Is Scott Baio the Antichrist?
Thursday November 15, 2007
Categories: Culture
I ask because I am mildly obsessed today by the lyrics to his craptastic 1980s syndicated sitcom -- worser even than "Mama's Family" -- "Charles in Charge." Behold, the Orwellian creepiness of the show's theme song: Charles in Charge Of...
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Advertisement
Advertisement
Search This Blog
Recent Posts
About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
Subscribe
Archives
Blogs Worth Reading
- Front Porch Republic
- The American Conservative
- Patrick Deneen
- Conventional Folly
- The American Scene
- First Things
- Andrew Sullivan
- The Plank
- Eunomia
- Get Religion
- Postmodern Conservative
- Alex Massie
- The Corner
- Contentions
- Sharon Astyk
- Barry Ritholtz
- The Oil Drum
- Mere Comments
- First Principles (ISI)
- Brian Kaller
You know Rod, you take the good, you take the bad, you take 'em both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life. There's a time you got to go and show You're growin' now you know about The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life. When the world never seems to be livin up to your dreams. And suddenly you're finding out
the Facts of Life are all about you, you.
Oh dear. Have we started that now? Fortunately I can't remember any sitcom theme songs...
Rod, I've got a bottle of 10-year Laphroaig and I'll hoist an extra glass soon for you in lieu of your presence.
Well, there is the "Fish Heads" cure. Sing the first verse of "fish heads" over and over in your head without ever getting to the 'eat them up, yum!" line.
Of course, you're then likely to end up with "fish heads" stuck in your head instead. Which is slightly less infernal.
As Mr. Bill might say..."Oh Noooooo!"
TPSoCal is a piker. If he were a REAL afficianado, he would have said ...
There's a place you've got to go
For learning all you want to know
About the facts of life, the facts of life.
When your books are what you're there about
But looks are what you care about
The time is right,
To learn the facts of life.
When the world never seems
To be living up to your dreams
It's time you started finding out
What everything is all about
When the boys you used to hate
you date
I guess you best investigate
The facts of life
You gotta get them right
The facts of life,
The facts of life,
The facts of life
After all THAT was the season with a pre-puberty Molly Ringwald, that was believably set in a prep school with more than 4 students, that didn't have Jo (or worse, the new characters that infested the last few seasons).
And then there's Maude
I don't think it's particularly Orwellian. More like plain old Stalinist.
I'll show off my relative youth (I think I'm about ten years younger than Rod) by instead contributing the theme song to what I was watching in the '80s instead of Charles in Charge... I think I'd much rather have that stuck in my head.
Richard
"Branded" is the theme song that's stuck in my head for all time.
Branded! Scorned as the one who ran.
What do you do when you're branded,
And you know you're a man?
Ah, yes. Second on Branded. Which had a parody popular in my school:
Stranded! Stranded on the bathroom bowl.
What do you do when you're stranded--
And you need another roll?
Hey now, what's with the diss at Mama's Family? My wife and I have eight episodes stored on TiVo that we treasure since TBS dropped the reruns. That's some classic comedy, if you ask me...
He may have been the antichrist back in the 80s, but in my book, he mended his ways during his short, but brilliant stint as the Bluth family attorney, Bob Loblaw, on the most underappreciated show of this decade, Arrested Development!
No, Scott Baio isn't the Antichrist-- it's Alan Thicke! Think about it-- not only did he star in a craptastic '80s TV show with an annoying theme song ("show me that smile again..."), he co-wrote the themes to the Facts of Life, Diff'rent Strokes, AND Three's Company (and sang on the latter two!) Now he stars in infomercials peddling timeshares in Vegas. Anton LeVey was a good Christian man compared to that!
I mean this in the nicest possible way, Rod:
If I'm ever in Dallas--be afraid. Be very afraid.
I have to disagree about CiC vs. Mama's Family. MF is much worse. It makes CiC look like something by Sophocles.
Now excuse me while I go spend the rest of my day humming the "All in the Family" theme to wash out my head.
"Mama's Family" has made it impossible for the great Ken ("F Troop") Berry to pass away with his reputation intact.
If Steve Carell had been a star in the last 1950s and 1960s, don't you think he'd have been Ken Berry?
Yeah, you're right about Ken Berry--definitely a Carellish vibe about him. Instead, he'll be remembered as the guy going "Aw, Mamaaa..." on local UHF stations for eternity. I shudder to think how the aliens will react when the signal finally reaches them....
It probably sounded like a good idea at the time, working with Vicki Lawrence and all. Then the studio omitted the writing salaries due to a clerical error, and the rest is horrible, horrible television history.
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
In view of these scriptures from 1st John in the New Testiment, No, Scott Baio is not the anti-Christ. Actuality, "The Anti-Christ" isn't the thing we have to worry about the most. The "Son of perdition" is the one that will be the beginning of the end.
padationLet no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
(2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4)
However, on the subject of anti-Christ, How many non-believers are ther in the world. Learn that and you can successfully number of anti-Christ in the world. Thomas Underwood
Hey, when considering Alan Thicke, remember that his son Robin has a hit album. I saw the video for "Lost Without You", and I thought, "Nobody that looks that much like Alan Thicke gets to be the new Chris Isaak! NOBODY!"
Pretty sweet slow groove, though.
Poor, Rod. You should get out of the house more. LOL
Actually there were are a lot of great TV theme songs among the 70s CBS and Norman Lear besides my favorite Maude (sung by a real pop star in Donny Hathaway) and Dale's All in the Family, there was the Jeffersons, Good Times and Alice (the first theme, thank you, before Linda Lavin got her ego on and thought she was Garland).
Also, ABC had the great Laverne & Shirley theme (schlameel, schlamozzel). And what's wrong with the Three's Company theme or the show? It was highly moral for Mr. Roper to let that gay guy live in the apartment.
It's not just Orwellian-creepy, the kind of creepy that has a bit of sci-fi cache...it's sexual predatory creepy. Little girls wanting Charles in Charge of them? Sounds like temptation to a pedophile. Or maybe I should stop watching so much Law&Order Special Victims Unit.
Rod:
Obviously you haven't seen "Scott Baio is 45 ... and Single" on VH1.
Then you WOULD be convinced he's the Antichrist.
www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/scott_baio_is_45_and_single/series.jhtml
My favorite 70's theme song is the one for the ending credits on WKRP In Cincinnati.
The one where the "singer" just screams nonsensical lyrics for the entire thirty seconds or so, then the guitar riff at the end.
I always thought that should have been the actual theme. I hated the opening song.
(entirely off topic: LOVED Momma Carlson, especially when bellowing at her butler, Hirsch -- "HIRSCH!!!" :-))
Oh, yes, I forgot to add...
Linda Lavin should not be allowed within 150 yards of a microphone or a recording studio. Her renditions of the Alice theme were my WTH moments of the 70's.
Bomp Bomp Bomp Bomp -- Bommmp.
(((shuddering ))
...I ask because I am mildly obsessed today by the lyrics to his craptastic 1980s syndicated sitcom -- worser even than "Mama's Family" -- "Charles in Charge." Behold, the Orwellian creepiness of the show's theme song:
Charles in Charge Of our days and our nights
Charles in Charge Of our wrongs and our rights
And I sing, I want,
I want Charge in Charge of me..."
Jeez Ron, that show's been off the air for YEARS. I don't even think TVLand broadcasts it anymore. I can think of bigger things to worry and obsess over right now...
Whats that song from SCOTT BAIO is 46 and pregnant ( the commercials song) ?
what is that song in the vh1 commercial of this shoe it goes like this (kinda lol)
oh and u wont have to look upon the stars tonigh oh oh! ?? something like that plz help?
the song is by Justin Nuzuka
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.