info
Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Tony Petrillo, 75,, 1970s cast member, NYC's cult TV "The Uncle Floyd Show"
305 views
Skip to first unread message
That Derek
Mar 16, 2022, 1:07:07 AM3/16/22
to
It is quite distressing to post that Anthony Vincent Petrillo, better known as Tony Petrillo, or his sometimes stage name Tony Vincent, has expired. He died on Monday, March 14th, 2022, here in New Jersey, aged 75 (born June 18th, 1946)
No newsprint obituary or funeral home notice just yet and no cause of death is forthcoming, though Tony was, reportedly, suffering from kidney ailments.
Tony Petrillo was a fixture on local Essex County cable access TV programming centered in his hometown of Bloomfield NJ. In the mid-1970s, Tony served as cameraman at UHF Channel 68 (originally designated WBTB-TV, then WTVG-TV) in West Orange.”
This position facilitated Petrillo being absorbed into the cast of “The Uncle Floyd Show,” a NYC-market “cult” comedy programme geared toward a college audience even though Floyd Vivino maintained many kiddie-show trappings such as puppets and artwork from his viewers. In the nascent days of TUFS, there was a dearth of available players to assist Floyd in his sketches -- forcing him to recruit camera operators like Marc Nathan or Tony Petrillo for an assist.
Although Tony never built up a hefty repertoire of characters, three of his 1976 mainstays were later taken up by others: Mr. Whistle, an off-camera personage who communicated via a toy slide flute; “The Hand,” which essentially was a disembodied knock-off of “Thing,” from “The Addams Family”’ and in Floyd’s parody of “You Bet Your Life,” with Floyd portraying “Groucho Markowitz,” and Tony as his announcer “George Filet-Mignon” [Please do not get me started on TUFS’s tendency towards “forced” parody names – in this case, “George Fenneman”; this comedy writer lives by the rubric that “parody names that sound like one is going out of his/her way to make it a parody name are only funny within the pages of MAD Magazine.”].
In 1981. Petrillo started WAVP Cable Radio in the basement of his Bloomfield home on Gillespie Road. In short, he always had wanted his own radio station, the frequencies were all taken, and he discovered a way in which WAVP’s (named after his initials) signal would be transmitted via phone lines to be broadcast as the audio portion of a “print-out” channel over Suburban Cablevision (now part of Comcast) in nearby East Orange. This writer was an ‘AVP air personality throughout most of 1981
That’s about all for now.
Derek Tague,
one-time -- but never deposed-- "Official Historian" of "The Uncle Floyd Show"
No newsprint obituary or funeral home notice just yet and no cause of death is forthcoming, though Tony was, reportedly, suffering from kidney ailments.
Tony Petrillo was a fixture on local Essex County cable access TV programming centered in his hometown of Bloomfield NJ. In the mid-1970s, Tony served as cameraman at UHF Channel 68 (originally designated WBTB-TV, then WTVG-TV) in West Orange.”
This position facilitated Petrillo being absorbed into the cast of “The Uncle Floyd Show,” a NYC-market “cult” comedy programme geared toward a college audience even though Floyd Vivino maintained many kiddie-show trappings such as puppets and artwork from his viewers. In the nascent days of TUFS, there was a dearth of available players to assist Floyd in his sketches -- forcing him to recruit camera operators like Marc Nathan or Tony Petrillo for an assist.
Although Tony never built up a hefty repertoire of characters, three of his 1976 mainstays were later taken up by others: Mr. Whistle, an off-camera personage who communicated via a toy slide flute; “The Hand,” which essentially was a disembodied knock-off of “Thing,” from “The Addams Family”’ and in Floyd’s parody of “You Bet Your Life,” with Floyd portraying “Groucho Markowitz,” and Tony as his announcer “George Filet-Mignon” [Please do not get me started on TUFS’s tendency towards “forced” parody names – in this case, “George Fenneman”; this comedy writer lives by the rubric that “parody names that sound like one is going out of his/her way to make it a parody name are only funny within the pages of MAD Magazine.”].
In 1981. Petrillo started WAVP Cable Radio in the basement of his Bloomfield home on Gillespie Road. In short, he always had wanted his own radio station, the frequencies were all taken, and he discovered a way in which WAVP’s (named after his initials) signal would be transmitted via phone lines to be broadcast as the audio portion of a “print-out” channel over Suburban Cablevision (now part of Comcast) in nearby East Orange. This writer was an ‘AVP air personality throughout most of 1981
That’s about all for now.
Derek Tague,
one-time -- but never deposed-- "Official Historian" of "The Uncle Floyd Show"
Tommie Hicks
Mar 18, 2022, 9:02:33 AM3/18/22
to
Kenny McCormack
Mar 18, 2022, 10:49:47 AM3/18/22
to
In article <384178cb-86f1-4ab1...@googlegroups.com>,
--
People who say they'll vote for someone else because Obama couldn't fix
*all* of Bush's messes are like people complaining that he couldn't cure
cancer, so they'll go and vote for (more) cancer.
Tommie Hicks <tommie....@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 1:07:07 AM UTC-4, That Derek wrote:
>> It is quite distressing to post that Anthony Vincent Petrillo, better known as
>>Tony Petrillo, or his sometimes stage name Tony Vincent, has expired. He died on
>>Monday, March 14th, 2022, here in New Jersey, aged 75 (born June 18th, 1946)
>>
>> No newsprint obituary or funeral home notice just yet and no cause of death is
>>forthcoming, though Tony was, reportedly, suffering from kidney ailments.
>>
>> Tony Petrillo was a fixture on local Essex County cable access TV programming
>>centered in his hometown of Bloomfield NJ. In the mid-1970s, Tony served as
>>cameraman at UHF Channel 68 (originally designated WBTB-TV, then WTVG-TV) in West
>>Orange.
>>
>> This position facilitated Petrillo being absorbed into the cast of The Uncle
>>Floyd Show, a NYC-market cult comedy programme geared toward a college
>>audience even though Floyd Vivino maintained many kiddie-show trappings such as
>>puppets and artwork from his viewers. In the nascent days of TUFS, there was a
>>dearth of available players to assist Floyd in his sketches -- forcing him to
>>recruit camera operators like Marc Nathan or Tony Petrillo for an assist.
>>
>> Although Tony never built up a hefty repertoire of characters, three of his
>>1976 mainstays were later taken up by others: Mr. Whistle, an off-camera
>>personage who communicated via a toy slide flute; The Hand, which
>>essentially was a disembodied knock-off of Thing, from The Addams
>>Family and in Floyds parody of You Bet Your Life, with Floyd
>On Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 1:07:07 AM UTC-4, That Derek wrote:
>> It is quite distressing to post that Anthony Vincent Petrillo, better known as
>>Tony Petrillo, or his sometimes stage name Tony Vincent, has expired. He died on
>>Monday, March 14th, 2022, here in New Jersey, aged 75 (born June 18th, 1946)
>>
>> No newsprint obituary or funeral home notice just yet and no cause of death is
>>forthcoming, though Tony was, reportedly, suffering from kidney ailments.
>>
>> Tony Petrillo was a fixture on local Essex County cable access TV programming
>>centered in his hometown of Bloomfield NJ. In the mid-1970s, Tony served as
>>cameraman at UHF Channel 68 (originally designated WBTB-TV, then WTVG-TV) in West
>>Orange.
>>
>> This position facilitated Petrillo being absorbed into the cast of The Uncle
>>Floyd Show, a NYC-market cult comedy programme geared toward a college
>>audience even though Floyd Vivino maintained many kiddie-show trappings such as
>>puppets and artwork from his viewers. In the nascent days of TUFS, there was a
>>dearth of available players to assist Floyd in his sketches -- forcing him to
>>recruit camera operators like Marc Nathan or Tony Petrillo for an assist.
>>
>> Although Tony never built up a hefty repertoire of characters, three of his
>>1976 mainstays were later taken up by others: Mr. Whistle, an off-camera
>>personage who communicated via a toy slide flute; The Hand, which
>>essentially was a disembodied knock-off of Thing, from The Addams
>>portraying Groucho Markowitz, and Tony as his announcer George
>>Filet-Mignon [Please do not get me started on TUFSs tendency towards
>>forced parody names in this case, George Fenneman; this comedy
>>writer lives by the rubric that parody names that sound like one is going out
>>of his/her way to make it a parody name are only funny within the pages of MAD
>>Magazine.].
>>
>> In 1981. Petrillo started WAVP Cable Radio in the basement of his Bloomfield
>>home on Gillespie Road. In short, he always had wanted his own radio station, the
>>frequencies were all taken, and he discovered a way in which WAVPs (named
>>writer lives by the rubric that parody names that sound like one is going out
>>of his/her way to make it a parody name are only funny within the pages of MAD
>>Magazine.].
>>
>> In 1981. Petrillo started WAVP Cable Radio in the basement of his Bloomfield
>>home on Gillespie Road. In short, he always had wanted his own radio station, the
>>after his initials) signal would be transmitted via phone lines to be broadcast
>>as the audio portion of a print-out channel over Suburban Cablevision (now
>>part of Comcast) in nearby East Orange. This writer was an AVP air personality
>>throughout most of 1981
>>
>> Thats about all for now.
>>as the audio portion of a print-out channel over Suburban Cablevision (now
>>part of Comcast) in nearby East Orange. This writer was an AVP air personality
>>throughout most of 1981
>>
>>
>> Derek Tague,
>> one-time -- but never deposed-- "Official Historian" of "The Uncle Floyd Show"
>I wonder if he was related to Sammy.
All that to add just one line...
>> Derek Tague,
>> one-time -- but never deposed-- "Official Historian" of "The Uncle Floyd Show"
>I wonder if he was related to Sammy.
--
People who say they'll vote for someone else because Obama couldn't fix
*all* of Bush's messes are like people complaining that he couldn't cure
cancer, so they'll go and vote for (more) cancer.
A Friend
Mar 18, 2022, 2:20:14 PM3/18/22
to
Kenny McCormack
Mar 18, 2022, 2:37:06 PM3/18/22
to
--
One should not believe everything posted to USENET.
- Aharon (Arnold) Robbins arnold AT skeeve DOT com -
- 4/15/19 -
That Derek
Mar 20, 2022, 7:24:53 PM3/20/22
to
Tony Petrillo stated that he was a distant cousin of Sammy Petrillo – when it was situationally expedient. In the 1970s, Tony met his comedic idol (I’m not making this up) Jerry Lewis via some event involving MDA, When the Nutty Professor inquired if Tony was related to Sammy, the knock-off Jerry Lewis, Tony did not own up to this kinship.
My Petrillo, also, claimed a relationship to James C, Petrillo, the powerful musician union boss from
the 1940s (there’s a punch line about that Petrillo at the end the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Hurdy Gurdy Hare.”).
However, Tony’s most outrageous kinship involvee a Petrillo who was totally fictitious.
During the summer of 1978, the TV sitcom-cum-serial parody “Soap” concludeed its first season with the cliffhanger query “Who Killed Peter Campbell?” after the show’s central character Jessica Tate was falsely convicted of the murder. The judge was named “Anthony Petrillo” (portrayed by professional old guy Charles Lane). Tony claimed that he “knew someone” connected to “Soap,” who, on Tony’s behalf, persuaded Susan Harris & Co. to name the judge after Tony.
My Petrillo, also, solidified his boast when he saw the scene where Jessica’s bête noir Swedish sister-in-law (Inga Swenson) was sleeping with Judge Petrillo in hopes of swaying his court decision and that her pet-name for him was “Tony.” But it gets more complicated … Tony said that his “Soap” guy was going to send him Charles Lane’s bench signage, a desk plaque reading “The Hon. Anthony Petrillo,” upon conclusion of the story arc.
Months later, I asked Tony about the souvenir plaque, Tony hemmed-and-hawed and improvised that the “Soap” people had received several requests from a bevy of other Anthony Petrillos, thus forcing them not to play favorites and retiring said sign to the prop department.
It’s a funny thing about the Petrillo nomenclature. There must have been some other Petrillo in Susan Harris’s past that also inspired her to name one of The Golden Girls “Sophia Petrillo,”
But that’s not there’s where the hubris stops! Tony claimed that in 1969, he “co-wrote” the Archies’ hit song “Sugar, Sugar.” Somehow, he ended up at the1619 Broadway Brill Building, hanging out with the late 1960s stable of Don Kirschner’s songwriters: Jeff Barry, Andy Kim, Ron Dante, Tony Wine, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, et, al, A melody started circulating among this ad hoc assemblage with the result becoming “Sugar, Sugar,” to which everybody in the room contributed. Tony devised the lyric “You are my candy girl.”
I called him out: “Then how come Jeff Barry is the only credited songwriter on the 45?” Words to the effect of “There were too many names to squeeze in, and Jeff Barry had the most seniority …”
“You said this all happened in 1969? … ‘Sugar, Sugar’ was written in 1966 and was first offered to the Monkees, who turned it down” [during their high profile split from Don Kirschner].
Tony Petrillo eventually gave up below-the-radar radio and local public access cable-TV and got a job as a civil servant for the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development), that is, “Unemployment,” as a facilitator who ran orientation sessions for new applicants That’s where I last met up with him roughly eight years ago. He recently retired.
Now don’t get me started about Sammy Petrillo …
My Petrillo, also, claimed a relationship to James C, Petrillo, the powerful musician union boss from
the 1940s (there’s a punch line about that Petrillo at the end the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Hurdy Gurdy Hare.”).
However, Tony’s most outrageous kinship involvee a Petrillo who was totally fictitious.
During the summer of 1978, the TV sitcom-cum-serial parody “Soap” concludeed its first season with the cliffhanger query “Who Killed Peter Campbell?” after the show’s central character Jessica Tate was falsely convicted of the murder. The judge was named “Anthony Petrillo” (portrayed by professional old guy Charles Lane). Tony claimed that he “knew someone” connected to “Soap,” who, on Tony’s behalf, persuaded Susan Harris & Co. to name the judge after Tony.
My Petrillo, also, solidified his boast when he saw the scene where Jessica’s bête noir Swedish sister-in-law (Inga Swenson) was sleeping with Judge Petrillo in hopes of swaying his court decision and that her pet-name for him was “Tony.” But it gets more complicated … Tony said that his “Soap” guy was going to send him Charles Lane’s bench signage, a desk plaque reading “The Hon. Anthony Petrillo,” upon conclusion of the story arc.
Months later, I asked Tony about the souvenir plaque, Tony hemmed-and-hawed and improvised that the “Soap” people had received several requests from a bevy of other Anthony Petrillos, thus forcing them not to play favorites and retiring said sign to the prop department.
It’s a funny thing about the Petrillo nomenclature. There must have been some other Petrillo in Susan Harris’s past that also inspired her to name one of The Golden Girls “Sophia Petrillo,”
But that’s not there’s where the hubris stops! Tony claimed that in 1969, he “co-wrote” the Archies’ hit song “Sugar, Sugar.” Somehow, he ended up at the1619 Broadway Brill Building, hanging out with the late 1960s stable of Don Kirschner’s songwriters: Jeff Barry, Andy Kim, Ron Dante, Tony Wine, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, et, al, A melody started circulating among this ad hoc assemblage with the result becoming “Sugar, Sugar,” to which everybody in the room contributed. Tony devised the lyric “You are my candy girl.”
I called him out: “Then how come Jeff Barry is the only credited songwriter on the 45?” Words to the effect of “There were too many names to squeeze in, and Jeff Barry had the most seniority …”
“You said this all happened in 1969? … ‘Sugar, Sugar’ was written in 1966 and was first offered to the Monkees, who turned it down” [during their high profile split from Don Kirschner].
Tony Petrillo eventually gave up below-the-radar radio and local public access cable-TV and got a job as a civil servant for the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development), that is, “Unemployment,” as a facilitator who ran orientation sessions for new applicants That’s where I last met up with him roughly eight years ago. He recently retired.
Now don’t get me started about Sammy Petrillo …
sma...@pipeline.com
Jun 1, 2023, 2:58:41 PM6/1/23
to
On Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 1:07:07 AM UTC-4, That Derek wrote:
> It is quite distressing to post that Anthony Vincent Petrillo, better known as Tony Petrillo, or his sometimes stage name Tony Vincent, has expired. He died on Monday, March 14th, 2022, here in New Jersey, aged 75 (born June 18th, 1946)
Wow, I just read this (in 2023). I remember Tony Petrillo from the Uncle Floyd Show. I was briefly on the North Ward Citizen's First Aid Squad around 1980 - 1981 and one afternoon, in strolled Tony. The biggest kick was singing, "The day has passed by tick tick tock, and now my friends, it's six o'clock. Six o'clock. Six. O. Clock" with him. That was the 1970s intro to the show just before the intro from Swinging Down the Lane (the theme song back then).
I remember him mentioning "WAVP Cable Radio." Never saw him again, and never really saw any mention of him on the UFS after that time. Hope he did okay in the intervening years.
0 new messages