The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by The Old Mixer, Jan 11, 2016.

  1. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    50th Anniversary Album Spotlight

    Tumbleweed Connection
    Elton John
    Released October 30, 1970 (UK); January 1971 (US)
    Chart debut: January 23, 1971
    Chart peak: #5 (February 13, 1971)
    #463 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003)
    This was a surprising bit of business for me when it came up on the Rolling Stone list--Elton's immediate follow-up to his breakout eponymous album was a Western-themed concept album with no singles and that I can't say I'd ever heard of...and it did quite well in the day.

    Elton opens the album in good light-rocking form with "Ballad of a Well-Known Gun," about an outlaw who's caught while returning home:


    I guess it's a loose concept--or at least doesn't have a storyline--because the lower-key "Come Down in Time" doesn't seem to continue the story of the first track...unless the story is flashing back to the character's origins.

    The laid-back "Country Comfort" was originally recorded by Rod Stewart for his album Gasoline Alley, released earlier in 1970.

    Both of the characters in the funk-flavored "Son of Your Father" die, so I guess it's not about the same character.

    The first side closes with the ballad "My Father's Gun"...

    Side two opens with "Where to Now St. Peter?," which "addresses the subject of whether the final destination is heaven or hell told through the point of view of a dying soldier."

    This strikes me as Elton more on his game than in some of the side one tracks.

    The airy "Love Song" is uncharacteristically acoustic guitar-based, with no piano:


    The ivories are back for "Amoreena," which "appears to be about a young man yearning for his distant loved one":

    I'd say that this one had potential single chops.

    The album's penultimate track is the melancholy "Talking Old Soldiers"...

    The album climaxes with its most ambitious track, "Burn Down the Mission":


    Overall, this is a solid, listenable, well-crafted album, but relatively lacking in really stand-out material.

    _______

    I should note that the single version was apparently a vastly edited-down version...under three minutes. Is there any justice in a world where the next song makes the Top 10, but "Layla" doesn't even crack the Top 40? It should have been released at full length and become the next "Hey Jude".

    This being the next single to come along may have made my decision about whether or not to get more Osmonds for me. I've had a high tolerance for bubblegum of the era up to this point, but this is more like a caramel-covered lollipop dipped in a bowl of sugar. A horrendous rearrangement of what turns out to have originally been an early Roy Orbison single.

    Pretty, early '70s soft rock...Bread is back in their box.

    Still "early"? This one's decent, but I'd say it's roughly where he starts becoming "that" Neil Diamond...the one that people are reluctant to admit they like.

    Also, that album cover, which came out much later in the year, is totally riffing on Tapestry.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2021
  2. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    Mike Love does not look happy to be at the zoo.
     
  3. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    It's news to me, too, as are all of the songs. He must have liked Westerns, because one of his later albums was called Rock of the Westies (which I think had the song "I Feel Like A Bullet In The Gun Of Robert Ford").

    Yeah, this definitely sounds like a lost Elton single.

    The single version definitely does not do it justice, although it still should have charted higher.

    Poor Roy. :(

    Hah.

    My definition of Good Neil Diamond ends sharply with "Desiree," and that was in 77, so I'd call it early. And he charted into the 80s.
     
  4. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    _______

    50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)

    _______

    Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
    Season 4, episode 26
    Originally aired March 15, 1971
    Season finale
    The season's last cocktail party:


    The Mod World of the Cuckoo World Around Us:

    After the end of that clip, Dick, who's doing a gag about having a secret identity, refers to Dan as "Dr. Evil".

    Edith Ann shows us her cootie catcher.

    The news segment song has the cast doing Jimmy Durante:


    Dan and Dick help Arte plug Ver-r-r-ry Interesting, a special airing that Thursday that he's starring in.

    Bull Wright has a brother in the Navy:


    The Quickies.

    Haven't seen the Fickle Finger of Fate in a while...this week it goes to the Pentagon again.

    The season-closing Joke Wall:


    And that'll be it for Laugh-In for our purposes (except for the February episodes that I'll be getting back to), if it doesn't come back to one of the retro networks in a timely manner. I'm honestly not minding that so far, next season is looking to have a substantially lighter show load...but still very back-heavy, with most of the shows concentrated on Friday and Saturday.

    _______

    All in the Family
    "Archie Is Worried About His Job"
    Originally aired March 16, 1971
    This episode literally takes place over a sleepless and unusually eventful night at the Bunker home. It actually takes place over about four hours, from 2 to 6 a.m., but sort of suggests the concept of the real-time episode in the way that it plays out. Archie wakes up the rest of the family getting a post-midnight snack...Edith quickly guesses what it's about, and Mike and Gloria find a newspaper clipping about the layoffs in the bathroom. Archie gets in his requisite brand of humor by claiming that he's worried for the guys working under him, describing them by the ethnicities and handicaps. I think this is the first time that Stretch Cunningham is mentioned...I recall that name coming up a lot in original run viewing, and maybe becoming an actual character. Archie is eager to take a phone call, expecting a tipoff from the night watchman, Harry Feeney, whom he's asked to sneak around and try to find the layoff list...but he gets a series of calls from a drunk who says that he got the number off a bathroom wall.

    Clara Weidermeyer (Holly Irving) drops in because the lights are on, wanting to borrow coffee because she has a man over, and ultimately calling him to tell him to beat it, for reasons that I don't recall. Dave the cop (Sandy Kenyon) drops in for other reasons, and Archie tells him about the calls, so Dave sticks around to talk to the guy himself and lure him to the Bunker home so he can nab the perp. But when the drunk shows up (Jack Perkins), he turns out to be Dave's sergeant, so Dave has to handle him with kid gloves. Mike orders a pizza at 4 in the morning, to Archie's disapproval. Finally, Harry Feeney (Burt Mustin) shows up in person, describing in detail how the security system at the plant works, such that he has to be at certain places on a strict schedule to avoid setting off alarms. Then he gets to the list, which initially seems grim when he says that Archie's entire department is being laid off...then he adds that they're keeping the foremen and supervisors, which includes Archie.

    There's a nice bit of Meathead business earlier in the episode, when Archie's been making himself a sandwich in the kitchen, and Mike just sits down at the table and starts eating it.

    _______

    Mission: Impossible
    "The Merchant"
    Originally aired March 17, 1971
    Season finale
    Straight to the tape!
    We proceed to the mission in progress, with Willy waiting in a car while Jim sneaks down from a window and is captured by guards with a dog. Light the fuse!

    After the credits, we find the rest of the team set up for business in a hotel room at a Mediterranean casino. In what amounts to the briefing, we learn that their operation involves a computer-rigged poker table that Paris and Dana will be playing at, along with Anderssarian; and that Paris will be wearing glasses with little receivers in them (which we get a close-up view of for the first time). Willy enters to report that Jim's been captured, and the team proceeds with business as usual, making it clear that it's all part of the plan. Meanwhile, we see Anderssarian making his arms purchase from Yin (James Hong); and dealing with his drunk mistress, Nicole Dubois (Jo Morrow), who doesn't approve of his business because it kills women and children. He callously informs her of the cost in children of the gown and jewels that she's wearing. Anderssarian proceeds to the card table, looking forward to the challenge of playing against Paris, whose character has a reputation as a card shark. Paris is being filled in on who has what cards by Barney. Dana is effectively driven from the table by Paris's ruthless bidding, seeming to establish animosity between their roles. Anderssarian wins some money from Paris, then quits and introduces himself to Dana in front of Nicole. Willy then makes contact with Anderssarian, showing him a ring with a symbol on it, and informing him of the imprisonment of its owner, Jim...who's being interrogated and claiming to be an Argentine citizen with a German name.

    Anderssarian goes to see Jim and expositorily identifies him as a young German colonel whose group was responsible for saving Anderssarian's, for which Anderssarian sent him the ring in gratitude. (Jim's playing 5-10 years older than Peter Graves...who was the younger brother of James [Matt Dillon] Arness--did we already know that?) Anderssarian (a cut-and-paste name if ever there was one) goes to Minister of Defence Karel Sartori (Ken Drake) to make a proposition involving raiding a radar station just across the border of interest to his government, for which Jim is released. The money Jim wants for the operation potentially conflicts with Anderssarian's big arms purchase. Jim briefs his team of unannounced repertory agents on the plan while Anderssarian's henchman, Leon (Jan Merlin), observes.

    Meanwhile, Dana shares a room and creature comforts with Nicole, who clearly feels threatened by her new rival. Nicole tails Dana and finds her leaving Paris's room, where she discovers Barney's big card-cheating computer setup. Nicole shows Anderssarian the setup, and he comes up with a plan to adjust his hearing aid to the frequency that Barney's transmitting on, but isn't as grateful to Nicole as she'd hoped. During the next game, it becomes clear to us that Anderssarian finding the room was intended, and Barney proceeds to make the expected transmissions that Anderssarian can hear, as well as alternate transmissions to Paris on a different frequency.

    Jim's fake team, accompanied by Leon, heads for the border in a Not Red Cross truck driven by Willy. They bust into the IMF's duplicate radar station using fake gas on the guards and stealing the desired components, while Leon observes from a distance with binoculars. At the warehouse delivery point, Jim finds himself surrounded by Leon's armed men, but trumps Leon's play by threatening to use the gas, which is apparently pretending to be not the beddy-bye type. Leon brings Sartori to see the captured radar equipment, which is discovered to be fake. Sartori wants his money back, which would make Anderssarian unable to pay for his arms. Thus Anderssarian raises the stakes of the game to the needed amount, $5 million; and Nicole, in an independent act of spite, spills a drink all over the table, shorting out Barney's card-reading method. Thus Paris and Anderssarian find themselves in an actual game with the 5 mil at stake. Paris goes all-in despite having a weaker hand showing, and when the cards are all revealed, it turns out that he has three of a kind and Anderssarian doesn't have a straight. Mission: Accomplished.

    I'm a little leery about the last two seasons of the series from what I've read and heard, but I guess I'm committed now. Just glancing over the episode descriptions for Season 6, it's all Syndicate, Syndicate, Syndicate.

    _______

    Ironside
    "Lesson in Terror"
    Originally aired March 18, 1971
    The episode commences with Carter Houseman (David Burk) being freed from an "honor farm" work detail when a couple of associates from anarchist group the Predators hold up the unattentive guard manning the truck. At the Cave, TV is still doing that Youth Day thing that we saw on The Adventures of Superman, so the Chief meets his replacement, Ted Berringer, Jr. (Brad David), who's the son of a friend, but doesn't approve of Ironside's / the police's methods, and considers Carter Houseman to have been arrested for exercising free speech. Ted nevertheless shadows Ironside while he goes about his usual business, and questions him about his principles. When the example comes up, the Chief argues that if he'd been in the Boston Police in 1773, he would have arrested those involved in the Boston Tea Party. Team Ironside and recurring Lt. Reese raid a house used by known associates of Houseman, including Roy Harris (David Soul), and search the place for evidence of Houseman's whereabouts, confiscating a typewriter.

    Ted Berringer, Sr. (Simon Oakland), who's serving as Harris & co.'s attorney, visits the Cave as the team is determining that the typewriter matches one used to write a note sent by the Predators after Houseman was sprung. A call received about the bust before the bust indicates an inside man, and Ted Jr. becomes a potential suspect for circumstantial reasons, as Mark remembers making a stop on the way so that Ted could call his girlfriend. Ed and Eve pick up the girlfriend, Lori Stockton (Heather North), who had just been telling her older sister, Edie (Christina Crawford), that she was planning to stop seeing Ted because he's too square. After questioning her, the team visits Stately Berringer Manor to follow up by questioning Ted. Ted makes it clear that he supports Houseman and would have warned him if he could, which angers his father. After the team leaves, Ted Sr. questions Jr. about some inconsistencies in what he told Ironside about his relationship with Lori. A school background check indicates that Lori is both radical-leaning and very popular with the boys...a "high school Mata Hari" in Ed's words.

    Meanwhile, Reese has been tailing Edie and staking our the backwoods cabin where she's been staying. The team intercepts Houseman in a car leaving the cabin, following which Ted Jr. confronts his father, thinking that he had a role in Houseman's arrest. Later, the Chief gets a ransom call from Ted Jr., who says he's been kidnapped by the Predators, who want to exchange him for Houseman. We see that Edie's the one making the calls, from pay phones. Eve brings in Lori to question her about Ted and play her a tape of the call, already knowing that the voice is her sister's. Lori says that she overheard a call her sister made in which Ted's name was dropped. We switch to the Predators' hideout, where we see that Ted is a willing participant, being hosted by Edie, Roy, and another guy whose name I didn't catch...but Ted starts having second thoughts when they tell him about their longer-term ambitions.

    A judge (Paul Langton) amends Houseman's probation and the exchange is arranged. When Edie gets back from making her call, Ted Jr. causes a distraction and flees from the lair, into the woods. The Predators don't show up for the exchange, and Ted calls Ironside from a phone booth to let them know that he escaped; but Mark, who was looking around outside at the exchange point, is nabbed by the anarchists, who now want to exchange him, with Edie informing the team of Ted's cooperation. Mark takes his captors by surprise and they're overcome by the team.

    In the coda, Ted admits to having been with the anarchists, but it's shrugged off as a youthful mistake, and he declares that he likes Ironside's rules better than the anarchists'. Plus, the chili.

    _______

    1971 Donny was definitely not "a little bit rock 'n' roll".
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2021
  5. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    Cheers! :beer:

    Now there was a character. I don't recall if he was ever actually on the show.

    I think I remember this episode. I must have started watching from the beginning, but just didn't realize it was a new show.

    He makes frequent appearances. He's the guy who played Zefram Cochrane in the movie.

    "Meathead" apparently has a double meaning. :rommie:

    I actually did know that. It would have been cool if James Arness had showed up on MI at some point.

    Presumably the card table doesn't explode like a console on the bridge of the Enterprise. :rommie:

    Yeah, that's a drag. I want international intrigue in mythical lands.

    Well, it was against the law. :rommie: The question is, would the Chief have been with the police or with the Sons of Liberty?

    Hutch!

    Vincenzo!

    They've certainly got the anarchy thing down pat. :rommie:

    Even revolutionaries like... chili.

    Was he ever? :rommie:
     
  6. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    _______

    50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)

    _______

    Adam-12
    "Log 106: Post Time"
    Originally aired March 18, 1971
    The watch begins with a 459 at a print shop, where a colorful proprietor named Jerry Mermaid (Morey Amsterdam) reports a stolen offset printer, along with 10 reams of pastel paper.

    In the squad car, there's a bit about how Jean--who must be an Elvis fan--has been making Jim peanut butter and banana sandwiches, which he's been pawning off on a reluctant Pete.

    The next call is for a 415 man with gun. The officers see Tom Beaten (Jason Wingreen), who's in charge of an urban renewal project. He and Heather Braun (Luanne Roberts), a social worker, them that an elderly tenant named Martin Endicott (E.J. André) is occupying the place with a gun. Malloy sneaks to a window, sees Endicott peeling potatoes, and crawls in. Endicott tells the officers that he's been living there for 27 years. Heather wants to place him in an old folks' home, and it turns out that he does need help because of very poor eyesight, and only knows his way around his home and neighborhood. The officers go to code seven while he's packing, where Sgt. Stone (Robert Patten) reports that prints indicate the press was stolen by a Basil Farrington (Maurice Dallimore). When they return to the apartment, they find that Endicott locked Heather in a closet and left. They promptly find him on the street, pushing a cart full of his belongings. They persuade him to check out the old folks' home, despite his assertion that nobody checks out of the place without a coffin. There he's welcomed at the front desk by a friendly lady his age, Norma Fisher (Lillian Bronson), who shows him around and whom he quickly takes to.

    Back on patrol, the officers are bewildered to see a tank driving on the street, which pulls into a parking spot. When they question the driver (Woodrow Parfrey, unhelpfully credited as Man), he readily produces all of the appropriate paperwork, establishing that it's completely legal.

    Finally, the officers see a yellow van running a red light, and pursue it onto an unfinished section of elevated freeway. The driver turns out to be Farrington, who has the press inside and has been making racetrack tickets--a scheme that he's proud of in his verbose, Londinium-accented way. So it turns out that the officers got lucky, just like they were assuring the skeptical Mermaid.

    _______

    The Brady Bunch
    "Tell It Like It Is"
    Originally aired March 19, 1971
    Season finale
    Mike wakes up in the middle of the night to find Carol down in his den writing on a pad, but she's secretive about what she's working on. Mike compares notes with Alice, who's also seen her writing alone. He learns from the girls that she's getting herself dolled up for a dinner date, about which she's also secretive. At the restaurant, Mike finds her with Mr. Delafield (not that Richard Simmons), editor of Tomorrow's Woman, and learns that she's writing a story for them. The kids are excited to hear about this, and Mike sets up a desk with an electric typewriter in his den to accommodate her. As she's trying to work at two-finger speed, the boys dig through the wastebaskets to see what she's writing. Upstairs, the girls play at being interviewed on television over a tea set. Even Alice hovers around the typewriter out of curiosity.

    Carol sends her story and doesn't hear back for a week, at which point her manuscript is sent back with a complimentary rejection letter. Mike talks to Delafield, who tells him that they're looking for stories with a lighter, more positive angle, while Carol's story emphasized the family's problems. (Seems like she could have written up any particular episode and met his requirements.) She has another go at it, but nobody wants to give her honest criticism, until Marcia tells her that the new story is "too sweet and goodie-goodie". But it turns out that it's exactly what Delafield wants. He arranges a promotional photo shoot over tea at the Brady home, but comes an hour earlier than she was expecting, with a photographer and various other magazine staff, while she was still in the process of getting ready. The guests catch the girls arguing about something, while the boys walk in with Peter sporting a black eye and Greg scratching because of poison oak. Columnists Willie Witherspoon (Jonathan Hole) and Nora Maynard (Elaine Swann) scold Carol for not having told it like it is in her story, and Delafield, who values their input, decides to publish the original version of the article.

    In the coda, Alice is busy writing her own story on a typewriter in the den.

    Maybe I just got used to the show again, but it seems like Season 2 was lacking the sort of heartstring-tugging fare that the first season sometimes produced.

    _______

    The Partridge Family
    "A Knight in Shining Armor"
    Originally aired March 19, 1971
    Season finale
    The family (including Reuben on the couch) are awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of amplified instruments playing, and find Bobby Conway (Bobby Sherman) playing keyboard in their garage, accompanied by tapes of himself playing other instruments. It turns out that he'd been camping in their garage for the previous week while they were on the road, with the intent of leaving tapes for them. They're impressed with his music, but his Achilles heel is that he doesn't do lyrics. Danny remembers receiving a shoebox full of scraps with great lyrics written on them by a Lionel Poindexter, so the family and Bobby go to visit him. They find the awkward young man (Wes Stern) wearing a suit of armor as part of a promotional street job, and are amazed that he has a stove that's rigged to turn on via voice command (which actually turns the handle). They arrange for him to meet them where they're staying for one of their gigs, where he shows up wearing an ill-fitting waiter's suit with mismatched shoes, as he's planning to crash a Polish wedding. Keith accompanies Bobby in playing some of his music for Lionel, who doesn't have much of an opinion because of his tone-deafness; but he thinks that he could write lyrics for it nevertheless.

    Bobby visits Lionel's place again to find him playing a record made to make his neighbors think that's having a party, and they discuss Lionel's lack of skill with girls. Bobby finds himself put off by Lionel's strangeness, which includes working multiple jobs, mysterious disappearances, and driving a hearse. He and the family then find that Lionel's been spending his money buying playground equipment for the orphanage where was raised...hence his ambition to make enough money to buy a swimming pool. With all of this random characters setup out of the way, Lionel finally produces his lyrics for Bobby's tune, to be christened "Stephanie," which Bobby tries out on piano, then the family plays at a little restaurant gig.


    In the coda, Lionel and Bobby drive off in the hearse, having secured a deal to write more songs for the band.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Together
    _______

    That Girl
    "The Elevated Woman"
    Originally aired March 19, 1971
    Series finale
    Ann is upset at Donald over an article that he wrote about women's lib, so she gets up on her soapbox of the (final) week again, and the clips ensue...first of Ann getting mugged in (Fake) Central Park, and Donald in drag working for the police. Here and Now Ann then switches to carrot tactic to persuade Don to attend a women's liberation meeting. As Donald comes up with examples of Ann having set their itinerary before, we flash back to the very early episode when they drove down to Brewster for Donald to meet her folks; then when she persuaded him to write a stage act for her. Their argument proceeds into the elevator, where they find themselves in the cliched sitcom situation with the elevator operator (Howard Storm), a bellhop (Jack Kissel), and a newlywed couple (John Cluett and Sherry Alberoni). The episode acknowledges the trope by having the operator ask if anyone's expecting just to be sure.

    The clips continue with Ann getting her toe stuck in the bowling ball. Then Donald gets into odd jobs Ann has had, like selling shoes door to door (and falling for the sales pitch of an intended customer); and working at a department store (and being fired). She counters with a time that she hired staff to set up a personal audition in a producer's office. Donald brings up the time when she thought a federal agent was a hitman. (The Season 1 clips are really obvious from the hairstyles.) Finally, there's a clip from the first episode of Donald walking in when a desk salesman was hitting on Ann, and he thought she was wooing the man to get the desk ahead of him, when she was actually trying to get it for Donald. Back in the here and now, somebody hits the phaser-firing button and the elevator resumes operation. The other attendees of the women's lib meeting then fill the compartment, having canceled the meeting early because no men showed up...so Donald can proceed to his planned hockey game. The series ends on this note...

    Donald: There's just one place they should keep girls out of....Women's liberation meetings.​

    "Oh, Donald" count: 11 (6 from clips)
    "Oh, Daddy" count: 1 (clip)

    That's right, Lew Marie was only in the final episode via a clip. It seems that the last one he appeared in was the bachelor party episode, which I'll be going back to. I read that Marlo Thomas deliberately chose not to end the series on the more obvious note of the wedding that the last season had been building up to, because she didn't want to send girls the wrong message.

    _______

    The Odd Couple
    "What Does a Naked Lady Say to You?"
    Originally aired March 19, 1971
    Felix and Oscar are playing poker with Murray, Vinnie, and Speed, but Felix has to leave the game for a date with his new girlfriend, bespectacled Madelyn (Marj Dusay), whom he's so smitten with that he's temporarily gotten over Gloria. Murray wracks his brain for where he's seen Madelyn before, then remembers that he arrested her for indecent exposure at an off-Broadway play the previous week. When Oscar later presses Felix for info about her, it turns out that he's never been to her library branch. Oscar then goes to check out the pretentious avant-garde play, Bathtub, to find that Vinnie and Speed are also there. In a bit of audience involvement, Madelyn enters from the aisle wearing only a towel, walks onstage, and "throws in the towel". Oscar pays a visit to her dressing room, and she admits that she's not a librarian.

    Felix comes home and hits the bottle, having been told "the truth"...which is that Madelyn's taken a job at a library in Peru. Felix takes it so hard that Oscar tries to tell him the real truth, but Felix doesn't believe him, so Oscar takes him to the play, where Felix sees for himself...and gets a little too involved, dragging her offstage and putting his coat on her. During the ensuing hubbub backstage, Murray arrives with some fellow officers and they take the cast in. Madelyn is allowed to linger for a bit to talk with Felix, who asserts that he likes her for who she is not who he thought she was...though they still break up, apparently because she didn't trust him.

    In the coda, Oscar takes a call from Gloria and sets up a date between her and Felix despite Felix's objections.

    _______

    Maybe you picked it up in the rerun season...like Nixon.

    Ah yes, that rang a bell. I went ahead and looked it up...turns out he only made three appearances, all in 1974.

    Nope. Barney had previously exposited that his gimmick involved a chemically treated fabric on the table, so presumably it messed that up.

    I'm also skeptical as to how the team dynamic will fare, as it appears that they don't get a replacement Rollin/Paris.

    Probably not, but at least enough later to fool somebody even younger than him.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2021
  7. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
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    The go-to guy for colorful characters.

    Something tells me Jean's angling for a divorce.

    Nice. :rommie:

    I wonder if it was really that easy in those days, because it sure isn't now.

    But... why? :rommie:

    So he stole a printing press and paper, left his fingerprints all over the place, drove recklessly, trapped himself on a dead end road, and bragged about his crime-- sounds like a cry for help to me.

    I like this sentence in isolation. :rommie:

    Now there's the book I want to read.

    They're just tellin' it like it is, man.

    Plus his lack of respect for personal property and total disregard for the law.

    This all seems to me an unlikely sequence of events.

    "It looks like this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

    The crowded elevator then opens on the ground floor to find Danny Thomas waiting. Ann ushers him in with a smile, and says, "Room for one more."

    Shouldn't have built up to it then. She should have either had the couple live together (which would have been in the network's no-fly zone) or else gone through with the wedding, making it clear that Ann was keeping her real name and her acting career.

    That's a shame. Naked librarians are a turn on.

    What a hypocrite. Last week he was working for Playboy.

    I hate to have anything in common with Nixon, but probably. :rommie:

    That's amazing. I remember the character so vividly that it seems he was on a lot.

    Maybe Barney becomes the Cyclops to Jim's Professor X.
     
  8. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
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    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    _______

    50th Anniversary Viewing Revisited

    _______

    The Mod Squad
    "The Price of Terror"
    Originally aired November 26, 1968
    The episode opens with Greer and the Mods trying to enjoy a night of bowling, though Greer is acting pensive and short-tempered and leaves early. At home when he's opening his garage, it explodes. He comes out okay, but while he's being tended to by a doctor (Herb Vigran), he shows Chief Metcalf (Simon Scott in a recurring role) the series of threatening cut-and-paste letters he's been receiving. Greer refuses to take time off over it, so Metcalf goes directly to the Mods to put them on the case without his knowledge.

    We see a bearded man named Combs who was at the alley (Bill Phipps) making a jail visit to an inmate named Clay Lynch (James Best), who's paying him to terrorize Greer. Meanwhile, Linc realizes that one of the photos Metcalf gave him is a man he saw at the alley when he draws a beard and glasses on it, so he and Pete pay Combs's place a visit, but he catches them searching his pad. A brief struggle ensues and he falls down his outdoor stairs, suffering a skull fracture that keeps him from talking.

    Metcalf finds that Combs has no history with Adam, indicating that other parties are involved. Pete and Linc keep separate watches on Greer's place, and amateurishly run afoul of each other. Greer gets a call and goes outside to meet a car that hits him, resulting in a leg injury. Now knowing the guys are on the case, Greer says that he got a call offering him a tip about the bomber. The car is traced to a construction outfit, where Pete and Linc get jobs and find that the vehicle doesn't belong to one man, but Linc eyes a man named Fuller (Richard Bakalyan) as a likely suspect. Scar tissue around Fuller's eyes causes Linc goes to talk to an old friend, a fight trainer named Boots (Joel Fluellen), to fish for info about the man, learning that he wasn't a good fighter and quit the game.

    Greer comes home to find Lynch inside, asking if he's been getting his messages. (The series seems to like to introduce us to characters who are just about to be released from prison while they're still on the inside.) Lynch gloats about Combs having died in the hospital and even breaks into something resembling Best's future Rosco laugh. Afterward, Greer tells the Mods about having nailed Lynch for killing a kid in a drunken hit-and-run. When she finds out that Lynch is divorced, Julie goes to talk to his ex, Donna (Gail Kobe), on the pretense of being a current girlfriend who wants to marry him. Donna paints him as having married her for money, and tells Julie of how he was about to marry an oil heiress when the hit-and-run occurred.

    Donna goes to Fuller looking for Clay to pay her back, telling him about her visit from Julie and sharing Julie's address. Fuller goes to Clay, who sneaks into Julie's place and chloroforms her. Meanwhile, Linc gets Fuller's address from the Athletic Commission, with a bonus...that he's using a stage name and is really Lynch's brother. Lynch calls Greer to tell him he's got Julie and arranges a rendezvous at the construction site, and Pete and Linc follow. When Lynch spots them and takes Greer outside at gunpoint to call them off, Greer takes him by surprise and a construction site fight/chase ensues, culminating in Pete and Lynch duking it out in a rising wire elevator, then tussling on top of the site. Lynch ends up hanging from a chain and Pete uses his life-saving leverage to find out where Julie's being kept, yelling the info down to Greer and Linc, who get there, overpower Fuller, and free her.

    In a coda outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (which had also been used as a contact point between Greer and the Mods earlier in the episode), Greer tells the squad a little about his ex-wife (whom he was implied to have divorced earlier in the episode, but this scene is played like she's dead). The episode ends on the familial beat of the Mods declaring themselves to be adoptees, followed by a walk-off with their surrogate father.

    _______

    The Mod Squad
    "A Quiet Weekend in the Country"
    Originally aired December 3, 1968
    Eddie Sweeney (Clyde Ventura) enters a roadhouse after having gotten into a fight with a guy associated with Doris Williams (Anna Capri). When Eddie sees an older couple come into the roadhouse, he rushes to a payphone and makes a call to Greer to tip him off to something. But as he rides off on his motorcycle, he's taken out by a rifle, dramatically going down a ravine. Gus Williams (James Gregory) goes down and takes something from his body before the police arrive. Eddie turns out to be an ex-con former operative of Greer's, who'd been working as a trailer park handyman and occasionally tipping Greer off. Linc hits the town and meets service station / general store runners Ed Levering (Dub Taylor) and Cliff Lucas (Bruce Glover) while looking for a job. They point him to the handyman opening at the trailer park and the park's owner, Williams. It turns out that Doris is his wife, and manning the park's desk. Pete and Julie then drive in with a trailer as a newlywed couple, looking for a lot. Linc quickly gets the idea that Eddie and Doris were a thing, while Gus hovers around threateningly, as he runs his park like a military installation.

    Pete: All he needs is a riding crop and a monocle.​

    The Mods are specifically looking for Eddie's camera. Linc tips Pete off about a storage shed, but when Pete sneaks in, he's attacked and his assailant escapes. All Pete can tell Greer, who drops in as a local mechanic, is that it wasn't Williams. The bartender at the roadhouse (Joe Higgins) tips Linc off that Eddie had been in a fight the day he was killed, and that he made a call and ran out after seeing a specific couple, the Smiths. Julie snoops around the Smiths' trailer and, when Mrs. Smith returns (Irene Hervey, a.k.a. Aunt Meg from Honey West), pretends to have been in a fight with her husband...and manages to get a glass with fingerprints. But Mrs. Smith has taken the precaution of putting tape across a drawer, so she can tell what Julie was up to. Elsewhere, when Doris catches the news that Eddie had shotgun pellets in his tire, she runs to grab one of her husband's guns and tries to throw it in the river; but Linc catches her in time, determines that the gun hadn't been used recently, and questions her. She relates to him how her husband has been so jealous and possessive because of a cheating first wife when he was in the Army. She's telling Linc how she loves her husband when he catches them together, gets exactly the wrong idea, and a dramatic brawl ensues, going into the river...but when Linc gets the upper hand, he talks some sense into Gus.

    In the meantime, the Smiths have abruptly hit the road. They turn out to really be the Sandersons, who have an unconvicted history of drug trafficking. Linc presses Doris for a lead regarding Eddie's camera. She's sure it's in the shed, and correctly tips him off to where it might have remained hidden. The roll turns out to have photos of park guests, including a known narcotics pusher named Keeler. Another shows Mr. Sanderson in the woods meeting with Cliff Lucas. Pete gets a follow-up call from "Uncle Adam," which Gus tries to eavesdrop on from an extension, but is interrupted by Doris. The Sandersons have been picked up, and Pete and Linc proceed to try to work out how the drug chain operates. Because Lucas is involved, Linc follows a hunch that the drugs are smuggled via souvenir rock samples that Levering sells (a conspicuous detail established when Linc came into town). Linc snoops around, finds one that comes open, and Lucas drops in, but is TV Fu'ed.

    The Mods realize that they're lacking prosecutable evidence, so Linc approaches Levering with what he knows, acting like he wants a cut of the operation, while planting a miniature tape recorder in the store. The tape catches an incriminating conversation between Levering and Lucas--which includes admission that Lucas killed Sweeney--but it runs out before naming the location of a rendezvous with their supplier, so the guys tail Lucas to his meeting with Walker (Hal Baylor), an oil truck driver. Once they've got the pair red-handed with the junk, the Mod duo move in, a brawl ensues, and in an attempted getaway, Lucas drives the truck only slightly down a gully off the road, but it still burst into flames and he has to be pulled out.

    In the coda, Greer and the Mods unmask for the grateful Williamses, and walk off to Greer's car in the trailer park parking lot.

    _______

    Well, he did have the social worker already trying to get him in, if that's what you mean.

    Just on a section of discarded pipe that he'd used to break the window.

    Then Jerry wiped off his tail and grew a pair of legs of his very own!

    Have you considered transferring your supernatural twists from That Girl to TBB? It seems that Alice would lend herself to that sort of thing.

    But...he's Bobby Sherman!
    [targetedfemaleaudience] :adore: :drool: :luvlove: [/targetedfemaleaudience]

    Well, it is a backdoor pilot...characters gotta have their origin story.

    I kinda feel the same way. What was the point of building up the engagement all season if they weren't planning on getting to the wedding? It could have at least been about Ann threatening to call off the wedding, instead of using the stuck in an elevator trope.

    Well, she was affecting a dowdy, bespectacled disguise for Felix's benefit, so that sort of checks off the right boxes, doesn't it?

    I was thinking about that...you'd think Felix would be a little more open-minded about nudity. He claimed in the episode that he had nothing against it in principle. I guess he was just thinking of her as what she'd been pretending to be rather than what she really was...and may have said as much in the episode, if I went back to check.

    But Nixon seems like such a warm, fuzzy, lovable crooked president now compared to...you know...

    I was vaguely considering that maybe they'll be giving some of the Rollin skills to the replacement female team member, but I doubt it...TV still was still in baby step mode when it came to progressive female characters. More likely they'll just have Jim doing that sort of stuff.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
  9. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    Probably should have done that right off the bat.

    Rosco P Coltrane. But you knew that.

    Doodling helps me think, too.

    Well, they learned from a guy who doesn't tell his boss about death threats. :rommie:

    Unintentionally prejudicing people against ex-cons. :rommie:

    Now he's gone too far!

    These kids are pretty loose with their personal info.

    Greer's still got it, man.

    Perhaps both, exacerbating any feelings of guilt.

    "Now, dad, promise us you'll tell us the next time you're being stalked by an assassin."

    Inspector Luger. Also that psych doctor on Trek.

    Greer had other Mods in the past?!

    Alas, this isn't Wild Wild West.

    Wow, Linc versus James Gregory. That's like it was drawn by Jack Kirby. :rommie:

    Should have upgraded to more memory.

    Every car in the TV-verse is a Pinto.

    Yeah, that's true, but these days there are waiting lists that are years long and the costs are unbelievable.

    Still, he really made a mess of that op.

    Good idea. :bolian:

    No man is above the law! :mad:

    Imagine the next day on the Internet, had there been an Internet.

    Sure does. :rommie:

    That's for sure, and he's not the only one. Even Bush II gets to be somewhat rehabilitated in his own lifetime. :rommie:
     
  10. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    _______

    50th Anniversary Viewing Revisited

    _______

    The Mod Squad
    "Love"
    Originally aired December 10, 1968
    A flower-adorned van drives up to a Beverly Hills mansion, producing a pair of burglars. As they're making their getaway, a caretaker comes out and is run over. Cut to the Lucite! This is part of a series of robberies in what turns out to be Pete's parents' neighborhood, and Greer suspects that somebody who lives there is involved. As the Mods drive around the area on undercover patrol, Linc does a mock tour guide routine. Because he's in the neighborhood, Pete calls his cousin Karen (Diana Ewing) for a get-together. After she gets off the phone, her boyfriend Gordy (Dee Pollock) comes over, and she wants to introduce him to her attorney father, Arthur Westphal (Arthur Franz), but he blows it off because he's busy. Then she visits her newborn baby brother, but her mother, Virginia (Nina Foch), protectively takes the baby from her and fusses over him, and Karen storms out. Pete gives the Mods a drive-by tour of his own home, because his parents are on vacation, and they see the bus parked there, which makes a getaway. Linc and Julie chase the bus in their Greer-issued ordinary station wagon while Pete goes into the house to deal with a burglar who fled back in. He tackles the burglar to find that it's Karen.

    Gordy in the van manages to shake Linc at the winding intersection of Vermont and Cockerham. Back at Stately Cochran Manor, Pete questions Karen, and figures that she wanted to get caught as a way of getting at her parents. Back at his groovy but shabby lair, Gordy's seeing his underworld contact, Chuck (Robert Yuro), when Karen calls to inform him that she plans to tell her parents everything. Meanwhile, Pete informs the other Mods, who agree not to get Greer involved, then takes them to the old homestead, where they're in mild awe to see how the other third lives. Meanwhile, the Westphals are having a swank party, and Karen tries to tell her parents what she's been doing, but each of them blows her off separately, so she ends grabbing the baby and splitting the scene. When the baby's nurse, Lillian (Isabel Sanford), raises the alarm, that finally gets the folks' attention.

    Greer's investigating when the Mods drive up and find out what happened. Karen later goes to Pete's but he's not home because he's out with the Mods looking for her, checking an old restaurant hangout in a cute but fillerish scene. Karen takes the baby to Gordy and Chuck's lair, and Chuck schemes to take advantage of the situation by going all the way with the kidnapping thing.

    The Mods go to the Westphals to learn about who Karen may have been working with, and when Aunt Ginny proves difficult and unhelpful, Pete drops the bomb that she's been robbing houses. Lillian is able to remember the name of the boy that Karen's been seeing (though she initially thinks it may be "George" :D ). Back at the Laurel Canyon lair, Karen's cooled down and wants to return the baby, but finds that she's now a prisoner. Gordy hits a local market to get food for the baby. The Mods happen to be there, and ask him where they can find their old pal Gordy. Julie notices that he was buying milk and baby bottles, so they follow him to the lair. The guys sneak up to the house while Julie calls Greer. The kidnappers come out to split the scene because they know that the heat is on, and Pete and Linc take them down. In the Coda, the Mods walk off to their car with Karen and the baby to take them home.

    When I saw the baby, I was expecting an angle of it really being Karen's, because their mother was an unlikely age...though I guess Diana Ewing was of an unlikely figure.

    _______

    The Mod Squad
    "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Starlet"
    Originally aired December 17, 1968
    An older man witnesses a screaming woman fleeing from a car into the woods, where she's strangled and the weapon, a distinctive scarf, is left behind. Abrasive television commentator Lew Dickens (William Smithers) puts pressure on the police to solve this latest in a series of three such murders. Greer informs the Mods that all were aspiring blonde actresses, and asks Julie to serve as bait.

    Cabbie Pete takes Julie from the bus depot to a rooming house where an actress friend of Greer's who knew all three girls is staying. Julie meets the landlady, Mrs. Petree (Virginia Gregg), and Pete and Linc are already sharing a room there, where they monitor a bug in Julie's room. There's an early alarm when Petree's developmentally disabled adult handyman son, Norman (Norman Grabowski), barges into Julie's room to fix a window...and takes a peculiar interest in her hanging nylons. Julie's roomie, April Showers (Joan Van Ark), turns her on to an acting class that one of the girls attended--taught by an instructor played by Ben Wright--where they meet an intense student named Timmy Gregar (Richard Evans), who does an improv scene with April in which she accuses him of having killed girls and he gets a little too into choking her. Afterward, April informs Julie that Timmy has gotten several blonde friends of hers jobs as card girls on The Lew Dickens Show. Julie gets to know Timmy and takes to him, such that she feels wrong for what she's doing.

    Back at the rooming house, there's another incident with Norman, who breaks into Julie's room to grab the nylons. Mrs. Petree persuades the Mods not to press things by showing them Norman using the nylons to play with his dog. Timmy takes Julie to see Lew, against the objections of overworked director Phil Norval (Alan Oppenheimer). Later at a party hosted by April, Timmy makes a drunken scene about how he's connected with Lew. Julie nurses his hangover and gets to know him better, learning that he'd been in a mental hospital. Greer has the guys keep an eye on him, and there's an unscripted scene between him and April on a Western set in which he starts to strangle her, resulting in a Mod Chase across rooftops and catwalks, but Timmy gives the guys the slip.

    Julie wants to talk Timmy into surrendering, so she persuades Lew to let her do an on-camera spot, and gets a call for a rendezvous at the classroom. He talks to her, but when he tries to slip back out, he finds the exits blocked by Mods and cops, and feels betrayed. Feeling dirty, Julie hands the guys her check for doing the show. When she goes home, she finds Lew waiting for her outside, slickly offering a shoulder. The guys learn that he went off with her, and find an envelope that matches the one that the check is in, but with one of the distinctive scarves in it.

    Lew takes Julie to his place, where Phil is present as "chaperone". Lew shows her a replay of the show and starts forcefully coming on to her, while the guys race to catch up with them. Julie fights back and flees outside, and Lew gives Phil money to go after her and pay her to keep her mouth shut. Phil catches up with her outside, telling her how this isn't the first time...and she finds one of the scarves on him. The guys get to the house and rough up Lew a little while Phil tries to strangle Julie, but he loses his glasses and she flees. She sprains an ankle and he catches up with her, but the guys catch up with him, and he doesn't put up much of a fight.

    In the coda, the Mods see Timmy off as he voluntarily boards a bus back to the hospital; and do a terminal walk-off to the woodie, which only appears in this scene, parked. There must've been something going on with the woodie around this time, because they've been conspicuously subbing for it for a few episodes now.

    _______

    True.

    Eh, everyone seems to end up finding Julie's pad one way or another...

    What, Pete did all the dramatic fighting.

    Mebbe.

    'Twould seem.

    I think Pete was thinking more Hogan's Heroes.

    It was a really teeny-tiny reel-to-reel tape.

    Three months later in the That Girl fan newsletter printed in somebody's garage...?

    Now see here, young man...

    I always had a soft spot for the Bushes, though I never voted for them.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
  11. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    Droxine.

    Presumably that caretaker survived, otherwise this would be a lot more serious.

    For crying out loud.....

    Thirty-three percenter! Unfriended!

    Weezy!

    There's a big jump.

    Since she's a relative, we'll just sweep the burglary, hit-and-run, and kidnapping under the rug. :rommie:

    The age difference was unusual, though not impossible, but it's odd that it went unremarked upon.

    No wonder she doesn't show up half the time.

    "I don't like the nylons drying on the rod!"

    I think she needs a stage-name-thinking-up class, unless she's a stripper.

    Thanks to Alfred Hitchcock, every guy named Norman is presumed to be a cross-dressing killer.

    Didn't anybody think to track down a bulk purchase of those scarves? :rommie:

    "No fair! None of my other victims knocked my glasses off!"

    Oh, yeah, I guess my eyes slid over that. It was Greer's episode, so he should have gotten the showdown.

    That is very likely. :rommie:

    Kind of a dream come true. :rommie:

    I thought that W's friendship with Michelle Obama was pretty cool, and set a good example, and then I was impressed with his comments about the Snowflake Rebellion. I guess you can relax a bit when you don't have to worry about support from the basest of your base.
     
  12. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    55 Years Ago This Week



    Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

    Leaving the chart:
    • "My World Is Empty Without You," The Supremes (11 weeks)
    • "Working My Way Back to You," The Four Seasons (9 weeks)

    Recent and new on the chart:

    "Satisfaction," Otis Redding

    (Mar. 5; #31 US; #4 R&B; #33 UK)

    "Somewhere," Len Barry

    (Mar. 19; #26 US)

    "Try Too Hard," The Dave Clark Five

    (#12 US)

    "Message to Michael," Dionne Warwick

    (#8 US; #12 AC; #5 R&B)

    "Sloop John B," The Beach Boys

    (#3 US; #2 UK; #271 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)


    And new on the boob tube:
    • The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 18, episode 28
    • Branded, "The Assassins: Part 1"
    • 12 O'Clock High, "Day of Reckoning"
    • Batman, "The Ring of Wax"
    • Batman, "Give 'Em the Axe"
    • Gilligan's Island, "Allergy Time"
    • The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Freebooters"
    • Hogan's Heroes, "I Look Better in Basic Black"
    • Get Smart, "Ship of Spies: Part 1"

    _______

    Yeah, though he was said to be seriously injured. I thought that they blew past that way too easily.

    But Greer couldn't be more proud!

    There was a little early lampshading about how she'd been trying for years and finally succeeded, but that just stoked my suspicion on the matter.

    And steals the woodie's spark plugs apparently...

    Greer did make the assignment strictly voluntarily, FWIW.

    Had to look that one up.

    That was commented upon in the episode, too...I thought it sounded more like a porn name... :crazy:

    They might have handwaved that one away as well.

    Greer gets taken down like a punk. Lynch does his Rosco P. Coltrane laugh as the Mods take him into custody. The End.

    There's also the long ex-presidential friendship between the Bushes and Clintons. Reportedly Bill became a surrogate son to Bush Sr. And bringing it all back to Nixon...he'd been ignored, sidelined, and treated like political Kryptonite for years, but still had a keen mind for foreign policy. What president finally listened to the advice that he was eager to give on the subject? Bill Clinton.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2021
  13. gblews

    gblews Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    Location:
    So. Cal.
    What do you do when one of the greatest singer/performers of the rock era takes one of your compositions, which would become generally acknowledged as one of the greatest compositions (and performances) of rock era itself, and improves upon both exponentially? But considering the reverence the Stones had shown blues and r&b performers in their careers back then, I’d guess they had no problem with Otis’s version being superior to their’s.

    I can just imagine Otis licking his chops to get at Satisfaction. Rythmically, lyrically, stylistically the song was right in his wheel house. This was one of the greatest covers of the rock era, IMO.
    One of a long list of my favorite Bachrach/Warwick collabs, and one of my fav Bacharach songs. Dionne performed a version of the song along with Cyndy Lauper at a tribute to Michael Jackson after his death. Very touching.
     
  14. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    This is okay.

    This is less okay.

    This is somewhere between the first okay and the second okay.

    This is much more than okay. One of her best, and just perfect for her beautiful voice.

    And yup, my favorite Beach Boys song. So plaintive. "This is the worst trip... I've ever been on."

    :rommie:

    Of course.

    I get a little obscure sometimes. :rommie:

    Short Mods, Episode One.

    I'd love to be a fly on the wall for these presidents club conversations. I wonder if Nixon recorded them. :rommie:
     
  15. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    50 Years Ago This Week


    Watching that scene completely devoid of context, I strongly suspect that it was written with an ongoing storyline in mind, and that the "but it was just an animal bite and they lived happily ever after" was tacked on because it turned out to be the last episode.


    Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

    Leaving the chart:
    • "Country Road," James Taylor (8 weeks)
    • "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You," Wilson Pickett (11 weeks)
    • "Mr. Bojangles," Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (19 weeks)
    • "Sweet Mary," Wadsworth Mansion (14 weeks)
    • "Theme from Love Story," Henry Mancini, His Orchestra and Chorus (11 weeks)

    New on the chart:

    "Right on the Tip of My Tongue," Brenda & the Tabulations
    (#23 US; #10 R&B)

    "Toast and Marmalade for Tea," Tin Tin

    (#20 US)

    "Power to the People," John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

    (#11 US; #7 UK)

    "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo," Lobo

    (#5 US; #1 AC; #4 UK)

    "Never Can Say Goodbye," Jackson 5

    (#2 US; #1 R&B; #33 UK)


    And new on the boob tube:
    • The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 23, episode 25 (reallybig series finale)
    • All in the Family, "Success Story"
    • Ironside, "Grandmother's House"
    • Adam-12, "Log 88: Reason to Run"

    _______

    That would be a matter of opinion. Chart performance at the time and the Rolling Stone list don't affirm the superiority of Otis's version. I like Otis's version--it's quite enjoyable--but it isn't as definitive a song for its genre/style as the Stones' original is for its.
    I like it better than that, though.

    Len Barry does West Side Story...seems a wee bit passé in the year that's about to see psychedelic music bursting out.

    Likewise, this is where I get to ask, "Are these guys still around?"

    It sounds nice, but the song is a bit of a snoozer for me.

    It is a goodie, and a better selling point for the upcoming album than "Caroline, No," which maybe should've been released as the B-side of this one.
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2021
  16. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    Yeah, it was actually a bit comical. "For the first time in Collinwood history...." :rommie:

    This sounds pretty nice.

    Laugh, but I've always loved this song. For one thing, it reminds me strongly of my Grandmother for some reason. Also, I love the poetic imagery, and the Renaissance sound. It might also have something to do with always liking toast and tea.

    Not exactly his deepest lyrics in this one.

    Oldies radio classic.

    Classic Jacksons, although kind of different from their usual sound.

    Literally the end of an era.

    :rommie:

    Definitely, although it's very different from the their usual material.
     
  17. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    _______

    50th Anniversary Viewing

    _______

    Hogan's Heroes
    "Look at the Pretty Snowflakes"
    Originally aired March 21, 1971
    The prisoners are assigned to take out the Panzer division, but think they won't be able to do it because of severe snow in the area. Then the division's commander, General Strommberger (Harold J. Stone), comes to Klink wanting him to assign prisoners to clear the road for them. But the prisoners have to sacrifice what explosives they were able to smuggle on them to prevent them from being discovered (which involves blowing up a truck and its driver). During a stop at an inn near the pass, the prisoners try to brainstorm a way to stop the convoy; and when they hear that there's a serious danger of an avalanche, they decide to try to trigger it. Their attempt to do so by playing jazz instruments at the inn proves unsuccessful...but then Klink, who's been suffering from a cold, shows up and causes it with a sneeze.

    This one was a little light on meaty story. I left out plenty of details that didn't go anywhere.

    Disss-missed!

    _______

    The Ed Sullivan Show
    Season 23, episode 24
    Originally aired March 21, 1971
    As represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show

    The on-the-wane artist performs his new single, "Early Morning Rain" (charts May 1, 1971; #124 US; #38 AC), singing and playing acoustic guitar to canned accompaniment:

    It strikes me that he's trying to sound like Glen Campbell here, though the song was written by Gordon Lightfoot.

    Peters, who was apparently known primarily for her theatrical work at this point, performs a song from old musicals called "Look for the Silver Lining".

    _______

    All in the Family
    "Gloria Discovers Women's Lib"
    Originally aired March 23, 1971
    The episode opens with Gloria encouraging Edith to assert her liberation by helping her make a different-than-usual Sunday breakfast of bacon souffle and grapefruit. Archie, of course, wants his usual Sunday breakfast, so Gloria pulls out the soapbox about letting Edith do her own thing to realize her potential. Despite Gloria's assertions to the contrary, when Mike comes down, he's not on the same page as her, and they get into an argument. Gloria expresses her rage against the system and runs upstairs. With some nonvocal prodding from the folks, Mike goes upstairs to talk to her, but ends up going into the idea that equality between the sexes means women admitting their inferiority. He also keeps insisting that his school issues trump her concerns. Things then really blow up, and while Archie is initially happy to "let fightin' dogs lie," when Gloria storms out to stay with a friend, he's put out to find that, to paraphrase him, he's lost a daughter but is keeping a meathead.

    Even Archie is critical of Mike's lack of concern for Gloria when he wolfs her breakfast as well as his and keeps going on about his grades and scholarship. When Lionel drops by with the dry cleaning, he's also in disbelief that Gloria's the one who left the house. As for his take on the general subject of the week...

    Archie: You people involved, Lionel, wit' dat women's liberation?
    Lionel: Uh, no, not too much...you see, we're still workin' on plain ol' liberation.​

    Then Gloria comes back to pick up a few things.

    Archie: I hope your husband's one of 'em.​

    Archie tries to get Michael to talk Gloria out of leaving, but Mike remains unyielding. He thinks that he and Archie should be on the same page, but Archie makes clear that the man's home being his castle doesn't extend to Mike. Then Mike gets grades in the mail (Isn't it Sunday?), and has an epiphany when he realizes that he's not happy that they're good because Gloria isn't there to share it with. He runs up to tell her this, and they start to make up...but get into another argument over Mike continuing to express his chauvinism. However, by the coda, they've been upstairs for over an hour, and come downstairs having clearly made up in exactly the way that Archie had already assumed.

    I like how this one shined an honest, in-the-time spotlight on a major shortcoming of the hippie counterculture...that the "old ladies" were still expected to be housewives and mothers. Note how John is starting to make a little noise on the subject in "Power to the People".

    _______

    The Odd Couple
    "Trapped"
    Originally aired March 26, 1971
    Season finale
    Well at least it wasn't an elevator...

    The episode opens with a cop (David Ketchum) dragging up Felix in a devil outfit, Nancy Cunningham dressed as a nurse, and Oscar in a medieval breastplate, wanting to know why they're dressed that way and why they tried to break a shoe store window. Then an older man (Russell Thorson) pops up saying that Felix tried to molest his wife. Felix proceeds to tell the story in flashback. The costume party meant a lot to him because Gloria was going to be there, but Oscar wasn't prepared and has to come up with a last-minute costume idea. Nancy arrives, and while she's changing into her costume, Felix takes Oscar down to the building's basement to get him into a full suit of armor that's down there, which Oscar has trouble getting around in. Nancy comes down, and when they all try to leave, they discover that the door is locked. They try to make noise by pounding on the door and pipes; then Felix notices a barred window, but the first person they call at for help (Lenny Kent) sticks them up.

    Nothing seems to have come of that after the commercial break, but Oscar tries to turn up the heat so somebody will come down...which backfires on them, though the steam clears Felix's sinuses. By now Oscar is down to just the breastplate. Felix tidies the place up and finds a table, some wine and jam, and a candle, as well as an old phonograph, so they enjoy a party via montage sequence. Afterward, Oscar finds out from Felix that there's an old dumbwaiter, and while Felix insists that all the apartments' panels are boarded up, Felix consents to being pulled up in it. He reaches an apartment occupied by Thorson's character, Herman, and his wife, Florence (Ellen Corby)...the latter of whom Felix knows, but her husband gets the wrong idea. Next Felix pops in on Phillip, who's playing with a chemistry set, pretending to be a mad scientist who turns into a monster...and proves to be too into his role to be of help. Felix goes back down and the rope breaks. Next Oscar tries to toss pieces of coal at a nearby stoplight, but hits a window across the street, setting off an alarm.

    The coda cuts back to the present, with Herman having decided not to press charges; Felix noting that the bandit, Vern, stole his tickets to the party; and Oscar having borrowed the policeman's uniform to use as his costume.

    This is a series that I went into without any enthusiasm, but so far it's proved to be pretty enjoyable.

    _______

    And I can't believe that 50th anniversary-wise, I've now missed the entire rest of the series already. I have another six months' worth on the DVR, but no definite plan on when I'll be getting to them.

    This one was new to me. It's alright, but nothing about it really stands out.

    I'm just impressed that you already know it...it was a complete obscuro to me. I thought that these guys sounded like wannaBeeGees, but it turns out that the track was produced by a guy named Maurice...

    It's got a good groove, though, with the chunky bass and sax. Reportedly John later disavowed it, but he had a pattern of doing that. This track is an early product of the Imagine sessions.

    This one seems like "Me and Bobby McGee Lite," but it has an enjoyable period-evocative vibe.

    Donny ain't got nothin' on this.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2021
  18. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    Jazz would just mellow it out.

    Gesundheit!

    He had barely waxed. :(

    I'm most familiar with the Peter, Paul, and Mary version.

    Biology and ten thousand years of cultural inertia are not overcome overnight.

    Our house in Weymouth had the remains of an old dumbwaiter.

    It's definitely one of the most perfectly cast shows ever.

    It's a very Lost 45, all right, but just one of those things that imprinted itself on my brain.

    It's got some nice imagery to it, like the part about the bright red Georgia clay.
     
  19. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    50th Anniversary Album Spotlight

    Pearl
    Janis Joplin
    Released January 11, 1971
    Chart debut: January 30, 1971
    Chart peak: #1 (February 27 through April 24, 1971)
    #122 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003)

    The album opens catchily with blues rocker "Move Over," the only song on the disc written solely by Joplin:


    Next Janice gives her vocal chords more of a workout with "Cry Baby" (charts May 15, 1971; #42 US), a cover of a 1963 crossover hit for Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters:


    Following that is the gospel-flavored "A Woman Left Lonely," an original number written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham.

    "Half Moon" was written for Janis by John and Johanna Hall.
    John Hall would go on to become a founding member of the '70s band Orleans, and later a US congressman from New York.

    The first side closes with "Buried Alive in the Blues," released as an instrumental because Janis died before recording vocals for it.

    I wasn't able to find much info on the opening song of side two, "My Baby" (written by Jerry Ragovoy and Mort Shuman), other than it being a cover of a song that had been a 1966 under-bubbler for Garnet Mimms.

    Signature uber-classic "Me and Bobby McGee" (charted Jan. 30, 1971; #1 US the weeks of Mar. 20 and 27, 1971; #148 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) was written by Kris Kristofferson from an idea provided by Fred Foster; originally recorded by Roger Miller in 1969; and also recorded by artists including Kenny Rogers & the First Edition and Gordon Lightfoot prior to Janis's definitive version. The titular character was inspired by a woman nicknamed Bobbie...Janis's version takes advantage of the name's gender neutrality.

    This is noteworthy for being only the second posthumously released US chart-topper, following Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay".

    The consumerism-criticizing "Mercedes Benz," an original number credited to Janis, Bob Neuwirth, and poet Michael McClure, is noteworthy for being the last song that Janis recorded, three days before her death:

    Were a cappella songs Squiggy's favorites?

    "Trust Me" is an original written by Bobby Womack.

    The album closes anthemically with "Get It While You Can" (charts Sept. 11, 1971; #78 US), written by Jerry Ragovoy and Mort Shuman and based on a version by R&B artist Howard Tate that bubbled under in 1967:


    Overall this is a pretty good album, but some of the material didn't really grab me.

    _______

    Loud jazz.

    I know.

    Huh...I've actually got that, from the compilation that I bought for their singles.

    Did you ever get in?
     
  20. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2001
    Location:
    AI Generated Madness
    I was watching Monterey Pop over the weekend. Cass Elliot looked blown away by Janis's performance.