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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)
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Hawaii Five-O
"3,000 Crooked Miles to Honolulu"
Originally aired October 5, 1971
Wiki said:
A cunning college professor (Buddy Ebsen) runs an elaborate scheme to cash $750,000 worth of stolen travelers checks in Hawaii. David Canary also guest stars.
In Colorado, a man named George (Canary) and an accomplice (Charles Bollig) hit an armored car with a bazooka. They report their success to Professor Ambrose Pierce (Ebsen), who's at an airport with his Faculty Discount Club, about to depart for Honolulu. Investigating the theft, McGarrett calls Frank Okawa (Tom Fujiwara) at the check agency. That night, a burglar lures Okawa's secretary, Luana (Lani Kim)--alone working late on a Friday night to get the check numbers distributed--into a closet, and uses her typewriter to leave a note that the distribution has been taken care of. On the plane, one of the club members, Whitney Davis, has an attack of some sort, and mumbles something about the checks while he's being taken to the hospital upon arrival in Hawaii. Posing as a lab tech, George's accomplice kills Davis with a piece that's become the show's specialty, a revolver with a silencer, and takes his envelope of checks. These checks are distributed among the tour group.
McGarrett visits Pierce at his hotel to question him about Davis, whose attempt to downplay Davis's condition on the plane serves as a source of suspicion. The professor subsequently confronts George in the next room about the murder. George references how the professor used his brains to almost break bank in Vegas, and assures him that the secretary wasn't dealt with in the same manner. Meanwhile a report comes in of some of the checks being cashed back East, and Danno uncovers that the club member who was killed at the hospital wasn't the real Whitney Davis. Nurse Higgins (Judi Meredith) identifies the technician impostor from a picture, which indicates that he's a Syndicate soldier named Doran. The nurse is placed in protective custody; Fake Davis turns out to be a bunco artist from Chicago with multiple aliases; and Luana's distraught mother reports that her daughter is missing. Meanwhile, the club members report in via phone, identifying themselves by number, about their check-cashing activities on the island. McGarrett questions Pierce again, now wanting to know how Fake Davis got in the club, and suggesting that other criminals may have infiltrated it. Davis acts shocked at these revelations, and when McGarrett brings in a colleague of Pierce's to identify him, it turns out that he's the real McCoy.
Five-O--sporting casual island wear because it's now Sunday--sweep the check agency building looking for Luana. The professor blames George for putting the heat on the operation, and George has to pull a gun on him to stop him from calling Five-O. Somewhere, a restaurant cashier (Galen Kam) discovers that he's taken checks one digit apart from two different customers. Chin turns up that the check numbers never got distributed, and it's surmised that the report of cashings back East was a decoy. Danno finds Luana's body in a garbage can. Steve brings in Frank to get to the bottom of what went on with the list of checks. Steve deduces that the entire club is phony except for Professor Pierce. On Sunday night, the club members board a flight while turning in their money. As it looks like they're about to take off, a familiar voice comes over the speaker.
McGarrett: Ladies and gentlemen, this is not your captain. There will be no departure time and your trip will average fifteen to twenty years.
Police vehicles surround the plane.
McGarrett: Aloha, suckers.
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Adam-12
"The Radical"
Originally aired October 6, 1971
Wiki said:
The radical Robin Saydo (John Davis Chandler) is on the loose, tied into a number of bombings. Reed spots him and Saydo is arrested by D.A. Paul Ryan (played by Robert Conrad). Other calls include an abandoned police cruiser which turned out to be a lone policeman on a foot pursuit capturing a drug suspect, and retired security officer Fred Tibbles assists the officers in breaking up a truck theft ring which took the trucks but not the merchandise within them.
Note: This episode begins a crossover with The D.A. that concludes on "The People vs. Robin Saydo".
I'd seen this episode before, but I had no idea it was a crossover with another series (a half-season wonder). Conrad gets a Special Guest Star billing in the opening credits right after the stars. On IMDb, Milner and McCord are credited as appearing in the other half as well. (I wonder if they got an equally conspicuous billing.)
The officers investigate an abandoned squad car on the side of the road, and have to call in to ID it as L-25...shouldn't the number be on the top like theirs? They know the unit as being that of Don Moore. The officers search the brushy hillside to find Moore (John Kroger) having taken a fleeing suspect and the bag full of jewelry that he was carrying in custody.
The next day at roll call, the assembled officers are briefed by a detective (Robert Dowdell) about Saydo, and are instructed not to bust him, but to call in about him. On patrol, Malloy is called to meet Fred Tibbles (Frank Ferguson), an elderly security guard to whom Pete owes a favor from years back, in a parking garage. Talking to Malloy alone, he tells of how he's being leaned on to look the other way as well-organized dockside warehouse thieves do their work. A disappointed Pete tries to persuade him to report one of the incidents so they can catch the thieves, and has to give Fred a brief tough but loving talk.
Back on patrol, Reed only has to mention getting something to eat for the officers to be flagged down by driver Tom Grey (Hal Baylor), whose truck cab and load of pantyhose was taken. Malloy gets a message from Tibbles tipping him off to an imminent fur heist, and Pete thinks that recently hijacked trucks are being used for these jobs. A number of units stake out the docks aided by surveillance from Air-10. While Adam-12 is following a suspected vehicle from a distance with help from the copter, a car tailing them opens fire. Malloy quickly turns into a parking lot to pull a switcheroo and get behind their attackers to pursue. The car is cut off by multiple units.
On patrol again, Reed spots Saydo on the street, and tails him on foot while Malloy calls in. Saydo goes into a warehouse, and the officers are told to wait for the arrival of D.A. Ryan, who shows up after dark...Conrad conspicuously only appearing for the last five minutes of the episode. He's unfamiliar with the suspect, but advises the officers and Mac on how to best nab Saydo and his accomplices for charges to stick. Mac, Ryan, and the officers then go in and arrest Saydo. They don't see anything obvious, but convince Ryan that they have probable cause to search, and subsequently find explosives paraphernalia. As Saydo and the evidence are hauled out, the officers wish Ryan luck in nailing the suspect.
I've never seen
The D.A., so I have to wonder what sort of situations they came up with to get Conrad shirtless. (He did most of one episode of
Black Sheep wearing only boxers.)
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The Brady Bunch
"The Wheeler-Dealer"
Originally aired October 8, 1971
Wiki said:
Greg learns the principle of Caveat Emptor when he gets his driver's license and buys his first car, a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, from a slick-talking friend. But all the restoration in the world can't change the fact the car is a lemon. Greg plans on selling the car to a gullible friend, but has a change of heart and sells it for junk instead.
Guest stars: Chris Beaumont as Eddie, and Charles Martin Smith as Ronnie
In preparation for his driver's test, Greg takes lessons with Dad is a sporty convertible. When Greg learns that Alice has never driven, he gives her a mock lesson in the kitchen. The next day he comes home acting sullen, making Carol and the girls think he failed, then produces his license (which is on paper). Greg starts looking through magazines for a car, having saved $109.
Mike: A gentle reminder to you, my boy, your name is Brady, not Onassis.
Carol frets about Greg having his own car, though Mike thinks that her concern is premature.
Mike: By the time Greg gets enough money for the kind of car he wants, the 1999 models are gonna be here.
Greg's friend Eddie smoothly talks him into buying a thoroughly rusted convertible with a driver's door that doesn't open from the outside, missing upholstery, and a very loud, shaky engine. Eddie throws in a repair manual. The family meets the new wheels when Greg's trying to get the horn to stop, and a rap on the car's side causes steam to burst out from under the hood. Greg puts the other kids to work helping him clean and buff the car in preparation for painting. Greg manages to get the car looking more presentable and the engine running more smoothly, but an unlikely outburst of malfunctions erupt, which causes him to feel sore about having been suckered. Dad gives him a talk about caveat emptor, and Greg decides to pawn the car off on some other sucker.
That sucker turns out to be a geeky-looking friend named Ronnie, to whom Greg repeats much of Eddie's spiel, though the girls drop some hints about the car's true nature. Mike isn't pleased when he gets wind of this; but Greg reveals that he let his sucker off the hook, and that the car fell apart on his way home...fortunately right in front of a junk yard, where he got $50 for it.
In the coda, Greg borrows Mike's car at an inconvenient time, and Alice offers Mike her bus pass.
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The Partridge Family
"The Undergraduate"
Originally aired October 8, 1971
Wiki said:
When Shirley enrolls in college, one of her male classmates develops a crush on her, much to the chagrin of his parents.
Guest stars: Michael Burns as Paul Bruner, Norman Fell and Ann Morgan Guilbert as Mr. and Mrs. Bruner
This one also opens with a post-credits scene that plays like there was a teaser that set up the situation. Antenna viewers pick up with Shirley getting ready for her first day at school. She literally runs into Paul on campus, to find that he's taking the same psychology course, and he offers to buy her coffee. She learns that he lives in one of those new-fangled co-ed dorms. When she's late coming home, Danny thinks she may have gotten involved with bomb-throwing radicals. The family and Reuben learn of Paul and a Mrs. Robinson reference ensues. Paul then calls Shirley at home looking for a ride to a lecture the next night. He asks his dorm buddy Margo (Carol O'Leary) for advice on how to handle the situation, and she coaches him on how to seize the opportunity to get romantic. Seeming to confirm Margo's prediction of a come-on, Shirley runs out of gas on the way home.
Cut to a garage rehearsal of the sounds-very-recorded "Brown Eyes".
Following this, the kids press Shirley for an explanation of why she came home at 2 in the morning. Laurie gets Shirley to don a a new stage costume for the females in the band that has hot pants...which Shirley is wearing when the Bruners come to the door, making a questionable first impression. They also bring up
The Graduate. (Fun Fact reminder: Norman Fell was in
The Graduate!) Shirley explains that Paul's getting the wrong idea about the situation, and decides to invite him over for dinner so he can see what a family woman she is. Knowing Shirley by the maiden name she uses in college, Paul's surprised to learn that they're the famous Partridge Family. Paul ends up taking a liking to Laurie and asks for permission to take her to the next lecture, to Shirley's relief.
In the coda, Keith makes an Evel Knievel reference, and Laurie comes home with a request for an autographed picture of Shirley in the hot pants...for Mr. Bruner.
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The Odd Couple
"Sleepwalker"
Originally aired October 8, 1971
Wiki said:
Oscar's sleepwalking turns dangerous for Felix.
Oscar is trying to enjoy an anniversary date with Nancy when Felix comes home unexpectedly early from the opera because he's not feeling well, which takes Nancy's attention. Accusing Oscar of overreacting to Felix, Nancy ends the date early. Oscar tries to be nice to Felix the next day by taking care of him, but Felix ruins Oscar's gesture with his fussiness. That night, Oscar comes home from a game late and Felix is upset because he had a rump roast waiting. Oscar's attempt at new patience is tried when Felix accuses Oscar of being the annoying one. Felix's agitation of Oscar continues right up until bedtime, causing Felix's criticisms to invade Oscar's dreams. Oscar gets up in the middle of the night and whacks Felix with a rolled-up newspaper
The next morning, Felix is disheveled, assuming that what happened was a vivid dream, while Oscar doesn't remember what he did and feels like he slept great. Looking for something in Oscar's room later, Felix finds the newspaper, and calls Murray over, who suggests that sleepwalking might be the cause, and gives him the usual advice to not wake Oscar up. While Murray's in the kitchen, Oscar walks in from the bedroom in his pajamas, whacks Felix with the paper, walks back out, then walks in again and is startled awake by Murray blocking his path and addressing him. As Murray doesn't want to get further involved, Felix tries various precautions, like setting a camera in Oscar's room and barricading his door, but Oscar always manages to whack him at the right time. Oscar finally breaks through Felix's barricade like the Hulk, and Felix quickly dons an Army helmet and takes a full-frontal picture of Oscar attacking him. The next day Felix is upset to tears. When Oscar erupts at Felix and tries to kick him out, Felix realizes that Oscar's sleepwalking was caused by his repression of his usual open hostility toward Felix, and declares that Oscar must never be nice to him!
In the coda, a waking Oscar walks into Felix's room to give him a paper for defensive purposes, and Felix manages to provoke Oscar into hitting him with it.
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I can never associate this song with Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary. It has this early 70's soft Rock vibe.
It seems in his wheelhouse to me.
There's something I didn't know.
I might've been exposed to that fact previously, but didn't remember. It's interesting that they did things that way.
I dislike this a lot.
Who knew?
I probably initially skipped including it because of its chart position and it technically being a "new" artist, but discovered that I had it from that PP&M compilation, so decided to belatedly include it.
Not especially memorable, but the Staple Singers really got that 70s sound.
Given their relative prestige, it's interesting that neither this nor "Theme from 'Shaft'" made the top of the R&B chart.
Here's a goodie that you don't hear on Oldies radio anymore.
Can't recall ever having heard it on oldies radio myself. It's no "Black Magic Woman" or "Evil Ways".
Classic Sonny & Cher, and a very nostalgic vibe for me.
Also an obscuro to me. The duo's return to the chart, competing with a Cher single, is no doubt the product of a bump in popularity from their new TV series. It's no "I Got You Babe".
Classic, and talk about the sound of the 70s.
Stone cold, a definitive piece of early '70s soul.
And you still like music? Good for you.
Yeah, I remember him making a remark that giving Reed and Sue a kid was the stupidest idea ever.
I wanted to say that it was groundbreaking for the time, but it looks like Aquaman and Mera beat Reed and Sue to the punch by a few years.
