ABC
May 5, 1981
Sitcom
DVD
B
Budd Grossman wrote this story that starts out pretty standard. Jack meets a pretty girl with a jealous boyfriend, and Larry makes the situation worse. Even her defying the boyfriend, by saying she could kiss Jack if she wanted to, is to be expected. But then Larry comes up with a scheme for Jack to fake his death, and things get very silly and funny. The regular cast does good ensemble work (Harrison having settled in now), but special shout-out to guest Terry Kiser in his first of two 3'sC roles, Max the deadpan boyfriend. When he quotes Cindy's "God forgot to wind it," re Jack's heart (yes, sadly ironic given Ritter's death a couple decades later), the delivery is just right. And this is another episode where I really enjoy Larry. Yes, he gets Jack into trouble but he does his best to get him out, and the car-salesman spiel for the coffin is solid.
Brad Blaisdell makes his first of ten appearances as Mike the Bartender and impacts the plot by telling Max where Jack lives. This is sort of the 100th episode of the series, but only if you count the two rejected pilots.
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