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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 16, 2023 13:18:42 GMT -5
Can't believe I forgot about Kansas City Bomber! I was obsessed with women's roller derby in my teens. Cei-U! I summon the fond, albeit bruised, memories!
Likewise. Never was a big wrestling fan, but roller derby was my guilty pleasure; especially women's roller derby. Those ladies could flat mix it up at times, and sometimes the staged conflict got real. It used to come on about 3pm on Saturday in my neck of the woods. If at all possible, I wouldn't miss it.
Technically, the Kansas City Bomber features Roller Games. There were two promotions, up until the early 70s: the original Roller Derby (started in the 30s) and Roller Games (started in the early 60s). Both jazzed things up to the point they worked the matches, but Roller Games was the one that really worked it like pro wrestling, to the point that some of the pro wrestling "dirtsheets" (newsletetrs) used to cover pro wrestling and Roller Derby/Games. In the 70s, the Roller Derby promoter sold out to the Roller Games group and they restructured things to center on the LA Thunderbirds, as the lead babyface team and the Eastern Warriors were the heel team. The T-Birds had Dick Lane calling the action, at the Olympic Auditorium, just as he did for the LA wrestling promotion, and you hear Lane in the trailer, with his trademark, "Whoa, Nellie!" (which is why Jaime Hernandez used that for his mini-series about Gina and Xochitl, from Love & Rockets, since he grew up wit the LA wrestling promotion). I watched it in the 70s, when it was carried, though I never understood the scoring, as the point seemed to be to attack one another. I also watched it when ESPN revived it, in the 80s, as a companion to AWA pro wrestling, where they had Ms Georgia Hase, as the manager of the heel team (I think it was either the Texas Outlaws or the Eastern/Philadelphia Warriors). That morphed into the syndicated Rollergames, where they had the figure-8 track, with a jump. The ESPN revival had "Queen Kong" Dee Booer on the heel team, who then ended up in GLOW as Matilda the Hun (not exactly sure if she also wrestled before doing the Roller Games thing, or only after, with GLOW, POWW and other groups). The 70s Roller Games was also the visual inspiration for Rollerball, the film (not the original story, so much). There were Canadian and Japanese teams, in the late 60s and 70s, with Roller Games. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 16, 2023 13:22:19 GMT -5
ps, since the subject came up, after seeing Welch's death, I watched Mother, Jugs & Speed last night, on the Internet Archive. I forgot how great a movie that is. Nice mix of comedy, drama, some romance and a bit of satire and anti-authority sentiment. Larry Hagman is a hoot, as Murdoch, the lecherous driver.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2023 16:49:53 GMT -5
RIP to former MLBer and iconic broadcaster Tim McCarver, who passed today at age 81.
-M
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Post by Icctrombone on Feb 17, 2023 5:43:26 GMT -5
RIP to former MLBer and iconic broadcaster Tim McCarver, who passed today at age 81. -M Sad. He was the first of the analytical broadcasters who more closely dissected what was happening on the field. He became famous covering the game as a Met announcer and then jumped to other stations and doing post season game. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Feb 18, 2023 6:32:23 GMT -5
It's been a bad week for '60s/'70s sex symbols. First Raquel Welch, now Stella Stevens. Man, I had a mad case of the hornies for her after seeing Poseidon Adventure! Rest in peace, beautiful lady.
Cei-U!
I summon the downer!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2023 7:41:15 GMT -5
RIP to former MLBer and iconic broadcaster Tim McCarver, who passed today at age 81. -M I remember him well from his late career playing days back on the Phillies, a fun team to follow in the late 70's even though they weren't "my" team. I always loved seeing Steve Carlton on the mound in particular and McCarver was his personal catcher during that era, I'm sure I have a few of his baseball cards stashed away. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 18, 2023 8:29:10 GMT -5
It's been a bad week for '60s/'70s sex symbols. First Raquel Welch, now Stella Stevens. Man, I had a mad case of the hornies for her after seeing Poseidon Adventure! Rest in peace, beautiful lady. Cei-U! I summon the downer! For me, it was The Silencers, as well as the Wonder Woman pilot. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2023 12:12:00 GMT -5
RIP to actor/comedian Richard Belzer, who passed today at age 78. Best known for his stand up early in his career, most will know him for his longtime role on Law & Order.
-M
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Post by foxley on Feb 19, 2023 15:25:42 GMT -5
RIP to actor/comedian Richard Belzer, who passed today at age 78. Best known for his stand up early in his career, most will know him for his longtime role on Law & Order. -M Belzer holds the record for the actor who has played the same character in the most different TV series, having appeared as Det. John Munch on 10 different series. |
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Post by Calidore on Feb 19, 2023 19:29:37 GMT -5
RIP to actor/comedian Richard Belzer, who passed today at age 78. Best known for his stand up early in his career, most will know him for his longtime role on Law & Order. -M Belzer holds the record for the actor who has played the same character in the most different TV series, having appeared as Det. John Munch on 10 different series.
That's pretty amazing.
Other trivia: I learned from the obituary I read that Henry Winkler is Belzer's cousin.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 19, 2023 21:40:40 GMT -5
RIP to actor/comedian Richard Belzer, who passed today at age 78. Best known for his stand up early in his career, most will know him for his longtime role on Law & Order. -M And getting choked out by Hulk Hogan, before the first Wrestlemania. That's a front facelock (Hogan never did know how to wrestle). In pro wrestling, you would see that; but, the wrestler applying the hold didn't bring his arm under the throat and lock it into his other arm. That is a legit submission hold and not allowed in amateur wrestling, as it puts pressure directly on the throat and cuts off oxygen. Hogan also didn't maintain control of Belzer and just let him fall, limply, to the studio floor, where his head banged onto the concrete, lacerating the back of his head, requiring stitches. Despite what Mr T says (who knew less about wrestling than Hogan) that is not a Sleeper Hold (which is also actually a choke, when really locked in) and he wasn't "sleeping;" he was unconscious due to loss of oxygen and blood to the brain. Belzer sued and Hogan & the WWF settled, for a large sum. Around the same time, as Belzer was introing, ABC's 20/20 ran their expose of pro wrestling, which featured John Stossel getting slapped in both ears, by David Schultz, a heel wrestler in the WWF. Stossel also sued the WWF and earned a big settlement. Schultz maintained he was told to hurt Stossel, in so many words, but was fired after the incident and the lawsuit. Hogan was not fired, since he was the main money draw. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 19, 2023 21:47:07 GMT -5
RIP to Australian director Georg T Miller (not the Mad Max director), who helmed such pictures as The Man From Snowy River, The Neverending Story II and Zeus & Roxanne. Miller also directed the tv mini-series ANZACS, which told the story of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers, in World War I, and featured Paul Hogan, in a prominent role. Miller was actually approached to direct Crocodile dundee; but, turned it down because he was involved in another project, which ended up not being filmed.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 19, 2023 22:42:41 GMT -5
Getting back to Stella Stevens, she starred in a tv pilot movie, No Man's Land, about a woman who becomes the town sheriff and her daughters come to her aid, to help maintain order. I saw it when it was broadcast and thought she was great and enjoyed the film, but a series did not follow....
You know you are in trouble if Herb Tarlek is your deputy (or his ancestor). Notice Flash Gordon, Sam Jones, as the blacksmith?
Also loved her as The Dragon Lady, in the Blaxploitation film Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold....
First, she kicks the crap out of a henchman; then, she fights Cleo, herself....
Stella knew how to play this kind of thing, too.
If you have never seen them, the Cleopatra Jones films are a hoot. Tamara Dobson looks great, but was never a great actress (she was a model),; however, she had great villains and supporting cast to make her look good. In the first film, the villain is Shelly Winters, playing a lesbian crime boss, Mommy.
Bernie Casey and Antonio Vargas? You know you are in for a good time! Norman Fell is Cleo's boss, in Casino of Gold. I always wondered what Mr Roper did, before retiring to run his building.
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Post by commond on Feb 21, 2023 8:20:55 GMT -5
RIP to the great mangaka, Leiji Matsumoto, of Space Battleship Yamato, Captain Harlock, and Galaxy Express 999 fame. One of the giants of the industry.
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Post by berkley on Feb 21, 2023 14:03:46 GMT -5
It's been a bad week for '60s/'70s sex symbols. First Raquel Welch, now Stella Stevens. Man, I had a mad case of the hornies for her after seeing Poseidon Adventure! Rest in peace, beautiful lady. Cei-U! I summon the downer! For me, it was The Silencers, as well as the Wonder Woman pilot.
I wonder if the bit with the chandelier was meant to go that way or was it a stunt that misfired and they left it in for comic effect. |
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