SHELLEY DUVALL'S TALL TALES AND LEGENDS: CASEY AT THE BAT (TV)
Summary
One in this series of whimsical adaptations of well-known tales and legends hosted and produced by Shelley Duvall. This episode is a humorous telling of the famous baseball poem "Casey at the Bat."
During a rain delay, garrulous commentator Ernie Thayer tells a long tale, set in the town of Mudville in 1888, where "Big Jim" Undercrawl, villainous boss of the "Mudville Mudco" factory, decides to replace all his workers with machines and buy the local baseball stadium from Widow Bleacher for a mere $500 to use as a dump site for the factory's sludge. With the future "national pastime" still in its infancy, coach Marty Williams again denies eager first baseman Casey Frank's pleas to join the game; he later spends the evening with his fiancée Barbara Dent, whose father disapproves of the unemployed "athlete." Casey vows that he will quit the team if he isn't successful in the next game – and will marry Barbara if he is. Pop Gumm offers Casey a "magic potion," and Marty, learning of the bargain, finally agrees to put Casey in – but the batter then hits a series of home runs, propelling the Mudville Hogs to national fame.
Big Jim is incensed when the Widow Bleacher, realizing the value of the stadium, keeps raising her price, and "modern baseball" begins to take shape as the team continues winning. Ernie interviews Casey, suggesting that "fame is fleeting," and Casey recruits his pal Georgie to be the first-ever baseball mascot. He then encourages the church organist to play a lively "Charge" to get the crowd excited, and unintentionally invents home plate. Big Jim realizes that he must destroy Casey in order to ruin the sport and render the stadium worthless once again, though the highly moralistic Casey isn't fooled by his claims that baseball is negatively affecting "the youths." Nor does he agree to accept a bribe to throw a few games. Undeterred, Big Jim recruits glamorous French "sports reporter" Circe LaFemme, and when Barbara catches them together in the dugout, she assumes the worst and tearfully breaks up with Casey.
Crushed by the loss, Casey drowns his sorrows in between-meal snacks and soon becomes an "unsightly blimp." Pop Gumm, revealing that he has his own romantic history with the Widow Bleacher, encourages Barbara to forgive Casey in order to save baseball. Finding him at the stadium in a state of "pork shock," the two nurse Casey back to health and help him slim down again. Widow Bleacher raises her price to a cool million, and Big Jim, having found out about Casey's "magic potion," places a huge bet on the Hogs' latest opponent, the Boston Bean-Eaters, and sends his underling Smiley to capture Pop. Sure that he'll fail without the potion, a panicked Casey tries to delay the game, but a clever dog soon alerts him to Pop's predicament. Casey rushes to rescue Pop, and Big Jim, realizing that he's been outsmarted, quickly changes his bet and places it on the Hogs. Georgie, however, admits that he drank the potion himself; Casey, gripped with self-doubt, strikes out and loses the game – and in doing so saves baseball, as Big Jim has now lost his entire fortune and can't buy the stadium. Pop happily reveals that the potion was merely light beer and Casey's success was due entirely to his own confidence. Back in the present, Ernie brings his story to a close as the rain finally stops. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: Showtime
- DATE: November 30, 1999 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:52:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:15383
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Legends; Baseball; Children's programs; Asian American Pacific Islanders Collection
- SERIES RUN: Showtime - TV series, 1985-1988
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Shelley Duvall … Executive Producer
- Fredric S. Fuchs … Producer
- Bridget Terry … Producer
- Sandra Pearson … Associate Producer
- David Steinberg … Director
- Andy Borowitz … Writer
- Stephen Barber … Music by
- Shelley Duvall … Host
- Elliott Gould … Cast, Casey Frank
- Howard Cosell … Cast, Ernie Thayer
- Carol Kane … Cast, Barbara Dent
- Hamilton Camp … Cast, "Big Jim" Undercrawl
- Rae Dawn Chong … Cast, Circe LaFemme
- Bill Macy … Cast, Pop Gumm
- Murphy Dunne … Cast, Smiley
- Mina Kolb … Cast, Widow Bleacher
- Dan Barrows (see also: Beans Morocco) … Cast, Charlie
- Warren Berlinger … Cast, Marty Williams
- Charles Gray … Cast, Mr. Dent
- Tim Haldeman … Cast, Georgie Ruth
- Bill Saluga … Cast, Cook
- Jay Johnstone … Cast, Blake
- Tom Niedenfuer … Cast, Flynn
- Bob Uecker … Cast, Bob
- John Achorn … Cast, Umpire
- Martha Reed … Cast, Vilma