These days it seems that every show does a Halloween episode whether it's necessary or not, but it wasn't always so. Today Halloween has been commercialized into something bloated but still somehow enjoyable, and we're here to remember a few terrific TV outings into the Halloween holiday theme.
First up, the classic -- and best of their Halloween-themed outings -- the Happy Days episode "Haunted" from Season 2, when Happy Days was still on film and not shot in front of an audience making it a whole different animal. The first two seasons have subtlety, charm, great writing and nuanced performances, traits that mostly become lost when audience reactions took precedence.
Little House on the Prairie had several Halloween episodes over the years including the great "The Monster of Walnut Grove" which involved Mrs. Olsen getting her head cut off by Mr. Oleson. Hilarious, spooky, imaginative -- a complete delight, the best of the Little House Halloween episodes by far. Unfortunately not available online anywhere that I can find, but there's a nice write-up by another fan of it, available by clicking here. We also wrote about it in 2010 because we like it that much!
Jon Hamm as James Mason on a Saturday Night Live version of an imaginary Vincent Price Halloween Special from 1959. Nothing funnier than this skit from 2008!
What a sad day it was just a little over twenty-five years ago when actress and comedienne Gilda Radner passed away from ovarian cancer. Who would have thought, 43 years earlier when she was born on June 28, 1946, that she had entered this world seemingly destined to bring us laughter and left an unforgettable legacy of talent and grace behind her.
Michigan-born but first flexing her professional comic muscles while living in Toronto, Canada, Radner consorted with a cadre of budding comedian/actors including Martin Short, Bill Murray, Dave Thomas, Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi and others from the Second City school of comic actors who were all beginning their careers. As a result of her impressive work with this budding generation of gifted performers Gilda Radner was chosen in 1975 to be a member of the initial cast of NBC's new late-night comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live which debuted on October 11, 1975.
Here's an interesting clip of NBC late-night host Tom Snyder just days before the SNL premiere as he interviews creator Lorne Michael and his nascent group of comedy innovators:
Gilda Radner's five-year stint on Saturday Night Live gave us characters which are still part of the comedy canon: Emily Litella, Roseanna Roseannadanna, Baba Wawa to name but a few. She was singled out and won an Emmy Award for her work during the 1977 season in addition to becoming a beloved audience favorite. Viewers fell in love with her all-around performing prowess which combined musical talent, a knack for physical humor, general cuteness and spot-on comic instincts which gave her trademark characters the spark of life plus an extra dimension of comedic relevance.
Let's look at a couple of examples of her work on SNL, beginning with this enthusiastic intro:
This is one of Bill Murray's lounge singer bits with the entire cast participating, including Radner:
There's not a lot of Gilda Radner-era Saturday Night Live material on the web, but you can find a small selection if you look: the famous Steve Martin/Gilda "Dancing in the Dark" comic dance routine is available for viewing at this link (click here), and Yahoo Screen has a selection of high-quality clips including "Nerd Prom" and several Baba Wawa sketches available at this link (click here).
Radner was also among the pantheon of celebrities who made a guest appearance on the long-running The Muppet Show, hers in 1978:
Gilda featured her collection of characters in a one-woman theater showcaseGilda Radner: Live from New York which ran in August and September of 1979 and was filmed -- thank goodness -- and is still availble for purchase. Here are a few bits from the well-received production:
After leaving Saturday Night Live Gilda transitioned into an short big-screen career including 1982's Hanky Panky where she co-starred opposite actor Gene Wilder. They ended up falling in love, marrying in 1984 and making a total of three films together. It was while on location in England for Haunted Honeymoon that Gilda fell ill and ultimately, after months of misdiagnosis, learned she had ovarian cancer. Her treatments afforded her a remission and gave her the time to pen her autobiography It's Always Something. In May of 1989 she recorded the audio version of the book, and only a few weeks later she passed away on May 20, 1989.
Here is a short excerpt from the book backed by some photos (not sure it's Radner's narration, though):
Close to the year's anniversary of her death Gene Wilder appeared on Face to Face with Connie Chung talking about Gilda's legacy:
Part of that legacy was the Gilda's Club cancer support centers which have offered assistance and camaraderie to countless people over the years. There was a controversy a couple of years ago over at least one chapter moving to change its name, ostensibly because they thought Radner's name had ceased to be relevant. There was also a merger with the Cancer Support Community but many Gilda's Club locations proudly retain their original name, as does the NYC chapter.
The Gilda Radner-era of Saturday Night Live was a high point for the series, a more innocent time perhaps -- notwithstanding the tales of rampant drug use -- that was the perfect incubator for the sweet and immensely talented spirit that infused her work. The Flaming Nose remembers her fondly on what would have been her 68th birthday.
When I hear about something like Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (what a fantastic title), as I just have today, I feel both behind and in front of the times. Behind because this has become an "internet sensation" with nearly 1.5 million hits on You Tube. In front of, because I think it deserves many more hits, and it doesn't even have an entry on IMDB. It's directed and co-written by Dean Fleischer-Camp, and co-written and voiced by whom I suspect is an autuer of equal import, the recently ousted (and unbelievably cute) new/old Saturday Night Live appointee Jenny Slate (she quite understandably let a "fuckin'" slip out in a "frickin'" routine, but that didn't stop her from cruelly being cut from the cast--get a grip, NBC and FCC).
This uncommonly simple, utterly unique little (VERY little) movie is, I'm sure, the beginning of something larger. It charmed so many at the recent American Film Institute Festival that it won the Audience Award for Best Animated Short, instantly putting in qualification for the Best Animated Short Film award at the upcoming Oscars. I'd love to see it nominated. Sometimes, animation is not about the pyrotechnics involved in the movie's making, but about the feeling the results evoke (the editing and sound is magnificent, if you pay attention). This film conjures a powerful adoration for its feisty, diminutive subject, voiced without enhancement by Jenny Slate (who I imagine, at least, has this character in her mind for some time; either that, or it was thought of instantaneously, I imagine, in a very happy moment for Slate). The direction is superb (I really like Marcel's relationship with the interviewer), and the laughs are absolutely well earned; in fact, no feature this year has more joyful moments than you'll experience in Marcel The Shell With Shoes On. I want to see much more of Marcel, and so many others out there obviously want to as well. Wallace and Grommit won three Oscars for just the same reason. Mark my words: this isn't the last of this brave, lovely bit-player. By the way: I defy you to watch it only once.
More Halloween goodness from The Flaming Nose! Our third choice is a short skit from NBC's Saturday Night Live of October 25, 2008. It's one of Bill Hader's several ventures as horror actor Vincent Price in various holiday specials, and it's the best one. Most of the delight was Mad Men actor Jon Hamm being absolutely hilarious and dead on in his impersonation of a soused James Mason. They reference Lolita but actually that was a couple of years later than the 1959 time frame of this fake show, but using Lolita to introduce Mason on a kid's special is wonderful!
Hamm is amazing, completely in character and using his seldom seen (except here and in his great appearances on 30 Rock, and also his wonderful bits on the Emmy Awards) comic chops. Also starring in the sketch are Fred Armisen as a flamboyant Liberace, and Kristen Wiig as a melodramatic Gloria Swanson. All are terrific, but Hamm is the real surprise. Here is the whole segment -- it's less than 7 minutes so watch it right now and enjoy!
Even more goodness -- Jon Hamm is hosting this year's Halloween eve Saturday Night Live episode this weekend, so don't miss it! We're hoping for another hilarious outing with our favorite Mad Man.
Just in case you didn't appreciate quite how spot-on Jon Hamm's impersonation of actor James Mason was in his Saturday Night Live appearance -- see our previous post -- I offer some proof. Here's the real James Mason doing a commercial:
NBC hasn't posted this skit from the past weekend's Saturday Night Live, but it was one of the funniest, especially for guest host Jon Hamm's dead-on and drop-dead funny impersonation of actor James Mason. I'm hoping YouTube hasn't taken it down yet -- here it is:
Hope you caught Mad Men's Jon Hamm on Saturday Night Live -- he was terrific! So good looking and with a deft comedy touch that I think might have taken some of us by surprise! It was quite a bold plug for MM, too, with his intro cheekily referencing hit TV shows as a come-on to solicit viewers watch Mad Men, plus a dead-on MM skit featuring appearances by the also very amusing John Slattery and Elisabeth Moss from the show.
For now, let's post the droll skit "Don Draper's Guide To Picking Up Women" -- if this doesn't drive some viewers to MM, they don't know what they're missing!
If you love Jon Hamm as Mad Men's Don Draper as much as we do here at The Flaming Nose, you won't want to miss his guest hosting appearance tonight on NBC's Saturday Night Live.
Couldn't come at a better time to get some nice exposure for Mr. Hamm and Mad Men, of course. SNL is on a roll these days, parlaying some daffy political satire, an uncannily incisive impersonation of a certain VP candidate by SNL-alum Tina Fey, and whatever else put the fire back in their belly -- and let's not forget NBC's opportune scheduling of several extra primetime SNL specials to coincide with election campaign events -- to propel them to ratings records.
Let's hope a little of Saturday Night Live's current magic rubs off on Jon Hamm and Mad Men, the best show out there on TV that most people aren't watching yet.
Two powerful forces come together on November 1st: an up-and-coming rock star and the NBC institution known as Saturday Night Live.
The American Idol season 7 champ demonstrates once again that he's fearless. And ambitious. Just last week he announced his newly formed band. In their very first public gig together, they will perform the brilliant and very hard-to-sing new single, "Light On." Think about it. Just three weeks after they formed, and 4 1/2 weeks after the single dropped, Cook and his boys take on live television, on what will likely be the highest rated SNL all season. It's the Saturday before Election Day, Ben Affleck is hosting (he's one of the show's best hosts), and Tina Fey will likely make her last appearance as Gov. Sarah Palin. Even though Cook is the musical guest, look for him to appear in a sketch or two.
So let's meet David's new band (they're a bunch of lookers!). Some fans have dubbed them "David and his boy scouts..." David, Neal, Andy, Kyle & Joey... don't you just love the names! Don't let that fool you; these guys are hard core rockers. And two of them are David's closest friends and bandmates from his time with The Midwest Kings (MWK). That David was able to get RCA to sign them is more evidence of his clout (and how good they are).
Neal "Dr." Tiemann (middle, with Andy & David) - Lead member of MWK (he managed the band and played lead guitar). He's a kickass guitar player and will continue in the role of lead guitar with David. He was the first to join David's band and is the one band member who played on every track on the soon-to-be released album.
Andy Skib (right, with David) - keyboards and backup rhythm guitar (David will play primary rhythm guitar). He will also do backup vocals during live performances. Andy was the lead vocalist for MWK; he also performs (sometimes with Neal) under the solo project "To Have Heroes." He has an amazing voice.
Joey Clement - Bass guitar
Kyle Peek - Drums
No other AI contestant has ever been given this much creative control. Rock producer extraordinaire Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Kid Rock) was tapped as producer of Cook's new self titled album, which drops on 11/18. Cook wrote or co-wrote (with some big name rock stars) 11 out of the 12 tracks. "Light On" was written by Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) and Bryan Howes (Hinder). Very smart of Cook to go the band route instead of purely solo with studio musicians. This will help him build "rock cred."
This SNL gig is just the first of several TV appearances to promote the new album. Cook and his band will also appear on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "The Ellen Degeneres Show," "Regis & Kelly," "Good Morning America" (11/17), and will headline a huge fundraiser thrown by NY Mets star David Wright on 11/12 (the two have become fast friends).
Sample the new single "Light On," now avaialble on itunes & amazon.com:
Adding to my 2008-09 fall season premiere blog (2 or 3 posts below), time to give Saturday Night Live some attention, having just watched last night's show. A definite sign of my age: watching "Saturday Night Live" on Sunday morning!
I won't say Tina Fey single-handedly saved Saturday Night Live, but she may be the person most responsible for resurrecting the NBC institution. Her dead-on (and hilarious) impersonation of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin drew me, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of other formerly-devoted SNL viewers, to the season premiere two weeks ago. After taking a week off, Fey drew me back again last night and what I experienced was perhaps the best SNL show in a decade. I can't really make that judgement accurately because I have only tuned in sporadically over the past 10 years. The show just didn't seem that funny anymore. The season premiere 2 weeks ago was good, but host Michael Phelps really didn't add much. In fact, I think he detracted.
Last night, all the stars lined up. The writing was superb, the performances were great, and the show's rhythm was nearly perfect. Anna Faris did a fantastic job as host, and musical guest Duffy was a delight (I'm already a big fan of hers). The writing was crisp, funny and sharp. None of the skits seemed to run too long. Even on SNL's best shows, in its best years, there were always those one or two skits that kind of bombed. Last night even the worst skit wasn't bad at all. And Weekend Update was a gem. Get that DVR rewind button ready - Kristen Wiigs' Judy Grimes character must be watched repeatedly. I'm not sure if Wiig deserves an Emmy, or an Olympic gold medal because her "just kidding" routine is as much vocally athletic as it is comic. Here's a clip:
If last night's show is any indication of what kind of season we're in for, I think SNL could be heading to a new golden age. I'm going to stay with it through the midpoint of the season (unless it turns unwatchable several weeks in a row). The cast seems smaller right now than in past seasons, and that will help those of us who've been away for a while get to know these comedians more quickly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
And on up the list we go, all the time gettin' better and better...
60) Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-62) It’s Hitch himself who propelled this show to its place on the list. I think that ol' Alfred still remains the world’s most recognized director largely on the basis of his droll intros and outros for this delectably morbid anthology series. As far as the stories themselves, peopled with an incredible array of movie and TV stars, well, the series would find its way here simply based on the episode titled “A Perfect Murder.” I won’t spoil things by recounting this segment’s story; those of you who know what I’m talking about will agree, and those of you who don’t have a clue, well, this let's you know you have something to look forward to catching on the tube.
59) Iron Chef America (2005-present) The excitement I feel as this quicksilver approach to TV cooking shows begins each week is heart-stopping. Two teams of culinary pros are assigned to concoct a full meal, in an hour's time, with each course having to include one surprise ingredient. Even if I know who’s gonna win (and it’s like that most every time), I still gobble up the rush I get watching the unbeatable Mario Batalli whipping up some kinda ice cream with rhubarb in it, or some wannabe Iron Chef sizzling a fillet of sole with a delicate sweet potato garnish. It’s perfect TV—a combination critique, game show, and cooking show! My foodie friend Tom Georganakis and I gorged on it every time we whiled away the late-night hours looking for something good on cable; coming upon this show, the decision as to what to watch was always certain. The Japanese counterpart from which it sprung is good, too, but I feel distanced by its cultural stick-to-it’veness ("The secret incredient is what now? Some kind of slimy bean pod? Ewwwww...") Give me the American version of Iron Chef, which we all can enjoy with relish and, hey, can I get a some onions with that?
58) Saturday Night Live (1975-present) When I was nine years old, this NBC show slammed onto the late-nite airwaves like nothing else before it or since has ever done. Back then, I looked forward to going over to my cousin Greg’s house every weekend to watch it, and I still remember being with him in the darkened TV room, staying up later than any pre-teens had the right to do, drinking Pepsi and withstanding the barrage of oh-so-naughty adult entertainment being thrown at us. Given our age, of course when Walter Williams’ Mr. Bill came on the air (invariably towards the end of the show), me and Greg went absolutely apeshit, we loved it so! Thinking about it now—where the couch was in the room, the position of the TV, the light coming in from the streetlamp outside, the silences as the show came back from station breaks--my heart still races! I recall reacting in so many different ways to Saturday Night Live’s offerings: I was puzzled and intrigued by “Bad Theater” with the unctuous Leonard Pinth-Garnell; cruelly fascinated by The Nerds (Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and Jane Curtain in full goofball, so-unhip-it’s-hip territory); totally creeped out by Buck Henry as the pervy uncle who comes to babysit for Radner and Larraine Newman, taking pictures of them in suggestive poses as they were joyfully unaware of his real intent (could this skit even be done today?); weirdly touched by the longing tones of the Scotch Tape store sketches, with their quietly funny doodlings of a sad, inevitably failed commercial enterprise; struck dumb by the legendary Star Trek skit, where TV execs came in and stripped Spock of his ears and Kirk of his command; comically horrified by Dan Ackroyd’s Julia Child, heroically keeping on with the show as her life’s blood drained away from a nasty knife wound; extremely hopeful when Lorne Michaels offered the Beatles $4000 to reunite on the show (turns out, Lennon and McCartney were then watching the show in NYC, toying with the idea of hopping a taxi to 30 Rock so's to take Michaels up on the offer—oh, how close we came); sent zooming into outer space by the glorious dance that Steve Martin and Gilda Radner did together as desperately lonely people who exchange glances in a crowded bar (still my favorite moment of SNL's run); deliciously confused by the then-new idea of spoofing TV commercials so well that you couldn’t tell whether they were real or fake until the optimum moment. These memories, and so many more, have become an inextricable part of me, and if the series had ended at its sixth year, this show would be way higher up on the list. I don’t have to tell you what happened; mediocrity and even plain sludge sometimes intervened. Don’t get me wrong: I still love Will Farrell and Cheri Oteri’s cheerleader bits, Harry Shearer and Martin Short’s indelible synchronized swimming, and absolutely anything that Eddie Murphy, Phil Hartman, Amy Pohler, Tina Fey, the great comic poet Jack Handey, and unofficial cast members Steve Martin and Christopher Walken have contributed. I find that almost every episode, even today, has at least a few laughs in it (I'm really starting to like Kenan Thompson these days). But will Saturday Night Live ever reach the heights it reached in those first few years with Chase, Belushi, Newman, Ackroyd (the series’ single best performer), Curtin, Murray, Radner, Morris, and company? No way. No matter. I love SNL still, and hope it never goes off the air.
57) Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge (1994-95) Ahh-haaaaaa! Yes, it’s Alan Partridge, making his way through bottom-of-the-barrel entertainment drudgery with as much enthusiasm as his nervously toothy grin could muster. Even if most of us stateside have no idea of what this show is, this BBC phenomenon--a spoof of British chat shows--was the Seinfeld of its time and place, the comedy that everyone in the UK was talking about the next day ‘round the teapot. And with good reason. Steve Coogan’s desperate alter-ego is a big ol’ guffaw in the face of the present day tomfoolery surrounding the entertainment biz. I love how he has his bandleader WAYYYYY up in the rafters, a hilariously comic misfire of art direction, as he tries to communicate with him as well as he can. I revel in Alan Partridge's fawning over bigger names (Roger Moore?) supposedly coming to join him as the lesser guests sit uncomfortably on the couches next to him; and his guests are always on to his game, giving him as much crap as he deserves. The brilliant Steve Coogan deserves to be a big star worldwide and I hope he gets that prize ASAP.
56) M.A.S.H.(1972-83) Has any other series, drama or comedy, led double lives like this one? I get just a little bit tired when I hear someone say “Oh, I like the earlier funny episodes.” Well, I like them all. Head writer Larry Gelbart and second head writer Alan Alda did incredible work transforming Robert Altman’s landmark movie into a television show—so much so that I’d bet most people would identify M.A.S.H. as a TV series before they’d note it as a film, too. Now, looking back on it, if Robert Altman had wanted to return to his TV roots, I think he would’ve easily pegged this as a TV-friendly enterprise and jumped on the wagon with it. As it stands, this CBS series, following a group of doctors patching up the wounded during the Korean War, has much more life to it than the very great movie that birthed it. Alda’s Hawkeye was a funny but pained, longing-for-home presence, and when dedicated family man B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell) entered into his tent, that longing became much more intense. That’s why I can accept the seriousness of the latter-day entries, when home became some place the characters just couldn't wait to return to. I can recall being a teenager and, biting my knuckles, witnessing the program’s greatest episode: a battle for a single soldier’s life, with a ticking time clock at the bottom of the screen to keep us informed of the situation’s gravity. I’ll never shake the black-and-white documentary episode, with its heartbreaking frankness about the costs of war. I treasure the characters in the show, particularly Gary Burghoff (the only veteran of the movie to make it to the TV show) as the gentle Corporal O’Reilly and Henry Morgan as the stern but understanding Col. Sherman Potter. And never has there been such hoopla surrounding what is still the single most watched episode of any TV series in history: the shattering finale called “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.” Yes, I revere the laughs the show provided but, in the end, I think I really prefer the more serious M.A.S.H., the one without the laugh track but with a beating heart to it. But I’m thankful for the series as a whole, and it really, to the core, affected America and its politics for the better. Here's a great fan-vid, set to the original song "Suicide is Painless," brought to YouTube by CrazyDiamond1966.
55) Get A Life (1990-92) Whoa! This wackiness was DETERMINED to make you laugh, whether you wanted to or not. Late Night with David Letterman refugee Chris Elliott assayed an incredibly irritating hero as Chris, the housebound, childlike “paperboy” who’s ignorance of the world outside comes up to bite him on the be-hind when he decides to venture out and see what it’s got in store for him. Elliott’s singular style hasn’t found an outlet yet like this one, truly one man’s doggedly warped vision of bringing as much silliness into households as he was allowed by FOX to transmit. I find it very poignant that he gets to play alongside his father, the legendary Bob Elliott, who has just as many laugh lines as his son. Thinking about the series now, I can’t get the image of Spewy, Chris’s vomiting alien friend, out of my mind. If you’ve never seen Get A Life, this clip will let you know what you are in for: unbridled chaos.
54) Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (1986-91) I have to admit, I’ve seen precious few episodes of this incredible kid’s show that takes its place alongside Soupy Sales, Romper Room, Bozo, and Howdy Doody as the premier TV clubhouse where little ones come to run rampant. But that doesn’t stop me from placing this expertly produced CBS program so high up on the list (I’m GLAD I haven’t seen so many episodes—so much more for me to enjoy in the future). I don’t need to see any more than what I’ve already taken in to know that this is one of the finest kid’s shows—hell with it, SHOWS--ever made. The direction, writing, editing, art direction, animation, acting, photography—everything is top-of-the-line in Pee-Wee’s world of play, where adulthood looms just around the corner. Thanks, Paul Reubens, for all you’ve done to bring childlike joy to grown-up hearts, and vice-versa.
53) Extras (2005-present?) At first, I was skeptical. Imagining Ricky Gervais as anyone but the unforgettable David Brent from The Office was a hard sell for me. The first three episodes sailed by on HBO without me giving in to its charms. But then the last three hit me, and something was afoot. When the second season hit, I was hooked, because the show had an arc: What do we do if we want to become famous, and then get what we want? This is why Extras exists. In it, Gervais, as ambitious actor Andy Millman, and his lovely cohort Ashley Jensen as the equally hungry Maggie Jacobs, try to find their way towards success in the most demeaning job imaginable: as movie extras. I find their friendship (and IT IS a friendship, not a boring ol’ love affair, as far as we now know) to be one of most finely illustrated relationships of its kind in TV history. They have an indelible affinity for each other that not even accomplishment can come between, and I find that stirring in the truest, most un-corny sense. I marvel at the show’s second season, where Andy achieves a success of sorts as the goofy star of a dumb British sitcom (actually, a pretty funny one), and is still unhappy. The Extras Christmas season finale is one of the best hours you’ll ever spend watching television—the tears it brings are true drops of glowing happiness, stung with the bitterness of failure in success. With Extras, Gervais and his new counterpart Jensen (so endearing as she valiantly struggles to maintain her dreams) proved to me that, amazingly and appropriately, there are still excellent actors out there for me to root for. I have to mention here my favorite joke in the show: Andy Millman, in his sitcom guise, doing a series of spit-takes, then going to take another drink to do it again, and finding there’s no more liquid in the glass. How friggin’ funny is that? So, here, against my better judgement (and for those who haven't seen the series, don't watch this because it's a big payoff) is my favorite scene from the series. It's not the funniest bit, but it's the most important.
52) Roots (1977) I have revisited ABC’s Roots only once since its premiere back in the late 70s, when I was riveted for weeks taking in its revelations. Watching it in the mid-80s, I was still struck by how engrossing and important the mini-series was (and I've still never caught its sequel, Roots: The Next Generation). This is the work that made the idea of a “mini-series” a viable option. But that is a minor point, really. May I just recount a partial list of remarkable cast members here to help transmit the import of Roots? Levar Burton (still unforgettable as Kunta Kinte), Maya Angelou, Louis Gossett Jr., Ben Vereen (in the show’s stand-out performance as Chicken George), Cicely Tyson, Thalmus Rasulala, Moses Gunn, John Amos, Raymond St. Jacques, O.J. Simpson, Scatman Crothers, Olivia Cole, Roxie Roker, Richard Roundtree, Leslie Uggams, Laurence Hilton-Jacobs, Yaphet Kotto, Todd Bridges, and Alex Haley (author of the novel on which the series is based) himself. An amazing collection of black talent who were given the best material ever with which to work. I now dare to wonder if Roots could be considered the apex of the Civil Rights movement. Not at all to denigrate Dr. King and X's obviously monumental contributions, but Roots really spoke to all of America--at just the right time, when we were all truly ready and starving for it--regarding the most shameful episodes in our history. It still speaks to each of us, reminding white America of something black America has known all along: while Europeans can uncover their family heritage, African-Americans still have yet to, and unfortunately may never, discover their true background. Can a television effort get more consequential?
51) Soap(1977-81) Up to, and ever since this ABC series hit the airwaves, I've been mystified by the appeal of soap operas. I just don’t get their deal. It’s the same thing over and over again—who’s screwing who, either in the bed- or the board-room. It’s not for me (maybe it’s a guy thing). I used to get headaches listing to the drony dialogue of As The World Turns or General Hospital as they polluted the airwaves, and still to this day wonder why my mother and her mother before her--like so many mothers around the nation--put so much stock in this unneeded, ungainly drama. It was such a relief when 4:00 pm rolled around and we were on to better programming. So when Soap debuted, I was glad there was at least one group of people who found this TV fascination equally as puzzling. The thing is, Soap turned out to be the soap opera for me. In the time of the uproar over Dallas and Who Shot J.R., I was more interested in who killed Peter Campbell (Robert Urich) in the first few episodes (now that I think about it, this came before the J.R. stuff, so I wonder how much of an influence Soap had on Dallas). And when it came time to unmask the killer, I was spellbound, and was so for the entire run of the series. There were no boundaries to where this program would travel. It could get quite outlandish, as when the unbalanced Burt Campbell (the incredible Robert Mulligan) felt he was possessed by an alien power that could make him invisible at will. But then there would be real drama as we followed his wife Mary (Cathryn Damon) and her sister Jessica (an amazing performance from Kathryn Helmond) as they sincerely tried to make sense of all that the world was putting their families through. Add to the mix certified laugh-getters Robert Guillaume as the fed-up butler Benson and Jay Johnson as Campbell brother Bob and his dummy alter-ego Chuck, and I was an unqualified fan.
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