So, you may be thinking … “Wait, this picture wasn’t from the 80’s!” And you would be correct. However, it is very much 80’s related, so it still qualifies as my picture of the week.
Quick backstory: Since I’m a pop culture aficionado, it only makes sense that I am interested in all things celebrity and movie/television related. Therefore, I really enjoy going to Los Angeles.
Whenever I go to Los Angeles (I hear that native Angelenos don’t like to say LA. Is that true?) I make sure to include some sort of show business component. I was pretty much obsessed with the VIP backlot tour at Universal Studios where we traveled around Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives, then later visited the costume department where someone was altering Teri Hatcher’s jeans. (No wonder those jeans always fit like a glove! Tailoring is important, people.)
Other times I attended actual tapings of television shows such as Will and Grace, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, followed by the Late Late Show with James Corden. I found the entire process quite fascinating, especially with Will and Grace. For example: a particular joke doesn’t quite land? Let’s do a writer’s huddle and figure out an alternate punch line and try it again.
That. Was. Cool.
Oh, and there was also that time my friend got us tickets to a taping of The Soup with Joel McHale, who was really a class act by the way. He even changed his flight so he could stay after the show and meet studio audience members and take pictures with us. I look a little petrified in that picture, but that tracks since any real-life celebrity encounter immediately renders me speechless and dorky.
Except for one.
Back in the late 2010’s my husband and I decided to do a studio tour which included favorites such as the Jeopardy! and Seinfeld sets. The entire tour was just the three of us: my husband, the tour guide, and me.
I am not sure exactly how it got brought up in the conversation, but we started talking about Hollywood’s child labor laws, and how financial protection for minors was put into place under something called The Coogan Act. This law states that employers must set aside a minimum of 15% of a minor’s gross earnings into a blocked trust account, aka a Coogan account. The rule was named after child actor Jackie Coogan, who earned millions in the 1920’s, only to later discover that his mother and stepfather had blown all his money.
Well … one thing led to another … and then a light bulb turned on. And I was kicking myself for not realizing this sooner. The entire time on our tour, the guide looked vaguely familiar. The name on his badge said Keith Mitchell. But then he talked about how Jackie Coogan was his grandfather. And then he dropped a couple of 80’s movies … and all the pieces of the puzzle fell.
“But wait,” I said, a bit perplexed. “That was Keith Coogan in those movies.”
“Yup,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “That’s my stage name.”
So here we were with an 80’s movie star the whole time and I embarrassingly didn’t recognize it.
Ever hear of a little movie called Adventures in Babysitting? Or perhaps Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead? (I sense a theme here …) Or on the bit more obscure side, Toy Soldiers? Yes, it was actor Keith Coogan the whole time! (By the way, if you look up his filmography it is actually kind of impressive.) And he was a fantastic tour guide who kept trying to get us special glimpses of celebrities on actual sets.
I lit up in recognition while my husband looked on, slightly confused since he wasn’t into this stuff like I was.
“You want a selfie?!” he said all excitedly.
“Of course!” I said, all giddy.
And there you have it, folks. The day I met Keith Coogan and he snapped this picture of us.
Anne - I do not have the passion or pop culture depth you have - but I do enjoy your forays into the Hollywood world fantastic. Generally, even though I'm quite a bit older than you. - I get all your references - and mostly bask in your fandom of your pop adventures. Keep writing - I like your stuff.