Merry Christmas! Merry Merry Christmas! In 1988, the Writers Guild of America
had a strike, the longest in its history, lasting 155 days. The strike had some fallout -- both
Moonlighting and
Kate and Allie lost audience members due to long hiatuses during the strike, which may have led to their cancellation. And while it generally did not affect children's television, one show, in particular, was hard-hit by the strike:
Pee Wee's Playhouse, which had a season of only two episodes, plus a
Christmas special.
But what a special! Scripted by
Paul Reubens, the actor behind Pee Wee, and
John Paragon, the actor who played the genie Jambi (and, I think, an underrrated comic actor; see his turn as Ramone Azteca from his own Showtime special), the show was both inspired by and parodied the traditional Hollywood holiday variety show.
Oh, sure there were the big name guests, and, in the tradition of holiday specials, they were all sort of past their "best when used by" date.
Cher showed up for the secret word.
Magic Johnson revealed his is a cousin to Magic Screen. Beach movie stars Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello were repeatedly abused by the manchild, who repayed their presence by singing "
Surfin' Bird" in their film "Back to the Beach." Charo sang
"Feliz Navidad."
But better still were the unexpected guests. I suppose
Little Richard wasn't that far off the beaten path, but a very young
K.D. Lang showed up, as did
Grace Jones, performing in an avant garde dress and a hat made from packing material. And then, of course, there were the
Del Rubio Triplets.
Who?
Just three sisters who dressed the same and performed musical variety performances. Find a Death offers a
loving tribute, and YouTube has samples of their mind-blowing performances of "
Ding Dong the Witch is Dead,"
"I Will Survive," "
Neutron Dance," "
Whip It," and "
What Have I Done to Deserve This?"
The episode was nominated for three Emmys, including Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Title Sequences (Prudence Fenton, also responsible for
this, and
Joel Fletcher), Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program (including
Gary Panter, the show's production designer, and who was also responsible for the classic punk comic
Jimbo), and Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program (Max Robert, who was also a writer on the show, and
Robert Turturice).
The show is available in entirety on YouTube,
starting here. Feliz Naviblah!
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:39 AM on December 14, 2011 [2 favorites]