Shark Bytes

Never even came close to jumping, in fact, never even got near the water! As co-founder and a member of the Board of Directors of Fan Club #2 and a viewer since 1974, I can safely (and proudly) attest that for all the years The Uncle Floyd Show ran, it continued to evolve and maintain it's unparalleled, free-spirited, free-wheeling artistry and deliver entertainment of a calibur that remains unrivaled to this day. Different channels, different time slots, additions to the cast, not even going into syndication diminished their raucous and boisterous celebration of humor (ah, syndication- the great "shot at the big time"; truth be told, it is doubtful the world at large would ever have been enlightened enough in numbers sufficient to satisfy those who sought to inroduce Floyd to a mass media market for profit. Only doing so as a public service and in the spirit of great philanthropy could such an ambitious and noble intent be rightfully undertaken). The show was able to sustain and reward the loyal viewer with laughter, usually on multiple levels, across such a span of time, with the barest to pratically non-existent of budgets and little else but their sheer inventive creativity. This left anyone who truly paid attention and understood what they were witnessing frequently chuckling with mirth and at the same time marvelling in awe, aware that they were privy to something totally rare, original and brilliant. It's no-frills simplicity and unrehearsed lack of polish was actually a large part of it's strength as it showcased the genius and talent of the cast and crew. Fun that was honest, alive and vital!

I remember going up to my grandmothers house and watching it because the signal on LI wasn't strong enough. Who could forget the picture of what happens after you watch WOMETCO Home Theatre scrambled and the winner getting a free 1 way ticket to IRAN.

Hey Skip, want some fish????

Uncle Floyd NEVER jumped the shark!!

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I will be appearing with Uncle Floyd at the White Wolf Restaurant and Lodge, in Napanoch this Saturday, June 30, at 6:30 pm., as a benefit for Ellenville arts.

Uncle Floyd and I have crossed paths many times in my 35 years in show business. Like Floyd, I started out as a child performer. I got my braces off the day before I first appeared on “The Joe Franklin Show'' on New York's WOR-TV in 1976. I was seventeen and performed Abbott & Costello's ''Who's On First?'' with a friend. We shared the bill with a guy with a song that hit number three on the charts in Philadelphia, and a foul-mouthed ventriloquist and his dummy, Otto Peterson and George.

My career almost ended in the Summer of 1964, while performing at a family picnic when I was three years old. I opened with a rousing rendition of ''I Want Some Red Roses for a Blue Lady'' wearing a striped jacket and straw hat. I switched to a derby and imitated both Laurel AND Hardy. Last, I put on a fake rubber nose and crushed my hat onto my head. I was about to do my big finale, as Jimmy Durante, when my Uncle Joe pulled me aside and whispered a suggested minor change in the joke I was about to tell:

''I was walking down the street and a man came up to me and said: 'take that banana out of your mouth!' I said, 'That's not a banana! That's my nose! Ah-cha-cha-cha!!'''

“You always say it that way,” Uncle Joe offered. “You want a big laugh? Say it this way:

''I was walking down the street and a man came up to me and said: 'take that banana out of your mouth!' I said, 'That's not a banana! My pants fell down! Ah-cha-cha-cha!!'''

I didn't understand the joke he was making, but I turned to my family and, in my best Jimmy Durante, I said:

''I was walking down the street and a man came up to me and said: 'take that banana out of your mouth!' I said, 'That's not a banana! That's my wee-wee! Ah-cha-cha-cha!!'''

It got a big laugh but it was the last time I was asked to perform at a family picnic.

Luckily, in 1972, my father's gift of a tape recorder led me into a career not just in comedy and theater but also broadcasting. Two years later, ''The Uncle Floyd Show'' premiered on New Jersey UHF television.

I hated the show at first. Somehow, a TV show made a few miles from my home couldn't be any good, I thought.

Then, I saw Floyd Vivino perform live before a highly appreciative audience at the now defunct Bottom Line in New York City. There was no audience on the TV show, just a few giggling cameramen.

Uncle Floyd is a brilliant performer, both as a comedian and musician, but the best way to enjoy him is to see him live and local. I'm not just buttering up the guy because I will be on the same stage with him this Saturday, or because he and I once had a feud that played out in the media.

It started, in 1981, with a little innocent comment I made on the air during the weekly four-hour Sunday morning jazz and comedy radio show I did with Garret Gega for WKNJ-FM in Union New Jersey. Something to the effect of ''Uncle Floyd stinks!'' WKNJ's board lit up! The Uncle Floyd fans descended upon me. To be fair, I did also say he was a great piano player.

Soon, there was an ''I Hate Joe Bev Fan Club.'' Floyd and his cohorts would frequently rib me on the TV show, and I'd reciprocated on the radio. We performed at many of the same clubs, such Club Bené, but never together. I often went on Floyd rival, Looney Skip Rooney's New Jersey cable TV show, and attacked from another enemy's camp, until Rooney defected and joined the cast of Floyd's show. A picture of Frankenstein hung on the wall of the ''Uncle Floyd'' set with the name ''JOE BEV'' scrawled under it. Floyd threw darts at it regularly, while a guy in a gorilla suit (Rooney?) interrupted shouting, ''Me Joe Bev! Me Joe Bev! Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!'' while throwing banana peals.

Hopefully that won't happen Saturday night at the White Wolf, but if it does, at least I'll know what it feels like to bomb locally.

Such classic stuff from my youth! I met Floyd at an appearance at Woodbridge Center. Saw the show filmed live in downtown Newark and also the live raunch show at the Rahway Theater. I just bought the DVD so my kids could enjoy it. Where can I get a Floyd t-shirt?

Never jumped! A classic, silly show that made you laugh even though it was on UHF. Who can't forget Looney Skip Roney, Bones Boy, Oogie, Scott Gordon. My brother and I used to watch it in the early 80's and still talk about it!

The show jumped for me when they started doing the mini game show bit called "Ridiculous but real" where they would get a guest from the live audience and see if they could answer a question. Sometime during that period the show was cut to 1/2 hour and the real humor and fun just wasn't there anymore. I think it became toned down. Maybe it was because too many kids started watching. And, even though there were puppets and such, it really wasn't a kids show. At that point I don't think Floyd and company knew where to take the humor, cause mainstream wasn't working. Look at other comedians like Mark Russell and Rosie O'Donnell, when they were in their early days they were much more "adult" in their material and delivery and they were hilarious, now of course they are mainstream fluff. Either Floyd couldn't or wouldn't do that.

These are some of my favorite "bits" from the show. The Liberal vs. The Conservative, "Professor LeBock, YOU CAN GO BACK TO RUSSIAAAAA!!!!" And how about when Floyd, as Eddie Slobbo, took about 10 minutes of running air time to finish a Full 2 Litre bottle of Pepsi. Does anybody else remember a Buff Heavy Metal Rocker by the name of Thor blowing up an empty hot water bottle? I loved the hat, Pot Roast, Neil Yuck, all the crazy characters, and every minute of the show on Channel 68. Priceless entertainment really needs no budget.

I also started watching Uncle Floyd in 1974 on Ch 68 WBTB. I sent in lots of pictures and soon was declared the Dot King! I wonder how many of you remember me? I was a fan popular from 74-76.

Uncle Floyd never jumped the shark. I started watching in the summer of 1974 and life was never the same. Only one other kid had ever seen the show and we set about trying to get others to watch. Anyone who could be persuaded to tune in, changed the channel in disgust. The show was just so cheap, even by local access standards, but we LOVED it. The show was just so local and therefore so personal. We would have pictures on the wall almost every day. The key was to put about ten pictures in the envelope and they would always choose one or two. By high school I met a few more guys that watched and we had a blast talking about it. It was like a secret society that no one could comprehend. We would try to describe the show to people and they would just scratch their heads and walk away. Then, about 1978 or 79. the local cable put the show on channel ten and things were never the same. Without the deterrent of the UHF snow and distortion, more people started to watch and the show lost its cool exclusivity, suddenly the most uncool people were talking about the show in the halls at school and we began to distance ourselves from it. The very first non Floyd recurring character was the monster, just a guy in a rubber halloween mask, who would be conned by Floyd ,as Brisco T. Fardell. Scott Gordon came later. He started out as Floyd's straight man but eventually created characters of his own. Julia Stepchild was the first bit ever ripped off, by Dan Ackroyd on Sat Night Live. It was just featured in a best of retrospective, Looney Skip Rooney came after David Bird and Jim Monaco. Artie Delmar and Lambie was a great parody of Shari Lewis and Lambchop. Lambie was just a dirty sock with a face drawn on with magic marker. Lambie didn't even have a different voice,Artie would ask Lambie a question and Lambie would respond with the SAME VOICE, only the sock's lips would move. Brilliant! Jim Monaco started doing Raymond J. Johnson, Jr. A bit actually done on national television by a comic named Billy Saluga, but they had to fill a half hour every day. At a point in the summer 1976 the show was actually expanded to an hour and that is when a lot of the minor characters were created. Mugsy and Netto came later, they were musicians who would play to fill time and they eventually developed their own characters. By the time Charlie Stoddard came along, we had already dumped out of the show because you couldn't even get a picture on the wall by then, too popular. Oh well, everything must come to and end. Remember Win a cake at Zip's bakery. Istill have an old tshirt with the WTVG call letters, before it became WWHT (Wometco Home Theater) Original call letters were WBTB. Eagle Rock Avenue in West Orange, N.J. I will finish with this thought, no show in the history of television created more entertainment with less money. God bless you, Uncle Floyd, where ever you are.

I just would like to share my memories of Uncle Floyd ,and maybe get more information about the history of the show.I was lucky enough to get the chance to see the Uncle Floyd Show ,when it had a brief run ,here ,in Cleveland ,Ohio during the early 1980's. I thought it was a pretty cool and very entertaining show.I was really pissed when the show was cancelled here ,after some controversy arose. The show aired on WKYC TV 3,the local NBC affiliate here and was having a successful run ,and,then from what I can remember ,a story ran on Channel 3 News ,by the anchorwoman of the time,Mona Scott ,accusing Uncle Floyd," at deliberately making fun of mentally retarded and disabled people".I still remember the interview that ,Mona Scott did with Uncle Floyd on the local news ,where she was very confrontational with Uncle Floyd and continued to badger him about using his program to make fun of people with disabilities.Uncle Floyd responded by calling her "crazy bitch" and walking off the set. Shortly after that fiasco Uncle Floyd disappeared from the local airwaves.

To the above poster: although I never was a regular performer on UF, I made two appearances on his show, including once in a "Joe Frankfutter" sketch, as well as supplying the films shown in those sketches ("Men In Danger", "London Nights", "Austrailian Diary", et al.). The answer is yes, Floyd and Joe met long before the skirmish. Joe had Floyd on as a guest on the former's TV show, in a solo couch spot no less (often reserved for truly greats e.g. Bing Crosby and Marcel Marceau), and naturally Joe praised Floyd to the hilt. Then shortly thereafter, Joe slapped Floyd with a $35 million lawsuit. As I remember it, the matter was eventually settled out of court. Some time later, Joe was a guest on Floyd's show.

This show almost was jumped over the shark against it's will by Joe Franklin. I'm a big fan of Joe, but what was he thinking suing Floyd for doing an imitation of him? "Martian Paints, it ain't just paint." I heard that contributed to UF getting canceled off of NBC. Then a few years later, Billy Crystal does a lame imitation of Uncle Floyd's imitation (again on NBC), and Joe Franklin not only doesn't sue Crystal, he praises him like he's a god. Again, I have great respect for Joe Franklin, but that was all truly bizarre and completely unfair. I wonder if Uncle Floyd and Joe Franklin ever met and hashed that out or if it's still a sore point.

Uncle Floyd rules> I remember as a kid growing up in Joisey I was constantly mailing in pictures of KISS for Uncle Floyd to put on the wall-none of them ever made it. Then I sent in a picture of a firetruck and Floyd put it on! Something against Ace Frehley (or my drawing skills)?

I discovered this show as a young child growing up in eastern New Jersey, on the New Jersey Network. Every so often it would be pre-empted by a Victor Borge telethon, and you had to put up with promos for Nova and National Geographic, and PSA's from the New Jersey power company. Anyhow, I became addicted to this show, and had 2 or 3 pictures on the wall. One was a picture of Bones Boy, and I taped a rubber band to it with "Snap it pal!" and Floyd actually snapped it. I never nominated myself for Viewer of the Week. My NJN affiliate cancelled it and I actually cried. But when I was about 11, my mom took me to one of the live shows at a nightclub (why did they let an 11 year old in?) I was the only kid there, and here was the same bunch of goofballs I'd seen on TV doing these horrible songs about sex, complete with 4 letter words, and gross-out humor. Worlds collided for me. I was traumatized, and my mom dragged us out of there early. I remember Mugsy sang a takeoff of Willie Nelson, "To all the girls I've ****'ed before...some were straight, and some were whores." That ruined it for me, but some of the good memories...I did see them at Wild West City (the city that's running wild, yeeha!) and got autographs from the whole cast. Favorite sketches/characters: Blasmos, Eddie Slobbo, Hugo, Mr. Face (cracked me UP!) and of course Bones Boy. What a great idea for a character: I know, let's take a little carved skeleton, glue it to a popsicle stick, then wave it around while doing a funny voice. I thought Oogie was more filler than anything--that hand looked too big for him, every so often he'd get on the phone. Kind of missed Looney Skip Rooney after he left.

Uncle Floyd Show never jumped the shark!!! Viva La Vivino - A vaudevillian pre-public access TV ball of fun. I was privileged to attend a taping of a couple of episodes in the mid'80s. Mom and Dad had sister and I play hooky from school no less to see it taped!!! I remember that we stopped at a fire sale/salvage store and bought a hideous ceramic gold hand ashtray (yes like a hand catching ashes) to give to UF. And after giving it to him between tapings, wouldn't you know he used it as a punch line in the next episodes taping!!! Uncle Floyd Show - there is no substitute...