Saturday, March 5, 2011

Episode 10, Season 1

Americans love affair with TV continues and the Winslow’s are no exception! When Carl arrives home after a long day of pounding the pavement he is disappointed that the family would rather watch the “Buddy Goodrich Show”, a show about an rich African-American father and his two adopted Caucasian children, than hear about his exciting cop adventures. Carl tries to highlight the unrealistic nature of the show, but the family will hear none of it. Carl is so saddened he proposes to Harriette that maybe he should start to dress more preppy like the shows titular character; Harriette shoots the idea down because no one would ever believe Carl as “ivy-league”. The next day during his police patrol Carl swings by the local Theater to pick up tickets for the live Buddy Goodrich performance. When he arrives at the theater he notices a car parked in a handicapped zone which belongs to Buddy Goodrich himself! When the hot-shot actor is presented to Carl, his demeanor is a 180-degree difference from his character on the show and he refuses to move his car. Carl insists he follow police orders and it only agitates Buddy Goodrich more and more. The actor refers to Carl as “Officer Chubbo”, pokes him in the chest, and then shoves him several times in a row. None of this drives Carl over the edge until Buddy takes a swing at him, which Carl ducks and then slams Goodrich against a wall, cuffs him, and brings him to jail. The local news quickly jumps on the story and along with Buddy’s commentary its spinned it into a case of wrongful arrest and police battery. The superstar actor then shows up at the Winslow’s home in an attempt to talk/bribe Carl into changing his story so he can avoid a trial. But we know Carl; he’s made of stronger stuff! Goodrich fails to understand why Carl won’t take the bribe – and Carl drops one hell of a monologue on Goodrich about the honor and duty he upholds as a member of the police force and as a father. With the entire family eavesdropping through the kitchen door they learn the truth about their once beloved actor and they brush him out of the house like the stinking rat he truly is! After a several week long trial Goodrich’s assistant breaks on the witness stand and testifies against the actor. The court finds him guilty and punishes him with 100 hours community service and a large fine. The episode ends with the family embarking on a drive to go witness the defamed actor cleaning up trash along the interstate.

LESSON: It’s ok to shove a police officer a few times.

THE LIST OF ITEMS CARL TOOK FOR HIS LUNCH:

Bag of celery stalks, bag of carrot sticks, bag of lettuce, chunky peanut butter sandwich, meatloaf sandwich, another type of sandwich, two apples, jar of mustard, bag of chips, several candies.