Celebrity Rock: Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Friday is Independence Day, and one classic song that is commonly associated with the 4th of July is George M. Cohan's immortal "Yankee Doodle Dandy".

James Cagney performs the title song from the 1942 bio on George M. Cohan. Scope!

Edit, 7/18/25: Had to change the video. This clip includes "Yankee Doodle Boy", which segues into "Yankee Doodle Dandy":

Classic TV: The Prisoner (1967)

The Prisoner lasted just 1 season, but it was enough to merit it cult status.

There are those who dispute the idea that Prisoner was created as a follow-up to Patrick McGoohan's previous series, Danger Man (known as Secret Agent in the US), a collaborative effort between the star and writer George Markstein. Markstein, it seems, intended for the title character, code-named Number 6, to be, in fact, John Drake, but that's been debated for nearly 50 years, and nothing since, not even a comic book adaptation by Dean Motter for DC, or a miniseries produced 5 years ago for A & E and starring Jim Caviezel (currently on Person of Interest), has resolved the issue.

This much we know. A retired secret agent (McGoohan) has left his agency and is preparing for vacation, unaware that he's been followed. Knockout gas is pumped into his apartment, and he wakes up in someplace known simply as "The Village". Escape is nigh impossible, thanks to a balloon-like entity, Rover, who either recaptures or kills escapees. George Orwell would've loved this.

Shout! Factory has the rights, and offers up the opener, "Arrival":



Wack, man.

Rating: B.

Videos of Summer: Hot Fun in the Summertime (1992)

The Beach Boys made one last run at the charts in the early 90's, but the two singles that came off their 1992 effort, "Summer in Paradise", were covers. "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" might be better known to today's generation after being covered by Aerosmith in the 70's, but its roots go back a few years.

The same goes for "Hot Fun in the Summertime", originally recorded by Sly & The Family Stone in 1969. That had been covered in the interim by artists as diverse as Hall & Oates, Chaka Khan, and Michael Jackson, but the MTV generation discovered "Hot Fun" thanks to the Beach Boys (with Full House co-star John Stamos on drums).

What Might've Been: The Lone Wolf (1954)

It is said that Leslie Charteris' seminal anti-hero, The Saint, was inspired by the literary exploits of a gentleman thief-turned-private detective named Michael Lanyard, otherwise known as The Lone Wolf. I find this amusing, as Wolf wasn't able to make as smooth a transition to the small screen as Simon Templar would a few years later.

Both characters appeared in films, books, and on radio. However, The Saint became a pop culture icon in the 60's, thanks to ITC's adaptation of the character, starring Roger Moore. Louis Hayward was cast as Lanyard in 1954, but the Lone Wolf lasted one season, largely because Hayward looked more like just another detective, not a reformed criminal trying to make amends. In short, a generic hero.

Keep an eye open for a pre-Star Trek DeForest Kelley, who made a few appearances in this series, in the episode, "The Murder Story":



Oddly, Moonstone Press adapted and rebooted Lone Wolf for comics some years ago. Why a reboot? Because the Wolf in this case was a woman. Don't ask.

Rating: D.

Dunce Cap Award: Ann Coulter

"Any growing interest in soccer can only be a sign of the nation's moral decay."--Ann Coulter, 6/25/14.

Apparently, Ms. Coulter never played the game, and doesn't understand its global appeal.

Moral decay? Has she lost her mind? 

Personal note: I played one year of soccer at a private academy in North Troy. It was the school's 1st year of sports, and we only played in 2--basketball being the other. Our team did better at soccer than at hoops, let's put it that way. I played fullback, and didn't get much credit. So you'd understand my taking offense to Ms. Coulter's lame remarks. Has she not heard of Pele? Giorgio Chinaglia? There are professional soccer leagues in this country, with some of the players in those leagues participating in the current World Cup tournament.

Leave it to Ann Coulter to put her foot in her mouth and expose herself as being ignorant about one of the world's most popular sports. Maybe she should get together with those other short-fused blowhards, Donald Trump & Alec Baldwin. Whomever runs out of hot air first loses. Wouldn't that be fun?

Suffice it to say, Ann Coulter earned herself a Dunce Cap this week. Throwing cold water on this country's advancement in the tournament only proves the only game she knows how to play is tiddly-winks, if that.

What Might've Been: The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1965)

Let's consider the scenario for a moment.

It's 1965. McHale's Navy is entering its final season on ABC. Hogan's Heroes was beginning a 6 year run on CBS. Screen Gems figured they had something in the Columbia vault that would fit right in. Well, they thought they did.

The Wackiest Ship in The Army, based on the movie of the same name, aired for 1 season on NBC, airing in back of Bonanza on Sundays. A 1 hour comedy-drama with an ensemble cast that included Jack Warden and Gary Collins at the front. So, why did it fail? Easy. CBS had Candid Camera & What's My Line? at the bottom of their Sunday lineup, often bumped further back by football over-runs, I would think, since that practice continues today.

The series was dusted off the Sony vaults and aired on cable several years later, airing on Saturday nights this time, as memory serves, on the then-Family Channel (now ABC Family). I never really got into it.

Post-series, some of the cast moved on to other series. Rudy Solari would have another 1 year wonder two years later on ABC with Garrison's Gorillas. Jack Warden, also in 1967, starred in N.Y.P.D. for producer David Susskind's Talent Associates. That same year, Mark Slade went to the Old West in another NBC series, The High Chapparal. As for Gary Collins, he'd move on to another Screen Gems entry, Iron Horse, for 2 years, then return to what is now Sony with Born Free following 1972's The Sixth Sense.

Here's "Liberty Was a Lady":



Rating: B.

Videos of Summer: One Summer Night (1958)

Let's take a step back in time to the Golden Age of Rock & Roll.

From 1958, here's the Danleers and "One Summer Night":



Some of you might be thinking back to those first dates back in the day after this. I don't blame you.