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50th Anniversary Viewing
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Mission: Impossible
"The Mercenaries"
Originally aired October 27, 1968
Wiki said:
The IMF travel to Africa to stop a gold-hungry mercenary (Pernell Roberts) and end his reign of terror.
Also guesting Skip Homeier as Major Gruner and Vic Tayback as Sgt. Gorte. I've definitely seen this one before...it must have been a standalone viewing on Me or Decades.
The eight-track in the reused footage of Jim in a station wagon said:
This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.
Rollin answers an ad to become one of Col. Krim (Pernell Roberts)'s mercs, with a background for having been involved in a gold heist that whets Krim's appetite to learn where the plunder is stashed. Jim and Cin play arms smugglers posing as missionaries who drop by to sell their wares to Krim. Cin engages in a seduction game with Krim that gives her "jealous husband" a chance to switch the magazine in Krim's gun with one that has a couple of blanks in it.
Meanwhile, Barney and Willy work some conveniently situated old tunnels to get under Krim's gold vault; Jim leaves a metal ball in the vault to tell them where the lowest point in the floor is so that they can drill up to it, use a heating device to melt the gold, causing it to drain down through their device, and empty it back into bar molds. Once that's done, their handy-dandy gadget sprays concrete over the residual molten gold and seals the hole! They winch the gold up out of the tunnel and plant it in a pre-determined location, which Rollin reveals upon interrogation, thus luring Krim with what he doesn't know is his own gold!
Once he thinks he has the gold, Krim "shoots" Rollin with the blank(s) that Jim planted. Krim, who wants the gold for himself instead of sharing it with his men per their usual agreement, enlists Jim and Cin to smuggle it out, and shoots the one merc who knows about the stash. So apparently the magazine still had some real bullets, thus introducing one hard-to-swallow bit of omniscient planning: that Jim could anticipate how many shots Krim would fire and at whom.
Freed by death to move on to a support role in the scheme, Rollin demonstrates that he's voices as well as faces, impersonating Krim and one of his guards in phone conversations to make Gruner suspicious that Krim plans to use Jim and Cin to smuggle out the group's gold. When Krim takes Gruner to the vault and they find it empty, Gruner kills Krim on the spot. Meanwhile, Rollin extracts Cin and they rendezvous with Jim's truck, which takes the team and Krim's gold out of the mercenaries' territory without a hitch, thanks to the colonel's orders for it to be allowed through uninspected (Rollin having intercepted Gruner's countermanding orders).
Overall, this was a fun episode and the show definitely bringing its A-game.
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The Avengers
"Noon Doomsday"
Originally aired October 28, 1968 (US); November 27, 1968 (UK)
Wiki said:
An injured Steed is being treated in a top secret hospital, with an assassin named Kafka, the former head of Murder International, on his trail. With the aid of an accomplice on the inside, Kafka penetrates the security guarding the hospital, and Tara finds herself in a race against time to save the helpless Steed.
This episode has Mother "occupying" Steed's pad. Tara is allowed to visit Steed at the top-secret, ultra-secure hospital facility, but is told that she has to be there at precisely a certain time, without a half-second's wiggle room, to take advantage in a lowering of the hospital's security, which consists of an electrified fence and a minefield.
The person on the inside is slowly killing everyone else on the grounds of the remote facility, while Kafka's two men wait impatiently at an abandoned train station for several seemingly interminable scenes. Steed's in a wheelchair with a busted leg, and once the one security guy is taken out, everyone else there is unarmed.
And once Kafka arrives, it turns out that the way through all that uber-tight security that Mother's so proud of is...over it, with a common helicopter. At times like this, the amateur-league spycraft takes me completely out of the show.
The situation comes down to Tara having to take on all three assailants, though the patient with the worst injuries helps from a window, and ultimately Steed hobbles out to take down Kafka with a harpoon-firing crutch.
Given the times, I have to imagine that there probably wasn't any continuity going on with an early episode, but "Murder International" seems like an terrible name for the show to waste on a background detail.
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Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 2, episode 7
Originally aired October 28, 1968
The Wiki list of guest appearances said:
Bill Dana, Jimmy Dean, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Lena Horne, Marcel Marceau, Sonny Tufts, Flip Wilson
The episode includes what looks like an actual Breck Shampoo commercial, done with the regulars on the set. I couldn't find a clip of that, but I did find a boatload of them from other parts of this episode.
The intro and cocktail party:
Note Arte Johnson was doing Yakov Smirnoff before Yakov Smirnoff!
In anticipation of the presidential election,
the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate goes to the Electoral College.
Among other gags, Marceau comes out in his mime make-up holding a big daisy to do Henry Gibson's poetry bit, but doesn't say anything.
They claim that there's no Mod, Mod World this week, but then proceed to do a segment about college:
Yes, they're getting in some more of Jack Riley's Johnson impersonation this episode while they still have a chance.
More Marceau, including a Joke Wall segment:
A Laugh-In Poll about gun legislation.
In the spirit of the season, the episode features some Halloween bits, including trick-or-treat gags and having witches do the news segment song...as well as a musical number about the stores rolling out Christmas too early!
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"Secret Ballot"
Originally aired October 31, 1968
Wiki said:
Ann gets excited about voting in her first presidential election, learns all she can about the system, but won't tell her father who she's voting for since it's a secret ballot.
The teaser includes a really brief, uncredited cameo by Laverne-to-be Penny Marshall as a librarian:
A good part of the episode takes place on Halloween, which makes me wish I'd fit it in on Wednesday instead of saving it for Thursday. Donald briefly appears in costume as a gag, wearing a pointy hat and sporting blacked-out front teeth, following which he and Ann go to the Marie home in Brewster for the night.
Ann is of course doing the "obnoxiously overprepared" bit. In the spirit of keeping the episode nonpartisan, she won't even tell anybody whether she registered as a Democrat or Republican; and Mr. Marie's upset that she's not automatically going with the family's traditional party, though he doesn't drop so much as a hint as to which party that is.
Shades of Charlie Brown, Don models for the Maries' jack o' lantern, though they don't draw on the back of his head. The Marie home gets "tricked" after some kids fail to get their treats, having been accidentally neglected in the middle of an argument between Ann and her father.
When Ann and Donald get back to New York, Ann realizes that she forgot her purse, so they have to go back to Brewster only to find that her parents aren't home. Ann's attempt to get in her old bedroom window results in her getting stuck in a tree, so Donald goes off to borrow a ladder from the fire department. Returning home to find Ann in the tree, Mr. Marie refers to her as "Miss Independence," which was the early working title of the show!
Once that situation is resolved, the episode bends over backwards once again as Ann declares that she's "voting for the same man, whoever it is, that Daddy's voting for". If he's always voted by party line according to family tradition, you'd think she'd know who he was voting for. I suppose you could interpret it as Ann still trying to keep her decision "secret".
The coda finds Ann having just voted, only to fret over the possibility that she and Donald may have chosen opposite candidates, thus cancelling out each other's votes.
"Oh, Donald" count:
5
"Oh, Daddy" count:
1
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Ironside
"I, the People"
Originally aired October 31, 1968
Wiki said:
Ironside goes through a list of suspects to find out who's been sending death threats to a TV host.
They might have mentioned that the TV host, Ross Howard, is played by Milton Berle. Unclie Miltie also co-wrote the episode. It's interesting to see such a Morton Downey Jr./Rush Limbaugh-type figure being depicted in this era. Who would have been the counterparts of such controversial talk show hosts in 1968?
Howard is running for the Senate, which is why he requires protection from the people who routinely write him hate mail, one of whom seems to now be making attempts on his life.
The episode opens with Howard accusing Maharishi Rahbu (Abrahm Sofaer) of being a fraud. In contrast to the Maharashi Mahesh Yogi's alleged fraternization with disciples, Howard digs up that the Maharishi is never seen with women and observes that such behavior is "a little q****, isn't it"? I'm surprised that they went there in this era!
Howard describes himself as being neither Left nor Right, but a "registered neutral"...and indeed, in an apparent show of this neutrality, one scene has him burning a textbook on his program because it characterizes Native Americans as savages and marginalizes African Americans. Howard is also portrayed as being a person who cares about people around him like his backstage staff and household servants.
Among the suspects is Capt. Finch (George Murdock), a short-tempered police detective whom Howard's been going after on his show based on allegations of police brutality and an old domestic dispute.
Meanwhile, Howard's drunk wife, Norma (Julie Adams), who feels trapped in her marriage and has been trying for years to get her husband to agree to a divorce, forces him to finally sign the papers by blackmailing him with a detail about his service record that would jeopardize his campaign. Shortly afterward, she gets blown up by a car bomb that was apparently meant for him.
In the climax, Ironside goes on Howard's show and exposes him as his wife's killer, the rest of the threats against him having been of his own making to give him an alibi.
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Star Trek
"Day of the Dove"
Originally aired November 1, 1968
Stardate 5630.3
H&I said:
When the Enterprise brings aboard Klingon prisoners, an alien entity pits both sides against each other in an ever-escalating struggle.
See my post here.
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Adam-12
"Log 71: I Feel Like a Fool, Malloy"
Originally aired November 2, 1968
Wiki said:
In an episode where Reed learns to keep his wits under control, the officers deal with a loud noise complaint where an elderly woman refuses to answer, much less acknowledge, a teen-aged girl's desperate pleas for help after the woman learns she was at a house where loud party music is being played, and it leads to a tragic drowning of a 4-year-old girl in a backyard swimming pool.
This episode continues last week's theme a bit, with some patrol car banter about Reed choosing to spend his day off painting the bathroom with Jean.
Their first call is a 415 (disturbing the peace) at the "Sanctuary of Love," where a violent dispute has arisen between bongo player "Padma" (Charles Dierkop) and meditator "Krishna the Seeker" (Dennis Turner). Malloy tries some practical mediation, but this results in the two competitively declaring their love for each other before exchanging blows, which the officers quickly break up, following which Padma expresses his gratitude to Malloy:
Padma said:
Now I think for the first time in my life I can appreciate your role in society. Someone's gotta protect us from the rest of those...kooks!
Next is a 211 (robbery) at a backlot liquor store, which results in a brief foot chase of three young men who, it turns out, had only vandalized the store. Malloy dresses down the proprietor for having used a silent alarm for a non-robbery, pointing out that the kids could have gotten shot. Afterward Reed explains how he held his fire after figuring out that it hadn't been a hold-up based on the store owner's aggressive behavior.
Next is another 415, called in by an old woman over very loud music playing next door. In questioning the woman, it comes out that the babysitter who's playing the music had been frantically knocking on the woman's door a short time ago, but the woman had refused to answer. Malloy and Reed investigate to find that the child being babysat has fallen in the pool and the sitter can't swim. Reed dives in, pulls the child out, and gives her mouth-to-mouth until the ambulance arrives. The neighbor woman makes a show of support when she finds out what's going on. The episode ends with the officers uncertain of the child's fate.
Malloy said:
People die every day...ADW, hit and run, murder. Most of the time we're involved. Somehow you learn to live with it. But I'll tell you something...when it happens to a child, you never get used to it.
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Get Smart
"A Tale of Two Tails"
Originally aired November 2, 1968
Wiki said:
Max substitutes at the CONTROL spy school for a day, helping two new agents Agents 198 (Fred Willard) and 199 who are lacking in their tailing skills. As a good exercise, Max has the new agents tail 99, who is on her day off, as she completes errands and shops for the upcoming wedding. However, unbeknownst to Max, the Chief had assigned 99 to pick up components of a scientific formula, leading the rookie agents to think she is acting suspiciously. Of course 99 spots the rookies right away and assumes that they must be KAOS agents. There is also a funny scene between Max and the Chief involving the Cone of Silence. The title of the episode references Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities.
Even 99's hairdresser calls her by number and goes by a number herself!
99: Whatever gave you the idea of turning a comb into phone?
The Chief: Well, 99, what else am I gonna do with a comb?
The CONTROL classroom uses invisible chalk that you have to erase to see the writing.
Tailing 99, the agent trainees use a photo of the back of her head to identify her from behind.
Unaware that Max already has the trainees tailing 99, the Chief separately assigns them to follow 99 because she reported that a pair of KAOS agents was tailing her--actually the trainees themselves.
The Chief said:
KAOS knows what all our agents look like. Those CONTROL bubblegum cards we came out with last year backfired.
The Chief acknowledges in-story that the Cone of Silence has never worked properly...therefore he and Max resort to using the Secret Word File--a pair of card file boxes with single words written on each card--while needlessly sitting under the Cone.
99 comes to suspect that a man dressed as Santa in August is another KAOS agent tailing her, but it's really Max. The actual KAOS agent in the story is a Japanese operative who's taken the place of 99's contact at a Chinese laundry. They engage in some verbal gags revolving around L's and R's getting mixed up before a climactic duel between Max and the agent, fought with clothes irons.
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Hogan's Heroes
"Man's Best Friend Is Not His Dog"
Originally aired November 2, 1968
Wiki said:
Handing off a roll of film to the team’s contact would be much easier if LeBeau’s dog would tell them where he buried it.
The prisoners manage to con Schultz into letting them keep the dog around for the episode with a story about it being a valuable breed with a reward for its return.
The POWs shoot footage of some offscreen tanks while doing calesthenics, but Carter accidentally leaves the camera outside. After Schultz finds it, Klink tries to trick them into retrieving it, but they pretend they don't know whose it is.
Hogan is forced to slip the film into one of the dog's bones during a search, but the canine digs it back up at a fortuitous time and place, allowing Hogan to give the dog and its bone to the female Nazi official who's secretly his contact.
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Classic C&W that manages to be insulting to both men and women.
This was a borderline purchase for me, but it does have the weight of being an oft-referenced classic, bringing to mind in particular Hillary's controversial invocation of the song during the '92 presidential campaign.
TREK_GOD_1 said:
…too weak to save from that rocket to the sun...
RJDiogenes said:
Another forgotten non-classic.
I'm thinking that maybe I should have used the embedded text link for this one...it is pretty meh.
TREK_GOD_1 said:
Great version of the film's music; their take was unique to be sure, and memorable, much like their version of "Eleanor Rigby".
RJDiogenes said:
Remember what Squiggy said about instrumentals?
This is noteworthy for being the group's first Top 10 single since their breakout 1962 classic, "Green Onions" (#3 US; #1 R&B; #181 on
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time). None of their follow-up hits touch that one, but they're nevertheless enjoyable for the band's quirky, low-key style.
TREK_GOD_1 said:
I can take this in spaced apart doses. Now that I've listened to it again, I will revisit it in another 10 or 12 years!
RJDiogenes said:
A beautiful, timeless classic.
I absolutely love this song. It's one of those that I fondly remember hearing as a little kid on that station that my mom played in the car, and is therefore a more-than-welcome addition to the weekly playlist. I think that the
Rolling Stone list is being a little snobby in bestowing its honor specifically on Mitchell's recording. Collins's rendition was the one that put the song on the map.
I've really got to see this.
It's on YouTube, which is how I'm planning to watch it when I get to it.
The thing is, did the producers of this laughably scientifically illiterate show have any conception of the speed of light and that it takes time for signals to travel through space?
The idea that our TV broadcasts might eventually get picked up by aliens was out there in the era...I remember first hearing about it from my dad around the same time.
