That's an interesting point, and they were kings at it, with "Goin Out of My Head" being the jewel in their crown. ...and that would have lent itself to jokes, if not for the sheer brilliance of the writing/performances. Odd, since that was decade where nearly every major solo and group act were well exposed on TV (a few with their own shows), and others appearing on the big screen. One would think those who did not want to appear on film would be more than aware of the power of film by 1969. When was the last time a song specifically composed for a soap opera hit it big on the charts?
Guess I should have said "sans habit". That would be the George Burns episode. Yeah, her too. Interesting...didn't know she had an even older nose....
_______ "The World Beater" Originally aired February 9, 1969 (UK) Series finale Simon's playing test driver for a race car being developed by a friend, George Hapgood (James Kerry). After the car crashes because of sabotage, he's recruited to drive another car in development for a rival of Hapgood's, Justin Pritchard (John Ronane). I wasn't clear on whether Pritchard was responsible for the sabotage, but it sure seemed like it. Pritchard's working with Kay Collingwood (Patricia Haines), an old acquaintance of Simon's who claims to be employed as a PR consultant, though Simon quickly sniffs out that her real game is industrial espionage, which includes planting bugs everywhere...including in a lapel flower that she gives Simon, which he picks while reciting "she loves me, she loves me not" for her benefit, then tosses out his car window. Simon foils a plot by Pritchard to have his own car sabotaged for an insurance claim because it wasn't ready for the would-be investors. Simon keeps the car safe and persuades Kay to accompany him as his navigator in the rally, which he says he intends to win, puttin gher to work digging the car out of mud and such. Simon does indeed win the rally, then reveals that he'd had the exterior of Pritchard's car put over the body of backup car of Hapgood's, which means that Hapgood actually won the rally. And that'll be it for the famous Simon Templar, unless I get around to also working in its earlier black & white seasons somewhere. _______ "There Was a Time Ann Met a Pie Man" Originally aired February 13, 1969 This week's freeze frame setup doesn't actually have anyone uttering the words "that girl". As you can tell from the picture, she's not crazy about what the role entails. After asking for Donald's opinion, Ann has a long monologue weighing the pros and cons of taking the part while Donald quietly keeps eating dinner. Ann thanking Donald for telling her exactly what she needs to hear when he doesn't even try to get a word in edgewise becomes a running gag throughout the episode. Mr. Grissom: What do you call somebody who won't let you finish a sentence? Donald: A woman. The sketch show that the gag appears on, and the pie bit becoming a recurring gag, both seem based on Laugh-In. Ann declines to do a repeat performance herself, but there's talk of other big-name actresses coming on the show to do it, which causes Ann to have a temporary moment of pride in having originated the part. Mr. Marie, of course, is every bit as scandalized as Ann and then some, though he seems to have started to warm up to Ann's role by the end, when he realizes that he's getting more business at his restaurant from people coming in to say that they saw Ann. Guesting as that show's producer, Mr. Grissom, is Jesse White in his last of four roles for this show. Mrs. Brentano also pops up again. "Oh, Donald" count: 6, plus one that sounded like an "Oh, Don," though the closed captioning thought she just said "Donald" "Oh, Daddy" count: 3 "Oh, Mr. Grissom" count: 1 _______ There it is! (The nose and the resemblance.)
Simon must be hard up for work. No wonder his show was cancelled. Uh... yay? He needs a little more excitement in his life. Maybe he'll change his name and go to work for MI-6 or something. I didn't realize that getting a pie in the face was so controversial. I guess all those Stooges shorts are hardcore porn in That Girl world.
Hmm...why that reaction? What's your take on this? He'll have to do some persuading first.... Apparently it is in Brewster...Ann and her father were very hung up about it. From 50 years ago around this time...not sure the exact date the issue hit the stands...the last-panel teaser to a next issue that's easily one of my favorite single issues of a comic book. I love these guys! Yeah, that's Hyperion in his early short-pants phase!
Just that the show is over. Simon, we hardly knew ye. Very interesting. The DVD set is cheap enough, so I could be persuaded to buy it. Well, he has legs that just won't quit.
55 Years Ago This Week Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "I Get Around," The Beach Boys (15 weeks) "Keep on Pushing," The Impressions (13 weeks) New on the chart: "Matchbox," The Beatles (#17 US; written and originally recorded by Carl Perkins in 1957) "Slow Down," The Beatles (B-side of "Matchbox"; #25 US; written and originally recorded by Larry Williams in 1957) "When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)," The Beach Boys (#9 US; #27 UK) "Let It Be Me," Betty Everett & Jerry Butler (#5 US; #1 R&B; previously a #7 hit for The Everly Brothers in 1960) "Last Kiss," J. Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers (#2 US) "Do Wah Diddy Diddy," Manfred Mann (#1 US the weeks of Oct. 17 and 24, 1964; #1 UK) Total Beatles songs on the chart: 7 _______ Last I checked he was still in This's lineup, if you want to continue for yourself. Never seen it myself, but I knew it was Moore's gig between The Saint and Bond. Plus a Mjölnir-proof chest... ...and Atomic Vision™!
Never knew this song made it to No. 1. I loved pretty much all of Ringo's solo performances. Boys (my fav of his vocal perfs), Wanna Be Your Man, Honey Don't, Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby, Matchbox, Little Help From My Friends (his best song), all great. Always loved this melodramatic little song. Somewhere on my laptop hard drive, I have a live version of it by Pearl Jam in which the band completely screws up the intro. They launch into it and you can't tell what they're doing. You then hear them noodling around trying to find it and finally Eddie announces that "they got it now" and they proceed to present a better version of the song than their original recorded version. . Eddie inserts his "brother" into the song in place of the girlfriend. It's rather touching. Goes to show that even great bands sometimes screw up live.
Kind of a random choice.... ....with a random B-side. Another classic. Kind of straightforward, but it doesn't really need to be anything else and it sounds nice. Decent cover. It's a song that's hard to damage. Another cheerful song about people dying in a car accident. And, yep, it sounds like the 50s. A fun classic. We do record an occasional Saint if it looks interesting. Tony Curtis and Roger Moore fighting crime. The mind boggles. Great Argon!
_______ "The Subject Was Rabies" Originally aired February 20, 1969 Ann suddenly has a new agent, Harry Fields (Jules Munshin), even though she's been dropping references to Seymour as recently as the previous episode. His angle in the episode is that the whole rabies mock-crisis is threatening to keep Ann from making an important audition. After Mr. Marie gets bit, Donald gets to be the bearer of bad news when he makes a comment about how it could have been worse, the dog could have been rabid...which gets Lew all wound up on the subject. Ann calls her doctor (Stuart Margolin) for a house call, and he doesn't think anything of the bite either, until Mr. Marie gets him going on the subject of rabies...then he calls the Health Department, seeming very interested in the potential publicity. The inspector who responds to the call is played by TOS guest Ed Peck. By the time Mr. Marie's ready to back out, motivated by learning that he'll need to have a shot, the whole incident has become too big to stop...but he's saved when a boy comes by with the dog, which belongs to him and has had its shots. Playing a photographer from Donald's magazine: I can't help wondering if he's secretly on the trail of our old friend Harry Banner.... "Oh, Donald" count: 1 "Oh, Daddy" count: 1 "Oh, Doggy" count: One missed opportunity _______ "The Defiant One" Originally aired February 27, 1969 The setup for the title shot is young David Johnson (George Spell) claiming to the storekeeper that Ann is his mother. Afterward Ann asserts that she's too young...I don't know how much younger Ann was meant to be, but Marlo was easily old enough to be the mother of an eight-year-old at the time. Ann assumes that David was stealing the candy bar because he's poor, even though he's pretty well-dressed. He tells her up-front that he lives on Park Avenue and she assumes he's fibbing. Then he tells her what she wants to hear, spinning a story of living in a tenement with thirteen siblings and being beaten by his father. Ann takes the boy out for the day, which includes getting odd looks from fellow passengers on a bus. Back at Ann's apartment, he secretly calls his father to tell them that he's been kidnapped and gives him Ann's name and address. Meanwhile, Donald walks into the situation, and Ann gets paranoid about the intentions of the police after she tries calling them. Ann: Donald, I told you, they want to put David in Juvenile Hall! Donald: Honey, only as a last resort. Ann: Donald, that is no resort, it's practically a prison! David's father comes over, and it turns out he's a famous comedian named J.J. Johnson (future Battlestar XO Terry Carter), who understands what's really going on, as David has pulled this sort of thing before. In the coda, Ann admits to Donald that she probably wouldn't have bought into David's story so easily if he hadn't been black. "Oh, Donald" count: 1; plus one as part of a longer sentence in which she introduces Donald to David, which passes the Johnny Thunder test. "Oh, David" count: 2 _______ "Fly Me to the Moon" Originally aired March 6, 1969 "She may be the one who helps us put the first woman on the Moon." Well, how's that project been going? Guesting Robert Colbert, formerly of The Time Tunnel, as Ann's Boss of the Week, Major Brian James. For her job interview, he Flies her in a two-seat jet to New Orleans for lunch. There's a conflict angle with Ann being in the middle of a project to have Donald's apartment redecorated, which her new job is taking her away from, as it involves Major James flying her all over the continent. At one point Donald calls her in their jet via an Air Force radio relay; at another, he's patched in to her while she's in a centrifuge. Despite all the attention he's giving her, the major is generally abrupt and unfriendly to Ann. Donald thinks it's a ploy, and Ann's disappointed when that proves not to be the case, but proceeds to tell Donald a lurid story of how he came on to her. "Oh, Donald" count: 6 (though one was more of an "Oh! Donald...") _______ Well, Carl Perkins was a huge influence on the Beatles, and Larry Williams was a favorite of John's in particular...John wound up doing three covers of his songs as Beatles releases. "Matchbox" and "Slow Down" are the other songs from the A Hard Day's Night sessions (along with "Long Tall Sally," another cover, and the original "I Call Your Name") that were released in the UK on the Long Tall Sally EP, and thus are found in the digital age on the Past Masters collection. These two were originally released in the states on the most recent Capitol album 55 years ago, Something New. And hey, it got Ringo the A-side of a single. I know they were speaking for their audience, but it's weird to hear guys in their 20s singing in falsetto voices about growing up to be a man. It sounds alright, but compared to their more stone-cold classics, this one's a "miss" for me. It's definitely got a good sound, especially Jerry's voice. In other words, another "splatter platter"! Not sure I'd describe it as "cheerful," but I'll agree in this case about it having a '50s vibe. Another major British Invasion installment. To show my true age, it always reminds me of Stripes, which was my first exposure to the song. From what I glanced at on that Wiki, it sounds like they were fighting each other behind the scenes. I recall on one of his Bond DVD commentaries Sir Roger going on a tangent about an American actor he worked with whom he had words with for being rude to women. I'm guessing that might have been Curtis. I liked in Avengers 147-148 when the Supreme version swore by any ol' nobel gas:
50 Years Ago This Week And The Old Mixer is the size of a coconut. Hey, l'il buddy...! Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me), Part 1," James Brown (12 weeks) "My Cherie Amour," Stevie Wonder (14 weeks) "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," Kenny Rogers & The First Edition (13 weeks) "Walk On By," Isaac Hayes (2 weeks) "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)," Jr. Walker & The All-Stars (16 weeks) New on the chart: "Runnin' Blue," The Doors (#64 US) "Something in the Air," Thunderclap Newman (#37 US; #1 UK) "Make Believe," Wind (#28 US) "Carry Me Back," The Rascals (#26 US) "Baby It's You," Smith (#5 US; originally a #8 hit for the Shirelles in 1961-62; notably also covered by the The Beatles as an album track in 1963)
And, Matchbox charted, which I never imagined. I didn't think any of his songs were released as singles. Not one of their best. Did I miss all of those great old Rascals hits somehow? Don't recall seeing any of them on any charts.
"Yellow Submarine" hit #2 in '66. They were already in the middle of their run of major hits (1966-68) when I started posting the chart info two years back. Their last major hit, "People Got to Be Free" (#1), charted July of last year in 50th Anniversaryland.
It's a fickle business. Or a Werewolf. Think of how much better this show would have been with F&SF elements. He's been on the trail of that rabid dog for months! Not psychologically, though.... I was going to say, is he old enough to have an eight-year-old kid, but holy cow, he's a lot older than I thought. I am unfamiliar with this test. Better, but not great. There was recently a guest editorial in Analog by the woman who does the recruiting at NASA about the difficulties of getting women to sign up for the Space Program. Too bad they didn't want her to actually be the first woman on the moon. Another genre plot opportunity lost..... Well, not random for them, I guess.... I don't think any of them actually grew up anyway. Yeah! He's gonna be a good boy and go to Heaven! Yeah, interesting stuff on that Wiki page. I generally don't know a lot of personal info on actors, but I do recall they had problems with Curtis on Vega$ because of drug use. Apparently this was not a new thing. That's exactly what I was thinking of. When I think of Squadron Supreme, I think of the Serpent Crown Saga-- Englehart was one of my writing gods back in the 70s. How do you feel about lime? Hee haw! Er... I mean, this is so freakin' good I could cry. This is a nice one. It's always darkest before the Dawn. Should have carried this back for a refund. Surprisingly good.