I really don't watch the Ironside reruns for entertainment value. I mainly just want to see some of the old time guest stars that are (unfortunately) largely forgotten today or because these episodes are a kind of cultural relic of those tumultuous times. (I never cared about the show as a teenager either.) But I'll pass along a couple of points anyway.
Ironside is called in to provide security for American diplomats who are engaged in unofficial negotiations to resolve a diplomatic incident. Mark goes along but Ed and Eve have to remain behind since card carrying policemen aren't allowed on the trip.
The story is about an informal negotiation about some American captives held by a Far Eastern country called "The Democratic People's Republic". There's only one country over there with a name like that and it's North Korea. Given the air date of this episode (October 1969), this story has to be based upon the Pueblo Incident, when the North Koreans seized an American boat, claiming it was a spy ship in N. Korean waters. The claim was bogus, of course, partly due to the fact N. Korea has always claimed territorial water far in excess of international agreements, and partly due to the fact their leaders have always been a couple degrees north of completely loony. The N. Koreans kept the American personnel captive for almost a year until releasing them in time for Christmas in 1968. They kept the boat and it remains to this day a museum dedicated to their courageous resistance against Yankee imperialism. (Yes, they are a funny bunch.) Pres. Johnson took a deliberately cool approach to the incident (after all, their actions constituted an act of war) because: a) we were knee deep in Vietnam (this coincided with the Tet Offensive); and b) the Korean War was technically still in effect, since no peace treaty has ever been signed, only a ceasefire, which no one was anxious to break (although no one really ever knows about the other side).
The actors who make up the "other side" are the typical lot one finds on American television, at least in those days. The fact that they are of different nationalities doesn't matter in TV even though in the real world it would. Philip Ahn is the only true Korean of the bunch who has relatively few lines for his part. James Shigeta is Japanese and never would have been allowed to be a part of the delegation for that reason (yes, they have racism over there too, especially since Koreans remember all too well the suffering under the Japanese occupation in WWII). Khigh Dhiegh, who built quite a career playing Chinese characters in movies and TV even though he wasn't Oriental at all. He was half Anglo and half Egyptian, but like many good actors, could overcome such limitations. (In today's politically correct world he probably wouldn't be allowed to play am Oriental.) The negotiations move along slowly (as they do in real life. For example, before the peace negotiations to end the Vietnam War even began, the negotiators haggled for YEARS over what shape the table that everyone sat around should be - should it be square or rectangular? Yes, Virginia, it does make a difference!) Everything goes wrong when Nam Feng (not a very Korean name) becomes gravely ill. Ironside quickly determines he was poisoned but he can't figure out who or why. By appealing to the integrity of his opposite number Hsai Mak (Khigh Dhiegh), he's able to find the murderer.
I can't help but mention one other mistake. The host of the event is a Baron Lars von Gyllenskjold (played by Bo Svenson). He was clearly supposed to be of some kind of Scandinavian descent but his last name is "von Gyllenskjold".The "von", which is German for "from", was used to indicate families that made up the Prussian aristocracy. I'd bet my last dollar there's no Prussian with a name like Gyllenskjold. Whoever came up with this character's name should have asked someone to double check it.
Overall I give this episode a 6 but only because the story fits my interests. For me a typical episode is a four at best.
Ironside is called in to provide security for American diplomats who are engaged in unofficial negotiations to resolve a diplomatic incident. Mark goes along but Ed and Eve have to remain behind since card carrying policemen aren't allowed on the trip.
The story is about an informal negotiation about some American captives held by a Far Eastern country called "The Democratic People's Republic". There's only one country over there with a name like that and it's North Korea. Given the air date of this episode (October 1969), this story has to be based upon the Pueblo Incident, when the North Koreans seized an American boat, claiming it was a spy ship in N. Korean waters. The claim was bogus, of course, partly due to the fact N. Korea has always claimed territorial water far in excess of international agreements, and partly due to the fact their leaders have always been a couple degrees north of completely loony. The N. Koreans kept the American personnel captive for almost a year until releasing them in time for Christmas in 1968. They kept the boat and it remains to this day a museum dedicated to their courageous resistance against Yankee imperialism. (Yes, they are a funny bunch.) Pres. Johnson took a deliberately cool approach to the incident (after all, their actions constituted an act of war) because: a) we were knee deep in Vietnam (this coincided with the Tet Offensive); and b) the Korean War was technically still in effect, since no peace treaty has ever been signed, only a ceasefire, which no one was anxious to break (although no one really ever knows about the other side).
The actors who make up the "other side" are the typical lot one finds on American television, at least in those days. The fact that they are of different nationalities doesn't matter in TV even though in the real world it would. Philip Ahn is the only true Korean of the bunch who has relatively few lines for his part. James Shigeta is Japanese and never would have been allowed to be a part of the delegation for that reason (yes, they have racism over there too, especially since Koreans remember all too well the suffering under the Japanese occupation in WWII). Khigh Dhiegh, who built quite a career playing Chinese characters in movies and TV even though he wasn't Oriental at all. He was half Anglo and half Egyptian, but like many good actors, could overcome such limitations. (In today's politically correct world he probably wouldn't be allowed to play am Oriental.) The negotiations move along slowly (as they do in real life. For example, before the peace negotiations to end the Vietnam War even began, the negotiators haggled for YEARS over what shape the table that everyone sat around should be - should it be square or rectangular? Yes, Virginia, it does make a difference!) Everything goes wrong when Nam Feng (not a very Korean name) becomes gravely ill. Ironside quickly determines he was poisoned but he can't figure out who or why. By appealing to the integrity of his opposite number Hsai Mak (Khigh Dhiegh), he's able to find the murderer.
I can't help but mention one other mistake. The host of the event is a Baron Lars von Gyllenskjold (played by Bo Svenson). He was clearly supposed to be of some kind of Scandinavian descent but his last name is "von Gyllenskjold".The "von", which is German for "from", was used to indicate families that made up the Prussian aristocracy. I'd bet my last dollar there's no Prussian with a name like Gyllenskjold. Whoever came up with this character's name should have asked someone to double check it.
Overall I give this episode a 6 but only because the story fits my interests. For me a typical episode is a four at best.
