April 2026 - Page 2 of 3 - Retro Reminiscing Video and Pictures

The Moment TV Jumped The Shark

f you’ve ever heard someone say a show “jumped the shark,” this is the clip they’re talking about.

I mean… here’s Fonzie, cool as ever, leather jacket and all… out on water skis… and yeah… literally jumping over a shark on Happy Days.

And somewhere along the way, that moment turned into a phrase we still use today.

So here’s how that even happened.

Back in the late ’90s, a guy named Jon Hein created a website called Jump the Shark. The whole idea was to track the exact moment when a TV show starts to go downhill. Not slowly… not over time… but that one moment where you sit there and go, “Alright… what are we doing here?”

And the moment he pointed to?

This one. Fonzie. The shark. 1977. Episode “Hollywood: Part 3.”

From there, it just stuck. The phrase took off, and now people use it for everything. Not just TV… anything that goes too far trying to stay relevant. A show, a company, even people. When it stops feeling real and starts feeling forced… that’s when you hear it… “they jumped the shark.”

Now here’s the part a lot of people don’t realize… the people involved didn’t think it was some disaster at the time.

Henry Winkler has talked about it in interviews and basically said… look, the show had already done physical comedy, and to him, it was just another fun stunt. He’s even pointed out that ratings didn’t suddenly crash after that episode, so in his mind, it didn’t ruin anything.

Writer Fred Fox Jr. said something similar. They were trying to make those Hollywood episodes bigger… more exciting… something different. At the time, it wasn’t, “we’re out of ideas”… it was, “let’s top what we’ve already done.”

And even creator Garry Marshall defended it. He always said people forget just how big Fonzie was back then. The idea was to give him a larger-than-life moment. Something memorable.

Well… mission accomplished.

Because here we are, decades later, still talking about it.

And that’s the funny part. The phrase “jump the shark” is usually meant as a knock… like something went downhill. But this scene? It’s one of the most remembered moments in TV history.

So yeah… maybe it did jump the shark.

But it also made sure none of us would ever forget it.

Forgotten Jingle From Funny Face

The Funny Face drink mix commercials from the early 1970s are a classic slice of Saturday morning nostalgia. Produced by Pillsbury as a direct competitor to Kool-Aid, the “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” campaign leaned heavily into the popular culture of the era to sell their powdered refreshments.

The tagline “When you’re hot, you’re hot… and when you’re not, you’re not” was actually borrowed from the 1971 crossover country hit by Jerry Reed. The commercials adapted this catchy hook to suggest that when kids were hot from playing outside, the “coolest” thing they could be was a “Funny Face.”

The brand was famous for its anthropomorphic fruit characters, each with a distinct personality. During the 70s run, you would typically see:

Goofy Grape: The unofficial leader of the group.

Rootin’ Tootin’ Raspberry: A cowboy-themed character.

Freckle Face Strawberry: One of the most popular flavors.

Loud-Mouth Lime: Known for his wide grin.

Choo-Choo Cherry: An engineer-themed character.

A Bit of Trivia
Interestingly, Funny Face underwent some significant changes before that 70s jingle became famous. Two original characters, Injun Orange and Chinese Cherry, were discontinued in the late 1960s due to their stereotypical nature and were replaced by Jolly Olly Orange and Choo-Choo Cherry.

By the mid-70s, Funny Face began to lose ground to Kool-Aid’s massive “Kool-Aid Man” marketing blitz. While the brand eventually faded from most grocery shelves, the “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” jingle remains one of the most recognizable pieces of 70s advertising.

If you’re looking into 70s beverage history, you might also remember Wyler’s or Great Shakes, which used similar high-energy animation to grab the attention of the “cereal commercial” demographic.

The Pillsbury Company officially discontinued the brand in 1994.
#FunnyFace #70sCommercials #RetroTV #SaturdayMorning #Jingle #Nostalgia #VintageAds #Pillsbury #KoolAid #GoofyGrape #WhenYoureHot #RetroVibes #ChildhoodMemories #ClassicCommercials #70sKids

Silly Millimeter Longer Ad- Did Your Parents Follow The Trend?

https://www.theretrosite.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/0-millimeter-longer.mp4

You ever look back at some of these old commercials and just shake your head?

This is one of those for me… the one where they made a big deal about a cigarette being just a little bit longer. We’re talking a millimeter… something you’d need a ruler to even notice. But back then? They sold it like it was a game changer.

Even as a kid I remember thinking, wait… that’s it? But the way they presented it, you’d think you were looking at a luxury item. Zoomed in shots, side-by-side comparisons, and that smooth voiceover selling the idea like it mattered.

Brands like Virginia Slims leaned hard into that image. It wasn’t just smoking… it was style, confidence, sophistication. And tied into that whole “You’ve come a long way, baby” vibe, it all felt bigger than it really was.

And then there’s the music.

That jingle always hit my ear like La Bamba… that same upbeat, bouncing rhythm that sticks in your head whether you want it to or not. Not the actual song… but close enough that your brain grabs onto it.

And somehow they wrapped all of that together and made cigarette size a trend.

Think about that.

There was a time when a slightly longer cigarette felt like a status move. Longer, slimmer… like you were keeping up with something. They took something barely noticeable and turned it into a whole thing.

Different times, right?

But here we are… still talking about it.

Let me ask you…

Were your parents into the trends… or once they picked a brand, that was it?

An Earworm About Stomachs!

If you remember this commercial… this song is gonna be stuck in your head all day 😄

I was just thinking about the joy my parents got watching that Schaefer Beer commercial—you know, the one with the new delivery driver singing. The whole house would stop for that. And somehow, that got me thinking about this one too.

Even as an eight-year-old, I remember sitting there laughing right along with my family watching those Alka-Seltzer commercials… just a bunch of different bellies bouncing around on the screen. No faces, no big story… just stomachs of every shape you could imagine. And it was funny every single time.

What I didn’t realize back then was how big this actually became. That catchy tune—“No matter what shape your stomach’s in”—was so popular it turned into a real song by a studio group called The T-Bones. Not only did it get radio play, it actually climbed all the way to #3 on the Billboard charts in 1966. Think about that… a commercial jingle becoming a legit hit song.

And that’s what made those ads so great. They were simple, relatable, and didn’t try too hard. Everybody’s had that uncomfortable feeling after eating too much, and Alka-Seltzer found a funny way to connect with all of us. No actors you had to know… just real-life humor and a tune you couldn’t shake.

And just like that Schaefer song… here we are all these years later, and it still pops right back into your head like it never left.

#AlkaSeltzer #VintageCommercials #60sTV #RetroTV #ClassicCommercials #Nostalgia #BabyBoomers #TVMemories #OldSchoolCool #ThrowbackTV #Jingle #Earworm #1960s #DoYouRemember

Did The Twilight Zone Dummy Creep You Out Too?

After posting the Nestlé’s “makes the very best… chaaawwwwclit” commercial, a lot of you asked for this one. Go ahead and share your favorite dummy and I’ll try and do some research on it… Politicians are not allowed, though, lol.

Now let me take you back for a second.

There are certain things from back in the day that just stuck with you—and not always in a good way. For me, one of them was that ventriloquist dummy from The Twilight Zone.

I’m talking about the episode “The Dummy.”

When you watched it as a kid, you didn’t overthink it. You just felt it. And something about that dummy—Willie—just wasn’t right. That grin, those eyes… the way he just sat there like he knew something you didn’t.

The episode stars Cliff Robertson as a ventriloquist whose life is starting to fall apart. His act is slipping, his confidence is gone, and he becomes convinced that his dummy is actually alive.

At first, you’re thinking, “okay… this guy’s losing it.”

But then things start happening.

You hear the dummy talking when he shouldn’t be.

You start picking up on his personality… and it’s not a good one.

There’s this edge to him—controlling, almost mocking.

And now you’re hooked.

Because you don’t know what to believe.

That’s what Rod Serling did better than anybody. He didn’t just scare you—he made you question everything you were watching.

And then comes that ending.

No spoilers if someone hasn’t seen it—but let’s just say… the control isn’t where you think it is. And when it hits you, it sticks.

What really got me though? The look of that dummy.

Nothing fancy. No special effects. Just that fixed smile, those eyes that seem to follow you, and that black-and-white lighting that made everything feel just a little more off than it should.

Back then, ventriloquist dummies were everywhere—variety shows, comedians, you name it. Nobody thought twice about them.

Until this.

After that episode? Yeah… different story.

You started looking at those things a little sideways.

And if you really got into it, you probably remember they did it again with another episode called “Caesar and Me.” Same idea… just as unsettling.

But for me, this was the one.

It took something ordinary… and twisted it just enough to mess with your head.

And I’ll tell you this—after seeing it back then…

I never trusted those dummies again.

N-E-S-T-L-E-S… Nestlé’s makes the very best…

I have vague memories of Farfel the dog himself, but that Nestlé’s jingle? That’s burned in there for life.

You know exactly what I’m talking about.

🎵 “N-E-S-T-L-E-S… Nestlé’s makes the very best…” 🎵
…and then that voice comes in to finish it…
“…chaaawwwwclit.”

Come on… you just heard it in your head, didn’t you?

That’s the part that stuck. Not the puppet, not even the commercial itself half the time… just that drawn-out delivery that somehow made it impossible to forget.

Now Farfel, for those who might not remember him as clearly, was this floppy-eared puppet dog created and voiced by Jimmy Nelson. He wasn’t flashy, wasn’t over-the-top… just kind of laid back, almost like he couldn’t be bothered to finish the word properly. And funny enough, that “lazy” delivery wasn’t even planned—it came from a mistake where the puppet’s mouth snapped shut early, and instead of fixing it, they kept it. Best decision they ever made.

And here’s something I was thinking about… back then, puppets didn’t creep us out the way they seem to today. You look at some of the comments online now and kids are like, “That thing is nightmare fuel!” Meanwhile, we were sitting there in the living room, probably on the floor, completely fine with it. No second thought. It was just part of the show.

Different time. Different mindset.

The commercial itself was simple. No crazy effects, no fast cuts, no overproduction. Just a catchy jingle, a memorable voice, and a brand like Nestlé making sure you never forgot their name. And it worked—because here we are, decades later, still singing it like it aired yesterday.

And that’s really the magic of those old commercials. They didn’t need to hit you over the head… they just slipped in, nice and easy, and stayed there.

Now I’ve got to ask… do you remember Farfel more, or is it the jingle that stuck with you like it did with me?

Dodo The Kid From Outer Space

This is another viewer request, but I don’t have any memory of this cartoon so I hope our viewers can help in that department!

We’re talking about Dodo, the Kid from Outer Space, and from what I’ve been digging into, this one’s a real deep cut from the early 1960s.

Dodo is a kid—well, kind of a kid—who comes from another planet and ends up on Earth. He’s got these strange abilities and gadgets, and the whole show revolves around him getting into odd situations while trying to blend in with humans… which, as you can imagine, doesn’t go smoothly.

The episodes were short, almost like little quick-hit adventures, and the animation style? Very simple… very “of its time.” This wasn’t Disney-level stuff. More like something you’d catch early in the morning before school while eating cereal.

The show actually started in Belgium, not the U.S., which might explain why a lot of us here don’t remember it.

It first aired around 1965, right in that era when space-themed everything was taking off.

Dodo didn’t really talk much—he communicated more through sounds and reactions, almost like a cartoon version of a silent comedian.

Are you humming the theme now?

“I am stuck on Band-Aid, ‘cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me…”

Yeah… same here

Growing up, I had Band-Aids on all the time… and not always because I needed one. Sometimes it was just proof I went through something that day. Scraped knee, bike wipeout… you wore it like a badge of courage.

But here’s the part that always stuck with me…

Back then, you didn’t have the internet to tell you who wrote what. You just kind of found out things. And for me, that moment came listening to a Barry Manilow cassette.

He’s talking to the audience about his early days… before the fame… when he was writing commercial jingles. Then he starts singing them… and I’m sitting there like, wait… I KNOW these.

And then… boom… the Band-Aid song.

I remember thinking, no way… that guy??

And the deeper you go, the crazier it gets. Before he ever hit it big, he was cranking out jingles for brands like State Farm, McDonald’s, Pepsi… the kind of stuff you didn’t realize you memorized until someone pointed it out.

“Like a good neighbor…”

“You deserve a break today…”

Those weren’t accidents. That was someone who knew exactly how to hook you in seconds.

So of course that Band-Aid song stuck forever… it was built to.

And here’s something else… go back and watch that commercial closely. There are a couple kids in there… just starting out… who would go on to become very big names later on. I won’t spoil it, but once you see it, you’ll have one of those “hold up…” moments.

Think about that…

A simple commercial…

A future music legend writing the song…

Future stars in front of the camera…

And here we are… decades later… still singing it like it never left.

Go-Go-Gophers… Another Theme To Get Stuck In Your Head!

To this day, over 50 years later, most of us can still remember that chorus… “Go-Go Gophers!” You don’t even have to try. It just shows up. I’ll be rushing around doing something and boom… there it is playing in my head like it never left.

And listening to it now, with adult ears? I’ve gotta be honest… I’m kind of amazed this actually aired even back then. But that was the times. Different world, different standards. Still, no question about it… it sticks with you.

This was one of the most requested clips this week, so I figured I’d hold onto it for Saturday morning… feels like the right place for it.

The New Guy Who Surprised Everyone Singing the Schaefer Jingle

I remember whenever that commercial came on, everyone in the house would stop to admire the singing—my mom, my four brothers, but especially my dad, who was known to have a Schaefer beer every now and again. Listening to it now, I can still picture us all sitting in the living room watching it together.

It starts out like any job site scene. The new guy gets put on the spot, a little pressure from the older guys. “Sing the Schaefer jingle.” You’re expecting him to stumble through it… and then out of nowhere, he just nails it. Not just good—really good. That’s what grabbed everyone.

What most people didn’t realize is that the “new guy” was actually Larry Kert, the original Tony from West Side Story. He wasn’t just an actor—they slipped in a real Broadway performer. Kert had already made his mark on stage and even won a Tony Award for Company in 1971, just before this commercial was airing. So when he starts singing, that voice is the real deal.

And that jingle? You didn’t forget it.

“Schaefer is the one beer to have when you’re having more than one.”

Back in 1972, Schaefer Beer was right in the middle of a big transition. For years, it had been a Northeast favorite, but in the late ’60s and early ’70s the company made a serious push to go national. They expanded brewing capacity, including opening a massive new brewery in Pennsylvania, and invested heavily in advertising—those memorable jingle-driven commercials were a big part of that strategy. Distribution widened, and suddenly Schaefer wasn’t just a New York beer anymore—you could find it across much of the country.

At its peak in the early ’70s, Schaefer was selling millions of barrels a year and ranked among the top beer brands in the U.S. It still had that working-class, no-frills identity, and that commercial captured it perfectly.

But like a lot of regional brands that tried to scale up, the competition got tougher. The big national brewers started dominating shelf space and advertising budgets. By the late ’70s and into the ’80s, Schaefer began to lose ground. The company was eventually sold, production shifted, and the brand slowly faded from the spotlight. It still exists today, but it’s a shadow of what it once was.

For me though, it’s not about the beer.

It’s about that moment… sitting in the living room, everyone stopping what they were doing, and just appreciating something simple that was done really, really well.