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THE WILD WILD WEST- The Night of the Sabatini Death - Jim West has to find a girl and a hidden treasure and is the little buddy to Alan Hale who at first I had trouble taking seriously but he got into the part and also shares a scene with a talkative cat. And Jim Backus shows up too and they get in a Gilligan's Island joke.



MANNIX - A View of Nowhere -- Joe is flying over in a helicopter (piloted by James Garner's brother Jack) and swears he witnessed a red-haired woman being murdered. But when he gets the cops to investigate--learns that it is a British couple and the woman is fine. Red hair, British...in LA around 1968...could it be Hazel Court? Yes! I guessed right. And she can't be trusted. Kate Woodville also shows up so it has a higher than average non-American accent ratio.


KOLCHAK - THE NIGHT STALKER - The Zombie -- one of the top episodes of the series. I think it helped that they didn't have the regular newsroom extras hanging around to take up more time. Premiered 50 years ago tonight.

MANNIX - Fear That I Fall -- Joe is called to a small town to testify in a murder case involving a cat burglar he busted years before being accused of murder. When he decides to delay his departure flight he is beat up which makes him even more suspicious. For a while I thought it unusual that the small town sheriff was not a sinister character since they usually are in these shows. I only needed to wait until the last few minutes. One odd thing is that a defense attorney with really big hair disguises herself as a wanted witness--and when she removes her wig, her big hair looks totally different. Then again, when Dana Elcar gets punched by Mannix he seems to lose a few pounds. Want to lose weight? Try the Joe Mannix Punchy Weight Reduction Program.


Speaking of weight

CANNON - A Well-Remembered Terror -- Frank is hired to help a family being threatened by an unknown party--he even kills Mr. Cat. Cannon learns that the case involves a DB Cooper-type plane hijacking and pilot Robert Goulet is a suspect. At the end he brings a kitten to replace Mr. Cat and discovers there are about a half dozen Mr. Cat replacements already there.


BARNABY JONES - The Murdering Class-- Barnaby vs some young whippersnaps who think they can outsmart him by blaming an accidental death on the black tennis coach at a boy's school. Notable for Beep censoring a certain word at the start of a familiar phrase that ends in woodpile. First time I have encountered that done with a dvd recording.


KOLCHAK - THE NIGHT STALKER -- They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be... Carl vs an invisible alien. One of the more interesting ideas although the lack of a visible monster kind of makes it less transparent in terms of remembering it. Gordie the ghoul makes another appearance--they should have used him more. Premiered 50 years ago tonight.

THE WILD WILD WEST - The Night of The Bleak Island - Jim West goes to an island to recover a diamond left to the US government in a will, and meets an old colleague from Scotland Yard, which is appropriate since a demonic hound is on the loose somewhere. I saw the twist coming but it was still pretty good.


MANNIX - Death Run - Joe meets an old war buddy outside a murder scene on his street who tells him he is in trouble. He works as a forest ranger and asks Mannix to visit him and see his wife. He does--but when the sheriff gets involved and they go to see the wife--it's a different person. I did not see the twist coming in this one.


KOLCHAK- THE NIGHT STALKER - The Vampire -- Although I knew Kolchak faced a vampire in the first movie, I did not see it until well after the series so this episode has him not skeptical at all -and knows exactly what to do in order to go after it.

Premiered 50 years ago tonight.

THE WILD WILD WEST - The Night of the Tycoons - Last episode without Artemus Gordon but also the last episode that aired. I decided to watch them in production order instead. No mention of him at all in this one where the replacement partner is a young company executive/amateur pugilist who wants to beat James West in a fight but doesn't get the chance. Lots of henchmen fighting though and even a scene where West fights clowns. Ends with a joke you would not see on Star Trek.


THE WILD WILD WEST -The Night of the Diva - Artie is back from Washington finally. Clever twist on the Phantom of the Opera plot although it crossed my mind at one point. Good episode.


HUNTER - Playing God -- The writing of this show sure changed by the fourth season. It started off as a kind of dumb action show but they made it more serious and realistic.

KOJAK - Slay Ride - Convention attendees are being thrown off rooftops and it links back to the suicide of a model from two years before. The score for this was more melodramatic than average and in one scene Kojak has to force a murder witness to reveal what she knows while she is suffering from narcotic withdrawal. The actress (Julie Gregg) who I am not familiar with has to really emote and gasp while articulating a lot of exposition without it coming across like a Police Squad! scene. Premiered 50 years ago tonight.


McCLOUD - The Gang That Stole Manhattan - A crime organization uses the filming of a 1930s-era movie as cover for a jewel robbery masterminded by Fernando "you look marvelous" Lamas. Larry Hagman is the bumbling lead actor who is famous for being a tv detective and wants to help out on the case when McCloud is assigned to crowd control for the production.

We finally see Clifford's wife as he is constantly having fits of anxiety while they watch the late tv news revealing more problems for the police department.

Muriel Clifford: Would you like sleeping pill, darling?

Peter B. Clifford: You better bring the whole bottle. The one marked 'McCloud'!


Premiered 50 years ago tonight.

KOJAK - Nursemaid -- A witness in a mob murder has to be protected by Crocker and Kojak to testify for the grand jury. Premiered 50 years ago today.


McMILLAN & WIFE - A Game of Survival - A millionaire (Andrew Duggan) is eaten by his lions and suspicion falls on a hot-tempered tennis player as well as his trophy wife (Stephanie Powers) and son (George Maharis). Some good humor in this long episode. A very visibly expecting Sally is playing tennis (at pro level it seems) and complains that her game isn't as good as it should be. There's maybe one quick reference of a baby due but otherwise it is completely ignored just like in the previous episode. Delivered 50 years ago today.

I obviously love West, but Cossacks is not a very good episode.  

You can tell Conrad really hurts his knee jumping through the window during the episode ending fight scene.

Yes, that Night Gallery episode is probably the best one of the whole series.

KOJAK -- You Can't Tell A Hurt Man How to Holler - Man on the run for a shooting he didn't commit ends up in more trouble when his friend bails him out only to frame him even more for the victim's murder in a hospital. He has to turn to Kojak to help clear his name. Premiered 50 years ago tonight.


COLUMBO - By Dawn's Early Light - Patrick McGoohan kills to keep a military academy open from becoming a co-ed college. Also premiered 50 years ago tonight.

Haha, “The Contenders” is quite the West-fest.  Not only Conrad, but several of his stuntmen from WWW as well as guest stars from the series like John Dehner, Ron Randell and Ron Rich.