Those who follow Susan on Facebook know she is very vocal about her political views. Some liberal, some conservative…some Libertarian….a devoted animal activist who speak out against PETA. The discussions she instigates are informative and fun.

Sheena and Susan haven’t described the show very much, but gave us a preview of the discussions they will be having. Gun control, campaign financing, the 2008 election, and more all in 1 hour. They both seemed to posses very similar viewpoints, so I am glad they will be taking calls from the audience.

“Two Chicks Talking Politics” will be debuting the first week of May on LA Talk Radio. A one hour a week show (time to be announced). I can’t wait!

Celebrities Support Online Auction for Los Angeles Pet Rescue Organization
Annual online event for Precious Paws to feature lunches with actors, entertainment memorabilia

LOS ANGELES, CA (October 27, 2010) – Stargazers rejoice: the Celebrity Experience and Entertainment Memorabilia Auction will be held from October 28th – November 7th. The online auction supports Precious Paws, a non-profit animal rescue organization based in Encino, Calif. The auction, held exclusively on the Precious Paws eBay store, will include star-powered items for fans and Hollywood followers of all ages.

Among featured auction items are VIP tickets to a Bon Jovi concert in New York City with a backstage meet and greet with Richie Sambora. Another show-stopping item comes from Adrianne Curry, who has donated a custom designed midi chopper airbrushed with her first Playboy pictorial.

“I know the effort and heart that was poured into this bike, and if it can bring someone half the happiness it brought me in the name of charity, I’ll be a very happy woman,” said Curry. “I got both of my babies (Sgt. Pepper and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) from Precious Paws, and can think of no one else I would have given my bike to.”

The auction also features opportunities to have lunch with notable celebrities, including: Eric Roberts, an Academy Award nominee for his role in “Runaway Train”; Cherie Currie of the Runaways; Susan Olsen, known for her role as Cindy on “The Brady Bunch”; Erin Murphy, known for her role as Tabitha Stevens on “Bewitched”; Emmy Award winning soap star Drew Tyler Bell; and Rod Rodenberry.

“I have known Georgyne La Lone and Penny Juday for years and I know how dedicated they are to their cause. I am happy to help by offering a lunch with myself to support their organization, Precious Paws,” said Rod Rodenberry, the son of legendary “Star Trek” creator Gene Rodenberry.

For additional information about the Celebrity Experience and Entertainment Memorabilia Auction, please go to their official auction website or contact Georgyne LaLone, president and founder of Precious Paws, at GeorgyneLaLone@PreciousPaws.org.

About Precious Paws

Since 2003, Precious Paws has been rescuing unwanted companion cats and dogs in Southern California from both the streets and local shelters. A 501(c)3 registered non-profit organization, Precious Paws is dedicated to spaying or neutering, vaccinating, and testing each animal rescued before they are placed for adoption into permanent homes. For more information, please visit www.preciouspaws.org.

Auction Catalog

Two VIP tickets to a Bon Jovi concert in New York City in the spring of 2011, including a backstage meet and greet with Richie Sambora

Two VIP tickets to a Bon Jovi concert in Las Vegas in the spring of 2011, including a swag bag

Lunch with Susan Olsen and Erin Murphy

Lunch with Eric Roberts

Lunch with Rod Rodenberry

Lunch with Drew Tyler Bell

Two tickets to a Cherie Currie concert and a backstage meet and greet in 2010/2011

Adrianne Curry’s midi chopper

A phone call from Bobby Sherman

Entertainment memorabilia galore

Download Press Release Here

Also Krofft/Brady related, up for bid is Adrianne Curry’s (wife of Chris Knight/Peter Brady) midi chopper from <a href=http://www.beverlyhillschoppers.com/" Beverly Hills Choppers.

We are having an exclusive on-line Celebrity Experience and Entertainment Memorabilia auction starting November 5th at 7 PM PST on Ebay. It will be a ten day auction. Many of our friends have come on board to help us fundraiser for our rescues.

We are very excited to have Mark Hamill & others participating in our fundraiser. For our exclusive auction, we have lined up a handful of lunches for 2 with the celebrities listed below. We have also acquired many autographed items for this auction.

We have partnered with Auction Cause, a premier online auction company, who work hand in hand with Ebay and have held many successful celebrity based charity auctions.
This list is a work in progress, we are still working on receiving more items and celebrity experiences for our auction. Please Check Back Often!

There are other celebrities donating there time for the auction (include Star Wars‘ Mark Hamill). Go on over and support a good cause.

Here is a video from Susan Olsen discussing the event. Her foster cats want in on the act too.

Precious Paws is a non-profit pet rescue based in Los Angeles, California where Susan Olsen is on the board of directors. They provide fostering, education and assistance to pets and pet owners alike.

Sid and Marty Krofft are more known for their puppet creations than their variety shows, but they had many. From Pink Lady and Jeff to Donny and Marie and of course The Brady Bunch Hour

Variety shows were a staple of television since its inception but fizzled out in the early 80s. The Brady Hour was an example of that fizzle. Why would someone want to remind us of a show that even those who were involved like to pretend it didn’t exists? KROFFT.NET asked author Ted Nichelson about what brought him to write Love to Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour

KROFFT.NET: What originally drew you to the BBVH.

TED NICHELSON: My involvement began innocently enough one evening in Ann Arbor, Michigan while reading through some news group postings on the internet. I was a student at the University of Michigan and probably had more important things to do. But I was curious about this “Brady Variety Hour” that was being rerun on an obscure cable network in Australia. People down under were having the most entertaining discussions about this supposedly terrible show. I became email friends with a few people lucky enough to see the Variety Hour and convinced one of them to record some episodes and send them to me on the other side of the globe. As a childhood fan of The Brady Bunch it was a thrill to see this cast of characters in a “new” series, much of which to this day has still not been broadcast to American audiences since its single and only broadcast in 1976-77.

KN: How did Susan and Lisa become involved in your project? Did you start it together?

TN: I began by starting a website devoted to The Brady Bunch Variety Hour which soon raised some eyebrows. Almost immediately I received an email from Maureen McCormick’s mother Irene who was so very entertained by what I had put together. In the next year this was followed by interviews with cast members such as Geri Reischl, whom I spent six month trying to locate, Chris Knight, and finally Susan Olsen. Susan was particularly awestruck by my website because she had suppressed her memories of the Variety Hour and was shocked to have them coming to the surface once again. Over several years of becoming friends and relocating to Los Angeles after graduation, I asked her if she would like to collaborate on a book about the series. Fans had been encouraging me to move forward on such a project for a long time and I knew that Susan would be the perfect compliment to such a publication.

Lisa joined the project in 2004 when we decided the format would be a coffee table book. Not only is Lisa Sutton the official ‘Bradyologist’ but she is a talented graphic designer which a lot of experience in that realm. She designed ‘Growing Up Brady‘ so she was the obvious choice for ‘Love to Love You Bradys.’

KN: There is so much information in the book, was it challenging locating the lesser known cast and crew?

TN: It was really quite difficult tracking down everyone, and was nothing less than being a private investigator. I had to call around and talk to people who knew the person I was looking for, and get enough information (such as the name of a spouse, child, or other relative) so that I could l search public records. The most difficult people to locate were Geri Reischl, Charkie Phillips, Madeline Graneto, and Robyn Blythe. I began looking for Geri about 10 years ago and at the time nobody had heard anything about her since about 1980. Now we all know her, but at the time she was completely anonymous and living a normal life.

Finding photographs of some of the deceased individuals was also extremely difficult and often took many months of hunting.

KN: What was the most difficult part of writing the book?

TN: The most challenging part of writing the book was taking all the disparate elements and great stories, then weaving them together so they began to tell a story and paint a picture of what the mid 70s was like in television. Susan and I wanted the book to have a distinct academic tone, which was part of the parody – that we took something seemingly unnewsworthy and made it interesting to read about. I think we succeeded in that goal and it turned out that the material was fun, entertaining, and historically significant. A lot of people are surprised by how interesting ‘Love to Love You Bradys’ really is.

KN: Any plans for a follow up?

TN: I think we’ve pretty much exhausted the topic of ‘The Brady Bunch Variety Hour,’ but perhaps we’ll collaborate again on something related. My next book is an autobiography with actress and comedian Geri Jewell, which should be out in 2011.

KN: Were the Krofft Brothers open to you doing the book?

TN: Sid and Marty have distinct personalities, so their individual approach in participating in the book was different. Sid likes to chat on the phone and remembers a lot of things. He invited me to come meet him a few times to discuss things further and was just the sweetest person. Marty, on the other hand, was much more business-like but also very warm and helpful. He invited Susan and I to his office where we discussed the book and then went to lunch. They were just the nicest people and I am grateful to them.

KN: Do you know if Sid and Marty have seen the book? Did they have any comment?

TN: None of us have heard from Sid and Marty so I do not know if they saw the book. If they called me I would be sure they were sent a book, so the offer is open. I think they are both so busy that they may not even be aware it is out yet.

KN: Are you a fan of any of the other Krofft works? If so, which ones?

TN: I am not very informed about their shows, but I can name them all and have watched clips on YouTube to get an idea for their creative style and to understand how it colored their involvement with ‘The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.’ I became good friends with Van Snowden, who played HR Pufnstuf, and I learned a lot of about the Kroffts and their shows by listening to him tell many great stories.

KN: After being immersed in the Krofft/Brady world for so long, how would you sum up the experience?

TN: The first thing that comes to mind is that ALL of these people on both sides are the NICEST individuals you could ever hope to meet in Hollywood. A lot of producers, directors, and actors are so very rude, egocentric, unapproachable and distracted. The Kroffts and Bradys couldn’t be farther from this stereotype. It was a true honor, privilege, and joy to meet all of them and to preserve some of their memories for the ages.

KROFFT.NET would like to thank Ted Nichelson for the interview, and urge you to get your copy of Love to Love You Bradys today.

The Life of Reilly was first shown in 2006 and is an adaptation Charles Nelson Reilly’s one-man play “Save It For the Stage: The Life of Reilly”. It is an edited version of Reilly’s longer stage show, filmed live before audiences at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood, California in October of 2004. I recently purchased the DVD from the website of the late Charles Nelson Reilly.

Charles Nelson Reilly is the reason I remained a Krofft fan for my entire life. His portrayal of Hoo Doo in Lidsville made an impression on me at the young age of only 3. His signature laugh was the only thing I remembered for years, and spent years trying to remember those early childhood dreams.

My next exposure to Charles was The Match Game. My grandmother was a huge game show fan, so I had early exposure to The Match Game, The Price is Right and many others. The familiarity with Reilly drew me to him instantly. I’ve been a huge fan since. He is an entertainer for all ages, and deserves a larger place in entertainment history.

The movie Life of Reilly is a perfect film. It starts off asking “Do you remember who Charles Nelson Reilly is?” Tragically, not enough people do. Interspersed with clips that illustrate his story, Life of Reilly shows us CNR‘s life from his own point of view…tragic, exciting and funny. The film’s impact is amplified by the passing of Reily. It is wonderful that he was able to document this prior to his death.

Sadly, the film is still not widely available on DVD. But, the good news is that you can still get it. I received an email from the directors recently:

The DVD was slated to be released early this year by the legendary New Yorker Films. Unfortunately, as you may have heard or read, New Yorker Films recently filed for bankruptcy.
…
In the mean time, for a limited time only you can get a FREE DVD Screener of the film on our website when you buy a T-Shirt for as little as $14.95.

Of course, I now have mine. I would love to see all the raw footage of Reilly’s performance, but for now I’ll be content with this extraordinary DVD.

What are you waiting for? Go get yours!

Fans will also be able to follow Barry “Greg” Williams, Susan “Cindy” Olsen, Geri Reischl (“Fake Jan” of “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour”), Wendy Winans (BradyWorld.com) and author and Brady expert Lisa Sutton on Twitter as they “tweet” throughout the anniversary marathon week. Sutton will also contribute to blog entries during the week to discuss subjects such as “Where are they now?” and “Brady Collectibles.”

I know that this is the anniversary of the non-Krofft version of the Bradys, but the involvement of the Love to Love You Bradys book and “Fake Jan” make this a Krofft-related event. It could be quite interesting. I tend to think of this as the new version of the DVD commentary track.

This past weekend in Burbank, The Hollywood Collector’s Show was held at the Burbank Airport Marriott. My wife and I traveled to California from Michigan to get a chance to see The Kroffts, The Bradys, Witchiepoo and Pufnstuf all under the same roof. The two day event was filled with many stars spanning at least 60 years of television and film, but we were there to meet some Krofft Alumni. I went as a casual fan, to get a few autographs, and to meet the people who’s acting I’ve admired through the years. I didn’t get any interviews (but I hope to in the near future), I didn’t try…I just wanted to enjoy meeting them.

Led by Susan Olsen, several of the stars of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour were on hand to sign autographs and meet fans in support of the Precious Paws organization. At the event was Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady), Mike Lookinland (Bobby Brady), Chris Knight (Peter Brady), and Barry Williams (Greg Brady). Also there to support Precious Paws was Christopher’s wife Adrianne Curry and Robbie Rist (Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch). All of them were very pleasant to talk to and all had some interesting stories to tell. I brought my Brady Hour DVD for them to sign. As I handed it to each of them they each had some clever remarks to make about the show. The best was Chris Knight who remarked immediately, “They actually sell these?” (also, thanks to Chris for reminding me to take the cover out of the plastic).

Marty Krofft was there for most of Saturday. Incredibly, he was stuffed in the corner behind he mob of Happy Days fans where you wouldn’t have found him if you weren’t looking for him. This was the first time I’ve met Mr. Krofft, and he was very nice to meet. Because of the noise and crowd, I didn’t get to spend much time with him, but I did enjoy the few moments I was able to talk to him. When I went back later in the day, he had already left. I had him sign my Pufnstuf DVD.

Van Snowden was also there. When I first saw him, he was standing in the line with us fans waiting to get in (the show was very unorganized), and I didn’t even recognize him. He was very pleasant, but not very talkative. The noise in the room didn’t make it easy to have a conversation with the soft spoken Mr. Snowden. I had him sign my Pufnstuf DVD.

The wonderful Billie Hayes was at the show in support of her long-time organization Pet Hope. I’ve ben an admirer of hers for many many years, and finally meeting her was a treat. She is the sweetest person I’ve ever met, and was genuinely excited to meet each and every one of her fans. I could have spent the entire day sitting there with her…she is amazing. She graciously signed my Pufnstuf DVD and posed with me in a picture. And yes, she still sounds like Witchiepoo.

In all it was a great show. It was billed as an autograph and collectors show, but to me it was a meet and greet with show business legends. The show itself was poorly organized. Why wasn’t Marty Krofft, Billie Hayes and Van Snowden even close to one another? They told the celebrities that it started at 10am, and let us in at 9am. (and there were other, non-Krofft related anomalies) The show was great, and I hope to get another chance to spend some time with these Krofft-alumni.

Please post your experiences in the comments if you attended, or ask any questions you may have.

Also, for non-Krofft related coverage of the show, go to META-TAINMENT.COM.