I'm so glad they took the time to get them right. 
(Actually, that version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is beautiful.)
(Actually, that version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is beautiful.)
The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread
- Thread starter The Old Mixer
- Start date
Are you familiar with this later outtake?
Lovely. There's probably not a bad version of that song.
_______
50 Years Ago This Week
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
New on the chart:
"With a Little Help from My Friends," Joe Cocker
(#68 US; #1 UK; written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney, originally recorded by the Beatles for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967)
"Scarborough Fair," Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
(#16 US; #2 AC; originally recorded by Simon & Garfunkel in 1966, and a recent #11 hit for them in at this point in 1968)
"Cloud Nine," The Temptations
(#6 US; #2 R&B; #15 UK)
"Hooked on a Feeling," B.J. Thomas
(#5 US)
And new on the boob tube:
_______
50 Years Ago This Week
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
- "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida," Iron Butterfly (12 weeks)
- "I've Gotta Get a Message to You," Bee Gees (13 weeks)
- "Lalena," Donovan (6 weeks)
- "My Special Angel," The Vogues (10 weeks)
- "Time Has Come Today," The Chambers Brothers (14 weeks)
New on the chart:
"With a Little Help from My Friends," Joe Cocker
(#68 US; #1 UK; written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney, originally recorded by the Beatles for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967)
"Scarborough Fair," Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
(#16 US; #2 AC; originally recorded by Simon & Garfunkel in 1966, and a recent #11 hit for them in at this point in 1968)
"Cloud Nine," The Temptations
(#6 US; #2 R&B; #15 UK)
"Hooked on a Feeling," B.J. Thomas
(#5 US)
And new on the boob tube:
- Mission: Impossible, "The Execution"
- The Avengers, "They Keep Killing Steed"
- Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Season 2, episode 8
- That Girl, "A Muggy Day in Central Park"
- Ironside, "An Obvious Case of Guilt"
- Star Trek, "The Tholian Web"
- Adam-12, "Log 101: Someone Stole My Lawn"
- Get Smart, "With Love and Twitches"
- Hogan's Heroes, "Color the Luftwaffe Red"
_______
I'm sure that there must be, but it wouldn't have been done by the Beatles.
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Ah, the inexplicable Joe Cocker. I like it, but, as always, I don't know why....
Not bad, but nowhere near the original.
I forgot about this. It's pretty good.
Yes, I do like this one.
I can do it if necessary.
_______
50th Anniversary Viewing
_______
The Avengers
"Legacy of Death"
Originally aired November 4, 1968 (US); November 20, 1968 (UK)
The Maltese Falcon is another one of those films I really should make a point of seeing someday...watching something like this, I'm not sure how much homage there may be that I should be getting. Here there are lots of shenanigans involving various interested parties, who are after the dagger for a key to a hidden box that's supposed to contain a large pearl, which wound up dissolving in a glass of wine in the climax.
Tara's got a new red sportscar in this one, and in one scene interrogates Sidney Street (whose partner is Humbert Green) by tickling his feet.
I thought that John Hollis, who plays Baron Von Orlak's butler, Zoltan, looked familiar...it turns out he was one of the Kryptonian elders in the first two Superman films.
_______
"The Face in the Shower Room Door"
Originally aired November 7, 1968
Guesting the ever-suave Cesare Danova as swank restaurant owner Federico Gente, who's actually a prospective neighbor coming to look at an apartment that the landlady left Ann in charge of showing. It seems unlikely that they could hold conversations with each other while he's outside her apartment door and she's in the shower.
In order to avoid breaking down the door, he has to make his way into her bedroom window via fire escape (offscreen). Her shower door is mostly translucent with a transparent window in the pattern showing her face. He gets her out pretty quickly, letting the rest of the episode focus on the aftermath, which involves sexual tension between Ann and Federico, and jealousy on Donald's part about this wealthy, dashing new mystery man in Ann's life.
After Federico fails to save Ann's burnt roast during a follow-up visit, he has his staff cater an exquisite meal to Ann and Donald in Ann's apartment. While Donald's taking out his issues by being insulting to the waiters, Ann wants to tip them but has to call the restaurant to put together the price of the meal. Back on the subject of Donald's dining budget...she asks him the price range of the nicest dining that he's treated her to, and he responds $12-15 (which would be around $87-108 adjusted for inflation, so a bit better than burger stands). Ann informs him that this meal is going to cost him that in tips.
In the coda, Ann gets stuck in the shower again but it's Donald who uses the fire escape (and is shown doing so). Meanwhile, Federico comes to Ann's door and, based on his helpful advice, Donald puts together how he met Ann.
"Oh, Donald" count: 4
"Oh, Federico" count: 1
_______
Ironside
"Price Tag: Death"
Originally aired November 7, 1968
This was definitely an odd one, not keeping with the show's usual grounded style. The one IMDb review turned out to be something of a rambling mess itself, but I was gratified to find that the reviewer's initial description of the episode was "somewhat baffling"--so it wasn't just me!
Here the mystery isn't the who, where, or how of the killing, all of which we see. The mystery is in the behavior of the killer, Jack Brody (Clu Gulager), who was stealing a typewriter and check protector from an office supply warehouse and killed the derelict witness with the latter device as a weapon of opportunity. (Thank goodness the episode eventually named the archaic device, as it looked somewhat familiar to me from days of yore, but I never in a million years could have identified it.)
Throughout the episode we're privy to omniscient but cryptic scenes of Brody as he engages in his check-forging and -passing scheme and exhibits what the reviewer also aptly describes as "flaky" behavior. The problem here is that I didn't know enough about the details of such a con to realize that his M.O. wasn't typical until Team Ironside had gotten far enough in their investigation to exposit about that. Brody is deduced to be an amateur, and a key part of his off-kilter M.O. is that he buys way more groceries than anyone could use from multiple stores and then disposes of them, which is unusual enough that the groceries serve as the trail which leads to him.
In the meantime, we see Brody engaged in a lot of incidents that don't really go anywhere...visiting his ex at three in the morning while their kids are in bed (but she's fully dressed and has the house lit up--night job?); getting arrested for DUI; picking up a girl in a club who turns out to be savvy to his being a "paper-hanger" and later brings an accomplice to his apartment to steal the check protector.
Meanwhile, on the Team Ironside front...the initial investigation of where the derelict's body is found involves a very unconvincing studio set of the waterfront with a backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge; I didn't spot him on first watch, but read afterwards and went back to look--one of the onlookers is none other than O.J. Simpson! Another onlooker is the derelict's friend, who turns out to be an ex-detective acquaintance of Ironside's (played by Ralph Meeker). We never learn the character's name--he's literally billed as "Ex-Detective"--but he's been living on the streets since having bitterly left the force following the lengthy investigation of an incident in which two police officers were killed, despite his eventual acquittal of wrongdoing. At various points in the episode, his situation is likened to Ironside having been handicapped.
When Team Ironside corners Brody in the climax there's a shootout in which Ex-Detective is winged and Brody gets killed, which is another odd detail...unless I missed something, we're never given any indication that Brody ever carried a gun, and plenty that he didn't, until he pulled one out in that scene. The very unsatisfying payoff for our voyeuristic look at Brody's mysterious lifestyle is Ex-Detective telling Eve that it doesn't matter anymore why he did the odd things that he was doing, because he's dead.
Aiding and abetting in the strange nature of this episode were an unusual shooting/editing style courtesy of director Dick Colla, and overly dramatic music cues from Oliver Nelson. In the club scene we see a not particularly engaging performance by a band called The Poor.
_______
Star Trek
"For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"
Originally aired November 8, 1968
Stardate 5476.3
See my post here.
_______
Adam-12
"Log 72: El Presidente"
Originally aired November 9, 1968
Continuity point with last week: Malloy comments on how Reed's now thinking of buying house when he just painted the apartment. Reed's attempting to account for his future finances with the expectation of ultimately having three babies. The one in the oven is said to be due in six months. Easy-going bachelor that he is, Malloy opines that Reed's rushing things.
The first call is for "unknown trouble" between two women, one acting unhinged and accusing the other, who's drinking and hiding in a closet, of trying to steal her husband (Stafford Repp). Gotham's former chief of police comes home in time to take control of the situation--One gets the impression that he's got a de facto polygamous marriage going on.
Resuming their patrol, the officers are flagged down by taxi driver who's just been robbed. The cabbie climbs in back to help the officers find the perp, a lanky Texan who's only been in L.A. for hours, and confesses when he sees the cabbie.
Next the officers act on their own initiative, checking out a property that has a bus parked in front, portable toilets in the driveway, and a large pillar of smoke wafting up from the backyard. The property belongs to a man named Ted Wilson (Del Moore), who's receiving an unannounced visit from a man and 51 children from Mexico. Wilson had recently traveled south of the border to find a sister city in his role as the president of a boosters club. The now-visiting Mexican town representative is under the impression that Wilson's the President, and insists on honoring him with a fiesta. The whole situation is obviously meant to be amusing, but comes off as cringeworthy, especially by today's standards.
The episode's final call is "unknown trouble" again (somebody must have misplaced their code book)...this time involving a man who's taken shots at a couple of neighbor kids from the second story of his house, and who fires at Malloy when the officer approaches. The officers call in backup and surround the house until Sgt. MacDonald arrives with vests and a gas grenade-firing rifle. After Malloy gets a couple of canisters in the window, the shooter surrenders to the officers stationed behind his house. Malloy ends the episode on a positive note, expressing gratitude that the kids weren't injured.
This episode doesn't quite make the usual formula of multiple call vignettes work, instead standing out as being somewhat disjointed compared to the others aired so far.
_______
Get Smart
"The Return of the Ancient Mariner"
Originally aired November 9, 1968
This is William Schallert's third of four appearances as the elderly Hargrade (including two episodes of a three-parter). Continuity points: The wedding is said to be in a few days, and they mention that Hymie was supposed to be Best Man but had to go on an assignment.
"Mr. Bob" offers a twist to the effeminate interior decorator stereotype, as it turns out that he's only effecting those mannerisms to get business.
Based on one scene's revelation that the Chameleon is disguised as the Admiral...
99 even identifies herself as 99 on her answering machine!
_______
Hogan's Heroes
"Never Play Cards with Strangers"
Originally aired November 9, 1968
TOS-guesting Arlene Martel as a contact named Olga...which is odd, because it looks like she was already playing a recurring character named Tiger.
After the failure of a more conventional plan to have Newkirk and Carter slip an explosives-laden truck into a convoy, Hogan and LeBeau knock out Klink, General von Treger (Dan Tobin), and others at the dinner party, so that Hogan (as the General's driver), Newkirk (as the General), and Olga (as the woman that the General's too busy making out with in the backseat to let anyone see his face) can use the General's staff car to smuggle their explosives-laden wine crates into the fuel plant. That two small boxes of explosives could set off a facility-destroying chain reaction from a staff building closet seems unlikely.
_______
50th Anniversary Viewing
_______
The Avengers
"Legacy of Death"
Originally aired November 4, 1968 (US); November 20, 1968 (UK)
Wiki said:
The Maltese Falcon is another one of those films I really should make a point of seeing someday...watching something like this, I'm not sure how much homage there may be that I should be getting. Here there are lots of shenanigans involving various interested parties, who are after the dagger for a key to a hidden box that's supposed to contain a large pearl, which wound up dissolving in a glass of wine in the climax.
Tara's got a new red sportscar in this one, and in one scene interrogates Sidney Street (whose partner is Humbert Green) by tickling his feet.
I thought that John Hollis, who plays Baron Von Orlak's butler, Zoltan, looked familiar...it turns out he was one of the Kryptonian elders in the first two Superman films.
_______
"The Face in the Shower Room Door"
Originally aired November 7, 1968
Wiki said:
Guesting the ever-suave Cesare Danova as swank restaurant owner Federico Gente, who's actually a prospective neighbor coming to look at an apartment that the landlady left Ann in charge of showing. It seems unlikely that they could hold conversations with each other while he's outside her apartment door and she's in the shower.
In order to avoid breaking down the door, he has to make his way into her bedroom window via fire escape (offscreen). Her shower door is mostly translucent with a transparent window in the pattern showing her face. He gets her out pretty quickly, letting the rest of the episode focus on the aftermath, which involves sexual tension between Ann and Federico, and jealousy on Donald's part about this wealthy, dashing new mystery man in Ann's life.
Ann: Did it ever occur to you that Federico might be interested in me simply as a human being?
Donald: Then why does he look at ya like...like he's seen you with your clothes off?
Donald: Then why does he look at ya like...like he's seen you with your clothes off?
After Federico fails to save Ann's burnt roast during a follow-up visit, he has his staff cater an exquisite meal to Ann and Donald in Ann's apartment. While Donald's taking out his issues by being insulting to the waiters, Ann wants to tip them but has to call the restaurant to put together the price of the meal. Back on the subject of Donald's dining budget...she asks him the price range of the nicest dining that he's treated her to, and he responds $12-15 (which would be around $87-108 adjusted for inflation, so a bit better than burger stands). Ann informs him that this meal is going to cost him that in tips.
In the coda, Ann gets stuck in the shower again but it's Donald who uses the fire escape (and is shown doing so). Meanwhile, Federico comes to Ann's door and, based on his helpful advice, Donald puts together how he met Ann.
"Oh, Donald" count: 4
"Oh, Federico" count: 1
_______
Ironside
"Price Tag: Death"
Originally aired November 7, 1968
Wiki said:
This was definitely an odd one, not keeping with the show's usual grounded style. The one IMDb review turned out to be something of a rambling mess itself, but I was gratified to find that the reviewer's initial description of the episode was "somewhat baffling"--so it wasn't just me!
Here the mystery isn't the who, where, or how of the killing, all of which we see. The mystery is in the behavior of the killer, Jack Brody (Clu Gulager), who was stealing a typewriter and check protector from an office supply warehouse and killed the derelict witness with the latter device as a weapon of opportunity. (Thank goodness the episode eventually named the archaic device, as it looked somewhat familiar to me from days of yore, but I never in a million years could have identified it.)
Throughout the episode we're privy to omniscient but cryptic scenes of Brody as he engages in his check-forging and -passing scheme and exhibits what the reviewer also aptly describes as "flaky" behavior. The problem here is that I didn't know enough about the details of such a con to realize that his M.O. wasn't typical until Team Ironside had gotten far enough in their investigation to exposit about that. Brody is deduced to be an amateur, and a key part of his off-kilter M.O. is that he buys way more groceries than anyone could use from multiple stores and then disposes of them, which is unusual enough that the groceries serve as the trail which leads to him.
In the meantime, we see Brody engaged in a lot of incidents that don't really go anywhere...visiting his ex at three in the morning while their kids are in bed (but she's fully dressed and has the house lit up--night job?); getting arrested for DUI; picking up a girl in a club who turns out to be savvy to his being a "paper-hanger" and later brings an accomplice to his apartment to steal the check protector.
Meanwhile, on the Team Ironside front...the initial investigation of where the derelict's body is found involves a very unconvincing studio set of the waterfront with a backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge; I didn't spot him on first watch, but read afterwards and went back to look--one of the onlookers is none other than O.J. Simpson! Another onlooker is the derelict's friend, who turns out to be an ex-detective acquaintance of Ironside's (played by Ralph Meeker). We never learn the character's name--he's literally billed as "Ex-Detective"--but he's been living on the streets since having bitterly left the force following the lengthy investigation of an incident in which two police officers were killed, despite his eventual acquittal of wrongdoing. At various points in the episode, his situation is likened to Ironside having been handicapped.
When Team Ironside corners Brody in the climax there's a shootout in which Ex-Detective is winged and Brody gets killed, which is another odd detail...unless I missed something, we're never given any indication that Brody ever carried a gun, and plenty that he didn't, until he pulled one out in that scene. The very unsatisfying payoff for our voyeuristic look at Brody's mysterious lifestyle is Ex-Detective telling Eve that it doesn't matter anymore why he did the odd things that he was doing, because he's dead.
Aiding and abetting in the strange nature of this episode were an unusual shooting/editing style courtesy of director Dick Colla, and overly dramatic music cues from Oliver Nelson. In the club scene we see a not particularly engaging performance by a band called The Poor.
_______
Star Trek
"For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"
Originally aired November 8, 1968
Stardate 5476.3
H&I said:
See my post here.
_______
Adam-12
"Log 72: El Presidente"
Originally aired November 9, 1968
Wiki said:
Continuity point with last week: Malloy comments on how Reed's now thinking of buying house when he just painted the apartment. Reed's attempting to account for his future finances with the expectation of ultimately having three babies. The one in the oven is said to be due in six months. Easy-going bachelor that he is, Malloy opines that Reed's rushing things.
The first call is for "unknown trouble" between two women, one acting unhinged and accusing the other, who's drinking and hiding in a closet, of trying to steal her husband (Stafford Repp). Gotham's former chief of police comes home in time to take control of the situation--One gets the impression that he's got a de facto polygamous marriage going on.
Resuming their patrol, the officers are flagged down by taxi driver who's just been robbed. The cabbie climbs in back to help the officers find the perp, a lanky Texan who's only been in L.A. for hours, and confesses when he sees the cabbie.
Next the officers act on their own initiative, checking out a property that has a bus parked in front, portable toilets in the driveway, and a large pillar of smoke wafting up from the backyard. The property belongs to a man named Ted Wilson (Del Moore), who's receiving an unannounced visit from a man and 51 children from Mexico. Wilson had recently traveled south of the border to find a sister city in his role as the president of a boosters club. The now-visiting Mexican town representative is under the impression that Wilson's the President, and insists on honoring him with a fiesta. The whole situation is obviously meant to be amusing, but comes off as cringeworthy, especially by today's standards.
The episode's final call is "unknown trouble" again (somebody must have misplaced their code book)...this time involving a man who's taken shots at a couple of neighbor kids from the second story of his house, and who fires at Malloy when the officer approaches. The officers call in backup and surround the house until Sgt. MacDonald arrives with vests and a gas grenade-firing rifle. After Malloy gets a couple of canisters in the window, the shooter surrenders to the officers stationed behind his house. Malloy ends the episode on a positive note, expressing gratitude that the kids weren't injured.
This episode doesn't quite make the usual formula of multiple call vignettes work, instead standing out as being somewhat disjointed compared to the others aired so far.
_______
Get Smart
"The Return of the Ancient Mariner"
Originally aired November 9, 1968
Wiki said:
This is William Schallert's third of four appearances as the elderly Hargrade (including two episodes of a three-parter). Continuity points: The wedding is said to be in a few days, and they mention that Hymie was supposed to be Best Man but had to go on an assignment.
"Mr. Bob" offers a twist to the effeminate interior decorator stereotype, as it turns out that he's only effecting those mannerisms to get business.
Based on one scene's revelation that the Chameleon is disguised as the Admiral...
...Schallert also portrays the master of disguise's real voice when the Chameleon later impersonates 99.Max said:
99 even identifies herself as 99 on her answering machine!
_______
Hogan's Heroes
"Never Play Cards with Strangers"
Originally aired November 9, 1968
Wiki said:
TOS-guesting Arlene Martel as a contact named Olga...which is odd, because it looks like she was already playing a recurring character named Tiger.
After the failure of a more conventional plan to have Newkirk and Carter slip an explosives-laden truck into a convoy, Hogan and LeBeau knock out Klink, General von Treger (Dan Tobin), and others at the dinner party, so that Hogan (as the General's driver), Newkirk (as the General), and Olga (as the woman that the General's too busy making out with in the backseat to let anyone see his face) can use the General's staff car to smuggle their explosives-laden wine crates into the fuel plant. That two small boxes of explosives could set off a facility-destroying chain reaction from a staff building closet seems unlikely.
Hogan: You know, they might even name the next war after you?
Klink: "World War Klink"?
Klink: "World War Klink"?
_______
He never used to be my bag, but I developed some appreciation when delving more deeply into the era. His rendition of this song as performed the following year at Woodstock is definitely a classic in its own right.
Agreed. This would prove to be Brasil's last Top 40 single, though Sergio had some further hits in the '80s.
The much-anticipated switch to psychedelic soul has finally arrived!
You say that like it's a bad thing. I much prefer this version to the Blue Swede cover from the early '70s. Back in my days as a more casual oldies radio listener, it was a source of confusion when my local station started playing the one with the obnoxious chanting.Yes, I do like this one.
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Definitely. Another classic Bogart picture. Similarly to Casablanca, every time I watch it I feel like I don't know which way it's going to go at the end.
Ah, kinky British spycraft.
Cute, but nothing will ever beat Laura Petrie with her toe stuck in the faucet.
Getting ideas....
Sounds like the Ironside version of a nihilistic art house film.
Holy Group Sex!
Nice.
There's an idea for the bad spinoff thread.
I actually like both versions, but it's one of those songs that tends to be looked down upon.
Late 1968..was this due to Dick Gautier no longer guest-starring on the series?
Did she ever have an established real name? In one episode, she called herself "Susan," but I'm not sure if that--like "Thaddeus" for the Chief"--was just a CONTROL codename.
Well, at least their near-end of the decade charting included a good handful of classic songs.
Okay, I too B.J. Thomas' moodier version of "Hooked on a Feeling", but....
...I have an entirely different set of positive feelings about the Blue Swede version, with your cherished--
_______
55 Years Ago Spotlight
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
Recent and new on the chart:
"Wonderful Summer," Robin Ward
(Nov. 2; #14 US; #23 R&B)
"Loddy Lo," Chubby Checker
(Nov. 2; #12 US; #4 R&B)
"The Nitty Gritty," Shirley Ellis
(#8 US; #4 R&B)
"Drip Drop," Dion Di Muci
(#6 US)
_______
Wild Wild 51st Anniversary Viewing
"The Night of the Falcon"
Originally aired November 10, 1967
More of an artillery shell fired by a special cannon. The destructive power of the shells is attributed to special gunpowder that uses a "catalytic agent".
TOS guesting Joseph Ruskin as Felice Munez, a representative of the Barcelona Syndicate who's one of an assortment of shady international characters who were invited to witness the weapon's demonstration. Munez is killed in the first act, after which Artie takes his place to join the bidding war for the weapon in the Falcon's secret lair.
The Falcon is really Dr. Horace Humphries (Robert Duvall), a mild-mannered doctor by day, evil genius by night. This episode had a lot of somewhat Batman-ish elements, including the Falcon's masked and caped henchmen and the entrance to the Falcon's lair being booby-trapped with spikes. After Jim overcomes that challenge, he uses a toy duck as a diversion to take out one of the guards, and then dons the guard's costume to infiltrate the lair. Conrad looks good in superhero-ish mode. Eventually he doffs the costume, and makes use of some of his own gadgets to get around, including metal claws strapped to his hands for climbing and the ever-handy piton pistol in conjunction with a zipline.
Meanwhile in the conference room, the Falcon kills one of the bidders with a rigged chair, SPECTRE-style. The Falcon intends to sell one cannon and keep the other, with which he tries to destroy Denver, but Jim and Artie save the day, natch.
In the coda, the Falcon's female accomplice (Lisa Gaye) even tries to put on a repentant moll routine, but it's a trick; Jim plays it cool and convinces her that the gun she's grabbed isn't loaded. After she surrenders, we learn that it was.
A general observation about this show...I'm finding that it's pretty well paced. Once I'm into an episode it seems to fly...which is the exact opposite of my experience with TMFU.
_______
55 Years Ago Spotlight
Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles Day by Day said:
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
- "Honolulu Lulu," Jan & Dean (10 weeks)
- "I'll Take You Home," The Drifters (10 weeks)
- "We Shall Overcome," Joan Baez (1 week)
Recent and new on the chart:
"Wonderful Summer," Robin Ward
(Nov. 2; #14 US; #23 R&B)
"Loddy Lo," Chubby Checker
(Nov. 2; #12 US; #4 R&B)
"The Nitty Gritty," Shirley Ellis
(#8 US; #4 R&B)
"Drip Drop," Dion Di Muci
(#6 US)
_______
Wild Wild 51st Anniversary Viewing
"The Night of the Falcon"
Originally aired November 10, 1967
Wiki said:
More of an artillery shell fired by a special cannon. The destructive power of the shells is attributed to special gunpowder that uses a "catalytic agent".
TOS guesting Joseph Ruskin as Felice Munez, a representative of the Barcelona Syndicate who's one of an assortment of shady international characters who were invited to witness the weapon's demonstration. Munez is killed in the first act, after which Artie takes his place to join the bidding war for the weapon in the Falcon's secret lair.
The Falcon is really Dr. Horace Humphries (Robert Duvall), a mild-mannered doctor by day, evil genius by night. This episode had a lot of somewhat Batman-ish elements, including the Falcon's masked and caped henchmen and the entrance to the Falcon's lair being booby-trapped with spikes. After Jim overcomes that challenge, he uses a toy duck as a diversion to take out one of the guards, and then dons the guard's costume to infiltrate the lair. Conrad looks good in superhero-ish mode. Eventually he doffs the costume, and makes use of some of his own gadgets to get around, including metal claws strapped to his hands for climbing and the ever-handy piton pistol in conjunction with a zipline.
Meanwhile in the conference room, the Falcon kills one of the bidders with a rigged chair, SPECTRE-style. The Falcon intends to sell one cannon and keep the other, with which he tries to destroy Denver, but Jim and Artie save the day, natch.
In the coda, the Falcon's female accomplice (Lisa Gaye) even tries to put on a repentant moll routine, but it's a trick; Jim plays it cool and convinces her that the gun she's grabbed isn't loaded. After she surrenders, we learn that it was.
A general observation about this show...I'm finding that it's pretty well paced. Once I'm into an episode it seems to fly...which is the exact opposite of my experience with TMFU.
_______
That reminds me of a gag that might have been some sort of reference...Street, Green, and at least one of the other shady characters all have large holes worn in the bottoms of their shoes.Ah, kinky British spycraft.
He'd just made the last of his appearances two episodes previously, so it was probably too early for them to know that he wouldn't be coming back at all...but they probably did know that he wouldn't be in the wedding episode.
It was.
RJDiogenes said:
If this immersive weekly playlist thing stays with me another five years and change, I'll probably wind up getting the Blue Swede version just out of completeness.TREK_GOD_1 said:
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I feel like I've been abducted by the Cult of Cthulhu.
Decent voicemail-- bad song.
Not quite a classic, but enjoyable.
Same.
This is a fun song.
That might have been an interesting direction to go-- kind of a cross between James Bond and the Lone Ranger. I wonder what superhero names Jim and Artie would have chosen.
Probably is, but I don't know off the top of my head-- it's been a while since I've seen the whole thing.
Really. You need another session so you do not refer to this as an abduction. Give in to the--
Yeah, it’s pretty cloying. That was straddling the borderline of “the crap that I’m completely ignoring from this period,” but I erred on the side of giving it a chance...which I'm generally more prone to do with a one-hit wonder, as opposed to an artist who has multiple iffy songs to invest in.
Chubby’s work is generally good but gets a little samey-same. The two sides of this single will be his last songs to chart in the Top 20 (with the charting week of the B-side still to come).
This one kind of stands out for me in a low-key way. It's catchy and it nicely straddles the era that American music has been in and the one that it's about to enter...i.e., it feels like 1964.
It's alright, but not really a stand-out. What it's most notable for is being Dion's last Top 40 single until 1968's "Abraham, Martin and John".
(Seems like lots of hitherto successful artists will be going out of style soon...what's up with that? Is anyone reading the news items?
)Like WWW needed another genre to mash in!
I was just saying that his jaw looked good jutting out of a cowl.You can post it all you want, but you can't make us click it.
And if that's your idea of good music, then kicking me into that rocket was a genuine act of mercy! I'll be up here in orbit grooving to the Esher demos and Anthology 3 disc 1 in anticipation of this year's main event in 50th Anniversaryland. 
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Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Why, is something going on?(Seems like lots of hitherto successful artists will be going out of style soon...what's up with that? Is anyone reading the news items?
He's definitely got that classic superhero look.Like WWW needed another genre to mash in!
'Cloud Nine' was the start of the Dennis Edwards/Norman Whitfield era of The Temptations after replacing the departed David Ruffin.Ah, the inexplicable Joe Cocker. I like it, but, as always, I don't know why....
Not bad, but nowhere near the original.
I forgot about this. It's pretty good.
Yes, I do like this one.
I can do it if necessary.
Coincidentally I was at my local record store the other day and picked up a copy of The Temptations two-fer 'Cloud Nine' and 'Puzzle People'.
Upon listening I was surprised to find out that while 'Cloud Nine' is considered the start of the 'Psychedelic Soul' era by The Temptations, only two tracks can be considered 'Psychedelic', the title track and 'Runaway Child, Running Wild'. The rest of the album stays pretty close to the standard Temptations formula of ballads.
The same can be said for 'Puzzle People'.
Only 'I Can't Get Next To You', 'Don't Let The Jones Get You Down', and 'Slave', could be considered Psychedelic workouts. The rest are ballads, including a cover of The Beatles 'Hey Jude'; which I found to be a disappointment, the song fades out at the 3:30 mark right before the start of the 'Na-Na-Na' chorus losing all its emotional catharsis.
In my opinion the only truly 'Psychedelic Soul' album from beginning to end would be the album 'Psychedelic Shack'.
If you're interested in would recommend listening to the two CD 'Psychedelic Soul' on Spotify or some other streaming service to get the full impact of The Temptations 'Psychedelic Soul' era.
_______
50 Years Ago This Week
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
New on the chart:
"Till," The Vogues
(#27 US; #5 AC)
"Lo Mucho Que Te Quiero (The More I Love You)," Rene & Rene
(#14 US; #2 AC)
"See Saw," Aretha Franklin
(#14 US; #9 R&B)
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine," Marvin Gaye
(#1 US the weeks of Dec. 14, 1968, through Jan. 25, 1969; #1 R&B; #1 UK; #80 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)
And new on the boob tube:
_______
_______
Caught something sign-o'-the-timesy that tickled me on MeTV today, but I think I'll hold onto my notes and cover it as 55th anniversary business in a few months....
_______
50 Years Ago This Week
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
- "All Along the Watchtower," The Jimi Hendrix Experience (9 weeks)
- "Girl Watcher," The O'Kaysions (14 weeks)
- "Harper Valley P.T.A.," Jeannie C. Riley (13 weeks)
- "Piece of My Heart," Big Brother & The Holding Company (12 weeks)
- "Porpoise Song," The Monkees (6 weeks)
- "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud (Part 1)," James Brown (11 weeks)
New on the chart:
"Till," The Vogues
(#27 US; #5 AC)
"Lo Mucho Que Te Quiero (The More I Love You)," Rene & Rene
(#14 US; #2 AC)
"See Saw," Aretha Franklin
(#14 US; #9 R&B)
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine," Marvin Gaye
(#1 US the weeks of Dec. 14, 1968, through Jan. 25, 1969; #1 R&B; #1 UK; #80 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)
And new on the boob tube:
- Mission: Impossible, "The Cardinal"
- The Avengers, "Wish You Were Here"
- Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Season 2, episode 9
- That Girl, "Just Donald and Me and Jerry Makes Three"
- Ironside, "Reprise"
- Star Trek, "Plato's Stepchildren"
- Hogan's Heroes, "Guess Who Came to Dinner?"
_______
Something huge and decade-defining in the coming week's post, but it isn't about the Beatles....Why, is something going on?
_______
Caught something sign-o'-the-timesy that tickled me on MeTV today, but I think I'll hold onto my notes and cover it as 55th anniversary business in a few months....
_______
(For clarity, he left the group.)
Interesting...so the psychedelic soul makeover was only singles-deep....
Wilson Pickett will also be doing a shortened cover of "Hey Jude," which will enter the chart while the Beatles' original is still on its way down. Can't blame other artists for not trying to duplicate what Paul pulled off with the extended, improvised coda.
For my part, I'm happy to explore the Temptations at the singles level. I have their Number 1's collection and Top 30 singles that weren't on that from the Anthology Series: The Best of the Temptations.
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That's a convenient collection. I don't have Spotify, but I'm looking at it on Amazon-- weirdly, three of the songs are only available on the physical album, which seems to be out of print.
Well, there's a song. Not sure what decade to put that one in.
I don't remember this one either, but it's pleasant. The bilingual aspect puts me in mind a bit of "Guantanamera," but it's not as good, of course.
Not one of her most iconic songs, but just amazing that it came out of the same radios as the prior two.
Of course, this is a stone-cold classic.
Ohh, okay, I see....Something huge and decade-defining in the coming week's post, but it isn't about the Beatles....
_______
50th Anniversary Viewing
_______
Mission: Impossible
"The Execution"
Originally aired November 10, 1968
Lewis Parma is perhaps the vaguest threat that the IMF has faced yet. Granted, he's said to use "extortion, kidnapping, and murder," and the voice on the tape makes the standard assertion of greater criminal ambitions, noting he's "moving towards positions of power in other important areas of business, labor, and government," but this time there's not even a nod in the direction of him "helping our enemies".
The early parts made this possibly the most unintentionally funny episode I've seen, because it comes off almost as a satire. The bad guys are strong-arming towns by raising the price of butter! Threatening Undercover Grocer Jim by pushing over crates of tomatoes and lettuce! The whole premise seems aggressively penny ante for an IMF mission. What we see boils down to nothing more than a grocery industry protection racket. It reminds me of Superman getting involved in jellybean-counting scams.
The first half also seems a bit padded, with an unnecessary angle about the hitman that Parma hires to take out Jim, Victor Duchell (Luke Askew), constructing a grenade rifle instead of just using a conventional weapon, giving the IMF a story beat of having to figure out what Duchell's building based on his purchases. Then we're treated to an overly long sequence of Duchell waiting outside Grocer Jim's home while fondling his weapon. The IMF team uses a projector gimmick to make it look like Jim and his wife (Cinnamon) are in a room that they're not for the hit.
The meat of the scheme comes when they nab Duchell and put him in a fake prison, making him think that he's on death row and is suffering from amnesia of the three years following his hit. Jim, Cin, Barney, and Rollin all openly play dual roles in the scheme in order to rattle Duchell (instead of, y'know, making him realize that it's all an elaborate con). The titular execution is Rollin's fake one, conducted in a gas chamber directly adjoining the cells, so that Duchell sees his fellow prisoner being dragged in and strapped to the chair. This is all to make Duchell think that he's been left to die by Parma so that he'll talk. (It also feels a bit padded when Duchell's watching his own execution being prepped.) They lure Parma to the location of their fake prison so that he can see and hear the confession and help to implicate himself by his reaction.
Once it gets rolling, it plays as a fairly interesting IMF scheme that's undermined by the laughably underwhelming threat that they chose to waste it on. It's also a bit predictable once you get the gist of what's going on. And it all seems implausible for what they're trying to accomplish...I'm sure that confessions coerced by elaborate IMF schemes that nobody's supposed to know about wouldn't hold up in court.
_______
The Avengers
"They Keep Killing Steed"
Originally aired November 11, 1968 (US); December 18, 1968 (UK)
I guess that "instant plastic surgery" is no big whoop on a show that's used mind transferal. I had to go back and rewatch parts to try to figure out why the bad guys' scheme involved multiple Steed impersonators who seemed more interested in taking each other out than anything else. Steed (who was captured rather easily in service to the plot) did something to sabotage the original plan, but the episode wasn't really clear on what it was or how it differed from what was supposed to happen. My best guess would be that the impersonators were all originally supposed to be disguised as different people, but Steed fixed it so that each would get the mold of his face.
In the absence of the real Steed, Tara pairs up with a dashing young playboy, Baron Von Curt, whom I didn't recognize as future replacement Simon Templar Ian Ogilvy.
Once the real Steed gets to the conference, sloppy editing makes it all the more difficult to keep straight not just who's who, but what the heck is going on. One second Tara's convinced of who the real Steed is, the next she's chasing him.
Mother is just randomly bizarre. This episode he has an underwater lair in a river with no dry accessway...Tara just dives into it fully clothed, and Mother lets a rowboat sink into it.
_______
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 2, episode 8
Originally aired November 11, 1968
Dick Gregory was involved in some good gags; one involves mixed-race dance couples (Dave and Chelsea, Dick G. and Judy) switching partners to same-sex couples; another has Gregory trying to get a job as a department store Santa.
They're still ragging on Mayor Daley and Chicago:
Lagging a week behind the election, a voting-themed cocktail party:
One skit satirized the Maharishi for commercialism.
_______
"A Muggy Day in Central Park"
Originally aired November 14, 1968
The desk sergeant at the police station is Dort Clark, who played multiple police roles on The Monkees. Ann is sent to talk to the Special Park Detail, which consists of male officers dressing as women. When she first walks in on them, Ann assumes that she's in the wrong room and they're all under arrest!
Donald comes to the station and becomes interested in doing a story about the detail, so he arranges to accompany one of the detectives in the field.
"Daddy!...What are you doing in New York?"--Like she has to ask at this point? Of course, Donald pops by to show Ann his disguise while Mr. Marie is there. And because Ann doesn't want her father to know about the mugging, they have to come up with a story for why Donald's in drag. Later, Ann and Mr. Marie go out to dinner at a restaurant in the park and he sees Donald on assignment, pretending to be on a date with one of the detectives. When Ann finally sees Donald, she also sees her mugger approaching Donald and the detective...and Mr. Marie learns all.
In the coda, Ann and Donald are on a daytime date in the park, with Mr. Marie watching them in disguise.
"Oh, Donald" count: 0
"Oh, Daddy" count: 5
_______
Ironside
"An Obvious Case of Guilt"
Originally aired November 14, 1968
The episode opens with Ironside on a date with an old female acquaintance, Carolyn White (Anne Baxter), who's said to have proposed to him years ago. Ed comes in on the Chief in his lobster bib to tell him that her husband, from whom she was getting a divorce, had been murdered that day, with evidence against her. The tape recording of her shooting him sounds somewhat fake/radio drama, but I think it's supposed to. Ironside begins his investigation operating on the premise that Mr. White may not be dead because there's a trail of convenient clues but no body. Meanwhile, the other members of Team Ironside naturally question the Chief's objectivity, including Eve....
I'm willing to give this episode some benefit of the doubt because I accidentally spoiled myself to a key element by checking the IMDb cast list mid-episode, finding that neither the husband nor the model with whom he was having an affair were on it. Thus it was a cinch that, even while those offscreen characters were being tracked down to a place that they shared in Big Sur--well away from the alleged crime scene at Mr. White's San Francisco office--they nevertheless weren't going to turn up alive in the episode.
Carolyn turned out to be the only character actually in the episode who had any dramatic possibility of being the murderer. The twist was that she planted evidence of a false murder that she had alibis to protect her from to make it look like she'd been framed, but had actually killed her husband and his mistress in Big Sur under different circumstances. In unveiling all of this, the episode is stage play-ishly cheap...lots of important stuff happens off-camera, including both bodies being found.
Warren Stevens is the second-billed guest, playing a district attorney, though he only turns up very late in the episode, at least in the syndication edit.
_______
Star Trek
"The Tholian Web"
Originally aired November 15, 1968
Stardate 5693.2
See my post here.
_______
Adam-12
"Log 101: Someone Stole My Lawn"
Originally aired November 16, 1968
This week Reed's on cottage cheese and yogurt, and wants to put in for Code 7 as soon as regulations allow. I think this is where the thing of Adam-12 rarely getting approved for a Code 7 starts, though here it serves a specific story purpose.
Their first call is the titular situation, involving a very upset owner who'd grown his lawn from seed beating the dirt that's left with a shovel. Reed's appetite gets teased when he has to question a neighbor who's cooking a steak on a grill. While a neighborhood kid witnessed the lawn-stealers at work, and we learn that the part of lawn that was stolen was actually on city property, nothing more comes of this vignette after Reed calls in to report the details of this Grand Theft Real Estate, and we see other patrols reacting to the broadcast.
Malloy and Reed are back in the car talking about where to eat when they get a call to see a woman about a forgery suspect. The woman reports that her teenaged stepson's older friend has been selling credit cards. The officers track the pair down to a backlot pool hall. The forger, who turns out to have several credit cards stashed in his boots, tries to pull a knife on Reed but Malloy gets the drop on him.
We rejoin the patrol after dark, to learn that they'd just tried a steak joint but it was already closed. While passing by a car lot Reed spots somebody in one of the cars. It's Bruce Watson (Crewman Green from "The Man Trap"), whose character is on parole and will certainly get sent back up the river if he's arrested for this, even though circumstances indicate that he wasn't planning to steal the car (it was boxed in by other cars). Reed decides to let him go.
And with that it's quitting time, and thus too late to get in that Code 7...but in the coda back at the station, we learn that Reed's lost his appetite from snacking on candy all night.
_______
Get Smart
"With Love and Twitches"
Originally aired November 16, 1968
This is the actual wedding episode, and Admiral Hargrave is still serving as Best Man. 99's Mother is a also back. It opens with Max meeting Madre at a go-go club that's playing half-decent generic period music.
The Chief and 99 both think that Max is making up the story about the map because he has cold feet, but they learn that he was telling the truth when he arrives at the wedding being chased by KAOS agents, with whom a brawl commences at the chapel. Max and 99 get married with all of the men in torn clothes and KAOS agents lying unconscious in the aisle. The latest tease about 99's name: We briefly cut away to Hargrave snoring on the floor when the justice should be saying it.
In the coda we find that Max and 99 won't be enjoying a traditional wedding night, as the Chief and his men keep Max under heavy guard in a separate room from his bride.
_______
Hogan's Heroes
"Color the Luftwaffe Red"
Originally aired November 16, 1968
The episode opens with Newkirk and Carter scoping out Luftwaffe HQ, the former disguised as an old woman. Back at the barracks, they tell Schultz that they're rehearsing for a play.
When the prisoners arrange to be the ones who paint the HQ, Klink sends Schultz to guard them, with orders to shoot to kill. Yeah, like that's gonna happen...though he does wind up threatening to shoot them if they don't let him buy them a beer.
Hogan takes the opportunity to make a grab for a map of Luftwaffe fighter deployment, but it becomes a close call when they're searched and they have to go back for it. Newkirk's legerdemain comes in handy getting the map through a second Gestapo search.
DIS-missed!
_______
50th Anniversary Viewing
_______
Mission: Impossible
"The Execution"
Originally aired November 10, 1968
Wiki said:
This time we get a shortened portfolio sequence in which Jim already has the usual suspects laid out on the table, complete with a discard pile behind them, and only makes a point of looking over and throwing in a clipping of operative of the week Dr. Henry Loomis (Byron Keith), a psychologist whose theory concerning the effect of seeing the same faces on different people will be put to use in the mission.The 30 r.p.m. tape recorder in the back of an appliance store said:
Lewis Parma is perhaps the vaguest threat that the IMF has faced yet. Granted, he's said to use "extortion, kidnapping, and murder," and the voice on the tape makes the standard assertion of greater criminal ambitions, noting he's "moving towards positions of power in other important areas of business, labor, and government," but this time there's not even a nod in the direction of him "helping our enemies".
The early parts made this possibly the most unintentionally funny episode I've seen, because it comes off almost as a satire. The bad guys are strong-arming towns by raising the price of butter! Threatening Undercover Grocer Jim by pushing over crates of tomatoes and lettuce! The whole premise seems aggressively penny ante for an IMF mission. What we see boils down to nothing more than a grocery industry protection racket. It reminds me of Superman getting involved in jellybean-counting scams.
The first half also seems a bit padded, with an unnecessary angle about the hitman that Parma hires to take out Jim, Victor Duchell (Luke Askew), constructing a grenade rifle instead of just using a conventional weapon, giving the IMF a story beat of having to figure out what Duchell's building based on his purchases. Then we're treated to an overly long sequence of Duchell waiting outside Grocer Jim's home while fondling his weapon. The IMF team uses a projector gimmick to make it look like Jim and his wife (Cinnamon) are in a room that they're not for the hit.
The meat of the scheme comes when they nab Duchell and put him in a fake prison, making him think that he's on death row and is suffering from amnesia of the three years following his hit. Jim, Cin, Barney, and Rollin all openly play dual roles in the scheme in order to rattle Duchell (instead of, y'know, making him realize that it's all an elaborate con). The titular execution is Rollin's fake one, conducted in a gas chamber directly adjoining the cells, so that Duchell sees his fellow prisoner being dragged in and strapped to the chair. This is all to make Duchell think that he's been left to die by Parma so that he'll talk. (It also feels a bit padded when Duchell's watching his own execution being prepped.) They lure Parma to the location of their fake prison so that he can see and hear the confession and help to implicate himself by his reaction.
Once it gets rolling, it plays as a fairly interesting IMF scheme that's undermined by the laughably underwhelming threat that they chose to waste it on. It's also a bit predictable once you get the gist of what's going on. And it all seems implausible for what they're trying to accomplish...I'm sure that confessions coerced by elaborate IMF schemes that nobody's supposed to know about wouldn't hold up in court.
_______
The Avengers
"They Keep Killing Steed"
Originally aired November 11, 1968 (US); December 18, 1968 (UK)
Wiki said:
I guess that "instant plastic surgery" is no big whoop on a show that's used mind transferal. I had to go back and rewatch parts to try to figure out why the bad guys' scheme involved multiple Steed impersonators who seemed more interested in taking each other out than anything else. Steed (who was captured rather easily in service to the plot) did something to sabotage the original plan, but the episode wasn't really clear on what it was or how it differed from what was supposed to happen. My best guess would be that the impersonators were all originally supposed to be disguised as different people, but Steed fixed it so that each would get the mold of his face.
In the absence of the real Steed, Tara pairs up with a dashing young playboy, Baron Von Curt, whom I didn't recognize as future replacement Simon Templar Ian Ogilvy.
Once the real Steed gets to the conference, sloppy editing makes it all the more difficult to keep straight not just who's who, but what the heck is going on. One second Tara's convinced of who the real Steed is, the next she's chasing him.
Mother is just randomly bizarre. This episode he has an underwater lair in a river with no dry accessway...Tara just dives into it fully clothed, and Mother lets a rowboat sink into it.
_______
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 2, episode 8
Originally aired November 11, 1968
The Wiki list of guest appearances said:
Dick Gregory was involved in some good gags; one involves mixed-race dance couples (Dave and Chelsea, Dick G. and Judy) switching partners to same-sex couples; another has Gregory trying to get a job as a department store Santa.
They're still ragging on Mayor Daley and Chicago:
Lagging a week behind the election, a voting-themed cocktail party:
One skit satirized the Maharishi for commercialism.
_______
"A Muggy Day in Central Park"
Originally aired November 14, 1968
Wiki said:
The desk sergeant at the police station is Dort Clark, who played multiple police roles on The Monkees. Ann is sent to talk to the Special Park Detail, which consists of male officers dressing as women. When she first walks in on them, Ann assumes that she's in the wrong room and they're all under arrest!
Ann: Are you Detective Walters?
Detective: No, I'm Thompson. Walters is the one with too much rouge.
Detective: No, I'm Thompson. Walters is the one with too much rouge.
Donald comes to the station and becomes interested in doing a story about the detail, so he arranges to accompany one of the detectives in the field.
"Daddy!...What are you doing in New York?"--Like she has to ask at this point? Of course, Donald pops by to show Ann his disguise while Mr. Marie is there. And because Ann doesn't want her father to know about the mugging, they have to come up with a story for why Donald's in drag. Later, Ann and Mr. Marie go out to dinner at a restaurant in the park and he sees Donald on assignment, pretending to be on a date with one of the detectives. When Ann finally sees Donald, she also sees her mugger approaching Donald and the detective...and Mr. Marie learns all.
In the coda, Ann and Donald are on a daytime date in the park, with Mr. Marie watching them in disguise.
"Oh, Donald" count: 0
"Oh, Daddy" count: 5
_______
Ironside
"An Obvious Case of Guilt"
Originally aired November 14, 1968
Wiki said:
The episode opens with Ironside on a date with an old female acquaintance, Carolyn White (Anne Baxter), who's said to have proposed to him years ago. Ed comes in on the Chief in his lobster bib to tell him that her husband, from whom she was getting a divorce, had been murdered that day, with evidence against her. The tape recording of her shooting him sounds somewhat fake/radio drama, but I think it's supposed to. Ironside begins his investigation operating on the premise that Mr. White may not be dead because there's a trail of convenient clues but no body. Meanwhile, the other members of Team Ironside naturally question the Chief's objectivity, including Eve....
Sign o' the times Ironside said:
I'm willing to give this episode some benefit of the doubt because I accidentally spoiled myself to a key element by checking the IMDb cast list mid-episode, finding that neither the husband nor the model with whom he was having an affair were on it. Thus it was a cinch that, even while those offscreen characters were being tracked down to a place that they shared in Big Sur--well away from the alleged crime scene at Mr. White's San Francisco office--they nevertheless weren't going to turn up alive in the episode.
Carolyn turned out to be the only character actually in the episode who had any dramatic possibility of being the murderer. The twist was that she planted evidence of a false murder that she had alibis to protect her from to make it look like she'd been framed, but had actually killed her husband and his mistress in Big Sur under different circumstances. In unveiling all of this, the episode is stage play-ishly cheap...lots of important stuff happens off-camera, including both bodies being found.
Warren Stevens is the second-billed guest, playing a district attorney, though he only turns up very late in the episode, at least in the syndication edit.
_______
Star Trek
"The Tholian Web"
Originally aired November 15, 1968
Stardate 5693.2
H&I said:
See my post here.
_______
Adam-12
"Log 101: Someone Stole My Lawn"
Originally aired November 16, 1968
Wiki said:
This week Reed's on cottage cheese and yogurt, and wants to put in for Code 7 as soon as regulations allow. I think this is where the thing of Adam-12 rarely getting approved for a Code 7 starts, though here it serves a specific story purpose.
Their first call is the titular situation, involving a very upset owner who'd grown his lawn from seed beating the dirt that's left with a shovel. Reed's appetite gets teased when he has to question a neighbor who's cooking a steak on a grill. While a neighborhood kid witnessed the lawn-stealers at work, and we learn that the part of lawn that was stolen was actually on city property, nothing more comes of this vignette after Reed calls in to report the details of this Grand Theft Real Estate, and we see other patrols reacting to the broadcast.
Malloy and Reed are back in the car talking about where to eat when they get a call to see a woman about a forgery suspect. The woman reports that her teenaged stepson's older friend has been selling credit cards. The officers track the pair down to a backlot pool hall. The forger, who turns out to have several credit cards stashed in his boots, tries to pull a knife on Reed but Malloy gets the drop on him.
We rejoin the patrol after dark, to learn that they'd just tried a steak joint but it was already closed. While passing by a car lot Reed spots somebody in one of the cars. It's Bruce Watson (Crewman Green from "The Man Trap"), whose character is on parole and will certainly get sent back up the river if he's arrested for this, even though circumstances indicate that he wasn't planning to steal the car (it was boxed in by other cars). Reed decides to let him go.
And with that it's quitting time, and thus too late to get in that Code 7...but in the coda back at the station, we learn that Reed's lost his appetite from snacking on candy all night.
_______
Get Smart
"With Love and Twitches"
Originally aired November 16, 1968
Wiki said:
This is the actual wedding episode, and Admiral Hargrave is still serving as Best Man. 99's Mother is a also back. It opens with Max meeting Madre at a go-go club that's playing half-decent generic period music.
The Chief and 99 both think that Max is making up the story about the map because he has cold feet, but they learn that he was telling the truth when he arrives at the wedding being chased by KAOS agents, with whom a brawl commences at the chapel. Max and 99 get married with all of the men in torn clothes and KAOS agents lying unconscious in the aisle. The latest tease about 99's name: We briefly cut away to Hargrave snoring on the floor when the justice should be saying it.
In the coda we find that Max and 99 won't be enjoying a traditional wedding night, as the Chief and his men keep Max under heavy guard in a separate room from his bride.
_______
Hogan's Heroes
"Color the Luftwaffe Red"
Originally aired November 16, 1968
Wiki said:
The episode opens with Newkirk and Carter scoping out Luftwaffe HQ, the former disguised as an old woman. Back at the barracks, they tell Schultz that they're rehearsing for a play.
When the prisoners arrange to be the ones who paint the HQ, Klink sends Schultz to guard them, with orders to shoot to kill. Yeah, like that's gonna happen...though he does wind up threatening to shoot them if they don't let him buy them a beer.
Hogan takes the opportunity to make a grab for a map of Luftwaffe fighter deployment, but it becomes a close call when they're searched and they have to go back for it. Newkirk's legerdemain comes in handy getting the map through a second Gestapo search.
DIS-missed!
_______
Looks like it goes back to the '50s under trad pop artists. I got this one for consistency with other Vogues purchases, but am having second thoughts about it. In any case, it's their last Top 30 single, so that's it for them.
This I skipped...too easy listening. And I can't say that I'd ever heard it on any oldies platform in my life, so it's not just me.
While Aretha still has plenty of hits ahead of her, I'd say that this one breaks the string of career-defining classics that she's been enjoying since '67 (squinting past "Ain't No Way").Not one of her most iconic songs, but just amazing that it came out of the same radios as the prior two.
Is it? I'm not sure that I'd ever heard this one before I came upon it while working on my collection....
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_______
55 Years Ago Spotlight
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
New on the chart:
"Quicksand," Martha & The Vandellas
(#8 US; #7 R&B)
"Popsicles and Icicles," The Murmaids
(#3 US; #2 AC)
_______
_______
51st Anniversary Viewing
The Wild Wild West
"The Night of the Cut-Throats"
Originally aired November 17, 1967
This was a perfectly good episode, but didn't have much of a spy fi angle to it...other than Artie working undercover as a saloon piano player and the gimmicks mentioned below, it felt like the story could have been done on any other Western series.
When the cut-throats make their move (during the day, natch), Jim and Artie lead a small handful of the town's braver citizens in defending the town, which includes constructing makeshift cannons and fireworks missiles. Trayne leads Jim to believe that he intends to burn the town and all records of it, but the assault is a diversion...his real scheme is to make off with bank funds that a secret accomplice has been plundering. On that end of things there are a couple of double-crosses and a hidden wall safe that's rigged to explode.
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55 Years Ago Spotlight
Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles Day by Day said:
Wiki said:
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
- "Blue Bayou," Roy Orbison (10 weeks)
- "Cry Baby," Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters (14 weeks)
- "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," Peter, Paul & Mary (10 weeks)
- "The Grass Is Greener," Brenda Lee (8 weeks)
- "Sally Go 'Round the Roses," The Jaynetts (12 weeks)
- "What's Easy for Two Is So Hard for One," Mary Wells (5 weeks)
New on the chart:
"Quicksand," Martha & The Vandellas
(#8 US; #7 R&B)
"Popsicles and Icicles," The Murmaids
(#3 US; #2 AC)
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Fair warning: I'm gonna be tossin' this back atcha when I cover a particular episode of Petticoat Junction as 55th anniversary business in March....
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51st Anniversary Viewing
The Wild Wild West
"The Night of the Cut-Throats"
Originally aired November 17, 1967
The description didn't spoil me much, because a character being played by Brad(ford) Dillman is a dead giveaway that he's gonna be the villain.Wiki said:
This was a perfectly good episode, but didn't have much of a spy fi angle to it...other than Artie working undercover as a saloon piano player and the gimmicks mentioned below, it felt like the story could have been done on any other Western series.
When the cut-throats make their move (during the day, natch), Jim and Artie lead a small handful of the town's braver citizens in defending the town, which includes constructing makeshift cannons and fireworks missiles. Trayne leads Jim to believe that he intends to burn the town and all records of it, but the assault is a diversion...his real scheme is to make off with bank funds that a secret accomplice has been plundering. On that end of things there are a couple of double-crosses and a hidden wall safe that's rigged to explode.
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"You're not dealing with Mister Hooper today, scum! You break it, you bought it!"
What we never found out is that the IMF is under the control of time travelers who are tweaking the timeline in hopes of averting the Grocery Apocalypse.
Mother is overdue for the home.
Donald can't do a mugging story without Ann having been mugged?
Dressed as a woman?
Missed her by that much.
Must be regional....Is it? I'm not sure that I'd ever heard this one before I came upon it while working on my collection....
I was only two years old, so I don't remember any of this directly, but it was certainly the one event that most shaped the world I grew up in and is one of the most crucial events in American history. It probably seems as distant to people today as the Lincoln assassination, but it's not that far off in time.
Sounds an awful lot like "Heat Wave."
Cute, and it does sound like the 50s to me.
The IMF and the Secret Service are both running out of interesting villains. Where's Doctor Loveless when you need him?
Actually, it was by storming into Parma's office and threatening him back that Jim got the hit put on him!
Which no doubt has security measures that are both ridiculously elaborate and easily bypassed.
I was thinking that. Sitcom logic. Plus, they probably didn't want to even get him going on the topic in general.
No...but as I recall, that will be coming up eventually under different circumstances.Dressed as a woman?
It was certainly close enough to my own time that it continued to resonate as a relatively recent national tragedy when I was growing up. My parents were in their late teens when it happened. I remember my dad saying that he was working in a grocery store when he heard the news. Think they might have announced it over the speaker.
My own lifetime missed overlapping Kennedy's by several years, but I still get a little choked up watching those videos.
I was thinking the same thing. Heat waves, quicksand...the Vandellas might have considered moving to a more hospitable locale.
I absolutely love this song. It's very pretty and has a pleasant, nostalgic period vibe for me, which is accentuated by it being a distinct case in which a song became an "oldie" in my own listening experience. When I was working on my early '60s collection in recent years, I was finding a lot of stuff that I hadn't heard on oldies radio since the '90s, after which they must have mostly phased out the early '60s, or maybe it was just that I switched markets by moving to CT. When I rediscovered this song a few years back, it had literally been around 20 years since I'd last heard it.Cute, and it does sound like the 50s to me.
So for me, this song has come to epitomize early '60s music, in a sense.
On this week's Star Trek! Looks like the IMF is back to form this week anyway.
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