"Fantasy Island" Reboot Premiers on Fox Broadcast TV Tues, Aug 10, 2021

When it comes to TV from the mid-1970's to the mid-1980's, for those who weren't yet old enough to be out tearing up the disco floors a la "Saturday Night Fever",  Saturday nights usually meant spending the evening at home watching ABC television from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM. ABC aired two of Aaron Spelling and former Screen Gems' top TV execs Leonard Goldberg's big TV hits: "The Love Boat" which ran from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM, followed by another hit known as "Fantasy Island". My recollections of those days are fond; an older cousin introduced me to the shows as a way of living out their own fantasies — sort of.

Both shows were also known as big work opportunities for many out-of-work actors, or those who simply wanted extra paid work. Both shows were similar in that they each ran for an hour time-slot, which is quite rare for non-movies or live sporting events. However, they both were quite popular. That's partially because there were only 3 broadcast TV networks plus PBS television and perhaps some independent stations which showed old re-runs from the fifties and sixties. Cable as we now know it did not exist, and streaming or on-demand content was an even more far-fetched idea.

The original "Fantasy Island" ran for seven seasons from 1978 to 1984 which is pretty impressive. As noted, the show was co-produced by the late Aaron Spelling. These days, the old show doesn't air very much on the re-run circuit (a few networks still run the show, but often very late at night, so its possible to set your DVR's) because the show originally fit into an hour time slot and the shows are simply too long to squeeze into a rerun circuit. Alternatively, it can be streamed on one (or more) of the free, ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) stations including the Roku channel, IMDB (now FreeVee), Tubi, Crackle or PlutoTV. I know I've seen it on one or more of them.

Still, the basic premise was that wealthy and/or well-connected island guests could visit the island and have one fantasy they'd always dreamed about fulfilled. But the guests' fantasies seldom turned out quite the way the guests envisioned. Usually, the fantasies taught some kind of lesson.

To be sure, the original "Fantasy Island" was revered for its cast, most notably the late Ricardo Montalbán and the late Hervé Villechaize (perhaps better known for his starring role as a villain in the 1974 James Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun" which starred the late Roger Moore as James Bond). The actors were also known for their distinctive accents which lent some mystery to their presence on screen. Mr. Montalbán had a Spanish accent, whereas Villechaize had a distinctive French accent (even though his ethnicity was Filipino, he was raised in France, hence his French accent).

While both series have been released on DVD, unless one borrows the discs from their public library, that's an option which is rather costly for someone merely seeking a walk down memory lane. But for those people, today, free streaming is indeed a viable option.

Of the ABC Saturday night line-up during the late seventies to mid-eighties, today, viewers have the option to watch an entire subchannel dedicated to "The Love Boat" on the free ad-supported streaming network/app known as Pluto TV https://pluto.tv/en/live-tv/the-love-boat which is owned by Viacom CBS. There, dozens of episodes of that long-running show run back-to-back all day, every day. Episodes are also available for viewing on-demand.

But reruns of "Fantasy Island" are not available on Pluto TV. The reason is because the ownership rights were not Viacom's (which owns Pluto TV). However, streaming viewers can now watch reruns of "Fantasy Island" on the rival commercial-sponsored free streaming network (which competes with Viacom's Pluto TV) known as Tubi TV https://tubitv.com/series/300006868/fantasy-island-1977-series which means if you wish to watch the two shows back-to-back as you did back in the late seventies, simply switch from Pluto TV to Tubi TV on your Roku device. Selected episodes from the first, second and third seasons of the original version of "Fantasy Island" are also available free at Hulu. 

Readers may recall that I previously blogged about "The Love Boat" — or at least the outcome of the boat itself — (see HERE) and that isn't the subject of today's post. 

But "Fantasy Island" (which I previously covered HERE) to address that after years, the series had finally made it to DVD, hence the content had therefore been digitized) warrants mention because the old show is now being rebooted and will air on Fox broadcast television.  The first episode of the rebooted "Fantasy Island" will air tonight (Tuesday, August 10, 2021) on Fox broadcast TV at 10:00 PM.

Of relevant note is that in 2018, Fox sold its entire entertainment division (which included broadcast television) to Walt Disney Corp. Disney was not at all interested in buying Fox's bogus cable "news" division. Part of the reason is those channels no longer earn money from advertising generally, but instead relies on revenues from cable carrier fees. With the acquisition of Fox Entertainment, Disney solidified itself as a true media giant (it already owns ABC), competing with the likes of Viacom CBS and NBC Universal. That effectively left Rupert Murdoch and his kids cash-rich (reportedly more than $52 billion) but are now media poor. Few Americans even care what the fossilized old Australian immigrant got from the deal. But the change in ownership brought newfound creativity and thinking to programming decisions for Fox.

Still, if I had to speculate on which of the ABC Saturday night line-up from the mid-seventies to mid-eighties would get a reboot, I didn't envision it would be  Fantasy Island". Part of the reason is because the original "Fantasy Island" was a little far-fetched. 

The original "Fantasy Island" was a fantasy drama television series which was created by Gene Levitt. As noted, it aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. Guests were granted so-called "fantasies" on the island ... for a price. In other words, the guests all received whatever their lifelong fantasies were, but the fantasies that the guests envisioned seldom turned out quite the way they had expected.

There had been discussions of rebooting the old show over the years, but few materialized. In 1998, there was one ill-fated attempt to use "Fantasy Island" as the basis for a horror movie, but it bombed because it wasn't a good concept.

"Fantasy Island" Reboot Is Unique: Women Are Behind It

However, a "Fantasy Island" series reboot was greenlit on December 2020, slated for a 2021 release on Fox broadcast television. The series will be a co-production between Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment. In April 2021, it was announced that Kiara Barnes and John Gabriel Rodriguez had joined the main cast of the series. That same month, it was also announced that Roselyn Sánchez had joined the cast of the series as Elena Roarke, who plays the granddaughter of the late Mr. Roarke, and as already noted, the rebooted "Fantasy Island" series is scheduled to premiere on August 10, 2021 — which is tonight!

The series, which is not necessarily anticipated to be a permanent addition, rather it serves as a fill-in during a period in which new TV content is largely absent from the airwaves other than the horrible and tired "reality" shows such as "Big Brother". The "Fantasy Island" reboot might be a compelling addition with a creative, intelligent reboot attempt. 

More than 37 years after Ricardo Montalbán finished his run as Mr. Roarke, the debonair concierge of an enigmatic, wish-fulfilling beach resort in the Pacific Ocean, "Fantasy Island" is returning once more to network television. But this time, the latest iteration arrives on Fox with women on both sides of the camera.

The "Fantasy Island" reboot was created by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, and the new "Fantasy Island" premieres on Tuesday. It centers on Elena Roarke played by Roselyn Sánchez, who is a grandniece of Montalbán's Mr. Roarke who has left her life in New York behind to become the sophisticated steward of the island, where she sates her guests' greatest desires but teaches them that what they want isn't necessarily what they need.

The show reportedly "delves into the 'what if' questions, both big and small, that keep us awake at night," per its official logline. "Each episode will tell emotional, provocative stories about people who walk in with a desire, but end up reborn to themselves through the magical realism of Fantasy Island."

Roselyn Sánchez told the New York Times (see https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/arts/television/fantasy-island-returns-roselyn-sanchez.html for the article) "We did watch 'Fantasy Island' as kids and we have such strong memories of sitting in our respective houses and watching Mr. Roarke and his sidekick, Tattoo [played by Hervé Villechaize]," said Sarah Fain, who serves as a showrunner along with Craft. "But we loved the show so much that it very quickly felt like a really incredible opportunity."

In Sánchez, Elizabeth Craft said the creators had found someone who they believe has the perfect combination of "humor, warmth, compassion and natural authority." For the Puerto Rican actress, the show, which was shot on the island, offered a chance to reunite with relatives and many of the same crew members she had worked with at the start of her career.

The production also gave Puerto Rico a much-needed financial boost. "It's really important to the island, to them and to me," said Ms. Sánchez, who opted to postpone her directorial feature debut in favor of shooting the 10-episode first season of "Fantasy Island" in her homeland.

In a phone interview from Puerto Rico, Sánchez talked with the New York Times about the pressure that comes with stepping into the shoes — and iconic white suit — of Ricardo Montalbán, and Latino representation in Hollywood. But she said that the premise of the show is pretty much the same as the original. 

"It's about wish fulfillment; it's about growing as a human being; it's about making dreams come true. Guests come to the island — they have a desire, they have a dream, whatever it is — then the island helps them navigate through a journey that has magic and can fulfill them.

But the fact that the lead role is a female, that's a testament to how the showrunners wanted to do something that is a little more current. Directors, a lot of heads of departments, showrunners — they're all female, behind the camera and in front of the camera. They took some creative liberties that are going to elevate the material, especially the fact that you have minorities in charge as leads. It's keeping up with the current times."

The New York Times asked Ms. Sánchez: "In promotional videos you mentioned that you were a fan of the original. What are your most vivid memories of watching the show as a girl in Puerto Rico?"

Her response was: "We had [the original "Fantasy Island"] in Spanish here. I was born in 1973, and the show was in the '70s, so I was very young. But that moment of the Tattoo character ringing the bell and saying, "El avión, el avión" ["The plane, the plane"] is very vivid.

You have to understand that Ricardo Montalbán, for Latinos, he was like royalty. Just the fact that he was a leading man carrying his own show, and he did it so well, and it was so successful. Having the opportunity to portray pretty much that character and continue the Roarke legacy, it’s a dream, and I do recognize it's a  responsibility. But it's one that I'm embracing with all my heart, and I hope people enjoy me as much as they enjoy him."

Fox has a website for the series (for the time-being, anyway) at https://www.fox.com/fantasy-island/. Over the past few weeks, Roselyn Sánchez been on the promotional circuit for the reboot of "Fantasy Island". However, Fox television has produced a short commercial, followed by a half-hour deep dive into the reboot. You can watch those below, or on YouTube by visiting https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfSNYYNU6TvEPe5VuJ23fimwDy92WSJCz 

 

Sequel to Muppet Reboot Now Filming

It's hard to believe more than a year has passed since since the successful Muppet movie reboot known as "The Muppets" was released in November 2011.  I was able to see the Jim Henson exhibit at New York's Museum of the Moving Image in 2011 (see http://nyti.ms/qUZq9p for details on that) which was very interesting.  In any event, "The Muppets" 2011 movie grossed $158 million worldwide for Disney becoming the highest-grossing film in the Muppets series and was also the first of the series to gross over $100 million (unadjusted for inflation), effectively re-launching a movie franchise that the company had left to die with almost no investment since Disney acquired the Jim Henson Company back in 2004. The Hollywood Reporter (visit http://goo.gl/cTW4j) has already disclosed that Ricky Gervais (who appeared in "The Muppets") will be featured in a new Muppet sequel movie and Mr. Gervais himself acknowledged it via a Tweet, along with (potentially) Tina Fey.  Shooting for the new sequel is scheduled to take place starting January 2013 in London (the story will be about the Muppets going to Europe, hence the filming location).

Ideally, Disney should have been a great strategic fit for the Muppets, especially since the Muppets are characters traditionally aimed at children, but Disney had been on an acquisition binge over the past decade, snapping up several big media companies, ranging from Pixar (acquired 2006), Marvel Comics (acquired in 2009) to it's most recent acquisition of Lucasfilms (acquisition announced in 2012, see my post at http://goo.gl/YLhVm for details on that).  Frankly, without Jim Henson or Frank Oz (who's still around but now retired) to advocate for the Muppets, the franchise seemed destined to become a relic of a bygone era.  After all, today's kids are really enamored with the computer animation from Pixar and rivals like Dreamworks, whereas old-fashioned puppets or animation seems so last century, right?  Of course, the Muppets were fully-developed character personalities, giving them an edge over newly-created characters.

Jim Henson and his Muppet characters

Without getting too far off track, readers should know that Muppets is the formal name and legal trademark now owned by the Walt Disney Co. in reference to the original puppet characters created by Jim Henson.  Although Mr. Henson would sometimes tell people the term had been created by combining the words "marionette" and "puppet", he was also on record as saying that it was really just a made-up word.  Regardless, the franchise was already well-established, but poorly-managed (or maybe not managed at all?) since Disney took ownership in 2004.

Disney Acquisition Binge Left Muppets Franchise Unattended for 7 Years

In 1990, Jim Henson himself was in negotiations to sell his company to The Walt Disney Company, but Mr. Henson died rather unexpectedly during the week he was supposed to sign the contract, and his family then decided to have the company keep the rights to the characters.  Disney bought the distribution rights to Jim Henson Co. library (up to that time) in December 1991, but the company did not own the characters, merely the distribution rights to them.

In 2000, Jim Henson's children sold the entire Jim Henson Company to a German media company named EM.TV, but in early 2001, EM.TV experienced major financial problems, so the Jim Henson Company was again put up for sale.  Then, on February 17, 2004 Disney actually bought full ownership rights to the Muppet characters (excluding the Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock characters) for $75 million.  However, as I noted before, Disney did almost nothing with the franchise for the next seven years as it worked to transform itself into a media giant capable of competing with rivals Time Warner and Viacom.

Jason Segel: A Fan Steps In To Resurrect Muppets of His Youth

The entire Muppet reboot really happened because of Jason Segel, who admits he was was a big fan of the original Jim Henson series which most Gen Xers grew up watching on TV.  Jason Segel didn't just star in November 2011's movie "The Muppets", he was also a co-writer, having written the script with his "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" partner Nick Stoller.

Shortly after "The Muppets" 2011 reboot premiered, NPR's "Fresh Air" program spoke with Jason Segel about the reboot.  That interview may be listened to below, or by visiting  http://n.pr/rEjbWs:


2009 Muppet Rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody" As A Preview

We saw an early hint of how a renewed Muppets franchise was likely to look when the Muppet Studio, back in late November 2009 (which had been pretty dormant), quietly brought the Muppets back to the small screen (the REALLY small screen, meaning YouTube) with a video of the Muppet gang doing a video rendition of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", which was clearly aimed at the Gen Xers who grew up watching the Muppets on television back in the 1970s.  The video was released virally, and received over 10 million hits within its first 2 weeks online.  The official version of that can be viewed below, or by visiting http://youtu.be/tgbNymZ7vqY:

Frank Oz Less-Than-Impressed With Muppet Reboot?

To be sure, some purists weren't exactly thrilled with the reboot.  For example, Frank Oz (who was the original puppeteer for Miss Piggy among others), told the British website Metro (see http://bit.ly/UHUBZm):

"I wasn't happy with the script", Oz explained. "I don't think they respected the characters. But I don't want to go on about it like a sourpuss and hurt the movie."

Diva Miss Piggy on the cover of "People"
Sep. 3, 1979 (click on photo to see issue)

Mr. Oz seemed to overlook the fact that Mr. Segel was really throwing the Muppet franchise a lifeline.  For example, The Hollywood Reporter noted (see http://goo.gl/XVwLv) the Muppets hadn't been in theaters since "Muppets From Space" tanked for Sony in 1999.  It also reported:

"According to a Muppets veteran, toward the end of his life, Muppets creator Jim Henson was finding it a challenge to keep his creatures in the public eye. He was operating independently in an era of media concentration, which helps explain his decision to sell to Disney."

"It was difficult  even before Jim Henson died [in 1990], and it became very, very difficult after Jim died," said [one] insider ruefully. "We had the characters still doing things, but without a constant, in-your-face exposure that something like The Simpsons has ... They lost a generation."

Author Judy Blume's Thoughts On Revisions To Original Works

A while back I wrote about an NPR interview with 1970s kids' author Judy Blume (see that post at http://goo.gl/t4pcp), and she spoke on how over 25 years ago, her British editor talked to her about how her original edition of the book "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret" referred to sanitary napkins and pads that had belts and pins (not the sticky pads used now), so the author said she had no problem updating those things, and she's also updated books in the "Fudge" series to remove references to the smell of mimeograph machines which aren't used in schools anymore today, and she also changed some of the electronics cited in order to keep the books relevant to today's readers.

Her most telling comment was:

"You know, I don't think it has anything to do with the story and the characters. It just — it doesn't. Those are just little details that don't mean anything."

Now, I should note that Frank Oz was trying not to be overly critical (it was more of a side comment that seems to have been blown out of proportion), and my sense is he really didn't want to stand in the way of the new Muppet movie's success.  After all, he won't be around to do Miss Piggy forever, so getting new people to do it is key to the Muppets' survival into the future.

Jason Segel Reboots Muppets Franchise For Disney

Anyway, back to Jason Segel.  He was really the force behind getting the Muppet resurrection, and it was a bit more difficult than he'd anticipated.

According to Segel, putting the script together was kind of a logistical nightmare. "It was oddly a lot more complicated than I thought," Segel said in an interview during the CBS after-party during the Teen Choice Awards. "All of a sudden, you realize when you write a scene like, 'The Muppets run away from the building,' the set has to be elevated and there's puppeteers operating all four limbs. It's as creative as you want it to be in your brain."

However, Mr. Segel found that actually writing for puppets wasn't the most gut-wrenching part of the job, admitting "I cried the first time Kermit said a line I'd written.  It's not even 'awww' worthy. It just happened. I'd been writing the script for about four years, literally since 'Sarah Marshall.' We did a table reading, and they'd brought the puppets for the first time. We're all just sitting at the table, and all of a sudden they brought out Kermit and he said the first line that I had written. And I just lost my shit a little bit. I started crying at the table read and I had to awkwardly ask them to stop filming. It was emotional. He's been my favorite since I was a little kid." Despite the tears, Segel added, "It was a good day."

Check out the official trailer for "The Muppets" below, or by visiting http://youtu.be/C4YhbpuGdwQ:

To be sure, "The Muppets" reboot succeeded, although Mr. Segel won't be back for the new sequel.

It's also unclear if the new Muppet character Walter in "The Muppets" will be featured in the new movie, either (by the way, his human alter-ego in "The Muppets" was played by none other than "Big Bang Theory's" Jim Parsons).  Although the Walter character was well-received by Los Angeles Times film critic Betsy Sharkey (see her review at http://lat.ms/RGsVqY), the character served more of a role in building "The Muppets" story, rather than much else.  Whether that character is needed in the new sequel remains to be seen.  With other such already well-developed characters like Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Swedish Chef, Rowlf the Dog, Statler and Waldorf, or Miss Piggy, it's unclear whether Walter will even make an appearance without Mr. Segel in the sequel.

In the meantime, Jason Segel has plenty of work in Hollywood to keep himself busy as an actor  who plays Marshall Eriksen in the current CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother".

For the record, Disney has released three seasons of "The Muppet Show" on DVD, and all of the Muppet movies have also been released on DVD.

As for the Muppets, they're all headed back to the studio in London this month, and we'll see if lightning really does strike twice for the newly-revived Disney Muppets franchise.

Author P.S., April 3, 2013:  The New York Times reports (see http://nyti.ms/ZaDvv6) Jane Henson, widow of (and original collaborator with) Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, died on Tuesday, April 2, 2013 at her home in Greenwich, Conn. She was 78.  The cause was of death cancer, said a spokesman for the Jim Henson Co., the production company still owned by the couple's five children.  Ms. Henson was legally separated from Jim Henson in 1986, but they remained friends until his death in 1990.

Author P.S.,  June 10, 2015:  Entertainment Weekly, Variety and various others are reporting (see http://bit.ly/19Tqwny for one article) that ABC will reboot The Muppet Show as a primetime series for the network.  As the media has reported, the rebooted version of Muppet Show will be "more adult" shot in a mockumentary style à la The Office.  This makes sense given that the two Muppets films were heavily watched by adults who watched the movies with their own children (and were the original audience for the Muppets) and may find this type of entertainment appropriate for family viewing at home, plus the more adult humor may keep them coming back.  "The Big Bang Theory" co-creator Bill Prady, who spent his early days writing for the Muppets and received an Emmy nomination for co-writing a tribute to Muppets creator Jim Henson, will be exec producing the project.  The reboot will premier on Tuesday, September 22, 2015 on ABC television (ABC is owned by Disney, which also owns the Muppets).  A preview can be seen on YouTube at https://youtu.be/x2B5d-8H588.  The original, syndicated Muppet Show aired from 1976 to 1981.  ABC revived the franchise in 1996 with "Muppets Tonight", but the series was cancelled after 10 episodes.

Author P.S., August 5, 2015: In early August 2015, social media and traditional media were abuzz with the story (communicated by the celebrities themselves) that Miss Piggy And Kermit the Frog were calling it quits in terms of their relationship.  NPR covered the story briefly at http://n.pr/1TqptAW - the couple was careful to note that they'd be working together professionally in the Muppet Show reboot set to air on ABC (Disney owns both the Muppets and ABC) on September 22, 2015.  Some saw the news as little more than a publicity stunt for the rebooted show.

Life After Lucas: The Star Wars Franchise and Where Are They Now: Mark Hamill

Earlier this week, on October 30, 2012, there was news (see http://usat.ly/VfNkEK or http://buswk.co/SsTQ6v for details) that the Walt Disney Co. would acquire George Lucas' Lucasfilm Ltd. for $4.05 billion. Talks between Disney and Lucas reportedly began a year and a half ago, Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger told investors on a conference call.

Mr. Lucas, who owns 100% of the film production company named after himself, will get half the purchase price in cash and the rest in Disney stock. At the time of the announcement, we learned that Mr. Lucas would receive about 40 million Disney shares, making him the second-largest non-institutional shareholder with about 2.2% of Disney shares, according to data compiled by Bloomberg (the largest is the trust of late Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, who sold Pixar to Disney in 2006). Mr. Lucas will officially remain on staff as a "creative consultant" on future "Star Wars" films. Perhaps not coincidentally, both parties simultaneously announced a new, seventh "Star Wars" film, to be called "Star Wars: Episode VII," with a targeted theatrical release sometime in 2015.

Many Star Wars geeks were frightened about the prospect of having Disney somehow ruin the "Star Wars" film franchise (although truth be told, Mr. Lucas learned very early that the movie was but a tiny piece of the overall "franchise" or money machine which began with toy lightsabers, action figures, etc. and morphed into video games, trading cards, and countless other things that could be sold to fans), perhaps by inserting the company's iconic cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbell, and various other Disney characters together with Lucas' C3PO and R2D2 in some kind of odd combination.

The Associated Press ran an article on October 31, 2012 entitled "Disney's recent acquisitions of Marvel, Pixar show a successful hands-off approach" indicating The Walt Disney Co. had earned credibility with die-hard fans of other film franchises such as Marvel Comics and Pixar by keeping its fingerprints off them.

The article also featured a quote from a Bernstein Research analyst Todd Juenger, who told the AP: "They've been pretty clearly hands-off in terms of letting the creative minds of those companies do what they do best. Universally, people think they pulled it off."

We've also learned that Mr. Lucas himself sought a buyer like Disney in order "to protect" the "Star Wars" franchise and keep it going long into the future. After all, Mr. Lucas, who was age 68 at the time of the announcement, wants to retire! Who can blame him, and with a rich payout like the one he'll receive, he can probably afford to retire "in a galaxy far, far away"!  However, he spoke with Kathleen Kennedy in the following video (alternatively, you may watch it by visiting http://youtu.be/YyqlTi7lkhY):



Perhaps that was an effort to allay the concerns of fans, or maybe it was to protect the value of his Disney shares.  However, for those who weren't aware of it, "Star Wars" was THE iconic science fiction film that originally premiered in 1977, but spawned a host of sequels, prequels, and even an embarrassing television Christmas special in 1978 that has remained in circulation thanks to crude videocassette recordings and nerds copying the odd holiday special. Authors Gael Fashingbauer Cooper and Brian Bellmont accurately wrote in "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops: The Lost Toys, Tastes, and Trends of the 70s and 80s" (catch my post on that HERE or http://goo.gl/jAIF0):


THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL

The Star Wars Holiday Special THE prospect of 1978's Star Wars Holiday Special was enough to make our light sabers tingle with glee—a bonus chapter of the tale as we eagerly waited for the Empire to strike back. In practice, though, it was a disaster of intergalactic proportions.

The plot, such as it was, focused on Chewbacca's family—his wife Malla, son Lumpy, and freakish (and, no doubt, flea-ridden and stinky) father Itchy—as they waited for Chewie to return home. The original Star Wars gang made perfunctory appearances, including an overly made-up Mark Hamill and a stumbly Carrie Fisher. And it all spiraled even further into surreal territory when Bea Arthur, Art Carney, and Harvey Korman showed up. The special was so embarrassing that it only aired once.

Thank the Force someone was forward-thinking enough to record it so that future generations could revel in this pile of Wookiee poo.

At least it didn't start a trend of other ill-advised holiday specials based on '70s movies. Who would have tuned in to The Jaws Memorial Day Picnic Special or Rocky's Arbor Day Punching Extravaganza? Oh, right: We would have.

X-TINCTION RATING: Still going strong.

FUN FACT: The TV special found a second life passed around from nerd to nerd on videotape, and now it's being terrible on an ongoing basis on the Internet.


Now, thanks to the internet, that weird piece of Star Wars history remains in circulation and could for years to come, although knowing Disney, they're likely to start selling it for themselves. That holiday special offshoot featured Harvey Corman ("The Carol Burnett Show"), Art Carney ("The Honeymooners") and Bea Arthur ("Maude" and "The Golden Girls") among the guest stars (which really of made the Paul Lynde Halloween Special which I covered HERE or at http://goo.gl/ZCbtT look positively normal by comparison).

What About The Other LucasFilm Franchise: Indiana Jones?  It Will Also Continue

Without getting too far off topic, however, the Disney acquisition may also help to preserve another successful LucasFilm franchise, the Indiana Jones movies which starred Harrison Ford (the original Hans Solo from "Star Wars") although Mr. Ford has suggested he's done with playing Indy (he's older than Mr. Lucas, at age 70) but the Young Indiana Jones offshoot-series is likely be continued under Disney ownership.

We already know that Harrison Ford went on to become an even bigger Hollywood star with "Raiders of the Lost Arc" and 3 sequels to the Indiana Jones franchise, but what about the others (although truth be told, but the total number of characters in the collective "Star Wars" franchise exceeded 1,300, so aside from Chewbacca which is a character that could theoretically be played by almost anyone and a host of others, the other main actors in the film have surfaced in various capacities.

Notably, actress Carrie Fisher who played Princess Leia in the original film, has acted mostly on stage, although she appeared on a TV roast for Mr. Lucas and more recently, as a Jenny Craig weight loss system spokesperson.

What about the boy-wonder who played Luke Skywalker who gave up a recurring television series job in "Eight Is Enough" back in the seventies to do "Star Wars", specifically Mark Hamill?

Well, after 3 "Star Wars" films, he found himself completely typecast (it makes you wonder if, as an actor, he might have been better off taking the TV role on "Eight is Enough" which he was the first choice to play ... that role that went to Willie Ames instead ... OK, maybe Mark Hamill's decision was the right one after all!). However, typecasting aside, Mr. Hamill found meaningful employment as a voice artist doing cartoon voices. Sure, Mel Blanc he isn't, but it pays the bills, right?!

Anyway, this clip is also from Australia's 7 network (the same show I noted in my posts on the $6 Million Dollar Man's Lee Majors or http://goo.gl/QkLm9 or The Partridge Family's Shirley Jones or http://goo.gl/uVxDi), but this one happens to be on what's kept Mark Hamill busy in the last 35 years (although he has attended Comic-Con in the past). He also comments on how his knowledge of the film he starred in is nowhere near as detailed as some of the fans when it comes to trivia. In all, a pretty interesting update. That YouTube clip can be seen below, or by visiting http://youtu.be/396q-orFPzo:

Schoolhouse Rock!

In the early 1970s, a Madison Avenue ad exec named David McCall was frustrated by the fact that his then 11 year-old son was having trouble memorizing his multiplication tables, yet happened to know all the words to almost every rock song on the radio. To McCall, the solution seemed obvious: why not combine pop music with the info. kids needed to learn?

The rest, as they say, is TV — and educational — history.

The result was "Schoolhouse Rock" (a.k.a. "SHR") which aired on ABC from late 1973 to 1985.  Beyond catchy music, another key to the success was repetition (sometimes annoyingly so), which was (not surprisingly) also the mantra for advertising success at the time.  In fact, these three-minute educational vignettes (there were a total of 41 segments in all, at least initially) ran, according to some accounts, as frequently as 7 times every weekend (and, let me add, that "weekends" consisted only of Saturday mornings)!

This series of three-minute educational vignettes combined animation, music, and catchy lyrics to tackle lessons in American history, the rules of grammar, multiplication tables, science, government, and finance.  As The Randino wrote (see HERE and HERE):

"Its toe-tapping lyrics entered a generation's lexicon and, four Emmy Awards later, its melodies are still a pop-culture frame of reference common to an astounding number" of Generation Xers.

Disney acquired the rights to the series (although truth be told, the TV exec responsible for producing series was a guy named Michael Eisner, who would later go on to become CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and the company bought the rights to the series under Eisner's leadership) a number of years ago, and has since put the entire series on DVD (as well as streaming video) for a new, digital generation.

SHR For A New, Digital Generation

I bought the DVD series for my niece Sasha a few years ago, and she did watch and even enjoyed the programs.  Like most of us did as kids in the '70s, she didn't even realize it was "educational" programming, and the fact that the cartoons were something she wasn't already seeing on TV made them completely novel - and even compelling to watch.  The fact that it's animated gives them something of a timeless nature not found in some other television programs, and the commercial-like length (just 3 minutes each) of these things makes them an appropriate length even for kids with short attention spans, because they can watch a clip without investing too much time or commitment.

Now, I will say that the only way I learned the preamble to the U.S. Constitution was via Schoolhouse Rock, although I sometimes wish there was something like another clip covering Amendments to the Constitution (granted, it's a moving target, but memorizing that stuff is terribly boring).  Nowadays, kids can simply Google that stuff, but there's something to be said for knowing it.

MadTV's Public Schoolhouse Rock: A Rockin' Parody!

Several years ago, the TV show MadTV did a really funny parody of SHR they called "Public Schoolhouse Rock" which used the same music with lyrics meant to suggest what was going on in U.S. public schools.  It was really, really funny IMHO.  Have a look and see if you agree!

First, the original:


Followed by the MadTV version:


Disney's Short Attention Span?

ABC tried to resurrect the series in September 1992, and even commissioned a couple of new Grammar Rock segments as well as 8 new "Money Rock" segments.  However, ABC (now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney) stopped airing them around 1999.  Given that the way the world watches television these days has completely changed (catch my post on that HERE for more background), I think the key to success nowadays might be trying to plug them into something like Boomerang or Cartoon Network, rather than on ABC.  After all, today, kids might not even realize that ABC exists (in spite of ABC being owned by Disney), yet Boomerang (which itself is a spinoff from Cartoon Network) is something they might be familiar with.  Of course, DVD is even better, and has the added benefit of no commercials.

But Disney has proven to have a pretty short attention span on some of the things in its own massive library anyway, and one need look no further than The Muppets franchise as proof (I'll cover the Muppets in a separate post).  Disney did absolutely nothing with that character franchise until actor and Muppet fan Jason Segal was able to help the company (almost single-handedly) resurrect the Muppet franchise.  Since the success of that film (and the failure of another film called "John Carter"), Disney has committed to doing another Muppet movie.  My guess would be that sometimes, it takes someone to really take ownership of these elements, or the corporate parents are likely let them stay in the Disney Vault permanently!

Disney Educational Productions' YouTube channel has several of the original Schoolhouse Rock videos available online for free, and because Disney is the channel owner, there is little risk of being purged for copyright violation.  Visit https://www.youtube.com/user/DisneyEducation to have a look.

Now, if I could just get the damn song for "Interplanet Janet" out of my own mental vault, I might be fine! http://abc.tv/2enLHUu

Author P.S., January 6, 2013: NPR is reporting that "Schoolhouse Rock" just turned 40!  Visit that story at http://n.pr/VGdDCO.