FORGOTTEN TV: HERE'S BOOMER (1980-1982)

The BENJI films were popular in the late 70’s. Because of that, NBC tried to get into the act with a short lived series, HERE’S BOOMER.



HERE’S BOOMER began as a TV movie, called A CHRISTMAS FOR BOOMER in December of 1979. In March of 1980, the series began.

Each week, Boomer, a dog, would travel to a different town, solve crimes, and bring people together. Something like that. I haven’t seen the show in years.

Guest stars included a then unknown Michael J. Fox, Tom Bosley, Scott Baio, Tracey Gold, Jonathan Frakes, Rue McLanahan, Roddy McDowell, Rosanna Arquette, and more. Among the writers of the series was Lowell Ganz who, along with Babaloo Mandel, would write most of Ron Howard's films (NIGH SHIFT, SPLASH,PARENTHOOD)

It lasted for 2 seasons, ending in 1982.



In the mid 80’s, reruns of the show turned up on the Disney Channel, but that was the last time I saw it. The show isn’t on DVD.



Here is a promo for the series (and I probably watched this night). Airing on Friday before FACTS OF LIFE and PINK LADY AND JEFF.

TV just isn’t the same.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO: Lucy Deakins

If you were to add up all of the credits by Lucy Deakins, including individual TV episodes, you would get less than a dozen different performances.

Yet, many of them were the lead roles. Her career was essentially over in less than a decade. She did more in that short time than many actors whose career spans decades do.

Born in New York City to two college professor parents, she got started acting on the soap opera AS THE WORLD TURNS. This would lead to her first film.


She played Milly, the lead in THE BOY WHO COULD FLY. She was wonderful as a girl whose neighbor (Jay Underwood) is an autistic boy who believes he can fly. Directed by Nick Castle (of Moviezzz Blog favorite T.A.G: THE ASSASSINATION GAME fame), the film wasn’t a big box office hit, yet was quite popular on video.

She played the girlfriend of River Phoenix in LITTLE NIKITA. The film also starred Sidney Poitier. Again, it wasn’t a big box office hit, but was a popular cable title.

1988’s John Hughes film THE GREAT OUTDOORS was next, the Dan Akroyd and John Candy go on vacation film, also with Annette Bening. Lucy played the girlfriend of Chris Young.


Then came 1989’s CHEETAH. Lucy starred in this Disney film. with Keith Coogan as a brother and sister living in Kenya.

In the 1990, she would star in an Afterschool Special. Her acting career started to slow down at this time. There was an episode of LAW & ORDER. She appeared in THERE GOES MY BABY along with Rick Schroder, Noah Wyle, and Jill Schoelen. This was a fairly good film set in the 1960’s. And there was a final TV movie, A MOTHER’S GIFT, in 1995.

And that was it.


So, What Ever Happened To Her?

Part of the reason Lucy’s life started to slow down in the late 80’s was, from 1988 to 1994, she was attending Harvard. Her major was comparative religion.

Once she graduated, that was pretty much the end of her career. In 1999, she was married and soon after she had a daughter.

In 2002, she moved to New York City. While living there, she took a brief acting role in another episode of LAW AND ORDER. She also recorded a commentary track for THE BOY WHO COULD FLY's 2003 DVD release. That would be the end of her acting career as she was about to head in a different direction.

She and her family moved to Seattle where she enrolled at the University of Washington. In 2007, she graduated from law school.

She is now a practicing attorney at a firm in New York. She is a litigator with the firm.

So, from actress to lawyer.

In Lucy’s case, acting was much like a summer job. How many of us worked in a restaurant, or at an amusement park, Lucy made films. The only difference was, those films still live today. She has something to show for it.

While she has moved on to a serious life, the films remain. THE BOY WHO COULD FLY still stands as one of the better family films of the decade.

FORGOTTEN TV: REAL PEOPLE (1979-1984)

REAL PEOPLE was NBC’s very popular magazine show. Each episode had different taped pieces of “real people”, interesting usually for some humorous way.

The hosts are what I remember most about the show.

Sarah Purcell and Skip Stephenson were the main hosts. They would introduce segments from a studio in front of an audience. Also introducing segments were Bill Rafferty, John Barbour, Byron Allen, and political comedian Mark Russell. Fred Willard was an on again / off again host. Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A CHRISTMAS STORY) would join the cast for the last couple seasons, bringing a kid’s perspective.

The series aired from 1979 to 1984. It was edited down into half hour episodes and syndicated for a while. In 1980, ABC launched THAT’S INCREDIBLE, a similar show hosted by John Davidson, Cathy Lee Crosby and Fran Tarkenton.

If you sent in a story to them, or a funny newspaper clipping that they used (like Jay Leno’s “Headlines”) they would send you a “Real People T-shirt”. My mom once sent in a newspaper clipping and they sent her some REAL PEOPLE stickers. It wasn’t good enough for a T-shirt, I guess.

One surprising thing, Sarah Purcell and Skip Stephensen never really did much after it. Stephensen passed away in 1992. There was a big rumor going around that Stephensen was on LEAVE IT TO BEAVER. He wasn’t.

Byron Allen still hosts a couple syndicated program, so he is still out there. Peter Billingsley produces and often acts in his friends Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau’s productions (he was an executive producer of IRON MAN). Mark Russell is still at it. And Fred Willard is now more popular than ever.

I guess in a way we can blame REAL PEOPLE for shows like INSIDE EDITION and A CURRENT AFFAIR. REAL PEOPLE wasn’t a tabloid show, it was mostly a positive series. But, without it, would we have had the others?

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO: CLAUDIA WELLS

BACK TO THE FUTURE was one of my favorite films of the 1980's. I saw it many times theatrically, even more on video. I spent the summer it came out on a skateboard (which I bought because of the film), listening to the Huey Lewis filled soundtrack on my Walkman.

However the sequels never really had much impact on me. Part 2 was kind of fun, but I didn’t care for Part 3.

It wasn’t just the films themselves not being as good as the original, there was something off about them.

Part of it was because of an unanswered question I always had.

Why did Michael J. Fox have a different girlfriend?

Elisabeth Shue replaced Claudia Wells, who played Jennifer in the first film. It had nothing to do with Shue or her performance. In 1989, when Part 2 came out, Elisabeth Shue was a favorite of mine. If I was to name my top ten films at the time it would include BACK TO THE FUTURE as well as two of Shue’s films, KARATE KID and ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING.

But Claudia originated the role. It wasn’t the same without her. Seeing the final scenes in Part 1 recreated in Part 2 with a different actress was wrong.

Before the internet, and before ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, we just had to guess as to why the change in actresses. It became equally mysterious as, since BACK TO THE FUTURE, I haven’t seen Claudia Wells all that often.

I always wondered what happened. I decided to look into it.


Before BACK TO THE FUTURE, Claudia did a lot of episodic TV work. This led to her starring in a pilot for an Ed Asner sitcom in 1984 called OFF THE RACK.

According to one report, Claudia was then cast in BACK TO THE FUTURE during its first incarnation. This was when Eric Stoltz was to play the lead. After being cast, her sitcom OFF THE RACK was picked up for six episodes. So, she had to drop out of the film.

Actress Melora Hardin, today best known as Jan in THE OFFICE, took over her role.

As well all know, the producers decided they didn’t want to go with Stoltz after beginning filming. They cast Michael J. Fox instead. Then it was thought that Hardin was too tall to play opposite Fox. By this time, OFF THE RACK had been canceled so they brought back Claudia.

The rest is history. BACK TO THE FUTURE came out and was a smash hit. It was loved by critics and audiences alike. As Marty’s girlfriend, Claudia had a few important scenes in the film, especially the finale, flying off to the future with Marty and Doc.

Claudia went on to star in a few more TV shows, including the TV version of FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH.



She played Linda, the Phoebe Cates role.

In 1989, the first sequel came out. Only, Claudia wasn’t in it.

Why she wasn’t there has been the subject of much speculation. If you read various websites, you will hear all sorts of different reasons. It wasn’t even mentioned on the first DVD release of the films.

The real reason, according to Claudia herself in an internet posting (that I was able to confirm by emailing her) was a sad one.

Claudia was asked to return to the sequels, but sadly, her mother was sick with cancer. She couldn’t go and film with that going on in her life. Some things were just more important than movie roles.

They then went with Elisabeth Shue.


So, What Ever Happened to Claudia Wells?

Claudia left the business and has gone into retail.

Since 1991, she has owned Armani Wells, a “stylish, high-fashion men’s apparel” store in Studio City CA, selling clothes for “60% to 80% below retail value”. You can visit their website here.

In an internet posting in 2008, she wrote the following.

I am very blessed and happy with a 12 year old- almost 13- son, named Sebastian. I have a thriving men's resale shop in Studio City, California, called Armani Wells. in Studio City. This week marked was our 17th year at the same location. www.armaniwells.com. I still have a love for acting and haven't closed that door. In Febuary, a film I starred in with Ian Hart, called 'Still Waters Burn' comes out. Bottom line, I love my life, it's turned out beautifully, even without having done the sequels! Family is very important to me and God has always taken care of me and my son.

Here is a current photo of Claudia and a DeLorean from her website.

In an email, to make sure the above posting was really from her, she responded that it was. She added "I own a woman's resale shop in Studio City called Claudia Wells at 11288 Ventura Blvd, SC, CA 91604. 818-985-5855...My men's store is now 18 years old and my son is a straight A, remarkable young man, who's 14!"

She hasn't completely given up her former career. In addition to starring in the independent film STILL WATERS BURN (which is available on DVD and at Netflix), she has appeared at fan conventions. In her new role as a fashion consultant she appeared on the VH-1 reality show AMERICA’S MOST SMARTEST MODEL.

When you think about it, raising a family and running a business, that has been in the same location for almost twenty years, especially in this economy, is more difficult than a film career.

Not to mention it is also more rewarding.

"I Learned It By Watching You!!!"

They just don't make PSA's like this anymore.

FORGOTTEN TV: WILD RIDES with Matt Dillon (1982)

One of my favorite TV specials of the early 80’s was WILD RIDES. It used to air on Nickelodeon quite often.

Hosted by Matt Dillon (around the time of TEX), it featured footage of roller coasters, all set to classic rock music. Each was a MTV music video of sorts. Many of the videos turn up on VH1 Classics.

The best thing about it, my favorite roller coaster (that no longer exists) was included! The Hurricane (or the Roaring Tiger as it was also known) at Circus World in Haines City, Florida. I once rode this coaster 15 times one day.

Sadly, the park, which was renamed Boardwalk and Baseball in the late 80's and became briefly the winter home of the Royals, closed down in the early 90’s. The coaster was said to be sold to a park in Arkansas. I don’t know if it still exists.

Rather than describe the show to you, how about showing it. It has been posted in sections on YouTube. (If you can't see the clips from an outside site or viewer, click through to see)



Part 1 - The Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain, with music by The Who.



Part 2 - Six Flags Over Georgia and the Great American Scream Machine (NOTE: This video appears to use different music than the original. Some say "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones was the original music.)



Part 3 - Featuring the Barnum and Bailey Circus World coaster. This is the one I rode.



Part 4 - A bit on the history of roller coasters

Part 5 seems to be missing on Youtube. I believe it featured "Don't Cha Stop" by the Cars, and was about a guy riding a coaster over and over again.



Part 6

WILD RIDES was released on Warner Home Video. Never on DVD though. Most likely due to music rights issues. What is most shocking is, as I write this, used VHS copies are available for less than a dollar!! Do they even know what they have here? This is a very rare tape that is certainly worth more than that, as it won't likely be released again. (Although if buying, make sure it is the Warner Home Video release )

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO: DIANNE KAY

Recently at This Distracted Globe, I read a review of the Steven Spielberg film 1941. In one of the screencaps from the film, he had a photo of the back of one of the stars. Even though I haven't seen the film in a few years, or the actress, I immediately remembered her and wondered what happened to her. I also wondered what her name was.

It was Dianne Kay.

Kay was a very recognizable, and stunningly beautiful, actress in the early 80’s.

Born in 1952 in Phoenix Arizona, Dianne began acting on a 1977 episode of STARSKY AND HUTCH. This led to more TV work

In 1977 she got her most memorable role, Nancy Bradford in EIGHT IS ENOUGH.



She wasn’t the first choice for the role. The character of Nancy was a 17 year old. The original actress who appeared in the pilot was 21. She was thought to be too old. But the producers saw Dianne and, even though she was 24, they gave her the role.


Dianne’s first film role in 1979 was 1941. She was one of the female leads, opposite Treat Williams. It would be her biggest feature film role. Although the film was not all that successful.

EIGHT IS ENOUGH aired through 1981. After it went off the air, the rest of her career was made up of guest starring roles in countless TV series and TV Movies.



Here is a terrific Youtube tribute video that someone made of her.

There was 1982’s PORTRAIT OF A SHOWGIRL with Tony Curtis, episodes of TRAPPER JOHN, M.D., SIMON AND SIMON, FANTASY ISLAND, THE LOVE BOAT and that great career killer MURDER, SHE WROTE.

She starred in one theatrical film in 1988, the Roger Corman produced family film ANDY COLBY’S INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE.

There were a couple EIGHT IS ENOUGH reunion films, one in 1987 (which turned out to be the second highest rated TV movie of the year) and another in 1989 (which wasn’t as popular). Other than that, there was an episode of HANGING WITH MR. COOPER in 1994 and, her final role, a 1999 episode of DIAGNOSIS MURDER.



So, What Ever Happened To Her?

The best that I could find is that Dianne is now a mom. Some sources claim that she appeared on a talk show and mentioned that she is now an interior decorator.

Either way, she is out of the business.