"This is the city-- Los Angeles, California.
A lot of it has always been here.
The mountains, the deserts,
the ocean.
Some of it had to be developed.
Like oil, and water,
and the land.
The rest was built from scratch.
A human mind conceived this.
And this.
Man has an instinct to create,
or to build, or to improve.
But, the human mind can go other ways, too.
Sometimes, it gets lost, then it needs guidance.
Reading signs and obeying them can sometimes help a confused mind.
They tell you which way to turn,
when not to turn,
where not to drive,
where not to park.
In my business, this sign mean something, whether you drive or not.
Sometimes, if you don't heed it, you'll see this sign.
I work here. I carry a badge."
Aw, man! You mean it's the Season Two opener and they still didn't re-shoot the LAPD sign? It's still just a dirt patch and no flowers in front! Missed opportunity!
Well, anyway, we're off.
And the very first scene is night driving? Sweet!
And a location shot, to boot!
The kids were seeing Doctor Zhivago? Crazy!
This episode completely skipped over the usual Guys-in-the-pea-green-office motif that we're used to from every episode of season one.
It's straight to the soundstage and some very spare production style!
That sconce behind Gannon looks uncannily like one from over the bathroom sink, but turned ninety degrees.
Just like last season, click to enlarge.
Gerald Paulson's front door, which we'll remember from season one.
Season two also begins to strengthen the visual signature, if you will, of orange carpet and blue walls.
Orange and blue together, in general, really.
How about a nice, new night driving sequence to get this season off to a good start?
Hey hey, back to the Georgia Street Juvenile soundstage. They've added the spiffy Departmental Command board. For all we know, they are head shots of all of the crew! Wouldn't that be funny.
Friday and Gannon have a nice banter about youth being "pushed ahead too fast" in society and being "too young when they get a say in the home." He reckons that they are losing respect for their parents.
It's a nice touch, using rear projection and having them chat in the car, rather than Joe doing a voiceover while Bill drives.
ONE K EIGHTY - - ROGER
Bill and Joe head back to Mickey Sholdar's house and entertained Robert Brubaker talking about how hard it is to be a teenager's father.
Gannon makes a discovery:
a 45 caliber automatic and an M1 carbine rifle.
I blame the carpet. So yellow. And not the last we'll see of it.
Bill finds a live grenade.
It's not the first time the guys have found explosives. Too bad they didn't have to bring Olan Soule back to identify it.
More night driving and our familiar rear-screen projection technique.
Aw, Gannon looks positively beside himself with grief.
We haven't looked out the front of the car in a while.
Now the musical cues really start picking up.
Some serious L.A. after dark:
Dropping in on John Rubinstein and a pretty-terrible still life:
Blue! Orange! & isn't that Andrea King's end table?
Weird mix of furniture styles, even some Robsjohn-Gibbings style (the green chair).
A lovely shot over the city at night and it's off to Baldwin Hills.
Well, in Dragnet, all roads seem to lead to Colonial Street.
Hip extras pretend to be posh kids getting their party crashed.
Architecturally, the detailing of this patio is completely off the wall. Definitely backlot/soundstage.
"We concur."
Dig - they've got multicolored lights, a speaker anchored on a tree, a red vinyl record! How cool is that?
During the party sequences, the soundtrack is either an annoying looped rock and roll studio affair or a highly pitched whine, I guess it underscores Mickey's 'emotional disturbance' by disturbing us.
So much style!
A-lines, cardigans, sport coats!
It says "symphony to a"...something. Reckless stranger? Can you figure it out?
I think it says Symphony to a reckless stranger.
Perhaps it's a prop record with a locked groove, so the shots will match up.
Check out that crazy outdoor bar. I also like the red splash of light behind Joe:
DAMMIT MICKEY SHOLDAR WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
Wrecking a perfectly good record party? We liked you better when you got busted for shoplifting.
He is being used to reinforce the trope that pretty much all kids that go bad are from broken homes.
Mickey's real dad died in 1958. That's why he doused Jan-Michael Vincent with sulfuric acid and pulled the pin out of a grenade at a party.
Yep, gotta be a locked groove. Or recycled footage.
OK here's how it's going to go down: Joe is going to unplug the record player with is foot,
tussle with Mickey Sholdar and his blue cardigan,
Gannon shouts to the partygoers to GTFO so they won't get accidentally fragged,
for a few tense seconds, the pin is removed from the grenade,
(you know how MK 2 grenades work, right?),
Gannon puts the pin back in,
and the day is saved.
Such a variety of cool plants back there:
All right buster, straighten up that cardigan.
Peggy Webber's not your mom anymore and there's no Hammond Organ where you're going.
Moral of the story: Invite Mickey Sholdar to your record party.
Gerald Paulson
Now confined to Camarillo State Hospital for treatment.
Mickey Sholdar as Gerald Paulson
Michael Vincent as Rick Schneiderman
Robert Brubaker as Martin Kirsop
Cathleen Cordell as Lois Kirsop
John Rubinstein as Paul Whidden
Robert Cleaves as George Nash
Heather Menzies as Lorean Harper
Barbara Luddy as Maid
Art Direction - Russell Kimball
Set Decor - John McCarthy & John Sturtevant
Written by Robert C. Dennis
Aired 14 September 1967
Same day:
The L.A. Rams beat the New Orleans Saints in the Saints' first NFL game of the season. (27-13!)
The Doors were on Ed Sullivan in defiance of CBS' censors. What is he supposed to sing in place of higher? (Full song below.)
Bobbie Gentry was at number one with "Ode To Billie Joe." This would mark the fourth and final week at number one.
This is our first episode of the season since May, so here are all of the number one songs since we dropped off:
"Groovin" by The Young Rascals
"Respect" by Aretha Franklin
"Windy" by The Association
"Light My Fire" by The Doors
"All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles
That was the musical backdrop of the Summer of Love. Oh, cultural juggernauts.
See you next week when Joe shoots Art! (WHAT?!)
