Blue Skies in Camelot (Continued): An Alternate 80s and Beyond
- Thread starter President_Lincoln
- Start date
As the technocratic New Democratic wing, I feel like Robb may merely be sidelined for someone that can cowtow the liberal populism a bit more in RFK's camp. As for WHO that could be...well, my personal favorite would be Ann Richards in 1996 (potentially complete with a major attempt at involving the state of Texas in keeping the Oilers, tho not entirely at the same pace as Hensonverse).
That being said, I don't think I recall Gore Jr. swearing off politics entirely
Xman1287
Banned
As long as you put out the futuristic swat riot gear wearing GhostSmashers Starring Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz John Belushi as Peter Venkman Jeff Goldblum as Egon Spengler Eddie Murphy as Winston Zeddemore John Candy as Louis Tulley Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett Sandra Bernhard as Janine Melnitz and Paul Reubens as Ivo Shandor/ Gozer the Gozerian aka the GhostSmashers interdimensional Employer there final battle in a hellish reality and their Vehicle that all Black 1975 Cadillac ambulance with purple and white strobe lights for the theme song have Lindsay Buckingham Huey Lewis Ray Parker Jr Kenny Loggins in a quartet for the theme song also if you feel they could make a impact Add both Christopher Lloyd and Christopher Walken Harold Ramis Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson Yaphet Kotto Richard Pryor and Jim Belushi John’s younger brother and Michael Keaton and Chevy Chase as the other GhostSmasher teams
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Pop Culture Update - 1981
Pop Culture in 1981 - The Music Video Revolution
Above: In August of 1981, MTV broadcast for the first time on cable television in the United States, playing music videos 24 hours a day. This would change popular music forever.
Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1981 (Top Ten):
- “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes
- “Endless Love” by Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
- “Starting Over” by John Lennon*
- “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield
- “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang
- “Kiss on My List” by Hall & Oates
- “I Love a Rainy Night” by Eddie Rabbitt
- “In the Air Tonight” by Genesis
- “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton
- “Keep on Loving You” by REO Speedwagon
News in Music
January 1st - Joy Division released the single “Ceremony” and its B-side “In a Lonely Place”. Highly successful in their native UK, the songs also hit the US top 40 as well. Joy Division continue their ascent to the top of the rock world. Their style of post-punk - austere yet accessible - rejects the artifice of rock n roll in favor of the realities of everyday life. It will come to be highly influential on an emerging new genre - “Alternative”.
January 11th - Country singer Hank Williams Jr. releases his 32nd album, Rowdy. It is quickly certified Gold by the RIAA.
January 18th - Wendy O. Williams of The Plasmatics is arrested in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for simulating masturbation with a sledgehammer on stage. In a scuffle with the police, Williams is pinned to the floor and receives a cut above the eye requiring twelve stitches.
January 24th - Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler is killed in a motorcycle crash near his home in Boston, Massachusetts. He is deeply mourned both by fans and his young daughters: Liv (aged 3) and Mia (aged 2). Shortly after his funeral, Aerosmith announces that they are permanently disbanding. Tyler was only 32 years old.
RIP Steven Tyler
March 26th, 1948 - January 24th, 1981
February 9th - Genesis release the album Face Value, whose opening track “In the Air Tonight” popularizes the gated reverb drum sound that would become ubiquitous for the next ten years. The song will become arguably the band’s biggest hit.
February 12th - Rush release the highly regarded album Moving Pictures which eventually becomes the band's sixth platinum album.
February 14th - British punk/new romantic band Generation X hits it big with their song “Dancing with Myself”. With his photogenic good looks, lead singer Billy Idol becomes a punk rock heartthrob.
February 25th - The 23rd Annual Grammy Awards are presented in New York, hosted by Paul Simon. Pink Floyd won album of the year for The Wall.
March 14th - Suffering from bleeding ulcers, Eric Clapton is admitted to United Hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. Clapton's 60-city tour of the US is canceled, and he remains in hospital for a month. He does, thankfully, ultimately survive the ordeal.
March 27th - Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a dove at a CBS record label gathering in Los Angeles.
April 1st - The Go-Go's sign to IRS Records.
April 11th - Eddie Van Halen marries actress Valerie Bertinelli.
April 12th - Soviet orchestral conductor Maxim Shostakovich (son of Dmitri) defects while on tour in West Germany with his son. This serves as a minor diplomatic coup for the West during the escalating Cold War.
May - Rolling Stone Magazine declares that “New Wave” has taken over popular music on both sides of the Atlantic. Groups like Blondie, Joy Division, The Talking Heads, and others are helping make pop “artsy” and “weird” again. Others call the genre “refreshing”. In any event, the heady days of progressive and hard rock excess appear to be coming to an end.
May 14th - Diana Ross signs a $20,000,000 deal - the most lucrative recording contract in history at that time - to re-sign with her label, Motown Records. She had originally been considering defecting to RCA or EMI, but Motown managed to convince her to stay.
June 4th - The Hype (Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr.) appears on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder, their first U.S. television appearance.
June 6th - Kerrang! magazine publishes its first issue. Angus Young and Bon Scott of AC/DC are on the cover.
June 30th - Rock N Roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis is rushed to hospital in Memphis for emergency surgery for a tear in his stomach. Tragically, he dies shortly afterward from complications. He was forty-five years old. Pall-bearers at his funeral include Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.
RIP Jerry Lee Lewis
September 29th, 1935 - June 30th, 1981
July 13th - Duran Duran released the single "Girls on Film". Accompanied by a highly controversial music video that is censored for airplay on MTV and banned by BBC. The song becomes the band's first big hit, eventually peaking at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart during an 11-week chart run.
August 1st - MTV broadcasts for the first time on cable television in the United States, playing music videos 24 hours a day. First to air is "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
August 23rd - The Violent Femmes are discovered by members of The Pretenders busking outside a Milwaukee venue and are invited to play a 10-minute acoustic set as a second opening act in the Pretenders' show that night.
September 5th - Soft Cell tops the UK Singles Chart with "Tainted Love". The song also tops the chart the following week and becomes the second best selling single in the UK in 1981.
September 19th - Simon & Garfunkel perform a free reunion concert in New York City's Central Park attended by over 500,000 fans.
September 25th - The Rolling Stones open their US tour in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
September 26th - Iron Maiden hires Geordie lead singer Brian Johnson to replace Paul Di'Anno.
October 31st - Punk band Fear makes a memorable appearance on Saturday Night Live. A group of fans storm the stage and damage TV equipment while moshing, resulting in the show cutting to commercial.
December 31st - The tenth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC, with appearances by Four Tops, Rick Springfield, Barry Manilow, Alabama and Rick James.
Throughout - Synthpop enjoys mainstream popularity in the UK, with groups such as Ultravox, Depeche Mode, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Human League releasing hit singles and albums. The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" and Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" become the year's best selling singles in the UK.
1981 in Film - The Year’s Biggest & Most Memorable
Raiders of the Lost Ark - Action-adventure. Lucasfilm/Paramount Pictures. Directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman.
Set in 1936, the film stars Tom Sellek as Indiana Jones, a globetrotting archaeologist vying with Nazi German forces to recover the long-lost Ark of the Covenant, which is said to have the power to make an army invincible. Teaming up with his tough former romantic interest Marion Ravenwood (Barbara Hershey), Jones races to stop rival archaeologist René Belloq (René Auberjonois) from guiding the Nazis to the Ark and its power.
Lucas originally conceived of Raiders of the Lost Ark in the early 1970s as The Adventures of Indiana Smith. (Indiana being named after Lucas’ dog, also the inspiration for Chewbacca.) Seeking to modernize the serial adventure films of the early 20th century, he developed the idea further with Kaufman, who suggested the Ark as the film's goal. Kaufman, however, was committed to directing the Clint Eastwood-led western The Outlaw Josey Wales at the time and was thus unavailable to direct. Lucas shelved the project in order to focus on making Star Wars. But following that film’s success, and with The Empire Strikes Back already well in development, Lucas felt that the iron was hot for him to return to his Adventures of Indiana Smith project. He brought it to his friend, Steven Spielberg.
At the time, Spielberg was in high-demand in Hollywood.
After directing blockbuster after blockbuster (1975’s Jaws; 1978’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind; and 1979’s Superman), Spielberg had his eyes set on directing a James Bond picture. That would ultimately fall through, however, leaving him free to direct Raiders of the Lost Ark and later, Return of the Jedi (though there were plenty of political issues that had to be worked through for these, due to Spielberg’s membership in the DGA and Lucasfilm not being a union shop). Together with Spielberg acolyte Kasdan, Spielberg and Lucas reworked elements of the story until they were just right.
The plot, which originally involved a trip to Nepal, a cart chase through a mineshaft, and a nightclub in Shanghai (elements which would later be recycled for a subsequent film), was simplified. The protagonist’s surname was changed from “Smith” (which Spielberg hated) to “Jones”. The love triangle between Jones, Ravenwood, and Belloq was simplified to a mutual attraction between the first two, with Belloq’s attraction for Marion being made one-sided. Most importantly, with the early stages of the “So Have I” movement beginning to work their way through Hollywood, Spielberg called Lucas out on a particularly problematic element that Lucas had wanted to include.
At some point in the process of writing the script, the decision was made for Jones, an anti-hero, archaeologist and college professor, to have had a previous relationship with Marion Ravenwood.
Originally, Lucas called for Marion to have been only eleven years old at the time of their past relationship, with Jones having been a young adult (perhaps twice her age) at the time. Lucas thought that this could make for an interesting dynamic - with Jones originally not being interested in a girl he saw as a child (which, of course, she was), only to be attracted to her once they met again in the film’s present of 1936. This idea made Spielberg immensely uncomfortable, however. He told Lucas point blank that quote, “We had better make them the same age, George.” Lucas, seeing that his idea could potentially make moviegoers uncomfortable as well, and seeing Spielberg’s point, agreed. The script was amended so that Marion and Indiana Jones had been classmates in college.
The main character’s personality and characterization also underwent significant reform under Spielberg’s direction. Lucas originally conceived of Indiana Jones as a “playboy” and an “anti-hero” driven primarily by profit and other selfish motives. His heroism was, in a sense, almost incidental. In retrospect, Lucas would later admit, he wanted a change of pace from the selfless, heroic nature of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.
Spielberg worried that it would be difficult to get general, movie-going audiences to root for Jones if he was too self-interested, even if the villains were literal Nazis. Spielberg, as a Jewish man becoming increasingly aware of and interested in his heritage (his father claimed to have lost “between fifteen and twenty” relatives in the Holocaust), wanted Jones to become a “symbol for America” in the 1930s.
Jones begins the film only interested in profit, and in delivering the artifacts he finds to museums (representing America’s isolationism and cynical trade relationship with Nazi Germany and other fascist states during the 1920s and 30s). But later, as he comes to understand what the Ark (a symbol of Biblical, supernatural power from the Old Testament) might mean if it falls into the hands of the Nazis, he is roused to defeat them, just as America was during World War II. This arc (self-interest to noble interventionism), Spielberg believed, could be reminiscent of Rick Blaine’s, the hero of the 1942 classic Casablanca. Lucas, seeing the value in telling such a story (especially in light of the once-again escalating Cold War and a general feeling of “malaise” in American culture at the dawn of the 1980s), agreed to Spielberg’s suggestions. He worked with Kasdan to trim and edit the script to fit them in.
Critics would later praise the film as a sort of thinly-disguised “Jewish revenge fantasy” against the Nazis, allowing catharsis for Jewish viewers to see a “tough, no nonsense American action hero” who punches Nazis, blows up their war machine, and disproves their notions of superiority on the big screen. Spielberg’s interpretation of the character would be added to the Jewish-American tradition of creating “Star-spangled fascist-bashers' ' alongside Superman and Captain America.
With the script finally complete, casting was also a critical step in the film’s development, of course. Lucas wanted a relatively unknown actor, willing to commit to a trilogy of films, to play Indiana Jones (as he had with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher for Star Wars). Those considered for the role included Bill Murray, Nick Nolte, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Tim Matheson, Nick Mancuso, Peter Coyote, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Bridges, John Shea, Sam Elliott, and Harry Hamlin. Casting director Mike Fenton favored Bridges, but Lucas' wife and frequent collaborator Marcia Lucas preferred Tom Selleck.
Selleck - only just beginning to become a household name - was contractually obligated to filming the television series Magnum, P.I. if it were to be made into a full series. Lucas and Spielberg asked the show's studio, CBS, to release him 10 days early from his contract. Realizing Selleck was in demand, CBS greenlit Magnum P.I.. This would have forced him to drop out, leaving the production with no lead actor only weeks before filming. But thankfully for Lucas and Spielberg, The 1980 actors' strike put the show on hiatus for three months, which allowed Selleck to star as Jones. Selleck would later call this series of events a “happy accident” that “launched his career” in film.
For Jones' love interest Marion Ravenwood, Spielberg wanted someone akin to early 20th-century leading female icons like Irene Dunne, Barbara Stanwyck, and Ann Sheridan, who equaled their male counterparts. Lucas wanted Debra Winger, but she was not interested, and Spielberg wanted his girlfriend Amy Irving, but she was unavailable. They also considered Stephanie Zimbalist, Karen Allen, and Sean Young. In the end, they went with Barbara Hershey, who they felt would lend the role a certain gravitas.
Belloq was intended to be a sophisticated villain to counter the "beer-drinking" hero. René Auberjonois was best known at the time as a stage actor in New York. He’d won a number of Tony awards, but had as of yet failed to make a big splash in Hollywood, mostly playing bit parts. He impressed both Lucas and Spielberg with his “French accent” (which was actually based on his own Swiss immigrant father’s) and his personal lineage (his mother was descended from one of Napoleon’s marshals) and knowledge of French aristocracy. This element (being associated with Napoleonic France) was added to Belloq’s backstory in the final film as a nod to this. The film also starred Egyptian actor and activist Mahmoud Kabil as Sallah, an Egyptian excavator and old acquaintance of Jones; Denholm Elliott as Marcus Brody, a museum curator and Jones’ loyal friend; and Roy Scheider (who had previously worked with Spielberg on Jaws) as Nazi officer Colonel Dietrich, the film’s true villain.
Above: Barbara Hershey (left); René Auberjonois (center); and Roy Scheider (right); Marion Ravenwood; René Belloq; and Colonel Dietrich, respectively.
Raiders of the Lost Ark wrapped production in June 1980, with an intended release date of the following summer. The context of the film’s release would only add to how impressive its eventual success truly was.
By the summer of 1981, the film industry had been in decline for over a year. This was the result of few box office successes, rising film production costs, diminishing audiences, and increasing ticket prices. The season was predicted to be down 10% or $250 million against the previous year. Over 60 films were scheduled for release - more than the previous year - by studios eager to make the next blockbuster. This increased competition to attract audiences, mainly those aged 12 to 24, at the most profitable time of the year.
The superhero film Superman II (helmed by Richard Donner) was expected to dominate the season, and based on industry experts and audience polling, films like History of the World, Part I (Fox), the latest James Bond film For Your Eyes Only (United Artists), and The Great Muppet Caper (Disney), were also expected to perform well. Conversely, audience polling by CinemaScore showed little awareness or anticipation for Raiders until nationwide previews a week before its release. The New York Times reported that Paramount (the studio backing Raiders) had provided theater owners with a more beneficial deal than usual to ensure Raiders was screened in the best theaters and locations.
Any and all doubts about the film’s chances were swiftly put to rest, however.
Raiders of the Lost Ark would eventually earn $213 million against a budget of $20 million, making it, by far, the highest-grossing film of 1981. It made more than twice the amount made by its closest competitor, Superman II (which made just under $105 million), and was, to boot, greeted with universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Especially praised were Spielberg’s direction, the fabulous practical effects, visual aesthetic, and the performances by the cast. Various elements of Selleck’s character - the fedora hat, the whip, and of course, John Williams’ theme - became iconic in cinematic history.
Roger Ebert, for instance, called the film “a series of breathless and incredible adventures inspired by and celebrating childhood stories told in comic books and movies.” He concluded that the film “was successful in its singular goal of entertaining, creating an adventure epic in the vein of Star Wars, the James Bond films, and Superman. Two thumbs way up.”
In short, it succeeded in virtually every aspect of making a fun, exciting cinematic experience.
Given the film’s success, it was only a matter of time before Paramount began pressing Lucas and Spielberg for a sequel. For the time being, Lucas remained aloof, knowing that he and Spielberg would need to focus their full attention on Return of the Jedi. But another Indiana Jones film - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Death - would eventually be released, in 1984.
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Book of the Dead - Supernatural horror. Independent/New Line Cinema. Written and directed by Sam Raimi (in his feature film directorial debut). The film stars Raimi’s childhood friend Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly. The story focuses on five college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in a remote wooded area. They find an audio tape featuring a translation of the so-called Necronomicon (the titular “Book of the Dead”) that, when played, releases a legion of demons and spirits; four members of the group then suffer from demonic possession. This forces the fifth member, Ash Williams (Campbell), to survive an onslaught of increasingly gory mayhem. Raimi, producer Robert G. Tapert, Campbell, and their friends produced the short film Within the Woods as a proof of concept to build the interest of potential investors, which secured $90,000 to begin work on Book of the Dead.
The film’s title and concept were inspired by Raimi’s interest in the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft; especially the stories around one of Lovecraft’s most popular creations - the Necronomicon. Its eventual success would help generate interest in the author and his work among fans of the film and horror fans in general. In this way Book of the Dead can be seen in retrospect as a trend-setter for adaptations of Lovecraft’s work that would continue throughout the 1980s, most notably with Stanley Kubrick’s The Colour Out of Space the following year (1982) and later, Re-Animator (1985).
Principal photography for Book of the Dead took place on location in a remote cabin located in Morristown, Tennessee. It was a difficult filming process that proved to be extremely uncomfortable for the cast and crew. The film's extensive prosthetic makeup effects and stop-motion animations were created by artist Tom Sullivan and were seen as “instrumental” in the film’s success. Once completed, Book of the Dead attracted the interest of producer Irvin Shapiro, who helped screen the film at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. Horror author Stephen King gave a rave review of the film, which resulted in New Line Cinema acquiring its distribution rights, helping it be seen by a much wider audience than it probably would have otherwise.
Book of the Dead grossed $2.4 million in the United States and between $2.7 and $29.4 million worldwide, making it, proportionally, one of, if not the most profitable films of all time. Both initial and subsequent critical reception were universally positive. And in the years since its release, the film’s legacy has only grown, having developed a reputation as one of the most significant “cult” films ever made, possessing a huge influence on the film industry and horror films in particular.
Thanks in no small part to the film’s unprecedented success, Raimi and Campbell were immediately approached by New Line Cinema (with further financial backing from Warner Bros., on the recommendation of King) about the possibility of making a sequel. The concept had been discussed while filming Book of the Dead. Irvin Shaprio, the film's publicist, pushed Raimi to devise a premise for such a film. Working with screenwriter Sheldon Lettich and Campbell, Raimi settled on a story in which Ash was sucked through a time portal to the Middle Ages, where he would encounter more deadites. Thanks to King’s urging, New Line and Warner Bros. bought the script. Production on the sequel began in May 1984.
It would ultimately be released in April 1985 as The Medieval Dead. More on that soon.
Above: An early promotional poster for Book of the Dead (left); “King of B-Movies”, Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams (right).
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King Arthur - Medieval romance. Paramount Pictures. Written and directed by John Boorman.
Boorman had planned a film adaptation of the King Arthur legend as early as 1969, but when submitting the three-hour script written with Rospo Pallenberg to United Artists at the time, they rejected it, deeming it too costly. They offered him J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (to which they owned the rights) instead. Boorman was allowed to shop the script elsewhere, but no studio would commit to it. That is, until the success of Ridley Scott’s Tristan and Isolde for Paramount in 1980. Something of a sleeper hit the year before, Tristan and Isolde gave Paramount the confidence in the concept they needed to greenlight King Arthur. Boorman got his funding and went to work to try and make movie magic once again.
The screenplay for King Arthur is primarily an adaptation of Sir Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte D’Arthur. It sought to recontextualize the Arthurian legends as an allegory of the cycle of birth, life, decay, and restoration, by stripping the text of “decorative or insignificant details”, according to Boorman. Arthur is presented as the “Wounded King” whose realm becomes a wasteland to be reborn thanks to the Holy Grail, and may be compared to the Fisher (or Sinner) King, whose land also became a wasteland, and was also healed by Sir Perceval.
“The film has to do with mythical truth, not historical truth,” Boorman remarked to a journalist during filming. The Christian symbolism revolves around the Grail, perhaps most strongly in the baptismal imagery of Perceval finally achieving the Grail quest. “That's what my story is about: the coming of Christian man and the disappearance of the old religions which are represented by Merlin. The forces of superstition and magic are swallowed up into the unconscious.”
Boorman cast (at the time) largely unknown actors for several of the principal roles. These included Arthur (Irish actor Liam Neeson, whom Boorman had seen in a production of Of Mice and Men); Merlin (English Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart); and Guinevere (Cheri Lunghi). In fact, the only “major star” he cast for the project was Helen Mirren in the role of Morgan Le Fey.
King Arthur was the number one film during its opening weekend of April 10th-12th, 1981, eventually earning nearly $35 million in the United States alone against a budget of just under $11 million. Though not the runaway blockbuster that Paramount had been hoping for, the film could, again be considered a modest commercial success.
Though audiences seemed to generally enjoy the film, critics were divided in their response. Roger Ebert called it simultaneously, “a wondrous vision” and “a mess”. To speak broadly, critics praised the film’s direction, sets, and aesthetic, which Ebert admitted were “brilliant to look at”, as well as some of the performances, especially that of Patrick Stewart as the conniving Merlin. But they panned the script and Boorman’s poor direction. The consensus among critics appeared to be that Boorman wrote these characters not as heroes or even sympathetic human beings, but rather as “giants of myth come to life”. This made some of their dialogue feel stilted, almost robotic. Boorman shot back that this was the entire point. The story was a myth put to film, after all. But to each their own.
Today, the film is generally seen by most cinephiles as okay to great, depending on your tastes.
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An American Werewolf in London - Comedy/Horror. Universal Pictures. Written and directed by John Landis. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, the film stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne and John Woodvine. The title is a portmanteau between two classic films - An American in Paris and Werewolf of London. The plot follows two American backpackers, David and Jack, who are attacked by a werewolf while traveling in England, causing David to become a werewolf under the next full moon.
Landis wrote the first draft of the film’s screenplay in 1969 and shelved it for over a decade. Prospective financiers believed that Landis' script was too frightening to be comedy and too humorous to be horror, leading most to pass on it.
After achieving success in Hollywood with the comedies The Kentucky Fried Movie, National Lampoon's Animal House and The Blues Brothers, however, Landis was able to secure financing from PolyGram Pictures to produce the film.
An American Werewolf in London was released in the US by Universal Pictures on August 21st, 1981. It was a critical and commercial success, winning the 1981 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and the first ever Academy Award for Best Makeup. Since its release, it has become a cult classic, and mandatory viewing for any and all fans of “classic movie monsters”. It also proved as The Medieval Dead and Re-Animator would in 1985, that horror and comedy actually worked really well as a fusion genre.
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Time Bandits - British adventure/fantasy. HandMade Films. Co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan and David Warner. The film tells the story of a young boy taken on an adventure through time with a band of thieves who plunder treasure from various points in history.
After Gilliam (of Monty Python fame) failed to find financial backing for his surrealist adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 - variously titled: 1984 ½; The Ministry; and even Brazil, he then decided that it might be easier, in the current state of the film industry, to make a family-friendly film instead. Co-written by fellow Python Michael Palin and financed by ex-Beatle George Harrison’s company HandMade films, Time Bandits was filmed in England, Wales, and Morocco on a budget of $5 million.
Released on July 2nd, 1981 in the UK and November 6th, 1981 in the US, the film debuted at number one at the box office in both countries and was met with positive reviews by critics. By the end of its run in theaters, Time Bandits would earn $36 million, giving Gilliam the footing he needed to make what would ultimately become The Ministry.
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For Your Eyes Only - 007 Spy thriller. United Artists. Directed by John Glen (who had previously worked on the Bond series as an editor). Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson, from the short story by Ian Fleming. Though the downturn in the film industry meant that the budget for For Your Eyes Only would be slightly lower than previous outings in the franchise (still much higher than the average film at the time at nearly $30 million), director Glen decided to turn this into an asset, rather than a liability. As his predecessors had with Moonraker, the decision was made to keep For Your Eyes Only as a grounded, realistic thriller, rather than a campy romp.
Julian Glover returns for his fifth film as MI6 agent James Bond/007. The plot begins in earnest with the murder of the Havelocks, a British couple living in Jamaica who have refused to sell their estate to Smekhov Ilyich (Walter Matthau), a former KGB officer who is the chief of counterintelligence for the Cuban Secret Service under Fidel Castro. They are killed by two Cuban hitmen at the direction of their leader, Major Gonzales (Danny Trejo - in his film debut); all three work for Ilyich. The Havelocks turn out to be close friends of M (Robert Brown - Bernard Lee was set to return for his twelfth outing as M, but was tragically diagnosed with stomach cancer and could not accept the part. He died on January 16th, 1981. For Your Eyes Only is dedicated to his memory), who served as the groom's best man during their wedding in 1946 (just after World War II, in which they’d served together).
M subsequently gives Bond a voluntary assignment, unconnected to sanctioned Secret Service duties; to travel to Vermont via Canada, find Ilyich at his rented estate at Echo Lake and assassinate him as a warning to future criminals who might think to target British citizens. At first, Bond is conflicted about taking the assignment, given its clandestine nature. Upon reflecting on his experiences during the last film, however, Bond reluctantly agrees.
When Bond arrives on the scene, he finds the Havelocks' daughter, Judy (Kim Basinger), who intends to carry out her own mission of revenge with a bow and arrow. She and Bond agree to work together and also develop a mutual attraction. While scoping out Ilyich’s estate, they learn that he purchased the home in Vermont to try and spy on the nearby American disease research facility in Stovington, with the hopes of developing a biological weapon for the Soviet Union to use in the Cold War.
In the film’s climax, Judy kills Ilyich by shooting him in the back with an arrow from 100 meters away at the exact moment that he dives into a lake. A shoot-out then occurs between Bond and Gonzales and the two Cuban gunmen. Bond kills all of them and returns to Canada with Judy, who has been wounded during the gunfight.
For Your Eyes Only turned out to be something of a disappointment for United Artists. Though the film made a profit (just over $100 million against a budget of around $30 million), this was far less than the studio had hoped for. Enthusiasm amongst both fans of the franchise and general audiences was tepid at best and critical reviews were decidedly mixed.
Though as usual, Glover put in a “fine” performance as 007, less favorably received were the performances of the rest of the cast and the script. Critics felt that although Matthau in particular was a “fabulously talented” actor, in both comedic and more serious roles, he felt “miscast” as Ilyich. As written in the script, the villain’s demeanor seems to vacillate wildly between menacing and cowardly in a way that many critics found “downright silly”. While critics tended to be kind to Kim Basinger, “she proves she’s more than just a pretty face”, they complained that her character “lacked depth”. Her revenge-oriented characterization struck critics as one-note and rather boring. Indeed, the entire film attracted complaints about it being underdeveloped and overwrought. And too long. At nearly 140 minutes, the film seemed to drag, especially because much of the second act - devoted to Bond and Judy’s love story - lacked “any discernible chemistry” between Glover and Basinger. While Moonraker worked as a grounded, almost realistic Cold War espionage thriller, to many fans of the series, For Your Eyes Only hardly felt like a Bond film at all.
Ultimately, For Your Eyes Only would mark Glover’s final appearance in the franchise. Frustrated by what he saw as a “lack of direction” to the series, and no longer under contract, Glover quietly announced that he would not be returning for the next film. United Artists decided to go back to the drawing board.
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On Golden Pond - Family drama. IPC Films/Universal. Directed by Mark Rydell from a screenplay written by Ernest Thompson, adapted from his 1979 play of the same name. It stars Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda (in his final theatrical film), Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon, Dabney Coleman and William Lanteau. In the film, Norman (Henry Fonda), a crusty, retired professor grappling with many effects of aging, is estranged from his daughter, Chelsea (Jane Fonda). At their summer home on Golden Pond, Norman and his wife Ethel (Katharine Hepburn) agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and an unexpected relationship blooms.
A classic in just about every sense of the word, On Golden Pond would gross more than $120 million on a budget of just $15 million, making it one of the biggest hits of 1981. It was also well-received critically, especially for its performances and script. The father-daughter dynamic of stars Henry and Jane Fonda was seen as “very natural”, and Katherine Hepburn “shined”, according to critics.
(More Movies to Come in a Subsequent Update!)
The 54th Academy Awards - March 29th, 1982 - Hosted by Johnny Carson
Best Picture: Chariots of Fire; Produced by David PuttnamThe 54th Academy Awards - March 29th, 1982 - Hosted by Johnny Carson
Best Director: Warren Beatty for Reds
Best Actor: Henry Fonda as Norman Thayer, Jr. in On Golden Pond
Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn as Ethel Thayer in On Golden Pond
Best Supporting Actor: Howard E. Rollins, Jr. as Coalhouse Walker for Ragtime
Best Supporting Actress: Jane Fonda as Chelsea Thayer Wayne in On Golden Pond
Best Original Screenplay: Colin Welland for Chariots of Fire
Best Adapted Screenplay: Ernest Thompson based on his play On Golden Pond
News in TV & Film Throughout the Year
February 14th - Funky 4 + 1 performed "That's the Joint" on NBC's Saturday Night Live. This made them the first hip hop act to perform on primetime television. Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry hosted (and performed on) this episode, shortly after the release of "Rapture", which later hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart as the first number-one song to feature rap vocals.
February 20th - Comedian Andy Kaufman disrupted sketches and started a brawl while broadcasting during ABC's sketch series Fridays, an occurrence that was later disclosed to have been entirely staged.
February 27th - The made-for-television film The Munsters' Revenge was broadcast on NBC. Based on the 1964 -1966 sitcom The Munsters, the film reunited original cast members Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, and Al Lewis. This was the last production to be made with most of the original actors from the 1960s TV series.
March 17th - Norman Fell and Audra Lindley made their final appearances as Stanley and Helen Roper on Three's Company.
March 30th - An assassination attempt against President Robert F. Kennedy in Washington, DC, in which White House Communications Director was killed and several others wounded, interrupted programming on the three major networks and CNN at 2:42 pm. Millions of viewers worldwide witnessed footage of the shooting and the chaos that followed. ABC News was flooded with unconfirmed reports, which pestered the chief anchor Frank Reynolds, one of which falsely stated that the President had himself been hit. This was also reported by CBS News and ABC News. Coverage of the assassination attempt continued for hours on the big three networks, and for two days on CNN. As a result, the Academy Awards were postponed for a day.
April 21st - "Weird Al" Yankovic made his first television appearance on NBC's The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.
May 1st - The season-four finale of Dallas, entitled "The Ewing Affair", aired on CBS.
May 15th - The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island, the third and final made-for-television film that reunited the cast of the 1964 - 1967 sitcom Gilligan's Island, aired on NBC.
June 8th - Marvin Davis acquires 20th Century Fox for $720 million.
June 24th - The series finale of Charlie's Angels aired on ABC.
September 26th - Elvira's Movie Macabre, hosted by Cassandra Peterson AKA “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark”, aired for the first time on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles.
September 28th - WRGB in Schenectady, New York, NBC's first-ever television affiliate, ended its 42-year relationship with the network (dating back to its days as experimental station W2XB) and swapped affiliations with CBS affiliate WAST, which changed its call letters to the current WNYT to mark the new affiliation.
October 30th - John Carpenter's 1978 horror film Halloween made its broadcast network television premiere on NBC (the same day that its first sequel was released in theaters and the day before star Christopher Lee guest-hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live). To fill the two-hour time slot, Carpenter filmed 12 minutes of additional material during the production of Halloween II. The newly filmed scenes include Dr. Loomis at a hospital board review of Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis talking to a then-6-year-old Michael at Smith's Grove, telling him, "You've fooled them, haven't you, Michael? But not me." Another extra scene featured Dr. Loomis at Smith's Grove examining Michael's abandoned cell after his escape and seeing the word "Sister" scratched into the door. Finally, a scene was added in which Lynda comes over to Laurie's house to borrow a silk blouse before Laurie leaves to babysit, just as Annie telephones asking to borrow the same blouse. The new scene had Laurie's hair hidden by a towel, since Jamie Lee Curtis was by then wearing a much shorter hairstyle than she had worn in 1978.
November 8th - ESPN televised its first live flag-to-flag NASCAR race, the Atlanta Journal 500, which was won by Richard Petty.
November 16th - Luke and Laura's wedding on the ABC soap opera General Hospital became one of the most-watched weddings in American television history, second only to the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Amanda Knatchbull.
November 25th - Norman Lear and his partner Jerry Perenchio agree to buy Avco Embassy for $25 million.
November 29th - Actress Natalie Wood narrowly avoids drowning after a boating accident off Santa Catalina Island in California.
December 24th - HBO began broadcasting 24 hours a day.
December 25th - Chuck Woolery hosted his last episode of the NBC game show Wheel of Fortune, quitting after a salary dispute with series producer and creator Merv Griffin. The next Monday, December 28, Pat Sajak began hosting.
1981 in Sport
Super Bowl XV - The Oakland Raiders (AFC), led by QB Jim Plunkett as MVP, defeat the Philadelphia Eagles (NFC) - 35 - 17.
World Series - Due to a 51-day strike over free agent compensation, the MLB season is split into two halves. Ultimately, the World Series sees NL champions the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the AL champions the New York Yankees. The Yankees clinched a narrow victory in game 7 at Yankee Stadium to win the series for New York. Outfielder Dave Winfield is declared series MVP.
NBA Finals - Boston Celtics won 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets.
The Stanley Cup - New York Islanders sweep the Minnesota North Stars.
1981 in Professional Wrestling
June 20th - At the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Don Muraco pinned Pedro Morales to become the new WWF Intercontinental Champion.
November 23rd - At New York's Madison Square Garden in a Texas Death Match, Pedro Morales regained the WWF Intercontinental Championship by pinning Don Muraco.
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year - Lech Wałęsa
Leader of the Polish Solidarity trade union and architect of the Gdańsk Agreement until his arrest by the communist authorities and the imposition of martial law in Poland in December 1981.
Next Time on Blue Skies in Camelot: More Movies from 1981!
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@President_Lincoln Love these pop culture chapters! SPECIALLY Loved indiana jones! Hope that Henry Walton Jones III gets to be a proper hero and succesor to his father!
I always do! And i really thought the character itself had the potential to be great!Thanks! Glad you enjoyed.
The plots for the films Raiders of the Lost Ark, For Your Eyes Only, King Arthur and Book of the Dead sounds pretty good though it's a shame Glover's tenure as James Bond ends pretty lacklustre. Looking forward to the rest of the movies in '81
I decided to look up OTL's The Living Daylights and found this tidbit on Wikipedia regarding the casting of James Bond:
I'm not saying that Mr. President should do it and it's unlikely to happen without Broccoli's approval, but still an still an interesting notion, eh?
Nice! I love the alternate films you had and that Tom Selleck ended up as Indiana Jones ITTL. I also like how you addressed the... weird ideas Lucas had about Marion and Jones's relationship and Spielberg set him right. And Jane Fonda won her oscar for On Golden Pond, very well deserved. And thank you for saving Natalie Wood. Can't wait to read more about the movies from 1981.Pop Culture in 1981 - The Music Video RevolutionAbove: In August of 1981, MTV broadcast for the first time on cable television in the United States, playing music videos 24 hours a day. This would change popular music forever.
Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1981 (Top Ten):
- “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes
- “Endless Love” by Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
- “Starting Over” by John Lennon*
- “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield
- “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang
- “Kiss on My List” by Hall & Oates
- “I Love a Rainy Night” by Eddie Rabbitt
- “In the Air Tonight” by Genesis
- “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton
- “Keep on Loving You” by REO Speedwagon
News in Music
January 1st - Joy Division released the single “Ceremony” and its B-side “In a Lonely Place”. Highly successful in their native UK, the songs also hit the US top 40 as well. Joy Division continue their ascent to the top of the rock world. Their style of post-punk - austere yet accessible - rejects the artifice of rock n roll in favor of the realities of everyday life. It will come to be highly influential on an emerging new genre - “Alternative”.
January 11th - Country singer Hank Williams Jr. releases his 32nd album, Rowdy. It is quickly certified Gold by the RIAA.
January 18th - Wendy O. Williams of The Plasmatics is arrested in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for simulating masturbation with a sledgehammer on stage. In a scuffle with the police, Williams is pinned to the floor and receives a cut above the eye requiring twelve stitches.
January 24th - Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler is killed in a motorcycle crash near his home in Boston, Massachusetts. He is deeply mourned both by fans and his young daughters: Liv (aged 3) and Mia (aged 2). Shortly after his funeral, Aerosmith announces that they are permanently disbanding. Tyler was only 32 years old.
RIP Steven Tyler
March 26th, 1948 - January 24th, 1981
February 9th - Genesis release the album Face Value, whose opening track “In the Air Tonight” popularizes the gated reverb drum sound that would become ubiquitous for the next ten years. The song will become arguably the band’s biggest hit.
February 12th - Rush release the highly regarded album Moving Pictures which eventually becomes the band's sixth platinum album.
February 14th - British punk/new romantic band Generation X hits it big with their song “Dancing with Myself”. With his photogenic good looks, lead singer Billy Idol becomes a punk rock heartthrob.
February 25th - The 23rd Annual Grammy Awards are presented in New York, hosted by Paul Simon. Pink Floyd won album of the year for The Wall.
March 14th - Suffering from bleeding ulcers, Eric Clapton is admitted to United Hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. Clapton's 60-city tour of the US is canceled, and he remains in hospital for a month. He does, thankfully, ultimately survive the ordeal.
March 27th - Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a dove at a CBS record label gathering in Los Angeles.
April 1st - The Go-Go's sign to IRS Records.
April 11th - Eddie Van Halen marries actress Valerie Bertinelli.
April 12th - Soviet orchestral conductor Maxim Shostakovich (son of Dmitri) defects while on tour in West Germany with his son. This serves as a minor diplomatic coup for the West during the escalating Cold War.
May - Rolling Stone Magazine declares that “New Wave” has taken over popular music on both sides of the Atlantic. Groups like Blondie, Joy Division, The Talking Heads, and others are helping make pop “artsy” and “weird” again. Others call the genre “refreshing”. In any event, the heady days of progressive and hard rock excess appear to be coming to an end.
May 14th - Diana Ross signs a $20,000,000 deal - the most lucrative recording contract in history at that time - to re-sign with her label, Motown Records. She had originally been considering defecting to RCA or EMI, but Motown managed to convince her to stay.
June 4th - The Hype (Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr.) appears on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder, their first U.S. television appearance.
June 6th - Kerrang! magazine publishes its first issue. Angus Young and Bon Scott of AC/DC are on the cover.
June 30th - Rock N Roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis is rushed to hospital in Memphis for emergency surgery for a tear in his stomach. Tragically, he dies shortly afterward from complications. He was forty-five years old. Pall-bearers at his funeral include Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.
RIP Jerry Lee Lewis
September 29th, 1935 - June 30th, 1981
July 13th - Duran Duran released the single "Girls on Film". Accompanied by a highly controversial music video that is censored for airplay on MTV and banned by BBC. The song becomes the band's first big hit, eventually peaking at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart during an 11-week chart run.
August 1st - MTV broadcasts for the first time on cable television in the United States, playing music videos 24 hours a day. First to air is "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
August 23rd - The Violent Femmes are discovered by members of The Pretenders busking outside a Milwaukee venue and are invited to play a 10-minute acoustic set as a second opening act in the Pretenders' show that night.
September 5th - Soft Cell tops the UK Singles Chart with "Tainted Love". The song also tops the chart the following week and becomes the second best selling single in the UK in 1981.
September 19th - Simon & Garfunkel perform a free reunion concert in New York City's Central Park attended by over 500,000 fans.
September 25th - The Rolling Stones open their US tour in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
September 26th - Iron Maiden hires Geordie lead singer Brian Johnson to replace Paul Di'Anno.
October 31st - Punk band Fear makes a memorable appearance on Saturday Night Live. A group of fans storm the stage and damage TV equipment while moshing, resulting in the show cutting to commercial.
December 31st - The tenth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC, with appearances by Four Tops, Rick Springfield, Barry Manilow, Alabama and Rick James.
Throughout - Synthpop enjoys mainstream popularity in the UK, with groups such as Ultravox, Depeche Mode, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Human League releasing hit singles and albums. The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" and Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" become the year's best selling singles in the UK.
1981 in Film - The Year’s Biggest & Most Memorable
Raiders of the Lost Ark - Action-adventure. Lucasfilm/Paramount Pictures. Directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman.
Set in 1936, the film stars Tom Sellek as Indiana Jones, a globetrotting archaeologist vying with Nazi German forces to recover the long-lost Ark of the Covenant, which is said to have the power to make an army invincible. Teaming up with his tough former romantic interest Marion Ravenwood (Barbara Hershey), Jones races to stop rival archaeologist René Belloq (René Auberjonois) from guiding the Nazis to the Ark and its power.
Lucas originally conceived of Raiders of the Lost Ark in the early 1970s as The Adventures of Indiana Smith. (Indiana being named after Lucas’ dog, also the inspiration for Chewbacca.) Seeking to modernize the serial adventure films of the early 20th century, he developed the idea further with Kaufman, who suggested the Ark as the film's goal. Kaufman, however, was committed to directing the Clint Eastwood-led western The Outlaw Josey Wales at the time and was thus unavailable to direct. Lucas shelved the project in order to focus on making Star Wars. But following that film’s success, and with The Empire Strikes Back already well in development, Lucas felt that the iron was hot for him to return to his Adventures of Indiana Smith project. He brought it to his friend, Steven Spielberg.
At the time, Spielberg was in high-demand in Hollywood.
After directing blockbuster after blockbuster (1975’s Jaws; 1978’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind; and 1979’s Superman), Spielberg had his eyes set on directing a James Bond picture. That would ultimately fall through, however, leaving him free to direct Raiders of the Lost Ark and later, Return of the Jedi (though there were plenty of political issues that had to be worked through for these, due to Spielberg’s membership in the DGA and Lucasfilm not being a union shop). Together with Spielberg acolyte Kasdan, Spielberg and Lucas reworked elements of the story until they were just right.
The plot, which originally involved a trip to Nepal, a cart chase through a mineshaft, and a nightclub in Shanghai (elements which would later be recycled for a subsequent film), was simplified. The protagonist’s surname was changed from “Smith” (which Spielberg hated) to “Jones”. The love triangle between Jones, Ravenwood, and Belloq was simplified to a mutual attraction between the first two, with Belloq’s attraction for Marion being made one-sided. Most importantly, with the early stages of the “So Have I” movement beginning to work their way through Hollywood, Spielberg called Lucas out on a particularly problematic element that Lucas had wanted to include.
At some point in the process of writing the script, the decision was made for Jones, an anti-hero, archaeologist and college professor, to have had a previous relationship with Marion Ravenwood.
Originally, Lucas called for Marion to have been only eleven years old at the time of their past relationship, with Jones having been a young adult (perhaps twice her age) at the time. Lucas thought that this could make for an interesting dynamic - with Jones originally not being interested in a girl he saw as a child (which, of course, she was), only to be attracted to her once they met again in the film’s present of 1936. This idea made Spielberg immensely uncomfortable, however. He told Lucas point blank that quote, “We had better make them the same age, George.” Lucas, seeing that his idea could potentially make moviegoers uncomfortable as well, and seeing Spielberg’s point, agreed. The script was amended so that Marion and Indiana Jones had been classmates in college.
The main character’s personality and characterization also underwent significant reform under Spielberg’s direction. Lucas originally conceived of Indiana Jones as a “playboy” and an “anti-hero” driven primarily by profit and other selfish motives. His heroism was, in a sense, almost incidental. In retrospect, Lucas would later admit, he wanted a change of pace from the selfless, heroic nature of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.
Spielberg worried that it would be difficult to get general, movie-going audiences to root for Jones if he was too self-interested, even if the villains were literal Nazis. Spielberg, as a Jewish man becoming increasingly aware of and interested in his heritage (his father claimed to have lost “between fifteen and twenty” relatives in the Holocaust), wanted Jones to become a “symbol for America” in the 1930s.
Jones begins the film only interested in profit, and in delivering the artifacts he finds to museums (representing America’s isolationism and cynical trade relationship with Nazi Germany and other fascist states during the 1920s and 30s). But later, as he comes to understand what the Ark (a symbol of Biblical, supernatural power from the Old Testament) might mean if it falls into the hands of the Nazis, he is roused to defeat them, just as America was during World War II. This arc (self-interest to noble interventionism), Spielberg believed, could be reminiscent of Rick Blaine’s, the hero of the 1942 classic Casablanca. Lucas, seeing the value in telling such a story (especially in light of the once-again escalating Cold War and a general feeling of “malaise” in American culture at the dawn of the 1980s), agreed to Spielberg’s suggestions. He worked with Kasdan to trim and edit the script to fit them in.
Critics would later praise the film as a sort of thinly-disguised “Jewish revenge fantasy” against the Nazis, allowing catharsis for Jewish viewers to see a “tough, no nonsense American action hero” who punches Nazis, blows up their war machine, and disproves their notions of superiority on the big screen. Spielberg’s interpretation of the character would be added to the Jewish-American tradition of creating “Star-spangled fascist-bashers' ' alongside Superman and Captain America.
With the script finally complete, casting was also a critical step in the film’s development, of course. Lucas wanted a relatively unknown actor, willing to commit to a trilogy of films, to play Indiana Jones (as he had with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher for Star Wars). Those considered for the role included Bill Murray, Nick Nolte, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Tim Matheson, Nick Mancuso, Peter Coyote, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Bridges, John Shea, Sam Elliott, and Harry Hamlin. Casting director Mike Fenton favored Bridges, but Lucas' wife and frequent collaborator Marcia Lucas preferred Tom Selleck.
Selleck - only just beginning to become a household name - was contractually obligated to filming the television series Magnum, P.I. if it were to be made into a full series. Lucas and Spielberg asked the show's studio, CBS, to release him 10 days early from his contract. Realizing Selleck was in demand, CBS greenlit Magnum P.I.. This would have forced him to drop out, leaving the production with no lead actor only weeks before filming. But thankfully for Lucas and Spielberg, The 1980 actors' strike put the show on hiatus for three months, which allowed Selleck to star as Jones. Selleck would later call this series of events a “happy accident” that “launched his career” in film.
For Jones' love interest Marion Ravenwood, Spielberg wanted someone akin to early 20th-century leading female icons like Irene Dunne, Barbara Stanwyck, and Ann Sheridan, who equaled their male counterparts. Lucas wanted Debra Winger, but she was not interested, and Spielberg wanted his girlfriend Amy Irving, but she was unavailable. They also considered Stephanie Zimbalist, Karen Allen, and Sean Young. In the end, they went with Barbara Hershey, who they felt would lend the role a certain gravitas.
Belloq was intended to be a sophisticated villain to counter the "beer-drinking" hero. René Auberjonois was best known at the time as a stage actor in New York. He’d won a number of Tony awards, but had as of yet failed to make a big splash in Hollywood, mostly playing bit parts. He impressed both Lucas and Spielberg with his “French accent” (which was actually based on his own Swiss immigrant father’s) and his personal lineage (his mother was descended from one of Napoleon’s marshals) and knowledge of French aristocracy. This element (being associated with Napoleonic France) was added to Belloq’s backstory in the final film as a nod to this. The film also starred Egyptian actor and activist Mahmoud Kabil as Sallah, an Egyptian excavator and old acquaintance of Jones; Denholm Elliott as Marcus Brody, a museum curator and Jones’ loyal friend; and Roy Scheider (who had previously worked with Spielberg on Jaws) as Nazi officer Colonel Dietrich, the film’s true villain.
Above: Barbara Hershey (left); René Auberjonois (center); and Roy Scheider (right); Marion Ravenwood; René Belloq; and Colonel Dietrich, respectively.
Raiders of the Lost Ark wrapped production in June 1980, with an intended release date of the following summer. The context of the film’s release would only add to how impressive its eventual success truly was.
By the summer of 1981, the film industry had been in decline for over a year. This was the result of few box office successes, rising film production costs, diminishing audiences, and increasing ticket prices. The season was predicted to be down 10% or $250 million against the previous year. Over 60 films were scheduled for release - more than the previous year - by studios eager to make the next blockbuster. This increased competition to attract audiences, mainly those aged 12 to 24, at the most profitable time of the year.
The superhero film Superman II (helmed by Richard Donner) was expected to dominate the season, and based on industry experts and audience polling, films like History of the World, Part I (Fox), the latest James Bond film For Your Eyes Only (United Artists), and The Great Muppet Caper (Disney), were also expected to perform well. Conversely, audience polling by CinemaScore showed little awareness or anticipation for Raiders until nationwide previews a week before its release. The New York Times reported that Paramount (the studio backing Raiders) had provided theater owners with a more beneficial deal than usual to ensure Raiders was screened in the best theaters and locations.
Any and all doubts about the film’s chances were swiftly put to rest, however.
Raiders of the Lost Ark would eventually earn $213 million against a budget of $20 million, making it, by far, the highest-grossing film of 1981. It made more than twice the amount made by its closest competitor, Superman II (which made just under $105 million), and was, to boot, greeted with universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Especially praised were Spielberg’s direction, the fabulous practical effects, visual aesthetic, and the performances by the cast. Various elements of Selleck’s character - the fedora hat, the whip, and of course, John Williams’ theme - became iconic in cinematic history.
Roger Ebert, for instance, called the film “a series of breathless and incredible adventures inspired by and celebrating childhood stories told in comic books and movies.” He concluded that the film “was successful in its singular goal of entertaining, creating an adventure epic in the vein of Star Wars, the James Bond films, and Superman. Two thumbs way up.”
In short, it succeeded in virtually every aspect of making a fun, exciting cinematic experience.
Given the film’s success, it was only a matter of time before Paramount began pressing Lucas and Spielberg for a sequel. For the time being, Lucas remained aloof, knowing that he and Spielberg would need to focus their full attention on Return of the Jedi. But another Indiana Jones film - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Death - would eventually be released, in 1984.
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Book of the Dead - Supernatural horror. Independent/New Line Cinema. Written and directed by Sam Raimi (in his feature film directorial debut). The film stars Raimi’s childhood friend Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly. The story focuses on five college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in a remote wooded area. They find an audio tape featuring a translation of the so-called Necronomicon (the titular “Book of the Dead”) that, when played, releases a legion of demons and spirits; four members of the group then suffer from demonic possession. This forces the fifth member, Ash Williams (Campbell), to survive an onslaught of increasingly gory mayhem. Raimi, producer Robert G. Tapert, Campbell, and their friends produced the short film Within the Woods as a proof of concept to build the interest of potential investors, which secured $90,000 to begin work on Book of the Dead.
The film’s title and concept were inspired by Raimi’s interest in the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft; especially the stories around one of Lovecraft’s most popular creations - the Necronomicon. Its eventual success would help generate interest in the author and his work among fans of the film and horror fans in general. In this way Book of the Dead can be seen in retrospect as a trend-setter for adaptations of Lovecraft’s work that would continue throughout the 1980s, most notably with Stanley Kubrick’s The Colour Out of Space the following year (1982) and later, Re-Animator (1985).
Principal photography for Book of the Dead took place on location in a remote cabin located in Morristown, Tennessee. It was a difficult filming process that proved to be extremely uncomfortable for the cast and crew. The film's extensive prosthetic makeup effects and stop-motion animations were created by artist Tom Sullivan and were seen as “instrumental” in the film’s success. Once completed, Book of the Dead attracted the interest of producer Irvin Shapiro, who helped screen the film at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. Horror author Stephen King gave a rave review of the film, which resulted in New Line Cinema acquiring its distribution rights, helping it be seen by a much wider audience than it probably would have otherwise.
Book of the Dead grossed $2.4 million in the United States and between $2.7 and $29.4 million worldwide, making it, proportionally, one of, if not the most profitable films of all time. Both initial and subsequent critical reception were universally positive. And in the years since its release, the film’s legacy has only grown, having developed a reputation as one of the most significant “cult” films ever made, possessing a huge influence on the film industry and horror films in particular.
Thanks in no small part to the film’s unprecedented success, Raimi and Campbell were immediately approached by New Line Cinema (with further financial backing from Warner Bros., on the recommendation of King) about the possibility of making a sequel. The concept had been discussed while filming Book of the Dead. Irvin Shaprio, the film's publicist, pushed Raimi to devise a premise for such a film. Working with screenwriter Sheldon Lettich and Campbell, Raimi settled on a story in which Ash was sucked through a time portal to the Middle Ages, where he would encounter more deadites. Thanks to King’s urging, New Line and Warner Bros. bought the script. Production on the sequel began in May 1984.
It would ultimately be released in April 1985 as The Medieval Dead. More on that soon.
Above: An early promotional poster for Book of the Dead (left); “King of B-Movies”, Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams (right).
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King Arthur - Medieval romance. Paramount Pictures. Written and directed by John Boorman.
Boorman had planned a film adaptation of the King Arthur legend as early as 1969, but when submitting the three-hour script written with Rospo Pallenberg to United Artists at the time, they rejected it, deeming it too costly. They offered him J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (to which they owned the rights) instead. Boorman was allowed to shop the script elsewhere, but no studio would commit to it. That is, until the success of Ridley Scott’s Tristan and Isolde for Paramount in 1980. Something of a sleeper hit the year before, Tristan and Isolde gave Paramount the confidence in the concept they needed to greenlight King Arthur. Boorman got his funding and went to work to try and make movie magic once again.
The screenplay for King Arthur is primarily an adaptation of Sir Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte D’Arthur. It sought to recontextualize the Arthurian legends as an allegory of the cycle of birth, life, decay, and restoration, by stripping the text of “decorative or insignificant details”, according to Boorman. Arthur is presented as the “Wounded King” whose realm becomes a wasteland to be reborn thanks to the Holy Grail, and may be compared to the Fisher (or Sinner) King, whose land also became a wasteland, and was also healed by Sir Perceval.
“The film has to do with mythical truth, not historical truth,” Boorman remarked to a journalist during filming. The Christian symbolism revolves around the Grail, perhaps most strongly in the baptismal imagery of Perceval finally achieving the Grail quest. “That's what my story is about: the coming of Christian man and the disappearance of the old religions which are represented by Merlin. The forces of superstition and magic are swallowed up into the unconscious.”
Boorman cast (at the time) largely unknown actors for several of the principal roles. These included Arthur (Irish actor Liam Neeson, whom Boorman had seen in a production of Of Mice and Men); Merlin (English Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart); and Guinevere (Cheri Lunghi). In fact, the only “major star” he cast for the project was Helen Mirren in the role of Morgan Le Fey.
King Arthur was the number one film during its opening weekend of April 10th-12th, 1981, eventually earning nearly $35 million in the United States alone against a budget of just under $11 million. Though not the runaway blockbuster that Paramount had been hoping for, the film could, again be considered a modest commercial success.
Though audiences seemed to generally enjoy the film, critics were divided in their response. Roger Ebert called it simultaneously, “a wondrous vision” and “a mess”. To speak broadly, critics praised the film’s direction, sets, and aesthetic, which Ebert admitted were “brilliant to look at”, as well as some of the performances, especially that of Patrick Stewart as the conniving Merlin. But they panned the script and Boorman’s poor direction. The consensus among critics appeared to be that Boorman wrote these characters not as heroes or even sympathetic human beings, but rather as “giants of myth come to life”. This made some of their dialogue feel stilted, almost robotic. Boorman shot back that this was the entire point. The story was a myth put to film, after all. But to each their own.
Today, the film is generally seen by most cinephiles as okay to great, depending on your tastes.
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An American Werewolf in London - Comedy/Horror. Universal Pictures. Written and directed by John Landis. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, the film stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne and John Woodvine. The title is a portmanteau between two classic films - An American in Paris and Werewolf of London. The plot follows two American backpackers, David and Jack, who are attacked by a werewolf while traveling in England, causing David to become a werewolf under the next full moon.
Landis wrote the first draft of the film’s screenplay in 1969 and shelved it for over a decade. Prospective financiers believed that Landis' script was too frightening to be comedy and too humorous to be horror, leading most to pass on it.
After achieving success in Hollywood with the comedies The Kentucky Fried Movie, National Lampoon's Animal House and The Blues Brothers, however, Landis was able to secure financing from PolyGram Pictures to produce the film.
An American Werewolf in London was released in the US by Universal Pictures on August 21st, 1981. It was a critical and commercial success, winning the 1981 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and the first ever Academy Award for Best Makeup. Since its release, it has become a cult classic, and mandatory viewing for any and all fans of “classic movie monsters”. It also proved as The Medieval Dead and Re-Animator would in 1985, that horror and comedy actually worked really well as a fusion genre.
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Time Bandits - British adventure/fantasy. HandMade Films. Co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan and David Warner. The film tells the story of a young boy taken on an adventure through time with a band of thieves who plunder treasure from various points in history.
After Gilliam (of Monty Python fame) failed to find financial backing for his surrealist adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 - variously titled: 1984 ½; The Ministry; and even Brazil, he then decided that it might be easier, in the current state of the film industry, to make a family-friendly film instead. Co-written by fellow Python Michael Palin and financed by ex-Beatle George Harrison’s company HandMade films, Time Bandits was filmed in England, Wales, and Morocco on a budget of $5 million.
Released on July 2nd, 1981 in the UK and November 6th, 1981 in the US, the film debuted at number one at the box office in both countries and was met with positive reviews by critics. By the end of its run in theaters, Time Bandits would earn $36 million, giving Gilliam the footing he needed to make what would ultimately become The Ministry.
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For Your Eyes Only - 007 Spy thriller. United Artists. Directed by John Glen (who had previously worked on the Bond series as an editor). Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson, from the short story by Ian Fleming. Though the downturn in the film industry meant that the budget for For Your Eyes Only would be slightly lower than previous outings in the franchise (still much higher than the average film at the time at nearly $30 million), director Glen decided to turn this into an asset, rather than a liability. As his predecessors had with Moonraker, the decision was made to keep For Your Eyes Only as a grounded, realistic thriller, rather than a campy romp.
Julian Glover returns for his fifth film as MI6 agent James Bond/007. The plot begins in earnest with the murder of the Havelocks, a British couple living in Jamaica who have refused to sell their estate to Smekhov Ilyich (Walter Matthau), a former KGB officer who is the chief of counterintelligence for the Cuban Secret Service under Fidel Castro. They are killed by two Cuban hitmen at the direction of their leader, Major Gonzales (Danny Trejo - in his film debut); all three work for Ilyich. The Havelocks turn out to be close friends of M (Robert Brown - Bernard Lee was set to return for his twelfth outing as M, but was tragically diagnosed with stomach cancer and could not accept the part. He died on January 16th, 1981. For Your Eyes Only is dedicated to his memory), who served as the groom's best man during their wedding in 1946 (just after World War II, in which they’d served together).
M subsequently gives Bond a voluntary assignment, unconnected to sanctioned Secret Service duties; to travel to Vermont via Canada, find Ilyich at his rented estate at Echo Lake and assassinate him as a warning to future criminals who might think to target British citizens. At first, Bond is conflicted about taking the assignment, given its clandestine nature. Upon reflecting on his experiences during the last film, however, Bond reluctantly agrees.
When Bond arrives on the scene, he finds the Havelocks' daughter, Judy (Kim Basinger), who intends to carry out her own mission of revenge with a bow and arrow. She and Bond agree to work together and also develop a mutual attraction. While scoping out Ilyich’s estate, they learn that he purchased the home in Vermont to try and spy on the nearby American disease research facility in Stovington, with the hopes of developing a biological weapon for the Soviet Union to use in the Cold War.
In the film’s climax, Judy kills Ilyich by shooting him in the back with an arrow from 100 meters away at the exact moment that he dives into a lake. A shoot-out then occurs between Bond and Gonzales and the two Cuban gunmen. Bond kills all of them and returns to Canada with Judy, who has been wounded during the gunfight.
Above: Kim Basinger, the American actress who starred as Judy Havelock in For Your Eyes Only. Already a rising star thanks to a semi-nude shoot for Playboy magazine in 1981, Basinger’s role in the film shot her into superstardom and made her one of the decade’s most enduring sex symbols.
For Your Eyes Only turned out to be something of a disappointment for United Artists. Though the film made a profit (just over $100 million against a budget of around $30 million), this was far less than the studio had hoped for. Enthusiasm amongst both fans of the franchise and general audiences was tepid at best and critical reviews were decidedly mixed.
Though as usual, Glover put in a “fine” performance as 007, less favorably received were the performances of the rest of the cast and the script. Critics felt that although Matthau in particular was a “fabulously talented” actor, in both comedic and more serious roles, he felt “miscast” as Ilyich. As written in the script, the villain’s demeanor seems to vacillate wildly between menacing and cowardly in a way that many critics found “downright silly”. While critics tended to be kind to Kim Basinger, “she proves she’s more than just a pretty face”, they complained that her character “lacked depth”. Her revenge-oriented characterization struck critics as one-note and rather boring. Indeed, the entire film attracted complaints about it being underdeveloped and overwrought. And too long. At nearly 140 minutes, the film seemed to drag, especially because much of the second act - devoted to Bond and Judy’s love story - lacked “any discernible chemistry” between Glover and Basinger. While Moonraker worked as a grounded, almost realistic Cold War espionage thriller, to many fans of the series, For Your Eyes Only hardly felt like a Bond film at all.
Ultimately, For Your Eyes Only would mark Glover’s final appearance in the franchise. Frustrated by what he saw as a “lack of direction” to the series, and no longer under contract, Glover quietly announced that he would not be returning for the next film. United Artists decided to go back to the drawing board.
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On Golden Pond - Family drama. IPC Films/Universal. Directed by Mark Rydell from a screenplay written by Ernest Thompson, adapted from his 1979 play of the same name. It stars Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda (in his final theatrical film), Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon, Dabney Coleman and William Lanteau. In the film, Norman (Henry Fonda), a crusty, retired professor grappling with many effects of aging, is estranged from his daughter, Chelsea (Jane Fonda). At their summer home on Golden Pond, Norman and his wife Ethel (Katharine Hepburn) agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and an unexpected relationship blooms.
A classic in just about every sense of the word, On Golden Pond would gross more than $120 million on a budget of just $15 million, making it one of the biggest hits of 1981. It was also well-received critically, especially for its performances and script. The father-daughter dynamic of stars Henry and Jane Fonda was seen as “very natural”, and Katherine Hepburn “shined”, according to critics.
(More Movies to Come in a Subsequent Update!)Best Picture: Chariots of Fire; Produced by David Puttnam
The 54th Academy Awards - March 29th, 1982 - Hosted by Johnny Carson
Best Director: Warren Beatty for Reds
Best Actor: Henry Fonda as Norman Thayer, Jr. in On Golden Pond
Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn as Ethel Thayer in On Golden Pond
Best Supporting Actor: Howard E. Rollins, Jr. as Coalhouse Walker for Ragtime
Best Supporting Actress: Jane Fonda as Chelsea Thayer Wayne in On Golden Pond
Best Original Screenplay: Colin Welland for Chariots of Fire
Best Adapted Screenplay: Ernest Thompson based on his play On Golden Pond
News in TV & Film Throughout the Year
February 14th - Funky 4 + 1 performed "That's the Joint" on NBC's Saturday Night Live. This made them the first hip hop act to perform on primetime television. Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry hosted (and performed on) this episode, shortly after the release of "Rapture", which later hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart as the first number-one song to feature rap vocals.
February 20th - Comedian Andy Kaufman disrupted sketches and started a brawl while broadcasting during ABC's sketch series Fridays, an occurrence that was later disclosed to have been entirely staged.
February 27th - The made-for-television film The Munsters' Revenge was broadcast on NBC. Based on the 1964 -1966 sitcom The Munsters, the film reunited original cast members Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, and Al Lewis. This was the last production to be made with most of the original actors from the 1960s TV series.
March 17th - Norman Fell and Audra Lindley made their final appearances as Stanley and Helen Roper on Three's Company.
March 30th - An assassination attempt against President Robert F. Kennedy in Washington, DC, in which White House Communications Director was killed and several others wounded, interrupted programming on the three major networks and CNN at 2:42 pm. Millions of viewers worldwide witnessed footage of the shooting and the chaos that followed. ABC News was flooded with unconfirmed reports, which pestered the chief anchor Frank Reynolds, one of which falsely stated that the President had himself been hit. This was also reported by CBS News and ABC News. Coverage of the assassination attempt continued for hours on the big three networks, and for two days on CNN. As a result, the Academy Awards were postponed for a day.
April 21st - "Weird Al" Yankovic made his first television appearance on NBC's The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.
May 1st - The season-four finale of Dallas, entitled "The Ewing Affair", aired on CBS.
May 15th - The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island, the third and final made-for-television film that reunited the cast of the 1964 - 1967 sitcom Gilligan's Island, aired on NBC.
June 8th - Marvin Davis acquires 20th Century Fox for $720 million.
June 24th - The series finale of Charlie's Angels aired on ABC.
September 26th - Elvira's Movie Macabre, hosted by Cassandra Peterson AKA “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark”, aired for the first time on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles.
September 28th - WRGB in Schenectady, New York, NBC's first-ever television affiliate, ended its 42-year relationship with the network (dating back to its days as experimental station W2XB) and swapped affiliations with CBS affiliate WAST, which changed its call letters to the current WNYT to mark the new affiliation.
October 30th - John Carpenter's 1978 horror film Halloween made its broadcast network television premiere on NBC (the same day that its first sequel was released in theaters and the day before star Christopher Lee guest-hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live). To fill the two-hour time slot, Carpenter filmed 12 minutes of additional material during the production of Halloween II. The newly filmed scenes include Dr. Loomis at a hospital board review of Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis talking to a then-6-year-old Michael at Smith's Grove, telling him, "You've fooled them, haven't you, Michael? But not me." Another extra scene featured Dr. Loomis at Smith's Grove examining Michael's abandoned cell after his escape and seeing the word "Sister" scratched into the door. Finally, a scene was added in which Lynda comes over to Laurie's house to borrow a silk blouse before Laurie leaves to babysit, just as Annie telephones asking to borrow the same blouse. The new scene had Laurie's hair hidden by a towel, since Jamie Lee Curtis was by then wearing a much shorter hairstyle than she had worn in 1978.
November 8th - ESPN televised its first live flag-to-flag NASCAR race, the Atlanta Journal 500, which was won by Richard Petty.
November 16th - Luke and Laura's wedding on the ABC soap opera General Hospital became one of the most-watched weddings in American television history, second only to the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Amanda Knatchbull.
November 25th - Norman Lear and his partner Jerry Perenchio agree to buy Avco Embassy for $25 million.
November 29th - Actress Natalie Wood narrowly avoids drowning after a boating accident off Santa Catalina Island in California.
December 24th - HBO began broadcasting 24 hours a day.
December 25th - Chuck Woolery hosted his last episode of the NBC game show Wheel of Fortune, quitting after a salary dispute with series producer and creator Merv Griffin. The next Monday, December 28, Pat Sajak began hosting.
1981 in Sport
Super Bowl XV - The Oakland Raiders (AFC), led by QB Jim Plunkett as MVP, defeat the Philadelphia Eagles (NFC) - 35 - 17.
World Series - Due to a 51-day strike over free agent compensation, the MLB season is split into two halves. Ultimately, the World Series sees NL champions the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the AL champions the New York Yankees. The Yankees clinched a narrow victory in game 7 at Yankee Stadium to win the series for New York. Outfielder Dave Winfield is declared series MVP.
NBA Finals - Boston Celtics won 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets.
The Stanley Cup - New York Islanders sweep the Minnesota North Stars.
1981 in Professional Wrestling
June 20th - At the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Don Muraco pinned Pedro Morales to become the new WWF Intercontinental Champion.
November 23rd - At New York's Madison Square Garden in a Texas Death Match, Pedro Morales regained the WWF Intercontinental Championship by pinning Don Muraco.
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year - Lech WałęsaLeader of the Polish Solidarity trade union and architect of the Gdańsk Agreement until his arrest by the communist authorities and the imposition of martial law in Poland in December 1981.
Next Time on Blue Skies in Camelot: More Movies from 1981!
Hopefully Adrienne King's stalker is butterflied away so she can get more than five minutes of screentime in Friday Part 2. Speaking of, will the deaths be uncut?
😱😭😭😭😭😭January 24th - Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler is killed in a motorcycle crash near his home in Boston, Massachusetts. He is deeply mourned both by fans and his young daughters: Liv (aged 3) and Mia (aged 2). Shortly after his funeral, Aerosmith announces that they are permanently disbanding. Tyler was only 32 years old.
RIP Steven Tyler
March 26th, 1948 - January 24th, 1981
Cue glam rock and hair metal in 3...2....1....
Not called U2 ITTL...interesting.
Aaaaaaaand the '80s have officially arrived!
Oh! Odo is Belloq ITTL, that's cool!
I'd forgotten that Spielberg did Superman ITTL.
Good catch, Steve!
Good call, George. And this is why Lucas needs collaborators.
🎶FASH BASHERS!🎶
*Ghostbusters theme intensifies*
Sweet!
YAY!
Hope the asshole that pushed her off the boat in the first place gets keel-hauled.
Noooo, not Steven Tyler and Jerry Lee Lewis! Still an amazing pop culture update though. Love it! 👍
It would be lovely to save baseball from itself instead of OTL
I am wondering if Snyder will get his way for his show a little while longer than OTL. Always a shame to me how he got booted from there (albeit, to fill a slot for Letterman).
RUINED! UNFORGIVABLE! A CURSE ON YOUR HOUSE /sJanuary 24th - Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler is killed in a motorcycle crash near his home in Boston, Massachusetts. He is deeply mourned both by fans and his young daughters: Liv (aged 3) and Mia (aged 2). Shortly after his funeral, Aerosmith announces that they are permanently disbanding. Tyler was only 32 years old.
RIP Steven Tyler
March 26th, 1948 - January 24th, 1981
Weird fact, but apparently, Jim Peck (of OTL Card Sharks/$ale of the Century fame) was considered as a replacement for Woolery before Griffin decided on Sajak
Overall, great work