2 Horrible Christmas Songs by Bob Seger and Brian Wilson

It's June, so you know that means; CHRISTMAS SONGS!

I've cringed at the following two awful Christmas songs as much as I have whenever I hear "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer."

"The First Noel" by Brian Wilson sounds like a terrible, warbly mess that was concocted on a department store keyboard. I hate, hate, hate it, probably because I know Mr. Wilson can (and has) made lots of music that was better than this:


Bob Seger recorded his first Christmas song, "Sock It to Me, Santa" in the late 1960s, when he was still a goofy kid. It's his attempt at James Brown, and it has its charms. However, I cannot forgive him for his take on "The Little Drummer Boy," recorded when he was a GROWN MAN at age 44!  Again, it's a case of a fine artist recording horrible music.  Sad.

Karl's Video Store (The Beta Barn?) on SNL

SNL only did two "Karl's Video Store" sketches: October 9, 1993 with host Jeff Goldblum, and a second one with host Bob Saget (May 6, 1995).

It's interesting they decided to do these almost two years apart. Maybe when Saget showed up, they remembered mentioning him (seemingly randomly) in the 1993 sketch, and it triggered them to write a second one. It's also interesting to see the show at two diametrically opposed points: the Goldblum episode had a huge host and musical guest, and the show was still basking in several years of huge acclaim (and only its second "Outstanding Comedy Variety Series" Emmy, which they won Sept. 19, 1993). All of that acclaim would rapidly dry up, and by the end of season 20 (when Saget hosted), things seemed stilted. The second sketch, though, actually comes off well, and functions almost like the Scotch Tape Store sketches of the late 1970s: not a lot of hard laughs, but interesting and enjoyable to watch a character who is overly devoted to his job.

By the way, I have linked these from two different sources: usually, the same sketches are posted to NBC.com. as well as Hulu.  For some reason, each Karl's Video sketch is only on one of the sites.

Joan Rivers and her FIRST Talk Show, "That Show"

I had NO IDEA that Rivers had a daytime show in 1968-69, "That Show with Joan Rivers." It's on Hulu now. Each half-hour episode has a featured topic discussed by one expert and one celebrity (such as Johnny Carson, on episode two). I've found no info about the show except an episode guide and a listing on imdb. Based on those, it says there were 200+ episodes (I've seen either 214 or 255 as the count) from September 16, 1968 until September 12, 1969. The set was clearly designed to appeal to women (who were usually home) of the era and the topics were similar to what you'd see on daytime now: interior decorating, natural childbirth, cosmetic surgery, etiquette, hypnosis, etc. Below is a clip (not from Hulu, where you may need a Hulu+ subscription) featuring a cringey Jerry Lewis discussing kids in showbiz families (episode eight):


The two most interesting things about this show are 1) it seems totally forgotten, and 2) we all know the trouble Joan had when she got her own late-night show on Fox in 1986. That led to Johnny Carson totally cutting off ties with her forever (after being very, very close for the previous 20 years), because she didn't tell him until the night before the announcement. Clearly, since appeared on episode two of "That Show" (and later in the run, we see Ed McMahon and several others with strong Carson-ties), he was not offended by this daytime show... and that's likely because 1) it wasn't a direct competitor to his show, 2) she was not yet his permanent guest host (as she was from 1983-86), and 3) she DID tell him about this one. We'll never know. I think the reverse view of, "why should Joan have had to kowtow to Johnny in 1986 when negotiating with Fox?" -- is amply considered in this piece.

Zach Galifianakis Drops By the Set (SNL)

One of the best SNL episodes ever (March 6, 2010, with musical guest Vampire Weekend) featured this sketch in which Zach Galifianakis visits "Law & Order," Brian Williams and many more shows.  Later in the SNL episode, they called back to this during their "Today Show" parody.

Bobby Runnel & the Faux Pas: "True Love -- Heartaches"

Bobby Runnel was a singer/musician from the deep south who, for many years, was based in Northeast Ohio.  This blog post from Garage Hangover discusses his career and his finest garage-rock moment, "True Love -- Heartaches."  The third version of that tune (from 1969) was with Bobby's group, The Faux Pas, recorded during a residency at Nino's restaurant in Akron.  I had no idea there was such a large Italian population in Akron, but apparently there was (as evidenced by the beloved local pizza place, Luigi's).

Poochinski v. A Christmas Story

I was sent a link today to an unsold pilot I had forgotten about: "Poochinski," which aired on NBC on July 9, 1990.  That's almost a year-to-the-day after another unsold NBC pilot, "The Seinfeld Chronicles"; fortunately, the network changed their minds about Jerry and his show.  And how knows?  If "Poochinski" had been given a four-show order, we might still be watching all sorts of "talking dog"/"Turner & Hooch" rip-offs.

Anyhow, the reason this caught my eye is that it "stars" Peter Boyle.  As you'll see in this clip*, he was in the first section of the pilot, then voices the dog after his character is killed.  So I have to assume he would have only provided a voice if this went to series.  Why would you hire the singular-looking Peter Boyle and then only use his (also great) voice?!

This is a classic case of too many cooks.  Along with Boyle, the talent here was all over the map as far as their backgrounds.

Will MacKenzie had directed a lot of episodes of "Newhart" and "WKRP," "Moonlighting," "Family Ties," "Everybody Loves Raymond" (with Boyle!) and many other shows.  (He also played Carol's husband on "The Bob Newhart Show").

Amy Yasbeck played John Ritter's wife in "Problem Child," and also in real life.

Andy Summers is the guitarist for The Police!

Frank McRae was Sharkey in "License to Kill" (one of the most violent yet under-rated James Bond films ever), and also the police captain in "48 Hours."

But the biggest surprise is producer David Kirschner, the man behind both "An American Tail" and the stupid Chucky horror films!

Not a good combination of talents.

It kind of reminds me of "A Christmas Story," which was directed by Bob Clark (“Porky’s” and the horror-cult classic “Black Christmas), based on a book by Jean Shepard, who wrote humor pieces for "Playboy," "Car & Driver" and "MAD Magazine."  That movie came out much better than "Poochinski," though.

*NOTE: The clip of "Poochinski" above is from an ABC special on (I believe) unsold pilots.  Despite the branding, "Poochinski" really did air on NBC.

Birdie Num Num with Peter Sellers

The 1968 film "The Party" seems to be either over-praised or under-praised, depending on whom you ask.  I think we can all agree, however, the most famous scene involves the phrase "Birdie Num Num."  And for good measure, here's another scene with Sellers playing an Indian.


 #snl4kidz