The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[The Old Mixer]

I mean that, as I understand it, the musicians' union rules at the time required any and all performers to use studio musicians on albums recorded in US studios. What I read about it was that even the Beatles would've have been allowed to play their own instruments if they'd cut an album in the US.

That's what I thought you were saying, but that doesn't sound right at all. There were plenty of US bands at the time that played their own instruments on their albums, e.g., the Byrds and the Doors. I don't know much about the Monkees' arrangement, but what it might have been was a union rule that prevented the Monkees from doing so because they were actors by trade rather than musicians.

This reminds me of something I've read in various sources about the Beatles...they had something called an "anti-miming" law in Britain that made them go into the studio and record new versions of the their songs specifically for TV performances in which it was standard to lip-sync and not actually play the instruments. They couldn't just lip-sync/mime to the record.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I don't know much about the Monkees' arrangement, but what it might have been was a union rule that prevented the Monkees from doing so because they were actors by trade rather than musicians.

Davy and Micky were actors by trade, but Mike and Peter were musicians.

 

[Christopher]

Davy and Micky were actors by trade, but Mike and Peter were musicians.

Right -- Mike and Peter never did any acting prior to The Monkees. Mike was a songwriter as well as a musician, and the producers bought his songs when they hired him (and IMHO, his songs are better than the ones by Boyce & Hart and much better than the ones by Neil Diamond). Davy was a musical-theater performer in London and Broadway, with a 1963 Tony nomination for playing the Artful Dodger in Oliver! Micky was the only one who was chiefly an actor, although he'd played and sung in bands before.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I've never been much into pop music in general, but I grew up watching The Monkees on TV, so they and the Beatles are both groups I'm quite fond of.

By the way, while staying at a Pennsylvania motel on my drive to the Shore Leave Convention last week, I happened upon an episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In on Decades

Now on Decades: A Laugh-In guest-starring Davy Jones (2x19, aired Feb. 10, 1969).

from February 19, 1968, a few months before my time

And Feb. 10, 1969, is right about when I would have been...never mind, TMI, even for me....

I remember watching this show as a kid, though it must've been mostly in reruns, since I was 4 when it ended.

There was also an attempt at reviving it later in the '70s. I remember catching that.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Can't say that holds true for me. I don't love them, but whoever was playing the instruments, they did churn out some good, classic pop tunes.

I don't think it's ever really true when people say that, but some artists are definitely more polarizing than others.

In addition, the pull of gravity on her earrings attests to the camera orientation trick used for the climbing scenes.

You can usually spot a few clues in those scenes.

Holy unintended innuendo, Batman!

Or perhaps intended.

This is the first half of a Jai-centric two-parter which involves the titular missionary petitioning the government to take Jai out of Tarzan's custody so she can take the boy to her school.

When it's clear that he's much better off living in the trees with an ape-man.

Well, they certainly didn't hold back on playing up the episode's special guests (billed together in the opening credits on one card).

Hey, you finally got to see it.

The reliance on Sonny & Cher songs and gags makes me wonder why they didn't write a story around the duo appearing as themselves.

I remember thinking that, too.

including four #1's: "Gyspies, Tramps, and Thieves" (1971), "Half-Breed" (1973), "Dark Lady" (1974), and "Believe" (1998).

I love those first three.

"I Got You Babe," Sonny & Cher

I love this one. This really captured the feeling of the times-- too bad it wasn't really true for Sonny & Cher.

"Baby Don't Go," Sonny & Cher

This is okay.

"Laugh at Me," Sonny

Another one that I have no recollection of.

"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)," Cher

This is okay.

"The Beat Goes On," Sonny & Cher

I love this one, too. One of those songs of the period that is profound in its simplicity.

ETA: Just caught an interesting bit of business in a Swamp Thing episode that's playing in the background on H&I...there's a scene in which a young lady's just taken a dunk in the water and they make a point afterward of blurring out a couple of key spots on her shirt...have to wonder if the blurring was part of the original broadcast....

In the early 80s? I doubt it. Pokies had been prominent on TV since at least the first season of Charlie's Angels, and likely before. Sounds like H&I is especially prudish.

Was that Arte in the raincoat who kept falling over with his tricycle?

That's him.

And Feb. 10, 1969, is right about when I would have been...never mind, TMI, even for me....

That's inconceivable.

There was also an attempt at reviving it later in the '70s. I remember catching that.

I think it was the 80s. They tried to get Nixon back to say, "You can stop now."

 

[scotpens]

. . . By the way, while staying at a Pennsylvania motel on my drive to the Shore Leave Convention last week, I happened upon an episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In on Decades (unfortunately stretched out to HD aspect ratio by the motel TV, because hotel/motel TVs are stupid that way). I remember watching this show as a kid, though it must've been mostly in reruns, since I was 4 when it ended. It took some work to find episode descriptions and track down what it was, but it was season 1, episode 5, from February 19, 1968, a few months before my time. It was surprising how fast-paced it was; it only had a few extended sketches and was mostly a rapid-fire series of one-liners and sight gags and film montages that were frenetically edited even by today's standards.

Laugh-In was also known for its political and topical humor, although the the Smothers Brothers on rival network CBS pushed the boundaries of social commentary and political satire quite a bit further. As you mentioned, Laugh-In was more revolutionary in form than in content. It did away with the structured conventions of variety TV that harked back to vaudeville, and gave us a nonstop, machine-gun-paced stream of quick sketches, blackouts, musical numbers, one-liners, and non sequiturs. It was "absolute television" -- it wouldn't have worked in any other entertainment medium. It certainly owed much to the experimental TV of Ernie Kovacs a decade earlier.

 

[The Old Mixer]

In the early 80s?

Early '90s for the TV show.

That's inconceivable.

I think it was the 80s. They tried to get Nixon back to say, "You can stop now."

1977.

 

[Christopher]

Laugh-In was also known for its political and topical humor, although the the Smothers Brothers on rival network CBS pushed the boundaries of social commentary and political satire quite a bit further.

Indeed, there were a couple of moments in the episode I saw where Dick Martin was asked a question that suggested a racy answer and he replied along the lines of "I could say it if this were The Smothers Brothers."

It certainly owed much to the experimental TV of Ernie Kovacs a decade earlier.

So much television does, yet so few people remember Kovacs now. I'm indebted to my father for introducing me to his work. (My father was a music aficionado and radio professional who was very interested in experimental and avant-garde music such as the work of John Cage and Phillip Glass, so it's no surprise that he was a fan of experimental television too.)

 

[The Old Mixer]

And now Decades is playing Laugh-In's Sonny & Cher episode, from Fall 1969. BTW, might be too late for RJD to get the news, but they're scheduled to play that New Year's Eve 1969 episode that I mentioned upthread at 2 a.m. (actually aired Dec. 29).

Sometimes I have to look up what the jokes are about on that show. At one point in one I caught a bit earlier, they were referring to their timeslot rivals, Here's Lucy and unidentified programming on ABC that they tsk-tsk'ed. Turns out the timeslot was shared on that network between parts of a couple of half-season wonders, The Music Scene and The New People. (And they just made another, more general crack about ABC in the one that's on as I type this.)

Also caught one with Diana Ross as the guest host. She was still with the Supremes at that point, but not for much longer. And the one that just came on features Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Mike Nesmith.

_______

Kung Fu

"The Hoots"
Production no. 166210
Originally aired December 13, 1973

Members of the peaceful Hutterite religious sect offer no resistance when persecuted by bigoted cattlemen...until they learn from Caine that, like the chameleon, they can change and yet remain the same.

Caine hooks up with a group of religious zealots whose ways are so strict that they make him look like a freewheeling wildman. He's a bad influence whose presence threatens their very way of life, like Kevin Bacon in Footloose. Of course, to make for better contrast, they give him new habits, like singing while he works. His flute-playing, at least, is well-established.

Features 2x2-time Incredible Hulk guest star Laurie Prange, and Bond supporting villain / evil Starfleet admiral Anthony Zerbe in a sympathetic role as her father.


"The Elixir"
Production no. 166211
Originally aired December 20, 1973

Caine rescues the hawkers of the cure-all Theodora's Elixir from a hostile crowd, earning the come-hither gratitude of Theodora and the resentment of her jealous male partner.

Guest stars 2-time TOS guest, 2-time Incredible Hulk sister, and blatant McCoy clone Diana Muldaur as a manipulative woman who's obsessed with her personal freedom. It's kind of odd to have Caine caught up in somebody else's single-episode Fugitive Premise when they've made a point of ignoring his this season.

In this episode, the badass moment belongs to the main bad guy, who walks into a sheriff's office to complain about his wanted poster; the complaint wasn't that the guy in the poster looked nothing like him, but it should have been. Nobody looking at that poster would have recognized him as Candy from Bonanza.

In one scene, Muldaur's Theodora plays a song on the mandolin that a bit of Wiki fu tells me is a Civil War ballad called "Aura Lee". Mid-to-late-twentieth-century audiences would more readily recognize it as the tune used for this pop classic:

"Love Me Tender," Elvis Presley

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(Charted Oct. 20, 1956; #1 US on various pre-Hot 100 charts the weeks of Nov. 3 through Dec. 8; #3 Country; #3 R&B; #11 UK; #437 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)


"The Gunman"
Production no. 166212
Originally aired January 3, 1974

The nature of love is explored in this tale of a gunslinger whose quick-draw defense of Caine and a ranch widow makes him the object of a posse's search...and the victim of an itchy-fingered bounty hunter.

This one is maybe a little overly arty in making its points. Caine's motivation for staying in jail doesn't ring true--he was happy to take advantage of opportunities to gain or keep his freedom in earlier episodes. But he did have his Fugitive Premise to consider back then....

The climactic moment was a surprise, and artfully shot.

The episode includes an awkward flashback about students bringing Master Po flowers and how he prefers genuine affection to having his butt kissed.

TOS guest: Katherine Woodville (Natira, "For the Title Is Long and I Have Spelled It Out") as the aforementioned ranch widow.


"Empty Pages of a Dead Book"
Production no. 166213
Originally aired January 10, 1974

A son tries to honor his deceased Texas Ranger father by bringing to justice the criminals the lawman had listed in a book. But good intentions based on wrong premises lead to trouble for the son...and for Caine. With Robert Foxworth and Slim Pickens.

Last episode focused on a character who killed as a way of life; this one on somebody who kills as a family obligation. He's not just following in his father's footsteps, he has a grandmother pushing him on. There's also a two-way commentary about blind enforcement of law...first the Ranger in going after former outlaws out of his jurisdiction and eight years after the fact; then the tables turn and he and Caine are sentenced to be hanged for an accidental death that they weren't responsible for during a fight.

And here's another example of Caine being plenty ready and able to escape from captivity when he has the opportunity...this time kicking open a locked cell door.

It's generally a pretty serious and grounded episode, but you have to get a giggle out of Kwai Chang beating up Slim Pickens.


"A Dream Within a Dream"
Production no. 166214
Originally aired January 17, 1974

Caine reports that he saw a corpse hanging in a marsh. But no one in town believes Caine's report, and no body is subsequently found – yet the town's populace is mysteriously on edge. With Tina Louise and John Drew Barrymore.

The old "protagonist stumbles into a town that's keeping a dark secret" thing is something that we've all seen before...the first episode of Route 66 comes immediately to mind, and I'm sure I've seen other examples. In this case, it's a sort of one-shot "Who Hanged J.R.?" premise about a character we haven't met. But the truth is an unexpected twist...albeit with at least one of the mystery beats that got us there not making much sense and seeming forced upon explanation.

It's unusual for this show to open with Caine traveling through a stage set of an outdoor location; I suppose you could say that it's surreal in its execution. Also surreal is how we never see the face of the dead man around whom the episode centers, even in a sculpture of him, which has a Question-like blank visage.

Other guests include Sorrell (Boss Hogg) Booke as the sheriff, who's key to the cover-up and tries to railroad Caine with the murder charge.

It's odd when they give us a flashback of young adult Caine having nightmares about demons that need to be explained by Master Po...that seems like one that would have been better suited to Young Caine.

Caine badass moment: Showing off at the end by easily breaking out of his cuffs once everyone knows that he's innocent.

_______

 

[RJDiogenes]

It did away with the structured conventions of variety TV that harked back to vaudeville,

Funny you should say that, because I credit Laugh-In, in part, with my love for Vaudeville and Burlesque.

1977.

Son of a gun. Even reading that, I still associate it strongly with the early 80s. I wonder why.

And now Decades is playing Laugh-In's Sonny & Cher episode, from Fall 1969. BTW, might be too late for RJD to get the news, but they're scheduled to play that New Year's Eve 1969 episode that I mentioned upthread at 2 a.m. (actually aired Dec. 29).

Bummer, I missed it. I'll have to pay closer attention to the guide descriptions in the future.

(And they just made another, more general crack about ABC in the one that's on as I type this.)

ABC was considered a joke in those days-- the "third network." There was a joke that the best way to end the Vietnam War would be to put it on ABC, and it would be cancelled in two weeks. Come to think of it, you'll eventually see a Get Smart episode where Control and KAOS go up against the CBA or BCA or something-- the "third spy network."

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Batman
"A Piece of the Action"
Originally aired March 1, 1967

"Batman's Satisfaction"
Originally aired March 2, 1967

I think this crossover probably would have worked better if they'd used a more grounded villain suitable to the Green Hornet's tone.

This is the tail end of season two, so "grounded" villain was not going to fly in a season so influenced by the Stanley Ralph Ross--even in episodes he did not write, such as this crossover.

In a show that never lets us see Batman and Robin in costume but unmasked, we get two scenes of our Visiting Hero and Assistant Visiting Hero in costume but unmasked.

...similar to their own series.

And what, do they leave Gotham's equivalent of the Plaza Hotel fully costumed?

Assume they leave through some service or emergency exit.

A dual cliffhanger deathtrap is a novelty...though the Dynamic Duo are really just stuck to a wall waiting their turn. But why would Gumm think that the machine was actually changing Hornet and Kato into stamps?

Why would any of this series' villains think their fanciful death traps would accomplish anything they claim? Recall the Joker's printing press from "The Joker's Last Laugh", where he actually thought it would turn Robin into a comic strip, or that's what Dozier's closing narration said the machine was doing...

And yes, I almost didn't catch it, but Batman refers to the Green Hornet's assistant as Kato.

A minor error, since everyone else refers to Kato as the Hornet's "masked companion / confederate", etc.

I never noticed before how they avoid naming the Hornet's city.

Just like their own series. I always assumed it was New York, since the TV Gotham was not really a full stand-n for NY.

They've got an atomic reactor in the Batcave, but the Batcomputer runs off the house electricity?

That was such a pointless, throwaway line in an otherwise straightforward action crossover. Its almost as if the writers needed to mention the absent Aunt Harriet (only appearing in part 1), just to say she's around.

Dark Shadows
Episode 266
Originally aired July 3, 1967

Jason intercepts Liz on her way out for a walk, wanting to discuss wedding arrangements that will help to enhance his own status. Liz puts up no fight, agreeing to all of his demands. When he expresses suspicion about her acquiescence, she offers that she only has one way out of their arrangement, but he doesn't pick up on her intended meaning.

It was interesting to see the Collins matriarch so thoroughly broken down from her position of strength in the pre-Barnabas months, going from stern--sort of cold, to listless and defeated.

Later, Mrs. Johnson relates what happened to Vicki, who seems concerned at Liz's behavior. Back in her room, Liz hears the widows calling her while she's still awake. Despite her momentary respite, she seems compelled to join them.

Well, at least they've worked a supernatural element into this storyline in the eleventh hour.

The Widows' Hill spirits date back to episode 12, where Roger told Vicki the story of why the widows haunt the cliff. The spirits were always there--the entire town seems to have it as a backdrop of its history, so they were part of the cursed scenery since the Bill Malloy period.

Episode 267
Originally aired July 4, 1967
Elizabeth is loitering around the cliff when Barnabas sneaks up on her and suddenly grabs her to tease the audience--he's only saving her from falling off the edge. Going on a tangent about the possibilities of eternal existence through death, he seems to have a pretty good idea of what she was up to.

Back at the Great House, Barnabas finds himself in the foyer with David and asks about the little girl that he's been playing with. Learning that the girl is in the habit of singing "London Bridge" clearly catches his interest.

He sort of knows what's up, but is too touchy to admit anything (to Willie) at the moment.

He also displays signs of jealousy to the audience when Vicki brings up a date with Burke Devlin.

Note how quickly he's completely dropped his obsession with Maggie to any degree--as far as he's concerned, Maggie was never of interest to him, so its al about Vickie. Predatory behavior.

Burke's bit about losing the dime was pretty cringey...I hate to say it, but I'm missing Mitchell Ryan's functional acting ability. Anthony George is pretty noticeably weak so far. As story-irrelevant as the character may be, apparently there is more to pulling off the role than having a given name for a surname.

You should see the pre-Barnabas storylines, where Burke was central to a running plot with/against Roger.

Episode 268
Originally aired July 5, 1967
The day before the wedding is a busy day in Liz's bedroom; in addition to wailing widows, visitors include Vicki; Roger, who questions the fact that she's recently checked her will and tries to convince her that it's not too late to back out on the marriage; and David, who isn't allowed to go to Bangor with Vicki because Liz wants to spend time with him. Her talk with David is chock full of foreshadowing of her planned fate.

For a character who was not so sympathetic (for the audience POV), one could feel sorry for her Jason situation, which only had one way out.

Carolyn expresses concern over her mother's strange behavior with Vicki; after which Vicki goes up to check on Liz to find an empty room and the date written in the open bible. Elizabeth standing on cliff, widows calling

Although Jason was not in any of the Liz/Widows' Hill scenes, one cannot forget his presence all throughout.

Episode 269
Originally aired July 6, 1967


The announcer tells us that Burke is being played by Anthony George...even though he's already been in two episodes, and was announced the first time.

...one account suggests the announcement was made as it was not known if George was a permanent replacement at the time his earlier episodes were produced.

Back at the Blue Whale, Burke 2.0 is on the payphone continuing the quest for plot relevance by investigating Jason's past activities...which include lots of accusations but no evidence. He convinces Vicki to let him bring the information to Liz. Liz's reaction rings true...Burke is being a bit of a meddler, however good his intentions. As of the end of the episode, the wedding is still on.

Not a meddler, as the character had a frenemy relationship with her from the start. It was Burke who pleaded with Liz to let him step in as Willie was harassing the Collinwood women / Jason's turning screws on Liz.

Episode 270
Originally aired July 7, 1967

Brought to realize that she's doing exactly what Jason wants, Carolyn resolves not to marry Buzz...which is a convenient choice, given that he's already left the cast.

More to the point, 1960's TV was not going to have the "sweet, but misguided / troubled" daughter marry a sleazy, greaseball like Buzz, unless it there was a plotting end-game for her to learn a lesson of some kind.

Carolyn's new plan involves a gun...

Evidently Jason holds a grudge against Burke 2.0 for whatever plotline his predecessor once had in the past. When Judge Crathorne (new character?) shows up, the proceedings are ready to begin. But when the time comes for Liz to say "I do"...

I enjoyed the idea of Carolyn's take-charge idea of ending the Jason threat; in that way, she was not just the run-of-the-mill daughter character (at least for now), and was more than willing to kill to protect her mother.

Also, they go through all the trouble of holding the wedding ceremony at night and Barnabas doesn't even show?

He's busy with his drinking problem...or, the writer wisely avoids oversaturating the Jason / Liz plot with the vampire, who will play "big finish" in an episode or two...

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

What do you mean by "or anyone else"?

There were no such "rules" regarding The Monkees or most groups playing on their own albums; Don Kirshner did not allow most of the four to play, as it was his production standard to use session artists on the studio tracks for (what he believed to be) the best possible sound. His resistance was slightly set to the side as Nesmith played electric and pedal steel guitar on several tracks on the first two albums (The Monkees & More of the Monkees), while Tork played piano, the Hammond organ, occasionally base and harpsichord, the most notably on "Your Auntie Grizelda" & "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" (the latter recorded shortly after Kirshner was fired).

Further, American groups such as The Byrds, The Association, and CTA (changing their name to simply Chicago), were playing on their own tracks, along with aforementioned acts such as The Doors. Overseas, session artists were used for groups such as Herman's Hermits (notably Jimmy Page, who was in demand for many an act), but acts like The Rolling Stones only used session or selected artists when necessary (e.g., when a desired instrument was beyond the virtuosity of Brian Jones, or after he was ostracized from the group), but not because of some imagined "rule".

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Dark Shadows

Episode 271
Originally aired July 10, 1967

Anyway, Liz relates how he was trying to leave with a decent hunk of the Collins fortune, emphasizing through her flashback self that he'd be stealing Carolyn's inheritance and didn't care about her; then, how Flashback Liz hit Paul over the head with a poker and, after leaving the room, was told by Flashback Jason that Paul was dead; and finally, how Flashback Jason then hatched the scheme to hide the body in the room in the basement and cover up Paul's death.

Only minor costuming/hairstyle effort is put into pulling off the actors as their younger selves, but Dennis Patrick does a good job differentiating Flashback Jason as a rougher-around-the-edges character than his contemporary self.

Patrick was just a great villain--and every bit believable as a man who set up the Stoddard death with long-range plans to cash in.

Episode 272
Originally aired July 11, 1967


On the woodsy outdoor set, it's Most Dangerous Game time, as pistol-toting Burke and rifle-wielding Roger commence the hunt. Some drama flairs up between the two to remind us of Burke's old plotline.

There you go--Burke's reason to be on Dark Shadows.

Episode 273
Originally aired July 12, 1967
After coming back upstairs, Patterson gives an order to have the newly captured Jason brought back to Collinwood and reveals to Elizabeth and Roger that the trunk was empty.

When Liz sees the truth for herself, she loses her shit over the enormity of the false secret that she's kept and how it's shaped the last eighteen years of her life. Jason tells Liz the truth of how he and Paul Stoddard conspired to fake the latter's death. Jason only comes clean in return for being allowed to go free despite his ongoing blackmail...an arrangement that Roger is none too pleased about. Despite Liz's agreement to not press charges, Patterson orders Jason to leave town ASAP.

Solid wrap-up of Jason's schemes with Liz.

Episode 274
Originally aired July 13, 1967
The foreshadowing in Victoria's opening voice-over is a little on-the-nose...especially when being played over shots of Jason sneaking through the outdoor set toward the Old House.

Barnabas tells Willie that he needs to get another Josette soon, and that he already has a candidate. Conveniently, his new plans involve browsing through his bling-bling chest (Where did he dig that up?) while Jason eavesdrops.

Barnabas has jewels hidden all over the property--a tradition started back in the 1700s. You can feel the tension as Jason believes he's learned the Big Secret of certain strange goings-on at Collinsport, and the idea that he has no idea he has a few hours left...

Afterward, Jason runs into Willie walking outside with a flashlight...though I'm not clear what Willie was doing outside with a flashlight. They have another nice "old cohorts" moment discussing how Jason's scheme fell through, before Jason plunges into the deep end and tries to blackmail Willie into giving him some of the jewels. Does Jason have any idea what he's getting himself into? Willie does...when he says that he knows what he has to do, it doesn't bode well for his former partner-in-crime.

Jason knows enough to cause serious problems--after hearing the exchange about Josette.

Vicki visits the Blue Whale to ask the bartender if he's seen Carolyn. Since they're not paying him to speak this episode, she ends up in an unpleasant conversation with Jason, who's been imbibing a brew while taking in the stock '60s music.

Mixer, its not stock music. Series composer Robert Colbert also created much of the Blue Whale jukebox music, heard throughout the series.

He drops some very vague threats about what's in store for her, as well as hints that he may know something of her origins.

I loved this scene; Jason, knowing he's on his way out of town, sticks it to (as he calls her) "prim and proper" Vicki, and like a master fisherman, hooks her with the suggestion about her background, and (as you note) what's heading her way. Of course, in early DS series bibles, Vickie was going to end up being the illegitimate daughter of Liz, but the idea was dropped.

After Vicki leaves, Willie drops in for a planned rendezvous with Jason, who doesn't take it well when he's given only one piece from Barnabas's trunk. Thus Jason's next move is to break into the Old House...insert ominous cliffhanger music cue.

Willie was still decent enough to think of Jason's post-Collinsport plans; he just wants all to go with no drama, but he's caught between two very inflexible forces.

Episode 275
Originally aired July 14, 1967

After Jason roughs Willie up a bit for old time's sake, Willie tells Jason that the box of jewels is in the basement, but attempts to dissuade Jason from going down there for his own good. What ensues is the moment that always stuck out at me as an example of the show's avoidance of the V-word going from cleverly subtle to belabored...

Its understandable why Willie would avoid saying the V-word, since he's still trying to protect Barnabas (in the event Jason leaves), so he natural raised his intensity level to imply things are not right with his employer. Some cannot take a hint.

Blinded by greed, Jason won't accept a handful of jewels that Willie desperately tries to give him to get rid of him. Finally, Willie relents and allows Jason to open the coffin.

.

John Karlen (as always) sells the danger and his character's torment in dealing with outsiders invading the coffin room (as seen when Maggie tried to kill Barnabas), while his final stare--a consideration of his friend--was the right tone set at the right moment, resigning himself to the only outcome left to Jason. DS was on fire.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The Widows' Hill spirits date back to episode 12, where Roger told Vicki the story of why the widows haunt the cliff. The spirits were always there--the entire town seems to have it as a backdrop of its history, so they were part of the cursed scenery since the Bill Malloy period.

The point isn't when they were established, the point is when that element found its way into the otherwise mundane Jason blackmail plot. And for all the drama that they milk out of that angle, it plays a relatively transient role in the overall plotline...much like Buzz.

For a character who was not so sympathetic (for the audience POV), one could feel sorry for her Jason situation, which only had one way out.

There were at least two ways out...the one she almost took, and the one she did take.

And I never found her to be unsympathetic.

There were no such "rules" regarding The Monkees or most groups playing on their own albums; Don Kirshner did not allow most of the four to play, as it was his production standard to use session artists on the studio tracks for (what he believed to be) the best possible sound.
[...]
Further, American groups such as The Byrds, The Association, and CTA (changing their name to simply Chicago), were playing on their own tracks, along with aforementioned acts such as The Doors.

That's what I thought. Whatever arrangement the Monkees had, it was specific to the Monkees, not the law of the land.

Hell, it was the Byrds who wrote this song as a critique of the made-for-TV nature of the Monkees:

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And FWIW, I mentioned the Byrds alongside the Doors.

There you go--Burke's reason to be on Dark Shadows.

With an expiration date on the carton that would cause me to throw it straight in the trash without even thinking of trying to smell it....

Mixer, its not stock music. Series composer Robert Colbert also created much of the Blue Whale jukebox music, heard throughout the series.

It's stock music for the series, unless I'm misunderstanding the term. What it isn't is actual music that would have been found in a jukebox anywhere outside of the show in 1967.

I loved this scene; Jason, knowing he's on his way out of town, sticks it to (as he calls her) "prim and proper" Vicki, and like a master fisherman, hooks her with the suggestion about her background, and (as you note) what's heading her way. Of course, in early DS series bibles, Vickie was going to end up being the illegitimate daughter of Liz, but the idea was dropped.

That's an interesting tidbit. So was there any eventual payoff for Jason claiming to know something of her origins, or was that forgotten?

Its understandable why Willie would avoid saying the V-word, since he's still trying to protect Barnabas (in the event Jason leaves), so he natural raised his intensity level to imply things are not right with his employer. Some cannot take a hint.

It isn't, because Willie spells it out in such a way that he's not trying to hide Barnabas's true nature anymore. "He can walk at night, but he's dead!" Just say the word, already!

 

[RJDiogenes]

This Saturday, MeTV is having a day-long tribute to Martin Landau, similar to the one they did for Roger Moore.

 

[Christopher]

Hell, it was the Byrds who wrote this song as a critique of the made-for-TV nature of the Monkees:

I think that's kind of missing the point. Yeah, The Monkees was a TV show first, but it was an innovative show in the way it blurred the lines between fiction and reality by having its invented band become an actual touring band in the real world and release actual albums. It's sort of like what Castle has done by releasing what are supposedly the in-universe novels written by Richard Castle. Or like viral websites for in-universe entities like the Dharma Initiative or the Gotham Gazette, or those "Alternate Reality" computer games that let you act out game quests in the real world. It was really decades ahead of its time in creating that kind of interactive, immersive multimedia experience for its audience. And as a bonus, the "fictional" band turned out to actually be a pretty good real band that transcended its synthetic beginnings.

 

[The Old Mixer]

^
You're arguing with the Byrds and others who felt similarly at the time...I just presented a historical fact.

The other side of the coin--the reason that song was written--was that the Monkees were at the time felt to be less legit by bands who'd worked their way up as bands--playing clubs, doing auditions, getting record contracts, all that stuff--and by music fans of the time who favored such bands.

That said, the Monkees really weren't that much of a departure from the "Brill Building" model that dominated the American music scene in the early, pre-British Invasion '60s, which involved record companies having stables of interchangeable vocal groups whose entire product was crafted by teams of songwriters, producers, and session musicians in-house.

 

[Christopher]

The other side of the coin--the reason that song was written--was that the Monkees were at the time felt to be less legit by bands who'd worked their way up as bands--playing clubs, doing auditions, getting record contracts, all that stuff--and by music fans of the time who favored such bands.

Yes, of course I know that attitude existed, but I'm allowed to disagree with it. As I said, I think it's looking at the question from the wrong side. The Monkees was, first and foremost, a TV sitcom. There was never any attempt to deny that. It seems disingenuous to me to denounce something as false when it makes no secret of being artificial. But it happened to be metafictional -- a show about a fictitious rock band that managed to project itself into the real world, to use real musicians who had real albums and concerts. As a band, of course they were more artificial; that isn't even a question. (At least, they were initially, before they grew beyond the show and the prepackaging.) But seeing them only as a band is misconstruing the point of the exercise. The Monkees was a TV show, and it was also an innovative experiment in multimedia interactive entertainment, decades ahead of its time.

I mean, what about Spinal Tap? That's a fictional band that was created for a sketch comedy pilot and then featured in a "mockumentary" comedy film. And yet the band has released a number of real albums and singles and performed in concert. Nobody accuses them of being illegitimate, because everybody understands that they're a fictional construct operating metafictionally, that the albums and concerts are an extension of the fictitious conceit of the movie. The Monkees were basically the same thing, aside from the fact that their characters shared their real names and that the quantity of their released material was greater. And that they eventually went on to pursue music more seriously.

That said, the Monkees really weren't that much of a departure from the "Brill Building" model that dominated the American music scene in the early, pre-British Invasion '60s, which involved record companies having stables of interchangeable vocal groups whose entire product was crafted by teams of songwriters, producers, and session musicians in-house.

Pretty much the same as modern boy bands and Disney Channel stars in the Miley Cyrus vein. But as a work of television comedy, The Monkees was a damn sight more innovative and boundary-breaking than Hannah Montana probably was (not that I've ever seen the latter). And I'd say they rose above the general prepackaged model by virtue of having Mike Nesmith doing his own original songs, which were generally much better than the Boyce/Hart and Neil Diamond stuff.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

But as a work of television comedy, The Monkees was a damn sight more innovative and boundary-breaking than Hannah Montana probably was (not that I've ever seen the latter).

You do indeed need to see it; it's not as bad as people think, and less silly than The Monkees to boot (even if Hannah/Miley doesn't write her own songs.)

Frankly, I find most of the bitching about current pop music to be quite tiresome; if people can't stand it, then they (Americans) should be writing their Congressperson/Senator to bring back the old regs governing how many radio stations can be owned by one company in a given market (the 1996 revision that gave permission for Clear Channel and others to do this is what caused pop music to be so predominant.)

ABC was considered a joke in those days-- the "third network." There was a joke that the best way to end the Vietnam War would be to put it on ABC, and it would be cancelled in two weeks. Come to think of it, you'll eventually see a Get Smart episode where Control and KAOS go up against the CBA or BCA or something-- the "third spy network."

The organization in question's called the ACB (Atrocities, Cruelties & Brutalities), and yes, it was a dig at ABC, which refused Get Smart because it was 'unpatriotic'.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The organization in question's called the ACB (Atrocities, Cuuelty, Brutality), and yes, it was a dig at ABC, which refused Get Smart because it was 'unpatriotic'.

Interesting. I didn't know that. Quite odd.