55th Anniversary Fly-on-the-Wall Listening Anthology 2 gives us an "outfake" consisting of "Strawberry Fields Forever" Take 7, recorded November 29, 1966--from which the first 60 seconds of the single were taken--and a longer version of the edit piece recorded on December 9 that was used at the end of the single. "Alright, calm down, Ringo!" _______ 55 Years Ago This Week December 11 – NASA released the first photograph to show "almost the entire disc of the Earth", taken two days earlier from the ATS-1 satellite from a height of 23,000 miles. Areas not obscured by cloud cover and identifiable in the photo were the southern portion of North America (with much of the United States), much of Central America, and a section of the coast of Chile in South America. December 12 – Harry Roberts, John Whitney and John Duddy are sentenced to life imprisonment (each with a recommended minimum of 30 years) for the Shepherd's Bush murders of three London policemen on August 12. Roberts, arrested on November 15 north of London, will eventually spend nearly 48 years in prison. December 15 Janus, one of the moons of Saturn and the tenth to be given a name by Earth astronomers, was first identified. Audouin Dollfus, an astronomer of the Meudon Observatory in the Meudon suburb of Paris, spotted it that evening and on the next two. On December 18, Richard L. Walker of the U.S. Naval Observatory station in Flagstaff, Arizona took two photographs which were soon determined to be showing the object identified by Dollfus as the Earth's position relative to Saturn was such that Saturn's rings can be "seen edge-on and become virtually invisible", an event that happens at 14-year intervals, and reported in January 1967, confirmation of Dollfus's discovery. Credited by the International Astronomical Union with discovery of the 10th moon on February 1, 1967, Dollfus proposed that the object be named for the Roman demigod Janus, who was said to have harbored the god Saturn when the latter fell out of favor with Jupiter. Died: Walt Disney, 65, American animated film producer who founded an independent film company that became a multimillion-dollar empire of film studios and amusement parks, died at St. Joseph Hospital in Burbank, California. The immediate cause of death was acute circulatory collapse that had been brought on by lung cancer. Flags on all government buildings in Los Angeles County were ordered lowered to half staff in his honor. December 16 The United Nations Security Council approves an oil embargo against Rhodesia. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are adopted by the General Assembly, as Resolution 2200 A (XXI). First UK release of Everywhere It's Christmas, recorded especially for the Beatles' official fan club. December 17 South Africa does not join the trade embargo against Rhodesia. The first successful pancreatic transplant on a human being took place at the University of Minnesota, as a team of surgeons led by Dr. William D. Kelly and Dr. Richard C. Lillehei carried out "a duct-ligated segmental pancreas graft" into an unidentified 28-year-old woman, effectively reversing type 1 diabetes, and resulting "in immediate insulin independence". That patient would pass away in late May, four and a half months after the surgery, from a lung infection and pneumonia, but the transplanted organ would continue to function until her death. In the first fifty years after the procedure, there would be 42,000 reported pancreas transplantations, with 27,000 in the United States alone. Two days after his death, the body of Walt Disney was cremated at Glendale, California. Two years later, the urban myth was started that Disney had had his body cryogenically frozen until the day that he could be restored to life, with the earliest identified suggestion in print being in the French magazine Ici Paris in 1969. Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Dandy," Herman's Hermits (11 weeks) "Hooray for Hazel," Tommy Roe (13 weeks) "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing," Lou Rawls (14 weeks) "96 Tears," ? & The Mysterians (15 weeks) "Reach Out I'll Be There," Four Tops (15 weeks) "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted," Jimmy Ruffin (17 weeks) New on the chart: "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone," The Monkees (B-side of "I'm a Believer"; #20 US) "Nashville Cats," The Lovin' Spoonful (#8 US; #26 UK) "Standing in the Shadows of Love," Four Tops (#6 US; #2 R&B; #6 UK; #464 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004]) "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron," The Royal Guardsmen (#2 US; #8 UK) And new on the boob tube: The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 19, episode 14 Gilligan's Island, "All About Eva" The Monkees, "Dance, Monkee, Dance" The Rat Patrol, "The Dare-Devil Rescue Raid" Batman, "The Cat's Meow" Batman, "The Bat's Kow Tow" Star Trek, "Balance of Terror" That Girl, "Beware of Actors Bearing Gifts" The Green Hornet, "Freeway to Death" The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Skulls" Tarzan, "End of the River" The Time Tunnel, "Night of the Long Knives" Hogan's Heroes, "Klink's Rocket" The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "The My Friend the Gorilla Affair" 12 O'Clock High, "Six Feet Under" Mission: Impossible, "The Short Tail Spy" _______ 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 included it because it's a sign that even the slang use of the word had a more innocent meaning to the general public at the time--like "stoned" still being used to mean "drunk". Because of those colorfully garbed lunatics who like to bet on them. Not a bad explanation considering. I'd say it's cribbing fairy tales. He lost a draw to get the assignment. I assume the women were considered off-limits. Because the corned beef was for the kitty. Just a relatively lame additional attempt so it'd be clear that more than just the desk clerk was after him, I gather. And noteworthy in these parts as Kirk's lawyer. [Insert Captain America meme here] Ah, good one. Yeah, Act IV in this one was just overly busy to fill time. For one thing, the general had the highly specialized gadget; for another, he knew how to determine the coordinates for its placement. Not played for tension, but for the absurdity of the solution. I think they must have known in order to warn Max so emphatically...so it would seem that they were meant to die in the blast. I'm wondering how you saw it then. Ah, crap. I've moved up a Monkee song post that was going to be waiting for a later spot.
That's how i've always read Lennon's mistreatment of Harrison. That, and as the 60s wore on, Harrison was writing songs that were becoming standards quickly remade by other artists, while Lennon--without McCartney--could not make that claim, or to that extent. A number of neutral books have mentioned Lennon being intimidated by McCartney's talent---some dating the issue as early as Rubber Soul. There's a brief clip in the documentary where McCartney is diplomatically telling Lennon to contribute more songs, and Lennon tries to joke his way around the matter, which made Lennon appear rather small (particularly after his treatment of George). Agreed.
I saw this just before bed last night. RIP, Mike Nesmith and thanks for the great memories. Once he gets going.... It's remarkable to think of how new space exploration was in those days, and how much we have and haven't done since. Lies! Disney's on ice and will rise to save us at the appointed hour! Great, catchy song. RIP, Mike Nesmith. Not bad, but not the Spoonful's best. Amazing, relentlessly emotional song. And this, of course, is a classic that transcends the boundaries of genre and medium. We never saw their run-ins with The Bookie and The Gambler. Drawing inspiration from folklore is a time-honored tradition. Indeed. A fan fave. Yeah, but Hogan is always notified ahead of time. And why was the guy being so secretive? That's weird. KAOS zealots willing to die for the cause and yet concerned about an unknown colleague's safety. Have we seen self-sacrificing KAOS acolytes before? I don't know. Maybe the word "richly" in connection with Nixon caused a short circuit in my brain.
50 Years Ago This Week December 12 – John Barnhill, 63, Northern Ireland Senator since 1962, was assassinated in his home at Strabane by a pair of gunmen who shot him, then planted a gelignite bomb beside his body after dragging it into the mansion and detonated it. Barnhill had been and outspoken member of parliament in denouncing the Irish Republican Army. December 13 Richard Fecteau, an American CIA agent who had been held prisoner in the People's Republic of China for 19 years, was allowed to leave the Communist nation along with Mary Ann Harbert, who had been imprisoned for more than three years. The two crossed into neighboring Hong Kong at 2:00 in the afternoon. Another American prisoner, John T. Downey, remained incarcerated, but China announced that his life sentence had been commuted and that he would be released in 1976. The action came after an appeal made by U.S. President Nixon to the Chinese government. John Sinclair is freed. December 16 The Pakistan Armed Forces surrendered to the Joint Forces of Bangladesh (the Mukti Bahini) and the Indian Armed Forces, bringing an end to the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In Dhaka, which fell to India in the morning, the surrender document was signed by The Pakistan Army commander of East Pakistan operations, Lieutenant General A. A. K. Niazi, who had vowed earlier that his troops would fight the Indian forces to the last man, and accepted by the Indian Army commander of India's Eastern Forces, Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora. The triumph of the former East Pakistan in its quest to become independent of Pakistan is now commemorated on December 16 as the Victory day of Bangladesh and Vijay Diwas in India. David Bowie released his fourth studio album, Hunky Dory. December 17 Representatives of the governments of West Germany and East Germany signed "the first major political agreement reached between the two countries since they were established" at a ceremony in Bonn in front of the Palais Schaumburg, the official residence at the time of the Chancellor of West Germany, Willy Brandt. formal signing ceremony for "the first major political agreement reached between the two countries since they were established" with Brant signing for West Germany and diplomat Michael Kohl signing for the East. The agreement, previously initialed on December 11 after having been approved on September 3 by the U.S., the UK, the U.S.S.R. and France, eased travel between West Berlin (which was surrounded on all sides by East Germany) and the rest of West Germany. The latest James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, was released in the U..S. and Denmark. John Lennon and Yoko Ono make a surprise appearance on stage at the Apollo Theater, New York, during a benefit concert for the wives of the 28 men killed in the Attica State prison riot on 13 September. December 18 The U.S. dollar was devalued by 8.57% relative to other nations' currencies, as representatives of the western world's 10 leading industrial nations reached an agreement in Washington on revising currency exchange rates. Afterwards, U.S. President Nixon told reporters, "It is my great privilege to announce, on behalf of the finance ministers and the other representatives of the 10 countries involved, the conclusion of the most significant monetary agreement in the history of the world." The world's largest hydroelectric plant, located in Krasnoyarsk, in the Russia SFSR in the Soviet Union, began operations. Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Easy Loving," Freddie Hart (17 weeks) "I'd Love to Change the World," Ten Years After (12 weeks) "Peace Train," Cat Stevens (12 weeks) "Questions 67 and 68" / "I'm a Man", Chicago (10 weeks) Recent and new on the chart: "It's One of Those Nights (Yes Love)," The Partridge Family (#20 US; #2 AC; #11 UK) "Don't Say You Don't Remember," Beverly Bremers (#15 US; #5 AC) "Without You," Nilsson (#1 US the weeks of Feb. 19 through Mar. 11, 1972; #1 AC; #1 UK) And new on the boob tube: Adam-12, "The Dinosaur" The Partridge Family, "Don't Bring Your Guns to Town, Santa" The Odd Couple, "Surprise, Surprise!" Love, American Style, "Love and the Particular Girl / Love and the Fountain of Youth / Love and the House Bachelor / Love and the Waitress" All in the Family, "Christmas Day at the Bunkers'" The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "Ted Over Heels" Mission: Impossible, "The Connection" _______ 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. _______ Stop him before he fills again... That urban myth is so prevalent that I had no idea until this came up that Disney was actually cremated. Byrne even spoofed Frozen Disney in his FF run. Definitely one of their more memorable classics, even though it was a modestly charting B-side. Cute, but we're definitely on the downswing side of their charting hits. My favorite of the Tops' singles. As a kid, I was more familiar with the Christmas follow-up than this original. Being a general, he was a high-value captive if anyone found out who he really was. I'll give 'em a pass on this one, it's still relatively early days, and even in later seasons the show isn't terribly consistent regarding how things are done. Can't say that we have, but KAOS agents are so ubiquitous in this show, they must come in all sorts of varieties. ETA: MeTV will be airing a Monkees block Sunday afternoon in tribute to Mike Nesmith.
Just one of those Partridge Family singles. I hate to say it, but.... This, however, is an Oldies Radio Classic. I believed it, too. I don't remember the Byrne spoof, though. Pretty much, but one of my all-time favorite songs is yet to come.
Trivia time - Without You was written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger; who just appeared on this thread with the song Day After Day. The original song is from the Badfinger album No Dice. It's two songs grafted together - Tom Evans verses and Pete Ham's chorus. The demo can be found as a bonus track on 2010 CD. Many have interpreted the song as about someone who attempts suicide. The story arose after both Pete Ham and Tom Evans committed suicide by hanging. Harry Nilsson heard the song at a party in L.A. prior to flying to London to begin work on his Nilsson Schmilsson album. He originally thought it was a song by The Beatles and went through their catalogue looking for it, until he was told it was by Badfinger. Nilsson's piano demo (which he lobbied hard for to be the version used on the album, against producer Richard Perry wishes [Perry won]) and an earlier take of Without You can be found as bonus tracks on the Complete RCA record collection box set.
_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1) _______ Adam-12 "Assassination" Originally aired December 8, 1971 Responding to a family dispute call, Reed and Malloy search the area with their spotlight. When they get out to knock on some doors, they're fired at with an automatic weapon. The officers take cover behind their door and call for backup to seal off the area, but when they find shells indicating the spot from which they were fired upon, the shooter is long gone. Dispatch verifies that the call was a phony by trying the callback number. Next the officers are assigned to rush to a heliport, Code 3, to pick up a woman who's being flown in to donate blood for her little brother (Angela Cartwright, whose character is billed as Cindy Williams; not to be confused with Cindy Williams, whose signature character is billed as Shirley Feeney). The sniper opens fire on the trio as they're approaching the car. The helicopter, Air-10, circles the area as a distraction while the officers and their passenger carefully get in the car and drive off. A search of the building the sniper was firing from turns up a police scanner and that the shooter's been keeping tabs on the whereabouts of Adam-12. Reed calls home to learn that Jean received a suspicious call asking about Jim. During the commercial, Jim gets Jean to stay at her mother's and a couple of days pass. Reed finds himself edgy when a boy selling flowers approaches the car (Brian Tochi). The officers are assigned to an attempted suicide at a service station. At the scene, they find a man who's doused himself with gasoline and is threatening to ignite a lighter (John Lupton, I presume from process of elimination). While Reed keeps the man busy talking, Malloy has the fire department called and has the attendant (Timothy Brown) take him to the station's fire extinguisher, sneaks it up within range behind the attendant's back, and douses the man with it so he can be subdued. Mac turns up the pawn shop that sold the radio, which was bought with a bad check by a known "paper hanger" who goes by the alias of Maury Stover. The officers are familiar with him, but are unaware of having had any dealings with him. That night, the officers are assigned to check out a prowler. The caller didn't leave a callback number, so they go in suspecting a set-up and call for backup. Then they get out to search the vicinity, expecting that they might be shot at. They find an older man (David Bond) who attempts to run, and when told to freeze makes a sudden move to reach into his coat, almost causing Reed to fire, only for it to turn out that he's a wino who was going for his bottle of muscatel. When the officers are off duty, Pete drops Jim off at his house, where Reed's approached on the street by a man who met him at a party named Mark Donin (Charles Robinson; not to be confused with Angela Cartwright's signature character, Penny Robinson) and needs to use a phone. Malloy drives off and, at Reed's door, the man pulls a gun and reveals that he's "Maury Stover," and that his actions been motivated by Reed's casual comments at the party about the forgery suspect and how Donin happened to fit the man's very common description. Reed clearly thought nothing of the matter at the time, but Donin was paranoid that Reed would put it all together and plans to kill him and make it look like a stress-induced suicide. Reed manages to trip the man, and when he attempts to fire, he's shot by Malloy, who was tipped off by seeing a car matching the make of Stover's parked down the street. _______ The Brady Bunch "Getting Davy Jones" Originally aired December 10, 1971 It's a bit surprising that this is one of the episodes that's not available on Paramount Plus, given its reputation. Notable here for immersive retro context is that this was the point at which CBS was rerunning The Monkees on Saturdays, though The Brady Bunch was airing on ABC. Also notable is that the Monkees are never referenced in the episode. Marcia's holding a meeting in her bedroom of her school's entertainment committee, which also includes Laura (Kimberly Beck) and Doreen (Tina Andrews), trying to come up with a special guest for the impending prom by that weekend. Jan excitedly brings up a newspaper article that Davy Jones is in town, and Marcia floats the idea of getting him for the prom. Laura: Well why just Davy Jones? How about the Beatles, the 5th Dimension, and the Carpenters, too? Marcia, who's president of Davy's local fan club, produces a framed letter in which he promises to show his appreciation if he's ever in town. The adults poke some fun at the girls' enthusiasm for Davy, while acknowledging that they had their own idols back in the day... Alice: Yeah, I remember when I found out Frank Sinatra got married. I wore black bobby socks for a month. Marcia goes to Davy's hotel between scenes to find it jammed with other kids wanting to see him. She finds herself unable to back out of her promise because all the girls in the school have gotten worked up over her assurance of getting Davy...even her teacher, Mrs. Robbins (soon-to-be psychiatrist's office secretary Marcia Wallace), proves to be too enthusiastic about it to confide in her. Marcia gets the idea to send Davy a telegram, only to learn that he has 600 waiting for him at the hotel desk. Then she learns that Davy's appearing on a local TV program and tries going to the station while it's being aired, only to learn that the show's filmed a day in advance. Mike tries pulling strings with his contacts, to no avail. Alice proves more resourceful, as she's seeing the butcher who delivers meat to the hotel, who asks a favor from the chef to get Greg and Marcia into Davy's room posing as busboys...but they only meet his manager (Britt Leach), and learn that Davy's at a recording studio. Cut to the studio, where we watch Davy (billed in the credits as David Jones--Are we taking him more seriously now?) recording his vocal for "Girl"...which has an intro that sounds more than a little like "Daydream Believer". Marcia shows up at the studio during a playback and pleads her case to the manager, who turns down her request while Davy overhears from out of view thanks to a live mic in the booth, looking less certain about it. Back at home, Marcia's calling Mrs. Robbins when the doorbell rings and Carol brings in Davy. Davy contritely apologizes for making a mess with the promise in his letter, and agrees to come to the prom, on the condition that he can get a date. Marcia volunteers by kissing his cheeks, while the younger kids make fun upstairs. _______ The Partridge Family "Guess Who's Coming to Drive?" Originally aired December 10, 1971 Teaser! Reuben brings the Partridges their summer tour itinerary, which involves two months of hitting various cities. Shirley doesn't think she can do all the driving on top of performing every night, and Tracy (who really seems way too young to be performing in a band) comes up with the idea of hiring a driver. The family hires Johnny Burnhardt (Milt Kamen), whom the kids initially take a quick liking to. But at a gas stop, Danny sees Johnny being paid by the attendant (Vic Tayback), and gets suspicious that he's a "floating bookie" from how he makes calls at every stop. Wearing glasses with a false nose, Danny tails Johnny to a restaurant where he's talking with a man whom the waitress identifies as a parole officer. When questioned by Shirley, Johnny admits to being an ex-con who was in for armed robbery, and that the calls are to his parole officer. Then the family sees a local article about a bank robbery and Danny thinks the photo of the back of the robber looks like Burnhardt. Danny brings Reuben to the band's location to look into it, but he gets locked up when a desk sergeant (John Lawrence) thinks he might be the robber. With his one call, Reuben gets Tracy while she's watching Sesame Street, and the others don't find out about what happened to him until they're starting a show. When they go to bail Reuben out, Reuben tries to implicate Johnny, who was seeing his parole officer and being spied on by Danny at the time of the robbery. His feelings hurt, Johnny's ready to leave, but everyone apologizes to him. He finishes the tour before moving on, with a letter of recommendation from Shirley so glowing that he asks her to tone it down so his parole officer won't think it's a phony. _______ The Odd Couple "Being Divorced Is Never Having to Say I Do" Originally aired December 10, 1971 Felix excitedly wakes Oscar early to announce that Blanche is paying an unexpected visit (credited as Brett Somers Klugman). Blanche (in Oscar's room): It's like a stroll down memory sewer. Blanche announces the episode's premise and describes over breakfast how she met Roger, who's to become her husband that afternoon. When Felix makes Oscar use a napkin... Blanche: You're wonderful! I never got him any further than his sleeves! Oscar is enthusiastic to attend the wedding, but from how Blanche spoke of Roger, Felix doesn't think it's going to work out. At the chapel, Felix and Oscar learn that Roger's going to be late because he's recovering from a long steam bath, and Oscar goes to find him. Felix learns that Blanche's weepy bridesmaid, Judy (Pam McHardy), is just a sales clerk who sold her the wedding dress the day before. Felix tries to convince Blanche that she has better prospects, but she describes a series of recent relationship mishaps, getting across her desperation for marriage. Oscar brings back Roger (Billy Sands), a nebbish of a milkman whose surname is Doctor. The ceremony proceeds, but as soon as Reverend Wright (Richard Stahl) gets to that classic line, Felix objects to the marriage. Somehow, this actually puts a halt to the ceremony, and Felix asserts that Blanche will have a couple of days to reconsider. He describes what he thinks love is, but Oscar remains sore at his meddling. Blanche comes by the apartment to tell them that the wedding is back on for the next day, but that she and Roger are going to have dinner first to talk things over. Oscar and Blanche do a bit of reminiscing on the couch, but it turns into a fight when Oscar brings up the alimony and she objects to how his gambling routinely disrupts it. The second ceremony proceeds on schedule... Reverend Wright: My dear friends, we are gathered again today to have another crack at uniting in holy matrimony... When the reverend gets to that part again, Felix holds his tongue...but Oscar, reluctantly, doesn't. Again, this actually puts an end to the ceremony, but Blanche is relieved afterward, and Oscar tries to convince her to wait for the right guy to come along. Looking it up, I was surprised to find that Somers was a little younger than Klugman and Randall a little older. _______ Love, American Style "Love and the Bowling Ball / Love and the Check / Love and the Hiccups / Love and the Liberated Lady Boss" Originally aired December 10, 1971 "Love and the Bowling Ball": When Bert (Sid Caesar) and Ralph (Allan Melvin) are getting ready to go bowling a week before Bert's wedding, it comes up that his fiancee, Sally, doesn't approve of his passion. Sally (Kathleen Nolan) shows up by surprise, expecting to have a romantic evening with Bert (initially oblivious that he's wearing his bowling shirt), when he thought she was working. She expresses her desire to "unhook" him from the game, and he promises that if she'll let him go that night, he'll never bowl again for the rest of his life...to Ralph's horror. When Bert leaves, nosy neighbor Mrs. Saffron (Elvia Allman) puts the idea in Sally's head that he'll go back on his promise and may be fooling around with an attractive neighboring masseuse named Marge (Victoria Carroll). The next day, Bert's trying to go cold turkey, but Ralph lures him back in with an exhibition by a champion who bowls with his toes. Bert calls Sally to make an excuse to postpone their dinner date that night. Cut to Bert and Ralph returning, Bert having decided to completely rip off That Girl and gotten his toe stuck in his ball. Ralph tries to get it off with oil, then Bert sends Ralph to get Marge, hoping she can massage it off. Sally comes up, so Marge hides and they put a blanket over Bert's legs, but while they think Sally's in another room, the bowling team tries to pull the ball off from downstairs with a rope, only to pull the couch into the doorway with Sally on it. Sally ultimately understands and offers to take Bert to the clinic, but following Marge's advice, it comes off with the release of tension when Bert and Sally kiss. "Love and the Check": Andy (Roy Stuart) and Darlene (Nina Wayne) are making out after she recently returned from having been shipwrecked on an island with a millionaire named Mr. Dimitri. It turns out that she doesn't want to be seen in a bikini because Dimitri lost $1,000,000 to her playing tic tac toe and wrote a check on her tummy with ink made from berry juice. Andy becomes determined to get it cashed. At the bank, Mr. Durkin (Bryan O'Byrne) is flabbergasted, but takes the check seriously, and brings in his superior, Mr. Hollister (Jonathan Harris), who considers it a prank at first, but quickly wants to bring in a handwriting expert to verify the signature (Cliff Norton), and a botanical expert to verify the authenticity of the ink (David Ketchum). Hollister ultimately determines that the check is authentic and can be cashed, but Darlene decides to dump Andy for being too mercenary over the issue, while the bankers swoop in and attempt to woo her. "Love and the Hiccups": Newlyweds Danny (Richard Dawson) and Chris (Anjanette Comer) Louis are arriving at a hotel for their wedding night, but when they get in the brass bed, Chris finds that she's gotten the hiccups from champagne, ruining the mood and causing her to obsess over getting rid of them. Scaring her doesn't work, so she calls her mother for advice, which involves doing some shopping for an unusual series of items via room service...including a duster, galoshes, an umbrella, and a tuba. The bell captain (John Amos) brings them up, but had to substitute a trombone for a tuba. When he finds out what it's about, the captain tries his own home remedy, which involves having Chris blow out a match while holding her nose, but that doesn't work. Danny decides to go the drug store (which would have made more sense before getting all those odd things). While he's gone, a burglar comes in posing as room service (Richard Bakalyan), to find his intended victim in galoshes on the wrong feet holding an umbrella, and she assumes that he's Danny under the stocking mask, trying to scare her again. She suggestively leads him to the brass bed, but when she grabs his gun (I'm not clear if it went off because of a brief recording skip at the exact moment when it may have) and Danny comes in, she faints, the burglar flees, and after she's come to, the hiccups are gone...but they have another toast in bed and he starts to hiccup. "Love and the Liberated Lady Boss": Marshall (Bernard Fox) and Heather (Stephanie Edwards) are office coworkers who've been going together for seven years, but she's disappointed when he brings her a family heirloom snuff box rather than a ring. He goes in to see their new titular employer, Casey Hawkes (Nanette Fabray), to ask about a promotion so he and Heather can get married, but she's an Anglophile and immediately takes a very personal interest in him. His opportunity to discuss the promotion gets tangled up in a date that evening. Casey gets all dolled up for a date in her office, now equipped with a large cart of drinks. Marshall keeps trying to bring up the promotion, while she very aggressively goes after him, and uses a spilled drink as an excuse to start getting him out of his clothes. She drops that he's going to be the new head of sales if he goes along with her, but Heather (who's Hawkes's secretary) walks in and doesn't understand. The next day Marshall brings a ring to the office for Heather...but drops the bomb that he's going to Hawaii with the boss as a condition of getting the promotion. Heather storms out upset, then Casey comes out of her office to find Marshall holding the ring, thinks it's for her, and it immediately scares her off, causing her to become all business, canceling the Hawaii trip while allowing him to keep the promotion. _______ Yeah. Still better than the Osmonds, if that's not setting too low a bar. Ditto! This one was a complete surprise to me...can't say I'd ever heard it before in my life...or that I give enough of a crap to bother trying to get it. Oh, yeah. What, not gonna take the opportunity to comment on Yoko's singing? Too easy a target? The story where Johnny's death by racecar accident was faked and he was held captive by a Disney-like character (or his androids while Not Disney was still frozen...I think Not Disney was actually up and around at some point in the story), as part of a hare-brained, cartoonish plan to use him to heat Earth's core under the simplistic belief that this would cause the planet to expand like a balloon and solve the population problem. I recall Ben and Johnny fighting their way out of Not Disney's lair through robots spoofing on cartoon characters. "Darling Be Home Soon"? Yeah, I stumbled on that when looking up something about this version. Listening to the Badfinger version, I'd say that Nilsson brought out the beauty in the song. And having just stumbled across the factoid, I guess I should mention that apparently Nilsson's version made the 2021 revamp of the Rolling Stone Greatest Songs list. I didn't know two of them committed suicide. Something I'd read that I meant to mention about "Anticipation" last week is that Carly wrote it not while patiently pouring a condiment on her hamburger, but while waiting for Cat Stevens to pick her up for a date.
From some accounts, since Jones was re-establishing himself as a solo artist at the time The Brady Bunch episode was shot, he did not want to be referred to as a member of The Monkees. In his pre-Monkees days, as a solo artist and while on Broadway, he was routinely addressed or promoted as "David" as seen on the cover of this 1965 album--
That's interesting. I never knew that. Yikes. Never knew that, either. That's horrible. I just listened and don't get a Beatles vibe at all. However, when I was a kid, I first thought the Nilsson version was the Bee Gees. This strikes me as a bit more Starsky & Hutch than "the story you are about to see is true." Okay, so we've already got this guy profiled as a real amateur. I think I remember this. Six degrees of Lost in Space. Paranoid indeed, and totally nuts. That's quite an escalation from forgery. Nothing gets by Malloy. He's always on. Legal issues, maybe? Well, at least The Beatles get more respect here than they do from that other family. He just said that to get dad points. That was so Marcia couldn't try leaving a note in Davy Jones's locker. Awww. And people say he monkeys around. What's wrong with Davie and Laurie? Mel. I think the episode might have been more interesting if Johnny had pulled his gun and forced them to drive the bus to a remote location where the bodies wouldn't be found for weeks. She was great as his ex. Definitely more than a match for him. Quite dramatically, as I recall. Right, it says that you can speak, but it doesn't say you can halt the proceedings. Good thing that priest wasn't vice president. You'd think the milkman would have some option to appeal. Comedy legend. I think they need to invite Felix to the wedding. It's like Gilligan and the lion's paw-- they borrow from the classics. There we go. Hijinx and a happy ending. I wonder who the other five people were. Zachary Smith. "Away with you all, you frivolous fabricators!" Followed by a vellum artisan. But ultimately ends up back on the island. Game show host and former POW. Reminds me of an Uncle Duke sequence from Doonesbury. "Watermelons, a trampoline, some midgets..." The dad on Good Times. You have to line up your index fingers in front of your face and let your eyes defocus, so that it looks like a disembodied piece of finger is floating in space. There's lots of burglars on this show. Boy, that was ill timed. Irony! "Calling Dr Bombay! Emergency! Come right away!" Classic LAS ending. Heh. It is an easy target, but for live folk singing, it really wasn't so bad. I wonder if he was poking fun at Neal Adams. This part sounds familiar. I'll have to check to see if it's on the Marvel app. That's the one. She certainly had some big-name boyfriends.
_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2) _______ All in the Family "Cousin Maude's Visit" Originally aired December 11, 1971 As the episode opens, Edith is already running ragged trying to take care of the others, Gloria on the couch and the men up in their beds. Gloria makes the men come downstairs to make things easier for her, and wants Edith to call Cousin Maude to come and help out, but Archie won't have it, and has gone so far as to preemptively write her a telegram warning her to stay the hell away. When Archie objects to Mike openly coughing, Mike insists that germs don't spread without contact...um, yeah. Edith and Archie tell the story of how Archie first met Maude when they were much younger and she was with Edith at an ice cream parlor, where Archie disgusted Maude while trying to make Edith laugh. Mike and Archie then get into a competition to see who's got the higher temperature. Maude shows up at the door, having ignored Archie's telegram. Archie ends up on the couch while the others stay upstairs. The friction commences, with Maude getting under Archie's skin and Archie bringing up how she allegedly killed two husbands. Staying in the same room again, Michael and Gloria get on each other's nerves in their condition. Things come to a head between Maude and Archie when she won't get out of his chair and he resorts to insulting her idol, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She retaliates by contrasting FDR to Nixon, and ultimately, in the course of their argument, she gets on her feet and he maneuvers back into his chair. Just when Maude declares that she's going to leave, Edith realizes that she's become sick, leaving everyone in Maude's care. In the coda, everyone's recovered...except Maude, who's now come down with the bug and is being taken care of by Edith. As I understand it, Maude was created to be a spinoff character, with her next appearance being the backdoor pilot that leads directly into her show. Despite the episode's reputation, for me they didn't really hit the mark here in establishing her as a character demanding her own series, but what do I know? _______ The Mary Tyler Moore Show "The Square-Shaped Room" Originally aired December 11, 1971 While Minneapolis experiences a major snowstorm, Edie's said to be at a "fat farm" and Lou's been painting the bathroom. Lou wants to redecorate the living room using an old army pal who used to do barracks and now does bus stations. Mary offers to find somebody more suited to the task, and all Lou cares about is the bottom line. Mary comes up with asking Rhoda, who gets invested in the idea. Lou is skeptical regarding her qualifications...though he becomes interested when he finds out that she intends to let him set the price. Rhoda tries to get ideas of what Lou wants, and he insists upon keeping a beloved vinyl recliner. When Rhoda unveils her work, which is very modern and predominantly white, Lou makes an unnatural show of declaring how much he loves it, but when Rhoda's out of the room, he switches to telling Mary how much he hates it. Lou and Mary make excuses about how Edie won't like it, and Rhoda gets the message. We're told that Edie ends up liking the only lasting element of Rhoda's redecoration, the white walls, and Lou hands Rhoda her pay envelope...which has coins inside. _______ Mission: Impossible "Run for the Money" Originally aired December 11, 1971 A man named Trask (Richard Jaeckel) goes through a secret-but-out-in-the-open panel in a tobacco shop to an illegal horse-betting parlor...leaving a concealed bomb there that blows up the whole shop behind him. Interestingly, one of the horses being bet on is named Dirty Harry, just a couple of weeks ahead of the movie's release. At the briefing we meet guest agent Nick Pressy (William Harmatz), who's a jockey, and learn that the IMF plans to play on Trask's envy of Mason's horse, King's Friend. Casey makes a scene with Jim at the track over Jim having acquired the IMF-planted horse, renamed Red Sand, and Trask takes an interest. Trask tails Casey and confronts her with questions about Jim. Meanwhile, posing as a telephone repairman gets Barney into the crawlspace of Mason's illegal betting parlor, where he's all comfy-cozy squeezing between walls in the dark and gets to work with tools making his own entrance into the computer room. He starts breaking into the safe, then plants a circuit board in one of the computer consoles. He's caught by a man coming into the room and makes a public escape through the parlor...the partial safe break-in being a ruse left in his wake to divert attention from what he was really there for. Casey goes to Trask's place looking for a dinner date with him, arousing his suspicion with her sudden change in attitude toward him. He assumes a con and goes to the stable to take a clipping from Red Sand. The next day he sits beside Casey at the track watching Red Sand being exercised by his trainer, Willy, and jockey, Nick. Trask is impressed with her time, which beats King's Friend and comes a fraction of second short of a record...thanks to Casey using a concealed gadget that affects his stopwatch. In reality, we hear Jim discussing with Nick, the time is competitively close to that of King's Friend. At the race, Trask invites Casey to sit with him and Mason. Thanks to IMF-planted records, the odds are steep against Red Sand. Trask is disappointed that King's Friend wins and Red Sand comes in lower than third. Casey blabs to Mason about Red Sand's time at practice, but Mason is skeptical. Investigation reveals to Trask that Casey's role must be a front for somebody else who wanted to buy Red Sand, and he pays a visit to Jim with his goons, accusing him at gunpoint of a con involving the theft and registration of a South American horse called Lucky Lady (which is Red Sand's true identity). He has Jim call Casey with an offer to buy Red Sand. Casey proceeds to visit Mason at a restaurant, which is witnessed by Trask's chief goon, Jeffers (Gene Otis Shane). She tries to get Mason interested in Red Sand and, while still skeptical, he takes an interest in her and gets her to agree to a dinner date. She's then overheard calling Jim with a higher offer for Red Sand. Jeffers immediately calls Trask with the impression that Casey is fronting for Mason. Jeffers breaks in on Casey and roughs her up to call off the Mason offer, and Jim proceeds to sell Red Sand to Trask. When Jim reports to the Barneyvan, we learn that the IMF stands to make $4 million from a series of small bets made in various cities if Red Sand wins. Trask confronts Casey about her dealings with Mason and advises her to get out of town. At the track, Mason catches wind that Jim's placed a large bet on King's Friend and questions him about the status of Red Sand, learning that Trask bought her. Jim gives Mason a different story about Red Sand's origins, which involves admitting to having jimmied Trask's stopwatch. Once Jim confirms that his bet has been booked, he clicks a pen that blows Barney's circuit board. As a result, the swapped-in memory cell is discovered, making Barney's true mission belatedly clear, and we learn that disabling the cell freezes the odds on Red Sand race. With a little maneuvering by Jim, Mason assumes that the IMF's bets on Red Sand are Trask's. Jim eagerly suggests that Mason try to beat Trask at his own game. In private, Mason orders his chief henchman, Miller (Val de Vargas), to shoot any horse that looks like it will beat King's Friend. At the race, Trask is gloatingly open to Mason about his new ownership of Red Sand. Jim is invited to sit with Mason and an unnamed goon (Charles Napier). Barney sees Miller climbing up to his sniper's nest and follows him. As set up earlier, the real race between King's Friend and Red Sand proves to be neck-in-neck, with Barney taking Miller out of commission while Red Sand proceeds to win by a length. Trask is elated while Miller tries to stop any payoffs on Red Sand, but Jim stops Napier's goon from making the call about that at gunpoint. Jim proceeds to join the others, with Casey confirming that the IMF has been able to collect on its wagers, and they watch as a vengeful Mason has Trask escorted into his limo for payback. _______ Well, Adam-12 does hold its text-only announcement for the end credits... He's driven by flashbacks of how his previous partner wouldn't get off that bomb... It's aired in syndication, hence my recording it from Me. I have to assume that Paramount is being selective about which episodes of the sitcoms they're excluding, whatever their reasoning for doing that in the first place. And yet are referenced as if they're still an active group. Nah, we saw him making a call. The idea of having Keith share the driving was floated, but it was said that it would just be tiring both of them. Well, you can't force someone to marry you. Hmmm...there's a gag in there somewhere that would've connected this to the Adam-12 writeup... I hope you're not suggesting that they were planning to remove the check...! And if it needs to be clarified, the actress's midriff was on display for most of the segment, as everyone examined the check. Not yet a game show host, but he'd go on to become a regular panelist on Match Game for years before the Family Feud gig. And contemporaneously with where we're at, Gordy the weatherman on MTM. Ye gods, everybody's got their remedy. Does it work? There's a big demand for black market brass beds. It was definitely played as if the gun had gone off. Something had happened that suddenly shocked her into realizing it was a real gun. Actually, it wasn't clear to me if it was supposed to be his hiccup or hers, but it's funnier if it's his. Going strictly by memory, it wasn't as grating as the more up-tempo studio recording that they made for Some Time in New York City. I was going to ask how so, but the info at the links below explained it...and that the character's name, Alden Maas, was an anagram of Neal Adams. So while the Disney similarities are more prominent and obvious, apparently Byrne was spoofing on Adams at the same time. It was issues 263-264: Fantastic Four Vol 1 263 | Marvel Database | Fandom Fantastic Four Vol 1 264 | Marvel Database | Fandom I forgot that the Mole Man was involved in the story. I think it may have come up when 50th anniversary business wasn't that far past the point that 55th is now.
It's also well-known that Harrison loved Music from Big Pink and had visited the Band in NY in late '68, where the vibe was very laid-back, open and collaborative. The contrast had to be unflattering to the atmosphere of the Beatles sessions.
Yeah, even in early 1969, one could not really see The Beatles lasting for much longer, even during this period where they were somewhat civil to each other (well, aside from Lennon's pissy comments about Harrison). That, and McCartney's songwriting was simply on another level--several--above Lennon. Watching him develop the early stages of certain songs just shows that he was more than ready to express himself sans the rest of the band.
Because nobody else can help these helpless adults except a cantankerous relative from out of town. "Germ theory is just a theory!" I thought she was a popular guest who was brought back and then spun off, but also what do I know? Skeptical about her being a trained, professional interior designer? Caveat venditor. Another guy born to be the villain. Recently purchased from the Joker. Are they symbolically blowing up conventional law enforcement? They should have had Jim pick the horse's picture out of the portfolio. So he identified Lucky Lady through the clipping? I wonder if that could really be done. It doesn't seem like genetic testing of that sort would be available then. This changes everything! Now he's just being mean. Surely an assassinated horse would render the race and all bets invalid. Another ubiquitous character actor. An extreme manifestation of multiple-personality disorder. Now they can afford to turn down the next couple of missions. Off-screen gunshot implied. In small print. That's pretty much true. Maybe in the sunny Bradyverse they are. You can implore. It's like he just sat around while all this was happening. "I wonder what they'll decide for me." I think I'm missing the connection. What? Me? No. Yeah, don't want to mess with that. I forgot about Match Game. Bret Somers was on there, too. It actually does work for me. I even created a little photo art about it once. They're good luck. That's hilarious. Excellent, thank you. The issues are available in the app, so i should be able to re-read them today. This is why I'm unstuck in time.
That's definitely how it strikes me, her only having appeared one time before being spun off, very similar to Mork later, whom I've heard was always intended to be spun off. It doesn't seem at all the same as any number of cases where a breakout regular or recurring character proves so popular that they get a spinoff...she would've appeared more first. And as you touched upon, her intro here seems kind of forced. [Cesar Romero Joker laugh] That shouldn't be as funny as it is, considering they've already had animals in the portfolio. Now I'm picturing an episode when Jim selects an all-animal IMF team...the Legion of Impossible Mission Pets? I'm not clear on that, but they may have had other means of testing horse hair in the day that wasn't genetic. Hadn't noticed that. What I was thinking. Well, the whole idea here was that there was no passion, no chemistry. The Angela Cartwright/Shirley Feeney/Robinson gag. It hadn't occurred to me that I had Dr. Smith in the same post. Ah, that rings a vague bell. Helpful visual reference...I was doing it wrong.
An addendum to 'Without You'/'Nilsson Schmilsson'. The album cover was taken by Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean fame. After Jan Berry suffered his near fatal car accident at 'Dead Man's Curve' and was forced to retire from singing and performing to recuperate; Dean Terrence set up a graphics studio called 'Kittyhawk Graphics' which specialized in album covers and band logos. Dean did the covers for the Nilsson albums 'Aerial Pandemonium Ballet', 'The Point', 'Nilsson Sings Newman', and 'Schmilsson'. He showed up at Harry's house one afternoon to shoot the cover, and Harry came out of the bedroom, bleary-eyed, hung over from partying the night before and holding a hash pipe. Dean whipped out his camera, took a photo and said, 'That's your cover'. The original idea for the cover would have been centered on the fridge in the background of the photo, with the list of songs on the album taped like a shopping list to the door of the fridge.
_______ Increasingly Belated 55th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1) _______ The Ed Sullivan Show Season 18, episode 25 Originally aired March 6, 1966 As represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show Jones performs a lyrical rendition of "More," which was the theme of a 1962 film called Mondo Cane; an instrumental version of the theme had been a Top 10 hit for Kai Winding in 1963. Annette sings the upbeat, poppy number accompanied by a trio of male background dancers. Ed welcomes Topo back from a trip to visit his mother in Italy. Ed says that he can't believe it's really Topo so the mouse puppet can get in a timely reference: "I'm not Batman!" Topo gets histrionically emotional over having to leave his mother as well as reuniting with Ed. Byner starts by doing Sullivan, trailing off and not finishing sentences while attempting to introduce a film clip. He then goes into imitations of the stars of the film, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Marlon Brando, and James Cagney...most of their lines not being in English. Byner's Ed then introduces one member of an acrobatic duo that's been cut for time, who distraughtly has nobody to throw pins to or to man the other end of the balancing board. The real Ed then does a mumbly intro for Los Vegas, a band who perform what I guess would be described as a flamenco version of the originally Spanish standard "Granada," which involves lots of dramatically held notes and opera-style vocal flourishes. Metacritic says that they also did one called "Guadalajara". The portion of the medley shown on Best of includes a mashup of trad pop number "After You've Gone" and an adapted blues number, "Baby Won't You Please Come Home". Metacritic indicates that "You're Nobody Until Somebody Loves You" was also originally included. The duo's medley consists of portions of both doing "This Land Is Your Land"... ...Frankie crooning "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," and Annette countering with "I'll Take Manhattan," which Frankie joins her in. They close together by reprising "This Land"...Best of reportedly having edited out segments of "Big D," "Meet Me in St. Louis," and "Chicago". Other performances, as listed on Metacritic: Mireille Mathieu (French singer) - "Hymn to Love" Arthur Haynes - sings "Soldier's Dream" Ray Milland, Melville Cooper, Geoffrey Lumsden, Anthony Kemble Cooper (actors doing scenes from the Broadway play "Hostile Witness") Elizabeth & Collins (knife throwing act) _______ Branded "Call to Glory: Part 2" Originally aired March 6, 1966 A title card and voiced-over recap bring us up to speed on the story so far. The recap clarifies that the young brave who helped Jennie was Gray Eagle, son of Chief Crazy Horse (Michael Pate), who was watching as Jason dealt with Gray Eagle's assailants. Gray Eagle wasn't listed under that name in the credits for Part 1, at least according to IMDb. The story proceeds with Lt. Briggs leading a patrol, and Jason using physical force to stop him from crossing a stream that would put him in violation of treaty with the Sioux. Jason ends up locked up, where Custer visits him and they begin to get in an argument about keeping the treaty with Indians whom Custer has reason to believe killed some of his men. Nevertheless, Custer convinces Briggs to drop charges and Jason attends a swank ball hosted by Custer's wife, Libby (Jacquelyn Hyde), with General Phil Sheridan (John Pickard) in attendance, who was with Grant when he gave Jason the assignment to watch Custer. Jennie's also there, and Crazy Horse drops in accompanied by a dramatic thunderstorm, seeking to speak with the "long-haired chief," Custer. Crazy Horse speaks of how his people are starving on their land, and implicates Jennie's father as being responsible for cheating them of their treaty-stipulated rations. Jason convinces Custer to let Crazy Horse leave in peace. Briggs accuses Jason of wanting to turn his outfit into a company of cowards, which informs Custer's opinion of the incident, feeling that Crazy Horse needs to be dealt with for his treaty violation in appearing there...all while MacAllister and Hazin watch in the wings, discussing their scheme to tip Custer over the edge into starting a war. Jason has his own secret meeting with Sheridan outside. They discuss whether Custer needs to be removed from command now, but Jason offers his observation that another party must be pulling MacAllister's strings, and gets Sheridan to agree to give him five days to learn more before sending in reinforcements. Jason goes to the Indian Agency to question Galvin about shortchanging the Sioux's rations, but is knocked out in the back room by an unseen party, who sets the place on fire. Jason comes to and doesn't find Galvin in the burning building, but does find a Sioux war lance outside. From the modest tracks outside, however, he believes that a war party wasn't involved, and convinces Custer to let him scout the area before sending his men out in force. In the wilderness, Jason finds himself surrounded by gun-toting natives. Back at the fort, Galvin's body arrives on the back of the horse draped in Crazy Horse's standard, which provokes Custer into riding out with his men. The Announcer: Next week, see the exciting conclusion of "Call to Glory" on Branded. _______ 12 O'Clock High "Decoy" Originally aired March 7, 1966 https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/the-classic-retro-pop-culture-thread.278375/page-101#post-12452491 Gallagher's up in Scotland proposing a plan to a General Hardy (Bill Zuckert) to give air cover to an amphibious landing to be made by his rangers. Gallagher learns that his pilot back to England will be Captain Tony Powell (Michael Callan), who returns to the base romancing a woman in the back seat of a staff car. There's an obvious antagonistic recognition between the men, and Powell explains to his companion that Gallagher washed him out of combat. In addition to flying at night, they have to go through a thunderstorm, and have a discussion about what happened to get Powell on transport duty...how he aborted too many combat missions, which, as I mentioned in my original write-up, is kind of ironic considering that Gallagher's premiere-episode origin story was about his risk aversion...though maybe that just gives him more of an issue with others who are like he was then. After daybreak and getting out of the storm, the undermanned bomber is jumped by German fighters, and Powell starts to panic as Gallagher tries to give him orders. The flight engineer, Sgt. Johnny Miller (Steve Harris), shoots one down and the fighters break off, but the bomber gets badly shot up and has to be ditched, with the radio out and Miller dead. Back at Archbury, Stovall and Komansky get requisite beats about learning that Gallagher's plane has disappeared without contact, and in a typical plot complication, we learn that only Gallagher knows/is holding the details of his vital plan, making the need to find him in a timely manner more pressing. Gallagher and Powell share a life raft and deploy a balloon antenna to use their hand-cranked radio when they see a couple of friendly fighters, but the flare gun doesn't work. They end up spotting an uncharted little rocky island. A search plane picks up their radio signal, as does a Scottish fishing boat whose captain (John McLiam) is reluctant to respond for fear of endangering his niece. Having dried out the flare gun, Gallagher and Powell signal the search plane, which sees them and signals. The pilot has their location called in, but can't stay in the area due to low fuel. A destroyer gets the message and sets a course. We're almost at the end of Act II and everything seems to be going peachy, doesn't it? Then Powell spots a U-boat offshore. Gallagher learns that Powell flies unarmed and gives him his sidearm while he buries his case of plan documents out of sight. Powell won't fire at the two Germans who land even though he has the advantage of concealment, and instead surrenders. Having not been seen, Gallagher tries to get away, but two more appear to cut him off. On the sub, Gallagher insists on the name, rank, and serial number routine as Powell is taken in by Captain Wessel's (Carl Schell) courtesy, which includes treating his prisoners to a meal in his quarters, where Gallagher does a bit of verbal jousting. Wessel attempts to politely interrogate them, but Powell follows Gallagher's lead in not divulging any useful information. Wessel announces his intention to leave them back on the island, asserting that they're only pawns while he's after kings and queens. Back on the island, Gallagher suspects an ulterior motive, and they spot the fishing boat offshore. Powell enthusiastically waves it in, but Gallagher sees the mast of the U-boat, which fires torpedoes, destroying the civilian vessel. Gallagher underscores to Powell that they're being used as the titular objects to lure in bigger targets. Powell, who until now has been a little too cavalier and quick to reference his rich daddy, is clearly affected by civilians having lost their lives trying to save him, and about the Germans' disregard for him and those trying to help him. The destroyer spots the rock and proceeds toward it, monitored by the U-boat. Gallagher sees the ship offshore, and Powell's first thought is to warn them. Gallagher's holding a cigarette case with a reflective interior, and attempts to signal them. The U-boat sees it first, surfaces, and opens fire on the island to send Gallagher and Powell ducking for cover. Powell hastily volunteers to go out in the life raft and draw the sub's fire so that the destroyer sees it. He wants to do it alone, for implied redemption and because of Gallagher's mission, but Gallagher accompanies him, the destroyer sees their raft, and even as the sub fires on them, Gallagher keeps low and starts to signal the destroyer in code. When the fire gets too close, Gallagher orders Powell to jump and does so himself, but Powell stands up to wave off the destroyer and is shot up, which the destroyer skipper (Len Wayland) sees and puts together with Gallagher's interrupted signal as indicating a sub. The U-boat fires torpedoes, which are evaded, and the destroyer launches depth charges, which find their mark...bringing to mind a comment Wessel made over dinner about how submarine combat is clean because the sea buries its victims. Gallagher, back in the raft by this point, finds that Powell is dead. Cut to Gallagher on the destroyer, sending a message to Archbury and arranging for a flight back. In the Epilog, Gallagher's directing the bombing mission in his plan, and sees the rangers' transports heading for shore unchallenged. Playing off something Sandy's supposed to have said back when Powell was washed out about him having been a "foul ball," Gallagher observes that "every now and then one of 'em straightens out and becomes a home run." _______ Batman "True or False-Face" Originally aired March 9, 1966 Special Guest Villain ? as FALSE FACE Malachi Throne is only billed in the closing credits of the second part. O'Hara and his men are at the Gotham City Exhibit Hall guarding the Mergenberg Crown following the receipt of a threatening letter. A woman claiming to be the Princess Mergenberg walks in with a formally dressed gentleman who turns out to be False Face, wearing his rigid mask, who drops a blinding explosive to escape with his female accomplice, Blaze (Myrna Fahey), but doesn't openly take the crown. The criminals evade the police in a slow backlot chase by tossing a switch that turns his phony GCPD van into an ice cream truck. When the crown is examined in Gordon's office afterward, it turns out to be a phony in a false case. Gordon proceeds to the phone without humiliating any officers, and Dick is studying botany when the Dynamic Duo get the call. At Gordon's office, an elderly messenger delivers a message from False Face, which the Dynamic Duo figure means the opposite of what it says. Batman unmasks the messenger as Blaze, who proceeds to deliver a challenge to prove that False Face has committed a crime, then jumps out a window to some waiting pads and gets away with her boss. Back at their hideout, it's revealed that Blaze has been wearing the crown under her blonde wig. False Face's reverse clue leads the Dynamic Duo to an armored car company, where they learn of a missing car and proceed to the bank where it was due to pick up a shipment. Batman confronts the car's guards, identifying one of them as False Face, whose more natural mask looks like Throne's slightly disguised face before he switches to his rigid mask. A brief pursuit leads to a Batfight in a backlot alley with False Face's goons, who include credited members "Midget"/Burns (Billy Curtis), "Fat Man"/Brinks (Joe Brooks), and "Thin Man"/Pinkerton (Chuck Fox). False Face seems to get away with another flash bomb, but while some of his men are being apprehended, O'Hara discovers False Face disguised as himself and is knocked out with gas and taken away. At the Batcave, the Dynamic Duo determine that False Face's message was written on official bank note paper, which indicates a counterfeiting scheme. They proceed to the paper storehouse, where they apprehend Blaze, Burns, and Brinks. Blaze is taken to Gordon's office, where False O'Hara pretends to nurse a toothache in order to avoid speaking. Blaze offers to help the crimefighters find False Face, and leads them to a shut-down subway station, where she knocks them out with gas...Batman's from a rigged candy machine that she asks him to use. The Dynamic Duo are tied to the tracks with quick-setting plastic cement. Blaze starts to have moment of repentance, but False Face takes her away while the train approaches. DISASTER THREATENS BASHED BY THE BMT? WILL THE DYNAMIC DUO DICE WITH DEATH - AND DESCEND TO DEFEAT? CAN BATMAN AND ROBIN BREAK THE UNBREAKABLE, SLIP OUT OF THE CHEMICAL CLUTCHES, ESCAPE THE EPOXY? KEEP YOUR BATWINGS CROSSED UNTIL TOMORROW - SAME TIME - SAME CHANNEL - SAME PERILOUS PREDICAMENT! Notable is that Blaze is played up as being False Face's lieutenant and comes off as more of a devious criminal herself than the typical moll. _______
That could have been the Saturday-morning cartoon version. True. Ahhh, right. It's hard to describe. "Good. I'm going back to bed." This sounds familiar. At least she wears a safety mask. So what does Grant need Jason for? Let's just call it a transfer. Considering Powell's tendency to panic and apparent fear of firearms, it's a mystery how he got that far to begin with. What about the guy up in Scotland? And how mysterious can providing air support for rangers be? Wouldn't it be a relief to have an episode where everything goes well and everybody gets along? Leaving only an X to mark the spot. This would be funnier if it was a Russian sub. A civilian fishing boat isn't a bigger target. That's a massacre and a war crime. It's also stupid, because they could have given away their position to the destroyer. And why doesn't that give them away? Too bad he got hit out of the park. Noah Bane on It Takes A Thief. Also played a Romulan on TNG. Now there's a classic cliffhanger, and a missed opportunity for a Dudley Do-Right crossover. So it's a shut-down station on an active rail line. That's kind of strange. Yeah, I noticed that. And she even got to be False Face herself, disguised as the messenger.
I wish they had the clip from when that act appeared earlier in one of the b&w seasons. There was a segment in which she was stationary and unmasked, and she was doing these cute little exaggerated expressions as each knife struck. Jason's the inside guy. Sheridan's just passing through. The general in Scotland was the rangers' commander. The bombing end was Gallagher's department, and presumably involved plan details that only he knew. But destroying the fishing boat prevents them from rescuing the pilots before the sub gets its bigger target. Also, I wonder if trying to rescue combatants makes them a legitimate target. At that point, the destroyer was presumably too far in the opposite direction. He was the commodore in "The Menagerie" before either of those. Presumably the train just doesn't stop at that station. There'd be others on the line.
That's a good idea, because it pumps up the sense of danger-- although I wonder how much the audience can see. Just a sort of MacGuffin, I guess. Good question. There are international agreements that allegedly govern these things, but I have no idea of the details. I also wondered if putting the men back on the island to die would be considered a war crime. Geez, how could I forget Mendez? I wanted his job.