The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

50 Years Ago This Week

January 2

• U.S. First Lady Pat Nixon arrived in Liberia for the beginning of an 8-day tour of Africa, which also included Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.
• Juliane Koepcke, the sole survivor of the Christmas Eve crash of LANSA Flight 508, was found alive by three hunters deep inside the Amazon jungle in Peru. The only survivor of 93 persons on the plane, she had followed a stream for nine days until finding help.
• Serial killer John Wayne Gacy committed the first of at least 33 murders, stabbing 16-year old runaway Timothy McCoy to death.

January 3 – Mariner 9 began the first mapping of the planet Mars, after dust storms on the red planet had ceased.

January 4

• The first scientific electronic pocket calculator, the HP-35, was introduced by Hewlett-Packard and priced at $395 (equivalent to more than $2,400 in 2019). Although hand-held electronic machines that could multiply and divide (such as the Canon Pocketronic) had been made since 1971, the HP-35 could handle higher functions including logarithms and trigonometry.
• Rose Heilbron becomes the first woman judge at the Old Bailey in London.

January 5 – From his "Western White House" residence in San Clemente, California, President Richard Nixon announced that the United States would develop the space shuttle as the next phase of the American space program, with 5.5 billion dollars allocated to the first reusable spacecraft. "It would transform the space frontier of the 1970s into familiar territory," said Nixon, "easily accessible for human endeavor of the 1980s and 1990s."

January 6 – Television journalist Geraldo Rivera first attained national fame with his exposé of neglect and abuse of mentally ill patients at the Willowbrook State School on New York's Staten Island.

January 7

• U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announced that he would run for re-election in 1972.
• Iberia Airlines Flight 602 crashed into a mountain peak while attempting to land at the Spanish island of Ibiza, killing all 104 people on board.
• At a press conference given by telephone to seven journalists assembled in Universal City, California, billionaire Howard Hughes discredited the "autobiography" that Clifford Irving had claimed to help him write.
• Lewis F. Powell, Jr. and William H. Rehnquist were sworn in as the 103rd and 104th justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.

January 8 – The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who popularized transcendental meditation, announced his "World Plan", with the goal of establishing 3,600 centers, each with 1,000 teachers apiece. By 1976, however, interest in "TM" began to decline and the plan was never realized.


Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

Leaving the chart:

• "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves," Cher (16 weeks)

Re-entering the chart:

"Feeling Alright," Joe Cocker

(originally charted June 21, 1969, reaching #69 US; reaches #33 US this run)


Recent and new on the chart:

"Fire and Water," Wilson Pickett

(Dec. 25; #24 US; #2 R&B)

"Footstompin' Music," Grand Funk Railroad

(#29 US)

"Floy Joy," The Supremes

(#16 US; #33 AC; #5 R&B; #9 UK)


And new on the boob tube:

• Hawaii Five-O, "Bait Once, Bait Twice"
• Adam-12, "Citizens All"
• The Brady Bunch, "Big Little Man"
• The Partridge Family, "Home Is Where the Heart Was"
• The Odd Couple, "Security Arms"
• Love, American Style, "Love and the Lady Athlete / Love and the Lady Killers / Love and the New Size 8 / Love and the Single Sister"
• All in the Family, "Edith's Problem"
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "Feeb"
• Mission: Impossible, "Stone Pillow"

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

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That can be fun for what it is, but as a fan of the books who was getting into Bond while Moore was still holding the mantle, I've always been inclined to look ruefully at the road not taken. I'd certainly rather have gotten more films in the vein of OHMSS than DAF and TMWTGG.

"Secret agent," then.

Bambi and Thumper didn't kill anyone that we know of. They were guarding Whyte and beating Bond up. They seem more like bodyguards/bouncers.

Gloria Hendry was the first who got intimate with 007, but I've seen the term "Bond girl" used much more broadly, even to describe female extras. So Thumper was both henchwoman and Bond girl; she was the giant leap that made Rosie Carver possible.

I'm not talking radio airplay, I'm talking charity commercials, the New Year's Eve tradition, its use in anything connected with John, and probably other stuff I've blocked out. Sometime back in the '90s, I got to a point where I'd roll my eyes at the sound of the opening piano bit. Even if its exposure has abated somewhat since, it's like the Heinz Ketchup thing...it's too late, the damage is done.

They named the airport after him? I think John would have rolled his eyes at that.

A lot of what Starlin was doing was cribbing Kirby. Thanos is a Darkseid clone.

smashed up his guitar

 

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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)

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Hawaii Five-O
"Odd Man In"
Originally aired December 28, 1971

I had to look the previous episode up on IMDb for a refresher. This was the guy who was using a Monopoly motif.

Filer unlocks his cell door with a smuggled spoon; makes a call to the prison with a makeshift phone hidden in a broom closet fire extinguisher to distract the guard outside a gate; then calls for a phone repairman, posing as the warden, and dons a phone service uniform, which enables him to drive out in the actual repairman's truck. Posing as a deceased underworld troubleshooter named Elmo Zigler, whom he learned about from his cellmate, Filer manipulates crime boss Goro Shibata (Jirô Tamiya) to reroute an incoming boatload of cocaine. He then calls McGarrett openly to offer him the bust. On the scene, from a position of concealment, Filer uses a bullhorn and poses as McGarrett to make the chopper flee, though the car meeting it is caught.

This puts Five-O on Shibata, who summons "Zigler". Zigler brings together the smuggler, Moose Oakley (Lane Bradford), and Shibada, who offer Zigler a percentage to facilitate their exchange now that the heat's on. Five-O's surveillance of Filer puts them onto Oakley, while he ditches them with a dummy. After another call from Filer, McGarrett realizes that Filer's after the drug money.

Filer arranges for Shibata to get stuck between floors in an elevator. Posing as an elevator repairmen, he then gets on top of the car and uses a lowered ultrasonic device to persuade Shibata and his two goons to surrender their weapons and the money. He slips out of the building disguised as a gaudily dressed old woman, the compressed bundles of cash concealed in his clothing.

A note from Filer indicates that he's left the country, but McGarrett remembers an IOU that he left the warden, which he expects Filer to pay as part of his M.O. Taking the place of a messenger Filer summoned, McGarrett nabs Filer, who offers to turn state's evidence on Shibata in order to be put in a different federal pen than Shibata and Oakley...which he looks forward to escaping from.

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Adam-12
"Pick-Up"
Originally aired December 29, 1971

The latest in a series of rape victims, but the first to be found alive, is being put in an ambulance as the episode opens. Back on patrol, the officers respond to a 415 juvenile to find a teenager named Rusty Cobb (Buddy Foster) who's blown the tire of a borrowed dirt bike.

On patrol again, the officers see a girl getting a ride in a red Porsche and tail it, which turns into a pursuit. The passenger, 16-year-old "child of nature" Paula Jessup (Kathy Garver), is dumped out the side and Reed gets out to help her while Malloy continues the pursuit, loses the vehicle, but finds it again parked in a carport. Malloy goes to the door to talk to the owner, William G. Taylor (Bill Williams), who volunteers to go to the station to let the girl look at him. Malloy takes him to where the Porsche dumped the girl, Mac having since arrived on the scene. She affirms that the man, who doesn't match the descriptions given by her and the other girl, isn't the man who picked her up. At the station, Paula's mother, Bonnie (Barbara Hale), shares the sad story of Paula's estrangement from her family and school.

Back on patrol, Malloy's lamenting why things don't work like they did in Charlie Chan movies (describing the character without dropping his name) when they get a 211 in progress at a lumber yard. One suspect is being cuffed by young police scouts who also responded to the call, and Reed goes to look for the other. Shots are exchanged while Reed inches closer from behind a wheeled dumpster, and ends up winging the suspect and getting him to surrender.

With inside of four minutes left, Reed puts in for a code seven, so you know that ain't happening. The officers are assigned to see Mrs. Jessup, who's found a stash of drugs among Paula's belongings, enough to indicate that she's dealing. The officers figure that Taylor is her supplier and she didn't want to burn him. Paula comes home, and some drama with Mrs. J commences in which the daughter defiantly confesses. Paula's little brother Brian (Brian Dewey) then comes into the room and cloyingly pleads with her to do what she has to in order to rejoin the family.

At the station, we see Taylor being taken in, and Mac informs the officers that a suspect in the rape cases has been apprehended after the last victim described how she hit him with a heavy, metal-tipped purse, which turned up a man who was hospitalized for a skull fracture. Reed ends the episode by calling back to the Charlie Chan reference, which confuses Mac.

The writing/directing/acting of the family drama subplot was really, really cheesy.

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The Brady Bunch
"The Teeter-Totter Caper"
Originally aired December 31, 1971

The situation of not being invited to Cousin Gertrude's wedding is exacerbated when each of the young kids is rebuffed while offering to help their older siblings. They console each other on the tetter-totter and try to think of something important they can do to prove themselves. Waiting for Cartoon King to come on, they learn of a recently established teeter-totter record of 124 hours. Nobody pays much attention as they commence, but Carol takes notice when they won't stop to eat and have to be fed while in motion.

Alice ends up serving as a "sit-in" when one of the kids has to go to the bathroom. The parents assume that they'll tire out eventually, and the other kids make fun. Then a reporter named Mark Winters (Dick Winslow) from the Daily Chronicle shows up with a photographer to cover the story, and the parents learn why Bobby and Cindy are doing it, which causes everybody to take them more seriously and offer support. That night the kids struggle to stay awake, and the parents proudly watch up to a point, then move in to put them to bed.

Bobby and Cindy still get in the paper, which pleases them. Mike brings up the idea that they may have set a record for kids their age, as the previous champs were 19-20. Cousin Gertrude, having seen them in the paper, calls to invite Bobby and Cindy to the wedding, which they're no longer interested in.

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The Partridge Family
"Where Do Mermaids Go?"
Originally aired December 31, 1971

During a tiring road trip, the family stops in a parkish area for a picnic. The youngest kids start to explore and claim to have spotted a mermaid, which turns out to be a girl skinny-dipping. The family end up picnicking with Jenny (24-year-old Meredith Baxter), who's been living on the road. A policeman (Richard X. Slattery) comes investigating reports of a hippie vagrant in the area, and the family covers for her. Jenny accompanies the family back home, then hits the road again the next morning with her camping gear. After she leaves, the family discovers a million-dollar deposit in Shirley's name and an explanatory note from Jenny about her being an heiress. A call from the bank verifies that the money has been deposited.

Shirley resolves to find Jenny and return the money, while various parties contact the family, interested in helping them to invest it. Ordering a dress gets Laurie a visit from the designer (Donald Phelps), accompanied by a couple of models showing his other fashions. Danny has a phone installed in his room and briefly employs a private secretary. The kids start to become disillusioned when acts of charity to friends aren't appreciated because they want more. The family takes the bus to the spot where they met Jenny and find her skinny-dipping again. The family returns the money, explaining that it has less meaning when it's unearned. Cut to Jenny attending a dinner club show in which Keith goes into the audience while singing "It's Time That I Knew You Better". In the coda, the family is struggling with money in a Monopoly game, and Shirley's back to being overdue paying the mortgage.

I get the message they were going for, but feel that this premise wasn't explored sufficiently...it was over almost before it had begun. Of course, Antenna probably cut out a scene or three.

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The Odd Couple
"And Leave the Greyhound to Us?"
Originally aired December 31, 1971

The episode opens with Oscar going one-on-one with the other survivor of an overnight poker game, a guy whom he just met named Salty (Phil Leeds). Salty puts up "Golden Earrings," and Felix, who just woke up, assumes he means jewelry. Felix is horrified when they find that the greyhound is kept in a kennel with 1200 dogs identified by number. Oscar inherits hundreds of dollars in kennel fees, so Felix puts up half the money in return for co-ownership. At the apartment, Golden Earrings quickly marks Oscar's room as his territory.

Felix: Maybe he wanted to pick out a place nobody would notice.​

Oscar wants to take the dog to Boston to race him, which Felix considers to be exploitation. Oscar sneaks GE out at night to take him to Miami instead. There Oscar learns that GE hasn't won a race since '69 and now has the odds against him, and runs into Salty. Felix also shows up, and when he learns that Oscar's dream has always been to own a racehorse--with this being the closest he's likely to get--Felix gets invested in the race, choosing a number and color for GE. Felix ends up being proud of GE and enthusiastic about continuing to race him even though he places last. Despite this, Salty promptly ends up buying GE back, because they gotta reset to the status quo.

In the coda, Felix is cleaning up after Oscar and pines for Golden Earrings when he finds an old bone of his.

Oscar: You want something to remember him by?...I'll give you my bedroom rug.​

I find that Felix tends to be set up as the contrarian to Oscar whether it's consistent with other aspects of his character or not. In this case, I can think of more than one reason why Felix wouldn't be a dog person: his primary trait is extreme tidiness, and his secondary trait is having sinus issues.

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Even "Oh Yoko!"?

Not much to argue with in that list.

At least he was contributing.

A good one.

Yep, yep, and the last the post-Diana Supremes should be popping up, as this is their final Top 30 single.

That's absolute heresy to a fan of the original novels.

Maybe. Fortunately, while they were a threat to him in Hand-to-Hand Combat, he had a decisive advantage in Diving.

 

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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)

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Love, American Style
"Love and the Contact Lens / Love and the Doctor's Honeymoon / Love and the Motel Mixup"
Originally aired December 31, 1971

In "Love and the Contact Lens," April (Michele Lee) has her mother (Eve Arden) over to meet her boyfriend David, a pharmacist. April loses a contact lens, so she insists that they take their shoes off, which Mother is uptight about; and Mother insists that April should not let David know that she wears contact lenses. When David arrives (Hal Buckley; the character is misidentified as "Bud" on IMDb), April has to come up with an excuse to get his shoes off, and tries to get him to stay on the couch, but has to distract him while Mother crawls around on the floor looking for the lens. Eventually David sees Mother on the floor and they make an excuse. Then April sneezes, loses her other lens, and can't make out her mother or David. April wants to tell David, and the matter is decided when he loses his contact lenses too.

"Love and the Doctor's Honeymoon" opens with Coast Guard lieutenant Kevin Douglas (Don Galloway), on a three-day leave, and Dr. Casey Douglas (Jo Ann Pflug) seeing off wedding guests from her home and office. They're leaving for their honeymoon when Casey takes a call that the doctor who was subbing for her broke his leg. They decide to have their honeymoon at home so she can be on call. As they're about to enter the bedroom, she gets a call for a maternity case. Kevin returns home to find Casey's handyman, Harry (Mickey Shaughnessy), who was a guest at the reception and was supposed to be working on the place during the honeymoon, and his spanking-new "fiancee," Gladys (Barbara Nichols), enjoying the leftovers. Harry comes back the next day to work as planned, and Casey returns to find the setting less than romantic. She informs Kevin that she should have a replacement that night, so they can start fresh. Kevin comes home again to find the place full of waiting patients and staffed with a nurse (Jean Inness). By the time Casey's done, Kevin's fast asleep.

Harry comes back over to work the next morning, and Kevin sends him on his way. Casey takes another call, which turns out to be for Kevin, who gets called in for a hurricane alert...which also means that Casey has to report to the hospital. The Coast Guard cancels its alert when the storm heads in another direction, but the hospital doesn't, and Dr. Andrews (Arthur Malet) won't let Casey off duty. Casey's about to leave anyway, but Kevin makes a show of agreeing with Andrews. Then Andrews gets a call that the condition has been raised, Casey is sent to man a shelter, and finds Kevin there, who phoned in the alert. The couple find themselves alone at last.

In "Love and the Motel Mixup," Alan (Desi Arnaz, Jr.) and Shari (Heather Menzies) are nervously trying to check into a hotel pretending to be a married couple. Lacking a vacancy, the clerk (Bryan O'Byrne) gives them a room that's being held for a Mr. Devring. Alan goes back to a restaurant to get the purse that Shari left there. When he returns, he can't remember the room number, or the name that he checked in under, and there's a new clerk at the desk (Mary Treen). He goes to a phone booth in the lobby and calls the desk to try asking for himself under names that he might have used, and the other clerk comes back and says hello to him by name. Alan ends up having to take the last call he made, because he blurted out the name. The female clerk gets suspicious when Alan hides from a woman (Florence Halop) whose cabin window he went to while looking for his room, and who's reported him as a sex maniac. The clerk then finds Shari's purse, which he dropped, and checks her ID. When Shari returns, Mr. Devring (Bill Quinn) also arrives with his wife for their anniversary. When Devering is told that his room has been taken, Alan offers him the room key.

Note how when unmarried couples try to check into hotels, it never works out.

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All in the Family
"The Elevator Story"
Originally aired January 1, 1972

I know they're doing it AITF style, but I was under the impression that this plot was already considered cliche in this period...I recall That Girl specifically making fun of the pregnant woman element in its elevator episode.

The family meet at an Italian restaurant at the kids' treat for Edith's birthday. Archie doesn't see a need to make a fuss about the occasion, and when Edith finds an overdue insurance payment in her coat, he rushes out to hand-deliver it to the office, which is five blocks away. In the office's building, he enters the elevator with Hugh Victor Thompson III (Roscoe Lee Browne), and Angelique McCarthy (Eileen Brennan) rushes in after them. Carlos and Serafina Mendoza (Hector Elizondo and Edith Diaz) are already aboard. Shortly after, the car stops. The well-spoken Thompson verbally spars with Archie. Carlos, who turns out to be the building's janitor, assures Archie that the elevator temporarily breaking down is common. The neurotically gabby McCarthy starts acting hysterical. Carlos tries the trap door but can't reach the next elevator door, and Serafina starts having labor pains.

Back at the restaurant, Edith downs several glasses of red wine, and ends up drunkenly and gigglingly telling stories about when she was dating Archie. Back in the elevator, Thompson exhibits similar prejudices to Archie's regarding the Mendozas, though Archie doesn't embrace the two of them being on the same page. To counter one of Archie's preconceptions about the Mendozas, Thompson informs Archie that he pays more in tips than Archie does in taxes. Mike goes to look for Archie and makes vocal contact with him. Serafina starts to deliver, and while the others attend, Archie's too squeamish to watch. Once the baby boy's out, he finally turns to look.

Back in the restaurant, Archie tries to make the others think he was more helpful to the delivery than he was; and finally tries to be polite to Edith only to learn that she's blasted. As he's about to pay the bill himself, Archie finds that he forgot to deliver the payment and rushes out again.

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The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"The Five-Minute Dress"
Originally aired January 1, 1972

Oddly for an episode premise that sounds like it would involve the regulars going somewhere and meeting guest characters, cast- and set-wise, this is a bottle episode. In fact, the episode proves to be rather conspicuous on the issue, avoiding showing the character even when it seems forced, and never even dropping his name.

When she learns about after-work activities that the others at the station are engaged in, Mary looks for something to be involved in, and Phyllis finds a group that's having a meeting that night called Women for Better Government. Mary and Rhoda go, returning after a cut. They start talking about the governor's assistant, who was the only man at the meeting, with Rhoda being jealous that he seemed interested in Mary. Mary then gets a one-sided call from him, asking her to lunch. The next day, Lou wants Mary to use her lunch hour to buy a birthday present for his wife, and she has to refuse. Then she gets a call that whatshisname can't make it, but wants to have coffee with her in a few minutes, and she tries to smooth it over with Lou by telling him she can get the present at lunch after all, though he sees through her motivation.

Mary returns to reveal that her date also canceled coffee, and Lou irately reads her a message that he took for Mary setting a dinner date. At home, while Mary's waiting to be picked up, she gets a call from the governor himself, who wants to speak to his assistant. Then the governor gets a call from him on another phone and informs Mary that her date won't be able to make it. Cut to Mary getting dressed up for another date, which Rhoda describes as their "fifth first date". Whatshisname calls to have Mary meet him downstairs, and Phyllis watches her driving off with him in a chauffeured limo. Then Mary promptly returns, saying that he got called away while in the limo. Mary decides that she's had enough of trying to hook up with the guy.

In the coda, Ted shows Mary and Murray his ventriloquist act in which he uses a dog puppet, which reminds me of Too Close for Comfort, which had Ted Knight as a cartoonist who tended to have conversations with a puppet of his strip's hero, Cosmic Cow.

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Mission: Impossible
"The Bride"
Originally aired January 1, 1972

When he has to have a diplomatic courier named Anders (Douglas Henderson) who's been cheating him killed, Joe Corvin (James Gregory trying to do something that sounds like an Irish accent, but sounds more like James Gregory) finds himself in a bind to find another means of moving large sums of money for the Syndicate.

The briefing introduces us to a guest agent named Bob Roberts (Gwil Richards), who'll be impersonating a man named Harris (still him, with cosmetic differences). Casey, who'll be faking her death using vital sign-stopping Barney Pills and a lifelike dummy of herself, arrives at the airport to meet Corvin posing as his mail-order bride from a convent in the old country. Posing as Anders's boss, Barney approaches Corvin's client, Frank Mellinger (Brad Dexter), to offer his services as a competitive alternative to Corvin's. Mellinger goes to the party at which Corvin's showing off his new bride to inform him about Barney and put pressure on Corvin to get the eight million moved.

A thug (Harry Raybould) carjacks Barney, and Corvin and his men interrogate him, all according to plan, and Barney tries to make a deal with Corvin for half his cut. Jim, previously seen as one of the plane's personnel at the airport who handed her a package of medicine she'd left behind, calls Casey to reveal to Corvin's listening chief henchman, Richie (Charles Dierkop), that he's her smack supplier. Corvin follows Casey to a hotel where Jim fake shoots her up. Richie calls Corvin about Casey, and Corvin heads to the scene. Corvin is disgusted and finds that Casey was paying Jim with jewelry that Corvin had given her, but expresses an interest in how Jim smuggles his merchandise via his airline job. Jim asks Corvin if he likes movies about gladiators, and Corvin makes a call to have Barney cut loose as he doesn't need him. Back at Corvin's place, Richie tries to move in on the discarded Casey, who pops the pill. She then noisily collapses on a brass bed, and Richie and Corvin find her apparently dead. Corvin orders Richie to have Casey cremated by his usual undertaker, Collins (Woodrow Parfrey).

Jim arranges for a hearse to arrive at a plane just as he's showing Corvin how tight security measures have become, with all cargo being searched. Corvin gets the idea to have Casey's body shipped to Zurich with an embassy seal and a coffin pillow full of cash rather than cremated. Ambulance crew Willy and Bob bring Dummy Casey to the funeral parlor, knock out Harris, who works there, and Bob takes his place. The real Casey is revived out in the ambulance. When Dummy Casey is taken to the airport, Mellinger wants to tag along in the hearse to oversee this wonky plan.

Barney rises out of a secret compartment in the floor of the hearse next to the coffin--perhaps his coolest hiding place ever--takes out the pillow, reseals the casket, and gets back in the compartment, which then lowers him under the vehicle, where he gets into an adjacently parked van driven by Willy. As the casket is being loaded on the plane, it falls off the conveyor and opens, revealing that Casey's a dummy. Mellinger wants to know where the money is, and Jim shares info that implicates Corvin in a double-cross. Mellinger takes Corvin back to his place, where Casey turns up alive and well and still in character, further indicating a scam on Corvin's part. As Mellinger's threatening to toss Corvin down the same elevator shaft as Anders unless Corvin tells him where the money is, Casey joins the other IMFers.

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More so than the stuff Wo Fat does?

If they didn't recast him, no.

Not sure if he did or didn't. It was more a matter of catching the guy doing something.

In your Brando voice?

Sure, why not? He's gotta have his down time, and maybe he was a fan as a kid.

I think it was all tailored to Hale. The child actor was really awful...Johnny Whitaker would've been an improvement.

It was more the idea of being told they were too young for something.

Main thing I knew her from was Family Ties (hence noting her age here). She was Michael J. Fox's mom.

I don't recall. Might have gotten in the paper.

Are you referencing the band that sang the song, or was that name used in a TZ episode?

I just really, really hate the internet "theory" that James Bond is a code-name used by different agents. Anyone who promotes it needs to read the Fleming books.

 

I'm showing seven more episodes after "The Bride".

 

And presumably they were hard lenses at that point, FWIW.

Well, they didn't have caller ID back then.

Y'know, I used to catch Logan's Run as a kid, but I remember practically nothing about it.

She seemed familiar, but I had to look her up. Seems the main thing I'd know her for was Private Benjamin, though I certainly wouldn't have recognized her as the same actress. Looks like she'd already done a half-season of Laugh-In by this point, though, so maybe it was that.

Speaking of Laugh-In...I just last week discovered that it's now on ShoutFactoryTV. I'm not sure if I want to add it back to the load more than halfway into the current season...especially with Emergency! coming up.

Could be...

As far as including it in the episode goes, it was set up early when Mary was learning about what the others were doing...Ted was entertaining at luncheons or something. But yeah, I'm sure it was a Ted Knight thing, if they later built a show around it.

It actually looked like an office that had lockers in it, but it was at a YMCA-looking indoor pool that women were using...YWCA?

I knew him for that before I'd ever seen more than seconds of M:I.

Nah, I see Malloy as a guy who could kick back with a beer (or a soft drink if Jack Webb didn't approve of that) and pop on an old movie on the tube in his down time.

I used to catch it casually...the parent characters helped shape my perception of the '60s. I came to appreciate that they had an All in the Family dynamic in reverse...the parents were the liberal ex-hippies, and the son was the Reagan Republican.

 

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Increasingly Belated 55th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)

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Batman
"Holy Rat Race"
Originally aired March 10, 1966

Alfred is dusting the Giant Lighted Lucite Map of Gotham City when a message is read over the radio station that he's listening to indicating that any friends of Batman should get in touch with him. He uses the Bat-Transmitter, which Batman (who, along with the Boy Wonder, has been tried down to subway tracks, you may recall) answers by activating a radio concealed in his mantle with his teeth. The Caped Crusader urges (but does not order) Alfred to pull a switch that will overload his wrist radio. This frees one of his hands from the epoxy (which looks like plastic wrap) so that he can quickly work on his and Robin's other bonds with a torch. The Dynamic Duo and Alfred puzzle over who sent the message, while a Shakespearean-garbed False Face questions Blaze about aiding the crimefighters. Meanwhile, the real Chief O'Hara is found on a garbage scow and returns to the Commissioner's office to report how he'd been impersonated. The Dynamic Duo go to the radio station to learn about who had the message broadcast and deduce from the description that it was Blaze, who also left a verbal clue indicating the False Face plans to strike the Gotham National Bank. Batman surmises that False Face plans to replace the real money with counterfeit currency.

False Face and his main three henchmen infiltrate the bank and use their skills to break into the vault, only to find the Dynamic Duo waiting inside. The Batfight music plays as the police and Dynamic Duo duck in and out of doorways looking for False Face and two of his fleeing men, while O'Hara wrestles with Burns. When the scuffle has wound down, a policeman is found who's been gassed and divested of his uniform. False Face gets away in his van, with Blaze handcuffed to an interior pipe, and the Dynamic Duo follow him to an abandoned movie studio lot, where False Face first unsuccessfully attempts to ensnare the Batmobile in a net, then tries to ambush it with rockets, but the crimefighters beat him at his own game by sending a decoy ahead, which is said to have been inflatable, though it looked pretty real and solid. False Face flees out the back of the van on a getaway cycle, and the Dynamic Duo free Blaze, who shows them an on-foot shortcut to where he's headed, allowing them to trip him off the cycle with a line. The police arrive and a foot chase ensues through the Western lot in which False Face first tries to impersonate a random cowboy hanging around (Mike Ragan), and then Commissioner Gordon, but Batman sees through the latter disguise and unmasks him.

In the coda at Wayne Manor, Aunt Harriet brings in a "hardened criminal" who's said to have been completely rehabilitated by a Wayne-funded program--Blaze, who says that she plans to go live with her sheep-herding brother in New Zealand.

Gary Owens appears in the episode as a TV announcer.

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Gilligan's Island
"Operation: Steam Heat"
Originally aired March 10, 1966

We learn that Gilligan's already been producing hot water via boiling, but has recently discovered the vent, which saves him a lot of labor. When the Professor theorizes to himself about the volcano, we see a cutaway to it on the other side of the island, rumbling and spewing flame...you'd think the castaways would have noticed this. While he checks the temperature of the crust, the other castaways compete for access to the hot water. For the purposes of the episode, the castaways have quite the impressive bamboo plumbing setup, though they have some difficulty with it. Mr. Howell tries to bribe Gilligan with bundles of cash, while Ginger and Mary Ann employ their feminine wiles. The Professor finally finds the volcano, and an initial eruption produces a storm of ash.

The Professor gets to work making nitro from native materials to blow out the volcano. While the Professor's away from his hut, Gilligan accidentally drinks what appears to be the nitro, making Skipper fear that he'll blow if he moves too suddenly. When the Professor is fetched, it turns out that it was only water that he was using for dilution. Then, when Gilligan thinks he's saving Ginger from sacrificing herself to the volcano (because of something she'd told him about a movie she'd been in), the two of them fall into a steamy cavern at the base of the volcano. The Professor and Skipper go to the same spot to toss the bomb in--which has a clock timer--only to find that Gilligan and Ginger are down there. They're brought up, but Gilligan has the bomb snared to his foot. It's freed and tossed in just in the nick of time, with the four castaways coming out relatively unscathed, and the volcano displaying an unlikely reversed-film implosion.

In the coda, Gilligan's back to fetching hot water, the castaways apparently having retained their vent.

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The Wild Wild West
"The Night of the Two-Legged Buffalo"
Originally aired March 11, 1966

The episode opens with Jim, under an alias, checking into palatial spa where the prince is going to be staying, and running into Lady Beatrice Marquand-Gaynesford (Dana Wynter). Claude Duchamps (Robert Emhardt) and Count Vittorio Pellagrini (Paul Comi) covertly note West's arrival (recognizing him for who he is) and discuss how he's to be dealt with, while Jim goes up and carefully checks the prince's suite. When he takes a seat, a statue of an exotic mask shoots a dart that just misses him. Jim inspects it, then sends a telegraph to Artie warning him not to let the prince come. Artie is transporting the prince (Nick Adams) on the train, and somehow gets the telegraph while underway--didn't they have to hook up to poles at stops? Handling the eccentric dandy of a prince with kid gloves, Artie tries to convince him to go to San Francisco instead, but the prince insists. At the resort, Lady Beatrice goes into the prince's room to place flowers and formally introduces herself to Jim. Lady Beatrice proceeds to meet with Vittorio and Duchamps, violently chastising the former for bungling the attempt on West and ordering the latter to finish the job. The train does make a stop for a couple of bandits to board and take the prince, which Jim arrives in the aftermath of. To prevent word of the prince's kidnapping from spreading, Artie decides to impersonate him at the resort.

Artie arrives late in a flamboyant ceremonial tribal costume, and Lady Beatrice recognizes that he's an impostor. Outside, Duchamps feigns an attempt to take advantage of Beatrice so Jim will rescue the lady. Jim takes her back to her suite, where he helps himself to a drink that he covertly pours from his own miniature flask, then proceeds to feign falling unconscious. Vittorio and Duchamps come in dispose of him, carrying him down to the mud bath, where Jim is stripped down and defeats Vittorio in a fight in the pool.

Lady Beatrice brings flowers to His Fake Highness to give him a fake warning, then pulls his own gun on him. Artie reveals that it's not loaded, but the one in her bouquet is. Jim gets dressed and goes up to the suite to find Artie missing. Elsewhere the lady questions Artie, who's tied in front of a crossbow rigged to be set off by a candle burning a rope. Jim takes Count Vittorio upstairs at gunpoint, forcing him to report success in order to get into the lady's quarters. The prince enters with the two bandits, and Jim reveals that the kidnapping was a ruse on his part, which is a surprise to Artie. But the prince pulls a gun on Jim, revealing that he's the one who hired Lady Beatrice and company, with the aim of causing an incident that would prevent his father from signing a treaty.

The prince decides to have a buffalo hunt, with Jim and Artie as the buffalo. albeit in a small horse pen. Jim jousts with the prince and gets him off his horse, while Artie uses items that were concealed on Jim to cut his bonds and toss a flash bomb. Then Lady Beatrice turns the tables again, holding her rifle on the prince and revealing that the plan is to kill him and take his jewels. Jim and Artie have a good laugh, telling her that they're all paste. Lady Bea attempts to attack the prince and Jim subdues her.

In the coda, Jim and Artie go back to hosting the prince on the train, because he is the prince. His Highness makes clear that he has no remorse for his role in the scheme, though Jim asserts that he expects the treaty to be signed.

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Hogan's Heroes
"Psychic Kommandant"
Originally aired March 11, 1966

Hogan listens in as Klink takes a top-secret call from Burkhalter, but the wiring of the coffee pot device goes bad. The other prisoners keep Schultz distracted in the barracks with a shell game, but Klink comes in and catches them, so Hogan snow-jobs him by claiming that they're not engaged in illegal gambling, but testing ESP. Klink takes interest and a test of his ability is rigged in his favor. Nevertheless, Klink informs Hogan that the prisoners will be confined to barracks for security reasons. Unable to rewire the connection to Klink's office, the prisoners put a walkie talkie in a replica of Klink's briefcase and let Schultz find the case. The prisoners get out of being reported when Hogan tells Schultz a sob story about his childhood.

Schultz slips the briefcase into Klink's office in time for the prisoners to hear how a plane is coming in for a demonstration. Spotting its arrival (piloted by its inventor, Kintzler [Joseph Mell]), they realize that the plane isn't making any noise. Hogan has the prisoners sneak out at night via the tunnel to disassemble the engine and bring it back in pieces, where notes and photographs are taken. Upon inspection of the plane, Klink sees through a gap in the paneling that the engine is missing, and keeps this from Burkhalter so it won't reflect badly on the stalag's security. Klink questions Hogan about this and Hogan convinces him that Burkhalter is testing Klink's ability to find it with the extrasensory abilities that Klink's been boasting about. Hogan accompanies Klink on a search for the engine, and Klink discovers that it's now back in the plane. German brass assemble for the plane's demonstration, and promptly drive off when it very audibly and smokily sputters to life.

Diiisss-MISSED!

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Get Smart
"The Amazing Harry Hoo"
Originally aired March 12, 1966

As the episode opens Max has been tailing a string of KAOS agents who are attempting to smuggle the formula for a TK-800 tranquilizer bomb out of the country. KAOS Agent Number 3 (an uncredited Robert Ito) comes out of a laundromat with a package, and at the airport, the next agent in the chain is wearing the same shirt. The Claw (Leonard Strong in his second of two appearances in the role) is aware that Max is on the trail of his agents. At a hotel in San Francisco, Number 2 is found dead, and Max meets Frisco detective Harry Hoo at the scene. Hoo has to point out to Max that Number 2's shirt is missing. A long investigative scene at the hotel has Forman doing his Charlie Chan schtick while Max picks up on it and gets in the act. A ticket leads Max and 99 to another laundromat, where they're caught by the Claw and his henchman Bobo (Lee Kolima). The Claw explains how he operates a chain that serves as a front for a KAOS intelligence network. As Bobo's about to use a steam press on Max, Hoo pops up to save him...not because he tailed the CONTROL agents, but because he always brings his shirts there.

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When it came to Showtime in the very early '80s, I was putting it on every opportunity I could.

I'm sure he has his designated study time, but all work and no play makes Pete a dull boy. Even Friday watches football!