_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing _______ The Ed Sullivan Show Season 20, episode 17 Originally aired December 31, 1967 As represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show Funny thing about the cable info for this episode...not only is it as generally wrong as usual about who's in the episode, but in one of the cases where it should have been right, it listed "Jay & the Technicians"! As for what's actually in the episode...for once we have a Best of episode that's all from the same date, and that actually shows all of the major, confirmed acts listed on tv.com. And there are a couple of references to it being New Year's Eve preserved in the Best of edit. As New Year's Eve business goes, this one comes off as a sort of year-end clearance special. Both of the two major musical artists are performing singles that are recent but past the point of benefiting from promotion. Miriam Makeba's "Pata Pata" has already fallen off the Hot 100, while "Keep the Ball Rollin'" by Jay & the Techniques is in its last week on the chart. Both performances are definitely using live audio, or audio recorded specifically for the show. Tonight's other guests: Montego's act is part sword balancing, part fire juggling (for which they turn down the lights), part spinning a bowl on top of a wire spinning on the edge of a plate in his mouth, part balancing and spinning multiple objects while on a unicycle. George Kirby does versatile impersonations of Ed and various guests performing parts of the same song, with his Ed doing the intro and then finishing the song. The song I'm not familiar with, but is likely one of several songs titled "Bye Bye Baby". Gianna D'Angelo makes us eat our vegetables with an opera piece called "Una voce poca fa". She certainly has a talent for high notes...she can probably break glass. Mentioned somewhere upthread, Buddy Rich & His Orchestra tickle my fancy by covering "Norwegian Wood". I didn't post a video then, so here it is: This is a big band arrangement with emphasis on drums, because that's what the bandleader played. Not in the Best of edit, Buddy & Orchestra also performed "Wack Wack," a recent instrumental by the Young-Holt Trio (a.k.a. Young-Holt Unlimited) over the end credits. (YHT's single charted Dec. 17, 1966; #40 US; #35 AC; #12 R&B.) tv.com lists Topo Gigio as having also been on the show, as well as scheduled but unverified appearances by Vikki Carr (performing "It Must Be Him") and Rodney Dangerfield. _______ The Rat Patrol "The Pipeline to Disaster Raid" Originally aired January 1, 1968 John Anderson does British...surprisingly not too badly to my Yank ear, though Brits might disagree. When the Patrol finds his character (the above-mentioned general), they bring him onto the desert set to cool off. When the scene is over, they actually "drive off" of the set...I don't think I've seen them do that before, the vehicles are usually stationary in the set scenes. The general establishes himself as something of an Ahab type by making mistakes and acting a little cray-cray. In the climax of his part of the story, he tries to put the Patrol under arrest at gunpoint...but then succumbs to a wound that he's been hiding. While he takes a last nap, the Patrol lugs him along in one of the Jeeps while they carry out the mission. There's another "Hitch gets the girl" gag at the end, with the private being tended to by a nurse at the field hospital that they've set up on the set. Going by IMDb credits, Dietrich is apparently not in the episode, though I thought I spotted him in an early scene. If it was him, it was likely reused footage and he didn't do any talking. _______ Batman "The Joke's on Catwoman" Originally aired January 4, 1968 Romero's mustache is really obvious here...you can see it hanging over his painted lips. And wow, is that lighthouse set abstract, both inside and out; they should've done a deal to use The Rat Patrol's lighthouse. Likewise for the courtroom set. Anti-Blast Bat Powder? I'm all for crazy Bat-Gadgets, but a spray that protects you from explosions seems a little too magical. I rediscovered that Lucky Pierre was former Kennedy and Johnson press secretary Pierre Salinger, only to be reminded that it was already covered two years ago in the Me thread. I'll add that they did a nod with the reference to him potentially going into politics, etc. _______ Ironside "Force of Arms" Originally aired January 4, 1968 The aforementioned fanatic is a ranking member of the Second Force, a right-wing organization concerned with increasing lawlessness headed by a millionaire named Weathers. Regardless of whether or not they're supposed to parallel any actual organizations of the time (they give off a vaguely neo-Nazi-ish vibe), the basic idea is pretty timely in a year that will see a politician of questionable methods elected to the presidency on a "law and order" platform. Other good quotes from the Chief: Sign o' the times: The Second Force isn't just collecting dossiers on people, it's computerizing them...on old-school computers with reel-to-reel tapes and punch cards. At one point, the computer turns up Ironside, established here as a vocal critic of the Second Force, as a suspect. Recognizable guests include George Murdock as a chauffeur who becomes another murder victim for knowing too much and almost sharing it with Ironside (but gets a scene in the back of the Ironsidemobile); and William Lucking as an aide of the Second Force leader's new lieutenant. The person behind the murders turns out to be an erstwhile member of the organization who's orchestrating a takeover; the climactic move in his scheme involves faking Weathers and Ironside killing each other...which is foiled in part by Ironside pulling the old "let them take a gun loaded with blanks" trick. _______ "Fur All We Know" Originally aired January 4, 1968 The grammatically challenged episode description gives away the episode's comedic twist by describing Buzzy as a gigolo. It turns out he doesn't have any money himself, and was ultimately expecting Ann to pay for everything. One part that tickled me was when Ann, attempting to mingle at the party, moves from one chattering group to the next muttering "mingle, mingle". Once more on the subject of Donald's eating-out budget: At the end, he's taking Ann to the restaurant that neither Buzzy nor Ann could afford. "Oh, Donald" count: 8 "Oh, Mr. Mellinger" count: 2 "Oh, Buzzy" count: 1 _______ Tarzan "The Professional" Originally aired January 5, 1968 The Lord of the Jungle is back from hiatus and in good form, with outdoor shooting, wild animals, and an opening river rapid rescue. Soon-to-be Mod Squadder Clarence Williams III guests as the young chief of our Tribe of the Week, who demands a feat of strength to verify Tarzan's identity: resisting being pulled in opposite directions by horses. Also guesting is future investigative reporter Jack Colvin as a government official to whom the bad guys are reporting via radio. Tarzan goes to government HQ to have the colonel called off...and while I'd like to make a crack about Jack not liking Tarzan when he's angry, he and the Ape Man are actually all friendly and on a first-name basis. (Does he only play characters named Jack?) When the colonel goes rogue, Jack does what he can to help deal with him, which includes sending a helicopter to give Tarzan a lift midway back to the tribal territory. Tarzan rescues himself from a firing squad via a full-sized elephant that he'd summoned before being taken captive. Nice to see him pull out his animal-commanding mojo once in a while. In the climax, the colonel and his reinforcements are outmaneuvered by the tribe, who trap them in the walls of their village and threaten to burn it down. Tarzan then indulges the colonel in a pugilistic competition. Jai and Cheeta are fully integrated in the story. Next week's episode brings us a supreme trio of guests: Mary Wilson, Cindy Birdsong, and Diana Something-or-other.... And in two weeks, H&I will be airing the back-to-back giant clam appearances--which are all set to record for screencaps! _______ Star Trek "The Gamesters of Triskelion" Originally aired January 5, 1968 Stardate 3211.8 See my post here. _______ Get Smart "The King Lives?" Originally aired January 6, 1968 Adams gets to do some old-fashioned swashbuckling in an episode that guests Michael Forest as Prince Basil, the scheming half-brother. We also get the tease of a The Court Jester-style "mantle with the panel" gag, but it doesn't get played out. _______
_______ 50 Years Ago This Week Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Baby You Got It," Brenton Wood "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," Glen Campbell "Keep the Ball Rollin'," Jay & The Techniques "Neon Rainbow," The Box Tops "Watch Her Ride," Jefferson Airplane "Wear Your Love Like Heaven," Donovan New on the chart: "You," Marvin Gaye (#34 US; #7 R&B; #52 UK) "Sunshine of Your Love," Cream (#5 US; #25 UK; #65 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) "I Wish It Would Rain," The Temptations (#4 US; #1 R&B; #45 UK) And new on the boob tube: Mission: Impossible, "The Spy" The Monkees, "Fairy Tale" The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair: Part I" The Rat Patrol, "The Boomerang Raid" Batman, "Louie's Lethal Lilac Time" Ironside, "Memory of an Ice Cream Stick" That Girl, "The Rivals" Tarzan, "The Convert" Star Trek, "A Piece of the Action" Get Smart, "The Groovy Guru" _______
Seems like a run-on to me..."after this, something else happens, when that." It would read a lot better to me if that "when" were a "where."
Yes, it's an awkwardly constructed sentence, but it's not a run-on per se. It has one transition too many, but each transition is grammatical. A run-on sentence is one where two or more independent clauses are joined without a transition.
Also, the "when a gigolo mistakes Ann for a wealthy heiress" makes it sound like that event is concurrent with the owner insisting, rather than the party. "At which" would be another better alternative than "when."
Hey, somebody's gotta set up the equipment. Some people just have The Calling, you know. I've seen that one. The orchestral aspect does seem to reduce my discomfort a bit. And, look, Ed does an impression of Ed. Topo was supposed to be in one of the episodes we watched yesterday, but he didn't show. They should really release The Compleat Topo on DVD. Yesterday we saw a couple of old black-and-white episodes-- one of them introducing Ed as that famous newspaper columnist or something-- the highlight of which was Chubby Checker doing "Limbo Rock." Also, I'm not a big fan of Barbra Streisand, but she had this nice number where she was singing from the window of a large brick apartment building-- I'm not sure how they did it, but it looked cool. I wonder how they get there. Every time he gets his credit card paid off, he splurges again. Sweet. Oh, man, I wanna see that one. That's almost as good as the Supreme Trio. Coincidentally, The Prisoner of Zenda was just on TCM yesterday. I'm not familiar with this one, but it has that Marvin Gaye sweetness about it. This is one of those songs where it takes an effort of will to not listen to it over and over all day like a rat pushing his pleasure button instead of eating. And this is really nice, too. Indeed. It suffers from stylistic and clarity failure. It may be grammatically correct, but it doesn't communicate well.
So...you like the Buddy Rich version better...? Directed at the offstage George Kirby (who may have just been on before that). I think that may have originally been an anniversary episode. I have both of those re-recorded for future viewing in sync with my 55th anniversary business. Been rerecording and saving the ones from the '62-'63 through '64-'65 seasons. There are some YouTube clips of them singing as nuns, but I think I'll save them for the review post. It's a good one, but its presence with that chart peak is an artifact of my idiosyncratic collection. It was on a Marvin compilation that I bought, so I put it in. Of note here is that the single will not be reaching its chart peak in the run that's now starting...it will just make it into the lower Top 40, drop off the chart for a couple months, then come back for the climb to #5. There's probably a story behind that somewhere.... Definitely one of the more striking singles from the "middle period" that they're going through at this point.
Cutting production costs...AKA "Keep As Much Money In Greenway's Pockets As Possible, Quality Be Damned, 'Cause Hey, We Have Enough In The Can For A Profitable Syndication Package". Despite the (long debunked) tales from West, Craig and others, NBC was not serious about picking up this mess of a series for what would have been the '68-'69 season. Its season three. just go with it. ...and reportedly, Salinger and other Kennedy insiders claimed Robert Kennedy (a Bat-fan) always wanted to appear in a window cameo, but his schedule was always prevented his chance to visit the Batman set.
Funny you should bring up Bobby Kennedy.... _______ 51st Anniversary Viewing _______ Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for 51 years ago this week: I'd be interested to know what somebody from Boston has to say about this: "Wild Thing," Senator Bobby feat. Bill Minkin (#20 US) _______ The Rat Patrol "The Last Harbor Raid: Episode III" Originally aired January 2, 1967 Following another narrated recap, shirtless Hitch gets romantic with Claudine Longet's character, Marianne...who sings another French song when recruiting the fishermen, though I didn't recognize this one. There's also some mid-episode narration setting up the escape. Marianne takes a bullet from afar during the escape while in Hitch's arms...saw that coming. _______ "Among My Souvenirs" Originally aired January 5, 1967 The episode begins with Ann and Donald going through her boxes in the Marie garage, but the parents don't appear. Lord, can I relate to that! There's a location shot of Ann and Donald taking boxes out of the car (shown on the episode's IMDb page). Evidently Ann's apartment is just off of one of the riverside highways, though I'm not sure what bridge we're looking at in the background. Ann has an unsettling-to-Donald amount of stuff stored away from a long-term relationship with Freddie Dunlap. When she reacquaints herself with him, it turns out he's on his second divorce and takes things exactly as Donald feared he would. "Oh, Donald" count: 9+ "Oh, Freddie" count: 5 _______
No, it just didn't give me that creepy feeling. But not the whole episode, I suppose.... Yeah, that's a little weird. Oh, I love that. It's in my MP3 folder. One of my favorite novelty numbers. Ditto. How old is she supposed to be? She seems pretty young for that kind of story.
I'm tickled that the Senator Bobby album name and cover are a spoof of my favorite Beatles album. (I suppose I don't need "Beatles" in there.) "Long-term" was fourth grade through high school.
Yeah, but I mean him being on his second divorce and so forth. It doesn't seem like she's been out of school that long.
Well, Thomas was 29 at the time...Ann may have been a bit younger, but she'd been through college and a temporary teaching career. And I think the general idea was to get across what a comically bad catch Freddie turned out to be. So...50th anniversary nut that I am, as I type this I'm listening to Their Satanic Majesties Request for the first time in what must be years and years...and probably the first time ever with earbuds. And it's...surprisingly not as bad as I remembered...even the Bill Wyman song. (And no, I'm not you-know-what!) _______ Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for 55 years ago this week: _______ 12 O'Clock High "I Am the Enemy" Originally aired November 8, 1965 See this post for a few screencaps. Anyone who insists that Shatner's reputation for overacting isn't warranted needs to watch this episode. His style really clashes with the more understated, naturalistic styles of the series regulars. This was especially noticeable in an Act I scene in Gallagher's office. Paul Burke and Andrew Duggan might as well have been munching on popcorn while they sat back and took in the Shat's scenery chewing. Now Komansky is playing chauffeur to Gallagher just to stay in the episode. Meanwhile, Frank Overton was in the credits this time, but if he actually had a scene, I either blinked or it was cut for syndication. The backstory of Shatner's Major Brown raises more chrono-historical issues. He says that he was smuggled out of the Reich when he was very young, and that he's been wanting to die since he was 12 (which is implicitly tied in with his self-loathing for being German). The Reich would have only been around for about a decade or so...what age is 34-year-old Shatner supposed to be playing here?
Oh, okay. I figured she was just out of college and embarking on her acting career. I didn't know, or forgot, about the teaching career. I would not have thought so... since I have no idea what you mean. Taking his shirt off is in his contract. I call it theatrical. And, as with the Arts in general, I generally prefer it over naturalism. They exist in that alternate universe where WWII goes on forever and ever and ever....
I was thinking that the background references actually worked out better if the show took place in 1965. "Everybody must get ______." I've discovered that the "Mission: Impossible" single goes very well with trying to find something in the grocery store.