1964-65: THE FOURTH SEASON

Year-End Rating: 27.1 (7th place)

Carl Reiner continues as producer of the series's fourth season of popular and critical acclaim. Story consultants Bill Persky and Sam Denoff write a majority of the season's scripts, with notable contributions from Reiner, Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson, and Joseph C. Cavella, among others.

95 My Mother Can Beat Up My Father    First Aired: September 23, 1964
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Paul Gilbert, Ken Berry, Tom Avera, Imelda de Martin, Lou Cutell

Laura flattens an obnoxious drunk after he slugs Rob, but mainly succeeds in wounding her husband's delicate pride.

96 The Ghost of A. Chantz    First Aired: September 30, 1964
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Maurice Brenner, Milton Parsons

Rob and Laura share an unsettling night with Buddy and Sally in a haunted cabin.

97 The Lady and the Baby-Sitter    First Aired: October 7, 1964
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Star: Eddie Hodges

The Petries' teenage baby-sitter develops an adolescent crush on Laura.

98 A Vigilante Ripped My Sports Coat    First Aired: October 14, 1964
Writer: Carl Reiner
Director: Peter Baldwin

Rob and Jerry lock horns when Rob refuses to join the vigilante group Jerry formed to police the neighborhood lawns.

Carl Reiner, himself a former resident of the sleepy suburb of New Rochelle, concocts a sly satire of suburban life in his dark tale of how one man's unruly crabgrass very nearly incites the neighborhood to mob action.

99 The Man From Emperor    First Aired: October 21, 1964
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff, Carl Reiner
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Lee Philips, Gloria Neil, Nadia Sanders, Sally Carter, Tracy Butler

Rob is tempted by an offer to join the editorial staff of a glossy men's magazine, though Laura has other ideas.

100 Romance, Roses, and Rye Bread    First Aired: October 28, 1964
Writers: Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Sid Melton, Jeri Lou James, Frank Adamo

Sally discovers an unlikely admirer when the local deli man delivers a single red rose along with her chicken salad.

101 4 1/2    First Aired: November 4, 1964
Writers: Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Star: Don Rickles

Rob recalls the story of Lyle Delp--a hapless stickup man who had the misfortune to rob the Petries in a stalled elevator.

The holdup man is played by Don Rickles, who had known Bill Persky and Sam Denoff since the days when they wrote material for his nightclub act.

102 The Alan Brady Show Goes to Jail    First Aired: November 11, 1964
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Don Rickles, Robert Strauss, Arthur Batanides, Ken Lynch, Allan Melvin, Vincent Barbi

The gang's all set to perform a show inside prison gates when Rob is mistaken for one of the inmates.

103 Three Letters From One Wife    First Aired: November 18, 1964
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Carl Reiner, Valerie Yerke

Millie and Laura wage an ill-fated write-in campaign to bolster Rob's standing in Alan Brady's eyes.

104 Pink Pills and Purple Parents    First Aired: November 25, 1964
Writers: Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson
Director: Alan Rafkin
Guest Stars: Isabel Randolph, Tom Tully

Rob recalls Laura's first disastrous encounter with his parents, after she'd taken a few too many of Millie's little pink pills to relax her nerves.

Director Alan Rafkin went on to become one of TV's most prolific comedy directors; his later credits include early episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, One Day at a Time, and MTM's The Bob Newhart Show, among many others.

105 It Wouldn't Hurt Them to Give Us a Raise    First Aired: December 2, 1964
Writers: Jay Burton, Ernest Chambers
Director: Peter Baldwin
Guest Star: Roger C. Carmel

Rob enters the labyrinth of corporate finance when he tries to squeeze a raise for Buddy and Sally from Alan Brady's tightfisted accountant.

106 The Death of the Party    First Aired: December 9, 1964
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Alan Rafkin

Guest Stars: Willard Waterman, Jane Dulo, Patty Regan, Pitt Herbert

Despite chills and a raging fever, Rob is determined to get through Laura's family reunion without anyone guessing that he's deathly ill.

107 My Two Show-Offs and Me    First Aired: December 16, 1964
Writers: Sheldon Keller, Howard Merrill
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Star: Doris Singleton

The attentions of a visiting reporter transform Alan Brady's writing staff into a trio of bickering grandstanders.

108 Stretch Petrie Versus Kid Schenk    First Aired: December 30, 1964
Writers: Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Jack Carter, Peter Hobbs, Lynn Borden, Albert Carrier, Judy Taylor, Sally Carter

Rob finds it impossible to stand up to Neil Schenk, an opportunistic old friend who comes fishing for a job in return for an ancient favor.

109 Brother, Can You Spare $2,500?    First Aired: January 6, 1965
Writers: Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Gene Baylos, Herbie Faye, Jimmy Cross, Tiny Brauer, Larry Blake, Brian Nash, Sheila Rogers

A lost Alan Brady Show script is recovered by a vagrant, who demands that Rob pay $2,500 in exchange for its safe return.

110 The Impractical Joke    First Aired: January 13, 1965
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Lennie Weinrib, Alvy Moore, Johnny Silver

Wary of being taken in by a practical joke, Buddy refuses to heed a visit from an agent of the Internal Revenue Service.

111 Stacey Petrie--Part I    First Aired: January 20, 1965
Writer: Carl Reiner
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Jerry Van Dyke, Howard Wendell, Bill Idelson

Rob talks Sally into coaching his withdrawn brother, Stacey, through a practice date at her apartment.

112 Stacey Petrie--Part II    First Aired: January 27, 1965
Writers: Carl Reiner, Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Jerry Van Dyke, Jane Wald, Kendrick Huxham, Herbie Faye, Carl Reiner

Rob and Laura help Stacey recover from a cold rejection by the woman of his dreams.

113 Boy Number 1 Versus Boy Number 2    First Aired: February 3, 1965
Writer: Martin A. Ragaway
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Peter Oliphant, Colin Male

Millie and Laura become overnight stage mothers when Ritchie and Freddie are chosen to play small parts on The Alan Brady Show.

114 The Redcoats Are Coming    First Aired: February 10, 1965
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Chad Stuart, Jeremy Clyde, Mollie Howerton, Bill Beckley, Wendy Wilson, Ellie Sommers, Trudi Ames

The Petrie home becomes a potential mob scene when Rob and Laura offer secret asylum to the Redcoats, a pair of teen idols from England.

The Redcoats were played by the British folk-rock duo Chad and Jeremy, who would repeat their performance in similar roles on ABC's Patty Duke Show a few weeks later.

115 The Case of the Pillow    First Aired: February 17, 1965
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Howard Morris
Guest Stars: Ed Begley, Alvy Moore, Joel Fluellen, Amzie Strickland

Rob fancies himself a crusading lawyer when he takes an unscrupulous pillow salesman to small claims court.

116 Young Man With a Shoehorn    First Aired: February 24, 1965
Writers: Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Lou Jacobi, Milton Frome, LaRue Farlow, Amzie Strickland, Jane Dulo

Rob and Buddy sign on as silent partners in a discount shoe store, but before long, they're pushing pumps on the sales floor.

117 Girls Will Be Boys    First Aired: March 3, 1965
Writers: Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Bernard Fox, Tracy Stratford, Doris Singleton

Ritchie runs into girl trouble when he comes home with bruises inflicted by a bully named Priscilla.

118 Bupkiss    First Aired: March 10, 1965
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Lee Philips
Guest Stars: Robert Ball, Greg Morris, Patty Regan, Tim Herbert, Charles Dugdale

Rob is surprised when a novelty song he penned with an old Army buddy pops up on the radio, but is dismayed to find out that his partner took all the credit.

Writers Persky and Denoff wrote "Bupkiss," which was recorded for the show by pop singers Dick and Dee Dee.

119 Your Home Sweet Home Is My Home    First Aired: March 17, 1965
Writers: Howard Ostroff, Joan Darling
Director: Lee Philips
Guest Stars: Stanley Adams, Eddie Ryder

Rob recalls the day he and Laura decided to buy their dream house, even after they discovered a massive rock in its basement.

120 Anthony Stone    First Aired: March 24, 1965
Writer: Joseph C. Cavella
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Richard Angarola, Bob Hoffman

Rob and Buddy make the startling discovery that Sally's mysterious new boyfriend is a mortician--and a married one, at that.

121 Never Bathe on Saturday    First Aired: March 31, 1965
Writer: Carl Reiner
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Bernard Fox, Bill Idelson, Kathleen Freeman, Arthur Malet, Johnny Silver

Laura finds herself in an embarrassing fix when she gets her toe stuck in the water spout of a fancy hotel bathtub--with the door locked from the inside.

122 A Show of Hands    First Aired: April 14, 1965
Writer: Joseph C. Cavella
Director: Theodore J. Flicker
Guest Stars: Joel Fluellen, Henry Scott, Herkie Styles

Rob and Laura are forced to wear gloves to a prestigious awards banquet after they accidentally dye their hands an indelible shade of black.

123 Baby Fat    First Aired: April 21, 1965
Writers: Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Strother Martin, Carl Reiner, Sandy Kenyon, Richard Erdman

After agreeing to doctor the script for Alan Brady's Broadway debut, Rob has second thoughts about performing the thankless task without recognition.

124 100 Terrible Hours    First Aired: May 5, 1965
Writers: Bill Persky, Sam Denoff
Director: Theodore J. Flicker
Guest Stars: Carl Reiner, Fred Clark, Howard Wendell, Dabbs Greer, Harry Stanton.

Rob recalls the time he broadcast a radio show for 100 hours straight before he stumbled in to meet Alan Brady for the first time.

Rob's early career as a disc jockey was another facet of his character borrowed from real life. Dick Van Dyke hosted popular radio talk shows in Atlanta and New Orleans before he moved into television in the mid-1950s.

125 Br-room, Br-room    First Aired: May 12, 1965
Writers: Dale McRaven, Carl Kleinschmitt
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Sandy Kenyon, Jimmy Murphy, Johnny Silver, Bob Random, Carl Reindel, Linda Marshall

Rob takes his new motorcycle out for a spin and unwittingly falls in with a gang of teenage bikers.

126 There's No Sale Like Wholesale    First Aired: May 26, 1965
Writers: Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson
Director: Jerry Paris
Guest Stars: Lou Krugman, Jane Dulo, Peter Brocco, A. G. Vitanza

Rob decides to save a few bucks on Laura's new fur coat by letting Buddy order it wholesale--a decision he lives to regret.