1.7.: The Lady Engineer

Boy, I am enjoying this show.

For the seventh week in a row, I haven't known what to expect from an episode. And, My Three Sons threw another curveball at me. This episode is, indeed, a slower, more dramatic one than the previous episode so my guess on the format at the moment seems to be correct. But, the episode is so perfectly different I can only imagine that shows like Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best were hanging their heads in shame at the lack of creativity they were exhibiting.

The title goes a long way to explaining what seems to be the premise of the episode. But then, very intelligently, the focus of the episode shifts and it becomes quite charming, with Fred MacMurray pulling out all the stops. A large chunk of the episode is just Steve and Dr. Joan Johnson, the "Lady Engineer", working and talking. And, it's great.

Steve is at work, finishing a project. (His next project seems to involve a rocket to the moon.) His bosses send him a Dr. Johnson to help him finish his work. Well...Dr. Johnson's a woman. And, once that hilarity dies down, the episode begins in earnest and it is surprising and rather poignant.

I short-shrift the opening actually. Even if I didn't have the title, I'd know that Dr. Johnson was a lady. The thing that makes the pre-meeting scene work is the way it's handled. Steve meets a lovely lady and gives her directions through the maze of offices. He's looking for Dr. Johnson but more interested in the lady. I'm not 100% sure how the offices where he is work but I imagine that they are similar to (but more narrow than) the office maze in Tati's Playtime. You know the scene. Where Mr. Hulot is standing above the cubicle maze watching people move through it like rats. Well, Steve and the lady spend several minutes maneuvering this crowded place and missing each other. In the end, they meet in the same office and we learn who she is.

Well, Steve falls for her pretty hard and tries to get her to dinner and flirts with her a lot. It's very tough to tell what she thinks of him but, c'mon!, how can she not be charmed. I know that she is very professional but it's Steve Douglas for Heaven's Sake! He is pretty dopey, though, like a schoolboy. His scene in the Italian restaurant is very good. In fact, it has a lovely embarrassment factor to it that I don't expect from a 1960 sitcom. As the peisode progresses, we see them working hard for several days and, the night before she has to leave, well, they kiss. But, she does seem distant...

At this point, 19 minutes in to a 25 minute episode, the only member of the main cast I've seen has been Steve. The three sons and Bub? Nowhere to be found. Wow. That's rather bold. I'd say it was experimental but we're only 7 episodes in and the show hasn't settled anywhere yet. So, I'd like to say that this is how the show will be. Wouldn't that be great?

After the lovely night scene with the kiss, the last 6 minutes take place in the Douglas house on a Saturday morning at around 9AM. The kids are spazzing around. Bub is complaining about the washing machine. Standard sitcom stuff is screaming all around. And, at the calm center, Steve stands...I don't want to ruin the ending but this scene perfectly captures that thing, that thing...What thing? Well...You know...When I started college, I lived in a tiny room that they called a "triple". It was crowded, smelly and loud. At this point, some years removed, I can't imagine how the heck I got through it. But, I did. I do, however, remember the great stillness I had when a very wonderful woman entered my life for a time (and that is another story). We were seeing each other quite a bit and growing closer and closer. I enjoyed spending time with her so much that when I entered the triple room -- it didn't touch me. The noise, the stink, the endless crowded conditions. I was above it. And, when she stopped seeing me, the ache I felt kept me outside of it, too. In a different way, of course, but it did. That's what Steve carries in this closing scene. If I've explained it correctly, than you should know what I mean. He doesn't bump into things or goof up due to distraction but he's above the noise. It's a drone in the background that he blocks out. And, it's so unexpected in an American sitcom of the time, that I was thrilled.

It's a wonderful episode. And, with each My Three Sons I watch, I get tempted to pile them on. But, I will attempt to keep to one a week, if possible.

At the very end, I smiled the same exact smile Steve did and though "Gosh, I hope they bring Dr. Johnson back."

With my luck, Mrs. Pitts will come back first.