Three's Company: Chrissy's Cousin

Three's Company: Chrissy's Cousin
ABC
December 16, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Grossman & Burditt wrote this story that introduces Jenilee Harrison in her first of thirty-two appearances as Cindy Snow.  In the earlier part of the episode, Chrissy seems like she'll be away awhile longer and she's only mailed an IOU for her share of the rent.  So Jack and Janet decide to get a replacement roommate, and they each bring home the current girlfriend/boyfriend.  But Larry brings over one of his girlfriends, and Furley brings over a widow who's looking for a place to live.  It doesn't seem to occur to any of them that it would be extremely awkward to have their love interest living in the apartment if they broke up.  Nor does Jack consider that it'd be harder to pass as gay with his girlfriend on the premises.  For that matter, how would Janet explain Bill to Mr. Furley?

Cindy shows up, on Chrissy's invitation, and comes up with a solution inspired by the Man About the House episode "One More for the Pot": using astrology she suggests Bill and Maxine (who've never met before today) move into a one-bedroom apartment she noticed is available.  Janet and more particularly Jack, who begins to suffer with Cindy's clumsiness, as he will throughout the rest of her run, are dubious about their new roommate, but when she convinces Mr. Furley to wait on the rent (she's got a job as a secretary at Chrissy's ofice but won't be paid for two weeks), they're won over.  As for me, I was used to characters coming and going (for instance, Alice that same season replaced Flo with Belle), and I think I liked Cindy at the time but didn't yet realize that Chrissy wasn't coming back.  But then even the producers weren't sure yet.

Jordan Clarke, who plays Bill, was Saunders on M*A*S*H.  Barbara Stuart, who plays Mrs. Medford, would later be Martha.  Karen Austin, who plays Jennifer, would have a more prominent role later as Denise; she was Chester's nameless Woman on Soap in '79.

M*A*S*H: Death Takes a Holiday

M*A*S*H: Death Takes a Holiday
CBS
December 15, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
B-

This episode was written (at the script or story level) by Farrell, Koenig, Metcalfe, Mumford, Rappaport, and Wilcox, and directed by Farrell, so it's probably not surprising that BJ has more to do than usual, although even some of the minor characters get a moment or more.  BJ wants to keep a patient alive a few extra hours so that the man won't die on Christmas Day.  Hawkeye, Margaret, and Mulcahy disagree but still try to help.  Meanwhile, Charles finds that his anonymous charitable gift of gourmet chocolate has been converted via the black market to a month's worth of meals for orphans.  I would've gone with a B or higher, but I felt like the episode was a bit obvious, as when Klinger's eavesdropping is telegraphed, even to the point of us seeing his distinct silhouette.  It is notable that not only does Winchester call him "Max," but he calls the major "Charles" for the first time I think.  I would've guessed this to be set in '51 or '52, if not for the following episode....

G.W. Bailey (Rizzo, who contributes pig's knuckles to the Christmas party), Sally Imamura (Korean Girl), Keye Luke (this time Choi Sung Ho), Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato, who brings Macadamia nuts to the party), and Perren Page (Driver) return

Bosom Buddies: Loathe Thy Neighbor

Bosom Buddies: Loathe Thy Neighbor
ABC
December 11, 1980
Sitcom
DVD/VHS
B-

This first of eight Buddies stories by David Chambers has Amy and Sonny fighting, which leads to Kip and Henry fighting.  Meanwhile, Ruth is trying to get the Brotherhood Week campaign with some very stereotypical men of God (a priest, a rabbi, and an East Indian in a turban).  Unlike Mork & Mindy retreading familiar material earlier that evening, there's some sharp humor, from references to Ferlinghetti and Lenny Bruce to the Star Trek imitations at the end (and this at a time when such comedy was far less commonplace than it would later be).  Kip and Sonny sort of have their first date in this episode, but it's just them hanging out in the lobby a bit and him getting thorns in her hair when she asks him to tuck in one of the roses he brought.  Note that although both Kip and Amy are allowed to sing "It's Not Unusual" on the DVD, the car horn of Isabelle's date is made generic, rather than playing a few notes of "Isn't She Lovely" and "Swanee River."  (And I seriously doubt that the latter is copyrighted.)  Her line about him playing "Dixie" next thus no longer makes sense.

This is the only Buddies episode directed by Herbert Kenwith, who'd done most of the first season of Diff'rent Strokes.  It is perhaps to his credit that Dixon's acting has improved a bit here.

Mork & Mindy: Mork, the Monkey's Uncle

Hilarity fails to ensue.

Mork & Mindy: Mork, the Monkey's Uncle
ABC
December 11, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
C

It's de ja vu city in this Tenowich & Scharlach script based on a story by someone with no other credits.  Mork brings home a chimp and Mindy tries to dye her hair blonde but it turns green.  Since it's the early '80s, we also get an orangutan.  Note that Mork makes a remark specifically about Reagan being elected.

Veterinarian Joe Howard may look familiar to those of you who watched Mathnet on PBS; he was Officer George Frankly on this surprisingly good kids' show about, yes, math.

Soap: Episode 74

Soap: Episode 74
ABC
December 10, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
C-

OK, now it's getting a little painful, especially since I know this isn't a temporary dip but is an inevitable descent.  I'm not saying there might not be a C+ or even B- ahead of us but things do not bode well.  Danny continues to be dumber (and unfunnier) than a box of rocks, in one scene failing to read aloud words like "leper" and "ancient," and in another planning on wearing a ridiculous costume to a massage parlor.  Elsewhere, Jodie hires detective Maggie Chandler (Barbara Rhoades in her first of ten appearances)*, who calls him a "cupcake" and "fruitbowl," which presumably is meant to show how hard-boiled she is but made me immediately dislike her when I first saw this, and now knowing that she'll become Jodie's girlfriend makes things even worse.  Jessica is captured by guerrillas (and the "gorilla" joke is repeated from last week) but seems unaware that the men dying around her aren't just pretending.  Dutch sobs some more.  All we're missing is Leslie bursting in and saying, "All right, this time I'm really gonna do it!", but I know she will in at least one more episode.  I can't blame Mary for wanting to sleep all day.  At least Bob is kind of funny.


*For some reason, Rhoades kept being cast as characters named Maggie.  She was Maggie Gallagher on Maude, Mr Dugan, and Hanging In, and would be Maggie Davis on the Klugman-Stamos series You Again?

Three's Company: Room at the Bottom

I like this outfit, and not just ironically.

Three's Company: Room at the Bottom
ABC
December 9, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This Staretski & Rips episode has the first two-sided Chrissy-in-Fresno phone call.  We find out that her mother has a pain in her side but is feeling better.  The main plot is that Jack gets a job as a busboy, after telling his friends that he'll be a chef.  The funniest moment is when he hides just out of sight and keeps flinging pats of butter at Furley and Janet's plates.  I find it a bit odd that Larry brings Jack's date to the restaurant but we don't really get to see her reaction.  Still, the reassurances of Jack's friends, especially Janet of course, are sweet.

Frank O'Brien, who was Jerry Cronkite on Welcome Back, Kotter, has his first of two 3'sC roles here, as the First Waiter.

M*A*S*H: Father's Day

M*A*S*H: Father's Day
CBS
December 8, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
B

Karen Hall's first of nine M*A*S*H scripts is easily the best so far this season.  Margaret's father, Colonel Alvin "Howitzer" Houlihan (Andrew Duggan, who played both Eisenhower and LBJ at points in his career), visits and she does her best to make him proud but he seems cold and distant.  Not to get overly Freudian, but we get a lot of insight into why Margaret is the way she is, from her bossing the nurses (ten of them at this point) to how she relates to men.  And I like how we see that Potter is more fatherly with Margaret than Howitzer is.  The subplot with the bootleg meat seems like it'll be a bit of a retread, but it comes to a satisfying conclusion.

Art LaFleur, who was Ivan in Rescue from Gilligan's Island, is the MP here and would soon be a Bartender on Soap.  Jeffrey Kramer (this time Sgt. Morgove) and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.  Alda directed.

Bosom Buddies: My Brother, My Sister, Myself

Bosom Buddies: My Brother, My Sister, Myself
ABC
December 4, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Chris Thompson wrote this story which introduces Lucille Benson as new hotel manager Lilly Sinclair.  (Benson had played mother-in-law to both Mame and Mr. Roper.)  Unfortunately for the guys, Lilly shows up right after Sonny has walked in on Hildy holding a man in her arms.  (Henry was trying to get Kip out of bed in the morning.)  Hildy's reputation is ruined, including among "men who Simonize."  Henry learns a lesson about gossip and makes amends to a woman he offended.

The layout of the apartment is different than in the pilot, and the men's drag is relatively more believable.  (The latter can at least be explained by them having had more time and practice.)  We also get to see the hallway (with elevator) and the bar downstairs.  But the episode is most significant for the, as the opening credits would later put it, "but they also know us as Kip and Henry, Buffy and Hildy's brothers" aspect being introduced.

I just wish the episode were better.  There are again some sharp lines, as with Amy's reply to "polls don't matter": "That's what Carter thought."  (This is more specific than the "actor president" line on Mork earlier that evening, and it is possible both episodes, or at least this one, were filmed less than a month before they aired.  Or they could've shot Amy's line both ways and edited the right one in before broadcast.)  Buffy's spoonerisms, like "clappy as a ham," are cute.

Unfortunately, there is some subpar acting, for which director Don Van Atta, in his first of five BBuddies gigs, may be to blame.  Dixon is still not great and, like her, Benson seems capable of only doing a couple emotions, not necessarily the right ones at the right moments.  Worst of all though are Samantha Fox, not that Samantha Fox, and Cherie Eichen, as respectively Lee Ann and Amanda.  While it's interesting to hear what may well have been the first Valley Girl on TV (OK, it's New York, but "gag me with a spoon" is very Californian), Eichen doesn't really do much with the character.  And Fox plays her "tramp" character sullenly, not helped by Van Atta's decision to have characters stand up to deliver their lines in that scene.  Everyone else is fine, and I don't want to mark the episode down too much, but overall the episode is a drop in quality from the pilot.  (Still better than what M*A*S*H and Soap were offering up of course.)

Mork & Mindy: Mork the Prankster

Mork & Mindy: Mork the Prankster
ABC
December 4, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Wendy Kout teams up with George Zateslo, whose first of five Mork scripts this is.  At first it's pretty standard "Mork annoys Mindy, who forgives him" stuff, but it does have some surprises, including that Glenda Faye is trying to distract herself from her grief over her husband, and Mindy gives Mork a kiss of forgiveness that makes his leg "pop" enough to lift her Jeep (which he put in her living room as a prank but it crashed down into Mr. Bickley's).

The highlight of the episode though is the return of Bill Kirchenbauer, this time for the first of three appearances as Todd Norman Taylor.  Kirchenbauer manages to distill every stereotype of the '70s swinging single into one character, but he also does little touches like a mimey moment when he leans against "the wall" to hit on Mindy (see picture).  I found this funnier and fresher than anything Williams does in the episode, including the Julia Child routine.  (Dan Aykroyd had done that earlier and better, although Kirchenbauer's TNT is better than Aykroyd's "wild and crazy guy."

I think it's a nice touch to have Fred and Mr. Bickley bond and go fishing, since they're middle-aged men who can be grouchy at times, Fred less than Mr. B of course.  Amy Tenowich returns as Lola, while Stephanie Kayano makes her second of seven appearances as Stephanie.  (IMDB didn't list her for the season premiere, although the credit is on her page.)  But of course the most notable of Mork's daycare friends is Billy, played by nine-year-old Corey Feldman in his first of two Mork cameos.  Remo is absent, although Jean is in the first scene.

Note that Mork refers to "no one thinking an actor could become President," but it's not clear if this means the possibility or the actual election on November 4th.

Soap: Episode 73

Contain yourselves!

Soap: Episode 73
ABC
December 3, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
C+

Mary is upset when the blackmail pictures are published in the local newspaper (presumably with black bars), but mostly because Burt didn't tell her about the blackmail earlier.  (Note that she still hasn't told him her worries about their baby.)  Chester is upset about Dutch and Eunice's wedding (I'm not thrilled either), until he meets Eunice's bridesmaid, Annie Selig (Nancy Dolman in the first of eleven episodes).  Soon Annie has moved into the poolhouse with Chester, and Eunice is very upset.  Meanwhile Dr. Hill offscreen advises Jessica to take a relaxing vacation to the tiny island of Malaguay.

On the plane, Jessica meets Carlos Marcello David Escobar Rodriguez Valdez, AKA El Puerco, an anti-Communist revolutionary.  I'll talk more about this thread as it plays out, but I'll say here that my issue with it was never the performance of Gregory Sierra, whom I liked as Chano on Barney Miller.  (And he did a delightful cameo on the under-related early '90s Valerie Harper sitcom City.)  It was more what was done with the character and the impact on the show.  Here at the beginning, with him convincing Jessica to free him and then telling her she's now an accomplice, it's not yet shark-bait.

Macon McCalman plays the Minister, at a time he'd been Mr. Penrose on Three's Company but had not yet played Janet's father.  Jodie is absent.

Three's Company: A Crowded Romance

Three's Company: A Crowded Romance
ABC
December 2, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B

Mark Tuttle wrote this episode that proves that not only could the show carry on just fine without Somers, but the trio of Jack, Janet, and Larry has a lot to be said for it.  Janet is caught in the middle when both guys unknowingly fall for the same girl.  And meanwhile Jack has a job as a mechanical man in a store window.  (Making $400 a week!)  Some good lines and solid acting.  Note that the first "Chrissy phone call" is actually one-sided, as Janet explains that the men are in love, no, not with each other, and we don't hear or see Chrissy's reaction.

Vernon Weddle, who was Murray on That Girl and Burnett on Mork & Mindy, plays the creatively named Mr. Weddle, while the Woman in Flower Shop Fay DeWitt (who if I recall correctly is Joyce's cousin) was Betsy on That Girl and Annie Wanker on Mork & Mindy (different episodes).

M*A*S*H: Cementing Relationships

M*A*S*H: Cementing Relationships
CBS
December 1, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
C

David Pollock and Elias Davis's first of eighteen M*A*S*H stories (Pollock did one for What's Happening!!) seems like it would have potential, but it just doesn't work for me.  The title mostly references the 4077th's struggles to put in a cement floor in the OR.  The other thread is about a stereotypical Italian soldier, Corpsman Ignazio De Simone, played by Joel Brooks, who's usually much better than this.  He falls for Margaret and becomes a nuisance.  The episode isn't awful but it's not funny or insightful either.  Note that Klinger is now so dumb he can't spell "caution," although he's still brighter than Soap's Danny Dallas.  Kellye Nakahara returns as Yamato.

Bosom Buddies: Pilot

Bosom Buddies: Pilot
ABC
November 27, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B

When this premiered on Thursday at 8:30, after Mork & Mindy, I soon had a new favorite show.  It's a little hard to sort out how I felt about the show in junior high, or how I felt seeing it again at 16, when Splash's popularity caused NBC to resurrect this program that ABC (and most folks) had too little faith in, let alone what it was like to see it appear on cable in the early '90s, with its defiant theme song-- a cover of Billy Joel's "My Life"-- replaced by the pop-souly "Try to Shake Me Loose," whose instrumental version had aired in the closing credits from the beginning.  And now, so many layers, over 35 years later.  Deep breath, here goes, let me try to untangle this.

First off, it had a young, relatively inexperienced cast:

• 32-year-old Telma Hopkins as Isabelle Hammond
• 25-year-old Peter Scolari as Henry Desmond
• 24-year-old Tom Hanks as Kip Wilson
• 23-year-old Donna Dixon as Sonny Lumet
• 22-year-old Wendie Jo Sperber as Amy

Even Holland Taylor, who plays Ruth Dunbar, was only 37 at the time (and she honestly hasn't aged much since).  With the exception of Dixon (who never quite clicked), they all have a firm hold on their characters right from the beginning.  The chemistry is strong as well, especially with Hanks and Scolari riffing together like they'd been doing this for decades.  Joel Zwick, who had directed three first season Mork & Mindy episodes, directs his first of eighteen for this show, nearly half of the total (37), and he deserves some of the credit for the pilot being as strong as it is.

But I think even more should go to creator Chris Thompson, who would write eight more episodes.  He gave the two leads sharp, hip, funny lines, like the one about Black Like Me.  At twelve, I was still too young to watch Saturday Night Live much (and it would be pretty lame that season anyway), but this was my cutting-edge show, even if the critics and others thought it was a pathetic rip-off of Some Like It Hot.  This first episode does have some SLIH moments, like when all the neighbors come by for drinks in their nighties, but this program was never just about drag humor.  When Burt and Danny wore drag in Soap's season-opener, it was supposed to be funny just to see them in wigs and dresses.  BBuddies always put an extra little spin, like in the "Macho Man" sequence pictured above.*

The other aspect of the show I need to talk about is that Kip and Henry were ad men, but they were nothing like Darrin Stephens.  They had late-Baby-Boomer pop-cultural sensibilities, which would show up in their ads but mostly in their banter.  I didn't get all the jokes at the time-- I probably laughed harder at the Margaret Trudeau reference now, in middle age with an awareness of her affairs, than I would've in the past-- but as with Mystery Science Theater later, I loved trying to keep up.  Also, the conflict between advertising and their more artistic dreams is set up here in the pilot and would play out in various ways throughout the series, something I hadn't seen much of on television, and is perhaps more poignant for being set in such an on-the-cusp time as the early '80s, when it was not yet The Eighties in the way that 1987 for instance would be but is not the '70s either.  I'll talk about that more later, and not just in reference to this show.

Mike Agresta, who was an uncredited Student on Welcome Back, Kotter, is an uncredited Office Worker here.  I don't think I have Edie Adams in anything else, but I'll note that she appears as the building manager Darlene.


*Note that the music rights issue is a complicated one for this series.  Besides "My Life," other songs would be omitted from the DVD versions and sometimes cable as well.  So I will at times watch both the DVD and VHS copies and compare them, perhaps adding my memories of what's missing from either or both.

Mork & Mindy: Dueling Skates

Mork & Mindy: Dueling Skates
ABC
November 27, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
C+

I recorded this episode at the time, but on audiocassette, which is funny considering it's such a visual episode.  In fact, I would've gone with a C but I like the scenery, even if it's probably mostly California pretending to be Colorado.  Mork challenges a skater named Wheels to keep the daycare center from being torn down.  The writing by McRaven & Johnson could be stronger, like how Mork says he might do some kind of time freeze but then he doesn't or even come close to it.  Also, Glenda Faye shows up for just a few lines and then disappears from the rest of the episode.  Note that Mork passes a place in downtown that has a sign "Keep Boulder Pure," ominously suggesting that the white power group from last season is still around.

Bill Morey, who's Mr. Simpson, previously was Mr. Prendergast.  Tom Kindle plays his third unpleasant Mork character, Bozz the sidekick.  The manager of the daycare is now Mrs. Fowler, played by Priscilla Morrill, who was Miss Kalinowski last season.  Oddly enough, Garry Marshall himself directed this one, which he generally didn't do on the shows he created.

Soap: Episode 72

I couldn't get a still for this episode, so
here's Arthur Peterson, possibly on
his Gilligan's Island appearance.

Soap: Episode 72
ABC
November 26, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
C+

Sheriff Burt tells Jodie that there's nothing he can do about Wendy, since it doesn't count as kidnapping if it's the parent and there's no ransom demand.  Mary receives Burt's blackmail pictures, which she shows to Jessica.  Dutch and Eunice announce that they're getting married next week.  Chester is upset, until Dutch saves them all by jumping on Leslie's grenade.  And Jessica tells Chester she's divorcing him and he can live in the pool house.  I want to add to my previous thoughts on the dumbing down of Danny that one difference between him and Chrissy Snow is that with her, the viewer waited to see how she'd react, while with Danny it just slows the scene down.  (And he's no Gilligan either.)

Chuck, Bob, and of course Corinne are absent.

Three's Company: Downhill Chaser

Three's Company: Downhill Chaser
ABC
November 25, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This Staretski & Rips episode has a couple mentions of Chrissy, but she's otherwise absent.  (The phone tags would start later.)  I don't think she's particularly necessary to the story and I would've gone with a B-, but Mr. Furley being chased by a fat masseuse wasn't particularly funny.  To balance that a little, when he makes his entrance in his ski clothes, he's a walking sight gag and the studio audience appreciates it.  Jack is deceiving a girl again, this time ski enthusiast Inga (Laurette Spang, who was Juanita Havlicek, daughter to the Tom Bosley and Cloris Leachman characters, in the first Love Boat TV-movie).  Larry is proud of Jack, and Janet is dubious.

This is the 900th sitcom I've reviewed (not counting dramedies), so hitting 1000 should be no problem.

M*A*S*H: Letters

M*A*S*H: Letters
CBS
November 24, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
C+

I feel like most of the cast is sort of going through the motions in this Koenig story, with the exception of Alda.  Hawkeye's friend, a fourth-grade teacher, has her students write to the 4077th, and he wants his coworkers to answer the letters, but he finds that his reply is the hardest to write.  I have to admit that at this point, of the five regular series I'll be reviewing for the '80-'81 season (Bosom Buddies will debut soon), M*A*S*H is the one that least intrigues me.  There's a feeling of complacency and inertia setting in, although perhaps this is temporary.  This is the 300th C+ I've given and plainly far from the last.

Richard Paul, who plays Capt. Bill Bainbridge, recently had appeared on Match Game.  Michael Currie, who plays Dr. Breuer, would be the Governor on Soap.  Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), Shari Saba (Nurse Shari), and Eileen Saki (Rosie) return.

Mork & Mindy: Mork in Never-Never Land

Mork & Mindy: Mork in Never-Never Land
ABC
November 20, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Wendy Kout's first of seven Mork stories has Mork becoming pen pals with "Peter Pan," while Mindy waits to find out if she'll get a scholarship to grad school.  She doesn't and the script sort of glosses over this like it's not a big deal at the end.  I mean, yes, she should keep going on with life, but I'd like some acknowledgement that it will be an adjustment for her, an adjustment that learning to crow like a rooster won't help.  Note that Glenda Faye is now presented as Mindy's friend from high school, rather than just someone Nelson met recently.

Dick Yarmy, who plays Sid, has many TV credits, including two appearances on That Girl, and two previous cameos on this show.

Soap: Episode 71

Soap: Episode 71
ABC
November 19, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
C+

This Harris/Silver/Clair/ McMahon episode is a bit of an improvement.  There's still some unfunny stuff with Jessica's suitors, but at least she tells them that she doesn't want to marry any of them.  Her scene with Corinne saying goodbye before moving to California is pretty good.  (Canova was going on to her own series, I'm a Big Girl Now, which I watched, although I had not yet seen Soap.  I later also watched Canova's series Throb.)  Wendy being kidnapped adds some drama to the end of the episode, although logistically I'm not sure how this would work.  (When Elaine was kidnapped from the second floor, it was at least night time and some of the family were asleep.)

I want to talk about Danny in his own couple paragraphs because I feel like how his character is handled in the fourth season has a lot to do with how I feel about the season.  Other things will go wrong (El Puerco for instance), but this episode shows how Danny's decline as a character is linked to the decline in the show.  Danny was never a bright guy but, as with Chrissy on Three's Company, his intelligence was Flanderized, to the point that Burt now makes remarks about it, like Jack would on 3'sC.  Unfortunately, while Somers could take the dumb blonde stereotype to places it had never been before, Ted Wass isn't able to do anything similar for Danny.

So in this episode, Polly realizes she loves Danny but isn't in love with him.  It seems a bit late to come to this realization, considering they bought a house together, but OK, fine, she was in mourning for her late husband and she now recognizes that she rushed into things with Danny.  She not only refuses his offer of marriage, but she breaks up with him.  And he can't react to her, he can barely say goodbye.  Then later he is depressed, and there are jokes about him contemplating suicide, mixed in with jokes about his idiocy!  I didn't find the Danny & Polly relationship the romance of the century, but they were sweet together, and this resolution of it feels awkward and contrived.  (Plus I didn't like Danny's fourth season girlfriends, but that's a later discussion.)  Maybe there was nowhere else to go with the Polly thread, but, while the Elaine thread started as badly as possible (with rape), it managed a moving ending.  This resolution leaves us with less than nothing.

The Major, Billy, Eunice, Dutch, and Saunders are absent.

Three's Company: A Hundred Dollars a What?

Three's Company: A Hundred Dollars a What?
ABC
November 18, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This George Burditt episode is probably more famous for what went on behind the scenes than for what happened onscreen.  It would be the final full appearance of Somers as Chrissy Snow, although this wasn't known at the time.  It was, however, tense during filming and I suppose there's a slight undercurrent of this although everyone acted (both performed and behaved) like professionals.  The trio are noticeably less physically affectionate with each other if you compare, for instance, the ending of the "Secret Admirer" episode to this one.  But as a twelve-year-old long-time viewer, I certainly didn't pick up on any of this.  I was probably more surprised by the raciness of the story, with Chrissy's old friend Darlene (Elaine Giftos, who had been Jerry's controlling girlfriend Cynthia on The Bob Newhart Show and who would be Janet's old friend Randy later) visiting and turning out to be a call girl.  (Not watching much of Barney Miller, I usually didn't see prostitutes on sitcoms for more than a moment or two.)

Note that I think Jack's hometown of San Diego had been mentioned before, and Chrissy's of Fresno definitely had.  It does seem odd that Jack's mother hasn't met Janet and Chrissy yet, or even heard about Jack living with them, but it will turn out later this season that Janet's parents (back in Indiana) haven't heard of her living arrangement either.  Both of Chrissy's parents having visited, her father repeatedly, is more unusual.  But then Chrissy seems closer to her family, as subsequent events would prove.

Mickey Deems makes his second of five 3'sC appearances, as Gambel.

M*A*S*H: The Best of Enemies

M*A*S*H: The Best of Enemies
CBS
November 17, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
C+

In this Sheldon Bull story, Potter and Winchester challenge each other to a bridge tournament, but dark horses Houlihan and Hunnicut win.  Hawkeye meanwhile spends most of his 24-hour pass trying to save the comrade of a soldier, Li Han (Mako in his last of four M*A*S*H roles).  I found most of the episode slow-going, although it does pick up in the last few minutes.

Match Game PM

Match Game PM
CBS
November 16, 1980
Game Show
DVD
B

This episode is mainly notable for the flirtation between Debralee and the contestant named Earl, and of course everyone else's reaction, including Dolly Martin (Dick's wife) matchmaking them.  And Debralee mentions Richard Dawson at one point.  Jimmie "JJ" Walker is the other celebrity.

Mork & Mindy: Putting the Ork Back in Mork

Mork & Mindy: Putting the Ork Back in Mork
ABC
November 13, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B

As the title suggests, this Scharlach & Tenowich season-opener has Mork, and the show, trying to find the way back to what was lost.  The result is in turns bittersweet, funny, moving, and meandering.  Although Janis was back for good, the second season additions weren't dumped, and in fact we also get Crissy Wilzak in her first of 22 appearances as Glenda Faye Comstock.  The Da Vincis now run a restaurant ("Eat your last supper here," Remo suggests as a slogan), while Nelson is changing his self image after losing the election.  These four young characters still don't have terribly much to do though, which is why the episode isn't a B+ or higher.

When the focus is on Mork and Mindy, with and without Fred and The Elder (Vidal I. Peterson in the first of two appearances), things really hum though.  Williams starts out doing a very bland, whitebread Earthling and then gradually returns to something more like (but not identical to) first-season Mork.  His jokes and his energy are stronger than they've been in a long while, and I laughed out loud a few times.  (There are a couple swipes at Republicans, including, yes, Nixon, but my favorite line was the throwaway about ABC shaking up the schedule the previous season.)  The sweetness of M & M's relationship also gets more attention than it usually did in Season Two.  Whether the show can sustain this quality for the rest of the season is unknown, but it certainly has more potential than Soap's season-opener indicates.

I remember this episode from the time, including that at twelve I got that the joke about "You should've seen the way we used to do this," in reference to Mindy putting her finger in Mork's ear so she can speak with Orson, was a sex joke.  I remember enjoying the episode then, especially Peterson's performance; I'd forgotten until watching it now that the Orkan backwards aging didn't come up before.  Note that most of Mindy's memories, set to a cover of "Memories," look like they're extended clips of scenes from the credits, such as flying the kite.

Amy Tenowich returns as Lola.  And this is the episode that introduces Mork's pet noggachump, Bebo.

Soap: Episode 70

Jodie understands my pain.

Soap: Episode 70
ABC
November 12, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
C

Signal Jaws, the jumping is nigh!  With a one-hour season premiere and a move over to Wednesdays at 9:30 (after Taxi), this was probably highly anticipated by fans at the time.  (I was watching Facts of Life in its first "Jo season.")  Viewing this episode in syndication a couple years later, I don't think I immediately noticed the drop in quality, only in looking back.  But, yes, even at fourteen, I sensed there was something off about Season Four.

Harris and Silver were still writing, but they added on the team of Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon, who had, among other things, co-written a very early Bob Newhart Show episode, but who were mostly known for The Carol Burnett Show.  So perhaps it's not surprising that the comedy became even broader during their thirteen episodes of Soap.  Here in the season-opener, this can be seen particularly with Burt and Danny, both of whom, especially Danny, have become increasingly idiotic, although Burt's lines about his baby son are needlessly stupid.  They and three of Jessica's suitors end up in turban-like head bandages.  If any of this were funny, I might forgive it.  (After all, the comedy was pretty broad on Three's Company by '80 but it usually worked.)  But it's not.  There are moments I like, stray lines like Burt's "Shocked?  I'm appalled!" and Danny's reaction to porn on the hotel TV: "Norman Lear has really changed television."  And of course Crystal remains solid as Jodie.  I'm assuming Harris or perhaps Silver is responsible for some of this, as she probably is for the "eating candy at Mary's hospital bed" scene between the two sisters.  But the writing is definitely on the wall.

As for the actual threads, in no particular order (since the timeline really doesn't make any sense, considering how long Leslie points a gun at Billy, and considering that the judge was supposed to render her decision about Wendy's custody the morning after Jodie left the courtroom with his dignity intact):

1. Mary gives birth to a healthy baby boy.
2. Burt and Danny wake up in the aforementioned hotel room and later receive blackmail photos from Tibbs.
3. Absolutely no mention is made of Polly, despite Danny's proposal in the previous episode.
4. The judge awards custody to Jodie because Mrs. David admitted to the judge that she committed perjury.  (No mention of her or Carol being punished for this, beyond not getting Wendy.)  Jodie offers Carol fair visitation rights, but Carol says she'll make Jodie regret he ever had a daughter.
5. Jessica is in a coma where she can nonetheless speak, and then she mysteriously recovers.  (I've seen the special where Bea Arthur is Jessica's guide in Heaven, but this was in 1983 at the Museum of Broadcasting in New York [as the Paley Center for Media was then known], so I can't tell you much about it, other than I liked it more than the fourth season.)
6. Her suitors squabble over her, leading to the psychiatrist falling out the window, breaking every bone in his body, and laughing about it (because he'll have the neighboring hospital room).  Howdy, Jabberjaw!
7. Dutch decides that he'll have Eunice and Corinne draw cards to see who "wins" him.  They go along with this.  (Oddly enough, this would be a device in Gosford Park.)  Corinne bluffs but Eunice has the high card.  Eunice gloats.  Corinne and Dutch agree to just be pals again, but Corinne tells him she's going to move out.  (This is even worse than I remembered.  I thought that Dutch chose Eunice because she'd got him his freedom.  This is such a cop-out!)
8. And Leslie, as I mentioned, tries to kill Billy but draws it out.  The Major takes her gun away to inspect it but hands it back.  Leslie ends up shooting Saunders in the temple.  (Jessica later comments, "I didn't even know he was Jewish.")

Sarina C. Grant, who was a Ticket Master on What's Happening!! makes her first of two appearances as the Nurse who wonders why Mary is relieved her baby is white (rather than silver).  Sheldon Feldner, who was a Bailiff before, makes his first of five appearances as Deputy Perkins.  Brian Kale makes his first of two appearances as the Emergency Doctor; he'd also play an anesthesiologist later.

Three's Company: And Justice for Jack

Three's Company: And Justice for Jack
ABC
November 11, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
C-

This George Burditt story is a mess and I would've given it a D+, but I bumped it up for a great Furley outfit that understandably makes a judge say she can't believe her eyes.  Jack gets a job working in a diner for Mrs. Marconi (Ellen Travolta).  She keeps grabbing and pinching him.  He tells Janet, who suggests he complain to his boss, but Mrs. Marconi fires him.  Then Janet thinks Jack should sue for sexual harassment.  The show could make a truly feminist point that harassment is just as awful when it happens to men, but everyone (including at times Janet) seems amused and/or titillated by his case, and then the judge blames the victim for dressing provocatively.  This could still make a point, that male victims are humiliated equally, although sometimes in different ways, but then in the tag Jack jokes about harassing his new boss's daughter.  I guess we can be glad that 3'sC didn't do more "very special episodes" because they're even worse at it than Mork & Mindy.

David Tress, who plays Virgil, previously was a Desk Sergeant.  Steven Anderson, who's Higgins, played a Young Man on The Bob Newhart Show.  But the most notable cast note is that Suzanne Somers was absent that week and the script had to be revised.  Chrissy is visiting her parents for "a couple days," so I guess this could fit into the timeline after the next episode, though since this is set in June, perhaps she visited them again in the Fall.

Match Game PM

This looks like it was an earlier,
more '70s appearance of Sutton.

Match Game PM
CBS
November 2, 1980
Game Show
DVD
B-

Along with more familiar contestants and two Vegas stars, pitcher Don Sutton appears.  Since it's the PM edition, there are two audience-matches, with double the potential money for the celebrity wheel.

Three's Company: Upstairs, Downstairs, Upstairs

Three's Company: Upstairs, Downstairs, Upstairs
ABC
October 28, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This is the first of twenty and twenty-one 3'sC stories by respectively Martin Rips and Joseph Staretski, who had co-written for The Ropers and who would go on to Three's a Crowd.  It's well known among fans for being taped almost in real time, like a play, and I'm guessing Jack's sweat and exhaustion weren't just acting and make-up.  As I noted before, I sometimes confuse it with "Double Date," which was actually two years earlier, not in the same season, as I also thought.  Anyway, the stakes are even higher here, as Jack entertains four women (and Mr. Furley) in three apartments, throughout most of the episode.

Despite backstage troubles with Somers, Three's Company actually premiered earlier than my other shows that season, due to an actors' strike that delayed debuts weeks or even months.  So unlike previous years, where we'd be seeing entries in September, we're looking more at November for 1980.

Match Game

Match Game
CBS

September 5, 1980

Game Show
DVD
B-

Richard Paul might be the least familiar panelist this episode (well, maybe tied with Braverman), but he was at the time recognizable for Carter Country among other things, and he would guest on M*A*S*H a couple months after this; he often played police, ministers, and other figures of authority, including Jerry Falwell in a TV-movie.  I'm actually more surprised to see Jamie Lee Curtis back.  The episode is also notable for Gene breaking down a wall.  (The man seems to have had anger issues, or at least hostility towards the set.)

Match Game

Phyllis Davis, definitely this week.

Match Game
CBS
August 24, 1980
Game Show
DVD
B-

Well, it looks like this is the earlier of the two episodes from this date, although it's on Disc 2 and the other is on Disc 1.  Equally entertaining.

Match Game

A different episode with Donner.

Match Game
CBS
August 24, 1980
Game Show
DVD
B-

No classic moments but generally entertaining with two very bubbly contestants and a nice celebrity line-up, including Mork's Robert Donner, Vegas's Phyllis Davis, and Trapper John regular Charles Siebert, who was Mr. Ramsey on What's Happening!!

Three's Company: Jack's Graduation

Three's Company: Jack's Graduation
ABC
May 6, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Back on the first episode that aired, Jack said he was going to graduate from his cooking school in 1980, and Janet remarked how long a time this was.  I'm sure that none of the cast, except maybe Somers, expected the show to last that long, but here we are, and not even at the midpoint of the series.  (It is, however, the 80th episode, and airing in '80, although the first two pilots would not air for many years more.)  I definitely remember this episode from the time, including Chrissy's way of abbreviating "Congratulations on Your Graduation."  It has quite a bit for William Pierson to do in his penultimate appearance as Dean Travers, since Jack's final exam is switched by his classmate and the trio have to prove that Jack should've passed.  The Baser & Weiskopf story is also notable for the first glimpse of a nicer, more sentimental Ralph Furley than we've seen through most of his first season.  He's starting to genuinely become the kids' friend, although less than he would be later.

Three's Company in its fourth season fluctuates wildly in quality, with two D+s and two B+s, and a low B- average overall.  There's no one reason for this.  For example, Chrissy has become an even dumber and more cartoonish blonde than in Season Three, and yet sometimes this is funny and sometimes it's painful.  Lana's character is a misfire, and yet she has some good moments, like on the "camping" episode and the one where she thinks Jack is having an affair with Janet and/or Chrissy.  And it's not any particular writer(s) at fault.  Season Five of course would have the impact of behind-the-scenes shake-ups, and yet I recall some good episodes then.

Mork & Mindy: The Way Mork Were

Note the frost on the window.

Mork & Mindy: The Way Mork Were
ABC
May 1, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
C

This Kelly & Misch clip-show closes out the season, with Mork and Mindy flashing back to points in their relationship (and Mork's first acquaintance with Exidor) in order to comfort Fred, who's having adjustment problems in his marriage.  I have no idea when this is set, considering that it is supposed to be pouring down snow outside, but Fred has been mostly gone for a year.

Mork & Mindy in its second season ranges from C- to B+, with a high C+ average.  So, although it's not as good as the first season, its decline has been exaggerated.  I was surprised that it wasn't necessarily the out there episodes that were the problem, although the "Wonderland" opener was a bad idea, but rather trying to tackle the issue of the week too often, and often too clumsily.  Obviously, taking away Cora and for the most part Fred was a mistake, as was adding too many young and not terribly well defined characters as M & M's friends.  (Are there any Nelson Flavor fans out there?)  Season Three would, as I recall, try to find its way back home, with mixed results.

Journey: Any Way You Want It

Journey: Any Way You Want It
Recorded November 1979, released 1980
Music Video
DVD
B

Energetic rendition of one of the band's best songs, in front of an enthusiastic audience.  No visual razzle-dazzle, and this is still not a video by the standards of MTV a year or two later, but a treat for any fan.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Here Comes My Girl

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Here Comes My Girl
Song released April 7, 1980
Music Video
DVD
C+

The direction by John Goodhue is kind of clumsy on this one, although it's basically just the band onstage.

Soap: Episode 69

Soap: Episode 69
ABC
March 27, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Harris & Silver wrote this one-hour season finale, which has everyone, including both Benson and Saunders.  The former shows up at Jessica's deathbed, where the various men in love with her are gathered, but the love and friendship between Jessica and Benson feels more real.  And there's a sweet segment where Mary and Jessica talk about their relationship, including arguing over whether Jessica is a year younger or older than Mary.  (Mary just seems like an older sister.)  Then Mary, who earlier in the episode tries to tell Burt about the uncertain paternity of her baby, goes into labor.

I would've gone with a B or B+ but other threads are weaker, and yes, Dutch sobs and Leslie threatens suicide and homicide.  Elmore Tibbs (Hamilton Camp in his first of two appearances) has his two goons rough up Burt and Danny because the new sheriff closed down Tibbs's massage parlors, and he's going to have the unconscious Burt and Danny posed for blackmail pictures with "the girls."  I like Camp but, as I said before, this is one of my least favorite plot threads.

Meanwhile, Danny proposes to Polly in a restaurant, but she doesn't think he can handle people's reactions to their relationship.  Corinne and Eunice want Dutch to decide between them.  These are OK threads, although I didn't like how they were resolved.

The custody trial thread remains strong, with Carol's mother (whose name turns out to be Earlene) joining in on the perjury.  Jodie is so shocked and angry that he throws a fit in the courtroom and then storms out.  And between the two David women's testimony, he maintains his dignity while the opposing lawyer makes personal remarks about his sex life.

Sheldon Feldner, who plays a Bailiff here, would be Deputy Perkins for five episodes in the next season.

As for this season, I gave B-s to 19 out of 22 episodes, C+s to the rest, so I'd say it's not a bad season at all, despite its flaws.  The fourth season is, as I recall, where the sharks swarmed, but maybe it'll turn out to be not as bad as I think, just not as good as what came before.

Three's Company: The Goodbye Guy

An overheard conversation is misunderstood.

Three's Company: The Goodbye Guy
ABC
March 25, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
C-

I've never liked this Albrecht & Weinstein story.  While I think you could get some dark comedy out of suicide, I dislike that Mr. Furley exploits the situation of the trio thinking he's suicidal.  That said, the party scene isn't too bad.

M*A*S*H: April Fools

"A furry Claudette Colbert"

M*A*S*H: April Fools
CBS
March 24, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
B

This Dennis Koenig story doesn't close out the season by sending a character away or wrapping up anything, and yet it is satisfying in its twisting plot.  I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it, but I really didn't know where it was going.  And, no, I don't know which April this is supposed to be, but I'm guessing 1952.

G.W. Bailey (Rizzo, who probably is in on the prank), Roy Goldman (as Roy Goldman), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), and Jennifer Davis Westmore (still a nameless Nurse) return.

M*A*S*H in its eighth season ranges from C- to B, but almost half of the episodes (twelve out of twenty-five) are B-, and the average is B-.  So, despite Radar's departure and sometimes weaker writing and/or direction, I can't say that the show has jumped the shark by any means.  I'll be curious to see what happens in Season Nine.

Soap: Episode 68

Soap: Episode 68
ABC
March 20, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
B-

In this Harris & Silver episode, Mary, who still hasn't told Burt, confesses to Jodie that her baby might be Alien Burt's.  Jessica finds out she has only a few days or weeks to live.  Burt (offscreen) makes Sheriff Prentice give himself up.  And Eunice, having heard about Jessica's illness, returns, but considering how much nicer Corinne is, and that Canova looks stunning in the bedroom scene, Dutch's indecision here and later has always been inexplicable to me.  Dutch crying over Jessica's illness (he doesn't yet know she's dying) and Leslie's suicidal/homicidal threats are starting to get annoying, although not as bad as they will be.  Note that the studio audience takes a moment to get Eunice's line about Dutch acting like a dog and "hiding a bone" in Corinne's bed.

Deborah Combs makes her first of four appearances as a nameless Nurse.

Mork & Mindy: Invasion of the Mork Snatchers

Mork & Mindy: Invasion of the Mork Snatchers
ABC
March 20, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This Tenowich & Sharlach episode hasn't aged well, not just because the references to specific ads are very dated.  I mean, yes, I vaguely remember "Chow Chow Chow" for cat food, and the hand lotion thing about which one is the mother, but these aren't inherently funny in the way that, for instance, two of the Calgon commercials were ("Calgon, take me away!" and "Ancient Chinese secret, huh?").  It's also that the message that child-like (except when he's making sex jokes) Mork needs to just use careful judgment when shopping feels even more contrived than it did back then.  Yes, I get it, this is a network show and you can't have a totally anti-advertising message, but it does weaken the episode to pull back into wishy-washiness.  Note the Ray Walston reference, which almost qualifies as a double in-joke, since not only was My Favorite Martian a sort of predecessor to this show, but Williams would at the time of this episode's shooting probably not yet have filmed his Popeye scenes with Walston as Poopdeck Pappy.

Gina Hecht's absence is referenced, as if M & M couldn't have had just Remo over for dinner.  Samantha Harper, who plays Mrs. L.W., was Nurse Burke on The Bob Newhart Show.  Laxative Salesman Terrence McNally would be Brad on Who's the Boss?  And, yes, that's That Girl's Ruth Bauman, AKA Alice Borden, as the Floor Wax Saleswoman.

Soap: Episode 67

Soap: Episode 67
ABC
March 13, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
B-

The main reason to watch this Harris & Silver episode is for Day One of the custody trial, with Crystal particularly good, although I think Balding deserves kudos for how she plays Carol as innocent-seeming but dishonest underneath.  (It's a much subtler performance than other villainesses on the show.)  Meanwhile Burt wins the election but his predecessor holes up in the sheriff's office.  Jessica is in the hospital with mysterious symptoms.  Dutch thinks he should leave, especially with "Sandy" doing the cooking now, but Corinne loves him and convinces him to stay.

Granville Van Dusen makes his first of five appearances as Dr. Hill, while Rae Allen and Michael Durrell make their first of four, as respectively Judge Betty Small and Carol's lawyer F. Peter Haversham.  The Major, Billy, and of course Eunice are absent.

Three's Company: Secret Admirer

Three's Company: Secret Admirer
ABC
March 11, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Mark Tuttle worked on this episode with Joyce Gittlin and Steve Clements, who'd co-written a couple for Welcome Back, Kotter, but unfortunately it's a weak remake of Man About the House's "Somebody Out There Likes Me."  My main gripe (as it was on my blog five years ago) is with Jack's behavior, how he insults Janet, Chrissy and the secret admirer, Gilbert Larwin (former child star Barry Gordon, at this point in his career in between Fish and Archie Bunker's Place).  Jack also jumps to conclusions and gives bad advice.  Janet is guilty of this, too, but less so.  What I do like is the wardrobe (from Chrissy's springtime dress to Larry's zebra print robe), and that Chrissy and Gilbert actually hit it off.  If they were going to go in a different direction than the MAtH original (where SA actually fancies Jo but doesn't know her name), then why not just pursue Chrissy/Gilbert?  And have Jack be nicer.

David Himes, who plays Brad, had two roles on The Bob Newhart Show.  Stephen Johnson, who's Phil Durkin, would return as one of the many Police Officers on this show.  This is Paul Ainsley's last appearance as Jim the Bartender.