sneedsnood

This terrible show features a bunch of D list forgotten pretty-boy sitcom stars hoping for a comeback. They all get together for acting classes and career coaching. None of them takes any of the professional advice seriously. They tend casting sessions, go on embarrassing "photo walks" to see who attracts the most paparazzi. Some of them don't attract any attention at all. As far as I know, this ridiculous enterprise did not jump start any careers, but probably ended a few more permanently This was a Scott Baio Production, preceding his embarrassing turn as the "star" of Donald Trump's ludicrous, moronic Republican National Convention in July of 2016.

People were not especially fascinated with early television when this first came out in 1986. America had become a bombastic, boastful place and "ethics" were something to be sneered at. Maybe that's why this did not create the buzz that came decades later with "Good Night and Good Luck." My, did we all take ourselves seriously back then! We were just discovering that television was not going to be a great teacher after all, but a circus on the air. This takes place mostly in offices, which is always dull, and the cast is mostly middle-aged, all white men in period suits. There is not really that much about the television industry itself -- very little that is colorful or entertaining except the then-perplexing rise of game shows. Daniel J. Travanti is an odd choice, not very interesting as Murrow, but it was his year. The rest of the cast is lackluster. The most exciting moment comes when the phones ring after an anti-Joe McCarthy broadcast. Now, *that's* television!

Some things just shouldn't be filmed. I saw "Man of La Mancha" when it opened in 1965 at the ANTA Theater in New York. What made the show a hit was the inventive staging, in which the world of Don Quixote was created out of the imagination, making the whole experience reasonably magical. Film-wise, it made sense to open the story up and show real plains, horses, taverns and wenches, but at the same time there went the magic. It turns out that "Don Quixote" is not all that interesting, especially when told in such a plodding way and with such drab sets and costumes. When the knight of the woeful continence tilts at his first windmill and the intended humor falls flat, you know you're in for a long, dull show. A second salient point of the stage musical was the semi-operatic score, full of Spanish-sounding music that rose above the pedestrian lyrics and gave the show what little passion it has. Casting people who can barely sing in the starring roles was unwise. Peter O'Toole seems to sing some parts but is dubbed in others, and the effect is none too pleasing. Sophia Loren seems like obvious, perfect casting as Dulcinea, and she is amazingly beautiful, but sings in a low, tense voice that suggests nothing of inner fire. James Coco plays Sancho Panza in an awkward, sad and lifeless way. Coco started out as a star in "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers," and then his career sank as it became increasingly clear that his acting talents were limited. Lots of talents were used to no good purpose here.