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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Jul 3, 2008 23:55:25 GMT -5
Is this an official list? Not exactly. Hulk's ideas are his and his alone, and do not reflect any ideas made by other Crappers. What he said. |
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Post by Gopher Mod on Jul 3, 2008 23:58:00 GMT -5
Not exactly. Hulk's ideas are his and his alone, and do not reflect any ideas made by other Crappers. What he said. Question is, though, why are people bitching? Your lists are of a quality that I wish all my posts were. |
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Beav
Hank Scorpio
OMG... I just realized I'm a Brony.
Posts: 5,556
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Post by Beav on Jul 4, 2008 0:28:18 GMT -5
Is this an official list? Not exactly. Hulk's ideas are his and his alone, and do not reflect any ideas made by other Crappers. As for the next four: Dynasty, Hollywood Squares, something I don't know of, and the camp classic Batman. Yup. And the burning map is prolly Bonanza. |
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Post by rrm15 on Jul 4, 2008 0:41:22 GMT -5
Hulk, I seriously love all of your lists man. I'm looking forward to this one! If LOST isn't number one.....someone will pay.  |
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Post by Brandon Walsh is Insane. on Jul 4, 2008 1:00:41 GMT -5
Question is, though, why are people bitching? Your lists are of a quality that I wish all my posts were. It's the summer. New arrivals. And what not. |
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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Jul 4, 2008 13:00:35 GMT -5
Countdown time, again. Here's 94: 94. Dynasty  Genre: Soap opera. Created by: Richard & Esther Shapiro. Executive Producer(s): Aaron Spelling, Douglas S. Cramer, and Richard & Esther Shapiro. Starring: John Forsythe (Blake Carrington), Linda Evans (Krystle Grant Jennings Carrington), Joan Collins (Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan), Pamela Bellwood (Claudia Barrows Blaisdel Carrington), Pamela Sue Martin (Fallon Carrington Colby 1981-1984), Emma Samms (Fallon Carrington Colby 1985, 1987-1989, 1991), John James (Jeffrey Colby), Al Corley (Steven Carrington 1981-1982, 1991), Jack Coleman (1983-1988), Gordon Thomson (Adam Carrington), Heather Locklear (Sammy Jo Carrington), Diahann Carroll (Dominique Deveraux), Michael Nader (Farnsworth “Dex” Dexter), Catherine Oxenberg (Amanda Carrington 1984-1986), Karen Cellini (Amanda Carrington 1986-1987), Emma Samms ( Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 9. Number of Episodes: 220. Running Time: 46 minutes. Original Channel: ABC. Original Run: January 12, 1981 – May 11, 1989 Spinoffs: The Colbys, a 1985 series that was very unpopular and lasted only two series; and Dynasty: The Reunion, a 1991 miniseries made to wrap up some plotlines from the series. Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro, the working title for Dynasty was Oil, and the starring role originally went to George Peppard (later of The A-Team). In early drafts of the pilot script the two main families featured in the series, the Carrington and Colby families, were written as Parkhurst and Corby respectively. Peppard, who had difficulties dealing with the somewhat unsympathetic role of Blake, was replaced with John Forsythe (who voiced Charles Townsend in another Aaron Spelling production, Charlie's Angels). In the final production drafts the names Parkhurst and Corby were changed to Carrington and Colby, and their rivalry was written to emulate the Montagues and Capulets of Romeo and Juliet, that is, crossed in love and war. The first season filmed in 1980, was delayed by animosity between the networks and the partnership of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which caused a strike. Many new shows were delayed for months, and Dynasty did not see the light of day on ABC until the first weeks of 1981. As the series opened, tycoon Blake Carrington was about to marry Krystle Jennings, a younger woman whom he met when she took a job as a secretary at his company, the monolithic Denver-Carrington. Krystle was young, beautiful and vulnerable. She found a hostile reception in the Carrington household: the staff patronized her, Blake's daughter Fallon resented her, and her husband was too preoccupied with his work. Krystle's only ally in the Carrington house was her stepson, the sexually ambivalent Steven. The young adults of the Carrington dynasty had their own problems. Steven was uneasy about fitting into the mold cast for him as Blake's successor and was constantly in conflict with his father, who refused to accept his son's homosexuality. The decadent, ruthless Fallon was Blake's natural heir but unable to enter the Denver-Carrington boardroom because she was a woman; she channeled her energies into toying with various male suitors, such as the Carrington chauffeur Michael Culhane, and being unfaithful to her husband Jeff Colby, whom she had only married as part of a business deal with Jeff's uncle Cecil. The first season also heavily featured Matthew Blaisdel, Krystle's first love, who worked for Blake Carrington as a geologist and was unhappily married to the emotionally fragile Claudia, who had recently spent time in a psychiatric hospital. In the first episode of the second season, titled "Enter Alexis," the mysterious surprise witness from the previous season's finale removed her sunglasses to reveal British actress Joan Collins as a new arrival to the series. Collins' Alexis Carrington blazed a trail across the show and its storylines; the additions of Collins and the "formidable writing team" of Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock are generally credited with Dynasty's subsequent rise in the Nielsen Ratings. By the end of the 1981-1982 season Dynasty entered the Top 20, and eventually hit #1 in 1985. The Pollocks "soft-pedaled the business angle" of the show and "bombarded viewers with every soap opera staple in the book, presented at such a fast clip that a new tragedy seemed to befall the Carrington family every five minutes." With Dynasty's popularity soaring, former President Gerald Ford guest-starred as himself in 1983 along with wife Betty and Henry Kissinger. With Alexis settled as Krystle's implacable nemesis, stepmother and stepdaughter Fallon settled their differences, forging a bond which riled the displaced and resentful Alexis even further. In the seasons that followed, the rivalry between Blake Carrington's current and former wives became a driver for the melodrama. Alexis resented Krystle's supplanting of her position as mistress of the Carrington household and tried to undermine her at every opportunity. Alexis caused Krystle's miscarriage and tried repeatedly to ruin her marriage, most notably by finding Krystle's former husband (Samuel) Mark Jennings and proving that their divorce was never finalized (and that, consequently, Krystle's marriage to Blake was invalid). They had many verbal confrontations. On one occasion Krystle overheard Alexis gossiping about her in an adjoining cubicle at the beauty parlour. Krystle appeared and announced that she too could "throw mud", and tossed a bowl of face mud over Alexis. There are a handful of trademark catfights, beginning with one in Alexis' art studio on the Carrington estate (in which Krystle won soundly, destroying Alexis's art studio and a painting of Blake in the process), another in the lily pond, one in a mud pool in a park and a final spat (in Dynasty: The Reunion) in a fashion studio. The verbal spars between Krystle and Alexis also marked one of the first times the word "bitch" was used on US television. Perhaps the most memorable aspects of the series, outside the high-camp scripts from the Shapiros and the Pollocks, were a stream of famous cliffhanger storylines. The second season cliffhanger saw Blake left for dead on a mountain after a fight with Nick Toscanni, the third involved Alexis and Krystle being lured to Steven's cabin one night and locked inside while the cabin was set ablaze by an unseen arsonist (later revealed to be Joseph, the butler and Kirby's father). The fourth saw the disappearance of Fallon just before her second wedding to Jeff as her car seemingly collided with a truck on a stormy night (to accommodate the departure of Pamela Sue Martin from the series) whilst Alexis was arrested for murder and imprisoned in a jail cell full of "ladies of the night." Perhaps the most famous Dynasty cliffhanger is the so-called "Moldavian massacre", when Blake's youngest daughter Amanda Carrington married Prince Michael of Moldavia on the eve of a military revolution in his country. Although the massacre itself (arrived at by writer Camille Marchetta, who had devised the wildly-successful 'Who Shot J.R.?' scenario on Dallas five years earlier) had superb production qualities and became the most talked-about episode of any TV series during the calendar year of 1985, it is nonetheless largely remembered for its disappointing resolution four months later. Nearly every character was in attendance at the royal wedding in the season's final episode which aired in May 1985. At the conclusion of the wedding, revolutionaries stormed in, apparently gunning down everyone in the chapel. The final scene of the episode, with nearly every character on the ground appearing lifeless, gave the impression that anyone could have died, and in the summer that followed many magazines published stories speculating about which characters would survive the massacre. When the series resumed in the fall viewers quickly learned the outcome of the fifth season finale, where it was revealed that everyone had survived with the exception of two minor characters: Steven's boyfriend, Luke Fuller and Lady Ashley Mitchell played by Ali McGraw. The underwhelming resolution disenchanted fans who felt the storyline had built to nothing, and it is frequently cited as the moment when the series "jumped the shark." In the 2006 CBS special Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar, Gordon Thomson reiterated that it was the follow-up that was the letdown, not the cliffhanger itself. Joan Collins had been conspicuously absent from the season six opener; she was in a tense contract renegotiation with the show, seeking an increased salary. As a result, the first episode had to be rewritten to explain her absence and many scenes were abandoned or given to other characters. Collins' demands were met (she reportedly signed a $60,000 per episode contract) and she returned to the series in the season's second episode, though a planned storyline to make her Queen of Moldavia was scrapped. Aside from the glamour and campy drama, the show's later years covered controversy surrounding a storyline involving former matinee idol Rock Hudson as Daniel Reece, a character who enjoyed a romantic interaction with Krystle Carrington. Hudson's scenes required him to kiss Linda Evans and, as news that he had contracted AIDS broke, there was hysterical speculation Evans would be at risk. The lackluster reaction to the 1985 Moldavian conclusion at the onset of season six, combined with a poorly-received dual role for Evans (as Krystle and as Rita, an actress impersonating Krystle for 11 episodes) that same year, the difficult recasting of key character Fallon (now played by Emma Samms), and excessive time spent introducing characters to be spun off onto The Colbys weakened the show. After the characters returned from Moldavia, Blake spurned Alexis and in retaliation she found his long-departed brother Ben and they swindled Blake out of his fortune. An enraged Blake tried to strangle Alexis to death at the Carrington mansion (which now belonged to Alexis) as the season cliffhanger, just as the hotel La Mirage burned down, killing Claudia. In an interesting turn, the fire at La Mirage caused Amanda to fall into the pool outside the hotel, and when she was pulled out in the next season opener, she was suddenly played by a different actress, and no longer spoke with a British accent. (Oxenberg had left the show after failed contract negotiations.) During the seventh season, Blake recovered his money, but was rendered an amnesiac in an explosion. Alexis found him and convinced him they were still married, but felt guilty and told him the truth. Blake and Krystle also had to deal with their daughter Krystina being kidnapped. Other stories in that season featured Adam's romance with Dana Waring, Sammy Jo's doomed marriage to Clay Fallmont and reconciliation with Steven (who had recently broken up with closeted politician Bart Fallmont). Also, Amanda suddenly vanished from the show mid-season. A letter left by her explained that she went back to London, and her character was never heard from again. The season ended with Matthew Blaisdel and a gang of gun-toting South American guerillas gatecrashing Adam and Dana's wedding reception and taking the family hostage; while Alexis drove her car off a bridge into a river. A spin-off, The Colbys, debuted in 1985 as Fallon "returned from the dead" and ex-husband Jeff followed her to Los Angeles, where they became embroiled in the family intrigues of Jeff's wealthy California relatives. Pamela Sue Martin had been asked to reprise the role of Fallon, but declined; the unpopular show lasted for just two seasons, ending in 1987. When The Colbys was cancelled, Fallon and Jeff returned for the 1987-1988 season. Steven killed Matthew, revealing his "dark side". Alexis was rescued by Sean Rowan, a mystery man whom she later married. Blake and Alexis each ran for governor of Colorado (they both lost to a third-party candidate); Alexis suffered at the hands of Sean (who planned to kill her due to her part in the death of his father, Joseph, the former Carrington butler); and Steven's reconciliation with Sammy Jo collapsed due to her affair with drug-addicted football player Josh Harris. The 8th season ended with Sean and Dex fighting in Alexis's penthouse when a shot rang out (it would be Sean who died); Sammy-Jo accepting Jeff's proposal while Fallon hid in his bedroom; and Blake returning home to find his bedroom trashed and Krystle missing. In the 9th and final 1988-1989 season, despite the introduction of a new executive producer who rejuvenated the show and a team of writers who improved the story quality arguably for the first time in years, the ratings continued to plummet, exacerbated by a disadvantageous time slot change. Linda Evans departed the series within a few weeks; Krystle Carrington was sent to Switzerland for emergency surgery, where she fell into a coma, with the door left open for Evans to return at a later stage. In a money-saving move, Joan Collins was contracted for only 13 out of the season's 22 episodes. Former Colbys cast member, Stephanie Beacham, was brought in to reprise her role as firecracker Sable Colby (Tracy Scoggins also returned to her role as Sable's daughter Monica), written into Dynasty as a new antagonist for Alexis to battle against. Beacham's performance won praise and caused many to deem the final season as the best of the series' later years. Joan Collins and Michael Nader both announced that they would leave Dynasty at the end of the ninth season while it was rumored that Diahann Carroll was asked to return to the series for a potential tenth season. But after moving the series to a new Thursday night slot which proved unsuccessful, ABC pulled the plug in 1989. Fittingly, the show ended on a cliffhanger, with both Blake and Alexis in mortal peril (Blake being shot in the chest and Alexis and Dex Dexter falling off a hotel balcony when the guardrail protecting them broke) and the rest of the cast in similar life-threatening situations. A miniseries, Dynasty: The Reunion, aired in October 1991. Billed as a wrap-up for the dangling plotlines left by the series' abrupt cancellation 2½ years earlier, The Reunion wasn't produced by the same team as the final season and created more loose ends. The cable channel SOAPnet aired repeats of all nine seasons. In January 2004, creator Esther Shapiro participated in a marathon of the show's episodes, called "Serial Bowl: Alexis vs. Krystle", giving behind-the-scenes tidbits and factoids. On January 2, 2005, ABC aired a television movie, Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, purporting to tell of the creation and backstage details of Dynasty. The movie received mixed reviews both for content and for historical accuracy, and was criticized by John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins in different press releases. The movie was filmed in Australia (rather than Los Angeles) and a good majority of the cast members were non-Americans. Forsythe was played by Bartholomew John, Evans by Melora Hardin and Collins by Alice Krige. Much dramatic license was taken with the script of Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, so the show is not an accurate guide to either behind-the-scenes events nor the on-screen storylines of Dynasty. Misleading events include Al Corley being written out in the oil-rig explosion (Corley had already long left the show when the explosion was devised as a way to reintroduce the character of Steven and to explain his change in appearance), Sammy Jo at the Moldavian wedding massacre (she was actually in New York, involved in a separate storyline) and Amanda being written off when her portrayer asked for a raise (Catherine Oxenberg did allegedly leave the show over salary demands, but the role was recast with Karen Cellini). Furthermore, the TV movie made no reference at all to long-running characters Fallon Carrington, Adam Carrington, Jeff Colby, and Claudia Blaisdel. On May 2, 2006, Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar aired on CBS. It assembled for the first time all the original actors who played the Carrington children (Pamela Sue Martin, Al Corley, Gordon Thomson, and Catherine Oxenberg), who reminisced about making the show with other former cast members, including John Forsythe, Joan Collins and Linda Evans. The special was filmed at the Filoli mansion. It was the first time Martin and Oxenberg, as well as Corley and Thomson, shared screen time. Ruthless tycoons, trust-fund hussies, mergers gone bad, and the most tastelessly lavish décor since Marie Antoinette redecorated the Petit Trianon; if any show personified the delectably decadent 1980s, it was Dynasty. It all began when ABC got jealous of CBS’s cash cow Dallas. So, they greenlit Richard and Esther Shapiro’s moguls-behaving-badly soap in 1980, but it didn’t air until 1981 because of a writer’s strike. John Forsythe and Linda Evans were cast as new-money gazillionare Blake Carrington and Blake’s secretary-turned-wife Krystle respectively. The show itself revolved around the Carringtons, a new-money family living not so happily ever after in Denver. However, the ratings weren’t so great in the first season. So, executive producer Aaron Spelling went into fix-it mode, hiring British B-movie sex bomb Joan Collins to play Blake’s vindictive ex-wife, Alexis. Like Venus rising from the foam, a new TV deity was born: a bitch goddess who plotted to alternately destroy or recapture Blake and lay total waste to the annoyingly saccharine Krystle. And, Alexis would stoop to the lowest of lows as her pit of evil ways was bottomless. Just as tennis fans savor Wimbledon, Dynasty devotees thrilled to the annual Krystle-Alexis hair pullers; they balled everywhere, from mud ponds to beauty parlors. Dynasty fever raged well into the mid-eighties, and before you could say Nolan Miller, a bevy of famous people whose fame was dwindling were jumping on board, like Ali MacGraw, George Hamilton, Rock Hudson, and even former U.S. President Gerald Ford (along with his wife Betty and Henry Kissinger). What made the whole twisted tangle that was Dynasty so hilarious was the writers’ struggle to justify cast additions by making them long-lost relatives, like Diahann Carroll as Blake’s nefarious half-sister, Dominique Deveraux (for those of you who don’t know, Diahann Carroll is African-American). Plotlines grew ever more convoluted to accommodate the bloated cast, and the stories slipped from heavy-breathing melodrama to cartoonville. Just look at the infamous Moldavian Massacre, in which all the main characters were gunned down at a wedding in a fictional country and only two people, who were minor characters, died. By the late 1980s, with Thirtysomething self-flagellation in vogue, not even another catfight could forestall the network ax. With Krystle in a coma, Blake shot, and Alexis flying off a balcony, Dynasty closed out its decade bereft of dignity. It was a fitting end to the show. It was such a guilty pleasure that you could probably be arrested just for watching it. But, that was the fun of the show. It was a show of decadence for a decade of decadence. Dynasty truly fit the 1980s like a pair of $20,000 silk gloves. |
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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Jul 4, 2008 13:28:03 GMT -5
93. Hollywood Squares  Genre: Comedy/Quiz Created by: Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley Executive Producer(s): Filmways Television (1966-1981), Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley Productions (1966-1981), Distributor Rhodes Productions (1971-1981), Mark Goodson Productions (1983-1984), LBS Communications (1986-1989), Orion Television (1983-1989), Century Towers Productions (1986-1989), King World (1998-2004), Moffitt/Lee Productions & One-Ho Productions (1998-2002), Columbia Tristar Television (1998-2003), Henry Winkler-Michael Leavitt Productions (2002-2004), Sony Pictures Television (2003-2004). Starring: Peter Marshall (1966-1981), Jon Bauman (1983-1984), John Davidson (1986-1989), and Tom Bergeron (1998-2004). Country of Origin: USA. Number of Seasons: 25. Number of Episodes: 3,536. Running Time: 30 minutes. Original Channel: NBC (1966-1980), Syndication (1971-1981; 1986-1989; 1998-2004) Original Run: October 17, 1966 – September 10, 2004 Spinoffs: None, unless you count the revivals in the 1980s and 1990s. Original version (1965-1981): The show got its beginning as a black-and-white pilot episode filmed for CBS on April 21, 1965. That pilot was hosted by Bert Parks with the squares occupied by Cliff Arquette (in his "Charley Weaver" comic persona), Wally Cox, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Abby Dalton, Jim Backus, Gisele MacKenzie, Robert Q. Lewis and Vera Miles. The first five of the initial panelists were to later appear on the first broadcast week (October 17-21, 1966) and become all five of its initial regulars on NBC-TV. It's believed to be the first daytime game show produced at NBC's Burbank Studios, as other game shows on the network were produced in New York City. CBS shot a second pilot hosted by Sandy Baron, but chose not to pick up the program with either host. A year later, NBC acquired the rights to the show and chose Peter Marshall as host, a job he held for fifteen years until 1981. During most of its daytime run, NBC broadcast Squares at 11:30 a.m. Eastern/10:30 a.m. Central time, where it dominated the ratings until 1976, when it moved to the first of a succession of different time slots. The show also ran at night, first on NBC from January 12 to September 13, 1968, as a mid-season replacement for the short-lived sitcom Accidental Family, then as a nighttime syndicated entry running from November 1, 1971 to September 11, 1981. The latter version ran once a week at first, then twice a week and finally expanded to a five-day-per-week strip in its final season. Paul Lynde, in addition to his recurring role as "Uncle Arthur (Winsome)" on Bewitched had his greatest fame as the coveted "center square" throughout most of the original show's run. However, on October 14, 1968, after two years on the show, Lynde became the regular center square. Lynde was the only panelist on the show to win two daytime Emmy Awards in 1974 and 1978. Other regulars and semi-regulars over the years included Nanette Fabray, Kaye Ballard, John Davidson (who later went on to host the show in the 1980s), Wally Cox, Cliff Arquette ("Charley Weaver"), Morey Amsterdam, Florence Henderson, Marty Allen, Wayland Flowers, George Gobel, Vincent Price, Rose Marie, Charo, Sandy Duncan, Carol Wayne, Jonathan Winters, Karen Valentine, Roddy McDowall and Joan Rivers. Lynde left the series after taping the August 20-24, 1979, week of shows, but returned when the series relocated to Las Vegas in the 1980-1981 season. Some stars would frequently be asked questions pertaining to a certain topic or category. For instance, Cliff Arquette (Charley Weaver), a history buff, would often get questions on American history and would almost always give a correct answer. Rich Little would almost always get questions about other celebrities, which gave him an opportunity to do an impression of that individual. Roddy McDowall would usually give correct answers about the plays of Shakespeare. Rose Marie often got questions on dating and relationships. Lynde would always get a loaded question just so he could come up with an initial hilarious response. Some, such as Robert Fuller (then on NBC's Emergency!), were excellent bluffers. Sanford and Son co-star Demond Wilson frequently guested on the panel, and as a running gag, Marshall would ask an innocent question that "coincidentally" referred to Black stereotypes. Wilson always responded by walking off the show in mock anger. The daytime series was played as a best 2-out-of-3 match between a returning champion and an opponent with each individual game worth $200 and a match worth $400; a five-match champion retired with $2000 and a new car. During the final years of the NBC run (1977-1980), players who won five matches earned $10,000 and two new cars, a total of over $25,000. Early in the first season, from October 17, 1966 to February 10, 1967, each game awarded $100 with the winner of the match earning a $300 bonus for a total of $500. Beginning in 1976, an "endgame" of sorts was added to the show, with the champion simply selecting a star, each of whom held an envelope with a prize concealed within that features the top prize being $5000. Both the (twice-)weekly syndicated and NBC primetime versions featured the same two contestants playing for the entire half-hour with each completed game worth $300 (NBC primetime) or $250 (syndicated). If time ran out with a game still in progress (interrupted by what the host called the "tacky buzzer," a loud horn), each X or O on the board at that point was worth an additional $50 to the players, with each player guaranteed at least $100 in total winnings. The player with the most money at the end of the show won a bonus prize, which on the (twice-)weekly syndicated series was usually a new car. On the daily syndicated series, each game awarded its victor a prize and each winner advanced in a $100,000 tournament. The "Secret Square" round was played as the first or second game on a given broadcast (or the first complete game if a show began with one already in progress) during the daytime series. In this game, a randomly selected "Secret Square" panelist was revealed only to the home audience. A contestant who picked that panelist during the game won a bonus prize if they correctly agreed or disagreed with the star. Secret Square Prize packages typically started at over between $1000 and $2000 and so on with the biggest being worth $11,110. The question for the star was sealed in a special envelope and was almost always of the multiple choice type. The audience was cautioned not to shout out any answers. In the (twice-)weekly syndicated version, initially the first two games were Secret Square games; if no one claimed the prize in the first round, it would carry over to the second round. Later, the first three games would have a Secret Square, with prizes changing each game. On this version, a Secret Square package was usually worth between $2000 and $7000. The Secret Square was axed in 1980 when the syndicated show expanded to 5 days a week. The daytime show aired its 3536th and last episode on June 20, 1980. Squares ran for one more year in syndication; this last year of shows was taped at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Storybook Squares: Storybook Squares, a Saturday-morning children's version of Hollywood Squares, aired briefly from January 4 to August 30, 1969. It featured stars dressed as fairy tale, television, and historical characters. It would later air occasionally in the 1970s during the run of the original Marshall version. In an interview with E!'s True Hollywood Story, Marshall lauded the concept, but lamented that by the time each of the characters was introduced, very little of the show's half-hour format was left for actual gameplay. Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour: From October 31, 1983 to July 27, 1984, Jon "Bowzer" Bauman of Sha-Na-Na hosted a version packaged back-to-back with Match Game. The Match Game - Hollywood Squares Hour as it was called was jointly owned by Mark Goodson Productions and Orion Television, which had purchased the rights to Squares upon acquiring the Filmways production company. While the basic game play was similar to the versions before and after it, there were several major differences. Each square was worth $25 plus a bonus for winning each game ($100 in round 1, $200 in round 2, $300 in round 3, etc.). Also, there was no "Secret Square" and all questions were true/false or multiple choice. Additionally, contestants were able to win "by default" if an opponent made a mistake while attempting to block. Unlike other versions of the show, panelists were not provided with humorous or bluff answers in advance. 1986-1989: John Davidson hosted The New Hollywood Squares. This version was produced by Century Towers Productions for Orion Television, from September 15, 1986 to September 8, 1989. Shadoe Stevens was the announcer and from midway through the 1st season onward was also a regular panelist (always occupying the bottom-center square and introduced last), with his brother Richard subbing for him on occasion. Most seasons featured Joan Rivers as the center square. Jm J. Bullock was another regular usually occupying the upper-left square. Both Bullock and Stevens did guest-hosting stints while Rivers hosted on an April Fools' Day episode. The rules of the game reverted to the original rules from the Marshall era; most notably in that games could not be won due to an opponent's error. For the first season, each game was worth $500 with a bonus of $100 per square if time ran out in the middle of a game in progress. Beginning in season two, the third and subsequent games were worth $1000 with $200 given for each square claimed when time ran out. The second game on every show was a "Secret Square" game, played for a trip. The day's winner would choose one of five keys, which would start one of five cars (borrowed from an earlier 1970s game show, Split Second). The contestant would also choose a good luck celebrity to sit in or stand beside the car. After the audience and Davidson counted to three, the contestant turned the key. If it was the right one, a "vroom" sound accompanied by music and balloons falling played and the contestant retired undefeated. If it wasn't, mocking lose music played and the contestant returned the next day with that car eliminated should he or she return to the bonus game. The contestant automatically won whatever car was left on the fifth day should they have gone that far without starting the car. Each week featured a different set of five cars, usually all sharing the same make. In the event that a champion crossed over to a new set of cars, he or she picked a new key with the lowest-value cars on offer already eliminated corresponding to the number of prior attempts. In the final season, each of the nine celebrities held a key, and all five cars were available, no matter how many times the champion had been to the bonus round. The champion had to pick a key each day. At this point, champions could simply stay on until winning a car, or until they were defeated. The Davidson version was one of the first game shows to go "on the road" and tape episodes from remote locations including Hollywood, Florida and Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The Florida shows were unique in that they used a manual set, where the stars would insert cards into their podiums containing either an orange or a pair of crossed water-skis depending on if O or X (respectively) won the square (dollar amounts won by the contestants were displayed by hooking the cards to their podiums in a manner similar to a gasoline station attendant changing the gasoline grade prices on a station's sign). Otherwise, the Davidson series was produced at the Hollywood Center Studios, except for a very short time the program was taped at the NBC Burbank Studios. This version of Squares became noted for gimmickry a la I've Got A Secret, such as musical questions (wherein Davidson, a former recording artist, sang songs for the celebrity to finish), questions involving props in a panelist's square or presented as skits involving outside actors, "surprise" special guests and so on. One week, the entire group of Solid Gold Dancers managed to squeeze into a single square; other times, the lower left square would turn into a rectangle to accommodate extra stars or props, such as kitchens for Wolfgang Puck, Joe Carcione or Justin Wilson. Richard Simmons once led the audience in exercise routines. Comedian Ray Combs (who would host a revival of Family Feud a year later) once led the audience in singing a rendition of the theme to The Brady Bunch. TV alien puppet ALF, supposedly on a dare from host Davidson, actually guest hosted one episode. And on a memorable April Fool's Day episode in 1987, the two contestants were actually actors hired by the producers to play a joke on the host and panel. (The climax of this gag, featuring the female "contestant" shoving the male off of the set's raised contestant desks are the popular staple of game show blooper specials, and inspired another prank on the later version, see below.) Although such gimmicks made the show a popular favorite early on, its momentum could not be maintained long term, and it folded after just three years. The final episode ended with the cast and crew singing "Happy Trails to You!", and then disappearing off the set while soundbites from the series played. 1998-2004: After KingWorld (now CBS Television Distribution) bought the worldwide format rights to the show from MGM (successor-in-interest to Orion Pictures and Filmways, who produced the respective previous incarnations of the series) in 1997, a revival of the format was assembled. On September 14, 1998, the final version of the show to date debuted, hosted by Tom Bergeron. Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, who also served as co-producer, was the "Center Square" for the first four seasons. Stevens, announcer for the Davidson version, revived his voice-over role for most of the Bergeron run (though he was not featured as a panelist) with Jeffrey Tambor taking over for the 2002-03 season, followed by John Moschitta for the final season. It was taped in Studio 33 at CBS Television City. For the first several weeks, the scoring format worked like this: First and second games: $500, Third game: $1000, Fourth and subsequent games: $2000, $250 for each square if time ran out during a game. These figures were doubled in short order and would continue for most of the rest of the run. In the last season, the old "two-out-of-three match" format from the Marshall daytime version returned. Each game was worth $1000 and the first player to win two games played the bonus round. This did not apply during certain theme weeks where certain groups of people (lifeguards, celebrity lookalikes) played as the show used the previous season's format for these particular weeks. The first season also saw up to two "Secret Square" games. The first one was in its customary position as the second game played on each episode, with its prize package carrying over to the third game if it was not won. From the second season onwards, the "Secret Square" reverted to essentially its old Marshall-era format: played as the second game on each show worth an accruing prize package (Bergeron referred to it as "The Secret Square Stash"). In the last season, the "Secret Square" was played in the second game of each match, with a different prize offered each time. For the first season, this version had no returning champions; two new contestants played on each show. Beginning with the second season, the show began having returning champs, who were allowed to remain for a maximum of five days; it was also during this season that the show began having an annual Tournament of Champions each May, with the season's five-time champs returning to compete for additional cash and prizes. The end game underwent numerous changes throughout the run of the Bergeron version. Originally, the show used the same "Pick a Star, Win a Prize" format the Marshall version had used during its last few years on the air. Within several weeks, this had been slightly adjusted to where the day's winner had to correctly agree or disagree with a "Secret Square"-style question to win that prize. For the first season (when there were no returning champs), and for some special weeks in subsequent seasons, if a contestant was unsuccessful in winning the bonus prize, he/she received an additional $2,500 as a consolation prize. In November 2001, in the wake of shows such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire raising the bar in terms of prize money, Squares adopted an entirely new endgame; the champion selected one of the nine panelists to be their partner for the round, each of whom concealed a different dollar amount from $1,000-$5,000. The contestant and celebrity were then asked as many questions as possible in 60 seconds. The two conferred, but only the contestant answered the question. At the end of time, if the player so desired, he or she risked the total money earned on one final double-or-nothing question (of which only the category of it was told to the contestant beforehand). In this fashion, this game earned a player as much as $100,000. The most money won in this game was $60,000. Also in this season, the "ten questions" endgame was dropped and replaced with yet another bonus round, this one a variation of the "car keys" game from the Davidson version. This time, the player selected one from up to nine keys, only one of which opened or started a given grand prize. Before choosing a key, however, he or she played a game to eliminate incorrect keys from the selection process. The contestant had 30 seconds to answer as many true/false questions about celebrities on that week's panel as possible, and with each correct answer one false key was taken off the board. Also in the fifth season, for each returning champion, an incorrect key was eliminated for every time the contestant failed to win the prize previously. If the contestant won the grand prize and repeated as champion the next day, he/she played for a new prize, starting again with nine keys. For themed shows, champions got one key taken off the board at the outset (in addition to any keys taken away for correct answers). If a contestant selected the wrong key during any bonus round, he/she won $500 (later $1000) for each correct answer as a consolation prize. The prize structure was as follows: 1st win: Car, 2nd: $25,000 (in safe), 3rd: Trip Around the World or Trip of a Lifetime (in steamer trunk), 4th: $50,000 (in safe), 5th: $100,000 (in safe). No contestant ever advanced to a fifth prize. Two contestants made it to the fourth level, but failed to win at that level. Three contestants swept all nine stars during this version of the bonus round, guaranteeing them the correct key to win the grand prize. In the final season, champions always had nine keys to work with each time they played the bonus round (even if they appeared only one day) and the amount for each correct answer went back to $500. The prize structure was also changed as follows (only cheaper for some reason): 1st win: Trip (steamer trunk), 2nd: $10,000 (safe), 3rd: Luxury Car, 4th: $25,000 (safe), 5th: Trip Around the World (steamer trunk). Only one person reached the fifth prize in the final season, but lost it. This era of Squares was notable for its reliance on "theme weeks." One of the most well-known was a December 9-13, 2002 "Game Show Week" which featured Peter Marshall in the Center Square, marking the first time he had appeared on any version of the program since 1981 (although in 1993 and 1994 he appeared as host of a parody version in several episodes of the sketch comedy program In Living Color). On the Thursday show of that week, Marshall and Bergeron traded places, with Bergeron in the center square and Marshall hosting. Marshall had refused to appear on the Whoopi Goldberg-produced shows as he disliked them immensely, feeling they were too crude in tone. However, the show never regained the popularity it enjoyed after Goldberg's departure, and the series ended on June 4, 2004 due to declining ratings. Reruns from that season ended on September 10, 2004 in syndication, but they later moved to GSN. Two episodes of this version had been noted in blooper specials. The first episode came in the show's second season, where the first game of the show took the entire episode to complete, because of the contestants' inability to correctly agree or disagree with panelist Gilbert Gottfried's answers (which he would follow by yelling "YOU FOOL!" at the contestants) six times in a row, as he was the only remaining panelist and it would have resulted in a five-square win for either contestant. The second episode was a duplicate of the April Fools' prank played on Tom Bergeron in the show's fifth season, featuring among others E. E. Bell (best known as Bob Rooney on Married...with Children) as an obnoxious contestant who kept pushing his overly emotional opponent until she broke down in tears, in addition to testing Bergeron's patience. Hollywood Squares was a game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win money (cash) and prizes. The "board" for the game is actually a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by an entertainer, or star, seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions and the contestants judge the veracity of their answers in order to win the game. It was a simple game, but the game itself wasn’t what the show was really about. Although Hollywood Squares was a legitimate game show, the game largely acted as the background for the show's comedy. The show was "scripted" in the sense that the panel of celebrities knew the questions in advance and were provided with answers and suggestions for bluffs and jokes (Zingers). Typically, a star's first answer to a question was a humorous one. This was then followed by the true answer or bluff. It had to be stressed that this did not mean the actual gameplay was scripted or predetermined, as the onus was still on the contestant to determine whether or not the provided answer to a question was the correct one. It was basically a schlock-fest of celebrities raging from the sublime to the ridiculous. And, what gloriously B-list celebs they were, such as Waylon Flowers and his puppet Madame, Shadoe Stevens, Desmond Wilson (who always got questions “coincidentally” about black stereotypes and always “stormed off”), and of course, Paul Lynde (Lynde was once asked, “Who was known during World War II as Old Blood and Guts?” His reply: “Barbara Stanwyck.”). It was just a fun show that had people winning prizes and celebrities making jokes and was popular enough for two revivals in the 1980s and the late ‘90s/early ‘00s. Hollywood Squares wasn’t a high-class type of entertainment show that you would see on PBS or HBO, but it was entertaining nevertheless. |
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Jeff
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 7,074
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Post by Jeff on Jul 4, 2008 13:31:05 GMT -5
So no one voted on these?
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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Jul 4, 2008 13:57:47 GMT -5
92. Bonanza  Genre: Western Created by: NBC Executive Producer(s): David Dortort Starring: Lorne Greene (Ben Cartwright), Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright), Dan Blocker (Eric “Hoss” Cartwright), Michael Landon (Little Joe Cartwright), Victor Sen Young (Hop Sing), David Canary (Candy Canaday), and Mitch Vogel (Jamie Hunter Cartwright). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 14. Number of Episodes: 430. Running Time: 60 minutes. Original Channel: NBC. Original Run: 1959—1973. Spinoffs: Three TV movies: “Bonanza: The Next Generation” (1988), “Bonanza: The Return” (1993) and “Bonanza: Under Attack” (1995); and a prequel series, Ponderosa, with aired for two seasons on the PAX Network. Bonanza got its name from the Comstock Lode which was "an exceptionally large and rich mineral deposit" of silver. Virginia City was founded directly over the lode and was mined for 19 years. Ponderosa was an alternative title of the series, used for the broadcast of syndicated reruns while "Bonanza" was in first-run on NBC. Ponderosa is also the name of a series prequel airing on PAX-TV from 2001-02. The "Bonanza" pilot, "Rose for Lotta", was written by David Dortort, who also produced the series. Dortort's other creations include The Restless Gun, The High Chaparral, The Cowboys, and the Bonanza prequel, Ponderosa. For most of its 430 episode run, the main sponsor of Bonanza was Chevrolet and the stars occasionally appeared in commercials endorsing Chevrolet automobiles. All of the regular cast members had appeared in numerous stage, television and film productions before Bonanza, but none was particularly well-known. In 1959, the series aired on Saturday evenings opposite, "The Perry Como Hour". Bonanza was one of the first series to be filmed and broadcast in color. RCA owned NBC (and the series) and wanted to use it to spur sales of color receivers. However, the Saturday night ratings were dismal and Bonanza was soon targeted for cancellation. Given one last chance it was moved to Sunday nights at 9:00 PM. The new time slot caused the series to soar, and it eventually reached number one by the mid-'60s; by 1970, it had become the first series to ever wind up in the Top Five for nine consecutive seasons (a record which would stand for decades) and thus established itself as the single biggest hit TV series of the 1960s; it remained high on the Nielsen ratings until 1971, when it finally fell out of the top ten. The opening burning map of the Ponderosa Ranch was illustrated with incorrect bearings. David Dortort, choosing not to redo the map, altered the compass points. The original painting was done by artist Robert Temple Ayres. The show chronicled the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, headed by wise, thrice-widowed patriarch Ben Cartwright (played by Lorne Greene). He had three sons, each by a different wife: the oldest was the urbane architect Adam Cartwright (played by Pernell Roberts) who built the ranch house; the second was the warm and lovable giant Eric, better known by his nickname: "Hoss" (played by Dan Blocker); and the youngest was the hotheaded and impetuous Joseph or "Little Joe" (played by Michael Landon). The family's cook was the Chinese immigrant Hop Sing (played by Victor Sen Yung). "Bonanza" was considered an atypical western for its time, as the core of the storylines dealt with Ben and his three dissimilar sons, how they cared for one another, their neighbors and their land. The family lived on a thousand-square-mile ranch called "The Ponderosa", on the shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada; the name refers to the Ponderosa Pine, common in the West. The nearest town to the Ponderosa was Virginia City, where the Cartwrights would go to converse with Sheriff Roy Coffee (played by veteran actor Ray Teal), or his deputy Clem Foster (Bing Russell). Greene, Roberts, Blocker, and Landon were equal stars. The opening credits rotated among four versions, with each of the four being shown first in one version (in the order above). As the series advanced, writers began to showcase one or two Cartwrights in each episode, while the others would be seen briefly in the prologue and epilogue. Not only did this provide for more thorough character development, it also gave all four actors more free time. Originally, the Cartwrights tended to be depicted as put-off by outsiders. Lorne Greene pointed out to the producers that as one of the region's most affluent timber and livestock producers, they had better moderate their clannishness. The producers agreed with this observation and changed the Cartwrights to be more amiable. Early in the show's history, the thrice widowed Ben Cartwright, recalls each wife in flashback episodes. A recurring situation (which also occurs in the TV western The Big Valley), was that every time one of the Cartwrights became seriously involved with a woman, she died from a malady, was slain, or left with someone else. As with all hit programs, disturbing a successful formula could be a major blunder. Though not familiar stars in 1959, the cast quickly became favorites of the first TV generation. Lorne Greene, known as the "Voice of Canada," was a fairly successful announcer, actor and drama coach in his native land; he was known during World War II as the "Voice of Doom," since he'd read in a deep, resonant voice, the weekly list of casualties on the radio for all levels of audience. Ben Cartwright, as Greene once described him, was "suede leather," as he was both a strong and soft patriarch. Greene recorded several record albums in character as Ben Cartwright, scoring a #1 hit with his dramatic spoken word performance of "Ringo." He also recorded a version of the Bonanza theme. Georgia-born Pernell Roberts was a familiar face at studio lots in the late 1950's according to producer David Dortort, who saw him in a "Gunsmoke" episode. Roberts, an accomplished singer and stage actor, recorded an album of folk ballads entitled "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies". He left the series in 1965 after disagreements with writers and producer David Dortort. According to the July 2005 Bonanza Gold issue, David Dortort said his intent was to have a married Adam appear less frequently, thus making him a semi-regular. It was a move to broker with Roberts, who wanted to return to stage work. Attempts to replace him were made by introducing Ben's stepson, Clay, (played briefly by Barry Coe) and Will, a nephew (played by Zorro star Guy Williams), but neither lasted. Two of the remaining stars felt that storylines which created new Cartwrights could potentially defeat their own contract negotiations, so Williams' Will Cartwright wound up leaving the series with Adam's fiancèe. Williams moved on to Lost in Space and never revived the Will role. Three hundred pound Dan Blocker, played the gentle middle son Eric AKA "Hoss". Born in Texas, he was a teacher who graduated with a Masters in Dramatic Arts before becoming Hoss. The character had a warm heart and a penchant for lost causes. But, as might be expected, it was young Michael Landon who played most of the sweetheart's plots. In addition to acting, Landon began to develop his skills in writing and directing Bonanza episodes, starting with "The Gamble." Some of the shows Landon directed are considered to be the most moving and helped to build an opportune cool behaviour pattern for a growing specified public, that of teenagers, among them, "The Wish." In 1967, David Canary joined the cast as "Candy" Canaday, a confident army-brat turned cowboy, who became the Cartwrights' foreman. The character vanished in 1970 after Canary himself had a contract dispute with Dortort. In 1970, 14-year-old Mitch Vogel joined the series as Jamie Hunter, the orphaned son of a rainmaker. Ben adopted Jamie in a 1971 episode. During this character's run on the show, Bonanza ratings fell greatly. In 1972, Dan Blocker suddenly died from a post-op blood-clot to the lungs. The show's producers chose to simply mention the character's death in passing (this had been done earlier in 1954 with Make Room For Daddy and in 1963 with The Real McCoys, wherein the female leads of each show chose not to renew their contracts). "Bonanza" was moved to Tuesday nights against a new CBS sitcom, Maude. Both events signaled the end of the program. Canary returned to his former role of Candy (to make up for Blocker's absence), and a new character named Griff King (played by Tim Matheson) was added to lure younger viewers. Griff, accused of killing his heavy-handed stepfather, was paroled into Ben's custody and got a job as a ranch hand. Several episodes were built around his character, one Matheson never had a chance to fully develop before the show's sudden demise in January 1973. Many fans felt that the Hoss character was essential, as he was a nurturing, empathetic soul who rounded-out the all-male cast. From the third season on, the Cartwrights and nearly every other recurring character on the show wore the same clothing in almost every episode. This was done to cut the cost of refilming action shots (such as riding clips in-between scenes), as previously-shot stock footage could be reused. For 14 years, the Cartwrights were the premier western family on American television and have been immensely popular on cable networks such as TV Land, ION (formerly PAX), and the Hallmark Channel. In the UK, the show is aired on the Bonanza channel on skyTV. Following the program's cancellation: Lorne Greene did three short-lived series Griff, Battlestar Galactica and Code Red, as well as narrating a wild life series and a starring role as the first slave owner of Kunta Kinte in the mini-series Roots. Lorne Greene suffered from prostate cancer and eventually died from pneumonia in 1987, a few weeks after signing to appear in Bonanza: The Next Generation. Michael Landon became an industry "mover" as actor, writer, director and producer of two successful series, Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven. Landon died from pancreatic cancer in 1991. David Canary, who started in Peyton Place, went back to the soap genre and (to date) has won five Emmy Awards for his dual portrayal of twins Adam and Stuart Chandler on All My Children. Pernell Roberts, the lone survivor of the original cast, found renewed fame from 1979-86 with Trapper John, M.D., and later narrated FBI: The Untold Stories. Victor Sen Yung died a mysterious death in his home in 1980. The actor's achievements were greatly overlooked. On a To Tell the Truth episode in 1975, no one on the panel identified him as the actor who contributed to the Charlie Chan films, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song, and the 14-year run of Bonanza. Pernell Roberts, a champion for minority rights, did the eulogy at Yung's funeral. With few available roles for Asian actors at the time, Yung had been reduced to selling cookware. Bonanza was brought back for three made-for-TV movies featuring the Cartwrights' offspring. These include “Bonanza: The Next Generation” (1988), “Bonanza: The Return” (1993), and “Bonanza: Under Attack” (1995). The blonde Michael Landon, Jr., played Little Joe's son Benji while Gillian Greene, Lorne's daughter, played a love interest. In the second movie, airing on NBC, a one hour retrospective was done to introduce the drama. It was hosted by both Michael Landon Jr. and Dirk Blocker. According to TV Guide, NBC told Blocker he was too old to play the Hoss scion, but was given the role of an unrelated newspaper reporter. Clips of his appearance were heavily used in advertisements promoting the "second generation" theme. Hoss' son Josh was born out-of-wedlock, as it is explained that Hoss drowned without knowing his fiancée was pregnant. Such a storyline could have been problematic in the original series. ("The Big Valley", however, had a major character in Heath, who was presented as illegitimate. The "Gunsmoke" movies of the early 1990s employed a similar theme with Matt Dillon having sired an illegitimate daughter to a Michael Learned character, first seen in 1975). In 2001, there was an attempt to revive the series' concept with a prequel, Ponderosa, with a pilot directed by Kevin James Dobson and filmed in Australia. Covering the time when the Cartwrights first arrived at the Ponderosa, it lasted 20 episodes. The prequel had less gunfire and brawling than the original. Bonanza creator David Dortort approved PAX TV's decision to hire Beth Sullivan, a producer from Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, which some believe gave the series a softer edge. Unknown to many, Bonanza’s classic theme song actually has words: “We’ve got to a right to pick a little fight, Bonanza!” But as a description of the seminal home-on-the-range show, that line couldn’t have been more wrong. In the 1960s, when riflemen stalked the dusty streets of TV Westerns and Gunsmoke filled the air, the men of Bonanza used their consciences more often than their six-shooters. And, that is what kept viewers coming back to the Ponderosa for 14 years. Noble father Ben Cartwright had three sons: Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe. After hitting a pre-series debut “bonanza” in a silver mine, Ben settled with his sons on a 600,000-acre ranch near Virginia City, Nevada. It was the 1860s in the Wild, Wild West, but Bonanza wasn’t your average horse opera. With its sensitivity to indigenous rights contempt for racism (in this case, against Mexicans), and respect for the land, Bonanza put a liberal twist on that era. But, that didn’t mean that the Cartwrights didn’t enjoy their share of fisticuffs and gun battles; after all, everyone knew that Little Joe was as hot-headed as he was hot (What!? Michael Landon was heartthrob back then). But more often than not, the Cartwrights’ crises were moral ones, like dealing with the theft of a precious war bonnet from an aging Native American chief. Two decades before Kevin Costner won high-marks and Oscars fro racial sensitivity in “Dances With Wolves,” the Cartwrights were already ahead of him, doing the right thing. |
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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Jul 4, 2008 14:31:02 GMT -5
91. Batman  Genre: Action/comedy Created by: Bob Kane (characters), William Dozier (series). Executive Producer(s): William Dozier. Starring: Adam West (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Burt Ward (Dick Grayson/Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred Pennyworth), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Jim Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief Miles O’Hara), Madge Blake (Aunt Harriet Cooper), and Yvonne Craig (Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, Season 3) Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 3. Number of Episodes: 120. Running Time: 30 minutes. Original Channel: ABC. Original Run: January 12, 1966 – March 14, 1968 Spinoffs: “Batman” a 1966 movie based on the series, starring the actual cast of the show. In the early 1960s, Ed Graham Productions optioned the TV rights to the comic strip Batman, and planned a straightforward juvenile adventure show, much like Adventures of Superman and The Lone Ranger, for CBS on Saturday mornings. Mike Henry, who would later go on to star in the Tarzan franchise, and is best known for his portrayal of Jackie Gleason's not-too-bright son Buford T. Justice, Jr. in the Smokey and the Bandit movies, was set to star as Batman. Reportedly, DC Comics commissioned publicity photos of Henry in a Batman costume. Around this same time, the Playboy Club in Chicago was screening the Batman serials (1943's Batman and 1949's Batman and Robin) on Saturday nights. It became very popular, as the hip partygoers would cheer and applaud the Dynamic Duo, and boo and hiss at the villains. East coast ABC executive Yale Udoff, a Batman fan in childhood, attended one of these parties at the Playboy Club and was impressed with the reaction the serials were getting. He contacted West Coast ABC executives Harve Bennett and Edgar Scherick, who were already considering developing a TV series based on a comic strip action hero, to suggest a prime time Batman series in the hip and fun style of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. When negotiations between CBS and Graham stalled, DC quickly reeled the rights back in and made the deal with ABC. ABC farmed the rights out to 20th Century Fox to produce the series. Fox, in turn, handed the project to William Dozier and his Greenway Productions. Whereas ABC and Fox were expecting a hip and fun, yet still serious, adventure show, Dozier, who loathed comic books, concluded the only way to make the show work was to do it as a pop art camp comedy. Originally, mystery novelist Eric Ambler was to write the motion picture that would launch the TV series, but he dropped out after learning of Dozier's camp comedy approach. By the time ABC pushed up the debut date to January 1966, thus foregoing the movie until the summer hiatus, Lorenzo Semple, Jr., had signed on as head script writer. He wrote the pilot script, and generally kept his scripts more on the side of pop art adventure. Stanley Ralph Ross, Stanford Sherman, and Charles Hoffman were script writers who generally leaned more toward camp comedy, and in Ross' case, sometimes outright slapstick and satire. Instead of producing a one-hour show, Dozier and Semple decided to have the show air twice a week in half-hour installments with a cliffhanger connecting the two episodes, echoing the old movie serials. Initially, Dozier wanted Ty Hardin to play Batman, but he was unavailable, filming Westerns in Europe. Eventually, two sets of screen tests were filmed, one with Adam West and Burt Ward, the other with Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell, with West and Ward winning the roles. The typical formula story began with the villain (typically one of a short list of recurring villains) committing a crime, such as robbing a bank. This was followed by a scene inside Police Commissioner Gordon's office where he and Chief O'Hara would deduce exactly which villain they were dealing with. Gordon would press a button on the Batphone, signaling a cut to Wayne Manor where Alfred, the butler, would answer the manor's Batphone, a bright red telephone that beeped loudly instead of ringing on the desk in Bruce Wayne's study. Alfred would then interrupt Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson - usually they would be found talking with Aunt Harriet, who didn't know of their dual life - with a pretext to draw them away to answer the Batphone. Upon hearing of his enemy's schemes, Bruce would push a button concealed within a bust of Shakespeare that stood on his desk, opening a hidden door in a bookcase and revealing two poles. Wayne says to Grayson "To the Batpoles", then they would slide down, flicking a switch on their way down. This was usually where the animated title sequence would occur. They would arrive in the Batcave in full costume and jump into the Batmobile, Batman in the driver's seat. Robin would say "Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed" and Batman would respond "Roger, ready to move out" and the two would race off out of the cave at high speed. As the Batmobile approached the mouth of the cave, a hinged barrier dropped down to allow the car to exit on to the road. Scenes from the Dynamic Duo sliding down the batpoles in the Batcave, to the arrival of Commissioner Gordon's building via the Batmobile (while the episode credits are shown), are recycled footage that is used in nearly all part 1 and single episodes. After arriving at Commissioner Gordon's office, the initial discussion of the crime usually led to the Dynamic Duo (Batman and Robin) conducting their investigation alone. In the investigation, a meeting with the villain would usually ensue with the heroes getting involved in a fight and the villain getting away, only to come back and fight again later in the show. Here, the villain would capture one or both of the heroes and place them in a deathtrap with a cliffhanger ending which was usually resolved in the first few minutes of the next episode. The same pattern was repeated in the following episode until the villain was defeated. In Season 1, the dynamic duo, Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward), are the super crime fighting heroes to fight those villains of Gotham City, NJ. It begins with 2-part episodes, "Hi Diddle Riddle" and "Smack in the Middle". In Season 2, the show suffered from repetition of its characters and formula. This, combined with Lorenzo Semple Jr. contributing fewer scripts and having less of an influence on the series, caused viewers to tire of the show and for critics to complain, "If you've seen one episode of Batman, you've seen them all". By Season 3, ratings were falling and the future of the series seemed uncertain. A promotional short featuring Yvonne Craig as Batgirl and Tim Herbert as Killer Moth was produced. The short was convincing enough to pick up Batman for another season, and introduced Batgirl as a regular on the show in an attempt to attract more female viewers. Batgirl's alter ego was Barbara Gordon, a mild-mannered librarian at the Gotham Library and Commissioner Gordon's daughter. The show was reduced to once a week, with mostly self-contained episodes, although the next week's villain would be in a tag at the end of the episode, similar to a soap opera. As such, the narrator's cliffhanger phrases were eliminated, but most episodes would end with him saying something to the extent of "Watch the next episode!" Aunt Harriet was reduced to just two cameo appearances during the third season, due to Madge Blake being in poor health. (Aunt Harriet was also mentioned in another episode, but was not seen; her absence was explained by her being in shock upstairs.) The nature of the scripts and acting started to enter into the realm of the surreal, specifically with the backgrounds, which became two-dimensional cut-outs against a stark black stage. At the end of the third season, ABC planned cuts to the budget by eliminating Chief O'Hara and Robin, while making Batgirl Batman's full time partner. Both Dozier and West opposed this idea, and ABC cancelled the show a short time later. Weeks later, NBC offered to pick the show up for a fourth season and even restore it to its twice a week format, if the sets were still available for use. However, NBC's offer came too late: Fox had already demolished the sets a week before. NBC didn't want to pay the $800,000 to rebuild, so the offer was withdrawn. Batman was replaced on ABC by the sitcom The Second Hundred Years. In 1972, Burt Ward and Yvonne Craig reunited as Robin and Batgirl, with Dick Gautier stepping in as Batman (Adam West was, at the time, trying to distance himself from the Batman role) for a Women's Liberation Equal Pay public service announcement. In 1977, Adam West and Burt Ward returned to the Batman universe in animated form. West and Ward lent their voices to Batman and Robin respectively, on the Filmation-produced animated series, The New Adventures of Batman. West would once again reprise his role as Batman in animated form when he succeeded Olan Soule in the final two seasons of Super Friends. In 1979, West, Ward, and Frank Gorshin reunited on NBC for Hanna-Barbera's two Legends of the Superheroes TV specials. Many sports, music, and media personalities, and a number of Hollywood actors, looked forward to and enjoyed their appearances as villains on the Batman show. They were generally allowed to overact and enjoy themselves on a high-rated TV series, guaranteeing them considerable exposure (and thus boosting their careers). The most popular villains on the show included Cesar Romero as the Joker, Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, Frank Gorshin as The Riddler, Julie Newmar as Catwoman, and Victor Buono as King Tut. Other famous names from the "rogues gallery" in the comic book series made appearances on the show (notably The Mad Hatter), and some were taken from other superheroes, such as The Archer and The Puzzler (Superman villains) and The Clock King (a Green Arrow villain). Many other villains were created especially for the TV show, and never did appear in the comic books (e.g., The Siren, Chandelle, Bookworm, King Tut, Lord Ffogg, Dr. Cassandra, and Louie the Lilac), while some were hybrids. The comics' Mr. Zero was renamed Mr. Freeze (a name change that was copied in the comics with lasting effect), and the comics' Brainy Barrows was reworked as Egghead. Other celebrities often appeared in scenes where the Dynamic Duo were scaling a building wall and the celebrity would suddenly open a window and have a short conversation with the superheroes. Adam West enjoys the story that he was part of two of the three Big B's of the 1960s: Batman, The Beatles and Bond. West says he was actually invited to play Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service based on his popularity as Batman, but declined the role as he felt it should be played by a British actor (ironically, the role went to an Australian, George Lazenby. The popularity of the TV show did not translate well to the silver screen, however. A movie version of the TV show was released to theaters (the 1966 “Batman” film), but it did not become a large box office hit, even though creatively the movie was generally regarded to be just as good as the first season episodes, and superior to most of the second and third season episodes. The movie continued to be profitably re-released to theaters, TV, and video for decades. Originally, the movie had been created to help sell the TV series abroad, but the success of the series in America sold itself, and the movie was brought out after season one had already been aired. In fact, the movie's budget allowed for producers to build the Batboat and Batcopter, which were used in the second and third seasons of the TV show. The live-action TV show was extraordinarily popular. At the height of its popularity, it was the only prime time TV show other than Peyton Place to be broadcast twice in one week as part of its regular schedule, airing at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. Episodes of the show were often filmed as two-part cliffhangers, with each storyline beginning on Wednesday and ending on the Thursday night episode. At the very end of the Thursday night segment, a little tag featuring the next week's villain would be shown, e.g.: "Next week -- Batman jousts with The Joker again!" (this started the third week of the series' run and continued until the end of season two). The first episode of a storyline would typically end with Batman and Robin being trapped in a ridiculous deathtrap, while the narrator (Dozier) would tell viewers to watch the next night with the repeated phrase: "Tune in tomorrow — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!" Even now, many years after the show ceased production, this catch-phrase is still a long-running punchline in popular culture. Batman would even have influence in the sports world. During the height of the show's popularity, the Pittsburgh Steelers unveiled new uniforms influenced by Adam West's Batman outfits. The uniforms were introduced for the 1967 NFL season, and had gold triangle-like diamonds on the shoulders of both the black home jerseys and white away jerseys. However, the jerseys turned out to be very unpopular and, coupled with a last-place season that year, were discarded the following season in favor of the team's current-style uniforms. The show even contributed to the careers of two real-life New York City policemen, David Greenberg and Robert Hantz. This pair had a remarkable career as police officers, so much so that they were given street nicknames of "Batman and Robin". Their careers were fictionalized in the 1974 movie The Super Cops. The series' stars, Adam West and Burt Ward, were typecast for decades afterwards, with West especially finding himself unable to escape the reputation the series gave him as a hammy, campy actor. However, years after the series' impact faded, West found fame and respect among comic book and animation fans, who appreciated his work on the TV series. One of the more popular episodes of Batman: The Animated Series paid tribute to West with an episode titled "The Grey Ghost". In this episode, West played the role of an aging star of a superhero TV series Bruce Wayne had watched as a child, and would be inspired by as a crimefighter, who found new popularity with the next generation of fans. He would also play Gotham City's Mayor Grange as a somewhat recurring role in The Batman. In addition, the most frequent visual influence is that later Batmobiles usually have a rear rocket thruster that usually fires as the car makes a fast start. In 2003, West and Ward reunited for a tongue-in-cheek telefilm titled “Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt” which combined dramatized recreations of the filming of the original series (with younger actors standing in for the stars), with modern day footage of West and Ward searching for a stolen Batmobile. The film included cameo appearances by Newmar and Gorshin, as well as Lee Meriwether who had played Catwoman in the 1966 film and Lyle Waggoner, who had been an early candidate for the role of Batman. Yvonne Craig did not appear in the movie because she reportedly disliked the script. The movie received high ratings and was released on DVD May 2005. Let the purist droolers drone on about how Tim Burton’s films plumbed the depths of the Dark Knight’s brooding soul; it was the late ‘60s ABC series that captured the comic book’s spirit of fun (Though I believe Christopher Nolan’s films managed to capture both perfectly). As the slightly paunchy Caped Crusader, Adam West fought Gotham City bad guys with a tongue-in-cheek glee. And, as Batman’s sidekick, Burt Ward exuded an infectiously boyish enthusiasm bordering on mania (“Holy contributing to the delinquency of minors, Batman!”). The show had it all: exciting action sequences (with evocative sound-effects phrases like “THWACK!,” “OOOF!,” and “ZOWIE!”), nifty gadgets, (the Batarang, the Batgeiger Counter, the Batshark Repellant), and guest stars galore. In addition to heinous villains like the Joker (Cesar Romero, who refused to shave his mustache and had the make-up artist put white paint over it, which, in a way, is something the Joke would do), the Penguin (Burgess Meredith), and the Riddler (Frank Gorshin, who could have also been the Joker with that laugh), there were lesser but no less kitschy figures like King Tut (Victor Buono as a college professor who, whenever he gets hit on the head, starts thinking that he’s King Tutankhamun and starts committing crimes, SERIOUSLY!!!!), “Fingers” Chandell (Liberace), and Lola Lasagne (Ethel Merman). As Meredith recalled, “After its first few episodes, Batman became the in thing to do.” Celebrities from Jerry Lewis to Sammy Davis, Jr., to Edward G. Robinson contributed cameos, popping out of windows as Batman and Robin scaled the sides of buildings. But, those stars weren’t the real reason to tune into Batman each week, and neither was the fact that most episodes were two-parters (but that did help.) Batman was a fantasy in more ways than one. Not only were many a prepubescent boy’s dirty dreams were inspired by formfitting costumes of the crime-busting Batgirl (Yvonne Craig) and the evil temptress Catwoman (played by three women, Julie Newman (Seasons 1 and 2), Ertha Kitt (Season 3), and Lee Meriwether (the 1966 movie) but it was also a fun show to get lost into and play your own adventures in your living room. Not that I ever did that when the Family Channel (now ABC Family) or FX use to air reruns. I never did that! Never! Ever! STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!!!! |
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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Jul 4, 2008 14:33:35 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 90-86 (I do four on the weekends). Here are the hints:
It jumped the shark, you hail them, hippies and conservatives in the same household, and an American version of a British show.
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Sajoa Moe
Patti Mayonnaise
Did you get that thing I sent ya?
A man without gimmick.
Posts: 39,683
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Post by Sajoa Moe on Jul 4, 2008 15:08:59 GMT -5
Happy Days, ?, Growing Pains, and Sanford and Son.
As for the second, I didn't know Snitsky had his own show.
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Post by Supersmark is a Troll on Jul 4, 2008 15:24:18 GMT -5
If MST3K is not on this list, I riot.
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Post by rrm15 on Jul 4, 2008 16:45:41 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 90-86 (I do four on the weekends). Here are the hints: It jumped the shark, you hail them, hippies and conservatives in the same household, and an American version of a British show. Happy Days That 70's Show The Office ? |
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Post by T.J. "the Crippler" Stevens on Jul 4, 2008 17:25:28 GMT -5
It jumped the shark - I'm with everyone on Happy Days.
You hail them - Gotta be Taxi
Hippies and conservatives in the same household - I'm thinking Family Ties
An American version of a British show - Could be Who Wants to Be a Millionare too.
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Post by Cyborg Franky on Jul 4, 2008 17:34:44 GMT -5
American verison of a British show could be The Office.
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Sajoa Moe
Patti Mayonnaise
Did you get that thing I sent ya?
A man without gimmick.
Posts: 39,683
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Post by Sajoa Moe on Jul 4, 2008 20:13:25 GMT -5
Dammit, why do I always mix up Family Ties and Growing Pains? They're not even close to the same.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2008 20:55:25 GMT -5
American version of a British show= I'm thinking Sanford and Son, but it could be Whose Line Is It Anyway?
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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Jul 5, 2008 11:31:34 GMT -5
Countdown time, people. Here's number 90: 90. Happy Days  Genre: Sitcom. Created by: Garry Marshall. Executive Producer(s): Garry Marshall, Edward K. Milkis, and Thomas Miller. Starring: Ron Howard (Richie Cunningham, 1974-1980 regular; 1981-1984 special guest appearances), Henry Winkler (Arthur “Fonzie/The Fonz” Fonzarelli), Tom Bosley (Howard Cunningham), Marion Ross (Marion Cunningham), Anson Williams (Warren “Potsie” Webber), Donny Most (Ralph Malph, 1974-1981), Erin Moran (Joanie Cunningham, 1974-1982, 1983-1984), Gavan O'Herlihy (Chuck Cunningham, 1974-1975), Randolph Roberts (Chuck Cunningham, 1975-1976), Al Molinaro (Al Delvecchio, 1976-1982), Scott Baio (Charles “Chachi” Arcola, 1977-1982, 1983-1984), Cathy Silvers (Jenny Picolo, 1980-1983), Ted McGinley (Roger Philips, 1981-1984), Ellen Travolta (Louisa Arcola), Roz Kelly (Pinky Tuscadero), Linda Purl (Ashley Pfister, 1982-1983), Pat Morita (Matsumoto "Arnold" Takahashi, 1975-1976, 1982-1983), Lynda Goodfriend (Lori Beth Allen Cunningham, 1977-1982), Billy Warlock (Flip Phillips, 1982-1983), Heather O' Rourke (Heather Pfister, 1982), and Crystal Bernard (Krystal "KC" Cunningham, 1982-1983). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 11. Number of Episodes: 255. Running Time: 22 minutes. Original Channel: ABC. Original Run: January 15, 1974 – June 12, 1984 Spinoffs: The show itself is usually considered a spinoff of Love, American Style and had five spin-offs: Laverne & Shirley, Blansky's Beauties, Mork & Mindy, Out of the Blue, and Joanie Loves Chachi Happy Days centers on the life of a middle-class family, the Cunninghams of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The family consists of Howard, a hardware store owner, Marion, his homemaker wife, and the couple's teenage children, Richie (who has an optimistic if somewhat naïve outlook on life), Richie's sweet and beautiful but feisty and clumsy younger sister Joanie, and Richie's older brother Chuck (a character who abruptly disappeared during the second season). Most of the early episodes revolve around Richie (often with his best friend Potsie); as the series progressed, more and more stories were written to revolve around Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, who was originally portrayed as a local dropout but soon befriended Richie and family, and became a huge hit with viewers. The focus would also occasionally shift to other additional characters, such as Fonzie's cousin Chachi, who became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham. Happy Days originated during a time of 1950s nostalgic interest evident in film, television, and music. The show began as an unsold pilot called New Family in Town, with Harold Gould in the role of Howard Cunningham, Marion Ross as Marion, Ron Howard as Richie, Anson Williams as Potsie, Ric Carrott as Charles "Chuck" Cunningham, and Susan Neher as Joanie. While Paramount passed on making it into a weekly series, the pilot was recycled with the title Love and the Happy Days, for presentation on the television anthology series Love, American Style. In 1972, George Lucas asked to view the pilot to determine if Ron Howard would be suitable to play a teenager in American Graffiti, then in preproduction. Lucas immediately cast Howard in the film, which became one of the top-grossing films of 1973. Show creator Garry Marshall and ABC recast the unsold pilot to turn Happy Days into a series. The second season episode "The Not Making of the President" revolves around the 1956 presidential election, while the sixth season episode "Christmas Time" ends with a photo dated Christmas 1960. Despite some inconsistencies, it is generally indicated that the events of the series begin in 1955 and, after eleven seasons, end in 1966. The first two seasons of Happy Days were filmed using a single-camera setup and laugh track. One episode of Season 2 ("Fonzie Gets Married") was filmed in front of a studio audience with three cameras as a test run. From the third season on, the show was a three-camera production in front of a live audience (with the announcement "Happy Days is filmed before a studio audience" at the start of most episodes), giving these later seasons a markedly different style. The early Happy Days episodes centered on Richie and teenage friends Ralph Malph and Warren "Potsie" Weber, dealing with typical adolescent woes in the 1950s and early/mid 1960s Milwaukee. During the first season, the character Arthur "Fonzie"/"The Fonz" Fonzarelli was becoming a fan favorite, though he was originally intended to be a local high school dropout who was only occasionally seen. The Fonz character was given progressively more screen time by the writers, becoming a permanent cast member displayed in the second season opening credits. The Fonz quickly became the show's most popular character, and many episodes came to revolve around him. When the ABC management considered changing the name of the show to "Fonzie's Happy Days", the cast, including Fonzie player Henry Winkler, protested along with producer/creator Garry Marshall, and the show's title remained unchanged. The first two seasons of the series also featured Chuck, the Cunninghams' eldest child and Richie's older brother. The character was nearly superfluous, as his scenes were usually brief appearances "on his way to basketball practice." In fact, Chuck was originally a student at Marquette University on a basketball scholarship. Chuck was written out during the series' second season with no explanation and was rarely referred to again. Scripts from later seasons implied the Cunninghams had two, not three children. However, in the third and fourth-season recap versions of the Christmas episode, "Guess Who's Coming To Christmas", Fonzie, recalling his first Christmas with the Cunninghams, tells Arnold, and later, Al, that Chuck was "away at college." In a Happy Days reunion show from 2005, the cast mentioned that Chuck had won a scholarship to the "University of Outer Mongolia" to play basketball, as a sort of an inside joke. An officially circulated outtake from the final episode has Mr. Cunningham raising a glass to the entire cast and saying "to Happy Days." After taking a sip, he blurts out in mock surprise "Wait, where's Chuck?!" The unexplained removal of a character in a TV series has come to be known as "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome." Later seasons saw the addition of other characters. Introduced in the second season episode 'Not With My Sister, You Don't', Danny Butch played Fonzie's similarly dressed and mannered young cousin Raymond "Spike" Fonzarelli. Although he went on to make several more appearances, the character was felt to never completely catch on, and was reworked into that of Chachi at the start of the fifth season. At the start of the fourth season, Roz Kelly was brought in as Pinky Tuscadero, Fonzie's long-term girlfriend. Commercials for the subsequent season even began promoting Kelly's new character, but when discord occurred between her and the cast and producers, her character was dropped; the character was briefly mentioned in two subsequent episodes, one where her sister Leather Tuscadero came to town to start anew out of reform school, and when Fonzie was out of town at a demolition derby with Pinky. Bill "Sticks" Downey, played by John-Anthony Bailey, was supposed to be added to the cast as a new member of Richie's band, on drums, and the gang at Arnold's but the character never caught on and only stayed for a few episodes. During the first two seasons, a few actresses were brought in as potential long-term girlfriends for Richie. Laurette Spang was Richie's girlfriend Arlene in a couple of first season episodes. Later in the second season Linda Purl was brought in as Richie's girlfriend Gloria. Neither caught on storywise and Richie did not have a steady girlfriend until going to college and meeting Lori-Beth Allen (Lynda Goodfriend), a former classmate from Jefferson High. Linda Purl returned to the Happy Days fold in Season 10 as Fonzie's girlfriend Ashley Pfister (a divorced socialite of the wealthy Milwaukee Pfister family). The Pfisters were often also referenced on Laverne & Shirley as owners of many Milwaukee establishments, i.e., Chez Pfister, The Hotel Pfister, Pfister Fong's. The most major character changes occurred after Season 4 with the addition of Scott Baio as Fonzie's cousin, Chachi Arcola. Originally the character Spike, mentioned as Fonzie's nephew (who's actually his cousin as he made it clear in one episode), was supposed to be the character who became Chachi. Al Molinaro was added as Al Delvecchio the new owner of Arnold's after Pat Morita's character of Arnold moved on (after his character got married; Pat Morita left the program to star in a short-lived sitcom of his own, Mr. T. and Tina). Al Molinaro also played Al's twin brother Father Anthony Delvecchio, a Catholic priest. Al eventually married Chachi's mother (played by Ellen Travolta) and Father Delvecchio served in the wedding of Joanie to Chachi in the series finale. Lynda Goodfriend joined the cast as semi-regular character Lori-Beth Allen, Richie's steady girlfriend, in season 5, and became a permanent member of the cast between Seasons 8 and 10, after Lori-Beth married Richie. After Ron Howard (Richie) left the series, Ted McGinley joined the cast as Roger Phillips the new Physical Education teacher at Jefferson High and nephew to Howard and Marion. He took over from the departed Richie Cunningham character, acting as counterpoint to Fonzie. Also joining the cast was Cathy Silvers as Jenny Piccolo Joanie's best friend who was previously referenced in various episodes from earlier seasons who remained as a main cast member until the final season. Both actors were originally credited as guest stars but were promoted to the main cast during the 10th season after several series regulars left the show. The real focus of the series was now on the Joanie and Chachi characters, and often finding ways to incorporate Fonzie into them as a shoulder to cry on, advice-giver, and savior as needed. The Potsie character who had already been spun off from the devious best friend of Richie to Ralph's best friend and confidante, held little grist for the writers in this new age, and was now most often used as the occasional "dumb" foil for punchlines (most often from Mr. C. or Fonzie). Billy Warlock joined the cast in season 10 as Roger's brother Flip, along with Crystal Bernard as Howard's and Marion's niece K.C. They were intended as replacements for Erin Moran and Scott Baio (who departed for their own show, Joanie Loves Chachi) and were credited as part of the semi-regular cast. Both characters left with the return of Moran and Baio, following the cancellation of Joanie Loves Chachi. By the later seasons, the storylines started to slip in quality. The most famous of these plots involved Fonzie performing a water ski jump over a shark in an episode aired on September 20, 1977, during the show's fifth season. In later years, this episode has often been cited as the point where the series had passed its peak of quality and popularity. The phrase jumping the shark was later applied to popular culture phenomena in general. While the Fonz's literal shark jump gave rise to the phrase, some fans consider Happy Days to have had more than one such moment, occurring both before and after the stunt in question. Of particular note are the fire that destroyed the original Arnold's Drive-In and the departure of leading man Ron Howard, both of which happened after the notorious stunt involving the shark. Prior to this, the Fonzie character had become almost a comic book version of himself, battling the Woman from Katmandu and Mork from Ork. Interestingly, although the series dipped slightly in viewership after Ron Howard's departure in 1980 (the show still remained a Top Thirty hit for three of its last four seasons), the Fonzie character became more grounded and "human" again - even venturing into a season of exploring domesticity and the trials of approaching middle age. Despite having the dubious honor of coining the phrase, Happy Days remained a successful sitcom in terms of ratings for another seven seasons (far greater than the length of most sitcoms' full lives). One might point to the forward thinking of Garry Marshall who drafted a very young Scott Baio while the series was at #1 (in 1976-1977) without him, and seemingly in no need of a new, very young, character. Three years later, when Ron Howard and Donny Most left the series, the focal point of the show became the relationship of the Joanie and Chachi characters, helping to carry the series onward with ratings success. Of those final four seasons (the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th), Season 10 stands out as the oddest. Scott Baio and Erin Moran were spun-off into "Joanie Loves Chachi" (itself a rating success in terms of viewers, but failure in terms of the new-at-the-time "lead-in variable" - a gauge to see if a show is holding a high enough percentage of the show that aired just before it during the hour) and the production staff scrambled to bring in conspicuously similar Cunningham relatives to fill those spots. Season 10 marked the only full season where Fonzie entered into a monogamous relationship. With the return of the full cast (even including three guest spots by Ron Howard - a two-part episode (also strongly featuring Don Most's Ralph Malph character) plus the finale, "Passages"), the 11th season is arguably forgotten as a return to deeper storylines, stronger writing, and poignant moments. Indeed, the finale is widely considered one of the best for any sitcom. The long-running show also spawned several spinoff shows, some of which were highly successful in their own right. The most successful of these spin-offs, Laverne & Shirley (starring Penny Marshall (Garry Marshall’s sister) and Cindy Williams, respectively), also took place in early/mid 1960s Milwaukee, though the two starring characters eventually moved to Los Angeles in the show’s latter years. Robin Williams made his first appearance as “Mork” on Happy Days. In his own sitcom, Mork & Mindy, Mork the alien from planet Ork landed in 1970s Boulder, Colorado, to study humans. Joanie Loves Chachi was a short-lived show about Richie’s younger sister Joanie and Fonzie’s younger cousin Chachi’s relationship during their years as musicians in Chicago. Two myths arose around the series in recent years. The first involves the series' popularity in Korea, as "Chachi" is slang for “penis”. The other rumor suggests that the show was canceled due to low ratings. Actually, the program finished in the Top 20 its first season, but ABC determined that the show was losing too much of its lead-in, suggesting low appeal if the show were moved. This type of cancellation seemed strange in the early 1980s, but soon became a commonplace part of TV audience research. Out of the Blue is a spin-off of Happy Days, though a scheduling error had the series airing prior to the main character's introduction on Happy Days. The series starred Jimmy Brogan as Random, an angel-in-training who is assigned to live with (and act as guardian angel for) a family and work as a high school teacher. Out of the Blue has engendered debate amongst some viewers concerning its precise relationship to Happy Days. The controversy arises from the fact that the first episode of the show was broadcast a little over one week prior to an episode of Happy Days featuring Jimmy Brogan's "Random" character. Television observer and owner of Sitcoms Online, Todd Fuller, maintains that because "Chachi Sells His Soul" aired on 18 September 1979, Random's appearance on this Happy Days episode was a crossover. He goes on to postulate: "The Happy Days episode was likely a promotional tool for Out of the Blue to make the character more known." Thom Holbrook, veteran crossover and spin-off analyst, sees the arguments against calling it a spin-off, but ultimately concludes: "Making it a crossover would be basing things all on an odd bit of scheduling decades ago. The intent was spin off. The tone of the Happy Days episode is that of a dry run on the character, that of a pilot episode." Whatever the actual production intent, contemporary viewers would have seen Random appear on Happy Days in the week between the second and third episodes of Out of the Blue. In the absence of a home video release for Out of the Blue, modern viewers have only "Chachi Sells His Soul" on which to base their opinions. Blansky's Beauties was set in the 1970s (like Mork & Mindy). To provide exposition, Nancy Walker had played Howard Cunningham's visiting cousin Nancy Blansky from Las Vegas on a February 4, 1977 Happy Days episode, and Blansky's Beauties premiered the following week, on February 12, 1977 . Nancy Blansky (Walker) was den mother to a bevy of beautiful Las Vegas showgirls in this short-lived comedy. In addition to keeping order in the chaotic apartment complex where they all lived, Nancy staged the girls' big numbers at the Oasis Hotel. Emilio (Johnny Desmond), the maître d', was Nancy's boyfriend. To help Nancy defray costs of her apartment, Sunshine (Lynda Goodfriend) and Bambi (Caren Kaye) shared it with her, along with her nephews Joey DeLuca (Eddie Mekka), a choreographer, and leering, 12-year-old ("going on 28"), Anthony DeLuca (Scott Baio). Anthony was forever trying to impress Bambi, who much to his chagrin treated him like a kid brother, as did almost all of Nancy's girls. Also sharing Nancy's apartment was a huge Great Dane named Blackjack who was shown in the opening credits playing blackjack. In order to find a normal family during the 1970s, you had to go back to the 1950s, when malt shops and hula hoops were king. In 1974, those Happy Days were here again, thanks to three kids named Richie, Potsie, and Ralph and their older, possibly a high school dropout, friend Fonzie. The series began life as an episode of Love, American Style, but its pilot was shelved until, in a wonderful moment of kismet, Ron Howard starred in George Lucas’s wildly popular movie “American Graffiti” (1973). Suddenly, the rage for the age of greasers was on, and ABC execs were only too happy to cash in. Yet again, Howard played a cardigan-sweatered good guy: Richie Cunningham, with the requisite sage dad (Tom Bosley), sweet-as-angel-food-cake mom (Marion Ross), and poodle-skirted kid sis Joanie (Erin Moran). Even better, he had a hood with a heart of gold living upstairs. And, when the pompadoured, leather-jacketed Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli rode his big bike on screen and punch the jukebox to make it play a tune, America cheered; in fact, Henry Winkler’s character became so popular that ABC wanted to change the name of the show to Fonzie’s Happy Days, a move creator Garry Marshall and the entire cast, even Winkler himself, opposed. Still, it was his odd-couple friendship with the squeaky-clean Richie, protecting him from a gang of toughs or sharing some hard-earned wisdom about girls, that resonated with audiences, so much so that the coming-of-age show launched ABC’s first boom, featuring shows like Three’s Company and Laverne And Shirley (a Happy Days spinoff). Hell, the show even put three TV phenomenon (I don’t know what else to call them) into the lexicon: First, there’s the “Fonzie Effect.” That is where a supporting character on a show will become very popular, even more so than the main character, much Fonzie did on the show. Second, there’s the “Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.” That is where a character on a show will just disappear without an explanation, much like Richie’s older brother Chuck, who disappeared after two seasons. And, finally, there’s the “Jump The Shark.” That is when a show reaches a point where the storylines start to lose quality, referencing the episode in which the characters went to California and Fonzie did a water ski jump over a shark. Whether or not these things can be seen as good or bad doesn’t really matter. It just shows how much influence Happy Days has had on the pop culture landscape since it aired on ABC. As the Fonz would say, Heeeyyy, that’s cool, Mr. C. |
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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Jul 5, 2008 12:04:19 GMT -5
89. Taxi  Genre: Sitcom Created by: James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, and David Davis. Executive Producer(s): James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed Weinberger. Starring: Judd Hirsch (Alex Rieger), Tony Danza (Tony Banta), Danny DeVito (Louie DePalma), Marilu Henner (Elaine O'Connor-Nardo), Christopher Lloyd (“Reverend” Jim “Iggy” Ignatowski), Andy Kaufman (Latka Gravas), Jeff Conaway (Bobby Wheeler), Carol Kane (Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, 1980-1983), Randall Carver (John Burns, 1978-1979), and J. Alan Thomas (Jeff Bennett). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 5. Number of Episodes: 114. Running Time: 30 minutes. Original Channel: ABC (1978-1982), NBC (1982-1983) Original Run: September 12, 1978 – June 15, 1983 Spinoffs: None. Taxi was inspired by the non-fiction article "Hip-Shifting for the Night Fleet" by Mark Jacobson, which appeared in the September 22, 1975 issue of New York magazine. This article helped suggest the idea for the show to James L. Brooks and David Davis, though nothing from it was used directly. The article was a profile of several drivers who worked the night shift for a New York cab company. The show focuses on the employees of the Sunshine Cab Company. Of all the taxi drivers, only Alex, who is disillusioned with life, considers it his profession. The others view driving as a temporary job until they can succeed in their outside careers and leave it behind. Elaine is a receptionist at an art gallery, Tony is a boxer with a losing record, and Bobby is a struggling actor. John Burns, who was written out of the show after the first season, is working his way through college. The rest of the drivers take pity on "Reverend Jim" Ignatowski, an aging hippie minister burnt out from drugs, and help him become a cabbie. Some episodes involve one of the characters having an opportunity to realize his or her dream and move up in the world, only to see it yanked away. Others deal with the workers coping with their unsatisfying lives and their amoral dispatcher Louis. Despite the zany humor regularly featured on the show, Taxi often tackled such dramatic issues as drug addiction, single parenthood, blindness, bisexuality, teenage runaways, failed marriages, sexual harassment, pre-menstrual mood disorders, and the loss of a loved one. The characters on the show included: Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch) - Alex is the sensible, compassionate core of the show, the one everyone else turns to for advice. At one point, he reveals his frustration with this unwanted burden. He once worked in an office, with a good chance of advancement, but lost his job due to his refusal to follow the company line. He was married to Phyllis Bornstein (Louise Lasser). When his wife divorced him because of his lack of ambition, she sought sole custody of their baby daughter, Cathy; he gave in rather than fight. He is also estranged from his philandering father, Joe (Jack Gilford). Alex is a recovered compulsive gambler, although he relapses in one episode. A pessimist, he has resigned himself to driving a cab for the rest of his life; Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito) - The dispatcher for the Sunshine Cab Company. He not only has no morals to speak of, he positively revels in his misdeeds. Nothing is beneath him, from taking advantage of a drunken friend of his sometime-girlfriend Zena Sherman (played by real-life wife Rhea Perlman) to gambling with a young boy to stealing from the company. He lives with his mother (DeVito's real mother, Julia, in two episodes). Under the amoral exterior beats a heart of pure lead. That said, he has (on very rare occasions) helped his workers, as in the episode in which an arrogant hairstylist (played by Ted Danson) gives Elaine a garish makeover just before a very important event and further humiliates her by stating he "didn't know how to do taxi drivers." It is Louie who bolsters her confidence to confront him; Elaine O'Connor-Nardo (Marilu Henner) - Elaine is a divorced mother of two struggling to cope, while trying to realize her ambitions in the field of fine art. The object of lust of Louie, she is attracted to characters played by actors ranging from Tom Selleck to Wallace Shawn; Tony Banta (Tony Danza) - The sweet-natured, if somewhat dimwitted boxer has little success in the sport. In fact, Louie makes a lot of money betting against him. Finally, the boxing commission takes away his license because he has been knocked out one too many times. Danza actually was a professional boxer; Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway) (1978-1982) - Bobby is a shallow, conceited actor whose pretensions are Louie's favorite target. Success eludes Bobby. Once, he is signed up by a famous manager, but it turns out she does not want to represent him; she only wants him as a lover. Another time, he is cast in a pilot for a soap opera called Boise. The show goes into production, but his part is recast; Reverend Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd) (1979-1983) - A burned-out relic of the '60s, Jim lives in a world of his own. He was once a hard-working, serious student at Harvard University, with an extremely wealthy father (Victor Buono), but one bite of a drug-laden brownie was enough to get him hooked and send him into a downward spiral. The cabbies help him pass a written exam to become one of them, in a particularly memorable episode. He occasionally exhibits unexpected talents, such as the ability to play the piano masterfully; Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman) - Latka is an immigrant from a very strange land, often speaking in his invented foreign tongue ("ibi da", "nik nik"). He works as a mechanic, fixing the taxis. Latka was an adaptation of the "Foreign Man" character Kaufman originated in his stand-up comedy act. He eventually grew tired of the gag, so the writers gave Latka multiple personality disorder, allowing Kaufman to play other characters, the most frequent one being a repellent, smooth-talking lounge-lizard persona calling itself Vic Ferrari. In one episode however, he becomes Alex, with profound insights into "his" life. Just when he is about to reveal to the real Alex the perfect solution for all his problems, he reverts back to Latka; Simka Dahblitz-Gravas (Carol Kane) (1980-1983) - She is from the same country as Latka. They belong to different ethnic groups which traditionally detest each other, but they fall in love and eventually get married. She is much more assertive than her husband, often standing up to Louie for him; John Burns (Randall Carver) (1978-1979) - The naive young man works as a cabbie to pay for college. According to Carver, "...the characters of John Burns and Tony Banta were too similar...Some of the lines were almost interchangeable...", so he was dropped after the first season without explanation; Jeff Bennett (J. Alan Thomas) - Sunshine Cab's assistant dispatcher, he shares the "cage" with Louie but rarely speaks or interacts with the other characters. One exception is the Season 5 episode "Crime and Punishment", wherein Louie turns Jeff in for stealing car parts from the company and selling them on the black market (a crime which Louie himself committed). Taxi is one of television's most lauded shows. During its run, the sitcom was nominated for 31 Emmy Awards and won 18, including three for Outstanding Comedy Series. It was also nominated for 25 Golden Globes, with four wins (three for Best TV Series - Musical/Comedy). In 1979, it received the Humanitas Prize in the 30 minute category. The show was acclaimed by critics, but it was never a major ratings success. It performed respectably during its first two seasons, even placing in the Top Ten in its first season behind the ABC powerhouse line-up of Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Three's Company, but numbers plummeted when it was moved from that secure time-slot into more competitive positions. The show was cancelled in 1982 by ABC. The show was then picked up for its fifth and final season by NBC, being paired at first on Thursday night with Cheers. The beauty of a great sitcom ensemble is that even the lesser talents among the group can rise to the level of the material. After Taxi went off the air in 1983, various cast members drove off into vastly different directions: One became a comedy legend (Andy Kaufman, who died of cancer in 1984), one became a movie star and director (Danny DeVito, ironically the most diminutive of the cast), another became a pop culture punching bag (Tony Danza, who starred in a series of limp family sitcom and a hilariously bad talk show), and yet another faded into oblivion (Jeff Conway, whose Taxi role as a struggling actor now seems all to apt, only the “struggling” more refers to his substance abuse addictions than his inability to find work). Yet during their years of service at New York City’s Sunshine Cab Co., every character contributed invaluably to the sitcom’s wearily humane spirit. A taxicab is just a space you occupy on the way from somewhere you wanted to be to the next place you want to be more. That was the way most of employees of the walking Napoleon complex that is Louie DePalma looked on their time at the Sunshine Cab Company; Conway’s shallow aspiring actor Bobby Wheeler, Danza’s bad-luck boxer Tony Banta, Kaufman’s befuddled immigrant Latka Gravas, the mind-blown ex-hippie/self-proclaimed reverend “Reverend” Jim “Iggy” Ignatowski (played hilariously by Christopher Lloyd), and the hot redhead trying to realize her ambitions in the field of fine art Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner). Taxi's motley characters spoke to a universal feeling, “This job isn't who I am. It's just what I do” And, who hasn't felt that? But while the majestically weird Kaufman, the gleefully troll-ish DeVito, and the so-good-at-playing-stoned-that-you-think-he-might-actually-be-stoned Lloyd drew the big laughs, the emotional heart was soulful sad-sack Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch), the one cabbie who was just a cabbie. And, much credit must go to executive producer James L. Brooks and director James Burrows, who infused Taxi with the same workplace-as-a-dysfunctional-family feeling they helped to create on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In doing so, they took viewers on a five-year ride as fun filled and surprising as a real taxi trip around Manhattan. Whether or not anyone in the Sunshine garage was ever truly going anywhere, the ride was worth it. |
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