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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)
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The Brady Bunch
"Out of This World"
Originally aired January 18, 1974
Paramount Plus said:
After meeting former astronaut James McDivitt, the Brady boys become fascinated with UFOs. Bobby and Peter camp out in their backyard and are convinced that they have spotted an unidentified flying object.
Mario Machado (himself) hosts a talk show on which his guest, former Gemini astronaut Brigadier General James A. McDivitt (himself), talks about how he saw a modest-sounding UFO on his flight. Peter and Bobby, among a group of kids in the studio to get autographs, take an interest in his account. That night, Bobby is awoken by a strange noise, wakes up Peter, and they see an illuminated, saucer-shaped object moving around in the sky outside their window. After nobody believes them at school, they get permission to borrow a tripod-mounted camera that Carol's been using for a contest and sleep out in the lawn the next night. They receive another visitation, and while they're busily snapping away, Marcia visits the attic room to find Greg using a whistle and a red-filtered flashlight that projects the shape onto a curtain of clear plastic that he's wired up between the trees. Both having been told on by the boys recently, Marcia approves of the prank and tries it herself.
Wiki said:
The obvious cut on Greg's lip...was actually the result of a traffic accident Barry Williams was involved in.
The boys return to the house excited to develop the pictures. Back in his bed, Bobby has a dream in which a clearly labeled UFO lands in the backyard and he's visited by a pair of green-skinned, orange-haired, spacesuit-wearing Kaplutians who stand a bit shorter than him (Frank and Sadie Delfino, formerly Mike Lookinland's and Susan Olsen's stunt doubles, respectively, before the kids outgrew them). When the pictures are developed in the morning, they sow enough doubt that Mike calls the local air force base...who pass the buck to the police, such that the Brady's are visited by jaded UFO investigator Capt. McCartney (James Flavin). When Greg and Marcia see the fuss that the prank has created, Greg takes Mike up to the attic to demonstrate his setup. While he's doing this, everyone downstairs hears and sees the UFO, and McCartney calls it in. Mike and Greg take him upstairs to show him the truth, and he's persuaded to keep quiet about it to avoid looking foolish.
Greg's grounded for the weekend, which forces him to miss a fishing trip with friends.
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The Odd Couple
"The Flying Felix"
Originally aired January 18, 1974
Wiki said:
Felix must travel to Houston to shoot an ad, but he's afraid of flying, so Oscar lends a hand.
Here we go again with the continuity. I'm sure that this premise contradicts any number of other episodes that involved Felix having been on out-of-town trips or vacations. I'm pretty sure there have been at least two episodes that had him vacationing on a tropical island...including the recent Unger/Madison shared vacation flashback episode that contradicted the long-established timing of Oscar and Felix's divorces.
Felix is supposed to have been forced on a plane to Houston for a visit to an important ad client, but returns home unexpectedly early, kissing the apartment floor after a rough flight into a tropical storm that forced the plane to turn back. Myrna guilts Oscar into helping Felix overcome his fear of flying so he doesn't lose the account. The two of them and Murray simulate a plane flight in the living room, which includes bringing in a sultry-looking but married friend of Myrna's as a passenger who flirts with Felix (Caryn Matchinga). Felix then backs Oscar into joining him on the flight to Houston.
At the airport, Felix fretfully harasses an insurance agent (Teri Garr) to sell him more coverage than she's legally allowed to. Felix and Oscar get on the plane, and as in the simulation, an attractive woman (Sondra Currie) takes the seat next to Felix, but she changes her seat when he tries to chat her up. Felix makes a scene while the stewardess (Maggie Peterson) is demonstrating the safety features. When the captain announces that takeoff will be delayed, instead of being relieved, Felix panics and disembarks. Oscar goes after him and the plane takes off with their luggage, putting Oscar in a bad situation because he was supposed to be covering a Houston game. Felix resolves to make it up to him by getting on the next available flight to Houston, arranging a charter flight via a small, privately owned air service; the pilot being an old man named Pop Belkin who used to fly with Lindbergh (Grady Sutton). The flight turns out to be smooth and comfortable and there are several other passengers, but the catch is that they're all members of a parachute club and are jumping out at Houston, while the plane will be going on to land in San Diego. The group's leader (Ed Peck) tries to bully Oscar to be a man and take to a chute.
Bill: If Patton were alive, he'd slap your face.
Pop then voluntarily recreates stunts from his barnstorming days for his two remaining passengers, sending them both running to the restroom.
In the coda, Felix returns from Houston--Oscar having apparently done so ahead of him--and everyone who was on the plane, including the stewardess, is mad at him for having ruined the flight.
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Emergency!
"Fools"
Originally aired January 19, 1974
IMDb said:
Dissatisfied with a young intern's arrogant attitude towards paramedics and accident victims, Dr. Brackett orders him to ride with Squad 51 for a day.
Captain Stanley's timing Chet as he dons full fire gear, to poor results, when the station and several other units are called to the site of an explosion. When they get to the address, all is quiet and, with Marco's help, they learn from a Spanish-speaking neighbor that the couple who recently moved out of the modest home gave them the wrong address. At the new address, a high-strung Eloise Tanner (Carol Arthur) informs the firefighters that her husband was cleaning a chimney when it blew up on him. With no fire having resulted, Stanley calls off the other units. The paramedics climb the roof to find Ned Tanner (William Campbell) conscious with an injured leg and lacerated, sooty face. He explains that he was cleaning the chimney with sandpaper and gasoline. At Rampart, Brackett hands off the call to dashing young intern of the week Dr. Kent Donaldson, Jr. (Anyone remember Bobby Sherman?), who confuses the paramedics by dismissively ordering them to bring the patient directly in despite the usual procedure of giving him an IV.
While the paramedics comply, at Rampart Kent shares his attitude with a young nurse that most of the patients they get have brought their conditions upon themselves with their stupidity. We then meet Kent Sr. (Dennis Patrick), a resident surgeon who's hovering over his son. When Tanner's brought in, Kent chastises him and then chews out the paramedics when they try to ease him up, while also insulting their profession.
Returning from the hospital, the squad is called to where a man has suffered a heart attack while buying a paper on the street. They get Kent on the biophone again, and after they give him the vitals, there's an awkwardly long silence as he examines the tape, clearly confused. He then orders counter-shock that the paramedics feel is unwarranted and can't comply with...so Roy switches the channel over to St. Francis! Having gotten a more on-the-mark diagnosis, the paramedics call back Rampart to inform Brackett that they're transporting the patient...and the doctor wants to know why they went radio silent.
Examining the tape readout, Brackett and Early determine that there was random electrical interference on Rampart's end that caused Kent to see a different readout than the paramedics. When Dix informs them of Donaldson's low regard for the people around him, including paramedics, the doctors listen to a recording of the call and hear the intern's insulting manner for themselves. Brackett subsequently calls the paramedics--who've been invited by the grateful Tanners to come over for a fireplace-centered party after they've fixed their chimney--and assures them that they made the right call, as what Donaldson ordered could have killed the patient. He then asks them to take the intern with them in the squad for a day so he gets a better idea of what it's like out there in the field...which Brackett subsequently has to explain to Kent Sr., as it means cancelling a fishing trip.
Kent arrives at the station on Saturday as ordered, already showing signs of having been humbled a bit. The paramedics' first assignment with him riding in the center of the seat is to see to a young woman named Amy (uncredited Michele Nichols) who's gotten her arm caught in a mailbox while trying to retrieve a letter she was sending to her boyfriend. With Officer Vince on the scene, the paramedics lift the girl into a horizontal position over the slot, angling her arm so it can be pulled out. Kent isn't directly involved in the action, but makes a comment afterward indicating that he's gotten his foot stuck in his mouth.
Business being slow, we next see Kent joining the firefighters for a dinner prepared by Chet, which is liable to turn him right back against humanity. Kent's ready to call it a day when the station and several other units are called to a fire at an industrial plant...this time with real explosions! When the paramedics take the bucket ladder up to see to a man having heart problems on a tower, Kent wants to go up with them, but Stanley keeps him on the ground, where he serves as their medical contact via handie-talkie. This time he's more deferential to the paramedics' on-the-scene judgment. Despite some close-call eruptions, the paramedics successfully lower the patient down and get off the tower themselves, allowing the assembled firefighters to turn their attention from the towers to putting out the larger blaze.
Frndly does seem to be cutting off the codas with ads at this point...this definitely seems like the sort of episode that would have one.
Wiki said:
Ironically, Sherman left the music world in the 1970s to become a paramedic. He eventually was in charge of the training for paramedics in Los Angeles County.
He's still no substitute for Boot.
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The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"The Co-Producers"
Originally aired January 19, 1974
Wiki said:
Mary and Rhoda are thrilled with the opportunity to produce a new show for WJM, until they learn the show must star Sue Ann and Ted, who quickly make things difficult.
The episode opens at the newsroom with Murray bringing up the subject of carpooling because of the gas shortage. Whether or not Mary's Sunday afternoon talk show is approved will depend on a production director named Finch, whose taste in programming Lou casts doubt on...
Lou: He's the guy who scheduled reruns of My Mother the Car at 7:00 so he'd have something to watch while he ate.
Asner actually seems to flub the line here, adding an extra syllable before "watch" that sounds like he was starting to say "ate" and quickly caught himself. The show is approved for a trial episode, but Lou's reaction is jaded. When Mary shares the news with Rhoda, she's reminded that Rhoda was the one who came up with the idea. Mary goes to Lou about making Rhoda her co-producer, and Lou ultimately places the responsibility on Mary, as he doesn't want to be involved with the show...but he informs Mary and Rhoda that Finch has stuck them with the above-mentioned hosts.
Mary and Rhoda have Sue Ann and Ted (accompanied by Georgette taking notes) over to the apartment to discuss the show, and egos start clashing about billing and involvement in segments. The hosts walk out when Mary backs Rhoda for nixing their idea to open the show with autobiographical segments about themselves. (Sue Ann mentions having done Shirley Temple singing "On the Good Ship Lollipop" in a talent contest when she was six. Shirley was six when she sang it, and Betty White was six years older than Temple.) At the station, the co-hosts confront Mary with wanting Rhoda off the show, and Mary follows advice from Murray by buttering them up to mollify them.
In the next meeting at Mary's, Ted and Sue Ann demo their new idea to open the show with a comedy monologue. When Rhoda rejects the idea and the hosts want her off the show again, Mary declares that if Rhoda goes, she goes. Lou having made it clear to Mary that as far as Finch is concerned, Mary is expendable while the hosts aren't, the hosts discuss finding a new producer while walking out.
Georgette (after they leave): Boy, are they gonna bomb.
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The Bob Newhart Show
"The Jobless Corps"
Originally aired January 19, 1974
Wiki said:
After Howard is laid off, he joins Bob's therapy group for unemployed people.
Over a surprise breakfast of a concentrated food "smidgen," Bob mentions his new Out-of-Work Workshop. Howard brings over his plants for sitting while on a flight and mentions to Bob that the navigators may be going on strike while he's gone. There's a good bit here where Bob and Emily mention how one in three workers could lose their jobs due to the energy crisis and recession, then both promptly leave for work and Howard realizes that he's the third person. At Bob's office, Mr. Carlin insists on joining the workshop as it's during his rescheduled time and he like the idea for the same reason that Bob doesn't--that he'd be the only one there who's successfully employed. The participants include out-of-work hairdresser Shirley Slavin (Millie Slavin); former TV writer Craig Plager (Howard Hesseman); elderly Edgar Vickers (Lucien Scott), whose sons have kicked him out of the family business that he established; and career-challenged Ed Herd (Oliver Clark establishing a new recurring patient), who suffers a crisis in confidence when he tries to demonstrate his pitch as a vacuum cleaner salesman. Bob comes home with a vacuum cleaner; and Howard comes back from his trip early via bus because the strike has started, to find his plants drooping and a telegram informing him that he's been replaced by a computer.
When Howard starts hanging around the Hartleys' all the time, making himself feel useful by doing housework, Bob invites him to come to the workshop. During the next session, the other participants bolster his confidence when they're impressed by his occupation; Mr. Herd reveals that Bob was his only customer before he switched to selling encyclopedias; a spark ignites between Elliot and Shirley when he opens up about his insecurities; and Howard loses a bet to Elliot when Carol gets the participants' complicated beverage orders right.
In the coda, Bob's brought home a new set of encyclopedias even though the Hartleys already have one; and Howard's sporting a new uniform, having gotten a job as a navigator for an obscure delivery service.
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I don't think we were even called Boomers in those days. I don't remember ever hearing the term when I was a kid.
What about Baby Boomers?
It occurs to me that they must have been doing pretty well if they had their own estate.
I wasn't clear, but they appeared to have been all sharing the house. It occurred to me after the fact that Judy's character was conspicuously excluded from being treated as a suspect. She hovered around in some scenes, but wasn't given any motivation, and one of the band dismissed her as a possibility because she could have more easily ripped them off by cooking the books.
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