Episode 48 - Fathers of the Bride

Weird media. Nike. Mister Walters can see that guy with it now, he's an actor phone. I'm a driver. I'm the only camp driver in this place.

Good evening and welcome tonight, mister Walters the Taxi Podcast. I'm HP, your co host, and with me as always is my co host, Father Malone. Father Malone, how are you this evening? My way and no way, HP, My way and no way, My way and no way. We will get into that a little bit that moment in this episode.

We're talking Taxi Season three, episode three, Fathers of the Bride. This was written by Barry Kemp and directed you guested by James Burrows. Reminder, we're doing these shows in broadcast order and not in order of filming. We kick things off Father Malone with a great b roll of jud hirsh walking into the garage at night. I can't recall ever seeing this before, have you.

No? This is all new to me, and I actually had a question because it looked to me like it was Alex Rieger. But when we cut into the garage there's a guy in there's an extra wearing a flannel shirt walking past, and it very well could have been him. I'm pretty sure it is jud Hirsh. I think it is him walking in, although I did not.

I didn't match what he was wearing there with what he eventually emerges wearing. He could very well be wearing something totally different. You thought it was a flannel get up. It looked that way to me, But I don't think even if it was him outside and then again inside, if the outfit was gonna match, I don't think they cared about that. When they cut into the garage, they cut to some other extra after having followed that guy into the garage from the exterior.

It's like, it's only natural visually that that's the guy we were following. It does follow film logic. I think what you're saying. But so we cut inside the garage, like we said, Tony and Bobby are sitting and commiserating at the poker table. Side note, did you notice fallom alone how feathered and luxurious Tony's hair is in this opening shot of this episode.

It was it's bizarre. Suddenly he's like he's inherited the main from Bobby, and Bobby's got the tight, sort of preppy, trimmed look. Did you notice that it's all feathered. Yeah, yeah, I did. I don't like it.

I don't like any of the style now that we're in the eighties. Yeah, we're in for some bad, bad stylistic choices, I think, and this is another good example of that. But we have gotten the denim curse in this scene, I will say that. So we've only got Banta, Bobby, and Iggy wearing wearing the wearing the blue in this sequence. So Clarkhonis is off the costuming department finally.

Well he's been demoted. Maybe maybe there's a bit of a Oddvillian exchange between Tony and Bobby. Tony is relating the monotony of his life and Bobby, it's. Always the best thing you got to lose a life, best which are rue. You weren't expecting that one.

It's just it's about how monotonous and like you said, it's a loser life. And Bobby sympathizes and says, I know how you feel, and Tony says, hey, what are you talking about? I got it made clearly the simpleton is enjoying the simple life. Bad joke, bad character moment. I'm not sure why they kind of threw that in the scene.

Didn't need it. And it has no bearing on anything that's on any of the events or that are going to transpire here. They got to get them in here somehow. They're not going to feature for the rest of the episode. At that point, Alex walks into the garage from outside and asks Bobby and Tony if if Louis got cabs for them yet.

Note another side note, did I think that Alex, well, he's wearing a blue shirt and a blue vest. I thought he kind of looked like a second rate Han Solo in this get up? Did you kind of notice that as well? It's a weird outfit for him. I hadn't really thought of him in galactic terms, But yeah, you're right.

Every time I see somebody in some sort of a button down shirt situation with a vest, because you never see that, No one never wears that anymore. You automatically for Hans Solo. And the only time you ever see people wear vests these days is because it's like a Columbia, like a puffy vest, like a Marty McFly situation. But you rarely do you see somebody wearing an actual like vest, a dress vest over a button down shirt. So my mind always goes to Han Solo.

Well, I might be a little bit more inured to it because I live in Las Vegas, so lots of servers and casino people have a vest with a with a collared shirt. So they're not all Han Solo. But wearing vests. But they're probably buttoned right, they're not. The vests aren't open and hanging open.

Well, the cool ones are so seemingly out of nowhere. Louis asks Alex how his daughter is. If eagle eared listeners to this podcast will remember the premiere episode where Alex has it a strange daughter, suddenly she's back in the picture. Louie asks about Alex's daughter, and Alex kind of reflexively answers, Oh, she's fine. I haven't talked to her in a while.

But then Alex reacts a little bit suspiciously at how normal the question he's being asked is from Louis. Louis kind of plays it off. It was terrifically suspicious. Come on, it's very suspicious, and he I think Louis has a newspaper in his hand, and suddenly there's this bit where he's trying to chase out a cockroach. So he emerges from the cage with this newspaper, and Louie keeps pressing Alex on details of his daughter, and it's clear that something is up and Louis Louie up there.

Luis steps out of the cage, still talking about the cockroach, looks over to Reverend Jim and says, looks like you iggy. But it's the worst ad R line I've heard in the entire run of Taxi up until this point. It's it sounds so much like Danny DeVito standing in a booth going looks like you wiggy. I noticed that too, Father Malone. There's a few eightyr moments in this episode in the next, and I don't know what to account how to account for it.

Maybe just some technical issues, but. Maybe his father, James Burrows is just fucking honking laughing throughout the entire stane. He does do that a lot. In the next couple of episodes. Louis keeps pressing, like I said, Alex on details of his daughter, and it's clear.

It's clear that something's up, and Louis alludes to having some heavy news for Alex. Louie insists that he tell Alix quote his way, and he even kicks out Tony. When Tony is kind of eavesdropping on the conversation every once in a while, Father Malone, we get more human Louie where he doesn't really have an agenda here. Another episode might feature Louis taking great delight in this terrible news that he has to share with Alex, But for some reason, here he's the concerned, worried Louis. And I'm not really sure how to reconcile those two sides of his personality.

Well top of my notes, surprisingly sensitive Louis exclamation point, and I agree with you, but I don't question because I love surprisingly sensitive Louis. I like when he can relate to the others in a way that doesn't involve scamming them. I do like sensitive Louis too, as long as it doesn't become romantic Louie who is dealing with relationship issues. As long as we're not doing it with Xena, I don't care if he's dealing with a relationship. But you know, I like him, you know I like him occasionally relating to Alex Rieger.

Sure, Alex has been there a bunch of times for him, and ultimately this is a situation, at least as an audience member, something that we should relate to if we've been watching since the beginning, because this is clearly a subject that's important Alex, no doubt, Louis remembers the time that Alex stole a fucking cab and two other cabby's all fucking drove down to Florida, so he knows it's important. It's refreshing to see that Louis has ultimately no agenda here. It would be easy to see Louis charging Alex a buck for the news. We've seen him extort money from the cabbys in desperate situations, but here he's very sensitive to what he believes how Alex is going to take this news. Louie is asking questions to Alex about Kathy's age, Kathy being his daughter, of course, and Alex's responses seem to confirm this news that Louie is leading up to here.

Finally, he lets the cat out of the bag. He tells Alex the news Alex's daughter Kathy is getting married in New York City and she did not invite Alex. Just to catch people up, Alex's ex wife remarried a fellow from Brazil. We're led to believe that he adopted Kathy and she's been living in Brazil with the mother. They haven't seen each other a lot.

I think she's it's implied that she's been in Europe and overseas a lot. So he seemed to that one time, maybe two. Or three times max, over the last four. Years, over her entire life span. Probably it's sad, but it's kind of nice in this episode because we get a little more understanding, because, let's be honest, that first episode where Alex talks about how he essentially abandoned the family, or at least that's the story that we're given, we beat up on him pretty good in that episode, but we get a little bit more information here, and maybe it wasn't quite so cut and dried as we'll see.

We'll talk about that momentarily when we get to that part of the episode. Alex is incredulous when Louie tells him that this wedding is happening, but Louis is emphatic. He shows Alex the notice in the newspaper, the one that he just used to show the cockroach away from the cage. Kathy's future father in law is apparently a UN ambassador the fellow in Brazil and they're in town for the wedding. The other Caves start acting very tenderly towards Alex, but he insists, you know, just go to work.

Alex says, she's been living in Brazil and he's only seen her once in the past few years. Maybe that's to your point. Maybe it has been the one time Alex is feigning not caring about the wedding at all. But then Elaine steps up. It's kind of nice.

We haven't really seen much of Elaine in the past few. Episodes, and she being Alaine exactly. This is much more in line with the Elaine that we've come to know and love. She figures to Alex. Maybe the invite got lost in the mail.

She tells Alex call Brazil to straighten it out, to which Alex is incredulous. Do you know how much it costs, he says, to call Brazil. This is funny to me because this is back when before cell phones, obviously, where you had to make a long distance call bottom alone, and it costs a lot of money. Do you remember those of money? A lot of money.

And what's crazy is Elaine starts pushing here call her right now, what do you have a fucking pocket full of change? Elaine? Is your purse filled with nichols and quarters? Because it's gonna be a lot. So I have a little bit of a figure here of long distance rates in nineteen eighty Father Malone.

In nineteen eighty, the weekday rate for a long distance call across the US, just across the US, not talking international calls was fifty four cents for the first minute and thirty eight cents for each additional minute. So I mean, that's that's pretty hefty, you know. I remember it was so bad like when I was when I was in school, when I was in college, I had a phone card and sometimes to get around long distance calls, because you would call and get the person on the end would get a thing saying you have a long distance call from and then a little recording would play like you know HP. Sometimes I would just say, yes, it's HP, call me back mom. So they would get the thing and they would say you have a call from.

This is HP coming back mom, and I wouldn't have to actually complete the call. It was so expensive, it was ridiculous. I so love that gambit. Yeah, pick me up, We're done. Movie's over.

We live in very interesting times, Boom alone. There's a lot to a lot not to like about what's going on today in the world. But I think we can agree at least that the advances in cell phone technology have only made the world better. Right, You don't think about sometimes? In HP the movie was it The Survivors with Robin Williams and Walter.

Walter Mathow, Yeah, and. Jerry Reid, And so they're dealing with a bunch of survivalists and at one point they like the head of the survivalist thing, which I think might be Tim Thomerson. Maybe I'm crazy, he says, no, Actually it's Robin Williams who asked the question, but he's parroting the leader of the survival camp. He says, name one good thing that's happened in the past twenty or thirty years, Like one thing that's gotten better, And she says video games. I think that every time now, like anytime throughout history.

Now, when I think of like where we are now, I think, is anything better than it used to be? Yeah? Video games, they just keep getting better. You're absolutely right. As I'm sitting on my couch earlier today playing Assassin's Creed shadows, there's hair blowing in the wind.

You can change outfits and everything looks very, very realistic. And I'm remembering playing the bowling on the Atari twenty six hundred, which was just like a few pixels and one giant pixel that would scroll very slowly down the alley and hit ten little tiny pixels at the end, and that was bowling, but not to I guess I'm going to paraphrase a Dana Carvey character, but we liked it. Dag nebbit y HP. I had to start my first Star Wars game on my attorney. Twenty six hundred was just a lame bunch of blocks that was supposed to represent like a lights and then another block was shooting other blocks at those blocks, and you had to block the blocks.

Okay, I just finished fucking Juni Ball in Order, where like you're hanging off of a cliff and you're using the forest to pull stormtroopers to you and then running them through with a lightsaber, and it's all fucking photo realistic, and it's an actor that I know from other things. Come on, it's stunning, and you can build your own lightsaber and the guy actually uses it, and you can have them costumeed in a certain way, and that's what appears in cutscenes and stuff. It's really amazing. So from that perspective, anyone who maybe is thinking that this is maybe the worst of times in a lot of ways, cheer up. Video games are super cool now.

We've never been in a better place regarding video games. If you need escapism, and we do video games, so the way to go. It's a great escape for me. I know that much. So Alex finally rely and he goes to the garage payphone to take out a mortgage to make a long distance called to Brazil, but he can't get through to either Kathy or his ex wife.

He's on the phone with some sort of aid to the UN ambassador and he tries to explain the situation, and the aid on the phone confirms that Alex's ex wife actually expressly said that he shouldn't be invited, and this sets Alex off in a big way. He yells at the person on the phone. He demands that an invitation be sent to him as soon as possible. A berserk Alex is a scary proposition. We've seen him lunge at Louis with blood in his eye.

This sets him off, like I said, and he gets all upset and he he hangs up the phone and Elane again. Elaine is stepping up big time in this episode. She insists that she should go with him to support him and to help him through this whole thing, which is awesome. That's what we want out of a Lane. She's fantastic.

Right, they're another beat with Anta. There might have been see I I don't record every single. I think he came in and did something else stupid in between. I only say that because in my notes I have written the boyish glow has left Tony Banta. A young dummy is funny and old dummy is sad.

I don't know what I'm referring to their HP, but I guarantee you he did something really dumb. Well, I don't. I don't record every single line of dialogue that he if it's I try to keep it more germane to the main plot of the show. But it's very possible that he he had some lame quip about what's going on and maybe further illustrated that he's a big dummy. So that's probably what happened here after Elaine steps up and says she's going to go to this uh, this wedding.

We cut to a b roll shot. Riga, Reallyriga. That's the best part of this scene. Man. Oh when when uh louiee watching this thing and it's like, yeah, oh you know, this horrible thing is happening to Alex, I'll go with you and the and Louis like this.

Is such a great opportunity, like she's gonna fuck you. Like, well, you know, louis not wrong. She she's very supportive. And I have to say this episode, she looks pretty damn good. They especially in this next scene that we're gonna describe.

But you know, we we've been dealing with these these uh these costuming woes, right the Blue Gene Committee, all that stuff. But she again, she she's back in a big way. You know, in the green as she should be put redheads in green. We cut to a b roll shot of what appears to be the Waldorf Astoria a ka the hotel from Coming to America. Do you remember when us it would be at the story.

It it looked like it. It was hard for me to match it up exactly, but it has to be because I think the point of this is these are very you know, very upper crust people and this is where she would of course ever wedding, the fanciest hotel in New York. So we cut inside and once again, Father Malonda set design is on point. This It's a huge lobby with candles, flowers, chandelier, guests milling about the works. What did you think?

I actually thought it was a little bit lacking. Why for the for the grandear of the hotel presented, it should have been more. We find out why halfway through the scene, because this is not the set, that the actual set what we're going to see later. And that said, I will praise. That's fair.

I just thought it for for a an entrance way to a huge wedding like this, an after party, a reception, I thought it looked great. It It didn't as an entry, yes, as an entry definitely, but I was expecting something grander because I've seen what they can do. I still think of that auditorium in season one. Sure, but there's been many there. There's when they go to the gym to see Tony Box.

Sometimes it goes on forever. When they had the when they did the spelling Bee, the school that. Was That's what I'm talking about, the spelling B school. So I like this. I like this so far, but you're right, it does get a little bit bigger and grander as we go on.

Elaine and Alex tried barging in. They walk down Elane's resplendent in sort of an evening gown, and Alex looks good, but an attendant who's got a list of names turns them down flat. They're not on the list. The functionary is played by a guy. Did you recognize the functionary of this attendant?

Not at all? I did. His name is Harvey Skolnik, also known as Harvey Miller. I don't know why. Maybe it's a it's like a union thing.

Maybe he couldn't Maybe there was already a Harvey Miller, or maybe it was a Harvey Skulnick. Who knows anyway. Harvey Miller slash Skullnick has done some acting here or there. He has the odd minor role in stuff like Big, the movie Big with Tom Hanks. He was in Beaches, he was in.

Awakenings, Penny Marshall's person. Apparently there is some tie in there. Those are all Penny Marshall movies. You just named yeah, I and that was totally random. But here's the interesting thing.

He was also a writer. He wrote for The Bob Newhart Show, He wrote for The Odd Couple. He even father Malone. Wrote feature films like Private Benjamin ah And and Cannonball Run two. Oh Wow.

He also did some directing, including a couple of season five episodes of Taxi. Interesting. So this won't be the last time we hear the name Harvey Skolnick. I thought it was pretty cool. Can't wait to tangle with Skullnick again.

Wasn't that uh that the last name of the Revenge of the Nerds, wasn't it Lewis skolnikiskullnck? Yeah, that's what that's in my mind. I'm going, why do I know it? Why do I not? It's a very it's a very nerdy name.

I guess. This attendant gives him the you know, says you can't, you shall not pass. Alex starts loudly protesting, and here's where Elaine really you know, shows her Alex is protesting. Elaine takes Alex aside and says, I'll handle it, don't worry about it. So naturally, bah bah bahlone.

She turns on her seductive charms on this attendant. She does it. She does this weird bit where she blows out a cigarette lighter. It's super weird, but it's also weirdly, super hot. Very sexy.

It is a weird line that she gives the guy. She asks for a light and the guy pulls out the lighter and he says, well, you don't have a cigarette, and she says, we don't need one, and he's holding the lighter and like you said, she blows out the flame. And it is weird. It wasn't what I expected, but it certainly charms skull Nick because he says, okay, you guys. He says, because she is implying that, like I will, you know, let us in and I will see you later.

And he has some sort of line like I know this is a one in a million shot, but I'm gonna take it. Go right in. Yeah, I wrote down that if she is a million ones, that is a chance we're taking. This guy is smart. He's very smart.

And the guy for being like a writer, slash director, slash bid actor, he does, he's good. I liked him in this. I thought he was funny. He's very funny. So they get in, they get champagne from somebody passing it out amongst the crowd.

Elena and Alex talk about his marriage a little bit. Here's where we get some insight into why the marriage broke up. It wasn't. Here's where we get a wonderful Elaine moment. And I'm glad she said it because everyone probably thinks it.

I just thought you were a creat It was your fault, Alex. Obviously that's what she said. I thought you were a creciated on or some fucking thing like you know. Yeah, Elaine, like you said, figured that he was he couldn't commit to a family, that he was just some creep that couldn't couldn't hack it. But Alex says, and I guess we're getting a one sided version of this.

But if we're going to take him at his word, he says, his ex wife walked down on him because she thought he was a failure. So I guess, maybe, you know, we should have a little bit more sympathy for Alex. It wasn't like he did the mental calculus and decided to leave his family. It sounds like the wife just decided I'm out of here. So you know a little more sympathy for Alex.

I guess Alex looks over and spots his ex wife Phyllis in the receiving line. She looks all frumpy, She's in an ill fitting dress. She looks a little overweight. I guess we're supposed to believe she's overweight. The moomoo they've put her into is supposed to imply that she's overweight.

It's a plot point that she's overweight. They use it as an intro to get these two alone really and open up about their relationship. Here's what I'll say about the HB. When they first cut to her, I didn't think she was found at all. I just thought, oh, it's Louise Lasser.

And then I thought I would strut around the fucking room with Elaine Nardo. If that's what was keeping me from my daughter's wedding, I'd be like I would. There would be no confrontation. I would just walk up with Elaine Nardo and go Hi. I just wanted to say, Hi, this is Elaine.

Yes, Elaine is my date? Where is where is? What's her name? Blah blah blah. You know there's an element of that he doesn't necessarily show her off like that or try to get under her skin.

But when he will get to this, but when he introduces a lane or she introduces herself to Phyllis, Phyllis is like, what did you say? You're here with him? My failure of an ex husband? Oh my god, what's going on here? As you just said.

Phyllis is played by Louise Lasser. I think if you're under the age of let's say fifty, you probably wouldn't even get this reference. She was mainly known for a soap opera spoof called Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, which I used to see. It was on like late nights on Channel fifty six. Father Malone, You remember that?

Oh? Sure do? And I would always watch it because I knew she was associated with Saturday Night Live. Mary Hartman. Mary Hartman made her a household name in the seventies late seventies, and which led to her hosting Saturday Night Live in those early days.

But apparently her erratic behavior during her hosting gig led her. Supposedly, I don't know if this is true or not, but legendarily she was the first person banned from SNL. Did you ever hear that story? Of course I heard that story where she like opted out a bunch out, opted out of a bunch of sketches, and then insisted she'd be allowed to do this long, rambling monologue that fucking went nowhere. I've seen it.

It's awful. So yeah, she's rightly banned. I know Lauren michaels Can maintains there is no list. I'm not going to do a Lauren Michael's impression. There's no one I'm banning on the show.

And it's not like she came back, although I think they might have worked to get together again at some point. So who knows. She was so big and such a recognized name, and nowadays you'd be hard pressed to find anybody who really knows Luise last or knows what she's been been up to. But she was so I don't know if it was she was just unstable, or if it was like a drug thing or what, but she just is she. Not in Requiem for a Dream, not in the main role, but one of the friends.

She might have been. But I remember Ellen Burston when I think of that. I know Ellen Burston is is the mom in it, but I'm saying mom's one of mom's friends, Is it not Louise last Yer. And I think she was in a bunch of Woody Allen movies, which is why we're still even talking about her, because she was married to Woody Allen in the late sixties. Yeah, she was Woody Allen's second wife.

I have this year married from nineteen sixty six to nineteen seventy. But it's I it's just odd that somebody can be like the face of the late seventies comedy and then she's just kind of sunk out. That's funny. The reputation that she had from Saturday Night Live colors my impression of her every time I see her in anything, and so it takes a while for me to appreciate that she actually is a good actress and she is bringing a lot to whatever she's in. There's always this moment of fuck you and that bullshit you pulled on Saturday before I can sort of get into Louis's Lasser and what she does.

Having said all of that, she's really good in this, Oh my gosh, great her her comedic abilities and her timing are spectacular. She's really good in this, and she pairs well. We'll talk about this when we wrap up the episode. But she pairs really, really well with jud Hirsh It's like you really believe that they have a history and that they were married at one point. It's really it's it's a wonder to behold at times.

Alex's daughter spots Elaine and Alex and runs over gives Alex a big, huge hug. She says, she's been looking all over. By the way, this is Martin Balsam's daughter is again playing Kathy. I don't recall her first do you remember her first. Name names Talia Balsaman.

I want to I want to make amends here because when we watched the pilot of this particular television series, you and I were like, Talia Balsam, who's she? Ha ha ha, Well, you know, you know she is. She's missus Roger Sterling on mad Men, and she's Missus Sterling in real life. She's married to John Slattery. And now that I'm over on midnight Viewing, we've been covering Tales from the Dark Side.

She showed up in an episode of Tales from the Dark Signed. She's really good at that too, So apologies for acting like she was a nobody in the pilot. Uh it turns out I love Talia Balsam, and uh, that's on me. So we've got we've got another ven diagram here, father Bahloh, we have taxi, and we have Tales from the dark Side, and we have mad men. And clearly the middle of that ven diagram is where you live and where she does her best work apparently, So that's great.

Wait, and who is her mom? I just heard an interview with her mother. Talia Balsam's mother is a fucking famous actress. Let me hold on. I'm gonna cut to Joyce van Patten.

Oh, yes, yes, Joyce van Patten. Was she uh a Van Patten by marriage. Or by Oh that's her brother, Dick. Van Patten's for brother? Oh Dickie.

Okay, who you know? This is such a sidetrack, but he featured fairly prominently in the Robert Evans book The Kid Stays in the Picture. I have a hard time reconciling the idea of Dick van Patten. For me, it is enough like out on the Town as a young man, like with with Robert Evans, this like Lothario. Did you find that as well?

Interesting? Fascinating? Yeah, but like you know, not without the realm of possibility, you know, like everyone I'm sure was wild back then. So Kathy says, she's been looking all over for for Alex's she's afraid that he didn't make it to the wedding. Elaine remarks how beautiful Kathy is and kind of mentions that they couldn't really see her that well from their seats.

This also sets off Kathy. She says, well, what do you mean, and Elaine says, well, they could only sit way in the back because they couldn't find the seats anywhere else. And Kathy says, well, wait a minute. You were supposed to be in the third row on the eye and furthermore, she wanted Alex to be in the reception line with the rest of the wedding party. So this is all puzzling Kathy, and she's now pretty upset by this mix up, like how could this happen?

You know, they didn't they didn't get to where they were supposed to be for the wedding. But Alex, being the trooper, plays it off like it's no big deal. He just wants to kind of get past it. Kathy leads doesn't want to ruin her wedding by letting her know that her mom. Is Kathy leads Alex over to the rest of the wedding party and the receiving line, which elicits an embarrassed oh my god from Phyllis.

She's very we're getting the idea that she's very self conscious. She does. She wants to hide, basically hide, right, she's old and fat. Now that's that's what we're getting. I mean, we'll get there, but yeah, she does.

She she's no in particularly with fucking Elaine Nardo on his arm. But yeah, she doesn't want to be seen by She wants to have gone out on top, which she did, right. She snapped down on Alex because he was a fucking loser, and then she went out. She had the whole big life and she got to feel superior to him. And now just physically she feels like at her worst, which.

Is understandable because you know, she, like you said, she this isn't the image she wanted to present to Alex after not having seen him for the better part of eighteen years. However, boy, is it fucking petty to forbid him from going to the wedding of his only child, his daughter, who it wasn't his choice to break up the family. She's the one who left him. So I gotta say, like, as much as we were bagging on him in that first episode, boy, I can't believe what she fucking did. That is so petty, that's so mean.

Yeah, as I said, I would have walked in with Elaine, gone over, said hello, said this is my date, this is what I'm up to these days, and you and I are going to have a conversation after this. And because it is unconscionable to keep him away from the daughter's wedding, particularly when we discover that the daughter wanted him there in the front row on the reception line as much a part of the entire affair as possible. Now, having said that, the daughter could have called at some point in the weeks and months leading up to this wedding, Dad, did you get your invitation? It's important that you be there. And guess what it's in New York.

I'm assuming she must have come into New York at some point to scout out the location, do a rehearsal dinner, all of that stuff that goes into having a wedding. She's played a lot more naive. I think than she probably should be. She's not a little. Girl that this character version of the character should have been in the pilot, because she's really street smart and like, listen, now you're a a stranger to me, Like I'll you know, that was the character we were getting there And here you're right.

She's naive for no other reason than they need her to be to make the a plot happen, which is the story between Alex and Louise Lasser. She she's really nothing more than a vehicle to get Alex and his ex wife in a room together hashing things out. That's she doesn't really serve any other purpose. When you really I just. Say that, I wrote in my notes, poor Talia Balsam just shuffling people from one plot point to the next.

She's They may as well have called the character shoe leather because that's all she does. She's shoeleather from one part of the show to the next, one plot. Point, Mom, where are you? I harped on this in the first episode, but again, she's been living in Brazil for eighteen years. When she introduces when Kathy introduces Alex to her new father in law, she uses English.

Wouldn't she maybe throw in some Portuguese, like she should be almost a native Portuguese speaker at this point. That's I think it would have been wonderful to have them have an exchange in Portuguese with one another. There could have been some comedy there where. Alex's is kind of, you know, kerfuffled at having to like, you know, maybe he says something in English. He's overly formal.

There's there's maybe maybe he looks at Louise Lasser and she says, I don't understand it either, after all these years. Yeah, something it was an easy thing they could have thrown in, but they don't. I don't. I don't really know why, because there's a lot of lame humor elsewhere in the episode that they could have just done away with. Phyllis awkwardly greets Alex and Kathy confronts her mother as to why Alex and Elaine had to sit so far away and Phyllis, but Phyllis the dade's the question and basically kind of shows her away, and now it's just Phyllis and Alex talking, and Phyllis greets Alex and Alex angrily confronts her about the non invite like, how could you do this?

Phyllis counters by making a sarcastic comment about how his life hasn't changed in eighteen years. She says something like I hear they have electric meters now. But then Elaine introduces herself to try and diffuse the moment, and that's that moment, like you said that shocks Phyllis. She's like, excuse me, did you say that you're here? Because Elaine's being really nice and sweet congratulations, you must be so happy for your daughter.

But Phyllis can't hear any of that because she's so shocked at how this beautiful woman could be there as Alex's date. You're right, he should have really played that up. And Elaine is obviously game to play that, like she stepped in not just to diffuse the situation, but to be super sweet and go, yeah, I'm with him, so why not? Like we've seen Bobby Wheeler impersonate Louis de Palmer at a fucking reunion here like they can play like she's super hot for Alex. This is old hat with this show.

She should have played it up to the hilt and really made Phyllis feel like, wow, not only am I here? I'm frumpy, I'm overweight. I don't like how I look or how I feel. But my ex husband, who I thought was a loser, look at them now. She's beautiful, she's smart, she's you know, she's funny.

But they didn't do that. Whatever they should have come into it. And let me just say one thing before we move on that when Elaine and Louise Lasser are shaking hands, Louise Lasser's pocket book like it transfers off of her arm onto Elaine while they keep shaking, and it's clearly unexpected, but marrilu Henner manages to snap it back onto her onto Louise Lasser's arm before she lets go. And it's the mess bit of physical comedy in the episode, and it's obviously completely unscripted. Wow, I love moments like that.

I did not notice that. That is fathom alone. You're a marvel. I don't know how you notice these things in the midst of so. Much happen with Mara Luhnner.

Obviously, Elaine goes away, she's going to get more champagned or something. Alex and Phyllis continue to go back and forth about why he wasn't invited Alex. She finally admits to Alex. Phillis admits to Alex that she just didn't want him there, which is really a shitty thing to say. At least she's being honest.

But it's like then but that leads to Alex, So Alex tries to then close the conversation with a really nasty jab at her wake game. The joke I wrote it down here, I'm not going to do it justice. His joke is you haven't lost the daughter, You've gained a ton, which is so hurtful because that's the whole reason behind her shame is she's overweight. She's in this awful moomoo, this house dressed looking thing. She's really she walks away, really hurt by the remark, kind of shuffles away and dope big time.

So she goes away and then uh Kathy comes over and asks where her mother went? She where what we should move the poddle on? Don't you think it's happening? So she she admits to Alex that Phyllis is very vain about her weight gain and was afraid of what Alex might say if he saw her like this. But Alex or but Kathy says that's crazy.

You wouldn't say anything about her weight, would you, which which kind of leads to Alex like sputtering like, find, how do I admit that I did just that without admitting I did just that? That's basically what happens. Let me just ask the most specific question of all time that just occurred. But person, what's that? Oh?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, nod. She was so naive in this. So we we fade out, We fade into a ballroom now where the guests are all dancing, and I think this is where we're going to pick up the idea of the set decoration. This is where you liked it. Right, yeah, But particularly honestly when we go into that fucking jenitor's closet, the Janitor's closet set, I'm just like, wow, that looks great.

I've never been in a TV studio, I've never been to a live taping of any show of any kind, but it's remarkable here where you have them dancing in this giant ballroom with people dancing all around them, tables, chandeliers, what have you. And at one point, as we'll get into they have to go into another room, which is the janitor's closet not a closet, it's it's it's like a utility room. Yeah, like yeah, this is a big hotel, so you know they would have room after room of maintenance. Uh, and you know, clean cleaning facilities. The early hallway said, yeah, it's pretty good, but like this that like gritty and grimy.

It looked, you know, but but like also clean because it's like a high class joint. Really really well done. So the dance, the guests are dancing, including Alex and Elaine, and Alex is wondering to Elaine as they're dancing why he feels so guilty about his cutdown of Phyllis. Elaine gets right to the heart of it. She says, it's because, Alex, you're afraid of ruining your daughter's perfect wedding, which is true.

I mean, the last thing he wants to do is make trouble for her perfect day. This prompt Alex to go and cut in with Phyllis, who's dancing with her husband. She refuses, but the husband it's implied as a gentleman, and he agrees that they should chat, so they cut in. Alex tries to apologize for hurting your feelings or somewhere back and forth, and he finally asks if they can talk it out in the other room, and she agrees. Here's where we walk into what appears to be like a utility room where there's there's it's huge.

There's like two slop syncs, basically what you would see in one of these things, a lot of cleaning solution, bottles of bleach and everything else. It's big. It's like a pretty sizable set. I want to say, it's maybe three quarters the size of the garage set. It's pretty big.

Yeah, it's not for a general it's for a cleaning staff. It's what you would expect to see at the Waldorf Astoria to handle the size and magnitude of that of that operation. Alex again apologizes for his remarks and admits that it's because he was hurt by not getting invited to the wedding. But then she takes in the task because it's it's such a terrible apology. She says something to like the effect of, like, I've been waiting eighteen year to have this conversation, to hear you say those words, and this is what you give me, Like she's it's it's what you would expect people who've known and loved each other for a long time but are no longer together like they they can get under each other's skin in ways that other people can't write because you know what pushes their buttons.

Here's the thing, though, the reason this scene works is because Louise Lasser is infinitely charming, because what she is saying, if I was confronted with it would make me want to murder the other person. Right, what apology were you expecting in the last eighteen years when you walked out on me and took my child and fled to another country? That what apology do I owe you? Like? There is no there's no there's no way equal in any way equal her not inviting him to the daughter's wedding and him making a crack at the wedding after walking out on him.

It's such an awful, awful thing that she did. The end didn't justify the means just because she's. He should apologize for making that crack. That's fucking rude. Yeah, you shouldn't do it, And you used to be in love with that woman and that's fucked so you should apologize.

But he didn't owe her a fucking thing. Not at all, because now we understand more about what took place and and how you know, look, we're not going to make excuses for his attitude and what he did in those days. But you don't walk out on a guy just because maybe he's hit some hard times, maybe he's not measuring up. You work, you work it out, and if you can't work it out, then you you get a divorce. And you work it.

You know, you work through that. You don't just leave and go to another fucking country. To your point. So, but but it's it's a nice dynamic. It's it's a they start bickering a little bit.

They're really they really are like an old married couple because they're just two pros. I mean, jud Hirsh and Louise Last are going toe to toe. It's it's awesome after eighteen years, Alex admits, you think you couldn't still make me crazy, And it starts to break the ice a little bit because they have this moment where you feel their shared history of being married and loving each other, because, like you said, at one point, they did love each other and they were you know, they were as intimate as a married couple should be. So well, I think what we get here almost instantly is the heart of their relationship, which it was all based on. Fucking true.

Yeah, that's it's all physical. So she admits, Phillis admits to Alex that she so much older and so much heavier, and she was really really nervous to see him. They go back and forth. They they're kind of making each other laugh and making each other mad, and then back to laughing. The same old thing seem to annoy them, but Alex's mind goes to the nice things they used to share.

And here's where it becomes clear that their whole relationship was based on physical love, because she whispers something into. His ear, okay, and just say about this. This bothered me because these are adults, and what we've got up until then is a wordless it's thing where it's what are you thinking of? What are you thinking of? And they keep sharing looks, and you know that it's filthy.

You know it's filthy, right, And then when she goes up to whisper, I'm like, come on, just say they didn't need look, they didn't need to say what they were thinking of. But she could have just said, like a time or a place you know, instead of this like conspiratorial thing like this is television, come on, give us something. Remember it was on top of the Empire Stayed building and a blimp was going by like something. That's a very good point because they've already, like you said, they they've they've kind of had these glances and it's implied through their conversation, you know what, what kind of gets them going. So I guess it's a little over the top.

I kind of liked it, I don't know, because it's sweet. Phyllis admits that the physical part of their relationship was always great, regardless of anything else they had going on. They they could always fuck with the best of them. Basically, yeah, come on, look, look there are plenty of relationships out there that are just based on that. Like there's nothing wrong with it.

But you know, it's it becomes true you have a child and suddenly you're fleeing to Brazil. There's nothing to be ashamed of here. Maybe it's just the times. Maybe nowadays people might be a little more upfront with their needs, but this was a little bit more repressive. I think.

At the same time, Phyllis is afraid that she's lost that romantic spark. She's not as young as she was, she's not as peeling as she was, and she's a little sad about that. And then Alex makes a some kind of spicy comment that I'll remember exactly what it was, which makes her feel a little better, and. They end up. He says, baby, I'd fuck you right now.

Right over that slop sync right now. Want let's come on. That's I believe that's what he said. So this is cheering her up a little bit, and they hug, but during the hug they get a little weirdly physical. She kind of physical.

Listen, if you're hugging someone and she puts her leg up around you like that, it's on. That. I don't know how to feel about that, because I know she's obviously depressed about her physical situation, but that's no excuse to start, you know, rubbing up on your ex husband when your husband's out there dancing with your daughter on her wedding day. I thought that was a little bit too much. I don't know, it is more questionable and so fucking sexy.

They're they're kind of tittering like kids at times, and he plays along with it up to a point but then he realizes it. But then actually no, At that point, Kathy, the miss exposition or miss shoe leather comes in looking for mom. Then guys don't have sex. That would be weird, Like, can we just resolve the episode now? So she comes in like the prototypical child that interrupts the parents before they start having sex.

They disengage. Alex and Phyllis disengage, are embarrassed. They're flushed. Kathy not understanding what was just happening. He apparently is a twelve year old bride, Like she doesn't know that they were about to fuck.

Get the get out of here. She says, you know, seeing them make up is the best gift she could have ever received. He goes on to say that she'd what would really really make her happy is she'd love to see them hugging each other. Of course, like one minute prior and they were about to have sex over the cleaning products. I want to see us hug.

Oh baby, you're gonna see us. You might want to leave the room. This hug is going to be so it's the huggiest. This might scar you for life. But here we go.

They agree to hug and it's a very sweet moment, and then Alex leads them all back to the wedding. We fade to black. That's the end of the episode. Now we're going to talk about yellow lights. What doesn't yellow light mean?

Just a reminder we grade on a scale of one to five yellow lights. One is the worst taxi episode, five is the best taxi episode. Bottom alone is it is our custom. I'm gonna throw it to you first. What do you give Fathers of the Bride.

I want to give it a four, but I'm going to give it a three. There's too many lame jokes, too many wonky bullshit. The characterization of uh little riager Kathy Kathy is just I don't I don't know what they're doing there. Look what a waste of time with with the character and with the performance by Talia Balsam, the stuff with Louise lasser Man, it's so fucking good though that I want to rate this higher, but it's a solid three. I want it to be four, but it's three.

Again. I'm of a similar mind to you. I I gave it was a tough thing because I think Louise lasser is so good and there's such a great lived in quality to Alex's interactions with her and and they're they're back and forth. Is really for me that it's the highlight of the whole show because she's so she's so good, and he's he really matches her beat for beat. But at the end of the day, I also agree with you that some of the other bits of humor are kind of corny.

The stuff with Bobby and Tony at the beginning is not that great. And this is really just about Alex and his ex wife, I mean, and to a certain degree, Elane's there as well, but no one else really features, So it's kind of a capsule riager episode. So I give this three yellow lights as well, but I think it's a solid three three trending to four. But we don't do half lights, so. I'll give it.

I'll give it three yellow lights and the glow of the dashboard radio. That's going to do it for this episode of night mister Walter's father alone. Where can people find you when you're not clocked into the garage? Well, you should check me out over on midnight Viewing. That is my horror show, which has a bunch of different shows.

We've got a weekly show and a bunch of HP and I. By the way, we've got to We've we're working on Fusco Fest over there. I invite you all, I'll come over to midnight viewings Fusco Fest where HB and I are checking out the works of mister John Fusco, screenwriter extraordinaire. We so far have episodes out for Crossroads and Young Guns. By the time this comes out, Young Guns two will be out, and so that's an ongoing thing you should check out.

Go check that out over there. Fusco Fest has been such a delight for me to do Father alone. Hopefully that comes through in the episodes in our discussions, because it's so fun to go over these movies that I loved but hadn't really thought about in a long long time and now getting back into it and realizing these are some really, really well made movies there. These are awesome Crossroads, Young Guns to Young Guns. We're really getting into it, so so please check that out.

As for myself, you can hear me. I also do the Noise Junkies music podcast. That's been fun. I also am in a casecasional guests on the Culture Cast with Chris Dashu and I also have a bandcampsite hpmusicplace dot bandcamp dot com. Got an album up there called Wired in Waiting, which was great fun to work on and hopefully you guys would enjoy it.

Check that out. It's free to listen to no reason not to check it out, So that's going to do it for us. Thank you so much for listening. Please feel free to subscribe to the podcast, write a review, rate us whatever. We'd love to hear from you in any manner you choose.

For myself and for Father Malone. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you all again next time.