- Rob's unguarded gestures at an auction have him unwittingly bidding on and winning an ugly clown painting that covers another work beneath, perhaps a masterpiece.
- While attending an estate sale to learn about auctions for a sketch on the Alan Brady Show, Rob, Buddy and Sally accidentally bid on a painting of a clown signed by "Artanis." After winning the unwanted portrait (and paying a stiff price for it), Rob and Laura discover there is another painting underneath the clown -- one that bears a similarity to Grant Woods' "American Gothic."—aldanoli
- Rob, Sally and Buddy, who are planning on writing an auction sketch for Alan, decide to go to an actual auction for research, taking Laura along with them. While the writers look for the most unusual item to buy to use for the sketch, Laura thinks she may have found it - what the auctioneer calls "the thing" - but wants it for herself, but buying the thing ends up being the least of their worries since they are all slightly unaware of bidding protocol, which ends up costing Rob a smart sum for a painting of a clown he had no intention of buying. What's worse, both he and Laura think it's ugly. The auctioneer gives them the name of a Mr. Holdecker, an art dealer, whom he believes may buy the painting from them, but before they speak to Mr. Holdecker, they think they notice that there is another painting underneath the surface painting of the clown. They believe they may have a masterpiece which was painted over to protect its theft during the war. Uncovering enough of the surface paint, they uncover what looks to be an alternate version of Grant Wood's "American Gothic". They hope that Mr. Holdecker will tell them that it is indeed a valuable unknown Grant Wood. What Holdecker eventually tells them is that they have a painting by a famous artist, but...—Huggo
- Laura joins Rob, Sally and Buddy when they go to an art auction to do some research for the Alan Brady Show. While looking over the pieces being auctioned before the bidding begins, Laura notices a spiky, wooden sculpture she takes an instant liking to and plans to bid on it, over Rob's skepticism that it's worth anything. The auction begins and when Laura's piece comes up, she and several other attendees bid on the piece, driving the price up to $25 dollars. Rob grows more nervous that the price will go to high until the auctioneer holds steady at $25. Fearful that she may lose the bidding war, she slyly squeezes Rob's arm until he yells out a final bid of $30 and wins the piece, which when the pick it up, they simply call "a thing".
Sally is puzzled as to how the value went so high so quickly when she didn't hear any shouted bids. The auctioneer brings up the next piece, a painting of a clown by an artist named "Artanis". When the bidding starts, Rob notices that people are using non-verbal signals instead of announcing their bids: touching their faces, raising and waving their hands. Rob suddenly hits on a funny idea for the Brady show involving a gag where Alan could inadvertently drive up the bidding with simple gestures. As Rob demonstrates and the gang laughs over the gag, Rob doesn't realize he's bidding on the current painting and ends up paying $180 for it. When they pick it up, they try to tell the auctioneer that it was a mistake but he politely refuses to let them out of the sale. He suggests they call an art expert he knows who can appraise the painting for them.
At home, Rob is still flustered at the painting and it's cost. When he studies it a bit more closely, he finds a small flake has fallen off and there appears to be a human eye under it. He an Laura spend some time rubbing the top coat of paint off with some turpentine, revealing what looks like Grant Wood's famous "American Gothic". They decide to call the art dealer recommended to them.
The next night, with Sally and Buddy as guests, the art dealer, a diminutive German man named Mr Holdecker, arrives. His manner is somewhat short and eccentric as he asks for a rag, some turpentine and some white wine, which he first sniffs and drinks with aplomb. The then dons a small scope and flamboyantly studies the painting up close. After a few minutes, he declares that it is a "good" painting. The gang celebrates, thinking they have something valuable but Holdecker tells them that it's just a cheap copy of Wood's original done by a amateur artist named "Good" who does mostly "rotten" work. Rob is especially disappointed until Laura mentions the name "Artanis" and Holdecker explains: Artanis is actually the pseudonym of a famous actor and singer who signed his name in reverse so his art wouldn't be associated with his existing fame. The gang figures out that "Artanis" is actually "Sinatra" in reverse and their painting was one of Frank Sinatra's originals, who'd simply painted over the canvas. However, since Rob had destroyed the Artanis, Holdecker tells them it's a total loss. Rob feels even more disappointed until Holdecker says he'll give them $80 for the fancy frame.
Later, as the gang and Holdecker make conversation over more wine, Rob suggests that Laura show him the spiky sculpture she'd gotten at the auction. While she retrieves it, Rob mentions they're all writers for the Alan Brady Show, which Holdecker joyfully declares is "rotten" but he watches it with his wife, who is a fan. When Laura brings out the sculpture, Holdecker is floored, saying he'd hadn't seen one since he was a child and his mother had one. When they ask him what it is, he says it is "ein sache" which is German for "a thing". He also explains that it has no actual function but he father, disgusted by the money his wife wasted on it, used part of it to smash it.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content