THE AVENGERS - "A Touch Of Brimstone" (1966)

 

This week's Saturday Night Special is from Season 04, Episode 21 of the wonderful 1966 British TV series known as "The Avengers."

Unfortunately probably 99% of young people today only know about the Marvel Comics characters of the same title, but at least when they grow older, they can still go back and watch this show, and be amazed as the rest of us!

 

"The Avengers" were to television what The Beatles were to music in American culture of the 1960's. There were other British shows like "The Prisoner," but none were nearly as popular as "The Avengers," at least in my world.

 

There are two good reasons why "The Avengers" was such a popular show!

Patrick Macnee as John Steed, and...........

.................Diana Rigg as Mrs. Emma Peel. Two of the greatest characters in TV history!

 

This episode starts with a bunch of big shot muckity-mucks from other countries being ridiculed in public by practical jokes that include exploding cigars, and whoopee cushions! They in turn high-tail it back to their home countries which creates an embarrassing situation for the British government!

The marvelous Peter (Jason King) Wyngarde has the role of John Cartney, who really seems to be enjoying the whole affair!

Enter our stalwart heroes John Steed and Mrs. Peel, who will get to the bottom of this whole sordid matter in no time at all.

 

They know who the perpetrator is, so Mrs. Peel goes to see if she can use some of her charm on him.

Things get serious real quick when one of the gags actually kills someone!

John Cartney is the leader of a bunch guys known as "The Hellfire Club." Their specialty is debauchery, gluttony, drunk and disorderly conduct, and chasing women around!

For entertainment, they have a little fast guy fight a big oafish blindfolded guy with brass knuckles. The results are predictable!

After their initial meeting Mrs. Peel is asked by John Cartney to come back and enjoy the festivities!

John Steed also tries to infiltrate the club, but since he's a guy, he has to pass a stiff initiation test! First me has to chug this giant vessel of beer, which he does easily, and then asks for more.

Then he has to pass the pea test! 

On a signal, he has to move this pea off the cutting board before a guy standing there with a big ax, chops the pea in half, but instead of reaching for the pea, he foils them by blowing it off.

John Cartney makes Mrs. Peel change into this dominatrix outfit...............

....................for the benefit of the revelers, and the folks watching at home.

 

John Steed  has to then have a duel with a guy who lost two fingers once in the pea contest, so you know he's a loser!

Mrs. Peel has a big battle with the shrimp who was in the other fighting contest, and wins easily!

 

John Cartney then comes after Mrs. Peel with a whip, and eventually falls through a trap door usually reserved for his lackeys, just in time to end another awesome episode!

LOONEY TUNES / Daffy In "The Scarlet Pumpernickel" - 1950

Here's one for a Friday, Daffy pitches his massive script to J. L. Warner for an adventure movie set in merry olde England, with him as the star, The Scarlet Pumpernickel. Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese deliver the good while Mel Blanc does all the voices (even Elmer Fudd) except for The Fair Melissa, voiced by Bea Benaderet.

So, Daffy's in JL's office, ready to pitch his epic movie adventure...

Here we go, the script is like 2000 pages!

It starts with the handsome swashbuckling Scarlet Pumpernickel thwarting the king's men as they chase him through the English countryside.

When The Fair Melissa is caught swooning over the masked bandit, the King gets plenty angry! We see Melissa's Lady-In-Waiting, Momma Bear, there playing the harp.

Prince Sylvester receives a note from the King, he will have The Fair Melissa's hand in marriage, and keep her from the clutches of The Scarlet Pumpernickel...

Scarlet Pumpernickel shows up in disguise as a weary young traveler, he'd like a room for the night after his journey.

He visits the King and Sylvester, this is hilarious. The word is out, The Scarlet Pumpernickel may be dressed like a weary young traveler. While Daffy's being questioned about who he is, he says that he just might be the one they're looking for...

It's the wedding day and The Fair Melissa cries all the way to the alter.

There's only one way for Daffy to get to the top of the castle to break up the wedding!

The Fair Melissa grabs her duck and makes a b-line out of the castle.

Daffy takes a pause from reading the script but JL wants to know, what happens next?

So, Daffy and Melissa have holed up at the pub. The Pumpernickel has to go do battle with the bad guys and in the meantime, Sylvester locates his damsel in distress.

Daffy hears Melissa's screams and swings in on a rope, but misses the window. Then it's a duel to the death with Sylvester...

Daffy runs out of  pages and wings it when he's asked... What happens next?

There's a terrible storm and there's so much water that the dam breaks!

What happens next?.. Well, there's a volcano that covers over everything with lava!

So, what happens next? asks JL once again. Daffy says, there's only one thing left for The Scarlet Pumpernickel to do! He pulls the trigger...

He rises up and ends with, you have to kill yourself to get a script accepted in Hollywood!!

THE MIDDLEMAN 01 - "The Pilot Episode Sanctuary" (2008)

Tonight's Middle of the Week feature is called "The Middleman."

 

 

"The Middleman" was a 2008 TV show that was based on characters from a graphic novel (Too sophisticated to call it a comic book) written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, and illustrated by Les McClaine. It's funny that this show is 13 years old, but I still think of it as being modern, and while not bad, it still makes me long to go back and watch something from the 50's or 60's instead, mostly because of the overacting!

At least it wasn't called "The Middle Finger."

"The Middleman" was Cuban cutie Natalie Morales's fourth credit as a temporary worker named Wendy Watson who becomes a superhero's apprentice and sidekick. It wasn't really the kind of job she was looking for, but she was desperate!

Nice shot of the proverbial smoking gun!

This is Matt Keeslar as Wendy's new boss, "The Middleman."

This creature just reminds me of "Mr. Potato Head!"

Just a little too intelligent for Hollywood, Matt has 45 credits to his name, and two years after this show was made, he permanently moved to Oregon where he is currently working as a physician's assistant!

Wendy gets the blame for that laboratory burning down, even though she had nothing to do with it, so it becomes increasingly more difficult for her to find another job!

So she reluctantly agrees to work with "The Middleman," because she really doesn't have much choice!

Matt Keeslar was in some interesting films including "Waiting For Guffman, and "Psycho Beach Party," and he also played Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Hyde in a 2007 version of the classic tale.

The always enjoyable Mary Pat Gleason has the role of Ida, "The Middleman's" grumpy robot assistant! She has to put Wendy Watson through a series of tests to make sure she is going to be able to handle the job.

Wendy's real choice of occupation if she had one, would be to be a professional artist, and her new life experiences come out in her work.

Just goes to show you that you can't trust anybody, because he's not really an F.B.I. agent.

The opening segment is an homage to "The Avengers."

This show aired on the "Family" Network!

I give the writers big kudos, and a lot of credit for reviving the gorilla suit costume!

 

"The Middleman" is quirky, and fairly amusing if you're in the mood for something light, funny and odd, but then I'm a sucker for anything with a gorilla, a pretty girl, and a goober hero in it.

And how can you go wrong with episode titles like "The Manicoid Teleportation Conundrum," or "The Flying Fish Zombification?" I just don't think you can!