From: (Redacted)
Subject: VERY Strange TV Show
Date: April 25, 2008 9:01:37 AM PDT
To: april@aprilwinchell.com
Hi April,
I know how much you love bizarre television, so here’s one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen.
It’s from a British variety show called The Black and White Minstrels, which was apparently very popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
It’s kind of like The Lawrence Welk Show, with its wholesome (and corny) musical numbers, but there’s just one thing . . .
All of the men wear blackface (and BAD blackface at that) and white gloves, while the women remain white.
I find it very strange that the songs they’re singing are not minstrel songs; these are middle-of-the-road pop songs which don’t require blackface. So why are all of the guys wearing it? Especially in 1978?
There are more clips posted on YouTube, but this will give you a taste of what the cultured British viewers were enjoying a few decades ago:
52 responses so far ↓
1 eBayEnigma // Apr 25, 2008 at 10:00 am
FIRST!
I have three comments:
1. WTF!?
2. My husband commented that he noticed that this was made in the days before the widespread use of breast implants. (Referring to the “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Bikini” number.)
3. WTF?!
2 inerror // Apr 25, 2008 at 10:55 am
Black and White Minstrel Show
Apparently this aired about the time the show was axed.
3 Doug // Apr 25, 2008 at 10:58 am
I thought it was common knowledge that racism exists only amongst Conservative White Americans. Guess not.
4 unfallable // Apr 25, 2008 at 11:14 am
Most disturbing is these guys are all dressed like pimps — polyester; top 3 buttons undone. Then again it’s the disco era. And it’s a “beach” in the UK. All the beaches I’ve seen photos of there are strewn with boulders. And the sun coming out is an annual event attended by druid processions and human sacrifice. No wonder the Nazis never invaded.
5 ListenerJustin // Apr 25, 2008 at 11:23 am
Wow, it’s like a vision that you’d see after sniffing ether with your head in the oven. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Blackface is just damn creepy. I love listening to Shirley Q. Liquor, but seeing the guy in costume is really something I don’t need to see if I want to keep sleeping at night.
6 Paul // Apr 25, 2008 at 11:36 am
This one is weird, but I am sure it was based on a very popular musical which ran for long time in England. That musical was called “The Black and White Minstrel Show.” One big difference though, that show tried to recreate the old minstrel shows with songs of those early days.
Someone decided to “update” it and use the title of the successful stage show. See how “creative” tv producers can be!?
7 bnaivar // Apr 25, 2008 at 12:04 pm
“Hey, where da white women at?”
8 JohnnyBoy // Apr 25, 2008 at 12:14 pm
“I thought it was common knowledge that racism exists only amongst Conservative White Americans”
Doug, I’m sorry, but that statement is more bizarre than any 30 year old film clip could be.
9 pal Jacky // Apr 25, 2008 at 12:49 pm
please, I wore black face to attend the million man march last decade.
10 adrock // Apr 25, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Okay, I’m confused. I know I’m supposed to be mad about the whole blackface thing but quite frankly, I’m just mad because that was the most ass-suckingest musical number I’ve seen in quite a while.
The thing is, Justin reminded me that I too think Shirley Q. is quite funny. Church Slave
And, there was this skit on Little Britain that combined a Marlin Brando impression with blackface and, well, surreal comedy. Perhaps there’s a place for it today? Or am I a racist?
11 pal Jacky // Apr 25, 2008 at 2:11 pm
another step forward in TV. Last night I caught a show on spike that was sort of terry southern’s ‘magic christian’ come to life. . It is hosted by a bunch of MTV VJ rejects who go around to colleges and spring break hotspots and give people a chance to earn 50 or 1oo bucks to eat maggots or submerge themselves in pancake syrup and then lie on each other. Obviously, it is a complete ripoff of both ‘fear factor’ and ‘jackass’ but they are doing for almost no money. Also, they show all the barfing!!!! Everyone wins when barfing doesn’t disqualify the contestant as long as they keep eating! ‘anal rape of the network stars’ is closer than ever.
Also this week ’spenny vs. kenny’ showed that spenny is even a bigger wimpola than I thought possible. He has actually overtaken chad from alltell as the one television personality who needs to be anal raped the most.
12 pal Jacky // Apr 25, 2008 at 2:17 pm
sorry,
the show is called ‘I bet you will’. And it is just foul dipshit television at its finest. Tila Tequila’s lovers, sorry, you are just toe jam in the world of pathetic reality losers.
13 AlexZo // Apr 25, 2008 at 2:20 pm
If you want politically incorrect then British TV from the seventies gives it to you in spades, as you put it. “Mind Your Language” was a sitcom set in a language class for adult learners of English. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D700hZJZEIY No foreign stereotype left out. Or “Love Thy Neighbour” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Ni7CxnVLc because having a black man moving in next door offers so many opportunities for humour.
Mind you they also had “Are You Being Served” complete with Mrs Slocombe’s pussy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unmkX15AeN8 Very popular still in the States I understand.
Although you had to wait until the nineties for the erm, charms, of “Heil honey, I’m home” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbj9otRPdiM
But then the French found this funny only two years ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcyKqaU5BP4 Religious tolerance, you know.
14 ListenerJustin // Apr 25, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Holy shit, I saw that show last night. I landed on the segment where they were having Willa Ford pay co-eds to chug five cans of spray-cheese. *gag* It was iggnant!
15 Andre // Apr 25, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Wait a second! Something’s wrong. There’s no Rick Astley in that video.
16 Joe Ekaitis // Apr 25, 2008 at 6:06 pm
My jaw hurts from hitting the floor.
17 jim // Apr 25, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Very, er … educational. There was a time when I was angry that America took one of the finest hours of funny ever on the small screen – RED DWARF – & remade it, with all the humor industrially extracted. Now I know it was karmic vengeance for repugnant shite like this. I lasted 50 seconds, not so much due to the blackface insult as the injury that is/was the soundtrack. Makes that Batman album from a few months back sound like Sgt. Pepper.
18 pal Jacky // Apr 25, 2008 at 7:41 pm
justin,
You just missed the guy eating the 240 maggots. What you did see was that she puked the cheese and was still able to continue on to win the 100 or so bucks they offered her.. Verfin’ on fear factor got you disqualified. This is so much more tod browing than ‘fear factor’. even the ‘official’ barf bucket on this show is transparent. Yeah!!!
Remember the ending of the film version of ‘the magic christian’? where Peter sellers puts lots of money in a vat of manure and people in business suits were submerging for it? The soundtrack had badfinger squealing ‘if you want it here it is come and get it…. would you walk away from a fool and his money?”.. yes, satire of the early seventies has become reality in the 21’st century. I’m rooting for ‘bloodsucking freaks’ for real next.
19 pal Jacky // Apr 25, 2008 at 8:06 pm
actually, it is less ‘freaks’ than another classic film ,’nightmare alley’ with tyrone power. Of course, these two should be viewed as a great ‘freaks and geeks’ double feature. ‘nightmare alley’ puts the whole peter jackson foolishness into perspective.
20 BK1 // Apr 26, 2008 at 11:08 am
I saw this when I was in London back around 1971. I was about 10 and even then I thought it was freakish. But then again, I thought that a city like London only having 3 TV stations (BBC1, BBC2 and ITV) was freakish.
21 Shannon // Apr 26, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I’ve never been to London. So count yourself lucky BJ1, sorry BK1
22 Shannon // Apr 26, 2008 at 12:24 pm
@pal jacky
And it is just foul dipshit television at its finest. Tila Tequila’s lovers, sorry, you are just toe jam in the world of pathetic reality losers.
Here’s the deal, my life is crap right now. I make $12 an hour editing a newspaper, we are a month behind in every bill and years behind on anything over 1G.
I watched Tila and I have questions.
Who is she?
Why would anyone want to f*&k her?
Even if it meant that I would make 1 million, would I ever get her stank off of me?
If I can get a fungus from someone else’s shoes, what would I get from her?
Signed,
Not bi-curious just broke
23 Hunnyoil // Apr 26, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I don’t get it?
What’s the problem???
24 pal Jacky // Apr 26, 2008 at 6:45 pm
tila tequila is living breathing oozing pustule of a woman. she is an iconoclast of effluvium. She had lots of friends on myspace so instead of just getting a one-shot on jerry springer, MTV and its parent viacom have given her a forum to find a life partner. This is her second one in less than sixc months. Because the track record of these shows has been a complete zero(that goes for even ‘the bachelor’ and ‘america’s top model’), the only contestests are the grotesque, shallow and deluded. It is a numbers thing. with Millions of people in the US, they will never run out of three sigma rejects who think that tila is some sort of ‘catch’ and clamor to be her one and only. shannon got it right. It is really what you will catch from tequila that is most long lasting thing from the show.
25 pal Jacky // Apr 26, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Until recently, I thought it was the ‘tod browing’ of america. I realize i was wrong. Tod Browning wanted us all to embrace our inner freak, “one of us, one of us’. I has been one of my life tenets since high school. These people don’t really do that, they their flaunt freakishness, but I’m not even sure that they realize how freakish they actually are.
26 esmeralda // Apr 27, 2008 at 9:53 am
Get over it, that was 30 years ago!!!
27 Speedy Cerviche // Apr 27, 2008 at 5:00 pm
For those interested in unbiased, truthful info on Tila Tequila:
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Tila_Tequila
28 pal Jacky // Apr 27, 2008 at 6:32 pm
speaking of freaks, american idol is doing neal diamond this week. i’m hoping the retarded one with dreadlocks does ‘cracklin’ rosie’. When did they eliminate sanjaya?
29 pal Jacky // Apr 27, 2008 at 6:59 pm
tila tequila has ruined more men’s Asian women fantasys then the film ‘audition’. The latter started mine. but I’m a sick fuck. ‘barrrrf…dinner is served’. Oh they are doing that in asian porn now too.
30 haineux // Apr 28, 2008 at 10:52 am
AN EXPLANATION:
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/blackandwhim/blackandwhim.htm
Short answer: It wasn’t cancelled until the “Variety Show” was fully and truly dead.
So count yourself lucky that we here in America were subjected to The Donny and Marie show instead.
31 ListenerJustin // Apr 28, 2008 at 11:02 am
Sorry, this has nothin’ to do with nothin’. I just felt it needed to be shared: A $300,000 wristwatch that does NOT tell time.
http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/04/25/the-300000-watch-that-doesnt-tell-time/?mod=WSJBlog?mod=homeblogmod_thewealthreport
This is such a perfect collision of money and assery, I’m completely unable to form a metaphor or simile for this.
32 eBayEnigma // Apr 28, 2008 at 11:44 am
What is the most heinous about this wristwatch is that it is made out of metal savaged from the Titanic! Huh? Well, I guess at my advanced age, I shouldn’t be surprised by anything these days.
33 pal Jacky // Apr 28, 2008 at 12:28 pm
day and night is rather important. Have you ever gone on a drinking and drugging binge and after a few days you look at your watch and it says 7:00 and you look outside and it is sunny and you wonder, morning or night? Or during the holidays 5:3o and you look ouside and see darkness.
34 JohnnyBoy // Apr 28, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Did anyone check out the comment section about the watch?
One person says something like “and to think that there are people who can’t afford to feed rice to their family” and someone else says “they should go into the watch business”
35 Speedy Cerviche // Apr 28, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Oh snap.
36 inerror // Apr 28, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Patient has not had Full Strength Mister K for over three months – Warning – Shocking Visuals
37 JohnnyBoy // Apr 29, 2008 at 8:36 am
Get this man his Preparation K
38 David Caruso // Apr 29, 2008 at 9:12 am
I listen five nights a week, Monday through Friday.
Got my little radio dialed in…
*puts on sunglasses*
…to 790.
39 Roger Daltrey // Apr 29, 2008 at 9:14 am
YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!
40 pal Jacky // Apr 29, 2008 at 12:57 pm
‘inerror’ I feel that there’s a george noorey thing going on. Most of the music from that clip comes from ‘final fantasy VI’ not only do I recognize it, I’ve used the main bad guy’s character as my myspace photo for years. Kefka, the existential clown, the clip even has the laugh.
41 JohnnyBoy // Apr 29, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I would’ve dressed as Unemploymo the Clown, but the shitty economy’s just not damn funny
42 DavidinBerkeley // Apr 29, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Could the discussion PLEASE return to mindless speculation on whatever-the-heck AW and Mr. K are preparing to excrete into the mediasphere?
43 DavidinBerkeley // Apr 29, 2008 at 3:13 pm
One of the reasons I miss L.A. is daffy events like this
http://blogs.laweekly.com/style_council/food/grilled-cheese-invitational/
44 DavidinBerkeley // Apr 29, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Did anybody go?
45 Speedy Cerviche // Apr 29, 2008 at 4:32 pm
There once was a fellow in NoCal
Who tearfully reminisced about SoCal
He longed to be home
Where the faegalas roam
And the lubes are all carb-free and low-cal
46 inerror // Apr 29, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Best case scenario: AW is working so hard of a movie voice over job she doesn’t have time to podcast or even let her affectionados know what’s happening. And Mr.K has been hired to follow or partner with Howard.
Worst case scenario: AW & MG (Mr.K) have carried out a suicide pact in the face of their stalled careers and their bodies are awaiting discovery on some deserted desert highway.
W
47 bnaivar // Apr 29, 2008 at 5:42 pm
“Welcome to the Hotel California” …sorry, had a ’70’s flashback. What were we talking about?
48 lupeSan // Apr 29, 2008 at 7:21 pm
whew! thanks for the bellylaugh…its like a bit, but its not a bit, its real. and it just keeps going.
49 eBayEnigma // Apr 29, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Kinda like the Energizer Bunny?
50 JohnnyBoy // Apr 30, 2008 at 5:49 am
Clear Channel are a superstitious and cowardly lot
51 Speedy Cerviche // Apr 30, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Hey, We aren’t allowed to leave comments anymore.
Everyone out of the pool.
52 JohnnyBoy // Apr 30, 2008 at 6:17 pm
NotCasting (NoCommenting) it gets to 9 and allows no more
Already been wiped once, the one you see is a second try apparently