Who's the Boss?: Tony Kills

Mischievous priest

Who's the Boss?: Tony Kills
ABC
January 9, 1990
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Clay Graham wrote this story which is told partly with the framing device of Tony's first Confession in three years, to a priest in the old neighborhood, Father Marconi (Tom Troupe, who would return twice more in the role).  Tony was jealous of Fred Hartwell flirting with Angela and feels guilty that Fred dropped dead during a tennis match.  Fred's twin brother Ed shows up and guilts Tony into several favors, until Ed flirts with Angela.  Tony challenges Ed to a tennis match but worries that his anger at Ed will cause this twin to die, too.  Jeffrey Tambor plays both Hartwells and is as annoying as ever, which may be intentional but is nonetheless still annoying.  Watch this one for Tony's description to Father Marconi of his feelings for Angela and for T & A's flirtation in the tag.

M*A*S*H: Foreign Affairs

la splendeur dans l'herbe

M*A*S*H: Foreign Affairs
CBS
November 8, 1982
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Pollock & Davis wrote this story where Charles falls for a Frenchwoman with a more Bohemian past than he can handle, while PR agent Maj. Reddish (Jeffrey Tambor) wants to use a North Korean for propaganda purposes.  Again, Potter's age is inconsistent with other episodes, as is the time of his marriage to Mildred.

Byron Chung (his last appearance on the show, as Lt. Chong-Wa Park), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), Soon-Teck Oh (his last appearance, as Joon-Sung), Jo Ann Thompson (Nurse Jo Ann), and Dennis Troy (Corpsman) return.

Three's Company: Jack Goes to the Dentist

Three's Company: Jack Goes to the Dentist
ABC
October 12, 1982
Sitcom
DVD
C+

In this Grossman & Burditt story, Terri is dating a dentist, Dr. Phillip Greene (Tambor, this time in a brunet toupee), whom she finds herself unable to break up, with despite Janet's encouragement.  Finally, Janet has to tell him, and he assumes Terri is leaving him for another man, specifically Jack.  And meanwhile, Jack has recently become his patient.  For a Tambor episode, it's not bad, but I actually would've preferred that we not get the scene setting the audience up to expect Phil to torture Jack.  (He even straps him down to the chair!)  It's cheap and unfunny, and I wonder if there would've been a better way to go about this.  Note, I think Terri's hair, now with curls in it, looks much better in this episode than last season.

Three's Company: The Best of Three's Company

Three's Company: The Best of Three's Company
ABC
May 18, 1982
Sitcom
DVD
C+

It's funny, I remember very little about the last season of Mork & Mindy but I can pretty clearly remember this clip show.  Maybe it's the difference in the level of syndication, or maybe I did miss some of Mork with the hiatuses and all.  Anyway, it was a big deal to get a comedy icon like Lucille Ball to host a clip show for a series that the critics then hated.  The clips selected range from classic (like Jack waking up with Mr. Roper) to OK.  But it is a clip show and there's only so much you can do with that, especially at an hour's length.  Also, in '82, it was great to see the early episodes again, which you couldn't other than when they'd air in syndication, while now, after watching six seasons on DVD (and having seen the episodes many times over the years anyway), it's not such a big deal.  Note that this couldn't have aired at the end of the previous season, because the behind the scenes drama had not yet quieted down.

Besides the people I've tagged, the following appear in clips: Paul Ainsley (Jim the Bartender), Frank Aletter (Mr. Latham), Leon Askin (Mr. Hoffmeier), Michael Bell (as Michael the dance instructor, not as the guru), Jordan Charney (as Mr. Layton rather than as Mr. Angelino), Gina Conforti (Felipe), Cynthia Harris (Mrs. Layton), Sally Kemp (Mrs. Latham), Shell Kepler (Didi), Jillian Kesner (the Sister who beats up "David Miller"), Heather Lowe (Brenda), Tori Lysdahl (Shirley), William Pierson (Dean Travers), Irene Tedrow (Martha), and Isabelle Wolfe (Waitress).  I think I would've included Loni Anderson and more recognizable guest stars, but maybe they didn't want to take too much attention away from the main cast.

Three's Company in its sixth season ranges from two C-s to three Bs, averaging just barely over the B- side of the C+/B- border.  As at the time, it took me awhile to warm up to the Terri character, and I don't think the writers quite knew what to do with her at first, or with Cindy as a drop-in friend.  As I recall, in Season Seven I was reconciled to Terri but not as invested in the show as I was a few years earlier.  (And this clip show would've confirmed my belief that the series was better in the Chrissy days.)  That said, I kept watching to the end (and even beyond, with Three's a Crowd).

Three's Company: Two Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Three's Company: Two Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
ABC
November 17, 1981
Sitcom
DVD
C

Well, this episode isn't as bad as I remembered but neither is it the laff riot that so many people find it to be.  This time Jeffrey Tambor plays Dr. Tom Miller, Terri's friend who works on the psych ward.  She invites him out for a relaxing evening but Jack and Janet assume he's a psych patient.  The thing is, Tambor plays the guy so over the top that he does seem dangerously crazy and it doesn't feel like Jack and Janet are over-reacting.  Yes, they should know better about Terri's responsibility as a nurse, but there is something off about Tambor's basic persona (yes, on The Ropers, too, from what I recall), that the only solution would've been recasting, or rewriting by 3'sC newbie Shelley Zellman, who'd go on to do ten more scripts, including the indeed justifiably admired "Up in the Air."

This time Sheila Rogers gets a credit as the Desk Nurse.  Police Officer Stephen Johnson previously played Phil Durkin.

Three's Company: Father of the Bride

Three's Company: Father of the Bride
ABC
February 10, 1981
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Thirty-six-year-old Jeffrey Tambor, who was a regular on The Ropers, makes his first of three 3'sC appearances, here as Winston Cromwell III.  I know a lot of people think he's hilarious, but I find his annoying characters, well, annoying.  (Not just on Three's Company but also on Who's the Boss?  And, no, I've never seen Transparent.)  This is his most tolerable episode, mostly because Cindy holds to her principles and self-respect, Jack has his "pure but plowed" speech, and the wedding dresses are lovely.  (Better than what Jan and Marcia wore the previous week to be honest.)  And, OK, Tambor is sort of funny here, like the way his top hat wobbles on his head.  Note that this has probably the only phone call where Chrissy talks about Cindy.

Mickey Deems's middle of five 3'sC roles is the Singing Telegram Man, who serenades Jack with "You Made Me Love You."