Diana Millay on getTV Sunday

[Midnite]

If you have access to getTV, Diana Millay will appear in Sunday's 1963 episode of The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters called "The Day of the Skinners".  Times are 11:15 am ET and 8:15 am Pacific.

From Rotten Tomatoes: Jaimie befriends a girl (Millay) held as a servant by the leader of a group of buffalo skinners.
(Jaimie is played by a pre-teen Kurt Russell.  Mark Allen played a recurring character in the series.)

With thanks to Kosmo!

[Uncle Roger]

Also starring Charles Bronson and five of the singing Osmond family. But no Donny or Marie.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Thanks for the heads up, Midnite! 

I've never even heard of this show, so not only will it be interesting to see Diana (and possibly Mark Allen), but it'll be interesting to see what the show's like. (Though if the Osmond brothers were a part of it, given how squeakily clean they were always presented as, I might want to barf if that's how the entire show is presented...)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, hmmm, what to say?

It was certainly a great role for Diana. And it was quite a pleasant surprise to see General Hospital's very own Dr. Rick Webber, Chris Robinson, in one of his early roles.

But the show itself certainly didn't age well as at least every other frame seemed to be filled with a misogynistic toxic masculinity that has long since fallen out of favor. And even though they might have tried to mitigate some of that with Chris Robinson's character, what ultimately happened to him and why it happened to him certainly made any possible mitigation fall flat.

Though, another plus side was that Mark Allen's character could have easily been one of his Sam Evans' ancestors. 

But as I said, Diana was great, so in the end, despite the drawbacks in the show itself, I'm glad I got to see her. And gee, I wonder what this reminds me of:

Does it bring back anything to you, Midnite? Apparently she'd been practicing before she perfected it. 

[patrickm]

After watching Travels for the 1st time, I would say I would agree with everything you had to say MB. Diana was indeed lovely. But the show itself wasn't. It obviously was a knock off of Wagon Train  but not near as good. From what I gather, Jaime made it a point in the episodes to wander off and get himself in jeopardy. Sorta like Lassie on a covered wagon. At first I thought Jaime's dad was Ross Martin but nope. He struck me more as an annoying frontier Dr. Smith. The topic of the episode regarding rogue fur traders wasn't appealing  ..but then again , neither was the 2 part Gunsmoke episode Women for Sale with Kathy Cody. At least they did mitigate it with Wlliam Conrad doing a narration describing how bad it was. It also didn't help that Get TV ran it with an extra 15 minutes of commercials (!). That made it feel even more tortuous. As for Diana, I think her Rifleman or Bonanza westerns were much better but hey, anything with DS alumni is always worth a look see.

[Uncle Roger]

I never got to see this series when it originally acted. It was programmed opposite My Favorite Martian on CBS and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC. Back in those one tv set per house days, anything being shown on ABC didn't stand a chance.
Jamie's dad was played by Daniel O'Herlihy, who would turn up many years later as Andrew Packard on Twin Peaks.

[Midnite]

Tortuous is a great word for it, patrickm. And I got to ff thru the commercials.

Adding to the comments, it also seemed pretty violent for a show aimed at kids and families back then. And the long shots of rolling hills and oak trees-- so obviously my area in SoCal-- are hilarious for a wagon train headed toward California.

Does it bring back anything to you, Midnite? Apparently she'd been practicing before she perfected it. 

Absolutely! Can another screen floaty be on the horizon?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I forgot to cancel recording this show on my DVR so after I noticed that I got this week's ep I decided to watch it to see if it was any better than last week's. And it was - to a point. I feared the worst when the Osmonds were a part of it  - and of course they were called upon to sing - but thankfully nothing about them was barf worthy. And the main plot seemed to be proving that in this week's story Native Americans fared infinitely better than women did last week. One might even say they came across as sympathetic characters. (Though why do I suspect that any Native American who might watch the ep may be horrified by any liberties taken with a ceremony held at the Native American camp because back when the show was made it doesn't strike me that the show had any sort of Native American consultant to make sure such things were accurate.) But any steps forward the show seemed to be making were pretty much wiped out by the summation at the end of the ep when Jamie's narration included, "it sure was amazing to find out that injuns was just as good as human beings." Oh well, one step forward, two steps back...

[Bob_the_Bartender]

I forgot to cancel recording this show on my DVR so after I noticed that I got this week's ep I decided to watch it to see if it was any better than last week's. And it was - to a point. I feared the worst when the Osmonds were a part of it  - and of course they were called upon to sing - but thankfully nothing about them was barf worthy. And the main plot seemed to be proving that in this week's story Native Americans fared infinitely better than women did last week. One might even say they came across as sympathetic characters. (Though why do I suspect that any Native American who might watch the ep may be horrified by any liberties taken with a ceremony held at the Native American camp because back when the show was made it doesn't strike me that the show had any sort of Native American consultant to make sure such things were accurate.) But any steps forward the show seemed to be making were pretty much wiped out by the summation at the end of the ep when Jamie's narration included, "it sure was amazing to find out that injuns was just as good as human beings." Oh well, one step forward, two steps back...

Well, if we’re going to be completely candid, the DS writers were hardly being “politically-correct” or “woke” with their treatment and portrayal of the Roma people otherwise known as the Gypsies.

Magda, Sandor, Julianka, Lazlo and King Johnny were all treated with contempt by most of the residents of Collinwood. In fact, Gabriel Collins seemed to take great pleasure, when he sneered the word, “Gypsy!” as he was addressing Lazlo, the fortune-teller. Heck, the Collinses showed their “great” affection and concern for Jenny Collins (Magda’s “lookalike” sister), when they locked her up her up in the tower room of Collinwood after she suffered a nervous breakdown, immediately following the departure of Jenny’s philandering husband, Quentin, who was in hot pursuit of Laura Collins, Edward Collins’s unfaithful wife. (Did you follow all of that?)

And, don’t get me started on Judith Collins-Trask, a truly “gracious” and “kindly”woman, and her dealings with and treatment of Magda and Sandor Racosi, the Romani “answer” to Caroline and Charles Ingalls of “Little House on the Prairie” fame.

In a show of “tolerance” and “love conquering all,” it would have been very heart-warming and inclusive if the DS writers had concluded the long 1897 storyline, with the crusty, old hidebound Count Andreas Petofi finally casting aside his long held prejudices and hatreds and actually finding love in the autumn (or late winter) of his years with a benign and gentle Gypsy woman of a “certain age.” Think “Silver Singles” comes to Collinwood! 

Of course, who better to play the fey and limpid love interest of Andreas Petofi, but that great Russian actress of the stage and screen, Maria Alekseyevna Ousopenskaya (sp?), who moved us all as Maleva, the comely
mother of Bela (portrayed by Bela “Count Dracula” Lugosi), Romani fortune teller and unfortunate werewolf in “The Wolf Man”?

Well, excuse me, while I pop in my dvd of “King of the Gypsies” on this Fourth of July weekend and pray and hope for a more tolerant and inclusive America than we sadly observed in Collinsport, Maine from 1840 through 1897. 

Bob the Bartender, who, as a young boy, was inspired to embrace worldwide tolerance and inclusion after hearing the song, “It’s a Small World” while touring the Pepsi pavilion at 1964 World’s Fair in beautiful Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, New York City, two years before “Dark Shadows” entered our lives and changed us all for the better as caring and thoughtful men and women! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The DS characters may not have liked gypsies, but I think that at least they considered them human. Although, maybe Petofi didn't, but I don't recall him ever saying anything like that...

As for a whole swath of the 19th century US not considering Native Americans as human, sadly the Native Americans weren't alone in that...

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Well, I suppose that ol’ Andreas Petofi did have a valid reason to be wary of Gypsies, after he received the “Tony Curtis treatment” from the film, “The Vikings,” in relation to one of the count’s own hands.

PS I was just watching an old World War II film the other day, and I spotted Passaic, NJ’s own Michael “Aristede/Bruno Hess” Stroka as a German soldier pursuing James Garner and Eva Marie Saint in the thriller, “36 Hours.” The late Mr. Stroka actually has a line, spoken in German, in the film. The film also features the late Austrian actor John Banner, later known as the bumbling and lovable Sergeant Hans Schultz in “Hogan’s Heroes,” reported to be one Sarah Johnson’s all-time favorite tv shows.

Mr. Stroka also portrayed a German soldier in an episode of “Combat,” another great 1960s ABC series, along with “Dark Shadows.” I guess those nasty Nazi roles helped to prepare Michael Stroka for his roles on DS, particularly as the cruel, shearling coat-wearing and perfectly-coiffed Leviathan convert, Bruno Hess?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

“Hogan’s Heroes,” reported to be one Sarah Johnson’s all-time favorite tv shows.

I can picture her watching it with Mr. Malloy. 

Mr. Stroka also portrayed a German soldier in an episode of “Combat,” another great 1960s ABC series, along with “Dark Shadows.” I guess those nasty Nazi roles helped to prepare Michael Stroka for his roles on DS, particularly as the cruel, shearling coat-wearing and perfectly-coiffed Leviathan convert, Bruno Hess?

Quite possibly. 

I was never a big fan of Stroka when he was on DS. But after DS I really enjoyed watching him play Dr. Quentin Henderson on The Edge of Night. (And don't believe IMDb because he did a lot more than 3 eps) I enjoyed him, that is, until he was killed off (bludgeoned to death, as I recall). But then, being killed off was a danger for almost every character on that soap...