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55.5th-ish Anniversary Viewing
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The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 18, episode 7
Originally aired October 24, 1965
As represented in
The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show
All of these segments were kept together in the same
Best of installment. Most of the clips below from the Sullivan account are listed as being from June 19, 1966. Metacritic doesn't have an episode listed for that date; I suspect that it may have been the rerun date of this episode.
Ed said:
Now ladies and gentlemen, here is His Royal Highness, the Duke of Ellington, who's been sitting on top of the world ever since he learned to play piano back in Washington, DC. So let's have a wonderful reception for...THE DUKE!
This first number shown by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra is listed as "The Opener"; according to Metacritic, it was part of the medley further below. It's an up-tempo bit of business that prominently features the trumpet player.
Ed said:
Here are...Herman’s Hermits!
Baby-faced Peter Noone and the other Hermits perform their current hit "Just a Little Bit Better," which is slipping out of the Top 10 this week.
Ed said:
Wonderful recording stars, the Smothers Brothers.
The
Best of segment includes a routine before the song about how Tommy got a chicken instead of a dog from their mom; but doesn't show some of the joking during the song in the clip below; which in turn seems to be edited to end early, as it doesn't show them taking their bow and Ed bringing them over.
According to Metacritic, they also did a number called "Lonesome Traveler".
Ed said:
The magnificent Manuela Vargas, so let's have a pleasant reception for them.
The
Best of segment of this Spanish Flamenco dancer both starts and ends earlier than the clip below.
Recycled Ed said:
Let's have a wonderful reception for...THE DUKE!
Duke & His Orchestra perform what Metacritic lists as a medley consisting of "Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Caravan," and "Satin Doll". I caught "Satin Doll" in the
Best of edit, but not "Don't Get Around Much Anymore"; I'm not familiar with the other two numbers, but it did sound like they did two other distinct pieces.
Next Ed introduces Los Angeles mayor Samuel W. Yorty for an audience bow. According to Metacritic, this was the sixth of six shows broadcast from Hollywood; though the
Best of installment deceptively has the announcer at the beginning saying that the show is from New York.
Ed said:
Now here is a fine acrobatic act...!
The act is the Hardy Family, consisting of a father and his three daughters:
This clip uses different music from the
Best of installment, which has one of their standard pieces for acrobats, plate spinners, and such. Both sources seem to show the same, full performance.
Ed said:
The great Duke Ellington!
The Duke closes the
Best of installment with his 1941 classic, "The the 'A' Train," which is said to be his signature tune.
Other performances according to Metacritic:
- Herman's Hermits, "Jezebel"
- Marvin Gaye, "Take This Heart of Mine"
(charts May 21, 1966; #44 US; #16 R&B; #56 UK; this would seem to work better with the June 19 date...)
- Richard Pryor "imitates the Ali vs. Liston fight and kids in a school play"
(Damn he looks young here! If this was in October '65, he was going on 25.)
- Myron Cohen
- Audience bow: Dave Chasen
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Branded
"Salute the Soldier Briefly"
Originally aired October 24, 1965
Xfinity said:
A man claims he can prove McCord's innocence.
McCord goes to the small, ramshackle Colossus Mining Co. asking for a job, but is turned away with a shotgun. He finds that British traveler Charles Briswell (Michael Rennie) is being tried by miners (Jim Davis, Claude Hall, John Mitchum, Chuck Hamilton) in a kangaroo court for breaking a miner's neck. Briswell admits to cleaning him out in a card game. Jason enforces due process at gunpoint. When one of the miners places Jason as the coward of Bitter Creek, Briswell claims to have witnessed the whole battle while prospecting. The duo effect an escape, aided by the distraction of placing the miners' guns in a burning whiskey barrel. On the trail, Briswell tells Jason that he's a geologist by training. They come upon an Apache renegade who's hung a cavalry officer over a fire, and Briswell shoots him. A small cavalry patrol rides up, commanded by Lt. Shanley (John Pickard), an old friend of Jason's. When Jason tells him what Briswell claims, Shanley agrees to help reopen Jason's case.
Shanley records Briswell's testimony, which describes Jason fighting the Apaches and eventually being felled, and how Briswell assumed that Jason was dead. Shanley is skeptical of Briswell's tale, as is Jason, who upon probing the man as they're riding away discovers a substantial inaccuracy in his story...that the massacre happened during the day. Briswell admits to having lied for Jason, and, when Jason threatens to take him back to the Army camp, pulls a small double-barreled pistol and admits to having killed the miner. Jason disarms him, a fight ensues, and Jason takes Briswell back to the camp to get a real trial. When they arrive, Jason asks to see Shanley's journal and tears out the pages with the testimony. Impressed with his old friend's honesty, Shanley salutes Jason and addresses him as "Captain".
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12 O'Clock High
"Show Me a Hero, I'll Show You a Bum"
Originally aired October 25, 1965
Xfinity said:
A correspondent (Lois Nettleton) hails Komansky as a hero after the sergeant manages to fly a crippled plane back to England.
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/the-classic-retro-pop-culture-thread.278375/page-77#post-12299825
A British correspondent at the base, Kirby Wyatt (Lloyd Bochner), tips off Susan Nesbit (Lois Nettleton) that Gallagher's plane is coming in with an untrained sergeant flying it and the rest of the crew shot up; the pair are attracted by the prospect of covering the potential death of a general's son. Upstairs, Gallagher is conscious enough to instruct Sandy, who manages to pull off the landing without even resorting to the "crash" part. Sandy's up for a Silver Star, and Nesbit changes her focus to playing up Sandy as a hero, though he's uncomfortable with the attention, and confesses to Doc Kaiser that he was focused on saving himself. He writes himself onto a duty roster to try to avoid a trip to London with the correspondents, but Gallagher emphasizes how important his story could be for morale and Anglo-American relations.
Gallagher does approve of Sandy staying on the next mission, though, on which the sergeant kicks loose a bomb that's stuck on the rails. This is considered to be a matter of routine by the 918th, including Gallagher, but the correspondents want to play it up as another act of heroism and try to pull strings to get Sandy a field commission, though Gallagher doesn't think he's ready for it yet and doesn't want to see him pushed into it. Some of the other non-coms, led by Sgt. Chapman (Burt Reynolds), tease Komansky about being a Jonah, referencing how he was flight engineer when Savage was killed and another incident of going down in Yugoslavia that I don't recognize (though it may have been the offscreen shuttle raid delay mentioned in "Big Brother"). Sandy confides in private to Susan, including about how he froze up in the cockpit after the bomb incident, and tries to make it a romantic moment, though she's clearly conflicted on the matter and runs off.
Sandy then reports sick for the next mission, and goes AWOL to London trying to find Susan, which gets back to Gallagher. The BBC receptionist who phones him, Pamela Hurley (Anne Whitfield), accuses Nesbit of using Komansky. She follows Komanksy to an inn where Nesbit is at and tries to warn him, but he discovers that Susan is there on a date with Wyatt. Out on the street where Sandy's waiting for a rendezvous with Susan, Wyatt also tries to warn him of her intentions, but a scuffle ensues and he ends up decking an MP who tries to intervene.
Gallagher, in London on the premise of seeing a specialist to be cleared for duty, drops by Nesbit's flat as an air raid is commencing. Wyatt is there, and Gallagher confronts them about what they've been doing. Sandy also shows up and asks for a moment alone with Susan. She admits to having been using him, but claims to be conflicted in this case. He walks out on her, immediately after which a German plane hits the building. Susan is trapped under rubble, but Joe, Sandy, and Wyatt free her. Cut to Gallagher and Komansky back on duty flying the next day's mission.
In the Epilog, a wheelchair-bound Nesbitt is present as Sandy is awarded his Silver Star on the airfield, though the matter with the MP still has to be cleared up.
As mentioned in the original brief write-up, Reynolds gets opening credits billing for a rather small role that wouldn't ordinarily have merited it. Anne Whitfield had a meatier part.
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Gilligan's Island
"Quick Before It Sinks"
Originally aired October 28, 1965
Wiki said:
The Professor mistakenly believes that the island is sinking when Gilligan uses the Professor's high water measuring stick to mark the lobster traps. The Professor comes up with the idea to keep above the water as long as possible by building a hut on the island's highest point. Plus, the men don't want to break the news to the women, who have the men in the middle of a landscaping project. After finally telling the women, they decide to build an ark, but it falls apart.
Abundant food sources note: now they're catching lobsters in the lagoon. That the Professor doesn't attempt to verify what the stick is showing doesn't say much for his credibility. The men work on the landscaping project by day and secretly on the hut by night; it seems like it would have been a lot more practical to just tell the women. The Professor then determines that the water is rising too fast for high ground to save them. If the island were really sinking that fast, wouldn't there by noticeable changes to the shoreline?
They finally resolve that they have to tell the women, but Gilligan breaks the news to Ginger in a way that makes her think they've found a way to get off the island. Having built up the ladies' hopes, the guys just lie to cover up the truth again, faking building a transmitter. If the island were sinking, it would just be nature's way of weeding out people this stupid. After the women discover Gilligan faking the other end of the radio conversation under the table, the truth finally comes out. Ginger comes up with the idea of building an ark. If that were considered to be a practical option, why wouldn't they have already built one? The men undertake a series of tests of attempting to live on the rocking ark. Wouldn't the Skipper and Gilligan be well accustomed to this sort of thing? Anyway, the tests cause the ark to fall apart.
In the coda, Gilligan brings in his latest catch of lobsters while carrying the stick, and explains how he's been using it.
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The Wild Wild West
"The Night of the Glowing Corpse"
Originally aired October 29, 1965
Wiki said:
Jim and Artemus are assigned to recover stolen radioactive materials. Their only clue is a set of fingerprints found on the ankle of a pretty secretary.
Jim and Surete agent Lt. Armand Renard (Phillip Pine) are both assigned to protect Franconium, the discovery of Dr. Jean Paul Ormont (Oscar Beregi). An older woman busts into the mansion where they're all being hosted with a big bruiser whom we learn is named Ironfoot (Charles Horvath), who kicks down the door of the cell where the material is being kept with his Gorgon-style footwear. Noticing the signs of a small explosion, Jim goes up to investigate and tussles with Ironfoot, but the lady knocks him out; Jim grabs her ankle before passing out.
He later identifies Consul-General Potez (Ron Whelan)'s secretary, Amelie Charlemont (Marion Thompson), as the "old woman," as his fingerprints are still on her ankle. While he's questioning her, she makes a seduction attempt, grabs his pistol from his vest, and shoots him. This turns out to be a ruse using a bulletproof vest so she'll lead them to her confederates. She's spotted at an amusement park, where Jim follows her into a haunted house while she's having a meeting with Cluny (Kipp Hamilton), the doctor's botanist niece, who's ostensibly collecting American flora samples during their stay. Jim finds Amelie dead with an orchid in her hand. Later, a bellhop leaves a bomb in Jim and Artie's room while Jim is looking over Renard's file, his interest caught by it establishing that the man is missing a finger, which Jim didn't notice. He discovers the bomb just in time to push Artie into another room.
Using a detector devised by Dr. Ormont--a glass bulb with vanes inside that spin in proximity to Franconium--Jim finds Renard's body in a crate in the mansion's greenhouse, his now-glowing artificial finger tipping Jim off that the Franconium is in a box in the crate. He's confronted by Cluny, who has trap walls lowered to enclose him, and fills the cell with acidic orchid fumes. Jim dons Artie's experimental artificial lung (a five-minute oxygen mask) and tries to use an explosive to get out, but the fumes repeatedly put out his fuse. While Cluny's instructing Ironfoot in clumsily sealing the crate, Artie shows up at the door as an Irish deliveryman, there to pick up the crate. When Artie finds it, Ironfoot clobbers him, but Jim finally busts out. With Jim held at gunpoint by Ironfoot, Cluny reveals that she's actually Prussian...Prussia being at war with France at the time. Jim tries his boot blade, but it breaks on one of Ironfoot's legs, which turn out to be metal. Jim proceeds to coax Ironfoot into a fight against Cluny's orders, which climaxes in Jim using Arties ten-second sticky gadget to hang from under a landing while pulling Ironfoot into a vat of corrosive tanning liquid below. Caught by Jim and Artie, Cluny breaks down crying.
In the coda, Jim and Artie arrange a double date with the Consul-General's new secretary and her sister.
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Hogan's Heroes
"German Bridge Is Falling Down"
Originally aired October 29, 1965
Wiki said:
After an Allied bombing mission fails to take out the Adolf Hitler bridge, Hogan’s team robs the camp arsenal to get the job done via sabotage.
Hogan calls for a special roll call ostensibly to thwart an unauthorized escape attempt, but actually so that when he gives the men permission to smoke, they all light up at once while forming an arrow as a marker for a flight of bombers. The (presumably lead) bomber pilot (Forrest Compton) actually refers to his inside men as "Hogan's Heroes"! Nevertheless, the bombers fail to take out the Adolf Hitler Bridge. Hogan decides to finish the job, so the prisoners have to raid the kitchen to improvise some explosives...which gives us opening credits shots of Carter working on mixing them. Ensuing mishaps are covered by a sign for top secret construction activity.
Plan B involves using German ammo, so the prisoners paint graffiti on on the armory so they'll have to paint over it, which includes mishaps to stall for time. They slip the bomb into the sidecar of an unwitting messenger, but this requires precise timing of his route, and they learn after he leaves that Schultz bribed him to make a detour delivery to his wife in Dusseldorf. Hogan reports that one of his men bribed the messenger to make the detour, so Klink will have the messenger redirected at a sentry post. The bridge blows on time, and Klink assumes that it's more of the construction.
In the coda, Hogan volunteers his men to work on rebuilding the bridge so they can set another bomb for future use.
This one had enough conspicuous bits of early installment weirdness--including the barracks tunnel entrance being a footlocker--that I suspect it may have been the first regular production episode. OTOH, the prisoners actually felt the need to pull the wool over Schultz's eyes during a barracks inspection when they were trying to clean Carter up after one of his mishaps.
Dis-missed!
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Get Smart
"KAOS in CONTROL"
Originally aired October 30, 1965
Wiki said:
CONTROL hosts a conference for some of the smartest scientists on the planet, but KAOS has other plans which include a retrogressor gun, which emits a ray that retrogresses a person's psyche to the point where he or she becomes an eight-year-old child. Will Max's knowledge of Captain Kangaroo help him catch the KAOS agent? Mission Impossible's Barbara Bain guest stars as a KAOS agent/scientist in the CONTROL lab.
An unknown party attempts to access the vault door of the conference room before the meeting. Max is currently the agent in charge of internal security, which entails having the key to the room attached to his waist, though he doesn't even remember what it's for, getting it stuck in a drawer at home. In the Chief's office we get the Cone of Silence...IN COLOR! Ironically, Hodgkins (Bryan O'Byrne), who's standing outside the cone, is the only one who can understand what both Max and the Chief are saying.
Professor Windish (Robert Cornthwaite) shows Max and 99 his electro-retrogressor gun in the CONTROL lab in front of assistants Henry Ratchett (Ed Peck) and Alma Sutton (Barbara Bain). Inspecting the conference room with electronic devices, Max detects electrical impulses behind a wall and cuts a hole in it to find the Chief's office on the other side, where he's shaving with an electric razor. Wingate tries to warn the Chief that somebody's stolen his electro-retrogressor gun when an unseen figure uses it on him. Later Max and 99 respond to an alarm from the Chief's office to find that the gun has been used on him. Max takes charge, and the first thing he asks Hodgkins is who's in charge of internal security. The delegates shortly arrive. Once again the key gets stuck, so Max has to partially undress in front of them to open the conference room door.
Ratchett reports that he found material for making an impression of the door lock in Sutton's purse, but when they go to the lab to confront her, she's acting like a child, so they interrogate Ratchett. Max eventually figures out that Alma was acting, as she mentioned watching
Captain Kangaroo, which wasn't on when she was a child. He confronts her at the conference room door, using the chained key to swing it closed on her. A brief struggle ensues in which the ray actually fires on her.
In the coda, the victims of the gun are back to normal and we're told that the professor plans to destroy it.
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I find it perfectly enjoyable in its own, original right, but yeah, my mind can't help rubber-banding to Pat when I listen to it.
Happy 79th, Sir Paul! 
