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Show188

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Michael Conrad makes his only Perry appearance here playing the title role. Even though Mr. Conrad would act for 30 years on television, it would be his final role as Phil Easterhouse on Hill Street Blues that would bring him his greatest fame and two primetime Emmys. Sadly Michael Conrad would die during the run of Hill Street Blues in 1983 at the age of 59. “You all be careful out there.” Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 29 September 2009.

Allan Melvin appeared in 2 other Perrys - TCOT Sausalito Sunrise & Careless Kitten - 2 Lost In Spaces & 8 Dick Van Dykes, often as Rob Petrie's Army Buddy [IMDb]. Mike Bedard 3.3.15.

Allan Melvin would also be known to many as Sam the butcher, Alice's boyfriend on The Brady Bunch. From IMDb, Melvin also did lots of cartoon voice work in the last decades of his career. Bob Brown, 27 Dec 2017.

Claude Stroud from Kaufman, Texas, played many roles on TV and in the movies, including the piano player who tired of playing Liebesträume at the dinner party thrown by Margo Channing in "All About Eve". jfh 25Sep2017.

Uncredited Actors: At the crime scene, Sgt. Brice (Lee Miller) consoles Mrs. Gillette. Don Andeson watches events at the evidentiary hearing with great interest. Submitted by gracenote, 2/18/2011.

Sightings: In the background, the Thin Man is busy taking pictures of the car at the crime scene. Showing up in the courtroom to watch Perry in action is the Quiet Old Man #1. More here. Submitted by gracenote, 2/18/2011.
+ Distinguished Gentleman #1 can be seen in the back row on the prosecutor's side of the court when Burger is questioning Mrs. Grimes. In addition, there are several People of Color among the spectators, including the African-American Couple. Submitted by JazzBaby, 4/14/2019.
++ Still hoping to get Rudolph "Rudy" Salinger a.k.a. D.G. #1 a series of "Uncredited" appearances at IMDb.Submitted by catyron, August 12th, 2021.

Pulp Westerns. While waiting in the ol' RanchHouse, Perry looks through a stack of old magazines, holding one up conspicuously so that the camera gets a good shot of the cover. It's a "Pulp Western" magazine, RANCH ROMANCES - Love Stories of the Real West (first issue Sep 1924, last Nov 1971 - "The Last of the Pulps"). The one that Perry holds up is the second issue for Aug 1942 (vol 108, #1), shown here. More about the series here. Checklist here or here. Later in this episode there is a dialogue reference to the Pulp Westerns in the ranch-house. Submitted by Gary Woloski, 6 Dec 2011.

The Cheviot Drive Address. At 49:00 (DVD) Perry displays Gwynn's "Prospects List". Above the "Gillette" entry is one for " Mr. & Mrs. Raymond S. Thompson " including their full address on the 10400-block Cheviot Drive. This is the same "Ray Thompson" credited for "Properties" throughout the PM Series from Ep#1 to Ep#271! See this page for Raymond Samuel "Ray" Thompson.
      That same real-world Cheviot Drive address previously appeared on Automobile Registration forms in Episodes 9 (for character John Addison), 68 (for Edward Garvin), 95 (for Donald J. Evanson) and 169 (for Constant Doyle, truncated to 104 Cheviot). It seems likely that the Cheviot Drive address on the Prospects List was Ray Thompson's real home address.
      Props were Ray Thompson's job and they all passed through his hands. He was surely involved with the Automobile Registration pranks (eg, the studio address entries on them) and was almost certainly in cahoots with Richard Cahoon & Lewis Creber on these & other gags such as ep#145's Ledbetter promotion and ep#183's Dixon/Delacourt sign. Gary Woloski, 2/13/14.
+ Thank you, Gary, for solving this mystery. The only thing I have to add is that Ray Thompson's credit was for "properties" and the Cheviot Drive address was literally his property! And what a property it is. As I write this, the house at 10460 Cheviot Drive, a charming Tudor home built in 1939, is for sale with an asking price of well over a million dollars. It is not a mansion by any means, just a very sweet home on a nice lot, with beautiful old hardwood floors, a nifty staircase, built-in bookcases, two fireplaces, exposed-beam ceiling rafters, mature landscaping, and just about everything you could ask for in a house of its era. See the listing here. Added by catyron, 6/21/18.

The police officer called "Evans" by Andy, who his holding the gun on a pencil (or something), seems to look into the camera for a brief second as he is speaking to Andy, just before Paul approaches. Also, he may be Jim Drum, listed as Plainclothesman, since there is no one actually listed as "Evans". Submitted by mesave31, 04/21/15.

Gynne enjoys breakfast with the Grimeses, who serve coffee from Curious Coffee Set. Mrs. Grimes uses it another morning as well. Submitted by gracenote, 8/3/2011.

Can one of our motor vehicle experts tell us about the great coupe Michael Conrad's characters were driving? It looks like some sort of Buick Riviera - customized to fit his newfound affluence. JohnK, 29 October 2015

CARS. (1) Gwynn's light-colored 1963 Mercury Meteor 4-Door Sedan, Licence No GZW 468. This was a relatively uncommon car in the USA: the Meteor thudded (Laurence Jones photo article).

  • (2) At 10:53 Gwynn finds a shark-like white-bodied car, Licence Number DEM 265, at the edge of the Baxter estate. On the registration form she reads that the owner is Frank Gillette, 8243 Rosetta. It's a customized 1963 Buick Riviera. At 17:35 & 18:10 compare the views to the 2nd photo down here and the 3rd photo down on right here. See "Frank Gillette's Car" in Comments for more on this unique George Barris custom "Villa Riviera" Buick.

Baxter's front yard becomes a police crime scene at 18:00. Seen along with Car(2) are:

At 32:06, in front of LA County Courthouse it's the old Season 6 shot showing Paul's TBird behind:

Background Cars. As Gwynn approaches her first sales call of the episode (2:36) she passes:

After a fade-out for a commercial break at 40:25 (DVD) the location is reset by a view of the County Courthouse from the other side of Hill Street. I don't recall seeing this shot in any previous episode. The cars are:

Added by Gary Woloski, 2/20/14.

Filming of the Murder Investigation Scene at the Baxter mansion is shown in a B&W photo at this link; scroll to the fourth photo from the bottom. The photo shows the set, crew, cast and Cars (2)-(6) [(6) mostly obscured by a tree]. On the Right, to the rear of the ambulance, it looks like they've left Michael Conrad stretched out under the sheets wearing a suit & tie, sweltering under the hot mid-day sun while they've gone on to film the rest of the scene. Such is the life of an actor!
      The photo with caption was published on page 78 of the book Barris TV & Movie Cars, Chapter 4 "For Those Who Think Young". The caption would have been written by Barris or an associate, which explains why the 2nd sentence of the photo's caption is erroneous. An alternate link to the photo is given in the Comments section, "Frank Gillette's car". Added by Gary Woloski, 2/24/14.

This is the only PM appearance for Jacqueline Loughery, who was Miss USA in 1952...MikeM. 12/20/2016
+ Not only was she "Miss USA in 1952", she was the first Miss USA!
+ According to IMDB, Ms. Loughery is still alive, at 91. And so is Pippa Scott (see below) Rick P 12/16/21

According to Wikipedia, Barbara Hale's children were born in 1947, 1951, and 1953. Betsy Hale, a child actress in this episode, was born in 1949, which would fill a Hale inside straight. Unfortunately, I can't find any information about any relationship between Betsy and Barbara Hale...MikeM. 12/20/2016
+ As "Hale" is Barbara's stage name, this is likely merely a coincidence; see below under "Comments" for further discussion of this. OLEF641 6/17/21
++ Actualky, "Hale is Barbara's birth name: Barbara Bernice Hale, born to Luther Ezra Hale and Wilma (née Colvin). jfh 09Feb2024

This is the first of two PM appearances for Pippa Scott, whose mother was an actress and whose father was a screenwriter...MikeM. 3/28/2017
+ According to IMDB, Ms. Scott is still alive at 86. Rick P 12/16/21

This is the third of three PM appearances for Claude Stroud, whose twin brother, Clarence, is the father of actor Don Stroud. Don Stroud began his acting career on an episode of Ironside in 1967...MikeM. 4/17/2018

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