77 Sunset Strip / Hawaiian Eye, etc. (9 Viewers)

[criblecoblis]

Let me explain what bugged me the most about it: It is the way most people behave toward Stu, treating him like he was some sort of shabby private dick. Even his clients often treat him like dirt. It seems like he doesn’t have a friend in the world. I think the only time someone calls him Stu that season was Joseph Cotten’s character in By His Own Judgement, which I thought was one of the weaker episodes, unfortunately. Everybody else calls him ‘Bailey’, like he’s a dog, or maybe ‘Mr. Bailey’ if he’s lucky. And of course, the police hate him. No friendly Lt. Gilmore anywhere in sight. I wanted to slap Richard Conte around for the way he treated Stu in ‘5’!

You're right, Lutz! That is the worst aspect of the sixth season. It indicates the sheer folly in providing absolutely no transition whatever from the old context. It is just so jarring that even Lt. Gilmore, Stu's old OSS buddy, now shuns him.

I often wonder how Webb and Conrad would have explained the drastic shift in Stu’s environment, from luscious B&S agency on Sunset Strip to this hole-in-the-wall office? (I don’t want to knock the Bradbury, been there and it’s a beautiful place.)

As I've mentioned, I thought they had the perfect transition: in the aftermath of "The Checkmate Caper," the bad publicity it generates for the firm causes it to break apart, and Stu has to start over with significantly reduced means and clientele.

Just last night wifey and I watched the final episode, Queen of the Cats, and I thought, hey this was almost like old times, wish they had continued that way, and maybe they would have found their audience again, but like Gary said, it was probably too late.

I think this is the best single episode of the sixth season. Virginia Gregg is magnificent.

 

[criblecoblis]

Russ, congratulations on your promotion to the front of the camera!

 

[Rustifer]

Russ, congratulations on your promotion to the front of the camera!

Thanks, Rob. I believe my next designation in this Forum's rather confusing hierarchy is "Screenwriter"--which, requiring a 1,000 posts, is a far distant hill to climb. I'll keep on plugging along!

 

[Mysto]

Thanks, Rob. I believe my next designation in this Forum's rather confusing hierarchy is "Screenwriter"--which, requiring a 1,000 posts, is a far distant hill to climb. I'll keep on plugging along!

Just keep visiting the mystery series forum - we'll BS our way to producer

 

[Gary16]

[QUOTE="I think this is the best single episode of the sixth season. Virginia Gregg is magnificent.[/QUOTE]
I agree. She’s great in every role and of course was a Webb regular in his series especially Dragnet. Of course everyone else hired her too!

 

[Rustifer]

TASTY TIDBIT

Outside of discussing the immediate geography of 8524 Sunset Blvd. (Mary Hill Davis bldg., Dino's, Sea Witch, Chez Paulette), we really haven't explored the neighborhood too much. Catty-corner from Bailey & Spenser offices, at 8585 Sunset, sat the iconic Mel's Drive-in. I have personally been to the establishment twice. Not such a feat for you SoCal guys, but for this simple Hoosier--quite a big deal. I sat at a table outside on the sidewalk and happily munched a Melburger and humming "If They Could See Me Now..."

I'm somewhat perplexed that considering the wide recognition of Mel's in the 50's-60's, there was never (to my knowledge) a single scene included on 77 SS. One would think that the writers would have concocted some scenario for at least Kookie or JR Hale having reason to hang out there--certainly appropriate for the time period and for the fact that in the earlier episodes, both boys were seemingly only 20 or 21 years old. Great place to take your poodle-skirted date and show off the hot rod.

Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs began wafting burger aromas in the air around San Fran in the late 1940's. By the mid-1950s California became the state with the highest rate of car ownership in the nation. Weiss and Dobbs began expanding the car service restaurant into a successful chain and opening additional stores in Los Angeles. By 1954 the Mel's franchise was pulling in about $4 million annually and Weiss estimated they were cooking up 15-20,000 hamburgers a day. If you had a spiffy chrome-laden set of wheels and a girlfriend who nicely filled out her fuzzy white sweater, this was the spot to be seen. Most popular on the menu was the aforementioned Melburger, along with Mel's Poor Boy (1 lb. of burger on a french bread loaf) and the tasty Chicken Pot Pie for just .85 cents. In 1972, the place zoomed to international notoriety due being the centerpiece in the George Lucas' 1972 film American Graffiti (which was actually shot at the 140 S. Van Ness location--eventually demolished a few years later).

I would have liked to have seen created a 77 SS episode entitled "The Drive-In Caper", perhaps with Kookie investigating a motorcycle gang that terrorizes the patrons in and around the neighborhood. A great vehicle to showcase his comb, hot rod, and attractive chicks. I bet if I had been old enough and had some knowledge of TV scripting, I could have concocted something and sent it to WB for consideration. Since the studio always seemed short of ideas and was forever recycling scripts between their several series, they might have jumped on the concept. Maybe I would have been invited to Hollywood to write additional episodes and eventually to producing movies of my own--after changing my name to Steven Spielberg.

 

[Rustifer]

Regarding Virginia Gregg--

A small article in the Corpus Christi Times, December 1959:
Virginia Gregg Granted a Divorce
"He chose to live his own life" Virginia Gregg said of her husband of 11 years, Jaime Del Valle. Miss Gregg, 42, was granted a divorce in Santa Monica, CA. Del Valle must pay her $550 monthly, $450 in child support and a certain percentage of his future earnings.

That financial arrangement probably should have been reversed as she did a hell of a lot better than her husband after the divorce.

 

[criblecoblis]

Outside of discussing the immediate geography of 8524 Sunset Blvd. (Mary Hill Davis bldg., Dino's, Sea Witch, Chez Paulette), we really haven't explored the neighborhood too much. Catty-corner from Bailey & Spenser offices, at 8585 Sunset, sat the iconic Mel's Drive-in. I have personally been to the establishment twice. Not such a feat for you SoCal guys, but for this simple Hoosier--quite a big deal. I sat at a table outside on the sidewalk and happily munched a Melburger and humming "If They Could See Me Now..."

Russ, I hate to have to tell you this, but it wasn't Mel's back in the day. It was Ben Frank's. It opened in 1962. It was very popular with the kids back then, and became known as a musician's hangout. When the casting call went out for the Monkees, they asked for "Ben Frank's types."

I always thought it was the prettiest Googie-style building I'd ever seen. I didn't actually eat there until the early Eighties; the food was very good, and prohibitively expensive. It became Mel's in 1997.

You can see a good photo of Ben Frank's back in the day here: http://rockandrollroadmap.com/place...nks-a-favorite-rocker-hangout-in-the-sixties/

 

[criblecoblis]

Getting back to the Hollywood Walk of Fame for a minute (which is, as you will recall, featured in S5E13 "Falling Stars"), I searched the HWoF Web site for others involved significantly in the show, and found, to my great disappointment, no others. I found this surprising in two cases: Roy Huggins and Richard Long.

Huggins is one of the towering figures in television drama, perhaps the single greatest creator and producer the medium has seen (Steven Bochco fans may quite justifiably disagree). Long was involved in three successful series and was well-liked by the audience.

I would love to see Roger Smith and Montgomery Pittman included, but Smith's career was sadly cut short by illness, and Pittman, tragically, passed away quite young. I am quite sure both would have been had they had longer careers.

 

[Bob Gu]

Rob, at the beginning of THE OUTSIDER pilot, which involved Roy Huggins, a character is walking down The Walk of Fame, looking for Darren McGavin's office, and some of the stars names are seen. As a joke, we see stars for Roy Huggins and his wife Adele Mara. I wonder if they took the prop stars home and installed them in their patio?

 

[criblecoblis]

Rob, at the beginning of THE OUTSIDER pilot, which involved Roy Huggins, a character is walking down The Walk of Fame, looking for Darren McGavin's office, and some of the stars names are seen. As a joke, we see stars for Roy Huggins and his wife Adele Mara. I wonder if they took the prop stars home and installed them in their patio?

I had completely forgotten about that! It is possible that the search engine on the HWoF site has failed me here. I will go look again.

UPDATE: I reviewed the alphabetical list of stars on Wikipedia, and neither Huggins nor Mara are listed. So that is a funny joke indeed! I wish The Outsider were available somewhere. Even among my, uh, "aftermarket" sources, I have only ever been able to find the pilot.

 

[Rustifer]

Russ, I hate to have to tell you this, but it wasn't Mel's back in the day. It was Ben Frank's. It opened in 1962. It was very popular with the kids back then, and became known as a musician's hangout. When the casting call went out for the Monkees, they asked for "Ben Frank's types."

I always thought it was the prettiest Googie-style building I'd ever seen. I didn't actually eat there until the early Eighties; the food was very good, and prohibitively expensive. It became Mel's in 1997.

You can see a good photo of Ben Frank's back in the day here: http://rockandrollroadmap.com/place...nks-a-favorite-rocker-hangout-in-the-sixties/

Thanks for the clarification, Rob. I did a bit more research and learned that Ben Frank's wasn't even built until 1962. So until then, I guess there was't a drive-in at that address and therefore pretty much blows my scenario for a 77 SS setting since by 1962 the series' format was coming to an end.
I'm still glad I got the chance to eat at Mel's a couple of times. Anytime I could be on the Strip made me happy.

 

[Mysto]

I had completely forgotten about that! It is possible that the search engine on the HWoF site has failed me here. I will go look again.

UPDATE: I reviewed the alphabetical list of stars on Wikipedia, and neither Huggins nor Mara are listed. So that is a funny joke indeed! I wish The Outsider were available somewhere. Even among my, uh, "aftermarket" sources, I have only ever been able to find the pilot.

Yet another series that we can't get (and I want it)- and i'm like you I can't get from anywhere - my understanding is McGavin's estate has them tied up.

ADDED: I did forget - One episode of the Outsider is available on youtube.

 

[Flashgear]

The Outsider is a Universal property, and we know they have close to zero interest in exploiting their vintage tv holdings themselves, especially a relatively obscure single season show. Crown jewels like Alfred Hitchcock Presents/AH Hour receive little respect from them. The old Timeless Media Group were able to pry free a number of great Universal Western series (Love 'em) and a few very good non Westerns like Checkmate, Peter Gunn, Mr. Lucky, Staccato, etc...I had hopes that The Outsider would come to DVD via TMG (since acquired by Shout! Factory, of course), but that never happened, sadly. I agree it's a great and special series, I was only 12 when The Outsider debuted, and well remember feeling how different and special it felt. My Dad and I loved the show, and nearly everything Darren McGavin too. Years later I discovered how much The Outsider was a spiritual precursor to the immortal Rockford Files...Roy Huggins certainly deserves a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 

[MartinP.]

Thanks for the clarification, Rob. I did a bit more research and learned that Ben Frank's wasn't even built until 1962. So until then, I guess there was't a drive-in at that address and therefore pretty much blows my scenario for a 77 SS setting since by 1962 the series' format was coming to an end.
I'm still glad I got the chance to eat at Mel's a couple of times. Anytime I could be on the Strip made me happy.

I tried for awhile once to find out what was in that location prior to Ben Frank's, but had no luck.
If it weren't for Mel's it is said that a developer had wanted to demolish the place and build a strip mall there.

 

[MartinP.]

Getting back to the Hollywood Walk of Fame for a minute (which is, as you will recall, featured in S5E13 "Falling Stars"), I searched the HWoF Web site for others involved significantly in the show, and found, to my great disappointment, no others. I found this surprising in two cases: Roy Huggins and Richard Long.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame can be a baffling thing. There were a lot of arguments about it before it was finally established. After the initial stars were in place, the ones that came after were all contingent on the person being honored had to show up for the ceremony. So some really famous names, like Paul Newman, are not on the HWoF because they declined the offer. Then there are those that get one that are really dubious. Wouldn't you really rather see Roy Huggins or Richard Long on the walk of fame than _________, well, I'll leave that up to you. I remember when Melissa Gilbert got one so many years ago I was like, huh? So why not Edd Byrnes and others we happen to like? Will they start removing some one day for more current choices when space runs out? Like they do with the hand & footprints at the Chinese Theatre?

The ceremonies are a nice Hollywood attraction, a chance for a tourist to see some kind of celebrity, and when I'm up there I do love to look at them when walking around. I remember coming by a group of Asian visitors in a huddle, excitedly snapping photos of a star they were gathered around. I was curious as to whom was causing so much excitement. So when I walked by slowly I looked and saw they were taking photos of a star for CHARLES CHAMPLIN. Now I wondered if they thought it was for Charlie Chaplin or that they thought it was misspelled and that caused their interest.

I don't know if you guys know, but Charles Champlin was a famous arts & entertainment reviewer for many years at the Los Angeles Times.

If one works regularly in Los Angeles, the times for the star ceremonies are usually at 10am or 11am and so aren't really conducive to attending. Over the years, I've only seen three of these in person. One was planned as I had a relative in town. The three I've seen were Ron Howard, The Monkees and Bugs Bunny. Even the Monkeemobile drove by on the Blvd. when they were honored. Heh!

 

[Lutz Koch]

Russ, I hate to have to tell you this, but it wasn't Mel's back in the day. It was Ben Frank's. It opened in 1962. It was very popular with the kids back then, and became known as a musician's hangout. When the casting call went out for the Monkees, they asked for "Ben Frank's types."

I always thought it was the prettiest Googie-style building I'd ever seen. I didn't actually eat there until the early Eighties; the food was very good, and prohibitively expensive. It became Mel's in 1997.

Rob, thanks a million for solving this riddle for me! You know, the wife and I had been eating there a couple of times during the 90s when it was still Ben Frank's. You're right, the food was very good and we admired the Googie-style architecture. And I really wondered, since it was so close to the former 77SS location, if our guys had maybe eaten there during one of the episodes. Well, they didn't. When we came back after a long absence for our final visits in 2005 and 2007, I'm quite sure we noticed Mel's while driving by, but we never made the connection that it was actually the old Ben Frank's place. Silly, I know. Must have been some sort of tourist blindness!

 

[criblecoblis]

Thanks for the clarification, Rob. I did a bit more research and learned that Ben Frank's wasn't even built until 1962. So until then, I guess there was't a drive-in at that address and therefore pretty much blows my scenario for a 77 SS setting since by 1962 the series' format was coming to an end.
I'm still glad I got the chance to eat at Mel's a couple of times. Anytime I could be on the Strip made me happy.

Well, there was a drive-in two miles east at Sunset and La Brea, Tiny Naylor's, at the time of the show. That would fit your story idea.

 

[criblecoblis]

ADDED: I did forget - One episode of the Outsider is available on youtube.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[criblecoblis]

I don't know if you guys know, but Charles Champlin was a famous arts & entertainment reviewer for many years at the Los Angeles Times.

As I mentioned in my post about meeting John Dehner, his daughter was my second-oldest brother's first wife's maid of honor, and she was always wonderfully nice to me.

The HWoF is three things in one: a promotional vehicle for the entertainment industry, a promotional vehicle for itself, and a genuine museum with actual standards. I love the last thing, am cool with the first thing to a point, and I have contempt for the second thing. EZ Jr definitely belongs to the part that has actual standards, because he was not added until 1994.