I just set my TiVo for the Academy Awards this Sunday. TiVo is the only way to go with the Oscars. Record the thing and while it's on, go out to dinner at that restaurant that's always too crowded on a weekend night. Unless it's a Wolfgang Puck eatery, you'll have the place to yourself. Then come back either when the show is over or in its closing hour and start watching from the top, fast-forwarding when it gets boring. I've been known to do a three-hour Oscarcast in an hour and fifteen minutes that way and not miss anything of even minor importance. If you only skip over commercials for new credit cards and cellular service, you can save a least an hour of your life.
But you have to remember this: Pad your recording. They say three hours but it could be 3:10 or 3:20 and I think there was once a ceremony that went more than an hour over the announced time. That was back when they used to just lie and tell you the show would be two and a half hours long, knowing full well it would be at least three. They'd pre-sold ample commercials for that length. Now, they say three and try for three but it could be longer. You don't want your TiVo to stop recording just when something interesting is about to happen.
So I've padded my recording by an hour. Just in case. Wouldn't want to miss a single joke about the fatherhood of Anna Nicole's kid or Britney Spears shaving her head, or whatever really offensive thing Borat is going to do.
Also, I've set my TiVo to record Alice in Wonderland on Boomerang on Sunday but I'm not optimistic. That is, I'm not optimistic it's the show some of us want to record.
I've probably waaaay oversold this but back in '66, Hanna-Barbera produced what I remember as a pretty good prime-time animated special called Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This? It was written by Bill Dana, who also appeared as the voice of Jose Jiminez, who appeared as the White Knight. Janet Waldo provided the speaking voice of Alice. (As H-B so often did, someone else sang for the star character.) Sammy Davis Jr. played the Cheshire Cat and the regular H-B voice cast did most of the other roles. The songs were supplied by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse, who otherwise wrote some pretty good Broadway scores and movie songs.
It's never been out on home video but we've heard that Boomerang is running it at 4:45 Eastern (1:45 Pacific) on Sunday afternoon, though it's possible we've been misinformed. There are about eight thousand animated interpretations of Alice in Wonderland and apparently Boomerang has at least half of them in its library. Some version will be running on Sunday but don't be shocked if it isn't the Bill Dana rendition. They've advertised it before and shown another. Also, don't be shocked if it is and you watch and it isn't as fabulous as I remember. There's lots of stuff I liked in '66 that I can't stand now. When was the last time you tried to watch an episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.?
While I'm at it, I should mention that Boomerang's start and end times rarely coincide with any clock you might have in your home. I think the whole network is on Southwestern Bolivian Moonlight Savings Time or something.
What you won't see in this show, assuming you see it at all, are the original animated commercials for its sponsor, the Rexall company. In the sixties, they always ran a big, annual "one cent sale" — it's when my family would stock up on aspirin, Maalox and floss for another year — and it was always kicked off with some big Rexall-sponsored TV special. Ron Kurer, who runs the fine animation site Toon Tracker, has posted two of these commercials on YouTube. They're interesting because it's always been very rare for a company to spend money on animated commercials — even commercials animated on a Hanna-Barbera budget — that only ran a few times. These only ran a few times so they're quite rare.
As I mentioned, Janet Waldo did the voice of Alice. You probably know her better as the voice of Judy Jetson, or maybe Penelope Pitstop. Janet has been performing before microphones since the days of radio drama and is still at it, still sounding like a teenager. A charming lady, indeed. Howard Morris did the voice of the White Rabbit in both of these commercials and in the second, you'll hear Daws Butler as the King and as the March Hare, and that's Harvey Korman as the Mad Hatter.