The Dwacon® Blog

“They’re your parents... they can·t spank me!’

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Straight from the flop house, Little Amy was a CBS television pilot that crashed and burned and (until now) never saw the light of day. Even with co-stars like a very young Jack Nicholson (as the Coach) and Jack Albertson (as a reporter)... two Jacks and the pilot was flushed (get it?)

Check out the episode below:

Life After Gilligan?

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

CBS thought this show would be the biggest hit... starring Bob (Gilligan) Denver and Herb (Um... That Bald Guy?) Edelman with Joyce Van Patten. It turned out to be a rotten egg. Who’da thunk it? Check out the promo from 1960-something...

Dancing on the Ceiling

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:53:00 +0000

Daddy-O

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Before Garry Shandling did the talk-show within a show... there was a pilot about a sitcom within a sitcom. Daddy-O, put together by the team that created the classic Dobie Gillis, was created in 1961 and was way ahead of its time. It had pedigreed creators and cast. Why did it fail?

Check out the video below... and leave a comment with your ideas...

Poor Example of Mothering?

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:56:00 +0000

A woman was waiting for a train. She had her baby in a stroller. She took her hand off the stroller and was distracted for a moment. The stroller rolled off the platform and onto the tracks and was hit by the oncoming train.

Check out the video below:

Fortunately, the baby survived with only minor injuries. The mother needs to be hung up by her toes and horse whipped.

The Moe, Larry and Shemp Show

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

The Three Stooges were the kings of the short subject motion picture... but this ABC television pilot crashed and burned faster than Moe could slap Larry and Shemp. Check out the video below:

Meet The O'Briens

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:47:00 +0000

This was the pilot for a 1954 television series that crashed and burned. It reminds me of another favorite from before my time, It’s A Great Life! Well, except for the two Steppin Fetchit characters.Check this out and let us know if you think it could have been a potential TV Land classic.

Let’s Follow Joanie

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Joan Davis duked it out with Lucille Ball in the golden years of television... and of course I Love Lucy starring Lucy and Desi is an enduring classic while I Married Joan with Jim Backus... well... that show did have its following. But this pilot, appearing in the video control below, never made it past the starting gate. Shame, really...

R.I.P. Vic Mizzy

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:38:00 +0000

New Yorker (Brooklyn Born) Vic Mizzy, one of the most inventive composers and musicians in show business, has exited the planet.

Vic did music for dozens of television series, including:

The Addams Family
The Don Rickles Show
F Troop
Green Acres
Mister Ed
Petticoat Junction
Quincy

He also scored movies and wrote mountains of songs. He was a virtuoso. And, he was a kind fellow... who was nice enough to reply to an e-mail we sent him many moons ago.

This genius will be missed. Read his obituary a Variety.

Gilligan’s Wild West

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Since Bob Denver’s post-Gilligan show “The Good Guys” crashed and burned, he went back to formula. Dusty’s Trails was a clone of Gilligan’s Island with the sarge from F Troop in the Skipper role and two girls from Petticoat Junction in the Ginger and Mary-Ann roles. The video below is one of the 26 episodes that were inflicted upon the television audience.

Time Out for Ginger

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Long before the invention of Ritalin, there was a loud, hyperactive teenage girl who loves her dad so much, she knocks him down and smothers him with kisses. And, child protective services... well, they didn’t exist then.

Candy Moore takes on the role that helped make Patty Duke a star... and it turned out to be a turkey that never made it to television. But, thanks to the internet... you can see this monumental flop of 1962... featuring the typical sitcom family with the Wicked Witch of the West as their maid.

Huh?

After watching the video below, drop us a comment to let us know how many times (and with what implement) you think this girl should have been slapped...

R.I.P. Soupy Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:22:00 +0000

Milton Supman, a Tarheel known and beloved by millions as the pie-throwing comic Soupy Sales has exited the planet.

He was infamous for his many comedic bits... including asking kids at home to take money out of their mothers’ purses and mailing it to him.

Tons of cash arrived. The FCC blew a gasket.

Read more about this great comic... born to a Jewish family that sold sheets to the Ku Klux Klan... in Variety.

And the next time you hit someone in the face with a whipped cream pie... remember Soupy.

Here Comes Tobor

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

In the 1950’s, there was no CGI or other sophisticated special effects. You get that watching this pilot for a sci-fi series that blew up faster than the time bomb that Tobor... well, let me not spoil the plot for you.

Check this flop from the 50’s out below...

The CBS New Season Special

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

This is a preview of all the brand new series coming on CBS...

In 1961.

Travel back in time to see some stars you will recognize... including Ronald Reagan doing a comedy twist, Gomer Pyle’s Sgt. Carter as a knife wielding inmate, Rod Serling doing his Twilight Zone preview, and Carol Burnett doing a belly dance in a Genie costume. Check it out below:

He & She

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Real life married couple Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss starred together in a CBS television series in the late 1960’s. Take a peek at a promo for this short-lived comedy:

Consider My Enthusiasm Curbed

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:11:00 +0000

I am a huge Larry David fan... the man is a comic genius. And the fact that this season of his HBO comedy features a Seinfeld reunion as a running subplot had me on the edge of my seat.

But, in the last episode... Larry thought it would be a funny gag to urinate on a painting representing Jesus.

I mean... Larry... what’s up with that?

Sad to say... Curb Your Enthusiasm is no longer on my Tivo season pass list. It is fresh, inventive and hilariously funny... and with the Seinfeld subplot, historic. But Larry, you just went too far for me.

Still love you, though...

Before He Was Ralph Kramden...

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Before he became famous as Ralph Kramden... and apparently before he became fat, Jackie Gleason starred in the 1940’s television series The Life of Riley. Obviously a low budget production with a lone whistler doing the theme song (even Andy Griffith had a guitar, another whistler in harmony, and finger snaps) -- this show is an interesting look at television long before we were born. Check out this episode below:

Creed

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Rich Mullins was an awesome artist... and with pounding percussion by Philadelphia’s native son Chris McHugh, this song is a favorite. Theology with a heart. Check out this video of Rich in action.

Barbara Eden in Acapulco

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:19:00 +0000

Barbara Eden stars in The Woman Hunter, a 1972 made-for-TV movie. Enjoy Larry Storch as a drunken raconteur who tells lame jokes to a captive crowd while a woman is murdered and stripped of her jewelry. It all goes down-hill from there. Still, Barbara (as always) looks great, especially frolicking in a bikini and numerous other outfits. There is also some sort of plot involving an international jewel thief (Stuart Whitman) and a new husband (Robert Vaughn}. Enjoy!

Before She Was Jeannie... She Was Marilyn Monroe

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Before Barbara Eden became famous in I Dream of Jeannie, she reprised the role made famous by Marilyn Monroe in the television remake of How to Marry a Millionaire.

Feminists will probably spin in their chairs at the premise of beautiful golddiggers. But, it is a nice piece of television history that many of you may have never seen before.

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

You can see more about this early television gem at Wikipedia.

Found in China: President Obama’s Brother!

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:46:00 +0000

Uh Bee Uh Bee Uh Bee... That’s Racist Folks!

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

This past weekend, CNN hosted a couple specials investigating whether racism has changed since Obama was elected President. Well, no matter what is going on today... social opinions can’t be as bad as this 1941 cartoon...

Or, can they?

She Looks The Same As She Did 44 Years Ago

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Sally Field has some great DNA, it appears.

We see her on television doing starring roles and adverts for bone pills...

But if you think she is glamorous now, check her out in 1965 in the video clip below.

Kinda hard to imagine ABC cancelled this show and brought Sally back to the airwaves as a flying nun. :-\

In a quote on Sally’s Wikipedia page, she said she would have preferred playing Gidget versus the nun.

Hmm... Sally in a bikini, or...

Sally in a habit. Hmm...

Well, check out this promo for her short-lived ABC series:

Economic Recession of 1952

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

In 1952, a family found an African-American woman to solve their economic troubles. Check her out...

I Married Joan

noreply@blogger.com (Dwacon®) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Similar in theme to “I Love Lucy,” but with an acapella theme song and sound track (and not Desi Arnaz’ Cuban rhythm band) and Jim Backus (better known as Thurston Howell the 3^rd on Gilligan’s Island). Check out this episode:

Links for 2009-07-11 [del.icio.us]

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Baby Got Back
Obama and Sarkozy see something interesting at the G8

Links for 2008-02-15 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

Dexter Moves to Prime Time
cbs, showtime, dexter, television

Links for 2007-11-20 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:00:00 PST

Pater Familias
Novella

Links for 2007-10-30 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 PDT

Jesus Juice and My Time at The American Black Film Festival '07

Links for 2007-10-21 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:00:00 PDT

Governator Lets Boys Use Girls’ Locker Room
Mom and Dad are banned. What the heck is going on in California?

Links for 2007-08-02 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:00:00 PDT

Pater Familias
Novella by Dwayne Conyers about a Washington DC consultant who threatens his close relationship with the President to build a closer relationship with his children.

Links for 2007-07-25 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:00:00 PDT

11 year old Keith Green on TV