This past weekend I practically overdosed on nostalgia. Two television programs from my formative years made an appearance.

The first had me wondering – why are there so many songs about rainbows?

Guesses anyone?

Yes, for those of us a certain age, that would be the opening lyric to The Rainbow Connection sung by the loveable Muppets.

Friday night, I decided to watch the 2011 movie – The Muppets. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s about about three fans who help the Muppets try and save their old theater from a greedy oil tycoon (played fiendishly by Chris Cooper). As expected, it was a pleasant combination of drama, humor and songs. I loved it and immediately watched it again with my hubby.

Back in the day, I watched The Muppet Show every week and it was really nice to remember how different life was back in the late seventies and early eighties. And while I have never completely watched the original Muppet movie, I still got all teary when Kermit sang The Rainbow Connection.

The other program that ate up most of my Sunday was the mini-series Shogun. Anyone remember it? I sure do. And I’ve watched it in re-runs before, however, Encore actually showed scenes that I know were never aired in the States back in September 1980.

For example, I know that there was no nudity or serious curse words (like the F-word!!). And there are scenes from the book that were filmed but never shown – like the entire love story between Kiku and Omi. So in some ways it was like discovering the series all over again.

But the best moment for me was when younger son flopped onto the couch next to me, watched Richard Chamberlain for a moment then asked, “Is that Chuck Norris?”

Seriously, sometimes you can’t make this stuff up!