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I had heard of Route 66, but never knew what it was (other than a TV series), so I decided to watch Season 1, Episode 1, and was pleased to see Martin Milner co-starring as Tod Stiles (Martin Milner was the policeman driving on Adam-12, which I *loved* as a young teen).

The other co-star (for the first three seasons) was George Maharis, as Buz Murdock, who also starred on the short-lived series, "The Most Deadly Game." 

After Maharis had to drop out because he contracted hepatitis, he was replaced by Glenn Corbett (also as Buz Murdock) who was, believe it or not, Zefram Cochrane: the inventor of warp drive on Star Trek!

The series is free on Hulu (with ads).

Route 66 is a "Thelma & Louise"-style "road trip" series, in which the same two friends run into different situations and people each week (hence the term, "hybrid anthology-drama"). It was an indirect-spin-off of the series "Naked City." It's an "anthology," because every week is in a different location, with different characters and situations; it's a "serial," because it's always the same premise, with the same two co-stars - so you have a little of both.

Episode 1 was really good - very creepy, actually - and if I watch more episodes from Season 1, I'll fill them in here as I go (if you see them filled in, that means I've watched more, but didn't want to take up your time with additional postings).

Where were you when you heard about the World Trade Center bombings on 9/11? It probably seems very fresh in your mind - it's important to remember, when watching TV shows such as Route 66, that the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurred just as recently to them, as the World Trade Center bombings occurred to us now - that's how fresh WWII was in their minds. I'm not saying Route 66 has anything to do with WWII; merely that it helps to have that perspective because that war influenced everything (and, yes, I'd be lying if I said their weren't some allusions to WWII in Season 1, Episode 1).

I'm not sure if the website, route66tvshow.blogspot.com, is comprehensive, but the work they put into covering Season 1, Episode 1 is absolutely extraordinary, and I'll be using it as my reference-link until I find a reason not to. I can't believe someone could put *this* much work into covering all 116 episodes, but maybe it's true - anyway: *highly* recommended from what little I've seen. Anyone wishing to go into depth about any given episode should go to this blog, and explore it in detail. [Edit: Unfortunately, it only goes on for the first nine episodes, and I've had no success in contacting the blogger - what a shame.]

Season One (Oct 7, 1960 - Jun 16, 1961)

1.1 - "Black November" - Screenshot 2016-08-25 at 20.07.55.png
Directed by Philip Leacock (Director of "The War Lover"), Written by Stirling Silliphant (Academy Award Winner for Best Adapted Screenplay for "In the Heat of the Night")
Featuring Everett Sloane (Bernstein in "Citizen Kane") and in an *extremely* early appearance: Keir Dullea (David Bowman in "2001: A Space Odyssey")

[Apologies for the darkness of the picture above, but it was one of the few good shots of a very, very young Keir Dullea ("Open the pod bay doors, HAL.")]

1.2 - "A Lance of Straw" - Screenshot 2016-09-08 at 04.50.12.png
Directed by Roger Kay (Director of "The Cabinet of Caligari"), Written by Stirling Silliphant (2)
Featuring Janice Rule (Helen Foley in "Nightmare as a Child" on "The Twilight Zone"), Thomas Gomez, and Nico Minardos (the Doctor in "The Gift" on "The Twilight Zone" (2))

1.3 - "The Swan Bed" - Screenshot 2016-09-08 at 04.45.26.png
Directed by Elliot Silverstein (Director of "Cat Ballou," Director of 4 episodes of "The Twilight Zone" (3)), Written by Stirling Silliphant (3)
Featuring Zina Bethune (Gail Lucas on "The Nurses"), Betty Field (Mae in "Of Mice and Men"), Henry Hull (The Werewolf in "The Werewolf of London"), Murry Hamilton (Death in "One for the Angels" on "The Twilight Zone" (4), Mr. Robinson in "The Graduate"

1.4 - "The Man on the Monkey Board" - Screenshot 2016-12-28 at 22.47.52.png
Directed by Roger Kay (2), Written by Stirling Silliphant (4)
Featuring Lew Ayres (Paul Bäumer in "All Quiet on the Western Front," Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor as Dr. Robert Richardson in "Johnny Belinda"), Alfred Ryder (Edgar Price in "The Borderland" on "The Outer Limits," Professor Robert Crater in "The Man Trap" on "Star Trek" (2, the series premier, aired exactly fifty years to the day before I'm writing this sentence)), Frank Overton (Sheriff Heck Tate in "To Kill a Mockingbird"), Bruce Dern (Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor (2) as Woodrow "Woody" Grant in "Nebraska," Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor as Captain Bob Hyde in "Coming Home"), Ed Asner (Seven-Time Emmy Award Winner, Lou Grant on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," Captain Davies on "Roots"), Roger C. Carmel (Roger Buell on "The Mothers-in-Law," Harcourt Fenton Mudd in "I, Mudd" on "Star Trek" (3))

1.5 - "The Strengthening Angels" - Screenshot 2016-12-28 at 22.43.46.png
Directed by Arthur Hiller (Directed "Love Story"), Written by Stirling Silliphant (5)
Featuring Suzanne Pleshette (Anne in "Hitch Hike" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," Annie Hayworth in "The Birds," Emily Hartley on "The Bob Newhart Show" ), John Larch (Mr. Fremont in "It's a Good Life" on "The Twilight Zone" (5), Chief of Police in "Dirty Harry"),
Harry Townes (Three episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (2) Arch Hammer in "The Four of Us Are Dying" (2) on "The Twilight Zone" (6), Dr. Clifford Scott in "O.B.I.T." on "The Outer Limits" (2), Reger in "The Return of the Archons" on "Star Trek" (4)), Warren Stevens

1.6 - "Ten Drops of Water" - Screenshot 2017-01-17 at 18.17.24.png
Directed by Philip Leacock (2), Written by Howard Rodman (Writer of 26 episodes of "Naked City")
Featuring Burt Brinckerhoff (Director of "7th Heaven"), Deborah Walley (Gidget in "Gidget Goes Hawaiian"), Tony Haig (Johnny Hutton in "Twenty Miles from Dodge" on Gunsmoke)

[Tony Haig, the twelve-year-old boy in this episode, didn't go on to have a big acting career, but he was absolutely magnificent in this episode, and it would have been justified to nominate (or award) him an Emmy for his fantastic performance here.] 

1.7 - "Three Sides" - Screenshot 2017-01-17 at 18.21.12.png
Directed by Philip Leacock (3), Written by Stirling Silliphant (6)
Featuring E.G. Marshall (Juror #4 in "12 Angry Men," Ronald J. Grimes in "Mail Order Prophet" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (3)), Stephen Bolster (Roger Landover in "One Life to Live,"), Joey Heatherton (Singer on "The Joey Heatherton Album,"), Johnny Seven (Karl Matuschka in "The Apartment,"Paul Genge (Mike in "Bullitt")

1.8 - "Legacy for Lucia" - Screenshot 2017-01-17 at 18.26.11.png
Directed by Philip Leacock (4), Written by - Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant (7), Story: Melvin Levy (Co-Writer of "The Six Million Dollar Man" (movie)) and Stirling Silliphant
Featuring Arlene Martel (Morgue Nurse in "Twenty Two" on "The Twilight Zone" (7), T'Pring in "Amok Time" on "Star Trek" (5)), John Larch (2), Jay C. Flippen (Happy Spangler in "The Return of Happy Spangler" on "The Dick Van Dyke Show")

1.9 - "Layout at Glen Canyon" - Screenshot 2017-01-17 at 18.13.08.png (Unfortunately, route66tvshow.blogspot.com ended after just nine episodes.)
Directed by Elliot Silverstein (2), Written by Stirling Silliphant (8)
Featuring Charles McGraw (Mike Burkeman in "Johnny Got his Gun"). Bethel Leslie (Nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Movie as Ellen Dudley in "Statement of Fact" on "The Richard Boone Show"), Zohra Lampert (Jessica Heyman in "Let's Scare Jessica to Death"), Richard Shannon (Buck Henderson in "The Tin Star"), Lane Nakano (A Japanese-American who fought in the 442nd Infantry Regiment. in WWII, Sam in "Go for Broke"), Elizabeth MacRae (Lou-Ann Poovie on "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C."), Donna Douglas (Elly May Clampett in "The Beverly Hillbillies")

[Like the excellent route66tvshow.blogspot.com blog (which, unfortunately, ends after this episode), and all the other critiques I've read, I, too, thought this episode was a jumbled mess. Then, I saw it a second time, and almost a third time, and I realize now that it isn't a jumbled mess at all; it's just too complex for a "mere" TV serial - it's a *great* episode, and commands several viewings in order to fully appreciate.]

1.10 - "The Beryllium Eater" - Screenshot 2017-02-03 at 7.59.43 PM.png
Directed by Alvin Ganzer (Director of 4 episodes of "The Twilight Zone" (8)), Written by Richard Collins (Producer of 127 episodes of "Bonanza")
Featuring Edgar Buchanan (Pops in "Coyote Moon" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (4), Doc Bolton in "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" on "The Twilight Zone" (9), Uncle Joe Carson on "Petticoat Junction"), Edward Binns (Juror #6 in "12 Angry Men" (2), Mr. Brown in "Heart of Gold" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (5
), Colonel Donlin in "I Shot an Arrow into the Air" and General Walters in "The Long Morrow" on "The Twilight Zone" (10)), Inger Stevens (Karen Wilson in "Forecast: Low Clouds and Coastal Fog" on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," Nan Adams in "The Hitch-Hiker" and Jana in "The Lateness of the Hour" on "The Twilight Zone" (11))

[How do you not love an episode when "Uncle Joe" on "Petticoat Junction" strikes it rich?]

1.11 - "A Fury Singing Flame" - Screenshot 2017-02-03 at 7.52.34 PM.png
Directed by Elliot Silverstein (3), Written by Stirling Silliphant (9)
Featuring Leslie Nielsen (Lloyd Ashley in "The $2,000,000 Defense" and Rudy Cox in "Ambition" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (6), Steven Grainger in "The Magic Shop" on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (2), The Phantom in "The Phantom of What Opera" and Colonel Denny Malloy in "A Question of Fear" on "Night Gallery," Dr. Rumack in "Airplane!"), Fay Spain (Leslie Lenox in "The Last Dark Step" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (7), Mrs. Marcia Roth in "The Godfather, Part II"), Lili Kardell (Lorna Jenkins in "Malice Domestic" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (8))

[Leslie Nielsen was serious, respected, dramatic actor until the 1987 film "Airplane!," which was his very first comedic role - he essentially had two careers as an actor. I chose the entrance path to Carlsbad Caverns as a picture because it's special to me personally - I've been there twice, and on my second visit, I had to drive two hours *averaging* 75 mph (it was New Mexico, with higher speed limits) to make the final tour of the day - I made it, but I had to literally run down the trail and yell out for the tour guide: After two hours of panic, I made the tour, by about fifteen seconds - I remember the entrance path - where the photo above was filmed - very well. For anyone who's been to Carlsbad Caverns, and remembers them turning the lights off - probably one of the only times in your entire life you've experienced essentially 100% darkness - there's a good moment in this episode that will make you remember the tour.]

1.12 - "Sheba" Screenshot 2017-03-11 at 4.10.44 PM.png
Directed by William F. Claxton (Directed 68 episodes of "Little House on the Prairie"), Written by Stirling Silliphant (10)
Featuring Lee Marvin (Conny Miller in "The Grave" and Sam "Steel" Kelly in "Steel" on "The Twilight Zone" (12), Academy Award Winner for Best Actor as Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn in "Cat Ballou" (2)), Whitney Blake (Dorothy Baxter on "Hazel")

["Sheba" is a riff on the biblical story of "Bathsheba" - thus, it's not a surprise that Lee Marvin's character has the *unbelievably hilarious* name of "Woody Biggs" (in the biblical version, King David lusts after Bathsheba after seeing her bathing).

1.13 - "The Quick and the Dead" Screenshot 2017-03-11 at 3.53.09 PM.png
Directed by Alvin Ganser (2), Written by - Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant (11), Story: Charles Beaumont (Writer of 22 episodes of "The Twilight Zone" (13), Teleplay of "Backward, Turn Backward" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (9), Co-Producer and Co-Writer of "The Masque of the Red Death") and Jerry Sohl (Writer of 4 episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Predsents" (10) Writer of 3 episodes of "The Twilight Zone" (14), Writer of "Counterweight" and "The Invisible Enemy" on "The Outer Limits" (3), Writer of 3 episodes of "Star Trek" (6))
Featuring Susan Kohner (Sarah Jane in "Imitation of Life"), Frank Overton (Martin's Dad in "Walking Distance" on "The Twilight Zone" (15), Sheriff Heck Tate in "To Kill a Mockingbird," Elias Sandoval in "This Side of Paradise" on "Star Trek" (7)) Betsy Jones-Moreland (Evelyn Gern in "The Last Woman on Earth"), Regis Toomey (Longest screen kiss in cinema history until 1988 (with Jane Wyman)
 as Capt. Joe Radcliffe in "You're In the Army Now"), Pamela Searle (Miss England in 1959, and 3rd-Runner-Up in Miss Universe), Harvey Korman (Leading Man on "The Carol Burnett Show")

[This is the second episode with multiple writers (the first being 1.8, "Legacy for Lucia"), and both were very good - this one was, admittedly, a bit fanciful, perhaps "overly optimistic," but still the product of a *lot* of hard work.)]

1.14 - "Play It Glissando"Screenshot 2017-03-28 at 12.22.11 AM.png
Directed by Lewis Allen (Director of "Suddenly"), Written by Stirling Silliphant (12)
Featuring Anne Francis (Alt
aira in "Forbidden Planet"), Jack Lord (Steve McGarrett on "Hawaii Five-O"), Harold J. Stone (Lieutenant Jack Noonan in "Lamb to the Slaughter" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (11)), Barbara Bostock (Carol Parker on "Love on a Rooftop")

[An interesting study into the life of a beloved genius, which often manifests as the life of a lonely savant, only able to function on stage, and not in the real world. Jack Lord plays the role of a world-class jazz trumpet player, who seems to be not as nice of a guy off-stage as he is on-stage.]

1.15 - "The Clover Throne"Screenshot 2017-03-28 at 13.27.49.png
Directed by Arthur Hiller (2), Written by Herman Meadow (Creator of "Have Gun - Will Travel")
Featuring Jack Warden (James A. Corry in "The Lonely" and McGarry in "The Mighty Casey" on "The Twilight Zone" (16), 
Juror #7 in "12 Angry Men," Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Performance as George Halas in "Brian's Song," Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (2) as Lester Karpf in "Shampoo" and Max Corkle in "Heaven Can Wait"), Anne Helm (Holly Jones in "Follow That Dream"), Arthur Batanides (The Police Sergeant in "The Jokester" and Police Detective in "I'll Take Care of You" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (12), Leader in "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" and Tabal in "Mirror" on "The Twilight Zone" (17), Lieutenant Ken Galvin on "Specimen Unknown" on "The Outer Limits" (4), Lieutenant D'Amato in "That Which Survives" on "Star Trek" (xx)), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard H. "Bones" McKoy on "Star Trek" (xx))

[I can't believe I'm saying this, because I'm usually completely put off by people like "Sweet Thing," but this has been one of my favorite episodes - it's an episode where "the end justifies the means," and if you see it, you'll understand why I say this. I'm jaded as hell, and hard to dupe, but boy oh boy was I duped - and the foreshadowing was *all there* the entire time (the fence - you'll know what I mean when the closing credits roll). This episode alone makes me want to see "Have Gun - Will Travel" because writer Herman Meadow wrote both. If you're not watching the series in order, this wouldn't be a bad place to start - just don't be too put off by Sweet Thing and hang in there.]

1.16 - "Fly Away Home, Part 1" - Screenshot 2017-03-28 at 21.52.56.png
Directed by Arthur Hiller (3), Written by Stirling Silliphant (13)
Featuring Michael Rennie (Klaatu in "The Day the Earth Stood Still"), Dorothy Malone (Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress as Marylee Hadley in "Written on the Wind"), Cathy Lewis (Deirdre Thompson on "Hazel" (2)), Bert Remsen (Star in "Nashville"), Jenny Maxwell (Ellie Corbett in "Blue Hawaii")

[Crop-dusting airplane crashes, field hand opens up plane and helps injured pilot out, pilot screams to field hand: "Don't stand there like a fool; get back before she explodes!," field hand backs off, pilot starts to stagger away from the plane but passes out, field hand runs back to pilot and helps him regain consciousness and limp away to a safer distance, airplane explodes, pilot turns to field hand and says, "Cigarette?" That's in the first *ninety seconds* after the opening credits. At the end of Part 1, I wouldn't exactly call this a "gripping tale," but there are some intriguing questions that need to be addressed.]

1.17 - "Fly Away Home, Part 2" - Screenshot 2017-03-28 at 21.26.55.png
Directed by Arthur Hiller (4), Written by Stirling Silliphant (14)
Featuring Michael Rennie (2), Dorothy Malone (2), Cathy Lewis (2), Bert Remsen (2), Jenny Maxwell (2), Ford Rainey (Electrician's Mate 2nd. Class Harris in "The Sand Pebbles")

[I'm pretty sure that - unless special effects in 1961 were a heck of a lot better than I'm aware of, Martin Milner really *was* being filmed in the back seat of an airplane, not that that's any great stunt, but it's something. I'm writing this as I'm watching, and I'm about nine minutes into Part 2, but because of "The Clover Throne," I'm starting to wonder if Dora (the owner of the crop-dusting company, because her husband was killed in a sulfur-application accident) may not be as crazy as she seems, thinking her husband is still alive, nursing his burns somewhere - still, this is pure conjecture on my part, with absolutely no evidence to back it up with. My God I wish I had contact with George Maharis' acting coach - there's something that he does that irks the living hell out of me, and he does it consistently - whenever he's watching an act on stage (which is *often* in this series), and wants to show approval to the camera, he has this annoying little shake-of-the-head, like Gee Whiz that's great! Am I the only person in the world who notices this? The scene with Summers (Michael Rennie) brushing the barn with the inflammable sulphur, causing a life-ending explosion, is absolutely incredible considering the tools available to cinematographers in 1961 - it remains to be seen what and why, but wow - what a scene: The drama reminds me of Season 4, Episode 2 of "The Twilight Zone" - "The Thirty Fathom Grave," except instead of the crew of the submarine calling muster on Chief Bell, Summers almost appears to be calling muster on himself - there are only eight minutes left to this two-part episode, and I'm very much looking forward to its resolution. After watching the entire two-part episode, all I can say is that it is so complex that I don't even know what to use for photographs - is it "great?" I don't think so, but for weekly television? Yeah, it's pretty darned good - it was nearly as long as a movie, but if I had seen it as a movie, I'd most likely have been disappointed; as a TV series, it's very impressive - I can't imagine how they possibly did this in two weeks.]

1.18 - "Sleep on Four Pillows" - Screenshot 2017-04-01 at 23.56.31.png
Directed by Ted Post (Director of 4 episodes of "Twilight Zone" (18), "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," and "Magnum Force"), Written by Stirling Silliiphant (15)
Featuring Patty McCormack (Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress as Rhoda Penmark in "The Bad Seed"), Larry Gates (Doc Baugh in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"), Marianne Stewart (Town Gossip in "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte") John Berardino (Major League Baseball Player, 1939-1952, World Series Champion in 1948)

[Oof. Out of the first eighteen episodes, this one may have been my least-favorite. It was waffling back-and-forth between being serious, then farcical, then silly, then worrisome, then farcical again, to just plain lame. Unless you're watching all the episodes, you can skip this one - I was so desperately hoping something interesting might come out of it, but the exact opposite happened, and it was a waste of time. You can skip "Sleep on Four Pillows" unless you're a completist or a masochist (and I'm not sure there's much difference between the two).]

1.19 - "An Absence of Tears" - Screenshot 2017-04-09 at 13.29.48.png
Directed by Alvin Ganzer (2), Written by Stirling Silliphant (16)
Featuring Martha Hyer (Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (2) as Gwen French in "Some Came Running"), Rin Tin Tin II - Unrelated to Rin Tin Tin, Born as Golden Boy, Jr. (Rin Tin Tin on "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin"), Herb Armstrong (Waiter in "Cape Fear"), Joseph Ruskin (Master Thrall Galt in "The Gamesters of Triskellion" on "Star Trek"), Paul Richards (Attacker in "Kiss Me Deadly")

[The opening of this really hurt to watch, as it seems that Donna Stevens (Martha Hyer) was literally "Just Married," and lost her husband in a senseless gas-station robbery. I once dated a blind girl, and know first-hand the cruel dependence they must have on the people they're with, many of whom take advantage of them, or take them for granted - they're willing to take risks that none other of us would take, because they have to. This episode was okay, but it really didn't have enough material to fill the entire hour - they had to pad it some, probably assuming that the novelty of a beautiful blind woman would be enough to do it with.]

1.20 - "Like a Motherless Child"Screenshot 2017-04-13 at 4.49.55 AM.png
Directed by David Lowell Rich (Director of "Madame X"), Written by - Teleplay: Howard Rodman (Co-writer of screenplay for "Coogan's Bluff"), Story: Betty Andrews (Writer of "The Education of Sarah Jane" and "Odds for Big Red" on "Have Gun - Will Travel")
Featuring Sylvia Sidney (Mrs. Verloc in "Sabotage," Aunt Marion in "Damien: Omen II"), Jack Weston (Charlie Farnsworth in "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" and Julius Moorner in "The Bard" on "The Twilight Zone" (19), Carlino in "Wait until Dark," Danny Zimmer in "The Four Seasons," Max Kellerman in "Dirty Dancing")

[There's one scene in "Like a Motherless Child" where Sylvia Sidney almost mockingly looks at Buz and says, "Poor Baby," as he asks her if he can come back and see her that evening. Buz, you'll remember, was raised in an orphanage, and Sylvia Sidney's character chose to give her son away when he was two-months old - he's an orphan; she willingly caused the existence of an orphan. She keeps saying, "Poor Baby" to him, but after about ten repetitions of this, it's clear that her tone is going from "mocking" to "loving" and they both see in each other the one person who was most-lacking from their lives. The picture above occurs towards the end of the scene, when she has completely broken down, and Buz has capitulated as well. This was, by far, the most "different" - not better, not worse; just different - Route 66 episode I've seen, and I would absolutely *not* recommend it to the first-time (or even the fifth-time) viewer of the series - it was very, very out of character, but for the seasoned viewer, it had a lot to like (and a lot not to like).]

1.21 - "Effigy in Snow" Screenshot 2017-04-23 at 11.44.45 AM.png
Directed by Alvin Ganzer (3), Written by Stirling Silliphant (17)
Featuring Scott Marlowe (Eliot Gray in "The Throwback" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (13), Jory Peters in "It Crawled out of the Woodwork," André in "The Forms of the Things Unknown" on "The Outer Limits" (5)), Jeanne Bal (Nancy Crater in "The Man Trap" on "Star Trek"), Mark Tapscott (Lieutenant in "Still Valley" on "The Twilight Zone" (20)), George_Macready, (3 episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (14), Hillary Prine in "The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow" on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (3), Dr. Bixler in "The Long Morrow" on "The Twilight Zone" (21), Larry K. Hillerman in "The Invisibles" and Dr. Marshall in "Production and Decay of Strange Particles" on "The Outer Limits" (6), William Hendricks in "Night Gallery")

[If I remember correctly, this is the first photo that has come from the cold (no pun intended, honest) open.]

1.22 - "Eleven, the Hard Way" -
Directed by William A. Graham (Director of "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones"), Written by George Clayton Johnson (Writer of "I'll Take Care of You" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," 6 episodes of "The Twilight Zone" (22), "Ocean's Eleven," "Logan's Run," and "The Man Trap" on "Star Trek" (xx))

1.23 - "Most Vanquished, Most Victorious" -  Screenshot 2017-10-15 at 13.20.19.png
Directed by William D. Faralla (Production Manager of "The Wild Bunch"), Written by Stirling Silliphant (18)
Featuring Beatrice Straight as Kitty Chamberlain (
Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress (3) as Louise Schumacher in "Network"), Royal Dano as Dr. Clemente (Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs in "The Trouble with Harry," Martin Ross in "My Brother, Richard" and Mr. Atkins in "Party Line" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (15), Mr. Miley in "Change of Address" on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (4)), Pat DeSimone as Cazador (Tony Minetta in "Dino"), Frank de Kova as Davey Briggs (Pedro in "A Personal Matter" and Señor Vargas in "Strange Miracle" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (16), The Man in "The Mechanic")

[This is a very watchable episode, but one which operates under a far-fetched premise. Perhaps the most interesting thing is how it interweaves the West Side Story motif, but I'm afraid that despite it being a guilty pleasure, it's just too unrealistic to hit home - Todd just would not get that emotionally involved so quickly, being twenty-years removed from a situation. Still, judge for yourselves - the acting is good, there are a couple high-powered fight scenes, and also several sub-motifs wrapped in the overarching story line of "finding Carol."]

1.24 - "Don't Count Stars Screenshot 2017-10-19 at 20.20.22.png
Directed by Paul Wendkos (Director of "The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story"), Written by Stirling Silliphant (19)
Featuring Dan Duryea as Mike McKay (Al Denton in "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" on "The Twilight Zone" (23), "Waco" Johnny Dean in "Winchester '73," China Smith on "China Smith"), Susan Melvin as Linda McKay (Trudy in "Ladybug, Ladybug"), Vaughn Taylor as Frank Hammond (George Lowery in "Psycho," Mr. Judson in "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" on "The Twilight Zone" (26)), Randall Latimer in "The Guests" on "The Outer Limits" (7) Good Samaritan in "In Cold Blood"), Mary Jackson as Judge Mary Lindstrom (Mrs. Wilson in "Mink" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (17), Miss Pepper in "Of Late, I Think of Cliffordville" on "The Twilight Zone" (27), Mrs. McRae in "I, Robot" on "The Outer Limits" (8), Emily Baldwin on "The Waltons," )

[I thought sure I recognized the drunk man that Tod and Buz pulled from the water, and sure enough, it was Dan Duryea, who played a virtually identical drunk in "Mr Denton on Doomsday" on "The Twilight Zone." Of particular note is that "Don't Count Stars" is the earliest episode of anything (television, movies, or what-have-you), where an extended reference is made to a high-level profession - in this case Judge Lindstrom - where the name, "Judge Lindstrom," is repeatedly mentioned for nearly twenty minutes, before a pronoun is used in a conversation, completely without fanfare: In this case, the pronoun is "she." I would be very interested in knowing if anything earlier than this episode (Apr 28, 1961) so casually revealed a typically male profession being held by a female - I must repeat: To this episode's credit, there was absolutely no drama, scary organ music, or shocked looks upon people's faces; it was simply mentioned in the course of normal dialog, about twenty minutes into the episode ... "she."]

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On 8/25/2016 at 8:20 PM, DonRocks said:

Season One (Oct 7, 1960 - Jun 16, 1961)

1.24 - "Don't Count Stars Screenshot 2017-10-19 at 20.20.22.png
Directed by Paul Wendkos (Director of "The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story"), Written by Stirling Silliphant (19)
Featuring Dan Duryea as Mike McKay (Al Denton in "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" on "The Twilight Zone" (23), "Waco" Johnny Dean in "Winchester '73," China Smith on "China Smith"), Susan Melvin as Linda McKay (Trudy in "Ladybug, Ladybug"), Vaughn Taylor as Frank Hammond (George Lowery in "Psycho," Mr. Judson in "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" on "The Twilight Zone" (26)), Randall Latimer in "The Guests" on "The Outer Limits" (7) Good Samaritan in "In Cold Blood"), Mary Jackson as Judge Mary Lindstrom (Mrs. Wilson in "Mink" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (17), Miss Pepper in "Of Late, I Think of Cliffordville" on "The Twilight Zone" (27), Mrs. McRae in "I, Robot" on "The Outer Limits" (8), Emily Baldwin on "The Waltons," )

[I thought sure I recognized the drunk man that Tod and Buz pulled from the water, and sure enough, it was Dan Duryea, who played a virtually identical drunk in "Mr Denton on Doomsday" on "The Twilight Zone." Of particular note is that "Don't Count Stars" is the earliest episode of anything (television, movies, or what-have-you), where an extended reference is made to a high-level profession - in this case Judge Lindstrom - where the name, "Judge Lindstrom," is repeatedly mentioned for nearly twenty minutes, before a pronoun is used in a conversation, completely without fanfare: In this case, the pronoun is "she." I would be very interested in knowing if anything earlier than this episode (Apr 28, 1961) so casually revealed a typically male profession being held by a female - I must repeat: To this episode's credit, there was absolutely no drama, scary organ music, or shocked looks upon people's faces; it was simply mentioned in the course of normal dialog, about twenty minutes into the episode ... "she."]

"Don't Count Stars" may be a historically important episode of television - it's the earliest episode of TV that I know of which assumes a typically male profession (in this case, a judge) is held by a female. In fact, I know of no television show *or* movie which keeps the ambiguity going for as long as this episode of "Route 66." The most interesting part is that they made no big deal about it.

This is Season 1, Episode 24, and is one of the best episodes of "Route 66" that I've seen, even aside from this.

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On 10/29/2016 at 6:18 PM, DonRocks said:

"What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" is one of "those" movies that I never saw because I'm the youngest child - I've seen small clips of the film, and heard it mentioned enough when I was young, to the point where I honestly thought that I had seen it, but I hadn't, and I had, and I hadn't.

"What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" received five Academy Award nominations, with Norma Koch winning the award for "Best Costume Design - Black and White." 

This was Produced and Directed by Robert Aldrich, and is a classic tale of sibling rivalry (that's something of an understatement) between Jane and Blanche Hudson (Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, respectively). This movie is made more diabolically delicious by the fact that Joan Crawford and Bette Davis actually hated each other in real life.

And isn't it ironic that this most legendary of cat fights was caused by a dog?

Of note is an important role played by Maidie Norman as the family's maid, Elvira. Norman, a woman of color, was often reduced to playing roles as domestic servants, but she refused to play them subserviently: "In the beginning, I made a pledge that I would play no role that deprived black women of their dignity," she said. About the role of Elvira, on Wikipedia: "Norman recalled that the character was originally written as a 'doltish, yessum character.' She rewrote the dialogue which she called 'old slavery-time talk' in an effort to dignify the character."

MaidieNorman.jpg

Compare the role of Elvira to that of Mammy played by Hattie McDaniel in "Gone with the Wind" - as lovable and funny as Mammy was, she was only one small step away from being a House Slave (in fact, she *was* a House Slave), and the dialog - and the attitude - in these two roles, written only 23-years apart, could not be more different. If you're going to remember a third person from "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" why not make it Maidie Norman? (It's easy to remember "Maidie," since she always portrayed maids - and then there was the Norman conquest.)

In one very subtle, inconspicuous scene, Jane (Bette Davis) - who had previously shown abusive behavior towards Elvira - was in the early stages of keeping people out of the house at all costs. Jane gave Elvira "the day off with pay," to which Elvira replied: "See you next Tuesday ..." - think about that one for a moment ... #CUNx

Look at these two screen-shots, captured less than 1/2 second apart from each other:Screenshot 2016-10-29 at 12.56.06.pngScreenshot 2016-10-29 at 12.56.07.png

Remember Denzel Washington's "Ultimate Eat Shit and Die Glare," while he was being whipped, in "Glory?" Screenshot 2016-10-29 at 13.30.21.png

Or Sidney Poitier's "Slap Heard 'Round the World" during "In the Heat of the Night?"

Neither of these scenes exist without Maidie Norman.

Sidney Poitier was born in 1927, and I fervently hope this somehow reaches him - I believe Poitier would be the first to agree, and that he could add many more examples: The importance of his wisdom and experience cannot be measured. My only regret is that Maidie Norman will never have a chance to see this.

Incidentally, the actor receiving third billing, Victor Buono, made his debut in this film, and went on to play the villain King Tut on "Batman."
 
Great, ingenious film  - every bit as Hitchcockian as "Charade," with twice the horror: I thought I had it all figured out ... just like they wanted me to think, but I hadn't, and I had, and I hadn't ....

Maidie Norman inspired me to study people of color who had roles of dignity pre-1968, both in film, and on television.

One entire television episode - aired in 1961 - treated black-Americans as real people; not just as butlers, maids, chauffeurs, or shoe-shiners: "Goodnight Sweet Blues" is one of the most moving, beautiful things I've ever seen on television. It's from Season 2, Episode 3 on "Route 66,"  and the entire episode revolves around a troupe of black-Americans playing real people; not servants or people to look down upon.

I cannot recommend this episode enough, and if you have access to Hulu, then I urge you to watch it, as it's one of the most moving episodes of television I've ever seen, especially because it's now 56-years old. If you've ever trusted me before, please trust me about this.

Perhaps the line which affected me the most was the one where the great Ethel Waters told Buz and Ned (the two stars: George Maharis and Martin Milner) that she "was loaded," and money wouldn't be an issue in terms of what she needed them to do.

For her role in this episode, Waters was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Series" - how she did not win the award, I do not know, but the award went to Julie Harris. Waters' nomination was the very first by an African-American woman.

PLEASE watch this episode, and if you don't like it, by all means, chime in here, but I can't imagine anyone not being moved by this.

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12 hours ago, DonRocks said:

PLEASE watch this episode, and if you don't like it, by all means, chime in here, but I can't imagine anyone not being moved by this.

This is one of the best things I have ever seen on television. It made me smile, laugh and cry. Ethel Waters is charismatic and endearing. This is must-see TV.

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On 1/16/2018 at 12:31 AM, DonRocks said:

Season 2, Episode 12: "... and the Cat Jumped over the Moon" - Name the actors.

Difficulty Levels:

1) 2 out of 10
2) 4 out of 10

Screenshot 2018-01-16 at 00.12.34.pngScreenshot 2018-01-16 at 00.21.46.png

Really?

On 1/5/2018 at 4:24 AM, DonRocks said:

Maidie Norman inspired me to study people of color who had roles of dignity pre-1968, both in film, and on television.

One entire television episode - aired in 1961 - treated black-Americans as real people; not just as butlers, maids, chauffeurs, or shoe-shiners: "Goodnight Sweet Blues" is one of the most moving, beautiful things I've ever seen on television. It's from Season 2, Episode 3 on "Route 66,"  and the entire episode revolves around a troupe of black-Americans playing real people; not servants or people to look down upon.

I cannot recommend this episode enough, and if you have access to Hulu, then I urge you to watch it, as it's one of the most moving episodes of television I've ever seen, especially because it's now 56-years old. If you've ever trusted me before, please trust me about this.

Perhaps the line which affected me the most was the one where the great Ethel Waters told Buz and Ned (the two stars: George Maharis and Martin Milner) that she "was loaded," and money wouldn't be an issue in terms of what she needed them to do.

For her role in this episode, Waters was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Series" - how she did not win the award, I do not know, but the award went to Julie Harris. Waters' nomination was the very first by an African-American woman.

PLEASE watch this episode, and if you don't like it, by all means, chime in here, but I can't imagine anyone not being moved by this.

If any member with 10+ posts watches this, and writes me, and honestly says they don't like it, I'll send them $20, cash, in the mail. Just give me your name and address - no questions asked. (Offer limited to ONE member, who agrees to post here to preserve my integrity!)

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When I was a kid I watched this show. It never grabbed my attention but I was at an age where I watched a lot of TV and saw a fair amount of episodes or portions of them.  Really nothing stood out to my underdeveloped psyche.

Posiibly a decade later I was introduced to the literature of the Beat Generation and specifically On The Road by Jack Kerouac, an epic captivating novel especially for one of an age who could relate to its protagonists and life style.

While I had no strong memories of the TV show it seemed quite obvious that Rte 66 and clearly the George Maharis character were tv sanitized versions of Kerouac and his antics.  Maharis looked like Kerouac and had humble every man characteristics and a past not that far removed from Kerouac’s.   On the Road was published in 1957 and gained immediate notice and fame and RTE 66 debuted in 1960.

I’m somewhat surprised to learn that is in fact how Kerouac reacted to the TV series and threatened to sue.  

Now 50+ years after the show ran its course I have little interest in revisiting it but On The Road was a helluva novel especially for a young man with an itch for adventure.

Kerouac bridged the Beat and Hippie Generation and was a qualified honored novelist with several other books of note: a true American cultural icon.

Kerouac’s main character in On The Road, Neal Cassady  (Dean Moriarty in the book) was like a human version of early Rock and Roll:::   Go go go

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On 2/2/2018 at 1:50 AM, DonRocks said:

Really?

If any member with 10+ posts watches this, and writes me, and honestly says they don't like it, I'll send them $20, cash, in the mail. Just give me your name and address - no questions asked. (Offer limited to ONE member, who agrees to post here to preserve my integrity!)

Really??

Okay, how's this: As much as I like the 1955 Academy Award winner for Best Picture, "Marty," I think "Goodnight, Sweet Blues" is its equal - and it was a 60-minute TV anthology that can be watched as a standalone episode.

If you've never seen a single episode of "Route 66" before, watch this one, and in just one hour, you'll fall in love with 9-10 people, maybe more.

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13 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Really??

Okay, how's this: As much as I like the 1955 Academy Award winner for Best Picture, "Marty," I think "Goodnight, Sweet Blues" is its equal - and it was a 60-minute TV anthology that can be watched as a standalone episode.

If you've never seen a single episode of "Route 66" before, watch this one, and in just one hour, you'll fall in love with 9-10 people, maybe more.

As much as I liked "Marty," I preferred "Goodnight Sweet Blues."

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I know very few people care about Route 66, but I came across an interesting episode today with a particularly strong cast. SE 2, EP 25, "Love Is a Skinny Kid" not only features the stars Martin Milner and George Maharis, but also guest-stars Cloris Leachman, Tuesday Weld, and uncredited (at least in the beginning) performances by Burt Reynolds, Harry Townes, and Malcolm Atterbury (Atterbury plays Henry J. Fate in the "Twilight Zone" episode, "Mr. Denton on Doomsday," and is best known for his uncredited line in "North by Northwest": "That plane's dustin' crops where there ain't no crops!" )

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SE4, EP2 - "Same Picture, Different Frame"

The guest star: Screenshot 2018-11-24 at 12.28.14.png

And in a smaller role: Screenshot 2018-11-24 at 12.13.28.png

An interesting bit of trivia: Both of these actors were in the "Night Gallery" pilot-film segment, "Eyes." Now there's a great TV-trivia stumper for your friends: Name two things on television that both JC and TB were in together. Incidentally, "Eyes" was Steven Spielberg's first directorial work (yes, even before "Duel").

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SE3 EP4 - "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing" - Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney, Jr., and Boris Karloff (playing themselves):

Screenshot 2018-11-28 at 21.25.34.png

PS - The above is one of the worst episodes of television I've ever seen: Don't watch it; watch this instead (but only if you've seen Watch This! --> "M" <--- Watch This! in its entirety - don't watch this clip; rent the entire movie, trust me).

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I just watched Season 2, Episode 15, on FETV on my cable plan in Montgomery Co., A Long Piece of Mischief featuring Albert Salmi as a rodeo clown, Audrey Trotter as the aging stunt rider who lost her husband and is inconsolable in the bottle (he loves her, naturally, but she can't see past her grief!), Ben Johnson and Slim Pickens as sadistic rodeo riders who try to humiliate Salmi for no discernible reason. You don't see Milner much but Maharis has an unusual role in the story.

Wikipedia mentions that this series is loosely based on Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I know the beat icon book came out just a few years before the series (1960-64), but was the book really that well known that tv audiences would take to it? Kerouac threatened to sue! I am just catching up to Dave O's comments upthread that put Kerouac in context here.

Rocks really made me want to see more of these episodes, especially the one with Ethel Waters. It seems to me like the good tv actors of the day must have wanted to be on the show because of the quality writing. It must have been too adult for me when first broadcast (5-9 years old), and I am surprised it was on CBS but maybe I shouldn't be.

 Route 66 

By the way, I love Albert Salmi!  As Rocks pointed out he was the original Bruce Pearson in the tv performance of Bang the Drum Slowly, the one with Paul Newman playing Henry "Author" Wiggen in an amazing performance. In this episode of Rt. 66 Salmi plays a slow witted but goodhearted rodeo clown, and I've been seeing him a lot lately on cable as Deputy Meshaw in The Flim Flam Man movie with George C. Scott, Michael Sarrazin, Sue Lyon, and Harry Morgan as the sheriff yelling "Meshaw" throughout. I swear that BEFORE The Blues Brothers movie came out and its car chase through a mall The Flim Flam Man must have had the funniest, most car demolishing chase in movie history!

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On 6/23/2019 at 8:19 PM, MC Horoscope said:

Rocks really made me want to see more of these episodes, especially the one with Ethel Waters. It seems to me like the good tv actors of the day must have wanted to be on the show because of the quality writing. It must have been too adult for me when first broadcast (5-9 years old), and I am surprised it was on CBS but maybe I shouldn't be.

 Route 66 

"Goodnight, Sweet Blues" (the Ethel Waters episode) is one of the single finest hours of television I've ever seen in my life (and it stands on its own).

"The Thin White Line" is an amazing piece of acting by Martin Milner, slightly goofy grin notwithstanding - it's the first-ever episode that depicted LSD, and it's incredibly gripping and powerful (it, too, stands on its own). 

These two are the first episodes that came to mind, after not having thought about this series in a year or so. Please do watch them, and let us know what you think.

I don't remember every detail about "A Long Piece of Mischief," but I remember that it was extraordinarily powerful, and that I loved it. Thanks for writing about it - "Route 66" was a groundbreaking series (I believe it was the first one ever that wasn't shot in one location).

If you have access to "The Twilight Zone," watch Albert Salmi in, "Of Late, I Think of Cliffordville" - if nothing else, than to drool over a young Julie Newmar - the "mirror image" of Salmi in that episode (John Anderson, who played Henry J. Fate in "Mr. Denton on Doomsday") was also a major character in an intense episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," called "The Survivors."

You and I are a dying breed, Neal - people don't know what they're missing.

Without looking, wasn't George C. Scott in "The Flim-Flam Man?"

---

"The Flim-Flam Man" (MC Horoscope)

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