This week's Tuesday's Overlooked TV is an obscure choice, but a fun one--the late 70s children's series Marlo and the Magic Movie Machine.
The character Marlo was a man who worked in the basement of a computer company, banished there after falling out of favor with the gruff owner of the company. Marlo would be bossed around during the day, but after hours, Marlo would sneak off to his secret area where he would interact with the Movie Machine, which Marlo built from the company's spare parts. In addition to sharing conversation with the machine, it would display short clips and features from various sources and play different games with Marlo and the viewing audience.
Marlo was a production of CBS affiliate WFSB in Hartford, CT, then picked up by a handful of other stations across the country. The series only lasted from 1977 to 1980 and wasn't exactly a pop culture phenomenon, but it has a small group of fans. For years I remembered Marlo himself and the Machine, even if I couldn't remember the actual clips or even the title of the series. As the series was the production of a CBS affiliate, I probably saw it on WCAU Channel 10 here in Philadelphia, likely paired with the channel's local production The Candy Apple News Company.
Here is the series intro. Enjoy!
3 comments:
How does one define "leisurely"? Having an opening segment that defines the premise, then a long opening theme which doesn't feature any further elaboration and barely has two credits...
I imagine I might've come across this one when I lived again near Boston in the latter '70s.
OMG! I've been trying to remember this one for decades! I watched this EARLY on Saturday mornings. It may have been the first show after the farmer's report (yes, long ago). It was the early to mid 70's. I love your blog so much for stuff like this. Brings back being a kid in the 70's. Thank you!
Thanks Mike! I hope you keep coming back to the blog. Stay tuned for the Halloween stuff next month!
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