I like to think my open letter(s) to NBC got this to work. Okay, probably nobody at NBC ever saw them but…HERE IT IS!!
Thank you NBC!!
Another Open Letter to NBC
Dear NBC,
You know, I like to think that somehow through the cosmos, somebody there picked up on my “I’m-really-torked-with-NBC-because-this-Culp-clip-won’t-play” vibe while I was banging out my previous letter just last night. I know though that it’s just coincidence and timing. Because after I posted it this morning and then went about my merry way, I checked my email.
And what did my jaded eye see? Another link in Google alerts to NBC.com for a clip of Robert Culp on SNL. This time for the “cold opening” of the show, the sketch with Eddie Murphy.
Hmm… Having been down this road once already I had no high hopes, but I clicked. Yeah, right, I bet this won’t play either….
But it did! It played! WOOHOO!
Thank you NBC!
Now, um, you think you get that monologue bit posted too? Pretty please?
Gratefully,
Lisa
An Open Letter to NBC
Dear NBC,
Oh NBC. Famed NBC, original home of one of the most ground breaking television shows in history, “I Spy” starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. Can we talk for a bit here? I gotta small problem.
See, back in 1982, Robert Culp hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live. Without going into any commentary about the state of SNL back in the early 80s and ignoring any suggestions that the episode isn’t worth seeing to begin with, I have nonetheless, searched for any clips or segments from this program. Particularly, any clips or segments involving Robert Culp.
To date, I’ve been teased and deceived in regards to this television appearance of Mr. Culp’s. Hulu.com has it under their HuluPlus subscription but you can see the first 90 seconds of the program. (Part of the opening sketch involving Culp with Eddie Murphy, a spoof of sorts to I Spy and to Cosby’s various product endorsements at the time.) To see the rest though involves signing up for HuluPlus and paying a subscription rate and, well, dammit, Hulu’s supposed to be free viewing! Supplemented by limited commercial interruption. I have no problem with the few commercial breaks, what’s with this monthly subscription crap?
Ahem. Sorry, I’m getting away from my original problem here.
Those 90 seconds? A total tease. I mean, seriously, lookit….
Emboldened by such, I continued to search. I then found an online review of the episode which included screen caps of the “bumpers,” images of Culp in and around New York City.
The review was less than enthusiastic on some of the sketches but it gave me a good idea of what the entire episode entailed. Okay, I’ll admit I wasn’t all that interested in most of it, only the parts involving Robert Culp. (Hey, this a Culp dedicated website. This should not be a surprise to anyone).
More recently my Google alerts started giving me links to what, I thought, was this episode on YouTube. But the subsequent video on YouTube had nothing to do with SNL…other than to try to direct me to another website to “watch the episode free and in it’s entirety.”
Right. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck ya know. I know internet spam junk when I see it.
Not long after this, another link showed up in my Google alerts. Only this time…*gasp!* it’s from NBC! The famed NBC! A legitimate link! YES!
So I clicked and, of course, ended up at your website. Ooo, lookit, Robert Culp’s monologue from this episode of SNL! Sweet!
So I waited a few moments as the NBC logo came up and it appeared as though the clip was loading.
But what I ended up seeing, was this….
VIDEO NOT FOUND?! What?!
I clicked OK. I hit refresh. I clicked the link below in the Video Clips section again, trying to get it to load.
Video Not Found!
I was able to play other clips. But alas, not the Robert Culp clip. I swore at the computer screen.
NBC, I implore you. This isn’t funny. If you could please either find the video and put it back, or remove the link entirely so that I may no longer be tortured by this, I would greatly appreciate it.
In the meantime, I guess I’ll keep on searching.
Respectfully,
Lisa
Hey! It’s That Guy!
Saw this in a Google alert recently. Nice praise for Robert Culp from “D’Angelo’s Song” a personal LiveJournal blog. The list consists of 15 favorite character actors (with a couple of exceptions – Culp being one of them, as I don’t consider him a character actor per se).
“This man can act! And I mean, really. No matter who he is the emotion of the character comes out in his voice, in every movement, and in his eyes. So good.”
Couldn’ta put it better myself!
And in This Corner…
When George Foreman and Muhammad Ali were preparing for their World Heavyweight Championship match in Zaire, Africa in 1974, (the historic “Rumble in the Jungle”), they ran into a bit of a snag. Foreman ended up with a cut over his eye during a training session which put the fight off for nearly a month. The two fighters remained in Africa, however, training, doing road work, holding sparring sessions and basically keeping in shape for the big fight until Foreman’s cut healed up.
Of course, all that work and no play can be no fun. I mean, really, you can only dance with a punching bag for so long.
Well, ABC Sports and ABC Entertainment came to the rescue and shipped off a few movies to Africa for the fighters to watch during some well-deserved down time. The movies included theatrical releases, such as “Straw Dogs” and “Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?” and made-for-tv films, such as Darren McGavin’s “The Night Stalker,” Andy Griffith’s “Pray for the Wildcats” and…
…Robert Culp’s “Outrage.”
According to the Rock Hill (S.C.) Herald, the ratings system was simple. If either fighter’s camp asked to see a movie for a second time, the film was a hit. Of course, as with most things I find in the Google news archive, I found no follow up on the films and how they were received. I can’t help but wonder though what critique the two fighters might have had for the scene where Culp takes Mark Leonard down with a good ole fashioned right cross.
Foreman: “Of course that fight was fixed. Culp fixed it with his right hand!”
Ali: “He’s a baaaad man!”
