inDecision 92: Election Night: Fragment

inDecision 92: Election Night: Fragment
Comedy Central
November 3, 1992
Politics
VHS
B-

Future Senator Al Franken and company, including Joy Behar, Roy Blount, Jr. and Buck Henry, cover Bill Clinton's election from a humorous and decidedly Democratic angle.  There are some slow moments, but it's worth watching again for things like footage of Calvin Trillin at the Republican Convention interviewing "the wrong George Bush," i.e. the giddy, somewhat goofy eldest son of the President.  Note that CC used this opportunity to promote not only Gaffney's Women Aloud but three of the classic sitcoms it was then airing:  Bilko, Car 54, and That Girl.  (I don't have enough space to tag Phil Silvers, but, yes, he was also on a great episode of Gilligan's Island.)

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns

This episode

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns
Movietime
Late December 1989
Talk Show
VHS
B-

This "best of" covers the nine months of the show, not every episode, but quite a few.  Ellerbee is tagged for the discussion of her Maxwell House commercial.  Burns concludes with a hope that WoM can find another home, but as far as I know it didn't.  Pity, since it would've been interesting to hear the panel react to the '90s.

As for the '80s, this probably isn't the last of my shows from that decade, since the '70s keep popping up.  But this is as good a place as any to get ready for another decade summary....

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns

Almost 20 years after this episode

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns
Movietime
December 14, 1989
Talk Show
VHS
B

I'm guessing since Burns ended the '80s look-back episode with a promise to look ahead at the '90s the next time, that this aired a week after the one from December 7th.  (Or maybe that's when these were taped.  No matter.)  In any case, they get some things right about the '90s, like the "nerding of America" and the increasing fragmentation of the television audience with the continuing impact of cable, and some things wrong, like the "moralistic" attitudes of computer nerds and, thank goodness, the marketing of videotapes with a very short shelf life.  This is the "next to last" episode, with the compilation coming up....

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns

From this episode!

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns
Movietime
December 7, 1989
Talk Show
VHS
B

Merrill Markoe uploaded this to her Youtube channel, and it has the airdate, so I can be more precise than usual.  (Plus one of the panelists points out that it's after the Thanksgiving episode.)  Having five rather than four people seems to make for a livelier discussion, or maybe the general topic of "The Eighties" helps.  Note that Schickel says that in a decade of "greased pigs," Donald Trump was "the greasiest and the piggiest."  And I used to quote Markoe's line about Madonna, "She's been blonde, she's been brunette...," for years afterwards.

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns
Movietime
Early December 1989
Talk Show
VHS
B-

If there's any doubt that '89 was another time, consider the discussion of Tip O'Neill's commercials for Clarion Hotel.  I mean, it seems pretty mild compared to Bob Dole hawking Viagra.  Note that in the poll for the ten men that teenagers admire most, #1 is Michael Jordan, with Reagan and Trump just behind.  Merrill's Corner briefly displays plastic daggers that were marketed as party favors for children over 3.

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns

Again, a different episode

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns
Movietime
Late November 1989
Talk Show
VHS
B-

Van Gordon Sauter is off on a Thanksgiving or post-Thanksgiving holiday, although he and Burns pretaped a segment.  Harry Shearer is a welcome substitute, and not just for his Jackie Mason impression.  The panel of "misanthropes" talk about what they're grateful for.  And Merrill explains the differences between "Muesli" (with an umlaut) and "Mueslix" (with an X).

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns

Probably an earlier episode

Movietime

November 1989

Talk Show

VHS

B-

Low-budget cable show with interesting discussions of pop culture and sometimes high culture.  It started running the previous spring and would be off the air less than two months after this, but I was a loyal viewer in the meantime.  Burns is the producer and host, with the following regular panelists:

• Merrill Markoe, "columnist and international beauty," as well as former producer of The David Letterman Show;
• Movie critic Richard Schickel;
• Van Gordon Sauter, former head of CBS news.

The four of them argue and amuse each other and, in the case of Merrill this episode, provide candy.  Sauter is the token right-winger, or maybe it's libertarian, so at one point he and Schickel, who has an "existential" attitude towards the government, get into an argument about the stealth bomber.  Towards the end of the episode comes Merrill's Corner, this time examining dog toys.  Note that the Berlin Wall's destruction on November 9th is briefly discussed, so that dates this episode roughly to the middle of that month.