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Original Air Date: January 5, 1986 Review completed January 16, 2007 "Urban Fear" A report appears on the TV news about the North Side Stalker, a serial killer in the area that has seven victims so far. Betty and Henry discuss the situation a bit, with Henry imploring her to keep it down so that the girls don't hear. They already know, however, and Punky starts to fear for Henry's life. Henry remains committed to keeping calm, but Punky is drawing some distrubing pictures in art class and trying everything in the book to keep Henry away from night work. Henry eventually gets her to calm down, and order is restored, at least in the Warnimont household. Towards the beginning, we have probably the oddest running gag on the show; a series of comments about how the Stalker looks like David Letterman. This would probably help a bit if the sketch looked anything like David Letterman, but it doesn't. So when three different characters on the show decide that he does look like David Letterman, it makes you question the collective IQ a little bit. Or maybe that's the way to make Henry look smart for this episode, since he's the only one who doesn't make this ridiculous statement. Who knows? Humour shoutout #1: Punky's security alarm. I am a guy, and I have the gene for slapstick enjoyment to prove it. Punky's drawing is a little...strange, to say the least. There's a few examples on the show up to this point to suggest that Mike would go for the whole free-drawing thing during art class, but why would a kid draw out something that's that likely to get attention, and then hand it in? It's not like she was doodling it on the sly during another lesson, since the dialogue is pretty clear. An odd note about Punky's drawing: A long while ago, on the IMdb (ugh...), someone brought up that there appears to be two different drawings used for the scene, with the different one still being somewhat visible through the paper (though only when it's turned with the blank side facing the camera). Sure enough, take the scene where this happens, freeze-frame, and zoom in (2x should do it). Instead of the killer poised to strike, Henry's down with a pool of red around him! So, I wonder how the director thought that that would air on a NBC kid's show. Want to know what's annoying? The freeze-frame effect at the end of Henry and Mike's conversation. Either the writers were parodying the end of a 70s sitcom and I just missed it, or they didn't have a way to end the segment. Bah, if you're looking for ways to end a segment, study Jim Henson. I still remember reading that quote from his son about his advice on winding up: "If you're stuck, have something explode." That's paraphased, but I swear to everything that that's the gist of it. Have Mike explode or something. Or have Eddie explode. Again. Humour shoutout #2: Punky's battle of wits with Henry over her illness/excuse to keep Henry home. It's not often that you see a baked potato standing in for the lamp or radiator on the old "heat the thermometer with a foreign object" bit. Of course, the sour cream giving you away would be the good reason not to do that... In the end, even though I enjoyed the episode, I have to admit that it seems a little light on plot. The main issue with our characters is resolved decently enough, but it does sort of make me wonder why there had to be a specific killer, especially since we're never shown that he's caught or what ends up happening. A little re-writing, and it could be a general look at the effects of urban crime, and we wouldn't have a dangling plot thread. That's not quite a full episode idea either, but it's the best way to do something like this. Oh well, I nitpicketh. This is a harmless enough episode, with some good standout scenes to put it above the curve. It's not chock full of substance, but it's okay enough. I could see why an argument against it could be formed, but after having a horrid time reviewing "The Gift" recently, I can't fault an episode in which the flaws don't get in the way of the entertainment too much. So it's light; at least I won't have to fear writing about it. [laugh track, freeze frame] - Jimmy Vibes |