Something Wilder

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....

Apparently they don't, since this is the first comment. I remember this show. It was somewhat humorous, but didn't really work. I only watched it because I happen to be a fan of Gene Wilder and Hillary B. Smith, who is on one of my favorite soaps. Hillary should definitely stick with soaps -- comedy isn't her thing.

I am a big fan of Mr Wilder and just happened to tape some of the series but not all of them! They are trully great and hilarious! Hope they will soone come out on DVD!Like many of his later films they are not available on DVD -> what a pitty! They only run for 1 year and it shows they made 18 episodes total! This is the only way to watch later apperences of Mr Wilder apart for some tv movies! A great genious like he appeared also on two ep. in Darma&Greg -> wached it both and he is still funny guy!

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?"