Change Your Image
smileyking1975
Reviews
The Good Book (1982)
Why aren't more episodes out on DVD? Who really owns the rights?
I've seen a few of these: Daniel in the Lion's Den/Jonah and the Whale/Proverbs, which are on the Amazon DVD; my favorite song was "Big Hungry Lion, sung by "Sage" (Robert Morse).
The Prodigal Son on VHS that I got from Ebay; Ballad of The Reckless Kid sung by "Sage" and "Lady Bags". The Good Book gang do a hilarious tribute to "Hee Haw" toward the end.
The Apostle Paul's letter about love-Got it on Ebay on VHS. It's a clamshell case with "Sage" on the cover. The song they sang at the end made me cry, but I'm not sure of the name of it.
I hope whoever owns the rights to these comes forward and either 1. Shows them on Youtube for free to give people a chance to watch them or 2. Releases them at a fair price on DVD. It's sad that kids nowadays don't know about these.
Some more episodes may include: Adam and Eve, The Good Samaritan, Noah and the Ark, David and Goliath, Moses, Samson. I'm not sure of all the episodes.
That's Life (1968)
Will It Ever Be out on DVD?
I discovered That's Life on YouTube as a clip. They were having a party and were singing. Reach out of the Darkness and With A Little Help From My Friends. When I tried to find out if it would be released on DVD, it said that it probably wouldn't for awhile or not at all because of the copyrights to the songs, and it would be too expensive. That's what I found out about Laugh-in, too, and it has been released on dvd. I liked what little I saw of it, and hope that it will be released or that collectors will let people know that they have it, even though it will be "bootlegged" copies and will be expensive. They have it sometimes on ioffer, but not very often, or some collectors will do trades.
Bob Hope Lampoons Show Business (1990)
I remember, but not very well
I can still remember watching this show with my family. Out of all the specials he ever made, it is my favorite; some of the troop shows were a little too sad for me.
Up until yesterday, I wasn't quite sure of the month and year of its airing. I thought it was November of 1989, but according to this site, it was February 17, 1990, which makes sense. During the commercial break, I saw the trailer for The Phantom of the Opera with Charles dance and Teri Polo, saying it would air on NBC in March. The reason they were coming out with POTO movies one right after the other was because people couldn't get in to see Michael Crawford; it was always sold out. I love those movies though. Morgan Fairchild played Mayor Karen Wilton in the film, "Phantom of the Mall: Erik's Revenge." This show marks my official start of being a Phantomaniac, after hearing Michael Crawford sing Music of the Night with Dale Kristen. He had just given up the role in 1989, and appeared on Bob Hope's show as a guest. I thought, "What a beautiful guy this is, without makeup! What a talent! I wonder what else he's done?" This and the "Founding Fathers at the signing of the Declaration of Independence" sketch were my favorites: Bob as George Washington said something to the effect of, "Sticking a feather in my cap and calling it macaroni." Michael Crawford as Ben Franklin? said, "That used to be one of my favorite freedoms!" Someone said, "Oh, well, at least we can have a guest President." Which lampooned Johnny Carson.
He lampooned The Dating game and The American Family Sweepstakes. Bob and Morgan Fairchild have just won the $50,000,000 sweepstakes, and are walking around, throwing money at people, like it's just paper. He throws some at John Forsythe, saying, "Go buy yourself a new name!" The Batman movie was also lampooned. Superman, Batman, the Joker, and Lois Lane meet in a bar. Something is said about if a man drinks a certain drink with a maraschino cherry in it, he's labeled a sissy, and the name gets thrown around. At the end, the joker sprays something on the clasped hands of Superman and Batman. It turns out to be super glue. He and Lois Lane walk off together.
I hope someone is really going to release at least this one. I hope they don't "go crazy" and release the whole series. My VHS copy of the show doesn't work anymore because it's too old, and it's not on ioffer anymore.
While we're on the subject of POTO, I found a website called, www.playbill.com while googling the phrase, "When will The Phantom of the Opera with Michael Crawford be released on DVD?" They gave a date of May 3 of this year. Keep your fingers crossed. You never know about these DVD companies; they say one thing, then do another. They were bootlegging POTO and Dance of the Vampires on ioffer.
I wonder who owns the rights to Bob Hope's shows? Last I heard, it was his daughter, Linda. I tried to get in touch with her, but couldn't.
The Invisible Man (1984)
man with spooky voice
I can still remember when I first saw this. It was 1985 and I was about 10 years old. It played on the A&E network when it was still cultural, before The Big Three got into all the networks and ruined them.
My mom, sister, and I were coming back from Begley's (now Rite-Aid)after getting some Blackcows. I said that we had to hurry and get home because I wanted to see The Invisible Man, which was coming on at 8pm.
I thought Griffin had a spooky voice, but he had to if you couldn't see his face. It was the same thing for any other actor who played either The Invisible Man or the Phantom of the Opera. This show was so obscure that I thought I had dreamed it, but I got it from a collector a few years back, and it was just as I remembered it.
I had seen The Invisible Man with Claude Rains not long before I saw this one. They both have very distinctive and spooky voices. I can still hear them in my dreams sometimes.
Here are some "goofs" I found: When Griffin is standing outside of Kemp's house, the driveway appears to be made of sharp rocks. Wouldn't he be screaming in pain because he's barefoot? Kemp is getting a letter ready to mail to Colonel Adye. When he seals the envelope, he *licks* it! Wouldn't they have still been using sealing wax? Some parts were pretty funny: When Griffin takes Cuss and the reverend's clothes away from them, the reverend "moons" the audience, but just briefly! Mrs. Hall's screaming. She really *did* sound like Una O'Connor! Was this made on a "shoestring" budget? When blood was shown on Griffin's bandage, it looked like Kool-Aid! Poor Griffin was anemic!
Face the Music (1980)
odd episode?
I remember this playing when I was a kid, and then again in 1995. I know it was 1995 because I had to work and miss some episodes (my family was too old-fashioned to get a VCR!).
My favorite baby pictures were Ron Ely, Bob Barker, and Jack Lalane(sp?) Most of the episodes were pretty funny, but there was one that was down right hysterical! At the very end of the show, when they showed the baby pictures, there was a black man as a contestant who was in some branch of the service, held the rank of "Major", and wore a dark blue/black uniform. When the song, Leavin' on a jet plane played and he rang in, Ron asks him what famous person it is. He shouts out, "Pontius Pilate!" The house came down! Everybody laughed! Ron, the band, the audience, even the man himself. The baby was Howard Hughes.
What I want to know is this: did I even really see it, or is it one of those weird "false memories"? This could be a game show urban legend just waiting to happen! Just like Jamie Farr and that "Doe...knob" thing on the Pyramid show! Only this time, the man didn't storm out of the studio for being laughed at, he laughed *with* them! Sometimes Ron would insult the band, but sometimes he'd say, "Here's Tommy and *that* band!" Another episode that was funny was one that had a very pregnant woman that was due in three weeks! I think the audience groaned when she said that: Oh, my God! I hope she didn't count her time wrong! I hope there's a doctor in the house! When the song "It takes two", was played, Ron joked, "You know all about *that* don't you?" Everybody laughed, but nowadays, he'd be sued!
Houdini (2014)
Houdini had other women?! Shocking!
I was a bit shocked when I watched this film and found out that Houdini had other women. I googled the phrase, "did Houdini cheat on his wife?" and got this website: www.wildabouthoudini.com. I found out that other books had been written about him that tells about the other women. I had heard on a PBS special about him that he had an affair with Jack London's wife. He felt so guilty about it that he never did it again.
Some of the books that have been written make no mention of them, but tell only of his career and his relationship with Bess.
Here are some goofs that I found in the story:
Houdini's mother died in 1913, not 1914 When Lady Doyle could not contact his mother, he did not rant, rave, and call her a fake. He wrote the name "Powell" on a piece of paper, saying that it was this man's mother that she had reached.
The punch in the stomach did not kill him. Some sources say that he was very cavalier about his health and had bouts of appendicitis off and on. He may have already been suffering when the blows were struck.
The plunge into icy water, and walking through the wall are apocryphal. You can just bet that if they *did* happen, Harry would have them well documented.
It is a shame, though, that more about his movie career was not mentioned. There is a collection of his movies called, Harry Houdini: Movie Star. Terror Island, Man From Beyond, and The Grim Game are included, but Grim Game is just a few clips, because a full film could not be found. Extras include clips of Houdini's voice, which can also be heard on the website, Houdiniana.
It is a shame that collectors of Houdini's movies will not share them with the public. It has been said that David Copperfield owns a few of them.