Theoretically the two-part
episode is an option that should be utilized only in conjunction with a major
milestone in a series (births, deaths, new character introductions, weddings,
big name guest star) or when a writer comes up with an idea that is so good, it
deserves a little extra breathing room to be fully explored.
But think back over the
hundreds of two-parters presented in the Comfort TV era – how many of them
really needed more time to tell their stories?
Having conducted my own
informal study, I would say the results are about 50/50. Too often, these shows
were a marketing ploy to leverage the built-in ‘event’ status afforded to
super-sized episodes. That’s why they were used so often to open or close a
season.
When there is legitimate
reason for a “continued next week” freeze-frame, the result is often one of the
most memorable moments in a series – think “The Menagerie” on Star Trek, “Fearless Fonzarelli” on Happy Days or “Carnival of Thrills” on The Dukes of
Hazzard.
And when there is not
enough content to justify a second episode, we’re left with a story that might
have worked as a single show, padded and stretched to fill out a longer running
time.
This is a big topic and one
that may be revisited in a future blog, but for now here are five examples of
when TV got it right – and five underwhelming misses.
Good: Family Ties: “The
Real Thing”
Alex Keaton had no shortage
of girlfriends in the first three seasons of Family Ties, but when he meets Ellen Reed early in season four,
the show wanted to make sure we knew this was going to be different. Their
opposites-attract romance, bolstered by the strains of Billy Vera’s “At This
Moment,” was a major turning point for Alex and for Michael J. Fox, who is
still married to the girl that played Ellen, Tracy Pollan.
Bad: Charlie’s Angels:
“Terror on Skis”
A typical Angels plot –
protect a government agent from foreign radicals – is hampered by scene after
scene of monotonous stock footage of people skiing during the day, at night,
and in freestyle competitions. I had a little inside information on this one,
having interviewed the episode’s writer, Ed Lakso, for my Charlie’s Angels book. He readily confessed to padding out the story
to justify a location shoot in Vail, Colorado, because his wife wanted to go
skiing.
Good: The Dick Van Dyke
Show: “I Am My Brother’s Keeper/The Sleeping Brother”
These episodes introduced
Dick Van Dyke’s brother Jerry, playing Rob Petrie’s brother, Stacy. The bizarre
plot has Stacy trying to break into show business but only being able to
perform while he’s asleep (due to a rare, advanced form of sleepwalking). Despite
that contrivance the shows are smart and funny, particularly during the cast
performances at those Bonnie Meadow Rd. house parties that always made the
suburbs looks so cool and sophisticated.
Bad: Eight is Enough:
“And Baby Makes Nine”
Flashbacks are a convenient
way to stretch a story, but no two episodes abused that privilege more than the
Season 5 opener of Eight is Enough.
The saga of Susan’s difficult delivery of her baby not only offers numerous
looks back at her romance with and marriage to Merle, it also reprises scenes
that aired just ten minutes earlier in the same episode. Why not just play the theme song again while
you’re at it?
Good: Get Smart: “A Man
Called Smart”
The only thing tougher to
pull off than a great two-part episode? A great three-part episode. But the
laughs never fizzle in “A Man Called Smart,” an adventure originally conceived
for theatrical release but re-cut for the series. One physical comedy sequence
with a stretcher and a revolving door is as funny as anything that’s ever been
on television.
Bad: Mission:
Impossible: “The Contender”
For all its many
outstanding qualities, M:I never
got a two-part episode right. I chose “The Contender” because the plot was
particularly weak – capturing a guy who fixes prize fights seems beneath the
IMF – but I also could have gone with “The Slave” or “The Council” or “The
Controllers.” Viewers were accustomed to seeing the team solve any problem in
an hour, and writers could never dream up any good reason for some missions to
take longer.
Good: The Bionic Woman:
“Doomsday is Tomorrow”
Where Mission:
Impossible struggled with the
two-part format, The Bionic Woman
flourished. From the irresistible “Fembots in Las Vegas” to “Deadly Ringer,”
the shows that earned Lindsay Wagner an Emmy, the series was always at its best
with multi-episode storylines. My favorite is “Doomsday is Tomorrow,” in which
Jaime must figure out how to shut off a computerized weapon (with a HAL 9000
voice) capable of destroying all life on earth.
Bad: The Facts of Life:
“Teenage Marriage”
So many shows have built
two-part episodes around potential crises that cannot possibly come to pass,
lest it mean the end of the series. Here, Mrs. Garrett and the Eastland girls
try to prevent Jo from marrying her boyfriend. Had Nancy McKeon announced she
was leaving the show, we might have bought into the conflict; but this was her
first season, and we all knew she wasn’t going anywhere, extra episode or not.
Good: Little House on
the Prairie: “I’ll Be Waving as You Drive Away”
The Ingalls
family face their darkest hour when Mary loses her sight after a bout with
scarlet fever. The scene where Charles must tell his daughter the diagnosis,
while barely able to control his own heartbreak, is devastating. Mary attends a
school for the blind, where she gradually comes to terms with her fate in a
hopeful finale.
Bad: Laverne &
Shirley: “The Festival”
When a two-part episode is
inspired by a road trip, it helps if we actually see the characters go
somewhere. Here, Laverne, Shirley, Lenny, Squiggy, Frank and Edna all “travel”
from Milwaukee to New York, but all they really do is visit a different part of
the studio backlot. Not much fun to be had, unless you enjoy watching
Penny Marshall climb a greased metal pole.