Freddie The Freeloader's Christmas Dinner
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Freddie The Freeloader's Christmas Dinner
''Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner'' (aka ''Red Skelton's Christmas Dinner'') is a TV special that premiered on Home Box Office (HBO) on December 13, 1981. The program stars Red Skelton and was part of HBO's ''Standing Room Only'' series of specials. This was one of Skelton's final television performances. Plot Freddie the Freeloader prepares to scrape together money and enjoy a Christmas dinner with his equally poverty-stricken friend Professor Humperdo at one of New York's fancy restaurants. When a lost dog appears in his apartment, he is accused of thievery by his wealthy owner. After a meeting with the bag lady Molly, he visits a hospital and entertains some children for Christmas. Freddie busts the professor out of the drunk tank and the two eventually reach the restaurant - and treat themselves to a feast. The special includes drama, miming, and music, for which Skelton was noted. Songs sung by Skelton in this special include "Christmas Comes But Once a Year" and " ...
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Red Skelton
Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, and also appeared in burlesque, vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist. Skelton began developing his comedic and pantomime skills from the age of 10, when he became part of a traveling medicine show. He then spent time on a showboat, worked the burlesque circuit, and then entered into vaudeville in 1934. The "Doughnut Dunkers" pantomime sketch, which he wrote together with his wife, launched a career for him in vaudeville, radio, and films. His radio career began in 1937 with a guest appearance on ''The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour'', which led to his becoming the host of ''Avalon Time'' in 1938. He became t ...
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Jack Duffy
Jack Duffy (September 27, 1926 – May 19, 2008) was a Canadian singer, comedian and actor. Life and career Born in Montreal, Duffy grew up in Toronto, dropping out of Central Technical School to become a singer. At age 19, he was hired as a studio singer with CBC in Toronto and in 1948 he started a three-year affiliation with Tommy Dorsey, initially as a member of the vocal group Bob-O-Links. Duffy was performing as a member of the musical act the Town Criers in 1950 and would frequently appear on CBC-TV variety shows through the 1950s. In 1957, he was hired by Norman Jewison to appear as a comedian on the CBC series ''Showtime''. Duffy had his own CBC variety show called '' Here's Duffy'' that ran from June 1958 through October 1959. In 1961, he became a regular on ''Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall'', performing as one of the Kraft Music Hall Players, alongside Don Adams, Paul Lynde, Kaye Ballard and others. The show finished its run in 1963. Duffy battled alcoholism after he s ...
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English-language Television Shows
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the island of Great Britain. Existing on a dialect continuum with Scots, and then closest related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages, English is genealogically West Germanic. However, its vocabulary is also distinctively influenced by dialects of France (about 29% of Modern English words) and Latin (also about 29%), plus some grammar and a small amount of core vocabulary influenced by Old Norse (a North Germanic language). Speakers of English are called Anglophones. The earliest forms of English, collectively known as Old English, evolved from a group of West Germanic (Ingvaeonic) dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century and further mutated by Norse-speaking Viking settlers starting in the 8th and 9th ...
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1981 Television Specials
Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán and Chalatenango departments. * January 15 – Pope John Paul II receives a delegation led by Polish Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa at the Vatican. * January 20 – Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, minutes after Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, ending the Iran hostage crisis. * January 21 – The first DeLorean automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. * January 24 – An earthquake of magnitude in Sichuan, China, kills 150 people. Japan suffers a less serious earthquake on the same day. * January 25 – In South Africa the largest part of the town Laingsburg is ...
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HBO Network Specials
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based at Warner Bros. Discovery's corporate headquarters inside 30 Hudson Yards in Manhattan's West Side (Manhattan), West Side district. Programming featured on the network consists primarily of Art release#Film, theatrically released feature film, motion pictures and Original programming, original television programs as well as made-for-cable movies, documentaries, occasional comedy and concert television special, specials, and periodic Interstitial television show, interstitial programs (consisting of short films and making-of documentaries). HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating subscription television service in the United States. HBO pioneered modern pay television upon its launch on November 8, 1972: it w ...
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Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang. Although the name "Rotten Tomatoes" connects to the practice of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes in disapproval of a poor stage performance, the original inspiration comes from a scene featuring tomatoes in the Canadian film ''Léolo'' (1992). Since January 2010, Rotten Tomatoes has been owned by Flixster, which was in turn acquired by Warner Bros in 2011. In February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes and its parent site Flixster were sold to Comcast's Fandango. Warner Bros. retained a minority stake in the merged entities, including Fandango. History Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12, 1998, as a spare-time project by Senh Duong. His objective in creating Rotten Tomatoes was "to create a site where people can get access to reviews from ...
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On Location (TV Series)
''On Location'' is a series from HBO. The series premiered on New Year's Eve 1975 with a one-hour performance by Robert Klein and became a source for uncensored stand-up comedy performances from performers such as George Carlin, David Brenner, Redd Foxx, Rich Little, Robin Williams, Phyllis Diller, Buddy Hackett, Billy Crystal, Pat Cooper and others. In addition to showing select comedians,'' On Location'' featured comedy shows such as the annual Young Comedians Show and comedy club shows.''Various HBO Guides'' From 1982 to 1986, a version of the "HBO In Space" program opening sequence was used to introduce the series. HBO On Location episodes Partial list of specials See also * HBO * ''Standing Room Only An event is described as standing-room only when it is so well-attended that all of the chairs in the venue are occupied, leaving only flat spaces of pavement or flooring for other attendees to stand, at least those spaces not restricted by occup ...'' References Extern ...
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Tudi Wiggins
Tudi Wiggins (October 10, 1935 – July 19, 2006) was a Canadian actress. She was known for her work in television soap operas Born Mary Susan Wiggins, in Victoria, British Columbia, she played the roles of Erica Desmond/Helena Raleigh in '' Strange Paradise'' (1969–1970), Karen Martin on '' Guiding Light'' (1971–1972), Meg Dale on ''Love of Life'' (1974–1980), and Sarah Kingsley on '' All My Children'' (1981–1982). In 1977 she appeared as a panelist on five episodes of the game show'' Match Game''. In later years, Wiggins produced, directed, and starred in her own talk show on WTZA-TV in Kingston, New York. In 1989, she retired from the entertainment industry and moved to Fowler, New York. During her retirement, in the nearby Gouverneur, New York, area, she became a caregiver to the elderly and infirm with Health Services of Northern New York and the Community Development Program. Mary Susan "Tudi" Wiggins died of cancer Cancer is a group of diseases in ...
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Paley Center For Media
The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City, New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, dedicated to the discussion of the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public. It was renamed The Paley Center for Media on June 5, 2007, to encompass emerging broadcasting technologies such as the Internet, mobile video, and podcasting, as well as to expand its role as a neutral setting where media professionals can engage in discussion and debate about the evolving media landscape. Locations The New York City location is in the heart of Midtown Manhattan at 25 West 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue (Manhattan), 5th and Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), 6th Avenues. With a growing collection of content Broadcasting, b ...
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Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television. Price's first film role was as leading man in the 1938 comedy '' Service de Luxe''. He became well known as a character actor, appearing in films such as '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), '' Laura'' (1944), ''The Keys of the Kingdom'' (1944), ''Leave Her to Heaven'' (1945), '' Dragonwyck'' (1946), and ''The Ten Commandments'' (1956). He established himself as a recognizable horror-movie star after his leading role in '' House of Wax'' (1953). He subsequently starred in other horror films, including '' The Fly'' (1958), ''House on Haunted Hill'' (1959), ''Return of the Fly'' (1959), ''The Tingler'' (1959), '' The Last Man on Earth'' (1964), ''Witchfinder General'' (1968), '' The A ...
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Standing Room Only (TV Series)
''Standing Room Only'' (SRO) is an entertainment series on HBO that premiered on June 19, 1976. Shows featured concerts, burlesque shows, ventriloquism programs, magic shows and more.''HBO Guides'' from the 1970s and 1980s From 1982 to 1986, a version of the "HBO in Space" program opening sequence was used to introduce the series. Partial list of programs * Bette Midler * Victor Borge * Totie Fields * Paul Anka * Neil Sedaka * Casino De Paris * Barry Manilow * Diana Ross * Liza Minnelli * Kenny Rogers * Cher * Linda Ronstadt * George Burns * Crystal Gayle * Billy Joel * Willie Nelson * Olivia Newton-John * Simon and Garfunkel * David Bowie * Dolly Parton * Red Skelton: A Royal Performance * Christmas in New York * Johnny Cash * Abracadabra, It's Magic * Daredevils * ''Vanities'' * Country Rock '82 * Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner * Red Skelton's More Funny Faces Starring Marcel Marceau * An Evening at the Moulin Rouge * The Last Great Vaudeville Show * Milton Berle's Mag ...
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Decades (TV Network)
Decades is an American digital broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. The network, which is mainly carried on the digital subchannels of television stations, primarily airs classic television sitcoms from the 1950s through the early 1990s. Through its ownership by Weigel, Decades is a sister network to MeTV, which focuses on classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s and carries some programming from former Decades corporate cousin CBS Media Ventures. As the network has access to theatrical films and television series remastered for high-definition television and widescreen presentation, the network is carried in 480i widescreen. Since fall 2019, Decades is carried on Fox-owned stations in 12 markets as part of a multi-year agreement with Fox Television Stations, after switching from CBS-owned stations. History On October 21, 2014, CBS Corporation and Weigel Broadcasting announced the launch of Decades, with plans to debut the network in 2015. Thr ...
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