Who's the Boss?: Better Off Wed, Part 1

Who's the Boss?: Better Off Wed, Part 1
ABC
February 15, 1992
Sitcom
DVD
B

Staff writers Doran, Graham, Kallis, and Rosenfarb collaborated on this entertaining, if ultimately frustrating game-changer.  With three months till the wedding on May 14th, Tony is still planning a big event, although stressing about it less.  Angela would prefer a small wedding in a chapel, but Tony eloped last time and wants a big wedding.  Showing that they've changed each other over time-- and that gender role reversal is still one of the themes of this series-- Angela watches the Knicks while Tony looks at a bridal magazine.

Meanwhile, Sam and Hank have been seeing each other every day for a couple months and have decided to get married, even though they know it's crazy.  Sam is hesitant to tell her father, especially when he reacts negatively to Hank giving up med school to become a puppeteer.  And then Hank causes an accident, with Tony falling off the roof.  (They may be the last of my TV families to still have a TV aerial.)  And then Hank's parents, Joe and Fran (Polizos and Azzara, whom we've seen elsewhere, including her on Soap), show up and there's some farcical confusion.  Hank's parents are OK with them marrying young, but they're just as upset as Tony about puppetry.  Sam and Hank sneak off to the chapel that they saw in Angela's brochure.  And the episode ends on a cliffhanger, with no scenes from next week.

Note that this episode contains references to Operation Desert Storm and Nancy Reagan.  And that some WtB fans hate it because it torpedoed the promise of Tony and Angela getting married, with this substitution of a couple that no one had any emotional investment in.  While I ship T & A, I also just watch this show to be entertained, and I find this episode funnier and more interesting (including about Tony and Angela's characters) than some of the episodes this season that are actually focused on that couple.