The Boob Tube (1975)
by Christopher Odin
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Colleen Brennan, Elana Casey, John Alderman, Jon Reigrod, Lyllah TorenaDirector: Christopher Odin
Cinematographer: Jack Beckett
Writer: Christopher Odin
Editor: Bill Breshears
Producer: Al Burton
Producer: Edwin Raymond Culver IV
Producer: Jerry Adler
DVD: Region Code 0
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 82 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-11-12
Studio: Synergy Ent
Movie Reviews of The Boob Tube (1975)
Movie Review: Genuinely funny parody of both soaps and porn films.
Summary: 5 Stars
Hooray for Amazon's related items and recommendations! I was shopping for 9 1/2 Weeks and some other steamy-but-girlfriend-approved movies to buy during the holiday sales, and discovered this forgotten gem. I think it was an attempt to make another mainstream-porno crossover film in the wake of Deep Throat, but got lost in the noise of the censorship controversy and has yet to be rediscovered.
To wit: the packaging of this DVD is incredibly sparse. The back cover is lacking the usual wall of DVD format and feature information. Inside, there are no inserts and the DVD itself looks to be an individual burn rather than a mass pressing. There aren't any menus-- when you load it, it simply plays the movie on repeat. The image is full screen, but a few scenes (the opening and closing credits in particular) are squished instead of cropped. Clearly the DVD was a low budget labor of love on somebody's part to keep this film from disappearing forever.
And I'm glad. Once you get past the sparse presentation, the movie itself is a real treat-- a genuinely funny parody of both afternoon soap operas and 70's porno movies, loaded with one liners and gags from start to finish. The announcer/narrator and the cast give earnestly hammy performances and you can tell that everyone working on this movie is having a blast.
This is uncensored comedy, not a porno; there is pervasive nudity and much playing around, but very little hardcore sex. What little there is, is played for humorous effect, and so is the occasional profanity (the announcer in particular drops a few abrupt bombs with great timing). The TV parody style of humor here is reminiscent of The Groove Tube (which precedes this by a year) but the structure is much simpler and there is no sign of the "skit buffet" format often found elsewhere.
Between a corny opening/ending sequence featuring a topless woman soaping herself up to a theme song that's an Ode to -- what else -- Soap, there is a single "episode" of a phony afternoon soap opera, complete with periodic "a word from our sponsor" commercials and narrator story recaps and so on. Our "story" begins as our "hero" moves into his new apartment at the "Whispering Palms". However, he is (of course) quickly sucked into the various intrigues (and bedrooms) of his neighbors. Hilarity and hijinks (and other stuff) ensue.
I won't spoil the surprises (and there are many) by giving away the plot, but I will say that the sexuality of this movie is all over the map, with that classic 70's sort of frankness that seems downright refreshing after 30+ years of Raunch Movie Evolution that pushes the boundaries of being "R" Rated. There is some light kink, lesbianism and group sex -- but no male homosexuality; no surprise there, really, but it shows how far we've come since even the 70's.
There are also pedophilia jokes -- one of the characters is "a 16-year old girl with the body of a woman" played by a very obviously adult actress. Quite effective fun is made of the porno staple of young-looking adults cast as minors. And there's even a bizarre dated political reference. Watch for it.
All in all, this movie was a delightful surprise and I would love to get my hands on a proper widescreen transfer, or better yet, a proper "cult classic" DVD treatment with behind the scenes bonus material and other goodies. Hopefully this review will help the right person discover this movie and eventually make such a thing happen.
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