Remember WENN

I miss this show. Sadly, I also missed a large portion of the series' final run due to awkward scheduling. But what I remember about it can still bring a smile to my face. I won't even try to name all the things I liked about the show. I loved the way Mr. Foley's every attempt to speak was invariably thwarted by someone who had something ever-so-important to say right at that moment. Then there was the teddy bear-like Mackie Bloom, always a welcome sight. And it never hurt to see the pretty face of Betty Roberts, either. Her sweetness, among other delights in this show, makes me long for a more innocent time and place. Wow, how profound! So sue me (in the modern tradition).

A Halloween episode, for me, stands out as an absolutely hilarious example of what made me look forward to dropping in on these quirky old-time radio players on a regular basis. Mr. Foley, by the way, was the station's sound-effects provider. Ever heard of Foley artists in film and television? Coincidence? I think not!

So, did Mr. Foley ever get his chance to actually verbalise a thought or opinion? I hope to find out someday.

I miss this show terribly! It is still my favorite show of all time. No matter how many other shows I start watching they never beat it. I started watching it in high school at about the age 15 and joined the list online and made wonderful friends through my interest. Most of them I still talk to today.

I liked how it was not just a drama or a comedy but it was a dramedy. Being a historian and WWII buff especially this show intrigued me from the beginning. Plus we got to see some great stars of the past before they passed away. The great acting done by all the cast brought it to life and made it more real then a television show.

This show was never about dirty comedy or about who's all sleeping with who like many of the comedies on today. It is clean good fun that anyone of any age can enjoy. We never did learn that answer to the one supposedly dirty joke about the queen of hearts and the elephant or something like that.

I am also in the youth minority when it came to enjoying this series. As a matter of fact, I WROTE THE PLOT SUMMARY!!! It was one of those shows that I would come home to after a long night of evening classes at the local college. The costumes that the characters wore looked very authentic (They won an Emmy for this) and the cinematography was beautiful.

I would only watch off and on as the years went on since they took some of my favorite characters off, but it was still a favorite of mine. It also proved AMC could make an original program on a limited budget without looking limited. They were always able to get notable named guest stars. My favorites included Henry Rollins, Molly Ringwald, Eddie Bracken, and Betty Buckley (who appeared in the marvelous x-mas episode).

Now, American Movie Classics is a mere image of themselves. Sure rating may be higher, but that had to sacrifice quality to do that. What a shame, because on a a rainy day, I could always could on AMC to comfort me. Remember Ween did that for me as well. Sadly, those days are long gone as the network has tried to modernize itself for the times. And when this show was replaced by The Lot, things began to go downhill. A terrible flaw on AMC's part.

For people who like to slow life down and visit the relaxing innocence of times long gone, "Remember WENN" was a wonderful means to accomplishing this. I always looked eagerly ahead to the weekly visits with my radio friends in Pittsburgh. But, like those days of yore, the visits have ceased and all I have are memories. The best memory I have is one which I relive on tape every year at this time - the episode known as "Christmas in the Airwaves". The cast is at their charming best here and the music is fantastic. Peter Noone does a wonderful rendition of "Winter Wonderland" and Betty Buckley is superb with the two original Christmas songs written by Rupert Holmes. This was a great Christmas present from AMC to the fans of this show but watching it every year makes me miss "Remember WENN" all the more.

I imagine that I am of a minority within my age group (early 20s) to say that I find this show to be one of the best ever broadcast. I was truly sorry to see it taken off the air, and the television scene is all the more desolate for WENN's absence. The characters created on the show were timeless and loveable; the writing, while not always stellar, was more often than not witty and enjoyable, without having to resort to the lowest common denominator that the vast majority of today's television does. The episode in which Molly Ringwold guest-starred as blind, love-struck "Angela from Avalon" will always remain one of my favorite television moments.

I have been a huge fan of Rupert Holmes' work since "Hi Honey I'm Home!" and am happy to see that a person who shares my interests in 20th-century entertainment and culture is working to share those interests with audiences. I only wish that there were more of an audience for his great work, because it deserves to be celebrated.