# “Beach Blanket Bingo” Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 21, 2020, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090 "2020-11-21T01:55:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/1 "2020-11-21T01:55:55Z")
My daughters were discussing “Teen Beach Movie,” which was a Disney Channel movie popular with kids a few years back. I joined the discussion but accidentally said something like “Teen Beach Blanket Bingo,” causing them to laugh uproariously. I explained to them that there really was a movie called “Beach Blanket Bingo,” though I had never seen it because it was way before my time. “They played Bingo at the beach?” one daughter asked. And…I had no idea. So now that’s my question: What exactly IS Beach Blanket Bingo? Is it a real game? Or is the title meaningless? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/2 "2020-11-21T02:09:53Z")
There’s no game. The title refers to the wacky antics of the characters. Not really all that wacky or antic, just what passed for that in the remnants of 50s culture being parodied there. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/3 "2020-11-21T02:12:53Z")
I think it’s something in-between. Bingo is a game with a jumble of numbers, and you are trying to score a match. In a very loosely metaphorical sense, in a beach party movie, there’s a sort of “game” with a jumble of characters, who are trying to score a match with each other, while the audience is playing along, anticipating and/or rooting for particular matches. And it’s an alliterative title that’s just kind of goofy and fun to say, much like the movie is supposed to be just kind of goofy and fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/4 "2020-11-21T02:15:24Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > I think it’s something in-between. Bingo is a game with a jumble of numbers, and you are trying to score a match. In a very loosely metaphorical sense, in a beach party movie, there’s a sort of “game” with a jumble of characters, who are trying to score a match with each other… Which was alluded to in the very first movie, with Professor Sutwell observing surfers’ mating rituals. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/5 "2020-11-21T02:23:15Z")
To the extent that there is a “game,” it is described thus in the opening song: > Take a blanket, made for two now. > Add a boy and a girl. > That’s a game for me and you now. > Yeah, let’s give it a whirl. I think that explains everything. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/6 "2020-11-21T02:50:17Z")
Surfing culture was '50s? 🤨 I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/7 "2020-11-21T03:05:08Z")
🤨 Back atcha. See, for example, a “Life” photo essay on surf culture from 1950: > **['Life' explores surf culture in 1950](https://www.timesunion.com/sports/slideshow/Life-explores-surf-culture-in-1950-60125.php)** > > Surfing LIFE magazine explores surf culture in Southern California in the 1950s. Surfing culture is now much more associated with the 1960s, but it was definitely there in the '50s. The beach party movies of the 1960s were something of a mix of exploitation, celebration, and parody of the intersection between a romanticized version of wholesome '50s teen culture and a romanticized version of the emerging California surfing culture. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/8 "2020-11-21T04:32:29Z")
It’s Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, and includes the character Eric von Zipper. Don’t put too much though into it. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/9 "2020-11-21T04:51:34Z")
Have to add this, there are nice “official” _Beach Party_ movies and _Beach Blanket Bingo_ was #5 in the series. [Beach party film - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_party_film) I say “official” because of the twelve American International Picture (AIP) movies, both Frankie and Annette appeared in only nine and I’m sure I’ve seen all twelve movies because they were frequent afternoon fair and my sisters would always watch them for _sigh_…Frankieeeeeee! I liked watching them for Von Zipper and the Rats! Oh…and Von Zipper gave an new meaning to “The Finger!” [How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (4/9) Movie CLIP - Gave Himself the Finger (1965) HD - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61_aprVh2FQ) Frankie and Annette were always the “good couple”. Though I vaguely recall Frankie playing a dual bad guy role, I think to fool Annette in one the movies. Annette of course needing to the the good girl because she was a former Mouseketeer! Beyond the twelve AIP releases, as the Wiki states, there are numerous knock-off movies. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/10 "2020-11-21T05:53:46Z")
I suppose you’ve never heard of [Kathy Kohner Zuckerman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Kohner-Zuckerman). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/11 "2020-11-21T07:07:40Z")
Gidget was Jewish? I would have been a lot more interested if I had known that. Or maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/12 "2020-11-21T08:43:11Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > I liked watching them for Von Zipper and the Rats! Oh…and Von Zipper gave an new meaning to “The Finger!” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61\_aprVh2FQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61_aprVh2FQ) Me too. Well, I did when I was a kid and they came on the UHF station on the weekends. I remember Frankie playing himself and a British musician/drag racer called The Potato Bug. Silly but fun movies. I should watch one again. A few months back I watched [Back to the Beach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Beach), a mid-80’s sequel, and I enjoyed it for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/13 "2020-11-21T08:45:39Z")
Potato Bug! That’s the character I was thinking about! And he wasn’t really a bad guy was he? ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/14 "2020-11-21T09:09:50Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > What exactly IS Beach Blanket Bingo? Perfectly explained in the opening credits: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9ngTd7SPFCw/hqdefault.jpg "BEACH BLANKET BINGO (1965) R.I.P. ANNETTE FUNICELLO") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ngTd7SPFCw) ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/15 "2020-11-21T11:22:14Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > Potato Bug! That’s the character I was thinking about! And he wasn’t really a bad guy was he? No, he wasn’t. All the girls (including Annette) thought the Potato Bug was the next coming of The Beatles, and because of this Frankie hated him. Eventually they made peace and The Bug turned out to be a decent guy. I’m gonna watch _Beach Party_ this weekend. I might watch more, depending on how that goes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/16 "2020-11-21T15:41:56Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Eventually they made peace and The Bug turned out to be a decent guy. The Bug’s Girl Friday was pretty hot, too. She wielded a mean boot. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/17 "2020-11-21T15:54:48Z")
The title, like the whole series of films, was a way to present a wholesome teenage lifestyle, while still maintaining a subtext of what teenagers (and those who like movies about teenagers) really care about: Sex. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/18 "2020-11-21T16:55:15Z")
Back to the Beach! How could that list leave out Back to the Beach?! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/19 "2020-11-21T17:03:37Z")
No discussion of beach movies would be complete without a reference to Skeet Surfing! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OoDYjJ2jmHc/hqdefault.jpg "Top Secret - Soundtrack - Skeet surfing - cancion completa") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoDYjJ2jmHc) Which all satire aside, still very clearly shows the point of all beach movies: > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The title, like the whole series of films, was a way to present a wholesome teenage lifestyle, while still maintaining a subtext of what teenagers (and those who like movies about teenagers) really care about: Sex. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090/20 "2020-11-21T17:54:34Z")
My favorite part of that movie was Bob Denver’s cameo as The Bartender: > **[Back to the Beach (1987) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092608/characters/nm0001134)** > > Back to the Beach (1987) Bob Denver as Bartender [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beach-blanket-bingo-question/926090.md?page=2)