Tuesday, August 9, 2005

HIGH DEFINITIVES ON TV

Because Showtime launched 'Weeds' this weekend, which is about a suburban widow who makes ends meet by selling pot, Entertainment Weekly ran a list of the best drug moments in Toobworld.

'Dragnet' - "The LSD Story" & "The Big High". The first episode had the classic character of Blue Boy: "There I am! I'm over there!"

'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In' - Dick Martin told EW that the pilot episode contained seven pot jokes, but the network censors ''didn't get one of them.''

"Go Ask Alice" (1973) This movie-of-the-week was adapted from a best-selling novel about a teenage girl who experiments with various drugs, becomes a prostitute, and dies. With William Shatner, Andy Griffith, and Mackenzie Phillips.

'Good Times' - "J.J.'s Fiancée'' J.J. learned that she was a heroin addict in desperate need of a fix.

"Angel Dusted" (1981) A made-for-TV movie that was later edited down into an Afterschool Special, Helen Hunt jumps through a plate-glass second-story window, then shouts, ''It doesn't hurt!'' When she hosted 'Saturday Night Live' many years later, they showed this scene during her monologue for big laughs.

'Diff'rent Strokes' - "The Reporter" This was the start of the "very special episode" fad in sitcoms, and First Lady Nancy Reagan showed up.

Family Ties - ''Speed Trap'' Alex Keaton is trying to keep up with his school work, so he persuades Mallory to score diet pills for him.

Partnership for a Drug-Free America ad (1987) ''This is your brain'' says the voice-over and then an egg is cracked into a skillet, where it sizzles. ''This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?''

'That '70s Show' - Just about every episode!

'Six Feet Under' - ''You Never Know,'' Ruth and Bettina help Ruth's sister, Sarah kick Vicodin.

Readers wrote in to the EW.com website and complained about some noteworthy shows that were missing, including "brownie" episodes for 'Barney Miller' and 'Sanford & Son' and the classic PSA in which the kid yells at his Dad, "From you! I learned it from you!"

I've got one to add to the list as well. The episode of 'Dream On' in which Martin found his son Jeremy's hidden joint and then proceeded to smoke it with his buddy Eddie - after giving Jeremy a stern lecture about the perils of drugs. (The best bit was their attempt to order Chinese food, and then they couldn't figure out how they got so many orders of Beef with Broccoli.)

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"You can see my name, if you look hard enough."
Benjy Blue Boy Carver
'Dragnet'

1 comment:

  1. Other memorable drug moments for me:

    - Jesse gets addicted to caffeine pills on a very special "Saved by the Bell".

    - Dr. Stephen Franklin gets addicted to "stims" and, once found out, resigns in disgrace to go on "walkabout" and find himself on "Babylon 5".

    - Roseanne finds a stash of pot, thinking it belongs to one of the kids before remembering that its hers. Then she, Dan, and Jackie get stoned in the bathroom in a classic "Roseanne".

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