Alf Season 2
Alf Season 2 has two of my favorite episodes.
- The one where Dorothy is marrying Whizzer and Alf gets the Melmacian hiccups – this is my second favorite episode of the series. Something about the growing volume of the hiccups and Dorothy’s growing irritation makes me laugh.)
- The one with the cast from Gilligan’s Island. Oh, Bob Denver, I would see you again days later as a bartender in Back to the Beach! (I like Gilligan’s Island, so this makes sense.)
Although Alf was really settling into a solid stride here the Christmas episode makes me wonder if they thought they were going to be canceled. In a two-part episode, Alf not only befriends a terminally ill little girl, he delivers a baby in an elevator, and talks down a suicidal man on a bridge. How do you top that? Were they just not planning to?
The Aristocrats
I’ve owned this movie for a long time, and I think I had only watched it once. Whenever that was, I wasn’t paying enough attention. I watched this DVD four times yesterday – twice straight, twice with the commentary. The joke that is the source material for this documentary is foul, let that be known. (It is no secret.) But the idea of having 70 or so comedians and writers tell it, like jazz musicians interpreting a piece of music, is genius.
The stand outs in this documentary for me are:
George Carlin: No surprise here. George Carlin was one of the greatest comedians of all time. He has a brilliant way of explaining comedy and why it works.
Paul Reiser: Paul has, arguably, the best delivery of the joke in the documentary. His punch line is brilliantly lilting, and listening to him explain anything is always a wonderful experience.
Phyllis Diller: She looks exactly like she did in Scooby Doo, and her laugh is so simultaneously shrill and heartwarming that you can’t help but laugh with her.
Two other things to note:
- Watch the full commentary. It’s fantastic.
- If you haven’t seen Bob Saget’s stand up but heard about how blue he is, this is a great way to see him get about as dirty and foul as a comedian can get.
Back to the Beach
I love this movie; I have since I was a kid. Annette Funicello! Frankie Avalon! PeeWee Herman! Bob Denver! (I think his cameo is the best in the film.) It’s everything you love about campy 60′s beach movies and campy 80′s comedies all rolled into one.
Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
This is a little out of order, because it was the flip side of Back to the Beach (I have no idea who came up with that DVD pack, seriously.) I hadn’t actually watched this movie before, because I bought the disc for Back to the Beach even though I loved the Kids in the Hall series. It was not great. I expected a lot more and it just didn’t deliver. Rent, don’t buy.
P.S. Between outright gifts, gift cards, and one “add to this order so we get free super saver shipping” the DVD project has grown. Season one of Designing Women, the first two seasons of Golden Girls, The last three seasons of News Radio. God help us all.
P.P.S. I joined Miso, my Twitter friends on my personal account may soon grow to hate me. Patti PK, if you’re into that kind of thing.