Two of my favorite artists. 'Quadrophenia' is brilliant. On my top ten albums list. Cinematic, operatic, dramatic. Amazing. 'The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle has two classics on it "Rosalita" and "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" Springsteen is an incredible storyteller in song and on stage.
_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1) _______ Hawaii Five-O "Why Wait Till Uncle Kevin Dies?" Originally aired October 30, 1973 At a marina, a couple of kids swim onto a yacht by night to burglarize it. They hide when they hear a security guard on the deck (Lee Stetson), who comes in and, thinking he's alone, gets to work setting a bomb. After reporting the theft to Detective Poheni (Doug Mossman) the next day, the yacht's owner, Charles Privit (William Bigelow), takes his boat out of the dock and ends up in the drink the hard way. McGarrett questions the kids--who were picked up trying to fence Privit's goods--and learns about the guard, who's sniffed out to have been a phony. Five-O also talks to Charles's brother and heir, Jeremy (Fred Ball), who was at the dock...and learn that he got a sizeable monetary advance in trade for his inheritance from a company called Reversions, Inc. At the company's headquarters, the chairman, Jeffrey Talbot (Murray Matheson), makes a show of cooperating, which includes handing over a list of clients. Talking to the clients, Five-O discovers that four of them recently lost the people to whom they were heirs soon after doing their business with Reversions. They further learn from D.A. Manicote, who's investigated the company before, that all of this has happened since a recent change of management. As the company is planning to leave the islands soon for Europe, Steve wants to set up a sting operation, inventing an heir for them to do business with. Then Jeremy Privit is killed in a helicopter explosion, and Five-O turns up that he'd been recently cut out of his brother's will, which would have left him in considerable debt to Reversions. A skeptical Manicote sets Five-O up with a visiting assistant D.A. named Calvin Cutler (Lawrence Pressman), a colorfully laid-back character who's smart, can handle himself, and wouldn't be verifiable as an undercover operative. Five-O invents a background for Cutler, which includes his titular rich uncle, and quizzes him on the details. Then they give him a makeover--shave, haircut, and contacts. An attorney working with Five-O, Frank Mualana (Thomas Fujiwara), files Kevin Baines's will with a bank, and Five-O tails the people whom he reports have access to it. One of the subjects, a clerk named Natalie Harper, is seen making a drop to a man whom we've met as the phony marina security guard, who also watched the helicopter explosion with satisfaction. Calvin hits the town as Edgar Baines, making a show of having money issues, and is eventually approached by the mystery suspect, Luke Foster. Foster later listens in via tap as Calvin makes a call to McGarrett...who plays a loan shark who doesn't want to do business. Edgar is subsequently interviewed by Talbot, who questions him about his uncle, then investigates his background. Kevin Baines has been set up as a publicity-avoiding recluse, but planted articles in the files of a cooperating local newspaper establish his existence. Finally, Talbot makes his proposition to Edgar, dropping the titular question. Edgar signs the paperwork for Talbot, which includes an application for accident insurance, which he leaves a coded note about for Five-O, explaining to them why Jeremy Privit was hit. Reversions's operatives immediately go to work on Event #7, with plans to be in Switzerland before an investigation can be made. A heavy is sent to babysit Edgar, while Luke delivers propane tanks to Uncle Kevin's secure beach house, where he sees an unidentifiable figure wheeled around. He sets his propane bomb, then finds that he's been locked in, and discovers a dummy in Uncle Kevin's bed. McGarrett announces himself from a safe distance outside via bullhorn and coerces Foster via phone to turn state's evidence in exchange for being let out. Once he's agreed, Chin pops up inside the house to reveal that the bomb has already been neutralized. Edgar is freed by Five-O, who then swoop in on Talbot's boardroom as the board is about to depart. Steve closes the episode by finishing an Alexander Pope quote that Talbot starts. _______ Adam-12 "Van Nuys Division: Pete's Mustache" Originally aired October 31, 1973 As Pete returns to work, everyone has their reaction to his new growth...Officer Woods referring to it as a "cookie duster". On Patrol with Reed, names start dropping, including Groucho Marx, Burt Reynolds, and Yosemite Sam. The officers see a small, low-flying plane stalling, call it in, and locate the crashed craft with the help of Air-10. The drunken pilot, Donald Whorton (Myron Healey), stumbles out and the officers have to stop him from lighting his cigarette as fuel pours out of the craft. Reed finds the man's young son inside, who doesn't have a pulse. An engine and ambulance arrive to see to the boy and spray down the plane. With the boy's fate uncertain, the officers arrest the sobering but defensive Whorton. The officers respond to a 459 at the home of wealthy Stuart Nolan (Robert Clarke), who's belatedly noticed that three rare stamps are missing from his collection. Pete connects this to Reno West's M.O. of "take a little, leave a little"--stealing few items of great value, such that the victims often don't discover they've been robbed until well after the fact. Next the officers are assigned to a 211 at a jeweler's. They get a description from the proprietor, Marvin Weber (Sid Miller), who tells of how the robber had previously ordered the gems under a story. A very observant eyewitness, Jacqueline Carey (Priscilla Pointer), draws sketches of the man with and without the false beard he was wearing. She explains that she works for the make-up department of a film studio, and compliments the subtitular facial hair. Back on patrol, the officers hear a commotion of horn-honking, which leads them to a woman (Eve McVeagh, I presume) who's driving along the curb slowly with a would-be robber's arm stuck in her electrically rolled-up passenger window. The officers then see a department store security officer (Jim Nolan) who's holding a 484 suspect (Penny Santon). The shoplifter loudly protests her innocence of stealing a wallet, but the officers find $36,000 in her purse, which is what motivated the guard to call them. A little investigation turns up that it was money that she took from a joint savings account that she holds with her estranged husband, and she took the wallet to keep it in. In the coda, Malloy's telling others at HQ how the 211 suspect in the drawing was picked up, and nobody notices that his mustache is gone. He volunteers how a trimming mishap made him look like "a red-headed Charlie Chaplain". I read on IMDb that the Reno West storyline is a four-part arc, and that he won't appear on camera again until the conclusion. They didn't even mention his name in this one. _______ Ironside "The Helping Hand" Originally aired November 1, 1973 Fran's now hiring a maid, Rosita Rojas (Maria-Elena Cordero), to help out in her increasingly immodest apartment, which includes Rosita preparing a dinner for the Chief and Mark before she discovers Fran's badge and abruptly leaves. A van picks her up to unload her and several other girls at the shabby digs provided by the shady, titularly named agency that runs them. She reports her discovery to her agent, Floyd Stoner (Joshua Bryant), who refuses to give her a raise to help take care of her sick sister. Fran finds that Rosita left her purse, so the Chief accompanies her to the agency's front office, where Stoner's partner, Ross Graham (Cameron Mitchell), tries to play it casual while steering the fuzz away from Rosita's address. But the Chief--clearly ahead of what's going on--forces the issue by saying that he'll ask immigration, so Graham calls Stoner to arrange a visit. Graham and the agency's translator, Pedro Reyes (Joaquín Martínez), hurredly clear the other ladies out of the apartment--including Teresa Rojas (uncredited Rosângela Maldonado)--and take them for a drive in the van. Rosita makes an excuse for her sister's absence and refuses an offer to take her out of her shabby digs; Ironside hands her his card. Graham realizes during the drive how bad Teresa is, and she ends up dying before a doctor can be summoned, which causes Rosita to flee. Meanwhile, the Chief makes a call to arrange liaising with Immigration. Sgt. Ramirez of Immigration (Rodolfo Acosta) visits the Cave, describing how girls like Rosita are treated like slaves, and the Chief refers him to a judge who should be able to accommodate his investigation. Then Rosita tries to call the Cave from a phone booth, but is found, pursued, and cornered in a parking garage by Stoner...who's afterward found stabbed unconscious in the garage. The Chief treats Rosita as a suspect to facilitate searching her apartment, though he suspects that another party was involved and has the police look for Graham and his van. Fran drops into a sweatshop that Ramirez has found across the street from the apartment to ask for help from the girls working there, whom their boss, Miss Durgin (Jan Stratton), insists are legal. Meanwhile, Graham's van is found at the bottom of the lake, with one body inside--presumably Teresa's, though she's very wet and this isn't made clear. The whereabouts of the other girls is unknown. Ed and Mark visit a local church to enlist the help of Father Arturo (uncredited Miguel Landa) in getting Rosita to come to them if he sees her. Graham calls on Reyes, afraid that Teresa's death will be pinned on him. Rosita goes to the church and subsequently the Cave, where she testifies, but claims that Stoner was the only man who was after her when she fled from him in the garage. Then the team gets a phone tip from one of the sweatshop girls about Reyes's involvement in the operation, though Rosita claims not to know him. The Chief consults with Judge Thompson (Garry Walberg) and D.A. David Hillier (uncredited Eric Server), who are persuaded to put deportation on the back burner to facilitate the stabbing investigation. While minding Rosita, Fran gets a call that Stoner has died. The Chief talks to Reyes, trying to get him to come forward to save Rosita from being charged for murder. Reyes subsequently visits the church to point Graham and Durgin to a worshipper whom they're led to believe is Rosita, but turns out to be Fran. Graham pulls a gun (because for some reason Fran didn't), but soon finds himself surrounded by Team Ironside and CLE backup. He's convinced to surrender to face the charges that are on him, including his share of responsibility for Teresa's death; and Reyes agrees to stand trial for the stabbing of Stoner, which the Chief considers to have been in defense of Rosita. _______ The Brady Bunch "My Brother's Keeper" Originally aired November 2, 1973 Peter's doing outdoor work when his hose catches a ladder that Greg had been working on. Bobby pushes Peter out of the way, and Peter--assuming that the falling ladder would have done to his head what it does to a flower pot--promises to pay back Bobby, who's now dowsed in a bucket of green paint that was on top of the ladder. Mike: Well...welcome to our planet. At dinner, Peter makes a milk toast in honor of "the bravest person in the world," and promises to be Bobby's slave for life. Peter immediately throws himself into his chosen role, volunteering to polish Bobby's shoes; not going to a party held by his unseen GOTW; and working on building a go-cart for his little brother...among other tasks that we're only told about. Bobby soon comes to take advantage of the situation, having Peter do his chores so he can go to a ball game. Carol tries to rein in Bobby, while Greg warns Peter that Bobby's making a pigeon out of him. The breaking point comes when Bobby tries to guilt Peter into selling magazine subscriptions for him so he can win a surfboard. The brothers declare that they won't speak to each other, creating tension in the household. After each tries to get Greg to let him move into his room, Peter promptly takes a page from the Book of Gilligan and tapes a diagonal line across the room. As each tries to annoy the other across the divide, the usual shenanigans ensue from complications like Peter's TV being plugged into an outlet on Bobby's side, and Bobby being the one with access to the bathroom...which he emphasizes by taking a page from the Book of Bunker. Bobby finds himself desperate for companionship when the rest of the family leave for other engagements and he finds himself alone in the house with Peter. While the parents are leaving, they try to convince Bobby to apologize to Peter, and he does...for saving Peter's life. Peter doesn't accept what he considers to be the "crummiest" apology that he's ever heard, and a brief fight ensues in which Bobby hides in a double-doored walk-in closet that I can't say I've ever noticed being in the boys' room. Bobby finds himself locked in, and bangs and shouts for attention while Peter's downstairs on the phone. When Peter finally comes up and hears the commotion, he opens the door, and Bobby tries to spin it as a life-saving situation. While Peter's unconvinced that the situation was that serious, he accepts when Bobby declares that the two of them are now even. There's a subplot about the girls wallpapering their room. When Carol starts talking about redecorating other parts of the house to match, Mike references an earlier episode when the same situation came up while they were repainting their bedroom. Bobby has braces at this point, which I hadn't noticed in previous episodes. _______ Love, American Style "Love and the Fortunate Cookie / Love and the Lady Prisoner / Love and the Opera Singer / Love and the Weighty Problem" Originally aired November 2, 1973 "Love and the Fortunate Cookie" takes place in the San Francisco office of a fortune cookie company, where Jack (Mako) hires Anna Fung (Linda Bush) as their new secretary on sight because he wants to date her. She ends up going out with Jack's partner, Milton (Robert Ito), as well, though neither gets as far with her as each leads the other to believe. When an important client, Mr. Wu (Dale Ishimoto), takes an interest in Anna, they reluctantly surrender dibs on her to please him, but afterward fret that they may have made a mistake if Wu ends up as unsatisfied as they were. But the next day, Wu acts as pleased with her as Jack and Milton acted to each other, and sits down to sign a contract. Cut to two years later, when Jack comes in to announce to Milton that he finally scored with Anna...and we learn that he's already been married to her for seven months! One of their cookies: A Rolling Stone gathers 200,000 bucks a year. In "Love and the Lady Prisoner," Marilyn (Elena Verdugo) is an inmate who enjoys conjugal visits from six husbands, as she was locked up for bigamy. Somehow she's able to arrange for one of them, Mel (John Myhers), to bring a blind date for her cellmate, Thelma (Reva Rose). At first sight Thelma isn't impressed by Barry (Gino Conforti), but the guard (Bella Bruck) encourages her to give it a try before splitting the couples into separate cells. Awkward small talk between Thelma and Barry ensues, as he learns that she's been in for eight years for bank robbery, though she claims innocence. Thelma: I mean, I don't even know if Gilligan got off his island!...Did we ever get to the Moon?...Who won the sexual revolution? The pair starts to loosen up as they dance to a transistor radio that he brought, and she offers to help him get out of his galoshes. Cut to Marilyn being returned to the cell to find a tied and gagged Barry under the covers of Thelma's bed...Thelma having taken his winter coat and galoshes to effect an escape...which it turns out was done with Mel's cooperation, behind Marilyn's back. Marilyn tries to make lemonade by offering Barry the slot of husband #7. In "Love and the Opera Singer," Linda (Tracy Brooks Swope) is disappointed when it seems that the lecherous doctor she's dating (Frank Welker) isn't as cultured as he's led her to believe. When he learns that she's into opera, he points her to a large portrait on his wall of his great uncle, Enrico Charisma (Avery Schreiber), allegedly the greatest tenor of his time. Linda's skeptical as she's never heard of him, so the doctor starts telling her the story of how Uncle Enrico sacrificed his voice for the love of a woman--helped along by Linda identifying operas that he only vaguely describes. We flash back to Enrico entertaining audiences while his manager, Sam Sloan (Jack Burns, the other half of the shared Burns and Schreiber credit), tries to discourage him from seeing female admirers backstage, as Enrico insists on serenading every one of them, potentially overworking his voice. Then Enrico is visited backstage by Anna Scott (Barbara Babcock), a reporter who detests opera but wants to know why women find Charisma irresistible. Charisma sees her as a challenge, pulling out all the stops when she doesn't start to undress at the sound of his singing voice. The more he demonstrates his virtuosity, the more she starts to show signs that her resistance is weakening. Finally, he sings a sustained note that shatters her like glass (with the help of an animated effect). As we return to the present, Linda's convinced that the doctor is more refined than she'd thought, though she doesn't believe his story. Cut to the doctor trying to impress another date that he brings over (Erica Hagen), but when she turns out to be into prize fighting, he switches his story to his great uncle on the wall having been Rocky Charisma. In "Love and the Weighty Problem," Earl (Warren Berlinger) visits the home of his girlfriend as she's about to return from a trip. But when Lisa arrives (Pat Finley), both Earl and her mother (Naomi Stevens) are surprised that she's been at a Gastronomics Anonymous ranch, where she's shed her once-plump figure. Earl starts to feel threatened by the attention that Lisa's now getting from other men and her eagerness to show off her new figure, but she insists that she's still committed to him. As they reacquaint themselves, however, Earl, who still enjoys eating, is put off by the new diet that Lisa expects him to share. Earl ends up departing for the GA ranch to lose weight himself, which puts the shoe on the other foot as Lisa starts to feel threatened by the competition that a slimmed-down Earl will attract. She's relieved when he returns heavier than before...for while her roommate helped to keep her on the wagon, his was a food filcher. Earl finally makes the move of presenting her with an engagement ring. _______ I'd say that it's an homage in the lyrics, not the music. FWIW, it takes place in a "feels like the '50s" version of 1962. Offhand (not having listened to it for some time), I'd agree that "Out of the Blue" is a standout. "Tight A$" is a memorably fun little bit of business.
I love both The Who and The Boss, although these are not the best albums of either. But "Rosalita" is one of my favorite Springsteen songs. I had a girlfriend named Rosie in junior high. That's a good title. Shaken and stirred. First clue that this guy is not a criminal genius. Bad enough that they have an MO that Elmer Fudd could figure out, but they also draw attention to it by blowing everybody up. "That'll be two bits, please." Because we have no extradition treaty with Switzerland. That makes two dummies in the house. Nice moment for Chin. The "little learning" one? This guy was not exactly Steve's most diabolical nemesis. More frustration for me. There you go. Who cares what the guys think? Nice. Was she going to walk him to the police station? She didn't want to break a Grover. So presumably this was a fake mustache. Weird. Although I suppose my original theory could still be correct, since he's not actually seen in the other two episodes. The Chief pays well, apparently. A frequently seen character actor at the time. It seems like this death does not carry the weight that it should. Another dangling plot thread. Poor Reyes. This was an odd story, almost just a sequence of events triggered by Rosita panicking over Fran's badge. Good one, Mike. The I'm-Your-Slave-For-Saving-My-Life plot is from the Book of Gilligan, too. Although Gilligan made out far better than Bobby. How did that get past the Brady Censors? Just agree and let the episode end, kid. A popular character actor with several notable appearances on M*A*S*H. He may have been the first guy to be called a son of a bitch on TV. Quincy's pal Sam. She's a pretty tough cookie. Haha. See what I did there? That's funny for a couple of reasons. I wonder how accurate that figure is. That should be sextigamy, which would be kind of appropriate to the plot. Actually, I think after quadrigamy it's just polygamy. Has she been in solitary confinement all these years? Good convoluted LAS plot, with a couple of happy endings. Often seen on variety shows back in the day-- in fact, now that I think of it, I'm sure they had their own show for a while. Maybe he's got... oh, what's the word? Another good one. I like the punchline and I like the story-within-a-story. Bob's sister. This one didn't have as much punch, but at least it had a happy ending. Yes, that's definitely true. I did not know that. I feel vindicated and now I want to see it.
Interesting contrast of opinions on Quadrophenia. I was wondering whether I should get this, as the two tracks that I already have from it are not particularly memorable Who singles. This operation did make it an effort to suspend my disbelief. Only since the 1990s, it seems. I try to get him in there when he does something more noteworthy than relay expository info. Who sees with equal eye, as God of all, A hero perish or a sparrow fall, Atoms or systems into ruin hurled, And now a bubble burst, and now a world. --Pope, An Essay on Man Book them. --Steve McGarrett She did only say that after an aside about how some men don't have the face for a mustache; so I had to wonder if the compliment was genuine. Yep. IIRC, it was in Franklins. There were several bundles of cash. On the actor? I'd have to presume. It's vaguely possible that he came back from Summer vacation with a 'stache, they worked it into an episode, and only aired it at this point. Seems more likely to me that it was deliberate. Rosita was upset. The baddies were hauling her around like luggage. They were being moved around to prevent TI from questioning them. Pretty sure that was resolved by the end, though we didn't necessarily see it. I was wondering that myself--and what's the other reason? Yeah, not knowing about the Moon landing was a stretch. See? The Flanneled One is your friend. As for me, I'd have to see it for myself.
There's also a movie. I remember enjoying it, but no details. Oops. And I'm the one who tells people to do their research. This is what happens when you "assume." Pretty nice. Too bad it wasn't in a stronger episode. Poor Pete. I thought about the vacation angle, but the date didn't match-- I didn't think about it being delayed. It could be similar to my Reno theory. These episodes are so, er, episodic that you could construct them like Legos. Just that it was a funny fortune cookie. Well, I've put it in my Shopping Cart, which is the first step.
_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2) _______ Super Friends "The Balloon People" Originally aired November 3, 1973 The Super Friends are hanging out in the Hall of Justice's rec room when the TroubAlert spots a flying saucer entering Earth's atmosphere...though it seems to appear and disappear, making it difficult to track. The occupants are a family of balloon people--father Krim, Wife Gloma, daughter Plinky, and dog Grunk (Welker). They can float, natch, and their possibly helium-enhanced voices apparently made it hard for the SF Wiki to identify the actors. They're normally doll-sized, but can enlarge to human size. By cartoon coincidence, their first encounter is with Wonder Dog, back home in his doghouse, just as the Dynamic Duo are bringing Wendy and Marvin home. When the Balunians see the humans, they deflate to escape and shrink back down...but Krim lands in the vicinity of the heroes, who try to talk to him. The family also have the power to telekinetically move objects as relatively large as the doghouse, which they use as a distraction (and refer to as teleportation). Then the heroes find the saucer, catch Grunk, and win the family's trust by feeding him. Krim explains that they left Balunia in search of a new home because of--you guessed it--pollution. Marvin offers his backyard as a campsite for the saucer, with the bonus of Wonder Dog's protection. (Like the Peanuts, the JSF never have parents in evidence.) The Balunians soon make the TV news (reported by a character who looks a lot like Clark, but is voiced by Soule), which catches the attention of scientist Noah Tall (Alden) and his word- and consonant-transposing assistant, Twisty (Casey). Tall is motivated to gain knowledge to help him control the world, and stakes out Marvin's home looking for an opportunity to abduct the Balunians. Back in the backyard, Plinky masters basketball with the help of another power--air suction. When Superman introduces himself, the explosion of Krypton is referenced. The baddies make their move when the Balunians are fishing with Wendy and Marvin, hooking their separate boat, but the Balunians float back to their friends. Pollution in the lake is noted along the way. Superman later carries the saucer for an aerial sightseeing tour, during which pollution-spewing factories are commented upon. Tall arranges a distraction to occupy Superman, but Twisty blows the opportunity by providing an additional distraction that the Balunians deal with, keeping them out of Tall's reach. Next Aquaman takes the aliens for an ocean tour, for which they're carrying their own internal air supply. The Sing of the Keas shows them a puffer fish; and underwater litter is commented upon. Tall provides an undersea distraction for Aquaman and tries to suck up the Balunians, but they direct his suction tube to the junk, assuming that's its purpose; and the baddies end up sucking their own itching solution (which they had been using on sea life to occupy Aquaman) into their copter, but still manage to get away unseen. The Super Friends come to realize that somebody's trying to abduct the Balunians, who express their concerns to the heroes about Earth's pollution. Wonder Woman arranges for them to meet the head of the Department of Environment Protection, Simon Pure. An announcement that Wonder Dog will be getting a pedicure for the occasion motivates another attempt, but the baddies have to distract the Ween Tunder instead, with a now commercially available balloon of Krim. This time Tall is successful, taking the Balunians back to his island to try to get the secret of their psychokinetic teleportation out of them. It's only when they have Twisty do a gag about the scientist's name that I realize the pun. With Aquaman referencing his and Wonder Woman's expertise on the limits of telepathy, the Super Friends set up a series of boosters to try to enhance any attempts by the Balunians to send out a signal. The aliens manage to move their saucer in Marvin's backyard, and the JSF all squeeze inside to see if there's a message on the control displays. A booster being carried in the Batcopter helps the Balunians to move the saucer to Tall's island, where Tall wards off the Catbopter with a giant "sea sucker" water gun. Aquaman notices the undersea suction on the other side and follows it in. The Stan of Meel arrives topside, causing Tall to launch a salvo of missiles to distract him, but the Craped Cusaders manage to get down into the island complex; while the JSF find and free the Balunians. Attempting to escape, the baddies find themselves surrounded by Aquaman and Womer Wondan (who had previously been flying over the North Pole yet again). Superman saves the baddies from an improvised escape via missile launcher. Dr. Tall: I could have gotten away with it if it weren't for you, Superman. For once, there's no beat of the bad guys seeing the error of their ways / promising to turn over a new leaf. In the coda, Simon Pure (Knight) promises to preserve the ecology, and offers Krim a job as a government advisor, which includes setting the Balunians up with a home in Washington. (Hopefully the Super Friends keep an eye on them... ) Plinky sounds like Alberoni, so I'd assume that Gloma is Farnon. Krim is harder to narrow down, but from the cadence of his delivery, my best guess would be Soule. _______ Star Trek "Once Upon a Planet" Originally aired November 3, 1973 Captain's log, stardate 5591.2: The crew of the Enterprise is ready for some well-deserved rest and recreation. Therefore we have set course for the so-called Shore Leave planet, located in the Omicron Delta region. The uninhabited planet was constructed long ago by a highly advanced alien race. Its sole purpose is to provide fun and amusement for space-traveling passersby. How can McCoy say that it's just as beautiful as he remembers it when Yeoman Barrows isn't there? The White Rabbit is voiced by Doohan, Alice by Nichols, and the Queen of Hearts by Barrett. Unable to locate Uhura after McCoy and Sulu beam up, the crew attempts to find the Keeper--Kirk wants to speak to the manager! Uhura's been taken to the underground chamber of the Master Computer (Doohan), which is holding her as a hostage against the "sky machine" that enslaves her. When another, Big Three-led landing party beams down, the computer shares its intention to "turn them off". The computer interferes with the landing party's attempts to communicate with the ship and with Scotty's attempt to beam down a phaser bore. The landing party finds an obelisk marking the passing of the Keeper, who's described as the last of his race. While Uhura tries to reason with the computer, on the surface an outburst of McCoy's about signs pointing the way to the underground complex entrance causes the computer to oblige...but they soon find themselves blocked by pterodactyls and forced to retreat from their annoying Filmation stock-shrieking into a cave, following which a giant cat paws at them from outside (shades of...you know). Kirk realizes that they're being attacked by things that nobody is necessarily thinking of. Meanwhile, the Scotty-led bridge crew manually block an attempt by the computer to gain control over the Enterprise. Captain's log, supplemental: We're out of communication with the ship. Our efforts to locate Lieutenant Uhura have been futile, and this once-friendly planet has become very dangerous. Back in the cave, Spock recalls McCoy's ordeal in the live action episode and determines that having one of the crew fake deadly injury might cause the computer to take them down into the complex. He volunteers himself for a shot from McCoy, which quickly induces unconsciousness. Up on the Enterprise, the computer causes the ship to suddenly lose gravity. Stardate: climactic clip time. Of course it came down to Kirk chatting up the computer, though the others helped in this case. Note the first and very rare use of seatbelts on a starship! The computer offers to play friendly host to the crew again, and asks for someone to talk to, a duty that Kirk assigns to Spock. The crew in the control center see on a monitor that McCoy and Sulu are now enjoying a picnic with Alice, the Rabbit, and the dragon. _______ Emergency! "The Promotion" Originally aired November 3, 1973 The results of the engineer exam come in, and while Chet's perturbed at having ranked poorly, Roy is less than enthusiastic over having scored highly, having to now consider whether he wants to leave the paramedics to accept the titular result. Station 51 and another station are called to a multi-car accident on the San Diego Freeway, transitioning from light-filtered outdoor shooting to a stage so thick with fog that the firefighters can't see anything in front of them. The squad stops suddenly for a man who stumbles out in shock before collapsing. The firefighters move around the scene on foot to find and assess the various victims. Johnny comes to focus on an unconscious woman sprawled on the pavement with a head injury. Roy has to inform a man that the brother in his vehicle is beyond help. While victims start being brought into Rampart, back at the scene Roy moves on to a woman pinned in a vehicle turned on its side (uncredited Nancy DeCarl), whose two-year-old daughter is lying motionless under her. The woman shows signs of a back injury, so they lift her just enough to get the girl out, who's not breathing and has no pulse. The firefighters cut a hole through the roof to get a backboard in and carry the woman out; and Chet's CPR on the girl produces results as she comes to. At Rampart, Brackett reports no sign of brain damage in the girl, and that the examination of the woman looks promising. Roy talks to Dixie and then Brackett and Early about his situation. The doctors neither want to lose him nor hold him back, and Roy has to consider how the extra money would help in supporting his family. Back at the station, Squad 51 is called to an attempted suicide, and rush to the address to find that it's a vacant lot. Suspecting a miscommunication, they check other potential addresses. At one of them, the man who answers turns them away rather abruptly. Then a couple rushes onto the scene insisting that the woman's sister is trying to commit suicide. Inside, the husband insists that it's just a stunt, and points them to the pool house, where it's found that the woman took six aspirins. Roy gets knocked into the pool along the way. At Rampart, the doctors have been examining Joel Ferguson (Michael Maitland), a teenage freeway victim whose parents have been pampering him because of a heart condition that the doctors don't think is serious enough to warrant it. When it becomes clear that Joel's been using his condition to manipulate those around him, Brackett has a gentle but firm talk with him. The station and a couple of other units are called to a fire in an industrial building. Johnny probes inside to find a watchman only for the place to start collapsing around him. Roy goes in after Johnny and carries the watchman out. As the firefighters are carrying the victim out of a second-story window via ladder, something inside starts to go up and Roy is blown out the window, Johnny breaking his fall. While Johnny's recovering at Rampart, Roy tells him that he'll try for the promotion again the following year, by which point he hopes that the rules will have changed to allow him to remain a paramedic at the higher rank. _______ The Mary Tyler Moore Show "Lou's First Date" Originally aired November 3, 1973 The episode opens with Mary handing out the news crew's tickets to the Broadcasters Man of the Year Award dinner, the honor belonging to a Lucille Harris this year. When Mary learns that Lou doesn't have a date, she tries to get involved. Lou Calls Edie--who's now using her maiden name, McKenzie--to learn that she already has a date; which motivates Lou to have Mary find him one. Rhoda sets Mary up with a woman in her modern dance class, Mrs. Dudley, and Mary makes an awkward call. To her surprise, Dudley immediately accepts. Lou wants to call it off, but Mary uses a bit of psychology to re-motivate him to show Edie that he can get a date. When Martha Dudley shows up at Mary's for a pre-dinner party, she turns out to be much older than Mary expected (Florence Lake--only going on 69 at the time according to IMDb, though she definitely looks older)...and Mary learns from Rhoda that she got the wrong Mrs. Dudley on the phone. (It's hard to believe that Mary wouldn't have noticed Lake's voice, but it was a one-sided call in which she nervously did most of the talking.) An obviously flabbergasted Lou makes an effort to be polite, but has a word with Mary on the side... Lou: Please, there's no need to apologize. It's not your fault. All I said to you was, "Get me a date." I didn't specify what kind of a date. How were you to know that I wanted somebody under 90? Just as Mary's talking Lou into making the most of the situation, Ted arrives with Georgette and bluntly rubs salt in the wound. Georgette chats Martha up and learns that she was the flower girl at Thomas Edison's wedding! Lou wants to leave right after the presentation, and thinks he's gotten away with avoiding contact with Edie, but again Ted spoils things, and he meets Edie's date, Mike Montgomery (Jeff Thompson). When Mary and Martha return from the "little girls' room," Lou tries to give the impression that Mary's his date (her own date, Andy Rivers [John Gabriel], having slipped away to the lobby)....but Lou feels bad afterward and goes over to Edie to properly introduce Martha, following which Lou and Martha dance. _______ The Bob Newhart Show "Mister Emily Hartley" Originally aired November 3, 1973 Having just passed an exam to qualify as a psychometrist, Emily tries to administer a practice test to Howard but he has to leave for a flight; so she convinces Bob to do it. Although he doesn't believe in IQ tests, he presses Emily for the result...and after a bit of stalling she reveals that his IQ is 129, "almost gifted". When Bob asks what hers is, she has to inform him that it's 151. In the salt-rubbing department, when the subject comes up at work, Bob learns that Jerry's is 136. The disparity between Bob and Emily's IQs soon becomes a source of tension at home. Emily is invited to join a club for people with IQs of over 140, and Bob reluctantly attends a club dinner-dance as her date, where he quickly finds himself the slowest guy in the room. To make matters worse, he finds that he's brought a suit to a tuxedo party. Bob introduces himself to the hostess (Claudette Nevins) in the titular manner, and she talks down to him like he's an idiot. Emily ends up dancing with a kid who has the same IQ (Perry Castellano). Bill Quinn plays an astrology expert who stumbles over guessing Bob's sign, which seems like a character who could have been encountered at any other party. Afterward the Hartleys get into an argument, Bob trying to blow everyone at the party off as pretentious. Emily expresses how it means something for her to be accepted as an individual, and reveals that she couldn't understand anything at a psychology symposium that she attended with Bob. Bob tells a story of how he made a point of striving to be a good student after a humiliating experience playing baseball. Emily tells him that she doesn't believe in those stupid tests either. _______ Yeah...I can't help alternately speculating that perhaps the mustache and the spread-out Reno West plot tie in production-wise.
Ooh, a Here Comes The Grump crossover. As silly as this sounds, brains such as Arthur C Clarke, Carl Sagan, and others have speculated that this is possible-- and not just in the atmosphere of gas giants. It's a small planet. Never feed a balloon alien without checking their biochemistry first-- you might give them gas. Popped balloons are a big contributor to pollution. Batman only allows orphaned sidekicks-- it makes things much simpler when they die a horrible death. Straightforward. The Balunians know of Krypton? "Relax, guys, it's not a killing field. It's just a bunch of old birthday balloons." Having the right name can help you get ahead in your chosen career. That's a nice touch. I wonder if the Balunians get a cut. No to all? Narwhal toe? Not at all? I think she's got a thing on the side with that Glacia guy. That's a bit refreshing, actually. This is an interesting outcome, though I presume we'll never see them again. One of my favorite episodes, of course. It's like you read my mind. This raises so many questions. Shrieking pterodactyls are a Filmation staple. Yes, and in the clip I also see an homage to the M-5 computer. They seem to trot out a couple of visual tropes in every episode. "Scott to crew: The Enterprise's warranty has not expired. Do not click the link!" Unfortunately, this is a pretty lame sequel to a classic episode-- they turned it into just another omnipotent computer story. And it raises so many questions about the Keeper's race and the planet's relationship to the Federation and other political entities and so on. If the Enterprise can just go there for a vacation, why aren't there tourists all over the place? How did the Keeper's race go extinct? Why was he not prepared for his own demise? I always wanted to see a follow up to the original episode in the TNG Era to see how all that had developed. Maybe people forgot about the place after the Holodeck was invented. "Hey, Johnny, where's that howling coming from?" Low score or not, he gets to save people's lives. And we actually get some follow up. A little slapstick is always effective at lightening the mood. A gentle-but-firm talk from Brackett is always a life-changing experience. Roy spends a lot of time in flight in this episode. But the fate of the watchman remains unknown. I wonder why she's even going. Her mother, presumably? Gentle-but-firm sarcasm from Lou. Okay, either this lady is putting one over on Georgette or she's pushing a hundred. That should have been Plan A. Awww. Sounds like she's just become a Super Friends villain. Does it come up that she's a beginner and may have gotten it wrong? He had one of his girlfriends take the test for him. Just the fact that he's there should destroy the organization's credibility. Yeah, easy for her to say. A chaotic year behind the scenes, maybe?
Would they have little nozzles in their outfits to help them inflate, deflate, and suck? Yep. Know-it-all. Could be... An IMDb contributor considered him being the last of his race a continuity issue with the original episode. I wasn't even clear if the Keeper was an actual person...I think I was under the impression that he might be an android or something himself. Yeah, I think they used them in the later Tarzan cartoon. It was like a play or something... I made sure to jot that down so I wouldn't have to go back and check. Just look at that gentle-but-firm face... I'm sure he's fine. Good question. I didn't catch if her date was in the business. Her mother-in-law by her late husband. Just look at that sarcastically gentle-but-firm face... Mary had a date. Don't think so.
In my experience, Balloon Beings are all nudists. Which I am obviously not one of. Yeah, I don't remember the details. But that raises the question of why he didn't replace himself with an android when he died. Surely at that technology level, he could make a Soong-type android or better, or transfer himself into an android body like those glowing ball people. That's a good fog. They should have done a Halloween episode. Station 51 puts down the Zombie Apocalypse before it even gets started. Thank you. Overwhelming compassion with the promise of godlike wrath. I was close. He's tolerant of lesser beings, more or less. True. That would have been the perfect dodge. "Obviously, I need more practice."
I'd like to think that you didn't realize what that sounds like, but it's probably exactly what you meant... The original episode had fake people popping up on the planet left and right...I guess I just assumed that the Keeper was a spokesdummy. Station 51 sends zombies to Rampart, but we never find out what happened to them...or how the apocalypse turned out.
Uh oh, what have I done? Yeah, I don't remember anything that would disqualify him from being a spokesdummy. I just assumed he was real because he seemed to be in charge and had the lowdown on the planet, and he referred to the Keepers as "we." Cruel. Very cruel.
50 Years Ago This Week November 11 Egypt and Israel signed a United States-sponsored cease-fire accord brokered by Henry Kissinger. November 13 The U.S. and six other nations (the UK, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland) jointly decided to terminate an agreement to buy and sell gold only with each other, clearing the way for the U.S. to sell its dwindling, but still large stockpile, to private individuals. The seven nations had agreed on March 17, 1968, to halt sales of their gold stocks. The government of the United Kingdom proclaimed a state of emergency in light of the selective strikes of British coal miners. U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts talked to President Nixon personally during a meeting along with 14 other Republican senators, and said he thought that Nixon should resign in light of the Watergate scandal. Brooke said later of Nixon, "He took it very graciously. He said he understood it was made without malice. But he said it would be the easy way." November 14 In the United Kingdom, Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth, married Captain Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey. They would divorce in 1992. Eight members of the Provisional IRA were convicted of bombings that had taken place in London during March 1973. November 15 The exchange of Israeli and Egyptian prisoners of war began the day after the announcement of an agreement between the two nations for repatriation of personnel captured during the Yom Kippur War. The International Red Cross flew a group of Egyptian POWs from Tel Aviv to Cairo on a DC-9, while an IRC DC-6 flew 26 wounded Israelis back home at the same time. The exchange was completed by November 22. Six weeks before the speed limit in the United States would be dropped to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h), the U.S. state of Washington enacted a law lowering its speed limit to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). The traffic fatality rate would drop by 11 percent for the rest of the year. November 16 Skylab 4, the third crewed mission to NASA's Skylab space station, was launched from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 9:01 a.m. EST (1401 UTC). Commander Gerald Carr docked the command module to the space station eight hours after launch. U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline. November 17 At a press conference in Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon told 400 Associated Press managing editors, "People have got to know whether their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got." The statement came in response to a question from reporter Joseph Ungaro of The Providence Journal about a Journal report that he had only paid $792 in income taxes in 1970 and $878 in 1971. In London, the foreign ministers of France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty for the construction of the proposed tunnel underneath the English Channel. The Athens Polytechnic uprising, which had started on November 14 as a student protest against the military junta that ruled Greece, was brutally suppressed by the Greek Army, with the deaths of 40 protesters and the injury of at least 1,103. In Washington, D.C., the right leg of 12-year-old Edward M. Kennedy Jr. was amputated above the knee due to a bone tumor. Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "China Grove," The Doobie Brothers (13 weeks) "My Maria," B. W. Stevenson (16 weeks) New on the chart: "Baby Come Close," Smokey Robinson (#27 US; #7 R&B) "Let Me Be There," Olivia Newton-John (#6 US; #3 AC; #7 Country) "Time in a Bottle," Jim Croce (#1 US the weeks of Dec. 29, 1973, and Jan. 5, 1974; #1 AC; #52 UK) And new on the boob tube: Hawaii Five-O, "A Bullet for El Diablo" Adam-12, "Capture" Kung Fu, "The Tong" Ironside, "Mind for Murder" The Brady Bunch, "Try, Try Again" The Odd Couple, "The Pig Who Came to Dinner" Love, American Style, "Love and the Big Top / Love and the Locksmith / Love and the Odd Couples / Love and the Unwedding" Super Friends, "The Ultra Beam" Star Trek, "The Terratin Incident" All in the Family, "Archie in the Cellar" M*A*S*H, "The Sniper" Emergency!, "Inheritance Tax" The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "The Dinner Party" (missing episode) The Bob Newhart Show, "I'm Okay, You're Okay, So What's Wrong?" _______ Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki page for the month. _______ Whew. I thought you were alluding to...y'know...inflatable companionship.
Weird. I thought Jimmy Carter did this. So... a crook and a liar. I don't remember this. Smokey's voice is in there, but not much else. Classic Olivia Newton-John. She did some great stuff for a while. Jim Croce. 'nuff said. Haha, no I actually never even thought of that. I was just referring back to the aliens created by Sagan, Clarke, Ellison, et al.
It's funny how you can't find this bit of extremely quotable history on the Richard Nixon Foundation or Presidential Library accounts... This is new to me as well, and yeah, that it's Smokey is all it has going for it. First-hand-experience-wise, I can't recall her having been on my radar until Grease. A hauntingly beautiful song, and a belated posthumous release from his 1972 album You Don't Mess Around with Jim, which has recharted since his death. Apparently the single release was driven by demand from the song receiving lots of radio play following Croce's death; and the single's success will in turn put the album on the top of the chart. And it's a waltz.
I guess they're keeping the spirit of Tricky Dick alive. That was pretty much the end of the real ONJ for me. In the early 70s, she did a bunch of stuff that was sweet and sincere, and then after Grease she gave herself a sexy makeover that seemed very contrived to me-- of course, I don't know her personally, but the sweet girl of the early 70s seemed her more authentic self. He was such an amazing talent, and I always wonder what he could have gone on to create. Okay, that's new information.
_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1) _______ Hawaii Five-O "Flash of Color, Flash of Death" Originally aired November 6, 1973 With a title like that, I'm expecting Linc's stunt double to flying-drop-kick someone into the drink. Australian courier Jeffrey Hobbs (Knight) declares his case of opals at customs, but in his room cuts a smuggled stash out of the lining of his jacket and arranges a backroom meeting with a jeweler named Haggai (Kenneth Ing) to barter for them. Haggai's store is held up during the meeting, and one of the robbers goes straight for the backroom opals. Haggai is shot dead trying to trigger an alarm, and Hobbs struggles with the robbers, pulling up his stocking mask before being knocked to the floor. Hobbs stumbles out to get the license plate of the robbers' getaway car. This is the latest in series of jewelry importer hold-ups with the same M.O., so Five-O visits the scene to question Hobbs and Haggai's assistant, Miyoshi Akura (E. Lynne Kimoto), following which Hobbs is taken to HQ to look at photos...taking an interest in one suspect, ex-boxer Lee Franks (Raul Rojas), but claiming not to recognize him. On his own, Hobbs tracks down the car to a Jimmy Kulaani (David Simmons), who turns out to be a teenager who owns a different car bearing the same plate. This leads Hobbs to where Kulaani had his wheels aligned that morning, where Hobbs casually asks about Franks, who now works there. Hobbs gets Franks's address and breaks into his apartment, where he finds a Five-O Special in a bag hanging in the toilet tank. Hobbs waits at the apartment and holds Franks at gunpoint, shooting him when he tries to escape, only to find different opals on his person. Back at HQ, ballistics indicate a different gun than was used in a previous job, supporting a theory that this robbery was only made to look like the latest in the series. After Five-O investigates Franks's apartment, Chin and Duke question his employer Jake (Robert Basso), who afterward gets Hobbs's description from the mechanic that Hobbs talked to (Warren Aki). Hobbs then tails Jake to a meeting in an apartment building, where he informs a contact (Al Avalon) about what's going on; following which Hobbs confronts Jake in the parking garage. A struggle ensues and while trying to get away, Jake stumbles out into the road in front of a truck. Hobbs then pays a visit to Miyoshi at her expensive digs and accuses her of having set him up...while she counter-questions him about his backroom dealing with Haggai. Afterward, she pays a visit to the same man that Jake saw, Hal Webber. Che finds that the bullet that killed Franks does match the gun that was used to kill Haggai; and turns up opal fragments in Franks's pocket. McGarrett questions Hobbs about the circumstances of the robbery and whether it was an inside job; then has Ben tail Hobbs, who proceeds to Webber's apartment building and, having noticed Ben, loses him inside. Meanwhile, Webber has arranged a meeting with a prospective buyer named Hoffmeyer (George Herman), looking to ditch the merchandise and get out of town. In the building's parking garage, Hobbs spots the getaway car parked in Webber's marked spot; following which Ben sees Webber leaving with Akura and the car is used to identify Webber. Hobbs breaks into Webber's apartment and takes a post-meeting call from Hoffmeyer, who arranges a rendezvous to finalize the deal. Hobbs makes the rendezvous, abducting Hoffmeyer. Meanwhile, Danno and Chin search Hobbs's room, finding the jacket that he cut up; while at Akura's place, Ben finds opals hidden in a teddy bear. Hoffmeyer gets a call from Akura and takes Hobbs to a meeting at Haggai's, where Hobbs clocks Hoffmeyer and holds Akura and Webber at gunpoint. Akura triggers a silent alarm while opening the vault, and Webber is shot going for his gun. Once Hobbs has the opals, he locks Akura in the vault. Just as he's reacquainting himself with his preciouses, Five-O swoops in. As he's taken into custody, Hobbs goes into a rant, fueled by motivations set up in a previous scene. Hobbs: I worked my guts out for 'em! I spent half my life collectin' 'em! They're mine! McGarrett: And you're going to spend the rest of your life paying for them. Book him. _______ Adam-12 "Training Division: The Rookie" Originally aired November 7, 1973 The episode opens with Wells and a partner pulling over a car to be shot dead by the occupants. A firefight ensues with a backup unit, who are also taken down. Then Malloy and Reed arrive to get the situation under control, and Malloy transitions into lecturing a group of watching students. One of them, George Barrett (John Elerick), questions the likelihood of such a scenario, and is outspoken afterward about not wanting to always expect the worst from people. A six-month probationary who was #5 in his class, Barrett is riding with Wells. On patrol, Adam-12 and Wells's unit respond to a 211 silent at a savings and loan. The teller (Inez Pedroza) points them to an old man sitting calmly in a chair, who handed her a note saying that he wanted a million dollars. Barrett hesitates when Malloy barks at him to seize the suspect. Outside, Mr. Thompson (Arthur Peterson) turns out to befuddled type who can't remember his address because he lost his wallet. When Malloy tries to reprimand Barrett, the rookie argues with him, considering himself to be a good judge of character who's justified for not having jumped the suspect. Malloy: I never thought I'd see the day when I'd feel sorry for Wells. Back at the station, Mac asks the officers about Barrett, then exposits to Malloy and Reed about a recent selective burglary of a well-concealed diamond ring that fits Reno West's M.O. On patrol the officers respond to a call about a downed motorcycle officer radioed in by a civilian. The truck driver (uncredited Sam Edwards) explains how Officer Grant (Bill Elliott) pulled him over and when he came out, he found the officer lying under his truck in pain. Reed learns that Grant pulled his back while bending over to pick up a pencil. The cooperative suspect is allowed to go, the reason for the stop having been forgotten. The officers respond to a bomb threat at a market. At the scene, the proprietor describes how the threat was part of an attempt to extort money from him. The bomb squad arrives with dogs, who promptly find the device. Outside, the dogs bark at an onlooker, who flees the scene, to be pursued by Malloy and Reed. The suspect grabs a bystander and ducks into a building. Woods and Barrett join the officers, the latter accompanying Malloy and Reed inside, where they get the drop on the suspect. When both of the experienced officers bark at Barrett to grab the second man, he fails to comply, assuming the man is a hostage. Reed apprehends the man while he's reaching for a gun. In the coda, Mac informs Pete and Jim that Barrett has been washed out for repeatedly not learning from his mistakes. This is neither the first nor second time we've seen a Mark VII plot about a problematic trainee. I found the execution lacking in this instance. They could have either built a stronger case against Barrett, or given him a little more benefit of the doubt up to a point. _______ Ironside "Downhill All the Way" Originally aired November 8, 1973 Tonight, on a Very Special two-hour episode of Ironside...which in this case was split into two parts for syndication. A boy named Jerry Abbott (Lee H. Montgomery) is playing with vehicles in a junkyard (to the accompaniment of the country pop-ish "Way Up Here," written by Marty Paich & David Paich, sung by David Paich) when he hears a gunshot and sees a figure running from a body. He goes into town to alert a shopkeeping neighbor, Paolo Amati (Allen Joseph), while demonstrating a Tarzan-style speech impediment ("Man...broken. Come!"). The two of them return to the scene to find uniformed CLE and a converging Team Ironside. The Chief tries to gain the boy's confidence to get him to open up about what he saw. The victim was Bill Ellis, the campaign manager of Councilman Cogswell (Roger Perry), whose opponents in a three-man race we learn are Harold Chambers (Art Metrano) and Judge Arthur Brody (William Mims). The Chief gains the approval of Mrs. Abbott (Adriana Shaw) to take Jerry to a special hospital that may be able to help in communicating with him...and then asks Jerry for his consent, in a Very Special Superimposed Conversation. Just look at that firmly gentle superimposed face! The Chief subsequently checks Jerry into the facility, introducing him to doctors Paul Benson (George DiCenzo) and Ian Rice (David Wayne)--the latter an old acquaintance--who conduct tests and determine that the boy prefers to live in his own world without giving us any helpful diagnostic terms to hang his condition on. They determine that the best way to get him to talk is to put him on a mild tranquilizer to ease his anxiety and have him spend lots of time with Ironside until he's comfortable enough to open up. On to the zoo, followed by fishing in Rear Projecto Bay. Jerry is asking Ironside to be his father when a rapidly approaching motorboat sets off Bob's Sidey Sense... The fishing boat is split in two, following which the Chief swims the boy up to a dock and performs mouth-to-mouth, followed by a superimposed ride back to the hospital. The Chief beats himself up for not having been much protection. Deciding that the story needs to keep moving, Ed takes the Chief and Mark to talk to Cogswell about Ellis's death...though Ironside acts uncharacteristically distracted from the questioning. The same behavior persists as the other guys talk to Judge Brody, who's acts outgoing and reveals that Ellis was about to defect to Chambers's camp. While Ed and Mark talk to the more straight-talking Chambers--who indicates that in addition to many political enemies, Bill was having an affair with Brody's wife--Fran makes a Very Special but Brief attempt to have a comforting talk with the Chief. Ed brings a date, Emily Swanson (uncredited; possibly Galloway's wife again, I don't recall what she looked like), to dinner at the Cave, but the Chief declines to come out of his room. Fran (to Emily): You must be someone very special. But not Very Special enough to get a superimposed closeup! The Chief's preoccupation persists into neglecting subsequent cases. When Randall offers Bob a vacation, we learn that Chambers won the election...and the Chief turns in his badge. He explains that, as we all guessed, he intends to go underground to investigate the boy's murder, and that his recent behavior was an effort to establish his cover that the others weren't in on. Note that the others are all in the room for this scene, because they seem to forget all about it down the road. The Chief's staged resignation includes vacating the Cave and the others being reassigned and not getting involved in his investigation. Now living on a pension, the Chief procures a shabby loft apartment on the rough-and-tumble East Side with a brusque landlady, Mrs. Walinsky (Madeleine Taylor Holmes). The Chief proceeds to be seen on the backlot buying cheap bourbon while affecting a more slovenly appearance...while the others, disregarding orders, stake out the 'hood from shabby quarters of their own. Mark has to intervene when some toughs in a bar get rowdy with the crippled ex-cop, pushing his chair back and forth. The Chief has to make a show of rebuffing his loyal aide to maintain his cover. A montage ensues of the Chief taking in his colorfully chaotic new surroundings, accompanied by "Street Song" (written by Marty Paich & David Paich, sung by Carol Carmichael). The seemingly drunken ex-Chief puts his rep to good use, earning the favor of a hood named Smiley (William Devane) by intervening when a plainclothes detective named Parker (Gene Evans) and his partner (Paul Sorensen) rough him up for info in a seedy bar...Ironside pulling his former rank, reprimanding their methods, questioning their evidence, and offering Smiley an alibi. Part 2 opens with a recap that isn't overly long, but still seems a bit padded in the editing. Oddly, it ends with a scene that we didn't see in the previous part, in which the Chief is sitting at the table with the shady guys while Smiley relates how a couple of guys paid him good money to steal a boat for them. The Part 2 episode-opening credits have a reprise of "Way Up Here" playing over them...following which the Chief stiffs the bartender, Lefty (Raymond Sutton). Ironside proceeds to a newspaper to offer to sell his story to reporter Jim Rogers (Anthony Costello), dropping that he has a lead on his last case, the boy's murder. Returning to his apartment, the Chief brings in Smiley for cards and finds the team and Dr. Rice there to treat him to a surprise dinner--you want to think that this has to be part of the plan, but it turns out that they're really bad at going along with his investigation...or have forgotten that they were in on it. The Chief makes a scene and they leave...following which Ed questions the doctor about getting the Chief help and whether his drunken behavior could be an act...which makes no sense whatsoever. Ironside's story gets in the paper and he subsequently receives a random visit from a young neighbor, Samantha (Kim Darby, who enjoys top billing in both parts for showing up halfway into the second), a born-again type who offers to help him for spiritual reasons, and ends up routinely rubbing his legs with alcohol. Later outside, the Chief is accosted by a quartet of thugs, who are driven off by a very buff passerby named Larry (William Smith). The Chief buys the mildly brain-damaged vet a drink in the bar, where he's randomly approached by a foreign gentleman named T.D. Harris (Antonio Fargas), who offers to pay him to teach him how to become a detective. This is such an abrupt introduction of suspects for something that hasn't happened yet that it makes you wonder what the hell is going on with the episode. The former Team Ironside meets at a diner to discuss checking out various potential suspects who may have killed Ellis. At the Chief's, a follow-up visit from Samantha plays superimposed with a brief montage of the Chief training Harris...who, along with Larry, joins the Chief and Samantha for dinner...where the guys ask about Ironside's last case. In an office somewhere, we get our second scene of a shady mobster type (apparently uncredited) on the phone talking to an unknown party about how much Ironside knows and needing to take care of it. Ed and Mark meet at the empty Cave to discuss how Ellis owed money to a loan shark called Banger. Follow-up scenes ensue of Larry at the bar with the Chief and Samantha offering to bring the Chief to the temple. This happens after another table scene at the apartment, where Larry finds that Harris is packing heat. Samantha rolls the Chief into the temple during some hymn-singing, following which she wheels Robert up to introduce him to the congregation, led by an apparently uncredited hippie-type preacher. While they're welcoming Ironside to the flock in unison, the Chief, who was previously showing signs of illness at the bar, collapses. He's brought to the clinic, where, semi-conscious in his oxygen tent, he drops the name Bolden...which Mark recalls was the name of a victim in an old case who was slowly poisoned. The team brings this to Dr. Rice's attention, who subsequently finds Samantha visiting the Chief and takes an interest in the bottle of liniment she brought to rub his legs. Under questioning, the seemingly guileless Samantha divulges that it was the Chief's bottle. The Chief subsequently receives a visit from a phony toxicology doctor, who flees pursuit by the team...the directing being careful not to give us a good look at his face. Ed and his current plainclothes partner (Sheldon Allman) pursue him to a phone booth where he makes a call, then arrest him when he comes out...Scoobying off his wig and mustache to reveal that he's Larry. Recovering in the clinic, the Chief apparently reveals to the team for the first time that he was working undercover...! Plainclothesmen subsequently arrest the mobster type, Wilson. As Wilson and Larry are being walked into a courthouse, a sniper takes shots at them...but is promptly confronted in his office by the Chief and Mark. The sniper is Judge Brody, who was being blackmailed by Ellis over something not specified. (Seems like the alleged affair went the wrong way for that.) The Chief drops the viewer-friendly bomb that they've been concealing that Jerry Abbott survived the attempt on his life...but karmic balance is restored when Brody stumbles backward out his easily breakable window. Clean-shaven and reunited with the team, the Chief apologizes for his behavior, which they were supposed to be in on. The episode closes with Team Ironside having Samantha and Harris for dinner at the Cave, Rice and Jerry arriving to join them. _______
I guess she took it too much to heart. "Mods In Paradise!" It's still a bit early for that kind of high-concept episode. Black-market opals is a rarely used McGuffin. Strange that they didn't just shoot him dead, too. This is like the bad guys decided to leave a clue. There are a million license plates in crowded parking lots just there for the taking. Typo. That first guy should be Hobbs. So now Hobbs has a bunch of valuable opals, but he's not satisfied because they're not his valuable opals? I guess this all hangs together, but I'm wondering how those auto mechanics got involved in jewel thievery. "They're called Infinity Stones. Heh heh. They're all powerful. Heh heh. I rule the universe! Heh heh." "We call this the Kobayishi Maru scenario." It would have been nice to see Wells actually interacting with him and trying to teach him. The plot slowly thickens.... Well, that's embarrassing and possibly career ending. He was wanted in seven states for murder. And he shall have his revenge! Do they always get flunked out like that? Because nobody ever thought of that before. It's very special. Digger Barnes, among a thousand other things. "He's an introvert, Chief. Leave him alone!" "We call this a Budweiser, Jerry." By this time, two election cycles have gone by. Yikes. How does the Chief swim? Even with a life jacket, it must hard to move and carry the kid at the same time. If she was, she'd be in Canada by now. How much time is going by? The kid is all grown up and the suspects are all running for president by now. Aha! "Now I'd like you all to look at my pocket watch. See how shiny it is as it spins." This is where he gives it all away. The Chief would have prepared much better than this for his retirement. This reminds me of the Evil Twin episode of Perry Mason. Didn't he keep his service revolver? Those guys deserve a good shooting. So Smiley is connected to the case, although not involved. That stretches credulity a bit. "Smiley," "Lefty." Have they started calling the Chief "Wheels" or something yet? They've all started taking the Budweiser Treatments. Yeah, the Chief isn't the one having blackouts. Well, she was Miri, after all. And that right there earns her top billing. "Scarface," "Knuckles," "Dapper Dan," and "Wall-Eyed Pike." "Brainiac." "Huggy!" It's hard to keep track of these two-hour plots. Not to be confused with "Stabber," from the West Side. They weren't willing to put "Jesus H Christ" in the credits. The very opposite of Faith Healing! Okay, that's a good twist. "Remember seven years ago when that kid was killed in the boat...?" After all that, this is it? I was expecting some world-conquering, democracy-threatening political scandal. And the kid wasn't even involved, except to find the body. He wasn't even a witness! "Money? No, I just want your wife." And he's now the DA-- book 'em, Jerry! They should have called the episode "The Mandela Effect, Parts 1 & 1." What was the deal with Harris? I want him to join Team Ironside.