Television Review: CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Is There a Fox in The House?" (1985)

CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Is There a Fox in the House?" (CBS-TV/Sony 1985) Original Air Date: December 22, 1985.  Starring Jack Warden as Harry Fox, John Rubenstein as Harrison Fox, Penny Peyser as Gail Fox, Robby Kiger as Josh Fox.  Guest Stars: Della Reese as Nurse Flood, Michael Lembeck as Dr. Andy Farr, Peter Mark Richman as Dr. Rafelman, Paul Comi as Mr. Tyler, Daryl Anderson as Mickey, Angus Duncan as Dr. Morgan, Simone Griffeth as Mrs. Morgan.  Written by Elroy Schwartz.  Directed by Paul Krasny.

Introduction to the 1984-86 CBS series CRAZY LIKE A FOX is at this link.


After Dr. Farr's confrontation with Dr. Morgan, who has seized full credit for a surgical procedure that Farr developed, Morgan falls victim to a car bomb and Farr finds himself arrested.  Fortunately, Farr is a longtime friend of Harrison's, who in fact introduced him to Gail back in college.  That reconnection with the Foxes comes in handy when Morgan succumbs to his injuries, upgrading the charge against Dr. Farr to first degree murder.

Getting involved while he mulls over a new car (or a motorcycle), Harry picks the brain of explosives expert Mickey and gets filled in on the politics of the hospital by his old friend Nurse Flood.  Morgan's (noticeably unmourned) death and Farr's arrest combine to cause an unfortunate situation for Tyler, whose wife awaits the procedure that can only be performed by those two physicians--at least, in San Francisco.  Then Mickey is found dead in his ransacked apartment after assisting Harry's investigation.

Instead of getting roped into one of his detective Dad's cases, Harrison needs and seeks his father's aid in helping his old school chum. That aside, Is There a Fox in The House? is quintessential FOX.  Multiple car chases through the streets of San Francisco with a rattled junior Fox in the passenger seat for starters.  Harrison's attempt to mitigate this roller coaster by doing the driving goes awry when circumstances force improvisation: the Foxes end up chasing Harrison's stolen vehicle in an exterminator's truck--with a giant swaying bug on the roof and Harry driving.  Tough luck, kid!

After nursing the Senior Fox back to health during his hospital stay in Fox Hunt, Della Reese's Nurse Flood makes a welcome return to the series in Is There a Fox in The House?   After admonishing the gumshoe for attempting to Bogart a physician's parking space, Flood is much more forgiving of the Fox follies that follow, even assisting the investigation and practically becoming one of the family by the closing credits.  Like Norman Fell's Vern, Reese was headed for recurring status, and returned in Fox at the Races, the season (and series) finale.

Longtime GILLIGAN'S ISLAND scribe Elroy Schwartz (yup, brother of Sherwood) gets the formula down nicely in his FOX debut, serving up leads and laughs in equal measure.  There's no shortage of suspects once Harry notices how unlamented the late Dr. Morgan's death is--the first of many helpful tidbits from Flood.  Adultery, arrogance, and a penchant for theft of intellectual property--the further the investigation goes, the less liked Morgan gets.  By Act III it seems a wonder that Morgan lived as long as he did.

The penchant of lead-in MURDER, SHE WROTE for inverting viewer expectation pops up in Is There a Fox in the House? with the appearance of venerable villain Peter Mark Richman.  Surely there's a skeleton or two in his closet, right?  Well, maybe.  Maybe not.   Having just started his regular gig on CBS' FOLEY SQUARE a week earlier, Lembeck (ONE DAY AT A TIME) gets top billing in the impressive guest cast.

With several opportunities for the comedy team of Warden and Rubenstein to generate laughs, a mystery that is agreeable if uncomplicated, and the always welcome Reese, this is an archetypal crowd-pleasing hour for the series.  Unfortunately, the show's pre-emption driven sophomore slide in the Nielsens continued.  Bumped to 10 P.M. E.T. for a week by A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Is There a Fox in the House? posted a 16.3 rating, good for 30th out of 65 shows for the week ending December 22, 1985.  But that still-respectable showing came in second for the time slot, bested by ABC's showing of THE TOY (18.7, 16th).  Ugh--THE TOY over the FOX?  What the Hell were viewers thinking?   (*** out of four)


CRAZY LIKE A FOX occasionally airs on getTV.  Check the schedule here!

MAVERICK Mondays: "A Fellow's Brother" (1959)

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 26







MAVERICK: "A Fellow's Brother" (1959 ABC-TV/Warner Brothers) Starring James Garner as Bret Maverick, Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, Gary Vinson as Smoky Vaughn, Diane McBain as Holly Vaughn, Bing Russell as Jed Haines, Sam Buffington as Burgess, Adam West as George Henry Arnett, Wally Brown as Enoch, Jonathan Hole as Marvin, Charles Maxwell as Russ, Robert Foulk as the Sheriff, Billy Benedict as the Desk Clerk.  Written by Herman Epstein.  Directed by Les Goodwins.


The feared George Henry Arnett abruptly abandons a showdown with young Smoky Vaughn when he hears that Bret Maverick is looking for him--which convinces an idolizing Smoky that Bret is a feared gunslinger.  Eagerly becoming Bret's unwanted sidekick, the kid isn't deterred when his new "pal" insists--truthfully--that Arnett ran quickly to avoid paying an old monetary debt.

Bret's attempt to shake this newfound and mistaken reputation isn't helped by the arrival of bounty hunting Burgess, who insists that Maverick is the killer he's after.  While the impatient Smoky attempts to help his unwilling idol break out of jail, Bret has more trouble on the way: Haines, the brother of the man that "Maverick" allegedly killed.  Knowing that brother Bart is nowhere near Canyon City, Bret asserts mistaken identity, implies that they're after his brother, and sends Burgess (and by extension, the corrupt Sheriff) looking in that direction.   Meanwhile, Smoky repeatedly assures Mr. Maverick that he has his back as the Haines posse closes in.

SMOKY: "You wouldn't shoot anyone in the back!"
BRET: "It's the safest place."

Always the most reluctant of all possible heroes, Bret Maverick is more disinclined than ever in the face of Smoky's misguided reverence.  Ironically, sister Holly Vaughn is right--Bret would be a very positive influence on the aspiring young gunman.  Smoky's odds of ever growing old seem long from the get-go, since he's willing and able to put his life on the line over a mud splash when we first meet him.  Not something the ever-prudent Bret would allow to escalate.

"When a fellow's brother gets killed, it's up to the fellow's brother to get the fellow who killed the fellow's brother."

Everyone seems to believe this imperative, except pragmatic Bret.  Upon hearing that brother Bart has been gunned down, Bret's response is immediate and decisive: he's going out for breakfast.  Later we receive further clarity on the younger Maverick's location and the impossibility that this "report" could be true.  If it were, though, Bret's reaction later tells us what he thinks of this unwritten rule--he sends the bounty hunter looking for his brother!  After all, that's his problem.

HOLLY: "Stupid, silly pride. A man is coming here to kill you.  Why must you stay here and face him?"
BRET: "Who's staying???"

In the same year that Howard Hawks made RIO BRAVO, Herman Epstein (Maverick and Juliet) came up with MAVERICK's own subtle, cheeky response to HIGH NOON.  Diane McBain (SURFSIDE 6) is our answer to Grace Kelly here (AFAIC not a bad tradeoff at all), looking out in horror from behind windows and getting the lengthy anti-Code speech--which Maverick, of course, promptly agrees with.  Bret doesn't channel Gary Cooper, hiding inside the house until Smoky foils those plans.

Suggesting that it is Smoky, not Bret, who is more isolated in this idolatry of honor, Jeb Haines slowly, menacingly approaches Bret Maverick--and promptly concludes that he has the wrong man.  Haines later picks a much more winnable gunfight and proves to be at least as cash-motivated as any Maverick.  The latter also applies to Burgess and the Sheriff.  So much for nobility.

Few actors have ever been able to play put-upon annoyance like James Garner, and Gary Vinson's wonderfully earnest comedic performance brings it out, providing this show's highlight.  This was the only MAVERICK for Vinson (McHALE'S NAVY), who sadly committed suicide in 1984 at age 47.

Sam Buffington and Garner

Sam Buffington, another talented actor who died way too young by the same method just a year later (he was only 28) marks his fifth and final MAVERICK as the humorless bounty hunter.  Adam West (Pappy) also appears for a third and final segment as the feared (and fearing) gunslinger in the opening minutes.

MAVERICK's third season can't quite measure up to the legendary second, but A Fellow's Brother doesn't contribute to that particular failing.  In fact, I'd say it is a more successful skewering of heroic obligations than that season's much better known The Saga of Waco Williams.  Truer to the show's universe from fade-in to fade-out, with nary a wasted line.

HOW'D BRET DO AT POKER?

He appeared to be doing rather well at the local saloon despite the distraction; the one activity Smoky wasn't able to affect in a negative way.  Bart only appears in the closing seconds, and from the looks of things, won't be making it to the tables anytime soon.

WISDOM FROM PAPPY?

"It isn't how fast you draw that counts--it's what you draw and when you draw."  Yep, Pappy was talking about guns versus poker.  Succinct.

Herman Epstein is one of the unsung MAVERICK heroes, providing two of the third season's top 4 installments and two more good ones during the wildly inconsistent fourth.  A Fellow's Brother was also the first (and best) of seven segments for venerable Leslie Goodwins (The Maverick Line), who guides a sensational comic performance from Vinson, so sincere and yet so unintentionally grating--in a good way.  With all the mentions he receives throughout, it's thoroughly predictable when brother Bart shows up for the capper, which works as admirably as everything else preceding it.  (**** out of four)

MAVERICK airs Monday through Friday at 3:10 P.M. Central Time on Encore Westerns, and at 9 A.M. Central Time every Saturday on MeTV.

Television Review: HONDO: "Hondo and the Hanging Town" (1967)

"Your lives are meaningless compared to HONDO!"









HONDO: "Hondo and the Hanging Town" (ABC-TV/MGM/Batjac Productions 1967) Original Air Date: December 8, 1967.  Starring Ralph Taeger as Hondo Lane, Noah Beery Jr. as Buffalo Baker, Gary Clarke as Captain Richards.  Guest Stars: Dan O'Herlihy as Phineas Blackstone, Gary Crosby as Sergeant Tom Bixby, Morgan Woodward as Colonel Jake Spinner, Denver Pyle as Judge Amos Blunt, Bing Russell as Sheriff Thompson, Quentin Sondergaard as Stoner, Edward Colmas as Father Verona, Jamie Farr as John-Chee, Steve Mitchell as Morrison, Walter Scott as Hokti.  Written by Stanley Adams and George F. Slavin.  Directed by Alan Crosland Jr.

Introduction to the HONDO Episode Guide and series overview is at this link.

En route to Tucson to marry his fiancee, Bixby gets as far as Red Rock before he finds the knifed body of Father Francis.  Catching a glimpse of a fleeing Indian, Bixby goes to alert the local authorities and consequently finds himself charged with the murder and robbery.  Hondo and Buffalo are given the assignment of delivering the Sergeant to the court in San Pueblo for the trial.

"Bushwhackin' a Padre just about heads the list for gettin' up a necktie party."

Taking the prisoner from a leery Sheriff Thompson, Hondo quickly realizes that even a successful delivery to the court will be a daunting task.  Stoner leads a lynch mob seeking justice for the beloved Padre, and would have competition if not for beguiling snake oil salesman Blackstone's distraction of the Red Rock locals with his sales pitch.  Bixby profusely claims his innocence, but hasn't a prayer without a lawyer, the Father's missing artifacts, or the identity of the Indian he saw.  Lengthening the Sergeant's odds: hanging judge Blunt will be presiding over the trial and powerful (Confederate) Colonel Spinner "runs things" in San Pueblo--including Stoner's posse and the legal prosecution.

Making Sergeant at Fort Lowell seems almost as deadly as dating Paul Kersey.  Able (Hondo and the Superstition Massacre) and Daniels (Hondo and the Singing Wire) and an uncredited three striper in the two part opener are among the casualties to date.  Bixby appears all but certain to join them for much of Hondo and the Hanging Town, which interestingly is the highest rated episode of the series by voters at imdb.com.  Delivering wall-to-wall action and compelling courtroom drama, the ranking has substantial merit. 

"The war's over, Colonel."

Vigilante justice based on prima facie evidence was already addressed unconventionally in Hondo and the Mad Dog, but this Slavin/Adams script finds another novel wrinkle.  Bixby faces a prejudicial atmosphere because he's a United States soldier in the fiefdom of Colonel Spinner, who in 1870 still wears his Confederate uniform everywhere and angrily condemns Lane for "pandering for Yankee favors".  Steely-eyed Spinner would rather hang a U.S. cavalryman than pause to consider the possibility of an Apache's guilt.  A former Virginia volunteer, Spinner's clothing, profession, speech to Hondo and post-War migration southwest are all indicative of a loose basis on Jubal Early.

Spinner is only slightly more iron-fisted than Justice/Judge/Sheriff Blunt, who proudly "saves the taxpayers a lot of money" by wearing several hats.  Neither is used to much of an opposing force in court, which is where traveling peddler Blackstone comes in.  It's Lane who observes the salesman's curious surfeit of legal knowledge and learns that Blackstone used to be a far more talented prosecutor than Spinner.

Disappearing into snake oil and alcohol after wrongfully sending an innocent man to the gallows in Massachusetts (as John Rutledge, attorney at law) Blackstone has changed his name, forged a far less prestigious avocation, and crossed the country in guilt.  His soul is as empty as that Efficacious Elixir, but the conscience isn't gone--Phineas kindly suggests that the tonic is "best taken at night, for example.

"Mister Rutledge, these are good people.  This is a good town!  All we want is justice."

It takes another man who knows a hollow feeling all too well--Hondo--to persuade the huckster to use that silver tongue for redemption in the courtroom.  While Blunt clearly seems to enjoy passing sentence, he's also taken aback at any suggestion that those taxpayers aren't getting a just court for the money.  Learning that prior defense attorneys fought that ego to no avail, Rutledge feeds it, displaying superior legal knowledge respectfully, gaining critically needed leeway in the process.  Blackstone doesn't entirely disappear: dazzing with brilliance won't be all that's needed in this venue, so the potion pusher's ability to baffle with bullshit also comes in handy.  (About those 'medicinal' terms: Flux is legit, at least.  Gastric lumbar caronitis?  Not so much.)

"How come a smart trader like you would trade a sorry looking burro for a good horse?"

Hondo and the Hanging Town is exciting, but this second installment taking Hondo, Buffalo and Sam on the road isn't quite perfect logically.  Take the critical courtroom revelation by Father Verona, combined with Bixby's description of the horse he saw: wouldn't that mean, since Hokti already had the horse, that he was revisiting the scene of the crime on the mount he'd just traded for?  And if so, for what reason, with the trade already made and the watch disposed of?  Buffalo notices the lopsidedness of that transaction just in time, but listen closely: Beery bloops the line, which is delivered exactly as written at the top of this paragraph.  No one caught this?

A whopping four special guest stars make the opening credits this time around, with O'Herlihy (THE TRAVELS OF JAMIE McPHEETERS) the headliner.  Nevertheless, Crosby (son of Bing, of course), Woodward (who passed away this February at age 93) and Pyle all receive prominent billing.  It's a deep bench when Russell and Sondergaard are relegated to fifth and sixth positions.  Jamie Farr actually guest starred in back-to-back weeks, with his pivotal cameo here followed by a much meatier role in Hondo and the Gladiators.

Hondo and the Hanging Town provides plenty of the action we've come to expect without skimping on the promised courtroom theatrics.  Perhaps Slavin and Adams tried to do a little too much--the attempted apprehension of Hokt is a thrilling read in the shooting script, but (possibly due to time or location constraints) isn't captured nearly as well on film.  An addition, the proceedings get hurried at times and a tad contrived on occasion during the trial.  Regardless, this one is still a winner, vindicating the new focus on tales taking the scouts outside Fort Lowell.

HOW MANY CANS OF WHOOPASS?

Emberato lets Spinner's fightin' words slide, but he still had to have sore knuckles at the end of this journey.  Lynch mob leader Stoner gets a thorough thrashing when he attempts to relieve Lane of the prisoner; a bartending bully gets a single but decisive punch for gratuitously abusing John-Chee; murderer Hoti meets a grisly end after resisting Emberato's attempted citizen's arrest; and finally, Hondo responds to Morrison's obstruction of justice by completing the quartet of KO's.

IS THE CANTINA STILL STANDING?

To the relief of the locals, the only barroom fisticuffs take place in San Pueblo.

A DOG'S LIFE:

While rarely out of sight, Sam is a bystander for most of Hondo and the Hanging Town.  As always, though, he comes through in the clutch when a shotgun wielding Morrison gets the drop on Lane.

Hondo and the Hanging Town is solid, if a bit too ragged at times for the highest rating.  For his part, Crosland keeps you from pondering any loose ends until after the closing credits.  Still another fine, well-plotted entry overall, with an intriguing story and a typically strong guest cast.  (***1/2 out of four)

HONDO airs every Sunday morning at 11:15 A.M. Eastern Time (10:15 A.M. Central) on getTV.

The complete series is also available on DVD from Warner Archive.