Plus, Royal Weddings!
All right, what's going on in this episode?
Christin and I talk about The Green Hornet.
Mitchell and I chat about Bourbon Street Beat.
Madelynn and I runaround Ellery Queen.*
Please, listen and enjoy.
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*Thank you, Mike!
You're welcome.
ReplyDeleteGreen Hornet:
This came up several times during this last episode.
Ever since I first saw GH in its initial network run in '66-'67, I've always suspected that it was supposed to be an hour-long show.
But ABC had a crowded schedule that fall, so GH was stuck with a half-hour.
That Dozier & Co. slated so many two-parters that year seemed to be their outcry to ABC that they need a longer timeslot to do the show right; your calling attention to the rushed nature of the half-hours would appear to confirm this.
By the way, have you ever compared the credits on Green Hornet to those on Bourbon Street Beat?
When Bill Dozier was putting together his Batman team, he mainly recruited from the group that produced the Warner Bros. detective shows, such as BSB.
GH's line producer, Richard Bluel, was a member of long standing in this group; so were most of the behind-the-scenes people.
Since most of the WB 'tecs were hour shows, that bunch might have been more comfortable with the longer form to work with, but ABC (which wasn't being run by the same people then) wasn't having any.
Anyway, we're in the home stretch here, and my guess is that the Dozier Crew saw the writing on the wall; the last few shows will demonstrate that.
Bourbon Street Beat:
To me, this was the Lost WB Classic; a second season might have proved that.
As a followup to 77 Sunset Strip, BSBeat worked from the same production pool at Warner Bros., and the results were at least as good, most of the time, anyway.
The line producer here was Charles Hoffman, who later on was a principal writer on Batman.
Also, Warners still had a sizable list of contract actors in '59-'60, so when you start seeing many of the same actors turning up in different parts during the season, now you know why. (Many of them were putting in time on the other WB series as well, 'tecs and Westerns both).
Oh, and here's a fun fact about this episode:
The writer, A.J. Carothers, wrote many TV shows over a long career, in all genres; one of his later assignments was creating Nanny And The Professor, which starred Richard Long (Coincidence? You decide).
Ellery Queen:
I often wondered how and why guest star billing was determined on this show.
In this case, why didn't Timothy Carey (the bomber), one of the great B-movie heavies of all time, make the alphabetical list at the start?
I get that Kevin Tighe (pronounced TYE, by the way - Irish) would make the cut, being more present tense, but really …
That aside, this was a solid EQ show at all levels.
Too bad that it ended up being thrown away against the Sonny & Cher reunion (I have never forgiven either of them, even after all these years).
Anyway, next up is … Hard-Hearted Huckster, a favorite of mine, and the source of a least-asked trivia question:
What do these three EQ adventures have in common:
The Wary Witness
The Tyrant Of Tin-Pan Alley
The Hard-Hearted Huckster
Take your time on this one.
'Til next time …
Thanks, Mike. I will begin thinking about that trivia question shortly. Hmm.. And, I agree that Bourbon Street Beat is a lost classic. I will also compare the BSB and GH credits soon. Have an excellent day, sir!
ReplyDeleteAfter I stood down last time, I suddenly remembered:
ReplyDeleteThat friendly lab guy who told Ellery and the Inspector about the poison?
That was Stanley Ralph Ross, who was a principal writer on Batman (along with Charles Hoffman, op cit.).
Wonderful, how all this stuff ties together …
Hello again!
ReplyDeleteYesterday (Wednesday the 12th), I took delivery of a book called "Let's Roll, Kato", by Billie Rae Bates, which is a very detailed account of the Green Hornet TV series from concetion to cancellation.
It's a big book - 481 pages - but many of the questions you and Kiki have been asking each other over the course of the blog will be answered.
(And my guess that GH was supposed to be an hour-long show all along is confirmed from several sources, so there too.)
And more on books:
Peter S, Fischer wrote a memoir called Me And Murder she Wrote, about that gentleman's extensive career with Ellery Queen, MSW, Blacke's Magic, The Law And Harry McGraw, and much much more.
Another volume of interest is The Real Adventures of Tom Sawyer, about that gentleman's career, which includes not only MSW and McGraw but also B.J. And The Bear (another program you appear to be interested in), all of which Mr. Sawyer figured in on the creative side.
All three of the above books may be found at Amazon; all are kind of pricey, but in my view worth it from the information standpoint.
Isn't it fun, how all this stuff ties in together?
(Oh, I said that already, didn't I?)