Too Close For Comfort

Feature from 2012

In 1985, Ernie made a one-off appearance in the long running American sitcom, Too Close For Comfort. Because it was only ever aired on US television, the show was impossible to get and despite our efforts nothing ever became of it.

Warning: This contains spoilers!

Luckily, in 2012, someone began posting all the episodes of the show on YouTube, finally uploading Season 5 Episode 14, named The British Are Coming, The British Are Coming. (Yes twice!).

This episode may still be on YouTube but for obvious reason we cannot (yet) provide it on this site. We can however, give you a brief description along with some stills.

Ernie plays Ernie Dockerty, the long-time friend of Henry Rush, the main character played by Ted Knight.

In this episode he arrives in town to catch up with his old buddy after 25 years and is setup with a blind date, a recent widower. They hit it off straight away and end up going out of the evening. Things don’t go to plan though as it turns out Ernie is already married, unbeknown to Henry when he introduced them.

Helen, the widower, is besotted with Ernie but now everyone but her knows the truth about Ernie’s status.

Ernie and Helen plan a driving trip and are just preparing for the road at Henry’s house when Ernie’s wife arrives unannounced. Now the panic sets in to either get Ernie’s wife or Helen out without meeting each other.

The show is a typical 80’s sitcom from the States that raises a few laughs and the jokes are telegraphed to make sure the audience can see them coming. It is an interesting departure for Ernie, but then again, Eric and Ernie would probably be very good in a quality British sitcom. Eddie Braben said that if you watch the shows, a lot of them were set in the flat and were in fact mini-sitcoms.

It’s good to see the episode after so long though, and if it is still on YouTube, go and track it down.


© morecambeandwise.com 2012