Sunday, November 13, 2016

POST ELECTION TOASTED



I would have preferred to have shared the TV adaptation of this musical from back in the early seventies, but in this drumpfunk I'm in since the results early Wednesday morning, I'll take anything.


The other videos in this collection will follow, one after the other.

That TV presentation had the following cast:

Carroll O'Connor... John P. Wintergreen
Cloris Leachman... Mary Turner
Jack Gilford... Alexander Throttlebottom
Michele Lee... Diana Devereaux

Among the other cast members:
Jim Backus... Senator Robert F. Lyons
David Doyle... Francis X. Gilhooley
Herb Edelman... Louis Lippman
Paul Hartman... Chief Justice
Jeannine Riley... Hotel Chambermaid
Jesse White... Matthew Fulton
Ted Knight... Ted Baxter (uncredited)


From the IMDb:

Carroll O'Connor stars as John P. Wintergreen, a Presidential candidate who campaigns with the slogan 'Wintergreen: The Flavour Lasts'. After the election, he and his wife Mary settle into the White House. O'Connor's singing voice is well-suited to the material, and he clearly relishes this opportunity to demonstrate that his acting range doesn't stop with Archie Bunker. Jack Gilford is perfectly cast as Alexander Throttlebottom, the guided tour.

This TV special heavily abridges the original Broadway libretto, cutting out most of the pointed satire about 1930s politics, and retaining only the most generic gags about politicians. A few new jokes have been inserted. For example, when Gilford takes a roll call of the Senate, the senator from Alaska hugs himself as if he is freezing.

I saw this when it was broadcast on CBS back in 1972, but I don't remember how they fit Ted Baxter into the production.  I'm assuming that he was used to introduce the show, calling upon his skills as a Serlinguist to talk to the Trueniverse audience.

I hope you enjoy it, no matter who you voted for......

From left to right:
Jesse White, Jim Backus, Michelle Lee, Jack Gilford, 
Carroll O'Connor, Cloris Leachman, Paul Hartman
(To me, Backus looks more like Herb Vigran.)

BCnU!


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