I've given this episode a low rating, because it blatantly ignores historic fact, and is a cheap attempt to get the McCains involved with A Famous Person.
Samuel Clemens, in this case. Clemens shows up at the McCains' door when a coach axle breaks. He's even crankier than usual, because He Carries A Heavy Weight In His Heart -- in this case, the death of his son Langdon from pneumonia. He blames himself because he let Langdon get chilled during a carriage ride, while he was thinking of literary matters.
This is totally bogus. Langdon died of diphtheria, about 15 /years/ before this episode occurs.
Of course, with the help of Lucas and Mark, Samuel Clemens Learns An Important Lesson. (The mind boggles at the thought of how the series would have handled a visit from Walt Whitman. The "Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman" * Whitman episode was a notorious disaster.)
Kevin McCarthy does a decent job as Clemens -- though one wonders whether any attempt was made to get Hal Holbrook, who even then was well-known for his Twain impersonation. (As I write this, he's been performing "Mark Twain Tonight!" for 59 years!)
* The greatest series title in TV history. It's such perfect self-parody it can't be improved on.
Samuel Clemens, in this case. Clemens shows up at the McCains' door when a coach axle breaks. He's even crankier than usual, because He Carries A Heavy Weight In His Heart -- in this case, the death of his son Langdon from pneumonia. He blames himself because he let Langdon get chilled during a carriage ride, while he was thinking of literary matters.
This is totally bogus. Langdon died of diphtheria, about 15 /years/ before this episode occurs.
Of course, with the help of Lucas and Mark, Samuel Clemens Learns An Important Lesson. (The mind boggles at the thought of how the series would have handled a visit from Walt Whitman. The "Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman" * Whitman episode was a notorious disaster.)
Kevin McCarthy does a decent job as Clemens -- though one wonders whether any attempt was made to get Hal Holbrook, who even then was well-known for his Twain impersonation. (As I write this, he's been performing "Mark Twain Tonight!" for 59 years!)
* The greatest series title in TV history. It's such perfect self-parody it can't be improved on.