MY TWO SHITS WORTH: EPISODE THREE.

     Okay, so I'm switching things up a bit in honor of April Fool's Day.  Instead of underrated music I'm shifting my focus to a group of TV specials and books from the mid-1980s.  Martin Mull has never really found his niche as an entertainer and I think this is because he really doesn't care if he is multi talented as an actor, painter and musician.  He's just one of those people that are great in 'measured doses.'  Yes, 'Fernwood 2-Night' and just about everything else he has done are now cult classics and one of these 'classics' is a trilogy of TV specials he did for HBO with the title "The History Of White People In America."  All of these specials where directed by Harry Shearer and all three starred Mary Kay Place and Fred Willard as your typical married American suburban WASP couple.  Some of these specials also starred greats like George Wendt,  Michael McKean and Jack Riley.  Mull usually plays himself as the interviewer and questions these people about politics, religion, culture etc.  There also is some hokey drama played out that surely is a parody of the PBS cinema verite series of the 1970s, "The Loud Family."
     These specials are done in the 'mockumentary' form although these feel a bit more scripted (by Mull and friends) than the usual Christopher Guest variety.  Two books on the subject were also printed and I seem to recall Mull having a strange fascination with the white man's love of Sans-A-Belt slacks (one of the first makers of slacks with the elastic waistband).  With just about anything Mull does, there is a very dry wit that some people might just not get but I loved these specials as a teen ( and still do).
     All three specials are available on the treasured VHS format at yard sales and church book swap benefits.  I think Mull would heartily approve.