Reviews

Jonathan Winters On the Ledge is a television special Jonathan made in 1987. Completely improvised, this special co-stars Robin Williams, Phyllis Diller, Milton Berle, Martin Mull, and Michael Richards - all in mostly unfunny skits.

The premise is: Jonathan sits up on the ledge of 38-story apartment building and taunts the members of a parade going on below. Then we jump to Jonathan's "father" (Berle sitting in front of a TV, smoking a cigar) complaining about how much he disapproves of Jonathan's humor. We then see various flashbacks and skits which all feature Jonathan in some character or another.

I am a huge fan of Jonathan Winters, but this special just isn't very funny. I don't blame J.W. for this because he is really a very talented man, and you can see him trying here. I do, however, blame the director (Peter Ferrara) for throwing a bunch of comedians and actors (some of who are not AT ALL talented in the art of improvisation) into empty, unrelated, mish-mashed vignettes and presenting it as entertainment.

Winters' brand of extemporaneous humor is very delicate; if it's not presented properly, the viewer loses appreciation for the jokes. And if Winters doesn't have someone (or something) good to play off of, the result isn't always funny. I get the impression from watching this special that the director just threw Jonathan onto a few already-made sets, added some big-named stars, pointed the cameras, and strung together whatever they came up with.

Chris Elliot dons his "annoying guy" persona once again, this time as a wanna-be thespian attempting to re-create the life and times of FDR on the stage of a local community theater. And he's not going to let cheap production values, an uninterested audience, or mean-spirited stagehands get in his way. He also wasn't too interested in the factual events of FDR's life while writing his biographical one man show.

This show is an excellent showcase of Chris Elliot's wonderfully imaginative comedy and it really is a shame this video isn't more widely available. There are some real belly laughs here. Elliot's father also has a brief, but funny cameo. If you ever come across this, do yourself a favor and WATCH IT! It's a genuine comedy gem.

Beyond JFK is a documentary about the facts and stories that were the basis for Oliver Stone's film JFK. The video covers the arrests of Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, and Lee Oswald, including rarely seen footage. It also shows extremely rare interviews with Dean Andrews, Clay Shaw, Jim Garrison, Lou Ivon, Marina Oswald, and Jim Marrs - to name a few.

This video is basically a re-hash of the movie, but it's interesting because we get to see who these characters actually were and we get to hear, in their words, what they were thinking at the time of Garrison's infamous trial, and what they have to say about it now.

The Andy Dick Show (as broadcast on MTV) is a mediocre sketch comedy show that basically spoofs MTV programs and pushes the limits of TV censoring.

Although Andy Dick is a brilliant comedian, it seems that this show could do better. (Dick does not belong on a Music Television Station, he belongs on HBO.) In order to understand many of the jokes, you have to be familiar with MTV programs and it seems that MTV is trying to re-create the success they had with the inane Tom Green Show by giving a wildly unpredictable comedian his own half hour program.

There are moments that are absolutely priceless (Dick teaching a Prison Guard how to intimidate prisoners, and a documentary about Dick's personal assistant who, among other things, changes Andy's diapers and pre-chews his food), and there are moments that make you want to change the channel (the entire "Boogie Man" skit).

Andy Dick, (who writes, stars AND directs) is an amazingly gifted person and it is unfortunate that the only way to see this man's talents is by giving MTV ratings.