The Kookie Caper

This 77 Sunset Strip episode leans to the comic more than most of them I've seen. Edd Byrnes actually takes the lead in this one when he finds runaway Sherry Jackson who while stowing away in the back seat of a gangster's car may have overheard a confession to murder.

The two stars Efrem Zimbalist and Roger Smith are thinking Jackson might just be a runaway heiress from San Francisco and they have to deal with a most humorless man Alexander Campbell. They also have to deal with King Donovan another private eye who likes to tail people and move in on their action.

When both Bailey and Spencer get sidelined and I won't say how, Kookie takes over. And it turns out the girl is the key to a case the LAPD is working on.

Will Hutchins from Sugarfoot makes a guest appearance getting a chance to plug his own Warner Brothers show.

This one has more than a few laughs.

There are times like this where nepotism is NOT a bad thing.

Director Montgomery Pittman, writer Maurita Pittman, and guest star Sherry Jackson are husband, wife, and daughter, respectively.

Together, they have produced an episode that is both a decent detective story, and one that is very funny.

Perhaps because of her previous child-star experience, Sherry is playing well beyond her real-life seventeen years of age here. This may have been helped by her parent's involvement.

Kookie is becoming as much a vital part of this show as the headline stars. There is a bit where he questions a boy on skates about the disappearance of Carrie. At the end of the bit, the boy pulls out his own comb. Can we say mini-me?

There is also a very funny bit by Louis Quinn (Pete Roscoe), doing switchboard duty in place of the vacationing Suzanne (Jacqueline Beer).

Sherry Jackson and Edd Byrnes will pair again in the season 2 episode The Texas Doll (1959), and Sherry guest starred in three additional episodes, two of which were written and/or directed by her stepfather.

In addition to having a cameo by Sugarfoot (1957) star Will Hutchins, director Montgomery Pittman and writer Maurita Pittman also had the same function a year previous in the Sugarfoot (1957) episode Hideout (1958).

Aside from her work on The Danny Thomas Show (1953) as Terry Williams, Sherry Jackson may be best known as an adult for her role in Star Trek (1966) episode What Are Little Girls Made Of? (1966). So it was a little prophetic that when Kookie asks Carrie what type of TV show she would like to star in, at first he says "an oater", slang for the many TV western shows. Then he switches to an "outer space" show. This is seven years before that iconic role as the skimpily-clad android Andrea.

Another "outer space" connection, Sherry Jackson also co-starred in the The Danny Thomas Show (1953) with Angela Cartwright (Linda Williams), who started with the show in season 5. Not only that, but Sherry would have a guest-star role on Lost in Space (1965) episode The Space Croppers (1966) as Effra, although she did not have any scenes in common with Angela.

This is one of those episodes that makes me wish this show was available on DVD or Blu-Ray.