Celebrating Sammy Davis Jr 's 60th anniversary in show business, including musical,comic and dancing performers.
Social & External
Self
Carlin returns to the stage in his 13th live comedy stand-up special, performed at the Beacon Theatre in New York City for HBO®. His spot-on observations on the deterioration of human behavior include Americans’ obsession with their two favorite addictions - shopping and eating; his creative idea for The All-Suicide Channel, a new reality TV network; and the glorious rebirth of the planet to its original pristine condition - once the fires and floods destroy life as we know it.
When George Carlin is asked which HBO concert is his favorite, his answer is always, "Jammin’ In New York." The show, taped at the Paramount Theater in Madison Square Garden and winner of the 1992 CableACE Award, is a perfect blend of biting social commentary and more gently-observed observational pieces.
Alex Trebek hosts a documentary about television game shows featuring interviews with a number of game show hosts and producers.
Train wreck, some might call it a TV special, proving that not everything was better in the good old days. That includes Rolling Stone Magazine.
George Carlin is in top form with these stand-up recorded at the Beverly Theater in Los Angeles in 1986. Routines included are "Losing Things," "Charities," "Sports," "Hello and Goodbye," "Battered Plants," "Earrings," and "A Moment of Silence." Also included is a short film entitled "The Envelope" co-starring Vic Tayback.
George Carlin changes his act by bringing politics into the act, but also talks about the People he can do without, Keeping People Alert, and Cars and Driving part 2.
George Carlin hits the boards with the former Hippie-Dippie Weatherman's take on Brooklynese pronunciations of the names of sexually transmitted disease ("hoipes"), plus a prayer for the separation of church and state, feuds between breakfast foods, and the absurdity of wearing jungle camouflage in a desert.
Steve Martin's fourth NBC special was in the spirit of his previous association with Saturday Night Live. It was broadcast live from Studio 8H, produced by Lorne Michaels and featured some original cast members of the show.
It's Charlie Sheen's turn to step in to the celebrity hot seat for the latest installment of The Comedy Central Roast.
In this variety special, Olivia shares the evening with Andy Gibb, Elton John, Ted Knight, Gene Kelly and Toni Tennille. The special included songs from Grease and the Totally Hot album as well as some other artists' covers : the Eagles, Bob Seger, Elton John and Buddy Holly. Olivia also performed a parody of the jazz/blues classic Makin' Whoopee with Gene Kelly, changing the lyrics to Makin' Movies and dealing with Olivia's dream of producing a musical. The show was aired internationally and did very well in the ratings, as did her two previous US television specials on the same network. It is to be noted that Tina Turner's appearance on Olivia's special helped her sign a contract with then Olivia's manager Roger Davies, who ultimately helped her to go back into the spotlight.
A Happening in Central Park was performed and taped by video cameras on Saturday, June 17, 1967. The concert, sponsored by Rheingold Beer, and free to the public, was held in the Sheep Meadow section of New York City's Central Park. Barbra's television sponsor, Monsanto, captured the event on videotape for airing on CBS at a later date. Barbra took a weekend off from the filming of Funny Girl to perform the concert. On Friday night, June 16th, Barbra and crew rehearsed until very late. Many photos of Barbra in which she wears a headband were taken the evening of the dress rehearsal. (The cover of Barbra's A Christmas Album is actually a photo from the Friday night dress rehearsal in Central Park.) On that evening she tried on different gowns and worked with hairdresser Fred Glaser on alternate hairstyles. Director Robert Scheerer also worked out some of his camera blocking at the Friday night rehearsal. He utilized seven color video cameras to capture the concert.
George Carlin's first ever comedy special, filmed live at the University of Southern California. Here, he talks about monopoly, flying on planes, random thoughts, walking, and other things.
Peter Pan is a 1976 musical adaptation of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, produced for television as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame, starring Mia Farrow as Peter Pan and Danny Kaye as Captain Hook, and with Sir John Gielgud narrating. Julie Andrews sang one of the songs, "Once Upon a Bedtime", off-camera over the opening credits. It aired on NBC at 7:30pm on Sunday, December 12, 1976, capping off the program's 25th year on the air. The program did not use the score written for the highly successful Mary Martin version which had previously been televised many times on NBC. Instead, it featured 14 new and now forgotten songs, written for the production by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse.
In 1968 Harry Belafonte and Petula Clark sang together her song On the Path Of Glory for this special on NBC. Not such a remarkable event in itself, but Petula touched Harry's forearm during the duet and made TV history. It was the first time a white woman had touched a black man on US television. The sponsor insisted the touch be cut from the programme, the programme makers refused. In the decade’s “year of revolt”, Clark found herself at the centre of a media controversy involving race, censorship and endemic bigotry in a newly desegregated yet depressingly divided US.
An enchanting variety special which reunites Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore in song and dance. Numbers include "On The Other Hand", "Life Is Like A Situation Comedy", "Food Medley", "Do You Love Me?". Moore's participation in this special led directly to her being offered her own series by the network . This was the beloved "The Mary Tyler Moore Show".
This material was developed and prepared over the last year or so, mostly in comedy clubs. This special kind of goes back to when he used to just make noises and be funny for no particular reason. It felt right to him to shoot this special in a club to give it that live immediate intimate feeling. The show is about an hour long. The opening act, who is seen at the beginning (good place for an opening act) is Jay London. One of his favorite club comics going way back to the late 80s when he first started in working in New York.
Performing at the Celebrity Star Theater in Phoenix on July 23, 1978, Carlin mesmerizes his audience in the second of his 12 HBO specials. The show was originally planned as part of a concert/sketch movie, The Illustrated George Carlin, that never came to fruition.The routines include: Death, Kids & Parents, Newscast #2, Time and Al Sleet, the Hippy-Dippy Weatherman. -- From Amazon.com
Liza Minnelli stars in a television concert directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. She performs her songs such as the title number and a medley of songs from the film Cabaret (1972).
A CBS television special, renowned for its legendary "Yma, Ava....Yma, Uta... Yma, Oona" sequence. Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man (1970), won Anne Bancroft her only Emmy for her portrayal of 14 different woman in 14 musical and comedy sketches. Bancroft's husband Mel Brooks contributed to the script and also appears onscreen.
Musical Special featuring Shirley MacLaine in her tribute to chorus dancers, colloquially known as "gypsies." Produced by Cy Coleman and Fred Ebb, the special uses a self-referential show business plot in which the star rehearses for her television special about the life of a dancer. MacLaine performed a wide range of songs including "Lucy's Back in Town," during which Lucille Ball made a "surprise" appearance. The program won Outstanding Special: Comedy-Variety or Music at that year's Emmys as well as awards for writing (Ebb), music composition (Coleman), and choreography (Tony Charmoli).
Max Washington has just been released from prison after serving time for burglary. He returns to his old hangout, a hoofer club. His old girl friend, Amy, who still works at the club as a Tap instructor, is less than thrilled to see him. Her father, Little Mo, is happy to see him, because he has plans for a show involving Max. In addition, Max's old partners in crime have another job for him.
The Earth Day Special is a television special revolving around Earth Day that aired on ABC on April 22, 1990. Sponsored by Time Warner, the two hour special featured an all-star cast addressing concerns about global warming, deforestation, and other environmental ills.
Jura is 23 years old - and Lena is 23. They live in Budennovsk, play computer games, walk and learn. They live in a city where Shamil Basayev entered 23 years ago with militants, and know almost nothing about the events of that time.
What would happen if two sworn enemies, two opposed women in temperament and lifestyle find out to share the most incredible legacy: the child of their ex-husband?
In the 1820s, a taciturn loner and skilled cook travels west to Oregon Territory, where he meets a Chinese immigrant also seeking his fortune. Soon the two team up on a dangerous scheme to steal milk from the wealthy landowner’s prized Jersey cow – the first, and only, in the territory.
Three young children accidentally release a horde of nasty, pint-sized demons from a hole in a suburban backyard. What follows is a classic battle between good and evil as the three kids struggle to overcome a nightmarish hell that is literally taking over the Earth.
A formal dinner party starts out normally enough, but after the bourgeois group retire to the host’s music room, they inexplicably find themselves unable to leave.
Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of 15 tour-goers and staff on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour, a documentary crew travels back to the scene of the tragedy to find out what really happened.
George, host of a television show focusing on literature, receives videos shot on the sly that feature his family, along with disturbing drawings that are difficult to interpret. He has no idea who has made and sent him the videos. Progressively, the contents of the videos become more personal, indicating that the sender has known George for a long time.
After a groundbreaking presidential election, Jeff Tuche becomes the new President of France and moves in the Elysee with his family to govern the country.
After losing in the ALCS the year before, the Cleveland Indians are determined to make it into the World Series this time! However, they first have to contend with Rachel Phelps again when she buys back the team.
After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.
When legendary hunter Bob Rainsford is shipwrecked on the perilous reefs surrounding a mysterious island, he finds himself the guest of the reclusive and eccentric Count Zaroff. While he is very gracious at first, Zaroff eventually forces Rainsford and two other shipwreck survivors, brother and sister Eve and Martin Towbridge, to participate in a sadistic game of cat and mouse in which they are the prey and he is the hunter.
Hector Valentin returns to France from Canada when he inherits a small sawmill. He has difficulties restarting the run-down operation which has inefficient workers and is hampered by the dirty tactics of its bigger...
Research chemist Barnaby Fulton works on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. One of the labs chimps gets loose in the laboratory and mixes chemicals, but then pours the mix into the water cooler. When trying one of his own samples, washed down with water from the cooler, Fulton begins to act just like a twenty-year-old and believes his potion is working. Soon his wife and boss are also behaving like children.
After the death of a septuagenarian woman, her three children deliberate over what to do with her estate.
Spirited New Yorker Linda Voss goes to work for international lawyer and secret Office of Strategic Services operative Ed Leland just before World War II. As they fall in love, the United States enters the fight against Hitler, and Linda volunteers to work for Ed spying undercover behind Nazi lines. Assigned to uncover information about a German bomb, Linda also has personal motives to fulfill: discovering the fate of her Jewish family members in Berlin.
An ancient Egyptian priest named Imhotep is revived when an archaeological expedition finds his mummy and one of the archaeologists accidentally reads an ancient life-giving spell. Imhotep escapes from the field site and searches for the reincarnation of the soul of his lover.
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.
Two con artists have spent 26 years training their only daughter to swindle, scam and steal at every turn. During a desperate and hastily conceived heist, they charm a stranger into joining them, only to have their entire world turned upside down.