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50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing
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Love, American Style
"Love and the Joker / Love and the Letter / Love and the Living Doll / Love and the Unlikely Couple"
Originally aired October 6, 1969
I have all of the segments from this episode, spread across three syndicated episodes--or four, if you count that "Love and the Joker" appears in two different episodes! (Though I just discovered last night that somebody's posted full original Season 1 episodes on YouTube, so I may be reviewing from those in the future. If I'd known they were there, I would have been watching in 50th anniversary sync last season!)
"Love and the Joker" has Larry Storch as Bill, a greeting card writer who frustrates his co-worker and love interest, Vera (E.J. Peaker), with his inability to be sincere without pulling gags--both at work, in the punchlines of his cards, and on a date, where he brings her rhubarb wrapped like roses and serves her champagne in a dribble glass. The day after the date, she gets even with him by giving him an apology note on sticky paper that he can't get off his fingers.
"Love and the Letter" stars Robert Clary (from Hogan's Heroes) as Maurice and Reni Santoni as Vito, ESL students in an adult education English class. Vito tries to convey his feelings for his teacher, Miss Walker (Margaret O'Brien), in a letter that he reads in front of the class, but she doesn't get the message and obsesses over his grammar. Vito leaves the class in a huff, after which Maurice tells her that she hurt his feelings and directs her to the pizza parlor where he works so she can apologize. When she does, Vito tells her that the letter was for her.
Other students in the class include Henry Corden and Miko Mayama (Yeoman Tamula in "A Taste of Armageddon").
"Love and the Living Doll" is a longer segment that takes up a full half-hour syndicated episode, minus the interstitial gags. Harvey (Arte Johnson) realizes that the neighbor he's interested in, Barbara (Marlyn Mason), is taking him for granted because he's made himself too easy to get...and he can see the guys she's dating because their apartments are on either side of an inward corner of the building, such that each can see the other's window. So Harvey tells her about a hot date he's got with a "living doll"...then proceeds to prepare an inflatable doll in a slinky dress and wig. Barbara cancels a date so she can try to get a look at Harvey's date. He wines and dines the doll, which falls out of the chair, but this makes Barbara think that she's smashed. Then he dances with the doll with the shade down, so she can only see their silhouettes. More physical comedy mishaps ensue, which Barbara misinterprets, so she rushes over with a story about trying to find an earring. He doesn't let her in until he emergency deflates the doll by stabbing it with a knife, and then Barbara tries to find out more about the mystery date who suddenly left while finding that she left her shoes behind.
Just as Harvey's convincing Barbara to join him in the dinner he made, a cop comes to the door and reads Harvey his rights, because he got a call from nosey neighbor Mrs. Bradbury (Estelle Winwood), who saw the silhouette of Harvey stabbing the doll. (We didn't see her watching, but I saw that coming because of the way the stabbing was set up in front of the shade.) Harvey has no choice but to reveal the deflated doll stashed under a couch cushion. Harvey's humiliated, but when he and Barbara are alone, she's flattered that he went through the trouble.
"Love and the Unlikely Couple" opens with Mr. and Mrs. Silversmith (Lou Jacobi and Alice Ghostley) trying to get their home looking nice because their son, Wally (Wes Stern), is bringing over his fiancée for the first time. When they see the statuesque Bunny (Barbara Rhoades), Mr. S considers Wally to be a "lucky bum," while Mrs. S assumes that Bunny must be a gold digger, and subsequently goes out of her way to convince Bunny that everything in the house is worthless. But it turns out that Bunny's the one who's loaded, so Mrs. S then assumes that Wally is after her money...though Mr. S doesn't see the need for Wally to have an ulterior motive. Wally and Bunny finally convince the two of them that they're really in love...she makes him "twang" inside, and he makes her "ping".
_______
Hawaii Five-O
"Forty Feet High and It Kills!"
Originally aired October 8, 1969
So, we're back to H5O being all spy fi, with the return of McGarrett's Blofeld from the pilot episode (Khigh Dhiegh).
There's an actual daylight break-in at the weather observatory with guards being knocked out, but the tsunami warning goes out before anyone knows about it. This causes the scientists at a conference to be evacuated to higher ground. But McGarrett gets a notification of the communication lines to that observatory being out, and smells a hoax because nobody else has reported the tidal wave. Chin and Kono rush to the observatory and find the trussed-up guards. While 5-O is sorting things out, Wo Fat's men nab Professor Lochner (Geer). The professor tries unsuccessfully to make them think he's somebody else, but McGarrett gets word of it and figures that he'll have Lochner's help on the inside.
After some verbal sparring over Wo Fat's intentions, the professor declares that he secretly has diabetes and smashes the only bottle of insulin that he has with him. This buys him time as Fat sends his men to get more from the villa where Lochner has been staying. Meanwhile, McGarrett liaises with the professor's daughter and assistant, Victoria (Sabrina Scharf), with whom he'd previously been flirting, and she tells him that her father really is secretly a diabetic. So McGarrett sends Danny and Chin to the villa, where they interrupt the burglary and wound one of the minions. McGarrett is able to question him just long enough for him to drop Fat's name.
Meanwhile, the professor has gotten wind of McGarrett and figures he's got a sharp ally on the outside. He tells Fat that he needs a specific type of insulin, and reluctantly discloses the name of the pharmacy where he got it. Victoria doesn't want to play ball on her end, however, fearing that McGarrett would cut off the insulin supply to kill her father rather than let him fall into red hands, but Steve persuades her to cooperate for the chance of getting the professor back alive. He sends his men to stake the place out but not interfere, so they can follow Fat's men. The team displays better surveillance technique than they did the other episode when they were openly gawking at their subject at the airport. McGarrett coordinates their efforts via radio and marks their route on his Giant Daylit Lucite Map of Honolulu. It leads to the pier, which McGarrett has surrounded, and lets Wo Fat know it via bullhorn. Fat reveals himself and some face-to-face verbal sparring results in successful negotiation of Lochner's release in exchange for Wo Fat being allowed to walk away. Fat stops the crate in which the professor was being smuggled from being loaded onto a ship.
_______
Dragnet 1970
"D.H.Q. – Medical"
Originally aired October 9, 1969
Wednesday, July 30 (1969): Friday and Gannon are working the night watch of the hospital detail out of Detective Headquarters, which involves investigating cases dealing with the mentally ill, amnesia victims, and alcoholics. This includes threats by a Fred Pick (Del Moore) to blow up a radio station for supposedly talking about him on the air, though they deny having ever mentioned him. The detectives make some calls and find a friend that Pick has recently visited, who upon being asked discovers that his gun is missing. They have a car sent to keep an eye on the radio station.
An old British gentleman named Basil Jennings (Cyril Delevanti) is brought in after loitering for some time in the lobby of a hotel. They've dealt with him before...apparently he likes big hotel lobbies better than the home he lives in. He acts like he has amnesia, so they have him checked out, but it turns out he was just pulling one on them to get a ride in a police car.
Then a man named George Brownlea (Morris Erby) comes in saying that he has a sick woman whom he doesn't know in his car...but it turns out that she's been dead for hours. He initially claims that he picked her up drunk at a park for her own good, but when they're going to do a make on him, he admits to having a record and being on parole, and having been shacking up with the woman for some time, but explains that she had a major drinking problem.
Meanwhile, Pick has been picked up outside the radio station and is brought in. It now seems like Friday and Gannon have dealt with him before, though that wasn't mentioned when they were looking into him earlier in the episode, and he tells an exaggerated tale of having taken his case against the station to the Supreme Court. They convince him to go back to the facility where he's been treated before. As he has before, he gives them in writing a gift of great, imaginary wealth...in this case, $7 million dollars in bonds.
Finally, shooting victim John Murphy (King Moody) is brought in. Friday tries to get a dying statement from him about who shot him, but he doesn't manage to answer before passing. Immediately after, a young woman under the influence of something is brought in, having been directing traffic with handwritten signs reading "STOP" and "GO-GO".
_______
50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing
_______
Love, American Style
"Love and the Joker / Love and the Letter / Love and the Living Doll / Love and the Unlikely Couple"
Originally aired October 6, 1969
I have all of the segments from this episode, spread across three syndicated episodes--or four, if you count that "Love and the Joker" appears in two different episodes! (Though I just discovered last night that somebody's posted full original Season 1 episodes on YouTube, so I may be reviewing from those in the future. If I'd known they were there, I would have been watching in 50th anniversary sync last season!)
"Love and the Joker" has Larry Storch as Bill, a greeting card writer who frustrates his co-worker and love interest, Vera (E.J. Peaker), with his inability to be sincere without pulling gags--both at work, in the punchlines of his cards, and on a date, where he brings her rhubarb wrapped like roses and serves her champagne in a dribble glass. The day after the date, she gets even with him by giving him an apology note on sticky paper that he can't get off his fingers.
"Love and the Letter" stars Robert Clary (from Hogan's Heroes) as Maurice and Reni Santoni as Vito, ESL students in an adult education English class. Vito tries to convey his feelings for his teacher, Miss Walker (Margaret O'Brien), in a letter that he reads in front of the class, but she doesn't get the message and obsesses over his grammar. Vito leaves the class in a huff, after which Maurice tells her that she hurt his feelings and directs her to the pizza parlor where he works so she can apologize. When she does, Vito tells her that the letter was for her.
Other students in the class include Henry Corden and Miko Mayama (Yeoman Tamula in "A Taste of Armageddon").
"Love and the Living Doll" is a longer segment that takes up a full half-hour syndicated episode, minus the interstitial gags. Harvey (Arte Johnson) realizes that the neighbor he's interested in, Barbara (Marlyn Mason), is taking him for granted because he's made himself too easy to get...and he can see the guys she's dating because their apartments are on either side of an inward corner of the building, such that each can see the other's window. So Harvey tells her about a hot date he's got with a "living doll"...then proceeds to prepare an inflatable doll in a slinky dress and wig. Barbara cancels a date so she can try to get a look at Harvey's date. He wines and dines the doll, which falls out of the chair, but this makes Barbara think that she's smashed. Then he dances with the doll with the shade down, so she can only see their silhouettes. More physical comedy mishaps ensue, which Barbara misinterprets, so she rushes over with a story about trying to find an earring. He doesn't let her in until he emergency deflates the doll by stabbing it with a knife, and then Barbara tries to find out more about the mystery date who suddenly left while finding that she left her shoes behind.
Barbara: Where did you pick her up, Harvey?
Harvey: Oh, uh, downtown in one of the department stores.
Harvey: Oh, uh, downtown in one of the department stores.
Just as Harvey's convincing Barbara to join him in the dinner he made, a cop comes to the door and reads Harvey his rights, because he got a call from nosey neighbor Mrs. Bradbury (Estelle Winwood), who saw the silhouette of Harvey stabbing the doll. (We didn't see her watching, but I saw that coming because of the way the stabbing was set up in front of the shade.) Harvey has no choice but to reveal the deflated doll stashed under a couch cushion. Harvey's humiliated, but when he and Barbara are alone, she's flattered that he went through the trouble.
"Love and the Unlikely Couple" opens with Mr. and Mrs. Silversmith (Lou Jacobi and Alice Ghostley) trying to get their home looking nice because their son, Wally (Wes Stern), is bringing over his fiancée for the first time. When they see the statuesque Bunny (Barbara Rhoades), Mr. S considers Wally to be a "lucky bum," while Mrs. S assumes that Bunny must be a gold digger, and subsequently goes out of her way to convince Bunny that everything in the house is worthless. But it turns out that Bunny's the one who's loaded, so Mrs. S then assumes that Wally is after her money...though Mr. S doesn't see the need for Wally to have an ulterior motive. Wally and Bunny finally convince the two of them that they're really in love...she makes him "twang" inside, and he makes her "ping".
_______
Hawaii Five-O
"Forty Feet High and It Kills!"
Originally aired October 8, 1969
Wiki said:
So, we're back to H5O being all spy fi, with the return of McGarrett's Blofeld from the pilot episode (Khigh Dhiegh).
There's an actual daylight break-in at the weather observatory with guards being knocked out, but the tsunami warning goes out before anyone knows about it. This causes the scientists at a conference to be evacuated to higher ground. But McGarrett gets a notification of the communication lines to that observatory being out, and smells a hoax because nobody else has reported the tidal wave. Chin and Kono rush to the observatory and find the trussed-up guards. While 5-O is sorting things out, Wo Fat's men nab Professor Lochner (Geer). The professor tries unsuccessfully to make them think he's somebody else, but McGarrett gets word of it and figures that he'll have Lochner's help on the inside.
After some verbal sparring over Wo Fat's intentions, the professor declares that he secretly has diabetes and smashes the only bottle of insulin that he has with him. This buys him time as Fat sends his men to get more from the villa where Lochner has been staying. Meanwhile, McGarrett liaises with the professor's daughter and assistant, Victoria (Sabrina Scharf), with whom he'd previously been flirting, and she tells him that her father really is secretly a diabetic. So McGarrett sends Danny and Chin to the villa, where they interrupt the burglary and wound one of the minions. McGarrett is able to question him just long enough for him to drop Fat's name.
Meanwhile, the professor has gotten wind of McGarrett and figures he's got a sharp ally on the outside. He tells Fat that he needs a specific type of insulin, and reluctantly discloses the name of the pharmacy where he got it. Victoria doesn't want to play ball on her end, however, fearing that McGarrett would cut off the insulin supply to kill her father rather than let him fall into red hands, but Steve persuades her to cooperate for the chance of getting the professor back alive. He sends his men to stake the place out but not interfere, so they can follow Fat's men. The team displays better surveillance technique than they did the other episode when they were openly gawking at their subject at the airport. McGarrett coordinates their efforts via radio and marks their route on his Giant Daylit Lucite Map of Honolulu. It leads to the pier, which McGarrett has surrounded, and lets Wo Fat know it via bullhorn. Fat reveals himself and some face-to-face verbal sparring results in successful negotiation of Lochner's release in exchange for Wo Fat being allowed to walk away. Fat stops the crate in which the professor was being smuggled from being loaded onto a ship.
_______
Dragnet 1970
"D.H.Q. – Medical"
Originally aired October 9, 1969
Xfinity said:
Sgt. Joe Friday said:
Wednesday, July 30 (1969): Friday and Gannon are working the night watch of the hospital detail out of Detective Headquarters, which involves investigating cases dealing with the mentally ill, amnesia victims, and alcoholics. This includes threats by a Fred Pick (Del Moore) to blow up a radio station for supposedly talking about him on the air, though they deny having ever mentioned him. The detectives make some calls and find a friend that Pick has recently visited, who upon being asked discovers that his gun is missing. They have a car sent to keep an eye on the radio station.
An old British gentleman named Basil Jennings (Cyril Delevanti) is brought in after loitering for some time in the lobby of a hotel. They've dealt with him before...apparently he likes big hotel lobbies better than the home he lives in. He acts like he has amnesia, so they have him checked out, but it turns out he was just pulling one on them to get a ride in a police car.
Then a man named George Brownlea (Morris Erby) comes in saying that he has a sick woman whom he doesn't know in his car...but it turns out that she's been dead for hours. He initially claims that he picked her up drunk at a park for her own good, but when they're going to do a make on him, he admits to having a record and being on parole, and having been shacking up with the woman for some time, but explains that she had a major drinking problem.
Meanwhile, Pick has been picked up outside the radio station and is brought in. It now seems like Friday and Gannon have dealt with him before, though that wasn't mentioned when they were looking into him earlier in the episode, and he tells an exaggerated tale of having taken his case against the station to the Supreme Court. They convince him to go back to the facility where he's been treated before. As he has before, he gives them in writing a gift of great, imaginary wealth...in this case, $7 million dollars in bonds.
Finally, shooting victim John Murphy (King Moody) is brought in. Friday tries to get a dying statement from him about who shot him, but he doesn't manage to answer before passing. Immediately after, a young woman under the influence of something is brought in, having been directing traffic with handwritten signs reading "STOP" and "GO-GO".
The Announcer said:
The mugshot said:
The Announcer said:
The mugshot said:
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