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Reviews
The Producers (1967)
So-so prelude to "The Producers" musical
I'm not a huge fan of Mel Brooks movies, I admit. They have good lines, but as coherent movies, they usually come up short. Such is the case of "The Producers". Although it may be a "cult" classic, it never became a REAL classic because it just doesn't work in this format.
BUT as a Broadway musical (THE PRODUCERS, that is, not SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER) it is a real gem. Brooks' talent comes through full force, but he gave enough authority to other people involved to cut out his often silly, un-funny sophomoric humor, probably since this was his first play. Watching the movie now simply reminds one of all the great musical numbers in the broadway show. In the genre of great old musical comedies, it is set in the 1950s and works much better that way.
The movie however, taking place in the "present", i.e. 1968, the classic musical was already going out of fashion, and it is no surprise that Max was no longer successful. The contemporary sixties clothing, sets, and "L.S.D." are out of place as they do not conjure up images of classic broadway musicals and the atmosphere that went along with them.
If you like the movie, you'll love the musical. This movie was BEGGING to be made into one, and I'm glad it finally happened. I just hope Mel is able to bring it to the big screen one day, although it probably won't be until the touring company finishes, and that may not be for years and years. In the meantime, get your tickets (a year in advance) and make your plans to go to NYC or London, or wherever it's playing when you read this (even your community theatre someday?).
Don't miss the late great Chris "Mr. Belvedere" Hewitt as Roger DeBris.
Touched by an Angel (1994)
Enough Already
This show was fun at first. A unique take on the different-setting-and-characters-per-week drama or mystery. But the show takes itself too seriously now. It was fun to see how angels could have intervened in some situations, but I never took it seriously from a religious perspective. The cult status shows that people ARE looking at it seriously from a religious standpoint, which is sad. I liked the shows that dealt with the angels themselves, such as the first one with the angel of death (the first season thanksgiving episode), Jacob's Ladder (Monica in the insane asylum and Cindy Williams [Claire] a lost angel), the episode where they face the devil, the episode where Monica has to discover that she has no faith. But that was all pure fictional enjoyment; a fantasy about an angel world. If you need to see angels to believe in God, or don't believe you can help people without magic powers or a magic spotlight, then the show is doing more harm than good. Please CBS, give the show a rest already!
Deceptions (1985)
Very enjoyable, but not if you're looking for high culture.
This is one of the few 80s miniseries I thoroughly enjoyed. It's very exciting and enjoyable, and just cheesy enough to not take itself too seriously. AND it has Gina Lolobrigida! The Princeton subplot wasn't all that interesting, but the rest of this movie was great. And who could forget Mrs. Thirkel insulting the medical profession and Italian food. Classic. This isn't for beer swilling dudes or high culture snobs, but most everyone else will love it for the scenes in Europe, the exciting plot, and the comedic high drama. I'm upset it's not available on video.
That '70s Show (1998)
M*A*S*H Time Scale
This isn't exactly a classic show, or one I try to watch every week without fail, but it's an acceptable fun sitcom, which these days is a hard thing to find. The 70s (and 80s) was sitcom heaven, so maybe that's one of the reasons this show works with the given setting.
Unfortunately, the show started in 1976, and although it's not a very accurate depiction of 70s life on a year to year basis (just a caricature of various 70s stereotypes really), the "decade" is running out, and the fact that they've been in high school all these years is also problematic. But through the magic of television, why ruin a good thing? Even with the novelty of the goofy hair and clothes worn off, it's a good set of characters in a good setting, so I think they should keep rolling with it as long as it works.
Happy Days and the Wonder years just progressed along in real time into the 60s and 70s, respectively, and then just took on a sort of post World War II twentieth century, non-time specific but modern feel, so the original magic that made the show work was gone. M*A*S*H on the other hand had a great setting, so the show stuck with it for a decade, even though the Korean war was only three years, and it kept working (even through numerous, mostly welcome, changes in characters.)
So basically I hope the show stays in the late 70s and finishes its run with a graduation class of '79 or New Year's Eve 1979 episode. Due to the title (and the fact that "That 80s show" is now taken) it really needs to stay in the 70s, even if it's on for another three or four years (I believe they're in 1978 now, although they're probably making very few references to the exact year.) Keeping the series going after 1980, and/or "the college years," would be like "Chico and the Man" after Chico was gone, or Laverne & Shirley after Shirley left. Need I say more?
I think the flashbacks to the 60s and early 70s and the 80s dream sequences they sometimes have had are great and maybe they should have more. It worked for the Dick van Dyke show!
Nanny and the Professor (1970)
Subtle Magic
I liked this show as a variation of the popular "magic" sitcoms. Nanny never performed outlandish or obvious feats of prestidigitation, but it was obvious that paranormal things happened around her. The most common was Nanny saying "I'll get it," BEFORE the telephone or doorbell rang. In fact, it was never completely clear to the family that she had any powers, a la Gladys Kravitz on "Bewitched," for lack of a better comparison. As the theme song goes "Since the day that Nanny came to stay with us, fantastic things have been happening. Is there really magic in the things she does, or is love the only magic thing that Nanny brings?"
Once it was hinted that although she appeared to be a young woman (20s to 30s) she may have been hundreds of years old. However, this as most things about her background, were never resolved. This was a clear ripoff from the first season of Bewitched. The show had a cute simple animated opening and memorable theme song, as was de rigeur for the decade's magic sitcoms, and of course the 1990s unrelated Fran Drescher vehicle "The Nanny."
I also loved the family's big shaggy dog. I haven't seen this since the reruns in the late 1970s, except for the premiere which was shown once on TV Land around 2000, so I won't comment on the overall writing and production quality. I just remember enjoying it as a kid, and was upset that it was only rerun for a short time.
Mad Movies with the L.A. Connection (1985)
Telegram.
Since this seems to be the only place in the world where any memory of this hilarious show exists, I wanted to put in my 2 cents. I saw this show during the nascent days of Nick at Nite in 1985/86, when, due to lack of programming and sponsors, there were full length movies in the wee hours, black and white classic shows in the evening (starting at 8 PM), and only one commercial interruption during the shows. Ah, the good old days.
Mad Movies took a very old or "B" movie and edited it. The original dialogue was cut completely, and most footage deleted. The edited version was really nothing like the original, not even being in the same chronology, and often repeating clips. The purpose was to fit in with the new funny "plot" in which new dialogue was added, a la the well known MST3K, but thanks to the editing and killing the original dialogue altogether, Mad Movies was much funnier. MST3K, maintaining the original length of the movie and dialogue, usually dragged in my opinion.
One of the two movies I remember well is the oft mentioned (here anyway) "Night of the Living Dead" in which the new plot was the kids planning a big house party. They kept showing one of the zombies approaching the house, and he'd always say "Telegram."
The other was Shirley Temple in "The Little Princess." If you've ever seen the original, you know that she often gets mad and throws sort of an enraged tantrum. The mad movies spoof made use of this by making her a possessed girl that needed an exorcism. It's amazing how well the original movie fit this new plot once edited. I can never watch the original without thinking of the demon inside every time she gets angry and frustrated.
Sadly, I believe I will never see these shows again, especially on the pathetic remnants of "Nick at Nite" which is now nothing more than overnight sitcom filler for Nickelodeon. I wonder if they are available for viewing at the Museum of Television and Radio History.
Mame (1974)
Spectacular Comedy
The unbiased viewer recognizes Mame as a triumph of comedy as well as a big screen version of the fabulous Broadway production and tribute to the original story and stageplay. Ignore the rantings of those who criticize the portrayals of characters in this version of this true story, including Vera and Gooch (of whom the same actresses played those characters wonderfully for years in the original Broadway musical). While Rosalind Russel was fabulous as Mame in "Auntie Mame", Lucille Ball was equally fabulous in this comedy role. Anyone who can't appreciate someone being this wonderful even though she can't sing or dance simply doesn't understand the idea behind "Mame". What made Mame Dennis so great was not how elegant and well bred she was, but how she felt about life. Lucy was able to portray this. While the snobs experience this amazing true story only by watching "Auntie Mame" over and over, you should rent "Mame", join all the characters with the "terrible" voices having a ball singing "We need a little Christmas", and LIVE!!!