Caught this on ME-TV today. It was the pilot for the series and did a fine job of introducing all the characters, and not confusing people by focusing on Steve and one of his sons, while featuring Bub (William Frawley) who got in some of the best lines.
Chip is being pursued by a girl, Dorine, who he says talks about marriage even though they are only in second grade. He displays all the typical attitude of 7-year-old boys towards girls. Steve doesn't try to force anything or give him a talk about how "one day you'll be glad when girls are interested in you..." His only directions with Chip are to be polite with her, not rude.
Meanwhile, Steve has gone to a dinner party with some friends and been introduced to a woman named Pamela, who apparently did not make a big impression on Steve, for no stated reason. She seemed to be attractive, friendly, smart, etc. Steve just wasn't interested in her. She phones and invites him over for dinner and only through some confusion as Steve kept trying to answer Bub while he was on the phone with her did he get trapped into going.
She barely welcomed him into her apartment before she turned off the lights, then lit a couple of candles. We saw no more other than Steve not being thrilled by her. But the next day she appeared at the Douglas home with leftover cake, saying he ate three large pieces so she thought she'd bring over the rest for his family. This leads to Chip inviting her to come with Steve to this kids' dance he is going to with Dorine. He is reluctant but heavily encouraged by Steve to go. At the dance, Chip asks the pertinent question of his father. "Is it polite to pretend you like someone when you don't?" Steve agrees with his youngest son that they should be honest with the "women" in their lives.
In the concluding scene we learn that Chip did his polite bit to drop Dorine, while Steve couldn't find the right time to say anything to Pamela, promising he'd get the chance at her place next Friday night-all while Bub is teasing him about more candlelight dinners and all.
The dog Tramp did appear, essentially as a pillow for Chip while he lay on the floor. We learned that the boys' grandpa was called Bub because when eldest son Mike was little, that was the closest he could get to saying "Grandpa," and that Steve had been a widower since about the time Chip was a year old. His full name is Michael Francis O'Casey and he's Steve's father-in-law.
In seeing many episodes of the early years of this series a few years ago, I felt the same way I did when our family watched it while I was a kid: It was a somewhat funny show but not usually hilarious or even close to it. It was something I was happy to see, but anytime there was something else to do, it didn't bother me that I missed the episode.
This episode was surely one of the funnier episodes, largely due to Bub. It also featured nice, realistic scenes between Steve and Chip. If you liked this series at all, you'll enjoy seeing the family at their youngest. I give this episode a 9.
Chip is being pursued by a girl, Dorine, who he says talks about marriage even though they are only in second grade. He displays all the typical attitude of 7-year-old boys towards girls. Steve doesn't try to force anything or give him a talk about how "one day you'll be glad when girls are interested in you..." His only directions with Chip are to be polite with her, not rude.
Meanwhile, Steve has gone to a dinner party with some friends and been introduced to a woman named Pamela, who apparently did not make a big impression on Steve, for no stated reason. She seemed to be attractive, friendly, smart, etc. Steve just wasn't interested in her. She phones and invites him over for dinner and only through some confusion as Steve kept trying to answer Bub while he was on the phone with her did he get trapped into going.
She barely welcomed him into her apartment before she turned off the lights, then lit a couple of candles. We saw no more other than Steve not being thrilled by her. But the next day she appeared at the Douglas home with leftover cake, saying he ate three large pieces so she thought she'd bring over the rest for his family. This leads to Chip inviting her to come with Steve to this kids' dance he is going to with Dorine. He is reluctant but heavily encouraged by Steve to go. At the dance, Chip asks the pertinent question of his father. "Is it polite to pretend you like someone when you don't?" Steve agrees with his youngest son that they should be honest with the "women" in their lives.
In the concluding scene we learn that Chip did his polite bit to drop Dorine, while Steve couldn't find the right time to say anything to Pamela, promising he'd get the chance at her place next Friday night-all while Bub is teasing him about more candlelight dinners and all.
The dog Tramp did appear, essentially as a pillow for Chip while he lay on the floor. We learned that the boys' grandpa was called Bub because when eldest son Mike was little, that was the closest he could get to saying "Grandpa," and that Steve had been a widower since about the time Chip was a year old. His full name is Michael Francis O'Casey and he's Steve's father-in-law.
In seeing many episodes of the early years of this series a few years ago, I felt the same way I did when our family watched it while I was a kid: It was a somewhat funny show but not usually hilarious or even close to it. It was something I was happy to see, but anytime there was something else to do, it didn't bother me that I missed the episode.
This episode was surely one of the funnier episodes, largely due to Bub. It also featured nice, realistic scenes between Steve and Chip. If you liked this series at all, you'll enjoy seeing the family at their youngest. I give this episode a 9.
