66 | JULY 27 • 2023
FUN SPOOKY STUFF,
REAL HORROR, JEWISH
GUY INSPIRES CLASSIC
SIT-COM EPISODE
Haunted Mansion opens
in theaters on July 28.
This Disney film is inspired
by the Haunted Mansion
attraction at three Disney
parks (California, Florida
and Japan). In 2003, there
was a Haunted Mansion
film that didn’t get great
reviews but made a lot of
money. The 2003 film and
the new film really don’t
have much to do with the
Disney Park attraction —
other than the films and the
attractions are “spooky.”
Because they are Disney
films, the Haunted Mansion
films are “good-natured”
spooky. They are not even
close to being horror films.
They are a mix of “kind-
of” scary stuff and a large
dollop of “comedic spooky”
stuff.
Here’s the basic plot:
Gabbie, a single mother
(Rosario Dawson), and her
young son (Chase Dillon)
move into a mansion, only
to find that it is haunted.
To combat the “spirits,”
they hire Ben, a former
paranormal investigator
turned tour guide (LaKeith
Stanfield); Kent, a priest
(Owen Wilson); Harriet, a
psychic (Tiffany Haddish,
43); and Bruce, a college
history professor (Danny
DeVito).
Others: Winona Ryder,
51, has a major role as Pat,
a New Orleans tour guide.
But it’s not really laid out
in advance publicity what
Pat does; Jamie Lee Curtis,
64, has a biggish part as
Madame Leota. Leota is
a spirit who resides in
a crystal ball. Her head
appears in the ball and
speaks; and Dan Levy
(Schitt’s Creek), 39, is listed
fairly high in the credits, but
his character is not named.
The Mistress is a really
horrific horror film that has
played some film festivals.
It will be available on July
28 via video-on-demand.
I usually don’t note the
opening of a smallish
budget, indie film that
is going almost straight
to “VOD,” but Mistress
caught my eye because
the director and the film’s
star are “nice Jewish guys”
from the Midwest.
Here’s the basic plot:
Newlyweds move into
their dream home where
they discover a collection
of 100-year-old letters
from a young woman who
committed suicide after
being abandoned by the
owner of the home.
The director is Greg
Pritkin, 54, a Chicago
native who has made
seven indie feature films
since 1999. His best-known
film is Dummy (2002),
an interesting and well-
reviewed comedy-romance
that starred Adrien Brody.
John Magaro, 40, an
Akron, Ohio, native who
was raised in his mother’s
Jewish faith, plays the
“male half” of the (hetero)
newlyweds. Magaro works
steadily, but never has
found a “star-breakthrough”
role.
Here’s another “sort-of”
Midwest story. It involves
one of the best sitcoms
of all time — WKRP in
Cincinnati. It originally ran
from 1978-1982 and was
such a hit in reruns that it
was revived as The New
WKRP in Cincinnati (1991-
93).
I was always a bit
“annoyed” that the show’s
creator (Hugh Wilson)
wasn’t Jewish — and only
one WKRP character, Mrs.
Carlson, the station owner’s
mother, was played by a
Jewish actor (Sylvia Sidney
in pilot; Carol Bruce in 10
episodes).
A YouTube Channel
called “Best Eps” (best
episodes) recently ran the
story of how WKRP was
saved from cancellation by
the airing (Oct. 30, 1978)
of an episode (Turkeys
Away) that critics have
consistently called one
of the top 100 sitcom
episodes of all-time.
Critics loved WKRP, but it
had a terrible time slot and
ratings were bad. It was
saved by the immensely
popular Turkeys Away
episode — which was an
instant classic.
Without spoiling the
episode’s surprise
completely — I’ll just say
it involves the owner
of WKRP (Mr. Carlson)
promoting his money-
losing station via a free
Thanksgiving turkey
giveaway.
The whole episode isn’t
on YouTube. But literally
millions have viewed the
excerpts (best parts) of
Turkeys Away, which are
on YouTube. Just do a
YouTube search for “WKRP
turkeys.” Many excerpts will
appear.
Here’s the back story,
courtesy of Best Eps:
Hugh Wilson modeled the
station owner of WKRP on
Jerry Blum (1932-2019),
an Atlanta radio station
manager he knew and
liked. Turkeys Away was
inspired by a (real) turkey
giveaway that didn’t work
out as Blum intended. It
wasn’t quite as bad as the
(fictional) WKRP disaster,
but it wasn’t “pretty” (more
info on “Best Eps”). By the
way, Wilson cast Gordon
Jump as Mr. Carlson
because he looked so
much like Blum.
I looked up Blum, and
I “found him” buried in
the Jewish section of an
Atlanta cemetery. A Star of
David is on his gravestone.
The gravestone says that
Blum was an Air Force
Captain.
Variety gave Blum a nice
write-up after his death.
I’m sure his connection
to Turkeys Away is the
reason.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
MARTIN KRAFT
John Magaro
EVA RINALDI
Tiffany Haddish
KARON LIU
Winona Ryder