Famous People: Remembering ‘Garfield Goose’

Anyone who grew up in Chicago in the late 50s or the 60s will remember “Garfield Goose and Friends,” an after-school program featuring puppets and cartoons created by its host Frazier Thomas, says David Fell. Gar was “the goose who thinks he’s king of the United States,” and Thomas was his “Prime Minister.”

“I had forgotten until stumbling across this Web page that one of the characters was Macintosh Mouse,” says Fell. “A photo of the puppet can be seen at the URL.”

Now for more current Mac spottings on TV and in the movies. In the TV business report about e-tailer, Bluelight.com, blue iMacs were all over the place.

George Wagner saw a TV commercial for Allstate Insurance that talked about updating your computer, TV, etc., and recommending that you update your insurance. When they talked about computers, they showed an iMac, says Wagner.

An Apple logo popped up on the Christmas show of Martha Stewart, says Lynn Nixon.

On the Dec. 19 episode of “Gideon’s Crossing,” one of the residents was using a tangerine iBook.

In an episode of “Ed” the other night on NBC, Tom Cavanagh, who plays the main character, voiced his regret for not buying stock in Apple 10 years ago, notes Tim Nerney.

Macs are also “regulars” on such shows as “Dark Angel,” “Just Shoot Me,” “Roswell,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “Boston Public,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “Nash Bridges,” “Friends,” “Freakylinks,” “Sex and the City,” “West Wing,” “Friends,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The X Show,” “The Fugitive,” “Roswell,” “The X-Files,” “The Gilmore Girls,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “King of the Hill,” “Popular,” “Dark Angel,” “Felicity,” “Normal, Ohio,” America’s Funniest Home Videos,” TBN’s “Virtual Memory,” “Queer as Folk,” “Dot Comedy,” “The Powerpuff Girls,” “Thunderstone,” and New Zealand’s “Shortland Street.”

Larry Pausback worked on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s upcoming film, “Collateral Damage.” He says in the State Dept. Control Center, three Cubes hidden under the tables and desks on the set were driving all the computer screens.

“Because we were on a soundstage where the sound department can hear your stomach growl, only the fanless Mac could be used in such a fashion,” Pausback says.

(If you’ve sent us an item for our Famous People column, please be patient. It will appear, but we’ve been swamped with entries. If you know of a famous person using the Mac, send it to Yours Truly at dsellers@maccentral.com. If you want credit for your “Mac spotting,” be sure to include your full name.)