"Sub" of a Gun! :)

 

In tonight's episode of Maverick, Bart misplaces his pistol and must use his hand as a substitute gun. ;)

Seriously, this is a still from the "Substitute Gun" episode of Maverick which recently joined the Kellection. The episode first aired on April 2, 1961. 

Joining Jack Kelly in this still is erstwhile child actor Jack (Jackie) Searle, who portrayed the appropriately named Wilbur Smiley Drake. 

JS and JK would act together again in an episode of The Lucy Show titled "Lucy Makes a Pinch", which originally aired on November 9, 1964! 

Please stay tuned for the next TDS--accept no substitutes. :)

Jack Kelly in "Deadlock"

Hello Everyone!

Fifty-three years ago today--May 17, 1967--Jack Kelly starred in "Deadlock", an episode of NBC-TV's Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre. JK portrayed police detective "Ray Baker".

The plot: There's a heat wave going on--and things suddenly get even hotter in Baker's squad room when "Virginia Cloyd" (Lee Grant) enters with a .38 pistol and a vial which she claims contains nitroglycerin. Mrs. Cloyd intends to kill another detective who just shot her lowlife husband in a bar. While on her way to meet Mr. Cloyd at the bar, she saw his body being removed from the premises. She doesn't realize the shooting was in self-defense (her husband had pulled a gun as the detective attempted to apprehend him).

Caption: "DEADLOCK  co-stars Jack Kelly and Lee Grant on Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, airing in color Wednesday, May 17 (9:00-10:00 pm ET) over NBC-TV. Tige Andrews, Brooke Bundy and Percy Rodriguez also star in the drama, set mainly in a police station, of a hoodlum's widow who seeks revenge for her husband's death."

The detective hasn't returned to the station yet, so Mrs. Cloyd holds Baker, two other cops and assorted crooks hostage in the sweltering squad room as she awaits his arrival. Detective Baker doesn't know if she's actually bluffing about the nitroglycerin, but he and his partners can't take the chance by trying to disarm her.

When the detective finally returns with a female suspect, a disturbing detail is revealed which causes Mrs. Cloyd to turn the squad room into a shooting gallery. During the commotion, the vial is safely retrieved and the vengeful widow is taken into custody. Later, the police lab informs Detective Baker that the vial did indeed contain nitro!

"WAITING GAME--Jack Kelly (left) is a detective and Lee Grant (right) a revenge-seeking hoodlum's widow...caught in the 'Deadlock' when that episode airs in color on Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre..."

Incidentally, the plot of "Deadlock" had previously been dramatized in 1961 under the title "Lady in Waiting" as an episode of the NBC series 87th Precinct. Both "Deadlock" and "Lady in Waiting" were adapted from the novel Killer's Wedge by Ed McBain (a nom de plume of author Evan Hunter). McBain/Hunter also wrote the teleplay for "Deadlock".  

And, "Deadlock" was the final episode of The Chrysler Theatre. Associated Press TV writer Cynthia Lowry noted:

"Bob Hope's weekly anthology series came to the end of its four-season run on NBC Wednesday night. Over-all, the programs deserved more attention than they received.

"The final show was 'Deadlock', a suspense tale as so many of them have been. It was well-acted, professionally and slickly produced and followed a story line that, in one form or another, is a television favorite."

(Hmm...I wonder if "Ray Baker" is any relation to "Bill Baker", the police detective JK portrayed in The Lucy Show?) ;>

Well, I'll detect more about JK in the next TDS, so please stay tuned--and stay healthy. :)

An "Arresting" Find! :)

Hi Everyone!

Last weekend, I surfed onto a "classic TV" channel which was running a marathon of The Lucy Show, the series Lucille Ball starred in after I Love Lucy. In this show, the wacky redhead plays a cash-strapped widow who's constantly getting tangled up in money-making schemes and other comic predicaments.

I knew that Jack Kelly had appeared in an episode of The Lucy Show. I hit the "info" button on the remote to see if that episode was included in the marathon. Yesss! It was. I'd watched (actually squinted at) the episode on YouTube many moons ago, but this would be the first time I'd see it on a big TV screen.

At last the moment in the marathon arrived. I watched the 1964 episode, "Lucy Makes a Pinch", and it was even more hilarious than I remembered. And, JK was even handsomer. (And in color, too!)

However, the picture quality wasn't that great. Plus, I had to sit through interminable ads for reverse mortgages and adjustable mattresses. So, I went online and found the "The Official Third Season of The Lucy Show" on DVD! Almost faster than I could say "Desilu", the DVD set arrived in my mailbox.

Wow! Each episode is "beautifully restored" (as the box says) and the set includes all kinds of cool special features, like photo galleries and mini-bios of the guest stars--including JK.

And, I had a "ball" making these screen caps! :)

JK plays a police detective named "Bill Baker". He needs a female partner to help him stake-out "Lover's Lane" to catch a bandit named "Green Scarf Louie". Lucy is a meter maid at the station, so guess who's chosen for the stake-out? Lucy gets so flustered at the sight of Detective Baker, she forgets her own phone number!

 

Uh, now, um, what was I writing about? Oh, yes:

 

When Detective Baker arrives to take Lucy on the stake-out, he doesn't recognize her out of uniform. She's wearing a sexy black dress and he'd thought of her as "just one of the boys". (Eyebrow alert! ;>)

 



 Detective Baker (and JK) takes his work very seriously.

 



 Baker shows the meter maid what she'll be wearing during the stake-out: real diamonds (but Lucy isn't in the sky)....

 



 ...and a platinum mink. Baker reminds Lucy that these are only bait to lure Green Scarf Louie into their trap.

And so Baker and Lucy get down to business at Lover's Lane, in a Lincoln Continental convertible no less.

Baker thinks he hears the bandit. Lucy is worried that her partner will put himself in danger going after Green Scarf Louie (the detective has been awarded a medal for going above and beyond the call of duty before).

But, Bill has a different strategy in mind.

He orders Lucy to snuggle up to him, so Louie will think they're sweethearts.  

Lucy seems to get the hang of this "sweethearts" stuff pretty quickly.

 

 (One of the few times JK actually smiles in the episode.)

Suddenly, Baker realizes Louie is near, so he kisses Lucy!

She's so shocked, she accidentally hits the siren button and scares Green Scarf Louie away.

 

 Baker thinks all is lost...

 

 ...But, Lucy convinces him to give the stake-out another try.

 

Another night, another stake-out:

 

Detective Baker is obviously good at his job!

 



 

This stakeout also goes awry (it's The Lucy Show after all), but Bill finally gets the drop on Green Scarf Louie.

 



 

He tells Lucy he'll give her credit for collaring the robber. 

And, he's also taking her to the Policemen's Ball! (Since his usual Saturday night bowling was cancelled.)

As you can see from these pictures, JK looks fantastic. Do yourself a favor and get a copy of The Official Third Season of The Lucy Show so you can hear him as well. When this DVD set was originally released in 2010 it retailed for about $40.00. You can now find it online--brand new and still factory sealed--for a fraction of that price. You might even say it's a steal! ;->