Black Bart

[james_davis_nicoll]

Because Harvey Korman just died, I rented Blazing Saddles. One of the extras was the pilot episode of Black Bart, which I had never seen before.

It wasn't good in a not-good way peculiar to the mid-1970s. It was interesting how they tried to stick as close to the characters from the film while at the same time removing anything even vaguely edgy or amusing from the characters. It was as devoid of actual humour content as you might wish, although it was still funnier than Black Fly, and the laugh track just highlighted how inept the writing was.

I note that the alcoholic Kid is now the alcoholic "Reb" Jordan, although they didn't make much of him having fought for the south, which since Black Bart is established as a former slave you'd think would come up in conversation now and then. Reb is played by Steve Landesberg, whose early pre-Dietrich choices of roles were not always the best (He was also in When Things Were Rotten).

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I grew up with Korman on the Carol Burnett Show. I'm afraid to go back and watch that stuff on YouTube, because I remember it as insanely, roll-on-the-floor funny, and I fear my thirty-plus-years-later self might not be so very amused.

That said, Korman /was/ funny. He was a damn good comic actor. It's never been clear to me why his career wobbled after the CB show ended, and then pretty much disappeared after about 1980.


Doug M.

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

One reason he didn't have much work was the variety show format pretty disappeared in the '80s. I saw an interview he did for some entertainment show not that many years ago and he admitted that he didn't have those elusive qualities needed to headline a show himself and I guess he didn't feel like being the second banana or wacky neighbor on some 80's style sitcom. I do wish he would have gotten more film work.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

The interview he gave that was included in the extras indicated that he thought he was the actor people turned to only after they discovered they could not get the ones that they wanted.

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

Well that was stupid thinking. I'm glad Mel Brooks didn't believe that.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

How do you know Mel Brooks didn't believe that?

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

I don't know that for sure, but it sure seems that way because Brooks cast him in several movies and had very nice things to say when he died.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

The sketch about siamese elephant still makes me laugh, if that helps.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

The same's probably true for me, but... his longtime foil Tim Conway was actually pretty funny in a recent episode of 30 Rock.