50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)
Emergency!
"Involvement"
Originally aired January 24, 1976
Edited MeTV said:
Rampart's former emergency department head nurse tries to commit suicide. In the hospital, she befriends a paraplegic child who almost drowned in a swimming pool. Also: a woman wrapped in plastic, a family suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, and a man pinned under a tank truck containing volatile fuel.
Station 51 and other units are called to a possible fire ("smoke in structure"); none is showing from the outside. (Again, it seems like recon is in order before they send in multiple units.) However, directed by the neighbor who called, they inspect the inside to find an unconscious older woman (Anne Seymour) in a burning apartment. Readouts at Rampart indicate more going on than smoke inhalation, possibly heart disease. When she's taken in, Dix and then Kel recognize her as Milly Eastman, Rampart's former head emergency nurse. After she goes into cardiac arrest in the exam room, Early indicates that she never had a history of heart disease and that he'd recently prescribed an antidepressant for retirement-related depression. Tests confirm that she took what appears to be a deliberate overdose. When she comes to in the ICU, she recognizes her doctors and asks why they didn't let her die.
Brackett is called to treat a paraplegic girl, Jean Clark (Dawn Lyn), who was drowning in a pool and brought in by another paramedic (uncredited Claude Johnson). When the girl's mother, Dorothy (Jean Allison), arrives, she wants to bring her daughter home, as her long hospitalization in traction was a traumatic ordeal. Once conscious in a recovery room, this is borne out by Jean's violently hostile attitude. Dix visits Milly, who learns that she has a cigarette that she lit before passing out to blame for her survival. Milly describes the loneliness of her retired existence and how her life was her work.
Milly (crying): You kids are pretty efficient. In the old days, twelve grams would've finished me.
Squad 51 is called to a woman down in a parking lot. A storekeeper (Milton Frome) indicates that she was having trouble breathing and walking stiffly. When the paramedics roll up her pant legs, they find that she's wrapped in masking-taped plastic wrap underneath her clothes. When she's brought to consciousness, she objects that the paramedics are cutting off her garments. Once calmed and questioned, she explains that she wrapped herself to compress her cellulite back into her body, a DIY version of what she indicates is an expensive salon treatment. Mrs. Slade is taken to Rampart, where Early finds that her episode was due to heat and compression, and advises her to lose weight gradually.
Afterward, Joe discusses Milly's situation with Dix; and Kel returns from having juice thrown at him by Jean. Dix gets the idea of having the recovering Milly put in Jean's room for the titular benefit. Kel's skeptical, but Joe agrees that it might help both patients. Milly seems in better spirits as Dix wheels her to the recovery room. The doctors meet Milly in the hall to explain the situation in her new digs, and she sees through their ploy, insisting that she doesn't care anymore. Nevertheless, her professional pride is aroused when her new roomie pushes her tray of food onto the floor. Milly chastises the girl and, in a counter to the girl's response, offers that she herself is even worse.
A man named Steve Carson (Del Monroe), who says he has the flu, brings in his son, Chuck, who's hit worse by the epidemic that their entire family is suffering from. After Carson describes their shared symptoms, Doc Morton spots signs of carbon monoxide poisoning in both Carsons present, and learns that the family just installed a new furnace. Station 51 is called to the Carson home, where a neighbor with a key (uncredited Carol Worthington) lets the equipment-wearing firefighters in. They carry the unconscious wife, daughter, and dog outside and administer oxygen. The paramedics verify that the other family members show the same indications and they're transported to Rampart, where Dix promptly informs
RJ and Mix the paramedics that the family and their loyal companion are all fine.
Dix takes the paramedics in to see Milly and Jean, who are now both in better spirits and playing cards. Milly apologizes for not appreciating that they saved her life and compliments the good work that they do. She then reassures Dix that she's decided to find someplace where she's needed.
The paramedics are returning from Rampart, discussing the subject of retirement, when Station 51 is called to a vehicle accident. On the scene, they find a sports car wedged underneath a tank truck carrying liquid hydrogen. The paramedics inform Officer Vince of the danger of "invisible fire" from a leak and have him and his partner clear out. The firefighters find that the car's engine is smoking, and their tool options are limited by not wanting to create sparks. Just as they pry the car's driver free, a fire ignites under the hood, and the crew gets clear just before the flames spread to another, overturned car nearby and it goes up. The firefighters then put the flames out and use their hoses to suppress the tank's leak while Cap'n Stanley calls for another tanker truck to be brought in to siphon the first one's load. The car's driver is treated by the paramedics and loaded into an ambulance.
While checking out in the coda, Milly informs Dix that she's found a job with a suicide prevention hotline and tells her that Jean's making progress in physical therapy. As Dix and the doctors see her off, she teasingly barks orders at them to get busy.
We have here another notable lack of station business, though this time we get brief shots of the inside during the calls. It's too soon to tell, but I'm starting to think that maybe they were just trying to change up the show's well-worn formula a bit.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"Menage-a-Lou"
Originally aired January 24, 1976
Frndly/IMDb mashup said:
Lou grows jealous when his old girlfriend Charlene shows up at Mary's party with a younger man, so he retaliates by dating a friend of Mary's.
Lou comes into the newsroom extremely winded and confuses everyone while trying to explain in broken English.
Murray: And then what happened, Tonto?
Lou eventually composes himself enough to tell the others that he saw his old girlfriend Charlene (played by Sheree North in two appearances last season) on a bus and chased it for twelve blocks. In his office, he shares with Mary that he had a fight with Charlene when she left town for an organ-playing gig in an ice show, and persuades Mary to throw a last-minute party that Saturday that she can invite Charlene to.
At Mary's place before the party, neighbor Paula Kovacs (Penny Marshall reprising her role from "Murray in Love") asks about Lou before leaving for her job as a hospital nurse. Ted and Georgette arrive in the middle of having what they claim is their first fight (pretty sure it's not), over Ted's mother calling Georgette a hussy; and Murray shows up miserable with the flu, because he didn't want to spoil Mary's party; all of which increases Lou's anxiety. Charlene (recast with Janis Paige) unexpectedly shows up with a date, a much younger figure skater from her show named Kenny Stevens (Jeff Conaway). Lou makes a series of rudely dismissive remarks about Kenny, mainly concerning his profession, which motivates Charlene to leave. after everyone else does, Mary's so upset with Lou that she addresses him by his first name, then ups the ante with "Louis". Lou's calling Charlene to apologize when Paula returns, having intended to catch the party. Lou asks Charlene about having dinner and agrees to a double date with her and Kenny. When Paula looks interested, Mary persuades Lou to take her.
On the night of the date, Lou brings Paula to Mary's because he doesn't think that what she's wearing is sexy enough to make Paula jealous. After a number of misfires, Paula finds a suitably stunning dress--a new one that Mary hadn't even worn yet. (This would've been a great opportunity to bring back the green dress.) At the restaurant, things go awkwardly as Lou doesn't succeed in evoking the intended reaction from Charlene. He ends up inviting Paula to dance with Kenny so he and Charlene can talk in private. When Lou admits to wanting to make her jealous, she thinks it's sweet, and indicates that she'd rather be seeing Lou, but he never called her. They get up to dance when their favorite song plays, which Lou had arranged as part of his original plan.
Lou drops by Mary's after bringing Paula home, rubbing it in a bit that he ultimately ended up with Charlene again, but also sharing the new conundrum that once he was alone with Paula, he found himself taking a liking to her--particularly because of her interest in sports. Mary convinces him that he can see two women at once. (If they were ever planning to bring up Ted Bessell's character again, this would've been the opportunity.) In the coda, Lou comes to Mary at work in the predictable bind of having a date with both ladies on the same night. Mary tells "Louis" that he's on his own, to Murray and Ted's amusement.
The Bob Newhart Show
"My Boy Guillermo"
Originally aired January 24, 1976
Edited Wiki said:
Jerry's free-spirited ex-girlfriend Courtney returns, offering to let him marry her and help raise her new adopted son.
Jerry shows up at the office with a satchel that Carol and Bob both consider to be a handbag (Carol showing that she's got the same one) and dissatisfied with his love life, as he misses his world-traveling old flame Courtney Simpson (from last season's "Jerry Robinson Crusoe"). He makes Bob a little uncomfortable by going into how he'd rather spend more time with guys. On another day at the office following some intervening apartment business about Howard having won a magic kit, Bob convinces Jerry to call someone for a date, and he ends up with one he immediately tries to get out of with a girl called Linda. As he's getting on the elevator, Jerry passes Courtney (Gail Strickland reprising the role) getting off...then comes back up via the stairs. She tells Jerry that she loves him, wants to marry him, and is ready to settle down...then drops the bomb that she's adopting a titularly named Spanish boy who needs a father.
The Hartleys uncomfortably arrive at Jerry's for dinner as he's in the middle of making out with Courtney, and the couple takes their time stopping. Bob makes a number of toasts to avoid being the first to try the unappetizingly exotic dish that their hosts are serving. Jerry and Courtney soon find themselves in an argument about their differing plans for Guillermo--Jerry favoring a traditional education with an emphasis on sports while Courtney wants him to travel the world and attend a nontraditional school that encourages free thinking.
Courtney drops by Jerry's office while he's seeing a patient named Richie (Matthew Laborteaux) to drop the news that the adoption fell through because the orphanage wants to put Guillermo with a Spanish family.
Jerry: Look, we still have each other...we still have our memories of Guillermo. Of course, your memories are better than mine, 'cause I never met him.
While Jerry's reassurances result in another make-out session--this time interrupted by Richie coming back in for his baseball glove--when Jerry later drops by the Hartleys', he's crestfallen because things aren't the same between him and Courtney without Guillermo in the picture. Bob and Emily convince him not to go through with the marriage for the wrong reasons...while Bob continues trying to demonstrate his own old magic act, his one-Howard audience having since left.
In the coda, Courtney drops by the office to say goodbye to Jerry before returning to Bolivia. Jerry tries to act cool about it, but ends up running down the stairs to catch up with the elevator.
NBC's Saturday Night
Season 1, episode 11
Originally aired January 24, 1976
Hosts: Peter Cook & Dudley Moore
Guests: Neil Sedaka
The cold open has Chevy as a bomb squad officer working on a suspicious package. A hand pops out and hits his face with a pie, though it glances off of him, clearly not the desired result.
Don Pardo is now reading the NRFPT Players' names in the intro.
Peter and Dudley explain how British humor is more understated; then proceed into an onstage skit in which Dudley is a one-legged actor auditioning for the role of Tarzan.
Peter: I have nothing against your right leg. The trouble is, neither have you.
The first sketch has Peter as a director casting for a prison production of Gigi. All of the prospective actors have behavioral issues. John's inmate, a mass-murderer, wins the title role after attacking the director.
Neil Sedaka sings the slow version of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" on piano. The intro with the original version is conveyed by showing Neil listening to it on a transistor radio.
An ad for Don Pardo's Holiday in an Elevator features an elevator that opens to backdrops of various exotic locales with Dudley playing a native of each one.
Weekend Update: Franco and the bad hookups with Angola continue. There are also gags about Reagan, Patty Hearst, a red dye being banned as a carcinogen (which was a news item that I trimmed out), and the British Concorde overshooting South America. Following a repeat of the filmed commercial about the van line that moves family members like furniture, Emily Litella reads an editorial in which she takes a stand against saving Soviet jewelry...only it's supposed to be Soviet Jewry. Chevy declares a moratorium on jokes that make the president look stupid and clumsy...then reads a story that's obviously about Ford being spectacularly clumsy while keeping the subject anonymous. The top story is repeated by a man in a shower.
For a show called
Table Talk, Dudley interviews Peter as the owner of the Frog & Peach restaurant, the name of which is exactly what the place serves, in two dishes that the owner is disgusted by, describing his restaurant, which was apparently his wife's idea, as a catastrophe.
A film by Gary Weis has a novelty shop proprietor dryly showing her wares.
Dudley and Peter do Scottish versions of Sonny & Cher singing "I Got You Babe" while doing some in-character stage banter.
Scred in a bee outfit appears with Gilda to do a brief routine before introducing Neil Sedaka singing "Lonely Night (Angel Face)". This is the first time that the Muppet segment didn't use the Gorch setting.
On
Backstage Banter, Jane interviews John playing a male impersonator, who answers questions about how she pulls off her impersonation, imitates Rod Steiger singing "One," and shares that she's in late pregnancy.
A brief skit has Dudley, Dan, and Chevy as surgeons taking a vote about whether their patient, Garrett, is legally dead; Garrett raises his hand to vote that he's alive.
The last sketch involves Dudley as the biblical Matthew, who's writing a profile of Jesus. He interviews Peter as a shepherd about his part in the nativity story.
For the final bow, they redo the opening gag with Dudley picking up the pie and putting it in Chevy's face; John comes out of the crate that the package was sitting on.
Actually, I tried to search, but it failed on all three of my go-to utilities.
Loading the image into the Bing image search produced a first page with mixed positive results for both the critter and the character.
It was diminutive Irishman Walter Burke whom Mad Jack mistook for one.
