The Phil Silvers Show 3.24

Bilko the Art Lover

Bilko gets a two week furlough. He goes to New York to see Carlyle Thompson III, who used to be in his platoon. Carlyle comes from a rich family.

Things don't go exactly as planned. Things start to come apart when Carlyle gets into a fight with his father over his future. Carlyle wants to be a sculptor but his father wants him to join the family shipping business. The fight between Carlyle and his father comes to a head just as Bilko arrives.

Instead of staying in a luxurious home on Park Avenue, Bilko winds up having to leave with Carlyle. Bilko scrambles to salvage the situation. He does his best to sell some of Carlyle's artwork.

The Phil Silvers Show 3.23

Bilko Saves Ritzik's Marriage

Ritzik plays cards with Bilko and the other sergeants instead of going home to Emma, his wife, on the night of their 15th wedding anniversary. Bilko comes up with more than one scheme to get the quarrelling couple back together again.

This is a decent episode. Bilko assumes another identity, yet again, in order to further one of his schemes. This time he pretends to be Ritzik while Barbella and Henshaw pretend to be Ritzik's sons.

The Phil Silvers Show 3.22

The Colonel's Reunion

Colonel Hall starts to make serious progress in shutting down Bilko's gambling operations. Bilko schemes to get Colonel Hall out of town for a weekend. Bilko's scheme works but then Colonel Hall orders Bilko to come come with him and his wife to a regimental reunion.

Bilko sees how poorly the other veterans at the regimental reunion are treating Colonel Hall and decides that he has to do something about it.

Thoughts

You can count this among the episodes where Bilko puts on a disguise to convince someone do something.

This was a fun episode. I like how things flip flop more than once in this episode.

The Phil Silvers Show 3.21

Cyrano de Bilko

Bilko helps one of his men who is too shy to talk to the woman on whom he has a crush. Bilko gets concerned when he learns that Harold (the soldier) and Natalie are going to get married. He investigates and thinks he finds out that Natatlie is an older woman who is after Harold's money. It turns out that Bilko jumped to conclusions a little too quickly. Bilko almost ends up having to marry Natalie's aunt whose name is also Natalie.

Thoughts

Lee Meriweather played the part of the younger Natalie. This episode is her only appearance on this show. I know her best from Batman (1966) in which she played Catwoman.

The Phil Silvers Show 3.20

Bilko's Pigeons

Bilko is forced to get rid of homing pigeons that he has been using for gambling purposes when Col Hall threatens to bust Bilko down in rank if he doesn't get rid of the pigeons right away. Bilko gets rid of the pigeons and makes some money in the process but then the pigeons return to Fort Baxter.

Bilko smells an opportunity and sells the pigeons again. The pigeons return once again. Bilko sells the pigeons a third time but this time someone gets wise to what he is up to and uses it against him.

The Phil Silvers Show 3.19

Bilko's Cousin

Bilko gets very excited when he learns that his cousin Swifty has joined the Army and will soon be stationed at Fort Baxter. Bilko assumes that Swifty will be just as slick as he. It turns out that Swifty is not very much like Bilko.

Bilko tries to get Swifty into Officer Candidate School (OCS). Bilko pulls a few strings and tricks Col Hall into thinking that Swifty is much much more impressive than he actually is. Bilko's plan goes up in flames once Col. Hall meets Swifty and asks him a few questions.

The Phil Silvers Show 3.18

Bilko Presents Kay Kendall

Actress Kay Kendall stops in Roseville to promote her latest movie. Bilko's plans to put on a burlesque show at Fort Baxter go awry when Colonel Hall finds out what he is up planning. Bilko tries to find another venue in Roseville for his show. He doesn't have much luck until Bilko finds out that Kay Kendall is in town and tricks her into agreeing to appear in his show.

Thoughts

This was a fun episode. What made it special was the appearance of Kay Kendall. She died in 1959, at the age of 32 of myeloid leukemia, after appearing in 32 movies. This is just one four episodes of television in which she appeared.

The Phil Silvers Show 3.17

Doberman the Crooner

Bilko discovers that someone at Fort Baxter has a beautiful singing voice. Bilko sees a way to make money and goes looking for the crooner. Bilko doesn't know that it is Doberman. He gets a number of false leads. He thinks it is Col. Hall, Zimmerman, and Papparelli before finally figuring out that Doberman is the one with the beautidul voice.

Bilko runs into a snag when he discovers that Doberman's voice only sounded that nice because he had a cold. 

Thoughts

This is a fun one. It is a little more straightforward and focused than most of the previous episodes from this season.