This Commercial is for the 1973 ABC Afterschool Special “My Dad Lives in a Downtown Hotel”, which was all the burgeoning edutainment topic of divorce. The tone, of course, is depressing, but dig that lighthearted gumball machine graphic. This world needs more gumball machine animations if you ask me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpnNAWE294o
drquest: I use to work at a Bugles Boys store back when malls were all the rage.
Drahken: Yeah, that’s the one. Man, it’s been a long time since I saw one of those. I had completely...
Doug: @Drahken, you mean this?: http://www.ebay.com/ itm/Vintage-Pac-Man- Wind-Up-Plastic-Toy- Tomy-1980s-/16072...
Peter FoxHusky: Dar, no monitor but a color TV for both the C64 and for just watching television. Drahken: Dunno about the toys, I never had any. The commercials made them look good, but they also look like a lot...
ClaymationWerewolf: @Doug that’s really funny! When I watched the episode I actually did wonder if I was... Drahken: I vaguely remember sky commanders, though I never watched it at the time, I mostly just remember the ads...
Daniel Th1rte3n: Another excellent piece! I was aware of this property as a kid, but never owned any of the toys,... Doug: Yeah, there were toys. I had one. Were the Aussy and Jamaican bad guys? The way you describe them and the...
vinvectrex: This one near the top of my list of toys I wanted but never got. And, had I gotten it, I wouldn’t...
the dad and the kid look familiar…and the animation at the end is pretty crazy after the downer promo…
The dad is Beau Bridges and the kid is Ike Eisenmann who was in the Disney “Witch Mountain” movies
Few productions have tackled divorce as touchingly as this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4PXbHQmzrE
Oh how I miss those ABC after school specials :)
HA!…I see…thanks Retroist
P.S. I’ve been enjoying your podcast…I started with #1 and I’m working my way through them!
NP du8 and glad you are enjoying the podcast.
The title alone made me laugh.