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This show started as a Spring replacement show in 1988. It started off very similar to the 60s show with a mix of sketch comedy and live acts. A writer's strike started about the same time, shutting down scripted dramas, comedy and variety shows. The format quickly changed to something similar to the Ed Sullivan show. Musical guests, comedians, circus style acts, Tom doing a recurring bit as Yo-Yo Man. All using acts that required no staff writing. One recurring act was the band Celestial Navigations who were two musicians playing mostly keyboards and character actor Geoffrey Lewis who told some amazing stories set to the music. When the fall came and the scripted drama and comedy series were delayed, they brought back The Smothers Brothers for a brief second season, and they proved to be more popular to the game shows and other non-scripted options available at the time. It was a very interesting series and an interesting return to a pure variety format which was very popular in the 60s.

The original Rutles documentary came out in 1978. The Complete Beatles came out in 1982 and tells almost exactly the same story in a very similar way. Malcolm McDowell replaces Eric Idle as Narrator but it's the same rise to fame and disillusionment with a very similar looking (and sounding) band.

The basic plot is the same as the Raymond Chandler novel and two previous films (Murder, My Sweet with Dick Powell and a later version with Robert Mitchem). Bandaras plays a similar hard boiled private eye to Philip Marlowe, hired by a huge ex-boxer and ex-con to find his lost stripper girlfriend. He travels from LA to finally Mexico but along the way meets an assortment of interesting characters, gets beaten up a lot, and gets involved with a search for lost diamonds and the meaning of the universe. Beautiful surreal use of colors and a lot of green screen effects. Some classic cars. Elements of David Lynch and The Big Lubowski as well. A lot of fun and very unique.