People.com proclaimed that Ricky (or is Rick?) Schroder reunited with his Silver Spoons fam this week in New York.
So cute!
But something is DREADFULLY WRONG. Where the F— is Alfonso Ribeiro? Did he get lost on the train, since it no longer just went through Ricky’s house?
Still upset my parents never bought me one of these bad boys.
Oh well, hopefully Ribeiro will be invited to a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion, if they ever have one. Fingers crossed!
Here is the truth. I grew up in a small New England town. Small is relative, of course. There is something like 30,000 people who live in North Andover, MA, the place I call home. When I lived there, I think there were was a population of 20k. How much we have grown! I recently spent a weekend in Texas, where my best friend from college revealed to me what a REAL small town is. We went to visit her parents in the very appropriately town called, wait for it, Smithville. There was a main street and a couple of awesome restaurants. PLUS they filmed the movie Tree of Life there, starring Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt! Clearly this was a major place.
“How many people live here?” I asked. “100,000 people?”
Jordan giggled. “Try 3000!”
Hot damn! I thought to myself. Now THAT’s a small town!
Here I was, always bragging that I came from a lil old place, sort of by the sea that we call the Atlantic Ocean, probably 10 or 20 miles away! Soooo far away! And we never even had Brad Pitt visit! Brad Pitt!
I finally admitted to myself that okay, maybe North Andover is not THAT small.
I spent the ages of 4 through 22 living in North Andover. I can STILL remember my first day of nursery school because I have an insane memory like that. My mother’s great aunt had passed away, and she and my father had to attend the funeral in Rhode Island. “Don’t worry, Lizzie!” my mom said to super cute adorable me. “We’ll pick you up by the time your first day of school is over!” Being four years old, I did not realize that my mother measured her time in different ways. Sure, she picked me up after school . . . but two hours late! Luckily, Mrs. Lewis let me play with super cool blocks till then.
Do you think contractors use these to build houses? A girl can wish!
Nearly 30 years later (yes, I AM in my 30s though I look 21 soaking wet), my parents still call North Andover home. My mother is a teacher in the public school system and my father is involved in local town politics. And even though it’s been over a decade since I’ve lived there, North Andover is a HUGE part of who I am.
When you come from a small town, you take it for granted that you know everyone. You don’t even realize that it’s a privilege that when you go to the grocery store–probably Market Basket–you will see 18 people that you know, AT LEAST. I’ve lived in New York City for the past seven years, and before that Boston for five years. I’m lucky if I buy my copy of the New York Post from the same person twice over the course of a year!
When you grow up in a small town, you know everyone. And everyone knows you. And even if you were a nerd/mathlete/spelling bee champion–all titles that I held at one time or another–those people from your small town CARE about you. Because they ARE you. And that’s why when one of them leaves, it hurts. It REALLY f’ing hurts.
Look, I write a blog about TV and pop culture. I do stand up comedy. I am snarky, sarcastic, and snide. I swear too much. Guilty as charged. But I am who I am because of where I grew up. And I LOVE where I grew up. It took me a LONG time to accept this and admit it. North Andover is not perfect, because no place is. But what WAS near perfection was the crazy ass friendships I developed over the 18 years I lived there. And one of the dearest relationships that grew in that time was with my longtime classmate Angela Lukens. Angela and I both attended Franklin School starting in kindergarten. If we need to be all technical about it, we weren’t in the same kindergarten class–I had Mrs. Redman and if I recall correctly she had Mrs. Trombly. Tomayto, tomahto. At any rate-we were definitely in the same first grade class with Mrs. Bierman and spent the next 10+ years in the same classrooms through our time at Franklin, then North Andover Middle School and North Andover High School. We starred in plays together, we made geometry videos together, we even choreographed a dance to “Little Shop of Horrors” together. After high school, we both wound up at colleges in the South.
Upon college graduation, we lost touch due to disparate geography. But with the advent of Facebook, we had reconnected over the past couple of years. We especially bonded over our love for, wait for it, TV! Angela loved The Walking Dead as much as I did. This past Tuesday I asked the question why is Rick so anti-new people? Angela commented that she thought “the Ricktatorship is going to crumble next week.” I was super excited to find out if her prediction would turn out to be true as Rick was indeed going a bit cray cray.
Less than 24 hours after Angela posted on my Facebook wall, I found out some absolutely devastating news through one of our classmates at North Andover High School. Angela had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. I was numb. Shocked. Floored. Speechless. How could someone so young, so vibrant, so f’ing funny!–now be gone? I called my parents when I found out the news. My father picked up the phone. I told him that Angela had died. Naturally, he was shocked. He asked me if I was okay. I remained calm. I could not even cry because it did not seem real. Was Angela really gone? I couldn’t accept it. But I had no choice.
A day later, I am still completely astonished by the news that Angela Lukens is no longer on this Earth. Even though we had not seen each other for years, I still considered her a friend. A really f—ing funny, TV-obsessed friend–my favorite kind!
When you grow up in a small town, you know everyone. And everyone knows you.
Angela–we know you, and we love you. We pray for you and your family. Our hearts ache for all of the people who love you so much. We are North Andover. You are North Andover. And we are you. And I say that with pride.
Much love. Forever and longer.
Until we meet again-
Liz
I know it’s been over a week since the Grammys, but I STILL can’t get the all star tribute to Levon Helm out of my mind!
That bad bitch on the right stole the show. You go Mavis Staples! Yeah!
I DVR’ed the Grammys and watched this performance about 400 times. During each viewing, I rocked OUT in my living room, playing air guitar, singing, tossing my hair. You know, just the typical things rock stars do. And it made me super sad because that’s where my mad skills are relegated: in my living room. Because, unfortch, I have zero musical talent.
That didn’t stop Britney Spears! you might say. Agreed, but home girl had ABS back in the day that could slice bread.
Sorry, world, that you will never be able to see me rock out on a global stage. It really IS a tragedy. Till then, just enjoy this ghetto link of the Grammys performance below. You can watch the official one at the link in the first paragraph, but I can’t embed that video to my post. Whatevs.
Thank you soooo much Entertainment Tonight for assuring me that you will NEVER take up space on my DVR. You see, on Monday it was announced that Michael Jackson’s 16-year-old son Prince Michael will be a guest correspondent for the super sophisticated daily roundup.
Just beat it, okay?
Now, I know he’s just a kid and I shouldn’t make fun of people who can’t even drive or drink legally, but come ON. One, his late father was so desperate to maintain his children’s privacy that he covered his kids in VEILS whenever they went out.
Do you remember the time when Michael treated his kids like sickly freaks? I do, and I miss those days.
Two, the only precocious kid I like his Kid President.
In case you didn’t know, I am SINGLE. I have mentioned it to everybody about 82 times today. And since today is Valentine’s Day, I will keep on going. SINGLE SINGLE SINGLE.
Truth be told–I’m totally fine with it. I don’t want a date tonight, I just a heart-shaped box of cheap drug store candy.
Yum!
HOWEVER, someday I would not mind knowing what love is. Am I right Foreigner or am I right? I know you can show me.
PS-If you are interested in setting me up with anyone, please don’t show him anything I have ever written, ever. I don’t want him to think I’m one of those desperate women, hehe.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone, or as I like to call it, Happy VD Day! Because if you’re single and alone as I am, you have very little chance of catching a sexually transmitted disease. Woohoo!
You also have little chance of getting murdered by your husband and being featured on an episode of Dateline with Keith Morrison.
As I eagerly await for candy to go 50% off tomorrow (Oh sh–, I get up sweets for Lent! Bummer!), I want to celebrate love TODAY. And what better way than to congratulate the ever so patient Starbucks customer and American Airlines flyer Alec Baldwin and his child bride Hilaria as they are expecting their first child together!
She’s a 20-something yoga instructor. I don’t get what he sees in her AT ALL.
In addition to collecting Emmys, Golden Globes, and SAG Awards for his work on 30 Rock, Baldwin was also designated “Father of the Year” back in 2007 (awarded by me) when he announced to the world, via voicemail, that his then 11-year-old daughter Ireland was a “rude, thoughtless little pig.” Dads, they’ll say the darnedest things!
But at least pigs are cute, right???
So mazel tov Alec and Hilaria! This baby will be super well loved, as long as s/he always calls Alec back.
Oh my God guys. Meadow Soprano is pregnant. With her fiance’s baby. Out of wedlock. Will there be a shotgun wedding to appease the very moral father of the future bride, Tony Soprano?
As much as I thought I’d want to marry into the Mafia, I think it would be a tad difficult because I’d be afraid he’d chop off my fingers or something.
In truth, of course, Meadow is just a character, so she can’t actually have a baby. Duh. But the actress who plays her, Jamie-Lynn Sigler (not even Italian! She’s Cuban and Jewish.) IS expecting her first child with professional baseball player Cutter Dykstra, whose father Lenny played for the Mets and Phillies and was actually sentenced to three year in prison for grand theft auto and filing a false financial statement. So maybe marrying Tony Soprano’s daughter DOES make sense.
I wonder if Meadow’s ex-fiance Finn DeTrulio ever got married. He was cute!
People Mag addresses the most important question of the day when they explain WHY Sports Illustrated would POSSIBLY put Kate Upton on the cover for the second year in a row.
Brrrr!
Hmmmm, I wonder why! Could it be, dare I say it, because she’s hot? Gee, I solved it in one sentence. You can thank me later.
And thanks People for your amazing investigative journalism. Good work!
So today I was thinking about some of my favorite shows from childhood. Yes to the obvious, like The Golden Girls, Full House (I was young), and Mr. Belvedere, but I also adored the sh– out of newsmagazines like West 57th, Saturday Night with Connie Chung, and Primetime. What can I say I was a weird kid.
I wonder what happened to Wesley. He was a babe!
My favorite, of course, was the granddaddy of them all. No, not 60 Minutes, that was FOR granddaddies. Nope, I worshiped at the alter of Barbara Wawa and Hugh Downs. That’s right, i’m talking about 20/20.
BABES.
20/20 apparently still airs, hosted by Elizabeth Vargas and David Muir. But whatevs, none of that matters. It was the 1980s when it counted, with Downs and Walters at the desk. And while today 83-year-old Barbara is everywhere–she’s like the Betty White of journalism–Hugh leaves a much more quiet life since he stepped down as host in 1999.
This Thursday, Hugh turns 92. But I was so excited to talk about him today that I could not wait till then. So happy early birthday Hugh! Please cohost The View one of these days, they need a male counterpart.
I grew up in the suburbs of Boston, as if you didn’t know that because I only mention it 58 times a week. At any rate, there was this boy band that hailed from nearby that everyone just ADORED. The Beatles? Rolling Stones? Nope, they were from the other side of the pond. I’m talking about the New Kids on the Block.
Did anyone like Danny?
Despite their great hair, I never really got them. At least, not PUBLICLY. I pretended to be above them and preferred listening to more cultured musicians like Milli Vanilli, Cyndi Lauper, and Tears for Fears. What can I say, I was super cool. HOWEVER, privately was a different story. When I found out NKOTB were going to perform on Don’t Just Sit There, one of my favorite shows on Nickelodeon, I didn’t exactly turn it off.
Granted, I never owned one of their albums, never claimed I was their cover girl, or favorite girl, or even their Valentine girl. But let’s put it this way, they never had to beg me please don’t go girl because I never left.
That said–I will NOT be attending their big reunion tour. Sorry!
The DVR Files 