Season 1, Episode 10
Date of airing: December 3, 1982 (NBC)
Nielsen ratings information: 12.08 million Households, 14.5 rating/23 share in Households
Story by: Tom Greene, John Alan Schwartz, E. Paul Edwards
Teleplay by: John Alan Schwartz, E. Paul Edwards
Directed by: Bernard Kowalski
”Are you a ventriloquist?”
The writers initially wanted to tell a crime story, but then didn't bother fully exploring the crime, instead focusing on a manhunt. Marty was hunted because of his “creative” bookkeeping, but then the story never explained the evil businesses his company executed (selling stolen goods is an excuse I can't accept when that doesn't even sound like a big-enough crime for a whole investigation to occur). Not to mention that the two cops hoping to get Marty to deliver his boss to them were doing their jobs so badly that they couldn't even convince Marty, who is otherwise a chicken and a loser, to go against his boss. The police could have offered him protection, but they did nothing to convince him to turn on his bosses.
This is why the episode turned into a manhunt instead, because the backstory of the company's crimes was swallowed by the laziness of the script. At least Marty was a silly-enough character to make this a fun episode. Have him wear a pretty suit and big glasses, and suddenly everyone thinks he is a nerd who is incapable of defending himself from much stronger men (one of them looking like he came straight out of a PUMPING IRON sequel). It begs the question of why he got the help of so many women keeping him hidden – the bar patron and the aerobics teacher. The man is a loser when it comes to confidence, but the girls seemed to like him and helped him out.
And finally, Cheryl Burns is the fourth woman guest character of the show to taste the lips of Michael Knight. She didn't even have a lot of screentime (just two scenes, one at the beginning and one at the end), but she was important enough in Michael's life to reward his successful effort to keep her out of prison with a serious kiss that involved some tongue. The fact that Cheryl immediately kissed Marty afterwards made it seem like she was ready to thoroughly thank her heroic man, who gave her back her freedom.
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| Marty experiences the car chase of his lifetime. |
