This Film Has Been Rated Ecch: 1961

Showing posts with label 1961. Show all posts

Thursday, June 13, 2024

MOVIE REVIEW: THE YOUNG DOCTORS

THE YOUNG DOCTORS (1961)
dir: Phil Karlson

MOVIE REVIEW: THE YOUNG DOCTORS
Sick #10, December 1961
author unknown

The is the last of the movie reviews. I only say this because it's peoples' least favorite part of this blog according to my portal.

Sunday, May 5, 2024

WHAT'S MY SHINE?

WHAT'S MY LINE?
CBS 1950-1967

WHAT'S MY SHINE?
MAD #17, November 1954
w: Harvey Kurtzman
a: Jack Davis

Quick history lessons (groan!): Those old enough to remember fifties nostalgia (nostalgia for it, not the fifties themselves) think it was all Grease and Happy Days or Back to the Future. Those I've talked to that lived through the actual fifties remember it slightly differently, always in fear of being bombed at any moment, no diversity or conformity, and particularly the red scare.

White nationalists making up the majority of the Republican party may be bad, but it's not much worse than before. We've always had zealous bigots and disengenuous patriots in congress. What we didn't have is opinions influenced by 24-hour partisan news channels. The Trump of his time was Senator Joseph McCarthy, a demagogue of the sort previously mentioned, able to get away with his reign only because we didn't have fact-checking in real time. Hollywood and the Blacklist has been chronicled in many places, but the subcommittee also had its sites on accusing Communists (Reds) of infiltrating the military as well. There was also nothing like C-Span, there were just the three networks, so the Army-McCarthy hearings pre-empted regularly scheduled programming.

This MAD article was the first of many pre-cable articles to satirize talking heads using the premise that things like this should compete with the rest of TV to make it more exciting. In this case, What's My Line?, where the premise was that three or four blindfolded panelists asked questions to a guest about his or her occupation and were awarded points for correct answers. Here instead of host John Daly, it is moderated by Army-McCarthy special counsel Ray Jenkins.

The Subcommittee included Everett Dirksen (R-IL), Henry Dworshak (R-ID), Charles Potter (R-MI), John McClellan (D-AR), Stuart Symington (D-MI), Henry “Scoop” Jackson (D-WA), and Joseph McCarthy (R-WI).

Robert Stevens was an Army Secretary that was a witness in the hearings and a photograph of him submitted by McCarthy was found to be doctored. Karl Mundt was chairman of the subcommittee.

McCarthy's lawyer was Roy Cohn is caricatured. He was also one of Trump's lawyers a generation later.

Private Schein was also a witness in the hearings. There was no equivalent to Lana Cheesecake in either the hearings or the quiz show, it was just a commentary on the optics of television.

WHAT'S MY CRIME?
Eh! #4, June 1954
a: Dick Ayers

From MAD's TV “Alfie” Awards by Larry Siegel and Mort Drucker in MAD #56, July 1960. The other panelists are Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf, and Dorothy Kilgallen.

MAD VISITS THE WORLD'S GREATEST TV PANELIST
MAD #62, April 1961
w: Larry Siegel
a: Mort Drucker

The interviewer is Ed Murrow. MAD writer Dick DeBartolo was simultaneously a writer for Goodson-Todman and sometimes used a pen name writing parodies of shows they produced.

WHAT'S MY LINE?
Sick #9, November 1961
artist unknown

WHAT'S MY SALARY?
Sick #21, June 1963
artist unknown

The last panel has Fred Gwynne and Joe E. Ross from Car 54, Where Are You ? for some reason. Probably because they were popular then.

Friday, April 19, 2024

SAGA OF A SICK SHIP

THE WACKIEST SHIP IN THE ARMY (1960)
dir: George Dunning

SAGA OF A SICK SHIP
Sick #6, June 1961
w & a: unknown

Monday, March 25, 2024

TWENTIETH CENTURY

TWENTIETH CENTURY
Sick #6, June 1961
a: Bob Powell

Twentieth Century was a series of specials narrated by Walter Cronkite about a different event that took place then. The Chicago Black Sox scandal was something that happened in 1919 where a baseball team fixed their games for some gamblers. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson was their ringleader.

Sunday, February 26, 2023

PERSONS TO PERSONS

PERSON TO PERSON
1953-1961 CBS

Similar to current talk shows now except the whole show focused on one celebrity with host, Edward R. Murrowinterviewing the person and their family from his studio while they were at their home.

HOUSE TO HOUSE
MAD #35, October 1957
w: Bob & Ray and Tom Koch
a: Mort Drucker

In the early days of MAD as a magazine, they often used the work of famous comedians, whether it was reprinted material or sometimes exclusive. Bob & Ray wrote their own material for the magazine and their shows, some was written by MAD writer Tom Koch. The Mad Cover Site credits the latter, so I'll take their word for it. It was through MAD editors discovering Mort Drucker's knack for caricature in illustrating the Bob & Ray pieces that they made him their go-to guy for most of their movie and TV parodies.

Harry Piel, half of the duo Bob & Ray voiced for Piels Beer, is the hood ornament in the first panel. Harry and Bert Piel make additioal cameos throughout.

From Adult TV Cartoons by Al Jaffee and Wallace Wood, based on the premise that since The Flintstones was based on The Honeymooners and made for adults, we'd soon be seeing lots of cartoons based on prime-time shows. From #63, June 1961, Edward R. Murrow was replaced by Charles Collingwood in the last few seasons.