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50th Anniversary Viewing
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Mission: Impossible
"The Controller: Part 2"
Originally aired October 19, 1969
Wiki said:
Continuation of previous episode.
Never woulda guessed.
The reel-to-reel tape in the customary long-ass recap of last week's episode said:
This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.
The recap clocks in at around 7-1/2 minutes. You know they're filling time when the recap includes most of the tape and portfolio scenes. The briefing is useful because it contains hints of parts of the plan that will come into play this week. Something that I'd missed from last week is that Borodin's "body" (actually shot by a tranquilizer bullet) is in the trunk of Dr. Jim's car when he's fake following his order to go drive it off a cliff, and Barney's hiding in the back seat. They stop the car in a warehouse to find that the plan has hit a major snag...Borodin has been real shot by the guards' rifles, and as hinted at in the briefing, he was supposed to turn up alive as a surprise witness at a trial.
Back in his cell, Willy gets to work with the Handyman Fun Kit that Barney gave him last week, drilling holes in walls and putting in an extension that sucks the B-230 out of its vial in another chamber and replaces it with Fake B-230. Meanwhile, B-230 is tested on Katherine, and she quickly becomes catatonic. We learn, if I didn't miss it last week, that the catatonic side effect is only temporary, but could become permanent with repeated testing on the same subject.
Having improvised a new plan, Jim proceeds to drive his car off the cliff as ordered, bailing out and using a remote detonator to make sure that it goes up in a fireball (which would've happened anyway, becaus TV physics). Fake Mrs. Jarvis is giving fake testimony about fake details surrounding her fake husband's fake shooting of Borodin when the questioning officials (including the Deputy Premier, played by Robert Ellenstein, who was in Part 1) receive news that Dr. Jim's car was found with Borodin's burned body inside, and that Dr. Jim is in custody. Meredyth real reacts to the plan not proceeding as planned.
The officer serving as prosecutor for the ensuing trial is ordered to find the best officer to serve as defense, and Major Deva's forged punchcard and fake file come up. Fake Major Deva visits Dr. Jim in his cell and is filled in on the new plan. The trial proceeds, and Dr. Jim's defense is that he was under the influence of Voliticon. Fake Deva produces as evidence Fake Mrs. Jarvis's fake diary, which establishes her fake feelings for Turek and having had a rendezvous with him prior to Borodin's then-fake murder, contradicting her fake testimony.
Meanwhile, Barney is stealthily scaling the local water tower, but slips from a ladder and falls far enough to knock him unconscious and off-schedule. He comes to, continues his climb with an injured arm, and puts the B-230 that Willy siphoned from his cell into the water supply. Willy watches from his cell as Katherine is taken for more testing. He slips out and, disguised as a guard, frees her. Paris stops being a Deva and breaks out his Rollin Kit to disguise himself as Turek's assistant, Lorkner (H.M. Wynant). He smuggles Willy and Katherine out, then returns to free Turek in-character, and once he's gone, goes back out of character to free everyone else. By this point the B-230 has taken effect on the guards, rendering them temporarily catatonic. Turek is caught trying to flee by the arriving Deputy Premier and shot, and the IMF team rides away.
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Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 3, episode 6
Originally aired October 20, 1969
The Wiki list of guest appearances said:
Anne Jackson, Romy Schneider, Eli Wallach
The episode opens with a clown-themed musical number, in which they get in another dig at
Hee Haw.
A salute to organized crime:
The news song has a Hawaiian theme.
Birth control hints (not ads):
The Fickle Finger of Fate goes to the Pentagon again:
A Potpourri segment:
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The Mod Squad
"To Linc – with Love"
Originally aired October 21, 1969
Wiki said:
Linc falls in love with an attractive young woman, but their romance is threatened when a man from her past turns up.
The episode opens lightheartedly with a birthday party for Linc in Julie's pad. I don't think the number of candles is meant to be accurate...if it is, he's at least in his 40s. Linc rushes out abruptly when he realizes that his birthday was actually the day before, and he's overdue to renew his driver's license. Because he's late, the lady at the counter makes him take the exam. His present comes when he finds that his driving examiner is an attractive young lady played by Janet MacLachlan...though this doesn't do much for his attentiveness to his surroundings, causing him to fail and go back for another test. He passes the second time, and--Sign o' the times alert!--only gets a friendly reminder to use his seat belt in the future!
He then gets 1960s romantic / 2010s stalkery, learning her name--Ann Gibbon--sabotaging her car so that it won't start, and waiting to offer her a ride and persuade her to have dinner with him. At the restaurant, they're watched by a man played by former
Gomer Pyle recurring guest and future
Archie Bunker's Place regular Allan Melvin, who, attempting to out-stalker Linc, follows them back to her place. In the car, Linc returns Ann's distributor cap, then he accompanies her inside and learns that she has a five-year-old daughter named Katie who's currently being watched by the neighbors. Back in his office, Not Barney, a.k.a. Fred Croft, P.I., calls a man named Layton, telling him that he's found Ann.
Back in Greer's office, Pete is entertaining the others with his impersonation of the Captain, which includes giving them mock order such as...
Pete said:
Julie, you'll stay with the sorority, and dye your hair black and pretend that you're Tiny Tim.
Linc recruits Julie and Pete to babysit Katie (Mia Fullmore) so he can spend a day with Ann, taking her to a secluded pond. Meanwhile, Croft meets up with Layton (Fred Pinkard), who just flew into town. They go to Ann's place while the sitters are bonding with Katie, and Layton announces that he's Ann's husband...and, forcing his way in, tells Katie that he's her father. He soon leaves, and, after calling Greer, Pete and Julie take Katie to Linc's place.
Linc brings back Ann from their date, very enthusiastic about the great day they had, only for the couple to get a scare when they find the place empty before discovering a note. Linc subsequently suffers a huge bummer when he learns not only that Ann's still married, but that she refuses to get a divorce for reasons that she initially won't talk about. She subsequently tells him the story about how the older, wealthy Layton married her when she was still in her teens, and how she stopped trying to divorce him when it became evident that she'd lose custody of Katie. After a bit more questioning and revealing that he's a cop, Linc learns that Ann had a nervous breakdown and tried to kill herself, which makes her an unfit mother in the eyes of the court.
In the meantime Layton has spoken with Greer and obtained a court order. (Not knowing that Greer knows Linc, Croft describes Linc as looking like a militant.) Linc sees that for Ann, it's ultimately a choice between him and Katie, so he relents, saying his goodbye to Katie and watching Ann walk out of his life before doing his own solo walk-off.
This was a pretty enjoyable, distinctive episode--part comedy, part personal drama, no murder, extortion, or racketeering.
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"Hearing Today, Gone Tomorrow"
Originally aired October 23, 1969
Wiki said:
Ann loses her hearing when a cold ruins her job on a commercial.
Donald and Ann are back in their Italian restaurant for the teaser. This show is turning into a Billy Joel song. And apparently her default agent is still Seymour when she doesn't have a Guest Agent of the Week.
Ann is determined to audition for an antifreeze commercial, even though it means standing out in the cold when she's already got her cold. Donald brings his typewriter over and works from her apartment to keep an eye on her. Thomas does good cold and high-from-medicine acting. Once she loses her hearing, Ann is constantly anxious to know whether the phone is ringing, obsessively picking it up when it's not ringing, and in one case hanging it back up when it actually had rung. Ann ultimately gets the part, still can't hear while she's filming the commercial, and the director ends up giving her a cold medicine commercial.
"Oh, Donald" count:
8
"Oh, Seymour" count:
1
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Ironside
"Love My Enemy"
Originally aired October 23, 1969
Wiki said:
Ironside secures a delegation the release of American prisoners of war.
That blurb is not just poorly written but misleading...the prisoners aren't soldiers, but oceanographers captured as spies by the Democratic People's Republic. The Chief is enlisted by the head of the American delegation, Prof. Halstead (Jeffrey Lynn), to provide security. The Chief deduces that despite reading scripted statements on camera, the prisoners haven't given up hope because in a group photo, they're arranged so that their last initials spell out "SNOWJOB". (Yeah, awfully convenient that they had those initials in the first place.)
Ironside leaves Ed and Eve behind because they're still active-duty police officers, but somebody's gotta push the chair (which is indeed leopard patterned in the show), so Mark accompanies him. The delegations are hosted by a third country, in the home of a Baron Von Gyllenskjold (Bo Svenson). The Chief and Mark promptly display their knowledge of spycraft, finding a bug in Halstead's room. Back in the DPR delegation, we find some familiar faces...the very Mao-looking college professor heading their side, Dr. Nam Feng, is Philip Ahn; Ironside's opposite number, Hsai--also a policeman by profession--is Khigh Dhiegh; and a young, ambitious member of Feng's group, Soong, is James Shigeta.
A cleaning lady is found dead soon after Soong gave her rather specific instructions to thoroughly sterilize the chambers of the ailing Feng. Ironside gets Hsai to agree to look into the matter in exchange for the Chief investigating why Feng has recently become so ill. Ironside finds clues in an edited transcript provided by Feng that he's trying to get out a message. Ironside has a pathologist flown in from Frisco, Dr. Morton (Frank Wilcox). His eyeball prognosis is acute atrophy of the liver and, when pressed, he confirms that it could be caused by a toxic chemical.
Mark has been spending some face time with a pretty female member of the delegation, Mei Noyen (Cecile Ozorio), who also succumbs to the same ailment, making it look much more likely that foul play is involved. Meanwhile, Soong tries to get the bedridden Feng to sign a paper turning leadership of the delegation over to him, but Feng swats away the pen as his dying gesture. Thus Soong becomes head of the delegation regardless. Soong subsequently tries to politically pressure Hsai into backing a story that Feng had been poisoned by cigarettes ostensibly given to him by Ironside, even though Feng didn't smoke. Hsai then has another meeting with Ironside in which they compare notes, with Ironside suggesting that the likely actual cause has been prolonged exposure to the suspected chemical, possibly by inhalation.
Soong announces Hsai's supposed findings at the next negotiation, and that Hsai will be arriving with local authorities bearing a warrant for the arrest of Ironside. Hsai does arrive with the authorities, but the warrant is for Soong...Ironside's efforts to reach across the political divide based on the common bond of their profession having paid off. Soong has determined that the method of exposure was a chemical placed in a bottle that was supposed to contain antiseptic cleaning fluid. When Soong tries to claim diplomatic immunity, Hsai points out that both delegations have come as civilians, not as official representatives of their governments. Soong threatens Hsai with the consequences he'll face back home, but Halstead intervenes by moving that Hsai be made temporary head of the DPR delegation, and suggests that in taking the position, Hsai has an opportunity to be viewed as an international hero instead. Hsai accepts, then promptly demonstrates that he hasn't become a puppet of the West by doubling down on his side's agenda as previously laid out by Feng.
The prisoners are ultimately released, with Hsai enjoying the protection that Halstead implied because he and Ironside made sure that Hsai got lots of international publicity for his actions.
This one was weak as a mystery as the nature of what was happening was telegraphed early on, and Soong was such an obvious culprit that I was anticipating a twist that didn't occur. Despite this, I found it to be a quite enjoyable episode just for taking Ironside so far out of his usual jurisdiction.
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Get Smart
"The Treasure of C. Errol Madre"
Originally aired October 24, 1969
Wiki said:
KAOS heists 5 straight federal payrolls, putting CONTROL into severe financial straits. The Chief sends Max, disguised as recently-deceased prospector Frogsie Debbs, to Mira Lodo, Mexico, to find Debbs' old partner C. Errol Madre. Debbs and Madre had charted a map leading to a gold find, with each keeping one half of the map until one day they join forces again to get the gold. A successful impersonation of Debbs by Max could recover enough gold to help restore CONTROL's operations. A spoof of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Note: Some of the footage is re-used in "Do I Hear a Vaults?". When Max and Larrabee are in an armored car, Max sees a policeman in sneakers, an ice cream man, and a small boy, who are all CONTROL agents.
For once I won't dispute if it's actually a parody of the story that the title spoofs, as I don't know enough about the original...but the names and situations seem to be playing on the film, and Adams does a (pretty good) Bogart impression when Max is posing as Debbs.
Thanks to the budget crunch, the Chief is running CONTROL from the elevator of their HQ...which includes crowding a bunch of agents into the space, already mostly consumed by his desk, to announce that they've been laid off. Later he's working out of Max's apartment (which is a budget-saver for the show as well).
Debbs's half of the map is on the back of his shirt, which Max is wearing...while Madre's half is on the back of what looks like long underwear bottoms, which Madre holds up to Max's backside to view the complete map. While undercover, Max uses a canteen phone...while Madre (Broderick Crawford) reports to KAOS with a phone in his mule's hoof. Madre's about to double-cross Max when they have to team up to fend off an ambush by a Mexican bandit named Goldmouth (Don Diamond)...and Madre just double-crosses Max during that. But the bandits get the drop on "Madre," who turns out to also be an imposter...and Goldmouth turns out to be a captain from the Mexican secret police, and thus on Max's side. Fake Madre reveals to Max that he had the water in Max's canteen phone bugged.
Max said:
How do you like that? And I thought it was Montezuma's revenge.
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Hogan's Heroes
"Unfair Exchange"
Originally aired October 24, 1969
Wiki said:
The team take Gertrude (Kathleen Freeman) hostage in order to rescue an underground operative.
Gertrude being Burkhalter's sister, making her third of four appearances played by Freeman. (The character also popped up last season, played by Alice Ghostley.)
An underground contact named Maria Hoffman (Wendy Wilson) has been taken prisoner in the middle of an intelligence-sharing rendezvous with the prisoners, having attempted to stall the Germans so that Hogan's operation wouldn't be compromised. Hogan fears for her fate, so with some inspiration provided by a stray remark of Newkirk's, he uses Gertrude's visit as an opportunity to arrange a prisoner exchange. Burkhalter is still big on Klink marrying his sister for whatever reason, so the prisoners arrange a fake rendezvous to kidnap her. She's held blindfolded in the tunnel while Newkirk fakes an accent and pretends that he's holding her in a hotel. For their end of the exchange, which involves Hoffman being released 24 hours earlier, the prisoners take Gertrude to a barn and arrange another rendezvous, this time via a Newkirk-faked love letter to Schultz from a nonexistent female acquaintance. Schultz goes to the barn bearing flowers and champagne, finds Gertrude...and is nearly filled with holes when the Germans fire their rifles through the closed barn door multiple times--Nice plan, Hogan! But it all works out, of course, and Hochstetter is put on a false trail to the kidnappers via clues that the prisoners deliberately dropped about the hotel in which Gertrude was supposedly being held.
DIS-missed!
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Right on!
to Uncle Mike!
