TV Episodes You Have Just Watched

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Narcos.

Yellowjackets

I'm not sure if this counts as an episode, but the 1994 Daytona 500.

Lucky Hank.

A small college's English Department head finds himself in trouble when he finally tells student taking his creative writing workshop what he really thinks about his terrible writing. He is removed from his position, which he finds liberating... only to find himself voted back in. So far very funny.

INFURIATING GOVERNMENT

I'm going to spend at least a week or two checking out The Protectors, which was an ITC series first broadcast in 1972-74. Production is supervised by Gerry Anderson, who made his name with puppet series like Thunderbirds in the mid-1960s, so it'll be interesting to see how far things had evolved from the Monty Berman era at ITC and shows like The Saint and The Baron, where almost all the plots were resolved by the baddies getting punched in the mouth or occasionally shot.

The show's stars are Harry Rule, an American played by Robert 'Man From Uncle' Vaughn, the Contessa di Contini (played by New Zealand actress Nyree 'Forsyte Saga' Dawn Porter) and Paul Buchet (British actor Tony Anholt). Rule and the Contessa seem to be romantically involved with each other. There are also two more minor characters - a young Japanese woman called 'Suki' and a Chinese man known as 'Chino' (subtle, eh?).

Here's an introductory montage, featuring the series's theme song, performed by Tony Christie:

https://youtu.be/ffkIC6hMb-M

SFU S2E1

Not a TV episode, but:

2000 ft to Die


First episode of 'The Protectors' from 1972. These are only 25 minutes long, so ought to be easy to follow, but this one sure had me scratching my head. Something about a team of scientists trying to create synthetic gold - they keep getting bumped off, and the last surviving member of the team is supposed to die in an 'accidental' parachuting accident (but he doesn't, of course, because The Protectors are on the case!). Not a great start, but there's a lively scene in a London club featuring some exotic dancing to the 'Top of the Pops' signature tune.

Brother Hood


Second episode, again so so, but easier to follow. Set in Southern Europe in one of the right-wing dictatorships that still existed at that time (ie Greece, Spain or Portugal). A former WW2 Hungarian resistance fighter is imprisoned by the regime, and his businessman brother engages The Protectors to set him free. There's a twist though, as the former only wants his brother freed so that he can kill him. He fails in this however, as The Protectors are around to stop him....

Stars Vladek Sheybal, a standing dish in some of these ITC series, as the prisoner.







Says episode 1, but it's episode 2 in my boxset and in the IMDB listings.

Perry Mason.

See No Evil


Episode 3 of 'The Protectors' from 1972. Set in Rome, where The Protectors come up against a blind mafia chief who is trying to prevent an Italian senator from publishing a damning report on his activities. Will they succeed though? Clue: Yes...

I was wondering whether this ITC series would feature more subtle methods of dealing with criminals than its 1960s forerunners The Saint and The Baron. Here's the answer, it seems:

Disappearing Trick


Episode 4 of 'The Protectors' from 1972. Stars Derren Nesbitt as some kind of psychotic millionaire playboy who kidnaps the Contessa di Contini in Paris and leads the rest of the team a merry dance before receiving his inevitable comeuppance.

I'm already a bit disillusioned with this series - it's very superficial, flashy stuff, with little real characterization or plot development, and just downright silly at times. I found myself wishing that The Protectors would get themselves proper jobs, rather than playing at being private detectives, troubleshooters, or whatever it is that they're supposed to be, lol.

The Last of Us - episode 7

This show has been amazing so far. Never played the game but the writing and acting on this show puts most other TV to shame.

A Bicyclops Built For Two - Futurama