Geraldine Jones

The Devil made me do it! WHOOOOOOOO!

My whole family loved Flip Wilson and then he just disappeared...

Did he just take the money he made and retired? He made a comeback in a tv series and then died soon afterwards is all I recall. But, yes, his variety series was a huge hit and most everybody loved Flip.

He should have had the career that, that rapist Bill Cosby had.

R3 No, he had a one-season sitcom in 1986-7, with Gladys Knight as his wife. He didn't die until 1998. His last appearance was a cameo on The Drew Carey Show in 1996.

Geraldine on her fur coat:

"It's 10% beaver and 90% Dacron. Killer works for a man who has a Dacron farm."

Too bad he died, when he did. I would have killed to have seen a Geraldine meets Madea movie.

WHOOOOOOO!

r5, that skit with Joe Namath is one of the funniest things ever on television. I could watch it over and over.

"Honey... Honey, the only culture that I know about IS physical." @2:34

"Generally, when I conduct a class I give them a little pep talk, first...now, I say 'Girls?!! GIRLS!!! WILL Y'ALL SHUT UP AND LISTEN!!!'" @3:27

The Flip Wilson show was such a huge hit. It was #2 in its first two seasons (1970-71, 1971-72). Then it dropped to #12 in its third season in 1972-73. In 1973-74, it dropped out of the Top 30. I'm not sure why it had such a precipitous drop.

Wilson's back story is really interesting (see attached link). He had a difficult childhood. He had an eye for talent and put performers, especially people of color, on his hit show to get them more exposure. He was called TV's first Black Superstar. Then it all seemed to fade. After the ratings dropped, NBC wanted to cut the budget, but rather than do that he quit.

I'd always read he invested his money wisely and didn't have to work again. He performed here and there but in 1979 he got custody of his five kids and took time off to raise them. But he had substance abuse problems and got busted for cocaine possession in the 1980s.

Amen brother

What you see is what you get, baby!

[quote]I doubt many under 40 would even know who this is.

How the fuck would they? The show ceased production in 1974. Forty-six years ago, so make that at least "many who are not well into their 50s." Goddamn, it's not that people are old here so much as they are so devoted to old shit.

What you see is what you get!

I was but a wee one when it was on the air. So yes, THIS is one of those things I would not expect any younger person to know about.

[quote] Goddamn, it's not that people are old here so much as they are so devoted to old shit.

And when you're their age (if you're lucky to live that long), you will be too. It will be the pop culture of YOUR youth, though. And it will seem just as grossly outdated to people 20+ years younger than you as Flip Wilson does to you.

Popular culture always quickly becomes outdated, and we always love best the popular culture (particularly the music, the comedy, the bad TV shows) of our youth. It's no different among Dataloungers than among anyone else.

Datalounge has always skewed older in terms of its demographic. If this is causing you such unhappiness, you should probably find a site that skews younger. No one here is going to change because of your whining.

R12, you really need to get familiar with your own culture. The world did not start spinning in 1990, you know.

It was a truly funny bit. Still makes me laugh. WHOOOOOO!

In Marjorie Garber's cultural study of cross-dressing, she notes how progressive Geraldine was as a character, especially for the time. She's campy, sure, but she's a black woman revelling in her own sexual attractiveness and desirability, she's always in control of the situation and her body ("Don't you TOUCH me; don't you EVER TOUCH me!"), and she's witty.

Flip was so funny as Geraldine! Here "she" is with Bing Crosby. He could barely say his lines due to Flip's joking remarks. (The skit starts at 3:18.)

Bing at 4:38: "You gotta see it to believe it"

Geraldine: "Well, you better believe it, because you ain't gonna get to see it!"

Geraldine did a skit with that character of Cher's(can't think of her name, but the one with the cat eye glasses and wore leopard prints)where they were at a high school reunion and Cher's character said something to the effect of, "Is that killer standing in front of that big black wall?" and Geraldine responds, "Honey, Killer IS that big black wall!". I can't remember if that was on Sonny and Cher, Cher's own show of Flip's show.

Didn't Geraldine also appear as Dion's(Eddie Murphy)mother on SNL?

When I think of the 1970's cross dressing was regularly practiced on all the comedies. And yeah Flip Wilson was a funny man.

r20 Wasn't Cher's character named Laverne?

R22, yes. It came to me after I posted.

I guess I always felt that gays of any age should know about past cultural icons.

Yep, him too. All I can say is that your girl, Mary, got around!

Miss Piggy came along after Wilson went off the air, and stole her thunder as a the world's favorite mainstream drag act!

No, really. Miss Piggy and Geraldine had rather similar sass and attitude, only Miss Piggy had more style, more depth, and better writers.

R15 It isn't just that, there are a few people like me, who just loves history. And, to me that includes pop history. I might only be in my mid-30s, but I know and am a fan of tv shows from the beginning of commercial tv in the late-1940s until today. I am also a major fan of Old-Time Radio; nothing is better for long road trips.

R9 The main reasons for the decline in the ratings were The Waltons and the overall drop in variety show ratings in general. In the show's second season, CBS decided to counter-program with The Waltons, and to the surprise of everyone it became a hit.

Flip Wilson also had hit comedy albums as Geraldine.

The Flip Wilson Show was so popular when I was young. It’s like he just disappeared in the mid-70s. And Geraldine was all over TV at one point.