The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[The Old Mixer]

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50th Anniversary "The Bradys Are Back!" Catch-Up Viewing

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The Brady Bunch
"My Sister, Benedict Arnold"
Originally aired October 15, 1971

Greg is furious at Marcia for dating his school rival, Warren Mulaney (Gary Rist), because Warren not only beat Greg to student class president with a phony campaign, but he knocked Greg out of first string on the basketball team. After a date with Warren, Marcia decides to not date him again, partially to keep peace with Greg. However, when Greg demands Marcia not see him again, she invites him home to spite Greg. To retaliate, Greg brings home Marcia's rival, Kathy Lawrence (Sheri Cowart), who bumped Marcia out of cheerleading tryouts. Marcia and Greg then clash over the situation, and Mike admonishes them for using Kathy and Warren to make a point. When Greg and Marcia tries to find them to apologize, they find out that Warren and Kathy have befriended each other and left together. In a subplot; Alice, Peter, Cindy and Bobby work on the dunking machine for the school carnival, each one of them taking an intentional or accidental turn at getting dunked.

The episode opens with Peter, Bobby, and Alice working on the dunking booth in the backyard, which includes Alice doing a brief carnival barker impersonation. Greg comes home upset that he was replaced on the basketball team by Warren. Upstairs, Marcia's sharing with Jan that she got asked out by the same boy. Greg gets a little pep talk from Dad, in which Greg shares his belief that Warren's beating him out at stuff by kissing up. Marcia tries to share the good news with him about a high school boy wanting to date her, but Greg drops Warren's name before Marcia does, making her clam up and go to Mom about it. When Warren comes over to pick up Marcia, Alice tries to preoccupy Greg by keeping him in the kitchen, while the other kids watch Marcia and Warren from upstairs. Greg finally walks out and, upon seeing who's there, doesn't try to hide his disapproval. After the date, Marcia's a bit disillusioned, feeling that Warren's not that different from the boys in her class. She'd still like to go out with him again, but tells the parents that she won't because she doesn't want to upset Greg. She tries to tell Greg in the bathroom, but he preemptively gets bossy with her about seeing Warren, calling her "Miss Benedict Arnold" and raising her ire.

The next morning, Marcia defiantly announces that she plans to go to the school carnival with Warren. Outside, Peter tries out the booth with Cindy and Bobby. Marcia has Warren in the den for studying when Jan warns her that Greg's bringing Kathy Lawrence over. Marcia's bothered by it, but decides not to let it show. Kathy seems as wowed as Marcia at a high school boy showing interest in her...but to Marcia and the audience, Greg's behavior is obviously all just for show. Marcia just rubs the Warren situation in, and she and Greg get in a fight in the kitchen, with the other kids eavesdropping again. The adults come home from grocery shopping and intervene, taking the pair into the den. Mike chastises both for using Warren and Kathy and persuades them to come clean. They go out to learn from Alice, who's on the booth's bench while tidying things up, that Warren and Kathy left together for a date after hitting it off. Clearly less upset with each other, Greg and Marcia go out intending to still apologize to them...and Alice accidentally dunks herself.

In the coda, the family's returning from the carnival, with Alice hiding that she's locked in trick handcuffs.

There were lots of shirts in this episode with thin stripes and other designs causing moire patterns. Maybe that's what knocked them off the Internet.

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The Brady Bunch
"The Personality Kid"
Originally aired October 22, 1971

Peter is told he has no personality and takes it to heart. He tries to create a new personality, forcing different personae including an impersonation of Humphrey Bogart as Joe (repeating the family's dinner menu "pork chops and applesauce" in a Bogart like voice). None of the impersonations go over well so Peter buys a joke book. When he tries the jokes at his party everyone knows the punchlines. While trying to keep his party afloat, Bobby and Cindy—who in the subplot are on a safety drill campaign—call a surprise fire drill, forcing everyone to leave the house.

It seems like they're lampshading an already-perceived weak link in the cast. The story kicks off with Peter sulking in a suit after returning from a party at a girl's house at which he was ignored except for one person telling him he has no personality. Mike and Greg think there's nothing to it. Meanwhile, Bobby and Cindy are conducting home safety inspections as part of a school assignment. (When somebody brings up an octopus electrical connection, Alice drops the term "octopussies".) This includes fire drills, which the parents oversee, with set-up for an impending surprise drill. The girls decide to try to lift Peter's confidence, in which Marcia enlists the help of Kathy, returning from the previous episode and now apparently a friend rather than rival, to show an interest in him...but while Peter's behind a chair enacting a scene from a sci-fi film, Cindy bursts in and asks about Kathy trying to trick Peter...making him feel even worse.

A girl named Peggy calls Peter to invite him to another party (so he can't be that bad off), but Peter makes an excuse not to accept. Mike encourages him to stop moping around and try to improve his personality if he's not happy with it. Peter puts on a movie, and when Mike conducts a surprise drilll, Peter comes out emulating a British actor, which doesn't get the intended reception. Next he watches somebody who's supposed to be Bogart (but is just an obvious impersonator), and comes downstairs doing his Bogey routine for Carol and Alice...which gets them doing it. Mike comes home and gently busts Peter's bubble...while Carol hopes that Peter doesn't see a Dracula movie next.

Peter's next phase involves him telling jokes, and everyone in the family is encouraged to make a big deal of laughing at them. Thinking he's found his thing, Peter next asks for permission to throw a party so he can share his routine with others, which concerns Carol. Bobby and Cindy watch with interest as the living room fills with guests. Peter tries telling his jokes, but other boys (Jay Kocen and Pierre A. Williams) get the laughs for beating him to the punch lines. As Peter starts sulking again, several girls attending (Monica Ramirez, Margie DeMeyer, Karen Peters, and two uncredited extras) gather around him and start genuinely attempting to bolster his confidence...only for Bobby to blow the whistle.

In the coda, Peter's found new confidence in being the dull guy, as it makes the chicks take an interest...and Mike and Carol are still doing the Bogey thing.

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[RJDiogenes]

"I Got the Feelin' (Oh No No)," Neil Diamond

I'm not sure if I've heard this or not, but I get the feeling, so to speak, that it turned up on Lost 45s. It's got that nice Neil Diamond sound, but otherwise not very memorable.

"Talk Talk," The Music Machine

Proto Punk! I know I've heard this, because I recognize that refrain, but I think it was a different version.

"A Place in the Sun," Stevie Wonder

Classic Stevie.

"Mellow Yellow," Donovan

Classic Donovan and a solid argument for drug use.

Don't...she had guys waiting in line and was letting Benny know it.

Yeah, but it seems like he left her hanging there.

He was just listening from the crawlspace.

He should have used that two-way mirror from the last episode.

A variation on one that they've used before, and recently.

They do repeat things a bit, but happy endings are an integral part of the show (you know what I mean).

Nope. It was revealed that the last time he voted had been for Nixon...against Kennedy. And if what you describe comes up too soon, that could be a continuity issue.

Hmm, sounds like it could be. I can picture the scene, with Mike saying "didn't vote for x, didn't vote for y" and so forth, but I can't conjure up the names.

That was confusing me, too. All the classes were having reunions in different locations for the 50th anniversary of the school.

Okay, I get it. It was the 50th anniversary that was the point, not the individual reunions.

That sounds interesting.

It's very good, as of about a third of the way in. It's fascinating, and encouraging, to see a scholarly work on trends that I've been watching with increasing horror for the past thirty years or so. And he pretty much nails all the points so far.

Greg comes home upset that he was replaced on the basketball team by Warren.

I guess the Bradys aren't quite the masters of their domain, after all.

Kathy seems as wowed as Marcia at a high school boy showing interest in her...

Probably not what Greg was hoping for.

In the coda, the family's returning from the carnival, with Alice hiding that she's locked in trick handcuffs.

Good thing that happened after the accidental dunking. The episode would have had quite a different tone.

There were lots of shirts in this episode with thin stripes and other designs causing moire patterns. Maybe that's what knocked them off the Internet.

5G is no match for 70s fashions.

It seems like they're lampshading an already-perceived weak link in the cast.

I was about to say.

he was ignored except for one person telling him he has no personality. Mike and Greg think there's nothing to it.

"Thanks, guys. Hey, wait. Nothing to what?"

(When somebody brings up an octopus electrical connection, Alice drops the term "octopussies".)

Come to think of it, Alice would make a good Moneypenny. Maybe she could train Peter to be Bondish.

while Peter's behind a chair enacting a scene from a sci-fi film

'kay.

A girl named Peggy calls Peter to invite him to another party (so he can't be that bad off), but Peter makes an excuse not to accept.

I think Peter's personality is that he's a wallower. It's not a good personality, but it's a personality.

Mike encourages him to stop moping around and try to improve his personality

"Thanks for the pep talk, dad. Do we have any sleeping pills in the house?"

Mike comes home and gently busts Peter's bubble...while Carol hopes that Peter doesn't see a Dracula movie next.

I kind of do, although this would once again have drastically changed the tone of the episode.

Peter's next phase involves him telling jokes

This is what worked for me.

In the coda, Peter's found new confidence in being the dull guy, as it makes the chicks take an interest...

Thank goodness for pity.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I'm not sure if I've heard this or not, but I get the feeling, so to speak, that it turned up on Lost 45s. It's got that nice Neil Diamond sound, but otherwise not very memorable.

Yeah, when I see the title I think it's a different Neil DIamond song, but it's a total obscuro.

Proto Punk! I know I've heard this, because I recognize that refrain, but I think it was a different version.

Technically garage rock. Looks like Alice Cooper did a 1980 cover...would that be it?

Classic Stevie.

Nice, but not one of his more distinguished singles.

Classic Donovan and a solid argument for drug use.

Paul McCartney can be heard during the hooting and hollering part. I was just reading that according to Donovan, this was not about smoking dried banana skins as was rumored at the time, but about a vibrator (electrical banana).

Yeah, but it seems like he left her hanging there.

Think of her as the ticking clock.

I guess the Bradys aren't quite the masters of their domain, after all.

Mike's too busy to be chair of the basketball committee.

Good thing that happened after the accidental dunking. The episode would have had quite a different tone.

Now I'm picturing Alice going Houdini...

I kind of do, although this would once again have drastically changed the tone of the episode.

Now I'm picturing Alice going Von Helsing...

 

[RJDiogenes]

Technically garage rock. Looks like Alice Cooper did a 1980 cover...would that be it?

Yes, that definitely sounds like the right era.

Nice, but not one of his more distinguished singles.

It used to get quite a bit of play on the Oldies station, so it's very familiar.

Paul McCartney can be heard during the hooting and hollering part. I was just reading that according to Donovan, this was not about smoking dried banana skins as was rumored at the time, but about a vibrator (electrical banana).

Why can't it be both?

Now I'm picturing Alice going Houdini...


Now I'm picturing Alice going Von Helsing...

Ah, the Alice Adventure Hour. This is stimulating my imagination.

 

[The Old Mixer]

50 Years Ago This Week

November 8

• Led Zeppelin release their fourth studio album, Led Zeppelin IV, which goes on to sell 23,000,000 copies in the United States.
• Berkeley, California, became the first "sanctuary city" in the United States, with the passage of an ordinance that prohibited its city employees, including its police, from enforcing federal arrest warrants for non-violent offenses. The "sanctuary city" concept was later adopted in other politically liberal communities in the U.S.

November 9 – A Royal Air Force C-130 crashes into the Ligurian Sea near Leghorn, Italy, killing all 51 people on board.

November 10

• In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging 9 airplanes.
• The U.S. Senate voted, 84 to 6, to ratify the Okinawa Reversion Agreement, returning the island of Okinawa, and other Japanese territory captured in 1945 during World War II, to Japanese control. The treaty, signed on June 17, provided that the United States would be able to maintain its military bases on Okinawa, but would not be able to launch military operations from the bases without consultation and approval by the Japanese government.

November 11 – Television reached Australia's Northern Territory for the first time at 5:00 in the afternoon, as NTD-9 began broadcasting from a station at Darwin as part of the Nine Network.

November 12 – As part of the policy of Vietnamization, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announced that 45,000 additional American troops would be removed from Vietnam by February 1.

November 13

• The U.S. probe Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to successfully enter the orbit of Mars. Previous American and Soviet probes had made close "fly-by" approaches. At 4:42 p.m. California time (00:42 UTC on 14 November), the technicians at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, made Mariner 9 the first object from Earth to be put into orbit around another planet. The elliptical orbit ranged between 800 miles (1,300 km) above the Martian surface and 10,700 miles (17,200 km) twice a day.
• Duel, one of the most successful of made-for-TV films produced in the U.S. for the ABC Movie of the Weekend program, was broadcast for the first time. The horror film was the first to be directed by Steven Spielberg and featured Dennis Weaver as a car driver pursued by the never-visible driver of a large gasoline truck. The TV version had a running time of 74 minutes punctuated by 16 minutes of commercials between 8:30 and 10:00 p.m.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves," Cher
2. "Theme from 'Shaft'," Isaac Hayes
3. "Imagine," John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band
4. "Maggie May" / "Reason to Believe", Rod Stewart
5. "I've Found Someone of My Own," The Free Movement
6. "Yo-Yo," The Osmonds
7. "Peace Train," Cat Stevens
8. "Have You Seen Her," The Chi-Lites
9. "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)," Marvin Gaye
10. "Superstar" / "Bless the Beasts and Children", Carpenters
11. "Baby I'm-a Want You," Bread
12. "Never My Love," The 5th Dimension
13. "Got to Be There," Michael Jackson
14. "Do You Know What I Mean," Lee Michaels
15. "Desiderata," Les Crane
16. "Everybody's Everything," Santana
17. "Tired of Being Alone," Al Green
18. "Easy Loving," Freddie Hart
19. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," Joan Baez
20. "Only You Know and I Know," Delaney & Bonnie
21. "Family Affair," Sly & The Family Stone
22. "Rock Steady," Aretha Franklin
23. "Go Away Little Girl," Donny Osmond
24. "One Fine Morning," Lighthouse
25. "Questions 67 and 68" / "I'm a Man", Chicago

27. "Two Divided by Love," The Grass Roots

30. "Sweet City Woman," Stampeders
31. "A Natural Man," Lou Rawls
32. "Thin Line Between Love and Hate," The Persuaders
33. "All I Ever Need Is You," Sonny & Cher
34. "If You Really Love Me," Stevie Wonder
35. "Trapped by a Thing Called Love," Denise LaSalle

37. "Respect Yourself," The Staple Singers
38. "Scorpio," Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band

40. "Cherish," David Cassidy
41. "Wild Night," Van Morrison
42. "I'd Love to Change the World," Ten Years After

48. "Birds of a Feather," The Raiders

51. "Where Did Our Love Go," Donnie Elbert
52. "Your Move (I've Seen All Good People)," Yes

59. "You Are Everything," The Stylistics

66. "Brand New Key," Melanie
67. "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)," The Temptations

76. "Stones" / "Crunchy Granola Suite", Neil Diamond
77. "An Old Fashioned Love Song," Three Dog Night

89. "Behind Blue Eyes," The Who
90. "Sunshine," Jonathan Edwards

Leaving the chart:

• "Stagger Lee," Tommy Roe (12 weeks)
• "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," Paul & Linda McCartney (13 weeks)

Recent and new on the chart:

"Stones," Neil Diamond

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(#14 US; #2 AC)

"Sunshine," Jonathan Edwards

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(#4 US; #7 AC)

"An Old Fashioned Love Song," Three Dog Night

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(#4 US; #1 AC)


And new on the boob tube:

• Hawaii Five-O, "The Burning Ice"
• Adam-12, "Ambush"
• The Brady Bunch, "The Private Ear"
• The Partridge Family, "Tale of Two Hamsters"
• The Odd Couple, "The Fat Farm"
• Love, American Style, "Love and the Baby / Love and the Big Mother / Love and the Free Weekend / Love and the Jealous Husband / Love and the Old Cowboy"
• All in the Family, "The Blockbuster"
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "And Now, Sitting in for Ted Baxter"
• Mission: Impossible, "Invasion"

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Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki pages for the month or year.

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Ah, the Alice Adventure Hour. This is stimulating my imagination.

Just put me in the acknowledgments.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Duel, one of the most successful of made-for-TV films produced in the U.S. for the ABC Movie of the Weekend program, was broadcast for the first time. The horror film was the first to be directed by Steven Spielberg and featured Dennis Weaver as a car driver pursued by the never-visible driver of a large gasoline truck.

Sadly, the series version, which saw Dennis Weaver facing the possibility of vehicular homicide from various makes and models of trucks, cars, and motorbikes on a weekly basis, lasted only a single season. Just kidding. This was a great movie.

"Stones," Neil Diamond

Apparently I know absolutely nothing about Neil Diamond's early career. This was better than the last one, anyway.

"Sunshine," Jonathan Edwards

Oldies Radio Classic.

"An Old Fashioned Love Song," Three Dog Night

Classic Three Dog Night. Probably their signature song.

Just put me in the acknowledgments.

You betcha.

 

[The Old Mixer]

50 Years Ago This Week Addendum

Some additional timeline entries, as I was separated from my copy of The Beatles Day by Day when I was making the weekly post:

November 8 – Paul throws a fancy dress party at the Empire Ballroom, London, to launch his new group, Wings.

November 10 – World premiere, in New York, of the film 200 Motels, which includes a cameo appearance by Ringo.

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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)

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Hawaii Five-O
"For a Million...Why Not?"
Originally aired November 2, 1971

Five upstanding citizens team together and commit murder to steal $6 million from an armored car in a seemingly perfect crime.

The episode opens with a group of ski-masked bandits holding up a bank, waiting for the time lock. One of them suddenly has trouble breathing, so they split...but in the car, it turns out to have been an act. When Five-O investigates, McGarrett's said to be on the big island for the Johnny Oporta trial...that was Henry Darrow's character in "No Bottles...No Cans...No People". The bank manager, Mr. Shaw (Wendell Martin), describes how the bandits showed a great knowledge of the bank's operations, and says that the vault contains $6 million. Danno confers with Steve via phone, much like in a previous episode in which Lord played a minimal role. Danno scopes out an ex-con with a bank M.O. named Fred Noonan (Al Harrington), who has an alibi with his boss at the Tiki Gods novelty company, Mr. Blumberg (Jack Kruschen). It turns out that a bank clerk who was cooperating with Five-O as a witness, Carol Lindsey (Leigh Christian), is their inside person there, and in a relationship with the heart attack faker, Ray Galvin (Robert Fields, I'm assuming from the cast list; he's billed under the character's surname, which I didn't catch being dropped). Noonan and Blumberg (who drops the titular phrase in-episode) are also both members of the gang, along with ringleader Hawkins (Sam Melville)...a military type who shoots a printer accomplice named Carlson (Glenn Cannon) after he forges a document for them.

The lab boys meticulously examine each scattered letter of type that was found at the shop. Blumberg is shocked to learn that they killed Carlson, and Hawkins reveals that it was a deliberate move to make them all accessories to murder to keep them from turning on him. Blumberg plants the forged bill in his company's files under the nose of his boss, Hanley (Harry Williams). Carol declares to Ray that she wants a full share, revealing that she has a letter with an attorney to keep her safe. Hawkins, who's getting three shares, intimidates Ray into sacrificing his share for her, with the help of his Five-O Special (a revolver with a silencer). Carol watches at the bank as an armored car picks up the money for moving to a more secure location...which is what the false robbery was meant to achieve. The car is stopped by a van blocking the end of a tunnel and Ray dressed as a flagging police officer...the men in front are shot with armor-piercing bullets, and the man in back is dealt with via gas. The car is loaded into the back of a trailer truck and the tracks from the truck swept away. The trailer is loaded onto a cargo ship.

Noonan stages a fight to get fired from Tiki Gods while Blumberg demands a raise as an excuse to quit. Each of the conspirators arranges for a flight to a different city on the mainland. Examination of the used letters leads to the combination "Tiki Gods," so Danno goes to Hanley looking for an invoice of interest...one is for a shipment of dolls involving a novelty company that Hanley isn't familiar with. The container arrives in Oakland and is driven away by Noonan and into a warehouse. As the assembled conspirators are arranging to blow open the back of the armored car, the place is surrounded by cops led by Danno. Hawkins tosses the charge out as a diversion and attempts to drive the truck away...but is shot up through the now-empty windows (which were broken for access to the truck's cab while it was in the tight confines of the trailer), crashing the car. The others surrender. Via phone, Steve reports that Oporta was found guilty of three counts of murder with no possibility of parole, and congratulates Danno for a job well done.

Danno: Well...$184.50 a week take-home...why not?​

Sign-o-the-times detail--Hawkins' motivation was to fund a cause: "We'll set things right in this country. We're gonna stop 'em from burying us with peace and poetry and pot."

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Adam-12
"Truant"
Originally aired November 3, 1971

Truancy is on the rise in the district and Reed has a plan to pick up truants on the street, which was approved after a garage break-in by two truants. Results show a drop in crimes committed by truants, in one case two truants were stopped by the police and were implicated in a burglary, and one of the two truants involved in the garage break-in is brought in on another incident. Other incidents include arresting two heroin smugglers who hid the stash in their car's gas tank, which leaked some of the contraband making the car stall, and stop[ping] car thieves from stripping parts to build a dune buggy.

Responding to an all-units 459 in their vicinity, the officers and another unit get out on foot to investigate, and Reed and Malloy find two kids rummaging through a garage. One of them finds a coffee can with bread in it, and the officers walk in to spoil their fun. At the station, postman Myron Bradley (Charles Lampkin) expresses a willingness to discipline his son, Lyle (Ezekial Williams), and wonders why the school isn't notifying him of his son's truancy, with Reed explaining that they're understaffed for checking into all of the truant kids. Ginger Stephens (Barbara Nichols), on the other hand, obnoxiously makes excuses for Virgil (Vincent Van Patten) and doesn't want to come back to the station with him the next day until Malloy threatens her with a charge of contributing to the delinquency. Back on patrol, we learn that Reed's already proposed his plan, which Mac didn't seem interested in.

The officers stop to assist a stalled vehicle. After Reed helps by pushing the car, the driver (Robert Clarke, who was billed under a different character name than was dropped in the episode) insists that the officers don't need to stay, but Malloy pulls out the shotgun and has Reed frisk them...Air-1 having tipped him off that the men they were helping were armed, thanks to narco detective McCall (Lew Brown), who arrives on the scene, pulls a warrant, and then pulls a string of bags of smacks out of the tank, one of which is busted.

Malloy: Are you telling me that the car died of an overdose of heroin?​

At the station, Reed is called in to see Captain Grant (Art Balinger). Reed describes how he did his research about the amount of burglaries that are likely because of truant kids; he thinks that having officers pick up truant kids will likely cut down on these crimes, and the captain agrees to give it a try. Cut to the plan in operation, with a makeshift classroom at the station full of children being watched by a complaining Ed Wells.

On patrol, the officers find a stolen Volkswagen that's been stripped clean, including of the engine, with an oil trail leading to a nearby garage. The guys inside open it up, see the officers, and the one in their makeshift buggy tries to get away, but runs into a fence and is then blocked in by Wells, who teases Reed and Malloy about dealing with car thieves when they've got all those dangerous truants on the streets.

The officers proceed to approach a pair of juveniles they'd spotted on the street earlier. The kids try to say that they're 18 and 19, and Reed asks to see their draft cards. Asked to quickly give the year he was born, the talker says 1938. While the kids are in the back, the officers respond to a 459 at a nice house a couple of blocks away and the woman there (Natalie Masters) identifies the boys as the culprits. Back at the station, Ed's happier about the program because of the reduced calls he's been getting the past couple of days. Later the captain expresses his approval, citing the numbers and showing the officers a positive write-up in the paper. The episode ends on a cautionary note with Malloy spotting a parent-neglected repeat offender being brought in--Virgil Stephens.

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The Brady Bunch
"And Now a Word From Our Sponsor"
Originally aired November 5, 1971

The Bradys are hired by a hip director, Skip Farnum (Paul Winchell), to star in a television commercial for laundry detergent, due to their unaffected manner. The detergent is not the family's current brand, but a comparison test shows the new detergent as superior so the family agrees to do the commercial. They take advice from acting teacher Myrna Carter (Bonnie Boland), but as a result their acting is forced. Skip is appalled and fires the Bradys, remarking that the acting methods remind him of a "terrible" actress they worked with: Myrna Carter. As compensation the family receives 2,000 boxes of laundry detergent.

Note: Robert Reed wrote a four-page memo complaining to Sherwood Schwartz about the episode's premise and the character of Skip Farnum, but he did think it was a good choice to cast Paul Winchell, praising Winchell's acting.

Farnum spots Carol and the kids in the grocery store and follows them through the parking lot, trying to frame them in his hands, before approaching and making his offer. Farnum comes to the house, where he plans to shoot the commercial, to "scan the pad". He thinks the kitchen is groovy, and takes a liking to Alice, whom he refers to as "Pussycat". The boys start planning proactive purchases with the money they'll be earning; the girls break into a bathroom routine of mocking commercials for various products; and Mike pores over the lengthy contract, deciding to have his lawyer take a look. Mike becomes concerned when he learns that Carol had previously switched from the detergent in question, Safe, to their current detergent, Best...to Mike, pitching Best would therefore be fraudulent, and he's ready to call the whole thing off. But when he calls Farnum, he learns that Safe recently switched to a new and improved formula, so the family decides to compare the two detergents to determine if Safe really is better.

The kids' role is to go out and get dirty, which includes Peter spraying Greg's shirt with oil; Peter, Bobby, and Cindy having a mud fight; and Marcia and Jan painting each other's shirts. Ultimately the right pile of laundry wins and they decide to do the commercial. With the gig back on, though, Mike gets cold feet again, this time about whether the family will look stupid on camera. Carol comes up with the idea of getting lessons from Myrna, the cousin of a friend. Myrna's a hip type, too, and coaches the family about finding motivation for their actions in her idiosyncratic way. When the day of the commercial arrives, Farnum's upset to find the parents acting so unnaturally; the kids come in far dirtier than he wanted; and Alice literally waltzes in with a beauty parlor makeover. He calls the gig off, trying to kick everyone out until Mike notes that it's his house, and then drops Myrna's name as somebody he had a bad experience working with before.

In the coda, Carol and Alice first learn of the family's payment when a truck arrives carrying the Bradys' first load of Safe. As I recall, a later episode involves a washing machine mishap...it'd be a nice continuity point if the Bradys are shown to be using Safe.

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The Partridge Family
"Days of Acne and Roses"
Originally aired November 5, 1971

The Partridges help a young, awkward delivery boy build up his confidence in the dating department.

With no idea what we may have missed in the teaser, we proceed with Wendell (Jay Ripley), a lanky, rural type, delivering groceries to the Partridge home only to leave obviously flustered after Laurie walks in. Keith, who knows the accident-prone Wendell from the football team, deduces that he wants to ask Laurie out but is too shy. Laurie offers that she'd be happy to go out with him, but feels that he needs to gain the confidence to ask her out. Danny confronts Wendell about this directly, and when Wendell confesses that he's never been out with a girl, Danny drags him home to Keith for consultation. Keith has a moment of awkwardness because he's coaching Wendell about making moves on his sister, but he and Danny manage to lure Wendell into the house while he's practicing his opening line. He only has to stammer out one word for Laurie to accept. The next day Keith reports that Wendell's newfound confidence is showing in his game...but Laurie has to inform him that she won't be able to make the date because she hadn't realized that the family had an engagement that night; and he defensively assumes that it's an excuse to dump him.

Cut to the fake band performing "I'm On My Way Back Home" at their gig.

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When Laurie's back in town, Wendell avoids her...as well as Shirley and Keith when they attempt to intervene offscreen. Laurie decides that it's time to take action as a liberated woman, confronting him as he's making a delivery to persuade him to take her to a football team party. The other kids are impressed to see "Wrongway Wendell" walk in with Laurie on his arm...though his lack of familiarity with modern dances proves awkward. The next day Laurie's afraid that Wendell wants to go steady with her, which she's not ready for...but at a taco stand rendezvous, where a couple of girls from school (Susan Foster and Ann Jillian) flirt with him, Wendell informs her that he's looking to expand his horizons from dating nice girls to dating "rotten" girls...and leaves her holding the check while he goes over to the other girls' table.

In the coda, Danny fleeces Reuben at pool, and Shirley informs Laurie that Wendell has asked her out.

_______

The Odd Couple
"Does Your Mother Know You're Out, Rigoletto?"
Originally aired November 5, 1971

After Oscar accidentally injures opera star Richard Fredricks, he must take the singer's place in Felix's opera production.

Felix is hosting a group at the apartment looking for somebody to star in his production of highlights from Rigoletto. Obscure touring performer Herbert Murphy (John Wheeler) is auditioning when Oscar walks in to find the man seemingly presenting him with flowers at the door. Oscar tries to excuse himself, but the singer is offended and Felix, accusing Oscar of being rude, makes him sit down for a performance...during which Oscar can't help breaking out into laughter multiple times, causing Murphy to storm out in a huff. Felix is naturally incredulous when Oscar promises to get him another opera singer, only to be informed that Richard Fredricks, leading baritone of the New York City Opera Company, is first baseman on Oscar's team. Oscar brings Fredricks by Felix's studio on the way to batting practice to inform Felix that Richard has accepted; and Fredricks performs an aria accompanied by Felix on piano. Felix is ecstatic with the arrangement, but after practice, Oscar has to inform him that there's been an accident, and Fredricks hobbles in on crutches, his right leg in a cast.

Felix: You broke my Rigoletto!​

Fredricks offers that he can sing from the pit if somebody stands in for him onstage...and volunteers Oscar. Motivated to keep Fredricks, Felix throws himself into coaching Oscar on the role of the titular hunchbacked dwarf jester.

Felix: All you have to do is let your mouth hang open. I've seen you do it eating pizza.​

At dress rehearsal, Oscar is mortified by his posture-restrictive jester costume, and has physical difficulty carrying a woman playing Rigoletto's cursed daughter in a sack as required by Felix's direction...but when Felix won't relent on that aspect of the production, Richard stands up for Oscar and quits on his behalf. Oscar persuades Felix to go after him, only for Richard to walk in and apologize, ceding to Felix's authority as the director...and Felix in turn agrees to do the scene as Richard suggested, though this still involves some physical difficulty for Oscar.

In the coda--the show apparently having been successful--Richard performs a popular standard, "If Ever I Would Leave You," at the apartment in his distinctive style, accompanied by Felix on piano...while Oscar, sitting next to Felix, can't help dramatically mouthing the words.

_______

Sadly, the series version, which saw Dennis Weaver facing the possibility of vehicular homicide from various makes and models of trucks, cars, and motorbikes on a weekly basis, lasted only a single season. Just kidding. This was a great movie.

I've never seen the movie, but found this noteworthy as it had come up in that other thread from days of yore that Duel was the source of the stock footage around which the Incredible Hulk episode "Never Give a Trucker an Even Break" was based. IMDb further informs me that Spielberg was none too pleased with this, such that he had a stipulation against this scenario put in his contracts.

Apparently I know absolutely nothing about Neil Diamond's early career. This was better than the last one, anyway.

You may be getting the timestreams mixed again, as in 50th Anniversaryland, Neil has already had several of his best-known hits. But yeah, this one was new to me as well.

Oldies Radio Classic.

And very signs-timey with its outspoken bucking of parental authority.

Classic Three Dog Night. Probably their signature song.

I think "Joy to the World" or "One" might have something to say about that.

 

[J.T.B.]

The car is loaded into the back of a trailer truck and the tracks from the truck swept away. The trailer is loaded onto a cargo ship.

Sorry to be technical but the armored car went into a shipping container which was on a chassis trailer. Probably one of the first appearances of inter-modal transportation on US network TV. I believe guy who guided the container off the trailer in Honolulu was the same guy who guided it onto a trailer in Oakland.

As the assembled conspirators are arranging to blow open the back of the armored car, the place is surrounded by cops led by Danno.

Yeah, California cops are being ordered around by the out-of-jurisdiction Danny. No doubt the FBI would have told him "You might as well save the taxpayers the cost of the plane ticket, because we got this."

But nobody says anything more about the (presumably) dead guard in the back of the truck!

I believe the last episode for both the recently-late Al Harrington before he moves up to the main cast, and Glenn Cannon before becoming a recurring regular.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Sorry to be technical but the armored car went into a shipping container which was on a chassis trailer. Probably one of the first appearances of inter-modal transportation on US network TV.

Good to know. I wasn't sure how to describe it, as it clearly wasn't a semi truck.

Yeah, California cops are being ordered around by the out-of-jurisdiction Danny. No doubt the FBI would have told him "You might as well save the taxpayers the cost of the plane ticket, because we got this."

I was wondering about that. OTOH, I get the impression that Five-O functions as a sort of state-level FBI rather than a conventional police department, so it may have special jurisdictional privileges.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Some additional timeline entries, as I was separated from my copy of The Beatles Day by Day when I was making the weekly post:

What happened? Was the server offline? No Wi Fi? Did you try rebooting?

The lab boys meticulously examine each scattered letter of type that was found at the shop.

"Damn it! Comic Sans! Get me a specimen bag!"

Carol watches at the bank as an armored car picks up the money for moving to a more secure location...which is what the false robbery was meant to achieve.

It seems like added security and police presence would been a more likely response, especially since the robbers would be unlikely to try again at the same place.

The car is stopped by a van blocking the end of a tunnel and Ray dressed as a flagging police officer...the men in front are shot with armor-piercing bullets, and the man in back is dealt with via gas. The car is loaded into the back of a trailer truck and the tracks from the truck swept away. The trailer is loaded onto a cargo ship.

So many unlikely things.

Noonan stages a fight to get fired from Tiki Gods while Blumberg demands a raise as an excuse to quit.

Why not just confess?

As the assembled conspirators are arranging to blow open the back of the armored car, the place is surrounded by cops led by Danno.

I wonder how long it takes a cargo ship to get from Hawaii to California. I'm sensing a time discrepancy here.

Danno: Well...$184.50 a week take-home...why not?

Wow. Danno ain't in it for the money, that's for sure.

Sign-o-the-times detail--Hawkins' motivation was to fund a cause: "We'll set things right in this country. We're gonna stop 'em from burying us with peace and poetry and pot."

"Especially haiku! I hate anything made in Japan!"

wonders why the school isn't notifying him of his son's truancy, with Reed explaining that they're understaffed for checking into all of the truant kids.

Does anyone ever wonder about the reason behind this sudden spike in truancy, and why all the truants are turning to crime? Does anybody mention that the word truant sounds sillier and sillier the more often its used?

Malloy: Are you telling me that the car died of an overdose of heroin?

That was going to be my line.

Cut to the plan in operation, with a makeshift classroom at the station full of children being watched by a complaining Ed Wells.

I'll bet he was a lawbreaking truant when he was a kid. He seems the type.

The kids try to say that they're 18 and 19, and Reed asks to see their draft cards.

There's a sign of the times.

Asked to quickly give the year he was born, the talker says 1938.

See? You do need to use math in the real world. Stay in school, kids!

He thinks the kitchen is groovy, and takes a liking to Alice, whom he refers to as "Pussycat".

"For you, I see The Alice Adventure Hour. Do you do your own stunts?"

As I recall, a later episode involves a washing machine mishap...it'd be a nice continuity point if the Bradys are shown to be using Safe.

Or unloading it at a yard sale. I wonder what Robert Reed's beef with the episode was, and if it had something to do with Mike insisting on comparing the products first.

at a taco stand rendezvous, where a couple of girls from school (Susan Foster and Ann Jillian) flirt with him, Wendell informs her that he's looking to expand his horizons from dating nice girls to dating "rotten" girls...and leaves her holding the check while he goes over to the other girls' table.

Points for a twist ending.

Shirley informs Laurie that Wendell has asked her out.

They've created a monster.

Oscar has to inform him that there's been an accident, and Fredricks hobbles in on crutches, his right leg in a cast.

It's the 60s, man, do Rigoletto with everybody on crutches because it makes a statement about how we're all hobbled by the ills of humanity.

Richard stands up for Oscar and quits on his behalf. Oscar persuades Felix to go after him, only for Richard to walk in and apologize, ceding to Felix's authority as the director...and Felix in turn agrees to do the scene as Richard suggested, though this still involves some physical difficulty for Oscar.

Suddenly, they all broke out into adulthood.

I've never seen the movie, but found this noteworthy as it had come up in that other thread from days of yore that Duel was the source of the stock footage around which the Incredible Hulk episode "Never Give a Trucker an Even Break" was based. IMDb further informs me that Spielberg was none too pleased with this, such that he had a stipulation against this scenario put in his contracts.

Seems like an overreaction. Stock footage has always been a mainstay of TV and movies. It's kind of fun to spot stuff like that.

You may be getting the timestreams mixed again

I am, but I suppose I could use the excuse that "last one" meant "last post."

I think "Joy to the World" or "One" might have something to say about that.

Could be, especially "Joy to the World." Hard for me to tell, because I love all their stuff pretty much across the board.

 

[J.T.B.]

I was wondering about that. OTOH, I get the impression that Five-O functions as a sort of state-level FBI rather than a conventional police department, so it may have special jurisdictional privileges.

Not unless H5O takes place in a world with a different US Constitution.

 

[The Old Mixer]

What happened? Was the server offline? No Wi Fi? Did you try rebooting?

If I reboot, will the pages stop falling out?

So many unlikely things.

It seemed like a relatively good heist scheme. I have to belatedly differ with the Wiki description of the robbers as "upstanding citizens," though...at least a couple of them had pretty shady backgrounds.

I wonder how long it takes a cargo ship to get from Hawaii to California. I'm sensing a time discrepancy here.

That would've only been in Danno's favor, though.

Wow. Danno ain't in it for the money, that's for sure.

Tossing that in a couple of inflation calculators, that comes out to over $1,200 in 2021, FWIW.

I'll bet he was a lawbreaking truant when he was a kid. He seems the type.

Not Bing's boy!

It's the 60s, man

Not anymore.

Seems like an overreaction. Stock footage has always been a mainstay of TV and movies. It's kind of fun to spot stuff like that.

But this wasn't shot to be stock footage...it was turning his film into stock footage, and basing an entire episode of a TV series around it. I can see how that would be an issue...especially as he was already a big name by the time the episode came out.

Not unless H5O takes place in a world with a different US Constitution.

Government of Jack's hair, by Jack's hair, for Jack's hair...

 

[RJDiogenes]

If I reboot, will the pages stop falling out?

Aw, it's falling apart? I love old books, but they are definitely vulnerable to the aging process.

I have to belatedly differ with the Wiki description of the robbers as "upstanding citizens," though...at least a couple of them had pretty shady backgrounds.

I meant to say something about that, but the quote got lost in the requoting and I forgot.

That would've only been in Danno's favor, though.

That's what I was thinking. Did he fly over, get a room, take in a couple of shows....?

Tossing that in a couple of inflation calculators, that comes out to over $1,200 in 2021, FWIW.

That's not bad. My thinking was that I made almost that much working in a warehouse fresh out of high school just eight years later.

Not anymore.

Close enough for peace, poetry, and pot.

But this wasn't shot to be stock footage...it was turning his film into stock footage, and basing an entire episode of a TV series around it. I can see how that would be an issue...especially as he was already a big name by the time the episode came out.

Okay, it's a little much building an episode around it.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Aw, it's falling apart? I love old books, but they are definitely vulnerable to the aging process.

If you want to grace a cheaply bound softcover from the '90s with the classification "old book"...

That's what I was thinking. Did he fly over, get a room, take in a couple of shows....?

Maybe Danno was in his jurisdiction, having gotten a transfer and finished his orientation period.

That's not bad. My thinking was that I made almost that much working in a warehouse fresh out of high school just eight years later.

Eight years later = Carter.

 

[RJDiogenes]

If you want to grace a cheaply bound softcover from the '90s with the classification "old book"...

Old tome?

Maybe Danno was in his jurisdiction, having gotten a transfer and finished his orientation period.

Eight years later = Carter.

WIN!

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)

_______

Love, American Style
"Love and the Married Bachelor / Love and the Sweet Sixteen / Love and the Vacation / Love and the Well-Groomed Bride"
Originally aired November 5, 1971

"Love and the Married Bachelor" opens with artist Larry Henderson (Monte Markham) romancing a woman named Diane (Timothy Blake), only to try to rush her out because his wife's about to come home. When the door buzzes, he hides Diane in the closet and lets in his roommate, Johnny (Warren Berlinger), who silently stands in for the nonexistent wife that Larry uses to get rid of girls who want to get too serious. When Johnny is out of the room, Diane leaves, disgruntled that Larry's still stringing along his wife. Larry later gets a visit from Allison Chambers (Marlyn Mason), who wants him to paint a portrait of her for her first wedding anniversary. Larry maintains that he's also married, but clearly falls for her on first sight, with the attraction only deepening as he works on her painting. He stalls the process by tearing up her first portrait, then persuades her to reluctantly pose in the nude...though she modestly keeps herself covered enough for television. Larry admits that he's in love with her and that he's not married, then she warns him that her jealous husband may be paying him a visit. The door buzzes, Larry puts Allison in the closet, vocally resolves to tell her husband about them, and declares that he wants to marry her...but it's only Johnny. Allison then confesses that she's not married either--the portrait was for her mother, and she was using the ruse as a means to protect herself from an artist with a bad reputation. With the truth out about both of them, Larry asserts that he still wants to marry her, and she seems open to the idea.

In "Love and the Sweet Sixteen," an inmate named Robert Braverman (Henry Gibson) is brought to see his lawyer, Mr. Dunn (Robert Emhardt). Dunn has his wife Cindy (Susan Howard) brought in, and though she's upset with him, he declares his love and they start getting romantic. The lawyer has her taken out, and brings in Robert's wife Karen (Lee Meriwether). Though she's indignant about having to visit him in prison, she also succumbs to his charms. Then his wife Delores (Barbara Luna) is brought in, and though she's very angry, his charm sways her as well. The prison guard (uncredited on IMDb) asks Braverman how he does it. The three Mrs. Bravermans arrive in court and begin to squabble, but they ultimately resolve to do what they can to help Robert in their mutual interest. After Dunn pleads guilty, the judge (Jon Lormer) questions Braverman, who claims that his wives all asked him to marry them, and admits to having a total of sixteen. The judge then questions each of the three wives present about how they shared him, each seeing him on a different day of the week. The judge declares that Braverman will be doing jail time, which could be reduced if he devoted himself to one wife. The judge then asks in a roundabout way how Braverman does it. (The lawyer also provided a middle beat to this effect somewhere along the way.) Judge Barker suddenly takes ill before the sentencing, leaving Braverman's case with Judge Harkness (Maxine Stuart), known as the "hanging judge". But his charm also works on her, such that she declares a suspended sentence and takes an interest in personally helping him.

In "Love and the Vacation," Harry (Milton Berle) is making changes around the house to try to put some romance back in his marriage with Edna (Phyllis Diller). She's more interested in watching Dick Cavett, and declares that as they haven't spent a night apart in twelve years, they should take separate vacations. At her hotel, Edna finds herself having to fend off the overtures of a desperate-looking middle-aged man at another table, and the waiter (Larry Anthony) suggests hiring a male escort to be seen with. Meanwhile, Harry checks into the hotel in a foreign disguise, and accidentally buys a drink for the wrong woman, Dawn (Louisa Moritz), who's very receptive to his unintended overture. The young escort, Ted (Joby Baker), arrives at Edna's table and Harry assumes something less innocent. Later he tries to get into her room dressed as a chambermaid and hears Edna and Ted putting on an act for the sake of their intruder, who ends up tumbling into the room and excusing himself after being given a tip. At breakfast and back in his default disguise, Harry manages to successfully have orange juice sent to Edna's table, and she agrees to spend the day with him, but she switches to Ted as soon as he arrives. That night, when Ted leaves her brass-bedded room, Harry breaks in using his key, bearing champagne to romance her, but it turns out that she's seem through his disguise. He's upset that she was willing to romance another man (him in disguise), but she proposes that this roleplay was perhaps exactly what their marriage needed.

"Love and the Well-Groomed Bride" opens with three bridesmaids tending to the bride, Lily (the Lennon Sisters, who are billed as a group, so I'm not sure who's who), before the ceremony when an old boyfriend, George (George Furth), comes into the brass-bedded room through the window pleading with her to marry him instead, though she objects that their relationship was innocent, not love. After the girls have to pull some shenanigans to keep the mother of the groom (Barbara Morrison) from seeing George, he handcuffs himself to Lily, and swallows the key in a struggle over it just as one of the others knocks him out with a vase. Lily ends up having to drag George behind her down the aisle, hidden in her train; but the ring is put on his hand, he comes to, and Lily has to introduce George to her groom, Sidney (Tom Stewart).

_______

All in the Family
"Edith's Accident"
Originally aired November 6, 1971

Edith has an accident with a car (involving a can of cling peaches in heavy syrup) and leaves a note for the owner, a Catholic clergyman, which doesn't sit well for Archie on both counts.

That's kind of spoiling a second-half twist that nobody saw coming.

Archie comes home in a foul mood because of a subway stall, and wants to know why Edith is even later. In her roundabout way that tries his patience, Edith describes how she lost control of her shopping cart in the grocery store parking lot and not only scratched the fender, but put a dent in the hood with a flying can of cling peaches--having to hum the phrase "cling peaches" multiple times after Archie tells her stop saying it. Archie's beside himself when he learns that she left a note on the car, as he figures he'll get taken to the cleaners by one of them "tricky garages". In their argument over such honesty, Mike is ashamed to admit that if he found change in a pay phone, he'd take it. The owner of the car, John Majeski, calls Edith about coming over after dinner, and Archie calls his garage pretending to be an insurance representative to find out what the estimate is. What Mike figured would be $30-40 and Archie saw as more likely $75 turns out to be a bill of $197.

Edith: Maybe it was the heavy syrup.​

Archie thinks that Mike may be of use as he assumes that the owner's surname is Polish, and attempts to explain why he doesn't believe anyone with the name John might be Jewish.

Archie: Like you got Saul Nelson, Izzy Watson...
Mike: Abe Lincoln.
Edith: I didn't know Lincoln was Jewish.​

Archie actually takes an interest when Edith relates how she saw Perry Mason catch a crook in a lie thanks to a tape recording made by Della Street...though she goes into a noteworthy tangent...

Edith: ...and Perry Mason jumped up! That's when he was playin' Perry Mason. Now he's Ironsides and...[pause held to allow for audience laughter]...he don't jump up no more!​

Mike and Gloria feel that recording Majeski without his knowledge would be depriving him of his civil rights.

Archie: He ain't [C-word], he's Polish!​

When Majeski (Barnard Hughes) comes to the door, it's clear from his collar that he's Father John Majeski.

Mike: Still want the tape recorder, Arch?​

Majeski praises Edith for her honesty, but Archie assumes that he's a fake and attempts to test him. Though Majeski is absent-minded and the psalm numbers vary in Catholicism, he proves able to quote one in Latin. Ultimately Archie confronts him head-on about the bill, and the father explains that it includes an engine overhaul that's being covered by the bishop, with the damages only coming to $14. Archie offers to cover that much, but the father walks out declaring that he doesn't want Archie's money...then walks back in and offers to take the money for a donation to Catholic charities in Archie's name.

In the coda, Archie turns up his nose when Edith brings him his desert of..."mmm-hmm".

_______

The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"Thoroughly Unmilitant Mary"
Originally aired November 6, 1971

The television newswriters union goes on strike, other guilds and unions follow, and Mary has to cross the picket line.

Ted announces the impending strike on the news, and nobody in the newsroom is enthusiastic about potentially spending months picketing. Lou brings Mary into his office, explains that management is expected to report to work, and tries to prepare her for having to cross a picket line. At dinner, Rhoda is shocked to learn that Mary's planning to be "a dirty, rotten scab". Ted offers to cover the weather for Gordy, who writes his own reports, if Gordy will tell him what the weather's going to be. He and Lou and Mary are the only ones left in the newsroom, and Ted has to improvise when he finds that the write-up of the strike is unfinished. The next day Ted's union joins the strike...leaving Mary to write the news and Lou to read it on the air.

Lou confesses to Mary that he's scared of appearing on the air, and criticizes her overly florid writing. On the air, Lou mumbles through the news, which the picketers have a good laugh about at the bar. Lou finds that drinking calms his nerves, so he gets sauced before the next broadcast, to Mary's disapproval. She tries to assert authority and stop him from going on, but he just lifts her out of the way and proceeds...and to Mary's surprise, his delivery is much improved.

Mary: You're so cool and professional!
Lou: Thank you. [Heads for his office.]
Mary: Where are you going?
Lou: I'm goin' in to get a little more professional.​

Lou promptly loses consciousness, leaving producer Herb Bernstein (Larry Gelman), who's been awkwardly filling in for various on-air personalities including Chuckles, to sub for Lou subbing for Ted.

In the coda, Ted announces that the strike is over and offers to buy drinks for everyone in the nearly empty bar...immediately after which the place fills up with joyous picketers.

_______

Mission: Impossible
"Underwater"
Originally aired November 6, 1971

When an underling steals a shipment of diamonds out from under the nose of a Syndicate fence (Fritz Weaver) and hides them underwater offshore, Casey makes the fence and the underling believe SCUBA diver Jim has already found them in order to retrieve the gems and the $75 million earmarked for their sale.

Scuba diver Frederick Hoffman (Jeremy Slate) weighs down the body of a courier on a yacht with an attache case full of diamonds chained to his wrist, then sets a bomb on the boat. The body is dumped overboard, with the case remaining attached. George Berlinger (Fritz Weaver) has Hoffman brought in for questioning, and Hoffman claims that the diamonds were lost when the boat blew.

Good morning, Mr. Phelps. Forty-eight hours from now, this man, George Berlinger, millionaire manufacturer and the country's largest dealer in stolen gems, is scheduled to transfer a huge shipment of diamonds to an underworld figure for $75 million. At this moment, only one man in the world knows where those diamonds are, and he is Berlinger's former lieutenant, Frederick Hoffman, who stole them, hid them, and is now being tortured by Berlinger to reveal their whereabouts. Conventional law enforcement agencies are unable to guarantee the recovery of the jewels. Your mission, Jim, if you decide to accept it, is to recover those diamonds, seize the $75 million in cash, and put Berlinger out of business for good. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.

As the plan commences, Scuba Jim caught diving around the area where the body was left, but Berlinger henchman Hawks (Robert Yuro) lets him go. Willy delivers a part for an air conditioner with Guess Who hiding in the crate. Guess Who proceeds to torch his way into an elevator shaft. In a restaurant, Hawks sees Casey finding a misplaced ring with a replica of one of the stolen diamonds. He follows Casey to her place, chloroforms her, and takes the ring back to Berlinger, who makes a positive identification.

Barney crawls through the ceiling over the interrogation room, gases interrogating henchman Simmons (Demond Wilson again, this time sans mustache), and makes an on-the-spot mask of his face while a drugged-up Hoffman watches. Barney also answers a phone with Simmons's voice, so it seems he's acquired some old cast-members' skills. Barney dons his disguise and takes Hoffman down to the garage. Meanwhile, Hawks finds the real Simmons and calls down to have Hoffman stopped, but Barney gets away with his man. Barney claims to be an insurance investigator looking for the diamonds, and shares intel that the diamonds have already been found and are hitting the market.

Casey is visited by Berlinger, who wants to know who she got the diamond from; she points him in the direction of Scuba Jim. Berlinger pays him a visit and offers good money for the diamonds, which he asserts Jim doesn't have the resources to sell. Barney takes Hoffman to the source of the diamonds supposedly on the market, Casey...whom a Barney-triggered fake shooting "kills" in front of Hoffman's eyes, upping the timetable

Willy, Jim, and Hoffman all separately suit up for diving, with the IMFers connected via earphone signals from Barney. Barney monitors Willy and Hoffman via a scope with illuminated dots and radios instructions to Willy--who's getting around underwater in Bondian style with a seascooter--and Jim, who's guiding Berlinger's boat. (Never mind that radio waves aren't supposed to be very useful underwater.) Hoffman locates the body, Willy watches, and Jim goes in. Willy signals when Hoffman has the case, Barney releases gas in Hoffman's scuba mask (which isn't clearly conveyed, leaving you to remember seeing it demonstrated in the briefing). Jim brings an almost-empty case to the boat, saying that he gave the diamonds to a friend underwater as protection (something else that wasn't clearly conveyed). Jim arranges for Berlinger's diamond transaction to take place at his fake pad. Elsewhere, Hoffman is hauled away, the courier's body is taken by an ambulance, and Willy has the stones. Berlinger's buyer, Mr. Conners (an uncredited Michael Fox), comes to Jim's pad. After being shown the bread that he's supposed to be after, Jim makes a short call, and the police bust in from various angles. Jim walks out to hop into a car with the other IMFers...Mission: Accomplished.

_______

 

[RJDiogenes]

Allison then confesses that she's not married either--the portrait was for her mother

She probably would have loved that nude.

With the truth out about both of them, Larry asserts that he still wants to marry her, and she seems open to the idea.

Whirlwind romances are also a staple of LAS.

But his charm also works on her, such that she declares a suspended sentence and takes an interest in personally helping him.

So... how does he do it?!

Harry (Milton Berle) is making changes around the house to try to put some romance back in his marriage with Edna (Phyllis Diller).

It's funny already. They don't even need a story.

it turns out that she's seem through his disguise.

I'd be a bit concerned if she hadn't.

she proposes that this roleplay was perhaps exactly what their marriage needed.

Plus the male escort.

(the Lennon Sisters, who are billed as a group, so I'm not sure who's who)

I wonder if even they know.

Lily ends up having to drag George behind her down the aisle, hidden in her train; but the ring is put on his hand, he comes to, and Lily has to introduce George to her groom, Sidney

Normally you'd expect the underdog to get the girl, but that's a great slapstick ending.

Mike is ashamed to admit that if he found change in a pay phone, he'd take it.

As opposed to what? Finders keepers, Meathead!

Edith: Maybe it was the heavy syrup.

Should have got unleaded.

Edith: ...and Perry Mason jumped up! That's when he was playin' Perry Mason. Now he's Ironsides and...[pause held to allow for audience laughter]...he don't jump up no more!

That's hilarious.

Though Majeski is absent-minded and the psalm numbers vary in Catholicism, he proves able to quote one in Latin.

Kind of a sign of the times there, too.

the father walks out declaring that he doesn't want Archie's money...then walks back in and offers to take the money for a donation to Catholic charities in Archie's name.

That's timeless, though.

At dinner, Rhoda is shocked to learn that Mary's planning to be "a dirty, rotten scab".

Apparently no long-term damage was done to the friendship, however.

She tries to assert authority and stop him from going on, but he just lifts her out of the way and proceeds...and to Mary's surprise, his delivery is much improved.

He's in his natural state now.

Lou promptly loses consciousness, leaving producer Herb Bernstein (Larry Gelman), who's been awkwardly filling in for various on-air personalities including Chuckles, to sub for Lou subbing for Ted.

Lou subbing for Chuckles would have been something to see.

Willy delivers a part for an air conditioner with Guess Who hiding in the crate.

makes an on-the-spot mask of his face while a drugged-up Hoffman watches. Barney also answers a phone with Simmons's voice, so it seems he's acquired some old cast-members' skills.

And improved upon them.

Willy--who's getting around underwater in Bondian style with a seascooter

You go, Willy!

(Never mind that radio waves aren't supposed to be very useful underwater.)

We watched a Bionic Woman recently that had a similar issue.

Willy has the stones.

You better believe it!

After being shown the bread that he's supposed to be after, Jim makes a short call, and the police bust in from various angles. Jim walks out to hop into a car with the other IMFers...Mission: Accomplished.

Nothing against the IMF, but I think conventional law enforcement could have handled this.

 

[The Old Mixer]

55 Years Ago This Week

November 13 – Tanks of the Israeli Army swept across the border from Israel and attacked three towns located two miles inside of Jordan. Four Royal Jordanian Air Force Hawker Hunter aircraft attacked an Israeli unit that was engaged in blowing up buildings in as-Samu, Jordan, a town that the terrorist group Fatah had used for staging commando attacks into Israel. Israeli Air Force aircraft responded, shot down one of the Jordanian planes and drove off the other three during the dogfight. The other villages attacked by Israel were Hirbeit Karkaz and Jimba. Jordan's ambassador to the United Nations told reporters that 13 Jordanian soldiers and 13 civilians had been killed in the attack, which came the day after four Israeli Army personnel had been killed by a land mine on their side of the border. Prime Minister Levi Eshkol of Israel said later, "We trust that the lesson will not go unheeded in Damascus."

November 14

• A U.S. Air Force C-141 Starlifter, part of the 86th Military Airlift Squadron and piloted by Captain Howard Geddes became the first jet aircraft to land in Antarctica, touching down on a runway carved out of the ice, at Williams Field on McMurdo Sound. The jet had completed a roundtrip flight of the 2,200-mile (3,543-km) each way to and from Christchurch, New Zealand.
• Jack L. Warner, the co-founder and largest stockholder of Warner Bros. Pictures, signed a contract to sell his one-third interest in the motion picture company to Seven Arts Productions, a Toronto-based distributor of films for television. Warner's 1,573,861 million shares of stock were sold for twenty dollars apiece, for a total of $31,477,220.
• Despite having been away from boxing for more than 15 months while recovering from being shot by a police officer, Cleveland Williams fought world heavyweight champion Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) in front of a crowd of 35,460 fight fans at the Houston Astrodome. Williams, who had worked his way back to health after four surgeries, a broken hip and the loss of a kidney, was felled in the third round after one of the most unusual career comebacks in athletic history. Dale Witton, the highway patrolman who had shot Williams in 1964, had been given tickets to two ringside seats by the challenger, who said "I have no hard feelings for him."

November 15

• Gemini 12, with James A. Lovell and Buzz Aldrin), splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean, 600 km east of the Bahamas, less than three miles from the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, bringing an end to the Gemini program to make way for the Apollo manned program set to land on the Moon. Both Gemini 12 astronauts, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and James Lovell, would fly on Apollo missions.
• The second, and most famous "Mothman" sighting took place when a pair of married couples in Point Pleasant, West Virginia reported seeing "a flying man with a 10-foot wingspan who flies after cars at 100 miles per hour". The experience of Steve and Mary Mallette, and Roger and Linda Scarberry, along with subsequent sightings, would lead to a 1975 bestselling book by John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies. In 2002, a horror film of the same title would star Richard Gere and Debra Messing as the first persons to witness the Mothman.
• A Boeing 727 freighter on Pan Am Flight 708 crashes near Berlin, Germany, killing all three crew on board.
• The low-budget American horror film Manos: The Hands of Fate was released. Produced, written, directed and starring Harold P. Warren, the movie would become a cult classic more than 25 years later as one of the selections for the Comedy Central series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

November 16 – U.S. doctor Sam Sheppard was acquitted in his second trial for the murder of his pregnant wife in 1954. The jury of seven men and five women spent nearly 12 hours deliberating before returning their verdict of not guilty at 10:18 p.m. Sheppard, who had been in the Ohio State Penitentiary from 1955 until he was allowed to post a bond in 1964 while his conviction was being reviewed, was eligible to have his osteopathic medicine license restored.

November 17

• The Earth's orbit took it into the path of the debris of Comet Tempel–Tuttle, providing the most spectacular display of meteors in 133 years. The Leonids shower peaked with a 20-minute display that began at 1155 UTC (4:55 in the morning at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona), where the meteors passed through the atmosphere at the rate of 40 per second. The spectacle, anticipated as the "Show of the Century" and the largest shower of record since the Leonids of November 12 and 13, 1833. However, overcast skies blocked the view for millions of other observers in the United States and Japan. The 1966 event is still described as "the last primary maximum" of the Leonids.
• The UN General Assembly passed Resolution 2152 (XXI), creating the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
• Don't Drink the Water, the first full-length play written by comedian Woody Allen, premiered on Broadway, opening at the Morosco Theatre. After a run of 598 performances on stage, it would be made into a 1969 feature film and later as a 1994 made-for-television movie.

November 18

• Roman Catholics in the United States would no longer be required to abstain from meat on Fridays, as a national conference of Roman Catholic cardinals, archbishops and bishops voted in Washington to revoke a requirement of abstinence that had been in effect for 11 centuries. As part of the recognition of Friday as a day of penance, Pope Nicholas I had decreed in the 9th Century that adherents to Roman Catholic faith would be required to abstain from the eating of meat, although the consumption of fish on Fridays was permitted. Friday, December 2, 1966, would mark the first day that 45,000,000 American Roman Catholics could consume beef, chicken, pork, or other meats without violating Church doctrine. Philip Hannan, Archbishop of New Orleans, and Clarence Issenmann, the Bishop of Cleveland, jointly made the announcement at a press conference.
• U.S. Air Force Major William J. Knight flew the North American X-15 to a record speed of Mach 6.33 (4,250 mph, 6,840 km/h). Major Knight began the flight after he had climbed to an altitude of 98,000 feet, after the X-15 had been released by a B-52 over Mud Lake, Nevada, and covered a distance of 637 miles in nine minutes.
• Baseball pitching legend Sandy Koufax surprised the sporting world when he confirmed a report by San Diego Union reporter Phil Collier that he was retiring from the sport at the height of his career, because of severe arthritis in his elbow. The story was front-page news, particularly in papers that covered Koufax's Los Angeles Dodgers team. Koufax, at the time the highest paid pitcher in the game's history, told a press conference, "I've had a few too many shots and too many pills because of my arm trouble." For the preceding 15 months, Collier had been keeping the secret that Koufax planned to quit baseball following the 1966 season, and Koufax returned the favor by giving Collier the chance to break the story.

November 19

• Project HARP, the High Altitude Research Project and a collaboration of the U.S. and Canadian armed forces, achieved its highest success when it used a large cannon ("the HARP gun") to fire a projectile into outer space. The "shell" was the Martlet 3 rocket, and the cannon, designed by Gerald Bull, sent it to an altitude of 178.6 kilometers (111 miles). As a military historian would note in 2011, "It was, and remains, a world record for any fired projectile."
• Billed as "The Game of the Century" for college football, the meeting between the nation's two unbeaten and untied teams, #1 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the #2 ranked Michigan State Spartans, ended anti-climatically when the teams played to a 10–10 tie. Televised nationally, and witnessed by more viewers than any football game, college or pro, before that time, the game ended in controversy. Notre Dame took over on its own 30-yard line with a little more than a minute left to play, and instead of risking a turnover, Notre Dame coach ordered the team to run out the clock to preserve the tie, rather than to go for the win.
• Paul McCartney and Jane Asher return from Kenya.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "You Keep Me Hangin' On," The Supremes
2. "Good Vibrations," The Beach Boys
3. "Winchester Cathedral," The New Vaudeville Band
4. "Last Train to Clarksville," The Monkees
5. "Poor Side of Town," Johnny Rivers
6. "Devil with the Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly," Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
7. "I'm Your Puppet," James & Bobby Purify
8. "96 Tears," ? & The Mysterians
9. "If I Were a Carpenter," Bobby Darin
10. "Rain on the Roof," The Lovin' Spoonful
11. "Lady Godiva," Peter & Gordon

13. "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing," Lou Rawls
14. "Reach Out I'll Be There," Four Tops
15. "Hooray for Hazel," Tommy Roe
16. "Walk Away Renee," The Left Banke
17. "Coming on Strong," Brenda Lee
18. "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted," Jimmy Ruffin
19. "Dandy," Herman's Hermits
20. "Stop, Stop, Stop," The Hollies
21. "I'm Ready for Love," Martha & The Vandellas
22. "Who Am I," Petula Clark
23. "A Hazy Shade of Winter," Simon & Garfunkel
24. "Mellow Yellow," Donovan
25. "Look Through My Window," The Mamas & The Papas
26. "But It's Alright," J. J. Jackson
27. "B-A-B-Y," Carla Thomas
28. "(You Don't Have to) Paint Me a Picture," Gary Lewis & The Playboys
29. "Secret Love," Billy Stewart
30. "Go Away Little Girl," The Happenings
31. "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself," Dionne Warwick

34. "Holy Cow," Lee Dorsey
35. "Psychotic Reaction," Count Five
36. "Cherish," The Association
37. "Knock on Wood," Eddie Floyd
38. "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)," Otis Redding
39. "Whispers (Getttin' Louder)," Jackie Wilson
40. "It Tears Me Up," Percy Sledge

44. "The Great Airplane Strike," Paul Revere & The Raiders
45. "See See Rider," Eric Burdon & The Animals
46. "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?," The Rolling Stones

50. "The Hair on My Chinny Chin Chin," Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs

53. "A Place in the Sun," Stevie Wonder

55. "(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need," The Miracles

58. "I Got the Feelin' (Oh No No)," Neil Diamond

75. "That's Life," Frank Sinatra

79. "(I Know) I'm Losing You," The Temptations

81. "Talk Talk," The Music Machine
82. "Mame," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
83. "Sugar Town," Nancy Sinatra

90. "I Need Somebody," ? & The Mysterians

96. "Single Girl," Sandy Posey

Leaving the chart:

• "Little Man," Sonny & Cher (7 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Mame," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

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(#19 US; #2 AC)

"Single Girl," Sandy Posey

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(#12 US; #15 UK)

"(I Know) I'm Losing You," The Temptations

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(#8 US; #1 R&B; #19 UK)

"Sugar Town," Nancy Sinatra

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(#5 US; #1 AC; #8 UK)

"That's Life," Frank Sinatra

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(#4 US; #1 AC; #25 R&B; #44 UK)


And new on the boob tube:

• The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 19, episode 10
• Gilligan's Island, "Topsy-Turvy"
• The Monkees, "Here Come the Monkees (Pilot)"
• The Rat Patrol, "The Moment of Truce Raid"
• Batman, "The Impractical Joker"
• Batman, "The Joker's Provokers"
• Star Trek, "The Menagerie, Part I"
• That Girl, "What's in a Name?"
• The Green Hornet, "The Preying Mantis"
• The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Green Terror"
• Tarzan, "Village of Fire"
• The Time Tunnel, "Reign of Terror"
• Hogan's Heroes, "A Tiger Hunt in Paris: Part 1"
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "The Off-Broadway Affair"
• 12 O'Clock High, "To Seek and Destroy"
• Get Smart, "The Greatest Spy on Earth"
• Mission: Impossible, "The Carriers"

_______

Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki pages for the month or year and Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles Day by Day, with minor editing as needed.

_______

Whirlwind romances are also a staple of LAS.

That's short stories for you. Sometimes I have to wonder if relationship beats are being lost in syndication edits, like when they establish that a couple has been dating offscreen since the previous scene.

That's hilarious.

Even better in the delivery, natch, especially Stapleton's facial expression when she gets to the Ironside part. And a good "taped before a live audience" moment, as a laugh track would have waited for the punchline.

That's timeless, though.

This was also meant to get under Archie's skin, as his major concern expressed in private to Mike after Majeski showed up, when Archie still thought he was being taken to the cleaners, was that his money would go to the Church. Archie got in his digs about the Pope being richer than God along the way.

Apparently no long-term damage was done to the friendship, however.

Well, she does end up moving back to New York...

Nothing against the IMF, but I think conventional law enforcement could have handled this.

I'm starting to wonder about the potential long-term continuity issue of having the IMF going up against a specific foe, the Syndicate, in every episode. No matter how factional they may be, after enough members have been taken down, you'd think notes would be compared behind bars and to the outside via lawyers. One could speculate that the series ends because the core members of the IMF have become too identifiable by that point.

 

[RJDiogenes]

the first jet aircraft to land in Antarctica, touching down on a runway carved out of the ice

Steer into the skid.

Williams, who had worked his way back to health after four surgeries, a broken hip and the loss of a kidney, was felled in the third round after one of the most unusual career comebacks in athletic history. Dale Witton, the highway patrolman who had shot Williams in 1964, had been given tickets to two ringside seats by the challenger, who said "I have no hard feelings for him."

This guy really had quite a remarkable story.

"Mame," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

Ooh, I didn't expect words.

"Single Girl," Sandy Posey

Stop swiping left then.

"(I Know) I'm Losing You," The Temptations

This is a goodie.

"Sugar Town," Nancy Sinatra

This is not.

"That's Life," Frank Sinatra

This is... a good song.

That's short stories for you. Sometimes I have to wonder if relationship beats are being lost in syndication edits, like when they establish that a couple has been dating offscreen since the previous scene.

I'm sure there are. And, unfortunately, only the first season has been released on DVD for some reason. Maybe they'll show up on some streaming service.

Even better in the delivery, natch, especially Stapleton's facial expression when she gets to the Ironside part. And a good "taped before a live audience" moment, as a laugh track would have waited for the punchline.

She was really fantastic. Such great style and timing.

I'm starting to wonder about the potential long-term continuity issue of having the IMF going up against a specific foe, the Syndicate, in every episode. No matter how factional they may be, after enough members have been taken down, you'd think notes would be compared behind bars and to the outside via lawyers. One could speculate that the series ends because the core members of the IMF have become too identifiable by that point.

Maybe they should have gone the other way and put them up against a super-syndicate, the organized crime version of THRUSH or KAOS.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

@RJDiogenes - Are you sure you don't have a copy of the 'Mission: Impossible' book sitting next to you?

In Chapter Six/Season Six where the format switches from the IMF fighting international intrigue to domestic threats and the Syndicate, Greg Morris argues that the IMF should have done exactly what you're suggesting; fight an 'evil' version of the IMF.