Saturday 9

Saturday 9: 77 Sunset Strip (1958)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) 77 Sunset Strip was one of TV's early hits, running for six seasons. Before this morning, were you familiar with this show? Yes, my parents watched this show and so, of course, we did also. All I remember about it is the theme song and Kookie, lend me your comb.

2) The show's jazzy theme is punctuated by finger snaps. When you snap your fingers, is the left-handed snap as loud as your right-handed snap? Left hand is weaker.

3) The show revolved around Bailey and Spencer Investigations. Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer were among TV first "private eyes." Who is your all-time favorite TV PI? Maybe Columbo?

4) Their office had "a fancy label," meaning an attractive address, on Los Angeles' Sunset Blvd. Tell us about the prestige area of your neighborhood. Our neighborhood is a nice neighborhood, but I wouldn't say it was prestigious.

5) Next door was Dino's Lodge, the real-life restaurant and bar owned by entertainer Dean Martin. Are you a Dean Martin fan? I remember liking Dean Martin, but wouldn't say I was a fan.

6) The valet at Dino's was Kookie. He was known for his perfect hair, his slang ("ginchy" meant cool, "germsville" was the hospital, "a dark seven" was a bad week) and his desire to someday be a private investigator, like Stu and Jeff. Do you think you'd be a good detective? In my job as paralegal many, many years ago, before the Internet and Google, one of my jobs was to locate deadbeat debtors. I was pretty good at skip-tracing and later, that experience aided me in tracking down and researching material for my future employer.

7) Stu and Jeff had a loyal secretary named Suzanne, played by French actress Jacqueline Beer. In real life, she was married to adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, who famously traveled from Peru to French Polynesia by raft. Does 100 days on a raft, sailing the south seas, sound fascinating to you? NO!!

8) Clint Eastwood was fan of the show and, in the 1990s, tried unsuccessfully to bring 77 Sunset Strip back. Is there a show from the past you'd like to see "rebooted?" I can't think of any. It never seems to work.

9) Random question: Thinking about the last week, did you nag anyone? No. Or were you the one who was nagged? Not! Although in trying to empty out my house of non-essentials, one of my friends came to help and she was quite ruthless in telling me what should probably go. Sentimental old me may have held on to some of those things.