EASY COME, EASY GO
First shown
'Luke Calhoun comes to work on the Ponderosa after losing
all of his money in a stock scheme. An avid card player, he turns the Ponderosa
into a casino during his stay. As usual, his daughter, Meena, scares all men
away in her mad search for a husband.'
Guest Stars: Dub Taylor as Luke Calhoun, Ann Prentiss as Meena Calhoun, Channing Pollock as Carter, Dan Scott as Dave, Robert Lussier as Garvey, Lyman Ward as Pete.
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This is another of those abysmal Jack B. Soward scripts
and the best I can say is that it is the least bad of the Meena series.
Essential points of the story are not explained to the viewer and there is virtually
no humour in this so-called comedy. It is mostly just plain silly. Most
regrettable is the failure to really use the outstanding comedic talents of
Lorne, Dan, Michael and Victor and of Dub Taylor (as Luke) who also has a real
talent for comedy.
Having lost most of his money, Luke Calhoun persuades the Cartwrights to give
him work on the Ponderosa and accommodation for Meena. Of course Luke's
"work" is gambling not ranch work.
In the bunkhouse Luke is warned by Dusty Rhoades that poker isn't allowed so
Luke subsequently starts gambling on chequers with the other hands,
particularly Pete. Lyman Ward as Pete just isn't funny and this scene would have
been so much better between Luke and Dusty because Lou Frizzell is really good
at comedy.
There is a very brief funny scene where Hoss decides to go for an evening
stroll with Meena despite Joe's warnings but there is no amusing outcome.
In a Great Room scene, Ben speaks of a problem over a piece of land owned by
someone called Carter but Lorne isn't given a chance to fully explain the significance
of this key issue to the viewer. Michael does speak about it but, unfortunately,
he mumbles and is turned away from the camera so I couldn't hear what he was
saying. Devoted as I am to Michael, he does occasionally mumble and I would have
made him repeat his lines LOL!!
Later Luke's lawyer arrives at the Ponderosa but there is no explanatory scene
for the viewer to understand the significance.
Meanwhile Meena is involved in upsetting Hop Sing and a romantic shot at Hoss.
I am not clear whether Ann Prentiss was bad at comedy or simply badly directed.
The whole problem with Meena is that she is an intelligent woman and one who
loves her father. Yet her obsession to get married is portrayed in such an
idiotic way that it isn't remotely funny. She man-mad yet slow, calm and boring
so her behaviour is incongruous. Either she needed to display her intelligence
by a clever scheme to land a man or she needed to just be scatter-brained in
the first place. The Meena part needed someone like Stefanie Powers (Calamity
Jane) or Eileen Ryan (Abigail Jones) to set the part alight!
The kitchen scene where she interferes with Hop Sing's cooking falls totally
flat. Victor is wonderful as Hop Sing in a mega-huff reminding everyone that he
"is boss in kitchen!" Yet Meena just remains tiresomely low key and
calm and fails to play to Victor's fine lead. It needed something like Meena
and Hop Sing to be tugging at a box of flour, for Joe and Hoss to come in at
that moment and for them to get a flour dusting! Michael and Dan would have had
a field day and given us many laughs! Or Meena could have flared up and thrown
a chicken leg at Hop Sing which hit Ben (who does appear but isn't used
properly) on the head. Then Ben could have roared!
In a later scene Hoss flirts with Meena who is as slow and dull as ever. Joe
tries to warn Hoss as he passes by but there is no opportunity for Hoss/Joe
comedy. Dan is very funny with some wonderful expressions but no one to play
off. This scene should have used Hoss and Joe in character – Joe flirting and
Hoss warning him – and given the brothers screen time for comedy.
In another flirting scene Meena, goes after Pete the ranch hand but we don't
see any real outcome. At the end of the episode we learn that she is going to
take a buggy ride, presumably with Pete, but whether she marries him we never
find out.
Eventually Carter, named but not explained in the beginning, turns up at the
Ponderosa to discuss Ben's bid for his land. Only at this point do we learn
that Carter is a gambler not a land user and that Luke had also been bidding
for the land. The weird logic was that Luke's bidding would up the price so
that Carter would come to the Ponderosa and Luke would ensnare him into
gambling and win the land deeds for Ben. This actually happens but, since the
viewer had no knowledge of this background, it isn't funny at all just
irritatingly confusing.
Well, the one sensible thing in the script is that Ben, having thanked Luke for
the deeds, fires him at the end !!
In fairness to Bonanza I watched this whole episode all the way through but I
wouldn't waste my time (or my temper LOL!) with it again. It was so frustrating
to see so many potentially funny scenes wasted because the combined talents of Lorne,
Dan, Michael, Victor and Dub Taylor were never properly used. The only thing
that I really enjoyed was just seeing the Cartwrights and Victor on screen
because simply watching them is always a pleasure.
Verdict: watch at your own risk!