Top Ten Episodes of Season One

[upperco]

http://jacksonupperco.com/2015/03/17...of-season-one/

[Kasey]

Ever since you reviewed Bewitched, this is the series I've been waiting for the most.

While it's definitely not my favorite season, it's still great although I think the abortion episodes are very over-rated. The choking scene seems out-of-place and overplayed by Macy (Lear saw him do a scene like this in a play once; I wonder if he asked Susan Harris to add it to the script).

I would have substituted one of the episodes on your list with "Like Mother, Like Daughter" (terrific one-liners from Bea in that one) and my choice for MVE is the sublime "Maude Meets Florida"; it's sharp, funny and all the expository information about Philip and why he and Carol are living there is handled brilliantly.

Looking forward to the next five weeks!

[upperco]

Hi, Kasey! Thanks for reading and commenting.

As you'll see in later weeks, I usually bear no mind to any superseding reputations that a popular (or not-so-popular) episode may have in determining my thoughts on its quality. In fact, if I can take the opportunity to NOT be conventional, I do. However, I think "Maude's Dilemma (I)," though not the funniest of the season, is the one that should represent the first season and its storytelling -- especially to potential new fans. I don't find it overrated as some other classics, and I think it illustrates the show's initial overly-topical sensibility in a way that no other episode does.

I usually write these posts a few months in advance, but the turnaround time for MAUDE was about one month. Earlier this week, when I did my final edit of the post, I considered moving around my list to include "Like Mother, Like Daughter," which, as you said, is an excellent show for Bea, despite a perhaps difficult-to-believe premise, and "The Convention," which engages a format that I like (but, for me, doesn't comedically compare to the other realtime first season show, "Maude's Night Out"). Ultimately, there was nothing I wanted to replace, so both episodes remained honorable mentions... but I do think they are recommendable -- especially "Like Mother, Like Daughter."

The first season isn't my favorite either. I'm more excited for the upcoming seasons, when the show really becomes a comedic force! Stay tuned...

[LETTERL]

I'm surprised "The Medical Profession" didn't even get an honorable mention. I like it better than some of the others you mentioned. Not as topical and not as much yelling and fighting between the cast members. More of a regular sitcom episode.

[Kasey]

Originally Posted by LETTERL

I'm surprised "The Medical Profession" didn't even get an honorable mention. I like it better than some of the others you mentioned. Not as topical and not as much yelling and fighting between the cast members. More of a regular sitcom episode.

That's exactly the reason I don't really care for this episode: because it's way too "sit-commy" for a show like this. Perhaps it would have played better in the last season when the show was running out of good stories, but it feels out of place here in S1 with Bea hamming it up doing the cross-eyed, tipsy routine, plus the various settings (Dr's office, etc) when the other episodes took place on a single set in real-time during the first few seasons.