50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing
What was going on the week these episodes aired.
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Batman
"The Joker's Last Laugh"
Originally aired February 15, 1967
Xfinity said:
Bruce Wayne appears to be the Joker's ally.
"The Joker's Epitaph"
Originally aired February 16, 1967
Xfinity said:
The Joker plans to blackmail Bruce Wayne.
Yeah, the super-funny joke wasn't terribly impressive...if it had any humor, it was lost in the delivery.
Some fella in the other forum a couple years back identified Phyllis Douglas as Yeoman Mears, but neglected to mention that she was also one of the space hippies in "The Way to Eden" (identified as Girl #2 in the credits). Looks like she's wearing a Beatles wig on top of her own hair on this occasion, though maybe it's just her own hair teased up like that.
The Bat-Spot Analyzer--No subterranean crimefighting lair would be complete without it!
It's incredulous enough when ordinary citizens don't recognize the Joker, but Bruce Wayne spent face time with him in the movie, and identifies him as "Mr. Whiteface" here. On top of that, the Joker is allowed to run free, as arch-criminals often are when putting on a respectable front, but Bruce Wayne announces marriage to one of his associates and is treated like a dangerous lunatic.
Ah, but two scenes of Alfred in Batman's costume make it all worthwhile--he even did the Bat-Climb!
Millionaire Bruce Wayne said:
It's sometimes difficult to think clearly when you're strapped to a printing press.
Bruce mentions the murder of his parents by "dastardly criminals" in this one...is this the second time? I thought he mentioned it in the first episode.
Finally, Bruce can change into his Batman costume out in the field!
It seems uncharacteristic for Batman to have the robots point guns at citizens.
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The Wild Wild West
"The Night of the Brain"
Originally aired February 17, 1967
Xfinity said:
A newspaper contains a prediction that a magician will die in front of West and Gordon.
Yeah, I definitely like the spy-fi business in this show better than that in TMFU...it's more colorful and imaginative. They've even got steampunk M:I masks! And the stories are tighter and don't spend so much time treading water.
This one features a villainous mastermind in a steam-powered wheelchair who has aspirations to get that World War thing going on about 42 years early. He had me wanting to see Dr. Loveless, but it looks like he'll be coming up in a couple weeks.
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Tarzan
"Mask of Rona"
Originally aired February 17, 1967
Xfinity said:
Tarzan leads a group on the search for missing artist Rona Swann; a group member uses the safari as a cover for a gun-running operation.
Jai and Cheeta are only in the opening scene this time, but it's a scene that plays a substantial role in setting up the story...which is definitely tighter than some recently viewed installments, despite moments like the artist filling some time talking mumbo jumbo. "I could have painted this for you," she tells Tarzan, whom she's meeting for the first time, as he admires her cave mural. What the hell is that even supposed to mean?
This week has a noteoworthy TOS guest in the form of Leslie Parish (Carolyn Palamas, "Who Mourns for Adonais?"), who plays the artist's sister.
There's an interesting last moment with the main villain, who's an admirer of the artist's work and had designs to have her cave mural removed and exported. When Tarzan gets the drop on him, he doesn't even try to fight, but requests that Tarzan send him a photo of the mural.
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Get Smart
"Smart Fit the Battle of Jericho"
Originally Aired February 18, 1967
Xfinity said:
Max must learn how KAOS is able to blow up every building used for the space program.
Yes, even as my DVR is in the process of stuffing itself with years' worth of GS episodes, I'm wasting no time in starting to get them back off in the regularly scheduled manner.
Sign o' the times: A joke about Ronald Reagan, who'd recently become Governor of California at that point.
There's a decent running gag of Max in a casino, misplacing and chasing around his eavesdropping microphone that's disguised as a silver dollar.
TOS guest: Angelique Pettyjohn as a cigarette girl who's actually a disguised CONTROL agent, Charlie Watkins. The male voice coming out of her is worth a giggle.
Max said:
The old pistol-in-a-hammer trick!
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Last Week's 50th Anniversary Viewing
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Dark Shadows
Episode 256
Originally aired June 19, 1967
IMDb said:
Maggie cannot understand the meaning of what the little girl says. David meets the girl, who reveals her name is Sarah.
The week starts with a recap of
Sarah singing outside
Maggie's cell. If she's been singing it nonstop all weekend, that certainly would be enough to drive Maggie insane! Following the opening credits and commercial, Maggie pleads with the mysterious little girl to get away while she can and tell others of her own captivity. As the girl silently leaves,
Willie comes in bearing food and questions about who Maggie was talking to. She tries to convince him to help her, but he relates how little control he has over his situation...how he's tried to escape Barnabas, to find that his will is no longer his own. A very effective scene.
Cut to the Great House, where
Victoria is tutoring
David. After chastising him for a facetious answer to the question of what Australia is best known for, she lets the boy out to play so she and
Carolyn can spin the motorcycle wheels of the Buzz suplot.
Outside the Old House, Sarah sees outdoor footage of David on a tree swing and calls him over to the exterior set, swing and all. She's much more talkative for David, and he just proves how annoying he is by quickly losing patience with her and getting snarky. As she leaves, Willie comes out to the exterior set and, hearing that David has a playmate, insists that he not bring anyone over before shooing the boy off.
David Collins said:
Some pal you turned out to be.
David really can't take a hint, considering that the last time he saw his "pal," Willie was bodily throwing him out of the house.
As David returns to the Great House, Carolyn is leaving to hook up with the sound of of Buzz's cycle leaving. David loses no time continuing to insult Sarah for the benefit of the curious Vicki. Meanwhile at the Old House, Willie has just taken Maggie's uneaten food when Sarah returns to the company of somebody who'll be nicer to her. She warns Maggie not tell her big brother about having seen her.
So what is Australia best known for? It's such a broad question that I might have said "kangaroos," too!
Episode 257
Originally aired June 20, 1967
IMDb said:
Jason promises a worried Elizabeth he will stop Carolyn from marrying Buzz, but Buzz turns down Jason's bribe.
This is almost a three-person episode, as the alleged fourth character is
Buzz. And I take it back...the motorcycle sounds more like a chainsaw than a weed-whacker. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were actually using a chainsaw for the sound...an easy enough prop to use on set. And for all its limitations in imitating a motorcycle, the chainsaw still has more acting talent than Buzz.
Elizabeth earns a standing ovation for closing the door on Buzz, and she pays for it with Carolyn's rebelliousness.
Jason standing up to Buzz on the stairs is almost enough to put me in his corner. McGuire tries to reason with Carolyn first, but that doesn't work. So he follows the swinging couple to the Blue Whale and offers him the bribe while she's powdering her nose. Poor Dennis Patrick...it's gotta be tough having to play his character being foiled by a waste of celluloid like Buzz.
The couple at
Dark Shadows Before I Die also made the Buzz/George Lucas connection in their post for this episode. And apparently I'm not the only one who's been less-than-impressed with Michael Hadge's performance...his next and final appearance on the show, in episode 262, will be his last acting credit for 26 years.
Episode 258
Originally aired June 21, 1967
IMDb said:
Maggie speaks with Sarah. Willie tries to convince Maggie that there is no little girl, but Maggie finds Sarah's doll.
Maggie is calling for the little girl when the familiar sound of "London Bridge" alerts her to Sarah's presence right there in her cell. Maggie plays with her visitor, trying to get information about how she got in, but the girl eventually disappears when she's not looking.
Barnabas comes down to investigate Maggie singing "London Bridge" and to try soft-selling the prospect of immortality as Josette for the umpteenth time. Clearly Maggie's general isolation is starting to unhinge her, because she blabs all about her special, secret friend. As Barnabas leaves, the cameraman visibly and audibly bumps into something while going for a closeup of Maggie through the cell door's window....
Upstairs, Barnabas conveys to Willie that Maggie seems to be losing her mind, and is therefore no longer desirable to him, which means that she must be disposed of. Willie goes downstairs to try desperately to convince Maggie to start acting sane for her own good. Finding Sarah's doll after he leaves convinces her that she is in fact still sane.
Episode 259
Originally aired June 22, 1967
IMDb said:
Victoria discovers Elizabeth crying. She confesses to Victoria that she killed her long-missing husband, Paul Stoddard.
Elizabeth receives a call that Carolyn has been arrested for a drunk driving incident. Vicki floats the possibility that Liz, who hasn't left Collinwood in 18 years, should go herself rather than bring Roger onto the show this week. I guess there's a good reason that nobody at Collinwood thinks much about Barnabas's strange habits.
At the local constabulary, Carolyn is in the custody of
Sheriff Patterson, who reminds us that it's the Summer of Love by sporting a bitchin' new Sgt. Pepper 'stache. When her mother comes to pick her up, Carolyn manages to find a way to twist Liz's gesture against her. Back at Collinwood, Jason tries to convince Liz to let Carolyn go to do what she wants. Distraught at the idea of losing the daughter whom she was trying to protect from the truth, Liz does that last thing in the episode description in her bedroom after Vicki comes in to check on Liz because she'd been crying.
Episode 260
Originally aired June 23, 1967
IMDb said:
Sarah uses a riddle to lead Maggie to a secret underground passage. Maggie escapes from her cell with Barnabas in pursuit.
As Maggie toys with the doll in her cell, Willie's internal voice-over wrestles with the fact that she has less than three hours to live. Willie is so conflicted that he brings her poisoned milk to prevent her from dying at Barnabas's hand, then stops her from drinking it. Maggie unsuccessfully pleads for Willie to help her escape, then contemplates the content of the glass that he leaves in her cell.
Maggie's next visitor is Sarah, who, upon learning of Maggie's impending fate, shares a rhyme that will help her escape. Sarah then demonstrates that she's not tethered to the vicinity of the Old House by honoring Maggie's request to inform
Sam of his daughters's whereabouts...but not before she has the artist draw a sketch of her.
As Maggie tries to figure out the clues in Sarah's rhyme, the sun sets and Barnabas, upon waking up for the night, starts to mosey his way down to her cell. Maggie finds the brick that opens a hidden passage not a moment too soon, but Barnabas...oh, you already read the episode description, didn't you?
Will Maggie gain her freedom, or meet a cruel fate at the hands of her captor? Tune in next week!
This episode had a lower-than-usual audiovisual quality...I'm guessing that they had to get it from a secondary recording for syndication. And young Sharon Smyth's accent is all over the place in this one.
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The Saint
"The Gadic Collection"
Originally aired June 22, 1967 (UK)
Xfinity said:
Photographs of a valuable missing antique collection lead Templar to investigate a lady--a probe that makes him the victim of torture.
A story about a collection of antiques that's been stolen and replaced by counterfeits, with a confusing array of characters looking for them, most of whom seem to think that Simon knows where to find them for some reason. As the episode takes place in Turkey, there are a lot of British actors trying to pass themselves off as locals, but guest star Peter Wyngarde steals the show with a particularly egregious example of brownface acting.
The Saint has one more season left, but it doesn't start in Britain until the fall of 1968, so it'll be on hiatus for a bit.
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50 years ago this week:
June 25 – 400 million viewers watch Our World, the first live, international, satellite television production. It features the live debut of The Beatles' song "All You Need Is Love".
"All You Need Is Love," The Beatles
(Charted July 22; #1 US the week of Aug. 19; #1 UK; #362 on
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)
June 26
- Pope Paul VI ordains 27 new cardinals (one of whom is the future Pope Saint John Paul II).
- The Buffalo Race Riot begins, lasting until July 1; leads to 200 arrests.
June 27 – The first automatic cash machine (voucher-based) is installed, in the office of Barclays Bank in Enfield, England.
June 28 – Israel declares the annexation of East Jerusalem.
June 30 – Moise Tshombe, former President of Katanga and former prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is kidnapped to Algeria.
July 1
- Canada celebrates its first one hundred years of Confederation.
- The EEC joins with the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Community, to form the European Communities (from the 1980s usually known as European Community [EC]).
- Seaboard Air Line Railroad merges with Atlantic Coast Line railroad, to become Seaboard Coast Line railroad, first step to today's CSX Transportation.
- The first UK colour television broadcasts begin on BBC2. The first one is from the Wimbledon tennis championships. A full colour service begins on BBC2 on December 2.
- American Samoa's first constitution becomes effective.
New on the charts:
"Pictures of Lily," The Who
(#51 US; #4 UK)
"(I Wanna) Testify," The Parliaments
(#20 US; #3 R&B)
And new on the boob tube:
- Dark Shadows, episodes 261-265
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