The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[The Old Mixer]

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Wild Wild Catch-Up Viewing--IN COLOR!

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"The Night of the Eccentrics"
Originally aired September 16, 1966
Season 2 premiere

While searching for an undercover fellow agent {who turns up dead}, Jim and Artie arrive at a circus where they find themselves pitted against the Eccentrics, a league of assassins commanded by the vicious Count Manzeppi.

Agent Vance Markham (Roy Jenson) is caught sneaking into a warehouse hideout of Count Carlos Manzeppi (Victor Buono) and his sideshow-themed underlings, who include a ventriloquist named Villar (Richard Pryor!). Jim and Artie go in after Markham only for Artie to get briefly hung in a noose trap, following which the agents find Markham dead with a poster for an amusement park knifed to his back and are taunted by Manzeppi's voice. In a briefing with Colonel Armstrong (Harry Ellerbe) at the hospital where Artie's laid up afterward, we learn of how a group of hired assassins called the Eccentrics is believed to be after President Juarez.

Jim proceeds to the park, where he becomes acquainted with the Count and his crew, who include a gunslinger named Deadeye (Anthony Eisley), knife-thrower Tony (Paul Wallace), harem-outfitted Miranda (Le Grand Mellon), strongman Titan (Mike Masters), and the ventriloquist, who always talks through his dummy, Julio. West bests Titan in a tussle, following which Deadeye shoots the loser. Jim is then transported to an underground lair via a trap door hidden by a puff of smoke, and is treated to various parlor tricks. The Count does the all-too-frequent schtick of propositioning Jim to join the Eccentrics, but wants him to prove his loyalty by killing Artie. Then, while showing a series of color slides(!), the Count describes how he plans to have Juarez killed and replace him with an archduke heir of the deceased Emperor Maximillian who's under his thumb. Jim is subsequently trap-doored into a pit, from which he escapes with the helped of a concealed grappling hook and Miranda popping in via a hidden panel. The Count watches their departure via color TV(!!!).

The duo return to the train, but are followed by the Count and his Eccentrics. Now the Count says that he wants West to seem to kill Juarez to make it look like the archduke has the blessing of the US. After Artie uses some train trickery to escape, Jim is taken back to the Count's lair and left in an electrical death trap that Miranda helps him out of, motivated by the prospect of getting a reward from the government. They proceed to Juarez's palace to be met by Artie disguised as a guard, but as Jim's attempting to warn Juarez (Frank Sorello), the Eccentrics enter and "Juarez" is unmasked to reveal Deadeye.

After Tony is shot by Deadeye over West tricking him into aiding in an escape attempt, Jim taunts Deadeye into a shootout and wins. Now finding himself at a disadvantage against an armed West, the Count departs through a secret panel with Villar, following which the real Juarez returns. In the coda, Artie can't find the panel, but we see the Count reach through a hidden opening behind another shelf to replace a portrait of Juarez with one of himself.

If you're confused as to exactly what the Count wanted Jim to do for him, so was I. I read that they intended for the Count to be another recurring villain, but he only appears in one more episode, later this season. This one seemed to more about introducing him and his M.O. than having him involved in a substantial plot.

I don't know if Pryor was actually doing ventriloquism, but what he did looked like it's supposed to--there were visible mouth movements if you looked for them, but he didn't get in the way of focusing on the dummy.

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Yeah, it was the most successful stuff that was the worst, in my opinion-- Saturday Night Fever and everything after that. I think the last Bee Gees stuff I liked was "Jive Talkin'" or "Edge of the Universe" or thereabouts.

I have a softer, childhood nostalgia-fueled spot for disco. When I was populating that era in my collection, I was buying singles they wrote and produced for other artists (most notably brother Andy), because they sounded like de facto Bee Gees singles.

The Whos?

The Whose.

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Today we lost Tony Dow (prematurely announced yesterday), but Norman Lear turned 100!

 

[RJDiogenes]

Count Carlos Manzeppi (Victor Buono)

King Tut, needless to say. I also saw him recently as a pretentious artist on Perry Mason recently. He does pretentious very well.

and his sideshow-themed underlings

I love circus and carnival stories.

who include a ventriloquist named Villar (Richard Pryor!)

That's pretty cool.

Jim and Artie go in after Markham only for Artie to get briefly hung in a noose trap

That seems pretty extreme for prime time.

harem-outfitted Miranda (Le Grand Mellon)

Talk about the real name being better than the character name.

and the ventriloquist, who always talks through his dummy, Julio.

I wonder if he's an ancestor of that guy in Soap.

Jim is subsequently trap-doored into a pit

The Count likes trap doors a lot.

The Count watches their departure via color TV(!!!).

Like Batman, Wild Wild West made good use of color.

the Count departs through a secret panel with Villar

Not a trap door?

If you're confused as to exactly what the Count wanted Jim to do for him, so was I. I read that they intended for the Count to be another recurring villain, but he only appears in one more episode, later this season.

Interesting. I wonder why that didn't work out? Isn't this the second time they introduced a recurring villain that didn't recur?

This one seemed to more about introducing him and his M.O. than having him involved in a substantial plot.

These episodes are so chock full of twists and turns that a plot hardly matters.

I don't know if Pryor was actually doing ventriloquism, but what he did looked like it's supposed to--there were visible mouth movements if you looked for them, but he didn't get in the way of focusing on the dummy.

I don't think I recall him ever using ventriloquism in his act.

I have a softer, childhood nostalgia-fueled spot for disco. When I was populating that era in my collection, I was buying singles they wrote and produced for other artists (most notably brother Andy), because they sounded like de facto Bee Gees singles.

I've kind of mellowed on some of it. The last time I heard "Night Fever," I didn't even change the station. But it led to Top 40 getting really bad until New Wave came along to liven things up.

Today we lost Tony Dow (prematurely announced yesterday), but Norman Lear turned 100!

And Tony Dow was only 77. Some people get a raw deal.

The Whos?

The Whose.

The Who - Who Are Next?

 

[The Old Mixer]

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Wild Wild Catch-Up Viewing

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"The Night of the Golden Cobra"
Originally aired September 23, 1966

Jim West is kidnapped by a maharajah who wants his sons to be tutored in the fine art of killing.

The episode opens with Conrad shirtless, as Jim is practicing unarmed against a sword-wielding Artie in Asian-looking armor. They receive a notification of a presidential citation in New Orleans via a carrier pigeon message in invisible ink, only for those plans to be interrupted by an assignment via telegraph (while the train is underway). Jim meets Territorial Indian Commissioner Col. Stanton Mayo (Simon Scott) on horseback, only for the two of them to be attacked by a pair of lance-wielding horsemen. Jim goes Indy on their asses, but is bitten by a cobra directed by a nearby snake charmer (Morgan Farley).

Having been spared the deadly effects of the venom by the charmer, Mudjaz, Jim wakes up in the palace of a maharajah who, while staying in the U.S., goes simply by the name of Mr. Singh (Boris Karloff!). Singh introduces West to the three tough-looking sons whom he wants tutored: Chandra (James Westmoreland), Gupta (Michael York), and Sarrkan (John Alonzo). Singh maneuvers West into giving his first demonstration by having his sons threaten West with sabers, and Jim bluffs them by convincing them that a box of matches actually contains a volatile explosive in order to make a break. Singh's harem-clad daughter, Veda (Audrey Dalton), takes Jim to the hidden room where the wounded Col. Mayo is being kept. Jim blows the door with a skeleton key that leaves an explosive tip in the lock, only for Veda to knock him out with a blow dart.

After Jim wakes up in a cell, Veda is snuck in via snake basket, claiming that she was trying to save him from her brothers before, and intends to help him escape for real this time. After getting into why marrying Jim would be impractical, the two kiss, while Singh watches from outside with delight. Meanwhile, back at the colonel's office, a local guide called John Mountain-Top (Jose De Vega) has told a bored Artie about a haunted castle nearby. Artie rides to the vicinity, where he's met outside by Veda, who's walking a leopard.

Back at the palace, Jim is being entertained in the main hall by Singh when a familiar-looking, OTT-acting magician enters to perform the Indian rope trick. The rope rises, and both agents climb up it to a balcony overlooking from the floor above. Veda shows them a secret exit through a cellar to a pair of horses....but Jim borrows Artie's small, concealed gun, wanting to go back up to take care of unfinished business. He ends up falling through a trap door out to a courtyard where the brothers play polo with West as the goal. He overcomes the three of them, then returns to the palace to ask Singh where Col. Mayo is. The colonel enters...holding a gun on West.

The Colonel explains their plan to have West help persuade the local Pawnees, with whom Jim holds special status from some previous affair, to leave their provisional reservation because something valuable has been discovered there. Artie and Veda are brought in by guards who turn out to be answering to the colonel, against Singh's wishes. The treasure turns out to be black gold...Texas tea...and Singh and Mayo end up killing each other, the latter falling into an oil well in a cellar chamber.

In the train coda, Jim and Artie open a crate sent from Veda as a gift, which contains a pair of leopards--a baby and an unseen mama.

WWW had some pretty snazzy guests...Trek never got Boris Karloff or Richard Pryor!

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That's pretty cool.

I'd have included a screenshot, but there's a good one on the episode's IMDb page.

Like Batman, Wild Wild West made good use of color.

I wonder if the train has a Giant Gaslit Lucite Map of the Foggy San Francisco Docks...?

Not a trap door?

No, a secret panel behind a bookshelf.

Isn't this the second time they introduced a recurring villain that didn't recur?

I don't recall another one offhand, and if there was one, wouldn't be sure if it was before or after this point, as I've watched most of seasons 1, 3, and 4 out of sync.

These episodes are so chock full of twists and turns that a plot hardly matters.

It helps if the twists and turns have some sort of plot to hang them on. Here nothing really seemed to happen in the episode...it was all about the villain showing off for West.

And Tony Dow was only 77. Some people get a raw deal.

Also, Monkees co-creator Bob Rafelson died on Saturday at the age of 89.

The Who - Who Are Next?

Or is that "Who's" possessive rather than a contraction?

 

[RJDiogenes]

The episode opens with Conrad shirtless

Free the nipple!

They receive a notification of a presidential citation in New Orleans via a carrier pigeon message in invisible ink

"You have been Granted a presidential citation. Haha. See what we did there?"

only for those plans to be interrupted by an assignment via telegraph (while the train is underway).

That happened before. Did we decide that they can get telegraphs through the rails or something?

Mr. Singh (Boris Karloff!)

Whoa. Nice.

Gupta (Michael York)

Logan 5.

Jim bluffs them by convincing them that a box of matches actually contains a volatile explosive

Technically true.

Veda is snuck in via snake basket, claiming that she was trying to save him from her brothers before, and intends to help him escape for real this time.

Uh uh. Once bitten, twice shy.

the two kiss, while Singh watches from outside with delight.

Well, that's pretty kinky, but a better plan than Victor Buono had.

a local guide called John Mountain-Top (Jose De Vega) has told a bored Artie about a haunted castle nearby. Artie rides to the vicinity, where he's met outside by Veda, who's walking a leopard.

I assume this guide must be in on the plan, but that's kind of odd considering he's an Indian.

The rope rises, and both agents climb up it to a balcony overlooking from the floor above.

This is why Artie is embarrassed when he has to use force.

Jim borrows Artie's small, concealed gun, wanting to go back up to take care of unfinished business.

He's not going to let Singh hold the Mayo.

He ends up falling through a trap door

Artie needs to invent a trap door detector.

The Colonel explains their plan to have West help persuade the local Pawnees, with whom Jim holds special status from some previous affair, to leave their provisional reservation because something valuable has been discovered there.

Okay, this makes sense by itself, but I don't understand how it connects to Singh's originally stated plan for Jim to train his kids.

Singh and Mayo end up killing each other, the latter falling into an oil well in a cellar chamber.

There we go. We haven't had a good falling to death in a while.

WWW had some pretty snazzy guests...Trek never got Boris Karloff or Richard Pryor!

True. I would love to have seen them on Trek. Someday, when CGI and deepfake and such things have progressed far enough, we'll get more TOS with more cool guest stars.

I'd have included a screenshot, but there's a good one on the episode's IMDb page.

Snazzy.

I wonder if the train has a Giant Gaslit Lucite Map of the Foggy San Francisco Docks...?

It would be cool if the train had a room with 3D table maps-- like a train set inside the train.

I don't recall another one offhand, and if there was one, wouldn't be sure if it was before or after this point, as I've watched most of seasons 1, 3, and 4 out of sync.

Hmm. Maybe I'll think of it.

Also, Monkees co-creator Bob Rafelson died on Saturday at the age of 89.

RIP, Bob Rafelson.

Or is that "Who's" possessive rather than a contraction?

The Next of the Who.

 

[The Old Mixer]

That happened before. Did we decide that they can get telegraphs through the rails or something?

You proposed it; I scoffed.

I assume this guide must be in on the plan, but that's kind of odd considering he's an Indian.

I didn't get the impression that he was; and Veda was out of the loop anyway.

He's not going to let Singh hold the Mayo.

Too early for that...

Okay, this makes sense by itself, but I don't understand how it connects to Singh's originally stated plan for Jim to train his kids.

Nor did I.

There we go. We haven't had a good falling to death in a while.

More of a drowning. Guess you could say it was a pool or reservoir of oil; a wooden hatch with the oil directly underneath.

Hmm. Maybe I'll think of it.

The show's Wiki page had a list of recurring characters, there wasn't another two-time villain. Maybe there was a one-timer who got away and gave the impression he'd return.

Read something else of interest there...WWW was canceled because it was routinely cited as one of the most violent shows on television. There was a crackdown going on at the end of the decade, and the network sacrificed it.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Read something else of interest there...WWW was canceled because it was routinely cited as one of the most violent shows on television. There was a crackdown going on at the end of the decade, and the network sacrificed it.

Bruce Lansbury, brother of Angela, agrees. According to the 'Mission: Impossible Dossier', Lansbury says, "It was a sacrificial lamb. It went off with a thirty-two or thirty-three share which in those days was virtually break-even, but it always won its time period."

Lansbury produced 'WWW' for three years until it was canceled. Its cancelation and the abrupt departure of 'M:I' producer Stanley Kallis, who left midway through the fourth year to oversee 'Hawaii Five-O', opened the door for Lansbury to step in as producer. Lansbury would produce the remainder of the fourth season, all the fifth season and half of the sixth season before being promoted to Vice President of Paramount Pictures Creative Affairs.

I've read an interview somewhere with Robert Conrad, who said that even if 'WWW' weren't canceled, the next season would have been its last. Conrad did most of his own stunts and it was taking a toll on his body. There were also concerns about Ross Martin's health, as he had suffered a major heart attack during the filming of the last season and missed several episodes while he was in the hospital recovering.

 

[RJDiogenes]

You proposed it; I scoffed.

Oh, right.

Too early for that...

Never too early.

The show's Wiki page had a list of recurring characters, there wasn't another two-time villain. Maybe there was a one-timer who got away and gave the impression he'd return.

That must have been it. TrekBBS search utility has not been much help.

Read something else of interest there...WWW was canceled because it was routinely cited as one of the most violent shows on television. There was a crackdown going on at the end of the decade, and the network sacrificed it.

That's funny, because it won't be long before things become even more violent.

There were also concerns about Ross Martin's health, as he had suffered a major heart attack during the filming of the last season and missed several episodes while he was in the hospital recovering.

Ah, yes, the Substitute Arties (who were actually pretty cool). There probably would have been more of that in season four.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Read something else of interest there...WWW was canceled because it was routinely cited as one of the most violent shows on television. There was a crackdown going on at the end of the decade, and the network sacrificed it.

That's funny, because it won't be long before things become even more violent.

Finally found the passage I was looking for in the 'M:I' book.

CBS's censorship wing, the Standards and Practices Department, never complained, even when the industry was reeling from an antiviolence backlash. Says (William Read) Woodfield, "After Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, Mike Dann called a meeting of all the people who had programs on CBS. It was a big anti-violence discussion. Then he said, 'By the way, I want to meet the Mission: Impossible people in Perry's office." Mike said, "I want you to know that what we're saying does not apply to you people. We're not really talking about you guys."
Woodfield briefed Dann about their latest plot, which took place largely in a gas chamber (Ep. 56 - The Execution). "Mike said, 'Oh, that's fine.' It was pretend violence, you see? We weren't doing violence."

So, CBS cancelled 'WWW' because they think it's real violence, while they keep 'M:I' because it's pretend. Does that make any sense? Which is more real and which is pretend?

 

[The Old Mixer]

55 Years Ago This Week

July 30

• Rioting began in Milwaukee and would lead to a shutdown of city services for 10 days. The violence was brought under control within three days.
• George Harrison and Pattie Boyd return to England from Greece.

July 31

• Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones had their jail sentences revised on appeal by a three-member appeals tribunal led by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Parker. On June 29, Jagger had been sentenced three months imprisonment, and Richards to a year, after being convicted of possession of pep pills and marijuana respectively. "If you keep out of any trouble for the next 12 months", Lord Parker told Jagger, "what has happened will not be on your record as a conviction." Richards was not present, due to illness, but also received a suspended sentence and probation.
• John, Cynthia, and Julian Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Jane Asher return to London Airport from Greece.

August 1

• The U.S. State Department lifted restrictions on American travel to Algeria, Libya and the Sudan, imposed after the Six-Day War, but still limited travel to Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Yemen.
• After its construction at the Pullman Company yards in Chicago, the UAC TurboTrain was sent eastward on August 1, 1967, at regular speed and without passengers, to Providence, Rhode Island in order for UAC Aircraft Systems engineers to tear it down, study it for further development, and then eventual high-speed testing on a specially-built track between Trenton and New Brunswick, New Jersey.
• George and Pattie fly from London Airport to Los Angeles, renting a house in a street named Blue Jay Way, which inspires George to write his song of the same name.

August 2

• Israel issued IDF Order Number 82, canceling municipal council elections that had been scheduled in the Palestinian towns of the West Bank prior to its capture from Jordan. The four-year terms of all of the members who had been elected in 1963 were extended indefinitely. Elections would finally be held on March 28, 1972 in the cities of Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya and Jericho (Ariha); and in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron on May 2, 1972.
• The movie In the Heat of the Night, starring Sidney Poitier, is released, and is later named the best picture of the year.

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• The Turkish football club Trabzonspor is established in Trabzon.

August 3

• U.S. President Johnson asked Congress to temporarily increase individual and corporate income taxes by 10 percent for the 1968 tax year. He also announced that he had approved sending an additional 45,000 American troops to fight in the Vietnam War before June 30, 1968, bringing the total number of U.S. personnel in South Vietnam to more than half a million.
• George Harrsion and Ravi Shankar hold a press conference promoting Shankar's Hollywood Bowl concert set for the following day.

August 4 – NASA named its sixth group of astronauts, with 11 men, seven of whom would be launched on American space shuttle missions. Joseph P. Allen and William B. Lenoir would be the first to go into space, on board the fifth space shuttle mission on the Columbia 15 years later, on November 11, 1982. Story Musgrave would be sent on six shuttle spaceflights between 1983 and 1996, starting with STS-6. The other four would be William E. Thornton (STS-8), Robert A. Parker (STS-9), Anthony W. England and Karl Gordon Henize, both on STS-51-F.

August 5

• For the first time, almost all of the American Football League and the National Football League played against each other, as part of a series of 16 interleague preseason football games. In the opening game, a team from the AFL defeated an NFL team for the first time, as the Denver Broncos upset the Detroit Lions, 13 to 7. All of the AFL teams, and 12 of the 16 from the NFL, played in the series. The exceptions were the Packers (who had played the first NFL-AFL game when they beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl), the Cardinals, the Giants, and the Browns.
• The World Boxing Association began a single-elimination tournament to fill the heavyweight boxing title that it had taken away from Muhammad Ali, starting with two quarterfinal bouts at the Houston Astrodome.
• Pink Floyd released their first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, in the United Kingdom.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Light My Fire," The Doors
2. "I Was Made to Love Her," Stevie Wonder
3. "All You Need Is Love," The Beatles
4. "Windy," The Association
5. "A Whiter Shade of Pale," Procol Harum
6. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," Frankie Valli
7. "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," The Buckinghams
8. "White Rabbit," Jefferson Airplane
9. "Pleasant Valley Sunday," The Monkees
10. "Little Bit o' Soul," The Music Explosion
11. "A Girl Like You," The Young Rascals
12. "I Take It Back," Sandy Posey
13. "Silence Is Golden," The Tremeloes

15. "My Mammy," The Happenings
16. "Carrie-Anne," The Hollies
17. "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)," Scott McKenzie
18. "Soul Finger," The Bar-Kays
19. "Up, Up and Away," The 5th Dimension
20. "For Your Love," Peaches & Herb
21. "Make Me Yours," Bettye Swann
22. "Baby, I Love You," Aretha Franklin
23. "More Love," Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
24. "Thank the Lord for the Night Time," Neil Diamond
25. "I Like the Way," Tommy James & The Shondells

27. "To Love Somebody," Bee Gees
28. "Hypnotized," Linda Jones
29. "Come on Down to My Boat," Every Mother's Son
30. "Let the Good Times Roll & Feel So Good," Bunny Sigler

34. "Words," The Monkees
35. "C'mon Marianne," The Four Seasons
36. "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)," Janis Ian
37. "(I Wanna) Testify," The Parliaments
38. "Here We Go Again," Ray Charles

41. "Baby You're a Rich Man," The Beatles
42. "Don't Sleep in the Subway," Petula Clark

44. "You Only Live Twice," Nancy Sinatra

47. "Cold Sweat, Part 1," James Brown
48. "Don't Go Out into the Rain (You're Going to Melt)," Herman's Hermits

51. "Pictures of Lily," The Who
52. "You're My Everything," The Temptations
53. "Fakin' It," Simon & Garfunkel

55. "Come Back When You Grow Up," Bobby Vee & The Strangers

58. "Bluebird," Buffalo Springfield

60. "Glory of Love," Otis Redding
61. "Heroes and Villains," The Beach Boys

66. "Brown Eyed Girl," Van Morrison

68. "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie," Jay & The Techniques

71. "Ode to Billie Joe," Bobbie Gentry

73. "San Franciscan Nights," Eric Burdon & The Animals
74. "You Keep Me Hangin' On," The Vanilla Fudge
75. "You Know What I Mean," The Turtles

86. "Groovin'," Booker T. & The M.G.'s

92. "Funky Broadway," Wilson Pickett

94. "The Look of Love," Dusty Springfield

98. "Run, Run, Run," The Third Rail

Leaving the chart:

• "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (12 weeks)
• "Alfie," Dionne Warwick (17 weeks)
• "Let's Live for Today," The Grass Roots (12 weeks)
• "Step Out of Your Mind," The American Breed (9 weeks)
• "The Tracks of My Tears," Johnny Rivers (9 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Heroes and Villains," The Beach Boys

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(#12 US; #8 UK)

"San Franciscan Nights," Eric Burdon & The Animals

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(#9 US; #7 UK)

"Funky Broadway," Wilson Pickett

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(#8 US; #1 R&B; #43 UK)

"Ode to Billie Joe," Bobbie Gentry

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(#1 US the weeks of Aug. 26 through Sept. 16, 1967; #7 AC; #17 Country; #8 R&B; #412 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2004])


And new on the boob tube:

• The Saint, "The Art Collectors"

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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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Bruce Lansbury, brother of Angela, agrees. According to the 'Mission: Impossible Dossier', Lansbury says, "It was a sacrificial lamb. It went off with a thirty-two or thirty-three share which in those days was virtually break-even, but it always won its time period."

Lansbury produced 'WWW' for three years until it was canceled. Its cancelation and the abrupt departure of 'M:I' producer Stanley Kallis, who left midway through the fourth year to oversee 'Hawaii Five-O', opened the door for Lansbury to step in as producer. Lansbury would produce the remainder of the fourth season, all the fifth season and half of the sixth season before being promoted to Vice President of Paramount Pictures Creative Affairs.

I've read an interview somewhere with Robert Conrad, who said that even if 'WWW' weren't canceled, the next season would have been its last. Conrad did most of his own stunts and it was taking a toll on his body. There were also concerns about Ross Martin's health, as he had suffered a major heart attack during the filming of the last season and missed several episodes while he was in the hospital recovering.

The show's Wiki page seemed to be drawing from the same sources.

Ah, yes, the Substitute Arties (who were actually pretty cool). There probably would have been more of that in season four.

Which, as came up when I was watching that season, would probably make a lot more sense if one watched the episodes in production order than the big, nonsensical mess it was in airdate order.

So, CBS cancelled 'WWW' because they think it's real violence, while they keep 'M:I' because it's pretend. Does that make any sense? Which is more real and which is pretend?

I get what they're saying...it's really all pretend, but on M:I, they're faking out the bad guys, so a lot of the seeming violence is fictitious within the fiction of the show. M:I wasn't about fisticuffs and gunplay. And when they maneuvered the bad guys into offing each other, it was implied, such as with the trusty old sound of gunshots coming from offscreen (a device employed frequently enough that it's become a running gag here).

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones had their jail sentences revised on appeal by a three-member appeals tribunal led by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Parker. On June 29, Jagger had been sentenced three months imprisonment, and Richards to a year, after being convicted of possession of pep pills and marijuana respectively. "If you keep out of any trouble for the next 12 months", Lord Parker told Jagger, "what has happened will not be on your record as a conviction." Richards was not present, due to illness, but also received a suspended sentence and probation.

Lennon and McCartney would add their vocals to The Rolling Stones upcoming single, "We Love You" which opens with the sounds of entry into jail, and a cell door clanging shut.

In a show of support Pete Townshend of The Who said, prior to Jagger and Richards sentencing, that until Jagger and Richards were released from jail, The Who would record nothing but Rolling Stones songs. Their next single would be a cover of The Rolling Stones 'The Last Time' b/w 'Under My Thumb'.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

"Heroes and Villains," The Beach Boys

I'm not even going to begin to discuss the song that is 'Heroes and Villains', there's just too much to unpack. I would suggest going to the Wikipedia page and look up the entry on the song.

I have 'The SMiLE Sessions' box set and they devote one CD to all the various versions that Brian Wilson recorded in his attempt to capture what was in his head. They're so much better than what was finally released. Having said that, even amongst all those fragments, there's no way that it was going to be the hit that 'Good Vibrations' was.

 

[RJDiogenes]

So, CBS cancelled 'WWW' because they think it's real violence, while they keep 'M:I' because it's pretend. Does that make any sense? Which is more real and which is pretend?

This is one of the big problems with censorship: The subjectivity. They probably reasoned that kids were more likely to copy fistfights than trick their enemies into killing each other.

"If you keep out of any trouble for the next 12 months", Lord Parker told Jagger, "what has happened will not be on your record as a conviction."

"Be seeing you," added the judge.

Richards was not present, due to illness, but also received a suspended sentence and probation.

"Due to illness." Mm-hmm.

The movie In the Heat of the Night, starring Sidney Poitier, is released, and is later named the best picture of the year.

Stone Cold Classic.

The World Boxing Association began a single-elimination tournament to fill the heavyweight boxing title that it had taken away from Muhammad Ali

But they had a harder time filling his shoes.

"Heroes and Villains," The Beach Boys

This is a good one.

"San Franciscan Nights," Eric Burdon & The Animals

Brought to you by the San Francisco Tourism Board.

"Funky Broadway," Wilson Pickett

Sounds nice, but just like a million other songs.

"Ode to Billie Joe," Bobbie Gentry

A weird and creepy Classic.

Which, as came up when I was watching that season, would probably make a lot more sense if one watched the episodes in production order than the big, nonsensical mess it was in airdate order.

Indeed. One good thing about arc-based storytelling is that you can't air them out of order.

And when they maneuvered the bad guys into offing each other, it was implied, such as with the trusty old sound of gunshots coming from offscreen (a device employed frequently enough that it's become a running gag here).

"Wait for it... there it is... okay, let's grab some lunch."

 

[The Old Mixer]

50 Years Ago This Week

July 30 – The Associated Press and the Chinese government controlled Xinhua News Agency reached an agreement to regularly exchange news and photos, marking the first time in 22 years that any American news agency would have a channel with the People's Republic of China.

July 31

• Operation Motorman began at 4:00 in the morning, as 13,000 British troops rolled into the "no go" areas of Belfast, Derry, Lurgan, Armagh, Portadown, Coalisland and Dungannon. At 7:00, administrator William Whitelaw announced, "The British army are now in occupation and control throughout Northern Ireland." Although violence continued in Northern Ireland, it was greatly reduced and never again reached the levels of July 1972. The number of shooting incidents in the three weeks before the operation had been 2,595. In the three weeks that followed, the number dropped to 380.
• Nine civilians were killed in the Claudy bombing in the Northern Ireland village of Claudy in County Londonderry, when three separate car bombs exploded without warning at about 10:30 in the morning on the main street. The event would later become known as "Bloody Monday"
• Delta Airlines Flight 841 from Detroit was hijacked by five members of the Black Liberation Army as it was approaching Miami. After receiving $1,000,000 ransom, the 86 hostage/passengers were released and the hijackers commandeered the plane to Boston, and then flew 5,000 miles to Algeria. Four of the hijackers were captured and convicted in 1976, while the elusive fifth, George Wright (who identified himself on the passenger manifest as "Rev. L. Burgess") was on the run for the next 39 years. Wright was finally found and arrested in Lisbon, Portugal, on September 26, 2011.

August 1 – "Bug Suspect Got Campaign Funds", the first article in the famous Watergate investigative series by reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, appeared on the front page of the Washington Post.

August 3 – By an 88–2 vote, the U.S. Senate ratified the Soviet-American Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Voting against the treaty were Senators James Buckley (R-N.Y.) and James B. Allen (D-Ala.).

August 4

• At 0620 GMT (2:20 a.m. EDT), the Sun released the most powerful blasts of radiation that had been recorded up to that time.
• Arthur Bremer, 22, was sentenced to 63 years in prison after being found guilty of having wounded Alabama Governor George C. Wallace and three other people in May. Bremer would be released from the Maryland Correctional Institution - Hagerstown on November 9, 2007, after 35 years.
• Bobby Fischer reached his highest live ELO rating of 2789.7 (if the forfeited Game 2 is not counted toward change of his ELO rating) after a win in Game 10 of World Chess Championship 1972. This highest live ELO rating was not surpassed for almost 22 years.

August 5 – With its national convention adjourned, the Democratic National Committee confirmed George McGovern's sixth choice to replace Thomas Eagleton, former Ambassador to France (and Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver as the party's nominee for Vice-President. McGovern was turned down by Teddy Kennedy, Abraham Ribicoff, Hubert Humphrey, Reuben Askew and Edmund Muskie.


Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Alone Again (Naturally)," Gilbert O'Sullivan
2. "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)," Looking Glass
3. "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right," Luther Ingram
4. "Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast," Wayne Newton
5. "Too Late to Turn Back Now," Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose
6. "Where Is the Love," Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
7. "School's Out," Alice Cooper
8. "How Do You Do?," Mouth & MacNeal
9. "Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress)," The Hollies
10. "Layla," Derek & The Dominos
11. "Lean on Me," Bill Withers
12. "Coconut," Harry Nilsson
13. "Day by Day," Godspell
14. "Hold Her Tight," The Osmonds
15. "I'm Still in Love with You," Al Green
16. "The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.," Donna Fargo
17. "Conquistador," Procol Harum
18. "Rocket Man," Elton John
19. "Take It Easy," Eagles
20. "Hold Your Head Up," Argent
21. "You Don't Mess Around with Jim," Jim Croce
22. "Goodbye to Love," Carpenters
23. "Sealed with a Kiss," Bobby Vinton

26. "Too Young," Donny Osmond
27. "Outa-Space," Billy Preston
28. "Happy," The Rolling Stones
29. "Lookin' Through the Windows," Jackson 5

34. "Rock and Roll, Part 2," Gary Glitter
35. "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me," Mac Davis

37. "I Wanna Be Where You Are," Michael Jackson
38. "Join Together," The Who
39. "The Guitar Man," Bread
40. "Beautiful Sunday," Daniel Boone

42. "Pop That Thang," The Isley Brothers

47. "Popcorn," Hot Butter

50. "Back Stabbers," The O'Jays
51. "Power of Love," Joe Simon

56. "Starting All Over Again," Mel & Tim
57. "Go All the Way," Raspberries

60. "Saturday in the Park," Chicago
61. "Run to Me," Bee Gees

63. "The City of New Orleans," Arlo Guthrie

66. "Everybody Plays the Fool," The Main Ingredient

69. "Starman," David Bowie

83. "Get on the Good Foot, Pt. 1," James Brown

85. "Ben," Michael Jackson

89. "Speak to the Sky," Rick Springfield

91. "Down on Me," Janis Joplin

93. "Couldn't I Just Tell You," Todd Rundgren

96. "Garden Party," Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band

99. "My Ding-a-Ling," Chuck Berry
100. "Nights in White Satin," The Moody Blues

Leaving the chart:

• "The Candy Man," Sammy Davis, Jr. w/ The Mike Curb Congregation (21 weeks)
• "Mary Had a Little Lamb" / "Little Woman Love", Wings (7 weeks)
• "Song Sung Blue," Neil Diamond (13 weeks)
• "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)," Stevie Wonder (11 weeks)
• "Troglodyte (Cave Man)," The Jimmy Castor Bunch (12 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Speak to the Sky," Rick Springfield

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(#14 US; #16 AC; I'd try to beat RJ to a recurring gag, but the point is rather moot)

"Saturday in the Park," Chicago

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(#3 US; #8 AC)

"Nights in White Satin," The Moody Blues

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(#2 US; #37 AC; #9 UK; bubbled under when originally released in 1967)

"Ben," Michael Jackson

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(#1 US the week of Oct. 14, 1972; #3 AC; #8 R&B; #7 UK)

"My Ding-a-Ling," Chuck Berry

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(#1 US the weeks of Oct. 21 and 28, 1972; #42 R&B; #1 UK)

_______

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

_______

Lennon and McCartney would add their vocals to The Rolling Stones upcoming single, "We Love You" which opens with the sounds of entry into jail, and a cell door clanging shut.

Ah, I didn't know that about the intro.

They probably reasoned that kids were more likely to copy fistfights than trick their enemies into killing each other.

"Be seeing you," added the judge.

"Due to illness." Mm-hmm.

Stone Cold Classic.

Cinematic Special from four years ago here. Seems like just yesterday that I was weighing whether posting the Mister Tibbs clip would be kosher...

But they had a harder time filling his shoes.

In that comment you would have scored, if making a rhyme you hadn't ignored.

This is a good one.

In my book, their last one before they start smelling like has-beens.

Brought to you by the San Francisco Tourism Board.

Cute intro.

Sounds nice, but just like a million other songs.

I distinctly remember this one sticking around well into when I started doing the weekly playlists.

A weird and creepy Classic.

Very evocatively atmospheric and enigmatic.

"Wait for it... there it is... okay, let's grab some lunch."

 

[DarrenTR1970]

"In the Heat of the Night" is one of those movies that I'll stop and watch, no matter at what point the movie is. It has so many little beats that you end up picking up on that you missed the first time, and a good cast of solid character actors.

The two sequels, "They Call Me Mr. Tibbs!" and, "The Organization" do nothing to tarnish its legacy; and "Mr. Tibbs" has Martin Landau in a solid supporting role.

Unfortunately, the two sequels lean somewhat into blacksploitation territory, even though that era of films is still a few years away.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I suppose everybody has heard by now that Nichelle Nichols has died. Another childhood friend lost. Having dealt with dementia in real life over the past few years, I think this is the best thing for her, but it's still very sad. I hope that she, like my other friend, died contentedly and peacefully in her sleep. RIP, Nichelle.

George Wright (who identified himself on the passenger manifest as "Rev. L. Burgess") was on the run for the next 39 years. Wright was finally found and arrested in Lisbon, Portugal, on September 26, 2011.

Amazing. I wonder how long his cool million lasted.

McGovern was turned down by Teddy Kennedy, Abraham Ribicoff, Hubert Humphrey, Reuben Askew and Edmund Muskie.

Another Saturday night and he ain't got nobody.

"Speak to the Sky," Rick Springfield
(#14 US; #16 AC; I'd try to beat RJ to a recurring gag, but the point is rather moot)

Now I'm left mute. I didn't know that Rick Springfield even existed in 1972, let alone that he sang little spiritual ditties.

"Saturday in the Park," Chicago

Classic Chicago.

"Nights in White Satin," The Moody Blues

Classic Poetry Rock.

"Ben," Michael Jackson

I remember this mainly from Lost 45s.

"My Ding-a-Ling," Chuck Berry

Oh, man.

Cinematic Special from four years ago here. Seems like just yesterday that I was weighing whether posting the Mister Tibbs clip would be kosher...

Strange days indeed....

In that comment you would have scored, if making a rhyme you hadn't ignored.

Damn, that's true. Good one.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

If I'm remembering correctly, the reason 'Nights . . .' charted again was because of a radio station here in Seattle.

One of the overnight DJs would play the song to end his shift. It was simply the longest song he could find in his stack of records and he would play while he took a smoke/bathroom break while the other DJs would come in and set up for the day.

At least that's the story Graeme Edge told when the Moody's came to town and he was interviewed on the station that started it all.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

Wild Wild Catch-Up Viewing

_______


"The Night of the Raven"
Originally aired September 30, 1966

The fifth encounter with Dr. Loveless, whose latest diabolical invention involves a powder that miniaturizes people. Jim West and an Indian princess are among his victims. Will a cat bring about the end of Agent West? Dr Loveless appears as a Sheriff of a "ghost town".

Motivated to preserve a peace treaty, West promises Blackfoot chief War Eagle (Howard Hoffman) to return his daughter, Princess Wanakee, having received a telegram from her kidnapper asking specifically for Jim and Artie. The agents ride into Gravetown to find themselves surrounded by the armed posse of Sheriff Loveless. After their host indulges in some vague boasting, the agents allow themselves to be locked up for the princess's safety, then take the first opportunity to escape their cell with the help of a miniature blowtorch assembled from parts hidden in Jim's boot heel. They proceed to the dilapidated-looking house serving as Loveless's residence, where Jim enters an open window to find himself trapped when a metal shutter with a taunting message on the inside closes over it.

The agents are taken to Wanakee (Phyllis Newman), who's staying in a teepee set up in a room with a fake outdoor backdrop. After an escape attempt is foiled by a gun to the princess's head, Jim gives his word not to attempt another. Meanwhile, Loveless prepares a cigar with a special white powder that he boasts of to Antoinette (Phoebe Dorin in her fifth appearance in the recurring role), both characters keeping the details of what it does a mystery for the audience's sake. Loveless pays West a visit and offers him the cigar, which Jim enjoys until it starts to affect him, knocking him out.

Jim wakes up in a bed to find himself the size of a doll. We see that it's not a trick when Loveless visits to put West (or rather, his actual doll stunt double) into an animal crate with the also-miniaturized Wanakee, and leaves them guarded by a cat. Later they're brought to dinner, sitting at a miniature table at the end of the regular one, and treated to a performance of "Sloop John B" by Loveless and Antoinette at a harpsichord. (I read that Dunn was hired when a producer caught him and Dorin in a nightclub act, hence their singing in each appearance.) Artie is dumbfounded to see what's become of his partner.

Back in the crate, West gets out through a relatively large opening and makes his way to the floor, then ducks into a mouse hole to elude the cat. After dodging an eight-ball thrown in by Loveless, he looks for a way out while evading a spider and a mousetrap, and swings into another hole with the help of a line he cut from the arachnid's web, only to slide down a pipe into a pen where the princess is tied to a stake, with Loveless and company towering over them. The doctor puts the cat in with them, but Artie tosses down a lockpick that Jim uses to drive it out of the small arena. Then Loveless taunts Jim with the restoring formula, which Artie manages to get ahold of and also tosses down. Jim drinks it, very quickly finds himself normal size (clothes and all), and tussles with Loveless's men while the doctor and Antoinette flee to the lab and hastily imbibe the formula to escape on the back of the doctor's titular avian.

Jim and Artie restore the princess to her normal size to get her back to her father and her groom, the hotheaded Chawtaw (Santy Josol).

I thought they did a fairly good job with the scale continuity except in the mousehole sequence. The web, in particular, looked too large and thick.

_______


"The Night of the Big Blast"
Originally aired October 7, 1966

Dr. Faustina has created human-like robots that are walking time bombs. One of them looks exactly like Jim West and another like Artemus Gordon.

The episode opens with a scene patterned after Frankenstein in which Dr. Faustina (Ida Lupino), aided by her mute assistant Miklos (Bruce Manning), brings her Jim West to life in a lightning storm...her electronic equipment making bridge sounds from Trek. She fills the memoryless humanoid in on his assumed identity, has him demonstrate his superhuman strength, and instructs him to go to a cabinet meeting in New Orleans, all while he takes orders as if he were under hypnosis. Fake Jim arrives during Mardi Gras, takes out several locals who attack him after he rebuffs a flamenco dancer named Carmen (Rita D'Amico), and proceeds to the meeting location. He's greeted warmly by the Attorney General (Melville Ruick) and introduced to three cabinet secretaries, who are there to discuss convincing the president not to fund Faustina's research. At the scheduled time, Fake Jim blows up.

Meanwhile, Artie runs into an old school flame named Lily Fortune (Mala Powers) at a Chinese restaurant and brings her back to the train to impress her. She's an actress who's heading to Orleans, so she and her mother (Patsy Kelly) travel there with Artie. Lily's impressed when Artie receives carrier pigeon orders from the president, but Prudence scoffs at the notion that he's a government agent. In the city, Artie is informed by agent Lyle Peters (Robert Miller Driscoll)--dressed as Blackbeard--that Jim apparently died when bombing the conference room. Artie becomes motivated to prove his late partner's innocence.

Back at the lab, Miklos brings a fresh corpse to his mistress, which she plans to turn into another human bomb. Artie, while at a party with Lily trying to retrace Jim's footsteps, is accosted by men dressed as the Three Musketeers, bests one of them in a rapier duel, and questions him regarding who gave him his orders. In a twist that I saw coming, the masked and costumed woman whom he takes with him on a carriage ride turns out to be Faustina, who takes him prisoner and back to her lab, where she makes a mold of his face. While she's at work, she receives a letter from Grant turning down her funding request, so she decides on the spot to use Gordon in a scheme to kill the president.

While Lily is looking for Artie at the train and runs into Peters--who convinces Prudence that Gordon is really an agent--Artie is rescued from Faustina's dungeon by a just-escaped fellow prisoner...Real Jim. The agents spy on Faustina reanimating her new Artie lookalike and giving him his assassination orders. The agents burst in and the agents engage in a lab-destroying fight with Miklos and fake Artie; but with the intervention of Faustina, Fake Artie gets away to have a bad encounter with the Fortune ladies on his way to the see Grant. Fake Artie is delayed outside the location by a guard, giving Jim and Artie time to ride up in a carriage to rope the double and drag him around the corner before he explodes on schedule.

In the coda, Lily learns backstage at her show that her mother has eloped with Peters, and Artie proposes to her through Jim, only for her to politely reject the offer. "I couldn't live your kind of life--you'd always be disappearing or exploding..."

_______

I suppose everybody has heard by now that Nichelle Nichols has died. Another childhood friend lost. Having dealt with dementia in real life over the past few years, I think this is the best thing for her, but it's still very sad. I hope that she, like my other friend, died contentedly and peacefully in her sleep. RIP, Nichelle.

Yeah, I considered saying something here, but there's a thread dedicated to it in the TOS forum. She was literally an inspiration.

Now I'm left mute. I didn't know that Rick Springfield even existed in 1972, let alone that he sang little spiritual ditties.

I think this might have come up passingly back in the Other Thread. I went in with little recollection of it expecting an appeal to the David Cassidy crowd, but it was different.

Classic Chicago.

One of their stand-outs.

Classic Poetry Rock.

Good, ethereal psychedelic-era fare, and moody indeed. Also, this is another one that I can recall hearing when its chart run would have been either current or very recent.

I remember this mainly from Lost 45s.

Michael's first chart-topper as a solo artist...kid may have a future in that. Oddly, this was the theme song of a horror film sequel about a killer rat.

Oh, man.

And oddly, by contrast, this late-coming, playful number was the seminal rock & roll pioneer's only pop chart-topper.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

In my book, their last one before they start smelling like has-beens.

It took them a while to find their footing after Brian abdicated the throne, but, IMO, the 'Sunflower' through 'Holland' albums contain some of their best material, with everyone stepping up to the plate with at least one classic.

 

[RJDiogenes]

At least that's the story Graeme Edge told when the Moody's came to town and he was interviewed on the station that started it all.

It's always fascinating how things we take for granted turn on little twists like that.

The agents ride into Gravetown to find themselves surrounded by the armed posse of Sheriff Loveless.

Always a pleasure. Well, maybe not for the boys.

the agents allow themselves to be locked up for the princess's safety, then take the first opportunity to escape their cell with the help of a miniature blowtorch assembled from parts hidden in Jim's boot heel.

You'd think by now that Loveless would know enough to strip them both naked right off the bat.

Jim wakes up in a bed to find himself the size of a doll.

How much you want to bet that Steve Martin was tuned in?

a performance of "Sloop John B" by Loveless and Antoinette at a harpsichord.

Well, that's mighty cool.

(I read that Dunn was hired when a producer caught him and Dorin in a nightclub act, hence their singing in each appearance.)

So they were friends in real life and performed together? Very interesting. I never knew that.

After dodging an eight-ball thrown in by Loveless

Cute.

Jim drinks it, very quickly finds himself normal size (clothes and all)

There goes my willing suspension of disbelief.

the doctor and Antoinette flee to the lab and hastily imbibe the formula to escape on the back of the doctor's titular avian.

Was there a scheme for Loveless to become King of the USA or something involved, or was it just a revenge scheme? Or was he going to make everyone smaller than himself? Presumably he still has the recipe for the weight-loss formula.

I thought they did a fairly good job with the scale continuity except in the mousehole sequence. The web, in particular, looked too large and thick.

I wonder if this counts as the most fantastical element ever in Wild Wild West.

Dr. Faustina (Ida Lupino)

Ubiquitous character actor and director.

brings her Jim West to life in a lightning storm...

I like it.

her electronic equipment making bridge sounds from Trek.

Were the production companies somehow related or are they just public domain sound effects?

At the scheduled time, Fake Jim blows up.

Good thing the meeting wasn't delayed. I mean, too bad the meeting wasn't delayed. I mean, using a timer is bad planning.

Artie runs into an old school flame named Lily Fortune (Mala Powers) at a Chinese restaurant and brings her back to the train to impress her.

Uh oh. Artie feels like a kid again.

her mother (Patsy Kelly)

Wow, one of Thelma Todd's old partners. She's great.

Lily's impressed when Artie receives carrier pigeon orders from the president

She would have been more impressed by a telegraph message transmitted through the rails.

Back at the lab, Miklos brings a fresh corpse to his mistress

Okay, that's gruesome. I was going to make a joke about the guys using this technology for LMDs, but never mind.

Fake Artie is delayed outside the location by a guard, giving Jim and Artie time to ride up in a carriage to rope the double and drag him around the corner before he explodes on schedule.

See? The timer is a bad idea. But, like last episode, I'm unclear on the villain's goals-- and I'm also unclear on why she was picking on Jim and Artie. Nevertheless, it sounds like Faustina and her minion would have been more good candidates for recurring villains.

Artie proposes to her through Jim, only for her to politely reject the offer. "I couldn't live your kind of life--you'd always be disappearing or exploding..."

It's true, he gets into a lot of trouble. I kind of wish they had done an episode that focused more on this subplot-- if he wanted to marry her, it deserved more of a spotlight.

Yeah, I considered saying something here, but there's a thread dedicated to it in the TOS forum. She was literally an inspiration.

She was indeed.

Michael's first chart-topper as a solo artist...kid may have a future in that. Oddly, this was the theme song of a horror film sequel about a killer rat.

I know the movie you mean, but I didn't know MJ did the theme.

And oddly, by contrast, this late-coming, playful number was the seminal rock & roll pioneer's only pop chart-topper.

Well, that's unfortunate.

 

[The Old Mixer]

You'd think by now that Loveless would know enough to strip them both naked right off the bat.

I was thinking more or less the same thing. Jim was making references to Loveless wanting them to play the game and expecting them to come after him, but then Loveless went and made Jim swear not to try to escape again.

How much you want to bet that Steve Martin was tuned in?

Afraid I don't Cap that.

Was there a scheme for Loveless to become King of the USA or something involved, or was it just a revenge scheme? Or was he going to make everyone smaller than himself?

Ah, I'd forgotten to include that. He wanted to tower over all of humanity, but also rationalized that their being shrunk down would be good for the planet.

I wonder if this counts as the most fantastical element ever in Wild Wild West.

The super speed formula would definitely be competition.

Okay, that's gruesome. I was going to make a joke about the guys using this technology for LMDs, but never mind.

The description of Faustina's duplicates as robots was an error in the Wiki summary. They were never described as such.

But, like last episode, I'm unclear on the villain's goals-- and I'm also unclear on why she was picking on Jim and Artie.

She was a mad scientist and was killing off people who were trying to stop her research from being funded. Jim and Artie had access to the officials she was targeting.