Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Vincent Price's Forgotten TV Appearance... With Pat Robertson?

In January of 1984 I watched a tv special called Don't Ask Me, Ask God with my parents.  Apparently I wasn't alone.  It won the Neilson, drew 16 million viewers, and set a record as the most viewed religious program of all time.  It  featured stars like Michael J. Fox, Ben Vereen, Tony Danza, Ned Beatty, Steve Allen, and Norman Fell.  The whole thing was hosted by Broadway actress Anita Gillette and everyone's favorite fundamentalist wackjob, Pat Robertson.  It was based on a Gallop Poll from 1981 which asked people "If you could ask God one question, what would it be?" 
You know how little snippets of things you saw as a child will stick with you?  Well, a certain segment regarding the question "Why is there evil in the world" never left my mind, and it very well may have been the first thing I watched that really scared me.  You know how those memories often don't jive with what was actually on the screen?  Yeah, that's the case here.  There was a reenactment of a scene from a Mummy movie.  I remember it being terrifying.  Little 3 year old SOC was freaked the hell out.  Recently I decided to go searching for that TV special.  I eventually found it, and when I rewatched it I realized that the scene that left such an impression on me was completely played for comedy.  Hey, I was 3.  Give me a break.  That wasn't the real surprise, however.  Who did I find narrating that now-not-so-horrifying scene and waxing poetic on the nature of evil?  None other than the man who would later become my favorite actor of all time, Vincent Price.  Perhaps it was that incredible voice that actually sent those icy chills up my spine all those years ago.  
What kinda shocks me is that, with the huge fan base that Mr. Price has, I've never seen this appearance mentioned.  Am I the only one who remembers it?  Surely the meeting of two of the most entertaining madmen of the modern age is more memorable than that.  You know, one who unleashed monsters, murder, and mayhem and one who blames hurricanes on abortion and earthquakes on "pacts with the devil."  Dr. Phibes and Mr. 700 Club are an odd pair, but they're both in this program.  They don't actually share the screen, but perhaps that's for the best.  Who knows what natural disasters might have been unleashed if the Almighty had seen his chosen nutcase cavorting with the master of the macabre?
I think this bizarre chapter in Price's legendary career needs to be seen, so here it is in all of its cheesy,  80's-rific glory.  Oh, and for the record, I edited out a video package that featured concentration camp footage and real baby seal clubbing.  How did they get away with showing that on prime time basic cable anyway?

1 comment:

Scurrilous! said...

I've followed Price's career since the early 90's and I have never ever heard of this. Great find!

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