The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[RJDiogenes]

(Another instance of Artie receiving special attention that doesn't extend to Jim.)

He rates.

that the ring indicates that the man is member of the Order of Lucia

Lucky for the good guys that these obscure cults favor obvious indicators of membership.

Through a peephole cut into stained glass

That's convenient, and weird. I wonder who's responsible for that.

when Ellen objects to the diva danger, he corners her into volunteering to impersonate Rosa.

"Other duties as assigned."

In the requisite underground lair

It's kind of a miracle that the Southwest didn't collapse like a big sinkhole.

with two singers captive in hanging cages

I went to a lair like that once.

Jim finds that under the mask is...Caroline Mason (Geraldine Baron), her vocal chords damaged so that she sounds like a man, baby.

I wonder if this was the inspiration for Doctor Girlfriend on Venture Brothers.

The coda takes place at a party hosted by the real Rosa, in which she's expresses her relief to the Fake Count that Mr. Gordon won't be there to spoil their evening together.

I seem to remember that this was one of the last episodes I saw before WWW was replaced by the Stooges.

she gets a call and rushes out, not even stopping for introductions to the arriving Linc and Julie outside.

What was the call about? Was this when her dad was roughed up the first time?

John (Tom Bosley)

Mister C!

Pete seems suspicious of it all, but doesn't let on to what Wells told him to the other Mods outside.

Of course he doesn't.

(reinforcing the pattern that they're using the Gotham penal system on this show)

Now there's a crossover I never considered.

Wells slips out a second-floor window and loses his stake-out.

Tom Bosley is more agile than I would have guessed.

(Are they supposed to be the same guys who were just on the inside, too?)

It's Parole Day in Gotham.

Wells is shot at close range.

Harsh ending to a relatively minor offender-- or am I just prejudiced because Tom Bosley is so lovable?

The episode opens with very familiar footage of weather starting getting rough and a tiny ship being tossed...

Stock footage from Gilligan's Island? That's fantastic. I wonder if that's the most extreme anachronism ever on the show.

The boat is greeted by a guy who just killed the official greeter--a detail that doesn't seem to go anywhere

He died for the sake of establishing the atmosphere.

and IMDb doesn't say who was playing Professor Plum.

Perhaps Calendar is not dead after all.

Jim is slapped awake by Nigel

"Do come out of your drug-induced stupor, old boy. There's a good chap."

which makes it a locked island mystery.

Nice.

Jim becomes intrigued by the nearby abandoned caretaker's cottage, which he inspects to be attacked by several hooded figures again.

These guys are like mice.

With some prodding from Jim, Nigel explains that there was a real Calendar, who is dead, but that he missed the excitement and challenge that his nemesis provided, so he assumed Calendar's role as well as his own.

That's a pretty good twist. Here's another character that would have made a good recurring nemesis.

Meanwhile, the hound, which apparently doesn't get along with Sir Nigel, runs after and attacks him, causing him to fall off a cliff into the rock-lapping drink

And this rather contrived demise suggests that the show thought so too. But all in all, this sounds like a really good episode.

as I suspected, the narrative of Artie's absence and return makes a lot more sense in production order than it does in airdate order

How hard could it have been to have aired the episodes in the correct order? I don't get the logic of messing things up like that.

I actually like the early take of "Tomorrow Never Knows" better than the finished product. The ex and I used to refer to it as "the lava lamp song".

Ah, Lava Lamps. Those were the days.

Eh, nothing wrong with a little harmless personification. I'm sure that other artists have written songs about their guitars and such.

Yeah, but that's more like an ode to addiction.

 

[The Old Mixer]

That's convenient, and weird. I wonder who's responsible for that.

If you mean cutting it, Artie.

It's kind of a miracle that the Southwest didn't collapse like a big sinkhole.

This was New Orleans...do they even have basements down there? They definitely weren't the norm in Florida. And as was often the case in Florida, I recall from visiting Louisiana that lots of houses were actually raised up on blocks.

I seem to remember that this was one of the last episodes I saw before WWW was replaced by the Stooges.

If it had been, I would have recorded and watched it then. As I recall they got to what would have been the first part of the "The Night of the Winged Terror," but skipped the two-parter for "The Night of the Sabatini Death" (Alan Hale's appearance).

What was the call about? Was this when her dad was roughed up the first time?

I think so.

Of course he doesn't.

It's a little more understandable when the Mods like to strike out on their own and do something off the books...they're not exactly conventional cops. But it is becoming drinking game material.

Tom Bosley is more agile than I would have guessed.

Indeed, he did at least part of that himself.

Harsh ending to a relatively minor offender-- or am I just prejudiced because Tom Bosley is so lovable?

He was pretty slappable here. But I was a little put off by how high-stakes a box of cash stolen from a grocery store was being treated. You'd think that Wells and his accomplice had knocked off a bank.

These guys are like mice.

And one of them is always Red West, of course.

But all in all, this sounds like a really good episode.

It was fun despite being so derivative of Holmes and mystery tropes, and so busy with red herring business.

How hard could it have been to have aired the episodes in the correct order? I don't get the logic of messing things up like that.

I get why episodes aired out of production order originally...in Trek's case, it was the episodes with more post-production work that tended to fall behind (e.g., "The Corbomite Maneuver," which was the first regular episode in production order, but aired 10th in the season). The problem is that since it became common to release TV seasons on home video, original airdate order has become the standard even when it makes a lot less sense than production order, like Trek Season 1, or WWW Season 4. You may recall me citing Tarzan Season 1 as another apparent example of this phenomenon, with the settlement and its supporting characters appearing in some but not all early episodes...which were likely consecutive in production order.

Yeah, but that's more like an ode to addiction.

Sock it to him, Joe!

 

[RJDiogenes]

If you mean cutting it, Artie.

Oh, I thought he found it.

This was New Orleans...do they even have basements down there? They definitely weren't the norm in Florida. And as was often the case in Florida, I recall from visiting Louisiana that lots of houses were actually raised up on blocks.

Probably. That's Bayou country.

If it had been, I would have recorded and watched it then. As I recall they got to what would have been the first part of the "The Night of the Winged Terror," but skipped the two-parter for "The Night of the Sabatini Death" (Alan Hale's appearance).

Hmm. I do remember seeing it....

He was pretty slappable here. But I was a little put off by how high-stakes a box of cash stolen from a grocery store was being treated. You'd think that Wells and his accomplice had knocked off a bank.

A case of the writers being too close to the material, I guess.

It was fun despite being so derivative of Holmes and mystery tropes, and so busy with red herring business.

I dig these little pastiches.

I get why episodes aired out of production order originally...in Trek's case, it was the episodes with more post-production work that tended to fall behind (e.g., "The Corbomite Maneuver," which was the first regular episode in production order, but aired 10th in the season). The problem is that since it became common to release TV seasons on home video, original airdate order has become the standard even when it makes a lot less sense than production order, like Trek Season 1, or WWW Season 4. You may recall me citing Tarzan Season 1 as another apparent example of this phenomenon, with the settlement and its supporting characters appearing in some but not all early episodes...which were likely consecutive in production order.

I guess it makes sense if the episodes aren't ready. But the DVDs should definitely be in production order.

 

[The Old Mixer]

55 Years Ago This Week

April 11

• Emmett Ashford made his debut as the first African-American Major League Baseball umpire, appearing in Washington, D.C. at third base in the Washington Senators' season opening game against the Cleveland Indians. Cleveland won, 5-2, before a record Washington baseball crowd of 44,468.
• The conservative newsweekly U. S. News and World Report became the first American news magazine to analogize the Vietnam War as a "stalemate" with neither side likely to defeat the other. Newsweek would not use the term until December 19, and Time not until June 30, 1967.
• Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, the only licensed distributor in the United States of LSD discontinued all further American sales of the hallucinogenic drug. According to a spokesman, Sandoz had "released it only to highly qualified clinical investigators", but voluntarily quit due to "unforeseen public reaction".

April 12

• Singer Jan Berry of the rock music duo Jan & Dean was seriously injured when he lost control of his Corvette automobile and crashed into a parked truck on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, near (but not at) the slight turn on the Boulevard that was the inspiration for the group's 1963 hit song, "Dead Man's Curve". Berry would remain in a coma for ten months and then undergo years of rehabilitation after awakening.
• For the first time, North Vietnam was bombed by American B-52 planes, after years of bombing runs by smaller planes. In the largest bombing mission by any nation since World War II, 29 B-52s dropped 585 tons of bombs on the Mụ Giạ Pass through the Annamese Mountain Range, in an attempt to break the supply line that was nicknamed the "Ho Chi Minh trail". Although the objective was to create landslides that would close off the pass completely, a reconnaissance mission the next day found that the Viet Cong guerillas had cleared the area, filled the craters in the road, and were driving their trucks through the pass once more. After a second wave of intensive bombings and an equally intensive clearing of the pass, a CIA appraisal would later note that the "Communists will spare no effort to keep it open".
• The first reported instance of a flag burning in the course of protests against Vietnam took place in a theater in New York City, where an antiwar skit entitled LBJ was being performed.

April 13

• United States' magazine Time's cover story is "London: The Swinging City".
• U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the 1966 Uniform Time Act, setting a common date (the last Sunday in April) for all states in the U.S. to set their clocks forward one hour, beginning on April 29, 1967, and to set clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday in October, starting in 1967. At the time, 18 states observed daylight saving time (DST), 14 switched time zones rather than changing their clocks, and the other 18 left the option up to their local governments. Before the Uniform Act was passed, the prescribed days for changing the clocks varied across the nation; in the state of Iowa alone, there were 23 different DST periods.

April 14

• The three convicted assassins of Malcolm X were each sentenced to life in prison, after having been found guilty of murdering the Black Nationalist leader at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City on February 21, 1965. "Norman 3X" Butler (later Muhammad Abdul Aziz), "Thomas 15X" Johnson (later Khalil Islam) and Thomas Hagan (aka Talmadge Hayer), all members of the Black Muslim's Nation of Islam movement, had been found guilty on March 11. Johnson had been the first to fire, cutting down Malcolm X with two blasts from a shotgun, and Hagan and Butler then completed the execution with their pistols. Butler and Johnson would be paroled in 1985 and 1987, respectively, while Hagan would be released from prison after 44 years in 2010.
• Kenyan Vice President Oginga Odinga resigns, saying "invisible government" representing foreign interests now runs the country. He will head a new party, the Kenya People's Union.
• The South Vietnamese government promises free elections in 3–5 months.

April 15

• An American military spokesman reported that there had already been 1,361 U.S. servicemen killed in the Vietnam War as of April 9, already more than the 1,342 that had died during the entire year of 1965. By April, according to the press release, the combat death rate for U.S. Army, Marine, Navy and Air Force personnel had was now averaging 100 people per week.
• An anti-Nasser conspiracy is exposed in Egypt.

April 16 – After 83 years at West 39th Street and Broadway, New York City's original Metropolitan Opera House conducted its final performance before closing its doors. A standing-room-only crowd watched a five-hour performance of operatic arias by 60 different singers at "The Met". To introduce the program, the Met's general manager, Sir Rudolf Bing, summed up the move to the new location at the Lincoln Center on West 63rd Street, saying "The company goes on and will do all we can to deserve your continued support. The queen is dead. Long live the queen!"

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration," The Righteous Brothers
2. "Daydream," The Lovin' Spoonful
3. "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)," Cher
4. "Secret Agent Man," Johnny Rivers
5. "Time Won't Let Me," The Outsiders
6. "19th Nervous Breakdown," The Rolling Stones

8. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," B. J. Thomas & The Triumphs
9. "Good Lovin'," The Young Rascals
10. "Kicks," Paul Revere & The Raiders
11. "Nowhere Man," The Beatles
12. "Sure Gonna Miss Her," Gary Lewis & The Playboys
13. "Sloop John B," The Beach Boys
14. "A Sign of the Times," Petula Clark
15. "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)," The Isley Brothers
16. "California Dreamin'," The Mamas & The Papas
17. "Little Latin Lupe Lu," Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
18. "Woman," Peter & Gordon
19. "Homeward Bound," Simon & Garfunkel
20. "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," Nancy Sinatra
21. "634-5789 (Soulsville U.S.A.)," Wilson Pickett
22. "Gloria," The Shadows of Knight
23. "Shapes of Things," The Yardbirds
24. "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog," Norma Tanega
25. "What Now My Love," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
26. "Somewhere," Len Barry
27. "Spanish Flea," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
28. "Frankie and Johnny," Elvis Presley
29. "Leaning on the Lamp Post," Herman's Hermits

31. "Satisfaction," Otis Redding
32. "Magic Town," The Vogues

34. "Monday, Monday," The Mamas & The Papas
35. "Baby Scratch My Back," Slim Harpo
36. "Love Makes the World Go Round," Deon Jackson
37. "Together Again," Ray Charles

39. "You Baby," The Turtles
40. "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)," Four Tops
41. "Rhapsody in the Rain," Lou Christie
42. "Message to Michael," Dionne Warwick
43. "Try Too Hard," The Dave Clark Five
44. "Elusive Butterfly," Bob Lind

47. "Caroline, No," Brian Wilson

49. "Listen People," Herman's Hermits

53. "Eight Miles High," The Byrds

57. "I'll Take Good Care of You," Garnet Mimms

71. "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," Bob Dylan
72. "Nothing's Too Good for My Baby," Stevie Wonder
73. "When a Man Loves a Woman," Percy Sledge

78. "A Groovy Kind of Love," The Mindbenders

81. "Love's Made a Fool of You," Bobby Fuller Four

84. "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," The Walker Brothers

94. "(I'm a) Road Runner," Jr. Walker & The All-Stars

98. "The More I See You," Chris Montez

Leaving the chart:

• "The Cheater," Bob Kuban & The In-Men (11 weeks)
• "Get Ready," The Temptations (7 weeks)
• "I Fought the Law," Bobby Fuller Four (11 weeks)
• "Inside, Looking Out," The Animals (7 weeks)
• "One More Heartache," Marvin Gaye (8 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Nothing's Too Good for My Baby," Stevie Wonder

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(#20 US; #4 R&B)

"The More I See You," Chris Montez

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(#16 US; #2 AC; #3 UK)

"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," The Walker Brothers

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(#13 US; #1 UK)

"A Groovy Kind of Love," The Mindbenders

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(#2 US; #2 UK)

"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," Bob Dylan

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(#2 US; #7 UK)

There ya go, Bob!


And new on the boob tube:

• Branded, "Headed for Doomsday"
• Batman, "The Curse of Tut"
• Batman, "The Pharaoh's in a Rut"
• Gilligan's Island, "'V' for Vitamins"
• The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Murderous Spring"
• Hogan's Heroes, "Cupid Comes to Stalag 13"

 

[RJDiogenes]

"Nothing's Too Good for My Baby," Stevie Wonder

That's a toe tapper.

"The More I See You," Chris Montez

Pleasant enough.

"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," The Walker Brothers

Ditto.

"A Groovy Kind of Love," The Mindbenders

Now here's a Happy 60s classic.

"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," Bob Dylan

Uber Classic from the unique world of Robert Zimmerman.

There ya go, Bob!

Who says Bob Dylan has no sense of humor?

 

[The Old Mixer]

50 Years Ago This Week

April 11 – 2002 JE9, an asteroid estimated to be 650 feet (200 m) in diameter, passed within 140,000 miles (230,000 km) of Earth with a minimum miss distance of 0.20 LD, closer than the Moon (360,000 miles (580,000 km) at its perigee). The near-Earth asteroid is small enough that it would not be discovered until 21 years later by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) telescopic observatory.
April 12 – Palestinians retreat from Amman to the north of Jordan.

April 12 – Let It Be wins an Oscar in the Best Film Music (Original Song Score) category in the Academy Awards presentation.

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April 17

• The People's Republic of Bangladesh forms, under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, at Mujibnagor.
• Libya, Syria and Egypt sign an agreement to form a confederation.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Joy to the World," Three Dog Night
2. "What's Going On," Marvin Gaye
3. "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)," The Temptations
4. "She's a Lady," Tom Jones
5. "Another Day" / "Oh Woman, Oh Why", Paul McCartney
6. "Put Your Hand in the Hand," Ocean
7. "Me and Bobby McGee," Janis Joplin
8. "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted," The Partridge Family
9. "For All We Know," Carpenters
10. "One Toke Over the Line," Brewer & Shipley
11. "Proud Mary," Ike & Tina Turner
12. "I Am...I Said" / "Done Too Soon", Neil Diamond
13. "Never Can Say Goodbye," Jackson 5
14. "Wild World," Cat Stevens
15. "Help Me Make It Through the Night," Sammi Smith
16. "No Love at All," B.J. Thomas
17. "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story," Andy Williams
18. "What Is Life," George Harrison
19. "Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes," The 5th Dimension
20. "If," Bread
21. "Stay Awhile," The Bells
22. "Eighteen," Alice Cooper
23. "We Can Work It Out," Stevie Wonder
24. "Temptation Eyes," The Grass Roots
25. "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)," Daddy Dewdrop

27. "Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)," The Staple Singers
28. "Power to the People," John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
29. "Oye Como Va," Santana
30. "Blue Money," Van Morrison

32. "Timothy," The Buoys

34. "You're All I Need to Get By," Aretha Franklin
35. "Soul Power (Pt. 1)," James Brown

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

41. "Free," Chicago

45. "Love Her Madly," The Doors
46. "Here Comes the Sun," Richie Havens
47. "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo," Lobo
48. "Right on the Tip of My Tongue," Brenda & the Tabulations

50. "Lucky Man," Emerson, Lake & Palmer

57. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" / "Brand New Me", Aretha Franklin

59. "Layla," Derek & The Dominos

61. "I Don't Know How to Love Him," Helen Reddy
62. "Sweet and Innocent," Donny Osmond of The Osmonds

64. "Toast and Marmalade for Tea," Tin Tin

73. "Want Ads," The Honey Cone
74. "Superstar," Murray Head w/ The Trinidad Singers

85. "Albert Flasher" / "Broken", The Guess Who

87. "Treat Her Like a Lady," Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose

90. "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)," The Raiders

98. "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," Carly Simon

Leaving the chart:

• "Amos Moses," Jerry Reed (24 weeks)
• "Cried Like a Baby," Bobby Sherman (9 weeks)
• "One Bad Apple," The Osmonds (15 weeks)
• "Take Me Home, Country Roads," John Denver (1 week)
• "When You Dance I Can Really Love," Neil Young (1 week)

New on the chart:

"Albert Flasher," The Guess Who

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(#29 US)

"That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," Carly Simon

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(#10 US; #6 AC)

"Bridge Over Troubled Water," Aretha Franklin

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(#6 US; #40 AC; #1 R&B)

"Brand New Me," Aretha Franklin

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(#6 US, #1 R&B as double A-side w/ "Bridge Over Troubled Water"; #72 AC)


And new on the boob tube:

• Ironside, "Walls Are Waiting" (season finale)

_______

That's a toe tapper.

Not one of his bigger classics, but enjoyable in its own right if you ignore its similarity to "Uptight".

Pleasant enough.

Makes the elevator ride a little more bearable.

(Ugh, I can't even imagine getting in an elevator nowadays...)

Ditto.

Enjoyable in its own right if you ignore their similarity to that other Brothers act.

Now here's a Happy 60s classic.

Enjoyable in its own right if you forget that Phil Collins covered it in the '80s. Interestingly, the Mindbenders' version was also a cover...

Uber Classic from the unique world of Robert Zimmerman.

Surprising that this did so well as a single in a time so prudish...it must have been benefitting from that thing where people were still associating the term "stoned" with getting drunk.

On that note, I was reminded of the reason why the Shadows of Knight version of "Gloria" did better as a single than Them's original...the Shadows replaced the line "she comes to my room," which was considered too objectionable for radio.

 

[RJDiogenes]

"Albert Flasher," The Guess Who

Well, that was odd.

"That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," Carly Simon

This is a great song.

"Bridge Over Troubled Water," Aretha Franklin

That's a very different interpretation. Sounds nice enough, but the original is the original.

"Brand New Me," Aretha Franklin

Now this is the Aretha I want to hear.

(Ugh, I can't even imagine getting in an elevator nowadays...)

Think of it as a turbolift.

Enjoyable in its own right if you forget that Phil Collins covered it in the '80s.

Which I had.

Interestingly, the Mindbenders' version was also a cover...

Interesting indeed. I've never heard this version or of these ladies.

On that note, I was reminded of the reason why the Shadows of Knight version of "Gloria" did better as a single than Them's original...the Shadows replaced the line "she comes to my room," which was considered too objectionable for radio.

Amazing.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing

_______

Hogan's Heroes
"Rockets or Romance"
Originally aired April 4, 1971
Series finale

Three mobile rocket launchers are aimed at London and awaiting detonation, or destruction. With radio detection trucks patrolling the area and one rocket sitting inside Stalag 13, directing the Allied bombers could turn into a suicide mission. Timeline: Klink tells Hogan the Germans will stop the Allies from capturing Munich, which was captured in March 1945.

The prisoners are on a work detail filling shell holes when Major Heintzen (Norman Alden) drives up with a flat tire and insists that the prisoners change it...eventually threatening to shoot Hogan. But as Schultz and the others go to change it, it turns out that the Major is a contact, sharing intel with Hogan about the three mobile rocket launchers...one of which Hogan is tasked with finding. Then the launcher drives right past them to the stalag. The prisoners listen via coffee pot when Burkhalter visits to explain that the launcher will be used against England the next day. Mama Bear informs Hogan that they'll have to take out that launcher themselves. There's also the matter of having to radio the bombers to the other locations from a lookout shack, which is considered a suicide mission because of radio detection trucks in the area. Hogan volunteers, and his underground aide there turns out to be Lily Frankel (Marlyn Mason, reprising a role that she originally played in "Six Lessons from Madame LaGrange"). Back at the stalag, the prisoners try to gain access to their launcher in broad daylight by distracting Klink with food business, but Burkhalter gets on top of the situation.

Hogan uses the opportunity to get flirty with Lily, but as the bombers approach, their mission is stymied by the launchers not being in sight of the shack. When the prisoners contact Hogan for advice about taking out their launcher, Lily comes up with the idea of sabotaging its gyroscope. One of the trucks picks up their coded exchange with the bombers...with the prisoners hearing the news when Klink gets a call. More food business gets LeBeau and Carter close enough to use a magnetic device in a stove to mess with the gyroscope, while Newkirk and Baker go out into the woods with a transmitter to decoy the truck. Hogan and Lily watch as the bombers hit their targets, then are about to get on with other business when their saviors drop by the shack.

In the coda, Hogan is back in camp to activate the magnetic device himself as Klink launches the last rocket, only to watch it go wild and end up dropping in the vicinity of the Burkhalter's house.

I did not catch a reference to Munich, but it may have been cut for syndication.

And that's the end of the show, though I'll soon be getting back to those missed February episodes, after which I'll be circling back to the first season as delayed 55th anniversary viewing.

DISSS-missed!

_______

All in the Family
"The First and Last Supper"
Originally aired April 6, 1971
Season finale

Just as Archie is campaigning to keep black families out of the neighborhood, Edith accepts a dinner invitation from the Jeffersons.

The episode opens with Archie reading from the Bible over the dinner table because he and Mike are in the middle of an argument over evolution, which transitions to Mike and Gloria's criticism of the bad things done in God's name, which has Archie making repeated use of a racial slur in reference to the Vietnamese. After Archie leaves the room to shave, Lionel arrives to tell everyone that Edith accepted an invitation from the Jeffersons to come over for dinner, which Edith has clearly kept mum about. In addition to what you'd expect, the situation is complicated by Archie having tickets for a Mets game that night. When Archie comes down, Gloria breaks part of the news, and she and Edith try to explain the situation while remaining evasive about who's invited them to dinner. When the Jeffersons' name is finally dropped, it takes Archie a moment to realize who they are. Archie expresses his objections in ways that would never make it onto TV today, and brings up how he's been working with Jim McNabb on a petition to keep other black families out of the neighborhood. Archie calls Mrs. J with an excuse about Edith having a twisted ankle, following which Lionel promptly drops by again, plays Archie a bit by informing him that Mr. J isn't keen to break bread with "whitey" either, and maneuvers them into having the Jeffersons bring the dinner to the Bunker home.

Mike and Gloria prepare to leave for the Mets game, with Archie having some words about Gloria's hot pants. Mr. McNabb (Bill Benedict) comes by with the pledge as the Jeffersons are about to arrive, and Archie tries to rush him out the back door; but he's still there to witness Louise coming in with That's Not George (Mel Stewart), whom Edith invites to sit in Archie's chair. Not George finds the petition, making a crack about the Unwelcome Wagon. Not George also notices Archie's Apollo 14 ashtray and the debate commences with the subject of spending $20 billion to send people to the Moon to hit golf balls; which transitions into an argument over whether God and Jesus are white or black; which transitions into black athletes and back to white astronauts; and climaxes with a repeated exchange of raspberries between Archie and Mr. J. Edith is caught on her feet and confesses to the lie about her injury; and Louise in turn confesses that the Mr. J present is actually George's brother Henry...who informs Archie that George is at Shea Stadium catching the Mets game.

In the coda, Archie's reluctant to admit how much he enjoyed the dinner.

According to the mini-documentaries, Henry had to fill in for George because Norman Lear had Sherman Hemsley in mind to play George from the get-go, but he wasn't available for the episode.

_______

Adam-12
"Log 125: Safe Job"
Originally aired April 8, 1971
Season finale

Malloy and Reed investigate a series of safe jobs, which all seem to tie in with a retired safecracker (Michael O'Shea) who is taking care of his orphaned niece and nephew, and after a "tip" from him, finds the niece and nephew practicing his old tricks on another safe. The officers also investigate a woman whose baby was held hostage by her cousin (James Luisi) and forcing her to meet and steal from other men, after which the officers arrest the cousin and rescue the baby.

The episode goes straight into the officers getting their first call, about a 459 safecracking at a record store. (Album covers on display that I recognized, both recent, were American Beauty and Dylan's New Morning.) The method used on the safe matches a known perp who's now out of prison named Johnny Delaney. Following up on a suggestion from the detective on the scene, Reed and Malloy visit Delaney (Michael O'Shea), who lives in their patrol area. They find that he's now taking care of an orphaned niece and nephew, both tykes, and that they're currently pretending to be on vacation, which includes leaving papers and milk bottles in front of the house. Delaney takes great pride in his skill at his old craft, and he and Malloy tell Reed about how Malloy busted him years prior because he'd left his lunch pail at the site of one of his jobs, with his name and address in it! He tips them off to a nearby boutique that has a similar safe, which is the type that his signature method is used on.

Next the officers respond to a 415 fight at a motel, where they find a man with a bruised face who registered with a woman under obvious aliases. He's evasive at first, then identifies himself as Albert Cook (Charles Robinson), and tells of how a woman he brought there robbed him with the help of a male accomplice. He was willing to let the matter go until he noticed that they took a Saint Christopher medal that stopped a bullet for him back in 'Nam. They see the woman, Lisa Bonelli (Mary Angela), who tearfully tells them that the man she was working with, Antonio, brought her to America after the death of her husband (his distant cousin) to make her work for him by holding her baby hostage; and produces the medal, which she says she's been using to pray. The officers bring a couple of detectives with them to bust Antonio Minetti (James Luisi). Malloy finds the baby lying in an open drawer and returns her to her mother.

That night the officers scope out the boutique that Delaney told them about, and see a flashlight in use. After summoning backup and the shop's alarm service, they enter to find the safe job interrupted while in progress, and after searching for the culprits, pretend to both leave while Malloy stays behind in the dark. Delaney's niece and nephew, Denise and Danny (Victoria Paige Meyerink and Todd Starke), promptly come out of hiding to finish their work. When they're caught, they indicate that it's part of a game that they're playing with Uncle Johnny, which involves them hiding in stores until after closing time, and that the things they're taking belong to him. Delaney is intercepted coming to pick them up and arrested. He says that he was only doing it to get college money for the kids; and Malloy speculates that, as with the last time he was busted, Delaney signaled what the next job would be because he really wanted to get caught. The officers indicate that a good home will be found for the children.

_______

Well, that was odd.

Yeah.

This is a great song.

I find it all the more impressive with age and immersive retro context. Sort of a song of Boomer (more or less) growing pains, informed by the emerging Women's Lib movement. Note that it's the woman who has cold feet here, and how she'd like to get out on her own for a while rather than move from one dependent situation to another.

This is Carly's big breakout as a solo artist, but her professional musical career goes back to 1964, when she and sister Lucy had some modest success as a folk duo:

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That's a very different interpretation. Sounds nice enough, but the original is the original.

The rearrangement couldn't help giving me the impression that she'd rather have been singing a different song.

Now this is the Aretha I want to hear.

Also a cover, of Dusty Springfield's last Top 40 hit in '69, but done more straight up.

Think of it as a turbolift.

Only if McCoy's on it with his tricorder and medkit.

Interesting indeed. I've never heard this version or of these ladies.

Nor had I. From what I read, I don't think it was even released in the States.

 

[RJDiogenes]

In the coda, Hogan is back in camp to activate the magnetic device himself as Klink launches the last rocket, only to watch it go wild and end up dropping in the vicinity of the Burkhalter's house.

Interesting finale, and it makes me wonder if they knew it was the last episode when it was being put together. It was set close to the end of the war, so maybe so. But the return of a former guest star implies that they may have intended to bring her back as a recurring character, so maybe not-- or maybe they intended to imply that she and Hogan would get together after the war, but didn't. The close call with Burkhalter gave them a chance to kill him off. It's almost like they planned to make it more of a finale, but couldn't because the network or studio required that episodes be showable in any order. I'm probably just overthinking it, but it makes me think about what a M*A*S*H-style finale would have looked like.

he and Mike are in the middle of an argument over evolution

Mike and Gloria's criticism of the bad things done in God's name

Archie making repeated use of a racial slur

a petition to keep other black families out of the neighborhood.

Archie having some words about Gloria's hot pants.

the subject of spending $20 billion to send people to the Moon to hit golf balls

an argument over whether God and Jesus are white or black

black athletes and back to white astronauts

They really brought it all out for the final act.

According to the mini-documentaries, Henry had to fill in for George because Norman Lear had Sherman Hemsley in mind to play George from the get-go, but he wasn't available for the episode.

That's interesting. He was such a perfect counterpart to Archie, it was wise of Lear to wait for him. I'm having another Stretch Cunningham moment, because the way I remembered it, the other guy played George for a while, then they recast the part and explained it by saying that the real George didn't want to meet his White neighbors.

(Album covers on display that I recognized, both recent, were American Beauty and Dylan's New Morning.)

Hmm. Product placement or serendipity?

he and Malloy tell Reed about how Malloy busted him years prior

I love it when they meet an old buddy of Malloy who turns out to be somebody he busted.

Malloy finds the baby lying in an open drawer and returns her to her mother.

That's evidence! You should know better, Malloy!

That night the officers scope out the boutique that Delaney told them about, and see a flashlight in use.

Double shift, I guess.

I find it all the more impressive with age and immersive retro context. Sort of a song of Boomer (more or less) growing pains, informed by the emerging Women's Lib movement. Note that it's the woman who has cold feet here, and how she'd like to get out on her own for a while rather than move from one dependent situation to another.

Indeed, while also being written to express a more universal dissatisfaction with the conventional lifestyle. The song certainly spoke to me when I first heard it.

This is Carly's big breakout as a solo artist, but her professional musical career goes back to 1964, when she and sister Lucy had some modest success as a folk duo:

Interesting. Very folksy.

The rearrangement couldn't help giving me the impression that she'd rather have been singing a different song.

Only if McCoy's on it with his tricorder and medkit.

He's a doctor, not a damn elevator operator.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing Revisited

_______

The Mod Squad
"Child of Sorrow, Child of Light"
Originally aired March 18, 1969

Posing as an unwed expectant mother, Julie infiltrates an extortion racket that blackmails parents of adopted babies.

The episode opens with Trish Whalen (Fredricka Meyers), accompanied by a friend, Maryann (Heidi Vaughn), confronting Mr. and Mrs. Jackson (Foster Brooks and Claudia Bryar) about how she wants the baby that they've adopted back, though they thought they'd settled the matter through a lawyer. When the girls leave, their car explodes while a shady fellow looks on. Trish is killed, but Maryann is thrown clear and hospitalized, so Greer puts Julie in the hospital as a pregnant patient recovering from an attempted overdose of sleeping pills. Julie acts insular and edgy about being questioned by cops to draw out Maryann's talky side.

Meanwhile, Linc visits the Jacksons, who own a motel, posing as a credit & loan man to nose around. He meets their adopted infant son, Daniel, and catches a lawyer named Del Vecchio trying to call. Meanwhile, Pete catches a guy coming out of Bliss House, which Maryann is using as an address, tails him, and learns that his name is Phil Moreno. Greer identifies him as a racketeer with a history of assault and has him busted; and turns up that the owner of the house, Iris Potter (Ida Lupino), used to run a call girl racket. So Pete visits Potter posing as a colleague of Phil's looking for work.

Maryann talks, and clams up when the shady guy, Milo (Dan Travanty, a.k.a. Daniel J. Travanti), pops in to take her home, acting really creepy and overbearing. Maryann fearfully swears that she didn't talk to anyone. She also points Milo to Julie, thinking she'd fit in at the house, so Milo goes into creepy recruitment mode. Meanwhile, Linc visits the office of Del Vecchio (William Zuckert), pressing him for info about Will Jackson by claiming that Jackson listed Del Vecchio as a business reference. The lawyer claims never to have heard of Trish, but knows that she was a young lady. Greer, who's operating under the cover of running a used car lot for some reason, sends Linc to the house disguised as a repairman to place bugs. At the house, Pete greets Julie at the door, and Milo takes her to meet "Aunt Iris," who in turn takes her and Pete out in the field for a meeting with Del Schaeffer (Alan Baxter), a well-to-do man whose recently adopted baby is said to resemble Julie. Iris starts playing hardball with him about finalizing the adoption, presenting Julie as the baby's mother, who wants her back.

Pete and Julie report to Greer that with Pete's help, they milked Schaeffer for $10,000; and Greer tells them that Maryann's body was just found under a pier. Linc goes to work fake-checking the house wiring, and Del Vecchio visits to warn Iris about Linc's visit while he's there, though he avoids being spotted. Iris brings house physician Dr. Reston (Jim Boles) to examine Julie...so she confesses that she's not pregnant and improvises a story about how she was looking for a place to stay. They keep her in the scam, and when they leave to visit another client, Pete digs out Iris's ledger and runs through its contents while speaking in the bug...but is caught by the doctor, who sneaks up and chloroforms him, then calls Del Vecchio, turning him onto the news that Julie may be fuzz (having somehow figured that out for himself). At a park rendezvous, Iris pulls the same scam on the Washenskis (Fred Holliday and Susan Brown), and Mrs. W pleads with Julie very dramatically, bringing up a history of breakdowns, such that Julie blows the scam to reassure her that they won't take her baby. Iris and Milo start to drag Julie away when Del Vecchio arrives, with Greer and the boys in blue hot on his tail. Julie helps take Iris into custody and a brief park chase ensues in which Greer nabs Del Vecchio and Linc tackles Milo.

In the coda, the Mods commiserate by the park's lake about the unpleasantness of what they have to do for the job and wonder how the pregnant girls ended up in Bliss House, then do their walk-off.

_______


"The Night of the Cossacks"
Originally aired March 21, 1969

West and Gordon become involved in the affairs of the royal family of Karovnia who have traveled to the United States after fleeing from assassins in their homeland. The agents find themselves pursued by the evil Count Balkovitch, who is looking for an icon he needs to possess in order to hold power in Karovnia.

Jim makes a Vasquez Rocks rendezvous with the caravan of Prince Gregor of Karovnia (Guy Stockwell), but is attacked by some of his cavalry...as a test...while the sinister Count Balkovitch (John Van Dreelen) watches from afar. Jim is to escort Gregor and his party to the largely Russian settlement of New Petersburg. He meets Gregor's aunt, Duchess Sophia (Nina Foch), whose husband, the grand duke, was recently killed by Balkovitch; Gregor's sister, Princess Lina (Jennifer Douglas, a.k.a. Mary Frann), who was educated in Western Europe; and Captain Zaboff (Donnelly Rhodes) of Gregor's guard, whose dislike for West grows throughout the episode. Gregor and his party proceed to enjoy the hospitality of a successful Karovnian immigrant named Petrovsky (Oscar Beregi). Gregor's servant, Maria (Alizia Gur, the other fighting gypsy girl in From Russia with Love), dances on a table, which everyone enjoys but the prudish Lina, who makes a scene and causes Maria to run crying to the stable. Gregor goes after her and tries to comfort her...but is ambushed by several men in the rafters, and is rescued by Jim's intervention.

In New Petersburg, Artie pays a visit to the local sheriff (Norman Leavitt), who's anticipating from local scuttlebutt that blood's about to be spilled between Gregor's and Balkovitch's parties, and plans to keep his head low and stay out of it, to Artie's disdain. Back at Petrovsky's place, Gregor explains to Jim that he and Balkovitch are both after the sacred MacGuff...icon, which was brought to New Petersburg by Karovnia's bishop and would establish its holder as the rightful ruler. Balkovitch pays a social call to suggest a merger via marrying him to Lina, while Zaboff's men are drugged via spiked liquor. Artie hooks up with Jim and company, while Lina, lured outside by a note from somebody she knows, is abducted by Balkovitch, who tries to get the location of the icon out of her via branding iron. Jim intervenes, but ends up falling onto a ledge in a pit with boiling water below--what else are piton pistols for?

Gregor's party arrives in New Petersburg, where Gregor and Jim call upon Bishop Kucharyk (Ivan Triesault). After the prince and the bishop exchange a passphrase and engage in the customary joining of broken medallion halves, the bishop produces the icon. Soon afterward, Balkovitch offers a trade of Lina for the icon. Jim returns from an outing carrying an unconscious prisoner whom he says will reveal the traitor in Gregor's camp. This turns out to be a ruse to cause the traitor to expose themselves...and it proves to be Duchess Sophia, as Artie had already deduced from having the note translated. Jim sneaks into the upper level of Balkovitch's lodging while Artie distracts the count and his men by posing as the icon-bearing bishop. Jim frees Lina and a brawl ensues in which Jim and Obvious Artie Stunt Double mop up Balkovitch's men...with the sheriff showing up after it's over to take them into custody.

The coda finds Zaboff apologizing to Jim, and Gregor announcing his intention to marry Maria. The train does not appear in this episode.

Note that while we still have a couple of episodes to go in airdate order, this was the final episode of the series in production order.

_______

Interesting finale, and it makes me wonder if they knew it was the last episode when it was being put together. It was set close to the end of the war, so maybe so. But the return of a former guest star implies that they may have intended to bring her back as a recurring character, so maybe not-- or maybe they intended to imply that she and Hogan would get together after the war, but didn't. The close call with Burkhalter gave them a chance to kill him off. It's almost like they planned to make it more of a finale, but couldn't because the network or studio required that episodes be showable in any order. I'm probably just overthinking it, but it makes me think about what a M*A*S*H-style finale would have looked like.

I imagine that they knew it was the final season, but I think you are overthinking it. Proper series finales were a rare bird in those days, and they may not have known while it was in production that this would be the last episode aired. It played like any other episode, which is what I'd expect in this era.

They really brought it all out for the final act.

I wouldn't be surprised if in this case they knew this would be the season finale...it was definitely an event episode.

That's interesting. He was such a perfect counterpart to Archie, it was wise of Lear to wait for him. I'm having another Stretch Cunningham moment, because the way I remembered it, the other guy played George for a while, then they recast the part and explained it by saying that the real George didn't want to meet his White neighbors.

Henry might be back before the real George is revealed, I haven't checked.

Hmm. Product placement or serendipity?

I figured just authenticity.

That's evidence! You should know better, Malloy!

Double shift, I guess.

I was under the impression from previous episodes that their watch is from sometime in the afternoon into the night.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Greer, who's operating under the cover of running a used car lot for some reason

He's actually moonlighting.

Pete and Julie report to Greer that with Pete's help, they milked Schaeffer for $10,000

Greer realizes this is much better than the used-car gig.

Greer tells them that Maryann's body was just found under a pier.

Much less dramatic than blowing her up in a car. What was that all about, anyway?

the doctor, who sneaks up and chloroforms him

Four out of five TV doctors recommend chloroform.

In the coda, the Mods commiserate by the park's lake about the unpleasantness of what they have to do for the job and wonder how the pregnant girls ended up in Bliss House, then do their walk-off.

That's not the only thing I'm wondering about. Like why bother to use pregnant girls to run the scam when non-pregnant girls would work as well or better. And why Trish and Maryann were killed-- and why the first attempt was a flashy car bombing.

attacked by some of his cavalry...as a test...

Every week another test. I think his patience is being tested at this point.

(Jennifer Douglas, a.k.a. Mary Frann)

Joanna on Newhart.

and plans to keep his head low and stay out of it, to Artie's disdain.

Guy just hasn't been tested enough.

the sacred MacGuff...icon, which was brought to New Petersburg by Karovnia's bishop and would establish its holder as the rightful ruler.

The fabled Votus Electoricus.

Obvious Artie Stunt Double

He's still too sick to be an action hero.

The train does not appear in this episode.

It was out looking for work on Gunsmoke and Petticoat Junction.

Note that while we still have a couple of episodes to go in airdate order, this was the final episode of the series in production order.

They just loved showing things out of order.

I imagine that they knew it was the final season, but I think you are overthinking it.

My specialty.

I was under the impression from previous episodes that their watch is from sometime in the afternoon into the night.

I wonder if patrol cops really get follow-up assignments like that. It seems more like something that would be assigned to detectives.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing Revisited

_______

The Mod Squad
"Captain Greer, Call Surgery"
Originally aired April 1, 1969

Pete, Linc and Julie get undercover jobs in a hospital to block a narcotics robbery, while the hospital's head nurse was desperate to not get involved.

The story opens with the Mods already embedded in Metropolitan Hospital, and Greer making contact with ambulance driver Pete while pretending to be a visitor, carrying flowers. He also sees orderly Linc being chewed out by chief nurse Delores Sutton (Kim Hamilton)...who's then attacked by a hoodlum (an uncredited Charles Horvath) in the linen closet, but not too severely. Student nurse (I assume--like a candy striper outfit without the stripes) Julie rubs down terminal patient Mr. Butorac (David Opatoshu), and learns of his estranged relationship with his son, Mike (Solomon Sturges), who's also an orderly there. Greer questions Sutton in the office of the administrator (Willis Bouchey), who's in on the undercover operation to sniff out a potential narcotics robbery; and Linc starts to take a liking to Delores, who also runs a nursing school in Watts. A creepy man with glasses (Edward Andrews) approaches Sutton, who's apparently worked for him before but wants out.

Pete "gains the confidence" of a nurse named Holly (Sheilah Wells), but after he drops her off from a date, he hears her scream from outside and finds her comatose. Greer comes to investigate and dismisses Lt. Howard (Frank Schuller), who isn't in on the secret, so he can talk to Pete. At the hospital, we find that both attacks were to persuade Delores to cooperate...but Linc sees her with Mr. Glasses and figures that he's up to no good, and we see that he's using Mike as well. Delores pilfers the requested drugs and passes them to Mike, who delivers them down to the garage...all while Linc shadows them. Mike pockets some of the drugs, and leaves the bag, where it's picked up by the hood...who senses Linc following him, circles behind him, and gives him the TV Fu treatment.

Going through the book at HQ, Linc identifies his attacker as Ernie Sachs, a.k.a. Samson. Linc has told the other Mods, but not Greer, about Delores's involvement--DRINK! Back at the hospital, Julie learns that Butorac deserted his wife and son ten years earlier, but wants to reconcile before he dies. Holly recovers, and Pete shows her a picture of Sachs, but she doesn't recognize him. Linc visits Delores at home to ask her what's going on, trying to persuade her by describing speed addiction, and telling her what he saw at the hospital. When she's incredulous because he's just an orderly, he tosses her his ID. Now cooperative, she identifies the man with glasses as Vineland, who's been blackmailing her with a narco charge from her youth. What neither of them knows is that Sachs is bugging her apartment, and records their conversation.

Linc comes up missing, and Vineland confronts Delores about her conversation with Linc. Mike visits his father and talks to him as he's nearing the end, and Butorac is able to die satisfied, encouraging his son with his last words to to stand on his own feet as a man. Julie sees Mike suffering symptoms while grieving over the time he wasted not speaking to his father, and gets him help. Then Delores comes up missing, too, and Pete and Julie find her outside on the edge of the roof. Pete goes up to talk her down, asking her about Linc. She tells Pete that they've killed him, and they rush to the funeral home that Vineland runs, where Vineland's about to shoot Linc up with something and treat him to a complimentary service. Greer gets there in time with a couple of uniformed officers, and Pete arrives to chase the escaping Vineland back inside, taking him down quickly.

Delores steps down as chief nurse and leaves the hospital with Greer. Pete expresses his confidence to the others that she'll bounce back from this, and the Mods don't really walk off, they just start getting in the woodie as the camera zooms out.

_______


"The Night of the Plague"
Originally aired April 4, 1969

West deals with the kidnapping of the Governor's daughter while Gordon rushes to find Jim to inoculate him from the disease one of the criminals was carrying.

A stage is stopped to give Jim, not in his usual attire, a lift; then its passengers are mysteriously stranded in a town, while the stage proceeds with dummies inside and a Wells Fargo box, and is tailed by Jim. One indignant passenger (Lana Wood) sneaks aboard so she can get to Fort Cordovan. The coach driver, Ben (Steve Raines), stops to intervene in a lynching, and it turns out to be a ruse to rob the coach. Then Jim reveals himself, and has the upper hand on the whole gang of robbers until the girl unexpectedly pops out of the coach and is taken hostage. The gang rides off with her and the box, except for one bandit whom Jim shoots while for trying to get in a parting shot. Ben takes the bandit to a doctor and summons Artie. The doctor immediately inoculates Artie and Ben for Noguri's Syndrome, a rare Asian disease. The outlaw dies, but not before deliriously quoting Hamlet.

Colonel Richmond and a Mr. Guild from the territorial banking commission (John Hoyt) call on Artie at the train, but Artie can't make a move until he gets some info from Washington that will help him to determine where Jim might be. Elsewhere, the bandits open the box to find that it's a phony; and the girl attempts to bargain with them by revealing that she's the territorial governor's daughter, Averi Trent. A bandit is sent to the fort, but waylaid by Jim, and ends up falling to his death during the struggle, though Jim finds the ransom note that was on him. Jim proceeds to the bandits' camp and uses a telescoping, windup arrow-firing gadget to cause a diversion so that he can sneak into the other side of the camp and grab Averi, but she puts up a fight and he's caught by the bandits. Meanwhile, word of Averi's identity has gotten out, and the bandit leader (William Bryant) having also quoted from The Merchant of Venice indicates that the visiting Olympic theater troupe may be involved, so Artie proceeds to the town where they're playing.

Staking out a bar, Artie seizes an opening in the troupe, auditioning on the spot when they find their Falstaff too drunk to perform at an adjoining table; and then being persuaded by a gun when he acts uninterested. He searches the dressing room of the troupe leader, Malcolm Lansing (James Lanphier), and finds a dressing trunk with a false back that has loads of cash behind it. He also finds a signed photo that indicates that the bandit leader is Duncan Lansing, his brother. He then gives Malcolm a forged note from Duncan asking Malcolm to come meet him immediately. Back at the bandit camp, Averi continues to be treated as an honored guest by Duncan while Jim is trussed to a wagon wheel. Jim gets loose and takes Averi prisoner, riding off with her on a horse that rides up out of nowhere.

Averi accuses Jim of spoiling her plan, so he shows her the ransom letter, which threatens her death. As they continue to try to stay ahead of the bandits, Averi tells him that her fiance, Donald, is waiting at the fort. Figuring that the heat will soon be on them, the bandits abandon the pursuit to go their hideout, Red Rock Cave. Jim follows them to the cave and tussles with several guards outside, but the others come out armed. Then Malcolm rides up and Averi tries to get him to help, but they nab her and take her in the cave while the firefight continues. Artie rides up in their wake and immediately inoculates Jim. Jim sneaks in the cave and nabs Averi while Duncan and some of his men start to succumb to the disease. From behind cover, Jim and Artie clue them in to what's going on and persuade them to surrender in order to receive the serum; after which Averi burns their infected money.

In the coda, Donald arrives at the train to pick up Averi, causing Jim and Artie to do a double take, as he's played by Robert Conrad with a mustache.

_______

Much less dramatic than blowing her up in a car. What was that all about, anyway?

That's not the only thing I'm wondering about. Like why bother to use pregnant girls to run the scam when non-pregnant girls would work as well or better. And why Trish and Maryann were killed-- and why the first attempt was a flashy car bombing.

I wasn't 100% clear on how they normally operated or what was going on at the beginning, but I assume that their normal M.O. is to actually use pregnant girls because that's also where they get the babies from. Trish went back on the deal on her own because she actually did want her baby back.

It was out looking for work on Gunsmoke and Petticoat Junction.

The latter only had another year to go at this point.

I wonder if patrol cops really get follow-up assignments like that. It seems more like something that would be assigned to detectives.

Seems like the whole Delaney affair was on their own initiative, but yeah, it is the kind of thing that Malloy was lecturing Reed about early in Season 1.

 

[RJDiogenes]

A creepy man with glasses (Edward Andrews)

The greatest creepy man with glasses ever-- his tour de force is "Third From The Sun."

Pete "gains the confidence" of a nurse

Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Er... those days?

Linc has told the other Mods, but not Greer, about Delores's involvement--DRINK!

Holly recovers

Was she konked on the head or injected with something or what?

When she's incredulous because he's just an orderly

Well, that's a little condescending.

Then Delores comes up missing, too, and Pete and Julie find her outside on the edge of the roof.

Pretty messy way to go when you've got all those drugs-- not to mention inconsistent thematically.

where Vineland's about to shoot Linc up with something and treat him to a complimentary service.

Cute, but probably self-defeating evil-plan-wise.

Pete arrives to chase the escaping Vineland back inside, taking him down quickly.

Yeah, Edward Andrews was great, but not much of a physical threat.

A stage is stopped to give Jim, not in his usual attire, a lift; then its passengers are mysteriously stranded in a town

I think I saw this one before MeTV dropped the show, too.

Ben takes the bandit to a doctor and summons Artie.

So Ben is also Secret Service or somesuch? I was thinking it was cool that a random stagecoach driver would stop to intervene in a lynching.

they find their Falstaff too drunk to perform

I wonder if he was drinking Falstaff beer.

Back at the bandit camp, Averi continues to be treated as an honored guest by Duncan while Jim is trussed to a wagon wheel.

"Have things come full circle for our hero? Is this his final roll? Tune in tomorrow!"

Jim gets loose and takes Averi prisoner, riding off with her on a horse that rides up out of nowhere.

He's got a horse whistle in his utility belt.

In the coda, Donald arrives at the train to pick up Averi, causing Jim and Artie to do a double take, as he's played by Robert Conrad with a mustache.

Hmm. Seems like there was no setup for that. It also seems like it should have been "Night of the Shakespeareans" or "Night of the Governor's Daughter," rather than "Night of the Plague."

I wasn't 100% clear on how they normally operated or what was going on at the beginning, but I assume that their normal M.O. is to actually use pregnant girls because that's also where they get the babies from. Trish went back on the deal on her own because she actually did want her baby back.

Oh, so it was a Black Market Baby thing. I thought they were just scamming people who never met their baby donor, like they were doing with Julie.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing Revisited

_______


"The Night of the Tycoons"
Originally aired April 11, 1969
Series finale

West discovers that several members of the Jupiter Corporation have recently died. All were involved in a scheme to dump stock, cause a panic, and make tons of money off of the cheap stock.

Jim rides into Denver to pay a call on the offices of the Jupiter Corporation, and enters the boardroom just in time to foil an attempt to bomb it via a grinder monkey in a cavalry outfit who climbed in via the window. Afterward, chairman of the board Amelia Bronston (Jo Van Fleet) and her secretary, Kyra Vanders (Joanie Sommers), enter the room, and Bronston openly lampshades the suspicious timing. Jim tells of how two of the defense contractor's board members have already been killed and a letter indicating murder was received by President Grant. While she supports West's credentials, Bronston votes no on a motion to allow him a free hand in seeing to the board's security.

Jim later meets with a board member named Gorhan (Tol Avery), who admits to having written the letter. He tells Jim of how the two killed board members were planning to engage in a scheme to dump their stocks on the market to cause a panic; but a woman enters Jim's restaurant booth as a distraction while Gorhan is taken outside and killed. Some acrobatic, multi-story tussling ensues, but Jim loses. Jim then pays Bronston a visit via piton pistol and winch gadget after being denied entrance, and she explains her disdain of the board for their obstructionism while her deceased brother was building the corporation up. Their conversation is interrupted by her nephew Lionel's (Steve Carlson) boxing practice; and West gets on his bad side by revealing that he's using weighted gloves. Then he drops the bombshell that he believes Simon Bronston was also murdered.

This causes the Bronstons to come calling at the train, after which Amelia strongarms the board into accepting a motion to make Jim acting chairman to see to its security, and forces Lionel to assist him. After Jim proves who the alpha dog is between scenes, Lionel goes to work investigating the dump-and-panic scheme, and turns up an address used by several buyers. He checks the place out himself to find that it's a circus-themed bar, and ends up in a back room with several toughs. After getting the address from Kyra, who's seeing Lionel, Jim follows up and ends up attacked by an explosive ball-tossing trained seal, a pin-juggler, and a group of clowns (one of whom is Red West). Jim overcomes them all to find Lionel trussed up in the back room, and the two of them discover a replica of the Jupiter boardroom with dummies in the seats...except for a couple of people made up to look like dummies, who take them by surprise during the commercial.

With the help of an acid pellet in Jim's shoe, he and Lionel work together to free themselves from a deathtrap involving being tied in chairs with a large crossbow set to fire on them by means of a burning candle. They rush to the real boardroom just in time to save the board from a mass execution via machine gun, following which Amelia enters to reveal that she's the one behind it all, having been the secret brains behind the corporation while her brother was running it as her puppet, and that she was the one buying the stocks. She threatens to kill them all with a grenade, but backs into an accidentally open elevator shaft.

In the coda, Lionel visits the train to thank West, announce that he's been made the new chairman, and invite Jim to his and Kyra's wedding. Like Trek and That Girl, the series ends on a note of misogyny. Earlier in the episode, Jim had made a comment to Amelia about having issues with women who don't acknowledge that it's a man's world. His last line in the series is telling Lionel that "you gotta break these women in right".

In production order, this was the last episode before Ross Martin's return; but unlike the episode produced before it, there's no mention of Artie or his absence here.

_______

The greatest creepy man with glasses ever-- his tour de force is "Third From The Sun."

And I vaguely remembered him having popped up in something else recently...glancing over his credits, probably an H5O.

Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Er... those days?

The kid kops, at least. Solid.

Was she konked on the head or injected with something or what?

Beaten or strangled, I think. The idea was intimidation.

Well, that's a little condescending.

Oh, there was more where that came from. Their main bonding scene was on an elevator, in which she was speculating about how he seemed too good for pushing a broom. And for his part, he was affecting something of a laid-back slacker persona.

Pretty messy way to go when you've got all those drugs-- not to mention inconsistent thematically.

Eh, she was distraught, it was dramatic.

I think I saw this one before MeTV dropped the show, too.

Then it must have been someplace else, or much earlier when they'd previously run the episode.

So Ben is also Secret Service or somesuch? I was thinking it was cool that a random stagecoach driver would stop to intervene in a lynching.

That much wasn't clear.

"Have things come full circle for our hero? Is this his final roll? Tune in tomorrow!"

Same West-Time? Same West-Channel?

He's got a horse whistle in his utility belt.

I thought that might have come up before, but I didn't catch him using it. Actually, he has a utility Spanish-style jacket, whatever you call those things...except he wasn't wearing it this episode.

Hmm. Seems like there was no setup for that.

Indeed, there was no sign of recognition or acknowledgment of the resemblance on her part.

 

[RJDiogenes]

just in time to foil an attempt to bomb it via a grinder monkey in a cavalry outfit who climbed in via the window.

Did they have organ grinders in the Wild West?

a letter indicating murder was received by President Grant.

President Grant gets a lot of mail.

Jim follows up and ends up attacked by an explosive ball-tossing trained seal, a pin-juggler, and a group of clowns (one of whom is Red West).

The Circus of Crime! Where's Princess Python?

a deathtrap involving being tied in chairs with a large crossbow set to fire on them by means of a burning candle.

I'm a little surprised we weren't getting "Biff!" and "Pow!" during the fights at this point.

She threatens to kill them all with a grenade, but backs into an accidentally open elevator shaft.

And another villain defeats herself by taking a nasty fall.

Like Trek and That Girl, the series ends on a note of misogyny.

Sexism, not misogyny. Pet peeve. But at least it makes more sense in the context of a period piece than it does on feminist or futurist shows.

In production order, this was the last episode before Ross Martin's return; but unlike the episode produced before it, there's no mention of Artie or his absence here.

It's a real shame that the last episode that aired was missing Artie.

And I vaguely remembered him having popped up in something else recently...glancing over his credits, probably an H5O.

He was all over the place in those days. One of my favorite character actors.

Eh, she was distraught, it was dramatic.

Overthinking it again, I would have had her overdose while the bad guys shot up Linc, then parallel their emergency treatment, and have them meet up in recovery. More drama and some closure for their brief, episodic relationship, which they don't seem to have had.

Then it must have been someplace else, or much earlier when they'd previously run the episode.

Must be my memory playing tricks, because I don't think there was anyplace else showing it.

I thought that might have come up before, but I didn't catch him using it. Actually, he has a utility Spanish-style jacket, whatever you call those things...except he wasn't wearing it this episode.

He certainly manages to carry a lot of stuff with him.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing Revisited

_______

The Mod Squad
"The Girl in Chair Nine"
Originally aired September 23, 1969
Season 2 premiere

A mother receives a note that her daughter has been kidnapped, but the Squad soon discovers the girl was trying to cover up an illegal abortion.

So...how 'bout that Moon landing, huh?

The episode opens with "paragnost"/clairvoyant Dr. Eric Santos (Cesare Danova) in the college classroom of Professor Aaron Tanner (John Stephenson), reading impressions from numbered chairs of the students who will soon be randomly occupying them. His impressions are remarkably accurate--including of Julie, describing the double life she leads with two men in vague detail. Chair number 9 remains unoccupied, as he predicted. The missing student is Gail Whitney (Veronica Cartwright), and Santos has flashes of her tied up to a bed. At HQ, Julie is trying to get a skeptical Greer involved when he receives a call about a notification that Gail Whitney has been kidnapped, but without a ransom demand.

Greer doesn't want Santos involved, but Mrs. Whitney (Angela Greene) insists, and the psychic is able to describe a person of interest from impressions. Linc is assigned to tail Santos in a very efficient manner, by acting as his driver. Santos describes how he was an architectural engineer who gained his abilities after an auto accident, his first vision being of the murder of his wife and daughter. Then he receives more detailed flashes of the suspect, indicating that she's at a coffee house. Elsewhere, Julie hears from a fellow student, Barbara (Iris Rainer), that Gail's actually out of town dealing with a certain condition. Julie claims to be in the same condition (because she has experience playing that), and Barbara points her to the guy who made the arrangements for Gail, Tory Peterson (Gary Crabbe), who hangs out at a hip coffee house. Julie proceeds there and learns that her contact will be the proprietor, Big Mama (Sylvia Hayes), who perfectly matches Santos's description of the person of interest.

But back with Linc, Santos receives a psychic update that he was getting his women of interest mixed up, and the real one is now an older woman with a hearing aid. Julie arranges to bring Pete along to get her contact info, against Mama's wishes, as her baby daddy and source of funds. Outside the cafe, another student, Jerry Bronson (Robert R. Cannon), who frequents the bookstore across the street, tries frantically to stop Julie based on his religiously informed moral objections. When Julie and Pete go inside, he reports it to the woman who runs the bookstore (Lillian Bronson)...who matches Santos's updated flashes. As Mama is making back-room bus travel arrangements to a location south of the border, Tory comes knocking, desperate to know what happened to Gail as she never checked into the Mexican hotel that's the final destination in the chain. As things gets heated, Julie calls in Greer, and he and the boys in blue take everyone in for questioning.

Meanwhile, Santos gets more flashes in bed and calls Linc for service in the middle of the night. They're still riding around in the morning when Santos realizes that they've been circling the location of interest. Linc calls Julie with details of the envisioned book shop near a coffee house; then he and Santos locate it. The wheelchair-bound bookstore proprietor identifies herself as Jerry's Aunt Margaret, who acts guileless and indicates that Jerry may be upstairs. But Santos doesn't ring for him with the pull-rope, sensing that Gail is up there, instead opting to call Greer...and we see that Jerry is upstairs, with Gail tied and gagged on his brass bed. It turns out that the baby is his, and he's trying to prevent her from getting the abortion, and is trying to persuade her to marry him instead...though she's understandably resistant to that option. Then he resolves to take her to Mexico, and chloroforms her...cuz yeah, he keeps chloroform in his bedroom with his brass bed and ropes.

Linc drops his cover to persuade Greer to come running with the boys; and he and Santos decide to bust the joint while they're waiting. Linc breaks in upstairs while Jerry is trying to quietly carry Gail downstairs, where he grabs some cash and a gun from the cash register, but makes enough noise that Auntie M hears him, and then finds himself surrounded by Santos and Linc. He escapes with Julie to his car and is pursued by Greer and his men. When they run him down, Greer tries to reason with him, but Santos intuits that Jerry's gun isn't loaded, boldly approaches him, and is proven right.

After Greer declares that Jerry will probably be getting psychiatric help and Gail may be granted a legal abortion, he, Santos and the Mods do a walk-off outside the bookshop.

I'm all for more concise and less spoilerish Wiki descriptions, but the contributor might have mentioned that there was a psychic in the episode. The most unintentionally funny moment was when Santos called Linc in middle of the night, and Linc delivered the standard "Who is this?". How could you be working every day with a guy played by Cesare Danova and not recognize his voice when he calls? Linc must've been pretty out of it!

_______

The Mod Squad
"My Name Is Manolete"
Originally aired September 30, 1969

The Squad "adopts" a 9-year-old Mexican waif who has been abandoned by a gang of American thieves.

The episode opens with an adult man (Rex Holman) boosting a small, barefoot, Latino boy (Fabian Gregory) through a transom window to open the door of a jeweler's shop. While the man is robbing the place, the boy accidentally trips an alarm. The man immediately splits to get away with the driver (Bruce Watson); but the boy lingers like a deer caught in the headlights and is seen by the proprietor (Hal Smith) when comes downstairs. The boy then flees and hides in a nearby vehicle...which just happens to be the non-woodie station wagon that the Mods are using this week. They drive back to Julie's after a Chinese dinner with Greer, and Pete finds the boy in the back hiding under Julie's sweater. A lighthearted tussle ensues, with the boy putting up a good fight against Pete and Linc combined. After they carry him inside, the boy pretends not to understand English, though Pete speaks Spanish and the boy gives himself away early, so they make a point of saying things in English to get reactions out of him. He tells them that his name is Manolete and claims that he ran away from a cruel aunt named Lupe Lopez who lives in Long Beach. Julie agrees to let him stay the night, though Linc deduces from his own childhood experience that Manolete's story isn't true because his callouses indicate that he's never had shoes, and thus has no family. Manolete sneaks in a call at night to the burglars, and the one who was in the shop, Jonah, tells him to stay put and not say anything.

Pete and Linc come by in the morning with Manolete's clothes cleaned and a new pair of shoes for him. He admits to having lied to them about his aunt, but still doesn't tell them the truth. They take him to the rooming house of a Lupe Lopez in Long Beach (Alma Beltran), who has a strong negative reaction to him and says that she's not his family...and we see that Jonah and his partner are watching from their room upstairs. The Mods then take Manolete for a picnic and some kite-flying in the park, and call Greer to come, planning to tell him at first...but Greer talks about how he's been investigating the series of jewelry store robberies, and when he tells them about the jeweler having seen a small Mexican boy, they clam up. However, Manolete promptly runs up and outs himself, and Greer plays it cool.

Over a surprisingly good dinner prepared by Manolete at Julie's, Greer tries to get info out of him without letting on what it's about, and the boy admits to being a thief who was caught by the two hombres while stealing their hubcaps. Greer tells the Mods that even if charges are dropped against Manolete, he's liable to be deported unless they can get him adopted. Pete and Linc go back to the rooming house to bribe information about the burglars from Lopez. She identifies them as Jonah and Marv Richmond, but afterward tells her tenants about it, so the Richmonds determine that they have to silence the kid.

Greer contacts a couple he knows who already have nine adoptees, Paul and Nora Stedman (Paul Sorensen and Jeane Byron), who have the extended Mod family come to their ranch for Thanksgiving...though neither Manolete nor the Mods are happy that they're not having the more intimate dinner among amigos that they'd been planning. The Stedmans take to Manolete despite his antisocial behavior, but he finds out why he's there from one of the other kids, Leon (Eric Lee), and runs away, feeling that he's been betrayed by his amigos. The Mods return to Julie's to find that Manolete left the shoes there, while the boy returns to the rooming house. Jonah and Marv try to beat info out of the boy, so he makes a run for it, and the Mods arrive in time to intervene in the chase. A playground brawl ensues with Pete and Linc taking the Richmonds down.

In the coda, the Mods visit the Stedman ranch after Manolete's been living there for a month, and find that he's well-adjusted to his new family. He also admits to one last lie, that his real name is Pepe. Their relationship with the boy have been informed by their own broken home experiences, the Mods are disappointed to find that they're no longer the closest thing he's had to a family, and do a ranch walk-off to their wagon.

_______

Did they have organ grinders in the Wild West?

A quick search indicates that they were around then, so I don't see why not in a city like Denver. I read that they became especially common in New York City around 1880 because of Italian immigration.

President Grant gets a lot of mail.

Indeed. He should have stepped down from national office and gotten a syndicated column.

The Circus of Crime! Where's Princess Python?

I'm a little surprised we weren't getting "Biff!" and "Pow!" during the fights at this point.

Is any of this Wild Wilder than in earlier seasons? I guess I'll find out soon enough.

And another villain defeats herself by taking a nasty fall.

Contrived to keep our heroes gentlemanly.

Sexism, not misogyny. Pet peeve.

I'll buy that. I always thought the term "misogyny" had become overapplied, but that's what rolled off my keyboard thanks to common exposure.

 

[RJDiogenes]

So...how 'bout that Moon landing, huh?

Mods on the Moon? Ah, The Moon Squad. There's a name for a show.

Greer doesn't want Santos involved, but Mrs. Whitney (Angela Greene) insists

So Mrs Whitney couldn't find Gail, hired a psychic to read the classroom, Julie was there when he did it, tried to get Greer to investigate based on that but he wouldn't, then Mrs Whitney called in the kidnapping based on the psychic's findings, and they're going with that?

Santos describes how he was an architectural engineer who gained his abilities after an auto accident, his first vision being of the murder of his wife and daughter.

Hmmm.

Santos receives a psychic update that he was getting his women of interest mixed up

I must be psychic.

As Mama is making back-room bus travel arrangements to a location south of the border

Wouldn't that make it legal?

Then he resolves to take her to Mexico, and chloroforms her...cuz yeah, he keeps chloroform in his bedroom with his brass bed and ropes.

And yet, Love, American Style keeps rejecting his scripts.

Santos intuits that Jerry's gun isn't loaded, boldly approaches him, and is proven right.

All this seems to imply that psychic powers exist in the Modverse.

Santos and the Mods do a walk-off outside the bookshop.

Each carrying an Edgar Cayce paperback.

How could you be working every day with a guy played by Cesare Danova and not recognize his voice when he calls? Linc must've been pretty out of it!

He was dreaming sweet dreams.

through a transom window

There's something you don't see anymore.

Julie agrees to let him stay the night

So unwise in so many ways.

when he tells them about the jeweler having seen a small Mexican boy, they clam up.

Drink!

so the Richmonds determine that they have to silence the kid.

That kind of turns the corner on this pair.

he finds out why he's there from one of the other kids, Leon (Eric Lee), and runs away, feeling that he's been betrayed by his amigos.

He doesn't want to be adopted or he misunderstands their intentions?

Jonah and Marv try to beat info out of the boy

These guys need to fall off a cliff or down an elevator shaft.

He also admits to one last lie, that his real name is Pepe.

They should have done that the other way around.

Their relationship with the boy have been informed by their own broken home experiences, the Mods are disappointed to find that they're no longer the closest thing he's had to a family, and do a ranch walk-off to their wagon.

Well, Julie's been practicing being pregnant....

A quick search indicates that they were around then, so I don't see why not in a city like Denver. I read that they became especially common in New York City around 1880 because of Italian immigration.

Yeah, it seems like an urban, back East kind of thing. Interesting.

Indeed. He should have stepped down from national office and gotten a syndicated column.

There's an interesting alternate universe.

Is any of this Wild Wilder than in earlier seasons? I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Maybe I'm just noticing it more. It's definitely Wilder than season one, but it was probably a gradual Wilding process.

Contrived to keep our heroes gentlemanly.

That was my thought, but then I remembered the guy who adopted his arch enemy's identity went off the cliff.

 

[The Old Mixer]

55 Years Ago This Week

April 17 – In one of the better known unidentified flying object (UFO) cases of the decade, two deputies with the Sheriff's office of Portage County, Ohio, Dale Spaur and W.L. Neff, were investigating a traffic accident at 5:00 a.m., when they were alerted by the dispatcher that there was an unknown object heading toward their vicinity. Spaur, a U.S. Air Force pilot during the Korean War, would say later that he saw a circular object that he estimated at 30 feet in diameter, 1,000 feet off of the ground. He and Neff then followed it for 85 miles from Atwater, Ohio, being joined by other lawmen as they crossed into Pennsylvania, before losing track of it at the town of Freedom. On the same morning, police in Benton Harbor, Michigan received reports about UFO sightings as well. Sadly, Spaur would lose his job and his marriage, and he and the other persons involved in the chase would be ridiculed by the public.
April 18

• The Cultural Revolution was officially proclaimed in the People's Republic of China, with the publication of the government announcement that gave the name that would define the era of upheaval. The official People's Liberation Army daily newspaper, Jiefangjun Bao published a front-page editorial with the title "Hold High the Great Red Banner of Mao Tse-tung's Thought, and Actively Participate in the Great Socialist Cultural Revolution".
• China declares that it will stop economic aid to Indonesia.
• The first official sporting event ever played on AstroTurf, the original artificial turf made to resemble grass, took place at the Houston Astrodome in Texas. Originally, the turf was installed only in the infield. Astros outfielder Jimmy Wynn would later comment, "You could already feel the difference in how quickly the ball moved when it took its first good roll or hard bounce off that surface. It occurred to me that big changes were coming." The visiting Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Houston Astros in that game, 6-3. The Dodgers and the Astros had previously been the first to test the turf in a preseason exhibition game on March 19.
• The Sound of Music, which had already broken the record for highest grossing motion picture, earned five Oscars out of ten nominations, including the award for Best Picture, at the 38th Academy Awards.

April 19 – Bobbi Gibb becomes the first woman to run the Boston Marathon.
April 21

• An artificial heart is installed in the chest of Marcel DeRudder in a Houston, Texas, hospital.
• The opening of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is televised for the first time.
• Haile Selassie visits Jamaica for the first time, meeting with Rasta leaders.
• Moors murders: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley go on trial at Chester Crown Court in north west England for the murders of 3 children who vanished between November 1963 and October 1965.

April 23 – Aerial combat in the Vietnam War entered a new phase as the North Vietnamese Air Force sent its first MiG-21 to fight against U.S. Air Force bombers. Two B-66 Destroyers were being escorted to their mission by a flight of F-4 Phantoms when the MiG-21, faster and better armed than previous North Vietnamese jets, came in behind them. Despite attempts by one of the F-4s to shoot down the MiG-21, neither side struck the other during the first mission.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration," The Righteous Brothers
2. "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)," Cher
3. "Secret Agent Man," Johnny Rivers
4. "Daydream," The Lovin' Spoonful
5. "Time Won't Let Me," The Outsiders
6. "Good Lovin'," The Young Rascals
7. "Kicks," Paul Revere & The Raiders
8. "Sloop John B," The Beach Boys
9. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," B. J. Thomas & The Triumphs
10. "Monday, Monday," The Mamas & The Papas
11. "A Sign of the Times," Petula Clark
12. "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)," The Isley Brothers
13. "Nowhere Man," The Beatles
14. "19th Nervous Breakdown," The Rolling Stones
15. "Leaning on the Lamp Post," Herman's Hermits
16. "Gloria," The Shadows of Knight

18. "Shapes of Things," The Yardbirds
19. "California Dreamin'," The Mamas & The Papas
20. "Little Latin Lupe Lu," Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
21. "Sure Gonna Miss Her," Gary Lewis & The Playboys
22. "Homeward Bound," Simon & Garfunkel
23. "Woman," Peter & Gordon
24. "What Now My Love," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
25. "Try Too Hard," The Dave Clark Five
26. "Somewhere," Len Barry
27. "Spanish Flea," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
28. "Frankie and Johnny," Elvis Presley
29. "Together Again," Ray Charles

31. "Rhapsody in the Rain," Lou Christie
32. "Message to Michael," Dionne Warwick
33. "634-5789 (Soulsville U.S.A.)," Wilson Pickett
34. "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," Nancy Sinatra

36. "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog," Norma Tanega
37. "Caroline, No," Brian Wilson
38. "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," Bob Dylan
39. "Magic Town," The Vogues

41. "You Baby," The Turtles
42. "Eight Miles High," The Byrds
43. "Baby Scratch My Back," Slim Harpo
44. "Love Makes the World Go Round," Deon Jackson

47. "Satisfaction," Otis Redding

49. "How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?," Nancy Sinatra

52. "A Groovy Kind of Love," The Mindbenders
53. "When a Man Loves a Woman," Percy Sledge

56. "I'll Take Good Care of You," Garnet Mimms

60. "Nothing's Too Good for My Baby," Stevie Wonder

62. "Love's Made a Fool of You," Bobby Fuller Four

65. "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," The Walker Brothers

81. "(I'm a) Road Runner," Jr. Walker & The All-Stars

93. "The More I See You," Chris Montez
94. "Gloria," Them
95. "Hold On! I'm Comin'," Sam & Dave

97. "Double Shot (of My Baby's Love)," Swingin' Medallions
98. "Dirty Water," The Standells
99. "Come On Let's Go," The McCoys
100. "Barefootin'," Robert Parker

Leaving the chart:

• "Elusive Butterfly," Bob Lind (13 weeks)
• "Listen People," Herman's Hermits (9 weeks)
• "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)," Four Tops (9 weeks)

Re-entering the chart:

"Gloria," Them
(charted May 22, 1965, reaching #93 US; reaches #71 US this run; #208 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)


New on the chart:

"Hold On! I'm Comin'," Sam & Dave

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(#21 US; #1 R&B)

"Double Shot (of My Baby's Love)," Swingin' Medallions

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(#17 US)

"Dirty Water," The Standells

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(#11 US)

"Barefootin'," Robert Parker

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(#7 US; #2 R&B; #24 UK)

"How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?," Nancy Sinatra

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(#7 US; #19 UK)


And new on the boob tube:

• The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 18, episode 31
• Branded, "Cowards Die Many Times"
• Batman, "The Bookworm Turns"
• Batman, "While Gotham City Burns"
• Gilligan's Island, "Mr. and Mrs. ???"
• The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Sudden Plague" (season finale)
• Hogan's Heroes, "The Flame Grows Higher"
• Get Smart, "Shipment to Beirut"

_______

Mods on the Moon? Ah, The Moon Squad. There's a name for a show.

Stan prefers The Miraculous Moon Mods.

So Mrs Whitney couldn't find Gail, hired a psychic to read the classroom, Julie was there when he did it, tried to get Greer to investigate based on that but he wouldn't, then Mrs Whitney called in the kidnapping based on the psychic's findings, and they're going with that?

Nonono...he wasn't hired first, he was at the classroom on a speaking tour gig (said to be promoting a book by the skeptical Greer). He read the chairs before class, while they were empty, and the professor recorded what he said. Then the class came in, chose their own chairs, and the tape was played, with his impressions from three chairs, identified by their numbers. Nobody in the class knew that Gail had been kidnapped except Jerry; and the one girl knew she'd be absent because she was getting an abortion, but didn't tell the class. Mrs. Whitney got a note about Gail (apparently a ruse on Jerry's part), but without a ransom demand. Santos apparently showed up at Whitney's place on his own (and was said to have worked with the police before in other cities), and she was a believer.

Hmmm.

They were killed in a violent uprising while he was out of town; he had the accident while trying to rush back home.

And yet, Love, American Style keeps rejecting his scripts.

TV wasn't ready for that yet!

All this seems to imply that psychic powers exist in the Modverse.

Indeed...no attempt was made to make him look fraudulent in the episode, and we were omnisciently privy to his very accurate visions.

So unwise in so many ways.

Fairly innocent in those days.

Drink!

Well...at least they were planning to tell Greer before they found out the kid was involved in a crime.

He doesn't want to be adopted or he misunderstands their intentions?

At the time, he wanted the Mods to be his family.

These guys need to fall off a cliff or down an elevator shaft.

Who needs that when Linc and Pete can do the job...? (And their stunt doubles can do dramatic leaps off playground equipment, of course.)

They should have done that the other way around.

He chose his alias in an attempt to intimidate the Mods, as it was the name of a famous bullfighter.

There's an interesting alternate universe.

Ask President Carter - SNL - YouTube

Maybe I'm just noticing it more. It's definitely Wilder than season one, but it was probably a gradual Wilding process.

Everything after Season 1 was Wilder, because it was The Wild Wild West...IN COLOR!

That was my thought, but then I remembered the guy who adopted his arch enemy's identity went off the cliff.

Well, he was an elder fellow. They may have also been attempting to evoke Holmes's fake death.

 

[RJDiogenes]

"Hold On! I'm Comin'," Sam & Dave

This is a good one.

"Double Shot (of My Baby's Love)," Swingin' Medallions

This is okay.

"Dirty Water," The Standells

This is a fave.

"Barefootin'," Robert Parker

Fun, Summery song.

"How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?," Nancy Sinatra

Yeah, boots, walking, we get it.

Stan prefers The Miraculous Moon Mods.

I like it.

Nonono...he wasn't hired first, he was at the classroom on a speaking tour gig (said to be promoting a book by the skeptical Greer).

Ah, okay, I get it.

Fairly innocent in those days.

True.

Well...at least they were planning to tell Greer before they found out the kid was involved in a crime.

It's not like they're cops or anything.

At the time, he wanted the Mods to be his family.

Aww. He could have been their Rick Jones or Snapper Carr.

Who needs that when Linc and Pete can do the job...? (And their stunt doubles can do dramatic leaps off playground equipment, of course.)

Yeah, but they can't send them to their poetically just deaths.

He chose his alias in an attempt to intimidate the Mods, as it was the name of a famous bullfighter.

Oh, cool.

Ask President Carter - SNL - YouTube

That's great. A man of the people.

Everything after Season 1 was Wilder, because it was The Wild Wild West...IN COLOR!

I consider myself fortunate to have been alive when scientists discovered color.

Well, he was an elder fellow. They may have also been attempting to evoke Holmes's fake death.

That's exactly why I thought they were planning to bring him back.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50 Years Ago This Week

April 19

• The government of Bangladesh flees to India.
• Sierra Leone becomes a republic.
• The first space station in Earth's history, Salyut 1, was launched by the Soviet Union from Baikonur at 6:40 in the morning local time (0140 UTC).
• Judge Charles H. Older followed the March 29 sentencing recommendation of a jury and sentenced all four defendants in the Tate–LaBianca murders — Charles Manson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten — to execution. The U.S. Supreme Court would find the death penalty to be unconstitutional and the four defendants' sentences would be reduced to life imprisonment.

April 20

• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education: The Supreme Court of the United States rules unanimously that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation.
• Cambodian Prime Minister Lon Nol resigns, but remains effectively in power until the next elections.

April 21

• Siaka Stevens is elected the first president of Sierra Leone.
• François Duvalier, president of Haiti, dies; his son Jean-Claude Duvalier follows him as president-for-life.

April 23

• The Rolling Stones' album Sticky Fingers was released.

• Soyuz 10 was launched by the Soviet Union with cosmonauts Vladimir Shatalov, Aleksei Yeliseyev and Nikolai Rukavishnikov at 5:54 in the morning from Baikonur (2354 UTC April 22) as the first mission in human history to an orbiting space station.
• New York City became the first government in the United States to require that a definitive expiration date be placed on packages of perishable foods. While food distributors had information printed on packages to allow store managers to determine the date of shipment of an article of food as part of knowing when to withdraw it from the shelf), these had been in the form of "codes indecipherable to the average shopper." Violations of the law were punishable by fines ranging from $25 to $250.
• Vietnam Veterans Against the War, led by former U.S. Navy Lieutenant and future U.S. Senator John F. Kerry, concluded a week-long protest against continued U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War with a group of about 700 veterans throwing away their medals and other recognition for Vietnam service.

April 24

• The Soyuz 10 cosmonauts made the first ever attempt by a spacecraft to dock with a space station, achieving a partial docking with Salyut 1 at 01:47 UTC (4:47 a.m. Moscow time). For the next five and a half hours, the Soyuz 10 crew tried to complete the docking so that they could form the secure airlock necessary to safely board the station, then spent more time trying to extricate the Soyuz craft so that it could return to Earth.
• Five hundred thousand people in Washington, D.C. and 125,000 in San Francisco march in protest against the Vietnam War.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Joy to the World," Three Dog Night
2. "What's Going On," Marvin Gaye
3. "Put Your Hand in the Hand," Ocean
4. "Never Can Say Goodbye," Jackson 5
5. "Another Day" / "Oh Woman, Oh Why", Paul McCartney
6. "I Am...I Said" / "Done Too Soon", Neil Diamond
7. "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)," The Temptations
8. "If," Bread
9. "She's a Lady," Tom Jones
10. "Stay Awhile," The Bells
11. "One Toke Over the Line," Brewer & Shipley
12. "Me and Bobby McGee," Janis Joplin
13. "For All We Know," Carpenters
14. "We Can Work It Out," Stevie Wonder
15. "Power to the People," John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
16. "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted," The Partridge Family
17. "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)," Daddy Dewdrop
18. "Help Me Make It Through the Night," Sammi Smith
19. "Wild World," Cat Stevens
20. "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story," Andy Williams
21. "Eighteen," Alice Cooper
22. "No Love at All," B.J. Thomas
23. "Proud Mary," Ike & Tina Turner
24. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" / "Brand New Me", Aretha Franklin

26. "Timothy," The Buoys
27. "I Don't Blame You at All," Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
28. "Temptation Eyes," The Grass Roots
29. "Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes," The 5th Dimension
30. "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo," Lobo

32. "Oye Como Va," Santana
33. "What Is Life," George Harrison

37. "Love Her Madly," The Doors
38. "Blue Money," Van Morrison
39. "Here Comes the Sun," Richie Havens

44. "Soul Power (Pt. 1)," James Brown
45. "Right on the Tip of My Tongue," Brenda & the Tabulations
46. "Sweet and Innocent," Donny Osmond of The Osmonds

48. "Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)," The Staple Singers
49. "Lucky Man," Emerson, Lake & Palmer

55. "Layla," Derek & The Dominos
56. "Toast and Marmalade for Tea," Tin Tin

58. "I Don't Know How to Love Him," Helen Reddy
59. "Want Ads," The Honey Cone

63. "Superstar," Murray Head w/ The Trinidad Singers

72. "Treat Her Like a Lady," Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose

74. "Albert Flasher" / "Broken", The Guess Who

80. "I Don't Know How to Love Him," Yvonne Elliman

83. "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)," The Raiders

95. "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," Carly Simon
96. "Don't Knock My Love, Pt. 1," Wilson Pickett

Leaving the chart:

• "Free," Chicago (9 weeks)
• "You're All I Need to Get By," Aretha Franklin (9 weeks)

New on the chart:

"I Don't Know How to Love Him," Yvonne Elliman

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(#28 US; #15 AC)

"Don't Knock My Love, Pt. 1," Wilson Pickett

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(#13 US; #1 R&B)

_______

55th Anniversary Fly-on-the-Wall Listening

A delightful excerpt from the April 20, 1966, session at Abbey Road:

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And a seasonal offering for American flies on April 21:

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_______

This is a good one.

Yep...they've got that good, driving sound. And I now associate them with their namesakes on Dark Shadows.

This is okay.

It's got a good oldies radio vibe.

This is a fave.

Who'da thunk?

Fun, Summery song.

It's in my "Summer!" playlist.

Yeah, boots, walking, we get it.

Yeah, she seems to have disregarded Robert Parker's advice and left 'em on for this one. Still, it's kinda catchy.

It's not like they're cops or anything.

Cops with hearts, social conscience, parental issues, and all that stuff.

Aww. He could have been their Rick Jones or Snapper Carr.

Yeah, but they can't send them to their poetically just deaths.

Oh, cool.

I should add that overall, this was a lighthearted episode that focused more on the boy's developing relationship with the Mods than on the crime that he was involved in. The beating him for info amounted to hearing some offscreen smacking through a window. And it's still more satisfying to see Linc and Pete whalin' into the baddies than to have them fall into the abyss of contrivance.