No, this isn’t a debate about which cola is better. The title refers to a famous line from a “Saturday Night Live” sketch in which diner proprietor John Belushi only served Cheeseburgers, chips and no Coke, Pepsi. Of course there were almost too many catch phrases to recall from that program over the years. In fact, it seems that catch phrases were the norm in all of television going as far back as I can remember. I’m guessing that most were contrived with the intent of becoming part of the lingo of the moment, but I’m sure others were more organic and burst onto the scene unexpectedly. Don’t ask me how to tell which were which.
Here are just a few that come to mind. “To the moon Alice” spoken by Ralph Kramden as played by Jackie Gleason in the Honeymooners. “Lucy, you have some explaining to do”, from I Love Lucy. This is possibly one of those that was not actually spoken that often, but with the passage of time has grown into an actual catch phrase.
Insults were always great for making their way into our daily speak. “up your nose with a rubber hose”, from Welcome Back Kotter was always a winner with my friends and I. Of course, Happy Days graced us with “Sit on it!” Sit on what would be the question. Nonsensical phrases such as “Nanu, Nanu” from the comic genius, Robin Williams as Mork from Ork in Mork and Mindy were always good for a laugh.
Let’s not leave out comic book characters. My favorite was always, “it’s clobberin’ time!” courtesy of the Thing from Fantastic Four, though, “spider sense tingling” had a nice ring to it.
I won’t try to list every classic line that comes to mind. I’ll leave you to make your own list, but I can’t think of anything in recent years from film or television that has worked its way into the common vernacular. Maybe I’m out of touch, or it just doesn’t happen anymore.
I miss the fun of having that shared experience when a simple phrase would connect you and others to your mutual appreciation of some form of entertainment. Perhaps with the full onslaught of media in the digital age, nothing has time to stick, so everything has a moment but not even as lasting as Andy Warhol’s “fifteen minutes of fame” prediction.
Well, I’ll sit here and wait until it happens and I’ll keep you posted. When the next catch phrase hits, I’m sure it will be all over the internet. That will be Bloggerific. (note to self: trademark Bloggerific)