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Reviews
Adam-12: Hot Shot (1973)
Have things changed that much in fifty years?
Not sure what police procedure was in the 1970's for what happens when you kill a suspect, but I doubt you just returned to your shift without anyone questioning you about the event.
Even from the legal standpoint - was the shooting justified? Did Reed have to shoot without giving the suspect time to surrender?
There would still be the emotional aftereffects. I never saw Reed as a robot, able to kill another human without having any thoughts or need to talk to someone about it. Just, "oh well, that happened, what's for lunch"?
Then in the incident of the disturbed husband who barricades himself with his young daughter, Reed seems almost fearless - robotic? - in his approach to the house. He has a gun pointed at him as he rescues the daughter and only responds matter of fact that the husband should not shoot for the daughter's sake. Then afterwards, no real emotional reactions.
Perhaps because they were trying to portray police officers as superhuman in the Jack Webb shows, or that we have had fifty years of police procedurals since where the police have been shown to be just as human as the rest of us.
Btw, the "goof" of Mac asking the neighbor for the phone number first instead of the wife, I think this shows that Mac was more aware of the situation - the wife was comforting her just-rescued daughter - Mac's first choice to ask the neighbor was the correct one. So, not a "goof"
Emergency!: Alley Cat (1973)
Look at all of that smog.
Caught parts of this, the rescue of the plane crash victims, the choking child, and the boater.
If you had lived in Los Angeles at the time, you might remember the brown color to the air, from all of the smog. Since the advent of the catalytic converter, and other smog control devices, this has largely disappeared.
This series always had a number of setup situations, and how the recuses are performed. Sometimes bits of the aftermath, like the wife and daughter of the plane pilot are shown.
One item of note, this episode was first aired Oct 6, 1973. The schoolchild was choking on a small round item. It looked like no-one knew what to do but wait for the rescue squad. But the Heimlich maneuver was not invented until 1974, so then this becomes understandable.
Speaking of the school, a blink-and-you-missed-it appearance by Virginia Vincent, who had previously appeared in six episodes of Dragnet, one of Emergency!, and would appear in two episodes of Adam-12 in 1974. These among many other TV and movie roles.
Btw, a mother cat can definitely move several newborn kittens in an hour or so. I know this from having fed feral cats. Newborn kittens have their eyes closed and are just learning to move.
77 Sunset Strip: One False Step (1958)
Hawaiian Eye should have hired Connie Stevens as a formal associate
I know it was a little before the time, Honey West (1965) was still more than five years in the future, but Connie Stevens seems to have the makings of a decent PI associate. I wonder if this episode contributing to her getting the part of Cricket Blake on Hawaiian Eye (1959), premiering Oct 7, 1959. The closest she got on her own was the theatrical film Scorchy (1976)
I have never seen the movie Strangers on a Train (1951), it is not in either of the Alfred Hitchcock film collections I have. But it is available for streaming, so after the turkey on Thanksgiving, I might give it a try.
Since I have not seen the movie, I do not know if they tried gaslighting the murderer. If not, this is an unique solution. I had wondered how it would play out after a key piece of evidence was removed from the suspect's residence, the chain of custody would have been broken. But the end comes quickly, so you do not have too much time to dwell on it.
Not to make light of what was really a tragic situation, but Richard Long's responses at the end were in the typical 77 Sunset Strip (1958)'s light touch.
Hawaiian Eye: Little Blalah (1960)
A rather understated little mystery.
It starts off with the younger son of a corporate owner who is trying to pass a bad check, one in a series. As so typical of the character, he has gambling and drinking issues.
When he is beat up by thugs working for a loan shark or some such, Steele gets involved.
The fiancé of little brother's sister offers to pay off his $6K gambling debt, even if he has to borrow the money.
The fiancé tries to borrow the money from the business partner, who claims he does not have the available cash.
Then the company safe is robbed of $60K in payroll money, and a guard killed.
Suddenly little brother's debt is paid off, with a note saying the money came from the fiancé.
So Lt Quon has two possible suspects that he knows of, but has doubts about both. Who else could it be?
Steele has a clue after questioning the fiancé, since if he did not pay off little brother's debt, who else knew the specific amount?
Steele sets up a blackmail sting, he has the fiancé wear a wire with recorder the size of a cigar box, plus a radio tuned to the frequency Steele and the rest use, so they can monitor the audio in real-time. The items definitely ruin the fit of the fiancé's jacket. One wonders how they expected the suspect not to notice.
Meanwhile the suspect decides to change the play by kidnapping the sister. He meets with the fiancé, and tries at gunpoint to get the fiancé to write a confession to the robbery.
Steele, hearing this, has Moke distract the group while he sneaks up on the car they are in, capturing the suspect.
So, happy ending, the sister and fiancé are married, little brother recovers from his addictions and is brought into the family corporation.
This was one of those strike-affected scripts. It seems to leave out some details we might otherwise expect from this type of story. The direction is perfunctory, given that the script is a paint-by-number deal. However, with the actors involved, it still makes an interesting watch.
Hawaiian Eye: Dead Ringer (1960)
The lady or the tiger? What if the lady IS a tiger?
Like modern-day scams, any time someone rushes you to make a decision that you have doubts about, just say no.
Of course, as a private eye, if you did say no, you would miss the adventure.
Dianna Foster plays quite the femme fatale, very sure of herself and what she wants. That she has off'd her husband somewhere before this does not slow her down a bit. If I were Harry, I might be concerned what would happen when she became bored with him.
Not sure why they are smuggling a statue into China, usually it is the other direction. Unless the statue holds some kind of contraband, like diamonds. We never do find out.
Dianna Foster is another one of the actresses rocking the short hair. I wonder if her IMDb headshot was taken about the time this episode was filmed. She was a very busy actress, seventeen films in seven years plus a few TV roles. That is in addition to having two children. Whew! Then she switched to primarily TV shows, many well-known ones, until ending with a role on The Wild Wild West with Robert Conrad. Thus ending her career a little after her thirty-eight birthday, to a well-deserved (and long) retirement.
Just another Sunday night on MeTV+, hiding out from all of the political ads.
Hawaiian Eye: Second Fiddle (1960)
Part 1 of a John Van Dreelen double-header (thanks MeTV+)
This is one of the more complex Hawaiian Eye episodes, with plenty of tension.
The only thing that was not completely clear is the motivation of the two miscreants. Was it just revenge, of a sorts?
John Van Dreelen starred as a famous violinist "Gregor Kandinsky", who hired Hawaiian Eye to guard his violin. It was about the only thing not in danger.
I do wonder if John Van Dreelen actually played the violin during his practice session. He was certainly a versatile actor, so I would not be surprised if he was also a skilled violin player.
I think the only negative of this episode is the writing for "Della Kandinsky" Myrna Fahey. Myrna Fahey was about two weeks short of her 27th birthday, and John Van Dreelen was two months shorth of his 38th birthday, so there was not that much of an age difference from the actors, and the characters also did not seem that far apart in age.
The real age difference was with Linda Watkins (Mildred Kandinsky). She was about two months shy of her 52nd birthday, so if she was the first "Mrs. Kandinsky", how old was "Mr. Kandinsky" during their marriage? Perhaps she started out as his patron? Still, unusual for the times. Also, Linda Watkins had quite the career, six movies in the first three years, then what was probably a break to raise her children. When she returned to acting, it was largely TV show guest appearances, including four episodes of Hawaiian Eye (1959) and five episodes of 77 Sunset Strip (1958).
Unfortunately, MeTV+ skipped the next episode, Kim Quixote (1960) later that night, going to The Lady's Not for Traveling (1960) instead.
However, the 77 Sunset Strip (1958) episode The Disappearance (1962) that followed on MeTV+ also starred John Van Dreelen, as well as a somewhat subdued Victor Buono, among others. It too was complex, but did not end as well for John Van Dreelen's character.
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Ten Minutes from Now (1964)
A product of its times?
This really is a good star-turn by Donnelly Rhodes (James Bellington). If you have not read the spoiler on the front page, you would not guess where the character is going.
Unfortunately, that twist needed a lot more setup to make it believable, and is more Deus ex machina than surprise.
Or perhaps it was an excuse to espouse a whole lot of 60's social commentary.
Neile Adams (Sgt. Louise Marklen) really rocked the short hairdo long before it became popular. Her role here is really rather minor, compared the more well know previous series episode Man from the South (1960) with her husband Steve McQueen.
Btw, if this is only available on DVD's from Europe, they sell region-free DVD players for not much more than regular DVD players. Or, if you have the means to use it, buy a DVD-writer for your computer and set it permanently to that region of the DVDs.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Fractured (2024)
What is it with Dick Wolf procedurals?
Their police/FBI agents do the stupidest things. Instead of being more aware of the circumstances, they always go after their suspects in the most public manner.
For the FBI, they always call out that they are FBI agents tens of feet from the suspect, so the suspect has the chance to run.
Here, they pull up in police cars and try to take in a suspect for questioning in a manner that causes a small riot among the students. Why not just tail the suspect to where he is alone?
I guess it makes for more drama, but it is also so obviously forced.
What is annoying is that the rest of the story is much better, so the artificial is really unnecessary.
I watched the interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers (2014) with Mariska Hargitay Wednesday night. She looked fired up and ready to go. Amazing for starting the 26th year of the show.
On the prosecution side, "ADA Dominick 'Sonny' Carisi," Peter Scanavino was excellent. The writing for his character was good, it enabled him to really show off his acting skills.
Looking forward to this season.
77 Sunset Strip: The Steerer (1962)
Perils of Pamela
This one starts off as a case of a missing girl, ex-beauty queen turned would-be actress. Not exactly an uncommon person in Hollywood.
The we have a poker game with a bunch of hard-looking guys and one apparent mark. The mark realizes he is being cheated, grabs the money from the table and bolts. One of the others is shot by mistake.
Pamela Austin (Betsy Howard) heard the shot and opens her door to check out what is going on. The mark, Tom Gilson (Harmie Sinclair) barges in, and goes into her bathroom to exit out the window. Unknown to everyone, he managed to ditch the money in Betsy's hatbox.
The detectives try to find Betsy, who is also being hunted by the others in the poker game, concluding she has to have the money. The hoods go so far as to track down her agent, and fake a job offer to draw Betsy out. She only avoids being kidnaped when her screams draw the attention of a (WB) studio guard. She makes her way back to 77 Sunset Strip, and the boys start to put things together. When Kookie and J. R. go to her new hotel, they discover the money, and confront Betsy. Now with some hard evidence, she recalls the visit of Harmie Sinclair to her old room after the gunshot. The boys decide to send Roscoe out to track down the poker game and Kookie goes to see if he can become the latest "mark". He does, and uses a room service order as a signal. Lt. Gilmore is able to bust the crooks.
Pamela Austin later became known as "The Dodge Girl" for some Dodge car commercials, and parlayed that in to the lead role, such as it was, for the movie The Perils of Pauline (1967). As "Betsy", she does a reasonable job here. One wonders if her role, in addition to the car commercials, led to her casting in the movie.
A notable bit part was Vic Perrin as "Quayle", the hotel desk clerk/manager. He an unctuous little snob, acting like the hotel is some five-star showplace, and evicting Betsy when she complains about the gunshot she heard.
The brunette in the hotel room playing a "guest" is uncredited. Based on her headshot, it makes me wonder if she was Saundra Edwards, wife of guest star Tom Gilson. She had been under contract to Warner Bros. Their marriage had a tragic ending later that year. He broke into her home after they had separated, and threatened her and her children. She was forced to shoot and kill him in self-defense.
Matlock (2024)
MINO, anyone
"Matlock In Name Only". I am not sure if the showrunner or the CBS executives thought of reusing the Matlock name. It was not needed, just say Kathy Bates, we are there. If you want a throwback, just allude to "Harry's Law".
OK, so other than the name and general occupation, there is no other real connections, so take this series on its own terms.
The biggest plus is, of course, Kathy Bates. But is that enough for more than one season? The writing and direction will need to step up to give Ms. Bates a show worthy of her skills.
Pilots can sometimes be rough to figure out. Is this the best it will get, or can they improve to meet, or exceed, expectations?
I am hoping it gets better, although the trailer for the next episode does not give me high hopes. They have set up "Matlock" as being a very shrewd character, but then seem to want to play it for slapstick? Maybe that was just the editing of the trailer, and the episode is better than what it appears to be.
Since NBC has sent L&O: Organized Crime into the phantom (pay-TV) zone, I have an opening on Thursday nights, and this may just fill that slot.
The Invaders: Summit Meeting: Part I (1967)
Michael Rennie night on MeTV
First was the pilot episode of The Time Tunnel, where he played the captain of the Titanic. Since the Titanic was not the real focus of the pilot, he probably had less screen time than this episode.
For this episode, it is more of a setup for the second half, and in that sense, it is the lesser of the two. It seemed to me to have a little less urgency.
Michael Rennie's part is fairly small, as William Windom and Diana Hyland are the focus of this episode.
William Windom had quite the career, a great many TV show guest starring roles. The Stark Trek episode "The Doomsday Machine" had just aired Oct 20, 1967, then this episode and its follow-up, Oct 31 and Nov 7, 1967. Slightly ironic, his first appearance on The Invaders is a season one episode titled "Doomsday Minus One"
Sadly, Diana Hyland did not get to have the lengthy career, dying of breast cancer ten years later. This was unfortunate, as she played her role well.
I must remember to record the next episode; I want to see that odd open elevator. I think it was located at the old Nike missile site in the mountains above Chatsworth.
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Night of the Owl (1962)
Some of this is good, some of it is silly. Plus, about Region 2 DVDs
Brian Keith is excellent, as always. So is Patricia Breslin. Claudia Cravey, it is hard to tell, as this is her only onscreen acting part. Terry Ann Ross's Barbara seems to be an echo of "ZuZu" from It's a Wonderful Life (1946). It was also her last onscreen role.
The first half of the drama is good, presenting quite the predicament for the parents. How to protect the daughter against the blackmailers without being bled dry.
But then things start to slide to the silly - The half-drunk partner just can't control himself, and kills his partner?
Then there is a forest fire, and Keith's character discovers the body? An interesting twist, but also a little far-fetched.
Even the confrontation with the partner seems odd. He is in a tree, but behaves like a child - "make me"? If I wre Keith's character I would have just sat down at the table where I could cover hin, and then make sure his daughter went to get the police.
It is somewhat interesting to see some of the differences between then and now. Both the police Lt and Keith wear their hats while trying to hide in the brush?
Btw, about Region 2 DVDs - the movie/TV companies thought they had a good system to control where movies and TV shows were allowed to be seen, as DVD drives were expensive when the system was created. Not so much now. You can buy "region free" DVD players for about the same prices as regular DVD players. Or, if you have external DVD drives, you can just set one to Region 2, and leave it set that way.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Eleven Days to Zero (1964)
Not bad for a pilot
OK, for a TV pilot, since they were able to borrow from the movie. The main objection I would have is that it should have been a two-parter, too many of the guest stars had too short a time on-screen.
There were a larger number of cast, and extras, which were noticeably missing in the rest of the show. The crew of Seaview was supposed to be about 125, but in the regular episodes you never saw anywhere near that many.
OK, you never saw 420+ crew on the Enterprise, either, but at least sometimes they filled the local hallways with extras.
One minor continuity issue - they used the spectacular surfacing scene from the movie, where Seaview is in a relatively open area of ocean in the icefield, yet moments later, they are completely surrounded by ice, and unloading equipment on it.
Incidentally, that scene of the Seaview surrounded by ice reminds me of the movie Ice Station Zebra, which was released five years later.
Irwin Allen also seemed to have a thing about underground bases. The Seaview supposedly has it base "carved out of solid rock" beneath the Nelson Institute, the Time Tunnel series is underground in the middle of a desert. I don't think I saw this pilot when it was first aired, but I did see the first episode of the Time Tunnel as it premiered. With all due respect it was a much more visual opening.
Btw, one question - that sharp upangle surfacing - is that even possible in real life, or would it put too much stress on the hull?
Highlander: Free Fall (1992)
The series did get better
If we had seen this episode first, I wonder how many would have returned? The writing and acting in the first half were not great, to put it gently.
Fortunately both the writing and the acting improved, and the show had five overall decent seasons. Only the last season fell off. (MeTV runs them continuously, so season one begins again after season six ended.)
This was only Joan Jett's second non-music video acting job, after Light of Day (1987). She eventually had various roles in TV and movies later.
Here she essentially had two different roles. The "naive, new" immortal, and the villainous older immortal. The contrast between the initial Felicia Martins character and Felice Marténs is remarkable. I think Felice Marténs is who people wanted to see. In the flashback, if she had a mustache, she would have been twirling it.
I was not impressed with the fight between Felice and Devereux. Neither actor displayed much fighting ability, and the end was a little silly. He ends up on his back on a bench and just waits for her to walk around and take his head?
A few episodes later they did a kind of reprise of this episode, and I think Vanity did a much better job with it.
Btw this episode is about ten years after her first Blackhearts music video Joan Jett & the Blackhearts: Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) (1982), where Joan went full FBB. That was when female bodybuilding was new, and perhaps that was an audience she was looking for. But it takes an enormous amount of time and effort, both diet and exercise, to get and maintain that look, so I can see why she did not pursue it. Still this episode shows some aftereffect, as if she was in an off-season FBB mode. As for the voice, I thought it initially sounded like someone who was a heavy smoker. Perhaps part of the illusion of being a "new" immortal, as she dropped it later in the episode.
Mannix: The Empty Tower (1975)
Ah, the irony...
Everyone likens this episode to the movie Die Hard (1988). While I guess there are some similarities, there is a big difference between what can be done with the budget and 132 minute runtime of a major movie and the budget and 52 minutes runtime of a TV series
The irony is, the "Warren Building" is about one half mile from the Fox building used for Die Hard (1988).
It is interesting watching some of the 70's TV shows like Mannix, and comparing what was then and what is now.
The stairs Bill Bixby (Tony Elliott) used that had been at the East end of the building has been replaced with a much longer ramp to the west, and the stairs themselves are a native plant-type plot.
Where Joe initially parked on the east-bound curb lane of Santa Monica Blvd just before the entrance to the parking structure, all that remains is the fire hydrant. The lamp post has been moved closer to the fire hydrant, and palm trees have been planted along the sidewalk area.
Santa Monica Blvd itself has been much changed. What were two lanes each way with a railway/trolley to the north has been replaced by three lanes each way, and a busway and planted center divider. There is even a very narrow bike lane on both sides.
Personal irony - when Star Wars (1977) was released, I saw it six times that summer. One of them was a movie theater in that Century City complex, as it had a 70mm screen. So I do remember Santa Monica Blvd as it existed then, just a little over two years after this episode was made.
For the episode itself, the scale was much smaller than a movie, so there are far fewer actors. In addition, we have been conditioned by watching movies like Die Hard (1988) that one wants to scream at the screen when Joe runs past the kitchen twice without stopping to find a knife or some other weapon. Same for the gym.
If Gail Fisher (Peggy) ever gets tired of being drugged or kidnapped, I think she could start her own detective agency. Her instincts seem very good, almost psychic. In fact, we are anticipating she will provide the "big clue".
Last, but certainly not least, is the direction by Bill Bixby. I learned to appreciate any episode of any show he directed. Perhaps because he was an actor himself, he seemed to know how to bring out the best in the actors he was directing.
My Three Sons: A Ring for Barbara (1969)
Memories
Our family watched this show regularly when it was first run, but I don't think I have seen this episode since that original broadcast. It does bring back pleasant memories.
I am about the same age as Barry Livingston, and if he had not been working, but was a student in LAUSD, he would have started high school back in February 1969.
I am not quite sure what prompted the writers or producers to make the change in season 10 of introducing Beverly Garland as Barbara, the romantic interest/wife for Steve Fred MacMurray. Perhaps the popularity of the Tina/Robbie arc, as well as the hole resulting when they moved out gave them the idea of finally give Steve a genuine love interest.
This was my first introduction to Beverly Garland, and it was not until I was an adult that I got to see some of her earlier roles. What a difference,
I also liked that line they gave guest star Stafford Repp, about the infraction he invented to threaten Steve with. Odd that, even though we also watched the first run of Batman (1966), at the time I did not make the connection it was the same actor.
Followed today on MeTV by an episode of Toon in with Me (2021) featuring cartoons from 1964.
77 Sunset Strip: Bullets for Santa (1961)
The perils of Pauline
Another one where the boys, at least some of them, get to play bodyguard. In this case to a older actress, Pauline Grant ( Marilyn Maxwell ), attempting a comeback. It seems there was a shooting of the newer "Santa" during the Hollywood Christmas Parade, while the actress was also in the same car. At first, this was written off as an attempt on Santa, for some unknown reason. When there is another attempted shot at the car holding the actress during the Tournament of Roses Parade, Spencer and crew are called in. Jeff asks Kookie to help with the guard duty, and he finds the actress's young daughter, Kristan Royal ( Yvonne Craig ) something of a distraction from his duties.
There is another attempted shot at Pauline, in the studio during filming, with everyone present, including Lt. Gilmore. Even though he takes quick action, no gun or shooter is found.
Jeff finds something interesting in the remains of the vase that was hit in this third attempt, and comes to a conclusion about the second and third shootings. It seems they were faked attempts, to draw publicity. They were set up by the actress's manager.
But as Jeff is doing his Sherlock Holmes impression regarding the faked attempts, another shot happens during the filming of a stunt scene, and the stunt actress is killed, this time for real.
Jeff has a thought about this last shooting, and verifies some information. But the killer catches him, and they both leave together. As they are about to drive away, Kookie and Pauline come along. The killer is surprised, as he thought she was dead. As he tries to make that a reality, he is shot by one of Lt. Gilmore's men.
So in the end, the killer gets his, and Kookie gets an extended kissing scene in his office with Kristan, ending with the rest of the office watching.
A minor note - the movie being filmed was directed by Victor Buono (Charlie Case), played in the most restrained fashion I can recall ever seeing him do. He was a few months short of 24, and he died too soon, just short of 44.
As for the legs sneaking out of the apartment, I am pretty sure they really were those of Yvonne Craig. Aside from her earlier dance training, if you saw her dance in Whom Gods Destroy (1969), you would agree.
Btw, the Storyline is wrong, the second Santa was not killed, only shot in the shoulder. His shooter did end up dead though, but of old age in the nursing home he was staying in.
77 Sunset Strip: Reunion at Balboa (1963)
Screen test for a future role?
Listening to Anthony D. Call (Toby) in his last argument with John Dehner (Robert McGill) before they choose to go out for dinner, you can hear the same intensity in his voice as later during his "End of watch" outburst in the Star Trek episode The Corbomite Maneuver (1966).
I wonder if, when casting the role of "Lt. Dave Bailey" someone remembered Anthony D. Call in this show.
The speech by Arthur Franz (Lt. Rudy) when he was arresting Hampton Fancher (Leonard North) is another high point. As is much of his role, playing a "Joe Friday" type police officer, but not quite as brusque, and with more humor. Of course, I had seen Arthur Franz previously in many different roles, so this is no surprise. Glad to add this outing to the list.
What was a bit of a surprise is the performance by John Dehner. I have seen him in many other roles as well, so I know he could do better. It may be that he was not well-directed, he seemed very uncomfortable in the role of "Robert McGill".
In a bit of a contrast, the smaller part of Rachel Ames (Agnes Hoyt) was very well done. I don't have time to do the research, but she had many TV guest roles before General Hospital (1963), and I wonder if any of them paired her with John Dehner.
77 Sunset Strip: The Navy Caper (1961)
There is an espionage tale in here somewhere
Jeff is asked by the Navy to test the security around a new "miniaturized" computer, the Mark 26. I guess the previous 25 prototypes must have had issues.
Anyway, Jeff is allowed near carte blanche, anything short of murder, in his test. So he invites Kookie, Suzanne, and Roscoe to assist.
Kookie gets to play a regular sailor, and his job is to cozy up to the admiral's driver. This is the admiral in charge of the entire Mark 26 project.
Suzanne is a photographer for a French magazine, doing some story on the naval base where the Mark 26 is located.
Roscoe is just the general lookout, also doing his usual inquiries.
The team is to get close to various people on the base, in an effort to learn where the new computer is located. If Jeff is successful, he will be able to steal the computer and show the flaws in base security.
Unknown to the team, there is also a team of spies/thieves - it is not clear which - who know that Jeff and Suzanne are there for the computer, and decide to use them for their own nefarious purposes.
In a nod to something that will be used by many shows like Mission Impossible later, the bad team fixes Jeff's phone so it can be redirected to one of their own. This way they are able to send in one of their own as an alternate Navy officer.
Much of the show is about Jeff's team performing what is now called "social engineering", get various pieces of info. Among these efforts is Jeff's talking up the admiral's daughter, played by a (relatively) young Ellen Burstyn - she had just turned 29 eight days before the show aired.
Jeff finally gets to go for the computer, and with Kookie's effort, is successful. Of course, the Navy officer who set up Jeff's test is now aware there may be interlopers, so he is racing to the scene.
Meanwhile, the bad guys take the computer from Jeff, but Kookie, Roscoe and a base MP stop most of them. Jeff has a chase and shootout with the remaining bad guy, and recovers the computer.
It was a decent show, and one where we get to see Ellen Burstyn in one of her TV outings, before she became more well-known in movies. Thanks, MeTV+.
NCIS: Los Angeles: New Beginnings, Part 2 (2023)
NCIS: Morocco, anyone?
Or, to crib from previous CBS Criminal Minds and FBI shows, NCIS: Beyond Borders, or NCIS: International. Definitely, if it would include the "Nellverine" Renée Felice Smith.
OK, going out with a little more than a whimper, but certainly less than a bang.
Unfortunately, more in keeping with the rest of season 14. Nowhere near the level of action as previous season.
One plus, a final reteaming of Sam and G, which had been missing for much of the season.
Left off this episode was any kind of wrap-up with Sam's father, or Kilbride's son. Not that they were greatly missed, but why bring up these side-plots if they simply trail off to nothing?
Hawaiian Eye: The Manchu Formula (1961)
George Takei gets the girl, oh my!
Unfortunately, this is not one of the better episodes. First, the Ed Haskell John Hubbard publicist character is one of the more annoying characters ever written. I know this is intentional, but it is not endearing.
Then the storyline is rather boring. It is about a supposed anti-aging formula that is to brought to market. George Takei (Larry Chang) plays the assistant to the head of the company wanting to buy the anti-aging formula.
Lisa Lu (Madame Tsu-Yin) plays a Chinese woman who, via using the formula, is a said to be 60-years old, yet looks 25-years old. She has arrived in Hawaii with her grandmother Beulah Quo.
Added to the mix is another genuinely old Chinese man who wants the formula for his family's honor. He hires two goons to steal a jewelry box that contains the formula.
Hawaiian Eye, specifically Anthony Eisley (Tracy Steele) is hired to provide security for the anti-aging formula.
The goons steal the jewelry box holding the formula, and later kidnap Madame Tsu-Yin. It turns out they are working for the old Chinese man. He is about to kill Madame Tsu-Yin when her grandmother explains who she really is, not a 60-year old woman, but her daughter, actually 25 years old. Tracy Steele rescues the jewelry box and then kills one of the goons.
At dinner later, Larry Chang and the former Madame Tsu-Yin go off together.
Not a great story, but saved by the acting of Lisa Lu, Beulah Quo, and George Takei.
Of interest, after this Ed Haskell and Tracy Steele are talking, and Ed mentions people visiting the Moon. While this is not a new idea, this episode was first aired May 3, 1961, and President John Kennedy would not present his speech, Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort, otherwise known as "We choose to go to the Moon". The speech was made September 12, 1962.
East New York: The Harder They Fall (2023)
Successor to TV series Major Crimes?
This episode, while taking place in New York, could easily have been an episode of the Los Angeles based series Major Crimes (2012).
Listening to Amanda Warren (Deputy Inspector Regina Haywood) tell the private detective she would get a search warrant to search every inch of his properties, and afterwards he might need a new career, I could hear Mary McDonnell (Sharon Raydor) saying the same words. The delivery was that similar. To make it clear, I think this is a good thing. Major Crimes (2012) ran for six years, here is hoping East New York (2022) can do the same, or longer.
Side note - Amanda Warren had a guest role in two episodes of season 7 of the predecessor series to Major Crimes (2012), The Closer (2005) as DDA Claire Baldwin, so it is possible she may have met Mary McDonnell at that time.
There was one minor downside, where the lead detectives end up questioning a possible suspect at a public event, and then the deputy mayor has to question their actions to Deputy Inspector Regina Haywood and Assistant Chief John Suarez. This seems to be boiler-plate writing, and was not needed.
They did make up for this with an abrupt, unexpected ending. You will not see this coming.
Mannix: The World Between (1970)
A star vehicle for Gail Fisher
This was a different episode for Gail Fisher (Peggy Fair). Here she is not using her secretarial or investigative skills, but simply as a woman, quickly attracted to the quietly charismatic Hari Rhodes (Minji Obuko). Sadly, just like all of the times Joe did not get the woman at the end of the show, Peggy did not get the man.
Of note, this is one of the few times they showed a bullet wound and blood. Usually the gunshot victim just clutches a body part after being shot. Also it was her right shoulder, not her left.
Once again, Joe injects himself into the action, taking part in the blood-bank sting, and then interrogating the suspect as the police just stand there. I wonder how that would work out in court, in real life.
This is the first of three Mannix roles for Maidie Norman. She was a prolific character actor, with 115 roles to her credit, mostly TV shows. With the vagaries of MeTV, she was also in the episode of Cannon Triangle of Terror (1974) that followed this episode of Mannix, with a bit larger role there.
Mannix: Murder Revisited (1970)
Sex, lies, and videotape
The highlight of this episode is Arlene Martel (Muriel Price / Valerie Price), a true chameleon as an actress. Even though she plays twins in this story, little is made of it, no trickery beyond the camera work. Still, it is a joy to watch her.
Another stand-out acting bit is from Reva Rose (Woman in Apartment), hiding Joe from the thugs chasing him.
There is also Stanja Lowe (Miss Landon), who Don DeFore (Ted Hackett) is grilling at the beginning of the show. She looks a good deal like Hillary Clinton, circa her Secretary of State days. Plus the topic is a perennial, echoing in today's (2023) politics.
This is another Mannix episode where they started to play with the technology, slowing down a video-tape playback to count rotary-dial "clicks" to reveal the true phone number dialed. Thus revealing the killer, with further video to capture the confession. As for the killer pulling a gun after his confession, arrogant/narcissistic types don't always think straight when cornered.
77 Sunset Strip: The Fanatics (1960)
Second role ever for Marlo (Margaret) Thomas
Marlo Thomas, like another young actress, Mary Tyler Moore, made the rounds of a number of TV shows early in her career. The picture used for this episode features her, with shorter hair than we normally associate with her. Her part, while important to the episode, does not give her much to work with.
I do agree with the others, this is not much of a story, and the use of backlot and other items, like the cars, shows a lack of imagination.
One part of the story, tricking one of the antagonists by pushing the clock ahead, has been done many times since. I wonder where the writers got this idea from. It would be surprising if they invented the idea for this episode.