Friday, May 20, 2011

Shirley MacLaine in Shirley's World (1971)

Obscurity factor: 9

Who knew Shirley MacLaine had a television series in the 70's? Well, I'm sure some of you did, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that out. She plays Shirley Logan, a photo journalist who travels the globe to come up with great images for World Illustrated magazine. Each week Shirley travels to some exotic locale (locations were genuine and they shot all over Europe and Asia) and gets involved in some world event, from jewel thefts to the circus. The series only lasted one season and is a bit uneven, but is worth a look, if only for her vibrant personality.

The clip above is the promo for the show which ran on ABC, uploaded to YouTube by JetSetTelevision. Below is the credit sequence uploaded by Witheredgoogie.

This series is fairly recently available on DVD, though the release was in the UK, so it only plays on region free DVD players. No full episodes are available online that I can find.

Obscurity factor: 9 (available on DVD in UK, otherwise rarely seen or remembered)

6 comments:

  1. This was on when I was in fourth grade. I remember watching it once and thinking it was boring. It was probably a bit sophisticated for kids, but on the other hand I loved "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" at that time, as well as "My World and Welcome to It" a couple seasons earlier. Maybe it was boring! I read comments by Shirley stating that she thought the show was kind of an unfocused mess, and I don't think she was sorry it did not last more than one season.

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  2. Yes, I can't imagine that she was that torn up by it being canceled. You can really see her hand in the broad world viewpoint though.

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  3. An entire season of episodes, and not one of them dealt with past lives, astral projection or telekinesis? Now that surprises me, hey Brini... what about a re-telling of this, maybe call it 'Brini's World!'??? I see you wrapped in film stock... perched atop a piano...

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  4. Hey Mr. One Track Mind... Nice to hear from ya!

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  5. Ah but now we both know, THAT'S where you're wrong Brini. As a matter of fact, let's astral project back in time to Gay Paree, where our amazing Shirley kicks up her heels at the world famous, 'Lido!' This is extra special, hope you and your viewers enjoy!

    Shirley MacLaine at The Lido In Paris!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSve0b5n3Ks

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  6. Wow, now that's fun! Look for that one on a post in the near future... Thanks!

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