D.C. Follies

I recall my parents used to tape this show for me when I was younger, as it was on late at night. I remember it being quite funny, though I would probably get more of the jokes now.

The one episode I remember well involved Nixon investing the bartenders money in the stock market and losing it. He tried to raise money by selling his "precious bodily fluids" (as he called it) to people who couldn't pass drug tests, and by writing a children's book with himself as the hero.

There were cameos by all the living ex-presidents and many of the celebrities of the day. It also had some witty lines, and some funny physical comedy involving the Gerald Ford puppet. I really hope to see it on DVD one of these days.

It's pure silliness, slapstick, you name it, it's that very thing. It's just what you'd expect from Sid & Marty Krofft. They were great in the ways they chose to portray their characters and it was funny without dragging their names through the mud. They played on every possible political issue and made perfect satire of it. In it's own chosen dimension (and I do mean outside this sphere), this was an absolute MASTERPIECE!!!

At the time of writing, this, and the far superior show it was ripped from (Spitting Image) are neck and neck in terms of viewer rankings. How? Spitting Image was a trendsetting classic, this was a cheap knock off by folks who should stayed on Saturday Morning. The Krofts made a ton of great shows for various Saturday Morning blocks, top of which was the way ahead of it's time "Land of the Lost." But DC Follies falls totally flat, proving that the Krofts needed to stay in their niche and not try political humor. Fred Willard can't even save it, or was he even trying? One wonders if he knew how off the mark it was and there picking up a quick payday, Cheap, unfunny, and not worth your time.

If this was on today, it would probably be the most popular show on TV. The humor was as witty and sharp as anything by the South Park guys. Well known US politicians would appear as Kroft puppets, along with many famous Hollywood people (Cher was always on, speaking in a creaky old lady voice) also in Kroft puppet form. The show was only 30 minutes, I always wished it had been an hour long.

Ex presidents like Ford, Carter and Nixon along with then president Reagan and first lady Nancy were regulars. Fred Willard was the only living person on the show, appearing as a bartender and playing a kind of straight man to the comedy of Nixon's harebrained schemes and other hilarious skits with the puppets. Absolute genius. They should rerun this on Comedy Central!

DC Follies was the place to go in the 80s for fantastic political humor. The characters were funny, and the writing was very sharp. It's unfortunate that we have so little political humor on TV these days. I would like to see this show on DVD.