Quick Post

Closed captioning can be a very wonderful thing.

The earlier Perry DVDs didn’t have it, but by season 6 all the DVD sets include optional subtitles. They seem to be very well-done. And certainly, they help correct viewer errors.

The first time I watched the uncut Hateful Hero, I honestly thought Jimmy said that as kids, Andy got him into trouble. It was hard for me to picture Andy as a mischievous rebel, although I know it would be possible that he was one and then changed his ways.

But what I saw when I watched it again and this time had the subtitles on made so much more sense. Jimmy says that Andy got him out of trouble. Whew. That fits my original image of what their childhood was probably like and also fits better in the context of what was going on in the episode right then.

MeTV aired The Blonde Bonanza last night. I wasn’t able to catch it, although I do have a copy from when it last aired in the morning. It’s not a favorite episode of mine, but I do have something I love about it: Paul and Della’s extended interaction. They have a very nice and amusing scene at the beginning when Della is exercising due to feeling inadequate and nervous over meeting with a family friend who always manages to stay slim so matter what she eats. While Paul and Della often have little, fun exchanges during the episodes, it’s rare for them to have any extended interaction, so that alone makes the episode well worth watching. The only other episode I can think of offhand where they are together a lot is season 5’s The Glamorous Ghost.

The Blonde Bonanza is one of the last of the original adaptations of Gardner’s books, before they go into the re-adaptations in season 9. (I think the only other book plot in between is The Grinning Gorilla.) What I find so utterly bizarre about it is both the scam that’s run on Della’s friend and the fact that she falls for said scam. After what I read about some of the strange goings-on in the book version of The Daring Decoy, I’m highly curious to know if this business about the scam is pretty much directly lifted from the book version of The Blonde Bonanza. I’ll have to look into that.

 

The subplot running through the episode, of the girl's problems with her estranged dad (who really did and does act like a jerk), is interesting. It's nice to see the dad finally want to change his ways and try to reunite with her, and it's also nice that by the end of the episode, she's willing to give him a chance.

 

Severed family ties are another common theme running through the series, although there may be too many of those types of episodes to attempt cataloging them in one post, if I ever decide to consider it.