At Grand Central Station, a man collapses on the floor and no one stops to help him – no one, that is, until already-distracted Jack Nordoff helps him up. Jack is not there to catch a train, but to see off his soon-to-be-ex-wife before the divorce proceedings heat up. The man Jack helped, Waldo Chase, cracks a joke about needing a hit man instead of a lawyer, and then they part ways…until Jack calls his wife on the train, and discovers that Chase is also on the train, having followed here. Chase says he owes Jack a favor, and always pays his debts…and that all Jack’s troubles will soon be over. Jack now has to find a way to beat Supertrain to its Chicago stop to try to save his wife’s life…but who can outrun Supertrain?
written by Shimon Wincelberg
directed by Rod Amateau
music by Bob Cobert
Cast: Edward Andrews (Harry Flood), Patrick Collins (David Noonan), Harrison Page (George Boone), Robert Alda (Dr. Lewis), Nita Talbot (Rose Casey), Aarika Wells (Gilda), William Nuckols (Wally), Michael DeLano (Lou Atkins), Charlie Brill (Robert), Dick Van Dyke (Waldo Chase), Larry Linville (Jack Nordoff), Barbara Rhoades (Myra Nordoff), Keith Mitchell (Rodney), Rachel Jacobs (Daphne), Byron Morrow (Farrell), Lou Krugman (Cabbie), Valorie Armstrong (Airline Employee), Al Hansen (Motor Cop), Anthony Palmer (T.C. Baker), Cameron Young (Fenner), Frank McCarthy (Detective), Jack O’Leary (Salesman), Kenneth White (Tex), Casey Brown (Stewardess), Fritz Reed (The Maitre’d), Lee Stein (Young Man), Bill Smillie (Chicago Cabby), Mary Ellen O’Neill (Cleaning Lady), Don Delaney (Waiter), Alfred Mariorenzi (Desk Sergeant)
Notes: The second episode is a marked improvement over the first, if only for the (guest) star power on display, and the fact that it’s only an hour long. Dick Van Dyke needed no introduction to TV audiences, having starred in his own sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke show, from 1961 through 1966. After several years of steady work, most recently (at the time) a stint on the Carol Burnett Show, he was exploring both comedic and dramatic guest roles in prime time, and this one was distinctly unnerving. Opposite Van Dyke is Larry Linville (1939-2000), one of the founding cast members of the long-running sitcom M*A*S*H, on which he played the uptight Major Frank Burns from 1972 through 1977. The episode’s title comes from the Anglicized lyrics to “Auld Lang Syne”. Supertrain!
LogBook entry by Earl Green
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