What Was the Last Television Episode You Watched?

[JunkMonkey]

the first couple of episodes of Raumpatrouille Orion - a 1966 German SF show which doesn't make a lot of sense - the science is very Rocky Jones / Flash Gordon (the second episode features a 'remote controlled supernova' on collision course for Earth which they blew up using a spaceship charged with 'negative energy'). Where it does score highly for me though is in its design elements and SFX which are pretty darn groovy and the fact that the women characters are strong and not over sexualised. Made at the same time as the TOS of Star Trek the women wear trousers not barely arse covering miniskirts and twenty-nine years before Janeway there is a female ship captain - who is also the hero's immediate superior.

 

[Harpo]

I’m attempting to watch every episode of Taskmaster. This afternoon I started with episodes 1&2 of series one. Now I’m pausing for lunch, and then I shall continue.

 

[Matteo]

Made at the same time as the TOS of Star Trek the women wear trousers not barely arse covering miniskirts...

@Danny McG switches channels .

 

[KGeo777]

THE ROCKFORD FILES - Caldonia--It's Worth A Fortune! - Rockford is hired by a convict's wife to help her find a treasure in a small town guarded by a hostile local sheriff (is there any other kind, especially when Jim Rockford is involved?) while being pursued by ex-cons who want to find it too.

 

[Jeffbert]

LIS s#2, The Golden Man.

Prime has finally made s2 #1 available for streaming, but not until I had already bought DVD set #1 for s2. Just one more episode on the set, then on to the s2 streaming.


Oh, I think the sets etc., for Raumpatrouille Orion are very cool!

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Part 1 of the last ever series of Vienna Blood.

 

[Dave]

I’m attempting to watch every episode of Taskmaster. This afternoon I started with episodes 1&2 of series one. Now I’m pausing for lunch, and then I shall continue.

I've seen them all from about Season 6 onwards. Started watching during lockdown when there was less to do. In the first few seasons there was less episodes so it's doable, but I have found that they repeat tasks now (or else they are only slightly altered) so it's becoming repetitive and I doubt I'd go back to the start.

I've watched a few of THE RETURN OF THE SAINT season 1 episodes (the one with Ian Ogilvie, the school bully in Ripping Yarns). It is great for the old 1970's scenes of London, Rome Marseilles and Monte Carlo and some actors seen in early TV roles, or twilight roles, but not much for the script. I don't understand how the Saint never gets arrested and imprisoned - bribery, kidnap, forgery, fraud, impersonating public figures, assaulting police officers, stealing and destroying police cars. While he is always on the right side of justice, the end does not always justify the means in real life. Batman is more believable than this. You also cannot put a hit out out on someone and then withdraw it. How does he know absolutely everyone and every police officer knows him (is there a course they take?) How come he knows he can access records on everyone, but doesn't know a thing about the guy who garages his car? And where did he find the time to complete a physics degree? If you do watch this, London was apparently woefully unprepared for the IRA bombings that were about to hit it quite soon, and had already forgotten all the Cold War Civil Defence advice.

In one episode he helps an old colonel who's daughter was poisoned by bad heroin, and they take out Russian Mafia. It's the same actor who hires Brett Sinclair and Danny Wilde in the Persuaders and there is a great nod to that show at the end, although in that show he is a Judge and it was 8 years earlier so it cannot be the same character. (Laurence Naismith was also Argus in Jason and the Argonaunts).

The other thing I've been watching is GAVIN AND STACEY from the beginning. Another very popular comedy that I'd never watched before. Quite a lot of it is the same jokes repeated, but that often works with these things, and it is funny. There are some very good comedy roles with actors at the top of their games, and appearances from all sorts of people - even Matt Lucas with hair. Everyone is very young, but then it was made in 2007.

 

[Harpo]

I’m attempting to watch every episode of Taskmaster. This afternoon I started with episodes 1&2 of series one. Now I’m pausing for lunch, and then I shall continue.

This morning I finished series 3. So far I’ve twice laughed so much that I had to pause it for health reasons

 

[KGeo777]

STAR TREK : The Savage Curtain - Been a while since I watched this and the first time with the CGI. It wasn't distracting in this case. The cheapness of the last season shows through in parts--I didn't realize how economical the introduction of the 4 evil combatants was. They just walk in from the side. The guy playing Genghis Khan seemed rather anonymous. Think they could have found someone with more of an acting history but that would cost money. Also, it was silly that Spock had trouble fighting him--aren't vulcans supposed to be strong--even half-human ones? This episode was rated one of the worst but I still have fondness for it. "Help meee Kirk."

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE - The Mercenaries - This had a neat sequence where they steal a room full of gold bars by melting them.

BARNABY JONES - Requiem For A Son - A Quinn Martin Production. Don't recall watching this series much at all but the theme song is familiar. And the special guest star for this premiere episode is Frank Cannon! A crossover--it was weird to hear Cannon driving around to the Barnaby Jones theme.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The first episode of The New Laugh-In, which only lasted six episodes.

It really captures the spirit of the original. If you loved/hated Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, you'll love/hate it.

Zillions of jokes, hoping that some of them work. Very corny song and dance routines.

Amazing guest stars. Bette Davis. Barry Goldwater. (Both of them participate in the News segment, and Davis plays an active part in many skits.) Ralph Nader. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Mad artist Sergio Aragones in live action, along with his animation!

Best known for including then-little-known Robin Williams in the cast.

Why did it last only half a dozen episodes, when the original was a huge hit? I don't know, but maybe it has something to due with this fact:

Producer George Schlatter relaunched the series without creators and hosts Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, who later won a 4.6 million dollar lawsuit against Schlatter for continuing the show without their permission.

All six episodes are on YouTube.

 

[Droflet]

Evil. Anyone watching this? I recommend that you give it a go. It's into its fifth season and is consistently of a high quality. It's not exorcist like, but just a good deal of fine writing with an unknown but good cast. Oh, yeah, it's about three people who investigate spooky stuff. Also not like the X files. Do yourselves a favor and give it a try.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Number One son and I have just started Season Two of Star Trek: Fan Service - well that's what we're calling it... for some weird reason it's got 'Enterprise' written on the box.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

My better half bought a set of DVD's containing 44 episodes of the TV series Medic (1954-1956.) That's not a complete set, as it ran for 59 episodes. It's a documentary-style medical series, sort of like Dragnet for the world of medicine.

My better half advised me to watch two episodes.

"Flash of Darkness" -- The series becomes science fiction, as this episode shows how the medical aspect of the Civil Defense program of the USA deals with an attack by "the enemy" with nuclear and biological weapons. Pretty grim; little kid dying from radiation exposure, etc.

"The Laughter and the Weeping" -- Michael Ansara stars as a man who gave up his dream of becoming an English major and a teacher when he has to get a job so he can take care of his disabled father. The job? Professional wrestler, of the theatrical kind. His character is one of the "bad guys." It's a caricature of a British aristocrat, who wears an Elizabethan collar and a monocle into the ring, accompanied by an African-American man dressed up in a turban and such as his servant. He reads a monologue from Shakespeare before the bout begins. After his father dies, he gets plastic surgery to correct the damage wrestling did to his ears and nose, then goes on to get his degree and his job as a teacher.

The quote is from Henry VI, Part III and is spoken by the Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III:

O miserable thought! and more unlikely
Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns!
Why, love forswore me in my mother's womb:
And, for I should not deal in her soft laws,
She did corrupt frail nature with some bribe,
To shrink mine arm up like a wither'd shrub;
To make an envious mountain on my back,
Where sits deformity to mock my body;
To shape my legs of an unequal size;
To disproportion me in every part,
Like to a chaos, or an unlick'd bear-whelp
That carries no impression like the dam.
And am I then a man to be beloved?

 

[KGeo777]

THE WILD WILD WEST - The Night of the Janus--A visit to a Secret Service academy (which has its own version of Q). We see how they train agents using chalk bullets. Kind of neat.

MANNIX - Need of a Friend - went back to season 2. Peggy the secretary is less friendly to her boss in these early ones--she calls him Mr. Mannix or Mannix. Interestingly she says to him at one point "as they say in Tv Land, have a nice weekend Mr. Mannix." I hope TV Land used that in their advertising.

CANNON - Valley of the Damned --Leslie Nielsen working for a charity tied to the bureau of Indian Affairs, hires Cannon to help a worker suspected of a murder. Rare to see him in a good guy part. Jay Silverheels is an apple "red on the outside, white on the inside," a shady employment agency owner getting workers for a heroin growing operation run by...Leslie Nielsen!

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

We have a DVD set of the complete series Checkmate (1960-1962) at home. We watched two episodes last night. The premise is a private detective agency (called "Checkmate, Inc.") that tries to prevent crimes before they happen. Anthony George as the boss, Doug McClure as the young, handsome operative, and Sebastian Cabot as the professor of criminology.

"Death Runs Wild" -- Wealthy woman (Anne Baxter) who owns a horse ranch hires the company when she is nearly hit by a bullet. Notable for a scary scene of attempted murder by wild horse. I was able to predict the Shocking Twist Ending.

Spoiler

The woman faked the attempt on her life in order to lure the boss of the agency to he ranch, because she wants to kill him for being one of the witnesses that convicted her husband for murder, leading to his execution.

"Interrupted Honeymoon" -- On his wedding night, a man is tricked into being kidnapped by a condemned murderer (Robert Vaughn) who escaped from Death Row. The motive is the fact that the two look somewhat alike (certainly not identical, which is more realistic than usual) so Vaughn wants to use his passport to get out of the country, supposedly on a honeymoon trip to Hong Kong with the bride. She cooperates, or Vaughn's accomplices will kill the husband.

 

[KGeo777]

IRONSIDE - An Obvious Case of Guilt -- Anne Baxter is an old friend of the Chief who is accused of murdering her husband and he doesn't believe it despite his staff being convinced. of it. After he proves her innocence, then he starts to have doubts. Good dialogue in this.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE - The Execution --in order to bust a food monopoly gangster, Jim Phelps poses as a target who gets killed by a hit man (Luke Askew). They place him in a fake death house with Martin Landau as a fellow condemned inmate--he does a really good job looking horrified as he is taken to the gas chamber--in order to get him to confess.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

More Checkmate:

"The Cyanide Touch" -- Dean Stockwell stars as a college student who sees a friend killed in a hit and run by two hoods stealing a car. The crooks get caught pretty quickly during a robbery. They pull heists for a shady businessman. Stockwell decides to punish the businessman with the same death penalty (cyanide gas) as the crooks will receive. Will Checkmate, Inc., be able to stop him?

"Lady on the Brink" -- Jane Wyman stars as a woman who witnesses a hit man shoot a man dead. Her testimony sends him to Death Row. His bosses do not try to kill her after this, but instead play mind games with her to drive her over the bend, so that during the appeal her testimony will seem inadmissible due to mental instability; but Checkmate, Inc. can play those kinds of games, too.

Pretty good series.

 

[beccabear67]

the first couple of episodes of Raumpatrouille Orion - a 1966 German SF show which doesn't make a lot of sense - the science is very Rocky Jones / Flash Gordon (the second episode features a 'remote controlled supernova' on collision course for Earth which they blew up using a spaceship charged with 'negative energy'). Where it does score highly for me though is in its design elements and SFX which are pretty darn groovy and the fact that the women characters are strong and not over sexualised. Made at the same time as the TOS of Star Trek the women wear trousers not barely arse covering miniskirts and twenty-nine years before Janeway there is a female ship captain - who is also the hero's immediate superior.

Strange. I was just watching these myself around the same time, or I should say re-watching; I'd seen some before without the English subtitles. Really some amazing effects! Hair styles, well... maybe not so amazing. It's interesting the Captain is English (or possibly even Scottish), perhaps they couldn't imagine a German officer being rebellious and 'not by the book'?

By the way, I've missed reading your comics at that comics forum I left.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Strange. I was just watching these myself around the same time, or I should say re-watching; I'd seen some before without the English subtitles. Really some amazing effects! Hair styles, well... maybe not so amazing. It's interesting the Captain is English (or possibly even Scottish), perhaps they couldn't imagine a German officer being rebellious and 'not by the book'?

By the way, I've missed reading your comics at that comics forum I left.

I bought a boxset of it recently under the mistaken impression it was subtitled. Only one disc had English subtitles and that was the disc with the recent 'feature film' edited from the series. Like nearly all 'feature films edited down from TV series (or movie serials) it is pretty diabolically awful; a real mess. So I borrowed some subtitled versions off the internet.

Comics. My comic mojo seems to have taken an extended holiday. No idea why but I haven't picked up a pencil in months. It will return. I hope.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

More episodes of Checkmate:

“Face in the Window” – Joseph Cotton sees a guy he knew during WWII and is determined to kill him, even if it means calling off his marriage to Julie Adams (from Creature From the Black Lagoon.) Let’s ignore the fact that she’s a quarter of a century younger; that’s Hollywood for you. Can Checkmate, Inc., stop the killing? Co-written by science fiction great Leigh Brackett.

“Runaway” – Anna Maria Alberghetti stars as a teenage heiress with a habit of running away from her family and hiring detectives by using a fake name and giving them a cock-and-bull story about escaping enemies out to kill her. This time, somebody really is after her. Played partly for comedy. Alberghetti tries her best to hide her Italian accent as a New Englander, not always with full success.

"Target: Tycoon" – Rivalry between two oil magnates leads to attempted murder. No big stars (as far as I know) and a pretty straightforward plot.