Tag Archives: forgotten television

December 9, 2016 · 8:52 am

THE CHRISTMAS CAROL (1949)

1949 A Christmas CarolTHE CHRISTMAS CAROL (1949) – This relic from the VERY early years of television was a syndicated production. It was also one of THREE productions of the Carol to hit the airwaves in 1949.

This version’s biggest claim to fame is the on-screen presence of a bearded (despite the picture to the right) Vincent Price as the story’s narrator. For my fellow bad movie geeks the one and only Robert Clarke portrays Nephew Fred to Taylor Holmes’ Scrooge.

Price is the very best element of the production, which is so haphazard that it repeatedly presents Scrooge’s first name spelled “Ebeneezer” instead of “Ebenezer” like it should be.

All things considered, this is a reasonable (but bland) presentation given its brief 25 1/2 minute running time and technical limitations. With no special effects the tableau of Marley’s Ghost walking through a solid door is accomplished by Continue reading →

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November 25, 2016 · 11:34 pm

CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON 2016 BEGINS: FRENCH TV VERSION (1984)

TF1 logo

TF1 in France

Yes, regular readers know that the Friday after Thanksgiving every year kicks off this tradition! Balladeer’s Blog’s 7th annual Christmas Carol-A- Thon begins with one of the most visually enticing versions ever made. Unfortunately, it’s also virtually impossible to obtain for people who lack my nearly psychotic drive to track these things down.

TF1 Television in France first aired this version of A Christmas Carol, which could be described as a Carol for the arthouse crowd. Not a put-down OR a compliment, just an observation.

The performances are even more low-key than in the George C Scott version and the direction, by Pierre Boutron, is very inventive, bordering on a surrealist approach .The overall effect is like A Very Jean Cocteau Christmas or something. 

As with the Spanish Leyenda de Navidad this French production keeps the story in 1843 London and stars Michel Bouquet as Scrooge and Pierre Olaf as Bob Cratchit.

This 90 minute version of the Carol is one of the tiny handful that depict Scrooge at Marley’s funeral, like the 1969 Australian cartoon version. Marley’s Ghost has the look of a bearded badass, but delivers his warning to Scrooge with a cold and calculating air that is almost more chilling than Continue reading →

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August 31, 2016 · 10:09 pm

WAR OF THE WORLDS (1988-1990)

War of the Worlds tv guideWar of the Worlds posterWAR OF THE WORLDS (Television Series) – This short-lived series proceeded from a fun premise. In this program’s world the Martian invasions depicted occurring in 1901 ( 1897 novel), 1938 (Orson Welles radio version) and 1953 (first film version) were really three separate real-world attempts by extra-terrestrials (NOT Martians, however) to conquer the Earth. In an “X-Files before The X-Files existed” sort of way the world’s governments collaborated in an extensive – and successful – coverup to pass those invasions off as fiction.

The faux-Martian craft were presented as the explanation behind the first UFO sightings and their damaged spaceships and presumably dead bodies were being kept in hiding at various bases around the world for reverse-engineering and other studies. The leftover bodies from the 1953 invasion were really just dormant, thanks to the aliens’ latest attempts at immunizing themselves against the Earthly illnesses that were always their undoing in the past.    

War of the Worlds castThose dormant aliens are now emerging from their sleep and attempting once again to conquer the Earth, this time by taking over the bodies of human beings thereby giving themselves full immunity. Human scientists, military and governmental forces battle the aliens. 

Though all of that sounds derivative War of the Worlds actually managed to make it all seem fresh through quality scripting, fleshed-out characters and a capable cast led by Jared “Fantastic Voyage” Martin, Ann Robinson, Ilse Von Glatz and Richard Chaves. An added element of suspense lay in the fact that the aliens sometimes WON so viewers felt genuine tension. Pacing was a problem, however, and I would say the show’s episodes would have benefited from a half-hour run time instead of an hour-long format.   Continue reading →

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June 18, 2016 · 7:16 pm

SUPERNATURAL (1933) ON THE TEXAS TWENTY-SEVEN FILM VAULT

Supernatural 1933Before MST3K there was … The Texas 27 Film Vault!

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this neglected cult show from the mid-1980s.

EPISODE ORIGINALLY BROADCAST: Saturday April 19th, 1986 from 10:30pm to 1:00am.

EXTRAS: This episode featured footage of our Film Vault Technicians First Class Randy and Richard’s promotional appearance at Six Flags Mall in nearby Arlington, TX.Supernatural 2

HOST SEGMENTS: One particular Host Segment featured one of the show’s behind-the- scenes people portraying Commando Cody complete with helmet and rocket pack. He was portraying the character because the Commando Cody serial Radar Men from the Moon was the current serial being shown before the movie each week on The Texas 27 Film Vault.

Since Randy Clower still outranked his co-host Richard Malmos (at least until a few episodes later) in the fictional Film Vault Corps (“The few, the proud, the sarcastic”) their relationship often featured the type of abusive “Host and Second Banana” dynamic like that between Dr Morgus and his lab assistant Chopsley or Zacherle and his wife My Dear or Dr Forester and TV’s Frank.  Continue reading →

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April 9, 2016 · 5:00 pm

THE NIGHT AMERICA TREMBLED (1957): FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

Night America TrembledTHE NIGHT AMERICA TREMBLED (1957) – This is a reasonably enjoyable television movie sponsored by Westinghouse. The Night America Trembled presents what may be the very first dramatic production of the supposed panic caused by the 1938 Mercury Theater radio production of War of the Worlds. I’m always fascinated with accounts of this possibly overblown event, but the actual event – not so much.      

Yes, it all comes down to my love of mythology and the manner in which occurrences get embellished until even the wildest embellishments become accepted into a culture’s shared experience and shared assumptions. But I’m an incredibly boring guy.

Newsman Edward R Murrow hosts the dramatization and as usual looks like he’d love to climb out of the screen and kick the asses of news pussies like Chris Matthews and Chris Hayes. The most entertaining aspect of this production is catching the future stars in supporting roles. Ed Asner, Warren Beatty AND Warren Oates, plus James Coburn, Vincent Gardenia, John Astin and more.      Continue reading →

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February 13, 2016 · 2:40 pm

SUPER PRESIDENT: FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

superpresident

Super President

Since it’s President’s Day holiday time here’s a look at a long- neglected television series.

SUPER PRESIDENT was an actual cartoon series from the 1960’s that has virtually disappeared. It’s rare to catch a glimpse of this DePatie- Freleng show anywhere or even to find people who have heard of it outside of oddballs like me.

This cartoon was not intended for laughs, like it would be today. It honestly featured a superhero whose “secret identity” was being President of the United States. First off, there’s the absurd fun of the name AND the fact that calling yourself Super President instantly blows your cover anyway, unless you think people are dumb enough to not figure out what you’re the president OF. (The Teamsters Union? The National Egg Council?)  

President James Norcross was our title superhero and like the Fantastic Four a half-dozen years earlier got his powers from a cosmic ray storm. He had super-strength, could fly via small rockets on his belt and as the topper could transform himself into any substance – steel, granite, water, electricity and on more than one occassion – “ozone”. (Ozone?) Super President also had a nifty Omnicar that could drive, fly and serve as a submarine. The Omnicar was stashed in a secret room in the White House that served as SP’s version of the Batcave (How was this addition to the White House added without attracting attention and how much did it cost?). Continue reading →

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November 12, 2015 · 10:23 pm

CAPTAIN Z-RO (1951-1960): FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

Captain Z-Ro and Jet

Captain Z-Ro and Jet

CAPTAIN Z-RO – (1951-1960) Over a full decade before Great Britain’s ultimate cult show, Doctor Who, hit the airwaves this American show featured the  titular Captain traveling in time and space with various sidekicks, including Jet, the young man pictured with Captain Z-Ro in the photo to the left. Continue reading →

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November 9, 2015 · 9:06 pm

DEPARTMENT S: FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

departmentsdvdaust_lDEPARTMENT S (1968-1970) – Department S was a fictional department of Interpol and was a  highly specialized unit called in to investigate exceptionally mind-boggling mysteries that left all other authorities baffled.

A passenger plane lands after being missing for six days but with the hundreds of passengers all swearing that mere hours passed for them? Call in Dept S.

An entire town disappears except for one woman who was asleep from tranquilizers? Call in Dept S.

In an abandoned factory an elaborately constructed room is discovered, elegantly furnished but with bars on the doors plus a dead woman and a gibbering, demented man inside? Call in Dept S. Continue reading →

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November 2, 2015 · 6:46 pm

MASTERMIND (1981) – FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

MASTERMINDMASTERMIND (also known as Q.E.D.) (1981) – A young, bearded Sam Waterston starred in this incredibly charming series set in 1912 England. Waterston portrayed the title genius, American Ivy League scholar Dr Quentin E Deveril, whose  initials were, of course, a cutesy play on the Latin expression “quod erat demonstrandum”  (“what was to be demonstrated”), the famous Q.E.D. from academic  exercises.

Deveril’s adventures could be best described as a cross between Indiana Jones, Quatermass and Brisco County, Jr. Many of the creative team behind this show went on to do the lauded Sherlock Holmes series starring the great Jeremy Brett, and Deveril’s impatience with lesser minds rivaled that of the great detective. Continue reading →

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April 12, 2015 · 6:19 pm

THE ALL-NIGHT SHOW (1980-1981): THE PIONEERING CANADIAN CULT SHOW

Chuck the Security Guard (Chas Lawther) in an ad featuring his catch-phrase "Hey you!"

Chuck the Security Guard (Chas Lawther) in an ad featuring his catch-phrase “Hey you!”

Years before Night Flight, long before info-mercials had conquered the wee hours and more than a decade before Penn and Teller pretended to be late-night security guards hosting bad movies on Monster Vision, there was The All-Night Show.  

In September of 1980 Toronto’s CFMT Channel 47 (Cable 4) launched The All-Night Show, which ran Monday through Friday from 2am to 6am, 1am to 6am on Saturdays. Chas Lawther earned a spot in Cult Valhalla by portraying CFMT’s Chuck the Security Guard, backed up by his never-seen sidekicks Errol Bruce and Michael Lennick playing Channel 47 cameramen Ryerson DuPont and P.B. Leonard. A young Jim Carrey did some voice work for the program during its lone year on the air. Jeff Silverman created and produced the show.

Chuck the Security Guard hosting The All-Night Show.

Chuck the Security Guard hosting The All-Night Show.

The show’s schtick was that Chuck, DuPont and Leonard would run their own pirate broadcast from CFMT’s facilities after the “real” station had gone off the air. Chuck and company would present bad and campy movies, music videos, cult t.v. shows and video oddities like old commercials, bizarre educational shorts and fragments of Canadian kitsch culture. Not only that but pitchmen could get air time on the show to hawk their new products, the more off-beat the better. Oddball comedy sketches and live phone calls were also part of The All-Night Show‘s regular segments.  

Despite its comparatively short lifespan The All-Night Show has reached legendary status in Canada. The generation that caught the program when it was airing live are part of a very select club with an enviable claim to a certain “hipness beyond hip” status for getting to be there as it happened. One of those fans from the show’s actual run is the iconoclastic Canadian columnist Kathy Shaidle who blogs at  http://www.fivefeetoffury.com/    and is the author of Confessions of a Failed Slut, available at Amazon.  

The daring and iconoclastic Kathy Shaidle

The daring and iconoclastic Kathy Shaidle

Kathy was kind enough to share some of her memories of The All-Night Show:

“When I was in high school The All-Night Show was a very big deal. Yeah, I was a weird kid, but fortunately I had a couple of almost-as- weird friends and sometimes they’d stay overnight to watch it with me.  

“Even though we knew it was ‘fake’ the idea of a security guard taking over the TV station at night appealed to the rebel in us and all the other teenagers I knew were hooked on the show.   Continue reading →

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