Spanky McFarland 5-29-89 Little Rascals/Our Gang

Talk show host Pat Sajak interviews onetime child actor Spanky McFarland from the Little Rascals/Our Gang comedy shorts, broadcast 5-29-89.
BetaGems are culled from an archive of over 1000 beta video tapes recorded from 1983 into the 1990s. Most feature live music performances broadcast on television in San Diego CA, though there are also rarely seen commercials, comedy clips, and other material that doesn't seem to be anywhere else on KZbin or online.
Most of the tapes were recorded on a Sony SL-HFT7 Super Beta Theater Hi-Fi Stereo - the same model was refurbished and is being used for these digital transfers and uploads. In rare occasions where a BetaGems clip does appear elsewhere, we're only uploading if our own beta master is better quality or contains material not seen previously. Much footage comes from public television and public access broadcasts that the taper, who worked for a local cable TV production company in the 1980s, monitored nightly for several years. Some of the programming is strictly regional, mostly from the San Diego area.

[@cookiepartyyy]

He was such a talented kid…especially as a toddler! What a special guy.

[@timp1051]

I just wish Pat would have stopped interrupting him.

[@doddsino]

I wish Pat would have spoken more.

[@feistee55]

I agree. That was annoying

[@Sticky017]

Yum yum eat ‘em up will always be my favorite

[@georgemaster4225]

What a treat to have Spanky McFarland on Pat's talk show.The hi sign is classic!

[@Theaddora]

I love Spanky. So intelligent and funny.

[@seabreeze9296]

rest in peace, Spanky

[@paullatimer1639]

The applause showed how much he was still loved.

[@barbj9785]

Love this man. What a great child actor.

[@jlo7972]

I had the pleasure of serving him as a flight attendant in 1990.

[@seabreeze9296]

i can imagine what an honor that was

[@jlo7972]

@@seabreeze9296 indeed it was. I was flying from Dallas to Los Angeles working first class . I told him I've seen every episode of the little rascals from when he was a baby. Then he passed 3 yrs later.

[@runequester6834]

Interestingly, he was born in Dallas. @@jlo7972

[@warrenbfeagins]

I would have went out of my mind.

[@BoltRM]

My dad got to play golf with him in Dallas many years ago ;) He even went on a date with one of girls who had played one of the gang, but I didn't ask which one & he's passed on.

[@stripervince1]

Legend . Grew up with these guys on wpix in NYC In the 1960s. Officer Joe bolton

[@frankielymon757]

Spanky the goat !

[@kevinlucas8437]

It's was an amazing show !!!

[@everready19373]

I used to watch these reruns everyday after school back in the 70's. They were awesome. My favorites are the giant in the cave and the haunted house ride and the gold course one.

[@jond1965]

The best was in Milk and Mush when he answers the phone and talks to the banker. Still hilarious!!

[@kimr5479]

WOW, I'M watching the little Rascals marathon as I'm typing this on catchy tv, channel 15 spectru m. RIP Spanky & all of them!😥

[@Lava1964]

This clip made my day.

[@reginamay2767]

2 of the best little actors ever.

[@kingporter67]

R.I.P. Spanky McFarland, a fabulous little rascal legend!!

[@cathyalatorre965]

Awww💗 cutest little boy ever.

[@Scottwilkie18]

How fortunate for Pat Sajak to interview

[@kimgo4518]

Who can forget the bug hunt, or lil Spanky babysitting all those infants when he was so small himself? Adorable lil kid. He was Our Gang legend. Too bad on this interview he said the Woim was Porky’s sidekick. The Woim was actually Butch’s sidekick. Tommy Butch Bond was still alive as well at the time of this interview. RIP to them. 2024 the Woim, Kibrick, last one left!! Absolute classic show.

[@essessessesq]

yes, the WOIM still lives! The Last Man Standing....

[@vlogsnstufflikethat]

one of the best! great actor and amazing guy

[@Tommyr]

I'm 66 now and still love the Rascals!

[@PatrickRyan150]

The Spanky character still makes me laugh to this day.

[@chelimartinez9999]

Loved Spanky McFarland !!🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻

[@dme1016]

Respect, even though he stopped bring cute & precocious at age 8.

[@Guy-lo3ld]

I still find the series really funny! There were so many wacky characters. Good acting too!

[@mikemcguffin6528]

Spanky was the best

[@audreydaleski1067]

The winks, nops, tattling!

[@daleandrews3552]

What a great interview with a young looking Pat Sajak. I watched these shorts as a kid in the 60's and I just turned 70! Wow, now time flies. 😊

[@applerod3194]

Spanky🌹☘️

[@stallion66]

The best Spanky short during the Robert McGowan era was Forgotten Babies.

[@robincochran9623]

We love the rascals and we wish they would put them back on the air again

[@georgemaster4225]

MeTV+ shows these,if I heard correctly.

[@michaelpanagiotis7109]

Spanky !

[@assignmentearth2899]

My dad gerw up in the DFW area. He was in vaudeville as a kid with his parents. Was actually an extra in some of those shorts. He had minor workings with Spanky. Spoke well of him.

[@UrielEcheverria26]

Rest In Peace carl alfalfa switzer

[@atlasking6110]

Sure I'll put these pants on - proceeds to put them on his arm! I love how he was still funny as an adult.

[@bryanortiz3627]

Omg he looked just like my son Aaron when a Baby

[@IrishChola7]

Awwwww! I bet your son was absolutely adorable when he was a baby! 💜🥰

[@jamespercival3111]

If you adressed the Our Gang/Little Rascals question, it was cut out of this video🙃

[@deaddropsd1972]

2023- dang. I watched these in the 70s. Re-used for different generations… will see if my kids like it…

[@devinneitzert3326]

Little Rascals were wonderful! Wish they were playing now

[@Landaux]

It’s cool having the ‘added’ live studio audience laugh track affect from the clip 😅

[@annedwyer797]

Spanky was so damn cute (especially as a toddler/pre-schooler) and really quite talented as a comedic actor. I wish there was a vid of the best of his scenes, esp. from his first few years. "The Pooch" is a tour de force of Spanky (who wasn't even 4 yet) and Stymie!

[@UnlicensedOkie]

We lost another member of the gang this last year Before long there won’t be any of them left

[@kimgo4518]

Yeah, that was Robert Blake.

[@Laura-tp8wz]

RIP George. ❤️🙏

[@paullatimer1639]

Say, how much do you charge to haunt a house? LOL.

[@GinaD46]

😂😂

[@catfish24]

Pat say Jack had a talk show

[@rmadara]

He had a cameo in an opening sequence on Cheers

[@billcarrell8622]

Never explained "Our Gang" vs The Little Rascals".

[@1Rdby]

I believe our gang was the original title of the shorts. Alter the series ended in the mid 40s they used the title little rascals in syndication.

[@billyshepard5514]

Remarkable

[@voiceguy3635]

Pat should have had a talk show for the last many years.

[@tylerlozano9849]

Pat Sajack was a perfect Talk Show Host I wish he could have stayed to be a Talk Show but who knows Merv Griffin would probably have to find a new host for Wheel of Fortune which is my Favorite Game Show and Pat Sajack is great with Vanna White and and Daughter Maggie.

[@mobus1603]

Yakety yak. Yakety yak. Arsenio and Pat--back to back.

[@privateprivate1865]

So cool

[@jrnumex9286]

cute kid, dork adult for life

[@gregnixon1296]

Wow, Spanky did not want to do that interview at all.

[@Scottwilkie18]

R I p

[@janetmaury]

Reminds me kinda Raymond Burr,Ernest Borgnine and Lou Costello mixed

[@miker.9138]

I have a VHS tape of Wilford Brimley singing It Had To Be You on the Pat Sajak show. People have told me that I should put it online, but I have no idea how to do that. I tried just recording it off the TV with my phone, but both the audio and video were crap, and then my VCR started acting funny and I stopped trying because I was worried the tape might get damaged.

[@cesarjom]

No royalties/residuals back then = 100s of millions of lost $$$ for these kids.

[@pjoe1950]

The our gang shows were the best. Funny how Spanky sounds like Rush Limbaugh now.

[@Katrinawitch]

Pat Sajak had a talk show?!

[@scottwebb1978]

Shame couple years later spznky fied heart attack i thjnk it was age 63

[@leighburton832]

What is Pat Sajak doing on something other than Wheel of Fortune?

[@AngryCanadian1971]

Pat interrupted Spanky more than Cliff Claven did in Cheers. God that's annoying. Let the man talk, man.

[@nathandodge665]

Lighten up it's an interview

[@gaynorpatterson2915]

@@nathandodge665No man it’s annoying AF. They ask questions but constantly interrupt. They all do it. And they should STFU

[@ML-ft4od]

That looks Rich Little 2 over from him & who were Pat's other guests that night?

[@Theaddora]

One looks like the guy who hosted Family Feud right after Richard Dawson.

[@gaynorpatterson2915]

It’s Ray Coombs the second host from Familh Feud. He sadly took his life in 1996. RIP 😢

[@win4man]

5:45 and four years later Spanky himself is deceased

[@alexvaliansky7707]

That should have been no surprise, since he was way overweight. I believe he died of a heart attack, and went very quickly.

[@lendrury2771]

@@alexvaliansky7707 I also read where spanky was a heavy drinker Fifth of scotch per day and 3 packs of camel cigarettes too

[@user-db6pt7vr3l]

Pat's shows was cancelled for political reasons. Sad.

[@Theaddora]

He must have been a Republican.