Hollywood Squares is an American television game in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The board for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions by the host and the contestants judge the truth of their answers to gain squares in the correct pattern to win the game. The original version of Hollywood Squares aired on NBC from 1966 to 1980.
I watched an old clip from an episode the other day. Comedian, Joan Rivers, was asked, “In which sport do balls travel the fastest?” Her reply was a bit off color, but funny. She said, “Jogging.” I cracked up.
Her response reminded me of the University of Michigan’s naked mile. This mile was run on the University of Michigan’s campus for several years. Some students from Addison ran in it, and some drove to Ann Arbor to witness it. I just heard about it.
The rules were simple. Take off your clothes and run a predetermined one-mile course. I’m not sure if you had to sign up or just show up. I’m told some of the runners used Saran Wrap to help reduce “floppage”. That sounded like a reasonable safety precaution to me. U of M’s students have a reputation for being some of the brightest in the land, so safety first seems to be a good plan.
That’s all I really know about the run. I did “google” it and found this news coverage from 1999. As we approach the end of the year, we can all use a smile.
University of Michigan Naked Mile News Coverage (4/20/99) – YouTube