From season 1 of McHale's Navy:
"Nippon Nancy" (voice of Julie Bennett) gets under the skin, not so much of McHale and his crew, but Capt. Binghamton (Joe Flynn, ex-The Joey Bishop Show).
From season 1 of Shining Time Station:
Stacy (Didi Conn, ex-Benson, Fonz & The Happy Days Gang) makes a mistake, leading to a passenger missing his train. Mr. Conductor (Ringo Starr) and the kids offer some assistance. Soap star Mart Hulswit (Guiding Light) guest stars in "And The Band Played Off":
Time to check in on the East Side Kids, aka The Bowery Boys.
Huntz Hall makes his debut in the series in 1941's "Bowery Blitzkrieg", in which Muggs (Leo Gorcey) steps into the boxing ring, competing in the Golden Gloves under the sponsorship of the NYPD. Keye Luke (billed as "Key" Luke) appears briefly as the owner of a pool hall.
Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison (ex-Our Gang) is part of this group. Edited for broadcast when it aired on channel 5 in NYC back in the day.
Jeff Bergman has been a mainstay at Hanna-Barbera & WB for 30+ years, and recently, landed one of the biggest roles of his career, as he inherits the voice role of Mr. Potato Head in "Toy Story 5", taking over for the late Don Rickles.
This weekend, Jeff was interviewed on CBS Saturday Morning, so many of us finally got a face to go with all those voices, plus some archived footage of Mel Blanc with David Letterman.
Many moons ago, we discussed WSBK's Mystery Theatre, which was a lead-in to The Three Stooges on Saturday mornings back in the 80's. The only two components were Charlie Chan, which we discussed back then, and Mr. Moto, our next subject.
Peter Lorre was cast as Moto, John Marquand's secret agent, now rebooted as a detective, and, in 1938's "Mr. Moto's Gamble", as a criminology professor in San Francisco. "Gamble" was originally meant to be a Chan movie, but Warner Oland had taken ill, and subsequently passed away, so the script was rewritten with Moto taking over. Lee Chan (Keye Luke) is one of Moto's students. Our supporting cast is loaded with some familiar names, including Lon Chaney, Jr., "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom, Ward Bond, Douglas Fowley, and John Hamilton, who'd also appear with Boris Karloff in a Mr. Wong film, well before Adventures of Superman.
Colleges had their commencements last month, and so did some high schools in various parts of the country. Here in the Northeast, high school commencements will be in full swing next week.
With that in mind, we present the 2-part season 4 finale of The Facts of Life, as Blair (Lisa Whelchel) & Jo (Nancy McKeon, also heard on The Puppy's New Adventures) graduate from Eastland. TV vets Alex Rocco (ex-Three For The Road) and Marj Dusay guest star.
The Facts of Life, spun off from Diff'rent Strokes, got a head start on the rest of the NBC lineup by launching in August 1979, although after the first four weeks, the series was placed on hiatus until the following spring, during which time, the producers began to overhaul the cast.
In the opener, "Rough Housing", Blair (Lisa Whelchel) thinks she has it in the bag as the Harvest Queen, but is jealous when Cindy (Julie Ann Haddock) is nominated instead. The Strokes cast (Conrad Bain, Todd Bridges, Gary Coleman, & Dana Plato) guest star.
We had this next item before, but it was deleted. This is also at The Land of Whatever.
The early success of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In led to George Schlatter & Ed Friendly being commissioned to produce a series of unrelated specials for NBC, plus a game show spin-off from Laugh-In, hence, Letters to Laugh-In. Gary Owens pulls double duty as host & announcer. Our panel in this sampler has Laugh-In co-host Dan Rowan, series regular Jo Anne Worley, plus Jack E. Leonard and Angie Dickinson, then known more for movies, well before Police Woman.
The first joke, read by Worley, comes from a local viewer out of Saratoga. Cool!
Shari Lewis followed up Hi, Mom with The Shari Show, which ran for 3 seasons on NBC (1960-3). At the time, Howdy Doody had been airing six days a week, but when the show was ending, NBC decided to replace it with Shari on Saturdays.
Ronald Radd plays Mr. Goodfellow. During the series run, Fred Gwynne, who'd move on to Car 54, Where Are You?, and, then, The Munsters, appeared as Lamb Chop's personal physician.
In this sampler, it's Charlie Horse's birthday......
From season 2 of Zorro (1990's series):
Don Alejandro (Henry Darrow, ex-Zorro & Son, High Chaparral) is reunited with his old unit to hunt down an outlaw. Zorro (Duncan Regehr) provides some covert assistance.
Character actor Henry Corden didn't move into cartoon work, I think, until after he'd appeared in this 1961 episode of The Lawless Years.
Henry's toon credits include The Flintstones, The Hillbilly Bears, Thundarr The Barbarian, and a collection of guest roles. I think he used the voice from this episode, "The Victor Gorido Story", in one of those cartoon gigs.
From season 3:
Alan Reed (The Flintstones) plays an auctioneer at an art auction that Rob (Dick Van Dyke), Laura (Mary Tyler Moore), Sally (Rose Marie), and Buddy (Morey Amsterdam) attend. Howard Morris and Ray Kellogg, the latter would soon be on Hazel, also appear in "The Masterpiece":
From season 1 of Room 222:
Ever-busy Bernie Kopell (That Girl, Get Smart, The Doris Day Show) guests as a teacher who tries to connect with his students by adopting a hipster persona, which seems to have won over Alice (Karen Valentine).
Directed by Terry Becker (ex-Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea):
Here's a seasonally appropriate Afterschool Special.
"The Skating Rink" stars Rance Howard (Ron & Clint's dad), Stewart Peterson, radio & cartoon personality Jerry Dexter (ex-Gomer Pyle, USMC, Josie & The Pussycats), and, in one of his earliest roles, Sparky Marcus (later the voice of Richie Rich).
Producer Martin Tahse became a go-to for ABC in the mid-to-late 70's, producing films for the Afterschool Special and, later, Weekend Special.
I think you could tell To Tell The Truth was nearing the end of its 1st syndicated run in 1977 when they started doing stunt casting like they did a decade earlier near the end of the CBS run.
In game 1, ventriloquist Shari Lewis introduces viewers to her magician father, Abraham Hurwitz. Lamb Chop introduces moderator Joe Garagiola, and after the game, a little magic trick with father & daughter.
Just a few months before the launch of Gilligan's Island, Bob Denver, who'd previously showcased his singing ability on The Andy Griffith Show, sits in with the Beau Jives in the series finale of The Danny Thomas Show
The episode, "The Persistent Cop", opens with Rusty (Rusty Hamer) & Louise, the Williams family's maid (Amanda Randolph), playing drums & piano, respectively. A police officer (Allan Melvin, a few months away from Gomer Pyle, USMC & Magilla Gorilla) is trying to convince Danny to audition the Beau Jives for the Tropicana.
Denver with an electric guitar?!? Rad, man. Who knew?
Ensign Parker (Tim Conway) is assigned by Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn) to teach self-defense to a new corps of nurses. Girl-shy Parker bumbles this assignment, but at least one nurse seems to have her eyes on him.
Joyce Bulifant guest stars in "Today, I Am a Man!":
From season 3 of Room 222:
Mrs. Higgins (Ruth McDevitt, ex-Pistols & Petticoats) is teaching a class on sex education, but when a student has questions about STD's, the student's father (Walker Edmiston) is upset, and threatens the teacher's job...
From season 2 of McHale's Navy:
Ensign Parker (Tim Conway) is recruited to impersonate a British general (Conway in a dual role) while the general is on a mission. Henry Corden, Rolfe Sedan (who'd recur on The Addams Family a year later), and Walter Brooke (later of The Green Hornet) guest star in "The Great Impersonation":
We posted this at The Land of Whatever years ago, and I can't think of anything better to start our annual Countdown to Christmas.
From season 1 of McHale's Navy:
McHale (Ernest Borgnine) is playing Santa Claus for some children, but trouble arises, and that forces Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn) to aid McHale, despite their differences.
Anna Lee would later reunite with Bob Hastings (Carpenter) on General Hospital.
Here's "The Day They Captured Santa Claus":
