Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
The Invaders with special guest star Kevin McCarthy (1967)
Poor Kevin McCarthy, always gettin' screwed over by aliens... and sometimes Weird Al.
Speeding up this Site and Preventing Freezing...
I know that some of you sometimes have trouble viewing certain pages because they may take a long time to load due to several factors. Sometimes when there are several posts in one week, it simply takes a long time to load. In other cases, non-YouTube related sharing sites (veoh.com, guba.com etc) can cause problems for one reason or another and scramble text or even cause things to freeze. The easiest thing to do if you ever have trouble loading or viewing this site due to the volume of video embedded, is click on the thing that appears at the bottom of the main page that says Subscribe to Posts (atom). This will give you an RSS feed to the site that will allow you to view each new post individually, making things faster and easier for you.
Ronald Reagan for President Commercial with Michael Landon (1979)
Michael Landon suggests you give Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign one thousand dollars because, apparently, the wealthiest corporations in America were now broke(?) from funding the campaign of the father of both modern neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Norm Crosby's Comedy Shop with guest Michael Keaton (1978)
It can be a serious mistake for a comedian to accept an invitation for a television appearance before they're ready - when their material is still shaky and not fully polished. Michael Keaton makes just such a mistake with this, his first stand-up appearance on American television (he had previously performed stand-up on the Canadian CTV Network on The Alan Hamel Show). It wasn't his American television debut however - that had occurred a couple years earlier on an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Norm Crosby's Comedy Shop with guest Jackie Gayle (1978)
Jackie Gayle is one of the many forgotten old school Jackies of comedy history, along with Jackie Miles, Jackie Vernon and on down the line. Like those two, Gayle was a successful nightclub comedian who never truly crossed over to television fame. That might even be a noble fact, if it weren't for the fact that today we are left with little documentation of his act. Woody Allen used Gayle in his salute to the borscht belt comedians in Broadway Danny Rose.
Norm Crosby's Comedy Shop with guests Vic Tayback and Garry Shandling (1978) - Footage Offline - 10/07/09
Vic Tayback was the "mystery surprise guest" on this episode of Norm Crosby's Comedy Shop. This feature of every episode had a seventies celebrity knocking on the door of a phony living room set and making an unannounced appearance in which they would engage in terribly labored comedy banter with Norm and then introducing the next comedian. Although it isn't in this clip, Tayback introduces Shandling as a funny young writer from his sitcom Alice.
The Bob Cummings Show featuring Nancy Kulp and Peter Lawford (1958)
This show features several of the first ladies of sitcomhood: Nancy Kulp, Ann B. Davis and even Rose Marie (The Beverly Hillbillies, The Brady Bunch, The Dick Van Dyke Show).
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Person to Person with Edward R. Murrow (1958)
Tonight, Mr. Murrow interviews Hollywood couple Gene Raymond and Jeanette MacDonald.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The Life of Riley starring Jackie Gleason (1949)
This is a fascinating and awful sitcom. There have been a lot of things on the site recently that could be categorized as such, and the steady stream isn't about to slow down any time soon. Anyway, in 1949 William Bendix was busy making movies for Universal and wasn't able to appear in the initial television version of his popular radio series. Instead the producers went with some B-movie bum named Jackie Gleason - making his television debut. Three years after this failed run, a revamped television version of The Life of Riley came to the airwaves with Bendix back in the starring role. Gleason of course was busy on a different TV series.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Miss World (attacked) with host Bob Hope (1970)
At the 1970 Miss World pageant in London, feminists blew whistles and ambushed the stage with harmless (but very intimidating) flour bombs. Bob Hope was certain that these protestors were "on some kind of dope, ladies and gentleman." No, nobody in the world would ever accuse beauty pageants of being progressive - in 1974 Miss World resigned in shame after it was "exposed" that she was a single mother!
Norm Crosby's Comedy Shop with guest Will Jordan (1978)
Will Jordan was one of the very first to do an Ed Sullivan impression, and if you ask Will, he'll tell you he was the first. Here we see him do his trademark Sullivan and an absolutely killer Groucho filled with all kinds of subtle nuance that leaves no doubt that he studied Groucho long and hard in order to nail it. His Jack Benny impression leaves a bit more to be desired.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Norm Crosby's Comedy Shop with guest Jimmy Martinez (1978)
Jimmy Martinez is surely a face you'll recognize, although you may not be able to figure out from where. He popped up in a handful of Richard Pryor and Mel Brooks films in the seventies and then disapeared in the eighties, never to be seen again. He was one of the regulars at The Comedy Store in its fertile heyday along with Garry Shandling, Jimmy Walker, Jay Leno, David Letterman, David Brenner, Skip Stephenson, Gary Mule Deer and so many others. You also may have watched him on the final episode of The Richard Pryor Show on Pryor's roast here. Here he is on the syndicated program The Comedy Shop - the first television program devoted strictly to stand-up.
Hazel creator Ted Key dead at age 95
This past Saturday I posted an episode of the sitcom Hazel. Ironically, the creator of the character Hazel (as a Saturday Evening Post comic), passed away the same Saturday. Read an obit here.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Hullabaloo with guest hosts Jerry and Gary Lewis (1965)
This goes down in history as one of those incredibly awkward Jerry Lewis things, one of countless uncomfortable moments in his showbiz career. In 1965, Gary Lewis and The Playboys were a huge deal on the pop charts and Jerry Lewis' legendary insecurity did not seem able to cope with his son's success, regardless of the grandstanding about how "proud of him" he said he was. Here we see Jerry trying mercilessly to upstage his son throughout this episode of teen rock show Hullabaloo.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Rudy Ray Moore: Sweet Peter Jeeter (1977)
Here's another vile comedy record from The Human Tornado, Rudy Ray Moore, that was released - I think - in 1977. Totally profane, with a wonderful bed of funk music beneath his dirty ramble, this is another prize in the so-bad-it's-good pile. The great Steve Allen would probably not be pleased to be sharing a page with this LP. I've Got a Secret with host Steve Allen (1964)
The contestant on the left comes from "North Surrey, British Columbia, Canada." Not too far from where I'm sitting this very instance. I find it comical that he needed to specify which part of Surrey he's from.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Amazing Grace starring Moms Mabley (1974)
This film also featured legendary African-American showbiz figures Slappy White and Butterfly McQueen. It was written by Matt Robinson, one of the Gordons from Sesame Street and voice of Muppet Roosevelt Franklin. Hey, you know what? I uploaded a bunch of audio from Moms Mabley comedy records on Chess and Mercury for a seperate article last year - and you can listen to it in all its splendid glory here.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show with guest star Jack Benny (1953)
I don't care for these later laugh track epsiodes. It's posted here because of Benny alone.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Frank Fontaine Show (1955) - Footage Offline - 5/17/09
I think this was probably a pilot in the mid-fifties, hence the lack of sponsor spots on what looks like a raw piece of film. Fontaine, staple of The Jackie Gleason Show, could not hold a show of his own - especially with canned laughs and no writers. At least, it seems as if it has no writers.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest host Freddie Prinze and guest Richard Pryor (1976)
Mister Peepers (1952)
Mister Peepers is considered among the top echelon of nineteen fifties sitcoms although I personally feel it is somewhat overrated. To be fair, I've only watched maybe six early episodes of the series, but I wasn't enthralled by it. I am a big fan of Wally Cox, however. His stand-up act, the little I've heard of it (on a radio episode of Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts), is hilarious. I'm also a fan of Underdog and the premiere episode of Mission: Impossible, both featuring Cox. I also get a kick out of the fact that he was best friends with Marlon Brando and the man that taught Brando how to ride a hog for The Wild One. For me, the best thing about Mister Peepers is its theme song composed by Bernie Greene. WFMU recently posted an item about Bernie Greene. Listen to a great sounding MP3 of the Mister Peepers theme here.Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Fibber McGee and Molly with guest star Charles Lane (1959)
The very famous and very popular radio sitcom Fibber McGee & Molly was one of the last OTR shows to be converted into a television series. Unlike the well-remembered radio counterpart, nobody remembers this 1959 NBC sitcom. It did not have Jim and Marion Jordan at all.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sam & Friends (1959)
Here's one show that has yet to make it to DVD, but seems like a natural for the medium.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
The Lawrence Welk Show (1969)
For the season opener, Larry Welk tries to hip(pie) it up for the kids.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Paul Lynde Show (1973)
Just the first eight minutes of the rarely screened sitcom The Paul Lynde Show (originally titled My Gay Dad). This episode co-written by Groucho Marx's son.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Trailer for The Love God? (1969)
My favorite Don Knotts film was written and directed by Nat Hiken, creator of Sgt. Bilko. Another great Vic Mizzy soundtrack in this one too.
Batman with guest star John Astin (1967)
For years the debate has raged on about who was the superior Catwoman - Eartha Kitt or Julie Newmar? However, one debate that has never been raised, let alone raged, is who was the superior Riddler. It hasn't, nor will it ever be a real question. Frank Gorshin is more established as The Riddler than he is anything else - an impressionist, nightclub comic, or actor. Frank Gorshin is The Riddler, period. That's why it always feels so weird when this episode of Batman comes on TV featuring Gomez Addams, John Astin, in the role. Pretty interesting tho. These episodes aired not before Gorshin played The Riddler and not after, but in between. Gorshin had established the character, Astin filled in briefly, Gorshin returned to the part in the fall. Listen to Frank Gorshin sing the novelty track (written by Mel Torme!) pictured above by clicking here.
Rickles with guests Elliot Gould, Michael Caine and James Caan (1975)
All three with moustaches too. From the same special that had this number.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Dick Van Dyke Show with original sponsor spots (1963)
Here's the first part of an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show that includes the original commercials.
The Warm Up: The Stars Get Benefit of a Pre-Heated Audience - TV Guide - January 1954
Here is an enjoyable and extremely insightful article that appeared in TV Guide, the last week of January 1954 (pictured).The Warm Up - Stars Get Benefit of Pre-Heated Audience
An occupational hazard and one of the major causes of trauma among comedians is that dreary audience that refuses to laugh. It has long since become dogma in the radio-TV industry that a studio audience must be on hand to be insulted by the comics and cued by off screen claques so that folks at home will know when to laugh.
And if a studio audience doesn't laugh? As a precaution against such disasters, most shows employ a pre-show audience warm up so that when airtime rolls around, the audience will be giddy enough to laugh at anything.
A GAG FOR A KICK-OFF
The kingpin at audience priming is of course that old pro Bob Hope. Approximately a minute before air time, he reads from the script what is allegedly the first joke on the show. He then ceremoniously rips the first page off, crumples it in a ball, throws it on the floor and kicks it. Mr. Hope has this timed so well that the audience will be in gales of merriment at precisely the moment the show goes on the air.
Announcer Jack Lescoulie does the warm up on the Jackie Gleason Show. A typical warm up involves lining up Jackie, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney, June Taylor on stage, then going into the following spiel: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to the cast. Cast, meet the audience." With this, the cast runs out into the audience, shaking hands all around. The cast then rushes onstage just in time for the show.
Milton Frome, one of Milton Berle's alter egos, does the warm up on the Berle show. In line with the theory that a studio audience is several cuts lower in intelligence than the one at home, Frome goes out on the runway at the Center Theater wearing a preposterous toupee. He then rants at the audiece, "If you don't laugh tonight, I'll tear my hair out," then, "I think I'll do it anyhow." With this he tears off the toupee. They are then ripe for Uncle Miltie.Ed Sullivan does his own warm up, with Art Hannes, the announcer, filling in when Ed is on vacation. They begin with greetings from Lincoln-Mercury, tell the audience to relax, ask out-of-towners (most studio audiences are chiefly out-of-towners)to raise their hands and then advising them to "be sure to laugh when the cameras are turned on you. You don't want to disgrace your grandpa back home in the corner saloon. If he sees that you're not smiling, he'll think you're not having a good time."
The Bishop Sheen show has a problem that is peculiar to that show alone. The warm up is handled by one of two announcers, Fred Scott or Bill O'Toole. The audience is told to enjoy itself, applaud when it wishes and to remember, above all, that it is not in church.
DON'T OUTSHINE CAESAR
Ed Herlihy (Your Show of Shows)is also on the spot. If he's too funny he'll cramp the styles of Caesar and Coco. He goes through the usual bits about putting an audience at its ease, tells them to take off their shoes, who's going to be on, and so forth.
Walt Framber, producer of Strike it Rich and The Big Payoff, frequently does the warm up on those shows himself. Walt is not averse to a little flag-waving. On Strike it Rich, he leads off by saying, "We all struck it rich when we came to America," making his audience brim over with good feelings.Eddie Fisher's audience is warmed up just at the sight of the boy. Consisting chiefly of teenagers, it bursts into squeals the moment Eddie puts in an appearance, approximately a minute before air time.
THEY'VE GOT A SECRET
Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, producer of What's My Line, I've Got a Secret and other shows, manage some 100 warm ups a year. The boys are loaded down with various routines to get the audience gay: "Do we have anyone in the audience enjoying their honeymoon here in New York? Stand up, please." (Blushing honeymooners stand). "All right now, anybody here not enjoying their honeymoon?" (This brings the house down). "Okay, everybody, get comfortable. Men, take off your jackets, if you want. Ladies - well, do the best you can."
Jane Frohman has the best routine. While her announcer chats amiably with the audience, Jane, her dressing room very close to the stage, can be heard chirping away on that night's songs. And the way Miss Frohman sings, by the time it's air time her audience is so warm, it's glowing.
I've Got a Secret with guest Bud Collyer (1957)
Bud Collyer comes on I've Got a Secret to promote his show Beat the Clock.
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