Out of Control

While it may not be as well remembered by my generation as "You Can't Do That on Television," "Out of Control" was just as big a part of Nick's "Golden Age" of programming. While it would be a few years until I was of age to stay up late enough to learn that the opening spot light on the curtain, and Dave's intro was a spoof on "The Tonight Show," it didn't matter. This show was simply downright fun!

I'll never forget an episode where Dave goes to a japanese restaurant and learns all about sushi. Now being 24, sushi has become a phenomenon within my lifetime, and so at the time this show was on it was still very much a foreign concept to alot of people, and especially me! I'm sure everyone remembers what a stink was made in "The Breakfast Club" over having sushi for lunch. To make a long story short-when I finally DID try sushi, all I could think of was this show and how I finally did something that seemed so cool and, well "Out of Control!"

For people who seem surprised at how awful Nickelodeon has become, and how shows like this are long gone-just consider the source. Nick was created by MTV, which at the time was also hip, original, and above all entertaining. Now neither one is even a shadow of it's former self.

At least we still have memories of a great show like "Out of Control!"

Holy s**t! This was a great show. Does anyone remember the one where Dave went to the St. Louis Museum of miniatures, and was putting the little shoes on his fingers and walking around that little house. I don't know how I remember that. I am only 15 years old, and I was probably only a sprout when I saw that. I would give my right testicle for some crazy network to bring back that show. I have been reduced to tears looking back on these old memories. Oh cut- it- out..!

I grew up in the 80s, and "Out Of Control" was definitely one of my favorite shows as a child. The cast worked so well together, and the writing was great. It was just such a wacky, fun show to watch. There were a lot of skits, lots of in-between animation not unlike "Monty Python's Flying Circus", weekly segments, tours of restaurants and factories, and a few crazy one-time characters. Even as an adult, I still laugh when I think back about some of the jokes they did.

The main set was made to look like a TV studio. Dave Coulier (who used his real name for his character, and would years later wind up in the show "Full House") was usually seen sitting at his desk like a late show host. His repeated catch phrase was "Cut. It. OUT!". Hern Burferd (Marty Shiff) was the on-the-street, hard-nose news reporter. He always wore a gray hat, sometimes with an attached card that read "PRESS", but he'd occasionally wear other verbs instead ("PULL", "PUSH", etc.). By the way, there's a great 2001 interview with Schiff somewhere online.

Diz was a character of pure madness, and definitely my favorite. Always looking punked-out with outrageous 80s clothes and too much make-up, she was the loudest character in every sense. One of her signatures was her high-pitched whistle-scream. The other main characters, Waldo and Angela, were not featured as prominently as the others, but were part of the show none the less. Angela "Scoop" Quigley(sp?) was another reporter, and Waldo was the studio's handyman and inventor (and like "Where's Waldo?" and the Waldo character of the then-popular Van Halen Video "Hot For Teacher", Waldo had thick geeky glasses). There was also HaHa, the speaking computer and joke machine of the show.

Even though it's been almost 20 years since I've seen it, I have SO many vivid memories of this show. But the frequent sketches included:

• The "Hurry Up" machine, which would speed up time itself. In each show they'd read a fictional letter from a child, requesting a "Hurry Up" to get some boring activity over with ASAP (getting a hair cut, doing chores, being in school, etc.) With a flick of the switch, they'd show clips of these events in fast-motion.

• "It's Probably True", where they'd usually go to some crazy landmark, visit some world-record breaker, etc.

• "How [Not] To Do Things". As the name implies, these were instructional documentaries with extremely bad advice.

• "Twisted Fairy Tales", where Diz would recite, as fast as she could, some classic fairy tale but with her own twist to the story.

• The show would usually end with "Let's Eat", where they'd visit an eccentric restaurant or food-related factory. At the end, Dave would present the owner with a gold "Let's Eat" trophy, complete with mechanically chattering teeth attatched to the top.

Some of the one-time guests I remember were Fred Newman, the author of "Mouth Sounds" who holds a sound-making contest with Dave, and stand-up comedian Bruce Baum who claimed to collect artifacts of the great stars. (He has a deflated inner tube which he tries to pass off as Rocky Balboa's belt, and a dirty white gardening glove as being the glove of Michael Jackson.)

I know I'm not the only child of the 80s who religiously tuned into this show. Surprisingly, I think only 26 episodes were made. Surely they can cram this on to a couple of DVDs. C'mon Nick, give us a DVD!

Before Full House, Dave Coulier was best known as...Dave Coulier on Out of Control. Being one of Nickelodeon's first shows during its golden years, OOC presented a wacky cast and even wackier segments such as: It's Probably True, Adult Education and a few others I can't remember cause I've not seen it in quite a long time. No DVD, you see.

The series ran for no more than 20 episodes, and was put into heavy circulation well up into the late eighties. One particular segment involved Dave talking about his beloved band, The Burping Chili Men. Wow, I'm surprised that's not a real band, yet. He and the cast even did a few songs, which if my rose-colored memory serves, were actually pretty good.

Nick, either put this on DVD or as God is my witness, I will find someone who has it on VHS to copy it on DVD.

This show was on during Nickelodeon's good days in the 80's. It featured Dave Coulier, now mostly well known from Joey Gladstone on "Full House" and host of "America's Funniest People". It was basically a news show except filled with goofy segments and quirky characters. Sure it had a crappy set and graphic abilities, but it was Dave back when he was funny and Nickelodeon when it was quality. There was also station manager Diz, who had hair and makeup like Cyndi Lauper, and her calling card was a high whistle-pitched scream. Some of the skits on the show were "It's Probably True" dealing with oddities around America, "How Not to Do Things", "Adult Education" (not porno, it's where kids are the teachers) and "Moments in Inventions". Diz also had a segment but I forget what it was called. All I remember is her animated face doing that scream; EEIIIIEEE EEIIIIEEE!

It may not have been the best show, but at least Nick was being creative and original instead of pumping out the garbage it is now. And of course, "CUT IT OUT"!