Ending of Eras

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This Sunday night, after almost eight years on the air (okay, minus two, given the yaer long wats...), an era ends on HBO.

Premiering in 1999, The Sopranos is a series about a New Jersey crime family. And now, after Sunday night, the only ways you can watch this series- in which Jim Gandolfini, who plays the crime family boss Anthony 'Tony' Soprano, Sr., and won three Emmys for his efforts- are on iTunes; on DVD; or- for those of you who still hjave those antiquated things- taped on VHS. How many people have been whacked since 1999? Lord only knows, but the body count could get pretty high in the tri-state region of New Jersey; New York; and Connecticut.

Sunday night's series finale looks pretty intense. I'll talk about it next week in my sister blog The Trash Bash.


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Before September 4, 1972, there was a previous version of The Price is Right. But when this version premiered on Labor Day, 1972 on CBS, no one- let alone the emcee Bob Barker himself- probably imagined that this incarnation of TPIR (as longtime fans call it sometimes)- would last 35 years, and become the longest running television game show in history. Over that period, over $100 Million- give or take- worth of prizes have been given away; tens of thousands of contestants walking away winners, and perhaps millions more being rabid audience members. It's no wonder Bob Barker himself have become part of the American pop culture.

Yesterday, Mr. Barker, 83, taped his final episode of TPIR, which will air on Friday, June 15. I doubt that there will be a dry eye in the house- be it at home, or at the Bob Barker Stage on the CBS studio lot.

Finally, on a more personal note, a friend of mine has resigned her post as director of a church-run program. Operation Nightwatch, run by the First Presbyterian Church of Portland (Oregon), has been around for 26 years. This great program is targeted for the homeless and poor of the Portland/Vancouver area, and operates Thursday through Saturday nights. ONW does monthly outings and movie nights. A shelter, if you will, from the occasional storms of life on the street.

For almost four years, Debbie Coppenger has ran this program with a steady hand. And although she is pretty small in stature, she is much more tougher than she gives herself credit for, and numerous of times, she has flexed her muscle to guys- and gals- who are probably two times her size. And now, deteriorating health has forced her to relinquish her position.

It will not be the same without her.

I wish her the best in her new job.

The NBA Finals is tonight. GO CAVS!

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.