Miller Time

These days it's easy to forget about the classic 90s Saturday morning comedy "Saved by the Bell."  But in its day it surpassed "hit show" status and became a full on franchise. The original cast graduated to prime time (briefly) and the powers that be decided to keep the Saturday morning train rolling so we got...

Yep, out with the old and in with the new class.  What does any of this have to do with Oklahoma?  Well, the opening episode of season five guest starred one of the Sooner State's most decorated athletes.  Our story begins with the gang looking for jobs at the mall.

They all do well by getting various wacky jobs at various wacky mall stores except for Katie who gets fired from the "Suncoast" type store (remember those?) for lying on her resume.  She wants to get a job at the gym but the head gym guy isn't convinced she's right for the job.  Needing to prove herself and lacking the confidence, she runs into some inspiration:

Yep, Olympic gold medal winning champion Shannon Miller (from Edmond, OK) has stopped by the mall for a book signing.  She gives Katie the old "get your poop together" pep talk and Katie gets inspired.  After a brief run in with Mall Security Guard Screech (who's still on the show for some reason and way more annoying that I remember) Miller eventually makes it to her signing at the non-Suncoast.

Well that pep talk worked and Katie decides to market herself for the gym position by staging an impromptu workout class/membership drive in the middle of the mall.  Mall Security Guard Screech, who has had a problem with literally every single thing that every single character has done in this episode so far, doesn't seem to mind.

And it works!  Presumably she gets the job but more importantly she gets the high five and approval of an Olympian.  This seems to resolve everything, the credits role and we all learned a valuable lesson, probably. 

It might not be high art but definitely a gold medal winning outing for an Oklahoma legend.  Also, Mr. Belding was there.

Top 5 Things For Sale at the Frontier City Gift Shop

Previously:

New World Comic Con  - -  Antiques Etc.  - -  Choctaw Welcome Center 

Sam Noble Museum Gift Shop  - -  Cherokee Trading Post  - -  Cloverleaf

Frontier City recently finished up their summer season but they're already prepping for their Halloween brouhaha.  I was out there recently shooting some footage (and dodging the rain) and when I was exiting through the gift shop, I remembered it's been awhile since I did one of these "Top 5 For Sale" list.  So with that uninspired preamble, here we go...

5.  Sweat Pants

This one may seem a little mundane but that's kind of the point.  I just can't imagine anyone buying sweat pants at an amusement park gift shop.  It's almost like it's both too big of a purchase yet too small of a purchase all at the same time.  "Those rides were super fun but now I want to pick up some sweat pants at the gift shop before we go home."  And if buying sweat pants at the gift shop is actually very common, please don't tell me.  I prefer to live in my own delusions.

4.  Bigfoot Magnet

Yeah, I know.  I keep beating the Bigfoot drum but no one else seems all that interested.  But Oklahoma really needs to play up its relationship to the mythical monster.  I'd like to see sightings increase and a flood of new Bigfoot related attractions across the state...or at least along Route 66.

3.  Frontier City Snow Globe

And speaking of the Mother Road, nothing says "old school kitschy souvenir" like the gold ol' snow globe.  Sure, the inside might contain a somewhat generic Ferris Wheel but the base is totally branded with a Frontier City vibe.  That lettering is definitely raised and that takes effort!  Effort I appreciate.

2.  Rainbow Squid Hat

Hats go in and out of style on all the time and non-fashion forward folks like myself can never keep up.  It's times like these when it's necessary to take a sledgehammer to the social customs of the day.  And that's where our colorful friends comes in.  He fits comfortably between, "I crave attention" and "I NEED attention."

1.  Dark Bison T-Shirt

Everything in the world is happening on this shirt.  An Oklahoma bison dressed just like Batman except not enough to have to pay for the rights to the character!  Is this a recurring character in Frontier City canon?  I don't know.  And it not only glows in the dark, it "High Def" glows in the dark!  What does that mean?  I don't know.  But it's the wise man who admits there is much he does NOT know...possibly.

Well those are my picks this time.  And the most important thing to remember here is: if you've bought sweat pants at a theme park gift shop, please don't tell me.

On Location: Bringing Up Bobby

"Bringing Up Bobby" was a fairly unsuccessful independent film from 2011 starring Milla Jovovich and Bill Pullman.  It was written and directed by former X-Man Famke Janssen but, most importantly, it was filmed in Oklahoma...which is essentially the only reason it got my attention.

The cast and crew utilized several locations in the Sooner State so if you end up watching it, at the very least, you can have fun spotting the Oklahoma locations.  In fact, let's do that now, starting with this great big cross:

The beginning of the movie tries to set the tone by showing off this big boy.  You can see it along I-35 at the Life.Church in Edmond.  Next up, our characters decided to get some dinner at a very familiar location along Route 66 (and not too far from the church):

Yep, that's Pop's 66 Soda Ranch in Arcadia, the world famous locale that sells over 700 different kinds of soda.  I guess the crew couldn't resist such a unique looking exterior and they couldn't stop at just one because right down the Mother Road they shot a scene at...

...the historic Arcadia Round Barn.  It's one of the few round barns in the U.S. and has lasted (in various states of repair and disrepair) for over 100 years.  It's currently a tourist attraction and rents out their "Upstairs Loft" for events, which we get to see in the movie:

After a while, the film moves away from the showy tourist attractions and towards the showy office buildings in downtown Oklahoma City.  Here's the office of one of the main characters:

Leadership Square houses tons of businesses and is recognizable by the red sculpture "Galaxy" outside.  These are only a few of the locations the film utilizes.  If you catch it on TV, keep your eyes open and maybe you'll see some places you recognize.