Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

wes-connors Kurt Russell (as Steven Post) works as a mail-boy for struggling TV station UBC (that's United Broadcasting Corporation); he is going nowhere at work, offering ridiculous projects like "Abraham Lincoln's Doctor's Dog" to studio executives - because Lincoln, doctors, and dogs are popular. Programming director Joe Flynn (as Francis X. Wilbanks) wisely rejects Mr. Russell's proposals, but has no idea how to pick a hit TV show. His secretary Heather North (as Jennifer Scott), who does double duty as Russell's girlfriend, has a chimpanzee who bugs the heck out of Russell when he wants to watch TV. Turns out, the monkey watches all the popular shows, and can easily pick the hits. Russell discovers the chimp's talent, and uses him to advance his own career. Understandably, things gets HAIRY for Russell and the cast!Raffles the chimp (handled by Frank Lamping) performs well; Raffles does look bored and/or distracted during a few scenes, when the chimp is supposed to look interested; these could have been corrected with re-takes or editing. A mild satirical edge is present - imagine a monkey picking hit TV shows! AND, it's a monkey who gets a BEER during the commercials (drinking in a Disney film)! A look through the cast will reveal s bunch of fun TV actors to recognize and try to place. You could make a drinking game, in honor of Raffles' beer-guzzling, by guessing actors, and where you've seen them before. Here's a start - Hey, isn't that "Dr. Bellows" from "I Dream of Jeannie"? Down the hatch! **** The Barefoot Executive (3/17/71) Robert Butler ~ Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn, John Ritter, Harry Morgan

koconnor-1 Nice, safe family comedy featuring a television network, a cute/funny chimp, and a young Kurt Russell in the prime of his Disney phase. Kurt is a low-level employee with a big television network with high-level ideas. By shear chance, he discovers that his neighbor's pet chimp is able to correctly predict the big ratings winners for each week's programs, and surreptitiously uses the animal to move up within the organization.The chimp demonstrating his disdain for poor programming (clearly enunciated raspberries, followed by screams of displeasure, and culminating in his throwing some destructive object at the screen) sent me into fits of laughter.But it also gave me (as a seven year old) an inkling into how the television industry works, and thereby planted the seeds of a life-long interest in the boob tube. And to this day, I am still wondering what the subject matter of "Devil Dan" is, and why it was so much more of a winner program than "The Happy Harringtons"...Get the kids away from "Nickelodeon" for a couple of hours with this campy treat...

ksaelagnulraon I'm not usually turned on by animal comedies, and I read the synopsis for this one and decided to give it a miss. Then I was flicking channels and came across a late film on the Disney channel, started watching it, became engrossed and thought it was nice, just funny enough without going overboard for laughs. Kurt Russell is certainly a long way from "action hero" status; the story works well enough, and it's classic Disney fodder that parents can enjoy with their kids. Rating: 6/10.

helpless_dancer One of the funniest comedies I've seen yet. What made this so was the interplay between Wally Cox and Joe Flynn [one of my favorite comics]. The bit on the building ledge was too much and had me rolling. The bellowing company prez was well played by Harry Morgan, a man I well remember from the early 60's sitcom "Pete & Gladys" where he played the put upon hubby, Pete Porter. John Ritter performed the snobbish, suck-up nephew to the hilt who, of course, gets his just payment in the end. 4 stars.