77 Sunset Strip / Hawaiian Eye, etc. (3 Viewers)

[Rustifer]

For my part, I didn't like the show because I thought the music was lacking any sort of real feeling. It didn't swing or sway.

I understand that Mr. Welk, a stern taskmaster, didn't allow swinging or swaying. Ever.

 

[Mysto]

I understand that Mr. Welk, a stern taskmaster, didn't allow swinging or swaying. Ever.

Somebody turn off the bubble machine and turn on 77 Sunset Strip

 

[criblecoblis]

I understand that Mr. Welk, a stern taskmaster, didn't allow swinging or swaying. Ever.

Yes, I hear he had a falling-out as a young man with Sammy Kaye over a girl.

 

[criblecoblis]

Somebody turn off the bubble machine and turn on 77 Sunset Strip

Marv, that's a very gentle way to point out that we've strayed off-topic. Point well taken, but gosh, we've had fun, haven't we? But to point it back on-topic, I imagine that the entire 77SS gang, from Stu to Roscoe, would be unanimous in saying, "Turn off that bubble machine!"

 

[MartinP.]

Customer at bar: "I'd like to order a couple Lawrence Welk cocktails.

Bartender: "A one-an-a-two coming right up."

 

[MartinP.]

Curious Tidbit

Who decided that canvas director's chairs should be the seat of choice on film sets?
[...]

You said it. If I sit in one of those for more than a few minutes I get a headache. No thanks!

 

[Dan McW]

Oddest moment from Lawrence Welk Show:

 

[criblecoblis]

Oddest moment from Lawrence Welk Show:

A "modern spiritual," indeed!

 

[Flashgear]

As this thread title has an "etc." in it regarding classic WB TV series, most of which were still unreleased on DVD when this thread was started many years ago, I thought I might port over my post from the "what did you watch this week in classic TV" thread...in case you guys are interested...I hope you are, and that this entertains you a little bit on this fine Saturday, the first day of summer...

Maverick S4E8, The Witch of Hound Dog (Nov. 6, 1960) D: Leslie Goodwins, W: Mae Melotte. Guest cast: Anita Sands, Wayde Preston, Sheldon Allman, William B. Corrie.

Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly, natch.) is up in the great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee in the backwoods Ville of Hound Dog trying to track down his $10,000 rightfully owed him by recently deceased gambler High Card Harris. The money is in a safe once held by his old friend Luke Baxter, played by Wayde Preston (previously seen as a different character, the effortlessly charismatic Waco Williams in Maverick season two's The Saga of Waco Williams, and once the star of his own WB Western series, Colt .45), the problem for Bart is that the safe is now held by back wood thieves Ox and Zack Sutliff. These two oafs have a very lovely sister, Nancy (Anita Sands), reputed to be a Witch and much feared by the unfriendly denizens of Hound Dog...Bart soon encounters the raven-haired "Witch" Nancy, and not believing in these things, offers a friendly ride into Hound Dog...the girl is beautiful, and yes, bewitching for sure...she insists that her "Pa" is actually that nasty looking raven that hovers about watching Bart with uncanny interest...Nancy tells Bart that she is only misunderstood by the townspeople...she tries to use her "powers" only for good, but sometimes people just suffer accidents by chance, which are always blamed on her anyway...can she help Bart get his money out of the safe now held by her two shotgun wielding idiot brothers?...Is she really a witch? The girl can seemingly conjure a thunder storm at will, for crying out loud! Can Bart escape falling under her courting spell (who would want to?) and also escape with his ten grand? Can a prize Bassett Hound called "Peaches" help Bart with any of this? Ha, ha...My screen caps from the WAC season 4 box set...

Most fans regard the first 3 seasons as the height of Maverick...I don't disagree, as there was no replacing the great James Garner, after all...but to me, Jack Kelly always held his own while being overshadowed by the meteoric rise of James Garner in WB's big screen marquee pictures...I still like much of what I see in season 4...Roger Moore as the British Maverick cousin Beau, and occasionally a rare supporting appearance by the otherwise bland and inert Robert Colbert (Time Tunnel) as yet another previously undiscovered cousin Brent Maverick... apparently cast as he fit perfectly into James Garner's old Bret Maverick wardrobe! The protracted writer's guild strike of 1960 gave WB an excuse to re-use as many as 14 previously written scripts under the nom-de-plume "W. Hermanos" so all their series could go back into production while the strike was on and Garner's holdout counter-suit was finally resolved...but the script for The Witch of Hound Dog is a winning one...I don't know if the credited script writer Mae Melotte was yet another pseudonym for Coles Trapnell or not...her other credit was for a pretty good fourth season episode of 77 Sunset Strip, The Bel Air Hermit...

What really makes this episode is the truly bewitching Anita Sands (Hernandez) and Jack Kelly's adept comic timing...apparently in later years, Anita Sands became something of an astrologer to the stars and still maintains a website devoted to such things...Wayde Preston, having suffered the same shabby indignities as other WB TV stars, eventually went into commercial aviation as a pilot for TWA and Quantas in Australia...

In a historical context, this episode aired the night before the 1960 presidential election, with JFK squaring off against Richard Nixon the next day...

 

[Bob Goughan]

There are nude shots of Ms. McBain to be found, work done prior to Surfside 6. I also love "The Aquanauts" aka "Malibu Run. A very, very good show and altho the principals were not PI's, they essentially operated like same. Sadly in a time when almost everything ever made can be found somewhere this show cannot. When I started collecting the shows of my youth I discovered that almost all could be found as either TV reruns or 16mm film chains out of the local affiliate GM or PD's basements started surfacing. The Aquanauts only a season and a half long to begin with has never fell into either category. Only four episodes have ever surfaced.

 

[Bob Goughan]

Episode Commentary
Hawaiian Eye
"Satan City" (S3E1)

Well I'm pretty rusty at commentaries since I've been on hiatus during these viral times. But this big trove of Hawaiian Eye eps has been burning a hole in my Plex collection--screaming to get heard. So here goes.

Hilda Barton (the wonderful Virginia Gregg), a famous authoress having written the spicy novel "Satan City", is now toying with a new manuscript besmirching her publisher Paul Hoyt (Arthur Franz) whom she believes stole half the proceeds from her novel. After Paul craps his pants hearing about the concept, something must be done. While Hilda is vacationing in Hawaii with her daughter Cathy (Ann Whitfield), the manuscript goes mysteriously missing. Hilda's kind of a snake, and although she enjoys the publicity of her missing missive, she blames the police for their laxity. The cops don't really think she's lost the manuscript but using them as an additional publicity stunt. Did I mention she's a snake?

Daughter fusses and flits around, decrying her mother's nasty antics but has seemingly little power to change her course. Hilda shows up at the HE office to hire them to investigate, but gets stuck with Greg MacKenzie (Grant Williams) who displays half the charm of partners Tom Lopaka or Tracey "Pencil Thin Moustache" Steele. He's sort of a second hand addition similar to Richard Long in 77 SS. Gregg is reluctant to help Hilda find her script as he considers her to be...well, a snake. She writes him a $500 check, and he's suddenly galvanized to pick up the pace. He heads out to Hilda's house to flush out the scent and runs smack dab into Paul Hoyt--the prime suspect for stealing the manuscript. He's certainly suspicious enough and has ample motive, not to mention oily hair.

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Ann Whitfield, Virginia Gregg, Arthur Franz, Grant Williams

So far, this story is moving at the speed of a Nash Metropolitan on two flat tires. Greg convinces Hilda to put up a $5,000 reward for the return of the manuscript in hopes of flushing out the thief. Meanwhile, overweight tourists wearing straw hats and Hawaiian shirts are milling about the lobby of the Hawaiian Hilton as if to the cement the authenticity of the location rather than the reality of it being the Warner Bros. stage in Burbank where the series is filmed.

So the crux of this story centers on discovering who took the manuscript. Big Hint: Paul Hoyt and Cathy have been bumping uglies together for some time now. There's a vested interest in Cathy protecting Paul's somewhat slimy reputation. At this point, Greg's efforts have been worth about a tenth of the fee he's been paid. Fortunately, he has access to the episode script and is able to figure it all out. It's all a big excuse to hang out at the swank hotel office of the detectives that features tiki lamps, a swimming pool and more ferns than the Everglades.
It's an unfortunately slow story with plot holes as frequent as found in the pavement of a country road. Still, I enjoyed the nostalgia of it.

Very, very funny , as usual.

 

[Bob Goughan]

Episode Commentary
Hawaiian Eye
"The Kapua of Coconut Bay" (S3E1)

Rumors are flying that there's a monster (a "kapua") in Coconut Bay. Cricket Blake (Connie Stevens) and Kim (Ponce Ponce) are firm believers. Tom Lopaka (Robert Conrad), not so much. An investigation is in order.

The story begins with Tom having a meeting with developer Martin Kingsley (Arch Johnson) aboard his giant ego-boosting yacht. Kingsley wants to build a big new city in Hawaii. Where, you ask? Why, in Coconut Bay. You can feel the plot thicken like navy bean soup. But here's the rub--the one tract of land that Kingsley can't get his mitts on is owned by old Mama Mahina (Anne Seymour--who's about as Polynesian as I am). It's said that Mama is 500 years old. I put her around 475.

Kingsley hires Tom to secure the land since he's had a long relationship with Mama and could possible get the old bat to sell. It's a prospect as relishing to Tom as crotch rash--but a buck's a buck. Mama lives in a rickety grass hut on the beach, which means she probably has to pee and poop in the nearby ferns. This can make walking up to her place kinda messy (not mentioned in the script, just pondering on my part).
Meanwhile, cohorts Bert Jackson (the "professor" Russell Johnson) and Dorothy Winters (Mari Blanchard) are itching to discover where Kingsley is going to build his city in order to get a head start on profiting over the location.

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Arch Johnson; Anne Seymour; Mari Blanchard--proving all her neighbors own binoculars; Russell Johnson

Before the story can continue, we must suffer through a couple of island-ish songs from Ponce Ponce while folks sit around the beach fire roasting marshmallows and pineapple-stuffed kielbasas. Mama shows up to spout a whole raft of her homespun lore, which probably originated from several bottles of rum Mama keeps in her cupboard--for medicinal purposes, of course. Tom dutifully sits at her feet and soaks up her wisdom like a Bounty paper towel. This, in turn, inspires Cricket to warble out a tune while the guests sit around trying to suppress gaseous farts from the consumed kielbasa.

Over at the hotel, over martinis, Bert and Dorothy are concocting a clever way to wrest the land from Mama, thus holding the one enormously important chunk of property needed in Kingsley's scheme. Martinis can fuel a lot of crazy ideas. I know this for a fact. They're both practically drooling dollar signs into the drinks. Tom arranges a meeting between Mama and Kingsley. It generates a discussion that begins about as productive as a diet plan for Fatty Arbuckle. But eventually Kingsley convinces Mama to give him the land. But later on, Mama sees the image of kapua, freaks out, and promptly reneges on the deal. Turns out that Bert and Dorothy had devised a fake kapua image--a sort of horned devil--to flash at Mama and redirect her attention. So now the deal is completely fouled up.

However, there's no fooling Tom Lopaka, who exposes Bert and Dorothy's scheme in the end. It's a nicely atmospheric episode that makes me somewhat sad knowing none of it was actually filmed in Hawaii. Especially since just a few years later Hawaii 5-0 and Magnum P.I. would have the facilities and budget to film entirely on the islands--which added greatly to their appeal.

Note:
Considering Robert Conrad's physique and glowing healthy image, its a little incongruous to see him working with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

This is an episode that I Iike. Arch Johnson, as usual over the top, is good. The episode drags a bit but overall good viewing. Spot on commentary Russ.

 

[Bob Goughan]

Wow! I noticed I'm Dicken, He's Fenster in the guide (John Astin and Marty Ingels). Now there's a show that's been lost in the fog of time!
Interesting that this 1963 edition touts the new 6th season of 77 SS, explaining the changes in the series.
Great post, Gary!

Believe it or not the complete Dickens et al is available on DVD.

 

[Bob Goughan]

Episode Commentary
Hawaiian Eye
"Pill In The Box" (S3E6)

You learn something new every day, so it's said. I learned that "pill in a box" is a colloquialism for a bribed juror. I didn't know that, did you? And after all the Perry Masons I've watched. Jeez. Well, that's the crux of the story that follows.

Cricket Blake (Connie Stevens) has been selected to sit on the jury in the Cantwell case. A blatant rip-off from 12 Angry Men, we see Cricket put on her Henry Fonda face during the jury room deliberations as the jurors tussle and tumble over the verdict. Cricket, dressed in her best 10th grade prom dress, tries to argue her point only to find the English language seems to have deserted her. She flops down in frustration, and the jury remains hopelessly hung. The jury's foreman, Ted Brown (Charles Bateman), is a former schoolmate of Cricket's. His loins obviously ache for her, so he asks the cutie out.

While hanging out at the Hula Hideout Tiki Bar before his date, Ted overhears one of the jurors, Joe Wheaton (Robert Clarke), being blackmailed to vote 'not guilty' in the case or bad stuff will happen to his lovely wife Maxine (Merry Anders). Ted immediately exits stage left to go tattle to the police, but gets aerated by a hit man before he can spill his beans. Oh, he's not dead, but definitely disabled.

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Charles Bateman; Merry Anders displays how NASA designs missiles; Robert Clarke; Connie Stevens wearing a bra made of fruit cakes

Enter Tracy Steele (Anthony Eisley) to investigate. Oddly, Tracy and Cricket refer to one another as "lover"--apparently only in familial terms as opposed to sexual. I mean, the idea that our Cricket is an inveterate humping machine is an abhorrent concept to us. Meanwhile, upon learning of Ted's misfortune, Cricket is compelled to warble "Have You Got Any Castles, Baby?" at the Shell Bar, seemingly not too concerned over her school chum's fate. The song itself makes no sense. Speaking of who, while in the hospital in a half coma, Ted murmurs "pill in the box". The police understandably think Ted is the fixed juror. Cricket begs to differ as does Tracy. They're thinking Joe Wheaton is the better bet. Time to go uncover some clues.

Cricket heads to the hospital to check on Ted's loins while Tracy visits the home of Joe Wheaton and meets his wife, Maxine--who's a bit sketchy on Joe's whereabouts. In fact, she's tighter than bark on a tree in giving up any info. Later, Tracy meets up with her again at the Hula Hangout, where the bamboo decor is more prevalent than a Panda's zoo cage. Both are hoping Joe will show up. He doesn't.

So where is Joe? What does Maxine know but won't tell? Who shot Ted? And will Cricket be forced to sing another oldie to lessen this excruciating tension? In the end, wifey comes clean, Joe gets found, the hit man is arrested, the jury gets unhung and Ted recovers. Sadly, his loins never meet those of Cricket's.

Rockets.

 

[Bob Goughan]

Yes, thanks Gary for posting this nice TV Guide time capsule of September 20, 1963 (Ohio edition?). It's both sad and gratifying that the great majority of those network and syndicated series shown here were eventually released on DVD...with two heartbreaking exceptions...77 Sunset Strip and The Farmer's Daughter. It's a damn dirty shame that we don't have both in first rate DVD sets...

Interesting to see that older shows, including some that just finished their first run the previous season, like Leave it to Beaver (whole series available in beautifully remastered DVD from Shout Factory and Universal), State Trooper (complete series DVD from Timeless/Shout), M Squad (whole series on DVD from Timeless), Lawman (complete series DVD from Warner Archive), and Peter Gunn ( complete series from Timeless DVD) and I'm Dickens...He's Fenster (first half of it's single season available in a deluxe set loaded with great bonus features from Lightyear/TV Time Machine) are all playing as reruns in the early evening. Presumably, disappointing sales of the first volume precluded the release of the concluding volume...damn, as it's a good and sometimes great sit-com with John Astin and Marty Ingels. A Small Matter of Being Fired was actually the series pilot. Produced by Leonard Stern who would go on to great success with Get Smart...

Too bad that the Hanna-Barbera cartoons of Yogi Bear and Quick Draw McGraw are thus far still MIA...

The premiere season of Burke's Law is available in a great DVD sets from VCI. Regrettably, season 2 and the third season reboot Amos Burke Secret Agent are still MIA...

The great Western Rawhide is available in it's totality from CBS/P DVD...

Variety shows like International Showtime and Sing Along with Mitch (in color!) drew huge audiences, as did evangelist Billy Graham...

Boy, I miss the NBC news with Huntley and Brinkley...I regarded Cronkite to be a pompous parade float, but that's just my own opinion...

That memorable appearance of Brigadier General Jimmy Stewart USAF as himself was just released as part of the newly released season 4 of My Three Sons from CBS/MOD DVD-R.

Stand corrected on "Dickens"

 

[Bob Goughan]

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⬆⬆
TVGuide
September 14, 1960

Second season premiere of “Hawaiian Eye.”

Bottom right, "Johnny Staccato". Vastly underrated, little seen. Available. If you like Peter Gunn, you will love this one.

 

[Bob Goughan]

Yeah, Lawrence was an opiate to grandparents. My dad watched only because, like Welk, he was an accordion player.
Ah-one, ah-two....

My mom loved him. Horrible.

 

[Bob Goughan]

Martin, for what it's worth, when I see the show now I realize that there was a good deal of musicianship exhibited. It's commendable that you were able to comprehend that as a kid.

I could not/did not comprehend it. Too much Chuck Berry, I guess.

 

[Bob Goughan]

Episode Revisit*
77 Sunset Strip
"Big Boy Blue" (S4E7)

So now here's an unusual occurrence in the Rustifer tried-and-true schedule. I woke up this morning, had breakfast and decided to watch a 77 SS episode. In the morning. This, of course, precludes my usual martini accompaniment as I have yet to stoop to alcohol before noon. It might someday become a goal, but for now I try to keep a sober mind at least for a portion of the day.

The theme of "Big Boy Blue" (S4Ep7) matches its appeal: It blows. No, I'm not going to sugarcoat it--this is truly one of my least favorite episodes. Tom Gardiner (Jerry Paris) and his assistant Lorna Day (Maureen Leeds) are tooling around Mexico looking for some talent to represent in their music agency. Stuck in a backwater town, they suddenly hear a trumpet sweetly wailing from nearby. If luck is the residue of endeavor, Tom and Lorna waste no time tracking down its location. Buddy Blue (Biff Elliot), in jail for having bought rounds of drinks at the cantina with no means to pay, is the talented holder of the horn.

Jerry Paris, Maureen Leeds, Biff Elliot, Barry Russo

In the blink of a gnat's eyelash, Buddy is bailed out and whisked to Los Angeles and becomes the newest sensation to be represented by Tom Gardiner. Opening night is Tuesday at the Treble Clef--a club that looks as if it seats about 20 people with a stage the size of an Airstream trailer's dinette. WB spared no expense on the set.
Before anything is signed, Tom wants a guarantee that Buddy is not some notorious lowlife and hires Jeff Spencer to do a background check. Nothing scurrilous turns up on the trumpeter, but Buddy is somehow reluctant about fame and fortune barreling his way. And rightly so, as he double crossed one Lee Santly (Barry Russo) by leaving him in the lurch during a holdup ten years ago. Lee has sworn revenge.

To keep Buddy from the fidgets, Tom sics Lorna on the poor boy to "keep him occupied". I think we know what that means. Although Buddy seems barely bright enough to operate an umbrella, he does recognize oozing sexuality when it gets tossed his way. Unfortunately, this plan heads towards the rear end of nowhere. Tom gets jealous, Lee finds Buddy, Lorna gets jilted and someone gets shot. The whole thing unravels like a busted loom spindle.

Written by Dean Riesner (aka child actor Dinky Dean from the 20's), the script is a pretty thin broth. I can hardly believe he wrote several episodes of Rich Man, Poor Man later on. He must've eventually absorbed some improved writing tips. Biff Elliot acts like he's at his first audition, and I kept expecting Millie Helper to suddenly emerge yelling at Jerry Paris for infidelity. Now I know why I don't watch these things in the morning. Some of them desperately need a martini accompaniment.

NOTE: A poolside scene at Tom's hotel (Beverly Gardens, which is actually a park in real life) is the exact set used in Hawaiian Eye's office layout. Also, the bar (Golden Galleon) that Jeff searches for Lee Santly is the same set as used in the "Luck of Leckonby".

*I think I first posted this commentary on page 103--or thereabouts.

Your review is leagues better than the episode and that is not damning it with faint praise.

 

[Bob Goughan]

I agree that the show presented some really good music. I think that my ennui of the program was the fact that all of the performers looked as if they bathed at least 7 times a day, brushed their teeth twice more than that, attended church every day of the week and never uttered a curse. Mannequins that moved, so to speak--and looked like nobody I knew in my young life.

Ditto.