Relationships

Looking for inspiration to put a twist on the story of Romeo and Juliet, Bruno, Doris and Leroy go to a Country Music bar. Love is in the air as Bruno falls for an older woman and Doris falls for a cowboy singer. 

 Meanwhile Sherwood is also looking for love and signs up to a video dating company.

Doomed love is one of my least favourite themes in the show and here we have a number of characters starting relationships that for the most part aren't going to go anywhere so I'm not really a great fan of this episode. Any TV show can do these kinds of stories and really falling in love has nothing to do with the kids striving for Fame.  Yes in reality people fall in and out of love all the time so it's realistic to have our characters do so but as none of the relationships even take place in the school I find it a little boring and don't think they should be the main focus of any episode.  

It's not a bad episode and parts of it are excellently done but i think it could be better. Parts of the script I find a little corny like Bruno trying to pick up the older woman and Doris’ double wink. 

Lee has said that dating the older woman was his favourite storyline as it gave him something else to do but for me it’s obvious this relationship isn't going to go anywhere and Nancy even says they only have a short time together. Why does that have to be? If a person cares honestly about another, then just because there is a difficult situation doesn't automatically mean they won’t stay together. This is the second time this season where characters have predicted their relationships will only last a short time and it always leaves me asking why should I even be interested then? There seems to be an issue that Bruno is dating an older woman but Will seems much older than Doris but that never gets mentioned!

The writers seem to go to great lengths to keep our characters from having long lasting relationships and I don’t understand why. What is wrong with Bruno having an ongoing relationship with an older woman? We don’t need to see her every week but she could guest star in a couple of episodes. They could have really explored the pit falls of an age gap in a relationship. 

Then the season of death strikes again to keep Doris from being happy. Again they didn't need to kill him straight away it could have happened a few episodes later and have a greater impact on Doris. The final scene is wonderful as a heart broken Doris writes her diary but this could have been so much more if they’d allowed the relationship to develop a little more.  I always think they could have killed him in season 3. Instead of the "Bottle of Blues" storyline they could have had it about Will. Maybe he was the one drinking and he gets killed at the end. 

Sherwood’s relationship is fun, well the video dating part is. I love how nervous she is and then suddenly realises the camera is on and her personality changes. Her relationship seems as though it could last awhile although we never hear of Mr Mitchell again so I can only assume that her relationship didn't last very long either.  This is another Character we could have heard about and not had to see.

With so many guest stars taking a central role it does mean that some of our main cast are a little ignored. There’s no Danny or Reardon as both must be taking a break after the previous episode. However Coco is back again but appears only very briefly and certainly doesn't get any plot. Shorofsky is also only in a blink and you'll miss him scene.

Lucky Enough For Two is a beautiful song and Greg Evigan has a nice voice, it’s a shame Valerie doesn't feature more on the song but it’s nice to have a reprise for the final scene. I can’t hear the end of that song without thinking “Meteor Madness”. The Story of Judy and Roy is okay but not one of my favourites.

I'm not keen on Lori’s acting when she is supposed to be mad at Doris. I don’t know what it is but something doesn't seem right to me.

One thing I do like is that Julie mentions Montgomery so at least we know they haven’t forgotten him completely. It would have been nicer if one of them could have said where Montgomery had gone. It would have fitted the scene perfectly. Doris asks Julie “who was your first friend at the school” Julie says Montgomery and Doris quips well, he’s off studying in Europe or working on his Mother’s film or something to let us know where he was.

I'm a little confused about the kids being under age and going into the bar. The legal age in the U.K. for drinking is 18 and I believe it is 21 in America. The kids use this scam that they are with Bruno’s father to get them in initially but then they keep going back. Nancy starts dating Bruno so knows how old he and his friends are but still allows them to go in but couldn't she be in trouble for allowing people who are under age in? Couldn't the bar lose its licence?

Also it's a little convenient that the show Lydia is putting together and the book Sherwood's class are studying is "Romeo and Juliet". 

Original  air date in U.S.A 06th January 1983

Original  air date  in U.K. 21st July 1983,  Repeated The Children's Channel  Autumn 1992,  Now 80s 27th February  & 03rd March 2022    

 Original Australian air date 10th June 1983                                                                                                             

Original air date in The Netherlands  05th September 1983

Original air date in Italy 16th February 1984   

Original air date in Belgium  28th  January 1988   

Original  air date in France 02nd April 1988   

"Kicker's Hoedown" Instrumental

  Written by Barry Fasman and Bill Burch.

"Kicker's Country Shuffle" Instrumental

  Written by Barry Fasman and Bill Burch.

"Country Two Step" Instrumental

  Written by Barry Fasman and Bill Burch.