Of all the different types of film comedy has to be one of, if not the, most difficult to pull off properly. Successful comedy relies heavily on so many things going right. The script, the actors, the direction, the timing, the execution and the editing all must be dead on, or at least as close to dead on as possible.
But then what kind of comedy is it? High brow, low brow, satire or slapstick? Maybe it’s all of the above which seldom, if ever, works in a linear story-telling movie. However, one particular breed of cinema (which at this point in time has no official name) has managed to squeeze multiple forms of comedy into its framework.
“The Groove Tube”, “Kentucky Fried Movie” and “Amazon Women on the Moon” are the most notable of the make. These films were most surely silver screen reactions to Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-In” or Monty Python’s “Flying Circus”. The aim of the producers of these movies was to push the envelope of taste. Sex and nudity were high on their lists, as was illegal drug usage and foul language. Now there’s a new kid on the block and its name is “Viewer Discretion Advised”.
Star Tommy Blaze plays a TV addict named Ted Smith who one day finds himself locked within the confines of his favorite household appliance. Ted is in the tube. Our hero bounces from segment to segment ranging from horror movies and commercials to game shows and westerns. These sketches are broken apart by the supposed changing of a channel. Static and white noise momentarily fill the screen and then poor Ted is in some other unfortunate predicament. Most all of the sketches work. Some will have you crying with laughter while others rate only a snicker, but none of it falls completely flat and that’s the worst thing that can happen in comedy.
Troma released this DVD sleeper along with Ray Mahoney’s “Bacon Head”.
