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Posted: |
May 18, 2020 - 3:18 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In the small New England community of SALEM’S LOT, “Ben Mears” (David Soul), a writer and former resident has recently arrived back in town. He is there to write his next book, about the Marsten House. Ben has always been fascinated by the house and the rumors it carries, one of which is it attracts evil to it. Ben is hoping he will get a chance to rent it while in town. When he goes to the realty office run by “Larry Crockett” (Fred Willard), Larry tells him that it has already been rented by a “Mr. Straker” (James Mason), the co-proprietor of a newly-opened antique store (his partner, Barlow, is inexplicably absent). As it turns out, Straker’s arrival in town coincides with a string of mysterious deaths, in which the deceased are drained of all their blood. But when the dead start rising from their graves, Ben realizes he’s dealing with a vampire, and, with the help of teenager “Mark Petrie” (Lance Kerwin), he sets out to destroy the monster before it transforms all of Salem’s Lot into an army of the undead.
George Dzundza and Fred Willard in SALEM’S LOT
Tobe Hooper directed the film from a teleplay by Paul Monash based on Stephen King’s novel. Producer Richard Kobritz selected Hooper after viewing THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.
The original 184-minute telefilm was cut down to 150 minutes for a single night’s rerun on network television. A 112-minute version was prepared for theatrical release overseas and for U.S. cable TV. This latter version has some different music than appeared in the original. Henry Sukman’s score for the original full-length film received an Emmy nomination. He lost to Jerry Fielding, who received a posthumous award for his score for the television movie HIGH MIDNIGHT. Sukman’s score was released by Intrada in 2013.
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Posted: |
May 18, 2020 - 4:24 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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“Jane” (Susan Saint James), “Elaine” (Jane Curtin), and “Louise” (Jessica Lange) are all feeling the effects of inflation and cannot figure out HOW TO BEAT THE HIGH COST OF LIVING. Jane cannot afford a babysitter or to get married, and if she wants privacy with her boyfriend, hardware store owner “Robert” (Fred Willard), she has to sleep in the car. Louise lives a happy life with her veterinarian husband, “Albert” (Richard Benjamin). She runs an antique shop on the side, but since it doesn't take in any profit, the IRS considers it a hobby. Elaine's husband has left her for another woman, and without any money, she is in a constant struggle with banks, power companies, and gas stations. She catches the eye of police officer “Jack” (Dabney Coleman). The local mall is having a contest that features a giant money ball. Elaine comes up with a plan to steal the money out of it and split it three ways with Jane and Louise.
Robert Scheerer directed this 1980 crime comedy. Patrick Williams composed the jazz score, which was performed by flautist Hubert Laws and guitarist Earl Klugh. Columbia released the soundtrack LP, which was re-issued on CD by Wounded Bird Records in 2013.
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Posted: |
May 18, 2020 - 10:36 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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National Lampoon’s MOVIE MADNESS was a parody of film genres, composed of three shorts, spoofing personal growth films, glossy soap operas, and police stories. The second of the stories, “Success Wanters,” has Ann Dusenberry as a beautiful college grad who becomes a stripper. On her first night, she’s raped by horny businessmen using, of all things, a stick of butter, and then marries a margarine mogul who dies, thus becoming a monopolizing widow bent on revenge against those butter-wielding perverts. Yet her revenge doesn't entail violence. Her goal is to take over the entire dairy industry. Going from husband to husband, dressed to kill in every scene and manipulating herself into more and more power, she eventually becomes the mistress of the U.S. President “Robert Fogarty” (Fred Willard) and the real first lady’s lover.
Bob Giraldi directed “Success Wanters” and the first segment, “Growing Yourself,” while Henry Jaglom directed the final segment, “Municipalians.” Andy Stein provided the unreleased score for the 1982 film.
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Posted: |
May 19, 2020 - 1:03 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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“D.C. Follies” was a syndicated sitcom which aired from 1987–1989 and was set in a Washington, D.C. bar, where bartender Fred Willard would welcome puppet caricatures of politicians and popular culture figures. The show was satirical, and frequently commented on politicians and the political process. Forty-four episodes of the show were produced.
Although Willard was the only live actor appearing regularly, each episode brought a celebrity guest into the bar, such as Martin Mull, Robin Leach, Bob Uecker, and Betty White. In one episode, Robert Englund showed up as his Freddy Krueger character, and in a special Christmas episode an un-billed actor played Santa Claus. Another episode had Mike Tyson confront his own puppet character.
The Krofft Puppets and Fred Willard in “D.C. Follies”
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Posted: |
May 19, 2020 - 2:19 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In the 1997 comedy WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, “Corky St. Clair” (Christopher Guest) is a transplanted New Yorker who dreams of making it big on Broadway. He agrees to direct a musical play for Blaine, Missouri’s sesquicentennial celebration, one that will pay tribute to the community’s rich history. To star in this show, Corky taps the husband/wife team of “Ron and Sheila Albertson” (Fred Willard and Catherine O’Hara), who have a little theatrical experience of their own. Rounding out the cast is “Dr. Allen Pearl” (Eugene Levy), a dentist, and “Libby Mae Brown” (Parker Posey), an employee at the local Dairy Queen.
Corky works tirelessly to make this play the most memorable production in the history of Blaine, and both he and his cast are thrown into a tizzy when they receive word that a major Broadway talent scout, “Mr. Mort Guffman,” will be flying in specifically to see the show. With the possibility of stardom staring them in the eye, this tight-knit group sets out to transform their small-town show into a big-time Broadway hit.
Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard in WAITING FOR GUFFMAN
When playing “Blaine Fabin” in the show-within-the-show "Red, White and Blaine," it becomes necessary for Dr. Pearl (Eugene Levy) to remove his glasses. Unfortunately, Dr. Pearl's glasses corrected his lazy eye problem. Actor Fred Willard was unaware of the gag during shooting, and after delivering the line, "What did your keen and perceptive eyes behold?" to Fabin, stared at Levy's lazy eye, finally understood why his line was funny, and "was gone for about ten minutes" with laughter.
Christopher Guest directed and co-wrote the film with Eugene Levy, although reportedly the only parts that were actually scripted were the lines in the musical "Red, White and Blaine." Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer provided the unreleased score, which included songs written for "Red, White and Blaine.”
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Posted: |
May 19, 2020 - 2:57 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In PERMANENT MIDNIGHT, comedy writer Jerry Stahl (Ben Stiller) struggles to overcome his addiction to heroin. Elizabeth Hurley portrays “Sandra,” a beautiful Englishwoman groveling (drug free) for her own position as a high-powered TV executive. She and Stahl wed in a marriage of convenience -- her for a Green Card, he for some money for his next fix. She tries to clean up his act, lands him a job writing for “Mr. Chompers,” an alien puppet that anyone familiar with late 1980s television would immediately recognize as “Alf.” The show’s producer, “Craig Ziffer” (Fred Willard), goes ga-ga over Jerry’s slant on a cemetery scene, a nightmarish vision of the author’s obsession with his father’s suicide.
David Veloz wrote and directed the 1998 film, based on Stahl’s own story and written memoir. None of Daniel Licht’s score appears on the DGC song-track CD.
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Posted: |
May 19, 2020 - 4:00 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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BEST IN SHOW finds a colorful array of characters competing at a national dog show. Fred Willard's character, vapid and obnoxious television host “Buck Laughlin,” was based on baseball legend Joe Garagiola, who had co-hosted the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in years past, to similar effect. Willard was instructed by writer-director Christopher Guest not to do any research on dogs for the role. Jim Piddock, who played fellow announcer “Trevor Beckwith,” on the other hand, had to do a lot of dog research so that his character would appear knowledgeable.
Fred Willard and Jim Piddock in BEST IN SHOW
Jim Piddock had to complete all of his filming in one day so that he could return to the shooting of TOO MUCH SUN (2000), which he wrote and produced. As a result, this meant that Fred Willard also had to film his scenes with Piddock within that time frame. Willard did come back for a second day to do some additional filming, and according to Willard, he was kept waiting in his trailer for so long that he decided to quit acting. He changed his mind after he was finally called to the set. Willard won an American Comedy Award as the Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role in BEST IN SHOW. Jeffrey C.J. Vanston’s score for the 2000 film has not been released.
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Posted: |
May 20, 2020 - 2:57 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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The sitcom “Maybe It’s Me” was centered on the life of teenager “Molly Stage” (Reagan Dale Neis) and her eccentric and often-embarrassing family, including her parents (insanely frugal mom “Mary,” played by Julia Sweeney, and soccer-obsessed dad “Jerry,” played by Fred Willard), her two older brothers, her little twin sisters, and her grandparents.
As the ad below indicates, the series was set to premiere on 14 September 2001. But the events of 9/11 delayed that premiere. Instead, the series debuted on the WB Network on Friday, 5 October 2001 at 8:30 PM. The show’s toughest competition came from NBC’s #27-rated medical drama “Providence,” then in its fourth season. That was sufficient to do in “Maybe It’s Me,” and the after the show’s initial season of 22 episodes, it was cancelled.
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