Wilbur has to choose between taking a high-powered executive job with a dyspeptic boss (played by Charles Lane, a specialist in sourpuss characters) and flying a kite in the park with Mister Ed.
It's the deeper themes of MISTER ED that make it something more than a silly fantasy-comedy. Looking back at the show today, one can't help noticing a subtle anti-establishment message, almost a foreshadowing of the "drop out of society" ethic of the hippies. But here the theme serves to assert the value of home and family. At one point Lane's character tells Wilbur that he has "no ambition, no drive, no initiative," to which Wilbur slyly adds "and no pills." Wilbur's wife and friends are insistent that he get the job - thinking only of the material benefits that will follow from it. But in the end, they realize that Wilbur's happiness is the most important thing. All the time, the mischievous Mister Ed has Wilbur "on a string" just like his kite, using every ploy to keep his master at home. As someone who works at home in a creative occupation, I find it easy to sympathize with and root for Wilbur and I am certain that he chose the better part.
Which would you consider the better life? To work "like a horse" at all hours for a corporation and "make it to the top," or to enjoy the simple pleasures at home surrounded by the people (and pets) you love? Which is the more meaningful existence?