X-Rated Atari 2600 games

It's hard to believe, but I do have a memory of X-rated games made for the Atari 2600. What? X-rated games for that 2600 system, with such blocky graphics, how could you even tell that it's x-rated? Well I first heard of it, as someone in my family that I was visiting told me that some friends of his were coming over with a new Atari 2600 game to show him. As excited as I was about playing the game, I was told that I was too young to play this game. I didn't understand what he meant, as I've played Atari 2600 games, how can I  be too young for this game? I was also told that the game will be played late at night, while you're asleep, and was told not to come out and watch. With the game on my mind all that day, I wondered what kind of game it would be. Late that night, I woke up as I had to go to the bathroom. The room was dark, and after I finished going to the bathroom, I heard some women laughing and  being excited as she  told the other woman next to her to stay away and  that it's hers.  My curiosity got the best of me, so I just stood at a distance in the dark hallway and observed the game without anyone seeing I was there . All I saw was something  that looked like Activision's game Kaboom, as 3 blocky things moved back and forth on the  bottom of the screen, while some thing was moving back and forth on top of the screen dropping something. I had no idea what was going on, and soon went back to bed.
               I remember once seeing a news report on those X-rated games for the 2600, and a lot of women had felt offended and protested against the game. The game shown on the news was Custer's Last stand, as if he successfully makes it safely to a Native American princess on the other side of the screen, he gets to have sex with her. I began to somewhat understand, but was still curious. In my adult years, I found info on those games that I was too young to play as a kid. That  game I first saw was Beat em' and Eat em. And with the description of the game, it was perfectly clear on why it for adults. I also found out of other x-rated games made for the 2600, and after looking at the sample screen shot of the game, it was very hard to  tell what was going on with the blocky graphics. Go figure, but it was a major breakthrough and a desperate attempt to come up with a new game to continue the sales of the 2600 as it was close to the video game crash. I've heard that within one of the games, the designer was drunk when he came up with the concept.

Mary and Mark Ritts Puppets

Mary and Mark Ritts were puppeteers and came up with some very unique puppet friends that had entertained children for decades. One of their first tv series in the 1950's, was a show called "In the Park."  A guy goes for a walk in the park and has fun conversations with Mark Ritt's Puppet friends, such as Magnolia the Ostrich, Sir Jefforey the Giraffe, etc. This was way before my time, however it wasn't until the 1970's, when I was in elementary school, that  a film was shown in the classroom featuring Mark's Puppets.  I'm pretty sure it was live action, as it took place in the park and in color, and featured an assortment of Mark Ritt's animal puppets. the movie was titled "For the Love of Fred." Whom was a caterpillar friend of the animal puppets, and they took very good care of him and got amazed when he turned into a butterfly. I never saw that film much since, but strongly remember  seeing the Ritt's puppets on Saturday mornings in various commercials for kids in the 1970's from the Better Business Bureau. They were short live action clips teaching kids the importance of saving power, energy, eating right, and saving and spending your money wisely. They added another puppet character for their commercials which was Abominable, a friendly snow monster. I started to think that I was crazy for remembering these things, and spent years searching the internet for anything about Mark Ritts puppets.
           Turns out, the commercials are all on Youtube, various press photos of the puppets are sold on Ebay, and I even once saw a Mark Ritts coloring book being sold. With all the merchandising, you figure that may have been tied into these characters, I looked for books, saw records, and continue searching for more. A website I came across offered a DVD transferr of a live action movie called "Puppets are Creepy", and even included a copy of the 1970's in the park live action movie featuring Mark Ritts Puppets. I also remember reading that this movie had once aired on NBC as part of a childrens film festival type of tv show, as they showed children's movies. To this day, sadly both Mark and Mary Ritts have passed on, and their work is still nostalgic and talked about on Tv Party.com There are no plans to release the For the Love of Fred movie onto DVD or other Mark Ritts works, except for his last work in the tv series Beakman's World. Other than that nothing. But it was my childhood memory and I wanted to see that movie again, but I can't as it's only available a movie and probably can only be purchased or rented by a school. Kids these days are so lucky, as for the tv shows they remember seeing as a kid, and no longer air, they can easily go and get it on DVD.