The Facts of Life (Season 3, Episode 16)

"The Four Musketeers" is episode 16 of the third season of the classic 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life, and it features a brief Scranton reference.

The episode revolves around Blair, Natalie, Tootie and Jo finishing up their their six month probation living with Mrs. Garrett after stealing a school van.  The four girls are finally allowed to move into the Eastland dorms.

Jo:

Does anybody know Lila Oliver?

Blair:

I do.  She's a junior from Scranton.  Not very pretty.  Below average intelligence.  Sloppy.

Jo:

Oh.

Blair:
You were MADE for each other.

Dear Mom, Love Cher (2013)

Georgina Holt (86 year-old mother of Cher):

"We got down to twenty cents, I remember that, and I said, 'Johnny, this will buy the baby two bottles of milk.  What are we going to do?'"

"We had gone to Scranton, Pennsylvania.  He said, 'Well, I'm Catholic.  We can put her in the Catholic home and we can border there, and you can go to work, and I'll go back to New York and try to get money.'"

"And so I went to work in a diner for a dollar a night, from seven at night to seven in the morning (pictured as White Tower Hamburger, but the it must have been a stock video because no restaurant by that name existed in Scranton, according to the 1946 City Directory) in a strange town where I knew nobody.  After two weeks, I went to go pay the money, then take her out.  The Mother Superior wouldn't let me take her out and said that I should let her be adopted.  Johnny was at his sister's in New York, and I had no way of contacting him."

"There was this man on the City Council I became friends with, and I told him my situation.  He was just terrific.  He said, 'Look, Kid.  I can't buck the Catholic Church right now.'  But he said, 'I will help you.'  He did finally help me get her out, but I was just terrified." 

This incident, told by Cher's mother Georgina Holt in the Lifetime TV documentary Dear Mom, Love Cher (premiere date May 6, 2013) inspired Cher to write the song Sisters of Mercy.

UPDATE 7/12/14 The library now has two copies of Dear Mom, Love Cher available to borrow on DVD.  Click here to place a hold.

The Fringe ("Season Five, Episode Three: "The Recordist") (October 12, 2012)

The hit sci-fi TV show The Fringe recently wrapped its fifth and final season on FOX.  Near the beginning of the third episode of the season (titled The Recordist, which originally aired on Friday, October 12th, 2012), Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) has the following exchange during a Coordinate Search in Northern Pennsylvania:

HENRIETTA BISHOP:

Walter, you alright? 

WALTER: 

I'm fairly certain I have a blood clot, because somebody wouldn't stop at Scranton to let me stretch my legs. 

Much thanks to Elizabeth Davis for this reference. 

Saturday Night Live (Saturday, October 13, 2012)

Four years ago, Saturday Night Live presented a hilarious skewering of the Vice-Presidential debate between Joe Biden (Jason Sudeikis) and Sarah Palin (Tina Fey), in which Biden ripped into the "hellhole" of his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Four years later, he does it again.

Last night's SNL once again presented a hilarious parody of the Vice-Presidential Debate.  This time Republican nominee Paul Ryan (Taram Killam) is on the listening end of Joe Biden's (Jason Sudeikis) tearing into Scranton.  

The following exchange begins at around the 1:55 mark in the clip below, where moderator Martha Raddatz (Kate McKinnon) questions each candidate on getting the unemployment rate to under 6 percent and how long it will take.

Paul Ryan: 

Martha, Vice-President Biden and I come from very similar places.  I’m from Janesville, Wisconsin and he’s from Scranton, Pennsylvania.  Do you know what the unemployment rate in Scranton is right now? 

Joe Biden:  

Sure do. 

Paul Ryan:  

It’s 10 percent.  And I just wonder what the Vice-President would say to the hardworking people of towns like Janesville and Scranton. 

Joe Biden: 

Well, I’d know what I’d say to my friend AND the people of Janesville.  Things may be bad where you live, but I guarantee you it is a paradise next to the burning coal heap that is Scranton, Pennsylvania.  Do you know that show Walking Dead, The Walking Dead?  It would make a good tourism ad for Scranton.  I mean, if you went to the lowest circle of hell, you’d STILL be 45 minutes outside of Scranton.  And I grew up there.  I love it.  It’s the single worst place on Earth.

Free Tickets Now Available For Upcoming Library Lecture Tuesday, August 7th

Free tickets for the next Library Lecture are now available at all Lackawanna County Libraries.

John Anthony Gilvey, author of "Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City," will be the next presenter at the Matthew F. Flynn Library Lecture Series Tuesday, August 7th at 7 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center. 

Actor Jerry Orbach (1935-2004) was Baby's father in 1987's Dirty Dancing and the voice of candlestick Lumiere in Disney's Oscar-nominated Beauty and the Beast.  He was Detective Lennie Briscoe on TV's Law & Order.  And he was a Tony Award-winning Broadway star whose roles include Billy Flynn in 1975's original Broadway production of Chicago.

But did you also know his mother was a native of Plymouth, PA and he spent part of his childhood living in Scranton?

Gilvey's multimedia presentation will include clips and photos of Orbach's work on stage, screen and television, as well as information on Orbach's roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Hope to see you there. 

In the meantime, check out this wonderful essay by Dr. Gilvey about Jerry Orbach's childhood in NEPA.


Click here to place a hold on the book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City.

Click here for a previous blog entry on the book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City. 


Click here to like the Library Lecture Series on Facebook.

John Anthony Gilvey, Author of "Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City," To Speak at Library Lecture Series Tuesday, August 7th

Author John Anthony Gilvey, author of Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City, will be the next presenter in the Matthew J. Flynn Library Lecture Series on Tuesday, August 7th at 7 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center.  Tickets will be available the beginning of July and will be FREE with your Lackawanna County Library Card.

Actor Jerry Orbach (1935-2004) was Baby's father in 1987's Dirty Dancing and the voice of candlestick Lumiere in Disney's Oscar-nominated Beauty and the Beast.  He was Detective Lennie Briscoe on TV's Law & Order.  And he was a Tony Award-winning Broadway star whose roles include Billy Flynn in 1975's original Broadway production of Chicago.

But did you also know his mother was a native of Plymouth, PA and he spent part of his childhood living in Scranton?

Gilvey's multimedia presentation will include clips and photos of Orbach's work on stage, screen and television, as well as information on Orbach's roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

For more information, visit the Lecture Series's Facebook page.

To place a hold on John Anthony Gilvey's book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City, click here. 

Click here for a previous blog entry on the book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City.

Body of Proof: Season 2, Episode 18: Going Viral, Part 1 (Tuesday, March 27, 2012)

My colleague Ernie Reich excitedly told me today about a Scranton reference in this week's episode of the medical drama Body of Proof. The hit show, which airs Tuesday nights at 10 PM on ABC, stars Dana Delaney as Megan Hunt, a Philadelphia medical examiner whose unique approach to solving crimes puts her at odds with her superiors.

In the episode Going Viral: Part 1 (which originally aired this past Tuesday), Megan and the team are faced with a city-wide outbreak of a mysterious, lethal virus that puts everyone at risk. About a half-hour into the episode, Detective Bud Morris (John Carroll Lynch) is on the phone with his wife encouraging her to get out of town to escape the mysterious virus. He tell her:

"Jean…Jeanie, for once in our relationship, this cannot be an argument. I need you to get your keys, get in the car, and drive to your sister’s in Scranton."

Click here to watch the full episode. The Scranton dialogue occurs at 32:18.

Much thanks to Ernie Reich for this reference.

abc.go.com/shows/body-of-proof

Band of Brothers: Episode 10: Points (2001)

Presented by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the epic WWII miniseries Band of Brothers originally aired in 2001 on HBO in 10 parts to critical acclaim and massive ratings. I know several people who have seen and raved about the series, but no one ever mentioned two references to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania until I got an email from Annie:

"It appears at around 2:36 (the clip is 7:32 minutes long), Harry Welsh is sitting with Carwood Lipton and the voice over narration says:

'Harry Welsh! He married Kitty Grogan, became an administrator with the Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania school system.'"

The Wilkes-Barre reference occurs at approximately 2:36 in the YouTube clip below.

Annie also told me there is a second reference to Wilkes-Barre elsewhere in the Band of Brothers miniseries.

However, Annie also pointed out that Wilkes-Barre is not referenced at all in the book that was the basis of the miniseries--Stephen E. Ambrose's Band of Brothers : E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest--although she points out that a Wilkes-Barre reference was included in another book she read on Company E.

Band of Brothers is available to borrow on both DVD and Blu Ray from the Lackawanna County Library System.

Jay McCarroll, Season 1 Winner of Project Runway (1974 - )

This past Friday and Saturday, NEPA native Jay McCarroll was in Wilkes-Barre, PA for the Trunk Sale at the Outrageous boutique. My colleague Michele L. coincidentally told me a few days prior to his visit that McCarroll is actually a native of the Dallas, PA area.

Jay McCarroll was born October 11, 1974 in Lehman, PA in Luzerne County.

In addition to his work as a designer, McCarroll received nationwide exposure as the winner of the first season of the reality show Project Runway in 2004; McCarroll surprisingly refused to accept the prize money for winning, opting to be an independent designer with complete creative control.

McCarroll was also a contestant (and team captain of the Red Team) on Season Seven of the reality show Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp in 2010.

Click here to read an article from the Scranton Times-Tribune about McCarroll's visit to Outrageous; click here to read the article from Times Leader.

Much thanks to Michele L. for this reference.

www.jaymccarrollonline.com

Jerry Orbach, Prince of the City by John Anthony Gilvey (2011)

In a previous blog entry, I highlighted the local roots of the late Jerry Orbach--star of stage (the original Billy Flynn in 1975's Chicago on Broadway; the original El Gallo in The Fantasticks; 1969 Tony winner for Broadway's original production of Promises, Promises), screen (Dirty Dancing, Woody Allen's Crimes & Misdemeanors, the candlestick Lumière in Disney's Beauty & The Beast) and TV (Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street).

A recently published (and excellent) biography on Mr. Orbach also includes information on his local roots--to Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and even Plymouth, PA. The book is titled Jerry Orbach, Prince of the City: His Way from The Fantasticks to Law & Order, written by John Anthony Gilvey (with a Foreword by Jane Alexander).

Chapter 1 (Entrance, 1935-1955) features information on Orbach's parents residing in Plymouth, PA during the Great Depression, right before Orbach's birth:

p. 3 (description of Orbach's mother Emily)

"In 1932, Plymouth, a small town situated on the Susquehanna River four miles west of Wilkes-Barre in northeast Pennsylvania's Luzerne County, was not an easy place to earn a living, especially for a young woman."

p. 4

"Alexander (Emily's father), born in the village of Bartlovka, near the city of Bialstok in northeast Poland, immigrated to the United States as a young man...finally settling down in Plymouth."

p. 4

"Like Leo (Orbach's father), she (Emily) was fascinated by the stage and had already put her talents to the test as a singer on a weekly Wilkes-Barre radio program."

p. 4

"Unlike most Catholic parents of the day, Alexander and Susanne were surprisingly accepting of their daughter's Jewish boyfriend. There were two reasons for this: first, their own marriage ran counter to the bitter enmity between Polish and Lithuanian Catholics that dated back to the Middle Ages and as recently as 1889 had erupted violently on the streets of Plymouth..."

p. 5

"Weeks later, Jerome Bernard Orbach was baptized at St. Mary's Polish Catholic Church in Plymouth."

p. 7

"Months later, when he (Leo) returned, he took a position as banquet manager for the Sterling Hotel in Wilkes-Barre before landing what would be a permanent position managing lunch counters for Neisner Brothers, a national retail store chain. The nature of the job demanded that he relocates as the needs of the company demanded, so for the next seven years the family crisscrossed the country via stores in Scranton, Pennsylvania; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Waukegan, Illinois."

p. 7

"In Scranton, where the Orbachs' home sat atop one of the highest points of the city and across from a firehouse, seven-year-old Jerry immediately made friends with the firemen..."

p. 7

"Another significant experience came in May 1943, when he made his First Communion and Confirmation during Mass at St. Peter's Cathedral."

p. 8

"Back in Scranton, Emily put their furniture in storage and made preparations for the long train trek that would take her and Jerry to their new home where Leo waited...but before they could board the train, Jerry had to part with his first and only pet--a cocker spaniel that had been his constant companion during their time in Scranton. Brokenhearted, he returned the dog to the lady who had given it to him."

p. 8

"In May after an eight-hundred-route-mile, fourteen-hour train trip from springtime Scranton, they arrived in still-snowy Chicago..."

On p. 139 in Chapter 9 (Trenchant Defective/Living Landmark, 1944-2004), Wilkes-Barre, PA was a bonding topic for Jerry and fellow actor Ted Sod, when they appeared together on the TV drama Law & Order.

"Actor Ted Sod fondly remembers... :
'When I appeared on Law & Order...Jerry immediately made me feel as if I were welcome. He introduced himself and we spoke for a bit about my hometown, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he had relatives.'"

Jerry Orbach, Prince of the City is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold, click here.

Click here to read the previous blog entry on Jerry Orbach.

Must-Read: "Scrantonicity" Column on "Life in The Office" Website by Scranton Native Bob Nicoteri

I recently received an email from all-around groovy guy and Scranton native Bob Nicoteri. Bob now lives in Seattle, but he stays close to Scranton by comprehensively documenting every local references featured on NBC's The Office for the past two years.

Titled Scrantonicity, Nicoteri's column has appeared for the show's last two seasons on the website Life in the Office (which was started in January 2006, a handful of episodes into the show's second season), documenting every single reference to the Electric City and surrounding areas. His column is really great and a lot of fun to read, and the details Bob catches with his eagle eyes are absolutely amazing.

Bob works for the Hilton Corporation as a bartender, and his name tag proudly displays his hometown of Scranton, PA; he told me via email, "What a conversation starter that has been these past few years! I've met guests in our hotel from all over the world that LIGHT UP when they see I'm from Scranton, PA, 'home to Dunder-Mifflin.' How cool is that?"

Bob told me he became aware of this blog when one of my colleagues, Michele L., left a message on one of his Scrantonicitiy articles about the Lackawanna County Library System library card appearing in one of the episodes; she, in turn, sent him a link to this blog.

Bob also devoted a column of Scrantonicity to some of his memories of the Albright Memorial Library, which is quite terrific.

When Season 8 of The Office premieres this Fall, I have a new favorite "first-website-to-check-on-Friday" site.

www.lifeintheoffice.com/category/scrantonicity/

NCIS Los Angeles: Season 2, Episode 23: Imposters (May 10, 2011)

My colleague Martina Soden recently told me about a reference to Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania on last week's episode of CBS's NCIS: Los Angeles, titled Imposters (episode 23 of the show's second season).

After a Navy SEAL imposter is set ablaze, NCIS obtains new information regarding the whereabouts of the stolen Brachytherapy canister from a previous case that could be used to make a deadly bomb.

About 20 minutes into the episode, Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah) and Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) are walking along the beach interviewing Starr (Kristen Hager), a waitress and possible suspect in the murder. When the discussion turns to aliases and changing identities, Starr tells Kensi and Marty the following:

STARR:

A lot of people want a better life for themselves and dream of being someone they’re not. Starr sounds a little better than Sarah Ann Shulman from Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania.

To watch the full episode of NCIS: Los Angeles, click here.

Much thanks to Martina Soden for this reference.