Category Archives: The Bootleg Files

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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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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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The Bootleg Files – B.C.: The First Thanksgiving

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BOOTLEG FILES 887: “B.C.: The First Thanksgiving” (1973 animated television special).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On a VHS video release.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Probably not.

The transition from newspaper comic strip to film or television production is not an easy journey. For every “Popeye the Sailor” or “Peanuts” that seamlessly moved from the funny pages to the screen, there are too many comic strips that tried and failed to make the jump.
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The Bootleg Files: The Wonderful Land of Oz

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BOOTLEG FILES 886: “The Wonderful Land of Oz” (1969 kiddie matinee feature).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On public domain-friendly platforms.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A lapsed copyright.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: This is just what The Criterion Collection needs!

On this particular day – November 22, 2024, to be precise – most moviegoers are fixated on the release of the big-budget musical “Wicked.” But since I prefer the rat-a-tat-tat from a different drum, I am venturing to a lower rent corner of the Yellow Brick Road to celebrate the no-budget 1969 feature “The Wonderful Land of Oz.”
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The Bootleg Files: Around the Beatles

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BOOTLEG FILES 885: “Around the Beatles” (1964 British television special).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Bits and pieces of the show turned up on home entertainment release.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: The full show has been unavailable for years.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

Sixty years ago today, ABC broadcast “Around the Beatles,” an hour-long musical special that was first broadcast on Britain’s ITV on May 6, 1964. This production was notable as the rare television variety special with the Beatles as the starring attraction – for the most part, the Fab Four only showed up as guests on someone else’s small-screen music and comedy revue.
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The Bootleg Files: The Slim Whitman Commercials

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BOOTLEG FILES 884: “The Slim Whitman Commercials” (a series of television advertisements featuring the yodeling country singer).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No perceived re-release value.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

If you were watching American television in the 1980s, there’s a good chance that you’ll remember commercials for albums featuring Slim Whitman. These commercials resonated with audiences – mostly for the wrong reasons – but they managed to reanimate the career of a unique performer who was mostly forgotten in his own country.
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The Bootleg Files: Let the Good Times Roll

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BOOTLEG FILES 883: “Let the Good Times Roll” (1973 concert film featuring Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bo Diddley).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Music rights clearance issues are a big obstacle.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

During the early 1970s, there was a wave of nostalgia for the music and pop culture of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Broadway musical “Grease,” the movie “American Graffiti” and the sitcom “Happy Days” were the most prominent examples of this retro celebration of the era, while Sha Na Na kept the old tunes alive with their kinetic stage and television appearances, but a series of concerts dubbed “The Rock and Roll Revival” brought a number of the prominent music stars from that period to perform their old hits for admiring audiences.
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