The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[The Old Mixer]

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Post-50th Anniversary Viewing

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All in the Family
"Mike Makes His Move"
Originally aired March 8, 1975
Season finale

George Jefferson offers to rent the Stivics his house.

The Bunker-Stivics are preparing a party for the dual occasion of burning the paid-off mortgage on the Bunker house and Mike having graduated and gotten a college teaching job. Edith's upset at the idea of the kids moving out, though Archie is antsy for Meathead to leave, encouraging him to find a place in Jersey, three hours away. Mike's frustrated because he's been looking for two weeks and can't find an affordable apartment in a decent neighborhood or condition. While the Stivics are looking at a place, Edith sits in their room reminiscing about raising Gloria there, eventually breaking into tears. On the East Side (movin' on up), in a dee-luxe apartment in the sky-hi-hi, Lionel, who just called to say he can't make the party, tells George about the difficulty Mike's having, and George gets the idea to rent their old house to the Stivics until the interest rate is low enough to make selling profitable, knowing that it'll drive Archie crazy. To incentivize Mike, he plans "to make him an offer that he can't refuse".

The party commences with Irene, Justin Quigley (Burt Mustin), and Jo Nelson (Ruth McDevitt) in attendance. Upstairs, Gloria tells Mike that she got an offer on a five-room house for $220 a month, then gives him the catch. He automatically refuses, though she tries to get him to consider what a great deal it is.

Gloria: At that price, it's gonna be a good house for somebody.​

Mike: Yeah, somebody else. Somebody Archie can get along with.​

Gloria: Like who?​

Mike: I dunno...maybe if Nixon can't make his payments in San Clemente.​

Downstairs, Mr. Munson and Kelsey arrive with the gift of a lawn jockey statue, which Archie isn't crazy about, asking if it comes in white. When George calls again with a lower price, Mike figures out what his game is and is determined not to accept. Archie blows out the twenty candles on the cake--one for each year of the mortgage.

Archie: My wish didn't come true.​

Edith: Why not?​

Archie: The Meathead is still here.​

A few calls later, Mike and Gloria are arguing in the kitchen and Archie and Edith come in to find out what it's about. When he learns that the Stivics have an offer on a five-room house with the price now down to $165 a month, and Mike refuses, Archie tears into him, accusing Mike of wanting to continue to mooch off of him. He gets Mike so worked up that Mike spitefully declares he'll take house.

They return to the living room to proceed with the mortgage-burning, and Archie announces that Mike, whom he's finally learned to respect, is getting his own place. Then the Stivics drop the bomb in front of everybody.

Mike: You just forced us to take the Jefferson house.​

Everyone but Archie is happy.

Edith (hugging Gloria): My little bird didn't fly after all!​

As the party proceeds, Archie takes an opportunity to push Mike's face in the cake; and Mike takes the opportunity to eat it off. Archie sulks in front of the camera while everyone sings to Irene's ukulele-playing.

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"Sha na na na, sha na na na na...."

Dip dip dip dip, dip dip dip dip...

Yeah, I remember when supermarkets and such had those bulletin boards where anybody could post stuff.

Whatever happened to bulletin boards, anyway...?

I wonder if this is the first fist bump.

There's a bit in one of the versions of the opening credits this season that has him doing it with a soda machine for Richie.

That seems like more like 70s slang than the 50s.

The AI informs me that it goes back to the early 20th century and was part of '40s-'50s jive lingo.

I'm not surprised at him chasing the guys away, but I'm a little surprised at him being so nosy himself.

It's that older brother aspect coming out.

Apropos of this show, MeTV posted this article a couple of days ago. I may have heard this story before.

Somebody may have been watching Adam-12.

Dirt Duel (1972)

Micky Dolenz, Edd Byrnes, and Keith Taylor in Adam-12 (1968)

www.imdb.com

Not exactly a fair comparison, since one is poison and the other is sustenance.

But fasting cleanses the body....

We're about five minutes away from Barney Miller being called in to the murder scene.

Did he do murders?

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50th Anniversary Midnight Special
June 13, 1975

"Midnight Show," Ron Dante

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"Country Roads," Olivia Newton-John

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If that leaves you wanting more Olivia, apparently she recently hosted an episode, on March 7.

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[RJDiogenes]

The Bunker-Stivics are preparing a party for the dual occasion of burning the paid-off mortgage on the Bunker house and Mike having graduated and gotten a college teaching job.

The mortgage thing seems a little forced, like they wanted something for both characters. They should have given Archie a promotion or something.

Archie is antsy for Meathead to leave, encouraging him to find a place in Jersey, three hours away.

Lionel, who just called to say he can't make the party

That's very odd. He's their best buddy.

George gets the idea to rent their old house to the Stivics until the interest rate is low enough to make selling profitable

I wonder if it's just been standing empty all this time.

The party commences with Irene, Justin Quigley (Burt Mustin), and Jo Nelson (Ruth McDevitt) in attendance.

Quite a roster for Mike's graduation. He seems to have trouble making friends his own age.

Gloria: At that price, it's gonna be a good house for somebody.
Mike: Yeah, somebody else. Somebody Archie can get along with.
Gloria: Like who?
Mike: I dunno...maybe if Nixon can't make his payments in San Clemente.

Now that would have been cool.

Downstairs, Mr. Munson and Kelsey arrive with the gift of a lawn jockey statue, which Archie isn't crazy about, asking if it comes in white.

Archie: My wish didn't come true.
Edith: Why not?
Archie: The Meathead is still here.

One of the oldest jokes in the world, but how could they avoid it?

Mike: You just forced us to take the Jefferson house.

They're movin' on over.

Archie takes an opportunity to push Mike's face in the cake

That's kind of extreme.

and Mike takes the opportunity to eat it off.

I kinda remember this part.

Dip dip dip dip, dip dip dip dip...

Whatever happened to bulletin boards, anyway...?

They're up in the clouds....

There's a bit in one of the versions of the opening credits this season that has him doing it with a soda machine for Richie.

I remember that. Is it from an episode or just done for the credits?

The AI informs me that it goes back to the early 20th century and was part of '40s-'50s jive lingo.

Interesting. I don't remember it from any old books or movies. According to my memory (hah!), it peaked when I was in 9th grade, which would have been 75-76. Maybe being on Happy Days gave it a new life in the 70s.

It's that older brother aspect coming out.

True.

Somebody may have been watching Adam-12.

Dirt Duel (1972)

Micky Dolenz, Edd Byrnes, and Keith Taylor in Adam-12 (1968)

www.imdb.com

Oh, yeah, I remember that.

But fasting cleanses the body....

Of nutrients!

Did he do murders?

Sure, he did everything. He was precinct captain or whatever.

"Midnight Show," Ron Dante

I'm not familiar with this one, or the singer, but it's pretty good.

"Country Roads," Olivia Newton-John

Nice cover.

If that leaves you wanting more Olivia, apparently she recently hosted an episode, on March 7.

There we go. That's the good stuff.

 

[The Old Mixer]

50 Years Ago This Week


June 15

• Wallace D. Muhammad, who had recently become leader of the American Nation of Islam organization (known popularly as the Black Muslims), told NOI members at a convention in Chicago that the group would accept white people into its membership. Rejecting the teachings of his father, Elijah Muhammad, that all white people were "devils," the new NOI leader said that "from now on, whites will be considered fully human."
• Brazilian football (soccer) player Pelé made his American debut, appearing in a game in New York that was televised live in the U.S. and in ten other nations. Pelé scored a goal for the New York Cosmos in a 2–2 tie against the visiting Dallas Tornado.

June 16

• The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was created in Australia, which put the Great Barrier Reef under government protection.
• Japan's Prime Minister Takeo Miki was punched in the face while attending funeral services for former Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Satō. Hiroyoshi Fudeyasu, a 34-year-old member of the Great Japan Nationalist Party, struck Miki, who then went on to deliver a eulogy for Sato.

June 17

• Voters in the Northern Mariana Islands approved an agreement to become a commonwealth within the United States. Congress would approve the new status on July 21, and the Commonwealth would come into existence on January 9, 1978, with the Northern Marianans becoming United States citizens.
• The most powerful sandstorm in the United States in several decades began in the Southern California desert and continued for two days. Driven by winds of up to 80 miles hour, the desert sands peeled paint off of thousands of cars, sent sand into homes, and created "darkness at noon" in an area between Palm Springs and Indio, California.

June 18

• Faisal bin Musaid, the 31-year-old assassin of his uncle, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, was publicly beheaded at Dira Square in Riyadh. As a crowd of thousands watched, a court official read a verdict declaring him guilty of murder, then directed him to kneel and then forced him to raise his head. Reportedly, "the executioner, a black Saudi in a yellow Galabiya robe," used a gold-handled sword to carry out the execution in one blow, after which "the assassin's head was hoisted briefly on a wooden stake and displayed to the applauding crowd."
• The United States Air Force launched a new generation of spy satellite that would be in a stationary orbit over either the Soviet Union or China.
• The NBC Radio Network launched the NBC News and Information Service (NIS), a 24-hour all-news network, over 33 of its stations. The unprofitable experiment would be ended on May 29, 1977.

And Paul McCartney turned 33!

June 19

• Five days before he was scheduled to testify before the U.S. Congress on organized crime, Sam Giancana, a former boss of Chicago mafia, was shot and killed while in the basement of his home in Oak Park, Illinois. The Chicago Police Department had had his home under surveillance that evening, but the two police drove away at 10:10 pm. At 10:30, the police heard a "popping noise" while listening, but didn't believe it was gunshots. Giancana was found the next day, shot in the mouth and the neck, despite having been in a room with an armored door. The murderer, whom Giancana apparently knew well enough to open the door for, shot Giancana in the back of the head, then in the mouth and five more times under Giancana's chin; leaving seven bullet wounds was considered a warning sign left by the Mafia for those persons who were felt to have betrayed the organization.
• Constantine Tsatsos was approved by the Parliament of the new Republic of Greece to become the nation's first elected president.
• John Lennon sued the former attorney general John Mitchell, and other US law officers, for "improper selective prosecution" in the deportation case.

June 20

• Jaws, an action film about a white shark terrorizing a resort island, premiered nationwide. Within two weeks, the film would recoup its costs, and by September 5, it would surpass The Godfather as the highest-grossing film in history (until surpassed by Star Wars in 1977).

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​

• Underwater photographs, purporting to be of the Loch Ness Monster, were taken by an automatic high-speed camera triggered by a sonar....The existence of the photos would be announced later in the year and the journal Nature would purchase and publish the photos in December.
• Former California governor Ronald Reagan filed papers with the Federal Election Commission, declaring his intention to run for President of the United States in a challenge against incumbent Gerald Ford for the Republican Party nomination. Reagan would lose to Ford at the 1976 convention, but would win the party's nomination, and the presidency, in 1980.

June 21

• The first drive-through restaurant service was inaugurated, as the McDonald's in Sierra Vista, Arizona, began allowing customers to place their orders at a microphone, then drive up to a window from which their food would be handed to them, without need for anyone to leave the vehicle.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Love Will Keep Us Together," Captain & Tenille
2. "When Will I Be Loved," Linda Ronstadt
3. "Wildfire," Michael Murphey
4. "I'm Not Lisa," Jessi Colter
5. "Love Won't Let Me Wait," Major Harris
6. "Sister Golden Hair," America
7. "The Hustle," Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony
8. "Get Down, Get Down (Get on the Floor)," Joe Simon
9. "Listen to What the Man Said," Wings
10. "Cut the Cake," Average White Band
11. "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)," The Doobie Brothers
12. "Only Women [Bleed]," Alice Cooper
13. "Magic," Pilot
14. "Bad Time," Grand Funk
15. "Bad Luck," Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
16. "Thank God I'm a Country Boy," John Denver
17. "Old Days," Chicago
18. "Philadelphia Freedom," Elton John
19. "The Last Farewell," Roger Whittaker
20. "I'll Play for You," Seals & Crofts
21. "Attitude Dancing," Carly Simon
22. "I'm Not in Love," 10cc
23. "The Way We Were / Try to Remember," Gladys Knight & The Pips
24. "Misty," Ray Stevens
25. "Hey You," Bachman-Turner Overdrive
26. "Dynomite, Pt. I," Tony Camillo's Bazuka
27. "Swearin' to God," Frankie Valli
28. "Baby That's Backatcha," Smokey Robinson
29. "Shining Star," Earth, Wind & Fire
30. "Why Can't We Be Friends?," War
31. "One of These Nights," Eagles
32. "Midnight Blue," Melissa Manchester
33. "Rockin' Chair," Gwen McCrae
34. "Please Mr. Please," Olivia Newton-John

36. "I'm on Fire," Dwight Twilley Band

38. "Rhinestone Cowboy," Glen Campbell
39. "The Rockford Files," Mike Post

41. "Jive Talkin'," Bee Gees
42. "Slippery When Wet," Commodores
43. "How Long," Ace
44. "Before the Next Teardrop Falls," Freddy Fender

47. "Every Time You Touch Me (I Get High)," Charlie Rich

50. "Shakey Ground," The Temptations

55. "Only Yesterday," Carpenters

59. "Jackie Blue," The Ozark Mountain Daredevils

61. "I Don't Like to Sleep Alone," Paul Anka w/ Odia Coates

63. "It's All Down to Goodnight Vienna," Ringo Starr

66. "Saturday Night Special," Lynyrd Skynyrd
69. "Just a Little Bit of You," Michael Jackson

73. "Sweet Emotion," Aerosmith
74. "I Don't Know Why," The Rolling Stones

77. "At Seventeen," Janis Ian
78. "Holdin' On to Yesterday," Ambrosia
79. "Fight the Power, Pt. 1," The Isley Brothers

82. "Mornin' Beautiful," Tony Orlando & Dawn
83. "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights," Freddy Fender

85. "Send in the Clowns," Judy Collins
86. "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," James Taylor

88. "Third Rate Romance," Amazing Rhythm Aces
89. "Fallin' in Love," Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds

90. "The Ballroom Blitz," Sweet

98. "Feelings," Morris Albert

Leaving the chart:

• "Bloody Well Right," Supertramp (10 weeks)
• "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)," Tony Orlando & Dawn (14 weeks)
• "Killer Queen," Queen (19 weeks)
• "Sail On Sailor," The Beach Boys (17 weeks total; 10 weeks this run)
• "Shoeshine Boy," Eddie Kendricks (18 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Feelings," Morris Albert

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(#6 US; #2 AC; #4 UK)

"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," James Taylor

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(#5 US; #1 AC; #51 UK)

"Fight the Power, Pt. 1," The Isley Brothers

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(#4 US; #13 Dance; #1 R&B)

"Fallin' in Love," Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds

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(#1 US the week of Aug. 23, 1975; #1 AC; #24 R&B; #33 UK)

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Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki page for the month and Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles Day by Day, with minor editing as needed.

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The mortgage thing seems a little forced, like they wanted something for both characters. They should have given Archie a promotion or something.

Eh, it worked...and from the guest list, as you highlighted, it seemed to be the main event.

That's very odd. He's their best buddy.

Movin' back down is hard. I should note that George and Lionel only actually appeared in that one scene. All of the business with George calling to make better offers was either offscreen or one-sided.

I wonder if it's just been standing empty all this time.

Apparently.

Irene in particular was shocked at the sight of the statue.

One of the oldest jokes in the world, but how could they avoid it?

It's all in the multiple-Emmy-winning delivery.

They're movin' on over.

To the next door (movin' on over)...

I remember that. Is it from an episode or just done for the credits?

Most if not all of the rotating bits of business in the credits seem to have been shot specifically for the credits. Some of them feature characters who aren't regular or recurring. Offhand I'd say there were at least three versions of the credits this season, though I'd have to go back and note the sequences used to be sure. The one constant in all the versions after the jukebox with the character credits is that the creator and producer credits play over the freeze-framed shot of Potsie laughing in Richie's car.

They just in the later episodes of the season worked in what's probably the first version of Fonzie looking in the mirror and deciding not to comb his hair.

Interesting. I don't remember it from any old books or movies. According to my memory (hah!), it peaked when I was in 9th grade, which would have been 75-76. Maybe being on Happy Days gave it a new life in the 70s.

I was thinking that might be the case.

Sure, he did everything. He was precinct captain or whatever.

From my casual knowledge of the show, it seems like it was more about lighthearted business involving oddball characters being brought in.

I'm not familiar with this one, or the singer, but it's pretty good.

Oh, you're definitely familiar with the singer, though you may not have known him by name (nor did I off the top of my head, though I'd heard it before).

Exhibit A
Exhibit B

He was also Manilow's regular producer at this point, which included singing background vocals on "Mandy".

There we go. That's the good stuff.

I tried watching the episode last night, but nodded off a short way into it.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Rejecting the teachings of his father, Elijah Muhammad, that all white people were "devils," the new NOI leader said that "from now on, whites will be considered fully human."

"I have a dream!"

Brazilian football (soccer) player Pelé made his American debut

He was quite a celebrity for a minute, but nobody really cared much about soccer for some reason.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was created in Australia, which put the Great Barrier Reef under government protection.

Amazing to think that happened so recently.

Japan's Prime Minister Takeo Miki was punched in the face while attending funeral services for former Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Satō.

Deja vu. Didn't something else like this happen just recently?

Voters in the Northern Mariana Islands approved an agreement to become a commonwealth within the United States.

Unlike Puerto Rico, though, there doesn't seem to be much of a push for Statehood.

The NBC Radio Network launched the NBC News and Information Service (NIS), a 24-hour all-news network, over 33 of its stations.

A 24-hour news network? Nah, it'll never work. It would just drive people mad.

And Paul McCartney turned 33!

The Chicago Police Department had had his home under surveillance that evening, but the two police drove away at 10:10 pm. At 10:30, the police heard a "popping noise" while listening, but didn't believe it was gunshots.

This strikes me as slightly suspicious.

Jaws, an action film about a white shark terrorizing a resort island, premiered nationwide. Within two weeks, the film would recoup its costs, and by September 5, it would surpass The Godfather as the highest-grossing film in history (until surpassed by Star Wars in 1977).

And the age of the Summer blockbuster begins....

Underwater photographs, purporting to be of the Loch Ness Monster, were taken by an automatic high-speed camera triggered by a sonar....

I knew it! Nessie is real!

The first drive-through restaurant service was inaugurated, as the McDonald's in Sierra Vista, Arizona, began allowing customers to place their orders at a microphone, then drive up to a window from which their food would be handed to them, without need for anyone to leave the vehicle.

This is something else that is surprising to have happened so recently, although it's really just the evolution of the drive-in restaurants.

"Bloody Well Right," Supertramp

It amazes me that this came out in 1975. It has strong nostalgic value for me... for the early 80s.

"Feelings," Morris Albert

No! I'm not going to listen! No!

"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," James Taylor

I've mellowed on this one, I guess. It does have some nostalgic value.

"Fight the Power, Pt. 1," The Isley Brothers

I vaguely know this one, but from Time-Life or Lost 45s or something.

"Fallin' in Love," Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds

I like this one. Strong nostalgic value.

Eh, it worked...and from the guest list, as you highlighted, it seemed to be the main event.

Yeah, I guess that's true.

Movin' back down is hard. I should note that George and Lionel only actually appeared in that one scene. All of the business with George calling to make better offers was either offscreen or one-sided.

I was thinking that maybe it had to be filmed separately for some reason and that's why Lionel couldn't be there.

It's all in the multiple-Emmy-winning delivery.

Right. I was thinking of the "He really takes the cake" scene.

Most if not all of the rotating bits of business in the credits seem to have been shot specifically for the credits. Some of them feature characters who aren't regular or recurring. Offhand I'd say there were at least three versions of the credits this season, though I'd have to go back and note the sequences used to be sure. The one constant in all the versions after the jukebox with the character credits is that the creator and producer credits play over the freeze-framed shot of Potsie laughing in Richie's car.

Yeah, I remember that freeze frame.

They just in the later episodes of the season worked in what's probably the first version of Fonzie looking in the mirror and deciding not to comb his hair.

And of course I remember this.

From my casual knowledge of the show, it seems like it was more about lighthearted business involving oddball characters being brought in.

Not always lighthearted. They got involved in some serious stuff. Wojo got shot one time, for example. Anyway, I was just trying to think of a recognizable name who might show up if Archie and Mike killed each other.

Oh, you're definitely familiar with the singer, though you may not have known him by name (nor did I off the top of my head, though I'd heard it before).

Exhibit A
Exhibit B

He was also Manilow's regular producer at this point, which included singing background vocals on "Mandy".

Indeed, I guess I know him well. We've just never been formally introduced. That's all good stuff.

I tried watching the episode last night, but nodded off a short way into it.

I really just watched the beginning with Olivia, but I'd probably enjoy the whole thing.