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Post by I Love Melvin on Apr 1, 2024 12:34:30 GMT
Edie Adams was probably most known for her later comedic roles in movies, but she got her start on stage and on TV, particularly with her husband, Ernie Kovacs, on his NBC TV variety show. By this year, 1955, she'd already starred on Broadway with Rosalind Russell in Wonderful Town and the next year would star as Daisy Mae in the musical Li'l Abner, so she had musical credibility and then some. She'd also attended both Julliard and The Actor's Studio. She was a good mimic and a recurring bit on the show was her impersonation of Marilyn. My brothers and I watched Kovacs faithfully and I remember her doing the character, but not this number. "The Ballad of Davy Crockett".
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Post by I Love Melvin on May 8, 2024 13:00:42 GMT
You'd probably have to be an old duff like me to appreciate this, but here's Maynard G. Krebbs (Bob Denver), Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Pat Boone introducing Annette doing The Madison on the Coke Time TV special in 1960. The full show is available on YouTube and it's a honey: Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Bobby Darin, Pat Boone, Paul Anka, Bob Denver, Edd Byrnes and Anita Bryant. That's some time capsule.
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Post by I Love Melvin on May 12, 2024 15:41:00 GMT
Shower of Stars was one of those old open-format TV shows which allowed for a rotating roster of hosts and performers, often in unexpected combinations, such as Ed Wynn and Betty Grable in this clip from 1954, coupling comedy schtick and a song by Betty. I don't imagine they'd ever worked together before (I could be wrong) but old pros can make anything work.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jun 3, 2024 13:01:30 GMT
I just ran across these women and honestly don't remember them, but I love what they were doing. They were Korean-born but made their career mostly in the U.S., particularly in Las Vegas. Ed Sullivan always kept his eye on what was happening in Vegas and apparently they were recruited by him to be on his show a number of times. They were also a minor presence on the Billboard charts from time to time, though they never really broke out in any big way. But I can definitely see them being a draw as a live act. Does anyone remember them? I guess they'd have to be considered a novelty act, but I think I'm a fan. It's like if The Ronettes turned to jazz.
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Post by BunnyWhit on Jun 10, 2024 20:37:58 GMT
The Hubbs is hooked on The Carol Burnett Show of late. Recently we saw episode 5 from the first season (1967) in which Carol and guest star Imogene Coca did a skit for a Cassidy's Coffee commercial. About a week later we saw episode 14 from season 4 with guest star Debbie Reynolds, in which she and Carol did the same skit with the same script. It was interesting to see the two versions so close together. I preferred the one with Imogene Coca. What do you think?
Here it is with Imogene (begins at 7:56)
Here it is with Debbie Reynolds
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jul 2, 2024 12:13:20 GMT
One of Sid Caesar's bits which cracks me up the most is "The 3 Haircuts", a parody of 1950's singing trios with Sid, Carl Reiner and Howie Morris. They became a recurring thing for a while, most definitely by popular demand. It's the kind of thing where you start laughing before they even open their mouths. Here's Mike, Tom and Pete Haircut, recording artists on the Lipstick label. So stupid. From Caesar's Hour in 1955.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jul 9, 2024 16:15:36 GMT
I was posting about Jack Lemmon elsewhere, so I thought I should add something here. He had the chops as a musician and musical performer but either didn't often get or didn't often take advantage of opportunities to show it off. I love him here with Dinah Shore, seemingly sometime in the 1960's, on one of the later iterations of her variety show.
Dinah was someone my whole family watched over the course of her TV career, so she's always felt like family to me herself. She was one of the great TV hosts in a series of variety formats and her relaxed style coupled with a mega-watt talent made her perfect for interacting with some of the musical giants of the day. For example...
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Post by NoShear on Jul 9, 2024 16:27:16 GMT
I was posting about Jack Lemmon elsewhere, so I thought I should add something here. He had the chops as a musician and musical performer but either didn't often get or didn't often take advantage of opportunities to show it off. I love him here with Dinah Shore, seemingly sometime in the 1960's, on one of the later iterations of her variety show. Dinah was someone my whole family watched over the course of her TV career, so she's always felt like family to me herself. She was one of the great TV hosts in a series of variety formats and her relaxed style coupled with a mega-watt talent made her perfect for interacting with some of the musical giants of the day. For example... As if Jack Lemmon's expansive acting range wasn't enough, I Love Melvin!! Utopia and the motorcycle drumkit even appeared once on her variety show...  |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jul 17, 2024 13:35:30 GMT
I was doing a deep dive into Juliet Prowse's movie career but came away with a whole new respect for how she was able to transition to television and live performance after movie musicals essentially went bye-bye. This performance on a 1969 Tom Jones variety special stood out in particular. "Satin Doll", which perfectly describes the lady herself.
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Post by dianedebuda on Jul 18, 2024 12:23:17 GMT
Juliet Prowse ... performance on a 1969 Tom Jones variety special ... "Satin Doll", which perfectly describes the lady herself. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jul 20, 2024 17:28:49 GMT
This one goes out to NoShear, who once delivered up a Debra Paget pagan dance right on cue. I know I'm repeating myself by posting Juliet Prowse, but this number from The Englebert Humperdinck Show in 1970 is simultaneously jaw-droppingly faux-trippy and freakin' amazing.
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Post by dianedebuda on Jul 21, 2024 13:48:39 GMT
Juliet Prowse ... this number from The Englebert Humperdinck Show in 1970 is simultaneously jaw-droppingly faux-trippy and freakin' amazing.
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Post by NoShear on Jul 21, 2024 16:51:05 GMT
This one goes out to NoShear, who once delivered up a Debra Paget pagan dance right on cue. I know I'm repeating myself by posting Juliet Prowse, but this number from The Englebert Humperdinck Show in 1970 is simultaneously jaw-droppingly faux-trippy and freakin' amazing. Sorry I'm late to this, I Love Melvin, and not only am I late, I'm also mostly ignorant to musical numbers so am undeserving of your much-appreciated post. Still... I unsuccessfully tried to find a GIF or image of Michael Bates' Chief Guard Barnes, a closed and slightly yobbish character, enthusiastically clapping for the stripper in A Clockwork Orange. I don't think you need qualify your "trippy" observation: an exotic dance suggestively set to "Tomorrow Never Knows" on 1970 television - trippy indeed!! Debra Paget's snake scene, "Take Off With Us" in ALL THAT JAZZ and your offering here, I Love Melvin: Feminists have taken note. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jul 21, 2024 22:49:21 GMT
I just realized I duplicated christine's Bob Newhart/Dean Martin post from her Dean Martin thread, so I'm swapping it out for this bit from The Smothers Brothers. R.I.P., Bob.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jul 23, 2024 13:36:50 GMT
Something my family looked forward to every year was Bob Hope's TV variety specials culled from his USO visits to entertain the troops, always with pretty actresses as part of the show. Was it sexist, the way they were maneuvered into skits which sometimes bordered on off-color vaudeville routines? Probably from today's perspective, but it was also innocent enough fun for men separated from women for long periods of time. Jayne Mansfield was a frequent participant and, say what you will about her (I'm a fan), she good-naturedly kept up her part of the bargain and then some, spoofing her own image in canny ways, such as dabbling in Shakespeare here in the 1960 show.
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