The Bootleg Files: A Special Valentine with the Family Circus

Posted on February 14, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 897: “A Special Valentine with the Family Circus” (1978 animated television special).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On VHS video.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Oh, God, I hope not.

If you ever want to encounter the most passionate vitriol to stain the Internet, type in the words “Family Circus Hate” into your search engine and then set aside several hours to read the blog posts and forum messages from people who have an aggressive loathing to that long-running newspaper comic strip “The Family Circus” about a wholesome family and their treacly-thick approach to life’s minor inanities. But if you really love to hate “The Family Circus” – or if you really hate yourself and you feel that you need to be punished for genuine or perceived character flaws – then please set aside about a half-hour to endure the 1978 animated TV special “A Special Valentine with the Family Circus.”
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The Bootleg Files: Broadway Open House

Posted on December 6, 2024 by Phil Hall

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: Dames at Sea

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 849: “Dames at Sea” (1971 made-for-television musical starring Ann-Margret, Ann Miller and Anne Meara).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: There could be a rights issue preventing its release.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

In 1966, the tiny Caffe Cino in New York City’s Greenwich Village offered “Dames at Sea, or Golddiggers Afloat,” a good-natured send-up of the 1930s Warner Bros. musicals. With music by Jim Wise and lyrics and a book by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller, this 50-minute mini-production presented an unknown 18-year-old Bernadette Peters as Ruby, a send-up of the kid-in-the-chorus-who-becomes-a-star role that Ruby Keeler played in the yesteryear extravaganzas.
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The Bootleg Files: Diana

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 739: “Diana” (1973-74 sitcom starring Diana Rigg).

LAST SEEN: One episode is on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Unavailable for many years.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Unlikely.

Yesterday brought the sad news of the passing of Dame Diana Rigg at the age of 82, and there were countless tributes to her glory days as Emma Peel on the cult television series “The Avengers” along with her performances in film classics “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and “Theater of Blood” and her late-career success in “Game of Thrones.” Much less attention was paid to one of Rigg’s more curious endeavors: an American sitcom called “Diana” that ran for 15 episodes in the 1973-74 television season. In a career that was rich with artistic and commercial successes, “Diana” was a very rare misfire for the gifted actress.
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The Bootleg Files: The Jack Benny Birthday Special

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 673: “The Jack Benny Birthday Special” (1969 TV special).

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.

During the mid-1960s into the early 1970s, Jack Benny made a number of TV specials that aired on NBC. Most of these offerings were pleasant but entirely forgettable, and Benny often seemed to be dialing in his performances.
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