Blood-curdling screams. Taunting phone calls from a psycho killer. Creepy, ominous music with lyrics like “Here’s a knife. Here’s a gun. There’ll be fun for everyone. Death is on the menu tonight!” Elements of a forgotten ‘90s slasher classic? Nope. Just some highlights from the most memorable episode of ABC’s family sitcom Boy Meets World.
With the launch of Disney+ and ample time to get nostalgic and revisit old movies and TV shows due to the pandemic, many older millennials are diving back into Boy Meets World, which ran for seven seasons from 1993 through 2000 as a staple of ABC’s Tgif lineup. The show centered on Philadelphia teenager Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) navigating life with his best friend Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong), his love interest Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel), and brother Eric (Will Friedle), while perpetually receiving life lessons from longtime teacher and eventual principal Mr.
With the launch of Disney+ and ample time to get nostalgic and revisit old movies and TV shows due to the pandemic, many older millennials are diving back into Boy Meets World, which ran for seven seasons from 1993 through 2000 as a staple of ABC’s Tgif lineup. The show centered on Philadelphia teenager Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) navigating life with his best friend Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong), his love interest Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel), and brother Eric (Will Friedle), while perpetually receiving life lessons from longtime teacher and eventual principal Mr.
- 10/17/2020
- by Nick Harley
- Den of Geek
The swept-wing, big-chromed '50s took on an ugly tarnish in the last years of the decade: Not only did the Soviet Union beat us into space with Sputnik, but also the country was duped and disillusioned by a rigged TV quiz show scandal in which Charles Van Doren, a handsome golden boy, won national adoration for his brainy, charismatic play on ''Twenty-One, '' a wildly popular quiz show. Van Doren's play, it turned out, was really a performance --
In this brilliant depiction of the early years of TV and the phenomenal powers it asserted in breaking down the walls of America's living rooms and homogenizing our culture, director Robert Redford has crafted a superb piece of cracked Americana. Buena Vista will win heartfelt plaudits from mature audiences and, come awards season, will certainly increase its viewership through anticipated nominations.
In this intelligent insight into the giddy years of mass consumerism and TV advertising, corporate sponsor Geritol, we see, did not appreciate any tired blood on the ratings of its quiz shows. Accordingly, NBC knew it was expected to deliver winning numbers and, by extension, quiz-show producers Dan Enright (David Paymer) and Albert Freedman (Hank Azaria) felt the pressure.
Audience research told them that the intellectual eggheads who typically won on the show were not endearing enough to sustain the numbers. What the producers sought was a white knight whose popularity would not plateau. They found their man in Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), an East Coast Brahmin with a dazzling smile and a winsome erudition. After perfunctory moral objections, Van Doren signed on for the deception and, indeed, his graceful charms flamed the ratings.
A cagey account of power gone awry and a juicy insight into the workings of mass manipulation, Paul Attanasio's screen adaptation is a resonant and articulate work, distilling the times and capturing the country's voracious naivete. It's a marvelously uncynical work, told with a piercing understanding of the way fair play can be rationalized away in the face of easy, no-harm personal gain.
Under Redford's nimble and perceptive hand, the performances are wonderfully textured, fleshed out with the wonder of human contradictions. In the lead role, Fiennes brings a terrific Gatsby-esque demeanor as the front man for the scheme, a fastidiously moral man who, nevertheless, succumbed to easy temptation. John Turturro as the show's tenacious competitor from Brooklyn, who ultimately takes a dive, wonderfully embodies the frustrations and paranoia of a man who knows that life's deck will always be stacked against him.
As Van Doren's professorial father, Paul Scofield's craggy eloquence and firm moral tenor bring out the full moral tragedy of his son's fall from grace.
A couple of cameos are particularly solid, although the players should not quit their day jobs: Barry Levinson oozes an edgy garrulousness as talk showmeister Dave Garroway, while Martin Scorsese is downright iron-fortified as a Geritol executive.
Technical contributions are superior, in particular production designer Jon Hutman's Age of Eisenhower look, and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus' golden tone, appropriately flecked with slants of darkness. Also, the story's pearly bite is nicely belted out in its opening moments with ''Mack the Knife.''
QUIZ SHOW
Buena Vista
Hollywood Pictures Presents a Wildwood Enterprises/Baltimore Pictures Production a Robert Redford Film
Exec producers Fred Zollo, Richard Dreyfuss, Judith James
Producers Robert Redford, Michael Jacobs, Julian Krainin, Michael Nozik
Director Robert Redford
Screenwriter Paul Attanasio
Based on the book ''Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties'' by Richard N. Goodwin
Co-producers Gail Mutrux, Jeff McCracken, Richard N. Goodwin
Director of photography Michael Ballhaus
Production designer Jon Hutman
Editor Stu Linder
Costume designer Kathy O'Rear
Music Mark Isham
Casting Bonnie Timmerman
Sound mixer Tod A. Maitland
Color/stereo
Cast:
Herbie Stempel John Turturro
Dick Goodwin Rob Morrow
Charles Van Doren Ralph Fiennes
Mark Van Doren Paul Scofield
Dan Enright David Paymer
Albert Freedman Hank Azaria
Jack Barry Christopher McDonald
Toby Stempel Johann Carlo
Dorothy Van Doren Elizabeth Wilson
Running time -- 122 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
In this brilliant depiction of the early years of TV and the phenomenal powers it asserted in breaking down the walls of America's living rooms and homogenizing our culture, director Robert Redford has crafted a superb piece of cracked Americana. Buena Vista will win heartfelt plaudits from mature audiences and, come awards season, will certainly increase its viewership through anticipated nominations.
In this intelligent insight into the giddy years of mass consumerism and TV advertising, corporate sponsor Geritol, we see, did not appreciate any tired blood on the ratings of its quiz shows. Accordingly, NBC knew it was expected to deliver winning numbers and, by extension, quiz-show producers Dan Enright (David Paymer) and Albert Freedman (Hank Azaria) felt the pressure.
Audience research told them that the intellectual eggheads who typically won on the show were not endearing enough to sustain the numbers. What the producers sought was a white knight whose popularity would not plateau. They found their man in Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), an East Coast Brahmin with a dazzling smile and a winsome erudition. After perfunctory moral objections, Van Doren signed on for the deception and, indeed, his graceful charms flamed the ratings.
A cagey account of power gone awry and a juicy insight into the workings of mass manipulation, Paul Attanasio's screen adaptation is a resonant and articulate work, distilling the times and capturing the country's voracious naivete. It's a marvelously uncynical work, told with a piercing understanding of the way fair play can be rationalized away in the face of easy, no-harm personal gain.
Under Redford's nimble and perceptive hand, the performances are wonderfully textured, fleshed out with the wonder of human contradictions. In the lead role, Fiennes brings a terrific Gatsby-esque demeanor as the front man for the scheme, a fastidiously moral man who, nevertheless, succumbed to easy temptation. John Turturro as the show's tenacious competitor from Brooklyn, who ultimately takes a dive, wonderfully embodies the frustrations and paranoia of a man who knows that life's deck will always be stacked against him.
As Van Doren's professorial father, Paul Scofield's craggy eloquence and firm moral tenor bring out the full moral tragedy of his son's fall from grace.
A couple of cameos are particularly solid, although the players should not quit their day jobs: Barry Levinson oozes an edgy garrulousness as talk showmeister Dave Garroway, while Martin Scorsese is downright iron-fortified as a Geritol executive.
Technical contributions are superior, in particular production designer Jon Hutman's Age of Eisenhower look, and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus' golden tone, appropriately flecked with slants of darkness. Also, the story's pearly bite is nicely belted out in its opening moments with ''Mack the Knife.''
QUIZ SHOW
Buena Vista
Hollywood Pictures Presents a Wildwood Enterprises/Baltimore Pictures Production a Robert Redford Film
Exec producers Fred Zollo, Richard Dreyfuss, Judith James
Producers Robert Redford, Michael Jacobs, Julian Krainin, Michael Nozik
Director Robert Redford
Screenwriter Paul Attanasio
Based on the book ''Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties'' by Richard N. Goodwin
Co-producers Gail Mutrux, Jeff McCracken, Richard N. Goodwin
Director of photography Michael Ballhaus
Production designer Jon Hutman
Editor Stu Linder
Costume designer Kathy O'Rear
Music Mark Isham
Casting Bonnie Timmerman
Sound mixer Tod A. Maitland
Color/stereo
Cast:
Herbie Stempel John Turturro
Dick Goodwin Rob Morrow
Charles Van Doren Ralph Fiennes
Mark Van Doren Paul Scofield
Dan Enright David Paymer
Albert Freedman Hank Azaria
Jack Barry Christopher McDonald
Toby Stempel Johann Carlo
Dorothy Van Doren Elizabeth Wilson
Running time -- 122 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
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