They Call Me Baba Booey by Gary Dell'Abate Read Free Book Online

lefty like Meathead from
All in the Family
—as liberal as liberal can be. My father was no Archie Bunker, but he was a conservative, decorated World War II veteran. He really did believe that the president of the United States knew what was best for us. He was actually crushed by Watergate because he just didn’t think the men who ran the country were capable of doing anything wrong.
    Anthony’s rebellions seemed like a slap in the face, not just to my father, but to all the men he fought with. By the time Anthony was a senior in high school he and my dad were fighting constantly. It came to a head the Easter Sunday before he graduated. I remember it so clearly because, as usual, the blowup came at the worst possible moment—for me.
    My favorite TV program as a kid was
Wonderama
, a legendary show that aired on Sunday mornings for twenty years. It was hosted by Bob McAllister and for more than three hours it featured kids participating in games in the studio, along withcartoons and
Three Stooges
segments. The show was filmed in New York and it was my dream to be in the studio audience, but the waiting list for tickets was three years long. One day, miraculously, we were able to get tickets through a family friend. Even better, the show taped on Tuesdays so I would have to miss school.
    Leading up to the big day I practiced the
Wonderama
theme song day and night. I thought about what it was going to be like to see Bob McAllister in person. I wondered if I would get to play my favorite game on the show, Snake-in-a-Can. I was ten years old; this was the biggest thing that had ever happened to me.
    My mom, my friend Gary Bennett, and I left for the city early in the morning. As we waited on line to get in, Bob McAllister walked right by us and waved. A bona fide celeb! When we finally got inside I was amazed at how small the studio was, but when we all sang the theme song I couldn’t believe my ears and eyes. The singing was actually piped in over the loudspeakers and Bob was lip-synching!
    Watching from home I always thought the stage must be huge because each segment appeared to be filmed in different parts of the studio. I was wrong about that, too. There was only one stage. It took ten hours to shoot a three-hour show because they had to strike each set before putting up another one. We spent most of our time in the audience waiting.
    But I did get picked to be in a game. Since it was the Easter show there was a bit where they had piles of chocolate Easter eggs with all kinds of toppings, from hot sauce to whipped cream, set up on tables. My job was to walk around the audience, take orders, and then bring everyone their eggs. I wore an apron, but it was easy. Everyone got his or her eggs, and I got to be on TV. When I was done they gave me a Spirograph, which was even better.
    My mom made the show, too. In one segment kids madeEaster bonnets out of paper hats and she was chosen as a model along with a handful of other moms. The hats were so gaudy and looked exactly like something someone would wear at a baby shower: full of ribbons and piled high with glued-together scraps of paper from a crafts table. Even though my mom was one of a half-dozen women on the stage, she posed like she was a star, camping it up with the great big smile I saw in every picture she took. It was fun to see her so happy. They shot so many close-ups of her she was actually recognized by a hot dog vendor in the city after the show aired.
    By the time we left the studio it was eight o’clock at night and I had a goodie bag filled with a bagel, Hostess cupcakes, a T-shirt, and my beloved Spirograph. It was the greatest day of my life. I couldn’t wait to see the show.
    The show aired on Sunday. This was before VCRs and DVRs, so the only way to see it—the only way to find out if I had made it on TV—was by watching it when it aired.
    But it wasn’t meant to be.
    Minutes before the show I turned on our big RCA in the living room. That’s when