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The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

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That's the one. Not great, but interesting. Was it an homage or just a crass attempt to set himself up as Bowie's successor or something? Who knows?

I was being somewhat facetious...Banner's was a tabloid's reward for information leading to the capture of the creature. But $10,000 does sound like a lot more money for an Old West setting. I found an inflation calculator, which tells me that $10,000 in 1875 would be roughly $55,000 in 1977, and $220,000 in 2016.
I forgot that Banner's reward was offered by the tabloid. Since Caine's reward was being offered by the Chinese government, that makes sense.

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I like this song (and it's another one that feels more 50s than 60s to me), but it's really an odd aspiration, since his idols ended up dead. :rommie:
 
So... today Bowie, tomorrow the world? :rommie:

Coincidentally, I've got tickets to a Bowie tribute band this Saturday night. :mallory:
 
Happy Birthday, Sgt Pepper.
BirthdayCake_zpsc3jk1mfl.gif
 
I remember when GSN ran a night block of shows like Now You See It, Match Game, and other odd shows. When I was growing up, I was a sucker for stuff like that. Now it's all nostalgia, especially Press Your Luck.

I'd wager that Match Game 7x has aged the best and whose first 4 or 5 years were the best, along with the first two or so of the PM run. Yeah, Match Game was out there - though the reasons why didn't dawn on this innocent 8 year-old but I really dug the music and set design. Having seen reruns a few years ago -- dang, the humor was bawdy but hysterical. At least it was suggestive, for the most part. They had to struggle to not answer the naughty stuff, which made it far more fun.

Press Your Luck is fun. though once I saw the patterns it was hard to un-look. That's where the revival on GSN made it more fun, it truly was random so nobody could play "pattern pattycake".
 
Happy Birthday, Sgt Pepper.
BirthdayCake_zpsc3jk1mfl.gif
I made an offering to the Lords of Fabness at the altar of iTunes and bought the Deluxe Edition. Still getting used to the remixes, but one thing really tickled my fancy...the organ in "Lucy" meanders around between stereo channels, which definitely enhances the ambiance of the song for my money. It always shoulda done that!
 
I'd wager that Match Game 7x has aged the best and whose first 4 or 5 years were the best, along with the first two or so of the PM run. Yeah, Match Game was out there - though the reasons why didn't dawn on this innocent 8 year-old but I really dug the music and set design. Having seen reruns a few years ago -- dang, the humor was bawdy but hysterical. At least it was suggestive, for the most part. They had to struggle to not answer the naughty stuff, which made it far more fun.

Press Your Luck is fun. though once I saw the patterns it was hard to un-look. That's where the revival on GSN made it more fun, it truly was random so nobody could play "pattern pattycake".

GSN doesn't do this anymore, but years ago they had a really interesting documentary about that guy who beat the Press Your Luck board. Some people called it cheating, but I don't think you can cheat if you do your homework really really hard. The New Press Your Luck was fun though, and that was at the time when I really did enjoy GSN. Now it's all Family Feud all the time, which is a bummer.
 
And on the subject of song sequels, I didn't do any research but I was thinking about that one that that guy did for Bowie's "Space Oddity" in the 80s. I can't place his name or the song at the moment, but it's one for the list.
Of course Bowie did his own sequel
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^ "Ashes to Ashes" is a great song in its own right.

@RJDiogenes might be thinking of "Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Schilling

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I made an offering to the Lords of Fabness at the altar of iTunes and bought the Deluxe Edition. Still getting used to the remixes, but one thing really tickled my fancy...the organ in "Lucy" meanders around between stereo channels, which definitely enhances the ambiance of the song for my money. It always shoulda done that!
Indeed, I love that 3D sound.

Of course Bowie did his own sequel
Damn, of course-- how could I forget that?

^ "Ashes to Ashes" is a great song in its own right.

@RJDiogenes might be thinking of "Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Schilling
That's the one. You missed where Old Mixer posted it above. :D
 
^ In both languages! :p

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50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing

What was going on the week these episodes aired.

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Batman
"Scat! Darn Catwoman"
Originally aired January 25, 1967
Xfinity said:
Batman slips Robin an antidote.

In case anyone didn't catch it, when Gordon was inundated with calls, the last was the old "surprise call from the president" gag: "My best to Hubert."

As mentioned last week, I read on IMDb that there was another Lesley Gore song in this episode that's been cut for syndication...and watching the video, I definitely have a vague recollection of the scene from my original viewing of the series in mid-'70s syndication. I wouldn't have had any idea who Lesley Gore was then, but I distinctly recall 4-to-6-year-old me thinking that her singing to Robin's photo was, in the parlance of that phase of my life, "too mushy."

"Maybe Now"
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(B-side of "Treat Me Like a Lady," her single immediately prior to "California Nights"; the A-side charted on Sept. 17, 1966, and only reached #115)

Watching the H&I edit (which I presume would be the same as Me's), you can hear a bit of the song's fade-out as they cut from the police car to the yawning Robin walking into the room.

BTW, at the beginning of that clip is THE CLOCK that I keep bringing up, in the background between Gordon and O'Hara. And that pair seems to be continuing their spoofing on the Dynamic Duo's M.O. with that exit. Of course, this is the part where Gordon and O'Hara don't give Batman any benefit of the doubt despite Batman's warning to Gordon last episode.

When the Departmental Duo arrest her, they let Pussycat leave the room to change into her street clothes...but when they're interrogating her, she's still in costume. If they really want to learn Batman's identity, why trace the Batphone when they can unmask Robin? And the story's not being very consistent about how much Batman's supposed to remember while supposedly under the influence of Catwoman's drug. Also, it kind of brushes past exactly how Alfred managed to deliver the Bat-Antidote to Robin and get him out of jail. Maybe he showed up in his little domino mask.

Batman does that bit of business where he touches the mantle of his cape again when he tells Catwoman that he was merely acting.

So now Robin's allowed to control the Batmobile with the remote, but he still can't just drive it.

Catwoman on a hot tin roof...it was a little too easy to guess how that would turn out. Batman should know better than to shed tears over her potential demise at this point, but at least we get the payoff of seeing the officially labeled Batkerchief: https://twitter.com/batlabels/status/790634738398691328

During this episode last week, H&I ran a commercial of Burt Ward pitching dog food. Good to know he's a pooch-lover.

_______

Continuing our tribute to Lesley Gore, we present the remainder of her Top 20 hits...all falling after the Fabs invaded our shores, and all peaking somewhere in the teens.

"That's the Way Boys Are"
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(Charted Mar. 28, 1964; #12 US)

"Maybe I Know"
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(Charted July 25, 1964; #14 US; #20 UK)

"Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows"
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(Charted June 19, 1965; #13 US; Yes, that's Yvonne Craig over on the left)

"Treat Me Like a Lady," mentioned above, was one of ten charting singles in the two-and-a-half years between "Maybe I Know" and "California Nights" that failed to break the Top 20...many of which didn't even come particularly close to the Top 40. "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows," which was from an earlier album and apparently released as a single in '65 because of its use in Ski Party, was likely the exception because it was featured in the movie. Of note, the film was released in late June, and the single peaked in August. And now we come full circle with the single version of...

"California Nights"
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(Charted Feb. 4, 1967; #16 US)

In the short term, this might have been considered something of a minor comeback for her.

And not to upstage Ms. Gore, but while we're sort of on the subject...also appearing in Ski Party:
Bonus "The Godfather of Soul Is in the Lodge" Link

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Batman
"Penguin Is a Girl's Best Friend"
Originally aired January 26, 1966
Xfinity said:
Batman and Robin interrupt the Penguin's filming of a movie.

The bit where the Dynamic Duo interrupt a movie shoot that appears to be a real crime reminds me of a bit in a Lee/Ditko comic where Spidey did the same thing, but IIRC, in that case it was just the infamous Parker luck, not a villainous scheme.

The censorship thing is a little weird, but it looks like Penguin was planning something not suitable for the likely audience of the film, and the MPAA rating system wasn't in place until late '68. Anyway, the real purpose was to keep Batman from being entrapped in something that he wasn't comfortable doing, and that could have tarnished his image.

This installment felt like what it was...the first of three parts instead of two...like they took a two-parter's worth of story and stretched it out to fill an extra episode. But we'll see how it plays out next week.

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Tarzan
"A Pride of Assassins"
Originally aired January 27, 1967
Xfinity said:
A smuggler sends assassins after Tarzan and a young woman because they threaten to expose a smuggling scheme.

This time it's Jai who's only in the bookend scenes. The opening one has him mouthing off to a government official and getting a gentle threat of spanking from Tarzan. This opener is followed by a fairly long sequence of the weapons smuggler learning where the woman (his erstwhile partner) is and hiring a couple of mercenaries. By the time we get past all of that and Tarzan and is on the case, it's 20 minutes in. If that's not padding the story to fill an hour, I don't know what is! Add to that other bits of time-filling business, like a fairly long scene of a helicopter circling around looking for Tarzan, complete with completely unnecessary wildlife reaction shots.

Speaking of footwear continuity, when Tarzan smuggles the woman out of the village that's holding her, while she's unconscious and bedridden from a previous assassination attempt involving a poison dart, she's still fully attired and ready for travel in her spunky jungle explorer outfit, complete with white go-go boots.

Ms. Lawton said:
There's a world out there ready to blow itself up into a radioactive ashcan.
Well that's a pretty pessimistic sign o' the times...and might have worked better four or five years earlier. By this point, the Cold War seemed to be better characterized by the space race and proxy warfare, rather than being on the brink of nuclear Armageddon.

Each of the bad guys ends up suffering a separate, story-unnecessary death in this one...including one of them, having already been defeated, being randomly attacked by a croc! So much for family hour.

The closing bookend shows Jai and Cheeta fishing with an unexplained chimp buddy.

TOS guests: Michael Witney (Tyree, "A Private Little War"), making a return appearance

Well-known non-Trek guest I never would have recognized without his beard if not for IMDb: Victor French from Little House and Highway to Heaven

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^^ :rommie:

Maybe he showed up in his little domino mask.
Maybe he disguised himself as a Domino Pizza delivery boy.

So now Robin's allowed to control the Batmobile with the remote, but he still can't just drive it.
Well, technically you don't need a license for that. :rommie:

Continuing our tribute to Lesley Gore, we present the remainder of her Top 20 hits...all falling after the Fabs invaded our shores, and all peaking somewhere in the teens.
Wow, painful (and very 50s :D). I think I'll stick with her top ten stuff. :rommie:

Speaking of footwear continuity, when Tarzan smuggles the woman out of the village that's holding her, while she's unconscious and bedridden from a previous assassination attempt involving a poison dart, she's still fully attired and ready for travel in her spunky jungle explorer outfit, complete with white go-go boots.
So much for those boots being made for walking.

Well that's a pretty pessimistic sign o' the times...and might have worked better four or five years earlier. By this point, the Cold War seemed to be better characterized by the space race and proxy warfare, rather than being on the brink of nuclear Armageddon.
No, actually nukes were still pretty much on everyone's mind into the early 70s (think of Planet of the Apes and such), then eased off for a while in era of detente, and came back in the early 80s.
 
Wow, painful (and very 50s :D). I think I'll stick with her top ten stuff. :rommie:
Really? I think that "Maybe I Know" is up there with her Top Tenners (studio version):

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No, actually nukes were still pretty much on everyone's mind into the early 70s (think of Planet of the Apes and such)
DAMN THEM!!! DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL!!!!!!! :mad: + :guffaw:

Yeah, I was thinking after I wrote that, that it's easy to compartmentalize different eras of the decade in hindsight, but to anyone who was old enough to remember in 1967, the Cuban Missile Crisis would have been an uncomfortably recent memory.

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Last Week's 50th Anniversary Viewing

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Dark Shadows

Episode 241
Originally aired May 29, 1967
IMDb said:
At the Old House, David believes Maggie is Josette's ghost. Later, Maggie calls out for David.

The week opens with David meeting the real Maggie. At first she seems fully engaged in her Josette persona, talking to him in complete sentences...but then she starts acting confused and asking him questions. David mentions Mr. Evans, which sparks her true memories. It's odd that David knows who Sam is, but doesn't recognize Maggie.

Maggie slips away when Roger and Victoria come knocking. Dad is pissed because he had to trek up to the Old House, an uncomfortable distance from his decanter. In comes Barnabas, and afraid of his father's wrath, David lies and claims that he hasn't seen Josette. Still suspicious after his visitors leave, Barnabas goes up to Josette's room and insists to Maggie that she mustn't see visitors while attempting to reinforce that she's Josette, not Maggie. It's a busy night on the Old House set, as Sheriff Patterson comes knocking next to have his first meeting with Barnabas. The Sheriff mainly seems interested in verifying Willie's alibis.

Reunited with his brandy at the Great House, Roger chastises David. While Vicki sees the boy to his room, he spills some details about his encounter with "Josette" when Vicki mentions having smelled jasmine at the Old House. The sheriff pops by because this is his only episode for the week, so he's gotta get his work done, and for some reason he seems to be in the habit of reporting the findings of his investigation to the Collins family instead of, I dunno, Sam and Joe maybe...?

The episode ends with what the description describes, only she calls for David as "little boy."


Episode 242
Originally aired May 30, 1967
IMDb said:
Dr. Woodard finds something suspicious in Maggie's blood slides, which are later stolen from his ransacked office.

The Real Doc Woodard is hard at work examining slides when Burke comes by wanting good news to deliver to Sam, because "random tag along / errand boy" seems to be the closest thing he has to an occupation. Woodard mentions having consulted with a Dr. Hoffman--one who's described with male pronouns--and reveals that there's something baffling and potentially frightening, even impossible, going on in Maggie's blood samples.

At Collinwood, Roger is questioning Elizabeth about some substantial financial discrepancies in the family business's books. He voices his suspicion that Jason is blackmailing Liz with some secret that involves the locked room downstairs, which is a handy reminder for the audience, since that plot point hasn't come up in at least a couple of weeks. Liz confronts Jason about how she won't be able to continue paying him off under the circumstances. Jason seems coyly unaffected, clearly keeping some new scheme close to his chest. In Roger's next meeting with his sister, he makes a more personal plea for information, but to no immediate avail. Somewhere in their conversations, they allude to the fact that Burke once had a plot line of his own.

Cut to Woodard and Burke examining the doctor's now ransacked office, finding the blood samples stolen and the bars on the windows bent as if by supernatural strength--Too bad the sheriff's off-duty for the week! The Doc now affirms that whatever's going on is indeed best described as "terrifying" and "impossible."


Episode 243
Originally aired May 31, 1967
IMDb said:
Dr. Woodard hopes to examine Willie's blood. Jason informs Elizabeth that they will be married.

The Old House's latest visitor is...Doc Woodard. It's daytime, so Willie answers. Needless to say, the good doctor's request to examine Willie's blood doesn't go over well. Confidentiality having never been his strong suit, the doctor blabs about his other patient, Maggie Evans. On cue, Willie becomes even more emphatic that the doctor leave when he sees that it's sunset...but Barnabas pops in too quickly, and actually encourages Willie to participate.

At the Great House, Jason brings flowers to Elizabeth. While he's making a show of sweet-talking her, the Doc comes knocking, wanting to question Jason about Willie's former condition. More blabbing about his patients ensues. As they compare notes, Jason's owns suspicions come back to the fore, causing him to drop by the Old House that night. Barnabas answers, explaining the Willie is out on an errand. In response to Jason's pointed questions, Barnabas reinforces the story of how he first met Willie when his nonexistent car broke down. Poor ol' Jason has no idea what he's begging for going down this route....

Back at the Great House, Jason asks Liz a lot of questions about Barnabas before getting back to his own subplot...making his milking of money from Liz a long-term, legal arrangement, per the episode description.


Episode 244
Originally aired on #SgtPepperDay
IMDb said:
Jason threatens to tell everyone that Elizabeth murdered her long missing husband Paul Stoddard.

The episode opens with Liz's reactions to Jason's proposal. As their duet continues, the audience learns a great deal about the secret that he's been holding over her...that she allegedly murdered her ex-husband 18 years ago, and he helped to cover it up.

Liz tries to confess to Carolyn, but Jason has already put some notions in the girl's head, and she runs out when her mother starts to tell her that her father didn't love her. Jason subsequently presses Carolyn to find out how much Liz told her. He wholeheartedly contradicts Liz's story by telling the girl what she wants to hear about her father. Seemingly left with only one option, Liz asks Jason for time to prepare.


Episode 245
Originally aired June 2, 1967
IMDb said:
After Dr. Woodard arrives to take a sample of Willie's blood, Barnabas switches the slide samples.

At the Old House, Barnabas insists that Willie surrender a sample of his blood, despite his servant's characteristically frantic objections. Meanwhile, at the cleaned-up office of Doc Woodard, Burke is exercising his usual M.O. of getting in some screen time by buddying up with a more plot-relevant character. Burke speculates about a wolf or Willie Loomis possibly being behind recent happenings in Collinsport.

Cut to Doc at the Old House, having shaken Burke from his coattails. Barnabas waxes poetic about blood (It's what's for dinner!) while the Doc takes his sample from Willie. In his typically friendly but unprofessional manner, Doc lets Barnabas wander around the room with the slide, giving him ample opportunity to switch it without the need for any particular skill in sleight of hand. As the good doctor is leaving, Barnabas gives him a warning about the person who broke into his office that perhaps doubles as a veiled threat...though Barnabas actually volunteers, for the audience's benefit, that he deeply loathes that anonymous other being of whom he speaks.

At the Blue Whale, Vicki resorts to dredging up weeks-old story points combined with paranoia about howling dogs. Doc drops by on his no-confidentiality tour, volunteering the negative results in what he thinks was Willie's blood, in addition to giving a vivid description of what he found in Maggie's.

Back at the Old House, Willie's acting so frantic about what may be discovered in his blood that Barnabas seeks assurances that Willie won't go blabbing all to anyone who questions him, before revealing his switcheroo. Barnabas threatens that there may come a day when he stops protecting Willie.

_______

The Saint
"When Spring Is Sprung"
Originally aired June 2, 1967 (UK)
Xfinity said:
Templar believes British intelligence has ordered him to free a Soviet spy, but he could be mistaken.

More spy business, but there's a slightly better justification for it here, as Simon's involvement is the result of something he'd said in a newspaper interview about the ease with which he could arrange the defector's escape...something the show has done before when it came to jewel heists and such. Simon is recruited to help the Russians spring Spring, because Spring is supposed to have been recruited as a double agent and the alleged British intelligence official doesn't want the escape to look too easy.

The recurring character of Inspector Teal factors into the story in a more substantial way than his usual M.O. of being a comedic thorn in Simon's side. Templar plays both ends against the middle, going along with the Russians' scheme while voluntarily reporting to Teal about it just enough to put Teal in the amusing position of having to defend Templar among his colleagues at Scotland Yard.

Yep, there's one of those clocks in Simon's pad in this episode. The design is slightly different than the one in Gordon's office.

In one scene Simon pretends to be an American journalist...with all due respect to the recently deceased Sir Roger, I'm afraid that his attempt at an accent was horrendous.

_______

50 years ago this week:
June 4 – Stockport air disaster: British Midland flight G-ALHG crashes in Hopes Carr, Stockport, killing 72 passengers and crew.
June 5
  • Six-Day War begins: Israel launches Operation Focus, a preemptive strike on Egyptian Air Force bsir[?] fields; the allied armies of Egypt Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Iraq invade Israel. Battle of Ammunition Hill, start of the Jordanian campaign
  • Murderer Richard Speck is sentenced to death in the electric chair for killing 8 student nurses in Chicago.
June 7
  • Capture of East Jerusalem in a battle conducted by Israeli forces without the use of artillery in order to avoid damage to the Holy City.
  • Two Moby Grape members are arrested for contributing to the delinquency of minors.
June 8 – USS Liberty incident
June 10
  • Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a United Nations-mediated cease-fire.
  • The Soviet Union severs diplomatic relations with Israel.
  • Margrethe, heir apparent to the throne of Denmark, marries French count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat.


New on the charts that week:

"C'mon Marianne," The Four Seasons
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(#9 US)

"I Was Made to Love Her," Stevie Wonder
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(#2 US; #1 R&B; #5 UK)

And everybody kept on playin' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band....


New on the boob tube:
  • Dark Shadows, episodes 246-250
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Last edited:
Batman
"The Contaminated Cowl"
Originally aired January 4, 1967

"The Mad Hatter Runs Afoul"
Originally aired January 5, 1967

The second and final appearance of David Wayne as the Mad Hatter--once of the best villains on the show, but wasted in this all-over-the-place episode.

Is that a new front shot of the Batmobile when they're heading into Gotham?

No. Stock.

The Mad Hatter's radioactive spray didn't seem focused enough to affect Batman's entire cowl and only his cowl like that.

Well, that's what the script--such as it is--called for, so...

I'll agree with what that guy said in the other thread awhile back...all the stuff with Batman and Robin being presumed dead doesn't make sense. In-story, the Dynamic Duo's elaborate ruse doesn't serve a good enough purpose to justify upsetting the entire world the way they did. It's not for the element of surprise, because the Hatter finds out that they're alive before they meet again. The whole gimmick feels all the cheaper given how it happened in the first place

That was a pure production decision; by this late in the season, writers had been struggling to create inventive death traps (most not even passing 1930s serial standards) , so in comes the chamber/skeleton trap, and as a result, the ridiculous plot point of the Duo selling the idea they died. Disaster from start to finish. The poor death trap issue will hurt most episodes going forward.


And yeah, what was in the water tower that they spent two episodes making such a fuss about it? As for the fight on the outside, that seems like something they should have saved for a Catwoman episode, so she could have fallen from it in her usual manner.

"Usual?" Newmar's Catwoman only fell in two of her seven story appearances (including the Ma Parker cameo). Not so usual.


Dark Shadows
Episodes 225/226-230
Originally aired May 8-12, 1967

The presence of Barnabas seems to put her on edge as he attempts to make small talk laced with innuendo for the benefit of the audience. After Maggie and Joe have a brief dance, she doesn't want to return to the table. Sam and Barnabas compare notes about Maggie's virtues.

Good tension building--especially as we see Sam completely in dark that the man's talking to wants to turn his daughter into one of the undead.

In walks Burke to demonstrate that he's not Joe

Were you really getting them confused for each other?

Cut to Maggie's bedroom. As she fitfully tries to sleep, Barnabas sneaks in the patio doors...and his eyes move between the beast on his cane and his next conquest.

The first series moment where the audience sees Barnabas for what he is. Creepy home run.

Meanwhile, Barnabas lurks around dramatically at the Old House, eventually staring out the window in Maggie's general direction, even as Sam finds her up and about. She wants to take him to the Old House to work on the portrait, and there's a winky-nudgy reference to her hearing having improved--is that a vampire thing?

In Dark Shadows lore it is. As seen with Willie, the first reaction is fatigue (loss of blood) and being extremely irritable. Just as suddenly, the victim recovers as if they were completely healthy.

At the Old House interacting with Barnabas, Maggie seems much more composed, and a bit sly...like she's willingly sharing a secret with the lord of the manor.

Yep. Good stuff from Frid and Scott.

When Maggie returns home and tries to sleep, Barnabas does the stare-out-window-in-her-general-direction gig, then convinces Sam to stay at work on the painting while he gets some air. Maggie opens the patio doors and bares her neck in anticipation of her visitor.

At this point, Barnabas has everyone fooled--playing Sam like a master manipulator.


Later, Liz tries to convince Vicki that the room isn't important, so that Vicki might help to convince Carolyn. Meanwhile, Carolyn searches for the key to the basement room. Vicki tries to talk her out of looking for it, not because she buys Liz's story about the contents being too painful, but because she seems to sense that Liz is hiding a darker secret.

I understand an employee trying to keep the drama muted as much as possible, but I've always found Vicki a bit too deferential to Elizabeth--as if she invests her very survival of earth into the security and emotional stability of Elizabeth. Moreover, I get that Vicki also believes Collinwood holds the answers to her secretive past, but again, for Victoria Winters, is all about "Don't do anything that might upset Elizabeth!!"

At the Blue Whale, Burke and Victoria are having a drink together. Burke didn't get the memo that this is Maggie's week, and is still obsessing over Willie being in town. He also gets filled in on Jason's subplot.

Burke has been out of the loop on the sinister stuff, so its natural that he would still obsess on the one man who threatened to kill him--Willie Loomis.

Vicki is making the connection between Maggie's condition and Willie's when Joe comes in. Alarmed that he left Maggie, Sam rushes back home to find her gone.

Vicki makes a connection, but cannot wrap her head around the idea of someone else being behind it all.

This would be the third bite, wouldn't it? My vampire lore's a little rusty, but shouldn't she be one by now?

Barnabas was slowly working on her.

Meanwhile, Maggie wanders the cemetery in her nightgown, to be met by a fang-baring Barnabas. Willie runs up to warn Barnabas that Maggie's friends will be coming to look for her. She collapses at the sound of Burke's voice calling for her. Barnabas reluctantly leaves Maggie behind, realizing that he'll have another shot at Maggie, and unable to deny that Burke and Vicki really do need something to do on the show. When the plot-deficient duo find Maggie, she comes to, genuinely unable to remember what she's doing in a graveyard in her nightgown. Burke wanders off to play out the requisite beat of thinking he sees someone and following them into the crypt, but being unable to find the entrance to the secret room--No visit to the cemetery would be complete without it! Eventually he returns to carry Maggie out of the cemetery.

Effective scene--so many vampire films up to this point usually had the victim talking out of their head (1931 Dracula), or waiting to be "seduced" by the bloodsucker, but Maggie wanders around, appearing gravely ill and having no will to march to what seems to be her death.

Back at the crypt, someone's got some 'splainin' to do...! Seeing through his underling's ruse, Barnabas demonstrates why his motto is "Spare the walking stick, spoil the Willie."

Smart character building--several episodes ago, Barnabas only implied a threat when he ordered Willie out into the night to take care of a "job", now, he savagely beats Willie with his cane, forever sealing the image of Barnabas being a brutal, self-serving monster. Another vampire first, as Lee never beat his servants, and Lugosi only turned violent when he was ready to kill Renfield, but routine abuse was not a part of either vampire.[/quote]
 
"Usual?" Newmar's Catwoman only fell in two of her seven story appearances (including the Ma Parker cameo). Not so usual.
Hmm... @Christopher , can you verify this? Whether or not it was specifically from falling, I could have sworn that the show had already gone to the "Catwoman Death Fake-Out" route a couple of times by this point.

Were you really getting them confused for each other?
Initially, when I was watching the show more casually, yes. "Let's see, is that Maggie's boyfriend or the other one...and what does he do on the show, anyway?" Since then, it became a bit of a running gag for me, mostly replaced in more recent reviews by poking fun at Burke's lack of story relevance. Peeking ahead on IMDb, it seems that the show-runners in 1967 must have been thinking the same thing, as Mitchell Ryan isn't long for the series.

And OMG...seeing a photo of him older, I just realized that he's the guy who played Riker's dad on TNG...and it's probably not a coincidence that "The Icarus Factor" happens to be one of my least favorite episodes of the series! :lol:

Also, while I don't get the characters confused at all, in polishing my rough notes I often catch myself referring to Roger as Jason...FYI, just in case one of those slips by.

In Dark Shadows lore it is. As seen with Willie, the first reaction is fatigue (loss of blood) and being extremely irritable. Just as suddenly, the victim recovers as if they were completely healthy.
Not her health improving, which is evidently the effect of nightfall...there was a wink-nudge reference to her hearing having improved. Is that typically a vampire thing?

I understand an employee trying to keep the drama muted as much as possible, but I've always found Vicki a bit too deferential to Elizabeth--as if she invests her very survival of earth into the security and emotional stability of Elizabeth. Moreover, I get that Vicki also believes Collinwood holds the answers to her secretive past, but again, for Victoria Winters, is all about "Don't do anything that might upset Elizabeth!!"
Interesting, I'll have to watch for that. I'm only familiar with the show through the window of the six-month batch of episodes that Decades runs. I don't know anything of Vicki's larger story arc outside of that.

I should mention that in Googling something about the series, I came across this blog where somebody else is doing by-day 50th anniversary reviews of the series. I sometimes check in to read their comments about the episodes.
 
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Batman
"The Zodiac Crimes"
Originally aired January 11, 1967

"The Joker's Hard Times"
Originally aired January 12, 1967


And there's the giant clam...can't say that it particularly resembles the one in Tarzan as giant clams go. It is unusual at this point in the series for somebody else to be in a deathtrap with the Dynamic Duo...a harbinger of what's to come in Season 3....

Batman
"The Penguin Declines"
Originally aired January 18, 1967


Yeah, the giant clam on Tarzan was definitely more naturalistic. And let's emphasize that Robin wears little elfin booties for as long as possible. Fortunately for the Boy Wonder, Bruce Wayne has a high adenine/thymine level in his DNA, and there was sunspot activity that day.

The mention of tracking satellites does seem very advanced for 1967. The first worldwide TV broadcast will be happening later the same year.

The Joker turning Gotham's water supply into jelly...that's definitely one of the more memorable bits of business in the series for me. Too bad they didn't have bottled water in 1967...Chief O'Hara definitely needed to get his shirt back on.

I'd have paid good money if Penguin had called the delivery boy "Meathead."

So they had to take a flight in the Batcopter because the Batcopter had a briefcase in it...?

The entire "Zodiac" arc was pointless--the Penguin is introduced, but ends up being a third stringer in this would-be attempt to replicate the team-up energy from the movie. It more about the Joker, and by this point in the series, he lost all of the villainous edge of his season 1 appearances. The Water supply turned into jelly? Finally, something that makes the Super Friends seem serious.

Batman
"That Darn Catwoman"
Originally aired January 19, 1967


Burt Ward gets to have some fun acting out of character.

...and playing hot and heavy with Leslie Gore. Apparently, Burt Ward was very turned on by Miss Gore during the production of this episode.


Dark Shadows
Episodes 231-235
Originally aired May 15-19, 1967


The Real Doc Woodard, who shows a great deal of interest in the puncture wounds on her neck. Maggie has a bad reaction to the transfusion, as do the children of the night. Later Maggie is desperate to get outside, though her father manages to stop her.

Tuesday


It's Sam's day off, so Joe is watching over Maggie the next morning. She seems more restful during the day, though she winds up pushing him out again, which is a bit repetitive.

Vampirism--DS style--is like a fever, at times the temp will rise, other times, it levels off as the body fights to heal. I believe it was wise to keep Maggie suffering and not just have her drop dead, or show any signs that she was turning into a monster. This, after all, was episodic TV, so there had to be layering, instead just jumping to a payoff.


Cut to Jason visiting the Old House the same way that everyone does...knock a few times, then walk right in. Willie is minding the store, so Jason starts pressing him for info before noticing the marks left by the brutal cane beating that Willie received from Barnabas. Jason makes clear that his main concern is that whatever Willie's involved in could bring the authorities to Collinwood, potentially endangering his own schemes. There's a nice, arty shot in their conversation where Jason is facing the camera while Willie stays in profile in the foreground, both in candlelight

More great layering of character and plot. Patrick and Karlen worked so well together, and yes, the results of Barnabas' beating are shocking. Even when Barnabas is not on screen, his presence is always felt.


In comes Jason with a flashlight, who's holding up the "obsess over Willie" front, trying to warn Barnabas about his new servant, while unintentionally giving Barnabas a lot of info regarding how much Jason knows about what Willie's been up to. Cut to Barnabas returning to the Old House, angrily calling for Willie, his cane raised and ready.

Another character / emotional home run for the series.


Back at the Evans house, accompanied by the Collinsport Nighttime Children's Choir, Night Maggie drives Vicki out of the room, while something bestial rattling at the French doors drives Ms. Winters to hysteria.

...finds Vicki hysterically knocking on Maggie's bedroom door when Burke comes in, because he needs something to do this week.

Burke must be this series' James Olsen. There in name only. :p

Still later, Maggie has an attack, following which the nurse can detect no signs of life...so she leaves the room, of course. Woodard comes in while she's dialing the phone and the two go back in the room to discover that Maggie has disappeared. And so the poor girl's torment truly begins....

Its no wonder the series was rapidly becoming the hot show to catch by this point in time.

Episode 236
Originally aired May 22, 1967

The week begins with a recap of the end of Friday's episode. After the credits, The Real Doc Woodard tries to explain Maggie's disappearance to Sam and Joe. Woodard postulates that somebody must have taken her.

Quick thinking. Woodard is now er..Van Helsing-ing the situation, reasoning that someone is behind the strange goings-on, instead of a random disease.

Doc tries to comfort Sam in an appropriately manly fashion

Well he is a man.

Doc Woodard tries to peddle some drugs on Sam without bothering with any of that prescription nonsense.

Sounds like pill-happy America 2017.

Burke pops in for apparently no reason other than to remind us that he's not Joe

Sort of like James Olsen popping in to remind everyone he's irrelevant to the plots. :p

Barnabas shows Maggie to her room...or rather, to Josette's room. He addresses her as Josette and explains his plan to have her take Josette's place. Maggie is clearly under his influence, unable to do much more than echo key bits of his exposition. Nevertheless, Kathryn Leigh Scott acts the shit out of it, emoting her parroted words in a way that demonstrates Maggie's confusion.

Yes, she did. You have to really give credit to the cast of DS--they were creating performances never seen on TV before, certainly not with series regulars, where reacting to--or being consumed by the supernatural was all breaking new ground.

Barnabas attempts to soothe her with the melody of Josette's music box, which will come to symbolize the horror of her situation.

The first music box tune--ABC library music composed by Robert Farnum; its almost forgotten as it was short lived in favor of series composer Robert Colbert's replacement theme.


Episode 237
Originally aired May 23, 1967

Vicki mentions Willie again, specifically the similarity of his earlier condition to Maggie's, which causes Woodard to express an interest in having another look at the most hated man in Collinsport. Burke seems eager to bring Willie in

...the first direct threat to Barnabas' existence.

At the Old House, Willie is just trying to do his job when Jason comes in to harangue him for the umpteenth time. Jason wants Willie to leave town to take suspicion off of his own activities, and noticing that Willie's all healed up from his last beating by Barnabas, Jason decides to give him another one. When he's done, the Children of the Night tell Jason not to let the door hit him in the ass on his way out.

Willie Loomis also makes filmed vampire history as the first truly sympathetic slave of the vampire. He's not insane, game-playing, semi-seductive or strolling around in a supernatural cloud. He's a troubled man who would like nothing better than to disappear, but the monster will not allow that, and despite not being at the main house anymore, the proper Collins family (and associates) refuse to leave him alone and/or stop bringing him up as the cause of the everything wrong. At the moment, Karlen's Loomis is easily the most likeable character on the series.


Episode 238
Originally aired May 24, 1967


Meanwhile, at Stately Collinwood Manor, Carolyn and Victoria share a newspaper story of Maggie's disappearance (complete with actress glamour shot)

I give that a pass. In the 1960s, even department store photographers used lenses, filters and backdrops to mirror fashionable actor head shots, as was the style of the time, so in-series, its possible Maggie just walked into her local Woolworth's and the magic happened.


In comes Willie, who ignores their compliments in favor of fretting over the fact that they've tampered with the carefully arranged room. He's rudely emphatic that they get out before dark...nothing suspicious about that.

Well, in light of the recent attacks around Collinsport, being safe at home once the sun goes down could be the way the ladies took his advice.

At the Old House, Barnabas has a "guest" for dinner--Maggie's double in a bridal outfit, accompanied by the music box theme.

...and Barnabas' confidence grows. I'm sure first run viewers thought Maggie was as good as dead.


Episode 239
Originally aired May 25, 1967

At the Old House, Maggie's history lesson continues, with Barnabas compelling her to say things that he wants to hear. Barnabas is startled to hear knocking on the door, and sends Willie to answer it. When Willie goes back in to tell Barnabas that it's Sam and Joe, Maggie has a moment of recognition. Willie hustles her upstairs and Barnabas lets his visitors in. In Josette's room, Willie tries to keep Maggie quiet even as she reacts to the sound of Joe and Sam's voices and becomes increasingly confused and upset by her surroundings and her desire to go down and see them. As Willie struggles to restrain her, the visitors hear the noise downstairs, but but Barnabas convinces them that it's just clumsy ol' Willie, and they leave.

Good backstory and a solid "whew! close call" scene.

Episode 240
Originally aired May 26, 1967

Next the lad obligatorily walks right in and starts filling some airtime by repeatedly calling for Josette. Barnabas follows his shrill cries to Josette's room, and demonstrating a lot more patience for this kid than anyone could be expected to have at this point, tries to convince David that he was just imagining things. Interestingly enough, Barnabas seems genuinely unfamiliar with the fact that the doors to his place have a habit of opening mysteriously at the whim of the plot.

Not plot. Long before the Barnabas story, the Old House was already haunted by dead, former occupants--including Josette, so to the regular DS viewer, they knew the house was not at all limited to three people.

The two head for the the Old House, where David has already made it inside...finding himself face-to-veil with Maggie's "not actually in this episode" double.

The plot thickens, and now David is climbing up the "Barnaabas Enemies" chart.
 
Hmm... @Christopher , can you verify this? Whether or not it was specifically from falling, I could have sworn that the show had already gone to the "Catwoman Death Fake-Out" route a couple of times by this point.

I can confirm it--Newmar's Catwoman only fell to her "death" in the second part of her season one debut story ("Better Luck Next Time") and in the concluding part of the Leslie Gore/Bad Robin 2 parter, "Scat, Darn Catwoman".

Non-falling to her death Catwoman departures:

"The Cat and the Fiddle" - Catwoman and Batman are pulled to safety by Robin.
"Ma Parker" - Catwoman only makes a cameo, standing among male inmates at Gotham State prison.
"The Bat's Kow Tow" - she's merely arrested after being incapable of shooting Batman with her sonic gun.
"The Catwoman Goeth" - arrested.
"Batman Displays His Knowledge" - arrested and has her final series scene with Bruce Wayne at Gotham State Prison.

So, out of seven story appearances, the "falling to her death" bit was only used twice for Newmar.

Initially, when I was watching the show more casually, yes. "Let's see, is that Maggie's boyfriend or the other one...and what does he do on the show, anyway?" Since then, it became a bit of a running gag for me, mostly replaced in more recent reviews by poking fun at Burke's lack of story relevance. Peeking ahead on IMDb, it seems that the show-runners in 1967 must have been thinking the same thing, as Mitchell Ryan isn't long for the series.

Its not about Burke as a character, since Anthony George replaced Ryan (alcoholism) as Devlin. George went on to take the role of Barnabas' uncle-turned rival of Josette, Jeremiah Collins, keeping the "enemy with the same face" theme going in two time periods.

Not her health improving, which is evidently the effect of nightfall...there was a wink-nudge reference to her hearing having improved. Is that typically a vampire thing?

Probably suggesting she has the heightened senses of an animal.
 
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