Between Time and Timbuktu

When I went to college in the early 1970s the leading contemporary American novelists who were popular were Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan. Brautigan's TROUT FISHING IN America was very popular, but his subsequent writings failed to maintain his popularity. Not so Vonnegut, whose string of successes lasted far longer. I read SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE, GOD BLESS YOU MR. ROSEWATER, CAT'S CRADLE, THE SIRENS OF TITAN, MOTHER NIGHT, and the other books. So this particular television show really interested me.

It was like a selection of episodes from the various novels and short stories of Vonnegut, hosted (as news reporters) by Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding. Goulding is reprising the role of "Walter Gesundheit" he played in a movie a few years earlier. Eliott is playing an astronaut (like Wally Schirra, who frequently appeared with Walter Cronkite at space shots). They get bogged down trying to recall Neil Armstrong's first words upon the Moon surface. William Hickey played Stony Stevenson, the best friend of the hero in THE SIRENS OF TITAN. He is chosen to be the world's first time traveler, and we see him going from one place to another.

Hickey meets Dr. Hoenikker/Hurd Hatfield (creator of "Ice 9" - and an example of the short sightedness of government sponsored science), and Bokonon/Kevin McCarthy (the ultimately powerless religious leader) from CAT'S CRADLE. He meets Wanda June from Vonnegut's play. He sees the threat of puritanical-ism mixed with inane political correctness in the future when he crosses the path of one woman vigilante Diane Moon Gompers.

The show as an introduction to Vonnegut was very good. Parts of it were shot in Flushing Meadow Park, not far from my home. So I thoroughly enjoyed the program.

NASA decides to launch the first "ordinary" man into space, based on writing a winning jingle. Our astronaut gets more than he bargained for with a bizarre trip through space and time. For myself the most memorable parts include: 1) Bob and Ray's ongoing commentary and their attempts to remember Armstrong's "one great step..." line and 2) a future in which the government tries to make everybody equal by reducing them to the lowest common denominator of abilities. It's a real trip watching a ballet performed in which the dancers have to wear weights to make themselves clumsy.

I saw this film one time and one time only, in a Sci-Fi Lit class in my senior year of high school in 1980. This made a big impression on me to this day. There were moments of joyful silliness (Walter Gesundheit is actually a double pun, if you are studying German, which I also was taking that year), and scenes of incredibly pure beauty. I found large parts of this movie promoted a philosophy of hope, which was very important to a (then) suicidal teenager. This film kept me out of the knife-room for MONTHS.

I don't know where the teacher obtained the print, and if I could get a copy these days, I would without hesitation, even if I had to pay a lot. Quick, someone tell Mr. Vonnegut so it will be released.

Between Time and Timbuktu was an effort at doing an introductory "best-of-Kurt-Vonnegut" for national TV. Although some Vonnegut fans think it's a diluted mess (see the book reviews), it serves well as a quirky intro to some of his themes and characters. William Hickey is wonderful as the bewildered "astronaut", and Bob and Ray are at their peak, with some hysterically funny dialogue. Why isn't it available on video?

I saw this on Public Television When I was 17 and really enjoyed it. Although the special effects were a bit hokey, the screenplay was well written and the production was wonderfully cast. I would love to have a copy of this in my video collection but short of that would at least like to see it again. If anyone out there has the rights to this they would do us a great service by re-releasing it.