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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 11, 2021 17:09:20 GMT -5
I don't remember ever hearing of Black Sheep Squadron, must not have played on our channels at the time. Looking it up, I see it starred Robert Conrad - is this what made him well-known as an actor? I was aware of him as a celebrity a few years later on but had never seen him in anything that I recall, unleess perhaps in some old movie or something. I do remember Rat Patrol from when I was a very small kid, though. It was a favourite show of us kids, though I was so young all I remember now is the jeep driving around in the desert. Conrad knocked around for a bit until he appeared on the private eye show "Hawaiian Eye," which was on for a couple of years. It crossed over occasionally with another Warner Bros. detective show, "77 Sunset Strip." But what really put him on the map were his years as agent Jim West on "The Wild Wild West," a show that combined the Old West and super-heroics and gave it a James Bond vibe: world-threatening villains (some pretty campy), gimmicks galore (including a utility belt), beautiful women working both sides of the street and fight scene upon fight scene. It was a fun show for all of those reasons, but what put it over the top was Ross Martin's superb portrayal of West's witty, wry compadre, disguise whiz and technical genius Artemus (Artie) Gordon. |
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Post by berkley on Apr 11, 2021 17:53:26 GMT -5
Wild, Wild West is another one I've never seen, which is too bad because it sounds like the kind of thing I would have loved as a kid. I'll probably try to watch it online sometime.
I do remember 77 Sunset Strip a little - especially the theme song - "Seventy-seven, Sunset Strip - Click, click! (finger-snapping)" and Ed "Cookie" Burns combing his hair. Again, I was so young that it's only a few isolated snatches or images like this that I can recall.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 11, 2021 19:37:36 GMT -5
I don't remember ever hearing of Black Sheep Squadron, must not have played on our channels at the time. Looking it up, I see it starred Robert Conrad - is this what made him well-known as an actor? I was aware of him as a celebrity a few years later on but had never seen him in anything that I recall, unleess perhaps in some old movie or something. I do remember Rat Patrol from when I was a very small kid, though. It was a favourite show of us kids, though I was so young all I remember now is the jeep driving around in the desert. Conrad knocked around for a bit until he appeared on the private eye show "Hawaiian Eye," which was on for a couple of years. It crossed over occasionally with another Warner Bros. detective show, "77 Sunset Strip." But what really put him on the map were his years as agent Jim West on "The Wild Wild West," a show that combined the Old West and super-heroics and gave it a James Bond vibe: world-threatening villains (some pretty campy), gimmicks galore (including a utility belt), beautiful women working both sides of the street and fight scene upon fight scene. It was a fun show for all of those reasons, but what put it over the top was Ross Martin's superb portrayal of West's witty, wry compadre, disguise whiz and technical genius Artemus (Artie) Gordon. Weird fact, Conrad was in exactly the same number of episodes of Hawaiian Eye and Wild Wild West; 104. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 12, 2021 9:29:53 GMT -5
Conrad knocked around for a bit until he appeared on the private eye show "Hawaiian Eye," which was on for a couple of years. It crossed over occasionally with another Warner Bros. detective show, "77 Sunset Strip." But what really put him on the map were his years as agent Jim West on "The Wild Wild West," a show that combined the Old West and super-heroics and gave it a James Bond vibe: world-threatening villains (some pretty campy), gimmicks galore (including a utility belt), beautiful women working both sides of the street and fight scene upon fight scene. It was a fun show for all of those reasons, but what put it over the top was Ross Martin's superb portrayal of West's witty, wry compadre, disguise whiz and technical genius Artemus (Artie) Gordon. Weird fact, Conrad was in exactly the same number of episodes of Hawaiian Eye and Wild Wild West; 104. And in 102 of each, he was shirtless.   |
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Post by berkley on Apr 12, 2021 10:26:40 GMT -5
By the time I became aware of him he was already a bit of a joke thanks to that battery commerical that was endlessly parodied. And then there was his appearance on "Battle of the Network Stars" , where he came across as the worst kind of self-important little Napoleon, complaining about everything, a sore loser, etc, etc. So I'm not sure I could take him seriously now in whatever part he might be playing.
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 12, 2021 10:35:55 GMT -5
By the time I became aware of him he was already a bit of a joke thanks to that battery commerical that was endlessly parodied. And then there was his appearance on "Battle of the Network Stars" , where he came across as the worst kind of self-important little Napoleon, complaining about everything, a sore loser, etc, etc. So I'm not sure I could take him seriously now in whatever part he might be playing. I know. He really did become a walking (or strutting) cliché or self-parody, whatever you'd call it. If he could have played it like Burt Reynolds, he could have been much more likable. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 12, 2021 10:48:06 GMT -5
By the time I became aware of him he was already a bit of a joke thanks to that battery commerical that was endlessly parodied. And then there was his appearance on "Battle of the Network Stars" , where he came across as the worst kind of self-important little Napoleon, complaining about everything, a sore loser, etc, etc. So I'm not sure I could take him seriously now in whatever part he might be playing. I know. He really did become a walking (or strutting) cliché or self-parody, whatever you'd call it. If he could have played it like Burt Reynolds, he could have been much more likable. I wonder if some of that was that he was never able to successfully make the transition to movies though he certainly tried. TV stardom was definitely second-class compared to movie stardom at the time. It may have put a chip on his shoulder...or a battery. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 12, 2021 11:29:35 GMT -5
By the time I became aware of him he was already a bit of a joke thanks to that battery commerical that was endlessly parodied. And then there was his appearance on " Battle of the Network Stars" , where he came across as the worst kind of self-important little Napoleon, complaining about everything, a sore loser, etc, etc. So I'm not sure I could take him seriously now in whatever part he might be playing. 'Battle of the Network Stars' is something that seems like it never should have existed, but I recall watching a number of them with my older siblings back in the late '70s, including the one in which Conrad made such an a** out of himself complaining about some result and forcing a run-off race with Gabe Kaplan - and losing:
You almost feel embarrassed for his sake watching it. As for the Eveready battery commercials, I remember a spoof of them back then (possibly in John Byner's Bizarre), in which the Conrad stand-in does the 'I dare you' shtick, and then the Hulk comes crashing through the wall, grabs the battery and pulls it off together with the guy's t-shirt, roars and then lumbers off. It was pretty hilarious. Can't find a clip of it anywhere, though.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 12, 2021 11:45:00 GMT -5
By the time I became aware of him he was already a bit of a joke thanks to that battery commerical that was endlessly parodied. And then there was his appearance on " Battle of the Network Stars" , where he came across as the worst kind of self-important little Napoleon, complaining about everything, a sore loser, etc, etc. So I'm not sure I could take him seriously now in whatever part he might be playing. 'Battle of the Network Stars' is something that seems like it never should have existed, but I recall watching a number of them with my older siblings back in the late '70s, including the one in which Conrad made such an a** out of himself complaining about some result and forcing a run-off race with Gabe Kaplan - and losing:
You almost feel embarrassed for his sake watching it. As for the Eveready battery commercials, I remember a spoof of them back then (possibly in John Byner's Bizarre), in which the Conrad stand-in does the 'I dare you' shtick, and then the Hulk comes crashing through the wall, grabs the battery and pulls it off together with the guy's t-shirt, roars and then lumbers off. It was pretty hilarious. Can't find a clip of it anywhere, though.
Battle of the Network Stars was essentially the Dancing With the Stars of the time period. Cheap "reality" programming that for some reason the viewing public eats up because...celebrities. The more things change... |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 12, 2021 12:25:58 GMT -5
Battle of the Network Stars was essentially the Dancing With the Stars of the time period. Cheap "reality" programming that for some reason the viewing public eats up because...celebrities. The more things change... True enough, and I also recall there was another show that ran parallel to 'Battle' for a while and then apparently outlasted it, called 'Circus of the Stars.' But what I find so especially weird about Battle is the whole fake Olympics set up (complete with play-by-play commentary from Howard Cosell), and the fact that Conrad wasn't the only participant who was taking it waaaay too seriously. |
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Post by The Captain on Apr 12, 2021 12:40:33 GMT -5
I don't remember ever hearing of Black Sheep Squadron, must not have played on our channels at the time. Looking it up, I see it starred Robert Conrad - is this what made him well-known as an actor? I was aware of him as a celebrity a few years later on but had never seen him in anything that I recall, unleess perhaps in some old movie or something. I do remember Rat Patrol from when I was a very small kid, though. It was a favourite show of us kids, though I was so young all I remember now is the jeep driving around in the desert. Conrad knocked around for a bit until he appeared on the private eye show "Hawaiian Eye," which was on for a couple of years. It crossed over occasionally with another Warner Bros. detective show, "77 Sunset Strip." But what really put him on the map were his years as agent Jim West on "The Wild Wild West," a show that combined the Old West and super-heroics and gave it a James Bond vibe: world-threatening villains (some pretty campy), gimmicks galore (including a utility belt), beautiful women working both sides of the street and fight scene upon fight scene. It was a fun show for all of those reasons, but what put it over the top was Ross Martin's superb portrayal of West's witty, wry compadre, disguise whiz and technical genius Artemus (Artie) Gordon. I remember watching Wild Wild West on Saturday afternoons with my dad when I was younger. On one of our UHF stations, there would be some cheesy 70s horror movie on from 1 to 3, then back-to-back episodes of WWW at 4 and 5. I didn't always get what was going on (I think I was maybe 7-9 years old) but it was interesting enough to keep me watching. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 12, 2021 14:30:50 GMT -5
Conrad knocked around for a bit until he appeared on the private eye show "Hawaiian Eye," which was on for a couple of years. It crossed over occasionally with another Warner Bros. detective show, "77 Sunset Strip." But what really put him on the map were his years as agent Jim West on "The Wild Wild West," a show that combined the Old West and super-heroics and gave it a James Bond vibe: world-threatening villains (some pretty campy), gimmicks galore (including a utility belt), beautiful women working both sides of the street and fight scene upon fight scene. It was a fun show for all of those reasons, but what put it over the top was Ross Martin's superb portrayal of West's witty, wry compadre, disguise whiz and technical genius Artemus (Artie) Gordon. I remember watching Wild Wild West on Saturday afternoons with my dad when I was younger. On one of our UHF stations, there would be some cheesy 70s horror movie on from 1 to 3, then back-to-back episodes of WWW at 4 and 5. I didn't always get what was going on (I think I was maybe 7-9 years old) but it was interesting enough to keep me watching. Oh, it was a staple of my Friday night TV watching for the first couple of years of its run, especially when my parents went out and I could get some control of the TV. Great theme, great graphics, and all the goofy stuff kids loved. Still fun now, especially without commercials, (on something called Screen Pix), although seeing it in color reveals some of the cheesiness of the sets. PS: Good to "see" you up and about. Hope your daughter is doing well, too. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 12, 2021 14:42:58 GMT -5
Wild Wild West was ubiquitous in syndication on weekday and Saturday afternoons. My Mom was a big fan so I'm pretty sure I started watching it even before I started school. It and Star Trek were the only two hour-long shows I remember being super common in syndication in the 70s and early 80s.
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Post by brutalis on Apr 12, 2021 16:57:26 GMT -5
Wild Wild West was ubiquitous in syndication on weekday and Saturday afternoons. My Mom was a big fan so I'm pretty sure I started watching it even before I started school. It and Star Trek were the only two hour-long shows I remember being super common in syndication in the 70s and early 80s. Think it might depend upon what area of the USA, but quite a few hour long shows were big in syndication. Lost in Space, Avengers, Big Valley, Bonanza, Mission Impossible, Man From U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to Bottom of the Sea, Perry Mason. All had heavy showings here in Phoenix. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 12, 2021 17:10:34 GMT -5
Wild Wild West was ubiquitous in syndication on weekday and Saturday afternoons. My Mom was a big fan so I'm pretty sure I started watching it even before I started school. It and Star Trek were the only two hour-long shows I remember being super common in syndication in the 70s and early 80s. Think it might depend upon what area of the USA, but quite a few hour long shows were big in syndication. Lost in Space, Avengers, Big Valley, Bonanza, Mission Impossible, Man From U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to Bottom of the Sea, Perry Mason. All had heavy showings here in Phoenix. Small market with very limited options. I grew up with two stations that you could actually see through the snow. We didn't have a dedicated CBS or NBC affiliate (one of the two stations picked and chose from both network) until the UHF translator went up on the mountain when I was in junior high. Of those you mentioned Big Valley is the only one I remember ever being on and it was earlier than the "after school" block. |
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