My Weekly Spock: Telethon Man

Leonard did a Variety Club Telethon in 1970 in Vancouver Canada, and another 1973.  His hair is so short in the earlier one I believe because he was filming Assault on the Wayne at the time.  Always compassionate for his fellow man, Leonard did a lot of charity work.  Just another reason to love him!

February 1970. Leonard Nimoy at the Variety Club Telethon . Ray Allan / Vancouver Sun [PNG Merlin Archive]

February 1970. Leonard Nimoy at the Variety Club Telethon . Ray Allan / Vancouver Sun [Merlin Archive]

February 14 1970. Leonard Nimoy in Vancouver for the Variety Cub telethon. Bill Cunningham / The Province [PNG Merlin Archive]

February 14 1970. Leonard Nimoy in Vancouver for the Variety Cub telethon. Bill Cunningham / The Province [ Merlin Archive]

Undated photo of Leonard Nimoy at the Variety Club Telethon . ( circa 1969 -1975) Ross Kenward / The Province [PNG Merlin Archive]

Undated photo of Leonard Nimoy at the Variety Club Telethon . ( circa 1969 -1975) Ross Kenward / The Province [Merlin Archive]

February 11 1973. Leonard Nimoy with Danny at the Variety Club Telethon. Also pictured is Bob McGrath from Sesame Street Negative # 73- 452. Glenn Baglo / Vancouver Sun

February 11 1973. Leonard Nimoy with Danny at the Variety Club Telethon. Also pictured is Bob McGrath from Sesame Street
Negative # 73- 452. Glenn Baglo / Vancouver Sun

February 11 1973. Leonard Nimoy with Danny at the variety Club Telethon. Negative # 73- 452. Glenn Baglo / Vancouver Sun [PNG Merlin Archive]

February 11 1973. Leonard Nimoy with Danny at the variety Club Telethon. Negative # 73- 452. Glenn Baglo / Vancouver Sun [PNG Merlin Archive]

My Weekly Spock 3/11/13 Nimoy in ‘Baffled!’ The Series that wasn’t

Hard to believe, but it was 4o years ago that a fun and creepy mystery movie  called Baffled!  was shown on TV (by NBC) as a ‘movie of the week’.   Nimoy played the main character, Tom Kovack, a race car driver haunted by strange and scary visions which turn out to be psychic.  The  beautiful Susan Hampshire played Michele Brent, the book historian fascinated with ESP who is convinced that Kovack has a gift that might save the life of a woman in danger.   I remember watching it when it came out, and envying the young girl in the film (who played a girl my age), and was so disappointed when it wasn’t made into a weekly series!  In fact, Baffled was made as a pilot for NBC (although it was shown in some countries as a feature film, hence the movie style poster).  It was smart, funny, and suspenseful, but we can only imagine the future adventures (and romance) that would ensue for these two characters. The only thing I found a little unbelievable was that Tom was a midwesterner -seemed more New England to me.   Alas, the network didn’t know what gold it had,  and although ESP was becoming a hot topic in the early 70’s, NBC settled on the much less entertaining comedy The Girl With Something Extra, (with Sally Field) which only lasted one season.  I would have happily taken a season of Baffled over that.   Another great opportunity lost.  🙁   So in recognition of 40 years of what could have been, here’s some stills from Baffled, you can pay 4.99 and have it streamed on Amazon.

The Daily Scrapbook, Volume – 10/8/12 “Star Heck” Parody

Here’s today’s flashback: From 1973,  this is a parody from a middle school monthly mag that we all had to read out loud in class (I think it was seventh grade).  I was delighted, of course!  My geekdom finally had some credibility if we were reading a Star Trek parody in English class!  Titled Star Heck by students  Garry Nolan and Christopher Johnson  St. Gabriel School of Windsor, Connecticut. It featured Captain Jerk and Mr. Spark!   Jerk lives up to his name and Spark is a pyromaniac!  Pretty good satire for a couple of middle school kids, but there were no drawings of the crew so I added my own patented doodle of Mr. Spock that I was always drawing on my notebooks.  However, I wasn’t too pleased with this doodle, as I wrote ‘terrible’ next to it!  I notice that I circled all of Mr. Spark’s lines — I do recall if I was chosen  to read them aloud, but I do know that we all found it awfully funny.  It inspired me in my own parody writing, and I did indeed write my own Star Trek Parody in High School, I think for 9th Grade.   I wonder what Misters Nolan and Johnson do these days?  Thanks for the inspiration, guys.

The Daily Scrapbook 10/3/12

Here’s today’s flashback:  Family pictures!

This was the first time I saw a picture of Mr. Nimoy and his family – son Adam, daughter Julie, and (later ex-) wife Sandy. This was definitely Nimoy’s ascot era. I treasured the picture so much I ‘laminated’ it with that new ‘invisible’ tape, (not realizing that it would make the paper yellow even faster!) and the lines fall practically across Nimoy’s eyes.  Sorry about that. Then a TV Guide blurb about one of Nimoy’s 1st post-Mission Impossible stints, an anthology of love stories by famous authors Somerset Maugham, Daphne Du Marier, and Kurt Vonnegut. Nimoy played opposite Juliet Mills (from Nanny and the Professor) in “Kiss Me Again Stranger” which I referred to here.

Another photo of Leonard and Sandy at at art exhibit in 1974,  note how he whipped off  his glasses for this one.   And then a photo of Mr. Shatner with his new (second) bride, the lovely Marcy Lafferty.  I remember really digging her earrings and wondering why a young woman of 27 would marry an old man of 43?  I wonder if Ms. Lafferty  would have reconsidered if she knew she’d  be only the second of his four wives?