Week of 9/21: One-O (That's 10) Classic Five-O Episodes

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Viewers as a whole seemed to be underwhelmed by the debut of a new "Hawaii Five-O" on CBS last night - particularly viewers who loved the original series.

That's not surprising. Leonard Freeman's "Hawaii Five-O," which ran on CBS from 1968-80, set standards for location shooting and casting, as well as the quality of writing and directing; the show had some of the best of both in the business.

"Five-O" was a bridge between the "Dragnets" and "Hill Street Blues" - a bit personal with the lives of its police without getting too personal and socially conscious besides, with themes (terrorism, police conduct, rape, drug abuse, gun control) that still resonate today.

The most useful function of the new show might be to make viewers curious about the original. For those who haven't been exposed, here are 10 classic "Five-O" episodes to watch from the first five seasons (Everything through Season 9 has been released on DVD.):

*"And They Painted Daisies On His Coffin" (Season One; Air date: November 7, 1968): John D.F. Black, who wrote some of "Five-O's" best episodes, penned this one about the consequences when Danny Williams (James MacArthur) shoots a teenaged boy who is apparently unarmed. Directed by John Peyser, this episode includes a lot of hand-held camera work; the sequence in which Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) goes over the shooting scene with Honolulu Police Department internal affairs investigators is especially good, as is the scene with McGarrett's admonitions to Williams about the consequences of shooting someone.

*"Once Upon a Time" (Season One; February 19 and 26, 1969): Freeman, who would die after heart surgery in 1974, wrote this two-parter based on some of his experiences with medical quacks. McGarrett's sister, Mary Ann Whalen (played by Nancy Malone), is desperate to save her infant son, who is dying from leukemia. When she can't, McGarrett sets out to have the quack who took Mary Ann and hubby Tom's money prosecuted - for murder. Joanne Linville plays the evil doc. Lots of great moments in these episodes, shot mostly in Los Angeles, without a gunshot fired. Look for Beah Richards in Part 2. Look for McGarrett crying in Part 1.

*"The Singapore File" (Season Two; November 19, 1969): One of the most fun episodes of the show, in which McGarrett heads to Singapore (which was played by Honolulu after dark) to rescue witness Nicole Wylie (Marj Dusay) from a mobster intent on murder. Jack Lord has never been looser than in this episode, where McGarrett is trying to keep romance out of his relationship with Nicole.

*"Three Dead Cows at Makapuu" (Season Two; February 25 and March 4, 1970): In a season filled with fantastic shows, this two-parter about a biological terror threat was the capper, with Ed Flanders in a heartbreaking performance as scientist Alexander Kline, who is debating whether to set off the destructive force he created on Oahu. A pre-"M*A*S*H" Loretta Swit is excellent as the telephone operator who tries to help him. Joseph Sirola, the best actor to play the government bigwig Jonathan Kaye, is chilling in his defense of maintaining the biological hazard, triggering this McGarrett quote: "You people frighten me." Indeed.

*"Over Fifty? Steal!" (Season 3; November 25, 1970): Hume Cronyn is memorable as Lewis Avery Filer, the master of disguise who takes McGarrett and Five-O on a wild goose chase. There is an undertone of sadness to Filer's actions, and it's nicely counterbalanced by the humor in E. Arthur Kean's script. Watch Jack Lord play the straight man to Cronyn in a scene involving a safe.

*"To Kill Or Be Killed" (Season 3; January 13, 1971): Freeman and Anthony Lawrence's script was no doubt inspired by the reporting of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam; McGarrett and Williams - and the audience - are sad observers as a military family literally tears itself in two over the war and the actions of one of its members.

*"Rest In Peace, Somebody" (Season 4; November 16, 1971): Who's out to kill someone connected to McGarrett? And who is to be killed? Another John D.F. Black-written episode does a great job with the twists and turns of this mystery, from the shooter to the target. Suggestion: Don't watch the episode promo first; it gives away the target.

*"The Ninety-Second War, Part 1" (Season 4; January 11, 1972): One of the best of the McGarrett battles with Wo Fat (Keigh Deigh), his nemesis throughout the series, features the Five-O boss temporarily paralyzed and framed for embezzlement. His quest both to walk and to find answers is compelling. Part 2 is so-so; this is the one to watch.

*"The Clock Struck Twelve" (Season 5: December 5, 1972): Season 5 was another terrific year, capped by the Vashon trilogy, but this is a suspenseful episode about Williams' efforts to disarm two bombs placed inside the old Honolulu courthouse.

*"I'm a Family Crook - Don't Shoot!" (Season 5: December 12, 1972): The following week saw a switch from suspense to humor, as Andy Griffith played a small-time con family patriarch who messes with the mob. Carol Burnett was originally supposed to play his wife, but Joyce Van Patten does just fine in the role (including her classic quote, "You're not Errol Flynn!" when hubby considers leaping out the window).

Those episodes will give a taste of this excellent series, which proves just how good it is by what follows.

Next week, be here. Aloha.

And until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of 9/17: Aloha To a Distinguished Trio

By Sylvia Gurinsky

How strange and sad, when a new CBS show called "Hawaii Five-0" is about to debut, that three men who distinguished themselves on the original, classic series die in the same week.

The first was Morgan White, who appeared occasionally during the first season (1968-69) as Hawaii Attorney General Walter Stewart, but was beloved by Hawaii television viewers as Pogo on the "Checkers and Pogo" children's series.

Kevin McCarthy had a distinguished career as a movie and television actor, and was working up until recently - at age 96! IMDB.com lists his first television appearance in 1949 on "The Ford Theatre Hour" in "The Man Who Came To Dinner." He was a frequent performer in the live television dramas of the 1950s and had a long line of guest-starring roles on successful television series, including "The Fugitive," "Mission: Impossible," "Columbo," "The Love Boat," "Murder, She Wrote" and "Early Edition." He co-starred in three series - "Flamingo Road," "Bay City Blues" and "The Colbys."

"Five-O" fans remember him for two episodes - as forger Hunter R. Hickey in Season 9's "The Last of the Great Paperhangers," and as widow murderer Victor Reese in the series' first regular episode, "Full Fathom Five":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FhDGWTsUiw

Later in the week, Harold Gould, also working until recently, died.

Gould's television career started in 1961. It included two stints as the dad in a television pilot - Lou Marie in the pilot of "That Girl" (Lew Parker wound up playing the role.) and Howard Cunningham in the "Love and Happy Days" segment of "Love, American Style that was turned into "Happy Days" (in which Tom Bosley played Howard).

But the third time was the charm - as Martin Morgenstern, father of Rhoda (Valerie Harper) - first on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," then on "Rhoda":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC9_YNmUbts&feature=related

Later, he played the boyfriend of Rose Nylund (Betty White) on "The Golden Girls."

His Five-O turn came in what series fan Karen Rhodes called the show's magnum opus in her "Booking Hawaii Five-O": The Vashon trilogy.

He played Honore Vashon, the second generation of a crime family that Five-O was determined to bring to justice. These scenes are from the first episode of the original three-parter, "V For Vashon: The Son":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmh_xd59uew

He also appeared in a followup episode, "The Case Against McGarrett."

Lots of good viewing with this trio. The first nine seasons of "Hawaii Five-O" are available on DVD, as are the first season of "Rhoda," all of Gould's appearances on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Golden Girls" and many of McCarthy's appearances on various shows.

Aloha to all.

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See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of Sept. 3: Emmy Suggestion Reflects How Networks Have Fallen in Prestige Programming

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Now that the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is looking for a new contract for the televising of the Emmy Awards, there are some downright goofy suggestions for future telecasts. The goofiest would split up the programming awards between commercial and cable television. Cable, which does most movies and miniseries, would televise those categories.

It says a lot about the mess network television has become. Remember when movies and miniseries used to be part of the prestige claims for networks? These days, with rare exceptions in hour-long series, CBS, NBC and ABC (Never mind Fox, which never aspired to the prestigious) are the equivalent of fast-food restaurants - filling and sometimes enjoyable, but hardly ever nourishing.

On the other hand, cable networks such as HBO are at the other end of the spectrum - like dinner at Elaine's, which is certainly fancy, but not affordable by everyone.

That leaves PBS, whose development of programming depends on funding from everywhere. PBS is a class act, of course, but even its long-form programming depends on the kindness of friends on both sides of the Atlantic.

The last time a commercial network movie was nominated for an Emmy was in 2008, when ABC's "A Raisin In the Sun" was tapped. The last time a network movie won an Emmy was in 2000, when the Oprah Winfrey-produced "Tuesdays With Morrie" took the statue, also for ABC. Only a handful have been nominated since 1994, when four of the five nominees were from networks (but interestingly, the HBO-produced "And the Band Played On" won that year).

As for miniseries, PBS is the only network that has seen Emmy nominations and glory since 2005, when CBS' "Elvis" was one of the nominees. ABC's "Anne Frank" was the last commercial-network miniseries to win, in 2001. The last time all miniseries nominees did not include a cable entry was 1997.

It's depressing for those who love the history of commercial television and know how good it was when it scaled the peaks. While much of what's produced on cable is excellent, it doesn't transform the landscape because it's not available to the entire television audience.

What if "Roots" had been telecast on HBO, instead of on ABC? It still would have won awards, but it wouldn't have been the revolutionary program it was, not just for the craft of television, but also for society.

One of the reasons network television is in so much trouble is that it's gotten out of the creativity business to save money. Viewers still want their imaginations stirred. But if commercial networks don't do it, they'll go elsewhere. Splitting up the Emmys won't help that. It will only reflect how far the mighty have fallen.

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YesterTube will be on hiatus next week. Enjoy Labor Day and Happy Jewish New Year to those who celebrate. Meanwhile, Happy Viewing!

Week of August 27: Rob Reiner On the Small Screen

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Long ago, Rob Reiner became a successful film director; his latest release is "Flipped," a film about pre-teen crushes.

But he's never abandoned his television roots. The son of legendary comedian Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner began his small screen success as a writer on CBS' "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." As a young actor, he had a number of guest-starring roles (including a memorable role as Snake on "The Partridge Family"). But he shot to stardom with:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XNLOGrnmIw

He played Michael Stivic, a character close to his own political leanings and a constant foil for father-in-law Archie Bunker, who gave him the unceremonial nickname of "Meathead," in CBS' long-running "All In the Family," a show just as relevant today as when it went on the air 40 years ago.

The role gave Reiner two Emmy awards and a springboard to a long directing career.

Other television credits include the 1978 ABC television movie "More Than Friends," done with then-wife Penny Marshall, and "Free Country," a 1978 sitcom about Lithuanians coming to American at the start of the 20th century. He's continued to do voice-over roles on television shows such as NBC's "Frasier."

It's possible to access a comprehensive interview with Reiner about his career from the Archive of American Television at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFEBeMFuL_M


See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of August 20: A Sense of Places

By Sylvia Gurinsky


The Christian Science Monitor has an article about how communities become characters in television series where they're supposed to be set:


http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/TV/2010/0811/A-character-not-listed-in-TV-dramas-The-city-itself


From time to time, that can happen even when a television program isn't shot where it's set.


YesterTube takes a look at settings this week - the five best on-location shows and the five best shows at setting a location:


First, let's go travelling, in no particular order:


*Hawaii: "Hawaii Five-O," CBS, 1968-80: There's nothing the new production can do to make Hawaii look any better than the original series made it look for 12 years, and still makes it look in the DVDs. Series creator Leonard Freeman and the equally talented directors he hired (including Charles Dubin, Michael O'Herlihy and Leo Penn (father of Sean)) were able to get Hawaii's seamy and glamorous sides.


*New York City: "Law & Order," NBC, 1990-2010: New York has a sense of loss for this show, which let The Big Apple be itself, warts and all.


*Los Angeles: "Adam-12," NBC, 1969-75: Producer Jack Webb was terrific at realism, through "Dragnet" and many of his other shows - including this one, which featured two patrol officers in their often less-than-routine days.


*Miami: "Miami Vice," NBC, 1984-89: When NBC programming head Brandon Tartikoff suggested "MTV Cops" to Michael Mann and Anthony Yerkovich, the pair came up with a city on its way back from race riots and refugee resettlement. Miami during the 1980s was, indeed, a city on the verge, and the show featured its architecture and colors like nothing else.


*Everywhere: "Route 66," CBS, 1960-64: It's been forgotten just how gutsy this series was. It's still the only fictional series in television history that used all of the United States as its backlot.



Now for five series that made the California backlot look like home:


*Korea, "M*A*S*H," CBS, 1972-83: It was shot at the 20th Century Fox ranch in the mountains of Southern California, but the cast and crew really did make this look like the Korean War - complete with similar unpredictable weather and creepy-crawly creatures.


*Walnut Grove, Minnesota, "Little House On the Prairie," NBC, 1974-83: Michael Landon and Ed Friendly and company were able to take their California set back a century, to Laura Ingalls Wilder's time.


*Walton's Mountain, Virginia, "The Waltons," CBS, 1972-82: Like "Little House," this series touched hearts with its realistic portrayal of a past time - in this case, series creator Earl Hamner's youth in Depression-era Virginia.


*Washington, D.C., "The West Wing," NBC, 1999-2006: From time to time, the cast and crew would use the real Washington as their back lot. But they took a lot of Eastern influence for their genuine-looking White House set in sunny Cal. Of course, the show's West Wing had a lot more corridors than the real White House reportedly has!


*Mayberry, "The Andy Griffith Show," CBS, 1960-68: Was there ever really such a place? Perhaps just in the imagination of series creator Sheldon Leonard.


See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of August 13: David L. Wolper, Patricia Neal and More

By Sylvia Gurinsky


From the 1960s onward, David L. Wolper was the first name that came to mind when thoughts turned to television's biggest events.


Wolper, who died this week, produced the opening ceremonies for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles - complete with 84 grand pianos playing George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue." He also produced the 1986 Liberty Weekend, which included some of the world's biggest entertainers (back when there were many big entertainers) and President Ronald Reagan re-lighting the restored Statue of Liberty during its 100th birthday celebration.


As a television producer, Wolper shot to fame creating documentaries such as "The Making of the President: 1960," followed by a series of National Geographic specials and "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau."


He was a champion of diversity, producing the NBC sitcom "Chico and the Man," the ABC comedy "Welcome Back, Kotter" and his crowning glory, the 1977 miniseries "Roots" - still the most-watched miniseries in television history.


The David Wolper Center at the University of Southern California features the entire collection of his work. Much of the most successful work is available on DVD. That work will remain as a lasting tribute to him.


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Given her great success in film, it sometimes comes as a surprise to know that Patricia Neal, who also died this week, had a large television resume as well. During the 1950s, she was featured in such programs as CBS' "Playhouse 90" and "Omnibus." Through the years, she had guest-starring roles in such shows as "The Untouchables," "Little House On the Prairie" and "Murder, She Wrote."

Unquestionably, her crowning glory on the small screen came during the holiday season of 1971, when she starred as Olivia Walton in "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story," the predecessor to the long-running series "The Waltons."

In the series, Michael Learned, as Olivia, would successfully share the screen with Ralph Waite, as John Walton, as well as Ellen Corby (Grandma), Will Geer (Grandpa), and Richard Thomas (John-Boy). But given the plot of the pilot film (Olivia and the entire Walton family wait all day Christmas Eve for John (Andrew Duggan) to come home), the script required a dominant actress. Neal was perfect, especially in her scenes with then-18-year-old Thomas. Here's an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3LaDngGBoE

Neal was nominated for an Emmy, and the film was a hit that CBS would repeat for years during the holiday season. Thomas, Corby and the remaining cast of Walton children would go on to the series, and more ratings and Emmy glory.

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Fans of classic TV are also mourning the death of Lorene Yarnell, once part of the mime team Shields and Yarnell.

Yarnell was a dancer on variety shows when she met Robert Shields in 1972. The two married, were originally street performers as mimes and later went onto success, again on variety shows. CBS gave them their own show in 1977. While that show didn't last long and Shields and Yarnell would later divorce, the team created memorable characters that fans still enjoy.

Here are two of them, the Clinkers, saying "Good Morning."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km1QRnzIKpI

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Finally, "At the Movies" is coming to an end after 35 years.

It's a quiet end, but its peak years, of course, were when film critics Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times and Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune were doing the weekly reviews. After Siskel died of cancer in 1999, Ebert teamed with Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper until Ebert got sick. They had a falling-out with producing company Disney, and the show went through assorted hosts after that.

Here's a Siskel and Ebert review from 1989, of a certain Kevin Costner film about a farmer plowing his corn to build a baseball field. Yep, they disagreed about the classic "Field of Dreams":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1gLX2t5GEc

But like "Field of Dreams," Siskel and Ebert were magic together on "At the Movies." So sorry the balcony is closed.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of Aug. 6: Presidential Themes

By Sylvia Gurinsky

This week included President Barack Obama's 49th birthday and the summer session for the Television Critics Association to hear about - and write about - new television shows for fall.

One has nothing to do with the other, but it's fun to combine the two purposes and recall past television series with presidential themes. Here are four, from least successful to most successful:

*"Nancy": This should have been successful, because it was a good idea: A small-town veterinarian from Iowa, played by John Fink, meets the president's daughter, played by Renne Jarrett. Courtship and marriage ensue. Good ratings didn't, however. The most famous alumnus of the show is Academy Award winner Celeste Holm, who played Abby Townsend, the First Lady's press secretary. Holm would later be featured on the CBS show "Promised Land."

"Nancy," which ran on NBC in 1970-71, lasted just 17 episodes, not even long enough to introduce actors as the First Couple. Curiously, it produced a book, which is a collector's item.

Interestingly, "Nancy" was cancelled just as the public started hearing about the upcoming real-life wedding of Tricia Nixon, the oldest daughter of President Richard Nixon, to Harvard law student Edward Cox.

*"Hail To the Chief": This show, which ran on ABC in 1985, was disgraceful, wasting the talents of Patty Duke as President Julia Mansfield and Ted Bessell ("That Girl") as her philandering husband, as well as character actors like Richard Paul ("Carter Country"), Pat Hingle ("Murphy Brown"), Rose Marie ("The Dick Van Dyke Show") and Herschel Bernardi. Mercifully, it lasted just seven episodes. It was created by the same folks who were responsible for "Soap," "Benson," "The Golden Girls" and "Empty Nest," but there was no magic to this one.

*"Commander In Chief": What a lost opportunity this one was. This show, which starred Academy Award winner Geena Davis as President Mackenzie Allen and Donald Sutherland as House Speaker Nathan Templeton, started so well in 2005; it was created by Rod Lurie, who had successfully explored the presidential theme in the film "The Contender."

But an impatient ABC pushed out Lurie because he was having trouble adjusting to the television schedule. Rather than getting him some help, they replaced him with Steven Bochco, who is much better at police shows than presidential shows. That move effectively ruined the series, as Bochco changed the tone.

Though Davis won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy, the show's ratings sagged with all the changes, and it lasted just one season. It is available on DVD.

*"The West Wing": The absolute gold standard, and one of the finest dramas in commercial television history.

Aaron Sorkin, John Wells and Thomas Schlamme were the creators of this show, which ran on NBC from 1999-2006, and the original intent was to look simply behind the scenes at the White House staff - including John Spencer as Chief of Staff Leo McGarry; Bradley Whitford as Assistant Chief of Staff Josh Lyman; Richard Schiff as Communications Director Toby Ziegler; Rob Lowe as his deputy, Sam Seaborn; Allison Janney as Press Secretary C.J. Cregg and at the beginning, Moira Kelly as strategist Mandy Hampton.

But then President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, entered during the last scene of the first episode, and the dynamic was altered; Sheen was so good (and should have won an Emmy, which he never did) that he got a much bigger role.

The show sagged somewhat after Sorkin's departure at the end of Season 4, but picked up a bit during its seventh, and last season, as Congressman Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) and Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) ran for the chance to succeed Bartlet. Vinick was modeled after Sen. John McCain, and Santos was reportedly modeled after a new United States senator named Barack Obama.

"The West Wing" wound up with 26 Emmys - not to mention a lot of miles walked around those fictional White House corridors.

I'll end with some classic West Wing, when Josh pinch-hit at a press conference for C.J., who had a root canal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG5AwvS5WFQ&feature=related

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!