The Challenge of Three-Part Stories

 

I’ve done a few pieces about two-part episodes of classic shows and how, when they’re done right, they often rank among the most memorable entries from their respective series.

 

But it doesn’t happen all the time. Looking back it seems that for every successful two-part tale there is one that did not merit the extra running time, resulting in a story with superfluous subplots stretched with stock footage and other filler.

 

So if the track record for two-part stories is spotty, what must the verdict be for those with three parts?

 

Not as bad as you’d think, surprisingly. The reason, perhaps, being that many two-part shows start out as single episodes that get expanded somewhere along the way, while three-part stories are plotted from the beginning to fill a feature-length running time. The risk is in hoping viewers will return for all three installments. Today with DVRs that’s not an issue; but in the Comfort TV era before the VCR audiences had to watch the show when it was scheduled, so part one and part two better be intriguing enough to bring everyone back for the finale.

 

Here are six examples of shows that pulled it off – and one that did not.

 

The Hawaii Trilogy

The Brady Bunch

Travel is a common theme in these super-sized stories, and the Brady Bunch’s fourth season trip to Hawaii offers a prime example of how to do it right. From the beautiful beaches to the Pearl Harbor memorial, viewers enjoyed a virtual tropical vacation as the story unfolds. 

 

The final installment was certainly over-the-top for this series, with Vincent Price hamming it up as a paranoid archaeologist, but all is forgiven when he joins the family at the luau that ends their eventful trip. Replicas of the “tabu” idol Bobby finds at the construction site have become popular collectibles among Brady fans. 

 

 

Batman Vs. Lord Ffogg

Batman

Another travel adventure, as the Dynamic Duo visit “Londinium” after the mysterious thefts of historic treasures. But in this case there was no actual visit to London, which almost becomes a running joke within the story – witness the barely redressed set for Commissioner Gordon’s office serving as the office of Gordon’s British counterpart.

 

Batman deduces the guilty party within minutes of his arrival, suggesting the Londinium police are no more capable than those in Gotham City. It’s the infamous Lord Ffogg (Rudy Vallee) and Lady Penelope Peasoup (Glynis Johns), who run a school for shoplifters in training. This is one of the better third-season stories, and provides a better-than-usual showcase for Yvonne Craig’s Batgirl.  

 

 

“Lost in Spain”

Family Affair

One more travel story, as the Davis clan visits Spain, where a bus mix-up separates Buffy and Jody from Mr. French. It’s all shot on the studio backlot but it feels more authentic than many Europe-set shows, especially as the twins wander through the rural countryside while the rest of the family continue their desperate search. Eventually they find their way to a farmhouse, where the couple inside feeds them but is wary of reporting their location to the police. As always, Family Affair takes a more grounded and realistic approach to plots that have played out on dozens of other sitcoms, resulting in a story in which everyone’s fears feel more genuine, even though we know everything will end happily.

 

“Kill Oscar”

The Bionic Woman

This was the story that introduced the Fembots, which in the 1970s were popular enough to inspire their own action figures. No one who watched these shows first-run could forget when the Fembot’s face plate was removed, revealing electronics circuits and wires surrounding two creepy bulging eyes. 

 

 

The female robots were created by Dr. Franklin, a slightly mad scientist with a secret island base who plots to steal a device that can control the weather. That’s the kind of role that screams for a veteran scenery-chewer like Ross Martin – but instead they brought in the great John Houseman to give the part more gravitas –and it works. 

 

 

“Gold Train: The Bullet”

Gunsmoke

Matt has a bullet lodged near his spine, and Doc doesn’t want to risk performing an operation to remove it. They put the marshal on a train so he can see a specialist, and the train is held up by a gang led by guest star Eric Braeden. It took 17 seasons for this venerable western to serve up a three-part story, so no one should be surprised that it delivered plenty of action, drama and romance. Fans were delighted to see Milburn Stone return as Doc, after an extended absence following the actor’s bypass surgery. But the most memorable moment featured Amanda Blake, as Kitty (finally!) talks to Matt about the love she felt for him throughout the years.

 

 

A Man Called Smart

Get Smart

Of course you’ll want to watch all three parts of this story, which was originally intended for theatrical release. But it’s the first installment that features a masterpiece of slapstick comedy starring Don Adams, a stretcher and a revolving door. Adams, whose distinct voice and catchphrases were a big part of the show’s success, never utters a word throughout the sequence, and still earns huge laughs. There is also an innovative opening chase scene that portends Adams’ association with Inspector Gadget. 

 

The Falcon

Mission Impossible

Here’s the one that didn’t work, which isn’t surprising as Mission: Impossible also struggled with two-part stories. Fans already missing Martin Landau and Barbara Bain would have their patience with the series further tested by this bloated assignment: the team must stop a usurper’s plot to steal the throne of a princess. When M:I starts lifting plots from Disney, it’s not a good sign. 

 

 

Classic TV’s Coolest Character Team-ups

Back in my Marvel Comics collecting days one of my favorite titles was Marvel Team-Up, which ran stories featuring Spider-Man working with (or fighting against) another prominent character in the Marvel Universe. It was always fun to see how two characters I liked would interact, and whether they would fight or join forces against a common enemy.

Television gave us some memorable team-up moments as well. Here are some of my favorites.

Lucy Ricardo and Superman

I don’t know if the 1957 I Love Lucy episode “Lucy and Superman” is the first classic TV crossover. But I can’t think of another example from the 1950s that was this memorable.

George Reeves’ version of Superman was best suited to lighter moments, and here he seems to be having a ball hanging out on a high-rise window ledge with Lucy. One thing I always appreciated about his story was how Lucy and Ricky only refer to Reeves as Superman, to maintain that illusion for younger viewers. 

Batman and The Green Hornet

The most oft-told story about the Batman episodes “A Piece of the Action/Batman’s Satisfaction” (1967) concerned the big fight scene pitting Batman and Robin (Adam West and Burt Ward) against The Green Hornet (Van Williams) and Kato (Bruce Lee).

It might be apocryphal, especially since the doubles for West and Ward did most of the dangerous stuff in those scenes anyway. But legend has it that the script called for Robin to beat Kato, until Bruce Lee refused to lose the fight, and threatened to land a few real shots on his opponent to prove the point. The script was changed so neither hero lost, but Ward supposedly approached that scene like the rest of us approach a root canal. He did have some martial arts training, but if Bruce Lee went rogue the fight would have been over in three seconds.

Doctor Who and Doctor Who (and Doctor Who)

Before anyone in America even knew what it was, Doctor Who was already a sci-fi favorite in England. “The Three Doctors” (1972) was a milestone in the series, created to celebrate its tenth anniversary. The story brought together then-current Doctor Jon Pertwee with his two predecessors, Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell. Illness limited Hartnell’s screen time but he made the most of it: “Oh, so you’re my replacements – a dandy and a clown.” Since then ten more actors have played the role, and the series has become a lot slicker (not to mention more woke, sadly) with its fast-paced stories and special effects. But those early serials are still entertaining, and this was one of the best. 

Scooby-Doo and Josie and the Pussycats

As I wrote in my review of The New Scooby-Doo Movies on Blu-ray, these stories were hit-and-miss at best. “The Haunted Showboat” (1973) features the usual phony ghosts, but the interactions between the Scooby gang and Josie and her friends were fun to watch, especially when Casey Kasem had to carry on conversations with himself while played both Shaggy and Alexander. Docked several points, however, for not featuring a song by the Pussycats.  

Captain Marvel and Isis

This alliance was inevitable, as the two Filmation series featuring these characters aired back-to-back on Saturday mornings as The Shazam-Isis Hour. I just wish they hadn’t waited so long, as I’d have enjoyed watching Isis meet the first Captain Marvel, played by Jackson Bostwick. He had the boyish face and earnest demeanor more suited to such a straight arrow, kid-friendly hero. John Davey replaced Bostwick in the series’ second season. 

The characters met several times during their final seasons – the best of them is “Out of Focus” (1976) where they come to the rescue of a pair of amateur filmmakers played by Andrew Stevens and Nancy Morgan. Morgan married John Ritter just one year after this episode was shot.

The Bionic Woman and Evel Knievel

Jaime Sommers fails to stop East German spies from acquiring a codebook, so she hops on the back of a motorbike and orders the driver to follow the spies behind the Iron Curtain. The best running joke in “Motorcycle Boogie” (1977) is how Jaime refuses to believe the guy she roped into her mission is Evel Knievel: “You’re good, but you’re not that good!”

I just wish this iconic 1970s pairing happened in a more entertaining episode. And I’m surprised that Knievel didn’t object to being portrayed as grouchy and self-centered. But it’s all we’ve got, and it still has its moments. 

Wonder Woman and Roy Rogers

Roy Rogers didn’t play himself in the 1977 Wonder Woman episode “The Bushwhackers,” but that really didn’t matter. In all of his movies and TV shows he was the same genial, good-natured cowboy that he plays here. The plot was unimportant – what made the episode memorable to me occurred before shooting began: Roy was hesitant about appearing with Lynda Carter in her revealing superhero costume, so a new western-style uniform was created for this episode – and of course she looked beautiful in it as well. 

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew

Both Nancy and the Hardys had been around since the 1930s, first in books and later in various movie and television adaptations. But they never joined forces until ABC launched The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries in 1977. In the season two opener “The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula,” Frank and Joe trace their missing father to Dracula’s castle, which has been rented out for a superstar rock concert (said superstar played by Paul Williams). Nancy, who had been working for the brothers’ dad on a case, joins the search, and sparks fly between her and Frank.

Colt Seavers, Nick Barkley, Yancy Derringer and Dan Troup

In “King of the Cowboys,” a 1984 episode of The Fall Guy, Lee Majors is reunited with his Big Valley costar Peter Breck, and joins forces with Roy Rogers, Jock Mahoney as Yancy Derringer, and John Russell as Marshal Dan Troup (from the underrated western series Lawman). Watching all these heroes saddle up for one more adventure had to be a remarkable nostalgic rush for old school western fans.

Thomas Magnum and Jessica Fletcher

Detectives come in all ages, sexes, shapes and sizes on TV, but it would be hard to imagine two as opposite as Tom Selleck’s Thomas Magnum and Angela Lansbury’s Jessica Fletcher. And yet, the team-up works because both actors come across as two of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. The two-part story had a few too many twists and red herrings for its own good, but if that’s what was necessary to give this unlikely crime-fighting duo more time for sleuthing, it’s forgivable. 

Classic TV’s Most Unconvincing Indians

November means Thanksgiving, a time to remember that celebrated moment when Pilgrims and Indians shared a festive dinner table. Many of us first learned about the history and culture of Native Americans while studying Thanksgiving in elementary school. Hopefully those lessons were more accurate that what we learned from television during the Comfort TV era. 

I’m not going to condemn or defend the broad portrayals of Native-Americans in situation comedies. But I will say that when they were funny, I laughed. I don’t think that makes me a horrible person, but then we are rarely the best judges of our own characters.

There were a few (comparatively) earnest portrayals in this era as well, beginning with Jay Silverheels as Tonto on the classic Lone Ranger series. 

It helped that Silverheels was indeed Native-American – a Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River in Ohsweken, Canada. While he spoke in the broken English common to most Indians in film and TV westerns (“Him dead, kemo sabe”), there was also dignity in the character, and frequent acknowledgment that this “faithful Indian companion” was not a sidekick but a full partner in the Lone Ranger’s crime fighting exploits.

And then there was this guy:

Nearly 50 years later it is still a remarkably effective public service announcement, even if the crying Indian, billed as Iron Eyes Cody, was actually an Italian actor named Espera DeCorti. His work here belies the now common assertion that performers should always be the same ethnicity as the characters they play. Could anyone else have made that final image more heartrending?

I think I’d also have to put Ed Ames in the positive category, for his long-running portrayal of Mingo on Daniel Boone (and perhaps also for the most famous tomahawk throw in the history of television).

But enough praise – let’s get to those offensive but amusing stereotypes. Here are the nominees for classic TV’s most unconvincing Indians.

Bernie Kopell as Black Salmon

Petticoat Junction (1964)

In “The Umquaw Strip,” series villain Homer Bedloe discovers that the Cannonball passes through a stretch of land that was never legally acquired from the Indians. His scheme to shut down the railroad fails, but it does offer a chance to see Bernie Kopell, one of TV’s most prolific sitcom character actors, play a member of the Umquaw tribe (one who attended Harvard Business School).

Don Rickles as Bald Eagle

F Troop (1965)

If any series specialized in the type of Native American ethnic humor that typified this gleefully unenlightened era, it’s F Troop.

As if Frank DeKova’s recurring role as Chief Wild Eagle was not enough, the show featured a succession of guest stars who joined the tribe for some equally inappropriate banter, none more memorable than Don Rickles in “The Return of Bald Eagle.”  Rickles is totally unhinged as Wild Eagle’s soldier-hating son. 

Don Adams as Running Creek

Get Smart (1965)

A rogue band of Indians called the Red Feathers demand the return of their stolen land, or they’ll unleash a powerful new weapon. Max infiltrates the tribe and winds up engaged to the chief’s daughter. Of course Agent 86 in buckskins is funny, but “Washington 4, Redskins 3” also unveils one of the funniest sight gags in the history of television. The first time I saw it, I thought I’d never stop laughing. 

Edward Everett Horton as Chief Screaming Chicken

Batman (1966)

The plot of “An Egg Grows in Gotham” is strikingly similar to the Petticoat Junction episode with Bernie Kopell: Arch-criminal Egghead (Vincent Price) finds a technicality that would revert ownership of Gotham City to the Mohicans, now led by Chief Screaming Chicken. Edward Everett Horton steals every scene he’s in with the sort of lines you couldn’t say now without getting in trouble: “Indian poor businessman, my cousin, he sell Manhattan for 24 dollars, could have got 35!”

Burt Reynolds at John Hawk

Hawk (1966)

We’re told that John Hawk, detective with the New York District Attorney’s office, is a full-blooded Iroquois, but that just seems like something this short-lived series came up with to make a standard character more exotic. It’s also a role entirely unsuited to the charismatic Burt Reynolds. The stoic Hawk rarely cracks a smile and speaks in a slightly clipped monotone – like an urban Tonto. It’s a well-shot series that still has its supporters, judging from the high IMDB episode ratings, but Reynolds wasn’t one of them. It was a frequent target of his self-deprecating Tonight Show appearances. If you’re curious, check out the first episode, which features Gene Hackman as a Bible-quoting psychotic killer. 

Raymond Bailey as “Chief” Drysdale

Beverly Hillbillies (1967)

As in Petticoat Junction, another Paul Henning series, we have a white man impersonating an Indian to make a few bucks. Co-written by Henning, “The Indians are Coming” opens with the Clampetts learning about a minor border issue between their oil-rich land and the adjoining Crowfeet Indian reservation. At the bank, Mr. Drysdale is roused by the news: 

“They hit a gusher there! Send a message to my red brothers – Milburn Drysdale speak with straight tongue…send all black wampum my bank, we put in solid steel teepee.”

Miss Jane: “No…there’s been a boundary dispute and the Indians are claiming part of the Clampett oil land.”

Drysdale: “Why those dirty, thieving savages!”

The tribal representatives, Chief Running Wolf and his son, are cultured 20^th century men who arrive at the bank to find Drysdale in full buckskins, spouting every Indian cliché from every western movie. The Chief and his son play along, letting him embarrass himself further. 

Willliam Shatner as Kir-ok

Star Trek (1968)

“The Paradise Syndrome” is not quite as bad as “Spock’s Brain” and “The Way to Eden,” but it dwells in the same rundown neighborhood of questionable third-season episodes. The Enterprise visits a planet populated by a tribe that resembles the Native-Americans from earth’s history. Kirk joins the tribe after his memory is wiped, and is soon being worshipped as the great healer, the only brave worthy of marrying the lovely Indian priestess Miramanee. It’s all a bit silly but William Shatner gives it everything he’s got and then some, as he always did to help sell a substandard script. 

The Magical Magnetism of Yvonne Craig

 

About 15 years ago I went to a Hollywood Collector Show, which was not held in Hollywood but at the Beverly Garland Hotel in Burbank. Yvonne Craig was there and she was the celebrity I was most excited to meet. 

I believe our conversation went something like this:

Me: Ummm…Hi

Her: Hi! Are you having a good time at the show?

Me. Ummm…Hi

Her: Would you like me to sign a photo for you?

Me: Ummm…Hi

And so on. But I did get a signed photo that was proudly displayed for years on my office wall.

As every fan of good TV knows by now, Yvonne Craig passed away last week. We have a no-obits rule around here, but when Mitchell Hadley, one of the TV bloggers I most respect, describes her passing as news that “no classic television blog worth its weight could ignore,” I listen. So let’s call this a tribute as we did with the James Best piece.

Actually, a piece on Ms. Craig was roughed out several months ago. She was going to be one in a series of blogs on Comfort TV stars that were blessed with an exceptional magnetism that always drew your eye and captivated your attention. With these actors it wasn’t about the role they played, it was the charisma and personality they brought to it that made it special.

It’s a quality that is hard to define but you know it when you see it. James Garner and David Janssen had it. So do Kate Jackson and Diana Rigg. Craig, like Jackson and Rigg, could have coasted through a performance on her remarkable looks, especially when the script didn’t call for much more than a pretty face. But she never did. 

She appeared in memorable guest spots on more than 50 different shows, from westerns (Bronco, Wagon Train, The Big Valley) to sitcoms (McHale’s Navy, I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father). I can’t cover them all but here are some of the many highlights.

Yvonne Craig appeared in five episodes of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (actually six including the pilot but that was just a walk-on). Dwayne Hickman as Dobie played a dumb guy but in a smart way; he was very nimble with dialogue and needed a strong female presence to play off of, which he always had in regulars Tuesday Weld and Sheila Kuehl.

Playing five different one-episode crushes, Craig always made a formidable match for the love-struck Dobie. In “The Flying Millicans” she was Aphrodite, the toga-clad daughter of a fitness-obsessed family; in “Dobie’s Navy Blues” she was Myrna Lomax whom Dobie loved enough to almost join the Navy to please her father. Even in “Flow Gently, Sweet Money,” working with a character clearly derivative of Tuesday Weld’s money-hungry Thalia Menninger, she delivered delightfully cynical dialogue with aplomb. 

In the Star Trek episode “Whom Gods Destroy” she was Marta, the green-tinted Orion slave girl. People remember her seductive dance but not the dialogue around it, and that’s where Craig really created a haunting, (and haunted) schizoid casualty that joins Khan and Harry Mudd among the series’ most memorable guest characters. 

In The Wild, Wild West Craig played an assassin named Ecstasy (“The Night of the Grand Emir”), who was so alluring that after her intended victim survives he asks her out to dinner. As in Star Trek this was a role that made delightful use of her professional dance training.

Craig also played a rich girl turned beatnik in the appropriately named Mr. Lucky episode “Little Miss Wow,” the feisty daughter of a missing sailor in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and a meter maid on My Three Sons.

But it was her one-season appearance as Batgirl opposite Adam West and Burt Ward that still overshadows a lot of other fine work, a plight experienced by any actor fortunate enough to create an iconic character. 

The show really didn’t do right by her much of the time. In the third and final season of Batman the writing had slipped, most of the stories were no longer two-parters with cliffhangers, and poor Batgirl was usually captured far too quickly by chumps like Lord Fogg and Louis the Lilac.

And yet, every episode in which she appeared was a joy. Craig’s Batgirl was a carefree superhero, the antithesis of the dark and brooding caped crusaders of more recent films. She smiled and high-kicked through every fight, and radiated confidence each time she bounced into a room, head tilted back, hands on hips, ready for action.

I bought the Batman series blu-rays about three months ago and have been getting reacquainted with the show ever since. The third-season is coming up soon and I expect the experience of watching it will be bittersweet. But I will still be happy to see Batgirl again. 

Seeing Double: Comfort TV’s 10 Best Dual Role Performances – and the 5 Worst

 

The longer a TV show runs, the greater the temptation to indulge in one of the medium’s most time-honored clichés – having one of its stars take on a dual role. Most of these occasions are little more than one-shot gimmicks, but some shows have elevated this dubious set-up into something unforgettable.

Here, in reverse order, are ten of television’s best double takes, followed by five from actors who should have been content with just one character.

10. Tina Louise as Ginger Grant and Eva Grubb

Gilligan’s Island

Bob Denver and Jim Backus also played multiple roles during the show’s three seasons, but Tina Louise’s dowdy performance as Eva Grubb was the series’ most memorable departure from the usual monotony of foiled island escapes. The episode “All About Eva” also earns bonus points for blending two classic TV chestnuts into one story – the dual role and the “plain Jane becomes a knockout” transformation.

9. James Best as Rosco P. Coltrane and Woody

The Dukes of Hazzard

James Best appeared in more than 80 films prior to Dukes of Hazzard, and was often cast as villains far more menacing than the sputtering Sheriff Rosco.  In “Too Many Roscos,” Best dusted off that steely expression and hardcore persona that served him well in those serious stories.  

8. Barbara Eden as Jeannie and Jeannie II

I Dream of Jeannie

It has taken awhile but of late I’ve been more impressed with Barbara Eden’s one-woman sister act. Beyond the brunette wig and the switch from pink to green harem costume, I think the contrast between her wide-eyed Jeannie and the character’s more sultry, scheming sister is still underrated by classic TV fans. Eden played both roles in several episodes, beginning with 1967’s “Jeannie or the Tiger.” 

7. Patrick Troughton as The Doctor and Salamander

Doctor Who

The Doctor Who adventure “The Enemy of the World” qualifies as a recent addition to any dual role ranking, though the story in which it took place first aired back in 1967. Only one episode of this 6-part story had been known to survive, until the other chapters were recently discovered in a vault in Nigeria. Now reassembled and released on DVD, the story does not disappoint, particularly in the distinction between Troughton’s whimsical, almost childlike Doctor and his portrayal of the brutal dictator Salamander.

6. Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers and Lisa Galloway

The Bionic Woman

You know who really likes actors in dual roles? Emmy voters. In the first-season Bionic Woman episode “Mirror Image,” Lindsay Wagner played Southern belle Lisa Galloway, altered by plastic surgery to look like Jaime Sommers so she could steal some top-secret documents. She won the Emmy for Best Actress over what many felt was more distinguished competition, including Michael Learned (The Waltons) and Sada Thompson (Family). The Los Angeles Times reported there were boos in the pressroom after the winner was announced. With her bionic ear, Jaime probably heard them too. 

5. David Canary as Adam and Stuart Chandler

All My Children

The evil twin story is a mainstay of daytime drama. Fans still recall easygoing doctor Grant Putnam (Brian Patrick Clarke) squaring off against psycho killer Grant Andrews on General Hospital, or Natalie Marlowe (Kate Collins) being thrown down a well by Janet Green, a.k.a. “Janet from another planet,” on All My Children. But David Canary’s work as brothers Adam and Stuart Chandler had more heart and less histrionics than most twin stories. It also won him five Emmys.

4. Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen and Kid Collins

The Adventures of Superman

Viewers used to Jack Larson’s amiable “Gosh, Mr. Kent!” persona had to be shocked at his transformation into a vicious mobster in “Jimmy the Kid.” His twisted, grimacing smile, clenched teeth and intense stare are a complete departure from that of Superman’s pal. Larson fondly recalled the episode when I interviewed him in 1996: “I’ve had the ultimate compliment of people asking me, ‘where did they get that actor who looked like you?’”

3. Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha and Serena

Bewitched

As is often the case with Bewitched, you can enjoy the show for what it is, a still-funny supernatural sitcom, or you could look just beneath the surface and discover a series that had a little more on its mind. The episodes featuring Serena encapsulate the social and generational conflicts of the 1960s, with Elizabeth Montgomery convincingly playing both sides. Note the contrast between Sam, the sophisticated New England suburbanite who dresses formal for country club dinners, and her free-spirited, flower child cousin who wouldn’t be caught dead with all those stiffs. Note also the barely-hidden glance of admiration Sam betrays toward Serena’s bohemian lifestyle, and consider if Darren is holding her back in ways that have nothing to do with magic. 

2. Brent Spiner as Data and Lore

Star Trek: The Next Generation

It’s the tale of two android brothers, only one of whom can experience emotions. Unfortunately, that’s also the one that needed a factory recall. All of Lore’s appearances are series highlights, but Brent Spiner was never better than in the season 4 episode “Brothers,” in which he played Data, Lore and their creator, Dr. Noonien Soong.

1. Patty Duke as Patty and Cathy Lane

The Patty Duke Show

There’s no way this couldn’t be #1. The dual role here was no gimmick – the entire series was built around the concept of identical cousins, both played by a teenage actress who had already earned an Academy Award. Hardly surprising then that she was able to create two fully realized characters and keep them both interesting through 104 episodes.

Several stories called for Patty to imitate her cousin Cathy, or vice versa, and the modulation that Duke employs here is pretty astonishing. Just by the way she holds her eyes, or the suggestion of a mannerism that doesn’t quite fit, she depicts the character she is playing, and the character her character is trying to play. Even with the sound off, you can always tell what’s going on.

Watch the breakfast table scenes, where Duke makes Cathy left-handed and Patty right-handed, or how natural the conversational rhythm seems when the two characters are talking to each other – after awhile you completely forget the novelty of what’s happening. This is one (or two of) the very best performances in the Comfort TV era. 

The 5 Worst Comfort TV Dual Roles

Christopher Knight (The Brady Bunch)

“Two Petes in a Pod” aired late in the series’ fifth and final season, when everyone seemed to already be phoning it in. Christopher Knight’s transformation from Peter Brady to lookalike student Arthur consisted of nothing more than putting on a pair of glasses. 

Lucille Ball (Here’s Lucy)

One of the strangest episodes in the entire Lucy canon is “Lucy Carter meets Lucille Ball,” in which Lucy, in her usual Here’s Lucy character, wins a Lucille Ball lookalike contest. The show was a 30-minute commercial for Ball’s upcoming film Mame, which was one of the biggest bombs of her career.  Now, if Lucy Carter had met Lucy Ricardo, that might have been something special.

Leif Garrett (Wonder Woman)

Stretching those acting muscles, teen pop star Leif Garrett plays…a teen pop star and his twin brother, who also becomes a teen pop star. “My Teenage Idol is Missing” was an inauspicious start to the series’ last season.

David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight and Garth Knight (Knight Rider)

A classic slice of ‘80s cheese, in which Hasselhoff plays his evil twin by donning facial hair that made him look like Barry Gibb. Rumor has it that The Hoff put an end to Garth’s appearances because the makeup took too long to apply. Ah, nothing like dedication to one’s craft.  

Liberace (Batman)

The flamboyant entertainer seemed right at home as acclaimed pianist Chandell, but as Chandell’s crooked brother, Harry? Let’s just say we’ve seen more intimidating mobsters in our time – like these guys. 

From the Batcave to the Brady House: The California Comfort TV Tour

 

Most of the places you see on TV shows are located on studio lots. But there are many others scattered throughout southern California that you could see any time, though you might get in trouble knocking on the door. This has become a hobby of mine (visiting, not trespassing), and during my several yearly trips to Los Angeles I’ll usually schedule at least an hour for one drive-by of a landmark that is part of our television heritage.

Here are some of my favorites, as well as one that I finally plan to cross off my to-do list later this year.

The Brady Bunch House

This was the first classic TV site I tracked down. Though more than two decades have passed since my first visit, I can still recall what a strange sensation it was to actually stand before a home that I only knew as part of a fictional world. I’ve been back several times since, and every time, for the briefest of moments, it still feels like stepping into TV land. The house doesn’t look the same as it did on the series – there’s a wrought-iron fence surrounding the front to keep weirdos like me at a safe distance, and the upstairs window you see on the show was never actually there. But the shape of the Studio City dwelling, especially when framed by the mountains in the background as it often was on The Brady Bunch, remains unmistakable.

If you’d like to check it out, head west on Ventura Blvd. to Tujunga Ave., turn left and then make a right on Dilling St. You’ll know it when you see it. 

Townsend Investigations

I wonder how many people who drive by 189 N. Robertson in Beverly Hills even realize they’ve just passed the office where Charlie Townsend summoned his Angels. The two-story red brick edifice was shown in almost every episode of Charlie’s Angels, though you’ll never seen any of the Angels (or even Bosley) entering or exiting the building. Whenever I’m doing research at the nearby Margaret Herrick Library, I always take Robertson back to Wilshire, hoping to see Jill Munroe’s Cobra parked out front.  

Walton’s Mountain

Last year I was enjoying a deep-dish pizza at actor Joe Mantegna’s Taste of Chicago restaurant. I was seated at the window facing south, when my friend asked, “See anything interesting?” I took another look at the CVS across the street and told him I didn’t. Then he started whistling the Waltons theme, and suddenly it dawned on me – the mountain behind the condos and shopping centers was Walton’s Mountain. Perhaps it took longer to register because one doesn’t expect a peak associated with Depression-era Virginia to be looming majestically over Burbank. 

Squad 51

I used to love watching Emergency on Saturday nights. Paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto reported for work at Squad 51, a real fire station (actually Station 127) located in Carson, California. The site has since honored its TV connection with a plaque dedicated to Emergency writer and producer Robert A Cinader, who also created the series. You’ll find the station at 2049 E. 223^rd St., just off the San Diego Freeway. 

Fantasy Island

No need to charter a plane to a remote island to see where Mr. Roarke and Tattoo greeted their guests. The building where Tattoo rang the bell at the start of each episode is the Queen Anne Cottage at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. It’s in the city of Arcadia – take the 210 Freeway to the Baldwin St. exit and follow the signs. Even without the classic TV connection, it’s a beautiful place to spend a day. 

The Batcave

Near the beginning of almost every Batman episode, you’ll see the Batmobile speed through a hidden passageway before making the 14-mile drive to Gotham City. What you’re looking at is the Bronson Caves in LA’s Griffith Park.  This is one of those instances where the reality of the location falls far short of its fictional fame. Once you’ve made the quarter-mile hike from the parking lot on Canyon Drive, you’ll a rather undistinguished cave entrance, basically a mouse hole-shaped opening leading into a short tunnel. The surrounding scenery is nice, though. 

General Hospital

For more than 20 years, General Hospital opened with a shot of an ambulance speeding toward a stately white building. This one is really easy to find – it’s the old Los Angeles County General Hospital, now a wellness center of the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. Get on the 10 Freeway and look to your right, just before the 10 turns into the 101. The address is 1200 N. State St.

The Hooterville Cannonball and Water Tower

I haven’t visited these yet, as they are located in the Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, California. That’s a 6-hour drive from Los Angeles and almost 3 hours from San Francisco. But I love Petticoat Junction. It’s everything that Comfort TV is supposed to be – simpler times, kinder characters, and optimistic, uplifting messages. So this fall I plan to climb aboard that little train, and think about a time and place where life was like that, even if it never really existed.