The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[RJDiogenes]

"Funk #49," James Gang

The 70s are definitely here. I would have actually guessed about 72 for this one.

"Stand by Your Man," Candi Staton

It never gets any better....

"Out in the Country," Three Dog Night

I always enjoy Three Dog Night.

"For the Good Times," Ray Price

I forgot about this one. It's pretty nice.

"Still Water (Love)," Four Tops

I think I already forgot it.

"Lola," The Kinks

C-L-A-S-S-I-C classic.

I had to look up the lyrics to see it. I dunno, at this point, when the hippie movement proper wasn't a thing yet, it seems natural enough for a pacifist attitude to be phrased in terms of Christianity.

Oh, there was plenty of Christianity in Hippiedom. Jesus freaks were a real thing. But rather than the angry, hateful creature of fundamentalist lore, they saw him as a fellow Hippie, which is closer to how the character was portrayed in the Bible.

It's Sonny & Cher-mania!

But did they ever do a wacky movie?

tAnd speaking of Elvis...

Ah, that time Elvis played a crazy shuttle pilot on Star Trek.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing

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Love, American Style
"Love and the Mountain Cabin / Love and the Divorce Sale / Love and the Comedy Team"
Originally aired December 8, 1969

This was the eleventh episode aired; the YouTube video is numbered 9.

In "Love and the Mountain Cabin," Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Pfister (Peter Marshall and Leslie Parrish) are spending their honeymoon in the titular location, which she isn't too enthusiastic about. As they're settling in, Sheriff Bob O'Connors (Andy Devine) comes in with gun drawn, on the alert for an escaped convict who used to use the cabin as a hideout. Arnold is particularly interested to learn that $75,000 might be stashed in the place, and after the sheriff leaves, goes a little crazy trying to find it, to the further consternation of his nightie-clad bride. Finally he finds the box of loot behind a wall panel. He wants to keep it, of course, but when the sheriff comes in thinking they were trying to signal him with their flashlight, the missus quickly lets him know that they found it. But just as she's trying to resume regularly scheduled newlywed activities, Arnold gets the idea that the box wasn't the entire stash and there might be more.


In "Love and the Divorce Sale," photographer Biff Harrison (Andrew Prine--I always thought he'd make a good Peter Parker, and here he is with a camera) upsets his wife, Tippi (Lesley [Ann] Warren), when he tells her that she's gotten too heavy and, at 20, too old to continue to model for him. At the advice of their friends Pun Jab and Maxine (Jesse White and Jackie Joseph), a pair of older hippie types who run a head shop, she goes back to their pad to apologize, but he's more interested in his shoot with her replacement than her gesture, so she starts packing. That gets his attention, and they start discussing the terms of their divorce, eventually coming up with the idea of selling their possessions and splitting the money.

Biff: "I'll put an ad in the paper: 'Young couple going out of business.'"​

At the sale they bicker over what's for sale and for how much; but each clearly starts to have second thoughts when they tell the story of one of their prized possessions. Cut to after the sale, with nothing left in the pad but the brass bed that neither had the heart to sell...which becomes the site of their reconciliation.

I look forward to seeing Miss Warren in the coming season of Mission: Impossible.


In "Love and the Comedy Team," comedy writers Morey Fields and Joan Landers (Jack Carter and Ruta Lee) are trying to come up with a sketch that's due after her honeymoon. Joan's fiance, Frederick Miller (Regis Philbin) is afraid that it will interfere with their plans because they already had to bring Morey along on a previous trip. Then he and Joan get into a spat over what he considers to be funny, which isn't up to their professional standards.

Writing the sketch continues to be a distraction, including while working out the seating arrangements and at the wedding rehearsal. Joan confesses to Frederick that she's using working on the script to cover up her nerves. She decides to put the script aside until after the wedding, but Morey continues to fret over coming up with a punchline...finally blurting it out in the middle of the vows...which gets him a kiss from the bride ahead of the groom!

After the wedding, Morey shares the news that they've been asked at the last minute to come up with a different type of sketch, and he prepares to come with them to go back to the drawing board.

Joan has the same mother as Don Hollinger, Mabel Albertson.

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Hawaii Five-O
"The Devil and Mr. Frog"
Originally aired December 10, 1969

After a kidnapped boy escapes his captors, the boy's father enlists Five-O to recover his ransom money from the extortionists. McGarrett's only lead is from the boy: "a frog and the devil".

Young Scotty's (Geoffrey Thorpe) escape is enabled by the kidnappers' lair having an outhouse. During the pursuit, Mr. Frog falls off a cliff in the dark...remaining on dry land. Scotty's father, Mr. Gainham (Willia Zuckert), paid the ransom that the Devil left to collect that night. The Japanese farmer who found Scotty on the road helps McGarrett nail down the location of the hideout, where they find that Mr. Frog wasn't killed by the fall, but was shot afterward. Five-O zeroes in on Tot Kee (James Hong) as a figure likely to be used for laundering the ransom money, so Danny goes to fetch him...while the unmasked Devil, Gibbons (Frank Marth), is hiding in the room.

McGarrett holds a group session that includes three other potential launderers and let's them know that he's watching all of them. With the heat on, Tot plays hardball and offers Gibbons only 10% of the ransom amount for his services. Gibbons turns it down but, desperate for money to pay for the slip where he hides out on his boat, launders a small amount in an illegal craps game. The dockworker running the game quickly gets a visit from McGarrett. Tot also finds out about it and lures Gibbons away from his boat to give a couple of men a chance to try to find the loot...but Gibbons spots one of them on the deck from a distance and shoots him. Guess where he ends up bobbing face down?

Gibbons gets away with it because he was shooting a prowler, but Danno identifies the prowler as one of Tot's men, and looking into Gibbons, finds that he served time with Mr. Frog. He and McGarrett search the boat with a warrant, but can't find the money. They try having Gainham identify Gibbons's voice, but he can't, and assumes that they're just trying to placate him about getting his money back. But they let Gibbons know that he'll never be able to use the loot as long as they're watching him...and then make a show of doing just that, which includes Chin popping up on the boat in the frog mask.

Meanwhile, Tot has only marginally raised his offer. Gibbons makes another call asking for 25%, which Danny goes through some trouble to listen in on. Gibbons subsequently goes diving, losing Chin. McGarrett reasons that Gibbons wasn't talking to Tot the last time...and the only person who could use the money without having to hide it is Gainham. Five-O makes it to the exchange on a beach in time to catch Gibbons red-handed. An exchange of fire ensues and Gibbons ends up face-down on the beach...the surf lapping up to barely touch his body. So near, and yet so far...

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Dragnet 1970
"Bunco – $9,000"
Originally aired December 11, 1969

A vudevillian-turned-wino claims that he was bilked out of money he found on the street.

This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I work here. I carry a badge.

Thursday, July 10 (1969): Friday and Gannon, working the day watch out of Bunco Forgery Division, get a call from the above-described Charlie Feeney (Dave Willock), who's occasionally served as a police informant. He describes how he found nine $1,000 bills in the street. After he spent some of it, he was visited by a man claiming to be a private detective and that the money belonged to a gambler who lost it. Friday's tipped off that it was an inside job because the PI didn't ask about the missing bill, as he knew where it was. They talk to the proprietor of the club where Charlie broke one of the $1,000 bills. He points them to a patron named Bevo (Buddy Lester) who he has reason to believe was involved in whatever happened. They steer Bevo into giving them the name of the man who Feeney described as the PI, Paul Bakeman. They find that Bakeman's checked out of the hotel where he was staying under an alias and put out an APB for him.

The detectives find that Bakeman has a long record that includes having served time more than once. After he's picked up at an airport trying to spend one of the bills, Bakeman (Stanley Adams) says that he assumed Feeney had stolen the money. Feeney comes in and identifies him, and asks about his prospects for keeping the money, which Friday tries to dissuade him from. The next day, the detectives get a call from a Reverend Martin (Davis Roberts) about an elderly woman in his congregation who contributes to the mission and lost $9,000. After talking to him, they visit Mrs. Perriwinkle (Nydia Westman). She's more interested in chatting them up and sharing memories than in the fact that they recovered her money, which they manage to convince her to keep in a safe place like a bank rather than carry around. She indicates that she might just give it all to the mission.

On September 12th, trial was held in Department 184, Superior Court of the State of California, for the County of Los Angeles....The suspect was convicted on Section 487 (1) PC, grand theft, which is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison from one to ten years.

PAUL BAKEMAN
Now serving his term in the State Prison, San Quentin, California.

Charles Feeney and Frank Bevonna turned state's evidence, and all charges against them were dropped.

_______

Binghamton and Gruber as friends?

Had to look that one up.

The 70s are definitely here. I would have actually guessed about 72 for this one.

I assume that I knew this as well as many a hit single because it was played on classic rock radio...and that this and the James Gang's other well-known sub-Top 40 single likely enjoyed greater exposure after Joe Walsh became better known.

It never gets any better....

That this was a "Stand by Your Man" cover wasn't getting it a spot in my collection; that it was a soul cover tipped in its favor. Still, it hasn't popped for me.

I always enjoy Three Dog Night.

This is a very nice one. I'm sure I must have heard this on oldies radio, but not as often as some of their other hits.

I forgot about this one. It's pretty nice.

But would you buy it? I didn't. Music to knit sweaters by.

I think I already forgot it.

I can't remember how this one goes while I'm listening to it. Maybe that will change.

C-L-A-S-S-I-C classic.

Now I was familiar with the original first, but it has since become forever associated with...

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"Monster Mash"'s out-of-season chart revival apparently owes to the single having been rereleased in June 1970 for whatever reason.

Oh, there was plenty of Christianity in Hippiedom. Jesus freaks were a real thing. But rather than the angry, hateful creature of fundamentalist lore, they saw him as a fellow Hippie, which is closer to how the character was portrayed in the Bible.

And that's where Sonny was at, man.

But did they ever do a wacky movie?

I've never seen it, so I can't say how wacky it was...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Times_(film)
And OMG, it all comes together...when looking that up I read that Speedway was originally intended to star S&C, and was given to Elvis and Nancy Sinatra after Good Times flopped.

Interesting tidbit about Speedway...the name of Nancy Sinatra's character was Susan Jacks. And in case you didn't read the posts below the pic, Bill Bixby co-starred in it.

Anyway, wacky movies may not have been S&C's bag, but TV variety shows proved to be a gold mine for them...

 

[J.T.B.]

One of the pilots fakes a malfunction to land there deliberately, as the island is home to many exiles from President Jhakal's (Titos Vandis) country,

The fictional nation thing is fairly common, but instead of coming up with a fictional name or writing around it, they use the term "Jhakal's country" in such an awkward way and so frequently it becomes annoying.

Jhakal's plane is said to be a jet and makes jet noises, but the exterior shots show twin propellers--must be an acid/speed thing.

Yeah. It's a Convair 640, a turboprop (except for one shot in the air where it's an older Convair with piston engines), which could fly maybe 2000 miles, not enough to make San Francisco from Honolulu. No way was that thing flying long distances over water. I suspect the writers thought it would be a jet but they couldn't get one for the shoot.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The fictional nation thing is fairly common, but instead of coming up with a fictional name or writing around it, they use the term "Jhakal's country" in such an awkward way and so frequently it becomes annoying.

I noticed that, because I was waiting to make a note of the country's name.

Yeah. It's a Convair 640, a turboprop (except for one shot in the air where it's an older Convair with piston engines), which could fly maybe 2000 miles, not enough to make San Francisco from Honolulu. No way was that thing flying long distances over water. I suspect the writers thought it would be a jet but they couldn't get one for the shoot.

You'd think they could have used jet stock footage and faked close-ups of the plane on the ground by not having the engines in camera.

 

[RJDiogenes]

But just as she's trying to resume regularly scheduled newlywed activities, Arnold gets the idea that the box wasn't the entire stash and there might be more.

He'll end up losing it in the divorce settlement anyway.

a pair of older hippie types who run a head shop

Groovy. Do they actually say that, or is it just left to those in the know?

Cut to after the sale, with nothing left in the pad but the brass bed that neither had the heart to sell...which becomes the site of their reconciliation.

Was it the brass bed?

In "Love and the Comedy Team," comedy writers Morey Fields and Joan Landers (Jack Carter and Ruta Lee) are trying to come up with a sketch that's due after her honeymoon.

I remember this one. It was pretty funny. I think it was inspired by The Dick van Dyke Show.

"The Devil and Mr. Frog"

That's a cool title.

Guess where he ends up bobbing face down?

The drink claims another ne'er-do-well.

which includes Chin popping up on the boat in the frog mask.

Nice.

An exchange of fire ensues and Gibbons ends up face-down on the beach...the surf lapping up to barely touch his body. So near, and yet so far...

That's the Devil's Hell-- just out of reach of the drink.

She's more interested in chatting them up and sharing memories than in the fact that they recovered her money, which they manage to convince her to keep in a safe place like a bank rather than carry around.

"I don't trust them banks. The mattress was good enough for my pappy and it's good enough for me." Where does one get $1000 bills, anyway, and why?

This is a very nice one. I'm sure I must have heard this on oldies radio, but not as often as some of their other hits.

They have a few low-profile gems.

But would you buy it? I didn't. Music to knit sweaters by.

It actually does remind me of my Grandmother, and that would be my only reason to get it. Probably not, though.

Now I was familiar with the original first, but it has since become forever associated with...

"Monster Mash"'s out-of-season chart revival apparently owes to the single having been rereleased in June 1970 for whatever reason.

That's a little odd, but I always love that song.

And that's where Sonny was at, man.

I guess so, which I never realized. He did end up as a Right-Wing politician, though.

I've never seen it, so I can't say how wacky it was...

Well, son of a gun.

Anyway, wacky movies may not have been S&C's bag, but TV variety shows proved to be a gold mine for them...

I did watch their show when it was on.

 

[The Old Mixer]

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50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing

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Hawaii Five-O
"The Joker's Wild, Man, Wild!"
Originally aired December 17, 1969

The stakes are murderously high when a beach boy and a playboy vie for the attentions of a seductive heiress in a bizarre card game.

The team responds to the mysterious arson of a Jeep at an Army fort; a woman outside the gates briefly chats up McGarrett, playfully addresses him as "sergeant," and takes his picture...seeming more weird and sinister than flirty. We learn that this is the latest in a series of prank-style crimes.

The woman at the gate, heiress Jo Louise Mailer (Beverlee McKinsey), is running a game in which two competing suitors, Craig (Kaz Garas) and Billy (Lani Kai), are committing the crimes to score points. The crimes are drawn from a deck of cards that have the tasks written on them. Craig draws that he has to sink a boat, and is already on one, so into the drink he goes, voluntarily. Jo Louise is spotted taking pictures of the result, which gets McGarrett's Stevey Sense tingling. Five-O puts out a bulletin for her and she gets picked up. She toys with them under questioning, and then her father's lawyer (Philip Bolton) shows up to get her released, though she's not enthusiastic about it. From there they have her watched. She gets some thrill-seeking jollies driving recklessly to lose Kono.

Billy draws a kidnapping, so he nabs a wino whom he nicknames Stumbles (Eddie Firestone) with a lure. His car blows a tire with Stumbles in the trunk, so Billy enlists the wino's help in changing it, as Stumbles still thinks there's a job offer involved. Then Billy has him get back in the trunk. Billy turns in Stumbles, Jo Louise takes her picture and they let him go, putting Billy way ahead in the score. Craig then gets offered 500 points for KILL...and takes his car after Stumbles, who's in the process of leaving the dock.

Jo Louise's father (Jimmy Smith) turns up at 5OHQ to try to pull some weight on behalf of his little girl, but Steve won't take a check. Back at the dock, McGarrett catches Billy and Jo Louise taking off to go after Craig. Between Jo Louise's photos and the cards with the assignments on them, they have a good case against her, but McGarrett leaves the room, comes back, and in a mock-defeated matter lets her go. It turns out he noticed that last assignment's card and wants her to lead him to Craig to try to stop it.

Meanwhile, Craig hasn't just run down Stumbles, he's brought him to a beach house with the intent of shooting him in the pool...would that count as the drink? Going back there while being tailed via tracking device, Jo Louise and the now-reluctant Billy get into a fight, and he starts to see how cray cray she is. When Billy and Jo Louise get to the house, Craig is brandishing his gun but hasn't brought himself to shoot Stumbles...but when Craig sees his rival, Billy, he decides to go after him. A struggle over the gun ensues and Billy gets shot. Steve and Danno surround and apprehend Craig, while Jo Louise cries over Billy's body. Craig and Jo Louise each lament that "it was a game, just a crazy game". The episode ends on the note of Stumbles coming out of hiding after Steve and Danno have taken the pair away, and throwing his bottle into the surf.

The team tracks the crimes on the Giant Daylit Lucite Board, which is in Honolulu street map mode this week:


At one point Craig mockingly refers to Billy as "Superboy".

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Groovy. Do they actually say that, or is it just left to those in the know?

If you mean the head shop, there's a scene set in it, and they refer to it as such. It's said to be where the younger couple met.

Was it the brass bed?

I assume that it's always the brass bed.

Nice.

I considered a screen shot, but it plays better in motion.

Where does one get $1000 bills, anyway, and why?

Husband's pension, I think it was.

 

[J.T.B.]

Hawaii Five-O
"The Joker's Wild, Man, Wild!"
Originally aired December 17, 1969

December 17 1969 was also the day of my world premiere, about 11:00 pm Mountain time. But looking at the archive of my hometown newspaper, H50 was shown on Tuesday the 16th that week (KSL channel 5, Salt Lake City). They ran the movie Captain Newman M.D. on Wednesday. I assume that was a local decision but the reason is anybody's guess.

Later on the night of December 17th was the ratings-record-setting wedding of Tiny Tim and Miss Vicki on The Tonight Show.

 

[The Old Mixer]

December 17 1969 was also the day of my world premiere, about 11:00 pm Mountain time.

Congratulations! You were about a month and a third behind me.

But looking at the archive of my hometown newspaper, H50 was shown on Tuesday the 16th that week (KSL channel 5, Salt Lake City). They ran the movie Captain Newman M.D. on Wednesday. I assume that was a local decision but the reason is anybody's guess.

That's interesting, because CBS All Access has dates listed for the episodes that are a day earlier than those listed on Wiki and IMDb. I've been going with the dates from the latter sources. Wiki's television schedule page for the 1969-70 primetime season also lists the show as having aired at 10 p.m. Eastern on Wednesdays.

 

[J.T.B.]

Congratulations! You were about a month and a third behind me.

Thanks! I knew that because of various fruits and vegetables in this thread.

That's interesting, because CBS All Access has dates listed for the episodes that are a day earlier than those listed on Wiki and IMDb. I've been going with the dates from the latter sources. Wiki's television schedule page for the 1969-70 primetime season also lists the show as having aired at 10 p.m. Eastern on Wednesdays.

Huh. Sounds like a subject for further research... but probably not by me!

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing

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Love, American Style
"Love and the Positive Man / Love and the Other Love / Love and the Bachelor"
Originally aired December 22, 1969

This was the twelfth episode aired; the YouTube video is numbered 17.

In "Love and the Positive Man," Marvin Glassmire (Hamilton Camp) is reading books about the power of positive thinking in the hope that it can make him a bigger, more impressive man than he is; his mother (Ann Rutherford), whom he lives with, tries to dissuade him of this notion. The girl he's interested in is Sylvia (Marianne McAndrew), who towers over him. (A web search indicates that he was 5'2" and she's 5'9". They're probably pulling tricks in some shots to make the difference look even greater, in addition to using perspective camera angles.) Sylvia likes Marvin but isn't interested in dating him. Mrs. Glassmire seems interested in hooking him up with Brenda (Iris Rainer), the daughter of a friend...but he's not interested in her because she's "too short" for him.

Sylvia finally agrees to go out with Marvin. She's self-conscious about it and he has to stand on a box to kiss her goodnight. Sylvia's taller suitor, Roger (Michael Lane), later makes fun of the idea of her going on a date with Marvin. She agrees to another date and this time seems more comfortable with the difference, but still has her doubts regarding their height difference.

Cut rather abruptly to Sylvia and Marvin leaving on their honeymoon--seems like we missed a beat or two there. Mrs. Glassmire tries to console Brenda about how she'll find a man someday, and gives her one of Marvin's books.

At one point, Mrs. Glassmire makes a reference to Plastic Man.


In "Love and the Other Love," Mr. and Mrs. Kearn (Edward Andrews and That Mom, Rosemary De Camp) have come over to their daughter Pat's (Mary Ann Mobley) house as she and her husband, Rob (David Hedison), are supposed to take them to dinner for Mr. Kearn's birthday. But Rob's late coming home, having forgotten about the birthday dinner because he's in love with his new Italian sports car, which only seats two, and which he drives with a helmet. In the days that follow he continues to obsess over the car, maintaining it in his garage and not wanting to park it outdoors. Rob doesn't want Pat to drive it as she doesn't know how to drive a stick and would have to take lessons, but Mr. Kearn convinces him to let her drive it to save their marriage. Rob sets up a mockup in their living room for her to practice shifting in, with his feet serving as her pedals. On her first drive she takes off out of the garage and is gone for hours, so he calls the police. It turns out she beat his time to another town, and generally knows a lot more about the car than he thought she did.

I didn't find this segment very engaging. I'm not sure what make the car was, and we only see closeups in the garage. He said he had to get a used one because only ten people in the country owned one.


In "Love and the Bachelor," wealthy Jimmy Devlin (Brandon De Wilde), who's bringing a woman home to meet his mother (Ann Sothern), accuses Mrs. Devlin of sabotaging his previous relationships by feigning sickness when he brought women home. Mrs. Devlin seems tho think that she's been doing her son favors.

When Lila (Brenda Benet) comes over, Jimmy shows her the manor, telling her that part of Philadelphia Story was filmed there. As expected, Mrs. Devlin starts exhibiting health issues. Jimmy tells his mother that he plans to ask Lila to marry him, and she starts acting like she's going to faint. But it turns out that Lila's a medical student, and she pulls a stethoscope out of her purse to examine Mrs. Devlin. At first Mrs. Devlin seems put off by this, but as they proceed to sit down to dinner, she seems to have taken to her prospective daughter-in-law.

_______

Hawaii Five-O
"Which Way Did They Go?"
Originally aired December 24, 1969

After an adversary from McGarrett's past (William Windom) robs a bank under the noses of Five-O, McGarrett follows a trail to Hong Kong to nab the brilliant thief.

In "Love and the Stocking Mask," Danny gets a tip from an informant named Jerry Howe (Jackie Coogan) about a big bank hit...but it's a set-up by Ossie Connors (Windom), who has Howe offed after Danny leaves. Five-O brings in the fake-targeted bank's manager to brief them on their security, while an internal briefing reveals that Connnors was McGarrett's first big bust. Chin and Kono go around town checking on all the local boxmen capable of hitting the bank. McGarrett brings Connors into his office, questioning him about what he's doing in Hawaii; Connors claims to have gone straight. McGarrett is wary, telling Danno of how Connors's MO in his previous jobs involved making the police look like fools.

While Five-O thoroughly stakes out the fake-targeted bank, Connors abducts a Toshi Nomuru (Phillip Pine in bad yellowface) and has his wife (Darrah Lau) held hostage, taking Mr. Nomuru with him at gunpoint to rob his currency exchange across the street from the bank that Five-O is guarding. In the Nomuru home, Connors's man, Sanders (Don Mundell), tries to assault Mrs. Nomuru, she fights back, and he kills her. Connors later sends a hit man to silence Sanders, then kills the hit man. Meanwhile Five-O finds Howe's body; and McGARRETT FAME ALERT, there's a satirical cartoon about Steve being tricked by the robbers on the front page of the paper!


Connors shows up at McGarrett's office to implicitly gloat. HPD fishes up a car with Sanders, the hit man who killed Sanders, and all of the money in it. McGarrett brings Connors to the scene and has Nomuru brought to identify him, but he can't...but he does identify Sanders by his distinctive shoes. Later listening to a tape of the hit man's voice, Nomuru is certain that he wasn't one of the robbers.

Five-O gets a tip that one of the bills with which Danny paid Howe was cashed in for a large number of quarters, and deduce that a very long-distance phone call may have been made. They find that such a phone call was made to a Hong Kong currency exchange, and that Connors has gone to Hong Kong. Connors makes an attempt at the exchange and McGarrett's there to arrest him and extradite him back to Hawaii.

This one was a little odd. I think that the story thought it was more clever than it was.

_______

 

[RJDiogenes]

"The Joker's Wild, Man, Wild!"

Groovy.

Meanwhile, Craig hasn't just run down Stumbles, he's brought him to a beach house with the intent of shooting him in the pool...would that count as the drink?

I think the deep end would.

A struggle over the gun ensues and Billy gets shot. Steve and Danno surround and apprehend Craig, while Jo Louise cries over Billy's body. Craig and Jo Louise each lament that "it was a game, just a crazy game".

This one is kind of disturbing, with almost an 80s River's Edge or Natural Born Killers vibe.

The episode ends on the note of Stumbles coming out of hiding after Steve and Danno have taken the pair away, and throwing his bottle into the surf.

He threw his drink in the drink. Did Steve and Danno not know he was there? It seems like they would want him as a witness, at least, if not want to get him some help.

If you mean the head shop, there's a scene set in it, and they refer to it as such. It's said to be where the younger couple met.

Cool. It seems like the censors would be uncomfortable with a Head Shop on Love, American Style.

Husband's pension, I think it was.

Ah, okay. Still kind of weird, though. Of course, it's kind of weird that $1000 bills exist at all.

Thanks! I knew that because of various fruits and vegetables in this thread.

Sylvia finally agrees to go out with Marvin. She's self-conscious about it and he has to stand on a box to kiss her goodnight.

That seems to be pushing it a bit.

Sylvia's taller suitor, Roger (Michael Lane), later makes fun of the idea of her going on a date with Marvin.

He can have Brenda.

She agrees to another date and this time seems more comfortable with the difference, but still has her doubts regarding their height difference.

Leave your height privilege at the door, Sylvia.

Cut rather abruptly to Sylvia and Marvin leaving on their honeymoon--seems like we missed a beat or two there.

It does seem that a crucial scene was cut for time.

I didn't find this segment very engaging. I'm not sure what make the car was, and we only see closeups in the garage. He said he had to get a used one because only ten people in the country owned one.

And the moral of the story seems to come out of the left field. His obsession with the car isn't addressed, and her driving ability is the punchline to a different conflict.

But it turns out that Lila's a medical student, and she pulls a stethoscope out of her purse to examine Mrs. Devlin. At first Mrs. Devlin seems put off by this, but as they proceed to sit down to dinner, she seems to have taken to her prospective daughter-in-law.

Free medical consultations! The sequel will be "Love and the Hypochondriac Mother-In-Law."

"Which Way Did They Go?"

And the string of cool titles is broken.

In "Love and the Stocking Mask,"

Now that sounds like a good one.

Ossie Connors (Windom)

Commodore Decker, one of the best Trek guest stars ever. "Don't you think I know that?" Gives me chills every time.

and McGARRETT FAME ALERT, there's a satirical cartoon about Steve being tricked by the robbers on the front page of the paper!

Nice.

This one was a little odd. I think that the story thought it was more clever than it was.

Too bad. Jack Lord versus William Windom is a good matchup.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing

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Love, American Style
"Love and the Medium / Love and the Bed / Love and the High School Flop-Out"
Originally aired December 29, 1969

This was the thirteenth episode aired; the YouTube video is numbered 16.


"Love and the Medium" opens with the titular character, Madame Zimia Zygmundt (Vivian Vance), talking to her dead husband about how she thinks one of her client's is interested in her. Albert Berry (George Gobel) comes in wanting to ask his deceased wife about an important decision, which Madame Zygmundt is enthusiastic to help with. But when she "channels" Mrs. Berry, she learns that Albert is interested in a younger, blonde woman named Gloria Rollins. At his fake wife's urging, he agrees to bring her in to see Madame Z...who, after the session, promptly phones a PI to look into her.

Gloria (Paula Stewart) considers the session to be "baloney". Fake Mrs. Berry spills all kinds of dirt about Gloria, including her history of cosmetic surgery. Gloria storms out and Albert goes after her. Madame Z tells Max that she lost Albert...then he comes back and tells Madame Z that Gloria laid down an ultimatum that if he wants her, he has to stop seeing Madame Z. Madame Z tries to encourage him to choose the live woman over his dead wife, then confesses to being a fake. Albert realizes that it was really a choice between Gloria and Madame Z, and chooses the latter.


In "Love and the Bed," Barbara Eric (Sue Lyon) can hear the in-bed chatter of her neighbor Peter (Roger Perry) with his girlfriend, Linda. The next day he tries to flirt with her in the hall, and realizes that she was the one who knocked on the wall during his liaison. Barbara and Peter then make separate under-the-table deals with the superintendent and his wife (George Tobias and Naomi Stevens) to buy a disassembled brass bed that's being moved out of another apartment. Peter moves the bed into his apartment and Barbara finds out and confronts him there. Linda (Carla Borelli) walks in when Barbara's insisting that she plans to spend the night in Peter's bed, and walks out on Peter. Barbara and Peter sort out what happened with the Ellsworths, but each intends to stake a claim on the bed...so when Peter strips down to his underwear and gets in the bed, she strips down to her slip and follows suit. She decides that there should be a barrier between them, so she has him help her carry over a section of an automat vending wall that Peter keeps in his apartment as a souvenir. Peter ends up getting his arm stuck in one of the slots, and the Ellsworths have to come up and get him out. By the time they've been through this, Barbara and Peter seem to have warmed up to one another and sharing the bed.


"Love and the High School Flop-Out" opens in a diner hangout groovily decorated with those Richard Avedon psychedelic posters of John and George that also appeared in The Mod Squad. Four high school friends--Bill, Steve, Gary, and Chuck (Barry Gordon, Michael McGreevey, Don Parker, and Keith Taylor) are chatting things up when one of them gets the idea of trying to hook up Bill with the attractive but older waitress, Florine (Melodie Johnson). When they call her over, much to everyone's surprise, she says yes to a date.

Cut to Bill and Florine in the den at his family's place (his parents being away) after having seen a movie. Things go somewhat awkwardly--she's practically throwing herself at him, but he just gets nervously chatty. When he won't get off the subject of his parents potentially returning, she decides to leave. Cut back to the diner, where Bill's pals have figured that things didn't go well and are starting to tease him. Florine overhears and comes over to chat in a way that insinuates more having happened than actually did.

The opening and closing sequences of the diner scenes, with quick, angled, zooming cuts of the decor and dancers, seem very much modeled on Laugh-In.

_______

Hawaii Five-O
"Blind Tiger"
Originally aired December 31, 1969

A surprise birthday party for Steve McGarrett ends with a bang--a car-bomb explosion in his black 1968 Mercury Park Lane Brougham. The explosion leaves McGarrett blinded. As McGarrett recuperates, the Five-O team searches the islands for his would-be killer.

The surprise party is in McGarrett's office, because why waste money on a new set that might suggest that Steve doesn't live there? The Governor, this seasons' recurring secretary, Jenny (Peggy Ryan), and an unidentified girlfriend of Danny's are present. Because of two slightly different ages being in McGarrett's records, as a gag they've combined them for 70 candles on the cake...suggesting that he's supposed to be around 35, which is 14 years younger than Jack Lord! McGarrett's not in the car when it blows because he goes back to get a present he dropped. Danno's there at a safer distance when it happens. Danno takes charge of the investigation, which includes setting up security for Steve as the would-be killer is likely to try again. While Danno's reporting the type of bomb and triggering mechanism, the bomber (Robert Edwards) stalks the hospital.

Nurse Edith Lavallo (Ayyy, Mrs. C--Marion Ross!) is assigned to help Steve adjust to his condition. Because he's so willfully in denial, she's tough from the get-go, making him learn to do everything himself as he tries to arrange to leave against the doctor's orders. He calls Jenny for a car and manages to find his clothes and get dressed, and she silently follows him as he feels his way through the corridor, allowing him to experience multiple mishaps. He manages to make his way into an observation lounge before asking the nurse, whom he apparently knows has been following him, to take him back to his room. McGarrett proceeds to set up a makeshift desk on his bed to stay on the job, but the Governor tells him that it's no longer his job for the time being.

Five-O rounds up one suspect, who has enough reason to have done it but knows better. It turns out he made a payment to find the bomber, apparently because if he can't put the hit on McGarrett, nobody can.

Steve proceeds with his therapy, motivated to get himself able to function at his job. The nurse accompanies him while allowing him to figure out how to deduce aspects of his surroundings, while she prods him with select questions. He manages to identify Kono walking up behind him with the gift of a Hawaiian dish. On the side, Steve continues to stay involved in the investigation via Kono.

Five-O proceeds to another suspect...a young man whom Steve had busted for beating up a tourist. He has an alibi, but there's a picture in his mother's house of the bomber. Meanwhile, the bomber opens his locker in his auto garage workplace, where he has another bomb ready--and has hung a newspaper picture of McGarrett! Kono shows mugshots to a boy who wiped McGarrett's windshield and saw the bomber working on his car right after.

By this point, as a sign of Steve's good behavior, Nurse Lavallo is being more proactively helpful. The crime lab identifies the triggering mechanism as a torque rod used in a specific make of automobile, so Five-O takes the boy to the agency, and he spots a picture of the bomber, Masterson (Robert Edwards), who should be on duty but isn't. Danno finds the picture and some triggering mechanism-making materials in the locker. They rush back to the hospital...while Masterson is already there, setting up a bomb to be triggered by a door. It turns out to be a diversion so he can get at McGarrett, who's in a rehabilitation room being assigned his prescription cane. He confronts McGarrett at gunpoint, and Steve quickly figures out who he is by his grievance...then Lavallo turns off the light so McGarrett will have the advantage! Steve manages to subdue Masterson before the team shows up.

Cut to a montage sequence of Steve, as everyone would expect, gradually regaining his eyesight. By the time he does, Lavallo's been transferred, but he wants to see her. She seems reluctant to let him, suggesting that she doesn't want him to be disappointed...and he walks right by her in the corridor, giving her a cursory greeting without realizing who she is.

For such a formula episode, this wasn't bad, though that lovelorn beat at the end came out of nowhere, making me smell Lord's ego in play--how could she not be attracted to him? I wonder if we'll eventually get McGarrett confined to a wheelchair...or would Ironside's lawyers have something to say about that?

_______

He threw his drink in the drink.

How did I miss that?

Did Steve and Danno not know he was there? It seems like they would want him as a witness, at least, if not want to get him some help.

Guess they didn't know where he went when the action was happening, and had bigger fish to fry.

And the string of cool titles is broken.

Tune in next post...here's a preview.

Nice.

Danno comments that it's a good likeness.

 

[J.T.B.]

[...] this seasons' recurring secretary, Jenny (Peggy Ryan)[...]

Like Richard Denning, a Hollywood actor who had retired to Hawaii and picked up work on the series. Ryan will be with the show for most of its remaining run. This episode also also introduces Harry Endo in the role of forensic scientist Che Fong, who will be part of the core recurring cast for many years.

How many '60s series had episodes where one of the leads is temporarily blind? A lot, anyway. Even Star Trek, for a few minutes.

 

[The Old Mixer]

How many '60s series had episodes where one of the leads is temporarily blind? A lot, anyway. Even Star Trek, for a few minutes.

And as this series straddles three decades, no need to confine the comparison to just '60s shows. My go-to example of a "main character struck blind for an episode" story would be the one in The Incredible Hulk, which aired in '79. They did the blinded episode, the confined to a wheelchair episode...I'll wager now without looking ahead that McGarrett gets amnesia by the end of Season 3!

 

[dupersuper]

And as this series straddles three decades, no need to confine the comparison to just '60s shows. My go-to example of a "main character struck blind for an episode" story would be the one in The Incredible Hulk, which aired in '79. They did the blinded episode, the confined to a wheelchair episode...I'll wager now without looking ahead that McGarrett gets amnesia by the end of Season 3!

Mine is probably M*A*S*H*.

 

[RJDiogenes]

At his fake wife's urging, he agrees to bring her in to see Madame Z...who, after the session, promptly phones a PI to look into her.

Either the Medium business is pretty lucrative or she knows a pretty cheap PI.

Madame Z tries to encourage him to choose the live woman over his dead wife, then confesses to being a fake. Albert realizes that it was really a choice between Gloria and Madame Z, and chooses the latter.

Awww.

Barbara and Peter then make separate under-the-table deals with the superintendent and his wife (George Tobias and Naomi Stevens) to buy a disassembled brass bed that's being moved out of another apartment.

The brass bed should be credited in one of those little heart-shaped cameos when it appears in a story.

a section of an automat vending wall that Peter keeps in his apartment as a souvenir.

A souvenir of the time he visited an automat and tore out the wall?

By the time they've been through this, Barbara and Peter seem to have warmed up to one another and sharing the bed.

Awww.

Things go somewhat awkwardly--she's practically throwing herself at him, but he just gets nervously chatty.

The contemporary term is "cougar."

When he won't get off the subject of his parents potentially returning, she decides to leave.

Making me wonder why they didn't go to her place.

Florine overhears and comes over to chat in a way that insinuates more having happened than actually did.

But will they go out again?

The surprise party is in McGarrett's office, because why waste money on a new set that might suggest that Steve doesn't live there?

Do we ever see his crib? I can think of at least a couple of series leads who never showed us their home turf (Columbo and Kolchak)-- that would make another interesting list.

Because of two slightly different ages being in McGarrett's records, as a gag they've combined them for 70 candles on the cake...suggesting that he's supposed to be around 35, which is 14 years younger than Jack Lord!

That's why the ages are slightly different-- McGarrett couldn't keep track of which fake birthday he used.

Nurse Edith Lavallo (Ayyy, Mrs. C--Marion Ross!) is assigned to help Steve adjust to his condition.

That was quick. Apparently there's no hope of recovery at this point.

He confronts McGarrett at gunpoint, and Steve quickly figures out who he is by his grievance...then Lavallo turns off the light so McGarrett will have the advantage!

"I'd call security, Steve, but this is something you must do on your own!"
"Wait, what?!"

Cut to a montage sequence of Steve, as everyone would expect, gradually regaining his eyesight.

What, no risky experimental surgery? He just got better by surprise?

By the time he does, Lavallo's been transferred, but he wants to see her. She seems reluctant to let him, suggesting that she doesn't want him to be disappointed...and he walks right by her in the corridor, giving her a cursory greeting without realizing who she is.

So much for his heightened senses. "That perfume... that soft intake of breath... the way the lock of hair falls on your left ear, like an Autumn leaf on the morning grass... it's you!"

For such a formula episode, this wasn't bad, though that lovelorn beat at the end came out of nowhere, making me smell Lord's ego in play--how could she not be attracted to him?

Right. He's famous and everything.

How did I miss that?

Guess they didn't know where he went when the action was happening, and had bigger fish to fry.

Crime victim, material witness, poor lost soul-- sloppy work, Five-0.

Tune in next post...here's a preview.

Okay, that's a good one. And an interesting story about that episode-- that technique is also what killed David Carradine. So the episode has never even been released on home video. Wow. Which makes me wonder how you will review it....

Danno comments that it's a good likeness.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing

_______

Love, American Style
"Love and the Pick-Up / Love and the Proposal / Love and the Fighting Couple"
Originally aired January 5, 1970

This was the fourteenth episode aired; the YouTube video is numbered 8.


"Love and the Pick-Up" opens with Holly (Patricia Harty) commiserating with her mother (Dorothy Lamour) about how her husband of one month, Steve (Edd Byrnes), has become more interested in his work and actually catching the late show than her. To perk things back up, she tells Steve that she wants to recreate the night that they met...even though it involved him accidentally going into the ladies' room and her initially turning him down. When he gets there, he's not invested in the role-play and faces an additional complication in the form of a friend Holly just met, Mary Agnes (Penny Marshall), for whom she wants Steve to find a date. He also has to deal with a male patron (Mike Farrell) taking the seat next to Holly and threatening to intervene when he gets too forward with her. Finally he leaves the bar in a huff...but becomes concerned when he calls Holly's mother and finds that she isn't there...though he only misses her by minutes. He goes back to the bar to look for her there, and she tries calling the house and realizes that he must have gone there. When he gets to the bar, Mary Agnes is in the process of being picked up by B.J., and when Steve interrupts them to pepper her with questions, he gets slugged. Then Holly arrives and the couple agree to each give the other a little more of what they want.

A lot of husbands on this show seem to be lawyers for some reason.


"Love and the Proposal" opens with Harold Gray (Warren Berlinger) laying it on a bit thick how much he likes Linda (Joan Hackett), a waitress on her break, based on the one date they just went on at the zoo. He invites her to a family wedding and leaves her with a line that could only be taken as a proposal...only realizing what he did after the fact. His first instinct is to pack up and move, but his roommate, Vic (Ron Harper), helps him come up with a story about already being married, losing his wife on a camping trip two years prior, and having just been notified that she's been found. Linda is a little suspicious when he can't keep his fake wife's name straight, so she wants to meet the missus, and suggests that Mrs. Gray should come to the restaurant for a good meal after surviving in near-starvation in the wilderness. (Like somebody who'd just been through that wouldn't be hospitalized and on a special diet or anything.) Vic, who's in show business, arranges for Harold to hire an actress to play his wife. Jelen (or so IMDb says--sounds like Helen to me; Joan Van Ark) hasn't met Harold and doesn't recognize him when she arrives at the restaurant...but once he has a chance to fill her in a bit, she fully immerses herself in the role, such that even Harold seems to believe her. She gets flirty with him when they're alone, and when he's dropping her off at her apartment, he makes his next impulsive proposal...only this time, after his initial horrified reaction, he realizes that he's really scored and intends to go through with it. But once he's back at his place, she calls him with a story about having a terminal disease and having forgotten to tell him because of her amnesia...and he buys it.


In "Love and the Fighting Couple," Ben Cortnoy and Ruth Dabb (Dick Sargent and Mariette Hartley), an engaged couple of seven years who seem to have made a recreational activity out of attending different types of couples therapy, are seeing reputed therapist Dr. Sigmund (Shecky Greene). When they tell him that they've never had a fight, the hipster European doctor (clad in a jogging suit and gaudy medallion) declares that they "ain't in love!" He has them stand across the room from each other and "let it all hang out" regarding what they don't like about each other...but even as continues to try to elicit something from them, each is at a loss to come up with a single grievance. Then he wants them to engage in a pillow fight, but Ruth can't even bring herself to hit Ben with the pillow. The doctor is so disturbed by this that he's about to jump out the window when his wife (Imogene Coca) comes in with strudel. They proceed to get into a fight over the strudel, which ends in an arm-wrestling match, and the doctor declares to the couple that that's true love. The impressionable fiances seem to buy this and are ready to try it for themselves, so they stand across the room from each other and half-heartedly manage to come up with petty issues...Ben says something about Ruth biting her nails, and she notes how timid he is. The segment ends with them engaging in childish name-calling as the doctor basks in his triumph.

_______

Hawaii Five-O
"Bored, She Hung Herself"
Aired January 7, 1970

Five-O investigates the death of a yoga student who died while performing a dangerous yoga technique that calls for the student to asphyxiate himself.

NOTE: This episode was barred from airing in syndication after a viewer reportedly imitated the deadly yoga technique featured in this episode and died. The episode is absent from both the season two DVD release and the complete series set, as well as from online streaming and digital downloads.

From the series's Wiki page:

"Bored, She Hung Herself", the 16th episode of the second season, depicted a Five-O investigation into the apparent suicide of a woman by hanging, which she was supposedly practicing as part of a health regimen. A viewer reportedly died trying the same technique, and as a result, the episode was not rebroadcast, was never included in any syndication packages, and has not been included on any DVD release of the show to date. The family of the person who died in the real-life hanging sued CBS over the episode.

Some have still managed to watch this, and the episode's IMDb page includes a very detailed plot breakdown for those who haven't. There are also four reviews on IMDb--one from 2017 indicates that it was on Dailymotion at the time, but I couldn't find it.

The highest-billed guests are:

• William Smithers as Dr. Warren Parker
• Don Quine as Don Miles
• Eugene McDunnah as Charles Weatherly
• Pamela Murphy as Wanda Parker

I thought I knew whodunnit as soon as I saw that list...but I was wrong. Guess this show's not as obvious in its billing as Ironside...and the guests are only listed in the end credits anyway.

A citation on the series's Wiki page led me to a MeTV article about the episode. The article includes a tidbit toward the end that's gotta make you like Jack Lord a little more:

John O. Pastore, senator of Rhode Island and chair of the U.S. Senate Subcommitee on Communications, singled out Hawaii Five-O in Congressional hearings on television violence. Jack Lord, star of the show, in turn called the senator "a big fat windbag."

_______

Dragnet 1970
"Narco – Missing Hypo"
Originally aired January 8, 1970

Friday and Gannon search for a former narcotics addict who they fear has returned to drugs.

This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I work here. I carry a badge.

Wednesday, March 6 (1968?): Friday and Gannon, working the day watch out of Narcotics Division, are playing pharmacist--counting pills and putting them in bottles. I wonder if they raised their desk a little higher for the occasion? Parole agent Fred Deemer (Marshall Reed) tells them that former addict Johnny Aldrich has gone missing. The detectives talk to his parents (Len Wayland and Virginia Vincent), who are cooperative and concerned; and learn that he has a girlfriend, Nancy Harris (Kelley Sebring), and a friend from rehab, Peter Randolph (Mickey Sholdar). Noticing a drawer that isn't closing all the way, they find a hype kit taped to its back. The parents tearfully lay it on a bit thick about what good parents they've tried to be and how they've never had a generation gap in their house. The scene closes with the show hitting its usual off-key note...in an episode about heroin use, Friday looks ruefully at a headline about legalizing marijuana.

The detectives find that Pete Randolph hasn't been checking in with his parole officer either. They meet Nancy, who was present for a meeting between Johnny and Pete on the college campus. They also talk to one of his professors, Ralph Thursdon (Vic Perrin sporting a fake beard), who teaches a theory that directly opposes Friday's view on drugs--that the drug problem is exaggerated and marijuana doesn't lead to stronger drugs. Friday's resulting lecture relies heavily on playing the "you're a sheltered academic and I've been out on the streets" card. Anyway, Johnny reportedly argued against Thursdon's theories.

The detectives finally find Pete Randolph, who says that he's been traveling and just called his PO; that he was trying to warn Johnny off after he saw him talking to a guy named Jennings who's known to be dealing; and that Johnny later tried to turn him on. Days later, uniformed officer Tim Miles (James McEachin) finds Aldrich and Jennings in a flophouse. Aldrich is brought out unconscious on a stretcher. Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich arrive at the hospital just in time to learn that Johnny's dead. A reporter popping up wanting to know the scoop gives Friday the opportunity to slip into a closing monotone lecture heavy with references to marijuana. This one involves the reporter prodding him along with questions, but they're too obviously setups for already-written answers.

On April 3rd, trial was held in Department 184, Superior Court of the State of California, for the County of Los Angeles....The court found the suspect guilty of Section 11500.5 of the Health and Safety Code, possession of heroin for sale, which is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than five nor more than fifteen years.

ROBERT JENNINGS
Now serving his sentence in the State Prison, San Quentin, California.

(uncredited, had no lines)

I don't think I got around to posting anything about it, but a few weeks back I had Decades on in the background during a show about the history of television, and there was a segment on Dragnet (both versions). Turns out there was a reason for the rapid, monotone delivery so common on the show...everyone was reading their lines off of teleprompters! There was an interview clip of Harry Morgan saying that it was the easiest job he ever had, because he only came in two days a week and didn't have to memorize his lines!

_______

Either the Medium business is pretty lucrative or she knows a pretty cheap PI.

Seemed like she had a regular arrangement with him, so maybe cheap and/or she was getting a discount.

The brass bed should be credited in one of those little heart-shaped cameos when it appears in a story.

Its appearance is quite common...more than just the times I've mentioned because it factored into the story in a significant way.

A souvenir of the time he visited an automat and tore out the wall?

I assume they tore it down. He said it was the first place that he ever ate in the city.

But will they go out again?

Doesn't seem likely.

Do we ever see his crib?

@J.T.B. would be the one to ask about that. Offhand, I can't recall having seen it to date.

That's why the ages are slightly different-- McGarrett couldn't keep track of which fake birthday he used.

And now that I think of it...how do two different ages that were said to be a year apart add up to an even number...?

That was quick. Apparently there's no hope of recovery at this point.

What, no risky experimental surgery? He just got better by surprise?

If there was any exposition about his prospects for recovery early on, I missed it.

"I'd call security, Steve, but this is something you must do on your own!"
"Wait, what?!"

Are you kidding? (Rhetorical question.) He lives for that shit! In fact, this was probably a lot like the Incredible Hulk episode...she contributed to his rapid recovery by triggering a Steve-Out!

So much for his heightened senses. "That perfume... that soft intake of breath... the way the lock of hair falls on your left ear, like an Autumn leaf on the morning grass... it's you!"

You been watching too much Kung Fu, son.

that technique is also what killed David Carradine.

Ah, I hadn't realized that.

So the episode has never even been released on home video. Wow. Which makes me wonder how you will review it....

By posting what I read on the internet, of course!

 

[RJDiogenes]

He also has to deal with a male patron (Mike Farrell) taking the seat next to Holly and threatening to intervene when he gets too forward with her.

This would be worth it just to see Mike Farrell putting the moves on someone.

Then Holly arrives and the couple agree to each give the other a little more of what they want.

And this after a month? Prospects: Dim.

A lot of husbands on this show seem to be lawyers for some reason.

A nice generic, well-paying, suit-and-tie job, I guess. I think you see a lot of advertising execs, too.

But once he's back at his place, she calls him with a story about having a terminal disease and having forgotten to tell him because of her amnesia...and he buys it.

Now that's a good punchline.

The segment ends with them engaging in childish name-calling as the doctor basks in his triumph.

Still halfheartedly, or did he finally get them going?

"Bored, She Hung Herself"

Definitely one of their better titles.

Some have still managed to watch this, and the episode's IMDb page includes a very detailed plot breakdown for those who haven't. There are also four reviews on IMDb--one from 2017 indicates that it was on Dailymotion at the time, but I couldn't find it.

It's kind of amazing to me. It's not like TV hasn't always been full of activities that can result in your death-- don't try this at home, kids! I suppose the yoga thing might be perceived differently because it's not an activity where you'd expect to encounter deadly peril, but for it to still be locked up in the company safe after a half century, with all the stuff that's available on TV and online now, is inexplicable. I wonder if it's possible that permanent removal from circulation was part of the lawsuit.

A citation on the series's Wiki page led me to a MeTV article about the episode. The article includes a tidbit toward the end that's gotta make you like Jack Lord a little more:

Yeah, he definitely gets points for that.

Friday and Gannon, working the day watch out of Narcotics Division, are playing pharmacist--counting pills and putting them in bottles.

"This pill makes you larger...."

The scene closes with the show hitting its usual off-key note...in an episode about heroin use, Friday looks ruefully at a headline about legalizing marijuana.

He needs to relax and take a Valium.

Friday's resulting lecture relies heavily on playing the "you're a sheltered academic and I've been out on the streets" card.

Which is not without some merit.

Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich arrive at the hospital just in time to learn that Johnny's dead.

A grim ending to a rather positive plot-- no murder or robbery or other crime, just a couple of hard-nosed cops trying to save a kid from recidivism.

This one involves the reporter prodding him along with questions, but they're too obviously setups for already-written answers.

He's Friday's sock puppet.

Turns out there was a reason for the rapid, monotone delivery so common on the show...everyone was reading their lines off of teleprompters! There was an interview clip of Harry Morgan saying that it was the easiest job he ever had, because he only came in two days a week and didn't have to memorize his lines!

That's hilarious. No soul-searching or rehearsal on that show. "What's your motivation? Crime does not pay!"

Its appearance is quite common...more than just the times I've mentioned because it factored into the story in a significant way.

I love that.

I assume they tore it down. He said it was the first place that he ever ate in the city.

Ah, they tore down the automat and put up a parking lot.

@J.T.B. would be the one to ask about that. Offhand, I can't recall having seen it to date.

I was trying to think of others, but it's hard to remember. Mannix and Dan Tanna lived in their offices, so they don't count. I don't think we ever saw the characters from Man From UNCLE or Mission: Impossible at home-- unless that's where Phelps goes through his portfolios. I don't remember ever seeing Barnaby Jones at home. I wonder if IMDB has a list: "TV Heroes Who Never Go Home."

And now that I think of it...how do two different ages that were said to be a year apart add up to an even number...?

And how does a brilliant detective like Steve McGarrett make a mistake like that? The lie that is his life has begun to unravel....

Are you kidding? (Rhetorical question.) He lives for that shit! In fact, this was probably a lot like the Incredible Hulk episode...she contributed to his rapid recovery by triggering a Steve-Out!

She should have told him that his hair would never look right again unless he regained his vision.

You been watching too much Kung Fu, son.

By posting what I read on the internet, of course!

I was hoping you had found a way to see it.

 

[The Old Mixer]

50th Anniversary Album Spotlight

Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Released February 13, 1970 (UK); June 1, 1970 (US)
Chart debut: August 29, 1970
Chart peak: #23, December 26, 1970
#241 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Black Sabbath is the debut studio album by the English rock band Black Sabbath. It was released on 13 February 1970 in the United Kingdom by Vertigo Records and on 1 June 1970 in the United States by Warner Bros. Records. The album is widely regarded as the first album in the heavy metal genre. Additionally, the opening track, the self-titled "Black Sabbath", has been referred to as the first doom metal song.

Upon release, the album reached number eight on the UK Albums Charts and number 23 on the US Billboard 200. It was included in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Before getting this album, I only had the band's two charting singles from Paranoid (both on the Rolling Stone songs list). Never having been much of a metal fan, I anticipated that this might not be quite my cup of tea, and I was right.

The album opens with its title and band-eponymous song, "Black Sabbath":

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According to the band, the song was inspired by an experience that Geezer Butler had in the days of Earth. Butler, obsessed with the occult at the time, painted his apartment matte black, placed several inverted crucifixes, and put many pictures of Satan on the walls. Ozzy Osbourne handed Butler a black occult book, written in Latin and decorated with numerous pictures of Satan. Butler read the book and then placed it on a shelf beside his bed before going to sleep. When he woke up, he claims he saw a large black figure standing at the end of his bed, staring at him. The figure vanished and Butler ran to the shelf where he had placed the book earlier, but the book was gone. Butler related this story to Osbourne, who then wrote the lyrics to the song based on Butler's experience.

The main riff is an inversion of a tritone, constructed with a harmonic progression including a diminished fifth / augmented fourth. This particular interval is often known as diabolus in musica, for it has musical qualities which are often used to suggest Satanic connotations in Western music. The song "Black Sabbath" was one of the earliest examples in heavy metal to make use of this interval, and since then, the genre has made extensive use of diabolus in musica.

The riff was created when bassist Geezer Butler began playing a fragment of "Mars" from Gustav Holst's The Planets suite. Inspired, guitarist Tony Iommi returned the next day with the famously dark tritone.

Well, it's definitely heavy, and quite darkly melodramatic.

Next is "The Wizard," which will later be used as the B-side of the "Paranoid" single:

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"The Wizard" is about a wizard who uses his magic to encourage people he encounters. In a 2005 interview with Metal Sludge, Black Sabbath bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler said the song's lyrics were influenced by the wizard Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings.

You can hear more of the band's blues rock roots in this one. I read that in-the-day reviews of this album were heavy with comparisons to Cream.

The first side closes with the nearly ten-minute compilation track "Wasp / Behind the Wall of Sleep / Bassically / N.I.B.":

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Regarding the "N.I.B." portion...

The lyrics are in the first person from the point of view of Lucifer. Bassist Geezer Butler, who composed the song's lyrics, has said that "the song was about the devil falling in love and totally changing, becoming a good person."

The song's title has long been a source of speculation, with some fans over the years mistakenly interpreting the title as meaning "Nativity in Black". In the early 1990s, Geezer Butler revealed that the title was a reference to drummer Bill Ward's beard at that time, which his bandmates felt looked like pen nib.

Side two's opening track "Wicked World," has less gothic fantasy and more sign-o-the-timesiness in its lyrics, which refer to Vietnam, the Moon landing, and social issues:

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The album closes with the track that takes up the bulk of this side, the fourteen-minute "A Bit of Finger / Sleeping Village / Warning":

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The last part, which occupies the bulk of the track, is a cover of a song by a group called the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, founded by drummer Aynsley Dunbar after he was fired from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.

This song is about a series of messages (“warnings”) he receives to stay away from this woman. They are warnings he doesn’t heed, even though it would have been wise to do so, because his feelings for her are too strong to listen to them.

During the longer tracks, I found myself zoning out rather than getting immersed. I can't see myself giving this album much listening, but it's definitely of historical interest for what it kicks off.

_______

This would be worth it just to see Mike Farrell putting the moves on someone.

He definitely came off as more of a jockish stud guy here than I gather he does in M*A*S*H.

And this after a month? Prospects: Dim.

I don't think that was supposed to be the takeaway...

Still halfheartedly, or did he finally get them going?

They were starting to get into it, but it was played as two children calling each other names on a playground.

Definitely one of their better titles.

I should note that the consensus among the IMDb reviews was that it was generally a subpar episode.

but for it to still be locked up in the company safe after a half century, with all the stuff that's available on TV and online now, is inexplicable. I wonder if it's possible that permanent removal from circulation was part of the lawsuit.

Possibly. There may have been other factors involved, like office politics making it difficult to overturn the original edict, or not wanting to seem disrespectful to whoever killed themselves.

"This pill makes you larger...."

"The dispensary doesn't hand out that kinda pill where you're headed, buddy."

He needs to relax and take a Valium.

Friday's Little Helper...?

Which is not without some merit.

Now you're just trying to get Friday to put in a good word with the judge...

A grim ending to a rather positive plot-- no murder or robbery or other crime, just a couple of hard-nosed cops trying to save a kid from recidivism.

I knew things weren't gonna end well for Johnny when I couldn't find him in the cast list...

He's Friday's sock puppet.

That I can totally picture!

I love that.

It seems to be their default bed in any particular sketch.

I don't think we ever saw the characters from Man From UNCLE or Mission: Impossible at home-- unless that's where Phelps goes through his portfolios.

I never imagined that the apartment we see Phelps in was anything but where he lived. Now if you want to factor in continuity with the Briggs season, we'd have to assume that it comes with the job.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Before getting this album, I only had the band's two charting singles from Paranoid (both on the Rolling Stone songs list). Never having been much of a metal fan, I anticipated that this might not be quite my cup of tea, and I was right.

Between Sabbath and Solo Ozzie (and I can never quite remember which is which), there's a handful of great songs. The rest is mostly meh. It's too bad the bulk of their work didn't live up to those great songs.

The album opens with its title and band-eponymous song, "Black Sabbath":

Like the beginning of a Rock Opera that never was....

Next is "The Wizard," which will later be used as the B-side of the "Paranoid" single:

I want to like a song about Gandalf, but it's not one of their great songs.

Side two's opening track "Wicked World," has less gothic fantasy and more sign-o-the-timesiness in its lyrics, which refer to Vietnam, the Moon landing, and social issues:

Which just goes to show that you shouldn't try to write socially conscious material until you're ready.

a group called the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, founded by drummer Aynsley Dunbar after he was fired from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.

Aynsley Dunbar seems a bit bitter.

He definitely came off as more of a jockish stud guy here than I gather he does in M*A*S*H.

In M*A*S*H, he was basically the anti-Hawkeye: A quiet, devoted family man, always faithful to his wife, and living for the future, not the moment.

I don't think that was supposed to be the takeaway...

No, I don't imagine so.

I should note that the consensus among the IMDb reviews was that it was generally a subpar episode.

Too bad. Quality is an extra plus when there's controversy.

Possibly. There may have been other factors involved, like office politics making it difficult to overturn the original edict, or not wanting to seem disrespectful to whoever killed themselves.

Which is nice, but can you imagine all the people who have been hurt or killed by imitating what they saw on TV? People are not the most intelligent life forms in the universe.

"The dispensary doesn't hand out that kinda pill where you're headed, buddy."

Friday's Little Helper...?

I thought that was Gannon. He can be a pill sometimes.

Now you're just trying to get Friday to put in a good word with the judge...

Somehow I suspect that Friday would not like me as much as I like Friday.

I never imagined that the apartment we see Phelps in was anything but where he lived. Now if you want to factor in continuity with the Briggs season, we'd have to assume that it comes with the job.

Yeah, that's true, that must have been his apartment. I'll bet we never saw where anybody else lived, though.