Day Off

I still remember one scene from this episode, even all these years later, (I saw it when it aired in 1974, and it is currently 2019). Anthony Zerbe was playing a teacher, and Addie had gone to school for a change of pace, I guess. Zerbe tells the class this story: "There was a raccoon looking for food on the forest floor, when along came a dog and two hunters. The dog got scent of the raccoon and chased it up a tree. The hunters, hearing the dog, come running after, and when they reach the tree they aim their rifles up and start searching the tree to shoot the raccoon. Then they smell smoke, a bunch of animals start running by, the hunters see the fire and they and the dog run out of the forest to a lake and jump in to avoid the fire. Any questions?" silence from the class. (I said to the TV "What happened to the raccoon?") Then Addie raised her hand. "Yes?" "What happened to the raccoon?" "Exactly. The story was about the raccoon. Don't be distracted by stuff that isn't the raccoon." Well, that may not have been the exact lines from that scene, but it's how it stuck in my brain and even 45 years later, I still remember it, even though I couldn't tell you what happened in the rest of the episode. Frankly, IMO, a TV show should count itself lucky to be that memorable.

I was one of the school children in this episode. I was the boy that fell asleep in class and Anthony Zerbe (the teacher) pulled my hat over my eyes. The night that it aired, there was a severe storm warning and the episode was interrupted by the news station. Back then, home recording devices were rare in households. My family and I never got to see that episode and has been a disappointment my whole life. If anyone has any information on how to find it, it would be greatly appreciated.