Post-50th Anniversary Viewing
The Mod Squad
"Cry Uncle"
Originally aired February 22, 1973
IMDb said:
Greer is interrogating an art gallery guard named Henson (Richard Newton) about a million-dollar painting having been stolen from under his nose by unknown means; but foul play on his part is unlikely because it's only the latest of a series of such thefts, all of paintings by Cézanne. As Greer's returning home, he catches the end of a scuffle in which his uncle, Max Kalatsis (Theodore Bikel), gets the better of two assailants (Geoffrey Lewis and Mills Watson, whose characters are billed on IMDb as Tracy and Willy) who want something from him, sending them running. Notably, Uncle Max is carrying a long, round satchel. Max tells Adam, whom we learn is an amateur painter, that he wants to take him back to Greece. Meanwhile, Tracy and Willy's fastidious boss, Adolph Schmidt (Gino Conforti), chastises them for their failure. Back at Greer's, the Mods meet Max as he's coming out of meditation, which he learned in Tibet. The hoods drive around the place to see the party leaving, so they go up and break into the apartment (clearly unaware that it belongs to a police captain), but in case there was any doubt that these guys are comically inept, they're driven off this time by a screaming, broom-wielding housekeeper, Martha (Kathleen Freeman).
In the aftermath, Max checks his satchel; and it comes to the Mods' attention that all three paintings were sold by Schmidt, a private collector. That all were recently found (though authenticated) causes Linc to suspect forgery. Adam takes Max to see a gallery owner acquaintance named Sadie Phillips (Dena Dietrich),who's in possession of another of the found Cézannes, which he wants her to exhibit as bait. Meanwhile, posing as a wealthy couple again, Pete and Julie visit Schmidt with an interest in acquiring Cézannes, implying that they'd take one obtained via shady means. Adam and Max drink at a Greek club, where we learn that Greer is a widower of ten years (not sure if that's come up before), and the two of them get on the floor to join in a group dance; though Adam continues to resist his uncle's overtures to come back to the home country. When they return to the apartment, they find it ransacked.
At the minions' art warehouse digs, Schmidt chastises them for failing again. The painting is put on display at the Phillips Gallery, which the Mods and plainclothes cops stake out from outside...as do the minions. Max chats up the inside security--Sadie's assistant, Brian (Bryn Morgan)--who reads a paper and completely ignores the old man, even as Max changes into a security uniform, takes the painting, removes it from its frame, and rolls it up to put in the suit box via which he brought in the uniform. When Brian's relief arrives, the other guard notices that the frame is empty, which seems to come as a surprise to Brian. An alarm is sounded and everyone outside converges on the scene. Max is seen returning to Greer's by the minions, who storm in packing heat; clock Max from behind; find the just-stolen painting in the box; and then learn Greer's profession when they discover his shoulder-holstered gun.
Greer and Max are taken back to the warehouse and tied up; following which Tracy investigates a bus station locker key found on Max in search of the other paintings. Pete and Linc find Uncle Max's cigar in Brian's office, and the uniform in his suit box back at Greer's. When Schmidt contacts Julie about having obtained another Cézanne, the guys tail him. Back at the warehouse, Max tells Adam how, being a frustrated artist who could only copy the style of others, he created the stolen paintings in Cézanne's style, which Schmidt bought cheap, then had authenticated as Cézanne originals. While Greer insists that Max's part in the forgery wasn't illegal, Max is too proud to come forward about his derivative works. When Adam asks him how he managed to steal the paintings back, Max demonstrates another thing he learned in Tibet by chatting up the solitaire-playing Willy, putting him into a hypnotic trance and having him untie them. Pete and Linc follow Schmidt back to the warehouse to witness a painting exchange with Tracy outside. When Tracy recognizes the Charger, Schmidt is tackled by Lucy trying to run for it; while Tracy goes back inside to find Willy blissfully playing solitaire, and is then taken by surprise and overpowered by Adam and Max.
In the coda, Greer has the Mods sit in his office to listen to a tape from Uncle Max, who's back home and continuing to paint Cézanne-styled originals. A trigger word suddenly puts Greer into a trance, and taped Max explains to the Mods that he took advantage of Adam having accidentally fallen under at the warehouse, too; and instructs them how to wake him up, at which point he'll offer them a raise. Linc knocks three times, and while Greer tries to stop himself multiple times, he ultimately does as Max promised. The penultimate episode closes with an overhead shot of the Mods laughing and slapping hands.
Ironside
"All About Andrea"
Originally aired February 22, 1973
IMDb said:
Fran's attending a book signing of Hell Hath No Fury by an eccentric old professor of hers, Dr. Andrea Wollcott (Myrna Loy), who sports a multicolored feather wig, and invites her over for drinks sometime. As both are leaving, Fran hears shots and rushes to Andrea, who thinks they were fired at her.
Wollcott: It's kind of flattering. I haven't been shot at since the Spanish Civil War.
Which was over a decade closer to 1973 than 2024 is. We later learn that Wollcott worked as a journalist there.
Andrea's dowdy secretary, Gerry Sandel (Neva Patterson), berates the police for not providing protection, though Wollcott doesn't want any. Cut to the apartment of Augie and April Morris (Bill McKinney and second-billed guest Jacqueline Scott, the latter of whom was at the signing, in line right ahead of Fran), which is filled with tension because Augie doesn't approve of the rift that's been forming between them since she started getting ideas from reading Wollcott's book. When he's alone, Augie's revealed to have been concealing a gun. Wollcott visits the Cave to find that the Chief is an admirer from an aunt having marched with her, but she berates him for having Fran do secretarial work. Another potential suspect, Wollcott's wittily critical nephew, Ted Moresby (Robert Quarry), drops in to check on her. The Chief decides to drop the case they've been working on to look into the murder attempt, motivated in part by Fran being the crossfire from already having been assigned to Andrea.
Fran answers Andrea's door for a visit from her publisher, Marcus Lowell (Holy uncredited Alan Napier!), and his son, Martin (Morgan Paull), during which it's found that a hand-written manuscript has come up missing. Scoping out the rooftop from which it's determined the sniper fired, the Chief and Mark come upon a wino called Trash (John McLiam) and question him about his whereabouts at the time of the previous morning's shooting. Ed questions Andrea's granddaughter, dancer Coral Watson (Jenny Sullivan), whom it turns out is Andrea's co-heir, alongside her cousin Ted. We watch another fight between the Morrises as Augie drops April off at a lecture and heavily plays the "women should stay home baking cookies" card; following which he takes a parking spot and arms himself. As Andrea's arriving, Fran delivers a cut-and-paste note which threatens that the sender won't miss next time.
At dinner with Andrea and Gerry, Fran notices a figure on a lower rooftop and slips out to investigate. In a structure on the roof she finds Trash with a bottle. While she's gone, Andrea's beratement of Gerry's dinner turns into questioning her whereabouts the previous night, then a fight over Andrea's treatment of her. Gerry storms out as Fran returns, and Andrea goes into a monologue admitting to her own faults, which include being a mayfly who never made her mark as an artist and has turned into a cantankerous old woman. At the Morris apartment, Augie comes home drinking to find April packing up, tired of being treated like a maid and made to feel dumb. Following their argument, he walks out.
Andrea throws a party in her suite at which she shows old photos and Ed makes time with the free-spirited Coral in the kitchen. As the guests are leaving, Augie skulks in the shadows cocking his gun. He takes aim but at the last moment lowers his gun and empties it into the ground. April comes in as he's being interrogated at HQ, where he insists that he wasn't behind the previous attempt or threats and breaks down crying, apologizing to wife. The Chief dismisses him as a suspect, and outside is approached by a wino who's found the manuscript in a garbage can. When he learns where it was found, the team rushes to Andrea's, unable to get ahold of her because she leaves her phone off the hook during parties. At the hotel, a stocking-masked figure bursts through the door, knocking out Fran and threatening to strangle Andrea. When Andrea tosses a drink in his face, he unmasks to reveal that he's Martin, who was trying to keep Andrea from publishing her new book, which included a section that, if read by the wrong people, could implicate him in a murder over a stock swindling affair. (That he'd tried unsuccessfully to persuade her to take out that section came up at the party.) Then Trash bursts in from the terrace and tackles him, just before the team arrives. Andrea takes to her rescuer, inviting him to drink with her.
In the coda, it's revealed that the Chief hired Trash to find the manuscript, though he insists that the wino's additional activities were on his own initiative.
FWIW, I'm pretty sure the doctor handwaved that she was going to be fine.Yeah, but deserved. Two health care providers pull an unconscious young woman from a car wreck and dump her at home before heading to the hospital-- without even trying to get her to regain consciousness? That sounds like the setup for a Night Gallery episode or something.
Maybe they were too busy with the storm (which may have also been briefly handwaved).
That's what I like about it--they usually play her as too delicate. She's supposed to be a trained cop.
Alas, no.
So you're talking about guest characters with connections to the main characters more generally; not specifically about Ed's old service buddies.
I should note that by the end, she'd gained an appreciation for the Chief.
