Jo Anne Worley is BOLD

Among the extras on THE MOTHERS-IN-LAWS dvd set are some great vintage commercials. The best of these is for the detergent BOLD featuring zany LAUGH-IN star Jo Anne Worley. Words cannot describe this commercial, so you'll just have to settle for these screen grabs.

Leslie Nielsen 1926-2010

THE CAROL CHANNING SHOW

As I mentioned yesterday, Disc 8 of THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW has a few added bonuses. One of these is the complete pilot for an unsold Desi Arnaz-produced sitcom from 1966 called THE CAROL CHANNING SHOW. The show is built around the Broadway legend and tries to play off of her zany personality.

The show begins with wacky Carol Honeycutt introducing herself to the audience while wearing an enormous hat on her enormous head.

 Followed by some of the grooviest opening titles ever created.

 See I told you.

The opening scene has hungry, homeless, but peppy Carol trying to get a kid to share his snack with her. The kid brushes her off and soon a amorous young couple with hotdogs are seated next to her.

While the couple makes out, Carol makes off with their wieners. So begins the first of Carol's Lucy-like antics that fill this 40-minute laughfest.

Of course Carol gets caught in the act. Then Carol's friend Florence shows up and invites her to stay with her and her husband Leon until she gets on her feet.

So of course Carol sneaks into Florence's house and helps herself to food and drink, but Leon (THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW's Richard Deacon) thinks she's a thief and tries to shoot her. Unfortunately he shoots himself in the foot instead.

Carol then volunteers to nurse Leon back to health. That doesn't work out to well, so then gets a job at a steak house where she has a run-in with a crazed electric knife.

Carol chops up flowers, breadsticks and then attacks some customers. Chaos ensues and Carol is fired. Luckily no one is killed.

Next, she gets a job at a dance hall. Only she can't compete with the sexiness of some of the other dancers. Like this one...

Carol then proceeds to pin up her skirt and unbutton her blouse to attract takers.

 Carol wins over most of the men and gets to demonstrate a bunch of ridiculous dances.

She ends up becoming the belle of the ball, so much in fact that men are soon fighting over her.

But of course the place gets wrecked in the process, so Carol is forced to take to the stage for an impromptu song.

It all ends with Carol Honeycutt giving us an epilogue which makes no sense whatsoever.

And then the groovy closing credits begin. Yay.

One wonders what would have happened if THE CAROL CHANNING SHOW was picked up and became a hit? Would it be TV Land classic today? Would people think of Carol the same way we think of Lucy? The world will never know. Also included on the disc are a bunch a great vintage commercials, the best being one for Bold detergent featuring the talents of LAUGH-IN star Jo Anne Worley. Tune in tomorrow...

THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW: The Loud & The Furious

I'm currently nearing the end of Disc 7 in the eight-disc THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW Complete Series collection. For those who are unfamiliar with the show, the series was a two-season wonder from producer Desi Arnaz that ran on NBC Sunday night between megahits WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY and BONANZA from 1967 through 1969.

THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW was a big, brassy sitcom built around sweet, lovable wisecracking actress Eve Arden and loud, abrasive musical-comedy performer Kaye Ballard. The two are cast as long-time neighbors: WASPy Eve Hubbard and ethnic Kaye Buell whose college student children (Eve's daughter Susie and Kaye's son Jerry) have decided to marry. The two moms are constantly competing with each other — and for attention of their lovelorn children. After the kids marry they move into the converted garage between the Hubbard and Buell houses, creating an additional reasons for friction between the Moms.

Eve and Kaye's henpecked husbands, the cantankerous lawyer Herb Hubbard (played by Herbert Rudley) and frugal TV writer Roger Buell (played by gay actor Roger C. Carmel in season one, replaced by gay actor Richard Deacon in season two), always get drawn into the ludicrous situations their wives create. The Lucy-like plots usually wind up with all four of the parents either covered in some kind of goop or performing a big musical number.

While some episodes border on unwatchable, there are several that stand out as great time capsules of the late 1960s when "the generation gap" seemed to be the trigger of so many comedic conflicts between television characters. One interesting episode features handsome game show panelist Scoey Mitchell as a lawyer who tries to rent the garage when Susie and Jerry plan on moving out. The girls are trying to be open minded about having an African-American tenant but wind up coming off as extremely prejudiced. It's an awkward situation and aside from a terrible watermelon joke, it's very well-played.

Jokes always seem to stem from situations involving Roger's cheapness, Kaye's Italian heritage, and Eve's penchant for redecorating. The Hubbards and Buells have a love-hate-love relationship and often end up arguing loudly about something ridiculous before each episode is over. Kaye and Eve can't help but interfere in almost every aspect of their kids' lives - a situation aggravated even further in season two when Susie gets pregnant.

Other recurring gags include Eve being referred to as "Mother Hubbard", the garage door in the kid's apartment opening to comedic effect, Kaye insisting that their grandchild will be a boy and Eve convinced it will be a girl (spoiler alert - Susie has twins!). All-in-all the show is quite entertaining. The live studio audience adds to the theatrical feeling and the performers always seem like they are giving it their all. A  special treat and curiosity on Disc 8 is the unsold Desi Arnaz pilot for THE CAROL CHANNING SHOW. More on that tomorrow.

Best Opening Titles Ever

Been super busy with work, travel, PRETTY and various other things in my life. So please enjoy this repost from exactly one year ago today. Yeah, I know I've talked about how much the MARY TYLER MOORE show has influenced my life before, but watching season 5 of the series on DVD has made me once again appreciate the wonderful opening titles. I've decided to take an in depth look at the sequence, which is unparalleled in its greatness. More happens in this brief montage that in most episodes of other TV shows.It all starts off simply enough with a brilliant blue background, with MARY TYLER MOORE in Peignot Bold popping off in a delicious mustard.
Suddenly the field turns jet black and MARY TYLER MOORE turns to an avocado green with multicolored MTM clones popping out above and below.
The roll continues, soon the screen is filling with multi-colored MARY TYLER MOOREs.
Eleven stacked MARY TYLER MOOREs in a rainbow of colors!
Suddenly the color in the center MARY TYLER MOORE gives way to an image of Mary Tyler Moore!!!
Yup, it's Mary Richards alright. I think she sees me.
She does! Hi Mary!Fix your hair, Mare.
Hey Mary, don't jaywalk! Nice yellow pantsuit, though.
Oh Minneapolis, where it cold, almost all the time.
Oh wait, it's not cold anymore. In fact, the weather is delightful today! So delightful that series creators James L. Brooks and Allan Burns decide go go for a jog that day.
Back to work, Mary. Hey who's that boozy blond broad who works at WJM? I'd love to see her featured in an episode or two. I bet her name is Rosalie.
Time to wash the car in a football jersey!
Damn - meat is so expensive!
Wonder why nobody else is out shoe shopping at Mary Jane's today?
Awww, Mary bought a plant and now she's riding an escalator.
Now it's time to feed the ducks!
Nobody does a graceful turnaround like Mary.
Hey, who is that old dude you're eating with Mary??? Popular belief is that he's Mary's then-husband and MTM co-founder Grant Tinker. I recall Grant being taller and more handsome, this guy looks more like Merv Griffin to me.
Mary then joins a group of school children for a walk.
Wow - Mary is out on field covering a news story!
Now she's jaywalking again.
Ah, the office building that houses WJM, channel 12.
Mary then gives her boss Lou Grant a bear hug.
Next, co-worker Murray Slaughter gives Mary a slightly inappropriate hug.And finally news anchor Ted Baxter gets a polite hug.
Oops, but Mary crushed his fedora!
On the subject of hats, that's a pretty groovy one you've got there, Mary.
Hey, what are you doing in the middle of the street? 7th Street and Nicollet Mall is no place to stand during rush hour.
Hazel Frederick is watching you and she is not pleased.It all ends with the only credit listed. You're gonna make it after all! In May 2002, TV Land erected a statue of Mary Richards in that very spot. Hazel Frederick passed away ten years ago this month at the age of 91.