Thoughts on Twilight Theatre

 

Courtesy YouTube/NBCUniversal (Giphy was being fussy, so I said to hell with it.)

"Nobody move! She's got a smoked ham butt in her petticoat!"

Forty years ago, Saturday Night Live wasn't a television institution. Forty years ago, it was a once-especially popular series whose future on NBC was not assured. Throughout the 1980s, NBC tried alternate programs in SNL's timeslot. SCTV and Friday Night Videos each got a chance. Ditto most of Late Night with David Letterman's early anniversary shows. There were also sketch comedy specials like Twilight Theatre.

TV's celebrated Golden Age was within recent-enough memory in 1982, an idea that apparently inspired Twilight's production staff. The broadcast that aired Saturday, Feb. 13, 1982 was built around the concept that we're watching the 25th season premiere of an acclaimed omnibus series hosted by Roddy McDowall. Roddy does little aside from introducing the sketches. The joke apparently is that a man of his taste and dignity would be involved with something like Twilight Theatre. There's no payoff to the segments with Roddy and his "maid" (Benny Luke, La Cage aux Folles).

Steve Martin, who co-executive produced Twilight and a sequel that aired later in 1982, is the night's special guest star. Other guests include Candy Clark, Rosemary Clooney, Pam Dawber, Shelley Duvall, Martin Mull, Bill Murray, George Peppard, Carl Reiner and Michael York. There's also featured performers Anne Lockhart, Felice Schachter, Betty Thomas and Riders in the Sky, "regular players" including Harry Anderson and Paul Reubens (as Pee-wee Herman), "also appearing" actors like Jim Fisher & Jim Staahl (who were among the special's writers) and un-credited people like Pat Proft and Devo, whose "Beautiful World" video is played. All in all, about 30 acts or performers took part in the special.

"Auto Interruptus" -- A carpool driver (Steve) realizes that his new wife is Dr. Irene Kassorla's latest caller.

-- This worked in spite of the familiar premise. It had a good enough length (3:45) and escalation.

-- Steve's humiliations include learning that Debbie is annoyed by his laugh, compulsive ear cleaning, tacky clothes, vanity and stupidity (he's claiming he underwent brain surgery when he really just had a hair transplant) and performance in bed. He also discovers that his wife's been cheating on him with his three friends (including Fisher & Staahl; not sure who played the third man or Debbie).

-- I also liked the punchline. Steve wants to know where to drop the guys off. "(in unison) Your place."

The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra perform "Also sprach Zarathustra."

-- Composed of Rhino Entertainment founders Richard Foos and Harold Bronson, plus members of Stevie Wonder's band, the Temple City Kazoo Orchestra had some fame in the late '70s/early '80s as a novelty act.

-- Richard Foos went on to co-found Shout! Factory.

"First Film" -- Bill Murray's career actually began in the 1930s, with "Three Chairs for Lefty."

-- Spoofing prison films, this had some okay gags, like Bill complaining about the quality of his and the inmates' food. "You call this quiche?" It didn't have a good enough punchline. The warden's wife has asked Lefty to help her out by holding a roast in his hands when he's in the electric chair. 

-- This is Bill's only appearance in the special.

"Women Who Have Made It With Me" -- Host Martin Mull interviews one night stand Bonnie (Anne Lockhart), his second sex partner Evelyn (Betty Thomas) and his current fling Gretchen (Candy Clark).

-- The performances elevated this sketch, which went as you would expect it to. Martin disappointed each woman. He lied about getting Bonnie an acting gig on Hawaii Five-O ("Frankly, Martin, you're kind of a creep."), learns from Evelyn (who doesn't immediately recognize him) this his performance wasn't that good in retrospect and doesn't meet Candy's need for physical affection.

-- Best moments: "Bonnie, I'll start with you." "It sure felt like you did, Marty." Later, "Come on now. Does a little red Volkswagen ring a bell?" "Oh! I remember that little thing!" Cut to Martin looking uncomfortable.

-- I smirked at the opening theme being an instrumental of "The Lady is a Tramp," Martin soliciting for future guests (as Gretchen silently tries undermining him) and the tease for next week's special edition, "Women Who've Had Babies By Me."

-- This was Anne and Betty's only appearance in the special.

"Secret Camera" -- Footage from Steve's closet reveals that his and a woman's double entendres are benign.

-- Ho-hum. Again, more of what you'd expect. The woman exclaiming "Wow, is it ever huge!" turns out to be in response to a 2x4, Steve's excitement for butter is actually for the peanut butter sandwich he's giving her, when he goes on his knees, it's to imitate Al Jolson ... Well, at least Steve wasn't in blackface.

"No Arms Bandits" -- (Pat Proft and Martin) have a hard time pulling off a mugging.

-- A little too long, but I liked the visual of Pat trying to open a getaway car door with his mouth. This was his only appearance and Martin's last appearance in the special.

"Genius of Love" -- An abridged version of video to the Tom Tom Club song.

-- "Genius of Love" and "Wordy Rappinghood" had topped Billboard's chart for what is now known as dance club songs a few weeks prior to Twilight's airing. The band was not credited among the special's guests, but "Genius" played in the pre-airing promo.

"Playhouse Minus One" -- Viewers get to participate in the Carl Reiner-directed "Johnny Comes Home," depicting a Southern family (George Peppard, Pam Dawber, Michael York) and their butler (Benny Luke) coping with the anguish that comes when presumed-dead Johnnie (Steve) returns from the Civil War.

-- Twilight Theatre's longest sketch at just over 11 minutes, this had a funny concept but flawed execution.

-- First and foremost, having most of the comedy coming from the absurd things "Mary Lou" is required to do, like speak in French to explain that she's pregnant or have an extreme reaction to getting slapped for her infidelity. It's like if SNL's "Continental" sketches had Christopher Walken be the straight man.

-- Michael York does have a few good moments as Hastings, who eagerly tells Mary Lou that Johnny's death means they can have their long-teased affair. Reiner doesn't interact with the rest of the sketch's cast. His appearance includes self-parody about his status as a talented legend. Dawber has some fun with the broad belle dialect while poor Peppard is unrecognizable in his Colonel Sandersesque costume.

-- "Yes, Missy Pelter, I'll get the door." "(brightly) If it's a Yankee, kill him."

-- Blooper: The play is entitled "Johnny Comes Home," but the character is named Johnnie.

-- This was Carl, George, Pam and Michael's only appearance in the special and Benny's only appearance outside of the host segments. Michael went on to host Twilight Theatre II according to IMDB.

"Home Movies of the Famous" -- Elvis's alleged distant cousin Albert (Staahl) shows "footage" of the king.

-- Here's where I started resenting Twilight's format. This wasn't especially funny, although I did smile at Albert noting that back then, Elvis didn't like pills. Still, the sketch had no payoff. It's just riffing over stock footage. 

-- I believe this was Staahl's last appearance in the special. "Albert" is likely a nod to Albert Goldman, whose controversial biography on Elvis had recently been released.

Riders in the Sky perform "That's How the Yodel Was Born."

-- William E. McEuen, Steve Martin's then-professional partner (Aspen Film Society), supported the Riders for a six-month period including the production of Twilight Theatre. Ranger Doug, a member of the band, remembers Steve as personally friendly but overall having the air of someone only doing the show because he was contractually bound. This would have been the penultimate of six specials Steve did for NBC from 1978-1983.

"The Pee-wee Herman Show" -- He shows some toys, befriends a gorilla and loses the animal to an Italian organ grinder (Steve).

-- The writers of The Pee-wee Herman Show received a special credit for this sketch, which appears to be an excerpt of a performance at L.A.'s Roxy Theatre. I didn't notice any difference in how the playhouse set looked compared to how it looked in the performance that was broadcast on HBO.

-- I'm wondering if the gorilla story was written for this special or if Paul Reubens and company used it as an alternate plot later in the run of The Pee-wee Herman Show. By the time Twilight Theatre aired, The Pee-wee Herman Show had been running for a year. Seven months later, Pee-wee made his first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman.

"Beautiful World" by Devo is played.

"Funky High School" -- Soap opera features an amnesiac cheerleader/possible murderer (Darian Mathias) and a nerd (Harry Anderson) who keeps getting his classmates pregnant, who's being framed for the murder.

-- Okay, Twilight Theatre seems to have abandoned the idea that it's spoofing highbrow programming.

-- Candy Clark returns for this segment as Harry's frustrated mother, a grandmother at only age 35. I'm making her share the sketch with a pair of punks including Felice Schachter, whose perpetual annoyance made me laugh. "(Amnesia) is so cool! Society uses names to hassle you. I hate society!"

-- Harry does the ball stuck to his nose trick.

"Positions: A Love's Life" -- Starring Shelley Duvall and Stan Wilson.

-- A serious, dialogue-free piece, this depicts the prelude, length and aftermath of a relationship as seen through in 34 images how his bedroom and the individuals' sleeping habits change. It's a heartbreaker.

-- Duvall and Wilson were a couple at the time.

"Captive Nightmare" -- Vagrant Charlie Douglas (unknown) has a "Party in My Pants."

-- Twilight Theatre's nadir, this involved Charlie dreaming that people crawl into his pants for a New Wave-style experience. It includes Rosemary Clooney singing "Come On A My House."

-- You would think there would be a new version of "Come On A My House," something with synthesizers, right? Wrong. You would think that Rosemary would do more than lip sync to her 30-year-old recording, right? Wrong. You would think there would be a punchline, like having the party guests fall from Charlie's pant legs once he's forced to leave, right? Wrong.

"Madame Xano and Her Fabulous Dream Reader" -- An animated interlude by Sally Cruikshank.

"What I Believe" -- Steve stands alone to deliver a personal mission statement.

-- Performed nearly two years earlier on SNL, this was at least co-written (fully written?) by Jack Handey ("Deep Thoughts") and appeared on Steve's then-recent album The Steve Martin Brothers (which Steve holds up during one of the vignettes).

-- This was one of the night's better sketches. It's telling that it wasn't exactly written for Twilight Theatre.

-- "I believe in eight of the 10 commandments. And I believe in going to church every Sunday, unless there's a game on. And I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, wholesome and natural things ... that money can buy. ... And I believe in equality, equality for everyone, no matter how stupid they are, or how much better I am than they are."

Welp, SNL didn't have to worry about being cancelled after this program.

Thoughts:
-- L.A.'s Park Plaza Hotel is featured in the opening and closing.

-- The broadcast uploaded to YouTube originally aired on KNBC. There's many commercials for then-current and upcoming movies (Death Wish II, Christiane F., Night Crossing, Shoot the Moon, Missing and Ghost Story), Honda motorcycles and captive import cars (Renault 5/Le Car; Mitsubishi Colt, "Imported only for Dodge"; Nissan S130/Datsun Turbo ZX; Nissan Sunny/Datsun 210).

-- Hey, It's ...!: Charles Napier for the Honda Nighthawk. Shari Belafonte for Cachet perfume. Matthew Lawrence for Lipton Cup-a-Soup. Marj Dusay in the first Datsun 210 ad. Sela Ward for Aziza mascara.

-- "The violent side of fame. Five o'clock (on Newscenter 4), beginning Monday."