Ellen Adair and multi-hyphenate writer/actor/baseball fan Brian Gene White discuss the hilariously bad 1977 made-for-TV movie, "Murder at the World Series." They talk about Brian's upcoming comic book series, DEATH'S ASSISTANT, his play IS NOT THAT STRANGE, and the 2020 World Series, an apropos topic for Brian's Dodgers's fandom. Ellen kicks off an introduction to the film (6:14) "Murder at the World Series," including approximate synopsis, writer, director and some cast credits. After a review of the 20-80 scouting scale (13:46) and an introduction to Brian's scouting director (15:04), they dive in on Amount of Baseball (15:58). Baseball Accuracy (23:02) examines the accuracy of lineups and game seven pitching match-up, Brian's deep dive on J.R. Richard (with quotes from Jeff Pearlman), Bill Virdon Fun Facts, Astros and A's 1976/77 IRL, promoting a rookie for game six of the World Series, brief discussion of the 2022 and 2017 World Series, Brian's experience of fan bases from being a tour guide at Dodger stadium, the character of Alice listing Brooklyn Dodgers from the 1940s, Mary Shane and the history of female baseball broadcasting, w/r/t Jenny Cavnar, Suzyn Waldman, Jessica Mendoza, and some fan accuracy. This film requires a new segment, The Relevant-o-meter (57:11), rating how relevant the various characters are to the central plot. They get into the meat of Storytelling (1:09:43), clarifying that no, this is not based on Tom Seaver's book, and discussing the very (unintentionally) hilarious moments in this movie that made the scouts laugh til they wept, the creepy van, unearned Stockholm syndrome, the (un)likelihood of the Houston Astros paying ransom and other various ransom storyline plotholes, Steve as a walk-on try-out (with some context from Keith O'Brien's CHARLIE HUSTLE), this film's structural destruction of its midpoint action sequence, the dynamite in Steve's pants, the problems of baseball stakes vs. thriller stakes, and more. The Score Tool (1:48:22) discusses how John Cacavas's score is redolent of the 1950s and 1970s, and mostly adds to the hilarity. Acting (1:53:21) considers the performances of Michael Parks, Murray Hamilton, Gerald O'Laughlin, Tamara Dobson, Joseph Wiseman, Nancy Kelly, Janet Leigh, and Bruce Boxleitner, and discussion of 1970s film acting versus 1970s TV acting, with some thoughts about changes in acting style scale from the 1940s to today. Brian brings up the Dramas in the Emmys that year. Delightfulness of Catcher Character (2:02:00) finds not enough of Gene Tenace or Astros Catcher, but Delightfulness of Announcer (2:02:41) appreciates Dick Enberg's excellent contribution. Lack of Misogyny (2:05:11) discusses largely structural misogyny problems, with the film punishing the women with the most sexual partners, and some ridiculous double standards. No spoilers on the following segments: Yes or No (2:14:44), Six Degrees of Baseball (2:18:03) with bonus discussion of Jamie Lee Curtis as "dialogue coach," Favorite Moment (2:19:27), Least Favorite Moment (2:20:23), Scene We Would Like to See (2:21:13 Scene We Would Like to See), paging Rian Johnson, Dreamiest Player (2:24:24) and Favorite Performance (2:25:23).
Follow Brian Gene White @briangenewhite on Instagram/Threads, or Ellen Adair @ellen_adair on Twixter, @ellenadairg on Instagram/Threads, @ellen.adair on Tiktok / Bluesky