"That Girl" Celebrates Christmas AGAIN on A Very Merry MeTV Blogathon!

Welcome back to A Very Merry MeTV Christmas Blogation  here on The Flaming Nose, coming to you from the Classic TV Blog Association in conjunction with the MeTV network!  We hope you're enjoying the entire blog collection plus the line-up of Christmas TV episodes airing on MeTV!

Christmas comes but once a year in real life and many of the great TV sitcoms have managed to celebrate several times over the course of their runs.  We're talking today about Marlo Thomas as That Girl, looking at the second yuletide episode of the series, this one from the show's 2nd season (its 15th episode).  'Twas the Night Before Christmas, You're Under Arrest premiered on December 21, 1967, at 9pm, after Bewitched and before Peyton Place.  

That Girl is pure charm and charisma, personified by Marlo Thomas' enthusiastic performance as actress Ann Marie.  This is no series where the currency is insults and everybody gets the stink eye and tosses shade like party confetti.  That Girl's charms are wide-eyed potential and a zest for life, tempered with a keen sense of the absurd and the energy of classic farce.  In other words, it's terrific fun and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, You're Under Arrest doesn't disappoint.  

The episode was written by sitcom veteran Ruth Brooks Flippen who had started her career during the 1950s in motion pictures and transitioned into TV on her reputation as a writer on several of the Gidget movies.  Her work on popular TV series like Gidget, Bewitched and That Girl -- read her full credits here -- showed that she was particularly adept at capturing and showcasing the strengths of the women who starred in those series and others she wrote for.  

Veteran TV director James Sheldon helmed the episode. Sheldon, a prolific and versatile director who started his small screen career on Mr. Peepers in the very early 1950s, worked extensively on most top network series for the subsequent three and a half decades, moving easily between comedy and heavy dramatic projects. Visit his credits here.

The cast of That Girl was uniformly excellent and guest stars equally so.  In addition to series regulars Thomas, Ted Bessell as Ann's steady boyfriend Don, Lew Parker as Ann's always perturbed father Lew Marie and in this episode TV veteran Bernie Kopell and Carol Ann Daniels as Ann's next door neighbors Jerry and Ruth Bauman, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, You're Under Arrest also features some wonderful guest actors.  

Familiar movie and TV actor Jay C. Flippen has several great scenes as the gruff but bemused Sergeant Fitzgerald of the 59th Precinct.  A myriad of roles over a forty-year long career -- see his credits here -- kept Flippen busy even after he had a leg amputation in the mid-1960s, something you can't tell in That Girl as he's behind a big police desk the whole time. Also of great interest: Jay C. Flippen was married to episode writer Ruth Brooks Flippen! They had been husband and wife since 1947 and stayed so until Jay's death in early 1971. 

Herbie Faye plays the fast-talking affable sidewalk vendor who sells Ann the scalped tickets which had a face value of $9.90 -- how times have changed for Broadway prices! I was going to call him a con man but he really wasn't; the tickets were legitimate, after all.  Faye was a veteran movie and TV actor with a long list of credits and a permanent place in Pop Culture history as one of the original cast of The Phil Silvers Show.

Popular character actor Ed Peck played one of the arresting policemen; he showed up in myriad movies and TV shows over his prolific 30 year acting career -- credits here.  Actor Paul Bryar who played the other arresting officer started out as an uncredited extra in movies and moved into steady work as a reliable presence with nearly 400 career credits -- see the impressive list here. William Bramley who played the fingerprint detective came with impeccable credentials: he was Officer Krupke in the movie West Side Story as well as many other roles during his long prosperous career -- see his entire resume here.  The presence of this caliber of seasoned acting talent gave That Girl an impeccable polish which helps it hold up today as such a watchable show.

Rather than tell the whole story of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, You're Under Arrest we'll share some screengrabs from the episode.  You can watch the episode -- along with the rest of the series -- on Hulu right now:  click here to access.  What might amaze you is how beautiful the show looks; it's irresistibly compelling to the eyes and embodies the positive vibe which infuses the series. And funny? It's got that, too.

Don't miss the other entries in The A Very Merry MeTV Christmas Blogathon brought to you by the Classic TV Blog Association! 

Happy Holidays from The Flaming Nose TV Blog!

Even Spies Need Mistletoe: "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." Meets Christmas!

A Very Merry MeTV Blogathon continues here with a look at an episode of the popular 1960s' espionage adventure series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.!

Kicky and cool, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was TV's answer to James Bond.  Ultra-stylish, action-packed, mostly fun rather than slavishly realistic, U.N.C.L.E. featured two of TV's all-time favorite leading men pairings.  The suave actor Robert Vaughn who turned heads as super spy Napoleon Solo and his cohort Illya Kuryakin played by the slightly exotic David McCallum were the duo to beat.  In a time when many charismatic actors graced the TV screen, none were more compelling than these two.

First hitting the air in the Fall of 1964, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was an entertaining reflection of the times when international tensions were dominated by America's Cold War with the Soviet Union, and the series' one Christmas episode -- "The Jingle Bells Affair" from Season Three and airing on December 23, 1966 -- was all about the dichotomy of Capitalism vs. Communism.  Certainly nobody today could rationally disagree that Christmas here in the U.S. -- and elsewhere -- is now an all-out take-no-prisoners assault on consumers' pocketbooks, but back then when corporations didn't dominate all you might still convincingly offer the premise that the freedom to buy was the essence of democracy.  And so hangs the tale of "The Jingle Bells Affair."

In a simple logline, "The Jingle Bells Affair" tells the tale of the Kruschev-esque leader of an unnamed European nation who, somewhat like Scrooge, learns the true meaning of Christmas.  Rather than be a Grinch and spoil the fun of the plot, I'll merely point out some of the highlights worth watching for in the episode.

First off, prepare to enter an adorable time machine courtesy of a sampling of footage from New York City's Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  Actual parade footage including from 1965 when the Underdog balloon made its debut is irresistible, as are scenes from outside and inside the real Macy's store.  Macy's gets a super plug in "The Jingle Bells Affair" with actor Kent Smith playing Mr. Macy who tours Chairman Goz (Akim Tamiroff) around the store.  As Napoleon Solo himself explains, the parade "marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season."  Indeed!

We also get some terrific views of vintage stoves and TV sets during the store tour!

Actors!  In addition to Vaughn, McCallum and Leo G. Carroll as Mr. Waverly (who appears briefly at the beginning and the end of the episode), we get to see some extremely well-vetted character actors doing their stuff.

As Koz, Akim Tamiroff is gruff yet appealing.  The Russia-born actor had a vigorous stage career in Europe which eventually brought him to the U.S. where he moved into the movies and then into TV roles.  Actor Kent Smith played Mr. Macy; he had a long career and is a familiar face in classic movies and TV series.

Character actor Leonid Kinsky plays the bumbling would-be assassin in the episode.  With a background much like Tamiroff -- European beginnings, then to the U.S. -- he had a long career including memorable roles in movies such as Casablanca.

Like Tamiroff and Kinsky, actor Leon Belasco who plays Chairman Koz' treacherous security chief Radish also was born in Europe and emigrated to America where he found success as an orchestra leader and popular character actor in movies and TV.

Veteran English character actor J. Pat O'Malley shows up as a Santa school instructor. Though he definitely made his mark in movies and on Broadway, he's probably best known for his unbelievable list of TV roles from the early 1950s until the early 1980s.  You will have seen him in everything!

Actress Elen Willard played the winsome yet completely capable Salvation Army worker.  She ceased her acting career in movies and TV after "The Jingle Bells Affair" but adds an intelligent and genuine charm to her role.  The Salvation Army also got a huge plug in this episode; possibly it would have done them more good during the holiday season if the hour had aired earlier than two days before Christmas!

"The Jingle Bells Affair" was written by William Fay, a successful short story author who had solid TV credits including several Dr. Kildare episodes and many Alfred Hitchcock Presents on his resume.  Director John Brahm, European-born and with a career trajectory like many the other participants named above, had a solid list of feature credits -- including one genuine classic The Lodger in 1944 -- and a long resume in TV directing segments of many of the most popular series from the early 1950s until the late 1960s.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. "The Jingle Bells Affair" airs tonight (Sunday overnight) at 2am on your local MeTV affiliate!  Be sure to visit the Classic TV Blog Association and the MeTV website for more information on all the wonderful holiday episode blogs coming your way!

In the meantime, here are a few more shots from the episode to keep your holiday spirit simmering!

Happy Viewing!