I’m a long-time viewer and oft-times admirer of A&E’s ‘Biography’ series. For the past couple weeks, the channel has been promoting this week’s series theme of ‘tainted’ personalities, including the likes of Lana Turner (accused of murder), Bob Crane (murdered), etc.
I was a bit surprised to find that the commercials for the Wednesday installment (George Reeves, former Superman and suicide) featured Whoopi Goldberg, talking as if (1)she knew the guy, and (2)she had something special to say about him.
I watched Wednesday’s instalment, beginning to end. The host and narrator was Harry Smith – a recent and excellent addition to the series – and the interviewees included folks like Noel Neill (‘Lois Lane’ during much of the TV series) and Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen.
Sure enough, Whoopi was there, but only for about ten seconds. NO other ‘contemporary’ performing artist appeared in the entire program. In fact, no other contemporary person of any sort – excepting Neill and Larson – were featured. (Reeves has been dead for more than forty years.) During her ten seconds, Whoopi offered nothing more than a reminiscence of watching ‘Superman’ on TV, a thing at least 40 million other folks in the U.S. could do.
My question: What on earth possessed A&E to use Whoopi to promote its story of George Reeves’ life?
I don’t know why fortune smiles on some and lets the rest go free…
It’s possible that Whoopi had been interviewed for another show, and just happened to mention how she watched “Superman” as a kid. The producers then used that clip on the appropriate show.
As you probably know, the interviews conducted for these kinds of shows are very long, then edited down to the usable bits for the show. This leaves the producers with extra material that can be used at a later date. I think VH1 does this all the time, because you can see unused clips from “Behind the Music” used in “Before They Were Rock Stars” and “Where Are They Now?”
Sorry, I don’t know about the A&E, but ironically this has arisen lately: Is there some crazy UL floating around that Reeves actually believed he was Superman and thought the bullet would bounce off him??? My friend swears this is true, but it sounds like just a bad joke. Of course, us non-believers tell him that (obviously) it must have been a kryptonite bullet, right? :rolleyes:
Lana Turner was not accused of murder, at least not in a court of law (the court of public opinion, however…). Her daughter, Cheryl Crane, was tried for the murder of Turner’s boyfriend and mob thug Johnny Stompanato. Crane testified that he was beating Turner and Crane stabbed him defender her. Crane was acquitted, but was taken out of Lana’s custody for a while. Crane wrote a memoir, “Detour,” which discusses the case in more detail.
The “Superman actually believed he was invulnerable” legend has been floating around since the day he died. It was an urban myth perpetuated by a generation of parents who a) didn’t want to explain why anyone would commit suicide (or be killed in a love triangle) and b) were tired of watching their kids jump off the roof trying to fly, trying to bend gun barrels and the like.
There’s a great book call ‘Hollywood Kryptonite’ (I thnk) which details George Reeves’ last days. He was killed by a jealous husband,and they triewd to make it look like suicide.
He was also a known drunk, but that’s another story.
You know, dumber viewers might have mistaken that commercial for an ad for a “Superman versus The Predator” movie.
Whoopi needs to shit or get off the pot–lose the dreds or start ripping spinal columns out of people.
(Sorry. I feel a deep loathing for any movies she made after “The Color Purple”. My wife likes her though, so I’ve squandered many hours on gems like “Bogus”, “Eddie”, and “Theodore Rex”. I don’t really believe my wife is a big fan of Whoopi, I just think it’s her way of playing a longshot. "She made a couple of good movies before, she’s gotta be due for another one…)
What were we talking about? Yes, I would like some cake now…
“It’s only common sense,
There are no accidents 'round here.”
But Tracer, doesn’t that depend on the audience, or on the potential audience? IMHO, associating a biography of George Reeves with Whoopi Goldberg is a POWERFUL incentive for me to watch something else – in fact, ALMOST ANYTHING else.
I figured from the start that Whoopi’s inclusion had to do with economics. As has been pointed out by Guy Propski, the producers probably just threw it in there simply because they had the footage. The obvious hope was that the ‘magical’ Whoopi would increase ratings. But isn’t that rather a cheap shot on the part of an organization that has produced some pretty consistently good television?
I guess my point is that the episode would have been just as good without Whoopi. Her miniscule ‘interview’ stuck out as would a metal guitarist at a 40’s swing concert.
I’m happy to find that I’m not alone in wondering about this. Thanks to all who have contributed.
As for the murder/suicide thing as it pertains to Reeves, this is all news to me. And I wonder if the ‘believing he really was Superman’ business maybe grew from the Clayton – uh, what’s his name? – who played the Lone Ranger and was said to have died in the belief that he actually was the Lone Ranger.
I don’t know why fortune smiles on some and lets the rest go free…