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Similar The Electric Company, Iftah Ya Simsim, Love of Chair, The Joan Rivers Show, Something Wilder | ||
The adventures of letterman singing in the train
The Adventures of Letterman was an animated skit that was a regular feature on the 1971–1977 PBS television series The Electric Company.
Contents
- The adventures of letterman singing in the train
- Typical story
- Special episodes
- Introduction
- Cast
- Parodies
- Criticism
- References
Created by Mike Thaler, this super hero spoof debuted during The Electric Company's second season, and quickly became one of the show's most popular segments. There were 60 Letterman segments produced from 1972 to 1976.
Typical story
In each segment the narrator, Joan Rivers, describes a simple, everyday situation. The villainous Spell Binder—dressed in a white coat and turban—would express disgust at what was going on. He would then use his trusty magic wand (stored beneath his turban) to change a key letter in a word describing the everyday situation (e.g., "custard" to "mustard").
Havoc would ensue as the result of Spell Binder's actions; for instance, in the above example, the people who were enjoying flavorful custard suddenly and unknowingly began eating red-hot mustard, causing them to turn red and burn from the mouth. Spell Binder would then revel in his fun.
After the narrator expresses despair at the situation, the heroic Letterman—having observed the situation from afar—jumps into action. He replaces the incorrect letter with a more appropriate one that was conveniently placed on his varsity sweater (e.g., "Ripping a 'c' from his varsity sweater ..."), after which time the situation was resolved and things went back to normal. Spell Binder expressed disgust and frustration that Letterman once again foiled his fun ("Curses" or some similar line), while Letterman was sometimes invited to join with the people he helped in whatever they were doing.
Sometimes three different words ("watch," "witch," and "itch") would come into play.
Special episodes
Though nearly all episodes of the segment were stand-alone stories that followed the same general story line, there were some exceptions. One episode functioned as an origin story, portraying Letterman's childhood and growing up. The most notable episodes were the ones where Letterman himself, rather than some innocent victim(s), was the target of Spellbinder's torment. Examples were:
Introduction
Faster than a rolling 'O' (running past a big red "O")
Stronger than silent 'E' (removing the "e" at the end of "tube")
Able to leap capital 'T' in a single bound! (A sign for Tessie's Diner resembling the "T")
It's a word, it’s a plan...it's Letterman! (majestic three-note fanfare)
Cast
Parodies
Letterman was parodied as the live-action Litterman during the sixth season of The Electric Company. In the lone segment, the Spoil Binder changed a woman sitting on a park bench ("sitter") into a pile of garbage ("litter"). After the litter begins reeking, Litterman arrives to correct the situation.
In that one-time parody skit, Jim Boyd played the Spoil Binder and Skip Hinnant played Litterman.
Criticism
Jack Shaheen, Professor Emeritus of Mass Communication at Southern Illinois University, criticized the Spell Binder as a negative racial stereotype "who resembles those turbaned Arabs in the escapist Arabian Nights' films of the fifties and sixties." Shaheen finds these segments discontinuous with Sesame Workshop's realistic portrayals of other minorities.