Something Wilder

The thing that I will never forget about this show was the episode that had Alice Cooper move in next door to Gene Wilder's character. Wilder ended up partying with Cooper and at one point had Cooper's trademark makeup.

Luckily, I must be one of a very few Joey Lawrence fans, who got to see the episode which he guest starred on of this short-lived show. I actually thought it wasn't all that bad, but then again it's hard to judge after seeing just one episode. He played JJ, a guy who's just came out of jail for stealing from his previous employer, and he gets hired to work for his dad's boss (played by Gene Wilder)and a poker game lands them both in jail and the boss' wife shows up at the jail to bail them out, which ruins her plans for a passionate night. There's some really funny lines here.

I really like Gene Wilder, I think Frisco Kid was one of his really great movies. I watched it several months ago for the first time in years. My late father was a big fan of that movie as well. I caught about the first half of Young Frankenstein a couple weeks ago as well. Teri Garr used to be in so many movies back in the day.

I was just noticing after reading his IMDb page that Gene wasn't in a ton of movies or shows like many actors these days. He must have done more stage productions and/or was extremely picky about the roles he accepted, which I admire in actors who don't take every job that comes their way. Harrison Ford, his co star in Frisco Kid is that way. Not a huge resume of movies, he obviously limited himself to what he thought would be good or maybe even the co stars had a lot to do with his decisions??

I remember Something Wilder, specifically the Alice Cooper episode. It's been so long, I thought Alice was cast in the show. That may have been the only episode I ever watched, which may be why I assumed he was part of the series. It reminds me of Steven Tyler on Two and a Half Men, maybe they should have had Alice as a permanent part of the show?? :-)

What I do remember was it being funny and I did enjoy it. It would have been nice to see him in a hit show that let later generations get to enjoy his talent before he's no longer around. At least most of his work is available on DVD.

Everyone should have their kids watch his version of Willy Wonka, it's certainly the best of the two. Just my opinion, oughtta be yours. ;-)

Take care....

I tuned in only for episode #14 "Hanging with Mr. Cooper": Gene is kept awake all night by his new noisy neighbors. Against his wife's advice, he heads over to the house to ask the owner to keep the noise down. He learns his new neighbor's name, Alice, but is unsuccessful at locating her at the party. He simply asks one of the guests to relay the message to keep the music down and returns home.

Sometime later he is again awakened by loud music. He returns determined to speak with Alice directly, but is surprised to find his neighbor is actually Alice Cooper. Alice and Gene works things out amicable and Gene returns to his wife's side to enjoy slumber in peace and quiet.

The fact that the promos revealed the surprise cameo shows how hard they tried to put some spark into this dull series. Look for Alice to use the opportunity to poke fun at himself as he did in Wayne's World, and in a recent commercial for Marriott Residence Inns, where he asks a father on the street, in full makeup, "You don't want your kids growing up weird, do you?"

This show cam out when I went to college and I only saw maybe two episodes. They were OK, but I don't think sitcoms are for Gene Wilder.

I wish he would do some new stuff, his guest appearances shows he still has something and there are plenty of actors still working in their 70's. His later TV movies were a little better. I think his age and his illnesses and his absence from the big screen is part of it. But his early stuff is just to great to ignore. His interview on Inside the Actors Studio is without a doubt one of the best ones in the series. Gene will always be remembered as one of the greatest comedic actors of all time.