I was recently thinking about Randolph Mantooth (omnia mutantur; nihil interit), which naturally made me think of EMERGENCY! (1972-1979),
which made me think of Julie London, because I’m wired that way,
which made me think of how her ex-husband, Jack Webb (a man of unsuspected depths), hired both her and her husband Bobby Troup for the show, which makes me think of this scene from PERRY MASON: SPACE LAWYER, where Perry (Raymond Burr) elicits a confession from Buzzie (Bobby Troup) in heptalk. It is one of the greatest things ever.
Martha Vickers plays Buzzie’s bored hipster mate, who at no point seems to understand what’s happening in the scene. The actress died of esophageal cancer a dozen years later, which lends a macabre element to all the cigarette smoke drifting through this scene.
