From the 1998 Halloween issue of TV Guide.
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Something is watching....
By the 1970s, young, experimental filmmakers had turned Hollywood on its ear, and the major studios were all struggling to stay afloat. Perhaps none more than Disney, who saw a steady decline in interest in family fare throughout the decade. At the end of the '70s and early '80s, the studio started turning out a lot of really unique films, hoping to attract a wider audience (The Black Hole, Condorman, Midnight Madness, Tron, Return to Oz, Something Wicked This Way Comes, etc.). None of the films from this era garnered much mainstream success -- though most have gone on to become cult favorites -- and following 1983's Trenchcoat (which was criticized for being too adult to bear the Disney name), the studio created Touchstone Pictures as a banner to release their racy 1984 hit Splash. Although there's interesting stories connected with all of their films from this era, the one with the strangest history is unquestionably The Watcher in the Woods.
Based on the novel by Florence Engel Randall and directed by John Hough (who'd directed the original pair of Witch Mountain films), Watcher was meant to be the Disney's first big-screen horror film (though the similarly creepy Child of Glass debuted as a TV movie of the week in 1978, and "Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romny Marsh" debuted on TV over a decade earlier). Unfortunately, problems abounded right from the start. The film deviated from the source novel quite a bit, and the finale of the book is pretty unfilmable -- it veers into a weird, sci-fi sequence featuring astral projection (for lack of a better term) -- so the screenplay for the film went through numerous rewrites to hone in on an appropriate, filmable ending, and principal photography began with only a rough outline of what the film's final scene would be. Casting of the leading girl came down to just a few young ladies (including Diane Lane), and the role was ultimately given to pro ice skater Lynn-Holly Johnson, who'd made a splash in 1978's Ice Castles (she should've stuck to ice skating), with supporting adult roles going to such old pros as Bette Davis, '50s/'60s sexpot Carol Baker and David McCallum (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.).
When filming finally got underway, there was tension on the set. Ron Miller, then-head of the studio, routinely butted into the production, inciting fights with producers and the director, and demanding reshoots of key scenes. Although Bette Davis was careful not to rock the boat too much, she too had her diva moments.
Post-production of the movie was rushed to get the film out in time to coincide with star Bette Davis's 50th anniversary in films. This meant that a crucial, FX-heavy sequence -- which found Lynn Holly Johnson briefly transported to another world -- couldn't be finished in time. Rather than delaying the release, the idiots at Disney just omitted this sequence and sent the movie into theatres. Initial audiences were captivated with the film up until the point where the "Other World Sequence" should have appeared -- without this scene, the ending made little sense. Despite that, it played theatres for a few weeks and then was yanked from circulation. For decades, Leonard Maltin's movie guide has stated the movie was reissued "with a special effects sequence that made things worse," though there seems to be absolutely no further info online about a release with the Other World Sequence. In any event, Disney was unhappy with the ending...
Director John Hough was in Canada filming "Incubus" when someone got the grand idea to rework the entire ending, so Disney stock director Vincent McEveety was brought in to shoot new footage. And for the most part, the new ending -- which didn't include an appearance by the titular Watcher nor the big special effects ending, worked and matched the footage shot by Hough. Unfortunately, it wasn't only the ending that got the shaft. A scary opening scene with a burning doll also got reshot, many dialogue scenes were shaved (for example, Ellie spent a considerable amount of time begging for a puppy before she got Nerak), and David McCallum and Carol Baker were cut down to the minimalist of screen-time (McCallum altogether vanishes partway through without clear explanation).
The film was re-released in 1981 with this new ending, but by this time the film's buzz had died off and it did only modest business at the box office. Weirdly, one of the scenes from the original ending appeared on the "Walt Disney and You" promo that appeared on the end of early Walt Disney home video releases:
In the late '90s, there were plans to release an extended director's cut of the film. Anchor Bay Entertainment acquired the re-release rights for several Disney classics, including "Watcher." Unfortunately, Anchor Bay embarrassed Disney by releasing a lavish edition of "The Happiest Millionaire." The house of mouse retaliated by limiting Anchor Bay's rights to their archives, virtually nullifying all extras, and limiting their access to bonus materials (which could only be released without bearing the Disney name, causing some oddball editing in the trailers/TV spots). Although director John Hough offered to fly to the USA and assemble a director's cut on his own dime, his offer was declined. Instead, Disney only allowed two rough cuts of an alternate ending to be released -- neither of which were quite the same as those that had been screened before. This was a disappointment to not only fans, but also the director and the stars (Carol Baker, in particular, expressed an interest in seeing a director's cut, since most of her big scenes were trimmed). Hough felt that the released version of the original ending featured far too much footage of the titular Watcher (which was a cheesy puppet shot in post-production). He felt if he could have control over what was seen on-screen, he could've made the original ending work -- and I'm personally inclined to agree. The original ending certainly could've worked if they'd limited the footage of the jerky puppet and included the "other world sequence."
Unfortunately, however, it didn't happen. As soon as Anchor Bay's contract was up, Disney re-released most of the films A.B. had acquired under their own banner, sans most extras. The deleted scenes appear intact on the Disney release, but John Hough's commentaries (recorded by Anchor Bay) have been omitted, along with the truncated TV spot. So (in the the words of Rod Serling), submitted for your approval are the score (ripped from the Anchor Bay disc), along with commentary for both the film and the deleted scenes, along with the booklet that came with the original Anchor Bay release of the disc (though the interviews were truncated -- most of the complete interviews are also included as pdf files with the booklet). Hough's commentary has a substantial amount of dead air (it's a shame he had no one conducting him through the commentary), but when he had something to say, it was generally interesting -- and the Disney release of the alternate endings suffers a bit without his insights.
Based on the novel by Florence Engel Randall and directed by John Hough (who'd directed the original pair of Witch Mountain films), Watcher was meant to be the Disney's first big-screen horror film (though the similarly creepy Child of Glass debuted as a TV movie of the week in 1978, and "Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romny Marsh" debuted on TV over a decade earlier). Unfortunately, problems abounded right from the start. The film deviated from the source novel quite a bit, and the finale of the book is pretty unfilmable -- it veers into a weird, sci-fi sequence featuring astral projection (for lack of a better term) -- so the screenplay for the film went through numerous rewrites to hone in on an appropriate, filmable ending, and principal photography began with only a rough outline of what the film's final scene would be. Casting of the leading girl came down to just a few young ladies (including Diane Lane), and the role was ultimately given to pro ice skater Lynn-Holly Johnson, who'd made a splash in 1978's Ice Castles (she should've stuck to ice skating), with supporting adult roles going to such old pros as Bette Davis, '50s/'60s sexpot Carol Baker and David McCallum (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.).
When filming finally got underway, there was tension on the set. Ron Miller, then-head of the studio, routinely butted into the production, inciting fights with producers and the director, and demanding reshoots of key scenes. Although Bette Davis was careful not to rock the boat too much, she too had her diva moments.
Post-production of the movie was rushed to get the film out in time to coincide with star Bette Davis's 50th anniversary in films. This meant that a crucial, FX-heavy sequence -- which found Lynn Holly Johnson briefly transported to another world -- couldn't be finished in time. Rather than delaying the release, the idiots at Disney just omitted this sequence and sent the movie into theatres. Initial audiences were captivated with the film up until the point where the "Other World Sequence" should have appeared -- without this scene, the ending made little sense. Despite that, it played theatres for a few weeks and then was yanked from circulation. For decades, Leonard Maltin's movie guide has stated the movie was reissued "with a special effects sequence that made things worse," though there seems to be absolutely no further info online about a release with the Other World Sequence. In any event, Disney was unhappy with the ending...
Director John Hough was in Canada filming "Incubus" when someone got the grand idea to rework the entire ending, so Disney stock director Vincent McEveety was brought in to shoot new footage. And for the most part, the new ending -- which didn't include an appearance by the titular Watcher nor the big special effects ending, worked and matched the footage shot by Hough. Unfortunately, it wasn't only the ending that got the shaft. A scary opening scene with a burning doll also got reshot, many dialogue scenes were shaved (for example, Ellie spent a considerable amount of time begging for a puppy before she got Nerak), and David McCallum and Carol Baker were cut down to the minimalist of screen-time (McCallum altogether vanishes partway through without clear explanation).
The film was re-released in 1981 with this new ending, but by this time the film's buzz had died off and it did only modest business at the box office. Weirdly, one of the scenes from the original ending appeared on the "Walt Disney and You" promo that appeared on the end of early Walt Disney home video releases:
In the late '90s, there were plans to release an extended director's cut of the film. Anchor Bay Entertainment acquired the re-release rights for several Disney classics, including "Watcher." Unfortunately, Anchor Bay embarrassed Disney by releasing a lavish edition of "The Happiest Millionaire." The house of mouse retaliated by limiting Anchor Bay's rights to their archives, virtually nullifying all extras, and limiting their access to bonus materials (which could only be released without bearing the Disney name, causing some oddball editing in the trailers/TV spots). Although director John Hough offered to fly to the USA and assemble a director's cut on his own dime, his offer was declined. Instead, Disney only allowed two rough cuts of an alternate ending to be released -- neither of which were quite the same as those that had been screened before. This was a disappointment to not only fans, but also the director and the stars (Carol Baker, in particular, expressed an interest in seeing a director's cut, since most of her big scenes were trimmed). Hough felt that the released version of the original ending featured far too much footage of the titular Watcher (which was a cheesy puppet shot in post-production). He felt if he could have control over what was seen on-screen, he could've made the original ending work -- and I'm personally inclined to agree. The original ending certainly could've worked if they'd limited the footage of the jerky puppet and included the "other world sequence."
Unfortunately, however, it didn't happen. As soon as Anchor Bay's contract was up, Disney re-released most of the films A.B. had acquired under their own banner, sans most extras. The deleted scenes appear intact on the Disney release, but John Hough's commentaries (recorded by Anchor Bay) have been omitted, along with the truncated TV spot. So (in the the words of Rod Serling), submitted for your approval are the score (ripped from the Anchor Bay disc), along with commentary for both the film and the deleted scenes, along with the booklet that came with the original Anchor Bay release of the disc (though the interviews were truncated -- most of the complete interviews are also included as pdf files with the booklet). Hough's commentary has a substantial amount of dead air (it's a shame he had no one conducting him through the commentary), but when he had something to say, it was generally interesting -- and the Disney release of the alternate endings suffers a bit without his insights.
The Watcher in the Woods
DOWNLOAD LINKS:
Score, Commentary/Trailers, Anchor Bay Booklet
Press Kit (1981 version)
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DOWNLOAD LINKS:
Score, Commentary/Trailers, Anchor Bay Booklet
Press Kit (1981 version)
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Saturday, October 24, 2009
Vinnie's Halloween Compilations!
I'm resurrecting my previous four Halloween compilations (now with corrected tags, zipped with shiny new download links) and including a brand new one! Volume 5 is another '80s movie influenced collection, complete with the Alice Cooper and Scooby Doo tracks that have become standard on previous comps. If the title's the same as the title of the movie it came from, I didn't bother to cite the film. Super special thanks to Azathoth for "Bedtime Tales!" All download links are at the bottom of the post.
Volume 1: It's Only a Movie!
01. Terror Time - Joe Pizzulo & Gary Falcone
From Scooby Doo on Zombie Island
02. Don't Fear the Reaper (single version) - Blue Oyster Cult
03. A Shower With Norman Bates - Etienne & Moi
04. Werewolf - Five Man Electrical Band
05. Big Bad Wolf - Wolf Sisters
From Teen Wolf
06. Once Bitten - 3-Speed
From Once Bitten
07. Armies of the Night - Sparks
From Fright Night
08. Rockula - Dean Cameron
From Rockula
09. Please, Please - Robbie Williams
10. Voodoo, Baby - Hypnogaja
11. No Exit - Blondie/Coolio
12. Hex Girl - The Hex Girls
From Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost
13. Skeletons in the Closet - Alice Cooper
14. Hell Is For Children - Pat Benetar
15. I'm Awake Now - Goo Goo Dolls
From Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
16. They're Not Very Nice - Larry Weiss
From Terror in the Aisles
17. The Hell of It - Paul Williams
From Phantom of the Paradise
18. Too Bad You're Crazy - Jerry Whitman
From April Fool's Day '86
19. If I Only Had a Brain - Flaming Lips
From Stubbs the Zombie
20. Monsta Rap - Elvira
21. Freaks - Stephen Trask
From Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Volume 2: We're Comin' to Kill Ya!
01. I Wanna Be Evil - Eartha Kitt
02. Mad Monster Party - Ethyl Ennis
From Mad Monster Party
03. This is Halloween - Citizens of Halloweentown
From The Nightmare Before Christmas
04. Inmates (We're All Crazy) - Alice Cooper
05. Anything Can Happen on Halloween - Tim Curry
From The Worst Witch
06. Murder - Reefer Madness Cast
From Reefer Madness the Movie Musical
07. Devil Inside - INXS
08. We're Comin' to Kill Ya - Zach Selwyn
From Dead and Breakfast
09. Psycho Killer (Acoustic Version) - Talking Heads
10. The Witch Queen of New Orleans - Redbone
11. Wizards of the Prophecy Pen - Mos Generator
12. The Perks of Being a Vampire - Vision Through Sound
13. Cereal Killer (Toucan, Son of Sam) - Green Jello
From Cereal Killer
14. Killer Klowns From Outer Space - The Dickies
From Killer Klowns from Outer Space (duh!)
15. The Killing Moon - Echo & the Bunnymen
16. I'm Your Boogie Man - KC & the Sunshine Band
17. Grim, Grinning Ghosts - Barenaked Ladies
18. Werewolf Am I - Dave Rudolf
19. These Old Bones - Dolly Parton
20. They're Coming to Take Me Away (Ha, Ha!) - Napoleon XIV
Volume 3: He Loves All the Children
01. The Greatest Show Unearthed - Creature Feature
02. Tag, You're It - Alice Cooper
03. Frox (He Loves All the Children) - Jaye Barnes Luckett
From May
04. Here I Am - Elvira
From Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
05. Mr. Crowley - Ozzy Osbourne
06. Red Right Hand - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
From Scream (1996)
07. Dark Side of the Glass - Lori Yates
From Forever Knight
08. The Night - Toni Basil
From Rockula
09. Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
10. Drinkinstein - Sylvester Stallone
From Rhinestone
11. Bad Moon Rising - Credence Clearwater Revival
12. Damn Dog - Robin Johnson
From Times Square
13. Dangerous Type - Letters to Cleo
From The Craft
14. Bump in the Night - Allstars
From Scooby Doo (2002)
15. Angels on the Balcony - Blondie
16. Abracadabra - Sugar Ray
17. Living Dead Girl - Rob Zombie
From Bride of Chucky
18. Thriller - Michael Jackson
Volume 4: See Me in the Mirror
01. Let's Be Frank, Mr. Frankenstein
from Les Poupees de Paris
02. Mad Monster Party - The Dust Jackets
03. A Merry, Shh, Creepy Hallowe'en - The Addams Family
from Halloween with the Addams Family
04. It's So Much Fun Being Rotten - Charles Nelson Reilly
from Lidsville
05. Blue Wrath
from Shaun of the Dead
06. Mysterious Mose
from Graveyard Jamboree with Mysterious Mose
07. Horror Movies
08. One, Two, Three - The Groovie Goolies
from The Groovie Goolies Show
09. All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed...
from Evil Dead the Musical
10. Headless Skateboard Dude
from A Pup Named Scooby Doo
11. Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron - Daddy-a-Go-Go
12. The Aliens Are Here - The Hippos
from Scooby-Doo & the Alien Invaders
13. Victim - Alex Band
from Doll Graveyard
14. Werewolf (Loose in London) - Meco
15. See Me in the Mirror - Alice Cooper
from Monster Dog
16. Come to Me - Deborah Holland
from Fright Night Part 2
17. Teddy Boy Kung-Fu Weapon - 13 Cats
from The Rage: Carrie 2
18. D.O.A. - Bloodrock
19. Deadwalking - L.A. Renigan & H.P. Mendoza
from Colma the Musical
20. Graveyard Jamboree
Volume 5: Behind the Mask
01. Monster Rock - Johnny Whitaker
From Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
02. Earth Girls Are Easy - Julie Brown
03. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker, Jr.
04. Somebody's Watching Me - Morris Day
05. A Nightmare on My Street - D.J. Jazzy Jeff & Will Smith
06. Haunted House - Elvira
07. Gremlins... Mega Madness - Michael Sembello
From Gremlins
08. Weird Science - Oingo Boingo
09. He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask) (Movie Mix) - Alice Cooper
From Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
10. Dancing Down the Moon - Debbie Harry
11. Those Meddling Kids - The Hex Girls
12. Red Right Hand (Version 3) - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
From Scream 3
13. Your Lucky Day in Hell - The Eels
From Scream 2
14. You're Just What I've Been Looking For - Frank Vinci
From Sleepaway Camp
15. Praying Mantis - Don Dixon
16. Run, Run, Run - Jane Wiedlin
From Gingerdead Man 2: The Passion of the Crust
17. Bedtime Tales
From Deadtime Stories
18. Happy Birthday to Me - Syreeta
19. You're Eating Out My Heart - Kregg Nance
From Motel Hell
A terrifying children's song!
Might not seem Halloweenish but this song recurs in my nightmares.
DOWNLOAD LINK:
Box
(Blame Skeeter the Evil Lawn Gnome for this one.)
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DOWNLOAD LINK:
Box
(Blame Skeeter the Evil Lawn Gnome for this one.)
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Friday, October 23, 2009
More Scar Stuff for Halloween!
Here's a few more Halloween shares that went AWOL from Scar Stuff, including a Vincent Price oddity, a bizarre Munster album, a story album that includes "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (which inspired such cult favorites as "Carnival of Souls," "Lost Highway" and "Donnie Darko") and Louise Huebner's mesmerizing "Seduction Through Witchcraft." As before, click the covers to check out Jason's original posts.
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Vincent Price:A Coven of Witches Tales
DOWNLOAD LINKS:
Rapidshare, MultiUpload, Sharebee
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Ugo Toppo: Tales of Horror and Suspense
DOWNLOAD LINKS:
MultiUpload, Sharebee
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Louise Huebner
Seduction Through Witchcraft
DOWNLOAD LINKS:
Rapidshare, MultiUpload, Sharebee
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Thursday, October 22, 2009
The horrors of Diff'rent Strokes!
Slight alteration, but I will never look at Mr. Drummond the same way again.
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Some Scar Stuff for Halloween!
I was inspired to start this site after stumbling onto a ton of blogs with obscure and hard to find music. Over time, the site's evolved into the bizarre pop culture/cult movie amalgam that it now is, but that wasn't the initial intent (though I make no apologies and have no regrets). One of the blogs that I was initially most in awe of was Scar Stuff. The site featured a vast array of obscure, vintage horror and Halloween themed albums for download. Although the blog never went away, most of the shares, sadly, did. Many of the albums have resurfaced (and vanished again) on other blogs, so I figured I'd do my part to keep the shares alive by resurrecting some of 'em for Halloween. Clicking the album covers below will lead you to the original posts on Scar Stuff, which feature descriptions (and in-depth backstories in a few instances)....
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Fangface
4 Exciting, New, Complete Stories
DOWNLOAD!
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Fangface4 Exciting, New, Complete Stories
DOWNLOAD!
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Introducing Frankie Stein & His Ghouls
DOWNLOAD!
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Frankie Stein & His Ghouls:
Shock! Terror! Fear!
DOWNLOAD!
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Frankie Stein & His Ghouls:
Ghoul Music
DOWNLOAD!
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Frankie Stein & His Ghouls:
Monster Melodies
DOWNLOAD!
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Frankie Stein & His Ghouls:
Monster Sounds & Dance Music
DOWNLOAD!
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Introducing Frankie Stein & His GhoulsDOWNLOAD!
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Frankie Stein & His Ghouls:Shock! Terror! Fear!
DOWNLOAD!
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Frankie Stein & His Ghouls: Ghoul Music
DOWNLOAD!
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Frankie Stein & His Ghouls: Monster Melodies
DOWNLOAD!
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Frankie Stein & His Ghouls:Monster Sounds & Dance Music
DOWNLOAD!
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Includes both the album and a pdf of the accompanying comic.Dracula: Terror in the Snow
DOWNLOAD
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DOWNLOAD
Well, 13 albums seems appropriate. Check back in the next few days-- I plan to resurrect some more shares from Scar Stuff!
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Hey Arnold! mini Halloween comic
For a chunk of the '90s, TV Guide annually ran an original mini comic in their Halloween issues. In 1997, it was a Halloween story for Nickelodeon's hit "Hey Arnold!" Enjoy!
_____________________________________Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Free Spirit!
In 1989, "Bewitched," "Nanny & the Professor" and the "Sabrina" cartoons were a distant memory, and the live-action "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" wouldn't hit the air for another 7 years. Seemed like the perfect time to exploit the oft-used sitcom formula of a witch among mortals, though similar themed prime-time sitcoms of the era ("The Charmings," "A Little Bit Strange," "Jennifer Slept Here," "Nearly Departed," "The People Next Door") hadn't fared very well. "Free Spirit" was no exception but (like those mentioned above) remains beloved by the now-grown kids who caught it.The series followed the exploits of witch Winnie Goodwin (perennial bit player /commercial star Corinne Bohrer), who found herself landing a job as the housekeeper/nanny to three kids who knew that she was a witch... and their clueless widower father (yes, a hook-up would've been inevitable had the show lasted longer). The show came and went with little fanfare, running a scant 13 episodes -- a 14th episode was filmed but never aired in the USA.
Years before Alyson Hannigan ("American Pie," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "How I Met Your Mother") had her many scandalous adventures 'at band camp' and amongst vampires and New Yorkers, she starred as teenage daughter Jessie in "Free Spirit." The before they were stars factor has given the show a little more notoriety in recent years.
Goofy as it is, I've always had fond memories of the show. A few years ago, I found most of the episodes for download from a now long defunct Alyson Hannigan site. Unfortunately, I lost them with my recent harddrive crash. The bitch of it is I started this post quite some time ago but never finished it -- the only reason I've got these episodes is cuz I uploaded them a while ago. The quality's not great (and none of the episodes include opening/closing credits), but they're still worth a look... particularly since I don't see the series coming back to TV or to DVD anytime soon. The show's held up surprisingly well when compared to similar shows of the era.
You can download the avi files of a few the episodes below. I embedded "Radio Nights," which is probably the weakest episode of the series, merely because it was the only file small enough for blogger to accept.
Opening Credits
There's a long and a short version of the theme song. This is the long one... and unlike the video above, it doesn't jump (seems to be a blogger video conversion problem).
DOWNLOAD
01. PilotYoung Gene (Eden Gross) asks for someone to come and help him learn to bowl, and his prayer is answered when witch Winnie Goodwin (Corinne Bohrer) arrives in his bedroom. Gene's father, T.J. (Franc Luz), assumes that Winnie is the new housekeeper, so she decides to take the job and stay on with the family.
02. The Bosses Are Coming
Guest star: Dann Florek ("Law & Order")
Winnie's boss, Bill (Florek), arrives to drag her back to the Witch Realm, so Winnie makes a deal with him -- if she can make it a week without using her powers, she gets to stay on Earth with the family. Meanwhile, Gene anxiously awaits word of whether or not he made the Little League team.
Guest star: Dann Florek ("Law & Order")
Winnie's boss, Bill (Florek), arrives to drag her back to the Witch Realm, so Winnie makes a deal with him -- if she can make it a week without using her powers, she gets to stay on Earth with the family. Meanwhile, Gene anxiously awaits word of whether or not he made the Little League team.
04. Too Much of a Good ThingGuest stars
Seth Green ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Robot Chicken," "Family Guy")
Alex Desert ("Becker," "Boy Meets World," "The Heights")
Winnie intervenes and puts a love spell on Kerrie, the girl of Robb's dreams, but she doesn't realize that Kerrie already has a boyfriend...
06. Hallowinnie
Guest-stars: Jenny Lewis ("Life with Lucy," lead singer of Rilo Kiley), Maia Brewton ("Adventures in Babysitting," "Parker Lewis Can't Lose")
Jessie (Alyson Hannigan) anxiously awaits word about whether or not she's been included into the Debs, an exclusive clique. But because it's Halloween, Winnie's magic goes awry, resulting in Jessie turning invisible moments before the Debs arrive. Meanwhile, T.J. tries to find the perfect Halloween costume to win first prize at the Attorneys' Ball.
(or watch it on You Tube!)
11. Radio Nights
Guest star : Timothy Stack ("Son of the Beach")
Nightmares plague Gene, which prompts him to fear something bad will happen to T.J. Meanwhile, T.J. goes on a talk-radio show where he's ambushed by the host... and a storm leaves him stranded at the radio station.
12. We Gotta Be Me
Winnie casts a spell on Robb to remove his bad traits, but it results in more of a split personality than she anticipated.
Credit where it's due: a few pics here came from Sitcoms Online and the great cast pics came from the FanPop page for the show.
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Krofft Halloween Costumes!
I recently mentioned that there were a variety of Halloween costumes in the '70s with characters from the shows of Sid & Marty Krofft, but my sole illustration was a boxed Sleestak mask. Decided to see what other pics I could track down, and it was certainly the right time of year to loot eBay...
First up we have Bingo from The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. Okay, so it was a Hanna Barbera show, but the Kroffts created the costumes for the live-action actors and it led them to create Pufnstuf...
And speaking of his Highness Royal, here's the H.R. Pufnstuf costume! It would seem logical to me that if you're going to make a costume of a costume, you'd try to do the costume justice. But no, instead of creating faux dragon scales, they opted to slap a picture of Puf on Puf's chest... just like on all of those damned '70s and '80s costumes.
Oddly, it's Puf's nemesis, Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo, whose costume surfaces most frequently (next to the Sleestak) on online auction sites. The only logic to this that I can fathom is there were more Witchiepoo costumes made than Pufnstuf merely because there wasn't as vast an assortment of Halloween costumes for girls as there was for boys. And I can't gripe too much about the picture of Witchiepoo on Witchiepoo's chest because it's downright adorable. Wait a minute, this is supposed to be a menacing witch....
The one Krofft Halloween costume that's always baffled me is Joy from The Bugaloos. Joy was portrayed by Caucasian Caroline Ellis, yet the mask for her costume seems to have been designed for an African American girl. This would be a non-gripe if they'd released a costume for Wayne Laryea's Harmony character.... And why is there a mask over her eyes anyway? The Bugaloos didn't wear masks! But at least Joy didn't have a picture of herself on her dress.... and at least the costume had a dress instead of the standard, claustrophobic smock.
Moving right along, Billie Hayes got not one but two Krofft Halloween costumes! In addition to playing Witchiepoo, she also portrayed Weenie the Genie in Lidsville! The Lidsville costume actually looks more like the actress... though the frozen grin is pretty creepy.
Sigmund got his own costume too... though I don't recall ever seeing any of the rest of the Ooze Sea Monster family. Unfortunately, the only pic I've ever stumbled on of this costume is the one you're looking at, which sucks.
And here's that damned Sleestak costume that seems to frequently pop up. The costume makers failed to capture the menacing facial characteristics (couldn't they have at least put plastic domes over the eyes?), and the accompanying smock is even worse -- and not just because it's not a Sleestak body. Why does the Sleestak in the picture have eyeballs(!!), and why is he menacing the Pakuni rather than the Marshalls? There's so many things wrong with this costume....
Electra Woman's costume is almost as bad as the Sleestak. Not only does that mask look nothing like Deidre Hall (true, she was frequently possessed by Satan, but she was never albino drag queen!), it didn't come with a form fitting spandex costume either. Electra-bummer! And where's Dyna Girl?! Could they not fit her pigtails on a mask?
And finally, we have Bigfoot, of Bigfoot and Wildboy. Ignore the Frankenstein, who was part of a two-fer eBay auction. As mentioned when Doug covered some of these costumes on Dougsploitation, the mask bears an uncanny similarity to Bruce Vilanch... who was a writer (and one-time guest star) on The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, which the Kroffts produced. And now you know who Bigfoot was modeled after.
Would you want your son to go out on Halloween disguised as this man?
Well, that's all of the Krofft character costumes I could find. I'm relatively certain there were also masks of the rest of the Banana Splits and a Horatio J. Hoodoo costume but I can't find pictures of 'em anywhere. Head over to Dougsploitation for different views of several of these costumes!
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