50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)
The Six Million Dollar Man
"Love Song for Tanya"
Originally aired February 15, 1976
Wiki said:
Oscar assigns Steve to escort duty for Russian gymnast Tanya Breski. When Steve shows Tanya some of the less cultural aspects of American life, she develops a crush on him.
Wanting some of her screentime back, Jaime accompanies Steve to a meeting with Oscar at a TV studio where visiting gymnast Tanya Breski (Cathy Rigby, who's so tiny that she looks much younger than 23 in long shots) is filming a routine. Oscar assigns Steve to escort the Russian national treasure on her tour of the United States in the interest of strengthening relations. Steve is introduced to Alexsi Bradovich (Terry Kiser), who's in charge of Tanya's security and gives Steve an approved itinerary that's heavy on culture; and less-than-diplomatic top-ranked gymnast Uri Gargon (Kurt Grayson). Meanwhile, an embedded spy named Andre (Alan Manson), whose cover is running the Bainbridge School for Girls, assigns his right-hand Ivan (Walker Edmiston) to arrange an accident for Tanya, feeling that what they've worked for is threatened by detente.
After taking in a Chekhov play that she's seen many times, Tanya expresses her desire to see things that are distinctly American, which Steve agrees with, tearing up the list. He treats her to hamburgers and a shake and introduces her to pinball, at which she surprisingly proves to be a natural wizard. At Tanya's next practice, she invites Steve to try the bars, and he puts a little bionic into it. Back in town, while Steve's buying her a hot dog, Tanya wanders into a boutique where she buys an American outfit and a saleslady (Sheila Wills) helps her put on makeup. When Tanya's crossing the street by herself after buying a pretzel, Ivan makes his move, trying to run her over, but Steve bionic-carries her out of the way and gets a bionic look at the plate.
After Steve reports the incident to Oscar, Alexsi confronts him about going off-list, emphasizing that he knows what Tanya needs. In the gym, Uri tries to chest Steve by showing off with his loaded barbell, but when Uri drops it, Steve casually picks it up for him with one hand, sans sound effect. When she thinks they're in private (but Uri is eavesdropping), Tanya drops the bomb that she loves Steve and wants to defect, though he tries to talk her out of making a hasty decision, reminding her of her family. Uri promptly calls Andre about it, which changes the plan of having Ivan snipe Tanya. While Steve's informing Oscar about Tanya's mission-complicating crush, Alexsi calls the two of them to her hotel, where she's left a note declaring her love-motivated defection.
That the note is typewritten makes Steve suspicious that she's been kidnapped, so he fills Alexsi in about the hit-and-run attempt. When Alexsi insists on handling the matter without their interference, the ever-ahead-of-the-curve Steve deduces that Alexsi has a good idea who did it and that it's a sensitive matter. After studying a confidential file obviously not meant for the eyes of American television viewers...
...Alexsi has Uri brought in to confront him about working with the Bainbridge organization. Steve tails Alexsi as he subsequently heads to Andre's guarded mansion and breaks in as Alexsi's confronting Andre. While Steve's fending off a sneak attack by Ivan, Andre shoots Alexsi, and Steve prioritizes getting Alexsi an ambulance over pursuing Andre.
Fearing for Tanya's life, Alexsi urges Steve to go after her, telling him about Andre being head of a peace-undermining spy network, and directs him to the school, which is conveniently out of session. Tanya, who's being held in a gym, sees Andre and his men coming for her and studies her whereabouts. Steve follows Andre in and covertly directs Tanya to a seesaw, which he then jumps onto to propel her to safety. While Steve's laying into the bad guys with his bionics--which includes the obligatory medicine ball tossing--Tanya joins in a bit with her gymnastics.
While Steve's bringing Tanya to the hospital grounds to visit a recuperating Alexsi, Steve drops the bomb that Alexsi's in love with her, and she declares her intention of returning home rather than rushing into defecting.
All in the Family
"Love by Appointment"
Originally aired February 16, 1976
Frndly said:
Gloria's new chores as a mother leave little time to pay attention to her husband, which makes Mike jealous.
Mike's trying to get in some time with Gloria, but she's invested in catching up on her housework while Joey's sleeping. Mike opines that they're growing apart and accuses her of over-mothering. She counters that he's jealous of his own child; but is trying to reassure Mike of his importance to her when Joey wakes up. The couple attempts to continue making out when the folks walk in. Mike recruits them to take Joey so that he and Gloria can "catch a matinee". Once they're alone, however, things get awkward, as the moment seems forced and Gloria's not into it, repeatedly ruining Mike's efforts at spontaneity by commenting on what he's doing. Then Gloria becomes distracted when she thinks she can hear Joey crying. When she insists on going over to check on the baby, Mike goes into full meltdown mode about it never being a good time for them. Glora counters that work mode never ends for her before storming out.
Gloria enters the Bunker home as Archie's complaining about his diet. She asks for some alone time with her mother, with whom she tries to discuss her issue, though Edith's as characteristically uncomfortable with the subject of The Word She Can't Bring Herself to Say as ever. (The subject of
Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex comes up, with Edith indicating that she hasn't read the book, and is still afraid to ask.) Edith admits that she was in the same situation when she had Gloria, but couldn't talk about it with anyone then. Gloria describes how she's compartmentalized that part of herself, like it's sitting on a shelf.
Gloria: He just doesn't understand that right now, I don't want anybody...not even Robert Redford!
Edith: Oh, my. Oh, you are tired.
Edith encourages Gloria to balance her attention between the two men in her life, making time for the bigger one...before uncomfortably clamming up on the subject again.
As an alternative to Kelcy's because he can't drink, Archie's at the Stivics' trying to play cards with Mike, who's too distracted. They come around to discussing the same subject, with Archie being just as uptight as Edith in his own way. Archie tries to encourage Mike to focus on other things, like exercising and watching Johnny Carson.
Archie: That's what he's there for, to cool people off.
Archie goes on to describe how he was pretty "lively" when he came home from Italy, but that once Edith had Gloria, things changed. He encourages Mike to be strong and patient until Gloria eventually comes around again, while not falling back on things that might entice him, like dirty movies.
Gloria returns, wanting to talk with Mike. She apologizes for not being there for him and he expresses his understanding. When she asks if he wants to go out and do something, Mike follows Archie's advice and insists on just staying home and playing cards. This evokes some spontaneous physical affection from Gloria, though neither seems ready to follow through with it yet.
M*A*S*H
"Deluge"
Originally aired February 17, 1976
Frndly said:
Things at the 4077th are especially chaotic after the camp is overrun with casualties from an unexpected offensive.
Newsreel pieces play intermittently throughout the episode, which caused someone on IMDb to go town listing uncredited archive footage appearances. (No Winston Churchills were harmed in the making of this episode.) IMDb informs me that the newsreel chronology is all over the place, from Truman speaking at the University of Wyoming in May 1950, before the war began; to the French fighting in Viet Nam, which wasn't known as Viet Nam yet. After various bits of business in O.R., Hawk and B.J. bring a patient to the mess tent to soak him in a large sink because he has phosphorous burns; they put in copper sulfate and turn out the lights so they can see the shrapnel glowing in the dark. Back in the O.R., Burns gloats when Hawkeye leaves a sponge in his patient. Then new casualties are brought in, and a P.A. announcement introduces the really big chronological issue that the entire episode is based on--the Chinese have just entered the war with a massive offensive, which happened in Nov. 1950, before either the first episode of the series or the movie were supposed to have taken place. An IMDb contributor even points out that we've already seen the Chinese in the war in at least one earlier episode.
Casualties pour in, overwhelming the camp. The next newsreel is about MacArthur returning to the States, which was in Apr. '51. Burns is glad that the Chinese have "finally" gotten in the war, thinking it's an opportunity to wipe them out. Houlihan confronts Potter while he's in the shower about how he's considering shipping the nurses out because of the offensive. As the staff runs out of latex gloves, having to work bare-handed, a heavy rainstorm turns the title into a double entendre. Radar tries to barter on the radio for supplies while having vision difficulties because one of his lenses got cracked. A laundry bin outside the O.R. catches fire because a sergeant (Anthony Palmer) who's been loitering around out of concern for his wounded buddy flicked his cigarette into it. Then a window blows in from a nearby hit.
As everyone's trying to recover from the exhaustive round of surgery, the P.A. announces that the unit has earned a commendation for meritorious conduct. Potter walks in on Houlihan while she's taking a shower to thank her for staying.
I didn't catch where the character billed as "Corporal" appeared, but am compelled to note that he was played by (now they know how many holes it takes to fill the) Albert Hall.
The Bionic Woman
"A Thing of the Past"
Originally aired February 18, 1976
Mix mash said:
A school bus driver is recognized as the witness to a fifteen-year-old murder.
Jaime's students are loaded onto a bus driven by Harry Anderson (Donald O'Connor), who Jaime knows from when she was a bus rider, for a class picnic. When he goes back to the garage to grab the baseball equipment, a shady character having his car fixed (Glen Morgan [Don Gordon]) seems to recognize him.
At the park, while Harry's starting the fire, Jaime uses bionic speed to prep the hamburger patties. The boys object when Jaime brings the girls over to join in on their baseball game, motivating Jaime to challenge Mark to strike her out. After two strikes, she accidentally puts a little too much bionic into it, sending the ball over the tree line. On the ride back, a tire blows out, sending the bus screeching off the road. The bus sparks a fire and its main door ends up jammed into a large boulder. Not knowing how to contact Captain Marvel, Jaime kicks the door through the boulder, splitting the rock in two, while everyone's heading for the back emergency door. Harry goes back into the vehicle to rescue a girl who's been overcome by smoke; immediately after they're clear, the bus goes up and Harry's declared a hero. When his picture gets in out-of-town papers, Morgan recognizes him as Walter Kreuger, whom he hasn't seen since 1960 in Chicago.
Jaime's class surprises Harry by presenting him with a framed award that they made. Morgan calls Mr. Stone (Roger Perry) in Chicago to offer to sell a tip about Kreuger's whereabouts. When Stone doesn't want to bid high, Morgan schemes with his partner, Raines (W. T. Zacha), that he might get more money out of Kreuger not to talk. Meanwhile, back at the Elgin ranch, Jaime unbends a horseshoe for Jim and nails it into the horse's hoof with her fist. Morgan and Raines drop by in the role of insurance company agents (which is apparently their actual job, though they don't normally work in Ojai) to ask questions about Harry. Their lack of focus on the accident makes Jaime suspicious enough to bionic-eavesdrop on them as they leave, picking up a mention of Kreuger. The hoods proceed to the garage to confront Harry, Morgan dropping his old name. Threatening to get Stone involved motivates Harry to admit to being Kreuger, and Morgan squeezes him for a higher offer, giving him until Monday to come up with the money, and threatening to kill him if he tries to run.
Jaime goes to the garage and confronts Harry about wearing a gun that she'd just heard him loading from outside. When she asks him about the Kreuger name, he tells her that he was a nightclub comedian who saw a hitman named Stone kill his boss. Jaime offers to get her friend in Washington involved, because airtight security is totally his thing. Stone pays a surprise visit to the hoods in Ojai, having also seen Anderson's picture in the paper. They take him to the garage while Jaime's there and Harry tries to protect her, though Morgan casually pulls the gun out of his hand. Jaime swings around a car on chains to knock Morgan and Raines off their feet, then tosses a barrel of oil on the floor to slow them down while she and Harry get away in Jaime's car, which Stone follows. On Oscar's advice, Jaime takes Harry to the air force base. This takes Stone back to his own Air Force days, when he was abducted by a UFO while flying an F-104 Starfighter.
Steve calls Jaime while flying in on a transport to pick up Harry, because we're all just one big bionic family these days. Jaime and Harry are being minded by Major Donald Mills (Brian Cutler, whose usual secretly superpowered schoolteacher does know how to contact Captain Marvel). Stone gets into the base driving a stolen TV repair van, TV Fus a sergeant, and takes his uniform. In Jaime's classroom, Harry asks her about the things she did in the garage. While Jaime's fetching supplies, Stone walks in on Harry, addresses him as Kreuger, and pulls a Five-O Special. Harry makes a break for it, leading Stone on a base chase. Jaime sees signs of struggle in the classroom and goes looking for Harry. Hearing Stone firing shots in a hangar, she races there and bionic-jumps up onto a catwalk, from which she drops down feet-first onto Stone's shoulders, knocking him into a pile of boxes and out. She's surprised to learn that the faux sergeant is the killer, having passed him earlier in the hall.
The transport arrives and Steve meets Jaime and Harry on the airfield to learn that they've already apprehended the killer. Jaime listens in as Harry starts to try to tell Steve about the things he saw Jaime do.
This episode brought to my attention a character age discrepancy. Steve and Jaime are supposed to be old schoolmates (emphasized when Steve also remembers Harry as his old bus driver), but Lee Majors is ten years older than Lindsay Wagner, and definitely doesn't look 27, which is Jaime's age in the opening credits and was roughly Wagner's age at the time.
I wonder if she left for health reasons, given her untimely end.
Apparently not, though depression-fueled alcoholism and resentment of Diana's elevation to group lead factored in.
en.wikipedia.org
I don't believe you can be forced to testify at your own trial, although I suppose there are exceptions to everything.
Evidently this is so, though it also comes down to the Fifth Amendment.
Damn, the DJs lied to me. I remember them mentioning that it was his dog every time they played the song.
Said to be a common misconception.
She was the Stretch Cunningham of H50.
Nah, she's shown, not spoken of.
"Fine Corinthian leather" was something else that was on the tips of people's tongues for a while.
I recall catching references to it a few years later.
Ah, pure nepotism. That explains it. I kinda get the feeling sometimes that they were a little hard up for guests in those early days.
That does seem to be the case.
"More backlighting! More backlighting!"
I never noticed that trait.
