I can't add much about this great hour of T.V. that hasn't already been covered in the other posts. But maybe a few memories. The strongest being the line from the show that was featured in the T.V. ads.
Grandma: What you want for Christmas... Child?
J.T.: I want me this cat I found.
I'll never forget those sentences as long as I live. For some reason, my sister, a childhood buddy and I thought it was the funniest thing and it became our catchphrase for a while. To this day, I can go up to them and say, "What you want for Christmas... Child" and get the right response. And I remember J.T. buying the tuna, bopping to the transister radio he found (stole?) and keeping the cat in a stove in an abandoned building.
I feel fortunate to have taped this on CBS the last time they showed it around Christmas of 1991. I think about 4pm on a Sunday afternoon. It wasn't even listed, I just heard an announcer say it was coming up and I had a blank tape loaded and hit record.
Keep your eyes peeled in used bookstores. I was lucky enough to find a hardback book of J.T., illustrated with on-set B&W photographs, taken I think by Gordon Parks. The writer was Jane Wagner. The same one who later worked with Lily Tomlin.
If you want to see the original opening of The CBS Children's Film Festival- go to this site: (email me for the link) They have a clip of it you can see online.
Questions?/Comments? * This Has Been e-mail From: "Dr. Mark" Hill * The Doctor Of Pop Culture /*/ e-mail to: drmark7@juno.com
Grandma: What you want for Christmas... Child?
J.T.: I want me this cat I found.
I'll never forget those sentences as long as I live. For some reason, my sister, a childhood buddy and I thought it was the funniest thing and it became our catchphrase for a while. To this day, I can go up to them and say, "What you want for Christmas... Child" and get the right response. And I remember J.T. buying the tuna, bopping to the transister radio he found (stole?) and keeping the cat in a stove in an abandoned building.
I feel fortunate to have taped this on CBS the last time they showed it around Christmas of 1991. I think about 4pm on a Sunday afternoon. It wasn't even listed, I just heard an announcer say it was coming up and I had a blank tape loaded and hit record.
Keep your eyes peeled in used bookstores. I was lucky enough to find a hardback book of J.T., illustrated with on-set B&W photographs, taken I think by Gordon Parks. The writer was Jane Wagner. The same one who later worked with Lily Tomlin.
If you want to see the original opening of The CBS Children's Film Festival- go to this site: (email me for the link) They have a clip of it you can see online.
Questions?/Comments? * This Has Been e-mail From: "Dr. Mark" Hill * The Doctor Of Pop Culture /*/ e-mail to: drmark7@juno.com