Tag Archives: 1970’s

1970’s Role Models Round Three

7 Jan

January 8, 2010

Who is the best 1970’s television role model?

Round two was a hard-fought battle of the unlikely, with “The Man” coming out of retirement to win a Charo-fueled win over Sweat Hog Juan Epstein. What did it prove? Sadly, that “The Man” can still keep a Latino down. (Just ask anyone whose bank turned them down for a loan.)

Round Three
“Battle of the Lawmen”

BARNABY JONES                           VS.                                             FISH          

 

BARNABY JONES                                                                         BARNEY MILLER

Barnaby Jones was a Quinn Martin production. Quinn Martin was a prolific TV producer who had the idea to cast an old man in a detective show. Unfortunately, the actor was a bit too old, as evidenced by the picture above, where Barnaby is not quite sure which is the phone and which is the gun. In the picture below, a gun-wielding thug has almost talked Barnaby into buying into his time-share.

 

The casting of the lead role was controversial from the start. Quinn Martin wanted an established television star for the role. After a long and deliberate casting process, he settled on this man, currently starring in the autobiographical Beverly Hillbillies:

      

It was never explained just how Barnaby made the jump from hillbilly to cop, but in a strange twist, both of this round’s contestants served together in an elite peace-keeping force:

 

Detective Phil Fish was born well over one hundred years ago, yet no matter how old he was, he never looked his age. He looked at least twice his age.

Early on it was noted that Detective Phillip “Abe Vigoda” Fish bore an eerie similarity to another television personality, Richard Simmons.

 

However, as he lost his hair, he became a dead ringer for Boris Karloff.

    

As you can tell from these rare photos, the resemblance was uncanny.

Fish went on to star in a series of films with Bela Lugosi, whose main claims to fame were that he played Dracula, became a drug addict, and he played Dracula.

 

This particular still is taken from 1935’s Universal release, The Cramped Fingers of Evil, starring Detective Fish as Professor Barnabas Lennsing and Bela Lugosi as Dr.Vampire J. Hammitup.

The battle was very close, but the win has to go to Fish. Why? Check out this very rare comic book from 1979. Barnaby Jones never had a view-master reel, let alone his own comic book.

 

WINNER: FISH

Coming Soon:

FINAL THREE-WAY
WINNER-TAKE-ALL
BRAWL-FOR-IT -ALL:

Esther Rolle Vs. “The Man” Vs. The Fish

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1970’s TV Role Models

1 Jan

January 1, 2010

It is the New Year, a time for reflection. I find myself thinking back on the many things I did and did not accomplish over the past twelve months. One thing sticks out, and for my own peace of mind, it is time to answer the question

Who is the best 1970’s television role model?

Round One

MABEL KING VS. ESTHER ROLLE

WHAT’S HAPPENING? Vs. GOOD TIMES

Mama was the semi-rotund mother of Dee and Raj, and by extension the mother of their friends, Dwayne and Rerun, who smelled so bad that his odor lingered in a room ten minutes after he left, hence his name. Mama worked as a housekeeper during the day and exotic dancer at night. Mama’s style of parenting was the “threaten to kill” style, and Dee would often taunt Raj with “ohhhhhh, Mama’s gonna kill you and dismember your corpse!” (Raj, by the way, is short for Rajer. Sigh.) Her husband, played by Thalmus Rasulala, had walked out on her years earlier. He was a womanizer and a gambler. He is seen here, sexing it up with Pam Grier.

On the other hand, he did manage to destroy Blacula in the film named, coincidentally, Blacula. Any man who could banish the immortal William Marshall could not have been that bad a husband.

NOTE: When searching for Mabel King, do not confuse her with professional wrestler King Mabel, though there is a slight resemblance.

Esther Rolle played Miami Florida, and her biggest challenge was her son JJ:

In some episodes JJ delivered chicken for a restaurant and he wore a chicken on his head. No stereotype there, mover along.

Miami also had an absent husband. James had died some years earlier when working on the Alaskan Pipeline. During a freak snowstorm, James drove his truck into the lair of an angry polar bear and neither made it out alive. It was a very close thing, however, as this is what the bear had to face:

His body was never recovered, and many suspect a CIA cover-up, as months later an “Admiral James” took a high level cabinet position.

It was never clear what Miami did for a living, though she sometimes left the house early in the morning and returned late at night. Eventually she remarried this man,

known on the professional golf circuit as Buffalo Woods.

In the final analysis, the contest between Mabel King and Esther Rolle comes down to intelligence, and Esther Rolle was smart enough to leave her show, at least until the producers lured her back with more money.

WINNER: ESTHER ROLLE

Coming Soon: Round Two: “The Man” Vs. Epstein

Barnaby Jones

Abe Vigoda

Crest Cavity Creeps

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