"Great Expectations"

When I was a kid catching up on the early seasons in syndication, this April 16th episode was probably my favorite, and I'm very pleased that it holds up.  In fact, it's the first B+ of the series: smart, warm, funny, and willing to give Ron Howard something meatier than he's been given so far.  He even gets in a yelling match with Tom Bosley!  Also, it has the words "reefers" and "pregnant," and that wonderful "purpose"/"usurp us" rhyme that has stayed with me for over forty years.  Oh, and the nifty little scene of Potsie & Ralph (who are shifting into their later standard friendship) sneaking into the coffeehouse, only to find Marsha moonlighting from Arnold's.

Other thoughts:

• The line I most recall from this episode is of course "You're going to be a daddi-o."
• Richie wanted to go to law school on a recent episode, but his poetry shows the writer he would become.
• This is set at the beginning of summer vacation, and I really doubt that Richie just graduated, so I think he'll be a junior for awhile.
• Udana Power, who plays the very sweet pregnant beatnik, would return in a completely different (but equally sweet) role in '76, as Louisa, the mother of Fonzie's godson (crossing over onto Laverne & Shirley later that evening).
• Valerie Curtin gives a typically loopy performance as the Poetess.
• Leeson and Brunner did the teleplay, but based on a story by Peggy Elliott and Ed Scharlach, who I associate more with That Girl.