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Carrie Fisher: Forever princess, space grandma, and hutt slayer. Sisters Claire Fisher and Katie Marinello watch and read everything she did through her short life and storied career.
Carried Far Far Away Episode 6: Ringo
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Katie Marinello: [00:00:00] Welcome to Carried Far, Far Away, a podcast project where we are going to watch and read everything that Carrie Fisher did during her short life and story career. My name is Katie Marinello.
Claire Fisher: And I'm Claire Fisher.
Katie Marinello: and today we are discussing Ringo, a made for TV quote unquote movie.
Claire Fisher: A 44 minutes of my life I'll never get back.
Katie Marinello: The last couple of movies, Claire and I have said to each other, well, that was certainly a movie. This one, I'm not even sure we could call it that.
Claire Fisher: was not a movie,
Katie Marinello: No,
Katie Marinello: there was not much of a, this may be, we might talk about it longer than it actually was.
Claire Fisher: No, we couldn't possibly. There's not that much to say.
Katie Marinello: There's just not that much to say.
Claire Fisher: Shall I tell you a little bit about the times? Because I
Katie Marinello: tell me about the times. The times really do matter. I think,
Katie Marinello: yes, go ahead.
Claire Fisher: so Ringo, for those of you who have never seen, heard, or imagined the existence of it, is a one hour TV special that [00:01:00] aired April 16th, 1978. And I could tell you lots of things that were going on in spring of 1978, but I think that the two most salient facts are these. Number one, MTV would not be founded for three and a half more years.
Katie Marinello: Okay.
Claire Fisher: That means that, so, there was no market for stand alone music videos, really,
Claire Fisher: which meant it was still possible for musicians who wanted to make a little money to pitch one hour TV specials. That would sometimes have a plot, they wouldn't always have a plot, it was sometimes just reason to sing on TV.
Claire Fisher: Sometimes they had a plot that loosely strung together a couple of numbers. This barely even has that much,
Katie Marinello: Yeah.
Claire Fisher: right? But you, you could get this kind of thing produced because there wasn't yet such a thing as a standalone music video.
Claire Fisher: And people who wanted to see songs sung by famous people would watch it on TV.
Katie Marinello: Mm
Claire Fisher: That's salient fact number one. Salient fact number two is that Ringo Starr was really struggling in [00:02:00] 1978. He
Claire Fisher: was addicted to alcohol and other drugs. He did not get clean and sober completely until 1989.
Claire Fisher: So there were Almost two decades between, you know, the breakup of the Beatles and his eventually getting sober where he was actually quite at loose ends, both personally
Claire Fisher: and professionally, and also he had a marriage and in was breaking up in 1978.
Claire Fisher: So basically this was a cash grab.
Katie Marinello: Mm hmm.
Claire Fisher: hmm.
Katie Marinello: Yeah. I mean, Ringo Starr, what to say, you know, think he's always kind of been the cultural bud of the joke,
Katie Marinello: right? Like he's the one who was just along for the ride and from everything we know about the Beatles, he had nothing to do with the breakup, right?
Katie Marinello: Like it wasn't him. And so he's kind of just out there. And remember dad used to say. What did the drummer say just before he got fired? Hey fellas. I just wrote a [00:03:00] song.
Katie Marinello: So Ringo star on his own would have been very difficult for him to kind of find his footing, right? Because he wasn't part of the fab four anymore, but he still has this ridiculously recognizable name and face.
Claire Fisher: So he was a little bit older than the other Beatles were, but they were still all quite young when they had this massive worldwide global success, fandom, fame, Mm hmm. dramatic headline making break up of their most successful creative endeavor, and then each tried to have solo careers with varying levels of success.
Claire Fisher: And Ringo's had some success later in life, but like, he, he kind of, yes. There's even a joke in Jersey Boys where the least popular member of the Four Seasons says four guys on the stage and I'm Ringo.
Katie Marinello: Hmm.
Claire Fisher: right?
Claire Fisher: Ringo's becomes synonymous with the least famous one in the in the group, right?
Katie Marinello: Right.
Claire Fisher: So let's talk [00:04:00] a little bit about what What they did for this 44 minute So it would have been a one hour special 16 minutes of commercials for
Claire Fisher: for those Of you who are a little younger We used to have such a thing as 44 minute Now it's
Claire Fisher: down to like 39.
Katie Marinello: two, thirty nine. Yeah, exactly.
Claire Fisher: Why don't you give us a 54 second summary, Katie, of the plot, so called, of this special?
Katie Marinello: I, sure.
Claire Fisher: Might 54, right?
Katie Marinello: I think so. Alright, you gonna start timing me?
Claire Fisher: Go for it.
Katie Marinello: So Ringo Starr plays a himself, as well as his identical twin, even though they're from a different mother and father named Agnir Ratz, which is Ringo star backwards. Ringo is kind of in the hustle bustle of fame. He's feeling like he doesn't have a minute to himself. His agent is, Our manager is [00:05:00] constantly telling him that he has to get on to the next thing, on to the next thing, on to the next thing.
Katie Marinello: So he looks out and he sees this guy who sells maps to the stars, and he's like, Hey, come here! And they switch places for, I guess a couple hours is the idea.
Claire Fisher: And
Katie Marinello: and, oh, that's it? Shoot.
Claire Fisher: No, but you've covered it. that's
Katie Marinello: there's, that's pretty much it, yeah.
Katie Marinello: I'll just read the synopsis from IMDB real quick. Ringo, stressed out by fame, trades places with a shmuck who looks exactly like him. Then the problems start.
Katie Marinello: And I did not get to Carrie Fisher's part because it's blink and you miss it kind of thing.
Claire Fisher: yeah. So, I'm gonna give you a little trivia and then we'll go through who the other actors are. Okay,
Katie Marinello: because it is quite a star studded
Claire Fisher: Yeah, for, For, being what it is, yeah I did take note of how many of the stars in it were struggling with some form of substance abuse problem at the time.
Katie Marinello: Okay.
Claire Fisher: Okay, so the main piece of trivia is that this was sponsored by [00:06:00] a car brand, Datsun, which I looked it up.
Claire Fisher: It was a Nissan export brand, so like Japanese cars being sold in the U. S. in the late 70s, which was, I mean, Japan hadn't really become the the business juggernaut that it became in the 1980s, but like it was beginning to be that Japanese money was coming into the American market.
Claire Fisher: So an up and coming car brand. And,
Claire Fisher: perhaps more importantly, Craig car stereos. So, this begins and ends with kind of a plea to people to upgrade their sound systems in their cars. So, they wanted you to listen to Ringo's music on your car stereo. Craig Electronics, it, it still exists, but it's been sold so many times it no longer has that name.
Claire Fisher: But
Claire Fisher: it was a manufacturer of home and car stereos that was most noted for having lots of celebrity sponsorships, including the Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Emerson, Lake Palmer, [00:07:00] and Ringo Starr, who
Claire Fisher: made this one hour special for them, with them,
Claire Fisher: at
Katie Marinello: commercial for them, yeah?
Claire Fisher: I don't know what the operative preposition would be here.
Katie Marinello: Mm hmm.
Claire Fisher: Okay, so as for who's in it, and as you noted, I, so I was watching the opening credits being like, what the hell were these people doing here? Because all of them had other things they could have been doing.
Katie Marinello: Well, okay, so, but, to be fair, it's We're in, we're recording this in December, right? It's kind of like one of those Christmas special thingies,
Katie Marinello: which,
Claire Fisher: to be very popular
Katie Marinello: which, I mean, Sabrina, yeah, but Sabrina Carpenter just came out with one like this week. Like it's not unheard of. Stephen Colbert had one, right?
Claire Fisher: Yeah, but this wasn't Christmas. This was April.
Katie Marinello: no, it's weird.
Katie Marinello: It's weird. But when you are Ringo star, you can pull that kind of star power,
Claire Fisher: sure. So, okay. Most notably, George Harrison is in this
Katie Marinello: Yes. Oh, yes. He [00:08:00] opens it. Yes.
Claire Fisher: One scene that's cut. So like, he's in one clip at the beginning and one clip, like, 35 minutes in and it was obviously just they let him film one scene and then they
Katie Marinello: of course. Yeah. And, and he had some voiceover.
Claire Fisher: but George Harrison was a very good friend to Ringo Starr.
Claire Fisher: So when Ringo called him and said, Hey, I'm gonna make an ad for car stereos, you
Katie Marinello: Mm-hmm
Claire Fisher: he came and did one thing.
Katie Marinello: And it would've been, you know, a delight for people to see them kind of, not even really together, but kind of together, right?
Claire Fisher: Yeah. And I mean, they, they remained good friends up until George Harrison died too.
Claire Fisher: So, I mean, it was obvious that like this kind of happened for a reason. Not because these people's agents wanted them in it, but because Ringo Starr called a couple of friends,
Katie Marinello: Right, of course.
Claire Fisher: Art Carney most famous for his role on The Honeymooners, all
Claire Fisher: the and other things in early TV history.
Claire Fisher: You and I actually have a six degrees of separation with Art Carney. Do you know
Katie Marinello: Oh, [00:09:00] no.
Claire Fisher: Our mother, who has directed us in productions, co
Claire Fisher: directed or assistant directed a production with Michael Mastro who played in the stage musical adaptation of The Honeymooners, the role originated by Art Carney and was
Claire Fisher: therefore given a hat that had belonged to Art Carney
Claire Fisher: by Art Carney's son.
Katie Marinello: Yes. That was
Claire Fisher: So you and I have a Kevin Bacon score with Art Carney.
Claire Fisher: It's three.
Katie Marinello: And he plays, he plays the father?
Claire Fisher: the father of Ognier rats.
Claire Fisher: The American look a like, right? Vincent Price. Truly famous, acclaimed thespian. Synonymous in the movies with kind of horror films, but actually did the horror films kind of to support his theater career. The same year that this came out, he was starring as Oscar Wilde in an award winning one man show called Diversions and Delights, which he took on a hugely successful worldwide tour for most of 1978.[00:10:00]
Claire Fisher: So, like, he probably did the one or two scenes that he's in in this to, like, Get a paycheck to pay for the first leg of his theatrical tour, you know, because that was kind of how Vincent Price did a lot of things.
Katie Marinello: And can you say who they play?
Claire Fisher: Vincent Price plays Dr. Nancy, a hypnotist who's called
Katie Marinello: Ah, yes, yes, yes,
Claire Fisher: Who's called in because the next character I'm gonna talk about Marty Flesh, thinks that Ringo has lost his mind, and that's why he's insisting he's not Ringo, he's
Claire Fisher: actually Agnir. That's why he, he's not Ringo, he's Agnir, but Marty Flesh thinks he's lost his mind, so he calls in a hypnotist to try to quote unquote fix him, and the hypnotist is Vincent Price.
Katie Marinello: Got it.
Claire Fisher: This actually means that out of, again, there's only like eight named characters in this movie, and two of them were played by villains from the Batman TV series, because
Claire Fisher: Art Carney had also been a Batman villain, and so was Vincent Price.
Claire Fisher: So,
Katie Marinello: right. This hits several of your interests.
Claire Fisher: know, right? And then another [00:11:00] interest of ours, John Ritter
Claire Fisher: plays the manager, Marty Flesch was actually actively starring in Three's Company
Katie Marinello: Yeah, so I looked it up because I was thinking like well Maybe he was also kind of between projects and stuff But no, they were only like a year into Three's Company at that
Claire Fisher: Yeah,
Katie Marinello: So I don't know if it was a massive hit right off the bat, but
Claire Fisher: but it was a steady gig.
Katie Marinello: certainly had other things to do.
Claire Fisher: Yeah. He was on contract for the Three's Company. So like, this is
Claire Fisher: like on his week off, he went and made this. Very short TV movie with Ringo Starr, Right.
Claire Fisher: John Ritter, most famous for Three's Company, but also noted to you and I for his terrifying role as Ted on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Katie Marinello: Oh, yeah
Claire Fisher: stepfather who turns out to be a an android.
Katie Marinello: Right, and then I always see clips from his last role. Eight, eight, Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter or
Claire Fisher: Yeah,
Claire Fisher: I ate simple rules for dating my teenage daughter, he was in the first season of that. Unfortunately [00:12:00] collapsed on the set, filming that, and died of an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm as I recall, which
Katie Marinello: and then they kept that show going forever. And they killed him off in the show.
Katie Marinello: So,
Claire Fisher: I
Claire Fisher: mean, when your star dies, the show must go on,
Katie Marinello: The show must go on, I guess. Yeah, I mean, how many times did he replace Suzanne Somers?
Claire Fisher: The show
Claire Fisher: will go on is kind of an important theme through the the careers of several of the actors we've just mentioned, because we
Claire Fisher: will note that Carrie Fisher also died midway through making a Star Wars project, and
Claire Fisher: The show went on,
Claire Fisher: Right.
Claire Fisher: So Okay, so yeah, that's kind of the main lineup. There aren't that many characters in this
Claire Fisher: movie.
Claire Fisher: It's not long enough for there to be any characters.
Katie Marinello: No. No. So let's talk about Carrie Fisher. So she plays his girlfriend.
Katie Marinello: She plays Agnir's girlfriend. And I So, you know how you like to do those things like The last guillotine death was 1970 something. [00:13:00] And
Claire Fisher: the same year, yeah,
Katie Marinello: yeah, and
Claire Fisher: words, the segment called The Times that you gave to me because you
Katie Marinello: yes, because I like to hear you do those kinds of things. So to me, I was thinking I wouldn't have thought of Carrie Fisher as contemporaries with Ringo Starr. So I looked it up and guess what? She's
Katie Marinello: not,
Claire Fisher: she's
Katie Marinello: even remotely.
Claire Fisher: not. in the
Claire Fisher: same age group.
Katie Marinello: so creepy.
Katie Marinello: He was 38 and she was 1956 to 1978.
Katie Marinello: What's
Katie Marinello: that? 22?
Claire Fisher: He was
Claire Fisher: 38 and she was 22.
Katie Marinello: Yeah, so and he's singing to her as if she's 16, right? And I'm just like, I looked that up, you know, maybe 15 minutes into this movie and I was like, Oh my God,
Katie Marinello: like, why? Of all the, like, did he not know any other women in Hollywood of all people? I mean, yes, obviously she was very big this year and she was a star, but of all the things I thought she might play in this, Movie, it just didn't [00:14:00] even occur to me that she would be the girlfriend until I saw her and I was like, what?
Claire Fisher: Age gap relationships were not controversial in the 70s. They really
Katie Marinello: I mean, they're not really controversial now, but
Claire Fisher: No, I mean, they, they just had, there was no discourse on age gap relationships other than, like, there was actual, like, feminists were, like, advocating for lowering the age of consent in the 70s, like.
Claire Fisher: Yeah it's hard to remember this now, but it was actually very, very much normalized that there would be these massive age gaps.
Claire Fisher: And I mean, it even comes up, you know, when I blogged about Bonanza, the last love interest of Joe Cartwright on Bonanza is Bonnie Bedelia, who's most famous for Die Hard. Bruce Willis is younger than Michael Landon's oldest son. So like,
Claire Fisher: she was an on screen love interest for Michael Landon and Bruce Willis.
Katie Marinello: right. Yeah. No, I mean and you know even like with Barbie There was a 10 year age gap between Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie and it's like well I They were [00:15:00] the perfect couple for that role. But if she weren't like making the movie.
Claire Fisher: So Carrie Fisher doesn't really get a lot to do in this movie except be the target of the song You're Sixteen,
Claire Fisher: which, Here, Ringo Starr's version, but more famous to me, more familiar to me as the Johnny Burnett version because it was included on the American Graffiti soundtrack.
Claire Fisher: George Lucas's first big hit was American Graffiti.
Claire Fisher: Our mother owned it on vinyl and we used to play it when we were making apple zucchini bread, which we did. A lot in our childhood, actually. So the song, You're 16, You're Beautiful and You're Mine, will forever in my mind be associated with manually grating zucchini because we had broken the food processor.
Katie Marinello: So, Agnir, references her. What's her
Katie Marinello: name?
Claire Fisher: So, Agnir, apparently they have an established relationship.
Katie Marinello: Right, but he says, I have a date with
Claire Fisher: yeah. And
Katie Marinello: we don't see [00:16:00] her until Ringo Starr takes his place,
Katie Marinello: right? Yeah.
Claire Fisher: after they've swapped places, she goes up to what she thinks is her boyfriend, being like, Hey Agnir, time for our date, right? And Ringo, to cover up for not knowing who she is, sings, You're sixteen, you're beautiful and you're mine. Right?
Katie Marinello: Kind of, humorous. He's like, of course I know who you are. I just want to make sure you knew who you were. And she says, your girlfriend? And he's like, ah, my girlfriend, you know? So
Carrie Fisher: You know why I'm crazy about you? No, why? Cause you're such a gunk. And you know why I love you? Why? Cause you're beautiful and
Claire Fisher: and she just totally rolls with everything. She doesn't even react to the fact that he's asking silly questions like, who's this man when his own father walks
Katie Marinello: right, right,
Claire Fisher: Her only reaction to seeing Art Carney like threaten to beat him up is to shout, if you're still in One Piece when you get home, call me. Which I get from that, that he's playing the [00:17:00] character as younger than. Ringo Starr actually is, because Agnir's
Claire Fisher: still living with his father, Agnir's still giving his money to his father, like, it's played as if he's still a teenager, but
Claire Fisher: he's a 38 year old man.
Katie Marinello: I, that's a good question. I took it more as like his father was still domineering his life, even though he was. I grown man because Agnir is for context. He's a map. He sells maps to the stars homes,
Katie Marinello: right?
Claire Fisher: the back, the front of his sandwich board says maps of Starr's homes and the back of his sandwich board says maps of regular people's homes. So he just sells maps.
Katie Marinello: Okay. So he sells maps. He's not making a lot of money doing that. So he has to live with his father. That's kind of how I saw it is
Katie Marinello: that he was kind of economically forced to stay. he has an American accent, is that
Claire Fisher: yeah, he was born in England, according to George
Katie Marinello: Yeah, they were both born in Liverpool at the [00:18:00] same time on the same
Claire Fisher: but one was raised in America. Yeah Okay.
Claire Fisher: again, there's nothing to this
Katie Marinello: We don't have to think too much into
Claire Fisher: here is very scanty open
Claire Fisher: to wide interpretation, let's just say.
Katie Marinello: Don't think we're getting any great morals out of
Claire Fisher: no. I did note though, my main gripe with the text, and I do have one gripe with the text, is that They changed the lyrics of verse 16 between the
Claire Fisher: Johnny Burnett version, which I know very well because I used to grade a lot of zucchini,
Claire Fisher: and the Ringo Starr version, which I know less well, but this was my second time hearing it. They changed the verse this guy is singing about the night he met his girlfriend, and he says, you touched my hand, my heart went pop, and ooh, when we kissed, we could not stop.
You're my baby You're my babe We fell in love on the night we met.
You touched my hand, my heart went pop. And ooh, when we kissed, we could not stop.
Claire Fisher: That's the Johnny Burnett version.
Claire Fisher: The Ringo Starr version is, ooh, when we kissed, [00:19:00] I could not stop.
You're my baby, you're my pet, We fell in love on the night we met.
You touched my hand, my heart went hard. Ooh, when we kissed, I could not stop.
Katie Marinello: Ooh!
Claire Fisher: they actually sh Drip away
Katie Marinello: Made it creepier.
Claire Fisher: Made it creepier.
Claire Fisher: that you're singing about a 16 year old girl.
Claire Fisher: Which, by the way, if you're singing a love song to a 16 year old girl, you should be not 38.
Claire Fisher: You should be like,
Claire Fisher: I mean, and I say that knowing full well, we both live in states where 16 is the legal age of consent, but like,
Claire Fisher: still, 38 and 16, weird. Okay, so, and then the, like, also, the, Like I said, this was kind of the predecessor to music videos. So like, the number that they do while he's singing this song has like the hand, the animated hand of God dragging Markeen around while she's kicking and screaming.
Claire Fisher: So I was kind
Claire Fisher: of like, what are we watching? What is the scene?
Katie Marinello: What is happening?
Claire Fisher: happening [00:20:00] here? Right?
Katie Marinello: Yeah, it felt a little like King Kong
Katie Marinello: ish, right? Like, the little, the girl like being scooped up and screaming and,
Katie Marinello: yeah.
Claire Fisher: a particularly happen in reference. There had been a remake of King Kong like five years earlier,
Claire Fisher: but like not recent, Right.
Katie Marinello: Right.
Claire Fisher: The only other thing that Carrie Fisher really gets to do here is that so, Ringo paid somebody to let him ride in his car, but then
Claire Fisher: due to, you know, the celebrity swap mix up, etc.,
Claire Fisher: gets arrested for Grand Theft Auto,
Claire Fisher: and is trying to get back to the theater to perform his concert that night. Markeen helps him disguise himself by
Claire Fisher: pulling a dress out of a trash can and putting it on
Katie Marinello: Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
Claire Fisher: and then when they get to the theater, And she sees Agnir. He says, Oh, did you miss me? And she says, if I'd known
Katie Marinello: I would have.
Claire Fisher: if I'd known that the guy I was with wasn't you, I would have missed you very much.
Claire Fisher: And that is Carrie Fisher's part in this movie,
Claire Fisher: this quote unquote movie.
Katie Marinello: Yes. Now, okay. [00:21:00] I do need to step back a little bit and point out that the Beatles were known for musical movies. Like this.
Claire Fisher: Yes,
Claire Fisher: but this
Claire Fisher: is not a hard
Katie Marinello: is not a hard day's night. This is not even Yellow
Katie Marinello: Submarine. Or, yeah. But. It's not like he came up with this idea out of thin air.
Claire Fisher: No,
Claire Fisher: but like,
Katie Marinello: this is something that they were known for doing, and I remember we watched Hard Day's Night when we were younger, and we were like, what the heck is that?
Katie Marinello: Like, it was very funny. But then all of a sudden they would be singing the songs, like, over scenes of them, like, running around and doing stuff, and I, we were like, what is this? Because we grew up in a post MTV world, right? So
Claire Fisher: and MTV was founded by a member of the Monkees, who were
Claire Fisher: a Beatles, you know, ripoff band, so like, they inspired MTV.
Katie Marinello: Right.
Claire Fisher: But then in turn, this entire style of film completely went out because of MTV, so.
Katie Marinello: It did, and it didn't. Because, I mean, Taylor Swift has [00:22:00] one of the most popular movies right now, and it's literally just a, her tour,
Katie Marinello: right? her, her, her her concert being recorded.
Claire Fisher: so yeah, let's talk a little bit about these musical numbers, too, because
Katie Marinello: Mm hmm.
Claire Fisher: There are several moments where they break the fourth wall to say things like like Ringo will say something about like, Oh, what happened to yesterday? And,
Claire Fisher: and Marty Flesh, John Ritter will say, that's Not your song.
Katie Marinello: Not your song.
Claire Fisher: then he'll say something like, look at all these lonely people. And then he'll turn to the camera and say, also not my
Katie Marinello: Also not my song. Yes.
Claire Fisher: Octopus's Garden while drumming. And there's a ballet version of Yellow Submarine.
Katie Marinello: Yes, so explain to me how that is his song.
Claire Fisher: I think he wrote the music but not the lyrics, maybe.
Katie Marinello: To Yellow Submarine?
Claire Fisher: Potentially, I mean,
Katie Marinello: Please stand by as we conduct a quick Google search that we probably should have done before we started recording.
@The Beatles: We all live in a yellow submarine, [00:23:00] yellow submarine, yellow submarine.
Katie Marinello: Okay. So Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote it, but he was the vocal lead.
Katie Marinello: his vocal spot on the album. So that makes sense that he's still got the rights to use that song, I guess.
Claire Fisher: / So yeah, there's a ballet version of Yellow Submarine that, When they're trying to, like, get into it, he says something like, Oh, we're all part of the same ocean. We all live on a yellow submarine. And then looks at the camera and says, /
Ringo Starr: There must be an easier way than this to get into a number.
Claire Fisher: And I'm
Claire Fisher: thinking, Yes.
Claire Fisher: there has got to be.
Claire Fisher: The other songs are I Am The Greatest. Act
Claire Fisher: Naturally, which I recognized only because it was recently used in Fallout the
Claire Fisher: TV series. Which, again, I don't play Fallout, but I watched the TV series because someone I went to high school with had two lines in it, so.
Claire Fisher: Yellow Submarine, the ballet version.
Katie Marinello: Mm
Claire Fisher: [00:24:00] Hard on My Sleeve, which I didn't even recognize. Hard Times, A Man Like Me, and then the big finale is With a Little Help From My Friends, which I assume he did have to Negotiate for, because
Katie Marinello: That's, yeah, that's interesting. I do wonder how that would have gone down because John Lennon was still alive. Yes.
Claire Fisher: all four of these people were still alive, and I mean, they all were in touch with each other. It's not like they never spoke to each other again. They just
Katie Marinello: Mm hmm.
Claire Fisher: to be in a band together anymore, right?
Claire Fisher: Which, yeah, the fact that, like, the, the framing device of this quote unquote plot is George Harrison giving a,
Claire Fisher: Press conference.
Claire Fisher: about what's wrong with Ringo today which he summarizes as Ringo's not Ringo, he's Ringo's Ringer Ognier.
Claire Fisher: That's the only line that, one of the only lines that actually made me laugh, right?
Katie Marinello: That's pretty good.
Claire Fisher: That, and also, he starts by saying, Oh, I got a collect call from Ringo, he was being chased by the police. And one of the journalists says, Why, why is he being chased by the police? And George Harrison says, Well, a [00:25:00] fireman wouldn't chase you, would he?
Katie Marinello: That was good. That was, that was old school Hard Day's Night kind of
Claire Fisher: Yeah, so
Katie Marinello: And they also said, well, is that unusual? And he said, no, he always calls collect.
@The Beatles: Let me start Ringo's story at the beginning. It seems two babies were born. The very same moment, the very same second, in the very same country, England. Remarkably, both children, though born of different parents, looked exactly alike.
@The Beatles: One of the infants was taken to America, the other became quite well known in certain circles. The fame and fortune did little to make him happy. Ringo!
Claire Fisher: So yeah, like, the fact that George Harrison is in this movie, you know, like, it just, again, it goes to show that to get this made, Ringo Starr just called a couple people he
Katie Marinello: Yeah. And honestly, I didn't hate it.
Katie Marinello: It was,
Claire Fisher: just nothing, it wasn't, it wasn't
Katie Marinello: yeah, it
Claire Fisher: it wasn't all that funny, it had a couple of good lines,
Katie Marinello: Mm
Claire Fisher: the music wasn't all that great, it was
Claire Fisher: like. Okay, this is good enough for a 78 TV [00:26:00] special. The plot is nothing at all.
Katie Marinello: Mm
Claire Fisher: So, it's just at the end of it, I was like, Okay, so that was 44 minutes. I was knitting in front of the TV, so I was like, Alright, I spent 44 minutes knitting, that's all.
Katie Marinello: Yeah. I think I, I think I had a good time with it though.
Katie Marinello: I mean, I didn't like the, the abusive father. I thought that was a weird choice for a 44 minute, like, romp through the Beatles, you know, ex Beatles songbook. But I don't know. I, I have always appreciated the Beatles ability to make fun of themselves.
Katie Marinello: And so , I thought it was cute. I thought it was silly. If it wasn't Ringo Starr, it never would have been made, right? But that's kind of the point. And I mean, it's a classic story.
Claire Fisher: A classic story of swapping places with a stranger.
Katie Marinello: Yeah, the prince and the
Katie Marinello: pauper.
Claire Fisher: But the prince and the pauper, they're supposed to like, learn something.
Katie Marinello: Oh, yeah, there was
Katie Marinello: no lesson learned
Claire Fisher: there's no [00:27:00] moral, there's no,
Katie Marinello: mm. He doesn't learn about the simple folk. He doesn't learn about the pressures of fame. In fact, it's very weird. He's like, oh, don't don't worry about it You won't actually have to play the drums Just tell them you're on a break and I was like the whole point of this was that you couldn't tell them you were on A break you kept telling them you were You were on a break and they kept making you do stuff.
Katie Marinello: So I don't know that was very weird to
Katie Marinello: me I was like plot hole, but also no plot so full of
Katie Marinello: holes
Claire Fisher: doesn't make any sense and like all Agnir has to do as a quote unquote famous person is that He goes on the Mike Douglas show and
Claire Fisher: knocks the drums over
Katie Marinello: Mm hmm.
Claire Fisher: Then gets hypnotized by Vincent Price and hallucinates Cardboard cutouts of famous rock stars performing snippets of famous songs all of them short enough that you didn't have to pay royalties on them
Claire Fisher: and then That's it.
Claire Fisher: That's it And then they swap back, and there's absolutely no fallout from any of this. There's absolutely no problems. [00:28:00] Ringo hires Ognir to be his new road manager because
Katie Marinello: Oh yeah,
Claire Fisher: the maps. That's
Katie Marinello: he's good with maps,
Claire Fisher: all that happens. And
Katie Marinello: he's keeping him around in case he needs to sneak out again.
Claire Fisher: yeah, the new rule is my body double.
Katie Marinello: We did even talk about the the like weird 1980s style bullies that were following Agnir around.
Claire Fisher: calling Ognir a nerd, which like, was a brand new word in the
Katie Marinello: Yeah, so maybe he was supposed to be in his teenage years cause that feels very teenager. Like, maybe early 20s.
Claire Fisher: Yeah, I don't know. It just, none of it really rings true because Ringo Starr was obviously 38. Like, he does, he
Claire Fisher: looks 38. He doesn't have his youthful good looks.
Katie Marinello: he looks like he's 38 and has been through a
Claire Fisher: Yeah, he's, he's a 38 year old who's been doing some hard living, you know,
Katie Marinello: Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
Katie Marinello: Do you want to tell me your favorite Beatles song?
Claire Fisher: I'd have to think about that.
Katie Marinello: We used to listen to the Beatles a [00:29:00] lot growing
Katie Marinello: up. Like, a lot, a
Claire Fisher: I still listen to the Beatles a lot.
Katie Marinello: In my Life. I love you more. Now in, in my mind, there were like three bands when we were growing up, but it was the Beatles, the monkeys and the beach boys.
Claire Fisher: Well, yeah, I mean. Mom recently gave her entire cassette collection to my husband, who's a physical media geek, and there are still three bands. There are the Beatles, the Monkees, and the Beach Boys.
Katie Marinello: Pretty much. Yeah.
Claire Fisher: Theater soundtracks thrown in.
Katie Marinello: I used to play the best of the Beatles, like as a cassette tape. Like, in my bed with a boombox
Katie Marinello: that we won through the St. Jude's math a thon.
Claire Fisher: We had a whole, like, dance routines worked out to that, that song.
Katie Marinello: to We Can Work It Out.
Claire Fisher: yeah, we can work it out,
Claire Fisher: Yeah.
Life is very short and there's no time [00:30:00] for fussing now. Fighting my friend.
Katie Marinello: So, favorite favorite song? I
Claire Fisher: maybe?
Katie Marinello: don't think I know that one.
Katie Marinello: We'll have, we'll have to play it.
@The Beatles: Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head.
Katie Marinello: I'll admit, I'll admit that I fell out of the Beatles because, you know, getting into college, it became this whole, like, Oh, they're the greatest band in all, you know, the kind of guy who's like still obsessed with the Beatles by college tends to be kind of a obnoxious.
Katie Marinello: And then I found out about their horrible treatment of women, the stereotyping of Yoko
Katie Marinello: Ono and all that stuff, which I do have to drop a plug here for the Yoko Ono episode of You're Wrong About. Really, really wonderful. And, you know, the fact that I think what I was living in New York City as a teacher when Paul McCartney came out and said that Yoko Ono didn't bring up the Beatles, and it's like, cool, you couldn't have said that [00:31:00] at any point in the past 50 years.
Claire Fisher: He might have not really understood
Katie Marinello: Yeah, where he was. Mm hmm, yep. So,
Claire Fisher: I will say though, you forgot to tell me what your favorite is.
Katie Marinello: my favorite Beatles song is, I think, Hey Jude, or The Long and Winding Road.
Katie Marinello: those are the ones that I used to listen to in bed and cry when I needed to cry.
Katie Marinello: it's always nice to check in with the Beatles.
Claire Fisher: In this case, two of them. Ringo Starr's still alive?
Katie Marinello: Still touring.
Claire Fisher: Yeah.
Katie Marinello: With his all star band. So he found another band, which I think was a good step for
Claire Fisher: [00:32:00] Yeah.
Claire Fisher: But I remember the story of when George Harrison was dying and
Claire Fisher: he had, cancer, very advanced, was bedridden. The last time Ringo Starr saw him, I have heard Ringo Starr talk about in an interview the last time he saw George Harrison, he knew it was goodbye. George Harrison couldn't speak. He actually was, like, communicating through written notes.
Claire Fisher: And Ringo said, oh, you know, I'd stay longer, but I actually have to fly out. My daughter's having surgery. And George wrote down, oh, do you want me to come with you? And, like,
Claire Fisher: that was the last joke. The last joke he ever told was
Katie Marinello: that's so sweet.
Claire Fisher: so, the two of them obviously were ride or die friends, and so, I did enjoy George Harrison's appearance in this non film.
Katie Marinello: Oh yeah. It was very funny. So yeah, he's going on tour this summer.
Claire Fisher: Yeah, so, I mean, obviously he turned things around after 1978 was not really a great year for him. He's
Claire Fisher: doing very well now.
Katie Marinello: Yeah.
Claire Fisher: Well,
Katie Marinello: coming to Radio [00:33:00] City Music Hall and the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
Claire Fisher: the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater,
Katie Marinello: in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Claire Fisher: Well, I don't think we should keep talking any longer because we we've gone on about as long as the special has, so
Claire Fisher: I'm just gonna say one Hutzlayer cuz she's not
Katie Marinello: barely. If you could have a half a Hetzlayer,
Katie Marinello: I think we'd probably have to give it there. There is no, I mean, there's no agency. There's no anything, but none of these characters have any agency. Nothing happens.
Claire Fisher: these aren't
Claire Fisher: characters.
Katie Marinello: no, They're
Claire Fisher: cutouts, right?
Katie Marinello: just, yeah, exactly. Cardboard cutouts of themselves.
Katie Marinello: So,
Claire Fisher: Half a Hutslayer. We can do half Hutslayers cuz you know, it's it's our rules.
Katie Marinello: Yeah, we can do whatever we want. So
Claire Fisher: a
Katie Marinello: okay. Half a Hutz layer. So what is next, Clarebear? AHHHH!!! YAY!!!! YAY! YAY!
Claire Fisher: You're not
Katie Marinello: don't seem to have the same enthusiastic!
Claire Fisher: not gonna make me shout Yay!
Claire Fisher: no [00:34:00] matter what you do.
Claire Fisher: The Star Wars Holiday Special with the, the Wookiees and the badly injured Mark Hamill and the
Claire Fisher: singing from Carrie Fisher and the, Bea Arthur and the,
Katie Marinello: Weirdly sentimental Han Solo. Yay!
Katie Marinello: All
Claire Fisher: Alright, fine. Yay.
Katie Marinello: right.
Claire Fisher: Until then, remember the immortal words of Carrie Fisher, If my life wasn't funny, it would just be true. And
Katie Marinello: would be unacceptable.
Katie Marinello: Editor's note, we definitely read our recording schedule wrong and will be watching Leave Yesterday Behind prior to the Star Wars Holiday Special. But I had to leave Claire's reaction in because it makes me laugh. Anyway!
Katie Marinello: Thanks for listening to another episode of Carried Far, Far Away. This podcast is hosted, produced, edited, re-edited, obsessed over, and loved by Katie Marinello and Claire Fisher. You can follow the show on Facebook and Instagram at [00:35:00] Carried Away Pod. You can email us at awaycarriedpod@gmail.com. You can follow Claire at Dead Fictional Girlfriends and Katie at Katiedaway. All clips used in this podcast are done so under the protection of fair use. Have a wonderful week and may the force be with you.
Claire Fisher: And now, our Space Grandma Wisdom of the Week.
Oscar Isaac: What about you? What research did you do?
Carrie Fisher: I asked, uh, the early, young Carrie Fisher what it would be like 48 years later. Oh wait, it's 40.
Oscar Isaac: What did that, what did that young woman say?
Carrie Fisher: She's not speaking to me. She was very busy and partying, partying and making sure that I would look like shit later.
Oscar Isaac: She had her mouth shut.
Carrie Fisher: So, and I don't mean shit. By shit I mean, not as good as.
@The Beatles: We all live in a yellow submarine. Yellow submarine. Yellow submarine. We all live in a yellow
@The Beatles: submarine.
@The Beatles: Okay, that's it.
[00:36:00]