How We Got Cable -or- The Cat Came Back & Other Old School Nickelodeon Greats

I was so excited when we finally got cable.  I had begged and begged my mother to get cable because, as a child of the 80s, cable signified something special.  Your house was suddenly the house other kids wanted to hang out at after school because you had channels they only dreamed of.  I really wanted Nickelodeon and Disney Channel (née The Disney Channel... before they dropped the "the").  Those channels enticed me more than MTV because they had things I could envision myself doing, be that Double Dare or The Mickey Mouse Club, whereas MTV was all about big hair, acid washed denim and loud music... none of which I was into... ok, maybe the acid washed denim.

But even after all my persistent pestering my mother still refused, "We don't need cable."  But Mom!!!!!!


That is until one day when I came home from school and she was on the phone, "Yes, no, tomorrow is fine.  Thank you."  Click.

"Who was that?" I asked... nosy.

"Did you know," she started, and then choked up a little.  She was suddenly very excited.  "Did you know that The Monkees are on cable?"

Bedknobs and Broomsticks vs. Mary Poppins: A Cage Match

Singing "Supercalifragilistic" at the office today it got me to thinking about the secondary status that many people give to Disney's 1971 classic Bedknobs and Broomsticks.  While I imagine that Mary Poppins (1964) is more widely cherished (it does have its own Broadway musical after all) I find that as an adult I am much more drawn to Angela Lansbury's witch Eglentine Price.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks always felt much more fulfilling than Mary Poppins.  Don't get me wrong... I love Mary Poppins... but Disney's other witch-makes-childrens'-lives-better movie had a stronger pull for me then and now.  I think it must be the grittier subject matter and the darker air that Bedknobs offered.  Besides that... looking below, we can compare the stories of Ms. Poppins and Ms. Price and deduce who would win in a cage match of magical British caregivers.

Click to enlarge.

I'm just sayin'... maybe Eglentine deserves some extra credit for what she and her friends could do. While you think on that, enjoy this magical moment from the film.