Cover Boy

The episode is dominated by Jack Cassidy as Ted's vain, competitive brother Hal, an actor and model. He's great fun, but I also loved the scenes of Ted desperately trying to compete and act debonair, and floundering in the pretense that Mary is his girlfriend.

Lots of fun ensues as Hal and Rhoda and Mary and Ted go on a double date.

This is a really fun episode. Jack Cassidy plays Ted's brother. They are incredibly competitive. Both are incredibly dense, but Ted is the weak link. In order to show off, Ted gets Mary to pretend to be his girlfriend. Rhoda is asked to go on a double date. The two boy spar and try to outdo one another. There are so many funny lines. When the waiter asks Ted to try the wine, he sips it and says, "That's wine alright." Anyway, even when the truth comes out, they fight over who is the worst. Poor Mary is victimized by Ted and, of course, he doesn't care about her discomfort. Cassidy had the same good looks as Ted Knight and it goes very well. I'm sure that you will agree and make it "anonymous."

This entertaining episode stars the late, great Jack Cassidy, who's as hammy as ever, and very funny as Ted's brother, or as Hal(Cassidy)puts it, Ted is "his brother", not the other way around. I heard somewhere that Cassidy was originally offered the part of Ted, but turned down the offer, which was too bad. That isn't to say that Ted Knight wasn't great either, but I think Cassidy would be my personal preference if he took up the offer. In this episode, they both try to outclass each other with fake stories of success and the like, and Ted even manages to convince Mary to be his girlfriend, while Hal dates Rhoda. Cassidy's arrogance and smugness are really the best moments, as Mary and Rhoda don't do all that much, although Ted has some funny moments as well. While the ending seemed a bit rushed, having the brothers come clean after their false pretensions, added a nice touch. Both actors died too young, and I think they would've added more humor to our lives. This episode meant a tad more to me because of that, and I do recommend it.

When Ted is playing go-fish at Mary's apartment, he asks if she'd like to hear another song and puts on this beautiful classical record type of song. I have searched a lot, but nothing, if anyone finds it please write a review about it for me. There are no lyrics in the song, so it is hard for me to track it down. But I just love the part of the song that I heard. Thank you if anyone knows.