Thursday, May 31, 2018

Thursday Movie Picks #203: Entertainment business (TV edition)



This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. This being the last Thursday of the month, it's time for another TV edition, and this month the subject is the entertainment business. I actually had some trouble thinking of fictional shows at first. Nowadays we have all sorts of celebrity gossip crap that I don't care one bit about. But finally I was able to come up with three shows, and to be honest I was pleased with myself for the selections:



The Muppet Show (1976-1981). Remember that the conceit of the show was of the Muppets backstage trying to put on a music hall-type show, with a very special guest star every week. The Muppets are back in the news because Jim Henson's son produced a more grown-up Muppet movie and the blankety-blanks at Sesame Street didn't like that so they sued.



The Partridge Family (1970-1974). C'mon, get happy as you watch hot Shirley Jones, stepson David Cassidy, and actors playing David's siblings, members of a talented band. Susan Dey would go on to LA Law; David's brother (or is it half-brother) Shaun would have a #1 hit at the end of the decade with a disco version of "Da Doo Ron Ron". (Seriously, look it up on Youtube and shudder.) Danny Bonaduce, well, the less said about him the better.



The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966). Dick Van Dyke plays a writer for a TV variety comedy show along with Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie and commutes back to the suburbs where he gets to come home to hot young Mary Tyler Moore and trip over an ottoman. (They actually changed the opening sequence in the final season so that Van Dyke went around the ottoman.) Carl Reiner (still alive at 96) showed up occasionally as the man for whom they were writing the TV gags.

3 comments:

Dell said...

I love The Muppet Show. Kicking myself for not remembering it when I was creating my post. Great...GREAT call! Used to watch The Partridge Family a lot, too. Good stuff. Never could get into The Dick Van Dyke show.

Daniel said...

OH GOD how much I love The Muppet Show! I started watching The Dick van Dyke Show on Netflix a couple of years back, having never even seen an episode of it somehow, and thought it was GREAT.

Birgit said...

How did I not think of my dad's favourite show...The Muppet Show! I love that show and my dad loved the old men hecklers and Fozzie. I actually liked the remake that was brought back last year and found it a shame it didn't last. The Partridge family is another gem and what a surprise that the little girl on the show passed away. The Dick Van Dyke Show is a perfect show for this theme as well. Carl and Dick are still around and active today which I love.