Roseanne: Some Enchanted Merger

Roseanne: Some Enchanted Merger
ABC
February 11, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
C

Roseanne has a crush on Edward Wellman, Jr. (James Brolin again), to the point that she has daydreams about him in thought balloons.  Meanwhile, Mark gives D.J. bad advice on girls.  I couldn't get into either thread and was leaning towards C-, but I did laugh out loud at the "consummation" montage that includes not only a roaring fire but donuts and a Clinton-Gore victory.  Richard Paul is listed in the IMDB credits again, so I guess he was in one of the daydream sequences.  This is the first of three Roseanne episodes written by voice actress April Winchell.

Roseanne: Lanford's Elite

Roseanne: Lanford's Elite
ABC
February 4, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This episode manages to be both a little slow-moving and a bit forced, although it's only when we see two clips from the season-one-closer that it's evident how much of the raw energy has gone from the show.  (I tagged Natalie West, even though Crystal doesn't have any lines.)  At the Lanford Country Club, Roseanne meets Edward Wellman, Jr. (James Brolin in the first of two cameos), son of the Wellman family who owned the plastics factory that Roseanne and Jackie used to work for.  He convinces her to buy the factory for $1 million, and then she'll turn it over to the workers.  Richard Paul makes his first of two appearances as an apparently nameless character and doesn't look much different than he did in the early '80s on Match Game.  Allan Stephan wrote the story, but the teleplay is the first of two Roseanne writing gigs for Richard Whitley, while Whitley's partner on the teleplay, Bob Rubin, had played an Audience Member earlier in the season.

Who's the Boss?: Better Off Wed, Part 2

Who's the Boss?: Better Off Wed, Part 2
ABC
February 22, 1992
Sitcom
DVD
B

Doran, Graham, Kallis, and Rosenfarb wrote this second part, too, in which the potential in-laws, plus Mrs. Rossini, race to stop the wedding.  Sam overcomes all of her father's objections, but he's still sad to be losing his "little girl," and we get a montage of Sam from the early seasons.  There's a bittersweetness to Angela telling Sam, "I knew you'd get married first."  Note that Jonathan is the voice of reason when the two fathers argue.  And Tony makes a very timely reference to President Bush (Sr.) vomiting on the Japanese Prime Minister, which had happened that January.

Richard Paul, who was Capt. Bainbridge on M*A*S*H, more often got typecast as a Minister, like here, including as Jerry Falwell a couple times.

M*A*S*H: Letters

M*A*S*H: Letters
CBS
November 24, 1980
Dramedy
DVD
C+

I feel like most of the cast is sort of going through the motions in this Koenig story, with the exception of Alda.  Hawkeye's friend, a fourth-grade teacher, has her students write to the 4077th, and he wants his coworkers to answer the letters, but he finds that his reply is the hardest to write.  I have to admit that at this point, of the five regular series I'll be reviewing for the '80-'81 season (Bosom Buddies will debut soon), M*A*S*H is the one that least intrigues me.  There's a feeling of complacency and inertia setting in, although perhaps this is temporary.  This is the 300th C+ I've given and plainly far from the last.

Richard Paul, who plays Capt. Bill Bainbridge, recently had appeared on Match Game.  Michael Currie, who plays Dr. Breuer, would be the Governor on Soap.  Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), Shari Saba (Nurse Shari), and Eileen Saki (Rosie) return.

Match Game

Match Game
CBS

September 5, 1980

Game Show
DVD
B-

Richard Paul might be the least familiar panelist this episode (well, maybe tied with Braverman), but he was at the time recognizable for Carter Country among other things, and he would guest on M*A*S*H a couple months after this; he often played police, ministers, and other figures of authority, including Jerry Falwell in a TV-movie.  I'm actually more surprised to see Jamie Lee Curtis back.  The episode is also notable for Gene breaking down a wall.  (The man seems to have had anger issues, or at least hostility towards the set.)