I haven't seen Prodigy. I couldn't really work up any interest in the cartoons, although I did watch a couple of episodes of Lower Decks and I was impressed with their fidelity to canon-- I wish that the live-action shows had that much integrity.
The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread
- Thread starter The Old Mixer
- Start date
You should maybe give it a try...I and others found it surprisingly enjoyable. And in just "one" season (practically speaking, two), they've done two great homage episodes to past Trek.
If you do try it, don't be put off by the Star Wars-ish vibe of the first couple of episodes. That's all part of the plan. It gets a lot more Trek.
Also, I've gathered that you were a VGR fan, and this show has very strong VGR ties.
If you do try it, don't be put off by the Star Wars-ish vibe of the first couple of episodes. That's all part of the plan. It gets a lot more Trek.
Also, I've gathered that you were a VGR fan, and this show has very strong VGR ties.
The music world lost two today.
The first one was Keith Reid, who the primary lyricist for Procol Harm at the age of 76.
The second is Tom Leadon, younger brother of Bernie Leadon, who was a co-founder of the Eagles.
Tom was probably best known as the lead singer and guitarist in a band called 'Mudcrutch' which happened to have as its bassist a young man from Gainesville, Florida by the name of Tom Petty.
As the story goes, after Mudcrutch broke up after attempting to record an album, the label wanted Tom Petty to record an album as a solo artist, but was having no luck with the musicians hired to play on sessions.
Tom wandered into a nearby studio and found his former Mudcrutch band members, keyboard player Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell working with bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch on session work and co-opted them as his new backing band 'The Heartbreakers'.
After Mudcrutch, Leadon returned to Florida to teach music.
In the early 2000's Leadon and Petty reconnected for the documentary 'Runnin' Down A Dream', which lead to the reformation of Mudcrutch, along with Campbell, Tench and original drummer Randall Marsh, with Petty switching back to bass.
The reformed Mudcrutch would go onto record two albums and tour intermittently between Petty's commitments with The Heartbreakers and his solo career.
The first one was Keith Reid, who the primary lyricist for Procol Harm at the age of 76.
The second is Tom Leadon, younger brother of Bernie Leadon, who was a co-founder of the Eagles.
Tom was probably best known as the lead singer and guitarist in a band called 'Mudcrutch' which happened to have as its bassist a young man from Gainesville, Florida by the name of Tom Petty.
As the story goes, after Mudcrutch broke up after attempting to record an album, the label wanted Tom Petty to record an album as a solo artist, but was having no luck with the musicians hired to play on sessions.
Tom wandered into a nearby studio and found his former Mudcrutch band members, keyboard player Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell working with bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch on session work and co-opted them as his new backing band 'The Heartbreakers'.
After Mudcrutch, Leadon returned to Florida to teach music.
In the early 2000's Leadon and Petty reconnected for the documentary 'Runnin' Down A Dream', which lead to the reformation of Mudcrutch, along with Campbell, Tench and original drummer Randall Marsh, with Petty switching back to bass.
The reformed Mudcrutch would go onto record two albums and tour intermittently between Petty's commitments with The Heartbreakers and his solo career.
Last edited:
I can give it a try. I do like Voyager (I like all of the 24th-century shows). Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing something about an Emergency Janeway Hologram.
That is just way too young for this day and age.
Wow, that's amazing. That certainly says something about what kind of a guy Tom Petty was (speaking of people who died way too young).
Kate Mulgrew is one of the main cast as Hologram Janeway...I can give it a try. I do like Voyager (I like all of the 24th-century shows). Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing something about an Emergency Janeway Hologram.
...and that's not her only role on the show in the longer term. One other VGR cast member has a recurring, plot-significant role as well.
Despite Littlefeather not being a First Nations member, one must turn a mocking gaze toward generations of eternal dullards who were so enraged by Littlefeather's speech, because yeah, do not dare speak the truth about America--or the entertainment industry's gross misrepresentation of First Nations people.
Had a dyslexic moment and typed 67 instead of 76. Still too young; and that leaves only Robin Trower and Matthew Fisher from the original Procol line up.
Anyway, back to Mudcrutch.
Here's the original version of 'Don't Do Me Like That' from Mudcrutch's aborted debut album. I call this the 'garage band' version. It can be found on the 'Playback' box set.
And here's the more polished version from 'The Heartbreakers' debut album about 18 months later. Let's call this the 'pop' version.
It's funny that the only changes really are the addition of Ron Blair on bass and Stan Lynch on drums to the 'Heartbreakers' version, but it gives the song the 'lift' it needs.
Here's the original version of 'Don't Do Me Like That' from Mudcrutch's aborted debut album. I call this the 'garage band' version. It can be found on the 'Playback' box set.
And here's the more polished version from 'The Heartbreakers' debut album about 18 months later. Let's call this the 'pop' version.
It's funny that the only changes really are the addition of Ron Blair on bass and Stan Lynch on drums to the 'Heartbreakers' version, but it gives the song the 'lift' it needs.
I expected it to be a half hour and then it turned out to be an hour-- double-sized premiere, I guess.
Yeah, still too young in an age when people routinely live well into their 90s.
Nice. There's really not much of a difference. It's basically like an early take.
50 Years Ago This Week
April 1
April 2
April 3
April 4
April 5
April 6
April 7
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
New on the chart:
"Why Me," Kris Kristofferson
(#16 US; #28 AC; #1 Country)
"Daniel," Elton John
(#2 US; #1 AC; #4 UK)
And new on the boob tube:
_______
Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki page for the month and Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles Day by Day, with minor editing as needed.
_______
April 1
- The government of India launched Project Tiger, a six-year campaign to save the tiger from extinction. Dr. Karan Singh, India's Minister of Tourism, announced the program, declaring Jim Corbett National Park and eight other protected areas as off limits to people. Only 1,800 tigers remained in India when the Project started, compared to 40,000 at the start of the 20th century.
- The U.S. Army Health Services Command was activated as part of a reorganization of the Army Medical Department, and took control of Army medical facilities in the continental United States.
- In a press conference in New York City, John Lennon and Yoko Ono announce the formation of a new country, with no boundaries and no laws, called Nutopia. On John's next album, Mind Games, is the "Nutopian National Anthem," a silent track.
April 2
- The LexisNexis computerized legal research service began.
April 3
- The first handheld cellular phone call was made by Martin Cooper in New York City, at a press conference held by the Motorola company to unveil its new "DYNA T-A-C radio-telephone" and announce its commitment to spent up to five million dollars to install transmission towers throughout the city. Cooper's call was made possible by the installation of temporary towers on two buildings on Fifth Avenue.
- The Soviet Union launched its second orbiting space station, Salyut 2. While the station went into Earth orbit, a cloud of fragments from an exploded rocket stage struck the station on April 15, tearing off both of its solar panels and rendering it without power to control its altitude. Salyut 2 would fall from orbit on May 28 and burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
- In India's Kerala state, 35 women at an agricultural workers colony were killed when the area where they were standing was hit by a lightning bolt.
April 4
- The World Trade Center officially opened in New York City with a ribbon cutting ceremony that included the two tallest buildings in the world, the 110-story buildings that were 1,350 feet (410 m) high.
April 5
- Representatives of the American Indian Movement (AIM), headed by Russell Means, and the United States government, by Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kent Frizzell, signed an agreement to end the 37-day siege of the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, by the AIM and militants within the Oglala Sioux nation.
- Pioneer 11 was launched on a mission to study the Solar System. The craft was sent up from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Kennedy at Florida at 3:11 in the afternoon local time.
April 6
- Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees became the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball, playing in a game at Boston's Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox.
April 7
- Viet Cong guerrillas in South Vietnam shot down a helicopter that was carrying members of the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS), killing all nine people aboard. The multinational peacekeeping team that was supervising the truce and ceasefire arising from the Paris Peace Accords was flying from Can Tho to Vi Thanh, and was composed of two Hungarians, one Canadian, one Indonesian, two Viet Cong officers and three U.S. Air Force crew when it was hit. A Vietcong spokesman confirmed the deaths and said "The Provisional Revolutionary Government deeply regrets this unexpeted accident." Another ICCS helicopter carrying 10 people (including observers from Poland, Hungary, Indonesia and Canada), was able to return safely to Can Tho after being hit by groundfire.
Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:
Leaving the chart:
- "Crocodile Rock," Elton John (17 weeks)
- "Rocky Mountain High," John Denver (19 weeks)
New on the chart:
"Why Me," Kris Kristofferson
(#16 US; #28 AC; #1 Country)
"Daniel," Elton John
(#2 US; #1 AC; #4 UK)
And new on the boob tube:
- Kung Fu, "Superstition"
- Emergency!, "Audit" (season finale)
_______
Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki page for the month and Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles Day by Day, with minor editing as needed.
_______
Yeah, that's technically the first two episodes. Guess they don't split them for syndication on a streaming platform.
Too many people, too few tigers-- just let the tigers eat the people. Problem solved.
And it lasted for more than twenty years. They built 'em to last in those days.
I think I've heard this before. Pretty painful, in any case.
One of his early classics. For quite a while, this was the most common Elton song on Oldies Radio for some reason-- they must have played it at least once a day for some reason. No idea why.
Okay, that means I'm two episodes in.
_______
50th Anniversary Viewing
_______
M*A*S*H
"Major Fred C. Dobbs"
Originally aired March 11, 1973
In the OR, Frank blames Lt. Bayliss for his own shortcomings, putting her in tears. Hawkeye and Trapper cheer her up, then pull a revenge prank on Frank, bandaging a makeshift hook on his arm while he's sleeping. Frank takes it up with Blake, describing a few other prank incidents, accompanied by brief flashbacks. Blake agrees to his request for a transfer. When the guys play a recording of Blake breaking the news to Houlihan through the camp's speakers, Hot Lips is so humiliated that she joins Frank in leaving the unit. An enraged Blake then assigns Hawkeye and Trapper to double duty until Burns and Houlihan are replaced, and the guys admit to one another that they may have gone too far.
Meanwhile, Radar's been prospecting for gold in the nearby hills, mule and all, which gives Hawkeye the idea to motivate Frank to stay by making him think Radar's onto something. They wake Frank up to let him overhear a discussion about having found their own stash of gold, leaving a filling behind for Frank to find as evidence. Frank borrows tools from Radar, goes digging at night with Margaret, and finds what he thinks is gold. After Burns has his transfer rescinded, the guys show off how they painted the rocks in the area gold by letting him see several other items similarly painted--included a Jeep and the loudspeakers that they publicly taunt him with.
_______
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 6, episode 24
Originally aired March 12, 1973
Series finale
All are cameo guests and seem to be in leftovers from previous appearances, though Jo Anne gets an onstage intro with a chicken joke.
Final Edith Ann:
Final Ernestine:
Final Flying Fickle Finger of Fate:
Final salute:
Final news segment:
Final General Bull Wright.
Final time I couldn't find the Joke Wall from this season.
I might swing back around to the missed Season 5 someday, but it's not in my plans for the upcoming hiatus season.
_______
Hawaii Five-O
"Jury of One"
Originally aired March 13, 1973
Season finale
The opening credits reminded me that a moment in the climax of the previous episode was the source of the opening credits shot of Ben...which would indicate the episode having been a very early one in the season's production.
Our current episode opens with McGarrett being questioned on the stand by Manicote at the trial of Curt Lucas (Paul Camen) for the murder of Harry Gifford. Outside, stoolie Artie Boland (Arthur Malet) slips into Steve's car to inform him that Lucas has one of the jurors in his pocket. Believing this info has some credence and recognizing the delay that a hung jury would cause as a threat to the solid case they have lined up (which includes witnesses in protective custody), McGarrett and Manicote disclose this in the chambers of Judge Phillips (Don "Lance" Over) with the defense lawyer, Emmett Mills (Edward Binns), present. Five-O ends up with just a few days to substantiate the tip by checking out the male jurors (based on how the tip was phrased)--retired Army colonel Turner Carr (Douglas Kennedy); building contractor Lee Chung (Galen Kam); car salesman Grady Jenkins (Terry Plunkett); stockbroker Warren Purcell (Alfred Avallone); and student / gas station attendant Clifford Sprague (Ray Buktenica...who's the top-billed guest, just sayin').
Carr is ruled out as the least susceptible; and Chung comes up clean when a possible business connection via Lucas's partner, Lew Foss, is checked out. Jenkins is questioned in chambers by the judge regarding a suspicious deposit in his bank account, but suffers what appears to be a heart attack and is replaced by an alternate. While recovering, Jenkins explains to McGarrett that he won the money in a poker game; and an examination by Che of the IOU he produces checks out. Boland tries to call in a follow-up tip from a public phone and Danno shuts him up to talk to him in person. But, having been tailed, the stoolie turns up dead from a hit and run.
A checkup on Sprague turns up a seven-year-old daughter named Beth who's gone missing. Mrs. Helen Sprague (Dale Morse) acts tense when questioned by Chin, and her story of Beth visiting relatives on the mainland turns up a dead end. Purcell also proves of interest when he's found to be having an affair with Sybil Fletcher (Lydia Bruce), the wife of a state senator, whom Steve flies to Maui to question...but she indicates that her husband knows about the affair and a divorce is in the works. Meanwhile, twelve angry men and women deliberate behind closed doors and Sprague is the only holdout.
The judge gives a deadline for the jury to come up with a verdict. Five-O's theory about Sprague is supported by a tapped call, and the caller knowing of the hung jury causes Five-O to look into bailiff George Watkins (William Bigelow) as a likely inside man. An examination of calls he made turns up one to a Lila Harkness (Susan Berger)...who's married to Lew Foss (Robert Sandla). Five-O moves in on their home and finds Beth (Kimberly Boardman)--whom the kidnappers are implied to have been planning to off so she couldn't identify them. Back in court, Carr is about to announce the jury's inability to reach a verdict when Steve carries Beth in and Sprague hastily changes his vote, allowing Carr to announce a guilty verdict.
I experienced a little childhood flashback when Mrs. Sprague was seen sitting next to a Playskool Mailbox just like one I had at the time.
_______
Adam-12
"Keeping Tabs"
Originally aired March 14, 1973
Malloy and Reed are just finishing a wee early morning watch when they come upon and pursue a recklessly driven vehicle. It turns out to be a bunch of teenagers joyriding in a car belonging to one of their fathers, and one of the teens is Billy MacDonald (Sean Kelly)--Mac's son, who's on a first-name basis with Pete. At the station, Pete tries to make light of the situation in a way that Mac doesn't find funny, then goes to apologize, and Mac admits that he's taking the situation harder than he probably should.
On day patrol, the officers are assigned to a 459 at a hotel. From the burglarized room, Pete pursues the TV-carrying thief up the fire escape, and Jim intercepts him on the roof. A later call comes from a group of men trying to play chess in the park complaining about the noise made by ducks gathering to be fed by a senior woman (Louise Lorimer). When it becomes clear that the woman is lonely and she criticizes the mens' chessmanship, the officers arrange for her to join them.
When Jim drops Pete off at his apartment after watch, Pete finds Billy waiting for him. They walk and talk in the park, Billy complaining about how strict his father was becoming with him even before the incident, and asking Pete to request that Mac ease up a little.
On patrol, the officers are assigned to a 217 (attempted murder). It turns out that the caller (Ta Tanisha) was exaggerating, but she points them inside, where two of her boyfriends, Sammy and Joe (Cinque Attucks and Nathaniel Taylor), are fighting over a knife. By the time the arrested men are taken outside, they find that the girl has left with an unseen third guy.
At the station, Pete takes a seat in Mac's office so Mac can unload his troubles about how his relationship with his son has become strained as Billy grows up, and how he knows he's being too strict with the boy. Drawing on a childhood experience he was reminded of at the park involving a model ship that he was afraid to sail, Pete advises Mac that he's got to give Billy enough slack to grow on his own, even if it means risking that he'll make mistakes.
On patrol, the officers come upon a drunk man in the middle of the road who's trying to direct traffic (Pat Buttram). Jim lures him out of the street after giving him some tips on how it's really done to get the traffic moving again. Afterward, Pete drops in on Mac at the station to ask him how things went with Billy being allowed to go to an all-night beach party; and Mac indicates that against his instincts, he didn't press Billy for details.
_______
Kung Fu
"Alethea"
Originally aired March 15, 1973
Cue flashback...
_______
The Brady Bunch
"You Can't Win Them All"
Originally aired March 16, 1973
Both kids have been picked from their groups at school to take the test to determine who competes on the show. While Cindy enlists her other siblings to help her study, Bobby's more interested in building a teepee in the back yard. Cindy passes her test, while Bobby gets "wiped out". Bobby learns his lesson, but Cindy's is just starting as she begins to act stuck up and vain because she's a "TV star," alienating all of her siblings. Carol tries to have a talk with her, but she's still getting primed for her downfall.
Meanwhile, the parents have been planning a dinner for some friends, and as the guest list increases, they eventually settle on a smorgasbord...only to learn after they've bought all their groceries that Cindy's show is on the same date.
The day of the show arrives, and the siblings watch specifically to see Cindy bomb. When the camera starts rolling, Cindy becomes a deer caught in the headlights, fixated on the red light indicating that they're on the air while the other contestants answer questions that she specifically studied for...causing the siblings to switch to remotely urging her on, but to no avail. Cindy comes home downtrodden, but the siblings put a positive spin on it to bolster her spirits.
Prodigy Plus doesn't have the season finale, "A Room at the Top" (March 23, 1973), which establishes a memorable element of the series--Greg moving into the attic. I'll let the Wiki guy do the honors:
I remember my Mom having the hairstyle that Florence Henderson's been sporting this season. I don't know what it's called, but it's more or less a female mullet.
_______
All in the Family
"Gloria the Victim"
Originally aired March 17, 1973
Gloria comes home clearly shaken about something, and Mike notices that she's wearing clothes that she borrowed from a friend, but he can't get anything out of her. Gloria takes Edith into the kitchen and tells her about the incident...Edith trying to talk over her and change the subject as she realizes what it's about, but ultimately offering her support. Edith takes Gloria out to tell Mike while Archie's present. Gloria describes how the attacker gagged her and started to tear off her clothes before she fainted, after which he evidently fled without going further.
Archie calls the police against Gloria's wishes. A detective (Charles Durning) visits the house, getting a description from Gloria and sharing his pessimism about the prospects of successfully convicting a rapist even if he's identified. He demonstrates for Gloria the type of questioning she'd be subject to on the stand by the defense lawyer, which discourages her from pressing charges. In the kitchen, Edith tells Gloria the story of an assault attempt that she escaped when she was younger, and how she regrets not having told anyone because he probably went on to find other victims. Gloria decides to go through with filing the charge, but Archie and Mike--for once on the same page, if for different reasons--both try to talk her out of it...Archie citing Nixon telling Americans to take care of themselves. This ultimately discourages Gloria from helping other potential victims.
There's a subplot about how Edith left foot-long hot dogs that Archie was looking forward to having for dinner in the Jeffersons' freezer, and the hot dogs ended up being eaten by their unseen dog Wilma. I don't recall a canine companion movin' on up to that deluxe apartment in the sky...
_______
50th Anniversary Viewing
_______
M*A*S*H
"Major Fred C. Dobbs"
Originally aired March 11, 1973
Wiki said:
In the OR, Frank blames Lt. Bayliss for his own shortcomings, putting her in tears. Hawkeye and Trapper cheer her up, then pull a revenge prank on Frank, bandaging a makeshift hook on his arm while he's sleeping. Frank takes it up with Blake, describing a few other prank incidents, accompanied by brief flashbacks. Blake agrees to his request for a transfer. When the guys play a recording of Blake breaking the news to Houlihan through the camp's speakers, Hot Lips is so humiliated that she joins Frank in leaving the unit. An enraged Blake then assigns Hawkeye and Trapper to double duty until Burns and Houlihan are replaced, and the guys admit to one another that they may have gone too far.
Meanwhile, Radar's been prospecting for gold in the nearby hills, mule and all, which gives Hawkeye the idea to motivate Frank to stay by making him think Radar's onto something. They wake Frank up to let him overhear a discussion about having found their own stash of gold, leaving a filling behind for Frank to find as evidence. Frank borrows tools from Radar, goes digging at night with Margaret, and finds what he thinks is gold. After Burns has his transfer rescinded, the guys show off how they painted the rocks in the area gold by letting him see several other items similarly painted--included a Jeep and the loudspeakers that they publicly taunt him with.
_______
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 6, episode 24
Originally aired March 12, 1973
Series finale
The Wiki list of guest appearances said:
All are cameo guests and seem to be in leftovers from previous appearances, though Jo Anne gets an onstage intro with a chicken joke.
Final Edith Ann:
Final Ernestine:
Final Flying Fickle Finger of Fate:
Final salute:
Final news segment:
Final General Bull Wright.
Final time I couldn't find the Joke Wall from this season.
I might swing back around to the missed Season 5 someday, but it's not in my plans for the upcoming hiatus season.
_______
Hawaii Five-O
"Jury of One"
Originally aired March 13, 1973
Season finale
Wiki said:
The opening credits reminded me that a moment in the climax of the previous episode was the source of the opening credits shot of Ben...which would indicate the episode having been a very early one in the season's production.
Our current episode opens with McGarrett being questioned on the stand by Manicote at the trial of Curt Lucas (Paul Camen) for the murder of Harry Gifford. Outside, stoolie Artie Boland (Arthur Malet) slips into Steve's car to inform him that Lucas has one of the jurors in his pocket. Believing this info has some credence and recognizing the delay that a hung jury would cause as a threat to the solid case they have lined up (which includes witnesses in protective custody), McGarrett and Manicote disclose this in the chambers of Judge Phillips (Don "Lance" Over) with the defense lawyer, Emmett Mills (Edward Binns), present. Five-O ends up with just a few days to substantiate the tip by checking out the male jurors (based on how the tip was phrased)--retired Army colonel Turner Carr (Douglas Kennedy); building contractor Lee Chung (Galen Kam); car salesman Grady Jenkins (Terry Plunkett); stockbroker Warren Purcell (Alfred Avallone); and student / gas station attendant Clifford Sprague (Ray Buktenica...who's the top-billed guest, just sayin').
Carr is ruled out as the least susceptible; and Chung comes up clean when a possible business connection via Lucas's partner, Lew Foss, is checked out. Jenkins is questioned in chambers by the judge regarding a suspicious deposit in his bank account, but suffers what appears to be a heart attack and is replaced by an alternate. While recovering, Jenkins explains to McGarrett that he won the money in a poker game; and an examination by Che of the IOU he produces checks out. Boland tries to call in a follow-up tip from a public phone and Danno shuts him up to talk to him in person. But, having been tailed, the stoolie turns up dead from a hit and run.
A checkup on Sprague turns up a seven-year-old daughter named Beth who's gone missing. Mrs. Helen Sprague (Dale Morse) acts tense when questioned by Chin, and her story of Beth visiting relatives on the mainland turns up a dead end. Purcell also proves of interest when he's found to be having an affair with Sybil Fletcher (Lydia Bruce), the wife of a state senator, whom Steve flies to Maui to question...but she indicates that her husband knows about the affair and a divorce is in the works. Meanwhile, twelve angry men and women deliberate behind closed doors and Sprague is the only holdout.
The judge gives a deadline for the jury to come up with a verdict. Five-O's theory about Sprague is supported by a tapped call, and the caller knowing of the hung jury causes Five-O to look into bailiff George Watkins (William Bigelow) as a likely inside man. An examination of calls he made turns up one to a Lila Harkness (Susan Berger)...who's married to Lew Foss (Robert Sandla). Five-O moves in on their home and finds Beth (Kimberly Boardman)--whom the kidnappers are implied to have been planning to off so she couldn't identify them. Back in court, Carr is about to announce the jury's inability to reach a verdict when Steve carries Beth in and Sprague hastily changes his vote, allowing Carr to announce a guilty verdict.
I experienced a little childhood flashback when Mrs. Sprague was seen sitting next to a Playskool Mailbox just like one I had at the time.
_______
Adam-12
"Keeping Tabs"
Originally aired March 14, 1973
Frndly said:
Malloy and Reed are just finishing a wee early morning watch when they come upon and pursue a recklessly driven vehicle. It turns out to be a bunch of teenagers joyriding in a car belonging to one of their fathers, and one of the teens is Billy MacDonald (Sean Kelly)--Mac's son, who's on a first-name basis with Pete. At the station, Pete tries to make light of the situation in a way that Mac doesn't find funny, then goes to apologize, and Mac admits that he's taking the situation harder than he probably should.
On day patrol, the officers are assigned to a 459 at a hotel. From the burglarized room, Pete pursues the TV-carrying thief up the fire escape, and Jim intercepts him on the roof. A later call comes from a group of men trying to play chess in the park complaining about the noise made by ducks gathering to be fed by a senior woman (Louise Lorimer). When it becomes clear that the woman is lonely and she criticizes the mens' chessmanship, the officers arrange for her to join them.
When Jim drops Pete off at his apartment after watch, Pete finds Billy waiting for him. They walk and talk in the park, Billy complaining about how strict his father was becoming with him even before the incident, and asking Pete to request that Mac ease up a little.
On patrol, the officers are assigned to a 217 (attempted murder). It turns out that the caller (Ta Tanisha) was exaggerating, but she points them inside, where two of her boyfriends, Sammy and Joe (Cinque Attucks and Nathaniel Taylor), are fighting over a knife. By the time the arrested men are taken outside, they find that the girl has left with an unseen third guy.
At the station, Pete takes a seat in Mac's office so Mac can unload his troubles about how his relationship with his son has become strained as Billy grows up, and how he knows he's being too strict with the boy. Drawing on a childhood experience he was reminded of at the park involving a model ship that he was afraid to sail, Pete advises Mac that he's got to give Billy enough slack to grow on his own, even if it means risking that he'll make mistakes.
On patrol, the officers come upon a drunk man in the middle of the road who's trying to direct traffic (Pat Buttram). Jim lures him out of the street after giving him some tips on how it's really done to get the traffic moving again. Afterward, Pete drops in on Mac at the station to ask him how things went with Billy being allowed to go to an all-night beach party; and Mac indicates that against his instincts, he didn't press Billy for details.
_______
Kung Fu
"Alethea"
Originally aired March 15, 1973
Wiki said:
Cue flashback...
_______
The Brady Bunch
"You Can't Win Them All"
Originally aired March 16, 1973
The first sentence on Wiki said:
Both kids have been picked from their groups at school to take the test to determine who competes on the show. While Cindy enlists her other siblings to help her study, Bobby's more interested in building a teepee in the back yard. Cindy passes her test, while Bobby gets "wiped out". Bobby learns his lesson, but Cindy's is just starting as she begins to act stuck up and vain because she's a "TV star," alienating all of her siblings. Carol tries to have a talk with her, but she's still getting primed for her downfall.
Meanwhile, the parents have been planning a dinner for some friends, and as the guest list increases, they eventually settle on a smorgasbord...only to learn after they've bought all their groceries that Cindy's show is on the same date.
The day of the show arrives, and the siblings watch specifically to see Cindy bomb. When the camera starts rolling, Cindy becomes a deer caught in the headlights, fixated on the red light indicating that they're on the air while the other contestants answer questions that she specifically studied for...causing the siblings to switch to remotely urging her on, but to no avail. Cindy comes home downtrodden, but the siblings put a positive spin on it to bolster her spirits.
Prodigy Plus doesn't have the season finale, "A Room at the Top" (March 23, 1973), which establishes a memorable element of the series--Greg moving into the attic. I'll let the Wiki guy do the honors:
I remember my Mom having the hairstyle that Florence Henderson's been sporting this season. I don't know what it's called, but it's more or less a female mullet.
_______
All in the Family
"Gloria the Victim"
Originally aired March 17, 1973
Wiki said:
Gloria comes home clearly shaken about something, and Mike notices that she's wearing clothes that she borrowed from a friend, but he can't get anything out of her. Gloria takes Edith into the kitchen and tells her about the incident...Edith trying to talk over her and change the subject as she realizes what it's about, but ultimately offering her support. Edith takes Gloria out to tell Mike while Archie's present. Gloria describes how the attacker gagged her and started to tear off her clothes before she fainted, after which he evidently fled without going further.
Archie calls the police against Gloria's wishes. A detective (Charles Durning) visits the house, getting a description from Gloria and sharing his pessimism about the prospects of successfully convicting a rapist even if he's identified. He demonstrates for Gloria the type of questioning she'd be subject to on the stand by the defense lawyer, which discourages her from pressing charges. In the kitchen, Edith tells Gloria the story of an assault attempt that she escaped when she was younger, and how she regrets not having told anyone because he probably went on to find other victims. Gloria decides to go through with filing the charge, but Archie and Mike--for once on the same page, if for different reasons--both try to talk her out of it...Archie citing Nixon telling Americans to take care of themselves. This ultimately discourages Gloria from helping other potential victims.
There's a subplot about how Edith left foot-long hot dogs that Archie was looking forward to having for dinner in the Jeffersons' freezer, and the hot dogs ended up being eaten by their unseen dog Wilma. I don't recall a canine companion movin' on up to that deluxe apartment in the sky...
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Can't say I'd ever heard it before, and can't see myself getting it. It's full-on "I'll cry in my beer for Jesus".
Probably just a local DJ favorite. As classic early Elton singles go, this isn't one of mine, but it's better than "Levon".
I'm up to episode three, and it's like a cross between Star Wars and X-Men so far. But I see what they're doing with Emergency Janeway (and her Emergency Coffee), outlining the values of the Federation for kids.
Light dawns on Marblehead, as we say in these parts.
Okay, that's random.
Yup, that makes up for going too far.
Pure first-season silliness.I wonder what happened to that rocking chair.
Appropriate that they give themselves the final Finger.
Also the only name I recognize, although I can't place him.
I think Danno's in on it too. He should know that refusing to talk over the phone is a death sentence for the stoolie. And it sounds like that driver got clean away with it.
Which kind of gives away which one is the ringer.
Dramatic, but I wonder if that would even be allowed and wouldn't result in a mistrial.
Product placement!
Talk about embarrassing.
But what about the poor ducks?
Add B&E to the reckless driving.
"Sure, Billy, I'll tell my boss how to raise his kid and then face his wrath the next time you screw up."
One of the kids on Room 222.
Does Mac have a wife or what?
Mister Haney! He's probably trying to sell them something.
It's at that moment that the call comes in for all units to report to the beach.
Bobby seems developmentally delayed.
They should have turned it into a watch party, putting further pressure on the kid.
"At least you... uh... at least there's leftover smorgasbord."
I remember this one. It was pretty intense, and a great example of how AITF gained its reputation.
No pets in deluxe apartments!
That's another one that got played frequently up until recently, and I don't even remember it from its original release.
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50th Anniversary Viewing
_______
M*A*S*H
"Ceasefire"
Originally aired March 18, 1973
Hawkeye and Trapper are putting in for leave in Tokyo when Blake gets a call from General Clayton tipping him off that a ceasefire is in the works. Word quickly spreads and the camp bursts into celebration despite the news not being officially confirmed. Hawkeye wants to believe that it's true despite Trapper's skepticism. (Wayne Rogers's accent seems more pronounced these past couple of episodes than I'd previously noticed.) Meanwhile, Margaret tries to come to terms with Frank returning to his wife; and Radar goes around having everyone sign his scrapbook. Even Father Mulcahy joins the revelry, after getting the obligatory solemn prayer out of the way.
Hawkeye claims to be married in order to back out of potential commitments to Lt. Nancy Griffin (Lynnette Mettey), Nurse Margie Cutler (Marcia Strassman), and Lt. Barbara Bannerman (Bonnie Jones). Blake writes something touchingly personal in Radar's scrapbook, but Radar pushes the point, trying to arrange a get-together with him once they're home. Klinger sells his dresses to the nurses. A drunken Margaret threatens suicide if she can't go with Frank. Clayton visits for a formal party, during which Hawkeye shows slides of the general, which include him leaving the latrine and cuddling with Hot Lips. As the partygoers are singing "Auld Lang Syne," Radar brings a communique to Clayton informing him that there's no ceasefire; and like clockwork, there's an announcement of incoming casualties.
This and the next episode were actually shot in the same order that they aired, but this one struck me as a better potential season finale.
_______
Adam-12
"Easy Rap"
Originally aired March 21, 1973
Season finale
17-year-old Lou Trask (Damon Douglas), who presents himself well in juvenile court, taunts Reed and the prosecutor (Robert Clarke) after being let off the hook. Jim's concerned with rehabilitating the youth before he falls into a life of hard crime, but Pete is more cynical about Trask's prospects.
The officers respond to a call from a woman named Sandy Rice (Catherine Burns), who think her boyfriend Johnny has taken a heroin overdose. The officers bust down the door to find him dead inside. Learning that he died from a "hot shot" rather than an overdose, Sandy agrees to give the officers the name of his dealer, Frank Ducas, following which they consult with narcotics detective Joe Mitchell (Joe Kapp, whom Wiki informs me was a former quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and Boston Patriots).
On patrol, Pete spots Trask driving by them and Jim calls in the vehicle while they tail it; the car checks out and Trask voluntarily pulls over for more taunting. Sandy later pays a visit to the station to give the officers Ducas's current address, but is incredulous that they can't bust him on hearsay. On patrol again, the officers pull over a little old lady (Florence Lake) in a '40s-vintage car after she pulls out of a driveway without stopping for traffic. She refuses to sign the ticket, so they have to take her in.
Sandy appears at the station again to produce evidence--a dime bag she just bought from Ducas, and the serial number of the bill she used to pay for it. Pete still doesn't think this will stick. Mitchell stakes out Ducas's place from a neighboring house and, while Malloy and Reed are there, sees a known hype paying a visit. The uniformed officers intercept the hype on his way out and find the goods on him, establishing PC. They and the detective then raid the house and arrest Ducas (Joe E. Tata).
Finally, the officers assist with staking out a group of juvenile 459 suspects under observation. They call in a parked vehicle that Lou Trask is seen sitting in and find it's hot. He takes off and they pursue. The speeding vehicle is hit by a car pulling out of a driveway and Trask crashes into a parked vehicle. They call for an ambulance and Lou dies on the pavement outside the vehicle, his last words being his usual alibi: "The keys were in it."
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Kung Fu
"The Praying Mantis Kills"
Originally aired March 22, 1973
Cue flashback...
_______
The Odd Couple
"The Murray Who Came to Dinner"
Originally aired March 23, 1973
Season finale
Oscar comes home under pressure to meet a column deadline when Felix informs him that Murray has split with his wife...then reveals a pajama-clad Murray. Murray tells them that Mimi thinks he's having an affair with Chi-Chi Caballero (Patty Regan), a roller derby queen whom he has an autographed picture of. Murray's presence is all the more disruptive to their normal routines because he's working the night shift--sleeping on the couch by day and having breakfast at 11:30 p.m. and lunch at 4 a.m. Nevertheless, Felix tries to accommodate and support him...even cleaning his gun. Further motivated by having set a double date with a pair of Swedish stewardesses for Saturday night, Oscar arranges for Mimi (Jane Dulo) to come over to try to get the couple back together. Mimi immediately asks Murray to come home upon walking in the door, but Felix insists on ruining things by making them stay for a celebration and having a talk with Mimi about where she went wrong in their marriage.
An emboldened Murray declares that he intends to stay, because Felix treats him better; and starts talking of getting the three of them a bigger apartment. Felix and Oscar scheme to make their bachelor lifestyle look less glamorous by postponing their date and playing Parcheesi on Saturday night until Murray leaves...but as they're about to head out for their date, Murray comes home unexpectedly with dates for them--Chi-Chi and two of her teammates from the Jersey City Jammers. The group end up going to the derby and a restaurant afterward. Back at the apartment, Felix seems to talk Murray into returning to Mimi a little to easily...then Mimi drops in to inform them that Murray called her from the restaurant.
In a couple of places, the episode makes conspicuous use of long-shot location footage of Randall and Klugman in New York with dubbed-over bits of dialogue.
_______
All in the Family
"The Battle of the Month"
Originally aired March 24, 1973
Season finale
Archie comes home in a good mood for a change, though Edith deflates him when he has to try to try to explain a bowling joke. It's Gloria's 23rd birthday and the family is planning a surprise, but Gloria comes home feeling lousy because, as the title suggests but the Wiki description didn't get into, it's that time of the month. Archie prefers that the subject not be discussed openly, and everyone bandies around euphemisms for the condition that they've heard. Archie's view of the matter causes Gloria to accuse Archie of being a male chauvinist while referencing Germaine Greer's The Female Eunich. In the kitchen, Edith tries to get Gloria to apologize to Archie, and Gloria accuses her of being a doormat and a nothing who has zero partnership in her marriage. A very upset Edith subsequently brings out the cake, forces herself to rush through "Happy Birthday," then storms back into the kitchen.
Neither wife can sleep that night, and each husband tries to get them to talk about it in his own way. Mike and Gloria end up getting into a fight when he sticks up for Edith as she is, then opines that Gloria is more like her father...
Archie tries to eavesdrop on the flight via a glass to the wall, but gives himself away when he reacts to something that Mike says. Gloria goes downstairs to sleep on the couch; Mike picks her up and tries to carry her back upstairs, and she slaps him.
As the fight between Mike and Gloria intensifies, Edith intervenes and sits everyone down (even silencing Archie) to tell a story about a fight her parents had over something trivial, following which their relationship was never the same because of the things they'd said to each other...and urges Mike and Gloria to stop before they do the same. Mike and Gloria contritely apologize to one another, then Gloria apologizes to Edith, telling her that she's really something.
_______
50th Anniversary Viewing
_______
M*A*S*H
"Ceasefire"
Originally aired March 18, 1973
Wiki said:
Hawkeye and Trapper are putting in for leave in Tokyo when Blake gets a call from General Clayton tipping him off that a ceasefire is in the works. Word quickly spreads and the camp bursts into celebration despite the news not being officially confirmed. Hawkeye wants to believe that it's true despite Trapper's skepticism. (Wayne Rogers's accent seems more pronounced these past couple of episodes than I'd previously noticed.) Meanwhile, Margaret tries to come to terms with Frank returning to his wife; and Radar goes around having everyone sign his scrapbook. Even Father Mulcahy joins the revelry, after getting the obligatory solemn prayer out of the way.
Hawkeye claims to be married in order to back out of potential commitments to Lt. Nancy Griffin (Lynnette Mettey), Nurse Margie Cutler (Marcia Strassman), and Lt. Barbara Bannerman (Bonnie Jones). Blake writes something touchingly personal in Radar's scrapbook, but Radar pushes the point, trying to arrange a get-together with him once they're home. Klinger sells his dresses to the nurses. A drunken Margaret threatens suicide if she can't go with Frank. Clayton visits for a formal party, during which Hawkeye shows slides of the general, which include him leaving the latrine and cuddling with Hot Lips. As the partygoers are singing "Auld Lang Syne," Radar brings a communique to Clayton informing him that there's no ceasefire; and like clockwork, there's an announcement of incoming casualties.
This and the next episode were actually shot in the same order that they aired, but this one struck me as a better potential season finale.
_______
Adam-12
"Easy Rap"
Originally aired March 21, 1973
Season finale
Part of the first sentence on Wiki said:
17-year-old Lou Trask (Damon Douglas), who presents himself well in juvenile court, taunts Reed and the prosecutor (Robert Clarke) after being let off the hook. Jim's concerned with rehabilitating the youth before he falls into a life of hard crime, but Pete is more cynical about Trask's prospects.
The officers respond to a call from a woman named Sandy Rice (Catherine Burns), who think her boyfriend Johnny has taken a heroin overdose. The officers bust down the door to find him dead inside. Learning that he died from a "hot shot" rather than an overdose, Sandy agrees to give the officers the name of his dealer, Frank Ducas, following which they consult with narcotics detective Joe Mitchell (Joe Kapp, whom Wiki informs me was a former quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and Boston Patriots).
On patrol, Pete spots Trask driving by them and Jim calls in the vehicle while they tail it; the car checks out and Trask voluntarily pulls over for more taunting. Sandy later pays a visit to the station to give the officers Ducas's current address, but is incredulous that they can't bust him on hearsay. On patrol again, the officers pull over a little old lady (Florence Lake) in a '40s-vintage car after she pulls out of a driveway without stopping for traffic. She refuses to sign the ticket, so they have to take her in.
Sandy appears at the station again to produce evidence--a dime bag she just bought from Ducas, and the serial number of the bill she used to pay for it. Pete still doesn't think this will stick. Mitchell stakes out Ducas's place from a neighboring house and, while Malloy and Reed are there, sees a known hype paying a visit. The uniformed officers intercept the hype on his way out and find the goods on him, establishing PC. They and the detective then raid the house and arrest Ducas (Joe E. Tata).
Finally, the officers assist with staking out a group of juvenile 459 suspects under observation. They call in a parked vehicle that Lou Trask is seen sitting in and find it's hot. He takes off and they pursue. The speeding vehicle is hit by a car pulling out of a driveway and Trask crashes into a parked vehicle. They call for an ambulance and Lou dies on the pavement outside the vehicle, his last words being his usual alibi: "The keys were in it."
_______
Kung Fu
"The Praying Mantis Kills"
Originally aired March 22, 1973
Wiki said:
Cue flashback...
_______
The Odd Couple
"The Murray Who Came to Dinner"
Originally aired March 23, 1973
Season finale
Wiki said:
Oscar comes home under pressure to meet a column deadline when Felix informs him that Murray has split with his wife...then reveals a pajama-clad Murray. Murray tells them that Mimi thinks he's having an affair with Chi-Chi Caballero (Patty Regan), a roller derby queen whom he has an autographed picture of. Murray's presence is all the more disruptive to their normal routines because he's working the night shift--sleeping on the couch by day and having breakfast at 11:30 p.m. and lunch at 4 a.m. Nevertheless, Felix tries to accommodate and support him...even cleaning his gun. Further motivated by having set a double date with a pair of Swedish stewardesses for Saturday night, Oscar arranges for Mimi (Jane Dulo) to come over to try to get the couple back together. Mimi immediately asks Murray to come home upon walking in the door, but Felix insists on ruining things by making them stay for a celebration and having a talk with Mimi about where she went wrong in their marriage.
Oscar: Don't just sit there, Murray, take out your gun and shoot him!
An emboldened Murray declares that he intends to stay, because Felix treats him better; and starts talking of getting the three of them a bigger apartment. Felix and Oscar scheme to make their bachelor lifestyle look less glamorous by postponing their date and playing Parcheesi on Saturday night until Murray leaves...but as they're about to head out for their date, Murray comes home unexpectedly with dates for them--Chi-Chi and two of her teammates from the Jersey City Jammers. The group end up going to the derby and a restaurant afterward. Back at the apartment, Felix seems to talk Murray into returning to Mimi a little to easily...then Mimi drops in to inform them that Murray called her from the restaurant.
In a couple of places, the episode makes conspicuous use of long-shot location footage of Randall and Klugman in New York with dubbed-over bits of dialogue.
_______
All in the Family
"The Battle of the Month"
Originally aired March 24, 1973
Season finale
Wiki said:
Archie comes home in a good mood for a change, though Edith deflates him when he has to try to try to explain a bowling joke. It's Gloria's 23rd birthday and the family is planning a surprise, but Gloria comes home feeling lousy because, as the title suggests but the Wiki description didn't get into, it's that time of the month. Archie prefers that the subject not be discussed openly, and everyone bandies around euphemisms for the condition that they've heard. Archie's view of the matter causes Gloria to accuse Archie of being a male chauvinist while referencing Germaine Greer's The Female Eunich. In the kitchen, Edith tries to get Gloria to apologize to Archie, and Gloria accuses her of being a doormat and a nothing who has zero partnership in her marriage. A very upset Edith subsequently brings out the cake, forces herself to rush through "Happy Birthday," then storms back into the kitchen.
Neither wife can sleep that night, and each husband tries to get them to talk about it in his own way. Mike and Gloria end up getting into a fight when he sticks up for Edith as she is, then opines that Gloria is more like her father...
Gloria: WHAT!?!
Archie tries to eavesdrop on the flight via a glass to the wall, but gives himself away when he reacts to something that Mike says. Gloria goes downstairs to sleep on the couch; Mike picks her up and tries to carry her back upstairs, and she slaps him.
Mike: You hit me!!! Did you see that!?!
Archie: Yeah, it was worth gettin' up for.
Archie: Yeah, it was worth gettin' up for.
As the fight between Mike and Gloria intensifies, Edith intervenes and sits everyone down (even silencing Archie) to tell a story about a fight her parents had over something trivial, following which their relationship was never the same because of the things they'd said to each other...and urges Mike and Gloria to stop before they do the same. Mike and Gloria contritely apologize to one another, then Gloria apologizes to Edith, telling her that she's really something.
_______
X-Men...that's a comparison I haven't seen.
A local thing or a family thing?Light dawns on Marblehead, as we say in these parts.
Yeah, there was zero mention of it being the last episode, FWIW.Appropriate that they give themselves the final Finger.
No, Danno was trying to stop him from being overheard in public, but it was too late. He'd had a tail on him back when he got into Steve's car.
It was meant to at that point.
There was some early handwaving of not calling a mistrial for the tip itself.
Along comes Peter Brady...
Nah, he was waiting outside. And I think Pete may also live in the same apartment complex that the Mark VII shows have been using for calls lately...more of that distinctive walkway railing, but shot from a completely different angle here.
The episode really played up how personally friendly Pete was with Mac and his family, which sort of came out of nowhere.
I can't recall that they mentioned one.Does Mac have a wife or what?
I dunno...seemed right for his age. Mike Lookinland was 12 at the time; IIRC, Bobby was established early on to be about a year younger.
They were basically giving her credit just for having gotten there in the first place.
I guess Henry could have taken her. Maybe she was his in the first place.
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Can't say that I've noticed anything unusual in that regard thus far. It's episodic TV, his mood's going to change based on current circumstances.
Well, that's kind of irresponsible.
I don't remember him that well. He's probably falling in to his natural speech patterns.
Those chopper pilots have a strong flair for the dramatic.
The one time they should have changed the order...
I'm sure he's onboard with trying, though.
How do the boys feel about rehabilitating delinquent old ladies?
Good initiative, though. They should recruit this kid for their own Mod Squad.
For a second there I thought it was going to be the old lady.
Another grim ending.
"With nowhere else to go..." Starting next season: The Odd Trio. Or The Odd Threesome. Maybe Three's Company.
That would be ironic after Felix just cleaned it.
Maybe Mimi's suspicions were not entirely unfounded.
Possibly some of that leftover footage from the title sequence.
None of which had ever been heard on TV before.
Missed opportunity for a cake-in-the-face moment.
Was this the "pass the syrup" story, or something like that? No, I think that was one time she was trying to get Archie to apologize. I'm not sure.
A bunch of kids with strange powers from different backgrounds with clashing personalities, nurtured by an adult mentor. I see a resemblance.
Local. Wait a minute, what's that supposed to mean?
I wonder if they knew. I don't think it was common to know your fate until after the last episode had been filmed back then.
Oh, I pictured him kicking back in Pete's easy chair.
This may have been the only time Mac's personal was even mentioned.
The Bradys invented the participation trophy.
You mean inconsistencies in his characterization? They were probably integrating William Christopher's real personality into the character.
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50th Anniversary Viewing
_______
M*A*S*H
"Showtime"
Originally aired March 25, 1973
Season finale
Scenes of the USO show--emmceed by Jackie Flash (Joey Forman) and featuring singing trio the Miller Sisters (Marilyn King, Jean Turrell, and Joan Lucksinger)--alternate with vignettes of business as usual in the camp, including tense surgical moments; Burns pulling practical jokes on Hawkeye for a change; Hawkeye reaffirming Mulcahy's faith in the role he plays; and Blake anxiously awaiting news of his wife giving birth, eventually being informed that it's a boy, and experiencing melancholy in the aftermath: "Let's hope I meet him before he gets drafted and sent over here."
Radar performs a drum solo on stage (apparently aided by sped-up film). Mulcahy's touch seems to bring Trapper's patient back from the brink of death. ("It's not supposed to work that way, you know.") Radar arranges for Henry to hold a local laundry worker's baby as a substitute for his own. And Hawkeye gets even by arranging to have the latrine's walls taken down while Frank is using it. The episode closes with credits for the regular actors playing over a scene of their characters in the USO show's audience.
_______
Mission: Impossible
"Imitation"
Originally aired March 30, 1973
Series finale
This is another one of those titles that could have been used for pretty much any damn episode of the series.
A group of hoods led by Boomer (OK, Adam Cartwright) and Eddie (Thalmus Rasulala) hijacks an armored truck that's leaving the Marnsburg consulate using gas and explosives, stealing a set of crown jewels and delivering them to Jena Cole (McNair).
Uncredited guest agent Duval (Ray Ballard) is at the briefing, where he demonstrates his sleight of hand with counterfeit gems. The plot points of Cole being believed to have Syndicate backing and Marnsburg being hostile to the US are confirmed in this scene.
Barney visits Cole's go-go club pretending to be a former cellmate of her deceased brother, and is brought into the office to see her. He asks to borrow some bread so his sound-amplifyig gadget can pick up the combination of the safe...each of three little tumblers on the gadget turning to one of the numbers. He sneaks back in afterward and opens the safe, stealing $12,000 from a strongbox and leaving it open and his fingerprints behind to make sure Cole knows. Cole's men break into Barney's hotel room, finding a blueprint of the consulate vault area and his gadget. A handwritten note leads Boomer goes to an electronics company named ElectroStat, where he finds an agent posing as a dead body.
Willy and Duval abduct Cole's fence, Gerald Carter (uncredited Jack Bernardi)--who, unlike Jim when he was playing Blofeld, does have a white cat--and Duval disguises himself as Carter via mask. From an IMF van, Willy sends a message to the consulate's teletype, which is decoded by Dunson (Lew Brown), Cole's inside man. The message indicates that the jewels that were stolen were paste copies. Eddie brings in Jim--whom the baddies have identified as an associate of Barney's for reasons I didn't catch--to see Cole. Jim indicates that he's planning to kill Barney in a week if he doesn't repay a large, long-overdue debt. Cole brings one of the jewels from the crown to Fake Carter, who swaps it with a fake and identifies it as such, smashing it before her.
Eddie catches up with and nabs Barney, who's brought to Cole over the money he stole. Under pressure to produce the merchandise for her Syndicate contact (Charles McGraw), she uses the fake murder at ElectroStat as leverage to make herself a partner in his fake heist plan to steal the crown jewels from the vault, and he makes moves on her. Willy delivers the "real" crown jewels (actually the fakes) to the consulate, to be put in the vault, and plants a device in the vault's gate.
Barney breaks into the consulate vault area while Boomer waits in the car and Dunson watches from concealment. Barney gets through the gate, apparently with the help of whatever Willy planted, and breaks into the vault, apparently with the help of a gadget deployed from the case containing the fake jewels, which he brings to Cole. Barney insists on selling the jewels to his buyer, so while he has a drink with Cole, Boomer swaps the crown jewel boxes--so they think they're giving Barney the fakes, but they're actually giving him the real ones. Barney takes the case out to the IMF van, where Duval determines that they jewels are the real deal; while the Syndicate man and his goons arrive for the other case, determining those jewels to be glass. With the Syndicate man thinking he's been double-crossed, it looks like there's going to be an offscreen gunshot, but conventional law enforcement swoops in. Barney watches as the assembled baddies are brought outside by the officers, exchanging regretful glances with Cole.
Mission: Canceled. With M:I having been the last show in the lineup that dated back to the 1966-67 TV season, which is when I started the 50th anniversary viewing, this feels like the end of an era. (But speaking of, I do still have six Season 1 episodes in my hiatus viewing itinerary.)
_______
And that finally catches 50th anniversary viewing up! All I've got left to watch/review is the season finale of Emergency! this weekend. Not sure what I'll do with the old reviews of the remaining episodes of Kung Fu after that.
50th Anniversary Viewing
_______
M*A*S*H
"Showtime"
Originally aired March 25, 1973
Season finale
Wiki said:
Scenes of the USO show--emmceed by Jackie Flash (Joey Forman) and featuring singing trio the Miller Sisters (Marilyn King, Jean Turrell, and Joan Lucksinger)--alternate with vignettes of business as usual in the camp, including tense surgical moments; Burns pulling practical jokes on Hawkeye for a change; Hawkeye reaffirming Mulcahy's faith in the role he plays; and Blake anxiously awaiting news of his wife giving birth, eventually being informed that it's a boy, and experiencing melancholy in the aftermath: "Let's hope I meet him before he gets drafted and sent over here."
Radar performs a drum solo on stage (apparently aided by sped-up film). Mulcahy's touch seems to bring Trapper's patient back from the brink of death. ("It's not supposed to work that way, you know.") Radar arranges for Henry to hold a local laundry worker's baby as a substitute for his own. And Hawkeye gets even by arranging to have the latrine's walls taken down while Frank is using it. The episode closes with credits for the regular actors playing over a scene of their characters in the USO show's audience.
_______
Mission: Impossible
"Imitation"
Originally aired March 30, 1973
Series finale
Wiki said:
This is another one of those titles that could have been used for pretty much any damn episode of the series.
A group of hoods led by Boomer (OK, Adam Cartwright) and Eddie (Thalmus Rasulala) hijacks an armored truck that's leaving the Marnsburg consulate using gas and explosives, stealing a set of crown jewels and delivering them to Jena Cole (McNair).
The reel-to-reel tape in an office with a mechanical clock on display that I'm pretty sure we've seen before said:
Uncredited guest agent Duval (Ray Ballard) is at the briefing, where he demonstrates his sleight of hand with counterfeit gems. The plot points of Cole being believed to have Syndicate backing and Marnsburg being hostile to the US are confirmed in this scene.
Barney visits Cole's go-go club pretending to be a former cellmate of her deceased brother, and is brought into the office to see her. He asks to borrow some bread so his sound-amplifyig gadget can pick up the combination of the safe...each of three little tumblers on the gadget turning to one of the numbers. He sneaks back in afterward and opens the safe, stealing $12,000 from a strongbox and leaving it open and his fingerprints behind to make sure Cole knows. Cole's men break into Barney's hotel room, finding a blueprint of the consulate vault area and his gadget. A handwritten note leads Boomer goes to an electronics company named ElectroStat, where he finds an agent posing as a dead body.
Willy and Duval abduct Cole's fence, Gerald Carter (uncredited Jack Bernardi)--who, unlike Jim when he was playing Blofeld, does have a white cat--and Duval disguises himself as Carter via mask. From an IMF van, Willy sends a message to the consulate's teletype, which is decoded by Dunson (Lew Brown), Cole's inside man. The message indicates that the jewels that were stolen were paste copies. Eddie brings in Jim--whom the baddies have identified as an associate of Barney's for reasons I didn't catch--to see Cole. Jim indicates that he's planning to kill Barney in a week if he doesn't repay a large, long-overdue debt. Cole brings one of the jewels from the crown to Fake Carter, who swaps it with a fake and identifies it as such, smashing it before her.
Eddie catches up with and nabs Barney, who's brought to Cole over the money he stole. Under pressure to produce the merchandise for her Syndicate contact (Charles McGraw), she uses the fake murder at ElectroStat as leverage to make herself a partner in his fake heist plan to steal the crown jewels from the vault, and he makes moves on her. Willy delivers the "real" crown jewels (actually the fakes) to the consulate, to be put in the vault, and plants a device in the vault's gate.
Barney breaks into the consulate vault area while Boomer waits in the car and Dunson watches from concealment. Barney gets through the gate, apparently with the help of whatever Willy planted, and breaks into the vault, apparently with the help of a gadget deployed from the case containing the fake jewels, which he brings to Cole. Barney insists on selling the jewels to his buyer, so while he has a drink with Cole, Boomer swaps the crown jewel boxes--so they think they're giving Barney the fakes, but they're actually giving him the real ones. Barney takes the case out to the IMF van, where Duval determines that they jewels are the real deal; while the Syndicate man and his goons arrive for the other case, determining those jewels to be glass. With the Syndicate man thinking he's been double-crossed, it looks like there's going to be an offscreen gunshot, but conventional law enforcement swoops in. Barney watches as the assembled baddies are brought outside by the officers, exchanging regretful glances with Cole.
Mission: Canceled. With M:I having been the last show in the lineup that dated back to the 1966-67 TV season, which is when I started the 50th anniversary viewing, this feels like the end of an era. (But speaking of, I do still have six Season 1 episodes in my hiatus viewing itinerary.)
_______
And that finally catches 50th anniversary viewing up! All I've got left to watch/review is the season finale of Emergency! this weekend. Not sure what I'll do with the old reviews of the remaining episodes of Kung Fu after that.
Wiki says that Wayne Rogers was from Alabama, and Trapper was from Boston, so the accent must be affected.
Pete cynically advised Jim that the best they could do was to keep arresting the kid. I think he was trying to discourage Jim from getting too attached.
They were embarrassed about the whole thing and had to call Mac to verify that they should bring her in.How do the boys feel about rehabilitating delinquent old ladies?
Felix cleaning guns seems like it should be the focus of its own episode...That would be ironic after Felix just cleaned it.
Yes, it was something about maple syrup.
They probably had an idea from the ratings, whether or not it had been confirmed at that point. Now that I think of it, Laugh-In coming to a close also kind of brings it all back to the beginning, as it was a mid-season replacement for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in its dying-days timeslot (the one that Trek didn't get).
Pretty much.The Bradys invented the participation trophy.
I like that Mulcahy isn't above dabbling in a little secular indulgence, like gambling and revelry.
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Well that's got nothing on Substitute Artie Syndrome.
If the war lasted as long as the show, it could have happened.
Now that you mention it, that had crossed my mind when I was watching, but didn't make it into my write-up.If the war lasted as long as the show, it could have happened.