Saturday, May 19, 2018

THE BIONIC WOMAN - Season 02, Episode 07 - "Black Magic" (1976)

 Tonight's Saturday Night Special is from the 1976 TV show, "The Bionic Woman" starring the beautiful Lindsay Wagner!

 In 1976 I had a black and white TV that got about 3 1/2 channels, so it's a good thing I have friends in Germany like Lord Litter to remind me of what I missed! "The Bionic Woman" is a fine example!

 "Black Magic" was episode number seven from season two of "The Bionic Woman" and has a brilliant cast which makes it really easy to watch!

 Any 1970's television show that was intelligent enough to use the talents of Vincent Price is okay in my book, and in "Black Magic" he even plays more than one character!

 The poor man's Boris Karloff, the always entertaining Abe Vigoda, plays the butler named Barlow. A couple years later and Abe would star in his own detective series called "Fish!"

 Vinnie plays both Manfred and his dying brother Cyrus Carstairs! After Cyrus dies, The family is called together for the reading of the will or what Cyrus considers to be a scavenger hunt, winner take all!

 Besides money, Cyrus also had guv'ment secrets, and now it's up to "The Bionic Woman" aka Jaime Sommers, to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands! Jaime poses as a hippie/gypsy niece that nobody has seen since she ran off to join the circus 18 years earlier!

 Is that a wolfman hiding in the bushes?

 The Stimson House is a 43,560 sq ft house located at 2421 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90007. It was built in 1891, and has been the location of many a movie!

 Great portrait of Vinnie as Cyrus Carstairs!

 Richard Anderson is Oscar Goldman, "The Bionic Woman's" guiding light! Richard was Chief Quinn in "Forbidden Planet!" What else do you need to know?

 Julie Newmar and Lindsay Wagner together, what, is this some kind of dream come true?

 This great ensemble shot besides Vincent, Julie, Abe, and Lindsay, also includes William Windom as Warfield, and Hermione Baddeley as Aunt Tess! Among his 253 acting credits, William was in two "Twilight Zone" episodes, "Miniature," and "Five Characters In Search Of An Exit!" Hermione worked in film and TV from 1927 to 1985. Pretty damn incredible!

 Cyrus made a video will. Commercial VHS and Beta tapes were being produced for the first time in Japan in 1976 also.

 Vinnie gets to do another bit as Cyrus on tape!

 Is it any wonder that as a teenager I was totally enthralled with Julie Newmar?

 I really like Lindsay as this character too. Her and Julie, it's almost like Mary Ann and Ginger!

 This is just a great shot of Vincent Price at the bottom of the stairs in The Stimson House!

Another great shot of Lindsay! 

 And one last shot of Vincent!
Pretty obvious this is not a normal TV show!

When it's all said and done, the Carstair family ends up at the same restaurant as Jaime and Oscar who are trying to avoid eye contact. The family gets up to join them, and the ending credits roll!

6 comments:

Caffeinated Joe said...

Great, fun episode. Quite a good cast for a "spooky" installment of this series. Love all your screen caps, well done!

EEGAH!! said...

Thanx Joe! That was a fun one for me!

Bob Johns said...

WOW what a cast I wish it was easier to watch old classics like this. Tv now just stinks.

EEGAH!! said...

Root around on the internet archive Bob, you're sure to find something. That's where I find tons of this stuff. Their search engine is a little bit convoluted, but with a little patience, you'll find something I'm sure.

TC said...

Abe Vigoda was also in The Godfather. Near the end, he gets taken for a one-way ride.

There was an episode of Barney Miller (the series from which "Fish" was a spin-off) where someone mentioned to Sgt. Fish, "You look like Boris Karloff." Fish grumbled, "That's because we're both dead."

Lindsay Wagner was cute as a bug, and Julie Newmar was awesome.

Greg Goodsell said...

Yours in Hermoine ....

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