Heartwarming End Scene To "Isn't It Shocking?" (Made-for-TV, 1973) (video)

R.I.P. Louise Lasser 💗💗

With the murder case solved, Alan Alda's small town sheriff must decide whether to stay...

...or take a job in a bigger town far away, which his secretary Blanche (Louise Lasser) dreads because she secretly loves him. 

Listen how beautifully David Shire's music enters the scene at just the right moment and then leads into the end titles.

One of our favorite scenes in any 70s made-for-tv film.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Heartwarming End Scene To "Isn't It Shocking?" (Made-for-TV, 1973) (video)

AGATHA CHRISTIE'S PARTNERS IN CRIME: THE TOMMY & TUPPENCE MYSTERIES -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 1/26/13

While I was aware of Agatha Christie's keen sense of humor from watching the delightful "Poirot" and "Marple" television adaptations of recent years, it wasn't until I met Tommy and Tuppence Beresford that I encountered Dame Agatha's downright silly side.  Their one-season, 11-episode TV series from 1983 can now be found in Acorn Media's 3-disc DVD set AGATHA CHRISTIE'S PARTNERS IN CRIME: THE TOMMY & TUPPENCE MYSTERIES, but how much you appreciate them depends on your tolerance for screwball detective shenanigans of a distinctly lightweight nature.

James Warwick, almost a dead ringer for a young Michael Palin of "Monty Python", plays wounded World War I vet Thomas Beresford. In the feature-length pilot "The Secret Adversary", Tommy returns to London after his military discharge and is reunited with Prudence "Tuppence" Crowley (Francesca Annis, "Lillie", "Cranford"), the beautiful, vivacious army nurse who helped him recover from his injuries.  Naturally, they fall in love, but are both desperate to find work. 

After a few improbable contrivances, the soon-to-be-married couple find themselves working undercover for the British government in an adventure that feels more like a low-rent espionage yarn than a mystery story.  While there's a McGuffin of some sort that I can barely recall, this is simply an excuse to put our hero and heroine in and out of mildly dangerous situations for an hour and a half while dealing with guest stars George Baker ("I, Claudius"), Honor Blackman (of "The Avengers" and GOLDFINGER fame), and Gavan O'Herlihy (Richie Cunningham's phantom older brother on "Happy Days") as Julius P. Hersheimmer, an American millionaire who may or may not be in cahoots with the bad guys.

"The Secret Adversary" has that dreary, overcast look typical of filmed British teleplays of the era, which I actually regard with much nostalgia.  The story is more serious than the later series, with more gravitas and character depth.  Period trappings do a good enough job evoking the atmosphere of the post-WWI "flapper" era, especially in the rather lavish costuming.  All in all, it comes off as something Agatha Christie might've written to give her brain a rest from its usual rigorous literary workouts.

The first episode of the series proper, "The Affair of the Pink Pearl", comes as something of a shock since it features that odd-looking tendency of early British television to mix gloomy filmed exteriors with brightly-lit videotaped interiors, which never fails to look jarring and artificial.  Tommy and Tuppence have taken over a detective agency despite their having no experience in the field whatsoever--they rely mainly on sheer luck and pluck to get by--with their movie-obsessed young butler Albert (Reece Dinsdale) serving as receptionist and general comedy relief buffoon. 

The series has the look of a sitcom with everyone playing their roles in a broad, theatrical manner.  The mysteries Tommy and Tuppence are called upon to solve are quickly and easily dealt with for the most part--anything more complicated, in fact, would be beyond their limited capabilities--leaving plenty of time for frivilously romantic banter between the charming but sometimes sickly-sweet lovebirds. 

"Pink Pearl" is a simple, even paper-thin drawing room mystery involving the theft of the title item amidst an upperclass household of eccentrics.  Francesca Annis' Tuppence is flightier and sillier than ever, yet she's more naturally clever at solving puzzles than Tommy, a sturdy, reliable chap who enjoys letting his playful side show through in her presence.  Guests include William Hootkins of STAR WARS, BATMAN, and HARDWARE, and Graham Crowden of BRITANNIA HOSPITAL.

"The House of Lurking Death" is more like it, living up to its lurid title quite nicely with a better balance of seriousness and humor.  Half the characters we're introduced to in the first scene are killed off by poison, putting Tommy and Tuppence into a situation that's much grimmer and more genuinely involving than usual.  (Joan Sanderson, the crabby old deaf lady from "Fawlty Towers", guests.)  After this, "The Sunningdale Mystery" is positively inert, with our leads wandering around a golf course discussing a murder mystery and poking around for clues until they figure things out and go home.  

"The Clergyman's Daughter" is a fun one about a supposed mansion haunting with the usual "Scooby-Doo" plot enhanced by Tuppence's masquerade as a spiritualist.  "Finessing the King" gives Tommy and Tuppence a chance to dress up as Holmes and Watson for a costume ball and revisit some old romantic haunts from their past, one of which becomes the setting for the inevitable murder.  After that, "The Ambassador's Boots" is about as bland as the title suggests.

There's some nice foggy atmosphere in "The Man in the Mist" but it gives way to tedium as Tommy's longwinded re-enactment of yet another murder goes on too long.  The episode is saved by a chuckle-inducing ending.  "The Unbreakable Alibi" is an interesting tale of a woman who claims to have been in two places at once, with a solid alibi in each instance.  Fairly intriguing, until the most obvious solution to the mystery turns out to be the right one.

In "The Case of the Missing Lady", Tommy and Tuppence infiltrate a country asylum where an Arctic explorer's missing fiance' is thought to be held captive.  This is one of the most comedy-heavy episodes, with Tuppence, disguised as a famous Russian ballerina, keeping staff and inmates occupied with a prolonged shaggy-dog version of "Swan Lake" while Tommy searches the place disguised as a scraggly old gardener.  A last-minute revelation makes the story even more lightweight than previously thought, but with amusing results.  "The Crackler" sends the series off with a pretty interesting tale of counterfeit bank notes floating around an illicit gambling club.

The 3-disc DVD set from Acorn Media is in 4:3 full screen with Dolby Digital sound and English subtitles.  There are no extras.

If you're up for this sort of frothy, lightweight entertainment, then there's no reason why you shouldn't enjoy AGATHA CHRISTIE'S PARTNERS IN CRIME: THE TOMMY & TUPPENCE MYSTERIES to some extent.  Just as long as you're not expecting something with the same rich atmosphere and emotional resonance as Christie's more substantial filmed works.

AGATHA CHRISTIE'S PARTNERS IN CRIME: THE TOMMY & TUPPENCE MYSTERIES -- DVD Review by Porfle

SPACE GHOST (1966-1968) -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

 

Originally posted on 1/30/22

 

 

Currently watching: the complete DVD collection of one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons as a kid, SPACE GHOST (1966-1968). 

 

(Full DVD title: "Space Ghost & Dino Boy: The Complete Series" from the Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection. 20 episodes on 3 discs, 42 7-minute Space Ghost segments in all. Bonus feature is a movie-length documentary, "Simplicity: The Life and Art of Alex Toth.")

 

I love Cartoon Network's later comedy reworking of the character in his own talk show called "Space Ghost Coast To Coast", but that takes nothing away from my feeling for the original action-adventure space opera designed by comics legend Alex Toth. 

 

 

 

It was only Hanna-Barbera's second adventure cartoon after "Jonny Quest", and their first superhero series. "Laugh-In" star Gary Owen did the voice for Space Ghost, and his teen sidekicks Jan and Jace were voiced by Ginny Tyler and Tim Matheson. 

 

Other voice talent includes Ted Cassidy as Metallus, Vic Perrin as Creature King, Alan Reed as Glasstor, Keye Luke as Brak, Paul Frees as Brago, and Don Messick as Blip, Space Ghost's cute monkey companion who often gets him and the kids out of trouble.

 

Alex Toth's character designs and layouts are eye-pleasing, and the show was done while Hanna-Barbera were still doing quality animated shows. The music is great, too. 

 

 

 

The secondary "Dino Boy" segments don't do anything for me--I don't even remember bothering to watch them when originally aired. 

 

Super villains Zorak, Moltar, and Brak would later become regulars on the talk show, along with occasional appearances by Metallus, Tansit, Lokar, and Black Widow. It's fun seeing them play it straight as they do here in their introductory appearances.

 

Space Ghost, whose subterranean laboratory can be found on the Ghost Planet, is sort of an interplanetary policeman whose main powers are supplied by his power bands, which are worn on his wrists, and his inviso-belt. 

 

 

 

Jan and Jace alert him of suspicious activity while on patrol in their scout ship and often get captured by the bad guys so that Space Ghost must fly to their rescue in his spaceship, the Phantom Cruiser. 

 

The stories are flashy and colorful, with lots of explosions, and are kept very simple and formulaic so that they can be easily followed by younger viewers.

 

As far as light entertainment with a strong sense of nostalgia goes, I just love this kind of stuff.

 

 

SPACE GHOST (1966-1968) -- DVD Review by Porfle

TOM AND JERRY: THE GENE DEITCH COLLECTION -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 5/31/15

 

I originally watched these cartoons during my college days, many years ago, on a tiny portable TV.  Thus, I never realized that they're actually fairly nice-looking, colorful cartoons with some lovely backgrounds.  My only reaction at that time to the Gene Deitch "Tom & Jerry"s was abject horror at how awful they seemed compared to the earlier Hanna-Barbera ones, which were actually known to win Oscars from time to time.

The only way any of the thirteen cartoons in Warner Home Entertainment's TOM AND JERRY: THE GENE DEITCH COLLECTION would get an Oscar would be if producer William L. Snyder taunted members of the Academy enough to have one thrown at him.  With Hanna-Barbera's departure from MGM, the studio turned to Snyder and Chicago-born animator-director Gene Deitch (a former Terrytoons producer and father of famed underground comix artist Kim Deitch) to keep the cat-and-mouse game afoot.

From Snyder’s Prague-based animation studio, Rembrandt Films, they churned out 13 new shorts from 1960-62 (after viewing some of the celebrated originals for the first time and disliking them) and created a run of "Tom & Jerry"s which stand as some of the oddest, least accessible, and, some might say, most bizarre mainstream cartoons ever made. 

Even as the age of the theatrical cartoon began to wane, moviegoers young and old must've scratched their heads as these wacky artifacts unspooled before them on the big screen. (A later Deitch creation, the Nudnik, would be even harder to relate to, although, to his credit, one of Deitch's unrelated shorts during this period won an Academy Award.)

A follower of the UPA style of animation, Deitch was unused to MGM's old-school, freewheeling slapstick hijinks and outlandish gags.  His attempts to recreate the works of animators such as William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, and the brilliant Tex Avery while adapting their brand of outrageous comedy to his post-modern sense of humor resulted in a series of hybrid efforts which, while hardly as entertaining as their forebears, are nevertheless curiously compelling.

Many of the odd, poorly-rendered gags make little or no sense--after being buried alive in "Switchin' Kitten", Tom's tail slithers up out of the ground and then his head appears on the end of it like a flower, looking just as perplexed as we are. The eye-pleasing artwork is at odds with the jerky movements and editing, while the sound effects often consist of reverb-heavy electronic noises that seem to have been recorded in a restroom. 

Rather than simply come up with the usual domestic antics for the duo, Deitch started putting them into all kinds of outlandish settings and situations (something Looney Tunes vet Chuck Jones would continue to do when he took over the reins from Deitch later on).  Haunted castles, ancient Greek cities, the jungle, outer space, and even a ship under the command of Captain Ahab ("Dicky Moe") are some of the backdrops for these stories.

Some of them consist of Tom simply doing what's expected of him--protecting the homefront from vermin.  Meanwhile Jerry, who is basically a home invader out to steal food (and, let's face it, spread disease), gleefully causes the hapless feline to get beaten and tortured for his efforts.   Honestly, it's as though we're expected to despise cats with a passion in order to find these cartoons funny.

Deitch lays the anti-cat sadism on thick as the writers try to top themselves coming up with ways for poor Tom to suffer (some of his punishments here are positively medieval) while Jerry, of course--insufferable little bastard that he is--dances around gloating and basking in his own horrid "cuteness."  The cat-hate is taken to especially uncomfortable extremes whenever Tom's new owner, a surly fat guy who constantly abuses him, takes him aside for a severe beating as Jerry looks on with a smirk and gorges himself on ill-gotten food.

Fortunately, some of the later entries in the series manage to tone down the Tom-related violence a tad as the stories become a bit cleverer and even the already-passable artwork seems to improve.  "Landing Stripling" and "Calypso Cat" come closest to the classic MGM cartoon style (while still displaying the usual Deitch touches) with an old-school look and gags that are actually funny. 

In "Landing Stripling", this is helped by making Tom the clear-cut bad guy from the start so that he deserves what he gets for once (although it's clear we're being manipulated to feel that way).  The duck character here is a throwback to Yakky Doodle from the classic era although not as cute.  "Calypso Cat" finds Tom once again trying to woo a beautiful girl cat, this time aboard a luxury cruise ship, while Jerry mischievously cramps his style--leading to some genuinely funny gags.

Deitch also harkens back to earlier cartoons with the music-based "Carmen Get It!" and the fourth-wall-breaking "The Tom & Jerry Cartoon Kit", although such attempts tend to emphasize the relative awkwardness of the newer ones.  "Dicky Mo", the western "Tall in the Trap", and "Sorry Safari" suffer from Deitch's grotesque depiction of human characters, whom Hanna-Barbera generally avoided save for the occasional pair of legs.  Another above-average entry is "Buddies...Thicker Than Water", whose tale of penthouse-dwelling Jerry taking in a homeless, freezing Tom actually generates some charm.

The DVD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is in standard format with Dolby mono sound in English and Spanish.  The 13 cartoons are newly remastered and look very nice.  Subtitles are in English, Spanish, and French.  Extras consist of a Gene Deitch interview, "Tom and Jerry…and Gene: The Rembrandt Years", and a series retrospective entitled "Much Ado About Tom and Jerry" which spans the decades from their debut cartoon all the way to their most recent TV incarnations.

Although as a cat-lover I eventually came to find even the earlier, classic MGM "Tom and Jerry" cartoons somewhat hard to endure (feeling sorry for Tom and seething with hatred for Jerry the whole time), I still watch them from time to time simply to enjoy the sheer genius behind their creation.  As for the 13 shorts in TOM AND JERRY: THE GENE DEITCH COLLECTION, the reason I watch them is the same reason I watch Ed Wood movies or gaze at kitsch art--because some things are so interestingly bad that they instill in the viewer a curious blend of revulsion, disbelief, and perverse pleasure.


Featured Shorts:
•Switchin’ Kitten
•Down and Outing
•It’s Greek to Me-ow!
•High Steaks
•Mouse Into Space
•Landing Stripling
•Calypso Cat
•Dicky Moe
•The Tom & Jerry Cartoon Kit
•Tall in the Trap
•Sorry Safari
•Buddies Thicker Than Water
•Carmen Get It!


Buy it at the WB Shop

Street date: June 2, 2015

TOM AND JERRY: THE GENE DEITCH COLLECTION -- DVD Review by Porfle

HARRY O: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 9/25/12

 

David Janssen was always good at playing a character who was wounded in some way.  His celebrated portrayal of Dr. Richard Kimball in the classic TV series "The Fugitive" showed us a man perpetually devastated by his wife's murder and his exile from society after being wrongly convicted of it. And with his soulful expressions, hesitant half-smiles, and awkward body language, Janssen made us feel his pain.

On a much lighter note, HARRY O: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (Warner Archive, 6-disc DVD) gives us another wounded Janssen protagonist, only this time the injury is more physical than psychological.  Former police detective Harry Orwell has been forced into retirement by a bullet lodged near his spine, and now lives in a beachfront cottage in San Diego making his living as a private detective.

But unlike the terminally ill-at-ease Dr. Kimball, "Harry O" allows David Janssen to play an amiably world-weary guy who doesn't really have to give a damn unless he feels like it.  He's amusingly grouchy but too softhearted to be a total cynic, with a kind of guarded optimism that keeps him afloat (unlike the battered boat that he's perpetually working to restore).  Those who come to him for help will find him loyal and compassionate if they deserve it, and grumpily dismissive if they don't.

The series, which ran for two seasons from 1973-76 (including two pilot movies), is rich in the kind of 70s cop-show nostalgia one expects while being a few notches above the standard Quinn Martin-type product.  Harry himself is more wistful and introspective than the usual TV cop of the era, and thanks to his physical condition he sometimes has to stop and catch his breath during an exciting chase scene.  Not only that, but with a car that spends more time in the shop than on the road, Harry often arrives at the scene of the crime by bus.

While mainly serious, a wry humor permeates the show even in its darkest moments.  Much of it is contained in Harry's gruff voiceovers ("Personally, I don't mind being tailed...if I were ashamed to be seen someplace, I wouldn't go there") while the dialogue is often laced with amusing zingers such as when Harry calls on a woman known for her psychic abilities.  "Is she expecting you?" the maid asks at the door.  "If she's psychic, she is," Harry answers.  Most of the fun comes from Harry's pleasantly abrasive relationship with Lt. Manuel "Manny" Quinlan (Henry Darrow) of the San Diego police and his rookie assistant Sgt. Frank Cole, likably played by future cult actor Tom Atkins. 

Although the writing is consistently good, much of the appeal of "Harry O" is simply the chance to hang out with these characters and enjoy watching them go through their paces along with a variety of familiar guest stars of the era.  The first regular episode, "Gertrude", is a nifty enough mystery about a highly eccentric woman whose brother is missing from the navy, but seeing the appealing Julie Sommars in the quirky title role is what makes it worth watching. 

"Coinage of the Realm" not only gives us the great Kenneth Mars (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN) but also shows that Dawn Lyn was actually a fairly promising child actress despite the idiotic "Dodie" character she played on "My Three Sons."  And speaking of child actresses, Lisa Gerritsen of "Phyllis" fame gets a surprisingly adult guest role in "Ballinger's Choice" as Paul Burke's 16-year-old lover, with Juliet Mills and Tim McIntyre also in the cast.

Episodes 11 and 12 form the season's only two-parter, "Forty Reasons to Kill", which features Joanna Pettet, Craig Stevens, and Broderick Crawford.  "The Last Heir" is a delightfully offbeat whodunnit in the Agatha Christie mold, with Harry stranded in a desert hacienda with a family of kooks trying to kill each other over an inheritance.  Jeanette Nolan is outstanding as the eccentric millionairess, with Whit Bissell and Katherine Justice lending support.

With episode 15, "For the Love of Money", comes a retooling of the series that finds Harry transported from San Diego to Santa Monica--thus losing co-star Henry Darrow, regretfully--and moving into another oceanfront abode, this time next door to a bevy of beautiful stewardesses!  (Which, not surprisingly, brightens Harry's disposition considerably.)  Billy Goldenberg's gorgeous cool-jazz musical theme is altered as well, while the opening titles sequence reflects a more action-guy persona for Harry (more running and shooting, less bus travel). 

Anthony Zerbe joins the cast as Lt. K.C. Trench, whose relationship with Harry will be alternately friendly and contentious, and Farrah Fawcett debuts in episode 19 ("Double Jeopardy") as a tentative romantic interest for the now inexplicably irresistible Harry.  The season's next-to-last episode, "Elegy for a Cop", features the shocking demise of a regular character in one of the season's most serious episodes (penned by series creator Howard Rodman).  The final episode in the set, "Street Games", is notable for giving us "Brady Bunch" alumnus Maureen McCormick as a teen drug addict.

Other guest stars featured during season one include Linda Evans, Jim Backus, Cab Calloway, Leif Erickson, Sharon Acker, Charles Haid, Stephanie Powers, Barry Sullivan, Linda Evans, Anne Archer, Gordon Jump, Lawrence Luckinbill, David Dukes, Rosalind Cash, Margaret Avery, James McEachin, Jack Mullaney, Diane Ewing, Marla Adams, Michael Strong, James Olson, Barbara Anderson, Robert Reed, Jerry Hardin, Sharon Farrell, Bernie Kopell, Mariclaire Costello, John Rubenstein, Diana Hyland, Kathleen Lloyd, James Wainwright, William Sylvester, Jack Riley, Lawrence Pressman, Kurt Russell, Ben Piazza, and Karen Lynn Gorney.

The first of two pilot TV-movies for the series--"Such Dust as Dreams are Made On", with Martin Sheen, Sal Mineo, Margot Kidder, Will Geer, and Marianna Hill (Fredo's wife in THE GODFATHER PART II)--is included on disc six, but not the second pilot, "Smile Jenny, You're Dead", which, sadly, is missing here. 

Sheen, an extremely familiar television presence at the time, plays Harlan Garrison, the petty thief who shot Harry years earlier during a hold-up and forced him into early retirement.  A young Cheryl Ladd appears briefly under her real name, Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor.  The frantic motorcycle chase finale, with Harry hightailing it after a fleeing Sal Mineo, would be reused in its entirety for the episode "Elegy for a Cop."  

The six-disc DVD set from Warner Archive is in the original full-screen with Dolby mono sound.  No subtitles.  Picture quality shows its age a bit at times but still looked fine to me, although videophiles will no doubt notice every scratch.

While enjoying respectable ratings during its second season, "Harry O" would nevertheless be cancelled by ABC president Fred Silverman in favor of the jigglier "Charlie's Angels", causing a disillusioned David Janssen to pretty much retire from series TV altogether until his untimely death in 1980.  But we're lucky to have two good seasons of "Harry O", the first of which is now preserved in HARRY O: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON for 70s cop show fans to enjoy and wax nostalgic over. 

HARRY O: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- DVD Review by Porfle

FRIDAY THE 13TH - THE SERIES: THE FIRST SEASON -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/5/12

 

Here's the original prologue that used to begin each episode of "Friday the 13th - The Series":  "Lewis Vendredi made a deal with the devil to sell cursed antiques. But he broke the pact, and it cost him his soul. Now, his niece Micki, and her cousin Ryan have inherited the store... and with it, the curse. Now they must get everything back and the real terror begins."

For some reason this prologue is omitted from the 6-disc DVD set FRIDAY THE 13TH - THE SERIES: THE FIRST SEASON, but I figured it would be a good way to start my synopsis.  In the first episode, veteran character actor R.G. Armstrong plays Uncle Lewis, whose sudden relocation to Hell leaves Micki and Ryan as proprietors of his antique store, Curious Goods.  Lewis' former partner, a sage old sorceror named Jack, shows up and warns the two that all the cursed items that have been sold from the store will cause untold death and destruction if they don't track them all down and lock them in the vault downstairs. 

After witnessing some supernatural shenanigans firsthand, it doesn't take long for our heroes to get over their initial "yeah, right" attitude and dedicate themselves to this monumental task.

The main characters are likable and fun.  First, there's Robey ("Louise" when she's at home) as Micki, the fiery redhead who's lots of fun to look at.  Micki sacrifices her upcoming marriage to some Mr. Perfect-type to become a cursed antique tracker-downer, because she knows people will die if she doesn't.  Then there's her cousin Ryan (John D. LeMay), who comes off as a bit of a doofus at first--in fact, I thought he was going to be the bumbling comedy-relief until his character began to develop considerably as the season went on. 

Not unlike Mulder and Scully, or Steed and Mrs. Peel, Micki and Ryan have a lighthearted relationship that can also have its serious and dramatic moments.  At times, their characters are given a surprising amount of depth and often suffer sizeable personal tragedies.  Rounding things off is Chris Wiggins as their mentor, Jack, whose wisdom and knowledge of the black arts are indispensible. 

The thing that makes this unlikely trio of do-gooders so endearing is that they aren't professionals--they risk their lives in every episode out of concern for others.  (All together now:  "Awwwww...")

To me, the series has that distinctive look of 80s low-budget Canadian cinema, like RABID or one of the SCANNERS movies.  I've heard complaints about the picture quality, and indeed much of the photography is somewhat muted and murky.  But this is true mainly of the earlier episodes, and as the season progresses so does the look of the series (although the video FX are consistently fake-looking).  The same can also be said for the stories themselves, which start out a little on the hokey side and then keep getting better and better. 

For example, episode 4, "Cup of Time", is delightfully cheesy.  Familiar B-movie babe Hilary Shepherd plays a rock star whose youthful appearance depends on a teacup that emits leafy tendrils which suck the lifeforce from anyone who drinks from it.  We see decadent punk rocker-types standing in line for one of her concerts, but when we hear her sing it's so typically 80s spandex-glitter-pop awful you'll wonder why these fans aren't lobbing molotov cocktails at her. 

Another "more cheese, please" episode is "Shadow Boxer", in which a pair of evil boxing gloves helps a down-and-out palooka by enabling his bobbin' and weavin' shadow to run around beating people to death.

Things really start getting good when David Cronenberg steps in to direct "Faith Healer", starring SCANNERS alumnus Robert Silverman as a man with a horrible disease looking for someone with the power to cure it.  That someone, unfortunately, gets his power from a cursed glove that must be recharged by, you guessed it, sucking the lifeforce from some hapless victim.  Along the way Cronenberg gets to indulge his fondness for "body horror" with some grisly makeup effects.

"Scarecrow" is a nifty Halloween-tinged episode that plays like a creepy low-budget movie, with a wonderfully sinister, eye-rolling performance by Patricia Phillips as a woman who eliminates her smalltown enemies with the help of a scythe-wielding scarecrow.  In one scene, the scarecrow lops off some poor old lady's head and we actually see it bobbling on the floor, her face still contorted in terror.  Pretty cool for a TV show!  Like many other episodes, "Scarecrow" is like a mini version of the cheap 80s horror flicks that many of us remember so fondly.

"Vanity's Mirror" is a delightful anti-Carrie story about a really vile high school geek-girl who uses her cursed item, an antique gold compact that makes any female irresistible to men, to lure various tormentors to horrible, gory deaths.  Eventually, she steals her beautiful sister's boyfriend from her and orders him to beat and then string up the hapless lass before whisking her away to the prom!  Awesome.

I could go on about how good various episodes are, but for me, the two-part "Quilt of Hathor" is the highlight.  Amidst a stark, snowy setting, we meet an ultra-strict religious community known as the Penetites who eschew technology and live much like they did back in the old Salem witchhunt days.  Scott Paulin (THE RIGHT STUFF) plays their leader, Reverend Josiah, who is, by law, required to take a wife.  But his prospective brides keep dying off thanks to a homely woman who has the hots for him and possesses a quilt which allows her to kill people by dreaming their violent deaths. 

Micki and Ryan go undercover with the Penetites and try to recover the quilt, but in the process Ryan falls in love with Reverend Josiah's daughter and ends up in a death duel with the jealous geek-boy to whom she's betrothed.  The set-up for this fight looks just like something out of the wackier side of STAR TREK--I almost expected to hear someone say "One thousand quatloos on the newcomer!"  During this richly atmospheric double-episode, several people suffer an unpleasant demise before the suspenseful finale.

Besides those already mentioned, some other interesting guest stars pop up here and there.  The first episode features the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake's Sarah Polley as a little girl.  In "Cup of Time" we also get to see what Lisa Jakub (Randy Quaid's daughter in INDEPENDENCE DAY) looked like as a wee tyke.  One of the victims of anti-Carrie in "Vanity's Mirror" is an older Zack Ward, who was A CHRISTMAS STORY's memorable bully Scut Farkus.  Ray Walston plays a renowned comic book artist in "Tales of the Undead." 

Other notable guest stars include Carrie Snodgress, Cliff Gorman, Gary Frank, Val Avery, David Proval, and Michael Constantine (as Ryan's estranged father in the emotional episode "Pipe Dream.")  Oh, and R.G. Armstrong's "Uncle Lewis" character may have died in the first episode, but that's hardly the last we see of his evil, cackling mug.

Back in the 80s when FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES was new, I never watched it because of its association with the Jason movies, which I've always regarded as junk.  But thanks to this season one DVD collection, I've discovered it to be a highly worthwhile horror series that's loads of fun to watch.


Read our review of "Friday the 13th: The Final Season"

FRIDAY THE 13TH - THE SERIES: THE FIRST SEASON -- DVD Review by Porfle

Was "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" Inspired By "Lost In Space"? (video)

Star Trek's "V'ger" and Lost In Space's "Mr. Nobody" aren't that different.

In both stories, an all-powerful being yearning to evolve...

...achieves transcendence through love.

Both are reborn as newly self-aware space-dwelling energy beings.


("Lost In Space" Season 1 Episode 7 "My Friend Mr. Nobody", 1965)

I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Was "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" Inspired By "Lost In Space"? (video)

Elizabeth Montgomery's Cameo In "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini" (1965) (video)

 

Elizabeth Montgomery is best known for her role as Samantha the suburban  witch in the long-running 60s-era television series "Bewitched."

Her then-husband William Asher, who produced and directed many of that show's episodes, also directed most of the original "beach party" movies...

...hence Elizabeth Montgomery's amusing cameo in "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" (1965.)

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

Elizabeth Montgomery's Cameo In "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini" (1965) (video)

DYING ROOM ONLY -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 2/7/10

 

 

Here's a fun little flick for fans of made-for-TV movies from the 70s and especially the "ABC Movie of the Week." DYING ROOM ONLY (1973) is one of those low-budget thrillers that used to have the family glued to the TV and provided fodder for playground talk the next day.

Cloris Leachman and Dabney Coleman play Jean and Bob, a vacationing couple on their way home to L.A. who stop off at a secluded diner with an adjoining motel in the middle of the desert. Ross Martin is Jim, the surly fry cook who seems to begrudge them the slightest attention, and Ned Beatty is Tom, a fat redneck in a cowboy hat who simply exudes ill intent as he guzzles beer at the counter. When Jean goes to the ladies' room to wash her face, she returns to find that Bob has vanished without a trace.

Jim and Tom claim to have no idea where he went, growing more hostile and dismissive as the increasingly frantic Jean continues to press them. A visit from the local sheriff (Dana Elcar) is no help since he believes Bob simply took off and left her there. Finally, Jean gets a room at the motel and starts snooping around on her own, which leads to a night of terror and death.

"Simple but effective" would be a good way to describe this movie, which takes place entirely in and around the diner and motel (except for one brief scene near the end) and depends on the skills of the filmmakers and the cast to pull it off. Prolific television director Philip Leacock keeps Richard Matheson's lean, mean story on track from beginning to end, creating a growing sense of tension and dread that keeps us on edge. While 1997's BREAKDOWN would tell a very similar story on a much grander, action-oriented scale, this one unwinds like a page-turning short story. We're caught up in Jean's predicament from the start and are carried along with her frantic efforts to find her husband as the situation gets scarier and more desperate every minute.

As Jean, Cloris Leachman demonstrates what a great actress she is with a convincing performance that carries the film. No matter what she's required to do in each scene, she always plays it just right and never goes over the top. Ross Martin (best known as Artemis Gordon of TV's "The Wild, Wild West") is wonderfully hostile as Jim, the mysteriously uncooperative fry cook, while Ned Beatty makes the most of his chance to be the threatening hillbilly for a change. Louise Latham is effective as a creepy motel clerk, as is Dana Elcar in the role of the sheriff. Naturally, we don't see much of Dabney Coleman since his character disappears about ten minutes into the movie, but he's his usual rascally self.

The DVD is in full-screen and Dolby English mono, with no subtitles or extras. As a no-frills burn-on-demand entry in the Warner Brothers Archive Collection, the print hasn't been restored or remastered in any way. But despite some speckles and a rough patch here and there, it looks fine to me. More discerning videophiles may disagree.

Once again, the WB Archive has dusted off a nostalgic relic from those great TV-movie days of the 70s, and I especially enjoyed watching this one since I somehow missed it the first time around. DYING ROOM ONLY may not be a classic, and it certainly isn't an epic, but as a low-key suspense thriller it's definitely a keeper.

DYING ROOM ONLY -- DVD Review by Porfle

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock With A "CHiPs" Ending (video)

 

I've always thought "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock" would be much better if it had a "CHiPs" ending. As, of course,  would many others things as well.

Sadly, my many letters to Paramount Pictures suggesting this have thus far fallen upon deaf ears. But now, thanks to the magic of "what if", we can enjoy that very thing right now!

Video by Porfle Popnecker

"Star Trek" owned by Paramount Pictures

I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it.

Thanks for watching! 

(originally posted on 5/13/23)

 

 

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock With A "CHiPs" Ending (video)

Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) After "Star Trek: The Original Series" (video)

Grace Lee Whitney played Yeoman Janice Rand...

...in eight episodes of the original "Star Trek" (1966).

She would return as Rand seven more times in "Star Trek" movies and episodes both official and fan-made.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek: Voyager/ "Flashback" (1996)
Star Trek: Of Gods and Men (2007)
Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II/ "World Enough and Time" (2007)

For Grace Lee Whitney (1930-2015)
 

 

Originally posted on 1/27/19

I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

 

 

Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) After "Star Trek: The Original Series" (video)

IN SEARCH OF...THE COMPLETE SERIES -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 12/14/12

 

For those of us who caught it during its first run, almost every episode of "In Search Of..." was a guaranteed dose of pure "sense of wonder."  Each week, host Leonard Nimoy explored the world's most tantalizing mysteries with an open mind, allowing us to bask in their intoxicating strangeness in an atmosphere free of rigid, buzzkill skepticism.

Now, Visual Entertainment Inc. (VEI) has collected all 152 episodes of this classic show, which ran from 1976-1982, in their 21-disc DVD collection IN SEARCH OF...THE COMPLETE SERIES.  I reviewed a screener with two half-hour Nimoy episodes, "In Search Of...Mayan Mysteries" and "In Search Of...UFO Coverups", both pretty representative of the show as a whole. 

Low-budget photography makes this independently-produced syndicated show look older than it is, but it was that way even when it was new.  No matter, since the fascinating subject matter and wealth of both exclusive film footage and well-chosen stock shots easily make up for this.  Nimoy, one of the finest narrators of all time, lends the show much-needed gravitas even during its most outlandish forays into the unknown. 

The Mayan episode poses a series of teasing questions about this mysterious ancient people such as: why, if they incorporated the wheel into their children's toys, didn't they employ it for practical purposes?  How did they conceive such complicated systems of mathematics and astronomy, among other things?  And why did they suddenly disappear from recorded history?

Even more up my alley is the look at UFO cover-ups, which opens with some familiar footage of a possible flying saucer but focuses mainly on the famous Roswell, New Mexico incident.  Actual interview clips of Air Force officer Jess Marcel, a major participant in the purported saucer crash investigation, and footage of Hangar 18 itself, where the wrecked saucer and alien bodies are said to have been housed, make this of special interest to UFO enthusiasts. 

There's also a first-hand account from a scientist who claims to have been taken to the crash site by U.S. Air Force officials and is only now breaking his silence.  As usual, the show is aggressive and non-apologetic in its insistence that anything is possible regardless of how farfetched it may seem to the skeptically minded.

In addition to the 152 regular series episodes, the VEI collection also includes two Rod Serling-hosted "In Search Of..." specials which aired in 1972, plus the entire eight-episode run of the 2002 reboot with "The X-Files" star Mitch Pileggi.  The screener I watched contained one from 1972 and one from 2002.

"Twilight Zone" creator and host Serling takes us on an exploration of ancient astronauts that covers all the familiar territory in highly compelling fashion, including the baffling stone heads of Easter Island and the enigmatic Nazca lines in Peru.  While the Serling episode is quite similar to the later Nimoy series, the flashy Pileggi-hosted show from 2002 is the sort of lurid exploitation fare you might see on SyFy, with gruesome stories about stigmata, Haitian zombies, and murder scenes haunted by restless ghosts.

While I can't speak for the entire collection as a whole, the picture and sound quality of the 4-episode screener I watched was good for a low budget syndicated series from the 70s.  You may be bugged by the VEI logo in the lower right hand corner but I forgot it was there after awhile.  

Being a loyal viewer of the show back in its heyday, I can personally attest that, content-wise, the rest of "In Search Of..." is chock full of fun and often spooky stuff about the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, conspiracy theories, unsolved murders and disappearances, bizarre phenomena both natural and supernatural, and just about anything else that this weird world has to offer.  While learned astronomer Carl Sagan may consider the subject at hand to be unsupported by "a smidgen of compelling evidence", you'll probably find an avalanche of it in IN SEARCH OF...THE COMPLETE SERIES.

IN SEARCH OF...THE COMPLETE SERIES -- DVD Review by Porfle

TWIN SHATNERS: Five Different Ones (video)

If one William Shatner is good...

...then two William Shatners is great!

And we were treated to this at least five different times:


Star Trek: The Original Series, "The Enemy Within" (1966)

Star Trek: The Original Series, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" (1966)

Star Trek: The Original Series, "Whom Gods Destroy" (1969)

"White Comanche" (1968)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)


Read our review of "White Comanche" HERE!




Originally posted on 12/29/19
I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

TWIN SHATNERS: Five Different Ones (video)

SNOWMAGEDDON -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 11/7/12

 

There seems to be an entire category of movies on the SyFy Channel in which small Canadian towns double as small Northwestern towns in the USA which are menaced by some kind of supernatural (or super-natural) force, which resides or has its origin in a nearby mountain.  Bad CGI comes as a standard feature; giant tentacles are optional. 

One of the latest entries in this curious little sub-genre is SNOWMAGEDDON (2011), a movie whose title pretty much lets us know what kind of movie we're in for.  This time, a rustic burg in Alaska gets hammered by a series of unnatural disasters such as a storm cloud that shoots ice torpedoes which shatter into deadly shrapnel, gaping fissures bisecting city streets and gushing flames, and huge pointy things shooting up out of the ground to spear moving vehicles like shish-kabobs. 

The reason for all this is kept from us at first, lending the film an air of supernatural mystery that's mildly intriguing--until, that is, we find out that the secret behind it all is pretty freakin' dumb.  Suffice it to say that there's this kid named Rudy who plays a role-playing game about dragons and wizards, and he anonymously receives a strange snowglobe for Christmas with a tiny repica of the town in it, and whenever he winds it up, something bad happens.  Somehow, all of this is related to that RPG that he plays.  Why?  Don't ask me.

The destruction is depicted with some pretty good practical effects--the picturesque little town is trashed quite nicely--along with the usual fair-to-awful CGI.  Once the slush hits the fan, the action is split into different little suspense situations of varying interest, including two hapless shlubs trapped in a bus covered with downed power lines, stranded snowboarders who picked the wrong mountain to board, and a mother-daughter duo in a crashed helicopter. 

Good editing helps jazz things up a bit, but it's all just standard time-waster stuff that helps cheapo flicks like this fill in the space between the opening and closing credits. 

Once the kid finally convinces the grownups that his evil snowglobe is causing all the trouble--which, admittedly, might be a bit hard to swallow at first--they follow his sage advice on how to combat the supernatural menace.  Which means two things: one, they've really run out of ideas.  And two, his dad, John Miller (David Cubitt), must make a trek up the now-volcanic peak in order to do what the hero in the game does to stop the evil. 

The acting is about as good as you'd expect from this sort of thing, with Laura Harris (of the late, lamented "Defying Gravity") deserving better as Rudy's plucky mom, Beth.  The dialogue isn't any better or worse than required, save for the occasional eye-rolling exchange such as this:

LARRY: "That thing's straight from Hell itself."
FRED: "Calm down, Larry."
LARRY: "You calm down, Fred."

The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish.  No extras.

Really, I can't add any more to this than you can already figure out from the title.  If the word SNOWMAGEDDON doesn't tell you exactly what this movie is all about and whether or not you'll enjoy it, nothing will.  Bottom line: it's a passable, tolerable time-waster.

SNOWMAGEDDON -- DVD Review by Porfle

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: THE BOB HOPE SPECIALS DELUXE COLLECTION -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/19/17

 

Bob Hope was one of those comics who got as much mileage out of a bad joke as he did a good one (a talent shared by Johnny Carson).  In fact, he sometimes seemed to welcome audience groans so that he could do that "take" and comment about how bad the joke was.  Which, of course, got the biggest laugh!

If you're a fan of the inimitable Hope comedy style, especially as presented on all of his various television specials over the decades, you'll be able to gorge yourself on it with the colossal four-volume, 19-DVD boxed set from Time-Life, THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: THE BOB HOPE SPECIALS DELUXE COLLECTION. 

It's a dizzying mish-mash covering five decades of Bob's TV memories--39 specials and more--all in a collage of celebrity guests, comedy and musical bits, and endless one-liners--that should have you alternately laughing and groaning for days. 

The first volume, "Thanks for the Memories: The Bob Hope Specials", contains 13 specials from 1956 to 1996 on six discs and embodies what those of us who grew up with these shows remember most about them.  It's pure Hope, just him getting a bunch of his old-school showbiz friends and hot (at the time) current stars together, putting his gag writers to work, and churning out hours of relentlessly corny comedy that revels in its own casual, offhand silliness.

Most of them are clip montages framed by new Hope footage, including one all-blooper show and another featuring all the ex-presidents he's rubbed shoulders with and poked goodnatured fun at over the years (several of them and their First Ladies appear on the show). 

A more youthful Bob is often juxtaposed with the later, older Bob (sometimes seemingly a bit too old to still be at it) as in his 90th birthday special.  There's also a long look at Bob's lifelong obsession with golf called "Shanks For the Memories."

One highlight is John Wayne playing a frontier Archie Bunker who doesn't want his son (Bob) marrying an Indian maiden played by Joanna "O Mighty Isis" Cameron.  Wayne, ever the good sport, shows his comedy chops here and in another comedy exchange with Bob later on. 

Perennial pal Bing Crosby, Robert Goulet, Angie Dickinson, Redd Foxx (as Santa Claus), Carol Burnette, Cyd Charisse, Jimmy Durante, Eddie Cantor, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Jackie Gleason (in drag!), and the entire cast of "I Love Lucy" are among the veritable boatload of familiar faces who also appear throughout the set.

The four-disc set "Bob Hope: Entertaining The Troops" is ten shows of Hope's legendary global roadshow for our armed forces, both in and out of wartime and wherever in the world they may be, from World War II all the way to the first Gulf War.  These range from later videotaped shows to the early black-and-white filmed footage, always with a sea of eager young soldiers' faces ecstatic over this thrilling sampling of entertainment from back home.

The times and places may change, as well as the generations of both soldiers and performers (with Bob, moustachioed comic Jerry Colonna, singer Frances Langford, and bandleader Les Brown often serving as the only constants), but the shows all have a common theme and feel as these celebrities give their all for the ever-appreciative troops. 

Some of the familiar faces seen in this set are Raquel Welch, Phyllis Diller, Brooke Shields, Johnny Bench, Neil Armstrong, Ursula Andress, Ann-Margaret, Rosey Grier, Romy Schneider, Lana Turner, Teresa Graves, Joey Heatherton, Lola Falana, Marie Osmond, The Judds, Vic Damone, Jack Jones, various Miss World winners, and many more.

Disc four contains two bonus specials including "Hope For the Holidays: Bob Hope's Bag Full of Christmas Memories."  This is one of those "too-old Bob" shows with his and wife Delores' home Christmas party serving as a framing device for lots of classic clips.  The party scenes are as stiff and corny as you can get with such names as Joey Lawrence, Loni Anderson, and Ed Marinaro mingling with actual Hope family members whose acting is hilariously bad.

"Bob Hope: TV Legend" is an 8-disc grab bag of more USO shows for the troops in addition to some regular comedy specials (16 shows in all) ranging from the late 50s to the early 70s.  There's lots more overseas stuff with such guests as Janis Paige, Jill St. John, Anita Bryant, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Andy Williams, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Redd Foxx, Jim Nabors, Gina Lollobrigida, Hedda Hopper, Jayne Mansfield, Tuesday Weld, and Neile Adams.  One of the main highlights is getting to see Steve McQueen doing comedy with Bob in two seperate appearances.

Some of the guests appearing in the regular in-studio shows include old partner Bing Crosby, Lucille Ball, Danny Thomas, George Burns, Carroll Baker, Vikki Carr, Cyd Charisse, Don Rickles, Paul Lynde, Don Adams, Angie Dickinson, Olivia Newton-John, David Niven, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, and literally dozens of others.  People who love to play "Spot the Stars" will be in heaven with this endless procession of celebrity faces.

Finally, there's the disc entitled "The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: Bob Hope" in which Dino presides over the roasting of Bob himself, with the help of numerous comics and other celebrities (including filmed bits by John Wayne and Henry Kissinger).  Reverend Billy Graham is the most unlikely participant, while then-governor Ronald Reagan pulls off some surprisingly good one-liners. 

The best, of course, come from comedy legends Milton Berle, Don Rickles, Foster Brooks, Flip Wilson, Rich Little, Nipsey Russell, and Jack Benny, with able assistance from actor Jimmy Stewart.  And the humor is wonderfully non-PC, so the easily-triggered might want to watch with caution. 

In addition to the four DVD sets, the collection includes a full-sized magazine on heavy paper, entitled "Bob Hope: Making Us Laugh For 100 Years."  It's packed with rare photos and essays about Hope's life and career.  Each DVD set also contains illustrated contents booklets. Image quality varies with that of the original sources, some of which are showing their age.  For me, this just increases the nostalgia value.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: THE BOB HOPE SPECIALS DELUXE COLLECTION is the sort of thing that makes not having cable-TV easy, because with this, you've got something good to watch for at least a week or two.  It's like an endless buffet of entertainment for the starving Bob Hope fan. 



Format: DVD (19 Discs)
Running Time: 37 hours + extras
Genre:  TV/Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: Stereo

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: THE BOB HOPE SPECIALS DELUXE COLLECTION -- DVD Review by Porfle

YOGI BEAR'S ALL-STAR COMEDY CHRISTMAS CAPER -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 12/21/10

 

In the 60s, Joseph Hanna and William Barbera pioneered the use of limited animation for television, knocking off a string of successful cartoon shows such as "Huckleberry Hound", "Quick-Draw McGraw", and "The Flintstones."  While simpler and cheaper than fully-animated theatrical cartoons, the initial Hanna-Barbera TV output was still far superior to the increasingly-inept Saturday morning drivel that would follow, and hold up today as good-looking, well-written shows which, like their big-screen counterparts, are entertaining for both children and adults.

Such is the case with one of their most popular characters, Yogi Bear, who lives in Jellystone National Park with his pal Boo-Boo and drives Mr. Forest Ranger crazy by constantly stealing picnic baskets from unwary campers.  With the DVD release of YOGI BEAR'S ALL-STAR COMEDY CHRISTMAS CAPER, we get to see examples of Yogi both in his glorious 60s heyday and in a lackluster 80s adventure that pales in comparison.

(Little kids, of course, will probably enjoy each of them equally, so feel free to pop in this DVD and let the tykes go nuts.  With that out of the way, let's look at the two stories on this disc from the nostalgic old geezer perspective.)

 

 

First up is the titular tale, "Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper."  This originally aired in 1982, when most made-for-TV cartoons had regressed in quality to a point well beyond "limited", coming off as cheap, slapdash drivel whose stories were written solely for the purpose of keeping undiscerning kids occupied.  Design and rendering of characters is sketchy and sloppy, direction is uninspired, and the "comedy" is on roughly the same level as pulling funny faces at babies to make them laugh.

The best thing about it is that it reunites some of the best vocal talent in the business--Mel Blanc, Allan Melvin, Hal Smith, Janet Waldo, Don Messick, and the great Daws Butler, among others--as a group of Hanna-Barbera's most memorable characters help Yogi and Boo Boo celebrate the Christmas spirit by bringing a poor little rich girl and her neglectful father closer together during a sojourn to the big city.

An interesting side note to this episode is the fact that the word "Chanukah" was edited from the soundtrack when the show first aired.  According to tvseriesfinale.com, someone at CBS was leery of Snagglepuss' line "Merry Christmas! Season’s Greetings! Happy Chanukah, even!", bleeping the reference to the Jewish holiday for reasons unknown.  Even on this DVD, it's simply replaced by the word "happy."  Weird, even!

After being distinctly unimpressed by Yogi's yuletide antics, I was relatively ecstatic to find that the second offering was a special 1962 episode of the original TV series, entitled "Yogi's Birthday Party."  The difference is immediately apparent--there's exquisite artwork and character design done with style and flair, snappy direction by Hanna and Barbera themselves, and, best of all, genuinely funny gags that adults (especially us nostalgic cartoon geeks) can appreciate right along with the kids.  Maybe even more so.

It's a week before Yogi's birthday and the show's sponsor is planning a gala surprise celebration for their star, with a nervous Mr. Forest Ranger charged with keeping the secret from him.  "Trying to keep a secret from Yogi is like trying to hide Lake Michigan from a duck," he moans.  Yogi overhears just enough of the phone conversation to get the idea that he's being given his own entertainment special, and will be expected to perform.


 

Worried that his singing and dancing skills aren't up to par, Yogi takes a series of lessons in a montage that pokes fun at some popular personalities of the era.  He gets dancing lessons from Fred Upstairs, singing tips from Boppy Darin, and even some piano-playing pointers from one "Lee B. Rocky." 

When the big night comes and Yogi discovers the birthday surprise, his reactions are priceless.  Mr. Forest Ranger turns the event into a spoof of Ralph Edwards' "This Is Your Life" with a succession of all-star guests from Yogi's past appearing one after another.  First, Huckleberry Hound's voice is heard from offstage:  "A hound-dog howdy to y'all, Yogi."  Mr. Forest Ranger asks, "Who's that, Yogi?"  Yogi's guess: "The president?"

As familiar characters such as Snagglepuss, Hokey Wolf, Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Quick-Draw McGraw, Yakky Doodle, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy, and Snooper and Blabber accumulate onstage (with all the top voice actors on hand again, this time including June Foray and Duke Mitchell), the gags give way to a cheery birthday song written especially for the occasion.  For me, this breezy and utterly charming classic episode is a delightful treat all the way.

The Warner Brothers DVD is in standard format with English and Spanish soundtracks.  Subtitles are in English, Spanish, and French.  Bonus features consist of some DVD and video game trailers.

I keep saying that "the kids" will like both features on YOGI BEAR'S ALL-STAR COMEDY CHRISTMAS CAPER, but to tell you the truth I'm never really sure what the hell little kids like or don't like these days.  As for me, I had a ball watching the older one because it's really good and it brought back fond memories.  The later one, on the other hand, is one of the main reasons I quit bothering to get out of bed on Saturday mornings.

YOGI BEAR'S ALL-STAR COMEDY CHRISTMAS CAPER -- DVD Review by Porfle

ERNIE KOVACS: THE CENTENNIAL EDITION -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/20/18

 

While he was always known as one of the great technical innovators of early television, one thing Shout! Factory's 9-disc DVD set ERNIE KOVACS: THE CENTENNIAL EDITION really brings home for me is the fact that it was just plain fun to hang out with the guy for awhile.

Early TV viewers had plenty of opportunity to do so, since Ernie had a number of different shows throughout the 50s and early 60s, several of which are sampled in this collection. 

Whether live via kinescope or recorded on early videotape, these shows glow with Ernie's childlike and often giddily enthusiastic attitude as he delights in spending time with us, entertaining with jokes, informal patter, bits of business, and, most of all, mindboggling bursts of surreal humor done on the fly with a shoestring budget.

The earliest examples of this are from a live morning series that resembles a "Howdy Doody"-type kids' show for grown-ups, the studio barely containing Ernie as he demolishes the fourth wall (as well as the other three) and shows us the cameras, the hallway outside the studio door, and every other aspect of TV production through which he can romp and play with us as his "peanut gallery."

Much of this helps lay the groundwork for just about every other television comedy show to follow.  His influence is unmistakable on, for example, "The Soupy Sales Show", "Pee Wee's Playhouse", comedy segments with talk show hosts such as Johnny Carson, Conan O'Brien, and David Letterman, "The Uncle Floyd Show", and even "Saturday Night Live" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus." 

All are touched in some way by Kovacs' groundbreaking and imaginative style even when they don't consciously realize it.  When Ernie goes up into the audience to interact with the people, or jokes around with his gregarious bandmembers and audibly guffawing crew, we're seeing the inspirations of practically every TV comic and talk show host to come.

Later shows would continue to serve as experiments for Ernie's innovative use of the television medium and, as in "Kovacs On the Corner", a delightful parody of the medium itself.  A "Mad Magazine" brand of satire (pre-dating "Mad Magazine") infuses much of his comedy and its witty jabs at commercials, movies, and other aspects of popular culture at the time.

Even when he hosts a game show, as in the episodes of "Take a Good Look" seen here, he can't help making it the most confusing and obtuse game show ever created.  Later network specials take advantage of video to present extended, intricately-conceived comedy pieces that boggle the mind while showing off Ernie's sweetly cockeyed sense of humor at every twist and turn.

Sight (and sound gags) abound.  He passes a statue of "The Thinker" and notices it humming to itself. He demonstrates how to adjust the horizontal and vertical dials (remember those?) on your TV by using his contorted facial expressions as a guide.  He interacts with his friend Howard, the world's strongest ant, who drives a tiny minature car and plays tiny miniature golf. 

He even puts on bad puppet shows such as "The Kapusta Kid In Outer Space" and helps his pet turtle cure its hiccups by feeding it sips of water.  Whatever tickles his childlike fancy at the time, he indulges in for our enjoyment. 

Ernie's characters are a joy, especially (my favorite) the endearingly prissy poet Percy Dovetonsils, whose poems boast such titles as "Ode to Stanley's Pussycat."  His hardluck character Eugene stars in Ernie's famous all-silent special, which consists of nothing but sight gags with sound effects and, of course, his own inimitable comedy style.  This one really uses the television medium with its tilted sets, weird optical illusions, and disorienting indulgence in undiluted surrealism. 

The supporting players are headed by Ernie's adorable and talented wife Edie Adams, who has her own stock characters as well as an operatic voice perfectly suited for the occasional serious musical segment (Kovacs loved music and often showcased it).  Edie is particularly adorable whether playing a dowdy housewife, vamping as Zsa Zsa Gabor, or doing a stunningly kittenish send-up of Marilyn Monroe as she shows off her knack for impressions.

My favorite moment is a bizarre sketch about a white-haired old conductor (Ernie) recording a commercial jingle with an orchestra and three difficult singers.  These include Edie Adams, Casey Adams (aka Max Showalter, one of my favorite actors), and, displaying a keen sense of off-the-wall comedy, Louis Jordan as an odd fellow whose pants lengths keep changing.  It's one of the most belly-laugh segments in the set if your mind's off-kilter enough to appreciate it.

The 9 discs in this set from Shout! Factory feature the following:

* Episodes From His Local And National Morning Shows
* Episodes From His NBC Prime-Time Show
* Kovacs On Music
* Five ABC TV Specials
* The Color Version of His Legendary Silent Show, "Eugene"
* His Award-Winning Commercials For Dutch Masters Cigars
* Short Films, Tributes, Rarities
* 18 Bonus Sketches Featuring Many Of His Most Beloved Characters
* 3 Complete Episodes Of His Offbeat Game Show Take A Good Look
* "A Pony For Chris" – His Rare TV Pilot For Medicine Man Co-Starring Buster Keaton
* The Lively Arts Featuring The Only Existing Filmed Solo Interview With Ernie Kovacs
* 2011 American Cinematheque Panel

The generous bonus menus include:

1987 ATAS Hall Of Fame Induction
Remembering Ernie With George Schlatter And Jolene Brand
"Baseball Film"
Making Of "Baseball Film"
"The Mysterious Knockwurst"
Andy McKay 8mm Home Movies
Percy Dovetonsils: "Ode To Stanley’s Pussycat"
Martin Krutch, Public Eye
Rock Mississippi In "Fingers Under Weskit"
Howard, The World's Strongest Ant
J. Burlington Gearshift
"Superclod" Test
"Take A Good Look" Clues
"Take A Good Look" Sales Film
"Silents Please"
"Our Man In Havana" Behind-The-Scenes Footage
Dutch Masters Commercials
Trailer For "Operation Mad Ball" – "It Happened To Ernie"
Muriel Cigars Commercials Featuring Edie Adams
Interview: Algernon Gerard, Archaeologist
Howard, The World's Strongest Ant: A Hot Date
Strangely Believe It: Writers To Blame
The Kapusta Kid In Outer Space Meets Olivia Scilloscope
Charlie Clod In Brazil
Ernie's Opening Monologue
Miklos Molnar's Glue
Percy Dovetonsils: "Ode To Electricity"
Interview: The World At Your Doorstep
Irving Wong: Tin Pan Alley Songwriter
Percy Dovetonsils : "Ode To A Housefly”
Introducing Coloratura Mimi Cosnowski
Howard, The World's Strongest Ant: Howard's Campground
Skodney Silsky, Hollywood Reporter
Ernie's Opening Monologue
Surprise Audience Member
Audio Lost
Matzoh Hepplewhite
Interview With Ernie Kovacs On The Lively Arts
"A Pony For Chris" – Pilot For Series Medicine Man
Ernie Kovacs Panel Discussion (August 27, 2011) At The American Cinematheque In Hollywood, CA
Home Movies: Golf With Edie And Ernie
Original Theatrical Trailers: "Wake Me When It's Over" And "Five Golden Hours"

Having only seen a smattering of his work in past years, I eagerly delved into ERNIE KOVACS: THE CENTENNIAL EDITION and binge-watched these delightful shows to my heart's content.  There's a wealth of wild comedy here, but even in its simplest moments, it's nice just to hang out with Ernie and listen to him chat as he puffs away on his ever-present cigar.  For a short, wonderful time before his tragic death, he was a fearless pioneer of television comedy and seemed to love every minute of it.

TECH SPECS
Discs 9
Run-time 22 hrs
Aspect Ratio 1.33:1
Color/Black & White
Language English
Region 1
Rating Various
Production Date Various
Closed-Captioned ? No
Subtitles None

ERNIE KOVACS: THE CENTENNIAL EDITION -- DVD Review by Porfle

Did Superman Really Duck When An Empty Gun Was Thrown At Him? (video)

In "The Mind Machine" (S1/E8) bullets don't faze Superman.

But when the bad guy throws his gun...he ducks!

Later, though, in "Czar of the Underworld" (S1/E22), not only does he NOT duck...

...he even seems to enjoy it!

 

Originally posted on 7/13/18

I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Did Superman Really Duck When An Empty Gun Was Thrown At Him? (video)