Sometimes you'll have an Ironside episode where there's no recognizable guest star that week, and they struggle to even put a name up during the opening credits. Or, when you see Johnny Seven as one of the featured actors, you know there might not be a lot of star power in that episode. This episode is the exact opposite. It features four fantastic actors who appeared in starring roles in TV and movies from the 50's onward and are a treat to watch. I give this episode a 10 just for having Ann Francis in it alone!
The plot is a good one, with Ironside heading back to Summerville (classic generic name of a fictional hometown - Rod Serling used "Willoughby" and others) for his high school reunion, although he's not a sentimentalist and wouldn't have gone but for a possible murder investigation. His old classmates include Ann Francis, Jackie Coogan, and Marshall Thompson. Include Raymond Burr in the mix and you've got the greatest acting high school class in history!
Leif Erickson plays Ironside's old high school football coach, and boy is he believable. And so is the idea of Ironside playing center on the team.
Jackie Coogan, who famously played Uncle Fester in The Addams Family, is fun to see here, but he's wasted. He could have easily been the major guest star in another episode.
Marshall Thompson gets lots of screen time but is also wasted too in that hte part does not suit him. Thompson was capable of great depth, and for him to play a bumbling sheriff seems like a lost opportunity. One of the best performances in classic TV I've seen is Marshall Thompson playing Arthur Poe in the original Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Wayward Wife" in 1960. He's brilliant and the ending scene of with him and Burr is sublime. Thompson had quite the career, appearing in some wild Sci Fi films like "Fiend Without a Face" and "It!". He was a mainstay on Science Fiction Theater.
Ann Francis has a movie star quality even though she mostly did TV. She appeared in a number of big time films - including Forbidden Planet - but I remember her best in the Twilight Zone episode, "The After Hours," and several of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents she did.
Jason Evers gets a shout out here too. He was the lead in the crazy 1962 cult class, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die." He ended his career in the weirdest way possible, appearing in "Basket Case 2." The episode is well made, well acted, and extras are thrown in, like quick cuts of old, black and white, vintage photos of the characters as they looked in high school. Nicely done!
The Ironside/Star Trek connection is alive and well here: Evers appeared in an original series Star Trek and Peter Brocco, who plays the doctor here, was also in Star Trek the original series.
The plot is a good one, with Ironside heading back to Summerville (classic generic name of a fictional hometown - Rod Serling used "Willoughby" and others) for his high school reunion, although he's not a sentimentalist and wouldn't have gone but for a possible murder investigation. His old classmates include Ann Francis, Jackie Coogan, and Marshall Thompson. Include Raymond Burr in the mix and you've got the greatest acting high school class in history!
Leif Erickson plays Ironside's old high school football coach, and boy is he believable. And so is the idea of Ironside playing center on the team.
Jackie Coogan, who famously played Uncle Fester in The Addams Family, is fun to see here, but he's wasted. He could have easily been the major guest star in another episode.
Marshall Thompson gets lots of screen time but is also wasted too in that hte part does not suit him. Thompson was capable of great depth, and for him to play a bumbling sheriff seems like a lost opportunity. One of the best performances in classic TV I've seen is Marshall Thompson playing Arthur Poe in the original Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Wayward Wife" in 1960. He's brilliant and the ending scene of with him and Burr is sublime. Thompson had quite the career, appearing in some wild Sci Fi films like "Fiend Without a Face" and "It!". He was a mainstay on Science Fiction Theater.
Ann Francis has a movie star quality even though she mostly did TV. She appeared in a number of big time films - including Forbidden Planet - but I remember her best in the Twilight Zone episode, "The After Hours," and several of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents she did.
Jason Evers gets a shout out here too. He was the lead in the crazy 1962 cult class, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die." He ended his career in the weirdest way possible, appearing in "Basket Case 2." The episode is well made, well acted, and extras are thrown in, like quick cuts of old, black and white, vintage photos of the characters as they looked in high school. Nicely done!
The Ironside/Star Trek connection is alive and well here: Evers appeared in an original series Star Trek and Peter Brocco, who plays the doctor here, was also in Star Trek the original series.
