The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[The Old Mixer]

50 Years Ago This Week


August 19

• George Papadopoulos was sworn in as President of Greece after his June 1 overthrow of the monarchy had been confirmed by voters in a referendum.
• Bruce Lee's final martial arts film before his death, Enter the Dragon, premiered in the United States 30 days after his death on July 20, and would become one of the most profitable movies of all time, with revenues of $400,000,000 after being filmed with a budget of $850,000.
• Died: Willy Rey (stage name for Wilhelmina Rietveld), 23, Dutch-born Canadian model and Playboy magazine feature in February 1971, died of an overdose of barbiturates.

August 20

• In the Kingdom of Laos, former Laotian Army General Thao Ma led 60 officers in an attempt to overthrow the government. Arriving in the capital, Vientiane, he and his group took over the Wattay International Airport and seized several AT-28 fighter bombers and tried, unsuccessfully, to bomb the home and office of Major General Kouprasith Abhay. While General Thao was still in flight, Royal Laotian troops retook the airport and his airplane was shot down as he was attempting to land. He was rescued and survived the crash, but then put into a truck where he was driven to Kouprasith's headquarters, where he was executed by one of Kouprasith's bodyguards. The Laotian government executed 11 other coup participants the next day by firing squad.
• U.S. President Nixon grabbed and shoved his White House Press Secretary, Ron Ziegler, into a crowd of reporters after getting angry at being followed. Nixon shouted, "I don't want any press with me!," spun Ziegler around and shoved him, and yelled "Take care of it!" The incident was captured on film by a CBS News crew that had been covering Nixon's visit to a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in New Orleans. A few years later, Ziegler would tell the Washington Journalism Review that Nixon apologized to him in front of the entire staff and said "I'm sorry for what I did back there."

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

​

August 21

• Major Hubert O'Neill, the coroner in the inquest on the "Bloody Sunday" massacre, accused the British Army of "sheer unadulterated murder" after the coroner's jury returned an open verdict with no indictments recommended against anyone. On January 30, 1972, the British Army shot 26 unarmed civilians in Derry, and killed 14.

August 22

• The resignation of William P. Rogers as U.S. Secretary of State was announced by President Nixon, who said that he would nominate his National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger, to the position. Rogers, the only member of Nixon's first Cabinet who was still in office, formally departed on September 4 to return to a private law practice.

August 23

• The Norrmalmstorg robbery, the first criminal event in Sweden covered by live television, began in Stockholm as Jan-Erik Olsson entered the Kreditbanken bank on Norrmalmstorg Square, displayed a sub-machine gun, and took four employees hostage. After firing three shots and responding policemen, he demanded that the police release convicted robber Clark Olofsson, that the two be provided three million Swedish krona (equivalent at the time to $650,000 U.S.), and that they be provided a car and free passage to a flight out of Sweden, all of which was done. The police balked, however, at allowing the duo to take a hostage with them to the airport. Police would lock the two robbers and four hostages inside the bank's vault as the standoff continued, and would end the incident with a tear gas assault after five days. The incident would become famous for the origin of the term Stockholm syndrome, referring to hostages becoming sympathetic to their captors, in that the four hostages refused to testify against Olsson and Olofsson.

August 25

• The receipt of a large number of letter bombs in the mail, all sent from West London, began with the sending to department stores of 4 ounces of explosives hidden in ordinary envelopes. According to Scotland Yard, each of the bombs "was hidden inside a BBC music pamphlet", with the explosive charge detonating as soon as the book was opened. On August 27, a bomb mailed to the British Embassy in Washington D.C. exploded, causing a secretary to lose her left hand and mangling her right hand, and the British government issued a worldwide alert the next day.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Brother Louie," Stories
2. "Live and Let Die," Paul McCartney & Wings
3. "Touch Me in the Morning," Diana Ross
4. "Let's Get It On," Marvin Gaye
5. "The Morning After," Maureen McGovern
6. "Delta Dawn," Helen Reddy
7. "Get Down," Gilbert O'Sullivan
8. "Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose," Dawn feat. Tony Orlando
9. "Uneasy Rider," The Charlie Daniels Band
10. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," Jim Croce
11. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day," Chicago
12. "I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)," Johnnie Taylor
13. "Monster Mash," Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
14. "If You Want Me to Stay," Sly & The Family Stone
15. "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," Al Green
16. "Loves Me Like a Rock," Paul Simon
17. "Are You Man Enough," Four Tops
18. "Gypsy Man," War
19. "We're an American Band," Grand Funk
20. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," Elton John
21. "Angel," Aretha Franklin

23. "Smoke on the Water," Deep Purple
24. "Diamond Girl," Seals & Crofts

26. "Yesterday Once More," Carpenters
27. "That Lady (Part 1)," The Isley Brothers
28. "Shambala," Three Dog Night

30. "Believe in Humanity," Carole King

32. "Why Me," Kris Kristofferson

34. "Theme from Cleopatra Jones," Joe Simon feat. The Mainstreeters
35. "My Maria," B. W. Stevenson
36. "Behind Closed Doors," Charlie Rich
37. "Natural High," Bloodstone
39. "So Very Hard to Go," Tower of Power

42. "Money," Pink Floyd

45. "Will It Go Round in Circles," Billy Preston
46. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," Bette Midler

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

51. "Higher Ground," Stevie Wonder

54. "Half-Breed," Cher
55. "Free Ride," The Edgar Winter Group

62. "Playground in My Mind," Clint Holmes
63. "Where Peaceful Waters Flow," Gladys Knight & the Pips

71. "China Grove," The Doobie Brothers

78. "Yes We Can Can," The Pointer Sisters
79. "Keep On Truckin'," Eddie Kendricks

85. "Ramblin' Man," The Allman Brothers Band

87. "Rocky Mountain Way," Joe Walsh

Leaving the chart:

• "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)," George Harrison (14 weeks)
• "Kodachrome," Paul Simon (14 weeks)
• "Long Train Runnin'," The Doobie Brothers (18 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Ramblin' Man," The Allman Brothers Band

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#2 US; #12 AC)

"Keep On Truckin'," Eddie Kendricks

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#1 US the weeks of Nov. 10 and 17, 1973; #1 R&B; #18 UK)

_______

Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki page for the month.

_______

That could make it even spookier.

There wasn't much going on in that department. It looked like a darkened stage set...no doubt what it actually was.

Before the wheelchair, when he was still on active duty.

Nope, he's in his chair in that shot. The whole gist of the opening credits is that it shows him getting shot, then demonstrates that he's still an active cop while in the wheelchair, by flashing us the traditional accoutrements.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

IIRC from the earlier seasons, he also had a rod of some sort concealed in the chair, which could be used as a nightstick.

Highly recommended. It's in my top tier of shows, like Star Trek, Outer Limits, Night Stalker, et cetera....

I might have trouble getting past the premise being based on a huge historical inaccuracy--Jake being an ex-Flying Tiger in 1938, when the American volunteer squadron in China was barely being conceived. It wasn't a fully operational squadron until 1941, and didn't see combat until the aftermath of Pearl Harbor.

 

[RJDiogenes]

U.S. President Nixon grabbed and shoved his White House Press Secretary, Ron Ziegler, into a crowd of reporters after getting angry at being followed.

When it comes right down to it, Nixon was just a low-level jerk.

"Ramblin' Man," The Allman Brothers Band

An Oldies Radio staple. It's okay.

"Keep On Truckin'," Eddie Kendricks

I only vaguely remember this one. It reminds me of that old Crumb cartoon.

There wasn't much going on in that department. It looked like a darkened stage set...no doubt what it actually was.

Too bad. Kind of a missed opportunity.

Nope, he's in his chair in that shot. The whole gist of the opening credits is that it shows him getting shot, then demonstrates that he's still an active cop while in the wheelchair, by flashing us the traditional accoutrements.

Oh, so he's still on active duty? I thought he was a semi-retired consultant or something.

I might have trouble getting past the premise being based on a huge historical inaccuracy--Jake being an ex-Flying Tiger in 1938, when the American volunteer squadron in China was barely being conceived. It wasn't a fully operational squadron until 1941, and didn't see combat until the aftermath of Pearl Harbor.

Yeah, I don't know if that was a mistake or artistic license or what. I didn't even know until years later, because I knew little about the Flying Tigers at the time. But it doesn't really figure into it that much-- it's basically a Terry and the Pirates-style South Seas adventure.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

_______

The Mod Squad
"Survival"
Originally aired October 5, 1971

Julie, suffering a snake bite, is left stranded in the desert with a blind man when three young hoodlums steal her car.

Julie's off duty? Check. Believe it or not, she's on vacation again! Greer should just fire her, she'd get more work done.

She's just gotten gas at a desert station with a lecherous owner named Briggs (Val Avery) when she picks up a blind hitchhiker, Larry Wheeler (John Rubinstein), and his seeing eye dog, Bravo. The taciturn Wheeler threatens to get out when Julie tries to make friendly small talk. Intrepid policewoman that she is, she doesn't notice that he has a gun tucked in his waistband. A falling rock forces Julie to swerve off the road, blowing a tire, and Larry insists on changing it. While Julie's wandering on the rocks, she's bit just below the knee but above her boot by a rattler. They deal with the wound and poison, and are considering how to divide driving chores when Julie has Larry flag down a beat-up VW bus. The trio of scruffily hip occupants--Gita (Karen Huston), Hawk (Jon Shank), and Rolly (Elliott Street)--insist on driving Julie's car while she and Larry ride in the van. They end up going offroad for a ways, then make Julie and Larry get out, revealing that they're taking the car and that Gita is an escapee. Larry pulls his gun and Hawk struggles with him for it; when Larry calls Bravo for help, that motherfucker Hawk shoots him!

After a grieving Larry buries Bravo in a pile of rocks......he tries unsuccessfully to start the vehicle...and drops the bomb to Julie that he's especially anxious to get into town because he has an appointment to kill somebody! Meanwhile, the trio of hoodlums stop at Briggs's station, and he notices that it's the same car. While all this has been going on, Julie not having shown up for Greer's birthday party at Linc's, the guys have gone out looking for her. They end up tracing her journey back to Briggs's, who's under the mistaken impression that Gita was Julie. Back at the van, Julie--suffering from dehydration--directs Larry in making an air marker with rocks...and contrary to Wheeler's skepticism, Greer does come looking for Julie in a chopper, but the search is thwarted by a sandstorm...Greer flying directly overhead but not seeing them.

Motivated not to miss his opportunity to kill the man responsible for blinding him seven years earlier, Larry heads off alone to try to find the road, promising to send someone back...but he experiences great difficulty with the rugged, hilly terrain, losing his cane and glasses. Julie hobbles off after him, they find each other, and take shelter under some rocks. Larry tells Julie that the man he's after was the driver in an accident that killed his father in addition to blinding him. Meanwhile, Pete and Linc, searching motels in the direction that Julie's car went, spot Gita and the boys at a pool, mistaking Gita for Julie. When Rolly tries to split upon hearing Julie's name, the guys start to go into action, but are stopped when the bikini-clad Gita retrieves the gun. The gang take off in a pickup truck--I'm not sure what happened to Julie's car at this point--and the guys pursue.

The truck ends up going down into a gully but not obligatorily bursting into flames...Rolly, who jumped out before it went over, being the only survivor. The guys persuade him to take them to where his gang left Julie, and the search is back on, with conventional sheriff backup and Greer back in the chopper, while Pete and Linc trek out into the rugged terrain on foot. Larry and Julie are comforting each other, assuming the end is near, when Julie spots the guys distantly appearing over a hillside. Larry signals them by reflecting the sun off his belt buckle with Julie's guidance, and the guys find and hydrate them.

Larry and Bravo II drop by a wheelchair-bound Julie's pad for Greer's belated party, and Larry privately informs Julie that he's changed his mind about the vengeance thing. The camera pulls out during a toast around the cake.

I guess that end-credits disclaimers about no animals being harmed haven't become a thing yet, but I'd be traumatized either way. I guess episodes like this are why they eventually started using them...they probably got angry letters from people like me! In memoriam:


_______

Ironside
"The Gambling Game"
Originally aired October 5, 1971

Ironside finds it suspicious that a hood is eager to vindicate a dead police captain accused of working with gamblers. Elizabeth Baur makes her debut as Fran Belding in this episode.

Joe Julian (Clifford David) is called in by Bernie Wilson (Richard Angarola), manager of a gambling joint posing as a restaurant, for an anticipated police raid led by Captain Phil Edwards (Russ Conway) and Sgt. Artie Hawkins (Van Williams...his dual identity known only to his secretary and to the district attorney)--which Ironside is monitoring from afar, though none of his team is on the scene. But the bust turns out to be a bust because Wilson was tipped off by an inside man. Joe returns to his girlfriend Betty (Madlyn Rhue) to happily report that he got intel he needed.

At a cocktail lounge, Fran Belding is schmoozing with gabby small-time hood Charlie Rhine (he whose lover stands on golden sands and watches the ships that go sailing, Bobby Darin) to press him for info about who the inside man is. She calls the Chief to tell him what she's doing, but we learn as the story goes on that she's a rookie fresh out of the academy who's doing this off-duty, determined to exonerate her father, a former police captain who was framed for being the inside man before either before or after being found murdered. At the lounge, Rhine gets suspicious enough to search Fran's purse, finding her badge. As he's splitting, the Ironsidemobile arrives, and he swipes into it with his car, knocking the Chief from his chair lift to the pavement. Back at the Cave, the Chief is well enough to insist on keeping active against the advice of his doctor, Richard Latham (Donald Woods), and butts heads with Fran over her extracurricular activity.

The team interrogates Charlie at HQ, and while he's evasive regarding what he knows about the inside man, the Chief lets him be freed on bail so they can find out what he's really up to. Rhine reports to Julian that their ruse was successful--Rhine having been knowingly playing Fran, and Julian's operation having to do with throwing Ironside off because he's the one investigating the Belding murder. At the Cave, Fran reports to the Chief in full formal uniform, outraged that he's had her transferred to his team so he can keep an eye on her, putting her to administrative work. The Chief reluctantly submits to an appointment with Latham, who informs him that if he doesn't have an operation ASAP, he could become totally immobile. Ironside agrees to wear a neck brace to stall on getting the surgery. On follow-up questioning at the Cave, Charlie remains evasive about the identity of the informant, offering only that he's on the vice squad and suggesting a sting operation involving busting a dance club called Ballard's in an attempt to flush out the inside man.

A squabbling Ed and Fran go undercover as patrons at Ballard's to scope the place out, where they see that Charlie is reporting to Julian and wonder why Julian is trying to get his own operation busted. The Chief lets Capt. Edwards in on their operation to flush out the informant in his department, which will involve using Lt. Reese, whose loop the informant wouldn't be in on. Fran continues to butt heads with the Chief, who reminds her of a childhood incident that demonstrated the same combative streak. All the while, the Chief is under pressure from Mark and Ed to hand over the reins and get the surgery. When Latham informs Ironside that the brace can't do any more good, the Chief agrees to making an appointment for the following day...but, concerned with being there to handle Fran when they potentially get to the bottom of her father's murder, insists that they make the raid that night--the doctor warning that at this point, any rough business might fully paralyze Ironside ahead of the procedure.

Edwards gets the call to proceed with the bust, and Artie Hawkins immediately slips off to a HQ phone booth to tip off Wilson. (Hawkins was obviously the inside man by this point, from a combination of being a conspicuously well-known guest star with high billing at the beginning of the episode and barely having been in a couple of scenes.) Ed and Reese nab Hawkins in the act, and he's brought to the Cave, where he admits that he was responsible for planting evidence to frame Capt. Belding, but not the murder...and is made to realize that he was set up to be the fall guy by Julian. He shares that the night Belding was killed, the captain went alone to talk to somebody after receiving a tip. Meanwhile, Julian is up to his own game to rise in the underworld ranks, which involves getting Wilson's heavy Eddie Rogers (John Lupton) out of the way, then pulling his gun on Wilson in his car. It's then that the team and backup swoop in. Julian is mortally wounded in an exchange of fire, and as Betty cradles his body, Ironside confronts her with the deduction that she was the one who killed Belding, as the captain's guard would have been down from not knowing she was seeing Joe. This revelation changes Fran's demeanor, from an earlier screaming at Joe to tell her who killed her father to asking that Betty be allowed to stay with his body for awhile before being taken away.

In the van afterward, Fran agrees to stay on the team to help while the Chief is out of commission. We'll see if there's any sign of an aftermath to his surgery in coming episodes.

_______

When it comes right down to it, Nixon was just a low-level jerk.

And yet still, compared to today's model...

An Oldies Radio staple. It's okay.

Enjoyable classic, good driving song.

I only vaguely remember this one. It reminds me of that old Crumb cartoon.

It's got a good sound, was probably popular for being proto-disco, but oddly obscuro in my experience for a chart-topper. It begs the question of how this got to #1, but "Live and Let Die" has been held back for three weeks now by three different songs.

Oh, so he's still on active duty? I thought he was a semi-retired consultant or something.

He's a consultant, but he's still an active part of the actual police force. Guess you could say that he's his own department...qualifying as Unconventional Law Enforcement in his own way.

Yeah, I don't know if that was a mistake or artistic license or what. I didn't even know until years later, because I knew little about the Flying Tigers at the time. But it doesn't really figure into it that much-- it's basically a Terry and the Pirates-style South Seas adventure.

If they'd wanted him to be an ex-combat pilot while being historically accurate, they could have said that he'd volunteered in the Spanish Civil War (1936) and somehow wound up in the Pacific afterward.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Julie's off duty? Check. Believe it or not, she's on vacation again! Greer should just fire her, she'd get more work done.

He should put a tail on her. She's a crime magnet.

Larry Wheeler (John Rubinstein)

Family, Vega$, and a few other things.

The taciturn Wheeler threatens to get out when Julie tries to make friendly small talk.

"No, please! Don't go!"

Intrepid policewoman that she is, she doesn't notice that he has a gun tucked in his waistband.

The writers forgot which one was blind.

A falling rock forces Julie to swerve off the road

A random event triggering what is essentially a random series of events.

While Julie's wandering on the rocks

I'd really love to know why she wasn't ever replaced.

she's bit just below the knee but above her boot by a rattler.

Another random event.

and are considering how to divide driving chores

Wait, what?

The trio of scruffily hip occupants--Gita (Karen Huston), Hawk (Jon Shank), and Rolly (Elliott Street)--insist on driving Julie's car while she and Larry ride in the van.

Uh oh. Hippie Deliverance.

They end up going offroad for a ways, then make Julie and Larry get out, revealing that they're taking the car and that Gita is an escapee.

More randomness.

Larry pulls his gun and Hawk struggles with him for it; when Larry calls Bravo for help, that motherfucker Hawk shoots him!

We now begin to hope for Hawk to meet the most grisly fate possible.

After a grieving Larry buries Bravo in a pile of rocks......

I hope he was able to go back and find him later.

drops the bomb to Julie that he's especially anxious to get into town because he has an appointment to kill somebody!

Dude, it's not a job interview. You can reschedule.

Julie not having shown up for Greer's birthday party at Linc's, the guys have gone out looking for her.

If this was today, they'd probably have her microchipped.

but the search is thwarted by a sandstorm...

I'm not sure if the writer deliberately chose chaos as a theme or if he's just lazy.

Larry tells Julie that the man he's after was the driver in an accident that killed his father in addition to blinding him.

Just some anonymous person who never appears in the story.

The gang take off in a pickup truck--I'm not sure what happened to Julie's car at this point--and the guys pursue.

It sounds like they're in the habit of frequently changing vehicles.

The truck ends up going down into a gully but not obligatorily bursting into flames...

Hawk being crushed and dying slowly.

Larry and Julie are comforting each other, assuming the end is near

How far from the road can they be?

a wheelchair-bound Julie's pad

Who now insists upon being called Ironjulie.

Larry privately informs Julie that he's changed his mind about the vengeance thing.

"Now that I know you're a cop."

I guess that end-credits disclaimers about no animals being harmed haven't become a thing yet, but I'd be traumatized either way. I guess episodes like this are why they eventually started using them...they probably got angry letters from people like me!

Well, if the purpose of fiction is to create an emotional reaction in the audience, this was surely effective on that level.

Sgt. Artie Hawkins (Van Williams...his dual identity known only to his secretary and to the district attorney)

If the Green Hornet existed in this universe, I'm sure Ironside would be a trusted confidante.

Betty (Madlyn Rhue)

Marla again.

Charlie Rhine (he whose lover stands on golden sands and watches the ships that go sailing, Bobby Darin)

Sadly, soon to be the late Bobby Darin.

Rhine gets suspicious enough to search Fran's purse, finding her badge.

A rookie mistake for a rookie.

As he's splitting, the Ironsidemobile arrives, and he swipes into it with his car, knocking the Chief from his chair lift to the pavement.

Whoa, speaking of wheelchair stunts.

Fran reports to the Chief in full formal uniform, outraged that he's had her transferred to his team so he can keep an eye on her, putting her to administrative work.

"I've got some very hazardous duties for you."

The Chief reluctantly submits to an appointment with Latham, who informs him that if he doesn't have an operation ASAP, he could become totally immobile.

That ups the stakes.

Fran continues to butt heads with the Chief

She's got spunk. He hates spunk.

When Latham informs Ironside that the brace can't do any more good, the Chief agrees to making an appointment for the following day...but, concerned with being there to handle Fran when they potentially get to the bottom of her father's murder, insists that they make the raid that night--the doctor warning that at this point, any rough business might fully paralyze Ironside ahead of the procedure.

This is definitely a strong episode for the Chief.

This revelation changes Fran's demeanor, from an earlier screaming at Joe to tell her who killed her father to asking that Betty be allowed to stay with his body for awhile before being taken away.

Okay, I think I missed something. I'm not getting why Betty killed Captain Belding or why Fran would have sympathy for her.

In the van afterward, Fran agrees to stay on the team to help while the Chief is out of commission. We'll see if there's any sign of an aftermath to his surgery in coming episodes.

Or if they address why she's become a permanent part of the team. Aside from me being confused by the plot, this sounds like it would have made a far better season premiere.

And yet still, compared to today's model...

I hate to think of what we'll have fifty years from now.

He's a consultant, but he's still an active part of the actual police force. Guess you could say that he's his own department...qualifying as Unconventional Law Enforcement in his own way.

Which was coincidentally made clear in this very episode.

If they'd wanted him to be an ex-combat pilot while being historically accurate, they could have said that he'd volunteered in the Spanish Civil War (1936) and somehow wound up in the Pacific afterward.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of background information on the show so I don't know if they had a particular reason for doing it this way. Maybe something to do with the Dragon Lady? I guess they're just in an alternate Pulp-verse where the Flying Tigers formed a few years earlier.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

_______

The Mod Squad
"Color of Laughter, Color of Tears"
Originally aired October 12, 1971

The Squad investigates a circus carnival that is being sabotaged before its opening day. The circus' owner, Joe Walton (Ed Asner), vows that the show will go on, despite it being in more danger of additional accidents.

Walton summons his old friend Greer (figures they'd be old friends) to the circus to tell him of how somebody's trying to shut them down, committing acts from sabotaging equipment to poisoning animals. Greer's trying to dismiss the incidents as accidents when a tent catches on fire...animal cages and burning racks of costumes having to be pulled out. (We see Greer's stunt double, with more hair, in action tearing down the burning tent canvas.) In the aftermath, Greer finds a couple of empty gas cans, so he sends the kids to work at the circus. Pete's assigned to assist Jennifer Teel (Anne Archer) in tending to the elephants, though she's unfriendly and doesn't want help. Julie is recruited to do the trapeze act with a guy named Tony (Paul Bertoya), as a sub for his pregnant wife, Christine (Maria Grimm, whose character is confusingly referred to as Jennifer in her introductory scene). Okay, now they're maybe overcompensating with Julie! Linc is assigned to help a man named Koger with the cats. As he's looking around the tent, he spots a man (Charles Briggs) outside putting some powder in their meat. The man runs and Linc pursues, but despite an attempt at a flying kick, is whacked with a post.

Walton confronts Koger (Parley Baer) over having left the tent unattended to hit the flask; and identifies the likely poisoner as a worker named Cates. Linc learns that Koger resents Walton for having bought out his partnership in the circus during a lean time. Pete watches as Julie's stunt double gets the swing of the trapeze; then as Jennifer is raised onto her elephant by her teeth. He tries to find out what happened to put her off of people, ultimately pursuing her to her trailer and learning that she holds Walton responsible for the death of her father, a high wire artist. Pete later watches as Jennifer dives into a bale of hay from a high pole. Julie has just finished another round of practice on the trapeze when it breaks for the next performer, Edward, sending him plummeting through the net to his death.

Back at Greer's office, Walton insists that the show must go on even though the trapeze is confirmed to have been sabotaged. Pete asks him about Jennifer's father and he sadly explains how he had to fire Frederick when he wouldn't step down from the act as he was getting too old for it, so Frederick killed himself. Walton insists that despite his people hating his guts, they've still got each other's backs, as they're circus folk, outsiders to the rest of the world. While given a chance to back out, the Mods insist on staying on the case. Back at the circus, Linc is feeding a tiger when an unidentified figure pulls open the lion cage. The other Mods walk in, and Linc and Pete stand perfectly still as Julie goes to bring in the drunken Koger, who stumbles while trying to prod the king of the beasts, but has Linc throw some meat in his cage to lure the lion back in. By night, Julie has a nice talk with Joe in the main tent as he's sitting imagining it filled with people. Just as I'm starting to suspect that maybe he's the one sabotaging his circus, he afterward catches another flyer, Otto (Michael Baseleon), paying off Cates. Cates flees; Otto pulls a switchblade and tells Walton that he's being paid by people who want to put Walton out of business; and Walton is stabbed in a struggle over the blade, to be found by Julie.

Not having been seen, Otto sticks around as Walton is taken away in an ambulance. Greer tells the Mods how he's learned of a racket that's been sabotaging small-time circuses in order to buy them out cheap, and they still want to stay on the case...Julie advocating for saving everything that Walton is and has done. The next day Linc spots Cates at the fence and goes after him. Cates insists that all he did was poison the meat, but tells the Mods about how Walton caught Otto paying him off the night before. The guys call in Greer, and when Otto spots him coming from the trapeze platform, he pushes Julie off, and she finds herself dangling from a rope ladder by one leg. While Pete and an elephant-mounted Jennifer lead the effort to rescue her, Otto tries to make an escape by zip-lining down, but Linc and his double are waiting for him on the ground.

The coda finds Walton back in his trailer on the mend and ready to see that the show goes on. Pete notices how the circus employees are gathered in concern for their boss despite some of their feelings toward him, and Julie repeats something that Walton told her: "Men go to the Moon and wonder; Children go to the circus and understand." Greer and the Mods then walk off on the circus grounds.


"You know something, Julie? You've got spunk..."



_______

Ironside
"Ring of Prayer"
Originally aired October 12, 1971

Ironside matches wits with a phony psychic.

Ironside attends a hearing at San Quentin to advocate for the parole of Carl Proctor, who's serving time for occult scamming; but a holdout surprisingly votes against the parole. The Chief has a suspicious eye on Ben Hopkins (Paul Stewart), who'd previously been in favor of parole but acted nervous at the hearing; and is seen in the hall accompanied by a flamboyantly hatted woman (Barbara Rush). In the van, the Chief shares his suspicion that somebody already knows where Proctor stashed his $57,000, and doesn't want him out to claim it. (You'd think that divulging the location of the money would be part of getting parole.)

The Chief pays a social visit to Hopkins to ask him about it. Hopkins says that he was surprised to find that he wrote "No" when he hadn't intended to, and was struggling over changing the vote. The Chief takes interest in a book about the occult that Hopkins says he got in the mail; and when questioned, he indicates that he met the woman at a cocktail party. The Chief goes back to San Quentin to visit Proctor (Than Wyenn), who's in the infirmary with an illness that has his doctor (John Zaremba) baffled, which includes having difficulty communicating either verbally or by writing--though he manages to get the words out, "She got to him." The Chief notices an occult crucifix at his bedside. In town, Ed looks around for a copy of the book and ends up in the shop of Madame Jabez, the woman Hopkins was with. After a circular exchange, she addresses Ed as Sergeant Brown.

The Chief has to order Ed to read the book, noting that he had a peculiar attitude toward Jabez upon seeing her at the prison; and sends Fran to the library to check out as many books on the occult as she can find for research. The Chief visits Walter Butler (Ray Walston), the book's publisher, to try to learn something about the author, Tom Walker, whose confidentiality Butler guards. Butler subsquently pays a panicked visit to Jabez, who's been staring trancelike in her mirror having visions of Proctor, Hopkins, and Ironside; and a card is found that Mark left in the door inviting her to cocktails. Hopkins visits the Chief at the Cave--the Chief somehow having known he was there before he knocked, and Hopkins somehow knowing that Proctor has died before Mark, who's staking out the prison infirmary, reports it.

Jabez has more visions, seeing just Hopkins and Ironside now. The next day, the team notes that the Chief hasn't been sleeping or eating--symptoms shared by Proctor and Hopkins. Randall pays a visit to the Cave to ask about progress on the case and informs Ironside that Hopkins killed himself the night before--leaving a note to Ironside with a cryptic message, the episode's title. The Chief has his cocktail date with Jabez, sounding her out about what he knows. Afterward, the Ironsidemobile, which has been having trouble, stalls at the bottom of a hill, and is narrowly missed by a swerving truck coming downhill.

Jabez has another vision, this time in a crystal ball and just of Ironside. The Chief invites her to join him at the pauper's funeral of Proctor, accusing her of having killed both him and Hopkins via the power of suggestion--"Nowadays they call it 'psyching out'." The Chief has Fran round up nine mediums and Butler for a titular gathering to serve as a jury against a practitioner of the occult who's misusing her abilities...underscoring a connection with "The Devil and Daniel Webster"--a story that the Chief has determined Jabez has an affinity for. Butler runs out and calls Jabez, so the Chief has Fran complete the ring for the ceremony while he pays a visit to Jabez. While she has flashes to the ceremony, he accuses her of having used Proctor's money to set up her bookstore, as well as to set up Butler under his alias to publish the book under an authorial alias, the names having been taken from "Daniel Webster" and the Washington Irving story that inspired it. Jabez collapses from a stroke. In the aftermath, the Chief indicates that his effort to "psych out" Jabez went further than he attended; reveals to the team that he'd been losing weight on a bet with Randall; and explains that he let the mediums continue with the ceremony after Butler left because "it wouldn't hurt".

This is the part where I'd normally say that they should've aired the episode in October. As expected, there's no follow-up on the Chief's surgery here; and Fran's role is basically just playing the harried assistant. There is a funny bit of business in the Cave where the Chief asks the team to do things politely and in an exaggeratedly soft voice to prove that he doesn't just yell orders all the time.

_______

Wait, what?

She could steer, but needed him to be her legs.

Uh oh. Hippie Deliverance.

Dude, it's not a job interview. You can reschedule.

It had to do with knowing exactly where he was going to be at a specific time. Keep in mind that this is a blind would-be shooter.

How far from the road can they be?

But it's a case of the snakebit leading the blind.

"Now that I know you're a cop."

I'm not sure that he ever found out, per se. She kept referring to the other Mods as her friends.

Okay, I think I missed something. I'm not getting why Betty killed Captain Belding or why Fran would have sympathy for her.

Killing Belding was said to have made Joe a big man in the organization; she did it to help him. I wasn't clear as the situation was revealed to us during the episode, but in retrospect, I think that Belding was framed posthumously...he seemed to have still been on duty when he was killed, and the evidence planted in his locker was probably meant to be found when they cleared it out. As for Fran's sympathy, I think it was a combination of seeing the man who was ultimately responsible already having paid the ultimate price; finding that the woman who pulled the trigger was an amateur, not a mob pro; and seeing her genuine grief at her loss. FWIW, Betty was portrayed as reluctant, questioning Joe's ambitions.

Or if they address why she's become a permanent part of the team.

Well, that's just episodic television. Stick around for a little while = multi-season gig.

Aside from me being confused by the plot, this sounds like it would have made a far better season premiere.

Indeed...it felt very much like one.

I guess they're just in an alternate Pulp-verse where the Flying Tigers formed a few years earlier.

I don't find that to be a very compelling argument in an historical setting. There's room to play around with how the characters fit into history, but the background events should be more accurate to reality. Playing fast and loose with the timeline of a period is one thing, but nailing things to a specific date and having a frequently referenced core element of the main character be an anachronism to that period stretches things too far.

 

[RJDiogenes]

"Color of Laughter, Color of Tears"

Pretty cool title.

Walton summons his old friend Greer (figures they'd be old friends) to the circus to tell him of how somebody's trying to shut them down

Speaking of Spelling re-using scripts, this reminds me of an early season two Charlie's Angels episode-- I think it was the first one filmed with Cheryl Ladd.

Greer's trying to dismiss the incidents as accidents

I hate this trope. It just makes the character look stupid.

(Maria Grimm, whose character is confusingly referred to as Jennifer in her introductory scene)

Oops. No global search-and-replace in those days.

Okay, now they're maybe overcompensating with Julie!

I was about to say.

The man runs and Linc pursues, but despite an attempt at a flying kick, is whacked with a post.

It was just an accident.

Back at Greer's office, Walton insists that the show must go on even though the trapeze is confirmed to have been sabotaged.

It seems to me that sabotage and murder would be enough to close it down whether Walton wanted to or not.

they've still got each other's backs, as they're circus folk, outsiders to the rest of the world.

"Hey, Rube!"

Back at the circus, Linc is feeding a tiger when an unidentified figure pulls open the lion cage.

One thing I like about these circus episodes is that they feel like old movies from the 30s or 40s.

Greer tells the Mods how he's learned of a racket that's been sabotaging small-time circuses in order to buy them out cheap

Why?

The guys call in Greer, and when Otto spots him coming from the trapeze platform, he pushes Julie off

That's an odd reaction.

While Pete and an elephant-mounted Jennifer lead the effort to rescue her

She learned to swing on a trapeze in one day, but she can't pull herself up a rope ladder?

Julie repeats something that Walton told her: "Men go to the Moon and wonder; Children go to the circus and understand."

I watch Mod Squad and wonder what the hell they're talking about.

"You know something, Julie? You've got spunk..."

At this point, he had already uttered those immortal words.

(You'd think that divulging the location of the money would be part of getting parole.)

Indeed. Or just that he'd be required to reimburse his scamees, regardless of its location.

Walter Butler (Ray Walston)

Boothby of Mars!

accusing her of having killed both him and Hopkins via the power of suggestion--"Nowadays they call it 'psyching out'."

"At least that's what the kids in the Mod Squad call it."

underscoring a connection with "The Devil and Daniel Webster"--a story that the Chief has determined Jabez has an affinity for.

That's a nice touch.

In the aftermath, the Chief indicates that his effort to "psych out" Jabez went further than he attended

Nevertheless, you killed her, Chief.

This is the part where I'd normally say that they should've aired the episode in October.

Seems to me that the episode was chock full of Red Herrings that went nowhere and were never explained-- the occult crucifix, Ed's attitude, the various random premonitions, the Ironsidemobile stalling, et cetera. I was expecting some more elaborate scheme, like the books being laced with a drug or some subliminal suggestions or something.

She could steer, but needed him to be her legs.

Okay, that would have been something to see.

It had to do with knowing exactly where he was going to be at a specific time. Keep in mind that this is a blind would-be shooter.

Yeah, I was expecting some kind of a point-blank situation.

But it's a case of the snakebit leading the blind.

Well said.

As for Fran's sympathy, I think it was a combination of seeing the man who was ultimately responsible already having paid the ultimate price; finding that the woman who pulled the trigger was an amateur, not a mob pro; and seeing her genuine grief at her loss.

That speaks well of the character, anyway.

having a frequently referenced core element of the main character be an anachronism to that period stretches things too far.

I'm not sure how frequently it was referenced in the stories, but he was always wearing his Flying Tigers bomber jacket, so that would probably be a constant source of irritation to you.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

_______

The Mod Squad
"The Medicine Men"
Originally aired October 19, 1971

Julie falls in love with a young doctor who is being blackmailed by one of his fellow students from medical school.

Julie's seeing Dr. Gary Lefferts (Robert Foxworth), who slips out of the office with her to evade an unwanted visitor, Arnold Kane (Lou Antonio). Kane recklessly chases them down in his car, Julie wonders if she's on the clock now, and Lefferts eventually stops and threatens Kane outside the car. Kane counter-threatens to "blow the lid off" Gary if he doesn't get what he wants, by summoning some old classmates to talk about the death of somebody named Bunks.

Greer tells Julie that he can't do anything if Lefferts isn't willing to come forward, so she recruits the guys. In a follow-up visit in Lefferts's office, we learn that Kane was thrown out of medical school for cheating; and Kane threatens to show the police a spot where something is hidden. (Oh, what could it be?) Julie drops in as Kane is leaving and tries to get info from Gary, or to talk him into seeing a friend of a friend who works with the police. In a steam room, Gary discusses the situation with former classmates Joe Goodson (Billy Dee Williams) and Avery Corman (Burr DeBenning), who were as involved with the mystery incident as he was. Goodson would rather kill Kane than make a deal, but Gary insists on no more killing.

The guys stake out the scrambler six-wheeled ATV track that Kane manages during a meeting between him and the others, where Kane--now alcoholic and wanting the sort of good life that he assumes his old classmates enjoy--insists on regular weekly payments from each. Goodson in particular objects to this as he's in research, which doesn't make the kind of money that private practice does. Linc goes to work at the track posing as a sub for the regular mechanic; while Pete does some library research revealing that the four men were classmates, but not finding any clue to who Bunks was. Julie asks Gary outright about Bunks, and he tells her not to dig into it. Back at the track, after Linc fixes a scrambler, Kane takes a ride in it and is shot with a hypodermic-firing rifle by a mysterious figure, causing the scrambler to overturn when it hits a hay-bale obstacle, tossing him free before it obligatorily bursts into flame just from toppling over--the parents of the kids driving these should be advised.

Kane is found dead with the hypodermic projectile removed, but with alcohol and an experimental heart stimulant in his system...an overdose of the latter having caused a heart attack. At this point Greer knows that the Mods have been involved in the blackmail investigation, and considers Lefferts to be a murder suspect as a hospital he works at uses the drug. Linc's turn at library research reveals that there was a fellow medical student named Bunker who was reported missing. Julie brings the other Mods to confront Gary about what happened to Bunks, and he tells the story of how they were cramming for finals eight years prior with the aid of booze and pills when they decided to have a little fun by spiking Bunks's (Hank Jones) beer with LSD. For undiagnosed reasons, Bunks collapsed dead; and fearing for their careers, the others buried him at a campus construction site. Julie has a crisis of confidence in Gary, slapping him and running off.

Pete goes to Goodson's lab to lean on him about his potential involvement in Kane's murder. In a meeting between the three doctors at Corman's house, Avery threatens that Julie and her two friends are going to end up dead if they don't lay off, and the other two realize that he killed Kane...and, as he continues to rant about dealing with anyone who threatens him while brandishing his rifle, that he's a little unhinged. (He was the obvious suspect to me because they were going out of their way to make Billy Dee obvious, while conspicuously keeping Corman out of the spotlight.) Lefferts goes to Julie to warn her, and she convinces him to stop letting what happened to Bunks destroy his life by coming forward. She's making a call to Pete when a shot through her window takes out the lamp. Gary and Julie--the latter in pajamas, robe, and slippers--run out the back and Corman chases them into a nearby parking garage in his car, trying multiple times to run them down. He finally cuts them off, shoots Gary with the rifle, and is about to shoot Julie when the guys screech up in the Challenger--Linc's double leaping out of the moving convertible to tackle Corman!

Julie accompanies Gary to the hospital, where he's conscious and apologizes to her for how things turned out between them. Greer asserts that all three doctors will be having their days in court, and a sorrowful and still robe-clad Julie walks off in the hospital corridor, Linc and Pete following behind her.

_______

Ironside
"In the Line of Duty"
Originally aired October 19, 1971

A local thief is suspected of killing a policeman—until evidence suggests otherwise.

The episode opens with Ironside watching expositional news coverage of the funeral of his friend and colleague Sgt. Jack Campbell, who was recently killed in the line of duty...which the Chief attended, of course. At the reading of the will, also attended by the Chief and Jack's father (Stuart Randall), the widow, Gloria Campbell (Vera Miles), acts surprised at a life insurance policy that she says she and Jack had rejected as too expensive. The Chief has Campbell's partner, Sgt. Raul Garcia (Ned Romero), at the Cave to ask some hard questions about having called in sick the night Jack was killed and whether Campbell was on the trail of the Golden Gate Bandit at the time. The Chief re-questions surviving victims of the brutal bandit, who holds up couples and rapes the women, learning that he used a different gun than the .38 revolver that killed Campbell. Campbell's killer being known to have taken a bullet wound himself, Garcia calls the Chief when he learns of a conspicuous penicillin purchase at a pharmacy. This leads to a George Whittaker (Brandon De Wilde), who fires out his window when the police surround his place, but is quickly subdued with a launched gas grenade.

Whittaker proves to be a former petty drug user arrestee of Campbell's, and his gun matches the killing, but Ironside isn't satisfied, as Whittaker isn't a good fit for the Golden Gate Bandit. He questions Whittaker at the hospital, but though the suspect faces potential death penalty charges, he neither confirms nor denies killing Campbell; and the young couple that Ironside interviewed are unable to positively identify Whittaker as the Bandit. Parked at a lookout point, another young couple is subsequently held up by the stocking-masked Bandit (Bill Burnside), but a patrol car interrupts, leading to a vehicle pursuit and eventual firefight in which the Bandit is shot in an exchange of fire with Ed and Garcia. (Not clear if this was fatal without looking back, but he disappears from the story at this point.) Items in his trunk include wallets, purses, and articles of clothing of former victims.

George receives a hospital visit from his maiden Aunt Marlene (Ann Doran). George's trial proves to be suspiciously quick, with Whittaker promptly pleading guilty as charged to Campbell's murder against the advice of his public defender. Afterward, Ironside asks George if he copped a plea, and about a "semi-hippie" young woman he'd been seen with, despite his denying having a girlfriend. He claims to have not seen her in a long time and that she split town, but an examination of Whittaker's apartment by the Chief and Fran reveals a telescope trained on an apartment window in a wealthier neighborhood. Ironside picks up Gloria Campbell, who was headed out of town after receiving her insurance payment, to show her what he's deduced was a "love nest," contrastingly well-furnished to Whittaker's place, with the clothing and accessories that the woman George was seeing wore. Gloria acts uncomfortable as the Chief describes how the woman could have signaled George from her balcony. Finally, the Chief accuses her of being that woman, who wanted her husband out of the way and for whom George was willing to take the fall...all supported by a witnessed meeting between Gloria and Whittaker years before, around the time that Jack arrested him; and Gloria having known that Jack was riding alone that night, despite initially claiming not to have. While all of this is going on, Gloria picks up a pair of garden shears and moves toward the Chief, but ultimately drops them and runs out.

Gloria stays in town and the Chief has no evidence to hold her on. Then Fran learns that Jack Campbell had made investigative visits to the love nest. Ironside leaps into a new theory that George and Gloria were working together to protect somebody else, and ties that into a young woman who was standing next to Gloria at the funeral, whom Gloria had a framed picture of in a stewardess uniform. Ironside digs up that Jack and Garcia were working on a tip involving drugs being smuggled by employees of the same small airline; and an inquiry turns up that Gloria Malin had a daughter before she was married, who was raised by Gloria's mother. Stewardess Joanna Malin (Kathryn Kelly Wiget) is subsequently arrested in the airport parking lot, her bag concealing a package of heroin. Gloria subsequently confesses that she'd recently learned that Joanna was seeing George; knew that Jack was onto what Joanna was doing; and wasn't in on the murder, but was planning to give the insurance money to her so that she could leave the country. Joanna subsequently claims not to have been in on the murder either.

The Chief's closing words kind of lampshade the episode's eleventh-hour infodump twist.

The Chief: You know, 95 percent of the time police work makes sense, you get a real feeling of accomplishment. And every once in a while, there's a case like this.
Ed: We did finally get at the truth...all of it.
The Chief: Yeah. I wish I could say I was happy about it.​

The element that seemed particularly odd to me was the Chief supplying his own red herring by insisting on connecting the murder with the Golden Gate Bandit. He's usually the one seeing through such things. And my apologies if there are any remaining instances of "Jack" that should be "George"--I caught myself doing that throughout.

_______

Pretty cool title.

I get the impression that Chris Claremont must have watched this show.

Oops. No global search-and-replace in those days.

As far as I caught, it was the only time they dropped a name for the character, too. I was expecting them to take Julie to the other character, and that character ended up helping her pick out a costume. I wonder if there was an unpolished rewrite involved.

I was about to say.

They do seem to be making an effort to get her out more this season.

It seems to me that sabotage and murder would be enough to close it down whether Walton wanted to or not.

Can't investigate if you shut it down, though.

Why?

They're Ringling Bros., it's what they do.

That's an odd reaction.

Meant to serve as an escape distraction.

She learned to swing on a trapeze in one day, but she can't pull herself up a rope ladder?

I got the impression she was supposed to be stunned or something (yet still holding on), though it really wasn't clear since we were just seeing long shots of her stunt double.

I watch Mod Squad and wonder what the hell they're talking about.

You read about somebody else watching Mod Squad and ask lots of questions!

That's a nice touch.

I had to look it up to get all the references straight, as I wasn't as familiar with the stories as the Chief was. Apparently the name Jabez also came from "Daniel Webster," which would have been an early tip-off; and she openly referenced the story in a scene with Butler, I think it was.

Nevertheless, you killed her, Chief.

She didn't die, she was hospitalized.

Seems to me that the episode was chock full of Red Herrings that went nowhere and were never explained-- the occult crucifix, Ed's attitude, the various random premonitions, the Ironsidemobile stalling, et cetera. I was expecting some more elaborate scheme, like the books being laced with a drug or some subliminal suggestions or something.

I was, as well...something in the book, outright hypnosis, whatever. The crucifix either showed that Proctor had fallen prey to superstition, or it had been put there by Jabez in a visit, and was thus part of her effort to influence him. The coincidences that seemed to be supernatural occurrences were meant to be in-story red herrings...all along the Chief was explaining how these occurrences could have perfectly rational explanations. The Ed thing I considered taking out, as that truly went nowhere.

I'm not sure how frequently it was referenced in the stories, but he was always wearing his Flying Tigers bomber jacket, so that would probably be a constant source of irritation to you.

It counts as a reference. Bottom line, it was a core background element of the character, like a character in a Western being a Civil War vet. Now let's make that 1870s character a Spanish-American War vet...

 

[RJDiogenes]

Dr. Gary Lefferts (Robert Foxworth)

An admiral and a general. Whoa.

(Oh, what could it be?)

A makeshift morgue.

Joe Goodson (Billy Dee Williams)

Lando.

Goodson would rather kill Kane than make a deal, but Gary insists on no more killing.

"First, do no harm."

Kane--now alcoholic and wanting the sort of good life that he assumes his old classmates enjoy

He could have worked to get back into medical school or otherwise continued his education.

it obligatorily bursts into flame just from toppling over--the parents of the kids driving these should be advised.

They're perfectly safe unless touched by a TV cop.

a hospital he works at uses the drug.

And they weren't as scrupulous in tracking meds in those days.

they were cramming for finals eight years prior with the aid of booze and pills when they decided to have a little fun by spiking Bunks's (Hank Jones) beer with LSD.

So Kane must have cheated on the finals. Maybe even because he was so freaked out by Bunks that he couldn't concentrate.

Julie has a crisis of confidence in Gary, slapping him and running off.

Well deserved.

Avery threatens that Julie and her two friends are going to end up dead if they don't lay off, and the other two realize that he killed Kane...and, as he continues to rant about dealing with anyone who threatens him while brandishing his rifle, that he's a little unhinged.

Definitely guilty of malpractice.

she convinces him to stop letting what happened to Bunks destroy his life by coming forward.

That ship has sailed. He'll end up working in some backwater so desperate for doctors that they'll take anybody.

Linc's double leaping out of the moving convertible to tackle Corman!

It seems like they've really been ramping up the action lately.

Greer asserts that all three doctors will be having their days in court

Where I suspect things will not go well for them.

robe-clad Julie walks off in the hospital corridor, Linc and Pete following behind her.

"You guys go on ahead, I'm just going to stop off at Wal-Mart."

Gloria Campbell (Vera Miles)

Lila Crane.

Campbell's killer being known to have taken a bullet wound himself, Garcia calls the Chief when he learns of a conspicuous penicillin purchase at a pharmacy.

Good lead.

George receives a hospital visit from his maiden Aunt Marlene

He's hospitalized because of the tear gas?

Ironside asks George if he copped a plea

Wouldn't Ironside have access to that info?

a "semi-hippie" young woman

Half hippie, half human, she stalks the night....

Jack was riding alone that night

They couldn't get coverage for his partner?

Gloria subsequently confesses that she'd recently learned that Joanna was seeing George; knew that Jack was onto what Joanna was doing; and wasn't in on the murder, but was planning to give the insurance money to her so that she could leave the country. Joanna subsequently claims not to have been in on the murder either.

So George killed Jack to protect Joanna, and pleaded guilty because he was guilty. It was just a coincidence that Garcia was out sick (otherwise he might have ended up dead too). Also a coincidence that Jack had once arrested George. The life insurance policy was unrelated-- maybe Jack just getting it behind his wife's back? And the Golden Gate Bandit was nobody. The telescope was a weird detail, but that could've just been a kink, I suppose, that they were both in on. But they seem to have overlooked the obvious step of checking on who was renting the love nest. It seems to mostly hang together, though.

The element that seemed particularly odd to me was the Chief supplying his own red herring by insisting on connecting the murder with the Golden Gate Bandit.

The Golden Gate Bandit seemed an awkward fit in the overall plot, even as a red herring.

And my apologies if there are any remaining instances of "Jack" that should be "George"--I caught myself doing that throughout.

I didn't notice any.

I get the impression that Chris Claremont must have watched this show.

I wouldn't be surprised.

I wonder if there was an unpolished rewrite involved.

That seems likely.

They do seem to be making an effort to get her out more this season.

Yeah, she's got a big part in this latest one as well. I'd love to know what the story behind her constant absences is.

Can't investigate if you shut it down, though.

Well, at that point lives were still in danger.

They're Ringling Bros., it's what they do.

That would have been hilarious, aside from them getting sued.

Meant to serve as an escape distraction.

Ah, okay.

You read about somebody else watching Mod Squad and ask lots of questions!

Touche.

I had to look it up to get all the references straight, as I wasn't as familiar with the stories as the Chief was. Apparently the name Jabez also came from "Daniel Webster," which would have been an early tip-off; and she openly referenced the story in a scene with Butler, I think it was.

Literary references like that always lend a touch of class.

She didn't die, she was hospitalized.

Okay, that's good.

I was, as well...something in the book, outright hypnosis, whatever. The crucifix either showed that Proctor had fallen prey to superstition, or it had been put there by Jabez in a visit, and was thus part of her effort to influence him. The coincidences that seemed to be supernatural occurrences were meant to be in-story red herrings...all along the Chief was explaining how these occurrences could have perfectly rational explanations. The Ed thing I considered taking out, as that truly went nowhere.

More evidence of an unpolished draft.

It counts as a reference. Bottom line, it was a core background element of the character, like a character in a Western being a Civil War vet. Now let's make that 1870s character a Spanish-American War vet...

Not quite that much of a difference, but I get your point. There are certainly things that take me out of a story as well.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

_______

The Mod Squad
"The Sands of Anger"
Originally aired October 26, 1971

The Squad investigates a mysterious explosion that kills a driver at a dune-buggy rally in the desert.

That would have made a good title for The Incredible Hulk's dune buggy episode. The Mods are there recreationally, towing Pete's purple-framed entry with the Challenger. Julie gets out while they're stuck in entry traffic and asks a man driving by in a truck hauling a fuel drum for directions to a cold drink. As he drives on, she witnesses a couple of drivers intercepting him to get in an altercation, while a woman riding shotgun (Kate [Betty Anne Rees]) in one of the buggies notices her watching. After the vehicles part ways, the man's truck explodes, and though Julie is some distance away, she's knocked on her back and unconscious.

Julie's said to be recovering fine when Greer choppers in for official investigation, meeting local law enforcement, Lt. Dan Coates (Stewart Bradley), during a gathering of local officials who are discussing the situation at a local motel lounge...including rally sponsor Tom Hall (James Nolan) and the dead young man's father, William Jeffers Sr. (Arthur Franz), who thinks that "they" were trying to get to him through his son. The guys are there at the bar, and Julie pops up in time to spot Kate there. Back at the rally site, Julie sees the guys from the buggies, Eddie and Joe Kelton (Shelly Novack and Steve Carlson), signing in, and chats them up, though they aren't interested in letting her tag along with them; and Kate afterward fingers her as having been watching when the explosion happened, and as having been seen chatting with the fuzz at the motel. Linc and Julie tail the Keltons in a borrowed buggy as they're ostensibly checking out the course; while Pete goes to the motel to report to Greer and witnesses Mr. Jeffers in a physical altercation with a young man that he's trying to question (Tony Dow). Pete breaks it up, and the young man takes it personally. Gosh, Wally, he didn't mean anything by it!

Pete later identifies the young man as Frank Parks, a fellow race contestant. At the race, Pete tries masking up to avoid being recognized by Parks, but still is. Frank takes it out on Pete in the race, aggressively ensuring that Pete comes in second...but Pete offers afterward that he doesn't consider Parks to be a suspect, as he easily could have taken Pete out on the track. Greer traces the dynamite used in the explosion, to find that it was only four sticks out of a purchase of sixteen. At the motel, Julie chats up the Keltons again while Pete inspects their buggies outside. But the ever-vigilant Kate spots him and phones Joe at the lounge...who goes outside to try to sneak up on Pete with a tire iron, but is grabbed by Linc. Greer brings in the dynamite seller, Deever (Walker Edmiston), to try to identify the purchaser from among pictures of the contestants...and he makes a positive match with a picture in the paper, William Jeffers Jr.

In the lounge, Pete flirtatiously chats up Kate while Linc searches her room; but she recognizes Pete by the company that he keeps, sizing him up as much as he does her. Pete signals Linc via phone as she's returning to her room. Meanwhile, Julie has a sympathetic talk with Mr. Jeffers, learning that he was estranged from his son, and that he knew Parks as a friend who was at a picket of his plant, which manufactures tank parts...though Parks claimed that he got caught up in the demonstration without knowing beforehand what it would be about. In a motel room meeting, Linc shows the others what he found in the room--a medallion from a group called the Sentinels of Freedom, which Greer has identified the Keltons and Kate as being members of. Greer also digs up that Parks and Bill Jr. were classmates who'd gotten in an altercation at their campus ROTC building. Back on the track, Jeffers and the Mods are present as Greer flashes his badge at Parks and questions him, to learn that the fight was about Bill trying to get him to join the Sentinels. Greer realizes that the blast may have been an accident, and Pete breaks off to flash the medallion at Kate and question her about what she and her friends are planning to do with the dynamite. With the heat on, she divulges that the Keltons are planning to cause a pileup as a diversion to plant the rest of the dynamite at the magnesium mine of another war manufacturer, Masset, which is just off the course. Parks lets Pete and Linc use his buggy to try to catch up with the Keltons, as the race is in progress. Gosh, he's not such a bad fella after all!

While Pete and Linc are putting Frank's suspension to the limit gaining ground on the course, Ed pulls ahead while Joe blocks the others from advancing, then deliberately overturns his buggy to make the others stop. (He must not have set it to burst into flames.) Ed drives up to the plant asking to use the phone regarding the accident behind him, and once let in, goes to plant the dynamite. But Linc intercepts him inside, fists him down, and, with seconds left on the timer, runs outside and tosses the bomb over a pile of debris; while Pete takes an old woman on the grounds to cover.

The Mods are working on Pete's buggy when Jeffers thanks them, and Julie encourages him about having the chance to make things right with his two younger children. Jeffers and Greer drive off from the rally's parking area.

_______

Ironside
"Joss Sticks and Wedding Bells"
Originally aired October 26, 1971

Ironside probes his Korean foster daughter's fiance.

The team are sitting down to a dinner prepared by Fran when a visitor comes to the Cave--Chong Lee (one-time yeoman Miko Mayama), whom "Father Ironside" recognizes despite never having met her in person and not having seen a recent picture--and introduces as his daughter. She's there to ask his permission to be married, her fiancé now being an architecture student in Frisco. The Chief takes his responsibility seriously, to the jokes of the team about poor Kwangsoo's prospects; and Fran offers to put Chong up at her place (which, like Eve's, has a spare bed in the same room as hers). Meanwhile, we meet Kwangsoo Yung (Soon-Taik Oh) as he answers the phone after class to be pressured by heavies to pay an overdue loan.

The team takes a holiday to show Chong the sights, and she has them take her to Chinatown so she can haggle over ingredients for the dinner at Fran's over which her father will meet her fiancé. Assisting Chong in preparing it, Fran is taken aback to learn that custom won't allow them to sit with the men to eat it. Kwangsoo makes a good first impression, and explains under fatherly interrogation how he's working and going to school, and Chong will be working too until he can fully support her; but offers that he'll go against custom if necessary to marry Chong. Ironside gives his blessing, but afterward in private, Kwangsoo is clearly disappointed to learn from Chong that his future father-in-law won't be observing the custom of providing a dowry. Father Ironside does spring for a wedding dress that Chong considers to be shockingly overpriced. The hoods (Lee Delano and Raymond Mayo) pay Kwangsoo a visit, informing him that his $500 loan he took out to bring Chong to America has acquired $200 in interest and slapping him a couple of times, which the Chief notices at their next meeting. A desperate Kwangsoo tries to raise money by other means. Mr. Markham (Dana Elcar), his cynical auto shop boss, refuses to give an advance on his salary; and when Markham leaves his desk momentarily to take a call from a wall phone, he returns to find Kwangsoo and the money he was just counting gone.

Ironside is awoken by a call from Ed informing him that Kwangsoo's been accused of theft. When Ed tries Kwangsoo's place, Kwangsoo slips out to stay with a student pal, Inchull Kim (Brian Fong), thinking that it's the loan sharks after him. When questioned about whether Kwangsoo had money troubles, Chong recalls his disappointment about the dowry. Kwangsoo calls Chong at Fran's, and when Chong tries to talk him into turning himself in, he's surprised to learn that he's wanted for stealing money, and in a misunderstanding, thinks that the loan sharks have reported him to the police!

The Chief pays a call on Markham to learn that he didn't see the money taken, and has the man retrace his steps. Markham is mortified to eventually discover that the envelope of money is still there, having gotten lost in the clutter on his desk. (This is a clever bit of business, as we actually saw him stash the envelope under a stack of papers while talking to Kwangsoo and getting up to answer the phone, but in a way that's easily missed/forgotten without going back to look for it.) Ironside deduces that Kwangsoo must be in trouble with loan sharks, and has the team try to find him before they do; while Inchull takes Chong to an intended rendezvous with her fiancé at the wedding chapel. The hoods corner Kwangsoo in an alley, but Ed crashes their party. Kwangsoo is reunited with Chong and the others.

Cut to a wedding reception at the Cave, attended by Markham, who has since given Kwangsoo an advance. The episode ends with Chong reassuring her father that he's not losing a daughter, he's gaining a son. I wonder if the Yungs are planning to move to Canada?

_______

It seems like they've really been ramping up the action lately.

That's not a new element of the show--remember Pete and Linc in a lumberyard scuffle, diving into a bin of sawdust?

"You guys go on ahead, I'm just going to stop off at Wal-Mart."

More likely a K-Mart in my experience.

He's hospitalized because of the tear gas?

He's also got that home-treated bullet wound.

They couldn't get coverage for his partner?

Handwaved.

It was just a coincidence that Garcia was out sick (otherwise he might have ended up dead too).

George made his move because he was tipped off that Jack was riding alone. He likely couldn't have taken them both.

The life insurance policy was unrelated-- maybe Jack just getting it behind his wife's back?

That was the initial story, but I must have neglected to mention that Gloria was giving it and the plane ticket out of the country to Joanna.

The telescope was a weird detail, but that could've just been a kink, I suppose, that they were both in on.

It was used for George to pick up Joanna's signals. She lived in a different section of town.

But they seem to have overlooked the obvious step of checking on who was renting the love nest.

It was rented under an alias, IIRC.

That would have been hilarious, aside from them getting sued.

I may still get sued.

Literary references like that always lend a touch of class.

But are a bit of a rookie move for killers if they can be used as clues by the detectives.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The Mods are there recreationally, towing Pete's purple-framed entry with the Challenger.

I get a kick out of how these massive hobbies appear out of nowhere and then disappear again.

After the vehicles part ways, the man's truck explodes, and though Julie is some distance away, she's knocked on her back and unconscious.

Good thing she didn't take a ride from him.

who thinks that "they" were trying to get to him through his son.

Not "them" again!

though they aren't interested in letting her tag along with them

"The last guy you talked to exploded."

a young man that he's trying to question (Tony Dow)

Beav's Bro.

Gosh, Wally, he didn't mean anything by it!

who goes outside to try to sneak up on Pete with a tire iron, but is grabbed by Linc.

Oh, this is the episode where a Mod doesn't get brained with a blunt instrument.

Pete flirtatiously chats up Kate while Linc searches her room

That warrant came through quickly.

Linc shows the others what he found in the room--a medallion from a group called the Sentinels of Freedom

Probably not a superhero team.

(He must not have set it to burst into flames.)

"Alexa, disable flame bursting."

Ed drives up to the plant asking to use the phone regarding the accident behind him, and once let in, goes to plant the dynamite.

Outstanding security there.

The Mods are working on Pete's buggy when Jeffers thanks them

And that buggy will never be seen again.

"Father Ironside" recognizes despite never having met her in person and not having seen a recent picture

Presumably this is the result of a friendship he made while serving in Korea?

The Chief takes his responsibility seriously, to the jokes of the team about poor Kwangsoo's prospects

"No, you're too young to marry, but we could use an extra hand around here."

Kwangsoo is clearly disappointed to learn from Chong that his future father-in-law won't be observing the custom of providing a dowry.

He takes his responsibility seriously, but not that seriously.

The hoods (Lee Delano and Raymond Mayo) pay Kwangsoo a visit, informing him that his $500 loan he took out to bring Chong to America has acquired $200 in interest

I like the low stakes. It's chicken feed compared to other episodes, but just as important to the people involved.

Markham is mortified to eventually discover that the envelope of money is still there, having gotten lost in the clutter on his desk.

This kind of seems like filler.

(This is a clever bit of business, as we actually saw him stash the envelope under a stack of papers while talking to Kwangsoo and getting up to answer the phone, but in a way that's easily missed/forgotten without going back to look for it.)

And in the days before home media!

The hoods corner Kwangsoo in an alley, but Ed crashes their party.

I hope they thought to collect some evidence against them.

I wonder if the Yungs are planning to move to Canada?

Deep cut. I forgot about that.

That's not a new element of the show--remember Pete and Linc in a lumberyard scuffle, diving into a bin of sawdust?

It just seems like there are more of the acrobatics lately. Maybe it's just me. This episode was less so.

He's also got that home-treated bullet wound.

Ah, right.

That was the initial story, but I must have neglected to mention that Gloria was giving it and the plane ticket out of the country to Joanna.

You did, but I meant in terms of the motivation. It originally implied that the wife was in on it, but was never explained otherwise.

It was used for George to pick up Joanna's signals. She lived in a different section of town.

What did they need non-phone signals for?

It was rented under an alias, IIRC.

Oh, okay.

I may still get sued.

You're protected under the parody clause, like MAD.

But are a bit of a rookie move for killers if they can be used as clues by the detectives.

The villains always underestimate the heroes.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

_______

The Mod Squad
"The Poisoned Mind"
Originally aired November 2, 1971

Greer's remorse over killing a robber begins a drama of romance and revenge.

The episode opens with an operation in progress, as the guys tail a convertible in which undercover Julie is riding with a suspect (Steve Manton [Murray MacLeod]). Steve and Julie pull over and get into the back of a van, where they change into the white coveralls worn by others already in the vehicle to go to work robbing a Beverly Hills mansion. Greer, Pete, and Linc try to sneak up on them using cover, but a blink-and-miss-him backup detective approaching from another angle is spotted, and the thieves scatter. While Julie's hiding in bushes with the suspect, he pulls a gun on her, having made her as a "crummy fink". Julie throws off his aim as he tries to take a shot at Linc; so he ditches her and finds himself gun-to-gun with Greer, and mortally wounded in an exchange of fire. Steve's last words consist of begging not to die.

The Mods try to console Greer as he hits the scotch at Pete's pad. When he exhibits tension at the office, they convince him to take a few days while they continue on the case (the other thieves having gotten away). He checks into a lakeside hotel and immediately bumps into and befriends a woman named Laurie Childs (the beautiful Laraine Stephens)...while the driver of the van (Harley Toms [Erik Holland]) is sitting in the lobby watching. Over dinner, Adam and Laurie discover that they're both from Pennsylvania, and she's not put off when she learns that he's a cop. They get romantic on a canoe, where Greer suffers a brief spell. While they're doing the "bicycle built for two" bit, Toms takes aim with a sniper rifle, but his shot is spoiled by another couple riding with them, Andy and Maida Staton (Jack Collins and Jeane Byron). After the ride, Greer collapses from a more acute attack, having flashes to other occasions when he was flat on his back with people asking if he was alright, including a childhood illness, a hospital stay, and an incident while in CLE uniform.

After a tour boat ride with the Statons, Greer has another attack, this time flashing to the shooting and its previously unseen immediate aftermath, when a pensive Greer was informed that it was too late while Manton was being loaded into an ambulance. The Mods call a recuperating Greer at his room from his office to fill him in on what they've uncovered so far, which includes that most of the victims of the home thefts were dining at the same nearby restaurant--which Manton also took Julie to--and keys were used to enter the homes. He has another attack, and Laurie takes over the phone...

Laurie: Oh yes, he told me all about you.​

That doesn't seem like something Greer would normally do....On a later drive, Greer has his worst attack yet...envisioning a hitchhiker as Manton and losing control of the car. The Mods are at the hospital for the doctor (Wesley Lau) to inform the "family" that he's dying.

Young George Bailey: It's poison, I tell ya, it's poison!​

The doctor informs them that the toxin is slow-acting and would have been administered over a period of time, and that he'd need to be able identify the poison to find an antidote...thus the Mods search for the poisoner. The Statons tell Pete that nobody else ate with them; and the hotel manager (George Ives) points the guys to a guest who'd exhibited interest in Greer, Harley Toms--whom Julie identifies from a shot taken by the hotel photographer as the driver of the van. With Greer in a state of paralysis and 36 hours to get him the antidote, the Mods take an interest in the restauarant, which is one of the places that Toms called. When Julie leaves Laurie alone with Greer, Laurie's demeanor changes and she gets to work spiking his IV. When Greer struggles to ask why, she dramatically relates to him how close she was to her baby brother, Steve.

Pete and Julie, the latter disguised as a shorter-haired brunette, go to the restaurant and let the valet (Herb Armstrong) overhear them arguing about jewelry that she left at home. The valet immediately gets to work noting their address and duplicating their key. When the thieves hit Pete's cousin's place, Pete and Linc are waiting with their stunt doubles to mop the lot of them up. When they press Toms to identify the poison, he points them to Laurie. The Mods get to the hospital and stop her from going any further. As Linc and Julie go to find the doctor, Laurie starts to break down about her brother, and a distraught Pete angrily tells her to shut up.

In the coda, Greer's on the mend and opening gifts when he gets one from the apparently unwitting Statons--the photo of him and Laurie dancing at the hotel. He's told that Laurie is at a state hospital for observation; and has an affectionate exchange with the Mods, which ends in a hospital room hug-off.

Now they're really overcompensating with Julie:


_______

Ironside
"Murder Impromptu"
Originally aired November 2, 1971

Barbara Hale and Raymond Burr are reunited in a whodunit about an onstage stabbing.

The Chief and his date, New York playwright Marsha Connell (Barbara Hale), are at a club enjoying the talents of an improv group called the Impromptus. Their leader, Lennie Blake (Joey Forman), introduces the distinguished guests in the audience--referencing Connell's current hit play, Vibrations--then conspicuously asks Marsha to hold his bag of tricks as he launches a murder mystery schtick in which he plays Ironside (in a bit of a fourth wall-breaking manner). While a group of police are chasing a suspect in a circle around him, accompanied by the flash-bangs of fake gunfire, Lennie falls dead out of his chair, trying to say something as he falls toward the audience.

The Chief brings in the team, having Fran interview witnesses in the audience. A coroner (Barry Cahill) determines that Lennie was stabbed multiple times by something like an icepick; and the bag Marsha was given is found to contain $5,000 in sequential bills. Backstage, the Chief meets the surviving cast--Jamie Shannon (top-billed guest Roddy McDowall), Myra St. John (Anne Archer), Seamus Brennan (Michael Bell), Mort Green (Bob Hastings), and Stephie Parker (Elaine Giftos), asking them about Lennie's last word, which sounded like "Vi". They indicate that Lennie had enemies among former performers, but when the Chief leaves, it turns out to have been an improv kicked off by Shannon--formerly a child movie actor--ostensibly to keep them moving on to their next gig in L.A. Ironside lets Marsha return to her hotel, and spies a potential murder weapon hiding in plain sight...darts that had been thrown at a board earlier in the performance.

Back at the Cave, the team looks into the police history of the performers, which include Lenny having a record for pornography. When they visit his apartment, they find it looking like it's been searched, and discover a conspicuously out-of-place copy of War and Peace with a compartment inside hiding a safe deposit box slip and a cannister of film. Back at the theater, during an improv rehearsal, the Chief takes Stephie aside to give her the film, which she admits she was in the apartment searching for, though she says that the place was already a mess when she got there. The Chief gently encourages her to destroy the film, but Seamus presses Stephie about what she's hiding, and Stephie has to reveal that she posed for Lennie to save Seamus's job. Meanwhile, Fran isn't able to turn up a Leo Holt (the name that Shannon improvised), but does uncover that St. John's real name is Six Braniuck (given name confirmed in dialogue, surname according to the closed captioning, which is laughably unreliable--e.g., "a Sultan battery"), and that she was formerly married to Lennie. The given name was put on her birth certificate in Roman numerals--VI. Ed goes to her place to talk to her, and asks her about a former lover whom she has a picture of on the wall, Peter Holt, a writer whose death by overdose she blamed Lennie for. Back at the Cave, the team realizes that the suspect names that the group dropped in their improv were fake, and finds that one of them was an anagram for King Lear; thus leading them to realize that Leo Holt is an anagram for Othello, which sparks a theory that Jamie was dropping them a clue that jealousy was the motivation for Lennie's murder.

Fran questions Shannon at his place, and after some stuff about how clinging to his own childhood career is a substitute for having children, and how he's eager to get to L.A. because he's trying to get his film career going again, he explains that he uses anagrams of Shakespeare plays as code words to tip off the troupe regarding where he's going. At the bank, the Chief has the safe deposit box opened, and finds a carbon copy of a script written by Peter Holt. He then has the team accompany him to the theater. After finding Mort lurking onstage, who says that he's checking props and is dismissed, the Chief has the team recreate the crime by circling him as he sits where Lennie did, and then try to figure out how they'd get rid of the murder weapon. After dismissing other possibilities, the Chief looks straight up, to see one of the darts stuck in a timber.

The team return to the theater at night for the performance--which we learn is only the day after the murder. Ironside talks to Shannon, who's alone backstage while the others are doing preparatory exercises on the roof. The conversation emphasizes how Jamie is the odd man out in the troupe, both for being significantly older and for being a movie actor who prefers to work from a script. Out in the club, the Chief's had Marsha brought to attend the performance, and confronts her about the script that he found--Vibrations, which is what Lennie was trying to say. The Chief has deduced that Lennie was blackmailing her with his knowledge that she'd taken credit for Holt's play, and that she'd slipped the money in the bag as a pre-arranged method of payment...hence the team's inability to trace the bills back to a bank, because they were looking in the wrong city. It was also she who ransacked the apartment, looking for the script.

The show goes on, with an announcement by Green about how they decided that it's what Lennie would want. The cast goes into an schtick of acting like playing children, and on cue Mark tosses the murder weapon onto the stage while Ed shouts, "Play darts!" With a little prodding from the Chief, Jamie goes from protesting that he doesn't want to play; to, while staying in character as a child, going into a rant about how he doesn't want to play with the troupe because he's bigger than any of them. He then approaches Ironside from the stage and confesses directly to him that Lennie had announced before the show the previous night that he was kicking Jamie out of the troupe, and wouldn't be taking him to L.A. The confession ends with Jamie breaking down into a crying tantrum.

In the coda, we learn that Marsha has given up her claim to the play, and the Impromptus have successfully opened in L.A.

_______

I get a kick out of how these massive hobbies appear out of nowhere and then disappear again.

They're TV cops in the '70s, it's their duty to familiarize themselves with all outdoor recreational activities. (Have we had a hang-gliding episode yet?)

"The last guy you talked to exploded."

That warrant came through quickly.

The Mods have a "no guns / no warrants" clause.

Outstanding security there.

It was an old guy guarding the gate; I think the woman was supposed to be his wife, as they were coming out of a trailer/prefab marked "Private," so apparently they lived onsite. And it's not like Masset would have been on the alert for dune buggy terrorists.

Presumably this is the result of a friendship he made while serving in Korea?

His service (if that was previously established) didn't come up. She was raised in an orphanage and he was her sponsor.

He takes his responsibility seriously, but not that seriously.

He was approaching his fatherly duty from an American perspective.

This kind of seems like filler.

It set into motion the misunderstandings that motivated Kwangsoo's actions...otherwise there wouldn't have been much of a story. It also challenged the audience's perceptions.

And in the days before home media!

Exactly. They were pulling sleight of hand on the audience on "no rewind" broadcast TV.

I hope they thought to collect some evidence against them.

The important thing was saving Kwangsoo...though he could have testified against them.

Deep cut. I forgot about that.

I thought you'd dropped a reference to that relatively recently, but it might not have been that recently.

It just seems like there are more of the acrobatics lately. Maybe it's just me. This episode was less so.

I've definitely made more of a thing about them...it's built up as a running gag.

You did, but I meant in terms of the motivation. It originally implied that the wife was in on it, but was never explained otherwise.

I didn't catch in the climax whether she genuinely didn't know about the policy and Jack had gotten it. I think it was meant to serve as a red herring up to a point, so she may have genuinely not known and been opportunistic about it.

What did they need non-phone signals for?

Good question. His place was pretty shabby, so he might not have had his own phone. Also, they were involved in drug trafficking, so they might have suspected tapping.

Oh, okay.

Aren't love nests always rented under aliases?

You're protected under the parody clause, like MAD.

What, me worry?

 

[RJDiogenes]

he pulls a gun on her, having made her as a "crummy fink".

I hope this episode carried a Parental Advisory!

Steve's last words consist of begging not to die.

Ouch.

Laurie Childs (the beautiful Laraine Stephens)

Do I detect some editorializing?

they're doing the "bicycle built for two" bit

Oh, Greer.

After the ride, Greer collapses from a more acute attack, having flashes to other occasions when he was flat on his back with people asking if he was alright, including a childhood illness, a hospital stay, and an incident while in CLE uniform.

This is nicely done.

Laurie: Oh yes, he told me all about you.

"He refers to you as Adam's Hippies."

The Mods are at the hospital for the doctor (Wesley Lau) to inform the "family" that he's dying.

You'd think they would have turned up before now.

Young George Bailey: It's poison, I tell ya, it's poison!

he'd need to be able identify the poison to find an antidote

I wonder if this is true in real life. You'd think they'd either be able to identify it with lab tests or administer treatments based on the effects.

When the thieves hit Pete's cousin's place, Pete and Linc are waiting with their stunt doubles to mop the lot of them up.

Apparently they're not too broken up about Steve's death. And it's a little weird that the Mods would expect them to get right back to work rather than at least laying low for a while.

When they press Toms to identify the poison, he points them to Laurie.

The fact that it's a personal vendetta unrelated to Steve's gang makes the sniper scene a little bizarre. The character isn't given the motivation and it kind of dilutes Laurie's status as sibling avenger.

a distraught Pete angrily tells her to shut up.

Well, he's no Fran.

Now they're really overcompensating with Julie:
View attachment 36104

"Is this a desk? What's it for?"

The Chief and his date, New York playwright Marsha Connell (Barbara Hale)

Been a long time since they went to dinner.

a murder mystery schtick in which he plays Ironside (in a bit of a fourth wall-breaking manner)

Is Ironside really that famous?

Jamie Shannon (top-billed guest Roddy McDowall)

So many....

Stephie Parker (Elaine Giftos)

[editorial]A real cutie. [/editorial]

Stephie has to reveal that she posed for Lennie to save Seamus's job.

Oh, dear!

which is laughably unreliable--e.g., "a Sultan battery")

Intriguing, though.

one of them was an anagram for King Lear; thus leading them to realize that Leo Holt is an anagram for Othello

War and Peace, Shakespeare, "Devil and Daniel Webster." This show is really going all in with the culture.

After dismissing other possibilities, the Chief looks straight up, to see one of the darts stuck in a timber.

That seems a bit obvious.

The team return to the theater at night for the performance--which we learn is only the day after the murder.

Kind of a busy 24 hours.

The Chief has deduced that Lennie was blackmailing her with his knowledge that she'd taken credit for Holt's play

Was this her first play? I had the impression that she was an established writer.

The confession ends with Jamie breaking down into a crying tantrum.

I'll bet Roddy made the most of that.

In the coda, we learn that Marsha has given up her claim to the play, and the Impromptus have successfully opened in L.A.

I'm a little disappointed in this reunion. They should have given Barbara Hale a meatier role-- like maybe a private investigator who butts heads with the Chief or something. Maybe kind of a shady character, like Catwoman to Ironside's Batman.

They're TV cops in the '70s, it's their duty to familiarize themselves with all outdoor recreational activities. (Have we had a hang-gliding episode yet?)

At least they were cancelled before they had to do a Disco episode.

His service (if that was previously established) didn't come up. She was raised in an orphanage and he was her sponsor.

Interesting. I don't know if he served in Korea or not, I was just trying to make sense of it.

He was approaching his fatherly duty from an American perspective.

True, he was probably just going through the motions of giving permission.

I thought you'd dropped a reference to that relatively recently, but it might not have been that recently.

I don't think so. It must have been a while ago.

I've definitely made more of a thing about them...it's built up as a running gag.

Ah, gotcha.

I didn't catch in the climax whether she genuinely didn't know about the policy and Jack had gotten it. I think it was meant to serve as a red herring up to a point, so she may have genuinely not known and been opportunistic about it.

I think it's adequately explained by him going behind her back because he wanted her to have the benefit, despite the expense.

Aren't love nests always rented under aliases?

I wish I knew.

What, me worry?

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

_______

The Mod Squad
"Exit the Closer"
Originally aired November 9, 1971

The trio helps a used-car salesman who's made a deal with the devil.

The episode opens with another operation in progress, as Greer and the Mods pursue a suspect who tries to get away on a motorcycle. The suspect is herded onto a pier and does an Evel Knievel...yes...into the drink! Pete and Linc dive in after him, but find that he's dead. The suspect had been their potential lead to the Syndicate's central distribution facility for heroin, but they pursue a new one--that three deliveries have been made using cars from the same dealership. Pete goes to work as a mechanic, Linc as a salesman, and Julie as a secretary, as Greer questions the brusque, fast-talking proprietor, Bob Hardy (Larry Blyden). Hardy has at least one enemy--a man who's evidently grieving over the loss of a young son (Sandy Kenyon), and attempts to run over Hardy on the lot. Pete pushes Hardy out of the way, but he asks Pete to forget that it happened.

Hardy has Pete and Julie, posing as a couple, at his home for dinner, where he privately offers to buy Pete's silence. Out in the driveway afterward, the would-be assassin takes another shot--this time literally, with a handgun from relatively close range--and Pete pushes Hardy out of the way again. When the Hardys are alone, Bob argues with his wife, Gloria (Ruta Lee), over how he refuses to go to the police out of fear for crossing his bosses, and thinks he isn't high enough on the chain for anyone to have put out a contract on him. Greer assesses that the attempted killer is an amateur. Julie goes back to the Hardy place under the pretense of having a personal talk with the hard-drinking Gloria about Pete supposedly having gotten a threatening call for saving Hardy, during which Julie slips in some picture-taking with a miniature camera; while Gloria indicates that her husband traded his soul to an unnamed party for his money and position, then tells Julie to forget what she said.

Linc having already identified one visitor to the agency (Jake Sheffield) as a Syndicate man, Julie's picture of a framed photograph shows Hardy with Arnold Sanders (Ross Elliott), already known to be the real owner of the dealership, and Syndicate bigwig Joseph Bellen (Austin Willis). Meanwhile, Sanders has Hardy in his office to warn him that the attempts on his life are bringing too much police attention, and that he's already been intervening on behalf of his people regarding Hardy being too much of a colorful public figure. Afterward, Hardy's shooting a commercial on the lot--acting a little thrown off his game--when Linc spots Sandy Kenyon dressed as a mechanic and sneaking up with his pistol. Linc shouts a warning and gives chase. While I knew that Kenyon would get away when he dropped his glasses case with his character's name inscribed on it--Bert Petrie--I was nevertheless disappointed when Linc just stopped cold within arm's reach of Petrie's car as Bert started to pull away, instead of jumping on the back on into the open window. Stunt Linc must've been on his coffee break. Linc subsequently pays a visit to Petrie's home, inviting himself in and being caught at gunpoint. Linc handily disarms the amateur, then his wife, May (Gloria Manon), enters the scene to explain how they bought a car directly from Hardy and were driving it home on the freeway when the brakes went out, causing an accident in which their eight-year-old son, David, was thrown from the car into the path of another. Greer later indicates that he intends to pick Petrie up to try to get him psychiatric help through the courts.

Meanwhile, Bellen visits Hardy with Sanders to announce that they're cutting Hardy off. When Hardy makes noise about going to the police, Bellen reminds him that they still own him, because they provided all of the wealth and comforts that he's been enjoying, and then makes a show of tearing up his contract. That night, a drunken Hardy has a remorseful conversation with Gloria from his office, then walks out into a closed garage, starts up three cars, gets in one of them with his bottle, and turns on comforting music. Linc comes upon the scene when he drops in for some after-hours bug-planting, so he leaps through the garage window, setting off an alarm, and pulls Hardy out. Pete and Linc figuratively unmuttonchop themselves when they accompany Greer for a visit to the recovering Hardy to try to convince him to come forward. Hardy subsequently pops up at the dealership while his replacement is taping a commercial and takes over the camera, giving an honest confession to the TV audience about who he really works for and what they're really up to, naming names and acknowledging the potential consequences, while Bellen and Sanders watch from off-camera. Bellen's uncredited heavy is about to intervene when Greer drives in with uniformed backup. Hardy punctuates the confession with a disclosure that the car behind him that his successor was selling had its odometer turned back, advising his audience to always have their car checked by a reputable mechanic. When the camera's off, Greer takes Sanders and Bellen in for questioning. Sanders slips aside to tell Hardy that he's dead, and Hardy says that it doesn't matter, while his wife (also standing off camera the whole time, accompanied by the guys) watches with admiration.

The Hardys thank the Mods and drive off in an older model that would be car show material today; following which the Mods get in the Challenger and drive off the lot.

_______

Ironside
"Dear Fran..."
Originally aired November 9, 1971

Fran investigates when her cousin is alleged to have jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge.

When Fran arrives in a chipper mood for work, the Chief has to break it to her that her cousin, Robert Adams, was seen jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge...having left his college blazer and a brief note to Fran, though his body hasn't been found. Fran feels guilty because Bobby alluded to his cousinly crush on her in the note. She has to identify a body that isn't his in front of the rear projection of the foot of the bridge. Ed takes her home from the funeral, and her hopes are raised when a neighbor who's said to play his violin late at night (Anthony James) brings her a misdelivered telegram...from Bobby! The team converges on Fran's place, and as she seizes on the idea that the eyewitness who described Bobby was wrong, the Chief gruffly tries to reign in her expectations by reminding her that she's trained to look for the facts. When the team leaves, the creepily cast neighbor watches with ominous interest.

The telegraph clerk (M. Emmet Walsh) can't identify the sender or produce a signature because the request and money were submitted while he was away from the counter. Ed talks to the cabbie who saw Bobby on the bridge (Tony Brande), who indicates that he knew he was looking at a jumper and tried to offer him a ride, and positively identifies Bobby from a photo. The Chief becomes interested in a recent incident he learns of in which Bobby tried to borrow money from Fran to trarvel for a follow-up with a girl he'd met; the Chief considers from this if Bobby's girlfriend might also have been named Fran, despite the cousinly reference. As the telegram indicated that Bobby would be calling, the Chief has Fran hook a recorder to her phone. She gets a request to accept a collect call from Bobby late at night, but the call can't be completed, so she only speaks to the operator. (At this point, it should be pretty obvious that Bobby's survival is a scam.) Fran subsequently finds a slip of something from the funeral near her door, hears her neighbor playing, and looks outside, at which point he immediately pops out, disarmingly claiming that he thought she was coming out to complain about the noise. As he closes his door, we see that he has a blazer from Bobby's school in Oregon. The team talks to a Belding family friend, artist Sue Broderick (Christine Belford), to have her sketch an unfamiliar young man she saw attending the funeral. When her brother Ralph (Victor Holchak) drops in to be told that there's a chance Bobby's alive, he looks conspicuously less than pleased.

Ed talks to Bobby's landlady (Peggy Rea), showing her the sketch of the young man at the funeral and asking about a girlfriend. She indicates that she knew Bobby took a trip to England. (At this point, it becomes odd that nobody looked at his apartment.) Ralph takes Fran home, asking if somebody else could have written the note. Inside, she receives a package, and bumps into the neighbor again--this time wearing the blazer, which she suspiciously questions, but he claims not to have known Bobby. The package contains a photo album, with a note attached inside requesting a rendezvous at a lake house that the family used to visit with the Brodericks, to discuss the trouble he's in and the prank being played on both of them. At this point, the Chief receives a call that a body has been found that's been positively identified as Bobby's, but Fran has just left when he tries to call her. A song uncharacteristically plays over her trip to the house--a haunting, folksy sounding number credited as "Growing Up Is Hard to Do," lyrics by David Wilson, music score by Billy Goldenberg; and which, going back to earlier in the episode, is used as an instrumental theme in the soundtrack. The team find the album with the note detached and head for the house, apparently tipped off by the pictures in the album. Fran tries to call the Cave during a gas stop, then stops herself from trying the van phone. When she gets to the house, she enters a gate with a warning sign about dogs, and finds herself attacked by two of them, which she holds off by firing her gun at the ground in front of them. The team arrive as she escapes from the fenced area badly shaken and the blind neighbor recalls the dogs with his whistle.

The Chief brings Fran and the rest as he consults a voice print specialist (James B. Sikking), comparing similar words spoken on Fran's phone tapes, matching the operator of the collect call attempt to Sue. The team returns to Sue, confronting her with having perpetrated the scam, and Fran's neighbor--whom she has a painting of, and who's later confirmed to be a classmate of Bobby's--being an accomplice. The Chief accuses Sue of knowing about the dogs, bought after the neighbor was robbed, and had intended for them to kill Fran. Sue whispers dramatically about her longtime affection for Bobby, Bobby being more interested in Fran, and holding Fran to blame for Bobby's death.

In the aftermath, the team is present at Fran's place when she receives an unexpected visitor--Bobby's English girlfriend, who's looking for him so that she can belatedly accept his proposal, having last seen him while they were having a "terrible row"; and whose name happens to be Mary Frances Cousins (Barbara Barnett)...supporting the earlier speculation that the note was meant for the girlfriend. Fran tells the other Fran that Bobby was in an accident, to spare her the sort of grief that she's already suffered.

Here the IMDb cast list spoiled me on Bobby really being dead, as he wasn't in it.

_______

I hope this episode carried a Parental Advisory!

They don't give us one when they shoot dogs...

"He refers to you as Adam's Hippies."

They'll have to go back to the golf course and talk to Mr. Thomas about this...

I wonder if this is true in real life. You'd think they'd either be able to identify it with lab tests or administer treatments based on the effects.

What, you don't know?

The fact that it's a personal vendetta unrelated to Steve's gang makes the sniper scene a little bizarre. The character isn't given the motivation and it kind of dilutes Laurie's status as sibling avenger.

I had to wonder about that bit after the fact...maybe he was just using the scope to keep an eye on them.

Well, he's no Fran.

It was a good dramatic moment, though.

"Is this a desk? What's it for?"

I was thinking more like, "Cochran--don't call me Chief!"

Is Ironside really that famous?

That's the question. He does get in the news, people might recognize his name or remember having seen him talking on camera, but is he familiar enough to the public for an audience to recognize his mannerisms?

Intriguing, though.

It'd make for good humorous wordplay if somebody was doing it deliberately. I think the last one, among various sundry inaccuracies, had a bit where Fran apologized for having goosed instead of goofed.

War and Peace, Shakespeare, "Devil and Daniel Webster." This show is really going all in with the culture.

Assuming there's any accuracy to it, I thought it was good insight into how an improv troupe might pull off their act.

Kind of a busy 24 hours.

That's what I was thinking. The investigation up to that point seemed like it would've been at least a couple of days.

Was this her first play? I had the impression that she was an established writer.

It appeared to be something of a breakthrough hit.

I'll bet Roddy made the most of that.

He was gnawing on the props.

I'm a little disappointed in this reunion. They should have given Barbara Hale a meatier role-- like maybe a private investigator who butts heads with the Chief or something. Maybe kind of a shady character, like Catwoman to Ironside's Batman.

I had a feeling she'd turn out to be a culprit, though. This story had a better-woven example of the team investigating what turned out to be two related crimes.

At least they were cancelled before they had to do a Disco episode.

The horror...the horror...

Interesting. I don't know if he served in Korea or not, I was just trying to make sense of it.

I want to say that some sort of wartime service history was previously established, but I don't recall offhand if it was WWII or Korea...and I might be blurring him in with McGarrett at this point.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The suspect is herded onto a pier and does an Evel Knievel...yes...into the drink!

Yes!

Pete and Linc dive in after him, but find that he's dead.

He drowned that quickly, or is some other cause of death implied? This seems to have zero connection to the rest of the plot.

Pete goes to work as a mechanic, Linc as a salesman, and Julie as a secretary

It's lucky how these places are always short on personnel and the Mods are always perfect fits.

Greer assesses that the attempted killer is an amateur.

That sure seems clear.

Julie's picture of a framed photograph shows Hardy with Arnold Sanders (Ross Elliott), already known to be the real owner of the dealership, and Syndicate bigwig Joseph Bellen (Austin Willis).

Both attempted assassin and potential victim are pretty amateurish.

Linc spots Sandy Kenyon dressed as a mechanic and sneaking up with his pistol.

"I think I'll kill my victim on camera. I hope they get my good side."

he dropped his glasses case with his character's name inscribed on it

Good grief.

I was nevertheless disappointed when Linc just stopped cold within arm's reach of Petrie's car as Bert started to pull away, instead of jumping on the back on into the open window.

Now that would have been cool.

Greer later indicates that he intends to pick Petrie up to try to get him psychiatric help through the courts.

That's a nice touch.

and then makes a show of tearing up his contract.

The Syndicate has written contracts?

That night, a drunken Hardy has a remorseful conversation with Gloria from his office, then walks out into a closed garage, starts up three cars, gets in one of them with his bottle, and turns on comforting music.

Damn.

Hardy subsequently pops up at the dealership while his replacement is taping a commercial and takes over the camera, giving an honest confession to the TV audience about who he really works for and what they're really up to

Is this being broadcast live? If not, he was taking a big chance.

Bellen's uncredited heavy is about to intervene when Greer drives in with uniformed backup.

Or maybe he just jumped the gun and was supposed to wait for Greer.

Hardy punctuates the confession with a disclosure that the car behind him that his successor was selling had its odometer turned back, advising his audience to always have their car checked by a reputable mechanic.

That's hilarious.

When the camera's off, Greer takes Sanders and Bellen in for questioning. Sanders slips aside to tell Hardy that he's dead, and Hardy says that it doesn't matter, while his wife (also standing off camera the whole time, accompanied by the guys) watches with admiration.

Overall, this seems like it was a pretty good story about a guy who got in over his head, rather than the typical Bust-the-Syndicate tale.

The Hardys thank the Mods and drive off in an older model that would be car show material today

Hmm. I wonder what Hardy's status is at this point. He did participate in crimes.

She has to identify a body that isn't his in front of the rear projection of the foot of the bridge.

Did they ever identify who this guy was? Just some random jumper who went over at the same time?

When the team leaves, the creepily cast neighbor watches with ominous interest.

I've had it with violins on television.

The telegraph clerk (M. Emmet Walsh)

Another omnipresent character actor.

Ed talks to the cabbie who saw Bobby on the bridge (Tony Brande), who indicates that he knew he was looking at a jumper and tried to offer him a ride

That's a nice touch.

At this point, the Chief receives a call that a body has been found that's been positively identified as Bobby's

Pulled out of the drink?

A song uncharacteristically plays over her trip to the house--a haunting, folksy sounding number credited as "Growing Up Is Hard to Do," lyrics by David Wilson, music score by Billy Goldenberg

Product placement for people connected to the show maybe? If they're trying to emphasize the emotional impact of the events on Fran, they should have made the cousin an actual character, seen in flashbacks with her, or something like that.

Fran tries to call the Cave during a gas stop, then stops herself from trying the van phone.

Because why?

she enters a gate with a warning sign about dogs, and finds herself attacked by two of them, which she holds off by firing her gun at the ground in front of them

You must have been fearing the worst in this scene.

a voice print specialist (James B. Sikking)

Captain Riding Crop again.

The Chief accuses Sue of knowing about the dogs, bought after the neighbor was robbed, and had intended for them to kill Fran.

Weird, but I suppose Bobby could have mentioned them.

Bobby's English girlfriend, who's looking for him so that she can belatedly accept his proposal, having last seen him while they were having a "terrible row"; and whose name happens to be Mary Frances Cousins

It kind of strains credulity that this name could lead to any misunderstanding at all, let alone in both a suicide note and in the mind of a romantic admirer.

Fran tells the other Fran that Bobby was in an accident, to spare her the sort of grief that she's already suffered.

This seemed like a big mess, but pretty much falls together at the end-- and pretty tragically. Bobby would have been fine if he had just hung in there. I think the only loose ends are the first body and the motivation of Violin Boy. The confusion over the names was off the wall and totally unnecessary.

They don't give us one when they shoot dogs...

True...

They'll have to go back to the golf course and talk to Mr. Thomas about this...

Haha. He'll just ask for minor revisions.

What, you don't know?

I'm flattered that you think I would. But, no, toxins and poisons and such are totally outside my experience.

It was a good dramatic moment, though.
View attachment 36149

I'm sure. The Mods love their old guy.

I was thinking more like, "Cochran--don't call me Chief!"

I also considered "Good morning, Angels!" but I had already done an Angels joke.

That's the question. He does get in the news, people might recognize his name or remember having seen him talking on camera, but is he familiar enough to the public for an audience to recognize his mannerisms?

Maybe they were confusing him with Perry Mason. Or it was just fourth-wall breaking, as you said.

It'd make for good humorous wordplay if somebody was doing it deliberately. I think the last one, among various sundry inaccuracies, had a bit where Fran apologized for having goosed instead of goofed.

Cute. Ridiculous subtitles would be a good gag for a contemporary Airplane!-type comedy.

He was gnawing on the props.
View attachment 36148

He can pull it off. He's Roddy Freakin' McDowall.

I had a feeling she'd turn out to be a culprit, though. This story had a better-woven example of the team investigating what turned out to be two related crimes.

Yeah, but it just seems like they plugged her into a random script.

I want to say that some sort of wartime service history was previously established, but I don't recall offhand if it was WWII or Korea...and I might be blurring him in with McGarrett at this point.

Yeah, I have a vague memory of there being a discrepancy between McGarret's age and his service.

 

[The Old Mixer]

50 Years Ago This Week


August 26

• The Ulster Volunteer Force terrorist group in Northern Ireland placed a time bomb outside of the St. Patrick's and St. Brigid's Church, timing it so that it would explode just as Roman Catholic worshipers were leaving the services. Church services ran late, and most of the intended victims were still in the building when the bomb exploded. Outside, however, 50 people were injured.
• The first Women's Equality Day in the U.S. was observed to commemorate the August 26, 1920, ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. On the same day, the National Women's Hall of Fame inducted its first 20 members.
• The last national elections in South Vietnam were held, as voters chose from four lists of candidates for the 30 seats of the Senate of the Republic of Viet Nam. President Nguyen Van Thieu's slate of Social Democratic Alliance candidates won the vote.

August 27

• The ruins of the famous U.S. Navy ironclad gunboat USS Monitor were found more than 110 years after the vessel had sunk in the Atlantic Ocean off of the coast of Cape Hatteras at North Carolina. On March 8, 1862, during the U.S. Civil War, the Monitor had defeated the CSS Virginia, the Confederate Navy's most powerful vessel, and an adaptation of the USS Merrimack, in a battle memorialized as "Monitor vs. Merrimac". Monitor sank in a storm less than 10 months later, on December 21, 1862, with the loss of 16 of its crew.

August 29

• The British submarine Pisces III sank in the Atlantic Ocean south west of Ireland. In the deepest underwater rescue in history, the submarine was raised after a multi-agency rescue effort saved both crewmembers, Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman, who had been trapped for 76 hours with a dwindling air supply in 1,375-foot (419 m) deep water.

August 30

• Michael Dunn (stage name for Gary Neil Miller), 38, diminutive (3'10" or 117 cm tall) American TV, stage and film actor known for his recurring role on The Wild Wild West as the villain Dr. Loveless, and for his Oscar-nominated role in Ship of Fools, died of heart failure from cor pulmonale while in London for the filming of The Abdication.

August 31

• Died: John Ford (professional name for John M. Feeney), 79, U.S. film director, winner of four Academy Awards for Best Director, known for The Informer, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, and The Quiet Man

September 1

• World heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman of the U.S. defended his title for the first time since winning the title on January 22, taking on little-known Puerto Rican challenger José Roman in Tokyo. The bout was "one of the shortest heavyweight title fights in history", as Roman was knocked out two minutes into the first round.
• Provisional Irish Republican Army Chief of Staff Seamus Twomey was arrested by Irish police in Carrickmacross in Ireland's County Monaghan, south of the border with Northern Ireland. He would be convicted a month later on various charges, but freed from Mountjoy Prison in a raid by the Provisional IRA on October 31.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week, with a Bubbling Under bonus:

1. "Brother Louie," Stories
2. "Let's Get It On," Marvin Gaye
3. "Delta Dawn," Helen Reddy
4. "Touch Me in the Morning," Diana Ross
5. "Live and Let Die," Paul McCartney & Wings
6. "Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose," Dawn feat. Tony Orlando
7. "The Morning After," Maureen McGovern
8. "Get Down," Gilbert O'Sullivan
9. "Loves Me Like a Rock," Paul Simon
10. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day," Chicago
11. "We're an American Band," Grand Funk
12. "If You Want Me to Stay," Sly & The Family Stone
13. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," Jim Croce
14. "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," Al Green
15. "Gypsy Man," War
16. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," Elton John
17. "Are You Man Enough," Four Tops
18. "Uneasy Rider," The Charlie Daniels Band
19. "I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)," Johnnie Taylor
20. "Angel," Aretha Franklin
21. "That Lady (Part 1)," The Isley Brothers
22. "Monster Mash," Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers

25. "My Maria," B. W. Stevenson
26. "Diamond Girl," Seals & Crofts
27. "Theme from Cleopatra Jones," Joe Simon feat. The Mainstreeters
28. "Believe in Humanity," Carole King

30. "Higher Ground," Stevie Wonder
31. "Why Me," Kris Kristofferson

33. "Half-Breed," Cher

35. "Yesterday Once More," Carpenters

40. "Smoke on the Water," Deep Purple

43. "So Very Hard to Go," Tower of Power
44. "Shambala," Three Dog Night
45. "Free Ride," The Edgar Winter Group
46. "Behind Closed Doors," Charlie Rich

52. "China Grove," The Doobie Brothers

55. "Yes We Can Can," The Pointer Sisters

58. "Ramblin' Man," The Allman Brothers Band

60. "Keep On Truckin'," Eddie Kendricks

64. "Rocky Mountain Way," Joe Walsh

71. "Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight & The Pips

76. "Get It Together," Jackson 5

80. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," Bob Dylan

94. "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!," Napoleon XIV

Leaving the chart:

• "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," Bette Midler (16 weeks)
• "Money," Pink Floyd (15 weeks)
• "Natural High," Bloodstone (19 weeks)
• "Playground in My Mind," Clint Holmes (23 weeks)
• "Right Place, Wrong Time," Dr. John (20 weeks)
• "Where Peaceful Waters Flow," Gladys Knight & the Pips (11 weeks)
• "Will It Go Round in Circles," Billy Preston (22 weeks)

Bubbling under:

"Can't You See," The Marshall Tucker Band

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#108 US)


Re-entering the chart:

"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!," Napoleon XIV

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(originally charted in 1966, reaching #3 US; #87 US this run)


New on the chart:

"Get It Together," Jackson 5

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#28 US; #2 R&B)

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door," Bob Dylan

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#12 US; #5 AC; #14 UK; #190 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])

"Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight & The Pips

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#1 US the weeks of Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, 1973; #19 AC; #1 R&B; #55 UK; #432 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])

_______

Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki page for the month.

_______

He drowned that quickly, or is some other cause of death implied? This seems to have zero connection to the rest of the plot.

I assumed it was from the impact...he belly-flopped a motorcycle at chase speed. It was an action-oriented teaser that was connected in that this guy was their previous lead to the drug operation; and his prior use of one of the dealership's cars established a pattern.

It's lucky how these places are always short on personnel and the Mods are always perfect fits.

The instant jobs angle does work better when they've got an inside person.

The Syndicate has written contracts?

He was the legitimate business front...he would've had a contract for running the dealership.

Is this being broadcast live? If not, he was taking a big chance.

They kind of played it like it was live, but it more logically would have been taped, and there was a "cut" direction at the end. But that was covered by...

Or maybe he just jumped the gun and was supposed to wait for Greer.

Whatever the intended timing, Greer was on the scene soon enough to confiscate the recording as evidence. One might assume that the delay was intended, as Greer rolling up too soon might have caused them to just shut down the taping.

Hmm. I wonder what Hardy's status is at this point. He did participate in crimes.

Testifying is a good way to get a plea...possibly even immunity.

Did they ever identify who this guy was? Just some random jumper who went over at the same time?

He was subsequently identified as a sailor who fell overboard.

I've had it with violins on television.

...

Oh! Oh! Ohhh...

Pulled out of the drink?

Either that or washed ashore.

Product placement for people connected to the show maybe? If they're trying to emphasize the emotional impact of the events on Fran, they should have made the cousin an actual character, seen in flashbacks with her, or something like that.

I couldn't find anything about it being a single or anything. It seemed kind of like a TV movie / film sort of touch. The song sequence vaguely reminded me of "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair.

Because why?

I wasn't clear, but her decision to hang up the phone was preceded by what appeared to be a flash of herself as a little girl at the lake house.

You must have been fearing the worst in this scene.

I appreciated Fran's restraint in the face of potentially mortal injury!

Weird, but I suppose Bobby could have mentioned them.

There was some setup for the old days at the lake property in earlier scenes--actually said to be a property with two cabins. Ironside had apparently done some checking that caused Sue's story of not having been there in years to not add up with her having knowledge of the recent occupant of one of the cabins.

It kind of strains credulity that this name could lead to any misunderstanding at all, let alone in both a suicide note and in the mind of a romantic admirer.

She explained that Bobby called her Fran, but the name was pretty contrived. That explanatory twist came off as more suitable for a sitcom than a crime drama.

This seemed like a big mess, but pretty much falls together at the end-- and pretty tragically. Bobby would have been fine if he had just hung in there. I think the only loose ends are the first body and the motivation of Violin Boy. The confusion over the names was off the wall and totally unnecessary.

It maybe viewed better than it reads. There was some brief exposition in the coda about The Neighbor (as he was billed) turning out to have been an existing mutual friend of Bobby and Sue. (His name was briefly dropped at the end as something Wilkinson/Wilkerson. Ed mumbled the one-syllable first name unintelligibly...closed captioning says "Ms.") It does require considerable suspension of disbelief that Sue got this elaborate scheme rolling so quickly in the aftermath of Bobby's death. Maybe she's one of the operatives in Jim's discard pile...

Also, the case-breaking voice print comparison was a bit confusing on first viewing. I just deleted the episode, so I can't go back to check, but I'm pretty sure that the phone conversation with Sue that they compared her impersonation of the operator to wasn't shown. This might have been a sloppy syndication edit, or even a bad edit in the original version, but as I experienced it, a major clue was pulled out of nowhere after the fact for the reveal.

The Mods love their old guy.

And there's a nice reminder of an earlier example of this parental bond in the next episode...

I also considered "Good morning, Angels!" but I had already done an Angels joke.

Oh, yeah, now that you mention it...

Maybe they were confusing him with Perry Mason. Or it was just fourth-wall breaking, as you said.

It was a case of having to squint past the in-story theater audience being as familiar with the character as the TV audience.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door," Bob Dylan (#12 US; #5 AC; #14 UK; #190 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])

As an actor, he's a better singer.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

"Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight & The Pips (#1 US the weeks of Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, 1973; #19 AC; #1 R&B; #55 UK; #432 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[publiusr]

50 Years Ago This Week

"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!," Napoleon XIV

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

.

My theme song

 

[RJDiogenes]

The first Women's Equality Day in the U.S. was observed to commemorate the August 26, 1920, ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

One of my Grandmothers was 14 years old when the Amendment was passed. I'm not sure of the exact year of my other Grandmother's birth, but I'm fairly sure she wasn't born yet. It was close, in any case.

The ruins of the famous U.S. Navy ironclad gunboat USS Monitor were found more than 110 years after the vessel had sunk in the Atlantic Ocean off of the coast of Cape Hatteras at North Carolina.

An amazing discovery. I believe recovery and restoration efforts are still underway.

Michael Dunn (stage name for Gary Neil Miller), 38, diminutive (3'10" or 117 cm tall) American TV, stage and film actor known for his recurring role on The Wild Wild West as the villain Dr. Loveless, and for his Oscar-nominated role in Ship of Fools, died of heart failure from cor pulmonale while in London for the filming of The Abdication.

He was so cool. It's a terrible shame that he died so young.

"Can't You See," The Marshall Tucker Band

There's a nice Sunday-morning song. I don't think I ever realized that Marshall Tucker band did this.

"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!," Napoleon XIV

Classic novelty song.

"Get It Together," Jackson 5

Doesn't ring a bell. Not a classic.

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door," Bob Dylan

Classic Zimmerman. It's kind of a Sunday-morning song, too.

"Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight & The Pips

Oldies Radio Classic.

I assumed it was from the impact...he belly-flopped a motorcycle at chase speed.

That'll do it.

He was the legitimate business front...he would've had a contract for running the dealership.

Okay, that makes sense.

Whatever the intended timing, Greer was on the scene soon enough to confiscate the recording as evidence. One might assume that the delay was intended, as Greer rolling up too soon might have caused them to just shut down the taping.

That makes much more sense.

Testifying is a good way to get a plea...possibly even immunity.

I'm sure he got off easy, which is fine, but I'd kind of expect him to be in custody at that point.

He was subsequently identified as a sailor who fell overboard.

Apparently out of uniform, or there would have been a lot less confusion.

Oh! Oh! Ohhh...

I wasn't clear, but her decision to hang up the phone was preceded by what appeared to be a flash of herself as a little girl at the lake house.

It's weird, because it wouldn't have made a lot of difference to the sequence of events.

I appreciated Fran's restraint in the face of potentially mortal injury!

She's one of the heroes.

She explained that Bobby called her Fran, but the name was pretty contrived. That explanatory twist came off as more suitable for a sitcom than a crime drama.

True.

Maybe she's one of the operatives in Jim's discard pile...

Or a rejected candidate.

I'm pretty sure that the phone conversation with Sue that they compared her impersonation of the operator to wasn't shown. This might have been a sloppy syndication edit, or even a bad edit in the original version, but as I experienced it, a major clue was pulled out of nowhere after the fact for the reveal.

I kind of wondered about that, but breezed by it.

It was a case of having to squint past the in-story theater audience being as familiar with the character as the TV audience.

An occasional wink like that is pretty harmless.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

There's a nice Sunday-morning song. I don't think I ever realized that Marshall Tucker band did this.

I knew it was the Marshal Tucker Band thanks to my Time Life Collection, however it could be mistaken for a lost Allman Brothers song.