THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. - "The Project Deephole Affair" (1966)

Tonight's Wildly Vain Wednesday feature is an episode of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E."

My Editor in Berlin, Lord Litter, is currently enjoying this show immensely despite these horrid times, because "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." was never shown in it's entirety in Germany when it originally aired.

"The Project Deephole Affair" was from Season two of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and was the 26th episode and aired on March 18, 1966.

This is one of those shows that I take for granted that everybody already knows about, but you'd be surprised how much popular culture has been left behind by society today!

But then again, it was fifty-six years ago!

The core cast members of the show were Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, and Leo G. Carroll.

But for me, the real star of this episode was Barbara Bouchet as the villianess Narcissus Darling! Not only is she vain, she's also totally self-absorbed, and has a completely inordinate fascination with herself!

The other awesome guest star is Jack Weston as the deadbeat down and out Buzz Conway! Jack is another one of those special people that among all his roles, he was actually in two episodes of  "The Twilight Zone," "The Bard," and one of my all-time favorites, "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street."

Barbara lives up to the name of her Narcissistic character by constantly primping and priming herself while admiring herself in the mirror!

I might just make a painting of this shot because I think it's very cool, but if I don't, I'll always think I should have!

Ralph J. Rose has the role of a Dr. Remington, a guy who the T.H.R.U.S.H. agents just can't wait to get their filthy hands on. Ralph had six credits to his name, for shows like "The Addams Family," and "Gunsmoke," and "The Andy Griffith Show."

Narcissus might be a self-centered egomaniac, but she does look good from all angles, and has the goods to back it up!

The big bad guy running the show is Leon Askin as Marvin Elom. For a large man, Leon must have had a strong heart, because he lived to be 97 years old. His 137 credits went all the way back to 1950, and included stints working with Superman, Dr. Mabuse, and Sherlock Holmes, and he was in "The Outer Limits" episode "The Inheritors Part 1." Being of Austrian descent, it might have been easy for him to play the role of General Burkhalter on 67 episodes of "Hogan's Heroes."

As it should be, Narcissus just can't get enough of herself!

So what happens is that Buzz Conway gets mistaken for Dr. Remington by T.H.R.U.S.H, so the U.N.C.L.E agents use him as bait, but he's not very happy when he finds the real Doctor dead in his hotel room closet.

But it was just a set-up to scare him, and the knife is fake.

Buzz decides to split the scene via an open window, but doesn't like the height much.

Even though I don't really like to fly much, I can still appreciate a good picture of a 1960's airliner in flight like this!

Wait a minute! I thought Hotels weren't supposed to have thirteenth floors!

Narcissus just keeps on doing her vanity thing, and the joke never gets old!

T.H.R.U.S.H. has a plan to create an earthquake along the San Andreas fault, and make California fall off into the ocean, and takes credit for the 9.2 earthquake in Alaska that claimed 131 casualties two years earlier in 1964.

But in the end, Marvin creates his own personal tsunami when he falls into an open elevator shaft!

So that's it for me and 2020, and I say Good Riddance, go away, take all your crap with you, and don't come back!

THE THREE STOOGES In "All The World's A Stooge" - 1941

So, I started December with the Stooges, and for my last post of 2020, I thought how appropriate it would be to end this screwed up year with "All The World's A Stooge" because for me, that basically sums up the whole damn world as we know it at this time!

The story starts with Ajax Bullion and his wifey, Lotta, at the breakfast table. He has a horrible toothache and Lotta tells him that she wants to adopt some refugee children to have around the house! Well, that's just what Ajax wanted to hear. After a disastrous breakfast, he heads to the dentist's office.

In the meantime, the gang are washing windows at an office building. Curly has fallen through an open window at the dentist's office and Moe has to assist him back to the scaffold.

Ready to start his day, the dentist comes into the office only to have a bucket of water thrown in his face! He orders the boys to get the Hell inside and clean up the mess they made. He leaves to change his clothes and says that if they're not done when returns, he'll mop up the floor with THEM!!

Of course Ajax shows up, he's in so much pain that he doesn't even notice it's not his dentist! Curly asks Larry what 'anesthetic' means as Moe looks for some, and Larry says, he needs to be knocked out, which Curly does... With a mallet!

After pulling out Ajax's retainer, they need to glue it back in, but, the glue has hardened and so they have to come up with a plan... Man, that's a lot of glue!

The dentist has gone to the owner of the building demanding that he fire the boys. They hear a commotion in the office and rush in.

And, here's what they see!

After the explosion, the dentist and owner want to know if he's alright. Ajax feels his face, gets a big smile and says.. I've never felt better, send me a bill, and he leaves.

Ajax goes to his car and finds the Stooges hiding in the back. He asks them what they're doing and they say that they are refugees. That gives Ajax an idea...

He gets the boys some children's duds and takes them home to Lotta. The deal is though, they have to act like children in order to stay there! Check out Larry!

So, the guys and the butler are playing dice in their room, the butler keeps losing and is having to use his clothes as collateral. Notice, Moe's smoking a cigar...

Lotta comes in and sits down on Moe's lit cigar that he laid on the seat. After she catches herself on fire, Ajax hears the commotion and comes in just when one of the boys tosses a pail of water that misses Lotta by a mile! Ajax immediately retreats.

Still smoking, they roll Lotta up in a rug, stand her up and then pour water on her head!

The next day, Curly has caught a cold by sleeping with his feet out the window, and has to put salve on his chest before going to the party in the living room. You see where this is going.

Curly recites a poem for all the guests and tries to run out of the room (like a child) and runs into the wall and gets knocked backwards into this lady's lap. 

After Curly, who's stinking up the whole place, refuses to get up and do something else, he gets that pin in his backside! He hops up and goes to a different location.

Ajax has had it with his little experiment, and he's on the warpath! He tosses that ax at them, he's definitely out for blood!

Moe returns the favor and Ajax gets a face full of pie! He's already received a face full of spinach at dinner earlier.

The boys run across the yard and hide behind a big tree. Ajax tosses the ax again, splitting the tree in half and the Stooges keep on running. Well, have a Happy Newk Year, from us, here at The Dungeon!!..

THE WEIRD AL SHOW - "Bad Influence" (1997)

This will be the last "Saturday Night Special" in The Dungeon this year, and after this, 2020 can go screw itself! So here's something plenty weird from 1997, a Saturday morning kids show called "The Weird Al Show," and from what I saw so far, it lives up to it's name!

I had to work Saturdays back in the 90's, and I guess that's why I never saw this show before.

If you need a reference point, then you need look no further than about ten years previous when "Pee-wee's Playhouse" was on the air.

All this craziness....................

......................And that was just the introduction!

"Today's Lesson" is the moral of the story!

Al wants to become a member of some kind of cool club, and is willing to do almost anything to make it happen!

The head of the club, a guy named Spike, pays Al a visit and tells him that if he wants to be cool, then there are certain requirements! Spike was played by Kevin (Alias) Weisman.

Al has a hamster buddy named Harvey, so I don't really know why he needs this Spike guy in his life.

Spike starts making up all kinds of things for Al to do that he says are requirements to be in the club!

Al is ready for any challenge!

The first thing is to tear off one pants leg!

The second thing is to stick your arms into a vat of hot chocolate, which Al also goes along with. After that, he has Al shave off one of his eyebrows, all in the name of being cool!

I don't know why Al wants to be in this guy's club, he's already got so much cool stuff himself, like this eyeball chair!

Of course there are puppets and songs like "Water Is Wet."

And crazy ads like this one for "Pizza Quick, a unique company that doesn't use delivery boxes!

Pizza Quick touts that they have the fastest Pizza delivery, because they don't waste time putting the pizzas in boxes!

The Super Avenger stops by, but Spike puts him down.

 

 

 Then, the super nerdy Seymour drops by and tells Al that there is no real club, and there are no initiation stunts like what Spike has been making him do, and that the club is composed of just him and Spike, and then him and Spike leave together. Seymour is played by comedian and voice over artist Patton Oswalt.

Al had to learn Today's Lesson the hard way, and because it's a kid's show, "The Barenaked Ladies" show up and play a song called "Shoe Box."