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The Fugitive: The One That Got Away (1967)
"The One That Got Away" was a fine ep of "The Fugitive" with guest stars Charles Bronson and Anne Francis
This is one of the more interesting eps of "The Fugitive" as star David Janssen is teamed with Charles Bronson who was becoming a movie star by this point and Anne Francis who had just done a one-season stint as secret agent Honey West. This time, Dr. Richard Kimble is a deckhand on a ship in which Bronson who is actually a federal agent poses as the skipper in order to follow Ms. Francis who's the wife of an embezzler she still carries a torch for! Oh, and all this takes place in Mexico. I'll just say this was another thrilling ep of this very exiting series that I've been catching up on MeTV recently. Very highly recommended.
Mannix: The Gang's All Here (1973)
"The Gang's All Here" was a nailbitingly suspenseful "Mannix"
I taped this ep of "Mannix" a little after the beginning so I didn't see Joe shoot the guy who got it. The first part I saw was a gang of teens in a dilapidated hangout deciding to get this guy who's about to take a plane to see his father on his birthday. Joe sends Peggy on an errand leaving him alone when those teens threaten him. I'll stop there and just say this was quite a nailbiter throughout as you wonder how Joe will survive this time. I liked both Mike Connors and Gail Fisher's performances in this one. Ditto most of the guest performances especially the one who played the wino. I highly recommend this one.
Cannon: The Conspirators (1975)
"The Conspirators" was a tension-filled ep of "Cannon"
This ep of "Cannon" begins-"Columbo"-style-with a murder actually being depicted and seeing "whodunnit"! A fine-looking young woman is at a forest at night by herself being watched by several drunk men, one of whom has a rifle in which he spies on her through the lens which he then shares with the other men with him. They confront her and...well, then someone calls Frank Cannon and he then goes to this small town, presumably in the Deep South, to investigate. Lots of thrilling stuff here and it's safe to say that most of this small town is racist considering who the suspect is. The only gust star I recognized was Tom Skerritt who was previously in the movie MASH and years later had a recurring role on "Cheers" as Evan Drake. He plays a sherriff. I highly recommend this ep of "Cannon".
The Invaders: The Organization (1968)
J. D. Cannon was the main reason I enjoyed "The Organization" ep of "The Invaders"
This is the very first ep of "The Invaders" I watched after taping it off of MeTV. What entertained me about this one was seeing J. D. Cannon, who I remember somewhat from the series "McCloud" since until recently, I'd never seen an entire ep, playing a drug kingpin who reluctantly makes a deal with the leading player of this series. His distinctive voice was sooooo familiar that it's hard to not be pleasantly distracted by it and he chews the scenery for all it's worth, that's for sure! Perhaps because it's much later during the second season of this series run, part of the narrative confused me but I enjoyed this ep, just the same.
McCloud: The Moscow Connection (1977)
"The Moscow Connection" was a pretty enjoyable ep of "McCloud"
Though as a kid of the early '70s, I remember stumbling upon "McCloud" during certain scenes, this is my first time watching an ep in its entirety. Here, Sam and superior Clifford work together in Russia as Sam's country music star friend is battling addiction and Clifford is trying to help a professor and his daughter-who's a decoy concerning that country music star-defect. I'll stop there and just say while part of me was confused during some of the narrative, I started enjoying it more as it got along thanks to stars Dennis Weaver and J. D. Cannon as well as guest stars Hoyt Axton, L. Q. Jones, and Britt Ekland. Quite an enjoyable ep of "McCloud".
McMillan & Wife: Death of a Monster... Birth of a Legend (1973)
I enjoyed my initial viewing of this "McMillan & Wife" entry "Death of a Monster...Birth of a Legend"
While as a kid of the early '70s, I knew of "McMillan & Wife" as one of the series part of the "NBC Sunday Mystery Movie" wheel, this was the first time I actually sat down and watched an ep after taping from Cozi TV. Mac and Sally along with maid Mildred are traveling to Mac's ancestral hometown in Scottland to visit his uncle. That uncle is already dead when they arrive. I'll stop there and just say this was quite funny and a little suspenseful and I love all the banter between Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James as well as John Schuck when his sergeant character also arrives. Nice guest star turns by familiar faces like Roddy McDowell and Roger C. Carmel. Oh, and Nancy Walker as Mildred was also a hoot! Good initial viewing of a "McMillan & Wife" ep.
Barnaby Jones: Memory of a Nightmare (1978)
"Memory of a Nightmare" was a fine showcase for Lee Meriwether in "Barnaby Jones:
With Buddy Ebsen reducing his screen time in the last two seasons of "Barnaby Jones", many of the stories showcased either J. R. or, in this case, Betty as here she drives a close friend home from a party and she's being run off by another car. She undergoes hypnosis to try to remember what happened but not to her satisfaction. I'll stop there and just say this was quite another thrilling ep of the show I started watching on MeTV recently. The guest stars mentioned by the announcer at the beginning I did not recognize but during the end credits, I noticed a Lisa Loring among the names. I'm guessing this is the same one who played Wednesday on "The Adams Family" and had passed several months ago. Anyway, I highly recommend "Memory of a Nightmare".
Gents Without Cents (1944)
Gents Withoug Cents was a pretty entertaining vaudeville-type Three Stooges short
When I first saw this Three Stooges short as a kid watching in the late '70s, it was during the "Niagra Falls" skit. I remember laughing quite a bit at that one. I saw a little more on AMC during the '90s but now I've seen the whole thing recorded from MeTV just now. It has the boys and their girlfriends from above doing their acts for a show they hope to get in. I'll just now say that the rest of the short was also pretty entertaining but the highlight was definitely that routine that was also performed by Abbott & Costello in their feature Lost in a Harem though the location changed for their version which they performed with Murray Leonard. Worth a look for fans of Moe, Larry, and Curly.
Peter Gunn: The Kill (1958)
"The Kill" was quite an exciting first ep of "Peter Gunn"
After seeing the final ep of this show, I rushed to the very first ep I recorded from MeTV. A gangster head gets killed, a new one takes it's place, the place the title character frequently attends is a target for a takeover, and there also some fake cops involved. Oh, and there's a beautiful singer the lead detective is crazy about and vice versa. Craig Stevens is that title character, Herschel Bernardi is Lt. Jacoby who often cooperates with him, and Lola Albright is the stunning Edie Hart especially when she's warbling. Of the guest stars in this initial ep, I recognized Jack Weston as one of the henchmen but after looking at the closing credits, I had to watch some of the ep again to then also recognize Gavin MacLeod as the new gangster. Be that as it may, this was a fine first ep written and directed by creator Blake Edwards and scored by his frequent composer Henry Mancini. Very exciting, that's for sure! Oh, and I especially loved the exchange between Stevens and Albright on that rooftop!
Peter Gunn: Murder on the Line (1961)
"Murder on the Line" was a fine final ep of "Peter Gunn"
When I got access to MeTV recently due to a cable company switch, I taped several of the cop/detective series I only heard or read about for years. So it was that I got to see several eps of this Blake Edwards-created/Henry Mancini-scored classic series. This final ep of the show penned by Edwards has the title character involved in a case to recover a woman's documents she's using to blackmail her rich and eccentric (he mainly prefers to talk by phone even if in the same room with somebody) paramour. I'll stop there and say this was quite an exciting ep for the final entry in the series. Now I'll review the very first one...
The Fugitive: The Evil Men Do (1966)
Lt. Philip Gerald was the main reason I highly enjoyed "The Evil Men Do" ep of "The Fugitive"
Having recently discovered these eps of "The Fugitive" were on MeTV, I knew I had to tape and watch them. I especially was anxious to watch the ones in which Barry Morse as Lt. Philip Gerald appeared as he does in this one. He and Dr. Richard Kimble are in Pennsylvania where Kimble is working on a horse farm. He manages to save the life of the farm's owner when one of those horses almost kills him so the owner now feels he owes Richard but the doc only wants whatever payment he's earned. But then Gerald comes by and blows Richard's cover...This was thrilling from beginning to end and Gerald's explanation for doing what he did at the end made it all worth it as well as the exchanges between him and Richard when they were stuck together briefly. Well worth seeing!
The Time Tunnel: The Last Patrol (1966)
Carroll O'Connor in a double role is the pleasure of viewing "The Last Patrol" ep of "The Time Tunnel"
This was the very first ep of "The Time Tunnel" that I taped and watched from MeTV. So Doug and Tony end up in The Battle of New Orleans with Carroll O'Connor-years before becoming famous as Archie Bunker on "All in the Family"-as a British colonel about to try to get info from them. In present time, O'Connor also plays a British general who's descended from that colonel and who then goes back in time to meet him so we then get the pleasure of seeing them together via split-screen. I very much enjoyed this, my very first viewing of this Irwin Allen show. Looking forward to many more of these eps.
Cannon: The Exchange (1974)
"The Exchange" was a fine ep of "Cannon"
Robert Loggia is a guy who, after being released from prison, wants vengeance against the two cops who killed his brother. So he kidnaps the young cadet under the wing of the surviving partner as ransom... This was quite a suspenseful ep especially when Frank Cannon gets involved as he ends up in the desert with a wired fence surrounding Logia and his hostage. The surviving cop also has an adult daughter who's highly worried about her father. I should also note that a future star of "Miami Vice"-Edward James Olmos-appears as one of Cannon's informants in one scene. This is one of the '70s detective shows I recently rediscovered on MeTV and I'm having a hoot watching them all so far!
Mission: Impossible: The Phoenix (1968)
"The Phoenix" was one of several "Mission: Impossible" eps I got to enjoy recently having discovered them after reading about them for years!
Interesting fact connecting both this ep of "Mission: Impossible" and the "Negative Reaction" ep of "Columbo" I watched recently: Alf Kjellin appeared in this and was the director of that "Columbo ep. Kjellin appears as a museum associate who was once an important security chief for a Communist country. The IMF team is trying to keep him from using one of the museum's exhibits as some kind of potential weapons hideout to display to an important chairman. So they stage an attempted assassination against him... It's only recently that I got to watch several eps of this classic series thorugh first Pluto TV at a friend's house and then when we switched cable companies allowing us access to MeTV. I've enjoyed several of these first and second season eps, this one among them. I'll review a few more here...
Columbo: Negative Reaction (1974)
"Negative Reaction" is a fine Dick Van Dyke showcase for "Columbo"
When I discovered this was one of the "Columbo" eps I taped off the Cozi channel recently, I decided to watch it right away especially since I enjoyed Dick Van Dyke's 98 birthday special several weeks ago. Mr. Van Dyke plays an award-winning photographer who does his irritating wife in and attempts to frame an ex-con working for him. Of course, it's up to Lt. Columbo to cut through all the lies Dick's character tells him to catch him. This was such a hoot to watch especially when Vito Scotti (who was a previous guest star on "The Dick Van Dyke Show") shows up as a wino, Joyce Van Patten does as well as a nun mistaking the Lieutenant for a homeless person, and Larry Storch (yes, Corporal Agarn from "F Troop") in slicked hair and glasses shows up as a driving instructor who's not comfy with Columbo's driving among other things! A definite must-see for Van Dyke fans.
Mannix: Little Girl Lost (1973)
"Little Girl Lost" was an enjoyable ep of "Mannix" with several familiar guest stars
My main interest in watching this ep of "Mannix" was in what I thought was a reunion of mother and daughter Beverly Garland and Dawn Lyn from "My Three Sons" for this one. Turns out, Ms. Lyn is not Ms. Garland's offspring here and in fact, has no scenes together! Dawn plays a young pre-teen girl who witnesses her father get killed at a zoo and because she had wished him dead just minutes earlier, thinks she caused it. Beverly plays a sexy woman who has some tapes that are incriminating. I'll stop there and just say this was quite an exciting ep of this show. Besides Lyn and Garland, other recognizable guest stars include Pernell Roberts who I knew from "Trapper John, M. D." a few years later and Robert Reed who was still on "The Brady Bunch" during this time. Since he didn't have his mustasche during this time, I didn't recognize Sam Elliott when he was on but his voice was familiar to me while watching. I just found out this was continued as an ep of "Diagnosis Murder" a couple of decades later. If I ever view that one, I'll review that here...
Barnaby Jones: Blind Jeopardy (1978)
"Blind Jeopardy" was a good enough season premiere of "Barnaby Jones"
This was the first ep of "Barnaby Jones" not produced by Quinn Martin. In fact, Mr. Martin had retired from producing TV altogether by this time. In this one, Jones is in the woods looking for a woman to ID her former boyfriend as a murderer. She's played by Gretchen Corbett who was often in "The Rockford Files" at this time as Jim Rockford's girlfriend. This was quite a suspenseful initial ep for the show's seventh season especially when Barnaby's condition changes in the middle of it. By this point, star Buddy Ebsen wanted to cut time in his playing his role so subsequent eps showcased either his co-stars Lee Meriwether or Mark Shera.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker: Bad Medicine (1974)
"Bad Medicine" was an enjoyable first viewing of a "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" ep for me
After years of only reading about this cult series, I finally got to watch an ep when my mom got access to MeTV after switching cable companies. This one has the title character searching for who's behind stealing jewelry from rich old ladies as he turns into various animals. Richard Kiel, who would later become known as Jaws in the James Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, plays this Indian/Native American (though he's nothing of the sort in real life) villain. Lots of good action and some amusing comedy abound including a scene of Kolchak at a barbershop with a barber who once was a thief (Marvin Kaplan who would later be one of the patrons of Mel's Diner on "Alice). I really enjoyed this one. Also appearing in this ep was one Alice Ghostley who I recognized from various popular sitcoms over the years. Her role as a museum guide here isn't funny but her voice and delivery are charismatic enough that she commands your full attention, that's for sure! I can't wait to see more eps I have recorded so stay tuned...
Dragnet 1967: The LSD Story (1967)
"The LSD Story" was an effective initial ep of "Dragnet 1967"
Nearly eight years after the original TV version of "Dragnet" ended, that series was brought back in color and with the first ep that was broadcast (actual first filmed ep of the revival was a made-for-TV movie that aired a couple of years later) concerning the effects of a popular and then-legal drug called LSD. It seems Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) and his new partner Officer Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan) find a teen boy with his head in the ground and his face painted blue and yellow who initially only ID's himself as "Blue Boy". He also goes on various tangents that only make sense to him. While they can't put him behind bars, they can hold him in court even when his parents offer to take him home. Eventually, he does get off only to cause more trouble. I'll stop there and just say this was quite exciting as not all lines are delivered in that clipped-tone which was the norm for the series but there are some shouting during the climatic scenes. Quite an effective first ep of this revived series. Oh, and one of the teen girls in this ep was played by Heather Menzies who was one of the Von Trapp kids in The Sound of Music a couple of years back. She'd eventually marry future TV star Robert Urich.
Dragnet 1967: D.H.Q.: The Victims (1970)
"D.H.Q.: The Victims" marked the final ep of "Dragnet 1970" and therefore, Jack Webb's final time as Sgt. Joe Priday
When my mom switched cable companies a few weeks ago, we suddenly got access to MeTV as one of the channels. So I've been recording many of the classic reruns that have been showing on it. With that in mind, I'm reviewing many of the classic cop/detective shows that air on that channel. This one is on what turned out to be the final episode of "Dragnet" produced, directed, and starring that show's creator Jack Webb. As Sgt. Joe Friday he and partner Officer Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan) are investigating a series of crimes from a surprise murder at a low rent motel to a grocery store robbery. In between, there's also a just-sobered man who got robbed of 76 cents just as he was going to get dinner. That got an amusing exchange between Friday and Gannon about Gannon suddenly not wanting to eat! As with many eps of this show, this was touching in places and exciting with the delivery of lines done in the usual clipped-tone one gets from this show. Webb would mostly drop acting after this to devote more time to producing his other shows like the hits "Adam-12" and "Emergency!" though before he died in 1982, he was planning to once again bring this show back and playing Friday again with possibly Kent McCord from "12" as his new partner. With his passing the real-life Los Angeles police dept. Retired his badge number 714. There were a couple of revivals with other actors but no one could match Jack Webb, that's for sure! Oh, and Harry Morgan subsequently reprised his role as Gannon in the 1987 spoof theatrical feature film called Dragnet starring Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd as Friday's same-named nephew. In that one, Gannon was now their superior as a captain.
American Experience: The War on Disco (2023)
"American Experience: The War on Disco" was an interesting look at the backlash against Disco's popularity in the late '70se
I finally got to watch this "American Experience" ep just now. In about an hour, it explored both how Disco music came to be and how the backlash against it led to an infamous event in a Chicago ballpark eventually known as "Disco Demolition Night". Among the people interviewed was the Indian (or in more modern terms "Native American") from The Village People. While I found the whole thing fascinating, I wish it had delved further into how Disco became more popular in the mainstream permeating more of the cultural scene as well as what other anti-Disco events led to that night in Comiskey Park. Events that I read on Wikipedia after watching this...
Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic (2023)
"Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic" was a fine tribute to a great entertainer
I finally got to see this great tribute to Dick Van Dyke who was about to celebrate his 98th birthday when his wife surprised him with this special with various celebrities who grew up with him giving him glowing tributes and performing many of his famous musical numbers from Mary Poppins, Bye Bye Birdie, and, of course, "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Some of the most moving tributes came from Rob Reiner, whose father Carl Reiner gave Dick his TV break, Carol Burnett who gave an anecdote about her and Dick playing old folks improvising on his variety show, and Julie Andrews who told of how charming he was in her first movie Mary Poppins. Those last two weren't there on stage, only video taped elsewhere. In other words, "Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic" was a Jolly Holliday!
Historical Reel: Broken Treaties (1941)
Broken Treaties was the second, and final, animated short in This Changing World series
This was the second, and last, in Paul Fennell's series of animated shorts in This Changing World banner. This one shows Adolf Hitler (voiced here by Mel Blanc) making deals with people like Russia's Josef Stalin who is seen with a bear which represents his country. The narrator tells of all the deals Hitler made that he later broke promises on. Adolf was depicted in the previous short in the series called How War Came but he's more showcased here. The countries he takes over is depicted with that Nazi symbol appearing on them. All this happened before the U. S. eventually entered World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Fascinating time capsule piece.
Tiny Toon Adventures: Who Bopped Bugs Bunny? (1990)
"Tiny Toon Adventures: Who Bopped Bugs Bunny?" completes my reviews of BB's Oscar journey
Having previously seen the Oscar-nominated cartoons for 1941 and 1958, of which both years had Bugs Bunny cartoons in the list as well as What's Cookin' Doc? Which had Bugs campaigning for that award using a clip from Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt which lost the award to the Disney short Lend a Paw in '41, I decided to then watch this ep of "Tiny Toon Adventures" which has the students of Acme Looniversity, mainly Babs and Buster Bunny (no relation) trying to find Bugs after he disappears before an appearance on stage in which he was to get an honorary award. Daffy Duck is the main suspect since he's known for his jealous nature concerning the wabbit but another one is Sappy Stanley an elephant whose short lost to Bugs' Knighty Knight Bugs. Sappy Stanley is meant to be Silly Sidney the Elephant from Terrytoons whose Sidney's Family Tree was the actual short that lost to KKB. I'll just now say this was quite funny especially when familiar gags from WCD? Appeared. Mel Blanc had passed by this time so Jeff Bergman took over as Bugs and Daffy. I certainly couldn't tell the difference. So that's a recommendation.
Knighty Knight Bugs (1958)
Knighty Knight Bugs is the third Oscar-nominated cartoon of 1958 and eventual winner
This is my third review of an Oscar-nominated cartoon for 1958 having previously done the same for Art Bartsch's Sidney's Family Tree and Les Clark's Paul Bunyan. When I was a pre-teen kid of the mid-'70s, one of the Saturday morning shows I enjoyed watching was "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour". And during the show's intro, the announcer would always say, "Starring that Oscar-winning rabbit Bugs Bunny". This was actually the first cartoon I saw on that program but it wasn't until years later that I found out this was what finally got Bugs his Academy Award after losing on his previous noms of A Wild Hare (which was Bugs' debut and directed by Tex Avery) and Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt (which, like this short, was helmed by Friz Freleng). Anyway, Bugs is a court jester in King Arthur's court who reluctantly gets assigned to retrieve The Singing Sword from The Black Knight after Arthur's knights all literally chicken out. Yosemite Sam is The Black Knight and he has a dragon who keeps accidentally sneezing fire to Sam's consternation! I'll just now say this was very funny stuff and compared to the other nominees that year was the most entertaining. So Knighty Knight Bugs is most highly recommended. P. S. The man who accepted the award at the Oscars was John W. Burton who had succeeded Edward Selzer as producer at the WB cartoon studio. Selzer had accepted the other Oscars in previous years but this turned out to be the only time Burton did as no more WB cartoons won after this year and John would leave the studio a few years later to be an executive at Pacific Art and Title which was founded by Leon Schlesinger who was the founder of the WB cartoon studio when it was originally named after him.