The Bob Newhart Show: My Wife Belongs to Daddy

The Bob Newhart Show: My Wife Belongs to Daddy
CBS
December 8, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Emily's parents Junior (John Randolph) and Aggie (Ann Rutherford) Harrison visit from Seattle.  Jerry Mayer's script is funny and human, from the reactions to Bob's robe to his rivalry with his father-in-law.

Dick Wilson plays Milt.  Byron Morrow did a couple That Girl episodes and is Devereaux here.

The Brady Bunch: The Elopement

The Brady Bunch: The Elopement
ABC
December 7, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Harry Winkler's penultimate Brady episode, and the last one directed by Jerry London (who was also directing The Bob Newhart Show that season), has the family thinking that Alice is going to elope with Sam (Allan Melvin).  Note that on the Johnny Bravo episode, Bobby had mentioned he plays the organ, although he's still not very good of it as of this episode.  (Better than he was at the drums though.)

The Bob Newhart Show: Blues for Mr. Borden

The Bob Newhart Show: Blues for Mr. Borden
CBS
December 1, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

The script by Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses isn't as funny as some, but it is sweet how the characters care about each other.  Howard's ex-wife is getting remarried and he's having trouble adjusting, although Little Howie (Moosie Drier) seems just fine about it.

The Bob Newhart Show: Mister Emily Hartley

The Bob Newhart Show: Mister Emily Hartley
CBS
November 3, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B

Charlotte Brown examines the effect Emily having a higher IQ has on Bob.  He's "petulant" but they do eventually talk things out.  (No, we don't find out Howard's IQ, since he doesn't finish the test.)

Bill Quinn, Newhart's real-life father-in-law, who had done a That Girl, makes his first of four BNS cameos, as Ralph Hodiak.  Writers Jay Tarses and Tom Patchett play respectively the Waiter and Dave Robbins (the backwards-speaking guy).

The Bob Newhart Show: Somebody Down Here Likes Me

The Bob Newhart Show: Somebody Down Here Likes Me
CBS
October 6, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Peter Meyerson, who wrote the "Mating Game" episode of That Girl and who would go on to do ten Welcome Back, Kotter episodes, contributes his only BNS script, about Bob counseling a reverend who's having doubts.  When he ends up running for mayor of Bangor, Maine, Carol says he seemed too honest to be a politician.  Well, if The Brady Bunch was making those sort of general political jokes, I guess you have to expect it here.

The Brady Bunch: Adios, Johnny Bravo

The Brady Bunch: Adios, Johnny Bravo
ABC
September 14, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B

While this contains not one but two songs by the kids ("You've Got to Be in Love to Love a Love Song" and "Good Time Music," neither of which had yet appeared on their cartoon show), this second of two Joanna Lee Brady stories has never quite made it to the upper tier of my list.  It's partly that it's somewhat of a rehash of the "Greg gets a swollen head and illusions about an uncertain career and abandons college" plot, this time with music substituted for baseball.  And it's also that the episode feels dated for its time, yes, even by Brady standards, and not in a good way.  (Although that Greg has his most dramatic scene in a ripped floral shirt did make me snicker.)  It's still enjoyable of course, but it's not of the level of the "Davy Jones" episode.

Paul Cavonis, who plays Buddy Berkman, would be on M*A*S*H a couple times.

The Bob Newhart Show: You Can't Win 'Em All

The Bob Newhart Show: You Can't Win 'Em All
CBS
February 24, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
C+

In this Bill Idelson story, Bob is counseling two Cubs players, although we mostly see Moose Washburn (Vern E. Rowe, who would later play a Trumpet Player).  Jim Watkins, who plays Phil Bender, would play Thomas Retain a dozen years later on Who's the Boss?  (He would then soon change his name to Julian Christopher, a name under which he still acts.)  Note that Jerry says that Bob has a niece but no nephew.

The Brady Bunch: Career Fever

The Brady Bunch: Career Fever
ABC
November 17, 1972
Sitcom
DVD
B

Burt Styler's last Brady story, co-written with wife Adele, is interesting for a few reasons.  For one thing, by this point in the series, the kids are just as likely to identify along age lines as they are along gender.  That is, Greg confides in Marcia about not wanting to be an architect, while Peter, who has ambitions as a doctor, confides in "his nurse" Jan when he thinks that he's got a fatal disease.  And the youngest two plan their various careers together.  Ironically, Jan would be the architect in her generation, although I don't know if she ever worked for Mike during the summer, as Greg apparently did.  Greg would be the doctor.  But I'll talk more about the "kids' " careers when I get to the '80s TV-movies.

The Brady Bunch: Fright Night

The Brady Bunch: Fright Night
ABC
October 27, 1972
Sitcom
DVD
B

Brad Radnitz's last Brady story is the first directed by Jerry London, and they both do a fine job of blending laughs and scares, just in time for Halloween.  It starts out as a boys vs. girls episode but turns into a kids vs. Alice episode.  The parents' attitudes are interesting, since they allow the girls to get even, but they do punish all the kids after the joke goes too far.  Note that this is our first glimpse of the attic, much like it would be during Greg's tenancy, only more cluttered of course.  And I have to say that this is the first Brady episode with several tacky outfits, although the extremes of '70s television fashion have yet to be unveiled.