"Back home we just say how do" says Murray Hamilton as he makes his entrance as Dorothy opens the door in fury, believing it to be neighbor Gordon Jump who refuses to take even partial responsibility for the tree that has fallen into Blanche's back yard after a storm. She's willing to swing half of the cost to have it removed, but Jump claims the tree is not on his property so he is not responsible. This leads to Sophia putting a curse on Jump much to his shock (as well as his wife Peggy Pope's), and much to everybody's surprise, the curse seems to come true.
Meanwhile, Hamilton (playing Blanche's father, Big Daddy Hollingsworth), has been living out his widowed years trying to get together a singing act, and announces that he has sold Hollingsworth manner. (This detail is changed in later years after Big Daddy's death.) Blanche is horrified by her father making a fool out of himself, and indeed, Big Daddy can't sing worth a plug nickle. "I never should have tried that Beatle's medley", he says in disappointment, and Blanche comes to the realization that it is his life to mess up as he pleases so some sort of agreement between the two must be made.
The affection between Blanche and her father is inconsistent with details previously mentioned (and later brought up in stories that Blanche told), so the writing is rather weak for that story. The saga of the tree, however, is a different story, with Gordon Jump appropriately obnoxious and some delicious revelations concerning Peggy Pope as Jump's wife. That's the better part of this episode which moved my rating up from a 4 to a 6. Sophia gets the best moments in that story, and the situations that occur thanks to her curse are downright hysterical. Ms. Pope becomes the girl's new heroine with her confession, ultimately winning plaudits for stealing the episode.
Meanwhile, Hamilton (playing Blanche's father, Big Daddy Hollingsworth), has been living out his widowed years trying to get together a singing act, and announces that he has sold Hollingsworth manner. (This detail is changed in later years after Big Daddy's death.) Blanche is horrified by her father making a fool out of himself, and indeed, Big Daddy can't sing worth a plug nickle. "I never should have tried that Beatle's medley", he says in disappointment, and Blanche comes to the realization that it is his life to mess up as he pleases so some sort of agreement between the two must be made.
The affection between Blanche and her father is inconsistent with details previously mentioned (and later brought up in stories that Blanche told), so the writing is rather weak for that story. The saga of the tree, however, is a different story, with Gordon Jump appropriately obnoxious and some delicious revelations concerning Peggy Pope as Jump's wife. That's the better part of this episode which moved my rating up from a 4 to a 6. Sophia gets the best moments in that story, and the situations that occur thanks to her curse are downright hysterical. Ms. Pope becomes the girl's new heroine with her confession, ultimately winning plaudits for stealing the episode.