You seem like you'd be a good dad

Who was it that blogged recently about certain things being SO BAD that they loop back around to FANTASTIC? Well, I give you Paul Lynde's Halloween Special, ladies and germs. Holy crap. I was up at 2:30 AM, so maybe it was partly the insomnia, but I was in hysterics, and trust when I say there was not one good joke in this masterpiece. Except they all were. Paul Lynde was not so much about the content, people, and ALL about the delivery.

OK, here's the skinny. The show stars Paul Lynde as the character Paul Lynde and his housekeeper, Margaret, is played by Margaret Hamilton. Paul is having all kinds of troubles with the Trick Or Treat crowd, as we see straightaway in a song and dance number where Paul is menaced by a gang of nubile young dancers dressed in devilishly sexy costumes, ending with Paul being sealed off in a trash can by Donny and Marie. The trashcan subsequently explodes, revealing a smoking and disheveled Paul in his frayed and burned up outfit. I figured the show had blown its comedy wad early at this point, but we were just getting fluffed up.

This musical comedy turn of events sets our protagonists off on a trip into the country, away from the maddening crowds of Halloweeners, to visit Margaret's sister. Who is Witchiepoo. Oh, and Margaret is now a witch, too. THE Witch. And their wisecracking houseboy is Billy Barty, who is the brunt of a barrage of short jokes and gags. Genius! Still with me? It gets a little foggy at this point, but for some reason, the witches grant Paul three wishes (are they also genies?). Breaker Breaker 1-9, the first of these wishes has Paul on a circa 1975 trucking escapade complete with CB radios, sequined jumpsuits and silver platform boots, and a competition with Tim Conway for truckstop waitress Pinkie Tuscadero's hand in marriage. Before seeing this, I can't honestly say that's the first thing I would have wished for, but it is now. That Pinkie is leggy. And sassy. I won't apologize.

I could go on and on. How about Paul as a sexy sheik who pursues a proper and British Florence Henderson? I'll venture that theirs is the MOST awkward kissing I've ever seen in a pop culture medium. That's not to include some of the awkward kissing from my own life, natch. Much worse. Boy, when it's your own lips and hands and eyes and tongue that don't know where to land, it really ramps up the cringing. So many Saturday nights. Oh well. Anyway, we're also treated to three numbers by KISS. Weren't they at the height of their popularity in the 70s? The Paul Lynde Halloween Special? Really? Hmmmm, what else? Oh yeah! Florence Henderson croons That Ol' Black Magic!

Needless to say, a new holiday tradition is born at Casa M.E. That's not to say I won't watch it again tonight, and all this week.