SHAME!

this post will probably upset a lot of reality show devotees, but it’s high time you realized the truth about your precious format.

A game show related blog broke the story yesterday that Fox’s OUR LITTLE GENIUS will NOT be airing after all.  It’s not because the show didn’t test well.  It’s not because Fox couldn’t find a timeslot, and it’s not because the show wouldn’t meet its budget.  No.   The reason was, and there is no other way to say this:  the children were being coached, and given  questions that they COULD answer to guarantee a $10,000 minimum prize.

Have we learned NOTHING since the quiz show scandals of the 1950’s?  This is RIGGING.  I don’t care how you spin this.  If GENIUS hit the air, America would have been fooled AGAIN.  As an aspiring game show creator, I am appalled that Mark Burnett was willing to stoop to such a tactic just to make “exciting television” or feed Fox’s coffers with high ratings.

Mr. Burnett is LUCKY I’m not in charge of the FCC.  If I were, and this news item came my way, I would demand that all of Mr. Burnett’s shows be pulled from the airwaves, and each show scrutinized with a finer toothed comb than what was used when Jack Barry and his colleagues were investigated.  And, no word of a lie, each show that even came CLOSE to doing what was done with GENIUS would be gone for all time.  That’s right CBS, you’d lose your precious SURVIVOR, and I would not lose one minute’s sleep over this.

Ah, you say, but what about shows like OPERATION REPO on trutv?  Wake up!  My colleagues at work were discussing this two days ago.  One colleague, who has FIRST HAND witness experience, says that OPEARTION REPO is about as realistic as an episode of ALF.  It’s all staged.  So what’s a network that promotes actuality doing airing a show that is 95 percent STAGED?  Again, the answer is simple.  They are playing on the willingness of the American public to believe that everything on “reality” television actually happens, and they want the revenue from the ratings.  They don’t care that you’re being fooled.  They want you to be like mindless zombies.

Again I say wake up, America.  This garbage being handed to you is as real as a four dollar bill.  And you’re going to keep getting this phoney baloney reality crap UNTIL you start speaking up, writing to the networks, and demand QUALITY programming that promotes POSITIVE values, and isn’t out to deceive you.  And as for you, Mr. Burnett, if you EVER do this to the American public again, we WILL see to it that you won’t even be able to get a job cleaning the bathrooms at a public acess station.

The Magic is Back

A few years ago, the powers that be at Disney made an announcement that made my heart sank.  They were going to shift their animation focus away from the traditional hand drawn animation that made them great, and spearheaded the renaissance that had begun in 1989 in favor of CG animation almost exclusively.  If you want to point the finger of blame, point it at Michael Eisner.  He was practically destroying the company when he dropped that bombshell.

Then something happned.  Eisner was out, and Robert Iger was in.  Not only that, John Lasseter, the head of Pixar (the gold standard of CG animation in my opinion) was named head of feature animation.  Lasseter strongly believed in Walt’s story telling principles, and even better, announced that 2 D hand drawn animation waasn’t going anywhere, and we would soon see THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, as proof.

Well, it’s out in the theaters now, and if you haven’t seen it yet, what on earth are you waiting for?  This is Disney doing what it soes best!  The animation is stunningly beautiful From the scenic sets, to the human characters, to the bayou critters-nothing gets short-changed.  The story has been moved from a mythical country to right here in the good old USA (New Orleans to be precise), during the jazz era.  It’s also been fleshed out to provide good messagesabout the need to work for your dreams, not just sit around wishing, the importance of family (both the title characters grow up in two parent homes, and the frog/prince is in the States as part of an exercise in tough love-how often do we see THAT?), and doing for your friends is more noble that being born into priveledge.   The bayou characters help provide some of the biggest laughs.  There’s Louis, a jazz loving gator who despite his size, is deathly afraid of hunters.  Then there’s Ray, a Cajun firefly who has courage and enthusiasm that measure 10,000 times his size.  Without giving away too much, one of these loveable characters will make the ultimate sacrifice to help Tiana and Naveen-it’s a beautiful moment , though in the end.

Now, what’s a Disney animated movie without a villain?  In this film, we have Dr. Facilier, known as “The Shadow Man”-and for good reason.  His voodoo alllows him to use his own shadow, and demonic minion shadows to do his bidding.  It is Facilier who transforms Naveen, and Naveen willl stay af rog, while his butler takes on Naveen’s form. as long as Naveen’s blood remains in Facilier’s talisman.  Let me take a moment to say something here.  Some parents out there won’t take their kids to this movie because they are afraid Facilier is too scary.  People, a villain is SUPPOSED to be scary-DUH!  This movie would be very BORING if we had no villain, and the prince had been a frog from the get go.  There would have been no drama, no neat effects animation, and no great song for the villain (I’ll get to the music in a second).  Without a mean scary villain like Facilier, this movie would have all the drama and intelligence of Britney Spears’ perfume commercial.  Parents, you can’t ALWAYS protect your child from scary movie elements, and you shouldn’t try to.  It’s good to be scared once in a while.  Even SESAME STREET’s golden era (before Elmo’s takeover) had deliberately frightening segments.  And our generation, at least this member, turned out OK.

I promised I’d talk about the music.  Randy Newman has penned some of his best songs since CATS DOM’T DANCE.  Every song captures one element of the New Orleans sound.   With the exception of Ray’s romantic ballad, I can’t think of a song where my foot didn’t start tapping, and I actually found myself singing quietly to myself-and I hadn’t even heard these songs before tonight.  That’s just amazing in my book.  I am seriously considering buying the CD.  Guess you could say that this is the best musical I have seen this year.

In closing, I can’t encourage you enough to see this wonderful movie.  If you have to wait for the DVD, that’s understandable, given the times we live in.  But do find a way to see it.  In the words of the bayou, “It’s goooooood,  I gar-on-tee!”

Of Exploding Pianos and Clockwork Roadrunners

I got to thinking last night about my all time favorite gags from the world of Warner Brothers cartoons.  It dawned on me that there are two favorites of mine from two different eras.

The first is the “Endearing Charms” gag.  This one slays me every time.  for the uninitiated, here’s how it works.  The villain wires a piano (or in at least one case a xylophone) with enough explosives to destroy an ocean liner.  The explosives, however, will only detonate when the intended victim (usually Bugs Bunny or the Road Runner) plays the last notes in the opening bars of that old standard “Those Endearing Young Charms”.  I don’t know WHY Carl Stalling or Chuck Jones, or whoever it was decided on this song, but it is a genius move by any standard.

The payoff, though is what sells the joke.  Bugs or Road Runner gets the melody right until he hits the critical last note.  Invariably they hit the note to the immediate right , then the immediate left of the trigger.  The villain waits for the hero to try again, with the same result.  Now the villain is getting mad.  When the note is missed AGAIN, the villain is so mad, he forgets what will happen, and plays the melody the right way, with the resulting explosion.  Sometimes the keys fall to the ground and finish the musical phrase.

I love this bit.  Partly because hearing an old song played incorrectly is always funny.  Partly because the hero isn’t trying to miss the trigger note.  But I think it’s mostly because the villain losing his temper, and forgetting his own trap is classic comedy and poetic justice.

While the above bit isn’t unique to one Warner Bros. cartoon, my other favorite bit is unique to one cartoon.  This bit came from the Depatie/Freleng era (after Chuck Jones’s departure) of Road Runner cartoons.  The cartoon in question is HIGHWAY RUNNERY.  In this cartoon, Wile E. Coyote sets what in my mind is the perfect trap.  He places a home made time bomb, complete with alarm clock (important for the payoff) into a phony egg, and places the egg on the nest right in front of Road Runner’s path.  Road Runner comes along, sees the egg on the nest, and its nesting instincts kick in.

Wile E . is thrilled, it’s going PERFECTLY.  Perfectly that is, until the egg rumbles, hatches, and out pops this little wind up baby Road Runner, complete with alarm clock belly, and head on a mainspring.  This wind up Road Runner starts walking towards Wile E (complete with the mechanical machine percussion Jay Ward used to use in the Clyde Crashcup series-must be a sound effects library package, because Treg Brown isn’t listed in the credits for sound effects.  In fact, there is no sound effects credit).  Wile E. can’t believe what he’s seeing, as he maneuvers around his rock hiding place., trying to get away from it, as it seems to be following him  You can guess what happens when the mechanical Road Runner reaches poor Wile E, and he’s foolish enough to reach down to try to pick the thing up.  But that’s not the end of it.  After the first explosion, which lands Wile E. in a crater bigger than himself, the alarm clock (the only surviving part of the explosion) rings normally.  Wile E. takes a rock, and smashes it, causing a SECOND explosion, adding injury to insult.

And that second explosion is one reason why I love this bit.  You almost feel bad for Wile E. that this perfect plan went so badly, when it should have worked perfectly.  But face it, you gotta love that baby wind up Road Runner, and the proud look on the real Road Runner’s face when it hatches.  It’s priceless.

So go ahead and laugh, it’s good for you!  You can watch HIGHWAY RUNNERY online at dailymotion.com.  Put the title into Google search, and you’ll get there a lot faster.

3 Christmas Songs You Rarely Get to Hear

I don’t mind the fact that some radio stations play holiday music 24/7 before Christmas Day.  Sometimes, on the way home from the office, it’s just what I’m in the mood for.  What DOES drive me crazy about this practice, though, is hearing the same song TWICE within 10 minutes…different artist or not.  I feel like Vince Vaughn in FRED CLAUS (which is fast becoming a favorite Christmas movie of mine), who has to keep hearing “Here Comes Santa Claus” while helping the Bg Guy with the Naughty files…it becomes mental torture, and/or cruelty.  So here are three songs the stations could add to their holiday playlists…that is if the media corporations that own these stations can take their lips off Madison Avenue’s ass long enough to pay attention to them.

OLD TOY TRAINS (Roger Miller, 1967).  Let’s start with an absolute beauty.  I am a fan of Roger Miller’s music.  He’s by turns trippy, funny, and poetically stunning.  This song fits the last category.  It’s quite simply a lullaby sung by a father (or mother, if you hear a female vocalist sing this) in which the parent describes quite simply that Santa Claus is on his way to a little boy’s home, and that the boy should get to bed.  The chorus alternates with a simple verse in which the boy is told to just keep his eyes closed and listen for Santa’s sleigh bells.  I really can’t do this gem justice. You have to hear it for yourself.

HAPPY NEW YEAR (ABBA, 1979-I think!).  ABBA has always been a great group for telling stories in their songs.  In this holiday gem, a woman (par for the course for this group, but who’s complaining?) proposes a toast to her lover as the first day of a new decade begins.  It’s a song of optimism, in which we are encouraged to hold on to our dreams, keep having visions, and stick to them, otherwise, what’s the point of living?  It’s not the usual romance ballad, but rather a wish for all humanity to move forward.  Madison Avenue would probably argue that the reference to 1989 dates the song, and that’s why you don’t hear it.  I say, Madison Avenue is afraid too many people will take the positive message of the song to heart, and it’s game over for them and their stranglehold on our society.

A WINTER’S TALE (David Essex, 1982-again , I think)  This song, written by Tim Rice and Mike Batt, on the other hand, is  a stark contrast to the first two.  This is no romantic ballad, nor cheery, upbeat, jingle.  This is a heart breaking song about a man who has just broken up with the woman of his dreams as the year ends-ouch!  What I admire about the song is that in the second verse, he wishes the woman happiness and love, a painfully noble thing to do…I don’t know if I’d ever have the strength to do that myself.  Then again, I’ve never been lucky enough to even HAVE a romantic involvement with a potential Miss Right.  Seriously, though, I think there are people out there who can relate to the situation, and maybe ease their pain with this song.  At least, that is what I would hope they would do.

So people, if you love these songs like I do, then call your radio stations and HOUND them to get these songs on the air, and don’t take NO for an answer  Nobody wants to go off the deep end like Fred Claus did.

Stop Motion Broadway

My friend, Heather, and I were discussing the classic Rankin Bass holiday specials last week, and the Broadway quality of these classics.  Heather presented a very strong case  for TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS.  I, on the other hand, have to go to bat for THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS.

First of all, the opening/title song is classic Broadway:  The narrator/ female lead (Mrs. C) sings the first verse with a gentle yet suspenseful string lead, which then turns into a big, splashy up tempo chorus.  Meanwhile, the plot and the story is being laid out and we are given the back story, without tedious exposition.

Secondly, we get an “I want” song.  Mrs. C, is more than willing to try her hand at what Santa does, proudly singing, “I could be Santa Claus!”.  We’re now in her corner to help her resolve the impending holiday crisis.  This is mucally followed by, in my opinion, the most beautiful song from Maury and Jules:  “I Believe in Santa Claus”.  I love the message here.  Santa isn’t just about giving toys.  He’s about love, kindness, and generosity.  It’s a brilliantly disguised lesson as to what Christmas is supposed to be about.

Then the mood lightens musically with “It’s Gonna Snow”, a nifty dixieland jazz number, followed by the piece de resistance of specialty songs, “Heat Miser” and “Freeze Meister”.

Granted “Blue Christmas” is not original to the special, but it fits perfectly.  We’re given the kids’ point of view of how much they’re going to miss Santa this year, and Santa realizes just how much he means to the kids, and is the motivator for the happy conclusion, which includes a bookending reprise of teh title song.  “Here Comes Santa Claus” isn’t an original piece, either, but I love the orchestration, and would make this the 11 o’clock production number.

As far as character development, Mrs. C is strong, caring, but no-nonsense.  She’s not intimidated by the Miser brothers comic sibling rivalry.  Jingle and Jangle are great comic reliefe.  I love the bit where Jingle is on the phone saying, “Yes Mrs. Claus, No Mrs. Claus, Right away Mrs. Claus”, only to have Jangle ask “Who was that?”  Then, there’s Iggy’s transformation from doubt to belief to acceptance of Santa, Mrs. C, and the elves is a joy.

Heather and I agree that along with the maestro of Fall River, Maury Laws and Jules Bass deserve to have their music and lyrics heard on a Broadway stage.  Let’s go back to the title song of YEAR.  I have no problems breaking the verses up with reaction dialgue among the various characters.  Or how about expanding “It’s Gonna Snow” into a full out dance number…a square dance/cakewalk hybrid, perhaps.  In the words of Young Frankenstein himself: “It…could…..work!”  Heather suggested Rita Moreno could play Mother Nature as a cameo.  Fine by me, as long as we can give her a song, and let her have fun with the dialogue.

My biggest question, though, is who holds the rights to the Rankin/Bass song library, and would they be willing to let my friend and I do things the way they SHOULD be done?  Too many producers tried to influence SEUSSICAL, and destroyed it.  I refuse to let that happen here.

WHEW! memories

I remember the summer of 1979,  Just out of third grade, getting ready for a return trip to Vermont with my parents.  Maybe a few trips to my aunt and uncle’s rambling farm-house in Brooklyn Connecticut.  But one other thing made the summer of 1979 great fun for me.

I had to have the TV on by 10:30, so I could see the most amazing game show I had ever seen in my young life.  This show had, and has everything I look for in a format:  A set that was a riot of color, and a total fantasy environment, gameplay that engaged the audience, and was insanely fast-paced, and a kick-ass theme by actor and composer Alan Thicke, which accompanied an animated opening sequence done by the Hanna-Barbera Studios (who also designed the life-sized cutouts for the bonus round).  This was WHEW!, a show that true believers, and diehards, like myself, remember with a great deal of fondness, and longing.

WHEW! was the brainchild of Jay Wolpert-the man behind the highly successful and entertaining PIRATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN  movie trilogy.  Jay was a protegé of Mark Goodson, and had created several of THE PRICE IS RIGHT’s pricing games.  WHEW! was, I believe, Jay’s first venture outside the Goodson/Todman fold, and what a debut!  I recently learned, through my own research, that WHEW! was Jay’s idea of marrying a comic book adventure to a game show format.  That’s why the set was as colorful as it was, and why Hanna/Barbera’s artwork was all over the place.  At 8 years old, I never made that connection.  I was too busy being engrossed in the game itself, but the more I think about it now, the more it makes sense.

Think of it this way.  The two contestants were like rival adventurers who knew that 10 villains were stashing away $25,000 in their lair.  Each adventurer wanted to be the one who was able to outsmart the other adventurer, and beat the villain’s at their own game.  And what was the game?  To correct blooper statements in a wide range of categories.  In the main game, the category was specific.  When you got to face the villains, it was uncategorized.  How did our contestant adventurers outsmart each other?  They either blocked the other person’s progress, by placing 6 blocks on the board, or by avoiding these blocks, and reaching the top in under one minute.  I loved watching someone hit a block.  Host Tom Kennedy (one of the all time greats) would count down the five seconds with the audience, and when several blocks were hit during the course of a game, Tom could barely contain his laughter (not mean spirited, more like laughter in disbelief.

The person racing the clock did have a way out.  All he or she had to say was ‘Longshot!”.  This brought the player up to the top, and gave the other player one extra chance to block.  Invariably, the game was won or lost here, as either, the player would get it right, get it wrong, or hit the extra block.  I’ve got to take a minute to mention another feature of WHEW! that made it so different, and so special.  The comic book theme was not only present in the set design, and show opening animated sequence, but also in the sound effects package.  When the player racing the clock entered or exited the stage, you heard footsteps, and a slamming door.  The clock timer, was the drum portion of the theme music without other instrumentation.  “Longshot!” gave you the sound of tires screeching, and an automobile crash.  And the best part, when you ran out of time, it wasn’t a buzzer that told you, it was the voices of the villains themselves saying, “Time’s UUUUUUUuuup!” in a sing-song voice.  I absolutely loved that.

CBS , however, made two HUGE mistakes with WHEW!  first, they didn’t give it a full 30 minutes.  It’s 10:30 time slot was partly taken up with a news break at 10:55.  That killed the pacing of the show, in my opinion.  Tom Kennedy, more often than not, was forced to use time that could have been used for a round, to just talk to the contestants, and then close the show.  The second mistake was adding celebrities to help the contestants.  Lousy idea.  The show’s format was perfect with the contestants playing solo.  If CBS wanted celebrities playing the game, it should have been celeb versus celeb for one week playing for charity.

CBS, however, does not deserve the blame for my next criticism and complaint.  There are three or four episodes on YouTube available for viewing.  The entire series, however, is in the hands of producer Burt Sugarman.  Burt has placed a huge price tag on the rebroadcast rights to WHEW!  Higher than GSN (which would be the one network that WOULD rerun WHEW!) can afford to dish out.  Word on the street is that Burt is unwilling to renegotiate his asking price, and the master tapes are just sitting there, possibly breaking down, and decomposing as we speak.  If it were possible, I would ask Burt why he’s being so tight-fisted about this.  He’s not exactly doing anyone any favors.  If anything, he’s coming across as miserly.  and what if someone wanted to bring it back for a new generation?  They can’t.  Burt’s holding that as well.

I don’t mean to be negative.  I just wish Burt would realize what he’s doing.  If anybody ever DOES bring back WHEW!,  don’t be so presumptuous to think you can improve on what Jay Wolpert did.  He nailed the format and the feel of the game, and you’d be doing a huge disservice to fans by turning it into a dark, industrial set-themed show-in other words, don’t pull an Endemol or Fremantle with the format.

HUGE mini update:  The Television Production Music Museum (tvpmm.com) has just announced on Twitter that Alan Thicke has released the WHEW! music package to them.    This post will be updated again when the files have been uploaded.  Thanks for the awesome Christmas  present Alan!

A lot can happen in 40 seconds….

You’re standing there listening to music in a headset.  You feell a tap on the shoulder.  You turn around, and you’re face to face with someone who needs you to understand what they’re talking about.  You understand, and now it’s your turn to pass it on to someone else.  Just one problem…you can’t repeat what you just heard.  You’re in the middle of a round of HOT STREAK, one of the most underrated game shows of the 1980’s.

HOT STREAK didn’t actually start out as HOT STREAL.  It actually started life as PARTY LINE.  MATCH GAME veteran host Gene Rayburn was the host of the PARTY LINE pilot episode, and did a wonderful job working with two teams of five people (men versus women), who had the daunting task of communicating a single word through all the members of the team in 40 seconds WITHOUT repeating a key word or phrase, with the members of the winning team having to communicate one more word to 9 (count ‘em!) new people in the same time limit, observing the same rules.

I have to wonder why it took Reg Grundy three years to get this show to air.  I know it’s not always easy getting a new show on the airwaves, but when you have a concept as strong as HOT STREAK’s, three years seems unreasonably long.  I applaud ABC for having picked up the series in 1986, but they put the show up against a little show called THE PRICE IS RIGHT, and another little show called WHEEL OF FORTUNE…death slot times two.  They also made the mistake ( or maybe Reg Grundy dropped the ball here) of hiring a host that American audiences didn’t know from a hole in the ground:  Bruce Forsyth.

Don’t get me wrong.  Bruce is a likeable personality, genuinely interested in his contestants, loves to engage the audience, and is geneally speaking, a lot of fun to watch.  Unfortunately, his American credits were limited to a guest appearance on the Muppet Show in its first season, and a brief appearance as the Bookman’s henchman in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS.  A more familiar name, and a better timeslot would have done wonders.  That name, though wouldn’t be Gene Rayburn, though, he was already hosting the latest version of BREAK THE BANK in syndication.

I have to admit I was scratching my head on first viewing of HOT STREAK.  I honeestly didn’t see how you could get an idea communicated through five people without repeating.  My sister was even less kind to HOT STREAK-she said it was stupid..  I watched it again, when my sister wasn’t around, and it started to grow on me.  I started to see how it WAS possible to accomplish the object of the game.  I also noticed that instead of a ticking clock, we were treated to an old fashioned silent movie style chase riff, which seemed to have a few variations throughout the main game.  Interesting touch, if you ask me.

It’s been almost 25 years since HOT STREAK came and left the airwaves, and I have been finding myself thinking about it with great fondness and longing lately.  HOT STREAK had that element of creativity that is sorely lacking in daytime TV these days.  These days, we are having courtroom reality shows, violent and foul-mouthed talk shows (I mean YOU Jerry Springer, and Maury Povich–Maury, at least you used to have class-not anymore-you’re just as sleazy),  and even sleazier tabloid news shows being forced down our throats.  I do applaud CBS, though for their new version of LET’S MAKE A DEAL…Wayne Brady and the gang are doing that right.  We need fun, we need variety, we need programming that you don’t have to worry about the kids seeing (don’t get me started on the decline and fall of kids’ TV, I have a friend who can describe that for you even better than I).  HOT STREAK may not have been a hit here the way it is in other countries, but at least Reg Grundy TRIED to do something that was all of the above.

THE GHOST BUSTERS (1975)

Before GHOST WHISPERER, there was GHOSTBUSTERS, and before GHOSTBUSTERS there were THE GHOST BUSTERS.  Now you might be looking and looking again to see if I may have just repeated myself.  I promise I have not.  GHOSTBUSTERS ( one word) was the hit movie franchise from 1985, about a team of ghost busters in NYC saving the world from Gozer.  THE GHOST BUSTERS was a 1975 live action Saturday morning sitcom from Norm Prescott and Lou Scheimer’s FILMATION comapny, and was played for even more laughs than the 1985 movie.

Forrest Tucker played Jake Kong, the grizzled middle aged straight man of the trio of spectre chasers.  Jake ran the office, operated the de-materializer (“ZZZZZZZZZZZap!”), and was essentially the brains of the operation.  Larry Storch (who played opposite Tucker on F-TROOP) was Eddie Spenser (or Spencer, if you observe the opening titles’ spelling of the name).  Eddie was the enthusiastic, but not-too-bright sidekick, who inexplicably always wore a tacky zoot suit, with an equally tacky tie.  Spenser was always having to carry out the plan, which usually meant that he was the bait for the ghost guest star.  Rounding out the cast was Tracy-a gorilla who never spoke, but was always ready with a visual wisecrack when Kong was trying to get the job done.  According to the credits Tracy ws “trained” by actor Bob Burns.  In reality, of course, it was Bob in the outfit the whole time.

This trio worked for the mysterious Mr. Zero (executive producer Lou Scheimer himself), who always delivered the assignments as a recording in an unlikely object-anything from a rubber chicken to a whipped cream pie.  The running gag was taken right out of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.  The object would explode when the tape destructed, and poor Tracy always got the worst of it, while Spenser cluelessly chastised his gorilla partner about it.

Each week, our unlikely heroes had to contend with a ghostly guest star.  Many of whom were well-known faces in the 1970’s:  Johnny Brown, Ted Knight, Billy Barty, and Krofft character actor Lennie Weinrib, were just some of the faces who tangled with Spenser, Tracy, and Kong.  But fear not:  like I said, this was played for laughs.  The ghosts weren’t out to control the world, or destroy it.  Most of the time, they just wanted to get a precious object to finish some unfinished business, or get some treasure.  Mostly harmeless, but troublesome nonetheless.

I was thrilled when they released the series on DVD.  THE GHOST BUSTERS was one of those shows you watch twice in your lifetime.  As a kid, you loved the physical comedy/slapstick angle, and that de-materializer was a pretty neat prop to handle.  As a grownup, you get to enjoy the subtle humor, and refernces, and yes, the slapstick still works.  My favorite running gag involved Spenser trying to open the filing cabinet.  No matter what he did, the wrong drawer would open, the right drawer wouldn’t open at all, or several drawers would open at once-you never knew what would happen when Spenser had to get a file.  It really made the show feel like a live action cartoon.

You should still be able to find this on DVD at BEST BUY or AMAZON.  I highly recommend it.  Especially if you’re thinking of creating something for Saturday morning TV.  There’s an element in this show your creation will need, and that element is FUN=pure and simple.  No agenda, no overstating a point, just fun.

One last bit of trivia:  The background music credit is for one Yvette Blais.  This is actually the pseudonym of Ray Ellis, who composed a lot of great music for Reg Grundy’s game shows in the 1980’s.

 

THE HALLOWEEN THAT ALMOST WASN’T

Take Judd Hirsch (TAXI and NUMBERS) as Count Dracula, 1970’s TV spokeswoman and personality Mariette Hartley as the Witch, LAUGH IN”s Henry Gibson as Igor, and Broadway and TV character actor John Shuck as Frankenstein, and put them together for one live-action TV special, and you get THE HALLOWEEN THAT ALMOST WASN’T.  One of the funniest Halloween specials that seems to have unfairly fallen by the wayside.

This is not meant to be an attack on the classic GREAT PUMPKIN, so put the knives and slings, and pitchforks down.  I enjoy GREAT PUMPKIN very much, but I want to put the spotlight on HALLOWEEN THAT ALMOST WASN’T.

The story is simplicity in itself.  It’s almost Halloween, and all is not well in Transylvania.  There’s an ugly rumor going around that Dracula is going to end the holiday.  Dracula is furious about this (“Halloween is my national holiday!”).  He’s not the only one upset.  Two young kids who love this holiday as much as Dracula, have heard the news, and wonder what will happen to the fun they’re planning on having.  These kids don’t know it yet, but they’ll wind up being instrumental in bringing about the happy ending.

Back at Dracula’s castle, Drac has summoned his legion of monsters to discuss the crisis.  It is at this meeting that Dracula learns that the Witch is there to strike a blow on behalf of equal rights.  Either Dracula meets her demands, or she won’t fly over the moon, and that’s it for Halloween.  When Dracual refuses, the Witch leaves for her castle, and locks herself in.  It’s up to Dracula and the other monsters to get the Witch to do her job, by luring or forcing her out of the castle.

But like I said, this is all played for laughs.  Writer Coleman Jacoby and Director Bruce Bilson pack this 30 minute special with plenty of bits of physical comedy, pop culture (for 1979) references, and hilariously cringeworthy throwaway jokes.    I have a hard time picking out favorite lines and moments, because there are so many.  One moment, like Dracula and Frankenstein disussing how a popular movie made Frank take up tapdancing, will put a smile on myface.  Then another moment, like the Witch’s demands which include having the Witch’s picture replace Dracula’s on the souvenir T-shirts, makes me laugh.  Then ANOTHER moment, like Dracula abusing Igor or doing his “teeny tiny bat” incantation puts me away-you have to see this last one for yourself, what happens after he’s a teeny tiny bat is even funnier.

I wish I coiuld tell you where to get this on DVD, or which TV stations or cable networks will run it, but I can’t.  What I CAN do is tell you to get yourself over to YouTube, where someone had the good sense to upload it, and in very good quality, too I might add.  I’m not tricking you when I say that this HALLOWEEN is a real treat.

And Now for Something Completely 40

I must have been 7.3141529 years old, and was under the impression that the English had no sense of humor to speak of.  How could I not when the only British TV my parents ever seemed to watch were those period pieces of MASTERPIECE THEATRE, and network miniseries based on classic works of literature?  I was certain at that age that if I ever went overseas, I’d have a rotten time, because the English didn’t seem to have a sense of humor about anything.

That is until I saw this advertisement on WGBH.  It was a short advertisement for a TV show.  The clip featured this 6 foot 4 gentleman dressed in a 3 piece suit, having a conversation with another well-dressed gentleman.  The 6′4″ man stands up, and begins to walk around the office, which is no larger than my bathroom, in the most bizarre, and extraordinary manner I had ever seen.  The audience wwas exploding with laughter, and this strangely walking man, was English!

In case you haven’t guessed, this was the first time I ever saw the climax of Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks skit.  This was my introduction to the wonderfully silly and anarchic world of Monty Python.  Even though I was too young to watch it back then (my parents would have had a fit if they caught me watching Monty Python at that age), I knew this was something I’d want to investigate and check out later.

Later came when I was about 15.  Two events joined forces to bring me into the Python legion of fans.  First, I made a friend who had moved into my hometown form Boston, and who happened to know almost every Python routine word-perfect.  He enjoyed trying to engage me in the routines, especially since he knew that, at the time, I had no idea what the hell he was talking about  The other thing that happened was that my folks had finally decided that I could start staying up later on Friday nights.  That meant that if I was lucky, I’d catch Monty Python on WGBH.  The first complete episode I ever got to see was the “Book at Bedtime/Kamikaze Highlanders” episode from the third series.

I could not have asked for a better episode to start with, because it gave me a clear idea of what they wanted the show to be.  I was seeing a fantastically series of surreal skits connected by Michael Palin and the gang trying to make sense of RED GAUNTLET by Sir Walter Scott.  I couldn’t wait to tell my friend about it.  Of course, he knew that episode backwards and forwards, but we still enjoyed a good laugh remembering it.  The second one I saw from the same series was Michael Palin starring as Reg Pither in the “Cycling Tour (“I’m just a jack-in-the-box/and whenever love pops, I’m gonna bounce up and down on my spring….”).  Absolutely hilarious.

I have since seen all 45 episodes.  After I saw most of them, I started seeking out the movies.  I think I actually saw them in the order they were made.  I recorded AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, and HOLY GRAIL.  I was able to rent LIFE OF BRIAN (which rreally is more about radicalism and terrorism than anything else, but that’s another column-please don’t start a holy war here, the People’s Front of Judea have been especdially hard hit by the recession).  The movie I had to shell out the most for was MEANING OF LIFE, because , at the time, it wasn’t available on video.  I didn’t get sick from the famous restaurant scene, but I don’t know what posessed me to eat lunch while watching it.

The highlight, for me thi=ough, was getting to see SPAMALOT in NYC the night before it won best musical.  I got to meet Chris Seiber, who’s currently playing Lord Farquaad in SHREK, and had my picture taken with Hank Azaria.  .  Unfortunately, Tim Curry didn’t come out to meet the audience, that would have been great.

So, now Monty Python turns 40.  It’s hard to believe that I am one year younger than this group, but have pretty much known who they were my whole life.  I’m really grateful for how this group has shaped and cultivated my sense of humor.  We Python fans a re a special group, a community, almost a family.  A very silly family that knows that Norwegian Blues have beautiful plumage, that cheese shops without cheese aren’t much of a cheese shop, a Gumby isn’t a green clay figurine, and that one wafer thin mint can cause a huge biohazard in a stuffy French restaurant.