Wednesday, February 08, 2023

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Game

Began my morning with breakfast and writing. Jo Ann insists she has a really big story, but Allen says for her to save it for their pre-show meeting. Richard points out that the Ace she speaks of is just a myth passed around by criminals, but Jo Ann argues that he's very real, and he saved her. 

Watched Match Game '75 while I got ready to go. While Gene happily plugs his wife Helen on Tattletales that week (and he had his reasons - they really were funny on that show), Fannie Flagg shows off her Charlie Chaplin sweater and Charles announces to Gene that it's time for his bath after his attempt to explain about the Statue of Liberty doesn't quite work for the contestant. The others don't do as well with "__ Cast" in the Audience Match. There's also the extremely nervous contestant who bounces her feet in the platform heels that were popular in the 70s.

Headed out even before the episode ended. I was right on time...but that turned out to be a moot point. I ended up spending all but the last hour of my shift sweeping, pushing carts, and returning cold items. Truth be told, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. It was maybe a little too gorgeous for February here today, sunny, breezy, and likely in the mid-upper 50's. It was pretty busy early-on, but died quickly once the sun went down. By the time I was on a register, we were so quiet, I was able to shut down and return a few cold items and heavy items with no trouble.

Put on Match Game Syndicated while eating dinner. Charles and Brett really aren't impressed with David Doyle's answer to why Dumb Dora the interior decorator protests us making treaties with them and give him the "Pathetic Answer Award." They don't get David's impressions, either. 

Finished out the night on Amazon Prime after a shower with Midnight Madness. Five college students - student counselor Adam (David Naughton), his slovenly brother Harold (Stephan Furst), ardent feminist Donna (Maggie Roswell), geeky debate team captain Wesley (Eddie Deezen), and beer-crazed jock Lavitas (Brad Wilkin) - join "The Great All-Nighter," an overnight game concocted by graduate student Leon (Alan Solomon). The four teams drive around LA, looking for clues at various locations. The first team to find the last clue and get to Game Control wins.

Things get out of control very quickly. Harold starts off with a computer in his van that can decode any clues, but that gets ruined after he uses it to hide marshmallows from his whiny girlfriend Lucille (Patricia Alice Albrecht). Adam and his friends Laura (Debra Clinger) and Marvin (David Damas) first pick up his counseling client Flynch (Joel Kennedy), then his little brother Scott (Michael J Fox, making his film debut) when he finds the boy running away. Lavitas leaps into a vat of beer at a brewery, while the debaters end up helping the feminists after a fight at a pinball arcade gets wild. Meanwhile, Leon's landlady (Irene Tedrow) wants to throw him out for all the noise he's making. She thinks the other tenants will back her up, but they all end up helping with the game instead.

Would you believe Disney made this in 1980? Like Condorman and most of their other movies from the late 70's and early 80's, this isn't something they mention often or promote today, and it's not on Disney Plus...but don't let that deter you from checking it out. This movie is hilarious. The cast is obviously having a terrific time running around LA and just roll with the lunacy. Like The Return of Captain Invincible from three years later, this is one of those comedies that's so insane, it really lives in its own world where logic doesn't apply. There's a cameo from Paul Rubens in a cowboy suit, for heaven's sake. Highly recommended for fans of Animal House-style frat comedies or those who want to see something truly unique from the House of Mouse. 

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