_______
55.5th-ish Anniversary Viewing
_______
The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 18, episode 9
Originally aired November 7, 1965
As represented in
The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show
Ed is announced as being just back from a trip to his home town of Portchester, New York.
Ed said:
And now the first of other features for the youngsters tonight, here are...the Righteous Brothers...!
The duo for whom they invented the term "blue-eyed soul" perform a cover of the 1961 Bobby Bland song "Turn on Your Lovelight":
Ed said:
At the award dinner of the National Conference of Christians and Jews this week, Alan King had a...jammed ballroom actually rolling in the aisles. Ladies and gentlemen, here is comedy star...Alan King!
King's routine centers around his marriage. The clip here is fuller than the
Best of edit, which didn't include the introduction of his family.
Ed said:
Now French pantomimist Jean-Pierre [?] and his Italian girl partner, Edie Kartini, now present their amusing pantomime, Doubles Faces.
For once, the YouTube clip uses the same music as
Best of, which is one of
Best of's standard pieces, so I'm sure that it wasn't the original music. It doesn't seem like something that French pantomimists would use in their act.
Recycled Ed said:
...the Righteous Brothers...!
The Brothers earn their adjective by indulging their spiritual side with a rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone":
Ed said:
...here is one of the greatest of all time...Peggy...Lee!
Peggy does a torchy George Gershwin show tune called "How Long Has This Been Going On," which the Metacritic listing says was part of a medley with "Falling in Love," in addition to a separate performance of "It's A Grand Night for Singing".
Ed said:
I want to propose that you and the Righteous Brothers sing a song together...
The command trio is "Yes Indeed," which has some fun bits of business in it:
Other performances:
- Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - "A Taste of Honey" & "Zorba The Greek."
- Anna Moffo
- Baby Opal (trained elephant act)
_______
Branded
"Fill No Glass For Me: Part 1"
Originally aired November 7, 1965
Xfinity said:
Apaches attack McCord and a group of inexperienced soldiers.
Jason rides to a cantina where he asks for a drink of water for a rose that he's carrying and a bottle of burgundy with two glasses, to be shared with an old friend of whom he speaks in the past tense. At a lone, shallow gravesite, he begins to talk to his friend, Johnny, and then goes all Kwai Chang, flashing back to an earlier but still post-Bitter Creek encounter with Corporal Johnny Macon (Greg Morris!--also doing the rounds in this season before his signature role began), who was singing the title song to his inexperienced unit of black soldiers on their first patrol. Jason warns Johnny that renegade Apaches have been sending smoke signals about his unit, and Johnny is receptive to Jason's advice when he learns that he was a cavalry captain. Just as Macon's giving the order to break camp, the Apaches ambush the unit...and because they're camped in a natural kill box, the men are picked off like fish in a barrel. Macon is strongly affected by losing his first men, and is reluctant to leave his unit when Jason sends him to ride for help.
Just after the corporal departs, Jason is captured by the Apaches, whose leader is an old foe from Bitter Creek, Chief Wateekah (Michael Keep). They have a discussion about their respective outcast roles in their societies. Meanwhile, Macon is taken to task by Major Brackham (Duncan McLeod) for taking orders from the infamous Jason McCord. Brackham has no intention of going to help McCord, writes off the rest of the unit is dead, and gives Macon the McCord treatment, having him placed under arrest to face a court martial for desertion. Back at the Apache camp, Jason explains to Wateekah why the black men fight for the white men. The Chief shares his plan to use Jason as bait to lure in Macon. Jason tries to tell Wateekah that all men are brothers regardless of the color of their skin. But he's still taken out to be tied to a tree. Cut to an announcement to come back next week, in lieu of an onscreen appearance by Those Three Words.
_______
12 O'Clock High
"I Am the Enemy"
Originally aired November 8, 1965
Xfinity said:
A fanatical hatred for his former countrymen drives a German-born lead pilot (William Shatner) to fly reckless missions.
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/the-classic-retro-pop-culture-thread.278375/page-79#post-12315657
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/tre...urprising-roles.205921/page-100#post-12314466
The episode opens with Major Kurt Brown (William Shatner)--whom we learn is nicknamed "The Iron Major"--leading a rough mission in which he shows no empathy or concern for a badly wounded bombardier, and is clearly not liked by his crew for it. Back at Archbury, he chews some scenery over being sent on these costly repeated missions to take out sub pens, but won't take leave as Gallagher suggests. When he's informed of the bombardier's death, he goes into a rant about needing to bomb the German populace to strike terror into them. Gallagher speculates afterward that this has to do with Brown being of German blood. General Britt has Brown in mind for taking command of the 82nd Bomb Group, though Brown's more interested in flying and knows that he's not popular with his men. In the scene mentioned in the original review, he generally acts very intense.
At the Star & Bottle, Gallagher's trying to comfort a woman named Elizabeth Hoffman (Elen Willard) over a personal loss. When Gallagher buys Brown a drink and recruits him to see to Elizabeth while he goes to a meeting, Brown cops an attitude but ultimately complies...only to make the moves on her when he sees her home, to receive a slap in in the face. She can see that something's bothering him and observes that he's suffering from loneliness just as she is, and they seem to be on the road to bonding when we cut back to the airfield, where Brown has returned after aborting a mission because of a navigator with a burst appendix, which makes him feel like a coward, again showing no empathy for his crew. Cut back to Elizabeth's place, where Brown's unloading on her about the situation, and expresses paranoia about Gallagher wanting to undermine him taking command of the 82nd. She admits to being in love with Kurt, then confronts him about his hatred of Germans, confessing that she's a German who lost her British husband in the war; the delivery of the title line comes from her in this scene. Brown confronts Gallagher the next day, assuming that pairing him with Elizabeth was a set-up. Gallagher in turn tries to make him face his self-loathing over being German.
Act III opens with that Trek fanfare-sounding cue while Shat is on screen, briefing his men on the airfield. On the mission, Brown won't turn around after losing an engine, and doesn't flinch as his cockpit gets shot up by a German fighter. Ultimately the plane gets damaged badly enough that he struggles for control of it, and loses some crewmen. Back at Elizabeth's place, though she doesn't want to see him, he tells her how he couldn't remember flying the mission, and opens up about his self-loathing and how he went into the war hoping to be killed so he wouldn't have to commit suicide. Stovall
is in a scene, the next day's briefing...following which Brown has a very OTT collapse due to exhaustion. Britt admits that Gallagher was right about him, but Gallagher doesn't want to write the major off, feeling that he needs Brown for the mission. Brown now wants out, however, and Gallagher speculates correctly that he suddenly wants to live because of Elizabeth...but thinks that if he can get Brown to fly while knowing fear, he'll be a better commander for it. (Recall that Gallagher has much experience in this area...it was his origin story.) Thus he tries to persuade Kurt to fly the mission, or at least not to quit for the wrong reason.
Ultimately Brown decides that he does need to fly the mission, and tries to explain to Elizabeth before leaving. She promises to wait for him. Gallagher's leading, and the group struggles with bad weather, then is jumped by fighters. Gallagher has to abort, so he places Brown in charge. The major is successful, but taken out by flak. In the Epilog, Gallagher talks to Brown after surgery, and Kurt admits to his fear, but says that he's getting used to it. Gallagher then talks to Liz, who wants to blame him for what Kurt has become, but Gallagher credits her for his breakthrough.
Was I a little hard on Shat's overacting in the original write-up? Maybe...or maybe I just went in knowing what to expect this time. I didn't catch where Kurt got into the part where he was smuggled out of Germany as described in the original post...just where he referenced having been ready to die since he was 12. Maybe he's been suffering his self-loathing for being German since WWI?
_______
Gilligan's Island
"Agonized Labor"
Originally aired November 11, 1965
Wiki said:
The Howells are broke, or so the radio says. After the rest of the group stops Mr. Howell's suicide attempts, they try to train them for other lines of work for after they are rescued. In the end, they hear on the radio that it was Powell Industries that went broke.
The Skipper and Gilligan practice how Gilligan should inform Mr. Howell. Did the Skipper ever think that maybe he should just do jobs like this himself? The other castaways learn first because of Gilligan's combo of procrastination and a big mouth. Meanwhile, the Howells are planning to faux-industrialize the island. Among the other junk he brought on the
Minnow, Howell actually has a trunk full of cash..."a petty few hundred thousand"...I'm not sure if that's come up before. After he gets the news, various physical mishaps with the other castaways follow, apparently tanking his self-respect and contributing to him losing his will to live. He leaves a note for Lovey.
The others search for Thurston as he wanders the jungle trying to determine how to kill himself. Gilligan finds him on a cliff and ends up falling off it himself, hanging onto a jutting branch. Howell is depressed at having to learn to work, so the Professor comes up with the idea of training the Howells in new skills. IMDb points out that Mrs. Howell has been seen cooking and sewing before, though I don't recall the incidents offhand. Howell reverts to form, having Skipper do all the work that he's supposed to be learning to do. The Howells end up trying to prepare and serve a gourmet meal for the others, though her cooking and his waitering leave much to be desired...which culminates in coconuts exploding because she tried to cook them in their shells.
In the coda, both of the Howells are about to jump off the cliff when the radio report comes in with the announcer correcting the previous news flashes, which had caused financial chaos back in civilization.
Another GI theory--maybe the Skipper was actually running a smuggling operation, which would explain why the Howells in particular brought so much stuff...they were trying to move some assets offshore, they just didn't reach their intended destination.
_______
The Wild Wild West
"The Night of the Double-Edged Knife"
Originally aired November 12, 1965
Wiki said:
Trouble is brewing along the railroad: the local Indians are demanding gold and have threatened to kill five railroad workers a day until it is paid. Jim and Artie find that things are not what they seem to be.
A group of railroad workers walk off on their boss, Jack Parnell (Tyler McVey), after finding four men hanged, apparently by Cheyenne. Parnell removing an arrow from one of the bodies triggers an explosion, making it five deaths as previously threatened. On the train ride over, Artie offends modern sensibilities by practicing his Indian disguise. At the railroad town, Jim meets his contact, General Ball (Leslie Nielsen), an old acquaintance who's missing a hand. Local officials Adamson (Vaughn Taylor) and Penrose (Harry Townes) brief Jim that the Indians are demanding protection money, but are skeptical of his ability to help. Outside, Jim intervenes in a dispute between some railroad workers, including Mike McGreavy (Elisha Cook), and Parnell's daughter, Sheila (Katharine Ross). When Sheila tells of a bribery attempt and death threat on her father, McGreavy pulls a gun, offering that he works for the man who's responsible for her father's death, and forces them into a cellar. Jim uses some concealed wire to tie the trap door from the inside, and gets very friendly with Sheila while they wait for the bigger fish to arrive.
They later hear knocking and find Artie upstairs in his disguise, who shows them McGreavy's body. Artie switches to the role of an old railroad worker to snoop around on the site. Indians ride up and kill five men on a rail car, and shoot Artie's horse as the agents pursue. Jim continues and is captured by Dartmouth-educated Cheyenne leader American Knife (John Drew Barrymore), who sits down for a talk to inform West that they're not responsible, and shows him that an "Indian" Jim killed in the pursuit is a white man in disguise. But for the sake of his people's expectations, AK has to make a show of subjecting Jim to torture to prove his willingness to help. So he sends in Little Willow (Susan Silo), who has Jim scream and moan and makes a superficial knife wound on his arm, while Jim flirts with her.
By the time they're done, Artie's being given guest treatment at the camp. Artie poses as the body of the killed impostor to catch the men who try to retrieve the corpse, from whom they get the location of the outlaws' camp. Jim eavesdrops on the apparent leader, Farrell (Harry Lauter), planning with other outlaws. They're aware that he's listening, and afterward report to the real big cheese--General Ball. The info they allowed Jim to hear about an impending attack is a trap, but Jim doesn't play into the scheme, advising payment rather than ambushing the outlaws. Outlaws abduct the train's butler, Tennyson (Charles Davis), and Sheila, and take over train. Our heroes and the associates are taken back to the outlaw camp as prisoners, where an obviously well-informed Farrell has all of Jim's hidden weapons and devices removed, tipping Jim off to Ball's involvement. Artie challenges Farrell to a fight to covertly swipe his boot knife.
The general informs Jim of how resentment for his treatment following his dismemberment has motivated his revenge. He takes Jim, Artie, and Shiela to watch as they spring a trap to stop the train with the gold shipment. Jim gets loose via Artie's knife, stealthily overcomes some guards, and uses a rifle to set off the explosives on the track prematurely. The train stops and unloads a contingent of armed Cheyenne who take on the outlaws, while Jim engages in an outdoor set brawl with Ball. When the general trains a gun on Jim, he gets a knife tossed in his back by AK.
The train coda has Jim and Artie hosting the railroad officials and American Knife; after they leave on friendly terms, Sheila and Little Willow come out of the galley with competing dishes they've prepared for Jim.
_______
Hogan's Heroes
"Go Light on the Heavy Water"
Originally aired November 12, 1965
Wiki said:
A barrel of heavy water is on its way to Berlin where it will be used in atomic research if Hogan can’t find a way to steal it.
Note: LeBeau (Robert Clary) does not appear in this episode.
The truck transporting the barrel has to stop at Stalag 13 because a bombing raid is making the road too dangerous. Captain Mueller (John Stephenson) tells Klink that he's carrying water, and Klink doesn't get the hint. Hogan and Kinch approach the driver, Sergeant Steinfeld (Lawrence Montaigne), to try to find out if it's nitro, but he maintains that it's water. With a distraction from Newkirk, Carter slips in and gets a flask of the stuff. At the barracks he drinks some and confirms that it's water. Hogan radios a sub and is informed what it is and to destroy it at all costs.
Hogan tells Klink that it's water from a Norwegian spa that might restore his hair. Klink thus inspects the truck to sneak a cup and drink it on the spot. With Hogan's encouragement, Klink subsequently proceeds to scheme with Schultz to steal the barrel and replace it. Mueller interrupts, finds out what Klink thinks is in the barrel, and tells him the truth, so the prisoners have to do their own switcheroo. A fire alarm in Klink's office motivates Steinfeld to move the truck, backing it in front of the barracks, where the prisoners pull down a drawbridge-style wall and switch the barrel with a phony.
Hogan does the hat-on-the-helmet thing in Klink's office again. Both Mama Bear and Mueller say that the heavy water is for nuclear experiments...that term wasn't in common use for years to come.
Disss-missssed!
_______
Get Smart
"Satan Place"
Originally aired November 13, 1965
Wiki said:
KAOS kidnaps the Chief and prepare to give him mind-control surgery. Max pretends to be a doctor in order to try to free the Chief from Harvey Satan. Len Lesser (Seinfeld's Uncle Leo) has a small role as a KAOS agent. The title is based upon the book, film and television series Peyton Place.
The Chief is leaving for vacation out his apartment window, as a security precaution. He struggles with and is abducted by two KAOS agents in his own car while Max is looking under the hood. Now Max and 99 say that they can't go to the government because CONTROL is so top secret that even the State Department doesn't know about it! The president isn't helpful either, so they have to resort to a fundraising drive within CONTROL. Harvey Satan's (Joseph Sirola) plan is to ransom the Chief back mind-controlled. After making the drop, Max coordinates a dragnet via phones concealed about his person in a variety of accessories, eventually learning the location of the clearly marked Satan Place Sanitarium. Max and 99 take the place of a doctor and nurse who've arrived for the operation, and find the Chief frozen solid. They end up turning down the thermostat and using a water hose to freeze Satan and his two henchmen (Len Lesser and Jack Perkins). In the coda, the Chief returns to his office to find that all of his belongings where auctioned off in the fundraiser, and that Max won his car in a raffle.
_______
I wonder how much they would all cost on vinyl....
You mean new vinyl? How much is an album going for these days? Assuming they're selling the British versions of the albums with
Past Masters collecting the unattached singles (the recommended listening experience), you've got 12 single albums and 2 double albums, 16 discs total. And there might be a box set out there.
More time to listen to albums!
Is Jack Albertson supposed to be British in this? 'Cause that's a stretch.
