By Sylvia Gurinsky
What could have happened to break the almost 60-year relationship between Jerry Lewis and the Muscular Dystrophy Association?
Lewis is not the most politically correct of people. But unless the 86-year-old actor/comedian is suffering from illness, there seems to be no reason to toss him out completely without letting him take part in this year's telethon, which is much shorter than the 21-hour programs of years past.
Last year, the 21-hour telethon raised $61 million - in a severe recession. Lewis was a big reason for that, and for MDA's high profile.
One has to wonder if the organization can keep that profile - and its success - without him, and whether MDA prepared for a post-Lewis future.
One legacy of his success with both corporate and mom-and-pop donors was the news this week of a common source being found for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
One thing's for sure: The telethon will never again be as entertaining as it was in its glory television years of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. That's not MDA's fault. That's a function of the transfer of "show business" from genuine superstars - Lewis has had connections to the very best - to superficial people on rubberneck (reality) shows.
So here's a thanks to Jerry Lewis for everything he did for his "kids" and for MDA, and a fond look back at one of the telethon's most entertaining moments - in 1974, when the Jackson 5 performed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsqBjvOUPsQ
**************************************************************************
Reza Badiyi, who died this week, directed more episodes of television programs than anyone else. But the two greatest TV memories he leaves involve the introductions to a trio of classics.
The first involved a secret agent and how he got to work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cscedJQ3PFU
"Get Smart," of course, was a spoof of the "James Bond" movies and various spy shows, so the entrance of Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) to Control headquarters was also a spoof.
In 1968, Badiyi gave a new look to Hawaii beyond ukeleles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AepyGm9Me6w
Combining his images to Mort Stevens' music made the opening to "Hawaii Five-0" one of the most memorable in television history.
In 1970, Badiyi showed the new single woman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCL3B5LgUCo
Mary Tyler Moore's opening theme and images would change from year to year - but the iconic final image of Mary throwing her hat in the air would stay and become immortalized in numerous ways.
Here's to the Look of Reza Badiyi.
***************************************************************************
YesterTube will be on hiatus until after Labor Day. Enjoy the rest of the summer and Happy Viewing!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Week of August 19: Streisand On the Small Screen
By Sylvia Gurinsky
One of the few (very few) redeeming pieces of new programming in the current PBS pledge drive is "Barbra Streisand: One Night Only at the Village Vanguard," a cabaret-style concert she performed in Greenwich Village in 2009.
It's another great performance, and a reminder of the close relationship Streisand has had with television for the last 50 years.
It's hard to believe 1961 was that long ago, but that's when 19-year-old Streisand made her television debut on NBC's "The Jack Paar Show." Paar was likely very sorry to have missed that program, guest-hosted by Orson Bean ("Dr. Quinn") and featuring author Gore Vidal and comedienne Phyllis Diller as guests:
http://vodpod.com/watch/330954-barbra-streisands-first-tv-appearance-circa-1961
During the early 1960s, Streisand appeared on numerous variety shows. Memorably, this included "The Judy Garland Show" on CBS, where the legend (Garland) sang with the legend in the making (Streisand):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYpcFHtxm60
In 1965, while she was still performing on Broadway in "Funny Girl," she did her first special for CBS, called "My Name is Barbra." The special included the memorable "Poverty Medley," filmed in the middle of the night in the fashionable Bergdorf Goodman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JoNj6osYM8
The only thing that could have improved it was color. "Color Me Barbara," aired in 1966, featured Streisand at the Philadelphia Museum of Art:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udpu1jIxoXg&feature=related
In 1967, Streisand performed a wonderful live concert, "A Happening In Central Park." Here she is singing one of her standards, "He Touched Me.":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aIYqGZErxo&feature=related
In 1980, she appeared on the Grammy Awards, singing "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with her Erasmus Hall High School choir mate, Neil Diamond:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj10EzNKA2M
She would again electrify audiences during her 1993-94 concert tour - my favorite of her live performances. Helped by fellow Oscar winner Marvin Hamlisch, who was the musical director, Streisand had an autobiographical perspective through music. It started with her entrance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPA0Pppen40
To celebrate the millenium, she also did a concert called "Timeless." Here, she sings the title song from "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," one of the Broadway musicals for which she did the movie version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNN0zYLRDWU
Just about everything's available on DVD. Enjoy!
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
One of the few (very few) redeeming pieces of new programming in the current PBS pledge drive is "Barbra Streisand: One Night Only at the Village Vanguard," a cabaret-style concert she performed in Greenwich Village in 2009.
It's another great performance, and a reminder of the close relationship Streisand has had with television for the last 50 years.
It's hard to believe 1961 was that long ago, but that's when 19-year-old Streisand made her television debut on NBC's "The Jack Paar Show." Paar was likely very sorry to have missed that program, guest-hosted by Orson Bean ("Dr. Quinn") and featuring author Gore Vidal and comedienne Phyllis Diller as guests:
http://vodpod.com/watch/330954-barbra-streisands-first-tv-appearance-circa-1961
During the early 1960s, Streisand appeared on numerous variety shows. Memorably, this included "The Judy Garland Show" on CBS, where the legend (Garland) sang with the legend in the making (Streisand):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYpcFHtxm60
In 1965, while she was still performing on Broadway in "Funny Girl," she did her first special for CBS, called "My Name is Barbra." The special included the memorable "Poverty Medley," filmed in the middle of the night in the fashionable Bergdorf Goodman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JoNj6osYM8
The only thing that could have improved it was color. "Color Me Barbara," aired in 1966, featured Streisand at the Philadelphia Museum of Art:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udpu1jIxoXg&feature=related
In 1967, Streisand performed a wonderful live concert, "A Happening In Central Park." Here she is singing one of her standards, "He Touched Me.":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aIYqGZErxo&feature=related
In 1980, she appeared on the Grammy Awards, singing "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with her Erasmus Hall High School choir mate, Neil Diamond:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj10EzNKA2M
She would again electrify audiences during her 1993-94 concert tour - my favorite of her live performances. Helped by fellow Oscar winner Marvin Hamlisch, who was the musical director, Streisand had an autobiographical perspective through music. It started with her entrance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPA0Pppen40
To celebrate the millenium, she also did a concert called "Timeless." Here, she sings the title song from "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," one of the Broadway musicals for which she did the movie version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNN0zYLRDWU
Just about everything's available on DVD. Enjoy!
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Week of August 12: The Magic of the Original "Bewitched"
By Sylvia Gurinsky
Continuing the bird-brained saga of trying to make new television shows from classic ones is CBS, which should really know better after its under-performing non-copy of "Hawaii Five-0." Now on the target list: A new version of "Bewitched."
The original ran on ABC from 1964-72. Of course, it starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens, the witch who just wanted to live a normal life. She married Darrin Stephens, a mortal advertising executive originally played by Dick York, and he inherited her secret - and her wacky family.
The success of the show inevitably triggered a movie. With Nicole Kidman, an Oscar-winning actress, as Samantha and other cast members, including Oscar-winner Shirley MacLaine, the movie should have been a hit - if it had stuck to the original premise of the series. Screenwriter Nora Ephron chose not to do that, however, and the movie flopped.
So one has to wonder why on earth CBS programming head Nina Tassler is turning to the producers of that failed effort for a new series.
But enough (please!) about any remakes. Let's focus on the original series.
Montgomery and York (who had to leave halfway through the fifth season because of serious back problems) were joined by a quality cast: Agnes Moorehead as Endora, Samantha's mother; Marion Lorne (through Season 4) as Aunt Clara; Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur; Alice Ghostley (after Season 4) as Esmerelda; Maurice Evans as Samantha's father (also named Maurice); Alice Pearce, then Sandra Gould with George Tobias as the neighbor Kravitzes and David White as Larry Tate, Darrin's boss. There were also occasional players, including Bernard Fox as Dr. Bombay. For most of the show's run, twins Erin and Diane Murphy played Tabitha, the Stephens' young daughter.
There were two secret weapons: The large writing staff, beginning with series creator Sol Saks, who took typical family and business situations and added a "bewitching" element to them, and the special effects team - particuarly after Season 3, the first season the show was broadcast in color.
Another secret weapon was the show's message of tolerance. In just one episode, Season 7's "Sisters at Heart," in which Tabitha puts black and white polka dots on herself and her African-American friend Lisa, is the issue tackled overtly. But it was an undercurrent throughout the series.
Here's one example: Season 3's "The Trial and Error of Aunt Clara," in which Samantha is trying to prevent Endora and other witches from putting her dear aunt out to pasture - an apt analogy for the treatment of many senior citizens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4ByYBq1n3M
The entire series is available on DVD. Stick with that one. Avoid any pale imitations.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
Continuing the bird-brained saga of trying to make new television shows from classic ones is CBS, which should really know better after its under-performing non-copy of "Hawaii Five-0." Now on the target list: A new version of "Bewitched."
The original ran on ABC from 1964-72. Of course, it starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens, the witch who just wanted to live a normal life. She married Darrin Stephens, a mortal advertising executive originally played by Dick York, and he inherited her secret - and her wacky family.
The success of the show inevitably triggered a movie. With Nicole Kidman, an Oscar-winning actress, as Samantha and other cast members, including Oscar-winner Shirley MacLaine, the movie should have been a hit - if it had stuck to the original premise of the series. Screenwriter Nora Ephron chose not to do that, however, and the movie flopped.
So one has to wonder why on earth CBS programming head Nina Tassler is turning to the producers of that failed effort for a new series.
But enough (please!) about any remakes. Let's focus on the original series.
Montgomery and York (who had to leave halfway through the fifth season because of serious back problems) were joined by a quality cast: Agnes Moorehead as Endora, Samantha's mother; Marion Lorne (through Season 4) as Aunt Clara; Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur; Alice Ghostley (after Season 4) as Esmerelda; Maurice Evans as Samantha's father (also named Maurice); Alice Pearce, then Sandra Gould with George Tobias as the neighbor Kravitzes and David White as Larry Tate, Darrin's boss. There were also occasional players, including Bernard Fox as Dr. Bombay. For most of the show's run, twins Erin and Diane Murphy played Tabitha, the Stephens' young daughter.
There were two secret weapons: The large writing staff, beginning with series creator Sol Saks, who took typical family and business situations and added a "bewitching" element to them, and the special effects team - particuarly after Season 3, the first season the show was broadcast in color.
Another secret weapon was the show's message of tolerance. In just one episode, Season 7's "Sisters at Heart," in which Tabitha puts black and white polka dots on herself and her African-American friend Lisa, is the issue tackled overtly. But it was an undercurrent throughout the series.
Here's one example: Season 3's "The Trial and Error of Aunt Clara," in which Samantha is trying to prevent Endora and other witches from putting her dear aunt out to pasture - an apt analogy for the treatment of many senior citizens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4ByYBq1n3M
The entire series is available on DVD. Stick with that one. Avoid any pale imitations.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Week of August 4: Happy 100th Birthday, Lucy
By Sylvia Gurinsky
There isn't much more that can be said about Lucille Ball on her 100th birthday, which is tomorrow. So we'll let Ricky Ricardo do the talking - and the singing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fn7PKzf5tk
Happy Birthday, Lucy! And Happy Viewing, Everyone!
There isn't much more that can be said about Lucille Ball on her 100th birthday, which is tomorrow. So we'll let Ricky Ricardo do the talking - and the singing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fn7PKzf5tk
Happy Birthday, Lucy! And Happy Viewing, Everyone!
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