tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post1712373033914344365..comments2023-11-03T11:37:13.579-04:00Comments on Something Old, Nothing New: Mary's Incredible And Very Expensive DreamJaime J. Weinmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-32662934103151181362010-02-18T10:59:45.458-05:002010-02-18T10:59:45.458-05:00Didn't Shirley McLaine do a similarly wigged-o...Didn't Shirley McLaine do a similarly wigged-out vanity project TV special in that era?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-416024951781230522010-02-18T06:33:10.315-05:002010-02-18T06:33:10.315-05:00Whoo-boy! I think we just found the show the spark...Whoo-boy! I think we just found the show the sparked the popularity of the remote control. <br /><br />The problem with shows like this in that era was you kept waiting for the laugh track, or the applause after a song. And when you didn't hear it, it was like Daffy Duck hearing crickets after his dance routine... which pretty much sums up the whole experience. Hey, isn't "Happy Days" on? <br /><br />On the other hand, the video composting is quite good for the era. In another five years guys my age would be watching high-concept music videos on MTV and Michael Nesmith's "Elephant Parts" would win a Grammy. So, what do I know?Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12098471743485897147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-75402074186775483742010-02-17T14:24:20.295-05:002010-02-17T14:24:20.295-05:00yes... with Java Jive in Act II it's definitel...yes... with Java Jive in Act II it's definitely Manhattan Transfer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-26862855972415971582010-02-17T14:13:13.286-05:002010-02-17T14:13:13.286-05:00That's quartet is The Manhattan Transfer, isn&...That's quartet is The Manhattan Transfer, isn't it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-34037085255351804042010-02-16T14:55:20.737-05:002010-02-16T14:55:20.737-05:00Very Shatner-esque rendition of "I'm Stil...Very Shatner-esque rendition of "I'm Still Here". She should do a whole album like that...As soon as I saw Jack Good's name in relation to this project, it explained a lot. "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee" was a similarly bizarre, pretentious mishmash. For starters, even though it was The Monkees' special, British rockers Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll (who no one in America had ever heard of) got most of the screen time. The "plot" was that Charles Darwin (played by Auger) creates The Monkees in a test tube. Plus Garden of Eden references. Then an interpretive dance sequence about evolution. Then totally out of nowhere a 50s rock 'n' roll bit with Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard (all in good form, actually). And since it's 1968, lots of "psychedelic" touches (sped-up tape, colors out of whack, hippies). The Monkees hated it, and NBC buried it on Oscar night (on the West Coast it aired opposite the Oscars).Chris L.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-25742380676975260192010-02-16T11:33:37.620-05:002010-02-16T11:33:37.620-05:00I didn't watch all this, but what I saw came a...I didn't watch all this, but what I saw came across as "Mary's Incredible Vanity Project."<br /><br />I think at this point in her career Moore misunderstood the nature of her appeal, which was as the sweet, nice (sometimes too nice), Midwestern girl-next-door, not some glamorous diva in fancy dresses. On the MTM show, when it seemed Mary Richards was coming across as too perfect, the writers would come up with situations to humiliate her, like in "The Put on a Happy Face" episode. And she always shared the spotlight on her show -- it was her show, but she never came across as THE star.<br /><br />Lucille Ball was also a glamorous starlet who owned her own production company and was a perfectly good singer and dancer, but, in her shows at least, she was careful not to come across that was way. Even on Carol Burnett's show, which really was a glitzy variety show, it opened with her in a janitor's outfit. <br /><br />The only thing I remember about the "Mary" show -- I was about ten at the time -- was a bit with "The Ed Asner Dancers," which was a bunch of bald Asner-lookalikes singing and dancing. That was kind of funny.Rob Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743540135575747985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-57084531324695105982010-02-16T10:55:09.820-05:002010-02-16T10:55:09.820-05:00Griff: You're right, she does say the "I&...Griff: You're right, she does say the "I'm having an incredible dream" line, but she doesn't say who she's talking to.Jaime J. Weinmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-14861865462101644562010-02-16T10:31:34.984-05:002010-02-16T10:31:34.984-05:00Mary Tyler Moore didn't really validate hersel...Mary Tyler Moore didn't really validate herself as an all-around actress in the eyes of the industry until her performance in "Ordinary People", a few years after this special and her variety show.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-59924942327328868982010-02-16T10:10:29.093-05:002010-02-16T10:10:29.093-05:00Jaime, I can't access the video of this (so fo...Jaime, I can't access the video of this (so forgive me if I have the details wrong), but I recall there being an additional line of dialogue somewhere near the middle of the original network broadcast of the show. We see Mary on the 'phone telling "Ted" that she can't talk to him right now -- she's having this incredible dream. This was interesting to me; it blurred the distinction as to whether this was Mary Tyler Moore's dream, or <i>Mary Richards'</i> dream. [Of course, it could have been depicting Mary Tyler Moore taking a call from Ted Knight, but I don't think we were meant to look at it in such a meta way.] I wondered whether this was added at some point to aid in audience identification.<br /><br />I would give special mention to the appearance of the Manhattan Transfer, which comes off fairly well here. Have you ever seen Good's 1973 rock musical adaptation of <i>Othello</i>, CATCH MY SOUL? This was rather uneasily directed by Patrick McGoohan (and I believe Good tried to disown the picture), but it's of a piece with Good's other conceptual work of the time.Griffnoreply@blogger.com