It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time
The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote
- 256 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time
The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote
About this book
"Bruce Vilanch, a storyteller without peer, has written a tell-all . . . on himself! And it's hilarious! He's finally coming clean and owning up to his part in creating some of the worst television of the twentieth century, and that's saying a lot. There's no one like him. As they've been saying since I discovered him as a cub reporter at the Chicago Tribune, when you're in a pinch . . . Get Bruce!" âBETTE MIDLER
Bruce Vilanch is known as a go-to comedy writer for award shows, sitcoms, and top-heavy variety specials, but he has also been responsible for quite a few of the worst shows ever put on televisionâlegendarily bad productions.
Some of his work lives in infamyâThe Star Wars Holiday Special, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White at the Oscars, and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. How did these ever seem like a good idea?
Well, everyone has screwed up a few times, or had their work screwed up by others. It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time is a lifetime reflection of what Vilanch has experienced, learned, forgotten, dismissed, and embraced in decades of working in show business, specifically the south forty acres known as comedy. It involves very famous people and people who were not very famous but should have been.
And it explains to the person in the audience who says to himself, once he has gotten his jaw off the floor, "'How did this ever get made?"
Don't we all want to know?
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1. The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978): Or, at Least We Didnât Have Jar Jar Binks
- 2. The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976): Or, at Least We Had the Real Wicked Witch
- 3. The Brady Bunch Hour (1976â1977): Or, at Least We Didnât Have Cousin Oliver
- 4. The Ice Pirates (1984): Or, at Least the Space Herpe Didnât Have Lines
- 5. Canât Stop the Music (1980): Or, at Least Disco Was Already Dead
- 6. Platinum (1978): Or, at Least a Chandelier Didnât Fall and a Helicopter Didnât Crash
- 7. Three/Comedy Tonight (1994): Or, at Least This Didnât Make Joe Allenâs Wall, Either
- 8. The Look of the Year (1998): Or, at Least the Sushi Was Fresh
- 9. Charo (1976) and Henne (1991): Or, at Least It Wasnât The Love Boat (or We Would Have Had Charo and Carol Channing in the Same Show)
- 10. Oscar! Oscar! (1989): Or, at Least Nobody Sued ⌠Oh, Wait a Minute, Somebody Did
- Coda: Or, at Least They Were the Worst
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author