MovieChat Forums > Today's Special (1981) Discussion > Did this show scare the crap out of anyo...

Did this show scare the crap out of anyone else?

posted 20 years ago by Redstar5288
48 replies | jump to latest

Maybe it's just me, maybe when I was too young when I watched this show, but I remember being so scared of this show. I remember a woman woman who wore pink and she had a man with her who wore a yellow and orange jacket. He wore a straw hat and sometimes it would randomly fall off and he'd turn into a mannaquin again. That's scared me so much! I never thought to look for the show on IMBD, but am I alone here? Did anyone else feel this way as a kid.

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jootsyfruit 20 years ago

I was too old to be scared, except the Mime Lady would creep me out with her rainbow suspenders, floppy pigtails and silent ways. And if I looked too closely at Muffy's eyes and face, she would also creep me out! But I was at the age where I was noticing the cute Jeff who could sing and dance and seemed so likeable.

[–] post-card 19 years ago

I thought the Mime Lady was freaky. Eeek.

Being trapped in a store overnight is a child's worst nihgtmare. lol.

[–] lil_moe_0_3 20 years ago

The idea of a talking, living manican scared the hell out of me. For some reason, a big department store frightend me, only because it was closed and empty!
I don't know why, but a rhyming mouse also scared me, but most of all, the "Sam" puppet, you know, the sucurity guard, his femo looking yellow hair, his talking servaliance machine that spat out sardine sandwhiches and his nose scared me the most, the red flashing lights and loud noises, well, thats it, it scared me as a child as well, but I did fantasize about living in an apartment like Muffy's! Huh, isn't that odd.

[–] xo_audra_xo 20 years ago

Too funny! I remember as a child, when my mother took me shopping at stores near closing time they would shut off some of the lights to indicate they were closing soon, and how I got this feeling of panic within me. Like we were going to get stuck in the department store. While I loved the show, the idea of being stuck in a department store did creep me out. To this day, if I'm in a store that shuts off some of their lights, I get the same feeling.

[–] Adam878 20 years ago

Have any of you been in a department store like JC Penny's,
or Bon-Ton and spotted a mannequin and said the magic words
that would bring it to life or hope to pretend to bring it
to life like on the show??

The magic words were Hocus Pocus Alamagocus

Also for clarification-- Jeff wore a dress shirt, brown
plaid vest, grey slacks, and his hat was not straw, it was
a plaid red and greyish..

He is a professional Dancer, Singer, Actor, Director,
Choreographer, and was one of the Canadian Phantoms in
"Phantom Of The Opera" some years ago...how do I know--
I saw him in Phantom, he was remarkable!

The show was not scary to me-- it may
have been childish,but it taught life
lessons...in a fun, non- condescending way...

[–] blair_7 20 years ago

Mrs. Penny Packer (the lady downstairs) scared the living crap out of me... it still gives me shivers just thinking about her!
and that big creature that would come barreling out whenever Jeff was doing a ballet scene also scared me to death!
but i loved the show.. and I think I would go crazy if they came out on DVD! haha

ab fab, sex and the city, and sweet valley are the best shows ever!
and i love edward norton !! *

[–] Born_Tomorrow 9 years ago

I use to love this show as a child. I remember it came on at 1:00PM. Back then we didn't have but one cable tv, which was in our den but you could also watch from the kitchen. I remember before I started school, my mother was home with me, she would be cooking so I would have to beg her to watch it, which she usually complied just to have me sit down in one spot and be quiet. Earlier in the show, my brother and I use to think that Jody was our aunt that lived in L.A because she looked just like her. We even knew every song by heart. I have such fond memories of that time in my childhood. I didn't like that show, Pinnwheel that came on just before TS and each episode seemed to be 4 or 5 hours long. However, for some reason I do not remember Mrs Penny Packer. I remember Jody, Jeff, Sam, Muffy and even Sam's cat Penelope but no Mrs Penny Packer. I even remember that Muffy had a country cousin. I just can't place MPP. Oh and I forgot that Muffy use to rhyme all the time.

I woke up this way...

[–] chris-2182 20 years ago

Jeff wore a straw hat once. I think it was the episode about Farms.

[–] nodak_21 20 years ago

The episode "Lost and Found" where the guy stole muffy always scared the crap out of me. For some reason the guy who wanted to steal the mice for his show always bothered me. But I still loved it!!

[–] pixysarah 20 years ago

Sam the nightwatchman really creeped me out waving his flashlight around in the dark...but I loved the show. On a similar note, the Dark Crystal scared the bejeezus out of me as a child (skeksis and gelflings alike) but upon rewatching it as an adult it has become one of my favorite movies of all time. I hope I find the dvds for this show someday to see if it improves with age.

[–] deltaleeder 20 years ago

<<<don't know why, but a rhyming mouse also scared me, but most of all, the "Sam" puppet, you know, the sucurity guard, his femo looking yellow hair, his talking servaliance machine that spat out sardine sandwhiches and his nose scared me the most, the red flashing lights and loud noises, well, thats it, it scared me as a child>>>

YES!! I READ THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD AND THOUGHT EXACTLY THAT!!

Whenever the red lights went off and the computer was going nuts I thought it was going to get angry and kill Sam or something, or Sam was getting in trouble. The mind of a 4 year old is pretty active, eh?

I started to cry when there was an episode where Jeff's hat got stolen, and he'd be a manikin forever :(

- - Clark

[–] weak_vs_fire 20 years ago

LOL

I wasn't scared in particularly about anything but i did laugh when Jeff would sing and dance to that song
Hocus Pocus Alamagocus

And yes i did once say the words in public; but just to see if anyone else recognized where they came from

[–] sao_swtness17 20 years ago

No, i was never afraid of this show. But yeah, I also understand why you would be...a manequin coming alive and all. It was a really great show though!

[–] melanie-116 20 years ago

If you were just a slip of child, it could be a tad frightening. With the mannequin coming to life. I dont recall it being a straw hat, I thought it to be like a golfers hat.

I did enjoy the show, and still remember it to this day. More than 20 years have passed since I once viewed it. I actually considered purchasing several episodes for my son to watch. He would love them just as I did.

[–] ThePaladin1 20 years ago

I think, when I was young I was a little freaked out by "The dreaded doughnut eater" (A box painted with a face that took the doghnuts some brought in. Turned out Ms. Pennypacker was under it) and a few of the darker episodes that I don't really remember. However, for the most part I was too old to be freaked out (too old for the show's educational content actually or maybe I just evolved quickly) and just loved it for the characters.

Jeff was my favorite. I saw him a few years ago in concert and he actually just moved into a place near where I used to live and is involved with local theatre there.

How's that for cool

[–] alfaznanji 19 years ago

I wasn't but my little cousin was

[–] belanshar 19 years ago

I totally agree paladin! I would freak out whenever that would happen too! But I liked everything else about the show.

[–] rotting_pear 19 years ago

The thing that scared me the most was where Muffy lived, I was really scared. Like that episode when (I don't remember it exactly) they needed to find ownership of the store or it would close, and then they finally found it in Muffy's house. That really scared me.

[–] melbatoast78 19 years ago

Oh I always loved Muffy's house and thought it would be cool to live there! LOL Didn't she just live in a little house at first, but then later they renovated it into more of a condo-type place? LOL

"Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket??"

[–] ThePaladin1 19 years ago

At first she had a traditional mousehole with the comforts of a small home but then after the store was designated a historic building (thus being saved from being closed as mentioned in the previous post) it was renovated and so was her house.

I'll agree with that, I don't like a lot of nickelodeon shows these days, though a few are passable

[–] Carmanah 18 years ago

Wow... that's really funny you mention that, because when I read the title to this discussion, that episode immediately came to mind! They had to find that little plaque/certificate, which ended up in Muffy's mouse house - just before the store was about to be demolished! That episode always scared me, and I was probably 7 years old! I think it was the music that made it the most scary in that episode.

I think there was an episode when TXL, Sam's computer (the computer with the woman's voice) malfunctioned... and her voice was all warped, and weird things were happening. It was rather scary.