ksdilauri

There's kind of a weird vibe going on with the "dislikes" for this 1976 screwball outing. Viewer reviews that find it less than funny seem to get a big negative reaction from people who apparently disagree heartily. Well, it'll probably happen again, because those who found "Big Bus" lacking somewhat, compared to later disaster spoofs, bring out some fair points.

Granted, it's ambitious (the premise of the insanely-appointedsuper bus, complete with swimming pool, is a hoot. The stars and supporting cast are highly talented. The script, though, lets them down somewhat. Unlike the later "Airplane!" series, they're given too few funny things to do; for every laugh the dialogue delivers, there are at least a couple of misses.

Like the titular vehicle, it almost seems to veer back and forth.....between screwball and straight thriller without the light touch that the Abrahams/Zucker/Profft teams did so well a few years later. Anyway, the "thumbs-down" crowd is free to disagree, but others of us will be satisfied having seen this once---if only as a tip of the hat to the immensely talented cast and crew--and will rely on the 'Airplane!' and 'Naked Gun' franchises (when Leslie Nielsen was king of screwball) for the uninterrupted belly laughs.

.....at this episode of "Murphy Brown".

Of course, just about any episode of the series' ten-year run is fine--it's one of the few multiseason comedies to keep its quality level high, the writing crisp and funny, and garnered a record number of Best Actress/Comedy Emmys for Candice Bergen to boot.

But this episode, "The Tip of the Silverberg", highlights the chemistry between Bergen and Grant Shaud as Miles. By this point in the series (season 6) their characters and interactions were firmly in place, but the plot here puts them on a completely new footing........to Miles' great dismay.

An occurrence that would be a nightmare for most guys is presented here with just the right amount of humor and frankness, with the cast delivering their lines like the pro's they are. If you somehow missed "Murphy Brown" in its heyday, give it a look--the original 10-seasons, especially, deserve a place of honor in the TV-comedy hall of fame. Now if only some intelligent person in the biz can figure out a way around the Motown music-rights blarney so fans (we can't all be dead) can buy the entire series.

This is a title you may have missed (I did, too) despite its John Steinbeck connection. While it may lack the immediate recognition of his "East of Eden", it's still a worthy investment of your time: simpler and lower-key, for sure, and not anywhere near as complex as "Eden", but it moves along steadily enough that it kept me wanting to see what would happen next.

For the most part, it's a well chosen cast: Rick Jason was better known for his tv career, but I found his performance here, as the conflicted bus driver, to be quite effective. Jayne Mansfield (probably the main draw for many) is also believable in her supporting role as a reluctant "showgirl". She could easily have slipped into a stereotype but she avoids that, her trademark platinum mane playing second fiddle to an acting turn that touches the audience and that she should be remembered for. (Alas, sometimes other assets tend to remain in the public consciousness more than a good performance.) Dan Dailey seems a bit long in the tooth to be pursuing Mansfield, but his acting helps make it buyable. The rest of the cast is very adequate, but the real surprise for me was Joan Collins, barely recognizable as the bus driver's boozy wife: scrap any mental image you have of Alexis Carrington Colby---you won't see the tiniest inkling of her. Rather, Collins inhabits her role as if she were a completely different actress altogether. No trace of an accent, or haughty demeanor, or any sophistication whatsoever--she's a tacky, discontented, roadside diner hostess with a rocky marriage to a poor bus driver, and she's believable.

Take this bus for a spin at least once. It's worth a ride.