Look out! Billie Jo has just returned from another trip to Chicago, and you know what that means: another wacky fad-of-the-month that she tries to foist on the unenlightened denizens of Hooterville Valley. Writing mainstays Charles Stewart and Dick Conway dust off their script from the previous "Susan B. Anthony, I Love You" for "Love Rears Its Ugly Head," with the title alone expressing their disdain for Billie Jo's latest obsession: New Age love and sensory awareness. Can you smell the incense as you touch your healing crystal to every chakra?
This time Billie Jo is propounding the touchy-feely insights of Dr. Richard Von Bremerkamp (a sly in-joke as Dick Bremerkamp was the series' assistant director for 171 episodes), a New Age guru whose exercises she is eager to disseminate, with Bobbie Jo an enthusiastic acolyte, Betty Jo less so but still willing, becoming more so when she and Steve begin to bicker about Billie Jo's mental health, with Steve's attitude emblematic of the men's mocking view overall.
In other words, another rehash of "Susan B. Anthony," although this time Janet definitely drops the hammer on Billie Jo's effort, with Mike Minor then belting out a rather impressive rendition of "The Impossible Dream." Hardly cold comfort for Billie Jo since the song is from "Man of La Mancha," the musical version of "Don Quixote." Message to Billie Jo: Stop tilting at windmills. Meredith MacRae's pursed-lip expression as she accompanies Minor on the piano might not be acting. Another Stewart-Conway smackdown of changing cultural attitudes. The purge is coming, fellas, whether you like it or not.
This time Billie Jo is propounding the touchy-feely insights of Dr. Richard Von Bremerkamp (a sly in-joke as Dick Bremerkamp was the series' assistant director for 171 episodes), a New Age guru whose exercises she is eager to disseminate, with Bobbie Jo an enthusiastic acolyte, Betty Jo less so but still willing, becoming more so when she and Steve begin to bicker about Billie Jo's mental health, with Steve's attitude emblematic of the men's mocking view overall.
In other words, another rehash of "Susan B. Anthony," although this time Janet definitely drops the hammer on Billie Jo's effort, with Mike Minor then belting out a rather impressive rendition of "The Impossible Dream." Hardly cold comfort for Billie Jo since the song is from "Man of La Mancha," the musical version of "Don Quixote." Message to Billie Jo: Stop tilting at windmills. Meredith MacRae's pursed-lip expression as she accompanies Minor on the piano might not be acting. Another Stewart-Conway smackdown of changing cultural attitudes. The purge is coming, fellas, whether you like it or not.