SHA NA NA: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The pilot for this series of music programs featuring the rock 'n' roll revivalists, "Sha Na Na," a singing group of hoodlums who perform 1950s song-and-dance numbers in the style and attire from that decade.
The group opens the program with a rendition of "Get a Job (Sha Na Na)" in front of a police lineup chart. After Bowzer welcomes the audience, the group performs "Blue Moon" with Lennie singing lead. Then, Rosa Delores, a charismatic dancer with an over-the-top accent, ridicules their opening number and suggests she help them hone their craft. She performs a mambo number, "Night and Day," accompanied by four of the greasers in top hats.
Next, in a horror sketch, Jocko plays Dracula and performs "Monster Mash," as a trio of ghouls sing backup, seguing into a moribund medley of tunes: Frankenstein's monster sings "Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips With Me," a hunchback performs "Alley-Oop," and the creatures harmonize on "By the Light of the Silvery Moon." The the group then performs "A Teenager in Love," interspersed with brief sketches, in which Ginger sits in parked cars with different guys, cracks jokes, and raps about interracial dating.
The group performs "Yakety Yak," followed by "Tell Laura I Love Her," with Jonny singing lead; the tunes are interspersed with comments about the singers' musical talent, or lack thereof. Bowzer and Rosa thank the audience, and the group concludes with "Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight" as the cops handcuff the hoodlums and drag them offstage.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: January 11, 1977 7:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:23:20
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:08267
- GENRE: Music/Variety
- SUBJECT HEADING: Music, popular (songs, etc.); Rock music
- SERIES RUN: Syndicated - TV series, 1977-1981
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Downy fabric softener
- TV - Commercials - Joy dishwashing liquid
CREDITS
- Pierre Cossette … Executive Producer
- Bernard Rothman … Producer, Writer
- Jack Wohl … Producer, Writer
- Carolyn Houghton Waterson … Associate Producer
- Tom Trbovich … Director
- Bob Feinberg … Writer
- Walter Painter … Choreographer
- Rita Moreno … Cast, Rosa Delores
- Jon Bauman … Cast, Bowzer
- Scott Powell … Cast, Tony Santini
- Lennie Baker … Cast, Lennie
- Jonny Contardo … Cast, Jonny
- John Marcellino … Cast, Jocko
- Scott Simon … Cast, Screamin' Scott
- Frederick Dennis Greene … Cast, Denny
- Danny McBride … Cast, Dirty Dan
- Chico Ryan … Cast, Chico
- Don York … Cast, Donny
- Pamela Myers … Cast, Ginger
- Avery Schreiber … Cast