Pop Culture in the 20th Century (Part 5)

[tv star collector]

The Sixties: An Introduction

Speaking on behalf of my generation, on November 22, 1963, we all grew up on that day. Our neat,
complacent, predictable world was changed with the firing of shots at President Kennedy's motor-
cade, in Dallas, Texas. Nothing would ever be the same again, and neither would we.

Because we wanted to remove ourselves as far from reality as we could, we embraced pure
escapism in our entertainment.

Television

TV shows with fantastic premises gained popularity in the '60s: My Favorite Martian, Mister Ed, Bewitched, The Munsters, The Addams Family,
I Dream of Jeannie, Get Smart, Gilligan's Island, The Flying Nun, Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Wild, Wild West,
Batman, Lost in Space, The Monkees and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

Star Trek

Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek premiered on NBC, in the fall of 1966. Its "five-year mission" was
cut short when it was cancelled at the end of the third season. (Actually, NBC would've axed it
after two seasons, if not for a massive letter-writing campaign by devoted fans.) Never a ratings
hit in its original run, a decade later -- following the big-screen success of George Lucas's "Star
Wars" -- Star Trek became such a syndicated hit that it spawned an Emmy-winning Saturday
morning animated series (reuniting the original cast, with the exception of Walter Koenig), six
feature films and four TV spin-offs (Star Trek the Next Generation, Star
Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek Enterprise).

Why was Star Trek more popular than previous "space operas"? Three reasons were the leads:
William Shatner (Capt. James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) and DeForest Kelley (Dr.
Leonard "Bones" McCoy). But there are other reasons. There was producer Gene Roddenberry's
eternally optimistic view of the future, for one. For another, it had a multi-ethnic (multi-species,
really) cast. And it was the first "adult" TV sci-fi show. (Roddenberry pitched the idea to the net-
work as "a Wagon Train to the stars.") But I think the main reason is the same as any other successful series: it was very well-written and had very competent actors. The most remarkable feat,
perhaps, is that -- compared to today's sci-fi shows -- it was done on a shoe-string budget. (Note
to Hollywood executives: you needn't spend a million dollars per episode to turn out a quality
show.)

Down on the Farm: Rural Comedies

The Real McCoys had started it, back in the late fifties. Next came
The Andy Griffith Show (with
Don Knotts and Ronny Howard). But when producer Paul Henning brought us the Clampett family
on The Beverly Hillbillies, in 1963, it became a huge ratings hit (despite the critics). The show,
starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas and Max Baer, Jr., ran on CBS for nine seasons.
It was followed by Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. and (in 1969) Hee Haw.

The Cartoon Boom

Several prime-time TV cartoon shows debuted in the early sixties, trying to duplicate the success
of The Flintstones -- only to be unceremoniously relegated to Saturday morning (or to oblivion)
after only one season: The Bugs Bunny Show, The Bullwinkle Show, Calvin
& the Colonel, The Alvin Show, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest and
The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo.

At the Movies

Walt Disney, Jerry Lewis, and even The Three Stooges continued to give us comedies. One film
in this genre stands out: Stanley Kramer's ambitious "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963;
starring Spencer Tracy and the largest cast of comedians ever assembled). The hype stated
that "everyone who has ever been funny is in it," and they weren't kidding.

Musicals starred the likes of Elvis Presley and, in a popular series of beach movies, Annette
Funicello and Frankie Avalon. Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret co-starred in "Viva Las Vegas"
(1964), my personal favorite of Elvis's films.

Westerns continued galloping along (although many of them were now made in Italy; hence, the
term "spaghetti western" was coined). In 1960, John Wayne produced, directed and starred as
Davy Crockett in "The Alamo"; and Elvis Presley starred in arguably his best serious role (in
"Flaming Star," as an Indian; a role written for Marlon Brando).

In 1963, "McLintock!" (my personal favorite of John Wayne's movies) was released. A comedy-western, it also starred Maureen O'Hara, Yvonne DeCarlo, Robert Lowery, Stefanie Powers,
Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan and Jerry Van Dyke.

And The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe DeRita) starred in their last film, "The
Outlaws Is Coming." This funny western spoof (possibly the best of their last batch of Columbia
movies) also featured Adam West (later TV's Batman) and Nancy Kovack (as Annie Oakley).
Also look for future Laugh-In star Henry Gibson in a hilarious role as an Indian.

Also, in his last acting role (and, in fact, his only straight dramatic role), Elvis Presley starred
in "Charro." But it was a poor script with poor direction, and it only proved that the public didn't
want to see a bearded Elvis who doesn't sing one song.

John Wayne won his only Oscar for the role of Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit."

Where Is the Cartoon Parade?

Perhaps the last great movie cartoon character began his career as just an animated sequence
for a Peter Sellers comedy. Blake Edwards' "The Pink Panther" (1963) was designed by the
newly established DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. After a series of popular United Artists shorts,
the Pink Panther was promoted to a TV series of his own. This happened at a time when TV
cartoon series were becoming increasingly script-bound, so the purely visual humor of the Pink
Panther was very refreshing. (Henry Mancini's catchy musical score didn't hurt, either.)

The Disney studio, meanwhile, continued turning out feature-length cartoons. In 1961, "101
Dalmatians" was released; and, in 1963, "The Sword in the Stone." In 1967, the last cartoon
Walt Disney himself ever made (he died in 1966) was released; "The Jungle Book" (which was
one of his best; with the voices of Phil Harris, George Sanders, Sterling Holloway, Sebastian
Cabot and Louis Prima).

In 1968, United Artists released "Yellow Submarine," an animated feature film starring The
Beatles. Produced by Al Brodax (who had earlier produced The Beatles TV cartoon series)
and designed by German illustrator Heinz Edelmann, it was directed by George Dunning and
was made in London. The Beatles themselves composed four new songs for the film. The
musical fantasy finds the Liverpool lads fighting to save the undersea kingdom of Pepperland
from a horde of anti-music monsters, the Blue Meanies.

Beatlemania

Four lads from a little poor British seaport town named Liverpool created a stir that would soon
be called "Beatlemania," in early 1964, creating a fresh, exciting music for their young fans. The
Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) spoke for an entire
generation through their infectious music. The rebellious quartet had even picked a name that
defied and challenged acceptance. Yet today, that same music is played on "easy listening"
radio stations, in supermarkets and on elevators. Such songs as "Yesterday,' "Something,"
and "If I Fell" have become pop standards. Who would've thought?

Despite a reckless remark made by John, to a British journalist and later taken completely
out of context by the American press ("We're more popular than Jesus ..."), The Beatles were,
for the most part, considered a harmless, fun-loving quartet -- in stark contrast to the self-
proclaimed "bad boys of rock 'n' roll," The Rolling Stones. Heck, the Fab Four even had their
own Saturday morning cartoon show (on ABC), which the boys themselves had little to do
with. But, like everything else releated to the combo, it was a smash hit.

When the quartet broke up, in 1970, fans thought the world would end. Of course, it didn't ...
and John, Paul, George and Ringo each had successful solo careers. (No other band can
make that claim.) Of Elvis Presley, someone said, "All that matters is the music." On a
similar note, Ringo Starr perhaps said it best: "The Beatle music and the Beatle image are
two different things. I'm proud of the music. The image, you have to live with."

Footnote: John Lennon later publicly apologized for his "Jesus" remark. Some clergymen, in
fact, defended Lennon, pointing out that he could as easily have said that golf [or baseball or
football] is more popular than Jesus. Paul McCartney made an interesting observation, in
The Beatles Anthology TV mini-series, when he said that, while other groups were singing
about hate and anarchy, he was glad that their songs were about peace and love (e.g., "All You
Need Is Love," "Give Peace a Chance"). Like Elvis, they had their flaws. They were human.
So, let's remember them in a positive way. All things considered, I think that The Beatles
probably set a better example for young people than most of today's bands.

John Lennon, a man of peace, died violently when, in 1980, he was shot to death by a crazed
fan. George Harrison, the "quiet Beatle" who had followed a spiritual quest of his own, lost his
battle with lung cancer, in 2001. But their music lives on (and probably always will).

Country Music

I have to confess that during the sixties, I didn't pay a lot of attention to country music. I was
too busy listening to The Beatles and other rock bands. But in the decade that followed, I
rediscovered country music and found it had changed -- mostly for the better. More
about that in the next installment.

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Summing up: the '60s was a decade of triumphs (civil rights, the lunar landing) and tragedies
(the assassinations, the VietNam war). For me, personally, the '60s marked the end of my
school years. So, to our generation, it truly was -- in many ways -- the end of an era.