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50th Anniversary Viewing
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Mission: Impossible
"The Spy"
Originally aired January 7, 1968
Wiki said:
A map of NATO's missile defense system must be duplicated in order to fool a female spy. This was the first episode produced for Paramount after the sale of Desilu to Gulf+Western.
The reel-to-reel tape in reused footage of Jim on a pseudo-rooftop or the top floor of an unfinished building or something said:
This recording will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.
Has Rollin pulled hypnosis out of his bag of tricks before? I have to wonder if hypnosis really is more powerful than interrogation drugs. And did the hypnosis include Jim maintaining his more-laughable-than-usual accent?
Captain Cherno said:
There are ways to make a man talk.
Where have I heard that before?
Kate Woodville (Felicia) looks a lot better with the hairstyle that she's sporting here than she did in FTWIHAIHTTS. (I usually hate it when people acronymize episode titles, but that one's fairly obvious.)
This time, the local defense minister is in on the IMF's plan.
This episode is particularly noteworthy in that Rollin shoots a couple of guys up...gunplay isn't usually a part of the IMF's MO. It's convenient that nobody else in the apartment building seemed to notice the sound of gunfire.
Jim is put in genuine danger as he has to survive interrogation via Russian roulette...though the gun is facing him, so that he can see which chamber the bullet is in.
A final novel touch: At the end, Rollin gets an out-of-assumed-character moment over Felicia's body.
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The Monkees
"Fairy Tale"
Originally aired January 8, 1968
Wiki said:
A Monkee pantomime romp through Fairy Tale Land, introduced by a "Town Crier" (Rege Cordic), sees Peter rescuing a haughty princess (Michael) from death by her fiendish fiancee (Murray Roman).
Note: No laugh track. Along with themselves, Micky and Davy also portray Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel & Gretel in the episode.
I found this one more enjoyable than the typical episode for how it broke the usual series format by having the boys effectively doing an episode-long sketch in which they play characters other than the usual fictitious versions of themselves. It also gives Mike more to do than usual to make up for his absences. I would say that it's surprising that Davy isn't the one going after the "princess"...but considering who's playing her, hard-luck Peter does make more sense.
Our unconnected end-of-episode song:
"Daily Nightly"
(Does "unconnected" work better than "disconnected"?)
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The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
"The Seven Wonders of the World Affair: Part I"
Originally aired January 8, 1968
Wiki said:
Gen. Harmon (Leslie Nielsen) has kidnapped Professor David Garrow (Dan O'Herlihy), the developer of a docility gas, and his son Steve (Tony Bill), and with the gas and soldiers, Harmon and his allies - the "Seven Intellectual Wonders of the World" - intend to take over the world. But a THRUSH agent, Mr. Webb (played by Mark Richman), and Margitta Kingsley (Eleanor Parker), the wife of an U.N.C.L.E. agent, also intend to steal the gas.
Open Channel Down to One Episode!
That description left out some key characters, including TOS guest David Hurst as Dr. Vanovech, and Barry Sullivan as the rogue UNCLE agent behind the whole plan, for whom Nielsen's character is working. Another TOS guest with a more minor role in the story is Logan Ramsey as a ship captain.
The destruction of Solo and Kuryakin's car in the teaser is really unconvincing. If it was barreling toward the gate and got hit by rockets from behind, what was left of the car should have kept moving forward into the gate...we don't see any sort of wreckage, just an explosion and shots of Solo and Kuryakin rolling away without having seen them actually go out the car doors.
After Solo's plane is shot down over an unusual desert area in the Himalayas, an injured Solo finds himself wandering around--Where else?--Vasquez Rocks.
Somehow the bad guys' SAM radar picks up Kuryakin's helicopter when it's on the ground. Pretty sure it doesn't work like that.
Overall, this episode consisted of a lot of set-up, complicated by an overly large guest cast. It felt like Solo and Kuryakin were guests on somebody else's show.
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The Rat Patrol
"The Boomerang Raid"
Originally aired January 8, 1968
H&I said:
A lieutenant is dropped off by submarine to set up naval barrage coordinates, but Troy becomes suspicious after the officer seems more interested in mapping the Allied positions than the German ones.
This episode takes us to the coast again, but the Patrol is using their Jeeps and wearing their usual fatigues. It feels natural enough that they'd suspect Dick Sargent of not being the original Lt. Kemper (though he's a season and a half away from taking over the co-starring role in
Bewitched). The audience could easily enough tell he was an imposter when he fake-shot Dietrich. Yeah, like they're gonna kill him off near the beginning of a random episode.
In the climax, we get a fistfight between Troy & Dietrich on the beach; and in the feel-good coda, we learn that the barrage will go on as scheduled, with Troy supplying the German positions via memory.
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Batman
"Louie's Lethal Lilac Time"
Originally aired January 11, 1968
H&I said:
When Louie the Lilac kidnaps Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, it's up to Batgirl and Alfred to save them.
Louie sure picked the wrong millionaire and his youthful ward to mess around with!
Oh look, a clip show-ish filler scene--complete with
Batman's giant clam! Just who was filming these events from previous episodes anyway...?
At stately Wayne Manor, Alfred excuses himself to answer the phone before it rings. And it sure was careless of him to let Barbara into the study...which wouldn't be a big deal if they hid the Batphone somehow.
I think this has come up before, but while Dick wasn't allowed to drive the Batmobile before he had a license, they have no problem with the Batmobile driving itself!
And then we have the magic Bat-costume pills. This gimmick I can buy more easily than the anti-explosion spray in that it reminds me of the Flash's costume ring, but it's hard to swallow (pardon the expression) that you can compress and expand the utility belts with all their gadgets like that.
I had no problem with next episode's villain breaking the fourth wall at the end...those preview scenes are mostly out-of-continuity with the episodes that follow anyway.
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Ironside
"Memory of an Ice Cream Stick"
Originally aired January 11, 1968
Wiki said:
Against Ironside's warning, Mark gets involved with an ex-con from his past.
This episode has Team Ironside investigating the murder of a mobster for which the aforementioned ex-con, Sam Noble, was questioned. I feel like the story touched upon some interesting ground when Mark was harassed by the police while socializing with Sam...but ultimately it comes out on the pro-police side of things, as it turns out that Ironside was right and Sam was bad news. While not the culprit in the original murder, he winds up rubbing off that murderer for money; and Mark finds out how much he means to Sam when he's held hostage.
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"The Rivals"
Originally aired January 11, 1968
Wiki said:
Another family visit to Ann's parents in Brewster pits Donald against Lou.
One could read a lot into how eager Ann is to kiss her father's butt in order to keep him happy.
The meat of the story involves Donald getting into an accident with Mr. Marie. After it's determined that Donald had the right of way, he takes the fall for the sake of Lou's ego by claiming that his turn signal bulb was out.
We have an interesting sign o' the times situation here in which it seems to be understood that Don and Ann are sleeping in separate rooms (which is what I'd expect in the era and of Lou Marie) by the fact that they have a midnight rendezvous at the fridge; but I didn't catch where it was stated outright one way or the other.
"Oh, Donald" count:
4
"Oh, Daddy" count:
0
"Oh, Mother" count:
1
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Tarzan
"The Convert"
Originally aired January 12, 1968
H&I said:
A nun returns to a native village to bring medicine and treat the sick.
After that, the Hippo capsizes the boat, and Tarzan rescues Sister Therese (Diana Ross)'s trunk from the river bottom. We get that and two other scenes of Tarzan in underwater action...but yeah, it was too much to hope for the Supremes
and a giant clam in the same episode....
But we do get James Earl Jones, who's much more recognizable here as Nerlan, the chief of Sister Therese's former tribe, than in his previous appearance. While he makes a show of treating Therese as an outsider for having left her people, she was his promised bride when they were young, and he clearly still has a soft spot for her.
The story involves Malachi Throne's character, Larson, trying to get Nerlan to sell his tribal land for building a hunting preserve. Larson gets Therese to help convince Nerlan with the promise of a hospital.
Sister Ann (Cindy Birdsong) says that she's from Pittsburg, and Sister Martha (Mary Wilson) says that she's from Chicago. Hmm, no in-references there...Cindy's from New Jersey and Mary's from Mississippi. None of the Sisters Supreme are threatening to win an Academy Award here, but Diana puts in a serviceable performance in her more prominent role, while Cindy and Mary are pretty much background sisters.
Just prior to this number, Jai gets an involuntary shot from Therese as a demonstration to the tribespeople:
(That's JEJ at the end of the clip.)
We also get some incidental female choir music during a prayer that I'm guessing was probably supplied by our musical guests.
Cheeta's a she in this episode.
In the climax, Tarzan pulls some more animal-commanding mojo, surrounding Larson with a blockade of animals, including a full-size elephant and a lion.
Ultimately Therese convinces Nerlan to sell the land for the money that the tribe needs...but Larson is taken down and Tarzan pulls strings with the government so that the tribe sells the surrounding land while keeping the village. Therese assumes that she'll have to leave because she's not wanted, but Nerlan demonstrates that he's come around some when he starts building the hospital and shows an interest in the music...
The Supremes get billed twice in the end credits...taking the first guest spot as "Special Guest Stars Diana Ross and the Supremes," and the next-to-last spot (just before JEJ) under their individual names.
Supremes career tribute post to come.
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Star Trek
"A Piece of the Action"
Originally aired January 12, 1968
Stardate 4598.0
MeTV said:
The Enterprise travels to a planet suffering from cultural contamination from an earlier expedition—the inhabitants mimic the culture of 1930's gangland Chicago.
See my post here.
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Get Smart
"The Groovy Guru"
Originally aired January 13, 1968
Wiki said:
A hippie disk jockey called the Groovy Guru (played by guest star Larry Storch) seeks to control the minds of teenagers through his radio show. This is a parody of the German folktale and Robert Browning's poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin."
In 1997, TV Guide ranked this episode #67 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes.
Get Smart goes full hippie episode, and the signs o' the times come early...
Wanda: The Grateful Dead are alive and living in Beverly Hills.
Max: Simon and Garfunkel fell off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
Along with the usual recurring gags...
Max: Don't tell me there's a bomb in my purse!
99: There's a bomb in your purse!
Max: I asked you not to tell me that!
This episode features the return of Dr. Steele, a CONTROL agent whose cover is being a stripper (first seen in "Classification: Dead"). The episode also guests Mickey Morton in a speaking role as a cab driver; and Larry Storch from
F Troop as the titular villain.
The Chief: What if they torture you?
Max: I can stand the pain if they can stand the screaming.
Also featuring
the swinging sound of the Sacred Cows.
99: The missing CONTROL agents--how awful!
Max: You said it, they're terrible dancers.
How could Max and 99 have a normal-volume conversation in the sound amplification chamber?
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Hah, that's interesting. When The Beatles released it, everybody probably thought it was just a Del Shannon cover.
Everybody who heard it...#77 means that somebody was playing and listening to it, but it was likely forgotten in its obscurity during the chaos of Beatlemania. But it's noteworthy that the Beatles' own recording, among all their other early singles that were competing on multiple labels in those months, put in an uncharacteristically poor performance, falling just short of making it into the Top 40. For my money, it's a better single than "Love Me Do," which managed to hit #1 in the States.
I wasn't digging below the Top 20 for Del Shannon's singles, but I went ahead and bought this one for its sheer (and mostly unsung) historical value. It'll be fun when that pops up in the weekly playlist mid-year, well in advance of the British Invasion.
