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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)
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The Brady Bunch
"The Babysitters"
Originally aired October 2, 1970
Wiki said:
With Alice on a date with Sam, Greg and Marcia convince Mike and Carol that they can babysit Peter, Jan, Bobby and Cindy, who starts sniffling. Carol and Mike go out to a fancy restaurant, but eventually both of them agree they need to go check on the kids...unaware that Alice is headed home, too. Meanwhile, the kids are doing fine. Then when Carol and Mike get home, Mike trips on a bike in the backyard. Marcia and Greg hear it and call the police, worried that it may be a burglar. When the police arrive, Carol and Mike explain what had happened, while the kids watch through the window. Later, Carol and Mike go out to a movie and leave Greg and Marcia in charge.
Guest stars: Gil Stuart as the maitre d', Jerry Jones as a police officer (a second officer is uncredited)
Actually, I'm assuming that it was a live performance of some sort, as movie theaters don't normally have reserved seating. Mike comes home on Friday with two front-row tickets for the unspecified show that has Carol very excited. Greg and Marcia hear them discussing getting a babysitter, take exception, and plan to take a stand. To their advantage, Alice and Carol are unable to find another sitter. Greg and Marcia assert that they're 14 and 13, and the parents agree with allowing them to sit, seeming somewhat impressed at their initiative. Then they ask to be paid: 75 cents an hour...each! The other kids actually aren't happy about it, as they see it as having to "follow orders" from their older siblings.
On the evening of, Mike drills Greg about how he'd handle various imagined emergencies, while Bobby watches in amusement. Then he test Bobby about opening the door for strangers, and ends up having Alice let him in after she sends him to wash up for dinner. As the the adults leave, they're all concerned that Cindy has come down with the sniffles.
Marcia: Parents...
Greg: They're certainly hard to bring up.
Greg takes his authority very seriously, laying down the law about sundry matters like the kids putting their feet on the furniture and Jan's phone use.
At a restaurant, Carol can't think of anything but the kids, and makes an excuse to leave the table to try calling home, only to get a busy signal (Jan). Carol ends up getting Mike worked up and he slips away to try the phone himself. Lather, rinse, repeat. They decide to skip dinner to go back home and check on the kids. Once there, they have second thoughts, not wanting Greg and Marcia to think they don't trust them, so they do the noisy sneaking around. Then the parents hear a noise themselves and Mike jumps Alice, sneaking in the gate...just in time for the police to arrive. Flustered, they try to explain what's going on, while the kids watch from the den window.
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The Partridge Family
"The Sound of Money"
Originally aired October 2, 1970
Wiki said:
A minor fender bender turns into a major pain for the Partridges when they decide to fight a fraudulent lawsuit from Whiplash Willie.
Guest Stars: Harry Morgan as 'Whiplash' Willie Larkin, and Farrah Fawcett
Song: "I'll Leave Myself a Little Time"
The regular opening credits begin with this one.
The incident occurs when Willie Larkin stops his car suddenly in front of the bus. After registering his complaints, he's about to leave the scene with no damage on his car, but Danny boasts about how they're stars, so he goes into his injury act and sues for $500,000, but is willing to settle for $10,000. The family's lawyer (Ivan Bonar) advises that because medical evidence is inconclusive, they have to prove that he's faking. Shirley's willing to settle, but Laurie (Susan Dey) scores some Generation Gap points by arguing that she's taking the easy way out and needs to fight back.
Laurie: That's why this world is in such a mess.
Shirley: Honey, I didn't destroy this world all by myself, you know. I had a little help.
Laurie: I didn't mean you, I meant your generation.
Sounds like something you'd hear today, doesn't it?
Shirley goes to pay a visit to Larkin, who puts on his neck brace and pretends to not be able to sit down. He tries to convince her not to take it to court, because it's the insurance company who'll be paying.
Shirley ultimately decides to fight to set an example for the kids. Because $200,000 of their own money is at stake if they take it to court, Danny enlists Reuben's aid in attempting to expose Larkin. They try ruses to make him bend over to pick up money, at home and in the park, but he finds way to get the money without exposing himself. Then they enlist the help of a girl on the street--Farrah! (
There are pictures on IMDb.) In accordance with the plan, she drops something from her grocery bag and Willie bends over to pick it up, but Danny doesn't get him in the picture, focusing on Charlie's future angel.
Shirley gets the idea of having the family forcibly move in with him under the pretense of taking care of him, which ruins his date with a woman named Doris (Kelly Britt). A montage sequence ensues to the song of the week:
Along the way, he ends up bonding with the family, and finally exposes himself while catching Tracy from falling while she's cleaning above his mantle. He drops the pretense and everyone laughs it off. They end the episode on a gag of him threatening to sue for breaking up his engagement with Doris, but settling for "a million-dollar hug" from the kids.
This is the one episode I distinctly remember seeing when I was a kid, though I wouldn't have known Harry Morgan at the time, as I probably saw it before he started doing
M*A*S*H. They really missed an opportunity to show him in an episode-ending mugshot...
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That Girl
"Don and Sandi and Harry and Snoopy"
Originally aired October 2, 1970
Wiki said:
Donald has Ann investigate his sister's new beau.
Donald's widowed sister, Sandi, is traveling 1,500 miles from St. Louis to hook up with her new boyfriend. Donald's concerned because the boyfriend, Harry Fieldstone, is an actor--for which Ann labels him a bigot. But he asks Ann to use her contacts to check the guy out. Through a complicated series of connections, she learns that he was previously in a production in St. Louis, and has assembled a file with various other biographical details. (A spoof of the Bond theme plays as she reveals the file.) Then Harry calls Ann because he's heard that she's been all over town asking questions about him, and she has to cover for her true motives while having lunch with him (Mark Roberts). When he sees her, he acts on the assumption that her interest in him is romantic, and when he sees her ring, he makes clear that he doesn't see either's engagement as an obstacle.
Meanwhile, Don brings Sandi (Cloris Leachman) to stay at Ann's place. When Ann comes home, she learns that Donald's invited Harry over for dinner, so she gets Donald to come to kitchen with her to tell him what she's learned. Then Harry arrives, bearing roses for Sandi and wine for Ann, and he's not surprised to see her...but he gets Ann aside and tells her that he plans to dump Sandi. Now Donald thinks that Ann must be exaggerating about Harry, as he acts like he doesn't know her in front of the others.
Then Harry gets Donald aside and says that he'd figured out what Ann was up to and was putting her on. The two of them agree not to mention the whole matter to Sandi. When Ann comes out she's still upset, but Donald accompanies her to the kitchen to tell her the truth, and she drops the turkey that she was making, off camera.
"Oh, Donald" count:
11
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Love, American Style
"Love and the Nurse / Love and the Old Boyfriend"
Originally aired October 2, 1970
In "Love and the Old Boyfriend," personnel manager Brian Carter (Milton Berle) interviews an applicant named Dennis Wright (Strother Martin), whom he realizes is his wife's old hometown boyfriend whom she's always held over him as the one that got away. He's now a drifter with a slovenly appearance and an ill-fitting suit, motivating Brian to bring him home to dinner to show her what's become of him. At first Louise (Connie Hines) doesn't recognize him, but once Brian tells her who he is, she welcomes him with open arms and wants to talk old times. Brian tries to slip in sordid details of Dennis's more recent history, but Louise promises that Brian will help get him a good job and offers to let him stay with them. Brian clearly isn't happy about having his rival for Louise's affection as both a co-worker and a member of his household.
This segment didn't really work for me humor-wise.
It looks like "Love and the Nurse," which I didn't have, was another appearance by Arte Johnson.
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Mission: Impossible
"The Innocent"
Originally aired October 3, 1970
Wiki said:
First appearance of Sam Elliott as recurring IMF team member Doug. When Barney is accidentally poisoned and subsequently caught during an attempt to destroy a computer, the IMF must persuade the only person in the area who can fill in for Barney to do the job – except he's reluctant to help and threatens to turn the team in. First of three episodes starring both Sam Elliott and Peter Lupus.
The episode opens with Barney and Willy on a mission in progress. While attempting to access a computer from a storage room, Barney steps in an accidental puddle of a chemical called Dehominant-A, which paralyzes his leg. The two of them are dressed as guards, so Willy carries Barney out, but somebody sees that Barney's been exposed and sounds an alarm. Willy escapes to get Jim's help. Cut to the credits--there's no tape scene, and suddenly the opening theme is a different version...which is a bit odd, switching it a few episodes into a new season, assuming that the credits reflect original broadcast.
Jim talks to Washington, another sign that he and his pals are a little more avowed these days. The team is in need of a substitute computer expert to continue the mission, so they decide to recruit one who's living in the country, Dr. Jerome Carlin (Christopher Connelly). The episode title refers to how Paris describes him when he questions getting an outsider involved. Dana goes to make contact with Carlin under an alias. We learn that his mission would be to access the facility's computer to destroy the formula for the next stage of the chemical, Dehominant-B, while it's in the process of being manufactured. Carlin, who's now living a dropout lifestyle, can tell that she's working for the government based on the computer-generated file that she has on him. He doesn't want to get involved, so Paris and Doug bust his shabby apartment for narcotics posing as detectives and take in his girlfriend, Judy (Katherine Darc). Paris persuades Carlin to go along with Dana's plan as a fake double agent.
Dana gets him cleaned up and has him sneak into the facility through a tunnel with other IMF members in hazmat-ish suits...Paris and Doug keeping their faces hidden by gas masks. The next phase of the operation has the team assuming disguises within the facility. Carlin studies their computer manual and starts to hint to Jim that he needs to worry about saving his own skin. Then Paris and Doug reveal themselves, Carlin realizes he's been had, and pushes an alarm button. They hide in a closet, keeping Carlin silent, and make it look like the alarm was triggered by an escaped lab monkey.
Meanwhile, Colonel Orlov (Larry Linville) has been trying to get info out of Barney by having the chief scientist, Dr. Vazan (Robert Ellenstein), hold an antidote over his head. Posing as an assistant of a research colleague (Jim on the phone), Dana arrives for a meeting with Vazan--who's concerned about not revealing to the scientific community that he's now a government stooge--and, once she's alone with him, knocks him out with a drugged trick ring. Having snuck in a collapsible filing cabinet, Willy takes Paris, disguised as Vazan, into Vazan's office and smuggles the real Vazan back out. Carlin is incredulous at the team's spycraft. Fake Vazan resumes the interrogation of Barney, slipping a tiny receiver into his ear via which Jim gives him instructions to confess to which actual technicians are his fake conspirators. Barney then goes real unconscious and is declared fake dead by Paris. (It's a good thing everybody always believes Paris when he tells them that somebody is dead--stage hypnosis, perhaps?) Doug examines Barney and determines that he's almost real dead, but manages to save him.
The colonel has Fake Vazan replace the fake-conspiring technicians. Meanwhile, Carlin agrees under duress to cooperate with the plan, and questions the otherwise out of commission Barney for some required info about the computer. Then Jim and Carlin go into the computer room as the replacement technicians. The colonel doesn't know them, but Paris vouches for them, and planted dossiers confirm their false identities. When they foul with the formula, a concerned scientist calls the room a couple times, reaching the colonel directly on the second attempt. Jim TV Fu's the colonel and the three of them try to walk out calmly with Willy (Barney having already been smuggled out along with the real Vazan). They make a break in their van under fire and escape into the Not California desert, meeting up with Dana and Judy to switch vehicles. Mission: Accomplished.
The Gellerese in this episode is so half-assed that it isn't even funny enough to take screencaps of. Basically everything is spelled in plain English, but in a foreign-looking font with backward Ns.
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Adam-12
"Log 95: Purse Snatcher"
Originally aired October 3, 1970
Wiki said:
Malloy and Reed assist Officer Brinkman in bringing down a ring of juvenile purse snatchers, the leader of which later commits an armed robbery and kills someone during the crime.
Following up on a purse-snatching that Brinkman's (Ben Cooper) unit is handling, Reed gets out on foot and finds the discarded purse in an alley that the perps fled through. The victim was injured seriously enough to be taken away in an ambulance. Malloy suspects a known purse snatcher in the area named Benjie Tremain (Gary Morgan). The officers find Benjie pitching coins with a couple of pals in an alley and have a talk with him. Reed and Malloy are subsequently assigned to stakeout duty while Brinkman poses as a potential victim, dressing as an old woman. The snatchers take the bait, trying to use TV Fu on Brinkman. Reed and Malloy pursue Benjie into the same alley and catch him with Brinkman's purse. Back at the station, Benjie's father (Myron Healey) tries to strike a deal with Malloy, but Pete is more concerned with convincing Mr. Tremain that Benjie needs his help.
In a beat unrelated to the main story, the officers respond to the scene of an accident involving a concerned driver who hit a jaywalking pedestrian. Then they get a call for an armed robbery at a liquor store, where they find Benjie fleeing the store and shooting the pursuing proprietor. They corner him in an alley and try to talk him down. Distraught at what he's done, Benjie takes a couple of shots at Reed. Mr. Tremain is brought to the scene to try to talk him out, and Benjie vents some of his daddy issues. Mr. Tremain then approaches his son against the officers' advice and finds himself at gunpoint. He tries to grab the gun and it goes off, killing Benjie. Malloy ends the episode with a Fridayesque judgmental beat.
As I recall, Season 1 episodes had Reed and Malloy in a rivalry with officers Brinkman and Walters. It's not clear if this is supposed to be the same character as he's being played by a one-shot actor, whereas Claude Johnson has multiple appearances as Brinkman both behind and ahead of him.
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The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"Bess, You Is My Daughter Now"
Originally aired October 3, 1970
Wiki said:
Mary agrees to take care of Phyllis's precocious daughter (Lisa Gerritsen) for a few days.
While Phyllis's husband is quarantined in the hospital with what's initially believed to be chicken pox (but turns out to be poison oak), she arranges for Mary to watch Bess. Mary's initially put off by being inundated with Phyllis's parenting books and Bess's odd quirks, like calling her mother by her first name and wearing her wig and makeup; but when Mary starts just treating Bess like a little girl, they bond--which include a dialogueless, shot-on-location shopping sequence. Phyllis returns early and Bess doesn't want to go...and by Phyllis's own parenting style, she has to do what Bess wants.
Still in Mary's care, Bess shows up at WJM after school, to Lou's irritation. Back at the apartment, Phyllis and Mary try to talk about the situation, and Bess walks in to see Phyllis crying. Phyllis is afraid she looks weak, but Mary tries to tell her not to come on so strong. Then Mary finds that Bess has returned home, because she knows that Phyllis needs her.
This was our first good look at Bess. I'm getting the vibe that she's a child who's under pressure to be more grown up than she should be because her mother is so flakey.
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Whatever happened to Maria?
She was with him.
And their YouTube account doesn't seem to label clips by season or episode.
Yep...or nope, whichever is grammatically correct here.
ETA: There will be CLIPS in next week's post!
Kinda taking evidence out to play, though.
Seems like a lot isn't explained. Why is Marburg so fanatical about offing Lemira, to the extent that he would let himself get shot in the chest and possibly killed? Given the activities of himself and the other assassin, there were a few opportunities to kill Lemira more easily. And why did Lemira assume that his daughter was the target? Why were both or either of them so important?
Lemira is a Greek political exile, who was paranoid about the current regime being after him, and ended up being right. Apparently it was all about setting up free access to Lemira with a weapon. A big through-line in the story was his constant security protection and never being left alone.
The niece was on the scene of what appeared to be another attempt outside the hospital, and Lemira wasn't. She didn't seem to serve much role in the story other than to be a pretty face and to give Braeden some romantic beats to show off his suave charm.
I'd say that this was another case of the villains' M.O. being IMF-ish in its complexity, though not its details--the IMF doesn't do direct assassination, preferring to manipulate their enemies into offing each other.
There's a cool title, although I didn't see many happy dreams.
I guess it describes when he was enjoying his fixes, which we don't see here. BTW, don't look forward to many such poetic titles in this season of H5O...I looked ahead.
And why at an isolated cabin?
I think it was his full-time home.
That sounds like a joke, but Harvard Business School actually does have a boxing club.
Clearly milked for humor, though...as was skinny little Felix in boxing shorts and gloves in the ring.
This reminds of how much Felix used to aggravate my Grandmother. She'd sit there watching the show and constantly gripe at him like he was a real person.
I can definitely picture that.
It's probably the only good song they ever did. I can't think of anything else.
They have a string of lesser-known hits ahead. Maybe something else worthwhile will pop up in there.
I should note that this and subsequent singles are credited on the label to "The Partridge Family starring Shirley Jones featuring David Cassidy". I try to include with/featuring credits where they're reasonable, but this is an example of them getting too silly.
