This is a superior effort in the closing weeks of this series. Ted Baxter has been offered two hundred dollars to write and article for a local newspaper. He tries it on his own, but he is barely literate (at least he can't write). After a couple days, failing, he begs Murray to do it. He will give him the money, but he can't reveal that he wrote it. Well, it turns out to be Murray's magnum opus, and it begins to be praised throughout the city. A school even wants copies of it to distribute to their writing students. And then the final blow. "Reader's Digest" offers Ted 2500 dollars for it. Poor Murray is like Cyranao de Bergerac, having to stand in the shadows while Ted basks in the sunlight. He can't even tell his family (Sometimes I wonder what the deal is with these people. Everyone seems to have the economic stability of Bob Cratchitt). The news staff aren't stupid, and they deduce what's going on. This leads to some fantastic scenes.
3 Reviews
Well done Murray episode
Rrrobert10 April 2020
Perhaps the last 'normal' episode in the series, and it is a good one. (All later episodes are clip shows or unusual formats that could only happen because the series is about to end.)
Ted, paid to write a serious news article, is ill-equipped for the task so pays Murray the fee to write the article for him. The piece is widely lauded and Lou and Mary want Ted to give Murray credit for it.
Familiar but well-done. The comedy and drama situations come naturally from the characters.
Sue Ann was recently given a job in the newsroom but still makes her entrances from the corridor just like she did when she worked elsewhere.
Helen Hunt appears as one of Murray's daughters.
Ted, paid to write a serious news article, is ill-equipped for the task so pays Murray the fee to write the article for him. The piece is widely lauded and Lou and Mary want Ted to give Murray credit for it.
Familiar but well-done. The comedy and drama situations come naturally from the characters.
Sue Ann was recently given a job in the newsroom but still makes her entrances from the corridor just like she did when she worked elsewhere.
Helen Hunt appears as one of Murray's daughters.
A delightful study of the Ted Baxter character !
ronnybee211217 June 2021
Ted Knight was funny as hell. I am sure we've all known several people a bit like his character Ted Baxter-a boor,a blowhard,a not-very-bright know-it-all. Too bad the ones we meet in real life usually aren't as good of a person as the Ted Baxter character ! Whatever faults the Ted Baxter character has,he is a sincere and basically decent guy. In spite of all his bluster,he realizes that he has limitations and tries to work around them as best he can. This episode is an interesting panorama of the Ted Baxter character and portrays him in a good light for a change.
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