My latest obsession comes courtesy of PBS’s “Masterpiece”-formally known as “Masterpiece Theater”- and due in part to SCAD’s very welcomed guest, author Carol Wallace. Over 20 years ago, Ms. Wallace wrote the book “ToMarry an English Lord”, which later inspired Julian Fellows to create “Downton Abbey”, “Masterpiece’s” most recent installment in their forty year roster of British drama series.
My relationship with “Masterpiece”-I’ll add the “Theater”for old times sake- began in the ‘80s, during wearily hot childhood summers in South Georgia, where, at my grandmother’s house, the only channel with reception was PBS. So my summer television playlist consisted of “Sesame Street” in the mornings and evenings with Alistair Cook,“Masterpiece Theater’s” dignified host, and perhaps one of the most badly imitated personalities in television.
“Masterpiece Theater” is the longest running drama series in television history, beginning in 1971 with dramas like “The First Churchills”, about the life of the first Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. The series has been awarded a slew of both Emmy and Peabody Awards practically every year since its debut. Admittedly, as a sevenyear old, the only thing intriguing to me about these shows were the exquisite clothes and haughty accents. And, according to my grandma, the more I tuned in, the better my table manners became. I eventually developed an appreciation for the subtle pacing and intense build up of drama that these shows presented, and now regard "Downton Abbey"as a classic in the making.
Many people associate the series more with its original theme song than with any of the shows. The infectiously majestic music, which was written for the court of Louis XV, King of France circa 1729, has that uncanny ability to stay embedded in one's head once you hear it. So let's hear it...
Oh and I just gotta give you this...Cookie Monster does it so well. Cheerio!
In my previous musings about "ABC After School Specials", I may have forgotten to mention that the teen morality series was truly special in that it won a number of Emmy Awards during its 14 year run. In that time, the show was the catalyst for a number of up and comings that up and became huge stars. I showed Helen Hunt on PCP in one post. Another top notch "After School" alumni is Academy Award winning actress Jodie Foster. She actually starred in a couple of episodes. My fave was "Rookie of the Year", where she plays a kick ass little slugger who completely pisses her brother off because she plays ball better than him. It was a nice little feminist, girl power plug for the times.
"Rookie of Year"circa 1973
Is there nothing Jodie Foster can't do?
Then there's Rob Lowe, who's career evolved from chiseled faced teenage heartthrob to almost iconic 80s-90s film star, appearing in cult classics such as "St. Elmo's Fire" and "Wayne's World". Currently, he can be seen on the very funny "Parks and Recreation"comedy series. But before the glamorous life, Lowe was a regular ASS alumni. In "Schoolboy Father", Rob plays a teenager who is about to be a Dad, but is sore when he founds out his girl friend (played by the tragic but lovely Dana Plato of "Different Strokes" fame) wants to give the baby away.
There are many more notable alumni whose careers started with Afterschool Specials, and even more already seasoned actors that lent their talents to the series. We'll take a look at a few more in a later post, just stay tuned!
Seems like I'm on a roll with showing retro love to British television, so why stop now?
In my recent musings on British television, I have come to realize just how much of an impact Brits have had on my television taste level. Two of the shows on my top ten all time faves-"Sanford and Son" and "All in the Family"- are Britcom remakes, which I mentioned in a previous post. Both shows-although re-mixed for American audiences-offered the same unique sense of comedic timing, interwoven with clever dialog and well formatted plots as their British predecessors. I tend to gravitate towards shows, particularly from British television, that have these same elements, because they seem to exemplify the art of compelling storytelling.
Oh, who am I kidding-I really just like to listen to how they talk. For some reason, everything sounds somewhat more dignified when done in a British accent, even crude humor. Case in point- "The Benny Hill Show".
"The Benny Hill Show", starred Benny Hill, and was a British sketch comedy that was best known for smutty humor. It ran from 1969 until 1989. The comedy offered on this show ran the gamut, from slapstick, to Hill's celebrity impersonations, parodies of American movies, or extravagant musical routines. The show was often criticized for its sexism, by showing skits with women in scantily clad outfits acting as bimbos, or husbands beating their wives. It was definitely not noted for being the least bit political or correct.
"The Benny Hill Show" was my father's guilty pleasure. It was broadcasted on PBS very late at night, and I remember, sneaking up at night and peeking behind his lazy boy chair to secretly watch along with him. I also remember being slightly worried by the fact that I actually understood some of the adult themed jokes and double entendres. And so was Dad when he caught me one night, unable to hold in my laughter.
Benny Hill in "The Benny Hill Show" circa late 60s.
"Birds and Bees Poem"
One of the hallmarks of the show was the way some of the skits were shown in time lapse, meaning it was filmed at a way to make time appear as if it were moving faster than normal. These time lapsed routines included mime and parodies, reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin, who was reportedly a fan of the show. Go figure.
For me, trying to figure out the best thing to get my Dad
for Father’s Day was always an interesting ordeal- a fun introspection into his
simple yet complex personality. My siblings and I tortured ourselves every
June, trying to find the perfect gift even though he always told us exactly what
he wanted-nothing. Of course, that was just not enough for us.
What do you get the guy that wants nothing?? His hobbies
were supporting our family Monday through Saturday, and resting in his La-Z Boy Chair
on Sunday. He had the fashion sense of Charlie Brown, as his
closet was filled with the same Guyabera styled shirts which he wore every
single day. He was definitely not Mr. Fix It, so tools were out of the
question. My mother would skim through those
Sears Father’s Day sales papers with futile longing, knowing that electric drills
and Hemi powered lawn mowers just didn’t do it for Al. He was not a techie, still
using a dot matrix printer for his insurance business well into the 21st
century.
One year, not to long before he passed, Dad finally told me exactly what he wanted for Father's Day: to know that his wife, kids, and
grandkids were all doing okay. And to get some rest. And dinner.
Funny thing is that it has been four years since Dad passed, and I still find myself searching for pointless gifts to show him just how much I love and miss him. I do finally get the picture though. There's nothing in any store or Sears sales paper that could possibly amount to the gift his life gave me and my siblings. He was a father who cared and loved us enough to simply be there for us.
So I hope he is lounging in his La-Z-Boy chair in the sky, knowing that, although we've had a difficult time without his loving simplicity, his wife, kids, and grandkids are all doing okay. Rest in peace, Dad.
Al and the Fam
And this is for all the Dad's and their eclectic collection of pointless Father's Day gifts. Happy Father's Day!
Bill Cosby as "Heathcliff Huxtable", one of TV's best all around Dads.
In the process of looking for examples of television character cliches, I became entirely engrossed in one of my favorite shows ever, "Sanford and Son". The comedy ran from 1972 to 1977, starring the late comedian Redd Foxx, as "Fred Sanford". Fred was an old curmudgeon who lived amongst junk with his uptight son Lamont, played by Desmond Wilson. Ted Turner was obviously a fan as well because it ran in syndication heaven on his TBS network for years.
All this time I thought this hit show was completely original. But recently, I found out that, lo and behold, "Sanford and Son" was remake of a British sitcom, "Steptoe and Son". And what was it about? An old lovable curmudgeon who lived amongst junk with his uptight son.
"Sanford and Son"circa '77, and "Steptoe and Son" circa '62
American television history owes a lot to those damn Yankees. American versions of British shows have been so much of a staple in programming that it's become practically a television cliche in itself- The American Version of a British Series Cliche. Even now, we have made hit copycat versions out of British imports like "The Office" and most recently, Showtime's "Shameless"-the original British version being nominated for the very distinctive BAFTA(British Academy of Film and Television Awards).
The '70s seemed to have had a British invasion of sorts with three hit shows being British copies, eventually becoming classics in retro television. Admittedly, it kinda hurt when I learned that an American classic "All in the Family", was the copy version of a British hit. The pain subsided, however, when I experienced the British show has the same successful elements that makes the American version a classic.
"All in the Family" circa 1972, and British classic "Til Death Do Us Part" circa 1965
Bigotry knows no boundaries...
"Man About the House", is another British classic from the 70s, repackaged for American audiences with the wildly successful "Three's Company" that ran from 1977 to 1984.
"Man About the House" pilot, 1977...
...and its American cousin "Three's Company" circa 1980.
It's pretty telling that we tend to look towards the Brits to inspire our creativity. And that our versions are pretty watered down to accommodate our American sensibilities. But at least we have good taste.
There are other worthy Brit shows with American versions. Maybe next post, we'll take a trip across the waters to explore.
I want to take a break from retro lovin’ to share with you
an interview that I had the privilege of conducting with a filmmaker, Jerreth
Merz. Merz recently filmed “An African Election”, a touching documentary that
follows the trials and tribulations of the 2008 Elections in Ghana, from the
campaigns to the polling process, to the final decision. It is a must see for
any American who may take for granted our everyday comforts, especially when
watching the candidates promise to deliver very basic needs for their people-like clean water or adequate
shelter.
Trailer for "An African Election" by Jerreth Merz
As a Television Production major I am interested in learning
first hand about any aspect of production. I was first exposed to Jerreth Merz
after viewing his very inspirational TED Talks presentation, so imagine how
excited I was when I was selected to bombard him with my many questions, which
he was ever so gracious to answer.
Here are a few:
Q : First of all thanks for giving us the privilege of
speaking with you. I’m a television production student and one of the first
questions I would like for you to do is to give us some insight on your career
path. How did you get started in filmmaking?
Merz: My beginning, let’s see… my beginning was a
coincidence. I wanted to go into medicine and become a doctor, but I for some
reason decided that I wanted to stall a little, after high school. But while I
was contemplating- not knowing what I really going to do,-heard about an acting
school in Switzerland. I actually enrolled there and I got in. So I started acting,
and that was the beginning. At some point I decided that that was the path for
me, that was the way I wanted to express myself. Then I discovered directing,
so I was doing theater… then moved into television acting and film acting and
moved into the documentary-“An African Election”whole documentary process. So
it was coincidence but I have come to find out that it wasn’t a coincidence. It
was meant to be.
Q. Could you tell us about the pre production process you
had to go through to make a documentary where you are filming it as it happens?
One of the key factors of course was financing-how do you
get the money together to support your idea, because it’s crucial. (Factors
like) what kind of cameras will you be using, what kind of sound equipment are
you going to be using, what kind of people do you want to hire? What’s the
post-production process going to look like? Are we going to take this digital
format and transfer it onto film? So
the whole pre production process was the idea of trying to figuring out what exactly you are
going to do. Once we had that established we could start.
Q. One thing that I really did like about the movie is that
you really did get a sense of the emotional chords…the tension building, the
happiness, at some points the anger. How did easy or difficult for you to go
about capturing that?
A. Well the story was linear-it was the elections from
beginning to end. And filming in Ghana was such a treat because people were so
excited. I think if I had been filming the elections in the U.S. , or say
Switzerland, people would not have been so excited. But there it was a party on
the street, people were dancing, people were screaming, so when you see that
you’re like, “Oh my goodness, this is a gift.” So you have to capture it and we
did…
Q. What’s next for Jerreth Merz?
A. Well, “An African Election” is the first of a trilogy. We
intend on filming the upcoming election this year as the second installment…you
know their elections come at the same time as U.S. elections, just a month
afterwards. We want to possibly touch on women’s role in the political process.
Q. That sounds fantastic. I wish you well. Again, thanks so
much for joining us at SCAD today. It was a pleasure!
Gotta love the 80s...shoulder pads, Atari, & Scott Baio.
Scott Baio on the cover of his ill advised pop album
So I had a huge crush on Scott Baio, but not just for his dashing good looks. At five years old, I considered Mr. Baio an exemplary thespian. He was the only reason I watched "Happy Days", and I may have been the only one in the nation who watched its spin off, "Jonie Loves Chachi". I credit his performance in "Stoned", an ABC Afterschool Special about the hazards of smoking pot, with keeping a few American kids drug free, but possibly making most of them actually want to get high.
Cheech and Chachi
Scott Baio in "Stoned" An ABC Afterschool Special
"Stoned" was true to the ASS formula (no pun intended): geeky kid with potential (played by Baio) has no friends and feels lame, hooks up with cool loser dude who smokes pot, starts getting high, wins friends and influences people to think he's a loser too, then does something stupid, all thanks to the ganja.
Hey kids, don't smoke and boat!
Baio's career as a troubled teen had a pretty good run with "After School Specials". He starred in another memorable morality episode in "The Boy Who Drank Too Much". He played- you guessed it-the boy who drank too much.
When I was a teen, I ran with a pretty motely crew. I was
the anomaly of the group, as I never really did anything wild or rebellious. My
role was to provide the conscience, the voice of reason, and the place to crash
when someone's parents caught them in some dubious act. I remember one late
night, a friend lay sobbing on
my bed about her positive pregnancy test. I gave her a brief keep-your- head-up–girl-speech, to which she
responded “Wow T, you’re sooooo Afterschool Special”.
“ABC’s Afterschool Special” ran from 1972 to 1997. It was
an anthology series that aired in the 4 PM timeslot, intended to reach the
youth viewing population after school. Each episode was a drama that tackled tough topics relevant to teenage life such as sex, drugs, divorce, sex, drugs,
alcoholism, sex, drugs, crushing on your teacher, sex, drugs, illiteracy, sex,
drugs…you get the picture.
ABCs Afterschool Special
Say No to drugs... and plaid shirts
The goal for these morality shows was to show teens in situations like being pregnant, or addicted to drugs and demonstrating the consequences of their choices. Sometimes the teens were faced with ordeals such as the loss of a parent, or bullying.
As for me and my crew, we almost considered these shows more like lightweight soap operas, amused by the melodrama and hilariously intense background music, yet disappointed at how watered down the the story lines were compared to what was happening in our neighborhood. Episodes like "The Late Great Me," about a girl who started drinking to impress her boyfriend, was more so a reprieve from the real life drama of, say, finding out your dad is back smoking crack.
Nevertheless, ABCs Afterschool Specials did a lot to show teen viewers that the issues affecting them were important enough to tackle, and corny music or not, succeeded in leaving an impact on our culture.
Next post, I will explore some of the memorable (and forgetful) "Afterschool" eps.
So I'm riding shotgun in my friend's SUV when he decides to pull out his iPhone and use both hands to text, while driving with his knees. Pretty certain that this is illegal, I calmly share with him that there happens to be a law in Georgia against texting and driving, and quite possibly knee steering. He pointedly-and erroneously- informs me that there is no law, it's simply just a bill. And then the analog memories started to flood my mind...
"I'm Just a Bill"
ABCs "Schoolhouse Rocks" circa 1975
I am convinced that the current state of our educational system will greatly improve if we just return "Schoolhouse Rock" to the television airwaves. From 1973 to 1985, ABC ran this series of animated shorts in between Saturday morning cartoons (another television relic). The "Schoolhouse"shorts were typically about three minutes long and did a super job of tricking kids into learning something worthwhile on the weekend. Deceptively delightful, the episodes showed lively musical numbers on subjects like mathematics, grammar, science, civics, and economy.
"Schoolhouse Rock" was created by David McCall, an ingenious dad who noticed that his grade school son could remember all the lyrics to popular rock songs, but multiplication tables? Not so much. Well I don't know how much it helped his son pass the third grade, but I can tell you these shows definitely had a Pavlovian effect on me. I was exposed to Schoolhouse since birth, and by the time I could identify the number three I automatically knew it was the magic number.
Bob Dourough, a jazz singer and composer, was the genius behind many of the memorable melodies on "Schoolhouse Rocks" such as "Conjunction, Junction", "Electricity, Electricity", and "Three is the Magic Number". The musical numbers ranged from folksy to bluesy, from soulful to classic rock, and had memorable melodies, which was obviously the purpose.
No more, no less...
"Three is the Magic Number" by Bob Dourough
The thing that I love the most about Schoolhouse Rocks is that it's so quentessentially 70s. The illustrators drew characters that reflected our diverse American population and the "everybody's beautiful" sentiment of that time. Coming off the turbulence of the 60s, it was refreshing for kids to see little red haired, freckled white kids happily playing with little black kids with afros, all learning their times tables and how to unpack their adjectives.
"Unpack Your Adjectives"
Schoolhouse Rocks circa 1973
I vote for "Schoolhouse Rock" in every school-that should be a law.
