Silver Spoons

Returning to an earlier theme of cultural detritus, last night I was flipping through the TV channels and discovered that Nick at Nite was running a “Silver Spoons” marathon. I watched the whole thing — I loved that show, and I hadn’t seen it in maybe 15 years. I used to watch it all the time; it was on Saturday nights at 8:30 on NBC, right after “Diff’rent Strokes.” (This was back when TV still had sitcoms that weren’t about a bunch of urban 20somethings — sitcoms that kids could watch.) Watching the eight-episode marathon last night, I got to see a young Ricky Schroder, as well as guest appearances by Mr. T, Gary Coleman, Menudo, and Whitney Houston. Wow. And one episode, from the later seasons, had 16-year-old Rick shirtless, wearing a towel. He was pretty impressive — smooth, built. Drool.

Another episode featured a young Jason Bateman, who had a recurring role on the series as Ricky’s troublemaking friend Derek Taylor. I always had a thing for Jason Bateman on that show, so this was a treat. And it turns out that he’s back on TV now, in a new CBS sitcom based on the movie “Kiss Me Guido,” and he actually plays the gay character. He’s on the cover of The Advocate this week. I don’t think I have as big a crush on him now as I did as a kid, though.