Singing Debuts and Smoking Strange Substances

Far out Jimmy!! Thanks for finding out more about CHANGING SCENE !!


I, too, dearly hope that a copy will surface some day. That is one show I would truly love to see!!


And this just gets better and better ....


I couldn't open your .pdf link, so I wandered on over to the main "Fulton history" site - and began to hunt around a bit.


And here is what I found in the "Watertown NY Daily News" on April 21, 1971
... right there on Page 23





And you were right Jimmy about there being more than one of these shows - because in one TV listing it said - "It's the 4th installment of this one-hour musical variety special featuring songs and comedy with host Robert Culp." (Good deduction work, Agent Mitchell ... )

As to Bob's singing debut!! Ah-ha!! One of the pleasures of hanging around here at the FORUM, is being able to revel in the tons and tons of obscure and trivial I SPY and Culp and Cosby "trivia," we have piled together over the years.

And as the "inner sanctum" around here knows, CHANGING SCENE wasn't Bob's 1st singing debut (can you "debut" twice?? ) That would fall under his charming rendition of "When A Man Takes A Gun in His Hand" on the BONANZA episode "Broken Ballad" - that was in 1961 (thanks to good 'ol IMDB the never-ending provider of dates).









Too bad this isn't the PERRY MASON Forum, because "as my next piece of evidence" ....


Just click on the little audioplayer to hear for yourself.


http://www.4shared.com/file/93990915/33e24e3b/brokenballad.html



And there is some archeological evidence that this singing debut business may have started even earlier,
like at the University of Washington.





Guess we can't count CAIN'S 100 "The Swinger" (1962) - since Sammy Davis Jr. did the actual singing!







As to Mr. Mitchell's comment ...

Those of us who have heard the commentary track for "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" know that Robert Culp couldn't have been "super-stoned" here because his one drug experience occurred during the filming of that movie and he described it in some detail. I think he was high on the belief that he was doing his part to bring in that "new day that belongs to you and to me."


Uhhh, Jimmy ... B&C&T&A came out in 1970 (thanks again, IMDB) ...






.... and CHANGING SCENE hit the airwaves in 1971.

Now I agree with you completely about Mr. Culp's solitary encounter with smoking that strange substance, and also agree with your assessment that he was probably just "high" on "celebrating the peace and joy of our changing times," as the announcer so movingly shared with us. But ... just consider that there is also the tiniest of possibilities that the influence of Mr. Gould's nefarious deed may have lingered on somewhat longer? (Of course since we are all secret agents here and not D.E.A., we'll just let it go at that. )





Hey, maybe what we saw was just a deeply focused Bob "getting his head straight"
for his 2nd (or 3rd) singing debut .... Groovy!!


As always,

Tatia



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