Fred Willard RIP

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by audiomixer, May 16, 2020.

  1. Zep Fan

    Zep Fan Sounds Better with Headphones on

    Location:
    N. Texas
    Fred Willard, will always be remembered by me as Jerry Hubbard, the sidekick announcer for Barth Gimble (Martin Mull) on Fernwood 2 Night, the Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman spinoff, from 1977.
     
  2. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Nice tribute by Jimmy Kimmel. What I enjoy from him is his genuine love for comedians and humorists.

     
  3. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
  4. Scope J

    Scope J Senior Member

    Location:
    Michigan
  5. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Too bad. He was never anything but funny (if not hilarious). I never say this about people simply because they no longer are with us. (I just don’t say anything.). Willard truly fit the profile of an original with the mold being broken.
     
    audiomixer likes this.
  6. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I definitely need to dust off my bootleg copies of Fernwood Tonight.
     
    JackBnimble likes this.
  7. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Watched an episode, and Willard had one of the usually deadpan character actor "guests" on the verge of laughing with what must have been an ad lib.
     
  8. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
  9. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    Reminds me I should dig out my old VHS tapes of Fernwood Tonight and America Tonight. Jerry Hubbard rules!

    When the *$^&# is somebody going to release an all inclusive DVD or Blu-ray boxset for that show??? One of the best comedies ever.
     
    MikaelaArsenault and misterjones like this.
  10. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    There appear to have been 65 episodes, though I'm not sure if that includes America 2-Night. I have 48 of them (again, I'm not sure how many are Fernwood 2-Night and how many are America 2-Night, but so far I've watched about 27 and they all emanate from good ol' Fernwood, Ohio). I believe mine are sourced from Nick at Nite rebroadcasts in the early 1990s. Unauthorized sets are available, probably more complete and in better quality than what I have. Nothing would top an official release, however.
     
    MikaelaArsenault likes this.
  11. Dirkwkirk

    Dirkwkirk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio
    Years ago in GQ magazine he said if you lose a parent when you are a child. You spend your life waiting for something bad to happen. I think that was his quote. And that happened to me & was true for me.
     
    MikaelaArsenault likes this.
  12. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    We just watched an old episode of The Closer, where he played a Santa, very enjoyable. I must check out some of his other work.
     
    MikaelaArsenault and Stereo68 like this.
  13. Scooterpiety

    Scooterpiety Ars Gratia Artis

    Location:
    Oregon
    There were 65 episodes each of both Fernwood and America, for a total of 130. I have a good portion I taped from they were shown on Nick at Nite and TV Land. An official complete set of the show has been on the top of my want list for about 40 years.
     
    slipkid and MikaelaArsenault like this.
  14. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    You & me both. Take my money, please!!!!!!!

    Like what folks have been saying (& I may have said it already in this thread but I 4get), I also have many episodes of Fernwood & America 2 Night I taped off the air at some point on VHS. Recently I also downloaded a digitized set of Fernwood episodes and found there were some I didn't have (nice!). Quality is pretty poor and no America2Night in that set but still nice to have. My own tapes are better quality but still only recorded at 6 hour tape speed. Man I would love to get these series as an official release, in better quality.
     
    Scooterpiety likes this.
  15. Scooterpiety

    Scooterpiety Ars Gratia Artis

    Location:
    Oregon
    It seems to me I heard that an episode or two of the show was included years ago on a Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman set, but I may be wrong. As far as I know, it has never been issued on home video anywhere.
     
    slipkid likes this.
  16. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    Yeah, no release for F2N or A2N. They did release a boxset for MH MH though. I never really liked that show but am wondering for anyone that has watched it - do they feature Garth in any episodes leading up to Garth's hosting F2n (or even his twin brother Barth)?

    [Edit - I may have it backwards by the way, can't recall now if it is Barth that hosts F2n or Garth]
     
  17. Scooterpiety

    Scooterpiety Ars Gratia Artis

    Location:
    Oregon
    I watched MH, MH on and off, and I don't recall Barth ever being referred to on MH, MH. As far as I know, the character of Barth was created after Garth was killed on the show, specifically to be host of Fernwood 2 Night.
     
    slipkid likes this.
  18. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I saw a re-run of a Dick Cavett show in which he interviewed Fred Willard, who was hawking a new TV series called Access America (circa 1990). The series was a "best of" (in the show's opinion) cable access shows across America, including the oddly mesmerizing Beyond Vaudeville, which I occasionally watched here in New York City. I wouldn't mind seeing all of the Access America shows, which can be quite surrealistic (if the clips Cavett showed are any indication). Here is Willard appearing on Beyond Vaudeville. Hold on to your hats! (It was times like this I was especially glad I did not smoke marihuana.)

     
  19. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    we just saw Fred in a movie we recently watched...I thought of his passing...sad.
     
  20. dsdu

    dsdu less serious minor pest

    Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
    You're so right. It's much better on acid alone.
     
    Mister Charlie likes this.
  21. MAYBEIMAMAZED

    MAYBEIMAMAZED Don't think Twice it's alright

    Location:
    DFW TEXAS
    Awe very sad news he was a very funny Actor he will be missed.
     
    Michael and MikeJedi like this.
  22. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    I recently re-watched my collection of Fernwood & America 2Night. Such a hilarious show. Wish they would release a box set for that like they did with Mary Hartman.

    Cool to see that when they transitioned from F2N to America 2Night shot "almost live and nearly in Hollywood, from Alta Coma, California, the unfinished furniture capital of the world" and filmed in front of a large(r) audience than the Fernwood show, that Jerry Hubbard receives thunderous applause from the studio audience when he comes out to rival or even exceed that of Barth's!
     
    Scooterpiety likes this.
  23. MichaelH

    MichaelH Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bakersfield
    Loved him as Michelle's dad in American Wedding and Amy's father in Everybody Loves Raymond.
     
    MikaelaArsenault likes this.
  24. Jazzmonkie

    Jazzmonkie Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tempe, AZ
    What movie?
     
    Michael likes this.
  25. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    He was great doing his Joe Garagiola parody in Best in Show.
     
    Jazzmonkie likes this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine