I really haven't been able to concentrate much on feature length movies lately, so
I've been watching a lot of sit-coms, mostly from the classic era. I thought I would
open up a new thread to find out what has tickled your funny bones in "TV Land"...
whether it be a particular skit, episode, guest appearance, talk show moment,
or a performer who never fails to bring on a grin, please share the laughter.
I'll begin with one of my favorite performances by Mary Tyler Moore,
in The Dick Van Dyke Show episode "Pink Pills for Purple Patients".
Mary takes some of Milly's Rx tranquilizer pills to calm her for the
ordeal of meeting Rob's parents for the first time, with hilarious results.
It's really Mary's show all the way, what a great comedienne.
I love this episode as well - in fact, there are very few episodes of Dick Van Dyke that I don't thoroughly enjoy. Now that it's pretty much disappeared from TV, I'm all the happier that I shelled out the dough and bought that complete series set during one of Amazon.com's sales.
I have many favorite sitcom episodes, but one that comes to mind right now is "The Lars Affair," from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which obnoxious Phyllis (Cloris Leachman, who won an Emmy for this episode) finds out her husband, Lars, is cheating on her with WJM's equally obnoxious "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White). All the regular performers are at their best here, but especially Cloris Leachman, who just steals the show, especially in one scene when, after finding out, she visits Mary's apartment and pours out her heart to Mary and Rhoda.
Hi Stephen! I have the DVD Show complete set, too, and it's getting worn out from constant rewatching the past several months.
I love that episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show! I haven't seen it in ages. I only have Season 1 on DVD...I should rent the
others since they have disappeared from TV, as you say. Cloris was hilarious, I love how she and Rhoda would constantly bicker
(kind of like the female equivalents of Buddy and Mel). Another episode that was hilarious featured one of Mary's infamously bad
parties...I remember Henry Winkler was in it and he was seated at this little table far away from the other guests because too many
people showed up, it cracked me up.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education." -- Will Rogers
there are very few episodes of Dick Van Dyke that I don't thoroughly enjoy. Now that it's pretty much disappeared from TV
I love that episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show! I haven't seen it in ages. I only have Season 1 on DVD...I should rent the others since they have disappeared from TV, as you say.
Another reason to live in warm and sunny Chicago! I get to watch The Mary Tyler Moore Show at 7pm (CST) and The Dick Van Dyke Show at 7:30pm (CST) five nights a week on Channel 23, WWME ("Me" TV). Others on its fine programming schedule include: The Andy Griffith Show, I Love Lucy, Leave It to Beaver, Gilligan's Island, Barney Miller and Hogan's Heroes.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
I recently heard a terrific interview with Dick Van Dyke on NPR. He was gracious, self-deprecating and genuinely funny. He revealed that there were actually lyrics to theDVD Show theme music, and then proceeded to sing them. It was so unexpected that a tear actually slipped from my eye. (Yea, I'm that much of a wimp). One of the great 'driveway moments' of the year.
On topic: One of my favorite TV episodes is the Barney Miller one where Harris' girlfriend makes some brownies with hash in them. Jack Soo high and endlessly saying "mushy, mushy" cracks me up.
I have never seen that episode, MJ, but I have gotten to see other episodes of Barney Miller and the series DVDs are on my wish list. And as they're currently drastically reduced on Deep Discount, I just might buy them at some point during the holidays...
Another favorite of mine: "A Bitter Pill to Swallow" from the fourth season of Roseanne. I could go on for several paragraphs about why I still treasure Roseanne despite the apparent nervous breakdown that its star has had during the past few years, but I think even today it's obvious how much TV needed a genuinely funny sitcom that dealt with the everyday realities that lower-middle class smalltown families endure in this country. In this episode, teen daughter Becky decides (only after securing support from Aunt Jackie) to ask mom Roseanne if she can start taking birth control. Of course, Roseanne doesn't take it well, but after leaving aside her illusions of the way she wants things to be and dealing with the reality (in a hilarious bit that catches the viewer totally off guard), after a talk with husband Dan ("I'm going to kill Mark. He's in the garage, so I have to go out there to kill him"), she finally - reluctantly - consents. Every scene perfectly balances "heartwarming" and "hilarious" as the show did so well in those first few seasons, and Lord knows that's no easy accomplishment for a sitcom - as the last three seasons of the show unfortunately demonstrate.
The deadpan Jack Soo suddenly being "Mushy,mushy" giddy is priceless.
Andy Kaufman makes me laugh by just thinking of him. And as Latka on Taxi, a philosopher on the American Dream, he was hard to top:
[youtube][/youtube]
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
ChiO,
Sounds like a great network...I know there are channels out there (carried by other cable providers) that
feature classic programming like that. Unfortunately, my Time Warner Cable in Manhattan doesn't offer any of them.
I have to pay dearly just to get Fox Movie Channel and Encore Westerns.
Funny thing about Fox, in Australia they have a network that airs movies AND classic TV series such
as those your WWME caries, unlike our U.S. Fox networks. And not just Fox products, either...but
from other studios as well. that's what confuses me so about the world. You'd think with a world
wide web, we could have world wide television broadcasting as well.
At least "Wagon Train" is coming to Encore Westerns in January, that's good news as I've never
seen any of the series yet.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education." -- Will Rogers
MichiganJ wrote:I recently heard a terrific interview with Dick Van Dyke on NPR. He was gracious, self-deprecating and genuinely funny. He revealed that there were actually lyrics to theDVD Show theme music, and then proceeded to sing them. It was so unexpected that a tear actually slipped from my eye. (Yea, I'm that much of a wimp). One of the great 'driveway moments' of the year.
I'd love to listen to that interview, MJ...I may just check out the NPR website. I've enjoyed
Dick's interviews that are included in the DVD box set. He always comes across so humble
about his own talents and contributions, yet he is such a comic genius, I believe. Carl Reiner
looks ageless. He's looked the same since the 1960s!
Speaking of, Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner's THE COMIC is airing on TCM December 30 at 1:00 a.m. EST. I have
never seen this movie, and i don't think it's supposed to be a barrel of laughs, but I've
heard good things about it.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education." -- Will Rogers
One of my favorite episodes comes from "Soap." It has to to with Chuck and "Bob." Jody (Billy Crystal) can't stand "Bob" so he spends the early part of the episode hiding him. Another one from later in the series has to do with Jody filming a TV commercial for a breakfast cereal.
Plenty of Dick Van Dyke episodes.
A drunk Bob Newhart (old series) ordering Chinese food. Also the final episode of his later series. The dream ending was inspired.
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
I liked The Bob Newhart Show but never got into Newhart. I missed Emily.
Oh, and Bill Daily was a big reason I enjoyed both TBNS and I Dream of Jeannie. I always
found his sillyness very funny and rather sweet. I never saw him in anything else but
these two series...
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education." -- Will Rogers
srowley75 wrote:I have never seen that episode, MJ, but I have gotten to see other episodes of Barney Miller and the series DVDs are on my wish list. And as they're currently drastically reduced on Deep Discount, I just might buy them at some point during the holidays...
While Season one is good, you can easily skip it and get seasons two and three (three being the season with the above mentioned "mushy, mushy" as well as another stellar episode in which a suspect is convinced he's a werewolf). I wish the rest of the series were released on DVD.
MissGoddess wrote:I'd love to listen to that interview, MJ...I may just check out the NPR website.
The program he was on was the quiz show out of Chicago, Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me. Dick Van Dyke is interviewed and then plays the game "Not My Job", in which he answers questions to win a prize for a listener. (it's 10-minutes or so)
Another great episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show - and possibly my favorite (or at least a worthy contender) - was "Never Bathe on Saturday," in which Rob and Laura have an unbelievably disastrous weekend while in New York to see a Broadway show. Kathleen Freeman makes an appearance as the "dumb maid with the key."
MJ, thank you for that link...what a delight! I got the biggest laugh when the announcer
said that in his universe, Dick van Dyke doesn't know the word "pimp".
And Dick is just as intelligent and charming as his characters.
srowley75 wrote:Another great episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show - and possibly my favorite (or at least a worthy contender) - was "Never Bathe on Saturday," in which Rob and Laura have an unbelievably disastrous weekend while in New York to see a Broadway show. Kathleen Freeman makes an appearance as the "dumb maid with the key."
I just watched that one yesterday! Kathleen Freeman also played the owner of the cheesy hotel
where Rob and Laura spent their aborted and delayed honeymoon, and just like in "Never Bathe
on Saturday", she catches Rob looking ridiculous (in the former episode, he had on false eyelashes
and in the latter, a fake mustache). Her reactions are priceless. Oh, and she even calls him "Ace"
in both episodes.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education." -- Will Rogers
