The Bootleg Files: John Denver and the Muppets – A Christmas Together

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 822: “John Denver and The Muppets – A Christmas Together” (1979 television special).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It was never made available on any home entertainment format.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe next Christmas?

When I was kid in yesteryear, every Christmas season would bring a surplus number of television specials tied to the holiday. Some specials became annual events, such as “A Charlie Brown Christmas” or “Frosty the Snowman,” but most seemed to be one-and-done affairs that might have been lost to obscurity had it not been for the prescience of pop culture vultures to videotape those shows and save them for future viewing.
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The Bootleg Files: The Farmer Brown PSAs

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 821: “The Farmer Brown PSAs” (a series of late-1970s public service announcements produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Old PSAs that have been out of release for decades.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not on their own, but maybe in an anthology collection.

During the late 1970s, there was a growing level of concern among pediatricians, nutritionists and parents’ groups regarding the diet of the average American youth – that generation was raised amid a proliferation of fast-food eateries and an endless bombardment of advertisements for low-nutrition food and beverages, and the threat to the well-being of the nation’s young people was considered to be significant.
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The Bootleg Files: Sesame Street Episode 847

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 808: “Sesame Street Episode 847” (1976 offering of the TV classic with guest Margaret Hamilton).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Not yet.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It’s complicated.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Who knows?

In the 1970s, character actress Margaret Hamilton experienced a career upswing. She landed the part of Cora, the New England general store manager, in a long-running series of Maxwell House coffee television commercials. And she had a few opportunities to revisit her beloved film role as the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz” in several television appearances, including a kindly visit without her green make-up on “Mister Rogers” and in a wacky and ribald riff (with her green hue) in Paul Lynde’s campy Halloween special.
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The Bootleg Files: Stick Around

Posted on June 3, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 803: “Stick Around” (1977 TV pilot starring Andy Kaufman).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Mostly likely due to rights clearance issues.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Probably not.

During the mid-1970s, Andy Kaufman began to percolate across television in a number of guest appearances on popular programs ranging from Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” to “The Midnight Special” to the premiere episode of “Saturday Night Live.” He was also a regular on Dick Van Dyke’s short-lived 1976 variety show “Van Dyke and Company,” where he used his Foreign Man persona for a running gag of coming out in the middle of a skit and interrupting it with sincere bafflement over what was transpiring on-stage.
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The Bootleg Files: Godspell at Plimoth Plantation

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 788: “Godspell at Plimoth Plantation” (1973 PBS production).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Unlikely.

When the 1971 Off-Broadway musical “Godspell” was adapted into a 1973 movie, it was decided to eschew the black box setting of the intimate theatrical staging and lace the film’s sequences through the streets, rooftops and venues of New York City. In concept, it was a good idea by symbolizing how the parables and philosophy put forth by Jesus in ancient days still had resonance in the contemporary urban world. Whether it actually worked is a matter of opinion.
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The Bootleg Files: The Beatles Forever

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 787: “The Beatles Forever” (1977 all-star train wreck).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No serious person would put this out in front of the public again.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Unlikely.

Fuck that three-part Disney+ rehash of mountains of discarded footage from the making of “Let It Be” – the real Beatles rediscovery emerged on YouTube last week via someone going by the handle of Denton115. This beautiful individual has brought back one of the most brilliantly embarrassing television specials ever dropped on an unsuspecting world: “The Beatles Forever,” a one-hour atrocity that NBC threw on an unsuspecting America on Thanksgiving night of 1977.
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The Bootleg Files: The Bottom Line

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 786: “The Bottom Line” (1975 corporate promotional film for Mobil starring Bill Cullen).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Unlikely.

Corporate sponsored films have been part of the motion picture experience since the silent movies, but most people have never seen the works of this genre – if only because they were never intended to be seen by the general public. These works were company-specific endeavors designed to train and invigorate employees on doing a better job and, not surprisingly, many of these offerings were not particularly entertaining.
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The Films of Richard Pryor: A Second Look

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Phil Hall

Richard Pryor is widely regarded as the greatest stand-up comic, yet his film output was erratic and he often showed himself to be a better dramatic actor than a movie funnyman. On this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” ArmchairCinema.com’s Jerry Dean Roberts discusses Pryor’s strange but often invigorating film career.

The episode can be heard here.