|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 1, 2008 19:39:08 GMT -5
That's right! Another countdown! This time for television! Anyway, let's start this countdown: 100. Saved By The Bell Genre: Sitcom. Created by: Sam Bobrick. Executive Producer(s): Peter Engel Starring: Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zach Morris), Mario Lopez (A.C. Slater), Dustin Diamond (Samuel “Screech” Powers), Tiffani-Amber Thiessen (Kelly Kapowski, 1989 – 1992), Lark Voorhies (Lisa Marie Turtle), Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie Spano, 1989 – 1992), Dennis Haskins (Principal Richard Belding), Leanna Creel (Tori Scott, 1992). Country of Origin: United States Language(s): English Number of Seasons: 4 Number of Episodes: 87 Running Time: 23 minutes Original Channel: NBC Original Run: August 20, 1989 – May 22, 1993 Spinoffs: Saved By The Bell: The College Years and Saved By The Bell: The New Class Saved by the Bell originated in an NBC pilot entitled Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was inspired by then NBC president Brandon Tartikoff's teachers from his past. The show was set in Indianapolis, Indiana. NBC decided not to pick up the pilot, but The Disney Channel did, and aired the series for one season. Unlike the series that followed, the intention was to focus on the life of the teacher, played by Hayley Mills, as the main character. The characters of Zack Morris, Samuel "Screech" Powers, Lisa Turtle, and Mr. Richard Belding all originated on the series. Jaleel White, Brian Austin Green, and Jonathan Brandis all had roles in the pilot episode. The show was cancelled after 13 episodes, and the rights were acquired by NBC, which had reconsidered the matter. Seeing that it had merit, they decided to revamp and recreate the series. Executive Producer Peter Engel wanted the show to be called When the Bell Rings, but Tartikoff convinced him to go with the title Saved by the Bell. Three of the teens from the original cast, Gosselaar, Diamond, and Voorhies, remained on the show, as the same characters with only minor changes to things like their backstories. Haskins also remained as Mr. Belding, but the setting was changed from Indianapolis, Indiana, to the fictional Bayside High School in fictional Palisades, California. The two students dropped from the original series were replaced by three new additions. Kelly Kapowski and Jessie Spano were introduced as longtime friends of the original three characters, and new transfer student A.C. Slater rounded out the group. Max, the proprietor of the local restaurant hangout ("The Max") was also a cast member in early episodes. The focus of the show was shifted towards the exploits of the students themselves, and Zack Morris became the show's lead character. Several teachers recurred over the course of the series, but Mr. Belding was the only school authority figure to ever be in the main cast. The show performed well for NBC and, despite bad reviews from TV critics, easily became the number one show on Saturday Mornings, and at the end of the show's first season, NBC boldly sold the series off into syndication with the Good Morning, Miss Bliss episodes included to pad out the syndication package, despite the continuity problems and production changes. At the height of its popularity, the show did many road tours to different malls and places for the cast to make appearances and sign autographs. The Good Morning, Miss Bliss episodes were edited to include openings to match the Saved by the Bell episodes, as well as introductions by Zack explaining that the episodes occurred in junior high (these episodes are sometimes billed as Saved by the Bell: The Junior High Years). The show's popularity on Saturday morning is what led NBC to shift from airing cartoons to live action teen-oriented shows instead (California Dreams, Hang Time, etc.) under the TNBC banner. Each season of the series essentially represented a year of high school for the students, culminating in their graduation. In the show's final season, NBC doubled the number of episodes ordered, despite the fact that they would have to re-sign the entire cast to new contracts in order to film them. Thiessen and Berkley refused to sign a new contract for these new episodes, resulting in a block of episodes that feature a new character, Tori Scott (Leanna Creel) in their place. The final episode of the series aired in prime time on May 22, 1993. The episode, in which the cast graduated from high school, was filmed before Thiessen and Berkley left the show. No mention is made as to what happened to Tori Scott. The series finale was followed by a special airing of the Saved by the Bell: The College Years pilot episode, to set up the next phase of the characters' lives. Saved by the Bell: The College Years continued with several of the characters dealing with college life. It aired in the season following the original series' last, and was also set in the following school year. The series sported a continuity problem in that the characters who ended up at the fictional California University were set to go off to different universities at the end of the original Saved By The Bell. Due to low ratings, Saved by the Bell: The College Years only lasted one season. Unlike the original series which aired on Saturday mornings with only one exception in 1993, The College Years was shown in prime time. The series aired from September 14, 1993 (though the original pilot aired on May 22, 1993) to February 8, 1994. Saved by the Bell: The New Class was created to continue the story of Bayside High School in the Saturday morning timeslot after the original cast graduated. The series featured a new set of students anchored by Dennis Haskins, and later Dustin Diamond, whose character Screech became Principal Belding's administrative assistant on a work-study program from California University (a reference to Screech's college in "The College Years"). While Saved by the Bell: The New Class ran for seven seasons, it suffered numerous cast changes (including a second season cast purge that only left Haskins and three other cast members) and never gained the popularity of the original series. The New Class aired from September 11, 1993 to July 28, 2000. Many of the New Class episodes were actually "recycled" plots from the original Saved by the Bell. Slater, Lisa, and Zack had a cameo in one episode in Season 2 while trying to keep Bayside from being bought and destroyed. The Max remained as the hangout for the Bayside High students, although a fire burned it down in one episode and it was given a new look. The New Class is the only Saved by the Bell incarnation not to be currently syndicated, although all seven seasons have made it to DVD. As of Winter 2007 in the U.S., Saved By the Bell is being shown in syndication on Nickelodeon's sister station The-N, TBS, along with weekend morning airings on local affiliates of FOX, MyNetworkTV, and The CW. Here’s the thing about Saved By The Bell: it has a lot of problems. It is incredibly cheesy. It tries to hard to be funny. It has almost no continuity. And, the Very Special episodes are funnier than the ones that weren’t trying to be serious. And, that is what makes the show so goddamn great! Yes, it has a lot going against it, but it is all those imperfections that make the show so fun to watch. It is a perfect guilty pleasure show. It also helped that the cast played their roles perfectly. Each one played the archetype of their character to perfection. You believed that Mark-Paul Gosselaar was too cool for school, that Tiffany Thiessen was perky and wholesome, that Mario Lopez was a jock and a bit of a jerk, that Elizabeth Berkley was a strong-willed feminist, that Dustin Diamond was a lovable oddball, and that Lark Voorhies was a gossip. Hell, they were so good in their roles that its almost hard to see them as a cop, a bitch, a dancer, a stripper, an asshole, and whatever the hell Voorhies became. However, the show wasn’t just about the cheesy. It was pretty influential. The fact that the show often incorporated dramatic elements into episodes by dealing with "real teen social issues", such as drug use, drinking and driving, homelessness, financial issues, divorce, graduating, college, sibling rivalry, taking responsibilities for one's actions, being bullied, death, and environmental issues made it a precursor for networks of more recent shows such as The O.C. and Dawson's Creek to introduce young target audiences to critical moral matters. Saved By The Bell wasn’t the best TV show of all time, but it definitely deserved a place on the list.
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 1, 2008 20:41:11 GMT -5
99. The Real World Genre: Reality. Created by: MTV. Executive Producer(s): Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. Starring: Season 1, New York: Becky Blasband, Andre Comeau, Heather Gardner, Julie Oliver, Norman Korpi, Eric Nies, and Kevin Powell. Season 2, Los Angeles: Aaron Bailey, Beth Stolarczyk, David Edwards, Dominic Griffin, Irene Berrera-Kearns, Jon Brennan, Tami Roman, Glen Naessens, and Beth Anthony. Season 3, San Francisco: Pedro Zamora, David "Puck" Rainey, Rachel Campos, Judd Winick, Cory Murphy, Mohammed Bilal, Pam Ling, and Joanna Rhodes. Season 4, London: Kat Ogden, Neil Forrester, Jay Frank, Mike Johnson, Lars Schlichting, Jacinda Barrett, and Sharon Gitau. Season 5, Miami: Flora Alekseyeun, Sarah Becker, Mike Lambert, Melissa Padrón, Joe Patane, Dan Renzi, and Cynthia Roberts. Season 6, Boston: Jason Cornwell, Sean Duffy, Montana McGlynn, Genesis Moss, Kameelah Phillips, Elka Walker, and Syrus Yarbrough. Season 7, Seattle: Nathan Blackburn, Lindsay Brien, David Burns, Janet Choi, Rebecca Lord, Irene McGee, and Stephen Williams. Season 8, Hawaii: Ruthie Alcaide, Amaya Brecher, Margaret "Kaia" Beck, Justin Deabler, Tecumseh "Teck $" Holmes, III, Colin Mortensen, and Matt Simon. Season 9, New Orleans: David Broom, Melissa Howard, Kelley Limp, Jamie Murray, Danny Roberts, Matt Smith, and Julie Stoffer. Season 10, Back to New York: Rachel Braband, Malik Cooper, Kevin Dunn, Nicole Jackson, Mike Mizanin, Coral Smith, and Lori Trespicio. Season 11, Chicago: Chris Beckman, Kyle Brandt, Tonya Cooley, Aneesa Ferreira, Keri Evans, Theo Gantt, III, and Cara Nussbaum (later Kahn). Season 12, Las Vegas: Trishelle Cannatella, Arissa Hill, Steven Hill, Frank Roessler, Brynn Smith, Irulan Wilson, and Alton Williams. Season 13, Paris: Ace Amerson, Leah Gillingwater, Adam King, Simon Sherry-Wood, Mallory Snyder. Chris "CT" Tamburello, and Christina Trainor. Season 14, San Diego: Frankie Abernathy, Randy Barry, Jamie Chung, Cameran Eubanks, Brad Fiorenza, Robin Hibbard, Jacquese Smith, and Charlie Dordevich. Season 15, Philadelphia: Shavonda Bilingslea, Karamo Brown, Sarah Burke, M. J. Garrett, William Hernandez, Landon Lueck, and Melanie Silcott. Season 16, Austin: Wes Bergmann, Johanna Botta, Lacey Buehler, Nehemiah Clark, Danny Jamieson, Rachel Moyal, and Melinda Stolp. Season 17, Key West: Janelle Casanave, John Devenanzio, Tyler Duckworth, Zach Mann, Paula Meronek, Svetlana Shusterman, and Jose Tapia. Season 18, Denver: Tyrie Ballard, Colie Edison, Jenn Grijalva, Brooke LaBarbara, Davis Mallory, Stephen Nichols, and Alex Smith Season 19, Sydney: Trisha, Cummings Dunbar, Flinn Kelly, Anne Judd, Cohutta Lee, Parisa Montazaran, Isaac Stout, Shauvon Torres, and Ashli Robson. Season 20, Hollywood: Kimberly Alexander, William Gilbert, Greg Halstead, Joey Kovar, David Malinosky, Sarah Ralston, Brianna Taylor, Nick Brown, and Brittini Sherrod. Country of Origin: United States. Language(s): English. Number of Seasons: 20. Number of Episodes: 436. Running Time: 22 minutes. Original Channel: MTV. Original Run: May 21, 1992—Present. Spinoffs: Road Rules and The Real World/Road Rules Challenge. The show focuses on the lives of seven strangers who audition to live together in a house for several months, as cameras record their interpersonal relationships. The show moves to a different city each season. The footage shot during the housemates’ time together is edited into 22-minute episodes. The narration given over the opening title sequence by the seven housemates states some variation of the following: “This is the true story... of seven strangers... picked to live in a house...work together and have their lives taped... to find out what happens when people stop being polite... and start getting real...The Real World.” Before the televised version of the show debuted, a "scripted" version of it was toyed with. Rather than being themselves, a set of strangers (not the New York cast) were given story and character arcs to attempt to recreate (a la a soap opera). Bunim & Murray decided against this, and, at the last minute, pulled the concept (and the cast) before it became the first season of the show, believing seven different people would have enough of a basis on which to interact without scripts. Tracy Grandstaff, one of the original seven picked for "season 0" went on to minor fame herself as the voice of the animated Beavis and Butt-head character Daria Morgendorffer, who eventually got her own spinoff, Daria. One sign of the show’s popularity occurred on the October 2, 1993 episode of the sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, which poked fun at the show's second season Los Angeles cast, whose members were depicted as contentious and bigoted, a parody of the numerous discussions of racism, bigotry and political differences that served as a recurring theme that season. The show also gained widespread attention with its third season, The Real World: San Francisco, which aired in 1994, and depicted the conflict between David "Puck" Rainey, a bicycle messenger criticized for his hygiene, and his roommates, most notably AIDS activist Pedro Zamora. As the show gained more popularity, Zamora’s life as someone living with AIDS gained considerable notice, garnering media attention. Zamora was one of the first openly gay men with AIDS to be portrayed in popular media, and after his death on November 11, 1994 (hours after the final episode of his season aired) he was praised by then-President Bill Clinton. Zamora’s roommate and best friend during the show, Judd Winick, went on to become a popular comic book writer, and wrote the Eisner-nominated graphic novel Pedro and Me, about his friendship with Zamora, as well as high-profile and controversial storylines in mainstream superhero comics that featured gay and AIDS-related themes. As the San Francisco season continued to grow in popularity, it was clear that the "reality" television format was one that could bring considerable ratings to a network. Appearing on the program has often served as a springboard into further success, especially in the entertainment and media industries. Eric Nies of the New York cast went on to become a successful model, actor, TV host, and was inducted into the Television and Broadcasters "Hall of Fame" for his pioneering work in reality television. His housemate, Kevin Powell, became a successful author, poet, journalist, and 2006 candidate for United States House of Representatives for New York's 10th district. Their housemate, Heather B., enjoyed a career as a rap music artist. Los Angeles cast member Beth Stolarczyk has produced men's and women's calendars and television programs featuring reality TV personalities, including herself, Las Vegas' Trishelle Cannatella, Chicago's Tonya Cooley, and Back to New York's Coral Smith. Stolarczyk and Cannatella have also appeared in Playboy magazine, as have Las Vegas' Arissa Hill and Miami's Flora Alekseyeun. Cooley appeared on playboy.com. London cast member Jacinda Barrett has become a successful film actress, appearing in prominent roles opposite John Travolta, Joaquin Phoenix, Anthony Hopkins and Renée Zellweger. Lindsay Brien of the Seattle cast became a radio and CNN personality. Chicago cast member Kyle Brandt’s acting career includes starring in the soap opera Days of our Lives. His castmate, Tonya Cooley, also appeared on an MTV special of True Life: I'm a Reality TV Star. Las Vegas cast members Trishelle Cannatella and Steven Hill appeared in the horror film Scorned. Cannatella herself has also appeared on other reality shows, such as The Surreal Life, Battle of the Network Reality Stars, and Kill Reality, the latter of which also featured Hill and Cooley. Hill, along with housemate Alton Williams, hosts a radio show. Dozens of former cast members from The Real World, and its spin-off, Road Rules, have appeared on the spin-off game show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge, which pays up to $60,000 to the winners. Various cast members have also earned livings as public speakers, as Bunim-Murray Productions has paid for them to be trained in motivational speaking by the Points of Light Foundation since 2002, allowing them to earn between $1,500 and $2,000 for an appearance on the college lecture circuit. Since the introduction of The Real World, Bunim/Murray has spun off a number of other reality shows, including most notably Road Rules, in which five strangers (six in later seasons) are put in a Winnebago and asked to complete certain tasks to eventually gain a "handsome reward". Other shows include the game show Real World/Road Rules Challenge, which pits teams of alumni from both shows in physical competitions. Before it became a college internship in binge drinking and casual sex, this reality show was an actual interesting social experiment: put seven different people who have never met in an apartment for several months, film them, and see what the hell happens when they “stop being polite and start getting real.” And, it worked. It was very interesting to see so many people of different backgrounds (black, white, Asian, Latino, gay, straight, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, atheist, liberal, conservative, etc.). All these dynamics clashed and/or came together to make one interesting TV show. It helped that things got all the more arresting in season 3 due to two particular roommates: AIDS activist Pedro Zamora, who was a nice and kempt gay male who happened to have AIDS, and David “Puck” Rainey, a huge slob. Pedro and Puck clashed so much that eventually Puck got kicked off the show. However, he get some vengeance by leaving some prank calls on the roommates answering machine and making some derogatory remarks to Pedro. Then, actual reality intruded on the show when Pedro died soon after the season aired. But, nevertheless, the show was about performance and young people's complicated relationship with authenticity and privacy in the Internet age. And, yeah, it has devolved into rampant sex and alcohol consumption, thanks a lot to those two factors being prevalent in Season 9; the roommates usually ran around topless or nude, and one, Ruthie, almost died from alcohol poisoning, leading to the roommates to have an intervention for her. But, much like MTV, it used to be good. It was once a fun, exciting, and interesting show to tune into each week. And, honestly, the positives of past more than make up for the negatives of today. Plus, you ignore the fact The Real World single-handedly started the reality TV show genre. Survivor may have added a million-dollar giveaway to the concept, but in The Real World, as in nearly every MTV reality show since, attention itself is the prize.
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 1, 2008 20:44:47 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 98 and 97. Here are the hints:
Sock it to me!, and the show's main character once shot at some food and up came a bubblin' crude.
|
|
|
Post by The Hardcore Disciple on Jul 2, 2008 4:07:06 GMT -5
Beverly Hillbillies and...a variety/sketch show of some sort, I think.
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 2, 2008 20:02:18 GMT -5
Okay, let's continue the countdown. Here's 98: 98. Rowan And Martin’s Laugh-In Genre: Variety/Sketch comedy Created by: Ed Friendly and George Schlatter. Executive Producer(s): Friendly and Schlatter; Dan Rowan and Dick Martin (final season). Starring: Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Gary Owens, Goldie Hawn, Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, Arte Johnson, Alan Sues, Jo Anne Worley, Lily Tomlin, Judy Carne, Pamela Rodgers, Sarah Kennedy, Donna Jean Young, Dennis Allen, Ann Elder, Barbara Sharma, Johnny Brown, Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis, Patti Deutsch, Jud Strunk, etc. Country of Origin: United States. Language(s): English. Number of Seasons: 6. Number of Episodes: 140. Running Time: 60 minutes. Original Channel: NBC. Original Run: January 22, 1968 – March 12, 1973. Spinoffs: Laugh-In, a revival created by Schlatter that aired in 1977. Rowan And Martin’s Laugh-In was created by Ed Friendly and George Schlatter. It originally aired as a one-time special on September 9, 1967 and was such a success that it was brought back as a series, replacing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. on Mondays at 8pm on NBC. The title, Laugh-In, came out of events of the 1960s hippie culture, such as "love-ins" or "be-ins." These were terms that were, in turn, derived from "sit-ins," common in protests associated with civil rights and anti-war demonstrations of the time. The show was characterized by a rapid-fire series of gags and sketches, many of which conveyed sexual innuendo or were politically charged. Rowan and Martin continued the exasperated straight man (Dan Rowan) and "dumb" guy (Dick Martin) act which they had established as nightclub comics. Laugh-In had its roots in the humor of vaudeville and burlesque, but its most direct influences were from the comedy of Olsen and Johnson (specifically, their free-form Broadway revue Hellzapoppin'), the innovative television works of Ernie Kovacs, and the topical satire of That Was The Week That Was. The show had many memorable characters. Arte Johnson portrayed a number of recurring characters, including: Wolfgang the German soldier (Wolfgang would comment on the previous gag by saying "Verrry interesting", sometimes with comments such as "...but shtupid!" He eventually would close each show by talking to Lucille Ball as well as the cast of Gunsmoke — both airing opposite Laugh-In on CBS; as well as whatever was on ABC. Johnson would later repeat the line while playing Nazi-themed supervillain Virman Vunderbar on an episode of Justice League Unlimited.), Tyrone F. Horneigh (pronounced "hor-NIGH," presumably to satisfy the censors) - A dirty old man coming on to Gladys Ormphby (Ruth Buzzi) seated on a park bench, who inevitably clobbered him with her purse. Sample exchange: Tyrone: Do you believe in the hereafter? Gladys: Of course I do! Tyrone: Good. Then you know what I'm here after!; Both the Tyrone and Gladys characters went into animated form in the "Nitwits" segments of the 1977 animated television show "Baggy Pants and the Nitwits"), Piotr Rosmenko (the Eastern European Man - Piotr stood stiffly and nervously in an ill-fitting suit while commenting on differences between America and "the old country," such as "Here in America, is very good, everyone watch television. In old country, television watches you!" This predated a similar schtick by Yakov Smirnoff. Occasionally guest star Sammy Davis, Jr. teamed with Johnson as "The Rosmenko Twins".), Rabbi Shankar (a pun on Ravi Shankar, an Indian guru - Dressed in a Nehru jacket dispensing pseudo-mystical Eastern wisdom laden with bad puns. He held up two fingers in a peace sign whenever he spoke.), and an unnamed man in a yellow raincoat and hat, riding a tricycle (The image of him pedaling, then tipping over and falling, was frequently used between sketches; Judy Carne was once reported to have said that every member of the cast took turns riding the tricycle at one time or another). Announcer Gary Owens would stand in an old-time radio studio with his hand cupped over his ear, making announcements, often with little relation to the rest of the show, such as (in an overly-dramatic voice), "Earlier that evening..." Ruth Buzzi had many roles, including: Gladys Ormphby (A drab, though relatively young spinster who was the eternal target of Arte Johnson's Tyrone; when Johnson left the series, Gladys retreated into recurring daydreams, often involving marriages to historical figures, including Christopher Columbus and Benjamin Franklin, both played by Alan Sues), Doris Swizzle (A seedy barfly used frequently in the first season, paired with her husband, Leonard Swizzle, played by Dick Martin), and Busy Buzzi (A Hedda Hopper/Louella Parsons-style gossip columnist). Henry Gibson had two memorable characters: The Poet (The Poet would hold an oversized flower and read offbeat poems. He pronounced his name "Henrik Ibsen".) and the Parson (A character who made ecclesiastical quips and, in 1970, officiated at a near-marriage for Tyrone and Gladys). Lily Tomlin’s characters included: Ernestine (The obnoxious telephone operator with no concern for her customers ("'Fair'? Sir, we don't have to be fair. We're the phone company.")), Edith Ann (A child who frequently said, "And that's the truth", followed by "Pbbbt!" Tomlin performed her skits in an oversized rocking chair that made her appear small.), and “Tasteful” society matron Mrs. Earbore. Tomlin later performed Ernestine for Saturday Night Live, and Edith Ann on children's shows such as Sesame Street. Judy Carne played a talking "Judy Doll", usually played with Arte Johnson who never heeded her warning: "Touch my little body, and I hit!" Henny Youngman appeared on the show, telling one-liner jokes for no reason. Often, corny one-liners would be followed by the line, "Oh, that Henny Youngman!" Alan Sues played Big Al, a clueless and fey sports anchor who loved ringing his bell, which he called his "tinkle", and as hungover children's show host "Uncle Al, The Kiddies' Pal." Goldie Hawn was the giggling dumb blonde stumbling over her lines, especially when she introduced Dan's "News of the Future". Jo Anne Worley sometimes sang off-the-wall songs using her loud operatic voice, but is better remembered for her mock outrage at "chicken jokes." Many times, during the Cocktail Parties, she talked about her boyfriend Boris (a married man). Barbara Sharma played the dancing meter-maid who ticketed anything from trees to baby carriages, and often praised vice president Spiro Agnew, calling him 'Pres-ee-dent Agnew.' Flip Wilson appeared on the show. His character, the cross-dressing Geraldine, originated the phrase "What you see is what you get." Another catchphrase was "The devil made me do it." Wilson and his alter ego had their own variety show in the early 70s. Dan Rowan played the character General Bull Right, a far right-wing representative of the military establishment and outlet for political humor. And, Richard Dawson played a character called Hawkins The Butler. He would always start his piece by saying "Permission to........" and proceed to fall over. The show was #1 in the ratings for the 1968–69 and 1969–70 seasons. At the end of 1968–69, Judy Carne chose not to renew her contract, though she did make appearances during 1969–70; producer George Schlatter blamed her for breaking up the "family." The show also survived the departures of Goldie Hawn and Jo Anne Worley to remain a top-20 show in 1970–71. Schlatter tried to replace Hawn with other wide-eyed starlets acting dumb: first Pamela Rodgers, then Sarah Kennedy, and finally Donna Jean Young, but Hawn's dizzy characterization proved inimitable. New faces in the 1970–71 season, joining Lily Tomlin, who first appeared late in the previous season, included tall, sad-eyed Dennis Allen, who alternately played quietly zany characters and straight man for anybody's jokes; comic actress Ann Elder, who also contributed to scripts, tap dancer Barbara Sharma, who would later appear on Rhoda, and beefy Johnny Brown, who played the superintendent Nathan "Buffalo Butt" Bookman on Good Times. Arte Johnson, who created many characters, insisted on star billing, apart from the rest of the cast. The producer mollified him but had announcer Gary Owens read Johnson's credit as a separate sentence: "Starring Dan Rowan and Dick Martin! And Arte Johnson! With Ruth Buzzi..." This maneuver gave Johnson star billing, but made it sound like he was still part of the ensemble cast. Johnson left the show after the 1970-71 season. NBC aired the pilot for his situation comedy Call Holme, but it never became a series. Henry Gibson also departed after the 1970–71 season. He and Johnson were replaced by Richard Dawson and Larry Hovis, both of whom had appeared occasionally in the first season. However, the loss of Johnson's many characters caused ratings to drop farther. The show celebrated its 100th episode during the 1971–72 season, and Carne, Worley, Johnson, Gibson, Graves, and Tiny Tim all returned for the festivities. John Wayne was also on hand for his first cameo appearance since 1968. For the show's final season (1972-73), Rowan and Martin assumed the executive producer roles from George Schlatter (known on-air as "CFG", which stood for "Crazy Fucking George") and Ed Friendly. Except for holdovers Dawson, Owens, Buzzi, and only occasional appearances from Tomlin, a new cast was brought in. But viewers didn't respond and the show was canceled. This final season, which included future Match Game panelist Patti Deutsch, folksy singer-comedian Jud Strunk, and ventriloquist Willie Tyler of Willie Tyler and Lester, never aired in the edited half-hour rerun syndicated to local stations in 1983 and later aired on Nick at Nite. The cable network Trio started airing the show in its original one-hour form in the early 2000s, but only the pilot and the first 69 episodes (extending to the fourth episode of the 1970–71 season) were included in Trio's package. Two Best-of DVD packages are also available; they only contain six episodes each. Of over three dozen entertainers to grace the cast, only Rowan, Martin, Owens and Buzzi were there from beginning to end. Owens wasn't in the 1967 pilot and Buzzi missed two first-season episodes. In 1977, Schlatter and NBC briefly revived the property as a series of specials - entitled simply Laugh-In - with a new cast, including former child evangelist Marjoe Gortner. The standout was a then-unknown Robin Williams; whose starring role on ABC's Mork & Mindy one year later prompted NBC to rerun the specials as a summer series in 1979. From “Sock It To Me!” and “Here comes de judge,” to Goldie Hawn’s shimmying go-go girl and Ruth Buzzi’s little old lady whacking dirty old men with her umbrella, Rowan And Martin’s Laugh-In provided the late 1960s and the early 1970s with a lexicon of zany pop culture catchphrases and sight gags. Producer George Schlatter persuaded NBC to put Laugh-In on the air, even though the network didn’t expect much of it. It was a mid-season replacement for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and seemed destined to be cannon fodder against ratings powerhouses like Gunsmoke. But, it didn’t. In a time of student protests and urban riots, America was weary of such bland fare as The Andy Griffith Show (1967’s No. 1 rated show). And, Laugh-In was anything but bland, with kaleidoscopic graphics and split-second pacing; the show practically flew through wacky sketches, punny one-liners, and surprise cameos, like John Wayne as the Easter Bunny, that it would fit right in with today’s ADD-culture. Laugh-In went about as far out as 1960s TV dared; it occasionally smuggled a drug joke past the censors (A man walks up to Judy Carne in a park and says, “Hi.” Her reply: “You, too?”). The show was as counterculture as you could find in the 1960s, though it amazingly had many cameos rightwing figures like Rev. Billy Graham, Martha Mitchell, John Wayne, William F. Buckley, Jr., and, most famously, Richard Nixon. Nixon’s “Sock it to me?” is one of the most famous moments of not only the show’s history but also television history. Schlatter believes that Nixon’s “Sock it to me?” cameo (it took him five takes to nail it) helped him lock up enough youth votes to win the 1968 presidency. Though, I’m pretty sure the 1968 Democratic Nomination Convention helped a little a bit more. Then again, years later, when Bill Clinton was running for president, he appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show, a show aimed at the youth of the day, and he won the presidential election as well. Maybe Tricky Dick was onto something. As Arte Johnson would mutter behind his potted plant, “Verrrry interesting.”
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 2, 2008 20:38:59 GMT -5
97. The Beverly Hillbillies Genre: Sitcom. Created by: Paul Henning. Executive Producer(s): Al Simon and Martin Ransohoff. Starring: Buddy Ebsen (Jed Clampett), Irene Ryan (Granny Clampett), Donna Douglas (Elly May Clampett), Max Baer Jr. (Jethro Bodine), Raymond Bailey (Milburn Drysdale), Nancy Kulp (“Miss” Jane Hathaway), Bea Benaderet (Pearl Bodine), and Harriet E. MacGibbon (Margaret Drysdale). Country of Origin: United States. Language(s): English. Number of Seasons: 9. Number of Episodes: 274. Running Time: 25 minutes. Original Channel: CBS Original Run: September 26, 1962 – September 7, 1971. Spinoffs: “Return Of The Beverly Hillbillies,” an 1981 TV movie, and a 1993 film based on the TV show; though, not official spinoffs, the show was pretty much responsible for the creation of Green Acres and Petticoat Junction. The show was created by Paul Henning. At the beginning of The Beverly Hillbillies series, patriarch Jed Clampett strikes oil while hunting on his land in the Ozarks. Jed moves with his family to the wealthy Los Angeles County city of Beverly Hills, California, where he attempts to live a rural life despite his wealth. This sequence of events was recapitulated in the title credits for each show and was described in the lyrics of the theme song, so that new viewers would easily understand who the Hillbillies were and why they were in Beverly Hills (although anyone who has seen the first few episodes knows that the song does not portray the events correctly since Jed always knew the oil was there but was simply unaware of the value). Lasting nine seasons and accumulating 7 Emmy nominations, it remains in syndication on several cable stations including TV Land. The Hillbillies themselves were Buddy Ebsen as the widowed patriarch Jed "J.D." Clampett; Irene Ryan as his mother-in-law, Daisy "Granny" Moses; Donna Douglas as his daughter Elly May Clampett; and Max Baer Jr. as his cousin's son Jethro Bodine. The supporting cast featured Raymond Bailey as Jed's greedy banker Milburn Drysdale; Harriet E. MacGibbon as Drysdale's snobbish wife Margaret Drysdale; and Nancy Kulp as Drysdale's secretary, "Miss" Jane Hathaway, who pined for the clueless Jethro. Jed's cousin Pearl Bodine (played by Bea Benaderet) was Jethro's mother. She appeared in several episodes during the first season, as did Jethro's twin sister Jethrine, played by Baer in drag, using Linda Kaye Henning's voiceover. Although not a major character, actress Sharon Tate had a recurring role during the early years of the series. Tate appeared in a dark wig as Janet Trego, an assistant to Miss Hathaway at the Commerce Bank. Two episodes before Janet's debut episode, Sharon had appeared (sans wig) as one of Elly May's classmates in "Elly Starts to School" Veteran canine actor Stretch portrayed Jed's bloodhound Duke, and the many other animal actors on the series came to be known as "Elly May's critters". Despite being panned by some critics, the show shot to the top of the Nielsen Ratings shortly after its premiere and stayed there for several seasons. During its first two seasons, it was the number one program in the U.S. During its second season, it earned some of the highest ratings ever recorded for a half-hour sitcom. The season 2 episode The Giant Jackrabbit also became the most watched telecast up to the time of its airing, and still remains the most watched half-hour episode of a sitcom as well. It was ranked in the top ten most watched prime time programs for six of its nine seasons. The series received two Emmy nominations for Best Comedy Series as well as nominations for cast members Irene Ryan and Nancy Kulp. Because of the show's high ratings, CBS asked creator Paul Henning to pen two more folksy comedies, spawning a mini-genre of rural sitcoms during the 1960s. Petticoat Junction featured an extended family, including three pretty young women of marrying age, running a small hotel in the isolated rural town of Hooterville. Green Acres flipped the Clampetts' fish-out-of-water concept by depicting two city sophisticates moving to Hooterville, which was populated by oddball country bumpkins. Certain actors appeared on more than one of these series: Bea Benaderet, who had played Jethro's mother during the first season of The Beverly Hillbillies, was the mother of the family on Petticoat Junction; Linda Kaye Henning, who provided the voiceover for the Beverly Hillbillies character Jethrine, portrayed Benaderet's daughter Betty Jo Bradley on Petticoat Junction; Edgar Buchanan, who starred in all 222 episodes of Petticoat Junction and guest-starred in 17 episodes of Green Acres, also guested in 3 episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, always as the character Uncle Joe Carson; and several animal actors trained by Frank Inn, including Higgins the dog, also moved between series as needed. Despite the actor cross-overs and the character Uncle Joe Carson's multiple appearances (which made it clear that the three shows were set in the same fictional universe), the two Hooterville series retained identities that were distinct from The Beverly Hillbillies. By the 1970s, CBS’s rural shows had worn out their welcome. Nielsen ratings for the 1970-71 season indicated that the bottom had dropped out for the perennial Top 30 series but was still fairly popular when it was canceled in 1971 after 274 episodes. The CBS network, prompted by pressure from advertisers seeking a more sophisticated urban audience, decided to refocus its schedule on several "hip" new urban-themed shows, and to make room for them, all of CBS's rural-themed comedies were simultaneously canceled. This action came to be known as "the Rural Purge". Pat Buttram, who played Mr. Haney on Green Acres, famously remarked that, "It was the year CBS killed everything with a tree in it." In addition to The Beverly Hillbillies, the series that were eliminated included Green Acres, Mayberry R.F.D. and Hee Haw, the latter of which was resurrected in first-run syndication, where it ran for another 21 years. Petticoat Junction had been canceled a year earlier due to declining ratings following the death of its star Bea Benaderet. In 1981, a “Return of the Beverly Hillbillies” TV movie was aired on the CBS network. Irene Ryan had died, so her character was written out and made Imogene Coca granny's Mother. Max Baer refused to reprise the role that both started and stymied his career, so the character of Jethro Bodine was given to another actor, Ray Young. The familiar Clampett mansion was not used as a location, as its owners sought too much money to lease it. The plot had Jed back in Bugtussle, while Elly May and the recast Jethro remained in the Golden State. Jane Hathaway had become a Department of Energy agent and was seeking Granny's "White Lightnin'" recipe to combat the energy crisis. Since Granny had gone on to "her re-ward", it was up to Granny's centenarian "Maw" (Imogene Coca) to divulge the secret brew's ingredients. Subplots dealt with Jethro playing an egocentric, starlet-starved Hollywood producer, Jane and her boss (Werner Klemperer) having a romance and Elly May owning a petting zoo. The four main characters finally got together by the end of the story. This TV-movie was made a scant decade after the last episode of the series; nonetheless, some viewers felt that the spirit of the series was lost on many fronts. The 1993 The Beverly Hillbillies film returned the storyline to its original premise, retelling the arrival of the Clampetts in Beverly Hills. It wasn’t hip. It wasn’t topical. Hell, it was barely literate. But, from its start, The Beverly Hillbillies was as hot as firecracker on the Fourth of July. When the Hillbillies, accidental oil baron Jed Clampett, feisty Granny, bodacious Elly May, and thick-as-a-plank Jethro, loaded up their truck and moved to Beverly (Hills that is), they quickly became rose to the top faster than cat runnin’ from a dog. While the critics hated it more than a bull looking a man with a wavy red cape, the show made TV history in its 9-year run: it flew to No. 1 within three weeks of its debut, a feat still unmatched, and remained at the top spot for two years. And, the 8 most watched half-hour shows ever are all Hillbillies episodes, thanks in large part to the fact that all 8 of these episodes aired soon after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and America was looking for an escape from the brutal reality of the event. And, its escapism is a main reason the show was so popular. Clearly, for a national psyche bruised by social unrest, civil rights, and Vietnam, The Beverly Hillbillies acted as a sort of balm. What was their secret? Mainly, it was the Will Rogers-like charm of these populist heroes, notably ex-song-and-dance man Ebsen and irascible bag of bones Ryan. Jed and his kinfolk always seemed to find ways to confound their rich neighbors, using plan ol’ Ozark know-how and sometimes a heapin’ helpin’ of Granny’s possum-belly stew. The show was so popular that it spawned an entire genre of fish-out-of-water shows, most notably Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. And, the show was only cancelled when CBS tired of the status as the “Country Bumpkin Station.” It was kind of sad to see the show go, mainly because The Beverly Hillbillies never took itself too seriously. It was a farce, pure and simple, with plenty of slapstick and word-play. After its run, one TV critic called the premise of the show "one joke, nine years." However, The Beverly Hillbillies did have their day in the sun, with swimmin’ pools and movie stars.
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 2, 2008 20:41:48 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 96 and 95. Here are the hints:
A Jonny Quest homage that actually had Jonny Quest and Race Bannon appear in a few episodes, and the happiest blended family in all of TV history.
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 3, 2008 19:39:26 GMT -5
It's countdown time. Here's number 96: 96. The Venture Bros. Genre: Animated, Action-comedy. Created by: Jackson Publick (a pseudonym of Christopher McCulloch). Executive Producer(s): Jackson Publick. Starring: James Urbaniak (Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture and Dr. Jonas Venture, Jr.), Patrick Warburton (Brock Samson), Michael Sinterniklaas (Dean Venture), Christopher McCulloch (Hank Venture, The Monarch, Peter White, and Henchman 24), Doc Hammer (Dr. Girlfriend, Master Billy Quizboy, and Henchman 21), Stephen Rattazzi (Byron Orpheus), and Lisa Hammer (Triana Orpheus). Country of Origin: United States. Language(s): English. Number of Seasons: 3, as of this post. Number of Episodes: 31, as of this post. Running Time: 22 minutes. Original Channel: Cartoon Network/Adult Swim. Original Run: February 16, 2003 – present Spinoffs: None, so far. Show creator Chris McCulloch came up with the idea of The Venture Bros. around 1998 as a comic book story and soon wrote the first draft of The Venture Bros. while he worked as a storyboard artist on Sheep in the Big City. At the time, Chris was meeting with Comedy Central regarding a show pitch of his comic Uncle Nature, all the while playing around with the Venture Bros. concept in the background. The Comedy Central pitch fell through, and Chris' comic book story about the brothers Venture was becoming too extensive to work as a comic book anymore, so he began to turn it into an animated pilot script. Chris also pitched The Venture Bros. script to Comedy Central, where they "politely" turned it down within the week. McCulloch's next stop was The Tick, which was being produced by Sony Pictures Television for a live action series on Fox, which is where his newfound agent helped him bring his idea of The Venture Bros. to a studio that was beginning to develop CG animated shows. Unfortunately, the studio soon decided against the idea, and The Venture Bros. was once again in development limbo. Upon the cancellation of The Tick, Chris McCulloch revised his pilot script, made some redesigns, and gave it a better overall look. Soon, he headed back to New York City where he met Jeff Nodelman of Noodlesoup Productions, who assured McCulloch that the show could be done efficiently and inexpensively. Later, McCulloch learned about Adult Swim, and contacted Linda Simensky for a pitch meeting. Luckily for him, the block needed to greenlight a third pilot, meaning The Venture Bros. was set to be produced. After months of negotiating, the show was ready to be produced in September 2002 at Noodlesoup, using Flash animation, and on a very low budget. For the show, Chris McCulloch adopted the alias Jackson Publick for his production and writing credits (but not voice credits). Musical artist J.G. Thirlwell allowed the show to license some of his music, as he was currently too busy to score anything new. The pilot completed, and finally premiered on Adult Swim in February 2003, much to the liking of fans. Months later, the show was greenlit for series, which would premiere in late summer of 2004. The show is the first traditionally animated half-hour series to be produced by Adult Swim, who mainly produces 15-minute cheaply animated shows using Macromedia Flash or Adobe After Effects (it was later followed by another traditionally animated series, The Boondocks). The Venture Bros. is one of the lowest budget traditionally animated shows on the air, making the production a real tree-fort of an operation. The Venture Bros. is produced by Astrobase Go! and World Leaders Entertainment in New York City and is animated by Digital eMation, Inc. in Seoul, Korea. The characters of The Venture Bros. are largely either re-imaginings of the characters from Jonny Quest, comic book superheroes and supervillains; or of other famous figures from popular culture. Hank (voiced by Christopher McCulloch) and Dean Venture (voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas) are the titular fraternal twin brothers of the show; both boys have identifiable characteristics, with Hank being the more adventurous and Dean being the more "effeminate" and bookish of the two. Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture (voiced by James Urbaniak) currently runs Venture Industries. Dr. Venture assumes the occupation of a "super-scientist", and certainly has the knowledge to back up these claims, but his actual competence and credentials in the field are questionable. Brock Samson (voiced by Patrick Warburton) is the massively-muscled and hyper-masculine bodyguard to the Venture family. He is an Office of Secret Intelligence agent with a license to kill. Dr. Venture's deceased father, Dr. Jonas Venture (voiced by Paul Boocock), developed a loyal and rather emotional robot named H.E.L.P.eR. (voiced by Soul-Bot) that accompanies and assists the Ventures. Throughout the series, the Venture family has had various recurring antagonists. Many of them are current or former members of The Guild of Calamitous Intent, a group that bears resemblance to the Legion of Doom. The organization is run by the mysterious leader known as the “Sovereign”, who is revealed to be none other than David Bowie in episode 26. The pernicious but ineffective Monarch (voiced by Christopher McCulloch), the masculine-voiced Doctor Girlfriend (voiced by Doc Hammer), and their numerous henchmen are some of the Venture family's main villains. Baron Werner Ünderbheit (voiced by T. Ryder Smith) is a former dictator of the duchy of Ünderland and bears a grudge against Venture who he blames for the loss of his jaw in college, citing "One is always supposed to look out for one's lab partner!" It was revealed in the season three premiere that the Monarch was responsible for the explosion, an attempt on the life of Dr. Venture. Phantom Limb (voiced by James Urbaniak) is a ruthless killer, villain insurance agent, and high-ranking Guild member; also, he is a former lover of Dr. Girlfriend (before she left him to become The Monarch's companion). He seems at least as intent upon persecuting The Monarch, as he is in pursuing the Guild's villainous agenda. Phantom Limb and Brock Samson have a strong respect for one another, and have teamed up in at least one episode of the show. The Ventures also have acquaintances that are used to help progress stories and add to the atmosphere of the show. The expert necromancer Doctor Byron Orpheus (voiced by Steven Rattazzi) and his apathetic, teenage goth daughter Triana (voiced by Lisa Hammer) rent out a portion of the Venture Compound. The albino computer scientist Pete White (voiced by Christopher McCulloch) is a former college friend of Dr. Venture's, and usually appears in the company of hydrocephalic "boy genius" Master Billy Quizboy (voiced by Doc Hammer). Surviving members of the original Team Venture, a group of extraordinary people assembled by Dr. Jonas Venture, have also appeared occasionally. I know this show is relatively new, but it is still a great show. For one, it is a great parody of many science-fiction and superhero works. One of the themes of The Venture Bros. is its multifarious use of allusion in its dialogue, character design and other facets. The series openly pays homage to a variety of sources, including adventure serials, pulp magazines, and many other elements of pop culture; musical references (David Bowie as the leader of a nefarious yet bureaucratic supervillain group, with Iggy Pop and Klaus Nomi as body guards), television shows (most obviously the old Jonny Quest animated series; hell, three characters from that show have appeared on The Venture Bros; there was a bionic man named Steve Summers and a hilarious parody of the opening sequence to the G.I. Joe animated series that had OSI killing the members of a Cobra-like terrorist group), movies (James Bond is heavily referenced in the series as well, as Brock is essentially a pumped up Bond and actually carries a license to kill; Brock remarked in an episode that killing guys in a tux makes him "feel like James Bond"; Colonel Horace Gentleman, one of the members of Dr. Jonas Venture's original Team Venture, speaks with a Scottish accent that sounds just like Sean Connery, one of the many James Bonds in cinema, but actually a knowing jab at Connery's character in The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen), toys (the aforementioned OSI has some G.I. Joe like characters that are also similar to the Village People), corporations (The episode “The Incredible Mr. Brisby” contained multiple references to Walt Disney and Disneyland), and comic books (The family of four that possess Impossible Industries have received horrific, inferior versions of the Fantastic Four's powers, (Sally, a version of the Invisible Woman, only her skin becomes invisible; Cody is a version of The Human Torch who cannot control his flames, which cause him great pain; and Ned the walking callus is the equivalent of The Thing) save for Dr. Impossible himself (he has elastic powers like Mr. Fantastic), his only defect being that he neglects everyone in his family in the pursuit of science. have all been used for fodder). Another thing about the show is how well written it is. It beautifully blends action and comedy together, sometimes even in the same scene (Brock attacks a henchman, squeezing his testicles, and stops when he finds a lump on one). Plus, the dialogue is very smart and realistic, well as realistic as it can be in a science fiction show. However, the one thing that makes The Venture Bros. so great is the overall theme of the show: failure. Publick and Hammer have stated that one of the primary themes of The Venture Bros. is failure: "This show... If you'll permit me to get 'big picture,' This show is actually all about failure. Even in the design, everything is supposed to be kinda the death of the space-age dream world. The death of the jet-age promises."—Jackson Publick. It is failure that makes the show so good because we have all failed. We all had dreams that didn’t come true and have tried really hard to achieve something only to fall flat on our faces. Everybody has flaws and failures, and The Venture Bros. celebrates them. It shows that failure isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I mean, sure, failure is bad, but we still get by. The world keeps turning despite its failure. And, watching this show will help you forget about your failures for half an hour.
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 3, 2008 21:01:52 GMT -5
95. The Brady Bunch Genre: Sitcom Created by: Sherwood Schwartz. Executive Producer(s): Sherwood Schwartz. Starring: Robert Reed (Mike Brady), Florence Henderson (Carol Brady), Barry Williams (Greg Brady), Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady), Christopher Knight (Peter Brady), Eve Plumb (Jan Brady), Mike Lookinland (Bobby Brady), Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady), Ann B. Davis (Alice Nelson) Country of Origin: United States Number of Seasons: 5. Number of Episodes: 117. Running Time: 23 minutes. Original Channel: ABC. Original Run: September 26, 1969 – March 8, 1974 Spinoffs: The Brady Bunch Hour, a 1977 variety show that featured the entire cast except Eve Plumb (Geri Reischl took her place) and lasted only 9 episodes; The Brady Girls Get Married and The Brady Brides, a TV movie and show about Jan and Marcia Brady getting married and both couples moving into the same house that was canceled after 10 episodes; “A Very Brady Christmas,” a 1988 TV movie that featured all the regular cast (except Susan Olsen; the role of Cindy was played by Jennifer Runyon); The Bradys, an early 1990s dramedy (Maureen McCormick was pregnant at the time and decided not to participate in this series; the role of Marcia was filled by Leah Ayres); and two movies, “The Brady Bunch Movie” and “A Very Brady Sequel” that parodied the show. In 1965, following the success of his TV series Gilligan's Island, Sherwood Schwartz conceived the idea for The Brady Bunch after reading an article in the Los Angeles Times that said "40% of marriages [in the United States] had a child or children from previous marriage." He instantly set to work on a pilot script, called Yours and Mine, and passed it around the then three television networks. ABC, CBS and NBC all loved the script, but each network wanted changes to it before they would commit to filming it. Schwartz felt that his script was perfect, and although he had the interest of all three networks in America, he decided to shelve it. Despite the similarities between the series and the 1968 theatrical release Yours, Mine and Ours starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, the original script for The Brady Bunch pre-dated the script for the film. However, the success of the film was likely a factor in ABC ordering the series. The premise of the show was: Mike Brady (Robert Reed), a widowed architect with sons Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher Knight) and Bobby (Mike Lookinland), married Carol Martin (née Tyler) (Florence Henderson), whose daughters were Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb) and Cindy (Susan Olsen). The daughters took the Brady surname. Schwartz wanted Carol to have been a divorcée. The network objected to this, but a compromise was reached whereby no mention was made of the circumstances in which Carol's first marriage ended, but many assume she was widowed. The newly-formed juvenile sextet, parents Carol and Mike, Mike's live-in housekeeper Alice (Ann B. Davis), and the boys' dog Tiger settled into a large, suburban home designed by Mike. Often erroneously cited as the first series to show a "blended" family (two series which debuted in the 1950s, Make Room For Daddy and Bonanza, had step-siblings and half-siblings respectively), it came at a time when divorce and remarriage in America was seeing a surge. Episodes in the first season chronicled the family learning to adjust to its new circumstances and become a unit, as well as typical childhood problems such as dating, rivalries and family squabbles and the fact that their house had two bedrooms for six children. Subtle references to larger social problems found their way into the dialogue from time to time. In one social-issue episode, season two's "The Liberation of Marcia Brady," Marcia explores the oppression of the Brady women and sets out to prove a girl can do anything a boy can. The boys find this very upsetting and Peter finds himself joining the Sunflower Girls, Marcia's club, in hopes of making her back down from her 'bad idea'. Mike did much of his architectural work in an office/design studio within the house, an apparent way of lending some realism to the way in which sitcom dads seem to be almost always at home while nonetheless earning a good living. In the episodes where he was shown in his away-from-home office, he often came home from work about the same time the children got home from school. The theme song penned by Schwartz quickly communicated to audiences that the Bradys were a blended family, though the situation largely was deemphasized from the second season on with a few exceptions. Two episodes from the third season, "Not So Rose Colored Glasses" and "Jan's Aunt Jenny", mention that Mike and Carol had been married for three years. In "Kelly's Kids," reference was made to the Bradys' adoptions ("Either way, you adopted three boys and you adopted three girls, right?") when their neighbors, the Kellys, adopted three boys of different races. In 1971, due to the success of the Brady's ABC Friday night companion show The Partridge Family (about a musical family), some episodes began to feature the Brady Kids as a singing group. Though only a handful of shows actually featured them singing and performing ("Doe-Ri-Me" in the third season, "Amateur Nite" in the fourth and "Johnny Bravo" in the fifth), the Brady Bunch began to release albums. Though they never charted as high as the Partridges, the cast began touring the United States during the summer hiatus from the show, headlining as The Kids from the Brady Bunch. Although only Barry Williams and Maureen McCormick stayed in the music business as adults, Christopher Knight readily admits he felt he could not sing and recalls having great anxiety about performing live on stage with the cast. The Brady Bunch never achieved high ratings during its primetime run (never placing in the top 25 during the five years it aired) and was canceled in 1974 when Greg graduated from high school and was about to enroll in college. Despite its less-than-stellar primetime ratings and having won no awards, the show would become a true cultural phenomenon, having lasted in the minds of Americans and in syndication for decades. The series has spawned several sequel series on the "big 3" U.S. networks, two made-for-theater and three made-for-TV movies, a touring stage show and countless specials and documentaries on both network and cable TV. Since its first airing in syndication in September 1975, an episode of the show has been broadcast somewhere in the United States and abroad every single day of every single year through at least 2007. Reruns were also shown on ABC in the daytime from July 9, 1973 to August 29, 1975, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern/10:30 Central. The run was interrupted only once, between April 21 and June 27, 1975, when ABC ran a short-lived game show, Blankety Blanks, in that time slot. When the episodes were repeated in syndication, they usually appeared every weekday in late-afternoon or early-evening slots on local stations. This enabled children to watch the episodes when they came home from school, making the program widely popular and giving it iconic status among those who were too young to have seen the series during its prime time run. The show's longevity in the public mind largely owes to that phenomenon, which was a unique aberration from the traditional norm of a previously-run network program being sold to stations as schedule filler between network programming blocs. According to Schwartz, the reason the show has become a part of Americana despite the fact that there have been other shows that ran longer, rated higher and were critically acclaimed is that the episodes were written from the standpoint of the children and addressed situations that children could understand (such as girl trouble, sibling rivalry and meeting famous people such as a rock star or baseball player). The Bradys also comprised a harmonious family (compared to the likes of the Bunkers, the Bundys, the Simpsons, etc...), though they did run into problems occasionally when one of the children did not cooperate with his or her parents or the other children. In fact, anticipating the likelihood that some children might "act out" some plotlines, the producers had a form letter they sent to children who wrote stating their desires to run away from their own families and live with the Bradys. It has also been noted that the Bradys, while not wealthy, lived well by the middle-class standards of the early 1970s, having a live-in housekeeper and taking frequent trips. Several spinoffs to the original series were made, featuring all or most of the original cast. The first was a variety show called The Brady Bunch Hour, which was spun-off in 1977. It was canceled after only nine episodes. Eve Plumb was the only regular cast member from the series who declined to be in the series and the role of Jan was recast with Geri Reischl. The entire cast took part in sketches and musical numbers, including the very non-musical Reed and Davis (in one memorable bit, a game-for-anything Reed even appeared in drag as Carmen Miranda). Produced by Sid and Marty Krofft, the sibling team behind H.R. Pufnstuf, Donny and Marie and other glitzy variety shows and children's series of the era, this show was an infamous disaster that has been much parodied since and enjoys an avid cult following. The show was intended to air every fifth week in the same slot as The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, but ended up scheduled sporadically throughout the season, leading to very inconsistent ratings, since fans could not remember when it was on or more likely saw a promo with Mike and Carol stating "The Brady Bunch Hour won't be seen this week, but we will back again soon". A TV reunion movie called “The Brady Girls Get Married” and a spin-off sitcom “The Brady Brides” were produced in 1981 and aired on NBC. The reunion movie featured the entire original cast; this would prove to be the only time the entire cast worked together on a single project following the cancellation of the original series. The ensuing series (titled The Brady Brides) featured Maureen McCormick (Marcia) and Eve Plumb (Jan) in regular roles. The series had Marcia and Jan both married and both couples living together. The clashes between Jan's uptight husband, Phillip Covington III (a college professor who was several years older than Jan), and Marcia's slob of a partner, Wally Logan (played by Jerry Houser) (a salesman who could never seem to keep a job), were the pivot on which many of the stories were based. Ten episodes were aired before the sitcom was canceled. A second TV reunion movie A Very Brady Christmas featured all the regular cast (except Susan Olsen; the role of Cindy was played by Jennifer Runyon), as well as three grandchildren, Peter's girlfriend and the spouses of Greg, Marcia and Jan (Nora, Wally and Phillip, respectively). Mike is still an architect and Jan has followed in his footsteps to become one herself; Carol is a realtor; Greg is a physician; Marcia is a stay-at-home mom; Peter works in an office; Cindy is in her last year of college; Bobby was in graduate school studying for business but dropped out to drive race cars. After a series of pratfalls to get the family together, everyone comes home harboring various secrets (e.g., Jan and Phillip are considering separation; Wally is out of work again, having lost his job in a merger at his toy company; Greg's wife Nora wants to spend Christmas with her family; Cindy felt pressured to come home in lieu of a skiing trip with her college friends; Peter feels inferior to his girlfriend, who is also his boss; and Bobby hasn't revealed his leaving graduate school for a racing career). Alice, meanwhile, temporarily moves back in with Mike and Carol after her husband, Sam, runs off with another woman. (Allan Melvin did not reprise the role; he had retired from acting and was replaced in a single scene by Lewis Arquette.) Even Mike has problems: Contractor Ted Roberts, wanting to save money on a downtown office complex project (at 34th Street and Oak) where Mike is the architect, demands that he redesign the building to omit important safety specifications. Mike advises against it and causes his firm to lose Roberts' services. On Christmas Day, the building crumbles, and Roberts, unable to contact anyone at the new firm he hired, must rely on Mike to find what caused the building's structure to become unstable. While inside, the building continues to crumble, trapping Mike and two security guards inside. Of course, everyone turns out to be okay, and Alice and Sam reunite. The movie, which aired on CBS in December 1988 to high ratings, renewed interest in the Brady clan and set out the current careers and family situations which were continued in The Bradys. The fact that this movie aired on CBS gave the Bradys a rare feat: the original show and reunions aired on all of the "big 3" networks: ABC, CBS and NBC. The dramedy series The Bradys was produced in 1989 and premiered on February 6, 1990. Maureen McCormick was pregnant at the time and decided not to participate in this series; the role of Marcia was filled by Leah Ayres. CBS was struggling at this time and decided that the original "Brady 500" TV-movie be the first episode of an hour-long series. With this short-lived series came a brand new opening sequence and theme song. The visual still featured the familiar blue squares of the original series and reunions (with the exception of the variety hour); then they all divide and move off-screen in different directions, with current episodic clips with the actors' names on the box they contain and a clip (from the Brady Bunch 1969 opening) of each actor superimposed in the back of a colored backdrop as a full clip opens up afterwards. Florence Henderson and Robert Reed appear side to side, the rest of the cast appear solo. After the last cast member (which is Mike Lookinland's "Bobby") is seen the familiar squares move back on screen with Ann B. Davis appearing in her spot; her clip blinks out and the squares divide staying on screen this time with the title appearing in the familiar title area (Alice's space). The theme music used an instrumental version for the (CBS) network run and a lyrical version for reruns. The theme lyrics no longer featured the "That's the way we all became The Brady Bunch" lyrics, and the theme was no longer sung by The Brady Kids; it was performed by the Brady mom Florence Henderson. TV critics dubbed this thirtysomething-style dramedy "Bradysomething".
Here’s the thing: I know the show is cheesy as hell. I know the Bradys are so unrealistically happy and sweet that they could give you diabetes just by watching an episode. I know that the only way that a movie version of the show could have work was to satirize it (which happened in 1995 with “The Brady Bunch Movie” and in 1996 with “A Very Brady Sequel”). And, I know there were no toilets in the Brady household’s bathrooms. But, The Brady Bunch has had a huge impact on pop culture since first aired. It premiered in 1969, at a time when the Vietnam conflict was boiling over, the Sexual Revolution was gaining steam, and the Manson family was being tried for several murders in Los Angeles. And then, Mike, Carol, and their polite and well-adjusted kids arrived to tell an anxious nation, “Don’t worry, guys—everything’s going to be just super!” As it turns out, that’s just what American wanted to hear. With The Brady Bunch, people could blissfully inhabit a peaceful and utopian universe we all knew didn’t exist. The Bradys were two impossibly loving parents, Mike and Carol six likable kids who each embodied a childhood phase: self-absorbed Marcia, jealous Jan, nosy Cindy, vulnerable Bobby, awkward Peter, and cocky Greg. Their fatal flaws usually got them in minor trouble: Greg’s cigarette excursion, Marcia’s humbling Romeo and Juliet demotion, Jan’s lemons-as-freckle-remover fiasco. But, each episode brought new versions of the same lesson: you’re great just the way you are. Ever since its cancellation in 1974, the show has lived on in after-school syndication, giving new generations of latchkey kids a surrogate and almost unbearably perfect family to cling to. Sure, the Bradys had bad hair and god-awful clothes, and the show reeked of so much camp that a tent on their lawn would make a lot of sense. But, The Brady Bunch continues to be a beloved show because of the show’s devotion to one invaluable tenet: It’s hip to be square.
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 3, 2008 21:06:49 GMT -5
Tomorrow, since I don't have to work because of the 4th of July, I'll be doing four entries instead of two. Here are the hints:
It made the word "Bitch" famous, the L.A. Tic Tac Toe, a burning map, and POW! BAM! OOOF!
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 4, 2008 13:01:05 GMT -5
Countdown time, again. Here's 94: 94. Dynasty Genre: Soap opera. Created by: Richard & Esther Shapiro. Executive Producer(s): Aaron Spelling, Douglas S. Cramer, and Richard & Esther Shapiro. Starring: John Forsythe (Blake Carrington), Linda Evans (Krystle Grant Jennings Carrington), Joan Collins (Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan), Pamela Bellwood (Claudia Barrows Blaisdel Carrington), Pamela Sue Martin (Fallon Carrington Colby 1981-1984), Emma Samms (Fallon Carrington Colby 1985, 1987-1989, 1991), John James (Jeffrey Colby), Al Corley (Steven Carrington 1981-1982, 1991), Jack Coleman (1983-1988), Gordon Thomson (Adam Carrington), Heather Locklear (Sammy Jo Carrington), Diahann Carroll (Dominique Deveraux), Michael Nader (Farnsworth “Dex” Dexter), Catherine Oxenberg (Amanda Carrington 1984-1986), Karen Cellini (Amanda Carrington 1986-1987), Emma Samms ( Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 9. Number of Episodes: 220. Running Time: 46 minutes. Original Channel: ABC. Original Run: January 12, 1981 – May 11, 1989 Spinoffs: The Colbys, a 1985 series that was very unpopular and lasted only two series; and Dynasty: The Reunion, a 1991 miniseries made to wrap up some plotlines from the series. Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro, the working title for Dynasty was Oil, and the starring role originally went to George Peppard (later of The A-Team). In early drafts of the pilot script the two main families featured in the series, the Carrington and Colby families, were written as Parkhurst and Corby respectively. Peppard, who had difficulties dealing with the somewhat unsympathetic role of Blake, was replaced with John Forsythe (who voiced Charles Townsend in another Aaron Spelling production, Charlie's Angels). In the final production drafts the names Parkhurst and Corby were changed to Carrington and Colby, and their rivalry was written to emulate the Montagues and Capulets of Romeo and Juliet, that is, crossed in love and war. The first season filmed in 1980, was delayed by animosity between the networks and the partnership of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which caused a strike. Many new shows were delayed for months, and Dynasty did not see the light of day on ABC until the first weeks of 1981. As the series opened, tycoon Blake Carrington was about to marry Krystle Jennings, a younger woman whom he met when she took a job as a secretary at his company, the monolithic Denver-Carrington. Krystle was young, beautiful and vulnerable. She found a hostile reception in the Carrington household: the staff patronized her, Blake's daughter Fallon resented her, and her husband was too preoccupied with his work. Krystle's only ally in the Carrington house was her stepson, the sexually ambivalent Steven. The young adults of the Carrington dynasty had their own problems. Steven was uneasy about fitting into the mold cast for him as Blake's successor and was constantly in conflict with his father, who refused to accept his son's homosexuality. The decadent, ruthless Fallon was Blake's natural heir but unable to enter the Denver-Carrington boardroom because she was a woman; she channeled her energies into toying with various male suitors, such as the Carrington chauffeur Michael Culhane, and being unfaithful to her husband Jeff Colby, whom she had only married as part of a business deal with Jeff's uncle Cecil. The first season also heavily featured Matthew Blaisdel, Krystle's first love, who worked for Blake Carrington as a geologist and was unhappily married to the emotionally fragile Claudia, who had recently spent time in a psychiatric hospital. In the first episode of the second season, titled "Enter Alexis," the mysterious surprise witness from the previous season's finale removed her sunglasses to reveal British actress Joan Collins as a new arrival to the series. Collins' Alexis Carrington blazed a trail across the show and its storylines; the additions of Collins and the "formidable writing team" of Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock are generally credited with Dynasty's subsequent rise in the Nielsen Ratings. By the end of the 1981-1982 season Dynasty entered the Top 20, and eventually hit #1 in 1985. The Pollocks "soft-pedaled the business angle" of the show and "bombarded viewers with every soap opera staple in the book, presented at such a fast clip that a new tragedy seemed to befall the Carrington family every five minutes." With Dynasty's popularity soaring, former President Gerald Ford guest-starred as himself in 1983 along with wife Betty and Henry Kissinger. With Alexis settled as Krystle's implacable nemesis, stepmother and stepdaughter Fallon settled their differences, forging a bond which riled the displaced and resentful Alexis even further. In the seasons that followed, the rivalry between Blake Carrington's current and former wives became a driver for the melodrama. Alexis resented Krystle's supplanting of her position as mistress of the Carrington household and tried to undermine her at every opportunity. Alexis caused Krystle's miscarriage and tried repeatedly to ruin her marriage, most notably by finding Krystle's former husband (Samuel) Mark Jennings and proving that their divorce was never finalized (and that, consequently, Krystle's marriage to Blake was invalid). They had many verbal confrontations. On one occasion Krystle overheard Alexis gossiping about her in an adjoining cubicle at the beauty parlour. Krystle appeared and announced that she too could "throw mud", and tossed a bowl of face mud over Alexis. There are a handful of trademark catfights, beginning with one in Alexis' art studio on the Carrington estate (in which Krystle won soundly, destroying Alexis's art studio and a painting of Blake in the process), another in the lily pond, one in a mud pool in a park and a final spat (in Dynasty: The Reunion) in a fashion studio. The verbal spars between Krystle and Alexis also marked one of the first times the word "bitch" was used on US television. Perhaps the most memorable aspects of the series, outside the high-camp scripts from the Shapiros and the Pollocks, were a stream of famous cliffhanger storylines. The second season cliffhanger saw Blake left for dead on a mountain after a fight with Nick Toscanni, the third involved Alexis and Krystle being lured to Steven's cabin one night and locked inside while the cabin was set ablaze by an unseen arsonist (later revealed to be Joseph, the butler and Kirby's father). The fourth saw the disappearance of Fallon just before her second wedding to Jeff as her car seemingly collided with a truck on a stormy night (to accommodate the departure of Pamela Sue Martin from the series) whilst Alexis was arrested for murder and imprisoned in a jail cell full of "ladies of the night." Perhaps the most famous Dynasty cliffhanger is the so-called "Moldavian massacre", when Blake's youngest daughter Amanda Carrington married Prince Michael of Moldavia on the eve of a military revolution in his country. Although the massacre itself (arrived at by writer Camille Marchetta, who had devised the wildly-successful 'Who Shot J.R.?' scenario on Dallas five years earlier) had superb production qualities and became the most talked-about episode of any TV series during the calendar year of 1985, it is nonetheless largely remembered for its disappointing resolution four months later. Nearly every character was in attendance at the royal wedding in the season's final episode which aired in May 1985. At the conclusion of the wedding, revolutionaries stormed in, apparently gunning down everyone in the chapel. The final scene of the episode, with nearly every character on the ground appearing lifeless, gave the impression that anyone could have died, and in the summer that followed many magazines published stories speculating about which characters would survive the massacre. When the series resumed in the fall viewers quickly learned the outcome of the fifth season finale, where it was revealed that everyone had survived with the exception of two minor characters: Steven's boyfriend, Luke Fuller and Lady Ashley Mitchell played by Ali McGraw. The underwhelming resolution disenchanted fans who felt the storyline had built to nothing, and it is frequently cited as the moment when the series "jumped the shark." In the 2006 CBS special Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar, Gordon Thomson reiterated that it was the follow-up that was the letdown, not the cliffhanger itself. Joan Collins had been conspicuously absent from the season six opener; she was in a tense contract renegotiation with the show, seeking an increased salary. As a result, the first episode had to be rewritten to explain her absence and many scenes were abandoned or given to other characters. Collins' demands were met (she reportedly signed a $60,000 per episode contract) and she returned to the series in the season's second episode, though a planned storyline to make her Queen of Moldavia was scrapped. Aside from the glamour and campy drama, the show's later years covered controversy surrounding a storyline involving former matinee idol Rock Hudson as Daniel Reece, a character who enjoyed a romantic interaction with Krystle Carrington. Hudson's scenes required him to kiss Linda Evans and, as news that he had contracted AIDS broke, there was hysterical speculation Evans would be at risk. The lackluster reaction to the 1985 Moldavian conclusion at the onset of season six, combined with a poorly-received dual role for Evans (as Krystle and as Rita, an actress impersonating Krystle for 11 episodes) that same year, the difficult recasting of key character Fallon (now played by Emma Samms), and excessive time spent introducing characters to be spun off onto The Colbys weakened the show. After the characters returned from Moldavia, Blake spurned Alexis and in retaliation she found his long-departed brother Ben and they swindled Blake out of his fortune. An enraged Blake tried to strangle Alexis to death at the Carrington mansion (which now belonged to Alexis) as the season cliffhanger, just as the hotel La Mirage burned down, killing Claudia. In an interesting turn, the fire at La Mirage caused Amanda to fall into the pool outside the hotel, and when she was pulled out in the next season opener, she was suddenly played by a different actress, and no longer spoke with a British accent. (Oxenberg had left the show after failed contract negotiations.) During the seventh season, Blake recovered his money, but was rendered an amnesiac in an explosion. Alexis found him and convinced him they were still married, but felt guilty and told him the truth. Blake and Krystle also had to deal with their daughter Krystina being kidnapped. Other stories in that season featured Adam's romance with Dana Waring, Sammy Jo's doomed marriage to Clay Fallmont and reconciliation with Steven (who had recently broken up with closeted politician Bart Fallmont). Also, Amanda suddenly vanished from the show mid-season. A letter left by her explained that she went back to London, and her character was never heard from again. The season ended with Matthew Blaisdel and a gang of gun-toting South American guerillas gatecrashing Adam and Dana's wedding reception and taking the family hostage; while Alexis drove her car off a bridge into a river. A spin-off, The Colbys, debuted in 1985 as Fallon "returned from the dead" and ex-husband Jeff followed her to Los Angeles, where they became embroiled in the family intrigues of Jeff's wealthy California relatives. Pamela Sue Martin had been asked to reprise the role of Fallon, but declined; the unpopular show lasted for just two seasons, ending in 1987. When The Colbys was cancelled, Fallon and Jeff returned for the 1987-1988 season. Steven killed Matthew, revealing his "dark side". Alexis was rescued by Sean Rowan, a mystery man whom she later married. Blake and Alexis each ran for governor of Colorado (they both lost to a third-party candidate); Alexis suffered at the hands of Sean (who planned to kill her due to her part in the death of his father, Joseph, the former Carrington butler); and Steven's reconciliation with Sammy Jo collapsed due to her affair with drug-addicted football player Josh Harris. The 8th season ended with Sean and Dex fighting in Alexis's penthouse when a shot rang out (it would be Sean who died); Sammy-Jo accepting Jeff's proposal while Fallon hid in his bedroom; and Blake returning home to find his bedroom trashed and Krystle missing. In the 9th and final 1988-1989 season, despite the introduction of a new executive producer who rejuvenated the show and a team of writers who improved the story quality arguably for the first time in years, the ratings continued to plummet, exacerbated by a disadvantageous time slot change. Linda Evans departed the series within a few weeks; Krystle Carrington was sent to Switzerland for emergency surgery, where she fell into a coma, with the door left open for Evans to return at a later stage. In a money-saving move, Joan Collins was contracted for only 13 out of the season's 22 episodes. Former Colbys cast member, Stephanie Beacham, was brought in to reprise her role as firecracker Sable Colby (Tracy Scoggins also returned to her role as Sable's daughter Monica), written into Dynasty as a new antagonist for Alexis to battle against. Beacham's performance won praise and caused many to deem the final season as the best of the series' later years. Joan Collins and Michael Nader both announced that they would leave Dynasty at the end of the ninth season while it was rumored that Diahann Carroll was asked to return to the series for a potential tenth season. But after moving the series to a new Thursday night slot which proved unsuccessful, ABC pulled the plug in 1989. Fittingly, the show ended on a cliffhanger, with both Blake and Alexis in mortal peril (Blake being shot in the chest and Alexis and Dex Dexter falling off a hotel balcony when the guardrail protecting them broke) and the rest of the cast in similar life-threatening situations. A miniseries, Dynasty: The Reunion, aired in October 1991. Billed as a wrap-up for the dangling plotlines left by the series' abrupt cancellation 2½ years earlier, The Reunion wasn't produced by the same team as the final season and created more loose ends. The cable channel SOAPnet aired repeats of all nine seasons. In January 2004, creator Esther Shapiro participated in a marathon of the show's episodes, called "Serial Bowl: Alexis vs. Krystle", giving behind-the-scenes tidbits and factoids. On January 2, 2005, ABC aired a television movie, Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, purporting to tell of the creation and backstage details of Dynasty. The movie received mixed reviews both for content and for historical accuracy, and was criticized by John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins in different press releases. The movie was filmed in Australia (rather than Los Angeles) and a good majority of the cast members were non-Americans. Forsythe was played by Bartholomew John, Evans by Melora Hardin and Collins by Alice Krige. Much dramatic license was taken with the script of Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, so the show is not an accurate guide to either behind-the-scenes events nor the on-screen storylines of Dynasty. Misleading events include Al Corley being written out in the oil-rig explosion (Corley had already long left the show when the explosion was devised as a way to reintroduce the character of Steven and to explain his change in appearance), Sammy Jo at the Moldavian wedding massacre (she was actually in New York, involved in a separate storyline) and Amanda being written off when her portrayer asked for a raise (Catherine Oxenberg did allegedly leave the show over salary demands, but the role was recast with Karen Cellini). Furthermore, the TV movie made no reference at all to long-running characters Fallon Carrington, Adam Carrington, Jeff Colby, and Claudia Blaisdel. On May 2, 2006, Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar aired on CBS. It assembled for the first time all the original actors who played the Carrington children (Pamela Sue Martin, Al Corley, Gordon Thomson, and Catherine Oxenberg), who reminisced about making the show with other former cast members, including John Forsythe, Joan Collins and Linda Evans. The special was filmed at the Filoli mansion. It was the first time Martin and Oxenberg, as well as Corley and Thomson, shared screen time. Ruthless tycoons, trust-fund hussies, mergers gone bad, and the most tastelessly lavish décor since Marie Antoinette redecorated the Petit Trianon; if any show personified the delectably decadent 1980s, it was Dynasty. It all began when ABC got jealous of CBS’s cash cow Dallas. So, they greenlit Richard and Esther Shapiro’s moguls-behaving-badly soap in 1980, but it didn’t air until 1981 because of a writer’s strike. John Forsythe and Linda Evans were cast as new-money gazillionare Blake Carrington and Blake’s secretary-turned-wife Krystle respectively. The show itself revolved around the Carringtons, a new-money family living not so happily ever after in Denver. However, the ratings weren’t so great in the first season. So, executive producer Aaron Spelling went into fix-it mode, hiring British B-movie sex bomb Joan Collins to play Blake’s vindictive ex-wife, Alexis. Like Venus rising from the foam, a new TV deity was born: a bitch goddess who plotted to alternately destroy or recapture Blake and lay total waste to the annoyingly saccharine Krystle. And, Alexis would stoop to the lowest of lows as her pit of evil ways was bottomless. Just as tennis fans savor Wimbledon, Dynasty devotees thrilled to the annual Krystle-Alexis hair pullers; they balled everywhere, from mud ponds to beauty parlors. Dynasty fever raged well into the mid-eighties, and before you could say Nolan Miller, a bevy of famous people whose fame was dwindling were jumping on board, like Ali MacGraw, George Hamilton, Rock Hudson, and even former U.S. President Gerald Ford (along with his wife Betty and Henry Kissinger). What made the whole twisted tangle that was Dynasty so hilarious was the writers’ struggle to justify cast additions by making them long-lost relatives, like Diahann Carroll as Blake’s nefarious half-sister, Dominique Deveraux (for those of you who don’t know, Diahann Carroll is African-American). Plotlines grew ever more convoluted to accommodate the bloated cast, and the stories slipped from heavy-breathing melodrama to cartoonville. Just look at the infamous Moldavian Massacre, in which all the main characters were gunned down at a wedding in a fictional country and only two people, who were minor characters, died. By the late 1980s, with Thirtysomething self-flagellation in vogue, not even another catfight could forestall the network ax. With Krystle in a coma, Blake shot, and Alexis flying off a balcony, Dynasty closed out its decade bereft of dignity. It was a fitting end to the show. It was such a guilty pleasure that you could probably be arrested just for watching it. But, that was the fun of the show. It was a show of decadence for a decade of decadence. Dynasty truly fit the 1980s like a pair of $20,000 silk gloves.
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 4, 2008 13:28:26 GMT -5
93. Hollywood Squares Genre: Comedy/Quiz Created by: Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley Executive Producer(s): Filmways Television (1966-1981), Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley Productions (1966-1981), Distributor Rhodes Productions (1971-1981), Mark Goodson Productions (1983-1984), LBS Communications (1986-1989), Orion Television (1983-1989), Century Towers Productions (1986-1989), King World (1998-2004), Moffitt/Lee Productions & One-Ho Productions (1998-2002), Columbia Tristar Television (1998-2003), Henry Winkler-Michael Leavitt Productions (2002-2004), Sony Pictures Television (2003-2004). Starring: Peter Marshall (1966-1981), Jon Bauman (1983-1984), John Davidson (1986-1989), and Tom Bergeron (1998-2004). Country of Origin: USA. Number of Seasons: 25. Number of Episodes: 3,536. Running Time: 30 minutes. Original Channel: NBC (1966-1980), Syndication (1971-1981; 1986-1989; 1998-2004) Original Run: October 17, 1966 – September 10, 2004 Spinoffs: None, unless you count the revivals in the 1980s and 1990s. Original version (1965-1981): The show got its beginning as a black-and-white pilot episode filmed for CBS on April 21, 1965. That pilot was hosted by Bert Parks with the squares occupied by Cliff Arquette (in his "Charley Weaver" comic persona), Wally Cox, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Abby Dalton, Jim Backus, Gisele MacKenzie, Robert Q. Lewis and Vera Miles. The first five of the initial panelists were to later appear on the first broadcast week (October 17-21, 1966) and become all five of its initial regulars on NBC-TV. It's believed to be the first daytime game show produced at NBC's Burbank Studios, as other game shows on the network were produced in New York City. CBS shot a second pilot hosted by Sandy Baron, but chose not to pick up the program with either host. A year later, NBC acquired the rights to the show and chose Peter Marshall as host, a job he held for fifteen years until 1981. During most of its daytime run, NBC broadcast Squares at 11:30 a.m. Eastern/10:30 a.m. Central time, where it dominated the ratings until 1976, when it moved to the first of a succession of different time slots. The show also ran at night, first on NBC from January 12 to September 13, 1968, as a mid-season replacement for the short-lived sitcom Accidental Family, then as a nighttime syndicated entry running from November 1, 1971 to September 11, 1981. The latter version ran once a week at first, then twice a week and finally expanded to a five-day-per-week strip in its final season. Paul Lynde, in addition to his recurring role as "Uncle Arthur (Winsome)" on Bewitched had his greatest fame as the coveted "center square" throughout most of the original show's run. However, on October 14, 1968, after two years on the show, Lynde became the regular center square. Lynde was the only panelist on the show to win two daytime Emmy Awards in 1974 and 1978. Other regulars and semi-regulars over the years included Nanette Fabray, Kaye Ballard, John Davidson (who later went on to host the show in the 1980s), Wally Cox, Cliff Arquette ("Charley Weaver"), Morey Amsterdam, Florence Henderson, Marty Allen, Wayland Flowers, George Gobel, Vincent Price, Rose Marie, Charo, Sandy Duncan, Carol Wayne, Jonathan Winters, Karen Valentine, Roddy McDowall and Joan Rivers. Lynde left the series after taping the August 20-24, 1979, week of shows, but returned when the series relocated to Las Vegas in the 1980-1981 season. Some stars would frequently be asked questions pertaining to a certain topic or category. For instance, Cliff Arquette (Charley Weaver), a history buff, would often get questions on American history and would almost always give a correct answer. Rich Little would almost always get questions about other celebrities, which gave him an opportunity to do an impression of that individual. Roddy McDowall would usually give correct answers about the plays of Shakespeare. Rose Marie often got questions on dating and relationships. Lynde would always get a loaded question just so he could come up with an initial hilarious response. Some, such as Robert Fuller (then on NBC's Emergency!), were excellent bluffers. Sanford and Son co-star Demond Wilson frequently guested on the panel, and as a running gag, Marshall would ask an innocent question that "coincidentally" referred to Black stereotypes. Wilson always responded by walking off the show in mock anger. The daytime series was played as a best 2-out-of-3 match between a returning champion and an opponent with each individual game worth $200 and a match worth $400; a five-match champion retired with $2000 and a new car. During the final years of the NBC run (1977-1980), players who won five matches earned $10,000 and two new cars, a total of over $25,000. Early in the first season, from October 17, 1966 to February 10, 1967, each game awarded $100 with the winner of the match earning a $300 bonus for a total of $500. Beginning in 1976, an "endgame" of sorts was added to the show, with the champion simply selecting a star, each of whom held an envelope with a prize concealed within that features the top prize being $5000. Both the (twice-)weekly syndicated and NBC primetime versions featured the same two contestants playing for the entire half-hour with each completed game worth $300 (NBC primetime) or $250 (syndicated). If time ran out with a game still in progress (interrupted by what the host called the "tacky buzzer," a loud horn), each X or O on the board at that point was worth an additional $50 to the players, with each player guaranteed at least $100 in total winnings. The player with the most money at the end of the show won a bonus prize, which on the (twice-)weekly syndicated series was usually a new car. On the daily syndicated series, each game awarded its victor a prize and each winner advanced in a $100,000 tournament. The "Secret Square" round was played as the first or second game on a given broadcast (or the first complete game if a show began with one already in progress) during the daytime series. In this game, a randomly selected "Secret Square" panelist was revealed only to the home audience. A contestant who picked that panelist during the game won a bonus prize if they correctly agreed or disagreed with the star. Secret Square Prize packages typically started at over between $1000 and $2000 and so on with the biggest being worth $11,110. The question for the star was sealed in a special envelope and was almost always of the multiple choice type. The audience was cautioned not to shout out any answers. In the (twice-)weekly syndicated version, initially the first two games were Secret Square games; if no one claimed the prize in the first round, it would carry over to the second round. Later, the first three games would have a Secret Square, with prizes changing each game. On this version, a Secret Square package was usually worth between $2000 and $7000. The Secret Square was axed in 1980 when the syndicated show expanded to 5 days a week. The daytime show aired its 3536th and last episode on June 20, 1980. Squares ran for one more year in syndication; this last year of shows was taped at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Storybook Squares: Storybook Squares, a Saturday-morning children's version of Hollywood Squares, aired briefly from January 4 to August 30, 1969. It featured stars dressed as fairy tale, television, and historical characters. It would later air occasionally in the 1970s during the run of the original Marshall version. In an interview with E!'s True Hollywood Story, Marshall lauded the concept, but lamented that by the time each of the characters was introduced, very little of the show's half-hour format was left for actual gameplay. Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour: From October 31, 1983 to July 27, 1984, Jon "Bowzer" Bauman of Sha-Na-Na hosted a version packaged back-to-back with Match Game. The Match Game - Hollywood Squares Hour as it was called was jointly owned by Mark Goodson Productions and Orion Television, which had purchased the rights to Squares upon acquiring the Filmways production company. While the basic game play was similar to the versions before and after it, there were several major differences. Each square was worth $25 plus a bonus for winning each game ($100 in round 1, $200 in round 2, $300 in round 3, etc.). Also, there was no "Secret Square" and all questions were true/false or multiple choice. Additionally, contestants were able to win "by default" if an opponent made a mistake while attempting to block. Unlike other versions of the show, panelists were not provided with humorous or bluff answers in advance. 1986-1989: John Davidson hosted The New Hollywood Squares. This version was produced by Century Towers Productions for Orion Television, from September 15, 1986 to September 8, 1989. Shadoe Stevens was the announcer and from midway through the 1st season onward was also a regular panelist (always occupying the bottom-center square and introduced last), with his brother Richard subbing for him on occasion. Most seasons featured Joan Rivers as the center square. Jm J. Bullock was another regular usually occupying the upper-left square. Both Bullock and Stevens did guest-hosting stints while Rivers hosted on an April Fools' Day episode. The rules of the game reverted to the original rules from the Marshall era; most notably in that games could not be won due to an opponent's error. For the first season, each game was worth $500 with a bonus of $100 per square if time ran out in the middle of a game in progress. Beginning in season two, the third and subsequent games were worth $1000 with $200 given for each square claimed when time ran out. The second game on every show was a "Secret Square" game, played for a trip. The day's winner would choose one of five keys, which would start one of five cars (borrowed from an earlier 1970s game show, Split Second). The contestant would also choose a good luck celebrity to sit in or stand beside the car. After the audience and Davidson counted to three, the contestant turned the key. If it was the right one, a "vroom" sound accompanied by music and balloons falling played and the contestant retired undefeated. If it wasn't, mocking lose music played and the contestant returned the next day with that car eliminated should he or she return to the bonus game. The contestant automatically won whatever car was left on the fifth day should they have gone that far without starting the car. Each week featured a different set of five cars, usually all sharing the same make. In the event that a champion crossed over to a new set of cars, he or she picked a new key with the lowest-value cars on offer already eliminated corresponding to the number of prior attempts. In the final season, each of the nine celebrities held a key, and all five cars were available, no matter how many times the champion had been to the bonus round. The champion had to pick a key each day. At this point, champions could simply stay on until winning a car, or until they were defeated. The Davidson version was one of the first game shows to go "on the road" and tape episodes from remote locations including Hollywood, Florida and Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The Florida shows were unique in that they used a manual set, where the stars would insert cards into their podiums containing either an orange or a pair of crossed water-skis depending on if O or X (respectively) won the square (dollar amounts won by the contestants were displayed by hooking the cards to their podiums in a manner similar to a gasoline station attendant changing the gasoline grade prices on a station's sign). Otherwise, the Davidson series was produced at the Hollywood Center Studios, except for a very short time the program was taped at the NBC Burbank Studios. This version of Squares became noted for gimmickry a la I've Got A Secret, such as musical questions (wherein Davidson, a former recording artist, sang songs for the celebrity to finish), questions involving props in a panelist's square or presented as skits involving outside actors, "surprise" special guests and so on. One week, the entire group of Solid Gold Dancers managed to squeeze into a single square; other times, the lower left square would turn into a rectangle to accommodate extra stars or props, such as kitchens for Wolfgang Puck, Joe Carcione or Justin Wilson. Richard Simmons once led the audience in exercise routines. Comedian Ray Combs (who would host a revival of Family Feud a year later) once led the audience in singing a rendition of the theme to The Brady Bunch. TV alien puppet ALF, supposedly on a dare from host Davidson, actually guest hosted one episode. And on a memorable April Fool's Day episode in 1987, the two contestants were actually actors hired by the producers to play a joke on the host and panel. (The climax of this gag, featuring the female "contestant" shoving the male off of the set's raised contestant desks are the popular staple of game show blooper specials, and inspired another prank on the later version, see below.) Although such gimmicks made the show a popular favorite early on, its momentum could not be maintained long term, and it folded after just three years. The final episode ended with the cast and crew singing "Happy Trails to You!", and then disappearing off the set while soundbites from the series played. 1998-2004: After KingWorld (now CBS Television Distribution) bought the worldwide format rights to the show from MGM (successor-in-interest to Orion Pictures and Filmways, who produced the respective previous incarnations of the series) in 1997, a revival of the format was assembled. On September 14, 1998, the final version of the show to date debuted, hosted by Tom Bergeron. Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, who also served as co-producer, was the "Center Square" for the first four seasons. Stevens, announcer for the Davidson version, revived his voice-over role for most of the Bergeron run (though he was not featured as a panelist) with Jeffrey Tambor taking over for the 2002-03 season, followed by John Moschitta for the final season. It was taped in Studio 33 at CBS Television City. For the first several weeks, the scoring format worked like this: First and second games: $500, Third game: $1000, Fourth and subsequent games: $2000, $250 for each square if time ran out during a game. These figures were doubled in short order and would continue for most of the rest of the run. In the last season, the old "two-out-of-three match" format from the Marshall daytime version returned. Each game was worth $1000 and the first player to win two games played the bonus round. This did not apply during certain theme weeks where certain groups of people (lifeguards, celebrity lookalikes) played as the show used the previous season's format for these particular weeks. The first season also saw up to two "Secret Square" games. The first one was in its customary position as the second game played on each episode, with its prize package carrying over to the third game if it was not won. From the second season onwards, the "Secret Square" reverted to essentially its old Marshall-era format: played as the second game on each show worth an accruing prize package (Bergeron referred to it as "The Secret Square Stash"). In the last season, the "Secret Square" was played in the second game of each match, with a different prize offered each time. For the first season, this version had no returning champions; two new contestants played on each show. Beginning with the second season, the show began having returning champs, who were allowed to remain for a maximum of five days; it was also during this season that the show began having an annual Tournament of Champions each May, with the season's five-time champs returning to compete for additional cash and prizes. The end game underwent numerous changes throughout the run of the Bergeron version. Originally, the show used the same "Pick a Star, Win a Prize" format the Marshall version had used during its last few years on the air. Within several weeks, this had been slightly adjusted to where the day's winner had to correctly agree or disagree with a "Secret Square"-style question to win that prize. For the first season (when there were no returning champs), and for some special weeks in subsequent seasons, if a contestant was unsuccessful in winning the bonus prize, he/she received an additional $2,500 as a consolation prize. In November 2001, in the wake of shows such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire raising the bar in terms of prize money, Squares adopted an entirely new endgame; the champion selected one of the nine panelists to be their partner for the round, each of whom concealed a different dollar amount from $1,000-$5,000. The contestant and celebrity were then asked as many questions as possible in 60 seconds. The two conferred, but only the contestant answered the question. At the end of time, if the player so desired, he or she risked the total money earned on one final double-or-nothing question (of which only the category of it was told to the contestant beforehand). In this fashion, this game earned a player as much as $100,000. The most money won in this game was $60,000. Also in this season, the "ten questions" endgame was dropped and replaced with yet another bonus round, this one a variation of the "car keys" game from the Davidson version. This time, the player selected one from up to nine keys, only one of which opened or started a given grand prize. Before choosing a key, however, he or she played a game to eliminate incorrect keys from the selection process. The contestant had 30 seconds to answer as many true/false questions about celebrities on that week's panel as possible, and with each correct answer one false key was taken off the board. Also in the fifth season, for each returning champion, an incorrect key was eliminated for every time the contestant failed to win the prize previously. If the contestant won the grand prize and repeated as champion the next day, he/she played for a new prize, starting again with nine keys. For themed shows, champions got one key taken off the board at the outset (in addition to any keys taken away for correct answers). If a contestant selected the wrong key during any bonus round, he/she won $500 (later $1000) for each correct answer as a consolation prize. The prize structure was as follows: 1st win: Car, 2nd: $25,000 (in safe), 3rd: Trip Around the World or Trip of a Lifetime (in steamer trunk), 4th: $50,000 (in safe), 5th: $100,000 (in safe). No contestant ever advanced to a fifth prize. Two contestants made it to the fourth level, but failed to win at that level. Three contestants swept all nine stars during this version of the bonus round, guaranteeing them the correct key to win the grand prize. In the final season, champions always had nine keys to work with each time they played the bonus round (even if they appeared only one day) and the amount for each correct answer went back to $500. The prize structure was also changed as follows (only cheaper for some reason): 1st win: Trip (steamer trunk), 2nd: $10,000 (safe), 3rd: Luxury Car, 4th: $25,000 (safe), 5th: Trip Around the World (steamer trunk). Only one person reached the fifth prize in the final season, but lost it. This era of Squares was notable for its reliance on "theme weeks." One of the most well-known was a December 9-13, 2002 "Game Show Week" which featured Peter Marshall in the Center Square, marking the first time he had appeared on any version of the program since 1981 (although in 1993 and 1994 he appeared as host of a parody version in several episodes of the sketch comedy program In Living Color). On the Thursday show of that week, Marshall and Bergeron traded places, with Bergeron in the center square and Marshall hosting. Marshall had refused to appear on the Whoopi Goldberg-produced shows as he disliked them immensely, feeling they were too crude in tone. However, the show never regained the popularity it enjoyed after Goldberg's departure, and the series ended on June 4, 2004 due to declining ratings. Reruns from that season ended on September 10, 2004 in syndication, but they later moved to GSN. Two episodes of this version had been noted in blooper specials. The first episode came in the show's second season, where the first game of the show took the entire episode to complete, because of the contestants' inability to correctly agree or disagree with panelist Gilbert Gottfried's answers (which he would follow by yelling "YOU FOOL!" at the contestants) six times in a row, as he was the only remaining panelist and it would have resulted in a five-square win for either contestant. The second episode was a duplicate of the April Fools' prank played on Tom Bergeron in the show's fifth season, featuring among others E. E. Bell (best known as Bob Rooney on Married...with Children) as an obnoxious contestant who kept pushing his overly emotional opponent until she broke down in tears, in addition to testing Bergeron's patience. Hollywood Squares was a game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win money (cash) and prizes. The "board" for the game is actually a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by an entertainer, or star, seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions and the contestants judge the veracity of their answers in order to win the game. It was a simple game, but the game itself wasn’t what the show was really about. Although Hollywood Squares was a legitimate game show, the game largely acted as the background for the show's comedy. The show was "scripted" in the sense that the panel of celebrities knew the questions in advance and were provided with answers and suggestions for bluffs and jokes (Zingers). Typically, a star's first answer to a question was a humorous one. This was then followed by the true answer or bluff. It had to be stressed that this did not mean the actual gameplay was scripted or predetermined, as the onus was still on the contestant to determine whether or not the provided answer to a question was the correct one. It was basically a schlock-fest of celebrities raging from the sublime to the ridiculous. And, what gloriously B-list celebs they were, such as Waylon Flowers and his puppet Madame, Shadoe Stevens, Desmond Wilson (who always got questions “coincidentally” about black stereotypes and always “stormed off”), and of course, Paul Lynde (Lynde was once asked, “Who was known during World War II as Old Blood and Guts?” His reply: “Barbara Stanwyck.”). It was just a fun show that had people winning prizes and celebrities making jokes and was popular enough for two revivals in the 1980s and the late ‘90s/early ‘00s. Hollywood Squares wasn’t a high-class type of entertainment show that you would see on PBS or HBO, but it was entertaining nevertheless.
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 4, 2008 13:58:12 GMT -5
92. Bonanza Genre: Western Created by: NBC Executive Producer(s): David Dortort Starring: Lorne Greene (Ben Cartwright), Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright), Dan Blocker (Eric “Hoss” Cartwright), Michael Landon (Little Joe Cartwright), Victor Sen Young (Hop Sing), David Canary (Candy Canaday), and Mitch Vogel (Jamie Hunter Cartwright). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 14. Number of Episodes: 430. Running Time: 60 minutes. Original Channel: NBC. Original Run: 1959—1973. Spinoffs: Three TV movies: “Bonanza: The Next Generation” (1988), “Bonanza: The Return” (1993) and “Bonanza: Under Attack” (1995); and a prequel series, Ponderosa, with aired for two seasons on the PAX Network. Bonanza got its name from the Comstock Lode which was "an exceptionally large and rich mineral deposit" of silver. Virginia City was founded directly over the lode and was mined for 19 years. Ponderosa was an alternative title of the series, used for the broadcast of syndicated reruns while "Bonanza" was in first-run on NBC. Ponderosa is also the name of a series prequel airing on PAX-TV from 2001-02. The "Bonanza" pilot, "Rose for Lotta", was written by David Dortort, who also produced the series. Dortort's other creations include The Restless Gun, The High Chaparral, The Cowboys, and the Bonanza prequel, Ponderosa. For most of its 430 episode run, the main sponsor of Bonanza was Chevrolet and the stars occasionally appeared in commercials endorsing Chevrolet automobiles. All of the regular cast members had appeared in numerous stage, television and film productions before Bonanza, but none was particularly well-known. In 1959, the series aired on Saturday evenings opposite, "The Perry Como Hour". Bonanza was one of the first series to be filmed and broadcast in color. RCA owned NBC (and the series) and wanted to use it to spur sales of color receivers. However, the Saturday night ratings were dismal and Bonanza was soon targeted for cancellation. Given one last chance it was moved to Sunday nights at 9:00 PM. The new time slot caused the series to soar, and it eventually reached number one by the mid-'60s; by 1970, it had become the first series to ever wind up in the Top Five for nine consecutive seasons (a record which would stand for decades) and thus established itself as the single biggest hit TV series of the 1960s; it remained high on the Nielsen ratings until 1971, when it finally fell out of the top ten. The opening burning map of the Ponderosa Ranch was illustrated with incorrect bearings. David Dortort, choosing not to redo the map, altered the compass points. The original painting was done by artist Robert Temple Ayres. The show chronicled the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, headed by wise, thrice-widowed patriarch Ben Cartwright (played by Lorne Greene). He had three sons, each by a different wife: the oldest was the urbane architect Adam Cartwright (played by Pernell Roberts) who built the ranch house; the second was the warm and lovable giant Eric, better known by his nickname: "Hoss" (played by Dan Blocker); and the youngest was the hotheaded and impetuous Joseph or "Little Joe" (played by Michael Landon). The family's cook was the Chinese immigrant Hop Sing (played by Victor Sen Yung). "Bonanza" was considered an atypical western for its time, as the core of the storylines dealt with Ben and his three dissimilar sons, how they cared for one another, their neighbors and their land. The family lived on a thousand-square-mile ranch called "The Ponderosa", on the shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada; the name refers to the Ponderosa Pine, common in the West. The nearest town to the Ponderosa was Virginia City, where the Cartwrights would go to converse with Sheriff Roy Coffee (played by veteran actor Ray Teal), or his deputy Clem Foster (Bing Russell). Greene, Roberts, Blocker, and Landon were equal stars. The opening credits rotated among four versions, with each of the four being shown first in one version (in the order above). As the series advanced, writers began to showcase one or two Cartwrights in each episode, while the others would be seen briefly in the prologue and epilogue. Not only did this provide for more thorough character development, it also gave all four actors more free time. Originally, the Cartwrights tended to be depicted as put-off by outsiders. Lorne Greene pointed out to the producers that as one of the region's most affluent timber and livestock producers, they had better moderate their clannishness. The producers agreed with this observation and changed the Cartwrights to be more amiable. Early in the show's history, the thrice widowed Ben Cartwright, recalls each wife in flashback episodes. A recurring situation (which also occurs in the TV western The Big Valley), was that every time one of the Cartwrights became seriously involved with a woman, she died from a malady, was slain, or left with someone else. As with all hit programs, disturbing a successful formula could be a major blunder. Though not familiar stars in 1959, the cast quickly became favorites of the first TV generation. Lorne Greene, known as the "Voice of Canada," was a fairly successful announcer, actor and drama coach in his native land; he was known during World War II as the "Voice of Doom," since he'd read in a deep, resonant voice, the weekly list of casualties on the radio for all levels of audience. Ben Cartwright, as Greene once described him, was "suede leather," as he was both a strong and soft patriarch. Greene recorded several record albums in character as Ben Cartwright, scoring a #1 hit with his dramatic spoken word performance of "Ringo." He also recorded a version of the Bonanza theme. Georgia-born Pernell Roberts was a familiar face at studio lots in the late 1950's according to producer David Dortort, who saw him in a "Gunsmoke" episode. Roberts, an accomplished singer and stage actor, recorded an album of folk ballads entitled "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies". He left the series in 1965 after disagreements with writers and producer David Dortort. According to the July 2005 Bonanza Gold issue, David Dortort said his intent was to have a married Adam appear less frequently, thus making him a semi-regular. It was a move to broker with Roberts, who wanted to return to stage work. Attempts to replace him were made by introducing Ben's stepson, Clay, (played briefly by Barry Coe) and Will, a nephew (played by Zorro star Guy Williams), but neither lasted. Two of the remaining stars felt that storylines which created new Cartwrights could potentially defeat their own contract negotiations, so Williams' Will Cartwright wound up leaving the series with Adam's fiancèe. Williams moved on to Lost in Space and never revived the Will role. Three hundred pound Dan Blocker, played the gentle middle son Eric AKA "Hoss". Born in Texas, he was a teacher who graduated with a Masters in Dramatic Arts before becoming Hoss. The character had a warm heart and a penchant for lost causes. But, as might be expected, it was young Michael Landon who played most of the sweetheart's plots. In addition to acting, Landon began to develop his skills in writing and directing Bonanza episodes, starting with "The Gamble." Some of the shows Landon directed are considered to be the most moving and helped to build an opportune cool behaviour pattern for a growing specified public, that of teenagers, among them, "The Wish." In 1967, David Canary joined the cast as "Candy" Canaday, a confident army-brat turned cowboy, who became the Cartwrights' foreman. The character vanished in 1970 after Canary himself had a contract dispute with Dortort. In 1970, 14-year-old Mitch Vogel joined the series as Jamie Hunter, the orphaned son of a rainmaker. Ben adopted Jamie in a 1971 episode. During this character's run on the show, Bonanza ratings fell greatly. In 1972, Dan Blocker suddenly died from a post-op blood-clot to the lungs. The show's producers chose to simply mention the character's death in passing (this had been done earlier in 1954 with Make Room For Daddy and in 1963 with The Real McCoys, wherein the female leads of each show chose not to renew their contracts). "Bonanza" was moved to Tuesday nights against a new CBS sitcom, Maude. Both events signaled the end of the program. Canary returned to his former role of Candy (to make up for Blocker's absence), and a new character named Griff King (played by Tim Matheson) was added to lure younger viewers. Griff, accused of killing his heavy-handed stepfather, was paroled into Ben's custody and got a job as a ranch hand. Several episodes were built around his character, one Matheson never had a chance to fully develop before the show's sudden demise in January 1973. Many fans felt that the Hoss character was essential, as he was a nurturing, empathetic soul who rounded-out the all-male cast. From the third season on, the Cartwrights and nearly every other recurring character on the show wore the same clothing in almost every episode. This was done to cut the cost of refilming action shots (such as riding clips in-between scenes), as previously-shot stock footage could be reused. For 14 years, the Cartwrights were the premier western family on American television and have been immensely popular on cable networks such as TV Land, ION (formerly PAX), and the Hallmark Channel. In the UK, the show is aired on the Bonanza channel on skyTV. Following the program's cancellation: Lorne Greene did three short-lived series Griff, Battlestar Galactica and Code Red, as well as narrating a wild life series and a starring role as the first slave owner of Kunta Kinte in the mini-series Roots. Lorne Greene suffered from prostate cancer and eventually died from pneumonia in 1987, a few weeks after signing to appear in Bonanza: The Next Generation. Michael Landon became an industry "mover" as actor, writer, director and producer of two successful series, Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven. Landon died from pancreatic cancer in 1991. David Canary, who started in Peyton Place, went back to the soap genre and (to date) has won five Emmy Awards for his dual portrayal of twins Adam and Stuart Chandler on All My Children. Pernell Roberts, the lone survivor of the original cast, found renewed fame from 1979-86 with Trapper John, M.D., and later narrated FBI: The Untold Stories. Victor Sen Yung died a mysterious death in his home in 1980. The actor's achievements were greatly overlooked. On a To Tell the Truth episode in 1975, no one on the panel identified him as the actor who contributed to the Charlie Chan films, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song, and the 14-year run of Bonanza. Pernell Roberts, a champion for minority rights, did the eulogy at Yung's funeral. With few available roles for Asian actors at the time, Yung had been reduced to selling cookware. Bonanza was brought back for three made-for-TV movies featuring the Cartwrights' offspring. These include “Bonanza: The Next Generation” (1988), “Bonanza: The Return” (1993), and “Bonanza: Under Attack” (1995). The blonde Michael Landon, Jr., played Little Joe's son Benji while Gillian Greene, Lorne's daughter, played a love interest. In the second movie, airing on NBC, a one hour retrospective was done to introduce the drama. It was hosted by both Michael Landon Jr. and Dirk Blocker. According to TV Guide, NBC told Blocker he was too old to play the Hoss scion, but was given the role of an unrelated newspaper reporter. Clips of his appearance were heavily used in advertisements promoting the "second generation" theme. Hoss' son Josh was born out-of-wedlock, as it is explained that Hoss drowned without knowing his fiancée was pregnant. Such a storyline could have been problematic in the original series. ("The Big Valley", however, had a major character in Heath, who was presented as illegitimate. The "Gunsmoke" movies of the early 1990s employed a similar theme with Matt Dillon having sired an illegitimate daughter to a Michael Learned character, first seen in 1975). In 2001, there was an attempt to revive the series' concept with a prequel, Ponderosa, with a pilot directed by Kevin James Dobson and filmed in Australia. Covering the time when the Cartwrights first arrived at the Ponderosa, it lasted 20 episodes. The prequel had less gunfire and brawling than the original. Bonanza creator David Dortort approved PAX TV's decision to hire Beth Sullivan, a producer from Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, which some believe gave the series a softer edge. Unknown to many, Bonanza’s classic theme song actually has words: “We’ve got to a right to pick a little fight, Bonanza!” But as a description of the seminal home-on-the-range show, that line couldn’t have been more wrong. In the 1960s, when riflemen stalked the dusty streets of TV Westerns and Gunsmoke filled the air, the men of Bonanza used their consciences more often than their six-shooters. And, that is what kept viewers coming back to the Ponderosa for 14 years. Noble father Ben Cartwright had three sons: Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe. After hitting a pre-series debut “bonanza” in a silver mine, Ben settled with his sons on a 600,000-acre ranch near Virginia City, Nevada. It was the 1860s in the Wild, Wild West, but Bonanza wasn’t your average horse opera. With its sensitivity to indigenous rights contempt for racism (in this case, against Mexicans), and respect for the land, Bonanza put a liberal twist on that era. But, that didn’t mean that the Cartwrights didn’t enjoy their share of fisticuffs and gun battles; after all, everyone knew that Little Joe was as hot-headed as he was hot (What!? Michael Landon was heartthrob back then). But more often than not, the Cartwrights’ crises were moral ones, like dealing with the theft of a precious war bonnet from an aging Native American chief. Two decades before Kevin Costner won high-marks and Oscars fro racial sensitivity in “Dances With Wolves,” the Cartwrights were already ahead of him, doing the right thing.
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 4, 2008 14:31:30 GMT -5
91. Batman Genre: Action/comedy Created by: Bob Kane (characters), William Dozier (series). Executive Producer(s): William Dozier. Starring: Adam West (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Burt Ward (Dick Grayson/Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred Pennyworth), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Jim Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief Miles O’Hara), Madge Blake (Aunt Harriet Cooper), and Yvonne Craig (Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, Season 3) Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 3. Number of Episodes: 120. Running Time: 30 minutes. Original Channel: ABC. Original Run: January 12, 1966 – March 14, 1968 Spinoffs: “Batman” a 1966 movie based on the series, starring the actual cast of the show. In the early 1960s, Ed Graham Productions optioned the TV rights to the comic strip Batman, and planned a straightforward juvenile adventure show, much like Adventures of Superman and The Lone Ranger, for CBS on Saturday mornings. Mike Henry, who would later go on to star in the Tarzan franchise, and is best known for his portrayal of Jackie Gleason's not-too-bright son Buford T. Justice, Jr. in the Smokey and the Bandit movies, was set to star as Batman. Reportedly, DC Comics commissioned publicity photos of Henry in a Batman costume. Around this same time, the Playboy Club in Chicago was screening the Batman serials (1943's Batman and 1949's Batman and Robin) on Saturday nights. It became very popular, as the hip partygoers would cheer and applaud the Dynamic Duo, and boo and hiss at the villains. East coast ABC executive Yale Udoff, a Batman fan in childhood, attended one of these parties at the Playboy Club and was impressed with the reaction the serials were getting. He contacted West Coast ABC executives Harve Bennett and Edgar Scherick, who were already considering developing a TV series based on a comic strip action hero, to suggest a prime time Batman series in the hip and fun style of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. When negotiations between CBS and Graham stalled, DC quickly reeled the rights back in and made the deal with ABC. ABC farmed the rights out to 20th Century Fox to produce the series. Fox, in turn, handed the project to William Dozier and his Greenway Productions. Whereas ABC and Fox were expecting a hip and fun, yet still serious, adventure show, Dozier, who loathed comic books, concluded the only way to make the show work was to do it as a pop art camp comedy. Originally, mystery novelist Eric Ambler was to write the motion picture that would launch the TV series, but he dropped out after learning of Dozier's camp comedy approach. By the time ABC pushed up the debut date to January 1966, thus foregoing the movie until the summer hiatus, Lorenzo Semple, Jr., had signed on as head script writer. He wrote the pilot script, and generally kept his scripts more on the side of pop art adventure. Stanley Ralph Ross, Stanford Sherman, and Charles Hoffman were script writers who generally leaned more toward camp comedy, and in Ross' case, sometimes outright slapstick and satire. Instead of producing a one-hour show, Dozier and Semple decided to have the show air twice a week in half-hour installments with a cliffhanger connecting the two episodes, echoing the old movie serials. Initially, Dozier wanted Ty Hardin to play Batman, but he was unavailable, filming Westerns in Europe. Eventually, two sets of screen tests were filmed, one with Adam West and Burt Ward, the other with Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell, with West and Ward winning the roles. The typical formula story began with the villain (typically one of a short list of recurring villains) committing a crime, such as robbing a bank. This was followed by a scene inside Police Commissioner Gordon's office where he and Chief O'Hara would deduce exactly which villain they were dealing with. Gordon would press a button on the Batphone, signaling a cut to Wayne Manor where Alfred, the butler, would answer the manor's Batphone, a bright red telephone that beeped loudly instead of ringing on the desk in Bruce Wayne's study. Alfred would then interrupt Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson - usually they would be found talking with Aunt Harriet, who didn't know of their dual life - with a pretext to draw them away to answer the Batphone. Upon hearing of his enemy's schemes, Bruce would push a button concealed within a bust of Shakespeare that stood on his desk, opening a hidden door in a bookcase and revealing two poles. Wayne says to Grayson "To the Batpoles", then they would slide down, flicking a switch on their way down. This was usually where the animated title sequence would occur. They would arrive in the Batcave in full costume and jump into the Batmobile, Batman in the driver's seat. Robin would say "Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed" and Batman would respond "Roger, ready to move out" and the two would race off out of the cave at high speed. As the Batmobile approached the mouth of the cave, a hinged barrier dropped down to allow the car to exit on to the road. Scenes from the Dynamic Duo sliding down the batpoles in the Batcave, to the arrival of Commissioner Gordon's building via the Batmobile (while the episode credits are shown), are recycled footage that is used in nearly all part 1 and single episodes. After arriving at Commissioner Gordon's office, the initial discussion of the crime usually led to the Dynamic Duo (Batman and Robin) conducting their investigation alone. In the investigation, a meeting with the villain would usually ensue with the heroes getting involved in a fight and the villain getting away, only to come back and fight again later in the show. Here, the villain would capture one or both of the heroes and place them in a deathtrap with a cliffhanger ending which was usually resolved in the first few minutes of the next episode. The same pattern was repeated in the following episode until the villain was defeated. In Season 1, the dynamic duo, Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward), are the super crime fighting heroes to fight those villains of Gotham City, NJ. It begins with 2-part episodes, "Hi Diddle Riddle" and "Smack in the Middle". In Season 2, the show suffered from repetition of its characters and formula. This, combined with Lorenzo Semple Jr. contributing fewer scripts and having less of an influence on the series, caused viewers to tire of the show and for critics to complain, "If you've seen one episode of Batman, you've seen them all". By Season 3, ratings were falling and the future of the series seemed uncertain. A promotional short featuring Yvonne Craig as Batgirl and Tim Herbert as Killer Moth was produced. The short was convincing enough to pick up Batman for another season, and introduced Batgirl as a regular on the show in an attempt to attract more female viewers. Batgirl's alter ego was Barbara Gordon, a mild-mannered librarian at the Gotham Library and Commissioner Gordon's daughter. The show was reduced to once a week, with mostly self-contained episodes, although the next week's villain would be in a tag at the end of the episode, similar to a soap opera. As such, the narrator's cliffhanger phrases were eliminated, but most episodes would end with him saying something to the extent of "Watch the next episode!" Aunt Harriet was reduced to just two cameo appearances during the third season, due to Madge Blake being in poor health. (Aunt Harriet was also mentioned in another episode, but was not seen; her absence was explained by her being in shock upstairs.) The nature of the scripts and acting started to enter into the realm of the surreal, specifically with the backgrounds, which became two-dimensional cut-outs against a stark black stage. At the end of the third season, ABC planned cuts to the budget by eliminating Chief O'Hara and Robin, while making Batgirl Batman's full time partner. Both Dozier and West opposed this idea, and ABC cancelled the show a short time later. Weeks later, NBC offered to pick the show up for a fourth season and even restore it to its twice a week format, if the sets were still available for use. However, NBC's offer came too late: Fox had already demolished the sets a week before. NBC didn't want to pay the $800,000 to rebuild, so the offer was withdrawn. Batman was replaced on ABC by the sitcom The Second Hundred Years. In 1972, Burt Ward and Yvonne Craig reunited as Robin and Batgirl, with Dick Gautier stepping in as Batman (Adam West was, at the time, trying to distance himself from the Batman role) for a Women's Liberation Equal Pay public service announcement. In 1977, Adam West and Burt Ward returned to the Batman universe in animated form. West and Ward lent their voices to Batman and Robin respectively, on the Filmation-produced animated series, The New Adventures of Batman. West would once again reprise his role as Batman in animated form when he succeeded Olan Soule in the final two seasons of Super Friends. In 1979, West, Ward, and Frank Gorshin reunited on NBC for Hanna-Barbera's two Legends of the Superheroes TV specials. Many sports, music, and media personalities, and a number of Hollywood actors, looked forward to and enjoyed their appearances as villains on the Batman show. They were generally allowed to overact and enjoy themselves on a high-rated TV series, guaranteeing them considerable exposure (and thus boosting their careers). The most popular villains on the show included Cesar Romero as the Joker, Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, Frank Gorshin as The Riddler, Julie Newmar as Catwoman, and Victor Buono as King Tut. Other famous names from the "rogues gallery" in the comic book series made appearances on the show (notably The Mad Hatter), and some were taken from other superheroes, such as The Archer and The Puzzler (Superman villains) and The Clock King (a Green Arrow villain). Many other villains were created especially for the TV show, and never did appear in the comic books (e.g., The Siren, Chandelle, Bookworm, King Tut, Lord Ffogg, Dr. Cassandra, and Louie the Lilac), while some were hybrids. The comics' Mr. Zero was renamed Mr. Freeze (a name change that was copied in the comics with lasting effect), and the comics' Brainy Barrows was reworked as Egghead. Other celebrities often appeared in scenes where the Dynamic Duo were scaling a building wall and the celebrity would suddenly open a window and have a short conversation with the superheroes. Adam West enjoys the story that he was part of two of the three Big B's of the 1960s: Batman, The Beatles and Bond. West says he was actually invited to play Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service based on his popularity as Batman, but declined the role as he felt it should be played by a British actor (ironically, the role went to an Australian, George Lazenby. The popularity of the TV show did not translate well to the silver screen, however. A movie version of the TV show was released to theaters (the 1966 “Batman” film), but it did not become a large box office hit, even though creatively the movie was generally regarded to be just as good as the first season episodes, and superior to most of the second and third season episodes. The movie continued to be profitably re-released to theaters, TV, and video for decades. Originally, the movie had been created to help sell the TV series abroad, but the success of the series in America sold itself, and the movie was brought out after season one had already been aired. In fact, the movie's budget allowed for producers to build the Batboat and Batcopter, which were used in the second and third seasons of the TV show. The live-action TV show was extraordinarily popular. At the height of its popularity, it was the only prime time TV show other than Peyton Place to be broadcast twice in one week as part of its regular schedule, airing at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. Episodes of the show were often filmed as two-part cliffhangers, with each storyline beginning on Wednesday and ending on the Thursday night episode. At the very end of the Thursday night segment, a little tag featuring the next week's villain would be shown, e.g.: "Next week -- Batman jousts with The Joker again!" (this started the third week of the series' run and continued until the end of season two). The first episode of a storyline would typically end with Batman and Robin being trapped in a ridiculous deathtrap, while the narrator (Dozier) would tell viewers to watch the next night with the repeated phrase: "Tune in tomorrow — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!" Even now, many years after the show ceased production, this catch-phrase is still a long-running punchline in popular culture. Batman would even have influence in the sports world. During the height of the show's popularity, the Pittsburgh Steelers unveiled new uniforms influenced by Adam West's Batman outfits. The uniforms were introduced for the 1967 NFL season, and had gold triangle-like diamonds on the shoulders of both the black home jerseys and white away jerseys. However, the jerseys turned out to be very unpopular and, coupled with a last-place season that year, were discarded the following season in favor of the team's current-style uniforms. The show even contributed to the careers of two real-life New York City policemen, David Greenberg and Robert Hantz. This pair had a remarkable career as police officers, so much so that they were given street nicknames of "Batman and Robin". Their careers were fictionalized in the 1974 movie The Super Cops. The series' stars, Adam West and Burt Ward, were typecast for decades afterwards, with West especially finding himself unable to escape the reputation the series gave him as a hammy, campy actor. However, years after the series' impact faded, West found fame and respect among comic book and animation fans, who appreciated his work on the TV series. One of the more popular episodes of Batman: The Animated Series paid tribute to West with an episode titled "The Grey Ghost". In this episode, West played the role of an aging star of a superhero TV series Bruce Wayne had watched as a child, and would be inspired by as a crimefighter, who found new popularity with the next generation of fans. He would also play Gotham City's Mayor Grange as a somewhat recurring role in The Batman. In addition, the most frequent visual influence is that later Batmobiles usually have a rear rocket thruster that usually fires as the car makes a fast start. In 2003, West and Ward reunited for a tongue-in-cheek telefilm titled “Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt” which combined dramatized recreations of the filming of the original series (with younger actors standing in for the stars), with modern day footage of West and Ward searching for a stolen Batmobile. The film included cameo appearances by Newmar and Gorshin, as well as Lee Meriwether who had played Catwoman in the 1966 film and Lyle Waggoner, who had been an early candidate for the role of Batman. Yvonne Craig did not appear in the movie because she reportedly disliked the script. The movie received high ratings and was released on DVD May 2005. Let the purist droolers drone on about how Tim Burton’s films plumbed the depths of the Dark Knight’s brooding soul; it was the late ‘60s ABC series that captured the comic book’s spirit of fun (Though I believe Christopher Nolan’s films managed to capture both perfectly). As the slightly paunchy Caped Crusader, Adam West fought Gotham City bad guys with a tongue-in-cheek glee. And, as Batman’s sidekick, Burt Ward exuded an infectiously boyish enthusiasm bordering on mania (“Holy contributing to the delinquency of minors, Batman!”). The show had it all: exciting action sequences (with evocative sound-effects phrases like “THWACK!,” “OOOF!,” and “ZOWIE!”), nifty gadgets, (the Batarang, the Batgeiger Counter, the Batshark Repellant), and guest stars galore. In addition to heinous villains like the Joker (Cesar Romero, who refused to shave his mustache and had the make-up artist put white paint over it, which, in a way, is something the Joke would do), the Penguin (Burgess Meredith), and the Riddler (Frank Gorshin, who could have also been the Joker with that laugh), there were lesser but no less kitschy figures like King Tut (Victor Buono as a college professor who, whenever he gets hit on the head, starts thinking that he’s King Tutankhamun and starts committing crimes, SERIOUSLY!!!!), “Fingers” Chandell (Liberace), and Lola Lasagne (Ethel Merman). As Meredith recalled, “After its first few episodes, Batman became the in thing to do.” Celebrities from Jerry Lewis to Sammy Davis, Jr., to Edward G. Robinson contributed cameos, popping out of windows as Batman and Robin scaled the sides of buildings. But, those stars weren’t the real reason to tune into Batman each week, and neither was the fact that most episodes were two-parters (but that did help.) Batman was a fantasy in more ways than one. Not only were many a prepubescent boy’s dirty dreams were inspired by formfitting costumes of the crime-busting Batgirl (Yvonne Craig) and the evil temptress Catwoman (played by three women, Julie Newman (Seasons 1 and 2), Ertha Kitt (Season 3), and Lee Meriwether (the 1966 movie) but it was also a fun show to get lost into and play your own adventures in your living room. Not that I ever did that when the Family Channel (now ABC Family) or FX use to air reruns. I never did that! Never! Ever! STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 4, 2008 14:37:49 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 90-86 (I do four on the weekends). Here are the hints:
It jumped the shark, you hail them, hippies and conservatives in the same household, and an American version of a British show.
|
|