Mr. Universe Goes a-Courtin

Though I was too young to understand it then, this is what first lit the fuse of muscle appreciation for me, specifically when he pulls off his and hits that double-bi. I doubt I’m the only one who had never seen such a sight prior to this. I watched this several years after it initially aired, but even then, development like this was shocking, and it remained the pinnacle of muscle on TV until Arnold became ubiquitous in the late 70s.

Not long after watching this, I commenced reading comics. One day, I opened a new issue of Iron Man (?) and discovered a full-page Weider ad on the inside cover, with a pic of Draper’s huge biceps at the top and 4 smaller pics of equally awesome guys alongside it. That ad, appended here with another featuring Draper, drew me back again and again. I soon memorized the guys’ touted measurements, daydreaming about their superhuman bodies, while keeping my growing fascination secret. Once puberty struck, I ‘graduated’ to actual muscle mags, but this brief TV moment was the ‘gateway drug’ that ensnared me for life.