The Red Herring - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Vince53 · 11-06-2011, 09:03 PM

Archie learns that his blind friend, Mr. Van Ranseller, had been fired during the Red Scare on suspicion of being a Communist. At the very end of the show, it turns out that he had never been a Communist, but he had known that the committee was violating the Constitution and told them so.

I'm going to surprise you by saying that I was on Archie's side. If any American wants to be a Communist, he should leave. Cuba has lots of openings for slave labor in the sugar cane fields.

The truth is that a frightened United States, remembering what had happened at Pearl Harbor, over-reacted to a small Communist threat. Senator Joe McCarthy went mad with power as he became a greater danger than the Communists ever were.

The show had good drama as Archie struggles between his strongly-held love of America and has friendship with Mr. Van Ranseller.

Jacob6080 · 11-09-2011, 06:58 AM

Red herring is an idiomatic expression referring to the rhetorical or literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance. For example, in mystery fiction

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sm95fan · 10-29-2021, 08:08 PM

Can't go wrong w/Mr. Van Ranseleer. It's a shame his character wasn't developed more in the latter seasons. This was kinda of a miss though. After 5 years of hanging out w/Arch, Mr. VanR couldn't have been surprised any links to the Communist Party would cause friction.

I'm disappointed we never got an episode where Mr. VanR admits to the gang he is loaded. That's an Archie reaction I would have paid to see.

Out of 11 mid season four episodes lovely Danielle Brisebois, even though still being billed as a co-star, only appeared in three. A small part here was one of them. The other two were the Christmas episode and Three Women.

11-06-2011, 09:03 PM	#1
Vince53 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 26, 2010 Location: Chapala, Mexico Posts: 492	The Red Herring Archie learns that his blind friend, Mr. Van Ranseller, had been fired during the Red Scare on suspicion of being a Communist. At the very end of the show, it turns out that he had never been a Communist, but he had known that the committee was violating the Constitution and told them so. I'm going to surprise you by saying that I was on Archie's side. If any American wants to be a Communist, he should leave. Cuba has lots of openings for slave labor in the sugar cane fields. The truth is that a frightened United States, remembering what had happened at Pearl Harbor, over-reacted to a small Communist threat. Senator Joe McCarthy went mad with power as he became a greater danger than the Communists ever were. The show had good drama as Archie struggles between his strongly-held love of America and has friendship with Mr. Van Ranseller.

11-09-2011, 06:58 AM	#2
Jacob6080 Member First Time Poster Join Date: Sep 27, 2011 Location: va Posts: 1	Medical Billing Software Red herring is an idiomatic expression referring to the rhetorical or literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance. For example, in mystery fiction --------------------------------------------------------- Medical Billing Software

10-29-2021, 08:08 PM	#3
sm95fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 07, 2021 Location: Las Lunas Posts: 1,882	Can't go wrong w/Mr. Van Ranseleer. It's a shame his character wasn't developed more in the latter seasons. This was kinda of a miss though. After 5 years of hanging out w/Arch, Mr. VanR couldn't have been surprised any links to the Communist Party would cause friction. I'm disappointed we never got an episode where Mr. VanR admits to the gang he is loaded. That's an Archie reaction I would have paid to see. Out of 11 mid season four episodes lovely Danielle Brisebois, even though still being billed as a co-star, only appeared in three. A small part here was one of them. The other two were the Christmas episode and Three Women.
	Last edited by sm95fan; 01-08-2022 at 12:28 AM.