Hey guys, with Christmas right around the corner (I know, I can't believe it either), I thought I'd re-post a link to a review I contributed to the beyond awesome Christmas TV History blog. I wrote about my all time favorite Rankin and Bass special, Nestor, the Long Eared Christmas Donkey. I actually gave the film its annual spin the other night, and it's still one of the sweetest and most moving films I have ever seen.
And now it's your turn. What is your favorite Rankin and Bass special? I know almost everyone will say Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer, but please leave a comment and share a little Rankin and Bass love!
I have just bonded with the Vicar of VHS! It was a warming experience, one that I always get when I find another This House Possessed fan. I don't want to say we are legion or anything, but I think you are starting to get the point. The Vicar had already written an an excellent ode to the house with the best blood shower in the world, and you can read it here. I was so pleased that he agreed to tackle this House again for my blog, and it's forever amazing how much we latch key kids had in common! It makes me want to buy a world a Coke.
This House Possessed Memories by the Vicar of VHS
I was born in 1971, and thus grew up in the late 70s and 80s. Kids today, with their Netflix and their Internets and their video-on-demand, would find it hard to believe the amount of effort horror-addicted children like me had to put into getting their horror fix. Scouring the listings in the newspaper and the weekly TV Guide, eyes peeled for anything at any hour on one of the big 3 (count 'em!) networks that might give that frisson of fear. Begging parents to allow us to stay up late for the Creature Feature, taking afternoon naps and loading up on sodas for stamina--and more often than not getting a near-unwatchable print of some public domain garbage for our efforts.
So whenever the genre wheel of the TV movie of the week spun up a horror flick, my brothers and I felt like we had won the lottery. And it was a golden age of made-for-TV horror--Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Gargoyles, Bad Ronald--classics, every one. But the one I remember most, and with the greatest fondness, is 1981's This House Possessed.
I was ten years old in 1981, and my younger brother was just six. I guess my parents were a little permissive about what they would let us watch--but after all, this was Movie-of-the-Week stuff, right? How bad could it be?
Well, for me, the answer was not bad at all--I loved the "high-tech house goes berserk" premise, and as a big fan of Parker Stevenson's work in The Hardy Boys TV show, I was thrilled to see him battle supernatural forces in between rockin' singing gigs. I found the movie exciting, tense, and an all-out blast.
Can Ella shatter glass? So can this house!
My brother, however, did not. He was more than traumatized--he was scarred. For weeks afterward whenever one of the family slipped off to take a shower, within moments my brother was right there at the door, banging frantically, shouting again and again, "Are you all right? ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!" And as for being in the bathroom by himself with the door closed, forget about it--he needed an escort to shield him from blood-spewing shower heads and possibly explosive mirrors.
Eventually, with time, his fear faded, and the story has a happy ending--he grew up to be almost as much a horror geek as his big brother. And a year or so back, we got to bond over a viewing of THP as adults, and both found it just as much fun as ever.
I don't know how long it was before he showered again, though.
Yet another pensive toast for This House Possessed!
I am very excited to present Made for TV Mayhem's first crossover episode, which is titled Blood Shower Power! In this episode Dorothy Zbornak (Amanda By Night) appears as a foil to Laverne Todd (Aunt John)! We are here to present the crossing of Kindertrauma and my site as we present tonight's Name That Trauma! We are sort of like Svengoolie if he was an independent and sarcastic woman in the 80s. And by we, I mean mostly Aunt John who wrote about one of his earliest kindertraumas. Shelly Smith is tonight's other guest star, and she'll be acting alongside an angry house and a freaky shower.
Name That Trauma : Aunt John of Kindertrauma on a Bloody Bathroom
In the late ‘70s/ early ‘80s, my folks were still on top of their parenting game and strictly enforced a 9pm bedtime. Special exceptions were granted for very special episodes of The Incredible Hulk and that was about it. When the clock struck nine, you had to be in bed.
(Best Sophia Petrillo voice) So picture this... one night a young Aunt John awakes after the mandatory bedtime and comes down stairs in his family's split-level home looking for a glass of water. He is wearing footed pajamas and he is parched.
When he gets to the kitchen, he spies his mother five steps down in the family room doing some ironing and watching TV. Knowing he should not be out of bed and if his Mom catches him -- there will be a shit-storm of epic proportions, Aunt John takes a seat on the top of the stairs from the kitchen to the family room to see what his Mom is watching. Usually she is watching the taboo series The Love Boat or Fantasy Island -- taboo in the sense that both air after 9pm.
This night, however, it was different because it was neither The Love Boat nor Fantasy Island, there was a blonde lady getting into a shower who clearly was not Cruise Director, Julie McCoy. The water started and then it turned to blood.
Aunt John picked himself up from that top step and ran back to bed. Glass of water be damned, he was not thirsty. For years and years, he thought about that scene, especially when he would be taking showers in strange bathrooms, and he would wonder where it came from.
Flash forward to when Aunt John finally meets up with Unkle Lancifer 25 some odd years later and they came up with the idea for Kindertrauma. Along with Dark Night of the Scarecrow and Snowbeast, This Is House Possessed stands as one of Aunt John’s personal Name That Traumas!
I've know Caelum Vatnsdal under several names through the years. Originally we became buds on a horror movie webgroup where he posted as Kraken and The Mighty Kraken. Then I knew him as the author of the incredible book They Came From Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema, which is where I learned his real name (and am hard pressed to pronounce it correctly!). Then, I saw him over at Kindertrauma where he shows up under the name Walter Paisley, and now he tells me I can find him as the "Exclamation Point Provider" on the Hi! It's Burl blog! Whew, from a kraken to punctuation marks, Caelum has always been a good guy, a great writer, and someone who was equally obsessed with This House Possessed (OK, maybe not equally because that would make him deranged)! I was so happy and honored that he was willing to give me a few words in an attempt to separate his convoluted memory from a convoluted film!
This House Possessed Memories Brought to You by the Letter C... for Caelum!
How unusual is it to feel a tremendous fondness for a movie you remember almost nothing about? It’s proof, if it were still needed, that movies, even schlocky TV movies, can affect us on a purely emotional level and achieve an importance well beyond what their actual artistic merit can bear.
What I remember best about This House Possessed is the lead-up to it, actually: the excitement created by the promos that no doubt filled the airwaves in advance of its February, 1981 broadcast date. This was the way it was with any Television Event, from the Night of Kings (a double feature of King Kong ’76 and The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb) to the genuine 3D broadcast of Gorilla At Large (glasses available at your local 7-11!) to the sprawling epic that was Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. Anything vaguely horror or sci-fi was, for me, a big night of TV, and so This House Possessed qualified in spades.
If I make everything pretty the bad will go away, right?
I dutifully sat down and thrilled to the movie on that dark February night, and the next day it was the talk of the schoolyard. I’ve thought about it often in the thirty years since, but my actual hard memories have narrowed to the following: 1) One of the Hardy Boys was in it; 2) The house was of classic California Modern design, rather than the spooky, cobweb-strewn piles that were more typical of the genre; 3) the house liked to watch what was going on inside of it on a closed-circuit TV system; and 4) it featured a scene in which some kind of fire-spitting electrical cable was whipping around a kitchen, shooting sparks at the Hardy Boy and his girlfriend.
And that’s about it. Despite the title, I’d assumed, probably because of the frequent shots of TV monitors, that it was more of a Demon Seed situation involving a computer-run dwelling than a standard possession. Recently I watched the movie again, or at least kind of skimmed through it, and frankly I’m still not sure. Essentially, I think, the house is a creepy pedophile stalker, possessed by little more than its love for seven year-old girls and cringe-inducing yacht rock. It’s not a house that thinks things through: its plot to reclaim the girl of its dreams, now that she’s grown up into cute nurse Lisa Eilbacher, is so ludicrously convoluted as to defy belief, the more so since it depends on the appeal of Parker Stevenson singing some of the most dreadful elevator music ever committed to tape.
The TV makes a love connection!
But kids don’t care about any of that; and that is why I loved This House Possessed when I was nine; and that is why I love it today. On top of the hazy but pleasant memories, the movie offers some surprisingly gruesome deaths for a TV movie – Slim Pickens, who plays the world’s most unlikely soft-rock manager, gets an especially bloody demise. I was a little disappointed to find that the fire-spitting cable scene I remembered turned out to be an invention, or at least an amalgam of several different scenes, but isn’t that always the way with childhood memories? Even when they’re TV movies starring Parker Stevenson, Lisa Eilbacher and Slim Pickens, they’re never quite as great in real life as they are in your mind.
I met Micky Worley through the always friendly comment section of Kindertrauma, but while we shared a love of childhood sufferings, we ended up bonding over our unbridled lust for Parker Stevenson. And through this common obsession, we established a pretty kickass friendship. But I'd smack her down if she stood between me and Parker! But I'm sure she'd do the same! (By the way Micky, I'm kidding, I'm sure you could whoop my sorry behind anyday!)
Micky (aka Mickster) was kind enough to take a few minutes to offer up why she loves House the way she does... and believe it or not, not all of it has to do with Parker!
This House Possessed Brought to You by the Memories of Mickster
My family always enjoyed made-for-TV scary movies. My dad was the scary movie fan because my mom claims now that she does not like scary movies. Anyway, when This House Possessed appeared in the TV Guide circa 1981, it was a cinch that the Mickster family would be watching. I know personally that I was extra excited since it starred my favorite Hardy Boy, Parker Stevenson (Ahh, the mere mention of his name makes me giddy as a school girl). The movie did not disappoint! Parker is super-sexy singing some cringe-worthy tunes. Lisa Eilbacher is beautiful as his nurse with a mysterious past. I will say that I would not have been pushing Parker Stevenson’s character away for getting a little too fresh the way she did, but that is just the old Mickster fantasizing. The title character in the movie, which is the ultra modern possessed house in question, is to die for…literally. Except for the house killing and/or terrifying all the visitors, it is perfect! If the house let the owners chose whom to kill or terrify, it would be perfect! Someone needs to get off his or her duff and release this spooky classic on DVD immediately!
He's so beautiful, she can't even look at him!
There's lots of Mickster-ness to be found at Kindertrauma, but why don't you start with her review of Jack's Back
Seriously, who doesn't love a good catfight? While we don't get to see Sheila and Tanya square off too much in House, the potential for squashed white clogs and torn fur stole madness is always there. Carol and Jeanette McMahon are sisters who I don't think get into too many catfights. I feel this way mostly because I know they share a deep love for House, and that has to be the one bond that brings people together...
They both wrote a little ditty for me about why they love the house that loved the girl that loved the rock star. Let's proceed, shall we?
Carol McMahon:
What's not to love about This House Possessed? You've got hotty hot hot Parker Stevenson being a rock star, Shelly Smith being trashy, dopey Slim Pickens, and a super creepy old lady who lives in a shack. I love so many things about this made for TV movie that it's hard to narrow it down for this little retrospective - so I'm gonna get out my vaseline coated skylight filter and sorta generalize in a hazy way.
One of the things I love most about This House Possessed is just how far, as an adult, you have to suspend your disbelief for this movie. I mean, watching it as a kid it all makes perfect sense (and, believe it or not, is actually scary), but as an adult, you really can't think about it too much. You can't analyze it at all. You have to just let if float over you. You have to believe that a house can not only become obsessed with a child, but also has the capability of using any TV in the general area as an ersatz monitor. You have to believe that a woman can be covered in blood that is spraying out of a shower nozzle one minute, and then can waltz out the front door with no evidence of blood on her. And you have to believe, with all your heart, that a house can, within seconds, turn the temperature of a swimming pool up to the boiling point in order to kill a creepy old lady.
Watching This House Possessed makes me yearn for the days when nothing had to fit into a perfect little box to make sense. It makes me get all nostalgic for that feeling of getting lost in a story - any wacky, silly, crappy story - and thinking that every single turn of events is completely and totally plausible. I mean, it is possible for a house to love a little girl and remain obsessed with her as she becomes an adult, and, not only, keep tabs on a rock star in a club through an analog TV set, but also, cause him to faint and then recover from the fainting attack in the same hospital where the grown-up girl now works (and where the rock star can somehow still be monitored through that same TV set), thereby luring the grown-up girl back to the house so as to entrap her there forever. It could totally happen.
Oh, This House Possessed, you always make me feel like a kid again.
Jeanette McMahon:
First of all, I was in the Parker Stevenson camp of Hardy Boys fans, so it was destined for me to hold this cheesefest of a made-for-TV horror flick close to my heart. It has everything - hairless chest shots of Parker as Gary Straihorn, a temperamental and questionable rock star (complete with the song "Sensitive You're Not," the one that inspired the embroidered tea towel that my sister made for me); A chemistry-free love story between Parker and Lisa Eilbacher (who also did her time on Hardy Boys), who plays Sheila, a live-in nurse helping him recover from the stress of rock stardom; a simultaneous chemistry-free love story between Sheila (or Margaret, according to the house) and the house itself - a house which is an awesome brown and tan vision of late '70s/early '80s rock star glamour and architecture; Slim Pickins as the affable rock star manager (who doesn't need more Slim Pickins?!); a creepy, cryptically prophetic "rag lady" with smeary lipstick and bottlecap-lensed eyeglasses (played by Joan Bennett, the original matriarch on Dark Shadows); multiple murders that scared the crap out of me as a kid (my favorite being a toss-up between the librarian's electrocuting/crushing gate death and the rag lady's overheated pool death); Sheila/Margaret's final pleading words directed at the house, which is going up in flames, "If you love me, you'll let him go - you'll let me go! Oh, please!" Even Barry Corbin and David Paymer make appearances. What's not to love?
This smeary faced lipstick lady is for you, girls!
Do you know what else there is to love? The blogs these girls run! Please check out Carol McMahon at Craftypants Carol Fancy Crafty World and then go on over to Jeannette's faboo JLMShisksablog for more of the awesome!
And do you know what's even way cooler than that? Here is a look at the ultra-incredible This House Possessed dishtowel Carol made for Jeannette:
And Jeanette sent me this supremely cool bootleg box art. The house looks mad:
Hey girls, if you ever want to adopt another TV movie luvin' sister, I've got my paperwork ready. And I'm house-trained!
I was so pleased when the Meepster himself (he who runs the incredible blog Cinema du Meep) accepted my request to write a little ditty about This House Possessed! He put together this pithy little tribute:
This House Possessed by Michael of Cinema Du Meep
This House Possessed is kind of the best TV-Movie title ever. I mean, you get exactly what you are looking for! Who can't find a deep appreciation for that. Well, besides a good haunting story set against sunny California in a creepy mid-century house, Possessed also gives you a few more early 80's treats. For fans of TV's The Hardy Boys, it's in the shape of the former teen idol, now all man Parker Stevenson. For fans of girls with spunk, it's the wonderful Lisa Eilbacher. Before she became Axel Foley's big haired confidant in Beverly Hills Cop, Lisa snagged herself the plum role of cute as a button nurse to Parker's ailing Rock Star. There's also some very swanky music and supporting roles by Former Presidential Candidate John Dukakis (!), Slim Pickens, Joan Bennett, David Paymer, Barry Corbin and Phillip Baker Hall. Character actor heaven! Director William Wiard also directed the likewise fabulously titled Ski Lift To Death and the movie was produced by television producer god Leonard Goldberg. There's a pedigree to This House that ski lifts it over other television movies of the time, and it's a lot of fun. Watch it in the dark in a possessed house you love.
I've got an article up at Kindertrauma for the new horror film Insidious. I loved it, by the way! This review mostly takes a look at some TV movie references I saw in the film (whether they were intended or not, that's how I roll!), so I added it to the my TVM Inspired list. Warning: There are spoilers so read at your own risk... oh, and enjoy!
I spent some more time at the Kindtrauma castle this weekend and I helped out on their Stream Warriors section, which is where you go to find all the cool crap that you can watch online. Today it's all about small screen treats, so please pop on by and check it out. I also added one of my own kindertraumas to make it all salacious and stuff! OK, maybe not salicious... let's try hilarious. And a big thanks to my favorite guys, Unkle Lancifer and Aunt John for not only asking me to participate, but for also doing a flippin' fantastic job with the layout. They make me look all good!
Enjoy!
Also, I too have something similar here called Must See Streaming TV, but without any real regularity to it, so it's not as cool. However, if you are ever looking for a little TV movie goodness, it can be a one stop shop (although a lot of it isn't streaming anymore, which is, like, totally lame).
First off, let me give a big thanks to my favorite Meepster over at Cinema Du Meep for inviting me in on the 80s mayhem! Please pop over there as often as possible as he's kind of movie nut and always fun to read, and check out our co-blog on our favorite films of the 80s! Here, both Meep and I tackled the wonderful world of television and we certainly hope you enjoy our lists!
I was 9 years old in 1980. I might not have hit the double digits yet, but I was beginning that phase in my life where I loved watching television & movies. You may have guessed that I never quite got over that part of my life, and I tend to want to either re-visit or re-discover the gems from my all-too-short childhood. As the decade was just beginning we were laying to rest the post-hippie disillusionment but had yet to totally dip ourselves into a neon daze. It was an interesting time in television especially, with a disparate list of drama/comedies/variety specials. It might also have been the year of the romantic television movie. I mean, Valentine Magic on Love Island?!? Need I say more?
Cosmos: There are billions and billions of stars. And there was only one Carl Sagan. The thing about Mr. Sagan was that although he never talked down to his audience, he made science fun. He made it more than fun, he made it something full of vast wonder and he made you want to learn about it. His series Cosmos was 13 episodes, that’s only half a season, but the effect of it has lasted through my entire life. I never did quite get the knack for science, but I also never lost the want to learn it. Thank you Mr. Sagan.
Enos: This misfire of a show falls under the “What Were They Thinking” category. A spin-off from The Dukes of Hazzard, Enos (played by Sonny Shroyer) was the lovable deputy who moved out of the sticks of Hazzard into the big city streets of Los Angeles. A bad fish-out-of-water storyline that wore thin quickly, Enos was worth watching only for Shroyer’s great performance. Even among crap, he was undeniably charming.
Fight Back! With David Horowitz: What a flashback! When I was a nine year old renegade, I thought I could change the world. I felt that way because of shows like Fight Back which empowered us with the knowledge of what products actually told the truth in their advertisements and who was lying through their dirty, rotten teeth. Every week my friends and I couldn’t wait to see if you could actually spread cake icing with a paper knife or if the gorilla would demolish the suitcase. What a blast! And I thought I was being all consumer savvy and stuff. What can I say, I consume with the best of them! For the record, Mr Horowitz is still fighting the good fight, visit him at his website,aptly titled Fight Back! Power to the people!
I’m a Big Girl Now: Although I didn’t like this show as much as Diana Canova’s later series Throb (or SOAP for that matter), this show had one big selling point for me – Sheree North. I can’t remember when I fell in love with this brassy, voluptuous actress, but I have been enchanted by her for most of my life. She’s fantastic here as Edie, the brash boss and she looks amazing. I’m a Big Girl Now also had a then unknown Martin Short and of course, Danny Thomas, who must have been the selling point, but as far as I’m concerned, this was Diana & Sheree’s show all the way.
It’s a Living: Hey, life’s not the French Riviera, but it was downright funny on It’s a Living, which was a pretty great little show about a group of waitresses and some other employees of a swank restaurant. Mostly, this show ruled because it gave the world Ann Jillian who we all just knew was Mae West reincarnated! She was afforded some of the best lines and kind of made the show. The series, which ran on ABC for only a short period of time (two seasons), experienced quite the comeback in syndication in 1985 where it ran for four more seasons (Jillian only did a one year stint because she was battling breast cancer, which she won!). Wow, talk about legs… and I don’t mean on the waitresses!
Magnum P.I.: OK, I’m gonna glow a little. I always do when I think about this show, which is hands down my all time favorite television series of all time in the history of the world and maybe even the universe. Ever. Tom Selleck was perfectly cast as the gorgeous, but not always perfect Magnum, a slacker P.I. who often had to enlist the help of his best buds to get the mystery solved. There were several elements to the show that were seamless, including the obvious, such as the chemistry between the cast mates and the sumptuous locales. But Magnum P.I. was also extremely consistent and faithful to its characters, featuring storylines that could unravel over several seasons (OK, not completely consistent but this was the 80s!). And as the show matured, so did Magnum, who found himself in many situations that lead to the esoteric and filled him with self-awareness. I love how poignant some episodes were and I loved growing along with Magnum. Even now, almost 30 years later (oh my god, has it really been that long?!?), this show still remains one of the most moving television watching experiences I have ever had. I love Thomas, Rick, TC & Higgins like they were my friends and that’s how I greet them at the beginning of every episode. I don’t think I will ever love a television show more.
Secrets of Midland Heights: After Dallas but before Dynasty lies a little forgotten nighttime soap called The Secrets of Midland Heights. Starring future stars such as Lorenzo Lamas and Linda Hamilton as well as stalwart names like Bibi Besch and Martha Scott who played Sue Ellen's overbearing mom on Dallas in various salacious situations. The show was short lived and re-tooled as King’s Crossing for the next season, but still failed to capture many viewers. Tis a shame too, since the lesser known nighttime soaps seem to be my shows of choice…
Solid Gold: Yeah, yeah, yeah interpretive dance wasn’t exactly the big thing in my pre-pre-teen existence, but Solid Gold got me on a pretty good start! This was a fantastic show for people like me who were really into 80s pop. Everyone who was anyone showed up, lip-synching their big hits. I used to love how the music would fade and then the band would just stop playing! Solid Gold started off as a one off variety special that did well enough to spin into a series. The first episode featured Irene Cara and Chuck Berry! Wow. An incredible, but kind of horrible show, those dancers and the various hosts (starting with Dionne Warwick) were filling up my life with music!
Tenspeed & Brownshoe: Although my parents were very into books and enjoyed music, they also loved to watch a lot of network television during my youth. Some of my favorite memories come from having dinner with the parental unit as we watched whatever the show of the evening was. One of my fondest memories of those times is watching Tenspeed & Brownshoe, even though I hardly remember the short lived series at all. What I do remember is laughing hysterically with my parents – it’s a memory I’ll treasure forever. The show itself was about a hustler named E.L. “Tenspeed” Turner (Ben Vereen) turned detective to meet parole requirements (!) and an accountant named Lionel “Brownshoe” Whitney, who was more fanatical about the work at hand. Together they encountered hijinks and guffaws galore and became an important precursor to more the more lighthearted detective fare that showed up later in the decade (Ex. Riptide, Simon & Simon – granted those were beefcake hijinks!). Created by the great Stephen J. Cannell, Tenspeed & Brownshoe did quite well at the beginning of their 14 episode run, but viewers quickly lost interest and the show was cancelled.
Those Amazing Animals: Before Animal Planet there was Those Amazing Animals. It was lighthearted, it was sweet and it was totally awesome. As a big animal lover, I loved this show through and through. I adored Jim Stafford something fierce too (he totally kicked John Davidson’s butt!), but it’s Burgess Meredith I remember most. That beguiling voice leading the audience through tales of the animal kingdom was magical. This short lived series (one season) was the best of family television and deserves a decent DVD release.
Of course, TV movies and specials were big on my boob tube radar as well. Since I was only nine you may have guessed that I was home at night. A lot. Minus a few slumber parties, there I was twisting the knob, looking for decent programming. I haven't seen all of the movies and specials on this list, but damn, 1980 had some good programming!
The Babysitter: Mmmm, I love this movie. I didn’t catch its original airing but enjoyed watching it several times on my local channel during the early 80s. Stephanie Zimbalist is cold, cruel and calculating… and a ton of fun to watch! Click on title for full review.
Battle of the Network Stars: Starting in 1976, ABC brought nineteen wonderful episodes of this outlandish curiosity. Sometimes the specials would air twice a year and in 1980 we were treated to one in May and one in December. You can check out a list of participants over at Retro Junk. I loved the little bios they would give the teammates. In a particularly hilarious ass kissing interview, Howard Cosell kept raving about how awesome Ed Asner was, to the point that you could see Ed was either totally eating it up or figuring out how to get that restraining order started. Also, seeing Mr. Asner in those teeny-weeny bikinis was something to behold. Oh man, how I miss this show. They tried to revamp it in 2005 with Battle of the Network Reality Stars, but can we say lame? Yeah, totally!
Cheryl Ladd Special: Souvenirs: I love Cheryl Ladd and I truly, from the bottom of my heart, wanted to like this variety special, but it’s just so bland. Cheryl looks divine, Joyce DeWitt is adorable, Jeff Conaway is… uh, Jeff Conaway, but it just doesn’t gel.
Condominium: A wonderful disaster of the week mini-series featuring Barbara Eden along with many, many wonderful television friendly faces as they prepare for the biggest storms of their lives – one by nature, the other by lust, darling, pure lust! Click on title for a full review.
Flamingo Road: It was not until I started writing this article that I realized this short lived nighttime soap did not take place in Las Vegas. The tackiest city in the world was my childhood stomping grounds and we had a street named Flamingo Road which leads to the Flamingo Hotel (we were pretty clever as you can see). My (still) small brain could not fathom that another town might have a Flamingo Road. Turns out there is at least one (fictionalized or otherwise) in Florida and I’m guessing the road on the show is meant to symbolize the haves and have-nots and it features the hunkadelic John Beck and Mark Harmon! In short: This is a must see!
The Jayne Mansfield Story: Why, oh why have I not seen this movie? Loni Anderson as Jayne and Ah-nold Schwarzenegger as Mickey Hargity. Wow. Just wow.
Mom, the Wolfman and Me: I just got a chance to rewatch this sweet little made for tv romance. David Birney is officially hawt. Click on title for review.
Murder Can Hurt You: Oh man, this movie is hee-larious. A bunch of funny famous people parody the hot cop shows – Victor Buono is Chief Ironbottom, Tony Danza is Pony Lambretta, Connie Stevens is Sgt. Salty Sanderson and so on… Someone is killing all the great cops and so they must band together to find the culprit! This is slapstick silliness at its finest and I remember loving it even as an adult when FXM used to air it endlessly in the mid-90s.
Pleasure Palace: This movie was recently streaming on Netflix and I’m so mad they took it off. It’s ultra-lush goodness, featuring the handsome Omar Sharif as one slick gambler. He’s also got a romantic triangle to tangle with – will he choose the beautiful and dignified Hope Lange or will he pick the gorgeous and confident Victoria Principal? If you can find this movie, you need to watch and find out! Click on title for a look at this movie.
Revenge of the Stepford Wives: Of course little could come close to the classic horror film The Stepford Wives, and Revenge does well by not trying to. Instead, this is a fun, uncomplicated follow up to the big screen original. Sharon Gless is great, but the real treat is watching Julie Kavner, pre-Marge Simpson as Don Johnson’s wife! It’s total a total shut your brain off and have fun kind of flick!
My good friend Meep at Cinema du Meep also has a mad penchant for the small screen. Here are some of his faves:
3-2-1 Contact: Remember when kid's shows were fun and informative? 3-2-1 was always fun to watch and bring out the inner nerd within.
Bosom Buddies: What's not to love about 2 guys pretending to be like women just so they could live on the cheap and have pajama parties with the women of their dreams? Plus, Tom Hanks when he was funny! (Amanda By Night note: Check out this awesome article about some of the exterior locations from Bosom Buddies' opening title sequence)
Breaking Away: I was a fan of the show from the great movie, but it only lasts 7 episodes :(
Fridays: Friday's gave Saturday Night Live a good run for it's money. Shame it never really caught on as it was a whole lot of funny. Plus, early Larry David!
Heathcliff: I didn't watch a whole lot of cartoons growing up, but for some reason I became obsessed with Heathcliff. More so the '84 version than '80, but I did watch. I remember my friends and I naming ourselves after some of the characters. I was Riff Raff.
It's A Living: The zany trials of a small group of women serving the most unappetizing looking food at a posh Hotel in Los Angeles. A great ensemble cast keeps you hooked.
Solid Gold: Forget American Bandstand and Dance Fever. Solid Gold was the shit.
That's Incredible!: Reality shows in the 80's were a totally different beast. This one was part cheesy, part creepy and absolutely addictive! Cathy Lee Crosby was a fox.
Too Close For Comfort: Once I caught this show I was hooked. I said it before, and I'll say it again... Ted Knight was god!
These were still on in '80, and I was hooked until they eventually were retired...
CHiPs The Love Boat Three's Company - Never missed an episode! Diff'rent Strokes Mork & Mindy Hart To Hart Buck Rogers In The 25th Century - Beep-de-de-beep! The Facts Of Life WKRP In Cincinnati Little House On The Prairie One Day At A Time - Oh, Schneider! The Jeffersons Laverne & Shirley
I wasn't watching as many TV-Movies back in 1980, but these I do remember clearly...
The Babysitter: Gosh you're creepy Stephanie Zimbalist!
The Boy Who Drank Too Much: Put down that beer Baio!
The Comeback Kid: Starring my man John Ritter!
Guyana Tragedy: The Story Of Jim Jones: All hail to the power of Powers Boothe! (Amanda By Night note: A friend of mine is in Guyana. He plays the aggravated ticket taker at the movie theater!)
The Jayne Mansfield Story: Starring Loni Anderson's boobs
Marilyn The Untold Story: More boobs, but this time starring the miscast perky Catherine Hicks
Christmas in July is contagious! At some point a few months ago, Joanna Wilson from the awesome Christmas TV Companion blog and I talked about doing the guest blog thing (it's so 2010) and how could I resist? Joanna's got crazy keen eyes for detail, she's passionate about Christmas specials and she's a great writer too! And Santa came early this year as you'll see because Joanna brings a first to Made for TV Mayhem: Location photos! Check out what these places looked like then and how they look now. Too cool! Thanks Joanna for taking the time to do this! As for the rest of you, enjoy! And after you stop by her blog, check out her book also called The Christmas TV Companion (and then check back here later this weekend because I'll be posting a review of it!).
Network: ABC Original Air Date: December 4th, 1977 Review by Joanna Wilson
The 1977 TV movie The Gathering directed by Randal Kleiser casts a long shadow. Not only has this movie endeared itself to many of the viewers that saw it when it was originally broadcast but it contains a stellar cast. It won an Emmy for Outstanding Special--Drama or Comedy as well being nominated for four others. For me, it has a personal connection as I live not far from the locations where they shot the film.
In this story, successful businessman Adam Thornton, played by Edward Asner, learns he has only months to live. In an effort to reconnect with the family he could previously never make time for, Adam organizes an unexpected Christmas reunion. Not wanting anyone’s pity, he doesn’t share his terminal condition or his motivations to redeem himself, although his wife Kate, played by Maureen Stapleton, from whom he is separated and his grown children can sense a change in him. Gathering together his family for the holiday at the last minute is its own struggle as is convincing them to spend it with the father they have mixed feelings for. But Adam needs to spend time with each of his family members to say what he needs to say before it is too late. The greatest reward is when his youngest son, Bud, played by Gregory Harrison, makes the journey from remote Canada. Adam now regrets throwing Bud out of his house over their conflicts about the Vietnam War. This Christmas film has the subtleties and complexity of emotion that some films overwrite or worse yet, force into their scripts. In addition to Asner, Stapleton and Harrison, this ensemble cast includes several other recognizable actors: Stephanie Zimbalist, Gail Strickland, Lawrence Pressman, Veronica Hamel and Bruce Davison among others.
There are two memorable scenes. The first is when the men in the family ask Adam to recite his favorite Christmas poem just as he used to do every Christmas Eve. Introducing the Victorian poem as one written by the popular British author, Rudyard Kipling, he entertains the men drinking in the kitchen. What many viewers may not know is that this poem “Christmas in the Workhouse” is not by Kipling but more accurately by George R. Sims who wrote the dramatic monologue contained in his “Dagonet Ballads” in 1879. The second memorable scene is the one where Adam and his like-minded son Tom decide to set off an entire box of fireworks after midnight early Christmas morning. The two adults shout and cheer as the explosions, lights and whistles fill the darkness of still night that results in neighborhood dogs barking and neighbors complaining. But the scene underscores Adam’s attitude and commitment to spend his last Christmas literally and symbolically as loudly as he wants.
There is also a scene where Adam’s grandchildren awaken their grandfather who is sleeping on the couch on Christmas morning. It’s a small detail, however, some may recognize that the two children use a Yogi Bear plush toy to wake up their grandfather. This toy was most probably chosen because this film was executive produced by Joseph Barbera--the same man as the TV animation giant from Hanna-Barbera Productions. But a children’s movie this is not.
Though this film’s story takes place in a quaint, snowy New England village, it was actually shot in Northeast Ohio. The house they used for the Thornton home is located in Hudson Ohio on the campus of The Western Reserve Academy. The outdoor footage used in the opening scenes of the film when Adam is walking with his doctor discussing the outcome of his terminal diagnosis is located in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Thornton/Asner stands on a bridge looking over the railing at the river below before he walks along to the edge and down a staircase which leads to a beautiful waterfall. This is a popular destination for couples as well as shoppers right in downtown Chagrin Falls.
This touching holiday film is one that many viewers have missed in previous years. However, I saw it broadcast last Christmas on the Gospel Music Channel, which is a good sign that we can expect to see it again in December 2010.
