User Reviews

The professor (Richard Long) receives a letter in the mail from an old college girlfriend who will be in town and will stop by and see him. Meanwhile, young Prudence (Kim Richards) won't let her new colorful balloon leave her sight. In running outside, she scrapes a tree branch and the balloon pops. Prudence is upset to learn that it can't be fixed. The professor brings her an inflated one just like it, but she says it isn't the same. She doesn't want it inflated because it will burst like her other one, and stores it safely. Under an idyllic sunset, Nanny (Juliet Mills) takes Prudence outside and explains, "Since the beginning of time there have been millions and millions of sunsets." It quickly goes away, making Prudence sad, but agrees she is glad she came out to see it. Nanny says, "You know sweetheart, maybe to enjoy what's beautiful we have to take the chance of feeling sad when we lose it...Knowing that we won't have that beautiful thing forever, maybe we appreciate it more when we do have it." (What a great message!) The professor's old girlfriend Marrijane Finley (Lee Meriwether) arrives still looking attractive. As the two talk they discover they still want different things in life, but they rush together into the streets to track down Prudence's balloon. Like most episodes, it's not very comical, but here there is a very nice lesson on loss.

Prudence and her father both face the aftermath of a loss of something that was important to them. Prudence loves her balloon like a sister, but it bursts, and she's afraid to get another one. The Professor gets a letter from an old college love interest (Marijane) who wants to visit, but he is ambivalent. He once thought he wanted to marry her, but it didn't work out, and the love interest he did marry - Prudence's mother - is lost to him too. Taking a chance again is a tough decision for both of them.

Nanny shows Prudence the loveliness of a sunset and gets her to understand that losing something beautiful is a risk, but then you don't get to experience the beauty if you don't risk the loss. The Professor overhears them, and decides that if Prudence is going to risk another balloon, he'll risk another chance with Marijane.

This was never a roaring with laughter sitcom, but a warm and fuzzy one about an intelligent family dealing with things we all deal with. I was in my 20s when it first ran, and even now, 50 years later, I still learn a lesson or two watching it.