From: Jim Alexander Date: Sun Oct 1, 2000 12:09 am Subject: Computers-- Can't live WITH'em, Can't SHOOT'em... Just a note to all concerned-- I'm taking in the computer tower to BEST BUY this evening. The &%^%$# thing doesn't seem to wanna burn CD's, and for the money I'm spending on it-- it NEEEEEEDS to. I may not be too quick with the e-mail replies for a bit. I am at the mercy of the BB service tekkies as to when I get the 'puter back... I SHOULD be able to access my e-mail account through Dynasty OnLine's web page-- I will GET mail-- but prolly not access it but once or twice a week, and only when I can find a computer to use for any length of time. Thanks for listening! Jimmie probecontrol@d... From: ataylor@m... Date: Sun Oct 1, 2000 12:07 am Subject: Re: [probe_control] Digest Number 59 Jim- Youmight want to check out www.cafepress.com, they have a pretty good program for printing and distributing t shirts, mugs and mousepads for sale. Maybe we could get some more SEARCH merchandise going that way. Take care Anthony From: Jim Alexander Date: Mon Oct 9, 2000 2:23 am Subject: Computers-- STILL can't live with'em... Well-- Got the computer back tonight, and hooked'er ll up... and don't'cha know it... it's doing the exact same thing it was when I took it in last week!!! I could just SPIT! Anyway, I don't know what I'm gonna do now, but I GUESS I'll have e-mail for the next few days-- so, write and say "hi"! I'm catching up n 141 pieces of old mail... ;) Jimmie probecontrol@d... ------------------------------------ Jim Alexander wrote: > Just a note to all concerned-- > > I'm taking in the computer tower to BEST BUY this evening. The &%^%$# > thing doesn't seem to wanna burn CD's, and for the money I'm spending on > it-- it NEEEEEEDS to. > > I may not be too quick with the e-mail replies for a bit. I am at the > mercy of the BB service tekkies as to when I get the 'puter back... I > SHOULD be able to access my e-mail account through Dynasty OnLine's web > page-- I will GET mail-- but prolly not access it but once or twice a > week, and only when I can find a computer to use for any length of time. > > Thanks for listening! > > Jimmie > probecontrol@d... From: actingman@i... Date: Mon Oct 9, 2000 2:48 am Subject: Re: [probe_control] Computers-- STILL can't live with'em... Don't know if I could help long distance, but what's the problem? At 09:23 PM 10/8/00 -0500, you wrote: >Well-- Got the computer back tonight, and hooked'er ll up... and don't'cha >know it... it's doing the exact same thing it was when I took it in last >week!!! > >I could just SPIT! > >Anyway, I don't know what I'm gonna do now, but I GUESS I'll have e-mail >for the next few days-- so, write and say "hi"! I'm catching up n 141 >pieces of old mail... ;) > >Jimmie >probecontrol@d... >------------------------------------ From: "Don Harden" Date: Fri Oct 13, 2000 2:57 am Subject: SEARCH episodes we don't have on video Hi gang, Don again. I sent an email to new member Anthony Taylor today and the question arose of which SEARCH episodes we still have not been able to find on videotape. The episodes are: THE GOLD MACHINE MOONROCK ONE OF OUR PROBES IS MISSING LIVE MEN TELL TALES THE BULLET A HONEYMOON TO KILL ENDS OF THE EARTH We do have audio only of six of the above episodes, except for THE GOLD MACHINE. From: "Don Harden" Date: Fri Oct 13, 2000 3:16 am Subject: Jim Alexander's SEARCH audio cassettes Howdy folks, Don again. Jim Alexander recently sent me some audio cassettes he recorded back during 1972-73 when SEARCH was running on NBC. I had a chance to go through them and here's what I found: "LIVE MEN TELL TALES" is the complete NBC audio of the rerun with all commercials and the "MOONROCK" scenes to next week. "THE ADONIS FILE" is the NBC audio of the first run of that episode. No commercials in this one. Before the episode begins, you have the scenes to next week for "ADONIS" from the previous week. The scenes to next week at the end of this audio are for "FLIGHT TO NOWHERE." The tape marked "SEARCH Pilot Film" is from the Aug. 1972 NBC rerun of the Probe pilot renamed "SEARCH." At the beginning you have part of the NBC opening with an announcer mentioning the guest stars, joined in progress. No commercials. After the NBC opening, it jumps directly to the beginning of the "SEARCH" theme opening credits. (No scene of Lockwood dodging bullets in the village is on the tape.) When the opening credits music ends, it goes directly to the scene of Lockwood walking toward the Probe Control entrance. (No Cam or Dr. Laurent on the phone and the discussion of Lockwood's bonus, etc. Apparently that scene never made it to the network? Or was it only cut for the rerun?) On the second tape marked "SEARCH Pilot Film Tape Two Side One," the pilot continues. When I turned over to Side Two, the closing credits ended, and then it switched to an NBC promo for the then-upcoming Search series! After this, though, is the most important find of all! You have portions of Act Two of "THE GOLD MACHINE"! It starts when Lockwood is in Eastland's room and finds him dead slumped over a book of poetry. The tape ends during Lockwood and Gloria's visit to Harant's Book Store. Overall, the sound quality varies. Some of it is pretty good, the worst one unfortunately is the portions of "GOLD MACHINE." Some of that one is difficult to make out. However, I have an equalizer here which helps filter out some of the distortions. I noticed that the "cheesy cool music" plays a couple of times in "GOLD." That bit of music apparently originated with this episode. Anyway, I think we have enough historical material for at least two, maybe three more audio CDs for the group! Interested group members should get in touch with me at dghprobe3@a... so I can know better how many audio CDs I should make of the above. If anyone else has audio recordings of SEARCH from 1972-73, post it here and let us know. Thanks! From: "Countryside Models" Date: Fri Oct 13, 2000 5:32 pm Subject: Bianco's car Greetings, I remember seeing one of the TV episodes featuring Probe Nick Bianco. In the episode (which one? I don't know), I remember his car as being a Datsun 240Z. Does any one on the list know if he drove the 240Z as his regular car in more than one episode? Or was it just whatever he was able to get while away on assignment? Or, did he never even drive a 240Z in ANY episodes? (in which case, my memory is fading). Any help appreciated. Thanks! Ed Novit Wheeling, IL From: Bryan Date: Fri Oct 13, 2000 5:57 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Jim Alexander's SEARCH audio cassettes Don, I for one would love copies. Tell me the cost. I think I told you this before, but I had several audio tapes that were destroyed about 6 years ago when trees fell on my house during a flood/windstorm. > > Interested group members should get in touch with me at > dghprobe3@a... so I can know better how many audio CDs I should > make of the above. If anyone else has audio recordings of SEARCH > from 1972-73, post it here and let us know. Thanks! From: dmanmetz@a... Date: Fri Oct 13, 2000 10:16 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Bianco's car Good Question! I also had the question about the make and model of Bianco's automobile. I have only seen 16 of the 23 episodes so he may have driven a Datsun 240Z in one of his episodes or you may be thinking about Grover driving a Datsun 240Z in "Marked for Death". That was Grover's rentalcar since he was not in the United states for that episode. Of course we know Grover drove Yellow Corvette for his regular auto. Back to Bianco, during the shows closing credits, it says Mr Franciosa'a automobile provided by British Auto LTD. The car was Black and was seen in several episodes and the opening credits. Personally, I didn't like it, but I am still trying to figure out what make and model it was. Does anyone have the answer? From: dghprobe3@a... Date: Sat Oct 14, 2000 12:53 am Subject: Photos of Bianco's car Hi gang, Don again. I made some filmclip scans of Nick Bianco's car from different angles as it appeared in SEARCH. I hope they show well enough below for someone to make an identification as to make and model. The closing credits of "Operation Iceman" say his car was provided by British Motor Car Distributors Ltd. The credits of "Let Us Prey" say it was provided by Jensen Motors, Inc., but both appeared to be the same make and model of car. From: dghprobe3@a... Date: Sat Oct 14, 2000 1:10 am Subject: Photo of Bianco's car--second try OK gang, my last post somehow converted three jpg photos of Bianco's car into one ZIP file. I was hoping that they would be visible when the page was opened. This time I'm going to attach just one photo to see if it will appear on the Mailing List as a jpg photo. If anything below is a ZIP file, note that it is only one photo repeated from my previous posting. From: actingman@i... Date: Sat Oct 14, 2000 3:08 am Subject: Discussion Wish I could help on the car questions...but that's not my area of expertise. Glad to see the discussion on the list though. If anybody watches Third Watch this Monday night...look for me. I did two days of extra work on the show a few weeks back, and I am certain this will be one of the episodes. Interesting situation. Last year they filmed the hospital scenes at Bellvue. When the show got renewed, they built a complete hospital set at the studios in Brooklyn. But the set was only ready last month. So they filmed all of the location street scenes for several episodes during the summer, and then started filming all of the hospital scenes for those episodes all at once. So I may pop up in several different episodes (as an orderly running around the set.) In Monday night's episode, one thing I got to do was hand a folder to the lady doctor as she is on the phone. Interesting to see what shot they use...we did it about 7 times. In a really stupid way, it made me feel closer to Search, because Third Watch is produced by Warner Brothers...as was Search. Shame it wasn't in Hollywood...may be I could have snucked off to the film fault and looked for some Search episodes. John From: "Countryside Models" Date: Sat Oct 14, 2000 12:30 pm Subject: Bianco's car--tentatively identified Hi Don, Thanks for putting in so much effort to answer my question! I was able to view the JPEG image in one of your posts, but was not able to view the other images that were zipped. Were these images showing the same make/model of car as the JPEG? The car in the JPEG photo is definitely NOT a 240Z. It does appear to be an Astin-Martin (British) "DB" series, but I cannot determine the number. Interestingly, and in relation to spying, James Bond adored his own Astin-Martin DB-III. If you can convert the other two photos to JPEG, I'd be glad to study them to determine the make of the auto shown in them. Thanks again! Ed Novit -- Wheeling, IL From: dmanmetz@a... Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 3:09 am Subject: Meredith BIO This BIO is from tThe Complete Directory to Prime time star, Copyright1987 by Tim Brooks. Meredith, Burgess b:Nov.16,1908, Cleveland, Ohio Burgess Meredith began his career as a stage actor in the 30's playing roles including that of the door mouse in Eva Le Gallienne's production of Alice in Wonderland. His first great truimph was in Winterset in 1935, in a role especially written for him. Burgess was a busy charactor actor on stage and on films from then on. He entered television during the early live period on the 50's drama showcases such as Robert Montgomery Presents, Lights Out, and Genral Electric Theater. Although he usually worked in dramas, his impish twinkle and feisty good humor lent itself well to comedy, and he scored quit a hit in the 60's as the most frequently seen of bizarre villians on Batman-The Penguin. On the other side of the coin, Burgess was featured several times on the Twlight Zone. Prehaps the best remembered episode of this classic series was his "Time Enough at last". Says Burgess of this simple but enormously affecting little piece. "I've heard more about it than almost anything else I've done on TV. I think it must have had a great impact on people. I don't suppose there 's a single month goes by, even to this day, that people don't come up to me and remind me of that episode. Burgess played many other roles in the years that followed, including regular parts as kindly avuncular older men on Mr. Novak (1964-1965), Search (1972-1973), and Gloria (1982-1982). He finnally won an Emmy in 1977 for his portrayal of lawyer Joseph Welch in the docudrama Tail of Joe (about the life and times of Senator Joseph McCarthy). He provided narration for various specials. From: dmanmetz@a... Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 3:23 am Subject: Andes BIO This BIO is from the Complete Dicectory to Prime Time TV Stars by Timothy Brooks. Copyrigt 1987 Andes, Keith B: Jul 12, 1920, Ocean City, NJ The likable, young looking actor appeared in approximately 20 movies (mostly in the 1950's) and did alot of television work in the 50's,60's, and 70's, but none of his roles are particularly well remembered. He was first seen in such 1950''s series as Ford Theater and the Loretta Young show, then starred in his own syndicated police show, This Man Dawson, in 1959. In the 60's and 70's he appeared many series such as The Lucy show, I Spy, and Cannon. He co-starred as the harried husband in the comedy-detective series Glynis in 1963 and also tried daytime soap operas via leading role on NBC's Paradise Bay in 1965-1966. Neither lasted long. Later, Andes was seen briefly in the equally unsuccessful sci/ fi adventure series Search in 1973. His appearances became less frequent after the mid 70's. From: dmanmetz@a... Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 3:34 am Subject: SEARCH Questions Alright, I' haven't posted any question in a while, but I have renewed faith since the answer to Bianco's Automobile was finally Indentified (Aston Martin). 1. Does anyone no the orginal air dates of all the shows? I know we have posted script dates, but I have not seen anything posted on the orignal airdates of the shows, except for the pilot (Feb 12, 1972). If anyone has this info, could you please post it. 2. How did Grover lose his dental transmitter capablities in "Goddess of Destruction"? I went back to check out this episode several times to see if I missed anything, but I don't think. Was it edited out for syndication? 3. Still trying to find out where Search finished in the AC Nielsens for the 1972-1973 season? I still looking, but has anyone come up with the answer? Thanks Chris--------------------------------End Run---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dmanmetz@a... Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 3:47 am Subject: Unintentional Humor In "Count Down to Panic" which I thought was very good episode, but I had to laugh when Lockwood goes to visit Beth and was surprised to see that the house and neighborhood he arrives to is that of the Partrige Family. Yes, the singing 70's sensation "I think I Love You" Partridge Family. I'm sure nobody caught this in 1973 or in syndication, since Search never made to syndication in the United States. Since the Partrige Family has become a part of our pop culture, everyone is familiar with their house. If you don't believe me, check out Lockwood's second visit where he goes to the side of the house and basketball net and garage where they practice their songs is there. Maybe Lockwood was looking for a new job as the Partridge Family Manager for the 1973-1974 season, since his days were number World Securities for the next season (LOL). From: Jim Alexander Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 3:50 am Subject: Partridge in a Probe Tree... HA! A great bit of trivia! Thanks for sharing that! Jim probecontrol@d... ----------------------------------------------- dmanmetz@a... wrote: > In "Count Down to Panic" which I thought was very good episode, but I > had to laugh when Lockwood goes to visit Beth and was surprised to see that > the house and neighborhood he arrives to is that of the Partrige Family. > Yes, the singing 70's sensation "I think I Love You" Partridge Family. I'm > sure nobody caught this in 1973 or in syndication, since Search never made to > syndication in the United States. Since the Partrige Family has become a > part of our pop culture, everyone is familiar with their house. If you don't > believe me, check out Lockwood's second visit where he goes to the side of > the house and basketball net and garage where they practice their songs is > there. Maybe Lockwood was looking for a new job as the Partridge Family > Manager for the 1973-1974 season, since his days were number World Securities > for the next season (LOL). From: dmanmetz@a... Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 4:02 am Subject: Search/ Fugitive Okay, as we all know, one of the strong points of SEARCH is the theme song by Dominic Frontiere and the cool tunes played through out each episode. I thought everthing was 100% original for the show until I caught the final episode of the Fugitive a couple weeks ago on TVLAND. Durning the next to last scene, Doctor Kimble is fighting the one armed man on top of a building and the back ground music playing sounded familiar. I checked my SEARCH tapes and the same music is heard In "The Iceman" when David (Keluem?) knocks Bianco out and speeds away in the boat before being blown up. The same music can also be heard in "The Clayton Lewis Document" when the hit man trys to kill Bianco, only to fall out of a window to his death. I suppose this is stock music that was used in several TV shows or did Warner Brothers own the Fugitive too? I don't know, just thought it would be an intresting foot note. From: actingman@i... Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 3:59 am Subject: Re: [probe_control] SEARCH Questions The only thing I can answer is question number two. And the answer is there is no answer. The script makes no mention as to how they deactivated the dental contact. Only what you hear in the episode where Grover is returned to the hotel and the henchman says the excellent technicians at Probe should be able to reactivate the transmitter. So where did I get the memory of someone belting him (or another agent) in the jaw to disable the transmitter? Possibly something I imagined over the years to explain it to myself. I've been meaning to ask Don for the original air dates (I believe he has them) and I will add them to the script chart on www.probecontrol.com. And I've been kinda wondering about the ratings myself. After all, Search ran a full year. The Julie Andrews Hour on ABC didn't even go that long...I think. At 11:34 PM 10/16/00 -0400, you wrote: > Alright, I' haven't posted any question in a while, but I have renewed >faith since the answer to Bianco's Automobile was finally Indentified (Aston >Martin). > >1. Does anyone no the orginal air dates of all the shows? I know we have >posted script dates, but I have not seen anything posted on the orignal >airdates of the shows, except for the pilot (Feb 12, 1972). If anyone has >this info, could you please post it. > >2. How did Grover lose his dental transmitter capablities in "Goddess of >Destruction"? I went back to check out this episode several times to see if I >missed anything, but I don't think. Was it edited out for syndication? > >3. Still trying to find out where Search finished in the AC Nielsens for the >1972-1973 season? I still looking, but has anyone come up with the answer? > > >Thanks >Chris--------------------------------End >Run---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: actingman@i... Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 4:05 am Subject: Re: [probe_control] Unintentional Humor Glad you mentioned it. I noticed it, but never though to mention it. Of course when he goes speeding out of there, you can see the Bewitched house at the end of the block on the facing street (1164 Morning Glory Circle.) I think just to the right of Beth's house is the I Dream Of Jeannie house...or it's to the left. Many shows have used that street. At 11:47 PM 10/16/00 -0400, you wrote: > In "Count Down to Panic" which I thought was very good episode, but I >had to laugh when Lockwood goes to visit Beth and was surprised to see that >the house and neighborhood he arrives to is that of the Partrige Family. >Yes, the singing 70's sensation "I think I Love You" Partridge Family. I'm >sure nobody caught this in 1973 or in syndication, since Search never made to >syndication in the United States. Since the Partrige Family has become a >part of our pop culture, everyone is familiar with their house. If you don't >believe me, check out Lockwood's second visit where he goes to the side of >the house and basketball net and garage where they practice their songs is >there. Maybe Lockwood was looking for a new job as the Partridge Family >Manager for the 1973-1974 season, since his days were number World Securities >for the next season (LOL). From: Jim Alexander Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 12:29 pm Subject: Search/ Fugitive On that same (musical) note-- About 15 years ago, I had an old Burt Lancaster movie on AMC or something, and heard some incidental background music that had been used in SEARCH, as well. It really caught me off guard. Apparently, more than a little of the show's interior music was borrowed from a stock library... Jim probecontrol@d... -------------------------------------- dmanmetz@a... wrote: > > > Okay, as we all know, one of the strong points of SEARCH is the theme > song by Dominic Frontiere and the cool tunes played through out each episode. > I thought everthing was 100% original for the show until I caught the final > episode of the Fugitive a couple weeks ago on TVLAND. Durning the next to > last scene, Doctor Kimble is fighting the one armed man on top of a building > and the back ground music playing sounded familiar. I checked my SEARCH > tapes and the same music is heard In "The Iceman" when David (Keluem?) knocks > Bianco out and speeds away in the boat before being blown up. The same music > can also be heard in "The Clayton Lewis Document" when the hit man trys to > kill Bianco, only to fall out of a window to his death. I suppose this is > stock music that was used in several TV shows or did Warner Brothers own the > Fugitive too? I don't know, just thought it would be an intresting foot note. From: "Don Harden" Date: Wed Oct 18, 2000 2:32 am Subject: SEARCH: NBC Airdates, Repeats & Preemptions SEARCH episodes and network air dates An NBC–TV Series (1972-1973 Season) -- 23 final episodes 09-13-72 "THE MURROW DISAPPEARANCE" 09-20-72 "ONE OF OUR PROBES IS MISSING" 09-27-72 "SHORT CIRCUIT" 10-04-72 "MOONROCK" 10-11-72 "LIVE MEN TELL TALES" 10-18-72 {NBC preemption for the World Series.} 10-25-72 "OPERATION: ICEMAN" 11-01-72 "THE BULLET" 11-08-72 "IN SEARCH OF MIDAS" 11-15-72 "THE ADONIS FILE" 11-22-72 "FLIGHT TO NOWHERE" 11-29-72 {NBC preemption for All Star Swing Fest.} 12-06-72 {NBC preemption for Apollo 17 coverage.} "A Honeymoon to Kill" was scheduled. 12-13-72 {NBC preemption.} "Suffer My Child" was scheduled. 12-20-72 "THE GOLD MACHINE" 12-27-72 "ONE OF OUR PROBES IS MISSING" (Repeat) 01-03-73 "LET US PREY" 01-10-73 "A HONEYMOON TO KILL" (Atlanta Journal: this episode ranked 35th in Neilsens.) 01-17-73 {NBC preemption for a Bob Hope Special.} 01-24-73 "THE 24 CARAT HIT" 01-31-73 "NUMBERED FOR DEATH" 02-07-73 "COUNTDOWN TO PANIC" (a/k/a "The Carrier") 02-14-73 "THE CLAYTON LEWIS DOCUMENT" 02-21-73 "GODDESS OF DESTRUCTION" 02-28-73 "THE MATTSON PAPERS" 03-07-73 {NBC preemption.} 03-14-73 "MOMENT OF MADNESS" 03-21-73 "ENDS OF THE EARTH" 03-28-73 "SUFFER MY CHILD" 04-04-73 {NBC preemption for Elvis – Aloha from Hawaii Special.} 04-11-73 "THE PACKAGERS" 04-18-73 "THE MURROW DISAPPEARANCE" (Repeat) 04-25-73 "LIVE MEN TELL TALES" (Repeat) 05-02-73 {NBC preemption for Jazz Special.} 05-09-73 "MOONROCK" (Repeat) 05-16-73 "OPERATION: ICEMAN" (Repeat) 05-23-73 "SHORT CIRCUIT" (Repeat) 05-30-73 "THE BULLET" (Repeat) 06-06-73 "LET US PREY" (Repeat) 06-13-73 "A HONEYMOON TO KILL" (Repeat) 06-20-73 "MOMENT OF MADNESS" (Repeat) 06-27-73 "THE 24 CARAT HIT" (Repeat) 07-04-73 "NUMBERED FOR DEATH" (Repeat) 07-11-73 "SUFFER MY CHILD" (Repeat) 07-18-73 "ENDS OF THE EARTH" (Repeat) 07-25-73 "THE PACKAGERS" (Repeat) 08-01-73 "FLIGHT TO NOWHERE" (Repeat) 08-08-73 "THE CLAYTON LEWIS DOCUMENT" (Repeat) 08-15-73 "GODDESS OF DESTRUCTION" (Repeat) 08-22-73 "THE ADONIS FILE" (Repeat) 08-29-73 "THE MATTSON PAPERS" (Repeat) From: "Don Harden" Date: Wed Oct 18, 2000 2:55 am Subject: Re: Search/ Fugitive Dominic Frontiere also composed music for THE OUTER LIMITS, THE INVADERS and THE RAT PATROL. However, some of the music cues from these earlier series were arranged somewhat differently for SEARCH. In some cases, different instruments were used, different tempos, etc., but your ears will pick up the similarities. The "Probe/Search" pilot had a few music cues taken directly from THE INVADERS, which was a Quinn Martin Production, as was THE FUGITIVE. "The Packagers" had the most RAT PATROL music in it. Does anyone remember this? There was a TV movie which aired during the 70's with David Janssen. I don't recall the exact name of it, but it was something like "Birds of Prey." It involved him flying over the desert in a plane and parachuting out at one point. Anyway, all or most of the background music in this movie was the familiar background music used in SEARCH episodes. I've never seen this movie since the first time I saw it back then. ------------------------------------------------------------------- --- In probe_control@egroups.com, dmanmetz@a... wrote: > > > Okay, as we all know, one of the strong points of SEARCH is the theme > song by Dominic Frontiere and the cool tunes played through out each episode. > I thought everthing was 100% original for the show until I caught the final > episode of the Fugitive a couple weeks ago on TVLAND. Durning the next to > last scene, Doctor Kimble is fighting the one armed man on top of a building > and the back ground music playing sounded familiar. I checked my SEARCH > tapes and the same music is heard In "The Iceman" when David (Keluem?) knocks > Bianco out and speeds away in the boat before being blown up. The same music > can also be heard in "The Clayton Lewis Document" when the hit man trys to > kill Bianco, only to fall out of a window to his death. I suppose this is > stock music that was used in several TV shows or did Warner Brothers own the > Fugitive too? I don't know, just thought it would be an intresting foot note. From: Jim Alexander Date: Wed Oct 18, 2000 3:38 am Subject: Search/Fugitive/Birds of Prey >... Does anyone remember this? There was a TV movie which aired during the 70's with David Janssen. I don't recall the exact name of it, but it was something like "Birds of Prey." It involved him flying over the desert in a plane and parachuting out at one point. Anyway, all or most of the background music in this movie was the familiar background music used in SEARCH episodes. I've never seen this movie since the first time I saw it back then. ------------------------------ Since you asked specifically-- I do vaguely remember a David Janssen movie that had SEARCH music cues. Here's the synopsis of the Janssen movie that you mention called BIRD OF PREY from 'imdb.com'. "David Jansen plays the phenominal role of ex-World War II fighter pilot who is a traffic helicopter pilot. After seeing robbers flee a crime in a helicopter he follows, refuels along the road, frees the hostage and enters into a showdown with the robbers." Does that sound familiar, Don? It seems like David Janssen had a career filled with SEARCH musical cues (THE FUGITIVE and BIRDS OF PREY). Jim probecontrol@dynasty.net From: "Don Harden" Date: Wed Oct 18, 2000 6:01 pm Subject: Re: Search/Fugitive/Birds of Prey Thanks, Jim, for digging up the "Bird of Prey" synopsis on the Internet Movie Database. That could be the movie I was thinking of. I only saw it once back in the '70s and I don't remember much about it. If anyone runs across a tape of this movie, or sees it scheduled on cable somewhere, let us know about it on the mailing list. Thanks! :-) Don ----------------------------------------------------- --- In probe_control@egroups.com, Jim Alexander wrote: ------------------- > Since you asked specifically-- I do vaguely remember a David Janssen > movie that had SEARCH music cues. Here's the synopsis of the Janssen > movie that you mention called BIRD OF PREY from 'imdb.com'. > > "David Jansen plays the phenominal role of ex-World War II fighter pilot > who is a traffic helicopter pilot. After seeing robbers flee a crime in a > helicopter he follows, refuels along the road, frees the hostage and > enters into a showdown with the robbers." > > Does that sound familiar, Don? It seems like David Janssen had a career > filled with SEARCH musical cues (THE FUGITIVE and BIRDS OF PREY). > > Jim > probecontrol@d... From: dmanmetz@a... Date: Thu Oct 19, 2000 3:08 am Subject: NBC Search Sabotage? Thanks Don for posting the original air dates for Search. I was surprised that you even had the data for the reruns. After veiwing this data, I was caught off guard by the order they were shown in. I was very young when I saw Search as a child, but I always thought the rotation from week to week was Lockwood, Bianco, and then Grover, which means we would have seen Lockwood twice a month, since he was the original Probe/ Star. After viewing the original air dates, I see it only worked out that way for the first 3 episodes. I guess there were some behind the scenes problems, like the one I read about on the message board about the changing of producers after NBC got ticked off at Leslie Stevens and fired him. This brings me to the conclusion that perhaps NBC tried to sabotage Search. According to the air dates, Search was pre-empted 4 times during the 1972 part of the season and 2 more times the1973 part of the season. How could the viewers get a chance to bond with show if the network kept pre-empting the show every couple of weeks. Also, the audience only got to see 2 Grover episodes for the first half (72) of the season. Most of his shows were shown in the second part of the season. I think the original rotation was a good mix for the "BIG 3". Cool, Sophisticated Lockwood, who didn't take any crap from anyone, brought intellegence to the show. Cool, super slick, Nick Bianco brought the dark edge to the show with his dark gritty missions, while cool, fun -loving Grover (my personal favorite) brought the fun to show with his unorthdox methods to solve his missions. It brought a nice contrast from week to week. If you liked the premise and you identified with one of the 3 leads, then you would come back for the next week even though your favorite agent was not on for the week. I also noticed that "A Honeymoon to Kill" on Jan 10, 1972 was rated number 35 in the neilsen ratings, which leaves me to believe that maybe Search was like Battlestar Galactica, were it may have costed alot of money to make and if it were not in the top 20 of the neilsen ratings, then it was considerd a failure. Don't know? There's not alot of information on this series. Well, just thought I would offer my opinion. Please post your thoughts on what you think. ------------------------------End Run--------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Don Harden" Date: Thu Oct 19, 2000 9:37 pm Subject: Re: NBC Search Sabotage? Hi Chris: Thanks for that last post you made. Actually, while NBC did reportedly get ticked at Leslie Stevens, they didn't fire him, he reportedly quit himself. This would have been around Nov. 1972 from what Angel Tompkins passed along to the mailing list a while back. I think NBC was highly supportive of the series until Stevens left. It was after the Nov. 22, 1972 episode that SEARCH was pre-empted for three weeks, although TV Guide listed episodes as being scheduled for two of those weeks. One of those pre-emptions was Apollo 17 coverage, so it probably wasn't NBC consciously trying to sabatoge the show. When it came time to produce the last eight episodes, the well-known changes to the Probe Control sets occurred, the budget was likely cut and the emphasis of the scripts changed, as if NBC or the new producers were reaching at straws to try whatever they thought might boost ratings or come out cheap at the end of the season or whatever. I guess we have to look at those last eight SEARCH episodes as a sort of lucky strike bonus, like the third season episodes of classic 'Star Trek'. Think about it. If NBC was really against SEARCH, they could have cancelled after the first 15 episodes and have been done with it. But they did give the show another chance, such as it was. I don't think we can say it was outright sabatoge, but I would agree that those last eight shows represented a less than enthusiastic attempt to keep the show going. Without Leslie Stevens there to be the series' guiding light, it ran aground. If only Mr. Stevens had been a little less greedy. SEARCH might have caught on, kept it's original format and lasted maybe one or more seasons. Then it would have had enough episodes to have gone into syndication. A lot of 'what ifs', I'm afraid. All we can really do at this point is enjoy the episodes we have and comment on what we see in them. And I enjoy the commentary and conjecture. More, please! :-) Don ------------------------------------------------------------------- --- In probe_control@egroups.com, dmanmetz@a... wrote: >...I guess there were some behind the scenes problems, like > the one I read about on the message board about the changing of producers > after NBC got ticked off at Leslie Stevens and fired him. This brings me to > the conclusion that perhaps NBC tried to sabotage Search. According to the > air dates, Search was pre-empted 4 times during the 1972 part of the season > and 2 more times the1973 part of the season. How could the viewers get a > chance to bond with show if the network kept pre-empting the show every > couple of weeks. Also, the audience only got to see 2 Grover episodes for > the first half (72) of the season. Most of his shows were shown in the > second part of the season. I think the original rotation was a good mix for > the "BIG 3". Cool, Sophisticated Lockwood, who didn't take any crap from > anyone, brought intellegence to the show. Cool, super slick, Nick Bianco > brought the dark edge to the show with his dark gritty missions, while cool, > fun -loving Grover (my personal favorite) brought the fun to show with his > unorthdox methods to solve his missions. It brought a nice contrast from > week to week. If you liked the premise and you identified with one of the 3 > leads, then you would come back for the next week even though your favorite > agent was not on for the week. > I also noticed that "A Honeymoon to Kill" on Jan 10, 1972 was rated > number 35 in the neilsen ratings, which leaves me to believe that maybe > Search was like Battlestar Galactica, were it may have costed alot of money > to make and if it were not in the top 20 of the neilsen ratings, then it was > considerd a failure. Don't know? There's not alot of information on this > series. Well, just thought I would offer my opinion. Please post your > thoughts on what you think. > > ------------------------------End > Run----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- From: "Don Harden" Date: Fri Oct 20, 2000 8:55 am Subject: 'Live Men Tell Tales'--NBC commercials Thanks to Jim Alexander's cassette recording of the NBC repeat of SEARCH episode "Live Men Tell Tales" on 4-25-73, following is a list of the commercials that ran during that episode: After the opening credits: 1) Schlitz Beer 2) AMC Gremlin (with Levi's seats) After the end of Act One: 3) One-a-Day Vitamins 4) Black & Decker Electric Mowers After the end of Act Two: 5) Gillette Foaming Facesaver (for The Roughnecks) 6) Honda ST 90 3-speed Motorcycles After mid-point SEARCH bumper: 7) Local ad for Thrifty Mart of Evansville, Ind. (then a short promo for Channel 6 News Team) After the end of Act Three: 8) Maybelline Frosty Highlights 9) J. C. Penney 1973 Work Shoe After the end of Act Four: 10) Dodge Sport Convertible 11) Saran Wrap Freshness Test After "Moonrock" scenes to next week: 12) Budweiser Beer 13) Goodrich Radial Tires After the closing credits: 14) NBC Promo for the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Tape ends with Local Promo: "The latest on the Republicans spying against the Democrats, next on the Channel 6 Final Report.") (This recording was timed at 59 minutes and 6 seconds.) ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- I'm working on tranferring this tape to audio CD. The quality is not that great, but you can make out what is said. I'll let everyone know when it's available. Don (dghprobe3@a...) From: actingman@i... Date: Fri Oct 20, 2000 2:33 pm Subject: Connie came through Some of you are yelling and screaming right now. You newer members will be in a moment. We have a goddess on our mailing list. Her name is Connie, and she came through. I got home yesterday and found in the mail...her personal copy...of the Search episode The Gold Machine. I'll wait while the champagne is opened. I watched the very beginning of it, and I am happy to report that it has a clean beginning, so that we finally have an episode that has the complete beginning...going from black to the idling pattern crossing the screen and the five musical stingers leading into the teaser. The tape looks like it was struck from a 16mm print, like Let Us Prey. There were no commercials between the teaser and act one, but there were a couple of frames saying "Place Commercial Here". I won't know more until I watch the whole thing, but I'm already guessing that it might be a copy of a bicycle syndication print...from overseas of course since the show never reran here. I could be wrong and it might be an Armed Forces copy, but I won't know until I watch the whole thing. There is also a copy of Moment Of Madness on the tape. I took a quick glance at it, and I am guessing it is a copy of the same episode that we have...meaning the Armed Forces run...or whatever that was. Again, I won't know until I watch the whole thing. My plans are to take incredibly good care of the tape, and make copies for everyone. Connie said I can hang on to it for awhile, so everyone will get covered. Also, I think I can record it onto a hard disk recorder, so her tape will only get one play (to safe-guard it), and the copies will be made from the hard drive, and will look like they came right off the tape itself. Everyone who wants a copy should send me a private email with your full address. actingman@i... And with Adam's help to pave the way, it will also be my pleasure to run off a copy for Ms. Tompkins. Time is limited, so it will take awhile...but everyone will get covered. Can I have a little more champagne over here please? From: dghprobe3@a... Date: Fri Oct 20, 2000 6:17 pm Subject: GOLD MACHINE--16mm video transfer In a message dated 10/20/00 10:36:53 AM EDT, actingman@i... writes: > The tape looks like it was struck from a 16mm print, like Let Us > Prey. There were no commercials between the teaser and act one, but > there were a couple of frames saying "Place Commercial Here". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------- John: The above is quite interesting. I have a 16mm print of the classic Star Trek "Day of the Dove" with the "Place Commercials Here" plus the "William Shatner speaking, tonite's Star Trek will continue in a moment" bumpers. It has no scenes to next week, but it has the announcement: "Leonard Nimoy speaking, stay tuned for some exciting scenes to our next Star Trek" following by a "Place Trailer Here." This Trek print appears to be an unused syndication print, or it was used at least once, but the station didn't bother to edit any of the film. There is not a splice in it except between the mid-point bumpers THE GOLD MACHINE could be an unused print for the Armed Forces Network or a network backup like "Let Us Prey," only without the commercials. I'll bet that GOLD does not have a scenes to next week, but that it does have the mid point ID stingers and a "Place Trailer Here". You'll have to give us a rundown of what all is in it after you've had a chance to view the tape. From: "Don Harden" Date: Sat Oct 21, 2000 4:00 am Subject: GOLD MACHINE: Review of Jim's audio tape While Actingman is putting together the videos of THE GOLD MACHINE for us, I thought I would give a review of Jim Alexander's sound recording of a portion of that episode. This is part of the NBC audio as aired on 12-20-72. (For those who don't want to read a "spoiler", proceed no further. But for those who would like a preview of part of this episode, read on.) The segment runs just over 14 minutes and stops when the end of the cassette is reached. Parts of this tape are difficult to make out, other parts come through more clearly. I had to have the script in front of me to better tell what was being said. The audio tape starts near the end of the scene when Lockwood is looking for Charles Eastland. Because Lockwood has been deafened by an explosion earlier in the episode, he can't hear the hotel clerk saying Eastland's room number. He has her write it down. The first line heard on the tape is Lockwood's to the clerk: "Appreciate your cooperation." Lockwood then goes to Eastland's room and finds him dead, slumped near a book of poetry. Lockwood is then jumped by a man named Speer. According to what we know, this was none other than actor Mark Lenard, the one who played Spock's dad in classic "Star Trek". Lockwood then goes to his hotel and meets with Gloria Harding. After they prepare to go out to dinner, we hear the famous "cheesy cool music", which sounds like a version that was used in "One of Our Probes is Missing." While Lockwood and Gloria are dancing, some background club music is playing which I don't recall hearing in any other SEARCH episode. I think a variation of the same melody plays in "Flight to Nowhere" when Lockwood has dinner with Ms. Bravo. During this scene, Cameron attempts to contact Lockwood. The tape has Cam saying "Control to Probe One" instead of "Probe Control to Probe One," as per the script. While Lockwood and Gloria are eating dinner, familiar lounge music is playing in the background again. This was the same music that played in the background in "Ends of the Earth" when Bianco finally found Mr. Slater in the African jungle. While I was following the dialogue with the script, I noticed that a number of lines were cut here and there, but it was mainly chit-chat and nothing major. Gloria gets to make funny remarks to Lockwood every now and then, similar to what we heard in the "Probe" pilot. While examining Eastland's book, Lockwood discovers the inside bookplate, which reads, "Harant's Book Store." So they go to the book store. At this point, another variation of the "cheesy cool music" is played. Harant, the book store owner, turns out to be none other than actor Kurt Kasznar (Fitzhugh in "Land of the Giants"). In following the dialogue with the script, I find that some of the lines were juggled a bit here and there. At one point, a line for Harant in the script was mistakenly written for Lockwood. When the book store scene is completed, the next scene is between Speer and General Chu (the bad guys). However, this scene actually appears earlier in the script. The last two lines heard before the tape ends are of these two fellows. Chu says, "My brother tells me that Probe agents are not permitted to fight." To which Speer replies, "He hit me..." Then the tape ends. Not that great of a preview, but it's all we got right now until we can see the video. I'm putting this audio at the end of the audio CD with Jim's cassette recording of "Live Men Tell Tales" with original NBC commercials and promos. There is just enough room for both. Anyone who is interested in getting a copy of this CD, let me know. Thanks and take care. Don Harden (dghprobe3@a...) From: probe_control@egroups.com Date: Sat Oct 21, 2000 7:28 pm Subject: New poll for probe_control Enter your vote today! Check out the new poll for the probe_control group: Of the shows we currently have available on video, which is your favorite SEARCH episode? o Probe/Search Pilot o The Murrow Disappearance o Operation Iceman o Short Circuit o The Adonis File o Let Us Prey o Suffer My Child o The Packagers o Flight to Nowhere o The Clayton Lewis Document o The 24 Carat Hit o Countdown to Panic o Goddess of Destruction o Moment of Madness o The Mattson Papers o Numbered for Death o The Gold Machine To vote, please visit the following web page: http://www.egroups.com/polls/probe_control Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the eGroups web site listed above. Thanks! From: Jim Alexander Date: Sun Oct 22, 2000 4:44 am Subject: Search Soundstage Sabotage? Don Harden wrote: When it came time to produce the last eight episodes, the well-known changes to the Probe Control sets occurred, the budget was likely cut and the emphasis of the scripts changed, as if NBC or the new producers were reaching at straws to try whatever they thought might boost ratings or come out cheap at the end of the season or whatever. ------------------------------------- A thought just occurred to me as I read Don's response to Chris' letter... I wonder if we got that infamous change in the PROBE CONTROL sets for this reason: Let's say that the (obviously) expansive PROBE CONTROL set (in it's 'Pilot' and First Season) incarnation took up the better part of a soundstage. While probably not being near as large as it LOOKS (due to TV magic), it still may have taken up more soundstage than the production company could afford, and -- due to the afformentioned budget cuts-- perhaps our cast was forced to go 'slumming' in the other, much smaller, set? What I'm saying is-- maybe the set wasn't changed for creative reasons. And it's probable that all the computers were rented from a props company (as in the BATMAN and TIME TUNNEL shows of the period). We had basically the same set-up; the number of computers wasn't too different. So the cost-factor there would not have been too great. Bottom line-- maybe the crew simply was forced to vacate a soundstage, and "set up shop" elsewhere? What do you think? Or is this pretty much a forgone conclusion??? ;) Jim probecontrol@dynasty.net From: "Don Harden" Date: Tue Oct 24, 2000 2:05 am Subject: Re: Search Soundstage Sabotage? Don here and I read Jim's post on "Search Soundstage Sabatoge". I think Jim's idea is a very reasonable possibility and it makes the most sense so far. It seems to me that NBC made those last 8 shows "on the cheap" so they could end the season while limiting budget overruns as much as possible. That Nov. 1972 TV GUIDE article made the implication that there was more in Lockwood's shows because O'Brian was a part owner of the series and could make financial decisions that affected his episodes. I'd have to reread it to make sure I'm correct in that assertion. Since O'Brian only made one episode out of the last group of eight, he probably wasn't able to make much of an impact on anything during that time except his one episode ("Countdown to Panic"). I guess we won't know for sure until we get some more interviews with whatever "behind the scenes" people we can find. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- --- In probe_control@egroups.com, Jim Alexander wrote: > A thought just occurred to me as I read Don's response to Chris' letter... > > I wonder if we got that infamous change in the PROBE CONTROL sets for this > reason: > > Let's say that the (obviously) expansive PROBE CONTROL set (in it's 'Pilot' > and First Season) incarnation took up the better part of a soundstage. > While probably not being near as large as it LOOKS (due to TV magic), it > still may have taken up more soundstage than the production company could > afford, and -- due to the afformentioned budget cuts-- perhaps our cast was > forced to go 'slumming' in the other, much smaller, set? > > What I'm saying is-- maybe the set wasn't changed for creative reasons. And > it's probable that all the computers were rented from a props company (as in > the BATMAN and TIME TUNNEL shows of the period). We had basically the same > set-up; the number of computers wasn't too different. So the cost- factor > there would not have been too great. Bottom line-- maybe the crew simply > was forced to vacate a soundstage, and "set up shop" elsewhere? > > What do you think? Or is this pretty much a forgone conclusion??? ;) > > Jim > probecontrol@d... From: "Don Harden" Date: Wed Oct 25, 2000 3:48 am Subject: Random Thoughts on "Murrow Disappearance" Random Thoughts on "The Murrow Disappearance" by Don Harden According to TV GUIDE: "The mysterious disappearance of a State Dept. official sets the stage for intrigue. Lockwood must find the diplomat before other Government agencies learn he's missing." This episode has a neat setup being based in Washington, the nation's capitol, and it is interesting to note that it was filmed about the time of the famous Watergate break-in of June 17, 1972. The plot takes a number of twists and turns and finally ends up with Lockwood exposing a crooked poker game as a cover for a blackmail operation. I found out a few years later that this was the basis of the plot of Leslie Steven's old pilot for "The Virginian" with James Drury. That was in black and white and was only 30 minutes long, but it involved exposing a crooked card game. So, Leslie Stevens was not above lifting old stories from himself. Still, "The Murrow Disappearance" is okay with similar touches of humor carried over from the pilot movie. The bit about Lockwood saying, "What is shaking, baby?" in Sanskrit is still a hoot! I noticed that the same type of villain from the pilot is used again. Namely, an old man who at first appears kindly but is really a big time crime boss. This time they used Maurice Evans, another well-known Shakespearean actor who was more believable as a bad guy than Sir John Gielgud was. Point of trivia: The role of McEgan was played by Vernon Weddle, who also did the voiceovers of the various Probe Control briefing tapes during the series. He also appears as an announcer on the Probe screen in "Goddess of Destruction." It seems to me that Cameron should also have noticed that Maurice Evans appeared to be the same person in shadow as "Code Name Saratoga," not just Lockwood. But sometimes those things happen. Maybe it was more striking to Lockwood seeing it in person, but that is what gave the bad guy away. If the audience wasn't there to see the first act, or didn't pay close attention, they didn't get the reference. I mean, it works as a clue, but could a stronger or a secondary clue have also been used? Notice also that in spite of all the "Code 10" secrecy established in Act One, Lockwood rather freely elaborates to the villain all about what his visual scanner does and how it is connected to a crew of bonded witnesses in Probe Control. My idea though, is that Leslie Stevens may have used this scene to reinforce to the audience (especially those who might have tuned in late or missed the pilot) exactly what was happening and how Probe agents operate. Especially since this was the first regular episode. Plus it was obviously a way for Lockwood to buy time and/or throw the villian off while he had a gun pointed at him. And isn't it interesting that these big time kingpins are always stupid enough to hire Probe in the first place? From: actingman@i... Date: Wed Oct 25, 2000 3:12 pm Subject: Studio costs I think the change in Probe Control was an artistic change...as misguided as that may have been. The weekly Probe Control was reduced in size from the pilot, so that you did not have people in the far distance in every direction you pointed the camera, and the shots were not as varied as they were in the pilot. Watching Gold Machine I was struck by the fact that all of the Probe shots were basicly from one side of the set. (They never shot from Carlos' side of the set...all of the setups were from the Griffin/Harding side in that episode.) This is a reasonable reduction from the pilot. This also meant that the set took up less space then it did in the pilot. Looking at the clips you can see that they had heavy black curtains at the top of the door to create the blackness-into-infinity look. I think this kind of set is easier to light then one with walls because you don't have to worry about shadows, and there is less area to light. The bright Probe set had most of the same consoles, and other computer pieces, so that may have been a trade off in cost, and not a saving. You have specific areas that now have to be lit that didn't before. This is actually a bigger set because you have a larger area that you have the backgrounders walking around in. You now have to have backgrounders doing their thing to show activity (which you didn't have in the first 15.) You have the cost of building this new set (I doubt they just found a bunch of walls that they matched up to the sliding door) and there was the cost of redesigning the Probe Screen. They then had to build a new library of stock shots to use of the screen. They could not use any past footage. In Countdown and in Clayton Lewis they used the infra-red footage of the safe cracking from the pilot. If they hadn't changed the set, they could have used the full shots from the pilot and spent nothing. Instead, they had to take the safe-cracking footage and put it into the new screen. These are opticals, and they cost...in time and money. I suspect all of the screen shots, throughout the series, were always a budget headache to the production team. A typical private eye show should not have any opticals...except for the rare seeing-a-news-item-on-tv sort of thing...and the credits. Search had tons of opticals. Back then, before it was film-on-tape, it was a costly thing. By changing to the new set, they blew any chance to use stock footage. They couldn't use any stock shots of people pushing buttons...all of that had to be reshot. The set change cost them money. From: Jim Alexander Date: Wed Oct 25, 2000 5:39 pm Subject: Studio costs You make some excellent, very valid points, John! Gosh! I hope we find out, one day-- what the ACTUAL reasons were! ;) Jim probecontrol@d... ---------------------------------------------- actingman@i... wrote: > I think the change in Probe Control was an artistic change...as > misguided as that may have been. > > The weekly Probe Control was reduced in size from the pilot, so that > you did not have people in the far distance in every direction you > pointed the camera, and the shots were not as varied as they were in > the pilot. Watching Gold Machine I was struck by the fact that all > of the Probe shots were basicly from one side of the set. (They > never shot from Carlos' side of the set...all of the setups were from > the Griffin/Harding side in that episode.) This is a reasonable > reduction from the pilot. > > This also meant that the set took up less space then it did in the > pilot. Looking at the clips you can see that they had heavy black > curtains at the top of the door to create the blackness-into-infinity > look. I think this kind of set is easier to light then one with > walls because you don't have to worry about shadows, and there is > less area to light. > > The bright Probe set had most of the same consoles, and other > computer pieces, so that may have been a trade off in cost, and not a > saving. You have specific areas that now have to be lit that didn't > before. This is actually a bigger set because you have a larger area > that you have the backgrounders walking around in. You now have to > have backgrounders doing their thing to show activity (which you > didn't have in the first 15.) You have the cost of building this new > set (I doubt they just found a bunch of walls that they matched up to > the sliding door) and there was the cost of redesigning the Probe > Screen. > > They then had to build a new library of stock shots to use of the > screen. They could not use any past footage. In Countdown and in > Clayton Lewis they used the infra-red footage of the safe cracking > from the pilot. If they hadn't changed the set, they could have used > the full shots from the pilot and spent nothing. Instead, they had > to take the safe-cracking footage and put it into the new screen. > These are opticals, and they cost...in time and money. I suspect all > of the screen shots, throughout the series, were always a budget > headache to the production team. A typical private eye show should > not have any opticals...except for the rare seeing-a-news-item-on-tv > sort of thing...and the credits. Search had tons of opticals. Back > then, before it was film-on-tape, it was a costly thing. By changing > to the new set, they blew any chance to use stock footage. They > couldn't use any stock shots of people pushing buttons...all of that > had to be reshot. The set change cost them money. From: dghprobe3@a... Date: Wed Oct 25, 2000 11:58 pm Subject: Photos of Bianco's car "Clayton Lewis Document" OK, gang, Don again. Since we had such success identifying the car Bianco used in his earlier episodes (i.e., the Astin-Martin (British) "DB"), I figured I would post some video grabs of the car he used in a later episode, "The Clayton Lewis Document." These grabs are not terribly clear, coming from the somewhat fuzzy Far East Network tapes we have of that episode. Hopefully the picture will appear below. If it turns out to be a ZIP file, you'll have to download it and open it with a ZIP program. Can anyone identify this car? From: dghprobe3@a... Date: Thu Oct 26, 2000 2:11 am Subject: Photos comparing the two Probe Control sets Thanks to John and Jim for giving us an interesting discussion about the changes in the Probe Control sets. Hopefully one day we will know why it happened and who made the decision. In the meantime, I thought I'd post a couple of comparison photos showing the set changes. The photo on the lower left is from "In Search of Midas," while the pic on the right is from "The 24 Carat Hit." Have fun! :-) From: Bryan Date: Thu Oct 26, 2000 2:26 am Subject: Re: [probe_control] Photos comparing the two Probe Control sets Also I might point out that you can view a QuickTime video clip showing the 3rd set from the webpage. If you have a fast DSL connection, it takes about 7 minutes to load up, if you just have a modem connection, forget it. Also I've made a CD of this and other video clips, available to anyone who wants it. So if you have a slow connection and want to see the clip let me know. > > Thanks to John and Jim for giving us an interesting discussion about the > changes in the Probe Control sets. Hopefully one day we will know why it > happened and who made the decision. > > In the meantime, I thought I'd post a couple of comparison photos showing the > set changes. The photo on the lower left is from "In Search of Midas," while > the pic on the right is from "The 24 Carat Hit." Have fun! :-) From: dghprobe3@a... Date: Sat Oct 28, 2000 2:26 am Subject: Photos: More on the Probe set changes Here's another set of shots comparing the two Probe Control sets used in the series. (There were a total of three Probe sets--the first appeared in the pilot movie.) One of the striking differences which hasn't been touched upon to my knowledge is in the floors. They were nice enough to give the final Probe set (lower right) a white floor, as well as some fancy lighting on the white walls. The shot on the lower left is from "The Adonis File." The shot on the lower right is from "The Mattson Papers." From: dmanmetz@a... Date: Sat Oct 28, 2000 4:25 am Subject: Search Metamorphase Okay, thanks to Don I have seen seven of the last 8 episodes. I did like how John referred to these last 8 episodes as the equivalent of the 3rd season of Star Trek. They may not been as good as the first 15, but 8 more episodes are better than none at all. While these episodes were not bad, they seemed to lack the fun and the zip that the first 15 episodes possessed. I must say I did enjoy Numbered for Death, Count Down to Panic, Goddess of Destruction, and The Clayton Lewis Document. I felt like if the show had been a hit this is what it would have looked like by the 3rd or 4th season. Sure it's easy to find all of the mistakes and flaws, but they did try to get more personnalin the last 8, which I though added more dimension to the characters. Here are my observations of the metamorphase of Search which looked like replica of a "3rd season:" 1. Probe Control: Okay we have beaten this one to death, yes they changed our beloved Dark Probe Control room to a white brick room. Yes, it sucked! I felt like I was watching one of those cheap syndicated shows filmed in Canada to save money. The darker Probel Control was almost a character itself. It must have been hard to write the quick wit and sly humor and cross cut to the Probe agent of the week every 5 to 10 minutes during the first 15 episodes, but they pulled it off. The darker set also set tone of mystery and futuristic appeal. In the last 8 "aka: season 3", it was almost as if Probe Control became a burden to the writers. It was like they just put a meaningless voiceover to support the story. Example: "Lockwood, the Police are on the way" (Countdown to Panic), while in the first 15 we saw the Probe Control room working together in support of the Probe agent as the story moved along smoothly. 2. Darker Tone/ Gun play: There was a darker tone to the show in the last 8 and the futuristic appeal was ejected in most them. The exotic locations were also gone. I know that was probley because of the budget cuts. They were being filmed on the backlot of studios and it showed. The Probe agents also used gunplay a bit more. Grover in "Marked for Death" and Bianco in "The 24 Carat Hit" and "The Mattson Papers", while in "Let us Prey", one of the first 15 episodes, Bianco had hit man trying to kill him with an M16 and when Bianco takes the M16 away from the hit man, he throws it away. Go figure. I sure this was because producer of the show changed. 3. Automoblies Not that this was a big deal or even had a big impact, but still I wanted recognize it, since I am a car buff. In the first 15 Lockwood had light blue Mercedes-Benz convertible and in his one and only appreance of the last 8 episodes, he has a dark blue hard top Mercedes- Benz. Grover had classic 72 Corvette Stingray with a black racing strip going across the top of the car. In his last four episodes, he had solid yellow Vette. I didn't see "One of our Probes is Missing" but I think Bianco's Aston Martin changed because the wheels look different in the opening credits from the wheels I say in "Let us Prey" Of course this is an easy one to explain: The show had contract with Mercedes, Aston Martin, and Chevorlet. While our Probe agents had cool cars, it worked as advertisment for the car companies. Jim Rockford got an updatd Firebird every year on the Rockford Files and Thomas Magnum got a new Ferrari every year on Magnum PI. How do you tell? Look for smallchanges in headlights, back windows, wheels, and review mirrors. Car companies make these small little changes to set each year apart. 4. The Supporting Cast As much as I hated the change in of Probe Control, I think one of the worst metamorphase was the change of the Probe Control supporting players. We all know Angel Tompkins left the show after the pilot and 2 episodes or was it 3? Either way it hurt the show. Not only was she beautiful, but she was smart and had quick wit which kept things lively in the Probe control room. Of course I don't know how many times they could have gone with her comments on the Probe agents vital readings of excitment when they came into contact with beautiful women. They tried to replace her with Miss Hart in "The Adonis File", Miss Keach (Ginny Golden), Miss Love (Cheryl Ladd/ Stoppelmore), and Miss Burnside. None of them worked out as well. It really hurt with the departure of Ramos, Kuroda, Carlos, and "What's shaken baby" Griffin. Although they did not play big part in the show, they were a hell of alot more exciting and fun that the dreaded Harris and Miss James. Those two were cardboard cut outs who could not act. They seemed as though someone was holding cue cards in front of them while they read their lines. I'm sure they were added due to the budget cuts or they were related to some head chief at Warner Brothers. The two them just didn't work at all. 5. BC Cameron In the begining we saw little character traits like his love for fine wines and food while sitting in Probe Control. We also saw him working hard to support the Probe agents and he ran the control the room as Captain Kirk did on the bridge of the Enterprise. In last 8 he serverd as narrator who calls the police. On the plus side of the last 8 we find out a bit more about him in "Moment of Madness". We meet his niece, find out that he was top rate army officer with compassion to his troops, and how important he really is to Probe Control when Grover states "how he is like Invisible man" while trying to find information on his past. The Probe agency made sure no one could touch him. We also see he is a very smart and resourceful man with his escape from the prison he is held captive. They also took him out of Probe Control room in "The Clayton Lewis Document" and " Goddes of Destruction". It really didn't make any sense him not being in Probe Control, but it was nice change. His relationship with the Probe agents didn't though. He and Lockwood were like equals as Lockwood constantly challenged him on his humanity vs. computers, while he was also on a equal playing field with Bianco as he found the challenge of controling the hot tempered slick ex-cop. Grover was more like his younger out of control son who he had to keep in check from time to time. Notice how Lockwood calls him "Cam". For Bianco it was "Cam-er-ron" and Grover's addresses him as "Sir" or "Mr Cameron". 6. Squares across the screen It may have been a little cheesy, but I liked the squares that cut across the screen when a change of scenes came during the first 15 episodes. I thought it was fun. It kinda let the audiance know that it didn't take itself to seriously. Well, sorry for novel I just wrote, but I finally had some time on my hands and I was really getting in to it. Please feel free to make comments on how you feel or what I may I may have missed. Chris -------------------------------------------------------------END RUN------------------------------------------------ From: dghprobe3@a... Date: Sat Oct 28, 2000 8:58 pm Subject: Photos of change in Probe set #2 > In Message #313, dmanmetz wrote: > > "Probe Control: Okay we have beaten this one to death..." Chris, that would be a FIRST for this mailing list! :-) Anyway, while I was looking through some SEARCH filmclips for interesting shots of Probe Control, I ran across two (posted below), both of set #2. The shot on the lower left is from "Flight to Nowhere." Look directly behind the gal at medical telemetry. You will see a dark empty area. Now look at the same area in the shot on the lower right, which is from "A Honeymoon to Kill." Notice that the formerly empty area is filled with not one, but two computing devices. Apparently the director, set designer or someone else made the decision to add some equipment there. Also, compare these shots to the previous shots of set #2 I posted. Notice that each individual station is lit with bluish lighting as opposed to the red lighting used in earlier episodes. If you compare these shots to the shots of set #3 in previous posts (the brightly lit set), you will see that the individual stations were lit in blue about the same as you see here. These stations and the way they were lit were among the few things carried over into set #3. From: actingman@i... Date: Sun Oct 29, 2000 12:48 am Subject: Re: [probe_control] Photos of change in Probe set #2 There are at least a couple of episodes where they moved that horizontal light bank (for lack of a better description.) It's the one that is usually alongside the medical station. In Operation Iceman it is next to medical for most of the episode, but in the final scene it is next to the non-functioning console by the door. And while I haven't brought this up before, The Gold Machine answers a question I wasn't aware existed when I wrote my Probe set primer. In Murrow, those catycornered consoles were NOT in the set (as they were not in the pilot set.) They were added in The Gold Machine...at least in the other corner (behind Keach's station...although she's not in Gold Machine...Murdock is there.) They were always playing with the set in little ways...different lights in the black distance. In Adonis File, when Cameron is standing next to Harte, there is a flashing light panel in the distance that we have not seen before, and may or may not have been used again in the couple of episodes we don't have from the first 15. At 04:58 PM 10/28/00 -0400, you wrote: >Anyway, while I was looking through some SEARCH filmclips for interesting >shots of Probe Control, I ran across two (posted below), both of set #2. > >The shot on the lower left is from "Flight to Nowhere." Look directly behind >the gal at medical telemetry. You will see a dark empty area. > >Now look at the same area in the shot on the lower right, which is from "A >Honeymoon to Kill." Notice that the formerly empty area is filled with not >one, but two computing devices. Apparently the director, set designer or >someone else made the decision to add some equipment there. From: "Mark Speck" Date: Sun Oct 29, 2000 12:26 pm Subject: "Search"-ed around, found you! Hey Guys! It's amazing what you can find at egroups--I was searching the television programs lists for the Invaders group and came upon this group! My name is Mark Speck, 36 years old, from Cleveland. I remember watching Search when I was in second grade and being very impressed with the show--even though I haven't seen the show since it aired, I still remember the opening theme and title sequence, as well as the Stefanie Powers episode "One of Our Probes is Missing" (I had a big crush on her then!). I think I had the Viewmaster packet for this show, I'm not sure. Gotta say that I'm amazed that so many people fondly remember this show! I thought I was weird to like this show--I guess it was more popular than I could imagine. Looking forward to participating. Best, Mark From: Jim Alexander Date: Sun Oct 29, 2000 2:51 pm Subject: "Search"-ing around... Glad to have you aboard, Mark! ENJOY! Jim Alexander probecontrol@d... ------------------------------------------- Mark Speck wrote: > Hey Guys! > > It's amazing what you can find at egroups--I was searching the television > programs lists for the Invaders group and came upon this group! > > My name is Mark Speck, 36 years old, from Cleveland. I remember watching > Search when I was in second grade and being very impressed with the > show--even though I haven't seen the show since it aired, I still remember > the opening theme and title sequence, as well as the Stefanie Powers episode > "One of Our Probes is Missing" (I had a big crush on her then!). I think I > had the Viewmaster packet for this show, I'm not sure. > > Gotta say that I'm amazed that so many people fondly remember this show! I > thought I was weird to like this show--I guess it was more popular than I > could imagine. > > Looking forward to participating. > > Best, > > Mark From: "James Taylor" Date: Mon Oct 30, 2000 6:24 am Subject: Re: [probe_control] "Search"-ed around, found you! Welcome from a former Buckeye. No, you are not alone. There were many of us who enjoyed the show. In fact if the show was on today and got the ratings it received then it would be a big hit. Of course in those days, there were only three networks plus channels 43 and 61. The folks here know a lot about the show and are very kind to boot. Enjoy. P.S., I remember the Invaders, too. Not my cup of tea. Too scary.