In
“The Bugaloo Bugaboo,” Sparky (Billy Barty) grows depressed because he has
received no mail from Gina Lolla Wattage, who is away on tour.
Sparky
feels he must do something to impress her, and decides that he should become a
song-writer.
Hoping
to help, the Bugaloos help Sparky compose a song, and it proves to be a hit.
The
success of the song goes to Sparky’s head, and Benita seizes an opportunity.
Believing that he is “the genius behind
the Bugaloos,” she decides to pretend to be an agent, and signs up Sparky
as a client. She promises to make Sparky rich and famous. She will debut his new song at Peter Platter's upcoming talent contest.
Unfortunately for her, Benita's song bombs, and the Bugaloos come to Sparky’s rescue.
This
episode of Sid and Marty Krofft’s The Bugaloos (1970) follows the
patterns of others very closely.
First,
there is an event of some type (sponsored by Peter Platter), and Benita wants
in, but needs the Bugaloos (or Sparky) to succeed.
Accordingly,
she dresses up in a disguise to trick her victims. Here, Benita pretends to be
an agent, G.W. Wooster, in the belief that Sparky can write her a hit song.
The
winner, in this case, gets to appear on TV, but of course, things don’t go that
far. Benita’s song bombs, and the Bugaloos perform instead, repeating their
song, “So It’s New to You.”
The
most memorable quality of the episode involves, once again, imported (stolen?)
jokes. Here, a character exclaims “You
bet your sweet bippy!,” cribbing a catchphrase from Laugh-In (1967-1973).
Also, the crystal ball that does a Don Adams/Get Smart impersonation recurs in this story.
Otherwise,
the jokes are silly puns (Playbug Magazine for instance), and once again, one
can’t help but wonder why the Bugaloos bother with Sparky. Once more, he acts
like a jerk, and is rude to them. They come to his rescue, of course, and all
is forgiven. But Sparky is a royal pain
in the ass, and easily manipulated by Benita.
Next
week: “Benita’s Double Trouble.”
No comments:
Post a Comment