Author Archives: Phil Hall

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The Bootleg Files: A Muppet Family Christmas

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BOOTLEG FILES 890: “A Muppet Family Christmas” (1987 television special with Kermit the Frog and a lot of friends).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On VHS and DVD, but in edited versions.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Rights clearance issues.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not unless someone pays a lot of money to straighten things out.

This week’s column is different from its predecessors because the subject in the spotlight, the 1987 television special “A Muppet Family Christmas,” has been commercially released on VHS video and DVD. The problem is that the North American home entertainment format releases were forced to edit out a significant amount of musical numbers due to the problems in clearing the music rights for the songs. Even worse, the production has never been on Blu-ray, has never been on any streaming service and has been absent from broadcast television for decades – with little to no hope of being seen again in its entirety.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Foxy by Proxy (1952)

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Foxy by Proxy (1952)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Virgil Ross, Arthur Davis, Manuel Perez, Ken Champin
Music by Carl Stalling

This minor, mild cartoon is a rough remake of the 1940 Tex Avery-directed “Of Fox and Hounds,” with a dimwitted dog participating in a fox hunt. In that film, the poor dumb dog has trouble comprehending that his sly new friend is a fox. In this 1952 go-round, Bugs Bunny plays tricks on the dense canine by dressing up as a fox and leading him into frustration.
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The Bootleg Files: Bob Hope’s Comedy Christmas Special

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BOOTLEG FILES 889: “Bob Hope’s Comedy Christmas Special” (1976 television offering wit guests John Wayne, Dyan Cannon and Neil Sedaka).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A perceived lack of commercial viability.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: No thanks for these memories!

On this day in 1976, NBC showed its contempt for the American public by broadcasting “Bob Hope’s Comedy Christmas Special” in prime time.

Okay, maybe that introduction was a wee bit harsh. This particular production wasn’t that bad – but as with most of Hope’s 1970s specials, it wasn’t that good, either. While Hope managed to score a number of humorous one-liners in this 90-minute presentation, the show was mostly too safe, too sedate and too square to resonate.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever – Operation: Rabbit (1952)

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Operation: Rabbit (1952)
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Phil Monroe
Music by Carl Stalling

Prior to the 1952 “Operation: Rabbit,” Bugs Bunny’s foes could be classified in one of four categories: the dimwitted hunter, the hotheaded loudmouth, the pompous authority figure, and the smart-ass who consistently played Bugs for a chump – Cecil Turtle and the gremlin in “Falling Hare” were among the rare detractors who kept getting the best of him.
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10 Films That Need to Be on the National Film Registry

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This year’s list of 25 films to be added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry should be announced in the next few days. And while the National Film Registry has many obvious classics – not to mention more than a few oddities – there are still a surprisingly high number of landmark works that have yet to be enshrined within its ranks.

For what it’s worth, I would like to offer my list of 10 films that are long overdue inclusion on the National Film Registry’s list of “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films.”
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The Bootleg Files: Broadway Open House

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BOOTLEG FILES 888: “Broadway Open House” (1950-51 television series that pioneered the concept of late-night television).

LAST SEEN: Two extant episodes are online.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A combination of music rights issues and a low survival rate of kinescoped episodes.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Probably not.

The other day, I was scanning through social media and I came upon a posting from a news organization with a headline that read something like “Jimmy Kimmel Rips Trump’s Economic Proposals” – and under the headline was a picture of the obnoxious late-night host squinting and scowling while he was reading his agitprop from a TelePrompter. My reaction to this was negative – really, who wants to end their day watching a painfully unfunny late-night host bloviating for the zillionth time about his hatred of Donald Trump? Then, another thought hit me. We all know where late-night television is today, with its emetic hosts spewing far-left political commentary before engaging in vapid faux-interviews with the current line-up of dreary talent. But I wanted to know where late-night television began and what yesteryear’s audiences enjoyed at the end of their days. The answer: it began in 1950 with a show called “Broadway Open House,” and the story of its rise and fall is nothing short of astonishing.
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