July 4th, 2026, marks America’s 250th anniversary. So it’s only fitting that this blog celebrate this historic milestone by sharing movies and television shows befitting our nation’s semiquincentennial, especially the American Revolution and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. TV Shows and Movies to Celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary Normally, we focus on programming from the 70s, with a little 80s thrown in for good measure here at Recapping the Oldies. Today, in honor of America’s 250th anniversary, we’ll span the decades. Here they are, in no particular order, a list of shows to watch this year to celebrate America’s Continue Reading
Nostalgia
This category is reserved for those non-television items that defined our youth. Riding our bikes ten miles from home with our parents none the wiser, Christmas catalogs, using the telephone book as a booster seat, and trying to find the actual butter among all the leftovers in butter containers. This category is decked out in avocado green and harvest gold.
Wishbooks: A Look at Christmas Catalogs of the ’70s
Children of the ’70s, please gather ’round. Although not a television special, we’re going back in time for some nostalgic fun and holiday cheer. Today, we’re talking about Wishbooks—the Christmas catalogs of our youth. The Christmas Bible, if you will. Whether it was Sears, Montgomery Ward, JCPenney, or another department store, these catalogs were a much-anticipated staple of the season. What is a Christmas Catalog? Christmas catalogs were telephone-book-sized tomes from department stores, showcasing everything anyone could ever want for Christmas. Sure, they featured adult items like clothes, pots and pans, or fishing rods—but let’s be real: these voluminous books Continue Reading
Awkward Variety Shows of the 70s
I’m not embarrassed to admit I loved watching variety shows as a kid. We would laugh our butts off over The Carol Burnett Show or The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. Those shows were downright funny. But like any other successful genre, networks overdid it. They flooded the airwaves with variety shows—most of them forgettable, some of them unwatchable, and a few so awkward they became legends in their own strange way. That’s why I’m inviting you on a little journey through some of the most awkward variety shows of the ’70s. In the days before cable and streaming, we Continue Reading