Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, I’m revealing the answers and winners of this year’s holiday contest, for which I asked you to guess my 13 favorite sitcom episodes out of the 35 most recent seasons of shows we discussed on Sitcom Tuesdays (excluding reruns, clip shows, pop-outs, and reboots/revivals). Here are the official answers…
- 3rd Rock From The Sun (S1): “Dick Like Me” (1996)
- 3rd Rock From The Sun (S2): “Gobble, Gobble, Dick, Dick” (1996)
- 3rd Rock From The Sun (S3): “Dick-In-Law” (1997)
- 3rd Rock From The Sun (S3): “Dick And The Other Guy” (1998)
- 3rd Rock From The Sun (S4): “Two-Faced Dick” (1998)
- 3rd Rock From The Sun (S4): “Dick Solomon Of The Indiana Solomons” (1999)
- 3rd Rock From The Sun (S5): “Dial M For Dick” (1999)
- Malcolm In The Middle (S1): “Water Park” (2000)
- Malcolm In The Middle (S2): “Bowling” (2001)
- Malcolm In The Middle (S3): “Christmas” (2001)
- Malcolm In The Middle (S7): “Lois Strikes Back” (2006)
- Scrubs (S4): “My Last Chance” (2004)
- Scrubs (S6): “My Musical” (2007)
My only tough choice was deciding whether to include, in some fashion, Ellen‘s two-part “The Puppy Episode,” a strong and important moment for that series and the sitcom genre at large. Ultimately, I decided to go with entries that I personally enjoy more (including a lot of 3rd Rock From The Sun). But rest assured, I think “The Puppy Episode” is great too — definitely a time-capsule sitcom sample…. At any rate, congratulations to everyone who participated in this contest. I have sent you all a link to scripts from both HOT L BALTIMORE and The Nancy Walker Show, along with a copy of the UNCUT sixth season premiere of Good Times!
And a special congratulations to Brandon Richter, who got a perfect score. I have sent him two episodes of the short-lived sitcom Apple Pie, produced and created by Norman Lear and veteran Maude scribe Charlie Hauck — the first aired outing, “Fast Eddie Slows Down” (09/23/78), and a later un-broadcast entry called “Ginger-Nell Loses Her Touch.”
Apple Pie, which was pulled by ABC after only two weeks, is set in 1933 and stars Rue McClanahan as a hairdresser who creates a family by advertising in the want section — getting a daughter, a son, a “grandpa” (played by Jack Gilford), and in the opener, a man-of-the-house, portrayed by Dabney Coleman. It’s a very high-concept rendering of a low-concept domestic sitcom — adding both a “period piece” wrinkle (which was very popular in the 1970s, thanks to Garry Marshall’s efforts), and the premised complication that this family is not actually related, but a congregation of individuals looking for a place to belong. Based on what I’ve seen, it reminds me a bit of The Golden Girls, also about a group of non-related folks living together in a domestic space, but that show eschews the bland nuclear family format for a friends/hangout design, where everyone is an equal and not deferential to these false familial positions. Golden Girls was also set up to be more character-driven, avoiding the idea-based gimmickry of a nostalgic setting, and the inherent treacle associated with kids inside a family structure. In this regard, I think Apple Pie was always going to be a tough sell — it’s got a lot of added, unnecessary trappings that consume comedic and narrative focus when all we really want to see is the main adult characters interacting inside stories predicated on their relational conflicts. And, to that point, McClanahan — who is charming — has great chemistry with Coleman, and while the writing itself is solid, I consider it a shame that the two weren’t paired together in something poised for success via a more straightforward, character-centric premise. But, c’est la vie — it’s fascinating and, as a taped multi-cam from the 1970s, it’s a further window into the Norman Lear aesthetic. Here’s a clip from the premiere — enjoy! And Happy Holidays to all!
Come back next week for a new Wildcard! And stay tuned Tuesday for more sitcom fun!