Show134
Maggie Pierce makes her only appearance on Perry here playing Casey Daniels. Maggie Pierce is best known for playing Barbara Crabtree, the wife of Jerry Van Dyke’s character, in the classic comedy My Mother The Car—which might explain her retirement shortly after My Mother The Car was cancelled. As an added footnote, all 30 episodes of My Mother The Car are available for viewing on IMDb. Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 30 October 2009.
This episode marks the third of four appearances of Barbara Pepper, a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer and lifelong friend of Lucille Ball. (She has played a different character each time.) Submitted by gracep, 11/14/2010.
+ TV comedy buffs will remember Ms. Pepper as Doris Ziffel on Green Acres. Submitted by Francis, 10 June 2011.
Speaking of reappearances, Karl Held returns as David Gideon for the sixth time during the series’ run. He doesn’t really seem to serve any purpose, but he certainly is dapper. In case you can’t get enough of him, he’ll be back three more times. Submitted by gracep, 12/3/2010.
OTC David is a member of the club, and serves as a liason to introduce Perry to the case...his only "referral", if you will. (Of course Paul had the club as a client, so Perry was going to get involved, one way or another). Notcom 050223.
Character Names: Barbara Pepper’s character has a name, Mrs. Dwyer—and her fitness instructor uses it. Why the producers chose to use an insulting designation instead is a mystery. See related comment below. Submitted by gracep, 12/3/2010.
I'm sorry, Grace, but 'Fat Woman' is not necessarily an insulting designation; in fact, I call myself fat all the time; even in other languages.
Also, considering that she was a friend of Lucy, Barbara Pepper probably INSISTED on being called 'Fat Woman'; after all she does a very good job of acting like a goofy fat woman. So, it DOES make it easier to figure out who she is :-D .
Keep in mind that, just because YOU might be offended to be called fat it doesn't mean Barbara Pepper would be, or would have been back in the 60s.
Somehow, from this, and other comments, I get the feeling you should be thanking your lucky stars you didn't live, or grow up in the 60s ;-) . Submitted by Arisia, 04/03/2018
+I beg to disagree, respectfully. I grew up in the 60s, but even if I had not, I know that the cult of thinness for women goes back to at least the 1920s. The magazines in the 60s were packed with ads for diet aids, girdles, etc. Look at this health club, populated by women doing all kinds of passive and active exercise, but not shown playing handball or doing weight training; Veronica Temple (Leslie Parrish) even says to Mrs. Dwyer (Barbara Pepper) and another woman that the machine she is demonstrating is "especially beneficial in slimming the thighs...and the seat, I might add." She casts a snooty glance down at Mrs. Dwyer's lower body as she says it. Barbara Pepper may have been immune to fat shaming, but it is taken as a given in the storytelling. This is not projecting our standards back in time; it's the reality of the era. The credits may have identified her as Fat Woman for ease of audience identification, but I bet it made not a few women viewers of the day uncomfortable. Submitted by JazzBaby, 3/4/2019
+ + And the current outrage amongst the twitter crowd is the husband buying his thin wife an exercise bicycle (Peloton) for Christmas. Oh the humanity! Kilo 1/5/2020.
+ + + Since folks are weighing in with opinions, please allow me to say that i also am offended by the billing of Barbara Pepper as "Fat Woman" rather than her character name, Mrs. Dwyer. It should be possible to be a chubby comedienne and get a proper credit. Dabs Greer was not billed as "Old Drunk," after all. Submitted by catyron April 10, 2021.
We do see two women fencing and another using a weight bench. But the reliance on those useless machines to “massage away” the weight is very much of its time. DOD 11/18/20
I note another inconsistency in credits. They were polite enough to call the bookkeeper Miss Clara Prentice—full name, with title—and the same with the Health House physician, but the office rental agent was simply designated as Masters—no first name, no “Mr.” Submitted by gracep, 12/3/2010.
Sightings: During the hearing, we see Distinguished Gentleman #1 in a closeup of Eugene Houseman (Alan Baxter). Submitted by gracep, 12/3/2010.
Other than the short opening shot on the street outside "Health House", there are no outdoor scenes and NO CARS in this episode. Added by Gary Woloski, 2/4/13.
Prop Problems? In two scenes we see enlargements of a total of four bank cheques, all on the account of "HEALTH HOUSE 3909 W Wilshire Boulevard" at "National Bank of Los Angeles (TRUST AND SAVINGS)" and signed "Eugene Houseman" (3909 could be 2909 or 5909):
- In Perry's office at DVD 19:02 - cheque NO 340 (could be no 240) for $139.00 payable to "A D Sport Shirt Company" d/"September 21 19__" (last two digits of year are blank). A second cheque is for $2000.00 but otherwise appears the same as cheque no 340.
- In court at 40:58 - two cheques payable to "ABC Sporting Goods Company " - NO 407 for $40,000 dated "November 18 19__" and NO 417 for $35,000.00 dated "November 26 19__" (episode air date was 25 Nov 61).
All of the cheques are dot-matrix-perforated from the back with "PAID 9 29 61". That is, all four were paid on the same date, 29 Sep '61, which was prior to the authorized payment date entered on cheques 407 & 417. Read the perforations upside-down & backwards.
At 21:21 Paul says that the A.B.C. SPORTING GOODS office is in the "Wind-Up Building on Hill Street" ("Wind" rhyming with "Find"). When he visits (26:39) we see the office number "409". The Building Manager tells Paul that the lessee is "JP Jones" and that the square footage is 134 but when Paul looks, we see a reasonably sized office. Added by Gary Woloski, 3/23/12.
+ The captions on this story spelled the the building's name "Wyandotte". Added by H. Mason 11/14/14
David's Apartment: in this story we got to see where David Gideon lived. That equals the number of times Della has been shown in her apartment. Submitted by H. Mason 11/14/14
+ Judging by the layout of his living room Dave's apartment is both well furnished and significantly larger than Mason's. But how does he pay for his apartment, and also his "dapper" attire? Compare with Paul Drake's clothes. Submitted by cspoleta 12/30/15.
+ Dapper David: In #122, TCOT Grumbling Grandfather, I think we learned that David is a "rich kid" trying to find his way back to law school. His wardrobe does seem to be more contemporary than that of Drake. I am working on an index to Paul Drake's sportcoats; he seems to have worn the same ones throughout the series. But then, mine are well-worn too. JohnK, 8 January 2016
This is the first of nine PM directing credits for Jerry Hopper...MikeM. 10/5/2016
This is the third of three PM appearances for Leslie Parrish, who studied piano at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music...MikeM. 1/11/2017
+ My knowledge of Leslie Parrish was of her as Daisy Mae in the film version of the musical "Li'l Abner" (I still have the cast recording album). --yelocab 11NOV18
Classic Dialogue. Having just confessed to murder, the killer is questioned by Perry:
P: "you took [revealing info] and left $75,000?"
K: "Mr. Mason, I'm not a thief."
It appears that Mr. Burger neglected to ascertain the victim's true identity before beginning court proceedings; either name could be the alias.
When Perry takes the call from David in his office, Paul cracks his knuckles on Perry’s intercom. Kilo, 12/20/2022.
Doppleganger Redux Add another pairing to our menagerie: Ed Nelson and Dennis Patrick
Ed Nelson and Alan Baxter also appeared in TCOT Missing Button. Submitted by Steve Fox, 1/6/2024