What a day... Usually, if I'm bugged it's cuz someone was a dumbass to me at work. Today, I received two very bad entertainment-page news items that are worse blows to me than surliness from rude junior-high kids...
If you asked me what my Favorite TV Show of All Time was, that would be hard. Hell, there's so many good ones: MST3K, Python, The Gong Show, Saturday Night Live, the Higgins Boys and Gruber (most of you never saw this one; Steve Higgins made some appearances on Ellen Degeneres's old sitcom; Gruber was on Freaks and Geeks as the hippie school counselor), and so on.
However, if you asked my Favorite Sitcom Ever? That's no contest-- WKRP In Cincinnati. You could throw in The Simpsons as a sitcom, if you want. I'd still take WKRP. Taxi? M*A*S*H? Sanford & Son? Great shows, but I prefer the KRP.
What a great show it was. Aside from my huge crush on Jan Smithers (the original Bailey, haha), you had all the acting talents, poured into perfectly-realized characters, of Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Frank Bonner, Howard Hesseman, Richard Sanders... and, well, yeah, even Loni Anderson, since her character had such intelligence, cameos by Edie McClurg and Sylvia Sidney and Ian Wolfe were awesome in their give-n-take exchanges as Mama Carlson and Hirsch, her butler.
And Gordon Jump, the perfect nervous, lost, dizzy, unaccountable nepotism-floated boss over them all, Mr. Carlson, The Big Guy. He would go on to play The Maytag Repairman in commercials, and umm... well, he played a child predator on a Diff'rent Strokes, but let's not dwell on that
...anyway, nobody was better at playing someone for whom no job was too big to avoid by daydreaming about fishing. But, when it came time to support his employees in difficult times, whether it was Venus in the Army tribunal for desertion, some sleazeball with designs on Jennifer, or the whole gangs employment being threatened by Mama Carlson, Arthur Carlson was all heart and resolve.
Among my favorite scenes ever-- I forget exactly why, but The Big Guy feels a need to roam the station, be on top of things (then again, he might've been hiding from someone in his office), so he goes in the sound studio. Dr. Johnny is slouched out, like hes completely wasted or having a baaad flashback, and Pink Floyds Dogs plays in the background. Its at the long break with the synth stretches and dog barks.
Mr. Carlson [confused at this weird rock and roll stuff] Are those dogs barking?
He picks up the album (vinyl of course , this is 1978/79), with one of the greatest art sleeves ever (albeit pretty chintzy-looking on CD-scale) and says:
Mr. Carlson - Hey, this sounds good, Pigs on the Wing; can you play that?
Dr. Johnny NO.
I believe thats right. Forgive me if its not verbatim; no channel shows the show anymore, and I only saw the scene 3 or 4 times over my teens, but stillclassic
Anyway, blahblahblah TV history blahblahblah comedic genius doodledoodledee eulogy. Goodnight, funnyman Mr. Jump. You will be missed.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
On a lesser note of importance, probably much lesser to many of you my favorite show of today has been cancelled. After many announcements that they were making more shows, because MTV TOLD THEM THAT THEY WOULD, THEN RENEGED, I see an item here, while looking for pics of Gordon to upload here, that Tom Greens new show is cancelled.
I know many of you dont give a crap about Tom Green. You think hes funny 10, or zero, percent of the time. Well I find him funny 85 percent of the time, and most of the rest of the time hes being such a goof that I love him to bits. I didnt like the dead animal bits. Okay, Tom, put down the dead animalsdown. No. Its in the road and dead, LEAVE IT ALONE anyway, aside from that, I love him to bits, and now hes gone. On the bright side, Ill get more sleep and now have no current TV shows worth worrying about taping. I guess its non-stop SG and HomeSTARRunner for me
Goodnight, dorky funnyman Tom. You too will be missed and Glen Hollywood Humplik.
p.s.okay, well maybe Fawlty Towers was better than WKRP or The New Tom Green Show. Please, let me grieve, okay?
p.p.s. The New WKRP In Cincinnati? Ehh, didn't work so hot. Had Gordon, but not enough of the others.
If you asked me what my Favorite TV Show of All Time was, that would be hard. Hell, there's so many good ones: MST3K, Python, The Gong Show, Saturday Night Live, the Higgins Boys and Gruber (most of you never saw this one; Steve Higgins made some appearances on Ellen Degeneres's old sitcom; Gruber was on Freaks and Geeks as the hippie school counselor), and so on.
However, if you asked my Favorite Sitcom Ever? That's no contest-- WKRP In Cincinnati. You could throw in The Simpsons as a sitcom, if you want. I'd still take WKRP. Taxi? M*A*S*H? Sanford & Son? Great shows, but I prefer the KRP.
What a great show it was. Aside from my huge crush on Jan Smithers (the original Bailey, haha), you had all the acting talents, poured into perfectly-realized characters, of Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Frank Bonner, Howard Hesseman, Richard Sanders... and, well, yeah, even Loni Anderson, since her character had such intelligence, cameos by Edie McClurg and Sylvia Sidney and Ian Wolfe were awesome in their give-n-take exchanges as Mama Carlson and Hirsch, her butler.
And Gordon Jump, the perfect nervous, lost, dizzy, unaccountable nepotism-floated boss over them all, Mr. Carlson, The Big Guy. He would go on to play The Maytag Repairman in commercials, and umm... well, he played a child predator on a Diff'rent Strokes, but let's not dwell on that
...anyway, nobody was better at playing someone for whom no job was too big to avoid by daydreaming about fishing. But, when it came time to support his employees in difficult times, whether it was Venus in the Army tribunal for desertion, some sleazeball with designs on Jennifer, or the whole gangs employment being threatened by Mama Carlson, Arthur Carlson was all heart and resolve.
Among my favorite scenes ever-- I forget exactly why, but The Big Guy feels a need to roam the station, be on top of things (then again, he might've been hiding from someone in his office), so he goes in the sound studio. Dr. Johnny is slouched out, like hes completely wasted or having a baaad flashback, and Pink Floyds Dogs plays in the background. Its at the long break with the synth stretches and dog barks.
Mr. Carlson [confused at this weird rock and roll stuff] Are those dogs barking?
He picks up the album (vinyl of course , this is 1978/79), with one of the greatest art sleeves ever (albeit pretty chintzy-looking on CD-scale) and says:
Mr. Carlson - Hey, this sounds good, Pigs on the Wing; can you play that?
Dr. Johnny NO.
I believe thats right. Forgive me if its not verbatim; no channel shows the show anymore, and I only saw the scene 3 or 4 times over my teens, but stillclassic
Anyway, blahblahblah TV history blahblahblah comedic genius doodledoodledee eulogy. Goodnight, funnyman Mr. Jump. You will be missed.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
On a lesser note of importance, probably much lesser to many of you my favorite show of today has been cancelled. After many announcements that they were making more shows, because MTV TOLD THEM THAT THEY WOULD, THEN RENEGED, I see an item here, while looking for pics of Gordon to upload here, that Tom Greens new show is cancelled.
I know many of you dont give a crap about Tom Green. You think hes funny 10, or zero, percent of the time. Well I find him funny 85 percent of the time, and most of the rest of the time hes being such a goof that I love him to bits. I didnt like the dead animal bits. Okay, Tom, put down the dead animalsdown. No. Its in the road and dead, LEAVE IT ALONE anyway, aside from that, I love him to bits, and now hes gone. On the bright side, Ill get more sleep and now have no current TV shows worth worrying about taping. I guess its non-stop SG and HomeSTARRunner for me
Goodnight, dorky funnyman Tom. You too will be missed and Glen Hollywood Humplik.
p.s.okay, well maybe Fawlty Towers was better than WKRP or The New Tom Green Show. Please, let me grieve, okay?
p.p.s. The New WKRP In Cincinnati? Ehh, didn't work so hot. Had Gordon, but not enough of the others.
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
smatt:
Fawlty Towers was brilliant, but I think I've watched it to much. Open All Hours was a much underrated comedy, maybe not in the class of Fawlty Towers but close.
rubbersoul:
I watched Laurel Canyon last night on DVD. It was pretty good. Fran McDormand was excellent playing against her type. I liked the whole rock 'n' roll setting as well.