Mryna's boyfriend Sheldn, was played by Marshall's then husband Rob Reiner.
The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread
- Thread starter The Old Mixer
- Start date
Something else I didn't know about the song...but see, it does lend itself to other interpretations.
Via his portrayal of the first fully seen Blofeld in You Only Live Twice.
I assume the Chinese were testing their system on the Russians; and you seem to have misunderstood a line about Kaye wanting America to be able to observe the missile test. The whole Chinese plan was to keep America from knowing about the test.
And for some reason Wo Fat needed Steve McGarrett out of the way for that...because if our missile detection systems had gone out for 90 seconds, McGarrett would have been all over that....
The Apollo 100 version borders on being a novelty record to me.The original is always better than the reboot.
I keep trying to catch some Hawaiian Eye, and I keep falling asleep right after the opening credits. Last night I got a little ways into the episode, but not to a scene with Conrad in it.
ETA: There we go--Conrad was in the first scene after the credits...and his shirt wasn't.
Last edited:
Ah, that's right, I forgot that they were married.
Indeed.
I figured I misunderstood something.
Goes without saying.
It's catchy and doesn't wear out its welcome.
Is there a parental advisory?
The only Parrish I've ever heard of was the title character in an old Troy Donahue movie.
It's got a catchy garage-rock, proto-punk groove.
The song was featured in the movie of the same name, produced by Sam Katzman.
_______
50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)
_______
Love, American Style
"Love and the Advice Column / Love and the Bathtub / Love and the Fullback / Love and the Guru / Love and the Physical"
Originally aired January 21, 1972
In "Love and the Advice Column," Sally (Karen Carlson) angrily calls off her engagement with Bob (Herb Edelman) because she thinks a letter about a domineering girlfriend in the Dear Dora column was written by him (and the description fits). Bob visits the paper to find that Dora is really Harriet (Judy Carne), who replaced the retired original columnist. Harriet confesses that she wrote the letter herself about her issues with her boyfriend. They connect over the similarity of their relationship problems, and Bob ends up dictating a new letter for Harriet as a means of expressing his interest and, with some prodding, asking her out.
The show rips off the classics again with "Love and the Bathtub," in which movie star Dolly Winters (Julie Newmar), while taking a bubble bath on her wedding day, gets her toe caught in the tub's faucet. She calls a maintenance man named Fred (Charlie Callas) with her bath-side phone, but makes him blindfold himself to come in. He bumbles around doing physical comedy before locating her and feeling what her problem is. After he promises not to peek if she drains the tub so he can work, he does anyway and finds himself starstruck to see who she is. Wanting Dolly to get him on television, Fred goes through a frenetic routine that involves impressions. After getting a call from her, Dolly's fiance, Johnny (Jed Allan), comes in to find Fred approaching her with a wrench held over his head and knocks him out. A telephone operator (Almira Sessions) overhears part of what's going on out of context and calls the police. When the officer who responds (Richard Stahl) recognizes Dolly, he assumes it's a publicity stunt and cuffs her to his wrist with the intent of taking her in. The situation is pointed out to him, but his handcuff key is lost down the briefly opened drain. Ultimately, Johnny and Dolly exchange their vows in front of a TV crew there in the bathroom, her toe still stuck in the faucet and her left wrist handcuffed to the policeman.
"Love and the Fullback" has the titular athlete, Rocky (Max Baer Jr.), hiding his new wife, Beth (Dee Gardner), from his coach, who doesn't approve of his players being involved with women prior to a big game. Rocky lets his roommate Murph (Lennie Weinrib) in on the situation, and when the coach (Ray Walston) comes by after lights-out with a flashlight to inspect their room, they try to hide Beth. The coach tries to examine Rocky's leg and examines hers, as she's under the covers. He takes the opportunity to explain his policy to Rocky, and gets kicked by Beth. After the coach leaves, a bellhop (Bobby Baum) comes by with champagne from another player who served as the best man, Beth hides in Murph's bed, then the coach returns, Murph hides the bellhop in the closet, and the coach finds him. Rocky attempts to explain the situation, to the coach's confusion. The coach ends up making a show of approving of the marriage, but stays in the room to serve as a chaperone.
In "Love and the Guru," Les and Doris Stevens (Frank Sutton and Melodie Johnson) host a party during which Doris takes the opportunity to meet her girlfriend Linda's guru (Tim Herbert), who argues that what she has isn't true happiness. Linda's husband Pete (Jerry Fogel) tries to warn Les, who later comes home to find Doris more interested in meditating than in him, and eschewing physical pleasure and material possessions...though she wants Les to foot the bill for her quest for enlightenment. She also wants Les to join her in following the guru, so he plays along with that. After a few days, she wearies of fasting, while he's been sneaking himself food and beer, stashed in a variety of hiding places. He also renounces his job, and informs the guru that he won't be able to pay him. The guru insists upon compensation and threatens to sue, demonstrating to Doris that he's a hypocrite. She's ready to reconcile with Les when she finds that he's been cheating and ravenously raids his stash of hidden food.
"Love and the Physical" opens with Dr. Landis (Richard Erdman) in a strip poker game with his patient Bonnie Williams (Phyllis Elizabeth Davis) and her fiance Bob (Gary Vinson). The doctor narrates how this came to be in flashback mode. She came to see him about Bob's physical unresponsiveness, wanting Landis coming over for dinner to serve as a cover for subjecting Bob to a complete physical. To this end Landis brought a lady doctor colleague (Patricia Harty), who flirted with Bob as a means of performing the physical, and came up with the idea of the game as a means of getting him to remove his shirt. Caught up with the segment's present, Bob responds a little too well, upsetting Bonnie, who confronts him after they leave. Upon learning that he's just saving it for marriage, she wants them to hop on a plane for Vegas that night.
_______
All in the Family
"Mike's Mysterious Son"
Originally aired January 22, 1972
A young woman (Marcia Rodd) comes to the Bunkers' door, abruptly leaving the 4-year-old boy (Stephen Manley) with Edith after announcing his alleged parentage. The boy doesn't talk, and Edith avoids telling Gloria who he's supposed to be and tries to keep Mike away from him after he comes home. Eventually Mike and Gloria start asking questions that Edith doesn't want to answer. When Archie comes home, Edith stalls, but ultimately has to drop the bomb. Mike goes into panicky, defensive mode.
When a picture is found on the boy, Mike drops his jaw and recognizes her as an old girlfriend, Marilyn Sanders.
Fighting in their room (which keeps Archie and Edith awake all night), Mike admits to Gloria that he had sex with Marilyn once. Eventually Gloria comes to accept shared responsibility for the child if he is Michael's, but Archie still wants "Casanovski" and his son out of the house. Marilyn comes to the door early in the morning and asks about Danny. When asked, she admits that Mike isn't the father...and is then insulted that everyone is relieved. She explains how having Danny has been driving boyfriends away, and that she saw Mike with Gloria at Macy's. Archie rightly tells her off for her attitude, though looks of guilt are exchanged over sending the boy out with his mother.
When Gloria tells Archie that he owes Mike an apology, Archie counters that Mike owes him two years' rent.
_______
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"Baby Sit-Com"
Originally aired January 22, 1972
Rhoda gives Phyllis a kiss...because she's nursing a cold. After Mary agrees to watch Bess at her place, she learns at work from Murray that her old boyfriend, Anton Styrokowski--known to her as Sandy, and now a symphony pianist--is in town. Sandy subsequently gives Mary a call inviting her to his concert, and Bess encourages her to go as it's a one-night-only thing. Mary's unable to hire a sitter through an agency on such short notice, and tries getting one through somebody Murray knows, but the sitter, Dee Dee (Leslie Graves), turns out to be a year younger than Bess. With only minutes to spare, Mary calls Lou looking for another sitter, and he offers to come over because he's got a fight he wants to watch and his TV is out.
Sandy (Joshua Bryant) arrives to pick up Mary just before Lou comes. Lou's disappointed at Mary's portable black and white TV, but quickly gets into the fight...though he misses an early knockout while trying to explain the game to Bess. When they try to find something else to watch, the listings include a sitcom about a family with a lot of kids called The Clancy Clan. Lou then agrees to help Bess make cookies if he can have his with Scotch. Later, with Lou already sauced, they play poker using the cookies as chips. When Mary returns, Sandy ends up having to drive Lou home.
When Phyllis gets back, having grown closer to Lars at their group marathon, she needs Mary to watch Bess a little longer. When Mary says that she only has twenty minutes, Phyllis eagerly responds that it will be more than enough.
_______
Emergency!
"Mascot"
Originally aired January 22, 1972
Squad 51 rushes to scene of an auto accident and work to free the injured woman inside. DeSoto takes treatment instructions from Brackett at Rampart while the woman calls out for Bonnie. After she's ambulanced away with Gage tending to her, DeSoto finds the small dog in the back. (She looks like maybe a Westie to me.)
The Season 1 opening credits are now in place:
Not enough love for the truck in there.
When DeSoto goes to Rampart, he learns that Johnny promised the woman, Paula Slayton (Patricia McAneny), that he'd take care of Bonnie; and his apartment doesn't allow pets, so he brings Bonnie to the station. A Mrs. Esther Leeds (Linda Watkins) runs into Rampart overdramatically asking for a doctor for her daughter, Jenny (perhaps wrongly billed, as there's no character with that name in the credits), who's outside in a car having trouble breathing. The doctors find that she frantically gasps for air when conscious, but returns to normal respiration when unconscious. Early thinks that she's hyperventilating, so Brackett sets her right with a paper bag, and explains how hyperventilation works while checking her out. Dixie speculates that the overbearing mother is the cause of Jenny's tension.
Back at the station, Bonnie gnaws her way loose and chews up Roy's pillow, which Roy swaps with Johnny. Johnny tries putting her out in a camper (which apparently belongs to the station) for the night, but she howls, so Johnny has to go out and sleep with her.
A man (Jeff Davis) stumbles into Rampart, but tries to fight the orderlies. While he initially appears to be drunk, Brackett recognizes his symptoms as insulin shock. The man is identified as Peter Ballard, and when his girlfriend comes to visit (didn't even catch a character name here), Dixie tells her that his condition was brought on by his drinking.
Johnny has been staying at the station and sleeping in the camper for three solid days when Squad 51 gets a call for a heart attack victim. With no time to spare, Bonnie ends up riding with the paramedics in the truck. The victim is Lee (Jock Mahoney), an aged actor whom DeSoto recognizes. Lee's wife, Holly (Beverly Powers), is the only one present who takes the situation seriously, as their drunken party guests think it's a put-on and get in the way while goofing around. They start sobering a bit when the paramedics have to use the defrib paddles.
At Rampart, Gage learns from Dixie that the dog is a champion show dog worth $8,000 named Champion Saltwater Taffy, which impresses the guys at the station a little. Getting a call for a hunting accident, DeSoto and Gage get a ride on Copter 10 at Rampart. The pilot (Roland Barton) fills them in on the situation while taking them to Murdock Flats. The hunter who called from a ranger station waves them to where his buddy fell down a cliff. The pilot takes the paramedics down to the ledge that the victim is on, dropping them off in a hover. Surrounded by mountains, the paramedics have trouble raising Rampart, so Johnny has the copter pick him up again so that he has line of sight with the city and can relay between DeSoto and the hospital. Roy gets an IV going and the copter goes down again so they can load him aboard in the basket stretcher.
Paula goes to the station to pick up Bonnie, who's hesitant to leave Johnny at first. As he walks Paula out, Johnny tries to pick her up, and ends up in an agreement to take one of Bonnie's future pups.
Candidates for the roles of the misnamed and unnamed ladies include Candace Howerton (billed as Genevieve McCurtain) and
Susan O'Connell (billed as Louise).
We meet recurring fireman Chet Kelly (recently deceased Tim Donnelly) in this episode. IMDb said he was in the pilot, but I didn't catch him. Others at the station include Captain Hammer (Dick Hammer) and firemen Mike Stoker (Michael Stoker) and Marco Lopez (Marco Lopez). The naming here, combined with two of them not having much in the way of credits outside of Emergency!, makes me wonder if they were using actual firemen in speaking roles on the show, though I don't see anything on Wiki about it.
_______
Mission: Impossible
"Committed"
Originally aired January 22, 1972
The episode opens with asylum inmate Nora Dawson (Susan Howard) being observed in her padded cell by her husband John Dawson (Jack Donner) and Lt. Governor Harve Harrison (Alan Bergmann). Dr. Walter Carrick (Robert Miller Driscoll) assures them that the drug she's being given will render her incurably psychotic and unable to testify--get this--the following day...so ludicrously super-fast mission planning will be involved here.
A prosecutor named Wilson (James Sikking) is present for the briefing, in which we learn that Dyer Bay Hospital is an underfunded former prison. Allegedly Philanderous Fashion Photographer Jim goes to the asylum to plead for Carrick to commit his niece, Casey, who's outspokenly jealous of the attention he gives to his models. She's admitted and placed in the care of the amazonian Maude Brophy (Anne H. Francine). A scene between Harrison and Carrick emphasizes that this is the day of the trial...yet Carrick's so worried that this incoherently muttering woman in a straitjacket and padded cell might be able to testify against him that very day that he plans to have her killed. He first has her husband offed by a warehouse-working killer named Lusk (Geoffrey Lewis), because he might squeal. Making Nora look insane is Harrison's baby, as she's already delivered testimony that implicated him, so he wants to destroy her credibility.
Cap'n Willy takes Barney within Scuba distance of the hospital in his boat while feigning an engine breakdown. Barney crawls into a drainage pipe and never wants to come out, but there's a mission to be accomplished, so he does his thing in the boiler area. Meanwhile, Casey undergoes tests in which she expresses her issues with her uncle and breaks into a violent outburst so she can get the jacket and cell treatment. While talking to Brophy, Jim uses a Barney drug to feign an attack, which gets him treatment, from which he walks out in a hospital blazer and drives a hospital van to another part of the facility, where he sneaks into Casey's cell bearing a Nora disguise, Lifelike Inflatable Casey, and plastique for blowing a hole between Casey and Nora's cells.
Carrick arranges for Lusk to use intravenous cyanide to kill Nora in a way that will look like a suicide. Jim and Casey enter Nora's cell after she's brought back in, and seeing a woman who looks just like herself crawl somehow proves therapeutic rather than fucking the lady up more. Casey lures Brophy into the cell to TV Fu her so Nora can be wheeled out by Jim. Barney activates his Boiler Mayhem so he can intercept a call for maintenance, which gives Jim his cover for bringing Nora into the boiler facility, where she gets into the pipe with Barney. Barney tries to convince her what a great place it would be to raise kids, but she's still freaking out from being drugged to the verge of permanent insanity. Maintenance Man Jim takes out the tower guard, and Cap'n Willy proceeds to the other end of the pipe to pick up Barney and Nora.
Lusk enters Nora's cell to give disguised Casey some "medication," and she triggers an alarm and fights him off until Jim arrives. Jim and Nora get to court on time, because having been committed to a mental hospital that very day apparently isn't enough to prevent her from testifying in court. But when Nora starts acting unhinged, Wilson unmasks her before the court to reveal that she's Casey. Wilson describes how the real Nora was being driven out of her mind but has escaped, then has the real Nora brought in, all cleaned up and acting stable. She's put on the stand and very coherently testifies in a manner that incriminates Harrison as well as Carrick. The IMFers walk out accomplishedly...except Casey, whom the judge had taken into custody for further questioning. Presumably the Secretary will avow her or something.
_______
50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)
_______
Love, American Style
"Love and the Advice Column / Love and the Bathtub / Love and the Fullback / Love and the Guru / Love and the Physical"
Originally aired January 21, 1972
In "Love and the Advice Column," Sally (Karen Carlson) angrily calls off her engagement with Bob (Herb Edelman) because she thinks a letter about a domineering girlfriend in the Dear Dora column was written by him (and the description fits). Bob visits the paper to find that Dora is really Harriet (Judy Carne), who replaced the retired original columnist. Harriet confesses that she wrote the letter herself about her issues with her boyfriend. They connect over the similarity of their relationship problems, and Bob ends up dictating a new letter for Harriet as a means of expressing his interest and, with some prodding, asking her out.
The show rips off the classics again with "Love and the Bathtub," in which movie star Dolly Winters (Julie Newmar), while taking a bubble bath on her wedding day, gets her toe caught in the tub's faucet. She calls a maintenance man named Fred (Charlie Callas) with her bath-side phone, but makes him blindfold himself to come in. He bumbles around doing physical comedy before locating her and feeling what her problem is. After he promises not to peek if she drains the tub so he can work, he does anyway and finds himself starstruck to see who she is. Wanting Dolly to get him on television, Fred goes through a frenetic routine that involves impressions. After getting a call from her, Dolly's fiance, Johnny (Jed Allan), comes in to find Fred approaching her with a wrench held over his head and knocks him out. A telephone operator (Almira Sessions) overhears part of what's going on out of context and calls the police. When the officer who responds (Richard Stahl) recognizes Dolly, he assumes it's a publicity stunt and cuffs her to his wrist with the intent of taking her in. The situation is pointed out to him, but his handcuff key is lost down the briefly opened drain. Ultimately, Johnny and Dolly exchange their vows in front of a TV crew there in the bathroom, her toe still stuck in the faucet and her left wrist handcuffed to the policeman.
"Love and the Fullback" has the titular athlete, Rocky (Max Baer Jr.), hiding his new wife, Beth (Dee Gardner), from his coach, who doesn't approve of his players being involved with women prior to a big game. Rocky lets his roommate Murph (Lennie Weinrib) in on the situation, and when the coach (Ray Walston) comes by after lights-out with a flashlight to inspect their room, they try to hide Beth. The coach tries to examine Rocky's leg and examines hers, as she's under the covers. He takes the opportunity to explain his policy to Rocky, and gets kicked by Beth. After the coach leaves, a bellhop (Bobby Baum) comes by with champagne from another player who served as the best man, Beth hides in Murph's bed, then the coach returns, Murph hides the bellhop in the closet, and the coach finds him. Rocky attempts to explain the situation, to the coach's confusion. The coach ends up making a show of approving of the marriage, but stays in the room to serve as a chaperone.
In "Love and the Guru," Les and Doris Stevens (Frank Sutton and Melodie Johnson) host a party during which Doris takes the opportunity to meet her girlfriend Linda's guru (Tim Herbert), who argues that what she has isn't true happiness. Linda's husband Pete (Jerry Fogel) tries to warn Les, who later comes home to find Doris more interested in meditating than in him, and eschewing physical pleasure and material possessions...though she wants Les to foot the bill for her quest for enlightenment. She also wants Les to join her in following the guru, so he plays along with that. After a few days, she wearies of fasting, while he's been sneaking himself food and beer, stashed in a variety of hiding places. He also renounces his job, and informs the guru that he won't be able to pay him. The guru insists upon compensation and threatens to sue, demonstrating to Doris that he's a hypocrite. She's ready to reconcile with Les when she finds that he's been cheating and ravenously raids his stash of hidden food.
"Love and the Physical" opens with Dr. Landis (Richard Erdman) in a strip poker game with his patient Bonnie Williams (Phyllis Elizabeth Davis) and her fiance Bob (Gary Vinson). The doctor narrates how this came to be in flashback mode. She came to see him about Bob's physical unresponsiveness, wanting Landis coming over for dinner to serve as a cover for subjecting Bob to a complete physical. To this end Landis brought a lady doctor colleague (Patricia Harty), who flirted with Bob as a means of performing the physical, and came up with the idea of the game as a means of getting him to remove his shirt. Caught up with the segment's present, Bob responds a little too well, upsetting Bonnie, who confronts him after they leave. Upon learning that he's just saving it for marriage, she wants them to hop on a plane for Vegas that night.
_______
All in the Family
"Mike's Mysterious Son"
Originally aired January 22, 1972
Wiki said:
A young woman (Marcia Rodd) comes to the Bunkers' door, abruptly leaving the 4-year-old boy (Stephen Manley) with Edith after announcing his alleged parentage. The boy doesn't talk, and Edith avoids telling Gloria who he's supposed to be and tries to keep Mike away from him after he comes home. Eventually Mike and Gloria start asking questions that Edith doesn't want to answer. When Archie comes home, Edith stalls, but ultimately has to drop the bomb. Mike goes into panicky, defensive mode.
Gloria: It's obviously a big mistake!
Archie: Of course it's a mistake--it always is!
Archie: Of course it's a mistake--it always is!
When a picture is found on the boy, Mike drops his jaw and recognizes her as an old girlfriend, Marilyn Sanders.
Fighting in their room (which keeps Archie and Edith awake all night), Mike admits to Gloria that he had sex with Marilyn once. Eventually Gloria comes to accept shared responsibility for the child if he is Michael's, but Archie still wants "Casanovski" and his son out of the house. Marilyn comes to the door early in the morning and asks about Danny. When asked, she admits that Mike isn't the father...and is then insulted that everyone is relieved. She explains how having Danny has been driving boyfriends away, and that she saw Mike with Gloria at Macy's. Archie rightly tells her off for her attitude, though looks of guilt are exchanged over sending the boy out with his mother.
When Gloria tells Archie that he owes Mike an apology, Archie counters that Mike owes him two years' rent.
_______
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"Baby Sit-Com"
Originally aired January 22, 1972
Wiki said:
Rhoda gives Phyllis a kiss...because she's nursing a cold. After Mary agrees to watch Bess at her place, she learns at work from Murray that her old boyfriend, Anton Styrokowski--known to her as Sandy, and now a symphony pianist--is in town. Sandy subsequently gives Mary a call inviting her to his concert, and Bess encourages her to go as it's a one-night-only thing. Mary's unable to hire a sitter through an agency on such short notice, and tries getting one through somebody Murray knows, but the sitter, Dee Dee (Leslie Graves), turns out to be a year younger than Bess. With only minutes to spare, Mary calls Lou looking for another sitter, and he offers to come over because he's got a fight he wants to watch and his TV is out.
Sandy (Joshua Bryant) arrives to pick up Mary just before Lou comes. Lou's disappointed at Mary's portable black and white TV, but quickly gets into the fight...though he misses an early knockout while trying to explain the game to Bess. When they try to find something else to watch, the listings include a sitcom about a family with a lot of kids called The Clancy Clan. Lou then agrees to help Bess make cookies if he can have his with Scotch. Later, with Lou already sauced, they play poker using the cookies as chips. When Mary returns, Sandy ends up having to drive Lou home.
When Phyllis gets back, having grown closer to Lars at their group marathon, she needs Mary to watch Bess a little longer. When Mary says that she only has twenty minutes, Phyllis eagerly responds that it will be more than enough.
_______
Emergency!
"Mascot"
Originally aired January 22, 1972
Wiki said:
Squad 51 rushes to scene of an auto accident and work to free the injured woman inside. DeSoto takes treatment instructions from Brackett at Rampart while the woman calls out for Bonnie. After she's ambulanced away with Gage tending to her, DeSoto finds the small dog in the back. (She looks like maybe a Westie to me.)
The Season 1 opening credits are now in place:
Not enough love for the truck in there.
When DeSoto goes to Rampart, he learns that Johnny promised the woman, Paula Slayton (Patricia McAneny), that he'd take care of Bonnie; and his apartment doesn't allow pets, so he brings Bonnie to the station. A Mrs. Esther Leeds (Linda Watkins) runs into Rampart overdramatically asking for a doctor for her daughter, Jenny (perhaps wrongly billed, as there's no character with that name in the credits), who's outside in a car having trouble breathing. The doctors find that she frantically gasps for air when conscious, but returns to normal respiration when unconscious. Early thinks that she's hyperventilating, so Brackett sets her right with a paper bag, and explains how hyperventilation works while checking her out. Dixie speculates that the overbearing mother is the cause of Jenny's tension.
Back at the station, Bonnie gnaws her way loose and chews up Roy's pillow, which Roy swaps with Johnny. Johnny tries putting her out in a camper (which apparently belongs to the station) for the night, but she howls, so Johnny has to go out and sleep with her.
A man (Jeff Davis) stumbles into Rampart, but tries to fight the orderlies. While he initially appears to be drunk, Brackett recognizes his symptoms as insulin shock. The man is identified as Peter Ballard, and when his girlfriend comes to visit (didn't even catch a character name here), Dixie tells her that his condition was brought on by his drinking.
Johnny has been staying at the station and sleeping in the camper for three solid days when Squad 51 gets a call for a heart attack victim. With no time to spare, Bonnie ends up riding with the paramedics in the truck. The victim is Lee (Jock Mahoney), an aged actor whom DeSoto recognizes. Lee's wife, Holly (Beverly Powers), is the only one present who takes the situation seriously, as their drunken party guests think it's a put-on and get in the way while goofing around. They start sobering a bit when the paramedics have to use the defrib paddles.
At Rampart, Gage learns from Dixie that the dog is a champion show dog worth $8,000 named Champion Saltwater Taffy, which impresses the guys at the station a little. Getting a call for a hunting accident, DeSoto and Gage get a ride on Copter 10 at Rampart. The pilot (Roland Barton) fills them in on the situation while taking them to Murdock Flats. The hunter who called from a ranger station waves them to where his buddy fell down a cliff. The pilot takes the paramedics down to the ledge that the victim is on, dropping them off in a hover. Surrounded by mountains, the paramedics have trouble raising Rampart, so Johnny has the copter pick him up again so that he has line of sight with the city and can relay between DeSoto and the hospital. Roy gets an IV going and the copter goes down again so they can load him aboard in the basket stretcher.
Paula goes to the station to pick up Bonnie, who's hesitant to leave Johnny at first. As he walks Paula out, Johnny tries to pick her up, and ends up in an agreement to take one of Bonnie's future pups.
Candidates for the roles of the misnamed and unnamed ladies include Candace Howerton (billed as Genevieve McCurtain) and
Susan O'Connell (billed as Louise).
We meet recurring fireman Chet Kelly (recently deceased Tim Donnelly) in this episode. IMDb said he was in the pilot, but I didn't catch him. Others at the station include Captain Hammer (Dick Hammer) and firemen Mike Stoker (Michael Stoker) and Marco Lopez (Marco Lopez). The naming here, combined with two of them not having much in the way of credits outside of Emergency!, makes me wonder if they were using actual firemen in speaking roles on the show, though I don't see anything on Wiki about it.
_______
Mission: Impossible
"Committed"
Originally aired January 22, 1972
Wiki said:
The episode opens with asylum inmate Nora Dawson (Susan Howard) being observed in her padded cell by her husband John Dawson (Jack Donner) and Lt. Governor Harve Harrison (Alan Bergmann). Dr. Walter Carrick (Robert Miller Driscoll) assures them that the drug she's being given will render her incurably psychotic and unable to testify--get this--the following day...so ludicrously super-fast mission planning will be involved here.
The miniature reel-to-reel tape in a lunchbox at a pony-riding ranch said:
A prosecutor named Wilson (James Sikking) is present for the briefing, in which we learn that Dyer Bay Hospital is an underfunded former prison. Allegedly Philanderous Fashion Photographer Jim goes to the asylum to plead for Carrick to commit his niece, Casey, who's outspokenly jealous of the attention he gives to his models. She's admitted and placed in the care of the amazonian Maude Brophy (Anne H. Francine). A scene between Harrison and Carrick emphasizes that this is the day of the trial...yet Carrick's so worried that this incoherently muttering woman in a straitjacket and padded cell might be able to testify against him that very day that he plans to have her killed. He first has her husband offed by a warehouse-working killer named Lusk (Geoffrey Lewis), because he might squeal. Making Nora look insane is Harrison's baby, as she's already delivered testimony that implicated him, so he wants to destroy her credibility.
Cap'n Willy takes Barney within Scuba distance of the hospital in his boat while feigning an engine breakdown. Barney crawls into a drainage pipe and never wants to come out, but there's a mission to be accomplished, so he does his thing in the boiler area. Meanwhile, Casey undergoes tests in which she expresses her issues with her uncle and breaks into a violent outburst so she can get the jacket and cell treatment. While talking to Brophy, Jim uses a Barney drug to feign an attack, which gets him treatment, from which he walks out in a hospital blazer and drives a hospital van to another part of the facility, where he sneaks into Casey's cell bearing a Nora disguise, Lifelike Inflatable Casey, and plastique for blowing a hole between Casey and Nora's cells.
Carrick arranges for Lusk to use intravenous cyanide to kill Nora in a way that will look like a suicide. Jim and Casey enter Nora's cell after she's brought back in, and seeing a woman who looks just like herself crawl somehow proves therapeutic rather than fucking the lady up more. Casey lures Brophy into the cell to TV Fu her so Nora can be wheeled out by Jim. Barney activates his Boiler Mayhem so he can intercept a call for maintenance, which gives Jim his cover for bringing Nora into the boiler facility, where she gets into the pipe with Barney. Barney tries to convince her what a great place it would be to raise kids, but she's still freaking out from being drugged to the verge of permanent insanity. Maintenance Man Jim takes out the tower guard, and Cap'n Willy proceeds to the other end of the pipe to pick up Barney and Nora.
Lusk enters Nora's cell to give disguised Casey some "medication," and she triggers an alarm and fights him off until Jim arrives. Jim and Nora get to court on time, because having been committed to a mental hospital that very day apparently isn't enough to prevent her from testifying in court. But when Nora starts acting unhinged, Wilson unmasks her before the court to reveal that she's Casey. Wilson describes how the real Nora was being driven out of her mind but has escaped, then has the real Nora brought in, all cleaned up and acting stable. She's put on the stand and very coherently testifies in a manner that incriminates Harrison as well as Carrick. The IMFers walk out accomplishedly...except Casey, whom the judge had taken into custody for further questioning. Presumably the Secretary will avow her or something.
_______
It's too early to tell, but I think his character lives in the pool...Is there a parental advisory?
Last edited:
I seem to recall that being the case.
Weird pacing in this two parter. All the time on the wreck and hospital stuff, then kind of a rushed trip to Switzerland, then what seems like a whole act of recap in the second part.
One of the few times, though, you'll actually see headgear come off the hair.
0:47: "And also starring: The Biophone."
Not Marco, but Mike was. IIRC Engine 51 was actual LA County equipment, at least at first, so they needed someone authorized to operate it. Mike Stoker was a firefighter who had a SAG card from some commercial work, so he got the gig as the engineer on the series. He was an LA County Fire captain for many years and retired about 20 years after the show ended.
It was probably resonating with Leonard Nimoy's character in MI.
In hopes of finding out who really wrote the letter?
Wasn't there an issue in real life about Dear Abby or somebody writing her own letters?
The Fates are kind in LAS.
Rowr.
That is a pretty specific dilemma.
Wow, I forgot about Charlie Callas. He was a nut.
Couldn't he just bury her in towels or something?
Did Fred ever regain consciousness? He could be badly hurt.
Jethro.
He probably could have chosen a better date then.
First Contact!
Give him the champagne.
Kind of a rude guru.
It's so unusual to find hypocrisy in religion.
Bea from Vega$.
I don't see anything remotely unethical happening here.
I'm thinking that they don't really know each other well enough.
Just once, and he didn't enjoy it.
The poor kid is not feeling very wanted at this point.
How old is Bess? She seems like a kid who can be left on her own. And why couldn't Sandy just get an extra ticket for the concert?
"Here's the story...."
Bess will remember Lou as the best babysitter ever.
It seems odd to see the Rampart staff with top billing, since the focus of the show is the paramedics.
It's also odd to see a couple of cases come directly to Rampart when the premise is about this new-fangled paramedic thing.
Now we're talking.
That's pretty cool.
This is what happens when conventional law enforcement waits till the last minute.
First captain of the Excelsior.
No referrals or intake needed in those days, I guess. "Sure, we'll admit your niece for her weird, incestuous thoughts."
They came up with that suspiciously fast.
She's been trying to find herself.
Great idea for the reunion movie.
Perry would have at least gotten a recess until 9oclock the next morning.
After the trial, she's revealed to be Willy in another Nora mask-- double fakeout!
We'll see if she shows up in future episodes.
I think they wanted something that would attract the audience interested in the medical drama genre as well as the more action-oriented viewers. I'm not sure the straight procedural "a day on one shift" like Adam-12 would have held up for a full hour, either.
We'll see if she shows up in future episodes.
Had this been the sixth season finale, it would have been a good segue into the seventh season as a way to explain Linda Day George's absence from the first half of the seventh season because of her pregnancy.
55 Years Ago This Week
January 29
January 30 – The Beatles go to Sevenoaks, Kent, to film the night-time sequences for the "Strawberry Fields Forever" promotional film.
January 31
February 1
February 2 – The American Basketball Association is formed.
February 3
February 4
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
Recent and new on the chart:
"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," The Byrds
(Jan. 28; #29 US)
"Niki Hoeky," P.J. Proby
(Jan. 28; #23 US)
"California Nights," Lesley Gore
(#16 US)
"Sock It to Me, Baby!," Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
(#6 US)
"Baby I Need Your Lovin'," Johnny Rivers
(#3 US)
And new on the boob tube:
_______
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.
_______
I should note that the two-part version of the pilot had a couple of Rampart vignettes that I didn't include in my summary, as they both seemed very cursory and tacked on, and had nothing to do with the main plot. One involved a man who thought he had botulism but actually had an ulcer; the other, a woman who got a recently varnished toilet seat stuck to her butt.
January 29
- In Portland, The Oregonian and its afternoon edition, The Oregon Journal, closed out their run as the last metropolitan newspapers in America to sell for only five cents, the price that had been charged since 1883. Effective the following Monday, both papers doubled their price to the ten cents charged by many others in the U.S.
- John Lennon and Paul McCartney attend a Brian Epstein concert presentation at the Saville Theatre headlined by the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Who.
January 30 – The Beatles go to Sevenoaks, Kent, to film the night-time sequences for the "Strawberry Fields Forever" promotional film.
January 31
- West Germany and Romania establish diplomatic relations.
- The Apollo 1 astronauts were buried, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee at Arlington National Cemetery and Ed White at West Point. NASA officials had attempted to pressure Pat White, Ed White's widow, into allowing her husband also to be buried at Arlington, against what she knew to be his wishes; their efforts were foiled by astronaut Frank Borman.
- Only four days after the deaths of the Apollo 1 astronauts, two airmen at the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine at San Antonio were killed in a similar accident, burned to death by a flash fire spread by a pure oxygen atmosphere while they sat inside a space cabin simulator. Airman 2nd Class William F. Bartlery, Jr. and Airman 3rd Class Richard G. Harmon had been doing maintenance inside the simulator for an experiment. Both were rescued, but died of their burns within hours.
- The Beatles return to Sevenoaks to shoot the daylight sequences for the "Strawberry Fields Forever" promotional film.
February 1
- The federal minimum wage in the United States increased from $1.25 an hour to $1.40 an hour for 30,000,000 workers. An additional 8,000,000 additional workers in retail work, hotels, restaurants, construction, laundries and hospitals were guaranteed at least $1.00 an hour, to increase to $1.60 by 1971, and 400,000 farm workers were covered by minimum wage for the first time as a new law took effect.
- The British rock group Pink Floyd got its first professional recording contract when it was signed by EMI.
February 2 – The American Basketball Association is formed.
February 3
- At his recording studio in Holloway, North London, British record producer Joe Meek murdered his landlady, Violet Shenton, after she came by to collect his past due rent. He then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Meek was best known for composing the 1962 popular instrumental "Telstar"; he was 35, and Shenton was 52.
- Ronald Ryan becomes the last man hanged in Australia, for murdering a guard while escaping from prison in December 1965.
February 4
- The Soviet Union protests the demonstrations before its embassy in Beijing.
- NASA launched the unmanned satellite Lunar Orbiter 3 at 8:17 in the morning from Florida (0117 February 5, UTC) on a mission to photograph the exact sites where manned space missions would be able to land.
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
- "Mellow Yellow," Donovan (12 weeks)
- "Talk Talk," The Music Machine (12 weeks)
- "That's Life," Frank Sinatra (11 weeks)
Recent and new on the chart:
"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," The Byrds
(Jan. 28; #29 US)
"Niki Hoeky," P.J. Proby
(Jan. 28; #23 US)
"California Nights," Lesley Gore
(#16 US)
"Sock It to Me, Baby!," Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
(#6 US)
"Baby I Need Your Lovin'," Johnny Rivers
(#3 US)
And new on the boob tube:
- The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 19, episode 21
- Gilligan's Island, "Our Vines Have Tender Apes"
- The Monkees, "Monkees in the Ring"
- The Rat Patrol, "The B Negative Raid"
- The Invaders, "The Leeches"
- Batman, "Penguin Sets a Trend"
- Batman, "Penguin's Disastrous End"
- Star Trek, "Court Martial"
- That Girl, "Rain, Snow and Rice"
- The Green Hornet, "Ace in the Hole"
- The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Tartar"
- Tarzan, "The Golden Runaway"
- The Time Tunnel, "Idol of Death"
- Hogan's Heroes, "The Swing Shift"
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "The It's All Greek to Me Affair"
- The Avengers, "The See-Through Man"
- Mission: Impossible, "The Diamond"
- Get Smart, "The Mummy"
_______
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.
_______
Super-long recaps were pretty common in the day, so they've become a running gag here. Percentage-wise, the worst offender was a Get Smart recap that ran 5 minutes--a full sixth of the timeslot!
So that's what it's called...and looking it up, that's what M:I's been using as its phone box gadget for years.
In hopes of having her write something in the column indicating that he hadn't written the letter...forgot that part.
Yeah; and not in a comedy.
But you don't just go dumping your kid on strangers and expect them to take it well. They could've been a lot harsher on her for abandoning her own kid.
Said to be 12; looks like Lisa Gerritsen was a couple of years older.
The billing makes sense to me. Robert Fuller was a seasoned series lead, so he gets top billing; the paramedics are saved for last, which can also be considered a prestigious slot. And as previously indicated, the series proper isn't all about the paramedics...it's very much a hybrid show, so Rampart having its own story threads and vignettes will be a common part of the formula.
I should note that the two-part version of the pilot had a couple of Rampart vignettes that I didn't include in my summary, as they both seemed very cursory and tacked on, and had nothing to do with the main plot. One involved a man who thought he had botulism but actually had an ulcer; the other, a woman who got a recently varnished toilet seat stuck to her butt.
They might've had one lying around from a previous episode.
Last edited:
Yeah, i've always thought that was an awkward way to close the main titles. It sort of suggests Webb, et al., wanted to highlight what was then new technology, and separating the paramedics from run-of-the-mill firemen.
As for Marco--or Marco Lopez, he was a part of Webb's bottomless pit / repertory company, like Virginia Gregg, Art Gilmore, Art Balinger, Stacy Harris, Jill Banner, Don Dubbins and so many others.
Its usually the people, not the doctrine who are at the heart of such hypocrisy.
True. Like Mixer said, it was like two Webb shows mixed together.
The next episode should have been their mission to spring her.
Well, at least it was short.
Catchy. I don't think I've heard it before.
I forgot about this one. Not her best, but not bad.
So this is where it came from.
Oldies Radio Classic.
Not unless it was funny. And ended in love.
Indeed. I think it may even be against the law.
All true, it just seems weird.
Indeed. Human nature never changes.
50 Years Ago This Week
January 30
January 31
February 1 – In a private White House meeting between Billy Graham and U.S. President Richard Nixon, Graham voiced his concern that the Jewish "stranglehold" on the media "has got to be broken". Graham had to apologize for anti-Semitic remarks after the tape of the conversation was released by the National Archives in 2002.
February 2
February 3–13 – The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.
February 3
February 4
February 5 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono and 400 others demonstrate in freezing conditions outside the New York offices of BOAC, the British Overseas Airline Corporation, supporting union leaders' boycott of British exports as a protest against British policy in Ulster.
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
Recent and new on the chart:
"Iron Man," Black Sabbath
(Jan. 29; #52 US; #310 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])
"My World," Bee Gees
(Jan. 29; #16 US; #19 AC; #16 UK)
"Runnin' Away," Sly & The Family Stone
(#23 US; #26 AC; #15 R&B; #17 UK)
"Mother and Child Reunion," Paul Simon
(#4 US; #4 AC)
"Heart of Gold," Neil Young
(#1 US the week of Mar. 18, 1972; #8 AC; #10 UK; #297 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])
And new on the boob tube:
_______
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.
_______
So...how's Boston faring? (Better than Iran in 1972, at least.)
January 30
- Troops from the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, fired into a crowd of unarmed Catholic protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland. Thirteen people were killed, and another 14 wounded. Outrage over what became known as "Bloody Sunday", followed by the subsequent exoneration of the paratroopers, fueled the growth of the Irish Republican Army.
- Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
January 31
- The Federal Aviation Administration issued new regulations, requiring all United States airlines to screen passengers (and their carry on baggage) for weapons before boarding, with a deadline of May 8, 1972, for compliance. There were no hijackings in the United States in 1973.
- King Birendra succeeds his father as King of Nepal.
February 1 – In a private White House meeting between Billy Graham and U.S. President Richard Nixon, Graham voiced his concern that the Jewish "stranglehold" on the media "has got to be broken". Graham had to apologize for anti-Semitic remarks after the tape of the conversation was released by the National Archives in 2002.
February 2
- A bomb explodes at the British Yacht Club in West Berlin, killing Irwin Beelitz, a German boat builder. The German militant group 2 June Movement claims responsibility, announcing its support of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
- Following the funerals in Derry of 13 of the persons killed by British paratroopers in Northern Ireland on "Bloody Sunday", a mob, estimated at 25,000, poured into Dublin's Merrion Square and burned down the four-story British embassy in Ireland. Due to threats and attacks earlier in the week, all important records had been removed and the building was unoccupied.
- The last draft lottery is held, a watershed event in the wind-down of military conscription in the United States during the Vietnam era. These draft candidates are never called to duty.
February 3–13 – The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.
February 3
- A blizzard began in Iran that would kill more than 4,000 people over a six-day period. As much of 26 feet (7.9 m) of snow fell on top of existing drifts in western Iran and into the Soviet Union's Azerbaijani SSR, and killed people in more than 200 Iranian villages. The snow finally abated on February 9.
- The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued new rules for cable television in the United States. American systems had to carry at least 20 channels (including public-access television). The reform opened the door for new cable television networks.
February 4
- Mariner 9 sends pictures as it orbits Mars.
- Senator Strom Thurmond, in a confidential memorandum to the US Attorney General John Mitchell, suggests that John Lennon be deported from the USA as an undesirable alien.
February 5 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono and 400 others demonstrate in freezing conditions outside the New York offices of BOAC, the British Overseas Airline Corporation, supporting union leaders' boycott of British exports as a protest against British policy in Ulster.
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
- "Got to Be There," Michael Jackson (14 weeks)
- "Hey Big Brother," Rare Earth (10 weeks)
- "Hey Girl" / "I Knew You When", Donny Osmond (10 weeks)
- "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show Part I," Honey Cone (11 weeks)
Recent and new on the chart:
"Iron Man," Black Sabbath
(Jan. 29; #52 US; #310 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])
"My World," Bee Gees
(Jan. 29; #16 US; #19 AC; #16 UK)
"Runnin' Away," Sly & The Family Stone
(#23 US; #26 AC; #15 R&B; #17 UK)
"Mother and Child Reunion," Paul Simon
(#4 US; #4 AC)
"Heart of Gold," Neil Young
(#1 US the week of Mar. 18, 1972; #8 AC; #10 UK; #297 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])
And new on the boob tube:
- Hawaii Five-O, "While You're at It, Bring in the Moon"
- Adam-12, "Adoption"
- The Brady Bunch, "The Power of the Press"
- The Partridge Family, "My Heart Belongs to a Two-Car Garage"
- The Odd Couple, "Partner's Investment"
- Love, American Style, "Love and the Plane Truth / Love and the Scroungers / Love and the Small Wedding"
- All in the Family, "Archie and Edith, Alone"
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "The Care and Feeding of Parents"
_______
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.
_______
You don't like their little ribbing of the Monkees?Well, at least it was short.
As I recall, a cover by Bobbie Gentry came up years ago in the 50th anniversary timeline when she did it on Sullivan, though a clip still isn't available. I believe I posted a low-quality one from The Smothers Brothers at the time.
As recently seen on Batman ('That Darn Catwoman," Jan. 19, 1967)!
As I recall, Mitch Ryder credits his use of it to Aretha Franklin, though her recording of "Respect" hasn't come out yet. Maybe she was doing it live before that.So this is where it came from.
Unfortunately...it's a crime that this did better than the Four Tops original, and continues to share the spotlight with it.
It plays more naturally than it probably sounds. As I recall, the typical episode formula tends to have an early rescue by the paramedics turn into a running thread at Rampart, which helps connect the other vignettes there. Likewise, on the paramedic side there's usually a comical subplot involving Johnny that serves as a connecting thread. And there tends to be a climactic fire or rescue sequence that involves stunt work; e.g., the helicopter scene last week was done practically, with guys actually jumping out of the hovering copter onto the ledge.
So...how's Boston faring? (Better than Iran in 1972, at least.)
Last edited:
Classic Black Sabbath.
Not classic Bee Gees. I think this is after they were good and before they were good again.
Not classic Sly.
Classic Paul Simon.
Classic Neil Young.
I didn't even catch that. I thought it was the usual cynicism of the business side of things.
I guess I did hear it then, but I forgot. Kind of understandable in this case.
Actually, I think that came up before, too.
That makes sense.
Indeed, far better than the poor Iranians. We have nothing to complain about. We're buried in what may be record snow, and there were some outages and flooding down at the beach, but I don't know the extent yet. Myself and everybody I know were fine. I never lost power or cable and the wind was nowhere near as bad as I expected-- it was worse earlier in the week. And my house is nice and warm, thanks to all the insulating snow. I haven't set foot outside in about 36 hours, but now I'll have to go out and see how deeply my car is buried.
I assume you didn't get too much?It would have been perfect to splice that with the camp attack scene from 1979’s PROPHECY:
A couple of quotes taken from 'So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star' The Byrds Day-By-Day 1965-1973 - Chris Hillman, "It's not about us at all, in fact: we wrote that when The Monkees came out. We were just being cynical about the way a bunch of people could be contrived into the kind of popularity they got."
" . . . The song was a slight jab at The Monkees. Not at the people, but at the process of taking a contrived thing and making a watered-down version of 'A Hard Day's Night' on a weekly sitcom. It cheapened the music. It was never a jab at the four guys; in fact, Michael Nesmith was a great songwriter and singer."
I wonder what they (Roger McGuinn/Chris Hillman) would have thought of today's boy bands.
Kinda belated as a single release, though, as they've had another album out for some time now. And apparently there was a shorter single edit, though I wasn't finding it on YouTube.
It's decent if unremarkable. This wasn't on the collection I'd bought for their other singles, but the ol' hobgoblin made me get it.
This is one of the more poppy/single-worthy tracks on an album that I've stalled on doing a review for, and keep meaning to get back to.
And so his solo career kicks off...bringing some reggae sound to the pop chart.
An acclaimed song from an acclaimed album that I might get around to reviewing some day.
From what I read, there was a fair amount of that going into the song as well.
It did, in relation to Laugh-In popularizing it.
Only a few inches here, but enough to have to dig out.Indeed, far better than the poor Iranians. We have nothing to complain about. We're buried in what may be record snow, and there were some outages and flooding down at the beach, but I don't know the extent yet. Myself and everybody I know were fine. I never lost power or cable and the wind was nowhere near as bad as I expected-- it was worse earlier in the week. And my house is nice and warm, thanks to all the insulating snow. I haven't set foot outside in about 36 hours, but now I'll have to go out and see how deeply my car is buried.
There were a lot of similarities between Joe Meek and Phil Spector. Both men were brilliant, innovative and eccentric musicians/songwriters/music producers. Both went batshit crazy and killed someone. Not to make light of tragedy, but at least Joe Meek's suicide saved the citizens the cost of a trial.
Interesting. I don't think it's that clear cut. A lot of bands and singers perform work written by others, which basically makes them hired performers. And there have been other producers who created studio bands. The Monkees took it to another level, of course, but with pretty good results.
That's odd.
Luckily it was light and fluffy here, so it wasn't much of a problem.