Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the release "Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory" by the band Traffic. It would peak at #6 on the Billboard charts. Here they are performing probably the best known song from the album, (Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired. (Just like to point out Steve Winwood is not yet twenty-five in this clip.)
_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2) _______ Mission: Impossible "The Fountain" Originally aired January 26, 1973 Thomas Bachman (Maharis in bad-looking middle-age makeup) storms into the computer center of Matthew Drake (Mitchell), concerned that Drake has pulled records on his operation with the intent of taking over. Bachman pulls a gun and, assisted by Drake goons who are on his payroll, takes a couple record reels with the intent of ransoming them back to the Syndicate; then has Drake taken into an adjacent room and sets a bomb, which explodes after he leaves. Jim and Barney intercept a smuggler named Mallory (uncredited Ed Connelly), who's supposed to get Bachman back to the States from where he's been lying low in northern Mexico, and Barney knocks him out with the Paris Neck Pinch (or maybe they're using the ring when they do that, but they don't show it). Barney then meets with Bachman, posing as the smuggler, negotiates a price, and takes him up. Barney fakes a mechanical difficulty, knocks out Bachman via the same method, and lands on a dirt strip for a rendezvous with Jim. Bachman awakes in the fake aftermath of the plane crash, where Barney is wearing a splint and using a branch as a crutch (foreshades of TIH's "Mystery Man"). Walking in the wilderness, they find the IMF's borrowed mansion, posing as the headquarters of the Fellowship of the Golden Circle, presided over by robed Jim and Casey. Willy brings in a seemingly badly wounded raccoon, which they quickly bring back to full health. Bachman then finds a very old photo of Casey tucked in a book that was printed in 1861. He finds further evidence in a newspaper article and confronts Casey with it, which indicates that she was already in her 50s in the 1880s, despite her youthful appearance. Meanwhile, Drake--whose crippling injury from the blast seems limited to a busted hand that he wears a glove on--tracks down the plane with his henchmen, Dawson (Luke Askew) and Perez (Carlos Rivas, who looks a lot like Jonathan Frakes here), and sends them to find Bachman and bring him in. The IMFers further reveal that Barney's fake broken leg has been miraculously healed; and Bachman finds planted evidence that Willy was a bomber pilot in WWII. Spying on Casey, Bachman follows Casey through a secret panel down to a cave spring--coming across a photo of Jim in 1838 along the way--and confronts her about everything he's seen. She reluctantly divulges that the water from the spring keeps the members youthful, but has to be drunk every 48 hours. Bachman wants the water as a way of curing Drake's hand for leverage. Jim gives him a cupful with a pill slipped in, which Bachman drinks and passes out. Casey gives Bachman a temporary youthifying treatment, then dons an extreme old age mask and matching gloves, over which she'll be wearing an easily dissolving mask and gloves to simulate her normal age and appearance. Bachman awakes to discover the new him as Dawson and Perez enter with rifles. Bachman tells them that they ain't seen nothing yet, and he wants to take the girl to Drake. Jim gives Casey a vial of the water for the journey. Bachman returns to Drake and offers him the vial...refusing to give any to Casey as proof of the water's effects. While the men are bartering, Casey slips on the solution that dissolves her outer disguise and also turns her hair gray, and fakes death from extreme old age. Drake agrees to Bachman's deal and Bachman takes him to where he hid the computer records. Jim and Barney swoop in on the Syndicators with conventional backup and take the reels. _______ Love, American Style "Love and the Singing Suitor / Love and the Unmarriage / Love and the Wee He" Originally aired January 26, 1973 "Love and the Singing Suitor" opens with Murray Roomer (Warren Berlinger) overworked because the office he's sharing with Walt Lerner (Dave Madden) is between secretaries. A discussion of having flings with secretaries leads to Murray sharing how he wants true love, like in musicals, and when he finds it, he'll burst into song. When personnel sends a new secretary, Nancy DeHaven (Bridget Hanley), there are a few false instrumental intros before Murray goes into a full-on musical number...terrifying Nancy, who takes refuge in the closet. Walt gets in the closet to talk to her, while Murray goes into a slower number outside. Nancy reluctantly agrees to stay, on the understanding that she's just the secretary. Nancy subsequently tries to stick strictly to business as Murray breaks into new numbers over the slightest things...sometimes using a hat and cane and/or dancing. Eventually she's ready to walk out, but tries to get through to Murray that his behavior is unnatural and he's living in a fantasy world. He tries to explain himself to her without music, and she finds herself liking him much more, agreeing to go to lunch with him. He can't help going into the closet for a brief musical outburst, but promises not to do it again. In "Love and the Unmarriage," Julie Garber (Susan Foster) and her boyfriend Ken (Michael McGreevey) drop in on Julie's parents (Ozzie and Harriet) to announce that they've decided to live together. Attempting to argue for the importance of the commitment of marriage, Mr. Garber brings up an evident fling he had while out of town on business that Mrs. Garber caught via phone, which includes unconvincingly rehashing his excuse from nine years prior. Ultimately Mr. Garber gives the kids his blessing, but is in hot water with the missus after they leave. The next day, the Garbers announce that they're getting a divorce, and Julie is distraught that she'll be leaving a broken home. Later, while the Garbers are working out who gets what, Julie and Ken drop in again to reveal that they got married in Mexico. In attempting to argue that marriage is more than just a commitment, Mrs. Garber ends up indirectly forgiving Mr. Garber, and Julie and Ken consider their mission accomplished. "Love and the Wee He" hearkens back to over a month prior, with Wayne (Craig Huebing) and Bibi (Sarah Kennedy) celebrating Christmas on their honeymoon. Wayne's present to Bibi is a lifelike mechanical elf who used to be on display in a department store window (Billy Barty). But they can't turn it off, so it lurches around mechanically, brandishing its hammer, while they're trying to get intimate. Wayne ends up putting it on the window ledge of the apartment building, only for a fireman (Patrick Campbell) to break through the door, accompanied by a policeman and a rabbi who's subbing for a priest (Donald Barry and Marvin Miller), all responding to what they think is a jumper. The lot of them end up getting the elf back in and it seems to have calmed down, but gets active again once the couple are back in bed...so they give up and put him in bed between them. _______ All in the Family "Archie Goes Too Far" Originally aired January 27, 1973 While Archie's searching for a magazine to settle a bet with Mike, Edith finds her wartime diary and reads passages about her relationship with Archie, including one in which she took a reference to "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" too literally. Archie: 1943...she was still in training for her dingbat wings. After some more readings, Archie comes downstairs with a poetic letter that he found in a box of Mike's, asserting his right to search anyplace in the house...provoking a very topical reference. Mike: We're living in the Watergate Hotel here. Archie reads the poem aloud against Mike's objections. Gloria recognizes the poem as one that Mike wrote to her, but Archie drops the bomb that this copy was written "To Vicky". Gloria confronts Mike about this and Mike storms out. A distraught Gloria goes to stay at a girlfriend's over her father's instigative behavior, and Edith goes after her...taking her diary with her after telling Archie that there are things in it that she wouldn't want him to read. Lionel comes over to tell Archie that Mike is laying low at the Jeffersons'...teasing Archie by likening it to the Underground Railroad. Archie looks up the address of Gloria's girlfriend, Trudy (Pamela Murphy)--with whom Gloria and Edith are getting drunk and having fun. Trudy discourages Gloria from calling Mike, arguing that she should let him come to her. A couple more girlfriends (Mary Kay Place and Patty Weaver) show up dressed for a slumber party with pizza, following which Mike pops in. The Stivics reconcile, then Archie gets there during a singalong and Edith's overjoyed to see him...but won't let any of them go home until Archie admits he was wrong for invading Mike's privacy. Archie is tacitly backed into confessing to his wrongdoing, and everyone celebrates. _______ The Mary Tyler Moore Show "Romeo and Mary" Originally aired January 27, 1973 Mary double dates with Rhoda; contrary to the description, Rhoda doesn't think much of either of their dates, so she's grateful to Mary for agreeing to it. Rhoda's date, Lowell (Bo Kaprall), arrives with Mary's date, Warren Sturges (Stuart Margolin), the two of them doing comedy schtick. After the date, Mary subtly tries to discourage Warren from coming in for coffee, but he doesn't do subtlety, and comes on strong about his attraction to her and what he sees as their future...leaving before she can set him straight. After calling her twice overnight, he shows up early in the morning with breakfast, and has the day all planned out for the two of them. She shows him out, but he insists that she'll fall for him given time. Later at work, Mary learns that Warren's put a billboard up declaring his love, and then he pops in, having befriended Ted. Warren handcuffs himself to Mary, forcing her to go to lunch with him to get the key. In a discussion about Mary's situation with Ted and Murray at the station, Lou reveals that when he was dating Edie, he was writing romantic poetry under a female predecessor's name for the Detroit Free Press. Mary returns late from lunch, traumatized by the experience. After days of further incidents, Mary takes to using multiple locks at home, paranoid about Warren's next move. Rhoda tries to convince her not to be afraid to make a scene in order to make Warren get the message. After a letup in the Warren activity, Mary's at a restaurant with a guy named Peter (Joe Warfield) when Warren shows up with a band and a cake with a marriage proposal written on it. Mary takes Rhoda's advice and lets him have it very demonstratively...only to be mortified to learn that it was all for Warren's new girlfriend, Peggy (Barbara Brownell). _______ The Bob Newhart Show "The Two Loves of Dr. Hartley" Originally aired January 27, 1973 At the end of a session, Mrs. Walker (Henry), who's lost 50 pounds with Bob's help, drops the bomb that she loves him. To keep her around and away from food until after his next appointment, he has Jerry clean her teeth. Bob tries to tell her that her affection for him is just transference, but she persists...and then calls Bob at home, which gets Emily's attention. Bob tries to explain the situation... Bob: Just think of me as a rock star, with fans. Walker comes to the office when Bob's leaving to tell him that she and her husband split up after she told him about her feelings for Bob. Bob has to miss Monday Night Football with Howard and Jerry to counsel Walker; and back at the apartment, Howard ends up counseling Emily. (Emily's issue with MNF in the prior episode is referenced.) Howard and Jerry try to engage Emily in the game, and get up to leave in its neck-and-neck last two minutes when Bob gets home. Emily argues for Bob to dump Mrs. Walker, though he counters that her jealousy is the real issue that has to be dealt with. As Bob is trying to tell Emily that nothing is more important to him than her, his attention is diverted by an upset victory in the game by a Washington team that was recently renamed. In the coda, Emily meets Mrs. Walker when she drops by Bob's office, learning that she and her husband have gotten back together. _______
George Perez was a great one for individualizing characters. Another guy from those days who was really good is kind of forgotten now-- in fact, his name escapes me-- but he was the first artist on New Mutants. Even when he was inking Sal Buscema's pencils he maintained that individuality for the characters. I think he was something like sixteen when he got started. Pretty amazing. All those years on the road in a convertible.... Ah, the old solitary mansion in the wilderness trope. Always a sign that fun times are ahead. Yep, here we go. An ancient order of immortal veterinarians. That's nice. What happened to the original smuggler? I wonder if the IMF called conventional law enforcement to pick him up or just returned his plane to him and let him keep on smuggling (assuming the wreckage was faked and they didn't really bust up the plane). Immortals really like to leave evidence just lying around. They're also early adopters of new technology, apparently. Two layers of masking-- they've got to be using Area 51 technology or something. Very Zone-ish. A bit of an anticlimactic ending, but a cool episode overall. It would have been funny if they had a little epilogue revealing that the IMFers really are hundreds of years old because of the secret spring. You've got to lay the foreshadowing on thick in these short stories. That's my LAS. But a bit of a disappointing ending. It would have been more LAS if they ended it with a duet. Ozzie and Harriet. It's all about you, Julie. Nice one. It's usually awkward when they champion traditional values for the old folks in the audience, but this was well done. I remember this one. And the newlyweds begin their threesome with the cursed mechanical elf. There's a backdoor pilot that should have gone to series. The hell you say! He actually wrote it when he was thirteen and used it on every girl he ever knew. Perhaps not so much of a dingbat, after all. "Hey, I know that poem." "Me, too!" That's remarkable. Probably no apology, though. LAS guy. Also, Rockford Files. Doesn't this guy have a job? Time to call the cops and the men in the white coats. One of which was plagiarized by a guy named Mike Stivic in later years. If she's not going to call the cops, she should at least ask Lou to have a non-rhyming talk with him. Well, that was a very Mary ending, at least. He should have hinted that Jerry has a crush on her. I think we kinda do. Not too surprising. I remember that. All's well that ends anticlimactically.
Barney did take him up in the plane. I'm not clear if the wreckage was the original plane...I'd say it's more likely, but this is the IMF. Hadn't even thought of that. Maybe... That was a good beat, actually, and one that resonates all the more today. The institution of marriage was too square and old fogey for her...until her own parents were the ones looking to ditch it. Parents have to be perfect rocks of support. Not a direct one, no. There was a great line from Archie in the scene with Lionel that would probably be considered way too insensitive to repeat here 50 years later. It was Sunday. The really awkward thing about writing this one up is that I don't think they ever dropped Mrs. Walker's first name.
As the series progressed, the behind-the-scenes stories started to become less and less elaborate in the later seasons, probably due to it being a well-worn formula by this time. The only item of note the "M:I" book has to say about this story is that, as a cost saving measure, the location of the tapes was the Paramount Studios commissary.
At least that implies that the smuggler was carted off between scenes, so there's one that didn't get away. True, it did tilt toward the ending. We'll rendezvous at the usual time and location for intel transfer. Use Code Z-86. The countersign is "Ferry Cross The Mersey." If apprehended by the Thought Police, stop thinking. Oh. Bob is always polite. That's the guy! I wonder whatever happened to him. He was a good artist, but slow, I think. Yeah, Perez would have to do full-page panels. I don't recall them ever working together. Not that I know of. It was around the time of that Kitty-Wolverine mini series that Claremont started to lose it and go full-on 80s torture porn. He was actually always kind of an iffy writer who needed a strong artist to collaborate with. If left to his own devices, his work was not very memorable. They were really losing steam at that point, it seems.
My Brother and I used to joke about how the same stock phrases started coming out of every character's mouth, appropriate or not. When Magneto said "I offer the world a deal," it was in character-- when Wolverine said "I offer a deal" to Dr Doom it was not. And whenever anybody loved someone, the reply was always "And I, you." There were others, but I can't think of them right now. Basically, everybody started talking like Chris Claremont.
50 Years Ago This Week February 4 The U.S. television news show 60 Minutes aired a segment, "The Selling of Colonel Herbert", which led to the CBS network being sued for libel by U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Herbert. The lawsuit would lead to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1979 in Herbert v. Lando, which rejected a claim of First Amendment protection against discovery requests of the editorial process. Herbert would end up losing his lawsuit in 1986. February 5 A U.S. Air Force spy plane was shot down over Laos one week after the Paris Peace Accords had officially ended the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. All eight crew of the EC-47 airplane were listed as killed, though the remains of only four crewmen would be located and their classification would later be changed to missing in action (MIA). U.S. Army Colonel William B. Nolde, the last American serviceman to die in the Vietnam War, was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Afterward, Nolde's widow and their five children met with U.S. President Nixon at the White House, where he told the children, "Your father gave his life so that you may live in a generation without war." Nolde had been killed ten hours before the January 28 ceasefire went into effect. The rock band Queen recorded the first four tracks of their album At the Beeb. February 6 Operation End Sweep, the clearing of explosive mines from North Vietnam's Haiphong harbor, was commenced by four minesweepers of the United States Navy's Task Force 78 in accordance with the Paris Peace Accords. After 30 days, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that the minesweepers had "neither detonated nor recovered any of the several thousand mines" in North Vietnam's harbors. In Toronto, construction of the CN Tower began with the financing of Canadian National, the nation's largest railway. The 1,815 feet (553 m) concrete communications and observation tower would be completed on April 2, 1975, and opened on June 26, 1976. February 7 The United States Senate voted unanimously, 77–0, to approve U.S. Senate Resolution 60 and establish a select bipartisan committee to investigate the Watergate scandal. Eleven people were killed in the crash of a U.S. Navy jet into the Tahoe Apartments in Alameda, California, including the pilot, and 40 were injured. The explosion and fire at 8:26 in the evening destroyed two four-story apartment buildings at 1825 Central Avenue, where about 200 tenants, mostly young couples, lived. The A-7E Corsair II jet caught fire at an altitude of 28,000 feet (8,500 m) while flying [over?] San Francisco Bay during a training flight after taking off from Lemoore Naval Air Station. The West German news magazine Stern exposed the identity of "M", the director of the British spy agency MI-6, as Sir John Ogilvy Rennie. February 8 The Church of Denmark (officially the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark) became the first Christian body to recognize gay marriage, when Pastor Harald Søbye performed a wedding of two men. Søbye followed on February 25 with the televised wedding of a lesbian couple. Neither marriage was given legal recognition by the Kingdom of Denmark. U.S. Senator Sam Ervin of South Carolina was named Chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee, a bipartisan committee to investigate the Watergate scandal. The comet 64P/Swift–Gehrels was rediscovered after having last been seen by astronomers in 1889, when observed by Tom Gehrels from the Palomar Observatory in California. February 9 The United Kingdom and France established diplomatic relations with East Germany, leaving the U.S. as the only nation to refuse to give the Communist nation recognition. The first convention of the National Women's Political Caucus began in Houston, ending on February 11. The co-founders of the NWPC—Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem and U.S. representatives Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm—stepped aside and asked the 1,000 delegates to elect new leaders of the organization. Died: Max Yasgur, 53, American dairy farmer who allowed his upstate New York farm to be the site of the Woodstock Festival, died of a heart attack. February 10 ABBA, entered as "Björn and Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid," performed the song "Ring Ring" in Melodifestivalen 1973, the contest to select the Swedish entry for the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest, but finished in third place behind second place Ann-Kristin Hedmark and the winner, the pop duo Malta. The third place finishers would create the name [for] their band a year later, taking the initial letters of their first names (B & B, A & A) and rearranging them, going on to win the 1974 Eurovision contest and becoming successful worldwide. Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "It Never Rains in Southern California," Albert Hammond (16 weeks) "I Wanna Be with You," Raspberries (11 weeks) "Living in the Past," Jethro Tull (14 weeks) Recent and new on the chart: "Dead Skunk," Loudon Wainwright III (Jan. 27; #16 US) "Aubrey," Bread (Feb. 3; #15 US; #4 AC) "Stir It Up," Johnny Nash (#12 US; #6 AC; #13 UK in 1972) "Break Up to Make Up," The Stylistics (#5 US; #20 AC; #5 R&B; #34 UK) "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," Vicki Lawrence (#1 US the weeks of Apr. 7 and 14, 1973; #6 AC; #36 Country) And new on the boob tube: M*A*S*H, "Dear Dad...Again" Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Season 6, episode 19 Hawaii Five-O, "Will the Real Mr. Winkler Please Die?" Adam-12, "Killing Ground" Kung Fu, "The Soul Is the Warrior" The Brady Bunch, "The Subject Was Noses" The Odd Couple, "The Hustler" Mission: Impossible, "The Fighter" Love, American Style, "Love and the Anniversary / Love and the Playwright / Love and the Trampled Passion" All in the Family, "Class Reunion" Emergency!, "Syndrome" The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "Murray Faces Life" The Bob Newhart Show, "A Home Is Not Necessarily a House" _______ Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki page for the month, with minor editing as needed. _______ I, too, got to a point where Claremont's tendency to have characters interchangeably use highly idiosyncratic speech patterns and turns of phrase got annoying. I belatedly realized that my response should have been "I lost you at the bakery."
Written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by Walter Simonson for 'Heavy Metal' magazine. I remember seeing the original on the magazine rack at my local grocery store when it first came out and the Dark Horse comics reprint at Barnes and Noble a while back. I should have purchased it when I had the chance.
English lyrics by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody. I don't know whose idea it was to overdub that sax, but it's really intrusive. I'm not ashamed to say I have 'ABBA: GOLD' and 'MORE ABBA GOLD' in my collection and spin them constantly.
Rogue was another development that started turning me off to Claremont. He liked her a lot and I didn't. Longshot was another one. That's certainly what I'd be thinking. Ah, yes. "No quarter asked, no quarter given." That was another one we used to laugh about. What's "bipartisan" mean? It doesn't pass spellcheck and there's no reference at dictionary.com. So that's why Bond needed plastic surgery! The power of palindromes! Good one. Not their best, but it sure is pretty. Good one. Also not their best, but nice to listen to. Classic. The thing is, guys like Englehart and Gerber were very idiosyncratic, and yet their characters managed to sound like themselves. "I got held up at Istanbul. Not Constantinople." Ah, nothing like a page of George Perez art lettered by Tom Orzemumblemumble. Looks like this came out in 79, which was the year I graduated, and I was on one of my little hiatuses from comics, so I sadly did not see it. Yeah, ABBA was one of those bands that it was not cool to like, but I liked them anyways.
_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1) _______ M*A*S*H "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" Originally aired January 28, 1973 Frank throws out his back while on one of his covert dates with Hot Lips. She doesn't get help until she's dragged him out of her tent...though of course she doesn't fool Hawkeye and Trapper. Apparently motivated by Houlihan, Frank puts in for a purple heart on the technicality that he sustained an injury in front-line unit. Hawkeye: Henry, you're not gonna endorse this idiot's application, are you? Hot Lips: That's "major" to you, Captain! Hawkeye: Henry, you're not gonna endorse this major idiot's application, are you? Hawkeye gets a pleasant surprise when what looks like a patient being brought in turns out to be his lifelong friend Tommy Gillis (Callahan), who, over drinks at the Swamp, reveals that he's in the infantry to experience the war first-hand for a books he's writing, You Never Hear the Bullet...the title meant to contrast reality from how combat plays in the movies. A young marine, Private Wendell Peterson (still being credited as Ronny), is brought in for an appendectomy. He claims that he's 18, though Hawkeye offhandedly says that he looks more like 16. (FWIW, Ron actually was 18 at the time the episode was filmed.) Hawkeye later catches Wendell trying to leave by hotwiring a Jeep, afraid of being turned in. Wendell admits that he's really Walter, still short of 16 but using an older brother's identity, and is motivated to impress the girl he likes back home, though she left him for another recruit. Hawkeye promises not to turn him in. (If you want to catch Ron Howard saying the G-word, this is your episode.) Hawkeye subsequently gets an unpleasant surprise when Tommy is brought in for real, badly wounded. In a rare serious moment, Blake relieves Hawkeye of his patient when they start to lose him. Afterward, Blake has a brief, supportive talk with a tearful Hawkeye outside, which motivates Pierce to save a life that he has the power to...by turning Walter in. Walter: I'm never gonna forgive you for this--not for the rest of my life! Hawkeye: Let's hope it's a long and healthy hate. Hawkeye ends up patching things up with Walter by presenting him with Frank's swiped Purple Heart, so he can still impress Bernice back home. This episode is the first of three appearances this season of Lynnette Mettey as Hawkeye squeeze Lt. Nancy Griffin. _______ Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Season 6, episode 18 Originally aired January 29, 1973 All listed are cameo guests. I didn't know that Angie Dickinson was married to Burt Bacharach...she mentions it several times. The Farkel baby serial returns. Frank Welker auditions: A Salute to Presidents: The Brownstones: The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate goes to a Baltimore traffic cop who had an occupied hearse towed away: General Bull Wright & son: _______ Hawaii Five-O "The Odd Lot Caper" Originally aired January 30, 1973 After wheelchair-bound Donald Murdock (Richard Basehart) is turned down by a group of potential investors regarding building a high-rise hotel, he sends an order by phone, following which a message signed by a woman named Gwen is relayed to Stan Cooper (Danny Kamekona), a computer expert at the stock exchange, who proceeds to the garage as requested and is drive-by shot. Murdock has a dockside meeting with the killer and a collaborator in his scheme, Laughlin (Ron Hayes), who exceeded his instructions to get Cooper out of the way for a while. Standing up to Murdock, Laughlin--a former PI who lost his license because of a shady job for Murdock--teases us by threatening to push him into the drink. Five-O finds that Cooper had $300,000 locked away and brings in a Mrs. Gwen Halsey (Jo Pruden), who says that he gave her stock tips that she invested in, sharing the profits. Danno informs her that she was being used, as he claimed he was deep in alimony debt to avoid sharing any losses. Meanwhile, Laughlin and an accomplice--inside backup computer expert Johnson (John Farias)--are disabling an alarm in the stock exchange basement when a watchman walks in and Laughlin kills him with a more brutal TV Fu maneuver, a double-fisted blow to the back of the head. Murdock calls Laughlin about his bloodthirstiness, wanting to call the scheme off because the heat is on, but Laughlin refuses, as he's already got things in motion. He confers with his team--Jersey (Morgan Sha'an), Yoko (Nephi Hanneman), and Linc (Daws Dawson), who synchronize their watches and then each commit an armed robbery at a different brokerage, which involves burning records. While the police are responding to those, they all converge on the stock exchange and hit it together, which involves taking computer microfilm, shooting the computer core, and getting away in a commandeered armored courier van. The take is estimated as $40 million in negotiable securities...indicating the robbers knew exactly what to grab, as the securities are generic enough to be practically untraceable. Murdock is one of the victims, $8 million of the securities being his, which he complains about to Five-O. The team traces the purchase of four identical blowtorches used in the scheme to Jersey Fraser, a wanted hoodlum (who was established to be a bit careless in the meeting scene). Laughlin brazenly holds a gun on Murdock in his office to strongarm himself into a hefty percentage rather than his agreed-upon fee...from which Murdock's mild-mannered son (Jack Hogan) learns of his father's involvement in the heist. Having anticipated a double-cross, Murdock phones Five-O. Five-O tails Jersey to a dockside warehouse payoff meeting with Laughlin and the other conspirators and busts them. Laughlin tries to play it cool but Steve tells him that Murdock (phonily) tipped them off that Laughlin had approached him and tried to make a deal for his help in moving the stocks. Playing the honest victim, Murdock lets Five-O go through the stocks in his vault in a show of transparency, and they find the one slip of paper they were looking for--a long-framed 1912 stock in a horseless carriage company that had been the souvenir of a recently deceased broker, which a lady from the exchange is able to identify. "Book him, Ben." If anything about the plot description doesn't make sense, that's probably on me, as I had trouble following the details of the scheme myself. Danno has a groovy psychedelic poster in his office that looks like a piece of vaguely familiar album art, though I'm not able to put my finger on it or read much of it...it looks like it says "University of..."; has three heads, including a guy with Lennon-style shades; and a rainbow under the heads; all with a white background. When Murdock and Laughlin share scenes, it's like dueling Charlton Heston impressions. Laughlin uses a Five-O special in the heist...the impossible gun that seems to be the most common firearm in Hawaii. _______ Adam-12 "The Beast" Originally aired January 31, 1973 The reason for the substitute is that their regular car got dinged up by day watch. The car is noisy, it smells, Reed's window won't roll down all the way, and Malloy has trouble starting it. On patrol, it lurches from a catch in the accelerator pedal, which has a tendency to make the glove compartment come down on Jim's knees. The officers stop when they see a woman named Casey Marshall (Lenore Stevens) trying to hotwire a car in a parking lot. She claims that it's hers, but Reed's already checked the registration. Responding to a call about a prowler, the officers lose stealth when a burst of steam comes out from under the hood. The well-to-do lady of the house, Mrs. Draper (Donna Douglas), is more haughty than she needs to be about the situation. The suspect, Ralph Peterson (John Gallaudet), tells Reed that he used to live in the house for 15 years, wanted to see it again after losing his wife and moving back to L.A., and had already contacted Mrs. Draper via phone but was hung up on. After the police mechanic, Tony (Lennie Weinrib), replaces a radiator hose, the officers pull over a car that just passed them because its taillights are out. The driver, Mr. Harwood (Marty Ingels), informs Pete that the squad car's taillights are also out, which ensues in another visit to the garage. Responding to a call about possible 459 suspects, the officers see Juan Mendoza (Alberto Morin), who noticed unusual nighttime loading activity at an appliance warehouse across from his house. Gus Osgood (Todd Martin) tries to pass it off as business as usual, but the officers don't think it smells right, Pete noticing an outdated invoice, so they pretend to drive away, call for backup, and swoop in on the perps. After the ensuing stop at the station, Pete makes an unusual move... Malloy: Take this beast off my hands for a little while, willya? ...and Jim unenthusiastically agrees. Reed doesn't seem to be having the same issue with the accelerator, boasting that you just need to have the right touch, but then the car loses three cylinders, causing the officers to have to pass off a call. Tony finds a crack in the distributor cap--caused by the hose having sprayed water all over the engine--and it comes out that on their previous visit, Jim had him put a new spring in the accelerator pedal. Back on patrol, the officers are having trouble with the rear-view mirror not wanting to stay upright when they hear a call about a nearby pursuit involving a 217 suspect. Malloy: Too bad they won't let us set up a roadblock, we've got the perfect car for it. They soon see the suspect's vehicle and take lead in the pursuit. They corner the car, and for once both officers go after him on foot...giving the car a chance to roll downhill into a lamppost when the brakes give out. The car is towed to Tony, with Jim explaining that they retired it for him a little early. _______ Kung Fu "The Tide" Originally aired February 1, 1973 Cue flashback... _______ Grandpa may be able to tell us. This was unfamiliar to me, I approached it with very low expectations, and was surprised. I'm planning to get it but haven't gotten around to it. Definitely an obscuro, and another one that's already been on my playlist for a while because of the album tracks thing. Decent but unremarkable bit of reggae. Also on the playlist for a while now. This one hearkens back to Bobbie Gentry for me. I actually had to look up the lyrics as I never followed the story just listening to it. I went through a spell in the early '90s when I was trying to get into ABBA, but found that even their hit singles were more miss than hit for me. If I mentioned to anyone that I was buying ABBA, they looked it me like I had two heads...then a few years later, ABBA seemed to gotten a lot cooler among people in my age group because '70s retro had fully kicked in.
Straining credulity a bit there. Okay, there's dedication. It's been a dream of mine. Another preview of the M*A*S*H to come. Ah, Chekov's Phaser. The writer deserved his award for this one. I think I knew that. "My fellow Russians." News of the Future. Probably cheaper than a burial anyway. Admiral Harriman Nelson. Other duties as assigned. "Been there, done that." I don't completely understand, but I like it. I wouldn't know the difference, but I bet it wouldn't work today. I tried various Google searches, but no dice. If it was a 72 Impala, it became my first car eight years later. That ugly girl from Twilight Zone again. That's a sad little reveal. That's great. Be careful what you wish for, Reed. Sneaky. I find the whole premise hard to swallow, but it sounds like a nice comedy episode. I remember it, but I forget from where. Not regular radio play, but maybe Lost 45s or the Time-Life series. It's a nice little twist, and it took a bit longer to absorb before the Internet. They're kinda like Neil Diamond. They got sneered at by snobs, but gained some respect over time.
_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2) _______ The Brady Bunch "Bobby's Hero" Originally aired February 2, 1973 The Brady parents get a call to see Bobby's principal, Mr. Hillary (Richard Carlyle), over an essay that he finds disturbing about the boy's hero worship of Jesse James. A cap gun was also confiscated at recess. Mike and Carol take Bobby into the den for a talk, in which Bobby points out that Robin Hood was also an outlaw. Later, after Bobby's cap gun goes off at the dinner table, a discussion of the kids' heroes ensues in which Peter names George Washington, and Greg name-drops Wilt Chamberlain. The parents are initially frustrated by Bobby wanting to stay up to watch a movie about Jesse James, but they get the inspiration to let him watch it so he can see what a ruthless killer James was...only to find that the scenes with the killings have been edited out, making the subject look more heroic. Household incidents ensue when Bobby's play-acting as James annoys the other kids. On a visit to the library for a subplot about writing a speech for his fellow architects, Mike checks out a book about Jesse James, from which he learns that the author, Jethroe Collins, lives nearby. Mike invites Collins (Burt Mustin in the role he was born to play--read on) over to talk to Bobby. Collins tells Bobby straight-up how when he was a boy, Jesse James shot his unarmed father in the back in a train robbery. (Jesse James actually died two years before Mustin was born, but hey, close enough.) That night, Bobby goes all Sherwood Schwartz, having a dream about the Bradys on a 19th-century train to California which is held up by you-know-who (Gordon DeVol). Bobby gushes about meeting his hero, who then proceeds to fake-shoot each member of his family--the Bradys collapsing as he points his gun and says "bang" at each of them. A horrified Bobby makes a visit to his parents' room to turn in his guns. _______ Thanks to Paramount Plus, we've skipped the second episode featuring the Brady kids as a music group. Screw it, our sunshine day begins NOW! _______ Love, American Style "Love and the Hand Maiden / Love and the Hot Spell / Love and the Laughing Lover / Love and the Perfect Set-Up" Originally aired February 2, 1973 "Love and the Hand Maiden" Paul (Jed Allan) sends his roommate Malcolm (James Callahan) out because he's got a date with Whoopee magazine's Miss August. Dory (Michele Lee) wastes no time in getting comfortable and making out with Paul, but Paul notices that she's wearing gloves, which she refuses to take off. Her hands, which no man has seen, are the part of her that she insists be left to the imagination, and Paul becomes obsessed with seeing them, almost causing her to leave in outrage. Malcolm gets sick spending the night in the park, coming home in the morning to find Paul less than satisfied. Paul has to explain the situation to him, and later plans to have Dory over again, having brainstormed multiple ways of getting her out of her gloves. On the next date, Paul finds that Dory always wears gloves of one type or another, regardless of what she eats and when doing dishes (always managing to change them off camera). She agrees to slip into a lacy pair of gloves that he buys her, which have the anticipated lingerie effect, but she won't let him go all the way by taking them back off. Paul's last resort is to propose, and Dory reluctantly takes off a glove to let him slip the ring on. She finds herself in ecstasy as he kisses her left hand, but insists on saving the right one for their wedding night. "Love and the Hot Spell" Following her wedding to Jack (Mike Farrell), Karen (Patricia Stich) is experiencing anxiety about whether Jack's parents (Virginia Grey and Garry Walberg) will like her, having only just met them at the ceremony. Jack has his best man, Herb (Steve Franken), who's a psych major, hypnotize Karen to put her at ease. While she's under, Herb also slips in some conditioning on Jack's behalf to completely loosen all of her inhibitions upon hearing the word "umbrella". This immediately starts to go haywire, so Herb puts in a counter-phrase to switch off her increased passion, "bottoms up". But it's a rainy day and a few too many incidents ensue--including Karen making out with an usher (Jimmy Wasson), the reverend (John Wheeler), and Jack's father--so Jack wants her snapped out of her spell...but Herb, the one who has to do the snapping, has drunk himself unconscious. (Contrary to how hypnosis is usually depicted as working, Karen is supposedly under the spell the entire time, otherwise acting normal except when she hears one of the trigger phrases or Herb gives her another command.) Cut to Jack seeing his parents out, having explained what happened. The now-conscious Herb has made Karen forget everything that happened that day...which unintentionally includes the wedding, so she refuses to commence with the nuptial evening that Jack was expecting. "Love and the Laughing Lover" Jeff (Charles Nelson Reilly) and Michelle (Kelly Jean Peters) are getting down to business on their wedding night, but when they get in the brass bed, she starts nervously laughing. She can't control it, and explains that it's a defensive reflex action that goes back to when a boy tried to come on to her when she was 14. The laughter comes to infect Jeff, as well as a series of visitors to the room--first the bellboy (Ogden Talbot), then a couple who come in to complain about the noise (Patrick Campbell and Sandra Gould), then the house detective, who comes to investigate (Iggie Wolfington). Finally, Jackie Joey (Sammy Shore), the comedian who performs in the club downstairs, comes up because he heard there was a roomful of laughers. He performs his routine, which is so lame that it proves to be an antidote for the entire group. When Jeff and Michelle are alone again, he has to recite lines from Jackie's act to keep her in the mood. "Love and the Perfect Set-Up" College student Sandy (Victoria Principal) is responding to an add about an apartment that she's enthusiastic to take, only to find that the guy showing her the place (Michael Burns) is the Carol who put out the ad. He explains that he's tired of living with other guys and intends to keep things strictly platonic. She reluctantly agrees to the situation, but it all proves to be an unwelcome surprise to Carol's girlfriend, Louise (Lenore Kasdorf). When Louise learns that Sandy hasn't met anyone in town yet, she sets Sandy up with her cousin Norman (Hank Jones), which doesn't go well. Following this incident, Carol and Sandy succumb to the romantic tension that they've both been feeling...but Carol insists that if they're going to be lovers, Sandy has to find someplace else to live. After several dates, Sandy surprises Carol by showing up with her luggage to move back in...only to find that Carol's gotten a new roommate, Barbara (Charlotte O. Scot). _______ Emergency! "The Professor" Originally aired February 3, 1973 (Because even the first sentence on Wiki was an unholy mess.) The paramedics arrive at the home of Sir Erik Rossman (Hedley Mattingly), who's kneeling on the floor in pain, acting panicky and disoriented. Lady Rossman (Jane Merrow) insists that he has to see his personal physician (who turns out to be on vacation and out of reach), and not go to a hospital. Then Sir Erik goes into a rage, smashing things with a fire poker while dramatically reciting William Blake. Lady Rossman answers with a Blake counter-recital to calm him. At Rampart, Sir Erik seems to be in shock, his blood pressure is extremely high, and Brackett and Early are mystified. At the station, Johnny learns from Chet that Roy's been getting calls from a "chick". Roy tells Johnny that while he was off, he saved a young woman from a wrecked car who's now "hung up" on him. The paramedics get a call to a cardiac case on a sailboat, for which they catch a ride on a fire department boat...only for an update to inform them that the location of the boat was mistransmitted, and is 60 miles away. The station that the boat is assigned to then gets a call for a downed private plane on their shoreside turf, to which DeSoto and Gage accompany them. The paramedics get the pilot (Tim Callahan) out and far enough way just as the burning plane goes up. At Rampart, a couple of plainclothes G-men, Ed Duran (Paul Picerni) and Vince Thompson, enter the examination room, informing the doctors that one of them will be with Rossman at all times, and asking about his condition with written consent from Lady Rossman. Duran seems particularly concerned that somebody may have slipped Sir Erik a drug that induced psychosis, and establishes a cover alias for Prof. Rossman. Later Brackett has a confrontation with Duran when he learns that the agent expects routine procedures to be cleared through him, and Duran insists that Brackett shouldn't need to talk to Lady Rossman or Sir Erik's household staff. Duran informs Brackett that the welfare of the nation is at stake, and that Prof. Rossman has to be in Geneva in seven days. Later Lady Rossman voluntarily talks to Dix in the outdoor cafeteria, indicating that she's in the dark about what her husband's been working so hard on, but that he hasn't been the same since a trip to Washington nine months prior. Dix learns that Sir Erik has been suffering work-induced depression, which seemed to have been alleviated by his last routine examination. When she tells Brackett about this, he concurs with her hunch that Rossman may have been on medication that he didn't tell anyone about. Having every medication that can be scrounged up in Rossman Manor brought to him, Brackett finds a bottle for an antidepressant that would have mixed adversely with the cheese omelet that Sir Erik was supposed to have had for breakfast the morning of the attack. Roy's admirer has been so persistent that she even gets ahold of Roy at Rampart, and Johnny's pestering Roy with his skepticism that Roy's got what it takes to turn a young woman on when the paramedics are called to a maternity case in an apartment. The woman inside, Shirley Edmonds (Joan Pringle), is experiencing labor pains six weeks early. She delivers promptly and the paramedics use materials on hand to set up a makeshift incubator in a dresser drawer before the ambulance arrives. Later, following Roy's revelation that his admirer has called it quits in what Roy speculates was concern for his family, the station is called to a jumper on a floor of a building that's under construction. Roy approaches the young man, Robert Bently (Christopher Cain), who says he's 19, indicates he's suffering from self-worth issues in contrast to his wealthy and accomplished family, and admits that he's having trouble working up the nerve to go through with his solution. Chet then keeps him preoccupied while Roy and Johnny are lowered from the floor above to catch Robert from behind. Christopher Cain was 29, and doesn't come close to passing for a teenager. However, IMDb informs me that he's Dean Cain's stepfather, so I guess that makes him Pa Kent material. _______ The Mary Tyler Moore Show "What Do You Say When the Boss Says 'I Love You'?" Originally aired February 3, 1973 Mary learns from a station employee named Doris (Carol Worthington) that WJM has just fired the latest in a line of program directors. Upon getting a notice of who the new one will be, Mary is delighted to show it to Lou. Barbara Coleman (Lois Nettleton) subsequently drops by the newsroom as Lou's drinking buddy Philly (Dick Balduzzi reprising his role from "Lou's Place") is paying a random visit. Ted initially embarasses himself by vocally expressing his relief that the new boss wasn't a cute little brunette he'd just pinched in the elevator as he feared, and afterward makes a show of acting like he's engaged in important investigative assignments. After a few weeks, when Doris is settled in, she socializes with Mary and Rhoda, and drops the bomb on them that she's fallen for a married man--Lou. When Barbara wants Lou to stay late at her office to discuss business, Mary makes a point of trying to stick around to act as chaperone, without letting on to Lou what it's about. After Mary leaves, when Barbara leans into Lou and their eyes meet, it hits him what's going on. He later drops by Mary's in a state of shock, uttering the titular question in a hypothetical context. Lou makes it obvious that he feels something, too, though he can't name what it is. Lou later drops by Barbara's office and tries to lay it to her straight, but when she takes it in stride and tries to focus on business, he's the one who won't drop the subject. Ultimately he's pleased when she assures him that yes, she really would have. We get a good look at a picture in Lou's office of him playing football in high school--I couldn't say if it's always been there, but it looks like it might be an actual vintage photo of Asner. When comparing notes with the ladies about bad dating experiences, Mary mentions Woody Woodpecker theatrical cartoons--didn't it recently come up as a news item that those had been discontinued? In Barbara's office, we get some more good looks at the program schedule board. I hadn't noticed last time, if it was even visible, that WJM's morning show is called Here Comes the Sun. _______ The Bob Newhart Show "Not with My Sister You Don't" Originally aired February 3, 1973 This one has a brief pre-credits phone gag, which seems new. Howard's so worried about making the wrong impression on Debbie that he brings over a box of things that women have left in his apartment for the Hartleys to keep during her visit. To introduce her to the Hartleys, Howard has them over to his place, where his bar consists of a serving tray loaded with miniature drink bottles from work. As one might expect, the Hartleys quickly learn that Debbie's not as innocent as Howard thinks she is...she mentions having gone on a nature awareness weekend that involved running around the woods naked, and expresses her concern for how uptight her brother his. Emily gets the idea to set Debbie up on a blind date with Jerry. That night Howard plays the fretting parent, visiting the Hartleys at 1:30 in the morning, dragging his corded phone in to test it (shades of That Girl). Jerry and Debbie return shortly after. Howard drops by Bob's office the next day, seeming new to the place--Hasn't he been there before, like with the fear of flying group? Despite Bob's insistence that it could take years of therapy to get to the root of his protectiveness toward Debbie, Howard has a breakthrough after a confessional couple of minutes between Bob's regular appointments. In the coda, Emily accidentally mentions a guy named Frank in relation to Debbie, getting Howard off the wagon and back onto the road of anxiety. Mel (Henry Jefferson) Stewart appears as a patient dealing with anger/hostility issues. _______ There's a joke about Chekov having not appeared in "Space Seed" in here somewhere, but I haven't found it. Ah, I thought I should know him from somewhere. And a day later, I got this. If I understand, the physical stock slips themselves were so generic that without the records, there was no definite way of identifying any of the slips that were stolen in the robbery. They had to find one that was unmistakably identifiable. On that note, it was of interest that there was a computer backup involved. Okay, I did this the hard way again by taking a picture of the screen: I wouldn't know the make/model, but '72 seems too new to have been on the verge of retirement.
So was Thomas Jefferson, kid, what's your point? I'm surprised this episode wasn't skipped or given a trigger warning-- no pun intended. Nice touch. Indeed. Another example of how history is closer than people think it is. Yeah, definitely surprised they didn't suppress this one. But let's see: Anti-heroes, guns, the siren song of badassery, censorship, and a visit from the ghost of Westerns past. I never thought I'd be impressed with a Brady Bunch episode, but that was well done. It did make me want to go for a walk. This is one of the stories that I remember most strongly. A nice little meditation on how people want what they can't have. BJ Hunnicutt. Passwords weak. Use at least one number and special character. Nice. Hypnosis is always good for a laugh. A good plot for a guy with one of the most distinctive laughs ever. Love it. Whatsername from Dallas. Another nice punchline. Good episode overall. Are you sure this isn't still Love, American Style? Now I'm going to see this episode as drawn by Jack Kirby. Brackett versus the Secret Service-- the Secret Service doesn't have a chance. Well, this is a very intriguing scenario to give us with no resolution whatsoever. "It says right here, under 'contraindications...'" Also anticlimactic, and weird that the whole subplot happened offscreen. Stress-induced amnesia. He forgot the last ten years of his life. The main character in the first-it's-too-hot, then-it's-too-cold episode of Twilight Zone. Ted! Georgette! And more pleased when she's almost immediately fired, just like the previous managers. It's cool when they slip in stuff like that. Probably an old date. She's well into her 30s at this point. Cute. A riff on a movie called Not With My Wife You Don't, I think. That doesn't ring a bell. Pun intended that time. But I just remember him saying, "Hello." Maybe they ran under by a minute or something. Heather Menzies was Jessica on Logan's Run, and also married to Dan Tanna! What could be more innocent than getting back to nature? Odd Couple Syndrome. Yeah, he was the lack of Chekov's Phaser. I just thought the ancient Horseless-Carriage certificate was cool, but I didn't understand why they'd have it. Now I just looked back and saw the word "souvenir" as if for the first time. That's interesting. It must have looked like one of those old Computer Data Institute commercials-- rows and rows of machines with reel-to-reel tapes. It's almost certainly art by Peter Max, and the Hawaii Five-0 Wiki says that Danno went to Berkeley and University of Hawaii-- but none of that helped. I also tried cropping it and doing some reverse-image searches with a couple of different utilities, but no dice. True, although they do beat the crap out of those things.
I think I may have jinxed Burt Bacharach... I haven't seen any evidence of that being an issue with P+, but seeing the cap guns did make me think about modern restrictions regarding toy guns. Actually, an image search turns up that they still make reasonably authentic-looking ones, but with orange caps on the barrels. I recall at least as late as the '80s seeing a news feature about a very long-lived person who could remember when Lincoln was president. Living memory of Abraham Lincoln overlaps with our lifetimes. I was recently watching a documentary about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth and looked up that Lincoln was born only ten years after Washington died. (Jefferson and John Adams both died while Lincoln was a teenager.) Yesterday was a sunshine day here (though it wasn't exactly summer sun). And watch out, Donny--Bobby's a little bit psychedelic soul! Good--I was afraid that my summarizing wasn't doing the execution of the premise justice. "" They seemed more like FBI to me. We don't have the clearance or need to know. It was mainly meant to be the comic Roy/Johnny subplot. We did see some one-sided phone conversations. Ah. It just made it more sign-o-the-timesy for me that people would still be referencing them as a current/recent thing. Yeah, that's what it's been up until now. I was wondering if there might have been earlier teasers that were cut for syndication, or if the teasers will be a regular thing going forward. I've also noticed two versions of the opening credits--one cuts out the shots of Bob on the train, with a rough edit in the music. I've been wondering if that was a first-run variation or the product of syndication edits. Actually, it was a desk-sized unit. I was thinking that it might just be a groovy, vintage poster for the University of Hawaii...but couldn't turn up any matching image results for that, either. And I'm pretty sure that I'd seen it before, though it may have just been on the show.