"The New Room" - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

tdr · 10-21-2009, 06:56 PM

Occasionally we get lucky. I have quite a collection of MTS eps on old videotapes, including the first several of the season where the triplets are born. But they ended with the one where Robbie is determined to drop out of college to support his new family on his own, only to be silently persuaded at the end to drop the idea and let Steve follow through on his plans to expand his room to make a "little apartment" for Robbie, Katie, and the babies. I remembered the next ep, with Ed Begley playing a grisled old contractor hired to build the new room, but I regretted I didn't have it on tape, and I havent' gotten any channel carrying MTS for a lot of years now. I now see youtube has it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5WQEMIvLQg

Spoiler here, so watch the ep first if you don't care to read it.
The ep begins with "Mr. Storfman" [Begley] being contrary about the drawn out plans, until Katie enters and he immediately knuckles under to her, even though she requests the same things that Steve and Robbie had said. This opening scene tells the story for most of the ep-- Storfman rather surly and uncompromising with men and boys, but delighted at anything Katie wants. It's not implied that he's a 'dirty old man' whose head is turned by a young beauty like Katie, but there's clearly something behind his behavior in this way that he himself would never reveal. So someone else comes to reveal it-- his son, who comes to the Douglas home looking for his father, who is way late in getting home that evening, though the Douglases haven't seen him there for more than 2 hours. David (the son) Storfman is leaving when the phone rings for him; it is another of the Storfman family, apparently near tears because the old man has still not come home. With David mentioning so many boys' names to the caller, telling them to go to bed and put a plate in the oven for his dad, the Douglas boys catch on that Mr. Storfman supports (not necessarily single-handedly) 9 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, and at least 6 grandsons... and that he had lost his wife and his only daughter "a few years back." Finally, David mentions that his wife is to have another baby 'any time,' so it's an extra complication to be out looking for his father. The Douglas boys begin to admit that they should feel ashamed for complaining about Storfman and his disposition, now that they understood the reasons. But Uncle Charley scorns that idea-- "So? He's got nothing but boys around! What am I supposed to do?-- break down and say 'I'm sorry?'"

Then, after Uncle Charley leaves, Ernie says, "Does Uncle Charley know he's just like Mr. Storfman?" With this line it seems we have the meaning of the episode. Uncle Charley was the one most annoyed by Storfman's cutting and indifference, but as he gets defensive, it comes through that he is, in a way, 'seeing himself,' and that's what really hacks him. In fact, it also comes through that the Storfman family is meant to be an exaggeration of the Douglas family-- more sons, more married sons, more grandsons all making it together. Steve, notably, had little interaction with Storfman-- only the first and last scenes, or [IMO] that would have harmed the contrast, as Steve did not let so much responsibility for sons, daughter-in-law, and grandsons turn him into a cormudgeon. The somewhat fitting ending is when Katie is being shown the new completed room, with Storfman present, that David drops by to tell him that his newest grandchild is a girl-- and that immediately makes the old man radiant. Begley does overact this scene-- he was a great character actor, but nobody's perfect-- and, although many elements in the ep are too contrived, it tells an excellent story.

gidgetgrape · 10-21-2009, 08:19 PM

Oh! That's one of my favorite episodes. That was an adoreable room. I really wish we would have had another season with Katie and the triplets in the house instead of Barbara and Dodie moving in.

honeybea · 10-21-2009, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gidgetgrape

Oh! That's one of my favorite episodes. That was an adoreable room. I really wish we would have had another season with Katie and the triplets in the house instead of Barbara and Dodie moving in.

Me too!

That was a great episode and I always enjoy watching it.

10-21-2009, 06:56 PM	#1
tdr Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 23, 2001 Posts: 1,454	"The New Room" Occasionally we get lucky. I have quite a collection of MTS eps on old videotapes, including the first several of the season where the triplets are born. But they ended with the one where Robbie is determined to drop out of college to support his new family on his own, only to be silently persuaded at the end to drop the idea and let Steve follow through on his plans to expand his room to make a "little apartment" for Robbie, Katie, and the babies. I remembered the next ep, with Ed Begley playing a grisled old contractor hired to build the new room, but I regretted I didn't have it on tape, and I havent' gotten any channel carrying MTS for a lot of years now. I now see youtube has it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5WQEMIvLQg Spoiler here, so watch the ep first if you don't care to read it. The ep begins with "Mr. Storfman" [Begley] being contrary about the drawn out plans, until Katie enters and he immediately knuckles under to her, even though she requests the same things that Steve and Robbie had said. This opening scene tells the story for most of the ep-- Storfman rather surly and uncompromising with men and boys, but delighted at anything Katie wants. It's not implied that he's a 'dirty old man' whose head is turned by a young beauty like Katie, but there's clearly something behind his behavior in this way that he himself would never reveal. So someone else comes to reveal it-- his son, who comes to the Douglas home looking for his father, who is way late in getting home that evening, though the Douglases haven't seen him there for more than 2 hours. David (the son) Storfman is leaving when the phone rings for him; it is another of the Storfman family, apparently near tears because the old man has still not come home. With David mentioning so many boys' names to the caller, telling them to go to bed and put a plate in the oven for his dad, the Douglas boys catch on that Mr. Storfman supports (not necessarily single-handedly) 9 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, and at least 6 grandsons... and that he had lost his wife and his only daughter "a few years back." Finally, David mentions that his wife is to have another baby 'any time,' so it's an extra complication to be out looking for his father. The Douglas boys begin to admit that they should feel ashamed for complaining about Storfman and his disposition, now that they understood the reasons. But Uncle Charley scorns that idea-- "So? He's got nothing but boys around! What am I supposed to do?-- break down and say 'I'm sorry?'" Then, after Uncle Charley leaves, Ernie says, "Does Uncle Charley know he's just like Mr. Storfman?" With this line it seems we have the meaning of the episode. Uncle Charley was the one most annoyed by Storfman's cutting and indifference, but as he gets defensive, it comes through that he is, in a way, 'seeing himself,' and that's what really hacks him. In fact, it also comes through that the Storfman family is meant to be an exaggeration of the Douglas family-- more sons, more married sons, more grandsons all making it together. Steve, notably, had little interaction with Storfman-- only the first and last scenes, or [IMO] that would have harmed the contrast, as Steve did not let so much responsibility for sons, daughter-in-law, and grandsons turn him into a cormudgeon. The somewhat fitting ending is when Katie is being shown the new completed room, with Storfman present, that David drops by to tell him that his newest grandchild is a girl-- and that immediately makes the old man radiant. Begley does overact this scene-- he was a great character actor, but nobody's perfect-- and, although many elements in the ep are too contrived, it tells an excellent story.

10-21-2009, 08:19 PM	#2
gidgetgrape Forever Gidget Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Sep 20, 2003 Location: Texas Posts: 3,508	Oh! That's one of my favorite episodes. That was an adoreable room. I really wish we would have had another season with Katie and the triplets in the house instead of Barbara and Dodie moving in.