The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[The Old Mixer]

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Post-55th Anniversary Viewing

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Honey West
"The Perfect Un-Crime"
Originally aired January 28, 1966

A thief recruits Honey and Sam to put back the money he stole from his own department store.

Note: The scene of Honey posing as a mannequin was inspired by the Twilight Zone episode "The After Hours", which starred Anne Francis.

Honey and Sam engage in a bit of a clue scavenger hunt to rendezvous with a client, Arthur Bird (Byron Foulger)--a nervous nebbish of a department store accountant who figured out a system to embezzle the store's money, and now wants them to burgle the store to put it back. Sam's incredulous at the idea, but Honey takes a liking to Arthur and embraces the novel challenge. Aunt Meg scopes out the office of the manager, C. G. Rockwell (David Brian), by posing as a wealthy client who wants to make a return. After the detectives devise a plan, Honey gets her umbrella stuck in the store's elevator as a diversion for the engineer (John Harmon); while Sam, posing as an electrician, sabotages the alarm system and steals a key to the freight elevator. Bird arrives at the van, where the detectives are staking out the store, beaten by someone who wanted the money.

They take him back to the apartment and he reluctantly divulges the combination of the safe, which he was supposed to open for them. While the detectives are chloroforming the watchman (Bob Stephenson), Bird gets a call at the apartment from the threatening party. Honey and Sam are caught at the open safe at gunpoint by Rockwell and his assistant--who turn out to be the ones who were after Arthur for the money. The detectives make a break for it back into the store, Honey very briefly posing as a mannequin in the game of cat and mouse through the departments. In Sporting Goods, Sam uses a variety of weapons to fend off the baddies, which includes engaging in a baseball bat duel with Rockwell. The detectives finally manage to knock both out by tossing golf balls all over the floor, then Honey tosses the bag of money on them so they can be caught with it as the police arrive, having been called by the awakened watchman...who takes all the credit for foiling the burglary in the papers.

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Honey West
"Like Visions and Omens and All That Jazz"
Originally aired February 4, 1966

Honey's future looks dim as she tangles with a clairvoyant who dabbles in blackmail.

Honey and Sam are surveilling as wealthy cosmetics queen Victoria Tilson (June Vincent) warns her skydiving daughter Tina (Mimsy Farmer) not to go up because of the predictions of her fortune teller, Faustini. Tina has chute trouble during her dive, but manages to deploy it in time. This is the latest in a series of accidents for Tina, such that Mrs. Tilson has hired the detectives to find out who wants her daughter dead. They surveil as Mrs. T has a session with Faustini (Nehemiah Persoff), who's really into scenery-chewing theatrics. The detectives immediately set their sights on him. Honey consults an agent friend, Marty (Benny Rubin), to learn more about Faustini, a former actor; Marty offers insight into how Faustini pulls his scam through research. On her way out, Honey makes an unsolicited suggestion regarding a trio of auditioning bodybuilders, that he should let their hair grow and give them guitars.

Tina is almost run down while leaving the club where her boyfriend and pilot, Pete Lynch (Fred Beir), plays piano in a jazz trio. Honey finds that the car was rented by Tina's bookie ex-boyfriend, Artie Dixon (Norman Alden). When pressed, Artie admits to having been paid by an anonymous party to scare but not kill Tina. He subsequently calls Tina to meet him at the bidding of the unseen party. She finds Artie dead, is chloroformed, and the mystery party gets her prints on the gun. Tina is later seen fleeing the scene. Honey breaks into Faustini's place and is caught at gunpoint ruffling through his files...but the mystic ends up being shot by an unseen party through a draped window. (At this point, the cast list leaves only one suspect.) Mrs. Tilson is blackmailed for the gun with Tina's fingerprints on it, and Honey makes the drop at the airport...to Pete Lynch. He's trying to force Honey into his plane as Sam drives up. A runway chase and firefight ensues, with Pete firing at and chasing Sam in the taxiing plane. Pete ends up hoofing it for whatever reason, though, and Honey chases him and hoists him up with a forklift.

In the coda, the jazz trio has gotten a new piano player, and the club a new act--a guitar group called the Sophisticates, who are the bodybuilders, still in their trunks but sporting long-haired wigs.

Sam: I wonder whoever dreamed up that act?
Honey: You wouldn't believe it, Sam.​

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So they had been intending to investigate the nurse when they found her dead?

Yes. Though I wasn't clear what the investigations of people in the organization were for in the long run.

I don't get it, but I get it.

He goes on to play Jason McGuire in Dark Shadows.

It's an awesome secret panel that can be accidentally triggered by the new nurse within five minutes.

And it has Richard Kiel inside! And he just calmly closes it again.

Is she in the world behind the secret panel now? Why do they have secret panels and two-way mirrors?

They need a reason at this point?

Honey and Sam are not detail oriented.

And I was thinking before that, "Why is she driving her own car to the house? Would a nurse be driving that?"

The stock has already been devalued because of his silence-- no need to resort to murder.

Guess they needed it to plummet worse than 10 percent.

Who is Fake King? A conspirator who had plastic surgery or just some slob who happens to look like the real King?

Not specified.

Speaking of which, that underground hot spring is pretty Bondian.

I thought it was pretty Wild Westian, hence the joke.

That's pretty Bondian, too-- both the trick and the quip.

Very fourth wall-breaking. Basically the only reason that trap wasn't fatal was S&P. Nobody even pulls them out to make sure they don't drown. Also, would you even need to electrocute a hot spring, or would just knocking somebody into one be enough? It's boiling water.

Why was the nurse murdered? And did Ash just disappear from the story or what?

Apparently she just knew too much. And yes.

So why did he dress up in historical cosplay and ride a horse straight to Honey's office?

Same reason his brother dressed as a Scot. They were antiquarians.

Because of the steed? Hahahaha. No, you're right, the three fake brothers was definitely an Avengers-style gimmick.

The last brother was the real McCoy.

Thank you! I'll see if I can edit out that logo.

The logo should be kept in memoriam.

We'll never look at trench coats the same way again.

She's naked under those clothes!

I wonder how much info they give about TV Honey's father.

Nothing so far but that it used to be his agency. I wouldn't expect more from TV of the era.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Hope it's going as well as can be expected. I just had my first (and hopefully only) round as an unexpected Christmas gift.

The absolute worst part for me on both occasions has been the lack of smell and sinus pressure the first two days.

No amount of nasal decongestant can relieve it. It has to go away on its own; usually through two or three really big sneezes and blowing out big globs of snot.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The absolute worst part for me on both occasions has been the lack of smell and sinus pressure the first two days.

No amount of nasal decongestant can relieve it. It has to go away on its own; usually through two or three really big sneezes and blowing out big globs of snot.

[Wish I hadn't been eating when I read that...]

I was already on treatments for recurring sinus issues (twice a day sinus rinses with a steroid added), which may have helped me to stave off congestion/loss of smell from COVID. I did experience the weirdness of taste while on the mend from it.

I also have asthma, so I felt very fortunate that I didn't experience any respiratory issues. Pretty much just the roller coaster fever and lack of energy.

 

[RJDiogenes]

a nervous nebbish of a department store accountant who figured out a system to embezzle the store's money, and now wants them to burgle the store to put it back.

Back to working for the criminal.

Honey takes a liking to Arthur and embraces the novel challenge.

Her business card says, "Anything For A Buck."

Bird arrives at the van, where the detectives are staking out the store, beaten by someone who wanted the money.

Disguised, apparently.

While the detectives are chloroforming the watchman

So many crimes....

Honey very briefly posing as a mannequin in the game of cat and mouse through the departments.

An iconic episode of TZ and one of my favorites.

The detectives finally manage to knock both out by tossing golf balls all over the floor

Special Slapstick Episode!

then Honey tosses the bag of money on them so they can be caught with it as the police arrive

Even though they're the only ones who committed no crime, aside from beating up Bird. Was the store closed or something so that there were no witnesses?

Tina (Mimsy Farmer)

The producers really like "Jabberwocky," apparently.

Faustini (Nehemiah Persoff), who's really into scenery-chewing theatrics.

He's the guy for it!

Honey makes an unsolicited suggestion regarding a trio of auditioning bodybuilders, that he should let their hair grow and give them guitars.

Hey, hey, the Gorillaas!

She finds Artie dead, is chloroformed, and the mystery party gets her prints on the gun. Tina is later seen fleeing the scene.

Presumably the police would have found physical and laboratory evidence of her being chloroformed if she hadn't fled.

Honey breaks into Faustini's place and is caught at gunpoint ruffling through his files...but the mystic ends up being shot by an unseen party through a draped window.

So I take it Faustini was an accomplice of Pete, who has now eliminated him as a loose end, and Pete was the pilot during the skydiving close call-- he took a big chance with the parachute bit.

Pete ends up hoofing it for whatever reason

Pete does not strike me as the brightest of antagonists.

a guitar group called the Sophisticates, who are the bodybuilders, still in their trunks but sporting long-haired wigs.

Hmph. I like Gorillaas better.

He goes on to play Jason McGuire in Dark Shadows.

I figured, but I just didn't recognize him.

And it has Richard Kiel inside! And he just calmly closes it again.

They need a reason at this point?

True. We're in a world of secret panels and hot springs in the basement.

Guess they needed it to plummet worse than 10 percent.

Now that's just plain greedy.

I thought it was pretty Wild Westian, hence the joke.

Yeah, but I was bouncing off the mention of Roger Moore in that one.

Very fourth wall-breaking. Basically the only reason that trap wasn't fatal was S&P. Nobody even pulls them out to make sure they don't drown. Also, would you even need to electrocute a hot spring, or would just knocking somebody into one be enough? It's boiling water.

Honey lied. Their gooses were cooked.

Same reason his brother dressed as a Scot. They were antiquarians.

Yeah, but I mean why did he gallop straight to Honey?

The last brother was the real McCoy.

Right, right....

The logo should be kept in memoriam.

Hmm, I agree. * Downloads again *

She's naked under those clothes!

And they got away with it right on network TV!

Nothing so far but that it used to be his agency. I wouldn't expect more from TV of the era.

In the novel series he was murdered and Honey was searching for his killer. At this point I can't remember if she found him in the first book or if it was a continuing theme.

 

[The Old Mixer]

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Post-55th Anniversary Viewing

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Honey West
"Don't Look Now, But Isn't That Me"
Originally aired February 11, 1966

Sly Pandora Fox uses her resemblance to Honey to swipe several valuable furs.

Mrs. Carter (Monica Keating) has hired Honey to protect her guests' furs during a gala, but the Honey on the scene and a non-lookalike accomplice named Chick posing as Sam (Yabba dabba Alan Reed) let in a couple of thieves dressed as caterers to carry the furs out through the French doors. Right after Fake Honey slips out, the real one arrives with Sam, wondering why the bash started earlier than they were told, and Mrs. Carter wants to know how Honey switched gowns so fast. Honey immediately suspects foul play and discovers the theft.

Sam finds a phone tap at the office, which Honey decides to leave in to set a trap. Back at the gang's hideout, we see that Pandora actually has dark hair, unrefined mannerisms--including gum-chewing--and speaks with a Brooklyn accent...Chick being the ringleader. The real Honey has Aunt Meg call the office from another phone posing as a client, asking Honey to meet her at a bank to take $300,000 worth of jewels into custody for safekeeping. Honey is delayed by one of the gang, Toddle (Louis Quinn), faking being hit by her car, with the now-recurring patrolman (Paul Sorensen) so focused on making things hard for Honey that Toddle manages to slip away. At the bank, Aunt Meg turns over her bag to Fake Honey, but when she sees that Sam is being held at gunpoint in the van by another member of the gang, Ding Dong (Charles Horvath), she delays Pandora enough for Sam to gain the upper hand, then pulls off Pandora's blonde wig while she's getting away.

Honey traces the wig to a maker named Gruder (Jonathan Hole), whom, while posing as Pandora, she tricks into giving her the gang's address. Honey and Sam stake the place out until Pandora is left alone, at which point Honey pays her a visit--including the obligatory split-screen moment--and she's taken into custody so Honey can take her place. Toddle comes back and Honey takes him out when he gets suspicious, handcuffing him to a bedpost. Then she dons a turban and Chick and Toddle take her with them to retrieve the furs from an abandoned mansion belonging to a magician friend of Chick's, where they're hidden in a study accessed via--you guessed it--secret panel. Chick holds Honey at gunpoint, not being fooled by her impersonation because Pandora doesn't have Honey's beauty mark (which I hadn't noticed), and Honey doesn't pronounce "fine" as "foin". Sam slips in just in time, and while he has more trouble with Ding Dong than he did with Richard Kiel, he and Honey manage to overcome the crooks--Honey fighting Chick with medieval weapons.

In the coda, we learn that Aunt Meg has kept Pandora in check at the office by having Bruce guard her, to whom Pandora is allergic.

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Honey West
"Come to Me, My Litigation Baby"
Originally aired February 18, 1966

A gang of criminals are committing insurance fraud by faking accidents.

Honey and Sam are staking out a wheelchair-bound Texan type named Buster Macon (some other James Brown) for the insurance company against whom he's making a claim for a suspect accident in a hotel. After a little old lady named Nellie Peedy (Ellen Corby) drops him off at a movie theater, Honey tails her into a gym, where Honey forces her way past a desk clerk whom she comes to nickname Muscles (uncredited Chuck Hicks), only to find the gym seemingly empty. When Honey leaves, Peedy comes out from an alcove over the door and jumps down to a trampoline and does a bit of somersaulting.

After Muscles picks up Macon at the theater, Sam stakes out Peedy to see her walk into a limo to make an accident claim; and Honey stakes out Muscles as he exits a swank restaurant and slips on a banana peel that he covertly dropped. When both stake out Macon again, Honey notices his eye for the ladies and uses herself as bait, motivating him to offer to help her with a couple of bags of groceries so she can drop her oranges on the street and slip on them, tricking him into getting out of his chair to catch her. But Sam, on the scene posing as a street photographer (complete with goofy hat advertising his price), accidentally trips on the oranges, ruining his shot.

Staking out the gym, Honey and Sam watch as Muscles, Peedy, and two witnesses to their accidents enter separately. Back at Macon's apartment, the detectives stage a failed attempt to try to get a picture of him evacuating the room on his feet, which gives Sam the opportunity to slip in and bug the phone. Learning that he's heading for the gym, the detectives get there first and slip in via the roof to witness the sight of Peedy coaching her fellow racketeers as they practice walking into mocked-up cars, falling down stairs, and tripping on banana peels, while planning to spread their act to multiple cities. Honey and Sam swing in for an acrobatic fight with the racketeers. Macon walks in to make their collection complete, and they take the gang as prisoners.

In a memorably odd bit of coda business that's almost completely divorced from the story, Sam takes Honey to a discotheque for the surprise of being honored with her own dance, the Honey West Walk. A pair of dancers clad in black turtlenecks and slacks (Ron Lerner and Kami Stevens) demonstrate it on stage, the moves including use of fake karate chops and finger-gun pointing. Then the announcer (Army Archerd) has Honey and Sam get up, pairing them with the dancers to try it themselves. There's a very brief bit that ties this into the story, with Sam falling and Honey offering to be his witness. This sequence is kind of cute if hokey; and it's ruined a bit by some bad speed-altering which I'm sure is the product of syndication editing. I have to wonder if somebody thought they'd start a dance craze while everyone was watching Gomer Pyle.

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Disguised, apparently.

I was unclear on that.

An iconic episode of TZ and one of my favorites.

I think the Wiki description writer was reaching a bit, though.

Even though they're the only ones who committed no crime, aside from beating up Bird.

And threatening the detectives at gunpoint...IIRC, with the plan of offing them attempting to escape or somesuch.

Was the store closed or something so that there were no witnesses?

Of course.

So I take it Faustini was an accomplice of Pete, who has now eliminated him as a loose end, and Pete was the pilot during the skydiving close call-- he took a big chance with the parachute bit.

Pete was the pilot. I wasn't clear regarding how involved Faustini actually was.

Pete does not strike me as the brightest of antagonists.

I think we were meant to believe that Sam disabled the plane with his gun, or at least spoiled any takeoff that Pete may have been attempting. Or he never intended to take off and was just using the plane for cover and mobility.

Yeah, but I mean why did he gallop straight to Honey?

He had a job for her.

In the novel series he was murdered and Honey was searching for his killer. At this point I can't remember if she found him in the first book or if it was a continuing theme.

In the climax of "Litigation Baby," there was a brief mention by Honey of her father having told her about Doug Fairbanks, though I didn't catch what that was a reference to in the story itself.

 

[RJDiogenes]

hired Honey to protect her guests' furs

Does Bruce know about this?

Sam finds a phone tap at the office

Isn't their office hidden in the Honey Cave? They should hire themselves as security to protect themselves. Unfortunately, they know their own reputation.

Pandora actually has dark hair, unrefined mannerisms--including gum-chewing--and speaks with a Brooklyn accent...

Given her background, I'm guessing that her cool super-villainess name is an alias.

asking Honey to meet her at a bank to take $300,000 worth of jewels into custody for safekeeping.

So they want to trick the gang into thinking that somebody is taking a fortune in jewels out of a bank vault for safekeeping in a little office that the gang waltzed into and bugged-- nope, they won't smell a trap.

Honey is delayed by one of the gang, Toddle (Louis Quinn), faking being hit by her car

I'm starting to think that every episode has some little bit of foreshadowing for the next.

another member of the gang, Ding Dong

I question Pandora's competence in hanging out with guys named Chick, Toddle, and Ding Dong.

she delays Pandora enough for Sam to gain the upper hand, then pulls off Pandora's blonde wig while she's getting away.

Go, Aunt Meg!

Toddle comes back and Honey takes him out

Good. No getting knocked out or calling Sam.

Chick and Toddle take her with them

I think you mean Ding Dong. Not that it really matters.

an abandoned mansion belonging to a magician friend of Chick's, where they're hidden in a study accessed via--you guessed it--secret panel.

I love this show more every week.

Chick holds Honey at gunpoint, not being fooled by her impersonation because Pandora doesn't have Honey's beauty mark (which I hadn't noticed), and Honey doesn't pronounce "fine" as "foin".

Nice. He's no Ding Dong.

he has more trouble with Ding Dong than he did with Richard Kiel

I wish I didn't have to read that sentence.

Honey fighting Chick with medieval weapons.

Yep, somebody's watching The Avengers.

Buster Macon (some other James Brown)

Too bad.

Nellie Peedy (Ellen Corby)

Grandma Walton.

Peedy comes out from an alcove over the door and jumps down to a trampoline and does a bit of somersaulting.

Of course, I'm picturing Grandma Walton doing this.

slips on a banana peel that he covertly dropped

Banana peels. It's come to this.

the detectives stage a failed attempt

Imagine if this was an hour show.

the sight of Peedy coaching her fellow racketeers as they practice walking into mocked-up cars, falling down stairs, and tripping on banana peels

And quite a sight it must have been.

Honey and Sam swing in for an acrobatic fight with the racketeers. Macon walks in to make their collection complete, and they take the gang as prisoners.

A battle royale with a gang that's been trained to fall down at the drop of a hat.

Sam takes Honey to a discotheque for the surprise of being honored with her own dance, the Honey West Walk.

So is this something Sam created in his spare time or has Honey become such a local heroine that the kids did it on their own?

I have to wonder if somebody thought they'd start a dance craze while everyone was watching Gomer Pyle.

It had to be a dance craze attempt. How does this match up to the Bat Dance, time-wise?

I think the Wiki description writer was reaching a bit, though.

Too bad. I like little homages like that. I always wanted Captain Archer to say, "Oh, boy."

And threatening the detectives at gunpoint...IIRC, with the plan of offing them attempting to escape or somesuch.

Right, there was the gunpoint thing-- but still, most of their crimes were theoretical, but the people who framed them were prosecutable.

Of course.

I take nothing for granted.

He had a job for her.

Yeah, I suppose it makes sense that he had already been planning to go to her, but if I was suffering from a mortal wound I'd rather gallop nigh to yon ER. Maybe he was delirious.

In the climax of "Litigation Baby," there was a brief mention by Honey of her father having told her about Doug Fairbanks, though I didn't catch what that was a reference to in the story itself.

Okay, if they're not going to give us any information, we're free to speculate.

 

[The Old Mixer]

50 Years Ago This Week

April 29

• U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew [was the] leading candidate among Republicans for the 1976 U.S. presidential election, according to the results of a survey released by opinion pollster George Gallup, with more than one-third (35%) of Republicans surveyed reporting Agnew as their first choice for the nomination, with California Governor Ronald Reagan a distant second at 20 percent. Agnew told a reporter for U.S. News and World Report the same day, "I'll run to win and I can win." Agnew would resign in a bribery scandal less than six months later.

April 30

• As the Watergate Scandal became more complicated, U.S. President Richard Nixon fired White House Counsel John Dean and requested and received the resignations of Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, domestic affairs advisor John Ehrlichman, and U.S. Attorney General Richard Kleindienst.

May 1

• The government of Japan complete[d] repayment of its debt to the U.S. for foreign aid received for food during the American occupation after World War II, paying $175,000,000 in one lump sum at the request of the U.S., which needed the money to relive its balance of payments deficit.
• Three gunmen invaded a cargo terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, tied up employees of Air India, and stole $500,000 worth of diamonds and jewelry that had been in transit. Because of the gunmen's acquaintance with Air India's operations, investigators suspected that the crime had been an "inside job".
• A group of three robbers in the U.S. entered a private elementary school in Peoria, Illinois and held about 50 children hostage after fleeing from the scene of an armed robbery. More than half of the 121 students at the Saint Cecilia Catholic School fled the building, but the rest were forced at gunpoint to remain in the school cafeteria. After police shot and killed one of the gunmen, the other two surrendered.
• In speeches made in Stockholm during Sweden's observance of the May Day holiday, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and Foreign Minister Krister Wickman accused U.S. President Nixon of violating the Paris Peace Accords and of bombing refugees in Cambodia. Palme told a crowd, "One cannot win the confidence of people through violence," and Wickman said that fighting in Cambodia would have ended had it not been for the continued bombing of Cambodia against the Khmer Rouge guerrillas.

May 2

• Former Texas Governor and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John B. Connally, a longtime Democrat, announced that he was changing his allegiance to that of the rival Republican Party, as part of what many political observers believed to be a first step toward becoming the Republican nominee in the 1976 U.S. presidential election. Connally had served as Treasury Secretary during the administration of incumbent President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican, in 1971 and 1972. After the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew in October, Connally would be considered by Nixon as a replacement before the nomination being given to Michigan Congressman Gerald Ford, who would go on to become president in 1974 upon Nixon's resignation.

May 3

• U.S. President Nixon sent his fourth annual "State of the World" address to Congress and warned the government of North Vietnam that "We will not tolerate violations of the Vietnam agreement" made in the Paris Peace Accords in January, and that an invasion of South Vietnam "would risk revived confrontation with us."

May 4

• Construction of the Sears Tower in Chicago was completed, making the tower the world's tallest building, at 1,451 feet (442 m).
• U.S. President Richard M. Nixon conferred with his wife and daughters at a family gathering at Camp David to discuss whether he should resign because of the Watergate scandal, according to a statement that would be made two months later by his daughter, Julie Nixon Eisenhower. Ms. Eisenhower told reporters, "He really loves the country and he would do anything that was best for the country. You know, he would say, 'Should I resign? Would it be better for the country? Would the wounds heal faster? Would it be able to move faster to other things?'" She added that the family was unanimous in talking him out of it, "because resigning would be an admission of wrongdoing and we also felt that he was the man for the job and he had started things and needed to finish them." Nixon's resignation at the time would have elevated Vice President Spiro Agnew (who was not connected to the Watergate scandal but who would quit five months later in a bribery scandal) to the presidency. Nixon would resign on August 9, 1974, after Agnew was replaced by House minority leader Gerald Ford.
• First UK release of Paul McCartney and Wings' LP Red Rose Speedway [released Apr. 30 in the US].

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​

May 5

• Shambu Tamang became the youngest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. His actual age at the time was disputed.
• Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby.
• Led Zeppelin played before a crowd of 56,800 people at Tampa Stadium for the band's 1973 North American Tour, breaking the August 15, 1965, record of 55,600 set by The Beatles at Shea Stadium.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree," Dawn feat. Tony Orlando
2. "The Cisco Kid," War
3. "Little Willy," The Sweet
4. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," Stevie Wonder
5. "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," Vicki Lawrence
6. "Drift Away," Dobie Gray
7. "Stuck in the Middle with You," Stealers Wheel
8. "The Twelfth of Never," Donny Osmond
9. "Sing," Carpenters
10. "Frankenstein," The Edgar Winter Group
11. "Masterpiece," The Temptations
12. "Peaceful," Helen Reddy
13. "Wildflower," Skylark
14. "Daniel," Elton John
15. "Reelin' in the Years," Steely Dan
16. "Walk on the Wild Side," Lou Reed
17. "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)," Four Tops
18. "Daisy a Day," Jud Strunk
19. "Out of the Question," Gilbert O'Sullivan
20. "Pillow Talk," Sylvia
21. "Funky Worm," Ohio Players
22. "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)," Gladys Knight & The Pips
23. "Hocus Pocus," Focus
24. "Stir It Up," Johnny Nash
25. "The Right Thing to Do," Carly Simon
26. "My Love," Paul McCartney & Wings
27. "Thinking of You," Loggins & Messina
28. "Hallelujah Day," Jackson 5

30. "Steamroller Blues" / "Fool", Elvis Presley

32. "Playground in My Mind," Clint Holmes
33. "I'm Doin' Fine Now," New York City

37. "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby," Barry White

39. "Danny's Song," Anne Murray

41. "No More Mr. Nice Guy," Alice Cooper

47. "Right Place, Wrong Time," Dr. John

51. "Killing Me Softly with His Song," Roberta Flack

53. "Break Up to Make Up," The Stylistics

55. "Will It Go Round in Circles," Billy Preston

60. "One of a Kind (Love Affair)," The Spinners
61. "Long Train Runnin'," The Doobie Brothers

63. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," Jim Croce

67. "You Can't Always Get What You Want," The Rolling Stones
68. "Natural High," Bloodstone

71. "Daddy Could Swear, I Declare," Gladys Knight & The Pips

73. "Why Me," Kris Kristofferson

77. "Behind Closed Doors," Charlie Rich

82. "I Like You," Donovan

94. "Monster Mash," Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers

97. "So Very Hard to Go," Tower of Power

Leaving the chart:

• "Call Me (Come Back Home)," Al Green (11 weeks)
• "Space Oddity," David Bowie (14 weeks)
• "Woman from Tokyo," Deep Purple (2 weeks)

Re-entering the chart:

"Monster Mash," Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers

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(originally released in 1962, reaching #1 US, #9 R&B; reaches #10 US, #3 UK this run)



New on the chart:

"So Very Hard to Go," Tower of Power

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(#17 US; #36 AC; #11 R&B)


New on the album chart: Desperado by the Eagles...the title track of which wasn't released as a single:

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(#494 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])


And new on the boob tube:

• Kung Fu, "The Ancient Warrior" (season finale)

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

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50th Anniversary Viewing

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Kung Fu
"The Third Man"
Originally aired April 26, 1973

Lucky at cards, unlucky in life. A gambler on a hot streak entrusts his winnings to Caine. But the money is soon stolen, the gambler is killed, and Caine seeks answers to the mysteries surrounding both events.

Cue flashback...

I hate when a capsule description gives away something that should be a surprise...the gambler doesn't get killed until over 20 minutes in.

This story is colorful and suspenseful; Caine has another companion of the week (however short-lived) whose personality and materialistic concerns give Carradine something to play off of. Following his demise, the gambler's wife goes through an interesting little journey. The sheriff's repentance at the end for his role is maybe a little too pat.

Flashback Kan is more charitable to thieves than to his own students.

_______

Isn't their office hidden in the Honey Cave? They should hire themselves as security to protect themselves. Unfortunately, they know their own reputation.

The tap was in the public office front; it's the apartment that's hidden behind the office.

Given her background, I'm guessing that her cool super-villainess name is an alias.

Anne got to stretch her acting legs a bit. Did you know that she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy for playing Honey?

I'm starting to think that every episode has some little bit of foreshadowing for the next.

Yeah, I noticed that.

I question Pandora's competence in hanging out with guys named Chick, Toddle, and Ding Dong.

Pandora was, to put it politely, a ditz.

I think you mean Ding Dong. Not that it really matters.

Yeah, sometimes I get my Toddle confused with my Ding Dong.

Yep, somebody's watching The Avengers.

Another distinct similarity with an Avengers installment comes up in the next batch...

Grandma Walton.

Ahhh, yes--I didn't realize who she was.

Of course, I'm picturing Grandma Walton doing this.

She was in grandma mode here. The stunts were cut in such a way that there was obviously a double involved (seen from behind), but they were playing up the surreal quirkiness of seeing a little old lady doing acrobatics. She briefly reprised her teaser stunt in the climax.

Banana peels. It's come to this.

We're on the same page here.

And quite a sight it must have been.

The car mock-ups were what looked like the front ends of cars fixed in front of wheelbarrows being pushed around back and forth.

So is this something Sam created in his spare time or has Honey become such a local heroine that the kids did it on their own?

The announcer said that it was a club tradition to honor guests with their own dance. Sam may have facilitated the honor being bestowed, but I get the impression that the dancers created the dance.

It had to be a dance craze attempt. How does this match up to the Bat Dance, time-wise?

Chronologically, you mean? Practically right on top of each other. The Batusi debuted in the series premiere of Batman, which aired on January 12, 1966...just over a month before the debut of the Honey West Walk.

ETA: My first instinct was that it was too close in terms of TV production, but as the Honey West Walk coda was such a distinctly tacked on bit of business, it might not be out of the question that it could have been rushed into the final edit of the episode.

 

[RJDiogenes]

U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew [was the] leading candidate among Republicans for the 1976 U.S. presidential election

Makes you wonder.....

Three gunmen invaded a cargo terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, tied up employees of Air India, and stole $500,000 worth of diamonds and jewelry that had been in transit. Because of the gunmen's acquaintance with Air India's operations, investigators suspected that the crime had been an "inside job".

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it...."

After the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew in October, Connally would be considered by Nixon as a replacement

Now that's really fascinating. I had never heard that before. There's an alternate timeline to think about.

U.S. President Richard M. Nixon conferred with his wife and daughters at a family gathering at Camp David to discuss whether he should resign because of the Watergate scandal, according to a statement that would be made two months later by his daughter, Julie Nixon Eisenhower. Ms. Eisenhower told reporters, "He really loves the country and he would do anything that was best for the country. You know, he would say, 'Should I resign? Would it be better for the country? Would the wounds heal faster? Would it be able to move faster to other things?'" She added that the family was unanimous in talking him out of it, "because resigning would be an admission of wrongdoing and we also felt that he was the man for the job and he had started things and needed to finish them."

Also fascinating, for so many reasons. For one, that he considered resigning so early, and for another, how being elevated to the presidency might have changed Agnew's behavior.

"Monster Mash," Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers

Great song, of course. Kind of odd for it to be re-entering the chart at this moment. It's kind of a Halloween thing.

"So Very Hard to Go," Tower of Power

I haven't heard this in ages. Good sound.

New on the album chart: Desperado by the Eagles...the title track of which wasn't released as a single:

Great song. It's surprising that it wasn't released as a single, after hearing it on the radio so often over the years.

The tap was in the public office front; it's the apartment that's hidden behind the office.

Oh, okay. I had that mixed up, I guess.

Anne got to stretch her acting legs a bit. Did you know that she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy for playing Honey?

I didn't know that. Good for her. They should have used that to promote a second season.

Yeah, sometimes I get my Toddle confused with my Ding Dong.

She was in grandma mode here. The stunts were cut in such a way that there was obviously a double involved (seen from behind), but they were playing up the surreal quirkiness of seeing a little old lady doing acrobatics. She briefly reprised her teaser stunt in the climax.

Yeah, another season or two and they might have been the American Avengers. They don't quite have it yet, but they're getting there.

The car mock-ups were what looked like the front ends of cars fixed in front of wheelbarrows being pushed around back and forth.

I don't think the writers ever consider the overhead-versus-profit ratio of these schemes.

The announcer said that it was a club tradition to honor guests with their own dance. Sam may have facilitated the honor being bestowed, but I get the impression that the dancers created the dance.

He must have given them some guidance, given the poses, or else she really is that well known (which would not help her with her undercover work at all).

ETA: My first instinct was that it was too close in terms of TV production, but as the Honey West Walk coda was such a distinctly tacked on bit of business, it might not be out of the question that it could have been rushed into the final edit of the episode.

I think you're right. It seems like way too much of a coincidence. Unless both were part of a larger trend at the time.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Post-55th Anniversary Viewing

_______

Honey West
"Slay, Gypsy, Slay"
Originally aired February 25, 1966

When a rich man is kidnapped by a band of gypsies, things are not what they appear to be.

Honey and Sam are staking out the Buckley estate during a party because of threatening calls the owners have been getting. Sam is clocked by an unknown party, and while Honey sees to him, Mr. Buckley (Byron Morrow) is abducted from a balcony and rushed to a helicopter that nobody seemed to notice sitting there with its rotors running among the parked cars. Honey rushes to the copter and graps a conspicous medallion that one of the kidnappers is wearing before being pushed away.

Honey consults a fortune teller named Putzi (Ralph Manza), who comically practices karate on the side, learning the name of the tribe the medallion comes from. She and Sam then stake out their camp, and Honey disguises herself as one of the locals to get close to their leader, Darza (Michael Pate), while having to deal with the suspicions of a dancer named Lida (Pepita Funez). To Honey's surprise, Sam rides into the camp on a mule, disguised in age makeup as a crazy prospector type. Honey refuses his offer to extract her, but right after she sends him off, Darza drugs her drink.

Sam drives up in the van the next day to find Honey on the abandoned desert set that they'll probably be using on The Rat Patrol next season. He's tracked Darza to an exclusive palatial resort hotel near the border, where he and Honey go undercover, to find that Darza--now clad in a suit--is the owner. Honey sneaks into an underground garage to find Darza's wagon, with Buckley sleeping inside next to a briefcase full of cash and securities, which Honey slips a tracking device into...but is seen leaving the garage by Darza. Honey calls Mrs. Buckley (Arline Anderson) to check if there's a been a ransom demand, and finds that her husband's assets have gone missing...causing the detectives to deduce that Mr. Buckley is an embezzler who's hired Darza to help him leave the country. Following Darza's instructions, Mr. Buckley calls Honey to arrange a meeting, at which she's abducted and taken further downstairs into an underground cavern with an exit on the other side of the border. Darza is about to have Jim Honey thrown down a cliff into a raging underground river when Artie Sam, having followed the tracking device, comes to the rescue. A fight ensues, and when it seems that the agents detectives have the upper hand, Darza opens a cage containing a gorilla (uncredited Janos Prohaska, natch). Honey and Sam team up against the beast, and as it's strangling Honey, Sam forces Buckley to light up some of his valuable papers so he can drive the furry fiend back into his cage. (Honey should carry flash bombs in her heels...)

In the coda, Honey and Sam have received generous payments from Mrs. Buckley and Buckley's bank; and the detectives exchange gifts--Sam having bought Honey a perfume with a theme that ties into their recent assignment; and Honey having bought Sam an expensive cigarette lighter--"Next time a gorilla goes ape, I don't want you to have to look for a match."

_______

Honey West
"The Fun-Fun Killer"
Originally aired March 4, 1966

The owner of a toy factory and a researcher at the factory's testing lab have both been murdered by a life-sized robot.

Now that sounds like an Avengers plot right from the get-go. Honey's watching a jungle picture with Bruce when a frantic client comes buzzing at the office--toy company president Granville Manners (William Keene), who's been having the agency do a security check on a rival company he's considering merging with. Manners is followed by an old-school robot crashing through the door--Trigger warning, RJ! The robot knocks Honey out after her bullets bounce off of it, then goes after Manners. Investigating the scene, Lt. Barney reports that Manners was electrocuted. Honey withholds a mysterious clue--a small disk that she found next to the body.

Honey and Sam visit the new president, Granville's nephew Byron (Marvin Kaplan)...a nerdy fellow in a loud checkered jacket who likes to play with the merchandise. He has company treasurer Ronald Neuworth (Woodrow Parfrey) give Honey a tour, starting with the testing lab, where she meets Prof. Von Kemp (John Hoyt) while nosing around upon being left unattended. Honey drops her purse twice, but none of the three men react to the sight of the disk. Meanwhile, Sam has found that Byron, who now owns a controlling share of the company and, along with Neuworth, is against the merger, made guidance systems during the war. (Kaplan was just a wee bit young to have served in the war.)

She and Sam sneak onto the premises by night, and Sam--outside on stakeout--is knocked out by a gas-dispensing beach ball that's hurled his way. Sneaking into the lab, Honey hears a mechanical noise behind a door and finds the robot inside. She's then jumped by Byron out in the hall, who says he was investigating the noise himself. She opens the closet for him, and Von Kemp's body falls out instead. She then goes to get Sam, and when they return, Byron is gone. They split up into different areas, and each is pursued by an identical robot. But while Sam, who somewhere along the way got one of the disks attached to his shoe, finds that his robot follows it when he tosses it away...Honey tossing her disk doesn't deter her pursuer, and when she accidentally turns on a fan that kicks up some dust, the robot starts coughing, revealing that there really is a man inside that one. At Sam's direction, Honey lures the robot under a hanging magnet, which Sam triggers. They Scooby Doo the robot to find that he's really Neuworth.

In an expository coda, we learn that Neuworth was cooking the books, which might have been discovered if the merger went through; and Von Kemp was threatening to expose him.

I wonder if Robbie would have been available for this? That could have been gold.

_______

Honey West
"Pop Goes the Easel"
Originally aired March 11, 1966

Aunt Meg can't understand why thieves stole a can of chicken gumbo that she just bought at the supermarket.

This is the other one that Decades skipped, also available on YouTube. They'd skipped it the last time I watched the show years back as well, though the premise does seem familiar, so I may have caught it on Me before that.

A beatnik type and a portly gentleman (George Furth and Larry D. Mann) are staking out a supermarket aisle when Aunt Meg picks a can of chicken gumbo off the shelf. The duo swoop in on her, trying to persuade her to trade the can for another, and offering to throw in sundry other grocery items (including frozen pizza--didn't know that was a thing already). Meg refuses, and in the parking lot is accosted by a third man (Howard Curtis), who fights her for her bags. Honey's waiting in her car, but has to go after Meg, who's pushed away in her cart, the thief getting away on a motorcycle with the soup can.

Honey, Sam, and Aunt Meg talk to the duo from inside the market--who turn out to be pop artist Sandy Corbin and his dealer, Willis Van Wyck--at Corbin's studio. Corbin and Van Wick explain that the stolen can's label was painted by Sandy, and could fetch $10,000; and that Van Wyck bet Corbin that the label wouldn't be mistaken for the real thing. Corbin whips up a life-size standup of the thief for identification purposes (obviously photographic), which Honey takes around to dealers and galleries. A Mr. Leopold (Antony Eustrel) doesn't recognize the man, but when he learns that the standup is a Corbin original, he pleads with Honey to sell it to him, bidding up to $5,000. Meanwhile, Sam sees Sandy's press agent, Barry King (Robert Strauss), on suspicion that it's a publicity stunt gone awry. Honey takes the standup back to Corbin's place only to find the real soup thief lying dead on the floor...and is then knocked out by an unseen figure. (I think they missed an opportunity to have Pandora be the alternate personality that Honey switches back and forth from when she's knocked out.)

In the aftermath, Honey and Sam find a hotel key on the body and check out his room, deducing that he was hired and finding the soup can hidden in the closet. King pops in on them, snapping a picture of the detectives with the can and taking it to "the lieutenant" (Bill Quinn this time) as evidence of soup theft and murder...but in the lieutenant's office, Honey notices that the can they found is actually an ordinary can of chicken noodle soup, not gumbo.

Honey and Sam work out a theory that the killer had the real can all along, having switched it at the supermarket; but the thief he hired tried to double-cross him by selling the other can back to Corbin. They then sneak into the gallery, and in an upstairs apartment Honey finds the real Corbin soup can hiding in a cupboard among other cans, only to be caught at gunpoint by Van Wyck, who has a buyer lined up willing to pay twice what it's worth. He forces Honey and Sam into a vault where he keeps his private collection of stolen classic art, then turns the air off. The detectives make an audio show of pretending to destroy his art for the sake of a transmitter that he took off Honey; he goes back in to stop them and they take him down.

_______

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it...."

Heh...I've been more in a Honey West frame of mind lately.

Also fascinating, for so many reasons. For one, that he considered resigning so early, and for another, how being elevated to the presidency might have changed Agnew's behavior.

I'm not particularly familiar with the Agnew bribery scandal...if it was already a thing at this point, then we could have gotten a double presidential scandal whammy. We ended up with Ford, who was both a more interesting historical occurrence (the only POTUS who never won a national election, I believe), and was big enough to jeopardize his reelection by putting the long-term good of the country first.

Great song, of course. Kind of odd for it to be re-entering the chart at this moment. It's kind of a Halloween thing.

Exactly! If it were re-released in the fall, I'd be all for it. It's gonna be damn weird having it come up in the shuffle in May through July. The song's Wiki article mentioned the single's rerelease at this point, but didn't provide any clue as to the Why of it.

I haven't heard this in ages. Good sound.

I already had it, but it hasn't made much of an impression yet.

Great song. It's surprising that it wasn't released as a single, after hearing it on the radio so often over the years.

And it was even single length. They'll be releasing a single from the album, but this isn't it. And of course, this song will always be associated with a bit they did about it on Seinfeld.

Yeah, another season or two and they might have been the American Avengers. They don't quite have it yet, but they're getting there.

According to the show's Wiki page, one consideration in cancelling the show was that it would be cheaper to just import The Avengers. If true, then Emma and Steed formed an unlikely alliance with Gomer to deliver Honey's final knockout.

He must have given them some guidance, given the poses, or else she really is that well known (which would not help her with her undercover work at all).

The fame factor issue is one of the odd things that makes this bit stick out. It kind of blows plausibility to make her seem like such a public figure. The sequence would have made more sense if it had been connected more strongly to the episode, like if there was a story involving the club.

I saw in an online article yesterday that we lost April Stevens this month.

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[RJDiogenes]

Sam is clocked by an unknown party

At this point, I'm wishing that I had been keeping track.

a helicopter that nobody seemed to notice sitting there with its rotors running among the parked cars

It's got a cloaking device.

She and Sam then stake out their camp

Their camp? Do we see Maria Ouspenskaya and Bela Lugosi lurking in the background?

Sam rides into the camp on a mule, disguised in age makeup as a crazy prospector type.

Where is this all taking place? And does Jim Backus know...?

causing the detectives to deduce that Mr. Buckley is an embezzler who's hired Darza to help him leave the country.

Which explains why he's sleeping in the Gypsy wagon in the garage rather than in a room in the palatial resort.

she's abducted and taken further downstairs into an underground cavern with an exit on the other side of the border.

Now we're talking! This is definitely the world of James West!

Darza is about to have Jim Honey thrown down a cliff into a raging underground river when Artie Sam

Yep, there you go. It's a hundred years later and the Western half of the US still hasn't collapsed from all those tunnels and caverns.

Darza opens a cage containing a gorilla

Yes! This could be a 60s DC comic!

Now that sounds like an Avengers plot right from the get-go.

A gorilla last week and a robot this week. Too groovy, man!

Honey's watching a jungle picture with Bruce

Reverse foreshadowing this time. Maybe they aired the episodes out of order.

Trigger warning, RJ! The robot knocks Honey out after her bullets bounce off of it

Oh, no!

I need exposure therapy. I hope this one is on YouTube.

(Kaplan was just a wee bit young to have served in the war.)

They're probably referring to the secret war of the robots that secretly happened before.

Sam, who somewhere along the way got one of the disks attached to his shoe, finds that his robot follows it when he tosses it away

Are these programming disks? Yet the robot can still function without them, and even chases after them?

At Sam's direction, Honey lures the robot under a hanging magnet, which Sam triggers. They Scooby Doo the robot to find that he's really Neuworth.

So this was just a regular toy company with a crooked accountant, but they just happened to have a futuristic robot and a matching suit of armor on hand?

I wonder if Robbie would have been available for this? That could have been gold.

That's a good thought. I wonder if that was the intention when they wrote it, but it didn't work out.

Corbin and Van Wick explain that the stolen can's label was painted by Sandy, and could fetch $10,000

Sounds like an Andy Warhol parody. We're back to mocking pop culture.

(I think they missed an opportunity to have Pandora be the alternate personality that Honey switches back and forth from when she's knocked out.)

That would be hilarious. Jekyll and Honey. She'd have to go around wearing a football helmet when she's outside.

Van Wyck, who has a buyer lined up willing to pay twice what it's worth.

Why didn't he just ask Corbin to paint him a can of beef stew or something rather than going around stealing and killing people?

He forces Honey and Sam into a vault where he keeps his private collection of stolen classic art

It's not behind a secret panel?

I'm not particularly familiar with the Agnew bribery scandal...if it was already a thing at this point, then we could have gotten a double presidential scandal whammy. We ended up with Ford, who was both a more interesting historical occurrence (the only POTUS who never won a national election, I believe), and was big enough to jeopardize his reelection by putting the long-term good of the country first.

I'm thinking that if he did make it to the presidency, he probably would not have pardoned Nixon and would have been less likely to resign when his own scandal came out. And if he did buckle under pressure to resign, Ford would probably not have been appointed VP. In fact, the timeline is so short that there may not have been time for a new VP to be nominated or confirmed, so whoever was Speaker would have been elevated. Things would have been quite different and even weirder.

Exactly! If it were re-released in the fall, I'd be all for it. It's gonna be damn weird having it come up in the shuffle in May through July. The song's Wiki article mentioned the single's rerelease at this point, but didn't provide any clue as to the Why of it.

Very strange. Was there any Horror-related movie out at the time or something that they were cashing in on?

I already had it, but it hasn't made much of an impression yet.

Nothing too special, just nice and sounds like the early 70s.

And of course, this song will always be associated with a bit they did about it on Seinfeld.

Thankfully, my brain does not have that association.

According to the show's Wiki page, one consideration in cancelling the show was that it would be cheaper to just import The Avengers. If true, then Emma and Steed formed an unlikely alliance with Gomer to deliver Honey's final knockout.

So if they had renewed Honey, we may not have The Avengers in our collective pop culture history. Unless it somehow turned up on PBS, like Doctor Who and The Prisoner and Monty Python, which is possible but seems unlikely. I have to say, I think we're better off with The Avengers.

The fame factor issue is one of the odd things that makes this bit stick out. It kind of blows plausibility to make her seem like such a public figure. The sequence would have made more sense if it had been connected more strongly to the episode, like if there was a story involving the club.

They jumped the gun. They should have worked a future episode around it.

I saw in an online article yesterday that we lost April Stevens this month.

RIP. I don't think I remember her, although I must have seen her.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Post-55th Anniversary Viewing

And now we broaden the lineup a bit by picking up where I left off with a couple of shows that got dropped last hiatus season...

_______

Gilligan's Island
"Will the Real Mr. Howell Please Stand Up?"
Originally aired March 17, 1966

An impostor posing as Mr. Howell claims to having been rescued and begins selling off Mr. Howell's stocks. The real Mr. Howell offers his fellow castaways a hefty reward to get him off the island so he can save his fortune.

The castaways return courtesy of a very timely Catchy Binge, though it only got halfway through Season 3.

Gilligan's building a sandcastle while listening to some groovy music that might be the Mosquitos when he hears a news report that Mr. Howell has been rescued. He immediately runs to tell Mr. Howell, who listens in as a lookalike and soundalike is interviewed on the air. When the imposter announces that he's planning to sell his stocks to raise capital, the other castaways have to stop Thurston from diving into the lagoon to swim for the mainland. He then gathers the others to make his offer of a million dollars to anyone who can get him back to the mainland. While the others work on their schemes, Thurston listens to updates about what his imposter is selling, and has to be pulled out of the lagoon a couple more times; and Lovey gets jealous when she hears that the imposter has a new girlfriend. The Professor rejects the others' ideas and insists that everyone work on his, to build a pontoon boat...but when they try sending Howell off in it, it immediately sinks into the lagoon. Meanwhile, Gilligan has collected feathers to build a pair of wings, and in a very Roadrunner moment, he actually manages to keep himself aloft until the Skipper tells him that it's impossible, which causes him to fall to the ground.

The Professor, now holding a master's in psychology, tries to relieve Howell of his obsession with money. Then a report comes in that the imposter has fallen overboard while on a cruise with 49 beautiful women...and guess who swims into the lagoon in a life preserver? The first thing the imposter sees on the island is the real Howell reclining in the sun, and rather than pausing to take in the absurd coincidence of it all, he wastes no time in sneaking up on Howell, knocking him out, and exchanging clothes with him to take his place. The real Howell soon recovers and tries to quiz the imposter in front of the others, though his double gives all the right answers. Then the Professor shares a radio report about how the recently lost-at-sea Howell has been discovered to be an imposter via his signature. The imposter takes to the lagoon, and the real Thurston has to be held back from going after his wallet, which is in the pants that the imposter took from him.

The radio reports of a man being rescued at sea whom the castaways know is the imposter, though he's now hiding his assumed identity because he's a wanted man.

_______

Hogan's Heroes
"The Prince from the Phone Company"
Originally aired March 18, 1966

An African prince parachutes into Stalag 13 after his plane is downed by Allied fighters.

I recorded HH several months back from Me's regular nightly showings, though I'm missing some episodes that were either skipped outright or misordered.

There's a big bottleneck in the barracks/tunnel because Hitler is replacing Germany's currency, making the prisoners' old counterfeit plates worthless. Schultz walks into the barracks to see the tunnel entrance noth-INGK! Hogan offers him a trunk full of their old cash before the prisoners cheer on American planes shooting down a target above the camp, seeing a survivor parachute out...who turns out to be visiting Prince Makabana (mustacheless Ivan Dixon). Hogan learns that the prince is negotiating with the Germans about letting them build a sub base in his country. The prisoners arrange a switch with Kinch in Klink's staff car, and the new prince announces a change in plans, that the negotiator from Berlin can come to Stalag 13 to see him...and kicks Klink out of his quarters so he can accommodate his old school buddy, Hogan. Kinch is enjoying the perks of his role when Klink announces that the prince's wife will be visiting as well.

Princess Yawanda (Isabelle Cooley) arrives with the negotiator, Count Von Sichel (Lee Bergere). The princess plays along until she's alone with Kinch; and while she's clearly estranged from her husband and interested in his doppleganger, when he tries to enlist her help, she keeps her cards close to her chest. Eager to make a deal as quickly as possible, the count agrees to hand over 500,000 marks in the new currency, and the princes comes through, facilitating the deal. The prisoners arrange for the princess to be driven to an underground contact, and--having revealed that she's originally from Cleveland--she agrees to meet up with Kinch back home after the war. Meanwhile, the count is in hot water because the Allies have pounced on the subs arriving at the new base and the planes carrying supplies for them.

In the coda, the prisoners are helping the count and the real prince escape into Switzerland.

The title refers to Kinch's prewar occupation. Dixon was pretty good in this, playing the real prince distinctively different from Kinch posing as the prince. Stewart Moss appears as one of the men that Hogan's trying to get out.

MeTV skipped the next two episodes, "The Safecracker Suite" (March 25) and "I Look Better in Basic Black" (April 1).

_______

Honey West
"Little Green Robin Hood"
Originally aired March 18, 1966

Honey and Sam try to stop a latter-day Robin Hood (Edd Byrnes) who's looting homes in an exclusive residential area: Sherwood Park.

Honey and Sam are driving into the exclusive gated community built within an imported tropical forest, which has been suffering from a rash of jewel robberies, to see a client. They spot a character in a Robin Hood outfit exiting one of the homes, who hides his loot, then shoots out one of their tires with an arrow, which has a note attached signed with the character's name.

Their client, Mrs. Carlton Murdock (Eleanor Audley), is incredulous at the detectives' story, but she introduces them to her neighbor and analyst, Dr. Gregory Ames (Severn Darden). The detectives then search the area by day, running right into Robin, who, talking like a ren faire regular, takes them to be Little John and Maid Marian. After Sam fights Robin with staves on a log until both fall in the water, the detectives play along with him, trying to get him to take them to his lair. They report back to Mrs. Murdock, with Ames convincing her to go along with their plan to use an emerald necklace of hers as bait. Honey takes it to Robin with a plan to steal more from the Murdock home. Robin won't take his new allies to his lair, but leaves them a poetic clue about it, and accepts a ring from Honey...with a transmitter in it, of course. By night, the detectives follow their tracking device to a spot in the forest where they find Robin dead with an arrow in him.

They take the body to Dr. Ames, hoping he can help save Robin. Yet another police lieutenant pays a call (Peter Leeds), unable to believe the story he's being told. Mrs. Murdock threatens to press charges if the detectives don't return her necklace within 24 hours. The detectives realize that Robin's clue was a colorful description of a service tunnel, and find an entrance with Robin's digs inside, but the jewelry gone. They realize that Ames was the only one who knew enough to find Robin, having surveiled in the van with Sam while Honey was meeting the thief. They find Ames planning to split the country with the jewels and his accomplice, Murdock's maid Annette (Francoise Ruggieri). Ames and Annette put up a good fight against Sam and Honey, respectively, but the detectives come out on top, and recover the jewels, including Mrs. Murdock's necklace.

Honey: Poor Robin, he'll never forgive us....We have to give it back to the rich.​

In the coda, Honey and Sam exposit to a gate guard who'd appeared in the teaser (Allen Jenkins) how Ames set up Robin, a former patient, to commit the robberies using his inside info about his neighbors. When the guard asks what Robin's real name was, Honey teases that it was William Tell.

_______

Their camp? Do we see Maria Ouspenskaya and Bela Lugosi lurking in the background?

Where is this all taking place? And does Jim Backus know...?

A stock [Romani people] camp.

Yes! This could be a 60s DC comic!

I'm a little surprised that you know of that trope.

Reverse foreshadowing this time. Maybe they aired the episodes out of order.

Hmmm...

Are these programming disks? Yet the robot can still function without them, and even chases after them?

Homing devices that the real robot followed...which, IIRC, was a gimmick also used for the Cybernauts on The Avengers.

So this was just a regular toy company with a crooked accountant, but they just happened to have a futuristic robot and a matching suit of armor on hand?

Supposedly it was all advanced toy tech, invented by Prof. Von Kemp. It did seem to be stretching things that they had a functioning robot and a suit that made somebody look just like the functioning robot...in reality, no doubt all the same robot suit.

That's a good thought. I wonder if that was the intention when they wrote it, but it didn't work out.

Robbie probably wouldn't have worked for the purposes of the story at hand...needing to hang him from the magnet, needing to be able to unmask the man inside.

Why didn't he just ask Corbin to paint him a can of beef stew or something rather than going around stealing and killing people?

I have to think that this was a relatively low-stakes scheme that got out of hand, given that he was implicitly planning to sell the can for only $20,000. Probably the secret art collection was meant to be his motive for killing people in order to not be exposed.

It's not behind a secret panel?

Behind a curtain in the gallery.

I'm thinking that if he did make it to the presidency, he probably would not have pardoned Nixon and would have been less likely to resign when his own scandal came out. And if he did buckle under pressure to resign, Ford would probably not have been appointed VP. In fact, the timeline is so short that there may not have been time for a new VP to be nominated or confirmed, so whoever was Speaker would have been elevated. Things would have been quite different and even weirder.

President Carl Albert...?

Very strange. Was there any Horror-related movie out at the time or something that they were cashing in on?

Nothing specific that I'm aware of.

So if they had renewed Honey, we may not have The Avengers in our collective pop culture history. Unless it somehow turned up on PBS, like Doctor Who and The Prisoner and Monty Python, which is possible but seems unlikely. I have to say, I think we're better off with The Avengers.

I think the Avengers connection may be getting unduly played up in retrospect. It seems that The Avengers was never a direct timeslot replacement for Honey West. It aired as a summer/mid-season replacement for a few other series in '66 and the next couple of seasons.

They jumped the gun. They should have worked a future episode around it.

Possibly too late at that point in the season...the remaining episodes may have been in the can, or at least planned.

Dick Clark guests on the show in a couple more episodes...I have to wonder if he had anything to do with the Honey West Walk...

ETA:

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[The Old Mixer]

The Honey West Walk:

 

[RJDiogenes]

Mr. Howell has been rescued. He immediately runs to tell Mr. Howell, who listens in as a lookalike and soundalike is interviewed on the air.

Let's see: Mister Howell, Ginger, and Gilligan all had evil twins-- am I forgetting anybody?

He then gathers the others to make his offer of a million dollars to anyone who can get him back to the mainland.

You'd think that would have occurred to him before.

Meanwhile, Gilligan has collected feathers to build a pair of wings, and in a very Roadrunner moment, he actually manages to keep himself aloft until the Skipper tells him that it's impossible, which causes him to fall to the ground.

Him and his big mouth.

Then a report comes in that the imposter has fallen overboard while on a cruise with 49 beautiful women...and guess who swims into the lagoon in a life preserver?

Not the 49 beautiful women!

The real Howell soon recovers and tries to quiz the imposter in front of the others, though his double gives all the right answers.

The double did his research. They needed to ask island-related questions.

The radio reports of a man being rescued at sea whom the castaways know is the imposter, though he's now hiding his assumed identity because he's a wanted man.

Implying that Thurston would have been rescued too if they had let him go. They must be remarkably close to the shipping lanes.

Hitler is replacing Germany's currency, making the prisoners' old counterfeit plates worthless.

I wonder if that's based on a true WWII Fun Fact.

visiting Prince Makabana (mustacheless Ivan Dixon)

Another Evil Twin! There must have been a two-for-one sale on Evil Twins!

the prince is negotiating with the Germans about letting them build a sub base in his country.

The prince is either short sighted or not too bright.

Meanwhile, the count is in hot water because the Allies have pounced on the subs arriving at the new base and the planes carrying supplies for them.

Wow, they built that base pretty quickly.

In the coda, the prisoners are helping the count and the real prince escape into Switzerland.

Hopefully the prince's country has picked a new prince who knows more about Nazis.

Dixon was pretty good in this, playing the real prince distinctively different from Kinch posing as the prince.

A lot of these old sitcom actors were really good, but seldom got a chance to show it off.

the exclusive gated community built within an imported tropical forest

Just go straight past the ghost town and take a left at the Gypsy camp.

an arrow, which has a note attached signed with the character's name.

"Robin Hood" or "Little Green Robin Hood?" I'm wondering if there's any real reason for the variation in the name.

a ring from Honey...with a transmitter in it, of course.

Sam and his 60s nanotechnology. I wonder if he patented any of this stuff.

they find Robin dead with an arrow in him.

They take the body to Dr. Ames, hoping he can help save Robin.

Let me guess: Next episode riffs on Frankenstein.

Honey: Poor Robin, he'll never forgive us....We have to give it back to the rich.​

Oh, the Twitter backlash! Tone deaf!

When the guard asks what Robin's real name was, Honey teases that it was William Tell.

Cute.

A stock [Romani people] camp.

In Los Angeles.

I'm a little surprised that you know of that trope.

I think I must have read about it in Back Issue or Alter Ego or something. Was it Carmine Infantino who was editor at the time? He noticed that gorillas on the cover sold more copies, so suddenly there were gorillas everywhere.

Homing devices that the real robot followed...which, IIRC, was a gimmick also used for the Cybernauts on The Avengers.

Oh, of course, that's how the robot found the guy to kill him. I should have figured that.

Supposedly it was all advanced toy tech, invented by Prof. Von Kemp. It did seem to be stretching things that they had a functioning robot and a suit that made somebody look just like the functioning robot...in reality, no doubt all the same robot suit.

Sam and Honey should have kept them to use in future adventures.

Robbie probably wouldn't have worked for the purposes of the story at hand...needing to hang him from the magnet, needing to be able to unmask the man inside.

Whoever owned Robbie certainly wouldn't have wanted to risk destroying him. I'm not sure about the unmasking. I'm not sure if I've ever seen him with his head off.

Probably the secret art collection was meant to be his motive for killing people in order to not be exposed.

That follows.

Behind a curtain in the gallery.

Better than nothing, I guess.

President Carl Albert...?

Very interesting. He was a Democrat, so that would have been another unique situation. The Wiki page even outlines a couple of scenarios where he could have become president. Imagine two Republican presidential resignations in a row, succeeded by a Democrat. That means no Jimmy Carter. Would there have been Reagan? Probably depends on how Albert handled the hostage crisis-- if there was even a hostage crisis.

Dick Clark guests on the show in a couple more episodes...I have to wonder if he had anything to do with the Honey West Walk...

They definitely should have combined them.

ETA:

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Odd that you should randomly post this now. Thank you very much. Since we're on the subject, here's something my Sister gave me:

The Honey West Walk:
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Well, it's no Batusi-- but then, Adam West is no Anne Francis.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Post-55th Anniversary Viewing

_______


"The Ghost of Murietta"
Originally aired March 20, 1966

A teen tries to emulate the infamous bandit Murrieta by stealing $50,000 in gold from McCord.

I managed to grab two more late Season 2 episodes of Branded a bit back...since when the show seems to have completely disappeared from INSP, which will leave me only two episodes short of having watched all of Season 2.

Jason is meeting the coach of a Senor Ramirez (Robert Tafur) in a Los Angeles that isn't quite in its "swimming pools, movie stars" phase yet, about a job surveying Mexico's railroad. There's a commotion in the backlot because a shopkeeper has had two valuable derringers stolen from him, the thief having left an M painted on his window--the mark of the infamous but deceased titular bandit. A young woman who works in a hotel, Rosita (Linda Dangcil), reports to her brother, Juan (Jose De Vega)--the actual thief, who has aspirations to build a gang rivaling Murietta's. But his current following consists of only four--Rosita, her boyfriend Luis (Rafael Campos), Pablo (George de Anda), and their fence, Vega (Ben Welden)...who substantially shortchanges Juan based on the difficulty of selling such fancy pieces. The kids' mother, Antonia (Dolores del Rio), watches warily, knowing that Vega wasn't one of Murietta's gang as he claims to Juan; and that Vega is turning her son into a common thief.

Rosita is about to deliver towels to the room when she eavesdrops on negotiations between Ramirez and a railroad investor named Hartley (George Petrie), whose $25,000 in gold Jason will be transporting south of the border. Wanting to contribute to the cause, Rosita tips off the boys, who ambush the party leaving the hotel and swipe the case containing the gold...though Ramirez shoots Pablo as the gang is running away, and Rosita rushes to his side, tipping off Jason to her role. Luis runs to Vega wanting weapons and horses, and Vega--who wasn't in on their scheme--stabs the boy in the back, intending to take the gold for himself.

Jason takes Rosita to her mother's cantina to try to locate Juan. When they find Luis dying in the storeroom where the gang meets, Rosita tells them that Juan is hiding at Murietta's old hideout--Vasquez Rocks, where Vega proceeds and shoots Juan for the gold...poetically, with one of the derringers. Jason and Antonia arrive, and Vega finds that he's brought a derringer to a six-shooter fight, taking a lead-fueled dive off the rocks. Antonia tells her dying son how Vega was lying to him all along. When the boy passes, the grieving mother tells Jason what she never had the chance to tell Juan--that she was Murietta's lover, who led the authorities to him after they had a falling out...and the specter of the infamous bandit always haunted her, because the then-unborn Juan was Murietta's son.

The next episodes to air were "The Assassins: Part 1" and "The Assassins: Part 2," which were covered last hiatus season; followed by the two episodes I haven't managed to catch, "Headed for Doomsday" (April 10) and "Cowards Die Many Times" (April 17). We'll be picking back up with the episode that aired as the series finale.

_______

Gilligan's Island
"Ghost a Go-Go"
Originally aired March 24, 1966

Richard Kiel plays a ghostly figure trying to scare the castaways off the isle.

Gilligan's woken up at night by the sound of wailing and sees a big guy in a sheet outside the hut. The Skipper tries to convince him that there's no such thing and to stay mum about it, but the next day he and Gilligan learn that all of the other castaways saw and heard things, too...the Howells thinking that Gilligan was pulling pranks on them. Gilligan doesn't want to go to bed the next night, but Skipper ends up seeing the ghost and fainting. By this point all of the others have seen it as well, and all but the Professor gather frightened in Gilligan and the Skipper's hut. The next day the ghost makes an initially voice-only appearance to Gilligan to tell him in broken English that the castaways have to leave his island. The Skipper then finds a rowboat large enough to hold all the castaways and loaded with supplies, with a note from the ghost, also written in broken English.

They gather the others, most of whom have an issue with the "bare essentials" rule. But the Professor is suspicious of the "ghost's" intentions and insists that they test the boat by sending it off with dummies aboard dressed to resemble them. Everyone prepares their dummies--it turns out that even Gilligan and the Skipper have spare versions of their usual outfits--and when the boat is sent into the lagoon by night, the castaways watch from concealment as it blows up. The foreign agent played by Kiel unsheets to radio to his contact how their plot to secure offshore drilling rights for the island has worked. But the Professor plans to turn their visitor's gimmick against him, having all of the castaways don their own sheets. This actually scares the agent off, causing him to jump into the lagoon and swim off. (At this point, I'm wondering why the castaways don't just swim for Hawaii if it's that easy.)

In the coda, Gilligan's retrieved some of the castaways' clothes from the dummies, which don't show any signs of having blown up...and a turtle haunts the Skipper's shirt. (Are we still taking note of food sources on the island at this point?)

_______

Honey West
"Just the Bear Facts, Ma'am"
Originally aired March 25, 1966

Honey and Sam look into criminal activity on a movie set where they're working as stunt doubles.

The episode opens on a dark and stormy night, with a character named Igor (Mousie Garner) holding Honey captive in his dungeon. He looses a titular beast (unconfirmed Janos Prohaska). A running fight with the bear ensues while the place appears to shake from an earthquake, and a beam breaks, sending Honey to the ground. The hero jumps in (Robert Kenneally), shooting the bear and Igor, but it's too late for Honey. CUT! It turns out that Honey's just filling in as a double on a picture, after her predecessor actually was killed by the cracking beam. The producer, Mr. Burgess (Frank Wilcox), has reason to think that foul play was involved, as the stunt girl called wanting to talk to him about something going on in the studio before she was killed.

For the story's purposes, Sam is the guy in the bear suit. Honey is in awe of the abundant forgeries in the prop department when she talks to the prop man, Twilly (Richard Carlyle); but is disenchanted when, back on camera, she gets to be thrown in the mud in an actress's place. Sam's concerned about an impending stunt involving Honey being hanged, so she tries to demonstrate for him how the trap door doesn't actually work...only it does, but Sam's there to catch her. The detectives sneak into the editing room by night to compare the footage of Honey's stunt to that of the killed stunt girl, and find that the beam did fall differently for her, indicating that she didn't just miss her mark as commonly believed. Resting on one of the sets, Honey goes Gilligan and slips into a dream sequence of her and Sam as silent movie actors, appearing in three different genres...each scene ending with an exploding clock. When Honey wakes up, she realizes this is a clue, and they reexamine the footage to find that an antique clock Honey had been admiring in the prop department was on the set for the stunt girl's scene, but not Honey's. The detectives realize that the clock must have been the genuine article, and the stunt girl, for whom antiques were a known hobby, must have sniffed it out. This also explains the recent firing of Twilly's assistant, whom they realize must have been responsible for putting the clock out on the set.

Outside the prop department and still well after hours, the detectives witness a catering truck with two men inside it coming to pick up the stolen antiques that they've been hiding in the prop department and on the sets. While the two men split up to gather the other merchandise, Honey takes out Twilly. Sam then takes out one of the men on a dockside set; and Honey the other on a Western set. When Sam drags his catch onto the Western set, he and Honey briefly square off in showdown poses before going off to call the law.

In the coda, a grateful Burgess is asking Honey about what she thinks is him wanting her to stay on the picture, but it turns out that he wants Sam to stay on as the bear.

_______

Let's see: Mister Howell, Ginger, and Gilligan all had evil twins-- am I forgetting anybody?

I don't think I've gotten to the other two yet.

The double did his research. They needed to ask island-related questions.

Indeed. Which reminds me, I think this was the one that had a tidbit I'd meant to mention--when Skipper and Gilligan were working on their plans, IIRC--in which they get into an argument about whether Gilligan's a walking disaster or somesuch, and in his defense, Gilligan starts listing three situations from previous episodes, but stops himself each time.

Implying that Thurston would have been rescued too if they had let him go. They must be remarkably close to the shipping lanes.

For the record, my comment above was written a couple of days ago.

I wonder if that's based on a true WWII Fun Fact.

Maybe, but I wouldn't assume historical accuracy from HH...

Wow, they built that base pretty quickly.

Maybe just some docks...?

"Robin Hood" or "Little Green Robin Hood?" I'm wondering if there's any real reason for the variation in the name.

They referred to him as Robin Hood in the episode. The "Little Green..." was titular wordplay.

In Los Angeles.

In the story, out in the California desert; in reality, a soundstage in Studio City. Keep in mind that [Romani people] bands were a thing in Westerns.

I think I must have read about it in Back Issue or Alter Ego or something. Was it Carmine Infantino who was editor at the time? He noticed that gorillas on the cover sold more copies, so suddenly there were gorillas everywhere.

Yeah, that sounds right.

Whoever owned Robbie certainly wouldn't have wanted to risk destroying him. I'm not sure about the unmasking. I'm not sure if I've ever seen him with his head off.

Oh, Robbie's Wiki page goes into boatloads of detail about how he was used in other appearances, which included mixing and matching parts; and how he fell into states of disrepair and had to be restored on at least a couple of occasions.

Better than nothing, I guess.

Maybe Rod Serling guarded it, but it was his night off.

Very interesting. He was a Democrat, so that would have been another unique situation. The Wiki page even outlines a couple of scenarios where he could have become president. Imagine two Republican presidential resignations in a row, succeeded by a Democrat. That means no Jimmy Carter. Would there have been Reagan? Probably depends on how Albert handled the hostage crisis-- if there was even a hostage crisis.

Ah, I didn't even read that deep into the page. Reagan was bucking for the presidency back in '68, so at least his candidacy probably would have happened at the next opportunity regardless. Heck, we might have gotten him four years early!

Well, it's no Batusi-- but then, Adam West is no Anne Francis.

She's so adorable in those pics.

 

[RJDiogenes]

the thief having left an M painted on his window

This made me expect an homage to Zorro, but it didn't really happen.

The kids' mother, Antonia (Dolores del Rio)

Well-known character actor and sex symbol going all the way back to silent films, speaking of silent films, as we will be shortly.

Vega finds that he's brought a derringer to a six-shooter fight

taking a lead-fueled dive off the rocks.

At least Jason got to do that-- he seems like an extra on his own show this week.

and the specter of the infamous bandit always haunted her, because the then-unborn Juan was Murietta's son.

Would knowing that have made a difference? Probably would have just made it worse if anything.

The Skipper tries to convince him that there's no such thing and to stay mum about it, but the next day he and Gilligan learn that all of the other castaways saw and heard things, too

The Skipper is quite a sound sleeper.

Skipper ends up seeing the ghost and fainting.

He's actually portrayed as quite superstitious on several occasions.

they test the boat by sending it off with dummies aboard dressed to resemble them.

And hopefully keep all the real supplies.

it turns out that even Gilligan and the Skipper have spare versions of their usual outfits

They must have multiple spares, otherwise their pants would have been quite fashionably distressed by season three.

The foreign agent played by Kiel unsheets to radio to his contact how their plot to secure offshore drilling rights for the island has worked.

I'm not even going to try to wrap my head around that.

Professor plans to turn their visitor's gimmick against him, having all of the castaways don their own sheets.

It would have been funny if the sheets had all been customized: Red for Gilligan, blue for Skipper, leopard print for Ginger, et cetera.

(At this point, I'm wondering why the castaways don't just swim for Hawaii if it's that easy.)

(Are we still taking note of food sources on the island at this point?)

Richard Kiel would have fed them for a solid month.

CUT! It turns out that Honey's just filling in as a double on a picture

Bummer. I was enjoying all that.

The detectives sneak into the editing room by night to compare the footage

Shouldn't they have access to this stuff?

Honey goes Gilligan and slips into a dream sequence of her and Sam as silent movie actors, appearing in three different genres...

An odd digression in a half-hour adventure show, but I like it. I generally like this type of homage.

coming to pick up the stolen antiques that they've been hiding in the prop department and on the sets.

This is actually a clever little plot.

Sam then takes out one of the men on a dockside set; and Honey the other on a Western set. When Sam drags his catch onto the Western set, he and Honey briefly square off in showdown poses before going off to call the law.

This is all cool, too, but they missed an opportunity to have Sam take out a bad guy in his bear suit. Honey could have used that "pursued by a bear" line from Shakespeare.

I don't think I've gotten to the other two yet.

Oops. Spoilers.

Indeed. Which reminds me, I think this was the one that had a tidbit I'd meant to mention--when Skipper and Gilligan were working on their plans, IIRC--in which they get into an argument about whether Gilligan's a walking disaster or somesuch, and in his defense, Gilligan starts listing three situations from previous episodes, but stops himself each time.

Those rare touches of continuity-- I wish they had done it more often.

For the record, my comment above was written a couple of days ago.

Heh.

Maybe, but I wouldn't assume historical accuracy from HH...

I'm disillusioned.

Maybe just some docks...?

Maybe the "negotiations" were just a formality and the prince didn't really have a choice.

They referred to him as Robin Hood in the episode. The "Little Green..." was titular wordplay.

Which doesn't make much sense. I suppose the green refers to the emerald, but there's no connection to the other folk tale, so it's wordplay without a purpose.

In the story, out in the California desert; in reality, a soundstage in Studio City. Keep in mind that [Romani people] bands were a thing in Westerns.

Ah, that's true.

Oh, Robbie's Wiki page goes into boatloads of detail about how he was used in other appearances, which included mixing and matching parts; and how he fell into states of disrepair and had to be restored on at least a couple of occasions.

Oh, I gotta check that out.

Maybe Rod Serling guarded it, but it was his night off.

That would have been cool. Then the guy would have suffered some ironic demise, like a stack of cans collapsing on him or something.

Ah, I didn't even read that deep into the page. Reagan was bucking for the presidency back in '68, so at least his candidacy probably would have happened at the next opportunity regardless. Heck, we might have gotten him four years early!

That's possible. He was really determined. Although two presidential resignations in a row might have created an even stronger stigma against the Republican Party. If Albert was a stronger president than Carter, that might have staved off Reagan until he was showing visible signs of dementia.

She's so adorable in those pics.

Indeed.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

70 Years Ago This Season

_______

April

• Master Comics, with issue #133, cancelled by Fawcett.
• Pat Boone begins his recording career at Republic Records.

April 1

• The fourth issue of Mad Magazine features Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood's classic Superman parody "Superduperman". This is the first specific comic book parody in Mad and strikes a nerve among readers. The previously low-selling Mad now finally becomes a best-seller.

April 3

• The first issue of the American television magazine TV Guide is published.

_______

On April 9, Invaders from Mars, starring Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, and Jimmy Hunt, premieres in Detroit.

On April 10, House of Wax, starring Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, and Phyllis Kirk, premieres in New York.

On April 11, Titanic, starring Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Wagner, premieres in Norfolk.

_______

April 13

• Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, is published in the United Kingdom.

April 15

• At the opening of the 1953 Cannes Film Festival in France, US film producer Walt Disney receives an award from the French government.

April 16

• US President Eisenhower delivers his "Chance for Peace" speech to the National Association of Newspaper Editors.

April 17

• US baseball player Mickey Mantle hits a 565-foot (172 m) home run at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. Mantle's home run is believed to be the longest home run in baseball history by historians of the sport.

April 20

• US singer Frank Sinatra and arranger Nelson Riddle begin their first recording sessions together at Capitol Records, which will result in some of the defining recordings of Sinatra's career.
• US jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, at the height of his heroin addiction, records his album Miles Davis Volume 2 at WOR Studios, New York City.

April 21

• The Battle of Chatkol, part of the Korean War, ends after the Belgian Volunteer Corps for Korea holds its position for 55 consecutive nights.

_______

On April 23, Shane, starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, and Van Heflin, premieres in New York.

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(Ah, the Grand Tetons...)

_______

April 25

• Francis Crick and James Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid", their description of the double helix structure of DNA.

_______

Also in April, "Going to the River" by Fats Domino charts (#2 R&B).

_______

May 1

• Czechoslovak Television becomes the first television station in the country when it officially begins a regular broadcasting service, from Prague; this station will separate into Česká televize and Slovenská televízia in January 1993.

May 2

• Dark Star, ridden by Henry Moreno, won the 1953 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, United States.

May 4

• American author Ernest Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Old Man and the Sea.

May 5

• Aldous Huxley tried the psychedelic hallucinogen mescaline for the first time, inspiring his book The Doors of Perception.

May 10

• The town of Chemnitz, East Germany, became Karl Marx Stadt.

May 11

• An F5 tornado hit the downtown section of Waco, Texas, killing 114.

May 14

• Future U.S. astronaut Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr., who would participate in the first crewed Moon landing in 1969, scored his first confirmed kill as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. Flying a North American F-86 Sabre, Aldrin shot down a MiG-15 about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of the Yalu River. The MiG pilot ejected from the aircraft.
• Over 7,000 brewery workers in Milwaukee, United States, performed a walkout, marking the start of the 1953 Milwaukee brewery strike.

_______

On May 16, "The Song from Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart)" by Percy Faith and His Orchestra tops the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart.

_______

May 18

• At Rogers Dry Lake in the United States, Californian Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to exceed Mach 1, in a North American F-86 Sabre at 652.337 mph (566.865 kn; 1,049.835 km/h).

_______

On May 23, "Crazy Man, Crazy" by Bill Haley w/ Haley's Comets charts (#12 US).

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It is notable as the first recognized rock and roll recording to appear on the national American musical charts, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Juke Box chart for the week ending June 20, 1953, and #11 for two weeks on the Cash Box chart beginning for the week of June 13.

_______

May 25

• Korean War: The Battle of the Nevada Complex began between United Nations Command and Chinese forces. The battle would conclude on May 29 with the withdrawal of UN forces from their positions.
• At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducted its only nuclear artillery test, Upshot-Knothole Grable, at 15:30 GMT [fired from the M65 atomic cannon, nicknamed Atomic Annie].
• At 5:00 p.m., the first public television station in the United States officially began broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.

May 28

• The Third Battle of the Hook began near Panmunjom, North Korea, fought between primarily British and Chinese forces. The battle would conclude the following morning and result in retention of the existing positions by both sides.

May 29

• Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal became the first humans to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

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​

May 30

• Bill Vukovich won the 1953 Indianapolis 500 motor race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, United States. Driver Carl Scarborough died of hyperthermia after dropping out of the race.
• In Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, Lucy van Pelt is first seen trying to get Schroeder's romantic attention.

June

• Whiz Comics, with issue #155, canceled by Fawcett.
• Captain Marvel Jr., with issue #118, canceled by Fawcett.

June 2

• The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon, takes place at Westminster Abbey. At the Queen's own insistence, the ceremony is televised. In the Coronation Honours, recipients of honours include politician Lord Woolton (created a viscount), actor John Gielgud, cricketer Jack Hobbs, jockey Gordon Richards and Rhodesian Prime Minister Roy Welensky (knighted) and Violet Bonham Carter (made a Dame).

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​

• Sales of TV sets in the United Kingdom rise sharply in the weeks leading up to the event. It is also one of the earliest broadcasts to be deliberately recorded for posterity and still exists in its entirety. More than twenty million viewers around the world watch the coverage; to ensure Canadians could see it on the same day, British Royal Air Force Canberras fly film of the ceremony across the Atlantic Ocean to be broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the first non-stop flight between the United Kingdom and the Canadian mainland. In Goose Bay, Labrador, the film is transferred to a Royal Canadian Air Force CF-100 jet fighter for the further trip to Montreal. In all, three such voyages are made as the coronation proceeds.

_______

On June 3, Julius Caesar, starring Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Edmond O'Brien, Greer Garson, and Deborah Kerr, premieres in New York City.

_______

June 7

• The US tanker ship Phoenix collides with the Pan Massachusetts in the Delaware River near Delaware City, Delaware. The Phoenix sinks, while both ships catch fire and are lost.

June 8

• Austria and the Soviet Union form diplomatic relations.
• A tornado kills 115 people in Flint, Michigan (the last in the United States to claim more than 100 lives until the 2011 Joplin tornado).

June 9

• In the United States, CIA Technical Services Staff head Sidney Gottlieb approves the use of LSD in an MKUltra subproject.
• A tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, killing 94.

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On June 10, Robot Monster, starring George Nader and Claudia Barrett--"remembered in later decades as one of the worst movies ever made"--premieres.

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On June 13, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, starring Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, and Cecil Kellaway, is released.

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June 16

• Strike action by construction workers begins in East Berlin, leading to a wider uprising against the government.

June 17

• The uprising of 1953 in East Germany is brutally suppressed; June 17 was celebrated in West Germany as German Unity Day until after German reunification occurred.

June 18

• Egypt declares itself a republic, after last year's revolution.
• A United States Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II crashes just after takeoff from Tachikawa Airfield near Tokyo, Japan, killing all 129 people on board in the worst air crash in history at this time and the first with a confirmed death toll exceeding 100.

June 19

• The Baton Rouge bus boycott, often regarded as the start of the civil rights movement, begins in the United States.
• Died: Julius Rosenberg, 35, and Ethel Rosenberg, 37, American communist spies (executed)

June 22

• The Government of Nepal hosts a reception for members of the Mount Everest expedition, at which Tenzing Norgay is presented with a prize of ten thousand rupees, while Edmund Hillary and John Hunt are given jewelled kukri and others jewelled caskets. The Government of India announces the creation of a new Gold Medal for civilian gallantry, of which Hunt, Hillary and Tenzing are to be the first recipients.

June 23

• The first round-trip across the continental United States to be carried out between sunrise and sunset is completed by Lieutenant Commander George H. Whisler, Jr., of U.S. Navy Air Transport Squadron 31 (VR-31), departing Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia, in a Grumman F9F-6 Cougar, and finally arriving at Naval Air Station North Island, California. He then takes off from North Island in a Douglas F3D-2 Skyknight, and finally lands at Naval Air Station Norfolk at 19:21 local time.

June 24

• New US television station KOBR begins broadcasting from Roswell, New Mexico.

June 25

• The 1953 Northern Kyushu flood begins, lasting until June 29 and eventually causing 771 deaths and affecting about 1 million people.

June 29

• Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records brings together the first line-up of the US singing group that later becomes The Drifters. After a recording session in New York City, he asks lead singer Clyde McPhatter to put together a different backing group.

June 30

• The first Chevrolet Corvette is built, at Flint, Michigan, United States.
• The first roll-on/roll-off ferry crossing of the English Channel takes place, from Dover to Boulogne.

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Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki pages for the months and year, as well as the year in film, music, television, and comics. Sections separated from timeline entries are mine.

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Would knowing that have made a difference? Probably would have just made it worse if anything.

I genuinely didn't see that coming until the son was dying and it became obvious that she was bucking to tell somebody her story.

"Someday I will tell you the story, my son."
[Son dies.]
"Okay, I'll tell you, McCord..."

The Skipper is quite a sound sleeper.

Except when Gilligan's pestering him.

And hopefully keep all the real supplies.

Then they might've kept the bomb...

Really, there were just a couple of packs in the boat. That's chicken feed compared to what the castaways have already got on the island.

They must have multiple spares, otherwise their pants would have been quite fashionably distressed by season three.

Clothing wear and tear doesn't seem to be an issue on the show. They've got ladies walking around a sandy island in their heels.

It would have been funny if the sheets had all been customized: Red for Gilligan, blue for Skipper, leopard print for Ginger, et cetera.

Actually, everyone who wore a hat had a their hat on top of their sheet. Mrs. Howell was the standout.

Bummer. I was enjoying all that.

The character playing the hero in the film was billed as Joe Hero.

Shouldn't they have access to this stuff?

Not if they're trying to keep their covers while investigating.

An odd digression in a half-hour adventure show, but I like it. I generally like this type of homage.

This is actually a clever little plot.

I found the part where they were deliberately hiding some of the antiques on the sets to be odd, as the stunt girl had been killed because somebody put one of them out on a set. Would've made more sense to keep them all in the prop department.

Oops. Spoilers.

Well, I knew they were coming. In fact, in an odd way that Frndly tends to do, the screencap used in most of my recordings for GI is of what I assume is Tina Louise as Ginger's dowdy double.

Maybe the "negotiations" were just a formality and the prince didn't really have a choice.

No, they were definitely treating him as a VIP to be given what he wanted.

Which doesn't make much sense. I suppose the green refers to the emerald, but there's no connection to the other folk tale, so it's wordplay without a purpose.

Robin Hood is typically portrayed as wearing green, isn't he?

That's possible. He was really determined. Although two presidential resignations in a row might have created an even stronger stigma against the Republican Party. If Albert was a stronger president than Carter, that might have staved off Reagan until he was showing visible signs of dementia.

Albert would have had the advantage of being a Washington insider who knew how the game was played. Carter's major weakness was refusing to learn it. Still, he would have been up against a charismatic movie actor.

But yeah, if Albert had gotten in before '76, it would probably have been too soon for another Republican, added to Albert having the advantage of being an incumbent of opposite affiliation to his disgraced predecessors.

Ultimately, Carter's victory in '76 was Reagan's victory in '80. Gipper played the long game. (Though he did challenge Ford for the nomination in '76.)

 

[RJDiogenes]

The fourth issue of Mad Magazine features Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood's classic Superman parody "Superduperman". This is the first specific comic book parody in Mad and strikes a nerve among readers.

And was a major milestone for parody and satire.

On April 9, Invaders from Mars, starring Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, and Jimmy Hunt, premieres in Detroit.

On April 10, House of Wax, starring Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, and Phyllis Kirk, premieres in New York.

Classic B-Movies.

On April 11, Titanic, starring Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Wagner, premieres in Norfolk.

Classic Drama.

On April 23, Shane, starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, and Van Heflin, premieres in New York.

Classic Western.

Francis Crick and James Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid", their description of the double helix structure of DNA.

One of whom says he saw it in a dream. I forget which.

On May 23, "Crazy Man, Crazy" by Bill Haley w/ Haley's Comets charts (#12 US).

Good one. I kinda forgot about it, even though I use the phrase fairly frequently.

Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal became the first humans to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Why?

to ensure Canadians could see it on the same day, British Royal Air Force Canberras fly film of the ceremony across the Atlantic Ocean to be broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the first non-stop flight between the United Kingdom and the Canadian mainland. In Goose Bay, Labrador, the film is transferred to a Royal Canadian Air Force CF-100 jet fighter for the further trip to Montreal. In all, three such voyages are made as the coronation proceeds.

And Arthur C Clarke sat there thinking, "If only there was some way to broadcast the signal directly." Just kidding. He actually thought of that during the war.

On June 3, Julius Caesar, starring Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Edmond O'Brien, Greer Garson, and Deborah Kerr, premieres in New York City.

Classic Shakespearian Historical Epic.

On June 10, Robot Monster, starring George Nader and Claudia Barrett--"remembered in later decades as one of the worst movies ever made"--premieres.

That's harsh. True, but harsh.

On June 13, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, starring Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, and Cecil Kellaway, is released.

Classic Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen.

New US television station KOBR begins broadcasting from Roswell, New Mexico.

Broadcasting... to where?

"Someday I will tell you the story, my son."
[Son dies.]
"Okay, I'll tell you, McCord..."

It was definitely oddly constructed.

Except when Gilligan's pestering him.

Right.

Then they might've kept the bomb...

True. Which raises all sorts of other questions, not least of which is why Richard Kiel went through all these shenanigans when he could have just killed all of them with one hand tied behind his back.

Clothing wear and tear doesn't seem to be an issue on the show. They've got ladies walking around a sandy island in their heels.

It's a magical place.

Actually, everyone who wore a hat had a their hat on top of their sheet. Mrs. Howell was the standout.

Nice.

The character playing the hero in the film was billed as Joe Hero.

That's about as back to basics as it gets.

Not if they're trying to keep their covers while investigating.

True, I guess. Hopefully the producer at least gave them a key.

View attachment 34167

Also about as back to basics as it gets.

I found the part where they were deliberately hiding some of the antiques on the sets to be odd, as the stunt girl had been killed because somebody put one of them out on a set. Would've made more sense to keep them all in the prop department.

Well, the show is a little wonky in general, but I still like the basic idea.

Robin Hood is typically portrayed as wearing green, isn't he?

True, but the title was a mashup of Robin Hood and Little Red Riding Hood, and there's no justification in the story. Just wordplay for the sake of wordplay.

Albert would have had the advantage of being a Washington insider who knew how the game was played. Carter's major weakness was refusing to learn it. Still, he would have been up against a charismatic movie actor.

But yeah, if Albert had gotten in before '76, it would probably have been too soon for another Republican, added to Albert having the advantage of being an incumbent of opposite affiliation to his disgraced predecessors.

Ultimately, Carter's victory in '76 was Reagan's victory in '80. Gipper played the long game. (Though he did challenge Ford for the nomination in '76.)

Carter was already disadvantaged by a terrible economy and was perceived as weak. The hostage crisis and the military failure of the rescue attempt put the final nails in his coffin. The bad economy was a given but it's really hard to know how the other elements would have played out.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Post-55th Anniversary Viewing

_______

Gilligan's Island
"Allergy Time"
Originally aired March 31, 1966

Gilligan moves to the other side of the island when the other castaways suddenly become allergic to him.

The Skipper begins having issues itching and sneezing, which come and go. The Professor deduces that he has allergies, so he has the other castaways round up possessions that he might be allergic to for testing via contact. The Professor comes to realize that Skipper only has allergic reactions when Gilligan is present, so he has him wash thoroughly, but that doesn't work. He then tries to test if it's psychological by having each of the castaways approach Skipper while he's blindfolded, but each of them does something to give themselves away. Gilligan ends up attempting to bed in each of the other huts (even the girls', separated by a partition), but they all develop allergic reactions, in addition to being generally annoyed by Gilligan being chatty while they're trying to sleep. Gilligan takes his pillow and blanket into the jungle.

Gilligan leaves a note declaring that he's moving to the other side of the island indefinitely. The others go to look for him, following their noses. The girls find him living in a cave when they sneeze upon approaching it. Ginger tries to use her feminine wiles to persuade him to come back, through all the sneezing and general nasalness. The others arrive with the intent of encouraging Gilligan's return, but have to leave when they start reacting to him again. Then the Professor announces that he's developed a vaccine. The others balk at having to be injected with a huge needle multiple times a week indefinitely, but when the Skipper relents and everyone sees him spending time with Gilligan, the rest of them comply. Then Gilligan comes running up to announce to everyone that it's a hair tonic that he's been making from papaya nut oil that's the real issue, as he just started sneezing when he was making a new batch. (Note that Gilligan was seen fixing his hair after the bath. And that Denver's delivery of the revelation is so frantic that I couldn't understand what he was saying the first time, and had to rewind.) The others are mad because they just had to endure their shots.

In the coda the Professor and Skipper pull a prank on Gilligan by making him think he has to get a preventative shot from a comically larger needle.

_______

Honey West
"There's a Long, Long, Fuse A'Burning"
Originally aired April 1, 1966

Maxie Bripp is out of prison and in trouble: someone's using Maxie's techniques to pull heists.

Honey and Sam are staking out an arcade to keep an eye on a fellow named Mousey (David Fresco), whom Honey loses sight of when a seemingly drunken man (Richard Hoyt) insists on giving her a large kewpie doll. Sam's being beaten up by thugs outside, and when he tosses the doll away after she rushes to see to him, it explodes.

Sam: A kewpie doll bomb? What did you win!?!
Honey: My next birthday.​

The detectives go to a skeptical Lieutenant Badger (Paul Dubov) to look at mugshots in an attempt to identify the drunk. Mousey was the bombmaker of Maxie Bripp (Lennie Bremen), who recently got out of jail after fifteen years, and with the help of some real estate windfall and a fussy PR agent named Payton (Dick Clark), has been working hard to reinvent himself as a respectable philanthropist. But a gang of gray-haired men in suits and rigid plastic masks have been pulling robberies using the M.O. of Maxie's now-aged old gang, which includes explosives being used for diversionary purposes. Maxie ends up being arrested on suspicion, and intends to stay in jail so he can be proven innocent when the gang strikes again. Meanwhile, Honey and Sam answer an anonymous note to make a rendezvous with a barely missed bomb in an alley.

Honey and Sam pay a visit to Mousey and the rest of Maxie's old gang at the Bastille Club of Beverly Hills, an exclusive establishment for men with records, which makes an exception to its gender requirement for Honey. While talking to the boys, who seem clean, Honey recognizes a waiter as the kewpie doll man, but he slips away. The detectives begin to become suspicious of Payton, so they vacuum Maxie's cell to find that what Maxie took as a blonde hair when he picked it off Payton's suit is actually a gray one from a wig. They then get Maxie out (presumably on the bail he'd previously refused to post) to encourage the imposter gang to pull another heist, and bring Maxie along in the truck as they tail a car from Payton's place to the Apex Building Co., Maxie deducing that they're after the payroll. A car bomb diverts the gate guard so the masked gang can slip in, and Honey and Sam sneak in separately only to be caught by Payton, who has his masked, gray-wigged boys tie them up and sets an explosive to go off after the gang leaves. But Maxie crawls in and frees the detectives while the gang is preoccupied with grabbing the loot on time. With seconds left on the timer, the detectives rush outside and Sam tosses the bomb in front of the gang to stop them in their tracks and hold them at gunpoint.

In the coda, the Bastille Club bestows Honey and Sam with honorary memberships, and Mousey, Maxie, and the gang take turns dancing with Honey to some old big band music.

_______

Good one. I kinda forgot about it, even though I use the phrase fairly frequently.

I'm surprised you're familiar with it. It's not a better known one.

Why?

I'm assuming that's humorously rhetorical.

And Arthur C Clarke sat there thinking, "If only there was some way to broadcast the signal directly." Just kidding. He actually thought of that during the war.

Coming in four years...along with a lot of freaking out.

Classic Shakespearian Historical Epic.

I always meant to catch this one after reading the play in a lit class.

That's harsh. True, but harsh.

That's the iconic image of schlocky, B-grade '50s sci-fi/monster flicks.

Classic Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen.

And credited as a direct inspiration for Godzilla--coming next year to a theater not near you!

Broadcasting... to where?

True. Which raises all sorts of other questions, not least of which is why Richard Kiel went through all these shenanigans when he could have just killed all of them with one hand tied behind his back.

Goofy sitcom defense.

True, but the title was a mashup of Robin Hood and Little Red Riding Hood, and there's no justification in the story. Just wordplay for the sake of wordplay.

And what's wrong with that?

 

[DarrenTR1970]

First UK release of Paul McCartney and Wings' LP Red Rose Speedway [released Apr. 30 in the US].

Work began on "Red Rose Speedway" in mid-March 1972 with Glyn Johns producing and Alan Parsons as sound engineer.

Glyn left the sessions after a couple of weeks, upset with the lack of progress the band was making. According to Glyn in the Deluxe Edition, the band smoked pot and jammed for hours without committing anything to tape. He also objected to Linda being in the band, not considering her a real musician. Denny Laine and Denny Seiwell, for their part when interviewed for the book, admit that they could have been more professional in the studio. Things came to a head when Paul confronted Glyn and called him, "An old tart." Glyn's response was to quit and say to Paul on the way out of the studio to call him when he grew up and wanted to properly record an album.

With Glyn gone, Paul decided to produce the album himself and the sessions dragged on until November 1972, in-between Wings tours.

Discounting the three "RAM" leftovers, "Big Barn Red", "Get On The Right Thing", "Little Lamb Dragonfly", the two sides to the Wings single "Hi, Hi, Hi"/"C Moon" and "Live And Let Die" from the James Bond soundtrack, approximately 20+ songs were recorded for the album.

Originally planned as a double, pressure from Paul's label EMI brought the album down to a single. Three versions exist of the proposed double album track lists as well as an alternative single album track list.

The Deluxe Edition of "Red Rose Speedway" includes the final double album track list as a bonus CD, as well as a bonus CD of unreleased songs from the sessions.

Here's the thing, as a Double Album, it's now my preferred way of listening to "Red Rose Speedway". It shows off Paul's talent/maturity as a songwriter and the band has really gelled as a unit after months of touring. The problem, IMO, is that it doesn't "flow" as a Double Album should; it "lurches" from one song to the next.

When The Beatles were sequencing "The White Album", Paul, John, and George Martin, in their only 24-hour session, took care in making sure the songs/sides made some kind of sense when listening.

There's a discussion/poll on the "Steve Hoffman Music Forums" about whether the listener prefers "Red Rose Speedway" as a double or a single album, and the Double album wins by a landslide. Then the discussion usually asks, "Well, how would you sequence it?" and every response is different.

The same goes for the single album version of "Red Rose Speedway".

George Martin is on record saying he wanted "The Beatles" to be a single album of 12-14 "really great" songs instead of a double album.

That's the problem with "Red Rose Speedway". With so many songs to choose from, in paring down the album from a double to a single, Paul, IMO, chooses some of the weakest tracks, leaving an MOR album. Paul needed George Martin or Glyn Johns to help select the songs/sequence the album.

"Night Out", "1882", "The Mess", some of the hardest rocking songs on the album/sessions, were inexplicably left off the single version, as well as Linda's composition, "Seaside Woman" and Denny Laine's "I Would Only Smile", which would have elevated the material and shown Wings as a group band/effort. "1882", "The Mess", "Best Friend", being live cuts on the double album, also suggests a lack of confidence in the studio versions.

Paul now says that EMI was right in rejecting the double album as it was "bloated"; however, I should point out in an interview with "Playboy" magazine a few years after "Red Rose Speedway's" release, Linda would say that Paul was hurt by the label's rejection and the critics reviews, thinking some of his best work went into the making of the album, that he lost confidence as a songwriter for a while and that a lot of the album "Band on the Run" was written as a "take that" to both EMI and the critics.

It should also be noted that it was during the making of this album is when tensions started to rise between Paul and guitarist Henry McCullough.

Paul, even though he would say to the other members of Wings, "Treat me as a bass player, not 'Beatle' Paul McCartney," was very much the leader and a perfectionist who didn't allow for a lot of improvisation/spontaneity while in the studio or on tour.

Henry, was very much an improvisers and began to chaff under Paul's leadership; he also disagreed with the decision to cut the album down from a double to a single, arguing that some of his best guitar playing was left on the cutting room floor.

Henry eventually left prior to the band's departure for Nigeria to record "Band on the Run".

 

[DarrenTR1970]

On April 10, House of Wax, starring Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, and Phyllis Kirk, premieres in New York.

Fun fact. The film was shot in 3-D, but the director was blind in/had only one eye; therefore, he could only see in mono-vision.