CAROL CHANNING'S MAD ENGLISH TEA PARTY (TV)
Summary
This comedy/musical special, filmed in London, features Carol Channing and her guests John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Fred MacMurray and Art Carney in a celebration of dozens of famous English characters, both real and fictional.
Highlights include the following skits and musical numbers: Gielgud attempts to read from Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist," only to select the wrong book several times; Sherlock Holmes and John Watson exchange banter about their latest cases; Channing, Carney and MacMurray perform the tongue-twisting ditty "Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers"; two British soldiers in India flirt with a "ravishing plaything" and attempt to secure a surrender from the young lady's family; a musical quartet play an exhausting rendition of "Greensleeves"; William Shakespeare eagerly tells Francis Bacon about his latest writings; Richardson chats with MacMurray about the great popularity of "My Three Sons"; the "dull but suggestive" serialized period drama "The Hindsyte Saga" tells the story of a "big-time British family" fraught with problems of inheritance and lineage; a worried Anne Boleyn writes to a Dear Abby-like columnist for advice; Prince Albert is annoyed to find that Queen Victoria is "not amused" by various revels; MacMurray reads out the exhausting history of the British royal family, leading all the way up to Queen Elizabeth II; the country's most-decorated soldier receives a "golden pimpernel"; Channing and "bosom pal" Gielgud dance to "Tea for Two"; two Prince Charmings chat about their hopes to "find a girl with no hang-ups"; Channing and Richardson perform "Camptown Races"; and two shackled medieval prisoners are "tortured" with some unfunny patter. Channing closes the program by reading telegrams from other notable Brits, like Jack the Ripper, who were "unfortunately unable to appear on the program." Includes commercials for Monsanto products.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: September 9, 1970 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:19
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 107013
- GENRE: Comedy/Variety
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy/Variety; Music; Specials; England
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1970
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Acrilan acrylic carpets
- TV - Commercials - Monsanto products
CREDITS
- Saul Ilson … Producer, Writer
- Ernest Chambers … Producer, Writer
- Colin Clews … Director
- Ron Friedman … Writer
- Bryan Blackburn … Writer
- Les Cocks … Associate Producer
- David Toguri … Choreographer
- Jack Parnell … Conductor
- Mike Sammes … Choral Director
- Carol Channing … Host, Performer
- Ralph Richardson … Guest, Performer
- John Gielgud … Guest, Performer
- Art Carney … Guest, Performer
- Fred MacMurray … Guest, Performer
- Albert, Prince Consort
- Francis Bacon
- Anne Boleyn
- Charles Dickens
- Elizabeth II
- Queen Victoria
- William Shakespeare