Reviews

Attention: If her charms are completely lost on you, read no further!

As someone who's never smoked the wacky tobacky, I do my best to ignore the alleged reference in H(appy).R(elaxing). Pufnstuf. Anyway, my story...

I was just a little too young to watch the show when it first aired. Today, having first seen it on TV Land quite recently, I would easily dismiss it as silly crap if it weren't for one thing: Witchiepoo, the resident villain. This little witch, as played by Billie Hayes, is irresistibly cute and utterly entertaining. She more than makes up for everything the show may lack. Kudos, though, to the rest of the cast, mostly puppeteers.

True, Witchiepoo may seem like a total rip-off of the Wicked Witches in "The Wizard of Oz", but I have yet to fall madly in love with Margaret Hamilton's green-faced ghoul, as excellent as she was in that role. It is a testament to Billie Hayes' talent that, through all the ugly make-up, she can be so wonderfully charming and adorable. Witchiepoo proves that a witch need not be pretty (Samantha, Sabrina) to be lovable. And I defy you to hear that sweet laugh of hers and not instantly fall under her spell!

Witchiepoo is the antithesis of so much sleazy TV programming today, and that's why I don't feel as silly as I could've about proclaiming my deep affection for this sweet and enchanting character. Thirty-five years since Witchiepoo first arrived, and it'll be a long time before I fall for another fictional character the way I've fallen for Witchiepoo. I am truly bewitched.

I miss this show. Sadly, I also missed a large portion of the series' final run due to awkward scheduling. But what I remember about it can still bring a smile to my face. I won't even try to name all the things I liked about the show. I loved the way Mr. Foley's every attempt to speak was invariably thwarted by someone who had something ever-so-important to say right at that moment. Then there was the teddy bear-like Mackie Bloom, always a welcome sight. And it never hurt to see the pretty face of Betty Roberts, either. Her sweetness, among other delights in this show, makes me long for a more innocent time and place. Wow, how profound! So sue me (in the modern tradition).

A Halloween episode, for me, stands out as an absolutely hilarious example of what made me look forward to dropping in on these quirky old-time radio players on a regular basis. Mr. Foley, by the way, was the station's sound-effects provider. Ever heard of Foley artists in film and television? Coincidence? I think not!

So, did Mr. Foley ever get his chance to actually verbalise a thought or opinion? I hope to find out someday.

Just caught it the other night on PBS. Having seen countless references to Nick, Nora and Asta in TV Guide's crossword puzzle, it was nice to finally see the characters in action. I really enjoyed the sleuthing, but also the comedy elements. I was pretty sure that was James Stewart in a key role, and it was. I also enjoyed seeing what I think were some familiar San Francisco scenes, particularly what appeared to be the peak of Telegraph Hill, which is home to Coit Tower in reality, but was used as the site of a mansion in the film, if I'm not mistaken. I look forward to seeing more of the Thin Man movies.

I've no profound thing to say about this film, just that I liked it a bit more than I thought I would. I'm not a big Arnold fan. Basically, I liked seeing the characters exit the movie-within-the-movie and intermingle with the real world, including the actors who portrayed them.

Oh, by the way, the funniest thing in the movie: Real-life actor - and I do use the term very loosely - Schwarzenegger is incorrectly identified (by his escaped film character, as I recall) as "Braunschweiger" (imagine it with the accent). No, one funny line doesn't make a movie worth seeing, but I'm sure I'm just not remembering everything worth mentioning about this movie.

There you have it.

If you'd never seen "Police Squad!" or heard of the movie "Airplane!" and you wanted to know what you were in for when tuning in to this show, you only needed to observe closely the opening sequence of any single episode. There you'd see the guest star get promptly knocked off, eliminating him from the rest of the episode; and you'd hear the announcer give a different episode title from the one shown on screen.

In a nutshell, this show was hilarious and deserved more attention than the television audience afforded it. It's true, as I've heard a reviewer say, that you really needed to pay close attention to the TV screen at all times to catch all the sight gags, etc.

Luckily, the "Naked Gun" films took us along for many more stupid adventures with idiot-cop Frank Drebin, perfectly portrayed by Leslie Nielsen. In a movie theatre, there's no refrigerator or spouse to draw your attention from the on-screen goofiness.

Surely, you can't be serious....if you want to enjoy a wonderfully crazy show like this one. "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."

I saw this movie as a little kid in 1978 and it scared the ---- out of me. Had nightmares for a long while. Then, years later, I rented the video, curious to see what it was that horrified me so much. What a ridiculous piece of ---- the movie turned out to be after all! RIDICULOUS!!!

I saw it during a cable free preview period. It was mildly entertaining. But my real point is this: As I watched the movie, I was at first almost certain that Jeremy "Jesus" Sisto's character intentionally resembled lead actor Jeff Goldblum. Am I alone in thinking this? I just saw Sisto in "Jesus" and began wondering if that was him I remembered seeing in "Hideaway".