User Reviews

Cliff's father left the family when Cliff was nine. He has now made contact with his son. They are definitely made from the same mold. Senior is every bit as boorish as Junior. But he has a secret. There is a second plot with a gorgeous woman waiting for Sam, but she is Diane's equal. And they end up a threesome. The one funny thing was a telephone call made to the maitre'd of an Indian restaurant and the result of that call.

The title story recycles another standard sitcom plot: a regular character confronts an estranged parent. Often it's the parent (usually a dad) of the jerk character on a show, so here it's our Cliffie. Cliff Sr is obnoxious, self-centered, and unreliable - in other words a perfect explanation for Cliff Jr's behaviour. They don't do a whole lot with this one, and Cliff Sr shows that a character who thinks they're hilarious is often not that funny at all.

The subplot is more than a bit weird. Why does Claudia want Diane to hang out with her and Sam? Is it too big a stretch to suggest she might be attracted to... Diane? A later sitcom like Friends (or even Frasier) might have made this explicit, especially during the 90s era of "Bisexual Chic." As it stands, the fact that the ever-horny Sam doesn't even say the word "threesome" suggests that at this point Sam is not too fond of Diane.