MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN & MONSTER A GO-GO: Dan's Drive-In Double Feature #5

An H.G. Lewis (with an assist from Bill Rebane) double feature is covered on the latest episode of Dan's Drive-In Double Feature.

It's an honest-to-goodness double feature from the mid-1960s!

You'll get loaded just listening to it!*

Follow the link and enjoy...

#5!

*Not necessarily

BJ and the Bear S2 E11: Fly A Wild Horse

Originally aired on December 8, 1979
Directed by Christian I. Nyby II
Written by Richard Kelbaugh

B.J. and Bear are tooling through the desert, minding their own business. And, of course, you know that means they're about three feet away from trouble. A herd of wild horses being led by a young Native American gentleman named Sixkiller cause B.J. to crash his rig. Oh well. He'll get his rig free and keep on going. And, of course, you know that means that some police will be showing up soon. Yes, a sheriff and a fat deputy. But, the twist here is that the sheriff is a good guy and the deputy is crooked. But, once the rig is free, B.J. can be on his way. And, of course, you know that means that he and Bear will become involved with a greedy land owner who is rounding up all the wild horses, illegally, from the reservation. Of course, you might also realize that B.J. has a delivery for the greedy jerk. But, once the delivery is made, B.J. can return to Country Comfort...  No. He winds up meeting up with Sixkiller and his very attractive sister Zena...  and he helps them stop the greedy land owner from rounding up the horses...  And then he marries the sister and settles down in the desert.

Some of that paragraph was a lie. But not much.

I think I'm more Native American than this guy

I am, however, quite fond of his sister

Fly A Wild Horse is a variation on most episodes of this show, mainly from the first season. B.J. stumbles into the lives of a bunch of people. He and Bear help out these people. (Of course, we're working under the theory that he's automatically on the right side of things.) Then, he leaves their lives, never to return. It's just this time there's a white guy pretending to be a Native American guy. And there are lots of horses.

Guess which one is the jerk

I had a tough time getting terribly interested in this episode. It's just far too generic. Once we meet the greedy jerk and his henchmen, it all seems so familiar that I was hoping we wouldn't have to watch all the conniving...  and the fat deputy being a jerk...  and the sequences where Sixkiller and B.J. meet, distrust and then bond...  and the sequences with the sister (no, I liked her)...  and all the plot that we've seen before. The only part of this episode that grabbed me was the reveal of what the jerky guy is doing with the wild horses. That I liked. The rest carries the viewer along with the minimum of fuss...

Oh that jerk!

All right, I don't want to run down this episode. It's substantially no different from most of the others. I think it may have been when I watched it. I wasn't quite in the mood but I am (to be frank with y'all) wanting to post the Christmas episode up in Early December. So, I'm watching Fly A Wild Horse while simply not in the mood. And, it comes up frighteningly generic. And this is slightly worrisome.

He runs the Desert Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things

I've always championed B.J. and the Bear as being awesome awesome television even when it sometimes clearly is not. But, oh boy...  when I come across an episode that sort of washes over me and I have to struggle to remember it (and has another rotten cop on it) I could be falling prey to what I am trying to defend against. I hope not, though. I'm hoping it has something to do with just not being in the mood. I know I enjoy the Christmas episode and we are now halfway through this season...  I can see my least favorite episode looming but we'll deal with that when we come to it...

Big Rig Hits Abandoned Car In The Middle Of The Desert!

Film at 11

For now, all I can muster is "If you like the show, this episode is more of it." Not the most inspiring thing I've said about our favorite Trucker With A Chimp program. But, sometimes it's all you've got. It's been a long year, folks. Consider this episode a sacrifice so we can get to the Christmas show...  and move along. (Maybe after Season 2 has been fully reviewed I will re-review this one?)

 Letting out the wild horses



If she had been on the show two episodes before,

she could have been one of "B.J.'s Sweethearts."

BEYOND WESTWORLD: Minisode #5

Minisode #5 is up and running!

The last episode covering Beyond Westworld. Time to say Goodbye.

Listen and enjoy.

iTunes

Stitcher

Soundcloud

Eventually Supertrain #11

Episode 11 of Eventually Supertrain is available for listening!

Please, enjoy. This is a big one.

#11

BEYOND WESTWORLD: Minisode #4

Hooray! Episode #4 of Beyond Westworld gets a detailed Analysis By Dan (TM) in this minisode. Please, follow the link and enjoy...

The Lion

Battle of the Network Stars 40th Anniversary!

One of my favorite television shows of all time premiered 40 years ago today. The first episode of Battle of the Network Stars hit the airwaves on November 13, 1976 on ABC. A new episode premiered (more or less) every 6 months from November 1976 to May 1985. A final episode aired in 1988. It may have spanned over 10 years but there are only 19 episodes. So, yes, it does fit into the world of Eventually Supertrain, the short-lived TV show podcast.

Join my wife, Madelynn, and I as we discuss/ comment on this historic episode of television.

Follow this link to everything you need...  And Enjoy.

Battle of the Network Stars #1

BJ and the Bear S2 E10: BJ's Sweethearts

Originally aired on December 1, 1979
Directed by Jeff Gold
Written by Michael Sloan

B.J. and the Bear are hauling something or other across the country late one night. They get caught up in a huge electrical storm outside of Orly County. The rig ends up in a ditch. Then, B.J. ends up in the same ditch, with a head wound. Luckily, the nearest house (in the middle of nowhere) is owned by the uncle of Barbara Sue (Jo Ann Harris) from Odyssey of the Shady Truth. Barbara Sue (B.S.! Why did I not realize that when I reviewed her episode?) and Bear bring B.J. to the comfort of the home.

Barbara Sue is back!

But, jerks abound! And they are led by a gun-toting George Lazenby. These Good Ol' Boys are going to break into the house and steal $50,000 from BS's uncle's mattress. They are just biding their time, hiding in the trees...  waiting...  waiting...

Wavy fade out to flashbacks abound

Waiting for all the clips from previous episodes of B.J. and the Bear to end.

Yes, this is a Clip Show. A time-honored TV tradition. Although, normally, it's longer than 20 episodes (and a TV movie) before we get one of these. But, then, B.J. and Bear always did make their own rules.

 (Skulking POV)

We're mainly skulking tonight

As B.J. gets held, massaged and generally fondled by Barbara Sue, we see capsule recaps of adventures he's had with his "sweethearts":

Odyssey of the Shady Truth
Deadly Cargo
Shine On
The Murphy Contingent
Cain's Cruiser
Pogo Lil
Cain's Son-In-Law

These are all decent recaps. (Apart from the odd choice of the Murphy episode as Murphy was not one of B.J. "sweethearts.") It's nice to see bits from the past episodes. Although the Son-In-Law one had just aired a little over a month before. But, still...  one of the Landers sisters. You can't go wrong there. They also do their best to edit around Janet Julian's character in Shine On as it is not the same character she plays while at Country Comfort. (There is a brief shot of her with no pants on, though.)

A Hunk Concussed!

by Danielle Steel

To me a clip show stands or falls by the framing material. And this episode has decent framing stuff. B.J.'s accident is suitably hair-raising. Barbara Sue is fun as always. The men outside are menacing enough. The final fight scene throughout the darkened house is very good. Deputy Hawkins from Lobo shows up in the end. It works fine. With one odd structural problem...

General fondling occurs

The men outside seem like they're going to storm in until they see Bear and then B.J. They decide to wait. So, we get an episode recap/ reminiscence...  followed by Men Hiding In The Woods shots...  followed by episode recap...  and so forth. Until the recaps stop. Literally, at that moment, the men storm the house. I'd love to think that Sloan and Gold are being meta here. But, I'm not so sure. "Boss, we should go in now!" "Not yet. He's got two more recaps to do. And I want to see the one with Anne Lockhart in it." If this is not happening, then the men in the woods are very silly. We have no concept of how long they're out there. It seems like hours. They keep showing close ups of the Head Jerk's watch but these are very old recordings...  Details are not always visible so I couldn't always tell how much time had passed. Eventually, it looked like a bunch of idiots skulking around for hours and hours. It's either annoying or very amusing. I guess it depends on how you're feeling when you watch it.

 It's snowing!

(No. Bear is pouring flour on this man's head.)

My favorite clip show (apart from South Park's fake clip show City on the Edge of Forever) is the Green Acres clip show that starts Season 3: The Man for the Job. That one keeps the clips to a minimum, picks funny ones and remembers to make the framing material just as funny as a normal episode. B.J.'s Sweethearts is semi-superfluous. But, it is fun, like most episodes of the show. And it does advance my theory that this is not an adventure show about a guy helping (mainly) lovely ladies. It is a show about a man who romances lovely ladies and happens to get into adventures. I like that show.

Hey, Hawkins!

Oh...  there does seem to be one meta moment. The clip from Cain's Cruiser ends with B.J. inviting Erin Grey back to the hot tub. Freeze frame. When we return to Barbara Sue's uncle's living room, she asks (paraphrased) "So what happened then? Did you two go back to the hot tub? Do you still see her?" The question is never answered. That I liked.

Oh...  the screen does go wavy and doodly-doodly-doodly music plays whenever a flashback begins.

Oh...  Bear does not get a flashback.

I don't get a flashback! That's bananas!

Eventually Supertrain #10!

#10!

Surely that is some sort of milestone? (What did you call me?)

Follow this link to the place with all the other links. You Will Enjoy Yourself!

This Link

BJ And The Bear S2 E9: Gasohol

Originally aired on November 24, 1979
Directed by Charles Rondeau
Teleplay by Robert L. McCullough
Story by Richard Maize & Patrick Lloyd

Hammer is back! Country Comfort is back! Tommy is back! Plus, there's moonshine.

So...  much like Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers at the start of the season...  (by the way, what happened to Snow White?) the non-independent truckers (HighBall Trucking) are trying to drive out the independents so they can get a big trucking deal. Hammer (who I thought had promised not to bother the independents anymore) tries to run B.J., Tommy and Bear off the road. But, Hammer ends up rupturing the lines and pipes that supply oil for everyone in the area. How will anyone get anywhere without oil? That's where the shine comes in...  It's Lumm Shine. And Lumm makes some strong stuff. Plus, he has a granddaughter in short jean shorts. (I call her Lady Lumm.) Can B.J. use the moonshine to power his rig and save the day?

I would never lie about short shorts

Oh, Gasohol. Well, once you can put aside the fact that Hammer's up to his old tricks and that we are, more or less, doing a variation on the season opener...  this episode has its charms. It starts off at Country Comfort with the Problem With The Fuel. Then, suddenly, we're on a studio backlot where we meet Grandaughter Lumm, a sheriff, his two deputies (one of whom was a cop in the great Drive-In Massacre), their receptionist (who is not Sybil Danning's sister) and some guy who Lady Lumm likes but I kept forgetting what he was there for...  I think he was a revenuer.

 The revenuer getting assaulted with mud

It is the guy from Drive-In Massacre

It is not Sybil Danning's sister

Then, the shine gets put in B.J.'s gas tank. And there are chases and Tommy kisses up on B.J. And Old Man Lumm waves his shotgun around and...  Look, I normally don't take notes on these episodes when I do these write-ups. I should have for this one because it's a lulu.

Hammer just hurt 'em...

Everything seems to be moving along well...  then suddenly we meet Lady Lumm and all those secondary characters. I've mentioned this before but I will say it again. They re-introduce all these people over at Country Comfort. Then, they introduce this whole brand new batch of people in this small town. Why so many characters? Why not keep the focus on the Country Comfort gang? It overstuffs an already overstuffed episode. Sometimes this episode reminded me of Season 1's Never Give A Trucker An Even Break, which seemed to have everything 1979 could offer. But, Gasohol has several established characters and then brings in this new boatload. Really, your best bet throughout? Keep your focus on the shiny cars moving around, B.J. looking good and the lovely ladies because the rest of it might give you a headache.

There's actually less time spent on the phone than you'd imagine

I don't normally endorse turning off your mind and letting a piece of entertainment carry you away. I'm not a fan of Dumb entertainment. But, this one walks a precarious line. I would say that maybe it is best to just put the episode on and don't think about it. Although, having said that, I just thought about it and I wonder...

The Sheriff, the Revenue Guy and Old Man Lumm

Notice the writing credit. Robert is on staff for the show. He's a regular writer. The two guys with the "story" credit are not. Could this have happened...  Pat & Dick turned in a script about a fuel shortage (this was the late 1970s) that did not feature Country Comfort or Hammer or anyone. It was about B.J. trying to haul stuff, other truckers getting in his way, fuel shortage, etc. Then, he meets Lady Lumm and the gasohol comes into play. It ends up being a fairly standard episode of the show. Robert was handed the script and told to re-write it, keeping the main storyline but bringing in Country Comfort. That would explain the jarring moment when it goes from Country Comfort to all these new characters. That would explain why there just seems to be too much going on. I like this theory I just made up. I stand by it.

B.J. makes out with Janet Julian

Bear gets drunk

Just another Wednesday at Country Comfort

Gasohol. Much like the episode before it, this is a standard and fun episode of B.J. and the Bear. We can resolve ourselves to the fact that the promise of Season 1 (with varying tones from episode to episode) will remain unfulfilled. This show will now be dumb fun from here on in, with a few exceptions. Maybe the next episode will be one of those? Let's see. Shall we?