The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

50th Anniversary Album Spotlight
(Part 2 of 2)

Abbey Road
The Beatles

The album's most distinctive feature is the medley that occupies most of side 2, but the side begins with a couple of standalone songs. The first is George's other outstanding contribution to the album, "Here Comes the Sun" (#28 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles Songs)...one of those album tracks that's so well known that it could have easily been a single (in fact, it's reported to be the most downloaded track from Abbey Road). It was written at Eric Clapton's house when George was playing hooky from an Apple meeting.

...just to demonstrate that Beatles geeks can be every bit as geeky as Trek geeks.

"Because" isn't officially considered part of the medley, but to my ear it always sounded like a sort of prelude to it. It features gorgeously ethereal three-part harmony by John, Paul, and George...which is triple tracked, effectively resulting in nine voices. The electric harpsichord melody is based on Beethoven's moonlight sonata, with the chords being played backwards...which John was inspired to do when he heard Yoko playing the sonata on piano. Overall, this number makes a strong argument for listening with earbuds...or headphones, if anyone still has those.

The medley officially begins with Paul's "You Never Give Me Your Money". Reportedly also inspired by Apple issues, it serves as a sort of mini-suite within the medley, consisting as it does of three distinct sections.


The medley was really Paul's baby, and his contributions to it were in my book stronger than his material on Side 1. John's contributions, on the other hand, were reluctant and....would half-assed be too strong? Crammed all together, they pretty much serve as filler in what might have worked better or just as well as a Paul solo effort. The first and most substantial of John's three medley tracks is "Sun King," which was always a bit of a snoozer to me. It was musically inspired by the Fleetwood Mac instrumental "Albatross," which had been a #1 in the UK early in the year.

The next two song fragments are enjoyable for their liveliness at least. "Mean Mr. Mustard" is superficially connected to the proto-punkish "Polythene Pam" by the renaming of Mustard's sister, who had been Shirley in earlier takes of the song.

Paul takes the wheel for the rest of the album, beginning with "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window". The song was inspired by an incident in which a group of "Apple Scruffs"--the female fans who waited outside of the Beatles' workplaces and residences at the time--broke into Paul's London home a couple of blocks from EMI's Abbey Road studios. Serving here as the de facto penultimate piece of the medley before the inseparably intertwined final three tracks, a cover of it will be coming our way soon as Joe Cocker's first Top 40 hit in the US.

One couldn't have asked for a better climax than that provided by the combination of "Golden Slumbers," "Carry That Weight, " and "The End". Coming as they do at the end of the album that is both the last recorded by the Beatles and the last released prior to their break-up, together they serve as the group's grand finale...and the lines "And in the end / The love you take / Is equal to the love you make" as its epitaph.



Those three tracks pack more of an emotional wallop for me than ever when experienced in the context of immersive 50th anniversary retro.

"Carry That Weight" includes a partial reprise of "You Never Give Me Your Money". "The End" features Ringo's only drum solo for the Beatles, and dueling guitar solos by each of the others...two bars each by Paul, George, and John, in that order, twice.

The complete medley ranks #23 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles Songs...which is kinda cheating. I could see treating "Golden Slumbers" / "Carry That Weight" / "The End" as one entry, but not the entire medley.

Following a 15-second silence (which is officially part of "The End" in the digital age) comes the album's second "surprise ending"...Paul's song fragment "Her Majesty"--a "hidden track" not listed on the sleeve or label of vinyl releases, it had originally been intended to fall between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam".

August 20, 1969, while they were working on the final sequencing of this album, was the last time that all four Beatles were in the studio together.


Next up: The Band

 

I might have mentioned this when I reviewed the pilot, but it has a nice sign-o-the-timesy vibe for me and straddles that line between the '60s and things that I can actually remember from early childhood. I think I was watching The Brady Bunch while it was still in first run as well as in syndication.

Everybody wanted to know who wrote the original letter.

It was based on the size of the auditorium. They had too many kids in this show and not enough seats.

They're just missing Ted. Will Sam the Butcher do?

Mike & Carol & Sam & Alice

(When Allan Melvin came up on The Mod Squad and I mentioned a couple of his other roles, I forgot that he was also Sam.)

Harsh.

I guess it's not everybody's bag....

I didn't even bring up Manolo's girlfriend character (Socorro Serrano), because none of her beats really went anywhere.

That one cheats by giving two of the sins to the Skipper. I'd think Gilligan could be Sloth or Gluttony (if his appetite is an ongoing thing as I vaguely remember).

Taylor? Is this a POTA reference?

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From Fantastic Four #94 (cover date Jan. 1970), in which the FF pay their first visit to Agatha Harkness:

 

In relation to an ongoing discussion in FoT, I looked up CBS All Access's content, as I'm planning to get it when Picard starts. It turns out they're the current streaming home of Mission: Impossible! As well as The Brady Bunch, though Me is also airing that.

Was that a line in one of the films? The sequel that's coming up next year?

But did you catch the reference?

No love for the Bradys in these parts, I guess, but...appearance-shaming little kids? Really?

Carol's pride in her role certainly wouldn't have made me bat an eyelash in the '70s...my mom was a housewife.

 

55 Years Ago This Week

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

Leaving the chart:

• "Dancing in the Street," Martha & The Vandellas (14 weeks)
  
• "Everybody Knows (I Still Love You)," The Dave Clark Five (8 weeks)
  
• "I Like It," Gerry & The Pacemakers (9 weeks)
  
• "I'm Crying," The Animals (9 weeks)
  
• "Tobacco Road," The Nashville Teens (11 weeks)

New on the chart:

"As Tears Go By," Marianne Faithfull

(#22 US; #9 UK; written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Andrew Loog Oldham)

"Love Potion Number Nine," The Searchers

(#3 US; originally a #23 for The Clovers in 1959)


And new on the boob tube:

• 12 O'Clock High, "Interlude"

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Wait, is this from the sequel? Or a prophetic line from the first film, and it somehow completely escaped my attention last year?

 

50 Years Ago This Week

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

Leaving the chart:

• "Ball of Fire," Tommy James & The Shondells (8 weeks)
  
• "Fortunate Son," Creedence Clearwater Revival (4 weeks)
  
• "Hot Fun in the Summertime," Sly & The Family Stone (16 weeks)
  
• "Something," The Beatles (6 weeks)
  
• "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," Dionne Warwick (10 weeks)

Note that "Fortunate Son" and "Something" seem to have been removed from the chart at this point, in favor of the double A-sides that they're each a part of...and the double A-sides have each bumped up, no doubt because of this.

New on the chart:

"Jingle Jangle," The Archies

(#10 US; #37 AC)

"Don't Cry Daddy," Elvis Presley

(#6 US as double A-side w/ "Rubberneckin'"; #3 AC; #13 Country; #8 UK)

"Rubberneckin'," Elvis Presley

(#6 US as double A-side w/ "Don't Cry Daddy")


And new on the boob tube:

• Mission: Impossible, "Mastermind"
  
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Season 3, episode 11
  
• That Girl, "Kiss That Girl Goodbye"
  
• Ironside, "Five Miles High"
  
• Get Smart, "The Apes of Rath"
  
• Hogan's Heroes, "The Defector"
  
• Adam-12, "Log 123: Courtroom"

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Hers was the original version...the Stones didn't record it until later. Mick and Keith were reportedly forced to write it by their manager, Oldham, and were embarrassed by the result, feeling it wasn't their style. Now I listen to the song in the context of this point in their careers, when they're still struggling to really break out, and think, "They had a song like that, and they gave it to somebody else?"

I love this...a classic of the era. The Clovers' original Is quite enjoyable as well:

 

55th Anniversary Viewing

12 O'Clock High
"Appointment at Liege"
Originally aired November 20, 1964

Drop the rank and the comma and that one reads fine. Anyway, this week's pilot major and his co-guest star lieutenant, are played by future Trek alumni Gary Lockwood and Nancy Kovack. Lockwood's character, Major Gus Denver, has taken to acting recklessly since he was temporarily assigned to special duty in the States and his entire crew bought it over Liege on their first mission in his absence. Denver is eager to fly a mission there, naming his new bomber "Gus's Revenge". Savage needs to use him for a dangerously low-altitude but high-priority mission on Maastricht, which is in the vicinity of Liege, but Stovall, who's had a chance to talk with Denver, doesn't think it's a good idea, as he thinks that Denver has come back looking to die.

On his first mission, which was supposed to be a milk run, Denver uses a wounded radio operator and malfunctioning oxygen as an excuse to break formation, go lower-altitude, and dump his bombs on an AA battery (which is what he's been itching to do, since that was what killed his old crew)...an action during which he loses his co-pilot and navigator, which causes the bombardier who watched them both die to go over the bend. Back on the ground, Savage doesn't buy Denver's explanation for his actions, making it clear that the oxygen should have been caught in the pre-flight check.

Savage grounds Denver, but in yet another example of the brass being on a completely different page from Savage in the name of generating conflict, Crowe and his new colonel lackey, Chandler (Burt Metcalfe), want Denver, to get a Silver Star for his heroism. Savage's general superior, is not pleased that Savage intends for Denver not to fly the mission over Maastricht, and therefore thinks it should be called off. This actually causes Crowe to question Savage's ability to lead the group--what a friend general he, turned out to be!

At the beginning of Act IV, Savage, gets some encouragement in the form of a visit from his ladyfriend civilian Liz, on what he learns is the anniversary of the death of her husband rank unknown (I, assume) in North Africa. Savage then confronts Denver (whom we'd learned in an earlier scene was found abandoned as a newborn and had grown up in a series of foster homes) with the truth that he blames himself for the loss of his crew. The most pointed part of the exchange probably doesn't pass PC muster in this day and age, but...

Denver runs off, finds his co-guest star lieutenant whom he'd, met at the officers club earlier in the episode, and proceeds to start having an emotional breakdown. Crowe is in Savage's office threatening to replace him with Chandler when Denver runs into the office and collapses in Savage's arms. Rub your nose in that, Crowe! In the coda, Crowe, having tasted his namesake, backs Savage's judgment to postpone the mission on Maastricht.

Y'know, if Crowe thought that Chandler was qualified to replace Savage, why couldn't Chandler have just replaced Denver instead? My respect for Crowe is in the latrine at this point.

Crowe mentions in this episode that Savage took over the 918th from Col. Davenport--I had to check, but yes, that jibes with the movie.

In the mission during which Denver breaks formation, the squadron leaders are using "Green Arrow" as a callsign...e.g., "Green Arrow One," "Green Arrow Two".

Gus was named for the month and city in which he was found. ETA: I just came across a bit of trivia that may have informed this story point. Robert Lansing's stage name was taken from the city of Lansing, Michigan, which is where he was working when he had to join the Actor's Equity Association, who wouldn't let him use his actual name of Robert Brown because another actor had dibs on it.

What this episode lacked in character credibility it made up for with strikingly moody source lighting.

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55th and 50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing

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Gilligan's Island

"Wrongway Feldman"
Originally aired October 24, 1964

This is Hans Conried's first of two appearances as Feldman. The castaways initially find his plane, Spirit of the Bronx, in the jungle, estimating that it's been there for 25 or 30 years. The Howell's recognize the name of the plane and know of its pilot, who was lost 33 years ago in the early '30s.

Gilligan has a scene with Feldman in which he goes over some of the things that the stranded avaiator missed, like the Second World War...

While the castaways get to work on helping to fix his plane, Ginger and Mr. Howell (who offers his teddy bear) proposition Wrongway to take them with him while he's trying to sleep.

There are a couple of unsuccessful attempts to get the plane going, following which Wrongway disappears. Gilligan learns that Feldman was sabotaging the plane because he's afraid to fly again, so he tries to teach Gilligan how to fly it for him, using a dummy plane with fruit for controls. Ultimately Wrongway musters up the courage to take off in the plane himself.

In the coda, the castaways are listening to a radio report about Wrongway's return to civilization, but Wrongway's calculations are said to be so confused that the island could be anywhere between the Bay of Naples and the Arctic Ocean; and Wrongway's story about the castaways is being dismissed as a tall tale. Now that's kind of poor continuity, since radio-reported search efforts for the castaways were so recent.

Good continuity point: Skipper mentions the gun that no longer has any bullets. Bad continuity point: Skipper says that he was a cook on an aircraft carrier, which doesn't jibe with him having been in combat on Guadalcanal.


"President Gilligan"
Originally aired October 31, 1964

The context one loses when watching in syndication or binging is that this was a presidential election season episode.

The issue of who's in charge comes up when Howell and the Skipper give Gilligan contradictory orders. The idea of holding an election is Ginger's. "Microcosm of civilization" hijinks ensue in which each tries to woo the island's tiny electorate. Howell gets Ginger in his camp, and she tries to turn Gilligan.

At this point the castaways have got an outdoor shower, which they convert into an election booth. Gilligan gets three write-in votes, from Mrs. Howell and apparently Mary Ann and himself, winning the election. The Skipper and Mr. Howell kiss up to Gilligan for positions of power, becoming Vice-President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, respectively. But once Gilligan's in office, he can't get the other castaways to pitch in and dig a well that they need, and ends up digging it himself while the others argue over him. Mr. Howell moves to impeach Gilligan based on his own election bribe, and Gilligan, declaring his intention to quit, throws down his shovel and finally strikes water.

The coda has Gilligan still in office, but everyone makes excuses to get out of helping on his next project, building a lookout tower.

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The Brady Bunch

"Katchoo"
Originally aired October 24, 1969

Attempting to find the source of Jan's sudden allergy, Carol and Alice initally try exposing her to various flowers...and flour, based on Alice's first guess. Then they get the idea that it's Mike when he comes home for lunch and Jan's sneezing starts up again. Nobody notices at the time that Tiger was lying next to her bed. Shortly after that, Tiger gets on the bed while Mike's out of the room and the adults realize that the family dog is the source of Jan's allergy.

When Mike has to break the news to the boys...

Then there's a cute scene in which the boys try to break the news to Tiger, but he's too busy enjoying a bone to pay any attention to them.

Marcia gets the idea to give Tiger a bath; and Greg gets the same idea separately, but has a much harder time getting Tiger into the tub. Later, when the kids are in bed, Carol and Alice also give him a bath; and later still, when Carol's asleep, Mike gives him one. Everyone's being tight-lipped about Tiger's baths, not wanting to get the others' hopes up. Jan still reacts to Tiger the next day, so Mike resolves to take him to Grandma's, and everyone has to say goodbye.

Once Mike is outside, somebody remembers that Tiger will need his flea powder so they hand it to Jan, and her reaction comes as a great relief to everybody.

The coda has Jan sleeping soundly while Tiger lies on the bed with her.

Brady family continuity point: We learn that Tiger is older than Bobby. Going by Mike Lookinland's age, Bobby would have been around 8 at the time...or 8-1/2 in kid parlance.


"A Clubhouse Is Not a Home"
Originally aired October 31, 1969

It does indeed play like an earlier installment. Carol and the girls are literally just moving in, with tension caused by the boys having to carry in their boxes. Even Mike, who puts the boys in their place, finds himself exasperated by Carol occupying more than her share of closet space. Various conflicts between the boys and girls cause Mike to declare a "share and share alike" directive, which is when the girls try to redecorate the clubhouse. Mike's principles are put to the test, as he feels strongly that the clubhouse should remain the boys' space, which upsets Carol.

Alice gets caught in the middle again as not only Greg and Marcia, but Carol and Mike, each come to her to weigh in on the issue. She resists their efforts, but is finally inspired to intervene by a soap opera that she's watching (which is where the voice-only credits above come in), and give Carol the idea of having the girls build their own clubhouse despite their comical ineptness at the work, in order to get the men to chip in and build it for them. The result is a much better-constructed girls' clubhouse...and after their own clubhouse collapses, the shoe's on the other foot as the boys find themselves wanting to use it.

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But how does it stack up to their lower-charting debut single, "Bang-Shang-A-Lang"?

The song lays it on a tad thick for my tastes, but it's alright. Another example of this era's Elvis taking on more serious subject matter.

The fun Elvis!

As the comic series started years later in the mid-'70s, I'm sure that it would have been added in hindsight. Roy Thomas's adaptation of Star Wars took tons of liberties with the dialogue.

 

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50th Anniversary Viewing

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Mission: Impossible
"Submarine"
Originally aired November 16, 1969

This episode uses what seems to have become a standard plot template for the series...Bad Guy has Lots o' Dough stashed away with which he plans to do Nebulous Evil Deeds, so the IMF have to immerse him in a Zany Alternate Reality to get him to spill his Swiss bank account number. We just got another example of this five episodes ago.

More noteworthy about this installment is that it features our first recurring female guest
agent:

And oh, yeah, these guys, too:

What, are they doing Gilbert & Sullivan productions when they're not engaged in elaborate top-secret schemes to save the world on extremely short notice? Anyway, for once we actually see a couple of them attending the briefing, standing nice and quietly behind the regulars.

Ex-Nazi Kruger Schtelman (Stephen McNally) is about to be released by the East European Republic after twenty-five years of being interrogated to find out where the Vast SS Horde of Stolen Money is stashed, with which Schtelman plans to kick-start a neo-Nazi coup that's been hanging around out there waiting for him to get out. His last in a long line of interrogators is Colonel Sardner (Ramon Bieri). Sardner's interrogation routine involves having Schtelman routinely transferred between the prison and police headquarters, so the IMF sets up a ruse involving two cheese trucks that have spilled their loads, driven by Jim and Paris disguised as monks, that separate the vehicle carrying Schtelman from the ends of the convoy while making the radio-connected end cars think that they're seeing the same truck.

The IMF Gang takes the unconscious prisoner into a nearby warehouse where they've got a couple compartments' worth of Fake Submarine rigged up, with Barney and some of the repertory company outside manning the special effects (very much like the Fake Train they had rigged up in an earlier-season episode). On the inside, Schtelman finds himself sharing bunk space with Tracey posing as another of Sardner's interrogatees, who's apparently broken and spilled whatever secrets she was holding. Schtelman learns from Kap'n Jim and SS Officer Paris that he's being taken via U-Boat to SS Headquarters. That these things exist in the late 1960s doesn't make Schtelman bat an eyelash, so this neo-Nazi coup must already be pretty well-funded. And of course, the IMF had under three days to set all this up! There's a ticking clock with tangible consequences involved, as Sardner has a several-block area around the escape point cordoned off and slowly but methodically searched toward the center.

Tracey fake succumbs to her injuries and Kap'n Jim has her proactively fake jettisoned out the torpedo tube. It's only at this point that the viewer gets an outside look at Barney's new toy:

It soon becomes clear to Schtelman that his Fake Fellow Nazis think that he must have broken, and he's eager to prove that he hasn't. No Fake U-Boat is complete without a Fake Destroyer Attack, so the IMF puts on a Fake Depth Charging. And to play out the Obligatory Fake Rivalry between Jim and Paris's characters, when Kap'n Jim wants to Fake Fake Having Been Hit, he forces SS Officer Paris out the escape hatch to serve as Fake Convincing Debris. But the sub's Fake Damage is such that there's a Fake Real Need to Evacuate, so Schtelman, afraid that he might not survive the ascent to the surface at his age, over-readily begs Kap'n Jim to remember his Nazi Hoard Account Number to prove to the Fake 1960s SS that he never broke.

The IMF have one more trick up their sleeve to escape from the area as Sardner and his men close in on the warehouse...dressed as members of the EER police, they stage a Fake Firefight outside the warehouse during which they slip away. When Sardner gets into the warehouse to find the submarine set, complete with an astonished Schtelman just crawling out of the Fake Escape Hatch, the episode ends on a novel closing note...Sardner laughing at the elaborate ruse that's been played on both of them.

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Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 3, episode 10
Originally aired November 17, 1969

I wasn't able to find a lot of clips from this installment.

Uncle Al shows us a magic trick:


Laugh-In takes a quick look at wife swapping, but I couldn't find a video.

The Fickle Finger of Fate goes to United Airlines:


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"Fix My Screen and Bug Out"
Originally aired November 20, 1969

When Bobby Miller (Michael Callan) sees his old flame for the first time in four years, he instantly starts hitting on her. New Ruthie and another neighbor lady (Lillian Adams) see an opportunity to get good service from their new landlord and make Ann the chairwoman of their new Grievance Committee.

Donald learns about Ann's new landlord when Bobby leaves an overbearing message for Ann at her and Donald's favorite restaurant...and on that front, it looks like it's a bottle of red:

When Ann goes to Bobby's office, the secretary (who might look a bit familiar)...

...lets Ann in right away.

Bobby makes Ann's neighbors jealous by redecorating her apartment first, but she confronts him, stands firm about her lack of interest in him in that way, and gets him to agree to pay equal attention to the other apartments.

The phone with an extra-long cord that can reach into the next apartment comes up again...as I recall, this was an early Season 1 gag.

"Oh, Donald" count: 0
"Oh, Bobby" count: 1

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Ironside
"Programmed for Danger"
Originally aired November 20, 1969

A woman named Veronica Keel (Barbara Mattes) is attacked, with the assailant using a partially tape recorded obscene phone call to get to her while she's leaving her apartment and thinks he's still on the phone. A neighbor causes him to flee, and Ironside gets on the case, in part because she's an old sorority sister of Eve's, and in part because this is the third victim matching this description...the less fortunate previous two having been beaten badly.

Ironside talks to Alice Flynn (Anne Baxter), who runs a dating service that all three victims used. After he leaves, we meet Roy, Alice's brother who works there (Roger Perry, who's conspicuously billed at the beginning of the episode...). After the Chief looks into some of the men who were referred to Keel (including an on-duty firefighter...at the station we see what might be a paramedic vehicle in the background), Eve registers with the service under an alias and quickly gets a call from Roy, who also uses an alias, posing as somebody who'd been matched with her to arrange a date.

Eve plays hard-to-get on her first date, while the Chief and Ed watch. They go back to the agency and ask Alice about a man matching his description, and then zero in on her brother as their suspect, having traced him via his car. Once Roy is in the room, he fesses up, making like he's just using the service for dating, and later calls Eve to confess his real identity to her. Eve thinks he's on the level (which causes Ironside to make a very sign-o-the-timesy comment about the uselessness of women's intuition), but Roy shows up at her place prior to their next date and acts suspiciously, which includes pretending to need to make a phone call and covertly unlocking her sliding door. He then changes up the plans for their date, throwing off the Chief's surveillance, and afterward takes her back to the dating service.

In the meantime, Alice has learned that Roy had somebody subbing for him at the agency at the time that Keel was attacked. She snoops around his place and finds wigs, which would explain Keel's assailant being blond. The Chief drops by to follow up with her and he and Mark search Roy's apartment, finding the tape that he used for his phone call to Keel. Alice confesses that Roy had been involved in a prior incident back east.

Back at the service, Roy confronts Eve with his knowledge of her true identity and holds her gun on her, which he somehow snuck out of her purse. He proceeds to tell her about the cheating ex-fiance with whom it becomes clear he's associating his victims. She manages to get under his guard enough to disarm him, but he starts to strangle her, and the rest of Team Ironside and the police arrive just in the nick of time. In the coda we learn that Roy is getting psychiatric help rather than a sentence.

This one seemed to be going more for suspense than mystery, with the culprit being made obvious early on, even though he was disguised sufficiently during the attack on Keel that I couldn't confirm it was Roger Perry. Perry will be coming up again on next week's Adam-12.

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Get Smart
"Physician Impossible"
Originally aired November 21, 1969

Max is transferring Big Eddie (Henry Corden) by means of the two of them being disguised as participants in a walking marathon, along with the Chief and Larabee. When Eddie makes his getaway, Max misses with every bullet until he throws his gun to the ground in frustration and it goes off.

This week the twins are in an incubator as an excuse for 99 to still be in the hospital. They didn't look premature last week.

Once he's at Big Eddie's hideout pretending to be a doctor, Max gets lucky again when he slaps Big Eddie on the shoulder and the bullet flies out. Max makes an effort not to let the semi-conscious Eddie get a good look at him because Eddie has loudly vowed revenge. When Eddie's henchmen, Cortez (Than Wyenn) and One-Way Al (B.S. Pully), are about to kill Dr. Max and Nurse 99 anyway, Max bluffs by claiming that CONTROL agents have surrounded the cabin...and is more surprised than anyone when the Chief calls out on cue via bullhorn. Max convinces the trio to drop their weapons, which all go off, with a bullet hitting each.

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Hogan's Heroes
"The Big Gamble"
Originally aired November 21, 1969

The bomber manages to crash right outside the gates, with its forward fuselage intact. Shortly after, one of the bailed crew, Captain John Mitchell (Noam Pitlik), is brought to the stalag as a prisoner. He manages to get himself put in the cooler after trying to pass a note to Hogan saying that they need to talk...which Klink actually caught (though it's suggested afterward that Hogan let him see it)! So Hogan uses the secret cooler entrance to have a private chat with the captain while Schultz is being distracted by LeBeau.

Mitchell: Tunneling into jail?
Hogan: Anybody can tunnel out of jail.​

Hogan learns that the bomber has a top-secret direction finder box that has to be kept out of German hands. When Hogan shares his plan with the other prisoners, Newkirk makes noise about him and Carter having to disguise themselves in German uniforms...like they've never done that before. Seems kind of odd to come up this late in the series. Anyway, efforts to get into the fuselage first are thwarted by the presence of Major Feldkamp of the SS (Ben Wright, in one of his five appearances on the show, and his second of two in this role), so the prisoners plot to get to the expert being brought in to inspect the fuselage, Dr. Wolfgang Becker (Chet Stratton).

Becker's only known vice is gambling, so Hogan steers Klink into setting up a temporary casino at the camp to raise money for the Winter Relief Fund. Becker is leaving for Berlin that night, but manages to find an hour to indulge while the DF box is in a briefcase attached to his wrist. The prisoners create a fire scare, turn out the lights, knock Becker out, and switch the box with a Carter-created fake under a gaming table.

DISSS-missed!

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Adam-12
"Log 93: Once a Junkie"
Originally aired November 22, 1969

It's not just any ol' ex-junkie, it's recurring informant Tee Jay (as he's inconsistently billed here, a.k.a. Robert Donner). Reed and Malloy are on patrol discussing how the station got a tip about Tee Jay being back on smack when they receive a call for a 211 at the Our Lady of the Backlot Church. There they find a priest (John Kerr) who was slugged from behind while opening the church's safe and came back around to find the money inside stolen and Tee Jay standing over him, only to quickly run off. The officers catch him running in the street nearby and take him into custody. He claims that he was pursuing the thief, but didn't get a good look at him. Follow-up investigation turns up some more circumstantial evidence against Tee Jay...that he was recently fired from a dishwashing job that Malloy lined up for him, because his boss, Duke Dukowski (George Brenlin, in his first of four appearances in the role), saw him passing money to a known active junkie.

The officers subsequently get a call for a 484 at a sleazy hotel. The desk clerk's gun ha been stolen, and the hotel happens to be where Tee Jay's staying. Tee Jay's not in, but the clerk thinks that Tee Jay has been using again based on noises he's heard from that floor. The officers go back to the church to find Tee Jay working there, as he'd indicated earlier. He doesn't have the gun, but tells them that it was probably taken by Andy, a neighboring junkie at the hotel whom Tee Jay had been lending money to at the restaurant and who Tee Jay now says had robbed the church. The officers bring Tee Jay along in the car to look for Andy and get a call for a 211 at a liquor store. They find Andy on the street in the vicinity of the robbery, in possession of the gun--which is empty--and suffering withdrawal symptoms.

In the coda, the officers pay a visit to Tee Jay at the church to tell him that Malloy put in another word for him with Duke.

The detective investigating the church robbery is familiar face Barney Phillips.

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And released...the White Album was still months away when POTA came out 50 years ago last year.

This reminds me of my sister telling me how my nephew (a Millennial who was then in his pre-teens or teens) had gotten into watching Gilligan's Island.

 

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55th & 50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing

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Gilligan's Island
"Sound of Quacking"
Originally aired November 7, 1964

That's not exactly how cancellation works, but whatever. More notably for the time the episode was aired, Gunsmoke was on later the same night on the same network, CBS.

Blight has destroyed the castaways' vegetable food supply, so they're on strict rations. Gilligan, the Skipper, and the Professor are in the jungle looking for edible plants when they discover the duck. Not eating the duck is initially the Professor's idea, as he recognizes it as a migratory bird who might carry a message back to civilization. To attach a message, however, they have to lure it in. Once they do, the castaways get even hungrier as their meager rations are fed to the duck, which Gilligan names Everett. But once they try to let Everett go, he doesn't want to leave. Shortly after, Gilligan learns that Everett is an Emily when he sees her lay an egg. Now the duck is back in danger if they can't get her to leave the island with her message.

Then we get our first dream sequence (presented in sepia in this colorized version) as Gilligan sleeps clutching Emily protectively to his chest as the other castaways lurk nearby. The sequence even opens and closes with the Gunsmoke theme. Gilligan imagines himself as the marshal, guarding Emily, who's locked in a cell. Skipper is his deputy (but has to turn in his star when Gilligan finds utensils on his person); Ginger makes a seduction attempt done up like Miss Kitty; and the Professor and Mr. Howell are gunslingers who are described as the lynch mob. Mr. Howell says that he only uses gold bullets (and appears to be wearing golden boots as well). There's a showdown but, as it's a dream, all of the lynch mob's shots miss Gilligan at arm's length and he scares them away without firing a shot. Marshal Gilligan then fires his pistols in the air in triumph, and Emily comes falling to the ground.

Back in the waking world, Emily is saved when she eats some plants that the Professor thought were poisonous, proving that they're safe. In the coda, the castaways finally get Emily to fly off, but Gilligan realizes that he forgot to attach the message.

Sign o' the times: Ginger's worried about losing too much weight because she's an actress!

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The Brady Bunch
"Kitty Karry-All Is Missing"
Originally aired November 7, 1969

Apparently The Brady Bunch was trying to get its own version of the Mrs. Beasley craze going. The doll disappears after Bobby had been making disparaging comments about it, hence Cindy's suspicion. At first this puts the boys and girls at odds, so the parents institute a house-wide search. When Mike looks in the oven...

Eventually even the boys turn against Bobby, so he becomes a backyard pariah. Mike gives Greg and Marcia a stirring speech (complete with requisite music) about the principle of being presumed innocent until proven guilty. The children then stage their mock trial, with Greg and Marcia as counsel for the defense and prosecution, Peter and Jan as the jury, and Alice, while stirring batter and with a roast in the oven, as judge.

When the kazoo comes up missing, Mike has Bobby empty his pockets to check, and we learn that he carries more junk in them than Batman does in his utility belt! The doll that Bobby buys, with nearly all the money in his piggy bank, is a new Kitty Karry-All, but it's not the same to Cindy. The parents are in the room when Tiger carries off the new Kitty, which leads Mike to check the doghouse, where he finds the kazoo and both Kittys.

Bad continuity point: The clubhouses are nowhere to be seen in the backyard.

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Looks like she's due to pop up in four more...three of those the installments of a three-parter.

True!

Didn't catch if they identified him as KAOS or not.

I don't know how these things work, but it seemed odd to me that one week they were being held by their mother, eyes open and all of that, then the next week they were in the incubator.

 

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55th and 50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing

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Gilligan's Island
"Goodbye Island"
Originally aired November 21, 1964

The episode features outdoor shooting at the wreck of the Minnow. The Professor is having trouble making nails for patching the boat. Mary Ann's making pancake...that include wild duck eggs...and she's flirting with Gilligan. (Maybe she's just trying to get promoted to the opening credits.) When the castaways discover the properties of the syrup over dinner, the Professor runs out to the lagoon to test it and declares the glue to be absolutely permanent! But as the patching job commences, the combination of glue and Gilligan proves to be catastrophic, as he gets stuck to the boat; the Skipper gets increasingly stuck to him trying to help; and the two of them together get stuck to the boat again. The Professor realizes that Mrs. Howell's perfume could be used to dissolve the glue...and we learn that she brought several huge bottles.

After being freed, Gilligan discovers that the glue isn't permanent when his pancake from the dinner slips off the plate it was stuck to. He tries to tell the others as they're about to launch the boat, and as usual they don't want to listen, But when the Skipper pounds a fist on the boat to demonstrate how sturdy it is, it starts to come apart plank by plank...which doesn't make a lot of sense, as the parts that come apart are the ones that weren't patched. Gilligan goes into the boat to try to "save" it, and ends up standing in the middle of its remains, clutching the helm wheel.

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The Brady Bunch

"A-Camping We Will Go"
Originally aired November 14, 1969

Alice comes along, too, playing drill sergeant to get the kids into the car in an organized manner...but even the station wagon has trouble fitting all nine of them and their gear. And there's a bit of departure delay when all of the kids and Alice end up going back inside to take care of business before the trip.

An attempt at family fishing goes awry, with the boys blaming the girls for scaring all the fish away, resulting in no useful catches for dinner. Fortunately, Carol and Alice packed a king-sized basket of "emergency rations" consisting of fried chicken, cold cuts, and cheese; but the boys balk that they're not living off the lay of the land like usual...

...before succumbing to their appetites.

Mike and Carol do sleep apart here, as the tents are divided by gender. Carol and the girls don't recognize the sound of an owl hooting...or of Alice's air mattress deflating, which they think is a rattlesnake! The girls try to save face by pulling a prank on the boys, casting a not-at-all-convincing shadow of a cutout bear on their tent via flashlight. The boys go running into the girls' tent, which collapses, but the desired quality of family togetherness is emphasized.

The daytime camping scenes are shot outdoors at Franklin Canyon Park (a.k.a. Miramanee's planet and Andy & Opie's fishing spot), but the audio is a little too obviously dubbed in. I wasn't sure if the nighttime outdoor scenes were on a set or a backlot, but they definitely didn't look like they were on location.


"Sorry, Right Number"
Originally aired November 21, 1969

Sam is in the house--I think Mike & Carol need to get a bigger bed! Mike is surprised that Alice is getting a phone call. When Sam comes to pick her up, she'd putting on lipstick while looking in a spatula!

At first Mike just gets a second phone for the kids to use, which is Carol's idea. But they keep finding excuses to use the parents' phone in Mike's den, so he lays down a hard rule that they can't use it. Then when the kids are all in line arguing over how long others' phone calls are taking, they set a time limit. Then they get the bill. Apparently they're either getting charged for total calls or the kids are making a lot of toll calls--I wasn't sure which Mike was saying. He said it was five times the units they were allowed.

Alice gets the idea for the pay phone when she's visiting Sam at his shop. Mike has one installed and wrapped like a present on the wall. He even raises the kids' allowances to pay for two calls a day each--The kids are really put out by this, but I think it sound pretty damn generous! Mike has to use the pay phone when the woman that Carol's been talking to, who's altering a dress for her, leaves the phone on her end without hanging up...I do remember how that used to be! Mike's client, Mr. Crawford, is stuffy at first about working with someone who needs to use a pay phone, until Mike explains why he got one.

In the coda, the pay phone has been removed, having apparently served its purpose of the week.

There should be a charge for clichés.

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And that catches those shows up to their anniversary points, with a previously unannounced episode of GI coming in this week's regularly scheduled 55th Anniversary Viewing!

I should note that both of these shows are Sherwood Schwartz productions, and they share a quality that seems relatively novel among the shows I've been watching from this era...they're both ensemble shows that focus their stories squarely on their main casts, with typically few or no guest stars.

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Good point, I didn't think that when I was watching. If the Brady men can...

Indeed, a story point was that they had to protect their new crops from the birds, and one early gag had Gilligan dressed up as a scarecrow trying to shoo a crow off his shoulder!

Hey, I thought you liked this show! Yeah, that one I was thinking while watching...though Gilligan fumbled and dropped it, so I suppose it broke.

Why don't you ask him?

He's got Snoopy space in there!

I'm sure we're due for some epic recaps, at least!