American Express - This credit card and travelers check company sponsored the now classic TV commercial (over 100 produced) starring actor Karl Malden who spoke the memorable phrase "Don't leave home without it." Malden, a veteran movie actor, formerly starred as Det. Lt. Mike Stone (the persona he used on the commercials) on the police drama THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO/ABC/1972-77. The American Express campaign was created by Olgilvy & Mather Agency. In a takeoff of these commercials, Johnny Carson on a segment of NBC's THE TONIGHT SHOW, dressed as Karl Malden. When Carson told the viewing audience "Don't leave home without it," he got hit in the face with a creme pie.   

    Brimstone's Pocket Change - Police detective Ezekial Stone died with $36.27 in his pockets. This fact is mentioned several times on the short lived occult adventure series BRIMSTONE/FOX/1998. By itself, the money amount means nothing, but if you realize that 36.27 may be a numerical entry in the Bible, then you can have some fun with it. Take the name of the character Ezekial plus the numbers 36.27 and you have an entry in the Old Testament. It reads" And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my commandments, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." These words summarize perfectly the mission the Devil has given Ezekiel, namely, to retrieve 113 evil spirits who escaped from hell. Ezekial, himself recently departed, was sent to hell because he killed the man who raped and killed his wife. Now at the mercy of old Beelezabub, Ezekiel must follow the Devil's dictates or face permanent damnation. But if Ezekial retrieved the souls, the Devil was going to give him a second chance at life and his wife. Whatdaya think? Will the Devil keep his word?

    Coin of Destiny - On episode No. 616 "The Coin of Destiny" of the sitcom MAD ABOUT YOU/NBC/1992+ filmmaker Paul Buchman (Paul Reiser) and his wife, Jamie (Helen Hunt) begin to use a coin (a quarter) to make common decisions like what restaurant to go to or whether or not to eat muffins of breadsticks. After a series of good fortune follows each use of the coin, Paul, Jamie and the new producers of "Hard Edition," Lou Bonapart (Larry Miller) are convinced that they possess the "Coin of Destiny." Soon friends and strangers alike are asking the coin for advice. Unfortunately, Jamie loses the magical coin when she accidentally inserts it into a washing machine while doing the laundry. In the meantime a bogus coin used in place of the original guided people to lose money gambling, get food poisoning and have an accident in a minivan. When the Coin of Destiny was retrieved (along with 5,000 other quarters) the magic had vanished.

    Cubits -- The gold rectangular domino-shaped money used by the colonial fleet on the sci-fi series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA/ABC/1978-80. A resin replica was produced for the fans of the series. 

    Dime Lady, The  See - NICKNAMES

    George Utley's Penny - On the sitcom NEWHART/CBS/1982-90 handyman George Utley (Tom Poston), the droll groundskeeper for the Stratford  Inn always placed a penny in his shoe or sock for luck. George also had a lucky hammer he called "Old Blue." 

    Hammurabi's Coin - On episode No. 208 "Samantha's Old Salem Trip" on the sitcom BEWITCHED/ABC/1964-72. Esmeralda (Alice Ghostley) accidentally transports Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) back to Old Salem, Massachusetts (with out her memory). Her mother, Endora (Agnes Moorehead) gives her husband, Darrin (Dick Sargent) a magic silver coin minted in the ancient days of Hammurabi to counter the spell and bring Samantha home. To make the coin work, Darrin had to make Samantha face to the East, place the coin on her forehead, bow three times. and recite the magical incantation "Akmed Talu Varsee Lupin" meaning "Good Luck" in Babylonian. To keep the coin stuck to her head as she bowed, Darrin covered the coin with honey. As Samantha uttered the last word of the incantation she regained her memory and then traveled back to the 20th century. Before she left, however, she chastised the village elders of Old Salem for persecuting witches. 

    Harry's Dime - On the sitcom NIGHT COURT/NBC/1984-92 Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson) an eccentric night court judge carried a special Mercury-head dime for good luck.           

    Larry's Quarters - William Sanderson, who played Larry, one of three bizarre backwoods brothers living in Vermont on the sitcom NEWHART/CBS/1982-90 always wore a quarter (25 cent piece) in his ear when performing on the show. Ever since his supporting performance in the movie Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), Sanderson has continued to practice this strange ritual. As he explained "It's for luck."  

    Maverick Brother's Mad Money - On the western adventure MAVERICK/ABC/1957-62 frontier gamblers, Bret (James Garner) and Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) carried a $1,000 bill pinned inside their coat as they traveled about the Old West in search of an honest game of cards. 

    The Millionaire - On the drama anthology THE MILLIONAIRE/CBS/1955-60 eccentric billionaire John Beresford Tipton had a peculiar hobby: He gave away a million dollar check-tax free-to total strangers. The checks were delivered by his private secretary, Michael Anthony (Marvin Miller). During the life of the series some $70 million was given away. The first person to receive a check was Amy Moore. She returned the money. Her check was delivered by Mr. McMahon, Tipton's bank executive. TRIVIA NOTE: In the year 2000, Regis Philbin hosted a game show called WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE on the ABC network and routinely gave away close to a million dollars each episode to his contestants. There was a catch. They had to know the correct answers to the multiple choice questions to walk away with the money.  

    “Penny” Marshall - Childhood nickname given to actress/director Penny Marshall because she once saved pennies to buy a horse. Penny Marshall is best known for her role in the sitcom LAVERNE & SHIRLEY/ABC/1976-83. Her real last name was Masciarelli. It was changed by her father to anglicize the family name. Her character Laverne suffered from claustrophobia, loved to mix milk and Pepsi for a drink and enjoyed sandwiches made of peanut butter and sauerkraut on raisin bread. In high school Laverne's nickname was "Dufus' DeFazio." See also - "Muffin" 

    The $64,000 Question - The popular game show THE $64,000 QUESTION/CBS/1955-58 (and its spinoff THE $64,000 CHALLENGE/CBS/1956-58) gave away a possible prize of $64,000 if the contestants (experts in a variety of subject categories) could answer a series of difficult questions. The first four questions were fed to the show's Quizmaster (Hal March) via an IBM computer. The next level of questions were brought on stage by Ben Feit, an executive for Manufacturers Trust who announced to the audience "All questions come from the locked vault of Manufacturers Trust who guarantees that only authorized members of the bank have the keys and combinations of the vault...and except for the editors, no one has seen these questions...not even myself" Once Jack Benny, a reputed cheapskate, was on the program with the category of music. When he won $64.00, he promptly quit. The series was based on the CBS radio program THE $64.00 QUESTION that aired in the 1940s. See also  CENSORSHIP, PROTESTS & SCANDALS - "Quiz Show Scandals" 

    Soupy Sales - According to a January 1965 report in The New York Times Soupy was temporarily suspended from his television job for jokingly suggesting that his young viewers go to their parent's pocket books/wallets and send him some of "little green pieces of paper" to the WNEW-TV station in New York. His pitch went something like this "Last night was New Year's Eve and I bet Mommy and Daddy are real tired tonight, so tiptoe into their bedroom and get Dad's wallet or Mommy's purse and take out the little green pieces of paper that have the guys with beards on them and send them to me here at Channel 5 in New York, and I'll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico." Unfortunately, an irate mother contacted the station which promptly suspended him on the charge that he was "encouraging kids to steal." However, pressures from popular demand got him reinstated. The prank netted a few dollars (allegedly $80,000, mostly Monopoly money). In retrospect Soupy mused "It was the best thing that ever happened to me...it made me a star." TRIVIA NOTE: Producer Bob Cahn remembered the "Money" incident differently. He states that 1) It was him and not Soupy who was suspended; 2) The $80,000 received was more like two $1 dollar bills and some Monopoly money; 3) The stunt was not unique-Soupy had pulled it before; 4) And the post card was from Buenos Aires, not Puerto Rico. (TV Guide 8/15/98 p. 38) On an episode of cartoon series THE BULLWINKLE SHOW created by Jay Ward, the Bullwinkle Moose character told audience members (a la Soupy Sales' prank) to pull the knobs off their TV sets so that "we'll be sure to be with you next week." Reportedly some 20,000 kids followed his advice. Fortunately, the following week Bullwinkle told the kids to glue the knobs back onto the sets.