The teen skin flick Porky’s is a childhood favorite. You may have a problem with that statement but it’s the truth, plain and simple. Now my parents were not in the habit of watching such Rated R movies, but my Grandpa Murphy was in the habit of video recording them (among many other movies of course) off of HBO and Cinemax. This was one of the favorites that I’d pop into their VCR during sick days spent at their house when my Grandma would leave to go walking or to a doctor appointment or something.
The raunchy humor certainly wasn’t the only draw to this film, although I’m sure it is what ultimately made it a box-office smash hit. I really liked the characters and the comedy, and the fact that it took place during the mid-1950’s, there is a certain degree of innocence and wholesomeness interwoven amongst the crazy coming-of-age antics. It’s a movie that I still like to revisit now and then, and even though the sequels Porky’s II: The Next Day and Porky’s Revenge are vastly inferior, they still manage to pull some fun moments out of their hat as well.
The fact that the Chiller Theatre was hosting a 30th anniversary reunion of the cast of Porky’s was enough to get me to attend the event in Parsippany, New Jersey, on October 27, 2012. (I haven’t let the fact that the five male leads would reunite once again at the Hollywood Show that I would attend in January 2013 get me down either, since the Chiller show outdid themselves on celebs at that particular show).
Five of the lead actors all assembled in one room to sign autographs for $20 each and offer free photo ops with each purchase. Sadly, Wyatt Knight, who had played Tommy Turner in the film, had passed away exactly one year and two days before my encounter with the other cast members. I wasn’t able to get a satisfactory answer from any of the cast as to why Roger Wilson, who has played Mickey Jarvis, was not in attendance. Apparently many of them were still friends with him, but didn’t know why he wasn’t there.
Surprisingly, there didn’t seem to be much business for the boys from Angel Beach as I circled the room and got each of them on a group photo. I started off with Scott Colomby who had played Brian Schwartz in all three of the Porky’s films. He was the only whose autograph I had already obtained – although I had never met him. My friend Bob had gotten him to sign a photo from Caddyshack (in which he played Tony D’Annunzio, as seen above). He had also had a 6-episode recurring part in the sitcom One Day at a Time and had starred in an episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Next up was Cyril O’Reilly, who had played Tim Cavanaugh in the first two Porky’s films. He and his former on-screen enemy Scott Colomby were having fun by yelling out “photo op!” every time they posed for a picture. O’Reilly’s TV and film career had been quite lucrative and you might spot him in a small role in Airplane! and in the TV series M*A*S*H, Matlock, E.R., and The X-Files, to name a few. Since the photo at the top of the posting was actually from Porky’s Revenge, I had to get a second photo to have Cyril O’Reilly sign; this one was actually from the original Porky’s.
My friend Peter was clever enough to grab an extra photo with Scott Colomby in it as well. These two had quite the fist fight in the movie. This gave me an opportunity to come between them and make sure it didn’t happen again.
Mark Herrier was nice and friendly, and every bit the everyman that he was in the all three of the Porky’s films as Billy McCarthy. He too had an episode of M*A*S*H in his filmography. I was just going to settle for having the above photo signed by Cyril O’Reilly, but at the last minute I returned to Herrier to have him sign it too.
Tony Ganios reminded me of an Italian gangster, complete with a toothpick hanging out of his mouth and slicked-back jet-black hair. I didn’t expect the actor who had played Anthony “Meat” Tuperello to articulate much, but I also didn’t expect him to be quite so intimidating. Mostly he was just quiet and compliant with my requests, but I got the feeling that it wouldn’t take a lot to be crushed by Meat if he were so inclined. His acting résumé was the most scant of all. Outside of the three Porky’s films, his other claim to fame was a role as a terrorist in Die Hard 2: Die Harder and a part in John Belushi’s film Continental Divide.
Last and certainly not least is Dan Monahan – aka Edward “Pee Wee” Morris – the centerpiece of the Porky’s films. It is his character who made the series so utterly likeable with his good nature and utter naïveté. His acting career outside of the three Porky’s films almost completely stalled, although you might spot him in a couple episodes of Eight Is Enough or the wannabe teen flick Up the Creek. I had him sign both photos and then after some thought, returned to his table and had him add “The boys form Angel Beach are here!” – a line from the first film as the boys return to enact their revenge on Porky.
As I watched the Chiller guest list unfold, I couldn’t help but notice that there was one other enticing big name missing from the line-up: Kaki Hunter, who had played the supposedly promiscuous female lead Wendy Williams in all three of the Porky’s film. And sure enough, just before show time, they got her! I was ecstatic.
Strangely enough, the show did not put her in the room with her co-stars and she was not part of the $100 group photo-op (which I passed on), and when I asked her, she had no idea why. Either way, I was extremely pleased to get the chance to meet her. The inscription on the photo above was her idea – and if you’ve seen the film, you’ll know what happens next and wince appropriately.
Incidentally, it would have seemed that it wouldn’t have been difficult to get Art Hindle back for the reunion. He had just appeared at the Chiller Theatre show in April, and I’m sure he would have been delighted for the extra business that a reunion would have brought.
Celebrities of the Fall 2012 Chiller Theatre show will continue…
Admittedly I’m not a fan of the films, but I always enjoy it when you get a group from one project in one fell swoop. They were nice and but I did find the loud “Photo Op!” kind of obnoxious. And yes I was proud of the extra Scott Columby shot. He looks like he’s kind of spacing out.
Peter
March 21st, 2013