The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

Or two if you count Naked City.

 

50 Years Ago This Week

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

Leaving the chart:

• "Celia of the Seals," Donovan (3 weeks)
• "(Do the) Push and Pull (Part 1)," Rufus Thomas (13 weeks)
• "I Hear You Knocking," Dave Edmunds (12 weeks)

New on the chart:

"I Don't Blame You at All," Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

(#18 US; #7 R&B; #11 UK)

"Here Comes the Sun," Richie Havens

(#16 US; #18 AC)


And new on the boob tube:

• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Season 4, episode 26 (season finale)
• All in the Family, "Archie Is Worried About His Job"
• Mission: Impossible, "The Merchant" (season finale)
• Ironside, "Lesson in Terror"
• Adam-12, "Log 106: Post Time"
• The Brady Bunch, "Tell It Like It Is" (season finale)
• The Partridge Family, "A Knight in Shining Armor" (season finale)
• That Girl, "The Elevated Woman" (series finale)
• The Odd Couple, "What Does a Naked Lady Say to You?"

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55 Years Ago This Week Overflow Special

Also new on the chart the week ending March 19, 1966:

"Spanish Flea," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

(#27 US; #4 AC; #3 UK)

"Frankie and Johnny," Elvis Presley

(#25 US; #3 AC; #21 UK)

"What Now My Love," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

(B-side of "Spanish Flea"; #24 US; #2 AC)

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Distinctive.

Bleh...close soundalike cover that did better than the original. Them deserved the hit.

Just a classic...and their biggest hit of this era.

One of his better singles, as it's primarily associated with him, rather than a watered-down cover of a song that has a more definitive version.

Alas, not on ShoutFactory. Haven't seen it anywhere in years.

 

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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)

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Hogan's Heroes
"Hogan's Double Life"
Originally aired March 7, 1971

Hogan & co. are staking out a wooded road with a couple of underground men (David Frank and Dick Wilson), based on intel about a shipment of paintings stolen from the Louvre, but Hogan sniffs out and demonstrates that it's a trap, sending the agents on their way. Klink subsequently gets a visit from Gestapo major Pruhst (Malachi Throne), who's deduced that all of the underground sabotage activity in the area centers on one man--Hogan--but he has to prove it to his superiors, so he wants to get a picture of him with a miniature camera to send to a witness who saw him at the site of a bridge-blowing. Having listened in via the coffee pot, Hogan and the men conspire to keep Hogan's back turned to the major outside. The major nevertheless gets his picture, and a positive identification is made.

Posing as an old friend in a disguise that involves a uniform and age makeup, Hogan attends the local birthday party of Field Marshal von Leiter (John Hoyt). For once, the disguise is meant to be seen through by Klink, as well as Pruhst. Hogan's research is so thorough that he fools the marshal and sews doubt in Klink and Pruhst, so they rush back to the stalag to see if Hogan's there...and he beats them there via the tunnel. When Hogan's arm isn't sporting a fake tattoo that his alter ego showed, they become convinced.

I found the premise of this scheme to be weak to the point of incoherence; particularly Klink and Pruhst's certainty that a tattoo couldn't be faked...and that it could wasn't even explained.

DIS!missed!

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Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 4, episode 25
Originally aired March 8, 1971

Early Quickies.

Edith Ann about having an headache.

General Bull Wright now has a beard.

The News segment:


The Cocktail Party:


Laugh-In salutes the FBI:


Gladys goes to Tyrone's place.

Everything you always wanted to know about Ernestine...


The closing Joke Wall:


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All in the Family
"Edith Has Jury Duty"
Originally aired March 9, 1971

Edith gets home ahead of Archie, her first concern being to make dinner for him; but she shares with the kids her excitement at the experience of jury duty. She can't discuss the details, but thinks she may be sequestered. Archie comes home complaining about a man who threw himself on the tracks having held up the subway...it's not clear if the man died. Edith can barely contain herself, which he notices. While he considers her an ideal candidate because she has "no preconstrued notions," he takes exception that she won't discuss the case with him, her "own flesh-and-blood husband". Over dinner, he brings up his previous service and gets in an argument with Mike about capital punishment, "a well-known detergent to crime". Archie only learns that Edith may be staying in a hotel for at least a week when a neighbor, Clara (Holly Irving), comes by and Edith asks to borrow her valise. Mike correctly deduces which murder case she's serving on, and references the length of the Manson trial. Archie then tries to persuade her to get out of it under the pretense that he's sick, but she passes the buck for taking care of him to Gloria.

Archie finds himself coming home to an empty house because Mike and Gloria are attending the trial. They find out in the paper that the verdict is being held up by a lone juror, whom Archie guesses is a "lone dingbat". Meanwhile, Edith is rooming with Lydia Stonehurst (Doris Singleton), a well-to-do woman who has very little in common with her. While Edith is enjoying the hotel service, Lydia would rather be home being served by her personal chef, and pressures Edith about holding out. She ironically has more in common with Archie, sharing similar preconceived notions about the underprivileged Latino defendant. (Mike, for the record, holds society to blame for his alleged actions.) Edith explains how important this is to her because nobody ever asks her opinion about anything important, and she wants to get it right.

The jurors are ordered to return to the court after hours. Back at the Bunker house, Mike and Gloria are enjoying "I Want to Take You Higher" by Sly & the Family Stone while waiting for the news to come on. When it does, they learn of a breakthrough in the case. Edith comes home before the story airs, and Archie guilts her to make him something to eat, even though Gloria already did and he wouldn't eat it. Then they learn on TV about how another man confessed to the crime after Edith's two-day holdout. Edith herself is interviewed, but refuses to discuss the case even though it's over. Archie then complains that Edith was "wastin' the taxpayers' money, tryin' the wrong guy!"

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Hawaii Five-O
"The Grandstand Play (Part 2)"
Originally aired March 10, 1971 (season finale)

After a recap that clocks in at a minute and a half longer than "Hey Jude," the story briefly segues into its here-and-now, with Horton's car missing Gary but causing him to fall to the ground, before we proceed to the opening credits.

Chin talks to Mrs. Workman's maid, Mrs. Ahn (Soo Yong), at the funeral home; and while she's reluctant to talk of things that might further soil her lady's reputation, she finally admits that someone was using pictures to extort Emily...and that she believes that Mr. Workman was involved. Steve pays Lester another visit and presses him about whether he hired anyone to follow his wife. He denies it, but after McGarrett leaves, he promptly phones Horton's girl.

Steve has Danno's fingers do the walking so that Five-O can check out all of the PIs operating in Honolulu. Also filling time, Lon Phillips has a couple of scenes fretting about his son's welfare to his coach, Coley (Jock Mahoney). But while he's at the stadium in the hope that Gary will go there, Gary tries to call home, gets Kono, and hangs up. Meanwhile, Workman makes a rendezvous with Horton's girl, clarifying for us that she contacted him with a proposition after Emily met Horton at a bar. He confronts the girl with the knowledge that she was playing both sides, and that she and her friend were involved in the murder, which he considers to have been an unrequested favor...but he holds that knowledge over her head to firmly break off any ties. When the girl shares this with Horton, she argues for taking what money they have and going away, but Horton decides that he now has two people who know too much and need offing.

Gary ends up on a playground where he gives baseball tips to local kids, mentioning who his dad is to establish his cred. Danno finds an investigator named Galvin (Tom Fujiwara) who was hired by Lester Workman, but promptly fired...following which Galvin tailed Workman and took pictures of him paying Horton's girl. But Horton beats Steve and Danno to Workman's place, so they find him...where else?...his neck broken like Emily's.


Steve works on the assumption that Gary won't miss one of his father's games, so he beefs up security there and preps using his Lucite map of the ballpark:

What I missed last week is that Horton works as a security guard at the stadium, which is why Emily was meeting him there. We also see that his girl works there at the concession stand as they keep tense eyes open for Gary. Gary brings his new friends to the stadium, but backs out on getting them in through the front gate when he sees the police there, so the kids get him in the way that they usually do it; and while Horton sees them, his ability to act is stymied by his watchful boss. Meanwhile, one of the kids tells Steve about Gary. Gary sneaks through the Seymour Butts section, and is spotted by Horton's girl (woulda been nice if they'd dropped a name for her), who stalls him long enough for Horton to nab him. Horton starts to do his strangling thing, but Steve and Danno move in. A substantial brawl ensues between Steve and Horton...though it's only about 1/15 the length of the recap. Steve brings Gary to a happy reunion with his pa, and that's Season 3!

That last scene includes a very grainy, circular shot with black edges of Steve and Gary walking onto the ballfield, which I have to assume was an actual location shot of Lord and Elliott Street...though it's shot so tight that you can't even tell where they are.

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Ironside
"The Accident"
Originally aired March 11, 1971

The episode opens with the team investigating a safecracking and theft of expensive jewelry from a young woman (Ahna Capri) whose married beau, Mr. Thomas (Charles Drake), knows the commissioner and wants the investigation kept quiet. Mark, who hasn't slept in three days, drops the Chief and Eve off outside the Cave, then heads for some van servicing, and accidentally hits a woman who's jaywalking from between parked vehicles on the backlot.

Dr. Robinson (Noah Keen) explains that the accident could have triggered previously undiagnosed osteoarthritis. The victim, Melissa Babcock (Juanita Moore), seems pleasant and is grateful that Mark waited at the hospital to talk to her and ask what he could do. Later in the corridor, he's approached by her lawyer, Carl Sloan (Jay Novello), who asks some seemingly casual questions but seems to be building a case. At the Cave, Mark's insurance rep, Charlie Culver (Edward Binns)--who's also involved in the burglary case--reprimands him for having talked to Sloan. On a follow-up visit, Babcock remains friendly to Mark and introduces him to her estranged but visiting daughter, college instructor Nancy Babcock (Chelsea Brown). The Chief takes an interest in Nancy's tale of how her mother came into money many years ago and provided for her but kept her at a distance. Back at the hospital, we see Sloan and Babcock in a mild argument about how he's handling the case. Some investigation by the team turns up that Melissa is a known fall artist, and Sloan her accomplice. The Chief goes to talk to her and she admits to it, relating how she got into the business as an act of desperation to escape from poverty. But she insists that this time--the first incident in several years--is for real.

Meanwhile, the team sans Mark has narrowed down the safecracking to a couple of suspects based on the skill involved. When they show some pictures to the victim--whom IMDb identifies as Miss Vickers, though I didn't catch the name being dropped in the episode--she recognizes one of the suspects as a man who'd attended a party she'd thrown a couple of weeks prior. The suspect, Frank Hansen (Bill Fletcher), has already been picked up in Miami, where he flew the day after the burglary, after shooting a jewelry fence. Ed heads to Miami to question him, and he proves unmotivated to cooperate with turning over the jewels.

Eve drives the Chief to Sloan's place, which is empty, after Ironside learns that Sloan owes money to bookies and loan sharks. He then learns from Culver on the phone that a settlement had just been made the night before. Melissa subsequently calls Ironside to see her at her home. Having made a miraculous recovery, she confesses to having pulled one last con for Sloan, whom she hadn't seen in years. The reason she's coming clean is because Mark was her only mark who'd cared enough to visit her at the hospital. She offers to give back her half of the settlement money and work to pay off Sloan's. Culver doesn't want to play ball, as he has a long-vested interest in bringing Babcock to justice. Ultimately it's determined that Hansen will turn over the jewels in exchange for enough money to hire an expensive defense lawyer for the murder, which Culver is willing to provide. The Chief offfers to facilitate this exchange and keep the burglary quiet (which Culver is also interested in) if Culver won't press charges against Mrs. Babcock.

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An obscuro, but it has a catchy little melody when you've heard it a few times. This will be the Miracles' last Top 40 hit with Smokey.

Nice to see Havens scoring a pop hit following his exposure in the Woodstock film and soundtrack. His "Freedom" is one of my playlist selections from the album.

Best known to me from The Dating Game.

It's good enough that I won't yank out my 1968 calendar page again...but still, this is the point where Hypothetical 1966 Me asks, "Is that guy still around?"

I could barely tell it was the same tune as the Sonny & Cher single.

Ah...I wasn't factoring that in because I've never seen the former show. But still the Johnny Rivers version, I see, so it doesn't weaken his association with the song.

 

Better known in these parts for a guest role he did once...in the same broadcast episodes as John Hoyt's appearances, though their scenes were filmed a couple of years apart.

Not enough brains as it turned out. He was too easily snookered.

And subtly presented. At face value, she acted appalled at Edith's mentions of Archie...but the opinions coming out of her mouth about the defendant were right in line with his.

And rights issues often put the kibosh on it when it was originally used...so it was both noteworthy and very times-signy.

I'm wondering what they were watching that would have come on just before the news that would have included a performance by Sly & the Family. Maybe an American Bandstand-type program in weekday syndication? I should also note Archie's opinion of the music: that it sounded like "New Year's Eve at the nuthouse".

I had thought of the Magnum connection.

His hair was, of course, the true winner. And probably helped protect him from blows to the head.

Yeah, that's how I'd describe it, but without crosshairs.

It was almost Seinfeld-like, but I was anticipating something like that happening, as the stories seemed a little too disconnected for most of the episode.

It was used as the Bachelor Theme...apparently some of the time in the show's various incarnations. You can barely make out a bit of it in this clip:

 

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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)

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Adam-12
"Log 56: Vice Versa"
Originally aired March 11, 1971

Mac just happens to inspect the officers' drivers licenses before watch; when it turns out that Malloy thought his expired the following year, Reed can hardly contain himself. I'm surprised Mac didn't book Malloy right there for driving to work. Pete's less than enthusiastic to find himself responsible for the passenger-seat tasks that Reed normally performs. And while Pete does have some backseat driving moments, he doesn't make a big deal out of how his partner does that typical TV thing of constantly turning his head to talk to Pete, which Milner--hired in part for his "acting while driving" experience on Route 66--notably doesn't do.

On patrol, the officers are flagged down by a young girl named Alma Stanley (Christine Matchett), who tells them about a man in an ice cream truck who tried to sell her marijuana...accidentally, as she'd asked for a dime bag of popcorn. Malloy radios in the description.

Next is a 211 in progress for all units in their area. The officers enter the bank, where hostages are lying on the floor and the man standing over them with a gun, dressed in a suit (George Furth), is calling it in as if he were one of the victims. When the officers announce themselves, he seems pleased and puts down his plastic gun. It turns out that he wants to be committed to psychiatric help for his gambling addiction, and his doctor refused to support him in doing so.

The call after that is a 459. Lars Lowell (Charles McGraw) lets the officers into his home to show them how it's been completely cleaned out while he was away for six weeks...even of minor household items. A neighborhood kid told him how one kid broke in to steal a TV set, then the neighbors all started coming in and helping themselves. He accompanies the officers to the house of neighbor Camille Gearhardt (Ellen Corby), who has his living room furniture right there in her own living room. It turns out that while the Lowells were away because Mrs. Lowell's father having a heart attack, the neighbors assumed that the Lowells had abandoned the house and left their belongings for the taking. Malloy disabuses her of that notion and reads her rights.

The following call is for a 415, shots fired. The officers find a woman outside her home sobbing with a gun in her hand (Marie Windsor). Adam-12 and the other units who arrive take cover behind their doors as she fires wildly, begging to be shot. Pete manages to sneak behind her and disarm her. Reed finds a victim inside.

Next the officers see George Lum (Keye Luke), who found a baby in a trash can...in a shopping bag that says "Packed with loving care".

Finally, the officers spot an ice cream vendor matching the girl's description, doing a deal with a shady-looking adult customer. Pete nabs the customer, who tries to run, while Reed takes the vendor. They find heroin on the customer and a stash inside the truck. Then Pete discovers that Reed ran over his hat after Malloy jumped out of the car.

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The Brady Bunch
"Alice's September Song"
Originally aired March 12, 1971

Alice comes home from shopping with Carol to find a message written by Cindy that her old school flame Mark Millard called. Mike and the boys are building a model airplane when Sam drops by, which Carol frets over because Alice is getting ready for a date with Mark. Mike is tasked with getting rid of him, so he tries to warn Sam that Alice isn't expecting him without telling him what it's about. Alice comes down all dressed up and Sam thinks she overdressed for the Meat Cutters' bowling semifinals that he was planning to take her to. She explains that she has another date, and he suspects the milkman, then somebody in produce at the supermarket. After Sam leaves, Alice waits nervously for her intended date, who finally arrives with a corsage and compliments about how Alice has aged. Carol stays awake worrying when Alice is out very late; when she finally comes in around 1:30, she appears to be on cloud nine.

A series of dinner and dancing dates ensue, to Alice's pleasure. She tries to lose weight via exercise with the help of the girls, starts using a night mask, and effectively sports a makeover for the next date that we see. Over dinner at a fancy restaurant, Mark starts telling her about the business deal that he's in town working on. She comes home and tells Carol how he's letting her in on an investment opportunity that she doesn't know much about. Carol is concerned and has Mike check into it, to find that Mark's been gambling with the money of a series of wives. When Mark comes over for a date, Mike confronts him. When the doorbell rings, he tries to slip out the back to avoid Mike's friend from the D.A.'s office, and runs into Sam's leg of lamb. Alice revives Mark with her watering can. In the coda, Alice is back to less romantic dates with Sam.

This was a change of pace because the kids weren't the focus.

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The Partridge Family
"A Partridge by Any Other Name"
Originally aired March 12, 1971

The kids have to dig through stuff in the attic to find birth certificates for a gig in Canada. Not only can they not find Danny's, but an old photo album has no pictures of him. Their booking agent, Marty Burnes (Bernard Fox), also comments on how Danny doesn't look like one of the clan. Danny sees a private detective, Harry Klein (Ned Glass), and talks to a hospital orderly (Jim Connell), to try to get to the bottom of his origins. The latter finds no record of Danny's birth at the hospital, so Danny takes interest in the one boy whose birth was recorded on that day, with a parent listed as M. Young. The others try to throw him a surprise party, but by this point he's convinced that he's adopted, and wants information about his real parents.

Shirley tries to explain that Danny was born out of town. The other kids scour the house for evidence of Danny being part of the family all along, and Shirley brings over a neighbor, Mrs. Reinbolt (Renie Riano), as a witness to his being brought home...but she thinks that Chris is Danny. Danny tracks down a Michael Young (Art Metrano) working at a construction site and embraces him as his daddy. Shirley and Reuben go to the hospital and learn about Danny's search for M. Young. A musical montage of Danny checking out other suspects ensues, to current hit single "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted". Shirley beats Danny to his last suspect via phone and gets there as he's arriving...and that last suspect turns out to be another dead end (Sid McCoy). Danny comes home with Shirley--finally convinced that he's not adopted--to find that the other kids managed to dig up another photo album with baby pictures of him.

The coda has the group driving to their gig and performing "I Can Feel Your Heartbeat".

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That Girl
"Soot Yourself"
Originally aired March 12, 1971

Ann gets her picture in the paper wearing a gas mask, which she excitedly shows to Marcy...and explains while wearing it. Donald finds out when Mr. Adams (James Gregory in his last of four appearances in the role this season) brings him the paper. Donald acts sure that it isn't her, but when he calls to confirm, she's still wearing the mask. At Nino's, Ann explains how Donald's article on pollution inspired the group that she belongs to, which is now picketing against pollution. Ann starts getting all activist on him, insisting, for example, that he not take a cab back to work. Donald demands that she stop picketing Newsview in the interest of his job, so Ann calls her group's leader about Plan B, which involves inviting Adams and his wife to her place for dinner.

Ann also asks her building superintendent, Mr. Stone (Peter Brocco), to turn off the furnace, which needs to be replaced. Meanwhile, back at the office, there's some awkwardness because Ann's story for inviting Adams involved a surprise party for Donald's birthday, which it isn't...while Donald tries to persuade Adams that they need to do more on the pollution issue. For the dinner, Ann makes a meal entirely out of leftovers, to avoid generating garbage. Far from the dinner being Donald's idea as described above, he's completely surprised when the Adamses (including Phyllis Hill as Mrs. Adams) come over for dinner. Once Mr. Adams is there, he's is completely wary to Ann's ploy, but is also receptive to Donald's plea that they do a follow-up article on pollution...then asks that they go to a warm restaurant for a proper meal. In the coda, Ann's pleased with the article in question.

"Oh, Donald" count: 7
"Oh, Marcy" count: 1
"Oh, Mr. Adams" count: 1

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The Odd Couple
"What Makes Felix Run"
Originally aired March 12, 1971

Oscar has Nancy Cunningham over to make him dinner while Felix is out having dinner with Gloria...but Felix comes home early and downtrodden, having pissed Gloria off by rearranging her furniture and rewashing her salad lettuce.

Oscar: You know, Felix, with you, being in love is ALWAYS having to say you're sorry!​

Unable to sleep later, Felix pulls up a chair and sits in Oscar's bedroom doorway...where he relates a story from when he was five (Johnny Scott Lee), being watched by his visiting grandfather (Tony Randall), who chastised him for leaving soap on the sidewalk, which injured his parents. Oscar mixes him a strong drink, which knocks him out, and following up on something that they'd been talking about, Felix dreams of running into Oscar in heaven...where Felix can't help criticizing angel Oscar's much-improved cleanliness, and gets sent to the other place. After waking up, he begs Oscar for help.

Using Gloria and the kids as motivation, Oscar tries coaching a horrified Felix by making him put his shod feet on the table and bed and throw wrappers and articles of clothing on the floor. Then Felix gets a "be careful what you wish for" moment, when Oscar finally cleans his room...by dumping all of his garbage in Felix's! This puts Felix into a state of shock, so Oscar calls Nancy to make a house call. When Felix comes to, he saunters out casually with his shirt open and starts eating with his hands and picking crumbs off his chest. Even Nancy becomes concerned when he starts dunking (following which he tosses his coffee out on the floor), so she calls a colleague, who thinks that Felix is suffering a temporary schizoid aberration, and recommends splashing cold water on his face. Oscar sprays him with a seltzer bottle, and Felix comes to his senses...horrified at his own mess, but assuming that Oscar made it!

In the coda, Felix comes home from another date with Gloria's sundae all over his suit, because he made a comment about her weight.

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Love, American Style
"Love and the Fuzz / Love and the Groupie / Love and the Housekeeper / Love and Women's Lib"
Originally aired March 12, 1971 (season finale)

"Love and the Groupie" opens with wig-wearing rock star Rick Jagmund (Richard Dawson, doing a Beatlesque Liverpool accent here) and his manager Warren (Warren Berlinger) in their brass bed-equipped hotel room reacting to how Rick is constantly swarmed by fans. Warren wishes that he could get some of the attention, so Rick comes up with the idea of having him don the wig and pose as Rick while Rick slips out for some privacy. Warren is quickly visited by a maid named Joyce (Angel Tompkins), whom he initially assumes is a groupie sneaking in, even though she's all business. She's not impressed with him as Rick, so he removes his wig and tries to convince her that he's really Warren, but she thinks that he's Rick and a phony. Then Rick comes back in the front through the mob of girls, who've sniffed him out, and backs up Warren's story. But when Warren leaves the room to change, Joyce becomes starstruck by the real Rick and comes on to him.

"Love and the Housekeeper" features Harry Guardino and Valerie Harper as newlyweds Harry and Barbara Watkins. She's supposed to be a housewife, but their place is a hopeless mess because she's slovenly and doesn't seem to know the first thing about housekeeping. Then she trips over the vacuum cleaner that she left out and gets amnesia, which includes being appalled by what she doesn't know is her own clutter, and insists on cleaning it up. Thus Harry lets her believe that she's actually his maid. When he comes home from work, the place and Barbara are completely transformed....but when he tries to get romantic with her, she proves to be all business. He allows her to continue believing that he's a divorcee, but tells her that they were a couple, and she's the reason that he left his wife. Barbara seems to enjoy this, but slips out and leaves him a Dear Harry note about not wanting to come between him and his wife. Then she comes back in the front as the old Barbara, not remembering anything after she tripped over the vacuum...and immediately starts messing the place up again. She finds the note, he has to explain what happened...and he seems to warm up to who she really is.

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Also Greatest American Hero, which had episodes based around the use of specific songs, which were replaced by generic ones.

I guess you could say that his hair came out...on top.

 

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50th Anniversary Viewing Revisited

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The Mod Squad
"A Time to Love, a Time to Cry"
Originally aired November 12, 1968

Photographer Robbie Larson (Jerry Ayres) comes to in his studio disoriented with scratches on his face and finds the body of girlfriend Luanne. Identifying the body, Robbie's probation officer, Dave Emmons (Robert Lansing), insists that Robbie didn't do it and asks Greer to be given the chance to find him first. Greer assigns the Mods to work with him. Dave describes Luanne as a bad influence who was trying to get Robbie back on drugs, and points the squad to her pusher, Kincaid. Julie volunteers to stay in Robbie's apartment/studio in case he returns, impressing Dave, who takes the other Mods to an artists' retreat funded by a man named Jason (Harry Townes). We see that Jason is sheltering Robbie, though Jason's bothered to find out what Robbie thinks he may have done.

Back at Robbie's place, Julie hides when Kincaid (Rex Holman) comes in looking for something, but he finds and questions her, and Dave comes to the rescue, though Kincaid gets away. Dave and Julie realize that Robbie may have taken pictures that Kincaid wants. Sneaking around the retreat, Pete and Linc find Robbie's motorcycle, and later Robbie, who's being kept in an attic. Pete gets the immediate impression that Robbie's a nice guy, and bellyaches about having to turn him in to Greer. While they're arranging to pick him up quietly, Kincaid pays Jason a visit and roughs him up looking for Robbie, then roughs up Robbie himself, while looking for the pictures he took that night...though Kincaid maintains that Robbie killed Luanne. Robbie runs out and flees the premises on his bike. Dave and the Mods chase after him, while the sight of Greer's uniformed accompaniment motivates Kincaid to split the scene. Robbie heads to a pier and rides himself into the drink!

Fished out by the male Mods, Robbie confesses to what he thinks he did in the hospital. He recalls hitting her while high and her hitting her head on the bathtub. The Mods continue to work with Dave to try to find the camera with the film that Kincaid wants. While Dave has Robbie's flower-adorned wheels fished out of the drink, he opens up to Julie about how he relates to Robbie because Robbie reminds him of himself when he was younger; though Julie's reluctant to open up about her own past, as that'll be the subject of a different episode. It turns out that the camera is missing from its case on the bike. Secretly persuaded by a gun-toting Kincaid, Jason insists to the male Mods that Robbie didn't have a darkroom on his premises...then takes Kincaid to it. But having been covertly clued in by Jason, Pete and Linc are waiting there to take Kincaid by surprise. Elsewhere, Dave opens up to Julie some more, about his feelings for her, lamenting that they're separated by the Generation Gap.

Greer, Dave, and Mods arrange a slideshow of the pictures, which reveal that Kincaid was there the night of the murder; that Luanne was in a fight with Robbie, even as he took pictures of her; but pictures from after he passed out reveal her still alive and another party in the apartment. A photo is slowly brought into focus that reveals a reflection of...Dave. He confesses to how he arrived on the scene to find everything that he'd worked for with Robbie in shambles, and took it out on Luanne. In the struggle that ensued, she fell against the bathtub. Dave insists that he would have confessed before letting Robbie take the fall.

In the coda, Pete and Linc drive out in their borrowed wagon (the woodie having needed work) to console Julie on the pier. The Mods walk off the dry end of the pier, away from the lapping drink.

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The Mod Squad
"Find Tara Chapman!"
Originally aired November 19, 1968

Tara (Yvonne Craig in a long blonde wig) and Suzie (Jana Taylor) pull into a gas station, the latter clearly suffering from something. They end up in the hospital, where Tara clearly doesn't want to give contact information. The staff tries to hold her for a spinal tap and she runs. Greer has the Mods given shots to send them after her, and finds out that the NYPD has an APB out on Tara because somebody's trying to kill her.

Because Tara's a folk singer, Pete and Linc go to see an agent, Mr. Frank (Sid Melton); while Julie gets all hippie'd up and hits a local folk bar with artwork of Donovan on the window. Meanwhile, Tara cuts and dies her hair to look more like Yvonne Craig does when she's not wearing a long blonde wig. Pete and Linc next hit a club owned by soul singer Paula (Della Reese), where Tara had worked about a year before. She points them to a Western bar run by Burt Koverly (Gene Nelson). Like Paula, he thinks that Tara's in New York. He points them to Tara's father, a movie producer...then makes a call to a man named Lou in New York who's looking for Tara. Pete talks to Mr. Chapman (Phillip Terry) on the set of a Western film. He's upset to be asked about Tara, saying that she died two years earlier in an auto accident. Mr. Chapman identifies a sketch of "Tara" as Lila Mason, Tara's roommate, who asked him about using Tara Chapman as a stage name; and tells the Mods of a high school boyfriend named Ken Lacey.

Lila in disguise (with glasses) goes to Paula asking for a place to stay; she tells them that people are looking for her, and Lila/Tara assumes they're the mob and flees. Paula proceeds to call the Public Health Service. The Mods are informed of Tara's new Barbara Gordon look as an informant listens nearby. Meanwhile, Lou Anthony (Peter Leeds) has flown out from New York, wanting to silence Tara before she can make a deathbed confession.

Tara goes to see Ken (Mills Watson) at the lumber yard that he now runs. By this point she's obviously very sick. She tells him that she's looking for her real father, a seaman whom she's never known, to help her get out of the country; that she witnessed a hit in New York; and mistakenly tips him off that Pete and Linc are working for the mobsters. Their ears burning, the duo show up asking about her, and he evades their questions...then, as they're talking in a car that they borrowed from Greer, drops a load of lumber on it as they narrowly happen to exit it again. A lumber yard brawl ensues, including dramatic dives into a bin of sawdust, during which Lila escapes, and is tailed by the stoolie. Pete and Linc sternly turn Ken on to the fact they're the good guys, that Lila's in danger...and now, so is he--PSA time!


"We're not killers, man, but spinal meningitis is!"

At Lila's motel room, the Mods learn that Lila's been asking about a freighter coming in; and Lila has gotten a ride to a pier, where she meets a sailor named Karl (John Van Dreelen), who says that he's a friend of her father's. As he's trying to convince her that she needs medical help, the Mods arrive and explain the situation. They're carrying out a now-unconscious Lila when Lou shows up firing shots. Karl uses his home deck advantage to hold off Lou while the Mods get Lila into a launch, and gets winged. Lou commandeers a motorboat by pushing someone in the drink and pursues them while Karl calls Harbor Patrol, who end up plugging Lou when he won't heave to...though he doesn't even fall out of his boat.

In the coda, Lila's been taken to a hospital, and the Mods deduce that Karl's been the one writing the letters to Lila, supposedly on behalf of her father...though they seem to be implying that he's actually her father and not admitting to it. The Mods do their walk-off on the pier while telling Greer what happened to his car.

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Or have a crossover!

Thursday, March 11: It was fair in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of Internal Affairs Division. The boss is Captain Frankle. My partner's Bill Gannon. My name is Friday.​

And be a dirty snitch!?!

Nothing that a lifetime of therapy can't handle...or maybe adoption by a family who forms a band...

They actually closed on the note of Reed telling Malloy that now he knew what to get him for his birthday.

The latter.

But a missed opportunity for...

Friday, March 12: It was cloudy in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of Bunco Forgery Division. The boss is Captain Brown. My partner's Bill Gannon. My name's Friday.​

One male birth.

Danny did have to wheel and deal a bit with the orderly.

Good one.

And this week's final episode will be short on anticipated wedding, long on clips...

Except that it really wasn't, because they just established that he was always like that, in spite of the influence of his elders.

Again, Felix was always like that, and she married him anyway.

I have to wonder why Dawson did Scouse when his own accent was more Mick.

"Operation Spoilsport" was my first exposure to (a rerecording of) "Eve of Destruction," which plays a prominent role in the plot and is mentioned by name onscreen...but is replaced by something else in syndication.

I'm unclear whether the episode "Desperado" actually originally used a recording of the Eagles song that it's clearly evoking.

I recall (probably a cover of) "Rocket Man" coming up in an early episode in original broadcast; never caught it in the background on H&I, so it must've been replaced.

 

They were from a static position. I assume that he had the Peter Parker setting on or something, but wasn't clear on that.

I'm not sure, but I don't think that he knew the film would implicate him...and it barely managed to.

The Mods don't tend to engage in gunplay, so they get in their action where they can.

Series, man...show's ending. 1966-1971. But I still have to go back and cover the February episodes.

Previously, but I don't think that came up in this episode.

Spoilers, dude!

In Bill's defense, he was having to endure the attempt to promote the student characters as a band, assuming that's the episode. As I recall, they even had the audacity to use freakin' Woodstock footage to depict the audience!

I haven't watched the show in detail, but have seen the same episodes come up many times in the background on H&I when I was routinely putting it on weekend mornings. One interesting dynamic that I caught, in the first season at least, was a sort of Big Chill-era All in the Family dynamic, with Ralph and Pam as now-professional but still liberal and idealistic ex-hippies, and Bill as the cynical conservative. That would have been completely lost on me when I was originally catching the show first run.

 

55 Years Ago This Week

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week, with a Bubbling Under bonus:

Leaving the chart:

• "At the Scene," The Dave Clark Five (7 weeks)
• "Crying Time," Ray Charles (15 weeks)
• "Don't Mess with Bill," The Marvelettes (12 weeks)
• "My Love," Petula Clark (13 weeks)
• "Uptight (Everything's Alright)," Stevie Wonder (14 weeks)
• "What Goes On," The Beatles (2 weeks)
• "What Now My Love," Sonny & Cher (8 weeks)

Bubbling Under:

"One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)," Bob Dylan

(#119 US; #33 UK)

New on the chart:

"Caroline, No," Brian Wilson

(#32 US; #211 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)

"Together Again," Ray Charles

(#19 US; #1 AC; #10 R&B; #48 UK)

"Rhapsody in the Rain," Lou Christie

(#16 US; #37 UK)

"A Sign of the Times," Petula Clark

(#11 US; #2 AC)


And new on the boob tube:

• The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 18, episode 27
• Branded, "The Ghost of Murietta"
• 12 O'Clock High, "Cross Hairs on Death"
• Batman, "The Penguin Goes Straight"
• Batman, "Not Yet, He Ain't"
• Gilligan's Island, "Ghost a Go-Go"
• The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Druid's Blood"
• Hogan's Heroes, "The Safecracker Suite"

_______

Which is why Dave wasn't expecting it.

Seen in a reflection through a doorway.

Bottom line, I don't think Dave knew he was on Spidey-Cam.

 

50 Years Ago This Week

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

Leaving the chart:

• "Amazing Grace," Judy Collins (15 weeks)
• "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone," Johnnie Taylor (10 weeks)
• "Knock Three Times," Dawn (18 weeks)
• "Rose Garden," Lynn Anderson (17 weeks)
• "Superstar," Murray Head w/ The Trinidad Singers (19 weeks total; 12 weeks this run)
• "Watching Scotty Grow," Bobby Goldsboro (13 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Layla," Derek & The Dominos

(#51 US; #7 UK; #27 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)

"Sweet and Innocent," Donny Osmond of The Osmonds

(#7 US)

"If," Bread

(#4 US; #1 AC)

"I Am...I Said," Neil Diamond

(#4 US; #2 AC; #4 UK)


And new on the boob tube:

• Hogan's Heroes, "Look at the Pretty Snowflakes"
• The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 23, episode 24
• All in the Family, "Gloria Discovers Women's Lib"
• The Odd Couple, "Trapped" (season finale)

_______

This song in particular, heard in isolation, doesn't make as much of an impression on me as the upcoming album in its entirety. He maybe coulda opened up with something a little stronger.

Advance singles from Blonde on Blonde and Pet Sounds coming up in the same week! This one has the novelty of having been released as a Brian Wilson solo single, though it would be appearing on a Beach Boys album; and having been released only a couple of weeks before an advance single from the album credited to the band...which, as I recall, is somebody's favorite Beach Boys song...

I'm afraid that Ray Charles from this era doesn't really grab me. It's alright.

Geez...I never even realized the cheesy weather theme connection...

I'd give Petula a little more credit for song diversity than that.