Alice cajoles Joe into buying a television set. TVs being the new contraption they were in 1953, Joe's is the only one in the neighborhood. Soon, all of Joe's neighbors are crowded into his house to avail themselves of his beer and chips while they argue over which TV show to watch.
Television was indeed fairly new at the time of this short, so audiences probably loved the ad parodies. But six decades of entertainment have worn to the nub the inherent comedy of TV commercials and outsized cathode tubes. Indeed, the funniest scene is the final one, which has nothing to do with TV. In fact, it turns out to be a blatant plug for a then-current Warner Bros. feature, but the cameo appearances that result are pretty amusing.
Also, if you're a fan of Ed Wood's so-bad-they're-good movies, look for Wood nemesis Tor Johnson in a small role as a TV wrestler. And you gotta love the huge continuity error where Joe spills beer all over the front of his shirt, only to look clean as a whistle in the next shot. Maybe Joe really was drunk.
Our rating: (C) 2012, Steve Bailey.
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