The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

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50th Anniversary Viewing

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The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 20, episode 16
Originally aired December 24, 1967
As represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show

Before John Denver, it was Arthur Godfrey singing Christmas songs with the Muppets. This clip shows more of "It's Christmas Tomorrow" than Best of did:

The Best of edit starts at around 2:50 in this video. According to tv.com, Arthur also performed "The Secret of Christmas" in the original episode.

On the non-holiday front, Bobbie Gentry performs "Niki Hoeky," a track from her Ode to Billie Joe album (the titular hit song of which Ed name-drops in his intro). Bobbie sings on a set of a wooden bridge/walkway surrounded by flowers. I couldn't find a clip from Sullivan, but here's one of her doing the same song on The Smothers Brothers; the set piece is similar but shot differently and she didn't have the dancers on Sullivan. tv.com indicates that she also performed a Christian hymn called "I Wonder as I Wander" in the original Sullivan episode.

This episode also gives us George Carlin as the Hippy Dippy Weatherman:

Wrong date in the video again. The Best of edit starts at about the 1:00 point of this video, but continues past what's shown in this clip. He doesn't actually look very hippie here, with a cap, short hair, and clean-shaven. At a later point in the routine, he breaks into a cigarette commercial.

Carlin delivers a Merry Christmas / Happy New Year at the end of the sketch.

Squarely back on the holiday front, organist Virgil Fox performs "Adeste Fideles". What can I say? Good and churchy. Evidently Ed thought so, too, he mentions it bringing back memories of when he pumped the organ for his sister at Midnight Mass.

Not on Best of...The Cowsills. tv.com indicates that they performed their upcoming single "We Can Fly" (presumably not this clip; charted Jan. 13, 1968; #21 US; #9 AC). I didn't see much reason to dig below the Top 20 for them based on this song; it's pleasant enough, but feels like a knock-off of "Up, Up and Away". tv.com also indicates that they performed a Christmas song medley--likely the source of this clip.

Also appearing in the original episode according to tv.com:

• Peter Gennaro dancing to "What The World Needs Now"
• The Little Angels Of Korea (playing drums and dancing with ribbons)

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The Monkees
"The Monkees' Christmas Show"
Originally aired December 25, 1967

I never would have recognized the kid in the episode as Eddie Munster! Not the best holiday-themed episode that I watched this season...it starts as a sort of Christmas Carol pastiche, but instead of the Monkees doing anything to teach the boy a lesson, he sports a sudden emotional attachment to them that seems to come out of nowhere.

We get some less conventional but holiday-appropriate music from the boys:



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The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
"The Deep Six Affair"
Originally aired December 25, 1967

Open Channel Don't Expect a Christmas Story Here.

This episode depends on us suddenly giving as much of a crap about this guest agent's life as Waverly does. We don't. Morton doesn't do a good job of convincing us that the disapproved-of marriage is OK, since he does everything that THRUSH wants of him when they hold his fiance hostage, until Solo and Kuryakin (who are working together again) intervene. Then we get the same twist as last week...an unexpected character being revealed as a THRUSH agent at the end of Act III.

The episode also does an unconvincing job of pretending to be set in the UK. And in Act IV, we get some pretty unconvincing sub interiors. To say nothing of UNCLE's high-tech sub being portrayed on the outside by a WWII-era diesel sub.

On the plus side, we do get a good Waverly moment in Act IV...and a good last line from Kuryakin.

In two weeks: The first half of the two-part series finale. Sock it to me!

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The Rat Patrol
"The Street Urchin Raid"
Originally aired December 25, 1967

The titular shoe-shine boy is played by Jean-Michel Michenaud, who'd appeared as the Jewish student in last year's That Girl Christmas episode.

This installment is another that has an Indiana Jonesy vibe to it, centering around espionage activities in a neutral desert city against white-suited Gestapo agents. And Dietrich is in it! He saves Troy from a rough beating by insisting that the sergeant be treated as a POW, and also ensures good treatment of the boy and his sister...

...who's a belly dancer! An unnamed co-worker of hers is played by Tanya Lemani, who just appeared as Kara in last week's "Wolf in the Fold".

In the climax, the Patrol makes a prisoner exchange of a Gestapo agent for the boy's sister.

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Magical Mystery Tour
Originally aired December 26, 1967 (UK)

Ah, watching this is a test of one's Beatle-geek cred. Conceived by, written by, directed by, and produced by the Beatles (mainly Paul), it clearly demonstrates that their genius was limited to music. But how could I resist viewing it in its original, infamous Boxing Day programming context on its 50th anniversary?

This time Ringo gets the fake relative...it was Paul in A Hard Day's Night. Actual members of the Beatles' circle who appear in the film include Neil Aspinall, Mal Evans, and Magic Alex. And browsing IMDb, I didn't realize that Spencer Davis was in it.

As conventional Beatlephile wisdom goes, the main takeaway from this special are the music videos. The first of the three truly striking examples is "The Fool on the Hill"...one of those odd album songs that easily could have been a hit single (and will be for Sergio Mendes in the coming year); a very striking video sequence shot on the sly in France. I believe that Paul described it as "not quite union," or something to that effect.

Victor Spinetti is wasted here. He stole the show in both of the Beatles' scripted films, but I never cared for the bit as the drill sergeant, though it was probably his own improvisation.

"She Loves You" makes an appearance as organ instrumental source music at the beginning of the race scene. Ringo actually drove the bus for that!

"Flying" is typically cited as an example of a video sequence that was lost on b&w TV viewers in the initial BBC broadcast. The song is nothing great, but is unique in that it's an instrumental in the Beatles' discography, and in being the only song released in their time as a band that was credited to all four of them.

The wizards stuff plays like an annoying children's show.

"All My Loving" pops up as an instrumental in classical form. The love story between the old guy and Ringo's fake aunt is a bit painful, but to its credit, it's an actual plot thread. I was never quite sure what they were going for when they rapidly transition from his dream sequence of romancing her to his stern announcement on the bus.

Ah, thank god..."I Am the Walrus" to the rescue! Alas, the whole movie peaks a bit early with this classic video sequence to a favorite Beatles song. But there is one more strong video sequence coming at the end.

I hate John's spaghetti sequence. Pretty grotesque.

"Blue Jay Way"...alas, George brings a relatively weak song for his spotlight, and the video isn't as interesting as the others. I don't remember whose book it was in, but somebody made a crack about the irony of George singing the line "don't be long" so many times.

The accordian-accompanied singalong seems interminable...they were probably having a lot more fun filming it than I have watching it.

Next comes the strip show with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band performing the very Elvis-style "Death Cab for Cutie". Neil Innes would go on to do the music for the Rutles parody and play the John spoof, Ron Nasty. But it seems odd to have somebody else performing source music in a Beatles film.

The final number, "Your Mother Should Know," is the last of the three truly striking video sequences...definitely a classic. We also get a smidgen of "Hello Goodbye" in the end credits.

I imagine that the reaction of a viewer in 1967 was pretty much the same as that I had upon first viewing the film ca. 1987--"What the hell did I just watch?"

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Batman
"The Funny Feline Felonies"
Originally aired December 28, 1967

The show gives us yet another Batphone / regular phone gimmick.

Warden Crichton really is incompetent, just watching Catwoman "kidnap" the Joker and having to be told to take action by Bruce...though the Caped Crusader doesn't account for himself much better, falling for the joy buzzer trick. And how convenient that Batman & Robin voluntarily did a simultaneous double handshake...and that Joker was prepared for the occasion with a buzzer in each hand.

Batman pulling out the creeper board is a good utility belt gag.

This episode is the source of the controversial "tea leaves, stars, crystal gazing" reference...which is obviously a gag, since the audience knows that Batgirl's real source of information was being in the commissioner's office as Barbara. Batman recognizes it as a joke, too, hence his "I wonder what she'll come up with next."

Joker comes off as a little too much of a second banana who has to have everything explained to him; he's sort of playing the role of Catwoman's moll here.

Dick shouldn't have called Bruce by name so close to the phone.

Joe E. Ross does an uncredited appearance as Little Louie Groovy's agent.

It's odd that they broke the episode just before what would have been a good cliffhanger.

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Ironside
"The Fourteenth Runner"
Originally aired December 28, 1967

Guesting Steve Ihnat, sporting a mustache and an M:I-quality Russian accent, as a Soviet representative with whom Ironside jousts verbally over police methods; and Ed Asner as regional head of the "SIA" (if I caught that right), who informs Ironside of the runner's status as a spy for them. At one point, Ed gets a ride in the back of the Ironsidemobile.

The mystery here is about who's responsible for the runner's disappearance and why; by the middle of the episode, Ironside sniffs out that it was the runner himself, who just wants out. After that, it's a matter of evading the Russians, who try to use the runner's girlfriend, a previous defector, against him. In the climax, Ironside pulls a switcheroo of the casket that the Russians are using to try to smuggle the runner out of the country.

In one scene, we hear an instrumental version of "Don't Sleep in the Subway" playing in a bar.

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"A Friend in Need"
Originally aired December 28, 1967

Mr. Marie isn't in the episode, but demonstrates some offscreen presence via a one-sided phone conversation. Mrs. Marie is in the episode, coming to town for a change. She quickly returns home when Donald promises to take care of Ann, but that's the spark that motivates him to pull out the stops in doing so. The punchline is when she pays an unexpected visit to his apartment and finds that it's a typical bachelor's mess. You'd think that she'd never been there before...especially as it's a different set than when Harry Banner came to town.

There's a running gag of Jerry Bauman trying to find a legal angle for Ann to exploit.

"Oh, Donald" count: 4

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Star Trek
"The Trouble with Tribbles"
Originally aired December 29, 1967
Stardate 4523.3

See my post here.

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The Prisoner
"Living in Harmony"
Originally aired December 29, 1967 (UK)

I correctly assumed that this was one of those tacked-on episodes--It screamed "Let's do a Western!"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_in_Harmony#Production

Sign o' the times: The Wiki also says that the reason this episode wasn't part of the original US run is because CBS considered it to have an anti-war subtext.

This episode completely lacks the usual opening sequence.

"Two" wanting "Six" to work for him as a sheriff perhaps parallels what I'd read about on the Wiki page of the previous episode...that had the series gone forward, they would have had Six doing more missions for the Village.

I wasn't sure if McGoohan was trying to do an accent or not; I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he wasn't.

The music used during the hanging breaks the Western atmosphere.

After a fake-out in the illusory setting that makes it seem like we have a female guest who isn't secretly a collaborator, she turns out to be yet another one in the actual Village setting.

I was wondering through most of the episode if they'd connect it directly with the show's usual continuity, or if it would just be a standalone "imaginary story". The explanatory scene between Two and Eight seems like a bit of an unnecessary end-of-episode infodump. They like to pull mind-tricks on Six, we get the picture by now. And the part after that, when Kathy / Number 22 dies of a prevented strangling after getting out a few last words (pretty sure it doesn't work like that), and Eight goes crazy and kills himself, makes no sense.

Well, it's cute that the Village has an Old West backlot to play in.

The Prisoner now takes a couple of weeks off in the original UK airing schedule; and evidently finishes its run on Thursdays rather than Fridays.

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Get Smart
"The Mysterious Dr. T"
Originally aired December 30, 1967

Either CONTROL has one lab for all of its scientists, or they all have the same pictures on the wall.

I wouldn't have recognized Bill Erwin here if I hadn't seen him listed on IMDb.

Peanuts guest: Good grief--It's Charlie Brown himself, Peter Robbins, as the titular CONTROL scientist!

I don't know if it originated in this episode, but Siegfried describes himself as "vice president in charge of treason for KAOS".

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That definitely seems a bit young to have appreciated it.

Hold that thought.

To clarify, Decades showed the stripper twirling her pasty tassels. What they censored were a few colorful metaphors that all had "Jesus" and/or "Christ" in them (as a bit of YouTubing confirmed).

Which one?

Note that I saved the full single versions of both of the upcoming singles for 50th anniversary business. (Though I did cover "Scarborough Fair" in the TOS 50th Anniversary Rewatch Thread when the album charted in 1966, which is where I have it situated in my chronological playlists.)

Apartment.

Merriam-Webster lists three definitions of "trigger" as a verb, the third of which is inclusive of, but not exclusive to, the context that you're emphasizing. That definition also covers the context in which RJ used it.

An interesting point. I'd go with RJ's description that I quoted above...he's clearly intelligent, but lacking in motivation and inspiration. The only thing in the film that he gets emotionally invested in is his pursuit of Elaine, and he throws himself into that in an over-the-top fashion that would be considered stalking by today's standards. But what you say about his eventual fate rings true...perhaps the reason he's so apprehensive about that potential future is because he knows that's exactly what's in store for him. Nothing that happens in the film changes that course.

 

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50 Years Ago This Week

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

As always, should you or anyone listening to this playlist be caught or killed, The Old Mixer will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Good luck.


Leaving the chart:

• "I Am the Walrus," The Beatles
• "In and Out of Love," Diana Ross & The Supremes
• "(The Lights Went Out in) Massachusetts," Bee Gees
• "Please Love Me Forever," Bobby Vinton
• "To Sir with Love," Lulu

Your new entries, should you choose to accept them:

"Mission: Impossible," Lalo Schifrin

(#41 US; #7 AC; this recording will self-destruct in 14 weeks)

"Love Is Blue (L'amour Est Bleu)," Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra
(#1 US the weeks of Feb. 10 through Mar. 9, 1968; #1 AC; #12 UK)


This week, the IMF engages in a needlessly complicated scheme to convince you that I added the following song three weeks ago:

"Watch Her Ride," Jefferson Airplane

(Charted Dec. 16, 1967; #61 US)


And new on the boob tube:

• The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 20, episode 17, featuring Miriam Makeba, Jay & the Techniques, Montego, George Kirby, Gianna D'Angelo, and Buddy Rich & His Orchestra
• The Rat Patrol, "The Pipeline to Disaster Raid"
• Batman, "The Joke's on Catwoman"
• Ironside, "Force of Arms"
• That Girl, "Fur All We Know"
• Tarzan, "The Professional"
• Star Trek, "The Gamesters of Triskelion"
• Get Smart, "The King Lives?"

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Something that just came to my attention relating to the recent discussion of the Impressions single "We're a Winner"...it had slipped my mind that the "keep on pushing" refrain was a callback to an earlier Civil Rights-themed single of theirs:

"Keep On Pushing"
(Charted June 6, 1964; #10 US; #1 R&B)

Honestly, my overall assessment of Rat Patrol is that it's pretty skippable. It's enjoyable when it's on its game, but lightweight fare at best. 12OCH, OTOH, can be damn good drama when it's on its game.

Have you every watched MMT?

Yep. She was injured playing a guerrilla (just noticed the misspelling), so a producer asks which guerrilla was injured, somebody points out "that guerrilla," and we get the gag title card, after which the letters move around to form the usual title.

I wouldn't discourage that. It's been a pretty meaty series overall.

Can't say I agree with him. One only needs to look to classical...there's plenty of good instrumental music that isn't begging to have words added. (Especially in Italian, what good is that? )

Indeed on both counts! In my book, it's rivaled only by (the original, of course) Hawaii Five-O...which I already had a hit single version of courtesy of the Ventures. Finding a single version of the M:I theme hiding just below the Top 40 was a pleasant surprise. Cute thing about the album that it's from...though none of them sound like anything that I recognize from the series, Schifrin gave each of the then-current regular characters their own piece:

"Jim on the Move"


"Rollin Hand"


"Wide Willy"


"Cinnamon (The Lady Was Made to Be Loved)"

(This one might have been used on the show...it's the only track on the album credited to somebody other than Schifrin...in this case, Jack Urbont and Bruce Geller.)

"Barney Does It All"

Can't say that I agree...it sounds just fine to me as-is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_JhC-NRsPI

Yeah, that was my hobgoblin at work...I realized that I had all of their other charting singles down into the 60s, and I'd previously skipped that one because it wasn't on the compilation that I'd bought the others from. Like their previous charting single from the same album, it does contribute to the immersive ambiance as an example of San Francisco-style psychedelic rock.

Definitely odd. It's not like two-parters airing on different weeks were unheard of then. And they definitely weren't taking eventual weekday syndication into account, which is how I first watched the show.

 

That was my general impression.

I thought it might have been used in that episode. I vaguely recall there being a distinctive romantic theme in her scenes with Gudegast's character. Can't say that I recall anything about a Cinnamon romance plot in "Wheels," though.

ETA: Just looked it up in your blog review...the episode had Cinnamon seducing one of the Rollin lookalikes to keep him away from the voting place.

Fun Fact!

 

You might have and not realized it. It's kind of like that.

To be clear, following up on my reference to classical, I was getting in a dig at opera.

Been meaning to mention that I caught on Decades that Decades Presents 1968 won't be one special, it will be a series of monthly specials. That bodes even better for TV and movies from '68 getting some attention in the coming year. I already have the two-part Hawaii Five-O pilot set to record, that's a promising start.

ETA: Just discovered that Antenna seems to have dropped The Monkees from its lineup. Full episodes are available on YouTube, but I think I'll just finish what I have...which means a couple more Season 2 episodes, and the remainder of Season 1 when I get past the episodes that I'm missing in February.

 

I think they would've done fine with their standard Season 1-style recaps. And didn't the across-week episodes of Season 2's three-parters have standard cliffhangers?

Happy 1968 everyone!

(I wish I really felt celebratory at the moment...I'm actually feeling pretty vile today, but that'll pass.)

 

I know, just sayin'. And I meant to say "Season 2's three-parters"...fixed it in my post.

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Decades Presents 1968: Well, they covered all of the major events...kind of glossed over the reading of Genesis when covering Apollo 8. No focus on the popular culture of the year, but I got that covered. I found the upbeat, playful opening credits music an odd choice for playing over images of assassinations, massacres, and riots.

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Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for 55 years ago this week:

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12 O'Clock High
"Runway in the Dark"
Originally aired November 1, 1965

That description gives away a major development in Act II...one that demonstrates how Norwegian resistance leaders also have access to TV Fu training in this era.

Frank Overton is off with Komansky manning the outer office again. Major Stovall seems to be busy manning the tower according to a couple of one-sided phone conversations.

This one missed the mark for me. The whole angle of the resistance leader temporarily disappearing didn't make much sense and just seemed like plot complication filler.

Next week: The Shat!

 

Hangover + insomnia. Feeling better now.