I wrote my latest AMC TV column on the 25th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and included this gem:
There's so much right here, I don't know where to begin. First off...
-The set. Since the interview, from one of Barbara's pre-Oscar specials, exists solely to plug Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of Extending Vanilla Ice's Career Past 'Ice Ice Baby', I'm going to assume she's visiting them on set. However, it looks pretty chintzy, even for a quickie sequel. Was the set constructed specifically for this interview? Did some poor union guy go from working on "Twin Peaks" or "Covington Cross" to building a fake sewer for Barbara Walters to chat with the Ninja Turtles on for three minutes? Right now some set designer could have "Underground sewer lair, Barbara Walters Special" on their resume.
-Babs calling Donatello, "Donatella." You might remember Donatello's later years as an Italian fashion designer with leathery, reptilian skin.
-The brilliant twist on the creaky "everyone cries on Barbara Walters specials" gag. That Jim Henson Creature Shop can do anything.
-Donatello shaking his head at Barbara's attempt to adopt Raphael's "urban" slang. Yes, Babs isn't hip enough to hang with a bunch of white guys in rubber suits.
Besides the occasional Muppet mingling with Matt Lauer, this kind of thing never happens on TV any more. I would kill for a DVD of journalists awkwardly interviewing cartoon characters and puppets. It's a rite of passage for news anchors: you're nobody in the TV news biz until you've bumped fists with Raphael or gotten hit on by Miss Piggy.
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