Shout Factory to Release Fridays (1 Viewer)

Wow. This caught me by surprise. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Fridays-DVDs-Planned/17992

I really hope they can do the whole series and not just a handful of episodes. I loved the show when it first came on the air as (IMO) it was better than SNL at the time and the musical guests were usually very good to boot.

handley said:

I really hope they can do the whole series and not just a handful of episodes. I loved the show when it first came on the air as (IMO) it was better than SNL at the time and the musical guests were usually very good to boot.

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Agreed on all points.

I loved Fridays as well. The show introduced me to Melanie Chartoff, Michael Richards, and Larry David. I thought the skits were quite imaginative. Michael Richards did his spastic routine very well, and these had me laughing quite a lot. And the skit with Andy Kaufmann and Melanie Chartoff has remained with me for years. At the time, it was so well done that I had no idea if it was acting or reality, and seeing it as it aired, I was quite uneasy watching it. http://www.aish.com/j/f/48954246.html

handley said:

I really hope they can do the whole series and not just a handful of episodes. I loved the show when it first came on the air as (IMO) it was better than SNL at the time and the musical guests were usually very good to boot.

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I'm guessing there might be some editing - remember they had problems with Comedy 3 productions over "The Three Stooges" spoofs. I don't expect SHOUT! to try to address that.

Would be a shame if they had to make some edits (I especially loved the Stooges parody), but I'd understand so long as we got the actual episodes and not some kind of "best-of' compilation (though I'd probably buy that if that's all there was). Bottom line: I just want to see this show again!

There were also musical performances and I'll bet some of them will be removed.

David Rain said:

There were also musical performances and I'll bet some of them will be removed.

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It's another good point - how much will they be able to clear music wise.

DeWilson said:

It's another good point - how much will they be able to clear music wise.

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Good Point and what that actually translates to is: "How Much of the Music are they willing to pay the Royalties for?"

Ockeghem said:

I loved Fridays as well. The show introduced me to Melanie Chartoff, Michael Richards, and Larry David. I thought the skits were quite imaginative. Michael Richards did his spastic routine very well, and these had me laughing quite a lot. And the skit with Andy Kaufmann and Melanie Chartoff has remained with me for years. At the time, it was so well done that I had no idea if it was acting or reality, and seeing it as it aired, I was quite uneasy watching it. http://www.aish.com/j/f/48954246.html

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We mid-southerners had the privilege of seeing Andy up close and personal in the 80's when he started his "feud" with Jerry "The King" Lawler. Wrestling at the time was done live in this area and Andy never missed a beat!

Ron, I remember that feud, and saw parts of it on television a couple of times. I can still see Kaufmann in that neck brace. He looked like he was really hurting when I saw him wearing that while being interviewed after one of those matches.

Ockeghem said:

Ron, I remember that feud, and saw parts of it on television a couple of times. I can still see Kaufmann in that neck brace. He looked like he was really hurting when I saw him wearing that while being interviewed after one of those matches.

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He made it believable without a doubt. Of course the whole shtick was what Lawler had tried himself 8-10 years prior, calling anyone from the South a redneck and appearing to be a snob. Jimmy Hart helped sell the thing, too. Those glory days are gone, sadly.

If you haven't already, you guys should check out the documentary I'm From Hollywood. It's all about Andy's foray into the world of professional wrestling. The version I bought several years ago also includes the extra My Breakfast With Blassie, which is a one-of-a-kind "classic"!

OMG *throws away bootlegs* Loved the show. Never missed it. SNL, SCTV, FRIDAYS. So many gems on that show. "Take a pill!" ... Luke & Laura... ... Shatner... and everything Richards ever did on it. The musical acts were often out of sight! If anybody can clear all the music, it's Shout! Just want to say: I'll pay a lot and pre-order for this series with all the music cleared. Otherwise, will hold off for a sale if it's incomplete and too pricey at first. Just the way it is.

Had an extra thought just now... How about they put out the rest of SNL too so we can finally see once and for all which was better, Fridays or SNL during this period.

DeWilson said:

It's another good point - how much will they be able to clear music wise.

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Perhaps Shout has been taking all this time getting the music cleared,and that's why it has taken until now to get it released. I've never believed the Michael Richards reason.

Radioman970 said:

Had an extra thought just now... How about they put out the rest of SNL too so we can finally see once and for all which was better, Fridays or SNL during this period.

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I was thinking the same thing.

I sure hope they get clear all the musical performances for Fridays. Again, the complete shows are what most of us want. I've also been waiting for more SNL seasons. Even the lean years had some bright spots of comedy and the musical guests were almost always worth catching.

I don't think Shout would've paid however many thousands of dollars to license the show if they had no earthly idea of what it would take to get it out. I think the show will be fine.

Radioman970 said:

Had an extra thought just now... How about they put out the rest of SNL too so we can finally see once and for all which was better, Fridays or SNL during this period.

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I watched both shows during that period. I can say without a doubt that, in spite of pretty much being a clone of SNL, Fridays was the better program. (Edited to add): I also was a loyal SNL viewer from the first episode. We'd all gather at *someone's* house on Saturday nights *just to watch*. It was truly "event" TV and tended to lead discussions for a few days. I own the 5 released seasons of SNL and while there *are* "dud" sketches in them (the Muppets' "Land of Gorch" bits were horrible and show killers even back then) they are overall excellent programs and true representations of the times.(end edit) You have to remember that Fridays began during the summer of 1980 between the 5th season of SNL (after which the remaining original cast left with Lorne Michaels) and the train wreck that was the Doumanian year with the cast of Charles Rocket, Denny Dillon, Gilbert Gottfried, Gail Matthius, Joe Piscopo, and Ann Risley as the new "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" along with Yvonne Hudson and Eddie Murphy as "Featured Players". It also didn't help SNL that Chase, Aykroyd, and Belushi had all left by the start of the 5th season. The general consensus (at least among the group I ran with) of Season 5 was it was much weaker than previous seasons. Before the Doumanian year was out Dick Ebersol was tapped to replace Doumanian. It was almost too little too late as many of the viewers of SNL's first 5 years were pretty much gone. Ebersol wisely cleaned house leaving only Piscopo and Murphy from the Doumanian cast but in spite of other new cast members it became a mostly 2-man show until 1984 with Piscopo and Murphy playing the bulk of lead characters. The series also changed to be a bit less "smart" or "revolutionary" by pandering to the teen crowd (rather than the college crowd of the early years) with skits shortened and more reliance on "recurring characters" to allow the program to be produced less expensively as well as deliver "cheap laughs". That's not to say that there were no "good" sketches because there were. It's just that it was "less" than what came before. It was the Doumanian year and the beginning of the Ebersol "rebuild" that ran concurrently with Fridays. During its run Fridays was "smarter" and more "daring" than SNL, essentially what SNL had been during the first 3-4 seasons. It outperformed SNL during S1 (actually a short summer replacement type schedule) and S2 only suffering in S3 due to ABC's decision to move it to midnight (IMHO a truly boneheaded move) in favor of an expanded Nightline. That move to the later time slot hurt ratings as the target audience was *not* watching Nightline and by midnight was doing other things. ABCs attempt to air Fridays in prime time hopeing to get viewers back and ratings up failed and drove the final nail (the single prime time episode was aired opposite Dallas - another boneheaded move). I will be purchasing this release. It's what SNL *should* have been doing during those years and is a *necessary* companion series to the first 5 years of SNL. Here's a pretty good article about Fridays which includes several sketches.

I did too, but I was rather young and not too judgmental. I watched them both, but I think it didn't bother me if I fell asleep before SNL came on. But FRIDAYS...it would ruin my weekend if I missed it. It definitely was better at that time. I recorded a single episode on a cassette (audio only) and used to listen to that one episode all the time and just picture things in my head. I believe it was the Shatner episode. If it's the one that had Michael Richards coming on to a lady on the beach. And saying he'd like to come over to her house sometime for potatoes. Actually puh-tay-tuhs.