Obviously a knock-off of Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, a light-hearted one at that. The biggest gripe surely must be the sons and the saloon girls were not as isolated as the Pottipee brothers and their brides in 7B47B, who were snowed in, in the mountains, so everyone must be thinking the farm is oh, just on the outskirts of town, down passed the Dollar General.
The insinuation was supposed to be they were a bit further out, but still not as closed off and distant.
Yet we have to think again, and this will be difficult for people today to comprehend, THERE WERE NO PHONES!
Even if the girls had started walking back to town, it could be quite the hike for them to make and who knows if they would make it safely back or not. The roads weren't paved, nor were they patrolled. A bear or a mountain lion or a wolf could just as easily turn up to greet them.
Main thing I have always taken from this episode is the three brides were saloon girls. Being married to a 'devoted man whose heart she has captured' was better than contending with drunkards in the saloon.
School was not an option for them, so really all they had to look for was marriage and these guys were supposed to be as good as any. John Reilly as the totally disagreeable son who didn't want his bride was actually very amusing, and Karen Grassle handled the spurned bride rather well, too.
And as for it being Fran Ryan's first episode to air after Amanda Blake left, Ryan had more than proven herself on Green Acres, having to take over there after the passing of the first Mrs. Ziffel.
No, she wasn't a 'stunning' beauty like Blake, but Blake was over forty by this time. She wasn't getting any younger. As other shows have done, all efforts to let the show go out quietly are resisted by the studio, who probably insisted Miss Kitty be recast with Ryan, instead of a younger miss. The show was already running on empty with countless episodes like this one, sporting guest stars galore, leaving me often wondering, where's Matt? Festus? Doc?
As for the sons and brides being recast in the 'sequel' it was only Karen Grassle and John Reilly who didn't return. The episode might have been able to handle Grassle not returning, but recasting John Reilly with David Soul just wasn't the same at all. The other two brothers and their brides were the same performers.
But I don't know if people nowadays think they are holding the mindset of this episode and its neanderthalism up against today's intellect of consideration or whatever we think we have today.
Chalk this mentality up to Stockholm syndrome; where the ones kidnapped develop feelings for their abductors. Same thing we've had even in our times with Elizabeth Smart (which that seems to be a situation that insists on continuing a bit longer than it should), or even Steven Stayner, who never fled his abuser.
You're a young woman, working in a saloon, no family, no idea what women's rights might be and here comes the Brawny paper towel man to take you away to his farm. And they only had one hour to delve into a 'happy ending' for the couples.
It was tv. Not a lesson anyone was being given back then on how to live life.
Review of The Wiving
You Could Critique These Reviews More Than You Could Critique The Episode
4 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers