"Chico and the Man" welcomes two superstars

I was watching an episode of Chico and the Man when I was surprised by two very special guest stars we have discussed on the podcast. The episode, "Louie's CanCan," is near the end of the third season, and Freddie Prinze's absence is a bummer. However, anyone's spirits will be elevated when they see this guy:

Yes, it's George Gobel! The Batty-nominated guest star of Donny and Marie has several key scenes in the episode.

But wait, there's more!

Yes, it's Captain America himself (Click here for more), Reb Brown!

Apologies for the quality on these grabs; Tubi, like many other streamers, has made it more difficult to grab a nice, crisp screenshot. But when you have George Gobel and Reb Brown in the frame, the starpower shines through anyway!

For Your Batty Consideration: Season 12, Episode 9, Chico and the Man

It wasn't quite a Very Special Episode, but we had to confront the tragic death of Freddie Prinze Jr. as we discussed Chico and the Man. Like Rhoda, which we had covered a few weeks earlier, Chico came out of the gate strong, but its decline was obviously much different.

Nevertheless, we had a good time enjoying the chemistry of Prinze and Jack Albertson, plus Scatman Carothers is always welcome. I know I was excited when Tubi added the whole series, which has not been widely available for years. The episode we talked about offered many surprises, including a Seventies superstar making a seemingly random appearance. All this plus some bathtub talk!

Links:

Our podcast episode 

Show Notes and YT Playlist

Anonymous Batty insider says: "Could challenge for some of the big ones as long as the guys don't penalize Chico for its fourth season! This is another show that Rick and Mike seemed to have different thoughts about, so it could be hard to get consensus at the Battys. You have to look at the theme song and the male acting categories, plus maybe a guest star, as the main possibilities here. Overall, I feel there are stronger comedy contenders for Season 12."

BOTNS Episode Club #1 (Now in our Facebook group)!

If you have not joined our Facebook group, now is the time because during our offseason, we will be viewing a different episode each week and then posting comments the next week in the group. We hope that all of our friends who enjoy the podcast will share their thoughts, though, and participate with us!

We will post the episode choice here, too, if you want to comment and follow along. We will start by focusing on programs that we covered this latest season (It will be good ramping up for the Battys, too!) and programs that are available on DVD and/or on streaming.

Let's have some fun and talk TV!

First up, an episode that is free on Tubi: Chico and the Man, Season 3, Episode 9, "Mucho Macho Ed."
Description from IMDB: A young woman arrives at the garage proclaiming that Ed is the father of her baby.

Similar to "Chico and the Man"? You be the judge

Tubi continues to send me emails urging me to watch a show I am already watching, Chico and the Man. "Yeah," the thinking must be, "you have been watching it, but you aren't watching it right now."

The latest one broadened the scope of the Tubi recommendations and suggested other titles that might interest me since I am enjoying Chico and the Man. Here is the list of "MORE LIKE CHICO AND THE MAN" titles "for my next binge watch.":

The Super (the movie with Joe Pesci)

Easy Money (movie with Rodney Dangerfield)

At War with the Army (Martin and Lewis movie)

Neighbors (Belushi/Aykroyd movie)

Rescue from Gilligan's Island

The Heavenly Kid (1985 movie with Richard Mulligan)

None of these are TV shows, but I will concede some of them have people who were TV stars, and all of them have people who were on TV.

An oddity is that two of these are public domain, meaning presumably Tubi isn't spending anything to license them. At least they aren't like some streamers that insist on pushing what they want you to watch.

12 Days of Watching (2024) #7: Chico and the Man, or just the Man

We are looking today at a show we covered just this season: Chico and the Man! However, it's a fourth-season effort, and that means no Freddie Prinze. Raul fans are in luck, though!

In fact, the episode, "The Proposal," begins with Raul trimming the tree and getting the garage decked out. This goes a long way towards creating that Christmas cheer I love in TV episodes. Only we soon find out Raul is starting early; it's not even Thanksgiving. 

Ed is in a grouchy mood, though, so everyone rolls with it and decides to hold a holiday party to cheer him up. Ed takes a bottle of tequila and spikes Della's punch, and then Raul gets the same idea and spikes it himself (He uses Ed's bottle, not his own, and to his credit, he declines Della's invite to try the punch).

After the opening scene, this is not so much a Christmas episode as a "Drunk Bit" episode. Ed gets blotto, Della gets hammered, and he proposes to her for some reason, and she actually accepts. They then spend valuable network airtime going through the motions prepping for a wedding even though neither one of them wants to do it.

if you enjoy seeing pros do drunk bits, you will like this, though a little goes a long way. The real highlight is seeing Jack Albertson do a Hangover Bit. Even then, it's not so much the groaning and shuffling as the spectacular delayed spit take he does when he finds out about the proposal.

Della Reese's character wouldn't be around much longer; it's as if when Charo came in, they figured the garage wasn't big enough for both of them. They didn't really tease much of anything between Ed and Della "Rogers," but there are a few glimpses that they might have actually been crazy enough to go that direction at some point.

Power Rankings: Chico and the Man!

The Power Rankings return to evaluate the characters on Chico and the Man. What more important pastime can there be than assigning rank to fictional people on a 1970s sitcom?

Remember, these ratings reflect how these individuals would fare against each other on a neutral playing surface in Malden, Massachusetts.

1) Chico and the Man (tie): Is this a cop-out? Of course it is, but the series relies so much on the tremendous chemistry between the two that it seems wrong to elevate one over the other. Prinze's Chico was the breakout, but Albertson's Ed Brown was the glue and was there the whole run (for better or worse).

3) Louie Wilson: Played with charismas as always by Scatman Crothers. Despite what I said above, don't think I didn't ponder putting Louie higher for a brief moment. Louie has to be one of the all-time great garbagemen (Future bonus episode idea?).

4) Della Rogers: Della Reese offered a surprisingly effective foil for Albertson after Prinze's death.

5) Charo: A little of Charo goes a long way, but the series needed some energy at the time, and, well, one thing Charo always provides is energy.

6 (tie): Mando, Mabel, and Reverend Bemis: The performers tried hard, but they just couldn't elevate these characters (Chico's pal, the mailperson, and, well, the reverend)  beyond solid contributors. They seem designed to be the kinds of characters who get rapturous applause when they show up, but I just have not gotten into them.

Also receiving votes: Raul and Monica. Don't blame the actors. They walked into an impossible situation.

YouTube Spotlight: Can You Still Hear the Laughter?

One of the clips in our Chico and the Man playlist this week is this promo for the TV movie based on star Freddie Prinze's short life:

The full movie is also available on YouTube without looking too hard. Directed by Burt Brinckerhoff, it premiered on CBS Tuesday, September 11, 1979 after an episode of Wonder Woman. Opposition was a repeat of Part 2 of Holocaust on NBC and the ABC combo of new episodes of Three's Company, Taxi, and The Lazarus Syndrome. The sitcoms were season premieres.

Writing in The New York Times, critic John J. O'Connor called the movie "the bare scaffolding of the show-business structure constructed on the familiar story premise of 'too much, too soon.' As a magazine article, the form can still delvier narrative clout. As a dramatization, it demands much more than Can You Hear the Laughter?  was willing--or able--to make."

He says the movie is shallow and doesn't explain much about Prinze's life nor his death. He does praise star Ira Angustine, who resembles Prinze and "also manages to convey a good deal of his special warmth." Randee Heller and Kevin Hooks earn praise, too.

Show Notes and Video Playlist: Episode 12-9: Chico and the Man

*Chico and the Man aired on NBC 4 seasons from 1974 to 1978.

*Freddie Prinze was only 22 when he died. Jack Albertson lived 1907-1981, so he was well into his 60s when the series debuted.

*Freddie Prinze: Gone Before His Time is the documentary I refer to on the podcast.

*Here is an interesting contemporary article about Prinze's suicide from Time in February 1977.

*Mark Evanier writes about James Komack here and elsewhere on his site. Also, check out this 1978 People article about Welcome Back Kotter.

*The diner the characters enter is indeed seen elsewhere in the second season.

*Shout-out again to the 200 Dollars a Day Plus Expenses podcast with our friends Steve and Dave!

*"Chico and the Van" premiered October 17, 1975 as the sixth episode of the second season.

*Laverne and Shirley premiered in January 1976.

*Ann Gibbs and Joel Kimmel are credited as writers along with James Komack.

*Our look at Sammy Davis Jr.'s TV movie Poor Devil is right here.

*Fame was a hit movie for MGM in 1980, and it became a series in 1982, starting on NBC before moving to first-run syndication.

*The TV movie about Prinze's life is 1979's Can You Hear the Laughter?, which debuted September 11, 1979 on CBS.

*Finally, check out our video playlist for this episode, featuring all kinds of Seventies goodness--variety shows, a clip from a Dean Martin roast, commercials, promos, Farrah Fawcett, and more!

*And remember, you can always check out our official YouTube page for all of our past podcasts and episode-specific playlists for each one!

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