Sounds to me like they're going for the Four Seasons or the Beach Boys. Looks like Adam-12 will be coming back to Cozi's regular schedule, two episodes at noon on weekdays, starting June 30. Just when I thought I was polishing it off, I'll be saving the first couple seasons for future 50th anniversary business. Caught an episode recently in which Reed makes a comment that it's a quiet night, and Malloy responds that things'll pick up when they call for Seven. It only took them until Season 6 to acknowledge it in-story!
That's about right. Lots of filler episodes until they took up the main plot of a conspiracy in the LAPD to rob patrol officers of their union-mandated break time.
50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing What was going on the week these episodes aired. _______ Batman "The Joker's Last Laugh" Originally aired February 15, 1967 "The Joker's Epitaph" Originally aired February 16, 1967 Yeah, the super-funny joke wasn't terribly impressive...if it had any humor, it was lost in the delivery. Some fella in the other forum a couple years back identified Phyllis Douglas as Yeoman Mears, but neglected to mention that she was also one of the space hippies in "The Way to Eden" (identified as Girl #2 in the credits). Looks like she's wearing a Beatles wig on top of her own hair on this occasion, though maybe it's just her own hair teased up like that. The Bat-Spot Analyzer--No subterranean crimefighting lair would be complete without it! It's incredulous enough when ordinary citizens don't recognize the Joker, but Bruce Wayne spent face time with him in the movie, and identifies him as "Mr. Whiteface" here. On top of that, the Joker is allowed to run free, as arch-criminals often are when putting on a respectable front, but Bruce Wayne announces marriage to one of his associates and is treated like a dangerous lunatic. Ah, but two scenes of Alfred in Batman's costume make it all worthwhile--he even did the Bat-Climb! Bruce mentions the murder of his parents by "dastardly criminals" in this one...is this the second time? I thought he mentioned it in the first episode. Finally, Bruce can change into his Batman costume out in the field! It seems uncharacteristic for Batman to have the robots point guns at citizens. _______ The Wild Wild West "The Night of the Brain" Originally aired February 17, 1967 Yeah, I definitely like the spy-fi business in this show better than that in TMFU...it's more colorful and imaginative. They've even got steampunk M:I masks! And the stories are tighter and don't spend so much time treading water. This one features a villainous mastermind in a steam-powered wheelchair who has aspirations to get that World War thing going on about 42 years early. He had me wanting to see Dr. Loveless, but it looks like he'll be coming up in a couple weeks. _______ Tarzan "Mask of Rona" Originally aired February 17, 1967 Jai and Cheeta are only in the opening scene this time, but it's a scene that plays a substantial role in setting up the story...which is definitely tighter than some recently viewed installments, despite moments like the artist filling some time talking mumbo jumbo. "I could have painted this for you," she tells Tarzan, whom she's meeting for the first time, as he admires her cave mural. What the hell is that even supposed to mean? This week has a noteoworthy TOS guest in the form of Leslie Parish (Carolyn Palamas, "Who Mourns for Adonais?"), who plays the artist's sister. There's an interesting last moment with the main villain, who's an admirer of the artist's work and had designs to have her cave mural removed and exported. When Tarzan gets the drop on him, he doesn't even try to fight, but requests that Tarzan send him a photo of the mural. _______ Get Smart "Smart Fit the Battle of Jericho" Originally Aired February 18, 1967 Yes, even as my DVR is in the process of stuffing itself with years' worth of GS episodes, I'm wasting no time in starting to get them back off in the regularly scheduled manner. Sign o' the times: A joke about Ronald Reagan, who'd recently become Governor of California at that point. There's a decent running gag of Max in a casino, misplacing and chasing around his eavesdropping microphone that's disguised as a silver dollar. TOS guest: Angelique Pettyjohn as a cigarette girl who's actually a disguised CONTROL agent, Charlie Watkins. The male voice coming out of her is worth a giggle. _______ Last Week's 50th Anniversary Viewing _______ Dark Shadows Episode 256 Originally aired June 19, 1967 The week starts with a recap of Sarah singing outside Maggie's cell. If she's been singing it nonstop all weekend, that certainly would be enough to drive Maggie insane! Following the opening credits and commercial, Maggie pleads with the mysterious little girl to get away while she can and tell others of her own captivity. As the girl silently leaves, Willie comes in bearing food and questions about who Maggie was talking to. She tries to convince him to help her, but he relates how little control he has over his situation...how he's tried to escape Barnabas, to find that his will is no longer his own. A very effective scene. Cut to the Great House, where Victoria is tutoring David. After chastising him for a facetious answer to the question of what Australia is best known for, she lets the boy out to play so she and Carolyn can spin the motorcycle wheels of the Buzz suplot. Outside the Old House, Sarah sees outdoor footage of David on a tree swing and calls him over to the exterior set, swing and all. She's much more talkative for David, and he just proves how annoying he is by quickly losing patience with her and getting snarky. As she leaves, Willie comes out to the exterior set and, hearing that David has a playmate, insists that he not bring anyone over before shooing the boy off. David really can't take a hint, considering that the last time he saw his "pal," Willie was bodily throwing him out of the house. As David returns to the Great House, Carolyn is leaving to hook up with the sound of of Buzz's cycle leaving. David loses no time continuing to insult Sarah for the benefit of the curious Vicki. Meanwhile at the Old House, Willie has just taken Maggie's uneaten food when Sarah returns to the company of somebody who'll be nicer to her. She warns Maggie not tell her big brother about having seen her. So what is Australia best known for? It's such a broad question that I might have said "kangaroos," too! Episode 257 Originally aired June 20, 1967 This is almost a three-person episode, as the alleged fourth character is Buzz. And I take it back...the motorcycle sounds more like a chainsaw than a weed-whacker. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were actually using a chainsaw for the sound...an easy enough prop to use on set. And for all its limitations in imitating a motorcycle, the chainsaw still has more acting talent than Buzz. Elizabeth earns a standing ovation for closing the door on Buzz, and she pays for it with Carolyn's rebelliousness. Jason standing up to Buzz on the stairs is almost enough to put me in his corner. McGuire tries to reason with Carolyn first, but that doesn't work. So he follows the swinging couple to the Blue Whale and offers him the bribe while she's powdering her nose. Poor Dennis Patrick...it's gotta be tough having to play his character being foiled by a waste of celluloid like Buzz. The couple at Dark Shadows Before I Die also made the Buzz/George Lucas connection in their post for this episode. And apparently I'm not the only one who's been less-than-impressed with Michael Hadge's performance...his next and final appearance on the show, in episode 262, will be his last acting credit for 26 years. Episode 258 Originally aired June 21, 1967 Maggie is calling for the little girl when the familiar sound of "London Bridge" alerts her to Sarah's presence right there in her cell. Maggie plays with her visitor, trying to get information about how she got in, but the girl eventually disappears when she's not looking. Barnabas comes down to investigate Maggie singing "London Bridge" and to try soft-selling the prospect of immortality as Josette for the umpteenth time. Clearly Maggie's general isolation is starting to unhinge her, because she blabs all about her special, secret friend. As Barnabas leaves, the cameraman visibly and audibly bumps into something while going for a closeup of Maggie through the cell door's window.... Upstairs, Barnabas conveys to Willie that Maggie seems to be losing her mind, and is therefore no longer desirable to him, which means that she must be disposed of. Willie goes downstairs to try desperately to convince Maggie to start acting sane for her own good. Finding Sarah's doll after he leaves convinces her that she is in fact still sane. Episode 259 Originally aired June 22, 1967 Elizabeth receives a call that Carolyn has been arrested for a drunk driving incident. Vicki floats the possibility that Liz, who hasn't left Collinwood in 18 years, should go herself rather than bring Roger onto the show this week. I guess there's a good reason that nobody at Collinwood thinks much about Barnabas's strange habits. At the local constabulary, Carolyn is in the custody of Sheriff Patterson, who reminds us that it's the Summer of Love by sporting a bitchin' new Sgt. Pepper 'stache. When her mother comes to pick her up, Carolyn manages to find a way to twist Liz's gesture against her. Back at Collinwood, Jason tries to convince Liz to let Carolyn go to do what she wants. Distraught at the idea of losing the daughter whom she was trying to protect from the truth, Liz does that last thing in the episode description in her bedroom after Vicki comes in to check on Liz because she'd been crying. Episode 260 Originally aired June 23, 1967 As Maggie toys with the doll in her cell, Willie's internal voice-over wrestles with the fact that she has less than three hours to live. Willie is so conflicted that he brings her poisoned milk to prevent her from dying at Barnabas's hand, then stops her from drinking it. Maggie unsuccessfully pleads for Willie to help her escape, then contemplates the content of the glass that he leaves in her cell. Maggie's next visitor is Sarah, who, upon learning of Maggie's impending fate, shares a rhyme that will help her escape. Sarah then demonstrates that she's not tethered to the vicinity of the Old House by honoring Maggie's request to inform Sam of his daughters's whereabouts...but not before she has the artist draw a sketch of her. As Maggie tries to figure out the clues in Sarah's rhyme, the sun sets and Barnabas, upon waking up for the night, starts to mosey his way down to her cell. Maggie finds the brick that opens a hidden passage not a moment too soon, but Barnabas...oh, you already read the episode description, didn't you? Will Maggie gain her freedom, or meet a cruel fate at the hands of her captor? Tune in next week! This episode had a lower-than-usual audiovisual quality...I'm guessing that they had to get it from a secondary recording for syndication. And young Sharon Smyth's accent is all over the place in this one. _______ The Saint "The Gadic Collection" Originally aired June 22, 1967 (UK) A story about a collection of antiques that's been stolen and replaced by counterfeits, with a confusing array of characters looking for them, most of whom seem to think that Simon knows where to find them for some reason. As the episode takes place in Turkey, there are a lot of British actors trying to pass themselves off as locals, but guest star Peter Wyngarde steals the show with a particularly egregious example of brownface acting. The Saint has one more season left, but it doesn't start in Britain until the fall of 1968, so it'll be on hiatus for a bit. _______ 50 years ago this week: "All You Need Is Love," The Beatles (Charted July 22; #1 US the week of Aug. 19; #1 UK; #362 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) New on the charts: "Pictures of Lily," The Who (#51 US; #4 UK) "(I Wanna) Testify," The Parliaments (#20 US; #3 R&B) And new on the boob tube: Dark Shadows, episodes 261-265 _______
Yeah, I think that scene in the Wayne Manor sitting room is in the first episode. I'm glad you're liking WWW. It's one of my favorites of the era. I've got the whole series on DVD. I love Dr. Loveless. Michael Dunn was so cool. Flirting? I've had the Get Smart Binge on, with not much time to watch, as usual-- but have you been getting weird gun nut and survivalist commercials? Classic Beatles and definitely a sign of the times-- something we could really use these days. Ah, I love The Who. This isn't one of their better-known songs, but I don't think there's any such thing as bad Who. Catchy, but I don't think I remember it at all.
I wouldn't mind if Decades gave me the chance to incorporate more of its run into the anniversary viewing...or H&I got it back from Me. Currently I've just got another four episodes from the winter/spring of '67. That's all I could think of, but what kind of boozy pick-up line is that? I haven't had it on in the background, since I'll be watching them all in good time...just watched the one that was scheduled for this week. Sounds like it might be the sort of thing that varies with local cable. I usually get lots of commercials for stuff like the Atomic Beam flashlight, FlexSeal, and Consumer Cellular. It's a cute one. Noteworthy for being the first hit of the combo that would go under the names of Parliament and Funkadelic in the '70s--George Clinton's band.
Yes, the pilot was the first mention, this was the second. And that's the most we ever got of his origin story in the show. I haven't seen the episode, but from the description, I'd guess she meant that it fits his nature or personality so well that it was as if she had painted it for him. That is, if she had hypothetically painted it for him, it would've turned out the same way.
K, put the GS Binge on in the background...haven't been paying too much attention, but I saw a commercial for emergency packaged meals. They sell stuff like that at camping stores, though. Did he use the same phrasing the first time, though? Alright, that works. It fits with the fact that she had an unfinished figure to the side of the mural who was supposed to be a really big deal in the tribal legends that the mural conveyed, and upon meeting Tarzan, she seemed to be inspired to finish the figure in his image. The artist was also going blind, FWIW...and when her sister tried to convince her to come back to civilization to seek a cure, Tarzan, with all of his professional knowledge of ophthalmology, declared that her eyes were beyond cure and her sister was just being selfish to get her hopes up.... ETA: Updating my viewing calendar to account for the new GS recordings, I came across an odd little maybe-not-a-coincidence. Adam-12 and Get Smart both aired episodes titled "The Impossible Mission"...on the same date, September 21, 1968! But they aired back-to-back on the same network, so maybe it was deliberate...? (In A12's case, it was the first episode.)
Essentially. Bruce's line in "Hi Diddle Riddle" was, "Perhaps if they're had been anti-crime centers of the type you now propose when my own parents were murdered by dastardly criminals..." His line in "The Joker's Epitaph" (speaking as Bruce, not Batman) was "Since the murder of my parents by dastardly criminals, violence has been anathema to me." Reminds me of that time in the early '80s, I think it was, when my local station showed reruns of Star Trek and Space: 1999 back to back in a "Showcase" block, and once aired both shows' respective episodes titled "The Immunity Syndrome" on the same night. Although those were reruns, while you're talking about first run.
Things get weird in the jungle. The Consumer Cellular ads are endless. The gun nut commercial may have been local. I like it because I have a particular fondness for Roaring 20s artistic nudes, so it's something I've often thought about. Who were they? What did they see? How long did they live? Aha, okay. That was one of them, yeah, but it definitely seemed to have a survivalist slant, especially in conjunction with the other commercials. I was wondering if they were supposed to appeal to Trump nuts who think the end of the world is coming or nuts who think that Trump will bring about the end of the world.
I just think it's cute because it's an innocently phrased song about the subject of discovering self-gratification. Heads-up of a Decades Weekend Binge I'm sure you'll be interesting in: July 15, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Can't say if it will continue on the 16th yet, as it looks like they're going to start experimenting with split Binges this coming weekend. Adam-12 episode I'm watching now (Season 7 premiere) is the second time I've caught them referring to Malloy as "The Strawberry Fox" in-story. Sounds like something that might have been an offscreen nickname for Milner back in the day, which kind of takes me out of the story to hear somebody use it on the show. The Season 6 finale was an odd one--A backdoor pilot for a spin-off about the D.A.'s office that only had Reed and Malloy doing a couple of brief cameos...with one of the leads being Frank Sinatra, Jr. I knew something was up when they put guest-stars in the opening credits, which the show never did before...evidently because they were the prospective stars of the would-be series.
The Thunderbirds are the futuristic vehicles featured in the show. Anthony George does look a bit like one of the Tracy clan, though. In fact, "Silence is Golden" was originally recorded by The Four Seasons and released as the B side of the single "Rag Doll" in 1964, three years before the Tremeloes did their cover version. The song was co-written by Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio and producer/songwriter Bob Crewe. So . . . yes. A lot of places sell surplus military MREs to campers and survivalists. I've never tasted them but I hear they're not half bad.
It was a more liberal time. Sexuality was considered healthy, normal, and natural. Now it's back to being creepy, pervy, and ew. Sweet. I'll definitely have to figure out how to make time for that. I'll also record a few. Which reminds me that I recorded several of the Adam West tribute episodes, which my Mother and I watched last Saturday. I got The Outer Limits (which I have on DVD, but this was a good way to get my Mother to watch something a bit different), The Rifleman, and another Western that we haven't seen yet (Big Valley?). He looked like a teenager in Rifleman (in an episode that aired the week before I was born), but when I did the math he was already 40. Which means he was in his mid-40s when he was Batman. I don't think I ever realized that. That's an odd nickname.
These were more commercially-packaged meals that just need hot water to cook them (like these from Mountain House). I have had surplus MREs though...we had a couple of bad storms several years back where the power was out in our neighborhood for a week each, and they were handing them out locally. They are pretty damn good, though I could never figure out how to get the main course heated evenly. Your math would be off. Born in September 1928, West would have been 32 when he did that Rifleman episode...and 37 when he started Batman. I remember the term "fox" being pretty ubiquitous in the '70s...and the "strawberry" part would refer to his hair. It's one thing for Reed to joke about it in the squad car, but when Sgt. MacDonald starts using it.... This episode...while Malloy's volunteering at a summer camp (A-story), Reed's not only driving, but going solo! Too bad, they missed an opportunity to come full circle and give him his own rookie partner. And the dangers of long-term, organized timeshifting...the last thing I want to see in June are Christmas commercials!
Sounds like a variation on "silver fox," a term for an older, gray-haired man who's still handsome and desirable (named after a variety of actual foxes). I've found one reference to the nickname being used in the 1950s, for Jack Denison, the second husband of Dorothy Dandridge. Although Milner would've been only in his late 30s at the time of Adam-12, so I'm not sure if that makes sense as its derivation.
^^ "Fox" has been slang for an attractive female at least since the early 1960s. Later it was extended to mean an attractive person of either sex.
Well, as I said, it was used for at least one man in the 1950s. The Online Etymology Dictionary dates the noun "fox" for an attractive woman to the 1940s, while the adjective "foxy" was used in that sense in American college slang as early as 1895. Of course, dictionaries list the earliest documented uses in print, so the origins of the terms in spoken language are almost always going to be even earlier.
Well, he was the noticeably older of the two leads...and was 42 when they started dropping the term in the show.
Clearly, her better career days were on Star Trek. By this time in the series, there was no such thing as continuity. A few of the Tut episodes references his earlier appearances, and the first Catwoman episode from season two ("Hot Off the Griddle") had Gordon speak of the villainess being "alive and well" (a nod to the thought she died in season one's "Better Luck, Next Time"), but that's almost all one would get in the direction of continuity on this series. Apparently, Adam West did not like Napier used in this manner. I have to agree. From Back to the Batcave, pages 117-118: "I was so fond of Alan, in fact, two of the most painful memories I have of my years as Batman (and after) involve him. One was an episode where Alfred was forced to don the Batsuit, get into the Batmobile, and rush to our rescue. Alan has worn some unusual period costumes in his career, but never anything like the Batsuit. He felt self-conscious and a bit ridiculous. He had voiced his misgivings during the rehearsal, felt that we were pushing the absurd a little too far (I agree), but the writer, director, and Dozier thought it would be a nice way to show just how devoted Alfred was. Though I ached for Alan and offered to intercede on his behalf, he wouldn't let me. He acted the scenes, pushing through like a member of Tennyson's Light Brigade, bringing what elegance and dignity he could to the material. Afterward, he told Dozier never again to debase Alfred, or him, like that." Class act from West. Contrary to certain viewers, the series was not originally intended to drop off into low camp, nor was it a sitcom (and no Dozier documentation ever makes such claims), so the Alfred-as-Batman stunt was just awful, disrespectful, embarrassing, and provided Dozier with more of his late season two shovels used to dig the series' grave.
Yes, once again Karlen and the script are firing on all cylinders. No, it was readily available motorcycle stock sound effects. Haha! All Michael Hadge needed was a 16mm camera on his shoulder, and its USC-Lucas all over again! This is what I meant about Maggie's fate; no matter what she tries--or anyone works on her behalf, it only makes her continued abuse and death (at least to first run audiences) seem like a sure thing. Of course, no one knew what Sarah was, other than a ghost. Eventually, she will talk to Julia Hoffman and others, but imagine if someone knew how to exploit Sarah to get at Barnabas... As the series ramped up the supernatural elements, the traditional soap opera plot of wayward daughter/secrets was on its last legs with the Carolyn/Elizabeth story, making it the last time Dark Shadows had anything in common with other soaps on air at that time. As The World Turns this was not. Grim material. Again, this was not a soap opera anyone would recognize, and it might be the first time in filmed vampire fiction that the monster's slave attempts to assist in the suicide of a victim. I enjoyed the way the threads of danger (for Barnabas) were slowly, but surely laid out; its no one person Sherlock-ing the case, but fate just setting the stage for this to happen. In the future, as Barnabas realizes strange things (other than himself) are happening, it will be fascinating to watch him become unnerved. Last second escape and Barnabas as determined as ever. Even with Maggie making her way through the passageway, I doubt anyone thought she was going to survive. The shot Barnabas chasing Maggie through an underground, spooky area seemed to have inspired George Wilson's cover for Gold Key's long-running Dark Shadows comic book-- Reportedly, the original episode was lost, but a kinescope copy was used for the syndication package. I'm not certain of that's true, but it could explain the quality.