Huell’s show had a real loose feeling without a budget. I loved that. At one point he had a phone call with the owner of a cafe to ask about a photo of Burt Lancaster on the wall. The other half of the call wasn’t recorded and the conversation went nowhere but they still aired it.
The Fotoplayer is based on a player piano so the musician isn’t always playing the piano, leaving them with a much more sensible amount of work to do. One person bands are very much a thing and I think this performance falls well within the realm of plausibility.
I used to watch his programs on cable TV, back when he was still alive. Even after death, I recall that his videos were still being sold by his company/estate, both on VHS at one point and DVD. But I can no longer find evidence of these direct sales, so I guess only used copies for sale are available now.
Trivia: the character on TV series "Breaking Bad" named Huell was a nominal reference to Huell Howser, according to the video commentary.
Huell Howser was a big part of my childhood - he had this authentic "aww shucks" way about him, while also asking the questions most people would probably ask, seeing a given thing.
I don't know either, but my father-in-law claimed to have got drunk there during prohibition. He died a decade ago, but by my calculation he would have only been 17 when prohibition was repealed in '33. Only know that because he was 24 when he was called up for WW II. Could be true or a very old wives tale.
Also he voiced the Backson in a Winnie the Pooh movie. A mysterious creature that had everybody scared out of their wits throughout the show until (spoiler alert) he finally shows up at the end and is the friendliest sounding character you can imagine
I love these shows. Huell’s joyful child-like curiosity would light up and elucidate even the most arcane attraction or monument. It’s good that they are saving these for posterity. They truly are… California’s Gold.
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[ 83.6 ms ] story [ 1410 ms ] threadHuell’s show had a real loose feeling without a budget. I loved that. At one point he had a phone call with the owner of a cafe to ask about a photo of Burt Lancaster on the wall. The other half of the call wasn’t recorded and the conversation went nowhere but they still aired it.
I cherish the authenticity of it all.
Indeed this is real and not a pantomime.
Trivia: the character on TV series "Breaking Bad" named Huell was a nominal reference to Huell Howser, according to the video commentary.
His archives are a treasure. At the 12:30 mark in the linked video, Huell visits NASA's Deep Space Network complex in Goldstone, CA. https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/1998/01/08/b...
"Salt" about the salt ponds around the South Bay. https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/1999/01/08/s...
"Drawbridge" about a ghost town in the marshes of the South Bay. To me, it was more interesting as a glimpse into how people lived a hundred years ago. https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2002/01/08/d...
And because I think it's important to remember the ugly parts of history, lest it be repeated, I'd recommend "Manzanar" https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2002/01/08/m..., "A Tale of Two Cities" about Colonel Allensworth State Park https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/1992/12/10/a..., and "Weedpatch" about the 'Okies' https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/1995/12/10/w....
"Well ahhve just about seen everything now. Come on folks, we're gonna have some fun today."