As this year draws to a close, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few 50th anniversaries celebrated in 2025 that had me time traveling back half a century to 1975. That’s when I was 13 years old and I was just becoming aware of the world around me. Culture shaping events like TV shows that first aired that year, films playing at the movies, and musical albums released come easily to mind. They were after all, the backdrop to my young life.
On the tube, “Barney Miller” starring Hal Linden, Ron Glass, and Max Gail was launched in 1975. Set in the detective’s squad room in a New York City police department, this sitcom followed Detective Barney Miller (Linden) heading up crime investigations with his team helping to solve them. Just the right amount of humor made this series more lighthearted than another cop show “Starsky & Hutch” our family also watched. With Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul portraying the street-smart Detective Starsky and the book smart Detective Hutch, I enjoyed seeing them patrol and protect the good citizens of Bay City for all four seasons. But perhaps the show I remember most is best known as SNL, or Saturday Night Live which still airs today! While I occasionally catch a few skits, nothing compares to the hilarious acting and lines spoken by the iconic characters like Gilda Radner’s Roseanne Roseannadanna, the Coneheads embodied by Laraine Newman, Dan Ackroyd, and Jane Curtain, and John Belushi’s samurai. Recalling them even now makes me laugh!
From my journal: January 25, 2025, Newbury Park, California
“…watched just the first two episodes of the SNL docuseries…couldn’t stop laughing at the ‘more cowbell’ skit w/ Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell…I forgot how funny it was!”
On the big screen, fifty years ago there were a number of flicks that became instant classics. In my blog “Summer Cinema” posted on August 25th of this year, I wrote about seeing Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” again. Though the scenes of a mechanical shark wreaking havoc and chomping on people in choppy waters are no match for today’s computer-generated imagery and digital special effects, the movie with its ominous music foretelling frightening scenes still made me flinch! And I can’t forget seeing or should I say, experiencing “Tommy” at the Palace Theater in my hometown, so long ago. The Who’s musical film about a deaf, mute, and blind boy played by Roget Daltrey himself who becomes a pinball champ had me and my friends, Bonnie and Kathy singing right along! And there was another British movie, clever and oh so silly that Robert still quotes lines to this day. Not only was the original movie shown in our local theater on its 50th anniversary, but one of the main actors and writers joined in the festivities with an introduction before the film, and then a follow-up Q & A Session afterwards.
From my journal: September 12, 2025, Newbury Park, California
“…Went to see John Cleese @ the Kavli last night…watched ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ – what a hoot! So many people said the lines right along with the characters!! So much laughing! John Cleese, almost 80 was in great form answering questions and telling stories of the movie…fun night out!”
Five decades ago, I, like most kids my age, listened to the radio, always tuned to the FM dial. That year, songs from albums by Abba, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, and David Bowie played over and over, much to my delight. My sister, Donna and I sang constantly, and we still know all the lyrics to Springsteen’s “Ten Avenue Freeze Out”, “In the Light” by Led Zeppelin, and David Bowie’s “Young Americans” by heart! My older brother, Ray collected every one of those records, well, except for the Abba LP, so it meant even more listening pleasure!
From my journal: August 4, 2025, Newbury Park, California
“…listened to the Dave Koz Lounge show on Watercolors yesterday morning…he played ‘Landslide’ by Fleetwood Mac…Stevie Nicks sounded so good! How can it be 50 years since that song came out? I still love it…actually made me tear up…”
Acknowledging and celebrating these 50th year anniversaries has been a fun trip down Memory Lane and a bridge from my past to my present life. Though I now live far from where I first called home these events connect me to the people, places, and things I first loved. All still happily, stand the test of the time.
A Journal Journey 