Bonus Video! The Golden Girls' Weirdest Projects
Added 2022-01-09 18:00:05 +0000 UTCHello there! And welcome to Fleckman's.
In this week's bonus video, we're taking a look at a few fun things viewers sent me -- and then diving into some fun research I've gathered for an upcoming Golden Girls video, wheeeeeee! Check out some of the early pre-Golden Girls projects that the gals did: Rue McClanahan was in a super cheap gaysploitation flick in 1971, Estelle Getty played a lesbian on stage (as Estelle Gettleman), and Bea Arthur once saved a gay bar on Maude. And then we'll examine some of their more ... uh ... offbeat, let's say, projects, ranging from a song with Steve Urkel to a collaboration with Alf to a cat video that makes me light-headed.
- If the embed doesn't work, try this link:
https://youtu.be/U9tEKwN549M - Here's Estelle Getty at an HIV fundraiser: https://youtu.be/I3cj4cUPCHA
- And Rue taking care of cats: https://youtu.be/JaWTZ6jnTJ4
- The Bobbi Silver interview: https://www.allaccess.com/top40-mainstream/10-questions/archive/3755/10-questions-with-bobbi-silver
Comments
I had (or maybe still have buried in a box somewhere) a book that was all the Julian and Sandy sections from Round The Horne collected together - which had a very useful (but slightly censored} glossary at the back. They were written as far as I can remember by Barry Took and Marty Feldman. Ome Palones trolling about and all that.
Grocky Groc
2022-02-01 13:15:06 +0000 UTCThere is a great book Fabulosa! The Story of Polari, Britain's Secret Gay Language Book by Paul Baker. Strangely, enough it mentions an amateur theatre group called "Vada" that I was part of, when I lived in Manchester for a year. My first experience of Polari was when I was very young (less than 10?), I used to go to sleep listening to episodes of Round the Horne. Let's not speculate what effect that had on me. I am sure that you have seen this too but there is a recent short film in Polari - https://youtu.be/Y8yEH8TZUsk
Robin Andrews
2022-01-23 20:32:21 +0000 UTCAh that's very helpful, thank you! Been quite a while since I've seen that one.
Matt Baume
2022-01-21 05:16:05 +0000 UTCThere is at least a minor use of Polari in Privates on Parade (1983 film) "Vada with care"
George Barrett III
2022-01-21 00:42:52 +0000 UTCThis is such a good observation -- maybe we just don't NOTICE it as much as we used to.
Matt Baume
2022-01-18 06:19:16 +0000 UTCThere was a British version of The Golden Girls that I think was probably not very good! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si6JV1bFoMo
Matt Baume
2022-01-18 06:16:38 +0000 UTCIt's weird, but Golden Girls was never big in the UK, so I don't think I've ever actually seen a full episode, but it is one of those things that is referenced so much in US media that I feel like I know it. Talking of references, I remember one of the most unexpected was when it was spoofed in The Amazing World of Gumball cartoon: https://youtu.be/mcL8wLxk4Oc
Chris Love
2022-01-17 11:45:11 +0000 UTCHi Matt, polari briefly crept into Doctor Who, five minutes in to episode 4 of the 1974 story “Carnival of Monsters” Jon Pertwee was playing The Doctor, having appeared in several of the Carry On films with, of course, Kenneth Williams. It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it three-sentence use of polari but there it is nonetheless.
Malcolm Hope
2022-01-16 21:08:11 +0000 UTCAnother "TV cinematic universe" that comes to mind is The Good Wife and its spinoff show The Good Fight. I hadn't seen either show at all but had heard great things about both. Christine Baranski is the lead in The Good Fight, and has always been a cheerleader for LGBT causes as well. I loved her cameo as "Anne Marwood Bartle" in the movie Jeffrey from 1995. Hope this helps, and keep up the great work, Matt! :)
Jason Pagano
2022-01-15 14:48:42 +0000 UTCThat cat video bit gave me major "Whiskers R We" vibes. Wonder if Kate McKinnon used it for inspiration.
Adam Quartarolo
2022-01-11 00:34:39 +0000 UTCI'm sure you've seen, but this is a nice piece on Polari from the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180212-polari-the-code-language-gay-men-used-to-survive
David A. Diaz
2022-01-10 21:36:08 +0000 UTCRegarding the comment about there not being any shared universes anymore... there actually are still quite a few around. All of the NCIS shows operate in the same universe and once crossed over with Hawaii Five-0. All of the CW superhero shows are connected and often have a big crossover event each season. All of the Dick Wolf procedural shows (three Chicagos, three FBIs, two soon to be three Law & Orders). The Chicago shows on NBC all air on Wednesday nights and have a couple of crossovers between them a season, sometimes involving all three shows (much like GG, Empty Nest, and Nurses used to do). The Chicago shows have had crossovers with Law & Order franchise (all on NBC), There was even a 2020 crossover between Chicago PD and CBS' FBI, even though they're on different networks. So, no shortage of crossovers these days. Sitcom crossovers are a bit more sparse but then, so are sitcoms. Earlier this season, all of the ABC comedies guest-starred veterans of the original Wonder Years, to help launch the current reboot. Not a crossover but, a running theme -- like the night that a blackout affected NBC's Thursday night sitcoms or when a hurricane hit NBC's Saturday night comedies. Hope that helps!
Trevor
2022-01-10 21:24:58 +0000 UTCOh wow, I think I saw bits of that Rue McLanahan movie with the goblin dealies. I couldn't tell you what it was about, though...
Nicolas Demers
2022-01-10 02:33:02 +0000 UTCThere's a translation in the comments, but here's the most conversational Polari I've come across, since Kenneth Horne doing the Julian and Sandy bit only threw in a few words per sketch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8yEH8TZUsk
Dani Gould
2022-01-09 23:40:00 +0000 UTCDude that cat video… ya gotta put a warning with that, I just spat coffee all over my keyboard! 🤣🤣🤣
Emerlion
2022-01-09 23:34:05 +0000 UTCNot sure if anyone else mentioned this, but Fran hired Rita to play her mother on Happily Divorced back in 2011.
Chance 'C.S.R.' Calloway
2022-01-09 21:48:10 +0000 UTCHey, Matt. Just wanted to tank you for playing that "Welcome to Fleckmans'" song again....just in time to put it back into my earwig playlist. 👍😉
Irisarc
2022-01-09 21:12:47 +0000 UTCYes, I was about to say the same thing. Looking back at the lyrics now I realize now how little I really understand of them, although that's probably true with a lot of his songs
Mighty Jabba's Collection
2022-01-09 20:51:38 +0000 UTCShared Universe tidbit: Most of Bryan Fuller's works exist in the same universe. George Lass from Dead Like Me is in Hannibal, as is Gretchen Speck from Wonderfalls.The character of Maryanne Marie Beetle (Beth Grant!) from Wonderfalls also appears in Pushing Daisies and his Munsters-reboot attempt, 1313 Mockingbird Lane. Also: Wonderfalls was surprisingly queer for 2004. One of the main characters is a lesbian in a relationship with a bi woman. Not as queer, but Rue McClanahan and Louise Fletcher appear in the episode Barrel Bear playing sworn enemies. Alas, the show was short lived and only lasted a few episodes. Everything is available on YouTube or DVD. Lastly, I'd need to crack into my copy when I get home from traveling, but there may be some mention of Polari in the gay slang chapter of Donald Webster Corey/Edward Sagarin's The Homosexual In America.
Fred Maxon
2022-01-09 20:38:10 +0000 UTCUh, about that shared universe: I think you should do a video for Norman Lear's 100th birthday this year. His long history of gay positive work in TV (All in the Family, Maude, Mary Hartmann) to his political work through People For the American Way, is well documented but never connected. SO MUCH material! (Hot L anyone?)
EstrafalarioDC
2022-01-09 19:12:32 +0000 UTCMorrissey's "Piccadilly Palare" off his "Bona Drag" album is where I first heard of Polari.
Jason Dugger
2022-01-09 18:21:49 +0000 UTC
