Harlem Globetrotters

[jayfurr]

The Harlem Globetrotters are great if you're a ten-year-old kid. Otherwise... not so much.

I went and saw them tonight in Glens Falls, NY. I didn't have far to drive as I've been in Glens Falls all week training; it was something to do. And I'd been looking forward to seeing their show for, oh, 30+ years, ever since all their Saturday morning cartoon exposure and Gilligan's Island appearances and stuff back in the 1960s and 1970s.

The fact that I left at halftime tell ya anything?

I'd sort of thought that it'd be excellent basketball with excellent tricks mixed in, like the Globetrotter game snippets I saw on ABC back in the day. The reality fell a bit short of that: elaborate and not-very-funny comedy routines that would've been booed off the stage at your local Holiday Inn's comedy club night, mixed in with very short bursts of actual basketball. When the Globetrotters put up a trick shot that was supposed to wow us with their mad basketball skillz, the shot went in maybe a third of the time.

What broke the camel's back was the third repetition of the following:

Something happens and a referee turns around and says "Who did that?"

A Globetrotter player points to a Washington General and says "The short white guy in the number 9 jersey."

The referee says "Who?"

The Globetrotter player repeats, slowly and much louder, "THE SLOW WHITE GUY IN THE NUMBER 9 JERSEY."

The referee announces "FOUL ON ... er, THE SLOW WHITE GUY IN THE NUMBER 9 JERSEY. TWO SHOTS."

The Globetrotters run around in amazement all holding up FOUR fingers and saying they should get FOUR shots.

The referee says "TWO shots."

"FOUR SHOTS"

"TWO shots."

(This goes on for a couple of minutes with the Globetrotters mugging to the crowd, demanding that the crowd back them up in their demand for four shots.)

Eventually the Globetrotter players ask a babe-in-arms in the audience how many shots they should get. The baby looks blank and the Globetrotter players say "EVEN THE BABY DOESN'T KNOW HOW MANY SHOTS WE SHOULD GET."

Audience roars with laughter.

Sweet zombie Jeebus, but that was a waste of money.

Comments

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of the time I saw that "Astro Boy" was going to be on
at some ungodly hour of a morning a few days away. I didn't just
get excited, I got the kids all wound up, too. We programmed it
into the Direct TV, in preference to other shows we like, & waited.

& then it came on.

I sang the theme song while my children looked on in awe.

Five minutes into it, WombatGirl turns to me & asks, quietly,
"Mommy, just what was it about this show that you liked so much?"

I turned to stare at her. "I don't know anymore!"

We put in a disk of G-d knows what else, so at least the kids
had something to watch (My kids sleep? Don't be silly!)

What was exciting & cool to me as a child was now dull & even
nonsensical now - but not nonsensical enough to be funny.

I realize it's not the same as something being dumbed down,
but I bet the deflated feeling of disappointment was the same....

G-d help me if "Marine Boy" ever comes back on TV...

[sandyinstep.livejournal.com]

At least Rocky & Bullwinkle have not faded in their amusement value. I would STILL get up at 6 am to watch it if I could find it!