Company Man: Good news, bad news

The good news is that it was a great episode. The bad news: it wasn't a great episode from this season.

I had actually set out to post a reaction under the subject "Hank's Back!", noting that I thought some of the over-the-top humor of last season had returned, but was then reminded by previous posts that it WAS from last season.

Ah well. The business conference on the crapper; Hank's tall tales about cowboy boots and Comanche kidnappings; Dale's classic rant about Willie Horton the kindergarten teacher; Hank and the Jugstore Cowboy girl commiserating over being whores; "Get your stereotypes straight--a mint julep isn't a Texas drink!"... The plot structure did seem more awkward than usual, if that was the problem that held it back last year, but moments like those more than compensated.

And damn it, we need to see Hank at work more often! That's a TV first, too... in all of the American family situation comedies about a father who has to go down to "the office", how often do you ever see him work? I never knew propane had such history, such... drama!

In article , [email] (David Sewell) wrote:

<snip>

You see Al Bundy of Married...With Children at the shoe store quite a bit.

• Don

In article ,

Hmm, wouldn't know--I don't think I've ever watched more than 5 seconds of the show if Kelly Bundy wasn't on screen at the time...

Actually, the "never-seen office" phenomenon is more associated with sitcoms from the '50s and '60s--and I don't know if it's really something sociological, or a function of TV networks saving money by not building more sets than they had to.

(Of course, you see Homer Simpson at work all the time--but then, the incompetence of Homer and most everyone else at the plant is a major part of the show's plot. KotH differs by being serious about Hank's job. Well, more or less.)

In article , [email] (David Sewell) wrote:

:(Of course, you see Homer Simpson at work all the time--but then, the :incompetence of Homer and most everyone else at the plant is a major part :of the show's plot. KotH differs by being serious about Hank's job. :Well, more or less.)

I wouldn't say that Homer and the power plant "is a major part of the show's plot". It was in the early years when the writers were obviously gripping for an occasional Homer-type plot.

Big John Virtual-Arlen http://members.aol.com/hurricnej/koth/

In article , David Sewell wrote:

Hmmm.... the only other example that comes to mind is Bewitched,

One thing that I like about Hank, he really does love his job. It's clear that selling propane is important to him, and that he *believes* in the virtue of the product that he's selling.

I liked this episode. My favorite line: "Texas has changed a lot since the 1850's".