Here’s a clip of the majestic comedy duo Bob and Ray (Elliot and Goulding were their surnames) from what appears to be a mid 1970s Johnny Carson show. I can’t explain the condition of Johnny’s jacket in the intro but it doesn’t really matter. This is one of my favorite
Once upon a time watching television was easy. You didn’t need to subscribe to channels, download apps, scan QR codes, binge, DVR, Roku, Apple, or Tubi your way through the media universe. Thirteen channels, one remote control and a couch was the whole deal. And the seasons were simple and
On Friday I posted a wonderful clip of then 71 year-old Joan Rivers doing an appearance on BBC host Michael Parkinson’s show. Today we roll back the clock thirty five or so years from that interview and watch the Joan that first appeared in front of national audiences. Above is
Here’s a terrific sampling of the 1975 Jerry Lewis MDA telethon, featuring a good deal of Sinatra, some Totie Fields, a little Harry James and some of Jerry’s greasiest, most self-serving moments. This extended highlights reel is best played in the background while you do something better with your time,
Much like the Ernie Kovacs clips I’ve been posting over the past few Fridays, SCTV was very much an acquired taste. If you got it, you got it forever. One of my favorite bits was Rick Moranis’s cruel (and impressively accurate) impression of Merv Griffin. They never did an actual
Let’s close this weeks Sinatra-bashing extravaganza with another goofy clip from his shaggy television variety series of the early 1950s, the boringly named ‘The Frank Sinatra Show’. In this clip he introduces the singer/comedienne Dagmar–somebody once said car bumpers were styled after Dagmar’s figure. Sinatra’s intro is embarrassing. He was
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMGASlOu028 Continuing our shallow dive into the slump years of Frank Sinatra’s career (roughly 1949-53) here’s a clip from Sinatra’s TV show that he somehow maintained during the period, the daringly titled ‘The Frank Sinatra Show’. Frank sings ‘These Foolish Things’, one of the loveliest ballads of the era accompanied
Was Henny Youngman ever really funny? Of course not. Which is why he’s so frigging funny. It’s the staleness of the jokes, the completely tossed-off manner of his delivery (as if he were pre-bored on the audiences behalf) and constant lack of invention and relentless recylcling of material that somehow
Let’s kick off this terrifying year with a kickass episode of the great dance show ‘Hullabaloo’. This particular show dates from 1966 and features the young Simon & Garfunkel, a thin Lainie Kazan and the awful George Hamilton (skip his opening vocal number unless for some reason you’re jonesing for
Apropos of yesterday’s post featuring the short-lived Bobby Fuller singing ‘I Fought The Law’, above is more Bobby and his band. This time it’s from a pop & dance TV show called ‘Shivaree’ and features two of his other big tunes, ‘Let Her Dance’ and ‘Another Sad and Lonely Night’.