Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. has died. He wasn’t young, and he was way older than he had a right to be, considering he never quit smoking, but it still sucks that he’s gone. Our son Eric recently read Slaughterhouse Five, and liked it very much.
Vonnegut wrote The Sirens of Titan, a book that l enjoyed reading so much at Eric’s age that it hurt, and he wrote a painfully enjoyable TV movie called Between Time and Timbuktu. It was produced by WGBH in Boston for PBS when it was called National Educational Television. The movie opened with Cousin Brucie, so I had to love it! It’s not available on video, sorry to say.
The show also featured the comedy team of Bob and Ray, who got their start on Boston radio. Ray Goulding was absolutely hilarious in Between Time and Timbuktu as Walter Gesundheit, a parody of the legendary TV newsman Walter Cronkite.
Bruce Morrow and William Hickey in Kurt Vonnegut’s Between Time and Timbuktu.
I guess we didn’t look hard enough. Here is another lost TV film from the early 70’s, which I watched every time it was on. Hmm, maybe a combined order can be placed. I was just thinking of this movie a short while ago. But, I did not remember that William Shatner was in it! Now, it MUST be seen!
http://adifferentcity.com/viewtitle/26
Hey, I thought that was spam for a moment. Good find on the (obviously bootleg) DVD! Hmm. No PayPal. You have to write and request. Also for sale is Powell’s Age of Consent, with a young and stunning Helen Mirren, which is released in the UK but not the US.
Here’s another place to buy:
http://adifferentcity.com/viewtitle/48
Hurry and get your
I looked, and can find no clips from Timbuktu. I watched the show every time I could catch it, and thanks to having the book with the script and pictures, I have a pretty good recollection of it.
I remember laughing so hard at Bob and Ray that my sides hurt.
“I see Mom Stevenson’s still in Mission Control, Bud.”
“That’s right, Walter. She’s moved right in.”
“A mother standing by her son in his moment of need.”
“She’s moved a cot in the back of the retro readouts and she’s put doilies on the backs of all the chairs.”
“A marvelous woman, Bud.”
Ooh, I had totally forgotten about “Between Time and Timbuktu”! Word of mouth around school led me to watch one of the repeats on WGBH. It was “mindbending”, to say the least. I think it was also my introduction to “Bob and Ray” and their understated humor. Although I have but a very vague memory of the actual show, just the thought of it gives me a warm and fuzzy nostalgic feeling. I think Jean Shepard had his brief run on PBS around this time, too, when WGBH and PBS (pre-PBS? NET?) was pretty adventurous and cutting edge. I wonder if YouTube has a clip from “Timbuktu”? Kurt was suddenly famous again a few years ago when the whole “Always Wear Sunscreen” speech was attributed to him.