Beer Outtakes. This is billed as a series of outtakes from a 70s beer commercial, though it actually looks more like an audition tape. The soundtrack is lost, so we don’t know what the series of attractive 70s young people are saying as they drink a mug of beer in a bar setting. But it’s clear that the people drinking and chatting in the background are having lots more fun than they are. The awkwardness of the beer spokespeople just reminds me of why I don’t think drinking in bars is really very fun. But this just begs to have a new and improved satirical soundtrack dubbed into it. Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Abbott & Costello TV Cartoon Intro (available for viewing on You Tube).

OK, folks, time to play Guess the Decade. This is an intro from an Abbott & Costello cartoon show. It features an animated Lou Costello running around yelling “Hey Abbott!!!!” It also features a James-Bond-like jazz soundtrack. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! The 60s is correct! Not that this was at all difficult to guess. I totally don’t remember this cartoon, and I was a kid during the 60s. That only makes this more fun to me, because I like obscurities.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

The Abominable Snowman – Location Clips (extra on Disc #2 of Doctor Who – Lost in Time: The Patrick Troughton Years DVD (Warner Bros., 2004)).

This is a location film, made in 1967, showing actors and crew members of “Doctor Who” checking out the outdoor location sites for the episode “The Abominable Snowman.” This plays like a silent home movie, with people occasionally mugging for the camera. Probably the most interesting part is seeing the actors playing the Yeti trying on their costumes. A fun little extra with historical interest for "Doctor Who" fans.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Abbott and Costello Bloopers (available for viewing on You Tube).

Short blooper reel of outtakes from various Abbott and Costello films, all featuring Lou Costello. This is a typical collection of fluffed lines and unexpected happenings on the set. No real surprises here, but a few are mildly amusing.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.

Andy Kaufman – Blue Moon of Kentucky (available for viewing on You Tube).

Andy does a dead on impression of Elvis singing “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” That’s it, really, but it’s not a bad impression.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.

Andy Kaufman and Howdy Tell a Tale (available for viewing on You Tube).

Andy Kaufman does possibly the worst ventriloquist act ever, with the help of a tattered Howdy Doody Puppet and a flip-over Little Red Riding Hood/Grandmother/Wolf doll, but because it’s Andy, he makes it work. The story of Little Red Riding Hood is successfully told despite the fact you can’t understand a word the puppets say. A fun clip from Andy’s early days of weirdness.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.

The Adventure of the Dumbfounded Detective (extra on The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes DVD (MGM, 2003)).

This is a vignette that was scripted but deleted from the film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. In it, Holmes recounts a story from his youth about an experience that led him to distrust women and romance. There is little of the filmed scene, and the empty spaces are filled with pages from the printed script and photographs. Still, you get a pretty good idea of the story. I felt the vignette was pretty obvious, but maybe it worked better within the context of the full film. Holmes fans may enjoy this glimpse into the famous detective’s youth.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.

Alan North Audition (extra on Police Squad! DVD (CBS Paramount, 2006)).

Several audition tests for Alan North, the actor who played Frank Drebbin’s boss on “Police Squad!” These are pretty stark, but they do show that North had the character of Ed Hocken down pat, and that the scripts were pretty strong.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Anatine (available on Brickfilms. Also available on You Tube).

Uhh, I won’t describe the plot of this very short brickfilm because it would give it all away. Suffice to say that it defines its title through the use of plasticene, and this has consequences.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.

The Andy Griffith Show (available in the Xmas TV: How Sitcoms Spent the Holidays in the 1960s and 1970s section of TVParty).

This clip from “The Andy Griffith Show” shows how Christmas was celebrated at the Mayberry courthouse in 1960. It features Andy and Elinor Donahue singing a charming duet of “Away in a Manger,” the obligatory conversion of the local Scrooge, and Barney playing a scary Santa. This is as charming as you’d expect and a fun clip to watch during the holiday season.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet: Busy Christmas (film #2 on Classic TV Christmas DVD (Allegro, 2006)).

In this 1956 Christmas episode of the bland sitcom, Ozzie agrees to go caroling with a group of friends, and before you know it, he’s been roped into playing Scrooge in the men’s club’s Christmas play and playing Santa at the local orphanage’s Christmas party, as well as having the usual responsibilities of putting up Christmas lights and buying the Christmas tree. This was back in the good old days when preparations for Christmas began a couple of weeks before the holiday, rather than in mid-October like they do today. This episode is warm-hearted and mildly amusing, in true “Ozzie & Harriet” fashion, which seems particularly appropriate for a Christmas show. The copy on this DVD is actually a 1964 rebroadcast, complete with a brief intro and outro by the cast and commercials for your local gas company and Colgate toothpaste. I love it when they include these old commercials––it’s like getting an ephemera bonus. The first commercial I particularly enjoyed, as it is about the 1964 New York World’s Fair and its Gas Pavilion. This was back in the days When Stars Did the Commercials, so we get to see Ozzie & Harriet make plans to go to the fair. All in all, this is a fun bit of ephemera with some nice bonuses.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.

Attack of the LEGOs: Revenge of the Order of Darkness (available on Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

This lengthy, elaborate Brickfilm could use some help in the storytelling department. It has a basic action plot of Our Ninja Hero fighting the Order of Darkness, an evil army that threatens to take over the world. There are lots of jokes, parody elements, and references bandied about. Some of them work, many don’t. Still, there are enough fun moments and concepts to make this worth watching, such as the armaments dealer that sells entire armies and weapons of mass destruction through its drive-through window, and the parody movie posters in the Legoland movie theater lobby. And yes, there’s a credit cookie sequence at the end.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Attack of the Flesh-Eating Subterranean Bog Monster from the Center of the Earth and Beyond the Moon: Apocalyptic Revenge (downloaded from Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

This parody of 50s sci-fi monster movies is pretty amusing, in an amateurish sort of way. It features a dorky teen couple, a mad scientist named the Professor, and a monster that looks like it was created at Muppet Labs. Silliness ensues for a little over 8 minutes, then it ends abruptly. This may not be Hollywood quality, but I don’t want to discourage people with camcorders from creating this kind of fun, so I’m giving it a high rating.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.

Attack of the Evil Robotic Turkey from Outer Space (available on Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

This silly brickfilm features an evil William Shatner, who builds and unleashes a giant robotic turkey to take over the world. Fortunately, a cowboy hero saves the day with a rolled-up newspaper. The voice acting of Shatner is very bad, but that’s appropriate somehow. The best thing about the film is the variety of amusing things in the background, such as the zombie brickfilm the hero was watching when interrupted to battle the turkey, or the “Josef Stalin for Mayor” sign.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.

Atomic Vignettes (downloaded from Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

Amusing short montage film in which clips from various 50s social guidance films are combined with civil defense footage in ways that give new meanings to the clips. Most amusing is a scene where the nice young man from Are You Popular? is made to ask an emergency mechanic for a date. This is the sort of thing I like to see being done with Prelinger Archive footage.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.

Atomic (downloaded from Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

This film features a montage of clips from cold war civil defense films, including Duck and Cover, About Fallout, and newsreel footage of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, while on the soundtrack a slow, soulful gospel song plays. At times, audio from the films plays over the music, which actually works, rather unexpectedly. The film’s simple format works well in conveying its anti-war message. One of the better ephemera montage films I’ve seen.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.

Aim for the Head (available on You Tube). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

This bit of altered ephemera combines footage from Night of the Living Dead with footage from 3 Stooges shorts to make an instructional film on how to survive a zombie attack. Mainly this involves showing the Stooges’ various pratfalls as strategies for battling zombies. This is actually funnier than it sounds, since the title cards that drive the film are genuinely amusing. The overall premise is quite amusing and that helps.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.

Antipode Polychromasia (film #3 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

This experimental film is similar to Anomalies of the Unconscious, involving exposed film that has been hand-colored and altered to create abstract images. Again, this has beautiful abstract imagery and a haunting soundtrack which seems to match the imagery perfectly. Another mesmerizing experimental film.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.

Astro Boy Opening (film #44 on ToonTracker Cartoon Showcase). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

Cheesy, yet lovable opening of the 60s syndicated cartoon show “Astro Boy.” A great slice of early 60s kidvid.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.

Assault from the Past (film #23 in the Action section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

Imagine all of the famous armies and warriors of the past came and attacked us all today, due to a horrible mistake made during a time travel experiment. Only imagine it happened in Legoland. The result is all-out Lego war. The animation of the battle sequences is not bad, but the silent opening sequences, in which the plot is explained are kind of lame. Still, if you like war brickfilms, then this is your movie.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.