77 Sunset Strip - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss 77 Sunset Strip Here!

[Quickbeam]

77 Sunset Strip is running in order on METV at 3 AM ( check your local listings). This is even including the long held from syndication episodes. It runs Tuesday through Saturday, off Sunday and Monday. 

Its a favorite show from my youth and was never available on VHS or DVD. Come join the fun. 

[Quickbeam]

Episode 3 season 3: The Presidents Daughter. This ran this morning. Notable are the guest star stars Richard Long ( lead on Nanny and the Professor) and  George Tobias as Pepe Gonzales (Abner Kravitz on Bewitched!). Otherwise another really awful Mexican episode. 

[HerkyJerky]

Also don't forget that Richard Long was in The Big Valley.  He died of a heart attack at 47.  Such a shame...

P.S.  I LOVED Nanny and the Professor!

[magicdog]

Was I surprised to see this show here!

 

im too young to have seen it first run but I’d heard about it from my parents.  METV isn’t the only place I’ve seen it air recently.  I’ve seen it on AntennaTV and occasional marathons on Decades.

[Quickbeam]

9 hours ago, magicdog said:

Was I surprised to see this show here!

 

im too young to have seen it first run but I’d heard about it from my parents.  METV isn’t the only place I’ve seen it air recently.  I’ve seen it on AntennaTV and occasional marathons on Decades.

Wow, I have not heard of those channels, thanks. For years it was partly available through WB subscription but it bugged us that it was only a few episodes. That was why I was excited about the METV roll out, all episodes in order. 

[Tom Holmberg]

I recently saw the "Publicity Brat" episode of "77 Sunset Strip" on Me-TV.  The "brat" was played by 9-year-old Evelyn Rudie, who did a good job being a 9-year-old-going-on-30 year-old brat.  She was a playing a child star who's career was on the rocks and scheming to get publicity.  When I looked up Evelyn Rudie on the internet, it turned out that in real life, she had taken all of her money out of her piggy bank, took a cab to the airport, got on a plane to Washington, DC to go see Mamie Eisenhower to talk her into getting her a regular TV series. In the meantime her parents thought she'd been kidnapped.  Apparently it was legal in the 1950s for 9-year-olds to buy airplane tickets. 

Also, check out YouTube for her appearance on "You Bet Your Life."

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0748766/

[Quickbeam]

6 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I recently saw the "Publicity Brat" episode of "77 Sunset Strip" on Me-TV.  The "brat" was played by 9-year-old Evelyn Rudie, who did a good job being a 9-year-old-going-on-30 year-old brat.  She was a playing a child star who's career was on the rocks and scheming to get publicity.  When I looked up Evelyn Rudie on the internet, it turned out that in real life, she had taken all of her money out of her piggy bank, took a cab to the airport, got on a plane to Washington, DC to go see Mamie Eisenhower to talk her into getting her a regular TV series. In the meantime her parents thought she'd been kidnapped.  Apparently it was legal in the 1950s for 9-year-olds to buy airplane tickets. 

Also, check out YouTube for her appearance on "You Bet Your Life."

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0748766/

She was really good in that episode. 

We are watching every show in order. We’ve come to a preference for the Jeff Spenser “more fun” episodes than the Stu Bailey “ international intrigue” episodes. 

[Tom Holmberg]

His episodes tend to be lighter, esp. when he sings (not too many singing detectives these days). Shows in that era tended to intermix "message" episodes, "light"episodes, etc., along with straight-forward "serious" episodes.  If you want to find out more about Evelyn Rudie check out the story of her and Kay Thompson during the making of the Playhouse 90 "Eloise" broadcast.  https://www.villagevoice.com/2010/12/06/remembering-the-eloise-tv-movie-disaster/

[magicdog]

Found this interesting article about the restaurant located next to the PI's office, and seen in every episode:

Dino's Lodge

 

Some color photos of the exteriors here.  Sad to say, it's long gone!

[magicdog]

Not a double post!

I caught this morning's episode, "The Rice Estate" and, while an interesting story, I couldn't help but be annoyed at some details of the episode:

 

• Why did Eunice Rice's stepson go to all that trouble to get the house?  Would it have been so difficult for him to approach her and agree to something rather than terrorize her with pranks?
• What were the odds the stepson would have found the exact same clown costume Kookie was wearing at the party?
• Eunice seemed like she might turn into one of those weird old ladies considering she was willing to destroy valuable antique furniture rather than sell some of it to keep the utilities on.
• I was particularly annoyed at the resolution of the episode when Mrs. Rice said with the sale of the house (netting half a million bucks!), she mentioned she wanted to visit an old flame who somewhat resembled Bailey and may have been the impetus for her being attracted to him during the case.  It would have been better for her to have said she wanted to try to figure out things and rediscover herself after several years of abuse at the hands of her controlling husband.

One thing that did haunt me was the mention of the emotional and mental abuse of Mrs. Rice by her late husband.  Talking about abuse is much more open today than it was then but it was interesting to hear her recollections of it (not being allowed to speak until spoken to, and even then to address him only, excluding her from talking or interacting with other people, etc. ).  Those are classic abuse signs, aside from any physical signs like bruises or other injuries.  I applaud the writer for putting something like that at the forefront.

[Tom Holmberg]

>What were the odds the stepson would have found the exact same clown costume Kookie was wearing at the party?<

An obvious shortcut.  It could have been explained, but the writer's must have figured why bother? 

The ending was rather lame.  But in 77SS land all the attractive women have to be attracted to our PIs. :)

"Eunice", Peggy McKay, went on to a long run on "General Hospital" in the 1960s and 1970s and on "Days of Our Lives" starting in the 1980s.

http://soaps.sheknows.com/actors/peggy-mccay

[Tom Holmberg]

Friday's episode of 77SS on ME-TV is "Once Upon a Caper", is the one where Jeff tells the story of how he started the detective agency and took in the nerdy. bow-tied Stu and turned him into suave, sophisticated gumshoe we know and love.

[Tom Holmberg]

"College Caper" has Stu and Kookie going undercover at a college to protect the son of a mobster.  Stu was disguised, rather unconvincingly, as a professor of geology and Kookie as a transfer student.  Apparently even the college kids couldn't understand Kookie's slang! Totally squaresville! :)  A young Chad Everett played the mobster's son (very early in his acting career).  In an uncredited part as a college cheerleader was Robert Logan, the future Dino's carhop, J.R. Hale.

[Tom Holmberg]

"Open and Close in One" was a pretty good mystery episode.  Who's trying to kill Baxter Kellogg, played by Buddy Epsen, former silent movie star and circus "aerialist" by stealing his good luck charm, which Stu was hired to find. Besides Ebsen, the episode features a young Joel Grey (pretty much out-acting the rest of the cast), Dawn "Mary Ann" Wells and Julie Adams (frequent guest star on probably every drama series ever on TV during her career).  Kookie dates Mary Ann! Roscoe goes on a winning streak at the track and heckles Joel Grey.

[Tom Holmberg]

“Vamp ‘til Ready” (season 3, episode 30)  Another episode written by Gloria Elmore, who seems to write good mystery episodes.  In this one, Bert Convy plays a newly-wed concert pianist who thinks someone is trying to kill him.  When he disappears his bride, believing her husband might be suffering from amnesia, hires Stu to find him and bring him back. Popular character actor (frequently cast as a smooth Nazi officer) John Van Dreelen plays Bert’s manager.  Minimal use of 77SS’s secondary characters.

 

I’m starting to look forward to Ms. Elmore’s episodes (she wrote 11, plus multiple “Hawaiian Eye” and “Surfside Six” episodes).

Edited March 2, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
Correct Season #

[Tom Holmberg]

"The Common Denominator." (Season 3, episode 31) An episode co-written by Roger Smith.  A serial killer is murdering young women with no apparent motive.  Lt. Gilmore enlists Jeff to help find the killer.  Jeff employs Suzanne as a decoy, endangering her life. 

 

I always like episodes that give the secondary characters more airtime.  Here we get both Lt. Gilmore (his detective skills being shown up by Jeff's) and Suzanne with extended scenes.  Roscoe gets hit on in a bar. 

[Tom Holmberg]

"The 6 Out of 8 Caper." (Season 3, Episode 32). Nerdy accountant Wilmer (played by Jay Novello, one of the most recognizable "Hey, there's that guy!" on TV in the 60s) can consistently pick 6 out of 8 winners at the track, raising the interest of a millionaire investor and some mobsters. The female investor hires Stu to find out how he does it.  When Wilmer's daughter is kidnapped, Roscoe, with the help of mathematician Kookie (he can recognize the mathematical sequence of 38, 24, 36), has to pick 6 winners to stall the kidnappers while Stu saves the day. 

Very good mystery. Will keep you guessing.  Good use of Roscoe. Good ending.  You can't miss the "hidden" advertisement for "Maverick" (this episode's writer also wrote a number of "Maverick" episodes).  

[Tom Holmberg]

“The Celluloid Cowboy” (Season 3, Episode 33) is another good Gloria Elmore-written mystery, featuring Peggy McKay, who previously appeared in the “The Rice Estate”, and Andrew Duggan, who earlier appeared in the “The Hamlet Caper.”  McKay as Fay Dakota, ex-wife of Duggan’s Flint Dakota, famed cowboy star, hires Jeff to find out who’s behind the “accidents” occurring on the set of their latest “oater.” Jeff and Roscoe go undercover--Roscoe as a cigar-smoking Indian. Donna (“Elly Mae Clampett”) Douglas plays Flint Dakota’s new flame. Douglas, playing an exotic dancer turned starlet/temptress, and her ex-boyfriend, Flint’s stunt double, are top suspects.  Character actress Christine Nelson, plays Moonbeam, Roscoe’s “Indian princess” love-interest.

Surprisingly, I didn't notice any mentions of WB westerns.  I liked how the attractive Peggy McKay was supposed to be too old and plain for her ex-husband. :(

Edited March 7, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
Spelling

[Tom Holmberg]

"Designing Eye" (Season 3, Episode 35) has Jeff hired to uncover who is using industrial espionage to steal the swimsuit designs from a high-end swim and resort apparel line. A complicated mystery (I'm not really sure that it makes total sense, and surely you can't figure out who "did" it before the reveal). Well-known character actor Robert H. Harris and "Captain Midnight" Richard Webb are the only "faces" in the episode.  Suzanne goes undercover again, as a model for the rival swimwear company (unfortunately, we don't get to see her in any of the swimwear :) ) and ends up in peril, again. In a side story, Roscoe wins a "racer" in a claiming race and keeps it at 77 Sunset Strip.

The saddest part of the episode was that no one was particularly outraged by the fact that the swimsuit models were almost treated as prostitutes by the swimwear companies, though Suzanne was obviously unhappy about it.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
Added info

[Tom Holmberg]

“Caper in E Flat” (Season 3, Episode 36) A totally comic episode despite the murder theme. John Dehner gives an over-the-top performance as the Colonel Tom Parker-esque Deacon Morton P. Franklin, who hires Rex to discover who’s trying to kill his “sub-teen”, not-very-Elvis-like, pop idol client Billy Boy Baines (played by Evan McCord, later Joseph Gallison, who gets billing during the opening-which is unusual-despite being someone I never heard of. Obviously WB was trying to make him into a star. His best known role was a long run on “Days of Our Lives” under his real name). Cloris Leachman plays Deacon’s over-sexed, drunken wife, putting on a Southern belle accent and showing all the men her juleps.  Future Dino’s parking lot attendant J.R. Hale, Robert Logan, is a former teen idol client of Deacon’s and suspect.

 

There’s a lot of singing in this episode, with all the regular cast-minus Stu-singing a closing number. The scene with Dehner trying to zip up Leachman’s tight, leopard-print pants was both funny and sort of disturbing. Dehner first appears driving what looks like a Nudie Cohn customized western-themed (cowboy) car.  http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/26/autos/nudie-cohn-cadillac/index.html

[Tom Holmberg]

“The Rival Eye Caper” (Season 4, Episode 1) A new season starts with a strong episode.  A string of jewelry robberies that Bailey & Spencer can’t solve are being quickly solved by a new agency in town, Surety Detective Agency. When an insurance agency hires Bailey to find out who stole $70,000 in jewels from washed-up movie star Nola Chase (played by frequent “Dragnet” character actress, Virginia Gregg), the agency has to find the jewels and discover the secret of Surety’s success. Hodad Kookie goes undercover on the beach to investigate Chase’s son, mommy’s boy Tony Chase (Chad Everett), a  prize-winning surfer, and beach bunny Nixie (Dawn “Mary Ann” Wells). Tom Gilson plays Tony’s surf bum accomplice, Duneboy (was Moondog already taken?).  (Gilson was shot and killed by his Playboy model wife the following year.) Character actor Bert Remsen plays the slimy head of the rival detective agency (Remsen was almost killed in 1964 by a falling crane on a TV set, but he continued to work into the 1990s). Nola's relationship with her son Tony had a lot of not very subtle Freudian undertones (or maybe overtones!).

Edited March 15, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
added info

[Tom Holmberg]

“The Desert Spa Caper” (Season 4, Episode 2) Hollywood star Claire Dickens turns to alcohol after the death of her Errol Flynn-like co-star and love interest, Randy Reilly.  In order to dry her out, the studio sends Claire to El Rancho Aphrodite, an all-female health resort for rehab. Jeff is hired to protect her and enlists Suzanne to go undercover at the resort as a client while our singing detective provides entertainment and attraction for the ladies. Based on the clientele the spa should be called El Rancho Mean Girls, with everyone a suspect, including a gossip columnist, the spa’s nutritionist, the spa’s owner, the spa’s cowboy riding instructor, etc. In fact, I was wondering if the might not pull an Agatha Christie and have everyone at the spa trying wreak revenge on Claire. Suzanne is the star of this episode, getting most of the screen time. The only recognizable face in the episode is probably Jason Evers from “The Brain that Wouldn’t Die.”

Finally Suzanne gets to shine in an episode- riding horses, sword fencing, wearing big hats and solving crimes.

[Tom Holmberg]

"Man in the Crowd" (Season 4, Episode 3) R. E. Venge is trying to kill Jeff. Who he is, and what's his motive, are unknown. Robert Colbert (of "Time Tunnel" fame) plays Venge. J. R. (Robert Logan) has his first appearance as a service station attendant (strangely credited as "Bob", even though he's clearly called "J. R." in the episode), only to get blown up (he recovers by the end of the episode with only a broken leg). Jeff gets a rip-roaring fight scene that includes mud wrestling.  Another "face" in the episode is character actor Olan Soule, who usually was cast as clerks, judges, bank tellers, etc., but actually played Batman (well, Batman's voice) in the "Super Friends" cartoons. 

[Tom Holmberg]

“The Inverness Cape Caper” (Season 4, Episode 4) Big changes in 77SS land! Kookie is now an associate in Bailey & Spencer, and J. R. Hale is the new parking lot attendant (fully recovered from getting blown up in the last episode). Kookie is running the B&S crime lab? Where did he learn that? 

Mild-mannered Jay Novello, in a double role, is back as another accountant, as well as a drunken Shakespearean actor (having fun overacting).  Dawn Wells is back as Novello’s niece. Elisha Cook Jr. is an ex-jockey hitman. Character actor Ted de Corsia is an ex-Chicago gangster (the usual role for de Corsia) running a racing farm. 

Elisha Cook had supposedly killed Novello 15 years earlier on de Corsia’s orders.  But when de Corsia spots Novello on the street he orders a hit.  Stu is tricked into locating Novello so Cook can kill him.  In order to get the evidence on de Corsia and Cook and find the kidnapped Wells, they hire actor Novello to impersonate accountant Novello. Phew! A complicated, but entertaining plot, with a good cast.

The title of the episode?  Novello, the accountant, always wears an Inverness cape, a clue that helps Stu find him.

[Jaded]

I didn't enjoy this latest episode as much with Kookie promoted. If the rest of the season is like that I can see why the following season with Stu by himself was the last. I started watching backwards on MeTV last year and began with the shorter final season.

Edited March 20, 2018 by Jaded

[Tom Holmberg]

I never thought J. R. was as interesting character as Kookie (and I don't think the public did either.  There weren't any songs about "J. R., J. R., lend me your abbreviations"). Nor did I think it was believable that Kookie was suddenly a forensic scientist. But Kookie remained an "associate" not a partner and the show generally featured Jeff or Stu, with Kookie largely in a secondary role.  So far this season has pretty good stories.  Ratings might have been hurt by all the copy-cat shows on the air at the time.

[Tom Holmberg]

On ‎3‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 4:33 PM, Jaded said:

I started watching backwards on MeTV last year and began with the shorter final season.

I didn't care for the final season, but I can see how if that was your introduction, the lighter tone of the previous seasons would be a shock. 

[Tom Holmberg]

"The Unremembered" (Season 4, Episode 6) Douglas Fairbanks-like former star Roland Dumont (played by John Dehner, one of my favorite character actors of the era) is trying to self-finance a come-back by robbing his former associates of jewelry. The cape-clad, horror-masked Dumont uses his skills as a action star, who did his own stunts, to shine as a cat-burglar. Stu is hired to bring the second-story man to justice.  There's no mystery about who's guilty, but Stu has to out-smart Dumont to get the evidence to convict him. 

As usual Dehner stands out.  Suzanne gets to look beautiful. The whole thing where Dumont becomes Stu's butler is really goofy. Also in the episode is Tristram Coffin, best known as the "King of the Rocket Men", precursor to Commando Cody. 

Edited March 23, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
Spelling

[Tom Holmberg]

"Big Boy Blue" (Season 4, Episode 7) An all-serious episode, with none of the usual 77SS comedy relief. Jerry Paris (Dick Van Dyke's Dr. Jerry Helper) plays a Hollywood talent manager who discovers ace trumpet player Buddy Blue (played by Biff Elliot, the first actor to portray Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer) in jail in Mexico.  Bailing him out, Paris brings Buddy to L.A. to make a star out of him.  Paris hires Jeff to find out if Buddy has any skeleton's in his closet.  He also gets his girlfriend Lorna to make a play for Buddy to keep him on the straight and narrow. Meanwhile, New Orleans gangster Lee Santly, who Buddy left in the lurch during a robbery that resulted in Santly going to prison, is looking for revenge. 

Written by script doctor Dean Riesner, the episode is almost noirish (at least for 77SS). Riesner should be remembered for writing the immortal: "Do you feel lucky? Well, do you punk?"

Edited March 24, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
Spelling

[Tom Holmberg]

“The Turning Point” (Season 4, Episode 10) 77 Sunset Strip meets West Side Story.  An old army buddy needs Stu’s assistance in helping to reform JD Speed Minton (played by David Winters, who played “Baby John” in the original Broadway cast of “West Side Story” and “A-rab” in the movie version). Stu enlists the whole crew, as well as Speed’s straight-laced sister (played by Kathie Browne, Adam Cartwright's prospective bride), in trying to help the confused young punk. The parole of Speed’s 3-time loser brother complicates manners.

Also in the cast is Munchkin Billy Curtis, star of the all-little people Western “The Terror of Tiny Town.” The episode is something of a return to the more relaxed episodes of 77SS after a string of heavier episodes. The Frankie Ortega Trio show up and Roscoe’s greyhound, Genevieve, even makes an appearance.

[magicdog]

I’m really enjoying thee write ups!  I haven’t been able to watch as much as I’d like.

[Tom Holmberg]

1 hour ago, magicdog said:

I’m really enjoying these write ups!

Thanks.  Fortunately I can record them, otherwise I'd have to get up a 3 am!  I wish they'd eventually shift the shows around and maybe 77SS would be on at a decent hour. :)  Decades did a weekend marathon of the show about a year and a half ago, maybe they'll do it again.

[Tom Holmberg]

“Reserved for Mr. Bailey” (Season 4, Episode 12) A counterpart to season 2’s “The Silent Caper” starring Jeff, this oddball episode has only Stu in the cast (the voices are uncredited. In fact there are no acting credits at the end of the show).  Receiving a 3 am call to go to the office, Stu is coshed and wakes up in the desert outside a deserted western ghost town.  As he explores to town, a voice tells him he’s going to be killed (presumably hung in the town square?).  Stu has to find the mysterious voice and escape the town before disaster falls.  A great, change of pace episode.

Interestingly, for whatever reason, the episode was never included in the syndication package, despite being so memorable. ME-TV got the episode in their package. (Apparently more than 40 episodes weren’t shown in original syndication, for “legal reasons”. There needs to be a book about this show!)

The author of the teleplay and director of the episode, Montgomery Pittman, also wrote and directed some “Twilight Zone” episode, which shows as Stu speculates perhaps a mad scientist sent him back in time to the Old West. The original story was written by Charles Sinclair, who wrote some B-grade horror movies and Bill Finger, who among his other credits include helping Bob Kane develop “Batman” and co-creating “Green Lantern”.

 

Also the first episode I can remember to show Efrem Zimbalist Jr. playing the piano (Efrem Zimbalist Sr. was a famous violinist, composer and conductor).

Edited April 3, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
Grammar

[Tom Holmberg]

“The Chrome Coffin” (Season 4, Episode 15) (A.K.A., “Hot Rods to Heck”) Stu is hired to protect Drake Evans, young millionaire heir with an obsession with drag racing and a morbid streak. Hotrodders Kookie, J.R. and Roscoe assist.  Max Baer Jr. (“Jethro”) plays a rival hotrodder, doing a Marlon Brando/”Wild One” impersonation. Vaughn Taylor is Drake’s uncle, who hires Stu. Paul Carr (“Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” and tons of other shows) is Drake’s mechanic. I would have liked more car racing, but a nice episode reflecting the rise of California car culture of the time.

I was disappointed that the famous “Kookie Car”, a T-bucket, roadster/pickup with a souped-up 1952 Cadillac Engine, didn’t appear in the episode. The car was so popular you could even buy a model kit of it.

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/grabowski-t-hot-rod.htm

https://www.popsike.com/ED-KOOKIE-BYRNES-KOOKIES-HOT-ROD-MODEL-CAR-MINT/180225260035.html

TV detective car kits

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv305.html

Edited April 5, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
Opinion

[Tom Holmberg]

“The Down Under Caper” (Season 4, Episode 16) 77SS does for Australia what it previously has done for Mexico. :)  Warner Bros. stock footage department works overtime to make the WB backlot look like Australia. Roger Smith (who wrote the episode and cast his then wife, Victoria Shaw, in the lead) delivers some expensive pearls to Australia before literally running into sheep rancher Margaret Hughes (Shaw) in the airport.  Hughes dumps him at his hotel where he’s punched out by Hughes supposed boyfriend, played by bad guy actor Michael Pate (technically, the first actor to portray James Bond's CIA sidekick, Felix Leiter), who’s working with British character actor Ronald Long to buy Hughes’ land by hook or by crook. Much mentions of billabongs, boomerangs, koala bears, etc. I did learn that Aussie can't hit the side of a barn with a rifle and never heard of a "rare" steak.  Kind of embarrassing, but I suppose the Aussies have forgiven us by now.

A funny bit is Hughes’ foreman reeling off a string Australian slang and Jeff telling him he needs to have a conversation with Kookie.

Edited April 10, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
add. info

[Tom Holmberg]

“Penthouse on Skid Row” (Season 4, Episode 18)  Jeff goes undercover as a washed-up Shakespearean actor (!) in a Skid Row boarding house.  The residents, a punch-drunk boxer, former jockey, ex-stripper, a dime-a-dance girl, a newsstand operator, a Salvation Army member, etc., are being harassed by real estate moguls who want to gentrify the neighborhood. Jeff takes the case pro bono to save the group, despite only knowing Juliet’s speech from “Romeo & Juliet” (he was Juliet in his high school production). Kookie and Roscoe assist. The residents are all good character actors, including , Mae Questel (the voice of “Betty Boop” and “Olive Oyl”) as the aging stripper, David Winters (last seen as Speed Minton) and Biff Elliot (last seen as Big Boy Blue). Not a great episode, but a lot of fun.

 

The highlight of the episode is a full-blown dance number with Kookie and Grace Lee Whitney (Star Trek’s own Yeoman Rand) and a cast of tens doing a choreographed Twist-off (this was during the 1960s’ Twist fad.)

[Tom Holmberg]

“Brass Ring Caper” (Season 4, Episode 21) Newly-minted PI Kookie gets his own case.  Down on his luck hitchhiker Danny Belmont (Robert Ivers) gets picked up by Beverly Hills businessman Walter Glascoe.  Dropped at a roadside drive-in, Danny hitches a ride with Kookie (driving Ford Falcon, the kind of car driven by 1960s suburban housewives, picking up the groceries. How the mighty have fallen! He needs to get his hotrod back from J.R.) to 77 Sunset Strip.  Danny does Kookie a good turn and when, later that night, Danny breaks into Glascoe’s house to rob it and Glascoe’s wife (played by famous face, Marjorie Bennett) is shot, Danny makes a break and shows up at 77 Sunset Strip again to call in his favor.  Kookie, at odds with Gil and the LAPD, decides to prove Danny innocent.  Kookie is aided by cute carhop Tina (Zeme North).  Sexy Joan Tabor (Broderick Crawford’s wife. Lucky dog!) is also involved.

A decent, straight forward plot and Edd Byrnes does a good job as a detective, even doing his own stunts including the fight scene.  Suzanne and Frankie Ortega show up, as does a rather tame stripper at a strip club Kookie visits. 

Edited April 11, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
Correction

[Tom Holmberg]

“The Parallel Caper” (Season 4, Episode 23) When two damsels in distress turn up at Bailey & Spencer, Jeff and Kookie are launched on interlocking cases. Socialite Marianne Winston (Allison Hayes) wants Jeff to investigate the suspicious doings of her wastrel yachting brother, Dennis.  Young Nina Ziretti (Danielle De Metz) wants Kookie to investigate the death of her fisherman father on the piers of San Pedro. Unbeknownst to our two intrepid transom peepers the two cases are intertwined as South American revolutionaries are trying to smuggle guns from the US. The episode ends with Jeff and Kookie in a shootout with each other!

The “parallel” gimmick works as a plot device. A lot of stereotypical “nautical” types as extras (I have to wonder if dockworkers in the Sixties actually looked the same as dockworkers from 1930s gangster pictures).  J.R. finally gets to really assist on a case, taking on the role Kookie used to have in earlier seasons.

[wilsie]

For anyone who gets Decades there will be a marathon this weekend starting at 1:00 pm this Saturday April 14th.  It starts with season 2:episode18, "Ten Cents a Death" and continues until 7:am Monday the 16th.  

[Tom Holmberg]

“Twice Dead” (Season 4, Episode 24) Paroled wife-killer Tom Lansing (Karl Swenson, “Little House on the Prairie” Lars Hanson) hires Stu Bailey to find his daughter Jean (Sharon Hugueny, wife of actor and later Paramount president Robert Evans).  Meanwhile Lansing’s supposedly murdered wife Connie (Margaret Hayes) shows up alive and well-lubricated to blackmail Lansing’s former partner and Jean’s guardian, Robert Vincent (Kent Smith). When Connie is murdered again the police suspect Jean, while Lansing confesses to the crime (since he was already punished for Connie’s first murder, he claims double jeopardy).  Stu has to untangle the crime and find the murderer, while Suzanne tries on hats.

Another straight forward mystery that is not obvious who the real killer is.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
Hats!

[Tom Holmberg]

“Baker Street Caper” (Season 4, Episode 26) Stu and Roscoe assist Scotland Yard and British PI Eric Sommers (Andrew Duggan getting another showy role playing the PI plus disguised as the “Napoleon of Crime” behind the string of robberies) in solving a series of big-time heists of art, furs and jewels.  Stu easily discovers Sommers’ secret with the help of Roscoe, who gets to channel Sherlock Holmes (who makes a cameo appearance) throughout the episode, and foils Sommers latest robbery.  Famous faces include Tudor Owen, a bushy-eyebrowed Brit, and Walter Burke, who looked like a leprechaun and usually played unsavory characters.

[Jaded]

I fell asleep while watching Season 4's Ep 25 titled "Jennifer" the other night. Going to see if I can find it online to see what happened during the last 30 minutes. 

[Tom Holmberg]

1 hour ago, Jaded said:

Season 4's Ep 25 titled "Jennifer" the other night.

The most interesting aspect was that they had the same actor (Fabrizio Mioni) play both of the de Marivaux brothers, even though they weren't twins. Maybe they were just trying to save money. :)

[Tom Holmberg]

  "The Long Shot Caper" (Season 4, Episode 27) Kookie recently having gotten his own episode, now Roscoe gets a shot at his own stand-alone turn.  Having apparently moved into new digs (managed by Hope Summers, Mayberry's own Clara Edwards), Roscoe discovers his spinster school teacher neighbor (Christine Nelson, last seen making time with Roscoe as Indian princess Moonbeam) not only plays the horses, but uses a “slipstick” (slide rule) and "algorithms" to pick long-shot winners).  While trying, largely unsuccessfully, to have an uninterrupted date with his new paramour (one "date" is interrupted by a bomb thrown through Roscoe's window), Roscoe inadvertently gets involved in a mob gang war.  Mob hitman Babe Mackie (James Best, of “The Dukes of Hazzard”), hilariously using the alias "George Jefferson," sets his sights on Roscoe.  Jeff gets involved only at the end.

I like when the show gives the secondary characters a chance to shine, though I wouldn't want Roscoe to become a partner like Kookie. I only wish they'd have an episode highlighting the Frankie Ortega Trio solving a caper! I miss Roscoe's phone on the wall-mounted "accordion" device next to the bed. Were the rest of the headliners on vacation? Even Gil was missing.    

[Tom Holmberg]

  "The Steerer" (Season 4, Episode 30) Should be titled “The Gang That Couldn’t Crook Straight.” Kookie gets another episode. The world’s most inept gangsters try to recover money stolen from them during a crooked poker gang they were running, resulting in one of the gang being shot by his own associates. "Cowboy" Harmie Sinclair (Tom Gilson, who you’ll remember was shot and killed in real life by his Playboy model wife) secretly stashes the money with aspiring actress Betsy Howard (Pamela Austin, “Blue Hawaii”), who Kookie has been hired to locate. The crooks kidnap Betsy, who they let get away, even though she can identify them. Kookie gets in a poker game, while Gil searches for the killers. J.R. gets to play Kookie to Kookie’s Jeff.  If any bunch of crooks deserve to be in jail it’s these doofusses.

A workman-like episode, with no outstanding features.

Edited April 25, 2018 by Tom Holmberg
Spelling

[Tom Holmberg]

  "The Disappearance" (Season 4, Episode 32) Veteran character actor John Dehner plays another criminal mastermind, Dr. Burke, assisted by famous face Victor Buono ("What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?") and Ross. The trio is plotting to kidnap a "Distinguished Visitor" (his name is never mentioned, nor is his face ever shown, though he's obviously meant to be a former President. He seems like a combination of Eisenhower, Truman and maybe a little Herbert Hoover thrown in for good measure) for a ransom of the proverbial one million dollars (Re: "Austin Powers").  Our "Distinguished Visitor" is visiting Pine Lake, home of one of his millionaire cronies and a Catholic monastery. Stu Bailey is helping to provide security (this is pre-Kennedy assassination, so there's no Secret Service protection for the former President) along with the sheriff of Pine Lake (another veteran character actor, Med Flory).  The President is kidnapped while playing golf (I was reminded of a similar scene in "In Like Flint") and held in the wine cellar of the monastery along with the cassock-wearing brothers. Ask not for whom the bells toll, they toll for Stu.

Roscoe and J.R. get involved. Roscoe actually saves the day, while J.R.'s hotrod makes an appearance.

[Tom Holmberg]

"Framework for a Badge" (Season 4, Episode 37 ) A Gil-centric episode. Police informant Packy is shot before the LAPD arrive to question him about mobster Norm Leach's murder of his partner.  Packy's last words to Gil, with the hotel night clerk as witness, is that Norm shot him. Later, when Gil questions the clerk at HQ, with the press and Norm there (Really? That's how you question a witness?), the clerk claims Packy was dead when they entered the room, setting Gil up for a frame. Meanwhile Norm's lawyer tries to hire Jeff to find the missing witness who will prove Norm was with her when his partner was shot. (We all now where that's going.) Norm manages to get released from jail on parole when the press witness (with photographs) Gil supposedly trying to beat a confession out of him. Kookie and Roscoe try to find the missing witness.

A decent straight-forward mystery, if much more violent than the typical 77SS episode. Jeff gets in a knock-down, drag-out fistfight. An unusual amount of gunplay for 77SS. We meet Gil's long-suffering wife and see a picture of his daughter, who is threatened off-camera. Roscoe plays pool. Frankie Ortega plays the piano. I think the bar Kookie visited in New Orleans in "Big Boy Blue episode somehow shows up in LA.    

Edited May 3, 2018 by Tom Holmberg

[Tom Holmberg]

"Dress Rehearsal" (Season 4, Episode 36) Another all-Kookie episode.  Kookie is called to Fraser Farms in Marlindo, CA, a luxurious agricultural estate on the California coast producing cheese (did the writers actually ever smell a cheese factory?) and ice cream, owned by Eleanor Fraser (Gilligan’s Island’s own Natalie Schafer, “Lovey” Howell” ).  His job is to find the missing little Franklin. Eleanor, Aunt Ellie, is about to marry Adm. “Kamikaze” Kyle, upsetting Aunt Ellie’s four nieces and nephews, young ditzy chef Debby Fraser, Kirk Fraser, Wayne Fraser and Audrey Fraser Lawrence (and assorted spouses). Added to the mix is Martin Grosch (John Astin, his voice oddly dubbed with a phony foreign accent. Almost as if it was added later as an afterthought. Surely John Astin could do a foreign accent? ), the family chauffeur, and his wife Ilsa Grosch (played by Gene Roddenberry’s wife, Majel Barrett), family housekeeper.  Franklin is found buried in the garden having been poisoned and Kookie deduces that someone wants to kill Aunt Ellie, presumably to stop the marriage and the rewriting of Ellie will.    

Not a stand-out episode despite the interesting cast. We get to hear about Kookie's Navy career, something that doesn't get mentioned much. The "Mad Gasser" at the end is a hoot though.

[Tom Holmberg]

"Upbeat" (Season 4, Episode 39) This episode is a belated sequel to the episode "Downbeat" (Season 1, Episode 31). Stu and J.R (exactly why J.R. is there is never really explained, other than Kookie, as a partner, isn't around anymore to be the agency's flunky), are in New Orleans on an assignment when Stu sees a mysterious blonde, Nora Shirley (beautiful platinum blonde Dorothy Provine, star of the cancelled WB series "The Roaring 20s", or "77 Sunset Strip" in 1920s Chicago). Secretly, sophisticated spy Henrique van Horn (suave bad guy character actor John van Dreelen), former partner of OSS agent Stu's who went to work behind the Iron Curtain after the war, is out for revenge against Stu for his helping the FBI in an elaborate plot to capture him (shown in a lengthy flashbacks from the previous episode). J.R. is kidnapped by van Horn's henchmen (including character actor Norman Alden) to get to Stu. It's unclear who's side Nora is on throughout the episode (though it's the early Sixties so you can kinda guess). NOLA police inspector, Cal Calhoun (Andrew Duggan), former partner with Rex Randolph (Richard Long in "Bourbon Street Beat"or "77 Sunset Strip" in New Orleans) shows up briefly, and for no particular reason, now that his show's been cancelled.

A decent story, with enough mystery to keep interest for the hour, but none of the "lightness" typical of 77SS. Robert Logan is a personable enough actor, though J.R.'s "collegiate" persona suffers by comparison to Kookie's cool "greaser" persona (plus his sweaters and white socks can't compete with Kookie's James Dean-style jacket). Hooray to WB for loyalty to the stars of their cancelled shows.  I wish ME-TV would show the other 77SS spin-offs, maybe in rotation.