Thoughts on Grand, Episodes 6-10

 

Via Giphy.

"Get out your black dress, Carol Ann, we're going to a funeral."

"Legends of Sport" (Feb. 22, 1990)
I Love Bonnie Hunt's performance throughout this batch. My initial assumption of Carol Ann was that she would be the spoiled sweet princess contrasting with Janice's tough gal with a heart of gold. Whomever decided that Grand would not go that route deserves a medal. I like seeing Carol Ann/Bonnie act as the straight woman to Tom/Michael McKean, who also comes into his own as these episodes progress. Bonnie also gets some funny lines today. Grand is still not a consistent laugh-generator, but there was progress.

*Norris approaches Janice and Eddie*

"Norris Weldon. Remember me? ... I was the fat kid you used to put in a headlock while the other guys stole my pants?"

I'm Okay With the return of Eddie. He's back in Grand because his likeness was among those immortalized in bronze, and to settle his and Janice's divorce. Pamela Reed once again does well opposite Ed Marinaro, even if it feels like these scenes could have easily come earlier in the series. Janice learns from Eddie why he left her ("Because I stopped loving you." "Well. That's certainly simple."), unites with him to be parents and disciplinarians for Edda and then gets to tell him off for his arrested development. Reed has the most to do in pricking Eddie's self-importance, but I did also love an exchange between Norris and Eddie.

"You know, I was at that game you won against Watertown in '76. It was tremendous."

"Yeah, that field was all muddy. I was slippin' all over the place."

"Yeah, that 99-yard run you made with 10 seconds left on the clock. It was like ballet. I remember thinking at that time, 'Boy, his life is never going to get any better than this.'"

I Dislike how hormonally-charged the Edda and Dylan story is. Dylan helped her understand lattitude and longitude, Edda tells Janice, who immediately knows he used Edda's body instead of a map. Uh, they're middle school-aged ... Dylan, bristling under the parenting of Carol Ann and (to a lesser extent) Tom, wants to steal a car and take Edda back to California. It's the Saab that Eddie came to town in, which belongs to his girlfriend Sheila. The youth get pulled over by Wayne, leading to conflict at the police station.

"(to Eddie) Excuse me? Can I say something? I asked you to the Sadie Hawkins Day dance in high school. And ... you put me in a headlock and your friends, uh ... well, I just wanted to tell you I didn't appreciate that, okay?"

"Deer Hunter" (March 1, 1990)

I Like most of this episode, which makes the ending so unfortunate. Wayne's father died in a bizarre hunting accident. Dot Kasmurski (Jane Hoffman) said a dying deer twitched, striking Bud's gun and causing it to drop and go off, killing Bud. Wayne is increasingly unnerved by Dot being the merry widow. 

"I always prayed someday I'd handle a homicide case. But I never thought the primary suspect would be my mom."

I Like Tom and Carol Ann's story in these next two episodes. Tom decides to network with the mourners, which include Bud's half-brother, who pioneered credit dentistry for children. "The Tooth Fairy" (Armin Shimerman) is a hard man to please, but Tom makes some progress.

*Wayne and Janice join Carol Ann at the food table*

"Oh, Wayne. Listen, I really have to give your mom credit. She's being very brave about this."

"Hey, that doesn't mean she did it!"

*Wayne walks away upset* 

"That doesn't mean she did what? *Realizes*

"Close your mouth, Carol Ann. And keep it closed. Wayne's just being ... he's a cop under stress. You know how they are. He's nuts. Okay?"

*Janice and Carol Ann make keeping a secret gestures as a man comes to the table. Janice leaves*

"So, father, did you buy the killer deer story?"

*He didn't*

I'm Okay With Norris' story for this episode. Inspired by his (one-man) crew laughing at him, Norris decides to pursue stand up comedy. Norris debuts his act during the post-funeral gathering, and naturally, it doesn't go well. Weldon letting Desmond think he was Norris' father doesn't come up at all during this batch, and honestly, it's not necessary. John Randolph has some good moments opposite Joel Murray.

"So, I guess I humiliated myself at Bud Kasmurski's wake, didn't I?"

"I know how you feel."

"You do?"

"Yes. You humiliated me, too."

I Dislike the ending. Wayne, distraught, causes his dad's chair to recline. It causes the loaded gun to go off. Wayne is delighted that Dot is innocent, less so about his accidentally having shot her. Cut to commercial. During the tag, it turns out that Dot didn't die. I dunno, it feels like the show wimped out there.

"The Bald, the Blond and the Dead" (March 8, 1990)

I'm Okay With Randolph's performance in this episode. Weldon sports a toupee for much of this episode, planning to wear the hairpiece at Carnegie Hall. Norris doesn't notice it. Janice and Desmond think it's a bad idea. Desmond wants Weldon to just admit he's old already, which creates a rift between the two men. As for Janice, she spends most of the episode trying to get Weldon to remember that she will be a platonic escort. The pair's big scene comes at the climax, ending with him once again bald and their sharing a dance to "Moonlight Serenade" in the Weldon mansion's great room, a set that I'm assuming we'll see again.

I Like the extremes of Tom's fortunes in this episode. He and Carol Ann successfully pitch the concept of a living mall to the Tooth Fairy. It's a mixed use development, with the residential and commercial components blended together. "I've always wanted to live next door to a, uh, Hickory Farms. Why, if I awoke in the morning with a sudden craving for sausage, I could simply run right next door. ..." The Tooth Fairy recognizes Carol Ann, but appreciates her willingness to help her husband. "Mrs. Kasmurski did the same for me. I can't tell you how many dentists she slept with the year I introduced the spit sink." Kasmurski plans to come back to Grand with a $2 million check for Tom. Carol Ann wants to know if they will have the pick of the condos. "Well, don't be silly, Carol Ann! We're not going to live there! ... WE'RE RICH!"

I Dislike Norris' storyline for the next three episodes. He decides to idolize the late comedian Jack E. Leonard, somebody I'd actually never heard of up until now. Norris gets so into being like Jack E. that it becomes akin to possession. Actually, if they had gone the supernatural route, that would have at least been interesting. I haven't mentioned Soap in this recap until now, and unfortunately, it's not for a good reason. Norris as Jack E. is almost as indulgently bad as Billy Crystal's Jodie as 90-year-old Julius Kasendorf.

I Like the cruel twist of fate for Tom. A trio of Japanese motorcyclists, including Gedde Watanabe as Taki, ended up causing a fatal accident for the Tooth Fairy. "Wayne, you didn't find a signed check, did you?" "No, there wasn't anything left in one piece in that car. ... I'm sorry, Tom. I know you were close to the dismembered. And so was I. He was my dad's half-brother, you know. Now he's really his half-brother." As it turns out, the Japanese men are also tycoons. Tom's got some new friends.

"Carnegie Hell" (March 15, 1990)

I Dislike watching Grand with some advance knowledge of how things will play out. Just as I'm starting to enjoy Michael McKean and Andy Lauer's performances, I know that both men only have a handful of episodes left. Tom and Wayne have some good moments here, as does Carol Ann, but the stars are Janice, Desmond and Weldon.

I Like the escalation of Weldon's diminishing Carnegie Hall gala. Leonard Bernstein can't play the 100,000th Weldon piano because he's snowed in with the Vienna Boys Choir. Carol Ann and then Wayne accidentally ruin or at least modify the piano, with her spilling diet soda into it, and him shooting it. Before Weldon leaves for New York, Desmond, angry about being thought of as only a servant, quits. In New York, Weldon learns that President Bush can't make it.

"... I am sending Danny Quayle in my place. I have full faith and confidence in his ability to sit through the concert."

I'm Okay With Janice's plot for this episode. She decides to meet Sheila, the psychologist that Eddie's been dating. It turns out that Sheila (Kathy Ireland) had had a charmed life, going from modeling to acting to life in the Peace Corps to time as a U.N. translator to her psychology career ... and all by age 26. Janice is ready to leave Sheila with her hatred intact, until it turns out that Eddie pulled the "going to get cigarettes" trick on Sheila, too. Janice comforts Sheila, only to get annoyed when it turns out she's also a former Miss Universe.

I Like the ending, where Desmond and Weldon make up, Weldon repairs the piano and Weldon ends up hooking up with the pianist (Natasha Pavlovich). I do hope that in Season Two, Weldon's characterization goes beyond "dirty old man."

"An Obtuse Triangle" (March 22, 1990)

I Love Hunt & McKean's work in this episode. Taki likes Carol Ann, to the point that he offers Tom $5 million to divorce her. Tom's considering it, which naturally upsets Carol Ann.

"... I only get the money if we get divorced, which we're not going to do, honey, because I'm going to tear it up. Because I love you, Carol Ann."

"Go ahead. Tear it up."

"And then you'll come home?"

"I can't think about coming home until you tear it up."

"So you're saying that I could tear it up and you wouldn't come back?"

"Anything's possible. Tear it up and let's see."

"I think you need to tell me that you're coming back first."

"Well, I think you need to tear it up first."

"You first."

"You."

"Well ... maybe we should think about this."

I'm Okay With Edda somewhat moving on from Dylan with Dustin (P.J. Ochlan). He's a nerd, but he gets into it when rehearsing Romeo and Juliet with Edda. Okay, I'm seriously wondering if the original plan was to have Edda be a high school student and that Janice was a teen mom. The gap beween Janice-Edda (and in real life, Reed-Rue) is wide enough for that not to have happened.

I Like the resolution to the Norris as Jack E. Leonard storyline. Dr. Frank (Eddie Jones) convinces Weldon to finally, genuinely tell Norris that he loves him. This time, the comparison to Soap is favorable. That feels exactly how Susan Harris would have resolved the story. There's also some good comedy between Dr. Frank and Desmond. The butler points out that the doctor is misinterpreting Psycho and resents his assuming that his English accent is an affectation that could be eliminated through therapy.

Thoughts:

-- We've got three episodes left of this first season, the one that's supposedly more serialized than the other. The thing of it is, there's character arcs, yes, but it feels like most specific plots get dropped within an episode or two. I'm repeating myself, but Grand really needed to commit more to one aspect or the other. Again, right now, it only feels like it got on the air and renewed because NBC didn't want to make Carsey-Werner and/or Cosby mad. I've got 15 more episodes to go. Maybe the intentionally self-contained stuff will be better.

-- In an unexpectedly precient moment, Taki and Carol Ann listen to music on a "microchip player" ("An Obtuse Triangle").

-- Hey, It's ...!: Brenda Strong as the operator helping out an American Express customer in one of the commercials that played during "The Bald, the Blond and the Dead"'s original airing.

-- Today in Classic TV: Wayne reminisces about watching TV with his dad, saying it was him "and Larry Wilcox, the other guy from CHiPs, for my interest in law enforcement" ("Deer Hunter"). Desmond reacts to Norris having obtained tapes of Jack E. Leonard's Ed Sullivan Show appearances by noting that at least Norris isn't idolizing Topo Gigio ("The Bald, The Blond and the Dead").

-- Ratings Roundup: This batch lasted an exact month, from Feb. 22-March 22, 1990. The ratings decline from an 18.3 for "Legends of Sport" to 16.3 for "An Obtuse Triangle." Grand is doing okay side by side with L.A. Law, but it's retaining less and less of the Cheers audience.