FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Mitzi, Jerry & COMPANY

Taken from a 1974 television special titled "Mitzi... A Tribute to the American Housewife" comes this week's entry, a very bizarre and somewhat risqué reworking of "The Little Things You Do Together" from Stephen Sondheim & George Furth's COMPANY. Besides the edgy, but corny, humor and outrageous costume choices, is the oftentimes off-key but curiously endearing song styling of Jerry Orbach, Suzanne Pleshette, Ted Knight, Jane Withers and Cliff Norton, and, of course, the star herself, Mitzi Gaynor. Each actor seems to have come from a different play and affects an acting style that comes off as slightly over-the-top and a bit off-putting when thrown together as they are here, with Miss Pleshette seeming like a heroine out of a Tennessee Williams play, and Gaynor a suffering housewife from Eugene O'Neill. The clip is arresting if only for the slightly bizarre tone and tenuous timbres, as well as the super-sped-up tempi of the song sections which only increase the curiosity-factor of it all. If only TV today were half this entertaining! Definitely a can't-miss!

That's all for this week, and remember if you would like to see a particularly fun, hilarious, bizarre or just all-around excellent performance from the past highlighted here be sure to send us a link! Until next week...