Log 1031: The Hollywood Show

Oops, I did it again...

I saw Kent McCord! And it was just as wonderful as the first time! 

Last week I told all of you that I would be Code 6 at an undisclosed location. Well, I can disclose that the location was the Hollywood Show in Los Angeles. I can now bring you the full report on my "investigation".

The Hollywood Show

Several months ago I learned through a posting in an Adam-12 Facebook group that Kent McCord would be appearing at the Hollywood Show in Los Angeles on Oct. 31st and Nov. 1st. When I saw the post my initial reaction was, "I must go to this and see Kent McCord again."

But then I started to second guess myself. "Should I really go?" I thought. What if I go and Kent doesn't remember me from when I met him in Kansas City in March? Worse yet, what if he does remember me and he's seen the blog and he hated it and now wants nothing to do with me? I asked my husband and friends for advice and they all told me, "You're being silly, of course he remembers you. And how could he not like the blog?" I mulled it over and finally decided to go with my first instinct, I booked the trip to Los Angeles. Besides, even if Kent didn't want to see me, there would be other celebrities I wanted to meet there like Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer from Hunter; PJ Soles from Carrie, Rock 'n' Roll High School, and Halloween; and JoAnn Pflug a.k.a. Dana Hall from Adam-12.

After many long, agonizing months, it was finally time for my trip to Los Angeles. As I sat on the plane traveling west, I didn't feel nervous like I did when I traveled to Kansas City. I was excited, I was ready to do this, I was "in the zone". I knew it was going to be a good trip, especially after I saw the gate number for the second leg of my trip.

Once I arrived in L.A., I checked into my room that was in the same hotel where the show was being held. That night I went down to the Grand Ballroom for the Preview Night. At the preview I was not interested in buying any of the vendors' wares nor did I want to meet Jan Michael Vincent, the only celebrity in attendance that night. No, my mission was to find out where Kent would be the next day. (That's not stalking, is it ?) I found his spot near the middle of a long table. Morgan Fairchild would be positioned at the end of the table and Kent would be next to her.

There he is, next to Morgan Fairchild.

After a mostly sleepless night I awoke the next day feeling a little nervous. Even after I ate breakfast my legs were still shaky and my heart was pounding. "C'mon, Keely, let's do this," I thought as I walked into the crowded ballroom at about 10 a.m. Still feeling a little anxious, I decided not to immediately rush over to Kent's table. I then saw Fred Dryer towering over all the other attendees and decided I had to meet my favorite cops from outside the Mark VII universe. I walked up to the table and told Fred and Stepfanie that they were the reason I never amounted to anything. Perhaps, if I had paid more attention to my studies in college instead of Hunter reruns, my life would have had a different path. But, then again, I like the path I'm on. So, it all worked out.

I bought this card years ago on Ebay, I'm so glad I could finally get it signed.

Awesome!

Now that I was giddily happy with my signed Hunter photo I decided it was time to swing by and say, "Hi" to Kent before our professional photo together at 11:15. I was still a little worried about how Kent would react to seeing me again, but I quickly learned that all of my worries were unfounded. As I approached his table Kent stopped talking to the man in front of him, looked right at me, said, "Keely!", and extended his hand. "OH MY GAWD!!! He remembered me!" is what I thought as he firmly shook my hand. Externally, though, I played it cool and told Kent I was just stopping by and I would see him when we got our picture taken.

I cruised around the ballroom and marveled at the obvious plastic surgery work, inappropriate use of black hair dye, and teeny dogs in purses and strollers until it was time to for my photo shoot with Kent. After watching him getting his picture taken with three other fans, it was my turn. I had flashbacks of Kansas City as I slid my one arm around his waist and he rested his hand on my other arm. The photographer counted to three and "flash!".

I like the Kansas City picture better. But, I'm in a picture with Kent McCord, so I can't complain!

Now that I had my picture and knew Kent remembered me, I called it a day and went to the mall. Ha, ha, just kidding, I still had celebrities to meet and I had so much to discuss with Kent. Before returning to his table I stopped across the aisle and met PJ Soles. She was great, just as youthful and vibrant as she was in Rock 'n' Roll High School!

She still has bangs! 

I'm a huge Ramones fan, so, of course I selected this photo to get signed.

It was now time for me to return to Kent's table. While Kent was talking to another fan even more fans came to his area and got in line behind me. Knowing that my visit with Kent would not be quick, I let them get in front of me. When he saw me being a good girl and patiently waiting to talk to him, Kent suggested that I come around the table and sit next to him. I almost jumped over the table, but instead I just pushed Morgan Fairchild out of my way. (Not really, but I would have if she blocked me.)

Me, in the coveted "behind the table" spot.

After he signed some autographs I had Kent's undivided attention and it was time to chat. I started by asking him something that had perplexed me and other sharp-eyed Adam-12 viewers for a long time, "Why did Jim Reed's wedding ring disappear in season 5?". Kent thought about it for a few seconds then admitted that he didn't remember. He told me that he himself never wore a wedding ring and probably just got tired of it wearing it on the show. He then revealed that he never thought Reed should be married, he thought it should have been "the other way around" with Malloy being the married one. But, Bob Cinader explained to him that a lot of the young cops in the LAPD at the time, like Reed, were married and starting families. Kent also resisted the idea of playing a married character because he, admittedly egotistically, feared that Reed would not be as popular with the female viewers if he was married. Kent had seen what happened when Ricky Nelson got married in real life and on Ozzie & Harriet, and didn't want the same sort of backlash.

Oh, Kent, a little ol' wedding ring can't stop a girl from dreaming.

Despite the actor's protests, Reed was definitely going to be married. So, Kent went out and bought a ring to wear on the show at "some hippie shop". He wore it for about 5 years then put it in a box "somewhere", where it still remains today. 

A short time after the amazing tale about the wedding ring a man from Indianapolis stopped by to get Kent's autograph. They started talking about the Indianapolis 500, which Kent has attended countless times. After the man walked away, I took advantage of this opportunity to show Kent one of the many eBay purchases I had brought with me. 

This picture of him and Marty at the Indianapolis Speedway, which Kent had never seen before. He liked it so much, he took a picture of it with his phone!

After he signed some more autographs for fans there was another break in the traffic at his table. I took advantage of the lull in activity to show him some more of my collectibles. In Kansas City, I had hoped that Kent did not see the shirtless photo I had of him on my phone. This time I decided not to be so coy about my appreciation of his younger physique. Without hesitation, I whipped out these two beauties:

He also took pictures of these with his phone.

Kent did not remember where these photos were taken, why they were taken, or who had taken them. I jokingly asked if it was really him in the photos. He replied that he knew it was him because of his tattoo. Wait, what? That's when Kent pointed out the faint black mark on his bicep and explained that it was a tattoo of the letter "K" he had done himself at age 11!

Can you see it now?

Wow! What a day this was shaping up to be! After some more people came and went, I decided to pull another item out of my bag of tricks. This time it was a magazine from 1972.

See the top headline above the title? 

I explained to Kent that the headline was much more sensational than the content of the article. The story was all about how Kent was being a little too helpful trying to catch burglars who broke into his house. The police had to tell him to leave the business of catching criminals to them. He got a kick out of the story and was surprised to see that the article didn't come out until 1972 since the actual crime happened in 1968.

He gave me some more details on the story that the article didn't cover. The thieves stole stereo equipment, a toaster, a guitar, and all of his bell-bottom jeans and casual tops. Including an "ugly", as Kent put it, yellow and olive green striped velour shirt he had bought on sale "for eight dollars". Since they didn't touch his sports jackets or dress pants, he knew it was young people who committed the crime. Kent also told me how he caught one of the guys involved. Well, sort of, the guy had already been caught when Kent found him.

Kent liked the picture of his wife that accompanied the story.

He was doing a photo shoot with Marty when he saw a young man enter a house wearing a distinctive velour shirt. Kent knew the man had to be one of the thieves, because he immediately recognized that ugly yellow and olive shirt. He stopped the photo shoot and walked across the street to knock on the door. The man wearing the velour top answered and Kent demanded to know where his stuff was. The thief then explained that they had already been busted by the Sheriff's department and they had all of the McCord's property. Well, almost all of it, the stereo equipment hadn't been recovered. But, that too would eventually be returned to Kent and his family. I'm not sure if he ever got his ugly shirt back, though.

After the awesome story about the burglary, the time had come for Kent to do another professional photo op with a fan. Reluctantly, I let him go. It was the right thing to do, I had already spent almost 2 hours with him. I figured I could share him with some other people. Anyway, I was getting hungry. While Kent did his photo op, I decided to get some lunch. 

After a quick bite I entered the ballroom again, I now decided it was time for me to meet JoAnn Pflug. Imagine my surprise when I saw an old friend at her table!

The Jim Reed and Dana Hall reunion and I got to capture it!

I was then in for another treat, Kent told JoAnn about the blog! How cool is that? I would have loved to know what else these two were talking about, as Kent left to get some lunch I heard him say something about Gary Crosby. Whatever he said, it made JoAnn crack up laughing. After Kent left, it was my turn to spend some time with JoAnn. I got an autograph and a picture with her in her Lt. Dish uniform. She was wonderfully perky and so tall!

The inscription reads, "For Keely! U R adorable- JoAnn Pflug, Dana Hall, Adam-12"! This one is going in a frame!

After I met JoAnn, I wandered around for awhile, then met Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy from Dallas. 

Yes, that's the dad from Step by Step to you '90's kids.

I then wandered past the hotel and bar grill where Kent was having his lunch. He called me over and asked what I was up to. I told him that next up on my agenda was my professional photo op with Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer. He told me, "Tell Fred Kent McCord said hi. He'll probably say, 'Who's Kent McCord?'". I laughed and told him that Fred Dryer wouldn't say that since they did a Diagnosis Murder together. I left Kent behind to get my picture taken with my other former-footbal-player-turned-actor-in-a-cop-show (fantasy) boyfriend.

When I met up with Fred and Stepfanie, they both remembered my name, too! I did tell Fred that Kent said "hi", he did not say "Who's Kent McCord?". Anyway, here is the result of my Hunter photo shoot:

I look a little bit like a manic, armless person standing in a hole since Fred is about 15" taller than me and I'm so dang happy to have my arms around these two. But, I'm in a picture with Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer, so I can't complain! 

Kent and I met back up around 4:00 p.m., I was resting in a chair between the restaurant and the ballroom when he walked past me and said, "Hey, kid". In an effort to play it cool and not appear too eager to sit next to Kent again, I slowly made my way to the ballroom. What I really wanted to do was sprint back to the table faster than Jim Reed in a foot pursuit. 

Now that they show was ending soon, Kent was suddenly busier than ever. And I had still had lots of questions that I needed to ask to him! All of the other celebrities were packing up their 8x10's and Sharpies, but Kent had a line of people waiting to talk to him. At one point I turned to him and whispered, "You're popular now". He got a chuckle out of that. Several of the people waiting tried to give me the money for Kent's autograph. Since Kent was handling his own money, I just shook my head and said, "Oh, you can't trust me with money." Kent thought that was funny, too. One man with a German accent even asked if I was his wife! (Of course, I told him the truth and sadly said, "no".)

During this last hour of the show, one fan came up to the table with a copy of this picture for Kent to sign:

Kent did not have this particular shot among his stacks of Adam-12 pictures available for purchase with an autograph. He turned to me and asked, "Do you like this picture?" I looked at him and told him truthfully, "I like them all." Once again, Kent laughed at my remark.

After Kent had signed autographs and talked to everyone who waited to see him, it was time to go. While he was packing up, I asked him about the other show his fans seemed most interested in, Galactica 1980. I found out this was not one of Kent's favorite shows to work on, mainly because the show started out as one thing and wound up being something else entirely. Originally, the show was conceived as a remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. But, because of it's 7:00 p.m. time slot, the network's Standards & Practices department insisted it be retooled as a more kid-friendly show. If you've ever watched this show, this explanation makes a lot of sense. The 3-part pilot seems completely different from the rest of the series and Kent's story explains why the annoying Super Scouts were added to the show. But, don't let me discourage you from watching it. It's one of those "it's so bad, it's good" TV shows that is a lot of fun to watch. 

You can watch the entire series on Amazon video, but it will cost you $14.95 or you can stream it on Netflix, but they don't have all the episodes.

While Kent continued gathering his stuff, I had one last question to ask him, one that I had wanted to ask for a long time. I wanted to know if Jack Webb had anything to do with his decision to change his last name from McWhirter to McCord since the switch happened right before "The Interrogation". Kent replied that Jack did not influence his decision to change his name. It was Universal Studios that suggested he change it to something people could "pronounce and spell" after Jack Webb told them that he had "big plans" for Kent. Kent thought this was a good idea since his last name had been constantly misspelled his entire life. It's not even spelled correctly in his high school yearbook! He kicked around some different names, then he remembered how a childhood friend would always call him McCorder. So, Kent McWhirter shortened that childhood nickname and became the much easier to spell and pronounce, Kent McCord.

Now that all of his supplies were packed, my day with Kent was truly coming to an end. We left the ballroom together and before we parted, I asked him something I had been slightly curious about. I inquired if he had checked out this blog. Much to my surprise, he said he did! He said he liked it because it kept Adam-12 alive. Just when I thought my day couldn't get any better, Kent gave me a good-bye hug. Then he went on his way and I floated up to my room on the 6th floor without the aid of an elevator. The next morning I would have to pack up all my autographs, photos, and memories and leave L.A. 

I know I may be crazy for flying across the country just to spend a few hours with an actor from a TV show that went off the air 40 years ago, but I don't care. Those few hours with this incredibly gracious man who will take the time to talk to each and every one of his fans have made me deliriously happy. I'm positive I'll feel this way for a long time. Heck, I still get giddy every time I think about our Kansas City encounter, and that was almost 8 months ago now!

So, once again, I want to thank you, Mr. McCord, for being so amazing, spending so much time with me, and answering all my questions. (And I also want to ask you not to schedule any more appearances this year, I'm out of vacation time.)

Until we meet again,
Keely
KMA-367