One fine day finds Tim and the boys tossing a football around in the house, because Jill's not home. What a fine example he sets. Then he learns from Brad that he's signed up for an elective class. Unfortunately, it wasn't shop like he'd hoped, but rather home ec. He's doing it so he can be around girls. What a stud muffin...who will now be baking them. After that, Tim goes out to the garage to spend some quality time with his hot rod. Unfortunately, that quality time is interrupted by his high-spirited new neighbor, Joe Morton, who pops in unannounced. He's a professional butcher, the "Meat Man" is what they call him. He admits to being a huge Tool Time fan, and makes an even further bad first impression by accidentally denting Tim's reproduction '33 grille. He even sits behind the wheel and honks the horn while Tim tries to work. Seriously, the Meat Man is a bigger kid than the Tool Man. He manages to get rid of the pest by saying he's got to go care for his wife who has a "condition." On to Tool Time, where the topic is fencing, but of course Tim thinks it's the other kind of fencing and uses his stick as a sword. He and Al have a bit of a joust, with Al coming out the superior. Tim then mentions how building a fence is one way to protect your home against unwanted intruders, like a pesky animal or neighbor. That's why he's created a special shock collar to ward off such pests. He attempts to demonstrate it on Al by hiding it in his tool belt, but what Tim doesn't know is that Al discovered it and put in his tool belt instead. It gives him quite a shock, pun intended.
While Tim may have a new enemy in Joe, Jill is getting on very well with his wife, Marie. Unfortunately Tim doesn't find out Marie is Joe's wife until after he badmouths him in front of her. Fortunately, Jill apologizes for him and she and Tim get an invite to have dinner out with them. What a treat. Remember earlier when Brad signed up for home ec to meet chicks? Turns out he's a trend setter, because now all the boys in school signed up for home ec, resulting in separate classes for boys and girls, and Brad has to learn how to sew. Despite Tim's objections, he and Jill accompany the Mortons to dinner at a swanky restaurant. The amiable Meat Man declares everything is on him and they can order whatever they want. Tim feels like chicken tonight, but Joe tries to convince him to order steak instead. Being a meat man, he's more experienced with red meat instead of white. Not only does he keep pushing steak, but Joe lets it slip about Jill's "condition." Forget chicken and steak, Tim's going to be dining on his foot tonight...and he might even get Jill's in his other opening. Meanwhile at home, Brad practices sewing while babysitter Al tells Randy about his days in the navy, and how he spent his service stationed in Nevada. Tim and Jill get home early, so Al has to rush the kids up to bed. As expected, they're still bickering over what transpired at the restaurant, instead of talking like mature adults. So Tim goes out to bother Wilson, waking him up in the middle of the night, and asks him if he's ever had a really annoying neighbor. Oh, the irony. He advises Tim to try and look for the good in people. Very sound advice. Next day, as Tim is back working on his hot rod, Joe stops by again, flamboyant as ever. But at the same time, he realizes he came on a bit too strong, and as a way of making it up to Tim, he presents him with an ORIGINAL '33 grille. So now he and Tim are best buds. We cap off this little adventure with Tim and Jill coming up with excuses one could make to get out of going out with someone.
This one kind of rubbed me the wrong way. We were supposed to sympathize with Tim as he has an annoying new neighbor who he can't seem to shake, but what actually causes the major conflict in the episode is Tim lying to him and saying Jill had a condition. Once again, he uses his wife as a scapegoat. I didn't sympathize with Tim, I thought he acted like a world-class schmuck. As for the character of Joe, he only appeared on the show twice and then his character was written off, while Marie stuck around until the start of Season 5. I guess Robert Picardo didn't want to commit to doing a series full time or something. I thought the character worked fine. He made a much better friend for Tim than some of the other guys he eventually hung out with. I guess I'd recommend this episode for those who want to see how the character of Joe was played out, but there's really nothing else to it. For me, it was just a mixed message. Joe may have been annoying, but Tim was just as bad. I say they both lose. A Sew, Sew Evening is a so-so episode.
While Tim may have a new enemy in Joe, Jill is getting on very well with his wife, Marie. Unfortunately Tim doesn't find out Marie is Joe's wife until after he badmouths him in front of her. Fortunately, Jill apologizes for him and she and Tim get an invite to have dinner out with them. What a treat. Remember earlier when Brad signed up for home ec to meet chicks? Turns out he's a trend setter, because now all the boys in school signed up for home ec, resulting in separate classes for boys and girls, and Brad has to learn how to sew. Despite Tim's objections, he and Jill accompany the Mortons to dinner at a swanky restaurant. The amiable Meat Man declares everything is on him and they can order whatever they want. Tim feels like chicken tonight, but Joe tries to convince him to order steak instead. Being a meat man, he's more experienced with red meat instead of white. Not only does he keep pushing steak, but Joe lets it slip about Jill's "condition." Forget chicken and steak, Tim's going to be dining on his foot tonight...and he might even get Jill's in his other opening. Meanwhile at home, Brad practices sewing while babysitter Al tells Randy about his days in the navy, and how he spent his service stationed in Nevada. Tim and Jill get home early, so Al has to rush the kids up to bed. As expected, they're still bickering over what transpired at the restaurant, instead of talking like mature adults. So Tim goes out to bother Wilson, waking him up in the middle of the night, and asks him if he's ever had a really annoying neighbor. Oh, the irony. He advises Tim to try and look for the good in people. Very sound advice. Next day, as Tim is back working on his hot rod, Joe stops by again, flamboyant as ever. But at the same time, he realizes he came on a bit too strong, and as a way of making it up to Tim, he presents him with an ORIGINAL '33 grille. So now he and Tim are best buds. We cap off this little adventure with Tim and Jill coming up with excuses one could make to get out of going out with someone.
This one kind of rubbed me the wrong way. We were supposed to sympathize with Tim as he has an annoying new neighbor who he can't seem to shake, but what actually causes the major conflict in the episode is Tim lying to him and saying Jill had a condition. Once again, he uses his wife as a scapegoat. I didn't sympathize with Tim, I thought he acted like a world-class schmuck. As for the character of Joe, he only appeared on the show twice and then his character was written off, while Marie stuck around until the start of Season 5. I guess Robert Picardo didn't want to commit to doing a series full time or something. I thought the character worked fine. He made a much better friend for Tim than some of the other guys he eventually hung out with. I guess I'd recommend this episode for those who want to see how the character of Joe was played out, but there's really nothing else to it. For me, it was just a mixed message. Joe may have been annoying, but Tim was just as bad. I say they both lose. A Sew, Sew Evening is a so-so episode.
