Witchi-poo and the wicked witch of the west soon to be known as Elphaba take on the queen known as Paul Lynde, camping it up in this over the top special from a long gone age of T.V. Lynde's housekeeper (Margaret Hamilton) has a secret, and when you've got a sister whom you've seen ride a vacuum cleaner, I bet you can guess what it is. These two cackling harpies, who read "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Exorcist" (and employ Billy Barty as a butler) grant Lynde three wishes to improve their image, and this means cameos by such mid '70s icons as Tim Conway, Betty White, Donny and Marie, and Florence Henderson. I could have done without the appearance by Kiss.
Some dated comedy is mixed with witty one-liners, so it ends up being a mixed bag of Halloween candy. Lynde gets to change the lyrics to "Kids" from "Bye Bye Birdie", and references to other musicals gives this a very gay sensibility, although a rather stereotypical one. Yet, there is a very camp aspect to it, and it is surprising not to see Lynde in drag. Hamilton gets some really good material, actually one of her largest roles. I think that minus some of the dated references that are pure '70s, this could be classic rather than the silly reminder of why variety shows went by the way of the rotary phone.
Some dated comedy is mixed with witty one-liners, so it ends up being a mixed bag of Halloween candy. Lynde gets to change the lyrics to "Kids" from "Bye Bye Birdie", and references to other musicals gives this a very gay sensibility, although a rather stereotypical one. Yet, there is a very camp aspect to it, and it is surprising not to see Lynde in drag. Hamilton gets some really good material, actually one of her largest roles. I think that minus some of the dated references that are pure '70s, this could be classic rather than the silly reminder of why variety shows went by the way of the rotary phone.