corner-2 Reviews

The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966)

Season 3 Episode 1 "That's My Boy???"

[10/10 · 18 February 2010]

As a teenager growing up in the early 1960's, I was a big fan of "The Dick Van Dyke Show". And this episode is the one I remember the best, after all these years. It is a flashback to when Ritchie was born and Rob becomes convinced that the hospital accidentally switched their baby for another one born at the same time of a family with a similar name. The climactic moment (which I will not reveal) was both one of the funniest things I ever saw on television in my life and an amazing demonstration of how American attitudes were changing. I have read that this is Dick Van Dyke's personal favorite episode, and I completely agree with him. Apparently, the live studio audience laughed so long and hard that the cameras had to stop until they calmed down and the actors could continue.

I would guess that today the shock of this moment is lost to a great extent, but for its time, it was an astonishing, courageous moment - and also side-splittingly funny.

The Golden Girls: Empty Nests (1987) Season 2, Episode 26

just awful

[1/10 · 18 August 2009]

This must be the only truly bad episode of "The Golden Girls". One star is one too many.

It was a completely artificial attempt to create a spin off, and it fails spectacularly. After a few minutes of enjoyment with the regular stars of the show, out of nowhere, a whole family of new characters pops in, and the rest of the show is about them. Dorothy and the others act react to them as old friends and acquaintances who we are supposed to know already. This is so abrupt and out of the blue that I thought I must have missed a previous episode. In which these characters were introduced.

Since these new characters are only mildly and occasionally amusing, they are completely out of place in what is usually a constantly entertaining and very funny show. Usually, a spin off uses characters developed and part of an already-existing show. In this case, none of the new characters had ever appeared in "The Golden Girls" before, so there was no way the audience was going to care about them or find them instantly interesting.

No surprise that the spin off never spun off.

Oh Teacher (1927)

Pre-Mickey Mouse Disney, with a touch of Chaplin

[7/10 · 3 May 2008]

For anyone interested in the history of animated cartoons, this is a fascinating glimpse of early Disney work. It is not a classic, but nevertheless full of clever and amusing moments. Given the fact that there was no sound track (though the version I saw had music and minimal sounds) and very few words written on screen, the story-telling is amazingly clear. The sight gags are delightful, some of them clearly inspired by (or stolen from) Chaplin and other silent-movie comic geniuses. But what Disney understood right from the beginning is how to use the medium of drawn animation to go far beyond what real-life comedians could do on screen. One example: when one character yells "HELP", the letters of the word kick Oswald to get his attention and point toward the damsel in distress to direct him. Even Chaplin couldn't have come up with a sight gag of that kind.

The Pirates of Penzance (1994 TV Movie)

An entertaining adaptation of an entertaining adaptation

[8/10 · 1 April 2008]

Though nothing in the credits mentions it, this production is obviously based on the Tony-winning 1980 Joseph Papp Shakespeare in the Park production, which starred Kevin Kline and Linda Rondstadt and was a massive hit on Broadway and later in the West End in London. Eventually it was redone as a film which was very entertaining but lacked too much of the excitement of live stage.

Fortunately, someone decided to tape a live performance of this newer version, capturing much more of the energy and audience response which was missing from the earlier film. What makes both versions special is the approach to the original material. Too many G&S productions are stodgy, treating the music as sacrosanct and the humor as too dated to get a laugh. Here every bit of silliness in the script is brushed off and made funny again. The "orphan/often" misunderstanding early in the play has been cut from most productions for decades by directors who didn't have a clue how funny it could be if performed as high comedy. There are dozens of other similar moments in this production, which never for an instant lets the audience forget that this is a COMIC opera.

At the same time, it is a comic OPERA, with some of Sir Arthur Sullivan's most beautiful melodies. Helen Donaldson as Mabel and Simon Gallaher as Frederick particularly have lovely voices and sing their romantic songs beautifully.

I do feel that this production is frequently over the top in milking the humor, but that is one of the intrinsic problems of filmed live performances, and the audience was clearly having a great time enjoying the antics of Jon English. And Tim Tyler as the police sergeant is incredible. A cross between a Keystone Kop and a very long rubber band, he steals every scene he is in.

G&S purists generally dislike updated productions, but for the rest of us, this production is a treat.

Kings for a Day (1997)

A feel-good French comedy

[7/10 · 27 October 2006]

This is an entertaining feel-good comedy about two Polish brothers who emigrate to France to find a better life and live "like kings". Unfortunately, life isn't that simple, and they find themselves moving from one job to another with little success. Then Roman, the more daring of the two, seizes an unexpected opportunity and gets his brother to pose as an Icelandic film director whose new movie is about to be shown in an international film festival, while he plays the role of interpreter. They soon find themselves in a luxurious hotel suite sipping champagne and feted by the other attendees and the press.

The situations they find themselves in are fairly standard for this kind of farce, but the warmth of the actors and light touch of the director make this film much more entertaining and funny than might be expected. And the film manages to provide a few surprises and chuckles right up to the last shot at the very end.

The Gold Rush (1925)

Silent version only!!

[9/10 · 10 October 2006]

This was the first Chaplin film I ever saw shown in in a movie theater in its original silent version with a live pianist, just the way it was meant to be seen. It was an amazing, unforgettable experience.

When I bought a video of the film, I didn't realize that it was the video of the 1932 version with the commentary Chaplin added years later. It also had a music track and sound effects, and I urge everyone to avoid it or at least turn off the volume when you watch it. He destroys his own masterpiece with unnecessary and distracting remarks.

If you are buying or renting the film, please choose the 1925 original. You won't regret it.

The Bullwinkle Show (1959–1963)

Four decades later, this is still a winner

[10/10 · 22 July 2006]

As a kid, I wasn't a big fan of the Saturday morning kid shows, even though I was a TV addict. But then I discovered "Rocky and His Friends". What a difference! Clever, witty plots and dialog - even the episode titles were hilarious. Then some network executive with brains and imagination (a rare breed) apparently noticed that some of the jokes were going over the heads of the kids, and adults would enjoy them more. Theshow moved to a different network and to a Sunday evening time slot, so the whole family could watch. The format changed slightly, and the title became "The Bullwinkle Show." But the wit remained, and the show became a long-running success.

Now, more than four decades later, the show has held up very well. It is still funny, still full of surprises. And the humor is still far above the level of most of the comedy shows on TV (live or animated).

As a teenager, I thought I understood the humor in the name of the villain Boris Badinov (bad enough, get it?) It took me another fifteen years to realize that it is also a pun on the name of the Russian opera Boris Gudinov. I wonder how long it will take before I get ALL the plays on words in all the episodes.

By the way, fans of this show should look out for "Sheep in the Big City", which, though by no means a copy, is obviously inspired by Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Sheep in the Big City (2000–2023)

A cartoon show for adults and children

[9/10 · 22 July 2006]

Truly good cartoons appeal to people of all ages, and "Sheep in the Big City" certainly falls in that category. There is enough basically zany humor to appeal to children, but when the show makes references which go far beyond the world of Saturday morning animation, it is the adults who can enjoy the humor.

In one episode, the narrator explains that the whole cast is down with the flu, but fortunately, they've found an old film of Sheep's grandfather to show instead. It turns out to be a brilliantly funny black and white, silent takeoff of Chaplin's masterpiece "City Lights", with Sheep in the Chaplin role. In another episode, the narrator declares that this show is uniquely different from other cartoons in its style and urban setting - just as Sheep is escaping from the city and starts running through a "Roadrunner" style desert.

Great entertainment grabs your attention and holds it every moment. In this show, everything from the hilarious narration to the fake commercials to the bizarre Swedish segment at the end is worth paying attention to.

In the early 60's, Rocky and Bullwinkle offered this kind of entertainment. Now we have "Sheep", thank goodness.

Mary Poppins (1964)

Too long? Take a break!

[10/10 · 18 July 2006]

I loved the Mary Poppins books as a child. The film is a joyous masterpiece which can be viewed many times with pleasure. But is it too long? Honestly? Well, yes. There is just too much happening that shouldn't be missed, and your mind becomes too fatigued after an hour or more to fully enjoy the later scenes. But I once watched it in pieces over a period of several days. I found that it breaks up naturally into several sections, and that was the solution. This time, when Burt and Mary were dancing on the rooftops, I was focused and able to appreciate the brilliance of this sequence, which comes late in the film. So my advice is: don't try watching all two plus hours of the film in one go. Take a few breaks. Then Mary Poppins is truly supercalifragilisticexpialidocious right to the end!

The Pirates of Penzance (1983)

G&S alive again!

[9/10 · 11 July 2006]

This delightful, deliberately stagy adaptation of the Broadway Pirates of Penzance is a treat both for G&S fans (I am one) and anyone who is new to their particular combination of great music and zany humor.

I saw this production in London in the early 80s, and it remains my favorite version of any G&S opera, and one of the most enjoyable evenings I've ever spent in a theater. A friend who saw it soon after me told me that on the bus back to her hotel after seeing it, the conductor told her "You've just been to see Pirates of Penzance". When my friend asked how she knew, she replied, "The look on your face." I'm sure most of the audience left the theater every night with faces glowing with joy.

The decision to film this with stage scenery rather than "realistic" backgrounds was brilliant. Too many great stage shows have been made into abysmal films by making them too realistic (Man of La Mancha, for example). These are not "real" pirates on a "real" pirate ship.

I agree with everyone who has written in praise of the stars of this film. They must have had a wonderful time performing this in front of live audiences, and they seem to be enjoying themselves here, as well. They make the most of their parts, singing up a storm, deliberately overacting. Lines which in other performances I've seen thrown away suddenly are hilariously, hysterically funny the way Kevin Kline declares them. To G&S novices: every line, every word in the script comes from the original libretto. Gilbert knew they were funny, but too many directors and actors have forgotten how to make them entertaining.

The final chase scenes through the streets of Penzance and into a theater where a performance of HMS Pinafore is going on are icing on the cake. They have nothing to do with the original play or the Broadway version, but they help bring the film to a joyous end.(When Pirate King Kline shouted "SIT" to the police dogs - and all the policemen immediately sat on the ground - I was wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.)

One of the best "feel-good" movies you are ever likely to watch.

Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1988–1999)

A comedy show you have to pay attention to

[9/10 · 10 June 2006]

I once had a conversation with some people about "Whose Line Is It Anyway". One intelligent, educated young man said he didn't like to watch it because "you have to pay attention." In other words, for him (and a few tens of millions of others) television entertainment is meant only to pass the time, not to keep you interested. On the other hand, for anyone who wants to be totally glued to the set, listening carefully for every line, this is a wonderful show.

The original, British MC, Clive Anderson, is far superior to the American version's Drew Carey, who seems to kill some of the humor (or humour, if you are British). But the cast of four improv comics are astonishing, and are funny more of the time than sitcom performers working with a carefully written script.

If you want your comedy really laugh-out-loud funny rather than just amusing enough to spend a half hour with, this show is for you.