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50th Anniversary Viewing
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The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 21, episode 3
Originally aired October 13, 1968
As represented in
The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show
The
Best of installment opens with the "melodious" Beach Boys, dressed in white suits and now with a bearded Mike Love, revisiting their 1966 hit "Good Vibrations" accompanied by some trippy background images of themselves:
Next, "for all of you youngsters," we get the Muppets sketch with different parts of a monster hiding in three trash cans as a little girl walks by, then assembling themselves, briefly transforming into a handsome boy, and finally transforming the girl into another monster:
On the show, Jim Henson steps out to take a bow and shake Ed's hand.
Following that, a now-mustached Richard Pryor does a routine about trying to be cool...
which he'd apparently already done an earlier version of on the show in 1966. But the 1968 reprise segues from checking odors to exploding deodorant.
On to baseball player Denny McLain, who plays organ here in
an instrumental rendition of "The Girl from Ipanema" accompanied by three other musicians on bass, drums, and vibraphone. Then fellow ball player Bob Gibson comes out to accompany McLain on guitar in another, rather brief instrumental that isn't identified onscreen.
Next, Pearl Bailey sings a vaguely familiar sounding trad pop song called "I Believe," which includes a trombone solo. I couldn't find a clip, but
her studio version is here.
Continuing the earlier baseball theme, Ed introduces Claire Ruth, widow of Babe Ruth, for an audience bow before bringing the Beach Boys back out to perform their most recent hit, "Do It Again," before a backdrop of a sunset:
From a separate, mixed
Best of installment we have one more Pearl Bailey performance from this night, "Tower of Strength," an uptempo number that was
a #5 hit for Gene McDaniels in 1961.
Click here for the studio version of Pearl's rendition. Note at the end the reference to flower children followed by laughter, which was also in the
Sullivan performance.
Also in the original episode according to tv.com:
Music:
--Pearl Bailey sings "That's Life."
--Gilbert Becaud - "Je T' Attends" & "What Now My Love."
Comedy:
--Bill Dana - astronaut routine with Ed.
Sports:
--Sugar Ray Robinson (boxer) - talks with Ed.
--Ed interviews jockey Stanley Dancer, appearing with million dollar racing horse Cardigan Bay.
Audience bows: Irving Rudd, Sugar Ray Robinson, Mickey Lolich (1968 World Series pitching hero), H. Lesslie Ward Jr, Benjamin Preston.
On film : Clip from the movie "Goodbye Mr. Chips" with Petula Clark & Peter O'Toole. Ed interviews Clark & O'Toole. Ed & O'Toole sing "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."
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Mission: Impossible
"The Contender: Part 2"
Originally aired October 13, 1968
Wiki said:
The conclusion of the previous episode.
The hell you say!
The reel-to-reel tape in the customary extra-long recap of last week said:
Please dispose of this recording in the usual manner. Good luck, Jim.
They even show the portfolio scene again in the recap--now that's filling time! "Bobby" Conrad's in the recap as well.
Picking up from last week, Jim gets away when Rollin creates a distraction during the dice game that he's playing with Buckman's men. The gas gadget having been successfully planted, Barney wins his rigged demonstration fight, but gets KO'ed outside the ring by jealous Buckman fighter Staczek (Robert Phillips).
By this point Cin has latched onto Buckman to play her role in the scheme. Meanwhile, Jim has infiltrated the gambling end of the operation run by Buckman's associate Whelan (John Dehner).
Sugar Ray forces Rollin, who's in the role of Fake Lemoine's manager, to sign a contract for the boxer by holding his face over a gas stove.
In the climactic fight, Fake Lemoine's supposed to take a dive to Staczek. With the help of a previously unintroduced IMF operative named Rita, Jim sets up a series of bets to make it appear to Whelan that Buckman is double-crossing him by having a disguised Cinnamon (actually Rita) put a lot of money on Lemoine.
The whole premise of having Fake Lemoine played by Morris in makeup jumps the shark when Barney trades places with the real Lemoine in the dressing room after the fight, following which Lemoine announces his retirement to the assembled sports reporters. Um...yeah, right....
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Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 2, episode 5
Originally aired October 14, 1968
The Wiki list of guest appearances said:
Bobby Darin, The Holy Modal Rounders, Rosemary Clooney, Kirk Douglas, Mitzi Gaynor, Harland Sanders, Sonny Tufts
The episode includes a performance by
the Holy Modal Rounders, an actual group, that was rather unpleasant sounding...I'm not sure if that was a deliberate put-on or how they actually sounded.
The show's been getting in some digs at Chicago's Mayor Daley lately.
Bobby Darin is all over the episode, but I couldn't find any videos by searching his name. He does appear in the Mod World sketch, which covers the topic of Pollution:
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"7¼" (Part 1)
Originally aired October 17, 1968
Wiki said:
Ann flies to Los Angeles for a series of TV commercial along with Donald, who tags along to do a magazine story about violence in the entertainment industry.
Contrary to the description, it's Donald who's going out to California first to do his story, and it's his idea for Ann to tag along because she's so upset about him going out there. Her father, of course, comes down to the city to voice his objections.
The travel montage includes footage of a helicopter taking off from the Pan Am Building, presumably going to the airport...boy, Donald's magazine sure sends him in style!
Once they're at the hotel, Ann's all self-conscious about any appearance of impropriety to the staff while they sort out their room situation, which includes switching rooms once they've established that they'll have two. Then, of course, Mr. Marie calls and gets Donald when trying to connect to Ann's room. Things go to the sitcom-ish extreme when Ann and Donald wind up having dinner together through the connecting door.
I assume they'll fulfill the usual location-shooting purpose of the "trip to California" story next week. The L.A. half of this episode was completely hotel set-bound, with Ann just going out to take a cab to an audition at Paramount Studios in the coda. I'm also wondering if the next half explains the episode title...I didn't catch anything that it would pertain to in this one.
"Oh, Donald" count:
4
"Oh, Daddy" count:
1
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Star Trek
"Is There in Truth No Beauty?"
Originally aired October 18, 1968
Stardate 5630.7
H&I said:
Telepath Miranda Jones boards the Enterprise with Ambassador Kolos, a Medusan, an alien life form so hideous that the sight of him would drive humanoids insane. Also boarding the ship is Larry Marvick, hopelessly in love with Miranda. Soon Miranda senses that someone is contemplating murder.
See my post here.
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Adam-12
"Log 91: You're Not the First Guy's Had the Problem"
Originally aired October 19, 1968
Wiki said:
Officer Stenzler, Reed's best friend from the police academy, is critically wounded during an armed robbery call. Malloy, who just went through the same experience weeks earlier with the officer he was training, helps him focus. By all accounts, Reed does a good job of putting Stenzler's condition in the back of his mind as the officers deal with a drunk driver and bicycle burglars. In the end, Malloy and Reed learn that Stenzler died of his injuries.
Malloy and Reed's first call is to go to the scene where Stenzler was shot. Stenlzer's partner has already taken out the shooter, so the focus for the rest of the episode is on getting further news about their fellow officer's condition while they answer other calls.
Continuing their patrol, they spot a "deuce" (drunk driver) and pull him over. He gets confrontational, but Reed stays calm and professional while dealing with him. Then they get a call to follow up on a disturbance at a pool hall. Harry Swoger, who plays the pool hall manager, looks familiar...he's probably one of those characters actors I've seen in this and that. Trying to track down the off-camera suspects takes them to the hospital where Stenzler is.
Coming back from the break, we find our officers on a Code 7 in progress at an outdoor food stand. Reed's worried that his wife, Jean, might think he was the cop who was shot. Back on duty they spot a suspicious vehicle pulling away from a home with a bike hanging out the back and pull it over. Splitting the suspects up for questioning (one a mop-haired young man wearing beads, the other a balding, slightly older man sporting a medallion), they get two different stories. When they try to call in for a wants and warrants check, the perps unsuccessfully attempt to flee in opposite directions.
Back at the station, they get the news about Stenzler. The line in the title refers to Reed's apprehension about having a necessary talk with Jean about the dangers of the job. Contrary to the description's attempt to tie in some continuity, Malloy's situation in the pilot episode never comes up. There is, however, some continuity set-up for future episodes--Reed mentions in this one that Jean's pregnant...I'm pretty sure that's the first it's come up.
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Get Smart
"Diamonds Are a Spy's Best Friend"
Originally aired October 19, 1968
Wiki said:
Max visits a jewelry store to buy a reasonably-priced engagement ring for 99. The owner of the jewelry store is being threatened by KAOS and slips Max a diamond ring that's actually worth $275,000. Tracking down the KAOS jewelry smuggling operation ultimately leads Max and 99 to a bowling alley. The title is a play on the song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend".
In the first scene, we get a particularly funny "disguised phone" gag that involves Max using a car phone with an oversized rotary dial in the rim of the steering wheel, and the Chief answering on a phone whose mouthpiece and receiver are in the nozzles of a street-corner fire hydrant.
Max getting a ring with a big honkin' gem stuck on his finger reminds me of Ringo's dilemma in
Help!
This episode includes a one-shot agent designated 8 1/2 (Gino Conforti), who seems to be filling in for Agent 13. He's rendering assistance by hiding in the ball return chute at the bowling alley.
Maybe I should've been keeping an "Oh, Max" count...99 says it a lot. In fact, there was a period when I'd catch odd bits of this show casually that I assumed she was, you know...
that girl.
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Hogan's Heroes
"Hogan's Trucking Service...We Deliver the Factory to You"
Originally aired October 19, 1968
Wiki said:
After Crittendon declares himself leader of the local underground, Hogan struggles to complete his current mission in spite of Crittendon’s assistance.
Featuring Bernard Fox in his fifth of eight appearances as Col. Crittendon. Hogan finds himself forced to enlist the colonel's aid in carrying out his scheme to use an explosives-laden German truck to take out a ball bearing factory. Crittendon's TV Fu comically fails him in attempting to take out a guard, and he's captured by Klink. The guys salvage the plan by tricking Hochstetter into driving the truck to the plant, where it goes off on schedule.
There's a complementary running gag of Klink's staff car being out of service because they've been using its repair as a cover to load the truck, which forces the commandant to ride around in the sidecar of a motorcycle.
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Winky Man was a character who used Roman candles as weapons. He had a little rhyme that stuck in my mind: "While you're busy spoutin' and foamin,' you've neglected to notice that my candle is Roman." Gotta love Steve Gerber.
You're making me wish I'd gotten a screen cap of Artie (which would have been going to some trouble, as the WWW videos continue to not play properly in my Xfinity app).
Please...someone put this phase of "Bubblegum" music in a rocket and launch it into space, ASAP
I think it's gonna be with us at least into the early '70s....
....how the semi-great fell: from the timeless "Music to Watch Girls By" to an association with Barbarella. Yikes.
I liked the music in the film, for what it was at least.
So you'd put it in the same class as Beethoven and Chuck Berry?
Yep!
Woah, where did this come from? I can see not finding either to one's personal liking, but considering them both rocket-worthy...?
That song always struck me as anachronistic also. By 1968, being an "illegitimate" child didn't carry quite the same social stigma it would have half a century earlier. Besides, it's not like they didn't have birth control then!
FWIW, if I'm understanding the song right, the narrator is singing from personal experience, so she doesn't want to conceive a child who'd go through what she did a generation earlier.
