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50th Anniversary Viewing
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Mission: Impossible
"Mastermind"
Originally aired November 23, 1969
Wiki said:
Paris convinces a mob figure that he can read the mind of his double-crossing boss, while Barney attempts to steal an incriminating file from the boss's safe.
The miniature reel-to-reel tape under the parrot cage on the sailing ship Buccaneer Queen said:
This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim!
This one has multiple guest agents, none of whom get guest star billing in the portfolio sequence, including Dr. Irving Berman (Ben Wright; the only one at the briefing), pharmacologist Thomas Galvin (Gerald Hiken), Nurse Larkin (Alice Reinheart), and Phillip's Maintenance Service, which does window washing.
Willy gives Syndicate honcho Jonas Stone (Paul Stewart) a high-pressure insulin dose on an elevator via a trick cigarette lighter. Stone is holding a dossier of blackmail information that was compiled by his protege, Lou Merrick (Donnelly Rhodes), but even Merrick hasn't been entrusted to the combination of Stone's safe. Merrick wants Stone to expand his operation to include narcotics, but Stone is against it. Dr. Jim, from the Institute of Cerebral Research (to which Stone donates money for tax purposes), is visiting Stone--ostensibly on behalf of Dr. Berman--when Stone collapses from the insulin.
Dr. Jim accompanies Stone on the ambulance while Barney, assisted by Phillip (I presume), uses a suction cup handle to get into the window of Stone's empty office from the window-washing platform. There Barney erects a false two-way mirrored wall to the side of Stone's bar, where he conceals himself. Barney's in there while Galvin visits the office and Willy calls, both ostensibly wanting to talk to Stone but talking to Merrick in his absence and dropping hints of a pharmaceutical-related deal. Afterward, Barney goes to work on the actual wall inside the fake wall, breaking into the back of the wall safe in the next room to both switch out the blackmail documents and change the combination.
Stone is put in an iron lung under the care of Dr. Berman, whom we were told in the briefing would be keeping Stone under with sedatives. While Berman's not there, Dr. Jim brings in a non-medical visitor, Psychic Paris, against the fake protests of Nurse Larkin. Merrick's man who's guarding the room goes in to find Paris hooked to Stone via an EEG machine. Merrick comes running to find out what's going on, which is when Paris fakes receiving thoughts from Stone while Jim surreptitiously gives Stone little jolts to jerk his head around. While at the hospital, Merrick picks up some deliberately dropped clues that lead him to Willy, who's posing as the pharmaceutical lab scientist who's supposed to be manufacturing heroin for Stone.
Merrick returns to Stone's room and confronts Paris at gunpoint, at which point Paris goes full mind meld with Stone, sans the machine hookup...effectively, playing Stone supposedly talking through Paris, sharing details about the fake narcotics operation. When they're gone, Berman brings in Merrick's rival, Nicholson (William Bryant), and feigns lack of knowledge of what Dr. Jim has been doing, indicating that Dr. Jim was brought in by Merrick and that Stone has been drugged. Berman revives Stone, who now thinks that Merrick has betrayed him.
Meanwhile, Merrick brings Paris to open Stone's safe to retrieve the money for the narcotics deal...but Barney hasn't finished changing the combination, having been delayed by an underling who likes to sneak drinks from the bar when nobody's around. Barney signals Paris via an electric shock through the safe, and Paris stalls by improvising that his mind meld is slipping. Once they've got the money, Galvin visits to take it while Barney's making his escape from the opposite room. Merrick then brings in an underling to dispose of Paris, but down in the lobby, Jim comes to his rescue with some good ol' TV Fu.
Stone goes to his office with Nicholson to confront Merrick, finding the safe and the folder of blackmail documents both empty. The IMF listens in via bug as Nicholson shoots Merrick.
This one was worth it for
the sight of Nimoy hooked up to the EEG machine.
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Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 3, episode 11
Originally aired November 24, 1969
The Wiki list of guest appearances said:
Michael Caine, Sammy Davis Jr., Tennessee Ernie Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Davy Jones
Yes, Virginia, there is a Sammy Davis Jr.!
Sammy introduces Potpourri:
Sammy does a "Here comes the judge"-style news intro (couldn't find a clip).
Sammy, Arte, and Henry sing about being short:
One bit in a series of shootout gags:
Davy pops up briefly in the Quickies, in a bit that was likely filmed for one of his previous appearances.
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"Kiss That Girl Goodbye"
Originally aired November 27, 1969
Wiki said:
Donald has a chance to get a job in Paris and worries about leaving Ann.
Ann and Donald are eating at their favorite restaurant again (which is called Nino's) when Donald is approached by a man who seems to know a lot about him named Bob Harrison (Mark Miller). Harrision leaves his card, and Donald realizes afterward that he's a big publishing magnate.
When they return to Ann's apartment, they think there's a burglar inside, so Donald readies his own TV Fu...
...but it turns out to be Mr. Marie, who's in town for a convention (like he needs an excuse at this point).
Lew said:
Is that some kind of a hippie greeating? You mighta killed me!
Donald has lunch with Harrison at Nino's and is offered an associate editorship that would involve working in Paris for 18 months. Donald has to tell Ann about it while he's on the run, and then when Jerry finds out about it, he likes the idea so much that he gives Ruthie the impression that Donald definitely wants to do it, which gets to Ann. To makes things worse, Ann gets an out-of-context phone message from Donald's secretary indicating that he's taking an associate editor job and bringing the secretary with him. Mr. Marie's actually mellowing out some, as he tries to encourage Ann by standing up for Donald's integrity. When Donald comes over, he keeps the drama going by telling Ann the same things that the secretary did, without even considering that she'd assume he's talking about the Paris offer...it turns out that he got a better deal for the same position at
NewsView.
"Oh, Donald" count:
7
"Oh, Daddy" count:
2
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Ironside
"Five Miles High"
Originally aired November 27, 1969
Wiki said:
Ironside shares a flight with a witness ready to testify against a racketeer—and an unknown gunman.
The episode opens with Team Ironside rounding up their reluctant witness, Jack Brady (Milton Selzer), in Hawaii. At the airport lounge, Ironside runs into an acquaintance, sports writer Frank Bolan (former
It's About Time co-star Frank Aletter), who's ostensibly covering Jimmy Otis (Robert Do Qui), a fighter who's lost his title, but is more interested in getting details of what Ironside is up to. Brady, accompanied by his jaded and weary wife, Linda (Norma Crane), is suffering from an ulcer that he hasn't been helping by hitting the bottle hard. In the first class lounge of the plane, Ironside intervenes in an attempt at getting to Brady through his scotch by lacing it with chloral hydrate, which Bolan apparently fall victim to but recovers, as the attempt was tailored at exploiting Brady's ulcer. There are a couple of suspects on the plane with a connection to Lou Coster, the underworld figure against whom Brady is supposed to testify in front of a grand jury in Frisco: Irene Wilson (Dorotohy Green), whose deceased husband was investigated years back by then-detective Ironside in connection with crooked horse racing; and Jimmy's manager, Sid Leppich (Joe Mantell), in whose bag Mark find the chloral hydrate.
Questioned by the Chief, Leppich indicates that he had the chloral hydrate in case he needed to knock out Jimmy for his own good, because of his tendency to not want to go down. Ironside subsequently learns that Coster has an open contract out on Brady, making anyone on the plane a suspect. The Chief subsequently exposes the plane's captain (Regis Cordic) as being an imposter, though he strikes the Chief as an opportunist looking for a cut rather than the actual hitman.
While the passengers are watching a Don Knotts film, Ironside catches Bolan sneaking into the lounge, where the Bradys are sleeping. The Chief has surmised that Bolan has been serving as Coster's go-between in his bookie operation, and exposes that his pen has a hypodermic needle in it. In good detective fashion, the Chief was giving Bolan the opportunity to make another move.
Ironside said:
You know, I got a bit suspicious right off when...
...when he was the only guest billed after the opening credits? Yeah, me too. Anyway, Bolan pulls a gun, but Mark comes up from behind the compartment-separating curtain and disarms him.
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Get Smart
"The Apes of Rath"
Originally aired November 28, 1969
Wiki said:
Six CONTROL agents have been murdered in the last month by someone with incredible strength. The only clue is that each agent received a banana in the mail the morning that they were killed. It is soon deduced that the killer is an ape. 99 alerts Max that he has received a banana, prompting the Chief to assign Agent 77, Chuck Armstrong, to protect Max. Unfortunately, Agent 77 has his own issues to deal with, of which he himself is unaware. The episode title is a takeoff on The Grapes of Wrath but the episode itself is a takeoff on The Murders in the Rue Morgue, with a famous line from King Kong thrown in at the very end.
CONTROL comes to believe that they're dealing with an ape, but we learn that the killer is Agent 77 (Charles Bateman), who's actually an ape who's been altered by KAOS's Dr. Rath (Reuben Singer) to look and act human...except when Bateman is doing his ape impression, which fills a lot of time.
Cronin (Bob Carroll): Absolutely amazing.
Dr. Rath: I'll tell you what else is amazing, Cronin....That you and I can be here like this and converse in a German accent for hour after hour and neither one of us is German.
99 and the twins are home now. When 77 makes his attempt on Max, he carries off 99 Fay Wray-style, having taken a shine to her. Max goes up to the rooftop to rescue her, aided by...
Max said:
That's right, Armstrong--the old "fake fingertips on the fire escape" trick!
Max is unable to harm Armstrong with any weapons of opportunity, but when Armstrong moves to attack Max, he slips on his own banana peel and falls off the ledge (to the sound of a Tarzan yell). When Max says that Beauty killed the beast, he's referring the brand name of the banana.
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Hogan's Heroes
"The Defector"
Originally aired November 28, 1969
Wiki said:
Defector Field Marshal Rudolph Richter (Harold J. Stone) panics when the Gestapo comes for him and flees to Stalag 13 days before Hogan is prepared to smuggle him out of Germany.
Richter's secretary, Gretchen (Arlene Martel, in one of two roles in the show other than the recurring character of Tiger), arranges for the prisoners to help him escape while he visits Stalag 13, though Hogan is skeptical about how they could pull it off given his recognizability. Then the visit is moved up without warning, because the Gestapo is closing in on Richter.
Hogan said:
I hate a war where people drop in unexpectedly.
Hogan is invited to have dinner with Richter and Klink.
Richter: You are the first American officer I have ever met. Very interesting. I would like to meet more of you.
Hogan: Oh, you will. General Eisenhower is arranging it right now.
But our favorite Gestapo officer crashes the occasion...
Hochstetter said:
My superiors in Berlin feel that there are two dangers to the Third Reich: the Allies and Colonel Klink.
But Hochstetter needs to get Klink out of the room to clue him in as to what's going on, so he has to switch tactics...
A wincing Hochstetter said:
There has been an escape from Stalag Four. I need your...expert assistance.
The prisoners' plan to fake Richter's death includes...Newkirk disguising himself as a guard! You know, like he does
all the time. And Richter, dressed as an American prisoner, being snuck into the cooler. And a dummy dressed in Richter's uniform, which rolls away in his staff car. When Hochstetter tries to shoot out the tires, a bomb planted in the car goes off, making it look like Hochstetter hit the fuel tank.
DISSS-missed!
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Adam-12
"Log 123: Courtroom"
Originally aired November 29, 1969
Wiki said:
Reed and Malloy are accused of overstepping the parameters of a search warrant by a suspect found to be in possession of illegal drugs.
Reed and Malloy are going through traffic warrants to follow up on during their patrol when Malloy recognizes one of the names, James Llewelyn Brown (William Traylor), as belonging to someone he'd busted for possession a couple years prior. They decide to focus on him, and he attempts to flee as soon as he opens his door and sees them. They have a legal right to arrest him for the warrant despite his protests. But Reed goes back inside the house against further protests to make sure the back door is locked and finds narcotics and pill-manufacturing equipment in the kitchen. This falls in a gray area of search and seizure protocol.
In the titular venue, Brown's attorney is Dudley Gray (Phillip Pine), whom Malloy recognizes as a good lawyer despite his unpopularity with the police; while the attorney in the officers' corner is Richard Combest (Roger Perry) from the DA's office. Gray's line of defense emphasizes that Brown tried to stop Reed from going to the back door, telling him that the door was already locked. He also cites a prior court decision that limits an officer's right to search to the immediate area of the arrest. The judge rules that the contraband found by Reed is inadmissible as evidence, and the case is promptly dismissed for lack of evidence...though the judge gives Brown a lecture about how fortunate he is that the law was on his side in this matter.
In the coda, Gray doesn't seem personally pleased at his victory, and reaches out to Reed to explain his role as the defense attorney. He then shakes hands with Combest and the credits roll.
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Hope I'm not repeating myself here, but my draft lottery number was 10, which meant that I was certain to be drafted. That was the purpose of the lottery, supposedly, to take out the uncertainty of whether or not you'd be selected.
Soon after the lottery, my II-S school deferment was rescinded and I was reclassified 1-A, which meant I was eligible for induction. Soon after that, I was called in for a physical. Two things kept me out of the army; that the war was winding down and I was older that the army wanted it's new young killers to be.
Can't recall it having come up. Glad you're with us!
Yeah, Beatles 65 and Beatles VI was not the band's most creative albums, but that didn't stop me from still loving them.
I don't mean to be too hard on the
Beatles for Sale material...it has its high points, including the first obvious signs of Dylan influence on John's songwriting. But going through their British catalogue chronologically, it always tended to feel like a regression, the way they went back to doing half an album of covers in particular. The general Beatles scholarship narrative is that they were just plain exhausted at this point, given what a busy year it had been for them. Maybe following along the way the material was presented in America, divided between two albums, will do it some favors.
Also, back to the new single...being used to the British album masters, I can't help noticing that Capitol sure put a lot of echo on the songs. It sounds like I'm listening to the Beatles from the next room.
Interesting. I'm not sure if I've ever seen Ken Berry in a dramatic role.
It was a small part and relatively comic relief...he got to be flustered when he tried to blow Savage off and then looked up from his clipboard to see that he was talking to a general.
For once, it's not Gilligan's fault.
That's right...I neglected to mention that Gilligan was the only one who didn't try to take any gold.
Since the island is volcanically active, we could say that there are constantly fumes seeping up through the ground that affects their mental state.
