The Four Thousand Pound Cactus

A staple in many Western films, the Saguaro cactus is native to the Arizona Sonoran Desert, the Mexican State of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains & Imperial County areas of California. When rain is plentiful, a fully hydrated Saguaro cactus can weigh between 3,200–4,800 lbs. and live up to 150 years. The photo was taken in the 1930s at Paradise Valley, Arizona, with Camelback Mountain as a backdrop.

Get High For a Quarter

Glide-O-Bike was an optimistic, twenty-five-cent contraption that might possibly be attached to a bicycle. If it could get airborne in a very strong headwind (over a windswept cliff), good luck with that 40-pound two-wheeled anchor. Read the amazing claims in this 1931 advertisement above, like operating your own licensed "bike port." 

A Quinn Martin Epilogue

Quinn Martin was a highly American television producer with at least one television series running in prime time every year for twenty-one straight years, from 1959 to 1980. As QM Productions, Martin established a distinct format for his series—filmed as mini-movies—that was broken into four sections called “Acts." It was essentially a clever device to resume the story after commercial breaks. Each episode wrapped up the story with a short "Epilogue." They were parodies of this format, none better than the six-episode comedy, Police Squad starring Leslie Nielsen. After selling QM Productions, Martin continued developing motion pictures for Warner Bros. with a new company, QM Communications, until his death. 

My highlights of his most noted television-producing career:

1958: "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" anthology TV series for Desilu Productions. 

1959: The landmark series "The Untouchables" (1959-63) for Desilu Productions. Emmy winner. Famous theme by Nelson Riddle.

1960: Established QM Productions. Sold the company in 1978 to become an adjunct professor at the University of California's Earl Warren College, San Diego.

1961: 36 episodes of the ABC police crime drama, "The New Breed," starring Leslie Nielsen and John Beradino. Theme composed by Dominic Frontiere. 1st series under his QM Production company. 

1963: "The Fugitive" drama series. The QM Productions logo became known worldwide. His use of narration was a signature element of the series.

1964: "12 O'Clock High" TV series. Ratings nose-dived after charismatic star, Robert Lansing, was unceremoniously "killed off" at the beginning of 2nd season. Replaced by Paul Burke. Lansing was understandably puzzled by the decision.

1965: "The F.B.I." was his longest-running series based around the James Stewart film, "The F.B.I. Story."

1967: "The Invaders" starring Roy Thinnes as architect, David Vincent, in his 1 year career swap to become an expert on sneaky interplanetary aliens.

 
1970: "Dan August" crime drama series with Burt Reynolds as a police lieutenant. Not unique enough to survive beyond 26 episodes. Innovative theme by Dave Grusin. Reynolds' film stardom made reruns popular.

1971: "Cannon" was a five-year Private Detective series about a rotund investigator who drove a Lincoln Mark IV equipped with a telephone.

1972: "The Streets of San Francisco" ran for five years and made a star of Michael Douglas.

1973-1980: "Barnaby Jones," an unlikely popular detective series about a 65-year-old investigator ran for seven years.

Making Television Better

Roy Huggins was a successful novelist, television producer, film and television screenwriter, and creator of numerous television series, with his most successful being Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive, The Rockford Files, and Hunter. For his later television screenwriting, he used the pseudonyms Thomas Fitzroy, John Thomas James, or John Francis O'Mara.

Huggins was given Executive Producer credits for 14 episodes of The Fugitive reboot starring Timothy Dalton in 2000. It squeaked out 23 episodes from the old "spoiler alert" premise. Roy Huggins died on April 3, 2002. The day the writing stopped.

My chronological highlights of his career:

1948: "I Love Trouble" crime movie introduced Stu Bailey character (Franchot Tone). Based on Huggins' novel, "The Double Take." Also wrote screenplay. Character reinvented for "77 Sunset Strip" TV series.

1948: Wrote story for the movie "The Fuller Brush Man" starring Red Skelton.

1950: Huggins' story from The Saturday Evening Post, "Appointment with Fear" became "The Good Humor Man" film starring Jack Carson.

1954: Huggins provided screenplay for the crime film, "Pushover," starring Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak in her first major role. Average suspense noir noted for photogenic Novak.  

 
1955: Producer/writer and developed Warner Bros. TV western "Cheyenne" starring Clint Walker, the 1st hour-long western. Originally a "wheel program" that alternated with 3 different Westerns.

1956: Producer/writer for one season of "Conflict," a TV anthology series. James Garner caught producer Huggins' attention with comedic performance in a time travel scenario entitled "Man from 1997."

1957: Series creator for Warner Bros. Western "Maverick." Huggins envisioned star, James Garner, as an anti-hero. Garner's comedic expressions were unique for a Western at the time. 17 years later he revamped the premise into "The Rockford Files."

1962-63: Executive Producer of 17 episodes of the 1st 90-minute, western, "The Virginian." Filmed in color, the series was loosely based on a 1902 Western novel by Owen Wister. Huggins began tenure as vice president for the TV division at Universal.

1963: Series creator for the hugely popular series, "The Fugitive." An idea that nearly every myopic network executive rejected. Catapulted David Janssen to an icon of TV stardom. Quinn Martin produced.

1965: Series creator of "Fugitive" inspired "Run for Your Life" which starred Ben Gazzara as an attorney with fatal decease. Attempted to squeeze 30 years in only 1-2 years (85 episodes).

1968: Created "The Outsider" with Darren McGavin as an ex-con who spend 6 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Then became a private investigator in LA. Premise more successful with James Garner.

1971-73: Exec. Producer for "Alias Smith and Jones" western series playing off success of the blockbuster movie, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Initially with Peter Duel & Ben Murphy, Duel's suicide re-cast Roger Davies in role. 

1973-74: Toma was a promising series and execs. figured Tony Musante would change his mind of continuing after 1 year. He did not. Many on the Toma writing staff would write episodes for "The Rockford Files." Retooled with Robert Blake as "Baretta." 

1976: Producer for 13 episodes of "City of Angels" series set in the 1930s starring Wayne Rogers as unethical private detective. Successful film, "Chinatown," was its inspiration.

1974-80: Concept for "The Rockford Files" as modern Maverick character. Series co-created with Stephen J. Cannell. Perfect fit for Garner. Great scripts and cast.

1976: Executive producer, 8 episodes, of "Captains and the Kings" TV Mini-Series. A rags-to-riches tale of an Irish immigrant (Richard Jordan) in late 1800s co-starring a long list of "who's who" in Hollywood per mini-series standards.

1984: Exec. Producer for 10 episodes of "Blue Thunder" (based on the movie) about an advanced prototype police helicopter and the ground crew battling crime. James Farentino, Dana Carvey. 

1985-90: Exec. Producer for 68 episodes of "Hunter" (1984-91). The show was influenced by the "Dirty Harry" character. 2 reunion TV movies led to 5-episode series in 2002-03, but without Huggins due to his ill health.

1993: Exec. Producer for the film "The Fugitive" starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. Successful film. Great screenplay. Never understood change of Gerard's name from Philip to Sam.

Your Neighborhood A&P

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) was the largest grocery retailer in the USA for the first half of the 20th Century. The management had the resources to be able to lower consumer prices and at the same time keep their profits just above the break-even point. Most small retailers, many not able to stay afloat for more than a year anyway, hated chain stores because they were unable to compete with this strategy. Congressional lobbyists set out to destroy A&P with ridiculously high taxes in the mid-1930s then suggested splitting the dominating store into several companies in the 1940s. The attacks were against any large chain store, but being by far the largest of them all, A&P was especially hit hard with unproven accusations and a lack of understanding of how their business model worked, even into the 1950s. The eventual death of both controlling brothers left its successor unequipped to modernize A&P's conservative management. During the 1960s few were shopping at their outdated supermarkets with higher prices. A&P's constant battles were something to behold. 

An excellent consensus of what happened to A&P.

Read about A&P's famous Eight O'Clock Coffee.

Affordable Personal Computers

Founded in 1998 by Lap Shun Hui, eMachines was a manufacturer of economical personal computers, ranking 4th in American computer sales by the next year. It was a joint venture of South Korean companies Korea Data Systems and TriGem. The company sold PCs for $400 and $500, all without a monitor. eMachines was acquired by Gateway, Inc. in 2004, and itself acquired by Acer Inc. in 2007. The eMachines brand was discontinued in 2013. If the above screen brings back memories, there is a complete history here. 

Interactive Airport

An engaging 1961 illustration over forty years before outdoor observation decks were off limits after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. No more appreciable sounds of prop-engined airliners mixed with jet airliners, the smell of aviation fuel, or hearing support vehicles jockey around to provide services for the airlines. 

Maybe the artist needed TWA's approval on the fuselage livery of their Boeing 707s. The tail livery is nondescript, however. A livery history at TWA.