User Reviews

I agree with the previous critique but give it a higher rating because of the very funny moments; particularly the one on one with Rob and Lincoln before the ladies function... But it's sad that Lincoln loses because his opponent has celebrity..we need more Lincolns !

First of I want to say that The Dick Van Dyke show is my all time favorite series, hands down. Every episode is great. This is the the ONLY episode where the writers and producers missed a golden opportunity--in terms of plot twist and story line arc.

This part 2 of a 2-episode story line where Rob Petrie runs for city council of New Rochelle.

It is really interesting to view this episode decades later in the very different political landscape of 2014. When watching this episode, I'm reminded of when Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for, and won, the office of Governor of state of California primarily on his celebrity. Rob Petrie wins the city council position, pretty much based on his celebrity, good looks and the fact that he is more charming than his opponent (Lincoln Goodheart). Goodheart is a geeky man of small stature that appears to know everything there is to know about the political process and the issues facing New Rochelle. Rob turns out to know very little about the city issues and the political process. Rob spends most of his meetings with his opponent, Lincoln Goodheart by saying "I didn't know that." It is certainly funny and sets up a potential situation later on where Rob can lose or bow out of the race in order to let the better man win and thus look more civic minded. So when Rob ultimately wins, it leads the audience to believe Rob won because he was more charismatic than Goodheart. The producers missed an opportunity with the character of Rob Petrie.

As a Dick Van Dyke Show episode, it is fun to watch. But every single time I view it, I still feel that it would have been far more interesting to have Rob admit that Lincoln Goodheart was more qualified to be on the city council, bow out of the race and offer his support for his opponent (but that's just my opinion).

This is the conclusion of a 2-part episode, the previous episode being "I Do Not Choose To Run". Taking the two together as one episode, I'm guessing the writers originally meant for two eps to comprise quite a groundbreaking work of television for their era. But it didn't quite come off. The final outcome is really quite mystifying.

Rob is approached to run for city councilman. After much deliberation about whether he is actually qualified for the job and should run, he finally does decide to run. When he meets his opponent, the opponent has no charisma and a totally bland personality, yet is much more qualified in substance. Yet Rob is favored to win, apparently on the grounds of his charm and celebrity and good looks. And in the end he does win.

Along the way he questions whether a victory for himself actually serves the public well. But in the end, he appears to be glad he won ... and that's the end of it. He wins. And as far as I know, all episodes after this one went back to business as usual and ignored the fact that Rob was a city councilman. That's weird ... really weird.

As I was watching this, I was anticipating some sort of ironic twist. But it never came. Maybe it was supposed to be taken as a dark commentary on our political system, that we elect candidates based on superficial appeal rather than substance. If so, it didn't quite come off. The tone wasn't right.

I think nowadays people are far too quick to call something "dated". Young people especially like to say it a lot about older works. In my opinion, it means we're too quick to go into throw-away society mentality. But maybe this ep is dated. It may have seemed like incisive commentary in its day. But for a modern audience, we all know this about politics already.

And to top all that off, I really didn't find these episodes all that funny. There are some laughs here and there, but not like some other episodes. It felt like these two episodes didn't quite know what they wanted to be.

It's difficult to figure out the point of this episode. Was it a commentary on how looks and charm outweigh knowledge of the issues? I was fully expecting Rob to bow out of the race, since the Wally Cox character was obviously so much more knowledgeable. But no, they went all the way with the idea and elected Rob as councilman---and then acted as if it never happened in subsequent episodes! Weird.