Who's the Boss?: Custody, Part 2

Who's the Boss?: Custody, Part 2
ABC
November 12, 1985
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Angela plans to fight Michael, who wants custody of Jonathan six months out of the year, and Michael thinks he'll win because he and Heather will be a married couple, while Angela is a single career woman who leaves their child with a (male) housekeeper.  The irony is that this episode has a few scenes where Tony is much more paternal than Michael ever was, like the "shaving" scene.  And it turns out that Michael is not ready for the responsibility, especially after Jonathan is so nervous that he throws up all over Heather's shoes at the wedding.

After the vomit, but before Michael tells Angela he's giving up on custody, Tony and Angela have a talk where she says she's not going to fight Michael after all, and Tony doesn't want her to give up Jonathan.  (Yes, she'll still see him half the year, but it won't be the same as having him around all the time.)  It's clear by now that the Micellis and the Bowers are unofficially a family and it's not just sympathy for Angela that makes Tony not want to give him up.  After Michael leaves, it's obvious that "we" have "our little boy."

And there's a sweet tag where Tony and Angela dance.  He says he can't believe Michael would leave a great kid like Jonathan, but then he left a great woman like Angela.  And their dancing goes from a little awkward and nervous to more of the magic that we'd see in their later dances.

Todd Jeffries, who plays the Minister, would return as Skeeter Barnes.  Naughton unfortunately never comes back, although Michael will be mentioned now and again as the years pass.  It's unclear if Jonathan ever visits him, perhaps in the summer, or if he's really out of his son's life.