Monday, November 11, 2013

Moron TV: Totally Pauly (1990)

As the 1980's gave way to the 1990's, MTV began to expand its base of operations. Some of their programming was now based in California. Original VJ Martha Quinn had moved out there to pursue an acting career, and, with MTV now setting up a studio in LA, she didn't have to commute back & forth to New York to tape her nightly oldies show. Rockline, which she hosted for most of its run, was taped in LA before Quinn was cut for the 2nd time in 1992.

However, this also allowed for America's Moron, Pauly Shore, a 2nd generation comedian, to land his 1st series, Totally Pauly, a daily, hour-long goof-fest, in 1990, part of MTV's freshman class of comedy series. Unlike the others, however, Pauly was an after-school distraction for the high school & college set, as his show aired opposite General Hospital for the entirety of its 5 year run. The series also would air "Best of" episodes on Saturdays from time to time, but the less said about that, the better.

Shore created the persona of the dumber-than-a-doorknob free spirit he christened, "The Wiezel" (note the spelling--it was Shore's idea, after all), which carried over into his movies, including his 1992 debut, "Encino Man", which also introduced Brendan Fraser to the world. Shore recorded a CD, "The Future of America", in 1991, which produced a novelty single, "Lisa Lisa (The One I Adore)", which wasn't exactly Top 40 material.

Following is a sample clip of a 1991 episode that has Pauly at a Warrant concert:



Shore has his own YouTube channel, too, but it wasn't worth mining a clip off that.

Rating: C.

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