The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[The Old Mixer]

Thought I'd dig up Gallagher's quote from the episode for comparison. It was already out of my deletion bin, so I scrounged it up on YouTube (17:35+), and included a little more Jem'Hardar-ish business....

You men undoubtedly think of yourselves as pilots, co-pilots, bombardiers, and navigators. But--in the future I will get to know you individually, I'll try. But to me all you represent right now are three badly needed replacement aircraft--bombing platforms, nothing more, nothing less. I'm gonna give you some good advice. As of today, as of this hour, if you are wise we'll consider yourselves dead men. Now if you can accept that and believe it, you'll find that you can fly better, bomb better, sleep better, and live longer.

I was also thinking that this bit of business sort of goes with Gallagher as we first met him. He was overly cautious because he wanted to survive his tour of duty, but when Savage pushed him into command of a misfit crew, his method of survival became turning them into the best crew in the 918th. He was, in effect, assuming and preparing for the worst.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Eh, really...Tiny Tim is more entertaining. He's starting to grow on me.

I like Tiny Tim, which is why I was happy to see him participate in that one episode a few weeks ago. I checked out his Wiki page, too; he had quite a long career.

Which all equates to being a sign o' the times to me. What people were watching on TV...what was considered appropriate for family consumption...that all says something.

True enough.

You mean the last one gets even weirder...? Guess I'll see soon enough.

Oh, yeah.

My knowledge of LBJ is fairly casual, but I doubt he could have survived another term, considering he died right about when that term would have been ending, and that was without being subjected to the pressures of the office for those years.

Indeed, which would have been quite a history changer-- two dead presidents in a row, followed by President Humphrey (unless LBJ switched partners for his third term).

Am I correctly inferring that you feel the same of the Left Banke original? I'd consider it a major classic, and so does the Rolling Stone list: #220. As for the Four Tops version...it's a perfectly good version in its own right, but can't help falling into the category of "unnecessary covers of songs that already had their definitive versions".

Yeah, it's the song. It's cute and okay, but I wouldn't call it a classic.

This was this week's standout for me, but YMOV.

Interesting. It just makes my mind wander.

The fact that MTV had anything to play at all (and ended up being so successful) is testament to something I already knew from my own experience...music videos were out there prior to the launch of MTV, very commonly being played on various TV shows...

And nightclubs. And since they were promotional, they were free-- at least at the beginning-- so MTV had minimal startup costs. It was really a quite brilliant idea. It's kind of sad to see what it's become.

And to the episode's credit, we don't get a feel-good epilog revelation that Stovall's son has been found. He remains missing and presumed dead.

This sounds like a pretty rough episode.

The first conceptual (non-performance) music video that I distinctly recall having been exposed to in such a context was the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" video, when the song was current ca. '77-'78.

Aarrrgh!

The first video played on MTV was two years old when they played it:

And still one of my favorites (I love the song, too, being a big fan of OTR).

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Way to disagree with me agreeing with you!

...yeah, but you cite one of the last episodes as going in the wrong direction, when that lethal set of problems were creeping into late season two (on occasion) and took off like a rocket at the beginning of season three. Even Dozier knew the handwriting (of cancellation) was on the wall when season three made its debut, and Batgirl did nothing to lift the series back to its 1st season ratings glory.

I'm ready to concede by this point that combat-wise, Batgirl's consistently portrayed as being useless solo...she only seems to be any good in a Batfight as a member of the Terrific Trio.

..and even as part of trio, how effective are slow pirouettes / variety-show high kicks and finding conveniently placed wooden crates? If Batgirl was around earlier, would her "skills" work during the submarine fight in the movie? The wild, final fight from the pilot? The final fight against Tut's henchmen in "Batman's Waterloo" or against the Green Hornet & Kato?

However, her research/investigative skills are impressive and her courage and dedication to crimefighting is commendable.

The character operated mainly on hunches, or and was never presented as being the detective Batman and Robin were. Being a librarian only goes so far, and I'm not writing for the series in suggesting (as at least one person in social media did) that being Gordon's daughter meant she had the same kind of investigative/police training or insight. Compare TV Batgirl as an investigator to female TV characters who already (at the time) made their significant marks such as Honey West, or The Avengers' Cathy Gale & Emma Peel. In addition to their ability to fight, they were also presented as being well trained in their fields, which included investigation, general espionage and other training which made them big standouts in the portrayal of women in those pre-Batgirl years. Next to them--or the stars of her own series--Batgirl did not come off as particularly efficient, and certainly was not breaking new ground as a female crime fighting character.

Dozier and Howie Horwitz both held very sexist views of women, and consciously ignored the advanced female characters that were changing old ideas of women not getting "mixed up" in heavy action, and truly showing that they were as trained as male counterparts.

The first conceptual (non-performance) music video that I distinctly recall having been exposed to in such a context was the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" video, when the song was current ca. '77-'78. It was shown on a daytime talk show that the Bee Gees were appearing on...I want to say it was Merv Griffin.

Those types of videos were around long before that, and if you watch American Bandstand, Top of the Pops and other series in the previous decade, there were endless narrative-based (non-performance) musical promotional videos of everyone from Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Rascals, The Who, The Rolling Stones, and other acts besides the obvious groups like The Monkees and The Beatles.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

"La-La Means I Love You," The Delfonics

This is where I'd check to see what's on the other station.

Ohhh? I see that airlock is back in business!

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

51st Anniversary Viewing

_______

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for 51 years ago last week:

1. "I'm a Believer," The Monkees
2. "Tell It Like It Is," Aaron Neville
3. "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron," The Royal Guardsmen
4. "Georgy Girl," The Seekers
5. "Words of Love," The Mamas & The Papas
6. "Standing in the Shadows of Love," Four Tops
7. "Good Thing," Paul Revere & The Raiders
8. "Nashville Cats," The Lovin' Spoonful
9. "Kind of a Drag," The Buckinghams
10. "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," The Blues Magoos
11. "98.6," Keith
12. "Sugar Town," Nancy Sinatra
13. "Tell It to the Rain," The Four Seasons

15. "Knight in Rusty Armour," Peter & Gordon
16. "Colour My World," Petula Clark
17. "I've Passed This Way Before," Jimmy Ruffin

19. "Green, Green Grass of Home," Tom Jones
20. "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)," The Electric Prunes

22. "Winchester Cathedral," The New Vaudeville Band
23. "Wild Thing," Senator Bobby feat. Bill Minkin
24. "Music to Watch Girls By," The Bob Crewe Generation
25. "Try a Little Tenderness," Otis Redding
26. "Single Girl," Sandy Posey

28. "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone," The Monkees

30. "Talk Talk," The Music Machine

32. "That's Life," Frank Sinatra

34. "The Beat Goes On," Sonny & Cher

36. "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye," The Casinos

38. "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," Cannonball Adderley
39. "Gimme Some Lovin'," The Spencer Davis Group

42. "Mellow Yellow," Donovan
43. "Ruby Tuesday," The Rolling Stones

46. "It Takes Two," Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston
47. "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone," The Supremes

50. "Pretty Ballerina," The Left Banke
51. "Pushin' Too Hard," The Seeds
52. "Go Where You Wanna Go," The 5th Dimension

66. "You Got to Me," Neil Diamond
67. "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game," The Marvelettes

75. "Let's Spend the Night Together," The Rolling Stones
76. "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," The Byrds

79. "I've Been Lonely Too Long," The Young Rascals

90. "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)," Buffalo Springfield


Leaving the chart:

• "Devil with the Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly," Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
• "Good Vibrations," The Beach Boys
• "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," The Yardbirds
• "(I Know) I'm Losing You," The Temptations
• "I Need Somebody," ? & The Mysterians
• "Mustang Sally," Wilson Pickett
• "A Place in the Sun," Stevie Wonder

_______

The Rat Patrol
"The Last Chance Raid"
Originally aired January 23, 1967

The Rat Patrol discovers that German tank reinforcements have arrived in the area of a planned Allied offensive, but their radio is damaged and unusable. Troy decides that they must capture a nearby Nazi propaganda radio station to transmit the vital information to headquarters.

Guesting Lyn Peters as a fraulein at the radio station...billed as "1st Monitor." We get what looks like some effective mixed use of the stage set here, for close-ups in the middle of otherwise-outdoor scenes.

Overall, the idea of going in and taking command of the annoying propaganda radio station was a cute, entertaining idea. The a-little-too-full-of-himself radio announcer was played somewhat for laughs.

Dietrich is in this episode.

SENDUNG
SENDERAUM

_______


"Gone with the Breeze"
Originally aired January 26, 1967

Donald hands Ann the manuscript for a novel he wrote, which she is suddenly convinced she lost.

Ann doesn't know that Donald has a copy, and has to avoid Donald wanting to know what she thought of the manuscript that she didn't have a chance to read. Ann becomes obsessed with finding it at the expense of her current job in a perfume department with an overbearing boss.

Oh! Oh, that must have been me! I'm the stupid salesgirl!

It turns out that the manuscript never left Donald's office, she lost it there. It was kind of mean-spirited the way that Donald, after having found it, sets out to make her uncomfortable by systematically proving that she hasn't read the book.

"Oh, Donald" count: 9

_______

This sounds like a pretty rough episode.

They didn't dwell on the situation with Stovall's son much once they got going with his flight training.

Those types of videos were around long before that, and if you watch American Bandstand, Top of the Pops and other series in the previous decade, there were endless narrative-based (non-performance) musical promotional videos of everyone from Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Rascals, The Who, The Rolling Stones, and other acts besides the obvious groups like The Monkees and The Beatles.

Historically, I'm well aware...I've been posting such videos. I was recounting my own first-hand experience of when I first remember seeing such a video as a child.

Some didn't get the idea of the conceptual video at that point. I recall the host asking the Bee Gees if they came from a neighborhood like the one in the video.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I like Tiny Tim, which is why I was happy to see him participate in that one episode a few weeks ago. I checked out his Wiki page, too; he had quite a long career.

When I was a kid, I thought he was Dick in a wig for a while,

 

[RJDiogenes]

Ohhh? I see that airlock is back in business!

Damn. I was getting used to breathing again.

It was kind of mean-spirited the way that Donald, after having found it, sets out to make her uncomfortable by systematically proving that she hasn't read the book.

Oh, Donald!

Some didn't get the idea of the conceptual video at that point. I recall the host asking the Bee Gees if they came from a neighborhood like the one in the video.

It's really a great art form with a lot of potential, and it seemed to be evolving nicely in the 80s, but it seems to have become mostly forgotten now.

When I was a kid, I thought he was Dick in a wig for a while,

They do seem to share a special bond.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing

_______

The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 20, episode 21
Originally aired January 28, 1968
As represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show

Taken from the same mixed Best of episode as last week's selection, this week gives me something more in my wheelhouse...three songs by the 5th Dimension.

Dressed in funky purple and yellow costumes with decorative chains adorning them--the ladies with partially bare midriffs that expose no navel--the group uses their established hit, "Up, Up and Away," as a medley lead-in to their brand-new single, "Carpet Man":

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(Charted Feb. 3, 1968; #29 US)
It's a pretty compatible-sounding number...at the end of the studio version posted above, you even hear a horn bit doing the melody of "Up, Up and Away."

They also perform "Shake Your Tambourine," which is a little less sunshine pop and a little more funk:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

I couldn't find any results for a studio version of it--the above is a live version from a 1971 album.

_______

Mission: Impossible
"The Condemned"
Originally aired January 28, 1968

When a childhood friend of Phelps' is sentenced to death in Latin America, the IMF go "off-book" to save him. This episode has no tape scene or dossier scene, and Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain) does not appear, nor is she mentioned.

Aren't they always "off-book"? The Secretary's gonna disavow them one way or the other, right?

David, have you ever been in a Latin American prison?

TOS-guesting Marianna Hill as Louisa Rojas. They also use a hearing aid device that emits the familiar communicator double-beep.

This effectively starts as an investigation, with the team going in with less-than-omniscient intel...but even needing to partially improvise as they went along, they managed to pull off one of their trademark elaborate schemes. Perhaps not as much of a departure from the now-well-established formula as it should have been, but I'll take it over the generic spy fi business that we got in too many Season 1 episodes.

Rollin and Willy as priests was good for a giggle...especially when Willy was there to smuggle building materials in his robe for for quickly constructing a false wall for David to hide in.

Jim plays a layered cover--a crooked insurance investigator pretending to be a private investigator, though I think that adding the additional layer was an improvisation.

It turns out that the alleged murder victim was never killed, but he ends up conveniently dead for the scheme's climax, which involves Barney remotely driving the bad guy's corpse off a cliff while the police are pursuing him. He drove that car a little too well considering that there was no monitor for first-person perspective.

_______

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 1, episode 2
Originally aired January 29, 1968

Leo G. Carroll, Robert Culp, The First Edition, Larry Hovis, Sheldon Leonard, Tom Smothers, Flip Wilson, Muriel Landers

They make a point of describing this as the second episode in Gary's announcements and the opening dialogue.

Interesting that they managed to get Tom Smothers while he was co-hosting a comedy/variety show on a rival network.

Hey, let's all get behind President Johnson...and push.

A recurring gag that starts with the party sketch has Robert Culp making out with Judy Carne...at one point telling an off-camera Sheldon that it isn't working. Sheldon Leonard, who was doing one-liners as a gangster in this and the previous episode, was also the executive producer of I, Spy...which aired later the same night on NBC. Also referencing that show were outdoor bits of Culp playing tennis.

Dropping references to Tiny Tim continues to be a running gag.

The News from 1988 references Ronald Reagan as still being Governor of California...little did they know.

Alas, I couldn't find a copy of Laugh-In's video of the First Edition's "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)". This brand-new single will be making its chart debut in the coming week.

Morgul shows up in the Joke Wall.

_______

Batman
"The Great Escape"
Originally aired February 1, 1968

Cowboy Shame teams with fiancée Calamity Jan and her mom, Frontier Fanny, to steal a "rock and roll" from the Gotham City Stage. When Batgirl solves the riddle, she and the Dynamic Duo must stop them.

Featuring an uncredited cameo by Jerry Mathers.

Shame has a new posse, and I guess we're not supposed to notice.

Batman reading Shame's letter with a mock-Western accent got a good laugh out of me.

The Caped Crusader was so close to learning Batgirl's identity...all he had to do was ask Gordon if anyone else had just been in his office. It's cute that Robin does his Batman impression again.

Fear gas...wasted on the wrong villain.

This one gives us a pseudo-cliffhanger, with Batgirl being captured but not placed in any specific peril.

_______

Ironside
"The Lonely Hostage"
Originally aired February 1, 1968

A cop who's wanted for robbing a bank and wounding another officer kidnaps Ironside and Mark.

From the cockpit of the Piccadilly Lily to the back of the Ironsidemobile--It's nice seeing front-billed guest star Robert Lansing pop up somewhere other than his familiar upcoming episode of Trek...I developed a fondness for the guy watching Season 1 of 12 O'Clock High. Alas, his character Hickman isn't nearly as endearing as General Savage.

Also TOS-guesting Kathie Browne as his wife, in addition to series regulars Barbara Anderson and Gene Lyons.

Mark gets involved proactively for a change, trying to get a note out while he and Ironside are being held hostage, but Hickman sees through it in time to thwart his effort.

The climax involves Ironside covertly constructing a makeshift miniature spear gun partly from a child's toy.

_______


"The Other Woman"
Originally aired February 1, 1968

Ann suggests that her father escort Ethel Merman to a formal event, and the tabloids make him look like her new boyfriend, which doesn't exactly please her mother.

That's right, the Season of Ethel isn't over! Ann, Donald, and Mr. Marie run into her at the Footlight Deli, which appears to be based on the Carnegie Deli with its iconic walls full of celebrity photos. Ann gets comically brown-nosed in Ethel's presence...and the waiter calls Donald a hippie for ordering a cheeseburger.

Ann first learns of her father's alleged affair when her mother comes by carrying luggage on her way to the airport. Even with Ann knowing full well what's going on, both parents manage to be over-dramatic about the situation.

Mr. Marie's WWII back injury comes into play again...good continuity with the Thanksgiving episode. There's also a running gag of Ethel misremembering Mr. Marie's name as Max, which may have started in her previous appearance.

Ultimately, Ethel has a retraction printed in the gossip column that slips in a plug for Ann's acting career.

The episode drops a lot of references to how glamorous Ethel is, but she isn't afraid to slip in some self-deprecating humor....

Didn't hear me!?! Since when can't anybody hear ME!?!

"Oh, Donald" count: 0
"Oh, Daddy" count: 2
"Oh, Mother" count: 1
"Oh, Miss Merman" count: 2

_______

The Prisoner
"Fall Out"
Originally aired February 1, 1968 (UK)

Number Six encounters the forces behind the Village, but can he finally escape?

"Of course I automatically think of 'All You Need Is Love' when I hear 'La Marsewhatchyacallit,' but they wouldn't be play--HOLY CRAP, IT'S 'ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE'!!!!!!!" I'm appreciative that nobody spoiled me on that surprise appearance. I can't recall having ever heard an original version of a Beatles song used in a period production. And I read that it was retained in the DVD releases, so this usage must have gotten the Fab Seal of Approval.

Well...I was suitably warned. Nevertheless, I wasn't expecting an ending that was so utterly devoid of any literal exposition about the nature of Number One and the Village. And yeah, I guess they did move the Village, because now it's somewhere in England, a casual drive away from London.

I get that they were going for surreal allegory, but on a literal level, Number Six's whole experience remains an enigma...such that it strikes me that one could go into the series watching the finale first, and it wouldn't really spoil anything, just prepare the viewer not to take anything about Six's experience too literally.

It's not just me...

"Fall Out" generated controversy when it was originally aired owing to the obscurity and ambiguity of the installment's last 20 minutes. This reaction forced McGoohan, who wrote and directed the episode, to go into hiding for a period of time because he was hounded at his own home by baffled viewers demanding explanations.

I also read that "Once Upon a Time," filmed a year earlier, was meant to be a season-ending cliffhanger...and that McGoohan was pressed for time to come up with an ending that he hadn't planned in advance. I have to wonder what he might have come up with given the time that he expected.

The question "Why?," previously used to destroy a computer, comes up again...and ultimately isn't answered. And while the episode makes a show of freeing Six from his number, we still never learn his name.

_______

Tarzan
"A Gun for Jai"
Originally aired February 2, 1968

While guiding a trigger-happy safari, Tarzan searches for a wounded Cheeta.

Well, this episode didn't pull any punches regarding its subject matter. Peter Whitney's character, Mulvaney, gives Jai a rifle that would rival his height standing on end...and the first thing that the boy does with it is to rather disturbingly tease Cheeta with shots that appear to miss...only it turns out that one of them didn't, and Cheeta spends most of the episode running away from Jai and running into a variety of dangerous animals (including a bullying fellow chimp) while nursing a leg wound...! These sequences made me genuinely sad.

Cheeta's also referred to as a monkey twice by guest characters, FWIW.

Lion vs. leopard--Catfight!!!

Also re-guesting Geoffrey Holder as a new character, Mayko, the less-than-pleased chief of a tribe of the week to whom Mulvaney has also given rifles, while covertly absconding with their jewels.

Jai ultimately learns his lesson, dramatically breaking his rifle against a tree.

It must have been a theme night on NBC. Up next:

_______

Star Trek
"A Private Little War"
Originally aired February 2, 1968
Stardate 4211.4

Kirk becomes involved in an arms race when the Klingons equip a native people with superior weaponry.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

See my post here.

_______

Get Smart
"The Little Black Book: Part 2"
Originally aired February 3, 1968

Having found out that Max is a spy, Sid joins him in his search for the black book and the infamous Maestro, a top KAOS assassin. Joey Forman, who had previously played Harry Hoo in the series, returns in this episode as a CONTROL lawyer. Ernest Borgnine makes a one-line cameo appearance.

I don't think KAOS is as dangerous as this apartment. I get the feeling I'm gonna get creamed by one of your dizzy booby traps.

They get a lot of use out of "The old _______ in the _______ trick" lines in this one...including Sid and and a police chief getting in on the running gag.

_______

 

[Nerys Myk]

Also re-guesting Geoffrey Holder as a new character, Mayko, the less-than-pleased chief of a tribe of the week to whom Mulvaney has also gifted with rifles, while covertly absconding with their jewels.

Upon reading that I immediately thought of "A Private Little War" and scroll and behold....

Star Trek
"A Private Little War"
Originally aired February 2, 1968
Stardate 4211.

 

[The Old Mixer]

^ Aired back-to-back!

_______

50 Years Ago This Week

February 6–February 18 – The 1968 Winter Olympics are held in Grenoble, France.
February 8 – American civil rights movement: A civil rights protest staged at a white-only bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina is broken up by highway patrolmen; 3 college students are killed.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week, with a Bubbling Under bonus:

1. "Love Is Blue (L'amour Est Bleu)," Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra
2. "Green Tambourine," The Lemon Pipers
3. "Spooky," Classics IV
4. "Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)," John Fred & His Playboy Band
5. "Chain of Fools," Aretha Franklin
6. "I Wish It Would Rain," The Temptations
7. "Goin' Out of My Head / Can't Take My Eyes Off You," The Lettermen
8. "Nobody But Me," The Human Beinz
9. "Woman, Woman," The Union Gap feat. Gary Puckett
10. "Bend Me Shape Me," The American Breed
11. "Susan," The Buckinghams
12. "Baby, Now That I've Found You," The Foundations
13. "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight?," Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart
14. "Bottle of Wine," The Fireballs
15. "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls," Dionne Warwick
16. "Itchycoo Park," Small Faces
17. "My Baby Must Be a Magician," The Marvelettes
18. "Am I That Easy to Forget," Engelbert Humperdinck
19. "Darlin'," The Beach Boys
20. "Different Drum," The Stone Poneys feat. Linda Ronstadt

23. "Tomorrow," Strawberry Alarm Clock

27. "We're a Winner," The Impressions
28. "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," Otis Redding

31. "Hello Goodbye," The Beatles
32. "Words," Bee Gees

34. "I Second That Emotion," Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
35. "You," Marvin Gaye
36. "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You," Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
37. "Simon Says," 1910 Fruitgum Co.
38. "Everything That Touches You," The Association

42. "Monterey," Eric Burdon & The Animals
43. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," Gladys Knight & The Pips
44. "I Thank You," Sam & Dave

46. "Walk Away Renee," Four Tops

48. "There Is," The Dells

53. "Sunshine of Your Love," Cream
54. "Mission: Impossible," Lalo Schifrin

63. "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)," The First Edition
64. "She's a Rainbow," The Rolling Stones

66. "La-La Means I Love You," The Delfonics

68. "The End of Our Road," Gladys Knight & The Pips

72. "Dance to the Music," Sly & The Family Stone

76. "Too Much Talk," Paul Revere & The Raiders feat. Mark Lindsay

103. "Nights in White Satin," The Moody Blues

Leaving the chart:

• "Boogaloo Down Broadway," The Fantastic Johnny C
• "Daydream Believer," The Monkees
• "Honey Chile," Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
• "Skinny Legs and All," Joe Tex
• "Who Will Answer?," Ed Ames

New on the chart:

"Too Much Talk," Paul Revere & The Raiders feat. Mark Lindsay

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#19 US)

"The End of Our Road," Gladys Knight & The Pips

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#15 US; #5 R&B)

"Dance to the Music," Sly & The Family Stone

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#8 US; #9 R&B; #7 UK; #223 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)

"Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)," The First Edition

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#5 US)


Bubbling Under:

"Nights in White Satin," The Moody Blues

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(#103 US; #19 UK; Reissued in 1972, reaching #2 US, #37 AC, #9 UK)


And new on the boob tube:

• Mission: Impossible, "The Counterfeiter"
• The Monkees, "The Devil and Peter Tork" *
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Season 1, episode 3
• The Rat Patrol, "The Touch-and-Go Raid" *
• Batman, "The Great Train Robbery"
• Ironside, "The Challenge"
• That Girl, "He and She and He"
• Tarzan, "Trek to Terror"
• Star Trek, "Return to Tomorrow"
• Get Smart, "Don't Look Back"

* To be reviewed at a later date.

_______

 

[Christopher]

Mission: Impossible
"The Condemned"
Originally aired January 28, 1968

This was one of the episodes remade/rewritten for the 1988 revival series. They were originally going to be straight remakes due to the '88 writers' strike -- that's the only reason the revival got commissioned in the first place -- but the strike was resolved soon enough that the scripts could be rewritten into semi-new adventures. "The Condemned" was rewritten so that Jim's old friend who was arrested was Barney himself, who had a strained relationship with his son, team member Grant (Phil Morris).

Nevertheless, I wasn't expecting an ending that was so utterly devoid of any literal exposition about the nature of Number One and the Village.

I'm surprised you could've gotten through the previous 16 episodes and still expect to get any kind of answers at the end. That was never what The Prisoner was about.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Dressed in funky purple and yellow costumes with decorative chains adorning them--the ladies with partially bare midriffs that expose no navel--the group uses their established hit, "Up, Up and Away," as a medley lead-in to their brand-new single, "Carpet Man":

This is a really nice song. I wish I could hear it, but I saw a Rolling Stones tribute band last night. Just kidding, I'm not quite deaf. This song is pretty much forgotten, I'm afraid, but a very nice little poem.

They also perform "Shake Your Tambourine," which is a little less sunshine pop and a little more funk:

This one is more generic, though.

Aren't they always "off-book"? The Secretary's gonna disavow them one way or the other, right?

I was about to say. Which also raises ominous questions about abuse of power.

TOS-guesting Marianna Hill as Louisa Rojas.

Ooh, nice.

He drove that car a little too well considering that there was no monitor for first-person perspective.

Perhaps Barney has access to Bat-Tech. Or maybe his other name is Lucius Fox.

Interesting that they managed to get Tom Smothers while he was co-hosting a comedy/variety show on a rival network.

Coincidentally, he was in the third-season episode I saw yesterday.

Morgul shows up in the Joke Wall.

Hah. I don't remember that.

I developed a fondness for the guy watching Season 1 of 12 O'Clock High. Alas, his character Hickman isn't nearly as endearing as General Savage.

Did you ever watch Kung Fu: The Legend Continues?

...and the waiter calls Donald a hippie for ordering a cheeseburger.

I'm appreciative that nobody spoiled me on that surprise appearance.

I forgot. Actually, I was hoping to re-watch this one on that page you sent me before you reviewed it, but alas.....

Well...I was suitably warned. Nevertheless, I wasn't expecting an ending that was so utterly devoid of any literal exposition about the nature of Number One and the Village. And yeah, I guess they did move the Village, because now it's somewhere in England, a casual drive away from London.

Yeah, when I originally watched the show back in the 70s, approximately age 16, I was not too pleased with the last two episodes. Keep in mind that I was (and am) a lover of surrealistic storytelling, and these were the days of Steve Englehart and Steve Gerber and Jim Starlin and the like, but, as a then-budding writer, I also felt the importance of consistency in concept and tone-- those two episodes would have been a good finale to a completely different show, but did not serve The Prisoner well.

and the first thing that the boy does with it is to rather disturbingly tease Cheeta with shots that appear to miss...only it turns out that one of them didn't, and Cheeta spends most of the episode running away from Jai and running into a variety of dangerous animals (including a bullying fellow chimp) while nursing a leg wound...! These sequences made me genuinely sad.

Wow, I don't blame you. This is an unusually serious scenario for this show.

"Too Much Talk," Paul Revere & The Raiders feat. Mark Lindsay

This is an excellent song that, unfortunately, does not get noticed as much as "Indian Reservation," or even some of their earlier hits.

"The End of Our Road," Gladys Knight & The Pips

Okay. Catchy.

"Dance to the Music," Sly & The Family Stone

This is pretty good, but, oddly, I think I would have placed it about five years later if asked.

"Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)," The First Edition

I really like this one, but I don't think I ever realized it was The First Edition.

"Nights in White Satin," The Moody Blues

Ahh, Moody Blues. 'nuff said. Well, there are a couple of Moody Blues songs that I personally like better, but this is definitely their stone-cold classic.

• Tarzan, "Trek to Terror"
• Star Trek, "Return to Tomorrow"

Star Trek To Terror. JJ's next movie?

 

[The Old Mixer]

This song is pretty much forgotten, I'm afraid, but a very nice little poem.

Not enough to get me to dig deeper chart position-wise for more 5th Dimension material, alas.

I was about to say. Which also raises ominous questions about abuse of power.

What power? They're basically highly skilled independent operatives who almost exclusively contract themselves to the government. When they're doing an official (but still off-book) mission, they might occasionally get a bit of help in the form of a contact in a position of authority like the local secretary of state.

Did you ever watch Kung Fu: The Legend Continues?

For a short spell, but I didn't remember first-hand that he was in it (though I have read that).

I forgot.

That much I was able to find on YouTube after watching the episode....

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

There's a reprise later in the episode that's rather darkly humorous (at the end of this clip):

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(I neglected to note that they used the same cylindrical-control-room-that-becomes-a-rocket set as the lighthouse from a couple episodes back.)

Yeah, when I originally watched the show back in the 70s, approximately age 16, I was not too pleased with the last two episodes. Keep in mind that I was (and am) a lover of surrealistic storytelling, and these were the days of Steve Englehart and Steve Gerber and Jim Starlin and the like, but, as a then-budding writer, I also felt the importance of consistency in concept and tone-- those two episodes would have been a good finale to a completely different show, but did not serve The Prisoner well.

Exactly. This was not the logical conclusion to the episodes that we'd seen previously. McGoohan went into the series without a plan for ending it, was rushed to come up with that ending, and it shows. Allegory in genre fiction is usually presented in a setting that has its own literal reality, however bizarre or exaggerated. I'd previously noted how in the Western episode, they'd gone out of their way to give us exposition about the Village's latest mind-frakking technique against Six, and that at that point, I felt it wasn't really necessary because we got what was going on without the specifics. I was expecting some sort of literal revelations in-story, even if they raised more questions that remained enigmas. This episode came off as a hallucinatory experience, and that's how two continuations of the series in other media chose to interpret it.

Wow, I don't blame you. This is an unusually serious scenario for this show.

It was like watching Snoopy, Come Home when I was a kid, but Charlie Brown shot Snoopy! Well, at least they gave Cheeta a substantial role for once.

This is an excellent song that, unfortunately, does not get noticed as much as "Indian Reservation," or even some of their earlier hits.

Okay. Catchy.

Both of these are going to need more listens in the weekly playlist to make much of an impression on me. The Raiders song has a nice fuzzy guitar riff; the Pips song sounds like a deliberate knock-off of their version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". Neither is threatening to knock "La-La Means I Love You" out of my head...never mind "Dance to the Music"!

This is pretty good, but, oddly, I think I would have placed it about five years later if asked.

In other words, they sound ahead of their time. Psychedelic soul is upon us! Multiple sources cite Sly & the Family Stone as being hugely influential in the development of funk and soul in the coming decade. For a good time, "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" was the first song in my 1970s playlist, later my 1970 playlist when I expanded so much that I started organizing into individual years. I thought that was perfect, because it sounded like it could just as easily have been an end-of-decade song, it so prophesied the sound of the coming years. I dug deeper into their singles than for most acts in my collection, but their next Top 40 single (their first of three #1's) won't be coming to us until late this year. They have six songs on the Rolling Stone list.

I really like this one, but I don't think I ever realized it was The First Edition.

It has a nicely trippy vibe in its own right, but it's really a criticism of psychedelia dressed as psychedelia, which casts it in a slightly negative light for me.

Ahh, Moody Blues. 'nuff said. Well, there are a couple of Moody Blues songs that I personally like better, but this is definitely their stone-cold classic.

Now this one would understandably be associated with about five years later, given the circumstances of its eventual success. This and "Dance to the Music" are this week's heavyweights.

Recorded Casablanca last night, to be viewed with attention at a later date. Had it on low in the background while listening to music and working on my posts and was reminded of another bit that I already knew without even hearing the line: "We'll always have Paris." And somehow, I knew that flashbacks to a romance with an old flame were a Casablanca thing, hence associating the Rat Patrol episode with the film. (I also recently watched The Manchurian Candidate as a bit of 55th anniversary business, and that film used the same device.) In the interest of full disclosure, I remember having Casablanca on in the background when there was a high-profile airing in the early '80s...probably for its 40th anniversary. I'm sure that I didn't watch it with attention at the time, but I may have picked up a bit there.

ETA: This (one of the cable channels I've been keeping an eye on for anniversary viewing movie business) is playing How I Won the War on the 13th. I've never seen it, at least not in full. Figure I'll give it a spin as belated 50th anniversary viewing.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

51st Anniversary Viewing

_______

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for 51 years ago last week:

1. "I'm a Believer," The Monkees
2. "Georgy Girl," The Seekers
3. "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron," The Royal Guardsmen
4. "Tell It Like It Is," Aaron Neville
5. "Kind of a Drag," The Buckinghams
6. "Words of Love," The Mamas & The Papas
7. "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," The Blues Magoos
8. "98.6," Keith
9. "Good Thing," Paul Revere & The Raiders
10. "Standing in the Shadows of Love," Four Tops
11. "Ruby Tuesday," The Rolling Stones
12. "Nashville Cats," The Lovin' Spoonful
13. "Green, Green Grass of Home," Tom Jones

15. "Knight in Rusty Armour," Peter & Gordon
16. "The Beat Goes On," Sonny & Cher
17. "Music to Watch Girls By," The Bob Crewe Generation
18. "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)," The Electric Prunes
19. "Colour My World," Petula Clark
20. "Wild Thing," Senator Bobby feat. Bill Minkin
21. "Tell It to the Rain," The Four Seasons
22. "Sugar Town," Nancy Sinatra
23. "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye," The Casinos

26. "Gimme Some Lovin'," The Spencer Davis Group
27. "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone," The Supremes
28. "I've Passed This Way Before," Jimmy Ruffin
29. "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," Cannonball Adderley

34. "Pretty Ballerina," The Left Banke
35. "It Takes Two," Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston
36. "Go Where You Wanna Go," The 5th Dimension

39. "Try a Little Tenderness," Otis Redding
40. "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone," The Monkees
41. "Pushin' Too Hard," The Seeds

44. "Winchester Cathedral," The New Vaudeville Band

47. "Single Girl," Sandy Posey

54. "You Got to Me," Neil Diamond

56. "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game," The Marvelettes

59. "Let's Spend the Night Together," The Rolling Stones

61. "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," The Byrds

63. "I've Been Lonely Too Long," The Young Rascals

70. "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)," Buffalo Springfield

81. "Baby I Need Your Lovin'," Johnny Rivers
82. "Sock It to Me, Baby!," Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels

94. "California Nights," Lesley Gore

Leaving the chart:

• "Mellow Yellow," Donovan
• "Talk Talk," The Music Machine
• "That's Life," Frank Sinatra

_______

The Rat Patrol
"The B Negative Raid"
Originally aired January 30, 1967

Far behind enemy lines, Moffitt is seriously wounded and Troy can find only one possible donor with the same rare blood type—an American deserter being held in Hauptmann Dietrich's camp.

Guesting as the deserter, Corporal Pennell, is--Fabian!?! Are you frakking kidding me? Oh, why did I have to go and check IMDb? Does this mean I have to do a musical career retrospective for...Fabian?! I totally avoided guys like him in my collection.

After sneaking into the German camp, Troy goes straight to Dietrich for help...with an automatic rifle, of course. When Dietrich leaves the tent, it's the desert set; when Troy and Hitch leave the same tent moments later, it's a location.

Ultimately, Pennell chooses to do the right thing and the Patrol promise not to finger him as a deserter, just somebody who lost his unit.

Oh what the hell, I'm morbidly curious to sample his wares. Submitted for your judgment, the complete Top 20 singles of...[shudder]Fabian.[/shudder]

"Turn Me Loose"

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(Charted Mar. 30, 1959; #9 US)

"Tiger"

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(Charted June 15, 1959; #3 US; #15 R&B; Seriously, they let this guy on the R&B chart?)

"Hound Dog Man"

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(Charted Nov. 16, 1959; #9 US)

"This Friendly World"

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(B-side to "Hound Dog Man"; charted Nov. 23, 1959; #12 US)

Well, that wasn't quite as bad as I feared it'd be. Sort of Movie Elvis-lite, if two qualifiers are enough to separate this guy from the King of Rock 'n' Roll. But the show definitely needs to get some cooler musical guests. (Not that he sings in the episode...at least not in the syndication cut.)

_______

The Fugitive
"The Breaking of the Habit"
Originally aired January 31, 1967

After fleeing a police roadblock where he gets shot in the leg, Kimble hops on a truck headed toward Sacramento. He once again meets up with Sister Veronica (from the two-part episode Angels Travel On Lonely Roads of Season 1), who is now the principal of the St. Mary Magdalene School for girls. Kimble asks the nun to drive him to Tarlton, where the one-armed man supposedly works. Sister Veronica, who is suffering from a brain tumor, learns that a delinquent student has run away and is torn between driving after the girl or staying to help Kimble. Things get more complicated when Marie, a "bad girl" student, sees Kimble and calls the police.

Guest Stars: Eileen Heckart as Sister Veronica, Antoinette Bower as Sister Angelica, Heather North as Marie Dormond.

It's hard to invest in Sister Veronica's dilemma when the delinquent student, Victoria, looks plenty old enough to be making her own life choices. The actress, Adrienne Hayes, was 29 at the time, and comes off here as more of a sophisticated young lady than a J.D. What's more, it looks like she was the one wearing the habit in a 1966 episode of 12 O'Clock High!

Sister Veronica drops a James Bond reference.

The OAM only appears in a photograph. Gerard is not in this episode (though he's always credited).

_______


"Rain, Snow and Rice"
Originally aired February 2, 1967

At the Baumans' wedding in Connecticut, a snowstorm traps Ann, Don, and their friends at the hotel, but only two rooms are available, and Ann has no intention of sharing a bed with Donald.

Well, at least here they're getting more explicit about the "saving themselves for marriage" angle. The really prudish sign o' the times bit of business is that sex is never mentioned, even as being something that's off the table...it's just hanging there as the understood thing that men and women sleeping together scandalously implies.

Continuity check: Jerry's getting married to a blonde named Margie...which is the name of the secretary who expressed an interest in Jerry in "These Boots Weren't Made for Walking," so presumably the same character, but played here by a different actress. I sense a retcon coming on, since his wife in Season 2+ is played by still another actress and named Ruth. That, or Jerry was a horribly bad catch for Ruth.

Ann's parents assume from what the answering service told them that Ann's eloping with Donald, which is why they go up to the hotel. Donald spends the night on a love seat, but moves to the bed after Ann gets up in the morning, which is when the Maries arrive. The episode doesn't play out the explanation, just the initial awkwardness of finding the couple together in the room and assuming the worst.

"Oh, Donald" count: 2
"Oh, Daddy" count: 0
"Oh, Margie" count: 1

_______

The Monkees will return as 51st anniversary business next week.

_______

 

[RJDiogenes]

What power? They're basically highly skilled independent operatives who almost exclusively contract themselves to the government. When they're doing an official (but still off-book) mission, they might occasionally get a bit of help in the form of a contact in a position of authority like the local secretary of state.

The power to perform these game-changing missions for personal reasons.

For a short spell, but I didn't remember first-hand that he was in it (though I have read that).

It's an enjoyable show with a good cast. Certainly nothing like the quality of the original, but pleasant enough if you like David Carradine and Caine.

Exactly. This was not the logical conclusion to the episodes that we'd seen previously. McGoohan went into the series without a plan for ending it, was rushed to come up with that ending, and it shows. Allegory in genre fiction is usually presented in a setting that has its own literal reality, however bizarre or exaggerated. I'd previously noted how in the Western episode, they'd gone out of their way to give us exposition about the Village's latest mind-frakking technique against Six, and that at that point, I felt it wasn't really necessary because we got what was going on without the specifics. I was expecting some sort of literal revelations in-story, even if they raised more questions that remained enigmas. This episode came off as a hallucinatory experience, and that's how two continuations of the series in other media chose to interpret it.

Yeah, what else could they do, really?

It was like watching Snoopy, Come Home when I was a kid, but Charlie Brown shot Snoopy!

Ouch. Or if that kid from the Christmas movie really shot his own eye out.

In other words, they sound ahead of their time.

True.

It has a nicely trippy vibe in its own right, but it's really a criticism of psychedelia dressed as psychedelia, which casts it in a slightly negative light for me.

Well, it's an anti-drug song, I guess. But it's not the only one out there. "Mama Told Me Not To Come" springs to mind.

Now this one would understandably be associated with about five years later, given the circumstances of its eventual success.

True. My associational memories are of about five years later, but with the awareness of it being an older song.

Recorded Casablanca last night, to be viewed with attention at a later date. Had it on low in the background while listening to music and working on my posts and was reminded of another bit that I already knew without even hearing the line: "We'll always have Paris."

Another one came up on Saturday when I was talking to my Sister: "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow...."

ETA: This (one of the cable channels I've been keeping an eye on for anniversary viewing movie business) is playing How I Won the War on the 13th. I've never seen it, at least not in full. Figure I'll give it a spin as belated 50th anniversary viewing.

There's one I've never seen.

Oh what the hell, I'm morbidly curious to sample his wares. Submitted for your judgment, the complete Top 20 singles of...[shudder]Fabian.[/shudder]

Well, that wasn't quite as bad as I feared it'd be. Sort of Movie Elvis-lite, if two qualifiers are enough to separate this guy from the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

I was going to say, basically generic 50s. "Tiger" is making me think of Ed Sullivan, though. Was he on there recently singing that, or was it just something similar?

It's hard to invest in Sister Veronica's dilemma when the delinquent student, Victoria, looks plenty old enough to be making her own life choices. The actress, Adrienne Hayes, was 29 at the time, and comes off here as more of a sophisticated young lady than a J.D.

Kids grew up fast in those days.

The really prudish sign o' the times bit of business is that sex is never mentioned, even as being something that's off the table...it's just hanging there as the understood thing that men and women sleeping together scandalously implies.

Or as the thing you're not supposed to even know about until indoctrinated into the world of marriage!

 

[The Old Mixer]

The power to perform these game-changing missions for personal reasons.

And to fool people with really horrible accents.

Ouch. Or if that kid from the Christmas movie really shot his own eye out.

Only if his eye spent most of the next hour sadly limping away from him.

Well, it's an anti-drug song, I guess. But it's not the only one out there. "Mama Told Me Not To Come" springs to mind.

I'd have to look at the lyrics for that one, but the First Edition song strikes more as making fun of the whole scene from an outsider's perspective.

"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow...."

That one I didn't know.

"Tiger" is making me think of Ed Sullivan, though. Was he on there recently singing that, or was it just something similar?

Possibly...Decades is approaching the end of its second run-through of their Sullivan package, and lately I've only been checking the schedule for ones from a certain period that I wanted to record for future viewing, not watching regularly.

_______

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for 55 years ago last week:

1. "Walk Right In," The Rooftop Singers

3. "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes," Bobby Vee

5. "Loop De Loop," Johnny Thunder
6. "It's Up to You," Rick Nelson
7. "Up on the Roof," The Drifters
8. "Tell Him," The Exciters
9. "Two Lovers," Mary Wells

11. "You've Really Got a Hold on Me," The Miracles
12. "Ruby Baby," Dion

15. "Walk Like a Man," The Four Seasons

17. "Telstar," The Tornadoes

19. "Rhythm of the Rain," The Cascades

21. "Don't Make Me Over," Dionne Warwick
22. "Hotel Happiness," Brook Benton

24. "Everybody Loves a Lover," The Shirelles

26. "Little Town Flirt," Del Shannon
27. "He's Sure the Boy I Love," The Crystals

29. "Limbo Rock," Chubby Checker
30. "You're the Reason I'm Living," Bobby Darin

35. "Wild Weekend," The Rebels
36. "Mama Didn't Lie," Jan Bradley
37. "Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah," Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans
38. "Send Me Some Lovin'," Sam Cooke
39. "Bobby's Girl," Marcie Blane
40. "Call on Me," Bobby Bland

43. "Big Girls Don't Cry," The Four Seasons

51. "Return to Sender," Elvis Presley

56. "You Are My Sunshine," Ray Charles

63. "I Wanna Be Around," Tony Bennett

65. "The End of the World," Skeeter Davis

70. "Hitch Hike," Marvin Gaye

73. "Greenback Dollar," The Kingston Trio

82. "Let's Turkey Trot," Little Eva

85. "Alice In Wonderland," Neil Sedaka


Leaving the chart:

• "Chains," The Cookies
• "Let's Go (Pony)," The Routers
• "The Lonely Bull (El Solo Torro)," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
• "Release Me," Esther Phillips

_______

12 O'Clock High
"The Jones Boys"
Originally aired December 6, 1965

A black-marketeer (Burt Reynolds) pressures a pilot (Andrew Prine) who feels responsible for losing a plane and a co-pilot.

Looks like H&I just skipped another episode ("We're Not Coming Back," Nov. 29, 1965).

The episode is titled after Prine's character and his protective older brother, a sergeant played by Bruce Dern who helped put his younger brother through school. Special guest star Mark Richman plays a colonel in charge of supply who's butting heads with Gallagher over shortages.

Burt's playing the same character as in his previous appearance, Sgt. Chapman, though here he factors more heavily into the story. This is the show repeating itself somewhat, with Chapman scheming to have a bomber land in a neutral country to escape being caught. I guess you could say that he's a real bandit....



I think this is the debut of Gallagher's personal P-51...a step backward into Rat Patrol-style dumb action/adventure territory. Definitely gotta roll my eyes some when "Ramrod" takes on a squadron of German fighters without even a wingman.



_______

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Batman
"The Great Escape"
Originally aired February 1, 1968
Featuring an uncredited cameo by Jerry Mathers.
Shame has a new posse, and I guess we're not supposed to notice.

The original posse were no more significant that the usual henchmen of other villains--all never making more than two appearances. This time around, Shame's crew are more personally tied to him, while the utterly racist characters F.R.E.D. and Chief Standing Pat were given special attention.

As mentioned in another thread, this episode is only noteworthy for casting the late Barry Dennen as F.R.E.D.; Dennen once dated and helped launch the career of Barbra Streisand.

This one gives us a pseudo-cliffhanger, with Batgirl being captured but not placed in any specific peril.

...but she certainly put the series in peril...

 

[The Old Mixer]

...but she certainly put the series in peril...

You're blaming the symptom for the disease.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

"Dance to the Music," Sly & The Family Stone

Like an anvil dropped from a rooftop, this song was a loud, forceful entry into American music, completely unlike the sounds coming from Stax, Motown, and other labels producing any kind of African American-aligned music. Adding a non-traditional, funky guitar sound would be a key influence on the instrumentation heard on endless 70s records, including groups as different from Sly's as the Bee Gees.

"Nights in White Satin," The Moody Blues
(#103 US; #19 UK; Reissued in 1972, reaching #2 US, #37 AC, #9 UK)

One of the great songs of the era, from a wonderfully innovative album (Days of Future Passed). The Moody Blues were their own universe of music no one would even come close to until the emergence of E.L.O. a few years later.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

You're blaming the symptom for the disease.

Batgirl was a major plan/series shift---that's more than a mere symptom.