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Showing posts with label Bill Cosby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Cosby. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Special Delivery – Tuck Everlasting
Even on the blog I’ve got to give a little shout out to the
commercials and clips that made Nickelodeon so special in those early years.
Here is a clip from Bill Cosby’s Picture Pages and a commercial from one of my
favorite Special Deliveries that I remember when I was growing up Nickelodeon.
Picture
Pages
Mariposa
– Special Presentation – Commercial
X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X
Most people are familiar with the Disney version of Tuck Everlasting but I venture to say that none of them have
ever seen the original 1981 version which, in my opinion, is much better than
the remake.
The film is based on Natalie
Babbitt's 1975 children's book of the same title and tells the story ten-year-old
Winnie Foster (Margaret Chamberlain) who comes from a well-bred, strait-laced
family. One day she gets lost in the woods, an attempt to escape her smothered
lifestyle, where she encounters Jesse Tuck (Paul Flessa).
While visiting Winnie becomes
thirsty but when she tried to drink from the spring Jessie stops her. He makes
up a story about the water being bitter. Soon his mother and brother happen
along [Mae Tuck (Sonia Raimi) & Miles Tuck (Bruce D'Auria)], they were to
meet at the spring in the woods.
Much other surprise Winnie finds
herself in an adventure when she’s whisked away by this strage, but kind,
family. After a few days she longs for home but unbeknowns to any of them is
the trouble they are about to encounter from the Man in the Yellow Suit (James
McGuire).
How does it all turn out? Find out
in this charming version of Tuck Everlasting.
Rest of the Cast
Fred A. Keller – Angus Tuck
Marvin Macnow – Mr. Foster
Tuck
Everlasting
Sunday, November 24, 2013
**Classic Nickelodeon Alert** ~ Bill Cosby from “Picture Pages”
**Classic
Nickelodeon Alert** ~ Bill Cosby from “Picture Pages”
This is both an alert and my
Classic Nickelodeon Wednesday article on Sunday for two reasons. 1) This
special will air tonight on Comedy Central and 2) Since Thanksgiving is this Thursday
it might be a good idea to take this week off so that everyone can enjoy the
holiday with friends and family and not have to worry about posting unless they
just feel like it.
I hope that you enjoy this
article as I did. I didn’t write it but since it masterfully captures the
spirit of this special I thought it only fitting to post it as is. Enjoy.
Bill Cosby Is As You
Remember Him in Far From Finished
By Matt Zoller Seitz | 11/17/2013
at 8:15 PM
The Comedy Central program
Far From Finished is being advertised as Bill Cosby’s first full-length
stand-up special in three decades, but he only stands up once, not including
his entry and exit. This isn’t an age thing or a laziness thing; it’s a style thing.
Cosby has been a sit-down comic for three decades, and this matches his M.O.
perfectly. The sight of America’s funny-cranky dad in a chair has always sent
the not too subliminal signal that you’re in for an evening of stories, as
opposed to jokes, so you might as well settle in (or settle down). Cosby looks
his age here, absolutely, and that means that his brand of humor no longer
seems amusingly incongruous. For most of his career, he was an old fogey
trapped in a younger man’s body, waving a cigar and gabbing about the good old
days while mostly avoiding politics, drugs, profanity, and other mainstays of
post-sixties stand-up. He still has that beguiling mix of conversational
smoothness and vaudevillian overreaction that made him a star in the sixties
and led to TV shows (I Spy, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Cosby Show),
feature films (Uptown Saturday Night, Let’s Do It Again), and countless ads (he
was a pitchman for Ford, Del Monte, Jell-O, and Texas Instruments and earned a
place in Madison Avenue infamy by helping to launch New Coke). His
much-imitated facial tics—the tilted head, popped eyes, incredulously pursed
lips—have never seemed more natural than they do here. They’re the gestural
tools of a blustering grandfather or uncle, somebody who’s here to tell it like
it is and is a good enough storyteller that he knows you’ll keep listening even
as you wonder what the point is. But even when Cosby is going big, he goes big
in a small way. When overeager fans try to “help” him with his Comedy Central
performance, he rolls his eyes heavenward, like Grandpa telling the grandkids
that he’s not as helpless as they think—that, in fact, he’s still in charge,
damn it.
Far From Finished isn’t an
instant classic on the order of Bill Cosby: Himself or his stand-up albums
Revenge, Why Is There Air?, and Wonderfulness. It’s more like a pencil sketch
by a master painter or a late film by Woody Allen or Clint Eastwood: Which is
to say that it’s Old Man Art and that a big part of its pleasure comes from
seeing how economically the artist expresses himself and how intuitively he
reads and manipulates the room.
Cosby’s material has a long
white beard. It’s mostly bossy-wife-henpecked-husband material, the sort of
thing you’d see on a mediocre domestic sitcom or in a quasi-Neanderthal
newspaper strip such as “The Lockhorns.” But for a comic who was born in 1937
and always fetishized the Ozzie-and-Harriet model of domestic bliss, Cosby
mines this material with subtlety. He’s the unreliable narrator of his own fiction.
He gets big laughs portraying himself as a beleaguered, emasculated old man,
utterly dominated by his wife, Camille (who, Cosby repeatedly points out, is
not his “best friend,” although society requires him to say that she is). But
by his own admission, he’s a mediocre mate, forgetful and lazy and a poor
listener. In Cosby’s narrative, marriage is about trading pride for comfort;
when he resists his wife’s orders or endures her needling, it’s often because
he knows she’s right but has just enough male ego to refrain from rolling over
too quickly. The special is filled with metaphors of gamesmanship. Fencing is
invoked more than once. Ditto chess: “The queen moves anywhere she wants,
picking off people,” Cosby says at one point, “and what happens to the king?
He’s moving one square!”
Cosby’s great innovation was
to reject setup-punch-line rhythms and align stand-up with good old-fashioned
yarn-spinning. Other comedians got there first (notably Lenny Bruce onstage and
Bob Newhart on vinyl), and Cosby had a few near contemporaries who equaled his
inventiveness, including Richard Pryor and George Carlin, but there was
something quietly daring about his approach, which swapped the “Keep it
moving!” ethos for “Relax, we’ll get there eventually.”
“200 M.P.H.” is the greatest
example of this attitude: a 23-minute routine about a new car that takes up a
whole side of the 1968 album of the same name. Far From Finished has three
comparably protracted examples of slow-burn humor, including a bit in which
Cosby gets up in the middle of the night, triggers the security system in his
house, has a Newhart-worthy phone conversation with a security-company agent
who won’t deactivate the alarm until Cosby tells her his “code name,” and
confidently insists that he doesn’t have one. The fact that you can see where
the routine is headed doesn’t lessen its payoff; like the rest of Far From
Finished, it reminds us of the wellspring of Cosby’s career: his knack for
intimate, laid-back stand-up. And it might make us mourn all the stand-up
specials he didn’t tape because he was too busy revolutionizing the sitcom,
making a mint as a commercial pitchman, stinking up the big screen with Leonard
Part 6, lecturing young people on the virtues of pulling their pants up,
getting caught in various hypocrisies that belied his self-styled Father of the
Century image, and otherwise making us forget about his greatness as a
storyteller. We shouldn’t. Far From Finished reminds us why.
Far From Finished: Bill
Cosby. Comedy Central. November 23 at 7 p.m. and again on November 24 at 6 p.m.
Central Standard Time.
*This article originally
appeared in the November 25, 2013 issue of New York Magazine.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Classic Nick Wed. – Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
Classic Nick Wed. – Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
April 3, 2013
While Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids never aired on Nickelodeon it is a true classic and deserves it's time in the spotlight and it was one of my favorite cartoons as a little kid growing up in the 1970's. - Forgive me, this is very long but worth the read, I learned a lot while writing this.
==Origins==
Fat Albert began life as a character in comedian Bill
Cosby’s (Picture Pages) stand-up comedy routine "Buck Buck," as
recorded on his 1967 album Revenge. The stories were based on his tales about
growing up in inner city North Philadelphia. When Cosby teamed up with veteran
animator Ken Mundie in 1969 Fat Albert became a real animated character for a
one-shot prime-time special entitled Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert. The
special, which aired on NBC, was a hybrid of live-action and animation.
The music for the special was written and performed by jazz
pianist/keyboardist Herbie Hancock in 1969 and was released on the Warner Bros.
album Fat Albert Rotunda. For the animated portion of the special, it was
necessary to develop the actual appearance of each of the Fat Albert Gang's
characters. For this, Ken Mundie relied on animator Amby Paliwoda, a former
Disney artist. Paliwoda not only created all the Gang's characters, but also
painted a "group portrait" which was eventually shown on the front
page of TV Guide magazine shortly before the showing of the special. The Fat
Albert gang's character images were primarily created by the artist Randy
Hollar with the assistance of one-time Disney animator Michelle McKinney, under
the direction of Ken Brown.
When the time came to bring Fat Albert to Saturday mornings
NBC refused because the series was too educational (a quality that is seriously
lacking in to days animated series) so Bill Cosby and a new production company,
Filmation Associates, then took the property to CBS where it premiered on
September 9, 1972 as Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. It lasted for 12
non-continuous years then spent another season in first-run syndication from
1984–1985 and produced three prime-time holiday specials for Halloween,
Christmas, and Easter. The series was rerun on NBC Saturday mornings and on the
USA Network in 1989.
==Educational Lessons And Songs==
Fat Albert was honored and noted for its educational
content, which included Cosby earning a Doctorate in Education. In every show's
opening Cosby would playfully warn:
"This is Bill Cosby comin' at you with music and fun,
And if you're not careful you may learn something before
it's done.
So let's get ready, OK? (Fat Albert voice) Hey, hey,
hey!"
During each episode, Fat Albert and his friends (aka The
Junkyard Gang), dealt with an issue or problem commonly faced by young urban
children, ranging from stage fright, first loves, medical operations, and
personal hygiene to more serious themes (though toned down for younger
children) including vandalism, stealing, racism, smoking, being scammed by con
artists, sexually transmitted diseases, child abuse, kidnapping, drug use, gun
violence and death.
At the end of most episodes (with some exceptions in the
case of particularly serious themes), the gang would sing a song about the theme
of the day. This sequence, similar to those seen in other Filmation shows
including The Archie Show, has often been parodied. The musical sequence was
dropped during the Brown Hornet/Legal Eagle years.
==Revamps And Renames==
In 1979, the show was re-titled The New Fat Albert Show and
featured a new segment titled "The Brown Hornet" detailing the
adventures of a larger-than-life African-American crime fighter in outer space
whose design resembled a caricature of Bill Cosby, who also performed vocal
talents on the character. In 1984, the show was syndicated and renamed The
Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. The lack of network restrictions
allowed the producer to delve into more mature subject matter. A notable
episode ("Busted") featured the kids having an inadvertent brush with
the law and given a Scared Straight!-style tour of an occupied maximum security
prison, even contained utterances (by the jail's inmates) of the words
"damn" and "bastard" (Cosby had appeared in the beginning
of the episode advising viewers that those words would be used as part of the
story's dialogue to realistically depict jail life). Another notable episode,
"Gang Wars", featured a child being shot and killed. Another new
segment was added: "Legal Eagle", a crime-fighting eagle with a pair
of bumbling police squirrels. Production of new episodes ceased in 1985.
==Characters – The Cosby Kids==
"Fat" Albert Jackson (voiced
by Bill Cosby) is based on Cosby's childhood friend Albert Robertson. The main
character in the series, he is the heart and soul (and often the conscience) of
the Junkyard Gang. Though depicted as being obese, he is shown to enjoy sports,
often playing in different games with the rest of the gang. Civic-minded and
wise beyond his years, Fat Albert works hard to maintain integrity in the gang
and with others.
Mushmouth (voiced by Bill Cosby) is a
chinless, slack-jawed simpleton wearing a red knit hat and a blue scarf who
always speaks in virtual Ubbi Dubbi, tantamount to an overdose of Novocain in
the mouth, which Cosby would later use in the "Dentist" monologue
from his 1983 film, Himself.
"Dumb" Donald (voiced by Lou Scheimer)
is a lanky but dimwitted fellow. He always wears a green long-sleeved jersey
three sizes too big, and a pink stocking cap covering his entire face except
his eyes and mouth.
William "Bill" Cosby (voiced
by Bill Cosby) is a character based on Cosby himself. Like the others, Bill is
an all-around good athlete, but more often he spends his time trying, though
not always successfully, to keep his little brother Russell out of trouble.
Like Fat Albert, Bill is usually the voice of reason in the gang, although at
times a little more stubborn. He also acts as Fat Albert's second-in-command.
Russell Cosby (voiced by Jan Crawford) is
Bill's younger brother (based on his real-life brother—whom he often talked
about in his routines) and the smallest and youngest of the Junkyard Gang. He
always wears a heavy jacket, boots and an Ushanka winter hat regardless of the
weather. Russell has a penchant for making blunt observations (much to his
older brother's consternation). His catchphrase is "No class."
"Weird" Harold (voiced by Gerald Edwards)
is a tall, skinny, beady-eyed kid who always wears a beige dress blazer, a
brown sock on one foot and a red sock on the other, and is usually clumsy. (In
the film adaptation, he is called "Old Weird" Harold, like he was in
Cosby's stand-up routines, rather than Weird Harold.)
Rudolph "Rudy" Davis (voiced
by Eric Suter) is a sharp dressed, smooth talking, somewhat antagonistic
huckster whose smart-aleck attitude gets him into trouble more often than not.
Hi's poor attitude and dismissive demeanor is often the catalyst for a typical
plot's conflict. But inside he has a good heart and often learns his lesson. He
wears an orange flat cap, purple vest, pink tuxedo, regular bell-bottom jeans,
and boots. Rudy's personality in the Fat Albert movie is much different as he
is portrayed as a shy, kind-hearted, gentleman who falls in love with the
female lead Doris (Kyla Pratt).
Bucky (voiced by Jan Crawford), as his name indicates, has
a large overbite. He is shown to be really fast and flexible.
==Other Characters==
Miss Berry, The Brown Hornet (Voiced by Cosby), Stinger
(voiced by Lou Scheimer), Tweeterbell (voiced by Erika Scheimer—daughter of Lou
and Jay), Legal Eagle (voiced by Lou Scheimer). Margene (voiced by Erika
Scheimer), Dennis and Pee Wee (voiced by Erika Scheimer)
The Three River Blockbusters are the Junkyard Gang's main
rival when it comes to competing in sports such as baseball and football. The
Blockbusters stole the title of being champions in a competition called
"buck buck". (They make an appearance in the film adaptation
featuring totally different members and the leader, dubbed as Crips, voiced by
Catero Colbert credited as Lead Teen)
==Theme Song==
A cover of the show's theme song, performed by Dig, is
included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits,
produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records.
==Syndication==
As of 2013, Fat Albert is seen Saturday mornings on Retro Television Network (RTV), and weekdays on Bounce TV, both of which are digital networks. It can also been seen weekdays on Angel Two (ANGL2) and on Kids & Teens TV (KTV).
On January 15, 2013, Bill Cosby posted the following on his
Facebook page, "I’m telling you there are people at work, who I think,
will make Fat Albert happen again. And it will be loved by all generations to
come.", hinting that the series might be brought back once again. No further
word has been given yet
==DVD Releases==
In 2004, Urban Works acquired the rights to the series,
subsequently releasing several Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids DVDs including a
two-volume collection featuring 24 episodes from the original animated series,
as well as all the Fat Albert specials to coincide with the theatrical release
of the feature film adaptation of Fat Albert. In addition Urban Works released
a Greatest Hits four-disc box set and a five-best episodes set via Ventura
Distribution. In 2008 Urban Works lost the distribution rights and as a result
all of Urban Works' DVD releases are now out of print.
In 2008, Classic Media acquired the rights to series and
stated at the time that they intended to release the entire series on DVD.
Unfortunately this never happened as they only re-released The Fat Albert
Halloween Special and The Fat Albert Easter Special on DVD via distribution
partner Genius Products.
On April 6, 2012, it was announced that Shout! Factory had
acquired the rights to the series (under license from Classic Media) and
planned to release a complete series box set on DVD on July 31, 2012. The
release was postponed but is now scheduled for June 25, 2013.
On September 4, 2012, Classic Media re-released all
three-holiday specials together in one collection entitled The Hey Hey Hey
Holiday Collection on DVD in Region 1.
==Film Adaptation==
In 2004, Twentieth Century Fox released a film adaptation of
the series titled Fat Albert. The film stars Kenan Thompson (Kenan & Kel)
as Fat Albert.
In the film, Fat Albert and the boys’ journey into the real
world after jumping out of a television in order to help a lonely girl (Kyla
Pratt) with her issues. Fat Albert enjoys being in the real world but after a
meeting with his creator, Bill Cosby (portraying himself) he is informed that
if he and the others don't return back to the television, they will turn into
celluloid dust.
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