"Oh don't tell me that you're a lesbian, too!"
So says Mother Emma Buchannan (deep voiced Eileen Heckart) when daughter-in-law Delilah (Beth Broderick) wants to give her a kiss for standing up for her at a meeting of the hypocritical females of her church where Delilah is running for President of the Ladies Auxiliary. She is afraid that her past as a stripper will be exposed when the widow of the former preacher passes away ("She looked like the balloon you'd find behind the couch the week after the party!" sister-in-law Vivian says), leaving Delilah the obvious replacement. But rival Helen McConnell (veteran character actress Mary Pat Gleason) wants to expose Delilah so she can be elected, and its up to the snooty Claire (Broadway actress Gretchen Wyler) to lead the way, forcing Mother Buchannan to step up and expose their own secrets. This shows how even squabbling in-laws gather together when someone steps on family's toes, and if Emma claims she's only doing this for her son Charles' sake, it is obvious that secretly, she does indeed care about all of her daughters-in-law, not just the family reputation.
This quick witted episode has many memorable lines, but it is very touching to see the initially horrified Heckart turn a bad situation into something triumphant and in a way that makes the audience root for her to succeed as well as Delilah to triumph over the snobbish hypocrites in the church congregation. Apparently all they do is sit around, eat and gossip, so Delilah wants to actually get things going for the good of the community, and that makes social climbing Vivian (Harriett Harris, delivering another unforgettable performance) want to be her vice president even though she kisses up to the gossipy Helen. With her sophisticated presence, song and dance lady Wyler is still no match for Heckart's snappy comeback, especially how her recycling efforts help make computer screens. A younger church lady is proven to be a hypocrite as well, and Helen (outside of the room) also has a secret. It's not just Heckart's line delivery that works but the reactions of the four daughters-in-law who begin to see their mother-in-law in a completely different way. I recall my first viewing of this with friends who chortled loudly over the lines in this more than any other episode, and it remains probably my favorite episode of the unfortunately short-lived series.
So says Mother Emma Buchannan (deep voiced Eileen Heckart) when daughter-in-law Delilah (Beth Broderick) wants to give her a kiss for standing up for her at a meeting of the hypocritical females of her church where Delilah is running for President of the Ladies Auxiliary. She is afraid that her past as a stripper will be exposed when the widow of the former preacher passes away ("She looked like the balloon you'd find behind the couch the week after the party!" sister-in-law Vivian says), leaving Delilah the obvious replacement. But rival Helen McConnell (veteran character actress Mary Pat Gleason) wants to expose Delilah so she can be elected, and its up to the snooty Claire (Broadway actress Gretchen Wyler) to lead the way, forcing Mother Buchannan to step up and expose their own secrets. This shows how even squabbling in-laws gather together when someone steps on family's toes, and if Emma claims she's only doing this for her son Charles' sake, it is obvious that secretly, she does indeed care about all of her daughters-in-law, not just the family reputation.
This quick witted episode has many memorable lines, but it is very touching to see the initially horrified Heckart turn a bad situation into something triumphant and in a way that makes the audience root for her to succeed as well as Delilah to triumph over the snobbish hypocrites in the church congregation. Apparently all they do is sit around, eat and gossip, so Delilah wants to actually get things going for the good of the community, and that makes social climbing Vivian (Harriett Harris, delivering another unforgettable performance) want to be her vice president even though she kisses up to the gossipy Helen. With her sophisticated presence, song and dance lady Wyler is still no match for Heckart's snappy comeback, especially how her recycling efforts help make computer screens. A younger church lady is proven to be a hypocrite as well, and Helen (outside of the room) also has a secret. It's not just Heckart's line delivery that works but the reactions of the four daughters-in-law who begin to see their mother-in-law in a completely different way. I recall my first viewing of this with friends who chortled loudly over the lines in this more than any other episode, and it remains probably my favorite episode of the unfortunately short-lived series.