Steve is coming home but has to park across the street because a moving van is trying to back into the house across the street. While the truck is there, the wife of the new neighbors pulls up in a station wagon just like the Douglas-mobile. She parks on the other side of the moving van, so that you don't see both station wagons at the same time. She has a baby and gives it to her mother (?) who wanting to keep the little one sleeping happily away from the noisy movers, is told to put the baby in the back of the car. Having not seen her family's car park, she thinks Steve's car right in front of the new house is theirs, so she puts it in the back.
Young parents today would have a coronary on seeing a baby left alone in the back of a car, but it would have seemed like a good idea back then-a nice safe neighborhood, and lots of people coming in and going out of the new house as the family is moving all sorts of things out of their car and into the house, along with the moving men.
Meanwhile, Steve comes into the house in a hurry to go out to play golf. He tells everyone there's something he forgot, but he doesn't remember before he is picked up to go tee off. Mike is set to borrow the wagon for an evening barbecue with some friends. He is given the keys and pulls into the driveway, where Robbie is to help load items for Mike's get-together. This is where they discover the baby, which delights Chip because he has just wished for a baby sister in a wishbone tug with Robbie.
Throughout the episode, several times Robbie starts to explain, somewhat, to Chip why it is that they can't just get a baby sister for him-while Bub does motherly things, he has to draw the line at that. Each time, Bub, or someone, interrupts him and he never gets to explain anything about birthing babies to the 8-year-old. A frustrated Robbie keeps leaving the room, mumbling about how he was just trying to explain to him...
What the family doesn't know, that we viewers get to see, is that the thing Steve forgot was that he brought home a leg of lamb that belongs to a lady he works with. It got brought into the house and accidentally packed back in the wagon by Robbie, thinking it was something Mike was supposed to have.
The lady calls about her meat, and when she refers to it as "her lamb" Bub thinks that's what she affectionately calls her baby. Bub can't believe she wants to just get it the next day and insists she come over quickly. The woman is totally puzzled why Bub thinks it so important that she retrieve it right away. This mix-up is the crux of what made this show funny. The dialog was carefully crafted to not make either of them dumb, as the conversation was short enough they didn't get to understand about the mix-up.
The new family is not forgetting the baby. The hubby passes by his own auto a couple of times, sees a realistic doll lying, mostly under a blanket, and figures that's the baby girl, sleeping. He keeps hauling things out of the seating areas and only glimpsing at the "baby." I enjoyed the scene where after the Douglases want to take care of the baby, but are ill equipped, Robbie goes across the street, meets the mother, and tells how they have a baby to take care of that somebody left behind and they need some items. The mother gives them formula and diapers and things and as Robbie thanks her and leaves, she wonders how any mother could lose track of her child like that?
Finally, the woman comes for her meat and is amazed when they hand over the baby. We get some very funny bits of reaction scenes when she asks if it is a boy or girl, then again when she asks what the baby's name is. This is when Steve returns and as he starts to say, "I didn't even know you had a baby" she declares that she doesn't and never saw this kid before. Finally they learn she has come for her meat, which they do not find anywhere.
Steve is clued in to the truth about the baby by Robbie, who has been looking out the window and sees the neighbor's car with a baby basket inside and the pair go over and eavesdrop a bit while hiding behind the car, just long enough to figure out that the baby must belong to them and they think it's in the car. Steve tells Robbie that they could be charged with kidnapping.
Steve gets Robbie to rush back to bring the baby over and they sneak it back into the car without being seen. The baby's mother and father never learn that their kid spent the afternoon across the street with strangers.
We finish by seeing Mike roasting that leg of lamb, saying he wonders where that came from.
Textbook "Situation" comedy, with some really good lines and nice directing, such as cutting to each of the Douglas for reactions when the lady was saying things that made no sense-if it was her baby.
This one had as many laughs as any episode of the series I can remember. I saw it at 6:30 this morning and it had me laughing pretty good, so I give it a 10 as it was lots of fun.
Young parents today would have a coronary on seeing a baby left alone in the back of a car, but it would have seemed like a good idea back then-a nice safe neighborhood, and lots of people coming in and going out of the new house as the family is moving all sorts of things out of their car and into the house, along with the moving men.
Meanwhile, Steve comes into the house in a hurry to go out to play golf. He tells everyone there's something he forgot, but he doesn't remember before he is picked up to go tee off. Mike is set to borrow the wagon for an evening barbecue with some friends. He is given the keys and pulls into the driveway, where Robbie is to help load items for Mike's get-together. This is where they discover the baby, which delights Chip because he has just wished for a baby sister in a wishbone tug with Robbie.
Throughout the episode, several times Robbie starts to explain, somewhat, to Chip why it is that they can't just get a baby sister for him-while Bub does motherly things, he has to draw the line at that. Each time, Bub, or someone, interrupts him and he never gets to explain anything about birthing babies to the 8-year-old. A frustrated Robbie keeps leaving the room, mumbling about how he was just trying to explain to him...
What the family doesn't know, that we viewers get to see, is that the thing Steve forgot was that he brought home a leg of lamb that belongs to a lady he works with. It got brought into the house and accidentally packed back in the wagon by Robbie, thinking it was something Mike was supposed to have.
The lady calls about her meat, and when she refers to it as "her lamb" Bub thinks that's what she affectionately calls her baby. Bub can't believe she wants to just get it the next day and insists she come over quickly. The woman is totally puzzled why Bub thinks it so important that she retrieve it right away. This mix-up is the crux of what made this show funny. The dialog was carefully crafted to not make either of them dumb, as the conversation was short enough they didn't get to understand about the mix-up.
The new family is not forgetting the baby. The hubby passes by his own auto a couple of times, sees a realistic doll lying, mostly under a blanket, and figures that's the baby girl, sleeping. He keeps hauling things out of the seating areas and only glimpsing at the "baby." I enjoyed the scene where after the Douglases want to take care of the baby, but are ill equipped, Robbie goes across the street, meets the mother, and tells how they have a baby to take care of that somebody left behind and they need some items. The mother gives them formula and diapers and things and as Robbie thanks her and leaves, she wonders how any mother could lose track of her child like that?
Finally, the woman comes for her meat and is amazed when they hand over the baby. We get some very funny bits of reaction scenes when she asks if it is a boy or girl, then again when she asks what the baby's name is. This is when Steve returns and as he starts to say, "I didn't even know you had a baby" she declares that she doesn't and never saw this kid before. Finally they learn she has come for her meat, which they do not find anywhere.
Steve is clued in to the truth about the baby by Robbie, who has been looking out the window and sees the neighbor's car with a baby basket inside and the pair go over and eavesdrop a bit while hiding behind the car, just long enough to figure out that the baby must belong to them and they think it's in the car. Steve tells Robbie that they could be charged with kidnapping.
Steve gets Robbie to rush back to bring the baby over and they sneak it back into the car without being seen. The baby's mother and father never learn that their kid spent the afternoon across the street with strangers.
We finish by seeing Mike roasting that leg of lamb, saying he wonders where that came from.
Textbook "Situation" comedy, with some really good lines and nice directing, such as cutting to each of the Douglas for reactions when the lady was saying things that made no sense-if it was her baby.
This one had as many laughs as any episode of the series I can remember. I saw it at 6:30 this morning and it had me laughing pretty good, so I give it a 10 as it was lots of fun.
