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SCTV was a real gem...consistently funny without resorting to cheap shots or bathroom humor to make you laugh out loud. One of the funniest bits in this incarnation of SCTV was John Hemphill as Happy Marsden, drunken children's show host whose show was filmed in a bar. When the show would begin, Happy would get the bartender to change the channel on the TV above the bar to a show called "Six-Gun Justice" which was a take-off on the old serial westerns of the '40's and '50's. He had a puppet sidekick who resembled Ollie of "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" fame. The puppet couldn't talk, but only made flapping noises with his rather large beak. The whole premise was so bizarre, but when you start to think about the kids' show hosts from your childhood, you may realize that probably more than a few of them had tossed back a couple of shots before introducing that Popeye cartoon. The Schmenge Brothers (Yosh and Stan, played by John Candy and Eugene Levy) were also incredibly funny. We will not see their like again.

"The Big Bus" was released in 1976, four years before the landmark disaster flick-spoof, "Airplane!". Why "The Big Bus" was not as popular a film is a mystery, because it is every bit as funny as "Airplane!". The dialogue is witty, the sight gags are hilarious and plentiful, and the acting is just dead-pan enough to make it all work. Joseph Bologna and Stockard Channing head up an all-star cast heading from New York to Denver on a nuclear-powered bus, which is supposed to make the trip with no stops, but of course, disasters ensue. The bus is a luxury vehicle, complete with a piano bar, swimming pool, bowling alley and dining room. If you haven't seen "The Big Bus" check it out. It will make you laugh out loud.

If you only think of good ol' Sheriff Andy Taylor when you see Andy Griffith, then you are in for a shock when you see "A Face In The Crowd." In his film debut, Andy Griffith gives a spellbinding performance as Lonesome Rhodes, neer'-do-well country bumpkin who rockets to television stardom with help from Patricia Neal. Lonesome is smarmy, manipulative, scheming, and totally without morals, yet he becomes a huge TV personality by dispensing down-home country philosophy to his adoring fans. Although this movie was made 45 years ago, its message is as relevant today (maybe more so!) as it was in 1957. Patricia Neal is heartbreaking as the woman who discovers Lonesome and is ultimately betrayed by him. Walter Matthau gives a great performance as a television writer who loves Neal and sees through Lonesome's facade, and Lee Remick is lovely in her film debut as the baton twirler who catches Lonesome's roaming eye. I cannot recommend this film highly enough...it is sheer brilliance from start to finish.