You would think that a story about working in a newspaper office would have a proper rewrite before filming and airing, but that's not true of "The Best Way to Go". It plays more like a first draft, prompting my reaction at the end of "is that all there is?".
It's a problem with the 1/2-hour dramas which were so plentiful on TV during the 1950s and no longer made today. Since the running time without commercials is about 24 minutes, it's difficult to include enough subplots and character development before the final curtain.
This one, as hinted by the title, is about the end of life -what to do when one's days are numbered. Gary Merrill is well-cast as Dick Bowen, a veteran newspaper man, whose habits are such that his co-workers can describe down to the last detail and timing what he does every day at work. He goes to his boss, a gruff but kindly underneath Jay C. Flippen, and asks him ("for a friend") about Hodgkins' disease, with Jay informing him that his friend would have only a couple of years to live given that diagnosis.
Merrill throws a party for his fellow employees and introduces them to his young son Dick Bowen Jr., who his dad calls Skipper. Then he sets about writing a novel and nine months later when it is successful and earns him a hefty check for the rights to its story, he quits his job and sets off on a trip around the world with his son. His son . The son writes stories regularly to the editor and is encouraged to become a reporter like his dad. What happens next is the twist to the story, leading to a surprise, sentimental ending.
Though meaningful clues are included for the viewer, the entire shows rests on one plot twist, and it's disappointing once it's revealed. An analogy woudl be the Bruce Willis classic "The Sixth Sense" -if you knew the gimmick ahead of time it wouldn't be worth watching. Same here, and the subplots are nowhere to be found, with the entire show having zero female characters, for instance.
It's a problem with the 1/2-hour dramas which were so plentiful on TV during the 1950s and no longer made today. Since the running time without commercials is about 24 minutes, it's difficult to include enough subplots and character development before the final curtain.
This one, as hinted by the title, is about the end of life -what to do when one's days are numbered. Gary Merrill is well-cast as Dick Bowen, a veteran newspaper man, whose habits are such that his co-workers can describe down to the last detail and timing what he does every day at work. He goes to his boss, a gruff but kindly underneath Jay C. Flippen, and asks him ("for a friend") about Hodgkins' disease, with Jay informing him that his friend would have only a couple of years to live given that diagnosis.
Merrill throws a party for his fellow employees and introduces them to his young son Dick Bowen Jr., who his dad calls Skipper. Then he sets about writing a novel and nine months later when it is successful and earns him a hefty check for the rights to its story, he quits his job and sets off on a trip around the world with his son. His son . The son writes stories regularly to the editor and is encouraged to become a reporter like his dad. What happens next is the twist to the story, leading to a surprise, sentimental ending.
Though meaningful clues are included for the viewer, the entire shows rests on one plot twist, and it's disappointing once it's revealed. An analogy woudl be the Bruce Willis classic "The Sixth Sense" -if you knew the gimmick ahead of time it wouldn't be worth watching. Same here, and the subplots are nowhere to be found, with the entire show having zero female characters, for instance.
