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Reviews
Family: When the Bough Breaks (1980)
Dominique Dunne
Kate finds out she is pregnant. Buddy overhears, and goes into full panic mode due to Kate's age, and also because Buddy. In the meantime, an impulsive 17 year old friend of Buddy's decides she wants to lose her virginity, and selects unsuspecting Willie. Somewhat cringeworthy 40+ years later, it's still fun to watch mostly because of Dominique Dunne, who two years later would appear in the movie Poltergeist - and three years later, would be strangled to death by her boyfriend. We can only imagine the career she would have gone on to have.
There is also a poignant scene where Kate and Nancy discuss the original Timmy, who died in a boating accident ten years prior.
Will Willie do it? Will Doug and Kate regret having done it? Watch and see.
Full House: Crushed (1992)
TOMMY PAGE!!!
It's Stephanie's 10th birthday, and Danny brings pop star Tommy Page to the house to sing to her. (A montage of pictures of Jodie Sweetin from when she was a baby to the present would have been fun here...oh well) Stephanie, starstruck, excuses herself to put perfume "on every inch of my body" and while she is gone, DJ offers to show Tommy around, which he accepts. So now we have 10 year old Stephanie and 15 year old DJ fawning over, and getting kissed by, 24 year old Tommy Page. Cue the cringe.
But setting that aside, plus a couple of dated references to the Kingdome (a Seattle stadium which was demolished in 2000) and photographic negatives (kids, ask your parents), this is an enjoyable episode. And watch for Jodie Sweetin's real life dance class to make their second appearance in the series.
Leave It to Beaver: Child Care (1958)
"Mary Jane", explained.
"I wanna see Mary Jane" was Puddin's way of saying she had to go the bathroom. That's why Wally took her upstairs, and how she ended up locked in the bathroom. I thought it was obvious but apparently not.
On a related note, I wonder if this was the first time ever where a television character indicated that they had to go to the bathroom. Maybe some trivia whiz out there can answer this?
Overall, a fun episode. Wally and Beaver are stuck babysitting a four year old girl with funny results. Puddin' would clearly be a handful for an experienced sitter, and Wally and Beaver are no match for her.
Hard to believe that the little girl who played Puddin' is in her late 60's now....
My Three Sons: Robbie Loves Katie (1967)
"Warp speed"? Not exactly.
My Three Sons ran for 12 years, and in the course of those 12 years, there was one Halloween episode, one Thanksgiving episode, and zero Christmas (or Hanukkah) episodes. In this sitcom, as in all sitcoms, unspecified amounts of time elapse between episodes. So for viewers to assume that the romance is progressing "at warp speed" is ludicrous. This episode could easily have taken place weeks, even months later. The family is fully moved in, even the doorbell that worked perfectly in the previous episode is suddenly now "busted".
Tina Cole - who had appeared in four previous episodes, as a friend of Robbie's - is the perfect fit as Katie. Even her character name is perkier than her previous names... Joanne, Ina, and Sherry (the fourth appearance was uncredited).
Set aside the thoughts about "warp speed" and enjoy the final seasons of what was an incredible series!