Martin Mull and Tuesday Weld prove to be a terrific comedic match as a married couple in fad-crazy Northern California who decide to separate yet can't seem to get into the swinging lifestyles of their too-groovy friends. Colorful supporting performances, lots of fast, brash talk, bitchy humor and funny set-pieces, yet "Serial" works only intermittently. It's structured like a naughty TV-sitcom, with wacky episodes, some of which hit and several which don't (the daughter's involvement with a religious cult was maybe good for one or two scenes, not an entire reel). Still, it's a pleasure watching Mull and Weld work so easily together, and theirs is a believable union which holds the morass together. A fitfully fun time. **1/2 from ****

While there's a lot to like and laugh with in this surreal comedy about life among the residents of an upscale area in Marin County, the abundance of characters is frustrating and makes a strong story truly lacking. The slice of a weird life is overwhelming with the eccentric characters who dominate the story with their excessive sexual antics and games not making them really likeable or relatable. Martin Mull, Tuesday Weld, Sally Kellerman and Bill Macy are the official leads with Nita Talbot the standout among the supporting cast as Macy's Eve Arden like wife. Pamela Bellwood, Barbara Rhodes and Christopher Lee are among the large supporting cast which is spread thin with the 90 minute running time.

Among the funny moments are the women's questioning of Kellerman's black cleaning lady over her sexual habits, Mull's encounter with an environmentally concerned grocery checkout clerk, Mull's young son's antics involving the Spanish housekeeper, his reaction to his therapist and obsession with a plastic turd. There are far too many homophobic slurs and references to cult like groups that makes the film extremely dated. But it's still a very interesting period piece, just not one I'm interested in ever seeing again.

I've long been curious about this movie since it was released back in 1980 when I was a 12-year-old looking at the cartoonish-newspaper ad of the poster. Now that I've seen it online-I think it's hilarious! A look at the social lifestyle of the late '70s, it makes merciless fun if it through capable comic actors like Martin Mull, Peter Bonerz, Bill Macy, and Tom Smothers as a hippie reverend. And then there's horror icon Christopher Lee in a surprisingly satirical role that you just got to watch to believe! Also throw in Sally Kellerman and Tuesday Weld and, well, I'll just now say I highly recommend Serial!