The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

The Old Mixer · Sep 30, 2023

50 Years Ago This Week

September 30

The "Caravan of Death" ("Caravana de la Muerte"), a unit of the Chilean Army commanded by Brigadier General Sergio Arellano and assigned to execute enemies of the new regime outside of Santiago, began a 23-day tour of the nation by helicopter and brutally killed at least 97 people. In its first phase, from September 30 to October 6, General Arellano's Caravan killed 26 people between Rancagua and Puerto Montt. After a 10-day respite, the group flew to cities in northern Chile and killed 71 more.
Yankee Stadium, known as "The House That Ruth Built", was closed for a two-year renovation at a cost of $160 million. The New York Yankees would play all of their home games at Shea Stadium in 1974 and 1975.

October

Early in the month, John Lennon and Yoko Ono separate, and John goes to Los Angeles, starting his so-called lost weekend period. One of the first things he does is to recruit Phil Spector to produce an album of rock 'n' roll oldies. The sessions soon disintegrate due to the effects of alcohol and its attendant madness. Spector then vanishes with the tapes, which John is unable to recover until June 1974.

October 1

Spyros Markezinis was chosen by president Georgios Papadopoulos as the first prime minister of the Hellenic Republic of Greece since the overthrow of the monarchy on June 1, as the military junta of ministers stepped down.
The Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 took effect, replacing the six counties of Northern Ireland (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone) with 26 local government boroughs. Eight of the new districts contained parts of different counties; Craigavon had districts from Armagh, Down and Antrim.

October 2

In a primary election race in Atlanta, Georgia, Vice Mayor Maynard Jackson, seeking to become the Southern U.S. city's first African-American mayor, with more than twice as many votes as incumbent Mayor Sam Massell, but his plurality of 47,041 votes was 47% of the vote, short of a majority. Massell had 18,946 votes for 18.9%. A runoff between Jackson and Massell took place on October 16.

October 3

The Providence Journal-Bulletin broke the news story that U.S. President Nixon had paid only $792.81 in federal income taxes in federal taxes for 1970 and only $878.03 in 1971, despite a salary of $200,000 in each year. Nixon successfully claimed a tax refund of $72,614 for 1970 and $58,889 for 1971.
In one of the largest battles in South Vietnam in the year following the January 1973 ceasefire, the South Vietnamese Army fought the Battle of Ap Da Bien and defeated the invading North Vietnamese Army's 207th Regiment.

October 4

The United Nations General Assembly barred South Africa's Foreign Minister, Dr. Hilgard Muller, from addressing the UN in response to criticism of the white-minority ruled nation's apartheid policy. South Africa's UN Ambassador, Carl von Hirschberg, was also denied the right to speak as part of the UN's most powerful action to that time against South Africa. The next day, General Assembly President Leopoldo Benites of Ecuador ruled that no member of the UN could be denied the right to have its representatives speak, but representatives of the other African member nations walked out as Hirschberg rose to speak. The General Assembly voted, 72 to 37, to reject the credentials of the South African representatives, although the move did not affect South Africa's membership in the UN.

October 5

Elton John released his critically-acclaimed and best-selling double album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, with lyrics by Bernie Taupin and John composing the music.

October 6

Egypt and Syria staged a surprise attack on Israel with an invasion of the Israeli-occupied Sinai peninsula and the Golan Heights, beginning the Yom Kippur War. Fighting began at 2:05 in the afternoon (1205 UTC) on the cease-fire line between Syria and Israel. The attack, stage on the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday, marked the start of the fourth, and largest, Arab–Israeli conflict, after wars in 1948, 1956 and 1967.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Half-Breed," Cher
2. "Loves Me Like a Rock," Paul Simon
3. "Let's Get It On," Marvin Gaye
4. "We're an American Band," Grand Funk
5. "Higher Ground," Stevie Wonder
6. "That Lady (Part 1)," The Isley Brothers
7. "Ramblin' Man," The Allman Brothers Band
8. "Angie," The Rolling Stones
9. "Delta Dawn," Helen Reddy
10. "Keep On Truckin'," Eddie Kendricks
11. "Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight & The Pips
12. "My Maria," B. W. Stevenson
13. "Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose," Dawn feat. Tony Orlando
14. "Yes We Can Can," The Pointer Sisters
15. "China Grove," The Doobie Brothers
16. "Brother Louie," Stories
17. "Free Ride," The Edgar Winter Group
18. "Touch Me in the Morning," Diana Ross
19. "Theme from Cleopatra Jones," Joe Simon feat. The Mainstreeters
20. "Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces," Cheech & Chong
21. "Why Me," Kris Kristofferson

23. "Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat," The DeFranco Family feat. Tony DeFranco
24. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," Elton John
25. "Paper Roses," Marie Osmond
26. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," Bob Dylan
27. "Gypsy Man," War
28. "Get It Together," Jackson 5
29. "All I Know," Art Garfunkel
30. "Rocky Mountain Way," Joe Walsh

32. "If You Want Me to Stay," Sly & The Family Stone

35. "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," Al Green
36. "Live and Let Die," Paul McCartney & Wings

42. "Space Race," Billy Preston

47. "Nutbush City Limits," Ike & Tina Turner

52. "I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)," Johnnie Taylor

56. "Just You 'n' Me," Chicago

60. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day," Chicago

66. "You're a Special Part of Me," Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye

68. "The Love I Lost (Pt. 1)," Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
69. "The Most Beautiful Girl," Charlie Rich

72. "Woman from Tokyo," Deep Purple

74. "Photograph," Ringo Starr

76. "I Got a Name," Jim Croce

80. "Top of the World," Carpenters

97. "Hello It's Me," Todd Rundgren

Leaving the chart:

"Angel," Aretha Franklin (13 weeks)
"Get Down," Gilbert O'Sullivan (15 weeks)
"The Morning After," Maureen McGovern (15 weeks)

New on the chart:

"You're a Special Part of Me," Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye
(#12 US; #43 AC; #4 R&B; #51 UK)

"I Got a Name," Jim Croce
(#10 US; #4 AC)

"Hello It's Me," Todd Rundgren
(#5 US; #17 AC)

"Photograph," Ringo Starr
(#1 US the week of Nov. 24, 1973; #3 US; #8 UK)

"Top of the World," Carpenters
(#1 US the weeks of Dec. 1 and 8, 1973; #2 AC; #5 UK)

And new on the boob tube:

Hawaii Five-O, "One Big Happy Family"
Adam-12, "West Valley Division"
Kung Fu, "The Assassin"
Ironside, "Fragile Is the House of Cards"
Love, American Style, "Love and the Games People Play / Love and High Spirits / Love and the Memento / Love and the Single Husband / Love and the Stutter"
Super Friends, "Dr. Pelagian's War"
Star Trek, "More Tribbles, More Troubles"
All in the Family, "Archie and the Kiss"
M*A*S*H, "For the Good of the Outfit"
Emergency!, "Alley Cat"
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "The Lou and Edie Story"
The Bob Newhart Show, "Somebody Down Here Likes Me"

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

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RJDiogenes said:
Was it ever revealed how they got into such a pickle?

So they didn't kill their crew and ditch the ship because of the Plague? Just to cover their tracks?

That was my impression.

That's good. That part is usually missed or forgotten.

I remembered you bringing that up recently.

Oh, for Pete's sake.

Because Brown going into the drink immediately puts a stop to whatever Plague may be loose on the island.

The Governor should have been more concerned about whatever may have blown out of Jack's hair...

A futile gesture, if the intent was to give him the Plague.

Unclear. Might just have been a Corsican mobster thing.

Haha. Do Pete and Jim get to interview the victim?

Nope.

Definitely questionable.

We've seen them refuse rewards from civilians...it's tantamount to bribery.

"Mah radio wouldn't play none a that new crap."

There goes the episode budget!

Horses don't come cheap.

Perhaps.

Well, he's putting him in the line of fire, so maybe not.

They put themselves in the line of fire. He was assigning them to lead from behind the lines.

Did he have any kind of a known motive?

No motive, no lines, no credit.

Going for the cinematic touch, I guess.

Something I've been meaning to note is that somebody directing or editing Ironside lately really, really loves to use a technique of superimposing a closeup of a character talking over a longer shot of them with the character(s) they're talking to.

I know you're kidding. I'm pretty sure you're kidding.

Welcome Back, '70s!

Bad character touch. I no longer believe that the Chief could be serious about her.

This was an odd bit of business, because I don't think we ever heard the character herself talking about astrology; if she did, it was blink-and-miss-it. That angle was set up by somebody else complaining about her following astrology.

These guys have been watching Mission: Impossible.

Nah, the scheme was too simple...

Now there's a crossover idea--the Chief matching wits with Jim Phelps!

Well done. I wonder if the choice to make the sculpture a cat was deliberate. She's the Chief's Catwoman.

I'd say that was reaching, but there was that Penguin laugh...

Not capped. I'll probably be embarrassed.

Kltpzyxm?

RJDiogenes · Oct 1, 2023

The Old Mixer said:
Early in the month, John Lennon and Yoko Ono separate, and John goes to Los Angeles, starting his so-called lost weekend period. One of the first things he does is to recruit Phil Spector to produce an album of rock 'n' roll oldies. The sessions soon disintegrate due to the effects of alcohol and its attendant madness. Spector then vanishes with the tapes, which John is unable to recover until June 1974.

Adventures in Rock'n'Roll. :rommie:

The Providence Journal-Bulletin broke the news story that U.S. President Nixon had paid only $792.81 in federal income taxes in federal taxes for 1970 and only $878.03 in 1971, despite a salary of $200,000 in each year. Nixon successfully claimed a tax refund of $72,614 for 1970 and $58,889 for 1971.

They don't call him Tricky Dick for nothing. :rommie:

"You're a Special Part of Me," Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye

Two major talents have produced a work of mediocrity.

"I Got a Name," Jim Croce

Probably my second favorite song of all time.

"Hello It's Me," Todd Rundgren

Beautiful.

"Photograph," Ringo Starr

Good one.

"Top of the World," Carpenters

Classic Karen Carpenter. I mean Carpenters.

I remembered you bringing that up recently.

I was having some deja vu, but I wasn't sure if it was from here or not.

The Governor should have been more concerned about whatever may have blown out of Jack's hair...

Haha. I just went back to look at that picture again. That guy's expression is priceless. :rommie:

Unclear. Might just have been a Corsican mobster thing.

Ah, true. I was overthinking again.

We've seen them refuse rewards from civilians...it's tantamount to bribery.

"It was just a little informal incentive, Your Honor."

They put themselves in the line of fire. He was assigning them to lead from behind the lines.

Oh, okay.

Something I've been meaning to note is that somebody directing or editing Ironside lately really, really loves to use a technique of superimposing a closeup of a character talking over a longer shot of them with the character(s) they're talking to.

Definitely trying to be classy. Probably succeeding.

Welcome Back, '70s!

Oh, my goodness. :rommie:

This was an odd bit of business, because I don't think we ever heard the character herself talking about astrology; if she did, it was blink-and-miss-it. That angle was set up by somebody else complaining about her following astrology.

I'm sure they could have come up with something better.

Now there's a crossover idea--the Chief matching wits with Jim Phelps!

Excellent. I'd love to see those two face off.

I'd say that was reaching, but there was that Penguin laugh...

We'll have to see if the trend continues.

Kltpzyxm?

Yep, I'm embarrassed. I'll blame that one on the early hour. :rommie:

DarrenTR1970 · Oct 1, 2023

The Old Mixer said:
Early in the month, John Lennon and Yoko Ono separate, and John goes to Los Angeles, starting his so-called lost weekend period. One of the first things he does is to recruit Phil Spector to produce an album of rock 'n' roll oldies. The sessions soon disintegrate due to the effects of alcohol and its attendant madness. Spector then vanishes with the tapes, which John is unable to recover until June 1974.

The reason John Lennon was in the studio recording a set of rock 'n' roll oldies was he was contractually obligated to record three songs published by Big Seven Music.

Lennon was being sued by Morris Levy, the owner of Big Seven Music, for appropriating the lyrics from Chuck Berry's 'You Can't Catch Me' for the song 'Come Together'. The lyrics in question being 'Here come old flattop. He come grooving up slowly."

The case dragged on for two years, with Lennon spending as much time in court as in the studio; until Lennon instructed his lawyers to settle out of court. The judge and Levy agreed to the settlement, with Lennon instructed to record three Big Seven Music songs on his next album - "You Can't Catch Me", "Angel Baby", and "Ya Ya" - with the right to substitute the last two songs for other Big Seven Music songs as Lennon saw fit.

With Lennon now in Los Angeles with May Pang, he hooked up once again with producer Phil Spector and gave him carte blanche to produce the record. Spector chose the songs, selected the musicians, and booked the studio. Sessions took place at A&M studios on the nights of October 17-18, 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 and November 28.

The sessions quickly descended into chaos as Lennon would often show up drunk and get progressively worse as the evening wore on. Lennon was now concerned with only one thing and that was having a good time, at the expense of both his reputation and career. No one, including Spector, had the strength to interfere; often instead helping Lennon indulge in his excesses. Spector hoped that by endlessly rehearsing the songs, he would wear Lennon down into giving a good take. Unfortunately, the opposite happened, and Lennon grew more irascible. Lennon at one point remarking, "C'mon Phil, we don't want to blow this for A&M Records." With Lennon's contract with Capitol set to expire, following the court's decision to dissolve the Beatles and remove Allen Klein as their manager, A&M, along with other major record labels, was courting Lennon to sign with them.

Spector was no more stable than Lennon. He would arrive each night wearing a different outfit and toupee and sometimes brandishing a handgun. One night, a minor incident between Spector and Mal Evans flew out of control; Spector pulled out his gun and, not thinking it was loaded, fired into the ceiling. Everyone in the control room was shocked into silence. At that point, sessions ground to a halt. After a short break, sessions resumed at Record Plant West. After three days - December 3, 11, and 14 - everything ended abruptly. Spector had disappeared with the tapes.

Lennon didn't know it, but Spector had been taking the tapes home with him every night. Spector then made a series of bizarre claims. First, he said the studio had burned down. Next, he said that he had the John Dean Watergate tapes and that Federal agents had surrounded his house. Finally, Spector was involved in a serious, near fatal car accident on 31-March-1974, leaving him in a coma, which required surgery to remove swelling from the brain. With everything on hold, Lennon offered to produce Harry Nilsson's "Pussy Cats" album. However, that's a story for another day.

DarrenTR1970 · Oct 1, 2023

The Old Mixer said:
"Hello It's Me," Todd Rundgren (#5 US; #17 AC)

RJDiogenes said:
Beautiful.

According to Todd Rundgren, this is the first song he ever wrote and recorded; conveniently forgetting 'The Lemming Song', which he wrote for his first band 'Woody's Truck Stop'.

Originally released as the B-Side to the debut single "Open My Eyes" by the band The Nazz, of which Todd was a member.

Although released as a B-side, it was picked up in preference to the A-side by Boston radio station WMEX, where it rose to No. 1, and was subsequently picked up by other stations. It entered the Billboard chart in February 1969, peaking at number 71, and re-entered the charts the following January, this time peaking at number 66. In Canada, it ranked number 41 in March 1969, and number 58 in February 1970.

Todd, in later interviews, has admitted that he cribbed the chord changes from a Jimmy Smith recording of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."

Todd's re-recording of "Hello It's Me" would appear on his third solo album, "Something/Anything?"

DarrenTR1970 · Oct 1, 2023

50 Years Ago - 28th-September-1973. The release of "Selling England By The Pound", the fifth studio album by Genesis.

No. 3 in the UK and No. 70 in the US.

Track Listing
Side A:
1) Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
2) I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
3) Firth Of Fifth
4) More Fool Me (Phil Collins Vocal)

Side B:
1) The Battle Of Epping Forest
2) After The Ordeal (Instrumental)
3) The Cinema Show
4) Aisle Of Plenty

"Selling. . ." is the third album to feature guitarist Steve Hackett and drummer Phil Collins, and the first to feature major contributions from them; the previous album "Nursery Cryme" written by Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford before Steve and Phil's arrival; and "Foxtrot" saw Steve and Phil threatening to leave the band after the tour to promote "Nursery Cryme", thereby limiting their contributions to the album.

The band set aside two months, between touring, to write and record the album. However, as Mike and Tony have said, the band arrived at the studio with fragments of only two songs, Steve Hackett had the chord progression of what would become "I Know What I Like", and Tony had three incomplete piano pieces; two which would be combined to form "Firth" and the third would be used as the basis for "Battle. . ."

Mike says the first month was wasted trying to get the fragments into some semblance of form/structure.

Peter managed to get inspired by a newspaper clipping about a confrontation between two rival gangs in the local park Epping Forest, while Steve and Phil wrote "More Fool Me"; Phil's first written credit and second lead vocal on a Genesis album; the first being "For Absent Friends", from the album "Nursery Cryme".

"Aisle" is a song by Peter about consumerism written after going to a grocery store and seeing aisle after aisle of products. The lyrics namecheck several popular English grocery stores at the time, Safeway, Fine Fare, Tesco, and The Co-Operative Society.

As Steve and Phil recalled, tensions between Peter, Tony and Mike were running high, with any one of the trio storming out of the studio, threatening to quit the band. Banks becoming increasingly annoyed by Peter's tendency to add more words than necessary to the medley, resulting in "Lyric Bloat". Steve and Phil would look at each other and think to themselves, "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Phil, more often than not, would be the peacemaker, sent to retrieve the disgruntled band member and bring him back to the studio.

One single, "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" b/w the non-album B-Side "Twilight Alehouse" would be released in February 1974 and reach No. 21 on the UK sales chart, becoming their first hit. The song's lyrics concern a young man, Jacob, who is employed as a groundsman and who says that he does not want to grow up and do great things, being perfectly happy where he is, pushing a lawn mower.

Following Peter Gabriel's departure in May 1975 after the completion of "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" tour, Phil Collins would handle vocal duties when the song would be performed in concert.

Peter's Version

Phil's Version - with drummer Bill Bruford ex-YES and King Crimson onboard to lend a hand.

RJDiogenes · Oct 2, 2023

DarrenTR1970 said:
Lennon was being sued by Morris Levy, the owner of Big Seven Music, for appropriating the lyrics from Chuck Berry's 'You Can't Catch Me' for the song 'Come Together'. The lyrics in question being 'Here come old flattop. He come grooving up slowly."

This is interesting, and it's a little unfortunate that they settled out of court. I wonder what the threshold is, or would be, for quoting someone in a song.

Spector was no more stable than Lennon.

Considerably less, it seems. :rommie:

Spector then made a series of bizarre claims. First, he said the studio had burned down. Next, he said that he had the John Dean Watergate tapes and that Federal agents had surrounded his house.

Yep, a bit nuts. :rommie:

DarrenTR1970 said:
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Not bad, but the final version is definitely better.

Boston radio station WMEX

Ah, the legendary WMEX. Gone, and probably mostly forgotten at this point.

DarrenTR1970 said:
50 Years Ago - 28th-September-1973. The release of "Selling England By The Pound", the fifth studio album by Genesis.

It's so surprising to me that they had five albums out by 1973. I don't think I ever heard of Genesis until the early 80s, when my music nerd friends in Hartford were playing Duke endlessly.

Peter's Version

Very artsy. :bolian:

Phil's Version - with drummer Bill Bruford ex-YES and King Crimson onboard to lend a hand

Things changed a lot in three years....

The Old Mixer · Oct 2, 2023

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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)

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The Odd Couple
"The Odd Decathlon"
Originally aired September 28, 1973

Wiki said:
Felix challenges Oscar to a mini-decathlon to prove his physical superiority.

Felix discovers that Oscar forgot to mail Felix's health insurance check a month ago, and then that his old agent was fired, which gets Felix honking. Oscar tries to hook Felix up with a racetrack pal named Lloyd (Cliff Norton), who doesn't have an office, writes bad math on the tablecloth, eschews paperwork in favor of handshakes, and works for an Argentinian junta. Felix instead opts to take a physical to get reinsured by his old company, but finds that they've doubled his rate. To make matters worse, he learns that Oscar has taken out a policy with his company, and is paying Felix's old rate. This motivates an outraged Felix to prove that he's more fit than Oscar. Randall gets a good round of applause for jumping onto Oscar's desk from a standing position.

Felix trains with Murray to get in peak shape for the titular competition. When Oscar learns details of how Felix has been performing, he starts trying to match him, finding that he's in lousy shape. But Felix overexerts himself, wiping himself out during a jog. As the contest commences, events of Oscar's choosing include pool, handball, and--proceeding to a gym--basketball. Oscar is ahead when Felix unveils his events, a relay of exercises that include parallel bar walking, a headstand, pushups, weightlifting, and chin-ups. Oscar ends up winning when Felix has to redo the relay on a technicality; following which Oscar admits to having taken a couple of shortcuts. Then they discover that Oscar's policy is only for half as much as Felix's, explaining the rate difference. When Murray learns how much the two of them are paying, he recommends his guy, Lloyd.

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Love, American Style
"Love and the Golden Memory / Love and the Heavy Set / Love and the Novel Love / Love and the See-Through Mind / Love and the Seven Year Wait"
Originally aired September 28, 1973

"Love and the Novel Love"--online sources call it "Love and the Novel," but the title is right there on the screen. Keith (Jim Hutton) and Jenny (Jo Ann Pflug) are a pair of writers collaborating on a screenplay and a novel who work out a romantic scene in the latter by each acting out one of the characters, describing what they're thinking/doing in prose while Jenny takes notes. As the scene progresses, it starts to become apparent that they're projecting themselves into the characters. His character, a Cary Grant impersonation, seems to be the reluctant one, while hers is more passionate. Eventually they break out of character and he opines that it's too unbelievable that his character could fall for hers in a moment after working with her for six months. She then implies that her own passion has been slowly building for those months, luring him in so that they start to make out. Once he's clearly hooked, she bounces back into working mode as if nothing had happened, apparently just motivated to make a point rather than truly being smitten with him.

"Love and the See-Through Mind" takes place at an ESP society meeting in a banquet room, where a waiter (Fred Grandy) bumps into an attractive woman (Tina Louise) and apologizes for what he's thinking, assuming that she has ESP. She says she's just there with her husband and he resumes his train of thought. He's then approached by another attendee (Morey Amsterdam), who's sporting a head bandage and arm sling, can read what he's thinking, and warns him not to let the woman's husband, Mr. Rossi (Michael Conrad), catch him thinking it, because that's what happened to him. When Rossi senses his thoughts, the waiter manages to evade him by thinking about scouting. But later Rossi picks him as the subject of a mind-reading demonatration. The water tries to think about baseball and nursery rhymes, but Rossi flies into a rage anyway--attacking Morey's character again. While her husband is pursuing Morey, Mrs. Rossi approaches the waiter to tell him in what seems like a come-on that she doesn't need ESP to know what he's thinking...and then judo-flips him.

In "Love and the Seven Year Wait," Louise (Mary Ann Mobley) can't resist making out with her boyfriend (Gary Collins), even though they're at her husband's preemptive funeral. It's minutes away from the stroke of midnight, at which point Henry--believed to have been killed in a sailboat accident seven years ago--will be declared legally dead; following which Louise and her Beau plan to immediately proceed with their wedding. The attending reverend (Liam Dunn) doesn't believe in rushing things; nor does an attending insurance agent (Ronnie Schell), as Louise stands to receive a check for $50,000. There are a couple of false alarms before and after, but at the stroke of midnight, most of the attendees celebrate like it's New Year's Eve. The reverend still has to conduct a formal service, and not being in the appropriate mindset without a body, asks Louise's prospective new husband to fill in by lying on the floor. Cut to a Pacific island, where Henry (Milt Oberman) is having a countdown of his own before commencing with a tribal marriage ceremony to a trio of native women...at which point we get a split screen between that wedding and Louise and whatshisname being hitched by the reverend.

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Super Friends
"The Weather Maker"
Originally aired September 29, 1973

iTunes said:
Glaciers are melting, gigantic whirlpools are forming and there are icebergs in the South Atlantic. When the SuperFriends chart these drastic changes in weather, a pattern soon begins to emerge.

The episode opens with Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog on vacation in Florida--expecting the Dynamic Duo to join them! While Marvin's dressed for the pool, Wendy's working in the kitchen in her usual long sleeves and sweater vest. Marvin tries to dive in to find that the pool is mysteriously frozen. Watching this one specific incident is a Dr. Thinkwik (Wiki says Knight, but it sounds like John Stephenson; and thus I'm going with closed captioning's spelling of the villain's name rather than Wiki's), who's demonstrating the effects of his remote-activated jet-stream engine while expositing to his chauffeur, Mr. Wicker (Casey). The Super Friends soon learn of unusual iceberg and glacier activity, whale migration, and seaweed growth. Wilcox calls Batman at the beach house, and the Dynamic Duo proceed to the Weather Service, where they determine that something's amiss with the gulf stream. But Thinkwik has an accomplice on the scene, Dr. Malvit, who tips the doctor off so that he comes by to steal needed maps while Wicker creates a diversion--which results in a Casey-to-Casey moment as Robin confronts him on top of a large globe.

While all of this is going on, Wonder Woman flies through hurricane-force winds to aid an ocean liner caught in a giant whirlpool, creating a suction to dissipate the wind with her Transparent Plane, which can reach 10,000 mph in a dive. Wonder Woman then aids Superman in freeing a battleship encircled by icebergs. This involves WW pulling a power out of her star-spangled butt that involves sprinkling faerie-dust stars from her bracelet to form a train hitch from the bergs so Supes can hitch them together.

Back in Florida, the Wonder Gang tail Thinkwik walking off with the maps, but he uses his remote to create gale-force winds to shake them off. There's a bit of business here where Wendy and Marvin wait behind Wonder Dog in the Batmobile...Marvin sitting at the wheel, though we don't see him driving it. Continuity gets confusing as we cut to Batman and Robin tailing Malvit and Wicker, getting away in Thinkwik's custom car, in the Batmobile, and pick up Wendy and Marvin along the way! The baddies head to a pier, where they drive off onto the drink, the car doubling as a power boat.

Aquaman communicates with a pilot whale named Globi about the seaweed issue, and rescues a family of dolphins tangled in the weeds by a violent storm. (It's worth noting that solo sequences of Aquaman and his aquatic friends tend to involve Ted Knight narrating what they're talking about.) The Super Friends unite at the beach house before they disperse again to collect meteorological data for Wendy and Marvin to chart; including the Dynamic Duo finding extreme temperature variations in close proximity of each other in a Florida city. The pattern charted, they determine where the trouble is coming from, out in the Atlantic east of Florida, and that the gulf stream is moving out in that direction.

The Super Friends head into the area, with Bat-Hydrofoil serving as their mobile HQ. Investigating a waterspout in the center of the area, Aquaman finds a large jet nozzle that's affecting the waters, which is connected to a tugboat. Wonder Woman, Superman, and Aquaman are diverted to fix a bridge to the mainland at an island animal refuge; dislodge a ship from the Panama Canal; and rescue a fishing boat, respectively...leaving the Dynamic Duo to investigate the tug. They're diverted away to pursue Wicker and Malvit in their ambhibi-car (as Batman describes it), but not before the Wonder Gang has separately snuck onto the tug, to be caught by Thinkwik after finding his control center. He retracts the pipe and moves the boat to a new location, then relates to them how his Arctic country of Glacia is suffering from extreme cold, making it difficult to grow crops, so he's moving the Gulf Stream to warm it up.

The Dynamic Duo follow the Antagonist's Accomplices back to the government building where the Weather Service is located, to catch them trying to steal a can of nuclear fuel for the jet stream engine from a safety deposit box. The Super Friends start to reconverge to find the tug gone. Thinkwik deploys his engine in a new spot, regretting that he'll be swapping Glacia's climate to Florida; and Wendy and Marvin give the doctor a lecture about how messing up the climate in one place will eventually affect the rest of the world. The family of dolphins and an assortment of whales described in turn by Knight help Aquaman locate the engine. I'll let the climactic clip take over from here:
Nice to see Aquaman demonstrating that he's got his own level of superhuman strength...though he needs whales to do the really heavy work. After the clip, we get an unlikely transition to Thinkwik showing his guests via his boat's monitor the dramatic effects on Glacia, now fertile with farmland...while everyone's still in the same places as before, implying that no significant time has passed.

_______

Star Trek
"The Lorelei Signal"
Originally aired September 29, 1973

Wiki said:
Investigating a sector of space where starships have disappeared every 27 years, the Enterprise finds a race of beautiful women living on the planet Taurus II.

Captain's log, stardate 5483.7: The Enterprise is en route through an unfamiliar sector of space where a series of Earth Federation ships have disappeared mysteriously during the last 150 years. Recent joint discussions with the Klingon and Romulan Empires have revealed that a starship has disappeared in this sector precisely every 27.346 star years.

The ships receives a song-like signal from the Taurean System, 20 light years away, which causes the men to become entranced by visions of alluring women; Uhura brings Chapel to the bridge to observe the men's behavior.

Ship's log, stardate 5483.8, Engineering Officer Scott in command: We are in orbit around planet two in the Taurean System. Probes and sensors indicate there was once a vast civilization here. *Sigh*...lovely, lovely. However, life readings are sparse and concentrated. Captain Kirk is beaming down with a scouting party to investigate.

Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and redshirt Lt. Carver (Doohan) approach a temple where they meet the bevy of enchanting females, led by Theela (Barrett). While affected, Spock is still with it enough to advise caution.

Captain's log, stardate 5483.9: The beauty of this place is unequaled. It's the answer to all a man's dreams...

Interestingly, Nichols does the computer voice...as well as Security Officer Davison. At this point, the men on the planet attempt to resist, but are easily subdued by the women, who toss them around like children. Up on the ship, Scotty's wistfully singing a song in the captain's chair.

Ship's log, supplemental, Lieutenant Uhura recording: Due to Chief Engineering Officer Scott's euphoric state of mind, I am assuming command of the Enterprise. I accept full responsibility for my action. A detailed account will be recorded later.

Uhura's first act is to promote Chapel to acting CMO. On the planet, the weakened men escape and hide from the Taurean women. Noting that their headbands stop glowing when the women leave, Spock theorizes that the bands are transferring life energy from the men to the women, aging them 10 years per day. Having a longer lifespan, Spock sneaks back into the temple, demonstrating an ability to imitate Theela's singing to access the Taureans' "Opto-Aud" oracle computer thingy. Spock finds their equipment and starts to send a message to the Enterprise, but passes out as the women close in.

So I guess that even here, the infamous one time that Uhura took command, we don't get a shot of her in the chair. After the landing party men are returned to the ship, Spock determines that the way to revitalize them is to beam them down and back up again, using the transporter to repattern them as they were before their life energy was drained...which is played up as a risky process, but sets the stage for TNG's "Unnatural Selection," which was considered to have broken the rules of how the transporter works. The Taurean women destroy the Opto-Aud, and are looking forward to being transported to another planet where they can begin living "as other women".

_______

RJDiogenes said:
Two major talents have produced a work of mediocrity.

Glad it's not just me. I have this, but it's by and far the least memorable of this week's featured entries.

Probably my second favorite song of all time.

That's interesting. This classic always sounded kind of John Denver-ish to me.

Beautiful.

A late single from Todd's 1972 album Something/Anything?, which is on the RS album list.

Good one.

We now ascend to the early summit of Ringo's solo career, his 1973 album Ringo, on which all of his fellow ex-Beatles collaborated on different tracks.

Classic Karen Carpenter. I mean Carpenters.

Also a late single from a 1972 album release, A Song for You.

I was having some deja vu, but I wasn't sure if it was from here or not.

It was when Mod Squad was treating a tick-born virus as if it were communicable between humans.

Haha. I just went back to look at that picture again. That guy's expression is priceless.

Oh, you didn't know what I was posting it for?

Definitely trying to be classy. Probably succeeding.

Oddly, an early use of this technique was in the episode with the murder-set-up-to-look-like-a-suicide-set-up-to-look-like-a-murder episode, when the killer was confessing in the climax.

Oh, my goodness.

It shouldn't be that surprising...we'd already seen self-destructing eight-tracks on M:I.

We'll have to see if the trend continues.

Tune in next week, when Cesar Romero turns San Francisco Bay into strawberry jelly, and challenges the Chief to a surfing contest!

Yep, I'm embarrassed. I'll blame that one on the early hour.

I wasn't sure if you'd be familiar with that. You always said that you weren't into DC much.

DarrenTR1970 · Oct 3, 2023

RJDiogenes said:
I don't think I ever heard of Genesis until the early 80s, when my music nerd friends in Hartford were playing Duke endlessly.

It's gotta be another one of those "regional" things - because I remember hearing "Follow You Follow Me" and "Misunderstanding" on the radio here in Seattle back in the late-70s/early-80s; even though I didn't know who "Genesis" was.

RJDiogenes · Oct 3, 2023

The Old Mixer said:
Felix discovers that Oscar forgot to mail Felix's health insurance check a month ago, and then that his old agent was fired, which gets Felix honking.

I think they just had indemnity policies in those days. I wonder if that would even cover Felix's honking. :rommie:

Randall gets a good round of applause for jumping onto Oscar's desk from a standing position.

Well deserved.

Felix trains with Murray to get in peak shape for the titular competition.

Yeah, Murray would be my first choice. :rommie:

Oscar ends up winning when Felix has to redo the relay on a technicality; following which Oscar admits to having taken a couple of shortcuts.

They have to come out even for story purposes, I suppose, but I can't imagine Klugman coming close to Randall.

Then they discover that Oscar's policy is only for half as much as Felix's, explaining the rate difference.

Are they talking about an annual cap or something? I'm not sure how it worked in those days.

Jenny (Jo Ann Pflug)

A popular character actor back then.

Once he's clearly hooked, she bounces back into working mode as if nothing had happened, apparently just motivated to make a point rather than truly being smitten with him.

Stay tuned for the sequel, "Love and the Dissolved Partnership."

a waiter (Fred Grandy)

Pre-Gopher Gopher.

an attractive woman (Tina Louise)

Post-Ginger Ginger.

another attendee (Morey Amsterdam)

Post-Buddy Buddy.

Mrs. Rossi approaches the waiter to tell him in what seems like a come-on that she doesn't need ESP to know what he's thinking...and then judo-flips him.

He was thinking, "Mary Anne was way hotter." :rommie:

Louise (Mary Ann Mobley)

Popular character actor-- and wife of Gary Collins.

her boyfriend (Gary Collins)

Star of The Sixth Sense-- and husband of Mary Ann Mobley.

but at the stroke of midnight, most of the attendees celebrate like it's New Year's Eve.

That's in somewhat bad taste. :rommie:

The reverend still has to conduct a formal service, and not being in the appropriate mindset without a body, asks Louise's prospective new husband to fill in by lying on the floor.

That doesn't even make sense. :rommie:

Cut to a Pacific island, where Henry (Milt Oberman) is having a countdown of his own before commencing with a tribal marriage ceremony to a trio of native women...at which point we get a split screen between that wedding and Louise and whatshisname being hitched by the reverend.

It's weird that the husband would wait the seven years, but that's a cute ending-- and the only happy ending out of the three stories, which is odd for LAS.

The Super Friends soon learn of unusual iceberg and glacier activity, whale migration, and seaweed growth.

Holy Climate Change!

her Transparent Plane, which can reach 10,000 mph in a dive.

Hopefully a shallow dive!

This involves WW pulling a power out of her star-spangled butt that involves sprinkling faerie-dust stars from her bracelet to form a train hitch from the bergs so Supes can hitch them together.

I wonder if we'll ever see anything like that in the show again.

Back in Florida, the Wonder Gang

It just occurred to me-- if they're really called the Wonder Gang, does that mean they have a direct connection to Wonder Woman somehow?

he uses his remote to create gale-force winds to shake them off.

They're really overestimating what diverting the Gulf Stream can do. :rommie:

Continuity gets confusing as we cut to Batman and Robin tailing Malvit and Wicker, getting away in Thinkwik's custom car, in the Batmobile, and pick up Wendy and Marvin along the way!

Maybe there's a backup Batmobile.

(It's worth noting that solo sequences of Aquaman and his aquatic friends tend to involve Ted Knight narrating what they're talking about.)

It would have been cool if they used subtitles.

Wonder Woman, Superman, and Aquaman are diverted to fix a bridge to the mainland at an island animal refuge; dislodge a ship from the Panama Canal; and rescue a fishing boat, respectively...leaving the Dynamic Duo to investigate the tug.

Another world-threatening menace that should have brought in all those other superheroes. :rommie:

his Arctic country of Glacia is suffering from extreme cold, making it difficult to grow crops

Some countries find it simpler and cheaper to import products they can't produce themselves.

so he's moving the Gulf Stream to warm it up.

Okay, I'm in maximum overthinking mode, but it's not helping. When they say Arctic country of Glacia, do they mean that there's an additional landmass at the North Pole, or that it's part of where some existing country is (like Latveria is part of Eastern Europe)? Either way, I can't see any way of diverting the Gulf Stream, even in a superhero story, that affects anything but the South coast of Greenland. Unless he's actually got multiple diversion points.

trying to steal a can of nuclear fuel for the jet stream engine from a safety deposit box.

Okay.

regretting that he'll be swapping Glacia's climate to Florida

I think the British Isles have more to worry about than Florida.

Wendy and Marvin give the doctor a lecture about how messing up the climate in one place will eventually affect the rest of the world.

Well, they've got that right.

Nice to see Aquaman demonstrating that he's got his own level of superhuman strength...though he needs whales to do the really heavy work.

Overall, that sequence made the world's greatest superheroes look pretty weak and ineffectual.

After the clip, we get an unlikely transition to Thinkwik showing his guests via his boat's monitor the dramatic effects on Glacia, now fertile with farmland...while everyone's still in the same places as before, implying that no significant time has passed.

Things happen fast in superheroland. It was an interesting early attempt at a story about climate change, anyway-- I think.

which causes the men to become entranced by visions of alluring women; Uhura brings Chapel to the bridge to observe the men's behavior.

"Look, Christine, they're all seeing visions of me!"

a temple where they meet the bevy of enchanting females

Who all seem to be clones.

Interestingly, Nichols does the computer voice...as well as Security Officer Davison.

And there's really no disguising her voice. :adore:

Spock theorizes that the bands are transferring life energy from the men to the women, aging them 10 years per day.

It seems to be a lot worse than that.

So I guess that even here, the infamous one time that Uhura took command, we don't get a shot of her in the chair.

I never paid attention to Trek comics much, but I think I remember seeing her in the big chair at least once.

Spock determines that the way to revitalize them is to beam them down and back up again, using the transporter to repattern them as they were before their life energy was drained...

I had no idea that the cartoon originated this idea.

which is played up as a risky process, but sets the stage for TNG's "Unnatural Selection," which was considered to have broken the rules of how the transporter works.

They pretty much avoid the implications of transporter technology, as well as a few other things. If Trek were actually Science Fiction, rather than Space Opera, they would live in a very different universe.

That's interesting. This classic always sounded kind of John Denver-ish to me.

I never thought of that, but I can kind of see it.

It was when Mod Squad was treating a tick-born virus as if it were communicable between humans.

Ah, okay.

Oh, you didn't know what I was posting it for?

I got that his hair was exploding, which I meant to comment on, but the other guy didn't register until I went back.

It shouldn't be that surprising...we'd already seen self-destructing eight-tracks on M:I.

Ironside just doesn't seem like an 8-Track kind of guy. :rommie:

Tune in next week, when Cesar Romero turns San Francisco Bay into strawberry jelly, and challenges the Chief to a surfing contest!

Can't wait to see the wheelchair riveted to a surfboard. :rommie:

I wasn't sure if you'd be familiar with that. You always said that you weren't into DC much.

I did read them enough in the 60s to know about how Mixxlepixxle worked-- in fact, that's when I gave up and just started calling him Mixxlepixxle. :rommie:

DarrenTR1970 said:
It's gotta be another one of those "regional" things - because I remember hearing "Follow You Follow Me" and "Misunderstanding" on the radio here in Seattle back in the late-70s/early-80s; even though I didn't know who "Genesis" was.

I think you're right. I associate both of those songs with the later 80s-- in fact, up until this moment I would have pegged "Misunderstanding" from Phil Collins' solo career.

The Old Mixer · Oct 3, 2023

RJDiogenes said:
Yeah, Murray would be my first choice.

Well, it was Felix doing the working out. Murray was just timing him / counting / charting.

Are they talking about an annual cap or something? I'm not sure how it worked in those days.

Good question. They were talking in terms of a $5,000 policy vs. a $10,000 policy. Sounds more like life insurance than health insurance.

He was thinking, "Mary Anne was way hotter."

Popular character actor-- and wife of Gary Collins.

I did not know that.

That's in somewhat bad taste.

The guests seemed to be focusing on the wedding end of it rather than the funeral end.

That doesn't even make sense.

It was played for a gag in which a cop knocked on the door (one of the false alarms) to investigate the partying noise, and was led to believe that Collins's character was the deceased.

I wonder if we'll ever see anything like that in the show again.

If we do, I'll be sure to say something.

It just occurred to me-- if they're really called the Wonder Gang, does that mean they have a direct connection to Wonder Woman somehow?

"Wonder Gang" is just my play on "Scooby Gang," given that the dog is called Wonder Dog. It isn't used in the show, and is potentially confusing with Wendy and Marvin's replacements, the Wonder Twins, who were called that on the show (and not for any connection with WW).

They're really overestimating what diverting the Gulf Stream can do.

His control of temperature extremes in small areas did seem a bit too specific.

It would have been cool if they used subtitles.

That would be a good way to lose a decent segment of the target audience!

Another world-threatening menace that should have brought in all those other superheroes.

And again, they could have been kept busy fighting the symptoms.

Okay, I'm in maximum overthinking mode, but it's not helping. When they say Arctic country of Glacia, do they mean that there's an additional landmass at the North Pole, or that it's part of where some existing country is (like Latveria is part of Eastern Europe)?

Glacia's economy was crippled when a neighboring rival cornered the toymaking market.

Overall, that sequence made the world's greatest superheroes look pretty weak and ineffectual.

Superman, at least, in the service of giving Aquaman something to do.

I never paid attention to Trek comics much, but I think I remember seeing her in the big chair at least once.

Tie-in lit is a whole different animal.

I had no idea that the cartoon originated this idea.

The holodeck, too.

Can't wait to see the wheelchair riveted to a surfboard.

And Ironside wearing swim trunks over his usual suit.

I did read them enough in the 60s to know about how Mixxlepixxle worked-- in fact, that's when I gave up and just started calling him Mixxlepixxle.

FWIW, official pronunciation was Mix-yez-pittle-ick, IIRC.

ETA: Frndly now has MeTV+! And that means that Mod Squad is still on the table...as well as the two episodes of Branded that I never caught! MS is back in early Season 1, so that'll be a bit; but Branded, apparently airing once a week, is in late S2, which means the missing episodes should be coming up relatively soon.

RJDiogenes · Oct 4, 2023

The Old Mixer said:
Good question. They were talking in terms of a $5,000 policy vs. a $10,000 policy. Sounds more like life insurance than health insurance.

It does, yeah.

"Wonder Gang" is just my play on "Scooby Gang," given that the dog is called Wonder Dog. It isn't used in the show, and is potentially confusing with Wendy and Marvin's replacements, the Wonder Twins, who were called that on the show (and not for any connection with WW).

I always thought it was weird that Supes and Bats had so many ancillary characters, but Wonder Woman only had Wonder Girl. She needs more spinoffs!

That would be a good way to lose a decent segment of the target audience!

I was thinking it might be educational. :rommie:

View attachment 36703
Glacia's economy was crippled when a neighboring rival cornered the toymaking market.

And they couldn't grow crops because there's nothing but ice under their butts. :rommie:

Superman, at least, in the service of giving Aquaman something to do.

The Dynamic Duo were endlessly fiddling with the fuse box without accomplishing anything, the Man of Steel was struggling with a lead pipe, and the Princess of the Amazons just kind of sat there twiddling her thumbs. Aquaman did actually accomplish something, under the tutelage of Batman. :rommie:

Tie-in lit is a whole different animal.

Non-canon! :rommie:

The holodeck, too.

That's pretty early in the timeline. I wonder if they would have had holodecks in Phase II.

And Ironside wearing swim trunks over his usual suit.

FWIW, official pronunciation was Mix-yez-pittle-ick, IIRC.

So backwards that would be... "Kill it, tipsy skim." Started good, but ended poorly.

ETA: Frndly now has MeTV+! And that means that Mod Squad is still on the table...as well as the two episodes of Branded that I never caught! MS is back in early Season 1, so that'll be a bit; but Branded, apparently airing once a week, is in late S2, which means the missing episodes should be coming up relatively soon.

That's cool. I keep hoping that Comcast will add it on, but nothing yet.

The Old Mixer · Oct 5, 2023

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 3)

_______

Emergency!
"The Old Engine"
Originally aired September 29, 1973

IMDb said:
While Station 51 and Rampart Hospital break in their new equipment, Roy and John purchase a vintage fire engine from a junkyard.

The station crew are admiring the new Engine 51 when they get a call to a junkyard fire. A previous shift not having returned with the squad yet, Roy and Johnny ride standing at the back of the engine. While they're helping with the fire, the paramedics notice the titular vintage firefighting vehicle, a 1932 Dennis, and Johnny gets an idea. The paramedics end up buying the engine for $80, thinking that they could fix it up and use it for PR/educational functions.

Squad 51 responds to a call for a probable overdose. They're met by Sally (Laurette Spang), whose roommate Harriet (Regina Parton) is hiding in a closet after dropping acid. As Roy calmly tries to get her to come out, Harriet freaks out, brandishing an iron and making a break for it. Johnny chases her down street, eventually hopping onto the squad with Roy. Back on foot, the paramedics chase her up to the top of a hotel; Roy tries to talk to her while Johnny sneaks up from behind and grabs her.

At Rampart, the paramedics see that the hospital has gotten an all-new base station to help with coordinating the multiple squads, now said to be five. (You called it, RJ!) The new equipment includes a cassette recorder and a monitor radio to listen to fire department calls to better prepare them for incoming traffic. Elsewhere in the hospital, the doctors see to a Bob Hurley (Michael Conrad), who was mugged by two young girls and shot in the abdomen with a derringer. He's fully conscious and invested in trying to tell the story while he's being questioned about his condition and taken into surgery.

The engine arrives at the station in bad shape, though the firefighters take in the novelty of it. Thinking he might get it to start, Johnny finds that he can't turn the crank. The squad is called to a heart attack at a stately home, where a man named Harvey (Ross Elliott) comes out to help them bring in equipment. The victim's housekeeper, Hannah (Ann Doran), tries to send them away, having sat on the situation for an hour before Harvey arrived because she believes that this is a test of faith. She looks away as the paramedics work on her employer, Councilman Wilby. Harvey, his campaign manager, is concerned if he'll be able to make a public appearance that night. Another man arrives and they discuss finding a new candidate. Wilby is taken to Rampart via ambulance, where Brackett and Early lose him, lamenting that he might have been saved if the attack had been called in earlier.

Working on the Dennis behind the station, Roy and Johnny find that both the engine block and the transmission are shot, and figure that they'll have to scrap it. At Rampart, Harley tries to walk out in his hospital gown with tubes in his nose and arm, but Brackett and Dix get him back in bed.

Station 51 and several other units are called for a fire at a freight warehouse. The paramedics have to go in when the roof collapses under a firefighter. They hook him up with oxygen, pry him loose, splint his leg, and have him hoisted up, all while a hose sprays everyone down from above.

In the coda, Johnny and Roy admire the old engine and decide to start putting in the work to gradually restore her.

_______

The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"Rhoda's Sister Gets Married"
Originally aired September 29, 1973

Wiki said:
Mary and Rhoda fly to New York for Rhoda's younger sister's wedding, but Rhoda's mother is afraid that Rhoda is overly envious of her sibling.

Lou's trying to have a promo shot featuring Ted as a reporter, which Ted bumbles up, of course, so Lou sends him with the real news crew to fake-cover a fire. Rhoda pops into the station to invite Mary to come to New York with her for the titular occasion, and we cut straight to Martin Morgenstern answering the door. When they learn that Mary booked a hotel, the Morgensterns insist that she stay with them, though it means sleeping on the couch; and Martin doesn't bring Mary's make-up case up from the cab with her suitcase. Mary meets Rhoda's sister, Debbie (Liberty Williams), who's only 21 and doesn't like to give people a chance to answer her questions. Ida and Martin pay a visit to the "guest room" to enlist Mary's aid in supporting Rhoda for what they're certain (in an obvious projection of Ida's feelings) will be a time of hurt for Rhoda. When Mary reassures them that Rhoda is delighted about her sister getting married, Ida tells Mary to butt out.

Things go further when Ida starts actively trying to undermine Debbie's wedding in the belief that it will make Rhoda happy. Rhoda decides to leave, though Mary tries to stop her--not thinking to point out that it would be playing right into Ida's hand. When Ida learns that Rhoda's splitting, there's a meeting between her, Rhoda, and May in Rhoda and Debbie's twin-bedded room, in which Mary reads a letter that Ida wrote for Rhoda on the day of her birth, in anticipation of her wedding. Mary can't continue as she starts to get choked up, and by the time Ida finishes it, Rhoda's crying.

In the newsroom bookend coda, Lou's making progress in coaching Ted through the promo shoot, though Ted still manages to find ways to fumble it.

Brett Somers appears as Rhoda's Aunt Rose. And apparently Debbie will be transforming into Brenda (Julie Kavner) for next year's spin-off.

_______

The Bob Newhart Show
"Backlash"
Originally aired September 29, 1973

Wiki said:
The Hartleys have to cancel their planned vacation in Mexico because of Bob's back pain.

Emily's trying to get Bob enthusiastic for a vacation to Mexico, which she's looking forward to, though Bob clearly isn't. (One of last season's episodes had the Hartleys returning from a trip to Mexico--here Bob acts like he's never been there and would rather keep it that way.) At the offfice, Bob talks to a patient named Mr. Trevesco (Michael Conrad--He's everywhere! He's everywhere!) about his issues with displaying affection. Travesco slaps Bob on the back at the end of the session, throwing it out, and Bob collapses onto the patient's back, which Travesco initially misunderstands. Carol summons a doctor--Jerry. Afraid that Emily will think he's faking to get out of the trip, a hunched-over Bob insists on returning home with Howard's help. Bob can't hide his condition for long, and has to tell Emily what happened, but insists that he's going on the trip.

Bob: I just want you to stay by my side to make sure that no one throws a saddle on me.

The Hartleys have to skip the vacation so Bob can recover in bed, where Emily finds herself waiting on him hand and foot while he becomes invested in a soap opera in which Stephanie reunites with her amnesiac old flame Jason. Bob encourages Emily to open up about her frustration and disappointment. Carol and Jerry visit Bob in the living room to learn that the Hartleys have planned to change the trip to start the following weekend, but Emily returns home from the travel agency feeling unwell. Travesco comes by to give Bob a gift basket, which throws out his back some more. Emily ends up joining Bob in bed; and Howard drops in to give them a care package consisting of things that people left on the plane. After he leaves, Emily realizes that it's her day and hour of peak ovulation, which she'd been planning to take advantage of in Mexico, though Bob declines the follow through under the circumstances.

In the coda, the partially recovered Hartley's are leaving for a shortened trip to Mexico.

Bob: There's only one thing I regret...the baby.
[Pause for executive producer credits.]
Emily: Oh, Bob, we'll have other times.
Bob: Oh, yeah, ours too, I meant Stephanie and Jason's.

_______

RJDiogenes said:
I always thought it was weird that Supes and Bats had so many ancillary characters, but Wonder Woman only had Wonder Girl.

And she only came about because of a continuity mistake...

The Dynamic Duo were endlessly fiddling with the fuse box without accomplishing anything, the Man of Steel was struggling with a lead pipe, and the Princess of the Amazons just kind of sat there twiddling her thumbs. Aquaman did actually accomplish something, under the tutelage of Batman.

That's the show playing up the angle of having Batman demonstrate that brains are also a super power.

So backwards that would be... "Kill it, tipsy skim." Started good, but ended poorly.

Other media tended to truncate the forward pronunciation as Mixelplick, starting in my experience with a later season of Super Friends.

RJDiogenes · Oct 5, 2023

The Old Mixer said:
the paramedics notice the titular vintage firefighting vehicle, a 1932 Dennis

Wow, that's ancient-- oh, wait, it's only forty years old. :rommie:

Sally (Laurette Spang)

Cassiopeia.

the hospital has gotten an all-new base station to help with coordinating the multiple squads, now said to be five. (You called it, RJ!)

Super groovy. It's good to see that they're actually evolving, which is something shows seldom did in those days.

mugged by two young girls and shot in the abdomen with a derringer.

I wish they had followed up on that plot. :rommie:

Thinking he might get it to start, Johnny finds that he can't turn the crank.

because she believes that this is a test of faith.

Once again I'm reminded of Archie Bunker's definition of faith.

his campaign manager, is concerned if he'll be able to make a public appearance that night. Another man arrives and they discuss finding a new candidate.

Religion and politics. The writers were in a satirical mood this week.

In the coda, Johnny and Roy admire the old engine and decide to start putting in the work to gradually restore her.

I hope that means it becomes a regular part of the station set.

Lou's trying to have a promo shot featuring Ted as a reporter, which Ted bumbles up, of course

"Stop giggling every time Aquaman summons a sperm whale, Ted."

Martin doesn't bring Mary's make-up case up from the cab

Mary needs no makeup!

Debbie (Liberty Williams)

Er....

When Mary reassures them that Rhoda is delighted about her sister getting married, Ida tells Mary to butt out.

Ida's a classic. And Nancy Walker made a good living playing that exact same character in about a hundred shows. :rommie:

by the time Ida finishes it, Rhoda's crying.

And her usually so stoic!

Brett Somers appears as Rhoda's Aunt Rose.

I forgot about that. Good choice to play Rhoda's relative.

And apparently Debbie will be transforming into Brenda (Julie Kavner) for next year's spin-off.

I thought that actress sounded wrong. And they changed the name of the character, too? That's the sort of thing that grates at me. :rommie:

(One of last season's episodes had the Hartleys returning from a trip to Mexico--here Bob acts like he's never been there and would rather keep it that way.)

That last trip must have been really traumatic. :rommie:

(Michael Conrad--He's everywhere! He's everywhere!)

Definitely a good week for him. :rommie:

Travesco slaps Bob on the back at the end of the session, throwing it out, and Bob collapses onto the patient's back, which Travesco initially misunderstands.

I remember that. :rommie:

After he leaves, Emily realizes that it's her day and hour of peak ovulation, which she'd been planning to take advantage of in Mexico, though Bob declines the follow through under the circumstances.

I don't remember that part. I thought they were firm about having no kids.

And she only came about because of a continuity mistake...

Something else I didn't know.

That's the show playing up the angle of having Batman demonstrate that brains are also a super power.

Yeah, that's true.

The Old Mixer · Oct 5, 2023

RJDiogenes said:
Wow, that's ancient-- oh, wait, it's only forty years old.

Yep...relatively speaking, it's like something from 1982.

Cassiopeia.

Socialator! I forgot to note that her character was complicating the situation by acting hostile toward her tripping roomie. One got the impression that she was a stoner herself, because she was paranoid that paramedics were really fuzz.

I can't imagine thinking that a 40-year-old vehicle that's been rotting in a junkyard is just going to start right up. Could they even expect there to be fuel in the tank?

Once again I'm reminded of Archie Bunker's definition of faith.

What was that?

I hope that means it becomes a regular part of the station set.

It may be a recurring subplot...I recall seeing a later episode in which they had the engine all fixed up.

I hope they didn't trade in Boot for the engine... :shifty:

Ida's a classic. And Nancy Walker made a good living playing that exact same character in about a hundred shows.

I mainly associate her with promptly wiping up puddles of coffee.

I forgot about that. Good choice to play Rhoda's relative.

Did she reprise the role for the series?

Something else I didn't know.

As I've read, they were doing a Wonder Girl series as a backup feature in WW's comic back in the day, but it was like classic Superboy--the adventures of Wonder Woman when she was a girl. Somebody didn't look at the series very closely and put WG in the Teen Titans, thinking she was a contemporary sidekick. And thus WW ass-backwardly gained a contemporary sidekick, whose origin had to be explained after the letters came in.

Yeah, that's true.

Putting aside that he was talking about polishing entire moons a few episodes back, even powered-down post-Crisis Supes could have put a tugboat with a big pipe sticking out of it into orbit!

Superman [straining not to move the pipe]: Must...give...Batman...and...Aquaman...something...to...do...!

RJDiogenes · Oct 6, 2023

The Old Mixer said:
Yep...relatively speaking, it's like something from 1982.

Always fascinating to think about how history overlaps.

Socialator!

I was very disappointed when they dropped that. Of course, I was pretty amazed it was there to begin with. :rommie:

I forgot to note that her character was complicating the situation by acting hostile toward her tripping roomie. One got the impression that she was a stoner herself, because she was paranoid that paramedics were really fuzz.

That would make sense.

I can't imagine thinking that a 40-year-old vehicle that's been rotting in a junkyard is just going to start right up. Could they even expect there to be fuel in the tank?

True, I think gasoline evaporates relatively quickly-- plus they probably would have drained the thing before junking it.

What was that?

"Faith is when you believe in something that nobody in his right mind would believe in." Arch always told a different truth than he thought he was telling. :rommie:

It may be a recurring subplot...I recall seeing a later episode in which they had the engine all fixed up.

Nice.

I hope they didn't trade in Boot for the engine...

Boot now has a new place to nap.

I mainly associate her with promptly wiping up puddles of coffee.

Snarkily. Very snarkily. :rommie:

Did she reprise the role for the series?

Not that I remember, which is too bad.

As I've read, they were doing a Wonder Girl series as a backup feature in WW's comic back in the day, but it was like classic Superboy--the adventures of Wonder Woman when she was a girl. Somebody didn't look at the series very closely and put WG in the Teen Titans, thinking she was a contemporary sidekick. And thus WW ass-backwardly gained a contemporary sidekick, whose origin had to be explained after the letters came in.

Editors really need to communicate. Or pay more attention. :rommie:

Superman [straining not to move the pipe]: Must...give...Batman...and...Aquaman...something...to...do...!

The Old Mixer · Oct 6, 2023

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)

_______

Hawaii Five-O
"One Big Happy Family"
Originally aired October 2, 1973

Wiki said:
A family of serial killers, having left a trail of death on the mainland, start a new wave of terror when they reach Hawaii.

A party of five rural folk led by Sam Ferguson (Slim Pickens) check into a suite at the Royal Hawaiian hotel, to the mild astonishment of the desk clerk (William Bigelow). The others include wife Sadie (Barbara Baxley), son Jeb (Bo Hopkins), daughter-in-law Rosalie (Robyn Millan), and younger daughter Monica (Lynette Kim). After the family counts their money, Sam and Jeb go out prospecting for work. Soon two dead bodies are found with sliced throats in a restaurant that they were scoping out, which has also been robbed for a change--for the relatively trivial sum of $250--with prints left everywhere. McGarrett gets suspicious when he notices neatly stacked dishes in crime scene photos, wanting to know where the dishwasher went. We learn that the dishwasher was Sam...and also see that in true stereotypical rural fashion, Sam is comfortable coming on to Rosalie; and that Sadie doesn't approve of a white woman and Asian man dining together at the hotel. Cut to Jeb working late at his service station job, and attacking his boss with a wrench.

Five-O finds a uniform shirt with the name Ernie on it. The Ferguson clan checks out of the hotel, but the withdrawn Monica takes a hotel phone book cover with her. Ernie Briggs (Edward Kaahea) identifies the new guy he leant his shirt to as Jeb Connery--which is determined to be an alias--and helps work up a sketch. Five-O sees an M.O. pattern between the two robbery/murders and puts out bulletins to the mainland. Meanwhile, the clan moves on to the island of Hawaii, check into a new place, and proceed with the same job-hunting routine. Sam and Jeb find a beauty parlor that's hiring and send Rosalie in. The proprietor, Rene (Ric Marlow), takes a particular interest in her, recruiting her to do special jobs on the side. After a few days, Sam can tell that Rosalie's holding out, so he has Monica spy to count the number of customers--contradicting Rosalie's story of slow business. On the evening that Rosalie's about to do her first special job, Sam and Jeb drop in, the latter pulling a switchblade.

The elder beautician who'd just left for the night prior to the murder (Charlotte Gibbons) offers a sketch description of Rosalie; and Five-O gets a hit on a matching M.O. from Iowa involving a Jeb who also had a sketch done of him, which came from a rooming house where the clan was staying. Armed with more information, Five-O turns up a similar pattern of new employees committing petty robbery and murder spanning 24 states, 125 victims, and a relatively paltry $40,000 stolen.

Steve: If I saw that in a movie, I'd walk out in the middle.

Meanwhile, the clan has moved on to Maui, where Rosalie is confronted about her side operation--Monica having seen Rene pawing her. Working at a marina, Jeb notices police going around showing a picture, and while Sam is confident that the law has nothing on them, Sadie decides that it's time to move on. Jeb goes to collect Rosalie, who's now working freelance, trying to extort a married tourist named Harry Bronson (Alan Krassner) whom she's been working. Jeb strongarms Harry into taking him up to the room where he and his wife are staying for more dough.

Five-O gets a call from the desk clerk at the Royal Hawaiian, Mr. Nomana, who saw the sketches going around and offers names and descriptions, as well as reporting the oddity of the stolen phone book cover. At the same time, they're notified of the Bronsons having been found in Maui. Deducing that the killers are likely to head back to the mainland at this point, McGarrett has men posted at various airports on the main island. At one of these airports, a security guard (James Ishida) searches Monica's luggage, finds the phone book cover, and calls it in...straight to Danno, who swoops in on the family with uniformed HPD. In McGarrett's office, Rosalie, who's miffed that the family blew two big opportunities for her, readily squeals about who killed who. When Steve sounds out the family about the magnitude of their crimes, he's flabbergasted as Sadie matter-of-factly offers that the people they killed weren't kin, and it ain't stealin' if the people was already dead.

_______

Adam-12
"West Valley Division"
Originally aired October 3, 1973

Edited MeTV said:
Malloy has his eye on an attractive woman he's seeing all over town walking a scotty dog, which eventually turns out to be bad news for her. Meanwhile, he and Reed assist a police helicopter in tracking down a young man riding his dirt bike in the hills illegally during fire season; search for an armed suspect who held up a movie theater before escaping on a motorcycle; and coordinate with the police helicopter in a futile search for two armed robbery suspects who fatally shot a night watchman inside a department store.

On patrol, Reed spots the girl with the dog (uncredited Lorraine Baptist), making a crack about dogs and their owners resembling one another; Pete uncharacteristically engages in an intense stare. The officers respond to a call to meet Air-10, who need help spotting a dirt biker heading for Mulholland, their view hindered by tree cover. The officers see the biker coming down a brushy hill and pursue, with Air-10 leading them to the house that the biker stops at. They catch the suspect, Kenny Rule (Robert Weaver), trying to get away from his mother (Peggy Webber), who's been chastising him about how his joyriding could cause brush fires. The officers recommend safer places to ride and fill out an application for complaint. As Reed's notifying Air-10, he's approached by an angry neighbor, Ed Mason (Bob Hastings), who complains about the helicopter, including how it interferes with his TV reception.

The officers' next call is for unknown trouble at a theater, where they find the lobby abandoned and are met by the customer who called it in, John Wager (Ben Frommer). They search the place to find the manager, Tom Holmes (Stacy Keach Sr.), and his ticket girl trussed up in an upstairs office. Holmes describes the suspect, who got away on a motorcycle. As dispatch is sending out the description, the officers spot what appears to be a match, and stop the rider only to find that she's a woman, Loretta Fox (Regina Parton). A call comes in about the suspect having been spotted, and listening to the pursuit, Malloy anticipates that the rider will try to escape via a pedestrian tunnel. He and Reed are waiting at the other end when the rider comes roaring through, sending him skidding off his bike and apprehending him.

The officers spot the girl with the dog again by night, before being assigned to a code 30 at a department store, for which Air-10 assists and another unit backs them up. The officers are approached outside by a watchman (Hal K. Dawson) who was shot by a pair of robbers whom he describes before dying. Air-10 calls in having spotted a man running to a car and getting into it. Another possible getaway vehicle is spotted, and Air-10 guides Adam-12 in pursuing the originally reported car. They and another unit converge on the car and order the suspects to get out. The occupants turn out to be an older man and woman, Charley Baker (Norman Alden) and Elizabeth Mitchell (Barbara Nichols), who act amused because they were deliberately behaving suspiciously, trying to pull a prank on the chopper. Malloy sets them straight about the seriousness of what they've become involved in for kicks.

After hearing a call that the actual suspects have been apprehended, Jim spots the Scotty tied up on the street, and lets it loose so that it leads them its master, whom they catch coming out of the back door of a cleaner's, having been stealing furs.

_______

Ironside
"Fragile Is the House of Cards"
Originally aired October 4, 1973

Wiki said:
A man could be in danger, but only an amnesiac's hazy memories provide clues.

The episode opens a bit on the nose with the Chief losing a steak dinner to Mark while trying to build the titular tabletop structure. They find public defender David Wills (James Olson) standing outside the Cave entrance, unable to remember how he got badly beaten. The instrumental version of last week's romantic song incongruously plays as Mark tends to Wills's wounds--I assume that he's not Mark's long-lost love. After David calls his wife, Ellen (Lorraine Gary), Mark puts him up in his room...which means that he's still living in the cave, but now has an actual bedroom rather than the pool room. The Chief considers David's anger and frustration at not knowing what happened to him to be out of character, characterizing him as extremely cool under pressure. David lies awake remembering distinctive sounds. Describing them to the Chief and Mark as they question him for more details helps him to remember two men fighting on a cabin cruiser, one of the men lying unconscious on the deck, and the boat taking on water. Ironside, assuming that it's not already too late, becomes concerned that the man on the deck could be in danger of drowning.

Having difficulty raising a late-night neuropsychiatrist, the Chief tries to get a better idea of the timing of the incident, determining in a Holmesian fashion that the boat couldn't have been taking on water too quickly or David's trousers would be wet. Pressed for more details, David remembers how he boarded the boat from a dock, and that the unconscious man was carried to "safety"--into the cabin, which somehow became locked from the outside. The Chief has David try to recreate his movements within the Cave to jog his memory of the boat's approximate length and color. Mrs. Wills arrives at the Cave and seems suspiciously skeptical as David tries to tell her what happened. Questioned for her knowledge of David's activities that day, she recalls that Lt. Reese was trying to find him; and David further remembers trying to locate his absent partner, Tony Billings. A call to Martha Billings (Sandra de Bruin) helps narrow down the timeframe in which the incident could have taken place. A late-night neuropsychiatrist finally arrives, Dr. Corwin (Noah Keen), and--supporting my impression by this point that the episode is intended to be set entirely within the Cave, save for the other ends of phone calls--the Chief insists that Corwin examine David on the spot, as there's no time for a hospital. When it's determined that David is too willful to submit to hypnosis, the Chief tells the doctor to order some sodium pentothal...because there's no time to go to the sodium pentothal! Then Lt. Reese responds to Mark's summons...bearing a warrant for David's arrest.

In chambers--Mark's old room, where they'd been building the titular structure on the card table--Reese describes to the Chief how he's been trying to locate Wills because Wills has been accused of bribing a juror. Being a good lawyer, Wills becomes concerned that further probing of his memories could be used to incriminate him. The Chief persuades him to keep at it, and it's found that he picked up some red paint on his jacket, which helps them to determine the marina where the incident took place--because late-night info about marinas having their railings painted is just a quick phone call away! Mrs. Wills acts a bit suspicious again along the way, trying to get Ironside to stop probing. She then has a private talk with her husband about how he's never opened himself up to her. The sodium pentothal arrives, along with Fran; and we get our first non-phone call scene outside the Cave as Mark and Ed (who also popped up along the way) talk to a watchman at the marina (Paul Micale), finding that the boat has been moved. (FWIW, the marina office set looks very fake.)

David tries to see to his own defense again before submitting to the truth serum. Once he's under, the Chief is the one who questions him, prodding him to describe his movements from the time he saw Mrs. Billings and for details about why he was making them. He recalls the boat moving into a marsh to hide, which matches evidence on his shoes, but can't identify who was piloting it. The Chief then dials back David to an earlier point, when he received a call from the juror, Westover; and Mrs. Wills tries to stop the questioning again. More prodding reveals that Wills went to the boat to talk to Billings, only to learn that Tony was the one who bribed the juror; that the fight was over that; and that David--who was earlier established to have been raised to abhor violence--hid and started to sink the boat to kill Billings. A phone call promptly reveals that Billings has been found in time. The Chief argues to Reese that David's amnesiac attempt to save Billings should weigh in his favor...and David comes out from the drug's influence, unaware of what he revealed while he was out.

I was disappointed that the episode didn't fully maintain taking place strictly in the Cave. It otherwise felt a lot like a stage play with one set.

_______

RJDiogenes said:
"Faith is when you believe in something that nobody in his right mind would believe in."

There ya go.

Nice.

Here's a "before" shot for posterity.

Once they determined how bad its condition was, there was a gag about the bell being the only thing that still worked.

Nerys Myk · Oct 7, 2023

RJDiogenes said:
One of Khan's minions. I think.

RJDiogenes said:
Ah, right, now I see him. I recognized the name but couldn't picture the face.

Ike's face is burned in my memory from endless TV appearances in the 70s.

Never seen McGarrett's hair look like that. :lol:

The Old Mixer · Oct 7, 2023

Zombie Cheerleader said:
Never seen McGarrett's hair look like that.

Don't think that it didn't put up a fight...

RJDiogenes · Oct 8, 2023

The Old Mixer said:
Sam Ferguson (Slim Pickens)

Genuine cowboy character actor.

Jeb (Bo Hopkins)

Reliably evil redneck character actor.

the withdrawn Monica takes a hotel phone book cover with her.

Was this ever explained?

proceed with the same job-hunting routine.

Wasn't there a high unemployment rate in the early 70s? :rommie:

Five-O turns up a similar pattern of new employees committing petty robbery and murder spanning 24 states, 125 victims, and a relatively paltry $40,000 stolen.

Holy Toledo. And all the while leaving fingerprints and descriptions in their wake.

Steve: If I saw that in a movie, I'd walk out in the middle.

Luckily a TV show is only half as long. :rommie:

straight to Danno, who swoops in on the family with uniformed HPD.

"Book 'em, me!"

When Steve sounds out the family about the magnitude of their crimes, he's flabbergasted as Sadie matter-of-factly offers that the people they killed weren't kin, and it ain't stealin' if the people was already dead.

Well, that was certainly different-- and, unfortunately, not as far fetched as Steve seemed to think.

Pete uncharacteristically engages in an intense stare.

His Petey sense is tingling.

Holmes describes the suspect, who got away on a motorcycle.

Lotsa two-wheeled action in this episode.

Malloy sets them straight about the seriousness of what they've become involved in for kicks.

"Grow up!"

After hearing a call that the actual suspects have been apprehended, Jim spots the Scotty tied up on the street, and lets it loose so that it leads them its master, whom they catch coming out of the back door of a cleaner's, having been stealing furs.

Odd that they had no updates about fur thefts prior to that.

The instrumental version of last week's romantic song incongruously plays as Mark tends to Wills's wounds--I assume that he's not Mark's long-lost love.

Maybe Billings was. :rommie:

Having difficulty raising a late-night neuropsychiatrist

Try Talk Radio. :rommie:

the Chief tries to get a better idea of the timing of the incident, determining in a Holmesian fashion that the boat couldn't have been taking on water too quickly or David's trousers would be wet.

Unless it's been a long time.

When it's determined that David is too willful to submit to hypnosis, the Chief tells the doctor to order some sodium pentothal...because there's no time to go to the sodium pentothal!

DoorDrugDash is quicker than an ambulance.

She then has a private talk with her husband about how he's never opened himself up to her.

"You never gave me sodium pentothal."

David--who was earlier established to have been raised to abhor violence--hid and started to sink the boat to kill Billings.

He abhors violence and is described by the Chief as being cool under pressure, but he tried to kill Billings over a bribe? I'm surprised there's not more to it than that. And what about his wife being all antsy? Did she know what happened?

David comes out from the drug's influence, unaware of what he revealed while he was out.

"The good news is that you're not guilty of bribery...."

I was disappointed that the episode didn't fully maintain taking place strictly in the Cave. It otherwise felt a lot like a stage play with one set.

I wonder if they had to do some last-minute reshooting or additional shooting that somehow forced them out of the cave (into a hastily built set). The one-set story does seem to have been an intentional choice.

Here's a "before" shot for posterity.
View attachment 36738

How quaint. I kinda pictured it being a little bigger, with maybe a water tank in the rear or something.

Once they determined how bad its condition was, there was a gag about the bell being the only thing that still worked.

I predict that it will be gradually restored throughout the season and then be used to save somebody's life in the finale.

Zombie Cheerleader said:
Ike's face is burned in my memory from endless TV appearances in the 70s.

I didn't recognize him at all, although, looking over his filmography, there's at least half a dozen things I would have seen him in, including The Fantastic Voyage.

The Old Mixer said:
Don't think that it didn't put up a fight...
View attachment 36743

The Old Mixer · Oct 8, 2023

50 Years Ago This Week

October 7

Iraq nationalized the holdings of the two U.S. oil companies operating in the Arab nation, Exxon and Mobil, as a show of support for Egypt and Syria in their war against Israel. The Iraqi government urged other Arab nations to immediately halt the export of their oil to the U.S. and to any other nations supporting Israel.
On the second day of the Yom Kippur War, the Israel Defense Force's 162nd Division destroyed 60 tanks of the Egyptian 25th Brigade in a battle in the Sinai peninsula, at the loss of only three Israeli tanks.

October 8

As Syrian tanks swept across the Golan Heights, and a counter-attack against Egypt in the Sinai peninsula failed to halt an advance, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir gave Defense Minister Moshe Dayan an authorization to assemble Israel's 13 nuclear weapons and to distribute them to Israeli Air Force units. The nuclear bombs were to be used only if Egyptian or Syrian troops invaded Israel itself.
The United Kingdom's 50-year monopoly on radio broadcasting came to an end as the London Broadcasting Company (LBC) became the first legal commercial radio station. Starting at 6:00 in the morning with David Jessel announcing, and operating on 720 KHz (417 meters) on the AM dial, LBC transmitted Independent Radio News reports and commentary 24 hours a day.

October 9

Cape Kennedy in the U.S. state of Florida, site of the launches of America's crewed space missions, was restored to its former name of Cape Canaveral by vote of the U.S. Board of Geographic Names. Assistant U.S. Secretary of the Interior Stephen Wakefield signed the order restoring the former name of the Cape, which had been changed on November 28, 1963, six days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The NASA headquarters on the Cape continued to be called the Kennedy Space Center.
Three days after the start of the Yom Kippur War and an attack by Syrian missiles against settlements in the Golan Heights, the Israeli Air Force sent seven F-4 Phantom jets on a mission to Damascus, and destroyed the Syrian Army Headquarters. The bombing also damaged the Syrian Air Force headquarters, a Soviet cultural center, and a TV station. At least 26 people were killed in the military bombing, and the Soviet Union said that 30 were killed in the destruction of the cultural center. By October 13, the Syrians had been pushed back from the Golan Heights.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, 58, American gospel singer and electric guitarist, died of a stroke.

October 10

Spiro T. Agnew resigned as Vice President of the United States and then, in federal court in Baltimore, pled no contest to charges of income tax evasion on $29,500 he received in 1967, while he was governor of Maryland. He was fined $10,000 and put on 3 years probation. While Agnew continued to proclaim his innocence of all charges, he wrote in a letter to U.S. President Nixon that "As you are aware, the accusations against me cannot be resolved without a long, divisive and debilitating struggle, I have concluded that, painful as it is to me and my family, it is in the best interests of the nation that I relinquish the office of the Vice Presidency." Multiple witnesses had disclosed to federal prosecutors that they had given bribes to Agnew when he was Governor of Maryland, and even after he became Vice President, in hopes of remaining eligible for state and federal engineering contracts. One reported that he had gone to Agnew's vice-presidential office and handed him $2,000 in cash while verbally calling it "a political contribution".

The Soviet Union began airlifting military supplies to Egypt and Syria to replace equipment lost in the first days of the Yom Kippur War. The U.S. responded two days later with aid to Israel.
The U.S. Senate voted, 75 to 20, to pass the War Powers Act, prohibiting the U.S. President from committing American troops to battle for more than 90 days without authorization by Congress, and to be able to end military action by a majority vote, not subject to veto. The House of Representatives approved the bill two days later, 238 to 123. President Nixon vetoed the bill on October 24, but both houses voted to override the veto.
The New York Mets won the fifth game of the best-3-of-5 National League Championship Series, with a 7 to 2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

October 11

The White House received a phone call from 10 Downing Street asking if U.S. President Richard Nixon would be available to speak with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom about the ongoing Yom Kippur War. Since President Nixon was intoxicated, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and administration assistant Brent Scowcroft decided that the Prime Minister could either speak with Kissinger or wait.
Baseball's defending national champions, the Oakland A's won the fifth game of the best-3-of-5 American League Championship Series, with a 3 to 0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles, and proceeded to the World Series against the New York Mets. Despite good weather and the importance of the game, the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum was only slightly more than half full, with 24,265 people filling the nearly 48,000 seats.
A National Christmas Tree was placed in Washington D.C. for the 101st time, and began a tradition of using living trees that had been transplanted, after 100 years of using trees that had been cut down. The Colorado blue spruce had fallen off of a flatbed truck while being transported from Shickshinny, Pennsylvania, although it continued to be used for Christmas in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

October 12

The first husband and wife team to be elected president and vice president of a nation took office as Juan Peron and Isabel Peron were sworn into office.
In response to the October 10 shipment of replacement weapons to Egypt and Syria, U.S. President Nixon authorized Operation Nickel Grass, an airlift of replacement weapons to Israel and on October 19, fifty A-4 aircraft were flown to Israel by the U.S. Navy's Patrol Squadron 92. The Arab nations would respond with a cut in their exports of oil to the United States.
U.S. Representative Gerald R. Ford, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, was nominated by U.S. President Nixon to succeed Spiro Agnew as Vice President of the United States. According to the Washington Post, Nixon's first choice, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Texas Governor John B. Connally, said in a phone discussion with White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig that he doubted that he could be confirmed by the U.S. Senate; Nixon's other three potential nominees under consideration were New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, California Governor Ronald Reagan, and U.S. Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson.

A U.S. Senate subcommittee inadvertently revealed the existence of a federal intelligence agency so secret that even its name was classified. The disclosure came in a report by the Senate Committee on Secret and Confidential Documents and mentioned the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) as an example of an intelligence group that Congress should know about. One intelligence official said later, "Hell, even its initials were supposed to be classified."

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Half-Breed," Cher
2. "Ramblin' Man," The Allman Brothers Band
3. "Let's Get It On," Marvin Gaye
4. "Higher Ground," Stevie Wonder
5. "Angie," The Rolling Stones
6. "That Lady (Part 1)," The Isley Brothers
7. "Loves Me Like a Rock," Paul Simon
8. "Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight & The Pips
9. "Keep On Truckin'," Eddie Kendricks
10. "We're an American Band," Grand Funk
11. "Yes We Can Can," The Pointer Sisters
12. "Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat," The DeFranco Family feat. Tony DeFranco
13. "Paper Roses," Marie Osmond
14. "Free Ride," The Edgar Winter Group
15. "China Grove," The Doobie Brothers
16. "My Maria," B. W. Stevenson
17. "Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces," Cheech & Chong
18. "Delta Dawn," Helen Reddy
19. "All I Know," Art Garfunkel
20. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," Bob Dylan
21. "Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose," Dawn feat. Tony Orlando
22. "Brother Louie," Stories
23. "Why Me," Kris Kristofferson
24. "Rocky Mountain Way," Joe Walsh
25. "Touch Me in the Morning," Diana Ross
26. "Space Race," Billy Preston

28. "Get It Together," Jackson 5

35. "You're a Special Part of Me," Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye

37. "Theme from Cleopatra Jones," Joe Simon feat. The Mainstreeters

40. "I Got a Name," Jim Croce
41. "Gypsy Man," War
42. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," Elton John
43. "Just You 'n' Me," Chicago
44. "Nutbush City Limits," Ike & Tina Turner

47. "If You Want Me to Stay," Sly & The Family Stone

50. "The Love I Lost (Pt. 1)," Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
51. "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," Al Green

53. "The Most Beautiful Girl," Charlie Rich

56. "Top of the World," Carpenters

60. "Photograph," Ringo Starr

65. "Woman from Tokyo," Deep Purple

77. "Cheaper to Keep Her," Johnnie Taylor

83. "Hello It's Me," Todd Rundgren

Leaving the chart:

"Feelin' Stronger Every Day," Chicago (16 weeks)
"I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)," Johnnie Taylor (16 weeks)
"Live and Let Die," Paul McCartney & Wings (14 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Cheaper to Keep Her," Johnnie Taylor
(#15 US; #2 R&B)

And new on the boob tube:

Hawaii Five-O, "The Sunday Torch"
Adam-12, "Venice Division"
Kung Fu, "The Chalice"
Ironside, "The Armageddon Gang"
The Brady Bunch, "Peter and the Wolf"
The Odd Couple, "The Odd Holiday"
Love, American Style, "Love and the Bonded Separation / Love and the Fractured Fibula / Love and the Pretty Secretary"
Super Friends, "The Shamon ‘U’"
Star Trek, "The Survivor"
All in the Family, "Archie the Gambler"
M*A*S*H, "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde"
Emergency!, "An English Visitor"
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "Hi There, Sports Fans"
The Bob Newhart Show, "Emily in for Carol"

_______

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

_______

RJDiogenes said:
Was this ever explained?

She clearly thought that it was very pretty and was transfixed by it.

He abhors violence and is described by the Chief as being cool under pressure, but he tried to kill Billings over a bribe? I'm surprised there's not more to it than that. And what about his wife being all antsy? Did she know what happened?

He was a tightly wound individual who snapped, and possibly blocked out what he did afterward (hence the titular tabletop structure was a metaphor for him). He was angry at Billings for potentially bringing down the firm. The wife didn't know, but seemed to suspect where things were going and was defensive of him.

I wonder if they had to do some last-minute reshooting or additional shooting that somehow forced them out of the cave (into a hastily built set). The one-set story does seem to have been an intentional choice.

The phone calls, at least, seemed to be deliberate from the get-go.

How quaint. I kinda pictured it being a little bigger, with maybe a water tank in the rear or something.

The firefighters were guffawing over it having only an eighty-gallon tank.

The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

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Commodore

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Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion

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Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion

Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim.

Sgt Pepper

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Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion

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