This is an episode I just had to talk about. I found The Paul Lynde Show about a month ago and I've seen a handful of episodes. It's a formulaic show that's nothing to write home about, until I saw this episode. From everything I've seen so far, it seems to be a rule that Paul always has to lose, simply because he's Paul, whereas Howie always has to look like the good guy, for no other reason besides he's Howie. It's the same crap every show, but this one went a step too far for me, and I just had to talk about it. This particular episode focuses on teenager Sally having a crush on a boy who seems innocent, but they may be venturing into territory that's out of their age range, and because Paul is an overprotective parent, he has to be perceived as the bad guy. It all started when Sally and Jimmy, a boy she's going steady with (going steady at 14, ain't that cute?) are practicing some acting exercises, including "touch and feel". Luckily, Paul came home just in time to stomp that out, then he's asked to perform a trust exercise, whereby he and Jimmy lean on one another, not allowing the other to fall. I think we all know what's going to happen. Naturally, Jimmy's father calls and the boy goes to the phone, causing Paul to fall flat on his face. Ah ha ha ha, didn't see that one coming. The next day, Jimmy comes over to the Simms residence and blasts his electric guitar, as he had been kicked out of his own house for doing the same thing since his parents like a quiet Saturday morning. What an inconsiderate brat, oh but Sally is just crazy about him... because she's an idiot. He wants to take her to a rock concert 140 miles away, which thankfully her parents refuse, then when Jimmy tries to eat one of the brownies he brought, Paul accuses him of lacing them with drugs and tries one... and loses a filling because the little wiener-head accidentally dropped a guitar pick in the dough. Geez.
Jimmy's father, Fletcher, a quack dentist, comes by the house to try and smooth things over with Paul, but all he ends up doing is blaming him for his son being home all the time so he can't get romantic with his new redhead nurse. Not only that, but insults Sally, saying her chest is as flat as a ironing board. Man, this guy is a scumbag. Paul had every right to demand an apology and shove him around, and of course when Martha tries to break them up, she falls into that damn pool. Well, at least it wasn't Paul this time. Could things get any worse? Yes they could, as there's still twelve minutes of this show left. Barbara and Howie find a letter in Sally's bedroom saying the girl has run away. They call the police, but the sarcastic cop isn't any help at all, mainly because a person isn't officially missing until they've been gone for 24 hours. Now do I think Paul has been overreacting? A little, sure, but what the other characters have been doing isn't right either, so why is only he being painted as the bad guy here? Because he's Paul, of course. So now let's have a hilarious scene where Fletcher repairs Paul's tooth, I'll bet this will be a riot... just like going to the real dentist. He cracks jokes, all the while showing personal rancor against his patient for "breaking up teenage kids." Yeah, how dare Paul be protective of his peppy teenage daughter going with a reckless young boy with an inattentive father. Is everybody on this show brain-dead? That's when Fletcher calls in his nurse, and it's not that redheaded bimbo he was talking about, it's Sally. I'm not kidding, it's Sally! Just WHAT?! It was Fletcher's idea to have her there to "talk" with her father, especially since he's got a drill in his mouth. I think Paul would've been in better hands with Steve Martin from Little Shop of Horrors, because this dentist is basically torturing him into allowing Sally and Jimmy to get back together. Get this guy a malpractice suit, stat! Paul reluctantly agrees to Sally's compromise of seeing other boys in addition to Jimmy, but once the torture session is over, he goes back on his word and leaves. Oh, and Howie was hiding in the back room the whole time. This was his idea. Ha, to quote John Hammond in Jurassic Park, "I really hate that man." Because Howie's got another trick up his sleeve: can you statutory? That's right, they set it up to look like Sally is dating a man in his twenties! This is disgusting, this isn't funny. Paul nearly blows his top and orders Loverboy out, and then in comes Howie, Barbara and Jimmy and they all have a good laugh. It seems ol' Whip Watson, the 25-year-old hippie hitting on Sally was really Jimmy's teacher... and hopefully he was fired for this. In response, Paul relents and let the idiotic teens date again, then he calls the mortuary to order a casket for Howie. Do it, Paul, no jury in the world will convict you.
Okay... now I realize The Paul Lynde Show is not set in OUR reality, as human beings don't act like the people you see on this program. I understand this series is completely devoid of logic, brains, sense, and any sort of realism, but still, certain rules have to apply. I'm not going to mince words when I say I HATED this episode!! It was a deal breaker for me, I'll never watch this show again. With each other episode, I started to grow tired of the same old formula: Paul is wrong because he's Paul and everyone else is right because they aren't Paul. It got old really fast. No wonder this series only lasted one season, it's the kind of inane sitcom that I thought died out in the 1960s. Remember, this was the same time All in the Family hit the airwaves. I'm guessing ABC wanted their own version, but wanted it to be dumbed-down and watered down and made sure it never even attempted to make their audience think. Why waste time thinking when we can watch a funny man like Paul Lynde make a fool of himself with bad scripts, bad directing, a wooden supporting cast, and fall in a pool?! I mean, I like Paul. I think he was a really funny guy and he deserved better. But nobody else in this series has any good chemistry with Lynde, and this wasn't the right formula for him. Recently I asked Pamelyn Ferdin (Sally) on Facebook about this episode and told her what I thought of it, and what she said to me was, "you must not watch a lot of sitcoms. Comedy requires conflict. If everyone agreed with Paul, the episode would only be five minutes." Good, 15 less minutes of crap, and yes, Pam, I do watch sitcoms. I am aware there needs to be conflict, but this was too much. I don't know, maybe this reflects how sensitive we've become as a society, to judge something from 1972 on merits of 2020. Something that was uproarious back then is offensive today. Maybe that's true, maybe I read too deeply into this thing. I'm not claiming to be right and I'm not perfect, I just know crap when I see it. I won't watch this series anymore, and I feel I owe The McLean Stevenson Show an apology, as I used to say THAT was the worst watered-down, dumbed-down All in the Family rip-off there was, until Paul Lynde said, "hold my martini." Do I recommend Paul Lynde Show: Unsteady Going? Hell no. Watch anything else.
Jimmy's father, Fletcher, a quack dentist, comes by the house to try and smooth things over with Paul, but all he ends up doing is blaming him for his son being home all the time so he can't get romantic with his new redhead nurse. Not only that, but insults Sally, saying her chest is as flat as a ironing board. Man, this guy is a scumbag. Paul had every right to demand an apology and shove him around, and of course when Martha tries to break them up, she falls into that damn pool. Well, at least it wasn't Paul this time. Could things get any worse? Yes they could, as there's still twelve minutes of this show left. Barbara and Howie find a letter in Sally's bedroom saying the girl has run away. They call the police, but the sarcastic cop isn't any help at all, mainly because a person isn't officially missing until they've been gone for 24 hours. Now do I think Paul has been overreacting? A little, sure, but what the other characters have been doing isn't right either, so why is only he being painted as the bad guy here? Because he's Paul, of course. So now let's have a hilarious scene where Fletcher repairs Paul's tooth, I'll bet this will be a riot... just like going to the real dentist. He cracks jokes, all the while showing personal rancor against his patient for "breaking up teenage kids." Yeah, how dare Paul be protective of his peppy teenage daughter going with a reckless young boy with an inattentive father. Is everybody on this show brain-dead? That's when Fletcher calls in his nurse, and it's not that redheaded bimbo he was talking about, it's Sally. I'm not kidding, it's Sally! Just WHAT?! It was Fletcher's idea to have her there to "talk" with her father, especially since he's got a drill in his mouth. I think Paul would've been in better hands with Steve Martin from Little Shop of Horrors, because this dentist is basically torturing him into allowing Sally and Jimmy to get back together. Get this guy a malpractice suit, stat! Paul reluctantly agrees to Sally's compromise of seeing other boys in addition to Jimmy, but once the torture session is over, he goes back on his word and leaves. Oh, and Howie was hiding in the back room the whole time. This was his idea. Ha, to quote John Hammond in Jurassic Park, "I really hate that man." Because Howie's got another trick up his sleeve: can you statutory? That's right, they set it up to look like Sally is dating a man in his twenties! This is disgusting, this isn't funny. Paul nearly blows his top and orders Loverboy out, and then in comes Howie, Barbara and Jimmy and they all have a good laugh. It seems ol' Whip Watson, the 25-year-old hippie hitting on Sally was really Jimmy's teacher... and hopefully he was fired for this. In response, Paul relents and let the idiotic teens date again, then he calls the mortuary to order a casket for Howie. Do it, Paul, no jury in the world will convict you.
Okay... now I realize The Paul Lynde Show is not set in OUR reality, as human beings don't act like the people you see on this program. I understand this series is completely devoid of logic, brains, sense, and any sort of realism, but still, certain rules have to apply. I'm not going to mince words when I say I HATED this episode!! It was a deal breaker for me, I'll never watch this show again. With each other episode, I started to grow tired of the same old formula: Paul is wrong because he's Paul and everyone else is right because they aren't Paul. It got old really fast. No wonder this series only lasted one season, it's the kind of inane sitcom that I thought died out in the 1960s. Remember, this was the same time All in the Family hit the airwaves. I'm guessing ABC wanted their own version, but wanted it to be dumbed-down and watered down and made sure it never even attempted to make their audience think. Why waste time thinking when we can watch a funny man like Paul Lynde make a fool of himself with bad scripts, bad directing, a wooden supporting cast, and fall in a pool?! I mean, I like Paul. I think he was a really funny guy and he deserved better. But nobody else in this series has any good chemistry with Lynde, and this wasn't the right formula for him. Recently I asked Pamelyn Ferdin (Sally) on Facebook about this episode and told her what I thought of it, and what she said to me was, "you must not watch a lot of sitcoms. Comedy requires conflict. If everyone agreed with Paul, the episode would only be five minutes." Good, 15 less minutes of crap, and yes, Pam, I do watch sitcoms. I am aware there needs to be conflict, but this was too much. I don't know, maybe this reflects how sensitive we've become as a society, to judge something from 1972 on merits of 2020. Something that was uproarious back then is offensive today. Maybe that's true, maybe I read too deeply into this thing. I'm not claiming to be right and I'm not perfect, I just know crap when I see it. I won't watch this series anymore, and I feel I owe The McLean Stevenson Show an apology, as I used to say THAT was the worst watered-down, dumbed-down All in the Family rip-off there was, until Paul Lynde said, "hold my martini." Do I recommend Paul Lynde Show: Unsteady Going? Hell no. Watch anything else.