Category: Entertainment

1975’s “When Things Were Rotten” is a mashup of Mel Brooks’ screwball comedy with the classic tropes of Robin Hood on television, with mad schemes, colorful characters, and more than a hint of camp! The series was cut short after only 13 episodes after dwindling ratings – despite the critical praise, it was shifted around the schedules and never found a solid following.

That description is too kind. The first episode was kinda-sorta OK as juvenile humor goes (below), and the theme song was hilarious (further below), but the concept was too limiting to sustain a long run. They ran out of material and kept repeating gags that were lame to begin with.

The theme song:

Once upon a time, when things were rotten
Not just food but also kings were rotten
Soon the band of Merry Men begotten
They wore outfits made of plain-grade cotton
Helping victims was their business
Boy oh boy, was business good
Good for Robin Hood!

They laughed, they loved
They fought, they drank
They jumped a lot of fences!
They robbed the rich
Gave to the poor
Except what they kept for expenses!

So, when other legends are forgotten
We’ll remember back when things were rotten
Yay for robbin’ Robin Hood!

Performer, activist, provocateur, humorist, politician, author … my fellow Longhorn was unique – and immensely talented.

Leading Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys (named in mocking homage to the western swing band Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys), he impressed audiences but was ignored by record labels.

His songs, always politically incorrect, sometimes ostensibly silly, and occasionally obscene, drove home his points with caustic satire.

Examples:

• Ride ‘Em, Jewboy
• Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed

I was almost twenty years behind Kinky at UT, so I never knew him. In fact, I never saw him perform live, but two of his devotees and acolytes, “Bowley and Wilson,” were my absolute go-to pick for an evening’s entertainment when out-of-town visitors wanted the full Austin experience. My wife and I probably went to their club at least two dozen times. It was the closest one could get to Kinky without actually seeing the real thing.

Fernwood 2Night was a true cultural treasure. If you don’t remember it, it was a parody of a late-night talk show, blazing a trail for The Larry Sanders Show, with the twist that the show was local rather than national. Mull was the smarmy, lusty host who thought he was too good to be working with mid-American yokels. Fred Willard, as the local version of Ed McMahon, had already perfected his clueless shtick. Frank De Vol was the leader of an awful band. The great Dabney Coleman played the mayor of Fernwood. The writers of the show did an amazing job at coming up with new material, considering that it was on five nights a week (they could only sustain that for a few months). The show was almost perfect. I was totally hooked on it.

The show also parodied the usual assortment of variety show guests. My favorite was Tony Roletti, the inept, insincere lounge singer.

Notes by Whitecaps:

I’ve mentioned here the controversial and short lived T.V show called Turn-On before. It was arguably the first television show to be cancelled after a single episode. There are some claims it was cancelled during its first airing because many west coast affiliates wouldn’t air it, but I think that is mostly ahistorical as it was only one or two stations.

Anyway, George Schlatter the producer of the show made it available on You Tube 8 months ago and I just noticed.

This is episode one:

While only one episode aired, much of the program much of episode two had already been filmed:

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Scoop’s notes:

Tim Conway was the star of the ill-fated show, which was supposed to be sort of a Laugh-In for grown-ups, although it seemed like the real target market might have been people on LSD. Conway ruminated about the show some years ago. He pointed out that the show aired in the Eastern time zone in its entirety on all affiliates, but as it crossed the country, it was cut shorter and shorter. An affiliate in the Central time zone cut it halfway through, and some affiliates on the West Coast never aired it at all.

This may not be the record for the fastest cancellation, depending on your definition. Jackie Gleason once hosted a game show called You’re in the Picture. In week two, the time slot featured Jackie apologizing for week one. He just sat in a chair on a single camera and expressed his contrition for being involved in “the biggest bomb in the history of television.”

Gleason went on to explain in some detail just how bad the show was. His apology show was actually pretty interesting, as it was filled with Gleason’s old-time showbiz anecdotes, and he was a skilled raconteur

(Here’s part two of the apology show.)

Here is the actual first (and last) episode of the game. Gleason got more and more annoyed with the show as it progressed. Toward the end of the episode, he was dumping on the premise of the game, the ineptness of the celebrity panelists, and even his own performance.

How sweet it wasn’t.

A repeat, but one that really cracks me up.

Bill Hader‘s now-iconic New York City correspondent may be gone from the NBC sketch comedy series, but over the course of 10 years he solidified his legacy as one of the best SNL characters ever. And the long-running series is celebrating the legend by releasing every single appearance of Stefon on SNL ever, for the first time. Say it with us: Yes yes yes yes yes yes.

The Stefon mad-lib – write your own

Stefon: If you want to treat your (relative or holiday celebrant), New York’s hottest club is (onomatopoeic word), the inspiration of (underground artist of some kind with a mildly offensive pun name that sounds gay or trans). Located in (unlikely location that sounds vaguely New Yorky), this club has everything: (three silly objects that have no place in a club), a (silly thing or animal) that looks like (obscure celebrity), and a human (noun).

Seth: What’s a human (noun)

Stefon: It’s that thing where (number) midgets ___________. (Breaks up) And, look, over there in the corner – is that (major celebrity). No! It’s (something absurdly unrelated to that celebrity)

Let’s give it a try …

If you want to treat your Valentine to a special night, New York’s hottest club is Quack!, the creation of former beat poet, Tranny Aiello. Located in the two bathtubs from an old Cialis commercial, under an abandoned “el” trestle on the upper south side, this club has everything: pool noodles, smoke signals, slide whistles, five tree stumps that look like Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, and a human carousel

What’s a human carousel?

It’s that thing where eight midgets in horse costumes run around in a circle. (Cracks up) And look over there in the corner! Is that Will Smith? No. It’s a half-eaten breakfast burrito.