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

[SuperClark]

I watched some of season 2 of this fun series. I bought it a couple years ago from here.Nice crisp video and the episodes are all uncut. 'I know something something!' )

Amazon product

 

[Purple Wig]

Saw this today. I don’t think I remember the show.

 

[The 1960's]

Saw this today. I don’t think I remember the show.
View attachment 139796

Barney Miller?

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Looks like most of the series is on YouTube.

 

[Purple Wig]

The cover doesn’t mention Barney Miller, I think there was a show called FYI?

 

[The 1960's]

The cover doesn’t mention Barney Miller, I think there was a show called FYI?

 

[Desslar]

The cover doesn’t mention Barney Miller, I think there was a show called FYI?

Looks like it was a brief educational/news segment inserted between programs:

 

[Rustifer]

Thanks for that, Russ, much appreciated - especially coming from the WB detective show guru himself! I certainly do hope we see some more commentaries from you on some of these shows, either here or in the 77 Sunset Strip thread.

You inspired me to do exactly that. Just posted one on the 77 SS thread.

 

[The 1960's]

Looks like it was a brief educational/news segment inserted between programs:

Good catch Stephen!

 

[ScottRE]

Watched VTTBOTS S01E06 The Sky is Falling on MeTV, and saw Adam Williams playing the role of "Chief". What gives? Was Henry Kulky unavailable the week of filming?

No idea and none of the reference books shed any light on it.

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
I Dream of Jeannie
"Haven't I Seen Me Somewhere Before?" (S3E26)

As far as I'm concerned, this series hit the dumper once Roger Healy was "in" on Jeannie's magical prowess. Most of the humor that relied on clandestine and unexplainable behavior between Tony Nelson and Jeannie went out the door--or out of the bottle, so to speak. Besides, by all accounts Roger was a total dork who didn't deserve to be included in Jeannie's mystical aura.

It's Roger's (Bill Daily) birthday, and he gets the one present he's always wanted from Jeannie--which I guarantee is no where near what the rest of us lechers would want from Barbara Eden in her bodacious prime. Jeannie grants him just one wish, which he flubs when accidently confessing to Tony (Larry Hagman) his desire to be Tony for an upcoming space launch. POOF! Roger becomes Tony and vice versa. Only their voices remain intact, affording the art of cinematic lip syncing a true workout in this episode. Neither the two do any favors to one another by continuing to act as themselves although in separate bodies--thus reaffirming the continuously unhinged Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke) to maintain his overdependence on Xanax when confronting each. Adding to confusion, Tony and Roger never try to get their personal habits fittingly adjusted. For example, "Which hand do you use to wipe your butt?" asks Tony to Roger.
"My right hand", Roger helpfully replies.
"Tsk, tsk--the rest of us use toilet paper", guffaws Tony.*

"You want me to sit on WHAT??"; Roger realizes Tony goes commando; Jeannie searches Tony's pocket for a surprise

This might have been a funnier episode had Roger and Tony each assumed one other's personalities as well as physical features, i.e. Tony/Roger forcing Roger's lecherous tendencies on Jeannie and Roger/Tony assuming Tony's more solid aspects as a responsible astronaut.

But what's really wasted is a birthday wish that doesn't include Jeannie naked and covered in Wesson oil.

*This exchange was never actually in the script. I've just been trying to find a likely spot to stick the joke.

 

[morasp]

June DVD schedule

1 The Patty Duke Show, The Rockford Files
2 As Time Goes By, The Wild Wild West
3 The Odd Couple, Andromeda
4 Dr. Who Classic, Wagon Train
5 Hopalong Cassidy, Joan of Arcadia
6 WKRP in Cincinatti, Hawaii Five-O (classic)
7 Step by Step, Ironside (season 5)
8 Family Affair, Leverage
9 Newhart, Macgyver (classic)
10 Here's Lucy, Stargate SG1
11 Adventures of Robin Hood, Rawhide
12 The buccaneers, JAG
13 GIdget, The FBI
14 Benson, NCIS New Orleans
15 The Flying Nun, Sherlock Holmes (Brett) I'm going to start rotating one hour+ non-spy British shows every third Wednesday of the month *
16 Doogie Howser M.D., The Six Million Dollar Man
17 Father Knows Best, Star Trek Deep Space Nine
18 Public Defender, The High Chaparral
19 Dragnet, Road to Avonlea
20 The Bob Newhart Show, Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
21 The Big Bang Theory, NCIS
22 Laverne and Shirley, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century I'm going to start rotating one hour shows that I only have one season of every fourth Wednesday of the month **
23 Seinfeld, Danger Man
24 The Munsters, Star Trek Voyager
25 Honey West, Bonanza
26 Promised Land, Adam-12
27 Alice, Psych
28 The Middle, Perry Mason
29 SCTV, Warehouse 13
30 Webster, Wonder Woman

*Foyle's War, Rosemary and Thyme, Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Who (2005), Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, Minder, The Sweeney, New Tricks, Doc Martin

** Buffy the Vampire Slayer, One Tree Hill, Limitless, Vegas (2012), Human Target, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Flash classic, The Fugitive, Mannix, Hawkeye, Stingray, Starsky and Hutch, The Mod Squad, Rip Tide, Signed Sealed Delivered, Smash, Untouchables, Longstreet, The Magician, Supergirl, Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Blue Bloods, Parenthood, The Big Valley, Black Sheep Squadron, St. Elsewhere, Crossing Jordan, The X-Files

 

[ScottRE]

Episode Commentary
I Dream of Jeannie
"Haven't I Seen Me Somewhere Before?" (S3E26)

As far as I'm concerned, this series hit the dumper once Roger Healy was "in" on Jeannie's magical prowess. Most of the humor that relied on clandestine and unexplainable behavior between Tony Nelson and Jeannie went out the door--or out of the bottle, so to speak. Besides, by all accounts Roger was a total dork who didn't deserve to be included in Jeannie's mystical aura.

I feel the opposite. With Roger in on it, the comedy leads jumped from two to three and the Hagman/Daily teaming was gold. Having Roger tossed in there to stonewall Dr. Bellows while Tony tries to work his way out of his Jeannie-inspired predicament would often result in some genuine belly laughs. Once Roger was clued in, both got promotions and the show went to color, it took off.

 

[Purple Wig]

Markham - Strange Visitor. S1E27. Markham (Ray Milland) comes home and discovers a beautiful girl (Louise Fletcher, a decade and a half prior to her role as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, or as I believe Mad Magazine immortalized it, One Cuckoo Flew Over The Rest) passed out in his bed. Markham has an excuse for his grumpiness when he is forced into a plot to extract a ransom from the girl’s wealthy father. Without giving too much away, there is a shocking scene where someone unexpectedly gets blown away.

Barnaby Jones - Trap Play. Leslie H. Martinson (Hot Rod Girl, Hot Rod Rumble, Big Shamus Little Shamus) directs this tale starring Nick Nolte as a football pro who goes on a killing spree after Leigh Christian (The Doll Squad, The Love Machine) rebuffs his advances.

 

[Desslar]

Markham - Strange Visitor. S1E27. Markham (Ray Milland) comes home and discovers a beautiful girl (Louise Fletcher, a decade and a half prior to her role as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, or as I believe Mad Magazine immortalized it, One Cuckoo Flew Over The Rest) passed out in his bed. Markham has an excuse for his grumpiness when he is forced into a plot to extract a ransom from the girl’s wealthy father. Without giving too much away, there is a shocking scene where someone unexpectedly gets blown away.

Barnaby Jones - Trap Play. Leslie H. Martinson (Hot Rod Girl, Hot Rod Rumble, Big Shamus Little Shamus) directs this tale starring Nick Nolte as a football pro who goes on a killing spree after Leigh Christian (The Doll Squad, The Love Machine) rebuffs his advances.

Wow, Nick Nolte as a guest star villain? You just sold me on the Barnaby Jones set.

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
The Twilight Zone
"The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" (S1E22)

When I was a young 'un, my parents bought me a telescope with which to skim the heavens. I must have professed some sort of interest in the stars for them to veer away from my preferred wish list of a new bike, pellet gun, electric guitar, etc. On any clear summer night, I would set up the telescope on the driveway to observe the moon and constellations, but mostly airplanes passing overhead or Jenny Winslow's bedroom window. A few times I zeroed in on Mars with the hope, and dread, of catching demonstrable proof of Martians heading toward Earth with the intent of a bloody siege. Every kid my age was a fervent believer in aliens, attributed to the influx of such movies as The Day The Earth Stood Still, Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers and the granddaddy of all, War of the Worlds. I rested more easily when my dad explained to me that Indianapolis was too inconsequential of a target for aliens to be interested.

In what appears to be Beaver Cleaver's neighborhood, a strange occurrence takes place--flashing lights, odd sounds and a power outage. Most likely caused by massively energy-inefficient air conditioners bristling from every window of every house finally blowing up, young Tommy (Jan Handzlik) comes to a different conclusion--ALIEN INVASION! The blowhard dads on Maple Street--Steve (Claude Aikins), Les (Barry Atwater) and Charlie (Jack Weston) are quick to promulgate Tommy's theory and the fibers of human logic begin to unravel. At least Steve, at first, opines some rational thought as to the origin of the power outage--perhaps a meteor, or electrical storm, or the sewer backing up. Charlie, on the other hand, is eager to grab onto any conspiracy theory, especially after Les' car starts when no one else's will. Could he be part of an advance alien force? Or worse, a Republican? By nighttime and an extra long cocktail hour, fingers begin to point at anyone and anything suspicious. Even logical Steve becomes a suspect for having a ham radio in his basement--most likely to contact his alien friends, not to mention participate in insider market trading.

I'm not the only one interested in Jenny Winslow's window; Maybe aliens hate water...; Charlie is accused of massive fashion failure.

Before long, the handguns come out and Charlie accidently blows away a neighbor. Accusers become the accused and Maple Street erupts into a melee worse than a congressional hearing. Meanwhile, the real aliens sit back and let the earthlings do their work for them. It's a well known fact in the universe that Earth's population has always been dumber than calcified sheep dung.

 

[Desslar]

Episode Commentary
The Twilight Zone
"The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" (S1E22)

When I was a young 'un, my parents bought me a telescope with which to skim the heavens. I must have professed some sort of interest in the stars for them to veer away from my preferred wish list of a new bike, pellet gun, electric guitar, etc. On any clear summer night, I would set up the telescope on the driveway to observe the moon and constellations, but mostly airplanes passing overhead or Jenny Winslow's bedroom window. A few times I zeroed in on Mars with the hope, and dread, of catching demonstrable proof of Martians heading toward Earth with the intent of a bloody siege. Every kid my age was a fervent believer in aliens, attributed to the influx of such movies as The Day The Earth Stood Still, Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers and the granddaddy of all, War of the Worlds. I rested more easily when my dad explained to me that Indianapolis was too inconsequential of a target for aliens to be interested.

In what appears to be Beaver Cleaver's neighborhood, a strange occurrence takes place--flashing lights, odd sounds and a power outage. Most likely caused by massively energy-inefficient air conditioners bristling from every window of every house finally blowing up, young Tommy (Jan Handzlik) comes to a different conclusion--ALIEN INVASION! The blowhard dads on Maple Street--Steve (Claude Aikins), Les (Barry Atwater) and Charlie (Jack Weston) are quick to promulgate Tommy's theory and the fibers of human logic begin to unravel. At least Steve, at first, opines some rational thought as to the origin of the power outage--perhaps a meteor, or electrical storm, or the sewer backing up. Charlie, on the other hand, is eager to grab onto any conspiracy theory, especially after Les' car starts when no one else's will. Could he be part of an advance alien force? Or worse, a Republican? By nighttime and an extra long cocktail hour, fingers begin to point at anyone and anything suspicious. Even logical Steve becomes a suspect for having a ham radio in his basement--most likely to contact his alien friends, not to mention participate in insider market trading.

View attachment 140462 View attachment 140463 View attachment 140464
I'm not the only one interested in Jenny Winslow's window; Maybe aliens hate water...; Charlie is accused of massive fashion failure.

Before long, the handguns come out and Charlie accidently blows away a neighbor. Accusers become the accused and Maple Street erupts into a melee worse than a congressional hearing. Meanwhile, the real aliens sit back and let the earthlings do their work for them. It's a well known fact in the universe that Earth's population has always been dumber than calcified sheep dung.

Fantastic. You really ought to put a book of these reviews together.

It is a bit surprising how quickly everyone in the neighborhood buys into alien conspiracy theories, but I guess they realized they were in a Twilight Zone episode, and therefore it was unlikely there was a conventional explanation to the power outage - such as Barney Fife reversing his cruiser into a transformer.

Every kid my age was a fervent believer in aliens, attributed to the influx of such movies as The Day The Earth Stood Still, Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers and the granddaddy of all, War of the Worlds. I rested more easily when my dad explained to me that Indianapolis was too inconsequential of a target for aliens to be interested.

This reminds me a bit of 9/11, minus the alien part. I was living near Indianapolis at the time, and that afternoon I recall seeing lots of frenzied people racing out to mob the gas stations and supermarkets, as if WWIII had just been declared. I felt fairly confident that Indianapolis was not high on the target list of any evildoers, and drove past in bemusement.

 

[morasp]

Bonanza Season 3 Episode 21 Gift of Water

It was hard to choose a favorite episode from last week with numerous strong episodes including Star Trek the Next Generation Evolution, The Rifleman New Orleans Menace, Perry Mason The Case of the Daring Decoy, and Combat The Chateau.

Drama is a slippery slope that can get dark in a hurry as we see all too often with many modern programs. One of the many reasons Bonanza is one of my ten favorite shows is the way it navigates that slope without getting too dark but still conveying serious drama. Gift of Water has all the elements of a systems engineering task. The desired outcome is to find water during a draught. The project team which starts with the rancher played by Royal Dano and Hoss eventually expands to include all four of the Cartwrights each one contributing something significant to the solution. It even has an impossible schedule, the ranchers cattle are dying and they needed to find water yesterday and on top of that bloodshed is certain as a group of them is headed to the highlands, where there is water, to take on a vigilante group intent on keeping them out.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and as usually happens with a good episode it went by very quickly. It was fun watching them learn from mistakes and finally coming up with a working solution. Much like the Route 66 episode Cries of Persons Close to One it sent a strong message that we all get by in this world with a little Help from each other. Fans of Star Trek will recognize Majel Barrett as the rancher's wife and James Doohan as the leader of the ranchers headed to the highlands.

 

[Montytc]

June DVD schedule

1 The Patty Duke Show, The Rockford Files
2 As Time Goes By, The Wild Wild West
3 The Odd Couple, Andromeda
4 Dr. Who Classic, Wagon Train
5 Hopalong Cassidy, Joan of Arcadia
6 WKRP in Cincinatti, Hawaii Five-O (classic)
7 Step by Step, Ironside (season 5)
8 Family Affair, Leverage
9 Newhart, Macgyver (classic)
10 Here's Lucy, Stargate SG1
11 Adventures of Robin Hood, Rawhide
12 The buccaneers, JAG
13 GIdget, The FBI
14 Benson, NCIS New Orleans
15 The Flying Nun, Sherlock Holmes (Brett) I'm going to start rotating one hour+ non-spy British shows every third Wednesday of the month *
16 Doogie Howser M.D., The Six Million Dollar Man
17 Father Knows Best, Star Trek Deep Space Nine
18 Public Defender, The High Chaparral
19 Dragnet, Road to Avonlea
20 The Bob Newhart Show, Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
21 The Big Bang Theory, NCIS
22 Laverne and Shirley, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century I'm going to start rotating one hour shows that I only have one season of every fourth Wednesday of the month **
23 Seinfeld, Danger Man
24 The Munsters, Star Trek Voyager
25 Honey West, Bonanza
26 Promised Land, Adam-12
27 Alice, Psych
28 The Middle, Perry Mason
29 SCTV, Warehouse 13
30 Webster, Wonder Woman

*Foyle's War, Rosemary and Thyme, Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Who (2005), Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, Minder, The Sweeney, New Tricks, Doc Martin

** Buffy the Vampire Slayer, One Tree Hill, Limitless, Vegas (2012), Human Target, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Flash classic, The Fugitive, Mannix, Hawkeye, Stingray, Starsky and Hutch, The Mod Squad, Rip Tide, Signed Sealed Delivered, Smash, Untouchables, Longstreet, The Magician, Supergirl, Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Blue Bloods, Parenthood, The Big Valley, Black Sheep Squadron, St. Elsewhere, Crossing Jordan, The X-Files

That is a great mix of old and new shows. My favorite way to watch TV.

 

[Desslar]

That is a great mix of old and new shows. My favorite way to watch TV.

Same here. That way I feel I can build up nostalgia for eras I never experienced firsthand.

 

[ScottRE]

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

“Deadly Waters”

Season 3
Episode 7

The Seaview goes to rescue a Naval diving specialist trapped under a drone sub. Just as Captain Crane (David Hedison) brings the man aboard, the drone’s torpedoes fire due to a malfunction and sends the Seaview crashing to the bottom (not for the first time), causing tremendous damage. Stan Kowalski (Don Gordon), the brother of sailor (no first name) Kowalski (Del Monroe), suffers a form of PTSD and loses his nerve, becoming basically useless. Jeopardy piles onto jeopardy as the Seaview runs out of air while the radiation from the nearby drone threatens the crew. Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) trues to use the Flying Sub to get to the surface, but fails. Finally, he enlists the shaken Stan to help get a man to the surface before the crew all die or suffocation and radiation poisoning.


Not a monster in sight. The much maligned third season had a number of truly great episodes and this is one of them. It moves at a tremendous pace and the whole cast has something to do. Don Gordon is great in unlikeable role (no stretch for him) and the focus on supporting cast member Monroe is welcome and he delivers the goods. Everyone is great, from (as usual) Basehart on down. This is a hell of a fun and straightforward undersea action drama, I’d put it up there with the best of 1966 action adventure.