Stick Stickly — Where is he now? Really, I’d like to know.
Stick Stickly, was arguably one of the most influential television hosts of the ’90s. But our beloved Stickly disappeared from the air in 1998 and has only been seen sparingly over the years. Every time I see a popsicle stick with eyes I think of Stick and sob into my handkerchief. Does he have a family now? Did he find happiness? Did he ever grow hair?
He was thought to be spotted at the International Balloon festival in 2003 but initial reports were unclear and it actually ended up being a lollipop.
Again, in 2006, our hopes were up. Fans reported a sighting in a tourist shop in Denver but it turned out the sighting was just a lemongrass incense stick.
In a coffeeshop in Italy, on a boat rowing down the Mississippi river, at a Foot Locker at the Mall of America…these are just a few of the thousands of places people have reportedly seen Stick during the years.
Recently, a few promising leads came out of Oregon about a stick called Rick Rickly. We have reason to believe Stick may be going by the pseudonym “Rick Rickly” and might be in a motorcycle gang. But again, this is all just speculation. An age progressed missing poster was released:
But, we have not had any more leads.
I remember the first time I saw Stick. It was the summer of ’94. It was a blistering hot June afternoon. It was so hot out the grass blades would light your fingers on fire if you touched it. Yeah, that kind of heat. I stayed inside to avoid scorching to dust and there he was on daytime television. I was quickly enamored with his sophisticated sense of humor and his blasting wit. He was an unhinged cowboy alright. I would never look at popsicle sticks the same… Here I go getting all sentimental.
I pressed Nick in the Afternoon for answers but all my telegrams went unread. Did the pressure of daytime television make Stick finally crack? He had the talent that killed. Did his talent get him killed? Did someone try to take Stick out and silence him forever? Is this Rick Rickly character really Stick?
Maybe, the real Stick Stickly, doesn’t want to be found. Maybe he wants to live out the remainder of his life like a burned out star in the sky. If this is the reason, I’ll respect his privacy but, in the meantime, I’ll be gluing googly eyes and a jellybean nose to my popsicle sticks as a tribute to the greatest television host of all time.
Just remember Stick, or Rick, if you’re out there, you made daytime television watchable.
