Retro Thing

Edie Adams Variety TV Series First Time On DVD

Ernie Kovacs was a comedy pioneer in the earliest days of TV. His singular humor, his experimentation with the TV medium, and his huge personality all came together into a figure larger than life. It's no wonder that until the time of his death, some might have said that his wife Edie Adams (a star in her own rite) was more-or-less "Mrs. Ernie Kovacs".

After Ernie's untimely death, Edie was faced with massive financial obligations. She put all of her entertainment and business acumen to the test with a return to the stage, the radio, and her own TV variety show (as both lead talent AND producer) that lasted from 1962-1964. Variety shows were hardly rare on the tube in those days, but Edie brought some of that Kovacs innovation to the airwaves.

You never know what to expect from these 21 black and white episodes. Lots of music and guest stars, of course, but you might also see some dramatic acting, comedy sketches, even some visual experimentation. Among my favorites are a monlogue given by Peter Falk as a New York cabbie. Amazingly, the segment is actually shot on a busy NY city street. Few TV producers of the era were ambitious enough to roll those refrigerator-sized cameras outside the studio. Another stunning segment is Edie in London walking among destroyed buildings, still ruined from WWII.

Behind the scenes, the show had staff from Kovacs' earlier shows as well as talent that would go on to create Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. No wonder that the show manages so much eclectic energy for most of its run. The reason you haven't heard of the show is that after those early broadcasts, the master tapes were stored away. In the early 70s Edie heard of these tapes being junked, along with her hushand's other work. She went to great trouble and financial strain to rescue the remaining material, and then she sealed it all away in her vault for decades.While Kovacs' comedy work has enjoyed a certain notoriety and been rebroadcast over the years, "Here's Edie" remained sealed away. No bootleg copies ever existed, no clips on YouTube. So here's your chance to enjoy all of the episodes (including Edie's famous commercials for Murial Cigars) of this hidden gem of a show, just released on DVD. All four discs come to you in a compact package, with a terrific booklet inside authored by her son. Now we can all see that the wife of one of TV's all-time geniuses, was a genius herself too.

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Help out Retro Thing when you pick up a copy of "Here's Edie" on Amazon

"Lost" 1970s Alien Action Figures - Now You Can Horrify Your Holidays

This holiday you can fulfill a nightmare that started way back in the late 70s, but never saw the light of day. Which is both fortunate and apropos. The late 70s proved that movie sci-fi was very much alive, tie-in merchandising even moreso. Star Wars was no fluke - "serious" science fiction films were on their way, and there was great potential to make serious buck at the box office, as well as at the toy counter.

The brooding (and breeding) horror of Ridley Scott's 1979 horror masterpiece "Alien" was as dramatic a move forward in cinema science fiction as Star Wars was two years before. Whereas Lucas' opus captured the spirit of family friendly swashbucklers of years past, Alien had far more in common with gory b movie fare and the stylish gothic Hammer horrors.

Despite the well-deserved R rating, toy maker Kenner had plans to put the brutal xenomorph Alien into the hands of children. Fun! Ignoring the fact that the toy buying populace had no business seeing this R rated movie (Robocop toys fall into the same weird category), Kenner reckoned that H.R. Giger's erotically charged monster designs were perfect for a new line of toys.

Some of the toys were ordinary enough - a board game, jigsaw puzzles, and the like. Kenner created a cartridge movie viewer (like the Star Wars one we've shared before) that condensed the terror of the entire feature into a 3 minute silent loop of film. I haven't seen it, but what kid-safe scenes might they have included? Ripley walking down a corridor?

To really banish sleep from your kids' lives forever, you could have tucked an 18" reproduction of the "Big Chap" alien under the tree. Imagine the marketing that could go into the packaging of just such a blood-curdling toy. How about some bright yellow labels on the packaging declaring "Exciting!" "Horrific!"  "Phallic!"

Not too many of these toys actually made it to market. To be fair, these products were in development before the film earned its R rating - but had anyone on the creative team even seen the movie? One of the casualties was a set of action figures. Inspired by their own smash hit Star Wars figures, Alien was a natural follow up. Kenner got them to the prototype stage before pulling the toy line. 

Until now. The geniuses at Super 7 - the same crew that produced the amazing Shogun Warrior inspired Stormtrooper - are introducing this long lost toy line to collectors for the first time. Using the original prototypes, the Alien figures are a real look at how these toys would have appeared had they made it to store shelves. Super 7 has created full packaging too, an astonishingly accurate picture of a 70s nostalgia that never was. Pre-orders for the set are long gone, but Super 7 has teamed up with Funko to produce another run of the figures. They've even created a set of drinking glasses for Alien like those that might have been given out at a fast food restaurant back in the 70s. These Super 7 folks really know what they're doing. When the second run of figures comes out, I may just have to take the plunge. Then the race is on to see who's the first to recreate scenes from Alien on YouTube.

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Super7 online store

KORG and LittleBits Unveil Snap-Together Analog Synth Kit

Korg and NYC electronics kit startup LittleBits have teamed up to create a $159 snap-together analog synthesizer kit. It includes 12 modules including a pair of oscillators, classic 1970s-style filter, envelope generator, mini switch keyboard and essentials such as a power regulator and speaker.

LittleBits modules feature magnetic snap-together connectors that make it easy to quickly rearrange electronic modules in countless different ways. The system is expandable, so you can borrow a couple of modules from a friend and easily create a multi-oscillator monster synthesizer. 

LittleBits founder Ayah Bdeir has worked tirelessly in recent years to pull together a framework for licensing open source hardware that anyone is free to modify, make and use. While we don't yet know the details, I strongly hope that she continues that trend with this product by making schematics and design files available for everyone to study and use. 

Modules include: 

• 9V DC power regulator
• Two tunable square/sawtooth oscillators
• Voltage controlled filter with cutoff and resonance
• Attack/Decay envelope generator
• Digital delay
• Tact switch keyboard
• Micro sequencer
• mixer
• splitter
• randomizer
• amplified speaker

The instruction manual includes 10 example projects including Percussion Party, Keytar, Spooky Sounds and Synthesizer With The Works (the first one I'll build!). For users who aren't afraid to modify their modules, LittleBits and Korg include instructions for creating sound-altering circuit designs such as pitch sweeps, white noise, key player, sequencer control, frequency modulation, random voltage, filtering noise and echo and delay.

This kit looks like a great frustration-free way to introduce youngsters to the wonders of analog synthesis and I'm pretty sure these modules will be hacked and mangled by the grown-up DIY crowd in a matter of days. 

The LittleBits Korg Synth Kit will be available the first week of December for $159.

For more information, visit the LittleBits site and check out the Synth Kit product page.

Join The Bozo Army

I go back and forth wondering whether Bozo could return to television. Since Bozo's floppy feet didn't make tracks throughout the whole world, here are are few words about the concept. When TV was relatively new in the US, broadcasters looked for ways to entrance the kiddie set. Lot of times the station would just string together some old cartoons, but more ambitious shows employed a host; a sort of MC to speak directly to camera - or to an in-studio audience. It was really all down to the ability of that presenter (often an Uncle so-and-so or Captain this-and-such) to create something charming and popular, or somethineg amateurish and embarrassing.

Larry Harmon had performed as "Bozo the Clown" for a while when the idea struck him. He could franchise the Bozo concept - he'd help create a framework for a daily TV show starring "Bozo - the world's most famous clown". Harmon would train the clowns, provide the costume, even create a series of cartoons featuring the adventures of Bozo. Any TV channel could have their own home-spun Bozo, and of course every city knew that their Bozo was the best.

Here in Chicago, we were lucky enough to have Bozo on the air from the 60s until around the turn of the century. We were also lucky to have our Bozo genuinely be considered one of the best and most famous (Krusty the Clown's three-pack-a-day rasp is a direct lift from Chicago's Bozo). For as long as there's been standard def color TV, there's been Bozo on Chicago's airwaves.
Bozo lives on in some small merchandising effort, interest diminished since the show doesn't air anywhere anymore. In the 60s and 70s, there was of course far more stuff. One of my favorites is this cloth patch. No need to send in box tops and wait weeks - you could just buy your way into Bozo's good graces for 49 cents. Not only did you get an emblem patch (certified washable by the ominously named "American Institute of Laundering"), but you also got a tear-off membership card at the bottom.

Paying your four bits made you a Bozo Booster, as long as you promised to follow the rules on the back of the membership card. What's more important than eating all your veggies and obeying your parents? Rule #1 of course - your solemn oath to "watch the Bozo TV program faithfully". Goodness knows if the show were still on, I would.