Dadgum it, though, I come to Hazel to see George. Well, Hazel, too, but preferably interacting with George. This episode delves into the extended Baxter family, namely snooty sister Deirdre (Cathy Lewis) and her daughter Nancy (Davey Davison).
Deirdre normally has "go away heat" with me, to invoke a pro wrestling term, but she at least gets some moments of redemption in this episode. Yes, eventually she can stop looking down her nose at Hazel long enough to give George's niece the attention she craves. Hazel even chokes up at this scene:
However, let's go back to the beginning and what is really important: the state of Mr. B's hand. Long-time readers are familiar with my theory that George injured himself in an underground pit fighting tournament. Well, we now see that the right hand is no longer wrapped up, but only that middle finger is bandaged:
Now that we have that out of the way, what else is notable about this episode? Well, it scores a strong 8.3 rating on IMDB, which indicates many viewers enjoy it more than I do. I think the sentimentality of it is appealing. There is a charming scene with Hazel and Mrs. B in which the two reminisce about Missy's own teenage days. It's nice to see them openly show the affection they have for each other and give us a reminder of the bond they share.
Hazel misses interacting with a teenage girl so much she is eager to help out Nancy as she and Deirdre move into town. Ah, the innocence of the 1960s! It's quaint hearing Hazel talk about staying up and listening to Missy talk about her dates...and to then see her do the same with Nancy.
Other highlights for me: Hazel singing fans can enjoy a few bars of "HE'LL Be Coming Round the Mountain." Unfortunately, Deirde's phone call interrupts the staircase serenade.
There's the weird notion of Hazel fixing up her own nephew with George's niece. Can you imagine the two families joining together? I don't mean to be as snobby as Deirdre, but it just seems like an odd possibility. Worlds colliding!
Nancy will return in Hazel, but I don't think she marries Eddy Burke, even though, gosh, she sure is in love with him in this episode. And, gee, he KISSES her!
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1 comment:
Rick, Somehow I missed this Blog of yours. I often visit your other Blog: “The Shocking Final Season Of Hazel”. As you know there were only three episodes which had George’s Niece, Nancy, played by Davey Davidson, and Hazel’s Nephew, Eddie, played by Johnny Washbrook. Unfortunately their storyline wasn’t developed and we could only imagine where that storyline might have gone had it continued awhile. As I’ve only said before most of those shows at that time often didn’t finish characters and storylines, leaving tons of fans unsatisfied. Unfortunately, there isn’t anyway to fix or solve an issue like this. All we’ve got are our imaginations.
It would have been nice if they had used Nancy and Eddie in a few episodes each season, leading up to their getting married. Remember, there is an episode where they venture to get married but Hazel interferes with her two cents worth of experience and advise in which she designed to detour any plans of that. At least until they were out of College. The subject wasn’t brought up again, though they appeared in one more episode together. Then poof. No more. As I watched it season after season, what I wanted and hoped for wasn’t in the cards. No College Graduation Ceremony for either Nancy or Eddie. No marriage to send them off to their own happy little corner of the world. Just a bare mention of Nancy when her Father was ready to leave her Mother.
I think it would have been a good idea, also to have inserted some of Dorothy’s relatives into the show. There was a mention of a Sister name “Barbara” whom we never saw. George had two no account Cousins, two Sisters, a Brother, two Brothers-In-Law, and a Mother. Hazel had three Nephews and a Cousin. Plus a Sister, she referred to as “Jean” or “Jenny”, whom we never saw. I may have missed a few relatives, though it is rather odd that Dorothy didn’t have any onscreen. I suppose all of those old shows had “holes in them”. And here’s a bit of trivia for Shirley Booth Fans: Shirley Booth had a Sister name Jean Valentine Coe. She was Born February 14, 1914. And she Died January 23, 2010 in Oregon. Unfortunately I can’t find the Article about her. She was Shirley’s Personal Assistant and Secretary during the course of “Hazel”. I don’t know if she continued in that capacity after the show was over.
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