Oh Snap! :)

Howdy!

Here's a provocative pic of Jack Kelly and Valerie Jackson from a 1953 issue of Picturegoer, the long-defunct British film magazine:

The text says, "Jack Kelly--he's to be seen in It Happens Every Thursday, one of next week's releases--finds Valerie Jackson's frontier-style garter packs an extra loud snap in Law And Order, due here soon."

Actually, JK wasn't seen in It Happens Every Thursday--he broke his leg in a skiing accident shortly before filming began and was replaced by another actor. However, he is definitely in Law And Order. 

I have an original still of the image above, so we can get a better look at JK as "Jed" as he lusts after Ms. Jackson as saloon girl "Clarissa" (yes, that's a holster on her garter and she's clutching a derringer):

That's a posed promo still--this scene doesn't actually appear in the film. Clarissa can be glimpsed in the background as a drunken Jed helps to shoot up the saloon's fancy chandelier (JK is directly in front of the bartender below), and that's about the closest they come to being seen together:

Like everyone else in town, Clarissa must surrender her little bitty gun for the sake of, yep, law and order:

Law And Order isn't bad...how can it be when it features not only JK but a real-life President (Ronald Reagan), "Chester"/"McCloud" (Dennis Weaver), "The Professor" (Russell Johnson), plus the ever popular Chubby Johnson? I'll definitely have to take a more in-depth look at it in the future here in TDS.

In the meantime, please stay tuned for more fun with JK! :)

Guess Who Doesn't Survive The "Alamo"? :)

Hi!

I always keep an eye out for episodes of TV shows where JK guest-starred. One such show--McCloud--popped up on Me-TV the other night. Since it came on pretty late, I had to DVR it. Yesterday, I was finally able to watch the DVR'd episode, titled "This Must Be The Alamo".

And guess what?

[Spoiler alert]

JK's character, a womanizing bookie named Manny Donner, gets bumped off before the first commercial! In fact, he barely makes it through the first three minutes of the episode.

Manny surprises his latest girlfriend while she's sharing a drink with a pro football player. Things go south from there. Manny gets mad; the girlfriend shoots the ball player, then shoots Manny, and runs off with the incriminating diary she's been keeping. Poor Manny ends up as a corpse dumped in front of a hospital and then as a sheet-covered stiff in a makeshift morgue at McCloud's precinct. The football player and the girlfriend meet similarly dire fates.

The rest of the episode revolves around McCloud (the cowboy cop from New Mexico played by Dennis Weaver) and his colleagues coping with a crippling heat wave in New York City. The mercury hits 108, but this was in 1974, so they couldn't blame global warming.

In addition to the heat and the homicides, McCloud and company must deal with power shortages, a shoplifter, a deadly hit-and-run case, and even an abandoned infant. Finally, nearly everyone in the precinct is held hostage by mobsters looking for Manny's girlfriend's little black book. Can McCloud save the day? You bet your Stetson he can!

The episode is chock-full of other familar faces including Van Johnson and Ray Danton. The only thing worse than Danton's hairdo (more like a hair-don't) is JK's jacket:

I know you'll still want to see JK if this episode ever comes on again. Just don't blink or you'll miss him! :)

Coming Up:

• "All the World's a Stage With JK" continues
• A colorful birthday salute
• Flying high with JK!
• And more...stay tuned :)