Why is Generation X typically more creative than the rest? Simple -- our childhood was trippy, yours was most likely not:
Hard to believe, but there was a time when black people weren't ghettoized on something called the UPN or the CW. A good many of my favorite shows as a kid had predominantly black casts -- why the regression since?
I asked Florida Evans (aka Esther Rolle) for her take as to why African-Americans are so woefully underrepresented on network TV these days. Her pained response speaks volumes.
Most think of him as Spock, but I remember Leonard Nimoy as the host of "In Search of ... ." Thanks to Nimoy, I grew up convinced there was such a thing as Sasquatch. I wasn't alone.
Bigfoot became a B-movie staple in the 1970s, even getting his own Saturday morning TV show.
Nimoy also encouraged me to believe in the Bermuda Triangle, Dracula, The Man Who Wouldn't Die and the Loch Ness Monster. I interviewed Nimoy a few years back at a Los Angeles County Museum benefit. Though he seemed pleased not to have to answer any questions about Spock, he wasn't prepared for the queries about "In Search of ... ."
Like Smith, Paul Williams was a marginally talented actor and musician. Okay, so he wasn't as popular, but the troll-like Williams was a regular on "Match Game" and "The Gong Show," which makes him cooler in my book. And he's from Omaha, birthplace of Marlon Brando, Malcom X, Montgomery Clift, Fred Astaire, Bob Gibson, Dick Cavett, Henry Fonda and Nick Nolte.
My favorite Hollywood hangout, Boardner's (which, unfortunately, seems to have gotten a substantial makeover since I left town), had an autographed photo of Williams above the bar. Try as I might, I couldn't persuade them to part with it.
There will be no belaboring the obvious as I celebrate the decade of my youth -- no Watergate flashbacks or "Jaws" clips. If disco gets mentioned, it will be brief.
Rather, this trip down memory lane will highlight personalities, moments and products often overlooked -- often with good reason.
Here, birthday girl Jaye P. Morgan (who turned 76 today) comments on a "Gong Show" act in which two girls suck lustily on popsicles.
If you're of a certain age, and had Channel 17 (then WTCG) on your TV dial, then you'll know of who I speak. I placed Malcontenter Markie Post on a "Space Giants" mailing list a few years back and she's still receiving material, including this fairly clever comic strip. 
Who says Atlanta has no identity? We're responsible for some of the best junk food (and drink) known to man.
Coca-Cola was born here, of course. So was Chik-fil-A. And don't forget Waffle House, which opened its first restaurant (pictured) in Decatur 52 years ago.
(Photo via Atlanta Time Machine)
Reviving a Friday tradition, it's Gene Gene the Dancing Machine.
This might be my most inconsequential post ever, but did you know that Conway Twitty and the sisters Pointer both had Top 10 hits with "Slow Hand?" I'm a minor fan of the former's career, but strangely I prefer the latter's reindition. Blame it on "Night Tracks."
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