#seven keys

[wickfordcandies]

I was yapping to my bf about the status of Her and I said "and that's why they haven't released a game since midnight in salem" and he was like but what about that one in Europe and when I tell you I completely forgot about KEY?

[drewlyyours]

WE’RE GETTING A CROWN JEWEL THIEF!!

No way no one’s made this connection but the Cathedral shown in the trailer (St. Vitus) is the home of the Czech Crown Jewels.

There are SEVEN KEYS that open the doors to the Crown Jewels which are held by Czech Republic’s highest authorities (PM, President, Archbishop, etc.).

If someone were to, say, STEAL these keys, there would need to be, say, an amateur detective of some sorts to STOP THEM!!

[margothecreator]

The Magicians [S3:E2] Heroes and Morons

For nothing was as it seemed on After Island.

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

[scurybooween]

"No love story!    No hero!    No Questions!    No Answers!    Just terror!"

Night of the Living Dead ad presented by Seven Keys

[amessinadress]

Majestic AF 🦚

[mdwatchestv]

The Magicians 3x04: Be The Penny

HOLLLLAAA! Trust and believe baby we are living in glorious times. Kylie had her baby, the Eagles won a Super Bowl, and the full glory of the Magicians rains down upon us once more. This season has been fine and fun and good so far, my complaints have been mild and limited (rare for me). But last week's episode was everything that is AMAZING about the Magicians. My cup runneth over. During this episode I brainstormed so many great names for this post, but in the end I decided just to use the actual episode name, because like everything else this episode, it was amazing. Turns out professional television writers are cleverer than me! Who would have thought???

First of all I was right to be excited by Penny becoming stricken with invisibility, this character is never more enjoyable to me than when he is struggling, his particular brand of affronted indignation is delicious. I had been lukewarm on Penny in earlier seasons until he lost his hands, and reader, I fell in love with that wristy freak. Penny spends this episode popping in and out of his compatriots storylines, dropping by to offer a sarcastic comment, words of encouragement, or just a classic "what the fuck".

This was an episode of episodes, there was so much to like. Let's start small. After being stressed out by Alice's wardrobe for 29 episodes, she finally wore something I loved. Every victory is worth celebrating.

Now let's cut to the very best thing, Penny's new bff, and dedicated Magicians shipper Hyman Cooper. Penny discovers that he can be seen by another astral projector who similarly died while projecting out of his body. This ex-Brakebills student has been an invisible peeping tom at the school for the past 100 years. While it sounds skeezy on the surface, it becomes clear that what Hyman really is is a Magicians super-fan (okay and still a little skeezy). He's seen all the couples come and go, and he's still rooting for Julia and Quentin. A believer in the classics, gotta love that. He also teaches Penny how to project into inanimate objects, which he utilizes to zap into a penny (lol), the Mar-Golem (honestly forgot all about this amazing storyline), and finally the candle that set his own funeral pyre ablaze destroying his worldly body. I will be honest I understood almost none of the plot line surrounding the fire, the corpse eater, the freeing of souls etc. Penny’s body is gone now, I think that's all we need.

Meanwhile Julia, Q, and for some reason Dean Fogg, team up to find the next key at Brakebills. They discover Rupert Chatwin gave the key to his main squeeze, only for his paramour to be murdered by his horrible homophobic father. This all unfurled in about 20 seconds of screen time, Magicians! Following this lead, the threesome go to Jaime Ray Newman's, a descendant of Anti-Gay McGee, and probable owner of the key.  It is here we are reminded that Quentin did sleight-of-hand magic back in the day! Remember that! Remember that young man doing card tricks way back in episode one, a plot point abandoned almost immediately? So good to get back to our roots.  Oh also they find the key, Two keys now! Five more to go.

What else happened? Kady had a drug overdose, but was saved by Julia after she was given a warning from (presumably) the same spirit that inhabited the woman on the street in the previous episode. We know now that it was not that woman herself that was special, but rather there is a powerful force that can take possession of people and is looking out for Julia. We also learned this episode that taking over anything with a brain is difficult (thanks Hyman) so whatever this spirit/creature/magician is is very powerful indeed. That’s not the only thing following Julia, as her new key also reveals the presence of a pair of fairy stalkers! Between this new spirit, Hyman, and the fairies, Julia practically has a full invisible entourage. 

We also finally found out where Eliot and family have been all this time, off the grid and trapped in the Fountain World being chased by cannibals! Fun! Eliot uses his key to try and summon the smoke dragon the village leader (RIP) had been using to terrorize his flock. However instead of a scary monster, Eliot conjures up his horrifically emotionally abusive father! While enjoyable, I was a bit disappointed that this felt like a throwaway cast, or at least a missed opportunity. I was hoping for someone a bit more impressive and likely to recur as Eliot's dad, but this is the Magicians so a sudden flashy recast wouldn't necessarily feel out of place.

Eliot uses his key-dad as bait for the hungry cannibals, and is finally able to escape back to- where else- Brakebills! Our gang finally reunited, an exhausted Eliot picks up the newly found key, purported to show unseen things, and declares it must not work on him. Then, never having been reached with the news of his death, he casually greets the formerly-known-as-invisible Penny.

Guys I was screaming at this ending, screaming with sheer unadulterated delight. Because the Magicians always gives me a low grade joy buzz, it's sometimes hard to remember how high it can spike on the pure-delight-o-meter. Pretty high. I love you Magicians, can't wait to watch you tonight (or more realistically this weekend).

XO, MD

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY AND WALLY COX

S2;E21 ~ February 9, 1970

Directed by Jay Sandrich ~ Written by Milt Josefsberg and Ray Singer

Synopsis

Harry's old friend Moose has a shy son who Lucy helps bring out of his shell – until a plan to help him bravely foil a robbery goes awry!  

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter)

Desi Arnaz Jr. (Craig Carter) and Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter) do not appear in this episode, although they are billed in the opening credits.

Guest Cast

Wally Cox (Wally Manley) was a character actor best remembered for being a panelist on TV's “The Hollywood Squares” (1965-73) as well as his hit series “Mr. Peepers” (1953-55). He played a nervous musician on “Lucy Conducts the Symphony” (TLS S2;E13) and a reformed safe cracker in “Lucy and the Ex-Con” (S1;E15). He will make two more guest-star appearances on “Here's Lucy.” Cox died of a heart attack in 1973 at age 48.

Cox was known for playing less-than-masculine characters, so the name ‘Manley’ is a bit of an inside joke. Despite being billed in the title by his real name, Cox never played himself on his many guest appearances with Lucille Ball. Cox’s character doesn’t enter the story until 10 minutes into the 24 minute program and receives a warm round of applause from the studio audience.  

LUCILLE BALL: “I adored Wally Cox. I worked with him every chance I got!”

Alan Hale Jr. (Moose Manley, Wally’s Father) is best remembered as the Skipper on “Gilligan's Island” (1964-92). Hale previously appeared as a Fire Captain on “Lucy Puts Out a Fire at the Bank” (TLS S2;E9) the year before he started playing the Skipper. Hale made his film debut at age 12. He died in 1990 at age 68.

Moose and Harry are old college buddies. He runs a detective agency with branch offices in 30 big cities. 

Chuck Hicks (First Stuntman, left) was a stunt man and actor who was seen in “Lucy the Stunt Man” (TLS S4;E5). Hicks was a long-time stunt double for Brian Dennehy. This is his only time on “Here’s Lucy.” Boyd Red Morgan (Bruce, Second Stuntman, right) is an actor and stunt man who was last seen in “Lucy and John Wayne” (TLS S5;E10), with whom he did eleven films. This is the first of his four episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

In the 1970s, the first name Bruce was the generic name of a stereotypical gay man (complete with limp wrist and a lisp) in jokes about homosexual males. Here, Harry twice questions the name incredulously, having a hard time associating it with a masculine stunt man. The 1969 studio audience laughs, indicating they also make the connection. 

Gil Perkins (Baby Face Johnson, First Crook, right) was aboard the train when Lucy and Ricky headed home from California in “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5). Prior to that he was seen in The Big Street (1942) and The Fuller Brush Girl (1950) with Lucille Ball. This is his only appearance on “Here's Lucy.”  X. Brands (Lefty Logan, Second Crook, left) was his real name!  A family tradition held over from when an ancestor added the letter ‘X’ to his name to differentiate himself from another man of the same name in town. X Brands was known for playing American Indians, despite not being one. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.  

Harvey Stone (Waiter) was born just three weeks after Lucille Ball in 1911. He had appeared in two plays at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse in 1968. He will be featured in one more episode, also directed by Jay Sandrich. In 1974 Stone died of a heart attack while performing on a cruise ship and was buried at sea.

The waiter has no dialogue, but his face says it all!

There are a few diners in the background of the Cafe George, but their faces cannot be seen.

This is the first of three episodes to be directed by Jay Sandrich. The year after this episode, Sandrich won an Emmy Award for his writing on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” He won again for the same show in 1973 and earned two more Emmys for his writing on “The Cosby Show” in 1985 and 1986. Sandrich first joined the Desilu team in 1956 as Assistant Director of “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” Sandrich remembers: 

“I was so young and caught in the middle of America's favorite couple breaking up. Psychologically, I didn't know how to handle it because I was in the middle. They all were wonderful people but naturally there was tension.” 

In April 1968, Gale Gordon joined Wally Cox as one of “The Hollywood Squares.”  Host Peter Marshall had played Lucy Carmichael’s brother-in-law on “The Lucy Show,” so Marshall and Gordon had that in common!  Marshall would also star in “Happy Anniversary and Goodbye” in 1974. Also in the grid that week was Jack Cassidy, who had guest starred on “The Lucy Show” in 1965. 

Although Hale and Cox play father and son, they were only three years apart. Moose Manley says that his son is 33 years old. In reality, this episode was aired a week before Wally Cox celebrated his 45th birthday.  

Moose says that in college, Harry was known as ‘Blubber’ because he was overweight and adds that Harry still holds the college record for swallowing 86 goldfish in ten minutes. Goldfish swallowing was a fad of the 1920s and ‘30s college students probably during initiation rituals or on dares. This unusual trend has been previously mentioned on other “Lucy” shows. Harry later recalls that they went on panty raids, another college stunt popular with fraternity boys during the '20s and '30s.  

When Harry thinks Moose is using blackmail to allow Lucy time off to help his son with his girl problems, Moose replies “You bet your bippy it is!”  The word “bippy” means “ass” and the euphemism was used as early as 1880, but was re-popularized by “Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In,” “Here's Lucy's” competition on ABC. In May 1969 a song titled “You Bet Your Sweet Bippy” was released. This is just one of many “Laugh-In” references on “Here's Lucy.”

Story Time with Hilda & Madge - When Lucy hears that Wally is afraid of girls, she relates a story of a high school friend named Hilda who had a girl-shy brother. Moose blackmails Harry by threatening to tell Lucy a salacious story about a girl in Harry’s past named Madge.

Moose gets a phone call from his secretary, Miss Hurlow. Miss Hurlow was also the name of Robert Goulet's secretary who was played by Mary Wickes in “Lucy and Robert Goulet” (TLS S6;E8, above).  

After the two stunt men completely destroy Harry’s office, one of them says “We’ve got to get it out of our systems. We’re not allowed to be violent on TV anymore!”  In 1969, the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence submitted a report that brought television violence under careful scrutiny. That same year, Senator John Pastore requested that the Surgeon General appoint a committee to conduct an inquiry into television violence and its effect on children. Clearly this topic was in the news, and as a result gets a laugh from the studio audience. 

The warehouse seems to be stocked with children's toys and games (as well as lamps and boxes of nylon). The Ideal board game Seven Keys can be seen on the table near the door. It was based on the TV game show of the same name (which, in turn, was based on Chutes and Ladders) that ran from 1961 to 1965 on ABC and was hosted by Jack Narz.

There is also a Roadmaster V gold wagon by AMF. American Machine and Foundry (AMF) Roadmaster division was primarily known for bicycles, but also created many wheeled children’s toys. This is the fifth iteration of their gold pull toy wagon, manufactured in the 1960s. 

As usual, Lucy has no control of hoses and Harry ends the episode soaking wet! To be fair, so does Lucy!

Episodes featuring stunts recall when Lucy Carmichael took a job as a stunt person named Iron Man Carmichael on “The Lucy Show.” In “Here's Lucy,” however, Lucille Ball leaves the stunt work to others!  

The gag of Harry’s glass door shattering was previously done to Mr. Mooney on “Lucy Gets Involved” (TLS S6;E17).  

Oops! Picking up the menus, Lucille Ball knocks over the salt and pepper shakers. Nothing spills out (likely they were empty) and Lucy doesn't bother to right them, knowing that the entire contents of the table will soon end up on the floor anyway!

What Month Is It?  Although the episode aired in February, the calendar in the storage room shows artwork of a line of graduating students in black cap and gown holding diplomas, usually indicative of May or June.  The calendar year remains in soft focus throughout. 

What's My Line? Moose says he runs a detective agency, but is here supplying security guards for a warehouse, quite a different business!  

Wanted Dead or...? Moose recognizes Baby Face and Lefty as “the most notorious killers in the country.” If that is so, why are they robbing toy warehouses? Also, they are armed with guns yet are easily overpowered by Wally and Lucy who only have toys to defend themselves! 

Redecorating! The model ship that usually sits on the shelf next to the office doors has been replaced by colorful vases and feathers. This is because the stunt men are going to wreck the office and need breakaway glass for their demonstration. The water cooler has also been removed for this episode.

Where The Floor Ends! During the destructive demo, the camera pulls back a bit too far revealing where the edge of the wall-to-wall carpeting meets the cement of the soundstage floor. 

Gimme a Break (but not yet)!  The glass in the door shatters while Harry is opening the door to leave, instead of when he shuts it, slightly marring the timing of the gag. 

“Lucy and Wally Cox” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5 

This is a moderately enjoyable episode, if only to see TV favorites Cox and Hale play an unlikely father and son. It isn't particularly funny, however, and the outcome is predictable. There are also dated jokes about masculinity that haven’t aged very well.