I wish I'd stayed outside. Though we weren't really that busy today, we didn't have much help, either. And of course, the express register had been running suuuppper slooowww since yesterday. My register was also a little slow, but not like the express lane. There were also several people who had trouble with cards, and several more who complained because we unexpectedly ran out of the plain black bags we're selling for free with an online coupon. Another lady whined about the bag rule in New Jersey. It's been over a year, and people are still fussing about that. Thank heavens it slowed down enough by 5 for me to get off without a relief.
Went straight home and into writing. Brett's determined to help out. She's from the country. She's been shooting a gun since she could pick up one. Richard tells Fannie to evacuate the Peacock Saloon, but Fannie insists she has, er, "clientele" upstairs. And moving Foster, the town eccentric, after he's had a beer or seven is nearly impossible.
Broke for dinner at 7 while watching Match Game Syndicated. They finished off the first week with Eva Gabor, Bart Braverman, and Bill Daily with a contestant named Jack Daniels. The Audience Match "Yes, Sir __" prompted a lot of jokes, including a topical one about a Middle-Eastern politician, along with everyone singing "Yes Sir, That's My Baby." Debralee Scott, Dick Martin, and David Doyle came in for the next week, as they tried to help a contestant figure out what snapped, crackled, and popped on a contestant who ate too much cereal.
Finished out the night on Pluto TV with The Disorderly Orderly. This Jerry Lewis vehicle from 1964 has him as Jerome Littlefield, an orderly who badly wants to be a doctor. Trouble is, he's a little too empathic with the patients and ends up suffering their aliments too...and he's really a rather big klutz. Nurse Higgins (Kathleen Freeman) and head of the sanitarium Dr. Howard (Glenda Farrell) knows he means well, but wishes he wouldn't try quite so hard...or make such a huge mess wherever he goes. Jerome's empathic abilities are put to the test when his high school crush Susan (Susan Oliver) is brought in after a suicide attempt. Not only is he possibly the only one who can help her, but she ends up helping him more than either of them know.
This comedy-drama is a bit of an oddity in Lewis' cannon. The slapstick with Lewis trying to clean up around the sanitarium and feeling everyone's diseases is played for broad comedy...but there's nothing funny about Susan when she's brought in. Susan's depression and the doctor's attempt to bring her out of it is rather dark for one of Lewis' vehicles. It makes for a weird juxtaposition with the wacky finale, with everyone chasing stuffy boss Mr. Tuffington (Everett Sloane) all over Beverly Hills an crashing at a grocery store. This is also about as 60's as you can get, with Sammy Davis Jr. singing the title song over the credits and Edith Head doing the costumes.
If you're a fan of Lewis, this is one of his better 60's solo vehicles; some of the darker elements aside, not a bad introduction to his solo work for casual viewers, either.
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