S01.E03: Microwave

[Whimsy]

After Mike proudly introduces a new microwave to the Cleary household, Peggy immediately rejects it. Meanwhile, eager to see "everything" exposed for the first time, Joey and Timmy go to extremes to see Barbara Eden's wardrobe malfunction on a Bob Hope TV special. Elsewhere, Lawrence attempts to apply lessons from a psych class at school to psychoanalyze Mike and Peggy.

[mojoween]

I love how Peggy said that Andy was not the most likely culprit of the exploded microwave, and Mike looked at him for a second as if to imply that he wasn’t ready to rule him out as a suspect, baby or not.

Was that Barbara Eden thing real or made up for the show?

I also love that William still has a book in nearly every scene and when Mike opened the microwave he immediately gave the instructions to William to read.

Edited October 31, 2018 by mojoween

[anna0852]

 I thought it was a good character nod that during the interrogation scene of the kids Frankie was standing up there with his parents. He's already been established as the narc of the family and was probably immediately deemed innocent by his parents and deputized for questioning. 

[SmithW6079]

1 hour ago, anna0852 said:

 I thought it was a good character nod that during the interrogation scene of the kids Frankie was standing up there with his parents. He's already been established as the narc of the family and was probably immediately deemed innocent by his parents and deputized for questioning. 

Not only that, but when Lawrence wanted to "rap" with his brothers and promised not to narc on them, Frankie lost interest and left the room.

Loved how they got the microwaved food right: pizza rubbery and soggy and burns your mouth, french fries cold. Forty-five years later, we still don't get it right. And the saving the tinfoil if it wasn't too gross. My mom used to do it, and to this day, so do I.

Edited October 31, 2018 by SmithW6079

[lucindabelle]

THe microwave was hilarious because i do remember how we all thought oh we’ll COOK on it. I remember microwave cookbooks! And the dinner jokes were funny because now we ALL know that bread doesn’t do well in a microwave etc  essentially microwaves reheat and have made frozen dinners really fast. I remember the 45 minute Swanson dinners and the boil in the bags!

 

i love lying mom and how she doesn’t want to be happy she loves things as they are.

 

whar book was he reading? I thought the cover looked familiar.

[biakbiak]

The kid who played Davey should play a young Brendan Frasier or his son.

[MaryMitch]

9 hours ago, mojoween said:

Was that Barbara Eden thing real or made up for the show?

 

I was wondering that myself so I googled it, and as soon as I typed "Barbara Ede", "Barbara Eden on Bob Hope Show" popped up on the autofill list, so it looks like a lot of people were asking that question!  There is a "Barbara Eden Sexy performance on Bob Hope Show" video, but I didn't see anything that could be considered scandalous. (And she had a rockin' bod!)

[joanne3482]

12 hours ago, mojoween said:

I love how Peggy said that Andy was not the most likely culprit of the exploded microwave, and Mike looked at him for a second as if to imply that he wasn’t ready to rule him out as a suspect, baby or not.

Was that Barbara Eden thing real or made up for the show?

I also love that William still has a book in nearly every scene and when Mike opened the microwave he immediately gave the instructions to William to read.

The funny part is that Mike was sitting there with 2 of the 8 (Eddie Haskell and Timmy) so he know full well they couldn't have put the fork in the microwave. 

[sonyab]

My favorite parts.

*Father puts an egg in the microwave*

Mother: Why is the egg shaking?

BOOM!

HAHAHAHAHAHA! I have done that. :)

Son: Girls have different penises than ours.

What?!?!!? ROFL! Yup that is the 70's! :)

*Mother puts a fork in the microwave*

HAHAHAHAHA! I love this show! :)

Oh and young son psychoanalyzed his older brother with the long hair!! Smart boy! :)

Edited October 31, 2018 by sonyab

[LGraves65]

I wish they'd let the actor who plays Lawrence just grow his real hair out. That wig is atrocious.

[libgirl2]

13 hours ago, lucindabelle said:

THe microwave was hilarious because i do remember how we all thought oh we’ll COOK on it. I remember microwave cookbooks! And the dinner jokes were funny because now we ALL know that bread doesn’t do well in a microwave etc  essentially microwaves reheat and have made frozen dinners really fast. I remember the 45 minute Swanson dinners and the boil in the bags!

 

i love lying mom and how she doesn’t want to be happy she loves things as they are.

 

whar book was he reading? I thought the cover looked familiar.

I remember those cook books! 

7 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

I was wondering that myself so I googled it, and as soon as I typed "Barbara Ede", "Barbara Eden on Bob Hope Show" popped up on the autofill list, so it looks like a lot of people were asking that question!  There is a "Barbara Eden Sexy performance on Bob Hope Show" video, but I didn't see anything that could be considered scandalous. (And she had a rockin' bod!)

I forgot to google it cause I was curious. I loved when they were talking about it being too bad they can't watch it another time. I also like the Fotomat. Its funny, it would take so long to develop film, then we were getting film done in one hour and for cheap. Recently, we discovered undeveloped film at my parents. Not only was it expensive but it took a few weeks! We are back to where we started. 

[Homily]

14 hours ago, lucindabelle said:

THe microwave was hilarious because i do remember how we all thought oh we’ll COOK on it. I remember microwave cookbooks!

I'm  a librarian and back around 2008-2009 I was weeding the collection and ended up discarding an entire shelf of microwave cookbooks - none of them had been taken out in years but obviously at some point in time someone went a little crazy adding them to the collection!  I also remember when you  could take microwave cookery classes and when, as least in my town, there was a whole store devoted to all things microwave.  

[libgirl2]

6 minutes ago, Homily said:

I'm  a librarian and back around 2008-2009 I was weeding the collection and ended up discarding an entire shelf of microwave cookbooks - none of them had been taken out in years but obviously at some point in time someone went a little crazy adding them to the collection!  I also remember when you  could take microwave cookery classes and when, as least in my town, there was a whole store devoted to all things microwave.  

Weeding a library collection (I work at a library in Tech Services) is like a history lesson in what was popular. 

[LBS]

This show has been consistently funny!  It's getting to the point where I want to re-watch right after because I'm missing throwaway lines by laughing.   So far, the dad is my favorite.  When one of the kids asked him why they couldn't put metal in it and he said [paraphrasing] "dad explanation - because I said so", I laughed so hard. 

[rhys]

It was also gold when Peg pointed out how much counter space the mw was taking up & she preferred to put Andy there. Mike said to put him on top. She had the funniest look on her face .

[sonyab]

1 hour ago, LBS said:

 When one of the kids asked him why they couldn't put metal in it and he said [paraphrasing] "dad explanation - because I said so", I laughed so hard. 

Hahahahaha. Then he said shut up! ROFL!

[marypat57]

9 hours ago, Homily said:

I'm  a librarian and back around 2008-2009 I was weeding the collection and ended up discarding an entire shelf of microwave cookbooks - none of them had been taken out in years but obviously at some point in time someone went a little crazy adding them to the collection!  I also remember when you  could take microwave cookery classes and when, as least in my town, there was a whole store devoted to all things microwave.  

I remember way back in 1976, I worked for a bank in a large mall.  We worked three 12 hour days per week and ate 2 meals a day at work. We asked permission from the main headquarters in the city to purchase a microwave so that we could warm up food brought from home.  The microwave was purchased from JC Penney in the mall.  They even sent someone who showed us how to use it.  Quite the novelty item!

We didn't have one at home until 1986.  We used it mainly to cook frozen vegetables and warm up leftovers.

Once again, I found myself laughing at the connections bettween the Clearys and my family.  My mom also had a set of hair clippers that she used to trim my six brother's crew cuts.  She got her clippers by redeeming blue stamps, and used them for years. Even though my dad sported a crew cut in those days, he never let my mother cut his hair.

Looking forward to the next episode

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, marypat57 said:

I remember way back in 1976, I worked for a bank in a large mall.  We worked three 12 hour days per week and ate 2 meals a day at work. We asked permission from the main headquarters in the city to purchase a microwave so that we could warm up food brought from home.  The microwave was purchased from JC Penney in the mall.  They even sent someone who showed us how to use it.  Quite the novelty item!

My high school boyfriend's family had a microwave in 1975.  They were always ahead of the curve that way.  I remember he made hideous "scrambled eggs" for me in it.  I was afraid of it and afraid to eat anything that came out of it especially after he told me how it actually "cooks" things.  Most stuff came out awful, but we didn't know how to use one yet and thought you could actually cook things from scratch.  I remember microwave cookbooks with recipes for CHICKEN of all things.  GROSS!  I didn't get a microwave until 1986 either, but at least by that time everyone had warned me that it was basically only for heating things up.  I think the prices started to go way down around that time.  Mine was very futuristic looking smooth black Toshiba with flat buttons and an LED readout.  I had that thing for 15 years until I gave it to a friend, who had it for another several years!  No one knew it was that old because its design was ahead of its time.

I REALLY liked this episode - I split my sides several times and watched it twice.  I'm glad I stuck with the show.  I made my husband watch this episode and he kept freezing the frame to point out things in their house that his family had or remembered from that time.  And of course we shared Fotomat stories.  I loved that they had a replica or real kiosk in the show.

[lucindabelle]

Yes I remember the recipes for cooking chicken! WHAT WERE WE THINKING! But that made the joke of their complaints funnier because we’ve all had those heat up pizza fails by now.

[Yeah No]

53 minutes ago, lucindabelle said:

Yes I remember the recipes for cooking chicken! WHAT WERE WE THINKING! But that made the joke of their complaints funnier because we’ve all had those heat up pizza fails by now.

I still burn my mouth on microwave pizza, and I should know better!!

[Snow Apple]

I see those microwave cook books at the used book exchange at the library. Chicken and meatloaf seemed to be bestsellers back in the day. I've even seen a fancy pork crown roast surrounded by potatoes and vegetables on one cover

[CountryGirl]

Loving the show more and more with each episode.

I think the street-wise Joey is my favorite. 

Also, this:

[txhorns79]

Quote

Was that Barbara Eden thing real or made up for the show?

I had seen a You Tube video that suggested the performance was in 1970, not 1972.  As far as I know, there was no wardrobe malfunction.  However, I can see why someone casually watching it might think they were seeing more of Eden than was planned, as she appears to be wearing flesh colored panties under what looks like a costume that could double as almost a sheer jump suit that leaves little to the imagination.   

[mojito]

Quote

Was that Barbara Eden thing real or made up for the show?

I'll bet in someone's life, somewhere in America, adolescent boys were passing around this rumor.

Anyone else get sold on the microwave once they saw they could bake a potato in 5 minutes? I owned a computer (original 128K Macintosh and "fat Mac'ed" it to 512K) before I owned a microwave.

[Rockstar99435]

1 hour ago, mojito said:

I'll bet in someone's life, somewhere in America, adolescent boys were passing around this rumor.

I loved that in the end, the boys couldn't see anything (and had no idea what to look for anyways) but all pretended that they could.

The Mom is my favorite character. Sure, she lies and manipulates everyone in the family to get her way, but given the time period, it's the only way she can have any kind of power and agency in her own life. She can't just communicate her needs better because the men in her life wouldn't listen and would just do what ever they wanted anyway. She tried telling the Dad that she didn't want the microwave and he responded by destroying her kitchen and then leaving the mess for her to clean up. He honestly believes that she does the laundry and cleaning for fun. He even made her deal with the kitchen crap during the tv program that she specifically said she wanted to watch. Hell yeah, she's going to have to use underhanded ways to get her needs met. 

[libgirl2]

21 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

I see those microwave cook books at the used book exchange at the library. Chicken and meatloaf seemed to be bestsellers back in the day. I've even seen a fancy pork crown roast surrounded by potatoes and vegetables on one cover

WHY??? WHY????? How awful that sounds. 

2 hours ago, mojito said:

I'll bet in someone's life, somewhere in America, adolescent boys were passing around this rumor.

Anyone else get sold on the microwave once they saw they could bake a potato in 5 minutes? I owned a computer (original 128K Macintosh and "fat Mac'ed" it to 512K) before I owned a microwave.

I remember being able to scramble an egg in like 30 seconds or something! And in a cup or small bowl! No pan needed! 

[Ilovepie]

2 hours ago, Rockstar99435 said:

The Mom is my favorite character. Sure, she lies and manipulates everyone in the family to get her way, but given the time period, it's the only way she can have any kind of power and agency in her own life. She can't just communicate her needs better because the men in her life wouldn't listen and would just do what ever they wanted anyway. She tried telling the Dad that she didn't want the microwave and he responded by destroying her kitchen and then leaving the mess for her to clean up. He honestly believes that she does the laundry and cleaning for fun. He even made her deal with the kitchen crap during the tv program that she specifically said she wanted to watch. Hell yeah, she's going to have to use underhanded ways to get her needs met. 

She makes me laugh too - even though it's so wrong, I loved when she admitted putting the fork in but then turned it around on the Dad at the dance by saying it was their anniversary and guilting him instead. He must be some kind of clueless to not even have a vague idea of when his wedding occurred, but I still found it funny. I like the way they interact with each other. I also liked the line about, "oh so now I have to get friends?!?" Ha! Her look of suspicion when the kids sat down to watch TV with her was priceless - she knew they were up to something!

The one thing I couldn't get was that last episode they were complaining about spending $32 on food and how expensive it was to feed the family, and this episode the Dad was wasting food blowing it up in the microwave.

The kids are all great here too - I think it's amazing that their personalities are all very distinct in just three episodes. I like the period details as well - the can of Hi C, the bowl the tater tots were in - my grandma had dishes that looked like that. Now I want a giant bowl of tater tots....

[CountryGirl]

I love the mom, too.

Little gems like this:

[AnnaRose]

This episode was hilarious!

"You stuck a knife in my back. With a fork!"   Haha!

Edited November 3, 2018 by AnnaRose
Oops, wrote the quote wrong.

[SmithW6079]

In the previous episode, Joey the con artist was the star, in this one, William. I like that he's Dad's right-hand man (read the manual, figure out the problem with the microwave), and the scene at the dinner table -- when Dad tells William to call his wife and say he's working late, to which William responds with a finger-gun -- was hilarious.

[Angeltoes]

Quote

Recently, we discovered undeveloped film at my parents. Not only was it expensive but it took a few weeks! We are back to where we started. 

libgirl2, so was it worth developing or did you wind up with eight pictures of the picture taker's fingers?

I love this show.  I was 12 in '72 and raised Catholic so all of these characters are familiar.  Also, my best friend was one of ten kids - her mother had the last two, which were twins, when we were in 10th grade (much to our horrified realization that these 40-year-old people were still having sex).  

Michael Cudlitz has been a favorite of mine since Southland plus we share a birthday.

[Nessie]

I loved this episode.  Wow does this show bring back memories, even for this girl who is not Catholic, and is the middle child of three sisters, instead of eight brothers.

I never exploded an egg in the microwave, but I did explode a chicken breast once...so gross.

On 10/30/2018 at 10:38 PM, SmithW6079 said:

Not only that, but when Lawrence wanted to "rap" with his brothers and promised not to narc on them, Frankie lost interest and left the room.

Loved how they got the microwaved food right: pizza rubbery and soggy and burns your mouth, french fries cold. Forty-five years later, we still don't get it right. And the saving the tinfoil if it wasn't too gross. My mom used to do it, and to this day, so do I.

This is why to this day I hate using a microwave, and won't if I don't have to.  The one in my kitchen isn't even plugged in unless I need it for something like popcorn.  I've passed this prejudice onto my younger son, as well.  Both us us would much rather use the stovetop or oven to heat something up even if it takes longer.  The results more than make up for the extra time.

On 11/1/2018 at 11:57 AM, lucindabelle said:

Yes I remember the recipes for cooking chicken! WHAT WERE WE THINKING! But that made the joke of their complaints funnier because we’ve all had those heat up pizza fails by now.

Ugh...my mom used to make this "roast" whole chicken and apples dish in a microwave bag...we used to watch the bag expand while it cooked.  It actually tasted pretty good, but looked so pale and nasty that she had to cover it up with gravy to get us to eat it.  And yes, she got the recipe out of a microwave cookbook.  We didn't get a microwave until around 1983...my parents never trusted new technology and we were pretty much the last people to get anything out of all my friends.

[AnnaRose]

On 11/4/2018 at 12:29 PM, Nessie said:

I loved this episode.  Wow does this show bring back memories, even for this girl who is not Catholic, and is the middle child of three sisters, instead of eight brothers.

I never exploded an egg in the microwave, but I did explode a chicken breast once...so gross.

This is why to this day I hate using a microwave, and won't if I don't have to.  The one in my kitchen isn't even plugged in unless I need it for something like popcorn.  I've passed this prejudice onto my younger son, as well.  Both us us would much rather use the stovetop or oven to heat something up even if it takes longer.  The results more than make up for the extra time.

Ugh...my mom used to make this "roast" whole chicken and apples dish in a microwave bag...we used to watch the bag expand while it cooked.  It actually tasted pretty good, but looked so pale and nasty that she had to cover it up with gravy to get us to eat it.  And yes, she got the recipe out of a microwave cookbook.  We didn't get a microwave until around 1983...my parents never trusted new technology and we were pretty much the last people to get anything out of all my friends.

I totally agree with you.  I would never use a microwave for food.   The only thing it's useful for IMO is to heat up heat packs in the winter, so I liked the tag at the end with mom heating up the socks for her kid.  (And the microwave in the garage, where it belongs.)

Edited November 6, 2018 by AnnaRose

[hoodooznoodooz]

In 1985, I spent the summer on campus in Philadelphia. My well-to-do college friend let me use his MW, so that he wouldn’t have to schlep it back to his family’s home in Florida. My family did not own a MW. We were always the last-purchasers of any new technology. My friend showed me how to use it, and impressed upon me how important it was that I not put metal in the MW, no foil, no pots, no pans. 

I was living with my boyfriend. He had three roommates. I held a MW meeting and explained emphatically how we could not put metal in the MW.

Kevin: We know.... Doesn’t your family have a MW?

Me: .... No... we only got a toaster oven last year.  

[DeputyDawg]

Really like this show, hope it continues.

IMHO, big continuity error in this episode.  They introduced the Microwave oven.   When they first came out they were called "Radar Ranges" not Microwave ovens.

[MaryMitch]

2 hours ago, DeputyDawg said:

Really like this show, hope it continues.

IMHO, big continuity error in this episode.  They introduced the Microwave oven.   When they first came out they were called "Radar Ranges" not Microwave ovens.

But the show airs in 2018 - they need to make sure the viewers know what the episode is about.

[SmithW6079]

11 hours ago, DeputyDawg said:

Really like this show, hope it continues.

IMHO, big continuity error in this episode.  They introduced the Microwave oven.   When they first came out they were called "Radar Ranges" not Microwave ovens.

Mike said it was a prototype. 

[festivus]

On 11/18/2018 at 7:58 AM, DeputyDawg said:

IMHO, big continuity error in this episode.  They introduced the Microwave oven.   When they first came out they were called "Radar Ranges" not Microwave ovens.

That's right. I have one from 1975 and it looks pretty much like the one from the show just less wide with only the round dials on the right side. It says 'Radar Range made only by Amana' right across the front. 

[Thumper]

My husband microwaves scrambled eggs almost every day.  They smell good and look fluffy.

I love this show.  I was 15 in 1972, Catholic family with 8 kids.  (Boys and girls.).  Fun to see the clothing, decor, etc.

My favorite kid so far is the dorky one with glasses.

[hoodooznoodooz]

I still don’t like the Joey actor, but I liked “extra vaganza.”

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 10/31/2018 at 2:22 PM, rhys said:

It was also gold when Peg pointed out how much counter space the mw was taking up & she preferred to put Andy there.

Didn't she say she likes to put him up there while she's chopping vegetables?!?

 

On 11/2/2018 at 8:57 AM, CountryGirl said:

I think the street-wise Joey is my favorite.

Very much my favorite, too.  When Timmy went into the room when Joey and his friend were in there and immediately said he'd leave, and Joey said he could stay, I got a vicarious thrill at being approved by him.

[libgirl2]

On 11/3/2018 at 5:51 PM, Angeltoes said:

libgirl2, so was it worth developing or did you wind up with eight pictures of the picture taker's fingers?

I love this show.  I was 12 in '72 and raised Catholic so all of these characters are familiar.  Also, my best friend was one of ten kids - her mother had the last two, which were twins, when we were in 10th grade (much to our horrified realization that these 40-year-old people were still having sex).  

Michael Cudlitz has been a favorite of mine since Southland plus we share a birthday.

They really weren't worth developing. fuzzy, bad pictures..... my mom has dementia and I think when she took many of the pictures, she was already sick. 

[Cowgirl]

That's too bad libgirl2.  

I was a bit surprised that Peggy did not draw an analogy for Mike, that the kitchen is her domain, and how would he like it if she came to his workplace or to his garage and made a total mess out of it and expected him to clean it up.  The passive-agressiveness added to the plot though, and Peggy's relationship with Mike isn't exactly of a "straight shooter" nature.  

I mentioned the Amana Radar Ranges in the Slang, etc. thread.  I kind of think that "radar range" was just Amana's branding, but I could be wrong. 

I made a meatloaf (French's onion soup mix recipe) on Friday night, and the microwave directions for it were written on the bottom of the recipe card.  I made mine in the oven though. Wow, I must use my microwave a LOT more than most of you do!  I'm single and eat a lot of frozen dinners though.  I'd forgotten how long it used to take to heat up a Swanson's in the 70's until the poster above mentioned it, and about those boil-in bags!!  I'll probably end up with cancer from all the processed food that I eat (and after growing up in the 70's and 80's with a stay-at-home mom who made perfectly nutritionally balanced homemade meals every day), or from all the radiation from my microwave use. 

[dcalley]

On 10/30/2018 at 10:09 PM, mojoween said:

Was that Barbara Eden thing real or made up for the show?

I found this article that indicates it's real--or a real rumor from Doyle's childhood, anyway.

Here is the Barbara Eden "Spinning Wheel" performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nABM14m7s7k

[Thumper]

On February 13, 2019 at 3:46 PM, dcalley said:

I found this article that indicates it's real--or a real rumor from Doyle's childhood, anyway.

Here is the Barbara Eden "Spinning Wheel" performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nABM14m7s7k

Thanks for those links, @dcalley.  I didn't know Barbara Eden could sing so well.  Pretty lady.    The dance sequence was a little cringe-worthy, though!!   😄😄😄