Tag: television

Wonderama’s Snake Game is Weirdly Compelling

I heard someone on a podcast reference this “Wonderama with Bob McAllister” thing and I looked it up. What I found was oddly fascinating.

If you feel like ingesting an 8 minute sample of children’s programming from another time (at least a decade before me, since one of the questions is “who is the president” and the answer is Nixon and he was prez from 1960-1974), check it out in this Snake-in-a-can game segment. It seems like a lot of time-filler just to occupy groups of kids with working moms. Or something. Every can appears to have a snake, even though it felt like to me that the host was implying its not certain that there are any inside. After you get the snakes, you get a chance to win the prize for that can if you can answer a question on sports, entertainment or government.

No other TV game held quite the thrill and suspense of Snake-In-A-Can. Wonderama aired on weekends in NY on WNEW-TV. It started out as a six-hour show, later shrinking to an equally unreasonable four hours. Two-to-three of these hours were shots of kids waving their arms; the rest of the program had exciting games like this one, where many contestants were too short to be seen. But Bob McAllister was really great with the kids – just watch!


This little girl went on to grow up to be Michelle Obama. or something.

Back to You won’t be back on Fox

Despite having better ratings than its comedy companion ‘Til Death, the series was not renewed by the network on May 9, 2008, while ‘Til Death was renewed. The show is being shopped to other networks. Ironically, CBS was initially interested in the series before it landed at FOX. Heaton is the former star of CBS’ Everybody Loves Raymond, while CBS several years ago tried to get Grammer to star in a spinoff of Frasier. The network is hoping to open a new night of comedy beyond its Monday lineup, and a Grammer-Heaton project could be a solid anchor for such an extension. On May 27, 2008, it was announced that Kelsey Grammer had signed on to play the lead in a new ABC sitcom Roman’s Empire.

And what’s up with THIS crap? Sounds like a dick move on Fox’s part, no? Check this out:

Kelsey Grammer said Tuesday that Fox is dropping his sitcom “Back to You,” calling the decision a surprise and a shame. “They have let it go,” Grammer told The Associated Press. “We were told all this time we were in good shape and we were coming back.”

On Friday, Grammer taped an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show promoting the series. When the veteran sitcom star (“Cheers,” “Frasier”) arrived home later that evening he received a call telling him that the show was canceled.

Geeeeez. That’s a headline in and of itself.

Exit question: is it hypocritical of me to be sorry a show was canceled that I never supported myself by watching a single episode? Maybe I’m just subconsciously pouty over it cuz I had a possible shot at getting on screen in an episode or more. :/