FARK.com: (6690548) Disco? Check. CB Radios? Check. Pinky Toscadero? Check and Mate. James Lileks uncovers the most horrifying of 70s Halloween artifacts: "The Paul Lynde Halloween Special"

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(Some Lileks)		Disco? Check. CB Radios? Check. Pinky Toscadero? Check and Mate. James Lileks uncovers the most horrifying of 70s Halloween artifacts: "The Paul Lynde Halloween Special" (lileks.com)		26
		More: Amusing, discos, Paul Lynde

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26 Comments (+0 »)

Ennuipoet

2011-10-31 09:20:12 AM

FTA:

"Let's look at this in context: did any adult have any doubt he was gay? As a kid - hell, as a teen - I had no idea. Just didn't occur to me. Later in life we thought oh, right, sure, of course. But even though he's flaming the set so hard they had to spray asbestos foam on everything,"

Heh, I didn't know what gay was but I knew that Paul Lynde was gay. I could tell by my father angrily telling me to stop talking like Paul Lynde.

The 70's, good times.

unlikely

2011-10-31 09:48:09 AM

The Star Wars holiday special had nothing to be ashamed of, when taken in context.

Jake Havechek

2011-10-31 10:01:58 AM

Paul Lynde was gay?

Philip Francis Queeg

2011-10-31 10:07:41 AM

I always preferred Leather Tuscadero

Bullitt

2011-10-31 10:07:46 AM

By "horrifying", you mean "awesome", right?

dogdaze

2011-10-31 10:11:43 AM

Let's not forget KISS is in this gem. One of the songs they do is Beth, so we get to see the softer side of KISS. It's a real tear jerker. Tears of agony that is.

GacysBasement

2011-10-31 10:32:36 AM

Is it me or does anyone else find Paul Lynde effeminate?

ClintBartonWannabe

2011-10-31 10:40:24 AM

The Wicked Witch of the West would totally kick Witchiepoo's ass in a fight.

Rebort

2011-10-31 10:42:13 AM

Actually rented this last Halloween to watch with some friends. We thought it would be campy fun. It was, in actuality, horribly depressing and almost ruined Halloween forever.

/KISS out-gayed Lynde by a wide margin

GacysBasement

2011-10-31 10:46:42 AM

ClintBartonWannabe: The Wicked Witch of the West would totally kick Witchiepoo's ass in a fight.

Well, I'm glade it was just the witch from HRPuffenstuff. I don't even wanna think about what Paul Lynde would've done with that talking golden flute, let alone that little English boy.

Wellon Dowd

2011-10-31 11:34:30 AM

Jake Havechek: Paul Lynde was gay?

Right. And I suppose Charles Nelson Reilly was gay, too?

amindtat

2011-10-31 12:31:29 PM

Wellon Dowd: Jake Havechek: Paul Lynde was gay?

Right. And I suppose Charles Nelson Reilly was gay, too?

Next thing you know, someone is going to suggest that nice Liberace fellow was queer.

FirstNationalBastard

2011-10-31 01:03:35 PM

amindtat: Wellon Dowd: Jake Havechek: Paul Lynde was gay?

Right. And I suppose Charles Nelson Reilly was gay, too?

Next thing you know, someone is going to suggest that nice Liberace fellow was queer.

And to top it off, people will be saying that Ladies Man Rock Hudson was a pillow biting poofter.

A Screaming Man with Two-Toned Shoes

2011-10-31 01:13:55 PM

dogdaze: Let's not forget KISS is in this gem. One of the songs they do is Beth, so we get to see the softer side of KISS. It's a real tear jerker. Tears of agony that is.

You shut your whore mouth!

images5.fanpop.com

zappaisfrank

2011-10-31 01:54:27 PM

I remember this well when it first aired back in the 70's. Although it may seem unlikely these days, back then, KISS was NOT on TV very often, so this was a "big deal" to junior high age KISS fans like myself.

I remember being pretty disappointed when it was over, as well....

quasimike

2011-10-31 02:38:39 PM

I remember watching this when it aired. I was always a big fan of Lynde...his whole schtick was very amusing, and even as a teen I knew he was gay, though that was cool with little old hetero me since my best friend back then was gay as well and shared Paul's snarkiness.

Anyway, 70's kitsch has always been among my most guilty pleasures, so this post was a hoot!

By the way, that IS the amazing Margaret Hamilton reprising her role as the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. By all accounts, she was about the sweetest lady who ever lived.

csi_yellowknife

2011-10-31 03:33:51 PM

quasimi ke:

By the way, that IS the amazing Margaret Hamilton reprising her role as the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. By all accounts, she was about the sweetest lady who ever lived.

Yup, for all of the strangeness of this special - it was cool to see Margret Hamilton reprise the role some 35 years later. I recently found out she did the same character on Sesame Street around this time (she bonded with Oscar) and it freaked out the children. I'd love to see that sometime.

freetomato

2011-10-31 04:22:01 PM

I vaguely remember watching that. As others have said, I didn't quite know what gay was but Paul Lynde's "Uncle Arthur" on Bewitched clued me in that he was different. Kiss WAS a big deal back then - that may have been why I watched it to begin with.

Thank you, Lileks, btw. Couple years ago, during a really dark time in my family, my sisters and I got half drunk while reading "The Gallery of Regrettable Food". I believe we came pretty close to wetting our pants. It felt really good to laugh that hard.

Lorelle

2011-10-31 06:27:30 PM

It's Tuscadero, damnit!

zappaisfrank: I remember this well when it first aired back in the 70's. Although it may seem unlikely these days, back then, KISS was NOT on TV very often, so this was a "big deal" to junior high age KISS fans like myself.

I remember being pretty disappointed when it was over, as well....

I also remember watching this. I think every kid in my junior high school watched this show, and only because of KISS. Come to think of it, this was probably the only time that KISS and Donny & Marie Osmond appeared on the same program.

bronyaur1

2011-10-31 07:35:34 PM

Invisible penis.

creepy jackalope eye

2011-10-31 10:55:14 PM

I just 5 minutes ago watched this. Well, we skipped thru "Beth". Probably should have skipped thru the whole thing. Tim Conway must've lost a bet.
(Kinky Pinky was pretty hot tho, and I'd probably still Wesson oil up Florence Henderson.)

Dear Jerk

2011-10-31 11:42:11 PM

IIRC, that was Kiss' first network tv appearance. I have the dvd. It's pretty bad, but if you were around for 70s tv, it has a kind of sweetness.

tetzy

2011-11-01 01:52:25 AM

I remember it the first time around.

/old.

zappaisfrank

2011-11-01 07:30:10 AM

Dear Jerk: IIRC, that was Kiss' first network tv appearance. I have the dvd. It's pretty bad, but if you were around for 70s tv, it has a kind of sweetness.

Not entirely true..they had been on the Mike Douglas Show, ABC's "In Concert" and "The Midnight Special", however this was their first PRIME TIME appearance.

cranched

2011-11-01 09:16:17 AM

Got this on DVD this past year.

GacysBasement

2011-11-03 02:32:57 PM

cranched: Got this on DVD this past year.

you = paul lynde quality gay

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