TONIGHT'S DVD REVIEW: Big John Little John: The Complete Series (Fabulous Films/VCI, 10/2/12)

(All images courtesy Fabulous Films/VCI)

SYNOPSIS: When John Martin (Herb Edelman) takes his wife, Marjorie (Joyce Bulifant), and son, Ricky (Mike Darnell), on a summer vacation to Ponce de Leon Park in Florida, the science teacher accidentally drinks water from the legendary Fountain of Youth. Sometime after returning to his job at Madison Junior High School, the water works its magic, transforming the forty-something-year-old man* into a younger version of himself at age twelve (Robbie Rist), but only in how he looks and talks (usually). As he labors to find a cure for his affliction, John must cover up his unpredictable changes from big to small (and vice versa) by passing off his youthful form as his visiting nephew, a.k.a. "Little John". Marjorie and Ricky help to keep his secret under wraps from people like John's students Homer (Kristoff St. John), Valerie (Cari Anne Warder), and Stanley (Stephen Cassidy), as well as the school principal, Miss Bertha Bottomly (Olive Dunbar). From there, chaos and shenanigans ensue.

BACKGROUND: BJLJ was produced during the 1970s, when a revived interest in live action shows for Saturday morning was rampant on the three major TV networks (ABC, CBS and NBC), primarily due to a backlash begun in the late '60s by parents, educators and psychologists (like Dr. Fredric Wertham) against the dominance of cartoons (violent or otherwise) on their schedules. With few exceptions, most live-action shows didn't last beyond one season, but that didn't deter producers from making more, as long as there was a demand for them. So it went that Sherwood Schwartz, creator of the popular, kid-friendly The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island, took a shot at a Saturday morning series.

Herb Edelman

One interesting anecdote I remember reading a while back about the short-lived Saturday morning program Big John Little John (NBC 1976-1977) stated co-creator/executive producer Sherwood Schwartz had developed the series for child star Robbie Rist as an "apology" of sorts for the unexpected cancellation of his hit sitcom The Brady Bunch in 1974. Back then, Robbie had been added on as Cousin Oliver in a desperate measure to inject some fresh youth into the show since the six Brady kids were no longer young or cute, but his inclusion (recognized by the burned-out writers as a mistake after the first "Oliver" story was in the can) didn't save it from getting the ax. Two years later, Sherwood and his son, Lloyd, created BJLJ, giving Robbie a crack at a potential TV smash.

Some apology.

Okay, it's too easy to criticize a '70s low-budget kids' show, but while other ones of the era manage to transcend their frugality (such as Isis and The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show), BJLJ is bogged down by it. Despite having a premise tailor-made for kids and an agreeable ensemble of actors, BJLJ is a cheap, superficial series with a few laughs and not much else. If Sherwood had done the show in the 1960s, it might have had a better chance at longevity. He certainly would've had enough money behind it to pull off the concept better than how it turned out in '76.)

Homer's backyard, complete with shadows cast on the blue sky.

How cheap is it? Visually, the show looks rough because episodes were videotaped and then transferred to film, but that's the least of its woes. There's some tacky set construction, lumbering staging, crude editing, and even poor lighting — POOR LIGHTING! (I can't hardly recall ever seeing any TV show that wasn't, at least, well-lit until I reacquainted myself with BJLJ.) If the comedy were more frequent, these technicalities could be overlooked, but as the gags often come at a slow pace, they distract the viewer unnecessarily. After working on sitcoms with substantial budgets, BJLJ felt like a step backward for Sherwood and company, particularly with the need to adapt to new technology (video cameras) and the restriction to what appears to be minimal studio space.

Whereas GI and TBB had a finely-crafted balance of comedy, characterization, and good storytelling that made them readily accessible to children (then and now), BJLJ makes the mistake of oversimplifying the scripts for the Saturday morning target audience, undermining many good story ideas with thin dialogue, clunky humor, and the stretching of comic logic beyond its limits. Sherwood and Lloyd may have done this to appease NBC's Standards and Practices division; in the process, they pulled back too much, and such restraint really neuters the comedy somewhat.

Robbie Rist

The cast members try their best to make the slight material work with mixed results. At times, there are even brief moments when reliable actors like Herb Edelman, Joyce Bulifant, Olive Dunbar, and Robbie Rist display (I swear) actual exasperation on their faces as they say something or do a bit of shtick they know isn't funny. Importantly, because they aren't totally committed to their roles, it's hard to warm up to any of the characters, which is a death sentence to a sitcom. Again, this inconsistency in the acting may be related to the budget  (a tight shooting schedule where retakes were rare), but this can't be confirmed. I'll also guess the veteran actors signed on to the series as a favor for Sherwood because of a connection they had with him (e.g., Joyce was once a contender for Carol Brady), as I can't envision anyone but a starving actor auditioning for the show after reading one script.

left to right: Kristoff St. John and Cari Anne Warder

BJLJ isn't a total loss, even if most of the stories don't have good payoffs. Highlights include "Peter Panic", with Big John cast in the school play as Captain Hook...and Little John as Peter Pan; "Very Little John", where Marjorie and Rick believe a baby left in John's care is John in an even younger state; and "Big Scare, Little Scare", where John's students think the Crabtree mansion is haunted, but John and Miss Bottomly are skeptical. However, the best episode is "Abracadabra" (written by David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams), in which aspiring magician Homer is convinced he changed Little John into Big John. Here, like in the other shows, future soap star Kristoff St. John is a scene-stealer as Homer. (It's evident the writers like him, so he's given some choice quips to say, and his buoyant personality enables him to roll with the punches when he has less dynamic lines to recite.)

The 2-DVD set from Fabulous Films (a UK company) was initially available only as an import in 2009; the US release was left in a legal limbo until VCI picked up the distribution rights just this year. The video, advertised as "fully restored", isn't quite that, but it looks sort of clean, the picture quality ranging from very good to fair, sometimes from one scene to the next. The audio is in its original mono, which occasionally gets noisy during loud passages, but it's never diabolical. Among the "special features", a show synopsis and an episode guide are also found in the packaging of the DVD case, which leaves a stills gallery as the only actual bonus item, and it's a skimpy one. There are no subtitles or closed captioning for the hard of hearing.

Herb Edelman and Joyce Bulifant

BJLJ has the unique distinction of being the first Sherwood Schwartz "flop" series to make it to DVD, but it also may be the one that could've been left in the vault and not missed at all. Whatever warmth I once had for the program dimmed as I watched it again through older eyes. To me, the unintentional laughs now outnumber the intentional ones; others are bound to get more of a nostalgic buzz from it. If you have children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews five years of age or younger, it's okay to watch with them, but they'll likely outgrow it quickly. It's safe for a rental, but you buy it at your own risk.

POST SCRIPT:  Despite the failure of BJLJ, Sherwood Schwartz's subsequent projects for NBC did bear fruit. In 1978, the first of three Gilligan's Island reunion movies aired (one of those a failed pilot for a new show), followed by The Brady Girls Get Married film and its spin-off series, The Brady Brides.

AND NOW, A WORD FROM R.A.M. '67:

Cobweb TV! Ranking for Big John, Little John: The Complete Series--

NEXT TIME ON... COBWEB TV!

(DC Comics/Warner Home Video)

Keeping it trivial....

R.A.M.'67

* - The catchy theme song has John's age at forty. One episode says he's forty-five. Herb Edelman was forty-two when BJLJ was produced.

TONIGHT'S EPISODE: 1001 Individuals More Memorable than Charlie Sheen.... #99 - Joanna Pettet!

Many apologies for the extended delay, caused by working on my other Blogger page. Intervals between posts shall be shorter from now on....

What you are about to read is a continuation of a feature found on that other blog, but here, the entries will focus on celebrities better known through their work on Cobweb TV. This series serves to remind us of the two simplest reasons why Charlie Sheen (and his ego) was never worth all the money he asked for (and got) while appearing on Two and a Half Men (CBS, 2003-present):

1) Some better performers can act circles around the guy. (He hasn't had a real acting challenge in years.)

2) Sometimes, hiring a jerk to play a jerk on TV makes them an even bigger jerk.

The people to be profiled here are (or were) good actors and actresses with none (or little) of the hangups Sheen now basks in, and their body of quality Cobweb TV work outpaces Sheen's best work on TV and motion pictures combined. Also, they (more often than not) give great performances at a fraction of the cost Sheen squeezed out of those saps at Warner Brothers Television. (To Sheen's credit, after months of constantly being in the media spotlight, he appears to have calmed down and is currently keeping a lower profile.)

Joanna on Banacek (All Banacek images courtesy NBCUniversal.)

Thanks to the DVD format, I've had the pleasure of catching up with one of my favorite Cobweb TV actresses, the underrated Joanna Pettet. If one considers she (basically) went from an aspiring career in movies to TV, one would think there was something wrong with her. Watching her act in both, however, she consistently delivered good performances, regardless of the scripts. From a visual standpoint, she had a slim, refined (almost regal) beauty made for being seen on a big screen, and once she began appearing on the small screen with regularity, Cobweb TV was more than graced with her presence.

(Google images)

Born in London, England, during the Second World War, Joanna eventually came to relocate to the US to study a variation of Method acting with Stanford Meisner. Her first professional acting jobs began with roles on Broadway and TV (debuting on an episode of Route 66 in 1964). Still, it took being discovered by director Sidney Lumet for his movie The Group (1966) to make her the proverbial household name.

As "Mata Bond" in Casino Royale. (Google images)

Other movie roles followed; the one most familiar to many will be the spy spoof Casino Royale (1967). Though it ranked third among the top moneymakers at the US box office that year, reviewers criticized it for being the troubled, excessive production it was. (CR's reputation would be redeemed somewhat by the passage of time and the Austin Powers movies.) Included in the advertising blitz that helped sell the film was a Playboy pictorial featuring Joanna.

Despite being featured in such a big hit, film roles began to lessen in frequency around the time she married actor Alex Cord (and gave birth to a son, Damien) in 1968. Fortunately, her TV work began to pick up at the close of the decade into the 1970s. One of my favorite TV guest shots of hers around this time was on the 1972 Night Gallery segment "The Caterpillar", featuring Laurence Harvey as the ill-fated recipient of the title character. (She did four NG stories in total, one where she co-starred with Alex.)

Joanna kept active from the '70s through the '80s, guest starring on shows ranging from Banacek to Murder, She Wrote, even becoming a (temporary) series regular on nine episodes of Knot's Landing. She also starred in TV movies (Pioneer Woman, Winner Take All, The Return of Frank Cannon), a miniseries (Captains and the Kings), Hollywood Squares, and even an ABC Afterschool Special (her last TV work, according to IMDb).

Joanna with Alan Bates in 2003. (Google images)

During those busy years, Joanna's life took some tough hits. Her friend, Sharon Tate, was murdered in her home on August 8, 1969, by followers of Charles Manson, hours after having lunch there with Joanna and another woman. In 1989, she got divorced from Alex Cord after 21 years. A year later, she retired from acting after a bad experience while filming a movie (for Roger Corman) in the Philippines. In 1995, her son's death by a heroin overdose drove her into isolation for years. This retreat was interrupted when she became the travelling companion of her dying friend, actor Alan Bates, until he passed on from cancer in 2003. As of this date, she is believed to be living in California, still in retirement.

(Shout! Factory)

As for recent Joanna sightings on "TV on DVD" collections, you'll find her on the fifth season of Mannix (released 7/5/11) and the second season of Police Woman (released 2/7/12). In the months ahead, watch for her in the third (and final) season of Night Gallery (arriving 4/10/12). Also, since Shout! Factory has picked up the rights to the remaining seasons of Fantasy Island (the second season arriving 5/8/12); it's likely her three appearances on there will all be available for home viewing soon. (If anybody knows of any other upcoming DVDs with her I've overlooked, please let me know here at Cobweb TV! by a comment. Thank you!)

In closing, let's enjoy some more screen captures from Joanna's appearance on the Banacek episode "Project Phoenix"!

With George Peppard

THE END (Love those patches!)

NEXT TIME ON... COBWEB TV!

(Discovery Communications, Inc.)

Keeping it trivial....

R.A.M.'67