... especially from an episode centered around the long time - I guess you call it friendship - between Eddie Haskell and Wally Cleaver, directed by Jerry Mathers. Instead it fell rather flat.
It's 102 in Mayfield and Eddie has been stalling for months concerning the installation of Wally's new air conditioner. It's actually in Canada, so Wally tells Eddie that the two of them are driving to Canada to pick up the air conditioner. Wally is going along for the sole purpose of making sure Eddie doesn't screw up, but Eddie has visions of a bachelor road trip.
Before Wally and Eddie leave, Beaver comes to Wally's house to give him a gift for his trip - a medical alert bracelet - and asks him why Eddie has been his friend all of these years and to name just one thing that Eddie's ever done for Wally. Wally comes up empty on both questions. Complications ensue.
Beaver asked these questions on the original LITB too, several times, and Wally never could come up with a definitive answer, but I think the answer must have been that Wally found Eddie to be fun and so he kept him around because of that in spite of Eddie's lack of character.
This episode came up flat for me, and that's a real disappointment considering this was an episode with so much history regarding the original LITB show. Close to the end of the series run, Eddie is being written as a very one dimensional character who speaks very disparagingly of his wife considering an entire episode was dedicated to showing just how much she means to him in season one. And I was expecting more in the way of a candid moment between Wally and Eddie after a supposed 35 years of friendship seeing this was probably one of the last chances the show would have to really explore this odd relationship that they had.
It's 102 in Mayfield and Eddie has been stalling for months concerning the installation of Wally's new air conditioner. It's actually in Canada, so Wally tells Eddie that the two of them are driving to Canada to pick up the air conditioner. Wally is going along for the sole purpose of making sure Eddie doesn't screw up, but Eddie has visions of a bachelor road trip.
Before Wally and Eddie leave, Beaver comes to Wally's house to give him a gift for his trip - a medical alert bracelet - and asks him why Eddie has been his friend all of these years and to name just one thing that Eddie's ever done for Wally. Wally comes up empty on both questions. Complications ensue.
Beaver asked these questions on the original LITB too, several times, and Wally never could come up with a definitive answer, but I think the answer must have been that Wally found Eddie to be fun and so he kept him around because of that in spite of Eddie's lack of character.
This episode came up flat for me, and that's a real disappointment considering this was an episode with so much history regarding the original LITB show. Close to the end of the series run, Eddie is being written as a very one dimensional character who speaks very disparagingly of his wife considering an entire episode was dedicated to showing just how much she means to him in season one. And I was expecting more in the way of a candid moment between Wally and Eddie after a supposed 35 years of friendship seeing this was probably one of the last chances the show would have to really explore this odd relationship that they had.