77 Sunset Strip: The Fifth Stair (1959)
Season 1, Episode 22
9/10
Kookie Kool
24 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** I'll tell the truth, here. I've never much cared for Richard Long. Oh, sure, his acting's okay --- it just seems like he's cool in kind of slimy way, you know? Like they tried to pile on a little too much cool, and wound up covered in Brylcreem. That's just what happened in this episode. He just overthought his "don't let them look too closely at me" approach to murder. Hiring a hit man that dressed like a hit man in broad daylight? Who thought that up? I've often wondered just how many days of the year a guy would need to wear a trenchcoat and gloves when the sun was shining... haven't you?

Now the producers of this show really liked Long; just look at how many different characters he played, and still had a regular role as a private dick with the 77 firm. Edd Byrnes (Kookie) to the rescue, about three or four times, THERE'S a guy who was so cool that they turned him from being a hit man into a car jockey, and then into an associate of the firm, and in this one, imitating Bugs Bunny "What's Up, doc?" and all. With Warner's approval, of course. One really good thing about this episode is the fact that the only fight scene was the one in which the dame defended herself, and killed the killer - it was great, and actually pretty believable, too. Like I said, though, all us young guys liked Kookie because he drove a hot rod, and got good looking babes, and was still cool about it; even when they relegated him to a lowly Ford falcon, instead of hot t-bird. I'm giving this one a 9.
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