Joel Hodgson`s TV WHEEL

Cafe Society
1

Did anyone who saw this think it was funny?

I just rewatched the show, which I taped the one time it was shown back in 1996, and it`s incredibly poor. Some of the little skits have an amusing moment or two, but most seem to be almost deliberately bad.

Now I love MST3K and wish I had taped those few episodes I skipped saving (thinking they would always be available), but Joel really let me down with this. Did he just have bad luck choosing writers and performers with TV WHEEL, as opposed to the great crew he assembled for the Satellite of Love? Or was TV WHEEL actually a gem and I just didn`t get the joke?

2

It was an interesting experiment, but not terribly funny. Ernie Kovacs would have been proud.

3

To hardcore MSTies, it’s great. I think what happened was that Joel was trying a little too hard to distance himself from MST3K. I’ve got it on tape and have watched it a couple of times. As with most variety shows, it has its hits and misses.

You’d be better off trying to find Joel’s appearances on Saturday Night Live. He was on four times doing his prop comedy bit. Carrot Top could take lessons from Joel on how to do prop comedy. Especially funny (well, the first time) is the Batman bit.

4

TV WHEEL did remind me of Ernie Kovacs in approach, which in itself is a compliment. Although, to be fair, all Ive seen of Ernies stuff is compilations of his best skits… so he may likely have had some misfires too.

And I was lucky enough to have caught Joel`s appearances on two SNL reruns. Very offbeat and creative. He invited someone from the audience to play Rock `em Sock `em robots, and later confessed he had wired the head on his robot down.

Darn, I miss Joel`s presence on TV. I wish he would do an occasional special for Comedy Central or a five minute sketch for some show. But you can`t draft performers to get on stage.
5

Not quite a physical presence, but Joel is one of the staff writers for Jimmy Kimmel’s new show that’s premiering on ABC following the Superbowl.

6

All I can remember of TV Wheel is “Go Go Golf” in its many incarnations, and a mock-blubbering actress who messed up a joke crying “Is this what you want?!” as she pretends to take her top off. (Followed some time thereafter by a male actor who messed up his joke doing the same thing.)

7

My friends at camp and I used to quote TV Wheel incessantly. A particular favorite was Pumpernickle the monkey’s scream of “My real name is Timmy! My parents live in Tucson! Please, call the police!”

I have to get out my tape of the show; it’s been far too long since I’ve seen it.