NOTE: For those of you looking for a nice long read on this holiday...well, this is long, at least. This is a piece I wrote for ClassicFlix in 2014. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas, everyone!
Even though the 'holiday shopping season' now begins right after Halloween, it flies by more quickly each year. I loved all the Christmas episodes and specials on television as a kid, but they somehow made the wait even more agonizing. Today it's all a blur, but at least with DVD I can slow down and get a dose of yuletide cheer whenever I need it.
Let's examine some of the best Christmas episodes of the classic television era, a simpler time when the medium focused more on telling entertaining, heartwarming stories than shoving us all into stores to buy stuff. Incidentally, did I mention that most of these programs are available here at ClassicFlix and make great stocking stuffers?
The Dick Van Dyke Show , 'Alan Brady Presents': It's no surprise that one of the classiest sitcoms of all time delivers a classy Christmas episode. I love the premise: Mel Cooley convinces his brother-in-law/boss Alan Brady that it would be nice holiday gifts to let the talented people who work on his show perform on it. We're not talking about shuffling them in front of a camera to hum 'Silent Night.' No, Alan hands the entire show over to his writers and their families.
Apparently the only people who work on the show are Rob, Buddy, Sally, and Mel, who just happen to be The Dick Van Dyke Show regulars, and the only family members talented enough to participate happen to be Rob's wife Laura and son Richie. Can't they find a key grip that can carry a tune? Doesn't the show have a costume designer, a lighting technician, ANYONE else who'd like to be on camera?
Other than poor Rich's rendition of 'The Little Drummer Boy,' (it's sweet, but maybe they should have just let him do that old standby, a 'dramatic reading' of ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'), all of the segments are great entertainment, showcasing the gang's talents while keeping them in character. Rose Marie's solo number as Sally includes a Jimmy Durante reference. Rob's duet with Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) includes a nod to Van Dyke's Stan Laurel impersonation. In another fun routine, Rob conducts a vocal rendition of a special holiday song lauding the boss. The only negative I can say about 'Alan Brady Presents' is that when you hear the cast sing 'Al-an Bra-a-dy,' it'll be in your head until St. Patrick's Day.
Adam-12, 'Log 122 Christmas -- The Yellow Dump Truck': We move from the mean streets of New Rochelle to sunny Los Angeles. If you think snow is a prerequisite for Christmas cheer, this might not seem like your thing, but I assure you there is plenty of joy to go around.
Officers Malloy and Reed are delivering bags of goodies to underprivileged households in the community. One child named Harvey Ward just has to have a yellow dump truck. So, of course, the policemen embark on a thrill-packed journey through the streets while tracking the coveted toy, pressuring informants, storming suspected contraband toy warehouses, and roughing up toy smugglers along the way!
Well, actually, no, Malloy just walks into a store and buys the truck, but there is some suspense when someone steals Mrs. Ward's car with the truck still in the back. Finding the criminal isn't the problem, but if the truck is considered evidence, it will be impounded until after Christmas Day. The struggle to free the toy for Harvey is a triumph over the department's true number one enemy: bureaucratic regulations.
Also in 'Log 122' is a domestic dispute between the Buehlers (Bob Hastings and Eunice Christopher) over money. Mr. Buehler urges Mrs. Buehler to be thrifty, but when she orders a chicken for holiday dinner, she discovers he already got 'one of those special hams you have to send away for--.00, .25 a pound!' Her husband fires back that they'll 'get 5 meals out of that ham!' She then reveals something that might well get him carted off to the slammer: 'He's been soaking a fruitcake in brandy since Thanksgiving!'
The officers diffuse the situation and help the couple rekindle their love, but I fear tensions will only resurface next week when Mr. Buehler splurges on Chinese takeout for New Year's Eve. As someone who has long been immune to the charms of turkey dinners, I appreciate the bold stance executive producer Jack Webb takes by allowing Adam-12 to suggest ham and chicken are legitimate alternatives.
Dr. Kildare, 'Season to Be Jolly': On Christmas Eve, the young doctors are hanging decorations in Blair General Hospital at the behest of the public relations department. They're singing, laughing, and generally being festive when chief of staff Dr. Gillespie comes in and barks, 'What is with all this hooliganism?' They're lucky they weren't doing something really delinquent, like marbles or mumblety-peg.
Soon after, a broken-down, alcoholic department store Santa (Dan O'Herlihy) arrives in bad shape and gives Kildare a series of sarcastic responses to routine questions. Gillespie sees this, and all of the sudden he's Mr. Merry, enjoying the give and take and chuckling at the provocation of his young intern. Moments like this must make Kildare wish he had signed up for law school.
Of course, even casual viewers of Dr. Kildare know that Gillespie's heart is not two sizes too small, and that's evident when the veteran doc explores the patient's background to try to understand him. The remarkable thing about 'Season to Be Jolly' from a modern perspective is 1961 television's acceptance of religion. There is a good deal of basic theological discussion as we learn how this Santa became so troubled. You don't see this kind of casual, unironic discussion of spirituality in today's shows. It's tastefully done, in my opinion, sincere and sort of broadly Christian. I can't imagine anybody being offended by the episode, unless it's a female viewer lamenting that the shirtless doctor in the opening scene is Ken Berry and not series star Richard Chamberlain.
The Christmas spirit is strong at Blair General, and a rousing version of 'Joy to the World' is sure to win over any would-be Scrooges by the end, but it's hardly necessary. The series' theme song, 'Three Stars Will Shine Tonight,' is itself a stirring piece of music. When you hear that during the credits as you watch stills from this touching episode, well, you may be 'wiping the glitter out of your eyes' like I was.
Dennis the Menace, 'The Christmas Horse': While Dr. Kildare shows us Christmas as we want it to be, we turn to another classic show to show us Christmas as it really is. Yes, consider the gritty reality of this second-season installment of the adventures of Dennis Mitchell.
It begins with Dennis, after striking out with pleas for a BB gun and a loud siren, asking a department store Santa for the one thing he wants 'more than anything else in the world,' a horse. Dennis knows he's not talking to the real Santa. Mr. Wilson, we find out, is wearing the suit, and he's not very jolly at the thought of the Mitchell kid getting a horse. I have to wonder what kind of establishment would hire Mr. Wilson to play Santa. And why would a guy who is one step away from a straitjacket whenever his kid neighbor rings the doorbell take that gig? This store must have a pretty sweet employee discount.
On Christmas morning, Dennis and his friends engage in a pastime with which many parents are all too familiar: the ritual complaining about what Santa did and didn't bring them. Dennis got a record player, but no pony. Tommy got a microscope, but not an electric train (though his dad is sure having a blast with that microscope)!
Elsewhere, little Johnny Fleming DID receive a pony despite not asking for one. His dad explains that he does indeed want one. How does he know? Simple: HE always wanted one when HE was a kid! Mr. Fleming (Henry Beckman) can't understand why Johnny fears the animal. After all, when HE was a boy, he had to get a paper route just to get spending money, and his folks couldn't afford a horse.
Dennis naturally assumes that Santa brought Johnny the horse by mistake. After all, he messed up on Tommy's train set. Dennis trades his record player for Margaret's typewriter, and then trades the typewriter to Johnny for the pony. This clever episode reveals how different the perspectives of parents and their children are on Christmas presents, but it ends with a heartwarming resolution that makes everybody happy.
Mr. McGuire, who drives around town selling Christmas trees in a horse-driven cart, is retiring, and the 'deal' he makes to give Dennis his horse is a beautiful example of a grownup manipulating a child into getting--and appreciating--what he needs instead of what he wants. As McGuire, veteran character actor Ernest Truex makes this episode an all-time charmer. He just sounds like the holiday. Each time he opens his mouth, I hear sleigh bells ringing and I see Rockwellian visions of a bundled-up family singing Christmas carols on a brisk winter night. In fact, at the end the Mitchells and Wilsons perform 'Silent Night' in the cart, and even the blatant rear projection can't tarnish a truly heartwarming story.
Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends: The last arc of season 3 includes a Christmas episode of sorts with the original Bad Santa, or should I say Badenov Santa. Boris and Natasha (calling herself 'Alf Elf') pose as Santa and a helper in order to make lots and lots of money. It takes a long time to get to the funny sight of Boris Badenov in Santa Claus gear, so you might want to start the disc, bake some cookies, go out and spruce up the lights, and maybe finish up your shopping while you wait for the Christmas part.
If you stick around, you will see 'Aesop's Fables,' 'Sherman and Peabody,' 'Fractured Fairy Tales,' and countless interstitial bits in addition to an amusing story about, believe it or not, climate change. In this scenario, the North Pole accumulates so much ice that it tilts the Earth, making the tropical island of Riki-Tiki the new North Pole.
Since Rocky and Bullwinkle spending the better part of six episodes debating whether or not it's really getting warmer in Frostbite Falls would be pretty drab television, they set out to make it snow on Riki-Tiki and make the Earth tilt back to where it was. Hey, if you want verisimilitude, watch 'Sherman and Peabody.' If you want classic Rocky and Bullwinkle wordplay mixed with Badenov hijinks, plus an early example of 're-gifting' that ends the saga with a bang, you should see this storyline.
Father Knows Best, 'The Angel's Sweater': Patriarch Jim Anderson's sister Neva is in town for the holidays, and the kids aren't too thrilled about it. You see, Neva just isn't comfortable around children, and when an eager-to-please Kathy drops her suitcase, the overreaction confirms it. She snaps in a prim, mannered way, then quickly adds, 'No harm done. She just shouldn't have attempted it. No harm done.' Distraught, Kathy bolts to her room. Sure, it's overwrought, but we can still identify; who hasn't had an awkward holiday encounter with a relative?
Jim promises to calm everyone a 'big, fluffy Christmas egg nog.' I suspect his glass will have a little extra 'Christmas spirit.' Worse than the Neva-Kathy kerfuffle is the water leak that appears in the wall, forcing a desperate call to Mr. Fix-It, who delights Jim by making a house call on Christmas Eve.
The handyman sees the sulking Kathy and spins a yarn for her about a little girl in a snowy village looking for a special gift to provide as a church offering for the poor. Maybe I'm cynical, but I kept thinking, 'No wonder this guy's willing to come out on a holiday. He's going to charge Jim double time while he sits around and tells his daughter stories.'
His tale is a sweet one, and it may well be the series' gift to the cast. It lets them dress up and play the different characters of the village, with Elinor Donahue (Betty) as the angel who counsels little Katarina (Kathy, as played by Lauren Chapin). It must have been a nice break from the grind of the show for everyone to do something a little different. The villagers' formal speech patterns are a little stilted, but they're still more natural than Neva's earlier 'outburst.'
Kathy learns from the fable what the greatest Christmas gift is, and she shares it with a certain visitor in the house. No, it's not Mr. Fix-It, who demurs when Jim offers to pay him, then adds, 'I'll send you a bill.' I'll bet! You should have asked for a written estimate, Jim! Anyway, when the Andersons exchange a few presents on Christmas Eve, we get an emotional scene that makes me...Darn, there's that glitter in my eye again.
If this assortment doesn't fill you with cheer, there are countless other examples available. In previous columns, I have mentioned two of my favorite Christmas episodes, The Honeymooners 'Twas the Night Before Christmas,' and The Twilight Zone 'Night of the Meek.'. Another perennial classic is The Andy Griffith Show, 'A Christmas Story.' In fact, I could fill a whole nother column or two with classic holiday shows, but for now, let's save something for next year. After all, next year's Christmas season is just around the corner...
Showing posts with label ClassicFlix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ClassicFlix. Show all posts
Monday, December 25, 2017
Thursday, November 23, 2017
TV Time Revisited (firom Classic Flix): Cartoons Go to the Circus
If you are looking for something longer to read on this holiday, here's a piece from the not-too-distant past that originally ran on ClassicFlix. In April, I commemorated the decline of Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey by looking at classic TV cartoon excursions to the circus:
The announcement that Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey is shutting down inspired a lot of discussion about the demise of the circus. While it's true that Ringling was, for years, the most iconic big top operation, the American institution will continue.
Of course, it also survives in classic television. In a previous column, I recommended Woody Allen boxing a kangaroo. Besides that memorable variety program, many sitcom and dramatic episodes centered on traveling circus troupes passing through town, while some entire series were devoted to the spectacle. Super Circus with Mary Hartline was a popular kids show spotlighting genuine performances, while programs like Circus Boy (starring a young Mickey Dolenz), The Greatest Show on Earth (with a young -- well, youngish -- Jack Palance) and oater Frontier Circus were fictionalized depictions of the lifestyle and its inhabitants.
Given the news about Ringling Brothers, though, I wasn't in the mood for stories about sad clowns struggling with the bottle or acrobats chasing ringmasters in jealous rages. I looked to the television cartoon to celebrate the circus. Much to my surprise, I found that the world of animation often sees the big top as a sinister place filled with danger and despair.
Casper the Friendly Ghost,"Keep Your Grin Up:" I am going to start by cheating a bit. That's right, folks, step right up and enjoy one of the timeless circus traditions: the bait and switch! In my defense, while the original Casper cartoons were not made for television, they were shown countless times on the small screen, so it's a legitimate starting point for our journey.
Unfortunately, it's not a joyous beginning despite an amusing premise: Casper tries to make a sad hyena laugh. The thing is this hyena is a caged animal being whipped and beaten by his handler for not guffawing on command. It's a little off-putting seen through a modern lens, but, man, even in 1955, this must have been a downer. Even before Casper enters the circus grounds, he gets bummed out when his appearance (or, being invisible, lack thereof) frightens the ticket seller and the rubber man.
The hyena is more pitiful than the lonely Casper, though we never quite know if he's depressed because he's being whipped or if he is being whipped because he's depressed. Our favorite friendly ghost decides to try to make the hyena laugh, and while his intentions are good, you can't help but think if he really wanted to help, he'd, you know, open the cage.
Casper tries everything to get a laugh, including juggling, imitating a seal, and borrowing the props of an act named "Burpo the Fire Eater." Does Ringling Brothers have a Burpo the Fire Eater? If so, I need to get tickets while I can. The young ghost does all but squirt seltzer down his pants, but nothing gets a smile from the downcast hyena. (I imagine Milton Berle is somewhere in the wings furiously scribbling notes for something he can use on the Buick Hour.)
There's a happy ending when the abusive trainer, startled to see a ghost, shrieks, runs out of his pants and off the screen into the audience who are apparently watching this very cartoon. The hyena starts laughing harder than I do at a Honeymooners episode, and only slightly less obnoxiously. There's a lot more pathos in this brief cartoon than I expected, but its limited view of the circus isn't a pleasant one.
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop "Big Top Trap": At the risk of trivializing mistreatment of animals, there are times while watching Pitstop that I feel like that hyena. There are only so many times I can hear Penelope yell, "HAILP! HAILP!" before I feel like dressing up as a peanut and squatting down in front of Jumbo. Yet "Big Top Trap" offers a compelling glimpse of the circus.
At the beginning, we see Penelope perform in the show. The horse she is standing on throws her into a cannon, which shoots her toward a cage containing a wild "Tasmanian cruncha beast." Fortunately for her, she is able to grab the pole a tightrope walker is using and balance herself to avoid dropping all the way into the cage. We can only assume the poor tightrope walker plummets to his death off camera.
When I was in college, I took a class on live performing arts in which the professor, on the day he discussed the circus, told us the single most dangerous routine was the horse act because of the unpredictable nature of the equines. Somehow he left out the part about combination horse/human cannonball/tightrope/cruncha beast numbers. I tell you, between the disappearance of this kind of thing and the inability to replace Burpo the Fire Eater, it's no wonder the circus ain't what it used to be.
Penelope is snatched by her nemesis, the Hooded Claw, and taken to a swamp to attempt to feed her to a carnivorous plant. Her miniature sidekicks in the Ant Hill Mob eventually help her make it back to the tent to complete her performance and save the day, which makes me think that audience must really be getting its money worth considering how long the show must be.
Sorry, Pitstop fans, but even Paul Lynde can't elevate this. The main character is just too dim. In this episode, the Claw, who has been acting as her attorney in his civilian guise while donning a mask and trying to bump her off to get her fortune for the entire series, gets tired of the routine and basically says, "Hey, by the way, I'm your arch-rival who's been trying to kill you," and Penelope refuses to believe him! She's not the brightest heroine out there, folks...but I will admit she is one heck of a circus performer, and she gets shot out of a cannon like nobody's business.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? "Bedlam in the Big Top": "Bedlam" is a word that doesn't surprise you at all when you encounter it in Scooby-Doo, much like "hi-jinks." Both elements are in abundance in this encounter, which features the gang investigating a reported haunting of a circus by a ghost clown. The owner tells the team that his performers are leaving en masse because they are superstitious and think the whole operation is destined for trouble. I love the fact that a ghost clown itself isn't what makes everyone leave, but rather the fact that they see its presence as a bad omen.
You don't need a Scooby snack to figure out it's not an actual supernatural entity, but an embittered baddie with a grudge scaring everyone away. Don't underestimate this erstwhile spookster, though; his potent hypnosis overwhelms Scooby and Daphne, making them believe they are performers capable of doing dangerous stunts like tightrope walking and unicycle riding.
Lucky for Scoob, Penelope Pitstop is nowhere around, so he emerges unscathed, but it's interesting to note the callous nature of the show's laugh track. Is Scooby's precarious footing on a high wire really reason for enthusiastic chortles? The lovable canine earns some real laughs at the end after solving the mystery; he and Shaggy surprise the others by making a surprise cameo in the strongman's act and mugging for the crowd in attendance.
The real takeaway is not the exposure of the ghost clown, but the anti-circus performer stance of Scooby-Doo. The show takes pains to establish that any civilian, albeit under a deep hypnotic spell, can do the same alleged skilled feats as a pro. Then Scooby and Shaggy undercut one of the veteran acts by going for cheap laughs at the climax of his routine. Wasn't there a union of some kind to bring heat on Hanna-Barbera for this disrespect?
The Flintstones, Dial S for Suspicion and Circus Business: Several years earlier, Hanna-Barbera had our favorite stone-age family appear in a sixth-season episode called "Circus Business." Fred expresses his interest in buying an ailing circus and is overheard by the anxious-to-sell owner, who apparently believes an idle statement made in public is a binding verbal contract and accepts Flinstone's income tax refund as payment for the whole business.
Much to Fred's chagrin, things are worse than he thought, as all the performers are walking out after not being paid. Pressured by the sheriff to deliver the entertainment as advertised, the Flintstones and the Rubbles do what anyone would do in such a predicament: attempt to put on a show themselves. Their efforts impress the real performers so much that they decide to come back and work for free, proving that circus folk are great people after all...or suckers. I'm not exactly sure what the message is here.
Several seasons earlier, we get another glimpse into the world of the big top in "Dial S for Suspicion" when one of Wilma's former boyfriends, a knife thrower, spots her at a circus parade and gives her passes to the show so he can check out Fred. The parade is another great lost tradition, right up there with Burpo the fire eater and Tasmanian cruncha beasts -- an unparalleled event in which the cast of the show marches down main street and agrees not to let the elephants rampage through everyone's property as long as they buy tickets. Well, that wasn't explicit, but it was kind of implied, no?
Fred happens to be paranoid about Wilma trying to kill him for the life insurance. One reason I love The Flintstones: You just didn't hear a lot of other cartoons utilizing the phrase "double indemnity" in those days. Fred thinks the sudden arrival of a knife throwing beau is part of Wilma's plan, and it's hard to blame him when she "volunteers" him to be the "target" in his act, and then suggests it be done blindfolded!
Considering Fred goes on to star in numerous spin-off shows and cereal ads, you can rest assured Wilma isn't really trying to off her hubby, but the circumstantial evidence is pretty strong for a while. I'm intrigued by the knife thrower, whose suspicious behavior and shady snicker make me wonder if, regardless of Wilma's intent, he really does mean to give Fred a "close shave."
The Yogi Bear Show, Acrobatty Yogi and Jangled Jungle: Let's close our look at the circus with one more double feature from Hanna-Barbera. Oddly, these Yogi and Snagglepuss shorts come back to back on the DVD. If they really aired like that, they must have caused some confusion among young viewers.
"Acrobatty Yogi" sees the bear run away from Jellystone and join the circus in order to woo his would-be love, Cindy Bear. Hey, we've all done something like that at one time or another. (I'll never have to wonder "what might have been" with Bertha the Bearded Lady.) He's offered a job as lion tamer, and I get a good laugh when he's told the first thing he needs to do is learn what to do with a chair, which he triumphantly folds out and sits in.
I don't quite understand why the impresario sees a talking bear and decides, "Hey, I'll put him in with the lion," but he knows how to run his business. Poor Yogi has to jump off a high wire -- it really does seem like anyone can walk those things -- to flee the crazed cat, and when Cindy tries to compliment him, he mocks her and says, "I might have been seriously killed," before taking off and returning to the relative security of Jellystone.
Next up, Snagglepuss is bored with his own routine at the circus. He's asked to step up, down, up, down, and so on, which makes him "feel like an elevator -- a yo-yo, even." The prospect of getting shot out of a cannon is what makes him quit (in the middle of a show, just like Yogi -- how unprofessional these guys are) and head for the jungle.
He thinks he's the king of beasts, but unpleasant encounters with a Tarzan type and a gorilla make Snagglepuss exclaim, "Arrivederci, jungle! Good-bye, even!" He rushes back to the relative safety of...the circus! So, Yogi finds the circus a terrifying, dangerous place, while Snagglepuss finds it a refuge from the horrors of the outside world? Is this juxtaposition a deliberate statement by Hanna-Barbera? An attempt to provide equal time to those who are pro- and anti-circus? Is it a reflection of the fact that the circus means different things to different people?
Either way, I believe our sojourn through television animation's depiction of the circus teaches us several lessons: It's not all fun and funnel cakes, the animals may be treated both better and worse than we suspect, and above all else, next time you attend a show, keep your eyes on the high wire at all times. There's always something going on up there.
The announcement that Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey is shutting down inspired a lot of discussion about the demise of the circus. While it's true that Ringling was, for years, the most iconic big top operation, the American institution will continue.
Of course, it also survives in classic television. In a previous column, I recommended Woody Allen boxing a kangaroo. Besides that memorable variety program, many sitcom and dramatic episodes centered on traveling circus troupes passing through town, while some entire series were devoted to the spectacle. Super Circus with Mary Hartline was a popular kids show spotlighting genuine performances, while programs like Circus Boy (starring a young Mickey Dolenz), The Greatest Show on Earth (with a young -- well, youngish -- Jack Palance) and oater Frontier Circus were fictionalized depictions of the lifestyle and its inhabitants.
Given the news about Ringling Brothers, though, I wasn't in the mood for stories about sad clowns struggling with the bottle or acrobats chasing ringmasters in jealous rages. I looked to the television cartoon to celebrate the circus. Much to my surprise, I found that the world of animation often sees the big top as a sinister place filled with danger and despair.
Casper the Friendly Ghost,"Keep Your Grin Up:" I am going to start by cheating a bit. That's right, folks, step right up and enjoy one of the timeless circus traditions: the bait and switch! In my defense, while the original Casper cartoons were not made for television, they were shown countless times on the small screen, so it's a legitimate starting point for our journey.
Unfortunately, it's not a joyous beginning despite an amusing premise: Casper tries to make a sad hyena laugh. The thing is this hyena is a caged animal being whipped and beaten by his handler for not guffawing on command. It's a little off-putting seen through a modern lens, but, man, even in 1955, this must have been a downer. Even before Casper enters the circus grounds, he gets bummed out when his appearance (or, being invisible, lack thereof) frightens the ticket seller and the rubber man.
The hyena is more pitiful than the lonely Casper, though we never quite know if he's depressed because he's being whipped or if he is being whipped because he's depressed. Our favorite friendly ghost decides to try to make the hyena laugh, and while his intentions are good, you can't help but think if he really wanted to help, he'd, you know, open the cage.
Casper tries everything to get a laugh, including juggling, imitating a seal, and borrowing the props of an act named "Burpo the Fire Eater." Does Ringling Brothers have a Burpo the Fire Eater? If so, I need to get tickets while I can. The young ghost does all but squirt seltzer down his pants, but nothing gets a smile from the downcast hyena. (I imagine Milton Berle is somewhere in the wings furiously scribbling notes for something he can use on the Buick Hour.)
There's a happy ending when the abusive trainer, startled to see a ghost, shrieks, runs out of his pants and off the screen into the audience who are apparently watching this very cartoon. The hyena starts laughing harder than I do at a Honeymooners episode, and only slightly less obnoxiously. There's a lot more pathos in this brief cartoon than I expected, but its limited view of the circus isn't a pleasant one.
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop "Big Top Trap": At the risk of trivializing mistreatment of animals, there are times while watching Pitstop that I feel like that hyena. There are only so many times I can hear Penelope yell, "HAILP! HAILP!" before I feel like dressing up as a peanut and squatting down in front of Jumbo. Yet "Big Top Trap" offers a compelling glimpse of the circus.
At the beginning, we see Penelope perform in the show. The horse she is standing on throws her into a cannon, which shoots her toward a cage containing a wild "Tasmanian cruncha beast." Fortunately for her, she is able to grab the pole a tightrope walker is using and balance herself to avoid dropping all the way into the cage. We can only assume the poor tightrope walker plummets to his death off camera.
When I was in college, I took a class on live performing arts in which the professor, on the day he discussed the circus, told us the single most dangerous routine was the horse act because of the unpredictable nature of the equines. Somehow he left out the part about combination horse/human cannonball/tightrope/cruncha beast numbers. I tell you, between the disappearance of this kind of thing and the inability to replace Burpo the Fire Eater, it's no wonder the circus ain't what it used to be.
Penelope is snatched by her nemesis, the Hooded Claw, and taken to a swamp to attempt to feed her to a carnivorous plant. Her miniature sidekicks in the Ant Hill Mob eventually help her make it back to the tent to complete her performance and save the day, which makes me think that audience must really be getting its money worth considering how long the show must be.
Sorry, Pitstop fans, but even Paul Lynde can't elevate this. The main character is just too dim. In this episode, the Claw, who has been acting as her attorney in his civilian guise while donning a mask and trying to bump her off to get her fortune for the entire series, gets tired of the routine and basically says, "Hey, by the way, I'm your arch-rival who's been trying to kill you," and Penelope refuses to believe him! She's not the brightest heroine out there, folks...but I will admit she is one heck of a circus performer, and she gets shot out of a cannon like nobody's business.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? "Bedlam in the Big Top": "Bedlam" is a word that doesn't surprise you at all when you encounter it in Scooby-Doo, much like "hi-jinks." Both elements are in abundance in this encounter, which features the gang investigating a reported haunting of a circus by a ghost clown. The owner tells the team that his performers are leaving en masse because they are superstitious and think the whole operation is destined for trouble. I love the fact that a ghost clown itself isn't what makes everyone leave, but rather the fact that they see its presence as a bad omen.
You don't need a Scooby snack to figure out it's not an actual supernatural entity, but an embittered baddie with a grudge scaring everyone away. Don't underestimate this erstwhile spookster, though; his potent hypnosis overwhelms Scooby and Daphne, making them believe they are performers capable of doing dangerous stunts like tightrope walking and unicycle riding.
Lucky for Scoob, Penelope Pitstop is nowhere around, so he emerges unscathed, but it's interesting to note the callous nature of the show's laugh track. Is Scooby's precarious footing on a high wire really reason for enthusiastic chortles? The lovable canine earns some real laughs at the end after solving the mystery; he and Shaggy surprise the others by making a surprise cameo in the strongman's act and mugging for the crowd in attendance.
The real takeaway is not the exposure of the ghost clown, but the anti-circus performer stance of Scooby-Doo. The show takes pains to establish that any civilian, albeit under a deep hypnotic spell, can do the same alleged skilled feats as a pro. Then Scooby and Shaggy undercut one of the veteran acts by going for cheap laughs at the climax of his routine. Wasn't there a union of some kind to bring heat on Hanna-Barbera for this disrespect?
The Flintstones, Dial S for Suspicion and Circus Business: Several years earlier, Hanna-Barbera had our favorite stone-age family appear in a sixth-season episode called "Circus Business." Fred expresses his interest in buying an ailing circus and is overheard by the anxious-to-sell owner, who apparently believes an idle statement made in public is a binding verbal contract and accepts Flinstone's income tax refund as payment for the whole business.
Much to Fred's chagrin, things are worse than he thought, as all the performers are walking out after not being paid. Pressured by the sheriff to deliver the entertainment as advertised, the Flintstones and the Rubbles do what anyone would do in such a predicament: attempt to put on a show themselves. Their efforts impress the real performers so much that they decide to come back and work for free, proving that circus folk are great people after all...or suckers. I'm not exactly sure what the message is here.
Several seasons earlier, we get another glimpse into the world of the big top in "Dial S for Suspicion" when one of Wilma's former boyfriends, a knife thrower, spots her at a circus parade and gives her passes to the show so he can check out Fred. The parade is another great lost tradition, right up there with Burpo the fire eater and Tasmanian cruncha beasts -- an unparalleled event in which the cast of the show marches down main street and agrees not to let the elephants rampage through everyone's property as long as they buy tickets. Well, that wasn't explicit, but it was kind of implied, no?
Fred happens to be paranoid about Wilma trying to kill him for the life insurance. One reason I love The Flintstones: You just didn't hear a lot of other cartoons utilizing the phrase "double indemnity" in those days. Fred thinks the sudden arrival of a knife throwing beau is part of Wilma's plan, and it's hard to blame him when she "volunteers" him to be the "target" in his act, and then suggests it be done blindfolded!
Considering Fred goes on to star in numerous spin-off shows and cereal ads, you can rest assured Wilma isn't really trying to off her hubby, but the circumstantial evidence is pretty strong for a while. I'm intrigued by the knife thrower, whose suspicious behavior and shady snicker make me wonder if, regardless of Wilma's intent, he really does mean to give Fred a "close shave."
The Yogi Bear Show, Acrobatty Yogi and Jangled Jungle: Let's close our look at the circus with one more double feature from Hanna-Barbera. Oddly, these Yogi and Snagglepuss shorts come back to back on the DVD. If they really aired like that, they must have caused some confusion among young viewers.
"Acrobatty Yogi" sees the bear run away from Jellystone and join the circus in order to woo his would-be love, Cindy Bear. Hey, we've all done something like that at one time or another. (I'll never have to wonder "what might have been" with Bertha the Bearded Lady.) He's offered a job as lion tamer, and I get a good laugh when he's told the first thing he needs to do is learn what to do with a chair, which he triumphantly folds out and sits in.
I don't quite understand why the impresario sees a talking bear and decides, "Hey, I'll put him in with the lion," but he knows how to run his business. Poor Yogi has to jump off a high wire -- it really does seem like anyone can walk those things -- to flee the crazed cat, and when Cindy tries to compliment him, he mocks her and says, "I might have been seriously killed," before taking off and returning to the relative security of Jellystone.
Next up, Snagglepuss is bored with his own routine at the circus. He's asked to step up, down, up, down, and so on, which makes him "feel like an elevator -- a yo-yo, even." The prospect of getting shot out of a cannon is what makes him quit (in the middle of a show, just like Yogi -- how unprofessional these guys are) and head for the jungle.
He thinks he's the king of beasts, but unpleasant encounters with a Tarzan type and a gorilla make Snagglepuss exclaim, "Arrivederci, jungle! Good-bye, even!" He rushes back to the relative safety of...the circus! So, Yogi finds the circus a terrifying, dangerous place, while Snagglepuss finds it a refuge from the horrors of the outside world? Is this juxtaposition a deliberate statement by Hanna-Barbera? An attempt to provide equal time to those who are pro- and anti-circus? Is it a reflection of the fact that the circus means different things to different people?
Either way, I believe our sojourn through television animation's depiction of the circus teaches us several lessons: It's not all fun and funnel cakes, the animals may be treated both better and worse than we suspect, and above all else, next time you attend a show, keep your eyes on the high wire at all times. There's always something going on up there.
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
ClassicFlix (home of TV Time) is back!
Public service announcement: ClassicFlix, which is now earning raves for its work as a label in addition to its retail bidness, has launched its new website, and the reviews and columns are now available for everyone again.
This includes TV Time, written each month by your ever-lovin' blue-eyed blogger boy. The most recent edition, Before They Were Legends, looks at early TV spots from the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Paul Newman.
Also accessible on the main page as I write this is my examination of classic TV doctors. Which one would I choose to be my personal doc?
Dig a little deeper in the archives, and you will find my look at wrestling-themed episodes, including Bonanza and Abbott and Costello.
And Scooby, Penelope Pitstop, and more go to the circus as I look at cartoons that go to the big top.
It isn't just shameless self-promotion, though, because there are all kinds of interesting pieces up right now, plus much more in the archives. Also, check out what is coming out on DVD and Blu-Ray from them while you check out TV Time. Tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya. Don't you dare miss it!
This includes TV Time, written each month by your ever-lovin' blue-eyed blogger boy. The most recent edition, Before They Were Legends, looks at early TV spots from the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Paul Newman.
Also accessible on the main page as I write this is my examination of classic TV doctors. Which one would I choose to be my personal doc?
Dig a little deeper in the archives, and you will find my look at wrestling-themed episodes, including Bonanza and Abbott and Costello.
And Scooby, Penelope Pitstop, and more go to the circus as I look at cartoons that go to the big top.
It isn't just shameless self-promotion, though, because there are all kinds of interesting pieces up right now, plus much more in the archives. Also, check out what is coming out on DVD and Blu-Ray from them while you check out TV Time. Tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya. Don't you dare miss it!
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
TV Time Revisited (from ClassicFlix)
(NOTE: This article originally appeared on ClassicFlix as part of my regular TV Time column, but only existing members can see the content from me and others there for now. I encourage you to check out the site to see the interesting discs it is now releasing on its own label, and hopefully at some point you'll be able to read my stuff on the new site. If you are looking for a "longform" read on this holiday, please enjoy my look at Ed Asner's "heavy" roles in the 1960s!)
Long before he became America's unofficial grandfather by playing lovable if gruff characters like Carl Fredricksen in Up and Santa himself in Elf, Ed Asner had a long and storied television career. Prior to his breakthrough role of grizzled newsman Lou Grant, Asner guested in a wide variety of series in the 1960s, often playing characters that were nasty, mean, or downright evil. Let's go back to the days when this legendary performer had more hair on his head, more letters in his name (he was often billed as Edward Asner), and maybe more deviousness in his soul.
One of Asner's best guest shots is as the heinous Furman Crotty in The Wild Wild West's, "Night of the Amnesiac." Artemis Gordon refers to him as "The Grand Caliph of Kansas Crime," which may be a cooler handle than "Furman Crotty." In an episode with a lot going on -- Jim West gets amnesia, a desperately needed smallpox vaccine is held for ransom, one of my favorite character actors (George Petrie) makes an appearance -- Asner stands out and he does so by fitting in; by embracing the spirit of the series, he creates an engaging performance.
It's easy to believe Asner enjoys playing the bad guy because we see how much Crotty relishes being the bad guy. He's full of one-liners and cocky smiles. When Artemis Gordon asks where his partner Jim West is, Crotty, about to light up a cigar, casually replies, "Why don't you consult an Ouija board?" Oh, and by the way, Crotty is a federal prisoner during this conversation, which makes his attitude even more remarkable. His control of the vaccine -- and West -- as he knows, gives him leverage to get his release. He tells Gordon he'd like to help find the medicine, but he can't since he's imprisoned. "However," he adds, "I'm certain you can locate it easily enough." After a pause he adds, "Just follow the buzzards." Crotty chews on his stogie and grins as a dramatic musical sting reinforces the notion that he is an evil dude.
Crotty has plenty of classic moments; the way he sneers at the masses and mocks the thought of people dying without the crucial smallpox vaccine. The glee with which he reveals his heinous plan to West and Gordon is also a delight.
I could fill an entire column with Crotty quotes. "Every time I have to kill someone who's family, I get depressed," he says before chomping into an apple. Later, confronting the two agents, he declares, "Welcome to Crotty's Genocide Club -- the only truly liberal establishment of its kind. We'll kill anyone -- no questions asked." The fact that he says this wearing a cowboy hat and a smug smirk makes it better.
The only disappointment in this episode is the climactic fight scene, in which Asner's stunt double manages one impressive sledgehammer swing before being dispatched by a falling curtain. It's an ignominious downfall for such a charismatic foe, and someone with a name as cool as "Furman Crotty" deserves a more dynamic end.
Asner is no less devious but more subdued as an alien leader in The Invaders', "Wall of Crystal". Here, Tagus' soft-spoken nature enhances his sinister leanings. The actor trades the amped-up nature of his Wild Wild West role for a different kind of evil. Tagus (nowhere near as memorable as "Furman Crotty," is it?) is the kind of baddie who speaks clearly but slowly. He smiles with a fake warmth and keeps his hands folded in front of him. His calm persona suit's the series' moody atmosphere.
Roy Thinnes' David Vincent discovers the aliens have powerful crystals that manipulate the atmosphere to resemble that of their home planet...but make humans suffocate in open air. To prevent David (and special guest Burgess Meredith as a crusading TV host) from exposing the plan, Taugus kidnaps brother Bob Vincent (Linden Chiles).
Crotty relishes being evil, but Taugus relishes control. It's a kick to see his interactions with Vincent when he has all the leverage in the form of his captured brother. As Crotty, Asner uses broad gestures, but in The Invaders, when David demands proof his brother is OK before accepting Taugus' demands, the alien pauses, gives a slow smile, and licks his lips. He never raises his voice, but he projects total confidence throughout the scene. Asner is an essential component of a strong, tense Invaders outing.
Asner played many foreign agents in the 1960s, often of indiscriminate "There's a Cold War and you know who we really mean even if we don't name a country" origin and was surprisingly effective with an Eastern European name and sometimes an accent. Hey, it's better than his casting as "Pablo Vasquez" in a 1965 episode of Burke's Law.
In the classic Mission Impossible, "The Mind of Stefan Miklos," Asner is restrained as Simpson, a foreign agent working in the states. I won't even begin to summarize the plot of this episode because it's one of those, "We need to make him think we are trying to make him think we don't know that what he thinks is wrong" deals, but Ed is effective in a smaller part as a man who calls out a comrade, a traitor (to the Americans) named Townsend, as a traitor to HIS country. In contrast to the other roles we've discussed, Simpson is not a vision of self-assurance, but more of a weasel.
My favorite moment of the episode is when Martin Landau's Rollin Hand enters Simpson's glassware shop in the guise of brilliant Stefan Miklos, who has been dispatched by the foreign power to ascertain the truth. The two have never met in person. As Simpson pours a drink, he says, "You took me by--" And Hand/"Miklos" finishes his sentence: "Surprise?" Ooh, that brilliant bit of brainpower surely establishes he's really Miklos. I expected the next exchange to go something like, "Would you like a cup of--" "Coffee?" "Man, it's like he's reading my mind!"
An even finer Cold War villain role is Premier Alexei Brynov in "The Exile," a season 1 episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. At the beginning, a sneering Brynov faces a firing squad in a country referred to later as "The People's Republic." His last words: "Today, my comrades kill me. Tomorrow, I kill them!" Somewhere, watching bootleg ABC transmissions in Russia, a young Yakov Smirnoff's comic worldview was established.
Brynov further establishes his persona by spitting at one of his captors when asked if he wants a blindfold. After his crew frees him in a daring rescue, we see him sniping at them in their hideout. He even lowers his own brother to his knees with a devastating standing wristlock.
Because Brynov claims to have explosive microfilms that could instigate world war, the United States wants to deal with him, and the government sends Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) to Brynov's yacht to check things out. However, there is a traitor aboard whose sabotage leads to the destruction of the boat and the survivors cling to a raft for survival. There is little footage aboard the Seaview in this episode, though the sub tries to locate Nelson and vice versa, but it's a fun story because of the showdown between the paranoid Brynov and the upright admiral.
Asner goes with a full-on accent here, but his ferocity and the character's focus on his own survival prevents the performance from lapsing into parody. He deals with his own inner circle with various methods before a final confrontation with his American foe, with both men weak, thirsty, and desperate. We learn early on that Brynov is ruthless, and Asner brings him alive with vivid enthusiasm.
Sometimes it doesn't take a diabolical plot to make an effective TV heel. Take the Dr. Kildare, "Tightrope into Nowhere" (they really don't make episode titles like they used to, do they?), with Asner in a prominent guest spot as Dr. Frank Williams. This doc's bedside manner leaves much to be desired. When a man falls into a coma, Williams gives up on the whole deal and doesn't hide his contempt when Kildare leaves hope alive for the victim's daughter.
"Why don't you make her face it, Kildare?" he says. Deciding that isn't cruel enough, he faces her directly: "Miss Logan, nothing will save him. His body is ravaged by disease, his brain tissue is destroyed -- he is a dead man." At this point, I wanted Janet Logan, played by Mary Murphy, to respond, "So you're saying there's still a chance!"
Instead, she protests, causing Williams to glare and say, "You know what? You've got spunk, Mary. I hate spunk!" (Sorry, you knew it was coming eventually.) Actually, Williams gets a big dressing-down from Dr. Gillespie, but not before his downer of a doc enlivens this episode. Asner delivers just about every line in a flat monotone that underscores the disdain his character has for "hopeless cases." It's a stark contrast to the idealistic James Kildare.
Out of all of Asner's characters' misdeeds in the 1960s, one thing he does in an episode of Route 66 remains the most shocking. In "The Opponent," Asner is Scully, the sardonic trainer of Johnny Copa, a punch-drunk fighter played by Darren McGavin with a bulbous prosthetic nose. The boys take a side trip to Youngstown, Ohio, to see Copa fight, and Buz talks up his childhood friend like he were a combination of Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Curly Howard after he hears "Pop Goes the Weasel."
Scully and Buz don't get along at all, with the former's wise-acre repartee making a bad impression on the lads. Eventually Buz reveals that he bet money on Copa to win the fight, at which point Scully does the unthinkable: He giggles.
I never saw Lou Grant or even Santa Claus giggle. Roar, maybe; bellow, sure. Giggle, though? It's a stunning moment that looms over the rest of the episode, even when the screenplay has the trainer reveal a backstory and explain why he has such a hard shell. That giggle is the one false note in an otherwise moving episode. Minutes later, Scully brings things back into focus by announcing, "I'm going to get a steak." Now, there's an activity that fits Ed Asner.
These are all different series with distinctive parts, and the actor delivers each time. Even within the realm of playing bad guys, Ed Asner shows impressive range in his 1960s guest appearances, portraying cartoonish criminal masterminds, creepy aliens, and flawed human beings who just rub people the wrong way. The star continues to do memorable work today, but it's well worth taking a trip through television history to see his earlier characters.
Long before he became America's unofficial grandfather by playing lovable if gruff characters like Carl Fredricksen in Up and Santa himself in Elf, Ed Asner had a long and storied television career. Prior to his breakthrough role of grizzled newsman Lou Grant, Asner guested in a wide variety of series in the 1960s, often playing characters that were nasty, mean, or downright evil. Let's go back to the days when this legendary performer had more hair on his head, more letters in his name (he was often billed as Edward Asner), and maybe more deviousness in his soul.
One of Asner's best guest shots is as the heinous Furman Crotty in The Wild Wild West's, "Night of the Amnesiac." Artemis Gordon refers to him as "The Grand Caliph of Kansas Crime," which may be a cooler handle than "Furman Crotty." In an episode with a lot going on -- Jim West gets amnesia, a desperately needed smallpox vaccine is held for ransom, one of my favorite character actors (George Petrie) makes an appearance -- Asner stands out and he does so by fitting in; by embracing the spirit of the series, he creates an engaging performance.
It's easy to believe Asner enjoys playing the bad guy because we see how much Crotty relishes being the bad guy. He's full of one-liners and cocky smiles. When Artemis Gordon asks where his partner Jim West is, Crotty, about to light up a cigar, casually replies, "Why don't you consult an Ouija board?" Oh, and by the way, Crotty is a federal prisoner during this conversation, which makes his attitude even more remarkable. His control of the vaccine -- and West -- as he knows, gives him leverage to get his release. He tells Gordon he'd like to help find the medicine, but he can't since he's imprisoned. "However," he adds, "I'm certain you can locate it easily enough." After a pause he adds, "Just follow the buzzards." Crotty chews on his stogie and grins as a dramatic musical sting reinforces the notion that he is an evil dude.
Crotty has plenty of classic moments; the way he sneers at the masses and mocks the thought of people dying without the crucial smallpox vaccine. The glee with which he reveals his heinous plan to West and Gordon is also a delight.
I could fill an entire column with Crotty quotes. "Every time I have to kill someone who's family, I get depressed," he says before chomping into an apple. Later, confronting the two agents, he declares, "Welcome to Crotty's Genocide Club -- the only truly liberal establishment of its kind. We'll kill anyone -- no questions asked." The fact that he says this wearing a cowboy hat and a smug smirk makes it better.
The only disappointment in this episode is the climactic fight scene, in which Asner's stunt double manages one impressive sledgehammer swing before being dispatched by a falling curtain. It's an ignominious downfall for such a charismatic foe, and someone with a name as cool as "Furman Crotty" deserves a more dynamic end.
Asner is no less devious but more subdued as an alien leader in The Invaders', "Wall of Crystal". Here, Tagus' soft-spoken nature enhances his sinister leanings. The actor trades the amped-up nature of his Wild Wild West role for a different kind of evil. Tagus (nowhere near as memorable as "Furman Crotty," is it?) is the kind of baddie who speaks clearly but slowly. He smiles with a fake warmth and keeps his hands folded in front of him. His calm persona suit's the series' moody atmosphere.
Roy Thinnes' David Vincent discovers the aliens have powerful crystals that manipulate the atmosphere to resemble that of their home planet...but make humans suffocate in open air. To prevent David (and special guest Burgess Meredith as a crusading TV host) from exposing the plan, Taugus kidnaps brother Bob Vincent (Linden Chiles).
Crotty relishes being evil, but Taugus relishes control. It's a kick to see his interactions with Vincent when he has all the leverage in the form of his captured brother. As Crotty, Asner uses broad gestures, but in The Invaders, when David demands proof his brother is OK before accepting Taugus' demands, the alien pauses, gives a slow smile, and licks his lips. He never raises his voice, but he projects total confidence throughout the scene. Asner is an essential component of a strong, tense Invaders outing.
Asner played many foreign agents in the 1960s, often of indiscriminate "There's a Cold War and you know who we really mean even if we don't name a country" origin and was surprisingly effective with an Eastern European name and sometimes an accent. Hey, it's better than his casting as "Pablo Vasquez" in a 1965 episode of Burke's Law.
In the classic Mission Impossible, "The Mind of Stefan Miklos," Asner is restrained as Simpson, a foreign agent working in the states. I won't even begin to summarize the plot of this episode because it's one of those, "We need to make him think we are trying to make him think we don't know that what he thinks is wrong" deals, but Ed is effective in a smaller part as a man who calls out a comrade, a traitor (to the Americans) named Townsend, as a traitor to HIS country. In contrast to the other roles we've discussed, Simpson is not a vision of self-assurance, but more of a weasel.
My favorite moment of the episode is when Martin Landau's Rollin Hand enters Simpson's glassware shop in the guise of brilliant Stefan Miklos, who has been dispatched by the foreign power to ascertain the truth. The two have never met in person. As Simpson pours a drink, he says, "You took me by--" And Hand/"Miklos" finishes his sentence: "Surprise?" Ooh, that brilliant bit of brainpower surely establishes he's really Miklos. I expected the next exchange to go something like, "Would you like a cup of--" "Coffee?" "Man, it's like he's reading my mind!"
An even finer Cold War villain role is Premier Alexei Brynov in "The Exile," a season 1 episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. At the beginning, a sneering Brynov faces a firing squad in a country referred to later as "The People's Republic." His last words: "Today, my comrades kill me. Tomorrow, I kill them!" Somewhere, watching bootleg ABC transmissions in Russia, a young Yakov Smirnoff's comic worldview was established.
Brynov further establishes his persona by spitting at one of his captors when asked if he wants a blindfold. After his crew frees him in a daring rescue, we see him sniping at them in their hideout. He even lowers his own brother to his knees with a devastating standing wristlock.
Because Brynov claims to have explosive microfilms that could instigate world war, the United States wants to deal with him, and the government sends Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) to Brynov's yacht to check things out. However, there is a traitor aboard whose sabotage leads to the destruction of the boat and the survivors cling to a raft for survival. There is little footage aboard the Seaview in this episode, though the sub tries to locate Nelson and vice versa, but it's a fun story because of the showdown between the paranoid Brynov and the upright admiral.
Asner goes with a full-on accent here, but his ferocity and the character's focus on his own survival prevents the performance from lapsing into parody. He deals with his own inner circle with various methods before a final confrontation with his American foe, with both men weak, thirsty, and desperate. We learn early on that Brynov is ruthless, and Asner brings him alive with vivid enthusiasm.
Sometimes it doesn't take a diabolical plot to make an effective TV heel. Take the Dr. Kildare, "Tightrope into Nowhere" (they really don't make episode titles like they used to, do they?), with Asner in a prominent guest spot as Dr. Frank Williams. This doc's bedside manner leaves much to be desired. When a man falls into a coma, Williams gives up on the whole deal and doesn't hide his contempt when Kildare leaves hope alive for the victim's daughter.
"Why don't you make her face it, Kildare?" he says. Deciding that isn't cruel enough, he faces her directly: "Miss Logan, nothing will save him. His body is ravaged by disease, his brain tissue is destroyed -- he is a dead man." At this point, I wanted Janet Logan, played by Mary Murphy, to respond, "So you're saying there's still a chance!"
Instead, she protests, causing Williams to glare and say, "You know what? You've got spunk, Mary. I hate spunk!" (Sorry, you knew it was coming eventually.) Actually, Williams gets a big dressing-down from Dr. Gillespie, but not before his downer of a doc enlivens this episode. Asner delivers just about every line in a flat monotone that underscores the disdain his character has for "hopeless cases." It's a stark contrast to the idealistic James Kildare.
Out of all of Asner's characters' misdeeds in the 1960s, one thing he does in an episode of Route 66 remains the most shocking. In "The Opponent," Asner is Scully, the sardonic trainer of Johnny Copa, a punch-drunk fighter played by Darren McGavin with a bulbous prosthetic nose. The boys take a side trip to Youngstown, Ohio, to see Copa fight, and Buz talks up his childhood friend like he were a combination of Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Curly Howard after he hears "Pop Goes the Weasel."
Scully and Buz don't get along at all, with the former's wise-acre repartee making a bad impression on the lads. Eventually Buz reveals that he bet money on Copa to win the fight, at which point Scully does the unthinkable: He giggles.
I never saw Lou Grant or even Santa Claus giggle. Roar, maybe; bellow, sure. Giggle, though? It's a stunning moment that looms over the rest of the episode, even when the screenplay has the trainer reveal a backstory and explain why he has such a hard shell. That giggle is the one false note in an otherwise moving episode. Minutes later, Scully brings things back into focus by announcing, "I'm going to get a steak." Now, there's an activity that fits Ed Asner.
These are all different series with distinctive parts, and the actor delivers each time. Even within the realm of playing bad guys, Ed Asner shows impressive range in his 1960s guest appearances, portraying cartoonish criminal masterminds, creepy aliens, and flawed human beings who just rub people the wrong way. The star continues to do memorable work today, but it's well worth taking a trip through television history to see his earlier characters.
Friday, February 10, 2017
Shameless self-promotion: TV Time again at ClassicFlix
Let's celebrate Lincoln's birthday this year by looking not at Abraham Lincoln the statesman, not Abraham Lincoln the orator, but Abraham Lincoln the television performer!
TV Time: Abraham Lincoln in Sci-Fi Television
Trivia lovers often point out the eerie similarities between two acclaimed United States presidents who were both struck down by assassins. While an amusing number of coincidences do indeed connect Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, there is at least one huge difference: While Honest Abe is all over classic TV, it's hard to find JFK.
Click right here for the rest, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya! Don't you dare miss it!
TV Time: Abraham Lincoln in Sci-Fi Television
Trivia lovers often point out the eerie similarities between two acclaimed United States presidents who were both struck down by assassins. While an amusing number of coincidences do indeed connect Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, there is at least one huge difference: While Honest Abe is all over classic TV, it's hard to find JFK.
Click right here for the rest, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya! Don't you dare miss it!
Friday, January 20, 2017
Shameless self-promotion: TV Time again!
Spock's Brain! Veggies in Space! A Leprechaun on a sub! And Superman kills someone? All in my latest TV Time column for ClassicFlix:
TV Time: Bizarre Sci-Fi Episodes You'll see many strange things in science fiction and fantasy television: space aliens, interstellar travel, super powers, and more. Yet even within the fantastic realm of genre entertainment, you sometimes encounter episodes that are just...bizarre. This month, let's look at some of the strangest episodes of popular sci-fi series. They may have their detractors, but I guarantee each is worth watching at least once.
Click the link for more...and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya! Don't ya dare miss it!
Click the link for more...and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya! Don't ya dare miss it!
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Shameless self-promotion: My review of Panic in the Year Zero!
Friends, my latest review is up at ClassicFlix, and it's a great package from the folks at Kino:
Released mere months before the Cuban Missile Crisis, Panic in Year Zero! is a compelling Cold War drama with a fascinating blend of elements, combining disturbing adult-oriented themes with some of the more juvenile-focused hallmarks of its studio, American International Pictures (AIP). Kino Lorber's video release is an excellent presentation of a fine film that takes us through some grim moments in a post-atomic landscape but ultimately ends on a note of optimism...or does it?
(click here to read the rest, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya!)
Released mere months before the Cuban Missile Crisis, Panic in Year Zero! is a compelling Cold War drama with a fascinating blend of elements, combining disturbing adult-oriented themes with some of the more juvenile-focused hallmarks of its studio, American International Pictures (AIP). Kino Lorber's video release is an excellent presentation of a fine film that takes us through some grim moments in a post-atomic landscape but ultimately ends on a note of optimism...or does it?
(click here to read the rest, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya!)
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Shameless Self-Promotion: 'Tis the Season for TV Time
My latest TV Time column is up at ClassicFlix, and this time I'm looking at some lesser-known Christmas-themed episodes. We're talking Dennis Mitchell, Dobie Gillis, Racket Squad, and a certain actor playing oldface in the Twilight Zone:
After examining classic Christmas television episodes a few years ago in this column, then looking at family-oriented specials last year, I'd like to present some lesser-known but still potent examples of heartwarming holiday entertainment. So let's dive into the ClassicFlix catalog for some feel-good shows you might not have seen.(As always, spoilers ahead, but I will tell you now, all of these shows will make you feel warm and Christmas-y.)
Click above to see the article, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya! Don't you dare miss it!
After examining classic Christmas television episodes a few years ago in this column, then looking at family-oriented specials last year, I'd like to present some lesser-known but still potent examples of heartwarming holiday entertainment. So let's dive into the ClassicFlix catalog for some feel-good shows you might not have seen.(As always, spoilers ahead, but I will tell you now, all of these shows will make you feel warm and Christmas-y.)
Click above to see the article, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya! Don't you dare miss it!
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Shameless Self-Promotion: TV Time celebrates Thanskgiving at ClassicFlix!
I love watching Christmas episodes of classic TV shows each year, but I don't feel like Thanksgiving episodes get the same pub. My latest column for ClassicFlix looks at a handful of vintage sitcom holiday celebrations:
TV TIME: A Classic Television Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy with family and other loved ones, so it seems like a shame that so many American households spend the day huddled in front of a TV set watching football. I think we should spend halftime huddled in front of a TV set watching classic Thanksgiving-themed episodes, at least.
Click through for more...and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya! Don't you dare miss it!
TV TIME: A Classic Television Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy with family and other loved ones, so it seems like a shame that so many American households spend the day huddled in front of a TV set watching football. I think we should spend halftime huddled in front of a TV set watching classic Thanksgiving-themed episodes, at least.
Click through for more...and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya! Don't you dare miss it!
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Shameless Self-Promotion: TV Time is ready for Halloween!
If I told you this month's column was about The Munsters, would you start stomping your feet like Herman while singing "DAAAA DA-DA" to the tune of the theme song?
Well, maybe that's just what I would do. You are free to enjoy the column however you wish. I just ask that you stop by ClassicFlix and check it out! Don't you dare miss it! And tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya!
Well, maybe that's just what I would do. You are free to enjoy the column however you wish. I just ask that you stop by ClassicFlix and check it out! Don't you dare miss it! And tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya!
TV TIME: Celebrate the season with The Munsters!
Halloween is an ideal time to revisit one of television's greatest sitcom families, The Munsters. Though it ran only two seasons on CBS, the comedy about the unusual inhabitants of 1313 Mockingbird Lane is one of the most fondly remembered shows of its era and continues to thrive in reruns, streaming and DVD...
(click through for the rest!)
Halloween is an ideal time to revisit one of television's greatest sitcom families, The Munsters. Though it ran only two seasons on CBS, the comedy about the unusual inhabitants of 1313 Mockingbird Lane is one of the most fondly remembered shows of its era and continues to thrive in reruns, streaming and DVD...
(click through for the rest!)
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
TV Time Bonus: More on The Joey Bishop Show
The other day, I talked about the last several episodes of season 2 of The Joey Bishop Show, which we can see on DVD thanks to the (now defunct?) Questar outfit. Season 2 is the only bit of Bishop available on legal DVD right now, but the extras give us an intriguing glimpse of how radically different the sitcom's first season is.
The series pilot is a fascinating bonus on the final disc of the season 2 collection. Things look different right away because season 2 transitioned to color , while the debut campaign is in good ol' black and white. More importantly, Joey Bishop's character is not at all the in-command, smartest guy in the room kind of dude we see in the second season. He's a bit of a klutz and, especially compared to this episodes co-stars Danny Thomas and Joe Flynn, far from the savvy showbiz insider he would play after the format change.
Can you blame Joey Bishop? In the pilot, he is, as Wikipedia puts it, "an incompetent Hollywood public relations man" who screws up a visit from Danny Williams (Thomas playing his Make Room for Daddy character) and apparently screws up a lot of things. Ratings were not great when the show went to series, and I'm sure one of the first things Bishop suggested was changing his character from a nice enough guy who means well but always gets into mishaps to a guy clearly in charge of his own show and own life.
An odd element of the pilot is the strong presence of Joey's family, which causes all kinds of havoc when he has to offer the star lodging at his own pad. His parents (Billy Gilbert and Madge Blake) have good intentions but are meddlers, and stranger still, his unmarried sister is attracted to Danny, and the family wants to encourage a relationship. Well, guess who plays this sister? Yep, Marlo Thomas--Danny's real-life daughter!
The psychosexual tangles of that situation aside, this pilot is an amusing glimpse into the early days of the series, and it proves just how different Bishop becomes in season 2, when he becomes a talk show host with an all-new supporting cast, including Joe Besser (and you know Besser, for better or worse, is going to make anything different). Is it better or worse? I don't know because this is the only season 1 episode I've seen. Season 2 isn't exactly a masterpiece, but I wish more of The Joey Bishop Show could be seen on DVD because, well, why not?
Below are some glimpses of early Joey Bishop Show:
The series pilot is a fascinating bonus on the final disc of the season 2 collection. Things look different right away because season 2 transitioned to color , while the debut campaign is in good ol' black and white. More importantly, Joey Bishop's character is not at all the in-command, smartest guy in the room kind of dude we see in the second season. He's a bit of a klutz and, especially compared to this episodes co-stars Danny Thomas and Joe Flynn, far from the savvy showbiz insider he would play after the format change.
Can you blame Joey Bishop? In the pilot, he is, as Wikipedia puts it, "an incompetent Hollywood public relations man" who screws up a visit from Danny Williams (Thomas playing his Make Room for Daddy character) and apparently screws up a lot of things. Ratings were not great when the show went to series, and I'm sure one of the first things Bishop suggested was changing his character from a nice enough guy who means well but always gets into mishaps to a guy clearly in charge of his own show and own life.
An odd element of the pilot is the strong presence of Joey's family, which causes all kinds of havoc when he has to offer the star lodging at his own pad. His parents (Billy Gilbert and Madge Blake) have good intentions but are meddlers, and stranger still, his unmarried sister is attracted to Danny, and the family wants to encourage a relationship. Well, guess who plays this sister? Yep, Marlo Thomas--Danny's real-life daughter!
The psychosexual tangles of that situation aside, this pilot is an amusing glimpse into the early days of the series, and it proves just how different Bishop becomes in season 2, when he becomes a talk show host with an all-new supporting cast, including Joe Besser (and you know Besser, for better or worse, is going to make anything different). Is it better or worse? I don't know because this is the only season 1 episode I've seen. Season 2 isn't exactly a masterpiece, but I wish more of The Joey Bishop Show could be seen on DVD because, well, why not?
Below are some glimpses of early Joey Bishop Show:
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| "Nothing weird about you and Danny. No, nothing at all..." |
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| In the office, Joey is always spilling something or knocking something over |
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| Joey does NOT get to be this kind of cool in the series pilot |
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| "I got out of Frank's shadow to play stooge to these guys?" |
Monday, October 10, 2016
TV Time Bonus: The Joey Bishop Show
Hey, remember that ClassicFlix piece I wrote a few months ago about expectant dads?
Well, I had to delete The Joey Bishop Show for space reasons, but let me share a few screencaps with you today. I watched several episodes from season 2, the one season available on official DVD. It's weird because costar Guy Marks had already been 86'ed (for stealing too many scenes from Bishop, from what I heard) and been replaced by Corbett Monica. Monica's character was the head writer on the TV show in which Bishop's "Joey Barnes starred. So the show underwent a radical format change after season 1 (more on that in a future post), then halfway through the next season, it dumps one of the main supporting characters.
Well, what is another radical way to goose a show? Yep, bring on a baby! So at the end of season 2, a multi-episode arc features the pregnancy of Joey's on-screen wife Ellie (Abby Dalton). Season finale "The Baby Cometh" is one of the more entertaining episodes I have seen. It is not exactly an atypical installment, though; from what I can tell, season 2 features Bishop as a TV personality who bosses everyone around while indulging the morons around him. It's not like, say, Bob Newhart, who is the calm center but often the butt of the joke. Bishop seems more like he's telling the audience, "You see what I have to put up with?"
Still, this is a fun episode, with my favorite bit being one in which Joey organizes all the expectant dads like a military command (see what I mean about him always being in control)? Of course, all soon-to-be TV fathers pace in a delivery room because that's just what they do...except for the jaded ones who have already had umpteen kids, and, brother, you better believe this episode gives us one of those, too.
You can do worse than this arc if you want to sample The Joey Bishop Show, but I found an extra feature on the disc much more compelling. I'll touch on that later this week, but for now, here are some shots of Joey in action:
Well, I had to delete The Joey Bishop Show for space reasons, but let me share a few screencaps with you today. I watched several episodes from season 2, the one season available on official DVD. It's weird because costar Guy Marks had already been 86'ed (for stealing too many scenes from Bishop, from what I heard) and been replaced by Corbett Monica. Monica's character was the head writer on the TV show in which Bishop's "Joey Barnes starred. So the show underwent a radical format change after season 1 (more on that in a future post), then halfway through the next season, it dumps one of the main supporting characters.
Well, what is another radical way to goose a show? Yep, bring on a baby! So at the end of season 2, a multi-episode arc features the pregnancy of Joey's on-screen wife Ellie (Abby Dalton). Season finale "The Baby Cometh" is one of the more entertaining episodes I have seen. It is not exactly an atypical installment, though; from what I can tell, season 2 features Bishop as a TV personality who bosses everyone around while indulging the morons around him. It's not like, say, Bob Newhart, who is the calm center but often the butt of the joke. Bishop seems more like he's telling the audience, "You see what I have to put up with?"
Still, this is a fun episode, with my favorite bit being one in which Joey organizes all the expectant dads like a military command (see what I mean about him always being in control)? Of course, all soon-to-be TV fathers pace in a delivery room because that's just what they do...except for the jaded ones who have already had umpteen kids, and, brother, you better believe this episode gives us one of those, too.
You can do worse than this arc if you want to sample The Joey Bishop Show, but I found an extra feature on the disc much more compelling. I'll touch on that later this week, but for now, here are some shots of Joey in action:
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| Joey doing one of his favorite things: yelling |
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| This organizing the fathers thing really is much funnier than I make it sound |
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| I just like breaking the fourth wall... |
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| ...especially in close-ups
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Monday, September 26, 2016
TV Time Bonus: More from Dragnet: the movie (1954)
I know, I know: I'm getting so much mileage out of that ClassicFlix article about movie adaptations of classic TV shows, I should take the blog in for an oil change. I can't let it go, though, without sharing some of my favorite moments from Dragnet, a fun flick that expands on the concept of the classic radio/TV drama and makes a credible feature-length extension of the world Jack Webb created.
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| Don't see a lot of shots like this one on the TV show! |
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| This is the beginning of the movie, folks! Hard-hitting!
|
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| I kind of want to hang out at the Red Spot. |
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| Time for a good old-fashioned brawl! This fight scene is one of the best action sequences Dragnet ever delivered.
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| That crumpled up paper? That's what Friday thinks of namby-pamby concepts like the Fifth Amendment (some suspects used the papers to declare their intention to invoke it). |
Friday, September 23, 2016
Shameless Self-Promotion (again): New review at ClassicFlix!
Hey, folks! Sorry to run plugs for myself two days in a row, but ClassicFlix posted my review of the frst season of the long-running but oft-forgotten Western anthology Death Valley Days.
Here's a little preview: Hit the link to see the rest, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent you! Don't ya dare miss it! (Also, come back this weekend for the SVOD Power Rankings, and I will have more actual content here on the blog next week)
It's All in a Day's Work: Death Valley Days, Season 1
With eighteen seasons and well over 500 episodes, Death Valley Days is one of the longest-running television programs never to receive a legitimate season set on DVD...until now! Through its Timeless label, Shout Factory has brought the first season of this half-hour Western anthology in a 3-disc set containing all eighteen half-hour episodes.
Here's a little preview: Hit the link to see the rest, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent you! Don't ya dare miss it! (Also, come back this weekend for the SVOD Power Rankings, and I will have more actual content here on the blog next week)
It's All in a Day's Work: Death Valley Days, Season 1
With eighteen seasons and well over 500 episodes, Death Valley Days is one of the longest-running television programs never to receive a legitimate season set on DVD...until now! Through its Timeless label, Shout Factory has brought the first season of this half-hour Western anthology in a 3-disc set containing all eighteen half-hour episodes.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Shameless self-promotion: Underrated baseball movies at ClassicFlix (plus my favorite "modern" ones)
Check out my newest feature at ClassicFlix: a look at underrated baseball films. Tell 'em Cultureshark sent you, and don't you dare miss it!
Underrated Baseball Films
Underrated Baseball Films
As a lover of both baseball and old movies, I enjoy discussions of the best films about the national pastime. Unfortunately, too often arguments begin, say, 40 years ago and concentrate on modern times while excluding fine works from Hollywood's past. The Pride of the Yankees is deservedly beloved; one of the iconic movies of the golden age of studio filmmaking, but it often stands alone as the token "classic" choice in the conversation.
Now, this piece looks only at pre-1970 efforts. Some of my favorite post-1970 baseball movies include:
*The Natural (I loved it as a kid and hadn't read the novel beforehand. I was puzzled that so many grumbled about it at the time).
*Field of Dreams (Sappy? Yes, but I confess I liked it much more than "Bull Durham," which I almost didn't even consider a baseball movie at first because I was so annoyed by Susan Sarandon. I should revisit that one.)
*The Naked Gun (Hey, the last, what, 20 minutes takes place at a ballpark, and it's some of the funniest baseball movie footage this side of "The Babe Ruth Story.")
*The Rookie (Underappreciated recent gem--earnest and moving with a great Dennis Quaid performance)
I think all things considered, the best baseball movie ever might be John Sayles' Eight Men Out, which really brought a fascinating historical era to life. 42, by comparison, seems a bit sterile to me, though I think it is quite good in its own right.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Tom and Jerry: Gene Deitch Collection--Review up at ClassicFlix! (Shameless self-promotion dept.)
A bit of shameless self-promotion, if you will allow me: My latest review at ClassicFlix examines the divisive Gene Deitch era of Tom and Jerry. This excellent set collects all the "episodes" Deitch's studio supervised in the 1960s and includes extras that contextualize the run.
Are these the best Tom and Jerry cartoons? No, but in many ways they are more interesting to me than the Chuck Jones shorts that followed. These ones are low-budget and sometimes low-animation, but as I say in the piece, they are worth seeing.
I posted this interesting screencap a while back, saying that these toons are not known for their subtlety:
This comes from "Mouse Into Space," which provides an...interesting setting for the boys:
One solid aspect of this series is the inventive title cards:
And probably the most popular of the Deitch series is the self-mocking "Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit":
Yet these cartoons can also frustrate. The characters look a little off sometimes:
And there are gags that don't make sense, like in "Landing Stripling." The idea is that Jerry and this bird are foiling Tom's plan to flush them out, so they pinch the hose...
But it somehow affects the other end of the hose, where the water is coming out of some unknown pipe under the ground.
There are also elaborate setups that don't pay off, like this one in the same short:
Yet for all its quirks, these are definitely worth watching at least once, and Warner Brothers did a great job with the collection. Check out my review for a lot more words and a lot less pictures, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya!
Are these the best Tom and Jerry cartoons? No, but in many ways they are more interesting to me than the Chuck Jones shorts that followed. These ones are low-budget and sometimes low-animation, but as I say in the piece, they are worth seeing.
I posted this interesting screencap a while back, saying that these toons are not known for their subtlety:
This comes from "Mouse Into Space," which provides an...interesting setting for the boys:
One solid aspect of this series is the inventive title cards:
And some of the backgrounds are sparse, but some are unique and even kind of cool:
And probably the most popular of the Deitch series is the self-mocking "Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit":
Yet these cartoons can also frustrate. The characters look a little off sometimes:
And there are gags that don't make sense, like in "Landing Stripling." The idea is that Jerry and this bird are foiling Tom's plan to flush them out, so they pinch the hose...
But it somehow affects the other end of the hose, where the water is coming out of some unknown pipe under the ground.
There are also elaborate setups that don't pay off, like this one in the same short:
Yet for all its quirks, these are definitely worth watching at least once, and Warner Brothers did a great job with the collection. Check out my review for a lot more words and a lot less pictures, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya!
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Shameless Self-Promotion: TV--Uh, I mean, a REVIEW at ClassicFlix!
Please head on over to the good folks at ClassicFlix and check out my look at "It Happened in Flatbush," an entertaining movie combining baseball, Brooklyn, and Bub (the great William Frawley in a supporting role). Lloyd Nolan is top notch as always, and this is an underrated Fox picture that doesn't get mentioned in baseball movie lists (and stay tuned because I should have one of those coming to ClassicFlix as well).
Here's a sneak peek:
It Happened in Flatbush (Fox Cinema Archives)
Enjoy, and don't you dare miss it! Tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya!
Here's a sneak peek:
It Happened in Flatbush (Fox Cinema Archives)
I'm a pushover for old movies that romanticize baseball, and It Happened to Flatbush certainly does that. However, this 1942 Fox film is not as much a love letter to the national pastime as much as it is one to Brooklyn. After credits roll over a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge, the whimsical opening titles inform us that the following fictional story occurs "on a strange island just off the eastern coast of the United States"...
Enjoy, and don't you dare miss it! Tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya!
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Shameless Self-Promotion: TV Time celebrates Fathers Day at ClassicFlix!
In my latest feature, I look at some of the most famous TV dads and how they deal with their imminent blessed events. Read about Rob, Ricky, Fred, and more! Don't you dare miss it...and tell 'em Cultureshark sent ya!
TV TIME: Guide for the Expectant Dad
As Father's Day approaches, prospective fathers look to classic television for pointers on how to handle their upcoming blessed events. I admit that despite a misspent youth filled with reruns, when it was my turn to witness the miracle of life, I did not run around in a panicked frenzy, drive to the hospital without the mother, and hand out cigars to everyone in sight. But the rest of you might not want to take that chance, so let's dive into TV history to see how other new dads prepare for the big day.
[Click here for more]
BTW, this bit of shameless self-promotion will push back the SVOD power rankings to tomorrow, and then I have some more TV Time Extra relating to the last feature, so the Summer of Angst will continue next week!
TV TIME: Guide for the Expectant Dad
As Father's Day approaches, prospective fathers look to classic television for pointers on how to handle their upcoming blessed events. I admit that despite a misspent youth filled with reruns, when it was my turn to witness the miracle of life, I did not run around in a panicked frenzy, drive to the hospital without the mother, and hand out cigars to everyone in sight. But the rest of you might not want to take that chance, so let's dive into TV history to see how other new dads prepare for the big day.
[Click here for more]
BTW, this bit of shameless self-promotion will push back the SVOD power rankings to tomorrow, and then I have some more TV Time Extra relating to the last feature, so the Summer of Angst will continue next week!
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
TV Time Bonus: All About Eve Arden
Last week, my latest TV Time piece went live at ClassicFlix, and while I enjoyed talking about the feature film version of "Our Miss Brooks," I wasn't able to share some of the more awesome moments. Here are a few screencaps:
Eve Arden with Nick Adams because...why not?
Hijinks with Eve and Dandy Don Porter:
Classic Eve reaction on the boat:
That musical number. Ouch!
An even MORE classic Eve reaction--the take I mention in the article:
Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for: The Two Mr. Wilsons:
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Shameless Self-Promotion: TV Time again at ClassicFlix
TV Time goes to the movies with a look at TV shows that became feature films in the 1950s and 1960s--you know, back in the day when they made good movies from TV shows.
TV TIME: Movies from Classic TV Shows
Hollywood loves taking television properties and turning them into feature film franchises. If the studios think audiences will go to a theater to pay for what they've already seen on the small screen, then they will make it happen. In the 1950s and 1960s, they took shows already on television, or were just recently taken off the air, and made movies with much of the same talent. It might look like a cash grab, but the films hold up quite well.
Click here to read about "Dragnet," "Batman," "McHale's Navy," and more...and tell 'em Cultureshark sent you! Don''t you dare miss it!
TV TIME: Movies from Classic TV Shows
Hollywood loves taking television properties and turning them into feature film franchises. If the studios think audiences will go to a theater to pay for what they've already seen on the small screen, then they will make it happen. In the 1950s and 1960s, they took shows already on television, or were just recently taken off the air, and made movies with much of the same talent. It might look like a cash grab, but the films hold up quite well.
Click here to read about "Dragnet," "Batman," "McHale's Navy," and more...and tell 'em Cultureshark sent you! Don''t you dare miss it!
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