Gadabout Gaddis  See - "The Flying Fisherman"

Gadget - Nickname of street orphan Gertrude Modesto (Sarah Campbell) on the sci-fi series ROBOCOP: THE SERIES/SYN/1994-95. Gadget spent most of her time hanging out at the Metro South Precinct in Delta City, the home of futuristic police officer, Robocop (Richard Eden). She was later adopted by Sgt. Stanley Parks (Blu Mankuma).

Gadget Man, The - The celebrity nickname of Stan Kahn (a.k.a. "The Gadget Man"), the premiere wizard of junk and paraphernalia who appeared on a number of talk shows hawking all sorts of strange gadgetry like antique vacuum cleaners. Discovered by Phyllis Diller, Stan Kahn was seen on such shows as THE TONIGHT SHOW, THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW, THE MERV GRIFFIN SHOW and DINAH. Stan's nervous stuttering heightened his fidgety performance.

Galloping Gourmet, The - The showbiz nickname of Graham Kerr, a celebrated cooking expert who hosted his own syndicated program THE GALLOPING GOURMET/SYN/1968-71 produced by his wife Treena Kerr at CJOH-TV in Ottawa, Canada. He especially liked drinking wine and was often seen "sipping the grape" in between recipe steps. In 1974 Kerr experienced a spiritual conversion, abandoned his television career, and liquidated much of his wealth (mansions, yachts and cars) to create projects designed to help the world's needy. In the 1990s Kerr returned to TV and taped 39 segments of GRAHAM KERR/SYN/1990, a new half-hour food series which stressed the use of more healthful foods-less salt, fat and meat in the diet. The Graham's live in Tacoma, Washington. TRIVIA NOTE: On the sitcom ARNIE/CBS/1970-72 Charles Nelson Reilly played Arnie Nuvo's neighbor, Randy Robinson, a gourmet cook who hosted his own TV program called "The Giddyap Gourmet," an obvious parody of the real Galloping Gourmet.

Garry Moore - In 1940 Thomas Garrison Morfit host of the radio show CLUB MATINEE decided to change his name. He offered a fifty dollar prize and a trip to Chicago to any listener who could suggest the right stage name for him. A housewife from Pittsburgh won the contest with her submission of "Garry Moore." Mr. Moore was the star of a successful variety program THE GARRY MOORE SHOW/CBS/1958-67, a program which first brought comedienne Carol Burnett to national attention (1959-62).

Gene-Gene, the Dancing Machine - The talent show spoof THE GONG SHOW/SYN/1976-80 featured the occasional appearance of Gene Patton, a beefy black stagehand affectionately known as Gene Gene, the Dancing Machine. Gene earned his nickname from the dance he performed which looked like someone doing the twist and walking like an old man. When Gene wiggled onto the stage, the audience and celebrity panel gave him a rousing applause.

George Burns - Costar of the classic sitcom THE GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN SHOW/CBS/1950-58, George Burns related the origins of his stage name on a interview segment of ENTERTAINMENT THIS WEEK (1/19/86). As a child George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum on 1/20/1896) played with a young kid whose last name was Burns. One of the things they did together was to follow after the coal truck and pick up pieces of coal that fell on the ground. Because the two boys were constantly seen together the neighbors began to say "There go the Burns brothers." Burns, then took his first name from his older brother Isodore who was called "George." Since everyone liked and emulated him, all five brothers called themselves George. George Burns died on March 9, 1996 of old age.

George Francisco - Name bestowed upon a Tenctonese alien named Neemo a.k.a. Stangya Soren'tzah (Eric Pierpoint) when he first came to Earth on the sci-fi series ALIEN NATION: THE SERIES/FOX/1989-91. George Francisco worked with Earth detective Matthew Sikes (Gary Graham) in the little Tencton section of Los Angeles. Together they handled all the problems arising from the assimilation of the 250,000 Tenctonese aliens, who had landed in the Mojave desert in the year 1990. In the 1988 movie Alien Nation that inspired the TV series, Neemo was given the name "Sam" Francisco by the processing authorities who handled all the incoming aliens (Newcomers).

Gertrude  See - "Sam"

Gidget - On the sitcom GIDGET/ABC/1965-66 Sally Field starred as a boy-crazy, surfing teenager Frances "Gidget" Lawrence. Her nickname was derived from movie Gidget (1959) starring Sandra Dee where Gidget meant a "girl" who was five feet two inches...not really tall, but yet not a "midget." An updated version of this series called THE NEW GIDGET/SYN/1986-88 starred Caryn Richman as a grown up and married Gidget who now had to contend with her teenage niece. Oh, how the tide turns. The Gidget character was actually born in 1957 when novelist Frederick Kohner wrote a book about his own daughter Kathy, who really was nicknamed "Gidget." Motion pictures based on Gidget include Gidget (1959) with Sandra Dee; Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) with Deborah Walley; Gidget Goes To Rome (1962) with Cindy Carol; Gidget Grows Up (1970) with Karen Valentine; and Gidget Gets Married (1972) with Monie Ellis. TRIVIA NOTE: Actress Sally Field was nicknamed "Doodles" in her younger days.

Girl in the Cage, The - Dancing and wriggling atop a raised platform "the girl in the cage," appeared as a regular dancer on the popular rock 'n' roll music show HULLABALOO/NBC/1965-66. The very agile Lada Edmund, Jr. was the girl behind bars who was in a constant stage of "Frugging." The show also featured the Hullabaloo dancers, a group of six female and four male dancers. TRIVIA NOTE: On the sitcom TAXI/ABC/NBC/1978-83 Louis De Palma (Danny DeVito), a nasty taxi cab dispatcher worked in an elevated office cubical called "the Cage."

Girl with the Upside-Down Eyes, The - Because of her unusual looking eyes, British actress Glynis Johns was billed as "The Girl with the Upside-Down Eyes" early in her career. Ms. Johns starred in the television sitcoms GLYNIS/CBS/1963 as Glynis Granville, a novelist and amateur detective; and COMING OF AGE/CBS/1988-89 where she played Trudie Pepper, a senior citizen living with her husband in an Arizona retirement community.

Gladys Ormphby - On the comedy variety series ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN/NBC/1968-73, comedienne Ruth Buzzi created a frumpy, unattractive old maid character known as Gladys Ormphby who wore a hair net and sweater. When Gladys sat on a bench in the park she was usually approached by an elderly white haired dirty old man with a mustache named Tyrone (Arte Johnson) who dressed in a long overcoat, bowler hat and carried a cane. When he asked her a question or offered her something (usually a piece of walnetto candy) she smashed him over the head with her purse for being so fresh. A typical encounter would go something like this:

Tyrone: Would you call my face ruggedly handsome?
Gladys: [Gladys bashes him over the head with purse]
Tyrone: Would you call my body sensuously attractive?
Gladys: [Again Gladys hits him with her purse]
Tyrone: Would you call my next of kin? [Tyrone falls off bench]

Both Gladys and Tyrone later appeared on the Saturday morning animated series BAGGY PANTS AND THE NITWITS/NBC/1977-79, where Tyrone was a semi-retired superhero.

Glea Girls, The - A group of 16 beautiful young female models on the comedy variety program THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW/CBS/1952-70. During the 1956-1970 seasons, the Glea Girls were used as attractive ornaments to catch the attention of the viewing audience and to introduce various comedy sketches.

Goddess of Love, The - The self-proclaimed title of Serena the witch, the beautiful yet devious cousin of Samantha Stephens, a witch on the sitcom BEWITCHED/ABC/1964-72. Elizabeth Montgomery played both roles of Serena and Samantha.

Godfather of Soul, The - The showbiz nickname of James Brown, veteran rock/soul singer also known as "the hardest working man in showbusiness." Over the years James Brown has acted on the police drama MIAMI VICE/NBC/1984-89; hosted the musical variety show IT'S SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO/SYN/1987+; appeared on vintage musical snippets on DICK CLARK'S GOLDEN GREATS/SYN/1988-89; talked about his career on THE DAVID FROST SHOW/SYN/1969-72; and performed at the half-time show of SUPERBOWL XXXI in 1997. Perhaps his most memorable performance was the final episode of the sitcom AMEN/NBC/1986-91 where he performed his classic "I Feel Good" on a telethon to raise money to save The First Community Church in Philadelphia. His upbeat antics brought on the labor and delivery of Deacon Frye's (Sherman Hemsley) pregnant daughter, Thelma (Anna Maria Horsford). The soulful James Brown once revealed his secret of success in an interview for Musician magazine (4/86) when he said "Back when everybody was listening to soaps-suds songs and jingles, I emphasized the beat, not the melody, understand? Heat the beat, and the rest'll turn sweet."

Golden Girls, The - The term used to describe females over the age of 50 years. According to a report (at the time) from the National Commission on Working Women, the over fifty crowd now make up 20% of all women on television. The sitcom THE GOLDEN GIRLS/NBC/1985-92 featured Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty as a group of mature, single "Golden Girls" sharing a house in Miami, Florida.

Golddiggers, The - The collective name for a troupe of beautiful dancers introduced in 1967 on the comedy variety THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW/NBC/1965-74; and who appeared on the summer replacement series DEAN MARTIN PRESENTS THE GOLDDIGGERS/NBC/1968-73 and the spin-off THE GOLDDIGGERS/SYN/1971. These long, lean kicking machines (The Golddiggers) consisted of a group of ten to twelve dancers. Four of the Golddiggers later became known as The Ding-a-Ling Sisters during the 1970-73 seasons.

TRIVIA NOTE: In the 1930s, Warner Brothers produced a series of "Gold Digger" musicals based on Avery Hopwood's 1919 play. The movies (which featured spectacular stage numbers and choreography by Busby Berkeley) included The Gold Diggers (1923), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), The Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), The Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) The Gold Diggers of 1937 (1937), and Gold Diggers in Paris (1938). See also - "Classic TV Babes"

Goldilock - Radio code name used by prisoners in a WWII German POW camp to communicate with the Allied underground resistance fighters on the military comedy HOGAN'S HEROES/CBS/1965-71. "Mama Bear" was the code name for their submarine contact. "Papa Bear" and "Red Fox" were used to identify American Colonel Robert Hogan (Bob Crane) one of many POWs at Stalag 13, a security compound which was in reality controlled by its prisoners.

Gooch, The - On the situation comedy DIFF'RENT STROKES/NBC/ABC/1978-86 Arnold Jackson (Gary Coleman), an eight-year old black boy was always picked on by a school bully (never-seen), no matter what grammar school he attended. Arnold referred to his tormentor as "The Gooch."

Googie  See - ""The Smartest Dumbbell in History of Show Business" 

Gopher - Nickname of Yeoman-Purser Burl "Gopher" Smith (Fred Grandy) one of the friendly cruise line workers on the ocean-going romance comedy THE LOVE BOAT/ABC/1977-1986.

Gorgeous George - In the early 1950s, television wrestling programs were very popular and sometimes outrageous. One of its famous wrestling figures was "Gorgeous George," a beefy blond wrestler who wore his hair in rollers and had his his valet Jeffries spray the ring with Chanel No. 5 perfume before he entered it. When a female in the audience reached out her hand to George, he usually kissed his own hand rather than the lady's. Called "Sensation of the Nation!" "Toast of the Coast!" George referred to the fans in the crowds as "Peasants!" but he liked to be called "The Human Orchid." Born George Raymond Wagner in 1915 Gorgeous George died at the age of 48 on December 25, 1963. See also - "Hatpin Mary" 

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