May 21 - May 27:

Ann-Margret Smith (1975)
Ann-Margret, Roger Smith, The Bay City Rollers
Viewed at the Museum of Television and Radio, NYC. Fans of classic TV may be aware that Ann-Margret is married to Roger (77 Sunset Strip) Smith. He co-produced this TV variety special with Allan (Grease, Can't Stop the Music) Carr, which features the divine A-M singing along with the Bay City Rollers and dueting with film composer Michel Legrand on some of his compositions, but the best parts are her renditions of "Look What's Happened to Mabel," "Abba Dabba Honeymoon," (which she turns into musical sex) and "Razzle Dazzle," where she's backed up by a bunch of dancers dressed as mimes. What is it with the '70s fascination with mimes? Shields and Yarnell, anyone?

Gidget (1966) (Episode: "Gidget's Career")
Sally Field, Don Porter
Viewed at MT&R. Musical talent-free Gidget is asked to front a folk band, playing the tambourine, because she's cute. Her pal Larue, who actually studies guitar, is also in the band, but, being an imperfect guitarist and not cute, is asked to leave. I've never understood the premise in all of these "perky girl" shows that the best friend is some sort of dog because she's not as petite and perfect as the star. In real life the actress playing Larue would have been considered attractive. Anyway, the band takes a turn for the goth, adopting black wigs and togs, which makes Gidget look like Ozzy Osborne's daughter. Unfortunately she quits the band before she can debut her new look.

Julia (1968) (Episode: "Pilot")
Diahann Carroll, Lloyd Nolan, Marc Copage
Viewed at MT&R. The pilot for the groundbreaking series. Diahann Carroll is class personified and I never realized that this series has great music, composed by Elmer Bernstein. What's up with that kid, though? He has this weird speech pattern, which makes him sound like he has some sort of disorder. I only mention it because I could find no reference to it, so I think they thought it was cute. It's disturbing.

Surfside 6 (1961) (Episode: "License to Steal")
Lee Patterson, Van Williams
Dave is hired by a nightclub singer and former flame to guard the approximately $100,000 worth of diamonds she plans to wear onstage. Naturally they get stolen during the first song of her first show (hey, Dave was knocked out and couldn't stop it!), but Dave saves the day (and the jewels).

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1967) (Episode: "The Double-O-Nothing Affair")
Stefanie Powers, Noel Harrison
A nebbish tries to sell U.N.C.L.E. a tape that Mark recorded of THRUSH secrets, which Mark stashed in his car, and manages to bungle all of April and Mark's efforts to save his butt when THRUSH starts chasing them. Good thing THRUSH has a really stupid agent on the case or they'd really be sunk!

UFO (1970) (Episode: "The Square Triangle")
Ed Bishop, George Sewell, Gabrielle Drake
I love this 1970 series set far in the future--1980! Sylvia and Gerry Anderson's imagined future looked much better than the real thing. Commander Straker allows a UFO to land in southern England, rather than blow it up in space, which they normally at least attempt to do, because he wants to find a live alien to observe and test. Yeah, right. The alien kills a guy and blows up his own ship before he's shot to death by a woman who mistakes him for the husband she wants to kill.

May 14 - May 20:

The Silencers (1966)
Dean Martin, Stella Stevens
Matt Helm really is my favorite movie spy. This time he's paired with Stella Stevens (who has the greatest clothes and hair ever), who no one will believe is not an enemy agent in spite of her ineptitude. They even have to spend a night in the middle of the desert in his woody paneled station wagon/boudoir/wet bar on their way to stopping the evil Victor Buono from blowing up a large chunk of New Mexico and blaming the Russians. Keep reading and you'll see it was a big Victor Buono week around the Lounge.

Route 66 (1962) (Episode: "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing")
Martin Milner, George Maharis
Viewed at the Museum of Television and Radio, NYC. The guys get a job at a hotel in Chicago, acting as go-betweens for the hotel management and convention guests. Lucky Buz gets a convention full of executive secretaries, while Tod gets a more challenging assignment: Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney, Jr., who've come together at the hotel to discuss making monster movies for new audiences and make time to terrify some hotel guests while they're at it.

77 Sunset Strip (1961) (Episode: "The Legend of Leckonby")
Roger Smith, Richard Long
Spencer gets some help from Bourbon Street Beat's Rex Randolph in this tale of a convicted bank robber and the loot everybody knows he didn't lose at the racetrack like he claims. Where is it stashed? Is this one beyond even Jeff and Rex? Victor Buono plays a baddie in this one, too.

Hawaiian Eye (1961) (Episode: "The Big Dealer")
Anthony Eisley, Connie Stevens, Poncie Ponce
Guest star Dyan (still "Diane" at this point in her life) Cannon gets bumped off by pretentious fashion designer Hilary Kane's (in actuality an international smuggler) goons because she knows too much. You shouldn't listen at doors when dealing with shady types. It vastly shortens your life expectancy.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1966) (Episode: "The Concrete Overcoat Affair, Part 2")
Robert Vaughn, David McCallum
The action this week shifts from Chicago to "an island in the Carribean," where evil Jack Palance throws a party for a THRUSH bigwig, complete with leis and drinks served in coconuts, at his tiki-laden headquarters. His nefarious plans go awry when Solo and a gaggle of elderly mafiosos show up to save the day. Jack Palance makes a disturbingly convincing psycho.

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1967) (Episode: "The Phi Beta Killer Affair")
Stefanie Powers, Noel Harrison
Dancer and Slate infiltrate a training school for bodyguards whose students are being brainwashed to kill their employers when they laugh too heartily. This is in anticipation of the world's highest stakes poker game, where Victor Buono (the school's director) intends to make off with the proceeds of the presumably dead world leaders playing the game. If you watch enough shows of this era you know things never end happily for Victor Buono.

May 7 - May 13:

Murderers' Row (1966)
Dean Martin, Ann-Margret
Super-spy and ladies' man Matt Helm prevents the incineration of Washington, DC by terrorists led by Karl Malden. Ann-Margret (Mrs. Roger "77 Sunset Strip" Smith) is the damsel in distress, but she does her share to save the day, all while wearing some amazing mid-'60s outfits. We really need a round, gadget-filled bed like Matt Helm's.

77 Sunset Strip (1960) (Episode: "The Starlet")
Roger Smith, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
More showbiz sleaze as Jeff investigates the supposed suicide of a starlet with a big career ahead of her. Her mother just knew she'd never take her own life and it turns out she was right!

Bourbon Street Beat (1960) (Episode: "Target of Hate")
Richard Long, Andrew Duggan, Van Williams
Young Richard Chamberlain guest stars as a rich kid obsessed with assassinating a politician to avenge his father's death. James Coburn, as a particularly unhinged killer-for-hire, assists.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1966) (Episode: "The Concrete Overcoat Affair, Part 1")
Robert Vaughn, David McCallum
Intrigue in Sicily, where Solo and Kuryakin are charged with finding a former Nazi scientist who's dealing weapons of mass destruction. Solo hides out in a voluptuous young woman's bedroom and, caught by her grandmother, is forced into a shotgun (literally) marriage in Chicago, attended by her mobster relatives. We leave off with Solo and his bride hiding under a table during a shootout and Kuryakin being tortured by Janet Leigh. Next week: the conclusion.

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