Who's the Boss?: Protecting the President

Who's the Boss?: Protecting the President
ABC
January 22, 1985
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Ellen Guylas wrote this story that shows how Angela's personal life impacts her professional life, and vice versa.  It begins with Tony barbecuing in the backyard despite the cold weather (perhaps with the BBQ the household won in the episode where Sam and Jonathan run off to Brooklyn).  Jim Peterson (Boen) drops by to tell Angela the news that her friend Grant has resigned as chairman of the board.  She doesn't believe it, until Grant calls.  Now there'll be a new chairman, McKenna (played by Stahl), and Angela might not be president any longer.  She throws a dinner party for McKenna, but Peterson wins him over.  When Jim not only gloats to Tony, who's playing bartender, but says that Angela is president because she slept with Grant, Tony throws him out into the snow.  Jim claims they had a disagreement over football, and Tony is too much of a gentleman to repeat what Jim said (especially in front of all her co-workers).  When Angela finds out, she takes to her bed, catching a psychosomatic cold and wearing her hair in ponytails.  Sam gives Tony some good advice, and Mona offers motherly sympathy, more than she'd show in later seasons.  So Tony invites Jim over so he can apologize to Jim, but Angela stands up for herself and Tony.

I like how we get the catharsis of Tony evicting Jim, but mostly I like how we see the different characters supporting each other.  It's also a funny episode, including Angela trying to fake an interest in sports.  Note that we don't see Grant, but we learn that she did sleep with him after her promotion.  Presumably their relationship is either over or open, since she's been out with a few men since the pilot.

This is the only WtB episode directed by Harvey Medlinsky, who also did one for The Bob Newhart Show and three for Mork & Mindy.  And it's the 1100th sitcom episode I've reviewed.

What's Happening!!: Food Poisoning

What's Happening!!: Food Poisoning
ABC
March 2, 1979
Sitcom
DVD
B-

While the plot of Rerun seeming to get food poisoning at Rob's and then being tempted to sue is predictable, the regular cast and the guest cast do nice work with it.  Nathaniel Taylor and Chip Fields return as Rerun's brother-in-law Ike and sister Donna, the nurse.  Richard Stahl plays the doctor, while Alan Oppenheimer, whom I've decided to finally tag, plays the shifty lawyer, Mr. Sloan.  And Richard Couture makes probably his most unusual appearance, as the heavily bandaged Mr. Flynn.

This is the only writing Bruce Kalish & Philip John Taylor did for this show, but they'd co-write three Mork & Mindy episodes, while this is the middle of three WH scripts for Tom Moore & Jeremy Stevens.

Soap: Episode 39

Soap: Episode 39
ABC
January 4, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B-

The best thing about this Harris & Silver episode is the interaction between Guillaume and Helmond, whether he's pretending to be her husband to protect Eunice and Dutch, or comforting her over her actual husband's death.  (And we know he hates Chester.)  It turns out that Chester is actually alive but still amnesiac.  Meanwhile, Burt tries to gently dump Sally, who first threatens suicide and then swears revenge.  And Danny wants revenge on Elaine's killers.  Note that Elaine was buried only a day or two after her death.  (Peter's funeral was similarly rushed.)  Also note that Benson and Billy think Eunice can't cook, although she told Walter she could.  And further note that Burt and Danny already had a conversation about their gun knowledge, when Danny tried to kill Burt.

GW Bailey, who plays the Hobo, would begin his recurring role as Rizzo on M*A*S*H later that year.  Richard Stahl, who plays Officer Hickey, would appear on an early episode of Who's the Boss?, again working with Helmond.  Corinne, Tim, and the Major are absent.

The Bob Newhart Show: A Day in the Life

My favorite running joke in the episode

The Bob Newhart Show: A Day in the Life
CBS
October 29, 1977
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This is the only BNS episode Madeline Di Maggio and Kathy Donnell wrote, though they would do a Three's Company the next year.  The Peeper (whom we don't actually see or hear) calls up Bob and wants to meet up in New Orleans for a week.  So Bob has to scramble to reschedule everything.  There's a nice little twist in the end with Emily on the phone.

Richard Stahl plays Bob's drunk barber Mel.  The Kenneally family play the Swerdlows.  Jerry is absent again.

The Love Boat [movie #1]

The Love Boat [movie #1]
ABC
September 17, 1976
TV-Movie
VHS
C

The main reason to watch this, other than to see how much tinkering had to go on in this first of three pilots to make the transition from book to regular series, is of course the cast:

• Donald Richardson is played by Don Adams;
• Eleven-year-old Arnold is played by 14-year-old Jimmy Baio, who was a year away from Soap;
• George Havlicek is played by Tom Bosley, who had not yet worked with Jimmy's cousin Scott;
• Thomas Ford, the Captain (I'm pretty sure it's Allenford, but that's what IMDB says), played by Ted Hamilton, on M*A*S*H the previous year and later to be a Pirate King in The Pirate Movie; 
• Monica Richardson is played by Florence Henderson; 
• Stan Nichols is played by Gabe Kaplan;
• Willard is played by Harvey Korman; 
• Iris Havlicek is played by Cloris Leachman;
• Hal Linden, Barney Miller himself, appears; 
• Danny DiMarco, the Lounge Performer, is played by Richard Stahl, who'd done a That Girl, a Bob Newhart, and would later be on Soap;
• Ellen Carmichael is played by Karen Valentine; 
• O'Neil, the Doctor, is cast against type with Dick Van Patten;
• Isaac, the Bartender, is played by Theodore Wilson, who popped up on a lot of '70s TV, including recently What's Happening!!

Also there's even more of a BNS connection:  Ric Carrott, who was Ronnie, here plays Richard Garrett III, while Karen Ish, who was Mrs. Heinsohn, here is Dena DiMarco.  And Joseph R. Sicari was Dennis the Encylcopedia Salesman, while he's Nino, the Steward here.

Not counting the beginning and ending, the stories are less interwoven than would be the case on the series.  The first story is "Mona Lisa Speaks," written by Carl Kleinschmitt, who had done five episodes for That Girl, two for M*A*S*H, and one for Welcome Back, Kotter, so he had a bit of experience writing for Kaplan, whose role is goofier than on WBK, with Korman as his straight man.  Stan thinks he's met his dream girl, until she turns out to have a voice like Mae Questal.

Then comes "Mr. and Mrs. Havlickek Abroad," with Bosley and Leachman as a nouveau riche couple from Muncie.  This is by Bob Illes and James R. Stein, who'd later co-write for What's Happening!!  George punches out his daughter's rich fiance, thinking the guy's a phony.  Unless this movie got chopped up by the time it hit cable in the '90s, there's no resolution or make-up scene.

Next is "Are There Any Real Love Stories?," arguably the best of the bunch, mostly due to Linden and Valentine's acting.  This one was written by Dawn Aldredge and Marion C. Freeman, who had recently written for What's Happening!!  It surprisingly mentions abortion, a term not often heard on The Love Boat.

Last is Kleinschmitt's "Till Death Do Its Part" which has good performances by Adams and Henderson, who bicker well, but it leaves a bad taste that he tries to kill her and she finds out and blames herself.  And then she seduces him out of getting a divorce!

There are two directors, Richard Kinon and Alan Myerson, giving even more of a BNS connection.  And the split direction adds to the hodge-podge effect of the movie.  I haven't said much about "your crew," but suffice to say that they can't hold a candle to Lauren Tewes et al.

The Bob Newhart Show: The Separation Story

The Bob Newhart Show: The Separation Story
CBS
October 5, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B

This Patchett & Tarses script, directed by Bonerz, is based on a story by Robert Garland, who wrote one That Girl episode.  Emily is trying to get her Master's and Bob is extra busy at work, so they decide to live separately for a couple weeks.  Everyone assumes that their marriage is breaking up.  Another example of how this show provides realism in a sitcom format. And note the Mick Jagger reference.

Bryan O'Byrne, who plays Mr. Doheny, would be a Desk Sergeant on Welcome Back, Kotter.  Carl Gottlieb, who'd written the "Tracy Grammar School, I'll Lick You Yet" episode, here appears as Kuberski and would later be on Mork & Mindy.  This time Richard Stahl plays the Bellboy.

That Girl: Hearing Today, Gone Tomorrow

That Girl: Hearing Today, Gone Tomorrow
ABC
October 23, 1969
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Ann gets a cold and temporarily loses her hearing.  The fashions, both male and female, are getting uglier, as if in preparation for the '70s.  Andre Philippe plays Dino and would be later be Gino, not to be confused with Gino Conforti's character of Nino.  Roy Applegate plays Harry and would later be Bill.  And there's a fairly early appearance by 37-year-old Richard Stahl, as the Director.  (Look for the cute in-joke where the clapboard lists the director as H. Cooper.)  This is another Orenstein-Turteltaub script.