Reviews

Dean Stoner (Ned Wever) finds no interest from his professors about the prospect of representing the university on television. He pleads to them as a "golden opportunity to broaden the cultural base of our nation" and "pave the way" for other universities. They collectively remain firm that it is below their dignity, then individually sneak back to discuss the opportunity with the dean. Each make their pitch and Dean Stoner decides it with a coin flip which goes to Professor Crayton. "Crayton on Books" will be a Sunday book review program, reading extracted passages. At the studio, the director (Elliott Reid) struggles to get Professor Cryaton to grasp the concept of staging for the audience. When the camera rolls, he freezes thinking of all those watching him. Those around him, praise his performance, but the studio receives multiple letters criticizing his choice of book, and cancel his show. Mrs. G takes it upon herself to organize a letter writing campaign to reverse the tide.

As a previous reviewer noted, it's interesting to see cancel culture in this time. I personally found the plot resolution contrived and of course predictable. While there's more attempt at comedy here than most episodes to this point in the series, it still comes off dry.

Mrs. G asks Professor Cryaton if she can switch her course from sociology to psychology after becoming fascinated reading a book on child psychology. She wants to better understand her two-year-old grandchild, but the professor says it's too in the semester to change. Mrs. G is lent more child psychology books from new parents George and Irma upstairs. When she visits her granddaughter Mrs. G comes at odds with Suzy, Jerry, and Jerry's mother Jenny (Mae Questel, the unforgettable elderly, ditzy Aunt Bethany in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and voice of Betty Boop) over child rearing. Jenny: "I don't have to read Freud to life a spoon of spinach." It culminates in an argument between Jerry and Suzy in which Suzy leaves. Mrs. G still doesn't relent in analyzing those around her, but begins questioning her actions.

While the comedy is still light, it's perhaps a bit more than the other early episodes to this point. The gooey, sentimental warmth isn't here, but in it's place is what I found to be an unlikable turn by Mrs. G's character. While Shirley Booth's "Hazel" showed you can have a successful series around a budding-in wisecracker, here the character is developed without dramatic warmth or comedic flair; it just kind of plods along.

Joe is concerned about his grades. He has a deferment until he graduates to hopefully join naval aviation. However, if he fails his classes, he will have to join the Navy now. When Professor Crayton has the student's book reviews returned with their grades, Joe can't believe he got an F. He becomes irate, confrontational, and storms out the classroom. When Mrs. G tries to take up for Joe privately with the professor, he explains that it was clear Joe didn't read the book. Mrs. G, Maxy, George and Irma are all concerned about Joe's whereabouts in his state of mind and try phoning places across town. Joe still hasn't returned by the next morning. George informs Mrs. G that one of his students saw Joe in town at the Navy recruiting office. Maxy drives Mrs. G to the office where she runs into Lt. Charles 'Chick' Hennesey, MD (Jackie Cooper in a crossover of his own series "Hennesey")- her nephew's naval doctor. Mrs. G explains the situation and it's brought to the naval commander, where the influencing decision rests with Professor Crayton.

It's Sunday and the students are hurrying to get off campus for the day. This prompts Maxie to remark, "I don't think there's a lonelier place than a college campus on a Sunday." She is leaving for the racetrack and Mrs. G is planning to go to her daughter's house for their Sunday family dinner together. A phone call stops Mrs. G, as her daughter Suzie informs her that her mother-in-law is sick and they'll be taking her to the doctor. Mrs. G now finds herself alone on the lonely college campus. She does what many of us find ourselves doing when bored and alone. She takes on a small task in fixing a clock and looks longingly out the window in observance of the happenings. It's nice day and she decides to get and walk. She wanders into the chemistry building and gives the caged rabbits and monkeys a pep talk on their importance. She unsuccessfully tries to integrate herself into the company of the few scattered fellow students she can find on campus. In "the supermarket of knowledge", the library, she settles for looking for a book, but finds company in an unexpected way.

The series continues to shape a sympathetic view for the protagonist and her drive to thrive despite being much older, lonely, and out of place compared to her peers. The comedy continues to be very light, instead giving a more melodramatic tone.

Mrs. G is having dinner with her daughter Suzy and son-in-law Jerry (actor/director Leo Penn) and expressing how she is becoming more comfortable on campus. When the couple's 1939 LaSalle is mentioned, Mrs. G begins reminiscing of the great memories the family have had with the car. Suzy and Jerry are looking to turn the garage into living space, but they need another place to store the LaSalle. Mrs. G says she doesn't drive, so "the most sensible thing is to sell it." Joe advises Mrs. G that her "best bet is a used car lot, if they buy 'em that used." He accompanies her to Sincere Sidney's Used Cars to handle the business negotiations. They talk with "Sincere" Sid Schofield (George Petrie, "Dallas", "The Jackie Gleason Show") who charms them then puts down the car in a way Mrs. G accepts $35 for it. When she learns it will just be junked for scrap, she hurries off with the car. Desperate to save her treasured vehicle, she tries to find a solution to find someone who will appreciate it.

The first three episodes of the series has exhibited more warmth over laughs, and a sentimental tone is very strong in this offering. It's a sentiment that's usually mixed with a layer of sadness for a past life that has left her. It would probably be better reworked as a drama. This leaves a feel-good ending, however.

In the chemistry lab, Professor Kestner (legendary character actor Peter Lorre) cautions a struggling Sarah and Joe that if they don't pass their first upcoming test he will "more than likely" drop them from the course. Sarah talks with Professor Crayton, who as her advisor encourages her to take up the challenge of the class. She adopts this strong will and tries to pass it on to Joe who has all but accepted failure. At the boarding house, Sarah, who used her first name for introductions to feel more like a freshman among her peers is now warmly called "Mrs. G". George asks Mrs. G for help gathering milk for his baby. In doing so, he tells her and Joe that Professor Crayton has a bet with Professor Kestner that Sarah and Joe will pass their tests. This inspires her to stay up late and study with a reluctant Joe. She devises a comical but effective way to learn the periodic elements by each of them being one and converse about themselves. After the test, Mrs. G and Joe are pessimistic about their performance, while Professor Kestner has his own dilemma.

Big-hearted, well-meaning matriarch figure Sarah Green (Gertrude Berg, radio star of "The Goldbergs") is a 62-year-old widow who has enrolled as a college freshman. The series follows her adjustments to a youth cultural gap while interacting with her classmates, Professor Crayton (English character actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke), and fellow tenants at the campus boarding house, including her landlady Maxie (familiar character actress Mary Wickes). The show was nominated for two Emmys for the acting of Berg and Wickes, respectively. "Mrs. G Goes to College", later renamed "The Gertrude Berg Show", ran for 26 episodes during the 1961-62 season.

In the first episode we are welcomed into the life of Sarah Green. At the opening day of classes, mothers and daughters are saying their goodbyes and pinning on a freshman badge. In the case of Sarah Green, it is her daughter Susan, "Suzy", (Marion Ross, "Happy Days") pining the badge on her mother. Suzy is worried, but her mother reassures her that education is essential. "A person is only half a person without it." She's spent 12 years of night school obtaining the necessary credits, as work was fit in with taking care of her family. Suzy wants her widowed mother to remarry, but her mother quips, "I think a person should finish school before they get married." Ms. Green says her goodbyes and very happily walks into the classroom building. She takes a seat in the classroom and introduces herself as Sarah, but is quickly questioned by her classmates about her being there, as she is nearly three times their age. Soon walks in the stone-faced, serious demeanor of their new exchange professor from Cambridge, W. W. Crayton. While Sarah has begun assimilating among her classmates, she isn't able to break the facade of Professor Crayton after a one-on-one conversation. She arrives at the campus boarding house and meets the landlady Maxie, who she is happy to befriend, being of similar age. Sarah meets the other freshman residents there who are in shock that Sarah is a freshman. Joe Caldwell (Skip Ward) calls out the laughter in defense of Sarah on different occasions. Sarah is mistaken for a babysitter by married students George (Paul Smith, "The Doris Day Show", "Mr. Terrific") and Irma Howell (Aneta Corsaut, Helen from "The Andy Griffith Show"). The events of the day over her age pile on to make Sarah dejected and question her place on campus, and prompt another conversation with Professor Crayton.

Legendary insult comic Don Rickles stars as the viciously vile U. S. Navy CPO (Chief Petty Officer) Otto Sharkey. His greatest weapon is his tongue, wielding a barrage of insults overseeing Company 144- an ethnically-diverse group of seamen recruits at a San Diego naval base. Behind his harsh demeanor, Sharkey genuinely cares for his men and often goes to great lengths to help them. The sitcom ran for 37 episodes over two seasons on NBC from 1976-78.

Reviewing the show after recently watching every episode of the series, my paramount thought is that America has presently become so sensitive that the comedic style of Don Rickles could never air right now. Each episode is packed with ethnic slurs and remarks that many would find offensive. Yet, the comical racist remarks are met with comical situations where he's shown he's wrong. If people can relearn to think for themselves, I think they would find a lot more enjoyment. Not to say that solves all problems, but to enjoy lightheartedly poking fun in a show that makes everyone laugh together and realize we're not as different as we're being told.

As for the show itself, I feel it most often was a Don Rickles free-for-all that they tried to wrap a plot around. In some episodes this was more obvious. There were offerings that blended the comedy and plot nicely, however, and some standouts for me, personally, are "Sunday in Tijuana", "Sharkey Flies Over the Cuckoos Nest", and "Natalie's Ultimatum".

Don Rickles' Sharkey is an oft-agitated leader with no filter, plenty of harsh insults, but underneath is a genuine care for his men. By contrast, his close friend and colleague Chief Robinson (Harrison Page) was a suave, level-headed problem solver. I think being a minority in that role was important to balance the ethnic jabs. The subordinate, beyond goofy Pruitt (Peter Isacksen) straddled a line between obnoxious and comical. The ethnically-diverse recruits really only offered a presence to be insulted and to give situations for Sharkey to act upon. The little used Captain Quilan (Elizabeth Allen) really only factored into the first episode of the series. I found her character rather weak and forgettable. By contrast, the gruff Captain Buckner (Richard X. Slattery) gave a feared source of conflict for Sharkey and changed the direction of the series somewhat from Season One's often weak plots built around insults.

Still, I found many episodes left the impression as not being as funny as it wants you to think it is, and lacking genuine rising action and plot depth. The plot conflicts that arise at times gradually lose focus as the episodes go along. Some episodes were definitely good, while others felt forced to get in Rickles' insults. Thicken your skin, sit back, and be treated to the naval academy of insult comedy!

The final entry into the series finds the recruits in an exuberant mood after chipping in to buy a used 1963 Chevy convertible. When they can't get it to run, Sharkey finds a list of things wrong, as it begins to self-destruct. Sharkey decides to help them get their $250 back from Honest Ernest (familiar character actor Alan Oppenheimer), after they take the car back to him and are only given $50. Sharkey goes to the used car dealership with Pruitt who is to operate a hidden tape recorder to gather Honest Ernest's verbal guarantee. When they get back to base they find it only recorded Pruitt's heartbeat. Robinson next gets the idea to pose as a special investigator from the Treasury Department suspecting the convertible has $50,000 of uncut diamonds stashed in one of the hubcaps. When he questions Honest Ernest, the used car dealer now works hard to get the car back. What follows is a comical set of twists and turns.

Some of the best one-liners and insults in what is really, IMO, one of the better episodes of the series.

The men suspect Sharkey was up all night with a girl in his room, while he insists he was in the office catching up on work. Robinson: "Did you catch her?" Sharkey admits to him that he was right, and is stressed trying to hide his dating life on base. Word reaches Captain Buckner who gives threats to Sharkey if true. With this in mind, Robinson talks Sharkey into going in half on rent and sharing an apartment in town. Their landlady is the very elderly Mrs. Finch (Merie Earle, in a similarly comical, scatterbrained character as her Mrs. Loomis in "The Bob Newhart Show"). Sharkey and Robinson quickly come at odds with one another when they have dates coming over at the same time. Robinson's loud, brash date Lorilei Kelso (Sarina C. Grant) arrives first, and her and Sharkey struggle to communicate with her slang. Sharkey's ditzy girlfriend Marlene Spinoza (Louisa Moritz) arrives next, and the guys privately discuss who will leave. When Capt. Buckner and Lt. Whipple come over to lambast Marlene's character, the men nervously try to hide the girls.

Captain Buckner is assembling a replacement team for sea duty near Hawaii and chooses who he views is the most expendable CPO- Sharkey. The assignment requires flying, and Sharkey is afraid to do so. Robinson suggests curing it by hypnosis and takes him to a hypnotist (Richard Libertini). It's ineffective. Robinson next takes Sharkey to a class to alleviate passenger's fear of flying in commercial planes, held aboard an actual plane by an airline. To his surprise, there will be a short flight as part of the class. Comical complications arise.

Capt. Buckner receives a directive from the new admiral of fleet command for each commander to appoint a senior CPO to act as personal aide, as a way to bring enlisted men closer to the decision-making process. The captain thinks it's a good idea until he learns Sharkey would be in line to be his aide. Sharkey is so gung-ho for the job he doesn't give the captain a chance to do otherwise. Sharkey says his goodbyes to the men. He returns to find the men have already fully embraced their new CPO- Chief Henderson (Paul Sylvan). Sharkey's disappointment begins to manifest as resentment that carries over into his aide work. His main objective seems to be caring for a ficus plant that Admiral Holland's (David White, Larry from "Bewitched") wife (Jane Connell, also appearing in multiple roles on "Bewitched") sent to all base commanders. The admiral deals with a problem with Sharkey and Henderson in regards to the care of the ficus and the company's slipping numbers. When Mr. And Mrs. Holland arrive, roles may be up in the air.

Predictable, with a recurring trend I find personally of it not being as funny as it feels it is being and lacking genuine rising action and plot depth. The plot conflicts that arise at times gradually lose focus as the episodes go along.

Sharkey is coming down with something while contending with everyone's unhelpful diagnosis. He checks into the base hospital, where he is put in isolation with the highly-contagious Russian flu that originated from China. Robinson and Pruitt drop in to see him, unaware. The entire barracks soon comes down with Russian flu, except for Pruitt. When Sharkey returns, the arrangement leaves him going crazy with just Pruitt. He plots to have Pruitt come down with the Russian flu to be free of him, but things go awry.

Skolnick and Kowalski return to base beaten up from an altercation at The Pits, a club in the new punk rock scene. They return there with the men and get into another altercation with the same punk, Slash (Dick DeCoit) over the same girl, Melissa (Sylvia Anderson). Sharkey walks in to break things up and talks with Melissa, who instantly gravitates to Sharkey and follows him to base. He decides to help rejoin her with her worried mother, Mrs. Stanley (Charlotte Rae). When the 17-year-old begins falling in love with Sharkey, things turn nasty with Mrs. Stanley.

Capt. Buckner informs Sharkey that Senior Mendoza (Hector Elias) of the South American Navy is coming to the base as a guest. They are having disciplinary issues, and he wishes to observe the American methods as a model. The cordial gentleman with a short temper is flamboyantly dressed and decorated with medals. He wishes to bunk with the recruits, as to their surprise, he says he is also a Seaman, 1st Class in his navy. Culture clashes culminate in a scheduled duel with Sharkey. While Mendoza learns some things, some things are also learned about Mendoza.

Captain Buckner informs the CPOs that they will be holding joint amphibious maneuvers with the marine corps. He urges them to refrain from any name calling and fighting, like last year. Marine commander "Hard Rock" Hannigan (Tom Reese) quickly rubs Buckner the wrong way. Apodaca also quickly runs afoul of a marine who socks him in the eye. Sharkey sends Pruitt to make peace, but he, too, gets into a fight. Marine Sgt. Fowler (Eddie Barth) confronts Sharkey over the fights and the two escalate their hostility to a boxing match in one week. Sharkey goes to a CPO named Scotty (Tony Burton), an ex-pro who works at the base gym, for training. (This leads to a short, comical spoof of "Rocky" with the film's iconic theme song "Gonna Fly Now".) When Scotty and Robinson realize Sharkey doesn't have a chance they resort to psychological tactics instead.

After a bomb threat, Chief Koch is ordered to bring her female WAVES platoon into Sharkey's barracks. The two chiefs quickly clash. Unable to sleep, Koch takes a sleeping pill and comes over to Sharkey's quarters until it takes affect. When he goes to sleep, she unknowingly goes to his cot where they wake up together. They're discovered by Capt. Buckner and Lt. Whipple with the threat of dire consequences.

CPOs Sharkey, Robinson, and another man (an uncredited Bob Harks) are all tied in points for CPO of the Year. As a runoff, Capt. Buckner asks each to prepare a short speech on why they deserve the award. When Skolnick falls ill, Sharkey carries him to sick bay and throws his back out. Sharkey insists he can be cured with a rubdown at Ernie's Turkish Bath in town. He comically arrives hunched over and unknowingly makes another man there think he's gay. Finding it's run by bikini-clad girls that he doesn't trust, he leaves. Back at the base, his back straightens out until he shows how it happened in the first place. He is given muscle relaxers that he takes too many of, leaving him in a hilarious slurred stupor as his speech approaches.

The plot is a bit loose, but there are some nice laughs here. I personally found the ending disappointing, however.

Sharkey assembles the men to read a Navy announcement. A talent and beauty contest will be held to pick Miss Topside of San Diego. Each barracks is asked to submit its strongest candidate; the winner picked from three finalists. After nothing comes from the men, Pruitt insists his sister Laura Lee (Maureen Arthur) is "a real Southern belle" and would be a good choice. Sharkey envisions in a dream sequence what she must look like- Pruitt in drag. As a result, Sharkey dismisses her until Captain Buckner demands an entry. Sharkey is shook when Laura Lee arrives as an actual Southern belle. Capt. Buckner and Lt. Whipple soon begins swooning over her as well. Sharkey comes over to her room at night to coach her for the contest, but struggles to control himself.

Sharkey suspects something is wrong with Pruitt after he has uncharacteristically overslept two days in a row. He, along with Robinson, follow Pruitt to find him at the discotech dancing with the tall, blonde Seaman Mildred Daley (Betty Thomas, "Hill Street Blues"). Confronted, Pruitt promises to soon return to base and is followed by Sharkey and Robinson. Back at base, they see him rush back out of his bunk to return to the discotech and be with Evelyn (Rhonda Bates). Pruitt confides in Sharkey that he's been going steady with both girls without the other's knowledge, and can't decide between them. Sharkey plans to expose the love triangle to the girls together and detail how it's affecting Pruitt's health. Sharkey theorizes the one who gives him up will be the one who truly loves him. The plan backfires in a big way. The women hatch their own plan.

Sharkey is angry at the men over their monthly class reports, and how it will look on him to the captain. Natalie phones Sharkey, angry that he forgot her birthday and that he never says he loves her. Sharkey simply can't bring himself to do it. Robinson feels he takes Natalie for granted and needs a "guinea pig" to practice treating nice. He suggests Gypsy Koch, and Sharkey is intrigued enough to pursue it. Sharkey goes to Gypsy's place for a date. When he tells her his true reasons she throws Sharkey out. Sharkey stays hard on his men, leaving Robinson to conclude he simply can't be nice. He suggests Sharkey go to a sensitivity class where he comically struggles with group talk.

Captain Buckner reluctantly orders Sharkey to host a CPO of the Japanese Navy, Tanaka (John Fujioka, who ironic to the episode title, later appeared in the film "Pearl Harbor") coming to observe US training procedures. Sharkey comically can't help but slip ethnic insults before he arrives. When Sharkey learns a new radio installation is being constructed on the base he suspects the Japanese visitor may be a spy. As the visit continues, Sharkey's suspicion grows. Indeed, Tanaka begins acting in a clandestine manner, leading to a comical revelation.

This episode merges Season One's insult comedy with Season Two's more plot-centered situational comedy to good effect.

Captain Buckner receives a directive advising professional gamblers are taking men on the base for thousands of dollars a month. One man in particular from Sharkey's barracks was seen leaving a San Diego hotel where the con men are staying. The captain orders Sharkey to find who the man is. He questions to find the man to be gullible Kowalski who has lost all his money, $300, that he was going to give his mother. Sharkey vows to seek revenge on the con men and go to win back the money. The slick con man Duke (Buddy Lester) expects it, however, letting Sharkey win it back so his greed will make him come back and lose even more. Indeed, Sharkey returns for a high-stakes gambling showdown.

Captain Buckner is preparing the base for an important inspection from "Big Bad Bertha" Bagley (Pat Carroll, "The Danny Thomas Show", Ariel's voice in "The Little Mermaid")- "The Beast of Capital Hill", head of the military appropriations committee. The congresswoman has been closing military bases around the country in an effort to cut spending, and apparently is next targeting the base. Meanwhile, the men have returned to the base from Tijuana to find a heavily-pregnant Mexican woman named Maria (Edith Diaz) has smuggled herself across in their trunk to look for her husband. They're unable to hide her from Sharkey who pools together money to send her on her way. However, she begins going into labor as the congresswoman is set to arrive, leading to a scramble to hide it.

The Navy has commissioned a documentary that emphasizes the role of the chief pretty officer in naval training. Director Sellers (David Spielberg) and his assistant Sherman (King Moody) select Sharkey upon his "bulldog" appearance. Sharkey is against it, but is ordered to do it by the captain. Robinson convinces Sharkey to embrace it for the fame and prestige it will hold. Things begin going downhill after Sharkey rebuilds his appearance and struggles with his scene.