"The Diplomat" was the only script contributed by sometime actors Paul Lichtman and Howard Storm, the latter becoming the main director on MORK AND MINDY. A new arrival in San Pueblo is ambassador Howard Lipton (Richard Mulligan), who remembers meeting Shirley three years before and has his assistant, Roger Harper (Pat Harrington) ask her out on his behalf. Lipton's reputation as a ladies' man preceding him (not unlike Henry Kissinger), Shirley is delighted by his attentions, until one important phone call after another takes precedence over everything else. Feeling rebuffed, she surprises Harper by refusing the diplomat's request for a second date, which does his ego no favors. Shirley has a simple request for Howard, that he spend one evening having dinner at the Partridge home, no calls allowed. Each making his second and last appearance, Richard Mulligan (previously seen in "Why Did the Music Stop?") was still four years away from SOAP, while Pat Harrington (previously seen in "Danny and the Mob") was just two years away from ONE DAY AT A TIME. The featured song is the upbeat "How Long is Too Long," composed by John Bahler and Tony Asher, from eighth LP BULLETIN BOARD (later heard in "Keith and Lauriebelle").
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