I'll give it an 8 because they decided to use a lot of actors in this one. Also. the main idea kinda makes sense. You know; "sell out cheap or something terrible will happen to everybody". The extortion that almost every cheap crook tries, hoping no one will stand up to them. In this case it's a valuable piece of property that a bunch of weirdo actors, has-beens, wannabes, and extras live in and love. They don't want to leave. The main guy calls in Jeff, Roscoe and Kookie and they solve the problem. The big, bad development corporation has a heart of gold, and rewards them with a newer, more modern place, and all is well. Pure drivel, but it works for this story. What makes it believable is the very probability that there were and are "Artist's Communities" that did and do exist. More power to them.
4 Reviews
No Big Plot, but a Solid Twist
BigSkyMax24 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This show cops out as caper. Instead it's a feel-good freebie as Jeff goes undercover to help out the denizens of a doomed boarding house. It's home to six down-but-not-out-'50s stereotypes who have no place to live except a rundown Victorian mansion. Some mysterious Force of Badness wants to muscle them out of the mortgage our collective of misfits have committed to paying. Why? So they can make more money by building some sleek new checkerbox mega-apartment building I guess. There's a meathead boxer with anger management issues, a forlorn jockey who's discriminated against because he's outgrown horses by two feet and a hundred pounds, a young punk who don't get no disrespect because people can't see past his suit-and- tie to see him as the punk he is. Plus there's Grace Lee Whitney, a stunningly beautiful blonde actress in a tight-fitting dress. What use would Hollywood have for her? Rounding out the roommate roster is Mae Questel, the voice of Betty Boop. What does she really mean when she serves Jeff and Roscoe a free hot dog?
Eventually Jeff decides he needs help to trap the villains so he recruits Strippers Roscoe and Suzanne as fellow undercover operatives, including Kookie—who shows up unexpectedly in the episode's best scene, a hip, rocking, blast of a Twist fever. This dance-off scene is the ginchiest three minutes in the history of 77 Sunset Strip! You've maybe seen the Twist with a bunch of slobs tossin' and turnin', but baby, pop your peepers for this! There's no L-7s on the Cloud Nine Dance floor, as lucky Edd Byrnes gyrates with Grace Lee and two professional dance couples, doing justice to a solid saxophone-wailing rock'n'roll instrumental. What a disgrace they don't list the musicians in the credits, because I can't believe it's just an anonymous studio group. Check it out on YouTube, cats: "77 Sunset Strip - Twisting at the Cloud Nine Dance Hall."
Anyway, in the end, Jeff helps his personal police dog Lt. Gilmore suss out the suspects and save the day. It's a happy ending for all as the kindly banker atones for the sins of the wicked real estate developer by gifting our misfits with their brand-new home– a sleek new penthouse apartment in a checkerbox mega-apartment building! I love when that happens.
Eventually Jeff decides he needs help to trap the villains so he recruits Strippers Roscoe and Suzanne as fellow undercover operatives, including Kookie—who shows up unexpectedly in the episode's best scene, a hip, rocking, blast of a Twist fever. This dance-off scene is the ginchiest three minutes in the history of 77 Sunset Strip! You've maybe seen the Twist with a bunch of slobs tossin' and turnin', but baby, pop your peepers for this! There's no L-7s on the Cloud Nine Dance floor, as lucky Edd Byrnes gyrates with Grace Lee and two professional dance couples, doing justice to a solid saxophone-wailing rock'n'roll instrumental. What a disgrace they don't list the musicians in the credits, because I can't believe it's just an anonymous studio group. Check it out on YouTube, cats: "77 Sunset Strip - Twisting at the Cloud Nine Dance Hall."
Anyway, in the end, Jeff helps his personal police dog Lt. Gilmore suss out the suspects and save the day. It's a happy ending for all as the kindly banker atones for the sins of the wicked real estate developer by gifting our misfits with their brand-new home– a sleek new penthouse apartment in a checkerbox mega-apartment building! I love when that happens.
THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT, HOLLYWOOD.
tcchelsey1 January 2024
More of a dramatic slant here, but an excellent story which finds Jeff going undercover as an eccentric actor (a poor man's John Barrymore?), assisting the denizens of an old Hollywood mansion. The good folks living there are being harrassed, and it's a possibility greedy land developers want the property for themselves. Roscoe also tags along.
A terrific cast of familiar faces, and in a wide variety of over the top roles. Popular character actor Lewis Charles plays Rocky, who hires Jeff to nail the big bad wolves. Charles appeared three times on the series. Best of the bunch is legendary voice actress Mae Questel (as Cuddles), who also runs a Hollywood diner. Questel gained fame as the voice of BETTY BOOP and OLIVE OYL in endless cartoons, plus many other characterizations.
Look for Stanley Clements, playing Red, one of the BOWERY BOYS and still looking about the same. Big guy Biff Elliott guest stars as does 50s sci fi star Paul Birch (with a moustache), playing Dan Crawford, a real estate big shot.
This was the only episode written by Warren Douglas, who concentrated more on tv westerns at Warner Brothers.
Highlight: watch Kookie do the twist at the local dance joint (Cloud NIne Dance Hall), but there's one guy who is off the charts. Well directed.
From SEASON 3 EPISODE 18 remastered WB dvd box set.
A terrific cast of familiar faces, and in a wide variety of over the top roles. Popular character actor Lewis Charles plays Rocky, who hires Jeff to nail the big bad wolves. Charles appeared three times on the series. Best of the bunch is legendary voice actress Mae Questel (as Cuddles), who also runs a Hollywood diner. Questel gained fame as the voice of BETTY BOOP and OLIVE OYL in endless cartoons, plus many other characterizations.
Look for Stanley Clements, playing Red, one of the BOWERY BOYS and still looking about the same. Big guy Biff Elliott guest stars as does 50s sci fi star Paul Birch (with a moustache), playing Dan Crawford, a real estate big shot.
This was the only episode written by Warren Douglas, who concentrated more on tv westerns at Warner Brothers.
Highlight: watch Kookie do the twist at the local dance joint (Cloud NIne Dance Hall), but there's one guy who is off the charts. Well directed.
From SEASON 3 EPISODE 18 remastered WB dvd box set.
A communal house
bkoganbing24 June 2017
This episode of 77 Sunset Strip has Jeff Spencer going undercover as a ham actor and living in a very unusual house. It's the idea of Salvation Army worker Lewis Charles who lives there with a group of people who haven't really had good breaks lately. A former jockey, a has been prizefighter, a retired stripper, folks like that. Someone is pushing them around. They've pooled their money and they own it together like a commune, but someone on the inside is betraying them.
Roger Smith brings in Louis Quinn as a fellow boarder and he and Mae Questal hit it off great. She knows him as a racetrack tout, nothing more. Edd Byrnes pairs off with show business hopeful Grace Lee Whitney and is around when she gets framed on a narcotics rap.
Eventually the informer is discovered and it really is no surprise. I kind of liked the idea of this communal house for these people. This one is worth looking at.
Roger Smith brings in Louis Quinn as a fellow boarder and he and Mae Questal hit it off great. She knows him as a racetrack tout, nothing more. Edd Byrnes pairs off with show business hopeful Grace Lee Whitney and is around when she gets framed on a narcotics rap.
Eventually the informer is discovered and it really is no surprise. I kind of liked the idea of this communal house for these people. This one is worth looking at.
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