7/8/2023
Although I think of myself as an expert on the 70s all I knew about Charles Nelson Reilly was that he was the guy on the Bic Banana Ink Crayons Commercial. But with expanded YouTube offerings I just recently was able to find out that he did a lot more than just that one commercial. Charles Nelson Reilly appeared as a character actor on a large number of sitcoms. Because he lived close to Johnny Carson’s Studio he sometimes was called into fill in for guests who didn’t show up. He came from a large Irish family and he moved to New York to break into show business. When he sings really epitomizes the concept of Broadway Magic. I found out that he did another children’s show called in 1975 Uncle Croc’s Block. I don’t understand why I have no memory of this show. Obviously I must have seen it but it was opposite the Shazam Isis show and it’s possible that child me prefer to watch the Shazam Isis show? Maybe by the time it came out I was 10 years old and maybe I was playing outside instead of watching cartoons in the morning? Uncle Croc’s Block had cartoons that were shown. Those cartoons are not lost, but the more interesting live action part of the program has become lost or missing. Many live action shows used cartoons for filler. The cartoons were always disappointing. The theory was kids love cartoons and they won’t notice how often the cartoons are recycled. Only quality cartoons such as Looney Tunes merit rewatching. I felt cartoons insertions were like commercials, but less interesting.
Uncle Croc’s block is similar Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. It’s a variety show starring Charles Nelson Reilly and contained a number of similar characters such as an actual genie. I am sure that Paul Reubens designed Pee-Wee’s Playhouse to copy Uncle Croc’s Block. Uncle Croc’s Block has lost footage and it won’t be possible to get it on a DVD or streaming. I understand from watching several interviews with Charles Nelson Reilly that they made 17 episodes that were an hour long but then they shortened the show to 1/2 an hour and added more laugh track. Normally laugh tracks are what they use in a show that is not very funny to convince the audience that the show is funny. I’m extremely anti laugh track. Larry David has the right idea. No laugh tracks, let the comedy stand on its own merit.
Here’s a case of a show that was unfairly cancelled due to low ratings. Fred Silverman was responsible for canceling Uncle Croc’s Block because it didn’t make a profit. The lack of profitability apparently made him so angry that he severed all ties with Filmation and took up with Hanna-Barbera. The marketing of this show is actually immaterial to the work itself. I just can’t believe they lost the footage. I have the complete DVD series of The Banana Splits and I really enjoy it. Uncle Croc’s Block would have been great for DVD or streaming or for even kids to watch it nowadays. It’s interesting to note that the The Banana Splits voice actors were, of course, different from the physical actors who put on the costumes. Because the voice actors were older they’ve all now passed away and only the physical actors are left. The physical actors were actually willing to communicate with us kids from the 70s via Yahoo Groups and they were extremely gracious.
In the opening scene from Uncle Croc’s Block Charles Nelson Reilly reminds me of Elton John and his delivery with his glasses and his singing is beyond fantastic. I don’t know that much more about him other than that he was a gracious person and people liked him. He never became rich but he had many show business friends who helped him. I could tell he was a bit into the drinking and he even admitted that he liked to order the same drink which was a Manhattan without a cherry. I guess you could say along with Patrick McGoohan and being Irish he was a little bit into the drinking which is OK because I have some Irish relatives on my mother’s side who were a little bit into the drinking. I could see that in his later appearances on the Johnny Carson show he seemed quite a bit changed not just by age but possibly by drinking and smoking. I’m going to assume that he smoked although he’s not seen smoking on camera. I think being that since was a children’s icon he didn’t want to set a bad example for the children. I only wish other celebrities like Paul Reubens who appear on children’s shows took such good care of their reputations.
I’ve micro focused on Charles Nelson Reilly and watched everything I could see about him and even search for blogs. I found a blogger who said that Uncle Croc’s Block was terrible. As a child they remembered that they didn’t like the show then. And I would think as an adult maybe they would look back at it and understand it? But this blogger actually said that even as an adult they still hated the show. I’m not going to say I disagree and think it’s a fantastic show because I haven’t seen all of it. I don’t know why somebody would write a blog to say how much they hated a particular show. It seems to me if they hated it that much it would only qualify for a mention among a number of other shows that they would have to say they found to be better in the same genre in order to prove their point. The possible exception would be to write a blog about how much one hates the Live Action Cowboy Bebop because there’s so much to hate about it.
I found another blogger who liked Uncle Croc’s Block and praised it based on the large number of guest comedians including the co-star Jonathan Harris who was Doctor Smith on Lost In Space. Phyllis Diller was also on the show. I won’t mention each celebrity guest because there’s that other blogger who did that whom I’m going to link to.
Uncle Croc’s Block was a parody or a satire of other children’s shows. Uncle Croc was upset about having to have a show. The segments satirised other popular children’s programs. Perhaps it would have been better if they played Uncle Croc’s Block not as a satire but a straight show? Children don’t have a well developed sense of irony.
Charles Nelson Reilly was the major villain HooDoo on the show Lidsville. Although I am well aware of the show Lidsville and I’ve even rewatched all of it. He was also on a game show called Match Game. I watched Match Game, but I still never associated his performance as being the same guy who did the Bic Banana Ink Crayons Commercial. Charles Nelson Reilly did musical theater, but I don’t know how to find any of it.
I don’t know if they showed credits very much on children’s shows. If they did show them it was completely meaningless it was just a bunch of names that I never noticed and or never paid attention. But since becoming an adult I make a point of knowing who all the actors are on shows that I watch and trying to remember who they are, even sometimes looking them up online or following their social media.
Overall I think he had a great career and a happy life in spite of another YouTuber who created a video called “the miserable life and tragic death of Charles Nelson Reilly.” I watched the video and there was nothing tragic about his life and furthermore this YouTuber was so ignorant that he didn’t even use correct grammar. For example they frequently misgendered Charles Nelson Reilly by calling him she and furthermore also referred to him as an actress. As far as I can tell this YouTuber is homophobic and feels that Charles Nelson Reilly’s life was tragic because he was gay or because he wore a toupee. I disagree with this and how I feel that he had a fantastic life and should be celebrated. I decided to refer to this YouTuber in gender neutral they because I was not sure that they even necessarily identified as a he, the voice was hard to tell although it appeared to be a male voice.
The Bic Banana Ink Crayons Commercial was really important to me as a child with ADHD. I felt that school was incredibly boring. When I watched the commercial I could see that a fun teacher like Charles Nelson Reilly would understand how I felt about school and how he would make all the lessons fun. In fact school lessons could become so fun and memorable that I would blossom and achieve if I had only been given the right guidance as a child. And part of it was I had a desire to achieve even though I felt I was at a great disadvantage. And another part of it was that anything that would make school less boring would get me to pay more attention to it. Instead I spent absolutely most of my entire school existence daydreaming. I think as a child I was lonely and sad hoping for an adult who would understand me and help me through my learning disabilities and help me to succeed because I was always very achievement oriented. Paradoxically I felt drastically under equipped for success in any endeavor. Maybe I was a lost child who didn’t fit in of the group and desperately wanted to find a group of peers that I would fit in with? Therefore the Bic Banana Ink Crayons Commercial gave me a sense of optimism and hope which I clung to. Learning how to draw is extremely difficult for children. You can buy children’s markers and have them scribble something and tell them that it’s good but I was never tricked by this. I always had a sense of what was esthetically well done art as opposed to scribbling. It’s interesting to note that Charles Nelson Reilly’s father was an artist who was sought out by Walt Disney.
Macy Makes Magic 