You know, sometimes when you slow down and really watch an episode things jump out at you. All of us trained noticers pick little bits up every now and then, but I ran into something much bigger in Andy's English Valet.
Malcome Merriweather is the absolute antithesis of a Mayberry character, yet the writers/directors/actors made it work. Malcome played off the other characters so beautifully. Next time you see this, throw everybody out of the room and pay attention to Malcome as he talks to and plays with Opie; as he responds to Andy once Malcome assumes his role as butler; at his puzzlement as to what Barney is talking about when he's asked to stay for dinner (Barney is uncomfortable with this dress, something that Malcome does not seem to grasp). I kept trying to figure out what made the episode work so well and I finally figured it out. It was Malcome's attitude toward service. His great love in life was making other people happy and he absolutely dedicated himself to that end. It didn't matter who you were or how you dressed or even what obstacles got in his way, he was there to serve you and nothing else made him as happy. dan _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list [email protected] http://mail.wbmutbb.com/mailman/listinfo/wbmutbb_wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
