Network Awesome - Sun, Jul 1

Art - Gerald McBoing-Boing (Robert Cannon, 1950)

The story of a little boy who would only talk in sound effects. Story by Dr. Seuss

Curated by Jason Forrest

Total Runtime: 0:06:56

Gerald McBoing-Boing is an animated short film produced by United Productions of America (UPA) and given wide release by Columbia Pictures on November 2, 1950. The winner of the 1950 Academy Award for Best Animated Short, Gerald McBoing-Boing is the story of a little boy who speaks through sound effects instead of spoken words.

It was adapted by Phil Eastman and Bill Scott from a story by Dr. Seuss, directed by Robert Cannon, and produced by John Hubley. In 1994, it was voted #9 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.

Alphabet Conspiracy (1959)

A little girl, frustrated by her inability to deal with her English homework, dreams that the Mad Hatter and the Jabberwocky have hatched a conspiracy to abolish the alphabet.

Curated by Casey Raymond

Total Runtime: 0:51:54

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Part of the Bell Science series, this film covers the science of linguistics, and show it is more than simply grammar. Dr. Frank Baxter guides a little girl who becomes frustrated at her grammar homework. She falls asleep, and she meets Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter (Hans Conreid from '5,000 fingers of Dr.T') and the Jabberwocky. The Mad Hatter wants to destroy the alphabet because it's a prison. Baxter halts this scheme as he talks about how scientists breakup language into phonemes and descriptive grammar. Two animation sequences are done by Friz Frieling, and the entire production was overseen by Warner Bros. There has been some definite advances in understanding of linguistics since the film was made. The mention of "primitive" cultures would make modern anthropologists cringe (though, it does rightly mention there are no primitive languages). Also, there has been a lot of research in teaching great apes sign language since this ...

Talk Show - Amy Sedaris Speaks To A High School

Amy Sedaris visits a high school on Long Island to talk about her book on hospitality.

Curated by Jason Forrest

Total Runtime: 0:40:09

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Amy Sedaris visit a high school on Long Island to talk about her book about hospitality. The audience thinks they are getting a presentation on how to actually host a party but they get more than they bargained for.

Art - How 50's Housewives Did It

A 1950's Housewife learns a Magical Way to Better House-Keepery

Curated by Jason Forrest

Total Runtime: 0:04:45

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A 1950's Housewife learns a Magical Way to Better House-Keepery, via her latest Homes & Garden magazine and an Alien.

Movie - The Stepford Wives (1975)

1975 cult classic sci-fi suspenser starring Katharine Ross and Paul Prentiss

Curated by Harris Smith

Total Runtime: 1:55:00

(1975)

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The Stepford Wives is a 1975 science fiction–thriller film based on the 1972 Ira Levin novel of the same name. It was directed by Bryan Forbes with a screenplay by William Goldman, and stars Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson, Nanette Newman and Tina Louise.

Some critics deride its leisurely pace. Most applaud the "quiet, domestic" thrills the film delivers in the final third and earlier sections as "clever, witty, and delightfully offbeat". As for the satire in the film, Roger Ebert wrote, "[The actresses] have absorbed enough TV, or have such an instinctive feeling for those phony, perfect women in the ads, that they manage all by themselves to bring a certain comic edge to their cooking, their cleaning, their gossiping and their living deaths."

Initial reaction to the film by feminist groups was not favorable, arguing that it was "anti-woman". Cast and crew vehemently disagree, as the men in the film are characterized as "swinish and grotesque." They maintain that critics misunderstand the premise, that Stepford is a sort of chauvinistic dystopia, and that the depiction of subservient, robotic women is intended as a satirical statement against traditional gender roles.

Movie - Revenge of the Stepford Wives (1980)

A TV reporter arrives in Stepford to do a story on the American town with the lowest crime and divorce rates and the tightest real-estate market.

Curated by Jason Forrest

Total Runtime: 1:34:27

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A TV reporter arrives in Stepford to do a story on the American town with the lowest crime and divorce rates and the tightest real-estate market. She needs an assistant, and after interviewing the seemingly-plastic women of Stepford, jumps at the chance to hire the down-to-earth Megan, who's married to a newly-hired cop who hasn't yet moved into the town. Four times a day a siren sounds and every woman in town takes a pill. Accidents start to happen, Megan disappears for a couple of days, and the reporter realizes something is amiss. When Megan returns as a full-fledged Stepford wife.

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Revenge of the Stepford Wives is a 1980 made-for-television sci-fi/horror film inspired by the Ira Levin novel The Stepford Wives. It was directed by Robert Fuest with a screenplay by David Wiltse. Sharon Gless, Julie Kavner, Don Johnson, Arthur Hill, and Audra Lindley starred in the film. It is the first in a series of sequels inspired by the 1971 novel and the original 1975 film.

Production

The film first aired on October 12, 1980. Despite the suburban Connecticut setting, it was filmed in California as is evident by the presence of palm trees and canyons.

This is the first sequel in a string of stories suggested by, but not necessarily true to the original concept of the novel. Although the feel, costumes, and even music suggest the original film, a new and different twist is written for the sequel.

Later sequels include The Stepford Children (1987) starring Barbara Eden which retained the secret of the original, but in which the men were also transforming children of Stepford. This third sequel The Stepford Husbands, revisits the concept, reversing the roles, with the women as oppressors. Louise Fletcher's role, in particular, recalls the role of "Diz", the Men's Club President. A 2004 film remade the original, but with an entirely different tone and ending.

The Executive Producer for the film is Edgar J. Scherick, who produced the first film.

Reception

One review of the film describes "Revenge" as "an average telefilm sequel [which] isn't that bad, but isn't much memorable either." Another generally rates it as mediocre, though praises the end of the film, but remarking "Despite this more satisfying ending, however, the intelligence of the audience is further insulted by the fact that the credits roll directly thereafter, leaving us with nothing to explain Coba’s methods or the fallout that would naturally occur after these events. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see the women confront their husbands following their deprogramming? Wouldn’t we like to see Kate’s [sic] triumph as she tells the story of Stepford to her tv audience?" While acknowledging the value of an ambiguous ending, "there's a difference between mystery and confusion."

Viewer comments echo these sentiments, with critics dismissing it as a formula film. On the other hand, the film was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1981 for Best Television Feature or Miniseries to writer David Wiltse.