The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

The Old Mixer · Dec 3, 2021

Okay then, so they really did plan to kill the show.

RJDiogenes · Dec 3, 2021

The Old Mixer said:
It has a pretty cool and memorable (and obviously Shaft-influenced) theme, which will be a chart-topper in 1976:

Yeah, I do like that theme. It sounds like Summertime.

I take that claim with a grain of salt.

Still, I always think it's fun to speculate about cast changes or alternate casting-- like Lloyd Bridges and Martin Landau on Star Trek.

The Old Mixer said:
Okay then, so they really did plan to kill the show.

You do have to wonder how it would have turned out. But what's really weird to me is how petty Carroll O'Connor was about it.

The Old Mixer · Dec 3, 2021

55 Years Ago This Week

December 4

Working in the Ogoja Province in eastern Nigeria, Dr. William Foege first implemented the "surveillance and containment" strategy that would eventually eliminate smallpox throughout the world. An American epidemiologist as well as being a Lutheran missionary, Dr. Foege acted with the knowledge that smallpox was contagious for only two weeks, slow moving in its progress and, most importantly, that "infected people rarely transmitted the disease to more than a few others, mostly within the immediate household". Consulting with 14 other missionaries in the region, Dr. Foege arranged for a communications network in villages and marketplaces, looking for signs of a smallpox infection and, "When an infected person was found, a map of his or her likely social pathways was drawn, and everyone on it immunized". This course of action "demonstrated that smallpox could be treated and eliminated from large areas by immunizing as few as six percent of the people— if they were the right people at the right time!"
Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) made his college basketball debut. In his very first game for UCLA, he broke the school record for most points scored in a game, pouring in 56 points in a 105–90 win over USC. His points came on 23 field goals and 10 free throws; the previous record, 42 points, had been set by Gail Goodrich in 1965.

December 5

The United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Julian Bond had been improperly denied a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives after winning two elections to the state legislature. The Court concluded that the basis for the disqualification Bond's criticism of American policies in the Vietnam War) had been a violation of Bond's right to free speech. "Legislators have an obligation to take positions on controversial political questions," Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote, "so that their constituents can be fully informed by them," and added that the denial of the seat "violated Bond's right of free expression under the First Amendment". The House would, reluctantly, administer the oath of office to Representative Bond, along with all the other members, on January 9, 1967.
Buffalo Springfield's self-titled debut album was released.

December 6

The Bình Hòa massacre was purportedly carried out over the course of two days, as South Korean troops purportedly killed 456 men, women and children in two villages in the Quảng Ngãi Province of South Vietnam. On December 5, the village of Bình Hòa was surrounded at dawn by soldiers, and the inhabitants killed. The next day, troops moved to the nearby village of An Phuoc, four miles away, and murdered its inhabitants. According to a 2000 Associated Press story, however, a commemorative monument in Bình Hòa says that the massacres took place from October 22 to October 26, 1966. The event was first reported in the late 1980s.
Proclaiming that he was "mad at Congress", a 27-year-old man from Paterson, New Jersey, used a large pair of shears to vandalize four paintings in the United States Capitol, until being stopped by Capitol police. Damaged extensively were Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy, and the portraits of Henry Clay by John Neagle; of Charles Carroll of Carrollton by Chester Harding; and of Gunning Bedford Jr. by Charles Willson Peale.

December 7

Syria offers weapons to rebels in Jordan.
Barbados is admitted to the United Nations.
ATS-1 (Applications Technology Satellite), the first experimental equatorial synchronous satellite, was launched into geostationary orbit at 23,000 mi (37,000 km) above the equator. Carrying the Spin Scan Cloud Camera, developed by Verner E. Suomi and Robert Parent at the University of Wisconsin, ATS-1 could take full photos of the Western Hemisphere every 30 minutes, and transmit them back to Earth. "For the first time," historians would note later, "rapid-imaging of nearly an entire hemisphere was possible. We could watch, fascinated, as storm systems developed and moved and were captured in a time series of images. Today such images are an indispensable part of weather analysis and forecasting."

December 8 – The Typaldos Line's ferry SS Heraklion sinks in rough seas in the Aegean Sea near Crete, leaving 217 dead.

December 9

The "Cincinnati Strangler" killed his seventh, and last victim. Police in Cincinnati, Ohio, arrested Posteal Laskey Jr., a 29-year taxi cab driver, four hours later, and although he would only be charged with one of the murders that had been committed over the period of a year, Laskey would be given a life sentence for the stabbing murder of another woman, and there would be no similar killings.
Fresh Cream, the debut album by Cream, was released in the United Kingdom.

December 10

In the worst episode of friendly fire up to that time, in the Vietnam War, sixteen U.S. Marines were killed and 11 others injured when an American bomber dropped two 250 pound bombs on them. The U.S. Fourth Marine Battalion was fighting in the Quảng Trị Province, near Đông Hà, when it came under a mortar attack, and was firing its own 81 mm shells when the bombs "either bounced off a ridge of boulders, or fell about 300 yards from their intended target."
At Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Dr. Jay Sanford told the press that Jack Ruby had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Ruby, who was weeks away from a new trial for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, had killed the accused presidential assassin in front of the largest number of witnesses in history, as millions of viewers watched on live national television on November 24, 1963. Two days earlier, Ruby had been taken from his jail cell and admitted to the hospital for treatment of pneumonia, and the lymph-node biopsy had been performed the next day.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Good Vibrations," The Beach Boys
2. "Mellow Yellow," Donovan
3. "Winchester Cathedral," The New Vaudeville Band
4. "Devil with the Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly," Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
5. "You Keep Me Hangin' On," The Supremes
6. "Lady Godiva," Peter & Gordon
7. "Stop, Stop, Stop," The Hollies

9. "I'm Ready for Love," Martha & The Vandellas
10. "That's Life," Frank Sinatra
11. "Whispers (Getttin' Louder)," Jackie Wilson
12. "I'm Your Puppet," James & Bobby Purify
13. "A Hazy Shade of Winter," Simon & Garfunkel
14. "A Place in the Sun," Stevie Wonder
15. "Poor Side of Town," Johnny Rivers
16. "Sugar Town," Nancy Sinatra
17. "I Got the Feelin' (Oh No No)," Neil Diamond
18. "(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need," The Miracles
19. "(I Know) I'm Losing You," The Temptations
20. "Coming on Strong," Brenda Lee
21. "It Tears Me Up," Percy Sledge
22. "But It's Alright," J. J. Jackson
23. "Holy Cow," Lee Dorsey
24. "Mame," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

27. "Last Train to Clarksville," The Monkees
28. "Knock on Wood," Eddie Floyd
29. "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted," Jimmy Ruffin
30. "Rain on the Roof," The Lovin' Spoonful
31. "Single Girl," Sandy Posey

33. "I Need Somebody," ? & The Mysterians
34. "Mustang Sally," Wilson Pickett

37. "Talk Talk," The Music Machine

40. "Hooray for Hazel," Tommy Roe
41. "96 Tears," ? & The Mysterians

44. "I'm a Believer," The Monkees

46. "Words of Love," The Mamas & The Papas
47. "Reach Out I'll Be There," Four Tops
48. "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing," Lou Rawls
49. "Dandy," Herman's Hermits

51. "Tell It Like It Is," Aaron Neville

57. "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," The Yardbirds
58. "I've Passed This Way Before," Jimmy Ruffin
59. "Help Me Girl," Eric Burdon & The Animals
60. "East West," Herman's Hermits

66. "Good Thing," Paul Revere & The Raiders

70. "Try a Little Tenderness," Otis Redding

79. "Georgy Girl," The Seekers

89. "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," The Blues Magoos
90. "98.6," Keith

92. "Tell It to the Rain," The Four Seasons

98. "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)," The Electric Prunes

Leaving the chart:

"B-A-B-Y," Carla Thomas (16 weeks)
"If I Were a Carpenter," Bobby Darin (11 weeks)
"Look Through My Window," The Mamas & The Papas (7 weeks)
"Secret Love," Billy Stewart (8 weeks)
"Walk Away Renee," The Left Banke (13 weeks)
"Who Am I," Petula Clark (7 weeks)

New on the chart:

"I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)," The Electric Prunes
(#11 US)

"Tell It to the Rain," The Four Seasons
(#10 US)

"98.6," Keith
(#7 US; #24 UK)

"(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," The Blues Magoos
(#5 US)

"I'm a Believer," The Monkees
(#1 US the weeks of Dec. 31, 1966, through Feb. 11, 1967; #1 UK)

And new on the boob tube:

The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 19, episode 13
Gilligan's Island, "And Then There Were None"
The Monkees, "One Man Shy" / "Peter and the Debutante"
The Rat Patrol, "The Lighthouse Raid"
Batman, "The Penguin's Nest"
Batman, "The Bird's Last Jest"
Star Trek, "The Conscience of the King"
That Girl, "Phantom of the Horse Opera"
The Green Hornet, "The Secret of the Sally Bell"
Tarzan, "Pearls of Tanga"
The Time Tunnel, "The Alamo"
Hogan's Heroes, "Don't Forget to Write"
The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "The Abominable Snowman Affair"
12 O'Clock High, "The Ace"
Get Smart, "Perils in a Pet Shop"
Mission: Impossible, "Elena"

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Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki pages for the month or year.

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RJDiogenes said:
Yeah, I do like that theme. It sounds like Summertime.

It was released in November '75 and peaked in February, FWIW.

Still, I always think it's fun to speculate about cast changes or alternate casting-- like Lloyd Bridges and Martin Landau on Star Trek.

You do have to wonder how it would have turned out.

That show would have been so painfully dead without O'Connor. But it's all the more interesting that he was the last original cast member standing, such that they rebranded the show after him.

RJDiogenes · Dec 4, 2021

I'll catch up on the music later, maybe tomorrow. I stayed over at my Mother's house overnight to keep an eye on her after she fell on her face and fractured her nose. She appears to be mostly fine, although you wouldn't believe it to look at her.

The Old Mixer said:
It was released in November '75 and peaked in February, FWIW.

Not only does it sound like Summertime, it sounds like vacation in New Hampshire. Go figure. :rommie:

That show would have been so painfully dead without O'Connor. But it's all the more interesting that he was the last original cast member standing, such that they rebranded the show after him.

Probably. Bringing in an outsider to the family was an unlikely scenario to begin with, let alone trying to continue that dynamic.

DarrenTR1970 · Dec 4, 2021

There's an interesting Carroll O'Connor/Mission: Impossible connection - The Mission: Impossible pilot was late in being delivered to CBS, so they bought another pilot instead, 'Nightwatch', staring Carroll O'Connor and directed by Robert Altman, about the overnight shift at a Chicago police station, that would have been filmed on location in Chicago. 13 scripts were already written and locations and sets were being scouted and constructed.

Anyway, Bruce Geller delivered the 'Mission: Impossible' pilot which was screened for Desilu and CBS executives, who all agreed it was the best pilot of the season, but 'Nightwatch' had already been penciled into the timeslot; that's when Lucielle Ball stepped in.

Her contract with CBS was up and she said if CBS didn't take 'Mission: Impossible' she would take it, along with her show to NBC; which had already purchased another Desilu pilot 'Star Trek'. CBS capitulated and gave Lucy a $12 million dollar contract extension (the largest single entertainment contract at the time) and ordered 'Mission' to series; cancelling the series order for 'Nightwatch'.

So that's how we wound up with seven seasons of 'Mission: Impossible' instead of seven of 'Nightwatch'.

It's interesting to think what would have happened to 'All In The Family' if Carroll O'Connor wasn't available for the Archie Bunker role because of 'Nightwatch'.

The Old Mixer · Dec 4, 2021

50 Years Ago This Week

December 5 – The London High Court appoints a receiver to control the finances of Maclen (Music) Ltd [the Lennon-McCartney music publishing company]. His duties are discharged on 31 December 1974.

December 6

In the United States, the first Auto Train began operating, departing from Lorton, Virginia (a suburb of Washington D.C.) at 8:12 in the evening for a 15-hour trip to Sanford, Florida, at a price of $190 round trip for one car and three passengers. Using the principle of a car ferry, the train carried passengers in luxury style and hauled their automobiles separately as freight. The venture was operated by the Auto-Train Corporation, and used the tracks of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac line and the Seaboard Coast Line. The first run, which departed 12 minutes late but arrived at 11:00 the next morning as scheduled, carried 95 passengers and only 28 automobiles on its double-decker enclosed cars, but had plans to carry up to 104 autos and more than 400 passengers.
The U.S. Senate voted, 89 to 1, to confirm Lewis F. Powell as a new Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court to replace the seat vacated by the retirement of Hugo L. Black. The lone vote against Powell, a private attorney in Richmond, Virginia, with no prior judicial experience, was by Senator Fred R. Harris of Oklahoma.

December 7

Battle of Sylhet rages between the Pakistani military and the Mukti Bahini.
First UK release of Wings' debut album Wild Life.

December 8

The last Australian combat troops to fight in the Vietnam War departed from South Vietnam, as the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment boarded the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney at Vungtau and departed. South Vietnam's President Nguyen Van Thieu addressed the troops from the flight deck of Sydney to bid them farewell.
U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the 7th Fleet to move towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
In Northern Ireland, Sean Russell, an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment, was shot dead by members of the Irish Republican Army at his home in Belfast, thus becoming the first Catholic member of the Ulster Defense Regiment to be killed in the conflict.

December 9 – Indian Air Force planes, attempting to bomb the airport at Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), struck an orphanage instead in an early morning run that had been targeting air and rail transport. At least 350 children were asleep in the Islam Mission Orphanage in Dhaka the air raid took place at about 4:00 in the morning local time, burying at least 300 orphans in the rubble of the brick and concrete building.

December 10

The John Sinclair Freedom Rally in support of the imprisoned activist features a performance by John Lennon at Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

[John couldn't have known in 1971 how much his "got to got to got to" refrain sounds like a CD skipping.]

William H. Rehnquist, a controversial nominee made by U.S. President Nixon to the Supreme Court, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, 68 to 26, to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of the second John Marshall Harlan.
The Nobel Peace Prize was presented to West Germany's Chancellor, Willy Brandt. Other winners were physicist Dr. Dennis Gabor for his invention of holographic photography, physician Dr. Earl Sutherland, chemist Gerhard Herzberg, economist Simon Kuznets and poet Pablo Neruda.

December 11

Nihat Erim forms the new government of Turkey (34th government; Nihat Erim has served two times as prime minister).
The Libertarian Party was created as a third political party in the United States by an 8-member committee that met at the home of Luke Zell in Colorado Springs, Colorado, though the name was not agreed upon until January 31.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Family Affair," Sly & The Family Stone
2. "Theme from 'Shaft'," Isaac Hayes
3. "Have You Seen Her," The Chi-Lites
4. "Got to Be There," Michael Jackson
5. "An Old Fashioned Love Song," Three Dog Night
6. "Baby I'm-a Want You," Bread
7. "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves," Cher
8. "All I Ever Need Is You," Sonny & Cher
9. "Brand New Key," Melanie
10. "Desiderata," Les Crane
11. "Cherish," David Cassidy
12. "Rock Steady," Aretha Franklin
13. "Imagine," John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band
14. "Scorpio," Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band
15. "Stones" / "Crunchy Granola Suite", Neil Diamond
16. "Respect Yourself," The Staple Singers
17. "A Natural Man," Lou Rawls
18. "You Are Everything," The Stylistics
19. "Hey Girl" / "I Knew You When", Donny Osmond
20. "Where Did Our Love Go," Donnie Elbert

22. "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)," The Temptations
23. "Everybody's Everything," Santana
24. "Two Divided by Love," The Grass Roots
25. "American Pie," Don McLean
26. "Peace Train," Cat Stevens
27. "Sunshine," Jonathan Edwards
28. "(I Know) I'm Losing You," Rod Stewart w/ Faces
29. "Easy Loving," Freddie Hart
30. "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show Part I," Honey Cone
31. "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony)," The Hillside Singers
32. "Clean Up Woman," Betty Wright
33. "Wild Night," Van Morrison

36. "Behind Blue Eyes," The Who
37. "Drowning in the Sea of Love," Joe Simon
38. "Let's Stay Together," Al Green

40. "Your Move (I've Seen All Good People)," Yes

44. "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)," The New Seekers

46. "Hey Big Brother," Rare Earth

51. "Day After Day," Badfinger

55. "Questions 67 and 68" / "I'm a Man", Chicago

59. "I'd Love to Change the World," Ten Years After

61. "Anticipation," Carly Simon

63. "Pretty as You Feel," Jefferson Airplane

72. "Sugar Daddy," Jackson 5
73. "Those Were the Days," Carroll O'Connor & Jean Stapleton (as the Bunkers)

75. "Superstar" / "Bless the Beasts and Children", Carpenters

77. "Tightrope Ride," The Doors

79. "Truckin'," The Grateful Dead

97. "Ain't Understanding Mellow," Jerry Butler & Brenda Lee Eager

Leaving the chart:

"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)," Marvin Gaye (9 weeks)
"Maggie May" / "Reason to Believe", Rod Stewart (21 weeks)
"Yo-Yo," The Osmonds (15 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Those Were the Days," Carroll O'Connor & Jean Stapleton (as the Bunkers)
(#43 US; #30 AC)

"Ain't Understanding Mellow," Jerry Butler & Brenda Lee Eager
(#21 US; #3 R&B)

"Anticipation," Carly Simon
(#13 US; #3 AC)

"Sugar Daddy," Jackson 5
(#10 US; #3 R&B)

And new on the boob tube:

Adam-12, "Assassination"
The Brady Bunch, "Getting Davy Jones"
The Partridge Family, "Guess Who's Coming to Drive?"
The Odd Couple, "Being Divorced Is Never Having to Say I Do"
Love, American Style, "Love and the Bowling Ball / Love and the Check / Love and the Hiccups / Love and the Liberated Lady Boss"
All in the Family, "Cousin Maude's Visit"
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "The Square-Shaped Room"
Mission: Impossible, "Run for the Money"

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Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki pages for the month or year and Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles Day by Day, with minor editing as needed.

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RJDiogenes said:
I'll catch up on the music later, maybe tomorrow. I stayed over at my Mother's house overnight to keep an eye on her after she fell on her face and fractured her nose. She appears to be mostly fine, although you wouldn't believe it to look at her.

Ouch. Hope she has a smooth recovery.

DarrenTR1970 said:
So that's how we wound up with seven seasons of 'Mission: Impossible' instead of seven of 'Nightwatch'.

Assuming the latter would have lasted that long.

Something I didn't realize that I stumbled across on IMDb...M:I got a lot of Emmy wins and nominations. Barbara Bain won an Emmy for each season she was on, and Landau was always nominated. In addition to other sundry awards, the show won Outstanding Dramatic Series for its first two years. Clearly Lucy smelled a winner.

RJDiogenes · Dec 5, 2021

The Old Mixer said:
This course of action "demonstrated that smallpox could be treated and eliminated from large areas by immunizing as few as six percent of the people— if they were the right people at the right time!"

One of the most amazing accomplishments of the 20th century.

Proclaiming that he was "mad at Congress", a 27-year-old man from Paterson, New Jersey, used a large pair of shears to vandalize four paintings in the United States Capitol

Everybody's mad at Congress! We don't destroy art! :rommie:

"I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)," The Electric Prunes

Classic Psychedelia.

"Tell It to the Rain," The Four Seasons

Well, there's nothing really wrong with it....

"98.6," Keith

This is a nice song that I completely forgot about because I haven't heard it in ages.

"(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," The Blues Magoos

I haven't heard this one in a long time either. It's a good one.

"I'm a Believer," The Monkees

One of their classics.

DarrenTR1970 said:
Her contract with CBS was up and she said if CBS didn't take 'Mission: Impossible' she would take it, along with her show to NBC; which had already purchased another Desilu pilot 'Star Trek'. CBS capitulated and gave Lucy a $12 million dollar contract extension (the largest single entertainment contract at the time) and ordered 'Mission' to series; cancelling the series order for 'Nightwatch'.

It's amazing how Lucy, best known to the public as a comedienne, had so much influence on the industry in those days. We'd have no Star Trek, and apparently no Mission: Impossible, without her.

The Old Mixer said:
[John couldn't have known in 1971 how much his "got to got to got to" refrain sounds like a CD skipping.]

Or that his ironic lyrics would likely have gotten him blacklisted in 2021. :rommie:

"Those Were the Days," Carroll O'Connor & Jean Stapleton (as the Bunkers)

"Freaks were in a circus tent." :rommie:

I wonder if this counts as a novelty number.

"Ain't Understanding Mellow," Jerry Butler & Brenda Lee Eager

I don't know this one. It seems like they do understand mellow.

"Anticipation," Carly Simon

I'm just trying to ketchup on the posts here. This is an Oldies Radio Classic.

"Sugar Daddy," Jackson 5

And this sure sounds like the early 70s.

Ouch. Hope she has a smooth recovery.

Aside from her face looking like she got hit by a truck, and a few scrapes and bruises, she checks out fine, has little pain, and was back to her regular routine as of yesterday morning (except that she can't drive for a week). She has to have surgery this week to have a bone fragment removed, which will probably be more painful than the actual injury-- but she says she always hated her nose and hopes that this will improve her profile. :rommie:

This is the second time in two years, almost to the day, that she walked away from a fall that would normally kill or cripple someone her age.

Barbara Bain won an Emmy for each season she was on, and Landau was always nominated.

Martin Landau was pretty amazing. He should have been more recognized.

In addition to other sundry awards, the show won Outstanding Dramatic Series for its first two years. Clearly Lucy smelled a winner.

She was good at that. :rommie:

DarrenTR1970 · Dec 5, 2021

RJDiogenes said:
It's amazing how Lucy, best known to the public as a comedienne, had so much influence on the industry in those days.

The only other person who I can think of that had as much influence over a network would be Carson.

RJDiogenes said:
Martin Landau was pretty amazing. He should have been more recognized.

More than one person in the book says that Landau carried the first season. Due to Steven Hill's erratic behavior on set, Briggs was being written out of the series as early as Episode 5: Odds On Evil; utilmately being suspended following his actions on the set of Episode 22: Action!. Then being written out of the remaining five episodes; only appearing in the tape and briefing scenes. As Landau says in the book, Steven Hill could have easily played the roles that went to him and he was costing the studio money at the same time, because not only did they have to pay Steven Hill his leading man salary, they also had to pay Landau as well; who was billed in the first season as a 'Special Guest Star', beacuse of the contract he had negotiated with producers Geller and Gantman.

The Old Mixer · Dec 5, 2021

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Increasingly Belated 55th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)

_______

The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 18, episode 24
Originally aired February 27, 1966
As represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show

Ed said:
Here is England's young recording star, Petula Clark.

Petula previews her upcoming single "Sign of the Times":
Not shown on Best of, Petula's medley also consists of a segment of recent chart-topper "My Love" and a slow cover of "I Want to Hold Your Hand":

Richard Pryor sets up his act by coming out to talk with Ed first, with Ed asking him about a school bully...

Ed said:
Ladies and gentlemen, here's that San Francisco, mammy[?]-style song pioneer, Blossom Seeley!

The veteran whose career of syncopated singing goes back to 1917 (as Ed mumblingly describes in his full intro) performs a medley of "San Francisco" and "My Kind of Town"...the latter reworked to be about New York rather than Chicago. Metacritic says that she also did "Shine On, Harvest Moon".

Ed said:
And now, ladies and gentlemen, here is America's greatest monologist...here is Alan. King!

The Sullivan account has many clips of King's appearances, but apparently not this one about his wedding.

[Initially imitating wife's father] "Will she be able to live in the style that she's accustomed to?" I said, "Exactly--moving right in with you!"

"If anyone here should have cause why these two people should not be joined together in holy matrimony, speak up, or forever hold your peace." I knew then what I know now, I woulda talked for two days.

Ed introduces comedic balancing act Trio Rennos as having been filmed during their circus show from Munich:

Ed said:
Gary Lewis and The Playboys!

Jerry's actual kid and pals give a very canned-sounding performance of recent top-fiver "She's Just My Style," which was just exiting the chart this week, and their just-debuting next hit, "Sure Gonna Miss Her".

Other performances, as listed on Metacritic:

Nancy Sinatra - "These Boots are Made for Walkin'"
The Tokyo Happy Coats (5-member female band, vocal-instrumental group) - "Bye Bye, Blues" & "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?"
The Berosini Chimps
Audience Bows: NY Knickerbocker coach Dick Maguire and Marquette University coach Al Maguire (brothers)
Jerry Vale (scheduled to appear)

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Branded
"Call to Glory: Part 1"
Originally aired February 27, 1966

Xfinity said:
President Grant asks McCord to help prevent a war with Indians.

This first installment of a three-parter is actually just titled "Call to Glory" onscreen (which we don't usually see in these syndication cuts). It's now 1875 according to an opening announcer, who sets up the ongoing conflict with native tribes. Jason rides in for a rendezvous with Grant in the president's swank private train compartment--this is veritably begging for a crossover! Grant wants to enlist Jason to try to influence an old West Point buddy of his who's now causing trouble for the president in the press and by provoking the tribes--General George Armstrong Custer, whom Grant suspects may be working under a third party's influence. Jason refuses, only for Custer (Robert Lansing!!!) to ride in for his own meeting with the commander-in-chief. Jason listens from behind a curtain as Custer expresses his disdain for Native Americans and lack of concern that the tribes might unite in war under a leader like Sitting Bull. After Custer leaves, Jason comes out and agrees to do the job.

On the road to Fort Lincoln, a young brave stops to help a young woman named Jennie Galvin (Kathie Browne) put on a wagon wheel...only for one of Custer's scouts, a Mr. Yates (Lee Van Cleef), to ride up and attack the brave. Jason then rides up and treats Yates to a relatively private pummeling. (I'm going to assume from the cast list that the brave is Gary New as Young Hawk--I could've sworn that we'd had a Young Hawk in a previous story, but there's no recognition between him and Jason.) Jason proceeds to the fort, where we see that the man setting up Custer as a puppet presidential candidate is one Lionel MacAllister (H.M. Wynant). Custer's overjoyed to see Jason, who tells him about the encounter on the trail, following which Custer offers his olld friend Yates's job.

Jason goes to the bar that Jennie tends, where in a back room, her father, Indian agent Timothy Galvin (Vaughn Taylor), is being strongarmed by the man that Yates and McAllister are both answering to, Gregory Hazin (David Brian), to cut off supplies to the native tribes to make them more submissive. Out in the main room, a couple of cavalry officers aren't happy to see the infamous Jason McCord being friendly with the gal they were just trying to flirt with, so one of them, Lieutenant Douglas Briggs (Richard Tatro), walks up to pick a fight. A barroom brawl ensues in which Jason is getting the better of both attackers when Custer walks in and introduces the men to their new chief scout. The general implicitly reprimands Briggs in a very Savage manner while assigning the lieutenant responsibility for McCord's orientation. Custer then lightens the mood by starting a singalong, while the baddies watch from the curtain to the next room--McAllister promising to handle Custer and Yates promising to deal with Jason. The announcer tells us to tune in next week for part two!

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12 O'Clock High
"Angel Babe"
Originally aired February 28, 1966

Xfinity said:
A flight engineer insists that his airplane...will refuse to fly her 50th, and final, mission.

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/the-classic-retro-pop-culture-thread.278375/page-96#post-12436171

The episode opens with Gallagher flying in the right seat for Angel Babe's 49th mission, where he meets the plane's Sandy, Sgt. Billy Willets (Roddy McDowall), and learns of his special attachment to the craft. Back on the ground, a press contingent led by Major Budd (Lee Patterson) and photographer Sgt. Ben Prinzi (Frank Aletter) covers the plane's return, informing Gallagher that once she becomes the only bomber to survive 50 missions over Germany, she'll be sent back stateside to sell war bonds. Willets insists to Sandy that Angel Babe will die a fighter.

Sandy tells Prinzi how Angel Babe is generally believed to be a lucky plane because of how the group never gets clobbered when she's in the lead (Where was she all those other times that they could've used her?), and that everyone connects that luck to Willets's special attachment to her...and Willets takes exception to Prinzi's plans for covering her final mission. Prinzi's supposed to go up in her for a non-mission flight to get the feel of the craft, but her takeoff fails due to a tire blowing. At the same time, the film camera of the crew on the ground malfunctions.

On the ground, the photographers catch a physical altercation between Willets and Prinzi; while Major Budd voices suspicion that sabotage was involved. Willets explains that he hit Prinzi because Prinzi was trying to go back in the plane for his camera and he thought the bombs might blow. Budd questions Willets about the tire, and the sergeant realizes that he did touch it prior to take-off. Then Angel Babe's pilot, Lt. John Drennan (Tom Stern), declares that the arithmetic is wrong and Angel Babe has only flown 42 missions...but Gallagher corrects him by citing 7 missions on detached duty for the RAF.

When Angel Babe takes off for her final mission, an engine starts running roughly and the plane buffets. They lose the engine and have to abort, returning to Archbury. Gallagher continues to oppose the major's suspicion of sabotage. The next day the bomber flies fine for Gallagher in a test flight, so her new final mission is scheduled for the next day. Prinzi refuses to board because he doesn't trust the plane, and accuses Willett of sabotage. Dreenan wants to scrub the plane to avoid a mutiny among his crew, so Gallagher declares that he'll be piloting.

On the way to the target, the bomber experiences a similar malfunction and the engine further leaks oil and has to be feathered, but Gallagher stays with the group. A flak-injured co-pilot, Lieutenant McKennon (Don Dubbins), and Willett both insist that Gallagher turn back, but Joe has Willett man the right seat. Over the target, Gallagher has difficulty managing a dive, but the bombs drop successfully and he regains control. Out of formation because of their difficulties, the crew is forced to fend off a fighter attack alone, with Gallagher and a gunner wounded and another engine lost. Willett begins to panic about Angel Babe's intentions, but Gallagher pulls him out of it, asserting that she's still flying despite it all.

Back in England, Willetts assists Gallagher with a difficult but successful landing, for which the colonel offers the sergeant a drink at the Officers Club. He further offers to have Willett be assigned to Angel Babe's repairs and flight home, though Willett expresses his belief that she still doesn't want to go. After disembarking, Gallagher starts to say something to Budd about the now-empty airplane having a mind of its own when she spontaneously bursts into flames on the field. Willett salutes her as we see the flames engulf the plane's logo.

_______

Batman
"The Joker Goes to School"
Originally aired March 2, 1966

Wiki said:
The Joker strikes at the high school level when his rigged vending machines give out stocks, bonds, and silver dollars. It's all part of his sinister scheme to blackmail the school’s basketball team.

Special Guest Villain
CESAR ROMERO
as
THE JOKER

Dick is attending gym class at Woodrow Roosevelt High School when a milk machine dispenses silver dollars...and Gordon and O'Hara somehow surmise from this vague M.O. that this is specifically the work of "that most pestilent of predators, the Clown Prince of Crime". Meanwhile, at Stately Wayne Manor, a Mr. Vandergilt (Sydney Smith) is trying to persuade Bruce to run for mayor when the call comes in and Bruce does a solo Batpole. We also get a shot of just the Batmobile parked in front of police HQ, in place of the usual stock footage of the Dynamic Duo running up the steps. Principal A.P. Schoolfield (Bryan O'Byrne) calls in with an update that a candy machine in the library is dispensing stocks and bonds. A group of speaking students led by student president Dick, which includes cheerleader Susie (Donna Loren), geek Herbie (Glenn Allan), and jock Pete (Tim O'Kelly), find that Schoolfield's coffee machine dispenses quarters. The Caped Crusader arrives, and announces to the students outright that Robin is at school somewhere in his secret ID. Batman surmises that the Joker's plan is to get the kids to embrace the easy life and become easily recruitable dropouts. Batman shows the student reps slides of the Joker that he brought, and the arch-villain appears from behind the screen. Meanwhile, a Bistro is held up by a shotgun in a jukebox that talks in the Joker's voice. Before leaving the school, the Joker makes clear that the high school appearance is meant to serve as an alibi (as if Joker needed to be present for a robbery by a rigged machine). Batman leaves the students with the following words: "Boys and girls, go back to your studies! Believe me, nothing in life is free!" Says the millionaire playboy.

At an abandoned garage behind a candy store, full of wares from an out-of-business vending machine company, the Joker is conspiring with henchmen Nick (Kip King) and Two Bits (Greg Benedict) when Susie pops in the secret entrance to show us she's the moll, swayed to evil by the Joker's expensive gifts. Rendezvousing at the Batcave, the Dynamic Duo go back to stake out the school at night, where we see that Susie's the one rigging the machines. When the Dynamic Duo arrive, she calls the Joker for instructions; they run into Susie, but don't question why she's there. The milk machine in the gym sprouts mechanical arms that grab the crimefighters' legs and knocks them out with gas. In the back of the Joker's company moving van, Batman and Robin are strapped into electric chairs, with a slot machine rigged to dispense the juice if it comes up three lemons.

HORRORS! ONE LEMON!
DOUBLE HORRORS! TWO LEMONS!!
AND IF IT'S A THIRD...INSTANT AND INESCAPABLE 50,000 VOLTS!!
CLOSE YOUR EYES! WHO DARES TO SEE IT??
TRY US TOMORROW! SAME BAT-TIME!! SAME BAT-CHANNEL!!

One of Susie's fellow cheerleaders is played by an uncredited (in this half) Linda (Nova) Harrison.

_______

RJDiogenes said:
Everybody's mad at Congress! We don't destroy art!

Unless the election is stolen from our candidate, then we ransack the place.

Classic Psychedelia.

I haven't heard this one in a long time either. It's a good one.

A couple of timely good pieces of psychedelic garage rock.

Well, there's nothing really wrong with it....

I second the implied "meh".

This is a nice song that I completely forgot about because I haven't heard it in ages.

Fluffy, jaunty pop. The most striking thing for me about this song is the piano intro, which sounds stylistically ahead of its time...like something from the early '70s.

One of their classics.

That's a bit of an understatement...one of their huge chart-toppers from their brief but intense peak period.

Or that his ironic lyrics would likely have gotten him blacklisted in 2021.

Yeah, I was reminded of that after I posted it... :shifty:

It's not too late to cancel him!

"Freaks were in a circus tent."

That line grabbed me, too! This was my surprise find this week...I'd been seeing a soundtrack album on that chart in recent weeks, but didn't realize there was a charting single version of the theme song. The decision of whether or not to get it is made for me, as it's not available on iTunes. Apparently O'Connor did an album of his own in '76, however.

I don't know this one. It seems like they do understand mellow.

This one sounds good just because Jerry Butler's voice is in it, but is otherwise unmemorable.

I'm just trying to ketchup on the posts here.

This is a prime lesson in the perils of letting your songs be used in commercials. I'll always associate this number first and foremost with ketchup oozing out of a glass Heinz bottle.

And this sure sounds like the early 70s.

The Jacksons are in their groove, but it's otherwise unremarkable.

Aside from her face looking like she got hit by a truck, and a few scrapes and bruises, she checks out fine, has little pain, and was back to her regular routine as of yesterday morning (except that she can't drive for a week). She has to have surgery this week to have a bone fragment removed, which will probably be more painful than the actual injury-- but she says she always hated her nose and hopes that this will improve her profile. This is the second time in two years, almost to the day, that she walked away from a fall that would normally kill or cripple someone her age.

My ex's 96-year-old landlord hasn't been so lucky. He suffered a fall at home recently that had him put in a nursing home for physical therapy, where he contracted COVID, which he's pulled through without a respirator (having been vaccinated)...but otherwise things aren't looking too good for him.

Martin Landau was pretty amazing. He should have been more recognized.

His lousy poker face probably cost him the win.

J.T.B. · Dec 5, 2021

DarrenTR1970 said:
The only other person who I can think of that had as much influence over a network would be Carson.

Lucy and Desi were a package deal. It was Desi's idea that they would foot the bill for the higher production costs of the show that he wanted (three cameras, 35mm film), and in exchange he and Lucy would own the episodes. It was that deal that allowed them to sell the episodes back to CBS for reruns and made them studio moguls.

RJDiogenes · Dec 6, 2021

The Old Mixer said:
and a slow cover of "I Want to Hold Your Hand":

That's an odd choice for an artist known for her perkiness.

The veteran whose career of syncopated singing goes back to 1917

Wow, that's cool. That's not something you see much these days, unless you're Lady Gaga.

The Berosini Chimps

Okay, I'd like to see this. :rommie:

Jason rides in for a rendezvous with Grant in the president's swank private train compartment--this is veritably begging for a crossover!

Very interesting. Makes me wonder just how many of these custom trains are out there. :rommie:

Custer (Robert Lansing!!!)

Mustache and all? :eek:

the man setting up Custer as a puppet presidential candidate

No basis in real history here, as far as I can remember.

Sgt. Billy Willets (Roddy McDowall)

So many fine roles...

Sgt. Ben Prinzi (Frank Aletter)

One of the astronauts on It's About Time.

(Where was she all those other times that they could've used her?)

There's a long waiting list. :rommie:

Gallagher starts to say something to Budd about the now-empty airplane having a mind of its own when she spontaneously bursts into flames on the field. Willett salutes her as we see the flames engulf the plane's logo.

Okay, that's pretty weird. But then, weird things happen when Roddy McDowall is around. :rommie:

Woodrow Roosevelt High School

This might give us a clue as to the alternate history of Bat-Time. :rommie:

The Caped Crusader arrives, and announces to the students outright that Robin is at school somewhere in his secret ID.

You'd think that a youthful ward would be home schooled.

Batman surmises that the Joker's plan is to get the kids to embrace the easy life and become easily recruitable dropouts.

So the Joker's ultimate goal is to... lose lots of money.

In the back of the Joker's company moving van, Batman and Robin are strapped into electric chairs

The van must have a Diehard battery. Hahaha.

One of Susie's fellow cheerleaders is played by an uncredited (in this half) Linda (Nova) Harrison.

I'm not sure where I learned this-- maybe in one of these threads-- but Linda Harrison was involved in a proposed campy Wonder Woman show around this time.

Unless the election is stolen from our candidate, then we ransack the place.

Right.

Yeah, I was reminded of that after I posted it... It's not too late to cancel him!

He'd be a real nowhere man.

That line grabbed me, too! This was my surprise find this week...I'd been seeing a soundtrack album on that chart in recent weeks, but didn't realize there was a charting single version of the theme song. The decision of whether or not to get it is made for me, as it's not available on iTunes. Apparently O'Connor did an album of his own in '76, however.

Wow, I didn't know about either of these. I wonder if I want to check YouTube or not.... :rommie:

This is a prime lesson in the perils of letting your songs be used in commercials. I'll always associate this number first and foremost with ketchup oozing out of a glass Heinz bottle.

Same here. Too bad, too, because it's a great song.

My ex's 96-year-old landlord hasn't been so lucky. He suffered a fall at home recently that had him put in a nursing home for physical therapy, where he contracted COVID, which he's pulled through without a respirator (having been vaccinated)...but otherwise things aren't looking too good for him.

That just sends shivers up and down my spine. Falls at home like that are the leading killer of the elderly.

The Old Mixer · Dec 6, 2021

55th Anniversary Album Spotlight

Blonde on Blonde
Bob Dylan
Released June 20, 1966
Chart debut: July 23, 1966
Chart peak: #9 (October 1, 1966)
#9 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003)

Wiki said:
Blonde on Blonde is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as a double album on June 20, 1966 by Columbia Records. Recording sessions began in New York in October 1965 with numerous backing musicians, including members of Dylan's live backing band, the Hawks. Though sessions continued until January 1966, they yielded only one track that made it onto the final album—"One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)". At producer Bob Johnston's suggestion, Dylan, keyboardist Al Kooper, and guitarist Robbie Robertson moved to the CBS studios in Nashville, Tennessee. These sessions, augmented by some of Nashville's top session musicians, were more fruitful, and in February and March all the remaining songs for the album were recorded.

Blonde on Blonde completed the trilogy of rock albums that Dylan recorded in 1965 and 1966, starting with Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. Critics often rank Blonde on Blonde as one of the greatest albums of all time. Combining the expertise of Nashville session musicians with a modernist literary sensibility, the album's songs have been described as operating on a grand scale musically, while featuring lyrics one critic called "a unique mixture of the visionary and the colloquial". It was one of the first double albums in rock music.

When I began delving into album business a few years back, starting chronologically with Rubber Soul, this became the first original Dylan album that I bought. Listening to Blonde on Blonde was what finally made Dylan "click" for me. Reapproaching it now in the more immersive context of having gone through his prior albums, my early impression of this album stands: This is Dylan at his peak, having shed the massive chip he had on his shoulder in Highway 61...an artist who'd become comfortable with who he was and had nothing to prove.

The album opens distinctively with perhaps its biggest radio classic, the playful, irreverent "Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35" (charted Apr. 16, 1966; #2 US; #7 UK):
Here's another song that doesn't have the title in the lyrics...the title having likely been chosen so that the single would get airplay.

In the account of Dylan biographer Howard Sounes, the chaotic musical atmosphere of the track was attained by the musicians playing in unorthodox ways and on unconventional instruments.

The next song, "Pledging My Time," was originally released as the B-side of the above single, and features Dylan in full-on blues mode.

The seven-and-a-half-minute "Visions of Johanna" (#404 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004]) is an example of Dylan at his most lyrically mesmerizing:

Several critics have acclaimed "Visions of Johanna" as one of Dylan's highest achievements in writing, praising the allusiveness and subtlety of the language.

The first side closes with the earliest product from the album's sessions, "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" (charted Mar. 26, 1966; #119 US; #33 UK), a solid but relatively unremarkable number that Wiki describes as "an emotional confession of misconnects and apologies from the singer to a young woman he regrets having mistreated."

Side two opens with a more classic single, the upbeat and colorful "I Want You" (charted July 2, 1966; #20 US; #16 UK), which was the last song recorded for the album:

"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" is a fun example of Dylan's wild, rambling side:

A relatively late single from the album, "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" (charts May 20, 1967; #81 US) is a blues-style number with a more distinctively Dylan flavor.

The second side closes with a display of Dylan's more romantic side, "Just Like a Woman" (charted Sept. 10, 1966; #33 US; #230 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004]):

Side three opens with "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine," which Wiki describes as "a bright blues 'stomper' about lovers parting," and "one of the more literal songs Dylan recorded in 1965–66".

"Temporary Like Achilles" is a slow, gentle blues notable for its barrelhouse piano, played by Hargus "Pig" Robbins.

"Absolutely Sweet Marie" is an uptempo number best known for the line "to live outside the law you must be honest," which may have been adapted, consciously or not, from a line written by Stirling Silliphant for the 1958 film The Lineup.

Something I did not know (or had read ages ago when I wasn't familiar with the song) and just learned in reading up on Blonde on Blonde is that "4th Time Around" is widely regarded as a response song to the Dylanesque "Norwegian Wood"--including by John Lennon, who reportedly felt that Bob was trying to tell him something with the closing lines "I never asked for your crutch / Now don't ask for mine."

The album's penultimate track and penultimate side-closer is "Obviously 5 Believers," an upbeat, R&B-style number that was reportedly recorded very quickly because of its simple nature.

Side four is devoted to the album's eleven-minute closer, "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," an epic composition that Dylan wrote for his then-recent bride Sara Lownds, which he was outspokenly pleased with at the time. I find it less captivating than many other of Dylan's longer tracks, however.

The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart in the US, where it eventually was certified double platinum, and it reached number three in the UK.

Twelve years after its release, Dylan said: "The closest I ever got to the sound I hear in my mind was on individual bands in the Blonde on Blonde album. It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up."

When Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, Swedish Academy Secretary Sara Danius, when asked how to evaluate Dylan's literary merit, suggested listening first to "Blonde on Blonde."

Funny thing about listening to this album in the digital age is that with only 14 tracks, one doesn't even realize that it was originally a double LP.

_______

RJDiogenes said:
Mustache and all?

Yep. (I have to right-click and select "open image in new tab" to see the pics.)

So many fine roles...

As a reminder, if you didn't go back and read the earlier review post, this was the one in which he was trying something that sounded vaguely like a Southern accent.

Okay, that's pretty weird. But then, weird things happen when Roddy McDowall is around.

There are pics in the earlier post as well.

You'd think that a youthful ward would be home schooled.

True, but then he'd lose his all-American boy image.

The van must have a Diehard battery. Hahaha.

Evidently not, which is what saves the Dynamic Duo...

I'm not sure where I learned this-- maybe in one of these threads-- but Linda Harrison was involved in a proposed campy Wonder Woman show around this time.

Yeah, I think that was posted in the Me thread years back...I didn't realize that Linda Harrison was in it. From what I read, she's the more idealized version of Wonder Woman in the mirror (though the difference between the actresses isn't that distinct to me).

Wow, I didn't know about either of these. I wonder if I want to check YouTube or not....

O'Connor's album is titled Carroll O'Connor Sings for Old P.F.A.R.T.S. (People Favoring a Return to Sentiment).

RJDiogenes · Dec 7, 2021

It's the Return of the Internet!

The Old Mixer said:
The album opens distinctively with perhaps its biggest radio classic, the playful, irreverent "Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35"

I love the circus atmosphere and the sound of Dylan laughing. :rommie:

The seven-and-a-half-minute "Visions of Johanna" (#404 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004]) is an example of Dylan at his most lyrically mesmerizing:

A novel in a poem.

"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" is a fun example of Dylan's wild, rambling side:

This is a wonderful mind bender, like "Highway 61 Revisited."

The second side closes with a display of Dylan's more romantic side, "Just Like a Woman"

Another novel, and quite literally breathtaking.

"Absolutely Sweet Marie" is an uptempo number best known for the line "to live outside the law you must be honest," which may have been adapted, consciously or not, from a line written by Stirling Silliphant for the 1958 film The Lineup.

Well, that's very interesting. I never knew that.

Side four is devoted to the album's eleven-minute closer, "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," an epic composition that Dylan wrote for his then-recent bride Sara Lownds, which he was outspokenly pleased with at the time. I find it less captivating than many other of Dylan's longer tracks, however.

More of an epic reading than a song, but still-- wow.

Yep. (I have to right-click and select "open image in new tab" to see the pics.)

He actually looks pretty good.

As a reminder, if you didn't go back and read the earlier review post, this was the one in which he was trying something that sounded vaguely like a Southern accent.

Why bother? He always sounds like Roddy. :rommie:

True, but then he'd lose his all-American boy image.

True enough.

Yeah, I think that was posted in the Me thread years back...I didn't realize that Linda Harrison was in it. From what I read, she's the more idealized version of Wonder Woman in the mirror (though the difference between the actresses isn't that distinct to me).

It was an ill-advised re-imagining. She would have made a good Wonder Woman, though, if only as a guest on Batman.

O'Connor's album is titled Carroll O'Connor Sings for Old P.F.A.R.T.S. (People Favoring a Return to Sentiment).

I won't be able to help myself....

The Old Mixer · Dec 8, 2021

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)

_______

Hawaii Five-O
"Nine, Ten, You're Dead"
Originally aired November 30, 1971

Wiki said:
A syndicate boss (Albert Paulsen) seeks revenge when his light-heavyweight boxer's hand is smashed by a punchy ex-fighter (Moses Gunn).

Paper vendor Willy Stone (Moses Gunn) sees a display of boxer Robby Davis (Henry Porter) at the arena he's working outside of, and becomes desperate to get in to see him. Willy ends up sneaking into the locker room and smashing Robby's hand with a wrench while the fighter is resting after a massage. McGarrett subsequently intercepts mobster Natty Edmonds (Albert Paulsen) arriving from Detroit at the airport, knowing that he's secretly (illegally) Robby's patron. A doctor informs Edmonds that while the hand can be fixed, Robby will never fight again. Edmonds spreads some money around looking for Stone, who's known to be a "punchy" (brain-injured) ex-fighter. Five-O catches wind of this and looks for Stone themselves. Robby's manager, Cal Phelps (Robert Costa), tries to convince Edmonds not to go so far as to bring in a syndicate soldier from Detroit, but Edmonds proceeds.

A Five-O contact who's a switchboard operator hears the call to Detroit and tips them off. McGarrett goes to lean on Edmonds about it, but Five-O doesn't manage to spot the youthful hitman (Frank Webb, whose character is billed as Duke) arriving at the airport. A tip leads Five-O to a kitchen run by a woman named Mama (Mama Luna) where Willy was given some food. Mama reluctantly points them to a bar run by a woman named Mae (Lynn Hamilton), an old acquaintance of Steve's who's hiding Willy in her cellar. Steve goes down and Willy comes out of hiding to explain that he did it for Robby Davis's own good. It looks like Willy's going to cooperate, but the thought of going to jail sends him into a sudden rage, causing him to slug Steve and bolt out. Willy is spotted on the street and Edmonds tipped off. Edmonds is put off that Duke, who explains that he has his own way of doing things, is not in a hurry to go after Stone. Kono tails Edmonds when he leaves his hotel and sees him pick up Duke. Duke spots Kono and he and Edmonds bail from the car at a light, tying up the traffic behind them.

Edmonds and Duke bust into the civic auditorium where Willy's now hiding out to find him sleeping in the ring. Edmonds wants to know why Willy did it, and from Stone's explanation, it becomes clear that Willy saw himself in Robby, and wanted to save him from the head injuries that Willy suffered. Edmonds turns away to leave Willy to Duke, who pulls out his Five-O Special and shoots...Edmonds. Before finishing him off, Duke explains that the contract was on him, because putting out a hit for a small fry like Willy Stone made him look like "unreliable". Shots are heard outside as Duke exits and Five-O busts in with the HPD. McGarrett offers to try to get Willy help instead of jail time.

This one's twist I did not see coming, and I never would have recognized Gunn here as the same actor who played the crime lord in Shaft.

_______

The Odd Couple
"Win One for Felix"
Originally aired December 3, 1971

Wiki said:
Felix tries to coach his son's football team.

The episode opens with Gloria coming by the apartment to pick up Leonard (Willie Aames initiating the role of Felix's son), to find Felix depressed because his son has spent most of the day with Oscar, who's his coach, talking football. After Gloria and Leonard leave, Felix accuses Oscar of stealing his son. Felix wants to do something with Leonard that will make him look up to and respect his father, so Oscar offers to coach him on coaching the team in his place. Felix's lack of understanding of the game causes all sorts of awkwardness, and when it's time for Felix to assume his new role, Leonard just looks uncomfortable and embarrassed in the locker room.

The team gets creamed in their first game of the season, blaming Felix's complicated, unconventional plays. Gloria comes by to tell Oscar that the kids hate Felix as a coach and want to fire him, and puts it on Oscar to tell him. Oscar can't bring himself to because Felix is so invested in his role and doesn't want Leonard to think he's a quitter. Oscar instead arranges with the kids to shadow-coach them during the next game, which involves having somebody always running to the locker room to take plays from him while ignoring Felix's. Felix comes into the locker room to catch Oscar in the act, clearly feeling humiliated. Leonard comes by the apartment later to tell Felix that football isn't his bag, but that his father has taught him about a lot of other things; and that the team has appointed Felix to be their dietician. Felix and Oscar agree that Felix is a lucky guy.

_______

Love, American Style
"Love and the Accidental Passion / Love and the Black Limousine / Love and the Eskimo's Wife / Love and the Tuba"
Originally aired December 3, 1971

I don't have "Love and the Accidental Passion," which according to IMDb features Warren Berlinger, Steve Franken, Alan Hewitt, Jack Kruschen, and E.J. Peaker.

In "Love and the Black Limousine," Kathy (Pippa Scott) brings her boyfriend Rocky (Richard Schaal) to meet her parents. Mama (Jane Dulo), who's been watching gangster movies, thinks she sees the signs that Rocky's one, including his black suit and that he drives a black limo. He's actually a mortician, but doesn't like people to know because of how they react, so he remains vague about his profession, which seems to confirm Mama and Papa's (Ned Glass) suspicions. A motorcycle policeman (Jason Wingreen) comes to the door to ask Rocky about escort duty for a funeral, and Rocky pays him for the last time, which makes them think Rocky's bribing the officer. Papa then uses his prospective son-in-law's assumed profession to intimidate the super (Garry Walberg) into prioritizing fixing his radiator and a neighbor (John Dennis) into paying a debt with interest. Mama confronts Rocky about "what he does," expresses her disapproval, and threatens to disown her daughter. When Rocky's about to leave because it isn't going to work out, he finally mentions being a mortician, and to his surprise, Mama couldn't be more pleased...though Papa tries to maintain the front that Rocky's a mobster.

"Love and the Eskimo's Wife" has Chief Ranook (Frank DeKova) being paid a visit by Charlie (Joe Flynn), an Intercontinental Oil man who's trying to get him to sign a land deal. The chief insists that they share his hospitality first in a tradition called "napoola," and the geologist with him, Haskell (Alex Karras), thinks that means the chief sharing his wife. Charlie wants Haskell to get lost so he can have all the hospitality for himself, but when he unhoods the woman serving them and finds an old hag, he tries to hand her off to Haskell. Neither wants her, but they're afraid of offending the chief, and they find themselves trapped in the igloo by the extreme weather. Each of them tries through the language barrier to convince the woman that the other is a better catch. They finally confront the chief with the idea that his custom is uncivilized, only to learn that the woman who's been serving them is his mother, and that the wife he was planning to share is a knockout (I recognize the actress from other segments, but can't recall her name offhand).

"Love and the Tuba" opens with a bellboy (Gary Crosby) carrying newlywed Millie Snap (Annette Funicello) across the threshold to the foot of the brass bed for her husband, Henry ("Frank" Avalon as he's billed here--Are we taking him more seriously?), a symphony player who's carrying in his prized tuba. When they're alone, Millie comes out of the bathroom in a nightie to find Henry playing, and as she tries to lure him away from the instrument, the couple find themselves stuck in its winding tubes. The bellboy's at a loss to help them get free until he's reminded that escape artist Manfried the Great stays in the hotel. He takes them to the Manfrieds' suite to find that he's out, though Mrs. Manfried (Ann Morgan Guilbert) suggests the couple try soaping themselves in the shower while she calls the bars in an attempt to locate her husband. The shower doesn't work, but Mannie (Hans Conried) returns, stumbling drunk. After a bit of bumbling around, the only thing he can think of is to saw the tuba in half. Henry is naturally reluctant to accept this solution, and plays "Taps" as Manfried goes to work. Cut to the couple finally freed and alone in their honeymoon bed, with Henry being coaxed to say that he loves Millie more than his tuba, as the instrument's remains lie beside them on the floor.

_______

RJDiogenes said:
I love the circus atmosphere and the sound of Dylan laughing.

Quite the change in tone from the Highway 61 album.

Another novel, and quite literally breathtaking.

FWIW, this one reportedly gets a lot of criticism for misogyny. (What from that era doesn't?)

Well, that's very interesting. I never knew that.

I thought that would catch your interest. FWIW, the Silliphant line was "When you live outside the law, you have to eliminate dishonesty".

More of an epic reading than a song, but still-- wow.

You got more out of this one than I did.

It was an ill-advised re-imagining.

That's putting it mildly. It was complete garbage.

I won't be able to help myself....

Give us an album write-up, willya?

RJDiogenes · Dec 8, 2021

The Old Mixer said:
A Five-O contact who's a switchboard operator hears the call to Detroit and tips them off.

This seems legally dubious.

Edmonds wants to know why Willy did it, and from Stone's explanation, it becomes clear that Willy saw himself in Robby, and wanted to save him from the head injuries that Willy suffered.

Story-wise, this is a great motivation. Not only is it sweet that the guy wanted to save the younger guy from the same brain injuries, but he went about it in a really bad way because of those injuries.

Before finishing him off, Duke explains that the contract was on him, because putting out a hit for a small fry like Willy Stone made him look like "unreliable".

Should have listened to the manager. This is also a nice twist, but seems to bring up a glaring plot hole in an otherwise good episode-- why didn't Duke just ace Edmonds right off the bat?

After Gloria and Leonard leave, Felix accuses Oscar of stealing his son.

Ouch.

The team gets creamed in their first game of the season, blaming Felix's complicated, unconventional plays.

"Rommel, you magnificent bastard..."

Leonard comes by the apartment later to tell Felix that football isn't his bag, but that his father has taught him about a lot of other things

There are certainly other ways that Felix can bond with the kid. Doesn't he photograph Playboy centerfolds? :rommie:

A motorcycle policeman (Jason Wingreen) comes to the door to ask Rocky about escort duty for a funeral

He comes to the door of the guy's girlfriend's parents' house-- that's convenient. :rommie:

When Rocky's about to leave because it isn't going to work out, he finally mentions being a mortician, and to his surprise, Mama couldn't be more pleased...though Papa tries to maintain the front that Rocky's a mobster.

Nice.

They finally confront the chief with the idea that his custom is uncivilized, only to learn that the woman who's been serving them is his mother, and that the wife he was planning to share is a knockout

Of course.

("Frank" Avalon as he's billed here--Are we taking him more seriously?)

Guess so. Maybe that's why they didn't come up with a beach-themed story for the reunion.

and as she tries to lure him away from the instrument, the couple find themselves stuck in its winding tubes.

One of those Escher-brand tubas, no doubt. :rommie:

The bellboy's at a loss to help them get free until he's reminded that escape artist Manfried the Great stays in the hotel.

Okay, now we're getting an LAS plot. :rommie:

Mrs. Manfried (Ann Morgan Guilbert) suggests the couple try soaping themselves in the shower

I'm sure this wasn't as good as it sounds.

Cut to the couple finally freed and alone in their honeymoon bed, with Henry being coaxed to say that he loves Millie more than his tuba, as the instrument's remains lie beside them on the floor.

Romantic, but sad-- I'm a little surprised that they didn't find a way to save the tuba.

FWIW, this one reportedly gets a lot of criticism for misogyny.

Of course it does. :rommie:

I thought that would catch your interest. FWIW, the Silliphant line was "When you live outside the law, you have to eliminate dishonesty".

It's too bad I've been putting my stuff in storage, because I have this movie in a Film Noir set (the set also has another early Silliphant movie called 5 Against The Law).

That's putting it mildly. It was complete garbage.

Give us an album write-up, willya?

Heh. I saw a couple of the songs on YouTube, but I'm not sure if the complete album is there. I'll see what I can do.

The Old Mixer · Dec 8, 2021

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)

_______

All in the Family
"The Man in the Street"
Originally aired December 4, 1971

Wiki said:
The Bunkers' TV goes out just as Archie is preparing to see his "man in the street" interview about his political beliefs.

Archie calls home while buying a bottle of wine to tell Edith that he's got a surprise, which involves having to finish dinner before 5:30. When he gets home, he conducts a toast to "the man in the street" with the cheap wine, but is mysterious as to what it's all about. Over dinner he tells the family how he was interviewed at work by CBS about Nixon's economic policies. When Archie rhetorically asks them to guess who's going to be on the Cronkite news, Edith guesses Marcus Welby. Archie and Mike proceed to get into an argument over the subject of the interview.

Archie: Listen, he knows what's best for the country. That's why he's going to China, Russia.
Mike: If he knows what's best for the country, why's he coming back?

Edith points out that Archie doesn't usually watch Cronkite because he thinks the man is a communist. Archie tries to turn on the news and has trouble with the set, which ultimately goes dead.

Archie has Lionel over to work on the set while trying to get ahold of a repairman. Having gone around the neighborhood to find someplace where they could watch the news, Gloria brings home a borrowed tiny portable TV, but it needs batteries. Archie turns down an offer to watch at the Jeffersons' because he's having a coworker over, Bill Hopper (Jack Griffin). Archie lets Billy sit in his chair, in front of the broken set, and Billy wants to go to Kelcy's (as it's being spelled at this point, in the character's billing and on set in the bar window). Edith runs into a repairman named Levy (Neil J. Schwartz) at a neighbor's, but he won't fix the set until Monday because it's Friday and almost dark and he's an Orthodox Jew; after Archie tries to persuade him to go against his religion, he ultimately leaves by telling Archie off in Hebrew. With minutes to go, the family hurries to Kelcy's, but just as the interview is about to come on, it's richly preempted by a speech from Nixon...followed by commentary from Dan Rather, whom Archie doesn't recognize. When the Bunkers get home, Lionel comes over to tease Archie about being bumped by the president.

_______

The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"...Is a Friend in Need"
Originally aired December 4, 1971

Wiki said:
Rhoda is not having much luck finding a new job, yet Mary conceals from her an opening at WJM.

Mary returns to the station from lunch with Rhoda to learn that Rhoda's lost her window-dressing job. They continue to discuss it after dinner at Mary's, with Phyllis hanging around. In the days that follow, Rhoda gets on unemployment and prioritizes watching soaps over looking for a job. At work, Mary learns of an opening in the art department, but promptly makes excuses to Murray about why it's not right for Rhoda. Rhoda then comes by the station to join Mary for lunch, and when she sees the job posting, Mary claims that the job's been filled.

Lou learns about the situation in his office, and is pleased to discover that Mary's "as rotten as everybody else". Mary confesses to Rhoda over lunch, only for Rhoda to point out all the reasons she wouldn't want the job, which align with the excuses Mary was making to Murray and Lou. When Phyllis later finds Rhoda lying around Mary's apartment, she maneuvers Mary into confronting Rhoda about it, only for Rhoda to disclose that she found a job at another department store that day.

Back at the station, Lou tears a job notice off the board for an associate producer job that pays more than Mary's.

_______

Mission: Impossible
"Nerves"
Originally aired December 4, 1971

Wiki said:
When a paranoid Syndicate enforcer (Christopher George, Lynda Day George's husband) threatens to release deadly nerve gas in a heavily populated area to force the release of his brother from prison, the IMF must recover the defective gas canister before it leaks and kills thousands.

The episode opens with General Westerfield (Charles Bateman) and Warden Barnes (Russell Thorson) taking a call from Wendell Hoyes (Christopher George), who wants his brother freed in exchange for a stolen canister of nerve gas that he threatens to otherwise use. But his brother, Cayman Hoyes (Paul Stevens), is dying in the prison hospital of heart disease.

The miniature reel-to-reel tape in a tackle box left behind by a code-exchanging fisherman said:
Good morning, Mister Phelps. A canister of deadly experimental nerve gas TX-222, ordered destroyed by the president, has been stolen from an Army laboratory. The canister was hijacked by this man, Wendell Hoyes, a fugitive Syndicate enforcer whose brother Cayman is serving a life sentence for the murder of a federal agent. Wendell Hoyes is threatening to release the gas in a heavily populated area unless authorities immediately surrender his brother. Obviously, the government cannot be party to any such deal. Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to recover the canister of TX-222. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim!

We learn in the briefing that guest agent Bill Williams (Peter Kilman) will be posing as Cayman, because the regular IMFer Cayman resembles hasn't been on the show for years. To further complicate matters, the canister is defective and expected to start leaking in 43 hours. During a prison transfer, Wendell's girlfriend, Sareta Lane (Tyne Daly), finds herself in the middle of a fake attempt to free fellow transferee Casey. Cuffed together, Casey and Sareta make a break for it in fake-killed Jim and Willy's bugged and tracked car. Sareta forces Casey at gunpoint to take her to Wendell's warehouse hideout. Casey meets Wendell, who heard about the breakout on the news, and his partner Jack Tully (Rafer Johnson). Wendell takes a quick liking to Casey's sassy character, but exhibits unstably temperamental behavior. Meanwhile, Cayman passes at the prison. Wendell has Tully check up on the woman Casey's impersonating via a prison guard contact named Ed Campbell (Ron Masak), who digs up an IMF-planted file. At the hideout, Wendell starts forcing himself on Casey, and Sareta jealously intervenes, displaying a limited ability to influence his erratic behavior.

Williams assumes his Cayman disguise for the exchange and is seen by Campbell. At the exchange point, Tully drives off with Fake Cayman without turning over the canister. At the hideout, Wendell is reunited with his fake brother and shares his plan to sell the gas to a terrorist for escape money while Barney listens from his surveillance van. Fake Cayman tries to persuade Wendell to return the gas, triggering another outburst. Everyone agrees to do things Wendell's way. Meanwhile, on duty at the prison, Campbell sees real Cayman's body in the morgue. He tries to get ahold of Tully, but only gets the mechanic at the garage where Tully made his call.

As the fugitives start to make their move, Wendell shares with Tully that he plans to ditch Sareta. Jim's ticking watch indicates that the canister goes in 23 minutes, because yeah, they've somehow got their defective canister timed to the minute. Tully happens to have to make a pit stop at the garage, returns Campbell's call, and learns about Cayman's body. Wendell and company, in a separate van, head up to Griffith Park Observatory, tailed by the IMF van. Tully catches up with Wendell there and shares the news. Wendell takes Fake Cayman to the box that used to hold the canister and starts to strangle him, causing the mask to slip off. Before Wendell can kill him, Jim comes in with a gun, sending Wendell and Tully running out. Tully tries to stop Wendell from using the canister and both get shot in an exchange of fire. Jim and Barney pursue the wounded Wendell to the observatory dome, from which Wendell takes a couple of dying shots that aren't aimed at them. Proceeding to the area of the roof that he was firing at, they find the canister, which we cut to being encased in cement by men in hazmat suits.

_______

RJDiogenes said:
This seems legally dubious.

I was thinking so as well, but she is just an informant, not a witness in court.

Should have listened to the manager. This is also a nice twist, but seems to bring up a glaring plot hole in an otherwise good episode-- why didn't Duke just ace Edmonds right off the bat?

One does get the impression in hindsight that the manager may have known what was in store for Edmonds. I think Duke was giving Edmonds a chance to back out, in which case he would have been spared, probably none the wiser that he was the target.

There are certainly other ways that Felix can bond with the kid. Doesn't he photograph Playboy centerfolds?

True! Or Playpen, I think it was.

He comes to the door of the guy's girlfriend's parents' house-- that's convenient.

Yeah, I guess he was supposed to have seen the limo, but that was definitely odd.

I'm sure this wasn't as good as it sounds.

Nope...they came out fully clothed.

RJDiogenes · Dec 9, 2021

The Old Mixer said:
Mike: If he knows what's best for the country, why's he coming back?

Zing.

Edith points out that Archie doesn't usually watch Cronkite because he thinks the man is a communist.

If only we had newsmen of that caliber today.

Archie turns down an offer to watch at the Jeffersons' because he's having a coworker over, Bill Hopper

I wonder if this was intended to be Stretch before Carroll O'Connor had him forced out.

Billy wants to go to Kelcy's

You'd think Arch would want to be there, too, to maximize his audience.

it's richly preempted

Auto correct, I assume.

When the Bunkers get home, Lionel comes over to tease Archie about being bumped by the president.

Actually, I think the episode would have been funnier to have actually shown Arch being interviewed.

In the days that follow, Rhoda gets on unemployment and prioritizes watching soaps over looking for a job.

She needs a break, always being in the public eye like that.

Lou learns about the situation in his office, and is pleased to discover that Mary's "as rotten as everybody else".

Mary confesses to Rhoda over lunch, only for Rhoda to point out all the reasons she wouldn't want the job, which align with the excuses Mary was making to Murray and Lou.

See, Mary knows best. :rommie:

Back at the station, Lou tears a job notice off the board for an associate producer job that pays more than Mary's.

Rotten, but also touching. :rommie:

To further complicate matters, the canister is defective and expected to start leaking in 43 hours.

Was that really necessary? :rommie:

Sareta Lane (Tyne Daly)

Cagney or Lacey.

shares his plan to sell the gas to a terrorist for escape money

Be here next week for part 2!

Jim's ticking watch indicates that the canister goes in 23 minutes, because yeah, they've somehow got their defective canister timed to the minute.

Maybe it's a Scotty estimate. It could have added to the tension if they went over the deadline because that thing can blow at any second now!

Jim and Barney pursue the wounded Wendell to the observatory dome

That sounds cool.

Proceeding to the area of the roof that he was firing at, they find the canister, which we cut to being encased in cement by men in hazmat suits.

And that cement is now fifty years old and sitting in a government landfill somewhere.

One does get the impression in hindsight that the manager may have known what was in store for Edmonds. I think Duke was giving Edmonds a chance to back out, in which case he would have been spared, probably none the wiser that he was the target.

Yeah, that's plausible.

The Old Mixer · Dec 9, 2021

_______

Increasingly Belated 55th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)

_______

Batman
"He Meets His Match, The Grisly Ghoul"
Originally aired March 3, 1966

Before the third cylinder can come to its proper stop, a completely coincidental city-wide power failure cuts off the juice, and the police arrive, causing the Joker and company to abandon the van. At the Batcave, the Dynamic Duo analyze the distorted voices of Joker and Susie from the van, recorded in the Batmobile via a microphone concealed on Batman, and learn of Susie's involvement with the Joker. Batman sends Dick undercover to Susie's hangout, the Easy Living Candy Store, where he puts on an act of having gone J.D. Dick finds Susie there with Nick, who offers him a cigarette, which he chokes on...while a bemused Batman watches via a concealed camera and mic that Dick's placed on the counter (via an angle that it shouldn't be able to get). Nick can tell that Dick's a phony (later referring to the cigarette as a "weed"), and gives Dick a false tip about the cocktail lounge being held up again. After Dick leaves, he goes back to the Joker's hideout via a trick wall panel...which is right out there in the store, not in a back room or anything.

The Dynamic Duo head for the bistro at the indicated hour while the Joker mans the remote panel in his hideout...and sends Susie to load the milk machine one more time while giving her a bottle of poisoned perfume to be opened afterward, considering her a liability because Dick was onto her. At the bistro, Robin puts a coin in the jukebox and the Joker deploys the gun within, but Batman whips out the Bat-Shield and disables the machine with a grenade. (It's not clear how Joker aims the gun, as there doesn't seem to be a TV screen...perhaps by instrumentation.) Batman figures that Susie's in danger, so the Dynamic Duo head to the school, and are present when she's knocked out by the perfume. Meanwhile, the Joker places a bet via a Vegas bookie on the night's high school basketball game, for Disko Tech against Woodrow Roosevelt High (like they bet on local high school games in Vegas). In the Roosevelt gym, the basketball players use the milk machine, it dispenses the answers to the next week's exams, and the Joker and henchmen pop up to photograph them caught in the act of looking at them...because this is going to implicate them so fast on what's said to be a school holiday that it pulls them out of that night's game. Then the Dynamic Duo appear in the rafters, and Batman explains that the boys are in the clear because they saved Susie, were tipped off by her, got to the machine first, and planted their own phony papers...while a Bat-shadow appears behind the Joker, even though Batman's doing nothing to cast one. A Batfight ensues, in which the Joker employs some gimmickry after Nick and Two Bits are taken out, but is felled by a Batarang.

At Stately Wayne Manor, Bruce and Dick see Susie off to the Wayne Foundation for Delinquent Girls...Dick citing a broken home and unhappy childhood as factors in Susie's flirtation with a life of crime.

Linda Harrison is credited in this part, along with a third cheerleader (Cherie Foster).

_______

Gilligan's Island
"Feed the Kitty"
Originally aired March 3, 1966

Wiki said:
A cage carrying a lion washes off a ship and onto the island. But while the other castaways are scared for their lives, the lion immediately makes a bond with Gilligan. Gilligan befriended the lion by pulling a thorn from its paw. Unwilling to have his new friend put in a cage, Gilligan wanders off and uses cans of corned beef to train it to star in a new circus financed by Mr. Howell. Eventually when Gilligan runs out of corned beef, and thinks the lion ate the Skipper, he agrees to have the lion caged, and a high tide takes the cage out to sea.

Note: During filming of this episode, the lion tried to attack Bob Denver. The lion's trainer asked the cast to keep this a secret from his employer, fearing he would be fired.

Gilligan hears a lion roaring and the Skipper doesn't believe him until he puts back together the pieces of the washed-up crate he's been sawing apart to see that it's marked as being for a Singapore zoo and includes the words "Felis Leo," which the Professor translates. The male castaways gear up and go hunting, but the ladies find the lion first, tipped off by Mrs. Howell's allergy to cats. They end up trapping it in the Howells' hut and go to get the men, but Gilligan comes looking for the ladies, works his way into the barricaded hut, and finds himself in there with the lion. He assumes he'll be eaten, but finds that the lion is licking a thorn in its paw and helps him get it out. When the others arrive, they catch Gilligan in their trap, and he brings the lion out, which is now tame for him. When the others insist that it has to be put in a cage, Gilligan goes off into the jungle with his new pal.

Mr. Howell goes to take Gilligan his lunch, finds that Gilligan's been training the lion using a can of corned beef (Where'd they get that?), and the two of them discuss Howell financing a circus when they're rescued. While they're talking, the lion wanders off and approaches Ginger, but Gilligan intervenes and the others are brought in on the circus idea. Gilligan continues to train the lion but starts to become concerned as the corned beef runs low. Skipper, who's been practicing to juggle dressed as a clown, ends up under a tub that Leo perches on. When Gilligan finds Leo and Skipper talks to him from under the tub, he assumes that Skipper's inside Leo. Leo wanders off and Gilligan learns the truth. Cut to Leo in a bamboo cage on the beach of the lagoon. When Gilligan brings him some food, he and the Skipper find the cage drifting off into the lagoon. In the coda, they hear a radio report that the lion's been found.

_______

The Wild Wild West
"The Night of the Bars of Hell"
Originally aired March 4, 1966

Wiki said:
Jim and Artie are assigned to track down a band of outlaws who have centered their operations near a territorial prison.

Jim takes the train into a town where Artie is already embedded as a street preacher, with the subject of his sermon being the deaths of investigators of local thefts of government funds (subtle). When Jim checks into the hotel as an inspector from the Bureau of Prisons, a couple of men sabotage his bed. Jim reads a message passed to him by Artie in invisible ink that's revealed by flame, then tosses his bag on the bed, only for a series of bullets to fire from down the middle of the bed into the ceiling.

Jennifer McCoy (Indus Arthur) visits Jim, wanting him to help her get the location of money that her condemned uncle is holding...at first overdramatically pretending to be concerned for her uncle, until Jim sees through the ruse. When the desk clerk learns that Jim's alive, he reports it via a hose phone. In the street, a man tries to hurl a red-hot horseshoe at Jim but misses. Jim makes his rendezvous with Artie, who tells him that he just saw a supposedly hanged murderer on the street. Jim tips Artie off to keep an eye on Jennifer, who may be involved, while he visits the prison warden. When Jim returns to his room to sleep--carefully testing the bed first--the desk clerk manipulates the gas wall lights from a utility closet so that the flames go off and they just put gas into the room. Jennifer comes to Jim's door, smells the gas, and breaks the transom, waking him up so he can turn off the gas.

Jim tips Jennifer off to see the preacher if she needs help, then proceeds to visit Warden Theophilus Ragan (Arthur O'Connell) at the prison, and insists on seeing Gideon McCoy (Elisha Cook), who claims that there's no money. Jim notices signs that he hasn't been locked up for months as the warden said, instantly questions a guard about this, and is attacked. Jim ducks back into the cell to find Gideon gone, and discovers a concealed exit in the wall. As Jim eludes his pursuers via athletics and gadgetry, he breaks through a wall to be welcomed by Gideon to a swank-looking private club. Meanwhile, Jennifer goes to see Artie, asking him to dispose of her uncle's executioner, Mr. Scroggs (Milton Parsons)--currently in town--so that he can't go to the prison the next day.

Jim, who's held in an actual cell, surmises that Ragan has been using his talented clientele to rob banks and pay trains. Ragan takes Jim to the prison's brutal boxing ring, because Conrad's gotta get his shirt off. Jim is pitted against a big, husky fellow and takes him down with moves that aren't Marquess of Queensberry. Ragan then shares his plan to substitute Jim for McCoy, so that Jim will be the first man in history to die in the electric chair! Back in town, having shed his preacher persona with nobody noticing, Artie sauces up the executioner, who drunkenly reveals that he's the first electrocutioner before passing out at the table.

Back in his clothes, Jim is strapped in the chair and gagged, and Artie arrives posing as the executioner. He holds Ragan hostage with a couple of live wires, threatening to fry him like a chicken to get Jim unstrapped. Ragan's men then get the better of the agents, however, and they're placed in another cell that they get out of to find Ragan emptying his safe. Holding the agents at gunpoint, he throws a switch to blow the prison sky-high, but Jim uses a trick badge to gas him. Now at their mercy, the warden agrees to take them to the explosives...through a guarded corridor, though Jim and Artie take out the guards and nab Ragan again. Jim manages to short out the timer in the nick of time, following which they escort Ragan through the main gate, where Jennifer is waiting with a getaway wagon.

In the train coda, Jennifer is informed that her uncle's going to be executed for real; her reaction is all about his money; and Jim produces a safety deposit box key to send her on her way.

_______

Hogan's Heroes
"How to Cook a German Goose by Radar"
Originally aired March 4, 1966

Wiki said:
A new prisoner irritates everyone until he reveals himself to be a general in need of assistance in directing a bombing mission.

Corporal Walter Tillman (J. Pat O'Malley) is brought in as a new prisoner, and the prisoners make note of his advanced age for the rank. He also sets off red flags by acting bossy and guarded. Hogan decides to get him transferred, so the prisoners make it look like he set a garbage fire outside Klink's office and easily nudges Klink into foisting the supposed pyro prisoner on another camp. Hogan then catches Tillman searching his office, and the corporal reveals that he's actually Signal Corps general Tillman Walters. A coded message broadcast on the BBC verifies his identity. The general's mission is to install a small radar relay device at a specific point in the camp as part of a path to a weather-obscured bombing-targeted German plant.

The prisoners manage to delay Tillman's transfer, and Schultz cooperates in keeping his continued presence from Klink in order to avoid Klink's wrath. When Tillman has taken his readings with the prisoners' help, it turns out that the unit has to go on top of one of the guard towers. Hogan's ruse involves having LeBeau take cheesecake photos of Helga as a distraction for the tower's guard while the colonel climbs up the other side and plants the device. The team belatedly discovers that they made a measuring error and need to move the device six inches. The new plan involves arranging for Newkirk to fix a flat outside the gate so they can use the jack to tip the tower in the right direction while the bombers are passing overhead.

That-will-be-all!

_______

Get Smart
"Stakeout on Blue Mist Mountain"
Originally aired March 5, 1966

Wiki said:
A horde of KAOS agents are taking flights to Washington. Each one carries a piece of a bomb which is meant to explode near an American base. With the help of 44 (disguised as a piece of luggage), Max and the Chief capture one of KAOS's agents and force confidential information out of him.

Max takes his orders from the Chief via a fire hydrant phone, then gets the better of two KAOS agents following a failed drive-by shooting, climaxing in their car crashing into a storefront...all while a police officer (Jack Denton) obliviously writes Max a ticket. Max makes personal contact with the Chief, disguised as a customs officer, at Washington Airport, where Agent 44, hiding in a mail bag, identifies the KAOS agent from the incoming flight (Lew Gallo) and 99 distracts the agent while Max temporarily switches suitcases with him so he and the Chief can inspect the contents. But Max gets his tie stuck in the agent's case and 44 has to shoot a gun out of his hand. At CONTROL HQ, Prof. Parker deduces that the one item of interest in the case is one part of a larger machine that the various agents are smuggling in piece by piece; and the KAOS agent proves so not-bright that Max is able to trick him into divulging useful information.

The intel leads the Chief, Max, and 99 to a mountain cabin where the KAOS agents have been delivering their parts. Max goes in posing as the KAOS agent and is informed by two of three agents there (Ted Knight and Jason Wingreen) that it's the last part of the device and that Max only has ten minutes to get out of the area. Max also draws some suspicion to himself when his shoe phone rings at an inopportune time. The Chief deduces that the device must be a nuclear bomb. With only minutes left, the CONTROL agents raid the KAOS cabin. In a quick bit of physical comedy, Max and the Chief run past each other through opposite doors while the two KAOS agents manning the doors accidentally shoot each other. The CONTROL agents then take some time to locate the bomb, and call Parker to walk Max through disarming it. Max bumbles through the attempt and ends up accidentally stopping the bomb by getting his tie caught in it and pulling it out.

In the coda, Parker is on the scene inspecting the bomb when Max accidentally sets it off by firing his gun at Ted Knight's fleeing captured KAOS agent. Parker is at a loss for disarming it in time, but Max calmly asks him for his tie.

_______

RJDiogenes said:
I wonder if this was intended to be Stretch before Carroll O'Connor had him forced out.

That Stretch thing happened years later; Stretch is just a referenced-but-not-seen character at this point, like Jenny Piccolo was for years.

You'd think Arch would want to be there, too, to maximize his audience.

Good point.

Auto correct, I assume.

How so? It (the interview) is richly (from our perspective, in comedic terms, because the subject of the interview was Archie's support of Nixon) preempted (by a speech from Nixon).

Was that really necessary?

Not really...it just gives us the usual credulity strain of how quickly they put together these operations.

And that cement is now fifty years old and sitting in a government landfill somewhere.

Or maybe it's in a really big warehouse...

RJDiogenes · Dec 10, 2021

The Old Mixer said:
Before the third cylinder can come to its proper stop, a completely coincidental city-wide power failure cuts off the juice

Unsatisfying!

Nick can tell that Dick's a phony (later referring to the cigarette as a "weed")

I'm surprised that got by the censors.

(like they bet on local high school games in Vegas)

Only on Gotham schools.

because this is going to implicate them so fast on what's said to be a school holiday that it pulls them out of that night's game.

Holy Instagram!

while a Bat-shadow appears behind the Joker, even though Batman's doing nothing to cast one.

He has a Symbolic Bat Shadow Caster in his utility belt. Robin also has a Symbolic Robin Shadow Caster, but he's too embarrassed to use it.

At Stately Wayne Manor, Bruce and Dick see Susie off to the Wayne Foundation for Delinquent Girls...

That sounds perfectly innocent.

He assumes he'll be eaten, but finds that the lion is licking a thorn in its paw and helps him get it out.

See? This show is a classic.

When the others insist that it has to be put in a cage, Gilligan goes off into the jungle with his new pal.

Signalling a whole new direction for the show, which was quickly cancelled after Gilligan appeared in a loincloth.

Mr. Howell goes to take Gilligan his lunch

Odd that he didn't pay Mary Anne to do it.

finds that Gilligan's been training the lion using a can of corned beef (Where'd they get that?)

And why would he need Mr Howell to bring him lunch?

When Gilligan finds Leo and Skipper talks to him from under the tub, he assumes that Skipper's inside Leo.

I remember that. :rommie:

In the coda, they hear a radio report that the lion's been found.

No lions were harmed in the making of this episode.

Jim reads a message passed to him by Artie in invisible ink that's revealed by flame, then tosses his bag on the bed, only for a series of bullets to fire from down the middle of the bed into the ceiling.

"Looks like an accident, pure and simple."

When the desk clerk learns that Jim's alive, he reports it via a hose phone.

I'm surprised that the hospitality industry didn't demand a boycott of this show.

In the street, a man tries to hurl a red-hot horseshoe at Jim but misses.

Was this just a random act of violence? The murder attempts are usually a bit more imaginative.

When Jim returns to his room to sleep--carefully testing the bed first--the desk clerk manipulates the gas wall lights from a utility closet so that the flames go off and they just put gas into the room.

That's more like it.

Gideon McCoy (Elisha Cook)

Omnipresent character actor.

Jim ducks back into the cell to find Gideon gone, and discovers a concealed exit in the wall.

That explains the poster of Rita Hayworth!

Jim, who's held in an actual cell, surmises that Ragan has been using his talented clientele to rob banks and pay trains.

That's a pretty good scheme.

Conrad's gotta get his shirt off.

He must have been pretty claustrophobic by now.

Jim will be the first man in history to die in the electric chair!

Also the first innocent man to die in the electric chair, so he'd be kind of a martyr. That sure would have changed the direction of the show.

Back in town, having shed his preacher persona with nobody noticing, Artie sauces up the executioner, who drunkenly reveals that he's the first electrocutioner before passing out at the table.

Haha. Artie got the electrocutioner juiced.

Ragan's men then get the better of the agents, however, and they're placed in another cell that they get out of to find Ragan emptying his safe.

I really wonder about the writer's room meetings. "More! More! There's not enough happening! The tables haven't been turned in six seconds!" :rommie:

In the train coda, Jennifer is informed that her uncle's going to be executed for real; her reaction is all about his money; and Jim produces a safety deposit box key to send her on her way.

No romance when it's all about the Benjamins.

Walter Tillman (J. Pat O'Malley)

Another omnipresent dude.

The general's mission is to install a small radar relay device at a specific point in the camp as part of a path to a weather-obscured bombing-targeted German plant.

Was any reason given why Hogan wasn't informed or just assigned the mission?

The new plan involves arranging for Newkirk to fix a flat outside the gate so they can use the jack to tip the tower in the right direction while the bombers are passing overhead.

That's a clever bit of last-second tension.

Max makes personal contact with the Chief, disguised as a customs officer

The Chief is out in the field this week. :bolian:

it's the last part of the device and that Max only has ten minutes to get out of the area.

Presumably the KAOS agents were not told that it's a nuclear bomb-- they'd need a lot more than ten minutes to get away.

Parker is at a loss for disarming it in time, but Max calmly asks him for his tie.

Subsequently, nuclear-bomb-disarming ties became standard issue for CONTROL agents.

That Stretch thing happened years later; Stretch is just a referenced-but-not-seen character at this point, like Jenny Piccolo was for years.

I am unstuck in time.

How so? It (the interview) is richly (from our perspective, in comedic terms, because the subject of the interview was Archie's support of Nixon) preempted (by a speech from Nixon).

Ah, okay, I see it now.

Or maybe it's in a really big warehouse...

Maybe it's the canister that triggered the Zombie Apocalypse in Return of the Living Dead.

TREK_GOD_1 · Dec 11, 2021

Michael Nesmith passes on at 78. Very sad news. Nesmith was respected amongst his peers while ass-rags disguised as music journalism stuck to the one story about The Monkees. He rarely gets credit for being one of the early singer/songwriters to aggressively blend country and 60s rock before the major breakout of acts such as CCR.

Micky Dolenz, the last surviving Monkee said of Nesmith:

"I’m heartbroken. I’ve lost a dear friend and partner. I’m so grateful that we could spend the last couple of months together doing what we loved best – singing, laughing, and doing shtick"

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