Getting Schooled: Graduation (The Facts of Life, 1983)

 Colleges had their commencements last month, and so did some high schools in various parts of the country. Here in the Northeast, high school commencements will be in full swing next week.

With that in mind, we present the 2-part season 4 finale of The Facts of Life, as Blair (Lisa Whelchel) & Jo (Nancy McKeon, also heard on The Puppy's New Adventures) graduate from Eastland. TV vets Alex Rocco (ex-Three For The Road) and Marj Dusay guest star.

Look quick for future voice actors Loren Lester (who was heard later on GI Joe & Batman: The Animated Series) and Laura Summer (later of The Real Ghostbusters) in guest roles as well.

Remembering Pete Doherty (The Duke of Dorchester)(1943-2026)

 Ah, the good old days of wrestling, when your weekend programming consisted of jobber matches filling out an hour of action, mostly as an infomercial for pending shows in the broadcast area.

Pete Doherty, aka "The Duke of Dorchester", in reference to his Massachusetts hometown, was one of the more famous jobbers, working for the 3WF, and getting a bone tossed his way with a win in front of the partisans every so often. Doherty retired from the ring in 1997, and was inducted into the New England Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2010.

From 1980, Pete has his work cut out for him against Andre The Giant. Joe McHugh's intro is already in progress as the video begins.

Doherty passed away earlier this week at 83. Rest in peace.

Family Toons: The Flintstones' 1st time travel adventure (1965)

 From season 5 of The Flintstones:

Fred & Wilma (Alan Reed & Jean VanderPyl) and Barney & Betty (Mel Blanc & Gerry Johnson) are sent to the future, specifically, the 1964 New York World's Fair, then backwards to other periods in this compilation from the episode, "Time Machine". Comes with closing credits of the period.

Gold Key produced a full-length comic book with the Flintstones & Rubbles at the World's Fair around this time.

From Primetime to Daytime: The series premiere of The Facts of Life (1979)

 The Facts of Life, spun off from Diff'rent Strokes, got a head start on the rest of the NBC lineup by launching in August 1979, although after the first four weeks, the series was placed on hiatus until the following spring, during which time, the producers began to overhaul the cast.

In the opener, "Rough Housing", Blair (Lisa Whelchel) thinks she has it in the bag as the Harvest Queen, but is jealous when Cindy (Julie Ann Haddock) is nominated instead. The Strokes cast (Conrad Bain, Todd Bridges, Gary Coleman, & Dana Plato) guest star.

At least here, the theme is a duet between co-author Gloria Loring (Days of Our Lives) and co-star Charlotte Rae, though that would change.

From Primetime to Daytime: Even vampires are gullible to scams (The Munsters, 1964)

 From season 1 of The Munsters:

Love starved Grandpa (Al Lewis) meets a "widow" who is really a con artist.

The real surprise is that of Neil Hamilton, later of Batman, as the other half of this team of scammers........

It's just too bad that NBC-Universal is enforcing its copyrights, so that only excerpts can be shown, like this one.

Retro Toy Chest: See 'n' Say (1964)

 Inspired by the success of their Chatty Cathy figures, Mattel took things a step further, creating a learning tool for kids with See 'n' Say. A child could pick something with a pointer on the face of the toy, pull the string, and hear what he/she wants to hear.

For example, let's check this ad for The Farmer Says:

Mattel still makes these products even today.

Animated World of DC Comics: Superman in The Underground World (1943)

 The title says it all, as Superman (Bud Collyer) discovers a race of Hawk-Men in "The Underground World":

Rating: A-.