Websnark: All these decades later, they're still *pests!*

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Eric: All these decades later, they're still pests!

So, I own several seasons of SCTV. I think it's probably the funniest television show... well, ever.

And on one of the Season 2 discs, there's a Christmas Special.

And on that Christmas Special, there is a "Liberace Christmas Special" being promoted.

And on that special within a special, Orson Welles gives a dramatic reading of "Good King Wenceslas." Only he kept interrupting it, and ranting about people moving on set, finally storming off. "I wouldn't rehearse an actor in Shakespeare under these conditions!" he ranted. "No money is worth this!"

Now, if you remember back a few months, you'll remember a meme that went around the internet, pointing to a real life bootleg recording of Orson Welles complaining about the copy of a Frozen Peas commercial. It's hysterical because... well, Welles sounds insanely concerned about this peas commercial.

The above SCTV piece was clearly directly a parody of this bootleg. Clearly. And was well enough known that they felt they could parody it. In 1982.

We sometimes think that, because we now have the internet, that we have vastly better access to such gems as Orson Welles screaming about "pests" and "the depths of their ignorance," that it's hard to remember that yes, there was an underground bootleg community in the 70's and 80's too, and embarrassing recordings could spread through it like wildfire. I was astounded at having the connection between a bootleg I saw on the internet in March and a twenty-three year old television program made so clear.

And I share that astonishment with you.

What do you want with me? It can't all be A-material, you know.

Posted by Eric Burns-White at December 18, 2005 4:25 PM

Comments

Comment from: PatMan posted at December 18, 2005 4:30 PM

But without the internet, people might have actually BOUGHT Wing Commader, instead of just watching a flash animation online. And that's just scary.

Comment from: Alexis Christoforides posted at December 18, 2005 4:39 PM

You probably meant to say "Zero Wing".

Comment from: Kristofer Straub posted at December 18, 2005 4:59 PM

I hadn't heard the actual clip before! Thanks for it!

Comment from: badmoon posted at December 18, 2005 5:06 PM

Wasn't there a Animaniancs skit back in the day where they had the guy who did The Brain's voice make fun of this?

Comment from: Robert Hutchinson posted at December 18, 2005 5:15 PM

A bit on The Critic, actually, but yes, it was Maurice LaMarche as Welles. (Actually, I suppose they might've done a parody on Animaniacs as well.)

"Full of country goodness and green peaness."

("Mmmm-- they're even better when you're DEAD!")

Comment from: actionranger posted at December 18, 2005 5:19 PM

To be fair, SCTV had a reputation of parodying obscure references. According to their book they did a satire of their producer, an inside joke they acknowledged only they would get.

Comment from: Dave Van Domelen posted at December 18, 2005 5:21 PM

Peas on earth, badwill towards actors.

Comment from: Plaid Phantom posted at December 18, 2005 5:22 PM

That is the sort of thing Animaniacs would do, as I recall.

Comment from: Ghastly posted at December 18, 2005 5:45 PM

Anyone have a copy of "Cable Man"? Angry cable customer leaving answering machine messages because his cable is out set to Beethoven's 9th.

Then there were the Buddy Rich "bus tapes".

Comment from: Cornan posted at December 18, 2005 5:51 PM

Animaniacs didn't do a parody on this. The Pinky and the Brain Show did. It was a bit where Brain, as the actor who played Brain, got a job doing a voiceover for a food comercial. it may well have been peas, but I can't remember specifically. I was talking about farms and Pinky, among others, kept interupting him.

I didn't get the reference when I was younger and watching the show, but the bit was still hillarious.

Comment from: Cornan posted at December 18, 2005 5:53 PM

no edit, sorry.

I just listened to the sound bite. This was almost EXACTLY the bit from the Pinky and the Brain Show. I mean, they used almost exactly the same dialog perfectly.

Holy CRAP that show just got more brilliant.

Comment from: Tragic Lad posted at December 18, 2005 6:40 PM

I believe for the SCTV folks, it was more of an in-joke. John was likely playing to the camera man and the folks in the booth, and the rest of us laugh because John was simply so great at making us laugh.

From what I understand, the frozen peas commercial was recorded in Toronto in the early 80s - exactly the time and place that SCTV was being filmed. The industry wasn't all that big at that time so it's very likely that anyone who was in the biz in Toronto had heard the tale of the frozen peas. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't someone on the crew who'd been involved in the frozen peas commercial.

Comment from: Eric Burns posted at December 18, 2005 6:53 PM

TL -- except at that point, SCTV wasn't being filmed in Toronto. It was being filmed several provinces over, in Edmonton, Alberta.

Toronto happened later, after Martin Short joined the cast, out of a general sense of fatigue with living out of hotels in Edmonton.

Me am big SCTV geek.

Comment from: exold posted at December 18, 2005 7:14 PM

Hey, Eric: I ordered one of those Strunk & White t-shirts from you back in September, and I still haven't seen it. Also, you haven't answered the last two e-mails I sent you (hence my having to post here, in a comment). What's the deal? Can I get my shirt, or my money back? I'm happy to take this back to e-mail if you'll actually reply.... Thanks!

Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at December 18, 2005 7:35 PM

Given that Zero Wing was never released in the United States for consoles, I really doubt that people would have bought it by accident. That, and if others would have rated it on the level that I personally would, the bad buzz would have kept it obscure if not for a Flash animation.

Hmmm... given that my uncle seems like the kind of guy who would be a part of the bootleg community (I mean, this is a guy who had 4 different Dr. Demento collections on vinyl), I should see if he has a copy floating around somewhere. That would be interesting.

As for Animaniacs... Well, if they ever released that on DVD, maybe we'd all know for sure. Though I do recall them parodying a kid's show host, with the Brain saying "That ought to keep the little squirts happy," but damn me if I can remember the original being parodied.

Comment from: PatMan posted at December 18, 2005 7:35 PM

You probably meant to say "Zero Wing".

No, I meant to say Wing Commander.

Because I got it wrong.

Comment from: Eric Burns posted at December 18, 2005 7:39 PM

The Critic did reference it, though -- when Orson Welles (voiced by Maurice LeMarche, who was also the voice of the Brain) was invoked as both the host of Jay's parents' living Will, and then also as a ghost. Both times his irascible nature was quelled by frozen peas and "Mrs. Pell's Fish Sticks -- they're even better frozen. They're even better when you're dead!"

Comment from: Xander posted at December 18, 2005 7:48 PM

Oh, I don't know if it was originally from Animaniacs or Pinky and the Brain, but it was made available on an Amaniacs video called "Animaniacs Stew." Parts of the bootleg were taken verbatim for the cartoon. I could provide a transcript if anyone's interested, but the cartoon is much funnier to me now that I know this exists.

Comment from: Paul Southworth posted at December 18, 2005 8:48 PM

My God, Pinky and the Brain was my favorite growing up, and "Yes, Always" was one of my favorite pieces. I had no IDEA that was taken verbatim from Orson Welles. Sweet.

Comment from: Trevor Barrie posted at December 18, 2005 9:06 PM

Pinky and the Brain was on... when you were growing up?

I'm a very, very old man.

Comment from: Shaenon posted at December 18, 2005 9:28 PM

It was on Animaniacs; I've got it on tape. The Brain did the Orson Welles part, and Pinky was the director. Most of the dialogue was taken almost directly the actual Orson Welles recording. "The Critic" did the version with the classic line, "Rosebud frozen peas...full of country goodness and green pea-ness."

I guess it's a pretty well-known piece of errata if you're a film buff, or someone who does Orson Welles impressions.

Comment from: Eric Burns posted at December 18, 2005 9:38 PM

exold -- not knowing your e-mail address, I can't tell if I've received mail from you or not. Shoot me one more specifically to websnark AT SYMBOL gmail DOT com and I'll check incoming spam as well as incoming mail. Apologies if you've been waiting for a response!

Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at December 18, 2005 9:38 PM

Trust me, Trevor, you don't understand what it's like to feel old.

Now, when people are amazed I played video games before the original Playstation - which came out around ten years ago - that makes me feel absurdly old.

Comment from: Tyck posted at December 18, 2005 9:47 PM

Pinky and the Brain was on... when you were growing up?

Was on for me growing up too. And Freakazoid, and Tiny Toons, and of course Animaniacs..*sniff* I miss good cartoons. The stuff currently on cable is just not the same, and the stuff on the broadcast networks..well, most of that is better not mentioned.

Now, when people are amazed I played video games before the original Playstation

Hey, so did I! ..although, probably at a younger age than you. My parents tell me I learned to read off The Legend of Zelda (gold cartridge, of course.)

Comment from: siwangmu posted at December 18, 2005 9:56 PM

Hey, I learned to read using Valentine candy hearts! (Speaking of weird ways.) Well, I'm sure it wasn't literally using them, that's just all I remember of the process. Maybe that's why I love this site and biscuits--an early affinity for meldings of literacy and food.

Comment from: Montykins posted at December 18, 2005 10:08 PM

Though I do recall them parodying a kid's show host, with the Brain saying "That ought to keep the little squirts happy," but damn me if I can remember the original being parodied.

This has been attributed to various kids show hosts. It was also parodies on the Simpsons (in the Gabbo! episode).

Comment from: Robert Hutchinson posted at December 18, 2005 10:34 PM

I think it depends on how you define "growing up". P&TB was on when I was in my mid-teens, and I was certainly still growing up then.

(checks to make sure his first post is still there) (scratches head)

Comment from: Archon Divinus posted at December 18, 2005 10:43 PM

Now, when people are amazed I played video games before the original Playstation - which came out around ten years ago - that makes me feel absurdly old.

I'm only 18, and I played video games before the orginal Playstation. Anyone who hasn't has to be really young.

Comment from: Thomas Blight posted at December 18, 2005 11:46 PM

Actually, it's not that people who started playing games with the Playstation are young, it's that they're mainstream. Playstation was pretty much the first real mainstream platform and video games have been getting more and more mainstream from there.

I'm only fifteen, and I began playing with my Super Nintendo, which I've had as long as I can remember. Then again, I'm a total geek (I would suggest that most people here are as well).

Comment from: Xander posted at December 19, 2005 12:05 AM

As I wasn't able to find a transcript of "Yes, Always!" anywhere on the Internet, I made my own. You can view it here: http://www.xanga.com/Xander_Schaan/409302451/yes-always.html

Comment from: LessThanKate posted at December 19, 2005 12:19 AM

Great, now I want to go get The Critic on DVD. Thanks Eric, thanks a lot.

Comment from: Ghastly posted at December 19, 2005 1:12 AM

The funniest part was Orson saying "and I'll go down on you".

Comment from: gwalla posted at December 19, 2005 1:30 AM

Thomas Blight: The NES was very popular in its day�there was a time when "Nintendo game" was almost synonymous with "video game". There was a bit of a slump between the heyday of the NES and the introduction of the Playstation. And before the NES, the Atari 2600 was huge.

Anyone who hasn't played the original NES has never really played a video game.

Comment from: Montykins posted at December 19, 2005 1:34 AM

Incidentally, Animaniacs will be out on DVD in July. I only mention it in passing.

Comment from: miyaa posted at December 19, 2005 3:35 AM

Gwalla: True dat. I may be the most pathetic gamer in all of video gaming: I could never ever beat the first world in the Super Mario Bros. NES game. I couldn't even get to the warp room without dying or mistiming a jump. Still can't. It's why I can never be a geek. *sob*

If Futurama can turn into a full-screen movie scheduled to be released in 2007 (according to imdb.com), why not Freakzoid?

Comment from: Alexis Christoforides posted at December 19, 2005 5:10 AM

And before the NES, the Atari 2600 was huge.

Man, now I feel old. I remember the endless hours of entertainment provided by the Circus game, which me and my younger brother refused to learn how to play. We just pressed a button and launched the blocky stick figure on a brick ceiling and laughed our asses off as it plunged back to the ground and went SPLAT. Hilarious.

Re: the bootleg scene, I can't say that I'm that astonished. I recall wondering how computer viruses spreaded when the medium de jour was the floppy disk. I can see how my friends could pass it on to me, but how the hell did it travel around the world? The world is a tightly-connected place, with or without the Inter Nets. and I was l33ching warez long before I got a modem.

Comment from: Lindsay posted at December 19, 2005 8:18 AM

Sometime last spring, a bunch of my friends and myself got together to watch Comic Book: the Movie. Mark Hamill being the fanboy that he is, he stacked the cast with famous voice-actors. The movie fell sort of flat, for me (the premise was neat, but the execution of that premise was poor), but the extras on the DVD more than made up for that.

One of the actors featured in the extras was the dude who voiced Brain from Pinky and the Brain. In one of those extras, he told an anecdote about where he got his inspiration for the character -- it was that bootleg of Orson Welles screaming about peas. Hence all the references to it on shows where he's done his Orson Welles voice. ^_^

Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at December 19, 2005 10:23 AM

Okay, it's really weird to see others' perceptions of the video game industry.

I mean, video gaming not becoming huge until the 16-bit era? You never heard of how big professional video gaming was before the Crash of '83 (for those curious - it began in 1983, but wasn't really felt until 1984). A lull after the NES/8-bit era? The 16-bit era was arguably the official renaissance of the video game industry.

And by the by, telling me that you started on the Super Nintendo makes me feel ancient. I started gaming at home on the TI-99/4A, with Munch Man. Someone else has to remember that, right?

After much searching, I found a press release saying that Animaniacs is coming to DVD on July 26th. Summer never felt so far away.

A Freakazoid movie could work... but it seems like the early WB network animated properties were cursed. Freakazoid never got the ratings it deserved (though on a tangent - did anyone else think that Chex was at all reminiscent of Freakazoid?), Earthworm Jim was a brillaint video game series until after that cartoon. And we will never speak of Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain. EVER.

Comment from: Paul Gadzikowski posted at December 19, 2005 10:57 AM

Anyone see the scene in Ed Wood when he meets Welles and say, "That voice is The Brain!"? I did. My wife said I was wrong, but I think I verified it at IMDb.

Comment from: Matt Blackwell posted at December 19, 2005 11:18 AM

Mr. Straub may have commented on the similarity between the two characters:

http://www.checkerboardnightmare.com/d/20040507.html

Comment from: Pooga posted at December 19, 2005 3:42 PM

And we will never speak of Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain. EVER.

That was admittedly bad, but nowhere near as bad as the Daffy Duck/Speedy Gonzales shorts of the 60s. WB seems to go through periods where they recycle their properties to the point of suck.

As for old games, I started on the Paddle IV (a Pong clone), then the Atari 2600, then spent quite a long time on the C=64. My brother was the one who followed the NES->SuperNES->Playstation path. I got back into console gaming in time for the PS2.

Also, on warez, most of my C=64 software was cracked versions distributed from some BBS. This was back in the day where software companies used arcane disk formatting and other tricks to make floppies "uncopyable". I didn't get a modem until the second year I owned a PC (1992, if I recall correctly). So yeah, you didn't need any online connection to be networked. :)

The Orson Wells peas spot is one of the best things the 365 Days Project brought back to public awareness. I think the other two would have to be the Bell Labs Computer Speech demonstration and this song. Of course, they also resurrected a few things that might have been better off being left forgotten (Myron Floren's Disco Accordian comes to mind), but overall I think it's still one of the neater site projects I've seen.

Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at December 19, 2005 4:29 PM

"WB seems to go through periods where they recycle their properties to the point of suck."

Speaking of, anyone know if they're still going to go ahead with that horrific sci-fi reimagining of the Looney Tunes?

Comment from: Tyck posted at December 19, 2005 4:42 PM