M*A*S*H: As You Were

M*A*S*H: As You Were
CBS
February 2, 1974
Dramedy
DVD
C+

Gelbart and Marks wrote the script based on a story by Reynolds, and it's mostly unremarkable.  It even repeats the "Henry's sex lecture" thing from the first season, although with different lines.  OK, Hawkeye and Trapper in gorilla costumes is something new, but the episode is never as funny as the characters think it is.  Note that Trapper tells a nurse to "move her cute bottom," during surgery!  It comes across more as harassment than flirtation, considering the setting.

Odessa Cleveland (Ginger Bayliss as always), Bobbie Mitchell (now Nurse Murphy), Kellye Nakahara (for some reason credited as Nurse Able), Patricia Stevens (now Nurse Baker), and Dennis Troy (this time a Corpman) all return.

The Bob Newhart Show: Clink Shrink

The Bob Newhart Show: Clink Shrink
CBS
January 26, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Bob counsels a recent parolee, Miles Lascoe (28-year-old Henry Winkler, who had very recently debuted on Happy Days).  Bob and Emily are worried when Miles brings Bob a video recorder.  (Very cutting edge!  Even if it looks like a reel-to-reel audiotape player.)  The episode is more interesting than funny, although Bob trying to speak prison language is amusing.

Russ Grieve, who plays Spike Coolidge, would later be Leo the Private Detective.  (And surprisingly, he played three natives on Gilligan's Island.)  Len Lesser. who's Mr. Schwab, was a Guard on That Girl.  This is the only BNS episode written by Howard Storm, who'd mostly be known as a director, for Mork & Mindy among other things, while his co-writer here, Paul Lichtman was mainly an actor, including on What's Happening!!  And speaking of people switching roles, the director this time is Peter Bonerz, who isn't in the episode much.  He'd go on to do 28 more for BNS, plus a whole lot of other programs.

M*A*S*H: The Chosen People

M*A*S*H: The Chosen People
CBS
January 26, 1974
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Laurence Marks, Sheldon Keller, and Larry Gelbart wrote the teleplay based on a story by Gerry Renert and Jeff Wilhelm.  This may partially explain why the first part of the episode has some jokes that are clinkers and then things improve.  It helps to have Pat Morita back as Capt. Sam Pak, but I also like how virginal Radar deals with being named the father of a Korean baby.  (He and the mother met in September, presumably of 1950).

Jerry Fujikawa (this time as the Korean Father), Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), Bobbie Mitchell (Lyons),  and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.

The Brady Bunch: Welcome Aboard

The Brady Bunch: Welcome Aboard
ABC
January 25, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B-

The last Brady script from Al Schwartz and Larry Rhine introduces Cousin Oliver (Robbie Rist) son of Jack and Pauline, one of whom is Carol's sibling.  I may as well say that I actually liked Oliver and I don't think he jinxed the show (which was slowly declining anyway).  I know that many people of my generation feel differently, but I liked that Oliver was close to my age (especially in the beginning of syndication), and I always enjoyed spotting Rist in other projects.  And he has more personality than the Kelly Kids.  That said, I do find it amusing that Oliver got a category named after him on the Jump the Shark website, even if there are more egregious examples of the "add a little kid to the show" syndrome.  (Scrappy Doo springs to mind.)  Note, the family seems thrilled about the idea of Carol being pregnant, which would've been an interesting sixth-season development.

Truck Driver #1 Dick Winslow previously was Mark Winters.  The Keystone Cop is Snag Werris's fourth Brady role.  Judd Laurance, who plays the Director, would be a Technician in Rescue from Gilligan's Island.

The Bob Newhart Show: The Jobless Corps

The Bob Newhart Show: The Jobless Corps
CBS
January 19, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This Patchett and Tarses story shows that Mr. Carlin will join almost any group, in this case the one for the Out of Work Workshop, composed of some new patients who would all return: Mr. Ed Herd (Oliver Clark), Craig Plager (33-year-old Howard Hesseman), Shirley Slavin (Millie Slavin, with her character later renamed Shirley Ullman), and Mr. Edgar Vickers (Lucian Scott).  When Howard is fired from his current job-- replaced by a computer, very timely-- he joins the group and gets his confidence back.  And he gets another job, for a cargo airline, at the end.

M*A*S*H: Operation Noselift

M*A*S*H: Operation Noselift
CBS
January 19, 1974
Dramedy
DVD
C

As with the previous Stuart Margolin M*A*S*H episode, a potentially good story is ruined by his character (this time Maj. Stanley "Stosh" Robbins) attacking Houlihan, and its being played for laughs.  Not that I'm crazy about the approval of plastic surgery but there are some funny lines and it's nice to see twenty-six-year-old Todd Susman (who seems to be wearing make-up to change the shape of his nose, but then we never see him post-surgery) as Private Danny Baker.

Bobbie Mitchell (now Nurse Lyons), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), and Patricia Stevens (Nurse Mitchell) return.  This is the first of three M*A*S*H scripts from Erik Tarloff.

The Brady Bunch: Out of This World

The Brady Bunch: Out of This World
ABC
January 18, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Al Schwartz and Larry Rhine contributed this story about Greg's prank on his brothers getting out of hand.  It's notable for several reasons, besides the well-known one about the Kaplutians being played by the kids' stand-ins.  It features one of Bobby's dreams, with a UFO that looks about as convincing as the stage sets that the Bradys build in their backyard.  It has Williams's scraped up face (from a car accident) incorporated into the script, with Peter insulting him.  And it has some subtler Greg/Marcia flirting than in the previous episode, with him giving her back a caress when they're at his attic window.

Mario Machado, who's appearing as himself, would be a Reporter in Rescue from Gilligan's Island.

After School Specials: Pssst! Hammerman's After You (AKA The 18th Emergency)

After School Specials: Pssst! Hammerman's After You (AKA The 18th Emergency)
ABC
January 16, 1974
Children's
DVD
C+

Bob Rodgers, who'd written a couple episodes for Gilligan's Island, did the teleplay based on the Betsy Byars book.  In fact, he wrote all four of the episodes on the DVD I own, although they fluctuate a great deal in quality.  It's the only AS Special directed by Jack Regas, who'd go on to The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, among other things.  This episode is slow-moving and low-budget, but it's not without interest, playing sort of like a grittier Brady Bunch episode.  Although I've read my share of Byars (it was kind of unavoidable as a Gen-X female bookworm), I don't remember this book or adaptation, so I don't know how well the humor and other elements translate.  The messages about honor and respect are typical of both her and this series.  This definitely could've been a half hour story rather than an hour (counting commercials), but I can see it entertaining kids older than I was at the time.  It's from the second season of the series and not one that stands out compared to some others.

Lillian Adams, who was Mrs. Daley on Gidget and Mrs. Harris on That Girl, is Mrs. Schwartz here.  Kevin McCarley, who's Peaches, would have a similar role, Second Bully, later that year in Summer of the Swans.  Tito Vandis, who's Mr. Casino, would be Col. Andropolis on M*A*S*H later that year.  Bobby Eilbacher, who presumably plays one of the classmates, would make two appearances on The Bob Newhart Show.  And Willie Aames has a minor role in this.

The Bob Newhart Show: The Modernization of Emily

The Bob Newhart Show: The Modernization of Emily
CBS
January 12, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Another very good story from Charlotte Brown, with Emily, after ten years of teaching and five years of being married, trying to act and feel younger.  The reactions of the others are spot on.  Ironically, in a decade of regrettable fashion (and we are deep into the plaid slacks era now), Emily's two "tacky" outfits look adorable.  It is definitely the mid-'70s, with jokes about the high cost of meat, much like the frequent similar jokes on The Brady Bunch that season.

J.J. Barry, who's the Man in Market, would show up in some of my other shows, most notably as Janet's boss on Three's Company.  And, yes, that's 30-year-old Sharon Gless as Howard's date.  This is, by the way, the 600th program I've reviewed.

M*A*S*H: For Want of a Boot

M*A*S*H: For Want of a Boot
CBS
January 12, 1974
Dramedy
DVD
B-

An interesting, mostly funny look at the barter system that Hawkeye goes through to try to get his boot replaced.  (He's been waiting three months, while Klinger has been trying for a Section Eight for six months.)  Unfortunately, the script by Sheldon Keller is marred by too much sexist dialogue and gratuitous insults of Radar.  And I could've done without knowing that Margaret's birthday gift to Frank is the riding crop her mother gave her father on their wedding night.

Michael Lerner, who was Mr. Carolla on The Bob Newhart Show, is Capt. Futterman here.  Suzanne Zenor, who plays Nurse Murphy, would be Samantha on the first Three's Company pilot.  Patricia Stevens makes her first of fifteen M*A*S*H appearances, as Nurse Mitchell.  Johnny Haymer debuts as Sgt. Zelmo Zale.  Sheila Lauritsen (Nurse Sheila), Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky),  and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.

The Brady Bunch: The Driver's Seat

The Brady Bunch: The Driver's Seat
ABC
January 11, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B

This is the only Brady story by George Tibbles, who'd also do one for Who's the Boss?, but he has a pretty good sense of the Greg & Marcia dynamic, both their rivalry, including his male chauvinism, and their flirtation, as when Greg says she'll make a pretty trashman.  (Although as always, much of that has to do with what Williams and McCormick brought to the table.)  There's also a nice Jan & Marcia dynamic, supportive but teasing.

Examiner Herb Vigran previously played Harry on the show.

The Bob Newhart Show: Oh, Brother

The Bob Newhart Show: Oh, Brother
CBS
January 5, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Martin Cohan wrote this story about Jerry's brother (Raul Julia), which contradicts some other information about Jerry's family, but no matter.  Rhoda Gemingnani returns as Miss Rossi, still suspicious of men, but this time she's Bob's patient rather than a possible fill-in for Carol.

M*A*S*H: Henry in Love

M*A*S*H: Henry in Love
CBS
January 5, 1974
Dramedy
DVD
B-

In this Gelbart and Marks story, 44-year-old Henry falls for a 20-year-old, but when Radar places a call to Lorraine (who's 42), Henry realizes that it's just a crush and he really loves his wife.  It's interesting that Henry's earlier adultery was much less of a threat to his marriage; sex alone is not enough.  Note that Henry's son Andrew is old enough to talk at this point, which seems impossible, but the continuity on his family isn't very good.  And suddenly Frank has three daughters we've never heard of!

Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss), Gwen Farrell (Wilson), Clyde Kusatsu (Kwang Duk), Sheila Lauritsen (from here on out, Nurse Sheila, last name unknown), and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.

The Brady Bunch: Kelly's Kids

The Brady Bunch: Kelly's Kids
ABC
January 4, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Another back-door pilot, which Sherwood S. resurrected in the '80s for Elliott Gould.  Since I watched that, I probably would've watched this had it been successful, especially at the age of almost 6, when I'd want to find another sitcom about kids.  Now, well, it's pretty corny, and I wish that they had given the little boys more personality.

Jackie Joseph, who plays Miss Phillips, did two shots on That Girl.  Molly Dodd, who plays the unsubtly named neighbor Mrs. Payne, the one that "makes Archie Bunker look like a liberal," had previously been a Saleslady.

The Bob Newhart Show: I'm Dreaming of a Slight Christmas

The Bob Newhart Show: I'm Dreaming of a Slight Christmas
CBS
December 22, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

In this Patchett and Tarses story, Bob has one appointment on Christmas Eve and makes the mistake of telling Mr. Peterson that he doesn't need therapy anymore.  Meanwhile, a blizzard starts.  Bob and Emily's chances of spending the holiday alone together dwindle.

Gene Blakely makes his first of two appearances as Dr. Ralph Tetzi.  And we finish off '73.

M*A*S*H: Officers Only

M*A*S*H: Officers Only
CBS
December 22, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Klinger briefly fakes a pregnancy and Hawkeye and Trapper figure out a way to get him and the other enlisted men into the new Officers Only social club.

Clyde Kusatsu makes his first appearance as Kwang Duk.  Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss), Gwen Farrell (Wilson), Roy Goldman (this time an Enlisted Man), Sheila Lauritsen (Watson), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato, who dances with Radar), and Robert F. Simon (Mitchell)  return.

The Brady Bunch: Miss Popularity

The Brady Bunch: Miss Popularity
ABC
December 21, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This episode, the last written by Martin Ragaway and the last directed by Jack Donohue, is a bit uncharacteristic for Jan, who not only becomes the title character, but does so by making a lot of empty promises.  If you can get past that, it's an entertaining episode, especially all the innuendo and flirtation between Mike and Carol, e.g. "You can ride my range anytime."  Note that Friday falls on the 8th, which would place this in February or March of '74.  As for its being Jan's Senior Night, that seems premature, unless she skipped a grade somewhere.  (Maybe that's why she was in junior high at the same time as Marcia although apparently not now with Bobby.)

Darryl Seman, who's Herman, was recently Billy Naylor.

The Bob Newhart Show: T.S. Elliot

The Bob Newhart Show: T.S. Elliot
CBS
December 15, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B+

This is Gerry Renert and Jeff Wilhelm's only BNS script (they''d also write one for M*A*S*H) and it's sweet and funny, the humor mostly coming from the characters but also with some physical gags.  (There's a moment where the audience is still reacting to Mr. Carlin wordlessly going into the elevator and then Jerry comes in with a talking tooth.)  Carol goes on a date with Mr. Carlin and he proposes to her before they can go on a second date.  Emily's glee when she finds out that Bob has sort of matchmade a couple is something that resonates through the whole series.

Hostess Shizuko Hoshi had played a Waitress in the first season.  Shirley O'Hara would return as Carol's scatter-brained replacement Debbie.  Robert Reisel, who's Mr. Miller here, would be a Motel Clerk on Three's Company.  

M*A*S*H: Hot Lips and Empty Arms

M*A*S*H: Hot Lips and Empty Arms
CBS
December 15, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B+

As the title indicates, this episode focuses on Margaret, but I honestly wasn't prepared for what a breath of fresh air it would be.  Seeing Linda Bloodworth and Mary Kay Place's names as the writers did give me hope, because not only is a female perspective welcome after a season and a half of boys will be boys, but Bloodworth would go on to create Designing Women.  The episode may not meet every definition of feminism, but it is wonderful to have Hot Lips tell everyone off, get drunk, and tell them all off again.  It's easy to tell that Swit had a great time doing this, and I bet female viewers at the time got a kick out of it, too.  Bloodworth wrote more four scripts for the show, and I'm curious to see what they're like.  Note, Margaret confesses to a crush on Trapper, and Hawkeye agrees.

Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss), Roy Goldman (this time the Man in Jeep), Sheila Lauritsen (this time Nurse Watson), Kellye Nakahara (for a change actually credited as Yamato), and Dennis Troy (this time the Soldier Standing Next to the Pole) all return.

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.

M*A*S*H: Deal Me Out

The sunglasses are the perfect accessory.

M*A*S*H: Deal Me Out
CBS
December 8, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B

This is the best episode in awhile, helped along by the guest shots from Allan Arbus (Sidney Freedman) and Pat Morita (again as Capt. Sam Pak).  The script by Gelbart and Marks is wittier than usual, including a Kafka joke.  The performance by 25-year-old John Ritter as Private Carter is a little shaky, but then it's a tricky role, and again the laugh track is misused, with him threatening Frank with a gun played mostly for laughs.

Gwen Farrell (Wilson) returns.  Tom Dever has his first of five M*A*S*H roles, this time as Lt. Rogers, while Jerry Fujikawa has his first of seven, as "Whiplash" Hwang.  And Edward Winter, who'd done a guest shot on The Bob Newhart Show, is Capt. Halloran here, but would be Col. Flagg later, a much more gung-ho character as I recall.  Note that there's no sign of Hot Lips.

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.

M*A*S*H: The Incubator

M*A*S*H: The Incubator
CBS
December 1, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Hawkeye and Trapper try to get the title object for their unit, but of course they should just leave it to Radar.  Incidentally, this is the second episode of the season where Radar is referred to as a virgin.  The best scene here is the press conference with Gen. Mitchell (Robert F. Simon, in his second appearance).  And the war has apparently been going on for two years, although maybe Hawkeye is rounding up.

Helen Funai, who was Minnie Chan in the Gidget TV-movies, is Betty Lou here.  Jerry Harper, who plays Phillips, was previously a nameless Sergeant.  Eldon Quick makes his first appearance as Capt. Sloan.  Ted Gehring is Major Arnold Morris here but would be Sgt. Rhoden later.  Sarah Fankboner, previously Nurse Klein, is now Nurse Owens.

The Bob Newhart Show: Fit, Fat and Forty-One

The Bob Newhart Show: Fit, Fat and Forty-One
CBS
November 24, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Harvey Miller, who wrote one That Girl episode, contributes his only one for BNS, collaborating with Bill Idelson, whose last of four it is.  Bob turns 41.  Emily plans another surprise party for him.  Meanwhile he struggles to lose eight pounds on the advice of his doctor.

Bruce Kirby, who's Dr. Klein, would be Sgt. Kimble on M*A*S*H.  Samantha Harper, who's Nurse Burke, would be Mrs. L.W. on Mork & Mindy.  And, yes, that's 28-year-old Ron Glass as one of the Elevator Repairmen.  (The other, Robert Ridgely would be Marvin a few years later.)

M*A*S*H: Carry On, Hawkeye

M*A*S*H: Carry On, Hawkeye
CBS
November 24, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
C+

Bernard Dilbert contributes his first of two M*A*S*H scripts, with the help of Larry Gelbart and Laurence Marks.  The episode has some tasteless humor, but less than the last two episodes.  And it's an episode where Hawkeye and Hot Lips become closer to being friends.  He refers to her as a friend late in the episode, but I don't quite buy it yet.  I also wish that there had been an acknowledgement of how the other nurses step forward when Hawkeye is the only doctor not down with the flu.  Father Mulcahy's contributions are recognized, so why are theirs taken for granted?  The episode indeed feels like it was written by three people, and the shifts in tone don't always work.  But, yes, an improvement over the last two episodes.  Oh, and note that I suspect that the "news" at the end is full of anachronisms, in particular that the French were unlikely to be considering ending "the Vietnam War" in '51 or '52, when it didn't really start till '54.

Gwen Farrell (now Nurse Wilson), Marcia Gelman (Jacobs), Lynette Mettey (formerly Lt. Nancy Griffin, now Nurse Sheila Anderson), and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.

The Brady Bunch: The Cincinnati Kids

The Brady Bunch: The Cincinnati Kids
ABC
November 23, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Al Schwartz and Larry Rhine co-wrote this episode, which is another that I enjoyed more as a kid.  It's basically just a commercial for King's Island, with a bit of plot thrown in.  As an adult, I notice that a half hour is just not enough time for all these events to have taken place, and there's a lot of running for what's supposed to be only ten minutes.  (There are five relay teams and they're all winded!)  Still, it's cute and mildly entertaining.

Sherwood's son Lloyd J. is credited as L. Jeffrey Schwartz for his role as the guy in the Bear costume.

The Bob Newhart Show: I'm Okay, You're Okay, So What's Wrong?

The Bob Newhart Show: I'm Okay, You're Okay, So What's Wrong?
CBS
November 17, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Another sharp, funny, and believable episode, the only one written by Earl Barret, who'd do six for Welcome Back, Kotter.  Emily is feeling depressed, and not just because there have been four weeks of snow and other bad weather.  She and Bob end up seeing a marriage counselor (a nifty cameo by Katherine Helmond, who was 44 but still had big success ahead of her).  Another scene that made me chuckle was where Jerry offers advice.  Despite how amusing the episode it is, it also acknowledges the darker side of marriage and routine, and it continues to amaze me how grown-up this program is compared to its contemporaries.  (Including ones I'm not reviewing like All in the Family and Mary Tyler Moore).  Also, note the consistency of Emily's fear of flying throughout the series.

M*A*S*H: The Sniper

M*A*S*H: The Sniper
CBS
November 17, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
D+

I found this episode unfunny even before they got to the first of two rape jokes Pierce makes to Houlihan.  Using the laugh track heavily during a sniper attack didn't help.  Oh well, it was nice to see Teri Garr (as Lt. Suzanne Marquette)

Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) and Dennis Troy (this time the Ambulance Driver) return.  Marcia Gelman plays Nurse Jacobs for the first of two times.

The Brady Bunch: Try, Try Again

The Brady Bunch: Try, Try Again
ABC
November 16, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This story by Al Schwartz and Larry Rhine is reminiscent of the "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" episode, in that Jan is again trying to figure out where her talents lie.  This time she decides to pursuit art rather than honesty.

Ruth Anson, who's Mrs. Ferguson, was Miss Perry before.  Darryl Seman, who plays Billy Naylor, would later be another of Jan's classmates, Herman.

The Bob Newhart Show: Mutiny on the Hartley

The Bob Newhart Show: Mutiny on the Hartley
CBS
November 10, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B

This story by Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses has Bob raising his rates for the first time ever.  There's a bit of back story, with Mr. Carlin as Bob's first patient (before he could afford a couch) and Michelle walking into his office in her high school graduation gown (at the time of the Bay of Pigs, so 1961, making her 30 now).  The funniest parts are the characteristic reactions to the price increase by the group members, and the reactions to the products of Mrs. Bakerman's late husband's taxidermy.

Henry Corden, who'd recently been Mr. Haskell on The Brady Bunch, plays Mr. Nenn, the plumber.

M*A*S*H: Dear Dad...Three

M*A*S*H: Dear Dad...Three

Klinger is darker than he is!

CBS
November 10, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
D+

Larry Gelbart and Laurence Marks wrote this script that just simply doesn't work.  Not only that, there are some icky things about it.  As the title suggests, Hawkeye writes another omniscient letter to his dad.  Among the threads:

• Henry watches a couple home movies his wife sent, feeling sentimental about her and their daughter Molly (he says he's Molly's "boyfriend," which is a bit icky even allowing for the era this is set in), but then later he hits on a nurse and implies that she can be promoted if she goes to his tent (big ick)
• Blake and Pierce remove a grenade from an eighteen-year-old's butt, which is of course disgusting but I'll let it slide since it shows the ugliness of war
• Frank and Margaret argue and slap each other, which turns them on
• A bigoted soldier sees Ginger (Odessa Cleveland) and worries about getting the "wrong color blood."  Hawkeye and Trapper decide to paint his skin brown to teach him a lesson.  The problem is, he barely looks tan!

The lesson about Dr. Charles Drew is admittedly interesting, and since he died the year before (1950), this should be '51, except that Hawkeye somehow knows that Eisenhower has decided to run for President, an announcement that wasn't made till January of '52.  He really is omniscient!

Arthur Abelson, who plays Milt Jaffe, was Harry on That Girl.  This time Bobbie Mitchell plays Nurse Gilbert, and Kellye Nakahara is again uncredited as Yamato.

The Brady Bunch: Quarterback Sneak

The Brady Bunch: Quarterback Sneak
ABC
November 9, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B

Chris Beaumont plays his last Brady character and arguably the sleaziest, while Denny Miller, who had played two jocks on Gilligan's Island (Duke Williams and Tongo the Ape Man) is Carol's jock high school boyfriend, Tank Gates.  Ben Gershman and Bill Freedman put a new spin on the boys vs. girls theme, focused on Greg vs. Marcia but with their younger siblings taking sides, as Marcia dates Jerry Rogers from the ironically named Fairview High football team.  No matter how many times I've seen this, I'm still not clear if Marcia knows that the stolen playbook is a phony one, but what matters to her is that Jerry has faked an interest in her.  All ends happily of course, with Alice having "winning" and "losing" cakes just in case.  There's a big Mike & Carol smooch at the very end.  And note that Carol has clearly gotten over her fear of Greg playing football, maybe because he's older and bigger now.

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).

M*A*S*H: The Trial of Henry Blake

M*A*S*H: The Trial of Henry Blake
CBS
November 3, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
C+

McLean Stevenson wrote this script about his character and definitely could've used a writing partner, as this is a little weak.  I have to admit that the two moments I most enjoyed were the cheesy in a Disney kind of way sequence of Klinger flying over the camp, and the maybe more suggestive than they meant (or else the CBS censors were still pretty innocent then*), "Behind every great man, there is a woman with a vibrator."

Seventy-seven-year-old Hope Summers, who plays Nurse Meg Cratty, would be Ms. Riley on Welcome, Back Kotter.  Robert F. Simon appears for the first of three times as Gen. Maynard M. Mitchell.  Bobbie Mitchell (again as Nurse Marshall), Roy Goldman (this time listed as the character Roy Goldman), and Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky) return.  Also, Kellye Nakahara isn't listed but I'm pretty sure I saw her.

*A case in point, All in the Family's Reverend Felcher.

The Brady Bunch: My Brother's Keeper

The Brady Bunch: My Brother's Keeper
ABC
November 2, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Michael Morris's last Brady story tells of Bobby saving Peter's life in a way that somewhat resembles how Peter saved a little girl's life in the first season.  Instead of getting a swelled head, Bobby takes advantage of Peter's gratitude.  The "line down the middle of the room" thing seemed to show up on sitcoms every once in awhile.  (I remember it on Happy Days.)  But considering there are in fact two doors and the bathroom is accessible from the hallway, Bobby's defiant flush of the invisible toilet isn't impressive as he thinks.  In the subplot, the girls' bedroom is redecorated and reference made to the redecoration of the parents' room.  (The show is not very strong on continuity, but every once in awhile there's a sense that writers looked at old scripts, as in Carol's recent mention of her lack of tonsils.)

The Bob Newhart Show: Old Man Rivers

The Bob Newhart Show: Old Man Rivers
CBS
October 27, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Martin Cohan wrote and directed this episode where Carol dates the title character, the doctor who removes the butterfly tattoo from her butt.  Bob at first assumes that Carol's "minor surgery" is pregnancy-related, but they soon clear that up, unlike the episode-long complications when Jack Tripper has his posterior tattoo removed over a decade later.  Interestingly, both Howard and Jerry know about her tattoo, suggesting she did at least go to third base with each of them in the first season.

Don Fenwick, who plays the Young Doctor, would be Fred Sanders on The Brady Bunch.

M*A*S*H: L.I.P (Local Indigenous Personnel)

M*A*S*H: L.I.P (Local Indigenous Personnel)
CBS
October 27, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B-

This story by Carl Kleinschmitt, Larry Gelbart, and Laurence Marks interweaves Hawkeye's romancing of a pretty and witty lieutenant with his efforts to see that a soldier can marry his Korean girlfriend and take her and their baby home when he's shipped out.  When Hawkeye finds out that the lieutenant is bigoted, he breaks off their relationship.  The episode is a bit heavy-handed, including Burns and Houlihan interfering just because that's what they do, but it has its moments, particularly with scene-stealer Klinger.

Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss) and Kellye Yakahara (Yamato) both return, the former being told by Blake to leave jokes to the doctors and the latter seeming to have a crush on Radar.

The Brady Bunch: Marcia Gets Creamed

The Brady Bunch: Marcia Gets Creamed
ABC
October 26, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

In this Ben Gershman and Bill Freedman story, Marcia gets a job working at an ice cream place run by Mr. Haskell (Henry Corden, who's mostly known for his cartoon voices but who would be on The Bob Newhart Show later that year). Since Peter is job-hunting, Marcia first talks her boss into taking time off and then recommends having her brother fill in in the afternoon.  Mr. H makes no objections.  Unfortunately, Peter, who had been a perfectionist at the bike shop, now is a "capital-G Goof-off."  Marcia fires him and then hires Jan, who is a very hard worker.  Meanwhile, Marcia doesn't have time for her new boyfriend Jeff, who shows up with a Girl (Kimberly Beck, who was Marcia's friend Laura before).  Marcia sprays them with whipped cream.  Mr. H comes in a minute later and it seems like he must've seen the customers leaving with whipped cream on their clothes, but actually he's tired of leisure time, so he fires Marcia and keeps Jan.  Marcia is upset so Jan offers to quit, but then Jeff and Marcia make up, so Marcia "retires."  And Peter gets a job delivering pizza.  There's also a subplot that has Alice and Mike both dieting, and yet Mike digs into the pizza that Peter brings home, without any qualms, or scolding from Carol.

I've gone into detail on all this, because I don't think the script quite works.  It's entertaining, but full of holes, including that there's no way that Carol could know what Mike weighed in college.

The Bob Newhart Show: Have You Met Miss Dietz?

The Bob Newhart Show: Have You Met Miss Dietz?
CBS
October 20, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B

Bill Idelson wrote this story about the impact of Emily's newly divorced friend Marilyn Dietz (33-year-old Mariette Hartley) on the main five characters, especially when Emily matchmakes, or at least introduces, Marilyn to her two single male friends.  (We find out that Howard has been divorced three years.)  Also, Marilyn encourages Carol to stand up to her bosses at work, so Carol tells off Jerry, and then apologizes, saying she's "swacked."  Bob is caught in the middle, especially at the paint party.  It's interesting to hear all the controversial topics, like gun control and abortion, that Marilyn is encountering now that she's gone back to college, since BNS tended to stay away from hot-button issues of the sort that All in the Family and Maude were dealing with.

David Fresco, who plays Mr. Brown, was Wesley on That Girl.

M*A*S*H: Kim

M*A*S*H: Kim
CBS
October 20, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B

This story by Marc Mandel, Larry Gelbart, and Laurence Marks is about how Trapper wants to adopt a seemingly orphaned five-year-old Korean boy.  His wife Louise supports him and his two daughters Becky and Kathy (one of whom is also five) are excited.  (Blake claims to also have two kids.  Did one die?  Or is this set before his wife gave birth to their son?)  The whole camp in a sense adopts the boy while they're waiting, with nice moments like Margaret reading aloud to him, Klinger teaching him baseball, and Radar snuggling with him (but taking back the teddy he's as attached to as Mr. Howell was to his).  But then Kim's mother (Momo Yashima in her first of three M*A*S*H roles) finds him.  The episode couldn't really end any other way, but it's good to see other, softer, sides of the characters.

Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), and Leslie Mitchell (her last M*A*S*H role, as Nurse Mitchell) return.

The Brady Bunch: Getting Greg's Goat

The episode where there's a big misunderstanding

The Brady Bunch: Getting Greg's Goat
ABC
October 19, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B

Milton Pascal and Sam Locke's penultimate Brady script offers us more farce, first with Greg's father and brothers thinking he's snuck a girl or two up to his attic bedroom, and then with Greg and Mike trying to keep Carol's anti-mascot-stealing committee from spotting "Raquel."  Note that Greg makes Marcia his confidante again.  The position of "boys' vice-principal" seems like a dated one, even for the '70s.  I know that by the time I was in high school a decade later, there was no longer any such thing in public schools of Southern California.

Sandra Gould, who plays Mrs. Gould, is best known as one of the Gladys Kravitzes on Bewitched, but she did play a Telephone Operator on Gilligan's Island.  This is the last episode Robert Reed directed as well as the 100th of his I've reviewed.

The Bob Newhart Show: Emily in for Carol

The Bob Newhart Show: Emily in for Carol
CBS
October 13, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Jerry Mayer's story is about how Emily substitutes as receptionist when Carol takes a three-week trip to Rome.  I know travel was cheaper then, but damn!  That's a heck of a vacation on her salary.  Tippy Tupperman is mentioned but not seen.

Nora Marlowe has her middle of three BNS roles, as Mrs. Manning.  Howard Platt's unpleasant plastic surgeon character, Dr. Phil Newman, makes his debut.  Teri Garr for the first time plays airheaded secretary Miss Brennan.  And thirty-two-year-old Rhoda Gemignani makes her first of three appearances as Joan Rossi; she'd be more prominent as Mrs. Rossini on Who's the Boss?

M*A*S*H: Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde

M*A*S*H: Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde
CBS
October 13, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B

Alan Alda and Robert Klane co-wrote this story in which sleep deprivation causes Hawkeye to go loopy (though not evil).  He refuses to stop operating and actually seems to function fine as a surgeon, but he does crazier than usual things, like sending a telegram to Truman and trying to haul the officers' latrine to North Korea.  I like the subtle way that Trapper looks after him, although it seems like everyone should intervene more and sooner.

Buck Young plays his middle of three M*A*S*H characters, O'Brien.  Roy Goldman and Dennis Troy have their first of several roles, as the Corpsman and the General's Aide respectively.  Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), and Herb Voland (Gen. Clayton for the last time) return.

The Brady Bunch: Peter and the Wolf

"X-rated behavior"

The Brady Bunch: Peter and the Wolf
ABC
October 12, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B

Tam Spiva's last Brady script, and the penultimate episode directed by Leslie H. Martinson, is one of the more farcical ones, as Greg desperately drafts Peter into a double date for Greg's date's visiting 18-year-old cousin.  Since Peter is 15 or 16 (more likely 15), Greg passes him off as Phil Packer, and Peter lowers his voice and wears a mustache to complete his disguise.  The girls think it's a prank, so they decide on revenge.  Meanwhile Mike and Carol entertain Mike's client Juan Calderon and his wife Maria (Alma Bertran, who was temporarily the Hartleys' maid Marina).  The Calderons want to have "real American food," pizza.  The girls suggest Marioni's, but instead everyone ends up (if the exterior shot that Paramount recycled means anything) at Nino's, Ann and Donald's favorite Italian restaurant on That Girl.  New York seems an awfully long way to go for a date or a business dinner, but I guess the Bradys like to impress people.  Unfortunately, the girls flirt and cuddle with Peter, shocking the Calderons.  Everyone learns a lesson, including presumably Peter, who is much more naive than Greg and doesn't understand why it doesn't matter what movie is at the drive-in.  (It's always the same Western, but Greg happens to like that.)

This is the 100th episode of BBunch, but the kids had already passed that point thanks to their cartoon show, and Reed wouldn't reach it quite yet.  It is the 100th for Henderson and Davis though.

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.

M*A*S*H: For the Good of the Outfit

M*A*S*H: For the Good of the Outfit
CBS
October 6, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B

Jerry Mayer's second of two M*A*S*H scripts is for the most part funnier, more intelligent, and more subversive than anything anyone was submitting at this time and I was going to give it a B+ or even an A-, until one regrettable moment brought it down.  A South Korean village is destroyed by the Americans.  Hawkeye and Trapper want to get the truth out there, but The Stars and Stripes blames it on the Chinese.  That this aired at the time that Watergate was being increasingly revealed, and Nixon's presidency was increasingly unraveling, may not be coincidental, and the way it plays out feels more '70sish than '60sish.  The government feels that if they rebuild the village (including with soft-serve ice cream and indoor plumbing) than they don't need to admit that they caused the damage.  Hawk and Trap disagree, and then find out that if they have a record as trouble-makers, that will follow them stateside.  As with Klinger not wanting to be labelled a homosexual, they cave in.

However, Burns, misunderstanding the situation, has saved the evidence, so the truth will come out, maybe.  Hawkeye and Trapper are so happy that they want to kiss Burns and Houlihan.  And so Hawkeye chases Frank while Trapper has Hot Lips pinned to the desk!  Why did they have to go there?  Why is this show so screwed up about consent issues?  For all the liberalism/ progressiveness, the sex-pol might as well be stuck back in the early '50s.  Still, I get it, H & T are wacky iconoclasts and this passed for humor at the time.  It'll be interesting to see when (if ever) the writers realized that the path of humor about the government is a more admirable one.  For now, Season Two has a self-destructive tendency it can hardly contain.

Gwen Farrell plays the first of several characters, Nurse Butler.  Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss), Lesley Evans (previously Nurse Bryan, this time Nurse Mason), Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), and Herb Voland (Clayton) all return.  Note that the letter from Hawkeye's dad, which provides a nifty little plot twist of its own, is dated May 24, 1951, five months before Radar's report.

The Brady Kids: Who Believes in Ghosts?

The Brady Kids: Who Believes in Ghosts?
ABC
October 6, 1973
Cartoon
DVD
C

Clearly, the show couldn't go on indefinitely with half of the "real Brady kids" gone.  But that's no excuse for the sloppiness in this last episode, seen most obviously in the fact that in every "walking group" shot Bobby is invisible for no reason.  (And it's not as if they haven't been recycling these shots from day one, probably from other Filmation series.)  Repeating "Ain't It Crazy?" doesn't help, nor does having yet another pair of thieves.  The maybe-maybe-not ghost idea is comparatively original.  The second season averages out to a C+ like the first, nonetheless.