What did you watch this week in classic TV on DVD(or Blu)? (6 Viewers)

[Ron1973]

I caught a couple of episodes of Lassie from circa 1959 or so on YouTube. Someone had stretched them to fill the screen, so they didn't look exactly natural. It's cute, but it's too predictable. Maybe I'm becoming like @Gary OS on this, but the fake background for trees and other supposed to be natural settings really turned me off. I suppose you didn't notice such as that in 1959 when you were watching on a snowy 19" TV with rabbit ears. Nobody thought it would be streaming 60 years later on a 55" screen with a higher resolution than they dreamed possible.

I'm still on my Dragnet kick. It's a little predictable as well, especially when you binge watch it, but I'm enjoying it. It's funny watching the same guest stars come through playing different people in different episodes. In a S1 episode Kent McCord guest stars as a rookie cop not named Jim Reed who was accused of holding up a liquor store, although he was cleared of charges. Later on, I believe still in S1, he was as Jim Reed from Adam-12 doing a quick cameo. Tim Donnelly was on two different episodes, pre-Emergency! Vince Howard was on an episode that I watched a few days ago, and then I spotted him on Columbo, not once, but twice! I tracked down a few Columbo movies on YouTube and he was on one from the 70's. The next night I found a Columbo movie from the 80's, and lo and behold, he was on that one!

 

[Ron1973]

Oh, and I also caught a 10 minute clip of George Peppard being interviewed by Johnny Carson. I asked about a movie I'd saw George on about nuclear war and somebody told me what the movie was. This was several weeks ago. He was discussing that very movie with Johnny Carson and telling him how he had to grow a mustache for the part because he couldn't stand wearing a fake one.

That led me to an interview with Dwight Schultz. He said Peppard was very difficult to work with on the set of A-Team. He said he would often come in with almost whole pages of script blacked out because he didn't like them. He did, however, say Peppard had a very good attention to detail and did know what would work and wouldn't work.

 

[BobO'Link]

I caught a couple of episodes of Lassie from circa 1959 or so on YouTube. Someone had stretched them to fill the screen, so they didn't look exactly natural. It's cute, but it's too predictable. Maybe I'm becoming like @Gary OS on this, but the fake background for trees and other supposed to be natural settings really turned me off. I suppose you didn't notice such as that in 1959 when you were watching on a snowy 19" TV with rabbit ears. Nobody thought it would be streaming 60 years later on a 55" screen with a higher resolution than they dreamed possible.

I'm still on my Dragnet kick. It's a little predictable as well, especially when you binge watch it, but I'm enjoying it. It's funny watching the same guest stars come through playing different people in different episodes. In a S1 episode Kent McCord guest stars as a rookie cop not named Jim Reed who was accused of holding up a liquor store, although he was cleared of charges. Later on, I believe still in S1, he was as Jim Reed from Adam-12 doing a quick cameo. Tim Donnelly was on two different episodes, pre-Emergency! Vince Howard was on an episode that I watched a few days ago, and then I spotted him on Columbo, not once, but twice! I tracked down a few Columbo movies on YouTube and he was on one from the 70's. The next night I found a Columbo movie from the 80's, and lo and behold, he was on that one!

You noticed - at least I did, on every show that did it - but everyone did it so you didn't really pay it any attention. Just one of those things. Kind of like Hitchcock's tendency to have location shots intercut with rear screen stuff with the principal actor's dialog. Those almost ruin his movies for me.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Oh, and I also caught a 10 minute clip of George Peppard being interviewed by Johnny Carson. I asked about a movie I'd saw George on about nuclear war and somebody told me what the movie was. This was several weeks ago. He was discussing that very movie with Johnny Carson and telling him how he had to grow a mustache for the part because he couldn't stand wearing a fake one.

Damnation Alley (1977)?



--featuring trailer narration by the great William Woodson (The Invaders, The Odd Couple, WKRP in Cincinnati)!

 

[Ron1973]

Damnation Alley (1977)?



--featuring trailer narration by the great William Woodson (The Invaders, The Odd Couple, WKRP in Cincinnati)!

That would be the one!

 

[bmasters9]

Advanced quite a few shows on second-season Riptide; only five to go to complete that middle go

 

[Rustifer]

I caught a couple of episodes of Lassie from circa 1959 or so on YouTube. Someone had stretched them to fill the screen, so they didn't look exactly natural. It's cute, but it's too predictable. Maybe I'm becoming like @Gary OS on this, but the fake background for trees and other supposed to be natural settings really turned me off. I suppose you didn't notice such as that in 1959 when you were watching on a snowy 19" TV with rabbit ears. Nobody thought it would be streaming 60 years later on a 55" screen with a higher resolution than they dreamed possible.

I assume you're talking about the Lassie series that was re-syndicated as Jeff's Collie with Tommy Rettig in the lead--which was so superior to the later over-syrupy version with Jon Provost.
Yeah, most of the farm scenes were a stage set (not rear projection)--especially with anything taking place in the "woods". There were scenes filmed with a car traveling down an actual open road, only to revert to close up of the car suddenly in a dirt lane surrounded by trees--lit by studio lights and reverberating with the echo of a sound stage. Heck, in one episode a mail plane lands on a field strip and then is inexplicably shown parked in the woods. It's going to take one hell of a pilot to get that plane outta there.
But you shouldn't let the stage sets turn you off. The story lines and interactions of Jeff with his mother Ellen and Gramps had a true ring of adolescent stress of growing up and actually developed some great drama. Jeff tried to be a good kid, but would sometimes get sideways due to his own shortcomings.* When the role was eventually assumed by Jon Provost, the show got as wussy as cotton candy where life was all unicorns and rainbows--the most serious drama here would be the family goat escaping its pen and wandering into the neighbor's garden. Call the National Guard--this is terrible! Bah humbug, I say.

Hard cider vs. sarsaparilla

*Tommy Rettig and I were almost the same age, so I could easily identify with him.

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
Hazel
"How To Lure and Epicure" (S2E4)--1962

Dinner time, and the Baxters head to a new restaurant in town--Tonetti's. George is enthusiastically greeted by waitress Maria (Patricia Michon) who he's known for six years and one can only surmise that the two of them shared a relationship consisting of more than just a casual tip now and then. But Dorothy Baxter (Whitney Blake) is hardly concerned, considering every male in the place is busily undressing her in their minds.

Maria confides to George that Tonetti (Peter Mamakos) is having a minor breakdown that's due more than just his alfredo sauce breaking apart. It seems famed restaurant critic Mr. Templeton is in the restaurant rating it for his new guide book, causing Tonetti's sphincter to squeeze tighter than a fruit press. A bad review from Templeton can reduce posh Tonetti's into a deserted roadside diner in a flash. As the Baxter's order their fancy dinner (Little Harold opting for Velveeta cheese on saltines), Templeton is pushing his entree away in distaste.

You call this food? Dorothy dresses down for dinner; Hazel experiments with McDonald's special sauce

Patronage begins to dwindle at the restaurant, causing Hazel to devise a scheme to reverse Tonetti's misfortune. She visits the critic in his hotel suite, irritating the crap out of him as she explains how best to cure his ailing pituitary gland. "I don't have one," he bellows. "They went out in the 20's!" Poor Tonetti is beside himself as his chef has quit. So guess who's going to figure out how to get Templeton back onto the restaurant and cook him a masterful dinner? Well, it sure ain't George Baxter. Hazel whips up a menu more complicated than an Elon Musk blueprint. Templeton is lured back to the restaurant and goes into epicurean orbit over Hazel's lamb in guava jelly and lemon beet soup. It doesn't hurt that Dorothy is wearing a dress that would put Mamie Van Doren to shame. Templeton is as impressed with dinner as Mrs. Einstein is in her son's report card.

Tonetti is back in business in a big way--even adding a stripper pole for those nights when Dorothy has one too many martinis and tries it out.* The joint is packed in anticipation.

Notes:
Peter Mamakos played nearly exclusively Greek or Italian characters, even though he was born in Massachusetts. Of his jillion TV and film roles, more than half of them were uncredited. Seems he was just fine with scale pay for being an 'extra'.

*We can only hope.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

The Lucy Show - 5.1 "Lucy with George Burns"
I'd never seen any of Lucille Ball's post-I Love Lucy series. but my wife just happened to be sitting down to watch this particular episode on Amazon Prime earlier this week, so I joined her out of curiosity...and I have to say, I found it a very enjoyable and funny show. I know many Lucy fans don't care for the later seasons of this series, but as this was basically a three-hander between Lucy, the great George Burns and Gale Gordon (with a brief voice cameo from Jack Benny), everyone's timing was sharp and on point.

When George Burns meets scatterbrained secretary Lucy at her boss Mr. Mooney's office, he asks her to join him as his partner on stage. This leads to Lucy doing one of Gracie Allen's old routines with George, and it's all very charming. Lucy was 55 years old here but looks pretty dang good for her age, much thinner (and glamorous) than I remember her being in ILL. Her delivery works well with Burns', and all in all, I was rather surprised at how good of a time I had with this one. The print used by Amazon Prime was in pretty terrible condition, though...possibly a public domain copy? At any rate, I wouldn't be averse to watching more of these.

In Search of...
1.16 "Dracula"
4.6 "The Lost Colony of Roanoke"
4.9 "The Abominable Snowman"
4.18 "The Ghost Ship"
5.16 "The Castle of Secrets"
Used to love this show as a kid, growing up in the '70s and early '80s. All of them are on YouTube, so I watched a handful, partly inspired by a retrospective podcast episode done by the gang at Monster Talk. Each episode is pretty creepy, no matter the subject matter, what with the weird synth underscore and Leonard Nimoy's sonorous narration.

"Dracula" had some interesting background on Vlad Tepes, and the reenactments of the discovery of the Marie Celeste in "The Ghost Ship" were well done. But the most interesting one to me (as I knew virtually nothing about the story before) was the episode about Edward Leedskalnin and his Coral Castle. These shows are certainly dated in many ways (including Nimoy's pornstache and wide-lapelled safari suits), but the best of them are still effective in creating a mood of mystery. And of course, this was the granddaddy of all those ancient alien and bigfoot shows that clutter the cable airwaves today.

Movin' On - 1.1. "The Time of His Life"
Thanks to Ron1973 giving the heads-up about S1 of this show being available on YouTube, I moved it on up my watch list. Basically, it's a '70s trucker version of Route 66, not as deep or as poetic as that show could sometimes be, but similarly entertaining. Claude Akins and Frank Converse star as two buddies who partner up driving Akins' big green Kenworth semi all over America, meeting people and getting involved in their lives and problems. In this one, they befriend a terminally ill (and ill-tempered) young man (played by Michael J. Pollard) and go out of their way to make his last weeks special, including getting him some more stylin' clothes, taking him bowling and bumper car driving, setting him up to get laid, getting him to splurge on roast beef dinners, and making him a temporary partner in their trucking business.

Lots of nice '70s-era Portland color and locations here, and Akins and Converse make for amiable company. Pollard has always been a real odd bird, hard to cast but effective when he's playing the right kooky type. Elisha Cook Jr. has two brief, nearly wordless scenes as Pollard's distant father. The series ran for 2 seasons, both of which have been released on slightly overpriced but apparently decent quality DVD sets by a company called PRO Classic TV, but as far as I can tell, the pilot movie is not on either of the season sets. I couldn't find the pilot ("In Tandem") online...does anyone happen to know much about it? Anyway, a good show, glad to finally see it. Will be watching more soon...

Return of the Saint - 1.4 "One Black September"
This late '70s revamp of the Roger Moore series features Ian Oglivy as Simon Templar, this time former SAS, rather than reformed cat burglar, but otherwise the same old suave playboy action man as before. This time out, Simon assists a beautiful Israeli soldier (Prunella Gee) capture a former terrorist who's on the run in London, attempting to flee the country with his girlfriend (Emily Bolton) before his old cronies can silence him forever. The slightly gritter feel of this version better fits the '70s, and Oglivy makes a fine Saint, even if he doesn't quite have the stature or charisma of Roger Moore. Two first-class babes, both one-time Bond girls [Ms. Bolton had a brief appearance in the Brazil section of Moonraker, and Gee is one of Sean Connery's four (!) conquests in Never Say Never Again], a couple of cool car and foot chases, and best of all, oodles of exterior London location work make this a diverting thriller. This reboot was a big success for ITC at the time, but since studio boss Lew Grade didn't like the show or, reportedly, Oglivy, and also wanted to sink funds into his soon-to-be big screen flop, Raise the Titanic, he unceremoniously cancelled the show after a single season of 24 episodes. I don't happen to have this show in my collection, other than this episode, remastered for HD on one of Network's Retro-Action Blu-Ray samplers. Hopefully, Network will see fit to release the rest of the show on Blu in the coming years.

Prunella Gee

Emily Bolton

 

[Flashgear]

Some great TV viewing there Jeff! I'm almost embarrassed to say that I wasn't even aware that there was a late '70s reboot of The Saint...And you remind me that I need to check out Movin' On...

I saw the new movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood this summer and enjoyed it far more than I thought. The Quentin Tarantino film starring Leonardo Dicaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino and other notables is set in 1968 -1969, and ties together a story featuring the fictional leads of Dicaprio (playing someone who reminded me of Chuck Connors) and Pitt (his longtime friend, stuntman and stand-in) with actors playing the very real people of Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring and the other victims of the atrocious and loathsome Manson family killings...the filming of the Lancer TV series pilot episode is recreated with actors cast as James Stacy, Wayne Maunder, and director Sam Wannamaker, with a little girl who immediately suggested a very young Jodie Foster...other actors cast as Bruce Lee, Steve McQueen, Connie Stevens, Michelle Phillips, Mama Cass, even Joanna Pettet...and the loathsome Manson and his "family" on the Spahn movie ranch, with Bruce Dern as the elderly and fragile ranch owner George Spahn...Originally, this role was cast with Burt Reynolds in mind, but he unfortunately passed away before filming could happen...

One of the real charming aspects of this film is the created back story of Dicaprio's Rick Dalton character...still famous (especially with young people in hilarious and heartwarming ways) for his '50s western TV series Bounty Law, he's now a has been in 1969, reduced to occasional guest roles as villains on current shows. Dicaprio's agent (Pacino) let's him know it, and pressures him to go all Viva Italia and do Spaghetti Westerns for fast cash...there are some hilarious recreations of his fictional B+W western Bounty Law and an over-the-top War movie where Dicaprio wields a flamethrower...And there are scenes where Dicaprio imagines that he, and not Steve McQueen, was cast in The Great Escape...Dicaprio is digitally inserted, seamlessly and to amazing effect, into a well known scene from the movie, supplanting McQueen himself...and another scene features Dicaprio digitally inserted into an episode of QM's The FBI...I was blown away at the seamless and convincing digital effect of superimposition in these two familiar films that we all grew up with...I told myself that when I got home, I'd pull out that episode of The FBI and remind myself of who the actual actor had been in that episode, replaced by Leonardo Dicaprio...and then I forgot all about it, until just this week...

The episode is from The FBI season one, All The Streets Are Silent (Nov. 28, 1965)...I Que'd up the DVD and made this discovery...screen caps from the WAC DVD set...

These scenes are used with Dicaprio digitally supplanting Burt Reynolds himself for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood...first caps with Burt himself from my DVD...

And as seen with Dicaprio, matching wardrobe and pickup truck, in the movie...amazingly, he digitally interacts with the other actual actors as filmed in the original action scene...

It's unfortunate that the great Burt Reynolds himself passed away before he could participate in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood...nonetheless, it was a delight to discover this "inside" tribute to him that would have been ever sweeter had he been able to film his part for this entertaining film...

 

[Flashgear]

The FBI season one, All the Streets are Silent (Nov. 28, 1965) is a very entertaining episode guest starring the aforementioned Burt Reynolds, and featuring James Farentino, Norman Fell, Joe Maross and the lovely Pilar Suerat...terrifically staged and spectacular gun battles with a high body count are worth the visit alone...my screen caps from WAC DVD...

Burt and Joe Maross are the brain trust of a gang of gun smugglers...who have just made their biggest, and most dangerous, score...hijacking a gun shipment of USMC M-16 assault rifles and killing two Marines in the process...thanks to informant James Farentino, Inspector Erskine and the Hat Squad of FBI G-Men have Burt and his gang cornered at a remote motel...the FBI brings up a D-7 Cat to lend some power to their assault on the hoods...a furious gun battle on full auto transpires...

Norman Fell proves to be a crack shot as a G-Man...he takes out at least half of these hoods by himself...but I'm not sure that the Thompson .45 submachine gun was still a standard FBI field weapon by 1965...undoubtedly, Warner had plenty of them in the prop department...including those probably used by the great James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart in years past, ha, ha...

A second climatic gun battle takes place in Act IV...Burt isn't just pissed at getting a parking ticket, ha, ha...another big body count results...

Burt's incredible athleticism is on display here...I freeze framed and slow-mowed this action, and can definitively state that Burt himself does a very impressive stunt here...no quick edit and artful substitution with a stuntman...Burt was for real, and what a talent...RIP...

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I saw the new movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood this summer and enjoyed it far more than I thought. The Quentin Tarantino film starring Leonardo Dicaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino and other notables is set in 1968 -1969, and ties together a story featuring the fictional leads of Dicaprio (playing someone who reminded me of Chuck Connors) and Pitt (his longtime friend, stuntman and stand-in) with actors playing the very real people of Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring and the other victims of the atrocious and loathsome Manson family killings...the filming of the Lancer TV series pilot episode is recreated with actors cast as James Stacy, Wayne Maunder, and director Sam Wannamaker, with a little girl who immediately suggested a very young Jodie Foster...other actors cast as Bruce Lee, Steve McQueen, Connie Stevens, Michelle Phillips, Mama Cass, even Joanna Pettet...and the loathsome Manson and his "family" on the Spahn movie ranch, with Bruce Dern as the elderly and fragile ranch owner George Spahn...Originally, this role was cast with Burt Reynolds in mind, but he unfortunately passed away before filming could happen...

One of the real charming aspects of this film is the created back story of Dicaprio's Rick Dalton character...still famous (especially with young people in hilarious and heartwarming ways) for his '50s western TV series Bounty Law, he's now a has been in 1969, reduced to occasional guest roles as villains on current shows. Dicaprio's agent (Pacino) let's him know it, and pressures him to go all Viva Italia and do Spaghetti Westerns for fast cash...there are some hilarious recreations of his fictional B+W western Bounty Law and an over-the-top War movie where Dicaprio wields a flamethrower...And there are scenes where Dicaprio imagines that he, and not Steve McQueen, was cast in The Great Escape...Dicaprio is digitally inserted, seamlessly and to amazing effect, into a well known scene from the movie, supplanting McQueen himself...and another scene features Dicaprio digitally inserted into an episode of QM's The FBI...I was blown away at the seamless and convincing digital effect of superimposition in these two familiar films that we all grew up with...I told myself that when I got home, I'd pull out that episode of The FBI and remind myself of who the actual actor had been in that episode, replaced by Leonardo Dicaprio...and then I forgot all about it, until just this week...

Great post and comparative screen captures, Randall! I also highly enjoyed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Tarantino's love letter to 1969 Los Angeles, classic Hollywood and Sharon Tate. All the behind the scenes stuff, lovingly recreated, really put this one over the top for me. Some fun casting for the long section detailing the shooting of the Lancer pilot, including Nicholas "TV Spider-Man" Hammond as Sam Wanamaker, Timothy Olyphant as James Stacy, and the late Luke Perry as Wayne Maunder.

This film is definitely not for all tastes (those without a yen for '50s and '60s TV shows and movies will miss a lot of the easter eggs), but I for one had a ball.

Man, those screencaps from the actual FBI episode on Warner Archive's DVD set look spectacular! Was never a huge fan of this show, but you are seriously tempting me to pick up a season or two!

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Some great TV viewing there Jeff! I'm almost embarrassed to say that I wasn't even aware that there was a late '70s reboot of The Saint...

There have been several reboots of The Saint, Randall (not counting the in name only movie starring Val Kilmer), including in 1987, 1989 and 2013...Return of the Saint is the only one that is any good.

ROTS would probably have aired in the U.S. on CBS, sometime around 1980 or so, similar to The New Avengers. I seem to remember catching a few episodes in syndication as well, but my memory may be faulty there. I hadn't seen any episodes in years, but this viewing has convinced me that I need to get the complete series DVD set from Network, as it may not see the light of day on Blu-Ray. Typically catchy theme song, too, courtesy of John Scott. This was the last gasp of the ITC action / adventure shows, ending a sterling, nearly 20-year run.



Main theme and Title sequence:

 

[Flashgear]

Great post and comparative screen captures, Randall! I also highly enjoyed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Tarantino's love letter to 1969 Los Angeles, classic Hollywood and Sharon Tate. All the behind the scenes stuff, lovingly recreated, really put this one over the top for me. Some fun casting for the long section detailing the shooting of the Lancer pilot, including Nicholas "TV Spider-Man" Hammond as Sam Wanamaker, Timothy Olyphant as James Stacy, and the late Luke Perry as Wayne Maunder.

This film is definitely not for all tastes (those without a yen for '50s and '60s TV shows and movies will miss a lot of the easter eggs), but I for one had a ball.

Man, those screencaps from the actual FBI episode on Warner Archive's DVD set look spectacular! Was never a huge fan of this show, but you are seriously tempting me to pick up a season or two!

Jeff, that is so true about a whole lot of the pleasure in watching Once Upon a Time in Hollywood being contingent on viewers such as ourselves...glorying in the meticulous detail and the lovingly recreated TV, movie and LA/SoCal cultural artifacts presented in this film...as I said, I could only think of the great Chuck Connors as being the model for Dicaprio's Rick Dalton character...and I did check to see if a young Jodie Foster had actually been in the Lancer pilot (to my surprise,no. But I was convinced that the little girl who gives Rick Dalton some unexpected insight via a pep talk had to be modeled on her). I know some younger people who saw the film and definitely didn't come away with our level of satisfaction. So, I think you're right that this is a film for people like us, I think Tarantino himself is pushing 50... I was still surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did, but going into it, I was aware that this new film might also evoke the devices that Tarantino showed in Inglorious Basterds, not to offer any spoilers...not long ago I watched a young Sharon Tate in Man From UNCLE (The Girls of Nazarone Affair, a veritable smorg of lovely eye poppers in that one), Mister Ed (Ed Discovers America) and Beverly Hillbillies (18 assorted episodes as a brunette)...and I remember being surprised by an appearance by celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring in the season 5 finale of The Virginian...a strange feeling when you see an actor who later met a tragic and gruesome death in real life...

Timothy Olyphant doesn't have a whole lot to do in his portrayal of James Stacy, but it was great to see him in this...that guy is an amazing talent and very funny in his own right...I was a little disappointed that Andrew Duggan wasn't portrayed on screen...but a minor quibble in this wonderful film...Bruce Lee fans are probably a little upset with how he rolls out in this film, ha, ha...and "Brandy" is a fine girl...

As I've mentioned before, I think that The FBI was my dad's favorite show, and it seemed important to him that I be there to watch it with him. I've joked about my dad getting upset with me if I fell asleep before the epilogue, as though I was letting down Inspector Erskine himself with his life on the line against Commies, hoods and assorted scum...dad was worried I might be a potential subversive, ha, ha...I've always liked, and sometimes loved, the show. Typical high quality QM show, and their only co-production with WB...another huge draw is the continuous line up of big name and accomplished guest stars...Efrem Zimbalist Jr. has always been a favorite of mine...and the series has some great action and violence, at least up to season 4, when the anti-violence in TV campaign and political pressures brought to bear by the Italian American Anti Defamation League caused all references to "Mafia" and "La Cosa Nostra" to be removed from scripts, subbing "The Organization" instead...all this happening while The Godfather was a celebrated Oscar winning movie, with actual Mafiosa onset during production as technical advisers...and of course, Joe Colombo, who headed up the Italian Anti Defamation League, was a Mafia boss himself...embarrassingly shot in a gangland hit at a League rally in the middle of Washington Square Park Manhattan in 1971...Sinatra wouldn't sing at their rallies anymore...and QM's long running series actually outlived director J. Edgar Hoover himself...In some scenes set in the FBI D.C. offices, you almost have the actors themselves behold his portrait in reverential awe, ha, ha...no kidding...but my dad loved this stuff, and we weren't even American...

Too bad that Lancer never saw a proper DVD release, and being owned by Fox, or whatever abomination of merger it is with (so called) Disney corp., it likely is a lost cause...

 

[bmasters9]

Typical high quality QM show, and their only co-production with WB...

Aren't you forgetting that first go of The Streets of San Francisco (1972-73)?

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
Leave It To Beaver
"Beaver's Poem" (S2E1)--1958

Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley) are having date night and headed for the movies. By the way they're dressed, one can only assume both are hooking up with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in the royal loge. I wonder what's showing? Neither seem to be "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" candidates. The Blob, maybe?

Meanwhile, Beaver is facing a third grader's biggest dilemma--writing a poem for class. He turns to his dad for assistance, but all Ward can think of is "There once was a girl from Nantucket..." which is more than likely wholly inappropriate for a classroom setting. Ward forces Beaver to come up with a subject for his poem. "Bears", Beaver offers. Both struggle with the subject. Eventually Ward pops about 7 shots of tequila and ends up writing the whole thing. June is incensed at him for taking the load off their son. Any amorous thoughts Ward had towards June for later that evening were immediately re-assigned to the back-burner.

Ward looks to the Tequla God for inspiration; He learns there won't be any hanky panky this evening; Beaver reads about a duck

Surprise! The poem is slated to be read at the month Parents' Night Assembly. The duplicity of Ward's actions throws the whole family into a tizzy. He eventually has to confess to the stern school principal Mrs. Rayburn (the wonderful Doris Packer), and half expects a paddling from the old bat.

It all turns out okay. Beaver is given a second chance to come up with his own poem. He writes about a duck. Now what rhymes with 'duck'?
Beaver spends the rest of his school term in the juvenile detention center.

 

[Rustifer]

Timothy Olyphant doesn't have a whole lot to do in his portrayal of James Stacy, but it was great to see him in this...that guy is an amazing talent and very funny in his own right

As Raylan Givens in Justified, he was just great. And exquisitely goofy in Santa Clarita Diet.

The two faces of Timothy Olyphant

 

[Doug Wallen]

Trying to squeeze in a bit of viewing over the past few weeks. Life has been hectic and the new TV season has started. Work has been scheduling "mandatory" overtime and I do need some sleep. Taken me two weeks, here is what I have been watching.

I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Walmart DVD Budget all-in-one)
Lucy Visits Grauman's (5.1) John Wayne's cement block.
Lucy and John Wayne (5.2) Continuing the story.
Lucy and the Dummy (5.3) Ricky goes "dip-sea" fishing while Lucy entertains MGM.
Ricky Sells the Car (5.4) Fred and Ethel on a motorcycle, Lucy massaging Fred.
The Great Train Robbery (5.5) Lucy disrupts Amtrak.
The Homecoming (5.6)
The Ricardo's are Interviewed (5.7)

I picked this set as my personal Birthday gift to myself (cheap) as I have very fond memories of watching the daily reruns first on CBS daytime (after Capt. Kangaroo and before Search for Tomorrow) and then in syndication. Always enjoyed Ricky in Hollywood and I picked the start of the fifth season to jump in. Who doesn't enjoy seeing John Wayne laugh at himself. My wife is not very familiar with these episodes and she and I both were really enjoying their timeless shenanigans.

Rawhide - Season 1
Incident at Barker Springs (1.7) June Lockhart, DeForest Kelley, Paul Richards, Richard Gilden. A drover who refuses to be seen without a mask creates puzzlement on the trail. After meeting his brother, he leaves camp and becomes a hired gun. An evil man owns the nearest town and brother faces brother. Good story.

Incident West of Lano (1.8) Abby Dalton, Martha Hyer. Women sharpshooters are in need of a new wheel and Gil invites them to tag along. Gil sets boundaries for his men and follows them also, even though he has considerable chemistry with the women's boss.

Incident of the Town in Terror (1.9) Harry Townes, Margaret O'Brien, Don Harvey, Russ Conway. Rowdy is sick with the fever and two cows have dies. Quarantined on the outskirts of town, Gil sneaks in and brings a nurse to see if Rowdy has anthrax. People are scared and want their town to remain safe. Best episode on this disc.

Incident of the Golden Calf (1.10) MacDonald Carey, John Pickard. A Trojan Horse type story that hit all the familiar beats.

Finally, I dove into my archive treasure that my wife got for my birthday.

Tarzan - Season 1, Part 1
Eyes Of The Lion (1.1) Laurie Sibbald. A blind girl raised in the jungle with only a lion after her family died strikes a familiar chord in Tarzan. Interesting in that the Tarzan backstory was told during the lengthy opening. No long drawn out pilot, just Tarzan was raised in the jungle, received education in civilization and has returned to the jungle - bang; onto the episode. Pretty standard fare but a wonderful remembrance of times sitting with family watching Tarzan on Friday night.

The Ultimate Weapon (1.2) Andrew Prine, Laurence Haddon, Jock Mahoney (Movie screen Tarzan). Poacher who fell to his death attacking Tarzan has a son who comes looking for revenge. I liked this one.

Leopard On The Loose (1.3) Russ Tamblynn, Ken Scott, Morgan Jones. Jai's pet leopard has a black head that makes him rare and a target for poachers.

A Life For A Life (1.4) John Alvar, Danica D'Hondt, Stewart Raffill. Jai suffered a poisonous spider bite and the serum needed must be manufactured within 24 hours. Two potential donors are identified; a wanted man on the run and a free lance photographer on assignment covering wildlife. Can the antidote be made before Jai dies? Silly boy, of course, this is Tarzan.

Think I am going to enjoy revisiting this one.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Trying to squeeze in a bit of viewing over the past few weeks. Life has been hectic and the new TV season has started. Work has been scheduling "mandatory" overtime and I do need some sleep. Taken me two weeks, here is what I have been watching.

I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Walmart DVD Budget all-in-one)
Lucy Visits Grauman's (5.1) John Wayne's cement block.
Lucy and John Wayne (5.2) Continuing the story.
Lucy and the Dummy (5.3) Ricky goes "dip-sea" ishing while Lucy entertains MGM.
Ricky Sells the Car (5.4) Fred and Ethel on a motorcycle, Lucy massaging Fred.
The Great Train Robbery (5.5) Lucy disrupts Amtrak.
The Homecoming (5.6)
The Ricardo's are Interviewed (5.7)

I picked this set as my personal Birthday gift to myself (cheap) as I have very fond memories of watching the daily reruns first on CBS daytime (after Capt. Kangaroo and before Search for Tomorrow) and then in syndication. Always enjoyed Ricky in Hollywood and I picked the start of the fifth season to jump in. Who doesn't enjoy seeing John Wayne laugh at himself. My wife is not very familiar with these episodes and she and I both were really enjoying their timeless shenanigans.

Rawhide - Season 1
Incident at Barker Springs (1.7) June Lockhart, DeForest Kelley, Paul Richards, Richard Gilden. A drover who refuses to be seen without a mask creates puzzlement on the trail. After meeting his brother, he leaves camp and becomes a hired gun. An evil man owns the nearest town and brother faces brother. Good story.

Incident West of Lano (1.8) Abby Dalton, Martha Hyer. Women sharpshooters are in need of a new wheel and Gil invites them to tag along. Gil sets boundaries for his men and follows them also, even though he has considerable chemistry with the women's boss.

Incident of the Town in Terror (1.9) Harry Townes, Margaret O'Brien, Don Harvey, Russ Conway. Rowdy is sick with the fever and two cows have dies. Quarantined on the outskirts of town, Gil sneaks in and brings a nurse to see if Rowdy has anthrax. People are scared and want their town to remain safe. Best episode on this disc.

Incident of the Golden Calf (1.10) MacDonald Carey, John Pickard. A Trojan Horse type story that hit all the familiar beats.

Finally, I dove into my archive treasure that my wife got for my birthday.

Tarzan - Season 1, Part 1
Eyes Of The Lion (1.1) Laurie Sibbald. A blind girl raised in the jungle with only a lion after her family died strikes a familiar chord in Tarzan. Interesting in that the Tarzan backstory was told during the lengthy opening. No long drawn out pilot, just Tarzan was raised in the jungle, received education in civilization and has returned to the jungle - bang; onto the episode. Pretty standard fare but a wonderful remembrance of times sitting with family watching Tarzan on Friday night.

The Ultimate Weapon (1.2) Andrew Prine, Laurence Haddon, Jock Mahoney (Movie screen Tarzan). Poacher who fell to his death attacking Tarzan has a son who comes looking for revenge. I liked this one.

Leopard On The Loose (1.3) Russ Tamblynn, Ken Scott, Morgan Jones. Jai's pet leopard has a black head that makes him rare and a target for poachers.

A Life For A Life (1.4) John Alvar, Danica D'Hondt, Stewart Raffill. Jai suffered a poisonous spider bite and the serum needed must be manufactured within 24 hours. Two potential donors are identified; a wanted man on the run and a free lance photographer on assignment covering wildlife. Can the antidote be made before Jai dies? Silly boy, of course, this is Tarzan.

Think I am going to enjoy revisiting this one.

Happy belated birthday to you, Doug! I, too, am celebrating mine and have received some goodies on DVD and Blu-Ray as well...presents from myself, to myself. My lovely wife did make me a delicious chocolate fudge cake from scratch, but knows to leave the present buying to me, as I always know what I want.

Good to see you digging further into Rawhide (reminding me to do the same) and your new Tarzan S1 set. That's a steal of a deal on I Love Lucy...I've only got the first season at the moment, but if that complete series set is anywhere near that price for much longer, I'll be picking that up myself.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Happy belated birthday to you, Doug! I, too, am celebrating mine and have received some goodies on DVD and Blu-Ray as well...presents from myself, to myself. My lovely wife did make me a delicious chocolate fudge cake from scratch, but knows to leave the present buying to me, as I always know what I want.

Happy birthday, Jeff (and you, too, Doug)! I've been meaning to ask you-- since you live and work in Japan, I'm curious as to what currently is the classic TV situation over there. Perhaps you get most (or all) of your personal entertainment viewing via discs and streaming, but do you know whether older/classic series get much (or any) play on Japanese broadcast or cable/satellite channels? Do they include the occasional classic on main channels, or are they all relegated to niche channels (if at all)? I'm not just talking specifically about American imports like Star Trek: TOS, Hawaii Five-O (Jack Lord recipe), Gunsmoke or I Love Lucy, or British goodies like Thunderbirds or The Prisoner, but home-grown classic Japanese TV fare, like Ultra Q, Ultraman ('66), Lone Wolf & Cub (TV version), Zatoichi (ditto), Lupin the Third (1970s)... does Key Hunter still get some play?



I'll probably never make it to Japan myself, but stuff like this intrigues me.