[crowd cheering]
(male # )
'Can I have
your attention, please?'
I'd like to make
an announcement.
I have just booked the guys
for a national tour.
- Tommy, that's wonderful.
- Congratulations, son.
- Tell me what?
- I'm pregnant.
And you're the father.
You've gotta get rid
of this girl.
Do whatever it takes.
You can't afford
to louse it up now.
You know that's all I've heard
ever since this happened?
Was poor Ellen.
Well, what about poor Tommy?
If you don't care enough
about Ellen
to accept your responsibility
well then, you shouldn't
have been involved
in this relationship
to begin with.
[theme song]
♪ There's a magic in the
early morning we've found ♪
♪ When the sunrise smiles
on everything around ♪
♪ It's a portrait
of the happiness ♪
♪ That we feel and always will ♪
♪ Oh eight is enough
to fill our lives with love ♪
♪ Oh we spend our days like
bright and shiny new dimes ♪
♪ If we're ever puzzled
by the changing times ♪
♪ There's a plate
of homemade wishes ♪
♪ On the kitchen windowsill ♪
♪ And eight is enough
to fill our lives with love ♪
[rock music]
[crowd cheering]
I remember when the only person
who ever screamed
when Tommy played was me
and it always to tell him stop.
[laughing]
I'm glad he didn't.
Your son has a real sh*t
to make it.
- You think so, huh?
- Sure.
Look at the reaction
he's getting.
[crowd cheering]
- Is it good or bad?
- Very good.
As a matter of fact..
[crowd cheering]
Excuse me.
Alright, we're gonna take
a short break
and we'll be right back.
[crowd cheering]
Does this go on
like this every night?
This is nothing.
When he gets to be a big star
they're gonna
rip off his clothes
and tear out locks of his hair.
Oh, isn't that nice?
Somethin' to look forward to.
- Hey.
- Isn't this great?
- Yeah.
- It's wonderful.
(male # )
'Can I have
your attention please?'
'I'd like to make
an announcement.'
Hi, I'm Tim Nides
and I have the good fortune
to manage Tommy in the action.
[crowd cheering]
Uh, I'm sorry I have to
announce that pretty soon
the audiences of this club are
gonna lose their favorite group.
Because I have just booked
the guys for a national tour.
[crowd cheering]
In a couple of weeks,
they'll be leaving to travel
around the country as the
warm-up band for The Pretenders.
[crowd cheering]
Did you know that, Tommy?
Well, I knew
Tim was workin' on it
and when he called you
down here, I had a feeling.
Tommy, that's wonderful.
- Congratulations, son.
- Thanks, dad.
I know this is the shortest
break in history
but let's see
if we can bring 'em back.
[crowd cheering]
Are you ready
for some more rock and roll?
[rock music]
You're next.
Gilmer, what am I gonna do?
I gotta make her notice me.
I don't know.
We'll think of somethin'.
Craig West, you better give me
that ball back, you creep.
- Yeah and who's gonna make me?
- Nicholas is.
- I am?
- Yes.
I mean, uh, I am.
What are you waiting for?
I gotta see this.
Yeah, well, I'm warnin' you
you better give her
her ball back or else..
- Or else what?
- What?
You have to resort to v*olence.
Or I'll have to resort
to v*olence.
(Craig)
'Oh, no, I'm trembling.'
Well, I'm warnin' you,
I'm a lot tougher than I look.
Hey, uh, what's the matter?
Can't you take a joke?
Of course, I'm gonna
give her her ball back.
- I did it.
- Alright.
Nicholas, that was wonderful.
Well, you've gotta let 'em
know who's boss.
I guess we should
have been suspicious
when we saw there was
no one else in line, right?
[sighs]
Or at least when the guy
who sold us
our tickets couldn't keep
a straight face.
- Oh, really?
- Wasn't that a wonderful movie?
I mean,
didn't that just make you
wanna go out and do something?
Yeah, strangle the director.
[laughs]
Okay.
I can't believe I just paid
somebody five bucks to tell me
that there's no hope
for humanity.
Oh, what makes you think
that's what he was saying?
Oh, I don't know, it might
have had somethin' to do
with the main character looking
straight in the camera
and saying,
"There's no hope for humanity."
You guys, you're missing
the whole point.
What he was trying to say
is there is hope
if we just help each other.
But we get so wrapped up
in our own lives
we forget about everybody else.
Nancy, I don't think we forget
I just don't think
there much we can do.
Hey, Tommy.
Hey, Ellen.
How have you been?
- I haven't seen you in a while.
- You have my number.
Yeah, I just got busy.
I heard, that's great.
Your new success and all.
Oh, yeah, I'm goin' on tour,
you know.
I know, I was here last night.
Oh.
Well, look,
I have to get backstage
and warm up before the next set.
- I'll talk to you later.
- Uh, Tommy..
- Oh.
- Food was great.
We should come here
more often, huh?
I'd love to bring Jeff,
but I don't think
I'll ever be hungry again.
Oh, come on, you guys,
let's change the subject.
Yeah, to anything
other than food.
[laughing]
Oh, thank you. Thanks.
Oh, no, look at that poor guy.
(Nancy)
'I can't stand it.'
Oh, I mean we just got through
stuffing ourselves
when we weren't very hungry.
Think what it would mean to him
to have a nice meal like that.
Oh, come on, Nance
I feel sick enough already
without adding guilt to it.
- 'You guys, I have an idea.'
- Oh, no!
I know this may sound crazy
but why don't we buy him
a nice dinner?
You mean, take him out to eat
dressed like that?
- 'Nance, nobody'd let 'em in.'
- Yeah. I guess you're right.
- What if we just take him home?
- Nance, you know you're right?
What, that we should
take him home?
No, that you're crazy.
Why? He's just a poor old bum.
'What if we took him home
for one nice, hot meal?'
'What could that hurt, huh?'
Oh, come on, you guys.
I'm gonna ask him.
Why do I have a feeling
we're gonna live to regret this?
Probably, because we're gonna
live to regret this.
[clears throat]
Excuse me, sir?
Me?
I'm sorry to disturb you,
but we were just wondering
if you'd like to go home
with us.
Go home with you?
I don't know.
- Who are you?
- We're the Bradford sisters.
- This is Mary.
- Hi.
(Nancy)
'Joannie, Elizabeth..'
...a-and I'm Nancy.
Oh, I remember.
You used to be
on "Lawrence Welk."
Right.
- Ah, here you go.
- Hot night for me.
I know, but that, but that
one waitress that came..
No.
Ellen, what are you
still doin' here?
Hi, I was hoping
I could catch you.
Can we talk?
Come on, Tommy.
I gotta get going.
Uh, listen, uh
we gotta load
all of this equipment
up into the van
and I gotta get these guys home.
I will only take a second.
Uh, okay.
Tommy, I'd like to see you again
just for one night,
so that we can talk.
Hey, look we'll get together.
It's just I'm real busy
with the tour and everything.
Hey, Bradford, charm her
on your own time, I'm tired.
Oh. Hey look, I gotta get going.
Why don't you come by next week
and we'll get together then,
okay?
It'll be just like old times.
- You promise?
- Yeah, sure.
I-I'll see you next week.
See you in an hour, bye.
(male # )
Well, that certainly was good
and I appreciate it.
I guess I better
be goin' home now.
Max, where exactly is your home?
- Well, that depends.
- On?
Which way I'm walking.
Oh, Max, I'm really worried
about this situation.
People shouldn't live like that.
Wandering around,
eatin' out of garbage cans
sleepin' out in the cold.
Who does that?
You do.
Oh, yeah.
Max, I've got an idea.
Well, Max, what do you think?
Nice soft mattress,
warm house.
Yeah, that doesn't smell
like day old garbage.
It's gonna take some
getting used to.
Well, I think you'd make
the best out of it, Max.
And tomorrow we'll start
looking for a job for you.
- What kinda jobs have you had?
- Not many.
(Max)
'Let's see.'
Oh, yeah.
I was once a cab driver.
- Yeah? How'd you do?
- Great.
Till I got fired.
- Why'd you get fired?
- I lost a cab.
How could you possibly
lose a cab?
Beats me.
I parked it on the curb
and went into a bar
to get a drink.
When I came out, it was gone.
Of course,
that was about a month later.
[clears throat]
Max, why don't you
get some sleep?
We'll figure this out
in the morning, okay?
- Goodnight.
- Oh.
- Ellen.
- Tommy, don't get mad at me.
Look, I know
I keep on hounding you
but I-I've gotta talk to you.
I said we--
No, it's not gonna wait
until next week.
It's really important, Tommy.
Okay. What's so important?
Look, this is kinda hard to say,
but when we first started
going out together,
I really liked you.
Oh, I liked you too--
Would you please let me finish?
I know you don't wanna go out
with me anymore
but I gotta tell you this
because I don't know
what else to do.
Tell me what?
Tommy..
...I'm pregnant
and you're the father.
[Tom whistling]
Good morning.
Hmm, I love spare ribs.
- You want some?
- Oh, uh, no, thank you.
I had some last night.
Excuse me.
Who-who are you?
Uh, who-who-who am I?
Who are you?
- I asked first.
- I live here.
So do I.
Do you mind my asking
when you began living here?
When did you begin living here?
I asked you first.
What was the question?
This is a real nice house.
Reminds me
of the governor's house.
You've been
to the governor's house?
- No, have you?
- I'm confused.
- Go ask the girls.
- 'What?'
The girls..
...who..
..brought me here.
The girls who..
...bought you here.
They'll help you.
Don't move.
Dad, we were just
trying to help.
Well, you can start
by helping him
right back to where ever
it is you found him.
Dad, he deserves a chance.
We can't just throw him back
out on the street.
What do you want me to do?
Send him to college?
No, just let him stay here
a couple of days.
Just till we can get him
right back on his feet.
Come on, it would take him
a couple of days
to find his feet.
How can you be so glib?
Don't you understand
that the reason
that there's so many Maxes
out there
is because no one cares.
That's right.
If everyone just took on
a little bit
more responsibility--
Young lady, I am now responsible
for nine kids
and an out-of-work race horse.
In many circles,
that would be considered
an adequate amount
of responsibility.
Well, maybe if Max had
someone like you around
he wouldn't be in the shape
he's in today.
Oh, that's a cheap sh*t.
Effective, but cheap.
Does that mean Max can stay?
Alright, but just
for a couple of days.
- Great.
- Let's go tell him.
Thanks, dad.
And I came to you once before,
but that was the night
when your manager
made that announcement
and I didn't wanna
ruin that for you.
I'm sorry
I'm dumping all this on you.
It's just I have
nowhere else to go.
Yeah.
Tommy, what am I gonna do?
[scoffs]
You think I know?
I go on tour
in less than three weeks.
I know.
You know what this tour
means to me?
Only the thing I've been working
my entire life for.
Do your parents know?
They're down in Florida.
Can't tell them.
It'd k*ll 'em.
I won't go to one
of those clinics.
I can't, I..
Tommy, you've gotta help me.
- What do you want me to do?
- I don't know.
All I know
is that I need someone
and you're the only one
I've got.
And then when he saw
that Nicholas meant business
you should have
seen him take off.
Sounds like you're quite a hero.
Yeah, well--
It'll be a long time
before that bully picks
another fight especially
when my Nicholas is around.
Uh, Robin--
Don't you think he must be
the bravest guy
in the whole world?
Probably in the top ten
for sure.
And the handsomest too.
[laughs]
Definitely the handsomest.
Well, Robin, we better hurry up
or I'm gonna be late
for softball practice.
You're going
to softball practice?
Softball?
Nicholas, that's not very macho.
Well, I can't help it.
I gotta be there.
I'm a shortstop.
They can find
another shortstop.
No, Robin, you see--
Nicholas, a real man
wouldn't leave his girl
for softball practice.
Well, I guess they can find
another shortstop.
If you could just postpone
the tour for a couple of weeks
I could take care
of all of this.
Tommy, you know I can't do that.
It took a lot of hard work
to get you guys
booked for this tour.
Can't afford to make waves.
Besides, even if I could
postpone the tour
we have a much more
serious situation here.
What do you mean?
I mean, look at the struggle
you've had
to make it
in this business.
'And that was worth a %
of your energy'
'devoted to your music.'
If you get married
under these circumstances
it could me a major setback
to your career.
Look, Tommy.
I don't mean to sound
like an ogre
but you gotta get rid
of this girl.
Do whatever it takes.
Tommy, you've come so far.
You can't afford
to louse it up now.
Hiya, Tommy.
What are you doing home today?
I thought you had
band things to do.
I asked the guys
to cover for me.
Oh, this must be
a pretty exciting
couple of days for you, huh?
Yeah, you might say that.
Dad.
I need to talk to you.
I'm in trouble.
What kind of trouble?
Well, there's this girl.
And?
She's pregnant.
- Oh, God!
- Sorry.
Sorry? What good
is sorry gonna do?
- Who is she?
- Just this girl.
Well, come on now,
this girl must have some name.
Ellen, Ellen Gregory.
She and I went out
for a couple of months.
She's a nice girl.
We just didn't have
any chemistry.
Well, obviously
you had some kind of chemistry.
Why did this have to happen now?
Everything was going so well.
Look, don't start
feeling sorry for yourself.
That's not gonna change
the situation.
I know, I just don't know
what to do.
You should talk to Ellen
and find out what she wants.
That'll make it easier
for you to make a decision.
Look, Tommy.
Whatever the decision is,
I hope it's the right one
'cause you're gonna
have to live with it
for the rest of your life.
[rock music]
Alright, let's go over it again.
- Oh!
- Oh!
Tommy, come on, I'm real tired.
We're still not together.
Look, we've been practicing
for three hours.
I think we deserve
a little time off.
Michael, this isn't like
we're rehearsing
for some high school dance.
He's right, Tommy.
Besides, I am starving.
- We'll order out.
- No, you order out.
- We're leaving, let's go.
- See you.
Look, Tommy, if, uh,
if workin' yourself to death
is gonna help what's bothering
you, that's fine, man.
But just keep us
out of it, alright?
We'll be back at :
in time to warm up.
[guitar music]
No, I'm sorry,
Tommy is not here.
Yeah, I'll give him
the message. Bye.
Don't tell me, Ellen?
- Bingo.
- Who's Ellen?
Beats me, but who ever she is
she's been calling Tommy
three times a day.
I've been giving him
the messages
but I don't think
he returns her phone calls.
Probably a groupie.
No, I don't think so,
she sounds too serious.
Serious groupie.
You know, Tommy has been acting
really strange lately.
Well, whatever it is,
I'm sure there's some
logical explanation.
Maybe he's just thinkin'
about how much
he's gonna miss us.
Like I said, I'm sure
there's a logical explanation.
I'm warnin' you only once.
I'm bad.
I stand warned.
Yeah, well,
I'm afraid this room
ain't big enough
for the both of us.
Okay, Nicholas, I give up.
What are you celebrating?
I'll show ya.
Go on, I dare you to knock
that chip off my shoulder.
- What?
- Go on, I dare ya.
Okay.
I don't think that's how
it was supposed to work.
[sighs]
I can't figure him out, Abby.
I mean, he seems to think
that by refusing to acknowledge
this situation, the whole thing
would just disappear.
- That doesn't make sense.
- In a way it does.
Uh, it is.
It's-it's natural to run away
from a problem
that's too hard to face.
Well, one thing for sure.
This particular problem
isn't gonna get any easier.
Well, what do you think
he should do?
I don't know.
I mean, I feel so helpless.
I don't know what to tell him.
I mean, I know what I've always
considered the right thing.
But right things are only easy
in hypothetical situations.
When I think that Tommy
could be paying
for one mistake
for the rest of his life.
Makes my whole idea
of right and wrong
just go out the window.
[knock on door]
Come in.
What are you doing?
Just getting organized
for the tour.
Well, are you gonna call Ellen
before you leave?
Yeah, soon.
Wh-what is soon?
One week, two weeks?
W-when you're in Arizona,
Colorado, what?
Hey, I said
I would call her back.
I have a lot of decisions
to make, it isn't easy.
Yeah, well, this is no picnic
for Ellen either.
What is goin' on?
You know, that's all I've heard
ever since this happened?
Was poor Ellen.
What about poor Tommy?
After all, she's the one that's
politely destroying my life.
Tommy, you make it sound like
you had nothing to do with this.
If you don't care
enough about Ellen
to accept your responsibility
well then, you shouldn't
have been involved
in this relationship
to begin with.
Look.
Son, I, I wish
I could do something.
Anything to-to make it
easier for you, but..
I'm-I'm as confused
as you are.
What I do know
is that you've gotta stop
avoiding the problem and start
acting like an adult.
Even if it means ruining
the rest of my life?
Oh. It's not just
your life anymore.
There are two other
human beings involved now.
[exhales]
[sighs]
You know, life was a lot easier
when I hated girls.
I mean, I'll never
figure 'em out.
First, they don't even see you
and then they don't
leave you alone.
Maybe it'll be easier
when I make puberty.
I wonder if Robin
can wait till then.
Tommy?
- 'Tommy?'
- Hmm?
'I need some advice.'
'See, there's this girl I like'
'but she wants me
to be macho all the time.'
You know how much of a pain
it is to be macho all the time.
Tommy.
(Jeremy)
'I can't believe your friend
got him a job here.'
(Nancy)
'Yeah, he had to pull
a lot of strings.'
I sure hope we don't make Max
nervous on his first night.
Hey, guys, maybe we shouldn't
have come.
Are you kidding? I wouldn't
have missed this for anything.
- He'll be fine.
- I don't know.
- Hello.
- Hi, Max.
My name is Max and I'll be
your waiter for this evening.
- How am I doin'?
- You're doin' fine, Max.
- Now don't be nervous.
- I think we're ready to order.
Um, Max do you know
what the soup of the day is?
I'll check.
[gasping]
- Split pea.
- Uh, well, thanks.
I think we'll just have salad.
- Salads.
- 'Yeah.'
How do you spell that?
Uh, Max, why don't you get 'em
real quick before you forget?
Hey, Max, before you go,
could we have some water?
Um..
- Hey.
- 'Max.'
No, the pitcher, the pitcher.
[indistinct chatter]
[clears throat]
Thanks.
Max, uh, why don't you
try and find a waiter
and do what he does?
There.
Max!
Oh, I'm sorry, let me clean
it up. I'll clean it up--
Uh, Max, look why don't you just
take this whole table setting
and get us a fresh one, okay?
Oh, no problem.
- Okay.
- Yeah, wait, wait.
Oh, Max, Max, uh, you, uh--
Max, that's not quite
the way to do it.
You know, uh..
- Oh, gee!
- Oh, gosh!
Nancy, I don't think
Max was born to be a waiter.
(Nancy)
'Well, we can't give up on him.'
'He's just off
to a rough start.'
[sighs]
Joannie, maybe there's
something at Channel .
[sighs]
[knocks]
- Hi.
- Hi.
Hey, I'm sorry,
I haven't called.
Hm.
[sighs]
You suppose I could come in?
Sure.
You know, I was beginning to
think that you left the country.
[scoffs]
The thought did cross my mind.
You know, somehow that just
doesn't seem to surprise me.
Hey, look,
I know I haven't been fair
but give me a break.
I've never been through this.
Oh, what do you think I have?
[sighs]
Ellen, don't worry.
It's gonna be okay.
Well, how is it
gonna be okay?
Well, for starters,
y-you're not gonna have
to go through this
alone anymore.
I-I know it's strange.
We don't even know
anything about each other.
But we're gonna have to learn.
What are you saying?
I think the, the best thing
to do..
...is to get married..
...as soon as possible.
(Tommy)
'I wanted to get
everybody together'
so that you could meet Ellen.
- Hi, Ellen.
- Hi.
Ellen and I
are gonna be married.
Well, I wanted you
to know right away
'cause we plan on
gettin' married next week.
Uh, we wanna have some time
before I go on tour.
We were hoping
you'll all be at the wedding.
Hey, of course, we will.
- Welcome to the family, Ellen.
- Thank you.
Hi, I'm Susan.
We're gonna help you plan.
- Do you have a dress?
- Uh, I'm Nicholas.
Tommy's younger brother.
- I'm Mary.
- Hi, Mary.
You can wear my dress.
It's..
[indistinct chatter]
Tommy, can I see you
for a moment?
(Susan)
'I've heard so much about you.'
- Hi, I'm Nancy.
- Hi, Nancy.
Me too. Are you excited?
[sighs]
Tommy, a-a-are you sure
about this now?
[scoffs]
What do you mean?
I thought that you'd be
the last person to disapprove.
Well, I just don't want you
to make a wrong decision.
Well, when you told me
about this, I..
...I was so shocked
that I-I-I couldn't think
clearly enough t-t-to help you.
Dr. Maxwell..
...he gave me this, uh..
...family relation service
and they, they would help you.
They act like kind
of a, a counsel, you know.
Dad, we made a decision.
What good is some shrink service
gonna do us now?
I don't know,
it might do you some good
to talk to somebody
that could be objective.
'Maybe it won't
do you any good'
but it will make me feel better
to know that
you're talking to someone
that's dealt with this kind
of thing all the time.
Maybe they'll give you the same
advice that I would give you.
[sighs]
If I knew what to say.
(Max)
'I just hope I don't mess
this job up too.'
Oh, don't worry, Max.
They assured me
there's nothing to this.
Now you see this knob,
you take it and you turn it
...and that moves
the conveyor belt, see.
And then Phil places the papers
on the conveyor belt
so the anchorman
can read them as they go by.
Simple.
- Quiet, everyone.
- Okay.
Five seconds.
Four, three, two
and you're on.
Good evening,
this is Carl Avery
with the o'clock report.
"'State Poverty Agency
officials this week were hit'
"'with a barrage of criticisms
over reported foul-ups'
"'over distributing
$ million in federal funds'
"'to help
poor Californians pay
"'skyrocketing heating bills.'
"In one instance,
over , checks
"mailed out by the office
of economic development.."
[gibberish]
...economic assistance.
Uh, Max, uh.. Bill, would you
take care of this?
Max, I think you're much better
suited for this job.
Now you take the papers Phil had
and you place them
right here the way you..
'No, no, no. I'll get 'em.
I'll get 'em.'
Also in the news today were..
Oh, lots of things..
'All of which
were quite important.'
So important in fact that
I don't know where to begin.
'That's the thing about news.'
It, uh, all comes at once
or it doesn't come at all.
'We'll be right back
after this message.'
Have you seen any other girl
since you stopped seeing Ellen?
A few.
How about you, Ellen?
- No one.
- I see.
Do you love Tommy?
Um..
Well, I-I think that, uh
when we first started going out
I thought he was someone
I could love
but after a while,
I think I, I did love him
otherwise I wouldn't have..
Uh..
I'm not gonna ask you, Tommy.
'I think the answer
is pretty evident'
'based on the fact
that you haven't called her'
in two months.
I know you two have already
decided to get married
and I can't tell you
whether or not
you've made
the right decision.
I can only ask that you look
at the practicalities involved.
'And, Tommy, I know
that your career'
'is very important to you.'
'Is it possible
for you to commit yourself'
'to Ellen and to your child'
'in spite of the demands
of your profession?'
What you both have
to realize and consider..
...is that the bits
and pieces of life
are hard enough
to fit together
when you have
everything goin' for you.
[sighs]
Look, we know
it's not gonna be easy
but we think it can work.
We'll make it work.
And you're sure that you can?
Yes.
- 'Ellen?'
- Yes.
[rock music]
[laughing]
That was better.
Let's take a break, huh?
I just wanted to see
how Ellen's doin'.
Oh, sure. Go ahead.
- Are you gettin' bored?
- No. No, not at all.
Well, maybe a little.
You guys sure do practice
a long time.
Yeah.
Uh, listen, w-why don't, why
don't I cut band practice short?
'I mean, we haven't had much
chance to spend time together.'
That'd be nice.
- Tommy?
- Here it comes.
Uh, hello.
Hi.
Uh, Tommy.
Listen, I just wanna
wish you both my best.
[gasps]
You do? I-I thought--
Nah, it's water
under the bridge.
Listen, we got a lot to do.
We don't have much time.
'There's a new publicity guy,
gonna handle your promotion.'
He's backstage. So if you could
spare a few minutes.
(Tommy)
'Sure.'
I-I-I'm sorry.
It's real important.
- You don't mind?
- No, of course not.
Thanks.
(Joannie)
'I can't believe Max is gone.'
His note said he just couldn't
take the pressure anymore.
(Nancy)
Well, he said this was
his favorite restaurant.
- Maybe he'll be here.
- I sure hope so.
(Elizabeth)
There he is.
'Max!'
- Max!
- Max!
Hi!
Hi, Max.
It's so nice
to have a good meal again.
- Oh.
- You want some?
- No.
- No, thanks, Max.
Oh, listen,
we really are sorry
about what happened
at the television station.
- Really.
- Yeah.
Listen, please
come back with us.
We're not gonna give up until
we find you a really good job.
Come on, Max. Come home.
Fellas, come here.
I wanna introduce some people.
This is Flim Flam.
- Oh.
- This is Fats.
And that guy,
we call Preacher.
These are my friends
and this is my home.
You see, here I'm a bum,
but I'm a good bum.
And some people would say
I'm a bum's bum.
'But out there, I'm just a bum.'
And a bum's no good out there.
But here, bum is good
depending on how good
a bum he is
and I'm a pretty good bum.
'I mean, so you can understand'
how I'd rather be a good bum
than just a bum.
I mean, you can understand that,
can't you?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
I'm gonna miss you guys.
We're gonna miss you too, Max.
And we'll never forget you.
I'll never forget you
either, Susie.
Susie?
Patty.
[laughs]
And..
And..
- Victoria.
- Right.
Fortune.
Hmm.
- Here you go.
- Oh, uh, thanks.
Hey, i-if you'd like
to go out
we could go to a movie
or something.
No, I, I'd rather stay here.
Okay.
Um, unless you wanna go out.
Oh, no. I just thought
that you might.
Hmm.
- Hey, you play chess?
- No.
Me either. I was just
tryin' to be resourceful.
Gosh, I've been rehearsin'
for that tour so long
I've kind of forgotten
what spare time is for.
Tommy, if there's somewhere else
that you'd rather be..
I, I mean, if you're just here
just on my account..
Oh, no, I'm here
because I wanna be here.
It's nice. We'll just spend
a quiet evening sitting
'and getting to know
each other better.'
Okay.
I guess it's kind of hard
to just launch
into our life histories
on a moment's notice.
I know.
- You wanna see what's on TV?
- Sure.
[indistinct chatter on TV]
(man on TV)
'That everybody just could be
you and you and you.'
Come here.
(man on TV)
'Thank you, Johnny.'
'And good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.'
'This is "Easy Money."'
'Charlie Lincoln and I'm here'
'to give you away money,
ladies and gentlemen.'
'I've got a wonderful pocket
full of money'
'that's burning
a hole in my pocket.'
'Johnny, Johnny, Johnny,
you're looking good tonight..'
[indistinct chattering]
- Throw me a grounder.
- Okay.
Well, what have we here?
Anybody wanna come over
and claim this ball.
Not me.
Nicholas, aren't you gonna do
anything to this bully?
Yeah, Bradford,
I thought you're the hero.
Nicholas, you're not
just gonna stand here
and take that, are you?
Of course not.
If he comes any closer,
I'm gonna run.
Nicholas.
Face it, Robin.
I'm not as brave as you think.
Nicholas, do you want me
to be ashamed of you
right here in front of everyone?
So, shrimp, how badly
do you want this mitt?
Well, it was kind of old.
I didn't really..
[scoffs]
Greg, you're so macho.
- You okay?
- I think so.
It's too early to tell.
I hate to tell you this
but it looks like
you just lost your girl.
Yeah, I know.
- Do you wanna play some catch?
- Okay.
[doorbell rings]
- Ellen.
- Oh, hi, Mr. Bradford.
Is Tommy here?
He is in his room.
Go on up.
Are you sure?
He's not expecting me.
- Ellen, go on up.
- Okay, thanks.
Hi, Tommy.
Ellen, hi.
I thought I was supposed
to be meeting you later.
Oh, I, I thought
I'd better talk to you
before you moved
all your stuff in.
Yeah, why?
I've changed my mind.
What do you mean?
I don't wanna get married.
W-w-wait a minute.
I don't understand. Why?
'Cause you'll make
a terrible husband.
- Ellen?
- No, I mean it.
Tommy..
...I was scared when I first
found out I was pregnant
and I thought
I couldn't talk to my parents
so that when you asked me
to marry you
I thought
it was the only solution.
- It is.
- No, it is temporarily.
But we're talking
about the rest of our lives.
I mean, getting married
is gonna make
our child more acceptable.
But it's not gonna make him
any happier nor us
when we grow
to hate each other.
And we will.
Tommy, you don't love me.
How are you gonna make
that commitment
that the counselor's
talking about?
The kid needs a father.
And he'll have one. You.
We just won't be married.
I think you're wrong about this.
Uh, maybe,
but I don't think so.
So what I've decided
to do is..
...live with my parents
until the baby's born.
Your parents?
I thought they--
Mm, so did I.
They didn't take it
so well at first, but..
...they did offer to take us in
and I accepted.
I'm leaving next week.
Are you comin' back?
I don't know.
You can't do this.
Tommy, I've already decided.
You decided. What about me?
It's my kid too.
Look, I'm sorry, Tommy.
I think it's best
for all of us.
You can't force me
to stay here.
Look, you've been wonderful
through all this and..
...I hope that we have a boy
so that he can be
just like you.
I do love you.
[theme music]
05x18 - The Idolbreaker, part 1
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The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book by the same title.
The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book by the same title.