What did you watch this week in classic TV on DVD(or Blu)? (3 Viewers)

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
Wonder Woman
"The Deadly Sting" (S3E3)

Here's the thing--Linda Carter has no lips. Truly, I've seen fuller kissers on hens' beaks. If it wasn't for lipstick, there would be no indication whatsoever as to their location on her face. Fortunately for her, no one was ever focused on that particular feature. Indeed, the woman was so generously endowed elsewhere that you could sit in a lawn chair underneath and be in their perpetual shadow. At that time, Linda's jutting charms were sufficient to place her ahead of Farrah Fawcett as the poster most often taped to the wall opposite a teenage boy's bed.

In the terrifying era of the Vietnam War, rising inflation, racial injustice and the introduction of the AMC Gremlin, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and her $300 haircut boyfriend Steve (Lyle Waggoner) choose to investigate what's really important in world events: rigged football games. The two join forces with physical trainer Bill Michaels (Ron Ely) because there's just not enough pretty people already in this episode. Their investigation focuses on a crooked gambling syndicate that would most likely later be the template for FanDuel and DraftKings sport books.

Behind the scenes, Professor Brubaker (Harvey Jason) has invented a blowgun that shoots a chemical dart, rendering football players devoid of their jockstraps and forgetful of their gridiron skills. Thus winning bets on the odds, he uses this method to finance his earthshaking research in gerbil tooth decay. The syndicate wants the technology for obviously different reasons. Ironically, the tough guy is played by Craig T. Nelson--later to portray a coach himself.

The drawback of one ply toilet paper; No lips but plenty else; When filming angles really count..

Meanwhile, as if to emphasize this is all about football, Diana is being co-wooed by Roman Gabriel and Deacon Jones to prove that it takes two hunky guys to make her sing the hallelujah chorus. In the end, the sacred practice of waging on sports is spared the licentious antics of crooked bookies and Pete Rose.

There's a near Batman-like vibe to this series--fatuous plots, absurd villains and totally impractical technology, which is what made it fascinating to 15 year-olds. We adults watched just in case Linda Carter dropped something and had to bend over.

The Moral: Wonder Woman's lasso of truth was instrumental in revealing the actual ingredients in Spam.

 

[Mysto]

Episode Commentary
Wonder Woman
"The Deadly Sting" (S3E3)

Here's the thing--Linda Carter has no lips. Truly, I've seen fuller kissers on hens' beaks. If it wasn't for lipstick, there would be no indication whatsoever as to their location on her face. Fortunately for her, no one was ever focused on that particular feature. Indeed, the woman was so generously endowed elsewhere that you could sit in a lawn chair underneath and be in their perpetual shadow. At that time, Linda's jutting charms were sufficient to place her ahead of Farrah Fawcett as the poster most often taped to the wall opposite a teenage boy's bed.

In the terrifying era of the Vietnam War, rising inflation, racial injustice and the introduction of the AMC Gremlin, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and her $300 haircut boyfriend Steve (Lyle Waggoner) choose to investigate what's really important in world events: rigged football games. The two join forces with physical trainer Bill Michaels (Ron Ely) because there's just not enough pretty people already in this episode. Their investigation focuses on a crooked gambling syndicate that would most likely later be the template for FanDuel and DraftKings sport books.

Behind the scenes, Professor Brubaker (Harvey Jason) has invented a blowgun that shoots a chemical dart, rendering football players devoid of their jockstraps and forgetful of their gridiron skills. Thus winning bets on the odds, he uses this method to finance his earthshaking research in gerbil tooth decay. The syndicate wants the technology for obviously different reasons. Ironically, the tough guy is played by Craig T. Nelson--later to portray a coach himself.

The drawback of one ply toilet paper; No lips but plenty else; When filming angles really count..

Meanwhile, as if to emphasize this is all about football, Diana is being co-wooed by Roman Gabriel and Deacon Jones to prove that it takes two hunky guys to make her sing the hallelujah chorus. In the end, the sacred practice of waging on sports is spared the licentious antics of crooked bookies and Pete Rose.

There's a near Batman-like vibe to this series--fatuous plots, absurd villains and totally impractical technology, which is what made it fascinating to 15 year-olds. We adults watched just in case Linda Carter dropped something and had to bend over.

The Moral: Wonder Woman's lasso of truth was instrumental in revealing the ingredients to McDonald's secret sauce.

Linda Carter had lips??????

Another fun romp Russ. I don't know how you keep knocking them out.

 

[BobO'Link]

I test drove a AMC Gremlin shortly after they hit the market. I thought it looked kind of cool. It's the only car I ever drove with performance almost equaling that of the Ford Pinto. My sister owned a Pinto and asked me what I thought of it after a test drive (it did the quarter mile in just over 60 seconds and *almost* got to 55mph - do you *really* want to know my opinion?). Those of you who've driven either know what I'm talking about... You don't want to be in a hurry when you step on the gas.

 

[Rustifer]

Another fun romp Russ. I don't know how you keep knocking them out.

To tell you the truth, Marv. I actually lose sleep at night thinking up this stuff.
Too many years in advertising and having to meet deadlines, I think.

 

[The 1960's]

I'll tell you the truth, Marv. I actually lose sleep at night thinking up this stuff.
Too many years in advertising and having to meet deadlines, I think.

Ohh, so it's advertising which has triggered all this creativity.

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
Leave It To Beaver
"Beaver's I.Q." (S4E9)

I don't know what my I.Q. is. I don't think I ever knew it. Of course, my brain wattage may be so low that I just don't remember my I.Q. The point is, I don't know anyone who knows their own I.Q. I think people who do are usually in the Mensa category and likely flaunt their braininess. More power to them. As long as I remember how to tie my shoes, how to start the car, remember the location of the drug store and my wife's cell phone number--I'll get along just fine. I do regret having forgotten how to play chess and pinochle.

Wally's future looks bright. His aptitude tests show promise in math, physics and hair gel application. Beaver, on the other hand, is destined for life on the short bus. As his mom opines, "I just don't see Beaver going to Princeton in jeans with a frog in his pocket." God knows, many of us guys happily headed to co-ed college with a snake in our pants.

Wally explains life as he knows it; The boys wonder if she's open to nude selfies; Beaver has yet to learn to feed himself

Beaver's school is about to administer I.Q. tests to the students. Beaver is convinced he'll flunk and be sent to "dumb" school where kids only get chocolate milk for lunch and Quasimodo serves as recess monitor. As Whitey puts it, "Ya gotta have a brain for them to measure it." So Beaver begins a concerted effort to learn stuff by reading encyclopedias--just in case he's asked about Zambia's gross national production rate. Ward convinces him that the test is only concerned with his "natural" intelligence, which Beaver figures to be situated somewhere between that of an iguana and an emu. Wally assures him that when Ward and June were in school, "intelligence hadn't yet been invented".

Beaver gamely takes the test, which is administered by the school principal Mrs. Rayburn--a severely stern woman who reportedly eats children when no one's looking. Much to everyone's surprise, Beaver scores in the top ten percentile. Ward and June are ecstatic that their kid probably won't be consigned to a career as a porta-potty sanitizer.

The Moral: Wally's bright future lands him a job as groundskeeper at an Alpaca farm.

 

[BobO'Link]

Episode Commentary
Leave It To Beaver
"Beaver's I.Q." (S4E9)

I don't know what my I.Q. is. I don't think I ever knew it. Of course, my brain wattage may be so low that I just don't remember my I.Q. The point is, I don't know anyone who knows their own I.Q. I think people who do are usually in the Mensa category and likely flaunt their braininess. More power to them. As long as I remember how to tie my shoes, how to start the car, remember the location of the drug store and my wife's cell phone number--I'll get along just fine. I do regret having forgotten how to play chess and pinochle.

Wally's future looks bright. His aptitude tests show promise in math, physics and hair gel application. Beaver, on the other hand, is destined for life on the short bus. As his mom opines, "I just don't see Beaver going to Princeton in jeans with a frog in his pocket." God knows, many of us guys happily headed to co-ed college with a snake in our pants.

View attachment 113867

Wally explains life as he knows it; The boys wonder if she's open to nude selfies; Beaver has yet to learn to feed himself

Beaver's school is about to administer I.Q. tests to the students. Beaver is convinced he'll flunk and be sent to "dumb" school where kids only get chocolate milk for lunch and Quasimodo serves as recess monitor. As Whitey puts it, "Ya gotta have a brain for them to measure it." So Beaver begins a concerted effort to learn stuff by reading encyclopedias--just in case he's asked about Zambia's gross national production rate. Ward convinces him that the test is only concerned with his "natural" intelligence, which Beaver figures to be situated somewhere between that of an iguana and an emu. Wally assures him that when Ward and June were in school, "intelligence hadn't yet been invented".

Beaver gamely takes the test, which is administered by the school principal Mrs. Rayburn--a severely stern woman who reportedly eats children when no one's looking. Much to everyone's surprise, Beaver scores in the top ten percentile. Ward and June are ecstatic that their kid probably won't be consigned to a career as a porta-potty sanitizer.

The Moral: Wally's bright future lands him a job as groundskeeper at an Alpaca farm.

Well... now you do. I know mine - or at least what it was when I was in HS. Let's just say mom got irritated over me and that my grades "should" have been "better" based on my IQ (I got A's and B's if I liked a class [Math/English/Band/Choir], C's otherwise [pretty much everything else]). Sometimes I wonder just what it is now but frankly I just don't take much stock in them.

I've always liked this particular episode. Whitey is just a plain hoot! I had a friend with a similar wit.

 

[The 1960's]

Episode Commentary
Leave It To Beaver
"Beaver's I.Q." (S4E9)

I don't know what my I.Q. is. I don't think I ever knew it. Of course, my brain wattage may be so low that I just don't remember my I.Q. The point is, I don't know anyone who knows their own I.Q. I think people who do are usually in the Mensa category and likely flaunt their braininess. More power to them. As long as I remember how to tie my shoes, how to start the car, remember the location of the drug store and my wife's cell phone number--I'll get along just fine. I do regret having forgotten how to play chess and pinochle.

Wally's future looks bright. His aptitude tests show promise in math, physics and hair gel application. Beaver, on the other hand, is destined for life on the short bus. As his mom opines, "I just don't see Beaver going to Princeton in jeans with a frog in his pocket." God knows, many of us guys happily headed to co-ed college with a snake in our pants.

View attachment 113867

Wally explains life as he knows it; The boys wonder if she's open to nude selfies; Beaver has yet to learn to feed himself

Beaver's school is about to administer I.Q. tests to the students. Beaver is convinced he'll flunk and be sent to "dumb" school where kids only get chocolate milk for lunch and Quasimodo serves as recess monitor. As Whitey puts it, "Ya gotta have a brain for them to measure it." So Beaver begins a concerted effort to learn stuff by reading encyclopedias--just in case he's asked about Zambia's gross national production rate. Ward convinces him that the test is only concerned with his "natural" intelligence, which Beaver figures to be situated somewhere between that of an iguana and an emu. Wally assures him that when Ward and June were in school, "intelligence hadn't yet been invented".

Beaver gamely takes the test, which is administered by the school principal Mrs. Rayburn--a severely stern woman who reportedly eats children when no one's looking. Much to everyone's surprise, Beaver scores in the top ten percentile. Ward and June are ecstatic that their kid probably won't be consigned to a career as a porta-potty sanitizer.

The Moral: Wally's bright future lands him a job as groundskeeper at an Alpaca farm.

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
The Twilight Zone
"Terror At 20,000 Feet" (S5E3)

About 15 years ago, I had the privilege of sitting next to William Shatner on a flight out of Atlanta. And yes, he was in the window seat. Having done massive air travel during my career, I had learned that sitting next to anyone of repute was not an open invitation to begin a conversation. Shatner was a particularly closed-mouthed guy, his fame having left him way too open to years of annoying approaches by fans everywhere he went. As I sat quietly next to him before takeoff, I couldn't help but remember this iconic Twilight Zone episode in which he starred. At some point I could sense him looking at me, so I turned to face the man thinking maybe he wanted to talk. Hardly. His eyes clearly spoke, "Don't even think about it, dude."
So there you have it--I wish it was a more interesting story, but that was the entire extent of my experience with Mr. Shatner.

Bob Wilson (Shatner) and his wife Julia (Christine White) settle into their seats, ready for takeoff. Bob pulls out a Chesterfield while thinking that flying on a low tech DC-7 prop in a rainstorm would probably kill him faster than lung cancer. Once in the air, Bob glances out the window and spots what appears to be a Himalayan Yeti cavorting on the plane's wing. The two eye each other and silently agree that this probably isn't going to be a normal flight. His wife asleep, Bob feels it's necessary to inform someone that the wing's airflow lift component is being rudely displaced. Bob is known to have had past issues with odd mushrooms and blacklit Grateful Dead posters, so no one believes him. As a result, he's in serious need of a double Johnny Walker and a Xanax tablet the size of a tractor wheel.

"Stewardess! Drink!"; "Is the lavatory occupied?"; "No, you can't feel me up when we're in flight..."

Meanwhile, the Yeti thing--unable to gain access to the lavatory for a much needed bowel movement--takes out its frustration on the plane engine's cowling. Dependable performance of a DC-7 engine is iffy at best, so any tampering is bound to have an adverse effect. All of this is observed with horror by Bob, who redoubles his irksome efforts to gain attention. Wife Julia is quickly realizing she should have married Biff--her high school sweetheart--when he asked her after a particularly brilliant performance in the back seat of his Studebaker.

Bob is distraught enough to cause the Captain to consider confining him in the baggage compartment next to the crate with the pit bull. Instead, the Captain humors Bob with stories about an intergalactic starship and a pointy-eared science officer. Bob is enthralled and vows to one day be a Captain himself on such a ship. Fast forward to the plane landing. Bob is dutifully carted off in a straightjacket after trying to shoot the Yeti, while Julia heads to the nearest phone booth to look up Biff's number.

The Moral: Later inspection of the plane's engine reveals the cowling had been removed and replaced with a pile of steaming Yeti crap.

Note:
The stewardess is played by Asa Maynor who, at that time, was married to Edd Byrnes--an actor far more known than William Shatner in 1963.

 

[BobO'Link]

You know, Russ... I'd have just commented on how much I've enjoyed some of his work and then dived into my book. I hate chit-chat with strangers and *always* have my nose in a book to help discourage such (that's no matter where I am - plane, Dr. office, anywhere there might be a long wait). That's how I've handled every "celebrity" meeting I've had, several in a working environment, and they seem to appreciate that approach. It's "Joe Public" who frequently gets annoyed that I don't want to talk.

When I was in TV, the governor (Mike Huckabee for those who care) came in for an interview show. The studio crew had issues with the mics so I went out to help (I was directing the show). The anchor introduced me to the governor and I replied "Hi, Mike. Nice to meet you." shaking his hand. Everyone was somewhat astounded by my rather informal greeting but he didn't mind at all and seemed to appreciate its informality. When it comes right down to it I've never been impressed by "celebrity" nor given anyone who might fit that description any special treatment - they're just people like me who happen to have more public jobs.

 

[MatthewA]

It seemed like every time a sitcom did a two-hour trip-to-somewhere movie, there just had to be some kind of criminal element involved (e.g., "The Facts of Life Down Under," "Blossom in Paris").

Airing exactly 39 years and one day ago, The Facts of Life Goes to Paris* didn't have any crooks in it that I recall. At least with that show, they didn't ignore the events of their movies when they came home, since the chef who trained Mrs. Garrett actually visited her and the girls at Eastland, and later when they added Pippa they said she was from the same school in Australia though we never saw her there. Most of the characters on the other shows that did this just went away, came back, and forgot they were ever there. Even Family Ties' myriad of clip shows (spoofed by Justine Bateman when she hosted Saturday Night Live decades before her little brother) skipped the London vacation. Theatrical movies based on TV shows, a practice more common in the UK than here, are by and large the same way; when has The Simpsons ever incorporated events from its 2007 movie into subsequent TV episodes?

*Silver Spoons' first episode aired right before it, a week before the Season 5 premiere of Diff'rent Strokes, so they could use that as a lead-in. That's the only time all three shows were on NBC the same night that I can recall. The Paris movie got an 18.2 rating and a 31 share, the Australia one, which aired up against Designing Women before Dorothy name-dropped it as a snappy answer to a stupid question Rose asked on The Golden Girls, got a 21.4 rating and a 32 share! That Disney thing 20 years ago got a 7.1 rating and an 11 share.

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
The Addam's Family
"Cousin ITT's Problem" (S2E3)

I'm a lucky guy. At my advanced age, I still have a full head of hair--the same thickness and color as when I was 15. It must be in my genes--my dad, at age 90, still had all his hair and never went gray. My younger sister will occasionally point out I need a haircut. "You understand that's a compliment, don't you?" I reply. Lest you think I'm self-congratulating myself, let me add that my hair is just about the only functional feature I have left on my body.

Cousin Itt, a previous member of ZZ Top, is losing his hair at an alarming rate. Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan)--who, under any responsible profiling policy, would be immediately detained for almost any unsolved serial killer spree--claims to have a hair loss cure. Curious, since he's as bald as a milk bottle. Using his 1952 Gilbert chemistry set, Fester is able to concoct a solution that can grow hair on anything--eggs, bananas, peanut butter, Ford station wagons....
Not only does he succeed in restoring his own hairline, but grows a Harpo Marx-like doo atop Itt.

Hoping to promote Fester's cure, Morticia (Carolyn Jones) invites a representative from the Welfare Society to set up a special charity for the Prevention of Baldness. By the way, if Morticia ever ditched her creepy Gothic fashion sense, she could easily find employment as a pole dancer in a high end Vegas casino. Just sayin'.

Morticia on weekends; Location, location, location; Fester has an idea...

Mrs. Dragwater (Meg Wylie) from the welfare center pays a visit to the Addam's home. Upon exposure to Lurch, the Thing, Cousin ITT and Uncle Fester, she promptly takes up a significant heroin addiction and is later seen living in an Amana refrigerator box under the Rte. 41 overpass in Waukegan, Wisconsin. Just as well, as Fester's hair formula proves to be only temporary. Fortunately, mold will continue to grow unrestrained on every exposed surface in the house.

The Moral: Hair today, gone tomorrow.*

*I generally try not to be this predictable.

 

[Rustifer]

Somebody other than just me has to be watching old TV shows. Lately I seem to be sucking up all the space on this thread. Please--help dilute my ratio of posts in here....

 

[Mysto]

Episode Commentary
The Addam's Family
"Cousin ITT's Problem" (S2E3)

I'm a lucky guy. At my advanced age, I still have a full head of hair--the same thickness and color as when I was 15. It must be in my genes--my dad, at age 90, still had all his hair and never went gray. My younger sister will occasionally point out I need a haircut. "You understand that's a compliment, don't you?" I reply. Lest you think I'm self-congratulating myself, let me add that my hair is just about the only functional feature I have left on my body.

Cousin Itt, a previous member of ZZ Top, is losing his hair at an alarming rate. Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan)--who, under any responsible profiling policy, would be immediately detained for almost any unsolved serial killer spree--claims to have a hair loss cure. Curious, since he's as bald as a milk bottle. Using his 1952 Gilbert chemistry set, Fester is able to concoct a solution that can grow hair on anything--eggs, bananas, peanut butter, Ford station wagons....
Not only does he succeed in restoring his own hairline, but grows a Harpo Marx-like doo atop Itt.

Hoping to promote Fester's cure, Morticia (Carolyn Jones) invites a representative from the Welfare Society to set up a special charity for the Prevention of Baldness. By the way, if Morticia ever ditched her creepy Gothic fashion sense, she could easily find employment as a pole dancer in a high end Vegas casino. Just sayin'.

View attachment 113986

Morticia on weekends; Location, location, location; Fester has an idea...

Mrs. Dragwater (Meg Wylie) from the welfare center pays a visit to the Addam's home. Upon exposure to Lurch, the Thing, Cousin ITT and Uncle Fester, she promptly takes up a significant heroin addiction and is later seen living in an Amana refrigerator box under the Rte. 41 overpass in Waukegan, Wisconsin. Just as well, as Fester's hair formula proves to be only temporary. Fortunately, mold will continue to grow unrestrained on every exposed surface in the house.

The Moral: Hair today, gone tomorrow.*

*I generally try not to be this predictable.

I still have all my hair Russ. It's in a box in the closet.
Fun review.
All the TV programs we are currently watching are either obscure youtube stuff or Newer stuff. Currently we're watching MIss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (Australia) and re-watching Death in Paradise (Great Britain) Neither qualify as Classic...yet.

 

[Rustifer]

I still have all my hair Russ. It's in a box in the closet.
Fun review.
All the TV programs we are currently watching are either obscure youtube stuff or Newer stuff. Currently we're watching MIss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (Australia) and re-watching Death in Paradise (Great Britain) Neither qualify as Classic...yet.

We were into Miss Fisher's for a while until it got tiresome that she was seemingly expert in everything--detective, aviator, race car driver, fencing champion, chef, circus performer, NFL middle linebacker....
Even if she lived to 134, there still wouldn't have been enough time for her to master all these skills and maintain a $750 hairdo.

 

[Mysto]

We were into Miss Fisher's for a while until it got tiresome that she was seemingly expert in everything--detective, aviator, race car driver, fencing champion, chef, circus performer, NFL middle linebacker....
Even if she lived to 134, there still wouldn't have been enough time for her to master all these skills and maintain a $750 hairdo.

Essie Davis does understand the character. She describes her as ''She's like a female Indiana Jones, with a better wardrobe.''

We take it all tongue in cheek. You're right though - nobody could be that good at everything and spend that much time in bed.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey guys, I thought I’d drop a quick note. This thread has been interesting to me and I have contributed a few times. But I find it easier to just watch then to post about every show I’d been watching. Ha, ha!

The thread has inspired me to add more TV series DVD/blu ray sets to my collection and others I’ve seen but probably won’t add.

Right now i’m doing daily and weekly viewing of series I own such as MASH which this thread reminded me that I do own. I’m starting the 6th season now. It’s been interesting to revisit as I’ve seen the series before. What surprised me more was the way Frank Burns was treated. He and Margaret were a tight pair, then the 5th season they split due to Margaret finding Donald. I felt it might have been an opportunity to rethink Frank Burns and make him more dimensional, but they elected to make him more a caricature. I don’t blame Larry Linville wanting to leave.

I’m most of the way through the second season of The Streets of San Francisco. A lot of good episodes, been fun revisiting. I’m most of the way through the first season of That Girl. I’m enjoying this series too. It was one I’d seen many times in my youth. I‘ve started the second season of Hawaii Five-0 and it’s been a fun re-visit too.

I’ve kind of stalled on Mission: Impossible. I still like the series a lot, I guess I have too many shows to split time with. There’s a few 1st season episodes I didn’t like, so I kind of put off watching them. I'm also almost done with the first season of Police Woman. Two more episodes.

I threw in The Odd Couple into the mix and am revisiting the first season on and off.

I saw the Pilot and second episode of I, Spy! That’s a series I’ve never really seen before but I am well aware of it. I went through considerable expense to buy a complete series set that was still sealed. The show looks kind of set bound for a show that filmed on location overseas. But I’ve only seen two episodes so far so I’ll reserve judgment. I’m not seeing the witty banter too much between Culp and Cosby but I figure that is there.

There’s many more shows I’ve enjoyed, Get Smart is another favorite and I did a complete re-watch a year ago, same with Frasier and The Bob Newhart show.

What’s interesting in the last month or two is that I’ve been leaving the TV on the weekend binges on Decades TV when there is a show they binge that I either like or got sucked into. Recently they did the Mary Tyler Moore show the week Gavin McLeod died. I will try to buy that series, never had before but I’ve seen the series before. They did do a Love Boat weekend and I doubt I’ll add that series. What surprised me was the weekend they did Family Affair. I’d seen the show before but on this viewing, I found it engaging. Might add that show. Then last weekend was The Prisoner, and I have that series on blu ray. But I had not seen it in a couple of years, so it was fun to see a few episodes. As I noted in the Prisoner Thread, I‘ll try to get the Secret Agent/Danger Man series DVD set. This weekend is Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford. I may have seen less then a handful of episodes before. This 1955 series is pretty engaging too. DVD sets seem to be expensive.

Being a big Star Trek fan, I’m still on my chronological Star Trek re-visit and I’m well into the first season of Enterprise. I’ve always liked Enterprise so it’s been fun to revisit it. I realized that I skipped The Animated Star Trek so I’ll have to go back to that. I like to go back to the Original Series so I like to throw in a few Star Trek TOS episodes here and there.

I did add to my collection Kung Fu, The Fugitive, Honey West, Taxi and The Invaders. Also added Spenser for Hire and Vega$. I did re-view the pilot of original Magnum PI.

I started to re-view of The Twilight Zone in January and I stalled on the third season because I felt I was ripping through too many epsiodes a day! I really enjoy the series and the remastered blu rays look great. But I didn’t want to finishes the series so fast. So I’ll be back to continue it.

Speaking of The Twilight Zone, I’m also a fan of The Outer Limits. I’ve had done a re-view when the blu ray came out. But I didn’t finish yet, so that’s another series on my list to watch.

Russ, great story about sitting next to a William Shatner on a plane! You must have been in First Class! I can imagine people talking to him about the gremlin on the wing. One of my favorite TZ episodes! I heard a similar story from a friend. In the late 1970’s at a Star Trek convention I attended, he somehow finagled his way to be a gopher and escorted Shatner in a limo to the airport. He was very quiet and introspective and didn’t want to engage in conversation.

I tried to watch The Flintstones new blu ray too. It was hard for some reason. The show looks great in the new set. I loved it as a very little kid. Maybe I outgrew the show, love seeing the animation style of the early shows though. I’ll try to re-engage and watch more episodes.

Thats it for now.

 

[Nelson Au]

Neal, I forgot to add Route 66 is in my mix of shows too!

 

[Flashgear]

Somebody other than just me has to be watching old TV shows. Lately I seem to be sucking up all the space on this thread. Please--help dilute my ratio of posts in here....

Okay, Okay, Okay...I'm as stuck in the '50s and '60s TV realm as any of you...and I prefer that make-believe world to the wretched, vacuous and terminally stupid world we have now which makes me want to puke...

How about the lovely 'Weena of the Eloi', (The Time Machine, 1960 with Rod Taylor)...

Some choice cheesecake for breakfast, as in the lovely Yvette Mimieux circa 1963 (given a coveted Life Magazine cover photo in the October 25, 1963 issue highlighting this Dr Kildare filming at Malibu)

...with a tasty side serving of Anjanette Comer...along with some unavoidable clutter like Richard Chamberlain, Raymond Massey, Clu Gulager, John Newland (who also directed this episode) and Robert Logan...in the two part Dr. Kildare season three episode Tyger, Tyger (January 16 and 23, 1964)...

Pretty Pat Holmes (Mimieux) is a star surfer girl who lives for the perfect breaking wave that is the idylic metaphor for her young life...she suddenly falls ill with a mild fainting spell that nearly results in her drowning...rescued by her surfer friend Norm (Clu Gulager, soon to be a co-star on The Virginian)...actually he's Dr. Norman Gage, who's lost his way in his professional life and has never taken the State Medical Board exams...good ol' Norm hauls pretty Pat in his old hearse (oh dark irony!) to Blair General Hospital, the haunts of resident Dr. Kildare (Richard Chamberlain natch.) and Chief of Medical Staff and elder statesman Dr. Gillespie (Hollywood legend Raymond Massey)...Kildare soon discovers that the charismatic young beauty has an infectious joy to her soul, and a caring intuition of sensitivity to others in their suffering...as personified with her roomie Carol Montgomery (Anjanette Comer), the young alcoholic wife of a much older man (John Newland of One Step Beyond)...Carol, overwhelmed by despair, wants to simply die...Pat, by her nature a joyous spirit, wants nothing more than to live...tragic irony raises it's ugly head as Kildare and Gillespie try desperately to save Pat from a worsening cascade of seizures that progress to severe Grande Mal...along the way Kildare falls hard (who could blame him?), discovering also the mystique of the California Surfing subculture...my screencaps from the Warner Archive season three set...

Continued next post...

 

[Flashgear]

Dr. Kildare season three episode 16 and 17, Tyger, Tyger parts one and two (January 16 and 23, 1964)...my screencaps from the Warner Archive DVD set...

Kildare has fallen hard for the beautiful free spirit that is surfer girl Pat Holmes (the stunning Yvette Mimieux)...she's beautiful while she's dying, a calamitous cascade of worsening Grande Mal seizures leave Pat vulnerable to drowning...and the girl literally can't live without her surfing...Kildare struggles to find a treatment for her, while wise sage Dr. Gillespie grows increasingly concerned that his young resident is on the brink of a grief stricken madness...but there's still time for Kildare's discovery of the surfer lifestyle so alien to his own existence...but propelled by his fascination with the alluring girl...also coveted by fellow surfer Norm Gage (Clu Gulager with a beard!), a failed physician himself, who longs to have Pat for himself...the healing optimism of joy that Pat shares with a desperate new-found friend (Anjanette Comer, another lovely) who just wanted to succumb to her alcoholism and die, is yet another subplot here...

Sure, it's a tearjerker, but there's a lot going on here...I'm not ashamed to say that I got my crying towel out, but I'm a foolish old man...and Yvette's performance is effective, obviously informed by the technical advice of the American medical Association...I've witnessed a person in Grande Mal seizure myself, and Yvette's depiction of the spectrum of progression that some Epileptics suffer is convincing...and damn, she's a stunner! Still with us today at the age of 79...Dr. Kildare, often one of the premiere drama series of the early to mid '60s, was in the top 20 shows in the Neilsens for 1963-64...