The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[Christopher]

It's about somebody who's expecting more from a one-night stand than she should be.

No, it's about the narrator telling a human being that she's nothing except an inanimate object that he used for his own pleasure and then discarded, and that her feelings and humanity are utterly irrelevant to him. It's incredibly demeaning. The very least a woman should be entitled to expect from a one-night stand is to be acknowledged as an actual person rather than a toy.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The narrator is being metaphorical, so it shouldn't be taken too literally. That said, they're lousy, unflattering metaphors. I think the key is when the song gets more literal: "You're not the kind of girl to tell your mother / The kind of company you keep". It suggests that she has a reputation for playing the field herself, and isn't expected to be looking for a long-term commitment.

 

[Christopher]

I think the key is when the song gets more literal: "You're not the kind of girl to tell your mother / The kind of company you keep". It suggests that she has a reputation for playing the field herself, and isn't expected to be looking for a long-term commitment.

Which is still pretty sexist and negative, implicitly calling the woman a slut. It's basically one long ad hominem (or ad feminem) insult presented as a cute, jaunty tune, and I find it very mean-spirited and petty.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I didn't even realize it was that well known. I thought it was kind of a "lost 45."

At least one oldies station that I listened to for years played the hell out of it.

Actually, I like that song, too.

It's not bad...just a little cheesy.

That's something else I'd love to see.

Planning to keep it short and strong...the top five from a plethora of hits.

They should have cut the other one.

I can understand the syndication edits going for more song variety rather than multiple iterations of the same hits. How integrated the song sequences were into the story also likely played a part.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The narrator is being metaphorical, so it shouldn't be taken too literally. That said, they're lousy, unflattering metaphors. I think the key is when the song gets more literal: "You're not the kind of girl to tell your mother / The kind of company you keep". It suggests that she has a reputation for playing the field herself, and isn't expected to be looking for a long-term commitment.

Mainly what tells the story is "I never told you not to love no other/ You must of dreamed it in your sleep." Bad grammar aside, it's an experience most people have had to some degree. Anyway, back on topic, I was fascinated by the girl in the video and it turns out that she just at the start of a pretty impressive career.

It's not bad...just a little cheesy.

I like cheesy. Also it's kind of emblematic of the variety to be found in radio music in those days.

I can understand the syndication edits going for more song variety rather than multiple iterations of the same hits. How integrated the song sequences were into the story also likely played a part.

In most cases, I would agree.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

To be fair, LBJ doesn't have the sort of instantly recognized iconography going on that Washington and Lincoln do. All Mike did visually was put big, false ears on...if I didn't know offhand who was president when the show was made, I'd probably have no idea who he was doing.

I'm not sure I can agree with that. If anyone discusses politics, or just significant events of the 1960s, LBJ's names comes up more than almost any other political figure, as he had a (ultimately) greater positive and negative effect on national and international situations.

The new guy was just too clumsily in all the wrong people's faces about it, like "Ha, ha, I know your secret and there's nothing you can do about it!" It'd be interesting to see how Gerringer would have played the same material.

I think NuWoodard is playing it with aggression--being part-detective who knows he's close to something bigger than anyone would dare believe. He might not have the same...shall I say...stern approach as Gerringer, but I do like how he's on the ball with his investigation and not standing around not seeing anything wring with the resident cousin from England.

The narrator is being metaphorical, so it shouldn't be taken too literally. That said, they're lousy, unflattering metaphors. I think the key is when the song gets more literal: "You're not the kind of girl to tell your mother / The kind of company you keep". It suggests that she has a reputation for playing the field herself, and isn't expected to be looking for a long-term commitment.

The song's point is clear, and you understand what the meaning behind it is. As for other observations about the lyrics, its not at all sexist for a man to point out the obvious behavior/actions of a woman who is, frankly, loose. Male or female, that kind of person does not do themselves any favors in society when they consciously create a reputation so poor/disgusting that anyone else can easily (and accurately) point out that "You're not the kind of girl to tell your mother / The kind of company you keep". Considering some of the scenes Harry Nilsson explored in the 1960s, he would have had plenty of firsthand knowledge of that kind of woman.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I'm not sure I can agree with that. If anyone discusses politics, or just significant events of the 1960s, LBJ's names comes up more than almost any other political figure, as he had a (ultimately) greater positive and negative effect on national and international situations.

It's all in the context of Mike's impression. My observation was based on the fact that I had to stop and think, "Wait, is he supposed to be doing LBJ now?" The only distinct visual clue was putting on big, false ears. Not exactly as iconic as Lincoln's stovepipe hat and distinctive beard.

I think NuWoodard is playing it with aggression--being part-detective who knows he's close to something bigger than anyone would dare believe. He might not have the same...shall I say...stern approach as Gerringer, but I do like how he's on the ball with his investigation and not standing around not seeing anything wring with the resident cousin from England.

He's being aggressively stupid. A good part of that is in the writing...they're obviously writing him to get himself killed off. But the new guy plays it all a bit too in-your-face, where I was inclined to think that he deserved what he was about to get. Gerringer certainly would have played the same material differently, in a way that was recognizable as his version of the character.

 

[The Old Mixer]

12 O'Clock High

"The Mission"
Originally aired April 2, 1965

A crippled plane, a jammed bomb and antagonism toward an uncertain crewman jeopardize a mission to bomb enemy supply lines.

It seems like I've seen this a time or two before...a character who's thought to be a jinx because he's the survivor of a bad mission, who proves himself in Act IV and, in this case, gets his promotion to Lieutenant. Nothing much to bite into here. I guess I should have expected as much from an episode that bore the most generic title they could have possibly come up with.


"The Cry of Fallen Birds"
Originally aired April 9, 1965

A terrified woman (Dana Wynter) must face leaving her manor home when Savage wants it demolished to clear a vital runway.

In defense of Savage's position, they need the extra landing space because of the length of missions that they're doing, and he's afraid that sooner or later a bomber is going to crash through the manor home in question. And Savage actually does wind up crash-landing the Lilly on Lady Catherine's property at the end of Act II, though the house is spared.

If they'd wanted to, this could have been part two of the previous episode, as it opens with a situation very similar to the one they were dealing with in Act IV of that one...the Picadilly Lilly having to make an emergency landing that involves throwing everything they can out of the plane to maintain altitude.

The episode has a lighthearted tone, with Savage being attacked as an intruder the first time he visits the manor. There's lots of friction between Savage and his female guest star before they start to fall for one another, which is something we've seen before. In fact, it turns out that Wynter had previously played the female guest character in a memorable earlier episode, "Interlude," which involved Savage on leave regularly running into and eventually falling for her character, who was secretly dying.

There's a great humor beat in Act II when Lady Catherine, back at her manor, puts a sewing needle in an object representing Savage, voodoo style, and we cut to Savage in his cockpit experiencing a sudden pain in the back of his neck.

Following his crash, the injured Savage has to stay at the manor. As one might expect, he and Lady Catherine are smooching by the end of Act III.

This is one of several episodes with a recurring officer played by Lew Gallo, who was an associate producer on That Girl. Here he serves an expository purpose, giving the bedridden Savage a clumsy infodump about Lady Catherine in Act III.

She hasn't been out of the manor in about two years (assuming the episode takes place ca. '43). This being the '60s playing the '40s, the solution to getting her out of her protective shell and on with her life is indisputably presented as finding the right man...which by the end of the episode is implied to be a British captain whom she's known all her life. Savage gets his order to demolish the manor and maintains his lonely series lead existence, for as long as that lasts...which won't be very long at this point.

There's a sub-thread playing in the episode about how Savage regrets his current target being war manufacturing in an old German college town where a former professor of his lives...which is a wee bit contrived, but they don't dwell on it long enough for it to bring down the story.

As one might tell by my having so much more to say about it, this is an example of the series playing to its strengths a bit more. I haven't been regularly posting episode reviews for most of the season, so I should note that the series has a sort of quasi-anthology format...the stories focus as often as not on guest characters as the series regulars, and take place as often as not in England around the base or the local community of Archbury as during bombing missions. The stories are generally meaty and solidly structured, which seems to be characteristic of the QM productions.

This episode has the same guest general as "Mutiny at Ten Thousand Feet"...I'd assumed when watching that one that they cast a different general as a way of giving Savage's behavior less benefit of the doubt, but I see that John Larkin, who'd played the original recurring superior general, died in January 1965. His last appearance was in an episode that aired in March.

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51st Anniversary Viewing

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The Monkees
"Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth"
Originally aired October 31, 1966

Davy is given a horse, which the Monkees have to hide from their landlord, Mr. Babbitt (Henry Corden). It is returned to a heart-broken child (Kerry MacLane) and father (Jim Boles) after Davy rides it to victory over the horse of the father's neighbor.

Well that pretty much spoils the whole episode!

The opening credits in syndication must not be the ones from original broadcast. The Season 1 credits are the same as the Season 2 credits, which include those shots from the Season 2 "Sheikh" episode.

This one has some good "Who's on First"-ish verbal confusion gags, with Davy mixing the horse into the werewolf/dog story, and the vet making assumptions about "monkeys" and horses...

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Is there a name for that type of comedic device?

There's certainly a colorful amount of stuff coming out of the premise...from keeping a horse in the apartment to working on a farm...

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...to getting involved in a horse race...
"All the King’s Horses"

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"Papa Gene's Blues" is used twice in the episode...once earlier on and later in the coda, after a good last gag.

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For the target audience, this one features shirtless Davy on the beach as much as possible.

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The Rat Patrol
"The Fatal Chase Raid"
Originally aired October 31, 1966

The Rat Patrol releases a group of American POWs from a German convoy. One of the POWs claims to be carrying vital information for the Allies, but two other POWs are out to kill him for personal reasons.

The liberation of the POWs goes way too easily, but we are dealing with a half-hour format, so set-up happens quickly. Gribs, the POW who claims to have the info, is played by Gavin MacLeod. (Oh god, I can hear that theme song in my head...!) Anyway, he does "shifty asshole" good...and looks a bit heavy in this period.

One of the other POWs is played by an actor who bears a potentially confusing resemblance to series star Christopher George (Sgt. Troy)...who in turn bears a distracting resemblance to Kevin Bacon, which I don't think I've brought up before.

Dietrich does not appear in this episode.

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"Time for Arrest"
Originally aired November 3, 1966

Ann is found in jail in a cave-girl outfit, after replacing her neighbor and fellow actress Margie (Jackie Joseph) on a side job that turns out to be a catering job for a Mafia boss seeking to merge with a rival family.

From an earlier viewing of this episode, I think that a lot of the humor is meant to be in the suggestion of what Ann might have been doing in the outfit that got her arrested...the story of which unfolds via narrated flashbacks. That said, I didn't get much out of it this time around, other than the relatively risque-for-the-time outfit.

"Oh, Donald" count: 0 that I caught

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[RJDiogenes]

I guess I should have expected as much from an episode that bore the most generic title they could have possibly come up with.

They were saving their creativity budget for the next title.

As one might tell by my having so much more to say about it, this is an example of the series playing to its strengths a bit more. I haven't been regularly posting episode reviews for most of the season, so I should note that the series has a sort of quasi-anthology format...the stories focus as often as not on guest characters as the series regulars, and take place as often as not in England around the base or the local community of Archbury as during bombing missions. The stories are generally meaty and solidly structured, which seems to be characteristic of the QM productions.

Sort of the Route 66 of WWII.

Is there a name for that type of comedic device?

Apparently not. The closest the Wiki page comes is "wordplay."

"All the King’s Horses"

Kinda catchy, but not great.

"Papa Gene's Blues" is used twice in the episode...once earlier on and later in the coda, after a good last gag.

I like this one, though.

For the target audience, this one features shirtless Davy on the beach as much as possible.

They should put that in the credits.

Gribs, the POW who claims to have the info, is played by Gavin MacLeod.

The name Slaughter might have been more appropriate here.

From an earlier viewing of this episode, I think that a lot of the humor is meant to be in the suggestion of what Ann might have been doing in the outfit that got her arrested...

I have to admit, it's an intriguing premise.

 

[Christopher]

Henry Corden? I didn't know the Monkees' landlord was the second Fred Flintstone.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Sort of the Route 66 of WWII.

Sort of. I made a point of not using the term "semi-anthology," because it doesn't strike me as being quite as semi-anthology as shows like Route 66 and Naked City, though it's definitely over in that area. Maybe 12 O'Clock High's balance of focus was more what Roddenberry was thinking of when he said that Trek would be "Wagon Train to the stars."

Henry Corden? I didn't know the Monkees' landlord was the second Fred Flintstone.

Yabba Monkee Do! Did they even have a consistent landlord? Looks like this one was only in three episodes.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The Monkees
"Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth"
Originally aired October 31, 1966

Well that pretty much spoils the whole episode!

The opening credits in syndication must not be the ones from original broadcast. The Season 1 credits are the same as the Season 2 credits, which include those shots from the Season 2 "Sheikh" episode.

Yes--beginning with the syndication prints from 1969-forward. the second season credits were used for all broadcasts except for a couple of season 1 episodes.

This one has some good "Who's on First"-ish verbal confusion gags, with Davy mixing the horse into the werewolf/dog story, and the vet making assumptions about "monkeys" and horses...

Is there a name for that type of comedic device?

I've never heard the routine it had a strict description, but it dates back to Vaudeville; only the tone and delivery of the comedians made it functional for new generations of audiences.

There's certainly a colorful amount of stuff coming out of the premise...from keeping a horse in the apartment to working on a farm...

...to getting involved in a horse race...

As you can probably tell, this was one of the early episodes shot after the 1965 pilot, as the routines were still sort of developing (even with Micky's pro delivery), and they had yet to sport the longer hair most would remember as their style.

"All the King’s Horses" / "Papa Gene's Blues" is used twice in the episode

Mike Nesmith's strength as a song composer shines through in two songs springing from two different genres. Great stuff.

Yabba Monkee Do! Did they even have a consistent landlord? Looks like this one was only in three episodes.

Nope, Mr. Babbit was supposed to represent that adult always troubling the "kids", but Corden--as you point out--did not make many appearances as the landlord (4 in all). In fact, he makes his final series appearance as another character-- Blauner* the manager of the Henry Cabot Lodge in season two's "The Wild Monkees".

 

[The Old Mixer]

^ Did they have other landlords, though, or was he it?

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50th Anniversary Viewing

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A bit of 50th anniversary business from the past week that just came to my attention because it wasn't in the Wiki timeline...Nov. 9 was the anniversary of the publication of the first issue of Rolling Stone, with a cover photo of John Lennon in the film How I Won the War.

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The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 20, episode 9
Originally aired November 5, 1967
As edited for The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show

This wasn't announced last week because I didn't know it was coming...they just played it yesterday! This wasn't much of an episode for those watching the show for pop/rock/soul acts, but I'll give it a go.

Shirley Bassey: "On a Clear Day"--I wasn't familiar with her beyond her three Bond film songs...it looks like she was bigger in the UK than on this side of the pond. She was attractive and had a good set of pipes in her time, I'll give her that. It looks like this was a show tune featured on her then-current album, And We Were Lovers.

Tony Bennett: "Broadway"--This is Tony in his wheelhouse, doing swing backed by the Woody Herman Orchestra. He balances out the performance by switching to crooner mode with "Who Can I Turn To?". There's nothing particularly striking about the song, but he's in fine form and nails the glory note.

Next the Woody Herman Orchestra gets their own number, a jazzy, uptempo instrumental called "Boogaloo" that includes Herman on clarinet.

Tony comes back for his "Moment of Truth"...another uptempo, swinging number with fast lyrics for Tony to show his stuff. Then we go soft again with "For Once in My Life," the title song of his upcoming album. Apparently this was an earlier rendition of the song best known for the 1968 Stevie Wonder version, and more faithful to the original intent of it being a slow ballad. As such, it was nearly unrecognizable to me.

Tony's version was a single, which charted Oct. 28, 1967, reaching #91 US, #8 AC.

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Stevie's upbeat hit single version will be coming up this time next year.

The Best of episode had one other act, but it's from next week's anniversary episode, so I'll cover it then with another odd act from a mixed Best of installment.

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Mission: Impossible
"The Seal"
Originally aired November 5, 1967

A stolen jade statuette is sacred to a small Asian country, and in order to prevent an international incident the IMF must recover it from the private high-security collection of a wealthy but paranoid American defense contractor (Darren McGavin) by using a specially trained cat named Rusty.

There we go, now it's Darren McGavin in the multi-appearance spotlight.

Please destroy this tape in the usual manner. Good luck, Jim.

Word-for-word the same as last week, but in this case the usual manner is dumping it into a nearby bucket of water (or acid?), where it explodes into sparks. Also, Jim brought along his own player for once!

There's an interesting camera choice in the portfolio scene...this time Jim's standing roughly opposite the camera, viewed from a high angle, and flips the pictures of the usual suspects to face the camera. And although he doesn't appear in the portfolio, we have a furry, four-legged guest agent.

Graves does a good job as Phelps playing a rivet manufacturer who's trying to clear up a clerical error, as part of a plan to bring in a replacement computer concealing Barney and his pussy.

(But really, a plan depending on a cat deigning to follow instructions? What were they thinking?)

So it's not just me!

This was a fairly interesting episode...it kept me guessing...e.g., Rollin's hokey mystic character was hokey on purpose, as he was supposed to be sniffed out as a fake. That doesn't account for the lameness of the makeup job, though, which I think is supposed to be some form of yellowface, but it's so unconvincing as anything but Landau doing an accent that it's hard to tell.

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The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
"The Fiery Angel Affair"
Originally aired November 6, 1967

The beloved leader of a Latin American country, Angela (Madlyn Rhue), is endangered by a THRUSH-backed revolutionary group; can Illya and Solo save her?

Open Channel Don't Cry for Me, Fictitious South American Country. I guess Madlyn's fake accent wasn't bad enough for M:I, so TMFU took her instead.

OK, we're back to the babysitting-and-infiltration formula, but it's a relatively decent iteration. As the story developed, I saw the identity of the brains behind the revolutionary group trying to kill Angela coming...that it was a mystery indicated that it was somebody we knew, and he was the most obviously inobvious suspect.

It's kind of meta how Kuryakin becomes a celebrity for saving Angela, getting mobbed in the street by screaming girls...though the episode doesn't dwell on that situation.

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The Rat Patrol
"The Do-Re-Mi Raid"
Originally aired November 6, 1967

Troy allows himself to be captured by Dietrich in order to rescue a famous entertainer who is being held in a German POW camp.

Decades got a fact wrong.

Popular soap opera star Eric Braeden appeared in all 58 episodes of the series.

No he didn't...he was credited for every episode, but he didn't appear in some.

It turns out that the singer's cellmate is the more valuable prize, as he has information that the Germans want.

They'll break him, Troy. They can break anyone!

I.e., zey haff vays of making him talk!

The singer, Mickey, sacrifices his chance to be sprung...and his life...to get his cellmate out, because Mickey's the one who broke in a prior interrogation and told the Germans that his cellmate had information in the first place.

Mickey, who performs in the episode, was an actual singer in the "traditional pop" vein, Jack Jones. Based on his highest charting singles, I thought I was unfamiliar with him...

"Wives and Lovers"

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(Charted Nov. 2, 1963; #14 US; #9 AC; 1964 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance)

"The Race Is On"

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(Charted Feb. 27, 1965; #15 US; #1 AC)

...then I found that he was responsible for this lounge-number-from-Hell of an earworm:

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(#37 AC)

Having gone this far, I really should go back and give Paul Revere & the Raiders their due for appearing on Batman, shouldn't I?

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Batman
"How to Hatch a Dinosaur"
Originally aired November 9, 1967

Egghead, along with Queen Olga and the Cossacks, plans to hatch a monstrous Neosaurus from its egg.

Did we really need the implied Cossack parade thing again this episode?

Good call on the silliness of the radium miles away in Gotham affecting the Batcomputer, Christopher 2015.

At least we get some good ol' Batmobile stock footage this time around! And yep, they're still parking in front of police HQ.

We get another good double-phone gag, milking some humor out of Alfred's dual-confidante situation.

Note the otherwise identically labeled Bat Girl Geiger counter and Bat Man Geiger counter. Since when does Batman bother putting "Man" in labels for his Bat-gear?

It's pretty silly that Egghead and Olga hatched the dinosaur without having any idea how to control it. Even sillier are the logistics of Batman's neosaurus impersonation.

TOS guest: Jon Lormer. For the egg is hollow and it has hatched a dinosaur.

Next week: Bring your baggies--surf's up!

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Ironside
"Light at the End of the Journey"
Originally aired November 9, 1967

Ironside uses a blind woman as live bait to catch a killer who thinks she saw him.

Guest starring Robert Reed...whose lovely lady with hair of gold is the blind girl, Norma. It jumped out at me how unadjusted she was to functioning while blind, but that turned out to be a major story point...Reed's character had conditioned her to be completely dependent on him in the two years since she was struck blind in an accident that he was responsible for.

There was a murder in this episode, but not much of a mystery...we see the killer in the act, but learn who he is and why he did it as the main characters do. The story is really more about Norma's situation with the murderer on the loose as an impending threat. The murder victim is a P.I. who was a friend of Ironside's since they were rookie cops together.

This episode shows us a closeup of a "Hall of Justice" plaque on the outside of police HQ / the Ironsidecave.

TOS guest: Jason Wingreen (Dr. Linke, "The Empath").

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"When in Rome"
Originally aired November 9, 1967

An Italian movie director spots Ann and wants her to star in his next movie...and perform a nude scene.

Another cross-season parallel...the embarrassment surrounding the cavegirl outfit last season with the potential nude scene this one. Ann is spotted by the director while working at an auto show, where she appears to be nude when her shoulderless outfit is hidden behind a car door.

To his credit, Donald is open-minded about Ann's opportunity...he makes clear that it would bother him if she did it, but that it's her career and his feelings shouldn't be the deciding factor.

The scenes that Ann reads involve a character name Pietro...who was an active member of the Avengers at the time.

Ann gets in a good last line in the climax. In the coda, the tables turn as Ann reads about the actress who does get cast and makes clear that she doesn't want Donald to see the film.

Continuity point: Ann name-drops Ethel Merman.

"Oh, Donald" count: 1

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Tarzan
"Hotel Hurricane"
Originally aired November 10, 1967

A gang of fugitive mobsters tries to fool Tarzan and Jai into helping them recover stolen loot.

Written by Jackson Gillis; Directed by Ron Ely--his only directing credit.

The episode opens with Jai in the treehouse with two chimps monkeying around; after the one identified as Cheeta chases the other away, he absconds with Jai's spelling book...which I'm pretty sure happened the last time we saw the treehouse. That part may have been reused.

This was a decently solid, but not great, episode. The woman who's the proprietor of the titular establishment (which doesn't actually have "Hurricane" in its name, that's from the looming weather front) is the estranged wife of one of a group of Syndicate mobsters who hold Jai hostage in order to force Tarzan to help them find a crashed plane with a cargo of loot. The ex-husband turns over a new leaf at the end, though the episode ends on an odd note with the couple recognizing and accepting that his settling down in one place may put their lives in ongoing danger.

This one includes some lion wrestling with unconvincingly edited closeups...but the lion's-perspective shots were an arty touch.

Genre guest: Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle, nuBSG) as one of the baddies...the first to get killed off for his share of the loot.

This one has no hint of a giant clam, but figuratively speaking, the mobsters are after a a giant amount of clams.

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Star Trek
"Metamorphosis"
Originally aired November 10, 1967
Stardate 3219.4

When their shuttle is diverted to a planetoid, Kirk meets one of the pioneers of space flight, Zefram Cochrane.

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See my post here.

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The Prisoner
"Many Happy Returns"
Originally aired November 10, 1967 (UK)

After waking to find the Village deserted, Number Six returns to England but does not know whom he can trust there.

I sensed a massive fake-out coming, but it wasn't as much of a fake-out as I expected. Clearly Number Six was on the outside this time...and the circumstances of his return to the Village strongly suggest that his own people are in on it. Hopefully, should he ever manage to escape again, he won't be so quick to run back to the office. But that probably won't happen, as he has to know exactly where the Village is located now.

It's a nice touch how he takes pictures of the Village before he leaves...he's not content to escape, he wants to get to the bottom of it.

Nasty buggers on that boat, willing to leave a man for dead to steal his modest supply of Village Pork & Beans. Number Six shows his stuff the way he takes over the boat.

(I have to imagine that somewhere out there, there's at least one guy who's such a Prisoner geek that he custom-relabels all of his groceries....)

Even on the outside, Six isn't a trusting guy--he's very wary of the authorities.

Alas, the Wiki page where I get the episode descriptions lists who Number Two is in each episode...and the female name spoiled me as to where this episode's Two was hiding role-wise...



It's a little too coy how everyone avoids dropping Six's name when he's on the outside. "Peter Smith" was clearly an impromptu alias...but his birthday of March 19 seemed more spontaneously truthful. A cake with six candles...cute.

Guesting Beatles film alumnus Patrick Cargill--"So you're the famous Number Six. And this is the famous Village...."

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The Avengers
"Murdersville"
Originally aired November 11, 1967 (UK)

A childhood chum of Mrs Peel’s retires to a quiet, friendly little English village – that is now the headquarters of Murder Incorporated.

This episode features a Prisoner-ish concept of an entire village conspiring to be a place where murder is a secret boom industry. It gets points in the surreal department for the way that locals go about their routine and don't even bother to look up when somebody gets gunned down right in front of them. It drags a bit in the middle when Peel gets involved, as the audience is too far ahead of her.

Good laugh: An assassin pulls out his gun at the library; the librarian points up at the sign that says "SILENCE" and he stops to put a silencer on the gun.

The episode splurges on a convincingly shot outdoor sequence of Peel on foot being chased down by a helicopter.

Once she's captured, Peel gets chained to a wall by a chastity belt; but as kinky medieval bondage spectacles go, she's upstaged by a pretty female fellow prisoner who spends all of her scenes in an iron gag.

Peel uses the old trick of conveying false info on the phone to alert Steed, but for a spy he's comically slow on the uptake when she addresses him as her husband and talks about their children.

I was admiring the...er, um...your old customs.

_______

 

[Christopher]

in this case the usual manner is dumping it into a nearby bucket of water (or acid?), where it explodes into sparks.

I doubt there would be buckets of acid sitting around in public; I assume the tapes are treated to dissolve when exposed to water, much like the LP in the pilot was treated to dissolve 90 seconds after being exposed to air (or whatever).

I.e., zey haff vays of making him talk!

It just occurred to me to wonder where that meme originally came from. Some WWII movie? A comedy sketch parodying them?

Since when does Batman bother putting "Man" in labels for his Bat-gear?

Maybe Batgirl mistook one of his gadgets for hers on some earlier caper and he started to get more possessive. Although her gadgets usually have lace attached...

he has to know exactly where the Village is located now.

On this show, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that even that was faked. Or that the whole Village was moved while he was away.

It's a nice touch how he takes pictures of the Village before he leaves...he's not content to escape, he wants to get to the bottom of it.

He wants to prove its existence to the outside.

Even on the outside, Six isn't a trusting guy--he's very wary of the authorities.

Because any one of them may be a Village agent. After all, his original abduction -- less than a credit sequence after his resignation -- had to be an inside job.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50 Years Ago This Week

November 14 – The Congress of Colombia, in commemoration of the 150-year anniversary of the death of Policarpa Salavarrieta, declares this day as the "Day of the Colombian Woman".
November 15

• General Georgios Grivas and his 10,000 strong Greek Army division are forced to leave Cyprus, after 24 Turkish Cypriot civilians are killed by the Greek Cypriot National Guard in the villages of Kophinou and Ayios Theodhoros; relations sour between Nicosia and Athens. Turkey flies sorties into Greek territory, and masses troops in Thrace on her border with Greece.
• Test pilot Michael Adams is killed when his X-15 rocket plane tumbles out of control during atmospheric re-entry and disintegrates.

November 17

• Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports he was given on November 13, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remains to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress." (2 months later the Tet Offensive by the Viet Cong is widely reported as a Viet Cong victory by the U.S. press and thus as a major setback to the U.S.'s pursuit of the war.)
• French author Régis Debray is sentenced to 30 years imprisonment in Bolivia.

November 18 – The UK pound is devalued from £1 = US$2.80 to £1 = US$2.40.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "To Sir with Love," Lulu
2. "Soul Man," Sam & Dave
3. "Incense and Peppermints," Strawberry Alarm Clock
4. "The Rain, the Park & Other Things," The Cowsills
5. "It Must Be Him," Vikki Carr
6. "Please Love Me Forever," Bobby Vinton
7. "Your Precious Love," Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
8. "I Say a Little Prayer," Dionne Warwick
9. "Expressway to Your Heart," The Soul Survivors
10. "I Can See for Miles," The Who
11. "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," Aretha Franklin
12. "Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)," The Hombres
13. "Everlasting Love," Robert Knight
14. "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need," The Temptations
15. "Never My Love," The Association
16. "Holiday," Bee Gees
17. "Love Is Strange," Peaches & Herb
18. "Pata Pata," Miriam Makeba
19. "Lazy Day," Spanky & Our Gang
20. "Lady Bird," Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood
21. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," Gladys Knight & The Pips
22. "Kentucky Woman," Neil Diamond
23. "I'm Wondering," Stevie Wonder

25. "Boogaloo Down Broadway," The Fantastic Johnny C
26. "Keep the Ball Rollin'," Jay & The Techniques
27. "She Is Still a Mystery," The Lovin' Spoonful
28. "Glad to Be Unhappy," The Mamas & The Papas
29. "Stag-O-Lee," Wilson Pickett
30. "Get on Up," The Esquires
31. "You Better Sit Down Kids," Cher
32. "How Can I Be Sure," The Young Rascals
33. "Daydream Believer," The Monkees

35. "Wild Honey," The Beach Boys

37. "The Letter," The Box Tops

40. "People Are Strange," The Doors

43. "I Second That Emotion," Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

45. "Skinny Legs and All," Joe Tex

47. "In and Out of Love," Diana Ross & The Supremes

49. "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," Glen Campbell
50. "Gimme Little Sign," Brenton Wood
51. "Yesterday," Ray Charles
52. "(The Lights Went Out in) Massachusetts," Bee Gees

55. "She's My Girl," The Turtles

58. "An Open Letter to My Teenage Son," Victor Lundberg

62. "Neon Rainbow," The Box Tops

64. "Next Plane to London," The Rose Garden
65. "Honey Chile," Martha Reeves & The Vandellas

67. "The Look of Love," Dusty Springfield

81. "Summer Rain," Johnny Rivers
82. "Woman, Woman," The Union Gap feat. Gary Puckett

87. "Different Drum," The Stone Poneys feat. Linda Ronstadt
88. "Itchycoo Park," Small Faces

Leaving the chart:

• "Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)," The Buckinghams
• "Little Ole Man (Uptight-Everything's Alright)," Bill Cosby
• "Rock & Roll Woman," Buffalo Springfield

New on the chart:

"Summer Rain," Johnny Rivers

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(#14 US)

"Honey Chile," Martha Reeves & The Vandellas

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(#11 US; #5 R&B; #30 UK)

"Woman, Woman," The Union Gap feat. Gary Puckett

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(#4 US; #48 UK)

"Daydream Believer," The Monkees
Previously covered in this post.
(#1 US the weeks of Dec. 2 through Dec. 23; #5 UK)


And new on the boob tube:

• The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 20, episode 10, featuring performances by the Turtles and the Harkness Ballet
• Mission: Impossible, "Charity"
• The Rat Patrol, "The Kingdom Come Raid"
• Batman, "Surf's Up! Joker's Under!"
• Ironside, "The Monster of Comus Towers"
• Tarzan, "The Pride of the Lioness"
• Star Trek, "Journey to Babel"
• The Prisoner, "Dance of the Dead"
• The Avengers, "Mission: Highly Improbable" (UK season finale)
• Get Smart, "When Good Fellows Get Together"

_______

It just occurred to me to wonder where that meme originally came from. Some WWII movie? A comedy sketch parodying them?

Probably multiple parodies of WWII films. Did Hogan's Heroes have occasion to use the phrase? If so, they're a likely culprit.

On this show, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that even that was faked. Or that the whole Village was moved while he was away.

The location, perhaps, as Six wasn't in control of the plane. But I think it was pretty clear that it was the one and only village, and I doubt that even the powers behind the village could fake the very landscape surrounding it. If they were capable of such ludicrous feats, it would lower my estimation of the show.

 

[Christopher]

The location, perhaps, as Six wasn't in control of the plane. But I think it was pretty clear that it was the one and only village, and I doubt that even the powers behind the village could fake the very landscape surrounding it. If they were capable of such ludicrous feats, it would lower my estimation of the show.

Then I'm not sure you're looking at it in the right way. There's a strong element of surrealism to the show, of objective reality itself being unreliable and unknowable. The whole thing is an allegory anyway. Nothing that happens on this show has a single, knowable, unambiguous explanation. If Number Six believes the Village is in one place, it will turn out to be somewhere else. Maybe he was tricked about the location; maybe there were always two or more identical Villages; maybe the whole thing was an induced hallucination; maybe they have arbitrarily advanced technology beyond what we can imagine; or maybe Number Six himself is an unreliable narrator and we can't trust what we're being shown. But it doesn't matter how. The only explanation is that it's the Village, and the Village defies explanation.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The show is surreal but is grounded in a not-too-far-fetched reality. However improbable some of the Village schemes may be, they're generally still possible. Going into "anything can happen, it's not real" territory would make me go "then who cares?"

Anyway, I think the episode itself very clearly intends the Village that he returns to to be the one, true Village, exactly as he left it...the turned-off utilities, the cat wandering around, the thing that the cat broke. If it was intended to be a different Village, then they would have put something in the narrative to convey that.

And I think that there's a symbolic gravitas to the Village being one, fixed place. The place that, however improbable the circumstances, Number Six can never get away from.

 

[Christopher]

The show is surreal but is grounded in a not-too-far-fetched reality. However improbable some of the Village schemes may be, they're generally still possible. Going into "anything can happen, it's not real" territory would make me go "then who cares?"

It's not "anything can happen," it's "We'll never actually know what happened." Whatever we think happened, we're probably wrong. The Prisoner is about enigma and uncertainty, misdirection and confusion. The show keeps the audience as disoriented as the Village keeps Number Six.

 

[RJDiogenes]

This wasn't announced last week because I didn't know it was coming...they just played it yesterday! This wasn't much of an episode for those watching the show for pop/rock/soul acts, but I'll give it a go.

This was one of the ones I saw yesterday. I think whoever I recorded it for didn't show up. Shirley Bassey was good and Tony Bennett was Tony Bennett-- I sat there wishing that he would choose better material. Although "For Once In My Life" was good.

Did you see the episode with BJ Thomas and Steppenwolf? Was BJ Thomas back there jammin' with the band?

Graves does a good job as Phelps playing a rivet manufacturer who's trying to clear up a clerical error, as part of a plan to bring in a replacement computer concealing Barney and his pussy.

Barney was probably feeling pretty resentful toward James Bond at that moment.

"Wives and Lovers"

Boy, this guy has a low opinion of humanity. The funny and/or sad thing is that this is exactly the advice my Mother gave me about girls when I was a teenager-- cater to her at all times or she'll run off with someone else.

...then I found that he was responsible for this lounge-number-from-Hell of an earworm:

Ah, I thought his name sounded familiar even if those songs weren't.

Note the otherwise identically labeled Bat Girl Geiger counter and Bat Man Geiger counter. Since when does Batman bother putting "Man" in labels for his Bat-gear?

Since competition showed up in Gotham?

The murder victim is a P.I. who was a friend of Ironside's since they were rookie cops together.

His final thought was, "I thought this was a backdoor pilot."

a group of Syndicate mobsters who hold Jai hostage in order to force Tarzan to help them find a crashed plane with a cargo of loot.

Ah, the old Safari-To-Find-The-Crashed-Planes-Full-Of-Loot-Graveyard plot.

This one has no hint of a giant clam, but figuratively speaking, the mobsters are after a a giant amount of clams.

I sensed a massive fake-out coming, but it wasn't as much of a fake-out as I expected.

Ah, my favorite episode. A marathon buildup to a hilarious punchline. But it seems you didn't like it as much as I did.

Clearly Number Six was on the outside this time...and the circumstances of his return to the Village strongly suggest that his own people are in on it.

Or his agency (or government) are seriously compromised.

Hopefully, should he ever manage to escape again, he won't be so quick to run back to the office. But that probably won't happen, as he has to know exactly where the Village is located now.

Indeed, I seem to remember quite a bit of calculating to pin down its location.

It's a little too coy how everyone avoids dropping Six's name when he's on the outside.

Yeah, I have mixed feelings about that.

Once she's captured, Peel gets chained to a wall by a chastity belt; but as kinky medieval bondage spectacles go, she's upstaged by a pretty female fellow prisoner who spends all of her scenes in an iron gag.

Interesting. I must not have seen this episode. Maybe, like that Hellfire Club episode, it was not shown here in the original syndication.

"Summer Rain," Johnny Rivers

This is a nice one. I like the mention of Sgt. Pepper.

"Honey Chile," Martha Reeves & The Vandellas

Catchy, but nothing special.

"Woman, Woman," The Union Gap feat. Gary Puckett

This is a really good one-- a helpless cry of despair.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Did you see the episode with BJ Thomas and Steppenwolf? Was BJ Thomas back there jammin' with the band?

Half-saw it...saved for closer 50th anniversary review when the time comes. Thomas and Steppenwolf were from different original dates, though. Liked the fake cloud raining on Thomas during the song...that's dedication to entertaining the audience!

Ah, my favorite episode. A marathon buildup to a hilarious punchline. But it seems you didn't like it as much as I did.

I liked it just fine...it was a strong episode. Not sure the punchline was worth all that, though.

Interesting. I must not have seen this episode. Maybe, like that Hellfire Club episode, it was not shown here in the original syndication.

It wasn't that sort of risque kinky, but they did keep playing up the girl being gagged for laughs. Just as Steed's about to take it off, he hears somebody coming and specifically tells her, "Not a word."

This is a nice one. I like the mention of Sgt. Pepper.

Not so much mention as full-on contemporaneous homage, right down to the orchestral warm-up at the end...sort of inviting you to go put on the album. It speaks of the impact that the album had at the time...though the reference to playing it on a jukebox is erroneous. No singles had been released from the album at the time.

Probably Johnny Rivers's best song...far better than when he does whitebread covers of Motown classics. It looks like this will be the last we hear of him here...he has a couple more Top 10 singles ahead of him in 1972 and 1977, but nothing in the Top 20 in the more immediate future.

Catchy, but nothing special.

I have it, but I'd have to concur. I thought "Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone" was stronger than this, and it only made #25. This will also be the last we'll be hearing of Martha & the Vandellas for our purposes (unless they pop up on a TV show)...they have a string of charting singles going forward into 1972, but none that even make the Top 40. The times they are a-changin'.

This is a really good one-- a helpless cry of despair.

A string of classic singles is ahead of us with this act. Gary Puckett songs are so much fun to sing along or lip sync to with bombast.
You better RUNNNNNN GIRLLLLLLL...YOU'RE MUCH! TOO! YOUNNNNNG GIRLLLLLLL!!!
(Coming our way in March.)

ETA:

I think whoever I recorded it for didn't show up.

Ye gods, you're not still using the cable guide info, are you? It's wrong far more often than it's right...kind of like a stopped clock. http://decades.com/schedule/