MILWAUKEE – Baseball is back in season and so is Don Most. The star of Happy Days returns in The Yankles. Instead of being the student athlete on the field, Most now plays a baseball dad.
Yankles is about Eliot Dubs (Michael Buster), a one-time pitching prospect who has entered a yeshiva to study for a religious life. When the school’s leaders decide to form a baseball team to play in a minor college conference, Eliot puts up a resistance. But he quickly joins in the diamond life to make things a little easier on his studies. While there’s a bit of raw talent amongst his classmates, he can’t do it all. The team really lacks a manager with real baseball skills. Brian Wimmer (Cpl. Boonie on China Beach) is a disgraced baseball all-star recently released from prison. He can’t find anyone to take him on for his court ordered community service hours. The yeshiva takes a chance on him since they don’t want to be completely embarrassed against their new rivals.
The film is an Orthodox take on The Bad News Bears. Amongst the colorful characters is Don Most. He’s a former big leaguer upset that his son has given up on baseball to study religion. The son was raised to see baseball as a faith. Most’s dad spends most of his time hanging out at a bar enjoying his beer and watching games on the TV. He’s not the jovial Ralph Malph that hung around Arnold’s.
When a chance come up to swap email questions with Most came up, the Party Favors eagerly accepted. Back in 1989, the Party Favors interviewed Frank Gorshin (Batman‘s The Riddler). Gorshin had recently done a play with Most. He had only compliments for his co-stars. Most has been active over the years including recently appearing on Glee. He also appeared on Star Trek: Voyager and Sliders which makes him eligible to appear at the John Rhys-Davies Convention.
Most isn’t a stranger to the diamond. He was part of the Happy Days ball team the played numerous charity games. But we start the conversation about Most playing a prickly character in The Yankles.
Party Favors: What did you do to create and maintain the frustration your character projects early in Yankles?
Don Most: I took certain events from my own life….plus added some imaginary circumstances to get me to where I needed to be.
Party Favors: Did you ever get fearful that the cast and crew would think you were that prickly?
Don Most: I thought that some might, but you got to do what you got to do.
Party Favors: How was the collaboration between yourself, David R. Brooks and Zev Brooks?
Don Most: I mainly collaborated with David (who directed) and it was great! He really took the time to make sure we were both on the same page, answering all of my many questions, and offering some good insights.
Party Favors: What did you do to create a father and son bond between you and Michael Buster. Did you end up playing catch off camera?
Don Most: We did not end up playing catch. We mainly talked and got to know one another as best as you could. Since there was supposed to be such alienation between us, sometimes we would keep our distance from each other.
Party Favors: Was it odd to be in a religious theme baseball film with so many of your scenes at a bar?
Don Most: No, not really. I wasn’t thinking about it along those lines. I just looked at each scene and did what I had to do to be as true as possible to it.
Party Favors: What brand of beer did you imagine your character was pounding down?
Don Most: Budweiser.
Party Favors: Did being around the diamond take you back to your days when the Happy Days cast had a ball team?
Don Most: It did take me back so that I wanted to play again.
Party Favors: Did anyone on the team play nasty? Did Tom Bosley ever signal for chin music?
Don Most: What? The Happy Days gang play nasty? Impossible.
Party Favors: Will we be seeing more of you on the upcoming season of Glee?
Don Most: I think I should be coming back since Emma and Will have a wedding planned. I hope so. I really enjoyed doing the show.
Party Favors: Did you get a chance to see the new release of Crazy Mama? (The Jonathan Demme directed film starred Most.) Is it inspirational to see that Cloris Leachman is still busy? Or intimidating that you have to match her stamina?
Don Most: I haven’t seen the new release. I guess I better go out and get it. And it is BOTH inspirational and intimidating to see the kind of stamina that Cloris has. I’m hoping I can come close to that.
Party Favors: Finally, speaking of underdogs of sport, what did you do when Lehigh beat Duke in the NCAA tourney? (Most had attended Leigh before heading out to Los Angeles).
Don Most: I called up a bunch of my old fraternity brothers and we all had a good toast or two for old time sake.
The Yankles is out on DVD and Blu-ray from Magnolia Home Entertainment.
MORE HAPPY DAYS AHEAD?
for those keeping track, the Party Favors has now featuring Henry Winkler and Don Most. This means Anson Williams is now on the clock. Why isn’t there a Potsie Weber sings the greatest hits of the 50s and 60s collection?
DRIVE-IN LOVE
Fans of seeing cinema under the stars are in for a treat with the Sixth annual Drive-In Super Monster-rama running Friday Sept. 7 and Saturday Sept 8 in Vandergrift, PA. The Riverside Drive-in is outside Pittsburgh. For $10 a night you will get to experience THEATRE OF BLOOD, HORROR HOUSE, EQUINOX , SON OF BLOB on Friday. Plus Saturday promises TWINS OF EVIL, COUNTESS DRACULA, RAW MEAT and PSYCHOMANIA. What can you do during the day besides nap? Try to find the locations from George Romero films! You can get more info at www.dvddrive-in.
JR-D13
The John Rhys-Davies Convention for 2013 is getting closer to be a reality. We’re looking for bids from major cities to host the greatest gathering of John Rhys-Davies fanatics ever. Remember that facilities need to be huge enough to handle ninjas from Shogun.
We have run into a roadblock with not quite being able to confirm if John Rhys-Davies can attend his conventions. But fret not, we’ve got a backup plan to hire Jonathan Rhys Meyers from The Tudors. He does a wicked impersonation. And if he can’t make it, we’ve got our feelers out to Mary Louise Parker. Although we’ll do our best to get JRD even if it means offering him breakfast and a hotel room with a working sink. JR-D13 promises to be a Donald Trump level of professionalism. For those of you already planning to attend, the festival will only deal with films and TV shows that featured John Rhys-Davies. That means you can wear costumes for Pysch, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Krod Mandoon, Sliders, Mortal Kombat, Bloodsport, CHiPs, James Bond, I Claudius and many others. Star Wars outfits are forbidden!!! No Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers will be allowed inside the building. That’s right, a convention that will ban your alleged girlfriend from wearing her Slave Leia costume.
CORMAN CORNER
Roger Corman’s Cult Classics: Black Oak Conspiracy is considered one of the classics of Deep Fried Southern Flicks. Jesse Vint is a Hollywood stuntman who returns home to Oklahoma. Why? He’s got to take care of his sick mom. He’s a good son. Trouble comes when he determines his mom should be so sick. He uncovers a conspiracy involving the kindly doctor, the sheriff and others eager to swindle land from the elderly. Vint isn’t going to back down from these devious plans that involve Seymour Cassel (Killing of a Chinese Bookie) and Albert Salmi (Caddyshack). This is a film that demands you to open up the living room windows to get the humid night air making you sweat while watching all the action. Black Oak Conspiracy is only being offered through Shout Select at this moment. The movie is being pressed on a real DVD and not burned on a DVD-R. Visit Shoutfactory.com to order it from their online store.
TODDLER HELP
The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block are two releases that should be major helps if you’re the parent of a baby or toddler. Dr. Harvey Karp understand that the one thing any new parent can’t deal with is noise. Happiest Baby covers how to quiet your baby when they’re fresh out. I really regret not seeing this DVD when my toddler was a day old and turning me into Zombie Dad. My baby liked staying up till 5 a.m. and sleeping to the crack of 6 a.m. This is suffering. Dr. Karp’s technique works well with the demo babies. If you are expecting or need a gift for a baby shower – get this gift for the parents. This will be more appreciated than two mega-boxes of diapers. The Happiest Toddler deals with how to calm down your toddler. The little ones are a bundle of nerves and want to things now. They will throw temper tantrums over the slightest of things. Dr. Karp really gets to how to calm down your kid without anyone calling Social Services on your parenting techniques. His “Fast Food” conversation does seem to work with my toddler. It calms her down most of the time. He points out that you should never imagine your two year old is a little person. They’re cave people so stick to the simple and keep you tone obvious.
DVD SHELF
G.I. Joe Renegades: Season 1, Volume 1 reminds us what can happen with a large marketing budget. Cobra is no longer considered an evil organization since they’ve become a major corporation. Cobra Industries has gone legit and become a part of our lives like all the companies discussed on CNBC. G.I. Joe doesn’t buy that Cobra has given up their evil ways to becoming a greedy, profitable corporation who cover up their destruction with non-disclosure agreements. A group of Joes bust into Cobra Pharmaceuticals to get proof of what’s the company’s really doing. They don’t believe the quarterly report. Their spy mission goes wrong and Cobra is depicted in the media as victims of a crime. The episodes sum it up at the start by saying, “Accused of a crime they didn’t commit, a ragtag band of fugitives fights a covert battle to clear their names and expose the insidious enemy that is… Cobra. Some call them outlaws. Some call them heroes. But these determined men and women think themselves only as “Ordinary Joes”. And this is their story.” So it’s kinda like a riff on The A-Team except they aren’t soldiers of fortune helping the innocent. They’re out to expose an evil corporation. Cobra isn’t having to do all the dirty work since the Falcons, a US military outfit are assigned to trackdown the outlaw Joes. The first 13 episodes are included on this set. The show gets the big time seal of approval for letting Clancy Brown (Highlander, Carnivale and Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob SquarePants) voice Destro. Don’t mess with Clancy. This reworking of G.I. Joe works since it’s easy to think that a wicked organization could go legit and continue to destroy the world with products. The good part is their nefarious plots are now business expenses.
Power Rangers Samurai Season 1, Volume 1: The Team Unites & Volume 2: A New Enemy brings back the Power Rangers after taking time off. The Nighloks return to the mortal realm. Only Jayden of the Shiba Clan can fight them off in his Red Samurai outfit. But there’s not enough time in the day for him to fight back. His mentor Ji helps him located new Power Rangers to join his force. This is the focus of Power Rangers Samurai Season 1, Volume 1: The Team Unites. When the five rangers unite, they now form Megazord. There’s a lot of fast sword play when the rangers attack their rubber suited enemies. The big surprise is the return of Bulk! Paul Schrier is back in the role he created in 1993 on the original series. Two decades as Bulk and he’s still huge. He now teams up with Spike, the son of Skull. Now he’s the fatherly mentor who really can’t teach how to be a Samurai to the kid. It’s comedy for the moments when there’s no battles on the screen. Power Rangers Samurai Season 1, Volume 2: A New Enemy brings even more villains to the town. The gang gets poisoned with their only hope being to catch the Swordfish Zord. They must battle Yamiror, Dau and the Moogers. Brides get kidnapped. Both volumes contain 4 episodes. The show looks great with maximum action for young eyeballs. Now I’m getting an Ultraman flashback.
The Sarah Silverman Program: The Complete Series brings back all the magic of the Comedy Central series that made us believe in love. Sarah came close to playing herself as a potty mouth, spoiled brat that’s so self-centered she has her own moons. The series only lasted three seasons of 32 episodes because Comedy Central had to spend more money on Carlos Mencia’s family members. While Sarah is an annoying character, the true stars are Steve Agee and Brian Posehn as a gay couple that live in the same building as Sarah. They represent the first gay couple on TV that weren’t Will and Grace ready. Steve is a schlub and Brian is a metal fiend. They aren’t quite bears, but stoner doughboys who are gay for each other. These two guys are willing to be tortured by a secret government agency to keep their love special. The best part is when they go nuts for Tab soda. They even get their car painted with the tab logo. Things they do for each other. Steve deals with a crisis when Brian swears he’s bisexual. They are the reason why Logo chipped in on the budget for the third season.
That’s not to ignore the work of Sarah Silverman. Her character delves into her stand up persona as the sweet girl with an extreme potty mouth and no mute button. “Humanitarian of the Month” has her take in a homeless Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover). “Not Without My Daughter” nearly reunites her with the girl (Laura Marano) she “aborted.” Clueless Sarah trains the orphan for a kiddy beauty contest a dew years before Toddlers and Tiaras. “Ah, Men” has Sarah dating God. It doesn’t turn out good when God stalks her. For fans of bathroom humor there’s “Doodie” and “Pee.” AS if to predict the series I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant, Sarah thinks she’s merely bloated instead of nine months along. Twilight fans will gasp as a young Kirsten Stewart has a bit part in “I Thought My Dad Was Dead, But It Turns Out He’s Not.” “Vow Wow” lets Sarah marry her pet dog. The final episode goes all out on the weirdness when Sarah invites a person who was at Auschwitz to be a special guest at a ceremony. Trouble is the guy wasn’t quite a concentration camp prisoner.
The Sarah Silverman Program should have gone on longer than The World According to Jim. But it had a budget that was a bit more than Workaholics. There’s loads of bonus footage including the original pilot, commentaries and musical numbers. The series ultimately created unlikely gay icons out of Brian and Steve. Nice to have such an outrageous sitcom inside one boxset.
The Tribe Series 1, Part 2 continues the saga of a world without adults. A mutant virus has swept across the globe wiping out the adult population. What’s left is teens, tweens and wee ones barely figuring out what is necessary to keep humanity existing. The surviving kids quickly form cliques to form communities. The nice kids end up as the Mall Rats that live inside a mall. The Locos are insanely decked out in punk gear. New tribes arrive in the second half of the first season. This includes the Tribe Circus who don’t clown around. The first episodes have the Mall Rats way too focused on a wedding. Things naturally get in the way besides the usual teenage drama that normally occurs as hormones overtake reason. A few tribes have become big in the human trafficking business. The kids get to worry about being sold into slavery for a can of baked beans. There seems to be an outbreak of food thievery. This is rather charming when compared to what appears to be an outbreak of the original virus. Has it mutated so it no longer affects adults? Can the kids find a cure with their limited science skills? Luckily there’s a few smart ones in the batch instead of a generation of Sixteen and Pregnant superstars. The show is soap opera addictive with its Degrassi Post-Bioapocalypse story. Oddly enough the show didn’t air on SoapNet, but was Encore WAM. I thought that Encore WAM only gave updates about Andrew Ridgeley’s life after George Michael. The bonus feature is a 25 minute making of special from the show’s original run. If you only get hooked on one tv series about scavenging teens in an adult-less society, let it be The Tribe.
Hey Dude: Season Three contains Nickelodeon’s original horsing around comedy. These are the middle 13 episodes of the show that introduced America to Christine Taylor before she became the new Marcia Brady and married Ben Stiller. Hey Dude focused on a dude ranch run by a former New York City accountant that craved the simple life of a cowboy. Naturally he learns there’s more pressure when your employees are a bunch of nags. This season lets the boss take time off from the ranch only to have his replacement nearly drive it off a cliff. Taylor pretends to be a rich girl in order to impress the posh guests. “The Bad Seed” proves the customer isn’t always right when they’re an utter jerk. The big score of this set is a visit from the legendary Captain Lou Albano! Rock and Wrestling connection rides the range. Captain Lou Albano is best known for playing Cyndi Lauper’s dad in “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” This is a fun show for kids who grew up watching it in the late ’80s. It’s more fun if you’re devoted to the genius of Captain Lou Albano. How come Cowboy Bob Orton didn’t’ visit the Ranch?
Rocko’s Modern Life: Season Three makes me ask that simple question: This was on Nickelodeon? Rocko should have been an Adult Swim superstar. He’s a constantly flustered Wallaby living in O-Town with his best friends being Heffer, a cow, and Filburt, a turtle. There’s a strange joy as the world conspires against him with weirdness. “Belch of Destiny” presents Heffer as an overgrown Scout whose big talent is burping. “Sugar Frosted Frights” is a Halloween special bound to scare Filburt. “Camera Shy” makes Rocko an accidental adult video superstar when he’s captured on tape sleep walking naked. Can he survive this arthouse hit? “Fortune Cookie” makes Filburt even more unlucky than before. “Speaking Terms” drags Rocko and Filburt onto the set of the Big Nosey show. They need to get back together and nothing helps relationships like a televised talkshow. “Scrubbin’ Down Under” makes Rocko the victim of unwanted publicity after he forgets to floss after eating. This is very educational for kids. The third season of Rocko’s Modern Life was the final one with creator Joe Murray at the helm. He would turn the major duties over to Stephen Hillenburg (eventual creator of SpongeBob Squarepants) for one more season. The voices includes Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911, Tom Kenny (Mr. Show) and Mr. Lawrence (not from Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence). The penultimate season refines the quirky nature of Rocko that makes is much more than a kiddie show on a kiddie channel. They even have Rocco take over an animated TV show. For those who have been enjoying the first two seasons, this third go around keeps up the freaky fun from 1995. Rocco is essential viewing for anyone the wants something smarter than the Seth MacFarlane formula of animated success.
Phineas and Ferb: The Perry File brings together a few episodes focused on the most heroic platypus in animation history. Phineas and Ferb is a major hit with elementary school boys since it features two brothers who create amazing devices and their pet platypus Perry. What they don’t know about their pal is that he’s Agent P of OWCA (Organization Without a Cool Acronym). While the boys are doing something cool, Perry battles Dr. Doofenshmirtz. This boxset contains six episodes: “No More Bunny Business/Spa Day,” “Split Personality/Brain Drain,” “Ask a Foolish Question/Misperceived Monotreme,” “Candace Disconnected/Magic Carpet Ride,” “Mommy Can You Hear Me? /Road Trip,” “Perry The Actorpus/Bullseye!” and “Escape from Phineas Tower/The Remains of the Platypus.” Always good to end on a Merchant-Ivory joke. The show features the voice of Richard O’Brien as Lawrence, the dad of the boys. That’s right, Riff Raff from Rocky Horror Picture Show is now a Disney superstar. While not featured on these episodes, Tim Curry has also appeared on the show. Soon these kids will feel extra comfortable doing “The Time Warp” again. The boxset is a perfect gift since it features a Perry activity Pack that comes with lots of games and a puzzle. It should keep a six year old busy for the summer trip to the beach. There’s a digital copy of the DVD in case you want to put it on your tablet. The other bonus features include ” Nerves of Teal” with the promise of ” Do you have nerves of teal? When OWCA (Organization Without a Cool Acronym) wants you! See if you have what it takes to become like Agent P in this spy recruiting video.” And a tour of the Platybus!
The Garfield Show: Summertime Adventures brings the long running comic strip cat into the world of CGI. The series was made in France which helps increases Garfield’s ability to express major attitude. “Perfect Pizza” has Garfield upset when a major pizza chain arrive in the town ready to shutdown his favorite small pizzeria. Turns out the new place’s secret is a machine that can turn cardboard, ketchup and glue into a cheese pie. Can he save the stomachs of the city? “Extreme Housebreaking” is another futile attempt to tame Garfield. “Mailman Blues” continues the battle between the cat and the Postal workers of the world. “It’s a Cheese World” is a theme park that can’t let mice inside. “Super Me” is Garfield wanting to become a hero. But isn’t he the villain to Mondays and lasagnas everywhere? If you want to see Garfield kick Odie in a CGI environment, you’ll get plenty of that on this collection.
BLU-RAY HEAVEN
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea comes from a time when Kris Kristofferson was hot property. The film adapts Yukio Mishima’s novel by moving it from Japan to England. Sarah Miles is widow raising her son when she means Kris. He’s a sailor who doesn’t mind pulling into Sarah’s port. There’s a lot off carnal fun as the two get involved. What doesn’t go right is the son. He’s fallen in with a gang of nutjob fascists who cut up cats for fun. He’s not happy at the prospects of Kris being his stepdad. He’s a twisted kid who does get into watching the action between mom and her new man. Stories like this never end nicely. The Sailor Who Fell is one of those jaw dropping freaky films from the ’70s. Kris was a good actor. He was one of the better parts of the Blade movies and the reason to break out the DVD of Heaven’s Gate. Sarah Miles looks great in 1080p. It’s easy to understand why Kris wouldn’t notice what a nut her kid was when he’s constantly distracted by Sarah getting him into bed. The film isn’t for the squeamish. There’s a lot of moments that makes Sailor shocking for the 21st Century.
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