OK episode focused on John Schuck as former football player Frank Carelli. He shows up to see old friend Lou, but Lou clearly has little time for him. Frank now sells insurance but hates it and seems like a loser. He connects with Mary who has shown sympathy for him. Rhoda and Mary work to support Frank when he auditions as a WJM sportscaster. No major laughs and no Ted, but the story just about works.
3 Reviews
An Ex-Viking in Need
Hitchcoc27 January 2017
This has some good moments. Actually, the funniest has nothing to do with the main plot. Phyllis comes up to invite Mary to a fund raiser for an anti-capital punishment group (since there is no capital punishment in Minnesota it seems superfluous). She tells Mary that they will have an actual electric chair at the next meeting and donors receive a little chain with a man hanging from a noose charm. The central figure is a former NFL player who wants a job as a sports announcer. He is selling insurance and hates the work. He is also terribly depressing and self deprecating. Mary, who probably takes in strays, tries to help him out, even though she knows he is terrible. But he is kind and sincere and people like him. It plays out pretty much to form. Ordinary episode.
A decent episode...just don't look for any laughs.
planktonrules29 January 2024
John Schuck stars as an ex-pro football player who has few prospects now that his career is over. He never was a starter or a star and he apparently bounced around from team to team. Now, he's hoping to make a change and wants to be a sportscaster, though he is hopelessly bad at it. When he comes to WJM looking for this job, Mary quickly realizes he's pretty pathetic. She reluctantly agrees to try coaching him, but still he just doesn't stand a chance. Can he manage, somehow, to find something he'll be good at for the rest of his life?
The notion of an ex-pro athlete struggling with post-sports life is interesting....though it's not really funny nor did it really seem to fit the format of this program. Not bad...but not all that good. A bit of a miss, in fact.
The notion of an ex-pro athlete struggling with post-sports life is interesting....though it's not really funny nor did it really seem to fit the format of this program. Not bad...but not all that good. A bit of a miss, in fact.
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