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Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Mail Order Prophet (1957)
A Brilliant Story About a Brilliant Idea
This story exposes the reason many of the predictions and prophesies we see in life seem so convincing. We are fooled because we are so willing to fool ourselves. Not every "victim" is actually a looser and some never realize how lucky they are. That's about as much as I can say without giving anything away, but the story is compelling, E. G. Marshal plays the role perfectly and Jack Klugman, working for a Hitchcock-approved team, shows the restraint and subtlety that was sadly lacking in his work on "Quincy". Stories like this were the reason Hitchcock Presents and Hitchcock hour ran for 10 years.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: I Killed the Count: Part 1 (1957)
1 Episode's Worth of Story in 3 Episode's Worth of Time
3 people confess to 1 murder and we learn why by the end of the last episode; I had already guessed it before the end of episode 1. Most of 90 minutes of this triplet consisted of the nearly futile combing over of various mundane details of the crime. Between the old-fashioned British accents and the somewhat distorted soundtrack (this was MeTV, but I suspect the other services get their content from the same old prints), it took a lot of concentration to make sense of the dialog, but most of what was discussed was just incidental to the real story. The story had potential, but by the end I was bored and happy only to see an ending I had already guessed. If this had been packed into an hour or a half-hour, it might have been worth watching.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Appointment at Eleven (1959)
One of My Favorite AHP Episodes, Despite the Haters
From the start of this episode it was obvious that something big was happening and that David Logan was very troubled about it and troubled about everything that led up to it. His obviously disturbed state made it easier for me, relative to some of the reviewers, to comprehend the tolerance for him displayed by the other characters, though he was still very lucky to have gotten through the night unscathed and out of jail. Kimbrough's portrayal of Logan is often described as over-the-top, but it's not every day that the average person has a wayward parent executed for murder. Most don't know how they'd behave in that situation because one would have become a different person just from going through those circumstances. I particularly appreciated the way his mixed feelings for his father come out for the first time just as he receives the news of the execution. I've watched it maybe 3 times, but even knowing the ending, I still enjoy the sense of impending doom Kimbrogh projects. This episode is apparently not for everyone, but if you can empathize with those who came from, eh, less than perfect conditions, you might appreciate it.
Ironside: Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Murder (1972)
OK storyline, amazing cast!
Ironside and company have to sort out the murder of an apartment building superintendent. A girl, Pip Barker, played by Jodie Foster, who thinks she's a witch, also thinks she killed the superintendent by wishing death upon him, but an autistic man, Billy Mahan, who pushed said superintendent shortly before his murder, quickly becomes the main suspect. Gleaning enough information to solve the case involves considerable interaction with Pip, who is driven by superstitions and phobias, and Billy, who can be temperamental. At one point, Don and Pip get into a priceless exchange in which she describes the superiority of white magic over black magic to his amusement and dismay, with the implications of his reaction going right over Pip's head. The scene takes place in a magic shop in which the salesman is played by a thinly disguised Rod Serling. In the end, the case is solved and the killer is appropriately processed, but along the way, we are treated to a convincing performance by Serling, as well as the regular cast, and amazing performances by both Foster and Lee Paul as Billy. Foster and Paul both have challenging roles and Paul's performance was so convincing that I looked up his biography to see if he was autistic himself (he wasn't). No doubt, the viewers in 1972 had little idea of what a prized combination of past and future greats they were about to behold, but it's obvious now.
Barnaby Jones: The Deadly Valentine (1977)
Poor Betty. Creeps are coming out of the woodwork!
When Betty starts getting creepy valentine gifts and messages, Barnaby, Jed and the cops have to track down the "Valentine killer", a rough looking guy with a bad leg. But the notes, calls and gifts keep coming, and it's about this time that Sgt. Gallan, a cop with a crush on Betty, pulls strings to get assigned as her security detail (red flags, anyone?). Gallan moves in and gives Betty a stream of pseudo-romantic blather while ordering her around like a slave. So who turns out to be Betty's tormentor? Well, by this time, I was hoping it was Gallan, because he clearly was not to be trusted, but this episode, for better or for worse, was full of surprises. I won't give away the punchline, but it was an unwelcome encumbrance to an already cluttered plot. It was right around this time that the producers should have insisted on real plots and banned any more Betty or Jedediah love interests, but they didn't.
The Twilight Zone: Shadow Play (1961)
Disturbing, In a Good Way
It's ironic that this was titled "shadow play", since it has the same harsh lighting, and glaring shadows, as the 6 episodes that were recorded on video tape, the last of which, "Long Distance Call", aired only 5 weeks earlier. It also has the same all-indoor, mostly zoomed-in style of the videotaped episodes, suggesting that it was planned out as one that could have been videotaped if the experiment hadn't been ended. Rod Serling was said to be unhappy with the style of those episodes, and before I knew the reason, they always struck me as resembling one of those low-budget productions of renowned plays that used to air on PBS. But for the creepier episodes like this, "Twenty Two" and "Long Distance Call", the harsh lighting, and small, claustrophobic sets lend a certain tension that would be missing in a slicker production. The musical score in this episode, which is very similar to that from "Twenty Two", and Dennis Weaver's unusual knack for playing tortured individuals (latter noted in "Dual") add to the anxiety to make this one of the most brilliantly disturbing TZ episodes ever.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Bang! You're Dead (1961)
Nonstop Suspense
This is one of the most nerve-wracking of Hitchcock episodes (maybe a tie with "A Lonely Place") as well as one of the best. Bill Mummy's performance is, of course, excellent. Seeing it made me wonder if the toy guns depicted here were ever typical of toys given to children in the USA. I remember plenty of toy guns during that era, none with actual bullets that could be loaded into a cylinder; the cap guns that looked real from a distance had cylinders that were just part of the metal casting and didn't move. If anyone has a bettor memory of toys from that era, a "trivia" entry on the subject would be interesting.
Bonanza: The Initiation (1972)
Not For the Faint Hearted
This story might have been a bit jarring to those expecting the light, sometimes slapstick story lines of many of the later episodes that included Hoss, but it's a gripping story that could have been staged in various contexts. The acting of Vogel, Ron Howard and the rest of the "gang" is convincing enough to make it believable and the feelings of guilt and despair they display seems real. Watching these kids participate in something stupid and dangerous, then have to face consequences they couldn't have anticipated like the loss of a friend and the wrath of a bereaved father, it's hard not to feel for both sides. This is one of the last episodes of the show and it stands on it own.
Mannix: Search for a Dead Man (1975)
Intriguing story, decent action, but why?
I wanted to like this one more, but from the time his client got killed and Mannix had no hope of getting paid, I kept wondering why he was risking his life to solve a crime in which everyone involved, including his client, was a bad actor. I kept thinking "Just let them kill each other." True, the main characters on these shows do often seem to end up working for free, but it's usually to help a deserving underdog, not to protect some perps from other perps. I also found the notion that a hit man would hire a detective with a reputation for integrity just to prove that he had really murdered his victim more than a little far-fetched. Mannix, no doubt, would have turned this guy in as soon as he caught on to the reason for the assignment.
Cannon: Madman (1976)
Interesting Historical Perspective
This March-1976 episode aired only 4 or 5 months after the Church Committee hearings exposed the MKULTRA mind-control experiments conducted by the CIA on unwitting Americans. The experiments were supposedly ended in the early 1970s, though there is considerable evidence (look up the assassination of Nick Deak) that the program was simply renamed. Of course, it's far fetched that a private detective could ever effectively investigate such activity, let alone get any cooperation from the military brass. But considering the fact that many people who were born after the 1980s have no idea that any of this ever happened and would call such stories "baseless conspiracy theories", it's good have this episode around as a reminder of the fact that there was a time when the media was far more willing to investigate what our government does to us than it is today.
The Waltons: The Fire (1973)
A well-acted, entertaining piece of propaganda.
Even as a life-long agnostic, I agree with the reviewers that called this typical Hollywood Christian-baiting. The villain who acted with such violence [I'm being vague to avoid spoiling the suspense] to protest the teaching of evolution was such a one-dimensional wretch that it was hard to take the other aspects of the plot seriously. I view evolution as the only plausible explanation for the origins of of the human race, going by the evidence (though for the record, if there were a god, it could easily have "faked" such evidence). But I can't stand being preached-at by either side. Nonetheless, this episode still had its strong points, including more suspense and much better historical context than later Waltons episodes. You just have to tune out Hollywood's predictable "message".
The Twilight Zone: What's in the Box (1964)
More of a Commentary on Human Nature Than Morality Play
Joe and Phyllis Britt are not just cranky and miserable, they are both hiding from the ugly reality of their shared existence. Phyllis seems to know that her husband is cheating, but only explodes in rage when he foolishly confesses. Joe must have an inkling of the violence of which he is capable, but has a nervous breakdown when confronted with its potential consequences. The TV repairman was not put into the story to give these two what they deserved as much as to show the viewer how much they, like so many other people in this world, hide from themselves. I also suspect that Rod Serling, who was fairly disillusioned with the TV business by now, was also demonstrating how TV can lead the viewer down a path of darkness when those who control it are motivated only by greed and cynicism. Viewers choose what they watch, and what they chose can reveal more of who they really are than they might want to know.
I should add that I wouldn't call this episode a rehash. Sure, it wasn't the first show in or out of TZ to deal with a view into the future; the Unusual Camera and Room 22 episodes, as well as Serling's contribution to the Desilu theater, "The Time Element" all made use of this prop. But each of these examples deals with that insight differently. In this case, one sees characters that are so fatally flawed that even when warned about the excesses of their impending doom, they still bring it on.
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The McGregor Affair (1964)
Entertaining, though a little over the top.
This was fun to watch, despite its flaws. I particularly liked the innuendo surrounding the match girl and her pursuer. I wonder what percentage of the audience knew what she was really selling. Sure, the accents were fake, but if they had been real, I could never have understood them without subtitles.
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Lonely Place (1964)
Easily the Most Suspenseful Hitchock Episode
The story is both terrifying and heart wrenching. After her pet is pointlessly killed, you can't help but empathize with Stella and seeing what her cowardly husband and psycho farm had put her through is agonizing. If this were shown in a theater, I suspect there would be spontaneous applause at the ending twist.
Mannix: Nothing Ever Works Twice (1967)
Joe is a bit of a thug in these early episodes.
He strongarms nearly everyone he encounters, even if they are not known to be guilty of anything yet. He also smokes, something I don't recall happening in later seasons. As the other reviews pointed out, he takes a divorce case for an old flame and gets involved in a shootout, a car crash and a few fights. He seems really worked up over this "old flame", despite her lady-prison-guard aesthetic. Like much of the '67-'68 season, this one is a little weird, but it's entertaining. The house of the final shootout looks familiar, maybe from Twilight Zone or Hitchcock; I assume it's something from Universal's lot, maybe in Beaver's old neighborhood.
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The Magic Shop (1964)
Great acting !
The story would seem a bit far fetched, but the acting, especially by the kid and the magic shop owner, as well as the dialog, brings it to life. This kid is pure evil and he has no idea there is anything wrong with that. By far the scariest Hitchcock-hour episode.
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Three Wives Too Many (1964)
Dreadful acting, distracting music, complicated plot.
The dialog between this guy and his wives sounded as if they were reading from teleprompters. There was usually a long delay between lines and the oppressive musical score made the worst of that. The lines were also quirky in a way that would only have come off well if they sounded more like two parts of a conversation and less like a recital. It was hard to keep focused on this episode; maybe it should have been packed in to a half hour.
CHiPs: Counterfeit (1979)
Crash scene hits a new low, even for CHiPs
CHiPs is known for the stupidest crash scenes of any TV show in history, with cars inevitably jumping into the air just before they hit, to magically avoid any death, injuries, or even serious damage to most of the cars. But at the 40 minute mark, we see two kids in a convertible flip the car, with the windshield crushed flat, then crawl out without a hair out of place. In real life they would have been decapitated, or at least skinned alive. This is beyond stupid; it's downright irresponsible. Shielding kids from blood and gore is one thing, but giving the impression that one can survive such a spectacular crash without a mark an insult to anyone with brains and dangerous for those without.
Mannix: A Night Full of Darkness (1974)
Never a Dull Moment
Like many of the latter Mannix episodes, this one was more than a little far fetched, but it was engrossing and I really liked the twist at the end. A great performance by Ward Wood as Art, who goes through a late marriage, a loss of his bride, a hypnotic trance, a murder frameup and a kidnapping in the course of an hour. By the ending, he looked every bit like the wreck one would expect him to be. It would be great to know where the closing scene, which seemed to take place in an earthquake damaged industrial facility, was filmed. I'm sure there were a number of such places around LA 3 years after the 1971 quake.
Mannix: The Gang's All Here (1973)
Have to admit I enjoyed watching it, with all its flaws.
I had it on during my daily workout, so my standards might have been lower than usual. I'd say that the "street gang" was a little more "Welcome Back Kotter" than "The Partridge Family", but they were pretty lame. The streets in which they hung out looked a lot more NYC than LA to my eyes; must have been what was free on the Universal lot that day. And yes, the acting was pretty inconsistent; the mother of the 14yo wannabe killer was doing alright until she tried to cry; some lemon juice might have helped. And, her kid seemed to be trying to sound pre-pubescent when the actor (later stunt man) Stephen Hudis was actually about 16. Still, I liked the story and, though I was thinking about what changes it would take to make the exchange less corny, found the climax in which Mannix convinces the kid to turn away from a life of crime oddly compelling. Could have been better, but it was still worth watching.