TV pioneer’s game show, odd D.C. Follies, on DVD

While much of what clutters the airwaves and the DVD market can seem like it’s all made from the same pattern, sometimes TV takes a bizarre, surreal turn that can make viewers say either “What a refreshing change!” or “What in the world is this?” Or both.

Here are two lesser-known examples of “Huh?” programming from decades past.

What is it? Take a Good Look, complete series, 53 episodes on 7 discs

When? Now

How much? $69.97

Take a look at what?

Good question.

This is a TV game show, but it’s no ordinary game show. That’s thanks largely to its creator and host, Ernie Kovacs.

In the 1950s and early ’60s, Kovacs was a comedy pioneer known for comedy that was off the wall and he has since served as an inspiration for generations of comedians and TV series including Johnny Carson,

Conan O’Brien, Saturday

Night Live and Sesame

Street.

In this series, celebrities try to guess the identity of a secret guest, for instance, a U.S. Navy sailor who was rescued after falling off a ship. The panel receives clues and asks questions to try to ferret out the answer.

But it’s not that simple. Kovacs’s “clues,” in the form of comedy sketches and sight gags like a live duck wearing a parachute landing on the panel’s desk, are completely unhelpful and just plain odd.

The audience is in on all the secrets so the fun comes from watching the panelists struggle to figure it out (sometimes they actually do) and from listening to the banter among quick-witted Kovacs and his befuddled friends.

Kovacs’ humor was not an easy sell back in the day and even today it seems avant-garde. Alternately ridiculous, sharp and surreal, Kovacs and his oddball game show was ahead of its time.

What is it? D.C. Follies, complete series,

44 episodes on 4 discs

When? Nov. 14

How much? $34.99

A Washington-based variety show? Not exactly. In this case, D.C. Follies is the name of a Washington bar populated by all the top political and pop culture stars of the day (late 1980s).

Of course, since the series was created by Sid & Marty Krofft (of H.R. Pufnstuf fame), most of those stars are puppets.

Fred Willard (the only actual human appearing on a regular basis) is bartender at the Follies, where puppet caricatures of real-life famous faces such as Richard Nixon, Katharine Hepburn, Oliver North, Ayatollah Khomeini and Oprah Winfrey mingle, drink and sometimes hatch crazy schemes.

It is all very, very odd. Where else would you see puppet versions of Tammy Faye Bakker and Jessica Hahn having a knock-down, drag-out fight? Or Jesse Jackson singing a very self-serving gospel song with backup from Cher, Dolly Parton and Barbra Streisand? Or Mr. Rogers having a meltdown over Soviet censorship?

Episodes also feature celebrity guest appearances by actual humans including Betty White and Mike Tyson.

Those not well-versed in the 1980s would probably not get too much out of this, but for those with some general knowledge of 1980s people and events, it’s a very funny, strange satire piece. Though some may find the lifelike puppets more than a little creepy.

New this week: 19-2, Season 4; The Crown, Season 1; Family Guy, Season 15; Poldark, Season 3; Westworld, Season 1

Next week: 24: Legacy, Season 1; 7th Heaven, complete series; C.S.I.: Miami, complete series; Doctor Who, Season 10; The Dukes of Hazzard, complete series; Last Tango in Halifax, Season 4; Preacher, Season 2; Red Dwarf, XII