Diggin' Up Business

When the opening credits roll and the names Ruth Buzzi, Gary Owens, and Billy Barty pop up, you can't help but suspect you're in for a tiresome viewing experience. And, in this respect, Diggin' Up Business doesn't disappoint. Lynn-Holly Johnson stars as Tesia, the granddaughter of Papa Popacropadopolis, a California funeral home owner. When Papa takes a vacation in Florida (where he quickly dies of a heart attack, but is mistaken for a sleeping sunbather for most of the film), Tesia is left in charge. Unfortunately, an impending audit has Tesia and her former boyfriend Albert (David Michael O'Neal) nervous since the records show that more bodies were buried than were signed for. They decide that paying off back taxes will ease the audit, and begin offering specialty funerals for big bucks: toga party funerals, New Orleans street funerals, and the like. While being bored to tears with this lame plot, we're also saddled with the love triangle between Tesia, Albert, and Tesia's fiance Don (Tom Pardew, who also wrote this mess). The jokes are tacky, the acting second-rate (and yes, the Buzzi, Barty, Owens set pieces are truly wretched), and the comic timing way off. For a funeral farce, Diggin' Up Business was strictly D.O.A. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)