The Dark Night Begins
May 29, 2016 8:59 AM   Subscribe

The Dark Night Begins. Adam West hosts Hollywood Palace in October 1966. With Joey Heatherton, a French ventriloquist, Roy and Dale headed to Vietnam, George Carlin with an establishment-friendly set, the Charleston on top of an 80 foot pole, laxatives, cigarettes, cigars, cigarettes, cling peaches. Special telephone appearance from the Riddler. (SLYT)
posted by bendybendy (25 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
Now THAT is entertainment, ladies and gentlemen!
posted by briank at 10:33 AM on May 29, 2016 [3 favorites]


Was everyone high in the 60s? I mean, just look at tv in that period. I feel like I need to visit Colorado, and then watch this again to get the full impact. That said, this is a glorious find, and I cannot wait to share it.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:49 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


My boss has a deep passion for all things Adam West/Batman. A big fan of that series, so stumbling upon this is gold. I texted him the link. Am awaiting subsequent excited text responses.
posted by Fizz at 10:52 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


Was everyone high in the 60s?

More likely the fistfuls of Benzedrine but yes
posted by The Whelk at 11:12 AM on May 29, 2016 [5 favorites]


This almost, but not quite, comes across as an SCTV parody of showbiz. Oddly mesmerizing.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:16 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


I just want to say that Diet Delight was a major staple in our household - and my parents were very forward-thinking when it came to food.

Diet fruit lol.
posted by maggiemaggie at 11:40 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


I love the early days of color television. Damn the torpedoes and turn up that chroma!
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:09 PM on May 29, 2016


So that's her name. Joey Heatherton was the woman who did the mattress commercial in the 70s. I remember her. My cousin needed someone to pick up his 9 year old jaw off the living room floor practically every time it came on.

And on 70s variety shows, of course, everyone was on coke.
posted by droplet at 12:12 PM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


I used to watch Hollywood Palace. Not sure I saw this one, though.
I remember the Carlin piece, but not him in a suit.
Plus the real Batman!

But now I've got a hankerin' for a Pall Mall filter tip.
posted by MtDewd at 1:39 PM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


I gave up at 6 minutes, and that even included FF'ing through the dutch masters ad and the adam west song. I'd rather go out and mow the lawn.

The Efferdent sponsor is the big giveaway -- so much TV in the 60s was for the under-12s and over-60 sets. In its attempt to play to the greatest common denominator, most television was untouched by all the cultural currents going on in music, film, fashion, art, literature & magazines at the time, except to make fun of them or water them down for middle-American consumption. If it's insight into what life was like in places like Muncie, Brainerd, and Winnipeg at the time (all perfectly fine midwestern places where half my extended family hails from but for some reason no one lives now), those 6 minutes suggest that watching the rest of the Hollywood Palace would nail it.
posted by morspin at 3:06 PM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


Wow, Danny Sailor, the high-pole performer, is really something. It seems that is the poster boy for Dayton boots.

Like so many Dayton wearers, Sailor was unconventional. A prairie boy who came west to British Columbia, Danny:
  • was a strict vegetarian
  • had a soft spot for the Dukabours – once allowing 1,300 of them to camp on his Surrey farm - while delivering them 500 loaves of bread
  • stayed up a pole for 28 days in 1959 to help raise money for the poor
  • was fined $25 for a missing mudguard on his truck. He was broke, so he agreed to spend five days in Oakalla Prison. Word of his imprisonment leaked out - and the fine was quickly paid by an anonymous fan.

posted by dougzilla at 3:45 PM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


In its attempt to play to the greatest common denominator, most television was untouched by all the cultural currents going on in music, film, fashion, art, literature & magazines at the time, except to make fun of them or water them down for middle-American consumption.

That doesn't seem like a very good description of Ray Charles.
posted by layceepee at 4:24 PM on May 29, 2016


The Dukabours is now the name of my punk band.
posted by Captain l'escalier at 4:30 PM on May 29, 2016 [3 favorites]


Carlin managed to sneak a line in about bad treaties, and he gave the impression he was sneering at his audience, but I'm probably reading that into him.

I miss Carlin.
posted by Mooski at 4:53 PM on May 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


Here is a weird bit...I was born in '70, yet remember seeing this broadcast on tv while on vacation in maybe 1975 or 6 or so. Would this have been ever rebroadcast or am I misremembering? I had a memory of this before I saw this link - West sliding down and then singing a song. Maybe I'm reincarnated on a quick turnover plan.
posted by chicaboom at 5:06 PM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


JoeZydeco: "I love the early days of color television. Damn the torpedoes and turn up that chroma!"

A color TV cost the equivalent of $2500 back then, the networks wanted to make sure that people got their money's worth.
posted by octothorpe at 5:42 PM on May 29, 2016


I wonder if Adam West believed the 1966 Batman series wouldn't be released on home media until after his death. I also wonder if Burt Ward thought he'd have ended up like Adam West by that point ("Nobody messes with Burt Wa!").
posted by BiggerJ at 6:46 PM on May 29, 2016


That first act is pretty much just abusing a couple of little people, isn't it?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:07 PM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


I wonder if Adam West believed the 1966 Batman series wouldn't be released on home media until after his death.


Um...the series was released on DVD and Blu-ray last year, and Adam West is still alive?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:14 PM on May 29, 2016


All I know is that Julie Newmar, in her prime, was one of the most beautiful women to have ever walked the earth.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 8:29 PM on May 29, 2016 [3 favorites]


Here's this for droplet's formerly 9-year-old cousin. And all others similarly affected.
posted by bryon at 8:55 PM on May 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


That ventriloquist though...
posted by motty at 9:17 PM on May 29, 2016


Ray Charles rocked this, and I can't imagine how freaked all the white people were, all lamely trying to clap on the 1's while he totally fucked up the time signature. Brilliant.
posted by chococat at 9:55 PM on May 29, 2016


TheWhiteSkull: I know that, but I'd love to hear about whether he dared hope the rights tangle would end in his lifetime. The existence of Adam West Naked, his DVD collection of episode-by-episode anecdotes, implies he didn't.
posted by BiggerJ at 12:07 AM on May 30, 2016


That was awesome. What strange times. But I guess they're always strange times, eh?
posted by emmet at 6:46 AM on May 30, 2016


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