Random Sitcom Night

[Adamantium]

I have decided to have random sitcom nights every week, using only shows I have complete on DVD. I’ve done it twice so far and decided to talk about it here.

Night #1

Taxi -- “Latka the Playboy” - This is the only show where I knew which episode I wanted to watch before I started the marathon. I was always a fan of Latka’s multiple personalities and this is the classic episode that started it all. Taxi has been a favorite of mine for many years now and this was such a fun episode.

Welcome Back, Kotter -- “The Sweathog Scandal” - This second season episode was alright but not a really funny episode in my opinion. I don’t have much to say about it.

Laverne & Shirley -- “The Wedding” - This is the episode in which Frank proposes and marries Edna Babbish. It was a nice episode and you could tell the audience really liked watching the proposal and all the sweet talking between the characters. I had never seen this episode before and stayed entertained through out.

Kate & Allie -- “Emma’s Coming Out Party” - I had a crush on Emma when I was younger watching this series and wanted to watch an episode that focused on her. However, that’s not what this was as it turns out. This was a flash back episode to when Kate and Allie reconnected and were both pregnant. Kate then goes into labor by episode’s end. I haven’t seen this show in such a long time and while the episode wasn’t bad, I wished I had chosen a different episode.

NewsRadio -- “Sleeping” - Since my dad had a heart attack a couple weeks ago, I got in the mood to watch the episode where Jimmy James had a heart attack and is unconscious in a hospital bed placed in the break room at the office. It’s an episode I’ve always liked and that hasn’t changed. Whenever I hear the song “Slow Ride”, I think of this episode.

Car 54, Where Are You? -- “Toody and Muldoon Sing Along with Mitch” - Not a great episode but it was alright. It’s funny, I’ve wanted this show on DVD forever and once I got it I barely ever watched it. So this was the first episode I’ve seen in a couple of years. As with Kate & Allie, I wish I had chosen a different episode.

I Love Lucy -- “The Indian Show” - I chose this episode solely for the musical performance by Ricky, that woman and later Lucy, who butchers it. It’s a nice episode otherwise but I really like that song they sang. I’ve been on a Lucy kick lately, mostly watching the later years but like I say, I felt like listening to that song again.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show -- “Have I Found a Guy for You” - Another show I own on DVD but hardly ever watch. Whenever I do watch this show, I’m taken back to the old Nick at Nite days (or nights). The episode featured a pre-Vera Beth Howland and saw an uncomfortable Mary as her friends not only were getting separated but the guy wanted to date Mary. It was a decent episode and one I don’t recall ever seeing before.

After that, I went to my room to rest my eyes and fell asleep.

Night #2

The second night, I closed my eyes and pointed to a show, then drew a number to decide which season to watch and finally drew a number again to decide which disc to watch. From there I chose an episode. I did that for the first two then decided to pick the show myself but I still went through that process to get to the episode I was going to watch.

The Addams Family -- “Gomez, the Reluctant Lover” - Not a great episode. In fact, it wasn’t that good at all (to me). Don’t get me wrong, I like The Addams Family but every show is allowed to have a clunker now and then. Also, I noticed both Wednesday and Grandmamma were absent from the episode.

Father Knows Best -- “Class Prophecy” - Season three was selected. I was in the mood to watch some young Elinor Donahue and chose an episode I figured she would be heavily featured in. Boy was I wrong, lol. She wasn’t in the episode at all. It was, however, a really good episode. I was ultimately glad I chose it. I don’t watch this show a lot. It’s not one I grew up on as it was never on Nick at Nite and those are the classics I watched as a kid (The Donna Reed Show, My Three Sons, Make Room for Daddy, etc.).

The Bob Newhart Show -- “Mom, I L-L-Love You” - With the recent passing of Jack Riley, I figured I’d watch an episode of The Bob Newhart Show. Season 1, disc 1 was selected and I chose this episode and of course, Jack Riley did NOT appear in it, lol. I liked the episode anyway as I, too, have a tough time telling my parents that I love them. And I couldn’t get over how cute Emily looked in this particular show. As a kid, I was never attracted to her but I got over that with this episode!

Laverne & Shirley -- “Window on Main Street” - Of course I selected season 8 but at least I got disc 1, so I went for the second of two episodes featuring Shirley. This was her final episode and it was a humorous one. I didn’t think it would be, when they were setting it up about the hypnotism but I gotta say, it made me laugh when it played out. Also I noticed there was no Frank, Lenny or Squiggy in this episode.

Taxi -- “Jim’s Inheritance” - This time when I chose to watch Taxi I selected season 5, disc 1 and decided on this episode. It’s an episode I remember liking and yet it didn’t do much for me this time around. I still love the ending with the Stevie Wonder song playing and I remember being nervous before the fifth season was released that it would be edited out. Thankfully it wasn’t.

Welcome Back, Kotter -- “A Little Fright Music” - Like with Laverne & Shirley I randomly selected the worst season. This episode had no Travolta, which was to be expected but what was surprising is that it actually had Kotter in it, lol, which those who know this show know he wasn’t in a whole lot of the final year. Horshack was missing without explanation, too. The episode was kind of annoying and I noticed an edit. When Mr. Woodman comes into the Kotter apartment, he’s singing “Staying Alive” however it’s muted out.

The Odd Couple -- “Gotta Be Me” - I LOVE The Odd Couple. It’s one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. However, I hate the DVDs for seasons 3-5 for the butchering that took place due to cutting a lot of the music out of the episodes. Season 2 had some edits but not nearly as many as the subsequent seasons. Season 1, to my knowledge had no edits but it’s the weakest season in my opinion. To me, the show didn’t become good until season two when the studio audience came in and Klugman and Randall gave their own traits to the characters of Oscar and Felix. As for the episode, it’s the one where the odd couple switch places. It was funny (and I got to see Elinor Donahue that night after all!) but Felix (and probably Oscar too) sang a song which was cut out. So that got me mad. That’s the main reason why I don’t watch this show on DVD. But I figured I hadn’t seen it in forever and would include it in my marathon.

Okay that’s it for now. When I do this marathon again, I’ll update this thread.

[icecream]

I've been watching The Addams Family for a month on my affiliate, and there are several episodes Grandmamma has not been in. She was the least used of the regular characters. Kitty is shown more than her.

[tlc38tlc38]

^Grandmamma is one of my favorites. I never realized how underused she was until now.