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!

Television Review: CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Fox and Hounds" (1985)

CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Fox and Hounds" (CBS-TV/Sony 1985) Original Air Date: March 24, 1985.  Starring Jack Warden as Harry Fox, John Rubenstein as Harrison Fox, Penny Peyser as Gail Fox, Robby Kiger as Josh Fox, Mary Ellen Trainor as Connie Olsen, Ron O'Neal as the Smuggler, Barbara Babcock as Helen, Jonathan Banks as Inspector Dick Hawkins, Philip Brown as Jim, Theodore Wilson as Ernie, Zetta Whitlow as Robin. Teleplay by Ruel Fischmann; Story by Robert Malcolm Young.  Directed by Charles Braverman.

Series overview and introduction to the CRAZY LIKE A FOX episode guide at this link.

P.I. Harry Fox arrives at his office, finding a dog waiting for him with Harry's business card stuck in his collar.  The canine's tag identifies him as "Max", a student at the obedience school run by recent Fox client Connie Olsen.  Failing in his attempts to reach Ms. Olsen, Harry decides to leave Max with Harrison's family overnight while he continues to search for her.  While walking Max, Harrison finds himself the target of two armed men seeking to steal the detection dog and politely declines to provide further boarding.

The search for Connie takes the senior Fox to her residence the next day, and Harry's curiosity is further piqued when he discovers that Max has been re-trained to sniff out household cleansers.  Unfortunately his investigation is put on hold at that point, as Ms. Olsen has been located after an anonymous tip from Harrison's pursuers: she's a homicide victim, and Harry is arrested as the prime suspect.

Yep, Harry is booked for murder at the end of Act II, but this being the bright, light world of CRAZY LIKE A FOX, he's out on bail mere minutes into Act III.  And not just back on the case, but with a small sample of cocaine in hand from a pal in Vice Squad to bait the bad guys within minutes of his release into Harrison's custody.  Hey, inveterate viewers of the show know that Mr. Fox is one persuasive guy, right?

As directed by long-time documentarian Charles Braverman, Fox and Hounds doesn't skimp on the humor, but commendably brings it from less typical places: Harry's bad driving takes an episode off, and Harrison gets chased by the bad guys more often than his father.  But fear not--Harrison is still continually put-upon.  The lawyer finds himself hiding behind dumpsters, crossing flimsy bridges, having his legal advice disregarded and finding Max (who takes a shine to son Robby, but surprisingly isn't much of a scene stealer) even less cooperative than Harry.  Suffice to say Rubenstein's reliable slow burn gets a real workout.

Not that this episode is any less Warden-centric than usual.  Acquiring someone else's limousine for the second straight outing, Harry ups the ante considerably by also borrowing the aforementioned street drug, a second sniffing canine, and finally a helicopter before the case is cracked.  And while it takes awhile, Fox Senior finally gives us the vehicular damage we've come to expect from him.  Just not from the driver's seat this time--another eye opener.

If you wanted to see Jonathan Banks in drag, Fox and Hounds is your installment.  A quarter century before BREAKING BAD and almost as curmudgeonly as he would become in his most famous role, Banks spends almost all of his screen time undercover in dress and wig after vouching for Harry as a old pro.  No, it isn't punishment, just another day on the job for Inspector Dick Hawkins.  Hawkins' trust in Harry makes him a target of barbs from an even more acerbic Babcock (as homicide Lieutenant Helen)--as does his choice to wear lace.

Director Braverman returned to helm Fox in 3/4 Time, then moved on to the more overt humor of SLEDGE HAMMER!, becoming one of that cult classic's most frequent directors.  With a 18.5 rating, Fox and Hounds scored a solid 14th out of 72 programs in the Nielsen Ratings but still came in second on March 24, 1985 to ABC's rather unremarkable Sunday Night Movie: CALIFORNIA GIRLS with Robby Benson and video vixen Tawny Kitaen (20.3, 9th).  While slightly below the show's 1984-85 average in that regard, Fox and Hounds was on firm ground creatively.  Young and Fischmann threw us a few curveballs while Braverman deftly handled this show's comedy/mystery balancing act.  (*** out of four)

CRAZY LIKE A FOX occasionally airs on getTV.

Television Review: CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Fox in Wonderland" (1985)

CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Fox in Wonderland" (CBS-TV/Sony 1985) Original Air Date: March 17, 1985.  Starring Jack Warden as Harry Fox, John Rubenstein as Harrison Fox, Penny Peyser as Gail Fox, Robby Kiger as Josh Fox, Floyd Levine as Cecil, Robert Hanley as Lt. Walker.  Guest Stars: Tracy Scoggins as Joy, Tom Hallick as Renner, Paul Mantee as Bailey, Joe Maross as Herb Spencer, Stephanie Blackmore as Vivian St. John, John Mahon as Lt. Doyle, Don Maxwell as Chauffeur, and Paul Krasny as the Director.  Written by John Baskin, Frank Cardea, George Schenck and Roger Shulman.  Directed by Paul Krasny.

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

After five long years, Harry Fox's old pal and fellow P.I. Herb Spencer has just wrapped up a case for client Bob Renner of Pacific Security: the recovery of $2 million from an armored truck robbery for a finder's fee of ten percent.  Unfortunately, Spencer's partner Bailey thinks a higher cut is warranted, and revealing the location of the loot (at the "Hollywood Y" in a fuse box) to his untrustworthy business associate costs Spencer his life.

Concerned when Herb is late to his birthday party, Harry Fox calls the hotel and learns of Spencer's murder.  Lt. Walker is certain the crime scene is a "simple hotel robbery" but the Senior Fox isn't, surreptitiously taking Spencer's diary as he exits.  The final entries send Harry to L.A., determined to wrap up Spencer's final case--with Bailey supporting him outwardly while undermining the investigation.

"He'd have done the same for me!"

Fox in Wonderland is on very solid ground comedically, loosing Harry's bad driving and improvisational investigation on the City of Angels.  Conveniently, son Harrison has a seminar there, and wouldn't you know it--Harry is soon booked for the same flight!  The junior Fox isn't subjected to quite as many impositions as usual: those are limited to lengthy waits for his father and elbow grease for the necessary shovel.  Harrison is even the quick thinker at the end when a distraction is needed.

"Can I help it if he jumps to conclusions?"

As always, it's Jack Warden carrying the bulk of the laugh load and succeeding admirably.  Effortlessly scaring Herb's rarely rattled secretary when she's in the passenger's seat, procuring a limo for himself and his son during a taxi strike (thankfully avoiding the complications that Jerry and George would years later) and chomping his cigar throughout, Warden is a delight.  He carries the teleplay past its wobblier elements, and director Krasny stages the finest setpiece (Harry loses control of his brakeless car in the Hollywood hills after Bailey's sabotage) with just the right amount of tension.  With Harry Fox at the wheel, you're not that much more worried than usual!

(Predictably, Joy would handle the driving in subsequent scenes!

So the comedy is consistently strong, but the case itself is on shakier ground.  The final revelation seems far-fetched, existing solely to give us a humorous climactic chase that takes us through an aerobics class and eventually, a movie set (with director Krasny casting himself as the same).  The ensuing humor is much more forced that the laughs preceding the final act, largely because this denouement makes little sense.

For five years, Renner was hoping to recoup $1.8 million of the losses if Herb succeeded, then apparently cut a deal with Bailey once he had eliminated his old partner from the picture, which would reduce his recovery to an even million.  Okay, Bailey's eventual murder (by Renner, we eventually learn) seems very plausible under those circumstances.  But Renner pulling a gun on Harry after the money is recovered, and revealing the entire scheme?

Why??

Renner used Fox to lead him to the money, knowing that Harry is trying to wrap things up for his old friend.  So presumably, the finder's fee would be Harry's for his work, and Renner would get the same $1.8 million he would have received under the old agreement.  Why expose yourself as a murderer in front of three people with little chance of escape for just $200K more?   Granted, Harry might then start poking around in Bailey's murder, but it still seems like a high risk/low reward proposition for Renner.  Your mileage may vary, but to these eyes it's too weak of a motivation.

The career of longtime guest star Joe Maross dated back to the early 1950's, and was nearing its end when he was offed in the opening minute of Fox in Wonderland; predictably, his swan song was a MURDER, SHE WROTE less than a year later.  Stephanie Blackmore (DALLAS) plays a successful movie star with a breathtaking home, but the brightest light in the guest cast is Tracy Scoggins as Spencer's loyal girl Friday.  The Galveston native was only a few months away from prime time stardom on the DYNASTY spinoff THE COLBYS (and later, the parent series itself), with BABYLON 5 and LOIS AND CLARK in her future as well.  She also provides a number of misunderstandings for poor Harrison to bear the brunt of once Mrs. Fox jumps to some understandable conclusions.

And yes, you are getting a lot of Tracy Scoggins screencaps.  You're welcome.

The less than satisfying conclusion isn't fatal--as noted before, CRAZY LIKE A FOX was always much more of a comedy (the category in which Jack Warden received both of his Emmy nominations) than a mystery, so the cases were often of secondary importance.  Still, the best installments managed a more perfect balance than this between the two elements.  Fox in Wonderland nevertheless bludgeoned the competition on March 17, 1985 (THE BURNING BED and BRUBAKER), scoring a 20.5 Nielsen rating and finishing in 8th place for the week.  (**1/2 out of four)

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

Television Review: CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Fox and the Wolf" (1986)

CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Fox and the Wolf" (CBS-TV/Sony 1986) Original Air Date: January 5, 1986.  Starring Jack Warden as Harry Fox, John Rubenstein as Harrison Fox, Penny Peyser as Gail Fox, Robby Kiger as Josh Fox, Patricia Ayame Thomson as Allison.  Guest Stars:  Gene Barry as Nicholas Roland, James McEachin as Briggs, Charles Levin as Sidney, Katherine Moffat as Courtney, Lora Staley as Bonnie, Anne Howard as Juliet, Byron Morrow as Littlefield, Lillian Muller (credited as Yuliis Ruval) as French Maid, Joyce Meadows as the Clerk, Traci Rae as Gillian, Kelly Andrus as the Fencer, Joseph Whipp as the Detective.  Written by Steve Greenberg and Aubrey Solomon.  Directed by Paul Stanley. 

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


Flamboyant, free-spending movie star Nicholas Roland faces a competency hearing forced by his daughter, and his estate lawyer Harrison has the exasperating task of keeping the legendary actor out of the tabloids until the controversy is resolved.   Keeping an eye on Roland proves to be a task challenging for even the senior Fox, who finds the schedule (including fencing, spa days and mysterious private trips every Thursday) exhausting.

"Nick" manages to persuade his new keeper to stay after Harry solves his staged kidnapping, but the star's eccentric behavior is increasingly hard to explain, even for longtime chauffer Briggs.  If the threat of losing his financial independence isn't enough to start the explanations coming, the murder of Roland's business manager seems certain to.

Opening with a montage establishing Nicholas Roland as Hollywood royalty of several decades, Fox and the Wolf is CRAZY LIKE A FOX at its breeziest.  Gene Barry's bon vivant effortlessly sweeps every lady he meets off her feet, pampering himself and those around him.  Fox Senior is put in the unfamiliar position of mother hen, and eventually the equally foreign stance of quitter.  Yes, bulldog Harry Fox gives up--not once, but twice!  Fortunately the emergence of a baffling mystery--even more enticing than Roland's promise of weekly manicures--keeps the grumbling old Fox around.

Which can't be easy, since Fox and the Wolf is Barry's show, with our usual exasperator Harry elbowed out of the way to become one more exasperated adult in Roland's life.  He joins his own son, Roland's two daughters, and the star's accountant in that category--only chauffer Briggs takes everything in stride.  We learn very early that the shoe will be on the other foot, with Roland actually asking Harrison "what could possibly happen?" in his first scene.  The hammy actor even bests Harry behind the wheel, escaping his watchdog and triggering that aforementioned second resignation.  Not that this change of pace is a bad thing: the ever-versatile Warden handles his one-time switch to straight man smoothly and the role of Roland fits the always debonair Gene Barry like a glove.

It doesn't hurt that this especially poised episode has several enjoyable left turns and a mystery that holds water.  Seeing Harry more ruffled than Harrison for a change is just icing on the top.

While on the topic of added bonuses, Nicholas Roland is constantly surrounded by beautiful women, and we can be just as impressed as Harry is.  Teri Hafford and Theresa Ring are among those attending to our men in the spa (and yes, Mr. Fox has a smoking cigar sticking out of the towel on his face--what else did you expect?).  Kelly Andrus is Roland's fencing coach, and best of all, 1976 Playmate of the Year Lillian Muller (credited here as Yuliis Ruval) is the movie star's French maid.

In a season that saw the premieres of THE GOLDEN GIRLS and THE EQUALIZER and highly rated reunions for PERRY MASON and THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW there was much written about the "graying of prime time".  Seeing 67 year old Gene Barry plausibly woo over a half dozen women half his age while swashbuckling his way through this highly enjoyable hour epitomized the venerability of 1985-86 television as well as any of those success stories. 

While Fox and the Wolf ranked a very respectable 24th in the weekly Nielsens (19.0 rating, 27 share), it came in second in its time slot to the highly promoted opener of BLACKE'S MAGIC, which starred two more of those comeback veterans: Hal Linden and Harry Morgan.  Sadly, it would be the final Sunday airing for CRAZY LIKE A FOX, and not coincidentally the final time that the show placed in the top 25.  Too bad, because the one-time Amos Burke was a prime candidate for a repeat visit to the Fox universe.  This fast-moving, highly enjoyable outing from TV lifer Paul Stanley (HAWAII FIVE-O) is one of the season's best.  (***1/2 out of four)

Television Review: CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Motor Homicide" (1985)

CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Motor Homicide" (CBS-TV/Sony 1985) Original Air Date: February 3, 1985.  Starring Jack Warden as Harry Fox, John Rubenstein as Harrison Fox, Penny Peyser as Gail Fox, Robby Kiger as Josh Fox.  Guest Stars:  Bo Svenson as Chuck Dobson, Patrice Chanel as Saleswoman, Paul Koslo as Maggot, Ed Bakey as Earl Stanton, Susan Bjurman as Evelyn Blaine, Al Ruscio as Manager.  Written by John Baskin, Frank Cardea, George Schenck and Roger Shulman.  Directed by William Asher. 

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


En route to a Fox family camping vacation, Harry swears he's witnessed a murder in a neighboring R.V.  Eschewing their existing reservation, Harry follows the culprit to the not-so-aptly named Heavenly Hideaway, a campground that young Josh accurately describes as a "dump".  Meanwhile, Harry waits for the body to drop.

After an unauthorized search of the RV lands Harry in hot water, the "corpse" turns up alive, well, and very shapely.  After the senior Fox's suspect turns out to be a physically imposing twenty-five year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department, one has to ask: did Harry's instincts finally fail him?  Well, that lifeless arm we see dangling from the vehicle's roof has to belong to someone.

The first ingredient of the comedy/mystery hybrid is crisply executed in Motor Homicide.  Harrison Fox was seldom more reluctantly involved than in this one.  First, a two week family vacation is shot to Hell before it even begins, with prime reservations lost while dead fish, poison ivy and bee stings are found--along with a murderer, and a (thankfully friendly) motorcycle gang. 

The sabbatical truncated, Harrison then hopes to enjoy a San Francisco Giants game with his father--only to have the investigation trail heat up again, costing the junior Fox a chance to see a once in a lifetime event at the old Candlestick.  John Rubenstein rarely got more opportunities to deliver priceless reactions.

It's no surprise that the humor is so deftly handled by sitcom vet William Asher (BEWITCHED), but the director had been absent from the detective genre for a quarter century (since 1958's THE THIN MAN) and unfortunately doesn't deliver the second key component of the FOX formula as smoothly. To be fair, the script from the series' creators has a few problems also.

You'd think that a long-time cop would know enough to keep his RV locked when he's away, knowing there's a corpse inside.  Certainly you'd think that he'd know not to behave in a way that arouses suspicion: when Harry takes advantage of the first error, Sgt. Dobson is far less outraged than one would expect--and it's that curious inaction that keeps Fox hot on his trail for the rest of Motor Homicide.   Sure, it's fun seeing Harry try to bluff his way out of the Sergeant's motor home unscathed, but as physically menacing as Dobson is (played by Bo Svenson), he's never the truly worthy adversary that his experience should create.

The show's usual charms can go a long way even when the tension is lacking.  In addition to Svenson, Ed Bakey brings his long face and perpetual crooked smile for one of his final TV roles as the failing campground proprietor; Paul Koslo is unusually sympathetic as another of Harry's oddball allies; DAYS OF OUR LIVES co-star Patrice Chanel makes an offer that is hard to refuse as a guns and ammo dealer; and the ubiquitous Al Ruscio turns up as yet again, as Bjurman's former landlord.

Asher's only FOX ended up also being his last episodic TV assignment; he closed out his career with the RETURN TO GREEN ACRES reunion movie five years later.  Motor Homicide continued the show's first-season winning streak in the Nielsens, scoring a 20.7 rating and handily outgunning the network television premieres of FIREFOX and THE VERDICT to win the 9 PM ET timeslot.  The episode might not fully work but Asher's deft touch for comedy is very much in evidence.  (**1/2 out of four)

CRAZY LIKE A FOX airs Monday through Thursday at 10 A.M. Eastern Time on getTV.

Television Review: CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Some Day My Prints Will Come" (1985)

CRAZY LIKE A FOX: "Some Day My Prints Will Come" (Sony/CBS-TV 1985)  Original Air Date: December 1, 1985.  Starring Jack Warden as Harry Fox, John Rubenstein as Harrison Fox, Penny Peyser as Gail Fox, Robby Kiger as Josh Fox.  Guest Stars: Norman Fell as Vern, Russ Marin as Jerry Clouser, Ja'net DuBois as Idee, Theodore Wilson as Eddie, Harry Moses as Donald Woodley, Al Ruscio as Tony, Barrie Ingham as Crime Boss, Herman Poppe as Henchman, Joe Renteria as Mendez, Joe E. Tata as Ralph Moss, Sandra Gould as the Landlord.  Written by Sid Dorfman, Philip Saltzman, Harvey Weitzman and David R. Toddman.  Directed by Paul Krasny.


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


Working for his son on his latest case, Harry Fox hits the jackpot when he captures photographic proof of insurance scammer Moss not only out of his wheelchair, but running.  Unfortunately his pictures are mixed up with another customer's at Idee's Photo Shop.  Stuck with snapshots of the docked Wanderer at the pier, Harry asks questions to find the owner that he presumes is the holder of his needed evidence.

Unfortunately for the senior Fox, the shutterbug was Mendez, who is investigating drug traffickers tied to the vessel and the disappearance of its original possessors.  Harry's questioning leads the crime boss to surmise that the two investigators are working together, making both of them targets--along with their perceived co-conspirator: the con artist in Harry's prized photographs.

One simple mixup turns a refreshingly mundane (and realistic) case into one more worthy of Harry Fox's talents.  While the twists that follow in Some Day My Prints Will Come might not be all that surprising for veteran FOX watchers, the story goes into slightly grittier territory than usual once drug lords are involved.  Even comedically nimble Norman Fell keeps a tight jaw and a stone face, no matter how annoyed his cop is to learn that there's a Fox on his case.

Not that the humor suffers: on the contrary, Harry's street savvy serves him well in solving the overall puzzle (as even Detective Vern grudgingly admits),  but his smaller hunches hilariously fail him at some crucial moments (famous almost last words: "They'll never know where the shots are coming from!"). 

Harrison and Harry Fox are both on the same case, and both are in their respective day jobs for once--at the outset.  But of course, the junior Fox is forced into the real action, yet again ending up in the middle of gunfire and a wild car chase.  With his father behind the wheel, it's a tossup as to which experience is more harrowing.

It's always great watching the verbal sparring of old pros Warden and Fell, but there are other delights in a guest cast that's deeper than usual.   Joe E. Tata is at his weaselly best as the fraudster (though it is hard to believe he falls for that trick in the open), and in another surprise, Al Ruscio isn't part of the mob in an episode revolving around it.  Ja'net Dubois' prime time appearances were sporadic in the mid-1980's, so it's a shame she only has two scenes as the harried Idee.

The fate of Some Day My Prints Will Come was a microcosm of the show's sophomore season.  After being pre-empted on consecutive weeks, CRAZY LIKE A FOX returned to its 9 PM time slot on December 1st--the same night and time that NBC premiered the highly anticipated Perry Mason Returns, the week's top-rated program.  The ensuing 15.2 Nielsen rating was the series' lowest to date.  Too bad: those who opted for Raymond Burr and friends (27.2 and a 39 share) missed another fun ride with the Foxes. (*** out of four) 

CRAZY LIKE A FOX airs Monday through Thursday at 9 A.M. Central on getTV.