tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post6335718545701260329..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Talking, singing porpoises By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-14657521827954345922016-08-14T11:25:25.610-07:002016-08-14T11:25:25.610-07:00I think they must have made at least a pilot for A...I think they must have made at least a pilot for America 2100 because I remember seeing that exact set up on tv in the summer of 79 and never saw or heard anything of it again.Smilodonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16424992227002963853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-19620535289680558272016-08-12T16:42:15.817-07:002016-08-12T16:42:15.817-07:00I'd like to see the fifth season of Ethel the ...I'd like to see the fifth season of <i>Ethel the Elephant</i>.<br /><br />The one about the divorced clown I'd watch.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-77109339615158385912016-08-12T10:56:39.327-07:002016-08-12T10:56:39.327-07:00London, London and London doesn't sound a mill...London, London and London doesn't sound a million miles away from Randall and Hopkirk deceased.Andreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17710511833170133223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-33599982457610894452016-08-12T10:55:30.222-07:002016-08-12T10:55:30.222-07:00London, London and London doesn't sound a mill...London, London and London doesn't sound a million miles away from Randall and Hopkirk (deceased)Andreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17710511833170133223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-45898626097979142732016-08-12T08:26:49.203-07:002016-08-12T08:26:49.203-07:00I miss the days when they would burn off these pil...I miss the days when they would burn off these pilots during the summer under some "special presentation" umbrella. Too bad I was too young to do drugs back then to really enjoy them.crackblindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13088682009537848311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-45134161396187011072016-08-12T05:52:39.192-07:002016-08-12T05:52:39.192-07:00I miss the days when they would burn off these pil...I miss the days when they would burn off these pilots during the summer under some "special presentation" umbrella. Too bad I was too young to do drugs back then to really enjoy them.crackblindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13088682009537848311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-88650242429455763542016-08-11T23:33:47.138-07:002016-08-11T23:33:47.138-07:00Likewise. Very odd, seemed to throw a lot of rando...Likewise. Very odd, seemed to throw a lot of random gag elements together (bionic guy, Saturday Night Fever, comic book villains, etc.) without a core. Was it a "Get Smart" sitcom about incompetent heroes and villains? A "Batman" deal that got laughs from playing absurdity straight? A satire of some movie or genre I never heard of? <br /><br />Old enough to remember summer "showcases" of failed pilots, including series versions of "Cat Ballou" and "The Flim Flam Man". There was also a sitcommish anthology series with Bob Hope's name on it; what I remember of it felt like pilots.<br /><br />DBensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01144515471557731622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69652483197796210222016-08-11T21:28:23.728-07:002016-08-11T21:28:23.728-07:00"The Circus Is Coming" might have worked..."The Circus Is Coming" might have worked as an episode of "The Waltons" or "Little House on the Prairie," but as the premise for a weekly sitcom?Rashad Khannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-78392248529372278932016-08-11T18:10:09.724-07:002016-08-11T18:10:09.724-07:00I remember Young Guy Christian. I think it was AB...I remember <b>Young Guy Christian</b>. I think it was ABC. <b>Love, American Style</b> was off the air so they couldn't recycle their pilots as episodes anymore, so they sometimes just ran them once in a two or three-hour block during a dead time in the summer. Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02753360146107174303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-33409095549062841812016-08-11T18:01:17.827-07:002016-08-11T18:01:17.827-07:00Interesting how many "terrible" sitcoms ...Interesting how many "terrible" sitcoms were actually made by very talented writers. My Mother the Car is, of course, the pro-example... created by Allan Burns and Chris Heyward. When "smart" sitcoms like United States and Buffalo Bill started struggling mightily in the early 80s, a lot of talented folks jumped on the cheap premise bandwagon. Stan Daniels and Ed. Weinberger created Mr. Smith, a short-lived sitcom about a talking orangutan.<br /><br />A few years ago I read an essay where the author tried to figure out why bad sitcoms run by "smart" guys in the 80s almost always failed, while cheesy sitcoms by less cerebral guys like Garry Marshall and Miller-Boyett had much more success. I wish I could remember who wrote it... maybe Kliph Nesteroff? Anyway, his hypothesis was that the Garry Marshalls of the world didn't feel like they were slumming it to do simple comedy. They figured out what their audience wanted and delivered a genuine product. Whereas the "smart" guys had contempt for the low-class audience they were forced to attract, and it showed. Kind of like when Donald Trump speaks to evangelical audiences... he often sounds very patronizing because he's trying to fit in, but he clearly doesn't get them at all.Andy Rosenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-53515520238337953492016-08-11T17:32:23.547-07:002016-08-11T17:32:23.547-07:00Ray he used the book for a bit in 1990Ray he used the book for a bit in 1990sanfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06580867647162091670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69574364709422169752016-08-11T15:42:34.141-07:002016-08-11T15:42:34.141-07:00I remember Carson riffing on one year's propos...I remember Carson riffing on one year's proposed pilots in the mid-70s. He just sat there reading the pitches off straight, and letting his facial reactions and Ed's guffaws produce most of the comedy.<br /><br />Can't remember a one of them except a dumb-sounding pilot about a space alien coming to live on earth with a single girl:<br /><br />"Mork and Mindy."Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07999541621680032978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56473196025165137542016-08-11T15:05:14.342-07:002016-08-11T15:05:14.342-07:00As a young fellow, I had the pleasure of auditioni...As a young fellow, I had the pleasure of auditioning for the pilot of ETHEL IS AN ELEPHANT. Pretty sure the director was John Astin - a very nice guy. He brought me back a couple of times to read. Somebody else got the part, but I'm good with animals. The part would have been mine if I'd read with Ethel.<br /><br />The only pilot on the list I've ever seen is MCGURK. Very strange. Courageous...I guess, but weird. Might work today on Animal Planet.Jeff Maxwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01708037522976667642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-47172222729312988582016-08-11T14:58:44.944-07:002016-08-11T14:58:44.944-07:00AMERICA 2100 ....
If you want another really gre...<i>AMERICA 2100 .... </i><br /><br />If you want another really great suspended animation comedy, check out the 1984 Polish comedy Sex Mission. Two male scientists are put into suspended animation, supposedly for a couple of years just to test the procedure, but during those couple of years a nuclear war breaks out on earth. They don't get woken until over fifty years later, and come into a world where teh earth's surface is a wasteland and civilisation lives underground. Not only that, but all men have been wiped out too, and the women have formed a political structure fairly similar to what existed in Poland of the time. There are are some pretty sharp and barbed digs at that government, but any time the film-makers think they might have got a bit too close to the bone they find a quick excuse for one of the lead women to take her top off. Much like The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, it's one that you wonder how it ever got past the censors. Jimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-80288228246564079342016-08-11T13:54:04.987-07:002016-08-11T13:54:04.987-07:00McGurk is Wilfred, right?McGurk is Wilfred, right?blinkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04284135060900752329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-13490345881749409702016-08-11T13:17:34.581-07:002016-08-11T13:17:34.581-07:00I BOUGHT that book, maybe from a recommendation fr...I BOUGHT that book, maybe from a recommendation from you or one of your readers. GREAT stuff. (OK, not GREAT stuff, because they're FAILED pilots, but...) You know what I mean. Roger Owen Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-90751233645945249852016-08-11T13:01:53.115-07:002016-08-11T13:01:53.115-07:00I know I saw Sgt. TK Yu. Maybe it was during when ...I know I saw Sgt. TK Yu. Maybe it was during when the networks would show unsold pilots. I remember it starred Johnny Yune, a Korean standup.Tom WOlpernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-40311056008984837052016-08-11T12:04:28.712-07:002016-08-11T12:04:28.712-07:00Jeffrey Graebner: Oh, now, they just wanted to rem...Jeffrey Graebner: Oh, now, they just wanted to remake FLIPPER, but the porpoise insisted on a bigger role.<br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-90964332421432668562016-08-11T11:53:29.184-07:002016-08-11T11:53:29.184-07:00I think T.K. Yu actually got greenlit as a tv movi...I think T.K. Yu actually got greenlit as a tv movie?iainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-80834078391166475712016-08-11T11:47:56.660-07:002016-08-11T11:47:56.660-07:00FRIDAY QUESTION: I know when you and your partner ...FRIDAY QUESTION: I know when you and your partner were the head writers at "MASH" that Gary Burghoff had cut down on his workload to where he was absent in probably a third of the episodes. Did you tell writers to try to write Radar-less episodes, or would someone submit an idea with an A-story on Hawkeye and a B-story on Charles and you'd say, "OK, we can do this without Radar. Write him out."Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16083953089428884387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-62921778131635987862016-08-11T11:35:50.014-07:002016-08-11T11:35:50.014-07:00"THE CIRCUS IS COMING, THE CIRCUS IS COMING&q..."THE CIRCUS IS COMING, THE CIRCUS IS COMING" I really really want this as a series, but only if the clown is played by David Ogden Steirs. Steirs sitting at a kitchen table with a clown wig and half wiped off clown make-up just popped into my head and it just seemed perfect.Astroboynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-74122179060765587822016-08-11T11:21:13.367-07:002016-08-11T11:21:13.367-07:00Friday Question:
With all the amazingly talented ...Friday Question:<br /><br />With all the amazingly talented writers out there who are trying to make it into the business - how is it that there are still sitcoms out there that are painful to watch? Jokes you can see from a mile away - one liners that hurt to listen to - characters that are stereotypes ect...Is it the network that is looking for the lowest common denominator or is this really the best they can do? I long for the 90s in terms of smart multi camera shows that actually made me laugh out loud...Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05265753244583100064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23278922947470236642016-08-11T11:08:10.116-07:002016-08-11T11:08:10.116-07:00"Ethel Is An Elephant"....hmm, the possi..."Ethel Is An Elephant"....hmm, the possibilities are endless. Hilarity ensues as the guy tries to potty train Ethel to take a dump outside or at least squat over the tub. In a moment of excitement over seeing a Planter's Peanut commercial Ethel loses control of her bladder; people several floors below think the fire sprinkler system has malfunctioned. They spend the rest of the series trying to find another apartment to live in and keep trying to fool the landlords by attempting to pass off Ethel as 'a really large Great Dane with some genetic mutations'.YEKIMIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01921751875397071034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-76699548143858841522016-08-11T10:33:49.035-07:002016-08-11T10:33:49.035-07:00As others have said, I'd watch the ghost P.I. ...As others have said, I'd watch the ghost P.I. one. It sounds deliciously 80s.<br /><br />Also, don't judge a show by its logline. I remember thinking Buffy the Vampire Slayer sounds like a dumb show, and it turned out to be my favorite show ever.Tammynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6337204828619898412016-08-11T10:31:52.920-07:002016-08-11T10:31:52.920-07:00You just know that somebody complained at some poi...You just know that somebody complained at some point that "none of these new shows have a purpose!" and some producer misheard it as "porpoise"...Jeffrey Graebnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04452864460607926061noreply@blogger.com