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| A triangle? No, they're just resting from skating. |
ABC
February 5, 1975
Children's
DVD
D
Bob Rodgers also adapted "The Eighteenth Emergency" and "Summer of the Swans," so I don't know if it's his fault or the original source material, Mildred Lee's novel, that this is so dismal. I suppose some blame should also go to director Larry Elikann, but the two would team up for my favorite Special, 1976's "Dear Lovey Hart: I Am Desperate." The writing is poor and inconsistent within itself, taking the most glaring example that sometimes the farmer dad is upset when Tuck comes home late and sometimes there are zero consequences. The sound and lighting are poor, which is a particular problem during the final ice-skating performance. None of the characters are particularly likable, and I kept expecting something more considering the weird subtext, like that the coach would turn out to be corrupt in some way, or Tuck would develop a crush on his coach's young wife, Lilly Degley (22-year-old Devon Ericson, who would play Janet's college-age sister three years later on Three's Company). Oh well, this isn't as painful as the last program I watched.
Cynthia Eilbacher was Caroline on That Girl and is Elva Grimes here. Patricia Stevens moonlights from M*A*S*H, as Tuck's mother, while Robert Clotworthy plays her son Clete and would later be Private Welch on that show. Molly Dodd, who had a couple roles on The Brady Bunch, is Mrs. Bayliss here. Tara Talboy had played Lisa on The Bob Newhart Show and is Tuck's sister Karen here. Seven-year-old Sparky Marcus plays Tuck in the flashbacks and would later turn up on What's Happening!!
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