Sounds of Praise: The Church in The Wildwood (1963)

 From The Andy Griffith Show (where else?):

A visiting businessman (Robert Emhardt) starts to leave as Andy & Barney (Don Knotts) are singing "The Church in The Wildwood", and is inspired to join in.

The series turns 65 next year. How they never produced a soundtrack album covering its 8 seasons, I don't know.

A celebration of 3 diverse personalities

 This week's death cycle began on Tuesday with news that Leati Sika Anoa'i, 1/2 of the legendary Wild Samoans tag team, also known as the Islanders in other territories in the 70's, had passed away after an undisclosed illness.

Anoa'i, the father of former WWE champion Roman Reigns (Joe Anoa'i) won 3 tag titles with brother Afa in the then-WWF in the 80's, all under the management of Captain Lou Albano, who would later lead the Headshrinkers (Fatu, aka Rikishi, and Samu) to the tag titles in the 90's for his last set of tag champions. In all the Samoans won more than 20 titles across the country.

As presented on Saturday Morning Archives on Tuesday, here is the Samoans' WWF debut from 1980.

Just 10 days after the passing of Willie Mays, another Hall of Famer associated with the San Francisco Giants had passed on Friday.

Orlando Cepeda, aka, The Baby Bull, also played for Boston, St. Louis, & Oakland during his storied career, and won a World Series with the Cardinals over the Red Sox in 1967, then was part of Charlie Finley's legendary A's teams in the 70's. Cepeda was 86.

Finally, actor-singer-songwriter-comedian-artist Martin Mull passed away Thursday at 80.

Mull began his career as a songwriter, and penned "A Girl Named Johnny Cash", a parody of Cash's "A Boy Named Sue", for Jane Morgan in 1970. Morgan missed the country Top 40, peaking at #61. Mull's resume as an actor includes Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and its spin-offs, Fernwood 2-Night & America 2-Night, Roseanne, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Dads, Domestic Life (which he co-created with Steve Martin), and films such as "Clue".

Rest in peace.

Remember Biz? (1967)

 Biz was introduced by Procter & Gamble in 1967, but the company sold off the brand at auction to an independent in 2000. Biz today is not readily available like it was in the 60's & 70's.

Strung together are 4 commercials promoting the product. 

The first is an intro piece with Eddie Albert (Green Acres). Next is one with Kaye Ballard (The Mothers-in-Law), with Keebler pitchman Danny Dark as the narrator.

The last two have different titles, but both sound as though they were narrated by Ted Cassidy (ex-The Addams Family).

Musical Interlude: Land of 1000 Dances (1965)

 This is where Vince McMahon got the idea to cover "Land of 1000 Dances" in 1985.

20 years earlier, Cannibal & the Headhunters, out of Los Angeles, recorded "Land", which was co-written & originally recorded by Chris Kenner 3 years earlier, but missed the top 40. Not all of the lyrics made it into Wilson Pickett's cover a few months later, and Pickett's version is considered the definitive version.

Cannibal was never heard from again, unfortunately.

What Might've Been: Howard Stern tries a Latin variety show, and parodies From Here to Eternity (1991-2)

 From season 2 of radio legend Howard Stern's WWOR late night show:

Among the skits on the program are a parody of the long running Spanish language variety show, Sabato Gigante, at least at the regional level, referencing the station's then-homebase of Secaucus, New Jersey, and in last skit of the evening, Martha Quinn (Rockline) visits and does a satire of "From Here to Eternity" with Howard. Stern started hitting on Martha the minute she entered the studio, and it went from there.

I remember seeing the "Eternity" skit when it first aired. Martha is plugging "Bad Channels", which came out in the spring-summer of 1992, and she'd already had a few acting jobs under her belt, including The Bradys and "Problem Child 2", so teasing the skit as "Howard & Martha's acting debut" is a bit misleading, unless they're trying to tease trying them out as a team.

You'll see what I mean.

TV critic David Bianculli, then with the NY Post, shredded Martha for her work on The Bradys. I can only imagine how he'd grade "Eternity" a la Stern. Not too well. Should've stayed longer on Full House, Martha. That's all I'm going to say.

Rating: C.

Gaslit by his own party's lies: Donald Trump thinks a dead voter voted for him 2016

 Donald Trump turned 78 on June 15. In Ramin Setoodah's new book, Apprentice in Wonderland, the Variety co-editor in chief offers some evidence that the former president's mind was already deteriorating.

In an interview with Trump, Setoodah relates the tale of how Trump claimed that actress-comic Joan Rivers had voted for him in 2016, and even talked to him. One problem. Rivers passed away in 2014, well before Trump even announced his candidacy for the 2016 election.

Over the last several months, Trump has gotten events and people mixed up on a number of occasions. It's a sure sign of his advanced age betraying him. He might've had his conversation with Rivers after she won season 2 of Celebrity Apprentice a few years before her passing, but his claim that the convo was in 2016 raises questions about his mental fitness.

Farron Cousins explains.

If he goes through with his debate with President Biden on Thursday, I'd recommend a team of psychologists be on afterward to offer feedback. It might not end well for either man, but worse for Trump.

Videos of Summer: Baby, I Love Your Way (1988)

 Miami DJ Bob Rosenberg's pop combo, Will to Power, which got its name from a book by Nietschke, hit #1 on the pop chart in 1988 with a cover of Peter Framption's "Baby, I Love Your Way", coupled on the charts with a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's legendary "Freebird".

However, each song was also released individually, enabling a video for "Baby", with Suzi Carr on vocals.

On The Shelf: My Adventures With Superman moves to comics, plus other stuff

 Last month, My Adventures With Superman began its 2nd season on [adult swim](episodes are available On Demand and on the network's website). A week later, DC launched a miniseries that bridges the gap between seasons 1 & 2.

Image courtesy DC Comics.

Writer Josie Campbell picks up the plot threads from the end of the 1st season, and, well, it's no surprise that Amanda Waller, who is now DC's go-to big bad, has the same role here. I'm sorry, but that is bordering on overkill and over-exposure at this point. As viewers know, Superman has already revealed his secret ID to Lois Lane & Jimmy Olsen, and, yes, Lois & Superman are a couple. The creative team decided to get that out of the way early.

The miniseries runs about six issues, which means season 2 will be in the books by the time the final issue comes out. DC would be well served to make this an ongoing series, especially if the sales match viewer interest.

Rating: A-.

65 years ago, DC introduced readers to Sgt. Rock in Our Army at War issue 81. Rock appeared in 2 stories in that issue. Actually, it's a bit of deception, as this was actually a prototype, identified as Sgt. Rocky, but, two issues later, Sgt. Frank Rock was given a full introduction. The 1st prototype had appeared in the January 1959 issue of GI Combat (released in October 1958). 

"The Rock of Easy Co.", written by Robert Kanigher, and illustrated by Joe Kubert, is your standard World War II tale of the era, and a portent of things to come. Rock would subsequently narrate future stories. DC would change the title of Our Arny at War to Sgt. Rock in 1977, and the series would continue for another 11 years.

Rating: A.

Military Comics introduced readers to Blackhawk in its opening issue in 1942. Because of the series' format, covering both the Army & the Navy in a larger than normal comic, the facsimile issue released by DC is more expensive than the usual facsimile reprints. We can live with that. There are other features, such as Loops & Banks, that have been lost to the mists of time, and likely won't be revived. DC, remember, acquired Quality a number of years ago, and titles like Blackhawlk, Plastic Man, & the aforementioned GI Combat, were part of the haul. The art is typical of the Golden Age, and would improve over time.

DC has revived Blackhawk a few times over the years, with varying degrees of success.

Rating: B.

Actor-comedian Josh Gad tried his hand at comics, collaborating with the Berkowitz Brothers to create the fantasy adventure, The Writer, for Dark Horse. The titular hero, Stan Siegel, is a comics writer who comes across some ancient artifacts, and trouble. Trade paperback will be out in March 2025. 

Rating: B.

Archie Comics is investing heavily in Sabrina's new arch nemesis, Amber Lightstone, who stars in the one-off, The Wicked Trinity, which will set up an event running in August & September. The artwork aspires to capture the feel of the abruptly halted Chilling Adventures of Sabrina book, which Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa abandoned to pursue his Hollywood career. That's fine, but it doesn't really fit. Amber is a jealous witch who was born around the same time as our beloved Sabrina, but Archie would be better off if they gave Sabrina a new series to build the rivalry, but the company's issues the last few years seem to preclude committing to monthly titles again.

Rating: B-.

Sounds of Praise: Turn Your Radio On (1972)

 While Ray Stevens had a hit on the pop & country charts with "Turn Your Radio On", Andy Griffith covered it on The Carol Burnett Show, both in 1972.  We've shown you Stevens' version, now check out Andy at the top of his game.

Amen!

How do you rescind a subpoena when the recipient is currently or on his way to jail?

 Georgia airhead Marjorie Taylor Greene is backing an idiotic resolution from fellow GOPer dingbat Thomas Massie that the subpoenas issued to Trump advisors Peter Navarro & Steve Bannon should be rescinded.

This is one of those cases where neither Republican is actually doing any deep thinking at all.

Farron Cousins explains:

Empty-G is still of the opinion that the January 6 select committee was out of bounds, if but because she has this backward point of view of the insurrection. Nearly 3 1/2 years later, and she still doesn't get it.

Massie, along with the peach-brained Greene, have this coming their way:

Bannon will report to jail July 1. Navarro is serving out his sentence. There's no way to rescind the subpoenas, because the cases are closed. The genie, if you will, can't be put back in the bottle.

There is dumb, and then, there is the Republican Party in 2024........

Musical Interlude: Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, & The Duke)(1981)

 Terry Cashman first recorded "Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, & The Duke)" in 1981, then began customizing it for all of the MLB teams soon after, so that each team had their own version.

Cashman never made a video, so this photo montage of the players name-checked in the song will have to do.

Sports this 'n' that

 The baseball world is mourning tonight the passing of Hall of Famer Willie Mays at age 93.

Mays broke into the majors with the then-NY Giants, and also played for them in San Francisco before being traded to the Mets in 1972. This enabled Mays to play one last World Series, a losing effort vs. Oakland in 1973.

Mays was immortalized in song. "Say Hey" was released while he was with the Giants, and, long after he'd retired, he was name checked by Terry Cashman on his 1981 record, "Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, & The Duke)". Mays also lent his likeness for an ABC Saturday Superstar Movie while with the Mets.

Tonight, he joins Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider, and a host of other Hall of Famers in baseball heaven. Rest in peace, Willie.

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Speaking of the Mets, as tonight's game vs. Texas continues, the Amazin's have won six in a row, and it all started with a promotion with McDonald's last week during the series vs. Miami at Citi Field. Grimace, one of the McDonaldland characters, was brought out to throw out the first pitch. The Mets won the game, and haven't looked back, although as I write, they are even with the World Series champs, 6-6, heading into the home half of the 8th inning in Arlington.

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Congratulations to the Boston Celtics, who claimed their 18th NBA title Monday in dispatching the Dallas Mavericks in 5 games. I don't think Subway, which has Jayson Tatum among its athlete-endorsers, provided the pre-game spread. Just sayin'.

With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy..........

 Jeff Foxworthy made his fame with jokes about rednecks.

California's Eric Swalwell, two weeks ago, roasted the GOP, taking a page from Foxworthy's playbook.

Oh, I tell you, this is too good and too funny to pass up.

It is way, way past time the GOP got their collective heads out of the sand, and realized that continuing to support former president Donald John Munchausen Trump is not a good idea.

Musical Interlude: My Dad (1962)

 From The Donna Reed Show:

Paul Peterson's "My Dad" has been making the rounds of oldies channels this weekend, especially today on Father's Day, so for all the fathers out there, here it is.

What Might've Been: A Laugh-In reunion on Get Christie Love! (1975)

 We had this next item before, then it was taken down. Then, our good friend Hal Horn at The Horn Section posted this copy.

What "this" is is a mini-reunion of cast members of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In joining Teresa Graves on Get Christie Love! in the episode, "Murder in High-C". Our guest stars:

Arte Johnson. 

Johnny Brown (by this time a regular on Good Times).

Judy Carne.

Henry Gibson, a few months away from "Nashville".

Jo Anne Worley.

Gary Owens appears briefly as a news reporter. Nothing new, as he'd been a TV anchorman on The Green Hornet a few years earlier.

Here we go:

Rating: B.

What Might've Been: The 2nd season premiere of Lobo (1980)

 The 1980-1 season was delayed due to strikes, not unlike what happened last year. 

As a result, NBC held back the 2nd season of Lobo (formerly The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo) until the end of December, and thought they were starting off with a bang.

Elroy Lobo (Claude Akins, ex-Nashville 99, Movin' On) and his deputies, Birdwell "Birdie" Hawkins (Brian Kerwin) & Perkins (Mills Watson) are assigned to a special task force in Atlanta, although the governor is unaware that it was Perkins who caused the accident that put him in the hospital.

Once in Atlanta, the guys meet their new boss (Nicolas Coster, ex-Another World), and Hildy Jones (Nell Carter, billed as Nell Ruth Carter), which means Lobo has to put more emphasis on detective work, as he's now a long way away from Orly County.

In the opener, a theft ring uses mud wrestling as a cover. Richard Anderson (ex-The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Dan August), who played his fair share of Western villains back in the day, is the lead villain here.

There was, I think, a little meta-rib with Anderson, or his stunt man, being tossed into the mud wrestling ring in slow motion.

Gone was Frankie Laine's theme song. In its place is a variation on "Georgia On My Mind", but Ray Charles isn't credited.

Rating: B.

Videos of Summer: Six Days on The Road (1997)

 Sawyer Brown's remake of Dave Dudley's "Six Days on The Road" peaked at #13 on the country chart in 1997. 34 years earlier, Dudley peaked at #2. Go figure.

When will fans get the message? Unless invited, you don't run onto the field!!

 By now, you've heard about the Cincinnati Reds fan who ran out onto the field at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday during the 9th inning of Reds-Guardians. Stadium security subdued this idiot with a taser.

Photo courtesy USA Today.

We have seen these geeks so many times over the years. You get called out on a dare by a buddy at the game, and you run out on the field to get your 15 seconds (not minutes) of fame before you get hauled off by security, and banned from the venue.

In this case, this week's Dunce Cap winner is a 19 year old Ohio State student. 

Think about it. 19. Not yet eligible to buy beer, though I'd not be surprised if he was soused by the 9th inning of what would be a 5-3 Cleveland win.

Will they never learn?

Videos of Summer: Whenever You're on my Mind (1983)

 Marshall Crenshaw followed up his 1982 hit, "Someday, Someway", with 1983's "Whenever You're on my Mind", which is split between Crenshaw & his band performing in concert, and some beach scenes with colonial cosplayers.

Despite some heavy airplay on MTV, Crenshaw failed to chart with "Whenever". Sad shame.

Sports this 'n' that

 We touched on this over at Tri-City SportsBeat on Sunday, but what we neglected to mention in noting that Dornoch had upset the field in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga was that one of his owners knows a little something about winning.

Retired baseball player Jayson Werth was on the 2008 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, and finished his career with the Washington Nationals, where he came close, but never got a 2nd ring.

Dornoch, meanwhile, is still at Saratoga, and is being aimed at The Travers on August 24.

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The Mets & Phillies resume play tonight, but both teams came out of the London Series over the weekend with mixed results. The teams split the series, but now, it's come out that Philadelphia has placed star catcher JT Realmuto on the injured list with a knee injury. That means Garrett Stubbs gets the start vs. Boston tonight at Fenway Park.

Stubbs became the latest Phillies villain on Sunday when fans alleged that he attempted a "dirty" slide on his opposite number with the Mets, Luis Torrens. Didn't look dirty to me, and the cameras didn't pick up the slide live.

Still, fans on a Mets board on Reddit claimed, falsely, of course, that ex-Phillie Chase Utley, who served as an ambassador for the team, opposite Daniel Murphy for the Mets, taught Stubbs the slide. There's no evidence to support that claim, and those "fans" are mostly talk radio or social media dweebs who do nothing more than vent like they were at the neighborhood bar 24/7/365/52. Idiots.

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The US Olympic Women's basketball team for next month's Olympics in Paris was announced Monday, and notably missing was Indiana rookie Caitlin Clark.

Clark may not have a problem with being left off the team, and said all the right things, but for ESPN's resident idiot, Stephen A. Smith, to go off on USA Basketball on First Take reeked of ESPN and/or corporate parent Disney having issues with the decision. That won't change USA Basketball's position one iota, and Screamin' A. Cosell knows that. USA Basketball is putting together the best possible team, and that last word is the important one, team. The NBA has long been marketing individual stars more than teams, the WNBA, not as much. This is not about television ratings, which is why Smith is whining. Being a professional moron, he's probably trying to convince NBC, which will carry the Olympics, to, ah, persuade USA Basketball to reconsider. As far as ye scribe sees it, that is not necessary.

That being said, Smith gets a fresh set of Weasel ears.

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Kudos to Connecticut men's coach Dan Hurley, who decided to stay with the Huskies, and pursue a 3rd national title, instead of chasing the money and going west to the Lakers. The Huskies have won back-to-back titles, and could be poised to be a dynasty on the men's side for a change. Keeping Hurley gives them continuity, cohesion, and commitment.

And I shan't be surprised if Stephen A. Smith was whining about that, too.

A Classic Reborn: The New Laugh-In (1977)

 Four years after Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ended its run, producer George Schlatter felt the time was right to bring the show back, albeit with a completely new cast.

The new group included ventriloquist Wayland Flowers with Madame, Ben Powers, Lenny Schultz, Bill Rafferty, artist-turned-repertory performer Sergio Aragones, and Robin Williams, who had earlier appeared on The Richard Pryor Show.

Unfortunately, without the familiar faces of the original series (i.e. Rowan, Martin, Arte Johnson, Jo Anne Worley, Henry Gibson, et al), this iteration of Laugh-In lasted 6 weeks, with the reruns exhumed after Williams had moved on to Mork & Mindy and pop culture icon status.

Movie legend Bette Davis showed a flair for comedy that was missing when she tried a sitcom years earlier, and is the guest du jour, with cameos by Rich Little, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Barry Goldwater, and Henry Winkler (Happy Days).

Aragones, best known for his work in Mad Magazine and co-creating DC's Bat Lash and the creator owned (with Mark Evanier) Groo The Wanderer, apparently was making his debut as a comic actor.

Ben Powers, like Johnny Brown before him, also turned up on Good Times.

Lenny Schultz would return to NBC with the short lived Saturday lunch series, Drawing Power.

Wayland Flowers & Madame would land their own series, Madame's Place (previously reviewed) after spinning off from Solid Gold.

Schlatter saw something he liked in Bill Rafferty, as he was brought back for Real People a couple of years later.

Aragones' drawings got the attention of Dick Clark & Johnny Carson, whose production companies collaborated on those Bloopers specials and series Clark co-hosted in the 80's.

No rating. Just a public service.

Classic TV: John Denver on Owen Marshall, Counselor-at-Law (1973)

 This next item was previously posted at Saturday Morning Archives due to two of the cast having some cartoon background.

From season 3 of Owen Marshall, Counselor-at-Law:

Singer John Denver makes his acting debut in "The Camerons Are a Special Clan". Denver plays a singer wrongfully accused of killing his terminally ill mother (Theresa Wright). The cast also includes ex-Monkee Micky Dolenz (credited as Mickey Dolenz), John Larch (ex-12 O'Clock High), Kristina Holland (ex-The Courtship of Eddie's Father), and Mike Farrell (ex-The Interns). Pat Harrington appears in a recurring role as a prosecutor.

Toon fans know that Dolenz & Holland, who do not share any scenes together in this episode, had previously worked together on The Funky Phantom two years earlier.

While Lee Majors is seen in the open, he does not otherwise appear, given he had moved on to The Six Million Dollar Man:

Keep in mind this was 5 years before Denver made his film debut in "Oh, God!" with George Burns.

Rating: A.

Stupid-E proves again he is a world class imbecile

 Stupid-E, of course, is Eric Trump, who went on Fox No News the other day for an interview conducted by Maria Bartiromo, and promptly got roasted on social media for his latest round of false claims. In this case, claiming without proof that African-American voters are "flocking" to his father.

Unfortunately, Eric also added to the idiocy by unwittingly making a racist remark, as Farron Cousins explains.

Eric, if you want people to vote for your father, you, your brother, and the former president need to stop with the rhetoric and the lying. Yesterday. At the same time, you might want to point your wife toward a voice coach before she cuts another record. I digress. You know what Stupid-E is getting......

A little of this and a little of that

 Dick Van Dyke, still going strong at 98, earned a Daytime Emmy Award Friday for a guest gig on Days of Our Lives (now on Peacock), making him the oldest nominee and award winner in Emmy history.

That leads us to ask, what's next?

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With Wheel of Fortune turning 50 next year, that might be the next time you see Pat Sajak on the show.

Sajak closed out a 43 year run, between network daytime and evening syndication, as host, on Friday night, and took the time after the game ended early to address the audience.

Ryan Seacrest (American Top 40, American Idol) takes over in September. The real question is, will Sony acknowledge the series' full history, dating back to 1975? We'll see.

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As it celebrates 55 years on the air this fall, Sesame Street is finally making the move to comic books.

Oni Press has obtained a license to adapt the long running series into a 4 issue miniseries, set to launch in August. Given that Oni is also home to the comics version of Rick & Morty, the popular [adult swim] series, I'd guess the license came from Warner Bros. Discovery more than it did from Sesame Workshop. We'll see if this leads to more comics adventures with Big Bird, Grover, Bert & Ernie, and the rest of the gang.

Was this the inspiration for "Teachers"?: Stay Awhile, Mr. Dream Chaser (Room 222, 1971)

 From season 3 of Room 222:

Teacher Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes) returns from vacation to find that a substitute teacher with a penchant for role playing has charmed the students.

Larry Wilcox, later of CHiPs, guests as a student.

13 years later, "Teachers", with Nick Nolte leading an ensemble cast, featured a psychiatric patient (Richard Mulligan, ex-Soap) mistaken for a substitute teacher who uses role play to make his class entertaining. No, the writers are not the same, but one wonders if the inspiration for Mulligan's character came from this episode.

Rating: A.

Musical Interlude: Let Me Love You Tonight (1980)

 Pure Prairie League, with Vince Gill on vocals, made their final climb on the Hot 100 in 1980 with "Let Me Love You Tonight", which crossed over on the country chart. Saxophonist David Sanborn sits in on this track.

Gill left PPL 3 years later to begin his solo career. 

Caitlin-mania has a price

 By now, everyone has heard about the shoulder block heard 'round the world.

On Saturday, after making a basket, Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter decided to throw a shoulder block at Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Carter. 

RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE!!!

While it was called as a simple foul away from the ball on the court, officials made a decision post-game to upgrade it to a flagrant foul. Carter's post-game remarks didn't exactly endear her to the rest of the league, but, then, considering that she'd already burned her bridges in 2 WNBA cities and in Turkey with her excessive style of play, that shouldn't be a surprise.

What this also does is it gives Clark and the media a wake-up call. The media's collective OCD over Clark has made every Indiana game must-see TV for the league's media partners (ESPN/ABC), and all that extra attention hasn't hurt Clark, but the Fever didn't get off to a good start.

The View's Whoopi Goldberg saw it as just a basketball play. In most cases, it would be, but the way her bosses at Disney promote Clark like she's the Mother Theresa of basketball, it sparked outrage across the board.

The message Carter and the rest of the league have sent Clark, and, Carter's Chicago teammate, Angel Reese, for that matter, is that the hype they generated in college the last couple of seasons doesn't matter to them. Reese cheered Carter on Saturday, but you have to believe their coach had some words for them in the locker room.

To put it in perspective, the rookies in the NBA, while celebrated, don't get the same kind of media frenzy. Michael Jordan didn't when he was drafted out of North Carolina more than 40 years ago. Neither did Shaquille O'Neal, when he was drafted out of LSU (also Reese's alma mater) a decade later. LeBron James brought his hype from high school when he was drafted by Cleveland 21 years ago. Disney, ESPN/ABC's corporate parent, smells ratings every time Clark plays, so she will be the focus regardless of how well the Fever are playing. She shouldn't have to be, because that puts a bigger than normal target on her back she doesn't deserve.

Classic TV: Trial of a PFC (The Bold Ones, 1970)

 In some respects, this 2nd season episode of The Lawyers component of The Bold Ones, "Trial of a PFC", had a realistic, ripped from the headlines feel to it.

Pete Duel (ex-Love on a Rooftop) is the titular soldier, on trial for killing his best friend. Walter Brooke (ex-The Green Hornet) is the DA. Jared Martin makes one of his first appearances.

What I'm more interested in is the soundtrack, bookended by a pair of folk numbers by co-star Burl Ives.

Between Ives and Dave Grusin, who revamped the series' theme song, they could've had a killer soundtrack album if they wanted to.

Rating: A-.

Musical Interlude: Sunrise, Sunset (1965)

 While Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis had gone their separate ways, another comedy team appeared to fill the void. Marty Allen provided the laughs, while Steve Rossi was, like Martin, a singer as well as a comic.

On The Ed Sullivan Show in 1965, Steve covers "Sunrise, Sunset" from "Fiddler on The Roof". Marty joins him after the song finishes.

Now, we have to see if Marty was able to carry a tune, just as Jerry would.

YouTube Theatre: Banyon (1971)

 With The Untouchables readily available in syndication in the 70's, Warner Bros. thought they could tap into the nostalgia of the show's setting (early 30's), but in a different locale.

Banyon was set in Los Angeles in the late 30's, instead of Chicago during Prohibition. NBC aired a 2 hour TV movie in March 1971, with Robert Forster in the title role as private eye Miles Banyon. Standard stuff. A client is murdered in Banyon's office by a thug intent on framing Banyon.

Our supporting cast includes Herb Edelman (ex-The Good Guys), Jose Ferrer, & Hermoine Gingold.

18 months later, Banyon was finally green-lit to series, but now with Quinn Martin co-producing with WB. Joan Blondell (ex-Here Come The Brides) replaced Gingold as Peggy. Unfortunately, the series was a bust, the first of three such failures for Martin at NBC.

No rating. Just a public service.