The Adventures of Letterman
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The Adventures of Letterman was an animated skit that was a regular feature on the 1971–1977 PBS television series The Electric Company.
Created by Mike Thaler, this super hero spoof debuted during The Electric Company's second season, and quickly became one of the show's most popular segments. There were 60 Letterman segments produced from 1972 to 1976.
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[edit] Typical story
In each segment, the narrator Joan Rivers, describes a simple, everyday situation. The villainous Spell Binder—dressed in a white coat and turban—would express disgust at what was going on. He would then use his trusty magic wand (stored beneath his turban) to change a key letter in the word (e.g., "custard" to "mustard").
Havoc would ensue as the result of Spell Binder's actions; for instance, in the above example, the people who were enjoying flavorful custard suddenly and unknowingly began eating red-hot mustard, causing them to turn red and burn from the mouth. Spell Binder would then revel in his fun.
After the narrator expresses despair at the situation, the heroic Letterman—having observed the situation from afar—jumps into action. He replaces the incorrect letter with a more appropriate one that was conveniently placed on his varsity sweater (e.g., "Ripping a 'c' from his varsity sweater ..."), after which time the situation was resolved and things went back to normal. Spell Binder expressed disgust and frustration that Letterman once again foiled his fun ("Curses" or some similar line), while Letterman was sometimes invited to join with the people he helped in whatever they were doing.
[edit] Special episodes
Though nearly all episodes of the segment were stand-alone stories that followed the same general story line, there were some exceptions. One episode functioned as an origin story, portraying Letterman's childhood and growing up. Another story line, in which the Spell Binder was caught by Letterman and put in jail, was told over the course of two episodes. In the first part, Spell Binder sneaks into Letterman's home in order to exact revenge for being foiled, time and time again. He spies upon Letterman, who happens to be packing away all of his letters into a trunk as he prepares to go on vacation. Spell Binder changes the "trunk" into "junk," then proceeds to shrink Letterman down to six inches tall by changing "junk" into "shrunk." However, Letterman then changes "shrunk" into "hunk," which restores his college-football-player physique. He then proceeds to bend Spell Binder's wand, rendering it useless.
In the second part, Spell Binder has been placed behind bars. The narrator of the episode declares, "This looks like the end of a fiend," which inspires Spell Binder to use his bent wand as a letter "r" to change "fiend" into "friend." A strange-looking monster appears (as the narrator exclaims, "I didn't know he had any friends!") and bends the bars of Spell Binder's prison cell, allowing him to slip out and escape.
[edit] Introduction
Faster than a rolling 'O'
Stronger than silent 'E'
Able to leap capital 'T' in a single bound!
It's a word, it’s a plan...it's Letterman! (majestic three-note fanfare)
[edit] Cast
- Zero Mostel – Spell Binder
- Joan Rivers – Narrator
- Gene Wilder – Letterman (most of the time—some early episodes use a different voice actor)
[edit] Parodies
Letterman was parodied as the live-action Litterman during the sixth season of The Electric Company. In the lone segment, the Spell Binder changed a woman sitting on a park bench ("sitter") into a pile of garbage ("litter"). After the litter begins reeking, Litterman arrives to correct the situation.
In that one-time parody skit, Jim Boyd plays the Spell Binder and Skip Hinnant plays Litterman.
