Crap, I forgot you said that. I must remember to check the online schedule.
Anytime I have occasion to glance at the cable info on the show, it's horribly inaccurate. The Decades schedule is the only way to go. And if you're interested in when a particular episode is from, give me a few of the acts and I'll look it up on the tv.com page. I do that daily with the ones I'm watching.
Interesting. I wonder why that was.
Karlen may have had other things going on. If it was for story-driven reasons, then I'd say that it was to increase Julia Hoffman's role by making her Barnabas's sole confidante.
@TREK_GOD_1 would probably have better info on the matter.
Ooooh, I loved Major Matt Mason. I had that space crawler and space station, all the astronauts, and a bunch of other stuff (including the cool glider). There were a million things I didn't have, though. I used to look at the little Major Matt Mason catalogue that came with every item and dream.....
I have no first-hand experience with Matt Mason, but I have some comic books of that vintage with ads for his stuff. I had to do a bit of Googling to confirm what it was, but the sight of the Space Crawler fired off a neuron that made me think it might be an item of interest. My own first "gotta have 'em all" toy line was the Six Million Dollar Man...though that became yesterday's news when Star Wars came along....
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50th Anniversary Viewing
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The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 20, episode 3
Originally aired September 24, 1967
(as edited for
The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show)
The Mamas & the Papas open with their biggest hit from the previous year, "Monday, Monday" (#1 US the weeks of May 7 through 21, 1966; #3 UK):
The audio sounds nearly indistinguishable from the studio version. I always thought Michelle had a great hippie chick look in this era...performing barefoot puts that over the top.
Next we get Florence Henderson, two years before she became America's favorite mom, performing a medley of "Do-Re-Mi" and "The Sound of Music." This made me curious to see if she was in that show at the time. According to her Wiki page, her most recent gigs were playing Nellie Forbush in
South Pacific (1967) and appearing as a regular contestant on
Password (1962-67).
Ed Ames, "My Cup Runneth Over"--Acts like this give me a good chance to polish my notes and look things up. This wasn't as cringy as some of the stuff I've already seen him do on other episodes. (He seems to have been a frequent guest.)
Ed Ames, "When the Snow Is on the Roses"--OK, I was willing to be polite for
one lame number. Now the mock-gagging commences.
John Byner isn't the best Ed impersonator I've seen on the show already, but he did it with flair, and included impersonations of guests. I think I just saw this one in another
Best of episode. If not, he was doing the same routine. The best part was him playing half of a juggling duo appearing by himself for budget reasons, throwing his pins against the back wall.
Topo Gigio I find more mildly annoying than funny, but I like Ed's demeanor when he's interacting with the little guy.
The Mamas & the Papas return, sitting and talking with Ed, whom they give a flower and some beads. They deny rumors that they're splitting up--That would effectively happen in 1968 after Cass's solo hit, with an official announcement in early '69. They then perform
"I Call Your Name" (written by a couple of fellows named Lennon and McCartney) and their breakout hit from last year, "California Dreamin'" (#4 US; #23 UK; #89 on
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time):
I'm not sure what's up with Michelle eating grapes and a banana during the performance, but that's one way of letting them know you're lip-syncing.
tv.com tells me that they also did their then-current single, "Twelve Thirty," on this date, but it wasn't included in the
Best of version. (That song will be dropping off the charts when we move on to the coming week.)
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Mission: Impossible
"The Survivors "
Originally aired September 24, 1967
Xfinity said:
An enemy agent abducts two of the three scientists who together know all elements of a formula for the deadly cobalt bomb.
Contrary to the description, the nature of the weapon is not specified.
Phelps finds his reel-to-reel in a locked panel in what seems to be a parking garage or building under construction.
The voice in the recording said:
This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.
Ah, will specifying "tape" become the standard now? In any case, the voice on the tape makes a flub! Right after identifying the kidnapped scientists as Wilson Cardel and Edward Stoner, he refers to the scientists and their also-kidnapped wives as "the Wilsons and the Cardels"! What's worse, the first time Graves says Stoner's name, it sounds like he's saying "Boner."
In a contrivance that seems typical of the show, the plan revolves around the fact that the third scientist the bad guy is after is completely unknown to him and therefore easily impersonated by Phelps. This week's scheme is interestingly twisted, with Cinnamon's character being estranged from her husband and shacking up with Rollin's character, and Barney and Willy simulating a major earthquake.
There are no guest agents this week, but I hope the IMF was able to do something for the limo driver who was a collateral abductee in the kidnapping of Cinnamon and Rollin.
I got some unintended laughs from this episode being the source of a couple of the bits used in this memorable MeTV spot:
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The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
"The 'J' for Judas Affair"
Originally aired September 25, 1967
Xfinity said:
Solo and Illya pursue the THRUSH bomber responsible for an industrialist's (Broderick Crawford) death; guest Chad Everett.
Open Channel Don't Care About the Guest Characters They're Protecting This Week. But that's just as well since one of them turned out to be one of the bad guys. The security guy was way too obvious from the get-go as another of the bad guys; the industrialist's son was a little less obvious to me until the end; and the secretary was a surprise. Overall, this one was a bit of an unengaging yawner for me, but I'll note that they're still keeping Solo and Kuryakin together.
John Hoyt puts in a one-shot appearance as an eccentric Q-like UNCLE scientist.
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The Rat Patrol
"The Trial by Fire Raid"
Originally aired September 25, 1967
H&I said:
The Rat Patrol's mission to destroy a German supply train faces complications after Dietrich loads the train with Arab civilians and Troy gets captured.
The plan goes wrong when Dietrich lets the workers go inside the train to get out of the sun for a while, so they definitely seem to be going for the honorable foe routine with him. He even tries to give a little girl her doll back, not knowing that Troy had just planted his explosives in it.
Matters are also complicated by the unwillingness to cooperate of Tobar, the father of Safti, the young woman whom Troy enlists to help the Patrol by getting the civilians to safety. Tobar has his moment of character growth when he plants the explosives and gets shot up in the crossfire. In the coda, which takes place sometime later following the liberation of the village, they find that Dietrich had left a German medal for bravery on Tobar's grave.
Guest-starring as Safti, a musical guest I never would have spotted if I hadn't caught her name in the IMDb credits (the episode's credit having been so blink-and-you-miss-it that I missed it the first time even though I was looking for it): Gale Garnett, best known as the wonder behind this one hit...
"We'll Sing in the Sunshine"
(Charted Aug. 8, 1964; #4 US; #1 AC; #43 Country; 1965 Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording)
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Batman
"The Wail of the Siren"
Originally aired September 28, 1967
H&I said:
Using her hypnotic voice, the Siren sends Commissioner Gordon on a mission to find the location of the Batcave and Batman's secret identity.
So Siren controls minds by singing two octaves above Hi-C...I guess that must be more effective than singing two octaves above Hawaiian Punch.
We get more cutting-edge household tech in Barbara's apartment..."one of those tricky little gizmos that answers in your own voice and then replays the messages," as O'Hara describes her answering machine.
Ah, finally, the Batgirl Theme Song! It was worth the wait.
It's so obvious that Gordon doesn't actually climb out of the Batmobile's trunk, but just rises from behind it and stumbles forward.
I know I mentioned it a couple years back, but it's a great sight gag how Wayne's wall safe is hidden behind a painting of the safe.
Contrary to an assertion made back then that Batgirl was stealing Robin's thunder in this episode, I think they made quite a good team...each contributed substantially to the case in Batman's absence. Also, to clear up something that
Christopher commented on back then...I definitely get the impression that Barbara
was putting together that Lorelei Circe was the Siren, whom she'd met the previous episode...hence her making the leap of logic at all, and later dropping the name "Siren" to Robin, expecting him to know who she was talking about. But the episode could have been clearer on that point.
Robin should know that you're always supposed to let Joan Collins die. I'd hate to see what Gotham City's gonna be like 250 years from now....
Next week: Pass the lasagne, Ethel Merman! She's really making the rounds in TV-land this fall...she'll also be featured in a
Tarzan two-parter in November!
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Ironside
"Dead Man's Tale"
Originally aired September 28, 1967
Xfinity said:
The police commissioner agrees to let Ironside conceal a mob murder to flush out underworld chiefs; with Jack Lord.
Lord (appearing just a year before he assumes his defining role) plays John Trask, the main chief that Ironside's after, who's a lawyer by day. Ironside plays a game of chess with him, if that's the right metaphor. It's a scam on Ironside's part to make the normally meticulous mobster slip up, but it still involves needing to think a few moves ahead to anticipate how Lord's character will react to the developing situation. When everyone else (including Gene Lyons's strawman commissioner) doubts that the plan is working, Ironside is looking at the bigger picture of how it's affecting Trask's overall pattern of behavior.
For a kept woman type, the murdered mobster's mistress is fairly impressive. She genuinely loved him and is therefore motivated to actively participate in the plan, which ultimately puts her life in jeopardy in the climax.
A little reading tells me that the Ironsidemobile is a converted paddy wagon, not an armored car. We get a better look inside the back this week...it's a regular little mobile office, which includes the requisite map of the city.
I also got curious about the real-life location of the Chief's home/office. It's identified as San Francisco's Old Hall of Justice, which, interestingly, was demolished in 1967, but would live on in TV-land via the stock footage taken before that, which was used in the show.
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"To Each Her Own"
Originally aired September 28, 1967
Wiki said:
Donald does a news story on computer dating, and takes Ann along for the ride. Much to Ann's chagrin, the girl that the computer dating service assigns to her boyfriend, is a lot like her.
This episode includes Bernie Kopell in his regular gig of the era, Donald's friend/colleague Jerry. It's also Ruth Buzzi's first appearance as Ann's new recurring neighbor/girlfriend Pete Peterson.
Rich Little guest-stars as Ann's computer-picked date, who's supposed to be a lot like Donald. Along the way, he gets in some John Wayne, Ed Sullivan, and Humphrey Bogart.
The episode's resolution has Ann and Donald's computer-picked dates meeting each other and finding that they're a perfect match.
"Oh, Donald!" count:
2
Next week: "Miss Marie, don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Having seen this episode before, I encourage Bixby /
The Incredible Hulk fans to watch along as Bill puts in his first appearance as a guy named Banner:
https://metv.com/videos/that-girl/the-apartment
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Tarzan
"Thief Catcher"
Originally aired September 29, 1967
Xfinity said:
Tarzan must track and capture two escaped convicts before more people are put in danger.
The week's installment opens with a preview of scenes from the episode...which they've done before, but it's not the show's usual M.O., at least not in syndication.
The actual opening has Jai returning from a school, and he acts like he's been away from Tarzan and Cheeta for awhile...I wonder it this was shot as the first episode of the season. In any case, he and Tarzan are both fully involved in the story, which involves the boy being kidnapped in a scheme to get revenge against the Lord of the Jungle for another presumably unseen previous encounter.
The episode features some very pretty coastline shooting. There's a good dramatic scene of Tarzan and one of the bad guys, Kesho, making opposing pleas to the people of the Tribe of the Week about their decision of whether to turn over their chief, N'Duma (and Tarzan).
Noteworthy guests...let's see, we've got:
- A guy who'll be winning an Oscar for a film he did this year, George Kennedy, as Crandell (one of the convicts, of course);
- Don Mitchell (whose current regular gig is playing Mark Sanger on Ironside) as N'Duma;
- and saved for last, playing Kesho...future Bond villain Yaphet Kotto!
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Star Trek
"The Changeling"
Originally aired September 29, 1967
Stardate 3541.9
MeTV said:
The Enterprise encounters an ancient Earth probe bent on the sterilization of all life.
See my post here.
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The Prisoner
"Arrival"
Originally aired September 29, 1967 (UK)
Wiki said:
After waking up in the Village and discovering his captivity there, Number Six encounters a friend from the outside who may have a possible escape.
Well, that was interesting. As I'd gathered from what little I knew, it's sort of like the more surreal elements of
The Avengers played with a straight face. It's also reminiscent of
The Twilight Zone...like a situation that might be featured in that show being played out for a series instead of climaxing in a half-hour.
Number 6 is relatable as our trapped protagonist, yet he's also an enigma to us...we know less about him than his captors do.
The giant white people-devouring balloon (which I've since read is called the Rover) is a bit OTT.
There's a bit of a dichotomy in the Village culture encouraging still tongues, while the people in charge are evidently trying to get information from Number 6. I have to wonder if that's accidental or intended...do they really want the information, or is he being tested...?
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The Avengers
"Return of the Cybernauts"
Originally aired September 30, 1967 (UK)
Wiki said:
Scientists are being kidnapped. Mrs Peel is to be the next victim: receiving a new wristwatch the Cybernauts can home-in on, from a deceitful admirer.
It's nice to have Steed and Peel back, however short it lasts.
Going by this episode, they seem to have dropped the "we're needed" scenes and the "Steed does this, Emma does that" subtitles, both of which had become recurring bits in my posts.
This show can be pretty hit-or-miss for me. I found this installment to be a bit too repetitive, frontloaded as it is with Cybernaut abductions (a type of failing that I've seen in other episodes). And I find Steed and Peel to be more engaging when they're being clever and witty...not as much when they spend too much of the episode clueless to what the audience already knows.
The Cybernaut might not look as silly wearing sunglasses if it had ears to hang them on.
The controlled Emma was acting noticeably unrobotic when driving her car.
Our episode's villain:
Peter Cushing!
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