The Wiggles have replaced their yellow Wiggle with the guy who originally played him. How would the Australian tabloids deal with this if it were a scandal?
Fake Australian Tabloid Headlines
“Wags the Dog has new competition for the food thrown in the pig bin; The Wiggles send Sam to live on the dole.”
“Say goodbye to the big red car; hello to the big red bus.”
“Wiggles Sack Sam: Will Government Cheese be ‘Yummy Yummy’?”
“Greg forces Sam to ‘Wiggle’ to unemployment line.”
“Toot, Toot, Chugga, Chugga Big Pink Slip.”
In the Ralphland Pop Culture Cheat Sheet, we highlight the real life inspirations behind those TV and Movie references that appear to be seemingly random to the young people these days, but were really rooted in something that actually happened in real life. First up: “The Red Ones Cause Cancer”.
Have you ever heard a sitcom or movie character say that red M&M’s cause cancer? Ever wondered if there was any truth to it? In actuality, there was some truth to that statement, even though it was completely false. Confused? Well, in 1976, it was revealed that a certain dye used to make certain foods red caused cancer. People instantly began shunning anything that was dyed red, including the ubiquitous M&M’s. The only problem was, M&M’s were not made using the notorious red dye that caused cancer. In fact, M&M/Mars had never used the cancerous dye in any of its products. That didn’t stop a cautious public, however and M&M/Mars was faced with a tough decision; either publicize the fact that their candies didn’t include the cancer causing red dye or simply remove red from the M&M bags. Since it was easier to just stop producing red candy that is exactly what they did.
Unfortunately, this only lent credence to people’s suspicions that eating the red ones caused cancer (after all, why would they remove harmless candy from store shelves?) and TV and movie writers quickly worked jokes about the red M&M’s into their scripts. In the time travel film Peggy Sue Got Married, “Peggy Sue” goes back to the fifties and (with her knowledge of the future) warns her sister that “the red ones cause cancer”, doubtless causing the late 1980’s audience to knowingly laugh at something believed to be true, though today it comes across as a confusing statement. By the end of the 80’s, M&M/Mars finally decided that the world had mostly forgotten about the alleged threat of the “red ones” and reintroduced them into the standard M&M bag.
So not only do we learn the perils of jumping to conclusions (that red M&M’s cause cancer) but also the perils of putting “hip” and “with it” references in TV and Movies that become horribly dated and undecipherable in the distant future.
“A horse is a horse, of course, of course, but no one can talk to a horse of course, that is of course, unless the horse is the famous Mister Ed.”
Begin singing the preceding refrain to any baby boomer and they will surely begin singing along. But who (or what) is Mister Ed? In the 1950s, there was a semi-successful film series centered around a talking mule named Francis. Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Hollywood often copies successful ideas in the hopes of creating a new success. In this case, they turned a talking mule into a talking horse and thus Mister Ed was born.
The show begins as a young married couple (Wilbur and Carol Post) begin a new life in their first home together. Wilbur is an architect and sees the barn in his backyard as the perfect place to setup a home office. Trouble is, the barn is already home to the meddlesome Mister Ed, who can actually talk. He rarely speaks in person to regular people, but does so to Wilbur to convince him not to throw him out. Wilbur agrees to keep Mister Ed and television history begins.Of course, since this is television, Mister Ed will only speak to Wilbur and constantly thinks up the most ridiculous schemes. These schemes cause great problems for Wilbur, since just about everyone around him begins to question his sanity. Mister Ed’s schemes sometimes even get Wilbur in trouble with his wife.
Mister Ed lasted for six seasons and remains a television classic. Reruns of the show aired regularly for decades, although it seems to have disappeared recently. (Probably because television executives feel that the younguns with their hippin’ and a hoppin’ won’t watch a black and white TV show.) Mister Ed led to other wacky television premises, like monster families, flying nuns and mothers who became re-incarnated as cars. (Don’t ask.) While admittedly lightweight, dated (by today’s standards) and reliant on a completely unbelievable premise, Mister Ed is a throwback to a gentler era on television.
In conclusion- every red-blooded American should know all about the famous Mister Ed, a classic show from our shared pop culture.
A fun fact- Mister Ed can boast the rare feat of having initially been a syndicated show that was picked up by a television network. (Normally, television shows begin on a network and find their way to syndication.)
America is forgetting its history.
Yes, despite the endless “I Love the Whatevers” programs on VH1 and the 24 hour TV Land Channel, it appears that the youngsters these days are forgetting our shared television and pop culture history. I’ve heard the excuses; I’m not that old, That’s before my time, etc. etc. But, most of the things that people seem to be forgetting are television shows and movies that originally aired well before my time as well. If I’m willing and able to embrace things that are technically before my time, it shouldn’t be too difficult a thing to do.
So, as a public service, Ralphland will present Ralphland Pop Culture, a primer on selected television shows, movies and other treasures from our shared past. Many of these shows and movies are (gulp) in black and white! This occasional feature will highlight the things that should never be forgotten, even if conventional wisdom states that they are too old to matter.
