Sure, we still have crap TV (just switch it on, anytime), but there was something about the death throes of the variety show and TV "special" in the 1970s that went beyond the the simple term "kitsch," and wound up in an area that was so stunningly misguided it still can cause jaws to drop. The featured find here is from one YouTube poster's stash of rare Patty Duke footage, that also includes this bit of wonderment (Patty sings in Japanese while Morey Amsterdam looks on).
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The piece de resistance for me, though, is this stunning bit of us-lefties-can-be-patriotic too claptrap from a 1982 Norman Lear-produced TV special. We of course must bless the poster for turning this thing up: it's an ode to the "angry" side of America that includes Angry Woman (Patty), Angry Black (LeVar Burton), Angry Latino (Desi Arnaz Jr.), Angry Native American (Michael Horse), and everyone's favorite, the Angry Gay (Rod Steiger). Need we even add that that "average angry American" (Dick Van Patten) is on hand to lend his voice? This stuff is priceless.
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