Mrs. Homie and I are watching reruns of this show (for the first time!) on MeTV. I know that there’s a very well-loved scene in an episode where:
Dick and Laura bring home the baby. Dick gets it in his head that their baby and another got switched at the hospital. He somehow gets the dad of the other baby to come over to talk about it. There’s a knock on the door. The door opens, and there stands [popular black actor of the time]. Audience roars.
What it the title of that episode? And which season and episode number is it, so I can look it up on Hulu and/or Netflix?
“That’s My Boy?”, one of the best episodes of a fantastic series. I read that they had to refilm the scene in which the Peterses arrived because the audience applauded and laughed for 10 minutes straight.
Actually, the network originally rejected the script and only agreed to film and air the episode after a personal appeal from Sheldon Leonard got the suits to change their mind. The positive audience response is also cited as one of the things that convinced Leonard to cast Bill Cosby in “I Spy”.
Thank you for that. I loved that series. But…aaargh! They didn’t show Rob finally asking Mr. Peters why he just didn’t tell him on the phone, and Peters says “And miss seeing the look on your face?”
Morris also appeared on the show as “Sticks” Mandalay. In any case, the show’s commitment to racial equality was particularly noticeable, as was Leonard’s ability to write scripts about race that were completely respectful of the Blacks in it (Note the one where Dick and Laura had their hands dyed).
The “Sticks” Mandalay part actually could have been played by a white actor without any changes; Morris was portrayed as an old army buddy of Rob, and nothing was mentioned about his race. That was unusual back when it was aired.
I saw that 25 years ago when Nick at Night did a special on the 10 best episodes of the show and that was #1. As I recall from the special, they were only allowed to do it if the black man never actually went past the entry of the house.
I don’t think that this is true. They do come in. Laura invites the wife to come and sit down, and she does, saying something like, “I know I shouldn’t be out, but I couldn’t bear to miss all the fun!”
There was little effort to preserve continuity in the TDVDS.
“That’s My Boy” was a flashback episode where Rob & Laura lived in their house on Bonnie Meadow Road in New Rochelle.
There was another flashback episode where Rob and Laura told the told story when Ritchie was born. And they lived in apartment that was NOT the house on Bonnie Meadow Rd in New Rochelle.
And there was another flashback episode where Rob told his accountant how Rob/Laura bought a house with a rock in the basement. I don’t think Laura was pregnant in that episode.
If an episode of a modern TV show did something like that, Twitter-verse and TWoP would be aghast.
Your point is well made, and I agree with it. But, as a nitpick. Did Sheldon Leonard have anything to do with writing the scripts? I know he produced the show, and directed many episodes. But, Carl Reiner was the driving creative force. I would give him almost all credit for the overall tenet of the show. I hadn’t heard that Leonard did any writing.