Stubby, Soupy, Pinky, Andy, Pee-Wee

This blog now transitions from our favorites Ernie (Kovacs) and Edie (Adams) . . .



To favorites named Stubby, Soupy, Pinky and Andy!

We're big fans of the chubby yet dapper entertainer Stubby Kaye. Here's the irrepressible Stubby extolling the accomplishments of "Jubilation T. Cornpone" in the 1959 movie of Al Capp's comic strip Lil' Abner.



Now watch Stubby crush it as Nicely Nicely in Guys & Dolls!







Here he is with Nat King Cole in Cat Ballou!



Stubby was so cool, he recorded an album titled Music For Chubby Lovers. As a short chubby guy (and much closer to resembling Stubby than Frank Sinatra of Songs For Swingin' Lovers fame) I think this is great!





Vividly recall seeing a game show for kids on TV back when I was 8 years old - and did not see said program again until 61 years later on YouTube. This elaborate kidvid program was titled SHENANIGANS and sponsored by toy-meisters Milton Bradley. The host was - drum roll - Stubby Kaye!



Was there anyone who hosted kids' shows at that time this blogger liked as much as Stubby Kaye (including local San Francisco Bay Area TV hosts Mayor Art, Marshall J and Captain Satellite)? Heck, yeah - the goofy and always wacky Soupy Sales!





Soupy packs an impressive quantity of 100 proof silliness into the briefest of bits - and sustains the unabashed lunacy over a half-hour show.



Soupy very likely was inspired to enter by the popular kidvid shows by the alarmingly energetic but upbeat and likeable burlesque comedian and tap dancer Pinky Lee.



Pinky was something of a king of kidvid in the 1950's and often booked interesting acts on his show, such as the gal here with her trained dogs.



As fate would have it, one of the films I have sought out to spring on a unsuspecting Psychotronix Film Festival audience (but never actually landed) was the 1937 Educational Pictures 1-reeler Dental Follies starring Pinky Lee and directed by Christie Comedies mainstay William Watson. It's not as funny and unrelentingly bizarre as the three Jefferson Machamer's Gags N' Gals 2-reelers produced by Al Christie for Educational in 1936-1938 but still pretty good.



A competitor of Soupy and Pinky in the kidvid universe was Andy's Gang, hosted by Andy Devine.



A favorite bit from Andy's Gang is the Squeaky's Circus segment.



For some reason, Andy Devine and Andy's Gang get me thinking of . . . Andy Kaufman.





There was a meeting of one of Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog's all-time favorite movie directors and favorite comedians when Andy was a guest on an unsold pilot, Orson Welles' talk show. Not surprisingly, Orson, an avid fan of comedy and comedians, is a very good interviewer and manages to disarm Andy.

Welles, a magician and provocateur himself, understands and respects Kaufman's derring-do as an actor, comedian and performance artist, so this the only time this writer has ever seen a talk show which offers a glimpse of Andy the person as opposed to Andy the performer.



And then, while fondly remembering Stubby Kaye, Pinky Lee, Soupy Sales, Andy Devine and Andy Kaufman - and with apologies to late-night TV sidekick supreme Andy Richter and Mack Sennett Studio/Columbia Shorts Department slapstick king Andy Clyde - we now direct the spotlight to Paul Reubens a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman, star of the greatest kidvid show in the history of television, Pee-wee's Playhouse and member of The Groundlings. Do we believe Pee-wee was profoundly influenced by Pinky Lee, 1950's kidvid and 1930's radio comedian Joe Penner? Yes.



The gang at Way Too Damn Too Lazy To Write A Blog regard the epic feature comedy Pee-Wee's Big Adventure as a high holy water mark for both Mr. Reubens and director Tim Burton.





Pee-wee's appearahces on late night TV, especially with David Letterman and Conan O' Brien, were invariably memorable.







Want to see the following documentary, Pee-wee As Himself very much. Like the late, great Mr. Reubens, it looks like tons of fun.



What's the best way to follow up these clips? With the first episode of Pee-wee's Playhouse!



In closing today's post, we express appreciation for the chuckles, chortles, guffaws, laughs and good entertainment provided by Stubby, Soupy, Pinky, Andy and Pee-Wee. As the talented, funny and reliable performers George Wendt (of Cheers and Second City Chicago) and comedienne/cartoon voice artist Ruth Buzzi passed recently, the world's rations of belly laughs have taken a most unwelcome hit at the worst possible time.

Happy Thanksgiving 2021 from Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog

While much missing those friends and family members who are no longer with us, we are nonetheless preparing to enjoy a delicious turkey dinner later today!

There will be two video selections for 2021 Turkey Day that originally appeared on NBC's Saturday Night Live way back when. First is a Thanksgiving sketch from the SNL show hosted by Pee-Wee Herman, which originally aired on November 23, 1985 - and, indeed, this blogger taped it on the ol' reliable VHS recorder!

It's the third show of the generally spotty Season 11.

Love the sketch co-starring Jon Lovitz' inimitable Tommy Flannagan a.k.a. "The Liar." Both worked together in The Groundlings, as did future cornerstone of SNL Phil Hartman.

The Pee-Wee Herman SNL, in the opinion of the sketch comedy nuts at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog, remains tied with the excellent episode featuring George Wendt and Francis Ford Coppolla as hosts (in which, as a running gag, Coppola takes over the direction of the show) as the favorite from the 1985-1986 season.







To some degree the mostly young Season 11 cast was not necessarily all that well-suited to Saturday Night Live back in 1985, in large part due to the constrictions of the program itself. This would subsequently be confirmed by the non-prototypical performance of Robert Downey Jr. as most non-prototypical superhero Iron Man, any Damon Wayans sketch from In Living Color and all stage, screen and TV presentations featuring Joan Cusack and Obie Award winner Danitra Vance (1954-1994). Squeezing these expansive talents into the fairly rigid parameters and format of SNL turned out to be problematic.

Nonetheless, there was no shortage of talent both in front of behind the cameras and on the writing staff in this season noted for the return of Lorne Michaels.

Much of the 1985-1986 season's cast made their mark after leaving SNL, while others would return for Season 12 and be involved in the series' late 1980's - early 1990's resurgence. For more, check out the SNL Review Index from Nova Scotia writer/photographer Bronwyn Douwsma's Existentialist Weightlifting website.


The second Happy Thanksgiving video selection, Wally Ballou Interviews a Cranberry Grower in Times Square, features a comedy team beloved by Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog and KFJC's Norman Bates Memorial Soundtrack Show, "the two and only," Bob & Ray.



This was from a special produced by the SNL crew and featuring the comediennes from the cast. It aired on NBC in the Saturday Night Live 11:30 - 1:00 a.m. time slot.



This was not the only time the team was slated to make an appearance in the late-night comedy universe. In a 1980 pilot, From Cleveland, Bob & Ray are deejays in their own radio station and introduce sketches starring Eugene Levy, Catherine O Hara, Andrea Martin and Dave Thomas from SCTV. This would appear to have been shot in the break between season 2 and season 3 of SCTV, after Global dropped the series and before ITV picked it up.



Tomorrow morning, shall drink a pot of coffee and enjoy the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. We'd like Mr. and Mrs. Patton Oswalt to host - that would be great!



Strongly suggest avoiding family discussions, especially those involving current events, and either binge-watching football, talking baseball Hot Stove League or doing the following instead.



We wish all a happy and safe Thanksgiving!