Chicago Sun-Times, Friday, November 28, 1980

'Roadshow': The bizarre, funny side of real people

Ever since NBC’s "Saturday Night Live" premiered in 1975, imitators at all three networks have been trying to cash in on its success. Unfortunately, they’ve concentrated mainly on copying its format, substituting grossness for genuine wit.

Now comes "Roadshow," a 90-minute pilot that will air at 10:30 p.m. Saturday on WMAQ-Channel 5 (NBC). If this first installment, which combines the best elements of the old "Saturday Night Live" show and "Real People," is any indication of what producers Chuck Braverman and Allen Rucker have in store for the future, it deserves a permanent berth on NBC’s lineup.

The show basically revolves around a group of "roving reporters in blue jeans" who tour the country in a bus (a la Charles Curalt’s "On the Road"), seeking out bizarre human-interest stories. Along the way, they stumble upon a real-life "animal house" - food fights and all - at a Louisiana State University fraternity and the "world’s largest Halloween party" at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where thousands of students don costumes and take over a city street. While this is going on, a number of them talk candidly about their fears of having to enter the adult world soon.

ALTHOUGH THEY ENGAGE in clever dialogue between segments, the four young reporters - Greta Blackburn, Julie Brown, Greg Monaghan and Rick Overton - are wisely kept at a distance when it’s called for, allowing the cameras to tell the stories most effectively.

The action is by no means limited to college life. There’s a visit to a Cadillac "cemetary" outside Amarillo, Texas, a profile of an obnoxious, self-important talent manager, and a brief shopping spree at a Western clothing store.

The final segment is a startling look at a women’s sex workshop in New York - by far the most controversial of all the show’s pieces. The clients (several in their 40s) sit around naked and discuss their sex lives and try out a variety of vibrators and other gadgets. ("There is no human man who can go the route of a vibrator," one participant says. "It never slows down, it never rejects you, it never goes out of town.")

We’re also treated to an appearance by Father Guido Sarducci, formerly of "Saturday Night Live," who performs a hilarious rendition of "MacArthur Park" in Italian while strolling through a mist as thick as his accent. At times, he appears to be knee-deep in Cool Whip.

NATURALLY, THERE’S the obligatory musical number - a performance by singer Tom Waits, practitioner of "derelict rock," recorded earlier this year at Chicago’s Park West.

The program is held together by guest-host John Candy of Second City fame, who adds a perfect touch of madness to the over all lunacy. His best moments come during his deadpan repartee with the rest of the cast on the bus. If the producers could snag Candy as a permanent host, the show’s success would be assured.

Meanwhile, off on his own, is a character named Sam Diego [Budge Threlkeld]. Wearing a polka dot bow tie and checkered sport jacket, he appropriately reports on the "sleazy side of America" - in this case, the strip joints along the North Beach section of San Francisco. He introduces us to a man with a snake act and attempts man-on-the-street interviews with little success. Bill Cosby is one of the few pedestrians who stops to chat, although Diego seems oblivious to the comedian’s identity.

"Roadshow" may well be the funniest youth-oriented program to come along since Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi transformed Saturday nights into an evening worth staying home for. Let’s hope NBC keeps this new bus on the road with a full tank of gas.
                                                                                                                        - Robert Feder