PASADENA, Calif. -- The '60s were, of course, populated by some rather strange characters. And one of those -- who goes by the name of Wavy Gravy -- was not only a consultant on the miniseries but also puts in a brief appearance.
Imagine, if you will, a rather rotund fellow dressed in a tie-dyed kaftan with a fake chicken on his head. Imagine this fellow sitting in front of a room full of TV critics and snoring -- loudly -- as he pretends to be asleep.Definitely weird.
When he's "roused" from his fake slumber by executive producer Lynda Obst, Wavy Gravy launches into a completely non-sequiter tale of how he always presents "the best cop at any accident" with a clown nose, which the officer then wears "in good health."
Wavy Gravy was apparently under the impression that he was funny and/or charming. He was was wrong -- he was just weird.
Born Hugh Romney, the 62-year-old is a longtime activist in anti-war, pro-peace and feed-the-hungry campaigns and a veteran of the traveling Hog Farm commune. He only responds to Wavy Gravy. And he definitely doesn't like to be called "Mr. Gravy."
"First of all, I'd like to say that both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have ceased to call me Mr. Gravy since I became a frozen dessert," he said with puzzling vagueness. (Ben and Jerry named an ice cream after him.) "They call Sid Vicious 'Mr. Vicious.' They call Meatloaf 'Mr. Loaf.' But I'm just Wavy Gravy, and I like it that way."
Wavy Gravy has run a children's camp for the past 26 years and says the youngsters are constantly asking him about the '60s.
"They hear mostly about my time at Woodstock where I got to give my stage announcements and we ran the freak-out tent and stuff like that," he said.
He plays himself in "The '60s," manning the freak-out tent where one of the characters is brought after taking a bit too much LSD. And he says he still gets calls from people having similar problems.
"I have a theory," he said. "People call me up at all hours of the night (when) they've imbibed too much psychotropic whatever, and they need my help. And my advice has never faltered."
What, exactly, is that advice?
"Go out into the world and secure a root-beer float," Wavy Gravy said. "Consume that root-beer float. And if you still maintain your bummer, call me back. I have not yet received a call back."
The '60s may be over, but the weirdness remains.