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Chris Knight's avatar

The legend of Popcorn Sutton lives on!  Thirteen years after he tragically left us, Sutton is definitely not forgotten.  The “last of the old time moonshiners” has been the basis of many an Internet meme and last month was the now-annual Popcorn Sutton Jam in east Tennessee.  The man was the subject of a recent book packed with photos.  And word has it that his original recipe likker is selling well… legally of course.

For a number of years, North Carolina filmmaker Neal Hutcheson produced a series of documentaries for PBS featuring Popcorn.  Two months ago he posted onto YouTube a 2022 remaster of The Last One, which at the time was about Popcorn Sutton’s alleged final brew of moonshine.  It’s well worth a watch if you’re at all a fan of Popcorn or have an interest in Appalachian culture.  It also boasts some awesome music!

 

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Chris Knight's avatar

Most of you have seen this already, I’d bet. The only thing I know about Downton Abbey is that it has the inimitable Maggie Smith among the cast and for that alone I’m gonna make time to eventually watch this show.

This series must be a big deal. For one thing my Facebook front page was loaded with all kinds of numbstruck horror over the weekend because of the Downton Abbey season finale. And then there’s the fact that Sesame Street has now spoofed it! Even without knowing the particulars of the source material, I thought this was pretty funny.

So here is “Uptown Downton Abbey”…

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This afternoon I finally got to watch the new version of The Electric Company on PBS. It’s a revival of the very fondly remembered original series from the 1970s.

So what did I think of it? I watched many of the episodes of the original The Electric Company a few years ago when they ran on Noggin, and was surprised at how well the show had held up over the years. The Electric Company circa 2009 remains faithful to the purpose of its parent… but is a fresh and rapid-fire delightful update aimed at a new generation. And I was surprised at how many homages to the Seventies series there are: right down to paying tribute to Rita Moreno’s immortal warcry “HEY YOU GUYSSSSSS!!!” Didn’t spot an appearance by Letterman (no, not the late night TV host) but there was an animated spoof of 24, among other clever ...

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Longtime readers of this blog know that I’m fond of posting classic clips from Sesame Street whenever I find them on YouTube. That should be a lot easier to do from now on ‘cuz Sesame Workshop (the outfit that used to be Childrens Television Workshop) is on YouTube and putting up officially-sanctioned Sesame Street videos! You can’t embed them in your own blog or site (yet, and let’s hope they consider allowing embedding eventually) but you can certainly link to ’em and watch them. Like, f’rinstance, the now-infamous “Sesame Street News” where Kermit the Frog reports on Prince Charming’s attempt to rescue Rapunzel.

I’m glad Sesame Workshop is doing this, and I hope they post many more in the weeks and months to come. Especially Bert and Ernie sketches. Can’t get enough of Bert and Ernie… 🙂...

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Previously (like, 1977) on The Electric Company …

The cast sings “That’s All” for the final scene of the very last episode of the original The Electric Company

As it turns out, that’s not all!

Before this day is over with, somewhere in New York City, the first filming will have been done for PBS’s updated version of The Electric Company. The first episode is scheduled to air in January 2009.

Here’s a taste of what’s to come: Chris Sullivan as new character Shockwave…

The original The Electric Company was produced from 1971 to 1977, and then had repeats until 1985. Some years ago I found that the educational cable channel Noggin was showing repeats. I tuned in every time it was on, and was blown away by how consistently good this show was more than thirty years after it first aired. The Electric Company was created by Children’s ...

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After swearing that I’d never do it again, I fell off the wagon tonight.

Dear lord, will this madness ever stop?

I couldn’t help myself. It just happened.

We were flicking through the high-def channels and I wound up on UNC-TV, the state’s PBS system. And they were doing their annual “Festival” pledge drive. The moment I saw that 800 number, my lips quivered and my hands started shaking.

Lisa couldn’t stop me. I ran to the phone, and I… did it.

After all these years, I still can’t stop doing it.

I picked up the phone and dialed the toll-free number. A nice lady answered and asked would I like to make a pledge to support public broadcasting. I told her “yes”.

Then I told her that I would like to pledge $10,000…

…but only if PBS brought back the old Doctor Who reruns.

Then I hung up.

This ...

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