Airdate: 1/3/85
Frasier’s gets a
visit from his mentor, Dr. Ludlow, and both he and Diane are bending over
backwards trying to impress the esteemed psychologist. When their subtle hints
that he has a crumb on his tie fall flat, Carla steps in to relay the news with
brutish honesty, and it’s love at first sight. Stood up by Ludow night after
night, Frasier and Diane wanna know what’s up – but be careful what you wish
for; upon hearing the news that Ludlow and Carla are dating has them screaming
in abject horror. Things get worse when Ludlow proposes marriage to Carla, but
she reveals to Diane that she hasn’t exactly been up front about her 5… make
that 6… kids (she’s carrying Ludlow’s child), and so she turns down the
proposal. In the back room she explains that she has yet to meet the man she’ll
marry, and Ludlow tells her that he also has a dreamgirl, but now he’ll have to
keep looking.
Great show works
on two levels – Frasier and Diane’s fawning, later turning to disgust when
their intellectual idol becomes one of “them,” and a bittersweet love sory of
an unlikely pair that starts as a comic device and transforms into a woeful
tale of unrequited love. Guest star James Karen as Ludlow will always be the
“Pathmark Guy” to me (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go back to your
Disney Channel show), and his down-the-line performance helps make this odd
romance work so well. Best scene: Carla describing her future husband down to
every detail – one of the best backroom monologues the show has produced so
far.
Cold open: Coach
bets he can guess the age of a customer in three simple questions, one of them
being “What year were you born?”
Norm’s opener:
Sam: “Norm, what would you like?” Norm: “Dunno, got anything pale and cold?”
Carla: “Yeah, but it’s Diane’s day off!”
No comments:
Post a Comment