BAB Classic: TV Party Tonight! - The Muppet Show

NOTE:  This post was originally published on 19 October 2009.

 
Karen: Grab your popcorn, a glass of soda, and let's have a TV party! Tonight's show: The Muppet Show!

The Muppet Show is one of those TV shows that had a distinct impact on those of us born between the mid-60s and early 70s. In some ways a natural progression from the kiddie-aimed Sesame Street, The Muppet Show brought a humor that could be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. Filled with slapstick, goofy skits, as well as musical numbers and guest stars, it was not to be missed in many households- including mine!

The show premiered in 1976 as a syndicated, half-hour variety show. In my area (Southern California), it was shown on Saturday nights at 7 pm. The cast of Muppets included Kermit the Frog as the beleaguered show manager, his sort-of girlfriend, Miss Piggy, as the diva, Fozzie Bear, Kermit's friend and struggling comic, and a plethora of other characters, such as the Swedish Chef, Dr. Honeydew, and kibitzers Statler and Waldorf. The show itself mimicked a vaudeville show, but with plenty of backstage antics. Over the years, a long list of guests appeared on the show, including Elton John, Rita Moreno, Gene Kelly, and even Alice Cooper (Alice was actually considered scary back then)!


The show had a number of on-going sketches, but my personal favorite was probably Pigs in Space, or Piiiigs.... in..... Spaaaaace! Even though I was a die-hard Star Trek fan, I still appreciated this parody, with dim-witted Captain Link Hogthrob, first officer Miss Piggy, and weirdo scientist Dr. Strangepork! They cruised through space aboard the Swinetrek, their oddly-shaped spaceship.

But probably the very best thing about the Muppet Show was the opening theme. All these years later, I still feel happy when I hear it.

TV Party Tonight! -Christmas Specials

Karen: Well, it's that most wonderful time of the year. We put out the eggnog, hot chocolate, and cookies, so let's sit down by the fire and watch some of our favorite Christmas shows!

First, to get the juices going, let's start with that beloved classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. I've seen it a million times but I can never get enough of it. There's so much to love here, especially the incredible music of Vince Guaraldi. Charlie Brown's valiant stand against the commercialization of the holiday is a classic. There are so many great moments - the ice skating, the kids dancing during rehearsal, Snoopy's prize-winning decorated doghouse, and of course, Linus' moving speech about the true meaning of Christmas. An absolute gem.



How about a little musical number before we get to our movie? This is an odd little bit from the 1977 Bing Crosby Christmas Special. Bing Crosby and David Bowie?! You couldn't get two more diametrically opposed personalities. And yet...it's a beautiful performance. Check it out.



And of course, what would a Christmas special be without a commercial? I know, it would be much better! But this is a pretty cute commercial:



Let's get to our main feature, shall we? While there have been many, many film versions of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, my favorite one is the 1951 movie with Alastair Sim as Scrooge. I think what gets me the most about this version is the time spent showing Scrooge the child; it's easy to see how such a lonely, unhappy child could turn into such a cold, distant creep later on. But the possibility of redemption exists, and we get our happy ending, as Scrooge attempts to make up for the past and become a good man. Whenever I see this I always feel acutely my own short-comings toward my fellow men. It's a good reminder that we only have so much time in this world - we should strive to do well with it.

TV Party Tonight! - Salem's Lot

Karen: You know a movie or show has achieved some level of success when an image from it stays with you for many years, able to be called up effortlessly from the mind as fresh as the first time you saw it. So it is for me with the dramatic appearance of the vampire Barlow in the 1979 TV mini-series, Salem's Lot.



But other people I've talked to about Salem's Lot often bring up the scene where a recently deceased child appears as a floating apparition at a window.



The main thing is, people who saw it tend to remember Salem's Lot, and quite vividly!

This two part mini-series (hardly seems like a mini-series now, given how long some go on) appeared in 1979. It was based on the novel by Stephen King, which had been published only 4 years earlier. The story involves a young writer, Ben Mears (played by David Soul of Starksy & Hutch), who returns to his childhood home of Salem's Lot, Maine, compelled to write about a foreboding house that overlooks the town and seems innately evil. But not long after he returns, a strange man, Mr. Straker, buys the old house, and then people in the town begin getting ill, and dying. It's eventually revealed that Straker is the human servant of a vampire, Barlow, who has come to feed on the town. Ben and a few of the town folk try to stop Barlow, but as more of the people of Salem's Lot become Barlow's pawns, it becomes a race to keep the town alive -literally. The slow, steady absorption of the town by evil is chilling.

Salem's Lot was quite a sensation when it premiered. I can recall watching it and then talking with most of my friends about it at school in the days after. There were many differences from the novel. One improvement, I thought, was beefing up the role of pre-teen Mark Petrie (played in the show by Lance Kerwin). Mark was a bright kid who was into monsters, magic, all sorts of 'weird' things. I could relate to him and so did a lot of the kids I knew. He seems to have the least difficulty with the supernatural events around him, and despite his age, is a steady and resourceful young man. David Soul does a nice turn as writer Mears, able to convey a sort of wistfulness and fear all at the same time.


The vampire, Barlow, has provoked a lot of comment over the years. His look is a direct swipe of Count Orlok from the film Nosferatu, only in color. He bears no resemblance to Barlow from the book, who was your more typical suave human-looking vampire. But I like the more monstrous look. I'm sick of all these good-looking teenage vampires running around nowadays. Vampires should be awful, horrific things, not someone you want to take to the prom! Even Bela Lugosi was scarier than these punks today. Barlow may be the most frightening vampire I've ever seen. Interesting side note: Barlow was played by Reggie Nalder, who also played an Andorian ambassador in the Star Trek episode, "Journey to Babel". Must be something about his face.

If you've not seen Salem's Lot, you might have some difficulty finding it on DVD. Also be aware that a shorter version was made and put on video years ago. Luckily the entire thing has been posted on YouTube. If you'd like to see a truly scary vampire movie, check it out.

TV Party Tonight! - Mad Monster Party

Since we're only a few weeks from Halloween, we thought it might be nice to look at something with a monstrous appeal. Grab your trick or treat candy (I hope we got some Snickers!) and let's join the Mad Monster Party.

Although technically this was a theatrical feature, I think most of us probably saw it first on TV. Released in 1967, this 90 minute kid's monster comedy was put together by the folks at Rankin/Bass - the same people who gave us Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and it featured the same style of stop motion animation. Only this time, instead of cute little elves and reindeer, it was Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, and a whole host of weird creatures coming into our living rooms!

The plot goes like this: Baron Frankenstein (voiced by the wonderful Boris Karloff, and the puppet looks just like him) has discovered the most destructive substance in the universe! Now that he has discovered the secrets of life and death, he invites all the monsters to his remote island to celebrate. This includes his nerdy nephew Felix, whom Frankenstein decides will be his heir. This doesn't sit right with the monsters, and they scheme to eliminate Felix. The Baron's gorgeous assistant, Francesca, is at first in on the plan, but eventually she falls for Felix and tries to help him escape. The gigantic IT! (aka King Kong) is brought to the island and goes on the rampage. After all else fails, Frankenstein uses his potion of destruction and blows up the entire island. Felix and Francesca survive, adrift at sea, but Francesca tells Felix their love cannot be - she is a robot made by Frankenstein! Felix says it's OK, "Nobody is perfect...is perfect...is perfect..."


The full roster of monsters, for those of you who are dying to know: Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster,his Mate (voiced by Phyllis Diller!), the Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, the Hunchback, the Mummy, the Creature (from the Black Lagoon), and Dr. Jekyll/ Mr. Hyde. I'm not sure if Rankin/Bass did this with the permission of Universal Studios or not. The Creature is just called 'The Creature', and doesn't look exactly like the movie version. The Frankenstein Monster definitely looks like the Universal version though, with flat head and all. It's a goofy, funny romp, which is no surprise since Mad Magazine vets Harvey Kurtzman and Jack Davis had a hand in the writing and design respectively.

The show is a lot of fun for anyone who enjoys the classic monsters and 60s culture. The show has some great music, bongos and all, and there's a number called "Do the Mummy", performed by a skeletal rock band. Check the clip below.

TV Party Tonight! - Kung Fu

Time for another TV party, friends. Only tonight, we won't be having popcorn and soda. No, we're going to brew up some green tea and contemplate the deep meaning behind Kung Fu.

Kung Fu was eagerly watched in my household. When the show premiered in 1972, the martial arts craze was in full swing. Both my father and brother were studying kenpo karate (and I was lucky enough to be taught some moves by them - the teacher didn't take girls!) and more shows and movies were appearing featuring some form of martial arts. Bruce Lee hadn't quite hit it big in the states yet - Enter the Dragon, the film that would make him a household name, didn't come out til 1973. He was mostly known here for his role as Kato on The Green Hornet TV show. But make no mistake, the martial arts and the esoteric philosophies that accompanied them were gaining ground on U.S. soil.

Television usually takes these trends and cranks out a lot of junk. But with Kung Fu, they had managed to create a show that was capable of balancing action and thoughtfulness - much like the main character, wandering Shao Lin monk Kwai Chang Caine.

Caine was a Shao Lin priest, taught to be peaceful, but also taught the fierce skills of kung fu. Born of an American father and Chinese mother, he was always a man apart, whether it was in China or the American West. After angrily killing the Emperor's nephew because his men had slain Caine's beloved teacher, Master Po, Caine fled to the U.S. to seek out his half-brother. Set in the Old West, Kung Fu was an odd mix of conventional Western and martial arts genres. Caine wanted nothing but peace and solitude, and yet, every week, he became involved in some affair that required the use of his deadly talents.

The late David Carradine seemed to be the perfect actor for the role. His Caine was possessed of a calm stillness that contrasted nicely with the violent men he encountered. There has been much speculation that the whole idea for the show was stolen from Bruce Lee, and there does seem to be plenty of evidence to support that assertion. But it's hard for me to imagine anyone but Carradine in that role. In many ways, his 'half-breed' (the unenlightened term used in those days) Caine reminded me a great deal of Star Trek's Mr. Spock, who was also a man apart, not able to find a place in either of the worlds he straddled. I think both of these characters had a strong appeal to teenagers and young adults for these very reasons.

Of course, the late 60s and early 70s was also a time in which many people were exploring eastern religions and culture, and so this also made Kung Fu attractive to viewers. Many of my favorite sequences in the show were the flashbacks which took place during Caine's youth in the temple. Usually these involved his teacher, the blind Master Po, played charmingly by Keye Luke. Master Po would give the young Caine, or Grasshopper as he affectionately called him, some lesson in life. These lessons always informed Caine's decisions in the course of an episode. This was back in the day when some shows were not afraid to moralize.


For comics fans, it's worth noting that writer Steve Englehart has stated that Kung Fu was the major influence on the creation of Marvel's Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. He and co-creator Jim Starlin were fans of the show.

Like most shows that are now decades old, Kung Fu can seem a bit hokey. But I can honestly say, I have seasons 1 and 2 on DVD, and they are packed full of great story-telling, wonderful old character actors, and some pretty cool action sequences (slow-mo, anyone?). It's been a lot of fun to revisit them.

Of course, anyone who watched the show regularly will recall the excellent title sequence, which includes the famous scene with Master Kan intoning, "As quickly as you can, snatch the pebble from my hand." Take a look below.