A couple of you have reported a problem playing my video embed of John Oliver's segment last Sunday about the Supreme Court. It's working for most folks but if you're not most folks, try this link.
Hey, remember the fuss I made when the Souplantation restaurant chain — known in some states as Sweet Tomatoes — went outta business? Well, Devlin Thompson has pointed me to this article saying that a Sweet Tomatoes is or was about to reopen in Tucson. Let's hope it did or does and that it's a big success and they regrow the empire!
Yesterday, I showed you four versions of the same Marty Feldman sketch, one of which appeared on The Flip Wilson Show.. Kevin Kravitz, a reader of this site, refreshed my memory of something else that happened in that episode…
I loved The Flip Wilson Show as a kid and I am glad you included one of his skits.
You mentioned a surprise cameo and it obviously was Howard Cosell. However, at the very end of the show when Flip had Marty take his final bow, Marty came out with that same box and decided to show what the monster looked like…AND IT WAS JACK BENNY!
As I recall, Jack had an NBC TV special that week. As soon as the lid came off, Jack started telling the audience to watch his upcoming special at 9pm and then Marty & Flip put the lid back on to shut him up. When the show was repeated in the summer reruns, music played over Jack's speech since the promotion for Jack's special would have been moot.
Thank you for running those monster skits, Mark.
Yeah, I do remember that. I don't see a clip of it anywhere online but if/when it turns up, I'll share it with everyone. Thanks, Kevin.
A couple of folks asked me to speculate on who/what was actually in the basket when they did those sketches. I would assume a stagehand with a smoke machine and other special effects…and he and Marty must have rehearsed the physical moves like it was a gymnastic competition. Then again, it may just have been Jack Benny. He'd do anything for a buck.