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55.5th-ish Anniversary Viewing
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The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 18, episode 14
Originally aired December 12, 1965
As represented in
The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show
Ed said:
And now...."Mr. Tambourine Man" with...the Byrds!
The groundbreaking group gives us their breakout chart-topper from earlier in the year:
Ed said:
Here is Barbara...McNair.
Barbara performs a rousing rendition of standard "Just in Time," followed by a slow version of future Stevie Wonder hit "For Once in My Life".
Re-edited Ed said:
This time it's the band's other smash hit, currently in its third week at the top of the chart, "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Alas, there's no clip on the Sullivan account.
Ed said:
Let's bring on Wayne Newton...
A separate
Best of installment has young Wayne performing "Swanee". The Sullivan account doesn't have a clip of that, but as proof that God exists and he hates us, here are a couple of others:
"I Wish You Love"
"My Melancholy Baby"
Other performances, as listed on Metacritic:
- Al Hirt (trumpeter) - "Nutty Jingle Bells" and "The Arena" (bullfight number)
- Alan King (stand-up routine)
- Tony Hendra and Nick Ullett (comedy team) - routine about airline pilots
- The Bratislova Slovakian Folkloric Company (Czech dance troupe)
- Ed narrates a film about Special Operations soldiers in Vietnam who work with German shepherds
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Branded
"Romany Roundup: Part 2"
Originally aired December 12, 1965
Xfinity said:
McCord's life is in danger as he continues to side with a band of Gypsies.
He should've stuck with the Jason McCord Experience.
Picking up at the jail, Kolyan offers his tribe's jewel box as Jason's bail, but the sheriff wants cold, hard cash. Kolyan gets that from Robin Shields, and gives her the box in return. Jason is brought back to camp to much rejoicing. Aaron Shields finds out what his daughter did and sends Foley with some men to the camp, where Lisa does a special dance for Jason, after which he spends some quality romantic time in the woods with her. Shields finds that Robin's gone, realizes she's gone to the camp, and rushes there to stop Foley. Robin is already there when Foley and Jason initiate a fight over Lisa that turns into a general campsite brawl. The men are sent running, but an injured Foley is left behind.
Kolyan threatens Foley with a hot dagger for going after his sister, but Jason encourages him to go through the law; and Shields arrives and finds out what happened. The next day he gives Kolyan the Gypsies' severance pay, following which Kolyan disappears. Jason tries to find out what happened, while Lisa, assuming foul play, incites the Gypsies to rise up. Jason finds Kolyan drunk in the wilderness, while the armed Gypsies ride to Shields's ranch, but Jason and Kolyan get there in time to stop bloodshed. Kolyan breaks up with Robin on the basis that she doesn't belong in his world; Shields shows signs of softening up; Jason gives a little speech about putting aside hatred and all people being the same inside; Shields offers Jason the foreman's job at his ranch, which he declines; and Jason exchanges tender goodbyes with Lisa before riding off.
IMDb claims that Michael J. Pollard was in these episodes in an uncredited role, but I never spotted him.
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12 O'Clock High
"Between the Lines"
Originally aired December 13, 1965
Xfinity said:
Enemy fire causes Gallagher's plane, carrying secret passengers and data, to go down between the German and Russian fronts.
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/the-classic-retro-pop-culture-thread.278375/page-84#post-12359643
Gallagher's bomber is attacked by German fighters, and despite the protection of some Russian fighters, the Americans get shot up and have to bail, including two American generals who are being brought back from the USSR. Gallagher recommends one of the generals jump and the other stick with him for an attempted emergency landing. Komansky stays with the remaining general, Maj. Gen. Stace (Larry Gates), when his clerk, Trask (Donald Harron), panics and won't jump. Once on terra firma, the plane starts going up, the crew are strafed, and Stace is hit. Gallagher thinks that Komansky is in the plane when it finally blows. The survivors take shelter in a bombed-out church, unsure of whose territory they're in, but within earshot of combat. Gallagher fills in his co-pilot, Captain Pete Gargas (Philip Bruns), about how the generals are bringing back information about the strength of the Russian forces for planning the pending opening of the second front in France; and the general explains how the info is written on edible rice paper in a pack of chewing gum. An older Russian woman (Lydia Markova, I presume, though she's credited under a character name that didn't come up) is found near the church, and Komansky shows up carrying a waist gun that he retrieved from the plane, upon which the woman runs and they're afraid she'll raise an alarm.
They catch her and bring her back inside, and Komansky slugs Trask for playing Cowardly Lion on the plane. Gallagher tries to explain to the woman that they're friends. Trask finds two dead Germans in the church, and is to scared to go out and find their emergency rations. Gallagher gives her a can of rations and she's overwhelmed at the sight of food. Komansky displays his own fear when he's sent to retrieve the Germans' overcoats and sees rats. Gallagher decides that those who can travel have to try to get out with the intel, which means leaving the general and his timid liability of a clerk behind. Then a German officer (Sasha Harden) and a couple of soldiers enter the church as the Americans hide. Trask covers Komansky's mouth while a rat passes by. When Gargas makes a noise while trying to keep the Russian woman quiet, she bursts out of hiding and covers for them. The officer gives her a bit of food and leaves. Gallagher gives Pete the pack of gum and goes out in his German overuniform to scope things out. Komansky and Trask bond a bit about fear, and the general dies.
Gargas is spotted outside, the Germans surround and approach the church, and the Americans fight them off with the help of the machine gun. Trask summons up the courage to serve as a distraction by going out and offering to surrender, and is shot. The woman then rushes out to reinforce his ploy, but one of the Americans accidentally rings a bell while running out the back. A running firefight ensues in which Gargas is shot. Now down to just our heroic leads, Gallagher and Komansky see a vehicle approaching from the other direction and Joe's about to eat the intel when Sandy notices that they're Russians.
The Epilog has our leads riding another bomber home, and Gallagher offering to fly awhile from the right seat.
This one had Season 3 written all over it...more of an action/adventure story, with a rather thin layer of drama...which centered around Trask, whose cowardice was so OTT as to be annoying.
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Gilligan's Island
"Gilligan Gets Bugged"
Originally aired December 16, 1965
Wiki said:
Gilligan has been bitten by the dreaded, and deadly, Mantis Khani and fears he has only 24 hours to live. A 'going away party' ends with everyone drifting away in tears, leaving the guest of honor alone and wondering where they all went. Things grow worse when the Professor learns that the Mantis Khani travels in such swarms that by nightfall all of them will have been bitten and are doomed. One by one the others wind up bitten. Later on, the Professor allows one to bite him, revealing that these bugs are not poisonous after all.
Gilligan is building a bamboo bathtub when the Skipper spots the large, colorful insect on the back of his neck and swats it, but they're unsure if he was bitten. The Skipper recognizes the type of insect, and consults the Professor for information. Skipper and the others think that Gilligan's suffering symptoms afterward based on coincidental circumstances. Assuming that he's doomed, the others decide to throw him a party without letting him know what it's for, but get choked up and wander off while he's lighting his candles.
The Professor works out how to make an antidote using available materials, but also learns of the swarming issue. When Gilligan gets in the way of his work, the Professor lets him know what he's working on without identifying who it's for. Gilligan's present when the Skipper, who's trying to keep himself covered while gathering materials for the serum, gets bitten, and the Skipper finally fills him in on what happened. Most of the others are also bitten through their attempts at protective clothing, and everyone wants the serum even though the ingredients haven't been assembled. Then the Professor reveals that he's allowed himself to be bitten and determined that they're dealing with a non-poisonous subspecies.
In the coda, Gilligan's playing with boats in his bathtub when he and the Skipper witness the mantis dying exactly 24 hours after it bit Gilligan.
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The Wild Wild West
"The Night of the Howling Light"
Originally aired December 17, 1965
Wiki said:
Shades of The Manchurian Candidate: West is held prisoner in a lighthouse by a mad doctor who is using mind control to condition the Secret Service agent into becoming an assassin.
Jim is lured to a hospital by Dr. Arcularis (Sam Wanamaker) under the ruse of having to identify Artie's body, and is knocked out with gas and smuggled out. Meanwhile, Artie's hosting an educated Indian spokesman, Ahkeema (Scott Marlowe), on the train while they're awaiting word from the president via West concerning peace negotiations with the Indian tribes. After he leaves, Artie finds the imprint of the transcribed telegraph message used to lure Jim to the doctor. Jim finds himself prisoner in Arcularis's lighthouse lair and tries unsuccessfully to bust loose. He demonstrates how his underlings, who seem to be in trances, have been "desensitized" to pain, and reveals his plan to use the light as a tool to similarly condition Jim. Ahkeema walks in, showing us that he's in cahoots. It turns out he's supposed to be in charge, and plans to use West in a plot to kill key Indian leader Ho-Tami (Ralph Moody) in order to sabotage the peace.
An elderly patient at the hospital, Maggie Lafarge (Ottola Nesmith), tries to trick Artie into freeing her with the promise of information about Jim. Back at the lighthouse, the doctor is also using bells to condition West, the immediate goal being to get him to shoot a likeness of Ho-Tami. Jim remains defiant despite the warnings of conditioned underling Indra (Linda Marsh), whom he encourages to resist the doctor's influence. After one of his sessions, Jim busts free long enough to signal an SOS with the light. The Navy investigates, but the doctor has a story prepared by the time they arrive. The sessions continue, now using the light again. Just as the doctor starts to opine that West isn't human, Jim fires the gun.
Artie continues the search in a foggy dock area, learning from a contact named Sikes (Roy Barcroft) that West is at the lighthouse. The doctor is expecting Artie, and uses a metronome in programming Jim with his instructions. Ahkeema accompanies Jim to meet the real Ho-Tami, and tries to trigger Jim's attack, but Jim shoots Ahkeema instead. Not knowing the reason for this, Ho-Tami starts to go after Jim with a knife, but Ahkeema stops him with a dying confession. Now free of Dr. A's influence, Jim delivers the president's message, offering a meeting with the chief exec. Jim returns to the lighthouse, looking to free Artie, who's now been conditioned to try to kill him. After a brief running fight, Jim overcomes him, then persuades Indra and the others to fight their programming. The male underlings turn on the doctor, and Artie comes in free of his programming. Jim and Artie are prepared to leave the doctor to his victims' mercy, but Artie, in another display of what a 19th-century gentleman he is, comes up with the idea that the doctor's programming could be used to make women docile and obedient. Yeah.
I thought that Jim was just faking having finally been conditioned, and was surprised that it actually worked, however briefly.
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Hogan's Heroes
"Oil for the Lamps of Hogan"
Originally aired December 17, 1965
Wiki said:
When General Burkhalter threatens to close Stalag 13, Hogan convinces the Germans that they’re sitting on an oil well.
Burkhalter brings industrialist Fritz Bowman (William Mims) to the stalag. The prisoners get to work cleaning Klink's office so Newkirk can crack the safe and LeBeau can temporarily get into it. Burkhalter's plan is to secretly have a synthetic fuel plant built on the site to avoid Allied bombing. Klink gives Hogan a story that the stalag is being rebuilt; and Hogan plays the usual card of giving Klink the idea that they're planning to send him to the Russian front.
Some of the prisoners make a faux escape attempt so that Schultz can catch them...stained with oil. And Hogan has a story cooked up about having been previously aware of what the stalag is supposedly sitting on.
Klink: Tell me, Hogan, is this really oil?
Hogan: Not just oil, Kommandant...black gold!
Texas tea...
Klink schemes to go into a post-war partnership with Hogan...which means not letting anyone else discover the oil. Klink, however, goes straight to Burkhalter about it, who's on board with Klink's plan...but when the general declares that the plant won't be built there, Bowman wants to go straight to the fuhrer about it. Hogan calls in a fake bombing mission, accompanied by planted charges and a leaflet drop that reveals that the Allies know about the plan to build the plant there, which renders the matter moot. (It seems like it would have been easier to just go straight to the leaflet drop and not bother with the oil angle at all.)
By the coda, Klink has discovered that the oil was a ruse, but Hogan plays it as an effort to save him from being sent to the front...and they don't share the info with Burkhalter.
DIIIS-miiisssed!
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Get Smart
"Weekend Vampire"
Originally aired December 18, 1965
Wiki said:
CONTROL agents are found murdered with mysterious puncture marks on their necks. The investigation leads to the mysterious Dr. Drago.
Seems like this one aired during the wrong holiday season.
Max is playing chess with Agent 52 (Don Ross) in the CONTROL lab when 52 is killed by an unseen figure via the puncturing of his neck, which resembles a vampire bite. Apparently this is the latest in a general spree of "Weekend Vampire" attacks in DC that makes the headlines. Max heard a melody at the time of the attack (which I wouldn't have realized wasn't just soundtrack music). When Max tries to reconstruct the melody with the help of a device, he, the Chief, and CONTROL technician Arrick (Roger Price) break out into song. Professor Sontag (Ford Rainey), who seems obstructive and unhelpful, has been getting calls from Dr. Drago, his predecessor who'd been conducting unauthorized experiments.
Max and 99 track down Dr. Drago but their car breaks down outside (on a stormy night, natch), so with the help of one of a variety of cover kits in the trunk, they go to the door posing as a pair of newlyweds...at which point this starts to feel like a
Love, American Style segment. Dr. Drago (Martin Kosleck) and his mute manservant, Hugo (William Baskin), don't seem as creepy as Sontag, but there is a coffin on display that the agents are reluctant to search, and some hijinks with a rotating wall ensue. Drago insists that they stay, so with the help of gadgets from their kit, they break out of their room and skulk around the place. They witness Drago rising out of the coffin, via a stairway that he reveals leads down to his secret lab. He explains how he killed the agents who had testified against him with a double-barreled flute that shoots poisonous ice pellets, and is about to use it on the agents when Sontag, who's been skulking around outside, bursts in with a gun and saves them...explaining that he wanted to give Drago a chance to prove his innocence.
The coda has a very conspicuously set up "Sorry about that, Chief" moment...like they were trying to draw attention to the gag.
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Heh. I did mention she's my favorite.
She does great research and she's just a lot of fun to listen to. Plus, she must be a genius, because her taste almost exactly matches mine.
One bit of info that I found particularly helpful: Keep in mind that I went into this viewing with a very fuzzy memory of the story that was far from beat-by-beat...but when I got to the part where Charlie's mother sings a pathos-filled number, it kind of jumped out at me as something that I couldn't recall having seen as a kid. In the review, she mentioned that it was cut out of some television broadcasts, which confirmed my impression.
Also, I'd read on Wiki about the Augustus actor having complained about the chocolate river being fetid, but it didn't say why. She clarified that by mentioning that they'd used cream in it, which quickly spoiled.
No, just the idea of having to impress people to make them like you. I have a feeling that Rudolph's new social status lasted about a month and then the other reindeer asked the elves to make them headlamps.
I think the takeaway there was supposed to be that freaks can be useful, for what that's worth...
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