The Groove Tube

The somewhat cheap-looking 70's-ness is the main draw of this collection of sketches that are either thoroughly average or run out of momentum rather quickly. It's also quite oversexed, which my inner pervert did not mind that much (the day I can't take joy from seeing a beautiful woman without clothes is the day I jump into piranha-infested waters) but it makes the whole thing feel rather childish.

This was the movie that introduced me to Curtis Mayfield some 15 years ago. Unfortunately, it has little else going for it. Like most sketch comedy movies it adds up to less than the sum of its parts, as the weaker sketches tend to undermine the impact of the better ones. Groove Tube has lousy timing, almost every one of the gags is dragged out far too long. It also steals the "sex as televised sporting event" idea from Bananas.

I think the movie's very uneven. When it's funny, it's very funny, but it's frequently not funny at all, and those seem to be the longest sketches. A ridiculously long sketch that feels lifted from Cheech and Chong goes on for what seems like forever. Chevy Chase was briefly in the troupe, so he's featured in a few short sketches. Richard Belzer joined after he left, and is in a lot more of the film. This is the only film I know of that has very explicit footage of a talking penis.

The clown who spouses philosophy when parents aren't looking is GOLD I tells ya