We shall lend our neigbors a helping hand, we shall lend them two helping hands, then we shall help ourselves to our neighbors

A lot of people ask me what does "quitstalin" mean. So today, I'm going to tell you all outright. For a background, Stalin was a ruthless dictator over the Soviet Union during the years of the second World War. By pretending to be buddies with Lenin, he was able to take over after his death. So, quitstalin is an abbreviation of "Quit Stalin, Start Russian" (or as I like to say: Q.S.S.R.). This comes from an old Three Stooges bit. To start out, Moe says that famous line, "Study this map carefully." After a long pause as the camera shows the map of silly/clever/sometimes so corny you could eat it countries and bodies of water, Moe tells Larry, "You, I shall give Mikey Finlen. Larry responds, "If I take Mikey Finlen, I better be Russian." Curly adds, "Then, quit Stalin." (It's a lot more funny if you watch it.) It's a play on the words: Stalling/Stalin and Rushing/Russian. The Three Stooges were the first to dare take shots at Hitler and the Germans in the short: "You Nazty Spy"; even before Charlie Chaplin's "Great Dictator." Moe played dictator of Moronica, Curly was the field marshal, and Larry was the Minister of Propaganda. These shorts, among others, were thought to be so politically incorrect that they were banned from being shown. It isn't until now, that they have been shown either censored or in their entirety. I definitely recommend checking out these shorts, especially "You Nazty Spy" and "I'll Never Heil Again" even if You don't like The Three Stooges. They are beautifully done satires of current events (at the time, of course) and will certainly be enjoyed by anyone studying Hitler or WWII. They're hilarious lol.

Another story behind quitstalin is a little more out there. "Quit Stalin" or quit on Stalin, means get rid of Stalin/stop following him, and "Start Russian" means get rid of the spreading Communism that was the U.S.S.R. and bring back good old Russia. You take your pick at which one you like better.

Both shorts can be found on Google Video in glorious black and white

If you want to see the intro to Johnson & Friends, go here:

http://www.retrojunk.com/details_tvshows/1236-johnson-and-friends/

The show is set in Michael's bedroom - Michael is a boy like any other but when Michael leaves his bedroom his toys come to life. Each episode focuses on the adventures, mischief and fun of the toys when they are alone.

The toys are: Johnson, Michael's oldest toy, a pink stuffed elephant; McDuff, a blue and yellow accordion; Diesel, a red toy truck; Alfred, a green water bottle; Squeaky, a black and red robot; and Victoria the dinosaur.

 I was filling out my profile stuff, and I came across the television section. It got me thinking about my carefree childhood watching children shows. There were the usuals: Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, and Barney, but then there was some other, lesser known ones. They were also the ones I enjoyed more. I was just wondering if anyone else remembered them.

Bananas In Pajamas is the one people remember the most. It was two bananas (B1, B2) who wore pajamas and interacted with teddy bears.

Big Comfy Couch was about a girl who had a giant couch. She would always pull stuff out of the cracks in the seat cushion.Johnson & Friends was a precursor to Toy Story. It had a stuffed elefant, a robot, and some others. It also included my favorite character- the green hot water bottle. Whenever he would walk he would make that swooshing/wiggling sound.

Here are two Bananas In Pajamas theme songs. The second is the original, the first is an extended version: