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Mister Rogers Visits the Toothpaste Factory

PBS has been running a "Like" Drive on Facebook, and releasing some classic content online as rewards for reaching milestones. Regardless of whether you "Like" PBS (in the Facebook sense of the term), you'll love this weirdly calming Mister Rogers video in which he and Mr. McFeely do a sort of play-by-play watching how toothpaste is made (or at least was made) at a toothpaste factory. While it's not an in-person visit to the factory, it's a nostalgic timewarp to your childhood. Enjoy! "It's fun to... READ ON

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Cookie Monster: "Me Love Technology"

For today's retro-techo-nostalgiariffic lovefest, I happened across an old Sesame Street video of Cookie Monster learning about computers from Prairie Dawn. (If, like me, you've never heard of Prairie, she's a rather mature seven-year-old Muppet.) Cookie Monster, upon seeing an onscreen drawing of a cookie: "A big beautiful cookie coming into existence before me very eyes!" Cookie Monster seems to misunderstand the distinction between virtual and real, as well as the fundamental design intent of... READ ON

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Kids Explaining Computers in 1984

So what is a computer? According to kids on Sesame Street in 1984, "You press some buttons and then you can make a design." Yeah, that's pretty much what a computer is (and certainly what they were to me in 1984). Also: "It's something like a TV, and you can make pictures with it, and it helps you to read." Yes! My favorite part: Kid: "People don't have buttons and a computer does." Teacher: "You have buttons on your shirt." Kid: [Rolls eyes] "Ahhhh!" If you liked that, you... READ ON

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Andy Rooney, Re-Edited

As we've all heard, Andy Rooney has retired. But his body of work is vast, including 1,097 of his iconic 60 Minutes commentaries. I have a love-hate relationship with those commentary pieces -- I've actually watched 60 Minutes for many years, and while I'm tempted to turn it off when Rooney comes on (because it generally strikes me as "a few minutes" of crotchetiness), I generally stick around to see what cranky weirdness he's on about. Part of what makes Rooney's commentaries appealing is that they're... READ ON

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Here's to the Crazy Ones

In the late 1990s, Apple rebranded itself with a dramatic ad campaign combining images of iconic scientists, artists, explorers, and activists with the Apple logo, plus the famously grammatically questionable tagline "Think Different." The capstone of the campaign was a TV commercial known to fans as "Here's to the Crazy Ones." Here's what the commercial said: Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things... READ ON

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Starting Tonight: Penn & Teller Tell a Lie

Tune in live tonight (Wednesday, October 5) at 10pm ET/PT for Penn & Teller's new series: Penn & Teller Tell a Lie on Discovery. In this slightly shaky video from Comic Con, you can see Teller talk (!) about the upcoming series: There's a longer preview video after the jump. It's Like MythBusters, But With Lies The PR says: In each episode, aided by a series of extraordinary visual stunts, Penn & Teller will reveal ... unbelievable stories like: • How were five people... READ ON

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Mr. Rogers Sings "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" Spanning 33 Years

In this simple video, we see Fred Rogers singing the iconic "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" theme song from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood over a span of 33 years. It's touching to see his consistency and gentleness over so many decades. The show ended its run on August 31, 2001. Enjoy: (Via Kottke.org, via ?aaroncohen.) See also: 15 Reasons Mister Rogers Was the Best Neighbor Ever; Mr. Rogers and His Lifetime Achievement Emmy; and A Mr. Rogers... READ ON

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"Twin Peaks" as an Atari Game

Have you ever wondered what a Twin Peaks video game would look like? Apparently there were plans for a Nintendo game that never made it off the ground. Now coder/musician Jak Locke has created a sort of Atari 2600/NES-ish game based on the last episode of the show. Spoilers abound, of course! Plus, the game seems to lack much of a coherent plot or sensible gameplay. And it's extremely slow to get started (not so different from the show); not much happens until around 1 minute into the video below.... READ ON

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Garry Shandling's 1986 Pizza Hut Commercial

In 1986, at the height of his career (as It's Garry Shandling's Show was starting), comedian Garry Shandling did a Pizza Hut ad. Here it is: It appears to be part of a major campaign, also featuring standup comedian Roseanne Barr (whose show Roseanne didn't start until 1988), actor Pat Morita (whose turn in The Karate Kid was in 1984 -- I suspect this video is from 1986 despite the YouTube description), and actress Rita Moreno. If celebrity endorsements aren't your thing, here's a strangely... READ ON

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The First Time a TV Show Addressed the Death of a Character

Tonight, the popular TV series Two and a Half Men will deal with the death of the show's lead character, Charlie Harper, played by Charlie Sheen (as if you didn't know). The notorious but irrepressible Sheen made headlines a few months ago by not only jumping ship on the show, but by also making a few "ill-advised" remarks about the show, and especially about the show's creator, Chuck Lorre. It's a safe bet that Two and a Half Men will garner big ratings from those curious about Charlie's "passing" and... READ ON