D.C. Follies
D.C. Follies | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy |
Created by | Sid & Marty Krofft |
Written by | Larry Arnstein Wayne Kline Bob Dolan Smith John Debilis Mike Kirchenbaum E. Jeffrey Smith Jeff Zimmer |
Directed by | Rick Locke |
Presented by | Fred Willard |
Starring | Maurice LaMarche Joe Alaskey |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 44 |
Production | |
Producer | Sid & Marty Krofft |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies | Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures Negative Entertainment (1987–1988) Cannon Films (1988–1989)[1] |
Original release | |
Network | Syndication |
Release | September 26, 1987 (1987-09-26) – September 1, 1989 (1989-09-01) |
D.C. Follies is a syndicated sitcom which aired from 1987–1989. The show was set in a Washington, D.C. bar, where a bartender played by Fred Willard would welcome puppet caricatures of politicians and popular culture figures.[2]
Synopsis
The show, a satire, made frequent sardonic comments on Cold War and late 1980s politics and pop culture. Although Willard was the only live actor appearing regularly, each episode featured a celebrity guest, including Martin Mull, Robin Leach, Leslie Nielsen, Bob Uecker, and Betty White. In one episode, Robert Englund showed up as his Freddy Krueger character, and in a special Christmas episode an un-billed actor played Santa Claus.[3][4]
Style
The show's use of puppets that mimicked popular culture and political figures was similar to the British series Spitting Image; it was produced by Sid and Marty Krofft, well-known puppeteers in the United States who were responsible for popular children's television shows including H.R. Pufnstuf[5] and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. The show was originally funded and syndicated nationally by New York-based Syndicast Services Inc.
Frequently appearing puppet characters included
- Former Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and then-President Ronald Reagan and Vice-President George H. W. Bush. When Bush was elected President in 1988, Vice-President Dan Quayle also became a regular. The former and current presidents were portrayed as having a special Presidents' Table at the bar, where they sat together.
- First Ladies Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush; and Second Lady Marilyn Quayle.
- Woody Allen
- Jim Bakker and his then-wife, Tammy Faye Bakker
- Cher
- Sam Donaldson
- Senator Robert Dole
- Governor Michael Dukakis
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Katharine Hepburn
- Rev. Jesse Jackson
- Michael Jackson
- Don King
- Henry Kissinger
- Ted Koppel
- Madonna
- Sean Penn
- Edwin Meese
- Oliver North
- Tip O'Neill
- Dolly Parton
- John Poindexter
- Dan Rather
- Fred Rogers
- Andy Rooney
- Geraldo Rivera
- Pat Robertson
- Sylvester Stallone
- Oprah Winfrey
- British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Queen Elizabeth II
- Prince Charles and his then-wife, Princess Diana
- Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and wife Raisa Gorbacheva
- Pope John Paul II
- Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeni
- Sid and Marty Krofft themselves, as newspaper vendors
[6]
Accolades
The series was nominated for two Emmy Awards.[7]
Home media
A series of three "Best of D. C. Follies" VHS tapes were released, with each volume containing two episodes.[8]
On August 4, 2017, Shout! Factory announced they had acquired the rights to the series and subsequently released D.C. Follies – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on November 14, 2017.[9]
The show has been made available via video on demand at Amazon Video and iTunes.[10]
References
- ^ BFI
- ^ WILLARD GIVES 'D.C. FOLLIES' A HUMAN TOUCH - Chicago Tribune
- ^ Fred Willard on "DC Follies" - TelevisionAcademy.com/Interviews - FoundationINTERVIEWS on YouTube
- ^ An Interview with Fred Willard About His Delightful Career - Vulture
- ^ No Strings Attached: The Puppet Satire of D.C. Follies|Mental Floss
- ^ 'D.C. Follies' Guests Are Full of Foam - Los Angeles Times
- ^ Television Academy
- ^ VHS Collector
- ^ D.C. Follies - 'The Complete Series' Starring Fred Willard, from Sid and Marty Krofft! Shout! Factory to release a 4-DVD set into stores this fall Archived 2017-08-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Best in Show: Watch Fred Willard's Most Memorable Roles - The New York Times
External links
- D.C. Follies at IMDb
- Official website
- Sid and Marty Krofft interview about the show
- v
- t
- e
- H.R. Pufnstuf (1969)
- The Bugaloos (1970)
- Lidsville (1971)
- Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973)
- Land of the Lost (1974)
- Far Out Space Nuts (1975)
- The Lost Saucer (1975)
- Donny & Marie (1976)
- The Krofft Supershow (1976)
- The Brady Bunch Hour (1977)
- The Krofft Superstar Hour (1978)
- Pink Lady and Jeff (1980)
- Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters (1980)
- Pryor's Place (1984)
- D.C. Follies (1987)
- Land of the Lost (1991)
- Family Affair (2002)
- Mutt & Stuff (2015)
- Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (web series) (2017)
- Dr. Shrinker (1976)
- Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976)
- Kaptain Kool and the Kongs (1976)
- Wonderbug (1976)
- Magic Mongo (1977)
- Bigfoot and Wildboy (1977)
- The Dean Martin Show (1965)
- The Banana Splits (1968)
- New Zoo Revue (1972)
- Fol-de-Rol (1972)
- The World of Sid & Marty Krofft at the Hollywood Bowl (1973)
- Really, Raquel (1974)
- NBC Saturday Morning Preview Revue (1974)
- Jimmy Osmond Presents ABC's Saturday Sneak Peek (1976)
- The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976)
- The Brady Bunch Variety Hour (1976)
- Kaptain Kool and the Kongs Present ABC All-Star Saturday (1977)
- The Bay City Rollers Meet the Saturday Superstars (1978)
- The Krofft Komedy Hour (1978)
- Bobby Vinton's Rock 'n' Rollers (1978)
- Anson & Lorrie (1981)
- The CBS Saturday Morning Preview Special (1983)
- Saturday's the Place (1984)
- The Cracker Brothers (1984)
- Rock 'n' Wrestling Saturday Spectacular (1985)
- The Patti LaBelle Show (1985)
- Sid & Marty Krofft's Red Eye Express (1988)
- Krofft Late Night (1991)
- Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (2001)
- Pufnstuf (1970)
- Middle Age Crazy (1980)
- Side Show (1981)
- Harry Tracy, Desperado (1982)
- Land of the Lost (2009)
- Howdy, Mr. Ice of 1950 (1949)
- Les Poupées de Paris (1961)
- Circus (1966)
- Funny World (1966)
- Kaleidoscope (1968)
- Fol-de-Rol (1968)
- A Broadway Baby (1984)
- Comedy Kings (1988)
- Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (2016 web series)
- The World of Sid and Marty Krofft theme park
- Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions Inc. v. McDonald's Corp.
- Toby Terrier and His Video Pals
- Tales of the Okefenokee