Paul Sand was a cool guy who showed up quite a lot on TV during this era. As a matter of fact, I believe he had his own show where he played musician with a Boston symphony orchestra. In this episode, Mary gets audited by the IRS and Sand is her auditor. He is a quirky, handsome young man who starts to really enjoy their encounters. She starts to go out with him. Of course, hanging over everything is the audit itself. He is torn between his duty and his feelings for her. What is really interesting to the nerd in me is how she could be audited when her salary was so little. Then I realized that my first teaching contract was $6700 a year at approximately the same time. Hard to believe. Anyway, this is a gentle episode and Sand is so likable.
4 Reviews
Gentle romance
Rrrobert1 July 2019
Paul Sand is cute and funny as Mary's nerdy tax auditor who develops an interest in her. Mary has some fun nervous bits in her dealings with him.
An early 'dating' episode dominated by the new love interest character, and a pretty good one. Too bad we rarely hear from these guys again after the episode is over.
An early 'dating' episode dominated by the new love interest character, and a pretty good one. Too bad we rarely hear from these guys again after the episode is over.
50 years on, this one's a keeper.
eebyo3 September 2021
I was a regular MTM watcher in the first few years, and this is the episode I remember best. Geek with a crush was a novelty back then as a romantic lead, as opposed to some clownish regular cast member's crush of the week, and even as a high schooler I noticed Paul Sand's endearing comic chops. (His trench coat looked like he picked it up at Lt. Columbo's yard sale.) Sand's kept fitfully busy in movies and TV over the decades but I don't think I saw him in anything after this. His performance, together with Mary's and Rhoda's and the unforgettable chocolate-to-hips, made all the show's subsequent coulda-been romances seem flat and formulaic. For me, this is the best episode to keep the focus on Mary's home life.
Rare view of a romantic episode
gallagherkellie-510867 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I am as a rule not fond of dating episodes on this show. I actually struggle with them on many tv series The Big Bang Theory being a rare exception. I do like this one though a lot. Part of it is it isn't just a dating episode Mary is being audited .The auditor in question is played by Paul Sand a very likable actor that generally played likable ,slightly quirky characters. He's an honest and fair person and likes Mary and while giving her no breaks he is careful to make sure he does a good job and not go for or against Mary. In the end she owes very little and they both admit they are fond of each other and will go on a real date not the business lunch where he in a slightly clumsy way shows her he likes her.
A sweet funny episode. I really wish he had been the one for Mary he was the best one for her in my humble opinion. They were a good match.
A sweet funny episode. I really wish he had been the one for Mary he was the best one for her in my humble opinion. They were a good match.
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