The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[DarrenTR1970]

August 10

• First use of the 24-second shot-clock in competitive basketball.

The story behind the introduction of the twenty-four second clock in basketball

The Dullest Game by Howard Liss

The best professional basketball team of the early 1950s was the Minneapolis Lakers. They made scoring look easy, particularly when their star center, 6-foot-10 George Mikan, was in the game. There was only one way to keep them from running up a lot of points, and that was to stall. (The 24-second clock had not been invented.) Opponents tried to freeze the ball by passing it around, dribbling – anything to keep control of the ball.

Such strategy didn’t work very often because the Lakers usually jumped into the lead, forcing the other team to take more shots. Big Mikan was always there to snatch the rebound. But once it did work. As a result of that game, professional basketball changed drastically.

On November 22, 1950, the Lakers played against the Fort Wayne Pistons in Minneapolis. The Pistons went into their “slow motion” tactics immediately.

The fans didn’t like what was happening, and they began to boo, whistle and stomp. The Pistons turned a deaf ear. The referee couldn’t do anything, because the Pistons tactics were legal at the time. At the end of the first period, Fort Wayne was ahead, 8-7.

Nothing much happened in the second period either. The Lakers ran up six points, the Pistons added only three, and at half time Minneapolis was ahead, 13-11.

There wasn’t a great deal of difference in the third period. Minneapolis scored four, Fort Wayne tallied five, and at the end of the quarter the scoreboard read 17-16, Minneapolis.

The final period was incredible! It seemed that all the playing on the court had fallen asleep. Then, with nine seconds to go and the Lakers leading, 18-17, Larry Foust of Fort Wayne drove in and scored the go-ahead points. Little Slater Martin of the Lakers tried to win the game with a desperation shot, but failed. Fort Wayne won the game, 19-18.

Without a doubt it was the dullest game in the history of the National Basketball Association. Of course, several records were set, but they were the wrong kind of records:

Fewest shots at the basket, both teams.

Fewest points scored in a quarter.

Fewest points scored in a half.

Fewest points scored in a game.

George Mikan was the only Laker to score from the floor; he tossed in four baskets. He also made good on seven free throws, meaning that he scored 15 of his team’s 18 points.

Fans, sportswriters and league officials were very angry. Maurice Podoloff, president of the NBA, declared, “It will never happen again!”

Soon afterward, the pros adopted the 24-second rule, which forces a team to shoot within 24 seconds or give up the ball. At least something came out of basketball’s dullest game.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The First Indochina War ends with the Vietnam People's Army in North Vietnam, the Vietnamese National Army in South Vietnam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the Kingdom of Laos emerging victorious against the French Army.

Let's leave it at that for a while, guys.

Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

Classic Hitchcock. But I repeat myself.

Also on August 7, "Sh-Boom" as covered by the Crew-Cuts tops the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart.

Classic. I can kind of hear the 40s turning into the 50s.

The final episode of the comic strip Jungle Jim is published.

Created by Alex Raymond, the same guy who created Flash Gordon. I'm not sure if he was still doing it at the end. Probably not.

"Shake, Rattle and Roll" as covered by Bill Haley & His Comets

Now there's a Rock'n'Roll classic. I wonder how close the genre came to being called Rattle'n'Roll.

Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas, 72, commits suicide after being accused of involvement in a conspiracy to murder his chief political opponent, Carlos Lacerda, shooting himself in the chest at the Catete Palace with a Colt Police Positive Special.

That sort of thing makes you look guilty, dude.

Born: Elvis Costello, English singer, songwriter, and musician, in London

Kind of a jerk, but a great lyricist. I read an interview with him before hearing any of his music, so it took me a while to warm up to him.

A Chap Who Fancies Himself Ironside

Jolly good! I like that!

Yep.

So that kind of emphasizes that everything took place in an unnaturally short period of time.

I went back to make sure I didn't miss anything. His awareness of his condition prior to the news wasn't dealt with at all; not even a handwave. The hospital scenes were really very perfunctory.

So he doesn't just talk like Wolverine, he also has his mutant healing factor. Except for his spine, apparently.

FWIW, he had the Iron-Gym in the Cave.

That's true, and that was a good touch. They should have shown him exercising during one of those dialogue scenes.

I'm glad it didn't. It was pretty jarring.

"We'll solve cases together, or separately if need be!"

Capped. Or, rather, Starked.

I learned something new about the creation of Wolverine--the initial concept for the character came from Roy Thomas (then editor-in-chief)

I didn't know that, but I'm not surprised. The guy was an idea factory in the early 70s. His contributions rival Stan and Jack, really.

Reportedly Herb Trimpe denied having any part in the creation.

You don't see that kind of honesty very often. He probably could have had a piece of the pie.

Given that he's established to be a mutant in the first story--even though his healing factor and senses haven't been introduced, and his claws are presumed to be artificial at this point--I have to wonder if a consideration in his conception was making him part of the X-Men revival...which has at least been conceived by this point, as they've been tossing hints about it in the text pages. The X-Men were near and dear to Thomas, and Wein would write GSXM #1.

Hard to say. I feel like they would have mentioned the X-Men in those Hulk issues if that were the case, but who knows?

Without a doubt it was the dullest game in the history of the National Basketball Association. Of course, several records were set, but they were the wrong kind of records:

Fewest shots at the basket, both teams.

Fewest points scored in a quarter.

Fewest points scored in a half.

Fewest points scored in a game.

George Mikan was the only Laker to score from the floor; he tossed in four baskets. He also made good on seven free throws, meaning that he scored 15 of his team’s 18 points.

Fans, sportswriters and league officials were very angry. Maurice Podoloff, president of the NBA, declared, “It will never happen again!”

Soon afterward, the pros adopted the 24-second rule, which forces a team to shoot within 24 seconds or give up the ball. At least something came out of basketball’s dullest game.

That's hilarious. Although I guess I don't understand why everyone was upset. It sounds like the basketball equivalent of a no-hitter. But I know nothing about sports.

 

[The Old Mixer]

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Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

And now we circle back around to our most recent 50th anniversary viewing season (still in reruns at this point in 1974), during which I missed two MTM episodes, one of them being a particularly noteworthy season premiere.

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The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"The Lars Affair"
Originally aired September 15, 1973
Season 4 premiere
1974 Emmy award for Best Supporting Actress in Comedy (Cloris Leachman)

Phyllis discovers that her husband is having an affair with Sue Ann Nivens, the star of WJM's "Happy Homemaker Show". First appearance of Betty White.

In 1997, TV Guide ranked this episode number 27 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes.

The season opens with a party at Mary's, in the aftermath of Edie having left during a spat with Lou. In her usual fashion, Phyllis manages to make Lou feel worse about it. Sue Ann is there, whom Mary introduces to the audience via Phyllis. Then Phyllis is taken aback to learn that Lars has offered Sue Ann a ride home. Phyllis waits pensively at Mary's for Lars to return, eventually getting a call with a suspicious story about having damaged the car while swerving to avoid a dog and going to an all-night body shop...but she buys it.

The next evening, Mary shares with Rhoda how she saw Sue Ann and Lars having lunch. Phyllis drops in and tells them that he's playing poker with the boys after having lied that he had to work late. At the newsroom, Ted comes in bearing gossip about having seen the guy Sue Ann's been fooling around with leaving her dressing room, and is trying to place where he knows the man from. When Phyllis drops in, Mary is only partly successful in stopping Ted from blurting it out...he announces that the man he saw Sue Ann with was not Lars!

After this, even Phyllis can't deny what's going on. She describes to Mary and Rhoda how she's been trying to hide her feelings about it from her husband.

Phyllis: Last night during Hawaii Five-O, I began to weep uncontrollably. But I covered by telling Lars I was moved by the grandeur of Diamond Head.​

She also describes how Lars has gained nine pounds and his clothes are cleaner when he comes home at night than when he left. Phyllis later returns to WJM wanting Mary to accompany her as she confronts Sue Ann, who's taping an installment of her show.

Sue Ann (to offstage director): I'm sorry, Billy, but I cannot do a chocolate souffle with only two cameras.​

Mary is pulled out early by Lou rushing in because he needs her to work on a breaking story. Phyllis tries to sit Sue Ann down to talk, but Sue Ann is more concerned with checking on her souffle--which Phyllis ruins by opening the oven door and slamming it. That gets Sue Ann's attention, as she reacts as if Phyllis had harmed an innocent creature.

Phyllis: You're bananas, you know that?​

Phyllis goes on to describe all of Lars's little foibles, but this doesn't discourage her rival. The situation is finally resolved when Mary briefly returns and, pressed for time, very promptly threatens Sue Ann with the prospect of Ted spreading gossip all over the station, which will ruin her image. Phyllis gets in a last blow by tossing a handful of souffle onto Sue Ann's apron.

In the coda, Phyllis reports to Mary how things are working out much better between her and Lars...due, we see, to how she's now keeping strict tabs on his whereabouts.

There's a sub-gag involving Lou being upset with Mary for having approved of the idea of putting a cameraman in the back of a patrol car, which hasn't been turning up anything (until it finally does, which is the breaking story mentioned above). So...Lou and Mary invented Cops?

---

As a reminder, at the beginning of this 50th anniversary viewing season, I covered just the premieres of All in the Family and M*A*S*H, as their timeslot rival Emergency! was starting its season the following week. We now pick up AITF and M*A*S*H on their second episodes of the season.

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All in the Family
"We're Still Having a Heat Wave"
Originally aired September 22, 1973

As the heat wave continues, Archie continues to be irritated by the Lorenzos.

The episode opens with the family suffering from the titular situation, as the air conditioner is still broken. Irene Lorenzo comes by and she and Edith talk in the kitchen over lemonade--Irene telling Edith of how she learned how to fix things to do away with condescending repairmen, and Edith offering TMI about local shopping establishments. Irene offers to have Frank come over and make an Italian dinner. When Archie comes home, he's put off when Edith passes him at the door with Irene; and objects to seeing Mike stripped down to a pair of shorts (describing him as "the P***** Mark Spitz") and Gloria walking around the house in a bikini. On the subject of Edith's absence, Mike and Gloria tell Archie that Ma finally has someone to talk to...who listens. When Edith returns, she's flattered that Archie misses her; but he's so busy showing her an air horn he got so he can blow it when Frank sings in the middle of the night that Edith doesn't have a chance to tell him before the Lorenzos arrive bearing ingredients, Frank wearing Bermuda shorts and sporting a chef's hat.

Edith watches Frank cook while trying to make conversation, which leaves Archie in the living room butting heads with Irene, including about how Frank does all the cooking.

Archie: Well ain't you a little afraid of what people could think?​

Irene: You mean that I'm a lazy wife?​

Archie: No, that he's a f**.​

As Frank's getting ready to come out with the meal, he starts singing.

Archie: I think he oughta get himself a monkey.​

Archie takes exception to being served a cold soup, which insults Frank; leading to a spectacle at the table that Archie also doesn't enjoy, as Irene playfully tries to cheer her husband up. Archie goes to the kitchen to eat cold spaghetti out of a can--which he describes as "American food"; and Edith stands up to him, telling him that the Lorenzos' friendship is important to her and asking him to be nice to them. Out in the dining room, Frank expresses that he's also jealous of Irene spending so much time with Edith. When the Bunkers come back out, Edith makes an excuse about how the heat's been affecting Archie, and Irene offers to try fixing their AC. But when Frank starts singing again, Archie uses his air horn.

In the coda, the Lorenzos have left and Edith tells Archie that he has her all to himself. He decides to go to bed (and not in a suggestive manner).

---

M*A*S*H
"5 O'Clock Charlie"
Originally aired September 22, 1973

An inept North Korean bomber pilot provides entertainment for the camp, but prompts Frank to call for heavy artillery.

The camp finds the titular daily bomber so laughable that Radar collects bets over how many yards he'll miss the ammo dump by, and the personnel sit outside on lounge chairs with drinks and umbrellas to watch as the pilot of the sputtering, open-cockpit monoplane hand-tosses one bomb, which lands nowhere near the dump. In characteristic fashion, Frank and Hot Lips are the only ones who take the situation seriously, so Burns goes to Blake--who won the bet--to ask General Clayton--who was also in the pool--for an antiaircraft gun. Hawkeye and Trapper object to this idea on the grounds that it will draw fire to the hospital, arguing that they get rid of the dump instead. When the general visits, he thinks that the dump is a good idea as its proximity to the hospital protects it; but he's not in favor of the AA gun until Charlie makes his run during the visit and his bomb happens to hit the general's unoccupied Jeep. (Note that the general's thing with Hot Lips comes up again.)

Hawkeye and Trapper get the idea from guitar-playing Guest Dentist of the Week Captain Phil Cardozo (Corey Fischer) that the way to get rid of the gun is to get rid of the dump, so the guys hatch a scheme to make the latter unmissable to Charlie. (Aiding the enemy is going a bit far...) But they also have to prevent Frank, who's in charge of the gun crew, from shooting him down first; so they attempt to keep the major busy in the hospital tent, where they've set the clock back, but the noise of the plane thwarts their ruse. Frank rushes out to oversee the gun's Korean crew (led by Lloyd Kino, who, among other roles, was a Kohm in "The Omega Glory"). Hawkeye tries to throw them off with auctioneer-style gab, and we see from the aerial viewpoint that the guys have painted a trail of large, white arrows pointing to the dump and covered it with a bullseye. Charlie nevertheless misses, but when the gun crew fires, they hit the dump, making it blow.

In the coda, it's 5:00 and the guys miss Charlie...while teasing Frank for also missing Charlie.

---

Classic Hitchcock. But I repeat myself.

With Jimmy Stewart in a wheelchair being attacked by Raymond Burr! Maybe the Chief's shooting was cross-character karma...

Classic. I can kind of hear the 40s turning into the 50s.

An example of the mixed phenomenon prominent in the era of white artists having more success with (often cleaned-up) versions of songs than the original black artists.

Now there's a Rock'n'Roll classic. I wonder how close the genre came to being called Rattle'n'Roll.

The term "rock 'n' roll" goes back to at least the '40s, as a euphemism for sex, and was definitely out and about in reference to the emerging new sound at this point.

Kind of a jerk, but a great lyricist. I read an interview with him before hearing any of his music, so it took me a while to warm up to him.

Guess he wouldn't have been named after Presley at this point.

So he doesn't just talk like Wolverine, he also has his mutant healing factor. Except for his spine, apparently.

Repairing adamantium is expensive.

That's true, and that was a good touch. They should have shown him exercising during one of those dialogue scenes.

At one point he was lifting himself on a bar, but I think that was to get out of the chair.

I suppose I might have gotten used to it if he'd talked that way in the series.

Capped. Or, rather, Starked.

An appropriate stand-in for Iron-Butt.

I didn't know that, but I'm not surprised. The guy was an idea factory in the early 70s. His contributions rival Stan and Jack, really.

You don't see that kind of honesty very often. He probably could have had a piece of the pie.

This all came to my attention because of a news feed story about Thomas and Romita having been added to the creator credits for the current film; I believe Trimpe was already being credited despite his own account. Reportedly it's a subject of controversy that Roy was added, as he was involved in his role as editor...but creating a diminutive, feral Canadian superhero named Wolverine was his idea. There's detail about it on Wolvie's Wiki page.

That's hilarious. Although I guess I don't understand why everyone was upset. It sounds like the basketball equivalent of a no-hitter. But I know nothing about sports.

I definitely don't know basketball, but I'm glad somebody got something out of that inclusion.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The season opens with a party at Mary's

Always bad news.

in the aftermath of Edie having left during a spat with Lou.

Uh oh. Foreshadowing.

Sue Ann is there, whom Mary introduces to the audience via Phyllis.

I've seen this, but somehow it never sunk in that Sue Ann was introduced in the context of messing around with Lars. She's more unsympathetic than I remembered.

Then Phyllis is taken aback to learn that Lars has offered Sue Ann a ride home.

Of course, we never actually see Lars, which takes away from the impact-- so I can see why Cloris Leachman got herself an Emmy for putting the experience and feelings across.

a suspicious story about having damaged the car while swerving to avoid a dog and going to an all-night body shop

Ah, yes, that 24-hour body shop. The one with the drive thru.

Phyllis: Last night during Hawaii Five-O, I began to weep uncontrollably. But I covered by telling Lars I was moved by the grandeur of Diamond Head.

While secretly wanting to throw him in the drink.

She also describes how Lars has gained nine pounds and his clothes are cleaner when he comes home at night than when he left.

Nice, subtle character-based humor.

Phyllis later returns to WJM wanting Mary to accompany her as she confronts Sue Ann, who's taping an installment of her show.

Now there's two very bad ideas.

Phyllis tries to sit Sue Ann down to talk, but Sue Ann is more concerned with checking on her souffle--which Phyllis ruins by opening the oven door and slamming it.

I remember this part.

Mary briefly returns and, pressed for time, very promptly threatens Sue Ann with the prospect of Ted spreading gossip all over the station, which will ruin her image.

Tch tch. Shouldn't meddle in other people's affairs, Mary.

Phyllis gets in a last blow by tossing a handful of souffle onto Sue Ann's apron.

I remember this part, too.

So...Lou and Mary invented Cops?

And at a time when portable cameras were significantly less portable.

Irene Lorenzo comes by and she and Edith talk in the kitchen over lemonade

"I just know Frank and I will get our own spin off!"

Irene telling Edith of how she learned how to fix things to do away with condescending repairmen

I'm remembering her utility belt.

When Archie comes home, he's put off when Edith passes him at the door with Irene; and objects to seeing Mike stripped down to a pair of shorts

It's not often that I agree with Arch.

and Gloria walking around the house in a bikini.

This I can deal with.

Archie: Well ain't you a little afraid of what people could think?
Irene: You mean that I'm a lazy wife?
Archie: No, that he's a f**.

His culinary experience is clearly limited.

Archie takes exception to being served a cold soup

Yeah, definitely limited.

Frank expresses that he's also jealous of Irene spending so much time with Edith.

Another example of their efforts to be evenhanded.

Edith tells Archie that he has her all to himself. He decides to go to bed (and not in a suggestive manner).

In a later episode, this exact scene works out quite differently.

the pilot of the sputtering, open-cockpit monoplane hand-tosses one bomb

Where's Snoopy when you need him?

When the general visits, he thinks that the dump is a good idea as its proximity to the hospital protects it

Apparently not. Also, the M stands for Mobile.

(Aiding the enemy is going a bit far...)

Agreed. At the beginning, M*A*S*H was much more of a farce-- that's not an insult, just a description. But in my opinion the quality was much better when it evolved into something more solid. I really started paying attention around the time BJ and Potter showed up, I think.

we see from the aerial viewpoint that the guys have painted a trail of large, white arrows pointing to the dump and covered it with a bullseye.

I can imagine Clayton's reaction to this if the show were a smidge more grounded.

With Jimmy Stewart in a wheelchair being attacked by Raymond Burr! Maybe the Chief's shooting was cross-character karma...

Maybe this got him thinking about a job where he could sit down all the time.

The term "rock 'n' roll" goes back to at least the '40s, as a euphemism for sex, and was definitely out and about in reference to the emerging new sound at this point.

Yeah, I was just thinking it would make a nice detail in an alternate universe scenario where things mostly look normal at first, but little details are askew.

Guess he wouldn't have been named after Presley at this point.

No, he adopted that as a stage name. Like Sting, he has a much more boring real name.

Repairing adamantium is expensive.

True.

An appropriate stand-in for Iron-Butt.

This all came to my attention because of a news feed story about Thomas and Romita having been added to the creator credits for the current film; I believe Trimpe was already being credited despite his own account. Reportedly it's a subject of controversy that Roy was added, as he was involved in his role as editor...but creating a diminutive, feral Canadian superhero named Wolverine was his idea. There's detail about it on Wolvie's Wiki page.

Back in those days it was all work for hire-- who knew that fifty years later these characters would be making billions of dollars?

 

[The Old Mixer]

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We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Post for a
50 Years Ago This Week
Special Report

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My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.

--President Gerald R. Ford, August 9, 1974​

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August 5

• U.S. President Richard Nixon released transcripts of three conversations between himself and the former White House Chief of Staff, H. R. Haldeman, on June 23, 1972, six days after the Watergate break-in. One of the transcripts showed that Nixon had ordered that the Federal Bureau of Investigation halt its inquiry into the case.
• Nixon also released a statement saying that after he listened to the June 23 conversations, "Although I recognized that these presented potential problems, I did not inform my staff or my counsel of it... This was a serious act of omission for which I take full responsibility and which I deeply regret." He added that "a House vote on impeachment is, as a practical matter, virtually a foregone conclusion, and that the issue will therefore go to trial in the Senate."
• Many of President Nixon's strongest supporters in Congress withdrew their support after the transcripts' release, including Representative Charles E. Wiggins of California, Nixon's most prominent defender on the House Judiciary Committee, who said he would now vote for impeachment on the charge of obstruction of justice.

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• The comic strip Tank McNamara, created by Jeff Millar and Bill Hinds, made its debut with distribution by United Press Syndicate. Billed as a satire on the American obsession with organized sports, the strip commented on the sports world through its title character, a former pro football player who had become a TV sports newscaster.
• The sport of dogs catching flying discs (including the Wham-O Frisbee) gained national exposure in the U.S. when a 19-year-old college student brought his dog, Ashley Whippet, onto the field at Dodger Stadium for an unauthorized interruption of a nationally televised baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the visiting Cincinnati Reds. Prior to the start of the ninth inning a crowd of 51,062 fans and millions of NBC viewers watched the whippet dog catch four out of five tosses with high leaps; the Dodgers won, 6 to 3.

August 6

• The bombing of a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport killed three people and injured 36. The time bomb had been placed in a locker by Yugoslavian-born American terrorist Muharem Kurbegovic and exploded at 8:10 in the morning.

August 7

• French high-wire artist Philippe Petit conducted an unauthorized walk on a tightrope between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, crossing a 131-foot (40 m) cable at a height of 1,350 feet (410 m). Members of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department arrested Petit for disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, but Richard Kuh, the New York County District Attorney, ordered the charges dropped in exchange for Petit giving a free performance for the children of New York City. Kuh suggested at a news conference that Port Authority security was insufficiently "keen".

August 8

• Richard Nixon became the first (and, as of 2024, the only) U.S. President to announce his resignation. Earlier in the week, Nixon had admitted his coverup of the Watergate scandal. In a televised address to the nation, Nixon said, "I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is [abhorrent] to every instinct in my body. But as President I must put the interests of America first." He added that continuing to fight "would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress... when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home. Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office."

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August 9

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• U.S. Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th President of the United States upon Nixon's resignation. In a speech after being sworn in, President Ford said, "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over."

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• All nine people on a United Nations peacekeeping force were killed when their Canadian Armed Forces airplane was shot down by missiles fired from a Syrian airbase. Buffalo 461, a de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo transport, was making a supply trip for UN forces enforcing the ceasefire to the war between Israel and Syria, and had been cleared for a landing by the control tower at the Damascus airport, but was hit by a surface-to-air missile as it passed over the Syrian town of Ad Dimas.

August 10

• U.S. President Gerald Ford requested that all members of President Nixon's Cabinet and all heads of U.S. Government agencies remain in office for "continuity and stability."
• Over 300,000 people attended the August Jam outdoor rock concert at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. The Allman Brothers Band and Emerson, Lake & Palmer were among the performers at the event.
• In West Branch, Iowa, the hometown of former U.S. President Herbert Hoover, nearly 7,000 people gathered to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth. President Nixon had been scheduled to attend prior to the events of the week leading to his resignation.
• Died: Ivor Dean, 56, British stage, film and television actor known for the British TV series The Saint

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Feel Like Makin' Love," Roberta Flack
2. "The Night Chicago Died," Paper Lace
3. "Annie's Song," John Denver
4. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," Elton John
5. "Please Come to Boston," Dave Loggins
6. "Call on Me," Chicago
7. "Waterloo," ABBA
8. "Sideshow," Blue Magic
9. "Wildwood Weed," Jim Stafford
10. "Tell Me Something Good," Rufus
11. "Keep on Smilin'," Wet Willie
12. "Takin' Care of Business," Bachman-Turner Overdrive
13. "(You're) Having My Baby," Paul Anka
14. "Rock and Roll Heaven," The Righteous Brothers
15. "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," Steely Dan
16. "Sure as I'm Sittin' Here," Three Dog Night
17. "The Air That I Breathe," The Hollies
18. "Shinin' On," Grand Funk
19. "I'm Leaving It (All) Up to You," Donny & Marie Osmond
20. "Rock Me Gently," Andy Kim
21. "You and Me Against the World," Helen Reddy
22. "Radar Love," Golden Earring
23. "I Shot the Sheriff," Eric Clapton
24. "Hang On in There Baby," Johnny Bristol
25. "Rub It In," Billy "Crash" Craddock
26. "Rock Your Baby," George McCrae
27. "Rock the Boat," Hues Corporation
28. "Wild Thing," Fancy
29. "Then Came You," Dionne Warwick & The Spinners
30. "On and On," Gladys Knight & The Pips
31. "Nothing from Nothing," Billy Preston
32. "My Thang," James Brown

34. "If You Talk in Your Sleep," Elvis Presley
35. "One Hell of a Woman," Mac Davis
36. "Clap for the Wolfman," The Guess Who

39. "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe," Barry White

41. "Finally Got Myself Together (I'm a Changed Man)," The Impressions

44. "Time for Livin'," Sly & The Family Stone
45. "Come Monday," Jimmy Buffett

47. "Let's Put It All Together," The Stylistics
48. "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)," Olivia Newton-John

50. "Beach Baby," The First Class
51. "You Haven't Done Nothin'," Stevie Wonder

54. "You Won't See Me," Anne Murray
55. "Who Do You Think You Are," Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods
56. "Sweet Home Alabama," Lynyrd Skynyrd

58. "Free Man in Paris," Joni Mitchell

60. "Hollywood Swinging," Kool & The Gang

62. "Be Thankful for What You Got," William DeVaughn
63. "Another Saturday Night," Cat Stevens

69. "Dancing Machine," Jackson 5
70. "Band on the Run," Paul McCartney & Wings

74. "Billy, Don't Be a Hero," Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods

78. "You Make Me Feel Brand New," The Stylistics
79. "It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It)," The Rolling Stones

88. "Already Gone," Eagles

92. "Earache My Eye," Cheech & Chong

95. "Sundown," Gordon Lightfoot

97. "I'm Coming Home," The Spinners

Leaving the chart:

• "La Grange," ZZ Top (19 weeks)
• "Midnight at the Oasis," Maria Muldaur (24 weeks)
• "The Streak," Ray Stevens (17 weeks)
• "Train of Thought," Cher (11 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Earache My Eye," Cheech & Chong
(#9 US)

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

---

Uh oh. Foreshadowing.

Ah, I didn't realize that this was before they broke up.

Tch tch. Shouldn't meddle in other people's affairs, Mary.

It was a pretty good moment. I like it when Mary actually stands up to people.

It's not often that I agree with Arch.

And he had his legs spread out on the coffee table, blowing the fan up between them.

This I can deal with.

It was a relatively large one.

Apparently not. Also, the M stands for Mobile.

Maybe the hospital was why they weren't committing better forces to the effort.

Agreed. At the beginning, M*A*S*H was much more of a farce-- that's not an insult, just a description. But in my opinion the quality was much better when it evolved into something more solid. I really started paying attention around the time BJ and Potter showed up, I think.

Does it get any more subtle and less one-sided? Seems like the show could take some lessons from its timeslot lead-in this season. It would be nice if Hawkeye's antagonists weren't such obvious strawmen.

Maybe this got him thinking about a job where he could sit down all the time.

He's still got his Perry Mason years ahead of him.

No, he adopted that as a stage name. Like Sting, he has a much more boring real name.

Ah...then he probably was named after Presley.

Back in those days it was all work for hire-- who knew that fifty years later these characters would be making billions of dollars?

Marvel's starting to branch out into merchandising and TV adaptations at this point. They're just getting Spidey Super-Stories started.

 

[RJDiogenes]

My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.

--President Gerald R. Ford, August 9, 1974​

Gerry Ford, optimist.

Many of President Nixon's strongest supporters in Congress withdrew their support after the transcripts' release

What?! How is that possible?

The sport of dogs catching flying discs (including the Wham-O Frisbee) gained national exposure in the U.S.

Now there's a cool idea for a sport.

Kuh suggested at a news conference that Port Authority security was insufficiently "keen".

There's always been a general shortage of keenness in the world.

Richard Nixon became the first (and, as of 2024, the only) U.S. President to announce his resignation. Earlier in the week, Nixon had admitted his coverup of the Watergate scandal. In a televised address to the nation, Nixon said, "I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is [abhorrent] to every instinct in my body. But as President I must put the interests of America first." He added that continuing to fight "would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress... when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home. Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office."

I certainly remember watching this event. As a history buff, it was exciting to watch something so unprecedented unfold, and it felt like a victory for America, but it was also surprising to hear the graciousness and patriotism and dignity he expressed. Fifty years later, now that it really is history, it's a bit unnerving to see how somebody who was once considered the lowest of the low looks almost noble and wise compared to 90% of the politicians we have today.

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"Others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself." - Richard Nixon, closet Liberal.

U.S. President Gerald Ford requested that all members of President Nixon's Cabinet and all heads of U.S. Government agencies remain in office for "continuity and stability."

Wise move.

"Earache My Eye," Cheech & Chong

I remember this, but I haven't heard it in decades. The musical interlude sounds like the Beastie Boys or something at this point.

Ah, I didn't realize that this was before they broke up.

Well, I assumed that because they went to the party together, but I don't know for sure.

It was a pretty good moment. I like it when Mary actually stands up to people.

Luckily they didn't overdo it.

And he had his legs spread out on the coffee table, blowing the fan up between them.

Where are those prudish network censors when you really need them?

It was a relatively large one.

That's okay.

Does it get any more subtle and less one-sided? Seems like the show could take some lessons from its timeslot lead-in this season. It would be nice if Hawkeye's antagonists weren't such obvious strawmen.

I have to say that it does not get any more subtle or less one sided. In fact, you may find it obnoxiously preachy at times. However, the quality of the writing and characterization, as well as the creative storytelling, will probably impress you.

He's still got his Perry Mason years ahead of him.

And he spent a lot of time on his feet.

Ah...then he probably was named after Presley.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who used to joke that he should have named himself Buddy Costello.

Marvel's starting to branch out into merchandising and TV adaptations at this point. They're just getting Spidey Super-Stories started.

Which, I have to say, I found almost universally mediocre to bad.

 

[The Old Mixer]

---

Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

---

All in the Family
"Edith Finds an Old Man"
Originally aired September 29, 1973

Archie is not happy with Edith allowing a nursing home runaway (Burt Mustin [Who else?]) to stay with them.

Edith brings home 82-year-old Mr. Quigley, who's bearing a suitcase and wearing pajamas under his coat. Mike and Gloria are each surprised at their unannounced guest, who's trying to get in contact with his daughter. Edith tells them how she saw him walking on the street in his PJs while at the market...in her usual overly detailed manner. While Edith's trying to tell Archie after he comes home, he sees Quigley walking out of kitchen. Archie tries to save time by getting the story straight from Quigley, who expresses his dissatisfaction with nursing home life.

Quigley: Suppose you don't want to play bingo every Tuesday?​

Edith: You mean they force you to play bingo?​

After some further conversation in which Archie displays self-consciousness about his own age, he tries to call Quigley's daughter and, after he explains the situation, she gives him an unheard "Go to hell".

After Quigley has settled in at the Bunkers' (and gotten dressed), Archie wakes up from a nightmare in which he found himself in a situation mirroring Quigley's, which involved Mike and Gloria (whose street signs were all in Polish and who had "two little Meatheads") turning him away. He was then caught in a net, taken back to the home, and forced to play bingo.

Edith: Did you win?​

Quigley calls a friend he can stay with to pick him up, and Mike gets into an argument with Archie about how the government isn't doing enough for the elderly--with Archie encouraging him to get a job so he can contribute as a taxpayer. When Quigley's friend arrives, "Joe" turns out to be a Jo (Ruth McDevitt), who plans to stay unmarried so they can both collect full Social Security. Before the couple leaves, Gloria adopts them as foster-grandparents. (Hope they have a safe journey north of the border.)

---

M*A*S*H
"Radar's Report"
Originally aired September 29, 1973

Radar chronicles the antics of a typical week at the 4077th, which includes Hawkeye falling for a new nurse, a POW going berserk in the operating room and Klinger seeking a psychiatric discharge.

It's October 1951 and Radar is typing a report for Blake. His account begins with Hawkeye preparing to operate on a butt-wounded enemy prisoner (Derick Shimatsu) while flirting with a new nurse, Lt. Erika Johnson (Joan Van Ark). The prisoner tries to escape, grabbing a scalpel, cutting Erika's arm as she tries to talk him down, and smashing the IV of Trapper's patient, endangering his surgery. Klinger arrives on the scene in full drag with an automatic rifle and subdues the prisoner, but not before having his gown strap cut.

Later Klinger helps himself to Houlihan's hairdryer and Burns nibbles his neck from behind by mistake. Burns and Houlihan go to Blake demanding that the Section 8 that the corporal's been bucking for be granted. Meanwhile, Hawkeye has a date with Erika, and things are going well until he notices her wedding ring.

Major Milton Freedman (Allan Arbus in his first appearance in a recurring role that will span the series, and whose first name will henceforth be Sidney) is brought in from HQ to evaluate Klinger, and is astounded when he meets the corporal. On a subsequent date, Hawkeye confronts Erika and learns that she's wearing her grandmother's ring to fend off wolves; but as things are starting to get interesting, he's called in to help Trapper with his patient, who's suffering complications from the botched surgery. As they're prepping, Houlihan informs them that the patient is dead. Trapper goes into the tent where the prisoner in recovering and approaches his IV threateningly, but Hawkeye follows and brings him to his senses.

Freedman readily supplies Klinger with discharge papers to sign, but they're not for a Section 8, they're to classify him as a homosexual and transvestite. Klinger refuses to sign. Hawkeye has not only suddenly decided that he wants to marry Erika, he's been blabbing about it, but she breaks it to him that she's not ready for marriage, and that she's been reassigned and is leaving for Tokyo the next day. Hawkeye's disappointed, but decides to make the most of their last evening together.

In the coda, Radar gives Blake the report to sign, and he looks it over. What he reads aloud is written in terse, factual jargon.

Jackie Cooper, who directed three Season 1 episodes, seems to have become a regular director for the series this season, having directed this, the premiere, and several others to come.

---

All in the Family
"Archie and the Kiss"
Originally aired October 6, 1973

Irene gives Gloria a statue of "The Kiss," which Archie finds filthy.

Edith gives Mike a kiss because it's Henry Mancini's birthday, which she read about in Ed Sullivan's column, and then explains with a roundabout account of the best night she had with Archie. Archie, as usual, comes home in a bad mood. Then Gloria comes home with the Rodin statue, which depicts a nude couple embracing in the titular action. It doesn't help that Archie's introduction to it comes as Mike and Gloria are attempting to recreate the figures' poses. After some arguing with Mike and Gloria about his considering it dirty, he learns that it's from Irene, "the queen of the women's lubrication movement". Then Frank, "the prince of pepperoni," shows up at the door, and is upset to learn that Irene gave the statue to Gloria without asking him. Archie leads him to believe it was a loan and lets him take it back.

Gloria, greatly upset over this, makes a point of ignoring Archie at dinner...where Archie objects to Edith serving potatoes au gratin.

Archie: You know why [the French] lost World War II? 'Cause when the k****s was marchin' into their country, the French was runnin' around naked, puttin' up dirty statues, and throwin' cheese in their potatoes.​

At the Lorenzos', Frank gets in an argument with Irene over her not asking him about the statue. In an attempt to make things up to Gloria, Archie brings home a gaudy statue of a topless, ukulele-playing mermaid with a large headdress and a small, embedded clock, which Mike laughs at upon seeing. The Lorenzos visit, Archie shows it off, and they're initially speechless, then holding back laughter. When Gloria comes downstairs and clearly doesn't like it either, Irene intervenes by having Archie give her a present that Irene brought for Gloria, pretending that it's from him--which turns out to be a see-through nightgown. Gloria quickly sees through the ruse, but is touched that Archie bought the statue for her, even though she openly hates it.

In the coda, Archie reads that Sullivan printed a retraction, because he got Mancini's birthday wrong.

---

M*A*S*H
"For the Good of the Outfit"
Originally aired October 6, 1973

Hawkeye and Trapper receive high-level flak when they buck the brass to report the "friendly fire" shelling of a South Korean village.

The guys find out they're digging shrapnel out of Korean civilians who were hit by an artillery unit that they deduce was American. They bring it to Blake's attention, and he discourages them from rocking the boat by filing a report. They proceed to fill out a surplus WII form anyway, and try to get Frank to sign it because he was also operating on the casualties, but he disavows any knowledge of the affair. After the form has been submitted, Blake receives a visit from Major Stoner of the IG's office (Frank Aletter). When the colonel takes the major to meet Hawkeye, Pierce is initially defensive, but Stoner, saying that he wants to get to the bottom of the matter, persuades Hawkeye to turn over the evidence he's collected. The guys are later outraged to read a write-up in Stars and Stripes that the village in question, Taedong, was shelled by an enemy artillery unit.

Hawkeye calls Stoner, who claims that he was surprised at the error in the paper as well, but Hawkeye can tell that it's more BS. Hawkeye tries writing a letter to his father to pull in a favor from their senator, but Radar later informs him that the letter was intercepted at HQ. When Hawkeye threatens to go straight to the press, Blake puts him on restriction and tells him how the Army is rebuilding Taedong with modern amenities; but Hawkeye wants an admission of responsibility, so he has General Clayton called in.

Hawkeye: General, we get the distinct impression that your people have been pouring tons of manure on this whole thing in the hope that something beautiful will grow.​

Clayton indicates that he had Stoner reassigned to keep him quiet, and tries to convince the surgeons to play ball, threatening them with the possibility of reassignment to a more front-line unit. Then help arrives from an unlikely source--Burns and Houlihan, having bought Stoner's bull and being out of the loop on more recent developments, come in eager to share credit on the matter, bearing their own evidence. Seeing that the wind is against him, the general offers to print Hawkeye's account of the affair. Trapper and Hawkeye express their gratitude by making out with Hot Lips and chasing Burns around the table, respectively.

In the coda, Hawkeye gets a response from his father that their senator has been indicted for influence peddling.

---

Gerry Ford, optimist.

He was only speaking for the nightmare at hand; he wasn't a precog.

What?! How is that possible?

"Enlightened" younger generations could learn a lot from how politics used to work.

Now there's a cool idea for a sport.

Alas, I couldn't find a good video of just the moment in question; but learned that a championship was named after the dog.

Ashley Whippet - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I certainly remember watching this event. As a history buff, it was exciting to watch something so unprecedented unfold, and it felt like a victory for America, but it was also surprising to hear the graciousness and patriotism and dignity he expressed. Fifty years later, now that it really is history, it's a bit unnerving to see how somebody who was once considered the lowest of the low looks almost noble and wise compared to 90% of the politicians we have today.

As much as he's been vilified by history for how he got there, in the end Nixon went out like the statesman that was his better side. Modern politicians could learn a lot from Nixon, if they were learning types.

As for my first-hand experience, I've probably mentioned it a time or two before, but I first became aware of who/what the president was when my parents were abuzz about how they "finally got the crook". When they explained the president to me, I recall responding, "So he's like a king?" Kings I knew about from storybooks.

In an interesting personal coincidence, this momentous day in American political history was also my sister's eighth birthday.

Wise move.

Indeed. A major shake-up would've defeated the whole purpose of Nixon stepping down.

I remember this, but I haven't heard it in decades. The musical interlude sounds like the Beastie Boys or something at this point.

The song half is credited to "Alice Bowie" on the single, where the full track was split between the two sides. Reportedly the record was widely banned after reaching its peak.

Well, I assumed that because they went to the party together, but I don't know for sure.

Yeah, the beginning of the divorce storyline is a few episodes later.

Where are those prudish network censors when you really need them?

Lucky for you, I can't take screenshots from Freevee.

I have to say that it does not get any more subtle or less one sided. In fact, you may find it obnoxiously preachy at times.

Pity. The left-leaning moderate in me finds it grating how the show wears its bleeding heart on its sleeve.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who used to joke that he should have named himself Buddy Costello.

Then people would think he'd named himself after a comedy duo.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

In an interesting personal coincidence, this momentous day in American political history was also my sister's eighth birthday.

Your sister and I have something in common. We both share the same birthday. I turned four the day Nixon announced his resignation. I was too young at the time, and I have no memory of it, or the birthday party; even though there are photos of me celebrating it at my grandparents' house with my relatives. Your sister should also be happy to know that we share birthdays with Dustin Hoffman and Keith Carridine.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Edith brings home 82-year-old Mr. Quigley, who's bearing a suitcase and wearing pajamas under his coat.

I remember this.

After some further conversation in which Archie displays self-consciousness about his own age, he tries to call Quigley's daughter and, after he explains the situation, she gives him an unheard "Go to hell".

Do we get any backstory on this at all? I have a lot of questions.

Archie wakes up from a nightmare in which he found himself in a situation mirroring Quigley's, which involved Mike and Gloria (whose street signs were all in Polish and who had "two little Meatheads") turning him away. He was then caught in a net, taken back to the home, and forced to play bingo.

It's too bad they didn't do this Gilligan style.

"Joe" turns out to be a Jo (Ruth McDevitt)

Miss Emily! I don't remember this. Of course, it was about a year before Night Stalker came on the air.

Before the couple leaves, Gloria adopts them as foster-grandparents. (Hope they have a safe journey north of the border.)

Me too. If he was committed to a facility, even if it was unwarranted, and had to escape, it's not going to be as easy as moving in together.

It's October 1951 and Radar is typing a report for Blake.

These type of day-in-the-life episodes, as told by a character, were common.

Klinger arrives on the scene in full drag with an automatic rifle and subdues the prisoner, but not before having his gown strap cut.

Now that's surreal.

Burns and Houlihan go to Blake demanding that the Section 8 that the corporal's been bucking for be granted.

Aw, so nice of them to be supportive of Klinger.

Major Milton Freedman (Allan Arbus in his first appearance in a recurring role that will span the series, and whose first name will henceforth be Sidney)

A great character.

As they're prepping, Houlihan informs them that the patient is dead. Trapper goes into the tent where the prisoner in recovering and approaches his IV threateningly, but Hawkeye follows and brings him to his senses.

From burlesque to tragedy in a matter of seconds.

Freedman readily supplies Klinger with discharge papers to sign, but they're not for a Section 8, they're to classify him as a homosexual and transvestite. Klinger refuses to sign.

Klinger's obsession with a Section 8 was kind of an end in itself.

Hawkeye has not only suddenly decided that he wants to marry Erika, he's been blabbing about it, but she breaks it to him that she's not ready for marriage, and that she's been reassigned and is leaving for Tokyo the next day. Hawkeye's disappointed, but decides to make the most of their last evening together.

This is all just superficial and out of character.

Gloria comes home with the Rodin statue, which depicts a nude couple embracing in the titular action.

"Gloria, I asked for a statue of a Pteranodon, what the hell is this?"

It doesn't help that Archie's introduction to it comes as Mike and Gloria are attempting to recreate the figures' poses.

he learns that it's from Irene, "the queen of the women's lubrication movement".

It's pretty amazing what they got away with.

Frank, "the prince of pepperoni," shows up at the door, and is upset to learn that Irene gave the statue to Gloria without asking him.

A valid complaint.

Gloria, greatly upset over this, makes a point of ignoring Archie at dinner...

Did she know that Frank was upset?

Archie brings home a gaudy statue of a topless, ukulele-playing mermaid with a large headdress and a small, embedded clock, which Mike laughs at upon seeing.

Well, aside from the clock....

Gloria quickly sees through the ruse, but is touched that Archie bought the statue for her, even though she openly hates it.

It's the thought that counts. And a thought from Archie is pretty rare.

In the coda, Archie reads that Sullivan printed a retraction, because he got Mancini's birthday wrong.

This is an odd touch, unless I'm missing something.

They bring it to Blake's attention, and he discourages them from rocking the boat by filing a report.

This is the sort of thing that made Blake a less-than-sympathetic character. Very different from Potter.

Major Stoner of the IG's office (Frank Aletter)

Former time traveler.

Hawkeye tries writing a letter to his father to pull in a favor from their senator, but Radar later informs him that the letter was intercepted at HQ.

Hawkeye can't make a phone call?

When Hawkeye threatens to go straight to the press, Blake puts him on restriction

Yeah, it's okay for Frank to be the bad guy, because that's his purpose in the dynamic, but Henry should be better than this.

Clayton indicates that he had Stoner reassigned to keep him quiet, and tries to convince the surgeons to play ball, threatening them with the possibility of reassignment to a more front-line unit.

And with establishment authority figures like this around, there was no need to make Henry so weak.

In the coda, Hawkeye gets a response from his father that their senator has been indicted for influence peddling.

He was only speaking for the nightmare at hand; he wasn't a precog.

I know, I was just being a wise guy.

"Enlightened" younger generations could learn a lot from how politics used to work.

Ain't that the truth.

Alas, I couldn't find a good video of just the moment in question; but learned that a championship was named after the dog.

Ashley Whippet - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And ice cream, too. That's fantastic.

As much as he's been vilified by history for how he got there, in the end Nixon went out like the statesman that was his better side. Modern politicians could learn a lot from Nixon, if they were learning types.

You gotta give credit where credit is due.

As for my first-hand experience, I've probably mentioned it a time or two before, but I first became aware of who/what the president was when my parents were abuzz about how they "finally got the crook". When they explained the president to me, I recall responding, "So he's like a king?" Kings I knew about from storybooks.

"Well, he thought he was...."

In an interesting personal coincidence, this momentous day in American political history was also my sister's eighth birthday.

Happy Birthday to her.

Reportedly the record was widely banned after reaching its peak.

It would probably be banned today, for celebrating child abuse or something.

Lucky for you, I can't take screenshots from Freevee.

Life is good sometimes.

Pity. The left-leaning moderate in me finds it grating how the show wears its bleeding heart on its sleeve.

It irked me a bit that the self-righteousness diluted a valid message. But I really came to like the show in later years, as characters were replaced-- I think I've mentioned before that the show improved every time an original character was replaced. Once Burns was replaced, the show really reached its peak and it was a pleasure just to watch the character interactions and reactions.

Then people would think he'd named himself after a comedy duo.

I never thought of that.

 

[The Old Mixer]

---

Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

---

All in the Family
"Archie the Gambler"
Originally aired October 13, 1973

Archie arrives home in a good mood and bearing presents for Gloria and Edith. But when Edith learns he has been betting on the horses, she becomes furious, as Archie once had a compulsive gambling problem many years earlier.

The piano appears in-episode as Edith finds some sheet music for an old Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy musical and plays the song for Mike; he accompanies her with an operatic voice, and when Gloria comes home, she also joins in. (This was a bit of a fourth wall-breaking moment, but cute.) Archie then comes home bearing gifts--a large bottle of perfume for Gloria, bubble bath for Edith, and nothing for Meathead. When the kids ask if he got a raise and he answers that lady luck smiled on him, Edith drops the beer she was bringing him, realizing that he's betting on horses again--something he swore never to do again twenty years prior. Archie initially denies it, then explains that Barney came to him with a hot tip and that it was a one-time thing. When he's out of the room, she tells the kids how gambling became a sickness for Archie, such that he'd sometimes lose his entire paycheck; and that she got him to stop by threatening to leave with three-year-old Gloria. While Archie's up in his favorite room, Edith takes a message from Barney, learning that Archie had him place another bet. When Archie comes downstairs, Edith angrily blurts out what the bet was on and slaps him.

Gloria: I never thought I'd see the day when Ma would hit Daddy.​

Mike: Yeah, neither did I. [Chortles.] It's the first time I saw your father with his mouth open and nothing coming out.​

Gloria: It's not funny!​

Mike: I know. [Chortles again.]​

The following evening, Mike and Gloria find that Edith hasn't made dinner and Archie hasn't come home. She tells them how Archie once lost their car on a bet; then expresses how she's ashamed of hitting Archie, emphasizing that gambling is a sickness by likening it to hitting Gloria for having the chicken pox. She says that she's never hit anyone in her life...even the girl who bullied her in fourth grade, whom she goes into a brief story about. Meanwhile, Archie's at Kelsey's, and acts sore at Barney when he comes in for having called him about the bet at home. Barney tries to advise him how to deal with Edith, first recommending that he go home and ignore her.

Archie: Eh, that wouldn't work with Edith, I do that even when I ain't mad at her.​

Barney then works Archie up into going home and demanding an apology. When he does, Edith initially tries to ignore him, then lets him know how she feels about what she did.

Edith: Archie, I could forgive you for hittin' me...but I don't think I could ever forgive you for makin' me hit you.​

Archie: What does that mean?​

As he insists, she offers to read him a written apology. Archie criticizes the writing but accepts the apology, only for her to reveal that it was the letter that he wrote to her twenty years before. She offers to apologize to him if he'll re-sign his oath never to gamble again. When he asks her for a pencil...

Archie: Look at this, she whips it out like Matt Dillon.​

In the coda, things are getting back to normal as Archie comes home and notices a strong odor that makes him think Edith called an exterminator. It turns out that she's wearing the cheap perfume he gave to Gloria.

---

M*A*S*H
"Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde"
Originally aired October 13, 1973

Hawkeye has been operating so long he just can't quit, and he decides to try to end the war while he's at it.

Hawkeye's wired up and delirious after a 20-hour surgery session. Just as he's getting into bed, more helicopters arrive; and he wants to be in on it even though Trapper and Blake both try to get him to rest. After this one, Blake orders him to take 48 hours. But Hawkeye's unable to sleep and becomes obsessed with the war itself...at first seeming like he's just noticed that there's one going on. Then he focuses on trying to find out how the war started (Was this a secret? I posted newsreels), so he tries to have Radar send a telegram to Truman. By day, he approaches a helicopter pilot (Buck Young), trying to convince him to stop flying so the bodies will stop coming in. When more bodies are brought in, he jumps right back to work.

Blake: Listen, Pierce, you were ordered to stand down!​

Hawkeye: I did, but I fell up again.​

The colonel orders Hawkeye again, but Pierce goes looking for Burns and ends up sitting in on an orientation lecture he's giving concerning what the war's about. It doesn't help that the major is delivering propaganda about the North Koreans wanting to invade the U.S. so they can have better toilets; Hawkeye becomes obsessed with this point and wants to send a truce message offering them the camp's latrine. With Radar's help, Trapper tries to put a hypo in Hawkeye's rear, but Frank gets in the way while confronting Pierce and he goes out instead. Meanwhile, Clayton's coming to find out who sent the telegram to Truman, and when Blake finds out, he tells Trapper to try again. Trapper drugs up Hawkeye's drink, but Hawkeye keeps going, rigging the latrine to be chain-towed by a truck. Clayton arrives and makes a stop to use the latrine, and while Radar tries to stop him, the latrine ends up being towed away with the general in it.

In the coda, Hawkeye's finally out, having succumbed while driving the truck.

---

All in the Family
"Henry's Farewell"
Originally aired October 20, 1973

The Bunkers and the Jeffersons have a farewell party for Henry, where Archie incites another argument....This is the first appearance of Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson.

The episode opens with an argument about Nixon over breakfast that veers into wealth's place in Christianity. As usual, we eventually veer to the more plot specific topic, that Henry Jefferson is moving to open a new store, but Archie doesn't want to go to the party for him because of George's antisocial behavior. Frank comes over with a surprise multi-layer cake he made for the occasion, but won't be able to make the event; and of course manages to annoy Archie along the way. Louise comes over and tells Edith in the kitchen that George doesn't want to host an integrated party in his house, so Edith accidentally volunteers to move the party to the Bunkers'. When Archie finds out, he doesn't want to turn away the Jeffersons himself, so he decides not to be there. But Louise returns to inform them that George refuses to come to the party, so Archie decides to stay and let George look like the chicken.

As the party's getting started, Archie sits with Henry and they argue about the qualifications black people need to compete with white people, which turns to the subject of black and woman presidents as Gloria joins in. As food's being served, Archie says something insulting about black family values. In retaliation, Henry stands up to give a toast that's a veiled insult of Archie...who doesn't get it, of course. As Mike's goading Archie to give one, we hear George arrive on the other side of the front door. He gets into an argument with Archie through the door, which Archie eventually opens to reveal him to the audience. Archie has to dare George into walking into the Bunker home as he's previously refused to. Louise feels the need to apologize for George's behavior as he trades insults with Archie and gives a joking toast to Henry; but the toast turns into a sincere one. George then exits while getting in the H-word.

In the coda, Mike's sporting a flower in his lapel in imitation of George, which he squirts Archie with.

There was definitely some EIW here with Hemsley's portrayal of George. He clearly had yet to find what would become the character's familiar voice and mannerisms.

---

M*A*S*H
"Kim"
Originally aired October 20, 1973

A wounded Korean boy captures the hearts of the 4077th, especially Trapper, who wants to adopt him.

The guys are appalled to find a five-year-old Korean boy (Edgar Miller) on the operating table. They have Radar try to find out more about him, but he's unable to turn up anything. Blake calls an orphanage, which the guys don't approve of, so the colonel stalls the boy's pickup while the personnel all pitch in taking care of the lad--which includes Hot Lips frustrating Frank by having the child over on what's supposed to be date night. We're reminded that Trapper has a wife and kids at home when he expresses an interest in literally adopting the boy. He writes home and gets the go-ahead to proceed with arranging it.

Hot Lips and Frank are having a make-up make-out on a picnic with the boy when the child wanders into a marked minefield. After retrieving a map, Hawkeye and Blake guide Trapper as he risks his life to get to the boy. Then it turns out that they're using the wrong map, and when Radar gets them the right one, they tell Trapper not to move in any direction or he's dead. Then the chopper pilot, O'Brien, arrives to lift Trapper and carry him over to pick up the boy. As soon as they're out, Sister Theresa (Maggie Roswell) drives up in a truck with the boy's mother (Momo Yashima), who rushes to him while shouting out his titular name. Trapper says nothing while holding back tears as Kim is driven away without a goodbye.

In the coda, Radar reports that Kim will be coming back for a visit, following which he and his mother will be relocated to the upper regions of North America.

---

Your sister and I have something in common. We both share the same birthday. I turned four the day Nixon announced his resignation. I was too young at the time, and I have no memory of it, or the birthday party; even though there are photos of me celebrating it at my grandparents' house with my relatives. Your sister should also be happy to know that we share birthdays with Dustin Hoffman and Keith Carridine.

I'll have to settle for Sally Field, Maria Shriver, and Rebecca Romijn.

Do we get any backstory on this at all? I have a lot of questions.

Not much.

Me too. If he was committed to a facility, even if it was unwarranted, and had to escape, it's not going to be as easy as moving in together.

Put there by the kids, but he may not be legally bound to stay.

This is all just superficial and out of character.

Yeah, struck me as pretty random.

"Gloria, I asked for a statue of a Pteranodon, what the hell is this?"

That's Rodan.

Did she know that Frank was upset?

I'm not sure, but I don't think so.

This is an odd touch, unless I'm missing something.

The gag about Edith being happy that it was Mancini's birthday played out more in the episode itself. This was the punchline.

Hawkeye can't make a phone call?

They'd have to patch him through via radio or something, wouldn't they?

And with establishment authority figures like this around, there was no need to make Henry so weak.

Maybe Henry's just afraid of upsetting people like Clayton.

And ice cream, too. That's fantastic.

I hadn't looked down that far...I may have to check that place out sometime.

Life is good sometimes.

As I see it, I have two options:

1. Take a picture of my phone with another phone;
2. Look for the episode to come up on MeTV or Catchy.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Edith brings home 82-year-old Mr. Quigley

Somehow I knew this would be Burt Mustin.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The piano appears in-episode

I wonder where they normally keep it.

Edith finds some sheet music for an old Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy musical and plays the song for Mike; he accompanies her with an operatic voice, and when Gloria comes home, she also joins in.

I guess they couldn't do the theme song with Mike and Gloria joining in.

Archie then comes home bearing gifts--a large bottle of perfume for Gloria, bubble bath for Edith, and nothing for Meathead.

Well, that's just mean. You'd think he'd get some kielbasa or something.

she got him to stop by threatening to leave with three-year-old Gloria.

Making Gloria three years younger than Sally.

Gloria: I never thought I'd see the day when Ma would hit Daddy.
Mike: Yeah, neither did I. [Chortles.] It's the first time I saw your father with his mouth open and nothing coming out.
Gloria: It's not funny!
Mike: I know. [Chortles again.]

If he'd gotten a kielbasa, he wouldn't be chortling!

Edith: Archie, I could forgive you for hittin' me...but I don't think I could ever forgive you for makin' me hit you.
Archie: What does that mean?

Archie criticizes the writing but accepts the apology, only for her to reveal that it was the letter that he wrote to her twenty years before.

Edith is sharper than she seems.

Hawkeye's wired up and delirious after a 20-hour surgery session.

This was where they were at their best-- the effect of the war on individuals.

Then he focuses on trying to find out how the war started (Was this a secret? I posted newsreels)

The involvement of space aliens was not widely known.

he approaches a helicopter pilot (Buck Young), trying to convince him to stop flying so the bodies will stop coming in.

Ouch.

It doesn't help that the major is delivering propaganda about the North Koreans wanting to invade the U.S. so they can have better toilets

We have just witnessed the beginning of social media.

With Radar's help, Trapper tries to put a hypo in Hawkeye's rear, but Frank gets in the way while confronting Pierce and he goes out instead.

I vaguely remember this.

In the coda, Hawkeye's finally out, having succumbed while driving the truck.

Anticlimactic, but a good episode. It won't be the last time Hawkeye has a nervous breakdown.

George doesn't want to host an integrated party in his house

This will become a recurring theme in their TV show when they're living next door to a Black-and-White couple.

George then exits while getting in the H-word.

You mean h***y?!

In the coda, Mike's sporting a flower in his lapel in imitation of George, which he squirts Archie with.

Slapstick always works for me.

There was definitely some EIW here with Hemsley's portrayal of George. He clearly had yet to find what would become the character's familiar voice and mannerisms.

It's always interesting to see that sort of thing, but they really hit paydirt with Sherman Hemsley.

They have Radar try to find out more about him, but he's unable to turn up anything.

But... but... he's Radar.

We're reminded that Trapper has a wife and kids at home when he expresses an interest in literally adopting the boy.

Wow, I don't remember this.

He writes home and gets the go-ahead to proceed with arranging it.

The mail was very efficient during the Korean War apparently.

Then it turns out that they're using the wrong map, and when Radar gets them the right one, they tell Trapper not to move in any direction or he's dead.

Except maybe back the way he came.

Then the chopper pilot, O'Brien, arrives to lift Trapper and carry him over to pick up the boy.

I definitely don't remember that. Pretty wild.

Trapper says nothing while holding back tears as Kim is driven away without a goodbye.

Aww. This was a good episode for Trapper, who I never found very sympathetic. In a way, it reminds me of Hawkeye's whirlwind romance a couple of episodes ago, in that it happens too quickly and lacks motivation-- but you could just as easily say that it gives us a glimpse of the real Trapper. Either way, good episode for the character.

In the coda, Radar reports that Kim will be coming back for a visit, following which he and his mother will be relocated to the upper regions of North America.

Maybe he'll meet Ironside's old girl friends.

I'll have to settle for Sally Field, Maria Shriver, and Rebecca Romijn.

I've got Judy Collins and Calamity Jane. But I can also brag that my Mother has George Washington's birthday and my late brother Mark has Thomas Jefferson's birthday.

Not much.

Yeah, we're just supposed to assume elder neglect. There's only so much you can do in a half hour, I suppose, but some details would have been nice. They've only known the guy for five minutes.

Put there by the kids, but he may not be legally bound to stay.

Somehow they got him in there and he had to escape. The guy could have dementia or something.

That's Rodan.

Ohhhh.

I'm not sure, but I don't think so.

They really overcomplicated it, but not unrealistically so.

The gag about Edith being happy that it was Mancini's birthday played out more in the episode itself. This was the punchline.

Ah, okay.

They'd have to patch him through via radio or something, wouldn't they?

I suppose so, but Radar has managed to get calls through to the States on multiple occasions.

Maybe Henry's just afraid of upsetting people like Clayton.

Yeah, he doesn't like rocking the boat at all. If I remember correctly, he's like Hawkeye and Trapper and BJ-- some guy who was drafted and put into service. That's why he's always wearing his fishing hat and Hawaiian shirt or whatever it is. I haven't seen these early episodes in decades, so this may be unkind, but he always struck me as kind of pathetic.

As I see it, I have two options:
Take a picture of my phone with another phone;
Look for the episode to come up on MeTV or Catchy.

Oh, I see you have a mean streak.

 

[The Old Mixer]

---

Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

---

The Six Million Dollar Man
"Wine, Women and War"
Syndication edit () of the ABC Suspense Movie that originally aired October 20, 1973

After a failed mission, Steve Austin goes on vacation and gets a second chance to stop an arms dealer.

First, a fun fact from the You Can't Make This Shit Up Department--the original TV movie version included opening and closing title sequences that featured a theme song by Dusty Springfield!

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Back in Crappy Syndication Edit Land, the bionic sound effects kinda, sorta make their debut as Steve breaks into a secure complex for no reason given in the story, which involves shots of him running and jumping outdoors in two completely different outfits. This entire pointless sequence appears to have been pasted in from other episodes. Following a few more nonsensical inserts, including a helicopter ride and sharks, what I presume is the original story commences with tuxedo-wearing Steve on the balcony of a casino/hotel in South America, from which he signals an American sub with a penlight before turning his tux inside-out into more practical wear for taking a dive to sneak onto the arriving yacht of black market nuclear arms dealer Arlen Findletter (the Actor Formerly Known as Hans Gudegast, Eric Braeden), where he uses bionic night vision to find a safe, which he breaks into with his arm only to find that it's empty. (Reportedly bionic sound effects were added to the original material for the syndicated version. This appears to have only been done in places, and I didn't catch any instances in Part I.) As Findletter learns that his host, a local military strongman named Masaha (Lee Bergere), received detailed wired instructions about the reception that Findletter didn't send, Steve is discovered on the yacht and the sound of gunfire tips the baddies off as to what's going on...just as the orchestra going into "God Bless America" tips them off as to who's responsible. Some stray gunfire hitting a fuel tank causes the yacht to go up as Steve dives to safety.

Patrol boats track Steve via sonar and drop depth charges as he swims underwater at bionic speed to rendezvous with the sub--the captain (Simon Scott) and first officer (Dennis Rucker) having just been discussing how the agent they're picking up would have to swim at 35 knots to meet them at the arranged time. Steve is injured by one of the explosions, but makes it to the sub to be fished out and taken away as the boats drop more charges at the sub. While an unconscious Steve is being tended to on the sub--his bionic arm ripped open--the captain informs the first officer that they have orders to forget everything they've seen, describing Steve as "what must be the most valuable man in the world".

Shots of two different types of helicopter rendezvous with the sub to pick up Steve and take him to the OSI lab in Washington, where shots of his original bionic surgery ensue while he's tended to, which includes a massive computer complex (reportedly footage from Colossus: The Forbin Project) determines the effects to his bionic components. Richard Anderson and Alan Oppenheimer make their debuts as Oscar Goldman and Rudy Wells II in Steve's hospital room, where Steve's frustration at the botched assignment based on faulty intel is increased when he's informed that a friendly girl he'd promised to extract, Tamara (Catherine Ferrar, whose character we met on the balcony), has been killed for her association with him. Steve punches through a concrete wall.

Oscar fills Rudy in on how the safe was supposed to contain an arms catalog, and that Findletter claims to have a Polaris missile for sale, though Goldman's unaware of one ever having come up missing. After Oscar declares that he needs Steve kept on the mission with or without his cooperation, Rudy informs Steve that he's confined to the complex; following which Steve happens to run into an old Air Force buddy, Harry Donner, in the hall (Earl Holliman wonders if one of Steve's bionic parts could brew him some bourbon). Harry invites Steve to use a place he's rented in Paradise Cay in the Bahamas, which he won't be able to get to, motivating Steve to bust out of the facility and make for the airport. After dropping Steve off, Harry uses a briefcase phone to report that Col. Austin is on his way. On the plane, Steve makes a bad first impression on the attractive young lady sitting next to him (upcoming Bond girl Britt Ekland) when--based on something that Harry told him--he assumes that she was arranged by his friend, which earns him a slap and an empty neighboring seat. An amused passenger across the aisle (Don Hanmer) addresses Colonel Austin by name, recognizing him from his moonwalking days.

After landing, Steve watches as the woman is picked up by a Soviet limo. As he's settling into his borrowed digs, Steve calls Rudy to let him know that he's alright and ask about two incidents in the story (once in the hospital and again on the plane while being slapped) when he accidentally shattered glasses with his bionic hand. Rudy attributes it to adrenaline surges and indicates that the issue can be fixed with a minor adjustment. As he's strolling the beach, Steve finds that the Soviet limo is parked at the place next door, and tries to get in to see the girl only to be turned away by armed guards. Back at the borrowed pad, Steve finds that Harry has set him up with female companionship--Cynthia Holland (Michele Carey), who takes him to a golf course where Steve runs into Alexi Kaslov (mustache-sporting David McCallum knows a thing or two about made-for-TV Bond knockoffs), an old acquaintance from the Soviet space program who's sharing a cart with Findletter and the woman from the plane, Katrina Volana. (Steve's Moon mission is said to have been Apollo 19.) Findletter thinks that he recognizes Steve, but can't place him (not that they shared any scenes). Everyone's attention is caught when Steve's swing sends a ball seemingly into orbit. In what won't be his last Bondian quip, he says that it's all in the wrist.

Having been invited to dinner by Findletter, Steve and Cyn are playing roulette when Katrina invites Steve to see Alexi in his room. After referencing good times they spent together in Moscow, Kaslov makes an overture about working together to bring down Findletter. When Steve insists that he's only on vacation, Alexi produces detailed intel about Steve's mysterious activities and association with Oscar Goldman over the past several months, including his presence in South America during the Findletter incident and indications that both Steve's airplane seat next to a Soviet external security undersecretary and current lodgings next door to the Soviet mission were arranged by Washington. When Steve tries to leave, Alexi shoots him with a tranq gun.

Part II opens with an unnarrated teaser recap of Part I that takes its sweet time (just shy of five minutes). Following the series opening titles, we get the same slapped-together-like-a-ransom-note sequence that opened Part I, including a caption informing us that the location is A PORT IN SOUTH AMERICA, even though the story picks up in the Bahamas, with Alexi informing Findletter that the Russians are willing to deal. (Perhaps I'm being a bit unfair to ransom notes.) Harry arrives in the Bahamas to catch up with Cyn--also an OSI agent--about Steve's disappearance. Steve has some Moon mission, origin, and depth-charge flashbacks as he comes to on a yacht, being looked after by Katrina, now clad in a bikini smaller than Gloria's and sarong. While the boat has heavily armed guards on deck, she invites him to enjoy some fishing. Some obvious insert shots of a rod and reel being operated and a swordfish being repeatedly hooked ensue, following which Steve, after spending some quality time in bed with Katrina, ties and gags her to make his getaway by tearing out the porthole and the section of hull surrounding it to jump out the side of the boat--all while she watches. (The bionic sound effect is added here.)

Harry makes a call to Oscar in Washington, where Colossus warms up again for no particular reason. Steve swims to shore, is accompanied in silhouette by a canine companion, and enters the beach pad to find Harry on the phone. He slugs Harry with his flesh-and-blood arm and gives Oscar a piece of his mind before breaking the phone on the receiver.

Steve: Listen, pal, the next you want me on a mission, you lay it all out upfront, or I'll kick your department so high you'll need Skylab to get it down!​

Harry and Cyn proceed to explain how they needed Steve's connection with Alexi for the mission, and persuade him to help by revealing that it was Findletter who had Tamara killed. Steve subsequently sneaks into the back of limo in which a blindfolded Alexi is taken to the complex where Findletter reveals that he has a recently captured SERB missile from a Soviet sub, in addition to the Polaris. (The sound effect used for the control panel of Findletter's silo chamber is the same that will come to be associated with Steve's bionic eye.) After having a private look at the Polaris himself, Steve sneaks out the way he came in, to reveal to a disbelieving Harry, who's since cracked Findletter's safe and gotten ahold of the catalog, that Findletter does have a Polaris. This lends credence to Findletter's claim that he'll soon have an American sub with a full complement of Poseidon missiles--a sub that Steve points out will be launched tomorrow, suggesting that Findletter plans to hijack it.

Steve has Harry take him up in a plane to find the location of the complex based on glimpses he got out of the trunk and zeroes in on a cemetery as the likely location. Meanwhile, Findletter is taking Alexi and Katrina back there sans blindfolds, while accusing them of lying about what they presumed was Steve's death (as he was 30 miles from shore when he escaped the yacht). Steve gets past a couple of guards, in part by squeezing the barrel tip of an automatic rifle so that it misfires, then sneaks around and eavesdrops as Findletter, who plans to sell the sub to a Middle Eastern country, explains his plan to capture the sub by using a supersonic signal to trigger a can of nerve gas. Findletter's demonstration involves exposing Alexi to it without a mask as a means of interrogating him about his dealings with the Americans. Steves burst out from cover and knocks through a concrete wall to free Alexi and Katrina, but Alexi succumbs to the gas and Steve and Katrina are captured at gunpoint. (Note: Nerve gas can be absorbed through the skin, so a simple gas mask wouldn't be sufficient protection for Findletter and Katrina.)

Findletter has them tied down to tables and expresses an interest in Steve's superhuman abilities before having him shot up with an agent meant to disable him, which Steve maneuvers him into having having injected into the bionic arm. When they're unattended, Steve busts loose with Katrina and, as Findletter watches a countdown to the signal being activated, tears up panels to shut down the power. (By this point, Harry has made a helicopter rendezvous with the sub, and we see the inconspicuous-looking aerosol can with the nerve agent planted in the captain's [Robert F. Simon] cabin.) Steve and Katrina evade guards in the dark to take refuge in the silo chamber, where Steve rigs some wires from the silo door to the Polaris missile, promising a surprise when Findletter next opens the door. They proceed to escape up a shaft, and Steve picks up Katrina to run her away from the cemetery at bionic speed while Findletter methodically opens each silo to have his guards look for them. When he opens Silo 7, it triggers the missile to launch horizontally straight at Findletter with a very unconvincing effect. From what's supposed to be a safe distance, Steve and Katrina watch--eyes wide open--as the cemetery goes up in a mushroom cloud. Some obviously inserted shots of vessels converging to rescue Steve precede the credits rolling over a shot of the mushroom cloud, with generic island-ish music playing instead of the original Dusty song...

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Two Frankenstein edits down, one to go! I expect to be very relieved to get into the series proper.

---

I wonder where they normally keep it.

Just behind the fourth wall.

Anticlimactic, but a good episode. It won't be the last time Hawkeye has a nervous breakdown.

I did catch that part of the finale when it originally aired.

This will become a recurring theme in their TV show when they're living next door to a Black-and-White couple.

I watched The Jeffersons.

Slapstick always works for me.

AIR, this was payoff for Archie thinking that George was going to squirt him.

Except maybe back the way he came.

He may have taken a lucky step over one.

In a way, it reminds me of Hawkeye's whirlwind romance a couple of episodes ago, in that it happens too quickly and lacks motivation-- but you could just as easily say that it gives us a glimpse of the real Trapper. Either way, good episode for the character.

It made enough sense to me, the way it played out in the episode; unlike Hawkeye episodically becoming the marrying type.

I've got Judy Collins and Calamity Jane.

Hell, you've got Mayday!

Ohhhh.

Was that [/edith]?

Ah, okay.

This appears to be a common formula for the show...open the episode with a gag unrelated to the main plot that continues through the first half as the story proper unfolds.

Oh, I see you have a mean streak.

Might be a Scorpio thing.

 

[RJDiogenes]

"Wine, Women and War"

The missing Oxford comma is kinda foreshadowing when you think about it.

Syndication edit ()

Curse you, Syndication Edit, our old nemesis!

First, a fun fact from the You Can't Make This Shit Up Department--the original TV movie version included opening and closing title sequences that featured a theme song by Dusty Springfield!

Wow, I have no memory of that at all. There have certainly been shows that changed or dropped theme songs (like Get Christie Love!), but, given the Bondian approach of the TV movies, I wonder if they intended this to be a Bondian theme-- including the use of a big name singer.

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The narration was really bad, and inconsistent with the backstory, too.

Steve breaks into a secure complex for no reason given in the story, which involves shots of him running and jumping outdoors in two completely different outfits. This entire pointless sequence appears to have been pasted in from other episodes.

They really love their stock footage.

turning his tux inside-out into more practical wear for taking a dive

There should have been a scene of Oscar demonstrating the high-tech spy equipment that he would need on the mission.

Some stray gunfire hitting a fuel tank causes the yacht to go up as Steve dives to safety.

Clumsy minions.

Steve is injured by one of the explosions, but makes it to the sub to be fished out and taken away as the boats drop more charges at the sub. While an unconscious Steve is being tended to on the sub--his bionic arm ripped open--the captain informs the first officer that they have orders to forget everything they've seen, describing Steve as "what must be the most valuable man in the world".

I do kinda remember this scene.

Shots of two different types of helicopter rendezvous with the sub

And we expect continuity in his backstory.

shots of his original bionic surgery ensue while he's tended to, which includes a massive computer complex (reportedly footage from Colossus: The Forbin Project)

There's probably about thirty minutes of original footage in this thing.

a Polaris missile for sale, though Goldman's unaware of one ever having come up missing.

A mystery seemingly never resolved.

After Oscar declares that he needs Steve kept on the mission with or without his cooperation, Rudy informs Steve that he's confined to the complex

Apparently there's a little bit of the Darren McGavin character left in Oscar at this point.

(Earl Holliman wonders if one of Steve's bionic parts could brew him some bourbon).

Capped.

Steve calls Rudy to let him know that he's alright

"I'm the Six-Million-Dollar Colonel, so I can go AWOL when I wanna."

two incidents in the story (once in the hospital and again on the plane while being slapped) when he accidentally shattered glasses with his bionic hand. Rudy attributes it to adrenaline surges and indicates that the issue can be fixed with a minor adjustment.

Chekov is slapping his forehead with his human hand.

Steve finds that Harry has set him up with female companionship

Now there's a pal.

mustache-sporting David McCallum knows a thing or two about made-for-TV Bond knockoffs

This episode has a pretty good cast, at least.

(Steve's Moon mission is said to have been Apollo 19.)

Well, that's an interesting detail. The timeline with the real Apollo program is way off, though, unless this story is meant to take place at some point in the future, and it's also inconsistent with the idea of secret Moon missions. Unless flights 18-20 were flown simultaneously with 17 rather than being cancelled, to keep them under wraps. It would never work, of course, but it's a scheme consistent with this type of B-Movie adventure. Actually, even that timeline would be way too short for Steve to be hurt, bionicized, recover, and become an experienced OSI agent.

Findletter thinks that he recognizes Steve, but can't place him (not that they shared any scenes).

It seems like somebody like Findletter would recognize him as an Apollo astronaut.

the same slapped-together-like-a-ransom-note sequence

Well said.

a caption informing us that the location is A PORT IN SOUTH AMERICA, even though the story picks up in the Bahamas

How did this show survive its own first few episodes?

Steve has some Moon mission, origin, and depth-charge flashbacks

And what did this version of his Moon landing look like?

Katrina, now clad in a bikini smaller than Gloria's and sarong.

Nothing sarong with that outfit. [/quip]

Steve, after spending some quality time in bed with Katrina

Enjoy it while you can, Steve, the regular series is far more prudish.

Steve swims to shore, is accompanied in silhouette by a canine companion

What th--?

Steve: Listen, pal, the next you want me on a mission, you lay it all out upfront, or I'll kick your department so high you'll need Skylab to get it down!

That would actually work.

Harry and Cyn proceed to explain how they needed Steve's connection with Alexi for the mission, and persuade him to help by revealing that it was Findletter who had Tamara killed.

Wheels within wheels. Very contrived.

and eavesdrops as Findletter, who plans to sell the sub to a Middle Eastern country

Who would likely not even have the resources to run or maintain it.

(Note: Nerve gas can be absorbed through the skin, so a simple gas mask wouldn't be sufficient protection for Findletter and Katrina.)

Good to know.

having him shot up with an agent meant to disable him, which Steve maneuvers him into having having injected into the bionic arm.

Good thing it didn't short circuit all those wires and transistors.

Steve picks up Katrina to run her away from the cemetery at bionic speed

She's officially an Austin Girl.

From what's supposed to be a safe distance, Steve and Katrina watch--eyes wide open--as the cemetery goes up in a mushroom cloud.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, Steve saved the day by blowing up the Bahamas in an atomic explosion. That's what I call High Adventure!

Two Frankenstein edits down, one to go! I expect to be very relieved to get into the series proper.

Well, I didn't remember that one at all, except for the scene in the sub at the beginning. But it's consistent with my memory of the show starting out as very Bondian, settling down to mainstream adventure, and then becoming more comic booky as time went on.

Just behind the fourth wall.

Man, that would be useful technology.

I did catch that part of the finale when it originally aired.

That was a very impressive episode, or movie, or whatever.

I watched The Jeffersons.

Oh, okay.

He may have taken a lucky step over one.

True, or it just didn't go off. Better safe than sorry.

It made enough sense to me, the way it played out in the episode; unlike Hawkeye episodically becoming the marrying type.

I'm probably just prejudiced because I didn't like Trapper much either.

Hell, you've got Mayday!

Yeah, Beltane. It actually is a pretty cool birthday.

Was that [/edith]?

Definitely.

Might be a Scorpio thing.

Don't make me send Nick Fury after you.

 

[The Old Mixer]

---

Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

---

Love, American Style
"Love and the Proposal"
Arbitrarily assigned to October 26, 1973

This is another one of those seemingly orphaned segments that came up in the syndication package...perhaps never aired in the original broadcast run, or preempted the only time that it was scheduled to air. As I'd previously assigned another such segment to this date based on sketchy IMDb info, I put this one there as well.


A lawyer named Willie (Bob Crane) is making out with his girlfriend Ellie (Donna Mills) in front of a fire while trying to press her on the subject of marriage, which she evades. She later explains to her roommate, Irma (Valorie Armstrong), that she fears Willie is a "chaser"--that once he gets what he wants, he won't want it anymore. After another date, Ellie briefly teases Willie with a "yes," and his reaction--immediately making an excuse to leave with a promise to see her again--confirms her fears; so she offers to accept on the condition that their marriage be based on a contract that comes up for renewal every year. He thinks the idea is ridiculous, but agrees to think it over. Cut to both in old-age makeup on their 50th wedding anniversary in [holdsnose]The World of the Future![/holdsnose]


Ellie's anniversary present to Willie is to finally pick up the contract's option of marriage for life. As in 1973, he shuffles out, saying that he'll call her for lunch sometime. Ellie phones the White House to sadly update President Irma.

---

All in the Family
"Archie and the Computer"
Originally aired October 27, 1973

A computer error keeps sending quarters to Edith and another declares Archie dead.

The kids notice that Edith's acting strangely and figure she's hiding something. Eventually she reveals that she has $48.75 in quarters in a cigar box, and explains how she sent in a coupon to a prune company that was supposed to send her back one quarter. Mike realizes that it must be a computer error. Edith, who naturally doesn't feel right keeping the money, tells them how she tried to send quarters back, but kept getting more. The kids implore her not to tell Archie because he'll want to spend them, but when he gets home and asks Edith about her behavior, she blurts out about the quarters. Archie thinks that they've found the goose that laid the golden egg, but realizing that putting them in a bank could cause long-term Internal Revenue issues, decides that they have to spend the money.

Archie: I don't wanna hear how you got it. I don't wanna hear nuttin' I gotta deny later.​

Mike: You know you sound just like Haldeman and Ehrlichman?​

Mike argues that it's wrong to rip off the company, which turns into an argument in which Archie is put in the position of being the forward-looking one, as he defends computers against Mike's concerns that they're dehumanizing people's lives. Edith then gets a special delivery letter from the VA informing her of a death benefit she'll be receiving...the deceased being Archie.

The next day, Mike gets things straightened out on the phone with the prune company in Buffalo, though he experiences some difficulty with a crossed line to the police department in Lubbock, Texas. Archie, who's sensitive about being considered dead, puts on a tie and calls in sick so he can go to the VA to straighten things out with them. Mike goes into a rant about how the crossed line, brownouts, and subway malfunctions are also the fault of computers, but also teases Archie.

Mike: Hey, it's like The Twilight Zone...maybe that letter got here a little early! Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo...​

(Gloria subsequently joins in with him, but the doo doo doo doos sound off, like they were trying to suggest the theme without actually doing it.) While Archie's using the bathroom, Edith gets an unexpected visit from local mortician Mr. Whitehead (Jack Grimes), who got wind that Archie was dead, tries to sell her a casket, and won't listen when she tries to tell him otherwise.

Edith: Mr. Whitehead, Archie is still with us.​

Whitehead: His spirit will be with us always.​

[Toilet flushes.]​

Edith: More than his spirit.​

Despite the omen, Whitehead is startled when Archie comes downstairs behind him and points to a casket he likes.

At the VA, Archie has to explain to Mr. Dundee (James O'Reare) that he's Archie Bunker and he's not dead. Dundee is frustrated to realize that it's another computer error, which will be a hassle to straighten out. He shows Archie how his entire life amounts to a series of holes on a punch card (Hey, maybe it is the Twilight Zone!), then quickly confirms on the phone that a code was a digit off. He tells Archie and Edith that it's actually an Archie Binker who's dead, but insists that Archie won't officially be alive until he gets a letter in the mail informing him that the issue has been fixed. While they're waiting for the letter, Edith receives a number of sympathy cards. When the letter arrives, it's addressed to Alice Bunker.

In the coda, Edith's on the phone to Buffalo because now she's receiving boxes of prunes.

---

M*A*S*H
"L.I.P. (Local Indigenous Personnel)"
Originally aired October 27, 1973

Hawkeye cuts through red tape to help a GI marry his child's Korean mother, and cuts romantic ties with a bigoted nurse.

The episode opens with the personnel watching a movie, during which Father Mulcahy notices that most of the couples around him are making out...though Radar's so transfixed on the film that he's not paying attention to an interested date. Hawkeye's date is Lt. Regina Hoffman (Corinne Camacho), who, when he sees her to her tent, eschews a kiss in favor of a handshake, which gets Hawkeye discussing with Trapper what her deal is. Hawkeye is visited by Corporal Phil Walker (Jerry Zaks), who has him look at a sick LIP baby that turns out to be his, and explains that he was informally married to the mother by the camp's cook, who used to be an altar boy. Walker is being shipped home soon and needs to make his marriage official so he can bring his family home with him. Hawkeye emphasizes the difficulty in doing this but agrees to help.

Hawkeye and Regina have another date--a candlelight dinner in the back of a truck--and things start to get properly romantic. By day, Burns and Houlihan go to Blake's office--making a mess with their straw spilling out all over--to protest how Radar's being tied up with the effort to push through the marriage application. Henry ribs Frank for letting Margaret do all the talking.

Hawkeye is prepping for his third date, anticipating that things are going to go all the way, when he receives a nighttime visit from Lt. Willis, CID (Burt Young), who just came in from Tokyo and insists on interviewing him about Walker. Hawkeye has Klinger take the chicken dinner he's arranged to Regina while he's occupied. The interview commences over drinks from the Swamp's still, and the two officers toast to future sitcoms.

Willis: Happy days.​

Hawkeye: Cheers.​

Right after Hawkeye has dropped the bomb that there's a baby involved, Willis goes under the table. Hawkeye runs over to make apologies to Regina, then he and Trapper proceed to revive Willis and blackmail him with phony evidence that he had a wild time with some nurses. Willis calls their bluff, but is nevertheless persuaded to sign the paper so that the matter doesn't go on his record. As Hawkeye gets on with his date, Regina asks about what held him up and is incredulous when she finds out that he "stood her up" over marrying one of "our guys" to a "g***". Hawkeye can't believe his ears and, after making sure that she's serious, takes back his handshake and wine and parts ways with a raspberry.

In the coda, the guys and Blake are present as Mulcahy weds Phil and Kim, and Klinger catches the bouquet.

At one point in arranging another film night, Radar references a fictitious movie sequel, Bonzo Runs for President. Statement?

---

Wow, I have no memory of that at all.

You wouldn't have seen it unless you caught the original TV movie version. As with the pilot, regular later-season series titles are used in the syndicated version.

There have certainly been shows that changed or dropped theme songs (like Get Christie Love!), but, given the Bondian approach of the TV movies, I wonder if they intended this to be a Bondian theme-- including the use of a big name singer.

I'm sure that they did, but the song and intro in general are so cheesy that it comes off like a parody.

There should have been a scene of Oscar demonstrating the high-tech spy equipment that he would need on the mission.

Seems like Rudy would be the Q here.

Clumsy minions.

Indeed...and it was clearly marked, too.

There's probably about thirty minutes of original footage in this thing.

More like around 20 or so pasted on.

A mystery seemingly never resolved.

Yeah, I think they were lampshading here, with Oscar admitting that he wasn't sure.

Capped.

I should hope so!

Chekov is slapping his forehead with his human hand.

Indeed--I was expecting that to pop back up in the main plot. If it did, I blinked.

Well, that's an interesting detail. The timeline with the real Apollo program is way off, though, unless this story is meant to take place at some point in the future, and it's also inconsistent with the idea of secret Moon missions. Unless flights 18-20 were flown simultaneously with 17 rather than being cancelled, to keep them under wraps. It would never work, of course, but it's a scheme consistent with this type of B-Movie adventure. Actually, even that timeline would be way too short for Steve to be hurt, bionicized, recover, and become an experienced OSI agent.

Darren did mention a theory that the show was supposed to take place in the near future.

Well said.

But ransom notes are generally coherent and have a purpose.

How did this show survive its own first few episodes?

The random crap is the stuff that was added to the syndication edit to stretch a 90-minute TV movie into two one-hour episodes; so the material wasn't there to deter viewers of the original movies. I do have to wonder how many later viewers via syndication and home video were turned off by the crappily re-edited TV movies, though.

And what did this version of his Moon landing look like?

Tidbits of the previously used footage. Say, now we know what red planet Steve and the other astronaut were on...it was A PORT IN SOUTH AMERICA.

Nothing sarong with that outfit. [/quip]

I didn't mention the twice-used Bondian repartee in which Katrina commented that she was led to believe American men were soft, and Steve replied that "we rise to the occasion".

Enjoy it while you can, Steve, the regular series is far more prudish.

It wasn't even explicit that they'd done the deed, but we cut to them lying in bed together, so what were we supposed to think?

What th--?

Walking on the shore with him, that is...more repurposed footage, I'm sure.

That would actually work.

I guess the show doesn't take place later than 1979...

Who would likely not even have the resources to run or maintain it.

Indeed. I recall reading how the F-14s we sold to Iran while the Shah was in power sat unused after the Ayatollah took over because they lacked our maintenance personnel and parts supply. A nuclear missile sub would be a whole different magnitude from that.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, Steve saved the day by blowing up the Bahamas in an atomic explosion. That's what I call High Adventure!

IMDb commentators made a big stink about that, but they were under the impression that it was a populated area. While they were looking for the place, we were told that it was a barren area, so I guess the cemetery caught their attention because it looked out of place. What the contributor thought was a shot of houses and swimming pools appears to have been the cemetery and a pond.

Also, the device was detonated underground, so that might have mitigated its effect on the surrounding area.

Oh, okay.

I recall cracks about zebras and such.

Don't make me send Nick Fury after you.

Capped.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Well, that's an interesting detail. The timeline with the real Apollo program is way off, though, unless this story is meant to take place at some point in the future, and it's also inconsistent with the idea of secret Moon missions. Unless flights 18-20 were flown simultaneously with 17 rather than being cancelled, to keep them under wraps. It would never work, of course, but it's a scheme consistent with this type of B-Movie adventure. Actually, even that timeline would be way too short for Steve to be hurt, bionicized, recover, and become an experienced OSI agent.

I've heard, or read, a theory, possibly on the DVD extras to the Six Million Dollar Man box set I checked out of the library, that, based on some of the references to Steve Austin's past Apollo mission, and the thawing relations with the Soviet Union, the series takes place in the 'near future' late-70s/early-80s, as opposed to the commonly held contemporary setting. Although there is no on-screen evidence to support such a theory.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

So if I'm understanding this correctly, Steve saved the day by blowing up the Bahamas in an atomic explosion. That's what I call High Adventure!

There's a young woman on YouTube who's making her way through the James Bond franchise, starting with Sean Connery and 'Dr. No'. At the end of the movie, when Dr. No's lab goes up in a nuclear explosion, she pointed out that James Bond just rendered the Carribean island where Dr. No's lab was, a nuclear fallout zone and the island's inhabitants would have to be evacuated/relocated across the Carribean along with several other islands in the immediate vicinity.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Yeah, Beltane. It actually is a pretty cool birthday.

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[RJDiogenes]

Love, American Style

Super groovy!

A lawyer named Willie (Bob Crane)

Hogan, a hero.

his girlfriend Ellie (Donna Mills)

Ubiquitous character actor.

she fears Willie is a "chaser"--that once he gets what he wants, he won't want it anymore.

Actually he just has an impulse to escape.

the condition that their marriage be based on a contract that comes up for renewal every year.

Interesting. I recall Arthur C Clarke using that idea a couple of times-- ironic that they jump into the future.

Cut to both in old-age makeup on their 50th wedding anniversary in [holdsnose]The World of the Future![/holdsnose]

It's a bit Trekkish looking, but, really, the only thing out of place is the retro phone.

Ellie phones the White House to sadly update President Irma.

Irma's busy campaigning for re-election.

Edith, who naturally doesn't feel right keeping the money, tells them how she tried to send quarters back, but kept getting more.

She tried, so there's no reason why she shouldn't keep it.

Archie thinks that they've found the goose that laid the golden egg

How often are they getting these quarters?

but realizing that putting them in a bank could cause long-term Internal Revenue issues, decides that they have to spend the money.

They're really overthinking this-- which is odd for a show where the characters usually underthink everything.

Mike argues that it's wrong to rip off the company

If it was today, he'd be arguing that they should rip off the company as much as they can.

an argument in which Archie is put in the position of being the forward-looking one, as he defends computers against Mike's concerns that they're dehumanizing people's lives.

Archie must be being reactionary. I don't see either one of them favoring computers.

Edith then gets a special delivery letter from the VA informing her of a death benefit she'll be receiving...the deceased being Archie.

Well, that solves his tax issues.

Archie, who's sensitive about being considered dead, puts on a tie and calls in sick

He should have called in dead. How often do you get to do that?

Mike goes into a rant about how the crossed line, brownouts, and subway malfunctions are also the fault of computers

Someday computers will run everything!

(Gloria subsequently joins in with him, but the doo doo doo doos sound off, like they were trying to suggest the theme without actually doing it.)

Afraid of Copyright infringement? I think that would fall under fair use. As if anyone would even care.

Edith gets an unexpected visit from local mortician Mr. Whitehead (Jack Grimes), who got wind that Archie was dead

He probably has an AGI set up to flag local fatalities in the census database and send him text notifications.

He shows Archie how his entire life amounts to a series of holes on a punch card (Hey, maybe it is the Twilight Zone!),

At least now we're worth a few megabytes.

When the letter arrives, it's addressed to Alice Bunker.

Their cautionary tale of the pitfalls of computerization is valid.

In the coda, Edith's on the phone to Buffalo because now she's receiving boxes of prunes.

Just what Archie needs.

though Radar's so transfixed on the film that he's not paying attention to an interested date.

Radar having a date is definitely EIW.

he was informally married to the mother by the camp's cook, who used to be an altar boy.

That's a recipe for disaster.

Radar's being tied up with the effort to push through the marriage application.

I wonder if this is just because of standard bureaucracy or if they need documentation from the local government for the woman.

Lt. Willis, CID (Burt Young), who just came in from Tokyo and insists on interviewing him about Walker.

Are they afraid the wife is a spy or something?

Willis: Happy days.
Hawkeye: Cheers.

That would be a great clip for MeTV if they were showing Happy Days and Cheers.

then he and Trapper proceed to revive Willis and blackmail him

I'm not understanding why this is even a problem.

Hawkeye can't believe his ears and, after making sure that she's serious, takes back his handshake and wine and parts ways with a raspberry.

And two separate plotlines actually dovetail for a change.

In the coda, the guys and Blake are present as Mulcahy weds Phil and Kim, and Klinger catches the bouquet.

Why didn't they just go to Mulcahy instead of the cook to begin with?

At one point in arranging another film night, Radar references a fictitious movie sequel, Bonzo Runs for President. Statement?

It almost seems like it has to be. Did Reagan start running for president that early? I know he ran against Ford but I don't know if he started even earlier than that.

You wouldn't have seen it unless you caught the original TV movie version.

I'm almost positive that I did see these original movies first run, or the Summer re-run at the latest. I remember talking about them with my friend Mike from grade school and junior high.

I'm sure that they did, but the song and intro in general are so cheesy that it comes off like a parody.

It really does.

Seems like Rudy would be the Q here.

True, Rudy would be Q and Oscar would be M.

I should hope so!

Darren did mention a theory that the show was supposed to take place in the near future.

Ah, okay, I forgot about that.

But ransom notes are generally coherent and have a purpose.

Great imagery, though.

The random crap is the stuff that was added to the syndication edit to stretch a 90-minute TV movie into two one-hour episodes; so the material wasn't there to deter viewers of the original movies.

It's still kind of a mess even without that.

Tidbits of the previously used footage. Say, now we know what red planet Steve and the other astronaut were on...it was A PORT IN SOUTH AMERICA.

That's their code name for everything.

I didn't mention the twice-used Bondian repartee in which Katrina commented that she was led to believe American men were soft, and Steve replied that "we rise to the occasion".

Somehow the Bond motif just doesn't suit Steve Austin.

It wasn't even explicit that they'd done the deed, but we cut to them lying in bed together, so what were we supposed to think?

Cuddling.

Walking on the shore with him, that is...more repurposed footage, I'm sure.

Yeah, but a dog? What dog? Why? From where? Was he good boy?

I guess the show doesn't take place later than 1979...

That's a timeline that could more or less work.

Indeed. I recall reading how the F-14s we sold to Iran while the Shah was in power sat unused after the Ayatollah took over because they lacked our maintenance personnel and parts supply. A nuclear missile sub would be a whole different magnitude from that.

The warheads in particular would become useless very quickly-- which could be seen as ominous.

Also, the device was detonated underground, so that might have mitigated its effect on the surrounding area.

They should have done a show later in the series about mutated sea monsters attacking people in the Bahamas.

I recall cracks about zebras and such.

Yeah, that would be directed at their kids, I think.

Capped.

I've heard, or read, a theory, possibly on the DVD extras to the Six Million Dollar Man box set I checked out of the library, that, based on some of the references to Steve Austin's past Apollo mission, and the thawing relations with the Soviet Union, the series takes place in the 'near future' late-70s/early-80s, as opposed to the commonly held contemporary setting. Although there is no on-screen evidence to support such a theory.

Nothing I can think of to contradict it, either, though.

There's a young woman on YouTube who's making her way through the James Bond franchise, starting with Sean Connery and 'Dr. No'. At the end of the movie, when Dr. No's lab goes up in a nuclear explosion, she pointed out that James Bond just rendered the Carribean island where Dr. No's lab was, a nuclear fallout zone and the island's inhabitants would have to be evacuated/relocated across the Carribean along with several other islands in the immediate vicinity.

They cut that footage for time.

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Nice. They sound a bit like Donovan in this one.

 

[The Old Mixer]

There's a young woman on YouTube who's making her way through the James Bond franchise, starting with Sean Connery and 'Dr. No'. At the end of the movie, when Dr. No's lab goes up in a nuclear explosion, she pointed out that James Bond just rendered the Carribean island where Dr. No's lab was, a nuclear fallout zone and the island's inhabitants would have to be evacuated/relocated across the Carribean along with several other islands in the immediate vicinity.

That's no nuclear explosion, it's a large conventional one...though likely dirty from radioactive materials being involved.

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Fun fact: In the novel, No's complex was fueled not by a nuclear reactor, but by bird guano.

Hogan, a hero.

A Hero Who Fancies Himself Hogan[/crittendon]

She tried, so there's no reason why she shouldn't keep it.

But they kept coming, so it was a little more than a found money situation.

How often are they getting these quarters?

I think Archie calculated around $400 a year.

Well, that solves his tax issues.

But you can't make deposits when you're dead.

Afraid of Copyright infringement? I think that would fall under fair use. As if anyone would even care.

Or maybe they just weren't good at doing it.

Just what Archie needs.

They're already in his diet. Edith argued that Archie had a right to the money because he ate most of the prunes.

Radar having a date is definitely EIW.

She looked like a believable match for him, though.


Heck, even Klinger was coupled up:

That's a recipe for disaster.

Hawkeye made a crack about the food tasting like candle wax.

I'm not understanding why this is even a problem.

It was implied that the bureaucracy was on Regina's side of this issue. Lt. Willis even came off as something of an Archie type, though they left the blatant bigotry to Regina.

Why didn't they just go to Mulcahy instead of the cook to begin with?

They would have had to go through the bureaucracy first.

It almost seems like it has to be. Did Reagan start running for president that early? I know he ran against Ford but I don't know if he started even earlier than that.

He ran in the primaries against Nixon in '68, not long after he became governor of California. Reagan as a politician with presidential aspirations was definitely on the radar (pardon the expression) when the episode was made.

It's still kind of a mess even without that.

Whatever issues the original material may have had, the slapped-on nonsense filler isn't doing it any favors.

Was he good boy?

Apparently, he was off leash.

Yeah, that would be directed at their kids, I think.

I recall Lionel getting married to their daughter.