Three's Company: Jack's Other Mother

Three's Company: Jack's Other Mother
ABC
January 20, 1981
Sitcom
DVD
D+

Mark Tuttle wrote this story that's significantly worse than "Old Folks at Home."  Yes, Leo imposed on Jack, but the title character here, Gladys Moore (Amzie Strickland, who had a couple roles each on That Girl and The Bob Newhart Show), does the following:

1. Tries to help Jack at his new job by getting behind the counter;
2. Scares away his date;
3. Tries to strip him down when she thinks he's sick;
4. Performs other, less invasive but still inappropriate actions.

And of course Jack is supposed to feel guilty for telling her to leave, because she's such a sweet old lady, never mind that she's a complete stranger with no sense of boundaries.  The only thing I like in this episode is Larry's Lawrence Welk imitation, and the set and costumes for the restaurant.  Pity the plot couldn't have been about Jack's job instead.  Oh well, still better than "Jack's Navy Pal."

Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as President the day this episode aired.  I'll talk more about this as we go along, but for now I need to say that around this time there was a shift in the zeitgeist, or at least the networks' perception of the zeitgeist, which did contribute to a shift.  (It's a bit chicken & eggy.)  It was believed by the media (news media included) that Reagan's election meant that the country was becoming more socially/personally conservative, rejecting the sex, drugs, and rock & roll of the '70s and later '60s.  Three's Company would drift away from the more over the top sexual humor (like when Jack was offered a job modeling for an adult magazine or when Janet's roommates thought she was hiring a man to father her baby) towards more general farce.  ABC would tie Soap's cancellation into the rise of the Moral Majority, although there were other factors as well.

This is not to say the days of "jiggle TV" and/or Norman Leary controversial content were over, but they were becoming numbered.  Bosom Buddies would be a bit of an anomaly, but then it would also be relatively short-lived.  As for M*A*S*H and Mork & Mindy, the former would (as I recall) continue to coast and laurel-rest, while the latter would continue its flailing around to recapture the lightning in a bottle of the first season.  Reagan had nothing to do with that, but it is safe to say that television in '89 would look very different than in '81.  (Of course, cable had a lot to do with that, too, as we'll see further along.)