"Kid Stuff"


As simplistic in its approach to dysfunctional families as in its attitude to labor relations, but there are some nice little moments, so C+.  Lori Beth is name-checked but unseen.  And, yes, the thing about Richie having trouble growing a mustache is presumably meant to be ironic.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"The Other Richie Cunningham"

Image
Easily the worst episode so far, a D in fact, and that's only because I liked "the Potsie Club" part and the episode starts out with a standard plot, used on The Brady Bunch and Three's Company among others, where someone can't go on a blind date and he (it's usually a guy) gets a friend to pretend to be him.  Potsie hits it off with the girl, who of course (another trope here) is not the expected "dog," but then (offscreen) he attacks her and rips her dress as she tries to escape!  Then she has to hitchhike back to the hotel where she and her parents are staying.  And there are lots of jokes about men being "animals," as if attempted date rape is funny.  Even Joanie being voyeuristic, which is weird enough with Richie pranking her by telling an imaginary date that his sister would want to watch, gets even more twisted.  And to top it off, Fonzie, the "expert on women," says women aren't real people and they expect a guy to ...
Read more

"Poobah Doo Dah"

Image
Even if you haven't seen this episode before, you've seen it before.  You know, the one where someone promises a celebrity for some charity benefit and they may or may not show up.  HD had already done it at least once before, with "The Magic Show."  So a C. Notes: Frankie Avalon was then 41, playing his 21-year-old self as Al's fifth cousin.  He sounds as much like he's lip-syncing as Fonzie does, due to the echo chamber. As nice as it is that Lynda Goodfriend gets to dance again, why is she doing a Jazzercise routine to the Twist?  For that matter, why do J&C and their ever-morphing band audition with a Twist song but he, Potsie, Roger, and Al form a barbershop quartet? Is it stranger that Jenny auditions with a striptease number or that the stripper song is on the Arnold's jukebox? There is one half-funny joke here, about Lincoln and the theater, which you will make before you hear it. David Ketchum returns as Lodge member Donald Hedges.
Read more

"Allison"

Image
Another of those episodes where Fonzie falls for a girl and I can't see what's so special about her (like the one with the dancer).  This one is deaf but they "communicate" and she's supposed to be jaw-dropping gorgeous, while I thought she was plain, especially with the unflattering (even for early '60s or early '80s) hair style.  And Richie's overprotectiveness feels out of nowhere.  So a C. Notes: I don't know what was up with Milwaukee Power & Electricity that season.  Just a couple weeks earlier, Laverne and Shirley had to go down there to complain about their  power being cut off.  (One of the less memorable episodes of their Season Five.)  In both cases, the computer is to blame.  Maybe ABC just wanted to get their money's worth out of that set. Not only roommate Potsie but Chachi borrows Ralph's shirts and underwear without asking. Richard Masur, who plays Doug (the guy that Allison is two-timing with), was probably then best kn...
Read more