Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The Screamin' Delta Demon Screams Again! 'Memories of Opryland' on NPT 7 p.m. Sunday
Posted by Jim Ridley on Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 5:00 AM
If, like me, you wasted at least part of every Middle Tennessee summer waiting in line for Chaos, the Hangman, the Wabash Cannonball or the Flume Zoom, plonk yourself down in front of the tube Sunday night for Memories of Opryland, the latest in NPT-Channel 8's money-minting exercises in local nostalgia.
Opryland USA, Nashville's much-missed amusement park, may have closed in 1997 after 25 years. (This timeline brings back lots of memories.) But for the duration of this special, thanks to home movies, archival footage and interviews, the Six Flags of country music is once again up and running. Thrill once more to "I Hear America Singing!" Feel the whitewater of the Grizzly River Rampage rise again to douse your shorts! Hang on again for dear life as the Tin Lizzies roar past at 10 mph!
The clip above isn't part of the show, as far as I know, but it made my high-school years flash before my eyes. I'll have to alert the friend of mine who got a summer job inside the park's Mr. Peanut costume. The costume reeked of vomit and sweat, and my friend spent one day in 100-degree heat staggering dizzily through the park while little kids ran up and socked him in the groin.
Memories of Opryland airs 7-8:30 p.m. Sunday on NPT, followed by the special Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison.
Comments (7)
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The Flume Zoom was the best. It combined the best elements of a luge and a wet T-shirt contest.
Even though it was considered kind of a kiddie ride, I went every summer on that ride with the swings suspended in mid-air. I think it was called the Tennessee Waltz.
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I worked at Opryland for 20 years and I cannot wait to see this special. Lots of fond memories of the old park and especially for some of the people that worked there. Still keep in touch with many of them. Went to the first Opryland Theme Park reunion a few years ago and it was a blast.
I don't know about Mr. Peanut, but back in '86 I worked the Count Chocula beat, along with friends who donned the costumes of the Trix rabbit, the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee and FrankenBerry - which only makes sense when you realize that the kid's play zone was sponsored by General Mills. The description of the heat (and random shots to the groin) is dead on. Easily the most memorable job I've ever had.
The big thrill when I was a middle-schooler was commandeering a Tin Lizzie and ramming the car in front of you. As I recall, ramming speed was about half as fast as your average lawnmower.
Wonder if the documentary has any pics of Scarface co-star Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who had one of her first steady gigs performing on the Opryland Show Boat.
I don't suppose there's any way for those of us outside Nashville to catch this? The Demon was by far the best ride at Opryland....
I thought the special was very well done- really made me miss the park. It would have been cool if they could have listed some of the other famous people who worked there (Cynthia Rhodes, Lonestar, etc.) Also, it would have been interestng if they could have talked about the day that Paul and Linda McCartney and kids were there (also it was the last day Dolly and Porter ever performed together).
Well done!
