The Uncle Floyd Show (TV satire)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Skits: B-

 

 

One of the great things about television’s last golden age in the 1970s was its irreverence, and on show that carried that far was the 1974 series The Uncle Floyd Show.  Floyd Vivino is the original member of Saturday Night Live that should have been one, but was not.  Instead, in the tradition of that series ion its early years, as well as Second City TV and even Fridays is comedy with a true Rock era attitude.

 

The show was a nearly no-budget affair, sending up the recent conventions of children’s television, the premise that every TV character has to be nice and proper, that educational TV could easily become shtick, and a little silliness can go a long way.  Skits like The Conservative vs. The Liberal take on a whole new meaning, being more ahead of its time than they expected, yet also sending up the serene concept of “point/counterpoint” shows that SNL was also doing early on.

 

You do not have to be exposed to the constant broadcasts of The Julia Child Show to get a kick out of Julia Stepchild, a name which was more subversive at the time as society was just beginning to deal with the idea of divorce.  However, sending up the legendary cook’s assuredness (especially decades before Martha Stewart and Emeril) down to the camera shots is one of the highlights of a 24-skit set with more hits than misses.  There is some repetition, but Vivino had the guts to go for it and this is a show that deserves rediscovery like other buried gems and curios of the 1970s (like Hot L Baltimore) that shows how vibrant and clever the simplest TV could be, and it was cheaper than “reality TV” to boot.

 

The full frame image is decent for being so old form NTSC professional videotape, holding up surprisingly well.  If it looked newer, some may even question if it was newer, but that is not the case.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also clearer than expected, likely transferred at a slightly louder-than-usual volume to everything is as audible as possible.  Though there should have been extras of some kind, as this at least makes one want to see a documentary, there are none.  Maybe if we could see more material on a second DVD, that would be wise.

 

The content runs about two-hours and the more you get into it, the funnier it gets.  Though it may not be for everyone’s taste, The Uncle Floyd Show has the right attitude about TV and comedy, something thousands of overpriced sitcoms from the 1980s, 1990s and beyond are virtually clueless about.  Save daring animated shows (Beavis & Butthead, Daria, The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy), only a few other skit series (Chapelle Show, Mad-TV, In Living Color, and occasionally SNL) are as bold.  The Uncle Floyd Show is part of that legacy and is very much worth seeing.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo