A Bird in the Head Hurts 

Ritchie claims he keeps being attacked by a giant woodpecker.

Director:

John Rich

Writers:

Carl Reiner, Carl Reiner (created by)

Stars:

Dick Van Dyke, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Dick Van Dyke	...	Rob Petrie
Rose Marie	...	Sally Rogers
Morey Amsterdam	...	Buddy Sorrell
Larry Mathews	...	Ritchie Petrie
Mary Tyler Moore	...	Laura Petrie
Ann Morgan Guilbert	...	Millie Helper
Cliff Norton	...	Game Warden

Storyline

Ritchie comes running into the house scared and in tears. He claims that he was being eaten by a giant woodpecker. Laura knows he is obviously crying wolf - or in this case crying woodpecker - but she does whatever she can to calm him down. When a concerned Laura, not knowing what to do, tells Rob, they try to figure out the cause for Ritchie needing this attention. Regardless, Rob believes that playing along with Ritchie and saying that he killed the woodpecker may finally calm Ritchie down for good, but when what they believe the cause for needing that attention no longer exists (a fight with neighbor Freddie Helper) and Ritchie again comes crying into the house saying that he was being eaten by that giant woodpecker, Rob and Laura come to a different conclusion based on information from Millie. Rob and Laura's problem then becomes how not to sound like they too are crying wolf - or crying woodpecker - without sounding crazy. Rob ultimately feels he has no choice but to take matters...

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Plot Keywords:

woodpecker | cage | game warden | hair | deductive reasoning | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Carl Reiner has said that the woodpecker incident happened to his neighbors.

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Quotes

Buddy Sorrell: You know why your kid makes up these weird stories about being attacked by big birds?
Rob Petrie: Why?
Buddy Sorrell: 'Cause you live in the suburbs.
Sally Rogers: What're you talking about?
Buddy Sorrell: Well, if he lived in the city like any normal kid, he'd be attacked by a nice street gang.

User Reviews

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 December 1962 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Cahuenga Studios, 846 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Calvada Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1