Geek TV #11.2: Bewitched

Geek Pedigree:

Elizabeth Montgomery was nearly unrecognizable as The Woman in the Twilight Zone episode “Two.” And of course, she provided the voice for her animated alter ego in a Flintstones episode. She also voiced a barmaid in a 1995 episode of Batman: The Animated Series.

Before playing Larry Tate, David White had appeared in two episodes of The Twilight Zone (“I Sing the Body Electric” and “A World of Difference”), as well as two episodes of My Favorite Martian. After Bewitched, he guest starred in Mission: Impossible, The Six Million Dollar Man: Solid Gold Kidnapping, The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, and was even cast as J. Jonah Jameson in the pilot episode of The Amazing Spider-Man (1977)!

First Darrin Dick York also appeared in two episodes of The Twilight Zone. His replacement, Dick Sargent, had appeared in The Beast With a Million Eyes and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, guested on I Dream of Jeannie, and later guested on The Six Million Dollar Man.

Agnes Moorehead had her first on-screen role in Citizen Kane, and ironically enough appeared as a witch in three episodes of Shirley Temple Theatre from 1958 to 1960, guested in “The Invaders” episode of Twilight Zone, provided the voice of the Black Widow on the 1966 animated Lone Ranger, guested on a Wild Wild West, two episodes of Night Gallery (playing a witch in one of those), and her last genre role was probably playing Mrs. Blair in the TV movie Frankenstein: The True Story.

George Tobias, who played Abner Kravitz, also guested on an episode of The Man From UNCLE, and reprised his role of Abner Kravitz on an episode of Tabitha. One of the Louise Tates, Kasey Rogers, had roles in Two Lost Worlds and When Worlds Collide, and also guested on The Lone Ranger, Mission: Impossible, and The Invisible Man. The other Louise, Irene Vernon, also guested on The Lone Ranger, as well as an episode of Dennis the Menace.

One of the Gladys Kravitz's, Sandra Gould, did a handful of one-shot voices on The Flintstones, appeared in two episodes of Twilight Zone, single episodes of Mister Ed, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, I Spy, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, appeared on The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and reprised her role in an episode of Tabitha. The first Gladys, Alice Pearce, was in two episodes of Denis the Menace, an episode of The Twilight Zone, and played the Dormouse in the 1955 TV movie of Alice in Wonderland.

Barnard Fox, who played Dr. Bombay, had voiced a character on The Flintstones, guested on I Spy, I Dream of Jeannie, The Girl From UNCLE, The Man From UNCLE, The Monkees, The Wild Wild West, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, played Squire Lester Moresby in Munster, Go Home, played Max in Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, voiced a number of characters on the Oliver and the Artful Dodger two-part episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, as well as a variety of other cartoon characters here and there, played Dr. Bombay again in Tabitha and Passions, and played Captain Winston Havlock in The Mummy (1999). Oh, and he also played Dr. Jinga-Janga in an episode of Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

Alice Ghostly probably had her first genre role playing Stepsister Joy in the 1957 TV movie of Cinderella, and later played Mrs. Nash in Captain Nice, guested in episodes of Get Smart, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Monster Squad, Tales From the Darkside, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Hercules, and Passions.

Maurice Evans played Sir Norman Swickert in two episodes of The Man From UNCLE, played The Puzzler in two episodes of Batman, guested in an episode of I Spy, played General Bertram in four episodes of Tarzan, played Dr. Zaius in Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and later had roles in Terror in the Wax Museum and The Six Million Dollar Man: Solid Gold Kidnapping.

Paul Lynde provided voices for a number of animated shows and movies, including Pumpkinhead in Journey Back to Oz, Templeton in Charlotte's Web, Claude Pertwee in Where's Huddles?, The Hooded Claw/Sylvester Sneekly in The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Mildew Wolf in The Cattanooga Cats, but he's also appeared in episodes of I Dream of Jeannie and The Munsters.

DVD Release: Complete seasons!
 

Of Mice and Magic: The Cartoons #18

Most of the cartoons I've been posting here the past month or two were used as "training" by Disney to get his animators producing the level he expected for his first full-length animated film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Now, I'd imagine that most (if not all) of you have seen this movie at least a few times... so I'll just provided a few clips to remind you of the film!

Toy of the Week: Archie Huggable Dolls!

Ever wanted a huggable doll based on the Archies characters? Check these out:


As with most of the Archie figural items, the girls had rooted hair, while the boys had molded hair... come to think of it, that's pretty standard, isn't it? Looks like Archie and Jughead came out better in looking like themselves, eh?

Of course, these toys wouldn't have even been produced had not Filmation produced the various series of Archie cartoons that were phenomenally popular for quite some time! It looks like Archie, Jughead, Sabrina and Veronica were the only figures produced in this line. What, Sabrina and not Betty? Well, while you can't see it, the illustration on the card doesn't feature Betty hugging Archie's neck from behind -- it's Sabrina the Teenaged Witch, with her hair colored yellow! There was also a Jalopy for these dolls sold, too, and it had the same art mistake on the box! I'm guessing that since Sabrina had her own spin-off series, Mattel decided to include her, but not Betty (The fiends!).

If you need these dolls for your collection, click here to see if any are up on eBay! At the time I'm writing this, you could get Jughead for about $40 to $70, and Veronica would run you $85 to $92 or so, while the Jalopy goes for $110 -- all prices including shipping, Only one of the items mentioned above was an auction-style listing, the others were all "Buy It Now" style. There was a pair of Betty and Veronica dolls that were offered loose with a starting bid (including shipping) of $12, but nobody bid on those! Looks like if you're patient enough, you should be able to find these at the price you want!

Give-A-Show Fridays: Chad Valley 1975 Planet of the Apes, Parts 5 and 6!

Cool Stuff: Marvel Stuff!

This week's first of several parts of Marvel stuff begins with this Captain America gun and badge from 1972! Sheesh, even in 1972, I knew Cap didn't need either of those!

The Indexible Hulk #18

Issue: Tales to Astonish #62

Title: “Enter... The Chameleon!”

Credits: Written by Stan Lee, Pencils by Steve Ditko, Inks by George Roussos (as George Bell), Letters by Sam Rosen

Supporting Cast: General Ross, Betty Ross, Major Talbot, Rick Jones

Villain: The Leader (not clearly shown), The Chameleon

Hulk Intelligence: Brute, but still with a decent command of the English language, even if he still speaks of himself in the third person.

Guest-Stars: Captain America (cameo)

Plot: As General Ross taunts the captured Hulk (who is certain he'll break free before he changes back to Banner, as the transformation works both ways triggered by extreme stress), in a hidden laboratory, the Leader takes a break from working on his humanoid creation to contact The Chameleon, ordering the master of disguise to find out what happened to the spy he sent to Ross' missile base (oh, so that's where that guy came from!). Meanwhile, Rick Jones tells Captain America (who he's been hanging around with since Avengers #4) that he needs to fly back west and try to help his big green buddy. Ironically, Rick is seated next to the disguised Chameleon on the plane ride! Back at the base, Talbot reports to Ross that he has found no trace of Bruce Banner, and that he remains convinced that Banner is a security risk, a sentiment Ross agrees with. Outside, the captured Hulk feels that the chains are beginning to weaken, and he continues to strain against them! Apparently, Rick (and the Chameleon) were on an exceptionally fast jet, as Rick arrives on the base while the Hulk is still straining against his bonds! Somehow, Rick knows that the strain will make the Hulk change back to Banner! Meanwhile, the Chameleon gets a good look at Ross (Talbot is supposed to be head of security, but he's awful at the job, as Rick Jones and the Chameleon easily get on base) and then disguises himself as Ross! He approaches the Hulk in disguise and says if Greenskin takes orders from him, he'll set the Hulk free! The Chameleon realizes that the guards present makes it difficult to plot freely, so he dismisses the men (remember, he's disguised as Ross). While this is happening, the Hulk finally changes back to Banner, who's too puny to be held in those oversized chains, and he flees! Bruce runs into Rick shortly afterwards, and is able to get changed into some extra clothes Rick happened to bring along. Later, Ross (the real one) is angry because he never ordered the guards away, and wants his imposter discovered! Bruce shows up at that time to offer his help (his excuse for his long absence is that he was doing research in the nearby caves and lost his way for a while). Talbot basically tells Bruce he's there to investigate rumors about Banner (blabbermouth), and Banner leaves. However, he's knocked out and replaced by the Chameleon, who searches Banner's lab and finds a formula for a grenade-type gama bomb, as well as a working prototype! He's about to leave when Betty arrives, but she quickly sees through the Chameleon's disguise! Meanwhile, Bruce wakes up, and the stress causes him to change into the Hulk! The Hulk smashes his way into the lab, and is about to strike the Chameleon when he sees the Gamma Grenade, and realizes what it can do! Pausing, the Hulk then notices a patrol coming, and not wanting to be captured again, flees the scene! Meanwhile, the Chameleon, still disguised as Bruce, takes Betty away, and finds the rocket speed velocity test sled (at least that's what he calls it – it appears to be the same vehicle that Reed Richards help perfect and Ben Grimm test-piloted a few installments of this index ago). He puts the unconscious Betty inside and fires it up to keep the Hulk occupied, but the Hulk stops it, then pursues the Chameleon! The Chameleon is about to set up the Gamma Grenade when more soldiers arrive, and the Hulk rips up the tarmac to shield himself! The Chameleon, meanwhile, throws the grenade at the Hulk, who throws himself on top of the grenade before it blows! The gamma rays from the explosion cause the Hulk to change back into Banner, and Bruce sneaks off. Later, at a board of inquiry, thank to Betty testifying that it wasn't really Banner who stole the Gamma Grenade, Bruce is cleared this time, but Ross and Talbot still suspect him (and still keep on telling him they suspect him). Meanwhile, the Leader, finding out the Chameleon failed, has completed his humanoid creation, and is about to use it on the Hulk!

Invention Exchange: Bruce Banner's Gamma Grenade... when did he have time to build this? We never see him starting any of these projects), the Leader's Humanoid.

Reprinted In: The Incredible Hulk Special #1, The Incredible Hulk (Simon & Schuster), Essential Hulk #1.

Notes: As noted on the Grand Comics Database, both Rick Jones and Major Talbot call Betty “Miss Brant” in this story. Obviously Stan was getting his Bettys mixed up! As noted in the plot summary, Major Talbot and General Ross just can't stop telling Bruce that they suspect him – which is really bad security work! Why put him on the defensive? If Bruce really was the traitor he was believed to be, he could've just disappeared and built all his inventions for the other side!

Comic Book Advertisements!

First up in this week's gallery of comics ads is this half-page ad by Howard H. Rogofsky, promoting his back issue catalog! Note how prominent "Playboy" is in this ad... this ad that ran in Mighty Samson #18, a Gold Key title! And I'm guessing this same ad ran in all Gold Key titles of that month!

House of Hammer #4

Kirby Kovers #17

This week's Kirby Kover is the posthumously-published (if I recall correctly) Phantom Force #3, and while Kirby may have pencilled this cover, the printed result looks like a complete mess, no doubt due to McFarlane's inking and the way too much over-the-top coloring special effects! Kirby's art didn't need Photoshop to look fantastic, and I bet that if Kirby had ever played with Photoshop to do comic artwork, what he would've come up with would've made this look especially pathetic by comparison!

CBT: AD&D Storybook - The Forest of Enchantment!

Until I came across this recently, I had no idea that these even existed! I have two of these to share here, and here's the first!

Monster Monday!

Well, I hope everyone's had a pleasant holiday weekend! Now, for the monsters!

The Old Dark House lobby card!

Dog of the Geek: Jack!

Breed: Jack Russell terrier

Original Appearances: Tales of the Gold Monkey TV series (ABC, 1982)

Other Appearances: None

Biography: Jack is the dog of Jake Cutter, an ex-Flying Tigers pilot operating out of the South Pacific in 1938 running an air cargo delivery service. I don't think we really know what caused Jack to lose his eye, but he used to have a false one made of opal with a star sapphire center that Jake lost in a poker game, and Jack refuses to let him forget it. Jack wears an eyepatch to cover the location of the lost eye. Jack believes that he is Jake's best friend, as opposed to alcoholic mechanic Corky.

Powers: Jack would bark once for “no,” and twice for “yes” – unless he felt like saying it the opposite way.

Group Affiliation: Cutter's Goose crew.

Miscellaneous:TV

Tales of the Gold Monkey

Fandom Library: The Amazing World of DC Comics #6!

Puzzle Sunday!

Last week's solution:


This week's puzzle:

Christmas Countdown 2011 #25: Woolworth's Christmas Story, 1953!