What did you watch this week in classic TV on DVD(or Blu)? (4 Viewers)

[morasp]

Enjoyed that review and caps, Steve! Quantum Leap is a show I only saw rarely, in the company of friends who loved the series, which of course has a legion of dedicated fandom to this day. This one sounds like a particularly fun episode. I hope you continue to relay your favorite 'finds' on a regular basis. Thanks!

Alan, thanks for more obscure gems here! I love Destry, a comedic western series hour much in the same vein as Maverick and Alias Smith and Jones. A mid-season replacement show on ABC in 1963-64, it replaced the faltering 77 Sunset Strip (moved to another night to finish it's 6 year run), and was the lead-in for Burke's Law and Farmer's Daughter on Friday evenings. I wish Destry had lasted more than 13 episodes. The great action director Don Siegel, as you said, proved to be adept at light-hearted fare like this as well. Loaded with great guest stars and a fine array of beautiful women, I'm glad to have the great TMG DVD complete series set of this Universal production.

I checked out that episode of G.E. True on Youtube, a now obscure series from 1962-63, the kind of quality anthology series that was once common in those days. This episode (excellent as you said) seems to be inspired by the true WW2 story of Eddie Chapman, a British criminal and safecracker found in the jails of Jersey by the Germans when they invaded the British territory of the Channel islands in 1940. The Nazis tried to use him as a spy and saboteur using his unique skills, but once the Germans parachuted him back into England, he promptly turned himself in to the police. Eddie than became trapped in a dangerous 'double cross' double-agent gambit by MI 6, the British foreign intelligence service fictionally publicized in the Ian Fleming 'James Bond' novels. He was asked to take disinformation back to his Nazi handlers in occupied France! He had to endanger his life to earn his pardon. His story inspired a number of film treatments, including being played by Ray Milland in the 1958 movie The Safecracker. Eddie Chapman's incredible and hair-raising true story is best told in the best selling non-fiction book Agent ZigZag, by author Ben McIntyre.

Great photo essay for this powerful episode, Neal! Michael Parks must have savored the opportunity of playing this challenging role in a prestige series like Route 66, the best thing he'd ever done as an actor up to that point. Innovative direction by journeyman Allen Miner in a rare script by William Kelly and series' producer Howard Rodman. One of the best in the final season.

Doug, great array of quality shows that you're watching! And you're in the midst of Combat!'s truly great third season. You just knew this was a special series creatively, producing an extraordinary number of fantastic episodes in later seasons as this show went from strength to strength. The Little Carousel is fondly remembered as one of the top episodes in the entire series, with a gut-wrenching performance by the great Vic Morrow in this unforgettably powerful episode. I'm not afraid to say this one makes me cry. For me, one for the ages in how good this drama series could be!

I well remember watching Combat! first run. I remember my Dear Mom escaping to her bedroom to spin her records or listen to the radio when Combat! came on. In retrospect, I felt sorry for my Mom in trying to find serenity whenever Combat! filled our household with the sound of ten thousand gunshots (or more) every week! There's an episode coming up soon for you, episode 19, More Than a Soldier, that starts off with blistering action with at least what sounds like ten thousand rounds being fired off in the first 5 minutes, when actor Ron Soble (who I always thought could have been Lee Van Cleef's little brother), playing a German soldier, rips through magazine after magazine from his Schmeisser sub-machine gun...it's really incredible, even for this action-packed show, and you can really tell Soble is enjoying himself! This is a Vic Morrow episode with guest star Tommy Sands the pop singer. Still a lot of great stuff coming your way in seasons four and five too! Great and interesting reviews as always Doug!







Great tribute to the lovely Andra Martin, Jeff! So glad you can watch these entertaining WB detective shows on Archive.org or Uncle Earl's Classic TV channel! I have all of the big 4 WB detective series complete on DVD-R in varying states of watchability. But these shows, along with the WB westerns, are real meat and potatoes in my youthful classic TV world! Love 'em!

I have to check this one out! From what I've seen, Bachelor Father was a truly delightful and long lasting series. Time to take a deeper dive into this show, well represented on YT and Dailymotion.

My understanding is NBC is going to launch a reboot of Quantum Leap for the 2022-23 season. Hopefully it will maintain the quality of the original.

 

[JohnHopper]

STONEY BURKE

Episode #5
“The Mob Riders”
written by Leslie Stevens
directed by Leslie Stevens
guests: Michael Parks, Gene Lyons, Bill Gun, Denise Alexander, Curt Conway, Ford Rainey

 

[The 1960's]

STONEY BURKE

Episode #5
“The Mob Riders”
written by Leslie Stevens
directed by Leslie Stevens
guests: Michael Parks, Gene Lyons, Bill Gun, Denise Alexander, Curt Conway, Ford Rainey

John why on earth do people upload wonderful television series in unwatchable stretched format? Anyhow wanted to thank you for turning me onto Wild Seed (1965), it was most enjoyable. I actually found a copy for download which originated from TurnerClassicMovies which was superior to the YouTube upload that is not too bad. I’m not going to watch The Idol (1966) until I can either locate a better copy or buy one. All I’ve been able to find is an LP soundtrack and a DVD-R copy which appears to be a boot.

 

[LouA]

I watched a lot of shows this week, but one in particular stands out: Car 54 Where Are You season 2 episode I Hate Captain Block. If you are interested in zany TV comedy , you should check this episode out!

 

[The 1960's]

I watched a lot of shows this week, but one in particular stands out: Car 54 Where Are You season 2 episode I Hate Captain Block. If you are interested in zany TV comedy , you should check this episode out!

I agree!!

 

[Purple Wig]

Picked up this weekend

 

[JohnHopper]

John why on earth do people upload wonderful television series in unwatchable stretched format? Anyhow wanted to thank you for turning me onto Wild Seed (1965), it was most enjoyable. I actually found a copy for download which originated from TurnerClassicMovies which was superior to the YouTube upload that is not too bad. I’m not going to watch The Idol (1966) until I can either locate a better copy or buy one. All I’ve been able to find is an LP soundtrack and a DVD-R copy which appears to be a boot.

They do that blasphemy to please the audience that watch widescreen pictures. In the 80's, they used to do the other way around: they applied a pan and scan treatment on real widescreen feature films.

 

[ScottRE]

They do that blasphemy to please the audience that watch widescreen pictures. In the 80's, they used to do the other way around: they applied a pan and scan treatment on real widescreen feature films.

I wonder if it's also a way to defeat the Copyright Police. I see a lot of uploads with not only stretching, but zooms and random close ups. Also the picture taking up a third of the screen with a neutral background for the rest.

 

[Desslar]

I wonder if it's also a way to defeat the Copyright Police. I see a lot of uploads with not only stretching, but zooms and random close ups. Also the picture taking up a third of the screen with a neutral background for the rest.

Yeah, I think those are all techniques to avoid detection by Youtube's Content ID system. Also leaving out the audio when popular songs play.

 

[bmasters9]

Yeah, I think those are all techniques to avoid detection by Youtube's Content ID system. Also leaving out the audio when popular songs play.

And worse, downgrading the title tracks to remarkably low tone.

 

[The 1960's]

I honestly think it's nothing more than stupidity.

Check out Classic TV Channel Playlists

For example Ozzie & Harriet Season 10

It's just too painful to actually insert in the Media feature.

 

[ScottRE]

I wouldn't even know how to do that. I've uploaded dozens of videos (as I'm sure I'm not alone here) and it's literally just "upload your video" and hope they don't yank it down. Making it zoom, stretch or be in a frame takes effort and conscious thought, doesn't it?

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
Star Trek
"Mudd's Women" (S1E6)

This show was always at its most enjoyable when it skated on the quirky side of the galaxy. More often than not, the source of humor inducement came in the form of Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel)--sort of the equivalent of Oklahoma's Ali Hakim, a you-want-it-I've-got-it kind of peddler of cheap merchandise. On this trip, Mudd's wares consist of three stunning women with whom he barters as "brides" (read: girlfriend experience) for lonely guys who've tired of trying to hump wispy holographic images of females. If you want to do a Charlie's Angel, Mudd's your man.

Kirk and the Enterprise run across a derelict cargo ship piloted by Mudd, who hasn't had his ship at any Jiffy Lube for regular oil changes in years. As a result, it's turned into a floating lump up space junk that needs rescuing. Kirk beams aboard the Irish-tinted Mudd and his three lovely passengers just as the ship disintegrates. Eve (Karen Steele), Ruth (Maggie Thrett) and Magda (Susan Denberg) are truly sights for the crew's starved eyes. "Did you get the women off yet?" yells Kirk down to the transporter operators. Surely one of them would have answered, "Not yet, sir--but we're gonna damn well try..."

"Hello, sailors..."; Mudd displays his Irish/Australian couture; "What, this old dress...?"

There's plenty of closeup shots featuring boobs and butts to solidify the incalculable allure of the girls, to which Kirk remains businesslike and Spock is predictably unresponsive. Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), however, is easily the gamest horndog in the group. The girls slither around the ship to ensure the necessity for cold showers by the crew members.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise's Lithium crystals are kaput, so the ship is forced to take port on Nigel 12--a Lithium-rich planet inhabited by miners, paper mache rocks and a couple of passable Chinese restaurants. Eva, Ruth and Magda immediately take to the sex-starved miners by providing lap dances and upskirt peek-a-boos. Eve goes a little crazy and rushes out into a raging magnetic storm which causes crayon drawings to adhere to every refrigerator on the planet. Eve is eventually rescued by head miner Ben (Gene Dynarski) and gratefully repays him by cooking up a potfull of Dinty Moore beef stew.

In the end, it turns out the girls have been taking a special drug which transforms them from homely housemaids to Playboy centerfolds. It doesn't matter to Ben, so long as Eve can heat cans of stew and occasionally tart up like a local news station weathergirl.

 

[The 1960's]

Well I assumed that because I've seen quite a few accounts where the early uploads are stretched and the subsequent uploads are corrected.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

As an addendum to my Andra Martin mini-marathon (Part 1b, if you will), I watched her one-off appearance in this fourth of the late '50s/early '60s pantheon of WB detective dramas. (Apologies in advance for the less-than-stellar quality of the screencaps, but the video quality is what it is, alas.)

Surfside 6 - 1.12 "Girl in the Galleon"
I always get a kick out of the intro to this show, with what I imagine to be some sort of blonde Marilyn Monroe type breathily (if somewhat vapidly) cooing: "What's that?" (Surfside 6), "An address?" (Surfside 6), "Where is it?" (In Miami Beach!!) All of the WB detective shows have similarly catchy main themes (as did the studio's westerns), but this one might just take the cake for blissfully simplistic silliness. It's brief, but a real earworm, and has been echoing through my head for the past several days.

While doing a preliminary survey of a sunken Spanish galleon he has been engaged to salvage, veteran scuba diver "Deep" Taylor (Dean Fredericks) sees a beautiful redhead floating through the wreck's hull. Was she a corpse? A hallucination? When his pal Sandy (Troy Donahue) dives down to take a look, the mysterious girl in the galleon has disappeared. Is Deep just seeing things, or is something else afoot? When Deep and Sandy later discover several chests full of gold doubloons in the shipwreck's hull, Deep wants his fair share of the profits, and goes to confront Martin Haynes (Rhodes Reason), one of the shareholders in the salvage operation that's hired him. When Deep later turns up drowned after a night dive on the wreck, Sandy suspects foul play. Police Lt. Snedigar (Don "Red" Barry) writes Deep's death off as an accident, but Sandy's not convinced...for one thing, why would Deep, a highly experienced diver, forget to turn on his air supply?

Sandy wants to set things right for Deep's widow, Connie (Martin), so he convinces fellow Surfside 6 resident and lawyer, Ken Madison (Van Williams), to join in the investigation. I'm not sure if it was the shorter, syndicated runtime of this episode (slightly under 46 minutes, with seemingly no tiresome musical number by Margarita Sierra to account for any cuts; she's not even credited this episode), but the plot mechanics get a bit murky here. It's basically some gubbins about a handful of no-good crooks - Haynes, his wife Hazel (Jackie Loughery), who just happens to be the mystery "girl in the galleon," and Hazel's former showgirl partner that he's two-timing her with, Eve (Jean Willes) - melting down stolen gold into doubloons and salting the shipwreck site with them, to be discovered later and turned into the government for a hefty percentage...a pretty elaborate laundering scheme, if you ask me.

Pretty boy Donahue, with his stolid demeanor and monotone line delivery, has all the charm and personality of a cinder block. Luckily, things pick up once the much more assured and charismatic Williams (transplanted from the cancelled Bourbon Street Beat) takes over, and overall, this is an enjoyable romp, thanks to some solid underwater action and a strong guest cast, loaded with Grade A primo eye candy. Ms. Martin's role is pretty small here, and she disappears early on. But in recompense, we get sexy cougar Willes and hot number Loughery (once married to Jack Webb, and possessing a rather striking, Barbie-like bust-to-waist ratio)...plus Surfside 6 resident cutie, Diane McBain, as socialite Daphne Dutton, who puts her lovely neck in harm's way during the thrilling climactic underwater battle, donning scuba gear and wielding a spear gun to deadly effect in order to save Ken from a watery grave.

Old pro Whit Bissell (underused) rounds out the cast as a scientist who happens to be the lone honest member of the salvage operation. And while it's nice to see Fredericks outside of Steve Canyon, I can't help feeling a little bad for the guy, making do with small supporting roles like this after headlining his own show a mere year and a half earlier.

All in all, I had a heck of a good time with this episode, and upon reflection, would upgrade Surfside 6 to be about on par with Hawaiian Eye (still think Donahue's a bit of a stiff, though). I've posted this pic of Williams and McBain before, but it's such a great photo, of two such ridiculously good-looking people, that I can't help but share it again.

 

[SuperClark]

He obviously is a fan

 

[Desslar]

As an addendum to my Andra Martin mini-marathon (Part 1b, if you will), I watched her one-off appearance in this fourth of the late '50s/early '60s pantheon of WB detective dramas. (Apologies in advance for the less-than-stellar quality of the screencaps, but the video quality is what it is, alas.)

Surfside 6 - 1.12 "Girl in the Galleon"
I always get a kick out of the intro to this show, with what I imagine to be some sort of blonde Marilyn Monroe type breathily (if somewhat vapidly) cooing: "What's that?" (Surfside 6), "An address?" (Surfside 6), "Where is it?" (In Miami Beach!!) All of the WB detective shows have similarly catchy main themes (as did the studio's westerns), but this one might just take the cake for blissfully simplistic silliness. It's brief, but a real earworm, and has been echoing through my head for the past several days.

While doing a preliminary survey of a sunken Spanish galleon he has been engaged to salvage, veteran scuba diver "Deep" Taylor (Dean Fredericks) sees a beautiful redhead floating through the wreck's hull. Was she a corpse? A hallucination? When his pal Sandy (Troy Donahue) dives down to take a look, the mysterious girl in the galleon has disappeared. Is Deep just seeing things, or is something else afoot? When Deep and Sandy later discover several chests full of gold doubloons in the shipwreck's hull, Deep wants his fair share of the profits, and goes to confront Martin Haynes (Rhodes Reason), one of the shareholders in the salvage operation that's hired him. When Deep later turns up drowned after a night dive on the wreck, Sandy suspects foul play. Police Lt. Snedigar (Don "Red" Barry) writes Deep 's death off as an accident, but Sandy's not convinced...for one thing, why would Deep, a highly experienced diver, forget to turn on his air supply?

View attachment 139646 View attachment 139647
View attachment 139648
View attachment 139664

Sandy wants to set things right for Deep's widow, Connie (Martin), so he convinces fellow Surfside 6 resident and lawyer, Ken Madison (Van Williams), to join in the investigation. I'm not sure if it was the shorter, syndicated runtime of this episode (slightly under 46 minutes, with seemingly no tiresome musical number by Margarita Sierra to account for any padding; she's not even credited this episode), but the plot mechanics get a bit murky here. It's basically some gubbins about a handful of no-good crooks - Haynes, his wife Hazel (Jackie Loughery), who just happens to be the mystery "girl in the galleon," and Hazel's former showgirl partner that he's two-timing her with, Eve (Jean Willes) - melting down stolen gold into doubloons and salting the shipwreck site with them, to be discovered later and turned into the government for a hefty percentage...a pretty elaborate laundering scheme, if you ask me.

View attachment 139650 View attachment 139651

Pretty boy Donahue, with his stolid demeanor and monotone line delivery, has all the charm and personality of a cinder block. Luckily, things pick up once the much more assured and charismatic Williams (transplanted from the cancelled Bourbon Street Beat) takes over, and overall, this is an enjoyable romp, thanks to some solid underwater action and a strong guest cast, loaded with Grade A primo eye candy. Ms. Martin's role is pretty small here, and she disappears early on. But in recompense, we get sexy cougar Willes and hot number Loughery (once married to Jack Webb, and possessing a rather striking, Barbie-like bust-to-waist ratio)...plus Surfside 6 resident cutie, Diane McBain, as socialite Daphne Dutton, who puts her lovely neck in harm's way during the thrilling climactic underwater battle, donning scuba gear and wielding a spear gun to deadly effect in order to save Ken from a watery grave.

Old pro Whit Bissell (underused) rounds out the cast as a scientist who happens to be the lone honest member of the salvage operation. And while it's nice to see Fredericks outside of Steve Canyon, I can't help feeling a little bad for the guy, making do with small supporting roles like this after headlining his own show a mere year and a half earlier.

View attachment 139653 View attachment 139654 View attachment 139655 View attachment 139656

All in all, I had a heck of a good time with this episode, and upon reflection, would upgrade Surfside 6 to about on a par with Hawaiian Eye (still think Donahue's a bit of a stiff, though). I've posted this pic of Williams and McBain before, but it's such a great photo, of two such ridiculously good-looking people, that I can't help but share it again.

View attachment 139663

That last color photo is so vivid it looks like it was taken last week. Makes me think it's a shame that TV didn't go color until '65-'66.

 

[Rustifer]

Surfside 6 - 1.12 "Girl in the Galleon"
I always get a kick out of the intro to this show, with what I imagine to be some sort of blonde Marilyn Monroe type breathily (if somewhat vapidly) cooing: "What's that?" (Surfside 6), "An address?" (Surfside 6), "Where is it?" (In Miami Beach!!) All of the WB detective shows have similarly catchy main themes (as did the studio's westerns), but this one might just take the cake for blissfully simplistic silliness. It's brief, but a real earworm, and has been echoing through my head for the past several days.

I gotta tell you, Jeff, how much your fantasy of this series' theme song tracks with mine. When I was a lad of 13 years old, I watched SS6 when it first aired and at that age I would dreamily think those breathy lyrics were coming from my school's most popular, pretty girls purring to me as if I was their Van Williams. Even when I hear it now, it whips me back to that fantasy. It was so ingrained in my mind, that continuing to this day when someone innocently asks "Where is it?" referencing in no way any connection to this show, I immediately blurt out "In Miami Beach!"--to which no one grasps the SS6 context of my nonsensical response.
Yeah, the senile silliness of a 72 year old man. When I try to explain it to my younger wife, she looks at me like I just skated in from the third ring of Saturn.

To be honest, she looks at me that way after a lot of stuff I say.

All in all, I had a heck of a good time with this episode, and upon reflection, would upgrade Surfside 6 to be about on par with Hawaiian Eye (still think Donahue's a bit of a stiff, though).

I always thought Troy Donahue looked a bit dead in both those series. I've seen better acting from YouTube videos of cats playing pianos.

Your reference to his thespian abilities as a "cinder block" is even more accurate.

 

[Rustifer]

Series Commentary
Fantasy Island

I got a lot of questions about this place. Is it a protectorate of some country or privately owned? What's its population and how are people employed? Do they get pensions upon retirement? Do they have drivers licenses? Where exactly is this island? It looks Polynesian in origin but it may well be a man-made Disney resort in the mouth of the Hudson River. Who does Mr. Roarke's laundry? Sweat stains have to be an issue in that climate.

How does one get a ticket to Fantasy Island and do you have to email Roarke in advance so he has time to jury rig your fantasy? Are there drug stores, convenient marts or a Kroger available for people to stock up on stuff? Are parking lots necessary? Does the island have a sewer system or is it strictly septic tanks? Who do you call if your toilet backs up? Is Wi Fi available and is there a local news station? Police force? School board?

How did Mr. Roarke and Tattoo meet and what is their real relationship? Does Tattoo earn a salary or is he paid hourly? Is there an available hospital in case of medical emergencies? How are doctors accredited? Are we to believe Mr. Roarke has supernatural powers to make fantasies come true? If so, is a remote island the best place for him to apply his gift? Would more people pray to him than God since he seems to affect positive results more often than the Almighty?

Do the actors on the series have to pay the network to appear since most of their careers are past their sell-by dates? Does Roarke accept Visa cards for guests' payment and does he give points? What's his net worth and where is his money kept? Has he ever sued Survivor for basically ripping off his concept?

I dunno. Just silly stuff to think about.

 

[morasp]

Kung Fu Season 1 Episode 1 King of the Mountain
This was my first time watching this show since it aired in the 70's. Decided to save the pilot movie for later and started with the first regular season episode. Really enjoyed this show growing up but sometimes shows aren't as good as you remember. If anything it was better than I remembered with a brilliant balance between action/drama and an easy going feel that allowed me to settle in and enjoy the episode That easy gong feel was a stark contrast to the fast paced chaotic and often graphic action you see in shows today. The cast and writing was first rate. John Saxon played the bounty hunter, Brandon Cruz (Courtship of Eddies Father) played an orphan boy, Lara Parker played a widowed ranch owner and Ken Lynch and Mills Watson were two of the notable character actors. The Picture and sound were very good. The series only lasted three seasons with 62 episodes plus the pilot. If you were a fan of the show but don't own a copy, they are a good price right now and worth a look.

*********SPOILER ALERT*************

Caine adopts an orphan boy who lost his parents to Indians. On the way to his Aunt the boy loses respect for Caine when he won't stand up to some night time visitors to their camp. When the Aunt turns out to be mean Caine takes the boy with to work on a widows ranch. Over time the three bond to each other and the boy gradually gains respect for Caine and his way of life. In the conclusion Caine and the bounty hunter finally face each other. Growing up I was always fascinated by the fight scenes. The fight was good but I was more interested in the masterful soliloquy given by Caine to the bounty hunter dissecting his character. It ended with an interesting twist that caught me completely by surprise.

Quotes
Young Caine: Master, do we seek victory in contention?
Master Kan: Seek rather not to contend.

Confrontation with the Bounty Hunter

Watching an Otter during a picnic by the lake

Young Caine

First arrival at the widow's ranch

The Bounty Hunter after Caine