The Volcano Show!

Introducing The Volcano Show from Gary and Eric! Originally part of the unfinished shows that I mentioned earlier, the Volcano Show has recently been completed and added to the DVD release of More Dinosaurs and Son of Dinosaurs! In the show, a volcano begins to grow in Eric's backyard, prompting him to find out as much useful info about it as he can before it's too late...

It Has Arrived

The time has come, friends. The DVD of More Dinosaurs, Son of Dinosaurs, and The Volcano Show is here and ready to be ordered! For the moment you can order directly from http://www.more-dinosaurs.com/

Also keep in mind that if your fav Dinosaur show isn't on this release, the sales from the first DVD will help fund the 2nd with shows like Prehistoric World and Dinosaurs Dinosaurs Dinosaurs!

You can also try mentioning this blog and see if Richard will throw anything your way ;)

The Volcano Show, and other Mysterious Gary and Eric Adventures

Remember when I mentioned Gary and Eric had more shows in production besides ones about dinosaurs? No? Well they did! And one will be included on the DVD release of More Dinosaurs and Son of Dinosaurs as "The Volcano Show"!

Producer Richard Jones explains...
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Here’s the deal with “The Volcano Show”, and other unfinished specials that were in various stages of production:

Despite our first home video distributor going out of business in the early 90s, we knew our audience enjoyed the “Dinosaur Shows”, and we enjoyed making them, so Midwich Entertainment plunged ahead trying to finish more specials starring Gary Owens and Eric Boardman. We finished “The Wondrous World of Weird Animals” and “Return of Dinosaurs” so that our new video distributor would have new product to promote while also trying to sell “The Dinosaur Shows” that had already been available on home video. At this point, The Disney Channel was still interested in licensing our shows.

So, we began production on:

The Space Show – segments were shot at the Smithsonian and Space Camp (some of which will be seen on the upcoming “More Dinosaurs” DVD release)

The Bug Show – we shot segments with Gary at The L.A. Natural History Museum’s Insect Zoo, Eric at the Smithsonian’s and The Cincinnati Zoo’s insect exhibits, Gary’s odd encounter with a crabby ladybug (Bill Saluga) and a ditzy bee (Patti Deutsch), and Gary and Eric poking around the Los Angeles County Insect Fair. (This show’s field shooting was pretty close to completion, some segments were edited, and we even had titles!)

The Fish Show – we shot some field segments with Eric at the aquariums in Chicago, Baltimore, and New Orleans. (We may put some of the rough cuts of the segments on the next DVD release)

The Volcano Show – will be making its debut soon on the “More Dinosaurs” DVD. We had shot all the segments over a few years including Eric’s trips to Hawaii and Yellowstone, and Gary’s meeting with Mr. Magma – the talking lava flow (built and operated by Chiodo Brothers Productions). In the mid-1990s, we finished the edit, David Spear scored it, and we did final audio post production… just as our deal with the second video distributor was becoming a problem (after the person who had acquired our shows left the company, they had second thoughts about getting into the kid-vid market) and The Disney Channel was shifting its focus to sit-com type series and no longer was interested in educational specials. Without home video and a cable outlet, production had to cease.

So now, 16 years later, after investing in a little final post production, The Volcano Show is finally going to see the light of day. We think the fans of the “Dinosaur Shows” will enjoy it as both a fascinating look at the spectacle of volcanic activity, and a chance to see Gary and Eric together again after all these years.

Richard Jones-Producer

On the Horizon

It's close ladies and gentlemen.

Gary, Eric, Lisa, those Two Girls, the Smartest Kid in the World, and Lee van Cleef

Here is some more footage from Knotts Berry farm, showing Gary interviewing an interpreter named Lisa at the end of the ride, then Eric romping around the park interviewing the locals. That kid really is amazing. I bet he saw some of the earlier Gary and Eric shows.

But do you see that train scene near the end there? In Son of Dinosaurs this is where Gary and Eric first bump into their soviet spy. But did you know the train scene was originally written for a spaghetti western star? Producer Richard Jones explains...
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Here’s a little behind-the-scenes trivia now that Dinosaur Theatre has posted the clip of the “A Spy Tails Gary and Eric”:

When “Son of Dinosaurs” began production it was planned that the total running time was going to be about 88 minutes so that it could air in syndication as two, 1- hour specials. The clip posted was going to be the reintroduction to the plot at the beginning of part 2. Anyway, for a variety of reasons, and the fact that the Disney Channel licensed the programs, the plan changed to make just a one part hour show. Some of the material that later showed up in “Return of Dinosaurs” was actually stuff that was shot to be in “Son of Dinosaurs”, including the rest of Eric’s trip to Canada and the Albertosaurus unveiling in New Mexico.

Probably the most interesting thing that almost happened, was that “the man who will stop at nothing to get the egg” was not going to be a Russian spy, but rather “Spaghetti Western” icon Lee Van Cleef. I had worked with Lee on a Civil War documentary (see photo) a few months before starting plans for “Son of Dinosaurs”.

We began talking about doing a cameo in a kid’s-show, and he seemed to like the idea. The script was written with him in mind. If you look at the train scene at Knott’s Berry Farm, it is clearly referencing Lee’s first scene in “For A Few Dollars More”. Lee and I even got to the point of discussing wardrobe to replicate that look. When I told Knott’s that Lee may be coming to do the scene, the cowboy performers there were thrilled with the idea of having the bad guy from classic Westerns from “High Noon” to “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” spending some time at Knott’s.

Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, the stumbling block was money. These were low-budget children’s documentary productions and Lee (or maybe his agent) couldn't rationalize working for so little. In fairness to the other performers, I couldn't offer more. I hired Alex Rodine, and he did a great job. He had played many enemy agents over a long movie and television career, and liked the idea of doing something for his grandson.



At the time, I was of course disappointed, but it probably didn't make much difference in the kid’s-show universe. It would have been interesting to get Lee and Jimmy Stewart in the same room again – they had worked together in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” and “How The West Was Won”…but it wouldn't have meant much to dinosaur-loving kids. Over the long haul, it may have given some cult status to “Son of Dinosaurs”.

Richard Jones- Producer

A Spy Tails Gary and Eric

An unused transition between the two halves of Son of Dinosaurs. Here the Russian spy overviews his plans for the duo with headquarters.

Eric Boardman and Some "Real Life" Dino's

Here Eric continues his search for a real live dinosaur in the dinosaur capital of the world; Vernal, Utah.

He also runs into a couple of branches and smacks himself in the face but no one said his journey wouldn't be without peril!