Who's the Boss?: Marry Me, Mona

Who's the Boss?: Marry Me, Mona
ABC
March 29, 1988
Sitcom
DVD
B

Max Muldoon makes the title request, but Mona says no, until she meets Max's young and beautiful ex-wife.  This is Leslie Nielsen's second appearance on the show, but I guess we're to assume he and Mona have been seeing each other in the meantime.  Light does some very good acting, as the voice of reason, despite her fondness for Max.

Todd Starks, who previously played a character named Matt, is the Hardhat here.  Cinnamon, Fisch, Meyers, and Wengrod co-wrote this episode.

Who's the Boss?: Just Mona and Me

Who's the Boss?: Just Mona and Me
ABC
December 8, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Mindy Glazer wrote this story which introduces the character of Max Muldoon, played by 61-year-old Leslie Nielsen.  He's a new client of Angela's, and he and Mona are instantly smitten.  This is the most serious Mona has been about anyone in a very long time, and Angela is thrilled.  However, he has a secret, although not the one that the audience is misled into thinking.  He's not married but recently divorced, with a baby daughter, played by (as the fandom concluded years ago, although it has not been officially verified) by Katherine Danza.  (There are internal clues in the episode, and she was born in '87.)  Note that Sam and particularly Jonathan seem immediately fond of Max, unlike their reaction to Geoffrey.  This may be because they sense that Max would not break up their family, as Geoffrey would've, but overall Max is presented much more sympathetically here and later.  (Until, spoiler, he dumps Mona.)

M*A*S*H: The Ringbanger

M*A*S*H: The Ringbanger
CBS
January 21, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Jerry Mayer had already written a couple Bob Newhart Show scripts by this point, but this is his first of two for M*A*S*H.  The title character of Col. Buzz Brighton is both charming and gung-ho, and Leslie Nielsen is a good enough actor to pull this off, as well as the more farcical moments of the episode.  When Hawkeye and Trapper make him think that Burns is gay and after him, it's not exactly progressive, but on the other hand it's not homophobic per se.  (Arguably, the show is more sympathetic to homosexuality than to heterosexuality, in the sense that the straight relationships and interactions are seriously screwed up, pun semi-intended.  The gay jokes are comparatively gentle.)

Linda Meikeljohn returns as Scorch, still involved with Blake.  This is the first of thirteen M*A*S*H episodes former child star Jackie Cooper, then 50, directed.