Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) Chapter 9

The brothers of "Rich Man, Poor Man" seem to be going through a change.  Who is good and who is bad?  It's hard to tell.  Sure, Nick Nolte has to leave the country for pissing off the Mafia, but it's self-protection.  It's Peter Strauss as the hard-nosed businessman who is becoming less attractive.  Age and money have given him an ego, but then again, the people around him (his mother, his boss, even Susan Blakely) are also fairly unpleasant people, nothing like the hopeful innocents who celebrated the end of World War II.  As we pick up the story in 1962,  it's unclear who is to be admired anymore.

Peter is breaking up the financial partnership with Ray Milland, who is as upset as Peter's mother.  "Who retires at 35?" Ray asks.  "He has no time for anything, not even his mother," Dorothy complains.  The next step is politics, as local bosses try to draft him into running, not caring what party he's affiliated with.  He also proposes to Susan AGAIN and she puts him off AGAIN, though her reasons are wearing awfully thin, so thankfully this time, she agrees to marry him!  Yes, in fact, here is a television moment that is different: a wedding begins the episode rather than ending it.  


I'm not entirely sure what Susan's outfit is all about: turban on her head, fur-ringed around the neck.  Dorothy talks during the wedding, telling an uninterested Ray she wishes her other son were there, but "he's in South America, the merchant marines."  Give that about eight seconds to settle in and we're doing 70s stereotyping without apology.  Nick gets off his ship and there is a man resting on the ground with his sombrero over his face.  


Nick sees a fight going on at the wharf, where insanely muscular William Smith almost kills a guy with his bare hands.  They take an instant dislike to each other.  


In high contrast, Peter is on the golf course, the ultimate rich man's enclave.  He's playing with his old pal Tim McIntire, who wants to replace him at the company and is also dating Kim Darby.  Peter tells him Kim is seriously mentally wigged out, but Tim doesn't believe him.


From there, Peter goes to meet the political bigwigs, headed by none other than Van Johnson (wearing a big wig on his head, FYI).  They want Peter to run, but Peter takes the high road: no deals or anything without his knowledge.  Basically, he doesn't want to be in any one's back pocket.  You have to laugh at that sort of naiveté, and I'm sure audiences in 1976 did, as they would elect unknown Jimmy Carter over known quantity Gerald Ford, their first chance to blot the stain of Watergate.  Unctuous Van agrees to the terms, though with a glint in his eye that says, "yeah, whatever."


Nick meets another seagoing reject, Herbert Jefferson Jr.  Herbert is friendly, but Nick tries to keep to himself.  In comes William Smith, who slings every racial epithet at Herbert Jefferson, with whom he refuses to be in the same room.  Nick doesn't say a thing, but finds Herbert Jefferson later to explain that he can't be caught fighting or else someone will recognize him.  


Still going with the fur theme, this time on her peignoir, Susan is very pregnant and very ill-tempered.  She yaps at Peter any chance she gets and though she denies missing her old life, she clearly does.  As Peter is about to leave for the day, Susan starts having horrible pain.  She's lost the baby.  


Waiting outside his home when Peter gets there is nutso Kim Darby, who tells him, "I wish it were her who died," not at all what Peter wants to hear, and she continues shouting through the door when he locks her out.  Alone, he can have his first breakdown of the entire miniseries.  However, he always makes conversation swing back to himself, even with Susan at the hospital where he offers to get out of politics if she doesn't like it, but since he feels he can fix the entire system from within, he wants to keep at it.  She has no choice but to agree.  


At a stopover in the French Riviera, Nick (who kind of speaks a bit of French) and Herbert Jefferson decide to buy a boat in order to give charter tours so they can live there the whole time.  However, the boat costs $15K.  Nick somehow thinks he can get the money and his son and live comfortably there.  


Despite Peter's warning, Tim marries Kim, giving Dorothy and Ray a chance to bitch to each other again.  Even at her wedding, Kim starts in on Peter.  It's at the wedding that Susan gets to meet Van and the rest of the political team.  They have their own ideas about what to do with Susan during the campaign, none of which seem to thrill her.

Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) Chapter 8

"Rich Man, Poor Man" is a whole lot more exciting for the poor man right now.  Attracting trouble like a magnet, Nick Nolte re-entered the boxing world, still intent on finding his wife and kid, only to come up against Mafia-backed boxing superstar George Maharis, not to mention George's sexually voracious wife.  By the time Episode 7 ended, Nick needed to leave the country quickly.  As for Peter Strauss, he's become a bland businessman, though a rich one, still wanting Susan, though he makes no effort to see her unless they happen to end up at the same party where he finds out she's divorced.

Susan is dealing with a cantankerous son, who has a rather bad attitude and still doesn't understand why his parents are divorced.  He's supposed to go on a field trip, giving Susan an excuse to spend the day with Peter.  "You're right on time," Susan tells him when he arrives.  "Give or take 13 years," Peter chirps, as in love with her as ever.  Their day consists of Charlie Chaplin movies and a goony Italian restaurant with checkered table cloths and a man with an accordion.  They argue at dinner for absolutely no reason, except to postpone yet again the two of them having more than two minutes of possible happiness.  But, a kiss softens the moment and leads to Peter and Susan FINALLY having sex for the first time...ever!

Peter proposes, but Susan prevaricates over and over, substituting witty remarks for real answers.  When Susan returns home, she finds Bill Bixby there, much to her son's delight, but the dread of the set designer, because Bill loves nothing more than to chew the scenery.  He even turns on the waterworks in a grand piece of manipulation.  He livens up things, that's for sure, but his style is on a different planet than rock-ribbed Susan and Peter.  "I want to come home," Bill tells her, and if she agrees, there goes Peter's latest attempt to be with Susan.  But, you knew that was coming, because "Rich Man, Poor Man" is nothing if not stalwart in its plotting: when people are happy, the universe steps in to botch it up.

Nick had been sent to NYC by his boxing manager Norman Fell to escape the mob and the police, and instead of going to Norman's friend to get him immediately into the merchant marines, Nick pays a visit to the private investigator he's been using to find his wife and son (not that the guy has done anything but soak Nick).  The PI tells him there are people looking for Nick and he wants nothing to do with him.  It will take $500 to get Nick into the merchant marines.

The only place he can go for that kind of cash is his brother.  Peter isn't at home but Dorothy McGuire is.  Peter's new found wealth has been a boon to her, as she now dresses like a fancy lady, wearing jewels and even plays cards with the maid.  When Nick arrives at the house, Dorothy is so shocked she faints.  There's a lot of catch up to do, and Dorothy goes into her poor little old lady routine that she's so honed on Peter, but Nick is tougher than his brother and hits her up for the money he needs.  She assures him Peter will not find out, "not the way he pinches pennies these days."  Despite the problems Nick has caused over the years, Dorothy does tell him "I wish we had longer."

Dorothy is not at all happy when Peter brings Susan Blakely.  The old lady finds Susan's behavior, divorce, parenting skills and just about everything else shameful.  She thinks Susan is after Peter's money.  "What's she doing, looking over the place before she moves in?  And where do I go? Into the maid's room...?" Dorothy wonders, the annoying personality of the character front and center, a long way from the loving and understanding mother who helped her horrible husband run a bakery while she proudly raised her sons.  "I will not have that slut in my house!" she demands.  "She is not a slut and this is not your house," Peter replies angrily.  When Dorothy refuses to even speak to Susan, Peter threatens to cut her off financially, more proof that he's become a scary self-focused businessman.

Also not happy with Peter is his boss, Ray Milland.  His scheming daughter, Kim Darby (the one who poisoned Dorothy against Susan), has convinced him that Peter has "seduced" her and Ray insists they get married, complete with full partnership and stock.  Peter develops a spine and tells Ray off with huge gumption.  "I'm sick and tired of dragging you into the 20th century with you fighting me every step of the way," he begins, then tossing everything at Ray that's been built up over the years, not to mention quitting.  Maybe there is a bit of an idealist left in this character after all.  Somehow, this tirade works and Ray way too suddenly realizes his daughter has been lying and gets over his anger.  It's a very bizarre scene that spins way too fast.

Digging his new-found cojones, Peter offers to "take care" of Bill Bixby for Susan, so he summons Bill and offers him a job that will keep him from New York City.  The money he tosses at Bill is attractive, but Peter forbids him from even saying goodbye to his son.  "You can write him a nice letter," Peter snarls before Bill asks for a car too.

Hours before he's supposed to ship out, Nick is cornered by the mob (in a movie theater, no less).  However, he manages to evade all 428 goons and get to his ship.

Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) Chapter 6

The brothers stepped into manhood in Part 5 of "Rich Man, Poor Man."  Nick Nolte, now a boxer, has become a father and Peter Strauss, caring for his invalid mother, is rising up the ranks at a department store, having graduated college at last.  Not doing quite as well is Susan Blakely, married to drunken Bill Bixby, with a child, though even her future had a hint of brightness peeking through.

Time is moving fast, as Part 6 finds us in 1954.  It's no wonder Peter Strauss is doing so well at the small-town department store.  When a shipment of "French scarves" does not arrive on time, he tells a panicked saleswoman, "I'll tell you what you do, tell them we're sold out and we're already re-ordering."  Wise, so wise.  Waiting for Peter in the TV section watching the news (voiced by George Gaynes, if anyone wants to know, though it's uncredited) about the Rosenberg electrocution is his former economics professor and friend Lawrence Pressman.  Peter blows off his invitation to picket Sing Sing because of a proposal he's turned into boss Ray Milland that he's anxious to hear about.  One might wonder if this is the moment where Peter's character finally tarnishes a bit, but let's be fair, he's never taken a stance on anything before because he's never had to.  He let others make most of his decisions (even the ones he thought were his), so to castigate him suddenly as an arch-capitalist does him an injustice.  It's simply the first time he's made a decision and it just so happens that he picked his own fortune over his friend's cause.

The proposal being discussed is for Ray Milland to build another store further in the suburbs, because Peter has amassed "demographic information" that says people will be moving out there.  Ray doesn't want to lay out the capital, even though Peter reminds him of the 25 times he's been right with an idea Ray didn't like.  And what if Ray says no?  Peter threatens to take the idea to someone else.  That's some of his father's spine, I think!

Things are not going so well for Nick Nolte, unhappily married to Talia Shire.  He complains she's "getting a big can...and I gotta look at it!"  Talia is particularly pissed when Nick gives their baby a snake for a present.

Doing very well is Susan Blakely, now a successful journalist.  Arriving home from Asia, she passes when her boss Craig Stevens asks her to cover the big new department store going up in her former hometown.  She wants something, "closer to home.  I've got to get reacquainted with my son, not to mention my husband."  Susan's welcome home present from hubby Bill Bixby is finding him with another woman (if not a young and uncredited Mary Crosby, then a lookalike).

So, Susan takes the job upstate to see Peter, who is being huffed at big time by Ray because of delays and zoning and whatnot, calling the whole thing "a $3 million mistake in judgment."  He surprises her by showing her that the complex has a gigantic theater he's obviously built with her old treading-the-board days, even if he doesn't realize it.  After snapping his photo, she begs him for help.  With what?  Wait and see.

Peter decides to solve his political zoning problems through good old Robert Reed, wearing an outfit that even Alice wouldn't bother to clean and iron: short-sleeve button-down shirt, shorts with a belt somewhere near his neck and high socks so large they have to be folder over to stay under his knees.  Fairy Godmother Robert agrees to help, informing Peter it will take $10K to bribe a state senator into approving the zoning.

Susan throws a very swanky party with all sorts of cliche New York types (not to mention her vamp friend from the previous episode) and Peter is invited because he happens to be in the city.  They pay a visit to her son's room and then to her studio (this has to be the world's largest small apartment, even though it's in her bedroom) to show him the proofs from the photo shoot she did with him.  Peter is worried about Susan, and I think it's because she uses way too many multi-syllabic words.  However, Susan says it's her marriage to Bill Bixby that isn't working.  "Are you talking about a divorce?" incredibly naive Peter asks her, as if he's encountering a foreign concept.  Both Susan and Bill want the divorce, but both also want custody of their son.  Peter agrees to hire detectives to track Bill and make a suitable case against him...before taking her in his arms and kissing her with the intention to do just what Bill is doing to some other woman.  "Wait," she says.  "Oh God, I've waited," he replies and they go back to it until hearing that Nick will be in town for a fight!

When Susan and Peter arrive at the fight, Nick seems to be very much on the losing end, but he eventually prevails.  "You going backstage?" Susan asks, using an odd word that makes it sound like they are going to see the Lunts or something.  He's going, she declines (remember, she has not seen him since the brief look they exchanged when he found her at Robert Reed's house a loooooong time ago).  The brothers are reunited for the first time since Nick was chased out of town.



"Long time, no see," Nick says boisterously when he sees Susan, which only they understand.  Later that evening, Susan tells Peter she will be at his hotel room the next afternoon, not bothering to check in at the desk!  Peter gives her the there's-no-other-girl-for-me speech and they kiss.

Susan comes home to find her son being taken on a stretcher to the hospital.  That's a miniseries special, heaven followed by hell, not that the miniseries invented soap opera twists, but they did take them to new heights.

Talia is FURIOUS that Nick plans to give Peter the $3K that was intended for his schooling back when Ed had to use it to bail him out of jail.  He had tried to return it in the last episode, but the family had moved and he didn't try to track them.  Once again, Talia gives a performance so annoying you can't wait for the moment Nick is somehow free of her.

Bill and Susan keep an all-night vigil at the hospital, waiting for news of their child.  When allowed into his room, it's Bill he wants, not even noticing Susan.  Bill and Susan have plenty of time to be honest with each other, and it's not discussion full of recrimination, interrupted only by the doctor telling them there's "no change" (as Susan puffs on a cigarette in the waiting room).

Nervous Nick shows up at Peter's hotel room to give him the money.  Peter had not actually heard the story of the $3K, so Nick fills him in (and any viewers late to the miniseries).  "I've had that thing on my back for six years and now I'm rid of it and rid of all you with it," he says gleefully.  That has to sting!  "You know what I think?  It's a stupid gesture," Peter informs him, trying to play peacemaker, offering Nick a partnership in...well...he doesn't quite say, but whatever comes their way.  "If you come in with me...there is nothing that can stop us," Peter offers, but Nick is furious and the discussion ends in an argument fueled by pride.  "Say hello to the old lady for me, will ya?" Nick says as he bounces out of Peter's life again.

When Nick returns home, with flowers no less, he finds Talia and the baby gone.  A note echoes what she said the night before, that "I cannot go on living with a crazy man who gives money to millionaires."  He borrows $500 from Normal Fell to chase his son to Chicago.

Because their son has made it through the worst, Bill has asked Susan for another try at their marriage, disappointing to Peter, who will have to continue pining for Susan.  "You are asking me to roll over and play dead," angry Peter says, trying to get her to see it his way.  As usual, the universe exists only in his worldview, which goes no further than two feet from his mind.

We're just about halfway there now and still the miniseries is gripping.  Yes, it plays as corny after nearly 40 years, but only because it was so endlessly imitated and because Shaw's plot twists are overly obvious.  But that's only a problem when the writing sags, which it rarely does.  Now that the three main characters are adults, it's engaging to see them with entire new sets of problems and choices.

Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) Chapter 4

Episode 3 of "Rich Man, Poor Man" was something of a reminder episode, a chance to catch up with the characters without too much happening.  Peter is still trying to work his way through college, Susan is in NYC trying to become an actress and Nick is trying to make a life with family in California, despite a quick affair with the household maid.

Drunken Nick wants to dance with Talia Shire, out with her rich boyfriend, but the rich kids beat him up badly and toss him into the water.  Talia chirps, "I wouldn't go home with him!" as she helps Nick out of the water and to her home since her dad is out of town.

In his little college town, Peter has an appointment with Robert Reed's pal Ray Milland, so important he has pictures of world leaders on his wall.  Department store magnate Ray gives him a job, though he's not happy about it because college kids haven't worked out well in the past.  "I expect an honest day's work.  Do that and you've got a job.  Fail and you're gone with the wind," Ray bellows.  Not only does he work, but he's on the track team and studies economics with vigor while being harassed by Kim Darby, Ray's daughter who has the hots for him.

During a study break to ski, Peter helps Kim, who fakes an injury to get his attention.  "It just kin of throbs all over," she says, trying to be flirtatious when coming off as just annoying.  When he takes her home, Ray doesn't recognize him at first, but soon realizes he's the one responsible for the store's wonderful window displays.  He's supportive of Peter, especially knowing that his daughter likes him.  That does not thrill Peter.  "What's wrong with her her?" his roommate asks.  "She's a nut, that's what's wrong with her," Peter moans.

Peter and his roommate come up with a business idea to start a ski lodge out of an abandoned building, but need $3000 to get it up and running.  Papa Ed Asner is reluctant to give him the seed money, but Mama Dorothy McGuire convinces him by saying, "I feel it.  It's our chance to have something.  I feel it in my bones."

While in NYC arranging or supplies, Peter decides to go see Susan's play, the one where she has one line, which happens to be the curtain line, delivered in just a slip.  "Tell her to bring a friend, a nympho, with money," his roommate tells him before sending him backstage for a long-delayed reunion.  She doesn't even notice him, racing into Bill Bixby's arms and then his apartment.  They are basically living in sin because his wife won't agree to a divorce.

Nick is arrested for statutory rape of Talia Shire, which brings scowling Ed out to California, with the $3000 it will cost to get him out of the scrape.  She's pregnant and claims Nick is the father.  Hmmmm, I wonder if that's the same $3000 Peter needed for his ski lodge idea.  Nick wonders how Talia knows the kid is his.  "Because I know," she says.  The charges are dropped if Nick will leave town, much to the delight of his social-climbing family members.  "I did it so the one member of the family who is worth a damn won't have to go through life with a jailbird brother around his neck," Ed says, saying the slate is now clear with them, "the last time I ever want to see or hear from you."  Nick yells after him that, "I'm gonna pay you back, Pa, every last scent, even if I have to jam it down your throat!"

A letter arrives from dad to Peter without the promised $3000.

Now we're cooking again!  After some very slow times, the plot is lurching back, with the brothers pitted against each other by circumstance, not even intentional hatred or disagreement.

How can Peter get the money?  He places a call to Kim Darby.

Nick leaves his family and his job, though not before the rich kids come after him again (although the rich kids look even older than Nick playing teenagers--this in the pre-Botox age).  When one of them insults Talia, Nick beats the hell out of him.

Not only did Nick and Peter have a need for the money, but so do Ed and Dorothy, as the long-planned supermarket is finally about to open, right next door to the bakery, certainly to finally put them out of business.  He comes home to an eviction notice (with two months warning) and Dorothy leaving their bedroom.  She's hopping mad that he bailed out Nick (referring to him as  "perfect stranger")  and wasted the $3000.  "I've got my price too.  $30 a week, but I want my back pay!  It's a bargain rate.  $30 a week for 20 years, I've figured it all out, it's $30,000.  You put $30,000 on the table and I'll talk to you, not before!" she screams at him.  He leaves, with Dorothy shouting at him.

Peter is explaining his business proposal to Ray and Kim when a call comes to Ray's house from his mother.  "I don't know where he is.  He's been gone all day," she says in a trance.  "This time, he's gone for good."  Indeed, what is the most notable failed American dream (remember, the big overall theme of "Rich Man, Poor Man) so far has reached its conclusion.  On a rainy night, Ed takes his rowboat out one last time.  Another one looks to be snuffed out when Talia shows up, in a drenching rain storm, having been tossed out by her father and having lost the baby, to follow Nick out of their small town.