DAILY DIRT: ‘Women. You can’t live with ’em, pass the beer nuts’

They killed Kenny?  Oh well, yada, yada, yada … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 692 of The Daily Dirt.

1. We’ve had a lot of fun with famous movie quotes in this space over the past couple of years, but rarely have we done the same with TV shows. That all changes today.

Since early in the week I’ve been wading through some of television’s most memorable one-liners, and here’s my top 10. I’m pretty sure all of these will stir some recollections of time well spent in front of the family TV.

Gold medal: “Women. You can’t live with ’em, pass the beer nuts,” Cheers, 1982-93. The famous line from all-too-frequent customer Norm Peterson (George Wendt), settling in for another night on his corner stool at Cheers, where everybody knows your name.

Silver medal: “Heyyyyy …,” Happy Days, 1974-84. I think it’s safe to say that whenever we hear that famous Fonzie (Henry Winkler) catchphrase we’re taken back to Tuesday nights in the 1970s.  

Bronze medal: “Yada, yada, yada.” — “Seinfeld”, 1989-1998. Those three famous words often used by character Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to summarize a conversation. To this day, they remain a part of our everyday language.

Honorable mention

4. “D’oh!” — “The Simpsons,” 1969-present. It’s often Homer’s reaction whenever he says or does something rather stupid, which, of course, is quite often.

5. “No soup for you!” — “Seinfeld”, 1989-1998. Ahh … the beloved Soup Nazi, portrayed by Larry Thomas. By the way, the Soup Nazi’s name on the show was Yev Kassem.

6. “Here’s Johnny!” — “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”, 1962-1992. This famous catchphrase was introduced by announcer and sidekick Ed McMahon to announce the arrival of Carson, and evolved into part of our everyday lexicon with other names substituted for Johnny.

7. “Book ’em, Danno.” — “Hawaii Five-O”, 1968-1980. Jack Lord’s famous line to James MacArthur after another crime was solved.

8. “How you doin’?” — “Friends”, 1994-2004. Joey Tribbiani’s (Matt LeBlanc) famous pickup line. Admit it, you’re saying that to yourself right ow in a very bad New York accent.

9. “They killed Kenny!” — “South Park”, 1997-present. This is famously said by Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski, whenever their friend Kenny dies in nearly every episode.

10. “Goodnight, John Boy.” — “The Waltons”, 1972-1981. This was always the signature closing line of the show, finishing out each episode. And for the record, I hated this show, but was always overruled by the rest of the household.

2. Speaking of catchphrases, I think the best one among MLB TV announcers belongs to Mike Krukow of the San Francisco Giants.

When a San Francisco pitcher strikes out an opposing batter, Krukow often chimes in with, “Grab some pine, Meat.”

3. A week ago, we had quite an upheaval in our Great Plate Debate medal standings.

We’ve had some more solid entries for interesting license plates across West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri this week, but none crcked the podium. This week’s best included:

• JDY JDY 1
• AIR B
• HWAI GRL
• GMA CAB
• QHS 81

The year-to-date medal winners:

Gold medal: BE A BETH. 

Silver medal: SUIT N TY. 

Bronze medal: KING OF Q.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Honestly, I did not like “The Waltons”.

Steve Eighigner writes daily for Muddy River News. Is he talking about Sam Walton’s family?