The Phil Silvers Show 4.08

Bilko and the Crosbys

Bilko gets a new man in his platoon, Lindsay Crosby, one of Bing Crosby's sons. Bilko treats Private Crosby like royalty in the hopes of getting a chance to meet his father. Bilko subsequently learns that his grandmother, Maude Skinner, married his grandfather, Felix Crosby, instead of marrying Bing Crosby's grandfather. Bilko dreams of what his life might have been like if he had been born a Crosby.

Thoughts

The four Cosby brothers (Dennis, Gary, Lindsay, Phillip) appeared in this episode. They were also in Sergeant Bilko Presents Bing Crosby.

This was an okay episode but it felt a bit rushed and muddled.

The Phil Silvers Show 4.07

Bilko's Big Woman Hunt

Bilko falls in love at first sight after chastising Henshaw about being more loyal to his girlfriend than to him. Bilko loses track of the woman he has fallen for, before he can get her name or find out where he can find her.

Thoughts

The first few minutes of this episode take place at Camp Fremont. Most of the rest of the episode takes pace at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco.

Paul Lynde played the desk clerk at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. I know him best for his guest appearances on shows like Bewitched. This is the first of two appearances he made on The Phil Silvers Show.

This episode, especially the way it all wound up, didn't do a whole lot for me.

The Phil Silvers Show 4.06

Bilko Joins the Navy

Bilko, Zimmerman, and Paparelli are in San Diego looking for dates when Bilko hears about a craps game. Only sailors can get in on the game so they exchange their Army uniforms in for Navy uniforms.

Bilko wins big but then the game gets broken up by the shore patrol. Bilko, Zimmerman and Paparelli wind up on the USS Saratoga which takes off on a six month cruise before they can get ashore. Bilko is forced to scramble in order to get them back to the United States before they are found out.

Thoughts

Most of the regulars were not in this episode with the exception of the three characters named above.

This was pretty good. It was a nice change of pace that Bilko's scheming was about something other than making money. It has happened before but it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

The Phil Silvers Show 4.05

Bilko vs. Covington

Master Sergeant Covington moves in on Bilko's territory at Camp Fremont and starts taking Bilko's men for all the money they've got. Bilko comes up with a scheme to trick Covington into requesting a transfer to Japan. It almost works but at the last minute Covington figures out what's going on and doesn't go through with the transfer request.

Covington executes a similar scheme to get Bilko to request a transfer to Japan. Bilko almost falls for it but he gets wise to it before its too late.

Both Master Sergeants are so riled at one another that they miss out on a real opportunity in Japan that MSgt Grover ends up accepting.

The Phil Silvers Show 4.04

Bilko the Potato Sack King

Bilko gets discharged from the army after he gets offered a job in the civilian world, selling burlap sacks. Bilko's civilian job collapses after the potato industry moves topackaging potaoes in plastic bags.

Bilko almost returns to the army but then he gets the idea to cinvince the US Army to start making uniforms out of burlap, which he renames Burlacon. He almost convinces the big brass to go with his idea until the Army tests the prototype uniforms that Bilko has made.

Thoughts

This might be my new favorite episode from this season.

The Phil Silvers Show 4.03

Bilko's Deluxe Tours

Bilko starts a tour bus company using the bus he tricked the local school into selling him. The original reason for buying the bus was so that they would have a way to get to San Francisco but after they learn that there are plans to start running trains five times a day from Grove City into San Francisco he realizes that he stands to lose money if he doesn't find a way to make money using the bus.

Thoughts

I wasn't overwhelmed by this episode but it might be my favorite of the first three episodes of the fourth season.

The Phil Silvers Show 4.02

Bilko's Vampire

Bilko finds out that the reason Ritzik has been leaving poker games early is so that he can get home in time to watch Shock Theater on the television. Bilko tries to scare Ritzik into returning by convincing him that he (Ritzik) will turn into a vampire if he doesn't stop watching horror movies.

Thoughts

This episode was on the weak side. It felt like they wanted to work vampires into the episode and found a way to make it work except that it didn't really work very well. Is this the jump the shark moment for this show?

The Phil Silvers Show 4.01

Gold Fever

Bilko discovers a map to an old gold mine. The mine was located on the grounds of an abandoned US Army base in California. Bilko works some magic and gets the powers that be at the Pentagon to agree to reoccupy Fort Fremont and gets Colonel Hall to volunteer his unit at Fort Baxter to move to Fort Freemont in Grove City, CA.

Thoughts

There is one scene that took place in Colonel Hall's office at Fort Baxter but none of the WACs were present. I know that Sgt Hogan won't be back but I'm not so sure about the other WACs.

This episode is ostensibly about a serarch for gold but really is about explaining the move from Kansas to California. Its nice to see that they took the time to explain the move but other than that it was a kind of a lackluster episode.