The Return of Malcolm Merriweather

This is the best of the three Malcolm episodes that have Bernard Fox pedaling his way across America, always on the wrong side of the road, and not quite knowing when to rein in his tendency to smother his benefactors with what he believes are his duties as a valet and butler. Aunt Bee's behavior is ungracious, to put it mildly, and seems to be acted with an effortlessness that makes one wonder whether this is the true, off-screen Frances Bavier we are seeing. We get plenty of comedy, nonetheless, from Malcolm's politely correcting Barney's tenuous grasp of grade-school history and from his slapstick circuit around the dinner table mimicking, in Barney's words, an English Otis. The music editor (and, of course, Earl Hagen) deserves mention for his tasteful interweaving of Malcolm's jaunty, jolly-ol'- England, theme with the more plaintive and bittersweet melody which accompanies so many scenes in which Bee figures prominently over the eight seasons of TAGS.