Poseidon Quickies: Animal Attraction

In-between duties at work (or sometimes during!) I've been taking a look at various shows on my screen, often listening more than watching. One that I caught yesterday was an installment of the rarely-seen 1971 information-entertainment series The Pet Set. The one-season show featured animal nut Betty White interviewing a celebrity guest who has brought along a pet of theirs, followed by one or two other features concerning various animals.  The whole ball of wax is now available on DVD for those interested in it. Thus far, I've only seen a couple of eps, which are fun apart from anything else just for the CLOTHING worn by the hostess and her guests. 

We're only focusing on one episode this time out, which opens with our beloved Miss White snuggling with a fluffy black poodle named Joey. She remarks about how sometimes poodles get a reputations for being "sissies," but the owner will take up for Joey.

Then we get to meet Joey's owner as the credits roll. Most of you will know who this is, even with most of his face obscured.

It's Michael Landon of Bonanza. That show started in 1959 and would run through part of 1973!

At this time, Landon was but 35 and yet had a (hugely) full head of prematurely-graying hair. In 1974, he would darken in for the first few years of his next mega-hit Little House on the Prairie.

Just one of a few dogs Landon had at the time, Joey was rather boisterous and his motions resulted in his owner's sweater being pulled open.

We ain't complainin' or anything, just observing. But this early example of an animal being attracted to Landon is hardly the end.

Betty and Mike next appear at a podium along with another guest who is there to reveal which breeds were the favorites in the 1920s versus the 1970s.

The three of them commentate on a doggie parade in which the top 10 dogs from two decades 50-years apart are counted down.

I'm a dog lover from way back, so I enjoyed this segment with it's small army of pooches and their handlers.

After the parade, White held the #1 dog of the 1920s, a Boston Terrier, while Landon held the #1 dog of the 1970s, a poodle. At last we got to see what sort of pants Landon was wearing on the show. They are quite a sight.

Unfortunately, funky as they are, they're no where near as revealing as the taupe trousers he sported for so many years on Bonanza. Whatever was going on in there, it was hidden on this day.

That's not to say it couldn't still be sniffed out... For the show's final segment, on come a trio of elephants, trunks swinging as they plod onto the set.

Perhaps thinking it has found a long-lost relative or merely an example of water seeking its own level, the baby elephant heads DIRECTLY for Michael Landon's nether regions!

A bemused Landon can only look down and grin as the feisty little beast keeps trying to get a handle on things.

Not unused to having something long and fleshy to deal with on a daily basis, he tries to keep the little the molesting mammal at bay...

...but it's almost a lost cause.

White begins trying to deal with the beastly brat, but soon has more than she can handle, herself!

Eventually one of the full-grown elephants begins to get in on the action, too, and Landon starts cutting up, pretending like he's speaking into a microphone.

 

Then the actor-producer-director starts to pretend he's looking into the viewfinder of a movie camera! I just love kitschy, corny programming like this and am so glad these eps (many of which feature very popular and enduring stars of the screen) are available for viewing again.

As an aside, if you've ever wondered just when it was that Betty White segued from a brunette into the now-familiar blonde, it was during 1971 when this show was being filmed. Compare the very first photo of her at the top to the ones elsewhere in the post.

Perhaps something rubbed off when she hobnobbed with Green Acres' Eva Gabor?

I may be back with more from The Pet Set in the future thanks to its irresistibly amusing aura, but for now, that's all folks!