(L to R) Nick Santa Maria (in character as Benny Biffle), Michael Schlesinger, and Will Ryan (in character as Sammy Shooster)
Michael Schlesinger and the Back Story of Biffle and Shooster
Original Airdates: Jan. 17-20, 2025
TVC 674.1: TV Confidential remembers Michael Schlesinger, the film executive and champion of classic movie restoration who was also the writer, producer, and director of The Misadventures of Biffle and Shooster, a collection of 1930s-style comedies—all starring Will Ryan and Nick Santa Maria—that pay homage to The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, and other vintage comedy teams from the Golden Era of Hollywood. Though filmed circa 2013, the sets, camera shots, attention to detail, and, above all, the performances of everyone involved in the Biffle and Shooster films are all so convincing, they look and sound as if they really were unearthed from the 1930s. Michael Schlesinger passed away Thursday, Jan. 9 at age seventy-four.
In this segment, which originally aired in August 2018, Mike and Will join Ed and Greg Ehrbar for a conversation about the origin of the Biffle and Shooster characters (and how Mike came to be involved with them); the painstaking dedication to authenticity that Mike took to making the Biffle and Shooster shorts; and how Mike parlayed his friendships with such stars as Robert Forster, H.M. Wynant, and Robert Picardo into getting each of them to appear in the films.
The Unreal TV Career of Biffle and Shooster
Original Airdates: Aug. 2-4, 2019
TVC 458.1: From August 2019: Actors Nick Santa Maria and Will Ryan (The Misadventures of Biffle and Shooster) appear in character as Benny Biffle and Sammy Shooster as we take a look at Biffle and Shooster’s often overlooked, but nonetheless significant TV career of the 1960s, including their appearances on Perry Mason, The Monkees, Gunsmoke, and The Hollywood Palace.
Michael Schlesinger, the writer, producer, and director of The Misadventures of Biffle and Shooster, passed away on Thursday, Jan. 9 at age seventy-four. Will Ryan passed away on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021 at age seventy-two.
Will The Real Biffle and Shooster Please Sit Down?
Original Airdates: Aug. 2-4, 2019
TVC 458.2: From August 2019: Will Ryan, Nick Santa Maria, and Michael Schlesinger (The Misadventures of Biffle and Shooster) appear in character as Greg and Ed continue their look at the faux television career of Biffle and Shooster, including their short-lived Saturday morning cartoon series and their celebrated appearance on Batman. Michael Schlesinger passed away on Thursday, Jan. 9 at age seventy-four. Will Ryan passed away on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021 at age seventy-two.
The Misadventures of Biffle and Shooster is available on DVD. The Biffle and Shooster Portable Guide to Etiquette is also available for purchase, as are all four issues of the Biffle and Shooster comic book.
