I don’t know if there was anything funnier than the episode last night (1977?)with the premiere of the movie Rocky. The celebs were imitating “ADRIAN!” yell and they showed the kermit puppet with his head all scrunched up. I nearly wet myself.
I find the commentaries to be the weakest part of both shows. The worst ones are the drive-by comments–“I loved that song!” or “I remember playing with those!”–from people who have nothing else to contribute to the show (and who aren’t even remotely children of the 70s–Kelly Rowland from Destiny’s Child?)
The cultural criticism humor can be really, really funny, but at other times it’s pretty trite and shallow (though you could argue that’s appropriate in light of the material they’re “critiqueing”). I think I’m the only person who doesn’t care much for Hal Sparks–sometimes he’s funny, but he usually comes across (to me, anyway) as a wise-ass, kind of in the vein of Denis Leary but not quite as angry.
I haven’t seen Queer as Folk, however, so perhaps I just don’t fully appreciate his work yet.
I rather like Michael Ian Black’s deadpan commentary.
And Mo Rocca is always wonderful. He also admitted his youthfulness–he claimed that he cried when the Beatles broke up, because he was 9 months old at the time and that’s what 9 months old babies do all the time.
And yes, Dee Snider has been surprisingly good and indeed has many of the best comments and observations.
The 70’s. Sigh. I graduated from High School in 1971, so 1970 through college graduation in 1975 were pretty formative years for me.
I only caught (by accident yet) 1974 and part of 1975. It hooked me like crack. I could not tear my eyes away. Hot pants to pet rocks. KC and the Sunshine Band to Foxy Brown.
I agree with Skopo (and others) that the commentary is the weakest part of the show. More clips and less talk!
I regret to say, it isn’t me.
Oh good, somebody else who thought Kermit was funny. I liked his slit-eyed ADRIANNE!!! and also “OK. . . Big finish. . . GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME… whew. … Being patriotic is exhausting.”
I wonder if “Rerun” realized what a huge jerk he looked like. Even bigger than Yarnell. Yarnell was just clueless, but Rerun head was so big it ecliipsed his large ass in size. Not only that, but his ego and the other commentators fawning took up so much time they didn’t even mention the real cutie from What’s Happening-- Heywood (Hey, hey, hey!) Nelson.
And kids too young to remember George Bush Sr. as President (and even those born during his Presidency) are either starting or well into high school.
What was up with Hal Sparks’ Chewbacca impression? Were those noises really coming out of his mouth? How’d he do that!?!?! I’m impressed.
Leif Garret is on my last nerve. He’s really phoning it in. I know it’s a cheesy gig, but be cool about it like Bo Derek and Issac Hayes! Don’t act like you’re too cool, 'cos honey, you AIN’T!
I had to crack up because I’d completely forgotton Shaun Cassidy. He was my major, major first crush and now I see him and just have to laugh.
Great line: “When people want to get an idea of what the 70s were like, I tell them: ‘Mimes had a TV show.’” That was pretty scary. I’d heard of Shields & Yarnell but I didn’t realise they were television mimes.
What the world needs now, is SERIOUSLY another Battle of the Network Stars. That’s worth a whole new thread right there! (There was also a Saturday morning thing that was similar, but weirder. I don’t think it featured stars but they had to do weird things like climb up hills coated with pudding, etc. It was sort of like a cross between American Gladiators and Double Dare, but in the 70s…what the heck was that show?)
You couldn’t be more right! I totally forgot about Battle of the Network Stars until you mentioned it, but I used to love it! It made them seem, I don’t know, it was like the little people inside the screen knew they were there, they acknowledged it, and they were in there together. I really liked the camaraderie. TV stars now seem a little too big for their britches. I remember the guy from Grizzly Adams kayaking in a swimming pool and falling in and it was just the coolest. They used to do a circus, too.
Well, in fact, they are having a new “Battle of…” but it’s only people from one Network competing against each other.
My office, for some reason, gets FIVE copies of TV guide every week. It’s my bathroom reading. Which is how I learn about things like this.
Another person checking in who graduated high school in 1970. I keep telling my s.o. “Those people weren’t OLD enough to remember this stuff!!!” That’s why Dee Snider’s comments work. He’s old enough, and he’s got a certain attitude.
(And the show brings back memories of the Pet Rock I gave my brother, and the mood ring my mom bought me, and the bellbottom pants that ARE BACK! Jeezopete, you know you’re old when fashions you wore as a youth are back.)
I’ll just crawl back into the old fogeys’ cavern now…
I’ll crawl in there with you Archergal. My 18 year old daughter brings home clothes that look just like the stuff we threw out 25 years ago.
That’s why streaking was popular: the clothes were so awful in the '70s we just couldn’t wear them for one more minute!!
How could they do a Captain Kangaroo segment and not show the moose having ping pong balls rain on the Captain? That was my favorite part of the show.
Okay they had the clackers, and even Shields & Yarnell, but where are those 70s icons: the Momenchans (sic)? I can’t remember how it was spelled or get close enough to get anything on Google about them.
Yeah a new real Battle Of the Network Stars would be cool, but in this age of even goofy Ray Romano making $2 million an episode, the big TV stars have too much clout to get suckered into something like that. Some of them probably have clauses in their multimillion dollar contracts to keep them out of things like that.
And knowing that Dee Snyder’s hardass cop dad liked Abba, just proves that Dee is probably the best commentator on there.
OMG I jotted down a small list last night of stuff they’d totally missed. Mumenschantz was the first.
And how the hell could they not have mentioned CB world? Not only did everyone have and use CBs but there was a whole musical phenomenon and jargon to go with it. “We Got a Great Big Convoy” was only the tip of that iceberg lol; my grandparents used to listen to ALL the CB music. Pregnant rollerskates (Volkswagon Beetles), “what’s your 20” good buddy, what’s your handle, got your ears on? Come on; it WAS the net before the net! Sheesh.
They could also have mentioned Moonies, the UFO craze (hint: it didn’t start or stop with Close Encounters; the movie rather reflected people’s obsession with the subject), Looking for Mr. Goodbar (spotlighting where the sexual excesses of the time could lead), Candid Camera (which was on forever but enjoyed a time of tremendous popularity in the 70s and Match Game, The Price is Right…
Eh. They’ve totally got the years mixed up too; what’s with that? It just sort of seems like the people who made it aren’t old enough to really remember the 70s either, so didn’t bother to get it right. I mean Click Clacks, seventy SEVEN? Uh uh. They were popular when I was in first grade; by seventy seven I was in fifth and they’d been banned for years.
What’s better than huge glass balls on strings that you smash together?? We had better ones than the ones they showed though; they were clear agate and not the opaque ones they showed the celebrities. Hehe. They make a version of those things in plastic now but they aren’t on strings.
I am way too into this retrospective.
Thanks for the correct spelling for Mumenschantz, I never knew it growing up, and by the time I learned how read and spell their moments was over. I’m surprised how few people I know IRL remember them, they were everywhere, and were so much more freaky than Shields & Yarnell. They even turned up on The Muppet Show.
Somewhere at my mom’s house is the ugliest pair of lima bean green opaque clackers.
Where’s Kung Fu? Peter Fonda movies - the perfect drive-in fodder (car chases, shoot outs, bad clothes, stupid plots, and those huge glasses he wore). Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert? The Midnight Special? Black lights and Day-Glo Posters?
Yeah that stuff was great; though I never got to see them live.
And WHY didn’t they mention WONDERAMA??? THREE HOURS on Sunday morning when nothing else was on; I met Bob McAllister and he was just as great in person as on that lovely lovely show. That show was HUGE; and you can’t get them either; Bob said the network had just taped over all of them and didn’t even care. He didn’t have any in his own collection; though he tried to get them. They had great guests, from the Jackson Five to leading senators…and it was SO MUCH FUN. Dammit. They’re lost forever though, so maybe they didn’t mention it because no one has clips. Wonder if Michael Jackson has any from the ones he was on??
I haven’t seen the show, but do they just discuss pop culture or do they include some of the scarier events from the 70’s such as Jonestown or the various serial killers on the loose then (Son of Sam, Ted Bundy, Hillside Strangler?) Do they mention the energy crisis and gas lines? How about rampant inflation? Could someone notify these people that there was a lot more to the Seventies than pet rocks and cheesy disco music?
Son of Sam was mentioned as a part of the summer of '77 about New York (the blackout, Reggie Jackson and the NY Yankees at the World Series). Lot of folks talking about how scared they were.
No mention of Jonestown, unless I missed it. Does seem like an oversight, but since a big part of the series is mocking stuff, might cross the bad taste line for VH-1. Although including some of the footage by the camera crew that was shot when people tried to leave would be interesting.
No Jessica Savitch, no Carlos the Jackyl, no plane hijackings (although I can see why). I’m waiting to see if 1979 mentions Three Mile Island.
I am a child of the 70’s and I love this series! Seems to me they missed alot of Saturday morning TV stuff, though:
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
Lidsville and The Boog-a-loos
New Zoo Revue Comin’ right at you!!!
The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Hour
The Banana Splitz
H.R. Pufenstuff (how could they leave this out!!! Maybe I just missed that one…)
Bugs Bunny and Tweety…where they sang “Overture, Curtain, Lights”, and played those little segueway cartoons over and over every week (“This is me, imitating Frankie, imitating Johnny, imitating Elvis…”)
Plus, I think it would be funny for them to look back at all the fast food crazy commercials from the 70’s. The McDonald-land commercials were quite a bit different, it would be a hoot seeing those again!! They always made such a big deal about how clean the restaurants were.
They DID forget Lidsville; opting instead for HR Pufnstuff. I thought Lidsville much cooler lol. But at least they did Land of the Lost. New Zoo Revue…yep. “With Doug and Emmy-Jo”.
Tell me how pathetic that some of us were freaking WEANED on TV. Sheesh. Thank God there wasn’t very much ON or I’d never have learned to love reading with so much passion!
Jonestown, serial killers, gas lines, double digit inflation (Carter’s genius there), Jessica Savitch, 3 mile Island…nope, all missing.
You CAN however, take a peek at IFC (Independent Film Channel)'s “A Decade Under the Influence” and they talk more about these dark things. But some of us who were there got it all the first time and aren’t into a repeat; and I suppose they are focusing on that which can bring SOME laughter and nostalgia.
Also I guess those things have been done. Whatever; I’m sort of disappointed. Hell, in the 80s they didn’t even mention Capezios. And wtf; did they even DO “Grease” in the 70s? I only missed 45 minutes. What about Zeppelin, THE ultimate 70s Rock Gods. I dunno. Guess it would take more time to do it all right.