Little Rascals tonight on TCM!

Updated on January 4, 2011 By Ken Begg 7 Comments

TCM (man, I love that station) is honoring the Hal Roach Studio all month long, especially on Tuesdays. Tonight they will be running Our Gang two-reelers all night, starting with prime time.

Even better is next Tuesday, with a full night of Laurel & Hardy shorts. I place The Boys above all other screen comics, and their shorts are their best stuff (although the features Sons of the Desert and Way Out West are classics). For whatever reason, most of the shorts have never been released here in the states. I have bought what was out there over the years, but eventually saw that I assume was a copy of the comprehensive British release of their stuff, and grabbed that set.  In any case, I implore anyone interested in film to catch some of the L&H stuff next week, and you could certainly do worse than to spend a few hours tonight watching the Rascals.
UPDATE: That Miss Crabtree sure is purty!

UPDATE II: Petey is the best dog ever!

UPDATE III: Man, you forget how grim some of these early shorts were. Hitting a kid is such a big deal now, and in a lot of these, there is borderline abuse going on. Also, the poverty is definitely often Depression-level. Still, the good kids always win in the end.

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  • Rock Baker

    I’ll always have a soft spot for Laurel and Hardy. Pop and Grandpa used to collect the boys’ films and screen them often. 8mm, super 8, 16, sound or silent. Laughs lasted all night! All that came to a stop after Gandpa died, and the films had to be sold off for the money. And its true, for whatever reason, that the bulk of their films remain unreleased. So yeah, I have a soft spot for Laurel and Hardy.

  • GalaxyJane

    Man, I love the Little Rascals. That was always the one bright spot about happening to have woken up way too early for cartoons on a Saturday morning. The first thing they’d show, after the test pattern went off and we got our minute of prayer, was episode after episode of Our Gang until it was time for “real” TV.

    We even had a pizza joint in my home town with a Little Rascals theme. I have no idea if it was part of a chain or just a local joint, but Spanky’s was basically like a lower key Chuck E. Cheese with Our Gang shorts playing on big screens all over the place instead of animatronic mouse bands. I used to die over and over playing Dragon’s Lair in there. And learned exactly how much I sucked at Skee-Ball.

    OK, self-indulgent nostalgia moment over, back to regular broadcasting.

  • Ericb

    Back in the 70s in the NY metro area where I grew up the Little Rascals were on pretty much every weekday either in the morning or afternoon. My favorites were the ones with Stymie and the baby Spanky.

  • KeithB

    Update II is wrong. Asta is the best dog ever!

  • Asta’s pretty great, but c’mon, he’s no good in a fight.

  • KeithB

    Since that fact is well proved in the movies, I concede the argument to you, sir!

  • “Don’t move or that dog will tear you to shreds!”