Out of This World: I've Got a Secret

Out of This World: I've Got a Secret
Syndicated
May 28, 1988
Sitcom
VHS
B-

This is another episode I thought came later in the run, not realizing till I watched the whole thing again that Evie revealing the truth is all a dream.  Her father does a nice rendition of "Dream a Little Dream" at the end.  As with IGSS, I don't have every episode by a long shot, but what I taped earned 3 C+s and 2 B-s.  It's a cute little show but not an undiscovered gem by any means.

Kirk Findley played an unknown character here and in the "Mosquito Man" movie episode.  Jay Ingram, who plays Lt. Col. South (think Oliver North) would be Sidney Caldwell on Who's the Boss? the next year.  Buzz Belmondo, Steve Burton, and Christina Nigra return as Buzz, Chris Fuller, and Lindsay Selkirk respectively.

Out of This World: Boy Crazy

Out of This World: Boy Crazy
Syndicated
May 14, 1988
Sitcom
VHS
B-

Evie (whose middle name is revealed, perhaps for the first time, to be Ethel) befriends a punker named Boy Leslie (David Coburn, who would be Greer on Who's the Boss?).  Donna disapproves.  A lot of the humor feels two to five years out of date, e.g. Tammy Faye Bakker's eyelashes, but, with the help of Boy's music, this is a better than average episode for this series.

Ken Smolka, who plays Leslie's father, Rev. Drake, would be Senator Stewart on Who's the Boss?  Steve Burton and Christina Nigra return as Chris and Lindsay.

Out of This World: The Box Is Missing

No, Nigra doesn't play the cube.

Out of This World: The Box Is Missing
Syndicated
May 7, 1988
Sitcom
VHS
C+

The box in question is the cube that Evie and her dad use to communicate, although Evie and Donna react as if Troy himself has been kidnapped.  The mystery is pretty predictable of course, but I would've gone with a B-, due to the exploration of space powers, if not for some unfunny slapstick.  (This is the 400th C+.)

Fred Willard plays Milton Wyler of the Marlowe Vice, that is, he's a Miami-Vice-influenced cop for the town of Marlowe where this is set.  John Roarke, who was in the "diet clinic" episode, makes his last appearance in the series as Phil the handyman.  (And it's sort of a D.C. Follies reunion, since he did voices on there, as did Alaskey.)  April Kelly, who was one of the better Mork & Mindy writers (she did twenty-three episodes) co-wrote this with someone who didn't work on any of my other shows.

D.C. Follies: Reagan Tries to Wipe Out National Debt with TV Home Shopping Show

D.C. Follies: Reagan Tries to Wipe Out National Debt with TV Home Shopping Show
Syndicated
December 8, 1987
Satire
VHS
B-

Although three more episodes aired before the year closed out, this episode focuses on everyone's New Year's resolutions, with Reagan's attempt to wipe out the national debt creating moments not unlike the Fred Willard 1979 movie Americathon.  Ed Asner is the live guest star, mistaken for Gorbachev.

Out of This World: Beano's New Diet Clinic

A different episode, but an example of
Evie stopping time, as she does here.

Out of This World: Beano's New Diet Clinic
Syndicated
November 28, 1987
Fantasy, Sitcom
VHS
C+

The basic premise of this series is that Evie Garland (Maureen Flannigan) finds out on her 13th birthday that she's half-alien.  (Her absent father is voiced by Burt Reynolds, but not on this episode.) As with Bewitched, she's not supposed to use her powers, but she can't help giving in sometimes.  She lives with her mother Donna (Danza-ly named for Donna Pescow), whose brother Beano Froelich (Joe Alaskey) also lives in their small Californian coastal town.  Both are in on Evie's secret, but no one else is.

John Boni, who wrote three Three's Company episodes, here contributes his third of four for OoTW.  Although Beano is overweight, he's studied dieting and is about to open the Waist-a-Weigh Clinic.  Meanwhile, at Evie's small private school (where Donna is the principal or something), her classmate Alex (Scott Nemes, probably wearing a fatsuit, since he looks significantly heavier than on It's Garry Shandling's Show) is being teased about his weight.  The episode is conflicted about fat people, objecting to them being mocked but also insisting that they lose weight.  Note that the string of "clever" insults Beano demonstrates is inspired or ripped off from the "nose" insults Steve Martin does in the movie Roxanne, which had come out about five months earlier.

Both Alaskey (who was a voice-actor) and Nemes do celebrity impressions here, and this episode features Mayor Kyle Applegate (Doug McClure), who's never gotten over playing Mosquitoman on TV for three years.  (I was thinking this was a gentle jab at Palm Springs mayor Sonny Bono, but he wasn't elected till '88.  However, Clint Eastwood was mayor of Carmel from '86 to '88, so I guess that's what the reference is to.)

D.C. Follies: Nixon Gives Fred Financial Advice...and He Loses His Shirt

D.C. Follies: Nixon Gives Fred Financial Advice...and He Loses His Shirt
Syndicated
November 3, 1987
Satire
VHS
C+

Just in case you thought we were done with the bizarre world of the Krofft Brothers, we now look at a show somewhat inspired by Spitting Image, the British puppet show that satirized politics and pop culture.  DCF isn't especially funny (and wasn't really at the time), but it's interesting in a time-capsule sort of way.  The premise is that Fred Willard, playing "Fred," owns the titular bar, which is a hang-out for politicians, sports figures, entertainers, etc.  The puppetry (design, movement, and voicework, including by Joe Alaskey, who could be seen at the time on Out of This World) are quite good, but the puppets aren't given very good material.

Bob Dolan Smith and E. Jeffrey Smith wrote this episode where, yes, Nixon gives Fred bad financial advice.  Robert Klein is the live-action guest, as Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's new representative.  This is one of thirteen episodes Rick Locke directed.