Thursday, February 13, 2014

My Piano's Been Drinking

One of the high water marks of American Television Comedy was the Norman Lear produced Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Spin Off fake Late Night Talk show hosted by Martin Mull with Fred Willard as his sidekick, Fernwood 2 Night. It only ran for a few episodes. I guess not a lot of people got the joke. I loved it with the guitar great Tommy Tedesco as the real musical director of the house band, but the official name of the band was Happy Kyne and his Mirthmakers. They had real guests but they all became visitors to the fictional Ohio town of Fernwood. Here is an 1975 appearance by Tom Waits who is stuck in Fernwood when his tour bus breaks down en route to Toledo. Waits best line in the interview is, "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."

1 comment:

MRMacrum said...

I remember Fernwood 2 Night. Missed most of it though as I was living on the road driving trucks. Waits had good comedic timing. Very funny. Loved his song.