Ironside (TV Series) Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Murder (1972) User Reviews

Jodie Foster and Rod Serling share a scene. Very cool.

[TopekaBob · 9/10 · 13 February 2022]

The plot of this episode is interesting but you can spot the murderer pretty easily. That's irrelevant as we get to see a preteen Jodie Foster show what an fantastic actor she was at such a young age.

There's also the treat of Rod Serling in an acting role, only the second one he ever did. I don't know the backstory of why or how he took this role, but it's such a shame that he's on the screen for only a couple of minutes. It's Rod Serling, just his presence is riveting (like Foster) and you have to wonder why the role is so small. And he's good!! What a neat memory for Foster to have to have worked with Serling in that scene.

The Ironside/Star Trek connection continues: John Schuck, later of Star Trek VI and other Trek series, is the murdere (not hard to guess) and Paul Carr, Lt. Lee Kelso from the original series, appears.

The Ironside producers loved Carr: He was on six Ironsides (along with one Perry Mason).

A cool episode given all the neat actors in it.

OK storyline, amazing cast!

[pnolname · 9/10 · 3 July 2023]

Ironside and company have to sort out the murder of an apartment building superintendent. A girl, Pip Barker, played by Jodie Foster, who thinks she's a witch, also thinks she killed the superintendent by wishing death upon him, but an autistic man, Billy Mahan, who pushed said superintendent shortly before his murder, quickly becomes the main suspect. Gleaning enough information to solve the case involves considerable interaction with Pip, who is driven by superstitions and phobias, and Billy, who can be temperamental. At one point, Don and Pip get into a priceless exchange in which she describes the superiority of white magic over black magic to his amusement and dismay, with the implications of his reaction going right over Pip's head. The scene takes place in a magic shop in which the salesman is played by a thinly disguised Rod Serling. In the end, the case is solved and the killer is appropriately processed, but along the way, we are treated to a convincing performance by Serling, as well as the regular cast, and amazing performances by both Foster and Lee Paul as Billy. Foster and Paul both have challenging roles and Paul's performance was so convincing that I looked up his biography to see if he was autistic himself (he wasn't). No doubt, the viewers in 1972 had little idea of what a prized combination of past and future greats they were about to behold, but it's obvious now.

Terrific guests, a slack script, and sleepy Burr just rolling along...

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 23 September 2024]

S05-E21 of the eight-season crime-drama starring Raymond Burr in his second most-famous TV role. He's wheelchair-bound Robert T. Ironside, a San Francisco consultant to the police paralyzed after being shot, here investigating the case of a murdered apartment building owner who was killed soon after yelling at some kids playing down in the basement. We meet just two of the children involved: a mentally-challenged young man who helps out in the building with odd jobs and Jodie Foster as a pre-teen into witchcraft (!). Foster explains to "Uncle Bob" that she's a white witch, but that she wished the building owner dead after he yelled at her and now feels guilty for what happened. Other guests in this episode include veteran character actor Milton Selzer, John Schuck (doing fine work), and Rod Serling (with a mustache and Van Dyke beard) as the co-owner of a neighborhood occult shop. Written by Sy Salkowitz and directed by Christian I. Nyby II, this episode would be a complete miss were it not for the famous faces involved. Foster is so young she doesn't even sound like herself, but she's still as confident a child performer as ever (except for the finale when she kisses Burr on the lips--and then wipes her mouth!). The murder case isn't at all involving or surprising, though the basic witchcraft techniques (lighting candles, spreading salt, chanting spells) are bizarre with a little girl at the helm. Lee Paul--another acting veteran in his first of four "Ironside" appearances--plays backward Billy with care, but sleepy Burr is just rolling along, phoning his performance in. Paging Della Street!