Man About the House: Carry Me Back to Old Southampton

Man About the House: Carry Me Back to Old Southampton
ITV
13 February 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B

Robin fails his cooking exams and considers moving back to Southampton to work in his father's tube-extrusion factory, preferably as an executive.  He and the girls will miss each other, but Larry (Doug Fisher making a welcome return) sees this as an opportunity to move in.  Robin's father (Leslie Sands, who would be back for the final episode) shows up in person to talk Robin out of the move, and to offer to pay for another year of cookery school.  Unfortunately, Robin is unable to stop Larry from telling off his landlord, Mr. Gideon.  (John Carlin, who plays Mr. Gideon, would return as the queeny Barman of the Mucky Duck in future series of this show.)  I have mixed feelings about Chrissy's mixed feelings about Robin (they certainly add to the "no means maybe" myth), but otherwise this is a solid episode, focusing on the various relationships, including between Robin and Mr. Roper.  As for Series Two, it sits right on the B-/B border and it was worth revisiting, even if it did mean going back over a dozen years from where this blog is supposed to currently be.

Man About the House: Another Bride, Another Groom

Man About the House: Another Bride, Another Groom
ITV
7 April 1976
Sitcom
DVD
B

Chrissy marries Norman (Norman Eshley), and yet shares a big kiss with Robin at the end.  Five years after analyzing the show, I'm still not sure how to take this ending.  And I watched Robin's Nest but found O'Sullivan to have little chemistry with the actress who played his girlfriend and then wife.  (I am one of the few people who liked Vicky on Three's a Crowd, so it's not just a matter of having a ship sunk.)

Chrissy's parents (Glynn Edwards and Daphne Oxenford) and Norman's (Leslie Sands and Hilda Kriseman, previously a Shop Assistant) all appear.  This last series averages a B-, as did the show overall.  A generally entertaining programme.

Man About the House: Fire Down Below

Man About the House: Fire Down Below
ITV
31 March 1976
Sitcom
DVD
B

The previous episode was set in the winter, and Chrissy has now been dating Norman (Norman Eshley) for a couple months.  We get a montage of their sight-seeing and then, as Mr. Roper is trying to clear out the soot in the fireplace down below, Norman proposes to Chrissy.  Meanwhile, Robin, ironically with the help of two girls that Larry was hoping would be double-date crumpet for him and Robin, realizes he loves Chrissy.  But it's too late.  The scene with Robin and Chrissy near the end is poignant yet still funny.

Man About the House: The Sunshine Boys

Man About the House: The Sunshine Boys
ITV
17 March 1976
Sitcom
DVD
B-

George sells Mildred's sun lamp to Larry for five quid, and then Larry sells it to Robin for ten.  Mildred thinks it's been stolen when George says he doesn't know what happened to it.  Includes all three roommates in their swimsuits.

Man About the House: The Party's Over

Robin looks a lot less scruffy compared to series one.

Man About the House: The Party's Over
ITV
25 February 1976
Sitcom
DVD
B-

The sixth and last series of MAtH kicks off with a Jo-less episode, where her roommates and Larry try to throw a party and Roper tries to stop them.  Mildred is so angry that she leaves George, who soon goes to pieces, as does their flat. The implied adultery is surprising, although Mildred's even angrier reaction is not.

John Carlin again plays the Barman.

Man About the House: Come Fly with Me

Man About the House: Come Fly with Me
ITV
9 October 1975
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Chrissy's boss gives her two Sinatra tickets, at the same time that George buys a female budgie for his wedding anniversary.  Chrissy gives Jo a ticket very soon but strings along Robin for much of the episode.  It turns out no one gets to see Sinatra, and the girl that Robin was hoping to ask is interested in Chrissy.

Half the episodes of Series Five get a B-, the other half B.  It'll be interesting to see how the sixth and final season, starting in February, does.

Man About the House: How Does Your Garden Grow

Man About the House: How Does Your Garden Grow
ITV
2 October 1975
Sitcom
DVD
B

Funny episode with drug humor, later combined with the "home-brew" episode to form a Three's Company episode.  I like how the viewer as well as the roommates can't tell how much Jo is being deliberately daft.

Dustman Mike Savage would later be a Doorman, while this is Police Sergeant Ken Watson's third and last appearance on the show.

Man About the House: Love and Let Love

Man About the House: Love and Let Love
ITV
25 September 1975
Sitcom
DVD
B


The roommates try to come to sort of agreement about who can have the apartment each evening (till about midnight it seems), but it doesn't work out too well.  Meanwhile, George feels pressure from Mildred to "put up a shelf."  The episode is a bit tasteless but funny, like about Robin and Chrissy's "brother Joe," and the last scene with the Ropers has moments of sweetness.

Man About the House: The Last Picture Show

Man About the House: The Last Picture Show
ITV
4 September 1975
Sitcom
DVD
B

This is one of the more risque episodes, and not just with individual lines, as George is trying to hide dirty magazines from Mildred (and we get a glimpse of a very suggestive centerfold), while Larry buys what he thinks is a "blue movie."  It turns out to be a Mr. Magoo cartoon, which is why I've tagged Jim Backus.  I think this is an episode that adapted very well for Three's Company, but I do like having the additional scene at the film museum.  Note that Chrissy's home movie is in black & white, several years after Greg Brady was using color for his school project, but the Bradys had much more money than Chrissy and friends.

Man About the House: My Son, My Son

Man About the House: My Son, My Son
ITV
10 April 1975
Sitcom
DVD
B

This episode is funnier than I remembered, especially the bit where three people claim to be the Roper's nonexistent 19-year-old child Leslie. Also, Mrs. Roper wears a hat that leads to some funny lines.  And John Carlin as the Barman has a good bit where he reacts to what he thinks is Chrissy and Jo talking about the latter possibly having a child with George.  All pretty implausible but fun in a farcical way.

The fourth series averages out to the border of B- and B.  Two-thirds into the show's run, things seem to have settled into place and the characters play well off of each other.  Not everything works, but enough does.  The fifth series would come along less than five months later.

Man About the House: Never Give Your Real Name

Man About the House: Never Give Your Real Name
ITV
27 March 1975
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Watching this again, I felt like the Three's Company adaptation was better, from Larry being not quite as sleazy, to some of the comic timing.  I may change my mind when we get up to that episode, but that's how I feel right now.  Despite stalking off, Linda (Alison Hughes) would return.  And John Carlin is the Barman again.

Man About the House: All in the Game

Man About the House: All in the Game
ITV
20 March 1975
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This has references to homosexuality (both male and female), masturbation, BDSM group sex, and vampire pornography.  And it has the return of Roy Kinnear (Jerry), whose family life we find out more about.  The episode doesn't really go anywhere, but there is a flirtatious scene where Robin teaches Chrissy to play darts, and the scene of them playing another board game with the Ropers has its moments.

John Carlin plays the Barman again.  Ian Sharp, who's Tom here, previously was the Removal Man.

Man About the House: Home & Away

Man About the House: Home & Away
ITV
6 March 1975
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Brian Cooke wrote this kick-off to the fourth series without his partner Johnnie Mortimer, and it's not too memorable, except for the dirty-words Scrabble that Jo and Larry play which no one comments on.



Michael Redfern makes his final appearance, as Mike.  John Carlin takes over as the Barman.  This is the 500th sitcom I've reviewed and, yes, I'm pretty sure we'll reach 1000.

Man About the House: Three of a Kind

Man About the House: Three of a Kind
ITV
20 November 1974
Sitcom
DVD
C

This is a weak ending to the third series, with a poker plot and a hospital plot.  A domestic violence sight gag at the end (Mr. Roper injured by Mrs. Roper throwing her toby jug at him) sort of ties both plots together.  Duncan Lamont again plays Dr. M(a)cLeod.

This series averages out to a low B-.  The big-screen movie was released in December, and I review it on my MAtH/3's C blog (http://mathw3sc.blogspot.com/2011/05/movie-part-one.html), although I skipped it on my movie blog.  The fourth series would begin the following March.

Man About the House: Of Mice and Women

Man About the House: Of Mice and Women
ITV
30 October 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Both Robin and Mr. Roper use the presence of a mouse in the building for their own schemes, even after Larry tells them that he's killed it.  Chrissy almost gives into Robin's seduction, until he catches his foot in a trap.  Jo is getting more Gracie-Allen-like at this point, as with her reaction to a horse in a race being "scratched."

Man About the House: Come Into My Parlour

Man About the House: Come Into My Parlour
ITV
16 October 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B

Robin dates Chrissy's old schoolmate, whom Chrissy feels protective of.  Robin himself plans to seduce Angie, until he finds out she's a virgin and would see sex as a promise of a serious commitment.  Meanwhile Larry is fixing up the attic, although we don't actually see it.

Shop Assistant Hilda Kriseman would later play Robin's Mum.

Man About the House: Cuckoo in the Nest

Man About the House: Cuckoo in the Nest
ITV
9 October 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Well, I skimmed my blog for the second series (Winter '74) of this programme, since I've misplaced the DVD.  The main things that happened in that set of six episodes were that the sexual tension between Robin and Chrissy increased, and Larry moved in temporarily.  In this third-series opener, Larry is still there and the trio want him out.  The Greg-Brady solution is applied, where a previously unavailable attic is shown.  I really enjoyed this episode, although more in a grinning than laughing way.  And there's a surprisingly poignant part about Mr. Roper's old love letters.  The writing and the acting, including as an ensemble, are better than the previous year and, yes, I like the opening credits more.

Man About the House: No Children, No Dogs

Man About the House: No Children, No Dogs
ITV
26 September 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Robin's friend Larry tricks him and the Mucky Duck Landlord (Michael Segal) into taking puppies, although the Ropers have a no-dog rule.  But then the Mucky Duck is open after hours, with police customers, so there's quite a bit of rule-breaking going on.  Chrissy in particular has some witty lines here and the puppies are cute (although I'm not a dog person), but I marked this down from a B because of a few offensive lines, including one about a Chinese man.  Still, the line about Mrs. R being a bitch is funny in a shocking way.  (And she's never bitchy to the kids, just to her husband.)  Note that Robin claims his birthday is in February.

This wraps up the first series of MAtH, which averages out to a B-.  I seem to have misplaced the second series, which started the following January.  Unless it turns up, I'll just skip ahead.  I will note that the Robin & Chrissy flirting is pretty mild in these first few episodes, as is what little there is of Robin & Jo.

Man About the House: And Then There Were Two

"Gary Glitter is just so glittery!"

Man About the House: And Then There Were Two
ITV
5 September 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B

This is the first episode with some sexual tension between Robin and Chrissy, although he's mostly treating it as a joke at this point, and she thinks he's in love with her, or at least fancies her.  With Jo away at her nephew's christening, R & C are alone together.  But Robin ends up at the local pub, the Mucky Duck, with his best mate and new supporting character, Larry (Doug Fisher).  Robin "pulls a bird, Liz (Jenny Hanley, who would return despite storming off).  Chrissy is annoyed and jealous, so she pretends Robin got her pregnant.  And there's a nice scene in the middle with Mrs. Roper reminiscing about an American boyfriend during the war.  The "ravishing" talk isn't as offensive as it could be, and this is generally a funny episode, so a step up over the last two.