs at a fish assembly line. The name of the place is the Ball & Vance Fish Corp. (in honor of Lucille Ball & Vivian Vance).
Just like the candy factory episode, Drake & Josh have to package 6 pieces of sushi in a box on the assembly line. Not like Lucy & Ethel, they threw the sushi up on the ceiling. before the supervisor comes back. And of course, the supervisor comes in & yells "Speed it up a little!" This episode is nostalgic for fans young & old. Dan Schneider should be saluted for coming up with this story idea!
The Twelve Days of Christmas (1993)
Another Christmas special based on a carol, I LOVED IT!
When it comes to Christmas, there are those who like to collect Santas, nutcrackers & other stuff. Me, I have a collection of 12 Days of Christmas.
I was thrilled when NBC first aired this is 1993, about a knight who wanted to woo the princess. He has the squire snatch her Christmas list, instead he gets the answers to the king's crossword puzzle! Like most Rankin-Bass specials, the narrator doesn't take part. But the partridge does take part in the story ("You thought I was only going to narrate the story").
During the singing of the carol, there were impersonations of famous people (Bob Dylan, Harry Connick Jr., Michael Jackson & Elvis Presley).
Though the correct singing is 9 ladies dancing, 10 lords a leaping, 11 pipers piping & 12 drummers drumming, it got jumbled as 9 drummers drumming, 10 pipers piping, 11 dames a dancing & 12 lords a leaping to have the story make sense.
Most Christmas special fans consider this to be the turkey of Christmas carol specials, I give it a 9!