The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

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

  1. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    And more than half a century later, there's still such a shortage of providers that they can feel free to decline insurance and bleed people for all the money they can get.

    Well, that was really bad. :rommie:

    Good stuff.

    I hope she's a licensed psychiatrist, Eric.

    Classic.

    I did not know that either.

    Your favorite? :rommie: I have several favorite runs-- naturally I have a soft spot for the original Kirby issues, but there's also Adams, Cockrum, and Smith. And McLeod, if you count New Mutants.

    Talk about putting it on your credit card. :rommie:
     
  2. The Old Mixer

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

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    50 Years Ago This Week

    November 21
    • The Battle of Garibpur took place as the first major conflict between India and Pakistan prior to the Indo-Pakistani War that would end with Pakistan recognizing the independence of Bangladesh. At the same time, an aerial battle broke out between India and Pakistan over the Boyra peninsula.
    • After six days of negotiations, Prime Minister Ian Smith of Rhodesia signed a short-lived accord with British Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home, to gradually end white-minority rule of the southern African nation.

    November 22 – In Britain's worst mountaineering tragedy, the Cairngorm Plateau disaster, five children and one of their leaders are found dead from exposure in the Scottish mountains.

    November 23
    • The People's Republic of China took the place of Taiwan as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, after the seating of the PRC delegation on November 15.
    • World premiere, in New York, of the Ravi Shankar film Raga, which includes a cameo appearance by George Harrison.

    November 24
    • During a severe storm over Washington State, a man calling himself D. B. Cooper parachutes from the Northwest Orient Airlines plane he had hijacked, with US$200,000 in ransom money, and is never seen again (as of March 2008, this case remains the only unsolved skyjacking in history).
    • A Brussels court sentences pretender Alexis Brimeyer to 18 months in jail for falsely using a noble title; Brimeyer has already fled to Greece.

    November 25 – The #1 and #2 ranked teams in the United States, both undefeated after nine games and both in the Big Eight Conference, met in the most anticipated college football game of the year, as the #1 University of Nebraska Cornhuskers visited the #2 University of Oklahoma Sooners. Trailing, 31 to 28 with less than two minutes to play, Nebraska scored the winning touchdown with 1:38 left in the game and winning 35-31. The Cornhuskers would go on to win recognition as the NCAA national champions in another #1 vs. #2 game, beating second-ranked Alabama at the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

    November 26 – A ban against "caning" of students, used as a form of corporal punishment to enforce discipline in British schools since the early 19th century, was ordered by the Inner London Education Authority for the 880 primary schools in London, but was not scheduled to go into effect until January 1, 1973, 13 months in the future at the time. The punishment typically was administered by a teacher, with a long stick made of rattan to an unruly student, generally hitting the recipient across the buttocks.

    November 27 – The lander of the USSR's Mars 2 probe, became the first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars, but was destroyed on impact because its parachute failed to deploy due to a computer malfunction. The orbiter, launched with the lander on May 19, would continue in Martian orbit and transmit data for eight months before being deactivated on August 22, 1972.


    Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

    Leaving the chart:
    • "Do You Know What I Mean," Lee Michaels (17 weeks)
    • "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," Joan Baez (15 weeks)
    • "Trapped by a Thing Called Love," Denise LaSalle (14 weeks)

    New on the chart:

    "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony)," The Hillside Singers

    (#13 US; #5 AC)

    "Drowning in the Sea of Love," Joe Simon

    (#11 US; #3 R&B)

    "Hey Girl," Donny Osmond

    (#9 US; #21 AC)

    "Clean Up Woman," Betty Wright

    (#6 US; #2 R&B)

    "American Pie," Don McLean

    (#1 US the weeks of Jan. 15 through Feb. 5, 1972; #1 AC; #2 UK)


    And new on the boob tube:
    • Hawaii Five-O, "A Matter of Mutual Concern"
    • Adam-12, "Day Watch"
    • The Brady Bunch, "Click"
    • The Partridge Family, "I Can Get It for You Retail"
    • All in the Family, "The Insurance Is Canceled"
    • The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "The Six-and-a-Half-Year Itch"
    • Mission: Impossible, "The Visitors"

    _______

    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.

    _______

    I'm wondering what it was originally called..."Gender Identity" doesn't sound like a term that would've been used in 1966.

    Kinda cute and garagey, but definitely a letdown of a follow-up.

    Good and another step into psychedelia, but not one of their stronger singles.

    How does this one go...? "See See Rider" was definitely more Animals than this.

    That's an understatement. I've been hearing a version of this by the Young Rascals in my master shuffle as a representative track from their debut album that was on the compilation that I bought, alongside a cover of "In the Midnight Hour". I naturally assumed that both were covering Wilson Pickett, and hadn't realized that Pickett's version hadn't been released yet. They must have both been separately covering the original 1965 recording by Mack Rice, which I'm not familiar with.

    Those are all good, classic runs, but you said "best," not "favorite". Claremont/Byrne was the book's most definitive run, and would be on the shortlist of great runs for comics in general.
     
  3. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    Can I call it a Stone-Cold Classic if nobody remembers it? :rommie: In any case, one of my favorites and emblematic of my generation. And it makes me want to buy a Coke.

    Good one, but I somehow associate it with several years later, like 74-ish.

    This makes my heart hurt, but not for the intended reasons.

    This is a goodie that I remember from Lost 45s (which I actually heard last night for the first time in ages-- unfortunately it was an ABBA special).

    Stone-Cold Classic Rock and epic poetry. I'm tempted to say flawless. Doesn't it get a spot on that Top 500 list? :D

    Let alone "gender dysphoria" as a diagnosis. All I can remember is "sex change operation," and something about it being done in Sweden or Switzerland or somewhere like that, around 1970. I was actually a little surprised that it was being done as early as 66 in the States.

    True. :rommie:

    Yeah, despite some weakness early on, I would agree that it's the definitive run.
     
  4. The Old Mixer

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

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    Forgotten by oldies radio, perhaps. Burned into my brain from the commercials and the song generally being out and about at the time. I don't see the Hilltop Singers' version on iTunes, but have the contemporaneous New Seekers' version, which looks like it'll be charting next week.

    These are total obscuros to me, though I already had them.

    A very striking Goffin/King composition even when it's being done by a crappy artist.

    Not the original 2004 version. Don't know about the current one. It made the R&R HoF list, though. This one is a love/hate thing for me. On the one hand, it's an uber-classic, stone-cold and epic as you said, and generally fun for all the veiled and sometimes not-so-veiled references; on the other, it's a scathing condemnation of '60s rock; and I'm not sure if his likening of '50s rock 'n' roll--which had been called "the devil's music" back in the day--to "sacred" music is unintentionally ironic or brilliantly deliberate.

    In my earliest internet days on a Beatles subforum, there was a thread in which we were going over all the references and what he was trying to say with each one. The quartet/marching band/sergeants who refused to yield are, of course, the Beatles. The jester is Dylan. The girl who sang the blues is Janis. The reference to the Byrds is very on-the-nose. Jack Flash/the devil/that Satan...you can figure that one out.

    Eh, they were just gettin' warmed up.

    ETA--Add this new quinquagenarian to the list of songs that don't have the title in the lyrics:
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2021
  5. DarrenTR1970

    DarrenTR1970 Commodore Commodore

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    I know of this song being sung in at least two school assemblies in 1st-6th grade. (As well as the Coca Cola commercial.)
     
  6. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    Ditto. It's one of those things that I find myself humming out of the blue.

    That's... inexplicable.

    Did he say it was scathing? I never really took it that way. Certainly melancholy and perhaps a bit despairing, but he's singing about the response to the trouble, not the trouble itself. In any case, he's entitled to his viewpoint and it's an amazing work of art-- I'm not Christian, but I can appreciate The Last Supper.

    That was always weird. As long as I can remember, everyone talked about how cryptic the lyrics were-- and yet everyone always seemed to know. :rommie:

    I think Claremont was adjusting to working with Byrne-- Claremont's really not much without a good collaborator.

    Ah, Led Zep. I have to say, this does have a nostalgic sound to me now.

    Oh, yes, I remember singing it in a school performance too.
     
  7. DarrenTR1970

    DarrenTR1970 Commodore Commodore

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    Living here in the Seattle area, every couple of years or so, there's something on the news about someone claiming to have solved the case. I even remember it being discussed in my Washington State history class back in high school.
     
  8. The Old Mixer

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

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    _______

    50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)

    _______

    Hawaii Five-O
    "Rest in Peace, Somebody"
    Originally aired November 16, 1971
    The episode opens with Steve opening the office, picking up the mail to find an envelope with a key in it. He promptly gets a call about it from someone who addresses him by his first name and has the voice of Norm Alden; the caller says its door belongs to the person he's going to kill, and directs McGarrett to a letter sent to reporter Eddie Sherman (self) at the Advertiser, which Sherman reads to Steve on the phone. This in turn directs McGarrett to one of his own desk drawers, where he finds an otherwise empty photo album with stenciled messages indicating that photos will be arriving and noting "51 hours". Danno comes in with the first photo, left in his car. Steve plays a recording of the phone threat to kill the key-owner back to Danno for a dramatic cut to the credits...as if we hadn't just heard it without all the hoopla. Kono comes in with a letter left in his fridge; and Chin identifies Danno's photo as being of his own garage...where he and Steve head to cautiously open the door. Chin notices nothing unusual, but Steve sees a message sprayed on the ceiling indicating a false clue, and Chin learns that a threatening letter was left with his wife.

    Prints on the album lead Kono to a George Kamani (Thomas Leslie Jr.), who sells the albums. Another call points to Danno's car trunk, where they find dead fish and a taunting message about the smell. Another taunting message is left with Sherman. Danno goes to the kiosk of a Joe Mona (Clarence Aina), who made the key and is blind, but is able to provide useful details. The vendor's surname also matches the name that the caller has been signing his letters with. Steve heads for a conference room where he's supposed to be meeting with a state senate budget appropriations committee, and gets a taunting call...it's all about the taunting. Dr. Kamekona (Danny Kamekona, whose character is billed as Dr. Rosenstadt, though the other name is spoken multiple times) consults Five-O about the psychology of the caller; he feels that the caller is sincere in his threat, and notes his outspoken hostility to Steve and motivation to outfox him. When the office is unoccupied for the night, an shadowy figure leaves a letter on Steve's desk with a trail of red paint leading to it. The trail leads downstairs and outside to another set of stairs up to...the governor's office, which the key fits.

    The threatened time fits the governor's participation in the Kamehameha Day parade. (Didn't we already have an episode in which the governor was threatened on Kamehameha Day?) Steve wants him to go home where he can be protected, but Guv plays the "won't bow to threats" card, so Steve sets some rules that the Big G will have to play by to be protected while on the job. Danno reasons that the key to the caller's motivation is his hostility toward Steve, and that failing to save the governor would be the ultimate high-profile humiliation for him. Steve assigns Danno to cover the governor. Another call expresses a lot of hostility about Steve having kept the matter out of the press, and McGarrett gets the caller to go on a rant about how Steve played judge and is a tin idol. This sparks a memory about a uniformed cop (played by Norm Alden) who hurled that name at him in a boardroom.

    Five-O heads to the officer's place and find a matching typewriter and stencils. The officer in question is Bill Cameron, whom Steve proceeds to brief a group of HPD officers about so they can guard the governor. McGarrett explains that Cameron was brought before a board that Steve sat on for roughing up defenseless suspects. The parade commences, with the governor getting heavy security, including officers in SWAT gear, bulletproof glass for reviewing the parade, and a bulletproof vest. Right after a radio check-in, one of the officers guarding the palace is taken out by Cameron, who's dressed in the same gear, and takes his place for the next check-in. The governor is brought downstairs and Cameron opens fire, hitting his target and Kono, only to be quickly shot up from multiple angles himself. Cameron tries to gloat with his last words, but Steve informs him of the vest, and Cameron dies wondering why he did all that if the governor's alive (rather than how he could have made such a rookie oversight). As a wounded by conscious Kono is taken away on a stretcher, Steve ribs him about getting Kamehameha Day off.

    _______

    Adam-12
    "Anniversary"
    Originally aired November 17, 1971
    Reed is in charge of finding a gift that costs $28, one for each man on the watch. The officers get a call for a 415 at a bar, where they find a burly man wrecking the joint from a sitting position, who turns out to be in a wheelchair (H.B. Haggerty). He's eager to take on Reed and Malloy with a broken pool cue, but Malloy talks him down with some Fridayesque tough love. The man unloads about how he was a wrestler named Devil Dobish who was crippled by polio. The proprietor (Allen Jenkins) decides not to press charges.

    Reed hits upon the idea of getting champagne, so they head to a liquor store where the proprietor, Bernie Goodman (Stubby Kaye), has known Mac since he was a rookie and tries to give the officers a discount on a more expensive bottle, but they won't have it. Goodman congratulates Malloy on his promotion (which was also referenced last week, IIRC).

    Back on patrol, the officers find that they're being tailed, so Malloy pulls over and lets the car pass, then follows it and, after determining that there are no wants or warrants on the owner, pulls him over. The driver, Philip Heyes (Jack Sheldon), says he was just staying behind them to avoid making any mistakes, after having his car impounded and getting two tickets since the night before. They explain to him why suspiciously tailing a squad car isn't a good idea.

    Next the officers respond to a business dispute at a used car lot. They find Rudolfo Diaz (Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales) trying to get his money back from the proprietor, George Moore (Robert Emhardt), who charged Diaz over $650 for a 15-year-old car, while Diaz thought he was only signing for a security deposit. The officers learn that Moore's secretary, Mina (Inez Pedroza), was the one who called the police, as she didn't want to see Diaz get cheated. Moore agrees to give the deposit back, but fires her. Malloy refers Mina to a bunco detective.

    The officers respond to an all-units 211 in their vicinity at the liquor store, where they find that Bernie was shot even though he cooperated...though the attendant of an adjacent gas station, Jim Blackman (Alfred Shelly), thinks that he wounded the suspect. Things don't look good for Bernie as he's wheeled out to the ambulance.

    On patrol again, the officers stop for two men trying to push a camper-equipped pickup. Malloy fingers them as thieves because the camper doesn't fit the truck. Mac arrives on the scene to inform them that Bernie's going to make it, and the officers give him his gift.

    Finally the officers respond to a call about the body of the liquor store robber having been found in a park. The robber, identified as an 18-year-old, died for $54.

    Malloy: That's three dollars for every year of his life.​

    _______

    The Brady Bunch
    "Her Sister's Shadow"
    Originally aired November 19, 1971

    The most oft-quoted moment of the show has arrived.
    It starts with Jan's teacher Mrs. Watson (Gwen Van Dam) talking about how Marcia was the best student she ever had. Jan goes home with an attitude, clears Marcia's school awards off a bedroom shelf (bet that wasn't there last week), and tosses them on the closet floor. Marcia accuses the boys of pulling a prank, but Cindy finds the awards, and Jan admits to having done it but doesn't want to discuss why. The parents hear her argument with Marcia and take Jan into the den, where she delivers The Line. With lousy timing, Marcia bursts in to tell everyone that she's been made editor of the school newspaper. The folks proceed to encourage Jan to find what she does best and establish her own identity. Jan's first option is to try out as a pom-pom girl...something that Marcia's never been.

    Alice tries to make pom-poms from cut-up strips of newspaper, but ends up settling for giving Jan a couple of mop heads to practice with. Marcia is enthusiastic for Jan, but Mike has to reign in her impulse to try to help, though in private Marcia does give Jan some encouraging words, which Jan genuinely appreciates. Marcia watches in the wings as Jan tries out...but Jan doesn't make the squad. When Jan gets home, though, she's excited to break the news that her school essay won the award. Examining her score tally, she realizes that the addition is in error, and she got a 93 rather than a 98. Jan's inner voice tries to tell her to keep her mouth shut...and convinces her to do so on the basis that learning she didn't win would crush the family. At the presentation, Mrs. Watson is taking the mic when Jan runs up and confesses off-mic. The presentation is put off so the winner's parents can be present, and Mrs. Watson praises Jan's honesty on-mic.

    Back at home, Cindy complains about now being in her immediately older sister's shadow..."Jan, Jan, Jan."

    _______

    The Partridge Family
    "The Forty-Year Itch"
    Originally aired November 19, 1971
    Ray Bolger and Rosemary DeCamp return as Fred and Amanda Renfrew. The teaser's missing, so we commence with Shirley's folks already at the Partridge home in the middle of a spat, which involves Fred wearing a scouting outfit. It's not made clear what's going on or how it connects to Fred attending a party with the older kids in hip clothes, then trying out Danny's scooter. The kids complain to Shirley about how both grandparents are driving them crazy, then come up with the idea of maneuvering them into a reconciliation. In a discussion with Shirley, we learn that Amanda wants Fred to act his age, while he wants to camp out at Big Sur.

    Realizing that Grandpa's stalling on actually leaving Grandma, the kids decide to push him into going so he'll have to face the facts, so they throw him a little party to give him going-away gifts. Shirley confronts her father more directly, but he then ends up actually leaving. A montage ensues of Fred hitchhiking to the Love Generation's "Together (Havin' a Ball)". The family happens to be heading in the same direction for a gig, find Fred sleeping on the side of the road, and give him a lift. There's a bit of tension on the bus as Amanda's also along. At the dinner club gig, Shirley performs an old song that she dedicates to her parents, "My Best Girl". Fred and Amanda end up dancing in a spotlight during the song, which Fred finishes singing.

    Backstage, Fred and Amanda are united in accusing Shirley of manipulating them, then get into a brief argument, which ends with Amanda agreeing to try going to Big Sur with Fred.

    _______

    The Odd Couple
    "The Odd Couple Meet Their Host"
    Originally aired November 19, 1971
    Felix has David Steinberg (himself) in his studio, making reference to how he subs for regular talk show hosts. David takes a call about getting a discus champion on the show that he's doing and decides that he also wants to get the guy who wrote an article about her--Oscar Madison. Felix promises to get him, but Oscar doesn't want to do it because of stage fright. Felix tries to convince Oscar that he's a funny guy whom the audience will find entertaining. The name of the show isn't mentioned, and the set doesn't look like Johnny's, even back in the day...there's no desk, and David's in a chair between his guests. Oscar freezes up on camera, mumbling rehearsed answers that Felix wrote for him. Trying to save the show, David gets Oscar off on a tangent about Felix, which loosens Oscar up and comes off as a comedy routine...but Felix isn't amused, feeling that he's been humiliated in front of the entire world.

    David convinces Felix to come on the show the next night to set things straight, and sends a writer named Harvey Skolnik (Frank Corsentino) to the apartment to get material about Oscar. Oscar sends him out, but David calls Oscar to get him on the show, too. On the show, Felix awkwardly attempts to do rehearsed material about Oscar that doesn't take into account that Oscar is sitting right there. When Felix freezes up entirely, Oscar tries to cover for him by changing the subject...then Felix starts breaking into the Little Orphan Annie radio show song (set up earlier in the episode as a recurring bit of business between him and David)...which ends up turning into a full-blown performance, loosening Felix up. The guys have David over after the show and all is good between the three of them.

    _______

    Perhaps that scathing criticism of a period that the magazine held in high esteem at the time; coupled with the reference to moss growing fat on a rolling stone...

    Should he need to? For decades, he didn't want to explain the song. Looking it up, apparently he did confirm many of the commonly understood cast in recent years...though interestingly, he says that the reference to the quartet practicing in the park is not about the Beatles. Also, I got a kick out of this bit...
    :techman: Translation: "Go away, kid, ya bother me."

    What response? What trouble? His aim seem focused strictly on the artists of the era...with a special level of disdain reserved for Mick.
    And I did say that I consider it an epic uber-classic despite its evident intent.
     
  9. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    That sounds familiar somehow.

    Well, that's certainly a creepy opening sequence (presumably all these guys immediately called in the lab boys to look over these locations).

    You'd think they would have stepped up security a bit.

    Maybe it's Hawaiian for Tuesday.

    "When you fail-- he loses!"

    Whoa.

    Sounds like a good episode-- tense and disturbing.

    And this is the bar's fault? :rommie:

    Because of some restriction on gifts to officers?

    Nice of him to fire her right in front of the cops. :rommie:

    This recurring bit about Mac always arriving on the scene cracks me up. They should have given him a nice comfy pillow for his office chair so he'd stay put. :rommie:

    Talk about channeling Friday.

    "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!"

    "Talk to Peter, honey. He just had this plot."

    It's not whether you win or lose....

    Did she make a remark about him not having any brains?

    As much as I love a happy ending, a spinoff series of Ray Bolger hitchhiking around America and living the Hippie lifestyle would have been super groovy. :rommie:

    Aww. Off to Big Sur, with love.

    This episode really showcased how brilliant both Jack Klugman and Tony Randall were.

    Whoa, blacklisted! Come on, Rolling Stone!

    Burn! I always took that as just comparing Dylan to the Medieval jester archetype, using song and poem to satirize the culture at large or the powers that be-- even to their faces, in the case of a court jester. Dylan certainly fit that bill with his wordplay and subject matter.

    But what was his grievance? Just being an old fogey?

    Well, I'm not arguing with you. :rommie:
     
  10. The Old Mixer

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

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    I don't think they did. Maybe in this or that instance, but not methodically.

    Yeah, I was wondering why they were even closing the office for the night with something so big going on. We've seen them pull all-nighters before.

    Alden's character crossed the line of getting annoying for me. Too much obnoxious "gotcha" business.

    He was angry at the whole world and maybe wanting to play suicide by cop.

    They didn't say as much, but that came to mind.

    Driving around in his command wagon supervising things is his job.

    True.

    I get the impression that he was disappointed in Dylan for the direction he went, and then laying low after his accident. McLean was a folkie by background, and I'm pretty sure that his reference to the Jester stealing the King's (Elvis) thorny crown is about plugging in / embracing rock.

    Maybe an old folkie. He didn't like the direction popular music took in the '60s, and held the figures he cites in the song responsible. He might have been bearing that folkie grudge about the Beatles having become the next big thing just when they thought folk was gaining ground.
     
  11. DarrenTR1970

    DarrenTR1970 Commodore Commodore

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    One thing I learned recently about this song was the line 'Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
    And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye . . .' is a reference to a bar called 'The Levee' that Don McLean would frequent while growing up that served alcohol to minors and lost its liquor licence because of it; forcing the regulars to drink moonshine.
     
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  12. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    I thought the same thing. Kind of put the brakes on the momentum, story-wise, as well.

    Interesting. I assumed it was a desk job.

    Ah, one of those guys. Well, he's entitled to his feelings.

    That's a shame, especially since Folk Rock was such a big part of the scene. But art is all about the individual's perspective.
     
  13. The Old Mixer

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

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    _______

    55th Anniversary Fly-on-the-Wall Listening

    On November 24, 1966, John brings that pretty song he's been working on into the studio...


    _______

    50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)

    _______

    Love, American Style
    "Love and the College Professor / Love and the Eyewitness / Love and the Lady Barber / Love and the Plumber"
    Originally aired November 19, 1971

    I don't have "Love and the College Professor"; according to IMDb, it features Shelley Berman, Ivor Francis, Nina Shipman, and Angel Tompkins.

    "Love and the Eyewitness" has newlyweds Dewey and Pam Cochran (Michael Anderson Jr. and future Isis JoAnna Cameron[!]) arriving at their brass bed-furnised honeymoon motel room when Deputy Sheriff Preston Steele (Jack Burns) shows up at the door to question them about a bank robbery that they witnessed the getaway portion of. They recall a lot of details, so he wants to haul them in as material witnesses, afraid that they might skip town. They convince him to let them stay at the motel, but he also stays, and though they also convince him to stay outside, he keeps coming in and interrupting them while trying to make arrangements to take them to the station in the morning. When they finally convince him to just stay outside and let them get on with their big night, the bank robber (Charles Dierkop) comes out of the bathroom with a gun. At this point they have trouble getting the deputy to come back in; when he does, the robber tries to pose as a sleeping Dewey under the covers with his gun pointed at Pam, but the deputy sees through the ruse for obvious reasons and apprehends him. Once again, they have to convince the deputy to let them stay at the motel for the night and come to the station in the morning.

    "Love and the Lady Barber" opens with the titular Yvonne (Ann Prentiss) doing the hair of bald-on-top Herb Redding (Frank Sutton). He's into her, but she's into guys with long, shaggy hair, so he tries getting a wig, finally settling on a relatively conservative one. He show's up at Yvonne's shop with it, describing himself as "a regular Bobby Sherman"...but fake hair doesn't do it for her. He returns months later after a hair transplant operation, which she first assumes is a wig...but she reveals that she's gotten engaged and is getting married the next day. Herb is heartbroken until he meets his new barber, Linda (Carla Borelli), who's a knockout, but turns out to have a thing for bald men...so he orders the Yul Brynner.

    In "Love and the Plumber," the titular repairman, Mr. Weiner (Howard Morris), is working on the sink of a klutzy woman named Agatha Mulvey (Louise Lasser); physical comedy mishaps ensue. It turns out she's been having him over to fix things a lot, and she determines this visit that he's not married, so the next time she calls him over, she's dressed for a date. She gets him to go up into the attic with her to fix a drip, then "accidentally" knocks the ladder down so they're trapped together up there. They fish up his toolbox with yarn and hangars to share his modest lunch, and it turns out she just happens to have a chilled bottle of wine up there. They then create a makeshift rope out of odds and ends to try to lower her down, but it breaks too easily when tested. By this point he's gotten the picture and thinks she's trying to romance him to evade the bill. She slips and mentions that she's been having him over for unnecessary repairs; he misunderstands and admits that he's been stretching his jobs for her out a little, and they finally start to get romantic.

    _______

    All in the Family
    "Mike's Problem"
    Originally aired November 20, 1971
    The episode opens with Mike acting super-tense while studying, yelling at Gloria when she tries to express understanding about what's been happening between them. Edith tries to be a supportive listener for Gloria, but is so uptight about the subject that she can't even say S-E-X. Mike even fights with Gloria when Archie wants him to move his studying from the dining room table and Gloria tries to stand up for her husband. Edith tries to fill Archie in about what's going on, and he's just as uptight about the subject, making her stop as soon as she brings up an old war buddy of his that it happened to. Gloria calls a doctor, who thinks that the issue is probably caused by anxiety, and thus should resolve itself when exams are over.

    On the day of the exams, Gloria arranges for the parents to go out for the night so she and Michael can be alone. But Mike goes to Kelsey's first looking for Archie, feeling too under pressure to go home and wanting to talk to him about the issue. As a possible remedy, Archie hints at what I think is meant to be masturbation. Henry Jefferson comes in, and Archie takes him aside, wanting to know the secret of "his people's" special "stanima". Henry strings Archie along with what he's expecting to hear, about it all coming down to eating hog jowls. When Mike finally goes home, Edith leaves to join Archie at Kelsey's, and Mike's as tense as ever, trying to evade going up into the bedroom by claiming he wants to watch a Japanese monster movie that's coming on. Gloria gives Mike a shoulder massage, which loosens him up and gets him in the mood. Back at Kelsey's, Archie and Edith are watching the monster movie when they get a call that they can come home.

    This one struck me as being very groundbreaking for the time. People were making a big deal over 20 years later when Seinfeld did an episode all about masturbation in which the word and its common euphemisms were never mentioned. This was basically doing the same thing with impotence.

    _______

    The Mary Tyler Moore Show
    "Don't Break the Chain"
    Originally aired November 20, 1971
    Mary gets a chain letter and wants to throw it away, but Rhoda reads it more carefully and informs her that Lou sent it. Mary tears it up at work when she discovers that Murray's already got a list of everyone in the office, and Lou finds it in the wastebasket. Mary tells him that she doesn't believe in chain letters, and Lou claims that he doesn't either, but feels this one is different because somebody higher on the list is a TV sports personality he admires. Mary goes through her address book at home and comes up with Armond Lynton (Jack De Mave's character from "Today I Am a Ma'am"--a man Rhoda was interested in who showed up with his wife for what she thought was a date) and Roy Martoni (apparently also a returning character, Gino Conforti's from "Divorce Isn't Everything," who was billed there simply as Roy; though the situation Mary describes about him trying to sell her encyclopedias doesn't ring a bell).

    After receiving his letter, Lynton shows up at the station and repeatedly informs Mary that he and his wife are now separated. He tries to make a dinner date with her while Lou's hovering around, so Mary gets a talk in the office. Mary reluctantly agrees to a date, and Armond comes by her apartment early. Rhoda drops in and takes Mary aside, wanting to take him off her hands. Then Roy shows up at the door, wanting to return the favor of his letter by demonstrating his latest product, waterless cookware. Armond offers to buy a set just to get rid of him, but the situation quickly becomes about Roy keeping Armond busy, which Mary's happy to enable. When Roy asks the ladies which one is with Armond and Rhoda answers, he starts to hit on Mary.

    _______

    Mission: Impossible
    "Blues"
    Originally aired November 20, 1971
    The episode opens with Stu Gorman (William Windom) paying a visit to singer Judy Saunders (Gwenn Mitchell), who wants out of her contract, but he won't let her go, so she threatens to testify against him. A struggle ensues and he tosses her out the window of her apartment building, Hawaiian style.
    Deputy Detective Jim sits in on the questioning of Gorman and Belker by IMF-allied police lieutenant Don Eckhart (Vince Howard). Hip Singer Barney shows up in Gorman's studio for an audition and gets the producer's attention not just because Greg Morris has a pretty good singing voice, but because the song he sings is an on-the-nose account of what happened to Judy, referring to her by name. Gorman has Barney brought in and he comes right out and attempts to blackmail Gorman with what he knows, in exchange for a sweet recording contract. Belker tails Barney to see him reporting to the probation office and doing a covert drug purchase...making Gorman and Belker think that it's safe to dispose of him. But Fakely Hyped-Up Barney claims to have a tape that was recorded on Judy's machine of her murder.

    The IMF are hard at work doctoring such a tape, working off of a partial one that caught Judy answering the door. An actor named Art Warner (John Crawford) does Gorman's voice, while Casey does Judy's. Belker goes to the photographic records office to bribe Underpaid Police Clerk Casey to give him access to the photos taken of Judy's apartment, which include IMF-implanted ones showing that her recorder was on. Gorman plays along with Barney so Morris can sing "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay". Belker has a survivable car bomb experience courtesy of Willy.

    At police HQ, Belker sees Willy being interrogated about the bombing by Sergeant Jim. Belker goes back to Casey to find out who posted bail for Willy, and outside the address he's given sees Willy being fake-drive-by-shot. With his fake dying breath, Willy indicates that Gorman double-crossed him. Belker then goes to Barney's pad to interrupt him trying to shoot up as leverage to find out who's got the tape. Barney tells him that Sergeant Jim's holding it for him. Unknown to Belker, Gorman's thug Tanner (Alex Rocco) has been hiding in the closet, and after Belker leaves, he confronts Barney, who maintains his withdrawal act. Tanner calls Gorman to let him know what he's learned, including that Belker's been operating without Gorman's knowledge to obtain the tape. Gorman calls Jim to do a deal with him, and Jim indicates to Eckhart that something went wrong with the plan.

    Jim sends Willy to Barney's place, but elsewhere Barney's fake withdrawal act serves him well, allowing him to take down Tanner himself while the thug is about to dispose of him. Meanwhile, Belker visits Jim to talk business regarding the tape. Jim produces it, and Belker has Gorman meet him at the studio. After confusing Gorman with talk of Willy's activities, he plays the doctored tape. Gorman breaks out in laughter because he can tell the tape's phony, as it doesn't play out the same way he remembers. Gorman's about to blow Belker away when Eckhart busts in with some boys in blue...and Jim plays back a recording of Gorman just having confessed to Judy's murder while gloating to Belker.

    _______

    I was also disappointed because, darkened as it was, I didn't recognize it as the office at first and was hoping we were finally going to get a good look at Steve's pad.

    Partly, but he also drives around his watch area in his black-and-white station wagon, which has an L-number (L-20 according to the episode that happens to be on in the background as I'm editing this), and is equipped with a pull-out planning table in the back. Someday all that will be Malloy's....
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2021
  14. J.T.B.

    J.T.B. Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2005
    The "next week on" promo for this episode was centered on an assassination attempt on the governor, so if you saw that the first half of the episode would have pretty much been spoiled.

    The bad guy was too over the top, I agree.

    I believe this was the first episode that used Hawaii's brand new, modernist capitol building, a short walk from Five-O HQ. Shots of McGarrett walking around the grounds will be reused many times.
     
  15. The Old Mixer

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

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    Interesting. I don't get those on Paramount Plus.

    Ah, I was wondering about that. I wasn't sure how to describe it as I could tell it was just a short walk through a courtyard, but wasn't sure where he was going. Last we saw, I believe the governor's office was also in the palace.
     
  16. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    They're really squeezing them in lately.

    Now that really strains credulity. :rommie:

    Either Royster or Stiles from Police Woman-- I can never remember which is which.

    Kinda weak example of the interrupted honeymoon trope.

    Also lame. He was so into the other woman that he spent months getting hair transplants, yet never saw her the whole time, and then bounced back in a second. Herb needs some therapy.

    Now that's a cute one.

    I remember that. :rommie:

    Which means he must have raised the issue before.

    That's kind of touching. Except it seems to imply that Mike has no friends. :rommie:

    I remember that, too. :rommie:

    Solid excuse.

    There's been some backsliding. :rommie:

    Wow, chain letter plot. I wonder if those even still exist.

    Another good example of how the episodes are more just a sequence of events than an actual plot.

    The tape will self destruct in five minutes? Phelps really needed to think this one over. :rommie:

    Commodore Decker, best TOS guest star ever.

    "Singing my life with his words...."

    Did he mention how he happened to come by it?

    Nice. I wonder why he never cut an album, unlike certain other actors who are completely lacking in talent.

    Mission: Easy As Pie. At least Greg Morris got to play a different kind of role in this one.

    I really want to see that regeneration pod.

    That would have been cool to see. Too bad Adam-12 never got a reunion movie.
     
  17. J.T.B.

    J.T.B. Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2005
    They are kind of interesting, there are a few that have spoilers and some emphasize aspects of the episode that aren't as prominent when you watch it. But Lord gives the promo copy really serious full-McGarrett readings that are kind of amusing. And they're also how I found out how to pronounce Khigh Dhiegh (rhymes with "my way"). Or maybe I shouldn't assume Lord was pronouncing it correctly, he does say "KAY-set" for cassette.

    Which, from what I can tell, was correct at the time.
     
  18. The Old Mixer

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

    Joined:
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    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    55 Years Ago This Week

    November 27
    • The Washington Redskins defeated the New York Giants 72–41 in the highest scoring game in NFL history. Washington led 13-0 after one quarter, 34–14 at halftime, and 48-28 after three quarters. The 113 points came from 16 touchdowns, 14 conversions and, with three seconds left, a field goal by Charlie Gogolak, on orders from Redskins coach Otto Graham. "In a crazy game like this," Graham said, "what's another three points?"
    • Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes moved from Boston to Las Vegas, where he leased the top two floors of the Desert Inn. Never venturing downstairs, Hughes would buy the hotel in 1967 and live there for several years before moving onward.
    • John Lennon films an appearance as doorman for a night-club (the club is situated in a public underground lavatory) for Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's BBC television programme Not Only...But Also. It is clear from this, for the first time, that John has adopted a new image--with the 'granny glasses' from How I Won the War there to stay. (The programme is transmitted on 26 December and repeated on 7 February 1967.)

    November 28
    • The Soyuz program began in the Soviet Union with the unmanned launch of a new series of space vehicles. In order to disguise the mission's true purpose, the launch was initially referred to as Kosmos 133. Eventually, the first capsule would be automatically destroyed in orbit after experiencing problems with its orientation system. Nearly fifty years later, Soyuz rockets would continue to be flown, by the Russian Space Agency, as a shuttle to the International Space Station.
    • Truman Capote's Black and White Ball, which would be referred to in 1999, by The New York Times, as one of "10 Parties That Shook The Century" was held in New York City at the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel. The 480 guests at the masquerade ball included matron of honor Katharine Graham, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow, Jacob Javits, Norman Mailer, Joan Fontaine, Penelope Tree, Lauren Bacall, and three daughters of U.S. Presidents (Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Lynda Bird Johnson and Margaret Truman Daniel). More than 40 years later, the event would be recounted in a book entitled Party of the Century.

    November 29
    • The SS Daniel J. Morrell sinks in a storm on Lake Huron, killing 28 of 29 crewmen.
    • Twenty-four centuries after his death in 479 BC, the tomb of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (K'ung Fu-tzu) was destroyed by members of the Red Guards in Qufu in China's Shandong Province. The teachings of Confucius had come under criticism during the Cultural Revolution as a symbol of China's feudal past, and the students destroyed his statue and a memorial tablet, then dug up his grave "only to find nothing inside it".

    November 30
    • Barbados achieves independence from the United Kingdom.
    • The United States, South Vietnam, and their other allies in the Vietnam War agreed to a proposal from the Viet Cong and from North Vietnam for three cease fires to coincide with holidays. All fighting would halt from 7:00 a.m., Christmas Eve, until 7:00 a.m. on December 26, as well as from the morning of New Year's Eve until the morning of January 2, 1967. In addition, there would be a four-day ceasefire during the 1967 Tết holidays, celebrated in both North Vietnam and South Vietnam, that marked the traditional start of the Vietnamese new year, with a truce to last between February 8 and February 12, 1967. A similar cease-fire a year later, during the Tết holiday of 1968, would be broken by the Viet Cong during the Tet Offensive.
    • The existence of "Gatorade" was revealed to readers of the Miami Herald by sports columnist Neil Amdur, after Amdur had noticed that the University of Florida Gators football team had been drinking from what appeared to be milk cartons. Surprised, Amdur asked coach Ray Graves, "Are you giving your players milk?" and Graves showed him the beverage and said, "No. We've been fooling around with this stuff for a while now," then told him about the invention of Florida medical professor Robert Cade. Days after the game, Amdur's story, headlined "Florida's Pause That Refreshes: 'Nip of Gatorade'". The story was soon spread nationwide by UPI about the team's "bitter beverage...designed to keep the players from wearing down as they lose body fluid on a hot day," and would be marketed nationwide in 1967.
    • NASA released three high resolution photographs, taken by Lunar Explorer 2, that showed the depth of lunar craters, giving an unprecedented "bird's-eye view" that had been taken on November 23 of details of the Copernicus crater. The crater itself, 60 miles in diameter and two miles deep, can be seen clearly from the Earth with binoculars. The photos also showed the Montes Carpatus mountain range and the Gay-Lussac promontory.
    • At a meeting of the American Medical Association in Las Vegas, Dr. Ralph Greenson, a psychiatry professor at UCLA, told his fellow physicians of a university survey that found that more than 100 people wanted to change their gender. "What is shocking," said Dr. Greenson, "is that this is more widespread than was believed."

    December 1
    • Kurt Georg Kiesinger is elected Chancellor of West Germany.
    • The date and location of the first "Super Bowl" was announced by National Football League Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who told reporters in New York that the NFL champion would play against the American Football League champion on January 15, 1967, at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

    December 2
    • British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Rhodesian Prime minister Ian Smith negotiate aboard HMS Tiger in the Mediterranean.
    • U Thant agrees to serve a second term as United Nations Secretary General.

    December 3
    • At 7:15 a.m., the United States carried out Project Sterling, a test to determine whether the sound of an underground nuclear explosion could be muffled. The test, made underground at a depth of one half mile below the Tatum Salt Dome in Lamar County, Mississippi, made "no audible sound", no measurable increase in radiation, at the surface.
    • Anti-Portuguese demonstrations occur in Macau; a curfew is declared the next day.


    Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

    Leaving the chart:
    • "Cherish," The Association (14 weeks)
    • "Go Away Little Girl," The Happenings (9 weeks)
    • "Psychotic Reaction," Count Five (12 weeks)
    • "(You Don't Have to) Paint Me a Picture," Gary Lewis & The Playboys (8 weeks)

    New on the chart:

    "Try a Little Tenderness," Otis Redding

    (#25 US; #4 R&B; #46 UK; #204 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])

    "Words of Love," The Mamas & The Papas

    (#5 US; #47 UK)

    "Good Thing," Paul Revere & The Raiders

    (#4 US)

    "Georgy Girl," The Seekers

    (#2 US; #7 AC; #3 UK)

    "Tell It Like It Is," Aaron Neville

    (#2 US; #1 R&B; #381 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])


    And new on the boob tube:
    • The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 19, episode 12
    • Gilligan's Island, "The Kidnapper"
    • The Monkees, "I've Got a Little Song Here"
    • The Rat Patrol, "The Gun Runner Raid"
    • Batman, "Come Back, Shame"
    • Batman, "It's How You Play the Game"
    • That Girl, "All About Ann"
    • The Green Hornet, "Deadline for Death"
    • The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Man-Eating House"
    • Tarzan, "The Day of the Golden Lion"
    • The Time Tunnel, "The Death Trap"
    • Hogan's Heroes, "Will the Real Adolf Please Stand Up?"
    • The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "The Concrete Overcoat Affair" – Part 2
    • 12 O'Clock High, "Burden of Guilt"
    • Get Smart, "Bronzefinger"
    • Mission: Impossible, "Fakeout"

    _______

    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.

    _______

    Four segments is typical this season. Last week's five segments was unusual.

    I found it to be a relatively weak episode overall.

    In more recent times, sure. But from the '70s to the '90s?

    I'm not generally one to condemn old sitcom relationships based on modern values, but I can totally see why Mike and Gloria ended up splitting. Mike seems way too quick to start yelling at her for stuff.

    I'm reminded of a novelty doormat that I saw at Spencer's in the '80s, with chain letter-style text on it about how somebody broke the chain and their house fell into the sea.

    Is it the original show about nothing...? :shifty:

    Transcription error! :o But hey, it gives him a chance to get away from the smoke...not that he ever tries. I think maybe he's addicted to the stuff....

    Not sure; possibly through his connection with Sergeant Jim?

    Looks like he did. I recall his music career having come up years back in this thread, and not being very impressed at the time. It wasn't this clip, but hey, look what I found! He'd definitely improved his craft since then, as he was actually singing in the episode.

    Ah, and narrated by Jack no less! I take it these are available on home video?

    According to his Wiki page, it's KY DEE or KY DAY. Seems like I've heard his name spoken somewhere before...maybe he was on one of the QM shows.
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2021
  19. J.T.B.

    J.T.B. Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2005
    Yeah, I picked up a DVD box set on a deal four or five years ago. The all begin "This is Jack Lord inviting you..." and end with "Be here. Aloha."

    Here's one from Season 3 on YouTube:
     
    The Old Mixer likes this.
  20. The Old Mixer

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

    Joined:
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    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    Even more narrated than I'd imagined. I was picturing "Here are some scenes from next week's Hawaii Five-O."

    ETA--a little something I stumbled across while searching for examples of Greg Morris's singing:
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2021