Need Help Identifying an Episode

[Commander Benson]

I need the help of all the Father Knows Best fans here.

I am trying to determine the title of a specific episode. I haven't seen it since it aired or was rerun during the original run of the series, thus my details are sketchy and probably slightly off.

All I remember is the climax. It occurs at a party in which Bud is stuck as the date of a girl much taller than him and he is taking a great deal of ribbing for this from his friends. As I recall, this taunting embarrassed Bud and, as a result, he was treating the girl like dirt. As was inevitable, Bud came to his senses and realised what a jerk he was, told off his friends at the party, and apologised to the young lady. The single clear memory I have of this episode is, after Bud apologises for his actions, the girl responds with a genuine, sincere smile which lit up the screen.

The actress was Pamela Lincoln. Her acting career had been spotty. The female lead in a Vincent Prince film (The Tingler ) and one of those early '60's teen-age pot-boilers (Anatomy of a Psycho ), and some regular rôles on soap operas in the mid-'70's. She now teaches acting in New England and is an acquaintance of mine.

This episode of FKB was the first time I noticed her, and I've been trying to obtain a copy of that episode to send to her. But I have not stumbled across it since; nor have I been able to identify it from the various FKB episode guides on the Internet.

Do any of you recall the title of that episode, or perhaps can provide more details so that I can identify it from the various episode guides? I would be most appreciative.

Commander Benson

[Robert Mitchum]

Hi, Commander.

Here's the episode:

Bud, The Campus Romeo(Februrary 2, 1959).

It starts in a soda shop where Bud overhears three high school foxes talking about how fine he is. So, he decides to start playing games with all the most popular girls on campus, until they catch on to what he's doing. They start their own anti-Bud campaign, threatening to black-ball any girl who even gives Bud a second look. Janis -- the tall girl played by Pamela Lincoln -- has a crush on Bud , and -- because she is so tall -- has no one who likes her. For Bud, she is the last resort. He asks her out, she hesitates, then agrees. The episode ends with Bud admitting to everybody at the party that he had to practically beg Janis to go with him, and that he's the lucky guy. Not her.

Very nice episode. I have a copy if you'd like one.

Regards,
Mitch

p.s. Icons brought to you by JaneTV, the resident FKB fox.

[Commander Benson]

Mitch,

My eternal thanks, friend. Until late last year, I had been assigned to COMSEVENTHFLT for almost three years and, even with Internet capability, I was unable to determine the title of that episode. I had incomplete episode guides to go by, of course, and with the help of a couple of dealers in old television shows, I was able to order a few episodes--after taking some best-guesses from the episode titles I saw. Of course, none of them turned out to be the right one.

Just having the right title is a tremendous help, friend. But your offer to provide me a copy of the show is overwhelming and most appreciated.

Would it be inconvenient to ask you to make two separate tapes of that episode--one to send to Miss Lincoln (with due credit to yourself for your help) and one for me. (I really want to see that smile, again!) I would insist on paying you for your expense and time, especially since I am asking for even extra effort. If this meets with your agreement, just advise me of the cost and an address and I will post a cheque to you soonest.

You might find the story of how I became acquainted with Pamela Lincoln interesting, even if it is only obliquely related to Father Knows Best .

As I said, the first place I ever saw Pamela Lincoln was in that episode--and I never forgot her gentle demeanour or that dazzling smile. I saw her again, when I made it a point to catch the movie, The Tingler , since I knew she was in it. I also sat through the movie, Tootsie , since she was listed in the credits. I was disappointed to find that her screen time is limited to about three seconds and one line--when she yells "Michael, you can't go in there!" to Dustin Hoffman, as he barges into Sydney Pollack's office.

But I always wanted to contact her and tell her how her performance in FKB was so memorable that I never forgot it after all of these years. Unfortunately, since her career was so relatively obscure, I could not find an address anywhere on her.

I am a voracious reader and have an extensive library, especially of books on cinema and television. One of my sources is a small press called Midnight Marquee. One of their books was a compendium of essays on B-movies and creature features, one of which was by writer Tom Weaver on The Tingler . As part of Mr. Weaver's essay, he interviewed Miss Lincoln. That gave me an inspiration. I called the Midnight Marquee offices and spoke to one of the editors. I explained my desire to send Miss Lincoln a letter of appreciation and asked if there was some means by which my letter could be forwarded to Miss Lincoln. The editor explained that she could forward it to Tom Weaver who might forward it.

Talk about a slender thread! But I wrote a letter to Miss Lincoln and enclosed it in an unsealed envelope and forwarded it to Midnight Marquee with a cover letter, advising the editor and, ultimately, Mr. Weaver of my request and that they were free to review my letter to Miss Lincoln to make sure it was appropriate and didn't say anything untoward.

That was in 1997.

I never heard anything back, so I presumed some part of the chain had broken, and shrugged it off as one of those things.

Two years later--I had only been at COMSEVENTHFLT for a few months--my wife forwarded me a large envelope which had arrived for me. It was from Miss Lincoln. After thanking me for my comments, she apologised for taking so long to reply, but explained that she wanted to wait until she had had some new portraits taken (one of which she enclosed), and she had not expected it to take so long. She also warned that time it worked its changes--as it does on all of us--and she probably didn't look like she did on Father Knows Best . I am glad to report that time hasn't done much damage to her appearance and that dazzling smile hasn't changed one whit!

I couldn't get over the fact that she had bothered to keep my letter in mind for over two years! Since then, we have exchanged a few more letters; nothing close, just friendly exchanges of greetings. But that's why I would love so dearly to send her a copy of her FKB appearance, and I thank you so much for your help in enabling me to do so.

It just goes to show that there is some Jim Anderson in all of us!


Adam Benson