Down in the Louisiana swamp lives Bubba (Charles Ludlam), a wealthy oil heir who looks like he was dragged backward through a hedge, dipped in swamp water and left to dry in the sun. He’s covered in hideous, crusty skin lesions, radiates pure slime and spends his days forcing his gorgeous, long-suffering young wife, Anna Belle (Maria Manuche), to play house with him under the ironclad, constantly shifting terms of their prenuptial contract.
Anna Belle didn’t marry Bubba for his charming personality; she was dirt poor and wanted his fortune. Naturally, she’s seeking solace—and a plot to get rich quick—in the arms of Claude Altoose (Jim Wlcek), Bubba’s muscle-bound, hunk-of-meat handyman. The pair hatch a plan to poison Bubba and frame it as an accidental overdose from his homemade swamp-brews. What they don’t count on is Bubba’s lineage. His late mother was a legendary local conjure woman who got rich on oil and black magic. Tipped off to the murder plot (and frankly knowing all along about his wife’s adultery), Bubba digs into his mama’s old spellbook to concoct a potion for a Freaky Friday-style body swap.
When Anna Belle and Claude force the fatal poison down Bubba’s throat, he utters a final plea to his dead mother. In his dying gasp, he collapses onto Claude, knocking the handyman unconscious. Fast forward two weeks: Anna Belle has inherited the estate and married Claude. But when she unrolls the bandages on her new husband’s hand, she spots a familiar, horrifying skin lesion. Bubba didn’t die. He just traded up for a younger, hotter model.
Ludlam steals the entire show as Bubba. A legendary off-Broadway theater icon and founder of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, he plays Bubba with an infectious, hammy relish. Covered in latex lesions, he leers, oozes, and cackles his way through every frame. His performance borders on camp, but there’s a real, greasy malice underneath it all.
John Drury directed this episode. It was the only thing he’s directed, as he mostly produces TV. Writer Richard Benner directed and wrote Outrageous!, the sequel Too Outrageous! and Happy Birthday, Gemini.
