Welcome to Syndicated Shenanigans, a feature I’m starting here at That Thing They Did, mostly because I have a history of being fascinated by things that precious few outlets are interested in paying me to write about, which means that Substack is the perfect place for me to write about them…or at least it will be when I start charging for this newsletter, which I keep threatening to do. (I really will start soon, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. Repeatedly.)
Anyway, my point is that I have a fascination with syndicated series, particularly those that ran for multiple seasons but which I’d never even so much as read about until the internet educated me about their existence. Mind you, I’m also fascinated by the ones that only ran for a single season. Ultimately, I guess what I’m saying is that pop culture that successfully flies under the radar of someone like myself, who practically subsists on pop culture… That stuff just fascinates me to no end.
And that brings us to the first installment of Syndicated Shenanigans, in which I’m taking a brief look at a series called…
First of all, please look closely at the above graphic, which is a screen grab from the opening credits of this series, and note the absence of a particular piece of punctuation in the name of the diner.
That’s right: based on the opening credits, this series was called Boogies Diner.
Not Boogie’s Diner, but Boogies Diner.
Why? Was the missing apostrophe an intentional decision as an act of punctuational rebellion? Or was its absence an accident that no one wanted to admit and was too expensive to correct, so everyone involved just pretended that the apostrophe was there, and if anyone asked, they just replied incredulously, ‘You mean you don’t see it?’”
I don’t know. I wish I did, but…I just don’t know.
If you know someone who does know, however, please get this information to me as quickly as possible…not that the not-knowing is keeping me up nights or anything (as far as you know).
I will say, though, that my original theory - or at least the theory that made me the happiest - was that the missing apostrophe was hanging out with the “i” in the name of the show’s star.
Perhaps you’re familiar with him…
That’s right: it’s Jm J. Bullock…or at least that’s how he was credited when he was one of the stars of the ‘80s sitcom Too Close for Comfort, as he was in this photo. After a bit of Googling and wandering through Wikipedia, however, I’ve learned that the reason he was credited that way was because there was already a Jim Bullock in the actors union. I don’t know when things shifted and he was able to regain his missing “i,” but it apparently happened sometime prior to September 1994, because that’s when this caption appeared underneath the full cast photo for Boogie’s Diner:
“Get in on all the food, fashion, and fun at Boogie’s Diner, a new teen series. The cast includes Jim J. Bullock, Robin Stapler, Richard Chevolleau, Jimmy Marsden, Monika, Schnarre, Zack Ward and Joy Tanner.”
Okay, so there you have it: the series has an apostrophe, Jim J. Bullock has his “i” back, and…wait, did that say “Jimmy Marsden”?
Oh, my…
Yes, that’s right: like every actor who found substantial fame in adulthood after struggling through a few years as a teen actor, James Marsden has a slight skeleton in his closet, and it’s the season he spent mugging it up as Jason on Boogie’s Diner. It’s definitely the sort of thing that Marsden must have known would be brought up during future talk show appearances, as well it should, especially when an article written about the show around the time of its premiere describes his character on the show as “Boogie’s loyal and trustworthy hunk, stockboy and ultimate salesman.”
Of course, now that we’ve embarrassed Marsden with his character’s description, the least we can do is offer up the descriptions of the other actors’ characters. It’s only fair, you know?
Richard Chevolleau: “Tymp, the diner’s DJ / Mix-master. He’s hot on the mike, smooth with the pen and always one beat ahead of everyone else. He’s also the group’s voice of reason.”
Robin Stapler: “Cynthia, Boogie’s bubbly waitress, who manages to keep everyone in a good mood with her perky personality.”
Joy Tanner: “Cheryl-Ann has unlimited credit – Daddy owns the mall! – and lives by the motto, ‘Shop ‘til you drop.’”
Zack Ward: “Cookin’ up a storm at Boogie’s is zany chef Kirby. His flair for the unusual comes through in every dish he whips up.”
Jim J. Bullock: “In charge of this motley crew of teens is Gerald, who’s often known to act like a teen himself.”
You may notice, however, that I didn’t mention one of the names from the above list: Monika Schnarre. Yeah, I’m guessing her character hadn’t really been fleshed out yet, because all they could manage to say about her in the piece was that “she brings her natural beauty and comedic sense to her role of Zoya.”
Of course, no one really had but so much time to flesh out their characters, what with the series only lasting a single season, and even if the show had gone on longer, it’s pretty clear that it wasn’t much more than a syndicated Saved by the Bell clone. Still, if you’d like to get a feel for what Boogie’s Diner was all about, there’s precisely one episode floating around on YouTube, and although a few seconds were apparently chopped off of the beginning, there’s still plenty enough to show you what you missed…or didn’t.
(No, Charles Barkley was not on the series. That’s a commercial. Just figured I’d better save anyone from getting their hopes up.)
So there you have it: the first installment of Syndicated Shenanigans. Let me know if you like the concept, if you like this particular piece, if you’d like to see more, and if you’ve got any suggestions for future dives down the rabbit hole of original syndicated programming!
Oh, and if you like what you read here and you want to start contributing to the cause of my original pop culture journalism efforts before I start charging for this newsletter (because I’m gonna do it, I tells ya), you can sign up to contribute to my Patreon campaign just by clicking right here…and if you do that, then you have my thanks in advance!