Car 54, Where Are You? (TV Series) Today I Am a Man (1962) User Reviews

Uncredited Supporting Actor Is The Star In This One

[ccthemovieman-1 · 21 September 2011]

The second half has some very funny moments, saving was looking appear as a so-so-at best episode. A supporting actor, who went uncredited, was the star.....at least to me.

Muldoon is tired of being every guy's "babysitter" for the men's wives because he's so shy and innocent they all trust their women with him. Muldoon then lies about secretly being a ladies man and fakes getting a date at a fancy dinner club. There, he arrives alone, of course, but when the cops follow him to see if he's really on a date, he sits down at a table with two old prim-and-proper folks with their Amish-like daughter.

Muldoon pretends to be part of their group but they see his gun and holster and freak out. They think he's a gangster and the cops outside are ready to nab him. What happens after that is hilarious, thanks in large part to Howard Freeman who plays the father of "Priscilla." (Sybil Lamb, in a mostly-mute-but-funny performance.

Howard is the unsung star of this episode!

My vote for the funniest TV show moment ever.

[campbell-russell-a · 10/10 · 2 March 2014]

This is an episode that had my brothers and me on the floor laughing and talking about it for years to come. The twist at the end was so unexpected and brilliantly played by Sybil Lamb. She had said so little except for "Yes, momma; yes poppa" and her face has been frozen in an uncomprehending stare. Her sudden transformation into a raving gun moll willing to kill or die for her man - Muldoon - whom she and her parents mistake for a desperate criminal on the run comes out of nowhere. Added to the fun is the reactions of her parents particularly Howard Freeman as the nervous father. Of course, what makes a show genuinely funny is how the characters we have come to know get caught up in situations that only they could get into. Fred Gwynne's performance as the likable socially awkward Muldoon had to be much more layered, charming and genuinely funny than his playing of Herman Munster. Gwynne was a real talent as was the rest of the cast in "Car 54 Where are You?"