Categories
Amusing Interesting TV

The Orson Welles Show

Clips from the unaired Orson Welles TV show from 1979, featuring Burt Reynolds, The Muppets and Angie Dickinson

[ad]

I want you to imagine that Orson Welles once had a TV chatshow in the late 1970s.

Then I want to you to get a little bit more creative and imagine that the guests on this show include Burt ReynoldsThe Muppets and Angie Dickinson.

But wait. This actually happened.

This is the intro for an unaired pilot Welles did for a chat show back in 1979.

Note how he talks about the possibilities of television like someone evangelising about the Internet circa 1997.

But the really good stuff is yet to come.

Welles introduces Burt Reynolds (“I like him. I like him very much.”) and for some reason they are wearing matching red shirts and jackets (“simple, lousy coincidence!”).

Also note the unconventional format where they ditch the ‘what are you plugging’ banter and dive straight into questions from the audience, some of which prompt interesting answers.

After that we get some contributions from Fozzie Bear, Kermit the Frog and Sam The Eagle, followed by more pontificating from Welles about the nature of television:

To finish off, Welles indulges in some magic with Angie Dickinson, which may remind viewers of his film F For Fake (1973):

> Find out more about Orson Welles at Wikipedia
> The infamous frozen peas commercial featuring Welles