Ann is invited out to dinner by her father for the upcoming Saturday night. Because that is her birthday and he never mentioned that fact on his phone call, she figures he is planning a surprise party. She tells her friend Judy how they'll go to the restaurant and soon all her friends and relatives will pop out and yell "Surprise!" When she calls Don to break their date, he understands...so easily that Ann now figures he did so because he too will be at the party.
They go to the restaurant and have some funny scenes, and also a sentimental one where Lew tells his daughter how much she is now grown-up. But nobody else comes to the party because there isn't one.
Meanwhile, Judy has contacted Donald and they meet in Ann's apartment with Judy explaining that when she learned Donald wasn't invited to any party for Ann, and she wasn't either, she figures there cannot be one and to avoid Ann being disappointed, she is now throwing one for when Lew brings Ann home. She gets a few friends and has Don bring in a birthday cake and they await Ann.
But because her mother is off taking care of Ann's aunt, Ann has now planned to go home with her father and take care of him until Mom returns. She calls Judy so she won't worry about her not coming home. Now Judy must get Don to find Ann and get her father to bring her home. Even though the pair has changed restaurants, he finds them and gets the message to Lew, cleverly.
Back in the hallway of Ann's apartment is what I believe to be the sweetest scene in the entire series, at least between Ann and her father, as he tells her how delighted he was when he first saw his baby daughter-that he wasn't at all disappointed to not have a son.
Then they go in and Ann is delighted to see she has a surprise party after all and the episode ends happily.
Personally I got a chuckle from Ann mentioning having an "Uncle Harry and Aunt Gladys." I had relatives with those names. On an earlier series, Ozzie and Harriet were friends with a couple named Joe and Clara, and I also had an aunt and uncle with those names. The first time a television series ever featured a character with my last name, he was a crook that Joe Friday arrested on Dragnet.
Anyhow, this episode deserves some points for letting you see Ann's relationship with her daddy to not always be full of arguing and misunderstanding. This episode shows them to have been very close and it definitely puts Lew in a positive light, to contrast the times when he jumps to conclusions or otherwise goes too far.
For the serious and funny parts, I give this one a 9.
They go to the restaurant and have some funny scenes, and also a sentimental one where Lew tells his daughter how much she is now grown-up. But nobody else comes to the party because there isn't one.
Meanwhile, Judy has contacted Donald and they meet in Ann's apartment with Judy explaining that when she learned Donald wasn't invited to any party for Ann, and she wasn't either, she figures there cannot be one and to avoid Ann being disappointed, she is now throwing one for when Lew brings Ann home. She gets a few friends and has Don bring in a birthday cake and they await Ann.
But because her mother is off taking care of Ann's aunt, Ann has now planned to go home with her father and take care of him until Mom returns. She calls Judy so she won't worry about her not coming home. Now Judy must get Don to find Ann and get her father to bring her home. Even though the pair has changed restaurants, he finds them and gets the message to Lew, cleverly.
Back in the hallway of Ann's apartment is what I believe to be the sweetest scene in the entire series, at least between Ann and her father, as he tells her how delighted he was when he first saw his baby daughter-that he wasn't at all disappointed to not have a son.
Then they go in and Ann is delighted to see she has a surprise party after all and the episode ends happily.
Personally I got a chuckle from Ann mentioning having an "Uncle Harry and Aunt Gladys." I had relatives with those names. On an earlier series, Ozzie and Harriet were friends with a couple named Joe and Clara, and I also had an aunt and uncle with those names. The first time a television series ever featured a character with my last name, he was a crook that Joe Friday arrested on Dragnet.
Anyhow, this episode deserves some points for letting you see Ann's relationship with her daddy to not always be full of arguing and misunderstanding. This episode shows them to have been very close and it definitely puts Lew in a positive light, to contrast the times when he jumps to conclusions or otherwise goes too far.
For the serious and funny parts, I give this one a 9.
